The Last of His Kind (working title)

A Story by NuclearBunnie

The Bunker. It was once a place of hope for the future, but centuries later, it has been ransacked and raided by countless people struggling to survive. What they didn't know was that deeper inside was what we thought our last hope would be. Early in the 21st century, a secret group saw the self-destructive path humanity was on. They tried everything they could to advert the course, to no avail. The only thing they could think of to save humanity was to preserve it until the danger had passed. They selected a group of volunteers from every field imaginable and put them into a suspended animation. The process was risky, most wouldn't make it, but those who did would be able to restart the human population. Over time the systems in the bunker have slowly shut down. The only two things left running was an emergency light and the power for the cryogenic pods.

An alarm sounded inside one of the pods. It was a sign that the system was failing. In these events the system would shut itself down and attempt to wake the occupant. It had never been successful in the past. The eyes of the man slowly opened as if from a deep groggy sleep. His mind struggled for a moment to remember where he was. He reached up with one hand to rub his eyes, until his hand bumped against the tubes entering his mouth and nose. His eyes widened with panic not remembering where he was. He grabbed hold of the tubes with both hands and pulled. He gasped in disgust as the tubes came out, only to get a lungful of the fluid that filled the tank. His hands reached wildly around the tank trying to open it. Just as panic started to set in, his hand found the emergency ejection lever. He pulled it with everything he had.

The door to the pod popped away from the man landing across the room. With nothing holding the contents back the liquid and man spilled out onto the floor. He gasped for air and coughed up the fluid before vomiting from the panic. The stale air inside the bunker burnt his lungs slightly as he slowly caught his breath. After a few moments his sat up and looked around. Everything was coming back to him now and in the dim light he could see the giant room he was in. After a moment he turned his attention to the pods behind him, only to be met with horror.

Most of the pods where dark the power systems in them long dead, or shut down. Others were not as lucky. In several more of the pods the occupants had been woken up but pods failed to open. Unable to open them from the inside for one reason or another, most of them simply drowned. The man took a few moments to search for any survivors, but after a while it was clear, he was alone. He sat on the floor with his head on his knees trying to remember everything. After a while it had all come back to him. He stood up with tears in his eyes. There was only one thing to do. Find the other bunkers and hope someone survived.

After the groups went under the organization would continue developing gear for them when they awoke. The man walked back to the pod he had come out of and knelt down in front of it. On the ground in front of each pod was a locker, inside it would have what they would need to survive in the new world. He grabbed the handle and lifted up, with a pop and hiss, the locker rose up out of the ground. They were sealed into the ground to protect the contents and insure they would be functioning when needed. In side were some sort of suit and a few other gadgets, including a rifle and side arm or some sort. Each item inside would have a manual to go with it, it explain how it worked.

He was part of the security detail for this group. In his time he was regarded as one of the greatest snipers of his time. He had the typical military look to him; with bright blue eyes that had dimmed to the realization he might be alone. The “food” that had been fed to them while they were under kept their muscles in shape. So that when the day came to wake up they would be able to do what needed to be done. After a time he had finished reading the manuals and put the suit on. It was some sort of mechanized power suit. It was capable of making him stronger and faster than a normal human. The back of the helmet was built into the torso of the system. The front of it attached to a socket at the throat of the system then rotate back to attach the rest of the helmet. The entire system could be sealed and keep him alive in a vacuum for a limited time. Once the helmet connected to the power supply in on the back of the suit the display inside activated and connected to the cameras on the front of it. The entire thing made him look more like a robot than a living person.

He strapped the side arm to his hip and slung the rifle over his head so it hung at his side ready to be used. He moved to the front of the room, here would be some other lockers with essentials for everyone. Things like food, water and ammo would be kept here. He loaded his magazines and then grabbed a few extra rounds and loaded them into a ruck sack he found in a locker. He loaded up rain gear that would protect against acid rain for a time, a sleeping bag and more food and water, and a water purifying system. All these things had been compressed more than he was used to, so he had to go back and grab a few extra things. One of the things that had caught his eye was a small UAV. It would sync up to the combat tablet built into the suit and be an extra set of eyes for him. He activated it and it whirled to life. He synced it up and did a test run with the help of the manual for it.

Finally hours had past and he was as ready as he would be. He grabbed the handle of the vault door and gave it a twist. The system unsealed with a hiss and he stepped out of it. He gave one last look to the corpses inside before pushing it shut. The door didn't seal shut but its weight would keep most things out of the tomb. He slowly made his way out of the bunker, checking for anything useful as he went, but something had already cleaned the place out several times. He eventually reached the outer entrance. He braced himself before opening the door to the bright world beyond. The visor in his helmet adjusted to the light and shaded it for him. It was a wasteland, humanity had not been kind to the earth before he went to sleep, and it apparently never corrected it ways after. He tapped a few things into the tablet on his wrist and the UAV whirled up into the sky above him.

“Let’s go Virgil, someone has to be alive somewhere.”

The little robot flew high into the sky to scan the surroundings. Logan knew that somewhere to the south of here was a city. At least there used to be a city, whether or not it was still there was still up in the air. It was all he had to go on so he began to walk. As the drone circled overhead a map on his data pad was created. It was mostly crude but it had major landmarks on it and the distances to them. It wouldn't do him much good for navigation but in a pinch it could get him to cover. As he walked his mind kept drifting back to the failed program in the bunker. “Did every one of the bunkers end up like this?” His mind kept drifting to the thought that he might be alone until he died.

It took him the better part of the day just to get into sight of the city, if you could call it that. The buildings, hardly more than skeletons of their former selves, began to show on the horizon. There was a small house up a head; he would have to camp there for the night before continuing to the city. There was no telling what was out here. He reached the house and cautiously entered. There was no need to disturb anything inside, especially not the house so he took his time clearing it. Once he felt the building was safe and wouldn't collapse on him, at least not tonight, he set his rucksack on the ground with a thud. He stepped outside to scan the horizon around him for signs of life. The drone would look from above as he used the high powered scope of his rifle to look from the ground.

It began to get dark and he had seen no sign that anything, not even a tumble weed had been through here in a long time. He taped on his combat tablet and the drone flew down to him. Reaching up to grab it out of the air in front of him, he spoke to the small robot. “Well buddy looks like it just you and me.” He turned to walk inside and connected the drone to his suit. There was no telling what manner of system powered this thing, but all he knew is the manual said it would be able to operate indefinitely if kept in good condition. The drone however had an internal battery, which even though it had a long life, would still need to be charged off the suit when not in use. He pulled an MRE out of his bag along with some water. He took his helmet off and set it down next to him as he began to open the meal. “Who knows how much time has passed, and they still try to pass this s**t off as food.” He laughed to himself before digging in and enjoying every bite of it.

He woke up just before to sun did to some sound off in the distance. He bolted awake grabbing his rifle in the process. He looked around him and he was still alone, something that he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He listened for a good while before accepting the fact that the sound was in his dreams. He stood up and put his helmet back on and grabbed his gear. As he stepped out of the door he reached onto the small of his back and removed the drone from the suit. It flew up into the sky to do it job. He stepped off heading for the city. After a few minutes of walking he decided it was time to see just what this suit could do. He started with a light jog, seeing how easy and effortlessly it was he thought it a good idea to pick up the pace a little bit.

By noon he had made it into the city. It was worse that he thought from a distance. Very little was left, even the pavement was barely showing under the dead vegetation littering the ground. Knowing he would find nothing he spent the next several hours searching the northern part of the city for signs of life. Before long he had given up and started south again. In the southern part of the city something caught his eye. He walked over to find blood all over the ground. It was still fresh, maybe less than 24 hours old. He looked around for signs of what was killed or what had done it, but found almost nothing. With little more than small tufts of fur and a few large footprints to go off of, he retreated back into the city. It was dark and he had no intention of meeting what every predator had left those large tracks, especially not at night.

Before long he found where he would be sleeping for the night. It was once an old bank, however little of it remained. What he hoped to find inside was the vault. Most banks made them giant steel cubes with only one way in or out, the perfect place to camp for the night. As he crossed the threshold into the building an eerie cry rose out of the night. It had an almost human quality to it and sent a chill down the man’s spine. His luck or whatever had been keeping him alive held out, as he found not only a vault inside, but it was open too. He stepped into it and pulled the heavy steel door shut. The night vision on the helmet kicked in and he could see clear as day inside the deathtrap. He set his gear down and activated a chem light to light up the space before taking his helmet off.

He had left the drone in the lobby of the building. It wasn't flying, but sitting on the counter. It would scan for movement and if any was detected would warn the iron clad man inside. He sat in almost darkness as he ate he food and drank his water before going to sleep for the night. He was restless, haunted by the nightmares of being the last human alive. When the sun rose he sat up and took a few minutes to collect himself before putting his gear back on and leaving the building. On his way out the door he picked up his tiny companion and re-attached it to the suit at his lower back. “Thanks for watching my back Virgil.”

He headed south. His survival training had always taught him that when in doubt head south. Even if you down find civilization, you will find a nice war beach, eventually. He passed the bloody patch of dirt and kept moving past it. He kept his eye pealed for any movement and listened for anything other than the old groans of the skeletons above him. As he neared the south end of the city he felt a low rumble in the ground. He stopped dead in his tracks and raised his weapon up ready to shoot. He scanned around him slowly, turning a full 360 degrees before facing forward again. Just in time to see the dust cloud rise up before a pack of impossibly large lizard creatures rounded the corner. “F**k me,” was all he could get out before lowering his rifle and turning to the side to sprint for cover. If his luck held out the monsters didn't see him or wouldn't take chase.

Several of the longest minutes passed before Logan dared to move. Whatever those creature where had stopped running not far from where he saw them. There was no telling where they were at now. He got up and looked around the building he dove into. He needed to find a way to blend in with this environment. He looked around the streets around him. The only thing he saw that would help him was that everything seemed to be sand blasted and had a slight tan tint to it. He also saw a few tumble weeds here and there. He thought for a moment before reaching into his pack and pulling out the poncho he had grabbed in the vault. He found a pile of sand in the corner of his building and walked over to it. He laid out the poncho before spraying some adhesive glue he had found in his locker. He grabbed handfuls of the sand and sprinkled it on the glue until the poncho looked like a layer of sand on the ground. Now he needed something to break up his outline. He peeked out the door and looked around against the building. He was in luck; against the build was a dead grassy looking plant. “Perfect.” He pulled the plant up and walked back over to the poncho to add the finishing touches.

After finishing his camouflage he pulled the poncho over his head. The hood helped hid the shape of his head hid the face of his helmet in murky darkness. The grass he had grabbed stuck out around his shoulders and head, so that at a distance it wouldn't look like a head and shoulders peeking out of something. Only thing left to cover was his rifle. After a few moments of searching he found what might have been some old newspaper that looked like it had absorbed the dirt over time. He wrapped it loosely around his rifle, making it look more like a pipe covers in debris. He moved to the door and looked around once more before stepping out into the street.

As he stepped out into the twilight he reached on his back and activated Virgil. He kept his companion at his lower back, it had not fully charged yet, and he didn't need it flying back to him at the wrong time. He looked around trying to find some high ground that would be safe to climb. After weighing his options the only building suitable would be one of two to his south. They had a slight gap between them as if there was another smaller building between them. He could not see the road on the other side of the building and assumed he was looking at the back of them. He lay down on his belly against the edge of the building and started to make his way towards the buildings. It would be slow progress but he would get there just as the sun would be setting.

© 2015 NuclearBunnie

Author's Note

This is the old version of my story The Last of His Kind. The start of the new one can be found here; http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/NuclearBunnie/1536983/