Marcus staggered from the foliage, his clothing tattered and torn from a night evading the looters. It was the last day and he had promised Lorrie they would meet for the final hours. Now, he stood at a precipice that overlooked the remnants of a city engulfed in flames, wishing with all his might for her arrival.

They had been forced to split up several days ago. It had gotten too dangerous for them to travel together. Please God, he begged of whatever higher power held sway. Please, I don't want to be alone.

The sun had begun to break over the mountains in the distance. Not long now, he thought. Where is she? The apocalypse had been a living, agonizing cycle of destruction and terror. The strong feasted on the weak and it was unsafe to be in the open at any time of the day or night.

The sound of snapping branches caused Marcus to whirl instinctively. Yards away, a grizzled, bearded man emerged from the tree line, blood and mud sullied his haggard face. His clothes were shredded and filthy. In his hands, he clenched a dented metal pipe stained with crusted blood and rust.

The madman's eyes brightened at the sight of another human. 'Soon'�soon. Not long now.'� The man was giddy, out of his mind. He pointed at the sky in triumph, prancing like a majorette in a parade. He raised his knees into the air like a lunatic. 'Not long.'� He chortled. The laugh was disturbing, a maniacal cackling that broke the silence of the mountainside and echoed against the rocks of the canyon below.

Marcus reached for the dagger tucked in his waistband, but the man was gone in a flash, heading off through the woods on some perverse final mission, a last inexplicable duty. Left in solitude, Marcus allowed his body to relax. The tension in his muscles nagged at him. A night spent on the cold ground had stiffened them, knotting so that it was painful to move. He was so tired--tired of the torturous life they led, tired of struggling to survive, tired of everything in the evil world. Soon, none of that would matter.

Exhausted, he squatted on his haunches to relieve the stress on his back and dropped into a sitting position on the dusty, rock-strewn ground. He tried to recapture the inner peace he had had so long ago; he tried but failed. Serenity was just outside his grasp, an amorphous emotion that darted away as if it were afraid to be captured. For too long they had scurried about like savages, fearing the night. Across the valley, he watched as sporadic fires blazed through the ruined city. Burned-out cars and rubble filled the streets. Not long now. God, where is she? Please, I can't be alone. Don't make me be alone. He looked up at the sky in anticipation. Not now.

Watching over the city, Marcus was taken in by utter hopelessness. He was lost in thought when a gentle hand found his shoulder. Startled, he jumped away, retreating from the touch before he recognized the soft features bordered by the dirty blond locks he knew so well. He stared at her for several moments before taking her into his arms with all the emotion he had left. Thank God.

'Jesus, Lorrie. You know how to cut it close.'�

'I'm here, baby,'� She whispered soothingly. The woman sighed with fatigue. 'I told you I'd make it and I did.'� Her chest heaved from exertion. It was clear that she had run some distance. She took his hand in hers and sat with him cross-legged on the ground. They stared out over the valley, content to be in each others company.

'I was so worried.'�

'Shhhh'�none of that matters now. We're together.'� The woman kissed his hands and dirt-smeared face. 'That's all that counts.'� They sat in silence and gazed up at the few clouds that dotted the sky.

Soon, Marcus thought. His heart spasmed with trepidation. It was hard, so hard, to face the inevitable, but at the same time it was easy. Just let it go. All they had to do was let it happen and it would be over, no effort required. Let it all go.

It began as a pin-point of light high above them. The asteroid could have easily been mistaken for the sun if the familiar, yellow orb hadn't already taken its place in the morning sky.

Marcus made the effort to point toward it just as the sky flashed, releasing a wave of heat to wash over their flesh. The pair turned away in the instant before everything around them became super-heated and vanished from recognition. Nothing was spared. Humans, trees, buildings all turned to dust, even before the mammoth rock impacted the Earth's crust and liquefied its surface, blasting a geyser of molten debris upward until it reached back into space and spread over the entire globe. The single, violent act sealed the fate of mankind on the planet Earth, banishing humanity from its meager existence.

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