The Mutation Wave

Chapter 43: Puppet Master

William woke up early the next morning. He brushed Marianne's messy hair off his face and set her aside as gently as possible. William fished around for his clothes before walking to close the curtains, blocking out the first rays of the sun beginning to pour in; Marianne deserved as much rest as she needed. He crept out of the room.

William hovered along the lush hotel corridors, occasionally nodding to his fellow residents who were taking turns to watch over Firdaus' residents. He doubted that they would cause any trouble, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

He found Masako and Brett leaning their heads against each other in an exposed area of the dining hall, their fingers interlocking like a lovestruck teen couple. His smile slipped off his face as he felt a huge chunk of ice rise up to his position in the air.

"Trouble sleeping too?" William asked.

"As usual, yeah." Vivian smiled serenely, sitting cross-legged on an ice block. "And I'm clearly not alone."

William opened his mouth to make a comment about whether she had cold feet, but decided against it. The cold probably never bothered her anyway.

"The humans are already preparing," he muttered instead. "I came up with this plan; it's only right for me to be up early as well."

"What's with the sudden distinction? You've never referred to them as 'humans' before. Don't forget, we're on the same side here."

"Doesn't change the fact that we're different," William mumbled. "I'm a mutate, and also one who can make the choice to end the mutation wave. Kinda feels like I'm not doing the right thing by ignoring it."

"You're not. You're making that choice right now," Vivian said. "And I daresay it's a good choice. I'd let everything else burn down without hesitation too if I had to choose between my loved ones or the rest of the world."

William kept his silence.

"Whatever happens later, remember not to let your emotions get the better of you." she continued. "That's how Zacharias used to get me under control. He had trouble initially since we both have a red aura, but all he had to do was frighten me with our settlement's gory tournament fights to get into my head."

"Red aura just like you? So he's that powerful too..." William sighed. "That's just great."

"Sorry!" Vivian exclaimed. "I didn't mean to lower your morale. I just-"

"I get it. But if anything happens to me later, look after your sister for me, will you?"

"You'll be fine," Vivian insisted. "We're going to make sure of that."

William looked solemnly at the sun's rays slowly creeping into the hallway and closed his eyes with a small smile.

"Yes. Yes, I will."

~ ~ ~

It did not take long for William to reach his destination, though he had to double check his holographic map a few times. He slowly turned around in a circle, admiring the physics defying structure that no architect would've been able to replicate in barely a week. The hydrokinetic man unscrewed the bottles at his waist, keeping his mind on the liquid inside as he walked into the entrance of a dungeon-like rock formation.

William kept his senses on alert, acutely aware of his allies spreading out into the nearly unrecognisable town of Sector 163. A few hundred bags of congealed blood popped up into his radar ahead of him.

Zombies. And it was obvious who they were guarding.

His breaths increased, but he slowed them deliberately to stop his heart from pounding. Calm down, Marianne and the others should be able to handle them with no problem.