A Journey Begins

Adolf Hitler once quoted, "He who would live must fight. He who doesn't wish to fight in this world, where permanent struggle is the law of life, has not the right to exist."

Permanent struggle—the words resonated with the position the world was in. The crystallization was still ongoing, spreading its claws to not only humanity but also the whole of nature, creating a mass extinction. But humanity did not wait for it to be done as easily as this. Soon the scientists found out the reason behind this phenomenon and already started working for the cure. It was rumored that the reason for this event was not merely a cause of nature acting hostile to us, but it was caused by something that was not found in the world. And the particle was named "Crystallum" meaning "Ice" in latin occupying a different position in the periodic table. Scientists were doubting if it came from somewhere other than earth or it was a byproduct of any chemical reaction.They are now searching for a way to cure it or they said so. Whether it was something humanity could fathom or not, the problem was still there with a new upgrade and a new suffering.

After two years, another disaster struck: weird beasts began to emerge. It was not something that I got to know from the news, rather it was happening in front of my own eyes.

That incident still would send me a chill down the spines. My neighbour would come to check if I was doing alright. She had a dog with blue eyes, apparently that dog was a foreign breed. And it was actually getting crystallized but without any symptoms, and we did not know that yet.

One day, it started barking louder than ever, and there was a piercing scream from the house,

"Aaaah....help help...stop please...aaaa...someone please."

The scream suddenly stopped, leaving only the sounds of the dog but a little bit weirder than usual.

"Grrr...bark bark...grr...munch munch."

Perhaps it was the scream of my neighbour and her dog. Wondering what could have happened, I rushed to my neighbour's house. As I approached the house, I realized to my horror – the creature standing before me was no ordinary dog, but it had the same blue eyes and collar as the dog, and it stood as tall as a cow, with long, razor-sharp teeth. I could not move an inch as it was staring at me, and finishing his food which was apparently its owner. Ravishly enjoying its feast, it was staring at me for its second meal.

"This can't be real," I whispered to myself, my mind struggling to comprehend the horrifying scene unfolding before me.

"No way...what the heck...am I going to die?? I am going to die!!! "

Panic seized me, my heart pounding against my ribs like a frantic drum. After a while, it looked away from me, and I came to my mind, rushing to the door, slammed it as fast as I could. I ran to my house and shut down mine as well. My heart was still beating so hard and my head was paining so much. I could not sleep for whole two days after that.

I could later know that the government issued a lockdown in the whole country for an uncertain period of time. And the beast that I saw that day, was mutated by the same element "Crystallum", also capable of mutating animals into horrific aberrations. A new law was issued. If an affected animal could be found, it had to be killed right away to stop the mutation from spreading. Apparently, that dog went outside the house and I felt a sense of relief knowing it was no longer a threat.

Even though the country, no, the world was still in a complete lockdown, I refused to sit around without doing anything. To prepare for the future, I pushed myself harder and harder, training relentlessly. Yet, it was still not enough. I was still weak. Ten push-ups...twenty push-ups...fifty push-ups...a hundred push-ups...still not enough. Squats, handstands, practicing boxing techniques—jabs, straights, hooks, I tried every means to improve myself. But it was not enough, not even close to enough. If I wanted to survive in this world, I knew I needed to be stronger, not only mentally but physically as well. But I was just a frail guy who never exercised at all. Still, I continued as much as I could. Days turned into weeks, but spring never arrived. Water supplies were cut off, then electricity, and we were confined to our homes. Every day, I was frustrated with myself. My friends, they were still safe, but for how long? We continued to contact each other through letters but they would arrive much later than normal times. Still, something is better than nothing. 

Splash...splash...

"Phew...I'm dead beat...never thought exercises would be that hard! Not exactly what I thought, but still not bad. "

It had become a regular habit of mine. Waking up from bed, making breakfast, taking exercises, and then taking a shower and doing chores that mom used to do. It was really hard at first. Mom always cooked for me, I never knew it would be that hard. I still could not forgive myself for being so useless. I had exactly no plan but it would not do. I would not be able to stay sane if something like that happened again.

"Should I really stay at home? Soon, I will run out of money. It's so hard without you, mom.", I said mumbling to myself.

Mom had some savings and I was alive thanks to these, it was time I did something for myself and my goal. To be honest, I never trusted government to begin with. They might be hiding intels, nah sure, they were hiding something. But what should I do? I might be dead as soon as I encounter those beasts. I looked at the mirror. The eyes turned blue fully,"Am I getting crystallized? I hope not."

I had some strange dreams recently finding myself struggling with something so vague. Whatever it was, I could not afford to sit here without doing anything at all. 

"Nah I will go out. Let's give it a try."

And I began to prepare myself for the unknown.