Page 38 of The Last Man on Earth
“Come here,” I say as I settle beside her. She resists until I put my arms around her and tug her closer. I pull her tight against my chest, curling my body over hers like a human shield for the storm. Water runs down my back, soaking me through, but her warmth comforts me from the other side.
Thunder cracks overhead, loud enough to rattle your teeth. I murmur in her ear, trying to soothe her. “It’s okay. I got you. It’s almost over.”
I’m trippin’ though, because I’ve already seen how she moves under pressure. She was a rock on that plane, even after it was clear that something was wrong. To see her like this now got me confused and lowkey worried.
Ain’t shit else to do but wait it out. My back is getting sore from the way I’m positioned, but it’s keeping her out of the rain, so I stay where I’m at. Gradually, her breathing steadies, syncing with mine. Her body's still holding tension, but she’s not shaking anymore.
When the storm finally rolls out, I’m drenched down to my bones. Ari shifts under me, hair wet but the rest of her mostly dry. She tips her face up, eyes shining in the emerging sunlight.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“It was nothing,” I say, even though my back and shoulders are screaming at me right now. “What happened? Why’d you freak out? You scared of thunder?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I panicked.”
“Yeah, but why?”
It takes a while, but she finally answers. “I guess…it felt like I had finally come to terms with where we are. I finally accepted…whatever the hell this is. I had—wehad a weird little routine. It was becoming bearable. And then this. A curve ball.” She sniffs. “I don’t know why something so small felt so big. Maybe it’s because I’m outside of my comfort zone. Everything here is out of my control, and it’s just like…what else can go wrong?”
“I can see that.”
She sighs. “I’m tired.”
“Take a nap,” I say. “When you wake up, we’ll walk down to your ocean so you can do your routine.”
She stares up at me looking hella confused.
“What?”
She shakes her head again, then reaches up, curls her fingers at the back of my neck, and pulls me down. Her lips brush mine, soft and tentative, like she’s testing the waters. My dick gets hard instantly, of course. She pulls away, blinks a few times, closes her eyes, and presses her lips onto mine, a little harder and a lot more urgent. I’m turned on and shook at the same damn time, but before I can really kiss her back, she pulls away again.
“Sorry,” she mumbles.
“Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for. Matter of fact, run that back.”
She chuckles softly. “I shouldn’t have done—“
“We’re on a deserted island. We don’t know if we’re ever goin’ home. Ain’t no should or shouldn’t out here. This our world.”
She looks like she’s thinking about it, but in the end, that shit don’t work. She untangles herself from me and stands, stretching her hands toward the sky before leaving me sitting here with a hard dick and a tiny shred of hope.
Chapter 19
Ari
The waves crash ina steady rhythm. I peer down at our HELP sign, irritated by the damage yesterday’s storm did.
Both of us bathed about an hour ago, separately, of course. Then Villain told me he was gonna search for fish and other edible things. He’s about a hundred feet away from me, walking the shoreline, head down, scanning like a hunter. He looks very serious. I keep sneaking glances at him, but I don’t know why.
I crouch in the sand, rearranging the letters back into their rightful shape. It’s a big job, and tedious, but nothing’s too hard at this point. I’d do anything to get the hell out of here.
I’m just finishing up when Villain walks up, hand on his chin like he’s evaluating my work.
“I saw some fish.”
I look up at him and his empty hands. “And?”
“And I think I can figure out how to make something to catch ‘em.” He sits on the sand facing the waves. “I seen a few crabs, too. That shit took me back. Family reunion in Savannah. That’s where my people are from. And my uncle found a gang of crabsunder the rocks at low tide. I don’t know why that shit stuck with me.”
