Chapter 27

Ex-Human Morphus

The mall’s corridors formed a labyrinth, flanked by storefronts on both sides. Just like many abandoned buildings Jake had explored, the mall was overgrown with vegetation, with tall grass and roots emerging from the cracks in the floor and ivy vines sprawling across the walls.

As he navigated the maze of aisles, his eyes constantly scanned the interior of the shopping center, looking for any threats. So far, he hadn’t encountered any mutants in the mall—living ones, at least. Every now and then, he spotted dead creatures lying here and there, their bodies riddled with bullet holes. He scanned every dead body he came across with his PDA, but every one of them was empty, having already been looted by whoever had killed them.

Jake perked up his ears but could only hear the echo of his own footsteps and the sound of glass crunching under his feet. He trod carefully, wary of the presence of other survivors in the shopping center—those who had arrived in the white SUV. From his previous encounters with other survivors, Jake had learned that trust was a rare commodity in this world. He had to be real careful. Despite not encountering any living mutants in the mall yet, he knew for sure that there were more of them within the premises. The scanner app on his PDA had indicated a significant presence of mutants inside when he used it outside the mall. With both mutants and survivors lurking somewhere inside the building, he couldn’t let his guard down even for a second.

When Jake reached the center of the shopping center, he paused to take a look around. At the heart of the vast area was an atrium that had once served as a meeting and relaxing point. The broken fountain sat in the center of the atrium, all dried up. Green algae and dirt covered the empty basin, and the edges looked old and dirty. Around the fountain sat rusted benches. In the past, a dolphin statue used to adorn the center of the fountain, a symbol of playfulness and freedom, but now it lay on the ground, broken and forlorn. Its graceful form, now chipped and weathered, spoke of a time when the fountain was alive with the joy of visitors and the soothing sound of flowing water.

Jake looked past the fountain, and on the other side of the atrium, he saw long-since broken escalators that led to the second floor. The open second floor of the mall overlooked the first one. His gaze ran along the railing, but he didn’t notice anything suspicious, and no sound reached his ears. Allowing himself to relax a little bit, he returned his attention to the fountain. He noticed numerous dead bodies strewn about, not just mutants but also several dead survivors. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact number of fallen survivors and mutants strewn around. The reason for that was that all the bodies were shredded to pieces. Torn limbs and chunks of pulpy flesh lay scattered all over the atrium. Whatever the hell happened there, it was gruesome. The unsettling sight that lay before him was unlike anything Jake had witnessed during his days of survival in this harsh world. While he had grown accustomed to the grisly scenes of violence, the sheer horror of the scene before him was beyond anything he had seen before.

Jake took another look around, looking more closely at the survivors’ dead bodies. He didn’t need to scan them to see that the pouches on their belts and tactical vests were still stuffed with spare ammo, untouched. The bodies hadn’t been looted, which meant that either all the survivors who had made their way to the mall got killed in the fierce battle near the fountain, or those who survived the confrontation had fled the scene and had likely been too terrified to return to this place. Whatever had happened in the atrium must have instilled such dread in them they decided to leave the fallen to rest undisturbed.

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Only it didn’t make much sense. From the look of it, the dead survivors were well-equipped, and as far as Jake could tell, all the dead mutants were walkers and leapers, which were the weakest types of ex-humans. Those survivors shouldn’t have lost the battle to a bunch of low-level mutants. When he scanned the building with his PDA, he’d detected a few shamblers and whippers inside the mall, but this group of survivors should’ve been able to handle those threats as well. No, something else must have happened here. The gruesome fate of the torn-apart survivors suggested a level of violence and ferocity that surpassed anything Jake had encountered before. The sheer force required to inflict such damage went beyond the capabilities of even the most aggressive mutants he had encountered. Even shamblers or whippers weren’t capable of that.

There could be only one explanation for what had happened in the atrium. Carefully scanning the area, he took a step closer to the fountain, and that was when he finally spotted what he was looking for. He immediately froze, staring directly at the empty spot a few feet above the fountain. Only it wasn’t exactly an empty spot—there was a magical anomaly hovering in the air above the basin. As his eyes fell upon the peculiar sight, a shiver ran down his spine.

Having encountered various anomalies in the past few days, Jake knew those phenomena could be really dangerous. He was also acutely aware that it was hard to detect them and that the difficulty of spotting anomalies increased with their level. While some anomalies could be visually identified, others remained entirely invisible, their presence only revealed by the unsettling sounds they emitted. There were even a couple of times when he encountered magical anomalies that were not only invisible but also completely silent. In such cases, detecting these elusive anomalies relied solely on their impact on the environment around them. For instance, he had once stumbled upon an unusual sight in a building: scattered debris suspended several meters above the floor, seemingly defying gravity. Intrigued, he utilized his PDA to scan the area, unveiling the presence of a magical anomaly responsible for this inexplicable phenomenon. So he could analyze and identify an anomaly with his PDA, but only if its level matched or surpassed that of the anomaly. And sure enough, to analyze an anomaly using his PDA, he needed to be aware of its potential presence nearby, otherwise there would be no reason for him to scan his surroundings.

The anomaly hovering above the fountain was extremely hard to detect with the naked eye. It appeared as a subtle distortion in the air, fleeting and barely noticeable. It materialized briefly before fading away and staying completely invisible for a few seconds. Had it not been for the grim sight of torn bodies scattered around the fountain—remnants of killed survivors and mutants—Jake would likely have never become aware of the elusive anomaly’s presence. The sequence of events became clearer to Jake as he pieced together the puzzle. The survivors likely encountered walkers and leapers near the fountain, unaware of the hidden anomaly hovering nearby. In the middle of their battle, they inadvertently triggered the anomaly, and it killed them in a very gruesome way.

As Jake prepared to retrieve his PDA to analyze the anomaly, the crunch of broken glass being stepped on echoed from behind him. He swiftly spun around, his gaze locking on a figure standing near the second-floor railing. Whipping up his shotgun, he pointed the weapon at the stranger, his finger poised to tighten around the trigger.

“No,” the stranger said in a loud whisper, raising his empty hands in the air. “Don’t shoot me, or we’ll both be dead!”