Chapter 665 - Cleaning the Warehouse, The Way the Rebels Deal With Dangerous Situations (1/2)
Day 148 - 12:15 PM - Warehouse, Factory Area, Rebel Base, San Pedro Poblacion, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes
Like mannequins, everyone inside the warehouse was frozen stiff. There was no distinction whether they were the rebels or the forced workers. All of them were under the frightening effect of Mark's Emphatic Ability.
Even his sister included. Of course, unlike the others, he controlled the effect on Marian.
Nevertheless, it did not remove the fact that it was a frightening situation similar to everyone experiencing sleep paralysis at the same time.
But Mark did not care.
Shaking, they could only watch as Mark started walking around the warehouse. The first he approached was another group of rebels at the corner tasked to guard the workers.
Of course, they were panicking.
They wanted to flee, but their bodies refused to move. There were those with a stronger will. However, the only movement they could make was to fall flat on the floor.
Mark waved his right hand. Those that still stood fell with their heads rolling away and blood creating a pool on the floor. Mark then looked down and waved his hand a few more times. The rebels that fell to the floor in resistance followed the demise of their comrades.
They died with eyes opened wide, unable to voice out their horror.
Sure enough, their voiceless deaths stirred up everyone present. They started to believe that Mark was not a human but a monster.
Nonetheless, some thought otherwise. After all, Mark was walking past the panicked women. He was only aiming at the rebels that were supposed to keep an eye on them.
But then, the confusion came as Mark raised his hand at the next group of the horrified armed men and stopped a bit before waving his hand once more. However, while most of these men fell with decapitated heads, one remained standing, shaking violently in fear.
Mark stared at the man for a second before turning back. That was when the sensation on the man's body returned. He fell kneeling to the pool of blood of the killed rebels beside him. The man could only look at Mark's back without even a shred of will to raise the weapon on his hands. But then, to the surprise of everyone, a woman at a table nearby regained the ability to move. Instead of running, however, she unexpectedly rushed towards the man spared by Mark.
Fearing for their lives, the two could only embrace each other. It was clear that they had an intimate relationship.
”If you two want to live, don't move from that spot.”
The people around heard Mark spoke to the two. Of course, there was no response aside from their confused stare with eyes filled with fear. But even so, the two did not want to die. Thus, they could only stay put, even if they were kneeling on the blood of the dead rebels.
Ignoring the two, Mark made his way toward the last group of rebels in the warehouse.
It was the group guarding the workers in charge of cooking and distributing lunch.
And, of course, they all died without resistance. Now, aside from the spared man, the only ones remaining in the warehouse were all women. After all, it was the area where the captured women were all forced to work.
As for the men, those that were capable got forced into the ranks of the rebels. On the other hand, the ones incapable of fighting got sent to the field for farming. Thus, none of them were here.
After clearing the warehouse of rebels, Mark spoke out loud.
”I'll let all of you move now! Stay put, and don't make a ruckus, though I don't mind if any of you want to follow these guys.”
As Mark said his threat, he kicked a severed head into the air like a soccer ball, splattering blood at the trajectory it traveled. And to the horror of some, the blood fell on their bodies.
”URPH!”
Some of the women could not help but feel nauseous, getting her face splattered with blood. It was not surprising since some of them here were not used to such gore. They wanted to vomit out the food they had just eaten. However, the fear of Mark forced them to hold it in.
Mark monitored everyone's emotions. Knowing that they decided to stay put, he released his coercion, allowing these women to regain their movements.
”W-what are you going to do with us?”
A courageous woman asked Mark.
”Don't worry,” Mark replied. ”I'm only here for the rebels. After this, you are all free to go wherever you wanted.”
When Mark said that, it immediately exploded into a commotion.
”HMMM?”
Mark then tilted his head threateningly, causing a sudden silence to enveloped the warehouse.
This silence should have allowed Mark to speak more.
But then...
BAM!!!
The metal wall of the warehouse was punctured by a sniper bullet.
At the same moment, Mark swiftly moved his right arm, making his right hand block his temple.
CLANG!!!
Mark's armored hand closed and shook violently with a loud metallic sound.
The women panicked. It was obvious that Mark was shot at.
It was when Mark opened his hand, letting a flattened tip of a sniper bullet fall to the floor.
”Damn it. My hand hurts,” Mark said, shaking his hand because of the pain. ”Looks like they had some experts, huh.”
Mark turned his head, looking at the punctured metal wall near the entrance of the warehouse.
***
In the watchtower at the walls, a man equipped with a sniper rifle could not believe what he had just seen. He was a Mutator with thermal vision. Furthermore, his sight could pass through thin metal walls like the ones used to build the warehouse. Although the sun could affect his eyesight, it was still usable as the temperature in the surroundings was cooler even during noon. As such, he could see what just happened clearly.
”Jules, what happened? Did you kill the intruder?”
Another man asked the frozen sniper.
”Shit! No! The bastard caught the bullet with his hand!” The sniper hurriedly said as he snapped back to reality. ”Quick! Report to the others that we are not dealing with just some intruder right now! I will go ring the bell!”
”Good!”
The other man replied without question.
Well, that was his last word, though.