Chapter 47: Narrow Escape To Freedom

Gaius knows what a mutant should look like; he knows how they behave. It’s been four days since the Trials began, and mutant patterns, their actions, what triggers them- all of these were being shared in real time in chat channels, especially on the global chat channels where governmental bodies are doing their best to share information that could keep the regular citizens safe.

There has never been any mention of a mutant that stands in place and catches sight of a human in hiding from quite a distance. There certainly hasn’t been any mention of a mutant that smiles.

"Fuck!"

Gaius blurted out in horror as he instantly ducked to the ground, hoping whatever that was would lose interest once it lost sight of him as he began to crawl on all fours back towards the cleaning supplies closet he had exited.

"That thing’s not normal." He murmured repeatedly as he reached the closet, practically zapping inside of it and quietly closing the door, but leaving enough room through the door frame to maintain his eye line to the front of the building: the rotating door. Good thing he locked it.

Gaius heart was beating rapidly, audible enough to be heard in the quiet of the closet as he watched the entrance through the gap in his door for several lengthy minutes. Only after it was almost two minutes did he finally relax.

"Phew!. Maybe it didn’t actually see me."

It was a possibility because only the door of the building was made with tempered transparent glass wings, and they are quadruple wings on this one, so it was very likely that Gaius had just been paranoid.

"Anyway.... What was even that ?. My heart nearly tore through my chest. Phew."

As he was used to doing, Gaius quickly went into the regional group channel—

[Regional Chat (#058-34)

CelestialGoddess92: "Hey guys.....I just saw something super creepy right now"

AllSeeingEyes: "@CelestialGoddess92, what did you see ?"

CelestialGoddess92: "I think it’s a mutant. But this one was weird... it was just standing there in the middle of the street, and just looking straight at me.....and..... "

GrampsOtaku: "@CelestialGoddess92, and what... what happened, Celestial."

CelestialGoddess92: "It was smiling, mate..... I think it was smiling at me. In the most disturbing way."

BaldSaint: "Yo!... that’s crazy!. Its giving me goosebumps. Is this really true?. Are you okay?"

SlimShadi: "@Liora Ashen Damn. What the fuck is going on?. Tell me, you good, man."

CelestialGoddess92: "Yeah, I am fine for now. I don’t think it really saw me; maybe just looking in my direction."

SirCumAlot: "But wait a minute, guys.... Does this sound like what Liora talked about ?"

GrampsOtaku: "@SirCumAlot, Exactly. This is what I was thinking"

GrampsOtaku: "@CelestialGoddess92, my friend, I think you should find a way to leave that place

CryMorePls: "You pansies. I dare whatever that is to show itself in front of me."

]

"Damn. Gramps right. Why didn’t I think of this?"

Their friend Liora had commented on something similar, but Gaius had not been able to form this link since he was so nervous. And up till now, no one had been able to get in touch with Liora,

"This place isn’t safe anymore. As long as something like that is out there, I can’t remain here."

BAAM!

"The fuck was that ?!"

Gaius’s heart dropped to his stomach instantly as he rapidly turned his head to the gap in his door. There, he saw a single mutant had slammed itself against the rotating door and fell to the floor.

"Shit. That scared me. Thankfully it’s just a stupid mut...."

Gaius’s words became stuck in his throat when another mutant literally sprinted into the rotating door again.

BAAM!

Then the mutant fell to the ground, but it didn’t stay down. Along with the first mutant, both of them began to launch themselves at the door, as more and more mutants joined, doing the exact same thing.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Gaius exclaimed; more and more mutants were throwing themselves at the door by the minute. This was not a pattern for mutants, except that there was prey in front of them; they wouldn’t go to such lengths. And their action of throwing themselves against the door almost looked coordinated.

"Shit.... That won’t hold. I have to fucking leave here!"

Realization dawned on Gaius. He had no idea what was happening, but he certainly wouldn’t be staying to find out. Running out of the supplies closet, Gaius headed straight for the reception area, and his sudden appearance caused the mutants outside to go even more berserk, smashing themselves into the door as cracks began to spiral.

"Shit! shit! shit! shit! Shit!

Gaius screamed as he ran through the reception; a mutant appeared from the left side and chased after him, two appeared from the stairs and literally rolled themselves over the stairs to catch him; the few mutants inside the building were converging on Gaius, while the door behind, the entrance which was holding back the forming swarm of mutants, finally gave in, shattering into pieces as the mutants poured in after Gaius.

"Damn it. Damn!. Is this how I die?!" Gaius lamented as he ran through the building, trying to locate the emergency exit through the back. All buildings such as this are required by law to have emergency exits. So there should be at least two of them. Finding these exits while avoiding the swarm of mutants behind him, as well as the ones appearing from every corner of the building he ran through, was the biggest challenge.

As he ran as if his life depended on it, he just hoped he wouldn’t come upon a dead end; that would be disastrous. Using his skill inside a building like this was also out of the question. He would just be burying himself alive, as well as condemning every other person who might still be alive in the building to the same fate.

"I have to get out of here, damn it." As Gauis ran, he began to notice something as well. Whether it was the mutants behind him or the ones spawning from every corner of the building, none of them could catch up to his speed.

"hahaha.....shit . So this is the power of improved stats." Gaius laughed in relief as he ran with all his might; in the distance, between a narrow corridor, he saw a door marked with the word ’exit’ at the top.

"Jackpot!"

Gaius remarked excitedly as he reached the door. But when he push or pulled, it wasn’ opened,

"Fuck... it’s locked."

Looking back anxiously, the swarm was upon him. So he began to nervously send the heaviest punches at the door he could muster; but after only four punches, the lock was broken, and the exit opened.

"Shit. i am this strong?"

It was surprising to Gaius, but there was no time to rejoice, so he dashed out of there, the daylight sun greeting his weary eyes. It was a narrow escape to fredom.

He smiled in relief, preparing to run straight for the nearest building that was relatively safe, seeing there were mutants behind him, and others gathering at this location because of the noise he made with the door.

But Gaius paused in his track, his complexion running as pale as a sheet as he saw something standing there; just a few feet from his position.... Almost like it’s been waiting.

"No...no.... It can’t be."