Eda wiped the sweat from her brow as the heat of the red sun beat down on her. Her horse, Goldie, reered in discomfort as the heat of the sandstone seared her worn hooves.

“Woah there, girl,” Eda said softly as she patted the horse gently. “Just a few miles left.”

She held her bandana over her mouth as wind and dust pushed against her like sandpaper. She had been sheltered from the wind by the mountainous corpse that lay in the desert, but the wind had since shifted to blow directly against her. She had been out looking for survivors longer than she should’ve, and now she didn’t know if she could make it to shelter before the sand storm set in.

Eda watched the eerily still corpse of the god Solnera as she rode beside it. Some have sworn to see some movement from the old god, but he’s long dead. She was just past the fingers, just a few miles away from her settlement in the dead god’s gaping mouth.

Eda was just a little girl when Solnera first began to show signs of tiring. Holding up the sun couldn’t have been easy, but Solnera did it without complaint. One day, he fell to his knees, causing earthquakes felt throughout the entire planet. Churchest sent messengers to find out what was wrong, but Solnera either couldn’t hear them or couldn’t respond.

More than a year later, Solnera dropped dead. The earthquakes from the god’s head colliding with the Earth was the least of their problems, as the sun began to fall closer and closer. It didn’t take long for the oceans to dry and the dust to kick up. After a few years, the north pole became the only place cool enough to sustain life, but even that was a baren desert.

Eda was one of maybe thirty known survivors left on the planet. They had survived by making a home out of the corpse of the god that had once protected them. His thick skin was the only material that wouldn’t get withered away by the frequent sand storms, which made his corpse the only viable option for shelter.

All of the survivors knew that their time was limited. The sun grew closer and hotter by the day. Pushing forward and living regardless was a sign of reckless stupidity more than anything else. As was, Eda knew, being caught outside during a sand storm.

The wind was picking up, and soon the sand flying by began to rip tears in Eda’s clothing. Goldie whined and reered in protest at the abrasive pain, and Eda was carelessly thrown to the ground.

Sharp, searing pain wracked her entire body as it impacted the burning hot stone. She gasped and screamed as sand continued to burrow through her clothes. Goldie wimpered and ran off, leaving Eda to burn alone on the ground.

Eda looked towards Solnera as she writhed in pain. The old god who spent eons holding up the sun, lying dead beside a woman who spent years trying to survive in a dead world without him, and would soon die herself.

She laughed to herself. Thats all she really could do. Humanity wasn’t doomed to fall; it already fell. She was just one of the fools who wouldn’t let go. But that all caught up with her now, and there was no escaping it.

Eda died alone and in pain. Just like Solnera. Just like humanity.