《I Am the Last》 Prologue: The Meeting
"Hey Mommy, who''s that?" I ask pulling on my mom''s hand as I point towards the person partway down the block. She looks down at me before following where I''m pointing to the person standing there looking into the mirror. "Hmm, I don''t really know Sweetheart. Why don''t we go over and ask him? It''s not everyday we see a new person in town." She replies with a hint of a smile in her tone. I beem up at her before tugging her down the block, unaware of what all life would have in store for me. ----- Looking at myself in the mirror I sigh. I''m wearing my black long coat, decent boots, and my wide brimmed hat. Reaching up I tug at my beard gently, "shoulda fucking shaved. Go figure, always forget something." "Hey lady, what''s your name? And what''s that on your face?" I jump and turn towards the voice, seeing a little blonde girl in a flowery dress and a business type brunette holding her hand. I watch as she flashes a look of disdain down towards the girl before looking back to me, a look of Hunger and success in her eyes. "Please forgive my daughter, Annabelle is rather blunt, but means well." Turning towards her daughter she tells her quietly, "now sweetie, be nice. Mommy''s gotta make a call real quick, I forgot something at work and am going to have someone bring it home for me." She then pulls a phone out of her pocket and turn and walks a few steps away before placing a call.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Turning towards the girl and squatting down to her level I tell her, "we''ll shorty, my names Cairn. And this stuff on my face is called a beard." She smiles up to me with a big toothy smile, one of her front teeth missing. "My names Annabelle, and that''s my mommy, she works at the ins-ins-institute." "Well Little Annabelle," I say whIle pulling out a small package from inside my coat, "I need to be on my way, I still have a bit of shopping I need to get done." Giving her the package I get up and turn away and rush, though slowly, back towards my home. ----- "Yes, yes that''s correct. I need a full team dispatched immidiately. Yes, visual confirmation. Hurry! He''s escaping!" ---------- 17 years later ---------- I gaze out my window, the fireworks on the horizon lighting up the clear night sky. Subconsciously I tug at my packs straps, the weight familiar, horrifyingly so. Looking down at my watch I sigh, nine hundred years ago this world flipped. And I''ve had to suffer through all of it. From a medical standpoint I''m practically immortal. I can''t get sick, don''t age, and heal rediculously quickly. It''s torture. The disease that cropped up literally overnight affected the entirety of human population. Women had it easy, mild stomach cramping and low fevers. Men on the other hand, they died. Rapidly. It was deemed total body failure, fevers of over 110, kidney and liver failure, and, over the course of roughly 10 hours, complete neural shutdown. Reaching down and pulling a small leatherbound book off my desk I head to the door, looking back over this year''s home, a simple cabin, open floorplan, dirt floors. Sliding my book into my bag I head out, the light of a lamp behind me, the light of civilization before. Time to go pay a visit to a dear little friend. Time to go see Annabelle Chapter 1 20xx- a cloaked person takes a seat at a table, with 14 already sitting. as the person finishes getting settled, anther rises from the head of the table and begins speaking. "thank you all for attending today. as of this moment, the meeting shall begin." A feminine voice comes from under the hood before taking a seat. another rises shortly after, "I am glad to announce that HAMSTRING has been completed. if you would please take a look at the pamphlets set before you, I will go over it in finer detail." A rustling of paper occurs as everyone picks up the packets in front of them. seeing everyone having them in hand, the person continues, "as you''ll see, HAMSTRING is incredibly effective. it has a 97 percent fatality rate among males, and among the survivors a 99.99 percent removal rate of the ability to produce male offspring. In females, within only a few hours, has a 100 percent success rate of causing miscarrige. it has been optimized to work solely on the himan population, and have no effect on either plant or wildlife. even further, it is able to be trasmitted via air, liquid, and pest, with the ability to survive for up to 2 weeks outside of a host." after saying such the person sits, and yet another rises. "concerning operation AMAZONIA, all regulated commercial and industrial transportation has been outfitted with the devices required to spread HAMSTRING over the world with 100 percent coverage. all that we need is the word to begin the operation." the person says while looking expectantly to the person sitting at the head of the table before sitting. "well, there we have it ladies," the person says while standing up and removing the hood, revealing a woman in the later years of her life. "thanks to our joint efforts over the past couple years, and to an unprecedented all woman world leadership, we can finally set into motion operation AMAZONIA. we shall begin on the second day of the next new year, January second, and continue for 2 days. this will ensure complete global saturation what with all the post holiday travel. thank you all for attending, and remember, all of this must be kept completely from the public. once the Institution is established, the director shall be informed at our discretion. this meeting is now adjourned." She turns and leaves through the door behind her seat as the others rise and leave through the main entrance. -January 3rd, 20xx- "Jon, Jon?! get the cameras off! what the hells happeneing?!" the tv beeps in the background as I look up to see a blue screen telling me the regularly scheduled programming will return shortly, after technical errors have been fixed. "ugh, finally have cable, and can''t even watch the news." I sigh as I gently rub my temples, an ears splitting headache coming on. looking over I pull up the news on my cell, and stare shocked at the headlines.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Mass Casualties Worldwide. Unprecedented Hospital Visits. Global Plague? Sighing I turn and head over to my computer, booting up into my favorite reading site, sitting down and going over a favorite of mine and beginning from chapter 1 of a xianxia esque novel. several minutes later and several chapters down the road I hear my phone ring. picking it up I answer to one of my Co workers. "Hey man you doing okay? everyone from work guy wise is in the hospital, your the only one we didn''t hear from." "yeah yeah, I''m fine, just a headache and a little nausea. do you need me to come in?" "honestly, no. we''re closed for the day with all the shit that''s been going on. about 20 minutes ago yet another news caster collapsed on the air, and it''s been going on like that since last night." "Well ain''t that just nice. any idea of the pattern to the collapses?" "Only thing I know is the only ones collapsing are all guys. my roommates doing overtime getting them all admitted and checked up on." "Well then. I''ll definitely let you know if anything happens on my end. by the way the next chapters up. give it a read sometime." "will do Cairn. bye." "toodaloo." I say as I hang up. I chuckle as I get back to reading. "god damn, everyone''s sick. well thankfully I''m on vacation all week." -several hours later- "...This is a mandatory Government announcement, all men are required to register at the nearest government building at your earliest convenience. this message will be repeated..." I look over at the tv, and at the text message on my phone. shaking my head I get back to my game, "I''ll just get that called in in a few minutes, only have a few minutes left on the dungeon." *jurrasic park rIngtone plays* I pick up my phone and answer it, too focused on the screen in front of me to check who it is. "Thank god you answered Cairn. They''re dying. roommate just got back and told me." Shocked I stop playing completely and focus on the call. "wait, what!??" "Our coworkers are dying," I hear through muffled sobs, "Alan, Cameron, and Lex died. Steven and Ron are on life support, but don''t have very long left, don''t know about the rest of them. What''s happening? What''s going on? and then that announcement came on.." "Hang on hang on. calm down. there''s gotta be some logical explanation for this. all those people smoke, so it''s probably just a very lethal bug in the tobacco." "It''s not just smokers though, it''s everyone!" the voice says in irritation, "and it doesn''t explain the announcement." "Well, to be fully honest, my guess is the announcement is to try and find what''s going on and to keep track of who all isn''t sick and if there''s and possible vaccine for what''s going around." "makes sense I guess. oh by the way, loved the story, can''t wait for more." "Well I''m on vacation all week, so there should be quite alot more on the way." "awesome, anyways, sorry for bugging you. just was worried and scared about what all was going on." "sno problem, anyways talk to yiu later." I hang up and look back at my game, kicked out of the dungeon for taking too much time in completing it. I huff in agitation before shutting down the computer and pulling on my shoes. headed towards the door I pull on my coat and check my pockets for my wallet before heading on towards the post office, that being the closest government building to me. CHAPTER 2 I stroll into the post office, the scent of sanitizer mingled with an otherworldly silence. striding over to the counter I ring the bell, waiting for someone to come and assist me. mere moments later a lady in a black pantsuit comes to the other side of the counter. "Sir, are you here to complete your registration?" "No," I say snarkley, "just here to pick up a package, is it that obvious?" She laughs smugly before continuing, "we''ll then, let''s continue. full name?" "Cairn Sospes Oslow." "Date of Birth?" "January 27th, 199x" "Age at time of Infection?" "I''m infected? the hell?" "Yes Mr. Oslow, it has been deemed that every man on earth has been infected. now, your age?" "22." "Marital Status?" "Single." "symptoms you have experienced over the course of the past day?" "Does a headache count?" "Yes Mr. Oslow. Headaches do count. Any other symptoms?" "Well I have had a bout of nausea. but I get that periodically anyways." "Duly noted," say tells me as she finishes writing and places all the documents inside a manilla folder, "Mr. Oslow, is your Drivers Lisence photo current?" "I believe so, I just had to update it a month ago with my move up here." "Good, we''ll use that for your files photo. Thank you for your time Mr. Oslow, if we need anything further well be in touch." she says as she turns away and proceeds to leave.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "we?" I ask myself. "who''s We?" before turning and leaving for home. -2 weeks later- sitting down in front of the tv I turn it on to the nation news channel. "Mass Casualties have been noted worldwide from the epidemic, with an estimated final death count of roughly 3.3 billion. The disposal process has proceeded favorably, 75 percent of the deceased have been cremated so far." "Madame President, if I may be allowed to ask, do we know what caused this?" "Well, it has been hypothesized that some prehistoric virus was released from an underground cave system. we currently have groups working on finding the source and I will inform the public at the time we come to a conclusion." "Thank you Madame President. Now back to other news, the remaining leaders of the Worlds governments have joined together under the sanction and urgings of United Nations, And founded the Institution. we know currently that the Institution is requesting men come in willingly to be tested for any residual effects of this deadly pathogen. no further information has been made available to us concerning this matter." Turning the tv off I look around my living room. sparsely furnished, with only a tv, couch, and end table, I reach over and grab my phone from the end table and place a call." "Institute Call Center, How may I best direct your call?" "My names Cairn Oslow, and I need to be put though to your Public Relations department." "Please hold." I listen to the old melodramatic tunes coming over the handset for several minutes. "Mr. Oslow, it''s so nice to speak with you. My name is Karin Oschwick, what can we do for you today?" "I just have a few questions." "Awesome," She says in a very happy go lucky manner, "I''ll do my best to answer them." "Alright, am I required to come in at some point in time? or can I just disregard all of the requests with no consequences?" "well, at some point it may become required for you to come into one of our branch offices, but currently there is no need for to arrive. anything else?" "not today thank you." I hang up promptly, and start pacing back and forth through my house, planning, waiting. -50 years later- I log into my pc, completing a multi step verification to access one of the many encrypted servers I have access to. scrolling down through a forum link I browse over all the information that was posted while I was away, things from more men turning themselves over to the Instutution, successful tests conducted that solidify men being nearly indestructible, and one that repeats consistently thoughout. -they''re looking for us, and dragging us in. total known remaining men free, 217. unknown location, 5.- scrolling to the bottom I click on the new post icon and type in my check in and location. -Northern Rocky Mountains, Cairn Oslow.- I wait several minutes before a reply comes to my post -Mr. Oslow, We''ve been worried. considering the sparse population centers thoughout your roaming area we had reason to believe you haven''t been picked up yet, but 3 weeks is rather long for your check in. take care. Mr. Green- I turn off my pc after reading and look over the valley underneath my cabin, a single city in the center being the only source of light in the dark of night.