Elara took a big step back from the security guard. Her heart was beating so fast it hurt.
The man looked at her with wide, hungry eyes. Tears were still on his face, but now there was something else. Something that made her feel very scared.
"You are really the last one," he said again, his voice shaking. "Do you know what this means? You are the only girl left in the whole world."
Elara tried to speak but her throat felt dry. "Please... stay away from me. I just want to find my family."
The man did not listen. He took another step closer. "My wife disappeared this morning. My daughters too. I have nothing left. But you... you can help us. You can save us."
Elara looked around quickly. The campus was still empty. No one to help her. The smoke in the sky was getting thicker.
"I need to go," she said and turned to run.
"Wait!" the man shouted. He moved faster than she expected. His hand grabbed her arm. "Don't run! It's dangerous out there. You don't understand yet. Every man will want you. Some will be bad. Let me protect you."
His grip was strong. Elara tried to pull away but he was much bigger than her.
"Let me go!" she cried.
Suddenly, they heard loud voices coming from the other side of the square. Three men were running toward them. They were young, maybe students or workers. One was carrying a baseball bat.
"Hey! Is that a girl?" one of them shouted.
The security guard turned his head. His face changed. He looked angry now. "Stay back! She is under my protection!"
The three men stopped for a second, then started laughing.
"Protection? Look at her, man. She's the only pussy left on the planet!" the one with the bat said. "We all need her. Not just you."
Elara felt sick. These words were ugly. She pulled hard and finally got her arm free from the guard. She started running toward the dorm building.
"Get her!" someone shouted.
All four men started chasing her.
Elara ran as fast as she could. Her legs were shaking. She had never been so scared in her life. The empty campus that felt so quiet before now felt like a trap.
She reached the dorm and pushed the door open. Her breath was heavy. She ran up the stairs to her floor. Behind her, she could hear the men shouting and footsteps coming closer.
She ran into her room and locked the door. It was a weak lock. She knew it would not hold for long.
"Open the door!" the security guard shouted from outside. He banged on it hard. "We won't hurt you! We just want to talk."
Another voice laughed. "Yeah, talk. That's all."
Elara looked around the room quickly. She needed something to protect herself. She grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk. Her hands were shaking so much she almost dropped them.
The banging on the door became louder. The wood started to crack.
"Think, Elara, think," she told herself.
She remembered the fire escape outside the window. She opened the window fast. Cold air came in. The metal stairs looked old but it was her only chance.
She climbed out onto the fire escape just as the door to her room broke open.
"There she is!" one man shouted.
Elara started climbing down. Her hands held the cold metal tightly. Below her, the ground looked very far. She was on the third floor.
The men appeared at the window.
"She's going down!"
One of them tried to climb after her.
Elara moved faster. She reached the second floor landing. Her foot slipped and she almost fell. She held on with all her strength.
When she reached the bottom, she jumped the last part and landed on the grass. Her ankle hurt but she kept running.
She ran between the buildings. The university felt like a ghost town. Abandoned bags, phones, and cars were everywhere. She saw a woman's red scarf lying on the ground and felt like crying.
Behind her, the men were still chasing.
"Stop running! We can keep you safe!"
But Elara did not believe them. Their voices sounded wrong. Full of excitement and something dark.
She ran toward the main road that led out of the campus. Maybe she could find a car with keys inside. Or hide somewhere.
The city in front of her looked like hell. Many buildings were on fire. Smoke covered the sky. She saw broken shop windows and people fighting in the distance over food and water.
This was real. The world had gone mad in one morning.
She hid behind a big tree and tried to catch her breath. Her body was tired. Her mind was full of fear.
"What do I do?" she whispered. "Mom... Dad... where are you?"
Tears came to her eyes but she wiped them away fast. Crying would not help her now.
She heard footsteps coming closer. The four men had split up to search for her.
One of them the one with the baseball bat, was very close. He was walking slowly, looking left and right.
"Come out, pretty girl," he called in a soft voice. "I have food and water. I will take care of you. Better than those other idiots."
Elara held the scissors tightly in her hand. She stayed very still.
The man walked past her hiding spot. For a second she thought she was safe.
Then he turned around suddenly.
Their eyes met.
He smiled.
"Found you."
Elara jumped up and ran again. The man chased her. He was fast.
She ran onto the main road. An abandoned police car was there with the door open. She quickly got inside and locked the doors.
The man reached the car and started hitting the window with his bat.
Bang! Bang!
The glass cracked.
"Open the door!" he shouted.
Elara looked at the police radio and the keys. The keys were still there! She turned them fast.
The engine started.
She put the car in drive and pressed the gas pedal. The car moved forward suddenly. The man with the bat fell to the side.
Elara drove away fast. She was crying now but she kept driving.
"I need to go home first," she told herself. "I need to check if Mom and Dad are there."
Her family house was only twenty minutes away from the university. She drove through the empty streets. Many cars were stopped in the middle of the road. Smoke rose from burning buildings. She saw broken shop windows and men fighting each other in the distance.
Everywhere she looked, she saw signs of The Vanishing women's handbags on the ground, empty baby strollers, and lonely high heel shoes.
She finally reached her neighborhood. It was too quiet. No children playing. No cars moving. She stopped the police car in front of her house.
The front door was open.
Elara took the police baton from the car and the scissors she still carried. She walked inside slowly.
"Mom? Dad? Are you here?" she called.
No answer.
She checked the living room. The TV was still on but there was no signal. Her mother's coffee cup was on the table, half full. Her father's glasses were on the sofa.
She ran upstairs to their bedroom. The bed was messy. Her mother's clothes were on the chair. But no one was there.
Elara fell to her knees beside her parents' bed. She cried hard.
"They are gone too," she whispered. "Everyone is really gone."
She stayed there for a few minutes, letting the tears fall. But she knew she could not stay long. The men would be looking for her.
She wiped her tears and stood up. She went to her own room and quickly changed into better clothes,jeans, a warm sweater, and strong shoes. She packed a small backpack with extra clothes, her charger, some money, and photos of her family.
In the kitchen, she took all the food she could carry, bread, biscuits, water bottles, canned tuna, and a big knife. She also took the car keys to her father's old SUV that was parked in the garage.
Before leaving, she stood at the front door and looked back at her house one last time.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I love you, Mom and Dad."
She drove her father's SUV instead of the police car. It felt more familiar. She drove away from her house, not knowing if she would ever come back.
The city was becoming more dangerous. Groups of men were breaking into shops and houses. Some of them looked shocked when they saw a girl driving past. A few tried to run after her car.
Elara drove toward the edge of the city. She needed a safe place to hide and think about what to do next.
She saw a big supermarket on the outskirts. The front glass was broken, but it looked quieter than the city center. She parked the SUV behind the building where it could not be seen easily.
She took her backpack, the big knife, and the police baton. Then she entered the supermarket through the broken door.
Inside it was dark and messy. Many shelves were already empty. She quickly took more water, food, painkillers, and a small first aid kit. She put everything into a bigger backpack she found there.
As she was packing, she heard voices from the other side of the store.
"Search everywhere," a deep voice said. "If the rumors are true and there is really one girl left, we must find her. She belongs to all of us now."
Elara's body froze. She hid behind a tall shelf and tried not to make any sound.
She was just one girl.
And the whole world was now hunting for her.