We race down rubble-filled roads. In the back, a woman whispers prayers while Marina dresses her leg wound.
My pager buzzes. Meteor, Sector 15. Five minutes.
“Jayde, we’re too close,” Marina warns.
But I can see him. He’s in rescue gear; neon vest, water pouches strapped around his waist.
“Hop in.”
He hesitates, and I know why.
“We thermal scanned. You’re the last one.”
Three minutes.
“I promise.”
He jumps in; I take off. Nearing 200 MPH, we pass through Sectors 19, 20, 21. In the rear-view mirror I watch him staring out the back window as the meteor burns through the air.
He was the last one. I’ll be telling myself that forever.
Rachel Hughes is a career-hopping, introverted, anxious nerd who writes. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, though mostly prefers to find herself in New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, or generally anywhere else.
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