Recombination

Chapter 3

I left the facility.

"Enjoy the new world Mr Case!" said the machine in a happy go lucky voice as I left the metal box.

I now knew that it was a machine, a human construct of metal. I was right....in a way. The humans made rocks think and power their facilities, quite remarkable. Since the specter left my mind I have inherited all his knowledge. I have taken glances at it, basic things, like the names of the objects around me. I don't dare look deeper, not yet. Not after the memories that gifted me pain and nothing else.

The forest is something that I can only describe as haunting. A human word for the old attempting to tamper with the new. The world is starting to unravel before me, showing me secrets that I once could not comprehend. The forest makes way to the structures that I saw so many nights past. They were called buildings, or more specifically skyscrapers, concrete structures meant for humans as shelter in their various tasks.

I look through the surface of the ocean that is the remnants Greg's knowledge. This place is called a city. The looming pillars of concrete have been adorned with plant life. There is a beauty to this, nature overcoming all. Am I part of this? Am I part of nature or will I fade away like the humans? I don't know the answer. I don't know what I am.

There is a park and I only know this because of colorful metals in various shapes seeming to reach out for help from the green. There is a yellow swing set and a blue slide. I feel a headache coming along, something has come loose. A memory that is not mine flashes through my mind. A small girl laughing as I push her on the swing set. She cries out to push her faster, that she wants to fly.

I take a seat on a rock. I need balance and the world seems to have already found its own without me. This is the natural state of things. That is why they aren't here anymore. Is that why I am here, to be part of this balance? I hear something, movement in the surrounding trees. I get up in a flash expecting wolves.

I yell, "Who's there?" I only just realize the stupidity of the action after saying it. Humans were a rare commodity in this world, their time had come and gone. The chances of it being something larger and far more dangerous was more likely. I see grey eyes peer from the surrounding trees. I ready myself for combat. I open my mouth only to realize that this being's teeth are not sharp in the slightest.

Out of the shade of the tree walks out a woman with long brown hair and grey eyes. She is wearing jeans and T-shirt. She seemed out of place and out of time.

"Oh my god!" she yelled. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew I couldn't of been the only survivor."

The woman walked closer to me. I do not trust her. Humans may look weak, but they have proven themselves to be at some point the dominant species of this planet. I try to look as unthreatening as possible. I smile and nod.

Her smile faded away from her face. "I am sorry for your loss. I know it must of have been hard. Most people in the bunker were family units." She looked off to the side. "I made a camp about a mile or two away from the bunker. I hate the bunker so much. All those people.....down there....hoping to wake up. Then they never got to. Just not right."

"Camp?" I replied. "You mean like a home? Shelter?"

"Uh well yes." She gave me a strange look. "That is usually what it entails. If you aren't feeling okay you can tell me. I was a doctor before everything went to shit."

Interesting I think to myself. Is that what happened to this world? The world turned to feces? It would explain the plant life that has seemingly taken over.

"Must've been very fertile feces." I mutter to myself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Yes, I would like to go to your camp miss....."