When Sylas found Doctor Farlo, Major Kyle was rushing out of the room. After hearing the report from the patrol soldier about the mutated bird, Major Kyle understood the severity of the situation.
Seeing Sylas entering the room with something in his hand, Major Kyle immediately stopped, looked at Sylas, and asked, "Is this the mutated bird?"
"Yes, Major," Sylas replied, showing the bird to Major Kyle. Doctor Farlo also strode towards them and looked at the mutated bird.
"This is bad. Doctor Farlo, I will trouble you to check on this bird. I will come back after making arrangements," Major Kyle said after looking at the mutated crow with a grim expression, then hurriedly left.
"No problem," Doctor Farlo replied and invited Sylas inside the room.
Sylas put the mutated crow on the table and looked towards the side. Serena was sleeping on the bed.
"I have put her to sleep after some tests and will observe her tonight," Doctor Farlo said, noticing Sylas's attention on Serena.
Sylas nodded his head and said, "Any abnormalities?"
"So far, no," Doctor Farlo replied as he took out a syringe and drew blood from the mutated crow.
"If a flock of mutated birds were to attack the safe zone, we would be done for," Doctor Farlo said with a frown.
…
The next day, before the break of dawn, several gunshots were heard inside the safe zone.
Sylas woke up and opened the window to see the situation outside. The gunshots just now came from behind the building where the awakened humans were staying. It was still dark.
Walking out of the room, Sylas saw Dylan coming out of his room too.
"Looks like we won't be getting any more peaceful sleep," Dylan said with a yawn when he saw Sylas.
Bang!
Another sound of gunshots rang out. Both of them hurried towards the sound of the gunshots.
Major Kyle and Leo were already behind the building, holding guns.
"You guys are awake too," Leo said, noticing Dylan and Sylas.
"With gunshots ringing out near our building, who could sleep?" Dylan replied, stretching his arms.
Squeak!
Just then, they heard a squeaking sound above them.
Major Kyle immediately raised his gun, and with a bang, he shot down the creature.
"What was that?" Leo asked, gripping his gun.
"Looks like a bat," Major Kyle said as he walked towards the fallen creature.
"It's indeed a bat," Sylas said, observing the mutated bat. The mutated bat was also larger than normal bats, with long and sharp fangs. Its wings had also mutated, looking like steel blades.
"The fangs look like a vampire's," Dylan said, observing the mutated bat.
Shua!
Just then, they heard a commotion in the sky. All of them immediately looked up and saw a group of bats heading straight towards them.
"It's a colony of bats. Everyone be careful," Major Kyle immediately warned them and got into position, firing at the bats.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
The bats made squeaking noises as soon as the guns started firing at them.
Sylas sent out a wave of spatial blade attacks instantly, taking down a large number of bats at once.
"Impressive!" Dylan said as he watched Sylas and the others. He didn't have a gun with him right now, so he was standing at the back.
Just then, one of the bats let out a sharp, high-pitched squeak, and the rest of the bats immediately retreated.
"They are retreating!" Leo said in shock.
"Looks like they have a leader, and this leader's intelligence seems to be higher than the rest," Major Kyle said as he looked at the retreating bats with a frown.
Leo bent down to observe the fallen bats and said, "These things are going to be troublesome."
As Leo was observing them, one of the bats immediately let out a high, brittle squeak and shot straight towards Leo.
"What the... " Leo immediately stumbled backward, caught off guard. The bat went straight for his neck, baring its fangs.
Just as the bat was about to sink its fangs into Leo's neck, a hand immediately grabbed the bat by its neck.
It was Dylan who grabbed the bat by its neck. The bat struggled frantically in Dylan's hand, but in vain. Dylan put slight pressure on his palm, and the bat immediately turned into a bloody mush.
"Oh my God!!! That scared me to death. Thank you, Brother Dylan," Leo said as he stood up from the ground, panting. Everything happened within a few seconds, and he was caught off guard. If not for Dylan acting quickly, he could have been bitten by that bat.
"That was close," Sylas also said as he carefully observed the surroundings once again.
"This should serve as a lesson for you. Don't make the same mistake next time. Always be alert and be on guard. Never let your guard down," Major Kyle said with a serious expression.
"Major!"
As they were talking, Shaun rushed toward them with a gun.
"What's wrong?" Major Kyle asked, turning towards Shaun.
Shaun was leading another group of soldiers on the west side of the safe zone. Seeing him appear here meant something had happened.
"Something happened. A few of our soldiers were bitten by mutated bats. Their blood was sucked dry, and they seemed to be turning into zombies," Shaun said with horror on his face.
"What!!!"
Everyone was shocked to hear this. Leo immediately stood petrified, because just now, he too was almost bitten by the mutated bat. If not for Dylan's quick intervention, he could also have been... he dared not think further.
"Sylas."
"Dylan."
Major Kyle immediately turned toward them and said, "You two, along with the soldiers, guard here for now. I will go and look at what's happening. Leo, come with me." Major Kyle then immediately left.
"Yes, Major," both of them replied.
Sylas looked up and scanned the sky.
"Sylas, I will be back after washing my hands and taking a gun," Dylan said as he rushed back inside the building. His hand was stained with the bat's blood from when he killed the bat a while ago.
Sylas nodded and stood beside the soldiers.
A bird flew by, and one of the soldiers immediately shot it down. Whether it was a normal bird or a mutated bird, they had no way of knowing, since it was flying in the sky, but it was better to be safe than sorry, so they shot down anything they saw in the sky.