We're the Last

by G Sasaki

  Hailey nervously uttered, “Do you still love me?”

  The sound of her voice sent chills through his body. It was just as he remembered. How could she love him? He was a monster, just like Fake Hailey in the hospital told him. A lone tear fell from his eye. He lifted his hand, flashed his palm, and stretched his fingers apart.

  Hailey slid her fingers into the spaces between his and squeezed. Their hands locked together, like they always had. There, she felt the slight beat of his heart against her.

  She brought her face close and rubbed her cheek against his, forgetting she was tainted with blood. She closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling of having him back. “I wish I could be sick with you. I wish we could be the same.” The wind blasted from outside the arch and pushed against her face. And she remembered.

  Hailey’s head lifted and she looked through the arch to the ocean. The sun dove closer to the horizon. She unclamped their hands and panic overtook her. “Alex, where did they take Grace?”

  Alex’s eyes widened. Grace was the sacrifice?! He tried to pull himself up from the ground but stumbled back from dizziness. After seeing the blood stained on the back of his head, Hailey urged, “Don’t try to get up. Please just point me where they’re planning on doing this.”

  Alex lifted his hand and pointed above his head, toward the beach beyond them.

  “The beach?”

  Hailey rose to her feet. “I’m sorry Alex. I have to go. Don’t get up. You’re injured and I don’t want you to get hurt. I have to save Grace.” She wasted no time and walked away. But then, she stopped. She took one last look at Alex and said, “If I don’t come back… just know that… I wanted to.”

  As Hailey left, Alex’s eyes rebelled against him and tried their best to shut. He couldn’t help but think he and Nicole made a mistake. They were wrong. Hope still lived. A smirk rested on his face as he slipped out of consciousness.

  “I’ll be back,” Hailey whispered under her breath. For all the goodbyes that had agonized them, she knew this was the last time she would need to say it. One way or the other.

  Hailey ran to the side of the archway and climbed the gradual incline. Her hands and feet frantically brought her straight to the top of the rock. From there, the wind gusted and she was gifted a perfect view of the beach. Her eyes widened at the sight.

  So many bats littered the beach, she couldn’t see the sand. There were more of them together than she had ever seen. They stood, peacefully, side by side. At the far end of the beach, The Giant stood alone with a woman next to him, presumably Nicole. In front of them, four bats held Grace to the ground, gripping her arms and legs, keeping her on her back. Hailey could hear the faint sound of her screaming. Grace’s shirt was gone and her chest bare.

  A sick feeling grew in Hailey’s stomach. She checked the sun again. It inched ever closer to the horizon. She had more than enough time to get down there. But what could she do against the hundreds of unified bats?

  50

  Sand dug into his face and he coughed tiny particles out of his airway. Like emerging from a nightmare, Mike snapped awake. Sprawled on his stomach, his face throbbed in pain. His hands spread out and he pushed his body inches above the rough sand. Feeling too weary to stand, he flopped onto his back and exhaled. He stared at the sky. It reflected a reddish color and became darker with every moment that passed. Day was slowly becoming night and the moon’s glow started to overtake the sky. He felt isolated, like he had been beat up and dropped on a tiny island of his own.

  But it clearly wasn’t the case. When he turned his head, he saw hundreds of pairs of feet settled beyond him. They were all covered in fur, which meant the bats were resting for some reason. The cloudiness of his head just added to his confusion. He dug his hand into the sand and forced himself to sit upright. All the bats were remarkably silent and faced in the same direction, looking at something. The memory of what happened right before he passed out was hazy. It came to him in bits as he tried to ignore the annoying soreness in his body.

  Mike’s stiff legs lifted him to his feet. All around him, in every direction, the bats stood. It was like being on a crowded street in New York. Well, the old New York anyway. Men, women, and children just stared ahead, ignoring his presence. “Am I dead?” Mike asked aloud. The scene looked as bizarre as any he’d seen. Maybe this was some kind of purgatory where dead bats waited for judgment.

  Mike looked at the person standing next to him. A quick glance between its legs confirmed its female gender. Mike stared at her face, which seemed stoic and non-responsive. He waved his hand in front of her eyes. Thankfully, it prompted a response. The female turned her head and observed him with puzzled eyes.

  Mike asked, “What’s happening?”

  She lifted a finger to her lips and held it there, demanding he remain silent.

  Mike chuckled. “What?”

  Then suddenly, Grace’s death curdling scream reached his ears and sent his heart into a tailspin. That’s right! They were attacked. Grace was taken. And a giant bat knocked him out. But what was this congregation?

  Mike screamed, “What’s going on here?!”

  Every head turned to look at him. Bodies shifted, creating a weird sound of gently flapping wings as hundreds of eyes dawned on him. As they moved, the spaces between the bats allowed Mike to see what had owned their attention: The Giant stood in front of them, staring downwards, with a female at his side. In The Giant’s hand dipped a blade of some sort, a machete. With his size, it looked like a kitchen knife. Snugged tightly around his neck rested a necklace with a leather pouch dangling at the bottom. Mike snarled. The Giant was the one who was responsible for the stinging in his face.

  With mounting agitation, Mike shouted to The Giant. “Where’s Grace?”

  The Giant’s deep otherworldly voice responded, “Move out of his way. Let him see.”

  In front of him, the bats stepped aside and created a clear path for Mike to see what rested on the sand: Grace, pinned down by four bats. She turned her head and looked at him with terror reflected in her eyes. Her hair frazzled and thick trails of tears streamed along her cheeks. “Mike! Help me!”

  Mike’s heart fell from his body. With the gap of bats still open, Mike stepped ahead to lunge forward and attack The Giant.

  But at that instant, a naked girl, wearing only black underwear and splotches of fresh blood, beat him to it. Her body flung through the sand and furiously pedaled toward Grace …Hailey?

  Hailey darted through the open space. The sand collapsed under her feet with every step. But that didn’t slow her down.

  The Giant’s huge lipless mouth smirked. This miniscule girl was the least imposing obstacle he could have come across. The bats watched, perplexed with what unfolded.

  The Chosen One was back.

  Hailey yelled, “I’m here to help you, Grace!”

  Her path remained unobstructed and in just a few steps, she would be at Grace. But suddenly, a bat stepped in and gripped her arms, pulling her back. Hailey frantically kicked against him. “Let me go!” Hailey gazed at Grace. I have to reach her! Hailey turned and looked at the bat who had her in his grasp. The sight of his face broke her heart.

  “Dave?”

  Dave, the very first bat she and Grace had ever seen, was the one who stopped her. So Victor was right. The Unstables and Washington High bats did unite to listen to The Giant. Hailey dropped her head in disbelief. After swearing to protect her, Dave instead betrayed her. “Let me go Dave.”

  Dave’s grip didn’t loosen; it only tightened.

  Hailey looked at the sun inching ever closer to the horizon. She pleaded with him. “You can’t think cutting out her heart will save you.”

  A skirmish broke out in front of her. Hailey lifted her head and saw that Mike had been tackled just in front of Grace and had six bats piled on top of him. Mike screamed with frustration as he tried to lift himself up. But the weight of the bats wouldn’t let him.

  The Giant’s voice rumbled,
“Make sure he can see.” The Giant swiped the blade at the surface of Grace’s arm and slashed open her skin. Blood flowed out and Grace screamed in response.

  Hailey’s eyes searched around, frantic to come up with a solution. Dave wasn’t going to let her go and Mike was pinned down. Her eyes settled on the woman next to The Giant whose back was to the scene. “Nicole!” Hailey yelled, “Please help us!” Hailey checked the horizon. The sun was just about pulling even.

  The Giant watched. The colors of the sky swirled around the sun. Rich orange, red, and yellow mixed with thick clouds. The Giant knew he could get to Grace’s heart in a matter of seconds. Cutting her open early risked killing her too soon. The huge ball of light that was the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon. It was almost time to save humanity.

  Nicole couldn’t bear to watch. She kept her back to Grace and tried her to best to ignore the cries and pleas. Nicole couldn’t do the act herself and managed to find someone who would. Nicole knew this was what was going to happen. No matter who the sacrifice was, it was going to be brutal. The screams of terror that echoed behind her were nothing compared to what was about to come. What kind of pain was Grace about to endure? The heart was buried under several protective layers. To get to it, and have it still beating, was a kind of pain she couldn’t imagine. And didn’t want to. The Mayans did it all the time, she thought. To people even younger than Grace. Nicole just needed to live through it one time. Over and over, she convinced herself it was for the best.

  Mike pushed against the sand with every fiber of his strength. His muscles strained and he pulled some of them in his back. But he couldn’t budge. He looked at Grace. At the unadulterated horror on her face. He had only known her for a short time. But he couldn’t help but imagine how terrible his own life would be without her.

  Hailey couldn’t escape Dave’s grasp. Her throat felt coarse from screaming. She shouted, “Don’t! Please! Take me! I’m not infected either. Cut my heart out! Leave Grace alone!”

  Grace’s heart raced so fast she thought it would burst. Hearing Hailey offer to save her life was so nice. It wasn’t surprising she would do that. As she looked at a kicking and flailing Hailey, she couldn’t help but smile. Two weeks ago, Grace held a gun to her head and halfway pulled the trigger. She thought then she had nothing to live for. Now, on the verge of death, she wanted nothing more than to keep living. And that was all thanks to Hailey. Grace softly said, “I love you, Hailey.” Then Grace remembered. She meant to apologize for the way she’d been when she was in the Fab Four. This was her last chance, she supposed. “I’m sorry for hurting you. You’re the best friend I could’ve ever asked for… you’re my sister.”

  Those words plowed into Hailey. She screamed in distress and fell to her knees. This was it. She had done all she could to save her friend. There was nothing left. “Grace…” Tears fell from her eyes and dove to the sand. The thought of losing her, and like this no less, overwhelmed her. Mired in defeat, Hailey lifted her head to the swirling sky and pleaded to no one in particular. “Don’t let this happen. Grace is my best friend. I don’t know how I can live without her.” Hailey’s heavy eyes looked at Grace, who helplessly gazed back. “I hope you know how much you mean to me… my sister.”

  Nicole brought her hands to her forehead. The heartbreaking conversation happening behind her shredded her heart. Her eyes couldn’t help but see the numbers tattooed on her forearm: 3 2 9 9. The black ink protruded through her fur and stared at her. They represented the date Ava died: March 2, 1999. She swore she would never forget. And she didn’t. How many times in the last days of her life did she tell Ava how much she cared about her? How important they were as sisters? She could hear Ava’s voice in those girls. Even today, she would give anything to be with her just one more time. Ava had been taken from her by an unseen force and her heart never healed from the pain. And now, here she was, doing the exact same thing to these two girls. Nicole looked at the sun, mere seconds away from being directly even with the horizon. In so many ways, the transformation of the world was her fault. It was her responsibility to turn everything back. But in her mind, she saw Ava’s blue eyes. Her long eyelashes. Her blonde hair. Her smile. Nicole remembered sitting alone at the wake; the pain in her heart on that day never went away. She could practically hear Ava’s voice recite the line she’d written on the cover of her journal. “My love will never leave you. We will always be best friends.” But then she realized, she did hear it. It came tenderly from the mouth of Grace, right before she was to be sliced apart.

  No.

  Nicole wouldn’t let this happen.

  Not again.

  To Hell with saving the world.

  “Stop!”

  Nicole turned around and faced the distress she was responsible for. The eyes of hundreds of bats landed on her. “Put it down. We’re letting them go.”

  The Giant lowered the blade and rested the tip on Grace’s chest. “No.” He slowly dipped the blade into her skin, piercing it. As Grace screamed, Nicole dug her feet into the sand and sprinted at The Giant. This is for you Ava, Nicole thought. The Giant lifted the blade, offering Grace a temporary reprieve from agony. Nicole blasted back her wings and leapt at The Giant. She pounded into his side and gripped his body.

  From the shock of Nicole’s attack, the bats holding Grace floundered away, leaving her free to escape. Like a flock of frightened seagulls, many of the bats took to the air, including the ones on top of Mike. Mike dug his hands into the sand and furiously crawled toward Grace. He scooped her in his arms and leapt to his feet. In his arms, she was safe. Grace could barely breathe. It felt like she had just run a marathon. She panted, “I’m alive.” Mike sprinted across the beach, eager to get her away from The Giant.

  Nicole’s fingers squeezed at The Giant’s eyeballs. Though he held a machete in his hand, he hesitated to use it with her strapped to him. The Giant stumbled against Nicole, struggling to stay on his feet. Regardless of what happened, she had given the girls enough time to escape.

  Dave’s head darted around. Realizing the plan had collapsed, he released Hailey. She elbowed him away from her, disgusted with his treachery. Dave flapped his wings and joined his scurrying comrades in the sky. Hailey sprinted after Mike and Grace, zigzagging her way past the hundreds of remaining bats on the ground. They mumbled amongst themselves, wondering if their best chance to become human was gone.

  Mike ran up the steady incline and ignored the rope that offered its assistance. His toes gripped the rocks, flinging them upwards. “Are you alright?”

  Despite the deep cut on her arm and the slight wound on her chest, most of the tension pounded in her heart. It beat insanely, stressing her body and tingling her head with a throbbing headache. But yet again, Grace rested in Mike’s arms. She looked at his face, with his eyebrows furrowed in determination. She took deep breaths in and out, trying to relax in his grasp. Grace softly said, “Don’t leave me.” With his eyes looking forward and his legs pushing them away from danger, Mike responded, “I won’t.”

  From the bottom of the rocky path, Hailey stood and watched Mike and Grace run away; a relieving sight. Hailey’s intense distress from Grace’s near execution started to wear off. Those emotions transformed into an immense rage. Her hands involuntarily squeezed into fists. Her teeth clenched. Past the frantically flying bats and holdovers on the beach, Hailey glared at the man responsible.

  It was time to face The Giant.

  51

  The unforgiving incline stressed his legs but he kept going. He ignored any weariness, any shortness of breath that threatened to slow him down. Mike settled underneath the large archway of stone overlooking the ocean. It was far enough away from everything and seemed secluded. Even better, no one was there… just a puddle of blood on some rocks near his feet. Mike looked at Grace, nestled in his arms. “Can you stand?”

  She nodded.

  He placed her on her feet and she stretched her legs as she stood. A part of her didn’t think
she’d ever stand again. She could barely feel the gash on her arm. She said, “Thanks for helping me.”

  Mike nodded, brushing off her gratitude. Grace’s bare chest bore the mark of a blade and her arm had to be pulsing with pain. “Are you sure you’re okay? You went through a lot back there. You don’t have to play tough around me.”

  She gazed at him through her long eyelashes. From the moment they met, Mike looked out for her. Grace looked at the rocks beneath her shoes then realized she wasn’t wearing a shirt and stood in front of him bare. Normally, she’d be embarrassed. But next to Mike, she didn’t feel that. Grace uttered, “I was convinced there was nothing good about this new world. But when my life almost ended, I didn’t want to leave. This place isn’t so bad. Especially when I’m with you… I like it.”

  Grace’s admiring blue eyes warmed a gentle sensation that spread through his veins and covered the rest of his body. It was hard for him to admit these feelings. The daunting fact was that he would soon be nothing like her. He wouldn’t even be able to talk to her. If he knew he would turn back, he would ask her out. They could find something in this new world that could constitute a date. He’d make Grace his girlfriend. But with the way things were, that couldn’t happen. For her sake, he needed to turn her down. Mike’s eyes dashed around and looked for the right words. “About what happened in the cookie aisle…”

  Grace laughed at the beginning of his sentence, unaware the rest of it was meant to be the opposite of what she hoped to hear. It just sounded so funny. Before giving him the chance to finish his thought, she lifted her hands, gripped his cheeks, and forced her face forward. Her lips leapt into his and finally, they kissed.