A giant goose.
Fuck- Zack remembered the type of destruction this thing could cause, how sturdy this beast was and how powerful it could be- However, it had a large maternal instinct and would protect its chick in any circumstances, even against the Giant Dragons- Those were rare beasts that evolved from a Chimera-like mixture of a bird and a lizard, devolving into a dinosaur-like beast. Because not only some creatures evolved, some devolved, going back in time in stunning and dangerous speeds! Like the deer, which grew in size back to its Giant counterpart from the Ice Ages, Bears also did the same too! Some chikens and other birds also became smaller dinosaurs in the future but now? Now he had one thing to deal with- A giant goose. "Fucking shit-"
He noticed it then, the Goose pulled back its beak and he saw a glimpse of a shell, a broken shell of a broken egg? Giant Gooses have a higher intelligence but cannot make decisions on their on, almost like children! 'Maybe...?' He had a crazy thought, a very, very crazy thought- Maybe he could pose as the Goose's child? By the looks of it, it recently lost its egg so maybe its maternal instincts are sharp and ready? "Well, not like I care, can also poison it to death." He walked up to the hole against the silent looks of 'The fuck you doin'?' from the others that followed him- He didn't care, he wanted to try it! "What sound does a baby geese does again...?" He tried once, doing a high pitched squeak with his voice, coughing on his fist before trying out again, he waited for a few seconds before once again doing the weird sound that reminded you of a babt geese if you were deaf! "Yeah that didn't work." He coughed again as his throat hurt: "Hey Jacob? Can ya try to immitate a baby goose?" Jacob pointed to himself in confusion only receive a deadpan look.
"O-okay." He coughed on his fist and squeaked, but he sounded worse than Zack actually! So, what did Zack do? He gave up for now, since he knew there were other creatures he could raise and tame to be his ride, like the Giant Wolves who were strangely quite loyal to their owners once throughly tamed and asserted dominance over, due to after their evolution them following the fabled Alpha, Beta, Omega shit that goes around the internet: "Well, good news is that the giant white goose won't attack, since it is grieving the lost egg." Zack stretched his arms and flexing his fingers to make his nails quickly growing like claws, this was one of the things he learned to do in his past-future, which was how to create natural weapons using energy! By stimulating his body with energy, he can push it to one direction, in this case the need he has- Speed? Sure! Flexibility? Easy! Claws? Practical and deadly! A perfect combination! Night Vision? Incredible!
With greater practice he might be able to even do more, but external changes are harder for him to do, well, internal are too since he spends his energy to make such changes.
His 'claws' were black, he could transform them all or just one, and one was enough for now- He took the bloodied sack of flesh full of feathers and his bag, inside the bag was a string and a pair of scissors that he tried to use to trimmer the feathers from the Stymphalian Eagle he killed a few minutes ago: "Jacob, come here." Jacob rushed to his side and listened to Zack as he demonstrated what he was doing while also explaining it: "Hold the feather for me from below- Yes like that, careful while i trimmer it." These feathers were sharp in only one side, that side was the one that sinks into something, the other side is not sharp but soft, making it easy to take the feather off! "What are you using the stems for?" Zack never stopped working on the feathers, putting the sharp feathers into the bag of flesh while keeping the stems to himself- The stems were a foot long, just so you know: "Arrows." The pointy end of the feather stem was as sharp as the feather itself, which could be used as the arrow's body, while the sharp feathers would be glued to the body or maybe he should use the Vampire Bird's feathers? Maybe.
"Fuck, arrows?" Zack chuckled at how Jacob felt impressed by his work, he felt and heard the approaching presences but ignored them, continuing to focus on his work! "I also have to make a bow... Might need some plant fiber and a flexible bone or maybe a flexible stick... Rather use bones though, maybe i should make a bone armor too, I'd be fun." Pondering out loud, Zack felt the curious eyes of the blond girl that sat beside him: "So... Uhm, you're gay?" Jacob felt a little awkward as he heard Zack chuckle, nodding as he said: "Very much so, Angel. Dicks, dicks all the time." He pointed to the string beside Jacob, who quickly gave it to him, earning him a 'thanks' from Zack as he bend the stem back and nodded when it didn't snap but frowned a moment later when he put some pressure on it with his hands and saw it shatter in his hands: "Damn it... Should've known." He opened his palm and both Jacob and Angeline gasped when they saw the piecies of the stem on his now bloodied hand- "Oh well."
What happened next shocked every single one of them- Except Zack, who raised his fingers and sank his black claws into his own flesh, frowning for a second before sighing- The veins of his arm glowed light blue, his blood glowed light blue before the palm of his hand glowed blue, slowly the pieces of the stem left his flesh and fell to the ground, the holes left behind closing as Zack wiped the blood from his hand on hia shirt as he hunmed a happy little song under his breath: "Pass me the knife Jacob." Jacob did so, eyes never leaving the pieces of the sharp stem on the ground: "This should do it..." He now had a makeshift white shortbow, he could use it for a while before he needs another one, he needs stronger string, a stronger body for his future bow and stronger arrows too. "Well, C'mon Jacob... Let's go find the exit, i don't like being surrounded by birds nor teenagers, so there's no way we'll stay here!" He pulled the backpack on his shoulder and threw the back of flesh over to Jacob, who caught it awkwardly for a moment before they stopped-
There stood Vince, Mr.Popular- "Don't think I'll let you leave without you explaining what the fuck is going on above-" He tried to be intimidating? Zack didn't notice it regardless of what the other boy thought was intimidating, he only stared at him for a second before a bone-chilling grin grew on his face: "Well... Jacob, lesson number one." Jacob's ears turned to full attention to him: "What is scarier- humans or monsters?" Jacob thought for a second before answering: "Monsters?"
"Wrong."
In a second, Zack had his hands on his crossbow and pullsd the trigger, the arrow tucked on it flew and pinned Vince to the wall, where Zack's glowing hand sank into, a single inch away from actually destroying the guy's brain, eyes glowing as his canine teeth expanded to a large size- In fact all of his teeth were now sharp, like the tooth of a carnivorous beast! "The answer is that there is no difference between them. At all." He pulled the arrow free and let the other boy sink to the floor, his eyes were unfocused as his panta started to wet a little bit- Oh, he lost control of his bladder? Poor thing. Snickering, Zack waved to Angeline as he walked away: "Bye Angel~" Jacob stood there for five seconds before running after Zack, who was already a few ways away-
-Scene Cut-
[Day 1 to 7
Dear Diary, hi? I think i should name you something... Zero, since you're mine, and i am number 1! okay that one was bad. Anyway, Boss gave me you and told me to write what i learn and what i want to, so i guess I'll make you my diary? Never had one before, my dad thought boys shouldn't have diaries because it's too "gay", hey, lucky me Boss is gay! So no judgment from him. Okay, after we left the Laboratory of Avian Research it was night, and that was when i learned the worst lesson i had yet to learn: Not Both.
You could either get a night sleep or warm food, not both! Boss told me when i evolved, only then we'd get both, and until then he'd choose which one we'd get that night- Food attracts monsters, and fire makes the plants angry. We're following the road, apparently Boss wants to find his brother who is in California... Cali- fucking -fornia! We're in Indiana! It'd take us days, weeks, i dont know, months to get there on foot! It's like... I think i remember the distance between Indiana and California is something like, 1.800 miles? Something like that, of that I'm sure! "Train every day." Boss said, he told me that a "Healthy Body is key to being strong" in his best impression of Jhon Travolta or was it Arnold Schwarzenegger? Regardless Zero, i have to tell you about what we did today! We walked around and Boss taught me one new thing: Bones are great weapons, but guns are better.
We managed to find a hunting shop, there were people there and boss managed to buy a crossbow, shotgun, bullets and a pistol by trading food with the survivors there. That day was the first day i saw someone die before my eyes, one guy was stupid enough to try to steal Boss' food and pointed a gun to his temple, i remember the sound of the guy's bones being broken slowly as Boss threw him into a Bonesnapper- A tree that has thin but strong roots that snap and break bones of other creatures, killing them to use their corpses as their food source! It was so crazy and metal, but slightly disturbing but hey- We got guns! And bear traps, and a truck too thanks to the guy who died being the owner of one! Boss took us to q gas station after we got gallons and told me to fill them up, and i did, we got a full truck full kf galons of gasoline that we could use and a pickup truck too. The following three days (Day 3 to 6) we drove down the roads, which were... Well, some were deserted, while some were full of cars that hindered our journey.
Now it's day 7, and here i am, alive still.
Today Boss brought me to hunt with him, we're in the outskirts of Dugger Indiana, we took the 159 and passed by the cemetery of Dugger before he took me to the Sullivan Greene State Forest and i must say- never were i so afraid of a forest before in my life! Cabin Rental was a mess, everything was broken and we saw many, many giant insects and some giant amphibians on our way here- I was afraid, but Boss' presence put me at ease a little bit though. He said we came here to not only train me but also because he wanted to find some mushroom? Weird.
Anyway, I'm going to go to him now that he's calling me! Signing off: Jacob Martins.]
Jacov closed his diary and looked up towards his boss, who was looking at the sky with a frown, making Jacob confused for a second before- A lightning bolt, stronger than anything that Jacob ever felt in his life, hit the ground in a flash, bringing thunder alongside it in an explosion. Jacob held his head as he felt pain on his head, ears bleeding as his boss ran to him with a tense face- Apparently, living things were the only thing affected by the radiation, as the water fell from the sky and lightning hit the ground, Jacob saw the water melting through wood easily- This was an acid storm.
Disoriented from the thunder, he lost his footing and fell, since his ears were bleeding and he could not hear anything, he also didn't have any balance for the moment- He fainted before he could even hear the second lightning bolt and the following ones after.