"Am I hallucinating?"
"Either we all are, or those words are floating in the air…"
"Second spark, the hell does it even mean?"
People were staring at those words, but Blaze's eyes were staring down. He was intrigued by those words for a second, but when nothing else happened, he turned his gaze to the courtyard.
Instead of the static words, he preferred to look at the kinetic action below. Out of the dozen or so corpses, only three got reanimated. The rest remained headless on the ground. Questions flooded his mind as he stared at them.
Why were only those three mutated?
Were there hidden criteria to mutate?
Did those three possess the said special skills or genes?
He recalled the weird mutations. The guard got an eye in place of the head; the girl got a cluster of long tendrils, and the professor's head turned into a strange flower.
No, it looks more like a loudspeaker made of flesh. Wait… there's a pattern here.
The security guard became a watcher of sorts, which reflected his job to an extent. The girl with the tracksuit grew a cluster of tendrils that helped her move faster and acrobatically, hinting towards her athletic lineage. And the professor, probably used to yelling, grew a loudspeaker.
All these mutations reflected the things they excelled at when they were alive.
Then what about those?
Blaze turned his gaze towards the headless corpses. They died similarly to those mutants, yet they remained dead.
Were they useless?
Blaze shook his head. That couldn't be the case.
Everyone had some unique trait, not talent, but a trait.
Maybe they didn't have a trait worth manifesting? Is it… natural selection?
The theory of natural selection was an idea tossed by his forefathers. The theory suggested only those with favorable traits within a certain environment survive, while those who lack desirable traits perish.
Although it's a debatable theory, it fits the scenario perfectly.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing and block the gates."
Alaric's voice brought everyone back to the present.
Those weird creatures, whatever they were, were inside the building. There was no saying what they'd do to humans, so it was better to barricade themselves and wait for the police.
Under Alaric's direction, everyone got to work. Even Blaze helped the students barricade the doors with chairs and desks, while others did the same with the windows.
Soon, the room was plunged into silent darkness. They huddled together, sitting away from the doors and windows in silence.
Blaze enjoyed the silence as it gave more time for him to theorize about the strange situation.
However, only their room was silent while the entire building was in chaos. A few people covered their ears, unable to listen to the gut-wrenching cries from below.
They didn't know what was happening downstairs, but the screams painted a vivid picture. Those three mutants… they were killing everyone they came across.
No. There's more than those three. I need to get out there…
Blaze thought so because the noise was coming from more than three sources.
"Why is this… happening?" a girl mumbled, clutching her head.
Unfortunately, no one had an answer.
First the sun, then those mutants, and finally those words that remained plastered to the sky.
The second spark is here.
Both Alaric and Blaze were wondering what it was about. Words don't randomly appear in the air. Not without external interference, either through drones, fireworks, or things like that.
"I'm telling you, it's those aliens. They must have escaped area 69 and now—"
"David, I swear to god, I'll throw you out if you don't stop without your nonsense!"
The chubby David immediately shut his mouth. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen to him if he went outside with his donut physique. He had a hunch those mutants would truly make a donut out of him.
As for Martin, the guy who scolded David, he was the jock type. Athletic and well-built. No one doubted when he said he'd throw David out, as he had the body to make it a reality.
Interesting…
Blaze's lips curled as a thought popped into his head.
David and Martin.
With their drastically distinct figures, weren't they the perfect subject for him to test his selection theory?
Was it ethical? Far from it, but who'll judge him in a ruined world?
For all they knew, the world had already gone to hell. Useless things like ethics and empathy had either lost their value to humans or would lose soon enough.
Besides, sacrifices were always needed for the greater good.
Blaze turned his head down and covered his face. He was careless… a smile almost appeared on his face. Thankfully, he caught himself in time. If anyone saw him smiling like that, then things could get troublesome.
However, there was one tiny problem.
How do I get them outside?
Everyone whose head had exploded was outside, standing in direct sunlight. From his observation, sunlight seemed to be the main trigger behind the mutations. But now that they were trapped inside, getting anyone outside was next to impossible.
Lost in his thoughts, he turned to see his father staring out the window. The old fart was reading the same words over and over. Honestly, Blaze found him pathetic.
There was a genetic playground before them, waiting to be explored and used, and yet his father was busy with superficial things.
I don't even know what my stupid mother saw in him… wait, mother. That's it… No, don't smile again.
Excitement was oozing out of his body, and he barely kept it under control. At least he thought of a way to get them out.
Unlike him, most people cared deeply about their parents. Right now, they were separated, so it was natural for everyone to be worried about their families.
It's just that no one has realized it yet.
Blaze didn't know much about Martin, but he was aware of David's household condition. Raised by a single mom, Rebecca Sander, he was quite attached to her. Unfortunately, his mother didn't think the same.
How did Blaze know that?
Not just him, everyone in the class knew because Rebecca was a well-known gardening tool amongst the boys in their class.
She had slept with half the guys from their batch, but only ever was in a relationship with Martin.
It's too bad they had a falling out once David found out about it. But now, it'd work in my favor.
Blaze could already imagine David and Martin rushing outside once he mentioned her. David would be genuinely worried about his mother, while Martin would join in just to antagonize David.
This will be fun.