All this time with no one, and now suddenly, here she was.
Still human.
Impossibly so, but the eyes couldn't lie.
I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her.
A human.
I wasn't alone.
Here was someone who could help me, someone I could help. Someone to talk to, after so long with nothing, slowly going mad from not seeing anyone other than them.
Her lips were soft beneath my own, and after so long without the touch of another human being, they seemed the softest thing I'd ever felt. All other thoughts were pushed from my head in the sensation of someone living, someone real, held in my arms.
I'm not alone.
The sudden pain of her knee in my crotch jerked me backwards, and I choked. All the months of practise evading the aliens made me move to block her escape through the front of the house, but to my surprise she ducked under my arm and ran through the door. The pain made it harder to think for a few seconds, and she started running.
She was fast.
All I could think was that she would be a good companion after so long with just the monsters. Clearly, she knew how to take care of herself. As I stumbled to the door after her, an unusual feeling of pride spread through me. She was good at this.
I'm not on my own anymore.
"Wait!" I yelled after her, and started to run.
I had to convince her that I was human, too, or I would lose her. I couldn't let that happen. She was the first living person I'd found in… I couldn't remember how long. I needed her, needed someone to stop me slowly going mad while I tried to survive.
I continued to shout, hoping she would listen to what I was saying.
Maybe it was the kiss that scared her. I hadn't meant to do it – it was just the joy of finding someone real at long last.
"I'm sorry I kissed you! That was stupid! I've just been alone so long!"
I'd almost caught up now, and I couldn't let her leave.
"Shut up!" she shouted, and ran faster.
I sped up too, and, finally close enough, jumped and pinned her to the ground.
I wasn't alone any more.
"Wait. A. Minute," I panted, trying to catch my breath.
I rolled her over, and sat straddling her to get a better look at her face.
She was tanned from living outside, probably on the run from the body snatchers. Her face was bony from not getting enough to eat, and her dark hair spilled across the ground behind her. Her eyes were a muddy brown, and so truly human. In that moment, she was beautiful to me. She was so alive, so real, so human.
I wasn't alone.