The Earth had been virtually destroyed but I hadn’t noticed, too busy with my own problems. My despair had preceded the Apocalypse, foreshadowing the general gloom of the remnants of humanity who hid in makeshift fabrications. I might have been the last remaining human, heartbroken at the hubris that triggered this catastrophe.

While I agonized over trivial details, a whimpering animal crawled out of the dark, probably sensing my uniqueness. It seemed disappointed that it was me and it stayed out of reach, content to look inwards with rheumy eyes.

I turned my back on an empty world and plodded along with no real destination left. Twisted metal moaned in the wind and the sun refused to gaze at such a foolish waste. The dog thing walked behind me, both uninterested and menacing, a cypher for my own debilitation. We had almost forgotten our roles in this end of days farce that had embroiled the planet.

The road was barely negotiable, riddled with the pock marks of a diseased culture that had started to spew out into the universe before being cut down in its prime. My melancholic companion had only survived through deep cynicism and a lust for tomorrow. That day would never come.