Year One

Year One

The Story of The First Year of Life for Amil Himani

After the Virus

Date Unknown
"There were sirens blaring today.    Weird.   I didn't think this little village in the Mediterranean even had that many ambulances, or fire trucks, or police cars.   But now that I think about it...it didn't sound like ambulances.   It was the emergency siren for the village.   It was like an air raid siren, even weirder, as I didn't think those were even used anymore.   But I guess it couldn't have been that big of an emergency.   Nothing has exploded yet."



His journal had to stop there. Something exploded. He didn't halt his writing out of being startled by the sound, but more out of the irony of the situation. He was quite a bit more alarmed now however, as those sirens returned with now greater implications. He stood up from the log he occupied outside of the town near the water's edge, black, barely kempt locks falling down against his forehead as his light dress shirt settled down loosely over his form. He didn't dress like he was from around here. Despite the fact that he had been there for quite a while he still managed to cling to his normal dressing habits. Perhaps it was something of his old life that he refused to let go, or perhaps something he intended to return to one day. Soon he was heading off through the rocky terrain towards the small town, his journal being slipped back into his backpack to free up his hands for the journey.

Arriving at the edge of the town he began to question why he went there. There was obviously trouble afoot and there was nothing he could do about it so he probably should have just kept his distance. "There might be trouble I need to be warned about." He rationalized to himself as he walked through the streets, crowded with people running and cars moving too fast for their own good. He seemed rather detached from it all however, an observer more than a participant, despite the fact that people were running into him in their hurry to get away. But from what? That explosion should have left some clue, a fire somewhere, or a smoking crater perhaps, but there was nothing.

BOOM!

The sound of the explosion echoed again. This time he was closer to the source but it still sounded just as far away. "What was that?" He asked, though not to any of the people around him; more to himself. Everyone else was fleeing, getting far away from the scene as if they knew what was happening. But what was...

CRASH!

The earsplitting sound of a building smashing suddenly into the ground behind him nearly threw him from his feet. The young man, Amil, stumbled forward as dust and debris rushed past him with a vicious wind that drove his hair and shirt to flap violently as well. He took a few more clumsy steps before he turned to look wide eyed at the remains of the building behind him. Was someone shooting buildings out of a cannon? No, that would be absurd. But no more absurd than the truth. With a momentary disregard for his own safety, Amil took a few steps closer to the wreckage. He didn't have to get too close to see that there was blood splattered amongst the wreckage. He stopped and stepped back. He was sure no one was behind him by the time the house landed. In his unease in social situations he had grown quite paranoid and used to checking over his shoulder every now and then for anyone that he might incidentally have to interact with. Besides, blood wouldn't have made it through the entire wreckage of a building. No..someone was inside of it when it crashed. Taking another step back he turned to look to the chaos in the streets. He should have really been more unnerved by all of this. Had his time abroad really desensitized him that much? Another sound came like the crack of thunder behind him, splitting another building in half. He jumped, nearly out of his pants and moved along after everyone else with an urgent spring in his step. No. No it hadn't.

But arriving near the center of the town with everyone else didn't seem to help calm his nerves. There was a general panic and everyone seemed to be frightened of what appeared to be random terrorist attacks. But what terrorist would attack this place in the middle of nowhere? And what madman of a citizen would have any reason to disturb the peace here? Those questions were further complicated by the scene playing out in front of him. A little girl was grabbing onto her mother, frightened scared, and the situation was only growing worse as her face began to grow discolored. "Mommy...I don't feel so good..." She complained to her mother who just hugged her close and ignored the girl's words as she simply tried to keep her safe from the more pressing threat of falling buildings. The girl begged and pleaded with her mother for attention, tugging at her shirt with one hand as she clasped at her mouth with the other while Amil approached.

"This is the perfect chance!" Amil thought as he approached the group. "Hi, how are ya.   Pretty awful weather we're having, it's raining houses I swear." He rehearsed it in his head a million times as he slowly walked towards them. Before he left America he was taking therapy to get over his perceived social issues. His lack of patience for small talk, his aloofness when it came to social situations, his inability to deal with the minute details of every day life, and his limited ability to form social relationships. It wasn't a problem to him when he started therapy. It was more of a problem with the rest of society, he thought. They were so self-involved that they didn't see any of the larger problems facing society. But in his travels he had come to understand why people did this. Why they kept themselves distracted from the unlimited ether surrounding humanity. It was cold, dark, unsettling, and lonely. He had come to know this personally and was rather eager to pull himself away from it, to go back to his life, or at least something like it as he wasn't sure he liked accounting anymore. He was eager to start building relationships with people. Maybe he'd call his parents for once, have a nice conversation with them. His once isolated heart was open, available emotionally for what seemed like the first time. Baby steps. He'd talk to these people in front of him first. A smaller relationship would be less intimidating. But first he had to think of something better to say than what he had been rehearsing in his head on the way over there.

"Hi..." He began, finding it too late to think of something new as he stepped in close to the crowd, all looking rather nervous, a few police officers directing people away from the scene, cars being packed up as it appeared that people were already thinking it was time to leave the town for good. He watched the scene in what seemed like slow motion as adrenaline ran through him, and all the noises about him blended together, turning into a deafening silence as he looked around. The sound of his rapidly beating heart filled his perception as he began to feel trapped, as if he were in a coffin. This was what it felt like to be in a social situation? To experience the same thing as everyone else in the same way? It was almost too much for him for his first time in somewhat belonging to a group with his new open heart. It was like he could feel what everyone else was feeling all at once.

"Mom..." The little girl complained once more as she tugged desperately at her mother's shirt in the crowd of people that watched as Amil walked away so casually from the scene. She was becoming rather frantic as she tried to get her mother's attention, her face a deep shade of red as she tried to choke down that burning sensation in her throat. She did her best until her trembling hand clutched at her mother's shirt and suddenly..."BLEGH!" The girl's cheeks inflated in a rush as she failed to keep it down. Amil's eyes drew open quite wide from their usual dulled demeanor as light danced across his face while he stood in front of that crowd. The girl's vomit erupted into a raging hellfire as it left her mouth and blazed over her hand and through her fingers. It ignited her mother before it splashed to the ground, only to splatter and spread the flames out in every direction. The blaze lit up the streets, cars, buildings, and even the people surrounding the girl. The screams were even louder now, the screams now of anguish instead of terror. They were running once again, this time many of them ablaze. Amil could only watch in dulled terror as his coffin burned around him. He was definitely not desensitized. And unfortunately, here, it cost him dearly. He would never be able to feel a connection like that again.



One Month After The Strange Occurrence
<p class="MsoNormal">"Has humanity's hubris finally caught up with it?   I set out on my journey to find out more about the world, about humanity and its path of consciousness up until this point.   There were things that needed to be fixed, but I thought I had time... Plenty of time... Most people put this kind of thing off because they think 'Oh, that's so far into the future. It can't possibly affect me.'   But this..this is happening now.   But what is this? What is happening?"

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil sat alone in the abandoned café at the inner edge of town. No one was left in town. No one alive anyway. Between the mass exodus, the exploding and melting bodies, and those that just simply dropped dead or vanished, there was no one left in the town besides Amil. No one knew him, so no one bothered to pull him along, and after his last group encounter, which ended with people being torched alive in front of him, he couldn't really stand the sight of another person for a while.

<p class="MsoNormal">Resting behind the counter of the café, his back against the cupboards beneath it, he sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms clenched around them and his backpack to his side. There was food here, which was why he was there, but the large window out front didn't make the place very good for hiding. What was he hiding from? At this point he wasn't so afraid of running into another person that he would risk staying here, so there had to be something else. Slowly he lifted up from his hiding spot, black locks lifting up into view from behind the counter before the tan skin of his forehead followed. So far so good. He then lifted up far enough for his eyes to peek out towards the glass before "RAWWWWWGRRRR!" came a horrid screech from outside, the glass at the shop front shaking from the noise. In an instant Amil was back on his bottom, cowering behind the counter once again. Perhaps that is what he was hiding from.

<p class="MsoNormal">When out hiking and camping through the wilderness you were bound to run into some dangerous creatures. But if you were smart and kept your wits about you, reducing your chances to run into them and knowing how to deal with them when you did you were usually fine. That's how he had done it. He would never go into anything like that without researching it first. But this...this was something he could not research. Something completely unheard of by him. Was it something new? It would make sense considering the other things that happened here were certainly new. Or at least he hoped that no one else in history had ever vomited up fire...

<p class="MsoNormal">There was a stomp, a thud of footfall outside of the café that nearly shattered the glass. Amil drew his knees in close. His eyes looked tired, weighed down by bags, but even more so concerned. What was happening? This town was nice and peaceful until... In his exploration of ancient cultures he had come across the mystical before but...he never really believed in it. Witch doctors, wizards, curses. He figured it all to be superstition. "It's just nature...throwing   a hissy fit...or science run amok..." He said to himself as he found himself occupied with not the danger at hand, but with the driving force behind it. As those stomps grew closer to the window he drew his body in tighter and tighter. A pit grew in his stomach, deep down inside. But not from the fear of whatever it was waiting outside for him, but from the disturbing feeling deep down in his core that he got from thinking somewhere in his subconscious that magic might have been real, and that it was unleashing its fury upon this poor village. Perhaps he wasn't responsible. Maybe he didn't disturb some ancient spirit or invoke some terrible curse by mucking about in old temples and graves. Maybe. But that wouldn't be a thought he would let go of very easily.

<p class="MsoNormal">The window shattered in a horrid splash of glass onto the shop floor. He was about to get what he deserved. The footfalls hit the pavement with louder and louder thuds before coming to a stop in front of the café. For a moment all had become silent, Amil's head resting against his knees, face down, unwilling to look as the sounds of the creature emanated from the other side of the counter. Suddenly it lurched away, walking off away from the café to shamble off elsewhere. Amil let out a breath that he had been holding in for quite some time as his heart beat and thumped loudly in his chest.

<p class="MsoNormal">He needed to get out of this town.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Two
<p class="MsoNormal">"Making my way back out of Greece by foot is proving to be more difficult than I expected.   Food is scarce in the plains, and the mountainous areas harbor more dangerous beasts.   This was true even before...whatever happened happened.   But now the animals are displaying strange capabilities.   I tried catching a rabbit today...   It wasn't very timid."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil left that little town behind, and decided to brave the wilderness in an attempt to make it back to civilization. He assumed that whatever phenomenon was going on in that village was isolated there; and that once he made it away from the place he would be, relatively, safe. But that did not prove to be the case. The animals out in the wilderness, as he found out, were just as viscous and grotesque as the ones that haunted him in the village. Was this some sort of plague that was following him? That would have been a pleasant development. He could go to some remote place on the planet and keep this curse to himself. But that would require him to believe in magic once more. Unfortunately the alternative was that this was going on everywhere. Not only did that mean he couldn't escape it, but also that everyone else was condemned to this fate as well.

<p class="MsoNormal">There was a rustle in a bush. Unfortunate and improbable considering it was the only bush in the area which was otherwise flat grassland. His head turned swiftly, sharply towards it, his brown eyes focusing tightly on it for a moment before he began to pick up his pace. The bush was far too small to contain any sort of large animal, but as that rabbit proved earlier, size and cuteness didn't always determine the threat that these creatures carried. In fact they were growing more grotesque by the day. Just to be safe he began to move a little faster and headed off towards the final mountain range he'd have to cross before he could get out of Greece. He didn't exactly know this; however, as everything here looked the same to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">He got a good distance from that bush but eventually found himself coming upon a gathering of trees. It wasn't exactly a forest, or even woods, so much as it was a group of trees that were inconvenient to walk around. Amil paused at the edge of them and turned back to look behind him to make sure he hadn't been stalked on his way here. The coast was clear for now. He then looked around the area to check for any alternative paths. One could never be too careful. "Ughh..." He didn't want to have to waste the time walking around it, it was going to be night time soon, but he didn't want to have to risk walking through this group of trees that could have been hiding some nasty creatures. On the other hand he knew he couldn't just avoid animals constantly. He was going to have to eventually find one he'd be able to kill and eat. Now was as good a time as any. He was about to take a step into those trees when he heard a rustling once more. He halted his step and planted his foot right back into the ground where it was. His head lifted, his eyes frozen in a concerned gaze. Slowly he turned to take a look behind him once again. There was nothing but grassland behind him, he was sure of it, yet there was a bush...no, THE bush, the same one he encountered earlier behind him. Amil looked to it with some sort of sad recognition as his body remained perfectly still as he watched it. One might think he was keeping still to remain undetected by whatever creature it was that was stalking him, but in actuality he was just frozen in place as he had no idea what to do. It wasn't like this was something written in some manual somewhere. The things he was running into were entirely new phenomenon.

<p class="MsoNormal">The bush suddenly shook and its leaves arced towards him as the entire plant leaned in, almost as if to spook him. It worked, as he jumped, startled, moving back only an inch or two. This was enough for whatever was hiding in that bush as it suddenly began to shake and shiver, arching itself as if the bush itself was readying to attack. Terrified by the surreal experience, Amil simply widened his eyes and drew his body back though unable to move his feet as his mind was far too occupied processing his terror. The bush began to split open, slowly at first, like the maw of a beast, before suddenly it, or something from inside of it, leapt out towards him, gaping chasm of a mouth spread open wide to take a bite out of him. Unable to do much else he simply closed his eyes and lifted his right arm up to at least shield his face. Adrenaline seemed to fail him in that moment. Fight or flight should have taken effect but all he could do was cower. He waited for the pain of teeth or fangs to seek into his flesh, but it never came. Eventually he worked up the courage to open his eyes to peek beyond his arm, from which now his previously long sleeve had been ripped. Slowly he lowered that arm, mouth frozen in a somber frown, one that did not look like that of a man that was relieved to have survived an animal attack. His hand dropped down to his side, bits of previously tanned flesh haven fallen to some dark black color over hardened skin as if diseased, or frost bitten. His eyes stared at some unbelievable, yet horrifying sight in front of him as his breath returned to him, leaving his lips in a white cloud that before that moment wouldn't have been possible as the temperature wouldn't have allowed it. In a split second a memory returned to him, of that little girl burning and screaming, before he returned to reality and the image in front of him which was currently his own reflection, his own dull eyes staring back at him. He didn't have the stomach to eat anymore. So he simply turned away from that creature that remained in front of him, encased now in an unexplainable shell of ice. He headed now into those trees, feeling a chill about him but figuring it was nothing more than the lingering effects of that creature's spontaneous self-cryobustion. Was everything doom to suffer a similar fate? To erupt into some element? This really was starting to seem like a curse. And he didn't want to stick around to experience any more of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Moments later he stepped back out of those trees, eyes shifting about to see if anyone had seen him, despite knowing there was no one around. He turned to the side to head around those trees instead of going through them. He still had his sanity, and it was telling him not to risk it. When night came and he was just barely reaching the edge of those mountains, he camped out. He didn't bother making a fire that night. The cool air felt comforting.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Three
<p class="MsoNormal">"I made it past the mountains.   What a rough trip.   I was a little more careful about covering my tracks, staying hidden so none of the animals would find me.   For some reason it felt a lot easier up in the cold air of the mountains.   I even had more luck with hunting animals, but I don't feel like I need to eat as much as I used to.   Maybe my stomach shrank in all this starving.   But anyway, there is a city not too far from here.   I thought I'd sit down to write to you one more time before I got there.   I don't know what new challenges I'll face once I get there, but I'm hoping the situation will be better.   Hey...remember when I used to write more profound thoughts in you?   Yeah...I think I like it better this way.   Having to fight to survive really puts all the little things in perspective."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The mountains were behind him now, his face towards the horizon where the towers of the nearby city rose up towards the sky. His journey was finally over, and despite the fact that the wildlife all the way up to this point was rather supernaturally vicious; he had a feeling that things would be much safer in the embrace of civilization. He turned his head to take one more look back to the mountains. He couldn't explain it, but he felt at ease there in the cool, snowy air, like he was at home in his natural habitat. "Am I turning into a hermit..?" He thought to himself before   he tore his gaze away from the mountains to return his focus to the city. "I should just get going before I decide to go back..." He said to himself, knowing that he wouldn't last too long in the mountains with all those strange creatures out there. He gripped at the bands of his backpack before he continued his hike off towards the city.

<p class="MsoNormal">All was quiet when he reached the edge of the town, the surburbs looked abandoned, houses broken and burned, windows shattered, cars and other large objects broken through walls, lawns uncut. Amil looked around through it all with a sense of wonder which showed that he knew he wouldn't find anyone here. Was the whole city empty? Or was it just the suburbs? And just how far did this chaos reach?

<p class="MsoNormal">There was a sound behind him; like the rustling of a bush. A chill ran down his spine as he wasn't sure if he had passed a bush on the way up to this point or not. But that chill seemed like more than just a bit of fright running through his body. He still felt the cool of the mountain air running over his skin despite having left it a while ago. He turned his head slightly and gave a weary look behind him for signs of any strange bushes. His lips parted gently with a breath that released a frosty cloud in front of his face that he might have noticed if he weren't so focused on scoping out any danger. He didn't see anything, for now, but he decided to keep moving. He turned back towards the downtown area and trucked on through the blocks of the outer neighborhoods.

<p class="MsoNormal">The houses began to grow more sparse, the buildings growing more commercial and industrial as he reached the center of the city. It was approaching nightfall and the air was beginning to grow cool, or at least he assumed that was the reason his body still felt cold. As he drew near the inner parts of the city he could indeed hear sounds of life emanating from the area, some light even flickered and danced off a few walls as if a fire was lit somewhere. His heart sank for a moment at the thought of fire, but he continued on anyway, assuming, hoping, that this was a controlled fire. Upon entering the streets he soon found that it was in fact a controlled fire, and even had people gathered around it, murmuring to each other. He watched from a distance, eyes growing dull, mouth falling sullen as he couldn't help but remember the last group of people he approached and his feelings on people prior to his traveling abroad. At the back of his mind he thought it might be better to just stay away, but at the front of his mind he knew he would need the safety and companionship of the group. He simply stood there, letting the two concepts toss around in his mind before he eventually noticed that the group was looking towards him. They just stared, and he just stared back. The more important question at this point was would they even accept him in the first place. He wasn't really making a good first impression after all.

<p class="MsoNormal">Another frozen breath left his lips. Another night in the wilderness would have proven to be quite chilly. Strange. That wasn't very typical for this setting...

<p class="MsoNormal">

Months Four and Five
<p class="MsoNormal">''"After convincing everyone I wasn't just another monster in disguise, which was an odd affair, they accepted me into their little group.   Yes, little.   Despite the size of the city not many people here survived or remained here.   The same thing that happened in that town on the coast happened here as well, and as far as the people here knew this was happening elsewhere as well, though it was still unclear on how far it spread.   Unsettling.   Maybe this is more than just... Well I don't know what I thought it was, but I was hoping that not everyone had to suffer this fate...    But unfortunately man has little defense against things it can't understand.   Civilization here is falling to the ravages of nature.   The monsters attacking the city are getting bigger and stranger.   But perhaps the strangest thing of all...is that the people here... Some of them display some of the same bizarre transformations than the animals have. Some are even talented enough to control these things. All the destruction and chaos before...was it...was it these mutations going unchecked? Is it possible to control the outcome of this curse...I mean phenomenon? Are we not all doomed to rupture into a state of unstable element? These are the new problems facing man. And can I do something cool like that too? That is the new problem facing me."''

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">The city was indeed in chaos. None of the utilities worked so the buildings around the people stranded there offered little solace other than shelter. On top of the growing monster attacks, people in the city still found themselves divided for one reason or another, still managing to hold fast to petty squabbles from before these terrible events occurred. The group that took Amil in wasn't much better when it came to promoting harmony. They simply assumed that he was rather strong after braving the wilderness alone and figured they could use the additional manpower either way. This made Amil question just how lucky he had been in surviving thus far. The creatures he faced out in the wild were nothing like the monsters he met here. It was hard to tell what some of these creatures even were before they mutated. There was no prior knowledge to use against them as no one knew what they were. Amil started to take notes here and there, generating some sort of survival guide, and was sure to share notes with everyone else in the group.

<p class="MsoNormal">Wilderness survival and other such knowledge was the best Amil was able to contribute to the group and was largely appreciated. The others, however, had skills that proved to be useful against the terrifying creatures attacking the city, such as control over new and strangely super human abilities, or basic human communication skills that were used to negotiate with the other groups for the safety of everyone (although him not knowing the language very well didn't help either). But in this time Amil began to question changes in himself. Ever since he was attacked by that creature outside that group of trees before reaching the mountain he had felt a chill about himself. He first attributed it to that creature suddenly flash freezing itself, assuming that everyone was doomed to die that way now. He hadn't really noticed it while in the mountains as the air was already cool there. But once he began traveling through the city he began to really notice the difference, especially when his adrenaline was going, he began to notice the clouds of vapor in front of his face even more often at these times. That creature encased in ice when it tried to attack him...did he do that? At first the idea terrified him, but seeing people grow increasingly more proficient in utilizing these abilities made him more confident that they wouldn't suddenly spark out of control. In fact, it tended to grow less severe over time, and the most unstable cases tended to be in children and older people. Whatever this was it behaved almost like a disease, hitting harder those that lacked a strong immune system.

<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe a new age was coming for mankind.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Merda! Figlio di troia! The assholes cheated me!"

<p class="MsoNormal">Or maybe not.

<p class="MsoNormal">The man shouted from outside of the room in which Amil was writing. The English uttered was broken and in an Italian accent. The only reason he was speaking English was because it was specifically something for Amil to hear, and anyone else nearby that spoke some English as well for good measure. The group had noted Amil's resource management skills, so he was involved with keeping track of their food and medicine. The groups in this city frequently conducted trade amongst one another for items more easily found within each other's territory. But these trades were growing tenser. As were the monster attacks.

<p class="MsoNormal">There was an explosion outside that shook the building, leaving bits and pieces of the ceiling to fall to the floor as the man entered the doorway to look to a writing Amil.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Porca troia... It will have to wait." He said before he turned away from the door frame to leave Amil only to blink and stare towards the door in his absence. The Italian man's hand caught the doorframe before he could fully leave however, and drew him back into Amil's sight to look to him with a solemn face.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Put down the pencil. This time you come." He said in a stern voice before he started to leave once more. This time he stopped to wait for him and continued to watch him, not leaving until he followed. Amil, despite having braved the wilderness alone, didn't seem too keen on this. He did put down the pencil, but he only looked to the man with an unsure and scared face afterwards. Most of his encounters with beasts involved running and hiding, or at least scaring them away. Never direct combat. But that is what they had to do in this city. Amil's strategy would have been just to move on to find a new home. But no one was sure that there was anything else out there. He eventually swallowed down his fear and stood up to follow after him. There wasn't really anything he could do other than pretend to be a dead, cold corpse, but he would follow anyway.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Six
<p class="MsoNormal">"I think I can do something more than just being a cold, lifeless corpse.   In fact, from what I can surmise, people, and the animals for that matter, have been mutated with two, often completely different, abilities.   So far I've only noted temperature changes in myself.   The aptitude for wrangling these abilities that the people here have shown amazes me.   I can't really seem to get a grip on mine.   In fact, people are starting to accuse me of sucking all the life out of a room.   I don't know if that's a jab at my countenance or if I'm really just making every room I enter devoid of heat.   Sometimes I can't really tell the difference.   Though...I do appear to have a few spots of frostbitten flesh on my right arm... This can't be healthy..."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil was beginning to realize his powers after so much time spent with the others. He was however, still resigned to writing in his journal despite his newfound companionship. It was more than just the language barrier, it was the fact that they were all still quite self-absorbed despite the humbling apocalypse that nature had bestowed upon them. But what else could Amil expect; survival had the same effect on him.

<p class="MsoNormal">In a few cracks and fizzles the bottle of water on the floor in front of him began to solidify, shifting from its liquid state into ice. It wobbled a bit, the shape of the water becoming a bit distorted with movement before it froze, making the bottle bulge out at the bottom. It spun around before it fell over onto its side to roll along the floor of the building before it collided with a hard clack into a collection of other bottles of water, all frozen.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Cretino! Don't do that with our supplies. We're all happy that you're taking your baby steps, but you can't be doing that!" Said the Italian man from the door way suddenly. Amil's head shot up like a child that had just been caught doing something wrong, his eyes open quite a bit.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Sorry..." Was all he responded with to the foul mouthed man who was rather intimidating to someone of Amil's low charisma. He went to work on rearranging those bottles, and left them to thaw on their own. After he finished constructing them into a box like shape on the floor however, he blinked, thinking to himself. "Wait...duh."

<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn't long after that the group had refrigeration for the food they collected, gathered, and hunted for. Word of this caught on in the other circles which garnered a bit of jealousy in them. It seemed that the group made the right decision in picking up Amil after all. However, this attention became quite intense when it came to trade negotiations, especially with the more aggressive groups. He was happy that he was able to be of some use, but couldn't help but feel that his power had limited capability for combat. However, that wasn't much of a concern now that he was in the city with others. They could handle the combat while he handled what he was good at.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Seven
<p class="MsoNormal">"Hah.   I was a little bit naïve.   For some reason I thought I'd be able to fully control my abilities as soon as I started trying.   But the more I use them the more I learn, the more it feels natural.   Almost like I was born with them.   It's been just months since all of this happened and this already starting to feel like a normal part of life that had always been there.   Yes, I was naïve, naïve about a lot of things.   Especially about people.   I thought   near death experiences would bring them closer together, make them realize that there were things bigger than themselves.   I was wrong.   What would it take then? What would it take..."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil took a walk, wandering out along the edge of the city to clear his head and further test his powers. He would test the range, standing in the middle of a street in the suburbs, eyes dull as he reached his hand out towards a piece of glass, holding it there for a while, focusing it, fingers trembling a bit. By the time any frost appeared on the window it was also appearing along his right arm, bits of flesh crystalizing in ice before suddenly the window would shatter. He lowered his hand, shaking it off, the ice dissipating. He watched the area that the window was once in, just thinking as the shards of glass and ice littered the ground. Elsewhere another window shattered, grabbing Amil's attention quite quickly.

<p class="MsoNormal">His head turned, his eyes focused towards the end of the block where some creature, something that looked like it might have once been a dog, stared back at him. He simply blinked as he watched it. This was something that was more at his level, or so he assumed. These types of creatures he had to outwit in the wilderness to avoid and trap. But this time, this time he would take it head on. He had to test the limits of his power, for one reason or another.

<p class="MsoNormal">The beast charged, running towards Amil at incredible speeds. The closer it got the bigger it looked, but Amil didn't back down. He didn't look to it with any sort of fear, or courage, just that same dull expression. His hand lifted shortly after the beast began to run, his eyes focused on the creature, his fingers arched towards it. The beast continued to run, blindly, sparks of electricity flying from its frizzled fur as it barreled down at Amil. He stood his ground however, and seemed unwilling to flinch as he attempted to focus his power. He noticed, retroactively, that it seemed to work more often when his adrenaline was flowing, like a natural defense. The air leading up to the beast would begin to chill, but if it took just as long as it did for the window, Amil was going to find a fierce set of teeth inside of him. But it was happening just that fast, until the process began to speed up. As the beast drew closer, the ice on his arm began to increase. And as it drew nearer, it got deeper and deeper into Amil's field of influence until...

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil fell back to the ground and skid along the pavement. His arm was encased in ice, biting into his flesh, the beast on top of him, pinning him to the ground. He didn't seem to be in any rush to push it away from him. He seemed even somewhat relieved. When he did eventually push it off of him, he was just pushing a frozen statue in the shape of the creature away from him to letit fall to the ground at his side with a loud thud. He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, or at least tried to, but ended up raking over his skin with sharp, icy claws. He lowered the hand quickly to look it over before he shook it a few times to try to get the ice off. It remained. He wasn't going to return to the city like this... He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the attention. So he waited it out, letting it melt away. More bits of his flesh had become black and scale like from the frostbite, but he didn't seem to mind. He had just found out that his power did have some offensive capability. This, he thought, would give him a bit more freedom.

<p class="MsoNormal">Later on, once the ice had melted, he wandered his way back into the city, hands in his pockets as he wandered towards the building that his group occupied. His eyes were focused somewhere on the ground as he shambled towards it slowly, looking up only when he heard the sounds of some familiar ruffians mucking about in the area. There were a few loud shouts before a couple of members from the more aggressive group ran off from the building. Within moments the building erupted, igniting into a sea of debris and flames. Amil watched the fire dance, frozen just as much as he was the first time, but this time his eyes remained dull. There was nothing left for him here now. It was definitely time for him to move on.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Months Eight and Nine
<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm glad I keep you with me always.   I could have lost you in the fire with the rest of my supplies.   Close call.   But the rest of the stuff I replaced easily by looting the suburbs before I left the city.   It will fall eventually.   Whether they kill each other first or weaken one another to the point where monsters finish them off.   I think...I think it may be time for me to head home.    America must be in much better condition.   If it did reach that far then I'm sure that if nothing else they kept the president safe and are looking for ways to fix this.   Even in a time like this, no one would let a leader that was held responsible for national crisis off the hook.   Our system is crazy...but I think it works...sometimes.   Either way, I'll head off to Britain where they at least speak the same language as me. Sorta..."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">It was rough moving through the Asian continent and into the European one. With time the animals had grown more vicious, but fortunately Amil's power had grown as well. He found it to be quite adept at defense especially. By lowering his body temperature he made detection by heat more difficult, and he had even learned to use it to keep himself still and quiet. For those creatures that were expert hunters and made escape impossible, he learned to fight them head on. The closer they got to him the deeper into his field of effect they got. And soon the distance at which he could control his power grew, as did the proficiency of the distance at which he could use it. Soon he was generating his own climate wherever he walked, the temperature dropping around him, persuading animals to leave if he camped out in one spot for too long. And for those areas with hotter, dryer climates, he spent extended time there, honing his skills until even the driest, hottest heats turned into winter wonderlands under his influence. He knew the best way to grow stronger was to push himself to his limits then exceed them, again and again. And he knew the only way to survive was to become stronger. This was different for a man who previously only valued efforts of the mind, but fortunately this didn't involve working out. Not as much as needed for being athletic anyway. But all this hiking had naturally done wonders for his fitness. He was no strongman, but he was an adventurer.

<p class="MsoNormal">As he continued to journey through Europe he began to realize something.

<p class="MsoNormal">"All of those other people had two strange abilities, didn't they?" He pondered to himself. So far he had only displayed an aptitude for chilling effects. He pondered this as he traveled through the plains of Hungary, finding little in the way of additional settlements. He wasn't sure that he even wanted to attempt to become part of another one of those. He lifted his hand above his face and twirled it about in the air, toying with the water vapor as he chilled it, swirling it about until it formed into ice and dropped to the ground. He stopped walking, looking down to his feet and the ice that rested there. At one point his shirt was long sleeved, but now it only had a sleeve on the left side. Whenever he pushed his abilities the right one seemed to freeze up, becoming encased in ice.

<p class="MsoNormal">"That can't just be random." He thought, pondering the fact that it happened every time, and every time it appeared in the same claw like shape. Was this part of his ability to manipulate temperature? Possibly, he thought, as he travelled through the plains.

<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly there was quite the eruption, the ground beneath his feet shaken and soon taken from beneath him as he fell down onto his back, his thoughts interrupted and his backpack fling from his shoulder. What now? His focus remained on the ice still, his mind not wanting to leave its train of thought to refocus on the current threat until he eventually lifted his vision to look to the creature that stood before him. He assumed he had stumbled into some dumb creature's territory, and that he would have to find a new way around, but what he saw when he lifted his eyes was enough to make his usually dull eyes widen. A bear stood before him. But no normal bear. A divine light emanated from along his form, all the way from his toes to the tip of his glorious, golden hair which blew in a wind that Amil was sure was not previously there. The creature promptly lifted a paw to toss aside those locks in show-off fashion. It appeared that bear had been ignoring the man until it was sure his eyes were on him, and once it had his attention it opened its glowing eyes to look to him, the land scape around them suddenly bending, swaying in a great wind that brought frost over the entire land. As Amil watched in awe of the creature it lifted its paws up, out into the air in front of its chest. A dark portal swirled into existence from behind it, and out of this portal popped two human like hands which promptly began to shuffle a deck of cards in front of the bear's face.

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil felt this to be out of his league. That now was a good time to run, but running wasn't an option either. By the time he slowly rose to his feet, the arms protruding from the portal were drawing a card. This card was presented to him, though he was unsure what it was, especially from that distance, but within in seconds he found it to be something that would suddenly blast a fierce, red beam at him. The only way for him to avoid it was for him to fall back once again to land on his back with a thud, snow and ice launching up into the air from his impact. The flakes fell gently around and on his face before he drew his eyes open once more to slowly sit back up to look to the bear. His heart was pounding. His adrenaline was definitely pumping.

<p class="MsoNormal">He rose to his feet, his eyes captivated with the bear, watching it closely, feeling its immense aura even from that distance. His eyes were dull once again as he watched those cards being shuffled once more. Amil's arm stretched out to the side a bit, fingers flexing, black, frostbitten flesh tugging tightly against the rest of his skin. Those human hands from the portal finished shuffling and held the deck in one hand before starting to reach for a card with the other. Amil watched, and waited, and as soon as that finger hit the top of the deck, Amil's own arm suddenly lifted, encased in ice almost instantly, and pointed at the bear. By the time the hand was drawing a card from the deck a vertical wave of snow and ice was jetting towards it. And before the card could be used that wall of ice and snow slammed into the creature, blasting away the entire deck of cards, covering the bear in snow, and freezing its hair back. The creature blinked those glowing eyes a few times before it shook its head and body about to throw the snow off of it like water. It let out a loud roar at Amil who simply blinked in response. He was just as shocked as the bear. He had no clue something like that would happen. His body just told him he had to fight, and that was what came out.

<p class="MsoNormal">Soon the bear was charging at him on all fours as Amil readied himself again only to find that the bear stopped once it was closer in range but still a good distance away. It stood back up onto its hind legs and suddenly drew its paws together in front of him. Amil was left to look around at the land as that ice and snow were soon being drawn into a tight ball in front of the bear. What had Amil gotten himself into? That city he left was starting to look pretty good at this moment. Especially considering how every other city he had run into was destroyed, abandoned, or filled with untrustworthy characters. Once the ball began to dwarf both he and the bear, the bear suddenly drew its arms back and thrust them forward to send the ball hurtling towards Amil. He responded by widening his eyes, which was a strong response from him these days, before he drew his own arm, covered in ice, back, and thrusted it forward as well once the ball of ice reached him. To his surprise, once again, the ball pushed back against his arm before it even reached him, but by the time it was close to him he was pushing it back, to send it hurtling back towards the bear. The bear roared and drew back in surprise at this before it responded in kind. It thrust its arm to send the ball back at him. Amil did the same and the ball blasted back and forth between the two, each one slowly moving in closer after each assault. Soon the two combatants were so close that the only thing that separated them was that ball of ice. They now had it supported between the two of them, pushing at it from both sides like a reverse tug of war. The bear's golden locks blew in the wind created by the force of the two fighting over the ball, Amil's eyes just squinting as he put in the effort to push back against the bear's power.

<p class="MsoNormal">"If he hits me with this, I'm a goner for sure..." He thought as he pushed at it, his left hand starting to recoil from the freezing temperatures before him. He grimaced and pushed harder before suddenly the ice on his arm traveled up to his shoulder and spiked out the back in a snap. What appeared to be light shimmered down the length of that ice from the tips of those spikes to his fingertips, before he found the force of his hand growing out of control. Where once he was pushing he was simply now shoving forward. The bear lost its footing for a moment before it increased its power in return. This caused the ball of ice to suddenly crack before it ruptured between them in an explosion of snow and ice. All was quiet as the frozen water fell to the ground, drifting along the air about the area. Eventually a patch of that snow popped up. The creature buried beneath that snow shook about wildly like an animal to get the snow off of it. Once he was done shaking, Amil blinked and looked about the frozen landscape.

<p class="MsoNormal">"What just happened?" He questioned, before he slowly stood up to his feet. He took a few more steps, walking over to where he thought the bear once stood. It appeared to be gone. No trace of it left behind other than a single one of those cards from that deck, resting on top of the snow. Amil blinked and picked it up, turning it over a few times. It pictured some sort of angel dispersing into light. Something like a children's card game or a tarot card or something of the sort. He looked around for a moment before he simply slid it into his journal in his pocket. He dusted, or snowed...,himself off for a moment before he continued on, shuffling through the snow until he found his backpack. He was almost beaten at his own game by a bear... It was almost uncanny how intelligent it seemed. If that sort of thing could happen, then he wasn't going to be able to rely on just pure power anymore. No, he would have to get smart about using his ability, display some human intelligence in using it to keep him above the capabilities of an animal. That was the only way he'd survive.

<p class="MsoNormal">Life sure had gotten weird.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Ten
<p class="MsoNormal">"So now I wish I had taken a proper science class in college instead of Astronomy.   Astronomy IS interesting, but I could have used a few more lessons on physics.   According to what I remember, heat is all about energy.   The amount of energy an object has between its atoms gives the object its temperature or something like that.   If I can affect something like energy then...there must be tons of things I can do.   And that bear taught me that I can do more than just create ice.   I can control it. There must be tons of things I can do with that.   You know... besides chilling drinks and making snowmen. .. Right?"

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil was drawing closer to his destination. So far the outlook had been bleak, most areas destroyed and desolate, little human life remaining after the changes the world had faced. He seemed to be growing use to it however. He even managed to hold on to hope that there would be people still living on the highly populated coast, and that transportation from there wouldn't be a problem. So far the airports have been completely out of working order, but that was to be expected. There was a lot involved in keeping an airport running and safely flying and landing a plane. Amil figured that even just a sailboat being set out on the water would do at this point.

<p class="MsoNormal">He traveled through the plains, checking random towns here and there, scavenging for supplies, mostly hunting down bookstores. Unfortunately most of the books he found were in other languages, but eventually, once he reached Belgium, he found what he was looking for.

<p class="MsoNormal">He stepped through the broken glass door of the bookstore and looked around quietly at the overturned shelves and books scattered across the floor. He wandered pass the counter to look around at the signs that hung loosely from the ceiling until he noted one that indicated non-fiction, specifically the sciences. He dropped to his knees once he reached the area and shuffled through the books on the floor until he found one on physics and energy. It was in English. He shuffled through a few more until he found one on thermal energy before his head shot up at the sound of something rustling around outside. He stood up slowly to stuffle the book into his backpack before he crept his way out towards the door. He took a peek outside and looked around. He heard the sound again and backed up at the ready. The sound grew closer, and closer, before a lone bag rolled along down the street in front of the shop. He blinked and looked around a bit before he took a step outside.

<p class="MsoNormal">He continued on his journey, reaching back into his bag to retrieve the book on thermal energy. He looked over the cover for a moment in anticipation before he finally opened it up to start reading a bit of it as he walked. His finger swirled in the air as he walked for a while, his other hand holding that book as he read from it. Soon that little swirl of condensed water he made grew bigger, and soon condensed into solid ice. After a while, he was walking with a shard of ice floating above him. He was ready for danger now more than ever.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Month Eleven
<p class="MsoNormal">"It's almost embarrassing how stupid I was.   I thought the ability to make things cold was...stupid, useless, or at least limited.   But the applications for it are...tremendous!   Being able to control and disrupt the flow of energy in an object in itself is amazing, along with manipulating chilled air.   But manipulating ice itself is a whole new concept on its own.   Perhaps that was my second ability? Perhaps it was so close to the first that I was unable to distinguish them.   To be honest, I've found myself to be quite lucky.   I managed to survive the wilderness all this time, narrowly escaping death.   And now these abilities. It's...almost too much, considering how little everyone else got... The pain..the anguish... There's gotta be something I can do to change this..."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">Amil made his way through Belgum, enjoying the fruits of his labor: the new books which he spent great a deal of time reading. He began to develop a whole new level of his powers, creating various constructs out of ice. He even found ways to generate a lens out of ice which he could use to focus the light of the sun to start a fire. He could do other various tricks with light, splitting it into separate colors and such, but nothing too much.

<p class="MsoNormal">He was reaching the end of his journey now, the coast of the English Channel in sight, his mood somewhat cheerful now that this was mostly over. He stopped at the horizon and surveyed the coast line, the sea breeze blowing over the terrain and flapping his shirt and hair about him. The realization hit him. There was no one around. There wasn't going to be anyone there to ferry him across the channel either. He didn't lose heart so much as accepted the fact that he had made a mistake. He sat down in the grass quietly and just watched the water. For now he just enjoyed the peace. He camped out there for the night to get a good night of sleep, the best he had in a while, which made sense considering he was able to construct walls of ice around himself to keep himself safe while he slept.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the morning he awoke, eyes opening to the sky, those walls of ice partially melted.

<p class="MsoNormal">His journey was just beginning.

<p class="MsoNormal">He stood up from his sleeping spot before he shambled over to the water's edge. He looked down to the waves as they crashed at the shore and rolled up to his feet before receding. He watched this for a while as he mentally prepared himself. Eventually the water rolled in once more, sliding beyond his feet and up along the sand a bit more. As it began to roll back out to sea, Amil followed it. His arms lifted up, one sleeved, the other not. As he stepped forward, the water in front of him began to freeze. Slowly at first, but it was getting there.

<p class="MsoNormal">Slowly he was getting there.