The Last Man on Earth / @jerrybanfield's Supernatural Writing Contest - SWC

My entry for the Supernatural Writing Contest(SWC) by @jerrybanfield

Dave is weathered and grisled. He appears dirty, malnourished and if you look closely into his blue eyes you can tell that his soul is broken. He is sitting alone on a stump in a heavily wooded area next to a makeshift campsite. There is a lush green backdrop and Dave is speaking directly into a video recording device.

Dave
“Today began just like every other one. Waking up to a world free of homeland security threat level alerts and commercial pop garbage on the radio. I should feel blessed, but yet I still struggle to see my place in this world. I am also tired of setting up myself to fail each morning because I foolishly think that“ today is the day something will change.” In my heart I know the truth...I know that society has destroyed this planet. I know that even before the civilized world collapsed children were dying everyday from starvation and that our society was filled with people who were inherently selfish. Today, I will be brave enough to make my stand. Today something is going to change. Today, the last man on Earth is going to take his own life.”

By 2045, the human race is on the brink of extinction. Decades earlier, in an attempt control rapidly rising death tolls, the governments of the world placed medical chips in all people to monitor their heart rate. This was a last ditch effort to more effectively save lives from disease, high carbon levels and erratic temperatures. It was to no avail. The slow, painful extinction of our species was inevitable.

Dave continues speaking directly into the recorder.

Dave
“Gail had her mother's eyes. As a baby she would step onto my feet and make me walk her around the playpen. I can feel her soft, miniature toes now on top of me now. I can hear her cheers of joy as she ordered me around. I would follow her every direction without hesitation. It felt as if we were one, bonded together, never coming undone.”

Dave pauses and looks at his portable video recorder. He swipes the screen and it reveals that the name of the device is Caduceus. The primary use of this device is to track heartbeats and find their location on a GPS map. Caduceus has seen better days you can tell that this machine was once chrome, clean and polished. Now it is weathered and looks like it has been through a war. Along with being a heartbeat tracker, this all-inclusive gadget is equipped with a drinking water evaluator, video camera, artificial intelligence and every other application that you could think of. At the time of its creation what makes Caduceus so appealing was the technology used for producing the battery. The battery is nuclear, basically, you are carrying a safe, hand held nuclear reactor in your pocket with a battery that has a lifespan of 5 to 6 years. Dave has been clinging to Caduceus since he began his journey four and a half years ago, his only companion, hoping to track another human heartbeat. After quickly swiping, looking at the GPS map to see if there were any other human pulses near by, he realizes he is alone. Dave then swipes back to the video camera, settles back into his seat on the stump and continues to speak to the camera.

Dave
“My brother John was such a prick sometimes. I remember riding home with him in a cab one night when we were young.

John slams the door of a cab in front of a bar on a Manhattan street.

John
“Can we smoke in here?”

Cab driver
“No. No you can not.”

John lit a cigarette anyway and rolled down the window. Then he moved forward in his seat to inspect the cab driver's license.

John
“Your name’s ‘Jesus?”

John is drunk and he is pronouncing Jesus as if he is speaking in Spanish. He asks again, but in a demanding and a little incredulous tone this time.

John
“Your name’s Jesus?”

The driver said nothing and I looked out the window.

John repeats, a bit adversarially. He blows smoke out the window and gestures at the driver with his cigarette.

John
“Your name’s Jesus!”

The driver isn’t paying attention. John then turned to me and makes a proclamation

John
“I’m gonna name my son Jesus.”

And then asks me a question.
John
“Do you Believe in God?”
Dave
John, you are drunk.

John
What does that mean?

Dave
Just stop.

John becomes agitated.
John
Do you believe in God?

Dave finishes talking and looks at the camera as if he came out of a trance. He takes another pause and anxiously swipes the screen again on Caduceus to check for nearby a heart beat.

For five years, Dave has been a nomad, traversing the land and barely surviving. He has been determined to find another human pulse. He has traveled up and down the East Coast of North America and he has only found death. In the upper right hand corner of Caduceus he can see a low battery light flashing and then, a notification appears on the screen stating that he has 1 hour left of battery life. Dave hesitates and finally acknowledges the notification. He knows that there isn’t much time and begins to speak to the camera once more.

Dave
“I remember our house, looking at the beach from our window, feeling my feet in the sand and seeing the majestic water. The waves were hypnotizing. The warm breeze and salty air on my face. Touching your hair, feeling your warmth. I wish I could have said I loved you more, I wish so many things.”

The low battery light is flashing and Dave places the recorder on the stump he was sitting on. He angles the device toward a tree that has a rope and noose around it.

As he is placing the rope around his neck he closes his eyes and begins to pray for the first time in his life. There is a wash of warm color in his mind. It is amber like a sunset in July. He feels the warmth of a summer sun on his face and hears the sound of waves crashing on the shoreline. He sees Gail playing as the glowing golden sun as it dances across the water.

As Dave is taking his final step the heart rate tracker begins to beep and Caduceus speaks.

Caduceus
“Heartbeat detected.”