A/N: Sorry for the lack of other formatting such as italics or bold print, my browser isnt working up to snuff atm so this is the best I can manage. Will upload fixed version when possible.

Welcome to A Changed World, a story that takes the global pandemic of Walking Dead and gives it a Monster Musume (look it up ir you don't know) twist. This is a very experimental story for me to write, so please be polite if you're gonna flame me or just let me know what to tweak for upcoming chapters.

Prologue

The Day Everything Changed

Crystal Springs, California, October 2018..

Seventeen year old Nick Negron stretched and yawned as he sat at his desk, waiting for the dismissal bell to ring. It was Friday, and there was a big party planned that night- a Halloween party- that Nick was excited to attend. He looked over in the back of the classroom where his best friend and childhood -yet enduring- crush Lilith Bakti. She seemed half-asleep still as she nodded along with whatever her best friend Marin was saying to her, her dark blue hair bobbing with her movements. Nick sighed, gathering his courage for the fifth time that day to resolve his feelings over Lilith, planning to reveal them during the party later.

Just then the bell rang and the students began filing out of the classroom. "Hey, Nicky! Wait up!" Lilith said, calling to Nick as he walked outside the door.

"What's up, Lily?" Nick asked as the girl caught up to him.

"Nothing, really. So, um.. We're still on for going to the party tonight, right?"

"Of course. I'm not leaving my best friend to the whims of otherwise idiotic and overly horny teenage guys. Meet up at your place?"

Lilith nodded. "Yeah, sure. Maybe about.. six?"

Nick nodded with a smile. "I'll be there. Just don't expect a limo."

Lilith laughed, and oh how Nick loved her laugh, melodious and chime-like. "It's not prom, Nicky. Just a simple Halloween party."

"No reason not to be a bit extra if someone chooses to be. I'll see you then, Lily, I gotta get home and finish up the chores I neglected yesterday before my mom gets home from her business trip." In the last couple years, Nick's mother Neela traveled for work, and that usually meant Nick had the house all to himself. Like that means anything when I can never just tell Lilith how I really feel about her..

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you in a few hours, hun." Lilith hugged Nick rightly before she caught up with Marin further down the hall, her face suddenly reddening from what Nick could only assume was something the blonde girl had said to the bluenette. Chuckling, Nick continued his own way home.

Several Blocks Away, Twenty Minutes Later; Crystal Peaks Pharmaceuticals and Science Advancement Center..

Dr. Avery Malcolm pumped his fist in the air as he watched the conclusively successful results of his experiments manifest themselves on the test subject in front of him, a rat he had purposefully put into a tank full of too much water for one such rodent to survive.

The experimental process he was working on was the recombination of specific genes in animals to acquire the desired traits. The delivery method was an aerosolized serum that would rewrite the host's DNA as needed. In this case, the goal was for the rat in question to gain gills, allowing it to survive in the water. And it had, he could see the gill flaps opening and closing on the sides of the rat's neck. His smile quickly morphed into a frown of terror instead, however as the rat began screeching fiercely as it spasmed, the end result being two bloody butts from the rodent's back as the wings of a bat formed instantly. Then it got worse as the rat began trying to break the tank that held it, it's strength seemingly multiplied a hundred fold as the glass began to crack.

Pressing a button on the side of the desk, the tank was filled with deadly rat poison, the rat struggling for a few moments before finally succumbing to the otherwise deadly- to its kind- gas. The scientist banged the desk in frustration. "Damnit! Again?! Why does it keep creating chimeras? I'm only adding in one extra trait.. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try again tomorrow.. Might as well get home." He sighed again before collecting his belongings and leaving the lab.

Unbeknownst to Malcolm, his slamming the desk had unloaded one of the tubes from the experiment tank, the one specifically used to administer the mutative gas. After several seconds, the tube popped off of its fastener and flopped around for another several moments before it inevitably stopped right above an air vent, the gas now circulating itself throughout the rest of the lab complex before ultimately and slowly dispersing around town in the very air the people breathed. Minutes later, the crowd of high schoolers began passing by the large lab building, all at the very least breathing in the substance..

Later, Lilith's House..

Lilith rubbed her temple, trying to figure out why she had such a shitty headache all of a sudden. She had been fine when they had left the school, but as soon as she got home it seemed she had caught some form of cold. It was only noticeable now that her darker, tan brown skin appeared paler and clammy. "I can't let a headache or cold get in the way tonight. It's taken all month, but I finally have the courage to just tell him how I feel, and nothing is coming between me and this damned confession," She gasped as she heard the doorbell ring, grateful her father wasn't home at the moment, knowing he'd grill Nick like he was already dating Lilith. "Great.. Hold on, be right there!" She called out as she applied a quick layer of black lipstick to finish her costume off. Nodding at her total appearance in the mirror, she grabbed her purse and quickly left the bathroom.

She opened the door to find Nick dressed up as Mario, with the addition of a long cape with a pointed collar around his neck, smiling and revealing the fake fangs he had put in. Thankfully, it matched Lilith's costume of a vampiric Bowsette. Lilith put her hands on her hips as she smirked at him, her own fake fangs showing over her lips. "You know, plumber. We'll make the princess jealous if she sees you with me."

Nick laughed. "Well, then, Bowsette, we better make-a sure she can't look away." He said, waggling the fake mustache above his lip (since his was nowhere near enough to convey Mario vibes by himself) as the two teens laughed, Lilith pushing her hair back behind her ear. "I'm grateful to have gotten the memo we were changing it up to vampire variants. So, shall we go?"

Lilith nodded before shutting the door behind her, the two best friends making their way down the road towards the destination of the party: the mansion of the Perry twins Alexandra and Serenity, whose parents owned the local real estate office as well as a subsidiary insurance company. And while many students in school couldn't stand the two prissy young women, no one dared cause a scene with them as they were usually the ones to go all out for a party. About a block away from her house, Lilith sighed and rubbed her temple again. "What's wrong, Lily?"

"Nothing, just a headache. I've had it pretty much since I first got home today."

"You too? Tim, Pete and Darren all said their sisters felt off after school as well.. I hope it isn't something like that flu they've been talking about overseas. People are dying left and right because of it, and I'd hate to see it hit here just as badly. Is Marin still joining us at the party?"

Now Lilith frowned. "No, she's feeling sick, too. Already threw up, apparently. Didn't want to get us or any of the others sick."

Nick hummed. "Might be a light crowd at the party, then, if all the girls are sick. Guaranteed some of the guys will stay home to make sure they're feeling alright."

Lilith nodded. "Yeah, but that's fine. I'm only really going to hang out with you."

Nick smiled cheesily. "Aw, Lil. We could have just stayed home, then.."

"No! No, I wanted to come to this party with you. It's a special night, for me at least. And you love the opportunity to dress up."

"I do, but still. I hope everyone else is alright.."

Across Town..

Tim Joinier knocked softly on his seven year old sister's door. "Polly? How you feeling, sis?" He asked, opening the door and covering his mouth in shock.

On his little sister's bed sat the elementary school student, but something was terribly, horribly wrong. She was pulling chunks of her brown hair out of her skull as feathers began sprouting from where the hair was removed, and the girl was crying in agony. "It hurts, Tim! It h- h-" The girl seemed to be struggling to talk as Tim heard the sound of bones cracking and crunching, feeling the urge to vomit as he watched his sister's face twist and contort, her nose and mouth area forming a large, sharp beak as Polly continued to scream. "Hurt! It hur-Aawwk!" No more words would come from the young girl's mouth, only inhuman, Avian screeches as her skin split apart and was replaced by a disgusting molting of feathers, her arms now wings and legs that of a bird's, complete with talons for feet. Tim didn't know what the fuck was going on, but he couldn't see anymore as he closed the door and barricaded it, the sorrowful cries of what used to be his little sister the only sound he could hear through the door as he finally threw up all over the floor.

What.. the fuck.. just happened?! He thought fearfully as he took his phone out, texting everyone he could.

Elsewhere..

"Anabel, what's wrong with you?! It's me, Pete!" Panicked Peter Hurlihey as his eight year old sister tried clawing at him furiously, eyes red and her nails elongating like some video game monster.

"Hungry! So-oooo!" The little girl literally howled as her face morphed into a still human-like but now mostly wolf snout, teeth snarled as the howl ended. "Hungry!" The girl's body practically exploded as in the small child's place stood a five foot tall bipedal wolf, fur as black as the former girl's old hair (which still oddly fell down her back despite wolves not having hair such as a human's) and red, almost glowing eyes that stared at the teenage boy in a somewhat lustful hunger before lunging at him. The humanoid wolf's strength quickly overpowered Pete, the former Anabel bit down on his neck and pulled, ripping out his jugular and larynx before howling again. She was going to enjoy feeding her hunger..

~C.W~C.W~

Darren Farrow panted as he finally made it outside his house. Did it.. did I lose her? He thought as he shivered in terror. Memories of the last several minutes flooded his mind, starting with how he had found his little sister Gail eating their pet German shepherd Jack. Whole. Then it was the way her skin had burst open and been replaced by scales, the ten year old girl's legs disappearing in lieu of a thick, seven foot long tail. His little sister- if that even was Gail- was now some kind of weird snake person, tail of a serpent but the upper body still mostly human, and he had spent the last several minutes trying to hide from the thing. He dared not look back as he continued running, a text coming in from Tim.

Tim Joinier: Something just happened to Polly. I'm not joking here, she just fucking turned into a damned human bird!

Darren made sure nothing was amiss as he texted back quickly.

Darren Farrow: You guys too? Gail just turned into a snake! She fucking ate Jack! Like some kind of monster, like.. like those naga things from that old anime we all used to watch, about the discs and whatnot. I'm still running from her, I only managed to get away out of the house quick enough.

Tim: Shit. You think this happened to the other girls? No one heard from Pete yet?"

Now a new name added to the conversation, the class president Soma Carson.

Soma Carson: Pete's dead, I think. I'm pretty sure I saw a fucking werewolf bust out his front door and if what you're saying is true, then I bet it was actually Anabel. And the blood all over her would suggest she killed Pete before getting out. I've never been happier to not have a younger sibling.

Darren: That's true, but what about the girls our age? A lot of them aren't feeling too good, either. What if this is some weird attack by China? Or North Korea? Russia?

Soma: No, I don't think so. Although, if it was up to me to pinpoint an origin, it would be Europe. Romania and the connection to the mythological like that. Nick still went to the party, right?

Tim: Yeah, him and Lilith. Marin wasn't even feeling up to going. What the hell is going on?

None of the teens texting had an answer..

All Over Town..

In whatever public places had televisions, the news showed an emergency broadcast. "This is Kai Mintley for Crystal Springs News with an emergency situation broadcast. It seems that.." The anchor on TV removed his glasses and sighed. "Look, I know this is going to sound insane, but there are too many reports and eyewitnesses to ignore the situation, so please adhere to my words." All across Town, anyone tuned in was paying rapt attention at the obviously unprofessional behavior of the usually over-serious reporter. "You may have heard or seen that most of if not all of the women in town, of any age, are not feeling their best starting from around three to four pm. This is especially bad for the younger women in town, as it seems the younger you are, the faster this.. infection of sorts takes hold. Reports of babies and young children up to ten years old have begun transforming into horrifying, grotesque, impossible forms. There are reports of werewolves, nagas or snake people, and harpies, or those monsters of a hawk or falcon sort of hybridization with humans, among others.

"There have been no reports of women aged eleven or older transforming as of yet, but it would seem only a matter of time until such happens. As of now, no men have been outwardly affected, but the worst is that these girls are hostile entities, folks. Families have been torn apart by their own children! No one knows how this happened or where it possibly came from, but everyone should just stay indoors, keep the windows and doors shut and locked. There will be a distribution of face masks to filter out anything possibly in the air causing this in the coming days, until then keep your mouths covered. I urge you with every fiber of my being. It seems reports are now beginning to come in from Los Angeles and even Las Vegas of the same occurrence.. The world may be ending, and if not then it will be forever changed.. Please, stay safe." There were distant sounds in the background of the broadcast, snarling or some wailing no one listening could ignore as they watched a door hit the wall behind Kai and then a furry blur rush past, the only trace left of the anchor being the hands still attached to their arms, leaning against the desk but with no other pieces of the body.

To no one's real shock, everyone watching panicked hard..

A Few Hours Later, The Party..

The only place unaffected by the news was the party, where none of the girls had begun changing or feeling anything more than nausea or the occasional vomiting attributed- very wrongly- to being drunk. Lilith, thankfully, hadn't felt any worse than she had back at home.

Nick and Lilith had been there for a long while, possibly just shy of three hours now. Lilith thanked everything that she lived close to the mansion, as it gave her ample time already to show Nick how she felt. And judging by the fact that Nick's hands were comfortably resting on her hip and ass respectively, alternating which hand gave a light squeeze next as they danced together.

"Now are you glad we came by ourselves?" She whispered in his ear as he leaned forward.

He smiled. "Yeah, actually, although Marin wasn't going to stop me anyway. Not tonight."

Lilith bit her lip, eyes wide. Is he kidding me? She thought, pulling back and locking her purple eyes with his brown. Oh, he's totally fucking serious.. She blushed and giggled nervously. "And here I thought I was the only one who had a hidden agenda tonight.."

Nick smirked. "Oh? Lilith Bakti, hiding something from me? Like what, pray tell?"

Another giggle, this one more confident. "Mm, I don't know.. maybe that.. I've been in love with you since the third grade." She could feel her body getting hot, as if it only just now realized Nick was holding her as sensually as he would without making another move.

Nick laughed. "Really? Good, then I don't have to explain my plan, then." Before Lilith could think to retort, Nick leaned forward and she felt herself melt into Nick as their lips met.

When they separated after a long minute, Nick smirked. "I've felt the same about you, Lily. I've just been too big a coward to tell you."

Lilith smiled, internally cheering at the night working out much faster than she figured it would. The two kissed again, losing themselves in each other as the chaos began taking root at the party.

Upstairs, one unfortunately worse for wear teenager was undergoing her own change. In the bathroom, Violet Rothschild downed her fourth glass of water in the minute she had spent in the room. Her skin felt hot and dry, and her throat felt much worse even after all that water. She stumbled over to the bathtub, turning the water on as she almost broke her head tumbling into the tub itself. She lay there, panting as the water running over her skin finally sent some relief to the rest of her. She put her hand to her face and screamed as she saw her hand had changed. No longer were the perfectly manicured nails present, instead sharp claws sat at the end of gray-blue skin with some kind of webbing forming between her fingers even as she watched in horrified curiosity.

The door opened as Alexandra Perry Froze in the door as she saw Violet reach towards her, her ears stretching into nasty, spiked fish-esque fins and her legs literally fusing into a fucking fish tail. She screamed, locked the door from the outside and rushed off in a panic even as Nick and Lilith decided to leave the party.

Things were oddly quiet in this part of town, Nick figured as they approached Lilith's house. The last activity the new couple had seen was Alexandra running across the lawn, screaming bloody murder. The duo had thought she must have been drunk, and probably thought she saw a large fish. The girl was hilariously afraid of large marine life.

At Lilith's doorstep, the two teenagers turned to one another with sad smiles on their faces. "We werent there as long as I wanted to, but I'm so beat." Lilith said, not wanting the night to end just yet as she yawned, suddenly tired.

Nick nodded. "I know, Lily. Although we were dancing for about an hour and half without really taking a break. You just exhausted yourself." He chuckled. "I'll come by tomorrow, okay? We'll go out to the lake or something."

The girl blushed, nodding with a beaming smile. "Yeah, sounds good, Nicky. Get home safe." She snagged one hand into the fabric of Nick's shirt as she pulled him into a kiss, sighing into the kiss as she knew this was the best night of her life so far.

Nick pulled away and caressed the side of her face before turning away. "Love you, Lily. Don't stay up too late, make sure that headache goes away."

Lilith bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah. You too, Nicky. Love you, too. Goodnight." As she turned away to enter her house, Lilith could swear she could hear Nick's heartbeat, mirroring the quickened pace of her own, even as he walked on towards his house.

Entering the house, Lilith had no idea tonight would be one of the last times she even saw Nick for years..

~C.W~C.W~

Nick reached his house without incident, although he wondered why little Betty Dwyler wasn't walking her three dogs like she usually did at this time, even though the twelve year old was a fun part of Nick's routine day at home. He entered his house and then his room, wondering where his mom was. She was home, but not anywhere inside or outside of the house as far as he could tell. So, wanting to get the night over with, he got changed for bed and found himself asleep within minutes as a grotesque shape lowered itself towards him from the ceiling of his room..

Two Days Later..

The Arachne that used to be Neela Negron lowered herself down on top of her web-covered and unconscious former son, ready to feed on the boy as the door of the bedroom blew open and a figure stood in the door, covered head to toe in numerous bits of clothing and holding an elephant hunting rifle. God only knows where the figure had found one of those.. "Get away from him, you bitch!" The young woman said before pulling the trigger, the gun jumping up in her arms as the Arachne's face promptly exploded into non-existence.

The would-be savior sighed. "The last fucking place I thought you'd be, babe." She went over to free Nick of the webbing, groaning at just how sticky the substance really was. "Did she remember who you were until now, then?" The young woman asked herself as she pulled globs of web from the untouched body of Nick. "Since not every one of us turned into something that just wants to fucking maim and kill." Although it's a big downside to me right now..

The quiet pounding of Nick's blood in his veins called to the young woman, her purple eyes gaining slitted pupils as her fangs began manifesting under the layers of clothes she wore. Then she stomped her foot to will herself to calm down. "No, I will not feed on Nick. Not Nick.." She hefted Nick up in her arms and fled the house for the hospital, one of the few safer places to be in the already decimated town.

Upon arrival at the hospital several minutes later, Lilith was met by the blade of a sword, ready to behead her if she moved from where she stood, even with Nick in her arms. "Don't move, Lilith. What's that?" The guy asked, motioning to Nick's covered form.

"I found him, Tim. I'm just getting him to the others, and then I'll leave. I know my kind aren't allowed here.."

"Oh, stop. Tim, let her in. And prepare one of the rooms in the powered-down section of the basement. She deserves it for this." Came the voice of none other than Serenity Perry, a fluffy cottontail and a pair of long cream-colored rabbit ears now present on her body. Her nose twitched, a tic of her new form. "Where was he? Is this.. webbing?"

Lilith nodded as Serenity examined Nick. "An Arachne, then? Not many turned into them, but.. where exactly was he?"

"In his bed, Serena, exactly where he probably went once he got home. Him and I knew nothing of the infection until after the fact, and he probably doesn't know about it still. And since he was in that bed since he got home from the party,"

Serenity nodded, finishing the story. "Neela put her son in a web cocoon.. Shit, what the fuck is all this. Why did some of us become like me and others like.. well, you."

"I wish I knew. I wish I knew why I became a fucking vampire of all things. I mean, this happened while me and Nick were vampiric Mario characters for a fucking Halloween party. This is ridiculous. Mind taking me to my room, then? I don't trust Tim not to take my head off like he did his own little sister yesterday-"

"I did what I had to do, Lilith! Most of these fucking monsters are hostile, I'm surprised there are even more docile ones like Serenity turned out to be.." Tim stared at Serenity, who groaned in annoyance.

"Fuck off, Tim, it isnt happening. You know I have no eyes for you, even in this new world." The bunny girl looked at Nick one last time. "Take him up to Alex and the others. I'll bring Lily downstairs." Nodding begrudgingly, Tim picked Nick up by the arms and began shuffling off towards his destination while Serenity sighed. "That boy had eyes all on you, but it wound up us others are the safe ones for him."

"I hate this, Serena," Lilith said, finally taking her face covers off as the two reached a darker section of the hospital. "We fucking kissed! We were supposed to go on our first date and now.. Fucking bullshit!" The vampiress pinched the wall, causing a hole to form. "Fuck.." She said, rubbing her hand.

Serenity nodded. "I know Lily. You two waited for so long only to be torn apart again. Hopefully we can find some kind of cure or something, but for now, it's all we can do. How did it look out there?"

"Empty, honestly. It seems most of the hostile forms humanity took either only hunt at night or they don't attack other now hostile monsters." Werewolves would attack vampires, but they were mainly only nocturnal anyway. Lilith was the only vampire who, other than actively resisting the urge to feed, otherwise defied the expectation, having spent the last day and a half searching the entire city for Nick instead of spending the day sleeping or some other conventional vampiric activity. "I'm sorry I'm making everyone wary here. Just say the word and I'll leave, Serenity."

Serenity shook her head, her ears drooping. "No, no it's alright, Lily. Stay. You've earned it, I'll figure something out about blood for you. Just don't go disappearing before Nick even wakes up and learns the truth. The real question about all of this is why hasn't this infection done anything to the men? A gender-discriminating infection sounds as stupid as anything else would have if this had only happened here." While radio networks were the only thing truly working still, the news was just as morose everywhere else. It seemed the virus that had struck, being dubbed the Monster Virus, had spread globally and left a huge chunk of humanity to the will of the Fates as wives and daughters destroyed their families after turning. Well, most of them.

The minority of changed women, the more herbivorous brands of creatures like Serenity's bunny transformation, only found themselves safe due to being able to fortify buildings into various bases all over the world, such as the Crystal Heights Hospital in Crystal Springs. The Hospital was the biggest base present in town, and the only thing it lacked currently was a way to self-sustainably produce food for those who sheltered within. "I don't know, it doesn't make much sense, really. Unless the virus has a much easier time with infecting female subjects, there's no other clear explanation only two days later, Serena. Right now, it's still a waiting game because how do we know the changes we've all gone through will stay at the current level?"

"What do you mean? Like I'll shrink to the size of a bunny or like a midget?"

Lilith laughed. "No, I mean.. like,we have a few mermaids still hanging around," Most of the fish-like women had wound up dying before reaching the salt water of the beach that outlined the western edge of the city, but a few had indeed made it there before drying up in the sun. Or due to the lack of salt in the water like Violet the night of the party. "But what if they regain full mobility of being on land due to a virus's nature to keep evolving and adapting? Or take me. Other than the hunger for blood, pale skin and fangs, I'm fully human, still. But, that doesn't mean I can't eventually form, like, bat wings to fly or even turn into one. I'm just saying, we need to keep an eye on the guys firstly, but also on us to make sure we aren't further mutating or, if we are, that it isn't something that becomes worse than what's already out there. I'm surprising myself enough by not giving into myself and dropping every body in this hospital for your blood.."

Serenity frowned. "Stop, Lilith. None of us saw this shit coming, so you're no more at fault about what's happened to you than I or even poor Pete. What matters now, as you said, is keeping an eye on everything. But, it would go easier if we had the resident nerd of the supernatural to help us all."

"Nick will be up soon enough. It seemed like Neela had left him in bed the whole two days since turning, and kept him unconscious. So, I think his body is feeling like it's in a false coma, maybe? I don't know what these Arachne are using to keep victims sleeping but it worries me that he hasn't been fed off of but she still kept him alive.."

"I don't know.. What I can tell you, though? A lot of us more docile breeds are starting to feel.. well, the need to breed, like spreading the infection further but I don't think that's really the case. I think it's due to us being teenagers, raging hormones and all that, making us feel like we're in heat. It makes the most sense, at least."

Lilith nodded with a frown as the two girls reached the basement, the lighting only being low-energy Bulbs that barely lit anything up more than to bearable levels. "Better not try something with him, Serenity." She said warningly.

Serenity giggled. "Oh, don't worry. Judging by the way I saw you two dancing at the party together, he's all yours, Lilith. I'll be the good jealous friend." She winked at Lilith, who rolled her eyes.

"Good answer. I really was about to slice your neck apart."

"Weird possessiveness you've got going on, now. Although I get it, I do.. Here, this should be more than comfortable enough for you. I uh.. I had it prepared for you when you came back. That's how much faith I had in you to find Nick. Dead or alive, it would have been yours."

Lilith laughed dryly. "Nah, if I'd have found him dead, then it would have sent me off the deep end, for real. Thanks, though, I.. I am really tired."

"Anytime, Lily. Get some rest, I'll come let you know when he wakes up." With another nod, Lilith closed the door of the dark room made up for her, crying herself to sleep, thankful Nick had been alright when she'd found him.

~C.W~C.W~

Upstairs, That Night..

Serenity jumped up as the hand grabbed her arm. "Serenity? Why are you still wearing a costume? And what are you doing in my.. where the hell am I?" Nick asked, sitting up in the hospital gurney.

"Nick?! Shit, man, don't give me a heart attack. You're at the hospital, but that's.. not the important bit. Just wait here, I'm gonna go grab Lily before explaining it all."

Nick just nodded as Serenity rushed back out of the room, although that wouldn't be the biggest surprise for Serenity. As she entered the room she had left the other teenager in, she called out, getting no answer. A look around with her flashlight revealed to Serenity that Lilith was nowhere to be seen, the only thing different about the room was the note on top of the cot, with just Nick's name on it.

When she came back to Nick, she sighed and handed him the note, which read:

Nicky, I'm sorry. I can't stay here even though it's all I want. Forgive me, but this may be the last time you ever see me. It was fun.. Love, Lilith. Nick saw that there were tear marks all over the page as he cursed under his breath. Serenity had no words for him. And after all that time hiding their feelings only to be ripped apart..

Five Years Later..

Serenity thanked everything that Lilith had only been partially right about this virus. It had kept mutating the hostile species of Monsters roaming everywhere. Some, not many of the guys still alive had begun turning, always the more predatory species. Losing Tim had hit Nick the hardest since he woke up to this changed world. Well, except the darkness that was the first month after Lilith left..

He had spiraled, especially after hearing what she had become, the state Lilith had found him in after two days of nonstop searching. Her abandoning him, even while changed, had hardened him into a fierce warrior against the Monsters that kept attacking the hospital base, his anger pointed more at the vampires for reasons everyone understood but still avoided bringing up in front of him, even now.

Serenity has even heard that the few covens of vampires that had formed had now started calling Nick the Fang Reaper, with some stupid rumor floating around that he ripped out and kept a vampire's fang as a trophy after each kill. Serenity knew this was a blatant lie, but if it stopped the vamps from attacking now and then, she'd let it be said. However, Nick had calmed down some since then, now using spare time on his own missions to try and locate the girl he lost, if only just for his own closure.

It was amazing Nick hadn't turned yet, if he was ever going to. It seemed only some of the men had been affected at all, the virus seriously being sexist for the most part. From what they figured looking back at Tim, he had been.. scratched, Serenity believed, by a werewolf which tracked with most myths so no one really questioned it, but supposedly other cases had no discernible or similar injuries, so why?

Why did Nick seem the most immune out of everyone? And why did some women get lucky, like Serenity and Lilith who didn't lose their human form but were more added to while others like the werewolves went full animal? Why didn't the dog or cat variants of the more prey species mutate as such, at that point? Was the virus triggered by a sudden emotional response, like some variants of those portrayed in the Resident Evil games? Who had unleashed such a terrible fate upon the world? None of these answers had been found, and with most global power grids being out of commission already, it was a miracle Nick had helped rig the hospital to solar panels that now covered a big chunk of the upper floors. Serenity was pretty sure he had somehow negotiated a deal with the Harpies that had since roosted on the roof for them to protect the panels during the day, being a huge distraction in sunlight more than the moonlight. She sighed as she put her headset on. "Hospice to Reaper. Reaper, do you copy? What's your status?" She called over the radio waves, hoping Nick hadn't wandered out of range of the headsets. He was supposed to be on patrol close to the hospital today, so she had expected him back already.

After a few moments, she heard Nick reply. "Sorry, Hospice, Reaper reporting. Docks were clear, and so was the parking garage. I'm currently in the middle of some.. thing.." There was a pause, something being said that Serenity herself couldn't hear. "Lily?!" The line cut out as Serenity sat straight up.

"Reaper? Reaper?! Nick?! Lilith, you bitch you better not harm him!"

Eventually, the line picked back up. "Sorry, Serenity, mommy and daddy are talking." Serenity's blood ran cold at the dangerously icy tone of Lilith's voice. She rubbed her stomach in worry over what could have possibly be happening wherever Nick was..

Moments Earlier, Across Town..

Now twenty-two years old, Nick Negron moved stealthily through the old department store, one of her old favorite haunts and the final one to cross off his list as potential locations to find her. He hadn't been back to the hospital, to Serenity, in almost a week, but he made sure to keep in contact with her via the radio. Mostly. Right now? He was too focused on sneaking up behind the vamp standing guard over the office, not aware of the red light glowing on the security cameras above. "Hospice to Reaper. Reaper, do you copy? What's your status?" Came Serenity's voice over the headset in his ear.

Fuck. He cursed mentally as he brought his stake to the vampire's heart. In one swift motion, Nick plunged the stake into the ex-human's heart and pulled it back out as the body burst into flames for a moment before falling to the ground as nothing but Ash. He clicked the button on his headset. "Sorry, Hospice, Reaper reporting. Docks were clear, and so was the parking garage. I'm currently in the middle of some.. thing.." He stopped as the door to the office opened and, while she looked different, the vampire who stood in front of him now was definitely Lilith Bakti, formerly. "Lily?!"

"Well, well, look who finally found me. Have to hand it to you, Nick, it hurts knowing you're the one who keeps culling my covens. Single handedly, might I add. Ooh, you do just look so delicious right now." Lilith said, her purple eyes glowing in the near pitch black darkness of the department store as Serenity sounded over the radio again.

"Reaper? Reaper?! Nick?! Lilith you bitch you better not harm him!" It made Lilith chuckle as she appeared inches from Nick's face as she answered the headset.

"Sorry, Serenity, mommy and daddy are talking." The now vampire took a sniff of the man she used to cherish, scrunching her nose. "Ugh, and you smell like her, too? And with one on the way? Well, probably more like a dozen, knowing bunnies. You think she would measure up to a night in bed with moi?" She teased him, her clawed hands delicately squeezing Nick's face as she said it.

Nick gulped. "What's it matter to you? Jealous now that you abandoned me when all this shit began? I get it, the urge to keep fighting yourself sucked, but I would have helped you! But no, instead you were a coward and took that way out, running away into the night without even a proper goodbye!"

Lilith smirked menacingly, but even then Nick could see her struggling to maintain the icy mask. "Yes, I was a fool, Nick. A fool to be in love and think that this, what I am now, would be good fit for you. Even while I rescued you from the webs of your own mother, I fought my urge to bleed you dry. Even while I trudged all the way to the hospital with you on my back, I willed my mind to focus on you. Without me, you'd have died five fucking years ago and I don't regret letting you live!

"Now leave. Go back to your prissy little bunny. You deserve someone who can stand by you instead of behind, draining your life from your veins. Don't look for me again, Nicky. I won't hesitate to kill you where you stand, next time." Lilith turned and ducked back into the office to hide the tears that did in fact threaten to fall, but by the time Nick had reached the doorway, she was long gone. Nick slammed his fist to the door, cracking it as he sighed.

"I was so fucking close. Damnit, Lily, why can't you just trust me?" He said before leaving the store. He had completed what he had set out to do, so he might as well go back to the hospital. But this wasn't finished, him and Lilith, and even the fleeing vampire knew that. Nick was just too persistent when he was after something.

Crystal Heights Hospital, Soon After..

Nick sighed as he pulled his bag off of his back, depositing it in a locker just inside the base doors. He nodded to the guard of the base, Samantha Parker, the horse woman nodding back as her tail swayed back and forth. He was quickly climbing the stairs two at a time until he reached the fourth floor, where Serenity stood with her arms crossed and tapping her foot rapidly. "There you are, Nicky!" She said, fawning over him and checking for injuries. "Lilith didn't hurt you, did she?"

Nick shook his head, Serenity seeing the pain in his expression as he spoke. "No, no she didn't, babe. Well, nothing but my pride, maybe. But I was so close, Serena! We could have had Lilith back."

Serenity hummed. "Yes, I know, Nick. I get how important it is to you to bring her home, but it's obvious that Lilith doesn't want you to find her, and now you have more reason than ever not to go chasing after ghosts."

Nick sighed. "I know, Serenity, I do. Don't worry about my feelings for Lilith, you are who has kept me lifted up in these dark times. You who managed to get me out of the depressed funk I went into after she left. You are the one having my child, which in all reality is not guaranteed to be possible with a vampire anyway, but this new version of said horror icon may as well have a completely different guidebook so who knows? Either way, I only needed to know whether she was alive or dead. Lilith says she doesn't need me? Doesn't want me around? Fine, I have moved on."

Serenity smiled, a mix of sadness and happiness being portrayed. "No, Nicky, you haven't. Not entirely, and it hurts me to admit that, because ever since this all happened and Lily first found you, I really wanted you two back together, changes be damned at the time. Then there was the night on the roof three years ago when we clicked and ever since, I've begrudgingly been second candle to a memory. That isn't fair, Nick. Not to you, and most certainly not to me and our unborn child. So you get your mind out of La-la-land and focus on what's here. What and who is right in front of you. Alright, love?"

Nick nodded, smiling. "Alright, babe, I'm reading you loud and crystal clear. I know I have to get my mind off of Lilith and live life for us, and our child. Although, we're probably idiots for joining that bandwagon."

"It was my fault we did, Nick. After all, once we kissed, my heat cycle went into overdrive. I'm only surprised this didn't happen back then."

"Yeah. Well, let's get you to bed, Ms. Head Nurse. Tomorrow is a new day."

"Yes, it is. Come, baby, I'll make sure you go to bed nice and easy." She giggled, her hormones in maximum overdrive between the pregnancy and the passing of her most recent heat cycle just days ago. Taking his hand, the couple made their way to their room.

Across Town..

Lilith was nowhere close to being over Nick, she knew it as much as anything else she still could count on in this new world. Which, of course, wasn't much but at least some semblance of life still remained now that the more hostile Monsters had begun calming down, the virus mutating them back to a more human intelligence after leading them in an all-but unending bestial rage for years. Well, some of the afflicted had gone back to a more normal and- admittedly horrified- life, although their now hardwired, more primal instincts were in control most of the time. Lilith had only come up on two such Monsters, the feral rat-like Holly Groff and her former best friend Marin, now a naga who had eaten her entire family the night of the party as she turned.

Lilith had let herself give in five years ago and had never looked back other than the errant thought about Nick. For all that time until she looked in his eyes earlier, she had been the beast, the Alpha predator of the night. But now, all the remorse and other emotions she should have had for months already had come bubbling up.

Lilith hated herself. She hated the pain it caused her to be outside, since her strain of vampires could walk around in the day, it would only hurt them and probably give them sunburn much easier. She hated feeling empty until she had drained some other- possibly poor-fated even in the beginning- Monster that crossed the vampire's path and how harshly the thirst presented itself when she left the Hospital that day. Most of all, though, she hated whoever had been behind this fucking bullshit. She wanted her life back, wanted Nick back. They should have shown up the prom together, it should have been her now pregnant with Nick's baby instead of that prissy little- no, she wouldn't let herself get angry at Serenity. She had every right to move in on and attempt to fix Nick in Lilith's absence. It just hurt..

Unbeknownst to Lilith, several white feathers seemed to manifest around her in the air, the ghost of angelic wings faintly appearing behind the young woman. The evolution of herself was not far off, what happened after that was, ultimately, up to Lilith herself..

Prologue End..

A/N: Alright, so here's a whole type of story for me. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of all things Walking Dead, and even my timeline of events is shaky, but I'm a big anime nerd despite not watching nearly as much as I used to do I figured I'd blend this into Monster Musume (Daily Life with Monster Girls) to turn that fully functioning society on its head by making the Monsters something of a viral infection such as in Walking Dead. This will be a bit of a harem story, how big it'll be depends on how I continue to write this but that won't start up for another chapter or two, at least the idea of it.

I have read a couple of- unfortunately since abandoned- stories in the M.M fandom that deal with it being some form of infection that only affected women. I only tweaked it that men can still be turned by otherwise conventional supernatural means, like mentioned by scratch of a werewolf, the bite of a vamp is 50/50, etc. This is another reason why Lilith is shown to wear layers when she first appears after the infection has taken over the city for the most part, to allude to the need for literal body armor on every part of a person's body due to the incredibly dangerous if not outright fatal nature of these Monsters.

The upgraded intelligence does come from Walking Dead, but in all honesty I wasn't going to have every otherwise hostile faction of Monsters stay that way completely. At least, the plan is it's more like a werewolf pack leader regains their intelligence and then can move their pack in more coordinated attacks or whatever the case may be but not every pack member gets such an upgrade to themselves. Alright, that's all for now. I hope to see you all soon on another installment of A Changed World.