Mutagen

Chapter 4 The Neck To Neck Encounters

To his right, there was a man wearing a white uniform running towards him like where was no tomorrow with a shotgun swaying by his waist. If he looked normal, it would have been fine but the problem was this person's clothes almost turned red because of blood and there was a bite sized chunk of flesh missing on his neck. Another step was all it took and the man lunged at Mark like a hungry beast.

Even though Mark broke into cold sweat that moment, his reflexes did not betray him. His blood boiled up as he stepped sideways dodging the zombie's pounce. While it was still in mid-air in front of him, he gave it a heavy swing of his bat coming from above. The swing totally missed the zombie's head but it directly smashed unto the nape of its neck.

Cracking sounds of bones creepily entered his ears when the heavy metal bat made contact. The impact halted the momentum of its pounce and the zombie fell on the floor with its neck bent backwards more than normally it would be able to.

Giving out a few twitches, it almost stopped moving. Why almost? Because its head was still moving! Mark's counter attack broke its neck and severed all its ability to move its body but still, its brain remained intact. And thus, it was still "alive". Still, he can't help but notice that it was weaker. Probably because of his attack but he did not know for sure.

The head glared at mark like it was looking at its prey while growling with its mouth that puked out blood.

Mark on the other hand glared back at the zombie but he was actually trying to get used to the sensation he felt just now. Even if Mark did not hesitate to give it a killing blow, it was still the very first time he tried to kill a person in real life even if it was a zombie. In the video games he played every day, killing was a normal matter as a large variety of games work by the system of killing enemies, whether it would be humans, monsters or something else.

Also, the feeling of being close to death was suffocating. After all, it truly was a close one. If his instincts did not kick in, just getting pounced on was not the end of it.

The sensation of being near death and killing in real life was totally different. Mark was actually shivering and his heart was pounding loudly as he tried to hold his metal bat tighter. After getting a few mouthfuls of air, he started to make himself calm down.

He stared at the familiar zombie that was lying on the floor in front of him. It was familiar since he saw this person just a while ago. Failing to reload his gun on time, he got bitten on his neck by a zombie that pounced on him. It was the guard on the first floor earlier who vanished when Mark was not looking. As evidence, the unloaded shotgun that still had its chamber opened lay beside the zombie as it was strapped around his body.

This zombie guard had no other injury aside from the bite he got earlier and the broken neck inflicted by Mark. This way, Mark was able to assure himself that how it was like in the movies. A single bite from a zombie can turn a person into one. He had the idea that there might be other factors for transmission like blood and excrement but Mark had no time or way of knowing for now.

As time was very important, Mark decided to continue mulling over these things later. Steeling his heart, he raised his baseball bat once more and mercilessly swung it on the head of the former guard. An iron like smell scattered in the air as the of the guard blood splashed on the floor.

Mark gave the bat another swing to the side to get rid of the blood splashed on it and kicked the dead zombie to make it lay on its back. Covering his hand with a handkerchief, he carefully removed one end of the strap connected to the shotgun and pulled the gun off the zombie's body. He then detached the buckle of the guard's security belt kit and gave it a pull taking the belt with belt bags and pockets away.

Giving the contents of the larger bag behind the belt a short peek, he smiled. He took out several shotgun shells from the bag and filled the shotgun's chamber fully reloading it. He then buckled the belt around his waist as everything inside the pockets connected to the belt contain necessary stuff like a small flashlight on the first pocket and the two-way radio at the pocket next to it. The radio looked broken though as he can't hear any crackling noise from it even if it was turned on.

Without further ado, not even giving the dead zombie guard another glance, he ran towards the central area. It was because he started to hear several screams here on this floor!

Three people gathering supplies in the east wing of the mall were now running away as they are being chased by a fast moving zombie. Further behind them are several more zombies but were slower and staggering while trying to catch up.

Mark saw the three and could not help but commend them in his mind. They did not want to fight as they were afraid. Still, as they ran away, they did not have the impulse to throw away and leave the supplies they found.

The three men were actually running away pushing two carts filled with several large boxes of food in it!

Since the sports gear store he just left was located southern wing near the central area of the mall, he was not that far from the three. As the three were pushing carts of precious food, he did not hesitate and ran towards them to help. Another reason was because he was eager to try out the gun he just took from the zombie guard he had just killed.

Seeing Mark who held a gun in his hand was running towards them, the three men felt elated. They feared to fight the running zombie chasing them and there are more zombies coming from behind. Still, they did not want to leave the food they found with great effort. It was lucky that their job was to restock food at stalls so they knew where to find these carts. They found the carts and also emptied the stall that they should be delivering the supply to but before they can take everything, they saw the zombies unsteadily climbing the escalator with a fast moving one leading in front.

"Continue running!"

Mark ran past the three and shouted. Of course, the three men would not dare to stop even if he did not shout.

He then stopped running and stood not far from the zombie rushing towards his direction. As he saw the zombie, Mark thought how lucky those three was. If it was a normal fast running zombie, they would not make it without leaving the carts of food. However, the zombie chasing them had only one foot! Only its right foot was intact and the other was left with a stump just above the ankle. Trails made of blood that dripped from its bleeding leg could be seen at the path it ran before. There was no doubt that this zombie was in the same standard as the guard Mark killed earlier but it was greatly hindered by its disability.

As the zombie tried its beast rushing at him, Mark held the metal bat on his left and the pulled shotgun from his left side with his right hand. When he got his hand on this gun, he was actually itching to try and shoot it. This shotgun may be short bodied but it still did not lack a good punch. A gun was just one in the list of an Otaku's most wanted items.

He stepped his left foot backwards turning his body to the side as his right hand aimed the shotgun forward. He could only aim like this as he did not want to make the mistake of putting down his baseball bat and the shotgun was a model without a stock. As a gamer and an Otaku, he had quite a good amount of knowledge about guns. Even if he wanted to hit the zombie's head, he aimed the gun a little lower as he minded the recoil.

BANG!

Mark felt his right hand go numb after pulling the trigger while blood of the zombie splashed everywhere. The zombie's head flew off the terrace and its body was pushed back by a stem back because of the impact before it slumped to the floor. Despite it was shot with a shotgun, the body did not receive enough impact as it should as the zombie was not hit in the center of its body. Still, the head did not explode like a watermelon being smashed on the floor either. It was because the zombie was hit by the gunshot…

On its neck…