The Last Man on Earth: A Survival Romance

by Shae Sanders

For the loneliest people in a room full of others. May you find the one who truly sees you.

I’ve been an in-flight concierge with Echelon for almost fifteen years now.

and she’s finally leaving awww

I have the distinct displeasure of serving famous rapper Villain and his entourage on today’s private flight to Rio de Janeiro. At thirty-seven, I think I’m a little older than his target demographic, but I know who he is.

Twenty-seven seems young to marry, especially when you can tell from his music that his frontal lobe needs a lot more cook time, but I ain’t his mama.

ooooo okay reverse age gap

“Mm hm. See, I think you really called to ask about Villain.” She’s silent for a beat. “I’m truly offended that you would think I would be manipulative like that.” I wait for it. “But is he there yet?” There it is.

she knows her sister oh so well

I roll my eyes. “He’s getting married this weekend. Did you forget that part?” She scoffs. “He don’t even like that girl.” “They have a kid.” “Like niggas don’t put babies in women they hate.”

she’s not wrong

There was an odd request at the bottom of Villain’s rider. He demanded that I wear perfume. Usually, it’s the opposite. And since I’m not allowed to turn down reasonable requests from high-level clients, I made sure to douse myself in Burberry Goddess, my signature scent.

oh???

I can’t make out her age, but I know she gotta be older than me. Bitches my age just ain’t that classy. She looks nice. She looks cool and collected like she ain’t got a care in the world. I smirk. Challenge accepted.

now wait a minute—

“I don’t need much,” I say, my eyes dropping to her lips. Prime dick suckers right there. “Just a little taste, that’s all.”

SIR—control yourself

That dress ain’t tight, but I’m liking how it lays on her body. Titties sitting right in the V-neck at the front. Fabric falling over her round ass, then stopping at the knee so I can see them muscular calves. She’s out of my league, but shit, that ain’t never stopped a rich nigga before.

“Gentlemen, please secure your seatbelts for takeoff.” But everybody ignores her, including me. If I don’t wear a belt in the car, fuck I look like wearing one in a plane?

now see thats how yall asses are gonna get stuck

I smirk up at her. “Careful, Ari. Get close to me like that again and I’m draggin’ yo fine ass back to the bathroom so I can put you in the mile-high club.” The guys howl again, hooting and slapping the seats like they’ve never heard anything so funny.

why he gotta be an asshole 😔😭

For like a hot second, I feel bad, because I don’t sound like a nigga that’s getting married this weekend, but to be fair to myself, it ain’t my fault. I never wanted to get married at all. Shemari just…wore me down. Always nagging and shit. Whining about how her daddy wasn’t around, and how she don’t wanna be a baby mama forever. My dumb ass proposed just to shut her up, and now, I’m days away from lockdown. I like her, I really do. I just ain’t ready for this shit.

i knew from the way he was acting he don’t wanna be married forreal 🙄

“How old are you?” “Didn’t your mother teach you not to ask a lady her age?” My skin prickles. “My mama didn’t teach me shit. And you ain’t no lady. You just a waitress in a tin can.”

okay that was uncalled for!

“Respectfully, how much would it take for you to hike that dress up and ride my dick?” I see the moment something snaps. Her eyes flash fire as she leans closer, close enough for only me to hear. “I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on earth.”

OOP OKAY

“If yo old ass lives long enough, I’ma be the last man standing and you gon’ be all shriveled up at Shady Pines, bitch.”

oh wow someone’s got an ego problem

I’ve dealt with megachurch pastors, hedge fund frat boys, a super famous boy band, and drunk, rowdy footballers coming home from winning a championship. But Villain and his entourage? They take the prize.

“Don’t let them get to you. He acts a fool, but he’s just showin’ out. He doesn’t mean it.”

we’ll be the judge of that

He nods. “Can you twerk?” “Mr. New—“ “Villain. I done told you. I’m just sayin’, this a long ass flight. Entertain us. Pop that pussy for a real nigga.”

UNH UNH see they would’ve been parachuting to their destination at this point

The smoke clears around me as I move back to the rear of the plane. I keep my eyes straight like lasers, focused only on Ms. Kiara. I feel like if I look around, I’ma see something I don’t wanna see. Because besides my music, it’s quiet. My boys are quiet. My stomach lurches at the realization.

omg all of them gone…

A blast of heat knocks me forward, throwing us into the dirt. Fire laughs behind me as I'm hit with a realization. It’s a heavy and suffocating feeling. My family is really gone. I move onto my knees, turning to see…although I don’t know what I’m looking for. My chest heaves, my face drenched with sweat. I watch as my fucking life burns. My friends. My cousin. My nephew. I close my eyes and hear a sound, something like a hurt animal, alone and dying. Turns out, it’s a wail that’s ripped out of me, raw and broken. They’re gone. All of them. And I couldn’t save a single one.

oh villian 😢

“What you think this is, Gilligan’s Island? I’m a fuckin’ superstar! They out lookin’ for me right now. With this big ass fire, ain’t no way they don’t find us.”

c’mon man she’s just trying to help

“Fuck!” Villain looks exactly how I feel—dejected. Like the world just ended. Again. None of us has a signal out here.

like did he forget they’re in the middle of nowhere?

In any other context…in the back of the club, in the VIP, in the bedroom…I’d find him sexy right now. But all I see when I look at him is a little boy. A stupid one.

oh we know

I unwrap each package and hand the food over, serving the ladies first. Once they’re straight, I inhale the lobster roll, then the risotto, eating sloppy with my fingers like a wild animal. I’m halfway through my pasta when I realize they’re both staring at me.

damn little lady you sure can put it away 😂😂

I never like to say Ms. K is like a mother to me, because I don’t know what it feels like to have one. Not one who gives a fuck, anyway. But I imagine that, in another life, if Ms. K was my mama, she’d be perfect at the job. She’d nurture me and see about me and give me something to look for in a woman. Kindness, maybe. Sincerity. I don’t know.

oh she’s definitely your mama no if ands or buts

The silence that follows is unbearable. Finally, I lift my gaze to Villain, surprised his eyes are already on me. We don’t say it out loud, but it’s right there in the look we exchange. This is bad. Really bad.

i hope ms. k doesn’t die 🥺

I shift my gaze to Ms. K. She’s curled on her side, still as a statue. I watch for a good little while, not entirely sure what I’m looking for. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about her position makes my skin prickle.

her body held on for as long as it could 😢

“Lord, please take her into your arms. We thank you for the light she brought into the world, however short her time may have been. Give her rest from her pain, and surround her with peace and love. Help us remember her not as she died, but as she lived. And help us, the ones left behind, be comforted by her memory and carry forward with strength. Amen.”

rest in piece ms k

For some reason, the sound softens something inside of me. As I walk away from our little camping spot, my chest puffs out. I’m kinda proud of myself for making her laugh like that, especially after everything we’ve been through. Damn. We done been through a lifetime’s worth of shit in two days.

i’ll say

When I step out from the trees, Ariana is there, staring at me with her arms folded. “Where the hell were you?” she snaps, her voice cracking a little. I shrug, trying to play it cool even though I’m damn near crying inside. “Told you. Exploring.” Her nostrils flare, her eyes narrow, and I realize what I’m looking at. She was scared. For me. I can’t lie, that does a little something to me.

awww she was worried for the boy

“My bad, shorty. You know how immature I am.” His sarcasm cuts me deeper than I wanna admit to myself. Before I even realize what’s happening, the tears are streaming, hot and shameful. My chest heaves with sobs I’ve been choking back ever since yesterday when he walked into the forest and didn't come out for hours. I thought he was lost forever, that he'd left me to fend for myself in this strange place. I don’t want him to see me like this, to get the satisfaction of knowing he affected me, but I can’t stop.

better time than never…poor ari

Because the truth is, I need him out here. I needs his protection. I need him to treat me gently, even though we’re in what seems like the roughest place on earth. I need to feel safe. With him.

yall gotta come together 🥹

Ariana is sitting her pretty self in the shade watching me, having no idea how much sweat and energy this shit is costing me. But at least she ain’t looking at me with that sad, pitiful face anymore.

he doesn’t like it when she’s sad aww

I like a hygienic woman, that’s for damn sure. That’s one reason I love black women so much. I know them legs, feet, and coochies gon’ get washed, and they gon’ smell good all the livelong day.

“I’m starting to worry.” I look away, staring out at the wall of green beyond our shelter. My voice is rough when I answer, rougher than I mean it to be. “Me, too, but ain’t shit we can do except wait.” I say that, but there actually is something we can do. Something that’ll get our minds off of possibly dying out here. Something my body wants real bad. Something that would definitely make the waiting easier. Something that would feel good and satisfy both of us. But I know she ain’t goin’ for it. Not yet anyway.

not villain suggesting sex 😂😂

He’s so…different today. Nothing like the spoiled, immature, cocky rap star I met on the plane a few days ago, the one who treated me like shit and assumed it was his right to do so. This man here is…capable. Responsible.

So this, what I’m doing right now, the careful way I’m arranging this gourmet caramel and sea salt popcorn on this plastic plate with Wagyu jerky on the side feels foreign to me. Are these my fingers working hard like this? If I looked in a mirror right now, I wouldn’t know me. I just plated a meal for a man.

she’s playing wifey already

For a second, I can’t breathe, but not because I was running. It’s because it’s blowing me how I feel like I made it back home. Like I been at work all day and came back—to dinner. To her.

I watch her walk, partly because I’m interested to see how her leg is doing, but mostly because she’s sexy, and I’m horny, and it’s been over a month, and it ain’t shit else to do out here but fuck.

LMAOOOO NIGGA

“Today, I seen you from a distance. In the ocean.” He scoops up another pile of seaweed. “Frolicking. Lookin’ all relaxed and happy and beautiful. And I swear to God, that shit turned me on more than every lap dance I ever got from Storm.”

At some point, he takes off his shirt, and I’m staring at his tattoos again, and his back. His muscles. His face. His eyes. And I realize something disturbing, something I hadn’t expected at all. I’m starting to want him.

Besides, it don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. That nigga is a thousand miles away with a stupid ass name while this nigga is laying right here with a long tongue, a big dick, and plenty of time to kill.

She resists until I put my arms around her and tug her closer. I pull her tight against my chest, curling my body over hers like a human shield for the storm. Water runs down my back, soaking me through, but her warmth comforts me from the other side. Thunder cracks overhead, loud enough to rattle your teeth. I murmur in her ear, trying to soothe her. “It’s okay. I got you. It’s almost over.”

her protector 🥹

For a half a second, a picture flashes in my mind of me running over to that HELP sign and kicking the shit out of it until it’s just a big brown pile of seaweed that won’t get us saved, because how I’m feeling right now, I don’t wanna get saved. I wanna lay her on this fucking sand and go in. I want her pussy on my tongue. I want it around my dick. I got a snake for her ass, a big one. I want her to sit on that muhfucka and ride it ‘til we both tap out. I don’t give a fuck about no back home. Ain’t no back home. It’s just us. Right here.

and i know he’s deadass

“Can you stop?” I look up at him, blinking rapidly. “Stop what?” “All that damn licking and smacking,” he mutters. “It’s not…ladylike.” I stare at him, a steaming hot piece of fish meat dangling from my fingers. “You serious?” He just gives me a look, a hard one. I feel like I can see the irritation coming off of him like smoke. “You trippin’,” I say. “This fish is delicious, and you over there mad.” He grabs his plate and stalks off to the shelter, leaving me alone by the fire, bewildered and offended.

oh BROTHER man we’re hungry

Ari stands next to me while I rig up the line, her eyes on the horizon, toes wiggling in the surf. I can't stop glancing at her, taking mental snapshots of her pretty face. She's glowing in this light. My island angel. An angel that won't be pure for long, if I get my way.

“You sayin’ you want princess treatment? On a desert island?” “Yes,” she says sharply. “Just because I’m stranded doesn’t mean I can’t have standards.”

PERIOD

“Correct,” she says, eyes sparkling. “Because it’s not a dollar amount. It’s a mindset. You might be the only man here, but you still have to apply pressure.”

OKAY

Then I hear it—a snarl. “Oh my God.” I whimper, tears welling up. This is it. This is how it ends. Not in that plane. This will be more violent. This is where we suffer.