A Dragon’s Evolution

"Hello. My name is Jack Miller. Soon to be last person on Earth. Why? Well this recording will explain that. It's 2033 and.. well we did it! We fucked over the planet and pretty much every animal bigger than a tick. World War Three, the sequel we all didn't ask for but knew was coming.. well, came. I can explain the clusterfuck of politics that led to everyone sending a hard fuck you to every other country via nuclear warheads but that'd take three hours and I'm not confident this thing will even last that long. Hell, I may even be screaming into the void for all I know. But I've decided to at least leave something behind, even if nobody will ever hear this. 

Well, to start off the blame game as to who started World War Three. It was China and 4-chan. Yeah it's simultaneously surprising and not surprising at all. China invaded Taiwan and dared everyone else to intervene. And after the liberal parties lost in the mid to late 2020's and the Republicans took over and focused spending on our own military, we basically said bet and sent over some boats to make them try to back down.

So while Winnie-the-Pooh sat on Taiwan and began the world's shortest staring contest with America and Canada, 4-Chan, the lovable yet dysfunctional group on the internet leaked some of China's secrets and how the people of Taiwan were being lined up and killed via firing squads. Well, America and Canada were forced to act. The moment they did, they tried to keep the war conventional. This went on for about two years and racked up a death count numbering in the hundreds of millions.

Then the bombs came and bathed the world in fire and radiation. I was serving in the Canadian army during all this. Fought in China, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine and Korea. Each battle, the war became that much more unconventional. Soon, me and my boys returned to our Canadian roots and just started committing war crimes. They did it first but that kinda seems redundant now that I think about it.

So it's been maybe five years since the bombs dropped. Everyone that lived far enough away from the bombs were mutated by the excessive radiation. Some were good, like mine, which gave me some lizard like scales that covered a large portion of my skin and gave me some kind of prey tracking senses. But most were bad. Imagine cancer.. but everywhere on and in your body. That was a majority of people. Worse thing is, most didn't die. They became feral cancerous.. things. So I've been killing them out of mercy.

But I guess it wasn't just out of mercy. I've been killing off the better off mutants too. Humanity's been reduced to a few hundred and we don't have the genetic diversity to carry on anymore. So to alleviate my boredom I've been doing all this. That.. and these motherfuckers dropped a bomb that killed my dog back home! 

So here I am, two Chinese guys in drippy military outfits in some partially destroyed Chinese bunker. The last two I was able to find with my weird lizard mutation. The final actors are about to exit the stage now. Well, gentlemen.. any last words?" I asked, looking to my two understandably terrified captives.

"Oh yeah, the gags.." After hearing some muffled words, I tore off the duct tape sealing one of their mouths.

Only to have him spit in my face. Damn, and I was being nice too! Motherfucker has eyes but can't see Mount Tai, apparently..

"Cock flavored spit as your last words? Well alright then." After a quick shrug, I put a bullet through his skull and watch him collapse onto the concrete floor unceremoniously.

"Hieeeee..!" The other man shrieks and tried to back away.

Only to end up rolling down the small hill of rubble. 

"Aw come on. You're making me work still? You know how hard it was to get to you, drug you and bind you two? At least listen to me vent my frustrations!" I shouted at him while stepping down the rubble.

I caught up to him in ten steps, tearing off the tape covering his mouth. The guy looked.. unremarkable. Might have been strong but I stopped enjoying these fights after killing my hundredth mutant. I just wanted to get this over with.

"I.. I don't.. English.." He studdered out with a thick Chinese accent.

"Oh for fucks sake.. What da haiiiil you say!? You get top military rank and you cannot speak ENGLISH? Apologize for killing my dog at least! I know you guys eat dogs but he was my family. Psh.. fuck it, I'm tired of you." Seeing my words fail to register, I shot him twice in the head.

"Hm... was that racist? Can I be racist to a race that doesn't exist? Ah well, time to go home.." I couldn't help but mutter to myself before beginning another long walk again.

It was going to be a hell of a long walk back home to the Yukon but I refused to die anywhere else. As you walk, you tend to think. Because there's nothing else to do besides killing some mutated animals anyway. Turning off the recorder, I head North. To Russia, to cross over into Alaska and back into Canada.

-Whitehorse, Yukon. 4 months later-

"Fuck.. me.. That was a long one. If only cars still worked..." I couldn't help but complain as I took whatever leftover booze was left in the convenience store near my house.

All that tundra, shitty radioactive blizzards, mountain ranges, mutant animals and water really made me wanna kill myself sooner. But I finally did it. I made it back home. Nothing left here but bones, scorch marks and a big ass crater that used to be the lake here in Whitehorse. Returning to my dilapidated house, I take a seat on the destroyed couch and watch the sun start to set.

"Ahh... cheers, humanity. It was a good run." I raised the fancy bottle of rum in my hand before chugging the whole thing in about a minute.

Tossing the glass aside, I set the recording device down next to me and pull out my 44 revolver. Saved one bullet just for me. Took me a while to accept it but there's no point living in a ruined world like this anymore. Raising the barrel to my temple, I couldn't help but to chuckle.

BANG!

Racist Canadian man finishes off the human population. Refuses to elaborate and kills himself after downing an entire bottle of Maple Liqueur rum. Hm.. I swear I just died?

I mean I can't see anything.. I can't hear anything.. I can't feel anything..

Oh my nonexistent God. Is this what the Afterlife is? I'd actually prefer Hell. Thinking, forever. What a shitty- Mh? Wait.. now I feel something.

Feels like.. I'm falling? But I can't feel my body. I'm breathing.. It feels tight. What is happening?

"You will be..." An unfamiliar voice spoke.

-3rd POV-

A world wholly separate from Earth, yet similar in its green and blue color. That's where its physical similarities ended though. It was a massive planet. One that defied the rules in various aspects. A planet of its size should at the very least be considered a brown dwarf. Yet its mass, size and gravity were stable. It supported life. But the oddest thing about this world was the fact that it was layered. Massive floating supercontinents dotted the surface. And between the huge plates of land were gaps where the sunlight could reach lower, onto another layer of the world.

And yet unknown to all of this world's inhabitants, a gentle light manifested itself in its upper atmosphere. Tenderly, it held onto a black oval-shaped object. Its soft caresses made the egg light up briefly before dimming. And then, it let go. The item- no, the egg slowly fell through the atmosphere as the light dimmed, fading away. 

The egg fell down, past the bright surface plates, past the still light second layer, past the somewhat dim third layer, past the ever-twilight fourth layer and into the Abyssal dark fifth layer.

-??? Layer-

~Ugh.. did I fall asleep? Knocked unconscious? What is going on?~

Trying to speak failed. He heard something though. Like movement in the woods. The sounds of bushes and leaves being moved. He needed to break out of the darkness he found himself in. Slowly but surely, he started to move. He was in something slimy and wet but wasn't sure what. Good, he could feel his hands. Quickly, he felt around in the darkness. He was inside something. It was tight, wet and gooey.

~Fuck! Did I get eaten alive? Hell no! I'll punch my way out if I have to, you bitch! Goddamned mutant bears!~ Cursing, he pushed and hit his limbs against the obstructing material that caged him.

Eventually, it gave way and he was greeted with a 'cracking' noise before falling on his face. Quickly sitting up, he looked around, only to see a forest. It was dark, but he could see. Thick bushes and tall trees everywhere. 

~Night.. and I'm in a forest. Wait.. these trees.. I've never seen any like these~ Seeing the current situation he was in, he split his attention between looking out for threats and thinking.

Seeing nothing but some birds in their nests, he hid behind a tree and realized the state he was in. His body was now completely different. Whether it was another mutation or something else, he didn't know. He was about half a meter tall, had tiny wings, gray scales, a tail and sharp teeth.

He felt his face, realizing instead of his human face, it had been replaced with a snout.

"Kssh.." He tried to talk, only making a small hissing noise.

~Okay Jack. Assess the situation, come to terms with it, set goals and act. I'm in unfamiliar territory in the dead of night. My body is different and smaller. I can't talk any more.. All right. Let's get the fuck out of the open and find some shelter from the elements. Not that I feel too hot or cold right now~ Jack calmed himself and decided on a course of action.

That's when he noticed the cracked egg he had broken free from. Black, smooth and even a bit shiny. A small amount of clear liquid had spilled out onto the grass and it made his new stomach growl in hunger.

~Did I.. hatch? Fuck I'm an idiot! I should have realized sooner. I didn't mutate again. Must have been reborn..~ He hit his scaley head with his small fist.

Crouching, he slowly made his way back to the cracked egg. Not hearing anything besides his own breathing, he grabbed the shell and broke off a small piece with his teeth, chewing the black shell like one would with candy. The shell quickly vanished into his stomach after he listened to his new instincts.

No longer feeling hungry or thirsty, he kept low to the ground and moved along the forest floor for what seemed to be hours. It was strange. The sky never became brighter, even though he was sure he had been moving for hours. Not only that, but he saw no lights at all. No stars, no moon, nothing. On top of that, the forest became quite loud. The roars of animals, loud bird noises and inhuman screams were heard pretty frequently. He always avoided them, as his new instincts told him to, but he needed to leave the forest immediately.

After crawling a while longer, the forest finally came to an end. As he crawled past the treeline, he saw a vast hilly land. Covered in scrap metal and the remains of what looked like a massive flying vehicle that was half submerged in a small lake. Deciding it'd be way safer than the forest he just escaped from, he proceeded ahead and cautiously approached the lake to see if it was safe to drink from.

"Fuck me in the Rockies.. that was a long crawl. Mh?" Jack cupped his hands in the water and stared at the reflection looking back at him.

Yeah, it was unmistakable now. Not only was he not on Earth any more. He figured that out from the lightless sky, unidentifiable wreckage and strange noises in the forest. But now that he finally had a better look of himself, he fully realized it.

He was a Dragon.