24 January 2013
CONTROL
“Sir what day is it?”
“It’s the 365th day.”
“How long will this last until he finds out?”
“As long as it takes.”
The world is in damnation there’s nothing else for miles upon miles of my radius. All life is lost. Hello my name is Tiek Mas; I am the last and only person that is left in this world. Or that’s what I think. I’ve been alive for over a year now since the disaster has occurred. Or maybe I’m just dreaming and I’m still dreaming, hoping to one day open my eyes and see the people I care about; Kaitlyn, my little sister, my dad, my mom, any contact with humans at all. I’m the last person on earth.
The disaster, “how did it start” you might ask, well it was 2012 and there was ongoing controversy of an apocalypse. No one took it seriously, no one but me. An asteroid the size of New York City crashed into the earth causing everything to become surrounded in Ashe and leaving earth covered in clouds of dust.
I spent my life savings on a high tech bunker and told my family to come with me I told them it would be safe, just in case the apocalypse happen but they thought I was crazy. Now there dead, but sometimes… I wish I was too. I wish I never survived.
It was like any other day I walked out of my bunker to see nothing but a large dust cloud hanging over my head and miles upon miles of barren wastelands. It used to be worse but after 6 months things were finally stable. I remembered those long days in the bunker when I couldn’t go outside because there was a very violent dust storm that lasted for about 3 months.
“Hello is anyone out there!” I screamed to the top of my lungs but all I could hear was the sound of my own voice echoing. This is what I do every day, I come out and yell for any life still on earth but no one ever answers. I head back into my bunker to see a little room no bigger than a school room. On the ground were hundreds of chicken soup cans. This was the only thing I’ve eaten since doomsday. I walk over to my room to see my bed along with a single picture frame and a drawer near it. Inside was picture of my family. A picture of my mom, dad, baby sister, and I taking in a group picture. “We look so happy” I said to myself, because even if I just thought it to myself I will start losing my voice, I could remember all the times when I would be at home with my parents, just playing video games and locking myself up in my room. My sister would always crawl up to my door and push it, running happily inside but then I would take her and put her back in the living room with all her toys. I never told my parents that I loved them, I was never raised to share my feelings to anyone else but if I could go back in time I would tell them every day. “I wonder where you guys are now.”
I open my drawer and inside could see a gun with 6 bullets in the revolver. This is my exit ticket out of this hell hole I thought to myself. Why don’t I just do it? There’s nothing in this world for me, nothing to look forward to, what’s the point in living. I took hold of the revolver and pointed it to my head. C’mon Tiek, just one pull of a trigger and you free said one side of my mind. But I couldn’t do it, I let go and put the revolver back into the drawer. I don’t know what’s keeping me from killing myself, maybe its hope. No, it can’t be that. There’s no hope, and no one for miles upon miles of my bunker. But then I came up with an idea like something that had been triggered in my head that I hadn’t realized before, what about the cities? They can’t be totally devastated; there are underground bunkers there too. Maybe just maybe, there are survivors.
This was it there’s no point in me staying in this bunker just to wait for my demise. I have to get out of here. I look around the bunker and open a little attic door in search for a map. I head down and could see that the attic was a room filled with thousands and thousands of can soup, enough to last a life time. I look around for a box and found it. I took the box up the stairs and placed it on my dining table. Inside I could see a first aid kit, compass and a map. On the top of the map in bold black words was “Washington”. I could tell where I was on the map by the open field and a similar looking rock formation to a mountain that I could see from my bunker I could see Seattle which was 4 miles west from where I was. I went down to the attic and found an old traveler’s backpack to use stuffing it with 5 water bottles, 5 cans of soup, a can opener, a blanket, clothes, flashlight, a watch, knife, and flint. Finally I went back into my room to take the photo of my mom and dad with it. I opened the drawer with the revolver and took it with me, putting it in my pants. If things go wrong, I could always use this.
I took my travelling bag, tied my shoes and walked outside of my bunker. I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this. I never thought that I would leave the bunker but now that I am I feel… Hopeful. I looked at my map then at my compass to get my location and I start walking west.
“He’s entered phase 2” said a man hunched on a computer screen.
I look at my watch which read 4:35 PM; I’ve been walking for about an hour my foot feels very sore. On the horizon I could see figures of tall buildings as I walked closer and closer, I could see a formatting shape of a Skyscraping which was damaged beyond repair. The glass on the buildings was all damaged and rust was beginning to form. As I entered the street I could see shattered glass all over the ground. Must’ve come from the skyscraper I thought. Out of the blue I heard a loud shriek as glass fell onto the concrete 20 feet away from me. I covered my eyes to protect myself from any glass shards. What the hell I thought looking up. “Hello is anyone there!” I yelled but all I could hear was my own voice echoing across the skyscrapers and the silence that came afterwards. Must’ve come from the skyscraper I thought.
As I walked through the city I could see the remnants of cars, and the skeletons of those affected by the meteor. At least this isn’t as worse as Europe where the meteor was hit. I could imagine the cities in rubbles with nothing but ashes, the only reason Washington wasn’t as affected because it was about five thousand miles from the crash site but the damage was done and those who were left died from the massive dust storm. The sun – although very faint in the dust covered sky was setting. I should find somewhere to sleep. All of the sudden I heard a gunshot. Did it come from my revolver? Did it misfire? I couldn’t sense any pain, then I checked my revolver it still had 6 bullets in it. Then what could it be? I walked silently to the direction of the gun shot making sure to not to step on any glass shards. I looked over the corner of the building and I could see 6 or 7 people equipped with machine guns they were very muscular with tattoos of skulls on their arms, wearing bullet proof vests. I was thinking about going out and introducing myself but that probably wasn't going to be a very good idea. All the sudden someone grabbed me by the neck and covered my arm. My instinct told me to fight back so I kicked yelled and shoved.
“Shut up or I’ll kill you” said the voice, it sounded like a teenager. The person had a knife to my throat so all I could do is follow their instructions. Who the hell are these people I thought to myself. The person began shoving me into and alley and then they threw me on the ground. I looked up to see a guy who appeared to be 18 or 20 years old, he was wearing a hoodie along with pants. In his right hand was a knife.
“What do you want with me?” I asked.
“Nothing, I just want to know who you are and where you came from” said the stranger “I saw you 30 minutes ago when you entered the city I was the one that threw the glass from the skyscraper.”
“And why would you do that?” I asked.

“To see how you would react” replied the stranger. Why would he want to know how I react? I thought
“Why would you want to know how I react?” I asked.
“To see if you were one of them” he said pointing at a guy behind me. But the guy wasn’t standing up straight, in fact his leg was missing, a piece of his fingers was coming off and he was crawling to me.
“What the hell is wrong with this guy?” I asked. The guy was coming closer, now he was 30 feet away from me.
“He’s a zombie, haven’t you seen one before?” and then swiftly the stranger grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the guy’s head. All signs of life inched away from him and the guy dropped dead. My heart was starting to beat really fast.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked staring at his knife with blood on the tip. Suddenly I heard another gunshot and at the end of the alley, I could see one of those men shooting at us.
“Hey guys! They’re here” yelled the guy and he started shooting at me again. I took cover behind a dumpster.
“Follow me!” yelled the stranger before I could ask what’s going on, the stranger was running so I followed him. We ran until we were near a bridge he opened a hatch on the ground and went in. I followed him and closed the hatch. Above I could hear those people “Where the f*** did they go?” yelled a guy.
As I followed the stranger, I could see that this was what appeared to be the sewers. He led me to a wooden door and opened it to reveal a chasm with 2 or so dozen people all looking up and staring at me, Inside I could see dozens of bunk beds, men, women, and children. An elderly looking guy came up from the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing Tret!” said the old guy “We can’t accommodate any more people” from there I had a feeling that this guy might be the one calling the shots.
“I found this guy entering the city, thought he would know something about the outside world” replied Tret, Oh crap if I tell them that I don’t know anything they might just kick me out of this place, but I don’t want to leave. I want to stay maybe if I fake it.
“Look if you want me to leave, I could leave” I said beginning to walk out.
“No wait!” said the old guy. Just like I suspected I thought. “Please tell us what you know, are there still people out there?” and all the sudden the old guy looked hopeful, like he could be rescued from this miserable place.
“If I tell you, can I stay?” I asked. C’mon, take it, take the bait. The old guy was hesitating so I began to walk in order to stop him from thinking too much of this. If I give him enough time to think, he’ll question why I ask that.
“Stop! Okay I’ll let you stay” replied the old man.
“So this is what I know. I’ve been living in a bunker ever since doomsday; I just decided to come out today because I thought Seattle would have survivors. I know nothing about the outside world” and then I could see hope fade in people from their faces as I look around. The old man sighed.
“I knew it would be too good to be true” he said as he turned around and walked back to wherever he came from.
“So can I stay?” I asked.
“Yes” he sighed not even looking back. The room returned, back to its original noise level.
“Should we try the control protocol now?” said the armed militant scientist.
“Yes” replied the commander.
Back in the Chasm…
All of the sudden an impulse just took over me. I took out my revolver and shot Tret and the old guy in the face. I then pointed it at the dozen of shocked faces and said “I own all of this now” What is happening to me? I thought. I was trying to control my body but I couldn’t. I started shooting at people until my revolver didn’t have any more ammo left. Now the entire chasm was Chaos as people were trying to run away and clenching their children. I found a gun holstered on the old guy and took it out. 30 feet away from me I could see a man running towards me with a knife, I shot him in the head before he could reach me. I’m sorry everyone! I said but nothing came out of my mouth.
“Every single one of you, leave! This is mine! This territory is mine” as I kept on shooting. It took no longer then a few minutes before the Chasm was quiet and I was left alone. I sat hunched over gaining control of my body again. Holding myself together and rocking back and forth in a pool of the old man’s blood and the guy in the hoodie who saved me from those guys wielding guns. What had I done what had I done? I thought. I had no control of my body, it was as if someone was controlling it but that was no excuse. I had killed about 7 people as I looked around the chasm seeing the scared faces of men and women slumped on the ground with their faces in a permanent scare, and there was one body that really shook me the most. It was the body of a little girl, no more than 4 years old. I killed them. I can’t live with what I did. I took the gun and pointed it to my head. Afterwards I pulled the trigger, except my finger wasn’t pulling. I tried with all my might but I couldn’t, my finger just wouldn’t pull. I switched hands and tried again pointing the gun to my face, but still nothing.
“What the hell do you want from me!” I yelled, but nothing replied back maybe if I fall, and then I walked over to the edge of the chasm and jumped. Except I didn’t jump, I just stood perfectly still. Something’s preventing me from killing myself. That must mean that they might be monitoring me. I looked around the walls and on the very far distant edge of the chasm was a little mechanical eye that I saw staring at me. I moved left and the eye moved too, following my every step. Have I been monitored all this time? Maybe I’ve been monitored in the bunker. Now that I think of it, did a meteor ever hit earth? Is it possible for such a large object to hit earth and leave only a dust cloud?
I then looked around for any survivors from my killing spree. No one’s around. I walked down the chasm into a little tunnel where I saw all the people run into. When I got there, the tunnel was completely empty. What the hell, where did they go?! No one was there, I walked inside and could see that it only led to a dead end upon closer inspection I could see the prints of footsteps which led to a barren wall. How could this be possible? I touched the wall but then all the sudden my hand went straight threw, I instantly pulled my hand back. This time I threw both of my hands into the wall and it went straight threw. I felt around the inside of the wall and could feel that it was empty so I walked through. What came before me was unbelievable.
There was a large screen in a dark lit room that showed statistical information on one side of the screen. On the other screen an outlay of a body showed along with text that connected to each region of the body. The top of the massive screen was titled “Subject 2689”, on the bottom of the large screen was a panel with a huge overlay of buttons and switches, on the table I could see a folder titled “Subject 23”, I opened the folder and began to read what was inside.
“Day 24: The subject wasn’t able to cope with being alone in the bunker; he shot himself in the head. The serum isn’t yet effective”
I looked over threw the file and could see a picture of me, I looked at it staring and shaking. This person… Looks just like me. How is this possible? I flipped through the folders on the table and begin seeing even more folders with subject numbers on them. Is it possible that all these subjects look like me? I found a folder labeled “Subject 436” and opened the folder.
“Day 200: The subject was succumbed to the stress of being alone, he begin talking to himself like he had an imaginary person in the bunker. He committed suicide and the serum wasn’t able to stop him. It needs more work”
I opened the folder to see the image of the subject in the bunker; this person looked like me as well. I found another folder labeled “Subject 2311”.
“The armed soldiers spotted the subject and killed them. We weren’t able to activate the control mechanism; however this subject is no longer suicidal. This is perfect, the serum is almost done”
I took another folder, then another, then another opening them to see the pictures inside, all of them were pictures of me. Then I found my folder. “Subject 2689”:
“This subject has done exceedingly well; he hasn’t succumbed to suicide like any of the other subjects before. We were able to control the subject when he reached the chasm and he was the only one to reach the compressor. Our work is done, the serum is perfected.” and then all the sudden I could see an image of a military uniformed person on the screen, he looked like an old timey general with a scar on his right eye.
“Hello Tiek Mas, thank you for being the final subject in this experiment. We highly appreciate your cooperation. I am General Nart over the past 50 years I’ve been trying to develop a serum that acts as an anti-depressant and a stimulant in order to counter the growing suicide rates. Thanks to you, people won’t have to die” said the General.
“Wait so all of this has been some sort of sick experiment? You sick f***s!” I yelled to the man on the screen, suddenly his expression changed. “You made me kill those people and you leave me wondering alone with no hope in this wasteland for nothing?!”
“Well, it wasn’t all nothing. People die people live, this is how the world works. We are just trying to create a serum that will postpone death” replied the general.
“If people are killing themselves in your world I can’t imagine how f*ed up you made it, trying to control your citizens. You people make me sick” I said, his face was now cringed.
“It’s fine now, just die. It’ll all be over soon isn’t that what you wanted earlier?” he said and I could hear the walls lock in place, oh wait no. The walls were moving in closer and closer into me. There trying to crush me.
“I’m going to kill you, until it’s the last thing that I do!” I yelled at the screen, and then he disappeared, I looked all over the room for an exit, but I couldn’t find any. I walked up on the panel and started slamming my feet on all the buttons I could see, still nothing. I took out my gun and started shooting at the panel, still nothing. The walls were coming closer and closer in; there is nothing that I could do so I sat slumped down on the ground. And I pointed the gun at my head and pulled the trigger, but my finger didn’t budge. This is it I’m going to die I thought But at least I could leave something for the next person. I pointed at the ground and then shot at it, leaving holes that made an “r” shape if the person is like me they will figure this means “run” and then I could feel the pressure of the walls slamming into my sides as they both squish me. I could feel the bones on my hips breaking and my skull tearing. The pain was too much. I blacked out.
Back in the bunker a person woke up. Hello my name is Tiek Mas; I’ve been in this bunker for a year. All hell broke loose back in 2012…
“What subject is this?” asked the stern faced commander.
“Subject 2690 sir,” replied the militant assistant looking at the giant computer screen.
“Good, hopefully this will be the last one before we release it to the world” replied the commander.
“Yes sir.”
But little did they know it would be far from over.
THE END