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

His wrinkled hand shook. 

Ruth wasn’t sure if it was because of his tremors or out of fear.

“I can’t, Ruthie.” Frank’s voice was thick, tears clogging his voice as snot ran down his nose.

“Please. I know you can. I will talk you through it.” Ruth heard the desperation in her voice. And the weakness. 

It had only been one hour since the creature entered her. One hour. And she already felt weak. Could feel the loss of blood. The weakness and dizziness. A large bulge in her neck continued to grow where the bug gorged itself. The rest of the creature disappeared somewhere in her chest. 

A soft scratching reached their ears through the boarded-up windows and door cracks. When the warnings came, Frank and Ruth had only an hour to secure their home. They thought they had secured their home. 

But one got through. 

Frank tried to step on it. But the creature was fast. Too fast. 

Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as it burrowed into Ruth’s skin. It felt more like a shot in the calf. Only a drop of blood escaped as it vanished. 

As it had gorged on the blood pumping through Ruth, its dark form became visible once more. Initially, Ruth thought it looked like an ant, but larger, about the size of a quarter. 

But now, Ruth thought of it more like a centipede as she felt it on her neck. A shudder ran through her at the thought of the creature slowly drinking the life out of her. 

Ruth couldn’t remember where exactly the Cinche Vampiro originated.  

It didn’t matter anymore. 

 Ruth could vaguely remember the Covid pandemic from when she was a girl. They had worn masks and gone to a drive through clinic to be vaccinated. And so they were safe from the virus. 

But this. This was unstoppable. No masks or vaccines could save you from the Vampiro. Two days ago, the world was normal, safe. But the bugs spread before anyone really knew what was happening. Destroying entire towns and cities. There was no way to stop them. 

“It’s easy. Just like the doctor on the television said.” Ruth looked into Frank’s watery blue eyes. How had it come to this? Forty-eight years of marriage. Forty-eight years of looking into those blue eyes and never once did she see the fear she saw now.

“But if I slip, you die.” Ruth looked at her husband. The many wrinkles and age spots that lined his face. He was still just as handsome as the day she first met him.

“Yes, but I also don’t have a chance.” She knew the statistics. The chances of safely removing Cinche Vampiro were small. But small was better than none.

 The bug had to be killed. The only way to do that was through an incision in the neck. The key, the doctor on the television said, was to keep the person alive after killing the bug, until they could get medical help, wherever that would be. There was no hospital that was functioning. The doctors were dead or hiding away.

“Yes, yes. I know,” Frank said. Tears were falling freely. His shoulders shook as he wept. “Why couldn’t I have stopped it? I should have been able to protect you.” The knife now lay limply in his hand.

Taking Frank’s warm free hand in hers, Ruth held it tight. It broke her heart seeing him like this. Frank, the strong, stoic man that never cried. He was always the one holding her together whenever she cried or during a crisis. It never was this way. The world was turning upside down. 

“You have, Frank. From the moment I met you in the park, you have been there protecting me. Saving me. This is not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault.” Tears were falling freely down Ruth’s paper thin cheeks. “But I need you to do this for me.”

It was a mystery where the CincheVampiro came from. Three days ago, there was no such thing. Two days ago, it was a problem south of the border. Yesterday, a problem for the southern states. But today, today the bug reached Montana. 

“Please.” Ruth begged. “I don’t want to die like this.” The thought of the bug slowly killing her from within made the hairs on her neck stand on end. 

“I know.” Frank wiped the snot with the back of his hand, the dagger glinting in the light. The remains of lasagna remained on the table, the herbal tomato scent turning sour in the air. Other Cinche continued their tiny scratching, trying to get in. “Can you lay down?” Frank asked.

Ruth nodded. Slowly walking from the kitchen, Ruth lay on the frayed blue sofa. She knew blood would get everywhere if Frank failed. That the sofa would be ruined. 

Frank held the knife with more resolution as he followed Ruth to the sofa. He never could deny her anything. Even if it meant her death, he would do it for her. And chances are, it would end in her death. 

“Remember when we bought this ugly, old thing?” Ruth asked as she settled into the warmth of the sofa. It smelled faintly of popcorn and chocolate, reminiscent of their Friday night movies. 

Chuckling, Frank ran his free hand through his hair. The gesture was so familiar it brought tears to her eyes, knowing it was most likely the last time she would see that gesture. Frank’s eyes grew distant as he thought. “Yes. You insisted on buying it. Saying we needed a warm place to settle with the kids in the winters.”

“It has served us well, has it not?” She looked up at the flickering light as the fan quickly rotated. A breeze tickled her face. Her hand went to her heart. It felt like it would break. In all her imaginings, Ruth never thought it would end like this. She had always imagined dying in her sleep along with Frank, so they never would have to be apart. 

How foolish and naive she had been. 

Life never went as planned. 

It never ended as you dreamed.

But at least Frank would be by her side.

“I love you.” Frank leaned in and placed a gently kiss on her lips, their tears mingling together. “From the moment I first saw you, you had my heart, my dear, sweeet Ruthie.”

“I love you, more.” Ruth barely managed to get the words out. But she needed to tell him, let him know one last time. “Don’t blame yourself Frank. If it doesn’t work. It’s okay.”

Giving a small, half-hearted smile, Frank tried to brush the numerous tears away from her face, then placed one last kiss on his wife’s lips. 

“I trust you.” Ruth put on a brave face, not wanting Frank’s last memory of her to be one of fear. 

The cold metal once more touched Ruth’s neck. 

“I love you, Ruthie.” 

There was no pain as Frank’s hand moved across her throat.