The End | {BOOK 5}

66| St. Michael's

Hopelessness. Helplessness. Despair. That was all that I felt at the moment. Everyone was gone. We'd lost everybody. It wasn't just the people from the Apocalypse World. The second Donna disappeared too, the situation got so much worse. Sam, Jack and I left the silo. Sam was trying to get a hold of Dean, but kept getting his voicemail. He finally hung up, and I could tell from the look on his face he feared the worst.

I didn't blame him; it seemed Jack and I were doing the same.

"Guys?" Jack swallowed. "Was it just them?"

"I don't know," I shook my head.

⁘

Sam, Jack and I stared around at the empty streets as the familiar rumble of the Impala's engine met our ears and Dean pulled up. His eyes were rimmed with red as if he'd been crying.

"Everyone's gone," Sam said as Dean climbed out of the Impala. "You see anybody on the way here?"

"No," Dean replied hollowly.

My eyes immediately landed on the left shoulder of his jacket where a bloody handprint stood out against the olive green.

"We couldn't save anybody," Sam continued, not noticing the handprint like I had. "Billie..."

"It wasn't Billie," Dean said. "It was Chuck."

"What?"

"Where's Cass?" I asked hesitantly.

Dean met my eyes, but didn't respond. However, between the pain and anguish in the look he gave me and the bloody handprint on his shoulder, I had the answer.

"Dean?" Sam pressed.

"He saved me," Dean choked out. "Billie was coming after us, and Cass summoned the Empty. It took her. And it took him. Cass is gone."

I felt my knees start to buckle out from under me at the news and Dean grabbed onto me before I could fall, holding me against his chest.

"This can't be happening," Sam muttered, shaking his head.

"It is, Sam," Dean replied over my head. "I think everyone's gone."

As Sam tried vainly to call Jody and a few other people, Dean addressed Jack, who'd been silent for a while.

"Jack, I'm sorry."

We made our way into a diner, just as empty as everywhere else. Music was playing and the TV behind the bar showed an empty football field.

"It brings a whole new meaning to the term 'sudden death'," Dean joked.

"Dean, do you think we're it?" Sam asked. "All that's left?"

"Yeah. You, me, Ellie, Jack."

The Nephilim joined us a moment later.

"Hey. So, um, what now?"

"I did this," Sam said, putting all the blame on himself. "We could have just given Chuck what he wanted, you know, his grand finale. But I resisted. I pulled the thread. I thought we could beat this game, do it better. We tried to rewrite him, and the whole world paid the price."

"Sam, we can..." Dean began.

"We can what? There's nothing left, Dean. No one left to save. Everybody's gone."

"You can't just give up," Jack protested.

"What other choice do we have?" Sam asked.

⁘

I sat on the floor of the Bunker library, Dean's head in my lap as I carded my fingers through his hair. Several bottles littered the ground around us, and I was still drinking from a bottle of vodka with my free hand. Dean had passed out half an hour earlier. He hadn't divulged any information, but Cass's sacrifice had really taken a toll on him. Just then, Sam entered the library.