“I trust you,” she says as his knife points to her throat.

Layla learned that at the end of the world, when human decency is no longer enforced nor expected, the most valuable currency is trust. In the ten months she spent with Joe, he never gave her any reason to doubt him…until now.

Looking around, Layla realizes their camp must have been raided last night while she was asleep. Now Layla finds herself surrounded by a group of wild, hungry-eyed men, impatiently staring at Joe and waiting for him to make his move.

“What are you waiting for man? She could feed all of us for a week!” says the blonde man to her left. He is both tall and burly — a lethal combination.

Second lesson about the end of the world? Most men are cut. Turns out the ones who can survive the fall of society are more likely to be the brutes of modern civilization. That said, they are usually easy to outmaneuver despite their physical prowess, as there isn’t much going on upstairs. Not to perpetuate a stereotype, but Layla can’t help it if it proved itself out time and time again.

In fact, this is why Layla noticed Joe in the first place. He was short, wiry, and barely had any meat on him. When they first met, Joe was being stalked by a band of raiders — not much different than the ones Layla faced now — and she followed along to see how he would fare. Entertainment was in short supply these days, and live action could only be captured live.

Joe surprised her though, when he goaded the brutes into a pit he had covered with sod. Seeing the carts of food the brutes left over, Layla decided to introduce herself to Joe. She told him she _meant_ to save him, but stopped when she realized he had a handle on it. To his credit, Joe seemed skeptical at first -- but his loneliness was palpable, and he relented. Soon, Joe came to appreciate having someone to sing showtunes with.

"So what's it gonna be Joe?" Layla whispers, "A band of brutes who will likely go after you the minute you turn your back, or someone who's listened to your rendition of Les Mis SEVEN times? And not even the theater version -- we're talking the one with Russell Crowe as Javert."

"How dare you?" Joe gasps, "You told me you appreciated the cross-pollination of Russell's portrayal of Gladiator against the backdrop of the French Revolution!"

"I say a lot of things," Layla hisses. The brutes lean in closer, trying to hear their conversation -- intrigued to see their dinner might also include a show. You really can't underestimate the hole Netflix left behind when it comes to a generation of streaming-obsessed, binge-watching zombies.

Joe looks at Layla, then tilts his head to the left. Layla nods.

Before the brutes around them could react, Joe throws the knife to the ground on his left side, then rolls to the right, knocking over the men standing between himself and freedom. Layla, anticipating Joe’s move, rolls to the left, grabs the knife, and uses it to slice at the legs of the men in her way — so they too topple over, giving her the space to keep running in the opposite direction.

Joe and Layla only camp across five different sites and this one was one of their favorites. Their contingency plan for this sector is a hidden cave on the side of a cliff, where they have enough resources stocked to survive for one week. The downside is the cave is on the exact opposite direction from where Layla is running, so if she didn’t do an about-face soon — she’ll have to park it atop one of the trees for the night.

Layla can hear the huffing and puffing getting farther and farther behind her. Pinned down without a weapon, she’s useless — but in a race? What she lacks in strength, she makes up for in speed and stamina. Hunting will do that to a girl.

When she can no longer hear anyone behind her, she grabs on to the nearest trunk and starts climbing rapidly. Branches fly past her face, as her arms instinctively reach and grab until she breaks through the canopy of leaves and breathes deep. She scans the horizon, sees the cliff, and realizes it’s about 5 clicks away from her tree. The sun was midway from setting; she’s better off staying here and waiting until she knows the brutes have moved on.

Layla starts to scrutinize the branches underneath, to see which one she can strap herself into for the night — when she hears loud pleading echoing on her right.

“I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking!! I thought you were going to eat me too, so I ran away,” Joe screams, “and now you’ve got me tied up next to THE ROCK THAT LOOKS LIKE CHRIS PRATT, ready to do God knows what to me.”

Layla sighs. The rock looks _nothing_ like Chris Pratt, but Joe had been obsessing about that rock for the last few months. She knows exactly where that is — halfway between her and the cliff. Layla is faced with a decision: Go save Joe or stay here. Saving Joe would be a suicide mission; there is no way she can overtake that many raiders in one go. Staying here not only meant survival — she would also get the food on the side of the cliff for herself, and she can make that last for at least a couple of weeks without Joe.

Two weeks without having to hunt…no more poorly sung show tunes…no more carrying dead weight…the decision makes itself really.

And Joe would understand — or he wouldn’t, but what does that really matter? He won’t be here.

Lesson number four at the end of the world? Friends are great — until saving them leads to a suicide mission.

“Please, please don’t put me on that,” Joe screams. Layla can hear the desperation in his voice, so she decides to put on the one luxury she saved from the before — noise cancelling headphones. Just as she raised it over her head, she hears Joe say, “I can help you! I know a place with LOTS of food!! You don’t have to eat me — I won’t even last a week! I can show it to you! It’s on that mountain!”

Traitor! She can’t let a group of dumb brutes enjoy six months’ worth of work! That callous, uncaring, no good “friend” is about to give it all up, and for what? So he can survive another day? He knows these men will eat him anyway!

Layla closes her eyes, and massages her temple. What can she do that requires zero strength, and all strategy? She starts to meditate — in part to focus, in part to drown out Joe’s blubbering. After a few minutes, she opens her eyes. The answer is clear.

She listens to see if there are any sounds coming from underneath, but all is quiet. Resigned, she begins her descent, savoring what could be her last sunset.

——

Night has fallen, and sure enough — Joe leads the brutes over to the cliff. When they arrive at the mouth of the cave, Joe is surprised to see all the food laid out at the center.

As soon as the raiders see the food, they run straight for it. The blonde brute from earlier had enough brains to at least tie him to a tree, before running for the cave — knowing his friends will likely finish it all without him if he didn’t go quickly. Joe tries again to squirm out of the knots, wincing in agony as his wrists are now raw from trying all day.

“Stop fidgeting! I’m trying to cut them off” Layla whispers behind Joe.

“You saved me!” Joe gushes.

“Don’t be a stupid; I was upset you were bringing them to the food.” Layla keeps sawing through the thick ropes with her hunting knife. It’s taking too long.

“I had to! I needed time!” Joe whines. Soon after, they start to hear loud retching noises — incessant, painful, incapacitating. At least, that’s what Layla was hoping for when she laid out the food and mixed them up with poisoned mushrooms.

“Layla, what did you do?” Joe asks, bewildered.

“No time to explain. I could only find the kind that makes them sick, not the kind that could kill them,” Layla whispers, as her hands work rapidly at the fraying rope. She only has an inch left to get through, but now she can feel her hands getting tired. “I didn’t have enough time to make sure there’s an even dose across all the food, so we need to get out of here FAST!”

“She poisoned us!” Layla knew that voice. It was the blonde brute. She hears footsteps crashing through the forest, headed in their direction. Just as he was about to land on them, Layla breaks through the final strands of the rope and pulls Joe off of the tree.

“JOE! RUN!” Layla screams, as she grabs his hand and pulls him deep into the forest. Her legs relish every stride, grateful to be given the runway to go full speed. She faced death twice today, and surviving it felt exhilarating…until she feels Joe start to waver.

“Layla…we…have…to…slow…down,” Joe huffs.

Layla tries to pull him forward with sheer will — and as no good deed goes unpunished, Layla misses a branch, trips, and twists her ankle. Joe stands up, and quickly pulls Layla behind a large trunk. They’re hidden for now, but all the blonde brute has to do is turn the corner and pull up the branch.

“Layla, you’re injured!” Joe cries, as he lays her down gently.

“We need a plan,” Layla winces. Joe looks at Layla with fear. He never was a good survivor; He didn’t belong here at the end of the world — and deep down, Layla knew that.

“Joe, the chances of me outrunning this blonde brute is minimal. You will need to step up now and draw him away, so I can stay hidden here until he leaves and I find a place to settle in for the night,” Layla whispers — her tone firm. Joe looks deep into Layla’s eyes; he knows what this means: suicide mission. There’s no way he can outrun the blonde brute. Good thing he doesn’t know about rule number four.

Layla can see Joe mulling the idea over. Tears start to form in the corner of his eyes. Just when Layla thinks Joe is about to chicken out, he leans in to hug her.

“I love you. Thank you for being my friend,” he says to her. Before Layla could respond, they hear the blonde brute nearby. It was go or no-go time. All she has to do is sit here hidden, while Joe runs and draws the brute away. Joe looks at Layla one more time, wipes the tears from his face, winks, then lifts the branch away.

Joe starts to run as fast as he can before distracting the brute, just so he can buy himself some time. Layla watches him through the brush. She sees him stop, turn around, and gear up to shout — which is when Layla pushes the branch away and screams:

“I’m right here, you moron! Come and get me!”

Joe stares at Layla confused…then understanding dawns on his face. Layla gestures for him to keep running, as the blonde brute licks his lips and starts rushing in her direction.

Lesson number five at the end of the world? Turns out surviving at the end of the world isn’t really worth it if it means losing the only person who ever cared about you.

Layla closes her eyes and braces for impact, as she hears soft footsteps running off into the distance.