Chapter Six
``You know...'' I began. ``I was never a very good dancer.''
Zara smirked. ``Don't worry, neither was I.''
At night the world was almost a bearable place. Sure, it was still hot and dry but without direct sunlight you could almost pretend that it was like experiencing twilight in the desert. Though there were the strong undercurrents of wrongness which still persisted: the stars no longer came out as the sun still stole them from us with its glow, the moon was gone - having been stripped away long ago, and most importantly there was the absence of any noises with most life extinguished.
``How much longer do we have left?'' I asked.
Zara shrugged. ``Minutes? An hour at most?''
I nodded sadly and pulled my phone out of my pocket, lingering upon the screen for a moment. My attention briefly wandered over to my photo albums, the last lingering vestiges of a life that felt like a phantom barely clinging on.
And soon that phantom would be torn away, destroyed by the fates.
I didn't let the photos absorb me as I moved over to a music app and put on a song that was from my teenage years. It was a tempered ballad that the kids in high school would've slow danced to. To think those high schools wouldn't linger much longer, not that it really mattered. They hadn't taught a single student in many thousands of years.
Something caught within my throat, a little nucleus of regret that persisted at this moment. I tried to ignore it but failed as it was enough to bring the first of my final tears to my impossibly tired eyes.
Death was a funny concept. It was one that I had never really lamented on with any meaningful capacity. But with it hurtling through space at speeds that were unfathomable, it suddenly felt so very real. In this microcosm of a moment, I began to wonder which religion was right if any of them were.
Though I supposed I would find out soon enough. So, there wasn't really any point in wondering about which belief was correct. Hopefully, it was one that would judge me kindly but that was all I could really ask for.
Zara cleared her throat and I looked towards her.
She seemed equally saddened by reality though her metal frame did not grant her the privilege of flowing tears.
I approached and held out my hand, a gesture that she was more than happy to reciprocate.
``May I have this dance?'' I asked.
Zara closed her eyes and bowed her head ever so slightly. ``You may.''
And with that our bodies came together and we waltzed around one another. True to our claims neither of us were very good dancers, simply shuffling awkwardly around one another as if we were those fabled high schoolers for whom this song was written and recorded.
The only difference was the complete disregard we had for ensuring that `One Jesus' was placed between us. If he was mad then he could take it up with us after the rapidly approaching apocalypse had elapsed.
Though I highly doubted that he would. He'd probably just be thankful that the last of his sheep had finally come home to rest.
``Do you think it'll hurt?'' I asked.
Zara shook her head. ``In a fraction of a millisecond, we'll be turned from flesh to plasma. The signal...'' She let out a grim noise that might've been laugher. ``The signal won't even make it from our nerves to our brains by the time it's over. It'll just be... the end.''
``Would it be cowardly of me to say that I'm glad it won't be painful?'' I murmured.
Zara shook her head though didn't seem to possess the strength to respond.
The song continued and so did our dance as one foot slipped around the other. We threw caution to the wind it would seem, not caring about how bad our performance was. For all I knew, we might've very well been the last two humans on earth, so that would've made us the best and the worst dancers on the entire planet.
At the very least, I got to enjoy the last rasp of civilization with someone else.
I could feel the warmth of her body, the movement of her form, the pleasure of just being joined with another. She was a relatively short addition to my life, only being in it for the few fleeting seconds of a finale that was many thousands of years in the making. But at this moment, she was the most important character of them all.
``I'm...'' I whispered, choking upon my words. ``I'm glad that I got to see the end of the world with you.''
Zara nodded. ``I love you.''
``I love you too,'' I whispered.
We shared a kiss as our lips came together. It was warm and flowing with the heat of love and passion. It was the most intense sensation imaginable, being enough to make my knees quake.
The song came to an end and we separated.
Almost immediately, I noticed something, seeing that even the normal glow of the night was starting to intensify. In the sky the aurora borealis was in full bloom, more extravagant than it had ever been before, casting a sea of blues and purples across the entire night sky.
It was beautiful.
``Did you know it was going to look like this?'' I asked.
Zara shook her head. ``It's...'' She reached out with a hand. ``It's magnificent.''
I reached out and took her hand, interlacing my fingers with her own.
The light continued to intensify and with it came a heat, mild at first.
For a moment, I brief wondered how much long-
