Page 19 of The Last Man on Earth
She reaches over and shakes her shoulder, gentle at first. “Kiara? Wake up. You need to eat something.”
No response.
Ariana frowns, moving closer now, shaking harder, her voice rising. “Kiara? Wake up.”
Still nothing.
She whips her head toward me, her face pale as hell, which makes my heart pound hard in my chest. I drop everything and rush over, my knees hitting the dirt hard. I don’t even notice the pain.
I reach out and touch her face…
She’s cold.
My hand slides to her arm, pressing against the stiffness of her body. She’s not just cold.
She’s gone.
Everything goes silent. Everything but the rush of blood in my ears. My throat closes on me, and for a long, scary second, I can’t breathe.
Ariana stares at me, eyes full of fear.
And then the sound tears out of me. A raw, primal scream that rips through my chest, up through the trees, and into the empty sky where nobody is coming.
Chapter 10
Ariana
I can’t move.
My body feels heavy and useless watching Villain wail over Kiara’s body. The sound tears through the clearing, raw and feral and full of pain, and I don’t know what to do with his grief, or if it’s my place to do anything at all. But my chest aches in sympathy. I only knew her for a single day, but right now, it feels like it doesn’t matter. Her death still presses its weight on me.
When his voice finally breaks and falls into silence, I gather my courage.
“We should bury her,” I say softly.
His head snaps toward me, eyes wild and red. His harsh glare stings me.
“Shut the fuck up,” he spits. “Stop acting like you know every fuckin’ thing.”
The words bite, but I don’t flinch. I’m too tired for that. I’m too angry for that.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Villain. I am. But I’m not gonna tiptoe around your feelings. This isn’t the real world. We’re trying tosurvive, and her body could attract animals. Or vultures. We can’t leave her out in the open.”
The words taste cruel in my mouth. Back home, I’d never let them pass my lips. I’d never reduce a woman’s life to a matter of practicality. But this isn’t home. This is a desperate situation. I give myself permission to be blunt and pragmatic and to protect myself, even if it’s ugly.
Villain’s jaw flexes. “I won’t let you touch her, and you ain’t strong enough to dig a hole. So just sit there and shut the fuck up. Let me grieve.”
Frustration simmers in me until it boils over in hot, salty tears that blur my vision. I turn away before he can see them.
I don’t know how much time passes, but I cry until there are no tears left. I want my mother. I want my sister. I wanna be anywhere but here. Here is gonna be the death of me, I feel it.
When I turn back to Villain, he’s laying Kiara back down, smoothing her hair like she might wake up any minute. Then he stands abruptly and stalks off into the trees.
When he disappears from my sight, my chest caves in. I lean over Kiara and whisper a broken prayer. “God, please…give her rest. Please give her peace.” My sobs punctuate the words, leaving me to cry until exhaustion consumes me.
I lay down in my spot, near delirious with overwhelming emotions. Fear, grief, despair, hopelessness. It all swirls in my mind until I give up and give in to sweet sleep.
Some time later, I wake with the strange sensation that I’m being watched. In a blink, Villain appears, standing over me like a vulture. His eyes look hollow, his face streaked with dirt and dried tears.
