The cold was almost unbearable. A fierce snowstorm dragged him backwards, ice piercing his skin like a thousand daggers. There was no turning back now; he had come a long way and turning back would make the whole journey pointless. There was one last thing to be done before he, too, vanished into oblivion.

His body was shivering uncontrollably in an attempt to warm itself. An attempt to keep living, when the brain just wished to die. Yet he continued, his goal was just a few kilometers away.

He began recalling distant memories. Why did you become what you are? That question that Derek asked, just months ago. He never addressed it properly.

Microorganisms are always evolving. He believed that humans are evolving as well, yet slowly, little by little. If humans could evolve as quickly as microorganisms, he thought, the world would be a better place. Because humans would learn from their mistakes.

He has been fascinated with microbiology the year before he left jail, as he called it. He believed it was a good career that could sustain him while also gaining knowledge to feed his genius brain. And the more he studied, the more fascinated he was with the whole idea of evolution. He, most of all, was amazed at how much damage a single microscopic creature could do to a grown adult; a creature much bigger than itself. It could kill, without humans having any chance of defense.

And not a normal kill like a gunshot; no, not something quick and almost painless. It was absolutely horrible the way some diseases worked, and in reality, it disgusted him a bit.

Especially considering one disease he had. One that was common, but made him puke from pain. A regular visit to the doctor was enough to cure him, but also enough to make him think about how cruel were those little creatures in reality. The same creatures he much loved.

But the one in his hands was different. He hated it, with every fiber of his body, but he loved it at the same time.

"Poor little worm," he said; or he tried to say, as the words came out slurry and confusing. The cold was already getting to him, and he took quick breaths that weakened him even more. Just a little longer.

The worm had a better resistance to the cold, but it was kept inside a jar for better protection. This creature couldn't die; not yet.

He reached his destination. Eventually. He found it difficult to breathe, but finally, he was here. His head felt dizzy, but he continued moving forward.

The glacier stood tall in front of him. The same place where he had found the worm, all those years ago. This place had changed, but not enough to become unrecognizable. There were marks made by scientists, showing they had been here, probably looking for more worms.

There was an opening, like a cave, entirely made of ice. Night had fallen, and a soft glow was illuminating the walls. He had never seen something so beautiful and, if he had, he couldn't remember it. The sight almost brought him to tears, but his body was at its limit.

A limit he exceeded, as he continued walking until he was at a lonely, silent and beautiful place. An open room of the cave.

He sat down, back resting against a wall. With the strength he had left, he opened the jar and let the worm stand on a ledge, almost at his shoulder level.

"So we're here," he tried to say, but once again, his words came slurred. Those will be my final words? Not as cool as I thought they would be.

He raised a shaky hand to pet the worm, for all the years they've been together, but the creature just wriggled away, moving to the safety of a small hole the human couldn't notice before.

"Wait... don't leave me!" He raised his hand again, trying to reach for the worm, but with his weakened movements the creature was able to escape into an unknown place.

Neuren stood there, his mouth half open as if he wanted to scream. His arm dropped to the ground, unable to move any longer. His body just stopped shaking and he slowly began losing consciousness.

The last thing he could do was close his eyes and go to sleep.

Finally, after all these years, Neuren was able to rest in peace.

The natural instincts of the Neurax Worm were to hide from the freezing cold. It wriggled into a small opening, trying to find a sheltered place. There was a small tunnel, small enough for it to pass through. The air was thick but it was coming from somewhere; the worm kept going hoping to find fresh air ahead, a different opening, a safe place to be, but all it found was a dead end.

The worm stopped moving. Did it remember anything that happened recently? Who knows. Did it remember Neuren, its human companion? Who knows. Who knows if the creature even had a brain capable of thinking and analyzing?

It only knew that, outside, there was an unknown creature, a monster. An annoying monster, which had tried to kill others from its species and failed miserably. And of course, using the abilities the Neurax had.

The worm knew killing was not the solution; its species and humans could have lived peacefully, if only Neuren had been smarter and planned everything ahead of time.

The Neurax was probably wondering what had happened to all the other worms all around the world. And why did the plague end so quickly, so instantly, and so effectively. All it knew was that, one day, Neuren took it out of the cylinder that had become its home, only to return to a place it remembered from a distant memory.

Ah, yes. This is the place where the last of the Neurax went missing. How long has it been? Years, centuries, even more? The world had changed quite a lot; new animals are all over the place and the Neurax no longer exist.

How interesting. The worms have controlled some species before, when life was just born and animals began evolving. None of those species had been as smart as humans; none of those species had offered such strong resistance. And of course, none of those species had won before.

It would have been excellent for the Neurax to control and learn from humans. But they were way too complex. And while they're intelligent, that made them worse at times.

Whatever. The worm couldn't think about that. It only knew that the air was thick, and it couldn't breathe normally.

The worm lost its strength, feeling suffocated. Finally, humanity claimed the Earth that rightfully didn't belong to them. The worm knew its life was coming to an end; and it had lived beyond the normal lifespan of a creature of its species.

In the end, the first and final Neurax Worm, finally, died like the rest of its species, millions of years ago.

The world was finally free. Millions of lives had been lost in the process, but wasn't that the goal from the start? Even if countries had been lost to the sickness, the world was at peace for the first time in centuries. As humanity wept, the planet sighed in relief. The monster that was constantly destroying its home had been delivered a blow they would never recover from. Maybe Neuren was the hero after all, and would ascend into Heaven rather than sink into Hell.

Yes, that's the end. I'd consider it an epilogue rather than the final chapter, but it's finally done! Whew. Thanks a bunch for your comments, and let me know what you think about this ending. I had it in mind for a long time, but I wasn't sure which words I should use to get the effect I wanted. This is the first long-fic I actually finish, after all.

But I'll have plenty to practice considering I am going to write those alternative endings. Some of them might even be better than the original, but this is the one I thought would make more sense and the one I wanted to write since the beginning.

So yea, I'm working on alternative ending 1, and I'll also start working on my original works on FictionPress. I hope you liked this story and thanks for reading. See you next chapter.