Apocalyptic Love

Jess was running as fast as her legs would take her. The buildings at her sides were blurring one into the other, and the unkempt pavement under the thin soles of her shoes was cutting a path to her skin. Ignoring the pain and the feeling of blood soaking her boots, she kept running.

The world around her was silent, waiting. Few faces peeked through the windows in the high skyscrapers as she ran, poking their heads through shattered windows and hiding behind the shades. The girl running underneath was oblivious to them, but even if she could see them, she wouldn’t have cared. There was only one thing Jess knew she had to do.

Find Damien.

She ran until the night fell, and she only stopped when the darkness was so thick that she couldn’t see where she was going. Finding shelter was easy, after all, she’d done it a thousand times. A toppled-over and broken-down car by the side of the road, facing West, and a discarded blanket was all she got that night. She took a can of soup out of her backpack and drank it straight from the tin.

“I will find you,” she said as she took half a locket from around her neck.

The locket was in the shape of a heart, and when Jess turned it over, the picture of a guy greeted her. Damien. She wondered if he’d be looking for her too.

Putting the necklace back on and hiding the charm under her hoodie, she huddled against the car and wrapped the blanket against her shoulders. The days were usually warm enough, but at night, it always got unbearably cold. And it was getting worse every day. Days were getting shorter, nights inexorably getting longer, and Jess’ hope… it was wavering. She knew what’d happen if she couldn’t find Damien in time.

The night was long, but as soon as the first rays of sun showed up, Jess was ready. The first thing she saw was the orange tinge on the horizon, and she stood up, stretched her sore muscles, and rounded the car to head West. Always West. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew she had to follow the direction in which the sun hid every night; it was what she was programmed to do.

Run West, find Damien. Save the world, stop doomsday.

Damien was running as fast as his legs could take him. The low houses by his sides were in ruins, and they blurred as he moved—his eyes fixed in the horizon. The sun hadn’t even peeked through yet, but the orange tinge of it was visible in the sky in front of him. In a few minutes, it would break the thin line that separated the pavement from the sky, and he’d have to put on his shades. Until then, he enjoyed the feeling of the wind hitting his face—one of the few pleasures he got to enjoy.

Everything around him was silent as he moved, and he wondered if there was anyone left in the area. He’d gone past a few populated areas, but most of the world was almost deserted. Not many people were left standing and the ones that were had their own mission—but none as important as his.

All he had, was a name, and a faded picture inside one half of a locket. There was only one thing Damien knew he had to do.

Find Jess. Reunite the two halves of the locket.

Nothing else mattered, so he ran until the shadows grew long in front of him, and even after that, he kept going. He moved in the darkness as swiftly as he could, following the line of the long-forgotten sidewalks, bumping into objects, and falling over more times than he could count. Moving at night was dangerous, but time was running out, and he had to try.

Holding onto a thin thread of hope, he held the locket hanging from his neck firmly in a fisted hand and kept going.

After a few hours of moving in the dark, Damien was exhausted. His legs felt like jelly, and the line he had been following had broken up. Unable to see where he was going, he took one tentative step after the other. Until he didn’t anymore.

Damien took one step forward, and his foot hit just air. His arms flew out, trying to hold on to something, but there was nothing there.

He fell forward, holding onto the locket tight, and braced for impact.

Jess had run for what felt like years. Her legs were bruised and sore, her arms full of scars from all the times she’d fallen over in the dark. As she ran on the last day before the end of the world, she wondered if she’d make it in time. She held onto the locket hanging from her neck with a fisted hand and moved as fast as she could.

“I will find you,” she repeated her mantra.

At midday, Jess reached the end of the road. In front of her, the highway collapsed into a huge crater of broken houses, debris, and what looked like half a plane.

“No, it can’t be.”

She looked around, trying to find a way around it, but the crater was as big as her eyes could see. A rip on the earth—an earthquake’s fault. For the first time since she had memory, Jess’ eyes lined up with tears. Everything she’s done, everything she’d been through, and now her journey was over.

No, it’s no over, she thought. The sun was still above her, so she had time. She could make it. She’d cross over.

Tossing her backpack aside, Jess started to climb down. She skidded and fell, but she got back up and kept pushing. She climbed over cars, ducked under pillars, and moved debris out of the way; and the whole time, she headed West.

She was almost to the other side when she tripped for the thousandth time, her legs too tired to carry her. She struggled to her hands and knees and kept pushing.

“I will find you,” she repeated with the little breath she had left.

The way up wasn’t as easy as the way down, and Jess only climbed a few steps before she was skidding down again. And again. And again. The sun was about to disappear over the edge of the fault, and Jess looked around, desperate to find something that’d help her climb.

And that’s when she saw him.

A glint of light caught her eyes, and she saw the half-locket lying on the dirt… no, not dirt, someone’s dirty hand. Damien’s hand was lying open on the ground, the chain from the locket laced across his fingers.

“I found you,” her voice was merely a broken whisper, and Jess crawled to him.

When she patted his cheek, Damien opened an eye, and half his lips turned up into a smirk. His leg was twisted at a weird angle, and his other eye was so bruised he couldn’t even open it. But still, he smiled.

“We made it,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Jess extended her locket towards Damien, and his smile widened.

“Oh, no. This is barely the beginning.”

With that, he lifted his half of the locket, and their hands met in the middle.