Human In The World Of Wolves

Part 1 ➢ I've Changed

People said I've changed so much. Well here is the truth. I grew up. I stopped thinking the world owed me anything. I learned that you can't always be happy. I accepted reality.

➢➣➢➣➢➣

It was 2023 when it happened. The past three years humanity had changed so much. The 2020s were the years of genetics. Two anonymous scientists came forward in 2020 with a whole new plan for how things should be. They cured genetic diseases and revolutionized that area of science. They were blamed for the horrors that happened that day.

I was only fifteen when it happened. I had stayed home sick because I had thrown up in the night. I hadn't noticed when it happened. I just threw up again and I fell asleep. It wasn't until my brother, Gage rushed through the door to my room when I found out what had happened.

"They are gone. Rivin they are dead. Every adult and most children are dead. They just collapsed. We couldn't feel a pulse. No phones or anything is working seriously we need to go." Shouted my brother. We rushed around the house grabbing everything that could be useful and piling it into the car.

Gage said that I shouldn't take anything sentimental but I did. It wasn't a lot it was just a photo of us seven. Mum, Dad, my half-sister, Gage, the two dogs, and I all together. I tucked the photo into my jacket as the car finally became full. All our food, practical clothing, smart shoes, valuables, and tools were shoved in the trunk. We put the two dogs in the back while Gage hopped into the driver's seat.

I finally in that moment let tears run down my face. I couldn't believe they were gone. It hurt so much and I just sobbed. I had no clue where Gage was taking me but I trusted him. He was my brother after all. When I removed my face from my soaked jumper sleeve I saw trees as we flew past them. It was all trees.

"Where are we?" I asked as I had no idea where we were or what was happening.

"Don't worry Rivin. I am taking us to that cabin we have in the woods. We should hopefully be safe there until we can understand what is going on."

We loved that stupid cabin. It was built by one of those people who prepared for the coming apocalypse so it was far away from everything. It even had a crazy panic room and everything. Back then I thought it was silly. Until we actually needed it I thought they were fools. Then I learned to thank that crazy old man for his abandoned fortified cabin in the woods.

When we arrived we unloaded the car into the panic room. We drew all of the curtains to make it look like we weren't home. When everything including the dogs was safely secured in the house was when I could breathe a sigh of relief. Until I looked around and I had no clue where Gage was.

"Here take this." Said Gage as he threw a gun into my arms. I thumbed with it before I finally had it securely in my arms. We had the guns for target shooting. Gage had developed a passion for it and we had become crack shots over the years.

"What are these for?" I examined the gun in my hands. I flipped it over and let myself get used to the feeling of it for the first time in years.

"Haven't you seen anything on the news. When things turn to shit people let their instincts kick in. Now I don't know about you but when someone comes for us I would rather have a gun in this house then back at home. Look Rivin you didn't see what it was like out there. I watched people tear at each other. It turned to shit. I'm not letting us get caught in it."

It made sense so I nodded and began to make dinner. Some of the food would perish so it would be best to use that first. When I brought Gage a bowl of food he was sat at Mum's old radio. Mum used to hunt and she liked to talk to other hunters before she stopped when she married peace loving Dad. Gage fiddled with the nods a little more before a new announcement came through.

"Werewolves have come out in the open. I repeat werewolves are in North America." Wailed a panicked voice over the radio. Gage quickly continued to find more stations. It was the same on each one. Werewolves were real it seemed. They had taken Earth for themselves and we had to live with it.

Slowly we adapted to life. We stayed in the cabin. We were far more prepared than other people at the time. Mum and Dad were weird. We had been adopted from China as young children. Since then they had been the oddest parents I had ever met. We would go take courses. Things on how to survive in the wild, how to escape kidnappers, and how to defend yourself.

Sometimes we would drive or fly to someplace and they would just leave us there for a few days or a week. We got used to it eventually. By the time I was fifteen I was accomplished in swimming, first aid, spotting poisonous plants, catching animals, I could use most weapons, driving, and a whole array of other random but mostly useless skills.

My half-sister never had to do any of it though. She left home when I was ten for university. Mum was married before Dad and they had her. Mum had worked with Dad since they were in university and eventually they fell in love and got us. That was all shattered though. My sister, Mum, and Dad were dead. I had lost my brother after the cabin burnt down and we had to run. As far as I knew he could have been dead.