After I set out alone with limited supplies, I was consumed with thoughts over my experiences during the past few days. By the time a year has passed, I had learned to leave my reminiscing for only passing the time before setting out again... but back when not even a week had passed, I wasn't as mentally composed.
Yet, even with my aimless thoughts and vague objective of survival, I passively took note of things that might've passed me by if I was my previous "uncapped" self, even with my increased speed as I pushed myself to constantly proceed.
The terrain and environment were the most obvious changes.
After walking for a bit alongside the highway covered in cars filled with greenery, areas I could've sworn had points of elevation seemed to have been flattened significantly. During the day, the sun dripped a comfortable heat through the giant leafy covering, in spite of the blisteringly hot summers I had grown used to. This "roof" was honestly quite beautiful to look at.
In this new world post Eco-Drops, the normal "harmless" animals and plants seem to have disappeared entirely. In their place, it seems those bizarre beasts have risen as kings...
In due time, I learned that seemingly all the different fruits and such dangling from the massive trees occasional low-hanging branches were in fact edible... with varying qualities yes, but edible nonetheless. I went on to catalogue these different fruits, but that was months later. I started out eating merely the ones that looked... relatively safe and familiar.
There are also large pools of water; water purer than anything else I had drank in my life.
Their size seemed to be closer to that of a small lakes. They were spaced out across the largely flat forest floor, but seemingly devoid of hostile creatures. The area around them was also much more open than the cities and neighborhoods enclosed by trees and various greenery would leave one to believe. I would not be surprised if people decided to settle around these areas.
In my trek away from civilization (or what was left of it) I also occasionally heard distorted laughter and wooping. Thankfully, it stopped after around 10 minutes more of walking. I felt like something may have been watching me- and it didn't feel human. Perhaps it was a beast (or even a group of them), similar to the one I found when I first left the neighborhood?
In my aimless wandering, I lost track of time- setting out in the early morning, I finally noticed the dimming sun. Luckily for me, I was near one of those large bodies of water- this one was more the size of a small pond. I learned then that they could differ in size significantly.
As I settled myself and carefully watched around me, I went to sit at the base of one of the many massive trees, prepping a uncomfortable but necessary spot for rest. I was unbelievably tired, and if I went even a bit further before finding the pool, I likely would've thrown caution to the wind and just immediately went to sleep.
Giving the area another once over, I saw a strange, very vague light.
It was coming from the water.
As the sky darkened more and more, and the moonlight became brighter than I'd ever seen, I also saw a weak, greenish luminance coming from the water.
The light looked positively ethereal- ominous, but entrancing. Attractive in more ways than one.
And that's when I started to learn the dangers of the night in this new world.
Before I could settle down to sleep in the light of the water, I heard panting, and the crunching of grass.
Before I could even blink, I could then see the eyes- bright, even from a ways off.
And they saw me.
I turned tail and ran immediately, immensely thankful for the at least few minutes of rest I had.
From what I could hear at the time, three pairs of four legged creatures were chasing after me- yet I still maintained a distance.
They each had backs raising height wise all the way to my waist.
I spotted massive roots on the ground in front of me, and I quickly yet expertly clambered over them, like a monkey on his favorite tree. Yet even with that speed and the distance between my pursuers, I still couldn't hope to match their speed of "traversal."
Rather than climbing, the wolf-like beasts with suspiciously human eyes and several rows of glinting, mish-mashed teeth jumped clean over the large roots... and as they came closer, they laughed.
Sweat, tears, and mucous poured down my face in large quantities, yet there was no way in hell I had the time to wipe any of it off out of mere discomfort. The faint moonlight through the leafy barrier above was my only guide in the dark night. I was still maintaining the same distance, courtesy of my enhanced body... yet I knew something important.
If I encountered another obstacle like those roots at this rate, I was dead for sure.
Turning on a heel, I threw a stone I picked up off the roots I climbed earlier, and flung as if I was a professional pitcher in the most important game of their life- and swiftly spun forward again to resume fleeing.
Surprisingly, the stone struck a glancing blow directly in the eye of the foremost pursuer, judging from the wet sound, and the distorted yelp. A thought came to mind; perhaps they have difficulties with dodging in the midst of running?
They slowed for half a second, before the bestial footfalls stopped completely.
I unconsciously slowed a bit, and looked back. I thought for a second then that they were checking on their comrade. How wrong I was.
They were eating him.
They instantly pounced on their weakened companion, instantly biting through its head, killing it before it could make another sound.
It was too quick, too natural.
And as soon as they did so... their bodies began to swell.
They became more muscular in every aspect, my sharpened ears even hearing the stretching, tearing, and mending of muscle. This wasn't because my hearing was that good... it's that the sounds their bodies made were just that loud.
As soon as their transformation began, it ended. And as I picked up even more speed than I knew I had in pure primal fear, I felt their eyes on me.
And I knew I was about to die.
As soon as I was about to make peace with my inevitable death-
A horrific screech stopped me in my tracks.
I heard the beasts move-
I turned around-
And they were gone.
Perhaps whatever that sound happened to be scared them?
Or maybe... calling them?
Whatever the case, it was the only reason I was alive.
As relief washed over me, I collapsed, and sleep came in its stead.