"We're coming with ya man," Omar smiled at me, "What should we bring with us for the trip?"
I blinked in surprise and opened my mouth to correct him, only to be cut off by Damian. "Yeah boss, we ain't gonna abandon ya after all you've done for us."
I turned to try and refute his assertion. I haven't done anything! But was cut off by Jeremy, "I was actually planning to do something similar in a couple days. Will be nice to have the rest of you along for the ride."
"Don't worry!" Michelle chirped happily, giving me her best attempt at a thumbs up using her clawed wings, "With all of us together we'll reach your family in no time!"
"You might be an ass," Rumi groused, "but we'd be even bigger asses to just abandon you."
"Don't worry dearie," Matilda cooed, landing atop my head, "I'm sure your family is fine, they raised you to be a capable young man after all."
"We do kind of owe you man," William pointed out.
The affirmations and support continued to roll in with everyone but Gerry openly supporting me and falling into discussions on what they should bring for the trip. I tried to say something, but even my new massive throat seemed to be suddenly narrow enough to make speaking difficult. I just don't understand it, I was nothing special, just a nutty paranoid prepper who had helped out a couple people as part of a plan made out of boredom. Why would anyone want to follow a violent monster that was effectively making it up as he went along? I just, don't understand.
"I," I coughed to try and clear the tightness of my throat. Thankfully my super low echoing voice cut easily through the conversation. "I appreciate the offers, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn down your offers." That was met with upset and uproar. Was this what it took to make them turn on me? "No, no, none of that! Omar," I leveled my tail blade at him as the closest thing to a finger I had left, "I know for a fact that your siblings and parents are in the city, so if you go following after me and the next round of spawns happen, who's going to be there to help them?"
"Fuck man," Omar muttered with a kind of angry resignation, "That's not fair."
"And I'm sure that he's not the only one," I continued, "I'm willing to bet several of you have missing family in the metroplex who will need your help come the second spawning."
Shaniqua, who I now noticed had eight legs ending in thick curved claws and an almost centaur suggestion to her rabbit body now quietly whispered, "None of my babies were there when I hatched."
"Nor my girl," Nolan said, his wings buzzing in agitation.
"I didn't see any other egg in my home when I hatched," Rumi shifted morosely, "I had kind of hoped they'd just left without me or something, but thinking on it..."
"Not to mention some of us aren't exactly built for long distance travel," Gerry called from beneath his massively thickened and spiked armored shell.
"Right, we need people to stay here and build a bit of proper civilization and safety for the people yet to hatch and all of those no doubt thousands of people still in and around the metroplex." I pointed to each of them in turn, "A vitally important task that I'm willing to leave in your various appendages." A quick look around seemed to suggest that at least half of the group was readying arguments to refute my own argument, best try to head those off. "Jeremy, you said you were going to head out to look for your family? Where do they live?"
"About a day or two's walk north of the metroplex." he stated, "They owned one of the more modest cattle ranches up north. Figured I'd check in on them and the herd."
Damn the boy was from one of those cattle barons? What was he doing in our little slum houses? "Well my family is about two hundred miles south. So looks like we won't be heading the same way, and no offense, but I don't think you're quite as protected as I am. So if anyone wants to insist on helping someone I'd ask that you head with him. Those cattle would be way more useful to everyone than my family's hay farm."
"Oh! Do you have any horses on your ranch?" Michelle asked Jeremy excitedly, "What about nearby?"
Several more people turned to start talking to Jeremy, clearly deciding to join him on the shorter trip, but at least a few people were obviously still intending to come with me. I let my gaze settle on Jack, who had clearly taken the hominid mutagen with his evolution turning him from a big wasp into what looked like a wasp wrapped over a humanoid form that came with natural chitin boots and four two fingered arms. His angular, still very vespid head held my gaze as his wings buzzed briefly and the six abdomen growing out of his back twitched and flexed their stingers. Christ on a bike! He looks so cool! He looks like a top tier Masked Rider Villain
"I take it you're planning to come with me as well Jack?" I asked politely.
"Absolutely." he buzzed, folding all four of his arms across his chest and raising his head in defiance. "You're a good man and there wasn't enough of those before the world ended. I'm not about to let you die out on the road somewhere."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
I had to take a breath to let the tightness in my chest pass before I continued. What had I done that had convinced so many people that I was a good person? "I appreciate that. But, I would appreciate it more if you could stay here." Jack didn't say anything, but his abdomens flexed and a couple of his stingers oozed a cloudy yellow liquid, "You have a lot of downright essential skills. As a blacksmith you are one of, possibly THE, only person in our group, if not the metroplex, capable of building anything new, be it tools, nails, or even horseshoes. Those skills don't translate well to travel, even if we did create some sort of mobile wagon for you to work from, it'd be a massive step down from what you can do here with a properly set up shop."
Jack didn't respond, his antenna flicking wildly as he drummed his clawed fingers along his forearms. The twitching of his many abdomens became far more aggressive as the buzzing of his wings picked up. He began to pace back and forth as the thrum of his wings reached a growling drone, murky venom dripping from his stingers falling freely onto the ground. Finally he whirled on me and leveled a single accusatory finger at me. "Fzzine!" Jack snarled, his buggy mouth parts distorting his speech as he roared, "Vut youzz vetter zzuckin come vack youzz zzuck!"
With his bit said, Jack stormed off towards the stadium still buzzing up a storm. Right, that just left Matilda and Damian. I turned to look down at Damian who already had his arms crossed, his beyond black coloration making him nearly disappear into the shadows and asphalt. I'd barely opened my mouth when Damian simply said, "No."
I found myself rather wrong footed by the single word, "Excuse me?"
"No." he repeated, "I'm not letting you go and try and talk me into staying behind or helping Jerry, or whatever your plan was. I'm coming with you and that's the end of it."
Lord have mercy, I knew that tone, I used it myself when I was done bowing to the whims of others or were on a subject I refused to be swayed from. Still I owed it to him to at least try and talk him out of what was likely a borderline suicide mission I'd set for myself. "Didn't you have family you were wanting to prove yourself to?"
"Yeah, in Mississippi." he returned unflinchingly, "And if helping you achieve whatever you're trying to build doesn't prove to my wife and kids that I'm a man worth being called a husband and father, nothing will. And don't try your tactic with Jack either, I was a warehouse worker, I ain't got no special skill to hold me here. Jeremy and the others have plenty of capable guardians, so I'm going to be your backup. Deal with it."
I'd likely have to. His posture seemed to scream that even if I tried to run or leave in the night he'd come chasing after me. I turned to Matilda and she just tittered, "Dear, I'm an obstinate old woman. If you couldn't get this fine young man to budge, what hope do you have against me?"
She seemed to be daring me to try anyways with her smug stance. I just sighed tiredly. They were too dead set tonight, maybe giving them a few days to dwell on it would convince the pair not to follow me.
And maybe Jesus was waiting inside with a keg, it seemed about as likely.
"Fine," I sighed, "You two can come if you like. It's still going to be a couple days before I head out anyways. And I don't know about you, but I'm dead tired and ready to call this day done."
"I'm actually feeling like I'm finally waking up," Matilda said, "Must be the nocturnal trait. Feels kind of like pulling an all-nighter and the sun is finally up."
"I'm getting a bit of that myself," Damian admitted, "But I'm more than willing to sleep through the night and possibly half of tomorrow." That got more than a few tired yawns and plenty of nods of agreement.
We all filtered inside the loading bay, following Nolan's directions through the maze-like halls, as he rambled on about what was down each fork we passed until we finally reached the wide tunnel onto the field. Standing there at the end of the hall was something, it looked sort of like a canine, if you squinted at it. But its legs were too long and narrow, its torso seemingly devoid of organs as spotted mangey hide clung tightly to ribs inside which something glowed with an eerie light. Its head turned to face us, revealing an utter lack of eyes, just deep pits in its head where that same unnatural glow oozed out. Its mouth seemed forever set in a wide rictus grin full of long needle teeth backlit by the faint glow coming from its throat. I swore as I took in its twisted form, that the thing wasn't breathing, possibly not even thinking, naught but a body puppeteered by something vile within.
As I froze Jeremy walked out ahead of the group approaching the thing with a dopey smile, "Good boy, watching the field for us. Who's a good rotwalker? You are! Yes you are!"
The twisted abomination's already too wide smile widened further, literally splitting its face from ear to ear and revealing exposed jaw bones as it walked toward Jeremy and headbutted him softly with a flicking brightening of its glow. As the lad continued to treat the twisted thing like a dog I looked desperately to the rest of the group for explanation.
Nolan chuckled a bit uncomfortably, "Yeah, the kid's picked up a summoning skill that calls up those things. Says he’s got anotha something else that basically lets him make knock offs of those horrors by infecting a dead body with something. He doesn't seem to realize just how freaky it all is."
I just sighed. I was way too tired to deal with this. "I'll deal with our new necromancer in the morning. This is not something to be dealt with without a clear head. Lord knows I'm going to be praying for him tonight though."
So putting 'stop a necromantic uprising' onto my already full schedule for tomorrow I immediately coiled in a corner near the tunnel exit. The entire field was a mess, having clearly been dug up by the boss and decades of neglect, the roof being closed likely hadn't helped much either. Still, the soil was fairly soft. It was indoors, and it had only a couple of entrances with lots of room to maneuver so it was likely the best we were going to find tonight.
As everyone started picking out their own spots or forming small piles, Jeremy himself cuddling up with three of those 'rotwalkers' as another stood guard, I took a moment to do my nightly prayers. Before ending them off I did make sure to add, "My Lord God, I ask that you watch over me and these... lost souls following me. And, while I know he's not technically part of my religion, if Barachiel is real, or if there is an appropriate stand in, I would like to humbly request his assistance seeing as we are likely to need as many Guardian Angels as you can spare in the near future if every day is like today. In your name I pray. Amen."
I settled back to finally get some rest and hoped tomorrow would prove to be a better day. I quickly came to miss my dreamcatcher as my sleep was rife with nightmares forcing me to wake myself up four times before the sun next rose.
Joe - The main character of the story. Currently a giant metal snake with a massive sword at the end of his tail. Seems to have gather an eclectic scattering of skills from expecting civilization to fall, if perhaps not in this fashion. Is currently shamefully nude.
Damian - A former pot head working warehouses in the middle of trying to go straight and clean himself up when he was turned into a four foot tall velociraptor with bug eyes and cat ears. Hails from Mississippi and has a wife and kids out there. One of the first people encountered in the new world and has recently evolved into a beyond black stealth based evolution. Is wearing an oversized T-shirt an bowie knife.
Matilda - An old widower married to a military husband who use to be an army nurse who was living alone when she was turned into three foot long fluffy moth that spit spider silk. A long time local who has expressed a hatred of feeling helpless and was found by Damian. Has doubled in size from her evolution but otherwise revealed nothing about it. Currently wearing a long striped scarf.
Jerry - An assumed middle manager type who has offered very little about himself and is often referred to as Gerry by Joe. Has been turned into an ice age armadillo called a Glyptodon and is wearing sweat bands around his ankles and a sock over his tail. Has recently evolved into a heavily armored version of himself and frequently questions or back talks Joe.
Rumi- A young woman going to school to be an architect while living with her large family who was transformed into a massively muscled horse who fled her home searching for her missing family. Has recently evolved into an even more muscular bicorn thinking it was basically a unicorn and been informed otherwise. Currently wearing a tube top around her neck.
Kyli - A shy and withdrawn librarian who doesn't talk much unless prompted. Also fled her home in a panic when she was turned into a gecko the size of a car and only stopped when she investigated the smell of fire. Has recently evolved into a horned lizard the size of a tow truck and possesses a very useful ability to generate powerful flashes of light. Currently wearing a cloak borrowed from Joe, though it's starting to get a bit small for her.
Nolan - A man who use to work as security at Wrangler Stadium and lived with his girlfriend in a cheap apartment complex who was turned into an odd mix of a bumble bee and a japanese murder hornet. Has recently evolved into something that looks like a living hornet's nest and focuses on summons in combat. Currently wearing a jacket tied around his neck.
Rafael - A rather withdrawn man who has offered very little of himself who arrived with Omar. Is currently a man-sized harpy eagle wearing an oversized tank top. His evolution has not caused any obvious changes that Joe has noticed so far.
William - A college student who was going to school on a football scholarship with a minor in chemistry who was living near Omar when the event happened turning him into a two headed wolf. Each head seems to contain a separate and independent brain, but so far they seem to be getting along with each other fairly well. Has not shown any obvious changes from his evolution and is currently wearing a leather coat.
Omar - An old friend of Joe's who is a second generation Salvadorian and was living with his family while working on his marketing degree when he was turned into a sasquatch while at work. Currently Joe's top pick as leader for the group, though he doesn't seem to share Joe's confidence in his ability. Is currently wearing a high vis vest and is currently the only member to wield weapons.
Jack - A professional gunsmith and hobbyist blacksmith who was living in cheap apartments before getting turned into a giant yellow jacket. Has spent points to give himself a much more human body and expressed frustration at being left behind to work his profession. Currently shamefully naked.
Shaniqua - A former mother of unclear profession who was living in a cheap apartment when she was turned into a man-sized six legged rabbit. Has since evolved into a four armed rabbit-centaur wearing a sweater who focuses on high speed attacks. She has not spoken to Joe much so much about her remains a mystery.
Michelle - A friendly and peppy woman of who Joe knows little about. She was turned into an emu with powerful kicks and has since evolved into a larger more dangerous emo with teeth and wing claws. Currently wearing a legwarmer after her second one was destroyed trying to free Joe from the rainbow evolution goo.
Jeremy - The son of a minor cattle baron who was living in the city for some reason when he was turned into a hyena with a rather corrosive bite. Has recently evolved into something that looks similar to his old form but is apparently raising the dead now. Is currently wearing a ball cap.
Do you want to see anything summarized in the next few chapters?
