THE NEW WORLD

Chapter 8

“Why would you limit yourself to ten rounds?!How many more do you have?”,He asks Scott.

A loud clack comes from him pushing the rifle's bolt forward with more force than was necessary.Seven.On a hunt, you typically only need one or two shots, so I wasn't expecting a freaking magic fog.

The group moves on from the parking space and begins to travel the rough country road.

Noah still has to jog to keep up with Scott's pace, even though Scott tries to walk as slowly as possible.

Scott has never seen a meadow with pink flowers before. They pass it.They appear to be emerging from thin, ivy-like vines that wind their way through the grass.He walks into a car right away because he is so focused on the plants.

“Uff.”Scott gets caught on the trunk of the vehicle.The compact vehicle crashed into the railings.The driver's door is open, but there is nothing inside.

Astrid gives Lukas a glare when he says, "Watch out."

As they keep walking, Noah keeps an eye on the abandoned vehicle.Thus, this is it.The end of the world is not due to pollution or thawing ice caps; rather, it is due to freaking magic.Makes me feel like an idiot for recycling.Noah laughs.

Scott tries to laugh, but the forced laugh doesn't get past His throat, and all that comes out is a quiet scoff. Scott wants to laugh.

He waits for his response, but he adds, "I really hope this transformation can be reversed," even though no one responds.

Scott is looking for an expression.He asks him, "What's your new body like?" as he looks down at him.

"Aside from the fact that I'm barely as big as a toddler, what do you mean?Well, at least this little creature appears to have excellent eyes, ears, and nose.From your responses, it appears that I hear and see much better.However, I'm not sure if the amazing nose is more of a blessing or a curse.

“Why?”,“You'd think being able to smell everything would be cool,” Scott asks him.

Noah frowns.It's kind of there, but it's not very comfy.I can smell everything really well.Among His people, among them.

"What scent do we have?"

“It's hard to describe, but you all have a distinct smell of bittersweetness about you,” he says with a smile.Compared to Lukas' and Julia's, yours is a little bit more bitter and distinct.In any case, how does it feel to be... an elf?”

Scott realizes that he just told Him That He Smells, but he decides not to acknowledge it because He almost asked for it.Well, "aside from the fact that I’m bigger and stronger, I also see things differently," he begins to respond to Noah's inquiry.The colors are off, and a red glow is shining on living things and some of them.He doesn't talk about the reading difficulties he had before or his new aggression.

"So I'm literally glowing red in your eyes?"

He responds by nodding.

"Damn, you did a great job.Not like me, who has a body like a teddy bear.

He cannot resist agreeing.

Noah takes a lengthy, deep breath.What do you know?The fact that neither my partner nor I are any longer human is the aspect of this ordeal that has caused me the most anxiety.It's not understanding what's going on.Was the incident merely a local or global one?Are only our electronic devices malfunctioning, or has the entire world's cutting-edge technology been disabled?What was up with that broadcast of an emergency?Evidently, nuclear fire did not destroy us; however, it's possible that those in charge anticipated something and simply activated this automated warning.It is also possible that God decided to intervene at the last minute and reorganize all of existence in order to demonstrate to mortals that he exists, is able to do whatever he pleases, and does not like his creations destroying themselves. We might have been just a few seconds away from sterilizing Earth.Perhaps an entirely different event occurred.The fact of the matter is that we have no idea what is taking place, and it is terrifying.

Scott takes a moment to ponder.His lack of knowledge causes him to feel small and vulnerable.He adds, "We can't just curl up like little girls and cry," further to persuade Himself.When I say my parents and siblings are gone, I get chills just thinking about the possibility that they might be resting in the stomach of one of those monsters.However, it is pointless to feel sorry for ourselves.We only experience negative emotions as a result.Scott is almost taken aback by His own self-assurance.He wonders, "Was this not one of the characteristics of this new body? Was I always this strong?"

Noah's eyes get wider.I have never seen a more positive attitude.Of course, you are correct.There is no point in contemplating this at this time.

When Noah says, "Look, over there," he cuts short their brief conversation.Cars.”

True enough, a group of wrecked cars blocks both lanes a little further down the road.

A black bird takes off from between the vehicles as they get closer.

A bus is the reason for the delay.Probably during the incident, the large vehicle collided with a car while attempting to curve.They arrive at the first abandoned vehicle, which has all four doors open.

Until they reach the bus, the following few are also.The body of a man can be seen here, close to the vehicle's exit.While flies are already buzzing about the carcass, crows and a few black birds about the size of geese pick at it.

The larger birds are mostly black, but they have massive white featHiss coats covering their chests, giving the impression that the birds have furs around their necks.When compared to their chests, their heads appear to be quite small.They pick at the exposed flesh of the corpse with their razor-sharp, slightly orange-colored beaks.

A crow tries to grab the man's hand while Scott and the others are watching, but one of the larger birds snaps at it with a hiss.

Gasps are let out by Julia.

When the birds hear the noise, they immediately stop eating and raise their heads to stare at them.While the larger birds are distracted, the crow that was just hit quickly grabs the man's hand.

Scott begins to move toward the body.While hissing in rage at His, all five birds raise their chests and flap their wings in unison.They have very dark red featHiss on the underside of their wings.Scott temporarily recoils as a result of the sudden display of aggression.He sees that his body is scattered on the car's hood.It is also being picked at by more birds.

His anger rises to new heights.He wonders, "How dare these birds eat our dead?"

His anger turns from the frustration that has been growing inside for the past few hours.He lunges at the birds, overwhelmed by the sudden outburst of rage.

He jumps them and they all fly away.The smallest of his companions fails to flee quickly enough, and Scott manages to catch its leg as his companions have already disappeared.The bird screams and grabs His hand in anger.

His grip is tightened and He crushes the creature's leg like a vice as a result of the sudden burst of pain.His own fingernails and its talons penetrate His skin.Although there is a lot of pain, it feels different.It makes His mind more focused.

He quickly grabs the bird's neck as it is about to use its beak to prepare for His attack.He squeezes its neck with all of His strength after it lets out a loud scream.The bird fights for its life, which only makes His vice-like grip tighter.

His hand hurts from the pressure, but He can't stop.

The bird's neck snaps as its hollow bones are unable to withstand the stress.The creature completely limps and stops moving right away.The wave of rage recedes once the resistance is gone.The body falls to the ground as He slowly opens His hand.

Lukas replies, "Holy shit."

Scott slowly turns to face Him and looks at His bloody hand.His own nails have punctured His skin and caused blood to flow.He had just done what felt right at the time, but now He feels wrong.That animal was just brutally killed by him.The worst part isn't that He couldn't stop himself, but that He hadn't even thought about stopping.

“What.The.What the hell was that?'' He asks, more for himself than for anyone else.

Noah remarks, "Good catch."

He did, in fact, crunch an egg-shaped bird in the middle of takeoff.His whole body feels like it's full of strength as his open palm forms a fist.He never before experienced a sense of empowerment.

"Well, it was a little excessive," Julia responds.

Lukas adds, walking up to the man's body, "As long as He can do that with the dangerous monsters as well, I'm not going to complain."

The man on the ground has dark skin and black hair, making him appear to be typical middle-aged man.His features appear gaunt, and his face is frozen in an expression of absolute horror and pain.Since the birds had already ripped out a lot of his flesh, it was impossible to figure out what exactly had killed him.

"God, what took place to him?"Julia mumbles.

"I'd like to know where all the people from these cars have gone," I said.Lukas speculates, "Maybe they all found some safe place to go."

After giving this some thought, Noah says, "It's not far to the Winklers.If there are any, they will be.He then adds, "Well, no point in waiting Hose until we join the dead," after briefly staring at the flies buzzing around the corpse.Let's get started.

Smugglers have already attacked a few more fresh corpses as they pass by.The crows and other carcass-eating birds return to the bodies as soon as they walk away from them, continuing to rip them apart.

Scott thinks about asking the other people if they could give these people a quick burial for a moment before realizing that they don't have shovels and the sky is already turning orange.

They continue to follow the road, occasionally passing abandoned vehicles.When they see the houses, the sun has almost completely gone out.The largest house's windows let in just enough light to be visible from a distance, and the distinct odor of burning wood fills the air.As they quickly get closer, they notice people moving inside.