When Ariel woke up, the first thing she saw was the gray sky and the first thing she felt was a sting on her cheek. She brought her hands to her face, blood and grit mixing under her fingertips. The wind picked at the matted swatches in her hair and at the leaves on the ground. The dust circled overhead like a wake of vultures. She didn’t know where she was, or if there was anyone else left. She only knew that the end was near.

Ariel stood up on shaky legs. Every bone in her body ached, but she could walk—she would have to be satisfied with that. She took in her surroundings, and tried to keep at bay the fear that threatened to choke her. The flat open plains were foreign to her, as was the frozen silence. Everything was gray—the ground, the sky, the horizon. Suddenly, she thought she could see a small town in the distance. It was the only sign of civilization she could find, and she latched onto it as if it could save her life.

She walked toward the ruins, hoping to find someone who could help her. There was a shuffling noise behind her, but she tried to ignore it. It resumed, quieter, and for a moment, she thought she recognized it, but the noise vanished just as quickly as it came.

“Who’s there?” A girl’s voice, obnoxious and demanding, reverberated like a bell. The familiarity of the voice shook Ariel as she recognized her friend Chloe. Memories of warm grins and happy eyes flooded her mind. It soon gave way to painful recollections of their fight. It had been a long time since they had smiled or even looked at each other. Hate seared through her and tightened its thorny grip, opening old wounds that she had tried to heal with distance.

Ariel decided to ignore the voice. She wanted nothing to do with its owner. They had nothing to say to each other, at least, not until Chloe apologized first. But, despite Ariel willing her away, the tiny figure came into view: first the curly bushy brown hair, then the rest of her slight frame.

Despite herself, Ariel wished to see Chloe’s bright green eyes and soft smile like she remembered them, but what she saw in front of her were eyes of cold emeralds and an unhappy line of a mouth.

“You look like crap,” said Chloe coolly. At another time, the statement would have been a playful jab; now it was just a stab in the gut.

“What did you expect?” Ariel returned, equally aloof.

Chloe rolled her eyes in disdain.

The blonde girl wanted to latch onto that, start an argument. You don’t take anything seriously! That’s why no one confides in you! Instead, she kicked at the dust, and asked, “do you know where we are?”

Chloe snorted. “No. Does it look like I know?”

Ariel paused. “I thought I saw some houses over there,” Ariel said finally, motioning with her head.

“I’m going over to check it out.”
Chloe looked where Ariel had turned.

“Why?” Chloe asked.

Ariel shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “Someone might be there,” she said, carefully studying Chloe’s face.

Chloe stared at Ariel disbelievingly and shook her head.

“I didn’t say you had to come,” Ariel muttered darkly, tucking a muddy lump of hair behind her ear and avoiding Chloe’s gaze. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Ariel hated the silence between them.

“Well, I’m leaving now.” Ariel muttered, meeting Chloe’s eyes levelly.

“Okay, good for you,” Chloe responded curtly.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Neither moved.

“Maybe we should stick together,” Chloe whispered. Then her eyes widened in shock, as if she hadn’t meant to speak aloud.

“Why would you want to hang out with me,” Ariel asked, Chloe’s jabs fresh in her mind.

“It’s the end of the world. Do we have a choice?” Chloe shrugged in resignation.

Ariel refused to dwell on that. Longing for their old friendship welled in her—she willed it down, dousing it with detachment. Of all the people to be stuck with, why did it have to be someone as exasperating as Chloe?

“Well, do whatever you want.” Chloe murmured after a while.

The comment stung. Ariel felt animosity boil inside her again.

“And you do whatever you want.” Ariel shot back.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Ariel turned on her heel and stormed away. She forced herself to focus on the subdivision in front of her, and not check to see if
Chloe was following.

She strained her ears to hear the sound of footsteps, telling herself that she was trying to find other people, despite knowing deep down that she was only listening for one familiar gait. When she heard it, the sound warmed her heart, even though her expression remained cold and stiff.

The subdivision was closer than Ariel had originally thought. When she saw it up close, she gasped, the air dragging daggers down her parched throat.

Some houses were bare brick skeletons, completely unrecognizable from their original suburban luxury. Her stomach clenched in fear as she stared at the scene before her in horror.
The lifeless cage of debris loomed around her, gnarled and sharp, set in gaping shapes like jaws ready to rip her apart. There were torn book jackets on the ground, their books nowhere to be found, and a lone bookend, deformed beyond recognition. She wondered if the other one had survived. Ariel stepped on something soft and squishy and glanced down in surprise. It was a single, tiny pink sock. Her heart clenched. She shivered and moved on, and nearly walked into an overhanging beam. Draped from it was a gold necklace, with half of a heart. The curved part was smooth and perfect, but the side where it was severed from its other half was jagged. The blue paint on it was chipped and she could tell that there had been a word on it before, but now it was unreadable.

It was getting dark. All she could see was the outline of the crushed pieces of civilization around her.
She walked aimlessly. She noticed a broken flowerpot was on the ground, and ran to it, crushing rubble loudly under her feet. Hope caught in her throat when she thought she saw flowers strewn nearby. When she reached the dark brown clay shards, she saw nothing of the flowers at first. Then she found a single petal upon the ground. Close by, a flower lay face up on the ground, as if it were waking up to the desolate wasteland as Ariel had.

Suddenly, it was crushed under tiny pink claws. Ariel shrieked and leaped back as she saw the rat scuttle out from under the remains.
In her surprise, she bumped into someone. The touch on her shoulder was familiar and comforting for a moment, but the feeling was gone as soon as the moment passed.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

Chloe’s voice grated in her ears, much like the screech of a rat.
Ariel ignored her and instead turned to observe the rat. It had stopped, and turned slightly.

Another one rushed out of the debris and they raced together into the tunnels beneath the ruins.
Ariel turned to face Chloe. The brown haired girl looked troubled in the dim twilight.

“I didn’t mean that,” Chloe whispered, glancing down at the rubble around them.

Ariel nodded. “It’s okay.”

“Hey, I was thinking…” Chloe said, eyes wide in hope. She must have seen something on Ariel’s face, because Chloe bit her lip and sighed. “Whatever,” Chloe said, tearing her gaze away. “Never mind.”

They stood in silence for a while. Ariel turned and was about to continue her search.

“Where are you going?”
She shouldn’t have let Chloe’s voice stop her but it did. “I haven’t looked everywhere yet. Someone else might be here.”

Under the darkening sky, Ariel saw pity in Chloe’s eyes. A little piece of Ariel felt like it had broken off. She glanced over her shoulder at the ruined town, trying to spot the flower again. No matter how hard she tried, she could never find that flower again. Her gaze returned to Chloe.

Chloe put on a mischievous smile. “I don’t know which radioactive pit you were sleeping in to get night vision, but you should direct me to it so I can help you look.”

Ariel struggled to suppress the happiness that flooded her when she saw the bright expression on Chloe’s face. She could not stop her mind from racing to all the jokes, smiles, and laughter they used to share. Then the frigid night descended upon them and she remembered the weeks she and Chloe had spent apart, hurting each other more than they had wanted. She rubbed her shoulders, and longed for warmth.

When she looked up, their eyes met for a moment.

“I saw a good camp site further back.” Chloe said, almost sheepish.
Ariel didn’t reply, choosing to study Chloe instead. She wondered what made Chloe change her mind about Ariel and move on.

The other girl shrugged, as if answering Ariel’s unspoken thoughts. She tossed an easy grin over her shoulder as she walked away in the opposite direction. Ariel followed the other girl as if drawn towards her like a magnet.

Chloe sat down when they were at her camping spot. Ariel sat down with deliberate space between them. The night chilled both their bodies.

Ariel noticed Chloe’s gaze on her. When Chloe realized she had been caught, she didn’t turn away; instead she smiled warmly. Ariel felt the edges of her mouth turn upward, as if her muscles had been waiting to smile.

“Isn’t the sky pretty?” Chloe asked, her eyes dancing like they were back home on Chloe’s bed, sharing inside jokes and chocolate between them.

Ariel looked up compliantly. There were barely any stars. They were hidden behind the thick storm clouds that rolled overhead. Ariel thought she heard a clap of thunder from further away. At least the stars were together and the lightning would be accompanied by thunder. They were not alone.

Ariel glanced at Chloe. “No,” Ariel answered simply.

Ariel leaned back, to the strangely beautiful sound of Chloe’s laughter.

“Chloe?” Ariel asked, feeling a small burst of panic in her chest. She tried to adjust herself against the stack of bricks behind her, but they were rough and uncomfortable against her neck.

“Yeah?”

“We’re not waking up tomorrow.”
Chloe didn’t reply. Ariel scooted a little closer to her, just so she could feel her presence.

“What should we do?” Ariel asked.

“I don’t know, Aer.”

There were a lot of things Ariel wished she could do. She wished she could see her family one last time. She regretted not being kinder to them; she hadn’t even said goodbye. They had been so good to her. Her friends too, and many others in her life. She felt a sudden gratefulness to them all. She thought that she would have wanted to go to a church, or temple, or mosque, or anywhere, to be with any god, and ask him for forgiveness. So many things undone or unsaid…
Now it didn’t matter, she supposed. She wouldn’t have a chance to try or fail.

“You know what, Aer?” Chloe asked.

“What?”

“I’m glad I’m spending the apocalypse with you.”

Ariel turned to her friend. She could barely make out the line of Chloe’s bushy hair in the darkness. She saw Chloe smile at her in the moonlight.

“Yeah,” Ariel whispered, smiling back, letting out a deep sigh. “Me, too.”

She scooted closer to Chloe, so their legs were pressed together. Their hands found each other and their fingers locked together. If they happened to die this way, she would not think it so bad. They could be content, in some way. There was nothing else to do for tomorrow, the world would end.