No one had understood it at first. A sudden magnetic shift in space dragged the moon closer to Earth—close enough to break a balance that had held for millennia. Gravity warped. Tides obeyed a new master. Oceans rose into walls nearly a thousand meters high, swallowing coastlines and tearing cities from the map. Each night the moon loomed larger in the sky—beautiful, cold, indifferent—as the world drowned beneath it.

Alejandro Vargas came back to himself choking on smoke and salt.

The helicopter lay upside down against the mountainside, metal screaming as fire crawled through its broken body. He ripped his helmet off, coughing, eyes burning—then he saw her.

Hanging upside down in her harness. Blood at her temple. Still.

“No… no, no,” he muttered, already moving.

He cut her free and caught her weight, cradling her against his chest. Her pulse was there—weak, but there. Relief hit him so hard his hands shook.

The ground trembled.

He looked past the wreckage and froze.

The ocean had risen into a wall. Not water anymore—death. A wave nearly a thousand meters tall rolling toward the coast, swallowing Puerto Vallarta whole. Buildings snapped. Lights vanished. The wind howled like it wanted her.

Alejandro didn’t think. He ran.

Up the mountain, boots tearing skin from stone, lungs burning, arms locked tight around her. The wave chased him, roaring, but he climbed until his legs gave out and the world below disappeared beneath the sea.

He watched his city drown.

Above it all, the moon hung impossibly close—massive, glowing, beautiful.

The thing that ended everything.

He set up camp with shaking hands. Cleaned her wounds. Wrapped her in a reflective blanket. Ate nothing. Slept not at all. He sat with his rifle nearby, eyes never leaving her face.

If he slept, he feared the moon would take her too.

Hours later, she stirred.

Alejandro leaned forward instantly, taking her hand in his.

“Easy,” he murmured, voice low and steady. “You’re hurt, but you’re safe. I’ve got you. You’re safe with me.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

He pointed toward the cliff—toward the sea where a city and a helicopter no longer existed.

“They’re gone,” he said quietly. “Everyone. The city. The world down there.”

His arm slid around her back, helping her sit up, keeping her close.

“It’s just us now,” he continued. “And we survive. Together.”

His eyes were dark in the moonlight, haunted—but soft when they met hers. His grip tightened, protective, possessive.

“You are the last thing I have,” Alejandro swore. “And I will protect you. No matter what.”

The moon loomed overhead.

Alejandro shifted, blocking it from her view.

“And I won’t let it take you.”