The Last One Left

The Last One Left

by Lithopedion

Everyone in the world was dead by the time Seth Cain woke up. But he didn't know that. So he groggily jumped in the shower, used the bathroom, and shaved, then put on his Burger World uniform, still dirty from the past two days. Oh well, it was Friday. He had the weekend off, for once. He snagged himself a breakfast bar, and headed out to his car. It was quiet, but he didn't really think anything of it. However, on the way to work, he began to sense that something was wrong. There was no traffic. Cars were lined up on either side of the residential streets like clothes set out the night before that never got worn. He pulled in to the parking lot at work, staring around in growing alarm at the empty parking lot. The doors were locked, and the lights off. So he drove home. He went to the next door neighbor's house, but there was no answer. So he tried calling his mom. Nothing. His best friend. Nothing. His sister. Once again, nothing. He dialed 911. No answer.
"What the fuck?" he murmured to himself. No answer from 911? What the hell was going on here? Then an idea came to him. There was a military base across town. That would be the place to look. So he sped over to it, half wishing a cop would pull him over. There was no guard on duty at the gates, so he drove in. The base looked as dead as the rest of town. "Jesus," Seth breathed. There were missile silos on this base. If this wasn't guarded, then nothing would be. Nothing... Slowly, he began to piece it together. Somehow, everyone had disappeared. Seth began to sweat, and felt on the verge of hyperventilating. Ok, get a hold of yourself, he thought.
He walked up to an empty army jeep, and an idea struck him. He dug around in the back and found a crowbar. The he put the car in neutral, and wedged the crowbar in place on top of the gas pedal. The engine roared loudly, as Seth, standing off to one side, shifted it into drive, and jumped out of the way. The jeep tore across the street, across the grass on the other side, and smashed into a building. Seth felt the heat, as it exploded into a huge fireball. If there was anyone around, that would get their attention. But the only response was the gentle whooshing of the wind. Damn, Seth thought, if I can get away with that, I can get away with... anything. I can get away with anything. He smiled to himself.
Seth found another car with keys in it, and drove off of the base. As he was driving, he spotted a gorgeous, brand new Lexus sitting in a driveway. He pulled off the road, purposely sideswiping nearby cars. It was harmless, and actually kinda fun. Not like he had to worry about insurance anyway. He got out and walked over to it. No keys. He kicked open the front door of the house, and rummaged through it. It was dirty, food and clothes scattered around the place. Obviously a bachelor pad, he thought. On the couch was a tiny amount of white dust. Although Seth didn't realize it, that small pile of dust was the car's owner. Various posters were tacked up on the walls, mostly rappers or drug-related pictures, a few of naked women too. Seth kept looking, and finally found the keys. He turned to leave, but stopped. Not yet. Let's see what else is in the house. He looked through the closets, and under the beds, taking his time. Not like the owner would interrupt him. He opened one closet, and saw a large black garbage bag. He opened it, and his eyes went wide. Inside were huge bricks of marijuana. Seth had only ever even seen weed once, and it wasn't very much, at that. But this... this must be worth tons. Well, not anymore. Seth laughed.
"No wonder you could afford a Lexus," he said to the empty room around him. A sudden idea hit him. Why not take it? What, were the police going to arrest him? There were none. There were no drug dealers either. Nor was there a Religious Right. In fact, now that he thought about it, who was to say it was illegal? The government? What government? The only person still alive was him, so if he decided it was legal, who was to say it wasn't? And Seth had already decided that it was very legal. And since there was no one to argue that point with him, it was. Seth picked up the garbage bag, barely able to lift it, and lugged it out to the front seat of the car. He chuckled at the hilarity of hauling a good hundred and fifty pounds of weed around in the middle of a suburban neighborhood in broad daylight. Another search of the house turned up a pipe and a bong, both of which Seth took.
Seth cruised down the highway at ninety miles an hour, dizzy from the effects of the marijuana. It was incredibly strong, he'd only smoked it once when he was seventeen, so he had no tolerance built up for it. There were empty cars on the road in some places, he swerved around them, or weaved through them. He passed through another town, and decided he needed some food, and maybe some tunes while he was at it. He walked into a store, and tore down the aisles, throwing food around, and making a general mess. He walked out of the store with several bags of food, the name brand stuff, not the cheap copycat shit he'd always had to buy. No Ramen Noodles, no cans of spaghetti, he was going for class. On a whim he opened the cash register, and took all the money, just for the hell of it. He smiled and waved at the camera. This was legal too. After loading everything in the car he noticed an electronics store, next door. He walked in, and browsed through the CDs. He ran into the grocery store, and came back out with a garbage bag, which he began to fill with CDs. Rap, Jazz, Rock, Classical, whatever. If he didn't like 'em, he'd toss 'em.
Seth returned for another look around after lugging the CDs out to the back seat of the car. All the computers were on, flickering brightly. Seth sighed. He'd always wanted a nice laptop... Then he grinned. Well, now he had one. Actually, why just one? Three or four. Not like they'd be missed. Seth walked out of the store carrying well over seven thousand dollars in laptops and accessories, including a digital camera. Why not? Might as well record all this for prosperity. You know, to pass on to future generations. Seth laughed at that. Future generations. Funny. Back out on the road, Seth looked through the glove compartment. A shiny metal object thunked down as he opened it up, and Seth realized it was a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. There was a knife too, which he pocketed. He picked up the gun and looked at it. Good. Even more fun. Seth took to shooting out car windows as he passed by them. He briefly considered using it on himself, maybe just getting the inevitable over with, but then decided against it. He was still having fun. He could always do it later, if he ever ran out of things to do. But that probably wouldn't be for a long long time.
In the distance, skyscrapers rose up out of the horizon. Very cool, Seth thought. He'd always liked skyscrapers. Marvels of modern architecture. There were none where he lived. Eventually, as he got closer they began to loom over him, so tall he couldn't even see the tops of them, at least not while he was in the car. It brought back memories of when he was little. He'd be on vacation, with his parents, and they'd pass through a city. His mom would reach back and nudge him awake. "Look at the skyscrapers, honey," she'd say. She knew he liked them. He would press his little nose up against the window, trying looking at those big, shiny buildings, trying to see how far up they went, sometimes for hours, depending on how big the city was, or how much of a hurry dad was to get where they were going. Or how lost he was.
Seth pulled over and walked up to one. He'd always wondered what they were like inside. It was clean and professional looking inside. Obviously offices of some sort. Kind of boring looking actually. Seth stepped onto the elevator, and pushed the button for the top floor. Let's see what things are like from the boss's office. The elevator jumped, and began to rise, giving him that roller-coaster feeling in his stomach. He laughed at the muzak playing in the elevator. All human life extinguished, and what remains? Muzak. The soundtrack of the apocalypse. At the top, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Seth walked out and into the office. He went past the receptionist's desk, and a gurgling fountain, into the office. Behind the enormous desk was a huge picture window, which made up the entire rear wall. The view was nothing short of stunning. Little specks of cars dotted the streets below, as other skyscrapers lorded over them, gods looking down on their subjects. The setting sun displayed brilliant rays of orange as it began to sink beneath the horizon. Seth sat down in the cushy black chair, and watched the sun set.
The next morning Seth sat up, he looked around, surprised at his surroundings. He'd thought he was home in bed. "Oh, yeah, that's right," he mumbled to himself, "I'm the last one left on earth." He shuffled over to the elevator, rubbing his eyes, and got in, pushing the button for the ground floor. "Gee, I left my Lexus unlocked," he said to himself, "I hope no one stole it." Outside he smoked some weed on the hood of his car, and gazed around the city. It was so peaceful. No one running around in rush to get here or there, no traffic, no violence, no one dying. Funny to think of, but yesterday was probably the first day in the history of humankind where no one had died. Interesting.
Seth drove out to a gas station, where he filled his car up. "Free Gas Day," he chuckled to himself, "it's about time." After that, he drove the wrong way down a one way street, still smoking copious amounts of weed. Then another devilish little idea hit him. He stopped the car and got out, where he proceeded to jerk off in the middle of the street, smoking a joint at the same time. God damn, what a rush. Jacking off in the middle of a street while smoking a joint, standing next to a stolen car overflowing with hundreds of pounds of illegal substances and stolen goods? He had to be the first person in history to do this. My own little niche, he thought. Well, besides being the only person in the world to live past Thursday. But that was sort of by default. God, he would've been locked up for a thousand years if he'd done this shit last week. Not anymore though. Now he made the rules. He got in the car again, and continued driving down the street. A few minutes later, he passed by a large stone building. It was a museum. He stopped the car and ran up the stairs. Why not check it out? It's not like he had any pressing engagements. The door was locked, so he kicked through the glass. As the glass sprayed everywhere an alarm went off. Seth crept inside, and walked down the hall, until he found the security station. He went in, and pushed buttons and switches until he found the one that shut the alarm off. Then he walked through the museum, smashing displays so he could get an up close and personal tour of the treasures of ancient Egypt, Norway, China, and so on. He found a set of ancient coins worth over 5 million dollars, according to the display beneath them. "I'll take those," he said, smashing the glass case. Free Ancient Artifact Day too, huh? What luck!
Seth spent the day in the museum, learning about everything he could get his hands on. He left feeling smarter than he had in a long time. Sort of ironic that he was interested in learning about history now that it had come to a halt. The next day was spent in a bookstore, as were a few of the following days. When he wasn't reading books, he was listening to his new CDs, tossing the ones he didn't like down the stairs, playing Frisbee with them, melting them or some such thing. Just for fun, he figured out how to work the machines in the store's coffee shop, and made himself every kind of drink they had on the menu, until he was shaking from all the caffeine. It made him laugh. What a sight he must be. In the weeks that followed, Seth drove all over the city, learning how to do anything he could get his hands on. He even found some training videos, and learned how to fly a helicopter, albeit not very well. He didn't do too much with it, as he was scared of crashing, but still, it was quite an experience, even if all he did was get it off the ground and set it back down.
As he was driving one day, Seth came across a huge cathedral, that seemed to dominate the buildings around it. Intrigued, he went inside. The sanctuary was huge and silent, the stained-glass figures in the windows seeming to watch him. He walked down the pathway between the empty pews, and came to the altar. He felt a sense of awe standing before it, as though their was a presence all around him. It had been a long, long time since he'd been face-to-face with God. If there was one. An interesting realization came to Seth, as he stood there. If he did not believe in God, then all belief in God died out, and God essentially did not exist. If he stopped believing, God was dead. A feeling of near euphoria came over him. It was like he held God in the palm of his hand. Like he was God Himself.
A sound startled him, and he looked over at the source of the sound, then stood in mute shock as he saw it. Standing before him was another human being. She was a beautiful girl, with a slender body, and crystalline green eyes, that seemed to stare right through him. "Oh my God," he whispered, "how did you live? Is there anyone else?" She shook her head.
"I don't know how I lived," she said, "I woke up one morning and everyone was gone. You're the first other person I've seen. I think it's just you and I."
"Damn," Seth breathed.
"Well, we might as well hang out for awhile," she said. Seth laughed, and nodded. "I'm sure we could find something to talk about."
"Let's start with names," she replied, smiling.
"Seth," Seth said, sticking out his hand, "and you are?"
The girl grasped his hand and shook it firmly. "Mariella."
They walked outside, as a light breeze wound its way through the city. Mariella pointed to the Lexus. "Your car?" she said.
"Uh, yeah," Seth said, suddenly embarrassed about the stolen and illegal goods piled up in the back.
She simply nodded. "Guess there's no room," she said, "we'll just walk." Seth said nothing. They walked over to Seth's bookstore where he made her a drink. He cringed inwardly at the sight of the place. It looked like a tornado had hit it. Just great. Oh well, too late to do anything about it now. However, Seth soon forgot about it, as they began chatting. They talked long into the night, about music, movies, what they had wanted to be when they grew up. Anything and everything was subject to conversation that night. Eventually, Mariella stood and yawned, stretching her arms in the air, which, Seth couldn't help but notice, caused her breasts to shift up and squeeze together. He gave a slight smile. He'd forgotten all about those. Still, he wasn't going to try to sleep with her. It still felt awkward. Even if she was the last person on earth, he still hardly knew her. Perhaps someday. It's not like she could meet someone else. "I should get some sleep," she said, between yawns. "You can sleep anywhere you'd like," Seth said, gesturing around the store, "there's some super comfy couches on the third floor. Mariella looked at him for a moment. "Thanks, but no thanks, Seth," she said, "I think I should sleep somewhere else." "What's the matter?" Seth asked. He frowned as the realization dawned on him. "Look, Mariella, I'm not some psycho rapist or anything," he said, "I would never do something like that."
"I know," she said, "but I just don't want to... put the temptation in front of you, that's all." "Don't you believe me?" Seth asked.
"I can't afford to believe you," she said, "I'm sorry, Seth, but look at from my point of view. I'm not rejecting you, I just can't afford to take that chance. I mean, if you wanted to rape me, who would stop you? I couldn't, that's for sure." Seth sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.
"You're right," he said, "I'm sorry I got all offended there. I'm not used to being around the only woman left in the world." Mariella smiled.
"I know. I'm not used to being around the only man. I'll see you tomorrow, Seth."
"I don't know," Seth said, "I have some appointments to take care of, but I'll see if I can fit you into my schedule." Mariella laughed. She had a musical laugh. Seth grinned. He hadn't heard anyone laugh in weeks. "See you tomorrow," he said.
"Bye." Mariella waved, and then was gone. Seth realized then that he had a persistent erection, and realized he hadn't had one for a long time. He'd sort of adapted to not thinking about sex. Seth sat around for awhile, but the erection would not go away. He went upstairs to the bathrooms, and masturbated, all the while thinking about the way Mariella's hips swayed when she walked. God, he thought as he pulled up his pants, she was right. Maybe it's a good thing she hadn't stayed, at least not until he was comfortable dealing with these sorts of emotions again. The end of the world can do strange things to a man, he reflected. Seth looked up in the mirror, and was taken aback. He practically had a beard, and was grimy, and wild-haired. He looked half-crazy like one of those survivalist types. All he was missing was the camo gear and anti-government propaganda. Seth chuckled at the mental image that gave him. Mariella, on the other hand, was clean and neat. Hell, she still shaved her legs, and fixed her hair. No wonder she hadn't wanted to spend the night there. He did look like some crazy rapist. He probably stunk, too. Seth sighed. He ought to do something about that.

Mariella came over the next day, where Seth had some breakfast waiting. She came in, and gasped when she saw him.
"Very nice," she said, smiling. Seth was clean shaven, bathed and had trimmed his hair down to one inch with a trimmer he had taken from a nearby supermarket.
"Thanks," he replied, beaming, "Oh, by the way, I have something for you." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the pistol, handing it to her. She looked up at him quizzically. "I thought it might make you feel safer to have it," he said, "Just in case, you, know?" Mariella hugged him. "Thanks, hun," she said, "that was sweet of you." Seth just smiled.
They ate breakfast and chatted amiably some more. "I'm sorry about last night," Mariella said. "Huh? Oh, that's no problem," Seth said, between bite of a roll. "No it isn't," Mariella said, "You were a perfect gentleman all day, and I just repaid you with mistrust. If you had wanted to rape me, you would have."
"Well, I'm sorry too," Seth said, "it was wrong of me to be so upset with you. You were right after all, it's been kind of weird dealing with the old emotions you're bringing up."
"Well, you aren't the only one," Mariella replied, "I guess that's the main reason I left last night."
"Ah, let's let bygones be bygones," Seth said. "Agreed," Mariella replied, revealing her beautiful white smile.
A little while later, Seth pulled out a joint, and lit it. "Uh, I'm sorry, but could you not do that?" Mariella asked. Seth stubbed it out. "Sorry," she said, "I guess it's the way I was raised, but I still have a hard time feeling comfortable around that sorta thing."
"No problem," Seth said. As an afterthought he added, "I was that way too, up until the end of the world as we know it."
"Well, it may be the end of the world as we know it," Mariella said, "but I feel fine." They both began to laugh.
"That was bad," Seth said.
"Oh yeah?" Mariella replied, "then why don't you go listen to someone funnier?"
"Guess I'll start talkin' to myself then," Seth replied. Then he grinned. Mariella threw a roll at him.
"You bastard," she laughed.
"Oh, it's a food fight is it?" Seth said. He grabbed a roll of his own, and threw it at her. They both began laughing as it became a full scale food fight, then Seth tackled her, to rub some food in her face. But they both stopped and stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Then she grabbed him, and began top passionately kiss him. Seth responded instantly, and the next thing they knew, they were naked, and making love, right there on the floor.
Seth awoke the next morning, and got out of bed. He took a joint out of his nearby shirt pocket, but then stopped. No... better not. Mariella rolled over and looked up at him, smiling. Seth smiled back. "You wanna go out around town, maybe see some sights?" he said. "No, thanks anyway hun. Everything's changed so much lately, that I just wanna stay in one place for now, sorta make it into a home, you know?" Seth nodded. "Ok." "You can go ahead and go without me though, if you'd like." "No, that's ok," Seth said, "I'd worry about you." He leaned over and kissed her. "Eww," she said, "go brush your teeth, honey." "Alright," Seth said, "I will in a minute."
Mariella got up, and went into the bathroom, with Seth following. He stood behind her, with his arms wrapped around her waist, as she began to come her hair. "I have a question, hun," he said. "What's that?" Mariella asked.
"Do you believe in God?"
She smiled. "Yep. I sure do. That's why I was in the church where you found me. I felt safe there. Why, do you believe in God?"
Seth smiled. "Yep." He caressed her cheek with his hand, and she closed her eyes and smiled.

That's when Seth broke her neck.

She dropped to the floor, dead, never knowing what had hit her. "Sorry, hun," Seth said. He pulled out a joint, lit it, and took a deep hit of marijuana smoke. Good. It made him pleasantly numb. He knelt down by her body and brushed his hand along her cheek. On the countertop was her driver's license. He picked it up. She'd never mentioned her last name, and he was curious. Hmm. No good. Her last name was smudged or something. MARIELLA A---. "Well, Miss A," he said, "now what do we do with you?" As he looked down at her small, pale body, he realized something. He'd never seen a real body before. There were no others. They were all gone. This was an opportunity that would never come again. "Hmm," he said to himself, "I always wanted to learn anatomy."

THE END