Awakening

Thunder rumbles and the falling rain increased its pace as it hits land more heavily. Accompanying this humid weather condition is the strong wind that blew, threatening to uproot houses from their foundation yet this harsh weather condition is no reason for the young boy to stop in his tracks as he kept on running.

With his heavy breaths coming out as short pants and pounding heart which did the job of pumping adrenaline through his body, the guy ran as fast as he could without looking back.

The landscape was not ideal for his agitated motion owing to the scattered settlements that is no less than a ghetto. Finally coming across a space that would do well in concealing his body, the young man wasted no time as he hid in it.

"Where did he go?" A bulky looking man asks as he swept his gaze across the space before them. Though it was dark and rainy, he still manage to see clearly as he scans the entire area with his sharp gaze.

Beside him was another bulky looking man who was claded in what seem to be an armour. Judging by their bloodthirsty aura and their armoured claded appearance, it is clear that they might be a military of some sort.

"I saw him went pass here. He couldn't have disappeared now, could he?" The armoured man asks.

"It is possible but I don't think he could have. Come on, maybe he went this way." The other man said gesturing to his companion as they head towards another route opposite the place the young man was hiding.

The young man, after seeing that the danger has been averted, came out of his hiding spot. He breathes out a sigh of relief before running off in the opposite direction, opposite to where the two armoured men took off.

"Hey Alfred." A young man greeted an old man as he walks into the store.

"Another stormy night heh, Romeo." The old man grinned at the young man who walked towards him. "What are you doing out so late, especially in the deepest part of the slum?" Alfred questions.

"Surviving." Romeo simply said before slamming a pouch on the counter. "Consider this payment for the debts I owe you and this..." The young man threw another pouch at Alfred, "Payment for the goods I am about to buy."

Alfred's eyes widened in shock as he stares at the pouches filled with coins on his counter. With a greedy expression he picked up the pouches while using his gaze to count the amount of coins in them.

"Where did you get this much money?!" Alfred asks while hugging the pouches tightly like his life depended on them. Though he was staring at Romeo with suspicion, his grip on the pouches didn't loosen a bit.

"Do you want the money or not? If not, I would gladly accept them back." Romeo replies as he moves to snatch the pouches out of Alfred's grip. He raises his brows knowingly when he saw the way Alfred avoided his snatch by moving away from him.

"I never said I didn't want money, I am just curious about how you came across so much money." Alfred stated with an exaggerated expression, "Did you rob someone?" Alfred asks as that was the only plausible explanation to how Romeo could make such amount of money in a short period of time, he thinks.

"What if I said I did? It doesn't matter anyways." Romeo casually said, "Besides, I doubt they would ever feel the pinch considering the fact that they are armoured elites."

"Armoured Elites?! Do you know the gravity of what you did?" Alfred asks but received a confused look from Romeo. "Just be careful Romeo. You are still a young chap, there is a bright future ahead of you." Alfred sighs.

"Don't be like this old man who didn't took the opportunity when he saw it." Alfred continues as his expression soon turns into one of regret. "Take my advice kid, life is an adventure such that you can only be successful the more you explore." Alfred said before patting Romeo on the shoulder.

"Whatever old man. Thanks for the advice anyways." Romeo replies before moving to pick some items and groceries off the racks in the store.

"See you later Alfred." Romeo bid goodbye as he walks out of the store since he is through with his shopping.

Alfred simply shakes his head as he watch the energetic young man walked out of his store. Life is full of struggles and this is something Alfred gets but he can't get over the fact that despite these struggles, some are still favoured.

He has known Romeo since he was but a teenager. In fact, amongst those living in the slums, Romeo was his favourite as the young man is more versed in various aspects unlike his peers. He didn't allow the struggles of life to get to him and that was the major reason he is able to survive for so long in this cruel world.

But despite his survival, Alfred felt that the path Romeo is treading to survival might be the path to lead him to destruction and for such he couldn't help but pity the young man.

Alfred heaves out another sigh before proceeding with his work. But first, he checked the pouches in his hands again and after confirming one more time the amount of money in them did he put the pouches safely within the confines of the jacket he is putting on.

Romeo has accomplished one of his missions for the night which includes getting groceries and clearing his debt. He couldn't be more satisfied with the heavy burden that he had undoubtedly been removed from his shoulders so with a smiling face, he makes his way to his apartment which was just a block from the store.

The streets were scanty as only few people could be seen walking around. With the heavy rain combined with the wind, the night is definitely storming which caused most people to retire to the comfort of their houses.

Romeo soon arrive at his apartment after a few minutes walk from the store. His apartment wasn't a large one but was built in such a way that it could be comfortable for one person.

Placing the groceries he bought in the kitchen which is paired with the living room that contains a bed at one corner and a chair next to the bed, he moves towards the bedside where a machine of some sort was placed.

This has been his attitude for the past few weeks. On the top of the machine are two words Genetic Evolver. This machine, according to the manual which his parents left him, is supposed to help him unlock the hidden Carnal Gene he possesses but for weeks now, the machine barely made a sound neither did it came on but Romeo refuses to give up until he knows what his Carnal Gene is.

In an era where evolution is taken as serious as a death sentence, everyone and anyone are simply trying to improve their strength so as to fit into the concept of survival of the fittest.

This desire first arose a century ago when a war broke out. Humans, through the quest of searching for intelligent lives in the vast cosmos, unknowingly opened a wormhole where several primitive creatures came out.

These creatures were unlike anything that humanity ever dealt with. For starters, bullets crumbles like paper upon contact with these beasts and even nukes could barely make a dent on this creatures. Because of this disadvantage, the human race was on the verge of extinction until the intervention of an organisation known as THRIVE.

THRIVE, which is an acronym for Tactical Hierarchy For Revolutionary Innovative And Viable Elites, was an organisation that aid the humans in turning the tables against these monstrosities by enabling humans to harness the power of a dormant gene called the Carnal Gene.

This special gene allows humans to undergo a process called the Carnal Shift, a process that enables humanity to tap into the supernatural abilities that they possess. With this supernatural gene, humans were able to conquer the creatures that sought their extinction through the influence of THRIVE which later became dominant all over the world.

However, with this glorious evolution comes it's perks. For those who doesn't possess a Carnal Gene, they are no less than a rat in the gutter and hence the creation of the slum where those who are considered to be the vagabonds of the world exists when compared to the elitist community which lived in a far more aristocratic environment than them.

According to its name, THRIVE ended up placing an hierarchy in the evolutionary system of humanity and for this reason, those without a Carnal Gene are at the base of the food chain while those who possess a Carnal Gene are at the top of the food chain.

Romeo was born and bred in the slum. Though his parents where one of those who discovered the Carnal Gene, they were still looked down on as they themselves do not possess any Carnal Gene but because of how lovely they are, they couldn't allow their only child to be a scorn in the society so they fused him with a Carnal Gene while leaving him with a machine that they thought would enable him uncover his abilities.

But for the past few weeks, Romeo has been unable to uncover this evolutionary self of his. With each passing day, he is getting frustrated that he just couldn't take it anymore. He has tried everything and anything from fire to acid to chainsaw and all sorts destructive ideas he could think of, yet the damn machine still fails to activate.

Hitting his fist on the machine, Romeo continues to punch the machine hard until unintentionally, blood drips down his palm when he mistakenly grazed it against a pointy tip on the machine.

Grunting in pain, Romeo moves towards the small kitchen to wash his hand when suddenly a bright blue light flashes from the machine as a voice reverberated from the machine.

*Name: Romeo Reigns*

*Race: Human*

*Phase: Evolutionary stage*

*Genotype: Carnal Gene*

*Carnal ability: Omnix*

*Ding: congratulations Romeo Reigns, you have successfully awaken your Carnal Gene and is now proceeding to the evolutionary stage. Good luck."

As Romeo read the notification on the holographic screen that popped out of the machine, he couldn't help the smile that blooms on his face such that he even forgot to tend to his bleeding palm.

After days of toiling, his hardwork finally paid off. His eyes kept shining as he continues to read the information on the screen and he couldn't even stop the tear that fell down his face. Finally, he has awaken his own Carnal Gene.