There was a hiss, a horrible creak, a flood of light, and suddenly my chest was alive with pain as I doubled over, choking in the steam suddenly enveloping me. Where was I? What was happening? Why were there tight silicone straps digging into my rib cage, holding me upright? Cyan metal plating over my head, a coil of brass tubes at my side, foggy glass against my face, a ring of light at my feet…my breath came fast, and I felt hot tears gathering in the corners of my eyes.
Another hiss, and the glass before me parted. I squinted my eyes against the sudden wave of light.
“Whiénne. So I see the ‘tough career girl’ was just an act,” said a sly, cutting voice.
I opened my eyes, and my blood ran cold. Framed in the light of the distant son was Marcus Robustelli, the leader of the local mafia who’d been trying to gain my lawyer father’s loyalty for years. His shaggy black curls hid his cold periwinkle eyes, and his chiseled jawline shone with sweat. His lips, smooth as rubies, slid into a smile at the sight of the tears in my eyes.
Gritting my teeth, I dragged my sleeve over my wet cheek. “I was choking in the smoke, that’s all,” I said. “Not that I care what the likes of you think of me.”
“Manners, manners,” he said with a smirk. “A smarter girl would consider that you can’t get out of those straps without help."
I glanced down at the complex system of straps holding against the wall of the contraption I was in. “Where am I? What’s going on?” I demanded.
“That’s not, ‘Marcus, will you please be a gentleman and give me a hand?”
My cheeks flushed crimson. “You won’t make a fool out of me.”
He leaned against the side of the contraption. “I have all day, Whiénne.”
The tears threatened to fall again. “Marcus, please help me.”
“You didn’t call me a gentleman.”
“Goddamnit, you imbecile, let me out!” I yelled, my small frame shaking.
He chuckled. “Now that’s the Whiénne I know,” he said, reaching in and freeing me in two quick motions. My cheeks flushed at the feel of his skin against mine, the smell of his cologne as his face hovered only inches from me.
He stepped back and led me out of the contraption, and my breath caught in my throat. We stood on a rolling hill of pale green grass and fluffy dandelions, a forest humming with life at its base. A twinkling river hummed beside us, and in the distance, snow-topped mountains rose from the mist. The air was alive with the songs of birds and bellows of beasts.
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I turned to him, my face warm in the sunlight. “Where are we?” I demanded, trying to hide my wonder.
“We’re in upstate New York, he said, a butterfly flitting onto his shoulder. “Whiénne, do you remember the last few days of your life?” I wrinkled my brow, but I couldn’t place it. “They dropped biological weapons, Whiénne. From Newfoundland to San Francisco, from Johannesburg to Cairo, from Lisbon to Shanghai…they destroyed us all.” His muscular chest heaved with emotion. “My father warned me ahead of time. There were just two cryogenic chambers, safe in our family vault. I turned the timer to two million years, figuring we’d be safe there, but…but I couldn’t bear the thought of living alone. His eyes bore into mine, locking me in his gaze. “And we’d never talked, but I’d always seen you though your father’s windows, your head buried in some book, and thought…” he glanced away, and his broad shoulders shrugged. “It’s ludicrous, I know.”
The wind, scented with distant waterlilies, blew my brown hair out of its messy bun and sent it cascading down my back. “Who else survived?” I asked.
“No one,” he said, taking my hand. “The other cryogenic chambers ruptured, and the people inside died. There’s no one left but us, Whiénne.”
I stared at his large blue orbs, his skin hot against mine, the thought of our future together slowly coalescing into my mind. “So...wait, lemme get this straight." His lips twitched into a foxy smile at my confusion. "So...you dragged me two million years into the future so I could slowly starve to death with a violent felon?”
He stepped back, eyes wide, and then sighed. “I understand that you’re scared. I would be too. But we won’t starve to death, Whiénne, not with me protecting you. This is an opportunity to create a new civilization. I know most girls couldn’t do it, but you’re different than the other girls: I’ve seen the way you dress in sweatpants and sweaters while other girls are wearing skin-tight shorts and false lashes, how you like to go on long runs while other girls are gossiping about football players or doing TikTok dances. If anyone is up to the challenge, Whiénne, you are.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold up.” I took a few steps backwards, and my leg plunged into the clear water of the stream behind me, landing on a patch of algae. Marcus lunged to grab me, and together we tumbled into the water.
I sat up, spitting water. Marcus surfaced besides me and laughed, water cascading down his hair and down the fabric of his tight shirt. He splashed some water on me. “Hold on,” I said, “We aren’t moving on. So your plan is for us to be like a modern-day Adam and Eve? What happens when our kids are grown, who do they marry?”
He smirked again. “See, Whiénne, this is why you never had any fun living the “good” life with your lawyer father. You were always so worried about the future, never slowing down to enjoy–”
“Dude, I'm so not mothering an incestuous pseudo-biblical family fuckfest.” I stood and turned to walk away.
“Whiénne! Wait,” he said, clambering to his feet. The sunlight accentuated the curve of his biceps under the soaked cloth of his shirt. “It’s okay. We don’t need to have any kids. But with your brains and my strength, with the entire world waiting for us, the adventures we can have–”
“I’m a book nerd with the practical skills of a dandelion. You’re a glamorized drug trafficker. This is a world unlike any we know, inhabited by new predators, new plants that may or may not be poisonous, new diseases, and absolutely no human infrastructure or tools. I think we might be a little in over our heads,” I said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try to get eaten by a bear.” I turned and left him in the stream. Within two days, we were both dead from dysentery.
The end!!! <3