SERENDIPITOUS: The Drabbles (AMACon Season Four)

8. Outbreak

PROMPT
The last survivor finally heard a knock on the door

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Did you ever find yourself wanting to be alone? Did you ever wish that you'd exist only by yourself so that no one can bother you? Because I have. I didn't know what came over me or maybe I knew but that day, five months ago, I have just had enough of my parents' bickering, my ex-girlfriend's nagging, my bestfriend's judging, and my work's tormenting. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to exist in world where no one were alive but me.

And I got my wish. I think.

Here I am, wallowing in loneliness in a hotel room, miserable, cold and alone, with no one to talk to. Nobody was available, not because they didn't want to talk or that they're too busy to talk, but because no one else was alive. No one but me.

Five months ago, an unknown mutated virus broke out. It wiped the entire human race, killing everyone in its path. The virus was highly lethal. It infects a person, kills it in less than two hours and once the host dies, the body releases an active virus, spreading it to into thin air. The virus doesn't die while airborne unlike the common viruses. It was also extremely contagious that once a human dies, it can immediately infect all people within a hundred mile radius in twenty minutes.

They said that patient zero was found in Russia, but it only took less than twenty four hours to infect the entire world. I witnessed everything. I saw how people just suddenly dropped dead in front of me after having multiple seizures. I saw how my parents died while choking in their own blood. I saw how my ex-girlfriend's eyes lose it's light as I was rushing her to the hospital. I saw how doctors and nurses died even while covered with all their protective gear.

And now, here I was. Alone. In case you're wondering, I was immune. I was the only person in our country lucky enough to be immune to the virus. No one else is alive. For five months, I have been searching for survivors and for five months, I still haven't found anyone.

While on my quest to find a survivor, I did my best to clean the path I take. I tried to remove the remaining dead bodies from the streets and from the places I stayed in. I needed to do it just in case someone was following me. It's my way of leaving a trace so that people will know someone's alive...if someone's alive.

Everything was still running. Cars still had gas. Buildings had electricity. Pipes had water. There were lines of communication present. I've been searching for months to find any clue of someone was still alive but there were no activity anywhere in the world wide web, not even on the largest platform of Facebook.

Don't get me wrong. It was fun during the first few months. After mourning the death of the people around me, I was happy to be alone. No one bothered me. I could work out in silence, have coffee at Starbucks in peace, shop without paying, have unrestricted access to the internet and the list goes on.

Then the bodies started decomposing. The silence started become deafening. I had to clean up the mess around me if I needed to stay alive. I needed to liven up my surrounding if I wanted to stay sane. Only then I realized that I had to move. I had to find someone, anyone in this world because I won't be able to stay alive longer if this loneliness consumes me.

As I lay in the penthouse suite of this hotel while enjoying the warmth of the whiskey shots I'm drinking, I kept hoping that I find someone soon. I kept hoping that somebody turns up. I also kept thinking that I no longer wanted to be alone.

Maybe I was meant to be alone. Maybe I was meant to die alone.

---

During the next few days, as I traveled from town to town, I kept feeling that someone was following me, observing me from afar. Or maybe it was kust my subconscious taking a toll on me. Maybe my loneliness was catching up and I was losing my mind, so I kept ignoring it and kept doing what I did.

I scavenged for food and water, cleaned the streets and looked for a place to stay. I grabbed new clothes and toiletries from the abandoned shops then made my way to the town's radio station. It was something I did. I sent out radio transmissions to anyone listening so that they will know where I am.

"Ako po si Richard Faulkerson Jr. Survivor ng viral apocalypse. Matangkad, maputi. Ang suot ko ay isang blue na t-shirt at ako'y nakapantalon. Kung sino man ang nakikinig na buhay at hindi naapektuhan ng virus tulad ko, puntahan niyo lang po ako. Ako po ay maglalagi sa Harvest Hotel. Kumatok lang kayo sa room 901. Doon niyo po ako mahahanap. Mayroon akong pagkain at tubig. Mayroom din akong mga gamot kung kailangan niyo. Pumunta lang kayo at tuulungan ko kayo."

It was always like that. No one would respond so I had to move to another town. I keep hoping that I find someone alive everytime I go to a different one.

---

It was the same night again. I was playing the PlayStation I got from the mall earlier to pass the time. It was a game called "The Last of Us". I figured I should learn survival tips from this game but the more I played it, the lonelier I felt. Then there was a knock on the door.

I looked at the peephole amd saw a lady waiting outside. Her appearance looked a lot like mine, well, considering the circumstances we are in, it would somehow be similar.

When I opened the door, she smiled then introduced herself.

"I'm Julie." I extended my hand to shake hers when suddenly, a needle pierced my neck and in a few moments, I drifted into oblivion.

When I woke up, I was tied to a hospital bed and to my right was a beautiful woman, with deep brown eyes that showed every bit of fear that she had.

"Richard, meet Maine, Maine meet Richard. Kayong dalawa lang ang naka-survive outbreak dito sa Pilipinas. We'll be running a few tests and inject you with the virus and see how you'll respond. Good luck."

I looked at Maine and tried to grab her fingers with mine. At least during these last moments, I get to be with someone again.