529 Felicia, The Results for Choosing the Wrong Choice (1/2)

Day 128 - 5:42 PM - Haddon Heights, Camden County, New Jersey United States of America

Receiving the very last thing that might give her any clues about the whereabouts of her parents, Felicia hurriedly sat to read it.

Just the handwriting on the letter was enough to make her tear up. It was from her mother. Felicia did not doubt it.

The unfortunate thing, however, there was barely anything of importance that could be made out of the letter.

If it was left out somewhere in a proper manner, even if it took years, the writings on the paper should still be readable.

However, not only that the paper was found inside the fireplace filled with soot and ash, it seemed that whoever threw it there tried to burn it. In that case, it was already fortunate that the paper did not burn entirely.

The only intact part of the letter was the top part of the paper. On the other hand, two thirds towards the bottom were entirely illegible.

Nevertheless, for Felicia, just to see her name among the names of her siblings was enough for her to feel guilty. She did not contact them for years, and yet, they did not forget to include her in the letter. It was even though there was no tangible possibility that she would be able to return here.

Felicia tried hard to read the letter. It was for naught.

”What did it say?”

Arnold asked, seeing Felicia's expression.

In response to that question, Felicia only shook her head in dismay as she handed the letter to Arnold.

As he read the letter, he could only frown. He even moved towards the window to use the remaining sunlight to see if it would reveal more letters.

The sun was already setting, though. Thus, it did not help much. Not to mention that the area was filled with trees, further blocking the sun that was about to set.

”Use this.”

Mark suddenly said as a crystal flew towards the table. Everyone was amazed by the magical sight. The children even wanted to touch it. Of course, the adults prevented them from doing so. The crystal then released a bright light at Mark's snap.

Ignoring the magical sight, Arnold moved the letter to the crystal.

Because it was burnt, it was still unreadable. However, the light managed to reveal some words that they were not able to see earlier.

Aside from the intro stating how much Felicia's parents loved their children, they managed to make out the crucial keywords like ”evacuation,” ”Y.A.L.E.,” and ”military” at the burned part of the letter. There were some mentions about the neighbor too. It was probably about the infected neighbor in the basement, but it was unreadable.

”A military evacuation, huh...”

Mark voiced out after he was handed the letter to see it.

As Mark said that however, except for Mei, the others stiffened.

Unfortunately, they never saw a single soldier appear to help them, not even their shadow. Thus, these words should mean salvation but felt foreign to them now.

Ignoring their stiff reactions, Mark asked.

”Do anyone here know what Y.A.L.E. meant?”

And to that question, pretty much every one of the survivors from Bally's Casino reacted.

”That's the learning school for special children, right?”

Ernst said while a bit unsure. It seemed that while he knew, he was not too familiar with it.

”That should be it. There are various campuses around here, after all.”

Sandie voiced out.

”I see,” Mark said as he turned to Felicia. ”Do you know where is the nearest one?”

Wiping her tears, Felicia stared at the table to think.

”It's been years. I don't remember exactly. But I think there should be one in Audubon.”

Mark took out his phone and started to search for the map. Unfortunately, nothing turned out on the search. It was because Mark did not expect to find himself in this place before the outbreak. While he downloaded the most data he could for the maps of the Philippines and countries he was interested in, the data on the other countries was the bare minimum.

Nevertheless, he managed to see the potential area using the satellite image.

”I guess we'll be checking it tomorrow.”

Mark voiced out as everyone turned to Mark.

”What?”

Mark asked as he questioned them for their expressions.

”Nothing,” Felicia spoke. ”We're just surprised that you want to help me find my family.”

After hearing those words, the others nodded in agreement.

”I don't really mind since it's nearby. If any of you ask me to go to another state or a different direction from where we are going, you can go alone.”

Mark then handed the letter back to Felicia and continued.

”Besides. It mentioned the military. I want to get more information, especially about Philadephia. I don't want us getting delayed further just because we ran into a threat there that we don't know of.”

”But you Sir should be able to handle it, right?”

Ernst suddenly spoke. Though what he said was met with a glare.

”Don't try to flatter me. You can consider me as someone strong, but I'm not the strongest.”

To the eyes of these survivors, Mark might already be a godly being. The prowess he showed them was not something that just anyone could contend to.

That was because they had not seen anyone stronger.

Compared to many other things that Mark encountered before and the entities in Freed's memories, he was still way weaker than many of them.

The Great One, the founders of Auraboros, Bathala, The Deity of Bloodshed, Gar'Vlam, and the Eyes, all of them were far stronger than Mark.

Going back to it, Mark only managed to absorb The Deity of Bloodshed using unconventional means. He tried to possess him, and that was why he won. If they actually fought until the last ounce of their strength, he would surely lose.