The rain was gentle. Alyce could see each drop illuminated by the flickering fairy lights which she and Ollie had set up earlier. For once, in a long time, she felt safe. A complete, zombi-less, safety.

They climbed under the awning of an old and rusted barber shop. The two of them talked about life ‘before’ as they wrapped themselves up in all the blankets they could find. Ollie was her best friend, her ride or die; and she was his.

He had set up a fire, which they huddled around. The warm glow illuminated his face. “I wish we had some marshmallows!” She said. They both let out a saddend laugh. There hadn’t been any marshmallows in a long time. Ollie looked at Alyce with a small smile, “We’ve set up a pretty nice camp though. Nicer than the sewers, or that nasty pool locker room.” She giggled again. With what they had been through together, she couldn’t believe that they hadn’t known each other before the apocalypse. But now, they sat in the shell of what used to be a beautiful town.

Though she was the happiest she had been in years, a tear rolled down her cheek. Ollie looked at her with a pitiful expression. “We’ll see them soon, Alyce.” She smiled “I know, I just miss them. But, what if there isn’t anything after. What if everything is just gone.” His expression hardened, “There isn’t anything left for us here. Humanity is dead, and the world with it. We tried to overcome, but there was nothing we can do now.”

Alyce began to cry. She knew he was right, but how could it end like this? The zombies were gone for good, but why were they worse off without them? They were the only thing giving her a purpose; the only thing giving her hope. Now they were all gone, and there was nothing left.

All she wanted was to be with her parents again. She missed her sister, her elderly cat, her grandparents, and her life. She longed for her friends, the ones she had before and after the zombies came. She had been only 16 when it started, and now it had been so long she didn’t even know her own age. All the horrible things she had to do to stay alive, the people she had to kill. How could things end like this?

“You ready?” Ollie asked. She noticed he was crying with her. Everything she went through, she experienced with him. All of her pain, he took with him. She was his soulmate, and he was hers.

She gave him an awful, painful smile. “Yes, more than ever.”

The ruined town was more beautiful than ever. Vines grew around the old buildings, and those fairy lights finally stopped flickering. They were the only lights on in the world. The stars were heavenly, and she could see the Milky Way overhead.

The apocalypse had destroyed the world, and they were the only ones left alive. Ollie and Alyce brought out their handguns, said their goodbyes, and joined the ones they had lost. They saw something they hadn’t in a long time; hope. There was no more pain for them to ever go through again.