Looking around he saw nothing but mounds of rubble, reaching into a deep crimson haze. Their long shadows stretched along the ground informing him quietly that it was dusk. Looking back to the dark cavern created by the collapse of his apartment building, he felt the pangs of fear and uncertainty. He couldn't go back, he'd spent so much time underground hiding from the destruction that had come from the sky. The smell of the dead had become to much to bear and the scurrying of rats, the only other survivors as far as he could tell, had kept him from sleep for to long.
He began to descend the mound of rubble from the cavern's entrance toward the street. The incline was steep and it was a struggle keeping his footing on the loose debris. Foolishly throwing caution to the wind he chanced a quick descent and tried to run, hoping speed would be the key to getting to street level in one piece. As he neared the bottom he lost his footing and stumbled. His world flipped and turned as he desperately tried to stop himself. He didnt. The world went black and purple as something warm trickled down the side of his face.
He woke up many hours later, the moon hung overhead surrounded by stars...Strange, he thought. It'd been years since he'd seen stars; the lights of the city had overwhelmed them. But pain quickly pulled him from his stargazing and he found himself feeling a damp lump that had formed on his forehead. The darkenss kept him from discerning blood from whatever filth had collected in numerous puddles that had formed once city drains and sewer systems had become clogged with debris and waste.
He braced himself on the back end of car crumpled beneath a lamppost and prepared to stand. Blood rushed to his head dizzying him. He felt nauseus and his body ached to expel whatever little was in his stomach; he hadn't eaten in three days. The pain became to much to bear and he sagged against the car. Where was everybody? Why was no one helping him? Had he been spared destruction just so he could suffer? He screamed filling the silence with his own anguish, beating down on the car's trunk with what little strength was left in his body. The outburst echoed back off the hollow skeletons of buildings, mocking his pain.
He listened and began to laugh. Oh, the absurdity! Civilization had finally folded in on itself after so long and so much self-assurance that the world had changed, people had changed things were different! The bubble of security had been popped sending the human race spiraling toward the void. For all he knew he was the last man alive; somehow, though, he knew this wasnt true. And this knowledge filled him with an unease he hadnt felt before. In such a deprived and low state man was quite capable of even more horrible acts. (to be continued)