Chapter 1: The End of the World Part 2

Michael looked at him with his greyish brown eyes. Jack had already seen that gaze before. It unsettled him a lot. It was as if he read his soul. Jack wanted to tell him so many things, but only silence left his mouth. After a moment, Michael just bolted away from them.

"I'll check on him," Ariel said as she followed him.

Jack lowered his eyes to the ground.

In the children's ward, Ariel traveled through a hallway of colorful drawings before she arrived at what seemed to be Michael's windowless room. It seemed to be out of a fairytale, where the princess waited for her prince. As he never came, the pink of the walls faded into a molded blue. The raven-haired young man sat on his bed, and looked at a wall, his eyes lost.

"You okay?" asked Ariel.

"Hey, sorry for running away. It was just- a lot to handle," replied Michael. "I'm glad that you're still alive."

"I'm glad to see you again too," Ariel smiled, "So, about Jack..."

"I don't want to talk about this," Michael cut.

Michael closed his eyes before his face shifted from one emotion to a complete state of joy.

"If you want, we need more medics here, perhaps you could help?" he said

"Of course," she replied while she rubbed her left hand.

"Nice! By the way, I need to introduce you to David, honest, smart, and... hot as hell," Michael raced through his words, with a tone much faster than a few seconds ago.

Ariel lolled her head. "David? You're with him?"

"Yep," Michael replied with a flawed Cheshire cat grin.

In the hall of the hospital, Jack and Marian were welcomed by a tall blond man with an impressive build. It made him look like Jack's older brother. He wore a blue jacket with a red shirt underneath.

"Hey, fancy seeing new faces here." He shook Jack's hand with a warm and strong grasp. "I'm David."

"I'm Jack, and that's Marian," said Jack.

David rose his eyebrows and pointed at two of them. "Oh, so you two are?"

"No, we're just friends," said Jack with a tight voice.

"Sure, they all say that at the start." David winked. "So, let me give you a tour of our home sweet home."

He tried to think otherwise, but Jack did not like the man.

They followed David through the hospital. All of a sudden, they stumbled upon Michael and Ariel, which made the former drop his simper.

"Mikie, honey, you're here," David said with a festive voice before he kissed him in front of Jack.

Jack widened his eyes. "You two are-"

"Together," David said. "Oh, and you must be Ariel, Michael's sister. He talked about you." David shook her hand with liveliness.

"Oh, I'm Michael's best friend actually," said Ariel as she massaged her wrist.

All of them looked at each other with embarrassment, except for David who had a wide smile on his face, his right arm coiled around Michael's shoulders. However, the scene was broken by Peter and other men, who jerked toward them.

"We have a problem," said the man.

Peter led them toward the makeshift fence. From afar, a beige ball seemed to have been thrown over it. As they walked closer. Marian screamed and ran inside. Jack rushed after to calm her. Next to the fence, they saw what it really was.

A human head.

"Adam," Michael said.

David lost his smirk. A paper was pushed into the dead man's mouth.

He read it. "They want half of our food and weapons."

"We should accept the deal," Peter said with a clenched jaw.

"We're not. This place is mine, they're not going to take anything away from it," David said.

"But we got kids in here!" shouted Peter.

David glared at Peter. "Don't question my order."

Peter bit his tongue and nodded.

While David talked, Michael knelt in front of the head and put his right hand on it. With delicateness, he closed Adam's eyes.

The news of Adam's death had spread a swarm of fear within the hospital. The safe-haven did not appear safe anymore. The funeral held for what was left of Adam was simple. In a lack of proper coffins, a plastic case was used to bury him. Not a lot of people attended the event apart from David, some guards, Michael, Peter, Jack, and Ariel. Whereas, Marian preferred to shelter herself in the library.

"Neither death, nor life, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us," David said as guards started to dig a hole. "We got some rooms free for you and your friends," he said to Ariel.

While they discussed, Jack glanced at Michael. The latter was giving him a concerned look but turned away as soon as he noticed that Jack's eyes were on him.

Once the funeral was done, everyone adapted to their new lives. It was already the night, but the hospital had decent lighting. Hence, Jack had no difficulty to find the cardiology ward, where his room was. The hallway had the faint scent of sulfur. As he turned into a corner, he stopped on Michael who played with a dog.

"Hey," Jack stopped Michael, "So, you're with David, now?"

Michael took a deep breath and gave a gentle pamper to the dog, while he dodged Jack's eyes.

"Yes," he said.

Jack crossed his arms and sighed."Is it some kind of revenge?" he asked.

Michael did not reply.

Jack looked at Michael for a moment before he shook his head and walked away to the left.

Michael stayed still in the hallway for a moment, he looked at where Jack used to be. He let out a deep sigh. Then, he led the dog back to their owner and returned to his room and locked the door.

Somewhere else in the city, a group of six people roamed the plagued town. Three men and one woman. A rugged man with a beard led them. Knives and crowbars in hand. Their clothes were mangy with sweat.

"Ugh!" groaned the leader.

"What's that?" asked the woman.

The bearded man kicked a burnt hose away from him.

"Nothing. Thought it was a snake, hate those things," he said.

At the end of the road stood a figure in the night.

The scavengers laughed and surrounded him. The stranger had on a black hoodie and a pair of grey jeans.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said one of the scavengers.

The stranger's eyes turned into a serpentine yellow; black veins grew under their skin. Their nails grew into claws, sharper than a lion.

A small hump inflated on their back. Their spine cracked and moved like a centipede. It split itself into two chrysalides of flesh and mucus. A plumed iron curtain burst out of him. It rushed to the man at the stranger's left

"Aaargh!" screamed the scavenger as he fell on the ground.

His right shoulder separated from his chest.

Their chief fell on the ground, his chest cramp.

Next to him, the woman watched her friend on the ground. He got sliced like a paper doll cut by a reckless child. The man slinked to a safe distance. The hooded figure still had their head turned to the left, while the woman was in the opposite direction. The backbone in their neck undulated. Then, it folded in the other sense. Their head tilted to the right. A second wing tore open from the young man's back, more white than the one of an eagle. The woman stretched her mouth agape. From the middle, her skull was divided down. Her head opened like the jaws of an alligator.

The one behind the hooded figure ran. With a grin, the latter folded his neck in a snap. They lifted their arms above their wings, bent backward, and walked on all fours. The man screamed. The infected crawled fast toward him, faster than he had ever seen. The man's fear clotted his lungs. Darkness surrounded him. Nothing could have been seen, not even the car abandoned in front of him, until the impact. His head buzzed as he laid on the ground. Nothing was in his field of view. A loud bang resonated on the car shield. The man yelled.

The winged figure put his claws on his throat and skinned it open.

Their leader ran too. The night got him lost into a dead end. He tried to climb the fence on his way. A figure raced behind him. When he turned around, nobody was here. On the left, was a small gap between two buildings. Too narrow for any human to cross. It was dark and damp.

From the darkness, nails peeked.

A hand burst and clawed the wall. A leg slithered and stomped on the ground. A pair of amber eyes pierced the darkness. The hand pushed against the wall. A young man came out with a smile taking half of his face.

The scavenger tried to flee, but the creature jumped on him. He tripped down on the ground. Its wings writhed around. The membrane shredded itself. The bones cracked. It spewed and sizzled. The wings melded into six appendages that hissed. Then ten. Then fifteen. A whole mantle of serpents. The scavenger's lungs constricted as if fists pressed them.

"What's wrong? Scared of snakes?" said Michael.

"Please, go away from me," the scavenger said with a shrill voice.

"Don't be afraid," Michael said. "I'm an Angel."

The snakes opened their jaws. Then, they sank their fangs in the man's skin.

The man's screams pierced the night before it flooded into a gulp of blood that scorched his throat.

------------------------

Well, looks like Michael is a hentai monster.

What was the weirdest love interest in a story?

In my opinion, probably Dobby in some fanfics.