Karl didn’t go home after leaving the Hunter’s Association, instead, he headed straight for the exit of the Survival Area. Although he had spent more time in the Survival Area than he had in the Other Side, he still felt more at peace and at home there than here. After all, it was that world that he grew up understanding and it was the laws of that world that shaped him. He was more wild than he was tame, more instinctive, and attuned to nature than most if not all other surviving humans.

On his way out, the soldiers at the entrance simply greeted him without asking any questions or checking his weapon. He wasn’t even carrying any. The Survival Area had no government, only the Hunter’s Association and Explorer’s Association which we have already learned about. The third and final power within the Survival Area was the Military. They didn’t interfere with the life of the common people, instead, they handled crime and external threats like occasional beast waves. Although the force field was powerful and impenetrable, the humans wanted to save all the power it had in case of a change in the wild. And because of that, aside from the flying creatures and the tiny insects, the soldiers defended the force field from beasts and also defended the Survival Area from humans with ill intent.

Karl was a very well known figure, his identity as First Explorer, powerful hunter, and nature’s poet made him so and because of that the soldiers had long come to respect him and allowed him some leeway even when he broke rules sometimes. Going through the small entrance of the transparent force field, Karl sped up racing quickly into the overgrown forest. He soon reached a quiet lake, still within the area already explored by the Explorer’s Association and thus a hunting ground. It was morning and the sun was already up, after mutation, there was no more gathering at water holes, species distanced themselves from other species and so the water was currently deserted. Karl sat on the sand by the edge watching the still water as memories of his past in the wild flooded his head. He remained seated cross-legged for about two hours when he heard a faint rustling behind him and he slowly stood up. It was only now that he realized he had come out of the Survival Area without a weapon.

“Shit!” he muttered a curse. Although the area the hunters hunted was already explored, that didn’t mean it was safe. If it was marked a hunting zone, it meant there was wildlife there and survival in it was possible. There were different levels to hunting zones but Karl had never bothered about that so he didn’t know the level of the zone he was in and thus didn’t know what kind of predators roamed it. What he did know was that in the wild, animals only fought when they had something to protect, a cub, territory, a water hole, food source, or anything claimed. Being an intelligent human, Karl knew better, if he wasn’t hunting but was instead the prey, the best thing to do was kill the predator if it was possible, intimidate it or run! And right now, without a weapon the first two options were unavailable.

Slowly turning around he saw a ferocious looking creature behind him. If it weren’t for the enormous wings it spread out in preparation to hunt, it would look every bit like an ostrich.

“It’s you again old Stalker” Karl muttered. After the great mutation, animals were no longer given fancy names but instead named after their characteristics, making it easier to remember and safer for the hunters and explorers in the long run.

Stalkers were playful hunters, they messed with the mind of their prey till the prey gave up on running before feasting on them. The Stalker before Karl was eying him with exactly that intent in mind. Now facing the large creature, Karl slowly bent to pick a rock from the ground and after standing, he hurled the stone at the Stalker with all his might and leaped backward twisting his body in the air and diving deep into the lake. The stone he threw flew accurately toward the bird's head creating a deep wound that caused it to cry out furiously. Flapping its enormous wings it dashed for the lake and was about to dive in when a spike aiming at its head flew out of the woods. Giving up on Karl, the Stalker dodged and without hesitation pulled up and was soon gone from the area. As annoying as they were, Stalkers were difficult to kill.

Karl remained motionless in the water even after the Stalker was gone. The rustling he had heard was definitely not from the Stalker thus he was in no hurry to come out. He could hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes so there was no worry about him drowning. It seemed like an amazing record time but among Hunter’s, the longest record was forty three minutes. When the whole world changed, man had to learn to change with it, and in man’s heart is the powerful and ever burning desire for life and superiority. Humanity as a race had improved and was still improving in everything, speed, endurance, strength, inventions, it was like the human race was on a growth pill.

Karl wasn’t long underwater when he saw an animal’s face come in. It was the face of a porcupine except it had long fangs and hard whiskers. The spikes on its body were silver and they glistened even with his vision from under water. Karl lay flat on the water bed not moving even an inch but even then, the porcupine like creature now named Archer shot three spikes into the water and the fortunate Karl watched them grow back on its whiskers almost instantly. Porcupines like most rodents were little and maxed at about thirty six inches while their quills were quite fragile before the mutation. After mutation, not only did the quills become hard spikes, the Archer could aim and we’re devastatingly accurate! Fortunately for Karl, the Archer had only just shot randomly into the water and hadn’t actually noticed him.

Carefully reaching for one of the long spikes which landed beside him, Karl picked it up and slowly swarm away from the Archer in the opposite direction. On the water surface, the enormous porcupine raised its head from the water, it could no longer perceive Karl’s scent to find where he was but it could tell where he had been. Lapping a few mouthfuls of water, it looked around once more before walking back slowly into the forest. Karl waited for a while under the water after the Archer had left before slowly bringing his head out without any splash. He swarm out of the water and dashed into the forest in the opposite direction from where the Archer entered.

It was late when Karl returned from the Hunting Area. He hadn’t accepted a mission so instead of returning to the Hunter’s Association, he made for his home instead. The place where Karl lived with his wife was within an Upper District of the Survival Area. Although his wealth couldn’t classify him among the upper elites, he could be said to be above average in wealth. His status however made him one of the most respected people.

His house was oddly simple among the others on the street making it quite noticeable. It was a simple four bedroom duplex with a single entrance and basement. Compared to the compound, the house was quite small leaving a large area with growing trees and plants. Occasionally, one could also see some small animals hopping about in it, rabbits and peacefully grazing deer. Heading straight in, he opened the front door and took a deep breath.

“Karl?” he heard his wife’s warm and soft voice and a smile appeared on his usually impassive face. The sound of his wife’s voice was something he looked forward to every moment he was out in the wild. When he returned from the Other Side for the first time at sixteen, his mature and impassive expression made him unable to fit in with teenagers his age and he was too young to move around with the adults. The Explorers Association had taken interest in Karl after learning of his feats from the mouths of the other three survivors and they learned from him how to survive out there. He was once assigned to give a lecture to University students about the Other Side when he met Lisa. At the time age was a simple lecturer and she was having a bad day. After introducing themselves, she never stopped talking, at first, she only used him as stress dumb but eventually, she started asking about his time on the Other Side and despite his initial reluctance he eventually started to respond to her and like so they drew closer till their relationship blossomed to what it was now.

“Yeah it’s me” he set down the spike he had collected from the Archer and traced the sound of his wife’s voice with a skin bag on his back. After leaving the lake, he remained within the hunting area simply enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It wasn’t until the sun started to set that he killed a game to bring home. He found Lisa in the kitchen working on dinner.

“I didn’t think you would return” Lisa was of humble origins but she was stunningly beautiful, she had a warm expression and manner that made her easily approachable. Usually, hunters and explorers spent days on the other side to complete their missions which explained why Lisa was surprised to see Karl.

“I didn’t accept a mission” Karl remembered his encounter with April and he frowned.

“Oh, what happened?” Lisa paused the vegetables she was slicing and raised her head to study Karl’s expression.

“April happened” Karl replied honestly setting down the skin in the sink.

“April?” Lisa didn’t understand what Karl was trying to say. She knew about April’s feelings for Karl but it had never disturbed him in the list and she was quite reasonable in her efforts in impressing Karl. Lisa was jealous of April’s determination but she also respected it after all it had to take a lot of courage for a girl to chase a guy for eight years and it also took a pot of strength to maintain her image while doing so.

“She wants me to go with her on an Explorers mission.”

Lisa still couldn’t understand what the problem was.

“The mission is to unexplored areas” He added and her expression turned gloomy.