Per 
The figure crunched his way through the scattered glass shards as he walked slowly across the structure. In the distance, a wall with the word 'Site-12' remained standing, in stark contrast to the other walls, which had already collapsed and were now lying on the ground.
The figure stopped and looked down. The remains of a jar were lying in what he believed to be the cafeteria, among overturned tables and chairs. He stooped down and took a closer look at the remains. There was almost nothing left of the jar that even implied that it had once been one. The glass making it up had mostly been disintegrated into powder, and the metallic lid was completely bent out of shape. However, he had already known what it was before he had confirmed it.
He sighed as he pulled out a metallic device from his coat. In a low voice, he whispered into the device, "Specimen Number, Four Two Eight Zero. Current status, neutralised. Will update for further developments. Forrester out."
The device whirred and clicked as though it had been listening to him. The figure known as Forrester stood up, placed the device back into his coat, and walked out of the structure, leaving the remains of the jar behind.
As he walked out of the ruins, he glanced critically at the sun, now a tiny speck on the horizon. It was almost night.
"There must be something that survived. There has to be something that must have survived." Forrester muttered to himself as he walked back towards his resting place for the night.
Maybe tomorrow would yield better results, he thought to himself, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
The researcher ran down the hallways with the sirens continuously blaring around him. A voice pierced through the blaring, and it said the same message over and over again.
"Please evacuate to the nearest bunker. This is not a drill. Please eva-"
The researcher was not heading to the nearest bunker. He forced the emergency exit door open, and he stepped onto the emergency staircase which overlooked the outside.
Something was happening outside, he was sure of it. A few hundred kilometers away from him, a pair of white wings stretched out into the skies, thousands of kilometers stretching as far as the eye could see. A cloud of dust and ash settled around the wings, obscuring the surroundings and making them the only prominent feature of the landscape.
The researcher looked at the wings before looking down to determine where they were coming from. A panic set over him as he remembered what lay in that direction.
"Doctor…" was the last word he said as the light from the wings slowly grew brighter and enveloped him completely.
Forrester awoke with a start. Outside his resting place, a few rays of sunlight peeked in and shone on him. As it had always ever been since the Awakening, apart from his breathing and the gentle rustling noises that were generated by the occasional dust cloud, there was no sound of birds or insects to be heard.
Forrester glanced around his resting place, scratched his head and sighed. He had that nightmare again.
"Doctor…"
In his mind, he silently hoped that the doctor was alright.
He slowly got up from where he was lying down, patting himself down to scatter the dust particles that had settled on him overnight. He reached out to the metallic device where he had recorded the status of the jar on and examined it.
The device strongly resembled a pager, with a few additions having been made to differentiate it from an actual one. On its surface, the words were faded but still stood out well enough to be distinguished.
Foundation Personal Companion v3.0
It was a standard-issue device that was handed out to every Foundation researcher, supposedly containing information on all the anomalies that had been found by the Foundation. Aside from being a recording device, it also came equipped with a scanner to scan any potential specimen and cross-check it with the existing anomalies to determine if it was one.
Before the Awakening, he had not needed it at all during his research, but now, it had become a companion he could converse with, even if its responses were only ever just recordings of himself and a machine, mechanically reading out the information that was gathered from the scan.
Bringing the device close to his mouth, he pressed the button on the side of the Companion and began to speak into the attached mouthpiece.
"Forrester Log, Day 318. Hoping to cover all the way to the lake today. Getting closer to Origin Point. Estimated time, most likely a few more days, maybe a week. Stopover point estimated to be about 3 days away."
Lifting the Companion away from his mouth, he paused briefly, deep in his thoughts, before he raised it up to his mouth and spoke again.
"I hope I can find him."
Releasing the button, he watched silently as the device whirred and clicked just as it had done on the previous day. Placing it carefully on the floor, he walked over to a big duffel bag at the corner of his resting place and zipped it open. Taking a silvery-grey packet out from the bag, he ripped it open and hungrily wolfed down its contents.
After a few minutes, he was done. He threw the empty packet away and took out a rolled-up piece of paper from the bag and rolled it out.
The piece of paper was a crudely-drawn map, with various symbols and vague names on it that would confuse anyone who didn't know what it was. Forrester held it up and traced an imaginary line between one of the cross symbols and one of the circle symbols labeled 'Hope'. Silently confirming the direction of where he was going, he rolled the map up and placed it back into the bag.
Slinging the bag around his shoulder, and picking up the Companion, he looked around his resting place, seemingly to check if he had left anything behind. Deducing that he had not, he turned and walked out into the barren outside world.
The sun was once again a dot on the horizon when Forrester reached the lake. What may have once been a lake where families went to for fun and to play sports was now being overtaken by its natural roots. Abandoned picnic baskets, inoperable speedboats, and signs that warned people not to swim in the lake were infested by vines that twisted around the discarded objects and other small plants that found the damp objects to be perfect for their growth.
He walked to the edge of the lake, passing a vine-infested sign that very helpfully indicated that the lake had once been called 'Hope Lake' in the past.
Standing by the edge of the lake, he stared at the gently rippling waters. Below the surface of the water, something was moving. A million thoughts flowed through his mind, trying to determine what the thing was. He silently decided in the end that it was a fish that had somehow survived the Awakening and was now combing through the depths of the lake, trying to find any scraps of bread or other food that would keep it alive. He watched as the thing moved away from him and swam towards the other side of the lake.
Maybe it has determined that the other side has food, or maybe…
He stopped his thought and pricked his ears up. He had heard something behind him, and he silently hoped that he was mistaken.
He heard the noise again. This time, he was able to hear it clearly without interference from his thoughts.
It was footsteps.
Someone or something was coming towards him.
A cold sweat ran down his body as his mind scrambled to determine what would make those footsteps. Maybe it was a survivor like him, trying to survive in the harsh landscape as well, or maybe it was something else entirely that could have the potential to kill him.
The footsteps were drawing closer, and now he realised that they were slowing down.
In his mind, he ran through two options. One, turn around and find out who or what the thing was. He might be killed on the spot, but at least he would know what it was, and maybe even attempt to stop it if it was hostile. Two, jump into the lake immediately. He would not know what the thing was, but at least he would get to survive a few minutes longer.
He dismissed the second option immediately as it came into his mind. If the thing was anomalous and incredibly hostile in nature, he would be dead as soon as he hit the surface of the lake.
So, all that was left was to turn around and confront the thing.
He reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a Foundation-modified pistol. Checking to make sure it was loaded, he braced for the thing's first move.
The footsteps stopped. He turned sharply around, readying his pistol and preparing to pull the trigger.
However, what he saw made him pause.
A girl who looked about 11 faced him. She appeared to be frightened at the pistol that he was holding, and was on the verge of tears as a result.
The two beings faced each other, even as the sun disappeared below the horizon and plunged them into darkness.
They stood in silence before a growling pierced through it.
Forrester sighed, lowered his pistol, and spoke.
"Would you like something to eat?"
