565 Being Led Away, Travelling Through the Vacated Road (1/2)

Day 131 - 1:19 PM - Vine Street, Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Vine Street that was devoid of the infected. It felt somehow safe and dangerous at the same time.

It was the main stretch of road going through almost the entire center of the Center City, from east to west. It connected the Benjamin Frankin Bridge and the Logan Square near the exit on the west side of Center City.

Vine Street was a vast stretch of road, consisting of four car lanes, both eastbound and westbound. However, that was not all. In between separating the four lanes from the other was an expressway, going through a lower elevation, tunneling through the intersections.

The distance between the sidewalk on the north side and the south side was about sixty meters. That was how wide this street was.

It was a place bustling with activity, especially during the rush hours. It was the center of Philadelphia, after all. Traveling across this road and looking at the side, all one could see were high rise buildings and business establishments.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful city filled with life, culture, and opportunities.

Four months after Mutagen invaded Earth, it became a dead stretch of a road, devoid of humans. Abandoned cars littered the majority of the road, mostly arranged to face a specific direction.

There, metal fences were set up, as if it was intended to regulate the number of vehicles to pass through.

It was now no wonder why Benjamin Franklin Bridge was not that crowded with abandoned vehicles. It was because the remaining ones were left stuck in this street.

Sitting on the roof of the vehicle, Mark observed the surroundings cautiously. And to say, he might really be right about his assumption. For some reason, their group was being invited into the city.

Every time they passed by an intersection, they would see the horde that blocked it. The weaker infected would not pay attention to Mark's group as if they did not notice the moving and noisy vehicle. On the other hand, the stronger Mutated Infected would creepily follow Mark's car with their malevolent-looking eyes. But of course, like the weaker ones, none of them would do anything more than stare.

What was the enemy? A strong human? A paranormal creature? No, the being that was most likely to be able to do this kind of thing was either a [King Type] or a [Queen Type].

”I guess... It's better to lump the two in a single category instead. We should call them the [Monarch Types].”

Mark murmured.

Roan drove the vehicle carefully. Their movement was slow since the whole stretch of road was filled with abandoned cars and wreckage.

If not for the current event that was happening, they might have chosen another road to pass through instead.

CREAK!

But then, the vehicle suddenly stopped.

Mark immediately jumped down. He also felt what was wrong, and he opened the door.

There, sitting on the seat beside his, the [Queen Type] was panicking. She was staring at Mark with anxiety and trepidation. She was chained, so she could not move from her position. If she was not, she might have jumped toward Mark already.

”Gege, what's wrong with her?”

Mei asked as she noticed the stare that the [Queen Type] gave Mark.

”I don't know. Let me check first.”

Mark replied as he hurried back into his seat. Slowly, he removed her chains. It was because the chains seemed to be affecting what she was feeling right now.

The moment she was freed from the chain, however, she rushed at Mark to everyone's surprise. When they thought that she wanted to attack Mark and was about to interfere, they were dumbfounded.

The [Queen Type] was hugging Mark intensely while shivering. Her helpless appearance somehow made them pity her. Even Mei, who behaved jealously against the [Queen Type], did not say anything.

”What is wrong?”

Mark asked the [Queen Type]. Although she was not a talkative kind, be she could understand some words and speak. It was better to ask her what was happening.

”Someone... calls... strong... Don't want to... go...”

The [Queen Type] was desperate.

It was not wrong that at first, she only saw Mark as a candidate for mating and the other humans as food. Spending time with this group, however, although she still had some of the urges that the infected had, she started to change.

She wanted to try what it was like to become human.

But now... Someone was calling her to return to the side of the infected.

She did not want to.

Mark patted the [Queen Type]'s head that was burrowed into his chest. It was kinda hard to do with the [Empress Spider] on the way, though.

With that, the [Queen Type] started to calm down. But then, she froze with her eyes dilated.

SPLAT!

Blood splattered inside the vehicle causing everyone to panic. That blood made Elise scared, and her mind started to become chaotic once more. Mei immediately held onto her, suppressing her negative energy that began to riot once more.

Mark, on the other hand, grabbed the cause of this mess.

On his hand, he clutched on a spider that was larger than his fist.

It was the [Empress Spider].

Despite sharing the same body, the [Queen Type] and [Empress Spider] were still two different entities.

The [Queen Type] wanted to resist the voice that was calling unto her. On the other hand, the [Empress Spider] that had lesser intelligence and consciousness decided to follow it.

With the conflicting thoughts between the parasite and the host, the parasite that could not control its host anymore decided to leave.