Last Girl

Chapter 3

He lead me into a living room.
It was dark, and smelled of smoke from the fireplace. Coals glowed red-hot on the hearth.
"This is my home, for now." he says.
"I've been on the move for the past couple years, searching for survivors."
He leads you to a couch, and you sit down.
"Have you seen anyone else?"
I asked, hopefully.
"I haven't spoken to another human in 3 years." he said.
The conversation lulls, and I winced at the awkwardness. 3 years of no human contact had left my social skills in the dust.
He sits next to you, and stares straight ahead.
"It's been so long since I've talked to someone." he whispers.
"Me too" you confide.
"Tell me about yourself" I asked him.
"I am on my way to Oregon." he says.
The last thing I heard is that there was a cure up there. Others survived. But, I am staying in Arizona for the winter to avoid the snow in the Northern states. Without power, I might freeze to death. I am originally from New Mexico. I lived there with my family, and my girlfriend..." he trails off, tearing up.
I sensed a touchy subject, so I quickly changed the subject.
"My names Gracie. I've lived here since I was little and have no current plans to move. I live nearby..." I paused, not wanting to reveal everything to this attractive stranger. Not everyone is as trustworthy as they seem.
He stares at you, inquisitively.
"Cool..." he says, trailing off.
He starts to talk about the plague.
"Do you know anything about it?"
Jacob asks. "Maybe something I don't know?"
"About what?"I ask, not understanding.
"The disease" he says
"Oh. Honestly, it hit so fast and killed everyone that I got almost no information.
I'm pretty sure that the bacteria causes the blood vessels to rupture in the throat, causing you to drown in your own blood. But that's all I know."
"Well you don't know very much" Jacob says.
"It causes your heart and liver to shut down, and your are dead within hours."
"Wow" I say, surprised. "I didn't know that."
"It's a nasty disease."
"Why are we still alive then?"
"The only explanation I have is that we are naturally immune. It's in our genes. We carry the disease obviously, but are immune to the effects."
"I guess that's good?" I say, questioning the validity of my statement.
"But let's not talk about what we don't know." he says.
"Do you wanna see something cool?"
he asks.
It's been a long time since someone said those words to me. My curiosity overtakes my caution.
"Sure?" I say. My voice wavers.
He leads me through the dusty house to a bedroom. The house was empty. Most houses had at least 2 skeletons in them, but there were none in this house.
He pulls a large object out of a closet.
"I found this. It's an old record player."
I missed music. It's been awhile since I've heard it. "I found some old classic records too. The only problem is that I don't have any power to use it."
"Hmmm..." I say.
Should I take him to my place? He seems trustworthy, and I would like to have company. Titan can only do so much. The thought of not dying a virgin crosses my mind. I quickly shut it down. I can't let that determine what I do.
I decided to trust him.
"I have power..." I whisper.
"Come with me" I turn and march out off the house carrying the records.
"Let me get dressed and I'll meet you out there." Jacob calls.
I go to start the car.
While I wait, my fingers drum a rhythm on the steering wheel. I hope my trust in Jacob is not misguided.
I don't know how much longer I could go without talking to someone.
Jacob finally comes out of the house carrying a small duffel bag and a record player.
His hair is combed back, and not so messy. His boots crunch over the gravel, and his black jacket is zipped up tight against the cold.  He opens the passenger door and climbs in, putting the record player in his lap.
"Who's this?" he asks, gesturing to Titan. Titan slowly sniffs Jacob's hand, and then let Jacob pet him.  
"That is Titan. He is my loyal companion." Titan is enjoying being scratched on the chin.
"Your so cute" Jacob says to him in a baby voice.
"So do you live around here?" he asks.
I nod, and drive off to my house.
The drive was short, but it was interesting. Jacob is actually a decent person. He's humorous, and sweet.
Did I mention how attractive he is?
He stretched, his hands hitting the roof of the car, and I got a peek at chiseled abs. Jacob say me looking, and I quickly turned away, my face burning.
He smiles to himself, but I see it too.
Before long, we arrive at Costco.
"This is where you live??"
he says, mouth open.
"Welcome to my humble abode"
He looks around, his eyes wide.
"I guess I expected a house." he finally said.
"And I expected to be the last person.
We were both wrong. " I said with a smile.
"I guess we were."