 What is the true explanation for Charles being the last man on Earth?
There should be an epitaph for every man, big or little, but a really grand and special one for Loner Charlie. [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Fall 1954. A year ago she had been unattainable, a face to conjure with in erotic dreams, far beyond his ken. He touched buttons by the edge of the bed and the illumination quieted to a soft glow, wrapping her in a radiant halo. New York lay quietly below him. It was the hour of indecision when day has not quite made up its mind to leave and night has not yet attacked in force. To any man, WHO HAPPENED TO BE THE LAST MAN ON EARTH! I just don't know—" A paroxysm of sobbing shook his body. Trembling, he dropped to his knees, his head against the cold firmness of the sill, his hands clutched tightly around the jagged edges of the window pane. On sudden impulse he switched it on, turned the volume up full, and in grim jest left it playing Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead on full automatic. Shop fronts smashed, stores looted, gyro-cars wrecked, proud buildings defaced. Buildings were taller, men were healthier, most of the problems of humanity seemed licked, or nearly so. It was a time of free power, each small unit of population, each section of town operating on perpetual, ever-lasting, automatic atomic piles. No wonder we called it the 'Proud Era.'
 The invisible aliens exterminated people in alphabetical order, according to the the Bureau of Vital Statistics index. Charles happens to be last on the list, with the last name Zzyzst.
 The invisible aliens exterminated people according to chance and probability. Charles just so happened to be killed last.  The invisible aliens exterminated people in alphabetical order, according to the the Bureau of Vital Statistics index. Charles happens to be last on the list, with the last name Zzyzst.  The invisible aliens exterminated people according to how normal they were. Charles just so happened to be the most normal human alive.  The invisible aliens exterminated people in the order of a foretold prophecy. Because he was a prophet, Charles was killed last.