The plant was now lying across the streets, charred black, and the nearby buildings were still on fire.
"Quickly arrange the cars," Leo said, holding the unconscious Major Kyle.
"Leo, I'll look after Major Kyle. You go and help the injured soldiers. The rest, stand guard," Shaun instructed as he took Major Kyle from Leo's hands.
Sylas looked around and saw some soldiers missing. It was obvious that they had been consumed by the mutated plant. He sighed, his heart heavy. Sylas knew that this wouldn't be the last time he experienced the loss of a team member. It was just the beginning. In the future, he would experience similar situations, and they might even be worse.
The 26-member team was now reduced to only 18. This time, they had lost the lives of eight members. Everyone was silent, burdened with heavy hearts.
Serena was still panting and dizzy from the earlier suppression by the mutated plant.
"Are you okay?" Dylan asked her.
"I am fine, just a little dizzy," Serena replied as she looked at the Devil's Trumpet, now charred black. Suddenly, she stood up and walked toward it.
"Where are you going?" Dylan asked.
Sylas also noticed Serena hurriedly walking toward the dead mutated plant.
"I can sense something," Serena replied as she rushed toward the dead mutated plant.
"Be careful," Sylas said and immediately followed after her, along with Dylan.
The street was devoid of zombies for the moment because the horde of zombies earlier and the nearby ones had been consumed by the mutated plant. But Sylas and the rest were still on high alert.
Serena went straight to the trunk of the mutated dead plant. She immediately used her hands to dig through it but pulled them back at once.
Hiss!
The plant was still hot.
"Are you dumb!" Dylan immediately rushed forward.
"I told you to be careful," Sylas added as he observed the trunk of the mutated Devil's Trumpet.
"I can feel something. It's coming from within," Serena said, pointing at the plant's trunk.
"Are you sure? Can you feel it?" Sylas asked.
Serena nodded. "Yes, I can feel it."
"Step back. Let me," Dylan said as he raised his fist, ready to smash the trunk.
Serena and Sylas immediately stepped back.
Dylan clenched his fist and punched the trunk. The huge trunk, the size of a truck, shattered under the force of his punch. From within the trunk, a pale green stone, the size of a marble, flew out.
Serena immediately dashed forward and caught it in her hands.
"What's that?" both Sylas and Dylan asked, looking at Serena's hand.
"I don't know. I just feel a strong connection to it," Serena replied, unsure herself.
"Since it's from a mutated plant, and you being a plant ability user yourself, I think it might be something useful to you. Don't forget, the mutated plant earlier was targeting you the most out of all of us," Sylas said as he observed the pale green stone in Serena's hand.
Dylan also agreed with Sylas.
Serena immediately thought of something and said, "Do you think it sensed something within me too?"
The three of them immediately looked at each other and then looked down at the pale green stone again.
"This thing came from a mutated plant, so does that mean we, as mutated humans, might also have this kind of stone inside us too?" Dylan said, raising his brows.
The three looked at each other in deep thought. Everything was unknown to them right now, and with all the strange things happening around them lately, they didn't know whether this discovery was good or bad.
"The mutated plant earlier wanted to consume us to get stronger. It especially targeted those of us who have awakened abilities. It means that by consuming ability users, it will get stronger. No, it should be the stone within us if my conjecture is correct. And since Serena has a plant ability, sharing the same trait as it, her allure to the mutated plant was stronger than ours. If I am correct, things will only get worse in the future. It won't just be us against the zombies and mutated plants, but against other ability users too," Sylas said with a grave expression.
Dylan and Serena took a deep breath, trying to process it.
"I thought being an awakened human put me in an advantageous situation, but it looks like I was wrong," Dylan said, looking at the grey sky above.
"It's the universe's way of maintaining balance," Serena said as she played with the pale green stone.
"This thing can make you strong. It might even level up your abilities, so don't lose it. As for how to consume it, you have to find out yourself. Whether by directly eating it or some other way, you'll have to wait until we get back to the safe zone and slowly figure it out yourself," Sylas said.
Serena nodded her head and stored the stone in her bag.
"Everyone, let's hurry back," Shaun shouted.
The cars had been arranged, and the injured soldiers were treated by Leo already.
Shaun immediately carried Major Kyle to the car and said, "Let's go."
Sylas immediately got inside the car and said, "I'll drive."
"Alright. By the way, what were you guys doing there?" Shaun asked, sitting down next to him in the co-pilot seat.
Leo sat in the back, taking care of the unconscious Major Kyle.
Sylas looked at Leo through the mirror and replied, "We'll talk about it once we reach the safe zone."
Noticing Sylas looking at him through the mirror, Leo raised his brows and asked, "Is it related to us awakened people? Good or bad?"
"Well, it's both good and bad news," Sylas replied as they drove back towards the safe zone. The convoy of cars was silent throughout the journey back because they were returning without some members.
It was already late when they reached the safe zone.
When the soldiers at the safe zone didn't see some familiar faces among them, they understood what had happened. The atmosphere was heavy.
Major Kyle was quickly rushed to the building, and Doctor Farlo checked up on him.
"His vitals are normal. Just let him sleep for now since he has awakened his abilities and exhausted his energy," Doctor Farlo said.
"Doctor Farlo, we have something to tell you," Sylas said as he stood in front of Serena and Dylan.