At his doorstep
Three days…
Three long days since everyone had disappeared from the face of the planet, gone without a hint.
Walter Phelan had suddenly awoken to a very cold morning to find not a single trace of Human life. He didn't even get any warning; no light, no sound— Nothing. They had all, as it seemed, simply had decided to vanish into thin air.
Despite this, there weren't even any accidents; many cars laid dormant on the streets, silently pleading for their drivers to come back to wherever they had gone off to.
Stop lights had still continued to flash and change their colors, still blindly doing what it was programmed for. Trains had continued to run automatically, stopping at every station, doing what they were specifically programmed for. Advance machines had still continued to work even without anyone attending to them because that's what they were programmed for.
These machines that were made by man, will carry the legacy of humanity until the death of the planet.
…And on these first days, was when machine would have taken over mankind.
But sadly, many of these machines cannot live such prolonged times without exposure to a human. And by time, one by one, they would all completely shutdown and rot away pitifully, as nature takes her rightful throne, of which had been taken away ever since the first humans had stepped upon her world.
Yes, she will destroy these wicked machines and erase everything reminding her of humanity. She will once again rule the Earth.
And so, these were when the days where the age of machine would have ended along with its creator's last traces of its legacy. The most powerful and intelligent species to have ever walked the Earth, now gone and banished.
But wait… humanity was not dead yet as a single human was still alive… The human who would carry the last mark of mankind's legacy. There was still a tiny glimmer of hope for this dead species to show its glory in the form of one person.
Walter Phelan had spent his first day wandering the now dead streets of New York City. It was, at first, a very terrifying sight for him. Never had he seen the once noisy and bright city, lay abandoned like a forgotten baby on a street.
He had awoken, cold, on a gloomy morning. He took a bath, ate breakfast and got dressed for work. But sadly, there were none of his co-workers to greet him.
And it all happened so fast. Shock had already overridden his senses as he walked through the street with a thick air of terrified disbelief, fear, and most importantly, Anxiety.
It may seem that he had found himself in a twisted part of limbo. What did he do to deserve this living nightmare? Where was everybody? Why did everyone on the entire planet disappeared except for him? Was this a cruel, cruel joke made by someone?
"Hello?! Anyone?" He called out. Nothing but the wind, had bothered to whisper a mocking reply at the lone human.
~~~~~~~~
On the second day, he could feel his sanity slowly fading away. He had spent hours in carnivals playing, enjoying the theme rides as if everything was back to normal. He had talked and cheerfully chatted with inanimate object as if they were his long-lost family or friends. He had bought groceries and had even left some money on the counter for the "staff" to pick up. He drove through highways, diligently stopping at each stoplight when they would blink to red. He had walked on the sidewalks, occasionally greeting any "civilian" passing him by.
He was never used to such isolation, so his brain had tried desperately to save what bits of pieces of sanity he had left and created a delusional world to momentarily indulge himself in.
But that illusion would soon fade and the hard reality will once again set upon his senses.
Stopping in front of the doorway to his apartment, his wide smile and energetic demeanor had soon quickly faded as the effect finally wore off, and his expression turned emotionless.
Swiftly grabbing his keys, he opened the door and went in as a single tear fell from his eye.
~~~~~~~~~
On the third day, he had his head buried on his hands. Completely lost in his mind, and this foreign world. He just sat on the side of his bed, motionless. What else was there left to do? He did not know what to do anymore. No sense of direction, nothing. A dull pain had long found its way to his body.
*RING RING RING* His alarm clock rang, but it was pointless since he was already awake. Why had he even set the alarm? Was it because there was still that stupid lingering hope that this was all just a very sick twisted dream? Was it because of that hope that he might someday just wake up on his bed, and forget about all of this? He still refused to budge from his position.
He actually welcomed the noise. It was a nice change in the scenario.
The last man on Earth sat in his room… There was a knock on the door…
*RING RING RIN—* He turned off the alarm clock and begrudgingly stood up and faced the door… He stared at it for a few seconds before he remembered that he had to move his legs to get there. How embarrassing. A few hours sitting like a cement statue and Walter had already forgotten how to do the most basic of human function that he had been doing for his entire life. He currently felt like a newborn child learning how to walk
He indeed felt like a child learning how to walk.
His first step was his hardest, he felt invisible steel locks holding his feet down. The non-existent weight on his shoulders making it ever so harder to even budge his muscles by merely an inch.
But he continued to exert inhuman effort on his legs, forcing his body to diminish this self-mutiny. And surely, he had manage to take his first step…
…Then another…
His pace kept growing as he had finally completed his 'long' walk to the door and opened it.
"Hello?"
"Umm... D-down here?" He didn't expect anything and the response completely caught him off guard. He lowered his head downwards, blinking a few times as his eyes tried to process what blob of purple he was trying to see.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry. I-I'm Twilight Sparkle. And you are…?" The mythological creature looked up to him with her massive eyes. He could see a bit of fear in them.
"Walter. Walter Phelan." He replied bluntly.
"Walter Phelan… Hmm, That's a rather… unique name. Anyway, do you mind if I come in?" She tilted her head and peeked behind him, taking a quick glance of the room.
"No, not at all." Upon hearing that, she visibly relaxed as she trotted inside.
He took a step back and let her in, closing the door after.
The last man on Earth, and a unicorn, both stood at the man's apartment.