Dawn broke on another cheerless day. As the merciless rays reflected off of Unit 01's frame, a faint purple glow filled the hovel which Shinji called home. With a sigh, he arose and made his way to the area of the Unit where the plug in for the umbilical cable was. A near slip jolted him wide awake and he grabbed onto the nearest handhold, which just so happened to be a large metal tank that had been jury-rigged onto the Evangelion's back. Inside of this tank was the LCL needed for Shinji to pilot his mech.
The next hour or two were spent in arduous labor; with nothing more than a beat-up bucket, Shinji was forced to fill the entry plug. As if this were not bad enough, the steepness of the climb made for many a wasted trip owing to spilled LCL, and even the numerous ropes tied onto the machine were enough to allow for easy travel, especially with cargo in tow.
When he finally got the behemoth in motion, it had already become hotter than he liked. Although he had long been without modern comforts like air conditioning, the endless heat was something that he did not enjoy. With a clank, the entry plug rammed deep into the Evangelion Unit and with a flash of color and imagery, he was in control. And though the cockpit did indeed smell of blood, and that was something he would never truly get used to, the feeling of power and control that piloting gave him was something that he would rather die than lose.
Shinji continued westward, no approaching Eastern Europe. From what he had gathered about world geography, this area was about as close to the other side of the world from Japan as one could get. But with each mile as empty and desolate as the last, he was slowly losing hope of there being any survivors to the Third Impact. Choosing to be somewhat of a recluse in his earlier years, and now forced to be, he had grown to crave human contact. How long had it been now? Ten years? No, thirteen, but it felt more like thirteen thousand. With a sigh, he paused and laid his head on his hand and his little finger brushed against a cold, wet and hard sphere lodged in his left eye socket. The memories of the only living thing he had found thus far returned to him as if it were happening for the first time.
He was continuing on his trek, as he did every day when beneath him, he spotted some wild animal nipping at the Evangelion's ankles. He had almost stepped on the beast, not knowing for sure if it was really there, or if he had finally cracked. Deciding to assume that he was still sane, which, all things considered was not the safest, he ejected himself from the mech and repelled downward. After a short drop of about three feet or so, and a quick glance, it was apparent that Shinji was at least functionally sane as there was indeed an animal there. Its species however was completely indeterminable as it was so ravaged by starvation and disease. Regardless, it was apparent that it was some kind of carnivorous beast, as there were many weak growls and what teeth were left were quite sharp. Seeing these glistening yellowed fangs made Shinji regret not bringing some kind of weaponry with him, but as he did not, he started back for the ropes. Shinji had barely lifted himself off the ground before he discovered that fangs were not the only sharp thing the wild animal had at its disposal. In one fell swipe, there were suddenly eight searing strips of flesh torn from his body; four from across his ribs, and four across his back. Before he had even a chance to react, Shinji found himself on his back, staring into the soulless eyes of what could only be a demon. He felt agonizing pain as rotting teeth raked across his face in a decidedly nonfatal, but no less painful attempt to feast. He tried pushing the beast off of him but even in its gauntness, it had to have weighed well over two hundred pounds.
'Am I…going to die here…like this?' Shinji questioned himself in a brief respite from the vicious mauling. 'After all that has happened?'
With a grunt of frustration, the animal bore down for another relentless assault, this time going for the more unprotected jugular. With a scream and a mighty kick, Shinji was able to heft the beast off of him, but not before the sharpest of teeth scraped him. The laceration started first near the jawbone, and partially due to the momentum of the kick, stretched all the way across his left eye up to his forehead. Shinji clutched at his injured eye, or what could more appropriately be called his eye hole, for the snaggled tooth had managed to shred the ball to little more than a bloodied string. Shinji brought himself to a knee, still covering his ocular wound which was by now bleeding profusely. Through the blood and sweat that obscured the vision of his now only good eye, it appeared as if the animal had not survived the impact of Shinji's foot, as it was lying motionless beside him. With a swirl of blackness, Shinji collapsed onto the animal's carcass, passing out from a lack of blood.
Shinji eyes closed briefly as he remembered this scene, one eyelid closing on a functioning eyeball, the other on an improvised prosthesis: a large white shooter marble. With a sigh he drudged on wondering what he might do should he reach the Atlantic without chancing across a surviving member of the human race. Traversing the mighty waves would be a feat nigh impossible for the Evangelion should its waters be actual water, but if they, like so much of the planet's lifeblood be LCL, then while possible, the journey would be less likely to hold the chance for survivors than even this continent. Perchance he would end his own life, using the knife he now carried at all times following his unfortunate mishap with the starving beast. His suicidal thoughts were broken however by a flicker of movement across the horizon. At first, Shinji chalked this up to imagination. After all, the last living thing he had seen was just a scant couple of years after the Third Impact. But imagination it was not, as a plume of dust was moving in a planet now devoid of winds. There was a moment's hesitation as Shinji stared at this in disbelief, and then he shoved his controls forward, urging the Evangelion to run at a break-neck pace, rising his own cloud of dust in the process.
"What the hell could be making something like that?" Shinji screamed into the breathable liquid surrounding him.
Miles sped past him as the Evangelion practically flew in the westward direction of the plume. The marathon of the giant mechanical beast led Shinji to a sparsely wooded mountain region, where the dust devil had made visibility almost zero. However, very much like a devil itself, the enormous perpetrator of said dust storm suddenly came into sight. Sensing Shinji's presence the large and looming silhouette froze and turned to face its pursuer.
"OH SHIT!" screamed Shinji. "No! It can't be! Not again! That's no devil…it's a FUCKING ANGEL!"