//------------------------------//
// Part 2: Chapter 5 
// Story: The Conversion Bureau - The Last Human 
// by Maxis122 
//------------------------------//

~The Conversion Bureau - The Last Human: Part 2: Chapter 5~
~By Maxis122~

Waking up in the morning with something warm by my side has been a thing that I have not experienced in a long time. And by that I do mean a long time - since I’ve been alone. I have lived alone and even after the conversion bureaus. I’ve been living all over London. Unfortunately, because of this, after the initial leaving of people everything went black. Therefore, I had no knowledge of what was going to happened next -, but from my travels I have made my own mind up.

I silently slipped off the bed and walked over to the window. Looking outside I could see that the sun had breached the horizon and was ascending. The courtyard was now burned up and I could clearly see the damage that had been done the night before by me and the dragon - mostly by the dragon...I think.

After gathering all my gear and waking Derpy up it came to the time when we had to start traveling to another, safer place. It didn’t take long to figure out where we were, as Derpy already knew exactly where she was. Or at least that was what she believed. Hopefully that wouldn’t be much of a problem, as I didn’t want to be moving in the wrong direction.

Within the hour we were away, moving in the opposite direction of Romania - heading towards Cape Town. I still have the edgy thought at the back of my head telling me that I should leave Cape Town alone. For my sake, it could be one big human trap. Then again, it could have been abandoned years ago. Thanks to the communication blackout they could have had riots and destroyed the conversion bureaus. Or maybe there was a forced conversion. It could have even been some kind of extermination. Who knows? That’s what makes it such a interesting place, that’s why I have to go there - to find the truth.

The road was filled with decaying cars and wildlife. Everything seemed so serene - even though the atmosphere was much less serene. Everything screamed that something bad had happened here, yet there was nothing to suggest that. Probably just my mind playing tricks on me. Plus every now and again I had to remind myself that I had somepony with me, as I don’t want to accidentally swoop around and gun her down. That would be horrible.

With a mile down we seemed to be making good progress - it was quiet as she didn’t seem to be the social type. Or maybe I as just being intimidating, but I can’t help it. Being alone for such a long time can have that effect on some people. Or ponies, in this matter. But after a while I was getting the major impression that I wasn’t going to get any kind of contact from this pony for the foreseeable future. 

Just like it was when I came here, there were cars. Even after walking for a couple of miles there were just so many empty cars scattered across the road. Everything was just so, ghost like. Then again, it was a major thing to happen. And with me not being there - I only got to see the results. 

About five hours had passed and just as many miles had been conquered in that time. Ahead was some kind of factory building, it had two giant towers and a gigantic system of pipes running around it. I was interested in finding out what it was. And with all this time on my hands there was no reason not to go investigating. Anyway, there might be some valuable resources in there. Who knows.

“I think we should...” I began, but when I looked down at Derpy - she seemed to just look away. Harsh, but somewhat understandable. “...or I should go check out that factory. Might be something useful in there”

“Yeah, I think you should” She replied. Well, it looked like it would be just me, again. I shrugged and then walked a little faster in the direction of the factory. It was a little remote, but nothing really stuck out in it to say that it was really bad. Hopefully there would be some kind of factory resources hanging about in there. 

As I approached the entrance to the factory there was a parking lot, filled with some cars - but most of them were gone. There was a main entrance for where the business people went and then there was a workers entrance. Being me, I went though the luxury entrance. As I pushed the door open, I looked back to Derpy - who was still following me.

“Come on” I said as she waited. “It’s warmer in here” And with that she was straight in. Warmth was a thing that nothing could resist. That was anything that was a normal life form that was warm blooded. Being most things. I then turned to see the interiour of this entrance. The roof was a giant glass dome with some of the panes broken. This didn’t scream out at me that there was anything wrong, I just shrugged it off as natural damage. 

At the other end of the room was a large desk with computers and telephones on it. The papers on the desk were all messed up and there was some damage to the doors behind it. Still, could have just been the rush at the end. But again there was nothing that really shouted out at me that something really bad had happened. And I am excluding the whole Conversion Bureau - because in my book that is the worst thing that has happened. It pretty much destroyed the world that humanity had tried so hard to create. Yeah, it had its problems but in the end it was the world that a lot of people decided to call home.

The rifle was beginning to make my arm ache as I was just holding it with my right hand, finger near the trigger. When I was in front of the desk I put the rifle on it and then climbed over. Now I had the view that those people had when they would tell me about the company or tell me that it was “the third door on the left”. Or whatever they had to say as they then returned to the world of typing whatever they were going at. I will never understand that job. 

After a quick search I was pretty sure that I would find nothing important. This was a reception desk after all. Its not like a giant stash of supplies will just be hidden under the desk, marked with “take in case of zombie apocalypse” or whatever. That would just be out of the ordinary. Or maybe not. Because at that time a zombie apocalypse wasn’t actually that far fetched. Contrary to the fact that Equestria exists - hence anything is possible. 

After retrieving my rifle I looked back to see that Derpy was looking around the notice boards on the wall to the side. At least she was occupied with something. Turning back to the wall again, I pushed the door open and walked into the hallway. It looked like a normal area for storage as there was files stacked on either side of the hallway. I then walked out and found that there was a doorway that lead directly into the facility. This was my next destination.

The next hallway was greatly different from the previous one, there were now pipes running on either end of the hallway. But after a minute of walking it then came to a giant room. This was the main factory area. There were pipes going around everywhere, but the sound of machines working was absent. Which was expected, as this place hasn’t been in work for a long time.

I began to walk through the giant room, looking left and right as I passed each junction. The place look like it was pretty much empty, but then something caught my eye. It was a glimmer of sorts that came from a darkened area. I thought at first that it was just some piece of glass, but then I decided to check it out anyway. Turning the M4 light on, I walked into the darkness. Watching my left and right as I proceeded.

I then found what I was looking at, kneeling down I could see it better. It seemed to be some kind of broken mirror shard, planted into the ground. Grabbing it, I examined it. It was then when another glimmer caught my eye, which was further into the darkness. I had some hesitation at first, but I then began to walk over to this other glimmer. Eventually something else came into sight, it was more familiar. 


But then I saw it. Laying there, against the wall. With the mirror in its hand. Now I could understand why this place felt so uncomfortable. The sigh of it almost made me give my food back. But with force I held it back in. Once again I knelt down and looked at the shard, and then at the worker. Definitely a worker, because of the ID badge on his clothing.

I then looked at the small shard of mirror that was lying in the hand of the worker. It glimpsed with a white shine for a little while, that was until the light was blocked. I looked a little closer and saw nothing but black behind me. For a moment I was ready to accept that this might be another pony, that had spotted me and wanted to talk. But then when I saw the fangs, and the blades that appeared on its arms - I had a pretty good idea what it was.

With a sharp turn I hit the creature away and looked through my sites at it - only to see what I hoped not to. In an instant many more of these black creatures swarmed out of nowhere and blocked my path, all looking at me with intimidating eyes. Hungry, intimidating eyes. My heartbeat rose as my pupils shrunk. Whatever these things were, they didn’t look like they were just going to talk this out.

Taking a step back, I kept my rifle pointed in the direction of the ever increasing swarm of creatures. Each looking to get a piece of me. Damn, this wasn’t good. If anything, they were probably going to make the first move. But I wasn’t going to take any chances. 

Needed to think, quick. I looked around to see if there was anything that could help me. Anything that could give me a head start. I then saw it, there was a canister of gas sitting right next to the group of creatures. If I got my shots right, then I could potentially get out of this. But if not, it looks like I’m on today's special menu. Aiming the gun at the canister, I looked at the approaching group. A couple more steps and they would be in perfect range. Come on...

Unfortunately for me,  this wasn’t the only canister. In fact, there were actually a couple more. I don’t know how many but they were probably not as well contained as this one. But as I fired a bullet at the canister it simply bounced off and hit the wall beside it. The creatures flinched at this but then this sudden fear was once again shrouded by their hunger. Another try.

I shot again, and this bullet went right through. The explosion was near instant, but it was a lot bigger than I expected as I was thrown backwards and through a wall. The last thing I could remember was the side of the factory wall rushing by me as I landed on the ground, hard.