The Last Child on Earth

by ThePonyCritic

Chapter 1: Awakening from Frozen Slumber

Cold. It's all I felt before I went to sleep. I remembering shivering from it, trying to ignore it, but it was all around me obviously, so I couldn't. Then silence. I couldn't hear anything from outside, couldn't hear myself breathe. I didn't know if I was even alive. Not until I felt the warmth came back. It felt so good, I wanted it to last forever. See? What did I tell them, we're fine, their letting us out now. I knew we could trust-

"No, no, no! What's happened to me?" I heard from outside. Cathy? Did something go wrong? I tried opening my eyes, but I was still too sleepy. But as more warmth came in, I was able to move a bit. As I move my limbs, I hear crying from outside the pod. Cathy is in trouble! I yell in my head to move faster, but I still felt cold, I had to thaw out completely I guess. I tried yelling out to her, but I could only manage grumbles. I heard a thud on the glass, probably her. I tried opening my eyes again, and this time I could manage to open up my eyelids a bit. The pod's screen was still frozen over, but I could make out a shape. Small, slim, sleek, it had to be Cathy!
"Aiden? Aiden?!" I heard her say, thumping on the glass, trying to get my attention. I could only manage to push off my seat a bit, so now I leaning against the screen. I heard her gasp, holding back more cries I guess. I move my lips, trying to make words, but nothing audible comes out.

"Aiden...I'm so sorry..." She said. Then another sound was overheard. The pods were going to be releasing the gas again! I tried to move, I tried to bump into the screen, to do something! But nothing worked, so I stopped and moved back into placed slowly, tired. I needed Cathy's help, I relied on her to get me out. But I didn't hear her voice, I didn't hear a thump. Where did she go? I open my eyes, only to see the pod's screen freezing again, but beyond that, I saw no shadow, no shape. But I saw the room, before the screen froze over. It was a complete mess, something definitely went wrong. But she wasn't there, she had left me, left me here to freeze until the pod's power ran out. Why did she leave me? What has happened to this place? I could not understand, but it didn't matter, because the next thing I knew I had closed my eyes again, and I went back to my sleep. All thoughts and emotions left me, except for one....sadness. And a burning question, enough I wished that would thaw out the cold: Why did Cathy leave me?

And now the coldness ran through me again. What did I do to deserve this? What had I done to be left here to be frozen, no, ROT, in a chamber of my everlasting slumber. I was left with nothing but a curious mind, a lost hope, and an aching feeling of sadness. This is what I get for helping others. This was my fate....

I don’t know how much time passed... but there was now a new sound. Buzzing? No wait, beeping! The alarm again? The power must've gone out! Finally, I can leave. I waited for the gas to disperse, and the warmth to surround me fully. It all felt so good to feel warmth again. When it was finally warm inside the pod, I opened my eyes fully for the first time. I was shocked, even afraid, of what I saw. The walls were dusty, since no one has taken care of the place while I slept, and the floors were worse, all dirty and filled with papers and things scattered around. The place was a mess, but the structure still seemed sturdy I guess. No, get out first, take in sights later. I start to move my limbs trying to get the feeling back in them. It took a while, but everything was working, aching, but working. I use my right arm to push on the screen. It wouldn't budge for a bit, but after a while, it finally gave opened. As it opened up enough for me to exit, I jumped down in one leap…big mistake. My legs gave away at the last second when I landed, making me hit the ground on my side, hard. I lay there on the dusty ground, looking upwards to the ceiling, though it was a bit hard to see, except for the emergency lights which gave some light. I slowly get up, pushing myself off the ground, which got some dust in my eyes, so I blinked a couple of times to clear the dust out. After that, I looked around the room a bit, then at the pods. I couldn't believe what I saw. Marc's pod was wide open, which wouldn't make sense as of how he got out.

We were all frozen, and if he had gotten out, either he was magically teleported away, which is impossible, or he was thawed out and taken, which also doesn't make sense as to WHY THEY DIDN'T TAKE US! Whatever, he's gone...and so was Cathy. As I look at her pod, it brought a chill down my spine. The door was busted open from the inside and was held up only by a single hinge, and the screen was cracked. What DID happen to Cathy? I looked around for evidence of her departure, but I only saw dust, papers, and a few...feathers? I picked one up to observe it. It was fully white, except for the end of it being purple...or is it lavender, since it looks a bit brighter. Can't tell in this lighting, so I'll keep in my pocket for later. Since I don't need anything from this room, I'll go to wear my stuff is, and hopefully it's all still there. I open the door, go down the hallway thankfully remembering the way back and head to the locker room/ bathroom. I find my stuff, though it took a while from bad lighting to find the right locker does anyone else have that problem where they think a 1 looks like an unfinished 4? Anyway I go to a stall to change back into my clothes.

My shirt was dusty, and so was my hoodie, but I managed to shake most of the dust off. The pants I already have I think I'll keep, as well as the shoes. Once I got my clothes back on, I looked inside for my glow sticks. I liked to run around with them at night on special occasions for fun before all this. My favorite were the blue ones, I take one out and light it up. I go back into the hallways, looking for a way out. Then I remember a room we passed by: An armory! Whatever had happened to Cathy might've left those feathers, and they could still be here. I quickly head to it, taking a while to remember which hall it was at, but I made it. I open the door and turned on the lights, which flickered a lot. Apparently they took everything they could, but things were scattered around, so maybe they dropped something. I get on my hands and knees, and look below the shelves. Then I found something, as I scooted over to get a closer look, reach my hand to it, and drag it out.
"A grappling hook? Sweet!" I say to myself. It was a bit big for my size, but had some sort of crank on the side. I got off the ground and stood up, placing my hand on a shelf, which also had something I didn't see before. An extendable police baton, NOW were talking!

I'm probably not gonna use a gun, so I left the room before I had second thoughts. Now to get out of here...wait, what's that noise? Sounds like clacky footsteps, as if whoever they were wearing dress shoes. Now what I thought at first was that someone FINALLY came back, but then again...who comes back to an abandoned bunker? That got me thinking that I should hide, but where?! I look around nervously for a place, even up. I see the air ducts hanging by the steel support rods. Those should be strong enough for me to sit on. I instantly take out the grapple, shoot it up to the air ducts, it hooks around one of the rods, and I start cranking. I manage to get there quickly, and I lay flat on my stomach and stay quiet. Now to wait to see who's here...