"Zack...?" Turning his head to stare at the person who called his name, he saw a blinding light shine through his eyes, he blinked as he retriveed all energy back to the stone for a moment so his veins would not glow- "Oh, hey Jacob." Jacob Martins, he goes to High School with Zack, or rather Zackary Zonas Zin- His mother, okay? She's the one at fault! His brother's name is Adrian Anderson Aromatia! She wanted kids from A to Z, but she only had him and his brother, and since he was the older one he took the Z and his brothet took the A. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Oh right, blood covered him! Zack looked down at himself and smiled back at Jacob, blooding dripping from his face: "Well, it's not mine so~" He pointed at the bird with the beak of the thing, this was sharp and could be used as a weapon, judt what he needed! "What the fuck!?" Jacob shouted, getting the attention of the... others. High Schoolers, they were lame in Zack's not so humble opinion, so he wanted to keep his distance from them-
"Zack?" Angeline, the girl who he knew very well had a crush on him- Oh, right, he's vey, very gay thank you. "Oh, hey Angel!" He beemed at her, his hands pulling the feathers from the now sack of meat on the ground, his other hand holding the blade he was using to cut the thing: "The fuck you're doing!?" Ah, of course he had to be here- Vince Garrett, Mr. Popular and King of the High-school! "Oh hey Vince." But Zack didn't care at all: "What are you doing Zack?" Angeline and a few other people from his class that he couldn't bother to remember were looking at him in disgust and fear: "I'm dismantling the monster? How am i supposed to eat it?" He shrugged with his shoulders, pulling the thing with him as he went deeper into the darkness of the broken Laboratory- He didn't remember much about this, but during the outbreak and mutation, wasn't his class having some sort of excursion? visiting? he doesn't remember and doesn't care to remember it.
His grip on the feathers of the back were strong, but something held it back so he turned to look at ir and saw- Angeline, with a look of concern. "Zack, you don't look good, i think you need help-" However, just at that moment, there was a shriek of pain as a thin feather flew through the air, Zack only turned his head to the side as it flew past him and sank into the chest of another person, he turned around to see a small brown owl with a twisted bloodied beak and a large eagle-like bird: "Oh, a Strix! And a Stymphalian Eagle?" Strixes are the birds from Greek Mythology that eat human flesh and feast on their blood, while Stymphalian Birds are birs with sharp feathers and bronze beaks, they are also man-eaters! "That's a good find i guess." Pulling the string from his crossbow and loading an arrow and- "Watch out!" Angeline, the ever so brave young girl pushed him away as a feather from the eagle-like bird sank on the concrete floor where he was a few moments prior, but he was used to shooting, so he shot his crossbow at it and the thin and hooked stinger sank into the body of the bird and it shreeked.
With his eyes he could easily see how the Strix Owl was going to charge, his world went slow for a second and everything felt grey as he quickly recharged from the ground and shot it, it didn't loose its momentum, stumbling and rolling into the ground as Zack got up as if nothing had happened- He could hear the commotion behind him as the people gathered around a hurt student, he heard and it was Jacob- he was very loyal, a very loyal man, he was his friend and he would die for someone, that's the type of person Jacob is. "Well... A valuable companion." He pulled one feather off of the bird before dragging the carcass over to the fallen Jacob, he wasn't good... The feather sank into his guts, and he would bleed out because he isn't an evolved yet.
'Might as well.' He didn't care if others saw, it didn't matter to him becaude the would only see his body glowing, they wouldn't know what it was- he knew he could augment his body, but could he augment other things? Like let's say, someone else's body? "This gonna hurt- I think." He placed his hand on Jacob's wound and his veins glowed light blue, originating from his chest, it flowed faster through his arm before- Like a defibrillator, a shock went through Jacob's body, he tensed as the foreign energy coursed through his wound and he felt it simply burn, the feather was pulled out of his body and he felt a fresh feeling as the burn went away; "Poison." Zack's voice answered a question he didn't know he had- What burned so much? Poison, apparently? "Stymphalian Birds have poison in their Feathers, Strixes have a strong grip on their beaks, and Vampire Birds are really fast. C'mon, get up and learn, I saved yor life now it belongs to me, and you're gonna work." He couldn't even react as his body was pulled up and away from the stunned and speechless crowd of teenagers- "Here, you pull the feathers out like this-" his brain was in automatic mode, he chuckled a few times because why the fuck not and his hands were already moving and pulling the feathers out carefully when he thought:
The fuck?
"Zack, since when you're a monster hunting badass!? A week ago you were hunching and acting like a shy guy, and now you're so badass?" Jacob and his big mouth couldn't keep his excitement in, but the response he got from Zack was something he didn't expect: "Well, almost dying several times does that to you i guess." His hand was bloodied from him pulling the head of the eagle-like bird off, it was weird but somehow cool? Jacob didn't understand, but Zack looked taller now, and more muscular than he used to: "Zack, hey please-"
"Angeline, i know you're a lovely girl with awsome breasts and a breathtaking beauty that makes the sun jealous of your glowing glory, but please for the love of satan let me do my work- I'm trying to get me some food and bones, thank you very much, plus- I'm like, very, very gay, so i reject you." After that, a rather awkward silence followed only interrupted by Zack's hands and the tearing of skin, muscle, meat, and feathers. "Jacob, put this there." Jacob obediently followed the order only to pause once he did, because there were too many questions he wanted to ask, but the aura, the feeling he got whenever he looked at Zack was one of 'Do Not Disturb'... "Hey, fucker-" however, there were some people who don't know how to read the room: "-The fuck did you do to my boy Jacob-" A glowing blue light grew from Zack's hand as he looked at the people there- There were about 16? There were more, but they must've died: "Everything is evolving. Do you think humans wouldn't?"
Then it hit them- Zack evolved.
Zack was strong- he could keep them safe! Zack was- Leaving. Holding a bag made out of flesh full of bloodied feathers, a few bones hanging from his hips and a bird skull on his head, Zack looked like a monster- "Oh, Jacob, C'mon. We have a camp to make-" Jacob, like a lost dog, followed because he also realized this, Zack was strong, he could protect him or maybe help him get stronger as he is? He seems to know what the fuck's going on, so that's great right? "Wait!" Some people wanted to talk to him, but he kept walking, and only a few were brave enough to follow, one of them being Angeline herself alongside Vince and three of his bully friends that Jacob remember doing some shit to people-- They followed Zack who ignored everything, Jacob saw that his eyes were closed as he kept walking forward, dodging any broken stones or holes, hand on his crossbow and silent.
"Hey-" Jacob quickly covered the mouth of one of the bullys when he tried to speak, making a *suush* gesture with his hand and watching as Zack turned pointed his crossbow and a squeak echoed in dark corridor illuminated only by a flashlight and the glowing of Zack's skin, it looked almost like glowing tattoos... "No more monsters ahead." Hearing Zack's voice and seeing him walk leisurely forward, Jacob followed eager to learn even though this situation was creepy- i mean, his glowing blue eyes almost worked like a flashlight, illuminating the darkness! "Okay, first this is so freaky but so coll! Are you like, an X-Men? Do you have like, the X-Gene or something? Can I also glow?" Jacob shot questions repeatedly, one after the other in quick succession, making Zack turn to look at him with a cold expression on his face- he was deadpan, eyes glowing, and lips curled into a snarl-like expression: "Shut up. I'll only answer one question per day, and i won't guarantee it's the true so ask carefully."
Oh, so he has limitations on what he can ask... Okay.
"So... What you meant by everything's evolving...?" Zack only smirked as spread his arms around like a charismaniac, a magnificent bastard, a villain in a movie, saying: "Everything that is alive is growing. The plants, they are filled with hate, love, desire, and more- The animals are more connected to their instincts, the insects are bigger, the birds are more aggressive, and the humans?" He paused, his grin growing into an unnatural sharpness and when he flexed his hand, his nails turned black and into claws, sharp claws: "Humans are evolving. Becoming more... I am just an apex, someone who has abandoned their humanity to survive, and when i have everything i want safe- I'll live." His feet tapped on the ground as he turned to the dark tunnel again: "Now- Let's make a small camp, so i can rest- contrary to popular beliefs, having something piercing through your body is not funny, it leaves you all crooked and broken." Zack leaned his back in a very unnatural way, it looked his bones were made out of rubber and not calcium.
His head turned 180° and he said with a creepy smile: "Well, Jacob dear, let's set camp so i can... eat." His head turned back to normal as he physically turned his head back with both hands: "This is neat!" He chuckled, apparently Jacob will have to add Inhuman Flexibility on the list of powers Zack has besides glowing blue. Setting camp wqs easy for both of them, Jacob still didn't know why exactly why he was following the guy, buy it was fun and there were less chances of him dying a brutal and ruthless death: "Hey, Angel." The girl raised her head, broke out of her thoughts as she looked at Zack with a confused expression- She and the other three following them were thankfully silent, but now he wanted to ask her a question: "Tell me, dear... How many fucking bird were in this laboratory and what species?"
"Uh... Hummingbirds, Bald Eagles, Owls, and-" But Zack completed her sentence with a growling burning blue hatred: "And a fucking Goose." The animalistic smirk that followed his sentence sent shivers down their spine, even more so when the wall on the side shattered, a giant beak poking out-
Well... A giant goose? Jacob hated his life.