"What the hell? Did it actually hear that?"
I locked eyes with a child's red pupils, finally getting a full view of their figure.
It's entire body was layered in folds, grotesquely overstuffed with flesh. It wasn't the "chubby and cute" kind of plumpness—it was abnormal.
Abnormal.
"…A mutant."
As the thought crossed my mind, the child, who had been silently observing, opened it's toothless mouth.
"Screeeeeeeech!"
"Shit! My ears!!!"
The sound was nothing like the typical roar of a zombie. It slammed into my ears with such force that I nearly staggered.
Panicking, I directed my mana and reached out a hand toward the mutant.
Whatever that sound was meant to do, I needed to shut that mouth as quickly as possible.
However due to the sheer amount of distance and the hell lot of sound it made, my hands trembled uncontrollably.
"…Damn it, this is bad."
"Screeeeeeech!"
Even when I tried to crush its throat, the mutant didn't budge—not its arms, not its legs, not any part of its body. Even under the influence of my telekinesis, it remained immovable.
I noticed the wrinkles covering the mutant's entire body.
"Could that be... military-grade compacted muscle?"
My telekinesis will be useless at this distance against that unhuman skin armour of the mutant's.
No matter what happened, I could always flee into the air, so I withdrew my telekinetic hold, deciding to focus on recovering my mana instead.
"W-what the hell is that?!"
At that moment, people began spilling out of the building across from the shopping mall, where I stood watching from the rooftop.
Among them were a bespectacled man, another guy covered in books duct-taped to his body, and a woman in similar state.
"Screeeeeeeech!"
The ear-splitting screech hit the group head-on, making their legs shake like leaves in a storm.
Unless someone was born with a loudspeaker fused to their throat, that screech was unquestionably the product of a mutant.
But was that all? Just a loud screech that momentarily disrupted balance?
Compared to other muscular mutants, this one's abilities seemed pathetic in comparison.
There had to be more to it.
And those people would probably be the ones to figure it out.
I decided to watch, as if enjoying a movie.
"W-what do we do? When is Kane coming?"
"Damn it, every damn time it's 'Kane this, Kane that.' Move, idiot."
Pushing the anxious glasses-wearer aside, the man clad in book armour rushed toward the mutant, baseball bat in hand, and swung it hard.
Smack!
The loud impact echoed as he dropped the bat and screamed in agony.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"
His right hand was twisted at a grotesque angle, spasming uncontrollably.
"You idiot, even telekinesis couldn't move it. What were you thinking?"
As the armoured man collapsed to the ground, crying, two more people emerged from the building behind him.
"Sam! What happened?"
"B-bro! this... this woman kept saying she needed to go outside, s-so she made a huge scene, and now..."
A handsome man calmed the rambling glasses-wearer. Even from a distance, his height and presence radiated charm.
'...is that the Kane he talked about?'
Another man in a tracksuit followed the handsome guy and helped the book-armoured man to his feet. His muscular legs suggested he had once been an athlete.
"Kane, I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Bruno, grab Smith and get him away from that thing..."
"Keeeeeeeeeh!"
The mutants' wails were joined by the howls of distant zombies, and the ground began to quake.
Standing higher than them, I could see what they couldn't: zombies were rushing toward the mutant from all directions.
"Oh... right. The sound."
I quickly pieced together the mutant's purpose.
That screech wasn't just noise—it was an alarm, a siren meant to summon sound-sensitive zombies.
'A mutant that screams to call a zombie wave upon spotting humans.'
Sensing the danger, the group quickly gathered into a tight formation. The woman clinging to the handsome man trembled violently before whispering something to him.
Even with my enhanced senses, I couldn't hear what she said.
Whatever it was, the handsome man started turning his head, scanning his surroundings with urgency.
He was looking directly at where the zombies were approaching. From above, it was clear.
"Cristine says zombies are coming..."
"Bro's! It's that woman's fault! If she hadn't insisted on going outside—"
"I told you to just assess the situation."
"I-I said we should stay put! I swear!"
While the book-armoured man whimpered, the tracksuit guy turned to the handsome man.
"Kane, his condition is bad. Let's head back to the library."
"Going back to the library won't heal him."
"But we need somewhere safe, at least. I can try setting his bones."
"I know. Let's move quickly."
As their conversation continued, I waited for the woman to lift her head.
'Come on, just look up. I need to see your face.'
More than the fact they were from a library, I was focused on identifying the woman who kept her head bowed.
The woman clinging to the handsome man trembled again and finally raised her head.
By now, the zombies were close enough to be visible to the naked eye from the ground.
Seeing her face, I immediately raised my voice and shouted toward them.
"It's dangerous to stay there!"
The group turned their heads toward me.
Waving my hand to get their attention, I yelled again.
"Come over here!"