Break
My name is Sam. In my past life, I had it pretty rough. My parents were a bit crazy. Not insane, but they were survivalists who thought the end of the world was coming...
Yeah, so in school, I was laughed at and bullied until I broke some jaws, but it never really stopped the verbal abuse. My character may have taken a hit from that, and I definitely had trust issues after my first girlfriend betrayed me.
I was boring, but you don't have to break me in half... Anyway, like I said, I was boring. No matter what my family did, they had some good points in their twisted philosophy and I inherited it—mostly a cynical outlook on life.
No girlfriend or wife at 33, just many passing fancies and friends with benefits. I was not bad looking and my pride and joy was an old muscle car. Easy to get some booty with this baby. The seats did have a strange smell, hehehe.
But like I said, my only hobbies were reading, video games, and anime. I would not call the gym a hobby, more my torture, since I had a very shitty body. Aches and pains from nowhere after a day's work, even though I was healthy. Just not an athlete and not very appealing to have kids of my own if they would suffer like I did. I would not have wished it for my kids one bit.
Besides, this world was really fucked. No end-of-the-world apocalypse crap, just too many people. At 9 billion people, the exponential rise of the population became insane. Even before, in 2023, there were 8 billion people on the planet. In 2000 it was 6.1 billion. In the 1900s around 1.6 billion. In the 1800s 1.1 billion. 1700s, 650 million. It's crazy... in 300 years, the tech also advanced, but competition makes waste. There was no way I would make a kid. So I never got serious about anything. I felt like people could not have a purpose if it's not having kids and a green lawn... Greener than your neighbor's, too.
Some days, I would pick a road and just drive with the music loud enough to numb my brain. I loved GT, but this day I was driving normally when a damned turkey got on the road. Why near a cliff, I don't know, but after being flattened, it didn't know either, and I was driving down the cliff. More like freefalling. That song would have been nice.
The trees were getting closer.
The song came to an end.
Everything went dark.
Break end
-MY CAR!-
-(What's a car?)-
A manly voice sounds in my head. I open my eyes to a familiar ceiling. My home/cabin.
(Why am I here?)
-(I brought you back to your Den.)-
-Ha... Ok... Wait!? My what!?-
Rising to my butt, I come face to face with a slacked jaw breathing foul breath down my nose. I almost backflip, knocking my stuff around, until I stabilize and see the red wolf from earlier blocking the door, looking peppy and wagging his tail.
(Okay!.. Did you just talk in my head?)
("Aye! Leader!")
(Err... What is your name?)
He tilts his head.
("Buddy?")
-Okay, I called you that before because it means friend. I'll call you Red. Color of blood and your fur is red now. (Plus that cool movie)... So... what happened back there?-
("Well, I thought I would die. I couldn't even feel pain anymore, but suddenly a warm breath entered my body, then you fell on top of me. My mind became clearer and after a while, I could feel like a tingling feeling coming from you. Like a new numbed paw. You were not waking up, so I brought you here. I feel much better than before, strong too!")
-I see.-
I get up and palm my empty stomach. It hurts like hell. Lucky I have plenty of food here. Smoked and dried meat, fruits, and greenies. No grains yet, but the bounty of the forest here is constant and plenty enough for me. The only missing thing, in my opinion, is salt. I was worried over salt because it's important in a diet. So by following nature, I observed animals and their food and drank a lot of raw blood in the first year as a replacement. I found rocks that can be broken and boiled to get salt, but the quantity is very limited.
-Man, I'm glad I can share. I've been alone for so long.-
("You were not really alone.")
-Yeah, birds and squirrels, really entertaining.-
("They can be!")
-For you maybe! Ha, forget it...-
I look at my arm. It healed pretty nicely and the scar looks a bit like a tribal sun, the reddish tint still there for now. I feel different. My arms have very little reddish hair; my head hair also gained a slight reddish tint in the dark brown. I also have a few soft red pubic hairs now... Still no beard yet though.
Red is also bigger and stronger by a large margin. I can put my arm even on his back while standing. I can also focus on him and feel the same energy coursing through us. Now I can also feel it inside me, which is a small amount in both cases. I know it was there before, like a sleeping limb, but now, like Red said, I can feel it clearly.
-So you were the one following me these years, yes!?-
I say this with a chastising tone. He puts his head under his paws.
-Sigh... Don't worry, you were smart not to attack me. And call me master.-
("Master!")
He barks happily and his wagging tail sends some stuff out the window.
-Ok, ok, relax! Let's put you to work!-
I grab my salt rock and make him taste and smell the real salt that I boiled, closer to what I want. He starts to leave, but I stop him.
-I'm coming with!-
I grab food, a spear, and a knife.
-With you, I can explore for real!-
.....
I went 100km in the four directions, but I need to keep around some landmarks I mentally noted...
This time, Red and I surveyed a 100km radius around the camp. We spotted more than 50 different species territories. We also managed to find salt in a cliffside where the wind exposed its smell to Red. We now have a complete salt mine.
We are now eating the best boar skewers I have had in four years, thanks to the decent amount of salt and herbs I tasted over the years. Since boar is a bit gamey, I used spicy hot leaves. With the campfire taste and salty, peppery tastes mixed, it's perfect and just greasy enough.
Red and I ran a lot, so we ate the entire boar in one sitting. Well, Red ate the raw organs that I did not want to carry... With my new energy, I can digest very fast.
-Tomorrow let's go back Home. I need to do a lot of things with this salt!-