When Kevin woke the next day he was hungry and wanted breakfast. He felt for the tension inside him and pulled it again. This time the change felt more controlled. He reached his clawed finger into the tiger and sliced through its hide. He lit a fire with a lighter he brought from home. As the meat cooked he searched the house for clothes. But none of the clothes where his size. So he skinned the tiger and made a robe. Once the meat was finished Kevin sat to enjoy his meal. He found tiger meat chewy, but it had a delectable taste. As he sat and ate he decided to get a better look at his new body. So he went and looked in a mirror. He was atleast 7 foot in his dragon form. He was dark green and his hair was stiff and pointed. It kept changing color as he looked at it. Kevin then felt a strange feeling under his foot. He peered down to see what looked like a three headed snake squirming under his foot.
"SNAKE!" He yelled instinctivly as he tried to jump away from it. The snake followed as he jumped. He grabbed it with his hand and went to pull it up.
"OWE!" He screamed out. It was attached. As Kevin looked closer it dawned on him.
"I have a tail!" He yelled in excitement. He spent the remainder of his meal playing with his tail. It was like a third arm. He used the three tips as fingers and could pick up anything. He tried eating with it but nearly stabbed himself. He cooked and wrapped as much of the meat as he could. It was noon by the time he left the camp. He pulled on his new coat and continued on. But today he traveled in his dragon form. He was faster than any human ever was. He could jump the massive tree roots and climb the huge rocks with ease. His skin would camafloge to whatever he was climbing on. He could smell everything around and hear things in the far distance.
He was running along the main road when he hear a great bellow. He ran toward the noise and heard many more bellows. He came to a road and saw an astounding site. It was a heard of animals walking along a highway. But these animals where twice the size of an elephant. They had spiky fur covering their body. They ranged in colors of brown and yellow to red and black. They looked like giant hedgehogs with a short thick snout coming out of its face and a thick spike coming out of the back if its head. They were very bizarre looking. Kevin climbed to the top of a tree to get a better look. That's when he heard them.
"Are we there yet?" A small kid asked.
"Does it look like were there?" A man replied. Kevin climbed down to where he would be eye level with them. Then before they arrived he turned back to his human form
.
"Hello!" Kevin called to them.
"Hello" the man called back.
"What's he doing out here alone? How is he alive on the ground?" The little kid asked
"I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me?" Kevin asked.
"What questions?" The man asked
"What happened? Why is everything different? Where is everyone?" Kevin rambled out.
"The Streak happened. Everyone knows that! Why are you in the woods?" The little kid yelled.
"I woke up in my house three days ago. Which is now in the woods apparently. What's The Streak?" Kevin replied.
"Wait so you've been asleep this whole time?" The man asked.
"Yes, I guess. Why how long ago did this happen?" Kevin said a little frantic.
"The Streak happened over a year ago. I think you should come with us. We are going to Newhaven." The man said.
"A year! It can't be. How can I sleep a year?" Kevin said desperate for answers.
"Idk buddy, but we need to get out of here. The woods arnt safe at night. Even if your on sixtons" the man said as he brought the sixton closer. As the sixton got close it reared up on its hind legs. It came down and rammed its head against the tree sending it crashing to the ground. But kevin wasnt on the tree. At the last instant his instincts said to jump. So he did and two massive wings unfurled from in his body stretching his skin with it to let him glide away from danger. Kevin landed on the sixton and held on to the spikes as he climbed to the top where the carriage sat.
"Sorry about that. Something must of spooked her." The man apologized.
"Yeah there are night cats and terror bats that come out at night. We wouldn't stand a chance against them. They would rip us to pieces and eat us" the kid said.
"Oh yeah, does a night cat happen to look like this?" Kevin said as he brought up the hood of his robe. The night cat head dropped in front of Kevin's face and he heard the kid scream.
"How did you kill a night cat?" The kid asked with wonder in his eyes.
"With my bare hands." Kevin said as he pulled the hood off.
"Can you tell me the story?" The kid asked wide eyed. And so Kevin did tell his story. From the beginning to meeting them.
"So you have powers too. So do I. Look!" The kid said as he brought his hands close together and sparks started to shoot between them.
"Well that's cool. So everyone changed after this Streak thing happened?" Kevin asked. The man spoke up this time.
"The Streak was a comet that burned up in the atmosphere. It released a element into the air called Xenomite or Element X for short. It causes mutations in everyone and everything. These sixtons we are riding use to be cows. It happened over a few days for some things. Giant bugs like the one you saw. But other things took more time to change. It sounds like your body went into a coma for your change. The rest of us had to suffer through the chaos." He said as if haunted by the memory.
"Ok so what happened to survivors? You mentioned a town. Newhaven?" Kevin asked, wondering if his family made it.
"Everyone banded together at certain spots with food and water. We built towns and villages like Newhaven. The government set up a registry system to keep track of everyone. Here comes Newhaven now" the man said. Kevin looked ahead and saw a massive wall built out of broken cars and rubble. It filled a gap between two hills.
"Why didn't they build on top of the hills?" Kevin asked.
"They did at first but then the terror bats came and destroyed most of it. Now they are in the valley to better defend against them." The little kid said. Kevin looked on as they came to the massive wall. People were leading the sixtons into a side gate that led into a large field with a lake. The man drove his sixton up next to a tall platform where he and the kid got up to leave. Kevin followed. They went downstairs and came to the street.
"There is a public bathing area that way on the second street to the right. You need one." The man said as he left.
"By mister" the kid said as he followed the man.