It was a summer of love at Little Brook, a quiet village full of normal people, a town where nothing bad happens. But it is different tonight for Jack as his boyfriend Michael had just disappeared at the stroke of midnight.
From bad to worse, a zom...
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Four months after the Outbreak.
Jack observed The Pink Crocodile, the bar where Michael used to work. It went well with him; a flashy facade of lurid shades veneered with sparkles, with a soft seat at his core where the loyal regulars could find comfort. The young man visited the area a bit more. At the back of the club, where the multicolored tiles of the dancefloor ended, there were three toilet doors. The continuous flow of water echoed from the males' one.
He pushed the door open and he froze. His guts contorted at the sight of what was inside. The second sink on his way still ran. Droplets fell on the raven hair of a boy, Michael. He leaned forward at the faucet, his face drowned.
"Michael!" Jack shouted and pulled him out. "Please, be okay." Jack shook him.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Michael mumbled between two jerks. "I just wanted to test something."
Ariel rushed in. "What's happening?" she asked.
Michael moved his bangs up. "I'm not sure, myself."
"Care to explain?" Jack turned off the sink, which had a piece of cloth shoved down its drain.
"Earlier, when we fought that crocodile monster. There was something different..." Michael sighed. "When I was underwater, I could breathe just fine." He pointed at the sink. "And right here too, I can't drown anymore."
Ariel crossed her arms. "It's strange yeah, every special infected has one unique ability, but for some reason you got several."
"Talking about unique..." Michael glanced away and hunched. "When you two arrived at the hospital, you guys remember the man who got his head chopped off?"
Jack and Ariel nodded.
Michael played with his hair. "Well... It was his power to breathe underwater."
"So, you two happened to have the same powers?" wondered Jack.
"No. That's not it." Ariel furrowed her brows. "Michael, I think you somehow took the ability of the man."
Michael stared at her. "That... that explains a lot actually." He closed his eyes. "Months ago, after I got bitten, some kind of winged zombie attacked me too." He huffed. "Soon after, he crashed into a building and died... I guess that's how I got mine"
Ariel's mouth fell agape. "I... Is it possible?"
"You have an idea of what's going on with me?" asked Michael.
"I-I think..." Ariel exhaled. "Michael, your power isn't your snakes or your wings... Yours is to take the abilities of dead infected."
Jack held his left arm. "And, is it good or bad?"
Ariel shook her head a bit. "No idea... What I do know is that the coral has a different effect on Michael... Normally it replicates the DNA of some random sea animal inside its host." She rubbed her temples. "But with Michael, it's as if the coral replicated itself inside him... As crazy as it might sound, Michael could be the first infected to have a perfect symbiosis with the coral."
