Card prompts were motivational speaker and last, best kiss.
Kind of churned this one out quickly, didn’t care much for it.
Mark had been a motivational speaker most of his adult life. It had been a surprisingly easy gig to slip into – he’d always been good at talking his way into and out of things, ever since he had learned his first words. Part of it was that the truth never got in the way of a good story or a convincing lie. It wasn’t that the things he was talking about weren’t good and true in and of themselves. He spoke at schools and at corporate events and to drug addicts, helped to encourage people in their lives and their goals and to set an example. And if he needed to seem personally invested to help set that example – to discuss overcoming addiction as though he had once overcome such a debilitation himself, and still struggled valiantly with it daily – well, giving people hope was the crux of the position. They needed the hope more than they needed absolute truths.
Janet was the opposite. She had always been mousy and quiet, easily ignored or spoken over. Even here and now in the apocalypse, most people ignored her, preferring to listen to Mark. And she had to admit – he was easy to listen to. Easy to believe. She always had a knack for sniffing out the bullshit in the pretty things he said though. Maybe that was why, despite their differences, they had come together. They strangely complemented each other. Janet was practical, a steady presence that kept Mark grounded as he somehow rose to a leadership position in their little group of survivors. And despite the white lies that accompanied Mark’s speeches, Janet could always sense that he truthfully had hope for them. For their survival.
And it was hope that they especially needed. Civilization wiped out, and the remaining pockets of humanity hunted and destroyed. The creatures that hunted them seemed alien, but no one really knew where they came from or why they were there. They acted like savage animals, but worked together in groups, always seemed to be at least 3 steps ahead. They were relentless. Still, there was hope. There were other groups. Humanity, Mark assured everyone, would persist as it always did.
Then the group had started losing contact with the other known settlements, one after the other. Sometimes it was suggested that maybe the communications equipment was no longer working, but those that knew how these things worked were certain – the equipment was fine. There was no one on the other end to answer. The map in the situation room looked grim – community after community crossed out with x after x. Only their own small group remained on the map now. It was hard to look at and keep hope.
And the creatures were massing outside.
Mark wasn’t a soldier – he had never even held a gun until the past year, and he suspected he missed more often than not. They didn’t really have the ammunition or resources to practice regularly. The one thing he could do convincingly was talk – he could stand, and give a speech about persevering, fighting, facing the enemy. He could give hope one last time. He could see the spark of it lighting in the eyes of the people around him – his small found family, his friends. But as he finished his speech before their final battle, he caught Janet’s eye. Janet’s worried frown.
As always, she had seen right through him.
He maintained his smile for the others as he stepped down from the boulder he had been speaking from. Janet wrapped her arms around his waist, staring deeply into his eyes. She said nothing. She didn’t want anyone to overhear. But she knew. And he knew.
They were likely the last humans, and they weren’t surviving the night.
He leaned in and kissed her, deeply, losing himself in the moment, and she lost herself in him as well – this last, best kiss.
mehryment 