I could see a small wooden shack with a big deer's carcass being bled out by the side of the house. I could see two small kids playing in the snow, a man and a woman who were watching the kids playing. The two kids were a boy and a girl, the boy probably seven or eight years old, while the girl seemed to be ten. The man, probably the father, seemed to be in his thirties because of the dark beard he has as well as some wrinkles on his forehead. The woman, probably the mother, seemed young but had some wrinkles. So probably in her mid thirties or young thirties.
I looked at the sight and was shocked. Humanity actually survived that disaster? Sure, those beings said that I would be reborn in a body that had a close connection to humans, but I had thought they meant physically wise. I actually didn't think that it would mean that humans actually existed. Hell, when I heard I would be reborn in a body with a close relationship with humans, I sort of thought like dogs or maybe a bird, since we used them throughout history to help ourselves.
Oh, speaking of dogs, I saw a dog laying near the two kids. It looked like a husky, but was a lot bigger, probably as big as a wild wolf, or maybe even bigger. Whatever the case is, that dog was definitely a husky. I mean, look at the fur; it was so smooth and fluffy.
The husky suddenly perked its ears as it raised its head quickly. It sniffed the air and looked around. This seems to have caught the attention of the father as he stopped chatting with the mother and looked at the husky.
"What's wrong, Snow?" the father said as he looked at the nearby trees that surrounded his small wooden shack. His eyes scanned for anything hiding inside the dark woods.
"Maybe Snow smelled like a dead squirrel. I mean, she loves squirrel meat," the mother said as she placed her hand on the father's shoulder. The father seemed to relax a bit as he placed his hand on top of hers.
"You're probably right, Snow gets peckish after a successful hunt," the father said jokingly as he chuckled a bit at his own joke. The mother only smiled as she just shook her head softly.
As the both of them spoke, Snow's eyes finally stopped as they looked at a certain spot in the trees. She could see a figure standing behind a tree, staring at her and her family. That figure standing behind the tree as if they were a stalker was me.
When I noticed the husky perking its ears and sniffing the nearby surroundings, I quickly hid behind a tree and peeked at the family. Goddamn, that dog has been properly trained. It's so trained that I am actually jealous. Do you know how hard it is to train a dog if they were pup to be that vigilant and aware of their surroundings? I mean, for some people who raise hunting dogs for a living, it's probably easy. But for the rest of us normal people, it is so hard.
...
Well, I guess I can't call myself a normal person anymore, seeing that I am now in this body.
"Woof* Woof* Woof*" Suddenly, the dog stood up and barked in my direction. Its barking attracted the attention of the family. The father looked where the husky was looking and when he looked at the tree I was at, his face turned pale.
"Honey, take the kids and head to the basement. Contact the Guardians and tell them that there is a Shaper here," the father said as he reached for something on the ground. I looked where he was reaching for and noticed a rifle laying on a wooden board. The mother, hearing her husband's words and looking where I was, quickly called the names of her children. Which, by the way, were Maria and Augustus. She grabbed the children's hands and quickly rushed inside that wooden shack of theirs. The kids were confused, but listened to their mother.
The father had raised his rifle and now had it aiming at me. Now, if I'm honest, I don't know what to do. I mean, sure, I'm not human and probably have a stronger body, but still, that is a gun. So the fear factor from my old life is still there.
I peeked from behind the tree and looked at the father. He still had his rifle trained on me and still hasn't moved from his spot. The husky was slowly making its way to me, though. I looked at the huskies eye and the thing flinched. It whined a bit and slowly backed away. Was it instinct telling it to get away from me?
Speaking of instincts, mine has been telling me to do something ever since I saw the family. Which is making me sort of understand the relationship between my new species and that of humanity. It's on the lines of just killing them.
...
Yeah, I understand why the father sent his family inside the house and why he has his rifle trained on me. God, my instincts are annoying, yet helpful. It's telling me to kill that man in front of me and is telling me I can survive the rifle. Which is sort of a relief, but the mental part of humanity still is telling me not to walk out.
"... fuck it," I muttered as I stopped hiding behind the tree and stepped out into the open. The father immediately shot his rifle at me and hit me. I know it hit because I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a caved in bullet laying on the snow. I scratched my chest and looked up at my father.
His face was pale as the snow. He took several steps back, but still had his rifle trained on me. I will give him that. He has balls to have his rifled trained on a creature that didn't flinch from a rifle shot.
Now what to do? I actually have no clue what to do now that I am out in the open. I could listen to my instincts and kill him, but I was human... I would say not that long ago, but I think I've been in the white void for more than a hundred years. So do I have any emotional relationships with humanity? I mean, I came back to earth because I was used to the world's logic. Not because of any emotional attachments or anything like that.
Actually, how many years have passed since the event? I could probably use the father to get information about today's year and go from there. Hell, I could probably understand my species' relationship with humanity and see how to act from now on.
"Yeah, let's do that," I say as I walk to the father. He shoots rounds at me. Some missing, others bouncing off my body and falling into the snow. The husky attacked me, but when it bit my skin, it whined before pawing its jaw. I think it broke its teeth.
When I was finally in front of the father, I swiped at his rifle. Now the plan was to simply just smack it out of his hand. But I guess my claws were really sharp and my muscles really strong, because I cut the barrel of the rifle as if it was butter. The father, seeing this, tried to hit the butt of his rifle against my head, but just cracked its butt when it made contact with my head.
I just looked at him in his eyes and, just like the husky, he dropped his rifle and fell onto his butt. He took several heavy labored breaths as sweat began to trickle down his face. I placed my hand on his shoulder and the man flinched.
"Let's have a chat," I said to the father. Now I should point this out. My voice wasn't in a normal voice. My voice sounded like a deep beast that was eating shards of glass and swallowed it just before speaking. So that with my face is a horrifying combination.
The father swallowed his saliva before speaking, "w-what did you want to talk about, s-sir?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just wish to know what years it is and where we are" I said to the father. The father tried to form a sentence, but kept stuttering over his words. Now I would have let this go, if not for the fact I could hear the kids inside crying and the mother trying to comfort them. It's making this whole situation so awkward.
"Just tell me where we are," I said before flexing my free hand, "before I go inside that poor shack, you call a home and slaughter your family!"
This seemed to have made the father's brain finally started to work. "We are in the Cradle, sir," the father said quickly as his eyes widened.
The Cradle? I don't think I've heard about that place? Is it a country or maybe a region? Did it form after the event?
"Tell me, what happened after the event?" I said to the father as I moved my face closer to his. The father moved his head backwards and tried to use every ounce of his brain to answer this single question of mine.
"W-what do you mean, sir" the father said as he looked at me.
"... the event. The one that wiped out the majority of humanity," I said to the father.
"A-are you talking about the Quake?" The father said.
The Quake?