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The Last Man Part 5

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The Last Man Part 5 By C.A Helmling Charlie dragged his feet achingly through the dust. The storm had lasted through the night. His clothes and bare feet caked with the mud dried from walking in the sun all the next day. The portable shelter failed to deploy last night. It and the pack were fried from passing through the shield and was not recharging the air cylinder he swapped out earlier. That left him only one spare, each only lasting twenty hours he estimated. He would not make it too much farther at this rate but sleeping would use up air without gaining any ground. A.R.I.A would not power on as well, leaving him without information like where he was and what might be nearby. So Charlie continued north, as best as the moving sun could confirm it. At least he wasn't hot. As barren as the landscape was, he was already far enough north that the air was cool during the day and bordered on cold at night. He pushed on in the hope he would find some kind of structure he may use to look at the survival pack and get it working again. The other option was walking until he collapsed and or ran out of air and suffocated. His foot refused to lift enough and threw him to the ground for what seemed the sixth time now. "Brilliant." He muttered through the mud spattered mask. "Never were graceful were you Charlie." He heard in a semi-jovial familiar voice. He peered up to the visage of Todd, sitting on a rock as he would his workout bench in times past. "You could trip on air." "You are not here," Charlie groaned, pulling himself upright again, "you are long dead at this point. I know you are not real. I'm dehydrated, starving, exhausted and because of that I'm hallucinating. " "Yet, here I am." His friend smiled as Charlie once more continued his trudging journey. This did nothing to dissuade his friend from continuing the conversation as he slid into step beside him. "Charlie, my boy, how can you be the last man on a planet full of women and be miserable?" "Because I'm not YOU!" Charlie screamed, feeling immediately stupid for yelling at someone who doesn't exist. Yet he felt better. Some weight he could not explain had been lifted from him. Not a lot, but he could feel it. So in the shadow of this sudden comparative elation, Charlie continued. "The world would certainly be your oyster if it had been you. But it wasn't, because YOU never would have been desperate enough to risk being frozen to impress Tessa. YOU would have probably just slept with her, fiancé be damned and would have left her broken over her infidelity for falling for your charms." Not-Todd looked at Charlie in shock, "am I really that horrible a person to you?" He was walking backwards now, having outpaced Charlie's struggling gait easily. "Let me see," he replied sarcastically. "Remember the Sapperson twins? You roped me in with the promise that they would not only be interested in me but that there was one for each of us. Did it ever occur to you when you were with them BOTH that night that I wasn't EVEN INVOLVED? That I was nowhere around?" Charlie panted behind the mask, he turned his face to the ground as he continued to push on forward struggling to keep the pack centered on his back. "Or Lori Mills? After she talked about you all night on our date, I suppose I really shouldn't have been so surprised after dropping her off at home that she was leaving your place the next morning. I mean, I guess I should have expected it." Charlie continued as he walked, incident after incident was laid out before his non-existent friend. Tonya, Ami, Sarna, Maria the list continued, girls and women who talked him up or let him take them out only to get close to his friend. "So, my so-called best friend, YOU tell me if you were a horrible person. I know you didn't make them want you instead, but did it once make you think you shouldn't have slept with them based on how they treated me? Don't bother with an answer. You aren't even real and I'm done with you anyway. Go away." Not-Todd looked aghast, "Charlie, you wouldn't send away…" "I said GO!" And at that he was staring off into the dark night. Dark, it was dark he realized. The sun had set while he had been haranguing the ghosts of his past. How long ago he didn't know. Nor how far he had walked. The freezing wind bit at him, though the cold seemed muffled by the layers of dirt, thankfully. Suddenly the beeping of his mask at its empty canister told him it had been many hours at least. Charlie unslung his pack and retrieved the last spare air canister. After he unplugged the old one and slapped it in he swore as the readout read only enough for six hours. This one had not charged completely before the pack went down. He slung the pack once more and hurried across the dark dusty ground. Charlie made it two hours before the sky opened up again. The world dissolved into mud half a shin deep as he was forced to pull himself through it. The lightning danced around him as the cold rain poured over his body, and still he walked on for hours. Before him the haze of rain became white in what he assumed was fog lifting from cold rain rising off the ground as vapor. With an audible sucking sound he pulled another leg out of the muck but when he brought it down this time it did not sink. He moved across ground more solid than before but his mask began screaming its alerts that the last canister was nearly depleted. Charlie struggled to breathe, struggled to walk, and struggled to find a reason to care about continuing to do either. He was ready to lie down and end it all. He understood suffocation was a peaceful way to go, if he remembered right. "Charlie Ellis is not going to roll over and give up." Not-Todd stood there once again, haloed in the rain and mist, dressed like he was ready for the gym. "This is why you should have been working out with me. You have to keep going, Charlie. Push yourself. Make your body obey you. It is just a little further now. Don't give up. The Charlie I knew wouldn't give up." "What?" Asked Charlie confused. "What is a little further? What are you talking about?" He continued to stumble forward, walking towards the vision of his old friend. "You're going to love it Charlie, trust me." Not-Todd said encouragingly. Charlie continued to walk at the specter of his friend, when his foot suddenly failed to find the ground. Charlie fell forward, passing through what felt like a net made of wire. As they tangled around him he found himself underwater. The mask kept him from drowning but it was emitting a shrill alarm indicating the canister was empty. Charlie struggled to find footing in the tangling web. When his feet touched ground though the cables he pushed against it and stood. He tore off the mask, hoping choking on the air would somehow be better than suffocation. But Charlie inhaled breathable air. It was somewhat thinner than what it was through the mask but it was clean. The storm had petered out and the clouds were breaking overhead. A bright moon illuminated the water revealing the net to be vines. The vines covered the water completely and stretched into the distance to climb up a building that was slowly being revealed in the spreading light. Charlie waded through the water, eventually finding a pathway that aligned with what must be the front entrance, still vine covered but walkable. The vines crawling up the building gave the entrance a cave-like appearance. The glass had been busted out and the shards long since ground to sand. Charlie took a leaf from the vines in his fingers and examined it. "Kudzu," he muttered to himself, "I guess that stuff really is unkillable." Charlie popped the small drone off the pack, and although the control systems in the survival pack were fried, he was able to fiddle the light on and hold it in his hand. As he stepped into the cavernous lobby he passed by a plaque near the doors. Charlie's heart nearly stopped as he read on the plaque, "Williamson Tower. Erected two-thousand twenty-eight. Chief Architect and Engineer: Charlie Ellis." "Good God Todd, was it really you leading me here?" He whispered. He moved on and found a breakroom behind the main desk and located a comfortable spot to sleep. Breathing freely and exhausted, he slipped into unconsciousness. The next morning was occupied by exploration. According to the directory in the lobby several decades after construction the building ceased being Williamson headquarters and became rental offices. From fashion to automotive manufacturing offices the tenants were varied, including a media company headquarters and even a dentist office. Charlie, thinking his submission would never be approved, had gone all out in his design. He designed the building to practically be a fortress. Apparently Luther Williamson liked the idea and Charlie's plans were accepted. The roofs even included solar panels to augment municipal power and the top of the tower under the communications arrays even sported some wind turbines. All of which seemed to have been actually built. So an expedition to the sub levels revealed not only lithium storage banks that filled a room but that centuries of unutilized generation had filled all of the pods to one hundred percent. Repairing a few connections and replacing some fuses should be all that separated Charlie from restoring power. This led him to his next great discovery. Another plaque awaited Charlie at the maintenance level. It was personally dedicated by his friend Todd. On it was a quote, "the heart of any building is a well stocked maintenance shop." It was something Charlie had said to Todd on the night they had broken into the university maintenance building to borrow tools to build their own boat for the school's lake. Todd swore it would be like honey for girls. Romantic dates on the water would have them lining up. No girl wanted anywhere near their boat. It just ended up a place where the guys could float and get drunk. The shop was three times the size he had designed it, apparently in honor of Charlie, best friend and engineer in the world. At least according to Todd's plaque. It seemed Todd noticed when he disappeared after all. The shop was also its own version of a wet dream for Charlie. State of the art milling machines, three dee printers for various metals and plastics, and some tools Charlie didn't even recognize but was anxious to get familiar with. A few fuses, some tightening and greasing of the turbines and power flowed to the tower. He packed a few select tools with him and made his way to the top floor. The president's office was spacious and well lit with its big windows. He set up on the conference table and set about fixing the pack. Out of the pack tumbled A.R.I.A. Charlie found a cord that would fit into one of the many ports on her bottom and plugged her in. He was able to reset the pack, so at least he would have a supply of air for his mask. If he was going to survive he would have to make excursions into the wastelands. He got up and walked over to the window. The tower offered a good view of the wasteland. It sat in a U-shaped section of natural hills. The rubble on top hinted they once had buildings on top. The rest was flat dry land with no other civilization as far as he could see. If he was to survive he definitely needed to chart the area around him. A soft tone behind him caught his attention from deep in his thoughts, "hello Charlie." Spoke the soft female voice. "I'm glad you are alright, A.R.I.A." he replied. "Thank you, Charlie. I appreciate your concern." She said, with simulated gratitude. "I am detecting an active wireless network. Shall I interface with it and incorporate its data?" "Knock yourself out, party girl." He replied with a chuckle. He felt relieved to hear a familiar voice even if it was artificial, "I'm glad to have you back." The thundering machine came to an abrupt halt on top of a rubble heap, the front most of its three sets of treads poking over the peak. Charlie sat on the seat, scanning the horizon in the sun. He had built himself a custom mask in the shop that was technically more of a helmet. But that seemed prudent with the open cockpit design of the vehicle he cobbled together. It was really an oversized treaded trike made from pieces of junked groundskeeper vehicles from the tower, as well as the original transport that he had crashed in with Rose on the night of his awakening. He went back for any of his personal belongings at the lab that had survived the ages. But he had made some special modifications that included a trailer to gather useful things on. What he was really hoping for was any food besides kudzu. Most all of the pieces of the vine were edible, but he had been eating it for three days and could only take so much bitter spinach taste. The helmet boasted a wedge shaped front plate over the mouth and visor with antennae ailerons on either side and even a mohawk-like ridge on the top. Charlie pressed a button on the surface of his wrist bracer and the front of the ridge opened to expose several sensor lenses that caused his vision on the visor to zoom in on the wastes in front of him. A dark smudge on the horizon caught his attention. Another icon changed the dark spot into a cluster of colors indicating it was producing heat. "Jackpot," Charlie whispered. He twisted the throttle on the handlebar, throwing dust and rocks behind him as he sped down the pile. The hydrogen motor roared, replenishing the draining battery losing charge from the speed. As he closed in on his target, he turned away from it a hundred yards out, facing away from it. Charlie hopped off the seat and walked over the trailer as the ramp lowered. Another touch of the screen on the underside of his forearm resulted in a screech of feedback as his amplifier hummed to life. "Hey! Ugly! Over here." He shouted as he waved. One of the beasts he had come to call berserkers stood and roared in disapproval before dropping back to all fours and charging at him. A few more fiddles with his arm control and a boom rose out of the vehicle's left fender and rotated around to face the rear. A reticle appeared in his vision, and he moved his open hand to adjust it on his visor. The animal was under a dozen meters out when the cross aligned and Charlie closed his fist. The arm on the bike let off a boom as a harpoon-like projectile launched out of the it. The point struck the beast in the chest and hurled it back three meters. When the point exited its back, four prongs folded out and grasped onto it. Charlie touched the band and a winch began to pull the carcass onto the trailer. Charlie patted its rump as it slid up the ramp, "sorry girl, but you are worth so much meat to offset that damn kudzu." As he settled onto the bike, berserker secured on his trailer, he saw another dark shape tucked under the shade of a boulder in the distance. He fired up his conveyance and sped toward the shape. As he neared, the shape became more and more familiar. He dropped next to the big woman and shook her gently. "Discorda. Discorda?" He spoke in a firm but gentle tone, but the giant didn't rouse. He opened his sensors and saw she was still very much warm and alive. She still wore the sneaksuit, but had ripped the arms off in her journey. Her mask had forty-five minutes of air left so he traded its canister out for one of his spares. She wore the shin and crotch guards of the golden guard so he figured she snuck out as one of them at one point, probably to follow him into the wastes. The muscular woman was maybe twice his mass at his estimate, so getting her on to the back of his trike took a lot of effort. But she was eventually secured. Discorda awoke on a couch in an unfamiliar room and sat bolt upright. An action she immediately regretted as the room decided to start quickly revolving around her, causing her to fall back into the cushions. Charlie peeked his head around the door, "take it easy," he said, stepping slowly into the room. "..Arly.." she squeezed out hoarsely. "Yea it's me. Take it easy, you are still dehydrated and probably suffering from exhaustion." He moved his hands around in the positions that communicated, 'don't try to talk just for me.' "A.R.I.A has been teaching me your signing." He set a plate down on a coffee table by the sofa. "I have food and water for you," the plate had chunks of meat with sautéd leaves and flowers. "I'm not sure if you have eaten or do even eat meat." She shook her head, "I sure didn't get any during my imprisonment at either tower, so I didn't know. But it's from one of those berserker beasts you and I put down. And those are kudzu leaves and blossoms, the greens taste kind of like spinach and the flowers taste like roasted apples. I have also been trying to make a tea from the bigger, tougher leaves I have managed to dry out." 'Is it good?' She signed. Charlie shook his head, "not particularly. Although the lack of sweetener doesn't help." He helped her sit up and lay back against the sofa, then handed her cup with water. "I repurposed the fire system to filter the pond outside. I think it works well." She raised an eyebrow at him then shrugged drinking some. She set the cup down and signed, 'Rose?' "She was pinned in the wreck. She told me to run and that she would find me. I shouldn't have left her. I feel like a coward." She looked at him, 'no. It was smart. Mother would not hurt her, I would not think.' She picked up a fork and tasted the food. After a bite of the vegetables she made a so-so motion with her hand. "I found some little packages of seeds in the gift shop. Mostly flowers, some herbs. If they grow, I'll have some spices to use." He winked at her. She poked at the meat and finally put one in her mouth. Her face suddenly lit up as her eyes grew wide. "Oh, you like it?" He laughed. "Yeah, meat's not so bad, huh? It's especially kind of satisfying if it's from something that was trying to kill you earlier." She finished the plate after that, and had some more water. Charlie took the plate, "you lie back and rest a bit until you are better, and then I will give you the grand tour." He found her sitting up already when he brought her more food that night. She ate more confidently this time, appreciating even the kudzu dish. She signed, 'thank you' when she was done. True to his word the two toured the building. Charlie had found an employee locker room attached to the gym where he augmented his own wardrobe. He took Discorda there so she could find some more clothes and use the spa to bathe before changing. She had found a smock to wear and some work boots to wear. He didn't expect her to wear something so akin to a dress, but he saw how much she smiled wearing it. She even twirled a time or two flaring the hem out. "I guess people neither expect nor give you the chance to be girly, huh?" He couldn't stop smiling as he asked. She shook her head and gave a small pouty expression. "Well that's a shame because you look lovely. There's no expectations here so feel free to be as girly as you want whenever you want." He finished his statement with a bow and she curtsied in return. They continued the tour, Charlie showed her everything the building had to offer and everything he was working on. "The kudzu vines not only produce enough breathable air without need for a shield but they seem to scrub the toxins out of it as well. That wall of mist at the end of the U in the hills seems to be the boundary. I think the hills focus the pocket around the tower." Charlie lectured on and Discorda not only didn't seem to be annoyed but it was like she enjoyed him talking. This was totally new to him but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. They entered some kind of grand ballroom that had an entire ceiling of gabled glass. Discorda looked around in awe. The sun overhead lit the room as bright as outside. 'This could be a garden.' She signed. "Not a bad thought. We could grow more than kudzu if we could find the seeds." He replied. "We could bring some dirt up in a laundry tote and I could rework the sprinklers…" She smiled as she could see his mind working. "Enlightenment has a seed store if I could get in without being arrested.' She told him. "No I wouldn't risk you on that, Rose would never forgive me." He said, his head sinking thinking of her just now. "A.R.I.A, any news of Rose or Squad Three?" The A.I. was completely integrated into the building now. And could hear and speak through different systems inside. "There has been no word on her or them on social channels. No official charges or news of punishment. It is like they disappeared." "I don't like that." He said to Discorda. And she nodded in agreement. They spent two days on the garden. Charlie rerouted water and built boxes that discorda filled with dirt that mixed regular wasteland dirt with darker earth from spots under the vines. He transferred the pots of herbs and some flowers from his pots. He figured if they grew in it, then it could grow crops as well. All they needed now were seeds. Afterward, Charlie had been cooking food in a little cafe kitchen in the lobby. He had washed up after they had finished the garden today and figured they were both extra hungry after a hard day's work. Charlie was setting the food down when Discorda entered the cafe. She was barefoot and had stitched together a dress out of some t-shirts in the gift shop. While she was in there it appeared she found some make-up as well. 'How do I look?' her hands asked. Charlie became aware he was just standing there, staring at her, "oh, um. You look lovely." He stammered. 'Thank you,' was her response. 'I thought, maybe, we should celebrate.' From behind her back appeared a bottle. It was a dessert wine from the gift shop. Charlie knew he was hardly an expert on women, but from the way she stood to the expression on her face he felt she was trying to be coy. He felt queasy for some inexplicable reason. It was not that she wasn't attractive. The t-shirt dress was tight enough on her to reveal the curves in her body. And she definitely curved in all the right places. And while it could be scary how much bigger she was than him, it in no way made her unappealing. But his mind kept drifting back to Rose. He was certainly tempted, but this was her sister here, what kind of man would that make him. Would that make him as bad as Todd? Part of him screamed that he was being a fool. Rose was taken and she was also way out of his league. She wasn't the kind of girl that would notice him, but if he was honest he wouldn't have thought Discorda would have either. But here she was, gussied up for him, it seemed and trying to flirt. She was obviously uncomfortable with it and not at all practiced. But to him she was doing an outstanding job of trying to be irresistible. He rushed around to pull a chair out for her. He was still unsure what he wanted to happen, but neither did he want to kill the mood. After all he had been on a few dates, and unlike any of them, it seemed like she genuinely wanted to be here. "I tried making a stew," he said as he sat, his mouth was dry for some reason. "The meat, some young leaves, buds and vine shoots. There was some salt and pepper in the cafe closet, so it's actually seasoned, kind of." His voice trailed off dryly at the end so gulped some water and gave a throat clearing laugh afterward. She tasted it and remained over the bowl so she could look up at him. He could definitely see down her neck line. She sat up and signed, "it's wonderful, Charlie." She reached over and opened the bottle. She poured some into two water glasses and passed one to him. It was fruity smelling and not strong. 'I think the outer rim of the garden should be food but can the center be flowers and blooming plants?' She signed. ' it would be nice to have some pretty things around, don't you think? Should we have more pretty things around, Charlie?' She finished this last sentence with a toss of her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, I… um…I agree, pretty is a good thing…" he stammered. She scooted in her seat nearer to him, 'didn't you once tell me you thought I was pretty?' She began to lean in closer causing Charlie to breathe rapidly to the point he feared he may hyperventilate. "Not that I don't…" he began just as her lips touched his. Two separate reactions screamed at Charlie for dominance. The fact that his head knew that it was nice, comforting and exciting, and the fact that his heart really wanted this to be Rose kissing him. He pulled away, breaking the kiss as his heart won out. "Um, not that… I mean that was really nice… I… I think you are very pretty… it's just… I mean…" he stammered like a grade schooler as Discorda looked at him. Her face was more concerned than mad, which was a relief because he didn't want to die just because he said no. "Oh for the love of…, I still can't talk to a woman." He muttered as he put his hand over his eyes as he hung his head and sighed. That was when he became aware of the sound she was making. It sounded like a wheeze followed by a clucking sound. He looked up at the broad smile she wore while making it and realized, "you're laughing at me. That's a laugh, right?" He asked as he found he couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face as well. "Well, that is just the most amazing laugh I think I've ever heard. I have to hear that more often now. I have to get you to laugh more." She calmed down, still wearing a huge smile and just signed, 'Rose?" "Yes," he nodded, "I know I am not someone who has a chance with her. I mean, she is so out of my league. But all my life I have thought to myself that all I wanted was some girl to show even a little interest, to do what you just did and I'd be satisfied. But here I am and all I can think about is her." He looked at her. She had stopped laughing, and looked at him sadly. "Pathetic, don't you think?" She now gave him a wry smile, 'I like you Charlie. And I know Rose really likes you. I have never seen her with other people like she is around you. So I am sure many women have liked you. But you need to like you. No one wants to be around someone who doesn't like themselves. So get to know the Charlie we know and he may surprise you. ' She picked up her glass in a toast, 'to building a better world." "To building a better world. Because we could hardly do worse." He replied as they clinked them together. 'No, Charlie.' She told him, 'we have you. We couldn't ask to do better.' The waste stretched out ahead of him. Discorda had taken to hunting like a fish to water. He had repaired a downed transport and rigged it up with a winch.Leaving him time to search for scrap to aid in upgrading the tower. The fabricators and the power pods were in a perpetual state of tug of war over supply and demand printing out things day and night. Memory foam for furniture padding and bedding was particularly consuming. But it wasn't like you could find mattresses and cushions that hadn't rotted after hundreds of years. The whirr of supercompression turbines echoed across the plains. The golden yellow markings on the transport told him the golden guard had homed in on him again. Charlie gunned the throttle on his trike and kicked up a cloud of dust as he sped off. The craft fell into position behind him, trying to keep above the plume of dust as he ran. He pitched the nose down an embankment into a gully that may have been an old river bank long ago. The ground here was like slabs of solid stone and Charlie lost his smokescreen. He began to slowly decelerate, feigning losing power. "Deploy chaff." He said into his helmet. Two five gallon bucket sized metal pods folded up from under the backside of the trike. The transport, feeling they could now press the advantage, began to close the distance between the two vehicles. As they gained Charlie slammed on his brakes allowing the craft to pass over. Just as it was overtop he pushed a button on his handlebars. The pods let out a thunderous clap as dozens of foot long pieces of rebar flew into the sky. Some passed by the craft untouched as the spread out into the air chaotically, some bounced off the carbon fiber hull harmlessly, but a couple slipped through the rings of one of the fans. The blades spun around, three layers spinning in two directions, until they contacted one of the metal rods and pinched onto it like three bladed scissors. The fan stopped in an instant and the craft pitched violently in the direction of the stopped engine. With how low to the ground they were in trying to follow Charlie, the corner struck the Earth almost immediately. The transport bounced and flipped over in one neat turn, landing on its roof and sliding to a stop. Charlie waited until the hatch opened and the pilot and her three bruisers crawled out under the ramp. He keyed up his loudspeaker and asked, "is everyone ok?" He couldn't help but laugh when one of the ladies actually waved and got her hand smacked down by the commander. He waved back and sped off, up and over the edge of the ravine. The commander radioed for pick up and the guardswomen milled about a bit until another transport showed up. After the crew of the crashed ship boarded and flew away, Charlie came diving back down the ravine. He had re-hitched the trike to his trailer that he had stashed under an outcropping nearby and attached the end of his winch to the downed craft. He was pulling it onto the trailer when he was interrupted by a voice. "Well if that isn't a nifty catch you've got there." Two people stood before Charlie. The first one was short but round, but that seemed to be from being wrapped in various patterned clothes. Long stringy black hair dangled from the sock hat they wore. In their mouth was what resembled a mouthpiece for scuba gear. Two hoses trailed from it to behind the stranger's back. The other stood there in an overcoat and pants that looked like they stepped off the set of a pirate movie. They wore a standard mask like what Charlie wore on the night of his awakening. But what stood out the most was poking out around the bottom of the mask. A full beard, making Charlie sure that what he was looking at was another man.

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