"Go, run, hide. Get out of here. That is the best you can do for now. Go underground, you'll be safe there unless, unless they come."

"How will you find us?" I asked,

"I will, I will. I promise," he said in a dreamy tone,

"But how?" I pleaded,

"I will, I will," he repeated.

_____________

We walked. In the cold. In the stench. In the quietness. In the loneliness. In the sewers. We were all hungry. Not one of us had any food or drink left. We had already lost two people. Two of the five. Now there was only us. The lucky ones, some people might say. The ones who had survived a bit longer, but no, we were not lucky. We were just surviving, waiting to be found and killed in cold blood. Killed for what lay within us. Killed for our medallions which could only be obtained by the person, the murderer, who killed the last one of our kind. Every second that ticked by felt like eons. We were not wanting to live, we were waiting to die. We were in a situation were it was so predictable what was going to happen to us that there was almost no point in living. The only thing that kept me going, kept us going, was the world. Every innocent person on earth, every guilty person on earth would start to suffer. Suffer because of us, if we died. Because we got murdered. Because someone would have contained a medallion. And with the medallion they would be able to destroy every living thing. Either emotionally or physically. They would show everyone their worst nightmares, and bring them to life. Bring them to life by killing one dead. A life for a life. They would destroy what is most precious to you, whether it was an object, whether it was a person, whether it was yourself. You would find yourself in a world were nothing is worth living for and everything is worth dying for. But then you remember that still have one thing worth living for. Whether it is an object, whether it is a person, whether it is yourself. But you still had to go through that dark time where many died and so little people made it. Made it to the other side. Made it to peace. To love. Made it home.

The thought of putting the world through that, kept us going. But it also put pressure on us. The last one of us would eventually die after the others, and the events that you previously read would come to life, with a single death. So we were on the run. We were constantly hiding and pretending. There used to be thousands of our kind, so the thought of the last one dying was unimaginable. But that was the problem all along. That it was unimaginable. No one had thought of the possibility, of the consequence of it actually happening. But then one day, it did. And only five of us had made it.  But we were at three already, and eventually we would be at zero.

I thought all hope was lost and it seemed like such a little chance that it wasn't. It was such a small chance, but still a chance. That chance got higher and higher, the more I thought about the idea that was brewing in my head. It would extinguish our kind but, hopefully, save the rest of the world. It wasn't just a life for a life, it was three for nearly eight billion. That was worth it. I could only hope that the others felt the same way about it. There it was again. Hope. So commonly felt yet noticed so little. I decided to confront the others, share my idea.

"Guys," I said, my voice hoarse, "I've found hope." they turned around obviously surprised.

I got the shock of my life when they did so. Now facing me were two people. Two people not of our kind. They were murderers. They had killed two of the three who remained. I was outnumbered. I would eventually die. They would somehow kill me. They would obtain the medallion. They would bring suffering to everyone. To every home. To every living thing. It looked as if I had to go through with my plan much sooner than I had hoped. Much much much sooner than I had hoped. There it was again, hope. But I had hoped I could at least wait until he arrived. But I had a sickening feeling in the bottom of my gut that he was already dead. One of the last things I remembered and did was to save the earth. Not a soul would know about it,  see it in the news,  find me,  remember me, but I would be satisfied with what I had done. I would be satisfied that I sacrificed myself. Sacrificed myself to save nearly eight billion. I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out my gun. Without a moment to spare I lifted it to my head and pulled the trigger. It wasn't just a life for a life. It was one for nearly eight billion. The world would go on without me, without any of my kind, without any knowledge of what we had done, of what I had done. I now realize it would have been better to enlighten the world of our kind, of our situation. It would have been better to stand in the open and let it happen. We shouldn't have hid. We should't have run. We should have done it ourselves in our own way in our own time. Although I thought, only for a moment, that it was his fault. He told us to hide. He never thought it might have been better if we hadn't, but I now realize it was all of our faults all along. But at least I would be happy knowing I had done something good in my life, even if it wasn't at all helpful for me, but for other people.

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