Dragging the barely alive Mimic by her neck, I backtracked my way to the stage. By this point she no longer moaned, groaned or said anything else. Lack of energy I'd guess. That, or the tongue I sliced off.

Her body was a complete mess. Missing eye, ripped out hair showing her bloody scalp, both breasts were gone and replaced with the fat underneath, teeth painfully removed, most of the skin flayed off, stomach torn open revealing her hanging guts, and all bones broken beyond repair.

Honestly, I was impressed she was still alive. What a trooper. But man am I glad she's still kicking. Got one last thing for her.

Eventually I made my way to the stage and walked to the middle of it. Seeing me arrive, the others gained fearful looks. Although I liked the fear they showed, it reminded me of what the Mimic said and pissed me off. Dropping the motionless whore's body close to Kevin, I ignored the overwhelming need to rip their hearts out and instead walked to one of the audience seats.

I plopped my ass into the uncomfortable seat and held my head in-between my hands. The words she spoke to me... wormed their way into my mind and clouded my thinking. Should I just stop resisting and give in to my needs? Maybe. 

Suddenly, I felt someone coming close. There was only one person who it could be.

"Alice." Unconsciously, a smile found it's way onto my lips. I could hear her gasp in shock before sitting down next to me.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I could... sense you I guess?" I soon felt her hand lay on my thigh. But I wasn't really in the mood for anything and neither was she.

"Are you okay?" The concern coming from her voice lifted my spirits and soothed me. I took my hands off my head and placed one on top of hers. Just as I was about to speak, a wild sniffling meatball arrived and asked me the same thing.

"I'm fine. Just something the Mimic told me that got under my skin is all."

"You sure?" Zach said, which Alice nodded as well.

"I'm a big boy, nothing I can't handle. Anyway, what's next on the agenda?" My Changing The Subject skill was a little rusty, but luckily Zach didn't press me and only sighed. 

"W-We... want to bury him but there's nowhere suitable around here. If not for the distance, we would have brought him to a church. So we're going to go to the high-school and hopefully find a nice field for him." Near the end he choked up and tried to hold back tears. Huh. I didn't realize he cared so much for Kevin.

When I looked over to his body, I saw the other three gently pick him up and load him onto a trolley. Then they placed a big piece of cloth over top of him and started wheeling him to the exit.

"By the way, is that 'thing' still alive." To get his mind off losing his friend, he asked me in a rare angry tone about the condition of my victim.

"Yup. She's pretty damn broken though. Doubt she'd last more than five minutes longer without dying. Alright, I'll catch up with you guys in a few." Standing up, Zach took a step back and looked confused.

"Huh? What do you mean?" But I'm guessing he got the point when I started walking to the Mimic.

"What do you think? Might as well eat her."

"O-Oh." With that, he skedaddled towards the exit. Soon enough, it was me, Alice, and the whore. 

"Can I... join?" My other half hesitantly said. What a pleasant surprise.

"Definitely! Come on!" Reaching for her, she grabbed my hand and allowed me to pull her up on the stage. 

Together, we walked up to the still unmoved Mimic who stared at the both of us with her one good eye. Well, she didn't look happy that's for sure.

"Let's dig in." I started off by grabbing her flayed arm and biting into it. Ripping out the chunk of meat, I returned to that realm of pleasure that I first felt with the Juggernaut. But this time, I was more in control.

"Here." Offering Alice the arm, she hesitated for several seconds before kneeling down next to me. She grabbed the arm and tried taking a small bite, but found it tough. 

Eventually though, she managed to take a tiny piece off. Instantly, she gasped in shock and even moaned as she chewed it slowly. With dilated pupils, it took her a few seconds but she finally swallowed the flesh in her mouth. Without caring about me or the outside world, she ravenously dug back into the Mimic's body.

Couldn't let her have all the fun, so I joined in and together we tore the Mimic apart. She didn't even scream as we ate her alive, just laid there with a blank eye. Yup, she was broken alright. Completely and utterly. Serves her right.

When we finished, some changes happened. Although some black veins did appear on Alice's body, they were far less than my own. She looked even more beautiful with them.

Not only that but her bones and muscles shifted, becoming much stronger then before. Unfortunately, she didn't gain any height and her muscles barely got any bigger. Might have to get her a Juggernaut for that to happen. Thankfully there was no pain on her face during the transformation, only euphoria.

As for me, there were three major changes aside from the black veins that made themselves known once more.

First were the memories. I got a full download of the Mimic's life. From how she killed her victims, to how she became them, who she was before the virus, the whole nine yards. Turns out before she became infected, she was an aspiring actress who sold her body for roles. There were times when she would look in the mirror and hate herself for what she did to get ahead in her career.

Obviously, there was no pain in it since they were just memories after all. It would make no sense for it to cause any sort of discomfort. Perhaps a headache at best.

The second thing, were my fingernails. They became far sharper and longer, though I could control their length at will. Unfortunately, they were hard-capped at four inches long. Hopefully that will change with more Mimics, or maybe killing a Night Hunter would help them become thicker and longer. 

The way they looked was almost surgical, which is unsurprising when recalling the memories. Because the way the Mimic became other people, was slicing their victims skin off and fusing it with their own.

But for some reason, that way of doing it felt wrong. Inefficient almost. I think... I can come up with a better way. 

When I tested it's sharpness by lightly poking my forearm, I found that it was able to pierce my durable skin with little effort and make me bleed more than expected.

The third and final improvement, were my brand new shark-like teeth. They became far sharper and like my nails, could be changed at will. When I looked at them in the mirror, I started feeling... wrong.

"You... look disgusting." My hand was shaky as I touched the scar on my cheek. It's so... wrong. Imperfect. Flawed. I punched the mirror with my fist and shattered it into a thousand pieces.

"Filthy fucking thing." Suddenly, I heard a concerned voice from behind.

"Jason? Are you alright?" Turning around, I saw my perfect Alice looking at me worryingly with slightly different but similar teeth and nails.

However, they soon changed back to normal which made her jump in shock at the unexpected retreat. She then came close until she was an arm's length away.

"Why did you say all that?" She could hear? I thought it was all in my head.

"I... don't know. It might have been a side effect from the Mimic. Do you feel the same?" Once I explained how imperfect I felt, she cocked head.

"No? I-" Out of nowhere, a sudden but perhaps needed twist occurred.

"A-Alice?" Looking over, the both of us could see Lily standing there horrified with her hands over her mouth. Uh oh spaghettio. This is awkward. Did she see everything?

"What in the fuck is wrong with you?!" Hm. Guess so. Her wrathful voice echoed throughout the giant room as she stomped closer to us. When she climbed up on stage, Alice backed up slightly and looked scared.

"Huh?! Answer me!" Lily stopped right in front of her sister and looked down at her.

"I... uh..." Alice struggled to find the correct words and couldn't look into her eyes. I should lend a hand.

"Listen Lily-" Before I could finish, the big sister snapped towards me with fire pouring out of her eyes. That, mixed in with some hatred and venom.

"Shut the fuck up! This is all your fault! The reason why my sweet Alice has suddenly changed so drastically! You piece of shit! I bet you whispered evil bullshit into her ear and brainwashed her to do this!" 

Okay. Emotions are running high, so I can forgive the baseless slander. 

"ENOUGH!" The loud and angry scream from Alice made us both turn to her. 

"Stop it Lily! Just stop! It's not his fault or your's or anyone's! I wanted to do it! And look at me! I'm fine!" Lily was stunned at Alice lashing out at her. Suddenly, Alice walked close to her sister and hugged her. She looked up at her with those beautiful emerald eyes and pled her case.

"I know you're worried about me, and I love you for that, but I'm fine. Really. There's not some mind control or brainwashing going on. Try to see the other side of this." Lily cocked an eyebrow.

"The other side?" Alice nodded her head and continued. 

"Because of this new... activity... I'm a lot stronger than before. Able to protect not just myself, but the others as well. See?" To prove her point, Alice easily picked Lily up which shocked the big sister massively. She then put her back down gently.

"I'm still me. I still love Mac 'n' cheese and ketchup together. Still love sleeping with my blanket I got from you when I was seven. And putting my bare feet in snow and calling myself the Ice Princess! This is just something new. Can... you accept that?" Lily smiled when remembering all those things.

But Ketchup in Mac 'n' cheese? Here I thought mash potatoes on a burger made me a freak.

"You always were a little weirdo. I'm sorry Alice. For yelling at you. I love you."

Gosh, the way they both hugged each other like that just warms my heart. Once they separated with smiles, I opened my arms which pulled confused looks from the both of them.

"Where's my apology and complimentary hug?" While Alice laughed, Lily chose to look at me like I was some kind of retard.

"What for?" 

"For ruining my good name of course! I have a reputation to uphold." Lily sighed and jokingly acted like she was reluctantly doing so. Almost as if she was doing me a favor.

"Sorry bud. Happy?" Entering my arms, she patted me on the back three times loudly. Although she seemed insincere, I could tell she actually felt bad. I didn't hold it against her.

"Very much so, thank you. I accept your apology." She sighed in relief at that and squeezed a little harder. When separating from me, she linked her arm with a slightly jealous Alice's and dragged her to the exit while talking about numerous things.

When they left, I whispered to myself.

"I saw that you know." What I was referring to, was the slight blush on her face during the hug.

But there was no way in hell I'd betray Alice for her sister. I don't exactly consider myself to be a good person and all, but that's just fucked up.

Before I left, I looked down at the gnawed on remains of the Mimic and crushed her skull with my foot. I already have my trophy sitting pretty in my pocket. But I did take a small bone for something else.

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There was a melancholy aura surrounding the group as they walked silently down the road. Their destination wasn't too much further at this point, just a few minutes away. From where they were, they could already see the wall and knocked down fence at the high-school. The closer they got, the more blood and skeletons they saw litter the ground.

At the front of the group was Tyrone pushing the trolley carrying his dead friend. Next to him was Bill and Zach whose eyes had run out of tears and were as puffy as could be.

Behind them was Jason, Alice, and Lily who were discussing the changes that happened to the two partners. But a frown soon appeared on Jason's face.

"You sure you didn't get any memories?" He asked once more.

"Nope. All I have is a faint feeling on how to disguise myself and such. But I'd need some skin in order to do so. I'll probably have to take some time to figure out what else I can do." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"What a crazy fucking conversation." Lily said off to the side while listening to the two psychopaths talking about slicing people's skin off and wearing it.

'Why is it so different?' Although the both of them shared the nails and teeth upgrade, that's where the similarities ended. As for Jason, he gained the memories of his victim's entire life. Not only that, but he could change his voice and even entire body to that of the Mimic's.

Then, there was the insane need the correct his body, face, hair, and everything else. Every part of him became a negative aspect that needed adjustment. Luckily, like the rage from the Juggernaut, it only lasted a few minutes. However, Alice didn't suffer the same which made Jason think long and hard about it.

The only conclusion he could come to was that when he consumed something, he took everything. Even their flaws.

But now that he has experienced it twice, he believes that next time he will be able to simply discard that worthless part without suffering the drawback.

"We're here." Tyrone's low and solemn voice broke Jason out of his thoughts. He was taking Kevin's death hard.

The group was standing just outside the fence where the refugees would line up to be allowed access to enter. Now closer, they could see the full damage done. By the looks of the broken wall and destroyed fence, it was like a giant battering ram smashed through the place. When they stepped inside, they were in for another shock.

"Jesus..." Bill was speechless seeing the amount of tanks and other vehicles that were completely beyond repair. There must have been dozens of them.

Not only that, but the amount of skeletons and blood made some faces scrunch up. Easily, there must have been thousands of gnawed on skeletons on the ground. Add in the blood and it made for a terrifying scene. Especially the one twelve meter Behemoth skeleton lying against the partially collapsed main building. 

"Over there, let's bury him in that field." To where Zach was pointing, was the somehow almost perfectly clean soccerfield. 

Finding shovels was a little harder than they expected, but they eventually found one. While Jason used his incredible strength to quickly dig a hole, Bill was looking through a couple tents with a frown.

"What's up old man?" Lily appeared behind him out of nowhere like a ghost. Not minding the comment, Bill answered with a weird voice.

"It's strange is all." She sighed and shook her head, as if dealing with a dementia patient.

"Want to elaborate? Or am I suppose to be able to read minds?" She put one hand on her hip and smiled as Bill narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't appreciate the sass. Or that attitude. But anyway, it just seems a little barren is all. For example, where the fuck are all the guns from the fallen soldiers?" Lily had a sinking feeling in her chest and together, they went with Alice to search around. 

Ten minutes later, just when Jason finished digging, the trio came back to the field with terrible faces.

"What's wrong?" Noticing their looks, Tyrone asked with a bad premonition climbing his spine.

"We looked around a little. And... there's not much." Lily's fears had come true. They had found a grand total of three things. One fully loaded pistol and two protein bars.

The others were struck speechless for several seconds. 

"Do not tell me this whole trip was fucking worthless!" Unconvinced, Jason jumped out of the hole and left to go find something of value. In his mind, his job was done with digging the grave. The others can handle the funeral nonsense. 

Tyrone simply sighed and looked up at the sky. He was thinking about his father's last words. About how his ancestors were always 'dogged by tragedy'. There was some faint hope that the others would offset it with their own fate. But clearly, that was not meant to be. He let out a breath and grabbed Kevin's shoulders.

"Help me lower him in here." Zach grabbed his friend's legs and together, they gently lowered him inside the hole.

As the group stood there, they all had solemn faces. Except for Alice who was only a little saddened at Kevin's passing. Then, Bill broke the silence.

"I'll go first then." He walked up to Kevin's grave and took a flask from his pocket. Thanks to Jason, he was able to keep it full of liquid gold. For a while at least.

Stopping just before the edge, Bill sighed lightly before speaking.

"I've been to a lot of funerals. Most of them either friends or brothers. And it never gets any easier. Me and Kevin never really got along. Could never stand his goody two shoes act. Always thought it was fake." He paused briefly before continuing.

"But then the world ended. When everything goes to shit, you can see people for who they really are. For what they are. Many become scum and bastards, or evil pieces of garbage. Seen it happen dozens of times before. But not Kevin. Although I rarely agreed with him and saw his logic as flawed, I respected him for staying true to his heart and helping those in need. He was a special one indeed. I truly hope... he is in a better place."

Finishing his piece, he poured a little of the alcohol into the grave and downed some himself afterwards. He stepped back into his place and waited for the next person to go.

While the others mourned the death of Kevin and shared their highlights with him, Jason was rushing through the camp. He ransacked many tents and even some of the smaller buildings.

"Unbelievable." All he had to show from his looting was enough food for a week, a couple of guns, and some ammo for said guns. As for the UV lights, they were nowhere to be found.

The state of the vehicles was even worse. None of them were usable as they were destroyed or completely broken. The one helicopter he managed to find was somehow missing the back end. It was like something grabbed it and simply tore it off.

"There must have been someone looting this place before us. Had to have been." Cursing his rotten luck, Jason decided to return to the others.

'They must be done with the funeral bullshit by now right?' Clearly, he couldn't care less for Kevin's death. He had already avenged him by killing the Mimic and in his mind, they were square.

Once he returned to the field with his meager bag of loot, he was stunned. There were over thirty people with guns talking with Tyrone and the others. Some of them wore military uniforms and carried themselves professionally. From here, he could see they were actually quite friendly with one another.

Seeing Jason's large and intimidating form approach, the new group aimed their weapons at him. Some even had crossbows and regular bows. However after some words from Tyrone, they lowered their weapons. But Jason didn't take being aimed at very well.

'Inferior things threatening me? I should just kill them all. Get in close and try out my new toys.' Suddenly, he shook his head and got rid of such a nasty idea.

'Why do I keep wanting to kill people?' It was a strange feeling that started to come over him more and more. Although it was there after his battle with Scarface, it became a lot stronger once he ate the Juggernaut. Even more so when he had the little conversation with the Mimic and consumed her.

"Jason!" Alice's happy voice brought him out of his thoughts. Smiling, he walked up to his lover and hugged her tight. 

Breaking away from her, he went up to Tyrone and the leader of the other group. Once close enough, Tyrone introduced him.

"This man's name is Carter. We got to talking a little and he wants us to come back to his camp with him." Carter extended his hand towards Jason and smiled radiantly.

"Hi there! Pleasure to meet you!" Jason stared at him blankly for a few seconds, processing the information Tyrone handed him. He was also a little stunned at Carter's whole vibe. It was like he was this pure being full of kindness and hope. 

Taking Carter's hand roughly, which made the kind man wince a little, Jason smiled sadisticly showing his monstrous teeth.

"I'm Jason." Seeing his teeth, everyone gained terrified looks and some even held their guns a little tighter. 

'Ah, how beautiful.' He loved those looks of fear. They made him feel... good.

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Back up in space, just outside the shield surrounding the planet, the blue Lorkian Captain was sitting in his command chair watching videos of the carnage below. Seeing the monstrous beings wreaking havoc on the natives of this world brought back terrible memories of being face to face with them. Using one of his hands, he massaged the top of his head lightly and sighed.

"Amazing! An Alpha Titan-Class Infected has already appeared! It's only been a little over a month!" A little 3ft tall pink fur ball scientist clamored excitedly as he hopped in place.

The video he was watching was of a 100 meter tall Alpha Behemoth walking through a forest. The power it exhibited was shocking to them since it had so little time to develop. He was especially looking forward to seeing it's true strength once it gets to it's destination.

"I know. It's simply incredible how fast they are evolving. I wonder if there is some outside force influencing the viruses rapid growth?" A calmer but gloomy scientist said. Though, his race was always down in the dumps.

Others in the room made their own observations and theories as they all watched the same videos as the Captain. If it was up to him, he would have wiped out the planet and destroyed all traces of the virus. But it wasn't his call, so he was stuck with these pretentious bastards.

"Ugh, Fleet Admiral Yaka. Why couldn't you take me with and leave the job of defending these eggheads to someone else?" His loud voice stopped the chattering of everyone. 

"You know we can hear you right?" A female centipede creature asked. The Lorkian Captain simply looked at her dully and spoke with a bored voice.

"Oh? Is that so? What a shame." The female creature scoffed and used her hundred legs to carry her far away from this simpleton.

"Excuse me? Captain Jara' Xeroia?" Hearing his name called, he focused his eyes on the short blue Lorkian scientist. Well, short for his species at least. To humans, his 7ft height would have made him a giant.

"Just call me Jara. What do you need?" He was ordered to hand out anything they wanted and cater to their every whim. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"I was wondering... if we could go down to the surface of this planet to capture a specimen? To study it and hopefully find out why they are so different from previously." A few nodded their heads and agreed with him. Without hesitation however, Jara shut him down.

"Absolutely not." Stunned, the Lorkian scientist tried again.

"But this is crucial-" He was interrupted by Jara before he could continue.

"No means no. I have strict orders to not allow anyone into the planet or anything to escape it. Do not ask again or you will not like the consequences. Understood?" The almost threatening tone of his voice silenced any complaint from the Lorkian. 

"I understand. I'll be taking my leave now." After getting a dismissive and disrespectful wave of the hand from Jara, the Lorkian could feel the anger rise up inside him. But instead of lashing out, he held it inside and left the Bridge along with some others.

Once he was far enough away, he whispered viciously under his breath.

"Then we'll just do it ourselves..." The ones following him nodded and grinned. They had a long night of planning ahead.