The Last Girl

It was March of 2022. Humans were wiped out on the planet Earth due to the D-Virus. It has been six months since the D-Virus emerged and became the deadliest virus known to man. The virus was extremely airborne, and a fleshing-eating disease was caused by this deadly virus. As a result, the human body would experience severe deterioration. Once infected, a fever would be the first symptom to experience. Followed by painful paroxysmal coughs, vomiting, and then fatigue. Within a weak, the tissue would slowly be destroyed under the skin. A human would have only a few weeks to survive. By that time, the spread of the deterioration would lead to the infected turning into skeletons. Unfortunately, there was no cure. A cure was not created in time to prevent the termination of the human race. Majority knew that there was no cure and that their close death was inevitable. Some would position themselves next to their loved ones on beds and couches when they felt that their organs were slowly shutting down. It was their way to have family and friends die together. Others would end their lives before their physical conditions worsen. Some would even move themselves to the ocean in order for their skeletal remains to hide deeper in the sea. In addition to that, animals were immune to the virus.

The streets in different parts of the world were deserted. What was left of the human race were scattered in different areas. Only animals were roaming around. All humans were gone except for one person – a female. Diana Larsen was eighteen years old with the mind of a young teenager. She still had some immaturity in her. Prior to the outbreak, she had always depended on her parents to take care of her especially financially. She would childishly give them major attitudes when things did not go her way. She never had a job. However, she has thought about becoming a fashion designer since she was obsessed with the fashion industry and her only talent was sketching. Besides art, her favorite activities were hanging out at the nearby mall, playing videos at arcades, going roller skating, and walking on the boardwalk and beach with her close friends. She never had a boyfriend. However, she would act like a schoolgirl in love every time she saw a cute guy she temporarily liked. The nickname that her family gave her was “JJ” because her eyes and short black hair were similar to the singer Joan Jett. Even after six months, she was still struggling with her independence. She was always an extrovert and outgoing, but the D-Virus changed that. It drove her crazy that she had no other human to socialize with and no one to take care of her. Living in a world by herself was a huge challenge for her. She did not feel safe. However, she was trying to stay resilient. She was living in her parents’ beach house in Santa Cruz, California which was a quarter of a mile away from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Living with Diana was her cat. Molly was a 4-year-old female Manx cat with light brown coat and amber colored eyes.

It was a quiet but beautiful Friday evening in the middle of March. In the beach house, Diana was sitting in the dining room with a plate of chicken, a bowl of chili, and a can of orange soda on the table in front of her. Across from her, Molly had her face in a plate of chicken. The cat acted like she had not eaten in days as she wolfed down the meat. There was a bowl of water next to Molly’s plate.

Diana scoffed at the sight of her hungry cat. “You shouldn’t eat that fast, Molly. You’ll throw up again.”

Molly did not respond to Diana’s words.

Diana rolled her eyes. “I am tired of cleaning up your vomit.” She took a drink of her soda and sighed. “I had a dream about him again.”

Molly started drinking her water.

“This time, we were swimming in the ocean, and we were very happy.” Diana smiled as she recollected her dream. “It was fun, and it felt so damn well.” She sighed and sat back. “I don’t know who he is. I’m sure with only you and me being the only ones here, I will never get to meet this guy.”

Molly went back to eating more chicken.

“I’m glad that I did not burn the chicken this time.” Diana giggled, “I’m so surprised that I can make something other than toast and ramen noodles.”

Molly jumped off the table after she finished her dinner. She gracefully walked out of the dining room and into the living room.

“Maybe we’ll go to the boardwalk tomorrow,” Diana spoke up.

One hour later, Diana was relaxing on the couch in the living room with Molly resting beside her. She was watching The Twilight Saga: New Moon on DVD. As the movie was playing, she gently caressed Molly’s back.

“So, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob, Molly?” Diana nonchalantly asked.

Molly sat up and climbed onto Diana’s lap for attention.

“I’ll bet you’re Team Edward.” Diana caressed her cat some more. “You could say that I’m Team Jacob since I think he has a better body.” She yawned. “We should be going to bed soon. Maybe tomorrow we’ll go to the store and grab more DVDs. I’m surprised that we still have electricity. The question is… how long will it last?”

The next morning, Molly was eating her cat food in the kitchen. At first, the only sounds were Molly munching on her breakfast and birds chirping outside. Suddenly, Molly raised her head up after she heard the sound of footsteps. As she listened to Diana moving closer with a whistling sound, the cat went back to eating her food.

Diana entered the kitchen with a paper of an unknown sketch. She approached Molly, sat down, and crossed her legs. “I had another dream about him. This has to be the sixth dream about him so far.”

Molly stopped eating and climbed onto Diana’s lap.

Diana started stroking the top of Molly’s head. She blushed at the thought of her recent dream. “In this dream, I was at the beach, and I saw a ship on the horizon. It looked like a cruise ship. It stopped for about fifteen minutes. Then, a figure appeared. On the deck of the ship, I saw a figure moving and facing me. I didn’t know who it was. All of a sudden, he jumped off the ship and swam towards me. He walked out of the water, and we were face to face. It was him. It was the same guy in my dreams. He told me that I was the first one he has seen, and he thought that he was the only human left.” She raised the paper she brought in, and it showed a sketch of a young male’s face. “This is what he looks like. I sketched it this morning.”

Molly jumped off Diana’s lap which caused a slight confusion on her owner’s face. The cat calmly walked away and exited the kitchen.

Diana sucked her teeth after she realized that Molly was not interested. “Well, I think he’s cute. He might be my age.” She stood up and placed the paper on the kitchen counter. She saw an apple and picked it up. “Why does he keep appearing in my dreams? Is he a ghost visiting me? Is he somewhere out there?” She took a bite of her apple, chewed it, and swallowed. “It would be nice to have a man to keep me in line, I guess.” She took another bite of her apple and took the time to ponder. As she was swallowing the second bite of her apple, she turned her back to the counter and leaned back against it. “Maybe having a man would make me a better and stronger person.” She shrugged and took another bite of her apple. A few seconds later, she chuckled at the thought of what she just said. “Yeah right. He probably doesn’t exist just like the rest of the world. Me yearning for a cute guy is probably the reason why I’m having these weird dreams.” She continued to eat her apple.

A few hours later, Diana was walking alone on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Her tennis skort, sleeveless top, and Canvas low-top sneakers were all pink. She used a pair of oversized dark sunglasses to block her eyes from the sunlight. She was wearing heavy makeup, but the rouge lipstick was the only makeup exposed. She was holding Molly in a blue baby wrap carrier, and she was carrying two plastic bags in her hands. One bag had groceries, and the other bag had about a dozen DVDs. As Diana was walking by the amusement rides, she was starting to feel depressed. She reminisced the times when she was enjoying all the rides with her loved ones. Molly softly meowed.

“It’s okay,” Diana said in a gentle voice. She kept moving on the boardwalk with the ocean to her right. “We’re almost home, buddy.”

A large object emerged on the ocean horizon. It turned out to be a huge ship. The gross tonnage of the ship was close to 170,000. It looked like it had a capacity of close to 5,000 people. The model of the ship appeared to be remarkably similar to the “Quantum of the Seas” Cruise Ship that Royal Caribbean International operated years before.

Diana did not notice that a ship was sailing on the Pacific Ocean. She was too busy rushing to get home. “As soon as we get home, I’ll start making dinner.”

Molly meowed again, and the sound was a little louder than before. She started squirming in the carrier as she continued to meow.

Diana stopped in perplexity. “What’s wrong? You love being carried in this thing.”

Suddenly, Molly jumped out of the right side of the carrier which caused Diana to drop the two bags. The cat ran to the beach. As soon as she ran all the way to the wet sand, she stopped.

Diana tried to catch up to her cat and screamed, “Molly, get over here!” She finally made it to Molly and picked her up. “What’s wrong with you? I don’t want to lose you.” As she was stroking the top of Molly’s head, she finally noticed the faraway large ship on the ocean. She froze out of total disbelief. The reality that there was at least one more survivor was starting to sink in. She carefully held her cat a little tighter against her chest out of fear. “Molly, I don’t think we’re alone anymore.”