Day 2 – 7:02 AM – City Mall Bacoor, 3rd Floor, West Wing Stairwell
Mark and the rest of the group were being led by Odelina this time as they went down to the Basement Parking while Mark was being briefed by her and Mei about the information they learned from the military.
After leaving the matter about the strange behavior the Biter he caught for later, he told the girls about what they needed to do and Mark's decision to bring Mei with him and not leave her anymore to the military.
During the time when Ange's brother blurted all those things earlier, he noted some vital information. It was that Mei's family had a high standing within the Evacuation Zone. If that was the case, it would be hard for Mei to stay there peacefully.
His body was strengthened and his ability was also getting stronger. Along with Abbygale and the new addition of Odelina, these Mutators, as called by the military, could also help in protecting her and Odelina's children. As Odelina was now following him as his servant, of course, her children would also come with them.
Mark just wished that her children were well mannered like Abbygale. He did not want an additional head ache during their travels. After all, in most zombie stories, children caused the most life threatening situations for their groups.
As the group grew larger, everyone knew that finding a vehicle to use was a must. Not only for them but also for the people Mark wanted to find.
Surprisingly, Odelina said that she saw a perfect vehicle for them to use in the Basement Parking. That led to the current situation.
While they traversed the mall, they could see the soldiers moving around busily while doing their duties. The stronger men within the survivors also volunteered to do other jobs that they could.
Still, Mark could not help but notice some of the soldiers glancing at him every now and then. It was not like Mark could sense any ill intent from them but it was quite disturbing for him as he was a person who hated too much attention from strangers.
When they arrived at the Central area of the basement parking, they saw the soldiers that were busy fixing their vehicles. Ignoring the soldiers, Odelina led the group past them.
They soon arrived at the East Wing where they saw the survivors being rationed with food for their breakfast. Each person was given a bowl of rice porridge with meat, vegetables and boiled eggs. Apparently, the military decided to secure as much food as possible and cooked the perishables for the survivors.
Seeing the survivors eat the porridge, Abbygale and Mei's stomachs growled. Thinking about it, they had not eaten breakfast yet. Mark who did not really eat early in the morning as he always woke up near noon every day was also feeling hungry at the moment. It was also the same for Odelina.
And the self-proclaimed servant went towards the soldiers rationing the rice porridge and took several bowls for their group. Mark did not even needed to send her and she already did. Just how efficient was she?
The other survivors were looking at their group as they took the bowls. Mark was quite bothered by their stares but decided to ignore them. They were also survivors here so they were eligible to receive rations. Well, Mark also noticed the men that were not looking at them because of the bowls but because of the girls with him.
Holding their bowls of porridge, Odelina led them further towards the Eastern most part of the basement parking. There, they finally saw the vehicle Odelina wanted them to see.
"This is the car."
Odelina pointed at the vehicle.
It was a large vehicle. It looked like a van but Mark was sure that it was not. He knew what this car was and was surprised to find one here.
"An MB Sprinter? Why is something like this here? Not even mentioning that it is an armored model."
Mark said in confusion.
"So, you also knew this car Master?"
"I do but this the first time I actually saw one. Well, I'm surprised that you seem to know what this car is."
"My husband was in luxury car business so we deal with these kinds of cars every time."
Hearing her reason, Mark nodded. It was really a valid reason since this kind of car was not much known in the common populace. Even him, he just managed to accidentally find a picture of this car in the internet while he was browsing some online articles.
"Is this a good vehicle, Gege?"
"Since it's the armored model, it is good to use for use but I think, we need to gear it up a little bit more if we are going to use this one."
Mark stared at the car and continued.
"Still, we have a problem though. How are we going to open and drive this car? I don't know much about hotwiring and I doubt that we can start this car through that."
"Master, let's mull over that later. We should eat first before the food go cold."
Mark decided to follow Odelina's suggestion. They sat on the side walk and on the wheel stop on the empty parking slot beside the MB Sprinter and started eating.
"It tastes good isn't it?"
Odelina said after swallowing a spoonful of the porridge and to that, the rest could only nod. Abbygale did not however as she was busy devouring her food. Her face was also getting messy.
"They soldiers did not skimp on seasonings. It's reasonable I think. They won't be able to bring everything so it's best to use anything they can."
Mark said as he tried to find a handkerchief on him but did not find any. He then saw a hand giving him one. It was Odelina's hand. Mark took the handkerchief from her and wiped Abbygale's face.
They continued eating their bowl while they talked about a few things. Also, Odelina went to get another bowl of porridge as Abbygale wanted another serving.
While they were talking, an unexpected guest came walking towards them. The person appearing before them was more surprising than getting attacked by a new kind of infected.
The person who came to them was the Bodyguard of the Fat Man yesterday.
The downcast aura from him from yesterday did not diminish even just a little bit. When he arrived, he just stood before them. He seemed to want to say something but did not know how to start. A full grown bulky bodied man in a suit behaving like a high school girl who did not know how to strike a conversation with her crush.
It looked really painful to the eyes so Mark decided to lend him a hand.
"Do you want something with us?"
When the Man heard his question, he finally eased up and answered.
"I heard that you won't come with us to evacuate from the employees and soldiers in the third floor. I figured that you will need a vehicle to use."
"You have a vehicle?"
"Not really mine but my boss'."
"And that car is?"
"That."
The man pointed at the Armored MB Sprinter beside Mark's group.
Now it made sense why this kind of car was here. Given the all-important attitude of that Fat Man, his way of gaudy clothing and having an armed bodyguard with him, it was not surprising if he own something like this vehicle.
The man took out a key holder with several keys from his pocket and tossed it to Mark.
"That's all I wanted to say so I'll take my leave."
The man then turned around without waiting for another reply.
Mark and the group looked at the sad back of the man until he was out of sight.
"Gege, why did he give this to us?"
"Atonement. That man was trying to atone for his sins. He seems like a good person but he served the wrong boss."
Mark used his ability to ensure that there were no traps when the man was talking to him. Fortunately, there was none of sort. The man was really atoning for what he had done in following the orders of his boss.
"Atonement for what?"
As the newcomer, Odelina was in the dark about what happened yesterday morning. Mark did not skimp on the details and told her the story while they ate the rest of the meal.
"Now that we had one problem solved. We just need to refit a few parts and some more armor to it specially the wheels."
Mark was happy for the pie that fell in his hands out of nowhere. With this, a lot of the problems in his mind were given an answer.
"Odelina, can I ask you to get Uncle Bernard to bring some power tools and metal sheets here? Actually, I know that you can do all those yourself but following what Freed did, we're going to hide the fact that you're a Mutator to the soldiers."
Mark looked at Odelina as she nodded after hearing what he said. He then continued.
"I'll check this vehicle first and what it has inside."
With that, Odelina collected the bowls and left. Mark then saw her get two more bowls of porridge before she continued to her duties. It made Mark smile. At least, she did not forget her children in order to blindly follow his orders.
Mark looked at the bunch of keys in his hand. He cycled over the keys and used the remote where the key holder was tied to and successfully opened the unfamiliar vehicle.
What they saw inside even made the rich girl Mei surprised. What a luxurious vehicle!
Comfortable seats, high-tech equipment, wide space and other very significant things. Furthermore, the base color used inside and outside the car was black which made Mark like the vehicle more.
Mark then looked at the side. He saw Abbygale who was already playing on the soft chair. He entered the vehicle and started to check everything and familiarize himself with the vehicle.