Liam Fenix sat and stared at her for a moment, but then his throat clogged up and he started to gag.

Leah raised an eyebrow when she realized what was about to happen. “Best you take that outside.”

In a flash, the human lurched from his seat and ran for the balcony. Vomit spewed forth as he leaned over the railing. All things considered, not the worst reaction to have. Kurt waddled over to bring him a towel, but Leah waved him back.

“Give him a minute,” she said before again looking to her own crew. “We’ve got our own things to clear up, huh?”

“Leave this puzzle to me, comrades,” Mastermind said, stroking his tiny chin to accentuate the point. “It would appear that this living legacy has just come to learn of the Hollowing that felled his kindred. But how could that be? Humans were social by their very nature. So much time has passed for him to be merely oblivious.” He grinned. “Well, is this not an obvious deduction? Our friend must have been isolated before the outbreak with no means of return, perhaps marooned on an uninhabited island?” His red eyes beamed. “Is that the solution, mum?”

“That’s what he told me,” Leah acknowledged.

Of course Mastermind would crack this open without a second thought. Though he’d only been a child when he’d hollowed and therefore had a little boy’s body to match, his Rez was brimming with Mensa-level intellect, the kind that most old world PhD holders never got to obtain.

Mastermind tittered and rubbed his little tufts of black hair. “How marvelous! What an incredible find you’ve gotten for us.”

“Doesn’t look like this one came for free,” Kurt said. He gave Leah’s wounded shoulder a poke with his meaty hand. “Who did this?”

Where Mastermind was sized too small, a case could be made that Kurt had hollowed too big. Well over six feet tall and two hundred fifty pounds in weight, there weren’t many that could survive a blow from his sledgehammer, not without getting cleaved in half. It was a shame that the hollows had given him so many Marks. Between his torso and face, he had more than a dozen, with one even claiming an eye, though he wrapped cloth around his bald head to cover the wound.

Leah grimaced. “It was Spike. I’ll explain more later, but let’s just say that he’s doing worse than me.”

Buttercup laughed. “Can’t say I ever liked the asshole.”

Sometimes Leah could swear that Buttercup was secretly human. He’d found a leopard-print to go with the cream fedora he’d started wearing, and between the tanner he put into his skin and product for his hair and mustache, he’d pass more easily as one than even Liam Fenix. Were it not for his burgundy eyes or the Mark he kept hidden below his shirt, she might never know for certain.

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“What the hell are you wearing this time?” Leah asked.

He gleamed. “I keep telling you, I’m pretty sure that I was a porn star in my living days. You know how many of these things fit like they were custom-tailored for me?”

Too many, that’s for sure. “Change. We’re heading out soon.”

“Oh, come on, Leah. I’ve barely broken the fucker in and you already want me to toss it in a roller like its an old pair of shoes?”

“I’ll burn it if I have to. We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Mastermind cut in. “Speaking of, my friends… I believe the human will cease his retching soon. This begs a question best answered candidly while he remains out of our company. What are we to do with him next?” He looked to Leah.

“Fair enough,” Buttercup said. “You know I was just playing, right? Of course you’re calling the shots here, Leah.”

“Yeah, boss,” Kurt echoed. “You’re the one who found him. You’ll have our backs.”

Kurt, Mastermind, Buttercup. Leah’s crew. She’d picked them up at one point or other over the years, and they’d been inseparable ever since. But for all her prowess and expertise, there were some problems she’d never been prepared for, or even considered as anything other than a passing fantasy. To say that finding a living human was one of those moments was the understatement of the century. Everyone was looking to her for answers, and she had none to give.

Oh, how leadership sucked.

Liam Fenix walked back into the room, his beard caked in vomit, and eyes still watered. “I’m sorry. I know that you saved my life, but this is a lot.” He laughed bitterly. “I always knew that the world would’ve changed, but let’s just say that I never expected this. I want to thank you for saving me but… There’s something else I need to know.” The newspapers rustled as he picked one up. “You see… This is dated two days after my plane went down. An odd coincidence, yeah? It makes me wonder…” He paused. “How long?”

Leah stared him in the eyes. “Twelve years have passed since the Hollowing. No one’s seen a living human for the past seven.”

He fell silent as he considered the reality of his return. At least Leah could answer this honestly. She was among the oldest rezzers around, and perhaps one of the first to ever be reincarnated. Twelve years of her existence had passed since then. Twelve long years of survival, with none of them easy, as she had been forced to do the unspeakable just to keep her Rez stable a few days more.

“I understand,” Liam Fenix said with a tone that would not be challenged.

Is that so? Leah was expecting him to scream, or cry again, or attempt to take his own life on the spot. Humans were like that. They valued their own existence less than the world they’d known before. How many had she seen go that way?

But Liam Fenix was different. He’d heard that civilization had been destroyed, and that all he’d come to love was no more, and that this new world was nothing but hostile for his kind. And yet, none of this seemed to deter him. If anything, he looked ready to face the challenge.

“So what do we do now?” he asked, his head held high.

Here it was. Her moment to choose. All eyes were on Leah, and she needed to have an answer. Dare she risk it all?

“We’re returning to Pandemonium,” she decided, “and we need you to come with us. This world is still dying, and you’re the only one who can save us.”

“Me? What can I do?”

Leah clenched her fists, her own spirit buoyed. “A nation built by corpses can only ever produce more corpses, but life can endure forever. Make no mistake, Liam Fenix. You might be the last man to walk this earth…” She paused.

“But that makes you the most important one who’s ever lived.”