Ch7

The world outside of the Research Institution is… a very different scene. Shaquille didn't know how such a change was possible, they'd only just passed the walls that separate the main building with the outside world, and he'd found that despite the relative greeniness within the walls, the scenery outside was barren as can be, with many things, dubbed as 'litter' as the Manna particles informed him, spread everywhere.

"It's a far cry from the Research Building," Shaquille commented quietly.

"Well, the Research Building has this security measure where any unidentified people and other things will be immediately apprehended until further action from the higher-ups," Charles explained, equally quiet.

Truth be told, the only ones who currently know that the ice he'd been trapped inside had been shattered were the people in the Research Building, and possibly the people in the Research Guild itself. And so the Head Researcher had instructed them to not spread the news with the mercenary team they're going to go with for now.

It was for safety reasons that he'd instructed both of them, though Shaquille could think of a few other ways to prevent others from finding out that he's a one-and-only first-gen Fae. Currently, his appearance was that of a tall, silver-haired foreigner, others would think him a demi-fae due to his gold-silver eyes.

… Nothing that he changed too much, he reduced the pointiness of his ears that it's almost unnoticeable, and darkened his eye colour so that it doesn't look gold-silver at first glance.

The mercenary squad vice leader, Ted, did a double take when he saw Shaquille. His light-blue eyes had clearly showed how his pupils dilated at the sight of him. Not that Shaquille did not know what that meant, but he didn't really care. Even if he got attacked by him, he would be able to easily overthrow the muscled man.

The researcher and the Fae sat in one truck, side-by-side. Across Shaquille, a girl sat with an automatic gun that looked far bigger than she could handle, her head lolling to the side as she napped, leaning on to the person beside her who looked helpless at her actions.

Looking away, Shaquille saw that Charles was looking at them with melancholy in his eyes, seeming to be deep in thought. Feeling that he didn't have anything else to do but wait until they reached their destination, the Fae closed his eyes to focus on absorbing the little bit of Manna in the air.

It would take a few days to reach their destination. In that time, Shaquille had memorized everyone's faces and names.

The leader never showed herself to any of them, so no-one knew who she was (though, Shaquille gave a certain someone a stare when that was said). Besides Ted, the vice-leader, a rather bloodthirsty girl with her boyfriend introduced themselves as Vee and Ian; the very same girl who was nodding off while hugging her automatic gun to her chest.

Then there's Spade, a Fae who wore some sort of maid uniform with an Alice in Wonderland theme. She looked pretty unique, and also had a unique temperament, so basically everyone knew her, even though she's someone that the mercenary squad hired temporarily for safety reasons.

A pair of twins, Alex and Ace, who were both experts on crossbows. They could also control Manna enough to create flames from nothing. Charles called them 'ability users', which were quite rare for anyone to become.

It was quite an interesting discovery for the first-gen Fae.

There was also a mother-daughter pair who were in charge of supplies. The mother looked elderly that everyone first thought that she's a grandmother, while her daughter is only 7 years old. She was one of the luckier young ones who'd survive the initial Manna explosion that turned humans into zombies. They were a pitiful sight at first glance, but the mother is a master strategist while the daughter is a clever child that when there are negotiations between mercenary squads (and other parties), they're the ones who're sent to the frontlines.

This mercenary squad is truly interesting, Shaquille thought. It seems that the Research Head didn't want to take any risks, so they directly hired one of the best mercenary squads under the Research Guild.

On the way, a few zombies appeared, but they were quickly solved by a shot to their forehead; not enough for Charles to gather any data from Shaquille's kills. Some people came to talk to him, though he didn't really respond unless it was for something of importance.

He'd heard some of them whisper something along the lines of something 'immortal' when they gossiped about him, which he thought wasn't too far from the truth. He'd lived… 'lived', for so much longer than the humans and Fae in this world that he might as well have been an immortal.

Not to mention that he, as a pure-blooded Fae, could basically outlive three worlds consecutively.

"..."

A thought struck him so suddenly that he dared not think much further about it. As someone had said before, thinking too much is like a disease; best not to ponder further about it.

A few days passed, and they finally reached their destination. It's an abandoned school that had fallen to ruins. Intel had said that the school had been abandoned for years when the apocalypse started; survivors thought the place was perfect to turn into a temporary base, so they fixed up a few places and everything was well.

Until rats bit them in their sleep.

At that time, no one thought that rats could turn people into zombies; animals and plants in general didn't change. Plants mutated to a certain degree, and animals became more aggressive and were more difficult to kill now, but that was the extent of it. When eaten, the didn't infect anyone, nor did they suddenly have alarming behaviors.

So when the rats bit them, they didn't think too much of it. Everyone was thinking of survival, how could they spare a thought to some disease-ridden rodent biting them?

Everyone turned into a zombie, and someone from the Research Guild had sent a report on what had happened there before they too became a zombie. And after all the trouble they went through to fix the building, they ended up trapping themselves in the school building, unable to escape.

In the daylight, the building looked gloomy. Adding the fact that there were figures sluggishly travelling between windows, with the doors all boarded up and the roof collapsing at some places, it undoubtedly looked like something straight out of a horror movie.