Page 29 of The Last Man on Earth
I wonder what the headlines say. Press releases. Trending hashtags. All of it just feels like something that’s happening on another planet. I’m trying to imagine what it’s gonna feel like to land in the middle of that shit once we get rescued.
Ifwe get rescued.
The thought pushes me forward. I’m moving now, refusing to listen to my tired muscles. The ocean’s close, I swear I hear it. The rushing sound is loud and clear, like the earth itself is breathing, but when I turn my head to the left, it’s there. I turn right, and it’s over there. It’s behind me. In front of me. Every-fucking-where. My pulse kicks up as I wipe stinging sweat out my eyes.
Then I hear it again, but closer. The rustling. It ain’t the flick of a lizard’s tail. It’s way heavier. Bigger, too. My chest tightens as I scan the trees, but the shadows are bigger, too, now. They’re tricking me. I grip a branch, thinking I’ll break it in half to use it as a club.
Cuz one thing about me, I ain’t no bitch. If I had a real weapon, I’d stand my ground. But I’m unarmed out here, and the branch is too thick to break with my bare hands. I’ll bring my axe next time, but for now, I make the decision to escape. This ain’t my turf.
I start running. Branches claw at my arms, scrape at my skin, but I don’t stop. My breaths get ragged. The shirt scraps blur past me. I know where I’m going. I’m going home.
There it is. The clearing. Our spot.
I slow way down, catching my breath before I make my way over to Ariana. She’s sitting cross-legged on top of a blanket. The fading sunlight catches in her hair, which looks kinda different than when I left. I think she combed it.
My eyes drop to the plate and glasses in front of her. For a second, I can’t breathe, but not because I was running. It’s because it’s blowing me how I feel like I made it back home. Like I been at work all day and came back—to dinner. Toher.
“What’s all this?” I ask, still catching my breath.
She looks up at me with a brand new smile, one I ain’t never seen before. It’s not big, it’s more like…soft. “I figured we could have a nice meal. As nice as it can be out here,” she says with a chuckle. “We can pretend things aren’t what they are. Just for a little while.”
I blow out a breath. I wanna tell her I found her an ocean, but I can’t. I failed again. “I’m closer than I was yesterday,” I say. “Tomorrow, I’ma find it. I swear.”
“It’s okay,” she says, patting the ground in front of her. “Come eat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I grab the sanitizer from next to her and clean my hands. “What we got?”
“Well, the special for today is sea salt and caramel popcorn and Wagyu jerky.” She lifts a champagne bottle, angling it toward me like she’s giving me bottle service. “And, of course, this lovely lukewarm Krug Blanc de Blancs.”
I take the bottle from her and fill both glasses to the brim. We lift them and look at each other for a few seconds before she says, “To being rescued tomorrow.”
“To getting out this muhfucka tomorrow,” I agree, then we clink and drink.
And drink.
And eat.
The popcorn is good, but that jerky is fuckin’ flames. We look like two animals tearing into each strip like we’re tearing through the flesh of our freshly dead prey.
And then we drink some more.
Next thing I know, that bottle is empty, the plate is empty, I done started a fire, and she’s looking at me like she’s tipsy enough to forget she can’t stand me.
“I know we’re saving our water,” she says, “ but Ihaveto brush and floss tonight.”
“Same.” I push out a burp. “But I ain’t the one who suggested that water saving shit. That was you.”
She shrugs, leaning back on her hands, staring up at the moon. “We might as well be up there,” she slurs. “On the moon.”
I grin as I reach into my back pocket. She’s speaking my language now, pontificating on some random ass bullshit. These are blunt conversations.
She doesn’t even make her judgment face when I pull out the emergency blunt I had tucked away just in case I got lost out there in the wilderness. I light up, breathe deep, and blow the smoke into the darkness while she watches.
“You want some, don’t you?”
Her eyes drop to the fire. She smiles again, that tiny soft one, and shakes her head.
