~~~~~
Adam sat on the thick cover of snow, with a shocked expression on his face as he registered the response the woman gave him inside his brain.
Gritting his teeth, he grumbled.
"Me and my stupid brain! I just had to act cocky, didn't I! How will I survive now!"
Adam punched the tree bark beside him in annoyance with his lank body, visibly frantic about the entire ordeal he went through, blood dripping down his fists. The dread of death, the panic of survival, and the sadness of loss, all welled up inside him; he was doing a great job at holding himself back as well. But ultimately, something happened to the facade he was putting up as the floodgates blocking his eyes broke down.
Crystal-clear drops of warmth finally fell from his worn-down eyes, as he cried hysterically like a mad baby. And if his mother and stepfather were to see him now, they would be sad seeing him whimper like a newborn. His face was riddled with the melted snow and with the warm teardrops flooding down his cheeks, sticking on his slightly bearded face, he looked dreadful. The blood mixed with snot which flowed down his nostrils and with the dirt which covered his body made a hodge-podge of body fluids covering his face. Such was his circumstance.
Adam had never cried since the day he realised that his mother was losing her health because of his disability. And from the day he was admitted to the hospital, he stopped crying altogether as he knew he was going to be free from his crippled body. He knew that he would face death if he underwent those experiments and he would finally be free from his curse. Even his mother would be free and might be able to start a new life after he would be gone.
But then when he saw that he survived and he came to know that a cure was found, even then, he never cried. Multiple surgeries and the numerous setbacks he had faced in life along with the taunts and mocks from relatives; couldn't even compare to what he was feeling now. Even the death of his father didn't pain him more than what he was feeling now.
But this was the most primal of the feelings he, as a human of 2099, experienced. The fear of perishing. And this was already the second time he was feeling it but now he had a motive.
The first time was when he had no hope and all he wanted to do was die but now...he knew he can be cured. However, his hope of walking again on the flat land named Earth was thoroughly crushed, yet again.
Adam gritted his teeth as he pledged, "Bitch! I will make sure you pay. Just wait!"
"I'll ravage your village, If it comes to that, !", he muttered as his eyes filled with bloodlust, veins popping up on his forehead as the last bit of human sanity died down inside him. And what's surprising was that it was the first time that he was genuinely angry at someone.
Steeling his resolve, he hurriedly crawled towards the wheelchair, sitting on it. Picking up a bottle, he frantically gulped down the contents before breaking the bottle on the same rock beside him. Taking a bigger piece of it as he tied one of the lower edges with a torn piece of the hospital gown he was wearing.
Making a makeshift glass knife out of it, he roared," Move!", as the wheelchair moved in the direction of the wilderness, the woman went into. However, the wheelchair moved at the same slow speed which was quite comical in contrast to the bloodthirsty expression on his face.
But, just a few meters away, a cloaked silhouette with a large wooden bow on its back and with clear blue eyes were observing the man, grumbling and cursing in annoyance, sitting on a branch of a big pine tree.
A smirk formed on its face as It muttered under its breath, "Let's see, how far this one goes" before a fierce wind blew over it, vanishing from its position.
~~~~~
It was already midnight as the stars twinkled in the clear night sky; the cold wind blowing over the entire expanse of the earthen surface. However, a certain lone silhouette was slowly moving forward with a terrifying and ghastly expression on his face, through the vast stretch of the dense pine forest. Occasional howls echoed along with the cold wind blowing over him. However, he didn't falter.
Frostbites covered his entire countenance as he shivered from the cold of the night, but he continued moving forward obsessively, despite shivering profusely; Gulping a mouthful of Brandy, every time he felt like closing his eyes.
The youth was naturally, Adam who now had his mind filled with rage. His hands were shaking, his teeth chattering ferociously, and his eyes were droopy due to the excessive mental strain he wasn't through. His body was losing its manoeuvrability.
And at this point, the only motivation that he had for such intense willpower to survive was that woman. That damned Woman!
"How dare she....how dare she..."Adam muttered under his flattering breath as he moved through the forest. His eyes were filled with intense bloodlust.
Halting beside a big tree, he held onto its trunk as he stopped to catch a breadth of air. Looking up from his position, he felt the cold air assaulting his body.
" A snowstorm is coming...." he muttered. The idea of a snowstorm coming made his mind calm down as he realised that he needed to be rational in such dreadful conditions or else he won't survive.
'I need to get find somewhere to hide for the night. Or else I won't be able to survive the next day. I'm hungry as well but for that, I need water. Clearwater to be precise.'
Howl~Howl~
Suddenly, a fierce wind blew over him along with the outcries of the wolves, echoing through the wilderness. Adam looked in the direction of the echo, muttering.
"And a weapon as well, but..."
His expression crumbled into a frown.
Never in his life, had he thought that he would be this angry. It was as if someone murdered his family, and he was out for revenge, just like a superhero. And slowly he realised that directing such resentment towards the woman was, in fact, childish.
" But that was my only weapon! How will I survive now!" he reasoned with himself.
He knew that directing the anger at the woman was futile. Naive perhaps.
The world had transformed and this was the Era of war, according to his step-father. This was not the modern civilized world he came from. Here, only the strong reign supreme and the weak die. And in his case, he was weak. And now that he had somewhat stabilized his mind, he realised that the anger he was directing at the woman was silly.
She was strong. He was weak. He needed to accept that. Here, intelligence didn't matter. Strength and resilience to survive did.
"I'm such an idiot..." he muttered as his bloodthirsty expression crumbled followed by a wry smile on his face. And just as he let go of his anger, drowsiness and lethargy washed over him.
"Heh, so the secret of survival was my anger. Kept my blood pumping to my brain, perhaps." He mumbled.
He realised he was fragile as he was barely holding on in this cold solely due to his anger. But now that he knew it was futile. He let go of himself. Not even the thought of his cure being available, made him hold on.
His willpower was low. And by no means was he a superhero or like the Cyborg Combatants of 2099, who went through harsh training, even in extreme conditions such as this cold. He was a typical homeboy-Scientist. He never had to face such terrible conditions.
"Maybe, the cyborgs might be able to pull this off. And now that I think about it, maybe I should have become one. At least I might be able to walk..." He thought.
It was true that there was another alternative for him to walk and that was to undergo surgery to become a Cyborg. And considering the amount of money he had amassed and the advancement of Cybernetics Tech of 2099, he might be able to pull that off. But Adam didn't want to take chances with his life as it had a terrible succession rate of only 30%. Most people who underwent such a surgery died and those that prevailed had been turned into mindless machines by the higher-ups. And Adam, a firm believer in freedom, didn't want that.
Slowly, his hands slipped down the tree trunk as his body fell on the thick cover of the snow. The winds blowing much more wildly signifying the coming storm.
Adam, hurriedly gulped down the last bit of brandy to churn his mind up, before he fell headfirst on the snow, beside the tree. Opening the translucent window before his iris, he checked the map.
Seeing there was nothing except the dense cover of the forest and some blinking red dots near him. He finally smiled, completely giving up.
'Death is approaching me, it seems, he vexed.
Moving over, he decided to check his condition for the last time before his inevitable demise. Tapping on his wrist, the window manifested before him.
================
[BODY STATUS:]
...
{PHYSICAL COMPUTATIONAL DATA}
[Name:Adam Benjamin Smith]
[Life form:Tier 1]
[Age:26[800][Sex:Male]
[Height:161.5cm ][Weight: 40.8 kg]
[Profession:]
[Attributes:
-Strength-0.5(0.1)
-Agility-0.0(0.1)
-Stamina-0.1(0.2)
-Dexterity-0.9
-Intelligence-1(0.2)
...
[Emotional Status:Hopeless; Stressed; Vengeful]
[Heart rate:Low!]
[Blood pressure:Low!]
...
[End]
====================
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