573 In the Middle of the Quarry, A Conversation with an Infected Queen (1/2)
Day 131 - 11:16 PM - Glassgow Quarry, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America
It was a night under a waning gibbous moon. The abandoned quarry that now had its bottom filled with water and floating corpses along with trapped infected was now visited by three people.
The three people, with one facing the other two, stood without minding the surroundings.
Mark stared at the two with vexation. He barely had time to rest after the encounter with the Infected King in Logan Square. And now, he was facing even stronger entities.
Even so, he did not forget to observe and estimate the two in front of him.
The first was the [King Type], who seemed to be a man in his early thirties. He had a high nose, sharp eyes, thin eyebrows, and prominent jaws. With the addition of his unkempt hair, he looked like some sort of mercenary commonly seen in war movies. Not to mention that he had a slightly muscular body. Just give him a gun, and he would surely fill the part.
On the other hand, the [Queen Type] was an alluring lady. She seemed to be the inviting type that would make one think that she was a prostitute. That was if she was a human. And the strangest thing, however, was that she was also dressed that way. It was in a manner that she would easily be mistaken as a human. She even moved and behaved like one.
”So, what do you two want?”
Mark asked.
It was clear that these two were not just here to blindly attack or anything. If that was the case, there was no need for these two to lurk around while hiding. Like how the [King Type] that attacked Bay City or the one they encountered today, they would appear with their army of infected and attack. These two, however, had no one else with them.
As Mark asked that question, for some reason, he faced the [Queen Type] instead of the [King Type].
”Why are you asking me instead of my King?” The [Queen Type] seemed to be surprised at Mark's behavior. ”Normally, you humans will ask the male first, thinking that they are supposed to be the leader or superior.”
”So, you're telling me that he's not the leader between you two?” Mark replied. ”Besides, gender doesn't really determine the leadership between the infected. It's more on who had the strength. Am I right? Still, I know that your King is the leader, but I'm talking to you because you have more brains than him.”
That reply from Mark made the [Queen Type] show a very amused expression. On the other hand, the [King Type] showed the opposite as his intelligence was compared to his Queen.
”So, I'll repeat. What do you two want?”
Mark repeated the question while staring at the [Queen Type].
Finally, with a smile, the [Queen Type] replied.
”Well, one of our kin is tragically defeated, and his territory is left devastated. We are just interested in who did that.”
”You two plan on revenge?”
Mark asked, getting ready to fight.
And surprisingly...
”No?” The [Queen Type] replied with a tilt of her head. ”I already said it. We're just interested. And to say, we are quite surprised to see you.”
There, the [Queen Type] took a step forward.
”By the way. Shouldn't fateful meetings like this start with introductions? Let me introduce myself. I'm called Christia. My King here is Heron. We are the highest class among our kin, the ones you humans call the infected.” She then stared at Mark. ”Now, who are you? Or rather... What are you?”
Mark, even with his traits as a Mutator and his pretty limited emotions, could not help but feel genuinely shocked. The question ”who” was standard and acceptable. However, if someone was to ask him ”what,” it just meant that they somehow saw through the chaotic state of his race.
And it seemed that this [Queen Type] managed to see through the thing that only Deities and Gods were able to before.
The most interesting thing, however, was that it was actually the [Queen Type], Christia, who proposed the introduction. It was also strange since the infected were not the type to be concerned about such formalities. Even the [King Type] this afternoon did not bother at all.
However, Mark was not the type to ignore this in this situation. He would feel more concerned about introducing himself to other humans, but not with non-humans.
”Just call me Mark,” Mark replied. ”About what I am, what do I look like to you?”
Hearing that, Christia frowned.
”You definitely look human but also not either. You also felt like those demons, but you feel different too. You seemed to be an undefined existence inside a physical body.”
That reply made Mark shrug. Of course, he somehow expected this answer. Even he could not judge what he was now, after all.
”Christia, are we really just going to stand here and talk?”
The [King Type], Heron, seemed to be more agitated than the [Queen Type].
”Heron, you should wait a bit since we are talking.”
Christia scolded her King, which was quite unexpected for Mark.
”Tch.” Heron clicked his tongue. ”Just be faster.”
Mark watched the antics of the two. Sure enough, no one would be able to differentiate these two compared to actual humans. If no one knew that they were actually high leveled infected, it would be easy to mistake as they show and behave like a regular person.
It was a bad thing. If things reached this point, the time that the infected would enter settlements while pretending to be humans would not be far off.
”Now, where are we?” Christia turned back to Mark. ”Right, about what you are. It seems like you also have no idea yourself.”