Last man standing

When Simon woke up that morning he knew something was wrong.

The usual but subtle noises of his wife pottering around in the kitchen couldn't be heard. There was no slight slam of the cupboard doors or the hum of the microwave. And the most worrisome, was their Labrador, Daisy, barking at the back door.

Natalie would never let her do that in the house. And she would certainly never let their beloved pet sound so aggressive without a stern warning. 

At first, he thought it was an intruder. Maybe something had happened to her and Daisy was trying to protect her mum. 

Simon found himself getting up with surprising calmness and tiptoeing to the other room with a bat in hand. His bare feet pushed into the plush carpet with every movement as he stepped onto his heel and rolled his toes to be as quiet as possible.

He rounded the corner from the hall to the kitchen to see it empty. All except for the frantic dog who was almost throwing itself through the glass sliding door. 

"Daisy, where's mum?" He asked her, craning his neck to look outside.

He couldn't think of anything that would work the pup up as much as her parents being in trouble. So, Simon ran over to the door to make sure nothing had happened to his wife when the dog turned and bared its teeth. 

He only had a moment to react when it jumped up at him instead. The sharp teeth slapped the air just millimetres from his face. 

"What the fuck!" He yelled, falling back and holding the bat out.

He thought he would be using this against an intruder, not his beautiful, well-tempered dog. 

He did manage to open the door and Daisy ran right out and started a similar pattern of barging her head against the fence instead. 

"Natalie?!" He shouted when he couldn't see her. "Natalie? Are you out here? There's something wrong with Daisy, I think we should take her to the vet".

But she wasn't anywhere to be seen. He tried not to panic and assumed she was out somewhere. He couldn't find a note like she would normally leave and his heart rate rose even more. 

He picked up the phone and dialled her mobile whilst peering out the window to see Daisy run full force at the fence, just to back up and do it again.

"What the hell is going on", he whispered. 

Suddenly, a familiar ringtone sounded through the kitchen and he looked up to see her phone sitting on the counter. 

"Natalie!" He screamed out of the blue, scaring himself with the sudden urgency and went from room to room in their small flat. "Natalie, where are you?! It's not funny. Somethings wrong with Daisy".

All thoughts about her messing with him went out the window when she didn't respond to the comments about her baby. They had moved into a tiny space just so they could have a garden for the dog. 

He frantically rang all her family members, but not a single one of them picked up either. Maybe he was still dreaming? 

They weren't close with their neighbours but maybe she went over to drop off more cookies like she sometimes did? 

The two flats above them didn't answer their buzzers even though their cars were parked outside and Simon felt sick.

That's when he noticed it, the car down the road wrapped around a telephone pole. His legs took him over so fast he didn't process it until he approached the window. The huge wooden post was slanted and the front of the car was crushed from the impact. It was a miracle he didn't hear it. 

He expected to find a gruesome scene. His steps slowing and his heart in his ears. The front windscreen cracked but the side window open. He looked in tentatively before furrowing his brows and placing his hands on the door.

It was empty?

Not even a trace of blood. The seatbelt had been clicked into place but it wasn't holding anybody in. 

He stepped back and looked around. He couldn't hear anything anymore as his bare feet crunched on broken glass and loose asphalt stones. The street eerily quiet around him and every car parked in its place. They should be at work. All of them. And why weren't there any kids on their way to school, riding bikes and waking him up with their screeches?

He found himself running door to door, slamming his fists against the wood and calling out for anyone to answer.

"Is anyone in there? Anyone?! HELP!" He shouted and turned around in the middle of the road. 

It all looked exactly as it should, but felt nothing similar. It didn't feel like his neighbourhood.

He needed to go to a police station, but clothes were needed first as he realised he was standing in boxers.

A crisp white shirt sat on the back of a chair and basic jeans in a pile by the laundry. Slipping his shoes on he felt the gust of wind through the door and realised Daisy was still out there. 

"Daisy, can you come in now, please", he said and walked nervously to the door. "Daisy? Do you want a treat. Come on, girl".

He stood in the doorway and saw the dog at the back. She paused throwing herself against the fence and turned her head to face him. Her fur looked as soft and pale as it usually did, but that was all that reminded him of his pet. Her stance was wide and strong, and her eyes deep black bore into his.

She snarled before stepping towards him. Her mouth slobbering and her eyes glaring. Simon took a step back and watched as she stepped into the kitchen. Each paw eliciting a small clack against the wooden floor that made him take his own step back every time he heard it.

"Daisy?" He asked in a whisper.

The dog lunged forward at that and he jumped to the side. His hand pushed her away as he fell into the cupboards and covered his face. She snarled and sneezed a few steps away, reeling back from her slight stumble and looking around with her head low to the floor.

He didn't dare say anything as he watched. She didn't seem to notice him cowering in the corner as she eyed the door he'd accidentally left open a crack. And then, she bolted for it. Running out the door and growling as she went.

"No, Daisy. STOP!" He shouted after her.

Natalie would kill him if he lost the dog and what if she hurt someone? That was if there was someone to hurt out there.

He ran after her, grabbing his car keys and stumbling out in time to see which way she went. His little red car nestled amongst the others on the street made it easy to drive out after her.

Nearly every single house still had the cars in their front drive, but not a single person. He kept driving, through the neighbourhoods. Occasionally losing sight of his pet before finding her again and speeding up.

He drove past another car that had crashed with no one in it. This one sat still in the middle of someone's front garden, the wooden fence now flattened underneath its tyres. 

It got stranger the closer he got to the city. The cracks in the pavement held bushes of weeds and the grass was overrun by brambles. The houses had started to fall apart and layers of dust filled the cars. He could never remember this part of town being so derelict. 

He approached the small bridge to get to the city and came to a stop. It was full of cars. But all of them empty. They all faced in different directions and the metal barriers broke in places and cars leaned over the edge.

"It's not real. It's not real", he kept whispering to himself. 

He stepped out the car and heard the sound of growling.

"Daisy? Daisy, come back in the car, pup".

He stepped around a car before seeing his normally loving dog standing over the corpse of another animal and staring down two other dogs. They had blood around their mouths and their coats looked overgrown and tatty like they'd been wild for some time now. 

His own pet stood guard over the kill and growled at the others to back off.

"Daisy", Simon said quietly. "Can you get in the car, please?"

The three of them turned their attention towards him. Newly familiar, black beaded eyes stared back. Their heads went low and they slowly moved towards him, bodies staying motionless for a moment before they took another step.

Daisy now led the pack and he realised it wasn't his dog anymore. Whatever happened here had taken her. Three wild, aggressive animals stalked him backwards. Their eyes never wavered from his face and their steps were purposeful.

He felt the car door touch against his back and held his breath. Daisy bent even lower and Simon's eyes went wide before he shoved himself back in the car and slammed the door shut right before frantic thuds and deep scratches sounded on the metal. The whole thing tilted side to side as different coloured fur appeared through the window.

Rabid dogs slammed themselves into the car, trying to get to him and shred him to pieces. They surrounded the car and jumped onto the bonnet. Their claws scratched deep marks and Simon imagined what they would do to his skin. The metal dented all around and the passenger door cracked open. 

He threw himself across, grabbing onto the handle and staring wide-eyed. Panic filled him as they all seemed to notice the weak spot and worked harder to open it up.

He couldn't reach the ignition from his position and had to decide between holding the door or letting it go and starting the car. But he wouldn't be able to do it fast enough, so he had no choice but hold on and hope those ferocious teeth couldn't get to him.

But just when he thought he was going to lose against them, they stopped. The scratching ceased and the thuds stopped. He sat up on his knees to look out the back and saw them running off together, knocking into each other and handing out warning bites.

Simon waited until they were fully out of sight and then another ten minutes after that. He needed to find some people to see what was going on. Maybe there was an evacuation that he missed and Natalie hadn’t been able to tell him about. He kept thinking of these excuses as he put a foot out the car.

He would have to go across the bridge on foot and it terrified him. Just one step at a time.

The end of the bridge was in sight and his feet started taking him to it faster. The huge city buildings loomed ahead, and that was when he got to see them for the first time. 

They were falling apart.

The windows smashed and the crumbling walls looked to be covered in sandy dust. The closer he got the more it looked like a wasteland. Weeds grew up the sides of brick and paths cracked into the dirt below. 

How had this all happened overnight? He'd been here just yesterday and it was nothing like this.

"Hello?" He shouted from the end of the bridge. 

The first buildings sat mere steps away, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

"Is anyone here? What's going on?"

No one answered. Nothing moved. The air lay still.

That's sort of good, he told himself. At least there were no more crazy dogs to attack him. It was that thought that made him walk. Between the buildings and down what was normally a busy street with cars and people filling the way. Only now, cars filled the roads and stuck out of buildings and no people could be seen.

The loud CRAWW of a crow above made him jump and reassess the surroundings. If a perfectly well-behaved dog could go crazy, he didn't know how birds would act.

Just when he had come to the conclusion that he was the only person left in the city, something flew through the air and skimmed his ear.

"What the fuck!" He whispered shakily and stumbled around.

A piercing ripple shot through his leg. He looked down to see an arrow embedded into his thigh.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH", he gurgled and grabbed it.

There was no one from the direction it came. His breathing was so fast he could feel his heartbeat everywhere. His vision was blurring from panic and he couldn't quite process the pain.

That's when someone appeared from within a broken building. They wore dirty and torn clothes that hung off their body, showing injuries and blood on their skin.

He stepped out, holding a bow as more people appeared. They all looked the same dirty and sun-kissed. Their skin looked dry and cracked and their eyes held nothing but darkness.

Simon held his hands up in surrender as best he could. He still couldn't understand what this was.

They looked at him, up and down, and that's when he noticed. They all looked like they'd been here for years, and he was standing in a fresh, clean white shirt with pristine skin. 

The man at the front grinned. A sinister smile revealed his missing teeth as he raised the bow again.

Simon barely registered it until the arrow found its way into his shoulder.

And then he ran.

Limping heavily, his leg almost giving out on every step, he ran and ran. Between buildings and stumbling over cars blocking his path. He could hear their footsteps steadily behind him. Not gaining, but not losing them.

But he was injured. They were playing with him. Hunting him.

The roads had started to get more difficult for him to run across. The cars got in the way and the cracks became too much for him not to trip on every step. So he diverted to a building site. The yellow fences had faded in the sun and sand filled the half-built structures.

But it was a mistake. He ran until he couldn't anymore. He found himself staring over a drop full of metal poles. Was it a trap?

it reminded him of the traps hunters would use to kill their prey.

And then he heard them behind him. The creepy people dressed in old clothes and dirtied skin.

"I-I'm sorry", he said. "I don't know what's going on. I just woke up in my house. I didn't know I wasn't meant to be here".

They either didn't understand or weren't listening. They advanced slowly, raising their bows and waiting.

The man at the front raised his… and spoke.

"It's always the same with you people. Lucky for you, she made a deal".

And then he let the arrow go.

Simon didn't notice, until he looked down to see it lodged into his chest. His feet started to slip, and his vision started to blur. He held onto consciousness just long enough to watch the others let go and drive their arrows into his body too.

The fall felt like forever for him. He dropped over the side of the ledge and fell onto the metal bars below. He couldn't feel his body anymore. Couldn't tell how many things had pierced him or how much blood he'd lost.

But through the haze, he could see them looking over above. The people staring at him, waiting for their kill to die.

And it all went black.

Simon gasped awake and looked around. Everything took too long to come into focus until he saw a familiar face.

"Natalie?"

"Hi, sweetie".

"What—", he started before looking around.

A few members of his family and a nurse stood by his bed smiling. He was in a hospital and everything looked exactly as it should. Everything felt normal, except the memory.

He was too scared to speak and let Natalie put a hand on his face as the nurse checked machines around him and unhooked different wires from his chest.

"Do you remember what happened?" His wife asked.

He was too afraid to speak, so shook his head, looking around wearily and eyeing the door. 

"You got hit by a car", she explained.

"I did?" He whispered.

So it was all a fever dream from his injuries. He hadn't been attacked by a hoard of people, shooting arrows at him, he had been hit by a car. He breathed for the first time since waking up that morning... or not, if it was a dream. 

"Let's leave him be. He's probably still coming down from the drugs", his mum smiled and led everyone but Natalie out the room.

She smiled and waved them off, holding his hand for support and thanking the nurse for all their help. It was a relief to finally be okay and back with her.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He just nodded again, not finding the words to explain what had happened and feeling like something was stopping him from saying it.

He stared off into the distance, feeling her hand in his when she spoke again.

"You saw it didn't you".

"What?" He turned to face her in horror as she stared back at him with deep, tense eyes.

"I didn't know if I'd be able to get you out in time. Never tell anyone. We aren't meant to talk about it", she demanded of him before softening again and offering him a sip of water. "Daisy is at home, she can't wait to see you again", she squealed and started talking of plans to redo the flat like she normally does, as if nothing had happened.