By the time I set the trailer down next to the loading docks the sun was beginning to properly rise over the tree line casting the world into stark contrast of white and black. Matilda was nowhere to be seen, despite her moths still surrounding and watching the clearly terrified bat glued to the roof of the trailer. Jeremy and his pack of abominations against all things good and holy were also up and about, which likely wouldn't help us look less threatening to our panicky bat.

  Seeing Jeremy sniffing oddly at one of the unshelled baby scorpions I called out, "Hey! Don't eat it raw! It's probably still full of poison or something."

  "Huh?" Jeremy blinked dumbly looking up from the corpse he was examining, "Oh, morning Joe! Nah, I was just debating trying the other new thing I picked up last night. I'm looking for a still fairly intact corpse to try it on."

  "Oh?" I tried to keep the trepidation out of my voice. "And what ability is that?"

  "Parasitic infestation," he yipped happily, "Check it!"

  Jeremy's mouth opened wide and just kept right on going, literally splitting clear down to his shoulder and revealing his mouth/throat was full of teeth the whole way down. That was bad enough, but then something like a tape worm as thick around as an arm, wrapped in wriggling hair worms and glowing fungus burst up from that maw. The writing mass of parasites slammed into the corpse of the baby scorpion and seemed to flow into it, forcing out fluids as the shattered body convulsed and thrashed. More and more of the thin wriggling worms forced their way inside as the body acquired an unhealthy black coloration. Then with a soft pop, the larger tapeworm separated from Jeremy and wriggled inside the black mummified looking scorpion, taking its fungus and writhing hair worms with it.

  Slapping his mouth close into a normal looking doggy smile, Jeremy excitedly watched as the discolored corpse convulsed a few more times before standing unsteadily. "It works!"

  "Jeremy," I said as evenly as I could, "Please never do that where other people can see it ever again. I'd like to also politely request you not use that ability again at all as I'd rather not add a zombie apocalypse to the list of things we're already dealing with."

  Jeremy seemed confused as he looked between me and the clumsily shambling corpse before him, "It's not a zombie though."

  "Jeremy," I switched to a tone I used for children and particularly dense customers, "Your rot walkers look like undead monsters so much I almost attacked them on sight because I was convinced they were more monsters. That thing you created is, as far as most people are concerned, a zombie. If they saw how you made it they'd probably be concerned you were one as well."

  He blinked again and squinted at both the zombie before him and the glowing mummified form of his rotwalkers standing guard behind him. He tilted his head left and right a couple times before sagging slightly and saying, "I can maybe see where you're coming from, if you squint and use less than charitable lighting, but what am I supposed to do? Just not use these skills?"

  "I'm not saying that," because for all I know we might need an army of zombies at some point, "but focus more on your rotwalkers. They don't waste food making and are a lot less, unnerving, than that!" I pointed my sword at the wobbling corpse between us, fighting the urge to stab and crush the thing. "We don't need other people turning against us because we're being accused of witchcraft and necromancy. Speaking of witchcraft, you seen Matilda?"

  "She said she was heading inside for a nap," Jeremy moped, "Why?"

  "Because she decided to glue a stranger to the roof of the trailer and I'd like to get some of the silk off without having to try shaving her with this thing," I gave my massive tail blade a shake and sighed, "Can you go get her and either Jack, Damian, or Omar? Whichever seems the most awake. I'm going to get some firewood prepared for breakfast. I need one of them to start the fire."

  "Sure thing," Jeremy sighed, "And sorry Joe."

  "Ain't your fault you became a stereotype," I tilted my head in a shrug, "Just reminding you to keep apprised of how it looks and the cost of things. World's changed and we gotta keep that in mind."

  Jeremy nodded as he headed back inside followed by his twisted wolf ghouls and bug zombie. I shuddered while slithering off to grab one of the dead trees scattered around the parking lot that had died without proper gardening staff to tend to them. A hard tug proved them to still be fairly solid, and that I was apparently strong enough to completely uproot them with only a couple full body yanks. How damn strong was I now? I was going to have to be damned careful not to accidentally cripple or kill someone in training later.

  Carrying the fifteen foot tall tree back near the pile of prepared meat I began to lop off branches with ease using my tail blade. It wasn't enough to go clear through the still solid trunk though. Actually... I Focused on my Bloodline, feeling a soft hum running through my body as I did so and the big cleaving blade seemed to visibly sharpen. It felt like it was vibrating with a living eagerness to cut. Which it did so, frighteningly well.

  My experimental cut didn't just go clear through the meter thick tree like it was made of molten butter, it bit into and through the ground with a sensation akin to running a finger through sand. Yes, I was going to have to be very careful when it came to sparing later. By the time I finished carefully breaking down the tree into firewood Jeremy returned with a surly looking Jack and Matilda.

  "So what's so important that you had to give me a heart attack first thing in the morning?" Jack grumped.

  "Sorry, just need a hand starting breakfast." I apologized, "I seem to have lost mine."

  Despite trying to still look surly, Jack emitted a buzzing cough, "I'd normally charge an arm and a leg for cooking services, but it looks like someone's already overcharged you." We both laughed at that with Jeremy joining in with his hyena cackle as Matilda rolled her antennas as the bad joke. "Yeah, I can help with that." Jack made a wet gurgling noise and spat a glob of something that burst into flame as it splattered over the logs.

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  "Well that simplifies some things," I blinked at the clinging flames as I moved most of the wood away to keep it all from going up, "Mutagen?"

  "Skill," he shrugged looking at the pile of uncooked meat, "Pyroclastic projectile. Bought it before I found the Hominid Mutagen, thought it would be useful to be able to start fires since most animals are scared of it."

  "Smart." I said, unlocking the trailer and digging out a couple of metal grills and a large metal tub that was meant to hold a flower bed but I figured it would be good for massive cooking orders.

  "So how do you cook scorpion?" Jeremy asked, watching with curiosity.

  "Not the slightest of clues," I stated happily, "I do have a few shellfish recipes in here though, figured I'd try them. Nothing like a bit of experimentation first thing in the morning," I set a pile of buckets down, "Can you and your pups fill those with water from the creek over there?"

  "Sure thing Joe!" Jeremy said happily grabbing a bucket in his teeth and his rotwalkers clumsily imitated him.

  "Jack, would you mind trying some of the shellfish recipes out on these things?" I poked the still massive pile of dead scorpions, "I packed a few recipe books in my suitcase, but I'm a bit too big to work the zipper now or add any ingredients smaller than a boss."

  "Yeah, yeah, just wish I had some coffee." the wasp man sighed.

  I turned to the moth who was idly playing with her scarf, "Matilda?"

  "She had it coming," she huffed, "I'm pretty sure she's the one who tried to eat my minis."

  "Regardless, would you mind bringing our guest down here and removing her gag?" I requested.

  She made a dismissive gesture and a small crowd of moths gathered atop the trailer to carry down the bundled and gagged bat. A couple chewed away at the silk around her mouth and the bound woman immediately started squeaking, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know that truck was yours! It just smelled nice and I was hungry! Please don't kill me! I'll leave and never bother you again!"

  I glanced down at Matilda who glared back up at me. Jack paused in his paging through the cook books to cast a glance over at us. "The hell you two do to her?"

  "Matilda beat her up, took her lunch money, and shoved her into a locker." I teased.

  "She killed my mini mes!" Matilda protested incensed, "I was looking through their eyes at the time too so it was a decidedly unpleasant experience! I was well within my rights to restrain the ragamuffin!"

  "I'm sorry! I didn't know!" the bat girl wailed, thrashing against the silk still holding her, "I just thought they were bugs and I was hoping they were edible! I'll make it up to you! Just please! Don't hurt me!"

  "Calm down girl," I hushed as softly as my mountain of a voice could, "Why are you so freaked out, we ain't gonna hurt you."

  "I'm sorry, I-I'm just so tired and hungry," she sobbed, "I was at home with my husband and then suddenly I was in an egg, and then a bat, and then before I could even try to figure out what was going on these giant dog snakes came running out of my kitchen and tried to eat me! I barely got away by trying to fly and it worked, but I was afraid to land so I tried crashing in the water and a giant fish and an even bigger bird tried to eat me! I barely got away with my life by crawling through thorny underbrush where I must of passed out until I was nearly stepped on by a dinosaur that then tried to eat me as another bat thing harassed me! I had to fly through the woods to shake them off only to fly into a pack of wasps as big as me and-and and I just want to go back to normal." She broke down sobbing into the ground at this point and I glanced at Matilda, who looked rather sad at the woman's story.

  "Damn," Jack said as he tended the fire, "Sounds like you had as rough a first day as us."

  Well, assuming that she was being honest about her story. It sounded a bit too unbelievable to me that such a frail looking thing like her had escaped all of that, but I was willing to chalk it up to just paranoia, for now. After all far more unbelievable things had happened these last couple of days.

  Slithering around her and reaching into the truck I found the left over salted gar sitting where we'd left it next to the unprocessed jackal-snakes. Tearing off as small a piece as I could manage I returned to the woman and dropped it in front of her, it was still a chunk of meat the size of her head. "We've not had any shortage of food so far, so we can afford a bit of generosity, help yourself."

  She didn't need much invitation, lunging forwards to grab the chunk of salted fish in her teeth and greedily tearing into it despite still being bound. I motioned for Matilda to cut the woman's wings loose, and she had her minions comply. The little bat gripped the meat fiercely and turned to the little moths and hissed. That hiss hit like a shockwave.

  My mind rocking as I felt a massive spike of dread, falling almost instinctively into the defensive coil of Bunker Down. I was distantly aware of Matilda and her army of moths all leaping back, wings spread wide as they all focused on the little bat before us. Even Jack was instantly on his feet, his six abdomens showing uncommon flexibility as they all flexed around his torso to aim at the bat half his size. Yet said bat just turned back to her chunk of fish and continued to gobble it down, happy to ignore us.

  A second later it was like a veil had been lifted and the sudden dread evaporated leaving only a healthy caution. Though I didn't care for the fact she was seemingly able to make me feel fear on command, best keep that in mind.

  "That, is a neat trick." Jack buzzed slowly, settling back down next to the now merrily burning fire.

  "Is everything okay?" Jeremy demanded sprinting onto the scene, "What was that noise just now?"

  Jeremy seemed to have lost his bucket, his rotwalkers hadn't as they followed behind their master. The little bat glared up from her meal just to catch sight of said rotwalkers. All the animal fury she'd been displaying fled her as she took one look at the glowing emaciated beast and she shrieked in fright. She attempted to beat her wings and flee, yet due to her earlier hiss, Matilda's clones hadn't managed to finish clearing her of silk. Which meant that as she turned to flee, a cord of silk went taunt, yanking her back the other way. She spun in a clumsy spiral, flipped upside down, and landed skull first on the asphalt where she remained balanced for a long half second before going limp.

  "Ow~." she moaned.

  "Oh, this who Matilda caught?" Jeremy asked happily, his short bushy tail giving a couple wags, "Nice to meet ya, I'm Jeremy!"

  "Charmed," the bat growled, "Absolutely charmed."

  "You got a name yourself?" I inquired politely but made a mental note that she had yet to offer her name.

  "Huh?" the woman rolled back to her feet, "Oh right, uh, you can call me Daphne."

  "Well Daphne," I gave the woman a wide snakey smile. "We're more than willing to give you a place to rest for a day or two if you need it. Sounds like you could use it after your previous day."

  "Blastin'."she grumbled with a yawn.

  "Matilda, would you mind showing her in?" I left the 'as an apology' unsaid.

  "Sure, I can get back to napping myself." she grumbled.

  As she led Daphne into the twisting halls of the stadium, I moved over towards a few of Matilda's moths making themselves at home in the darkness of the trailer. Giving a modest wait to be absolutely sure the woman was out of earshot I nudged the smaller moth awake and told it, "Keep an eye on her. Something feels off to me."

  "You sure you aren't just getting paranoid over nothing?" Jack asked as he poured the buckets of mostly clear water into the massive metal pot to start boiling.

  "I really hope I am," I sighed, "But a bit of caution is called for these days."

  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 and now summons miniature versions of herself. 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.

  Daphne - A small mysterious bat woman who was caught sneaking around the stadium.