Chapter 5
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Taking in the beautiful yet strange scenery surrounding him, Beta suddenly noticed his grumbling stomach that had already started digesting itself out of hunger. Crouching from the pain that went with it, he recalled the old man in the darkness mentioned that many years have gone by. "Not eating for years deteriorated my body to one that isn't much better than a shriveled corpse.".
Feeling weak restricted his movements, thus, looking for food was a huge struggle for him. Time passed by and slowly his hunger drove him mad. He madly searched for food in his proximity. Though Beta looked weak and dying, he looked like a savage animal with a fierce glare, scouring for any kind of food. And then he suddenly heard a clicking noise next to him. Beta's head turned towards it instantaneously, with his body acting just as fast. He caught it and directly put it into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it. What Beta heard was the noise of a centipede's legs hitting the concrete next to him. Even if he wanted to eat something else, he couldn't be picky. So, he just gritted his teeth and ate it. Eating it didn't have the desired effect though. His stomach cramped and he felt an excruciating pain. "Even a small centipede was too much for my stomach to handle. Starving for so long made me unable to digest it.", Beta cursed in his mind as his body betrayed his determination to hold on.
After moaning and groaning for a while, he started searching once more, this time with another goal - water. Beta wasn't only hungry, he was indescribably thirsty too. Luckily, he spotted a small pond not too far away from him which he dragged himself to without hesitation. As soon as he arrived, he drank a mouthful of water. Feeling the cold water flowing down his throat made him feel refreshed and ecstatic, but right after the feeling of relief, he couldn't hold on anymore and passed out due to exhaustion.
When he woke up again, he felt a bit better. He looked at the sky to estimate the time on how long he was unconscious for when he heard a croak right next to his ear. Beta turned his head slowly, and saw a little frog next to his head, simply looking at him. "Looks like dinner has arrived.". He gently moved his right hand near the frog and suddenly accelerated his movements, trying to grab the frog. "Did I get it?". Beta slowly opened his hand but unfortunately it was empty. Then he heard the croaking again which made him turn his head to his chest. There was the frog he had tried to catch, looking at him mockingly. "Now even a frog looks down on me...", Beta said with a self-mocking smile on his face. Although he didn't get it, he still didn't give up. This time, he moved both his hands. When the frog dodged Beta's right hand by jumping on his head, it got caught by his left hand which had aimed for that spot at the very beginning. "You're too predictable! If I say that you end up as my dinner, this is exactly what happens!", Beta said laughing at the frog. It's a good thing that nobody is around or they will start to think that Beta is crazy, talking to a frog. "I'm still too weak to make a fire... I guess today's dinner will be a cold one.", as he said that, he first hit the frog with a stone that had been lying next to him on its head and then ate it whole including the bones.
The frog's slimy skin almost made him spit it out again but he gritted his teeth and continued eating it and at the same time creating a weird squelching sound. This time, he made sure to help his digestion by chewing carefully before swallowing it down which turned his facial expression worse and worse. A few minutes later, a small burp was heard which was followed by a simple "Disgusting" mumble from him. "I need to regain some strength as fast as possible. Since frogs are easy to catch, this will be my food source for now...", Beta said with a sigh at the end. He slowly got up and looked properly at his surroundings and then moved in a certain direction. Not long after he arrived, he picked up a branch he could use as a crutch for now. Beta then walked back to the pond, drank some water, and continued the frog hunt. After another hour he finally managed to catch two more frogs which tasted just as disgusting as the first one. Washing the aftertaste with pond water, he decided to scout the ruins for better food.
As he left the pond to search his surroundings carefully, it was almost completely dark when he had only found a few berry bushes. At first, he was delighted at the sight of them but when he got closer, he noticed that they're the poisonous kind which crushed his excitement as fast as it came to him. Beta arrived next to the pond again when it was already dark, with only the moonlight illuminating his surroundings, but he didn't stay there. Even if there was water and food, it was certainly no place for a person to sleep at. He didn't want to be woken up due to a wild animal attacking him, so he went back to the ruins and looked for a more or less intact room.
Next to a huge pile of debris, Beta found a door to a room that looked similar to his old one which let a nostalgic feeling well up inside him. The walls and ceiling seemed to still be alright, so he decided to declare this room his home for now. He closed the door and laid down on the bed. It didn't have a mattress anymore and only consisted of a protruding block of rusty iron, but it was still better than sleeping on the ground. Beta fell asleep quite fast. It was a bad night for him, the bed was hard and uncomfortable, defining his next wish - a proper bedding.
When he woke up the next morning his whole body hurt and he frowned. Not because his body hurt though, it was because he heard a pitter-patter outside. When he stood up and walked to the door to open it, he already had a bad feeling which was confirmed shortly after. "It's raining outside...". Rain was a huge problem for the current Beta, who could barely stand. If he got sick now it would be disastrous. His body is already weak as it is, if you add even a simple cold, it would already mean his death. But the problem is that he couldn't just stay in this room the whole day either. He needed to eat to regain his strength. "How am I going to get food now? Ugh…I guess I'll just have to wait for now. As for water... fortunately that won't be a problem.". As he said that he grabbed some debris from the pile next to his door to form a small container at a spot where rainwater flowed down. "It's a good thing that my parent's lab wasn't in a desert, otherwise, according to the books on survival that I have read, I would have had to drink the blood of animals and beasts in order to survive. Not to talk about the stinging sun.". Beta thought while waiting for his makeshift container to be filled with water. When it was filled halfway, he drank some and started washing himself with the rest of it. It was really cold after that, so he closed the door and waited for himself to dry and the rain to stop.
Only when it was already afternoon did the rain finally stop. "I will search for some berries first. I'd really like to avoid eating frogs until I'm able to make some fire.". Beta drank some water out of the by now completely filled container and started his search for berries. He walked around in the forest using his crutch and after several hours he finally found a bush filled with berries he could eat. "They taste really good! Their sweetness is a whole different world of taste compared to the frogs from yesterday!", when he remembered yesterday's frogs again his expression couldn't help but worsen. "I'll definitely eat berries until I'm able to start a fire and roast my frogs!", he silently swore in his heart.
He gathered some more berries and brought them back to his home in case it starts to rain again. Then he went out again and picked up some sticks he could use as firewood, plucking out some grass too. On his way back, he saw a branch whose position he took note of, planning to bring it after settling the current load he's carrying. After finally preparing everything, he then used a sharp stone to cut some thin vines lose and used it as strings to attach the little sharp stone with a bit of metal protruding out of it, which he picked up within the ruins, to the branch he spotted earlier that was sturdy enough for impact.
When he finished his work it was already evening, so he sat down on his bed as he marveled at his creation. "I now have a makeshift spear to defend myself in case I meet an animal or even worse, a beast. If I really do meet a beast though, I'll probably run. I've also gathered some sticks and grass I can use for firewood and tinder respectively, once they dried in a few days that is.". After his thought had come to this point, he suddenly remembered something and quickly left his room again. He gathered a huge amount of slightly damp, big leaves and brought them back inside. "With these leaves, I can make my bed a bit softer and in combination with some vines I should be able to at least make some simple clothes later on...". When Beta looked down at his mostly naked body, he let out a gentle sigh. After hundreds of years, his clothes had mostly rotted away, plus his struggle on the ground when he couldn't get up on his awakened day made him look even more pitiful. Once it finally got dark, Beta savored the wonderful feeling as he ate a few berries and not those disgusting frogs. He then laid down on his bed while sighing contentedly and looked at all the stuff he had gathered over the day.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to hunt!"
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Taking in the beautiful yet strange scenery surrounding him, Beta suddenly noticed his grumbling stomach that had already started digesting itself out of hunger. Crouching from the pain that went with it, he recalled the old man in the darkness mentioned that many years have gone by. "Not eating for years deteriorated my body to one that isn't much better than a shriveled corpse.".
Feeling weak restricted his movements, thus, looking for food was a huge struggle for him. Time passed by and slowly his hunger drove him mad. He madly searched for food in his proximity. Though Beta looked weak and dying, he looked like a savage animal with a fierce glare, scouring for any kind of food. And then he suddenly heard a clicking noise next to him. Beta's head turned towards it instantaneously, with his body acting just as fast. He caught it and directly put it into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it. What Beta heard was the noise of a centipede's legs hitting the concrete next to him. Even if he wanted to eat something else, he couldn't be picky. So, he just gritted his teeth and ate it. Eating it didn't have the desired effect though. His stomach cramped and he felt an excruciating pain. "Even a small centipede was too much for my stomach to handle. Starving for so long made me unable to digest it.", Beta cursed in his mind as his body betrayed his determination to hold on.
After moaning and groaning for a while, he started searching once more, this time with another goal - water. Beta wasn't only hungry, he was indescribably thirsty too. Luckily, he spotted a small pond not too far away from him which he dragged himself to without hesitation. As soon as he arrived, he drank a mouthful of water. Feeling the cold water flowing down his throat made him feel refreshed and ecstatic, but right after the feeling of relief, he couldn't hold on anymore and passed out due to exhaustion.
When he woke up again, he felt a bit better. He looked at the sky to estimate the time on how long he was unconscious for when he heard a croak right next to his ear. Beta turned his head slowly, and saw a little frog next to his head, simply looking at him. "Looks like dinner has arrived.". He gently moved his right hand near the frog and suddenly accelerated his movements, trying to grab the frog. "Did I get it?". Beta slowly opened his hand but unfortunately it was empty. Then he heard the croaking again which made him turn his head to his chest. There was the frog he had tried to catch, looking at him mockingly. "Now even a frog looks down on me...", Beta said with a self-mocking smile on his face. Although he didn't get it, he still didn't give up. This time, he moved both his hands. When the frog dodged Beta's right hand by jumping on his head, it got caught by his left hand which had aimed for that spot at the very beginning. "You're too predictable! If I say that you end up as my dinner, this is exactly what happens!", Beta said laughing at the frog. It's a good thing that nobody is around or they will start to think that Beta is crazy, talking to a frog. "I'm still too weak to make a fire... I guess today's dinner will be a cold one.", as he said that, he first hit the frog with a stone that had been lying next to him on its head and then ate it whole including the bones.
The frog's slimy skin almost made him spit it out again but he gritted his teeth and continued eating it and at the same time creating a weird squelching sound. This time, he made sure to help his digestion by chewing carefully before swallowing it down which turned his facial expression worse and worse. A few minutes later, a small burp was heard which was followed by a simple "Disgusting" mumble from him. "I need to regain some strength as fast as possible. Since frogs are easy to catch, this will be my food source for now...", Beta said with a sigh at the end. He slowly got up and looked properly at his surroundings and then moved in a certain direction. Not long after he arrived, he picked up a branch he could use as a crutch for now. Beta then walked back to the pond, drank some water, and continued the frog hunt. After another hour he finally managed to catch two more frogs which tasted just as disgusting as the first one. Washing the aftertaste with pond water, he decided to scout the ruins for better food.
As he left the pond to search his surroundings carefully, it was almost completely dark when he had only found a few berry bushes. At first, he was delighted at the sight of them but when he got closer, he noticed that they're the poisonous kind which crushed his excitement as fast as it came to him. Beta arrived next to the pond again when it was already dark, with only the moonlight illuminating his surroundings, but he didn't stay there. Even if there was water and food, it was certainly no place for a person to sleep at. He didn't want to be woken up due to a wild animal attacking him, so he went back to the ruins and looked for a more or less intact room.
Next to a huge pile of debris, Beta found a door to a room that looked similar to his old one which let a nostalgic feeling well up inside him. The walls and ceiling seemed to still be alright, so he decided to declare this room his home for now. He closed the door and laid down on the bed. It didn't have a mattress anymore and only consisted of a protruding block of rusty iron, but it was still better than sleeping on the ground. Beta fell asleep quite fast. It was a bad night for him, the bed was hard and uncomfortable, defining his next wish - a proper bedding.
When he woke up the next morning his whole body hurt and he frowned. Not because his body hurt though, it was because he heard a pitter-patter outside. When he stood up and walked to the door to open it, he already had a bad feeling which was confirmed shortly after. "It's raining outside...". Rain was a huge problem for the current Beta, who could barely stand. If he got sick now it would be disastrous. His body is already weak as it is, if you add even a simple cold, it would already mean his death. But the problem is that he couldn't just stay in this room the whole day either. He needed to eat to regain his strength. "How am I going to get food now? Ugh…I guess I'll just have to wait for now. As for water... fortunately that won't be a problem.". As he said that he grabbed some debris from the pile next to his door to form a small container at a spot where rainwater flowed down. "It's a good thing that my parent's lab wasn't in a desert, otherwise, according to the books on survival that I have read, I would have had to drink the blood of animals and beasts in order to survive. Not to talk about the stinging sun.". Beta thought while waiting for his makeshift container to be filled with water. When it was filled halfway, he drank some and started washing himself with the rest of it. It was really cold after that, so he closed the door and waited for himself to dry and the rain to stop.
Only when it was already afternoon did the rain finally stop. "I will search for some berries first. I'd really like to avoid eating frogs until I'm able to make some fire.". Beta drank some water out of the by now completely filled container and started his search for berries. He walked around in the forest using his crutch and after several hours he finally found a bush filled with berries he could eat. "They taste really good! Their sweetness is a whole different world of taste compared to the frogs from yesterday!", when he remembered yesterday's frogs again his expression couldn't help but worsen. "I'll definitely eat berries until I'm able to start a fire and roast my frogs!", he silently swore in his heart.
He gathered some more berries and brought them back to his home in case it starts to rain again. Then he went out again and picked up some sticks he could use as firewood, plucking out some grass too. On his way back, he saw a branch whose position he took note of, planning to bring it after settling the current load he's carrying. After finally preparing everything, he then used a sharp stone to cut some thin vines lose and used it as strings to attach the little sharp stone with a bit of metal protruding out of it, which he picked up within the ruins, to the branch he spotted earlier that was sturdy enough for impact.
When he finished his work it was already evening, so he sat down on his bed as he marveled at his creation. "I now have a makeshift spear to defend myself in case I meet an animal or even worse, a beast. If I really do meet a beast though, I'll probably run. I've also gathered some sticks and grass I can use for firewood and tinder respectively, once they dried in a few days that is.". After his thought had come to this point, he suddenly remembered something and quickly left his room again. He gathered a huge amount of slightly damp, big leaves and brought them back inside. "With these leaves, I can make my bed a bit softer and in combination with some vines I should be able to at least make some simple clothes later on...". When Beta looked down at his mostly naked body, he let out a gentle sigh. After hundreds of years, his clothes had mostly rotted away, plus his struggle on the ground when he couldn't get up on his awakened day made him look even more pitiful. Once it finally got dark, Beta savored the wonderful feeling as he ate a few berries and not those disgusting frogs. He then laid down on his bed while sighing contentedly and looked at all the stuff he had gathered over the day.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to hunt!"
Taking in the beautiful yet strange scenery surrounding him, Beta suddenly noticed his grumbling stomach that had already started digesting itself out of hunger. Crouching from the pain that went with it, he recalled the old man in the darkness mentioned that many years have gone by. "Not eating for years deteriorated my body to one that isn't much better than a shriveled corpse.".Feeling weak restricted his movements, thus, looking for food was a huge struggle for him. Time passed by and slowly his hunger drove him mad. He madly searched for food in his proximity. Though Beta looked weak and dying, he looked like a savage animal with a fierce glare, scouring for any kind of food. And then he suddenly heard a clicking noise next to him. Beta's head turned towards it instantaneously, with his body acting just as fast. He caught it and directly put it into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it. What Beta heard was the noise of a centipede's legs hitting the concrete next to him. Even if he wanted to eat something else, he couldn't be picky. So, he just gritted his teeth and ate it. Eating it didn't have the desired effect though. His stomach cramped and he felt an excruciating pain. "Even a small centipede was too much for my stomach to handle. Starving for so long made me unable to digest it.", Beta cursed in his mind as his body betrayed his determination to hold on.After moaning and groaning for a while, he started searching once more, this time with another goal - water. Beta wasn't only hungry, he was indescribably thirsty too. Luckily, he spotted a small pond not too far away from him which he dragged himself to without hesitation. As soon as he arrived, he drank a mouthful of water. Feeling the cold water flowing down his throat made him feel refreshed and ecstatic, but right after the feeling of relief, he couldn't hold on anymore and passed out due to exhaustion.When he woke up again, he felt a bit better. He looked at the sky to estimate the time on how long he was unconscious for when he heard a croak right next to his ear. Beta turned his head slowly, and saw a little frog next to his head, simply looking at him. "Looks like dinner has arrived.". He gently moved his right hand near the frog and suddenly accelerated his movements, trying to grab the frog. "Did I get it?". Beta slowly opened his hand but unfortunately it was empty. Then he heard the croaking again which made him turn his head to his chest. There was the frog he had tried to catch, looking at him mockingly. "Now even a frog looks down on me...", Beta said with a self-mocking smile on his face. Although he didn't get it, he still didn't give up. This time, he moved both his hands. When the frog dodged Beta's right hand by jumping on his head, it got caught by his left hand which had aimed for that spot at the very beginning. "You're too predictable! If I say that you end up as my dinner, this is exactly what happens!", Beta said laughing at the frog. It's a good thing that nobody is around or they will start to think that Beta is crazy, talking to a frog. "I'm still too weak to make a fire... I guess today's dinner will be a cold one.", as he said that, he first hit the frog with a stone that had been lying next to him on its head and then ate it whole including the bones.The frog's slimy skin almost made him spit it out again but he gritted his teeth and continued eating it and at the same time creating a weird squelching sound. This time, he made sure to help his digestion by chewing carefully before swallowing it down which turned his facial expression worse and worse. A few minutes later, a small burp was heard which was followed by a simple "Disgusting" mumble from him. "I need to regain some strength as fast as possible. Since frogs are easy to catch, this will be my food source for now...", Beta said with a sigh at the end. He slowly got up and looked properly at his surroundings and then moved in a certain direction. Not long after he arrived, he picked up a branch he could use as a crutch for now. Beta then walked back to the pond, drank some water, and continued the frog hunt. After another hour he finally managed to catch two more frogs which tasted just as disgusting as the first one. Washing the aftertaste with pond water, he decided to scout the ruins for better food.As he left the pond to search his surroundings carefully, it was almost completely dark when he had only found a few berry bushes. At first, he was delighted at the sight of them but when he got closer, he noticed that they're the poisonous kind which crushed his excitement as fast as it came to him. Beta arrived next to the pond again when it was already dark, with only the moonlight illuminating his surroundings, but he didn't stay there. Even if there was water and food, it was certainly no place for a person to sleep at. He didn't want to be woken up due to a wild animal attacking him, so he went back to the ruins and looked for a more or less intact room.Next to a huge pile of debris, Beta found a door to a room that looked similar to his old one which let a nostalgic feeling well up inside him. The walls and ceiling seemed to still be alright, so he decided to declare this room his home for now. He closed the door and laid down on the bed. It didn't have a mattress anymore and only consisted of a protruding block of rusty iron, but it was still better than sleeping on the ground. Beta fell asleep quite fast. It was a bad night for him, the bed was hard and uncomfortable, defining his next wish - a proper bedding.When he woke up the next morning his whole body hurt and he frowned. Not because his body hurt though, it was because he heard a pitter-patter outside. When he stood up and walked to the door to open it, he already had a bad feeling which was confirmed shortly after. "It's raining outside...". Rain was a huge problem for the current Beta, who could barely stand. If he got sick now it would be disastrous. His body is already weak as it is, if you add even a simple cold, it would already mean his death. But the problem is that he couldn't just stay in this room the whole day either. He needed to eat to regain his strength. "How am I going to get food now? UghI guess I'll just have to wait for now. As for water... fortunately that won't be a problem.". As he said that he grabbed some debris from the pile next to his door to form a small container at a spot where rainwater flowed down. "It's a good thing that my parent's lab wasn't in a desert, otherwise, according to the books on survival that I have read, I would have had to drink the blood of animals and beasts in order to survive. Not to talk about the stinging sun.". Beta thought while waiting for his makeshift container to be filled with water. When it was filled halfway, he drank some and started washing himself with the rest of it. It was really cold after that, so he closed the door and waited for himself to dry and the rain to stop.Only when it was already afternoon did the rain finally stop. "I will search for some berries first. I'd really like to avoid eating frogs until I'm able to make some fire.". Beta drank some water out of the by now completely filled container and started his search for berries. He walked around in the forest using his crutch and after several hours he finally found a bush filled with berries he could eat. "They taste really good! Their sweetness is a whole different world of taste compared to the frogs from yesterday!", when he remembered yesterday's frogs again his expression couldn't help but worsen. "I'll definitely eat berries until I'm able to start a fire and roast my frogs!", he silently swore in his heart.He gathered some more berries and brought them back to his home in case it starts to rain again. Then he went out again and picked up some sticks he could use as firewood, plucking out some grass too. On his way back, he saw a branch whose position he took note of, planning to bring it after settling the current load he's carrying. After finally preparing everything, he then used a sharp stone to cut some thin vines lose and used it as strings to attach the little sharp stone with a bit of metal protruding out of it, which he picked up within the ruins, to the branch he spotted earlier that was sturdy enough for impact.When he finished his work it was already evening, so he sat down on his bed as he marveled at his creation. "I now have a makeshift spear to defend myself in case I meet an animal or even worse, a beast. If I really do meet a beast though, I'll probably run. I've also gathered some sticks and grass I can use for firewood and tinder respectively, once they dried in a few days that is.". After his thought had come to this point, he suddenly remembered something and quickly left his room again. He gathered a huge amount of slightly damp, big leaves and brought them back inside. "With these leaves, I can make my bed a bit softer and in combination with some vines I should be able to at least make some simple clothes later on...". When Beta looked down at his mostly naked body, he let out a gentle sigh. After hundreds of years, his clothes had mostly rotted away, plus his struggle on the ground when he couldn't get up on his awakened day made him look even more pitiful. Once it finally got dark, Beta savored the wonderful feeling as he ate a few berries and not those disgusting frogs. He then laid down on his bed while sighing contentedly and looked at all the stuff he had gathered over the day."Tomorrow, I'm going to hunt!"
