The Last Orange

The corporate world had its own kind of infection. Marcus had learned this over fifteen years at the firm, watching bright-eyed graduates transform into hollowed-out shells, shuffling between meetings and cubicles with glassy stares and automated responses. The zombies weren't flesh-eaters—they were pension-chasers, husbands who'd forgotten why they'd married, wives who'd lost themselves in PTA meetings and spin classes. Marcus was one of them now.

The company retreat had been his wife's idea. 'You need to reconnect,' she'd said, though they hadn't truly connected in three years. Now he sat at the hotel pool at dusk, nursing a whiskey that cost more than his first car, watching other couples pretend to be in love.

That's when he saw her—Elena from accounting, floating on her back in the turquoise water, orange sundress dripping on the concrete beside her. She'd been dead behind the eyes for years, another soldier in the zombie army of middle management. But in the water, she looked alive. Really alive.

She caught him watching and waved him in. Something in Marcus snapped—the years of compliance, of following rules, of being the good husband and dutiful employee. He stripped to his boxers and slipped into the cool water, joining her.

'I have an orange,' she whispered, pulling the fruit from her dress pocket. 'I stole it from the breakfast bar this morning. Been saving it.' She peeled it slowly in the twilight, the citrus scent cutting through the chlorine and desperation. She offered him a segment.

They shared that orange like it was the last food on earth, perched on the pool's edge as the sky turned from blue to purple to black. Marcus felt something stir in his chest—something he'd thought was dead. He reached for Elena's hand, and for the first time in years, he didn't feel like a zombie at all.

'Tomorrow,' she said, 'we go back.'

'Not tomorrow,' Marcus replied, squeezing her hand. 'Not ever again.'

They kissed as the pool lights flickered on, and somewhere in the darkness, an orange peel lay curled on the concrete like a promise.