After I told Richard and Ash everything I knew about the rescue, over a meal of wilted salad and cold lentils, Eleanor returned from the bar.
“Eleanor,” Richard said as he held out a plate of food for her. “Did you hear the good news? We’re being saved!”

Eleanor swatted the plate away, preferring her full glass of bourbon. “No-one is being saved.” She sat at the table and stared forlornly into her drink.
“Sure we are!” Richard beamed. “Eva and Lea told us everything. The military is coming for us. You’re coming with us, right?”
“Pfft!” she scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I ain’t goin’ out there!”
“But it’s our only chance to escape,” Ash pleaded. “To survive.”

Eleanor lifted her eyes to look at Ash sternly. “How many times do I have to tell you? Only God can save us now. All you’ll find out there are demons.”
“You’re really going to stay here?” Richard asked.
Eleanor stood up with a slight wobble. “Yep.”

“Wait,” Lea said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out her wallet and opened it to find a photo. “While we’re all here, I just want to ask you if you’ve seen this woman.” She held up a photo of a dark-haired woman with a big, bright smile. Lea watched their faces hopefully as they each studied the picture.
“No, sorry,” Ash said.
“Haven’t seen her,” Richard added, shaking his head.
“Nope,” said Eleanor, eyeing Lea suspiciously. “She your sister?”
“Girlfriend.” Lea slid the photo back into her wallet.
Eleanor sighed. “I’d give up tryin’ to find her. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Judgement Day out there. We’re gonna end up in eternal damnation, or the Kingdom of Heaven. Either way, death is upon us. I hope you’re ready for hellfire, ‘cause no-one is getting out of this alive.” She wandered slowly back over to the bar, muttering to herself.
“We will,” Lea said with determination.

“I am so sorry about her,” Ash said, holding a hand over her eyes, irritated by Eleanor.
Lea waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. She can believe what she wants. Clearly, she’s resigned herself to death. That’s her choice.”
“It’s not fine,” Richard said, clearly frustrated with Eleanor. “I can’t stand to be anywhere near that woman for another second. She was completely normal when the chaos began. I got to know her and her husband quite well in the first week. She told me she’d been sober for 30 years,” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “But then her husband snapped, he couldn’t stand hiding in here and not knowing what was going on outside. He and a few others ran out, saying they would find help. But they never came back. After that, she spiraled out of control. As much as we all encouraged her to stay sober, she couldn’t do it. She started drinking again. She’s grown darker and darker ever since, and goes on endless ramblings about God and Judgement Day.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s why she won’t go with us to the rescue. She really thinks God is going to save her – literally shine a light beam down from the sky and take her up to Heaven. This whole thing has really messed her up.”
“It’s messed everyone up,” I said. “Maybe she’ll be thinking more clearly tomorrow morning and decide to come with us.”
I glanced over at Eleanor as she sat at the bar with her head in her hands. I felt sorry for her, and even though I hoped she would leave with us in the morning, a part of me knew she had already given up. I remembered what Lea said: some people don’t want to be saved. I could see Eleanor was one of them.

“You guys must be tired,” Ash said, changing the subject.
“Exhausted,” Lea said, stifling a yawn.
Ash stood up and gestured for us to follow her. “We have a few spare rooms up in the penthouse. I’ll show you up.”
We followed her into the nearby stairwell and began climbing the six flights to the highest floor.
“With the power out, the lifts are stuck and the key cards don’t work to open the doors of all the other rooms,” Ash said. “Luckily, the penthouse can be reached by a private emergency stairwell from the fifth floor. It’s pretty safe.”

“So,” she continued, after a pause. “What did you do before the outbreak?”
“I worked as a waitress and was training to be a make-up artist,” I said.
“I was a veterinarian,” Lea said. “What about you?”
“I was about to graduate.” Ash held her index finger and thumb a centimeter apart. “I was this close to getting my BA in Computer Science. I was going to be a Software Architect. I guess that dream is dead now.”
“Don’t think like that,” I said, holding on to the railing as we climbed, my legs throbbing from fatigue. “Once we’re on that ship, we’ll all have a chance to start again. Who knows, maybe you can still graduate.”
“I hope so,” Ash said. “I can’t wait to get out of this place.”

We reached the fifth floor and followed Ash to the private stairwell into the penthouse. I hadn’t noticed how tired I was until Ash offered us a place to rest, and as we entered the first floor of the suite, all I wanted to do was lay my head on a soft pillow.
Ash held the front door open for us, and we were greeted by a panoramic view of Sydney Harbour. I marvelled at the sight. “Woah.”
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Ash smiled.
“Not a bad place to hide out from the apocalypse,” Lea joked.
The three of us stood at the window, watching the city like it was ours to protect.
“We’ll be able to see the ship coming in from here,” I said, looking out over the water. “We’ll know exactly where to go.”

Ash placed her palms against the glass as though trying to touch the sky. “What’s it like out there?”
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” I said. “Everything just changed so quickly. One minute I was at work with my friends, the next we were running for our lives. But now, it’s become so normal … I don’t even remember what it feels like to not be scared for my life.”
“Me either,” Lea said. “I don’t even know how to describe what it’s like out there. It’s what I imagine Hell would be like.”
“According to Eleanor, it is Hell,” she paused to let out a worried sigh. “Can we really do it? Will we make it to the ship?”
“Of course we can,” I said. “If I can travel from Melbourne to Cairns to Sydney in this mess, we can make it across a few city blocks. We just need to be smart about it.”
“But first,” Lea yawned, “I need some sleep.”
“I’ll let you get some rest,” Ash said as she stepped back from the window and pointed down the hall. “The spare bedrooms are down that hall. Take your pick. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Lea and I chose rooms on either side of the hall, agreeing to work out a route to the wharf over dinner, before retreating behind our respective doors. I slipped under the covers and fell asleep instantly, the ordeals of the day taking their toll on my still recovering body.

By the time I woke up, the sun had set, leaving the city outside bathed in darkness. I got out of bed, slipped my shoes on and stepped into the hallway, noticing that Lea’s door was open and her bed empty. I began sliding my hand against the wall to guide me through the unlit penthouse while listening for signs that Ash or the others were near.

“Hello?” I asked when I reached the living area. A lone candle sat on the coffee table in the middle of the room, providing just enough light for me to see. My eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room and I could see the shadowy figures of Lea, Ash, and Richard standing at the window.
“Hey, we’re over here,” Lea’s voice said from near the window. “I just woke up, too.”
“We’ve been watching for lights out on the water,” Ash said. “But there’s nothing yet.”
“We’re going to take shifts watching,” Richard said. “That way we can leave the moment we see the ship and get there as early as possible.”

“Where’s Eleanor?” I asked, and I could feel their tension pick up at the sound of her name.
Lea shrugged her shoulders. “At the bar, probably.”
“I’m right here, actually.”
We all turned to see Eleanor standing behind us, a bottle in her hand.
“Oh, hey, Eleanor,” Ash said.
“Are we gonna eat, or what?” Eleanor slurred. “I’m hungry and I can’t see anything down in that kitchen.”
“I’m pretty hungry, too,” Richard said. “Why don’t we take a break and have a quick dinner.”
I picked up the candle to light our way as the five of us carefully started down the stairs.

“Are you really leaving in the morning?” Eleanor asked. I heard a quiet vulnerability in her voice, vastly different from the booming anger she’d shown before.
“Yes,” Ash said. “Please come with us, Eleanor. You’ll be safe with us.”
“No-one is safe out there,” she said. “It’s the end. Those demons out there were sinners as humans, and now they’re getting what they deserve. The evildoers are awakening Hell on earth.”
“How could you say that?” Lea asked. “Your husband is out there.”
“His sin was leaving me here! He abandoned me!” she roared. “He deserves whatever those demons did to him. But we don’t have to make the same mistake. God can bring us into His Kingdom. And He will, if we’d just stay here, pray and be patient. God will save us.”

I cupped my palm over the candle flame, protecting it from the breeze as we made our way down the stairs. “What if God’s way of helping you, of saving you, is by sending the rescue ship?” I asked, doing whatever I could to convince her that her only chance was to leave with us. “Maybe sometimes God helps us by giving us the courage to take action ourselves, instead of waiting.”

My attempt at encouraging her to come with us backfired awfully, and Eleanor started running down the stairs towards me. “How dare you!” she screamed as she pushed past Ash, knocking her into the wall.
She took a mighty swing at me, but I dodged it just in time, dropping the candle in the struggle. The flame went out, and for the next few seconds all I could hear were loud thuds and bangs as Eleanor tumbled roughly down the stairs.

“Eleanor?” I asked when it fell silent. I bent down and carefully felt around for the candle, finding it a few steps down. “Does anyone have a lighter?”
“I do,” Richard said. After a moment of trying to find each other in the darkness, Richard lit the candle and we looked down towards the next level landing.
“Oh my God!” Ash gasped.

Eleanor was lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs. Her right arm was disjointed and, by the way her head had twisted in an unnatural position, we could see that her neck had been broken.

As we walked down the stairs towards her, I noticed her eyes were still open, but she wasn’t breathing.

Lea ran down ahead of us, crouched over her body and checked her pulse, confirming what I already knew.

“She’s dead.”

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