Courtney Brady lay unconscious in the fetal position on the last bed on Earth, her naked body caught up in the tangle of a sweat-soaked linen sheet. Her eyes moved beneath their lids and her breathing came in short pants. She was in REM sleep and had been for the past one hundred and sixty-eight hours straight.

Her husband, Jacob, entered the makeshift bedroom, carrying a tray with a bowl of hot broth and a glass of cool water. He set the tray down on a nearby table, sat on the bed beside his wife, and gently tried to shake her awake. Although her eyes stopped moving and her breathing slowed, Courtney remained asleep.

“Come on, Court, you have to wake up and eat,” he said in a soft yet firm voice.

Jacob’s silhouette cut a forlorn figure against the dim glow of the bedside lamp, his shadow dancing eerily on the peeling wallpaper. The room, a relic of a world now lost, was a shrine to normalcy in a landscape torn asunder. He watched Courtney, her chest rising and falling in a rhythm that belied the chaos outside their sanctuary. The room smelled faintly of antiseptics and despair, a stark contrast to the rich aroma of the broth he had prepared with dwindling supplies.

Outside, the remnants of humanity scurried like ghosts among the ruins, a testament to the resilience and fragility of life. The world had become a wasteland, its once vibrant pulse now a feeble echo in the vast emptiness. Yet here, in this small, decaying room, life clung stubbornly, embodied by the woman on the bed.

Courtney’s face, even in slumber, was etched with the toll of their reality. Lines of worry, like tiny tributaries, traced her forehead, and her lips, once quick to smile, now seemed locked in a perpetual frown. Jacob’s heart ached as he gazed upon her, remembering brighter days now overshadowed by the relentless march of despair.

He reached out, his fingers trembling slightly, and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. His touch, though gentle, was laden with urgency. “Court,” he whispered, his voice barely rising above the sound of the world crumbling outside their fragile haven. “Please, you need to eat. You need to stay with me. I can’t do this without you, baby.”

But she lay motionless, her spirit wandering in realms he could not follow. Jacob’s mind raced with the implications of her prolonged slumber. In a world where every resource was precious, every moment a gift, Courtney’s condition was a luxury they could ill afford.

The broth’s steam rose in lazy swirls, a silent siren call to the living. Jacob’s own stomach gnawed at him, a constant reminder of their dire situation. But he pushed aside his hunger, his focus solely on the woman before him.

He leaned closer, his lips brushing her ear. “Courtney, it’s Jacob. I’m here. Please, come back to me.” His voice cracked, a mixture of fear and determination.

The bandage on Courtney’s arm stood out in the dim light, a stark reminder of the peril they faced. Jacob’s hands, once used for gentle caresses, had become instruments of survival, meticulously cleaning and dressing the wound where something — something unspeakable — had bitten her. He had scoured every inch of her skin, removing any trace of the vile infection, his actions driven by a desperate hope.

As he watched her, Jacob’s mind replayed the moment of the attack, the terror in Courtney’s eyes mirroring his own. The world outside was no longer just a barren wasteland; it was a hunting ground for horrors that defied understanding. But in this room, in this moment, he fought back the only way he knew how — by keeping Courtney from slipping into that dark transformation.

The air was heavy with the weight of unspoken fears. Jacob knew the signs to watch for, the subtle changes that would signal a loss too great to comprehend. But as he held her hand, feeling the warmth of her skin, he allowed himself to believe, just for a moment, that they could defy the odds.

His vigil by her side was more than a duty; it was a silent vow to protect the last vestige of their shared humanity. In a world that had forgotten kindness, Jacob’s care for Courtney was a quiet rebellion against the encroaching darkness.

With each passing hour, Jacob found himself embracing a terrifying possibility. If Courtney were to turn, to become one of the horrors they feared, he had resolved to offer himself willingly. In his heart, the idea of being the sustenance that kept her alive, in whatever form she might take, was a final act of love, a testament to their bond that transcended the nightmare their world had become.

Gently, he slid beside her on the bed, their bodies close in the chilling air. This bed, the last bastion of their shared past, now held not just memories but a solemn pact made in the face of an unthinkable future. As he lay there, his arm protectively around her, Jacob closed his eyes, his mind adrift in a sea of what-ifs and maybes.

In the silence of the room, with the shadow of fate looming over them, they lay together on the last bed on Earth, united in their final stand against a world gone mad.