Not With a Whimper

In 2030, two young research scientists were made aware of a new deadly outbreak called, Diminished Encephalon Fatality (DEF). Their tech company asked them to investigate the ways non-biologics could impact brain size ultimately killing the host. Their research demonstrated that climate change was the most probable cause. By December 2031, almost 500,000 people had died from DEF, but at a rate destined to extinguish the world's entire population in three years.

In Curitiba, Brazil, an American ex-pat was informed of the DEF team's climate theory as the cause for the crisis. He demonstrated that gene modification technology could lead to a successful treatment program.

After completing a global treatment effort it turned out that the modified gene was a tumor-suppressant one responsible for keeping Merkel Cell Carcinoma from becoming aggressively fatal. No way was found to prevent the deaths to those treated. By the winter of 2033, there appeared to be no human beings left on earth.

Astonishingly, at least three locations had living residents; a remote Melanesian community in Vanuatu, one in the Australian outback, and one in a Hmong village in China. Whether or not this was the beginning of a new world remained to be seen.