Chapter 9

Thomas left his belongings with Max and the unconscious Anne and started heading back towards the settlement. His sword was held on his back by a leather strap. It wouldn't help much against those bugs but he brought it in case of any other mutants.

He went through the front gate and down the street. When he arrived at the house a chill ran down his spine. The bugs had spread out all over the house and in the street. Thomas didn't know if these bugs would be dangerous to him since he was already mutated but he didn't want to take any chances.

He had to find a way to get rid of the bugs and quickly. Anne was running out of time, it only takes a short while for the mutation to run its course and in this case it would kill her.

He started looking around the area for anything he could use but after searching for a few minutes he came up with nothing. His anxiety was rising for each second that passed by. He finally decided to stop wasting time and just run in to grab the bag. Thomas took a step forward and accidentally kicked an old bent can. When the can tumbled into the group of bugs something strange happened.

At first glance it looked like the bugs were moving away from the can like they were afraid of it. After thinking for a moment he realized that it wasn't the can they were scared of, it was the sound. He looked around and quickly found two metal pipes scattered on the ground. He approached the bugs again and this time he held up one of the pipes and struck it with the other creating a loud metallic bang.

The bugs immediately stopped moving and instead started writhing in pain. sadly before he could even move from his spot the bugs had fully recovered.

"This is good, I can work with this." Thomas said to himself. He would have to be quick but it was doable. He walked right up to the edge of the group of bugs and without any hesitation he slammed the pipes against each other and just like before the bugs stopped moving giving Thomas a few seconds to move.

The sound of the bugs crunching under his feet as he moved was extremely unsettling. Once he moved for a few seconds he made it to the front door and slammed the pipes again and again until he reached Anne's backpack. He grabbed it and threw it over his shoulder before sprinting out of that nightmare.

As soon as he made it outside again he checked his body just to make sure there weren't any hitchhikers. It had only been a couple of minutes total but he still needed to hurry back to the others. He ditched the pipes and ran full force to the forest.

"How is she?" He called out as he approached.

"Not good man. Did you get it?"

Thomas unzipped the backpack and rustled inside until he found the syringe and tossed it to Max. "Yeah here you go."

Max caught the syringe, quickly uncapped it and jammed it into Anne's thigh. He pushed the plunger all the way in and examined her condition for any changes. Usually a persons blood circulates through the whole body in a couple of seconds so they should see some improvements relatively quickly.

After what seemed like ages the blackness around her eyes receded and she no longer looked pale but she also didn't wake up. Sensing that they were going to be there a while, Thomas began gathering wood for a fire. He stayed close to the clearing and picked up any small branches that lay on the ground.

Max sat next to the spot where Anne was laying hoping she would gain consciousness soon. They couldn't stay out there for very long. The sky was dark gray and the smell of rain was in the air. Max heard the snap of a branch and looked up to see Thomas carrying a bundle of sticks in his arms.

"Any changes?" Thomas asked and threw the sticks on the ground. He piled them up and used his lighter to ignite them.

"She's still not waking up. Were we too late?" He had sweat on his brow and a nervous expression. Max didn't know much about the serums, how there made, how they work, nothing. Thomas on the other hand knew almost everything there is to know. He researched everything he could about the serums ever since he decided to save up to buy one.

"Considering how much time passed by since she was infected it could take anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. Get some rest, I'll take first watch."

"Alright but make sure to wake me if anything happens." He rolled over and used his pack as a pillow.

"You got it." Thomas replied. He sat there listening to the sounds of the fire sparking every now and then. The wind rushing through the trees and the sound of distant animals was almost calming to him. It had been a while since he had been camping if that's what you can call this.

Before the world ended he would often spend his time hiking and camping in various types of forests. He glanced over at Anne and his thoughts took a different turn. He wasn't sure if this whole group thing would last and he didn't know much about either of his companions, but its not like he wanted them to get hurt.

Actually that's the exact reason he doesn't like groups in the first place. He has a terrible habit of being the sole survivor in these kinds of situations. Its earned him many wounds and a lifetime of nightmares. I guess the scars are all gone except the ones in his head.

Several hours passed and Thomas was chipping away at a piece of wood with his knife. The piece of wood would fly into the fire and burn up in seconds. He was thinking if she was going to wake up she would have done it by now. He hated himself for thinking it but they might have to leave her behind at this rate.

They have been relatively safe in the forest because most mutants would stick the the cities or flock towards big settlements but that doesn't mean they aren't in danger. While he was thinking about that he saw movement out of his right eye. It was Anne, She raised her hand up to her head and grunted in pain.

"Max get up!" He grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake.

"What is it?"

"She's awake." He almost couldn't believe it, after all this time she actually survived the mutation. Max was all of a sudden fully awake and rushed to her side.

"What happened?" That was the first thing that she said and both Max and Thomas were stunned silent. They looked at each other and Thomas gestured for max to do the explaining. Several minutes later Anne was left with a look of shock on her face. She had no idea any of this was happening or how to process any of it.

"So am I like you two now? Mutated?" she asked.

Thomas was the first to speak up. "Yeah, you should be. Do you feel any different? The most common mutations are increased strength and speed."

"I don't think so. I mean I feel normal." She said while flexing her hands." Honestly im just lucky to be alive, I know you guys used the serum on me when it was supposed to be your payment. I just wanted to say thank you, both of you."

"It was all Thomas, I would have never thought to use it this way."

"Something similar happened to me once so iv had a lot of time to think about it." Thomas said and then stood up and grabbed his things. "Anyways, you feel good enough to move?"

She also stood up with little effort after going through everything she did. "Yeah I'm good."

After packing up there things they started walking through the forest leaving behind the place that Anne grew up and all of her loved ones. Instead of hastily hiking through the woods like they did before they instead took their time and moved slowly.

Each of them had thoughts going through their heads the whole time about what they were going to do once they made it back and split up. After all the job was over and there was no reason to stay together.

Max knew they were going to split up but he had a lot of fun on this job and didn't want to split up so soon. He was already plotting a way to keep everyone together.

Anne was focused on her new mutation, trying to figure out what happened to her. She was constantly checking her condition.

Thomas on the other hand was already thinking of what job to take on next or if he was even going to. He didn't really need a serum but it would be nice to boost his abilities. Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered the augment he found before. If he could find someone that could install it then that would be great too.