The Last Man on Earth Club

by Paul R. Hardy

“Olivia, you’ve been living behind walls of one kind or another for something like fourteen or fifteen years, isn’t that right? It’s completely understandable if you only feel safe with that kind of protection, and you don’t even have to take part in the camping if you don’t want to—”

  “You think I’m expecting revenants to come out of the woods? You must think I’m cracked!”

  “Not at all. I think you have a perfectly understandable phobia. It doesn’t have to be logical for it to affect you.”

  “Oh, and now you think you can get me to go by saying I’m scared, is that it? Well, stuff your psychology. I’m not going.”

  “If you don’t think you’re up to it…”

  She rounded on me, incensed. “Will you stop it! Stop trying to help! I don’t want your help!”

  “I’m sorry, Olivia. You’ve got my help whether you like it or not. And you do need to participate, remember?”

  “Oh, you’re not going to use that on me, are you…”

  “Not at all. In this case, I would understand if you had a problem with leaving the centre. Although of course if you did join us it would go a long way to satisfying the requirements of your therapy. But I’m not going to make you go.”

  “I don’t—” she caught herself and sighed. “All right. I’ll go. Or I’ll never hear the end of it, I suppose.”

  7. Camping

  The group trudged on to their objective — a circle of self-inflating tents, each one a dull silver dome glowing with a slight phosphorescence so you wouldn’t blunder into it in the middle of the night. Olivia had decided to stay with the group. I hoped this represented progress, but made sure we could get her to safety at a moment’s notice if she found it too difficult.

  I rejoined the group at the campfire. They seemed happy to see me, still buoyed up by their success at the gorge, and offered a bowl of the stew they’d put together. But Olivia displayed clear signs of hypervigilance, a typical symptom of PTSD. When Liss returned from the toilet facilities and stepped on a twig, Olivia burst to her feet, a blanket dropping from her shoulders.

  “It’s only Liss,” I said. Olivia swallowed hard and tried to calm herself.

  “Right. Right. Only Liss.” She sat down again and gathered up her blanket, still tense.

  “What did I do?” asked Liss.

  “Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” I told her.

  “Are you all right?” Iokan asked Olivia.

  “I’m fine,” she snapped back.

  “You’re a bit jumpy,” he said.

  “I don’t like the woods. I’ve had bad things happen to me in the woods.”

  “But it’s lovely!” said Liss.

  “Yeah, it’s really nice,” agreed Pew.

  “There’s fireflies! And we’ve got marshmallows!” said Liss, pulling a bag out from her pack. “Do you want some?”

  “No I don’t!” said Olivia.

  “Suit yourself,” said Liss, skewering half a dozen on a toasting fork and kneeling by the fire.

  “I know what you’re scared of,” said Iokan.

  “You don’t know a damn thing,” said Olivia, scowling.

  “One woman in my unit came back from the Shizima Islands and she was the same way. She’d take cover every time there was a loud noise. She never got combat out of her head.”

  “Oh!” said Pew, realising what the matter was. “Oh…”

  Iokan looked over at Pew. “You know what I mean, don’t you?”

  “I’ve never been to war,” said Pew.

  “It doesn’t have to be war, does it?”

  “No.” Pew looked into the fire.

  “I don’t need any help,” said Olivia.

  “If you want, I’ll stand watch when you sleep,” said Iokan.

  She looked up, hardly believing him. “You’ll what?”

  “I’ll stand guard for you.”

  She huddled back into herself again. “Don’t need anyone to watch over me. There’s nothing out there.”

  “I know. It doesn’t matter. I’ll keep watch anyway, if you want.”

  She looked into the fire. Iokan didn’t press her. And then, to my very great joy, she looked up at him with naked pleading. “All night?”

  “We’ll take it in shifts.”

  Liss was aghast. “What?”

  “Well, those of us with a military background. I don’t suppose you’ve ever done sentry duty, have you?”

  “Er, no,” she said.

  “Kwame? Katie? Is that all right with you?” I asked.

  “I will stand guard if that is required,” said Katie.

  Kwame looked reluctant, but Olivia’s state moved even him to compassion. “Very well. I would not have slept anyway.”

  “Don’t we know it…” muttered Olivia. Kwame looked ready to make a retort, but held his tongue as he saw how pitiful Olivia was: huddled up in her blanket, darting eyes, fingers trembling as one hand massaged the stump of her long lost finger.

  Liss was still perplexed. “I don’t get it. It’s lovely out here! What are you so afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid. I just—” She paused. “I’m not used to being outside.”

  “But you spend all day in the garden!”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “But—”

  “Liss,” I said. “If Olivia doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t have to.”

  “But why do we need sentries?”

  Pew scratched in the dirt with a stick. “Because she’s ill, Liss.”

  She pouted. “I don’t get it.”

  I sat closer to Liss. “It’s because of what she went through on her world. Do you remember what she said?” She still looked confused. “The revenants used to lie down and rest when there was no one else around. Then if someone came by, they’d get up and attack. In the middle of the night, like this, you wouldn’t know you were surrounded until it was too late.”

  “And then they’d eat you,” added Olivia. Liss’s eyes went wide and she looked out into the darkness.

  “You didn’t… bring any back here… did you?” asked Liss.

  Olivia enjoyed a grim smile, but did not answer.

  Liss looked back at me. “They didn’t, did they?” I shook my head.

  “Are those done?” asked Iokan, nodding towards the fire.

  Liss noticed her marshmallows had turned black, and two had burst into flames. “Shit! Shit!” she said, and dropped the branch into the fire. The group couldn’t help chuckling, and even Olivia sniggered. Liss was hurt at first, but when she saw the smiles all around, she couldn’t quite stifle an embarrassed giggle.

  “Here, I’ll do some,” said Veofol, loading up another toasting fork.

  “So are we going back tomorrow?” asked Olivia.

  “Not immediately,” I said.

  “There are more activities?” asked Iokan.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Are you going to tell us anything?” asked Kwame.

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “Is it a nice surprise?” asked Liss.

  “It’ll make you think,” I said.

  8. Group

  I joined the group on their walk the next day, and it wasn’t long before we came upon a bus floating gently in another clearing.

  “First of all,” I said, as they took off their packs with great relief, “I think everyone did brilliantly this week. And now, we have a choice. If you prefer, we can go back home right now.”

  “Well that’s splendid,” said Olivia. “You’ve got my vote.” She hadn’t slept much overnight, but Iokan, Kwame and Katie had been true to their word, and that kind of trust building is priceless. It didn’t stop her being grumpy, of course.

  “What’s the other option?” asked Iokan.

  “We pay a visit to an archaeological site near here.”

  “Archaeology?” asked Liss, clearly thinking the word ‘boring’ deserved to be added.

  “Is this something to do with the people who used to live
on this world?” asked Iokan, who was immediately interested.

  “That’s exactly it,” I said. “When the IU first settled this planet, it was thought that either there were no humans, or they died out before they became sapient. But a few decades ago, we started finding cities. One of which is nearby.”

  “They died in the asteroid strike?” asked Kwame.

  “They did,” I affirmed.

  “Why?” asked Pew.

  “I’m sorry?” I asked.

  “I mean… why do we need to see it?”

  “Because I want you to start talking about all the things that happened on your worlds. And I want to show you that these things happen more often than you’d think. But I do realise that this could be distressing, so—”

  “I suppose there’s bodies,” said Olivia, shaking her head. “You’re so bloody squeamish, you lot.”

  “No. No bodies. But they’ve uncovered some of the streets and buildings, and… well, a lot of visitors find it very emotional. I don’t want to push you too far if you don’t think you’re ready.”

  “I saw some archaeologists once,” said Liss. “They dug a hole and found a bit of old plastic from the dark ages and they all went squee. Is it like that? I can handle that…”

  “Well, there’s a bit more to it than that. But it’s up to you. If you’re tired and you want to go back to the centre, that’s okay. We can always come back another day.”

  “Sod it,” said Olivia. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “Does everyone agree?” I asked.

  They nodded or looked noncommittal. I took it as a yes. The only voice raised against the journey was Veofol’s, and that had happened before I addressed the group. Veofol was concerned it was too soon to throw them into anything potentially traumatic. I explained my reasoning: I wanted them to have a real talking point from this trip, as well as team building. He agreed, but was still concerned we were going too fast. I think he worried that the people who’d had the group set up in the first place were in some way pressuring me, but I reassured him I was acting on my own initiative. I just needed something to shake them into taking therapy seriously.

  9. Archaeology

  From far away, we saw a river flowing through the forest towards another river, joining so they became one. We were headed for the meeting-place of the two, around which the trees thinned out, revealing gentle hills and valleys between the confluence.

  “Are we there yet?” asked Liss.

  “We’re already over the outskirts of the city,” I said.

  “I don’t see it…” said Pew.

  “It’s just a couple of rivers,” said Olivia.

  “You’ll see it when we leave,” I said. “Trust me.”

  We landed by the archaeological outpost, a fenced compound on a patch of flat ground surrounded by hills and valleys. It was another set of prefabricated buildings dropped into the site, though of a different design than those we used in the Refugee Service. The archaeologists had brought a little piece of Hub Metro with them: a tapering tower of glass and whimsy that served as living space and offices, along with storage and preservation facilities for all the artefacts they’d pulled from the earth. Beside it, much lower but still shaped into fanciful contours, was the visitor centre. It was there we landed and met the chief archaeologist for the site, Ren Messalien, a massive bearded man seemingly carved out of one of the local trees but with the manner of an enthusiastic eight-year old. He waved a stained bush hat at us and grinned. “Welcome to Kintrex!”

  “This is just going to be a hole in the ground, isn’t it?” asked Liss as she stepped off the bus.

  “Thanks for having us,” I said to Ren. “Don’t mind Liss.”

  “I guess you guys didn’t see it yet, huh?” said Ren. “You will. Come inside and let’s get the boring part out of the way.”

  He took us inside to a briefing room, where we got the usual health and safety presentation, illustrated by cartoon figures in cartoon archaeological sites. Much of the ground in the area wasn’t safe, as some buried buildings had fragile ceilings. Everyone had to carry a panic phone while they were on site, and wear high-visibility vests at all times. If they entered any of the deeper excavations, they would be issued with helmets that doubled up as an air supply in the event of a collapse. They had to follow the instructions of any archaeologists they came across. They were forbidden to touch any artefacts. They were not allowed to remove even one blade of grass. And on, and on. Olivia fell asleep twice, and Veofol woke her with a gentle hand on the shoulder each time, getting a remark on his treacherous elfin ways for his trouble.

  “Right,” said Ren, after finishing the presentation, “now all that crap’s over, let’s take a look at Kintrex!”

  He led the group outside and away from the buildings. “Okay, so we’re in the middle of the city right now. This is a level kind of area, probably a public park. Not much in the way of artefacts in the ground so that’s why we set ourselves up here. But we are literally surrounded by the city. Do you see it?” They looked as he pointed out the green-sloped hills and valleys all around them.

  Iokan gasped. “I see it,” he said.

  “What city?” asked Liss. “This is still country!”

  “Oh, sure, it’s countryside now,” said Ren. “But look at the hills and valleys. What do they remind you of?”

  “Oh, that can’t be…” said Olivia as she realised what she was seeing. “Gods… those can’t be… streets? Can they?”

  “Streets?” asked Pew. “I don’t see it…”

  “This is a city… and no one has lived here for a very long time…” said Kwame, looking down the long valley, peppered with trees, that stretched away in front of them and ran down towards the meeting of the rivers. At several points, other valleys seemed to be crossing the first.

  “Where is it?” demanded Liss. She happened to be looking at Katie at the time.

  “The buildings surround us. Their degradation indicates complete reclamation by natural forces,” said Katie.

  “You still don’t see it?” asked Ren. Liss shook her head. Ren pointed at the hills. “All those hills used to be buildings. And all the valleys used to be streets. It’s been so long since it happened that soil’s been laid down over the whole area. And this, my dear, is what’s left.”

  10. Kintrex

  VISITOR GUIDE: CITY 53 ‘KINTREX’

  Summary

  ‘Kintrex’ was discovered by satellite geomagnetics, which detected the distinctive shapes of streets and buildings underneath the landscape. From the air, the pattern becomes quite recognisable: a complex of hills and valleys that have no watercourses to indicate natural formation, and are strongly suggestive of an urban landscape.

  The site is well placed at the confluence of two rivers, and surrounded by land that could once have supported a wide variety of agriculture. It is too far inland to be a major port city, but at least two minor tributaries to the river have unnaturally straight courses, suggesting a canal system may have linked cities in the region.

  All the archaeological work done so far has confirmed the initial expectation of an urban centre of middling size, covering approximately 110 km2. Population may have ranged between 250,000 and 400,000. Excavations in the centre of the city have revealed a rather well-preserved commercial district, while a number of residential areas have also been uncovered. Major industry has yet to be seen, and excavations to find the industrial zones are ongoing.

  The area was served by an extensive system of fixed railways, many of which are embedded into the road network. The roads themselves are of surprisingly poor quality outside the central area, suggesting that private transport was relatively rare in this society. As the railways are easy to discover with geomagnetic techniques, it has been possible to reconstruct almost the entire network.

  One thing the site lacks, along with most others we have investigated, is any great number of human remains. While we have discovered some skeletons inside dwellings, the
se are the exception rather than the rule. We believe the city was abandoned before or shortly after the asteroid impact, and that the site was never re-inhabited, as we have seen no cannibalisation of building materials that would be expected during a reconstruction period. While some have speculated that the inhabitants were evacuated by an IU-like organisation, we have no evidence for this. It is more likely that the people of the city fled and perished in attempts to reach safety. It is impossible to say where they fled to, or how long they survived.

  While excavations are still ongoing, some exhibits from Kintrex are now on display in Hub Metro. Certain portions of the site are open to diplomatic visitors, school groups and members of the public. Please be sure to book at least a month in advance, as this is a working archaeological site and arrangements have to be made to accommodate your visit.

  11. The Trench

  Ren led the group into the city, along paths marked by hi-vis gossamer strung between floating lights, paths they were warned to stay on in case of ground collapse. Myself and Veofol brought up the rear, and let him do his job.

  “A lot of the underground spaces in the city collapsed a long time ago but a lot of them didn’t,” said Ren. “You never know when you’ll stumble on a basement that wants to give way. So stay on the path, boys and girls. I’ve got eight of you on the start of the tour and I want eight of you when I finish the tour.”

  The path led along the middle of an ancient street long since turned into a narrow green valley, until we rounded a corner and saw a long excavation covered by a canopy and bounded by safety lines. “This part of the site is pretty well compressed,” said Ren. “So it makes it easy to see all the layers. Okay, everyone needs to take a safety helmet from the rack before they board the platform. Mind your step.”

  We took helmets and walked onto a floating platform in the middle of the trench. Ren lowered us the four metres to the base. A readout flickered into life along the rails keeping us from the trench walls, showing the estimated date of the deposits at each level. “This whole section of earth was shipped back to Hub Metro for the exhibition,” said Ren. “But you can still see the basic strata — the layers where one set of deposits were laid down and you can find artefacts from that era. Down here” — he crouched to indicate a lighter layer of earth, close to the bottom of the trench, dated to 48,300 years before the present — “is where settlement begins. We’ve found pottery and middens at this level, so we reckon the site was inhabited by stone age peoples…”