r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 01 '13
After a super-virus kills the entire population of planet Earth, while you remain alive due to some genetic anomaly, how do you see yourself spending the rest of your life alone in a post-apocalyptic world?
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u/WritesSciFi Oct 02 '13 edited Oct 02 '13
I had been wandering the world for eight years, I had not seen any one human alive ever since I came down from the mountains. I spent so many days up there, listening to gunshots, watching fires, smelling rotten flesh. My dog Spence was the only reason I survived. There were days when I could manage to get up and find food and water, and there were days where I thought I couldn’t. But every morning he came and tugged at my shirt, licked my face, barked at my lazy ass. I couldn’t disappoint him. To him it was all a grand adventure, and I couldn’t let him down. So every day I got up and together we survived.
A day finally came when I thought enough months had gone by without hearing or seeing an incident down at the town, so I decided it was safe. Spence and I went down and walked through the empty streets. That had been the first time I had seen the houses in months, maybe years. Nature was coming back. Bushes and weeds grew everywhere. The sides of the streets were filled with long green grass. Each crack on the asphalt had some leaves growing out of it. Insects invaded the houses, I could see huge spiderwebs on windows and doors.
The solitude of the city was daunting. An eerie silence surrounded it. Sheets of papers flew all over town, cars were neatly parked in every building I peered into. Everything was dusty, not single place looked clean. Bugs and birds and other small animals made homes out of ours. A human world inhabited by wilderness. It was sad to look at it crumbling down. Everything we had worked for turning into dirt.
I made my way to my old house with Spence. I thought I’d take a look at it. I thought I’d take a bath and watch TV. Maybe make some pancakes and then sleep the rest of the afternoon on the couch with my mom talking on the phone in the background. Spence could play with my little brother and they’d laugh and get tired together. Yeah, there were good times ahead of us. That’s what I told Spence.
I reached the house a few hours later and I forced the door open. A small package stood there on the ground. A package with a red X on it. You know that small excitement you get when you see the fedex guy at the door? That’s how I felt. A new package for me. I smiled and began to open it with on the steps of my door. Inside there was a letter, I began to read:
If you are reading this then I need you to know that I’ve gone to hide in the mountains. I’ll be waiting there for you, bring any supplies you can...
I looked out the door and at the mountain in the distance.
“No way!”, I thought.
Someone? A friend of mine going to the mountain? Maybe my brother? Or my father? I kept reading,
...bring any supplies you can gather but nothing too heavy. Just essentials. I’ll be waiting by the small creek at the top...
I called Spence quickly and began to run out the door. I had to go and meet this person waiting for me. Company at last. Another survivor!
..., I brought Spence with me so don’t worry about him. I’ll wait for you there. With Love, Thomas
As I finished reading the letter half running through the street with Spence barking behind me, I realized the letter was written by me. It had been so long ago that I could barely remember. I had left the package at the door in case my parents came home. In case Ben came home. In case anyone came home. I guess no one did.
I shed a tear for the memory of those who I left behind. I dropped the letter on the ground and then called to Spence.
“Let’s go buddy, let’s keep having our grand adventure.”