Al and Zo walk through what used to be McDonough, GA, but now what remains is a heap of dust and old skeletons.
“I’m tellin you, it was some kinda plague, the last and greatest of them all!"
“Nah, couldn't be-to much destruction. A whole nation can't crumble just cause of a disease."
For the hundredth time Al had brought up what had possibly happened to their once quiet, and intact town.
“Well maybe the government Nuked the place so that the sick died but the healthy lives”
“And do what, risk all human existence at the same time? I don't think so"
“Well then what's your understandin of it?''
“I don't have one, all I know is that we weren't apart of the down fall, why do you keep bringing it up anyway?
“I was just trying to make conversation, lighten up..."
“What we need to do is figure out what we're gonna have for dinner."
“We could hunt deer like we usually do on Wednesday, or maybe spice things up with a can a beans on the side”
“We had deer yesterday, and it’s Thursday, and we have to conserve what food we’ve collected”
“Yah, but, what if I want to spice things up and go fo…”
“For what- Al what is i-“
Zo had not seen what was so blatantly in his face. There, not even 100 yards away was a dark brown dog. It has patches of fur missing as seemed not to have noticed them yet and was more importantly looking for a meal to eat.
“Well, dinners right ahead of us” said Zo “alright, keep your voice down, and get ready .”
As Zo got into position behind a pile of rumble next to a dull, aged red camaro he got his rifle ready to shoot.
“Alright Al get ready to chase it down if it starts to run, we can’t let this one get aw- Al, what in God’s name are you Doing?“
Al walked slowly towards the dog with a queer look on his face and an outstretched hand, he seemed to be whispering something but Zo couldn’t seem to make words of what he’d said. The dog immediately spotted Al walking closely to him and surprisingly didn’t dart, rather stood still, waiting to see what came next.
“Al, get away from that thing, it’s not time yet”
But Al seemed to have been busy doing his own thing, so Zo quickly ran to Al hoping to stop him before the dog attacked Al.
The dog slowly started walking towards Al but halted when it saw Zo and then seemed to be conflicted with what to do. As Zo closed in on Al he yelled “what are your doing, it’s not a pet, put your hand down”, but Al seemed oblivious to what he said and now his whispers became more audible, yet hard to understand. Zo firmly grasped Al’s shoulder and it seemed to break him out of “ sleep walking” and then he seemed scared and confuse.
“Wha- the helk, what are you doing?”
“I should be asking you that question”
“ I don’t..” then he finally saw that dog and then got uneasy
“Look Zo, a dog” as if to say he had seen it for the first time
At that moment the dog began a low growl that gave the two traveling tragedies time to figure out now was the beast time to run.
“I think we should leave now before it hurts us”
“But what about dinner?”
Then the dog began fierce barking which seemed to awaken a whole other sense of howls somewhere out of their sight.
“We should leave before ewe become dinner” and with what they ran as fast as they could, or at least as fast as you can when a hungry Rottweiler is chasing you and you’re awkwardly running away from it while having a rifle in one hand and hope in the other.
Al and Zo ran into an empty building that had a withered Georgia flag and quickly shut the door. As they caught their breath, they could hear unorganized barking behind them , as if they were to call in a group of mobsters to your front door. Al sat down on the living room couch as lay there catching his breath” Man-that wa-s a close one-“
“You’re tellin’ me,” Zo looked around and saw old family pictures of people that were long dead. . The house was covered in webs and had many insects scurrying away at the sight of them. Zo glanced around a bit to scan out the place and to take a breath. He never liked stay in a house that was made when humans were still abundant. He never liked humans much either, due to the fact that he concluded that the disappearance of a whole race was mostly caused by humans themselves, and not to E.T.’s as Al would say, and then remembered the original problem.
” What was that back there?!”
“A huge dog tried to kill us, that’s what”
“I mean why were you walking towards it and whispering, it was creepy and I thought you were about to get mauled to death”
“… I don’t know, I just remembered seeing it then a moment later... I was closer to it then I remembered Zippy-“
“What did you just call me?’
“I meant Zo- I think that’s what its name was”
“What are you talking about now?”
“The dog, I think that’s what its name was , I remember seeing a name tag and—I think I saw someone standing next to it-”
“Do you need some water, I think you’re hallucinating. It was just you and I, as it always is and will always be, unfortunately.”
“I thought I saw someone in white. It looked so familiar.”
“Well you obviously were seeing something, there is no one else out there, it has been you and me since-well, a long time.”
“Now that I think about it, how long have we been together for? I mean, it was always just the two of us, hanging out when we were younger and playing games, but I can’t remember the last time we really were In This apocalypse ’’
“Well, the oldest memory I can think of is when we were hiding the basement, remember, then there was a loud boom, then I woke up and you weren’t moving so I shook you but you didn’t’ budge, so I called for mom and dad but they were nowhere near and the basement door didn’t open-“
“Yah, and I remember that we had been in there for like a week or 2 and we had found food in the fridge downstairs, which oddly had a lot of food in it. Then suddenly when the door in the basement opened and we just ran for it, but no one was there to help us and the house was intact, yet outside things were a mess I could remember just sitting there crying wanting mom and dad yet we couldn’t find any of our parents or anyone”
“You’re right, and I remember seeing a picture of them but I can’t remember what they look like and I think we had a dog-“
“and mom had dark brown hair, just like dad. But neither of us have brown hair.”
They sat there remembering the memories and trying to tie things together
“And I don’t remember if we had names back then, or if mom and dad ever said them.”
“Okay, we’re overthinking things, maybe we just need to sit down and rela-“
“I am seated and I don’t feel relaxed one bit, I’m freakin out and can’t remember anything” now Al seemed to be hysterical (and not in the haha way)
“We just need to stay calm and think things through. Okay? Let’s just tal- do you hear that?’’
“Hear wha-“then it became clear and Al heard footsteps at the door and had no idea what was happening and, to be frank, frightened. Then there was knock. Neither of them wanted to answer the door and they stared at each other, not knowing how to react other that not reacting. Moments later the knock came again, then a soft, higher pitched voice spoke” Hello, anyone in there?’’
Neither Al nor Zo thought it would be a good idea to answer and as Zo reached for his rifle the door was kicked in and two young girls stood there, one holding a hunting knife and the other with a rifle, pointed at them. Not a sound was made after that happened then Al broke the silence.
“W-who are you?”
The girls replied” WE are the last humans alive and we have found each other at last.”
“T-that c-can’t be true, how did you find us?’’
“We heard barking and saw you running away from the dogs and came to talk to you. Sorry about the door, didn’t want to risk having you guys get away.”
“How do you know for sure that WE are the last humans alive?” asked Zo
The girl holding the knife stared at her friend and then turned back to face Zo “Just press the read the letter installed into us.”
“What lette-“and then before he could finish that word she punched Zo hard in the stomach. He lay on the ground gasping for air and looking bewildered. Al tried to get Zo’s rifle but the other girl was quicker and subdued him.
“Why did you do th-“but before he could say it the girl had shoved her hand into his mouth and pulled out his molar and left Zo in grasping at his mouth, yet he seemed not to have been in much pain( at least not from the tooth pulling). She then examined the tooth, pushed on it and a hologram came up saying” Hello, future Humans, if you had received this message then everything, I hope, is going well. After a terrible war, plague, and chemical warfare brought upon all living things, we had you 4 premade floating in space if possibly this day had come so that Humans could still live on. We have installed into you a false memory, a childhood, having families, so that you can feel more apart of Earth, and now that you have seen the hologram, your main objective is to work with them and keep the Human race going. I hope that you make haste, and stay alive, you are our Only hope. God’s Speed.”
As the hologram phased out, everyone stood there looking at each other and Al collapsed and couldn’t bother to come up with anything to say other than to stare blankly at the floor.
Zo got up, carefully eyeing the girls then grabbed him stomach in agony hoping that they knew the right words to say, but all he got were blank stares.
“Well… now what?” asked Al, breaking out of his shell” Why us? I mean, im honored to be ‘man’s last hope’ and everything, but how do we bring back an entire race with just 4 people?’
The girl who hit Zo, who was oddly pretty, except for the emotionless stare, squat down at Al and said” What humans have always down to repopulate the world. You might not like it, but it’s what we were made for and I haven’t spent all this time staying alive just to be stopped because you aren’t comfortable, We have a purpose and now is the best time to ge -“and at that moment her head had been blown away by Zo’s rifle and then the other girl had quickly grabbed her pistol and shot Zo, but not before Zo had aimed and shot her in the chest.
Now Al seemed at that moment to come back to reality and looked at the two dead girls he just met and his dying friend.
“NO! What the hell man, why did you do that?! Have you lost your mind, They were our hope to rebuild this world!” Zo slowly turned his head and smiled at his friend for the last time and said,” If us Humans destroyed our world before, then we’ll just do it again, just like how you keep bringing up how this world ended. We don’t deserve a second chance…I’m sorry to leave you like this” and like that, he spoke his final words to his friend and then ceased to live.
Now Al was they only Human alive and stood there in a room full of 3 dead bodies and could only find himself to sit in the pool of blood that was once carried inside his friends body. Tears did not come to his eyes, but he seemed to have aged 10 years every second he sat there, not being able to comprehend what just happened. He lay there wishing to turn back the hands of time, but was distracted by the sound of the shuffling of feet towards the open door. He hoped in the back of the mind that he had imagined what had happened and that the girls were still alive and waiting for them, ready, but Al slowly turned his head to the small, blurry figure at the door frame.
“……Zippy?”
FIN.