Mutagen

Day 376 - 1:52 PM - Gilimanuk Harbour, Gilimanuk, Melaya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali 82252, Indonesia

Within the Gilimanuk Harbour, the closest harbor to the Island of Java, a large group of people moved around quickly as they came in and out of a magical portal.

"Move that there!" Nelia's shout echoed as she directed the workers. "Sort out the items properly to make it easy to move those later!"

Following the instructions, the workers carried the materials while marveling at the existence of the so-called portal.

BRRRRRR...

The low hum of a truck's engine entered everyone's ears as a military truck came out of the portal, carrying more supplies from the other side. It was the military truck the soldiers found in the destroyed military outpost in Semarang. Compared to its condition when they got the vehicle, it now had some exterior damage.

It seemed it got these new damages during the fight with the Night Goddess when she turned gigantic and tilted Mountain Back with her attack. They even found it rolled over to its side.

Fortunately, the truck was still in a good enough condition to run. It was a big help transporting the materials and supplies they gathered during their journey.

The work was hard and quite hectic. However, everyone was in good spirits.

It was because they finally reached Bali after many days of travel and overcoming unfathomable dangers.

However, it was not the finish line. It was just a new starting line for the survivors of the event they now called the "Fall of Muria."

Still, reaching Bali did not feel that real. Ever since the apocalypse began, trying to travel around, even just from city to city, would already be called suicide. Yet, they traveled nearly half of the country to reach this place and survived through it. It might not be with their own skills as they had the help of strong people, yet it was still an achievement.

But, of course, the Indonesian survivors owed their survival to the mysterious group called the Evernight. Without them, this journey would have been impossible. Let us say that the Indonesian survivors managed to reach the eastern coast of Java on their own. Even if that happened, there was no way for them to cross the waters between Java and Bali.

Not only were there no boats left intact in the harbor of Ketapan on the Eastern Java coast, but even if there were, they would not know what kinds of monsters might be lurking underwater.

Fortunately, with the help of the dragon of the Evernight, Chaflar, and the girl named Spera, the impossible became possible. There was no need to travel over the Bali Strait as a portal could connect the two locations directly.

Unfortunately, there was a limit to the size of the portal. The largest portal was just five meters in diameter. As such, the giant [Infected Turtle], Mountain Back, had no way of passing through it. That was the reason why everyone had to transport the materials they gathered through the portal connecting the camp on Mountain Back's back and the Gilimanuk Harbor in Bali.

And now, they plan to start their survival in Bali starting here in this harbor.

Of course, the harbor had to be cleared up before the portal was opened. There was no surprise the harbor was inhabited by the [Infected]. To safely transport the supplies and make a camp in this place, the area must be secured and it was Mark who did the honors.

But why this harbor in particular?

A harbor was definitely a busy place before the apocalypse. As such, dangers would be all over the place. Furthermore, Earth's geological appearance had drastically changed during the [Fusion of Dimensions]. This harbor and the nearby locations should have been just ruins.

But that was the strange part.

The harbor and almost everything in the entirety of the peninsula of Gilimanuk was nearly intact. Sure, there were collapsed houses, damaged structures, and other effects of the apocalypse on the place. However, it was far from being considered ruins, unlike most of the remnants left of the human civilization they had passed by during their journey.

And that was why the Indonesian survivors and the members of Evernight were currently divided into four groups. Two groups for guarding the opposite sides of the portal, one group for transporting the materials, and a group for investigation.

The group for investigation, composed of Mark, Feng Zhiruo, Felicia from the Evernight, Edge from the Moon Chasers, Farrel from the Fire Fighters, General Wijaya of the military, and Kana of the 3rd Wave, were out exploring the strangely intact town of Gilimanuk. Well, Kana was just an addition who insisted on joining the group since she was bored.

***

The members of the investigation group left the harbor after lunch.

And right after exiting the harbor, it did not take long for the group to encounter their first enemy.

It was a male [Infected]. Furthermore, it was what Mark and the others would consider as a [Common Infected]. After it saw the group, it immediately sprinted at them, indicating that it was likely a first stage [Biter].

A weak [Infected] like this did not take long to kill. Felicia stabbed her claw through the skull of the [Infected] without it even realizing.

As the male [Infected] fell to the ground and without signs of moving, they all surrounded it with frowns and confusion on their faces.

The corpse was definitely an unmutated [Biter]. It was something one would commonly see and one of the two types with the largest population among the [Infected] along with the so-called [Eaters].

However, the strange thing was that most [Biters] and [Eaters] nowadays looked weathered. After a year since the apocalypse began, the bodies of the [Infected] would experience changes due to the passage of time. They would look dirty, their clothes were deteriorated, and their wounds would look old and festered.

The usual appearance that a [Biter] commonly had at this time was not present in this male [Infected]. This only meant one thing.

It had not been too long since this man had turned.

While it might not be too recent, it was definitely not too long, either.

And it was not the first time Mark noticed this.

"When you cleared the harbor, the [Infected] were in pretty much a similar condition, correct?"

General Wijaya asked Mark.

"You all saw the bodies, too, right?"

Mark shrugged. After all, while killing the [Infected] in the harbor could be done by Mark alone, clearing the place of corpses was a different story.

The near intact town. The recently turned [Infected]. These two things only point to one possible scenario.

This place was inhabited by people and the place even managed to survive the brunt of the [Fusion of Dimensions]. Considering that it was even right beside the coast, it would not be surprising if it was destroyed by a tsunami, but it was not.

It indicated a pretty strong barrier had been erected in this place that not only blocked the radiation and temperature but also protected them from physical harm.

Since the strength of the barriers during the [Fusion of Dimensions] was proportional to the number and unity of the people it protected, the survivors in this place were not only a large population, but they were also tightly united.

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Unfortunately, it seemed that their number and unity alone were not able to keep them alive.

"Let's go. Let's thoroughly check the place. Maybe we can't find some clues about survivors. Maybe, we can also find supplies."

Farrel urged the group.

Clearing the place could be done next time. For now, they left the corpse in the middle of the street and moved on.

"If there is a place where people would gather, where could it be? Maybe we can also search for the place where they stored their supplies."

Kana asked while tapping her right index finger on her chin.

"If we are looking for those places, then we could start at the school zone. It's not far from here."

Mark's voice unexpectedly answered Kana's question.

Of course, it surprised everyone, except for Felicia and Feng Zhiruo. The other four could only turn their heads at Mark, who was walking behind them, only to see him looking at a smartphone in his right hand.

Since Mark was a foreigner and they all knew it was the first time for every member of his group to be in Indonesia Mark's answer came to be pretty surprising.

But his answer and action of looking at his phone immediately clicked into General Wijaya's mind.

"Do you perhaps have a map in that phone?"

General Wijaya could not help but ask.

Without answering immediately, Mark just showed them the screen of his phone, showing a satellite image of the map of their current location.

"I have an offline world map with both map and satellite view. Unfortunately, because I didn't have much time and storage when downloading it before, it only had certain landmarks saved."

Mark spoke.

"Landmarks like schools?"

Farrel asked.

"Schools, malls, government facilities, police, and military facilities. These are locations I thought would be good to know about when this mess started. Well, I only intended to download the Philippine map, but since I was in a hurry, it pretty much downloaded similar maps of the countries surrounding ours by mistake.

I didn't really think I would end up traveling to other countries back then, after all. Well, it turned out to be a fateful mistake."

"It sure is a fateful mistake."

General Wijaya could not help but agree in amazement.

Then, Kana asked a dumb question.

"Is that real-time?"

"Why would you think it's real-time..." Mark tilted his head in confusion. "You think I'll be able to do that and connect to some satellite in space?"

"I mean, it's not farfetched to think so?"

Kana copied Mark's tilt and answered with a question that would be hard to refute considering the things that Mark had shown them.

"I know I have my own absurdities, but what you're talking about is definitely outside my capabilities."

Mark shrugged in exasperation.

"Alright, enough with that," Edge interrupted the banter of the two. "Where's the school zone you are talking about?"

Mark then fiddled with his phone before answering.

"We are currently on the main road, so... The fastest route would be straight this road and the third street to the left."

"Alright, let's head there. No opposition?" General Wijaya asked and no one responded. "Good."

With their destination decided, the group traversed the main road, which would normally be avoided by most survivors. After all, main roads would be where many [Infected] could be encountered among all kinds of roadways.

And that was right.

As the group exited the main road's curve, the straight road before them had quite a large number of [Infected] lurking around.

And, of course, the conditions of the bodies of the [Infected] were pretty much the same as the previous one. It was all clear that it had not been too long since this place was overrun.

Aside from the [Biters] and [Eaters], there were a few [Mutated Infected]. But, like the others, they were in the initial stages of Mutation. They were stronger than the common ones, but not as strong as the current [Mutated Infected] one would encounter in large ruined cities.

These weak [Infected] did not pose too much of a threat to this overpowered group. Although it consumed a bit more time, the group easily dealt with the [Infected] attacking them.

Soon enough, the path of the group had been littered with corpses of the mindless [Infected].

Ignoring the [Infected] further away on the main road, the group entered the street Mark told them to.

But as they were in the middle of passing through the second block after they veered off the main road, Mark suddenly paused. Even Felicia's feline instincts kicked in as she jumped onto the roof of the nearest house and squinted at the direction they were supposed to be going.

Seeing the reaction of the two, Feng Zhiruo immediately put her hand on the handle of her sword, ready to draw it if needed.

"What happened to you two?"

Kana could not help but ask, only noticing Mark and Felicia.

It was the same for the other three. Who also got their weapons ready just in case.

Mark then looked and fiddled with his phone, scanning the map. It was when he answered.

"There are people in the school we are heading to. And they are definitely not in a good condition."

Mark's words surprised everyone.

"There are survivors in this place?"

Farrel voiced out.

But then, Felicia, who had jumped down from the roof chimed in with a bad piece of information.

"They won't be survivors anytime soon. The location ahead of us is surrounded by a horde. There are more than two or even three hundred."

Silence ensued within the group as they all digested the information.

Nonetheless, as General Wijaya, Edge, and Farrel looked at each other eye to eye, they all gave a nod.

"We are going to help them."

Edge declared.