The Characters:

Pauline - 32 years old, before the apocalypse she was a big TV star. She had her own talk show, she was very communicative, ambitious, and very beautiful, she cared a lot for her appearance and had a team of people who took care of it. Last thing she ate was a cockroach she caught in the church 5 days ago. She is starved, very bony, for 2 years she had been wearing the same clothes, as a result of starvation she is loosing her teeth, she is dirty and smells really bad. Her once long and beautiful blond hair looks like an old broom leftover.

She was born in a poor family in a small village in the south of France. As a little girl, she was sexually abused by her stepfather. At the age of 14 she escaped to Paris with her boyfriend and as soon as they came to city they had a terrible fight and they separated. She never saw him again. She worked her way in finding jobs (she changed all of them!) and her sick ambition drove her further and further in career. Her job became her life, and she was good at it. She is a very sensual woman, and she isn’t afraid to use all of her charm when necessary, but she was never really intimate with men in emotional way, and sex was only her tool.

At the moment her greatest fear is that she will be caught and eaten. She is very afraid to leave the safety of the church balcony. She is spending her days in the church watching wall paintings and sleeping. Her greatest desire is to leave the church and to look for food in Paris. Right now her first priority is to survive and she is not leaving the church because from time to time people enter the church and she kills them and eats them- and this is how she survives.

Pierre - he was an artist or to be more precise, a painter. He was also born in the village. His father, an alcoholic, threw him out of the house. He is 5 years older than Pauline, a very sensible human but also very realistic. As a painter he was very unsuccessful so he had to do different jobs, but since he was very lazy and unmotivated he was fired from most of them. He was extremely self-confident thru his entire life and people never liked him because he was always self-satisfied. He looks just as awful as Pauline, but under the dirt and ripped clothes he is tall and skinny guy, with a very average face and body. As a painter he was average but talented, however his laziness overpowered his talent and he never made it. His greatest fear is that the world will stay the way it was in that moment and that human civilization will entirely disappear (he’s not conscious of this fear). His greatest desire is to find a person similar to him and to find a place in which they could live a “normal” life. He lives on the rare birds, rats and bugs that he manages to find in destroyed Paris. He was captured by a gang, who tried to kill him and eat him, but he managed to escape by killing one of them and he was running away at the time Pauline noticed him. Cannibalism became normal practise among the citizens of Paris, but Pierre fights against it and is trying to stay as “normal” as possible. He is extremely thirsty and hungry.

THE AFTERPARTY
A new play by Bruno Lovric

SCENE: 1

Devastated Basilique du Sacre - Coeur in Paris after the Apocalypse, main altar.

Pauline is starved and she is slowly walking through the Church. While touching the walls (blind person-like) she is singing, laughing, and talking to herself. Her hands are shaking, she is in enormous physical and mental pain.

PAULINE: (singing)
Diamonds are forever, forever....forever! Diamonds are forever. Fuck the diamonds. Ha, ha,ha...(She finds an old bone on the floor and she tries to gnaw it. She uses her knife in a desperate attempt to get to the core of the bone and then sucks it loudly. She realises that she sucked out the bone’s core long time ago and stops.). Add a salt....some pepper, maybe some gravy with it… (She gesticulates as if doing it, and then throws the bone furiously into the wall with a sharp scream. She sobs). I want a chicken! I want a Big Mac with ice cold cola, French-fries, ketchup...I want a chocolate cake, fresh strawberries with cream, I want pork, loads of pork in greasy fat and juicy oil streaming from my mouth! I want a Christmas turkey or at least a small cow.

Dear Mr. Santa Claus, please bring me a little cow for next Christmas, please, I’ll be a good girl, I promise. And if you cannot get me a cute little cow, your reindeer will do just fine - or at least one of them... Rudolph? He‘s very old dear Santa. You don’t need him anymore. Please Santa, please...Sincerely yours ... Pauline.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree your leaves are faithful allies, Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...(She is looking out through the broken windows and notices Pierre running toward the Church, her entire physiognomy changes. She turns into a cold, calculated animal stalking her prey.) Oh my...oh Santa. Here comes the .... Oh, Thank you dear Santa! Thank you! Thank you! Yes come, come to mamma, come... Stay cool stupid, stay cool, don’t scare him off. Ok. I’m cool, I’m cool. I can do this, I’m ready, I’m cool. (She grabs her knife tightly, Pierre smells a trap and he slows down and turns away from the church) No! Come back, come back...It’s ok, come back please. Come back! Stay, stay... (She desperately runs to the Church doors and yells to Pierre)

Help! Help please! Mr! Help me please my daughter is sick! She needs help! Please! She has lost a lot of blood please help us. (Pause) We have some food ...

(Pierre enters very carefully.)

PIERRE:
What’s wrong with your daughter?

PAULINE: (panic)
Oh, she went to find some food, but the gang captured her...she was wounded, she managed to escape but lost a lot of blood and now...(she sobs) I don’t know what to do. She fainted an hour ago...if something happens to her...

PIERRE:
Where is she?

PAULINE:
Behind the main altar (She points hoping he would walk in front of her).

PIERRE:
Will you lead the way?

PAULINE:
Of course, follow me.

(She starts to walk but with great pain, helping herself by touching the walls as if her leg was broken.)

PIERRE:
You’re also hurt?

PAULINE:
Yes, the gang. I fell while running from their camp with Melanie.

PIERRE:
Melanie is your daughter?

PAULINE:
Uh-huh.

PIERRE:
How old is she?

PAULINE:
15.

PIERRE:
Wow! I haven’t seen any children since all of this... began. How did she survive?

PAULINE:
It is a miracle. God wanted her to live I guess. I would have died the first day if it weren’t for her, she is the reason I kept going...and now she is dying (she stops and cries).

PIERRE:
She must be a very strong child if she survived all the horrors of these last few years.

PAULINE:
Yes, she is. She is very strong. (She starts walking again very slowly and with pain)

PIERRE:
Do you need help?

PAULINE:
No I can walk, it’s nothing serious.

PIERRE:
Are you sure?

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE:
You said you had some food?

PAULINE:
Yes, (pause) I did.

PIERRE:
Was that a lie just to lure me to help you?

PAULINE:
No. We have food; we have plenty of it actually.

PIERRE:
Really?!

PAULINE:
Yes. (She stops to rest again).

PIERRE:
Well, how can that be?

PAULINE:
Melanie found a secret way to get in to the camp storehouse. Sewer. Their food storehouse is full of different kinds of drink and food and before they caught us we managed to make our little supply too. It is not big, but in exchange for help we are willing to share it with you.

PIERRE:
Really?

PAULINE:
Uh-huh.

PIERRE:
Well thank you. Are you sure you can walk alone?

PAULINE:
I am. (She begins to walk slowly again)

PIERRE:
And how was your daughter...

PAULINE:
Melanie.

PIERRE:
Yes Melanie, how did they catch her?

PAULINE:
As she was leaving the warehouse full of small different ...

Pauline suddenly falls down and Pierre runs to help her. He offers her hand and she holds it in an attempt to stab him in the heart. Pierre reflexly moves and Pauline gets his shoulder instead of the heart. Using her legs she knocks him on the ground and amazingly quickly for her condition jumps on his chest and tries to cut his throat. They fight hard.

PIERRE:
Get off of me you witch! (He manages to take her knife, the roles switch.)

PAULINE:
Please don’t kill me, please! I didn’t mean to harm you but they made me, they made me...they said that they would kill her if I didn’t bring them someone to switch places with her! They would kill her, I had to...I swear...

PIERRE:
Shut the fuck up! (He hits her in the face with his fist.)

PAULINE:
Herpetic woman molester.

PIERRE:
Shut up!

PAULINE:
I didn’t mean to hurt you; I only did it because of Melanie...

PIERRE:
Will you shut that filthy lying mouth of yours! (He grabs a chain from the bunch of junk on the floor and ties her hands and legs) Why did you have to do this? Why? Are you crazy...or have you just invented a great way to survive? Is that it? You want to eat me, huh, is that it? You want me to be your meal Huh? Would you like to become my meal? How would you like that?

PAULINE:
I already told you that...

PIERRE:
Shut up! (he hits her again)

PAULINE:
Bastard!

PIERRE:
Bitch!

PAULINE:
I am not an animal! I did not want to eat you. I haven’t fallen so low... at least not yet!

PIERRE:
Shut up! Don’t lie to me! Nice story you made for me, I couldn’t have done it better myself. Congratulations! Two weak women in need of help and a bunch of food as a reward for the brave hero. Beautiful, just beautiful.

PAULINE:
It’s not like that at all.

PIERRE:
Oh it’s not? Really? And what’s it like, then? Would you share it with me?

PAULINE:
What’s the point, you won’t believe me, anyway.

PIERRE:
You’re right about that. But, if you want to confess your sins before you die it will be easier for you. Maybe that dirty soul of yours, if you have one, still has a chance to find some heavenly peace. We are in the great place for dying... or repenting, and since I am the only human being in here, you are welcome to use me.

PAULINE:
Fuck you.

PIERRE:
Thank you for your good wishes my dear, maybe I will.

PAULINE:
I didn’t lie to you.

PIERRE: (He runs behind the broken altar table.)
Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. Here she is! She is here! Your 14 years old daughter...

PAULINE:
15.

PIERRE:
Your fainted and wounded and invisible 15 year old daughter is lying right here! And I, stupid fool, did not believe you. Oh, please forgive me. Amazing. (He grabs a piece of cloth he found behind the alter and tries to put it around his wound.) Ah!

PAULINE:
Need help?

PIERRE:
Ha - ha. Ah!

PAULINE:
A gang really caught her, but I didn’t succeed in helping her. Honestly. They almost caught me too, and they will let go of her under only one condition.

PIERRE:
If you bring them someone for an exchange.

PAULINE:
And I have until sunset.

PIERRE:
Too bad. I guess poor little Melanie will just have to except the fact that she’ll become somebody’s dinner.

PAULINE:
You bastard! How can you say that?! Please, please if you don’t want to help me, just let me go and I’ll find a way to help her, myself. Please if you are human, she is just a child...If something happens to her (she begins to cry again)...I will die without her, I will die! Please help me. Together we have a great chance of rescuing her and I didn’t lie to you, they really do have a large food supply and I know how to get there, I’ll show you the way...

PIERRE:
No more crocodile tears, please, and how do you know that you won’t die before your daughter?

PAULINE:
Oh, you wouldn’t do that, it’s obvious that you are a good man. I can see that in your eyes...you have beautiful warm eyes. Please forgive me for attacking you, I never did something as awful as that in my entire life. And if it was only my life in question believe me I would rather strangle myself with my own hands than to hurt an innocent man. I was desperate, alone, afraid and desperate, please try to understand me. My life has no point without Melanie and if you intend to kill me, do it. Just do it fast. I do deserve to be killed and if you really intend to kill me, I only ask you to forgive me. Please say you forgive me. Please...

PIERRE:
I forgive you.

PAULINE:
Thank you mister, oh thank you! (He begins to sharpen the knife on the wall.) I can die peacefully now and I guess I will see Melanie again...on the other side. God is merciful, he will let it be. I just hope that she will not suffer a lot, my poor little baby, after all the hell that she’s been through, she will now die...(she cries) She didn’t deserve for this to happen to her. If only she was born 20 years ago, if only she had a chance to live her life as I did, a chance to have a peaceful childhood with a lot of toys, friends, school and love. Instead of that, she had to grow, grow and grow really fast, unhealthy fast, she had to live with death on her small back instead of bag full of books, she had to eat real junk instead of tasty junk food. She doesn’t remember supermarkets, malls, tidy streets full of smiling people; she forgot that we had a Jacuzzi! She doesn’t remember that we had clean water in the apartment - she doesn’t remember anything. Maybe it’s better that way...the only thing she does remember is TV! (she smiles nostalgic) TV...God...

PIERRE:(with the knife in his hand)
Are you ready?

PAULINE:
I am ready. But are you ready? Are you sure that this is what you really want?

PIERRE:
Yes.

PAULINE:
Then I am ready, too.

(He goes slowly behind her and holds her head while slowly putting his knife against her throat.)

PIERRE:
Would you like to tell me truth now, or do you want to die with a lie on your lips?

PAULINE:
I told you the truth.

PIERRE:
Are you sure?

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE:
I’ll count to 3.

PAULINE:
Ok.

PIERRE:
One...

PAULINE:
Is the knife sharp enough, are you sure I won’t suffer?

PIERRE:
It is sharp enough and don’t worry, you won’t suffer, I guarantee it.

PAULINE:
Have you ever done it before?

PIERRE:
Yes.

PAULINE
Good.

PIERRE:
One...two...thr...

PAULINE:
Stop!

PIERRE:
What!

(pause)

PAULINE:
I am afraid.

PIERRE:
It will be fast; you won’t even feel it. Trust me.

PAULINE:
Would you...would you hold me once before you do it.

PIERRE:
Hold you?!

PAULINE:
Yes, please, I really need it. I haven’t felt a human touch for a really long, long time and I just want a last hug before I pass on. Please, I will be ready after that.

(Pierre goes down to his knees and gives her a strong, long hug. She starts kissing him.)

PIERRE:
What are you doing?

PAULINE:
Nothing.

PIERRE:
Stop it.

PAULINE:
Why?

PIERRE:
Because...it’s wrong.

PAULINE:
Why? Just let go of it...this is my last wish, you cannot deny me my last wish. Just relax and enjoy...It doesn’t cost you anything and it means a world to me. Please...

(They cuddle on the floor.)

PAULINE:
I’ve dreamed about this for so long...

(Pierre breaks away from her)

PIERRE:
No! I cannot do this!

PAULINE:
Why?! Why not? You haven’t brought any protection with you?

PIERRE:
It is wrong.

PAULINE:
It is not wrong! This is my last wish, ok? If you had some cigarettes with you maybe I would have asked for some cigarettes, or if you had some food to offer, maybe I would have asked a last meal from you, but you don’t have any of that, do you! What you do have is that stupid penis of yours, and if you weren’t as stupid as you are, you would have used it by now without your philosophic crap! My God, of all the men in the world I had to run into fucking Einstein!

PIERRE:
You’re putting God and fuck into one sentence and you expect me to believe you. Is it so hard to tell me the truth?

PAULINE:
Are you gay or what? What is wrong with you?! Have you asked yourself if an opportunity like this would show up again in the near future? Maybe I am the last woman left in the world, maybe the entire human civilization will die with me. You haven’t thought about that, have you, genius! Maybe you will kill the entire human kind by killing me.

PIERRE:
I’ll risk it. And besides, won’t there still be that gang of yours with all the food and unfortunate little Melanie?

PAULINE:
Fine! Then just go ahead and slaughter me...barbarian!

PIERRE:
I would have raped you before killing you if I were a barbarian.

PAULINE:
Oh lucky me, I will be killed by an impotent and civilised cannibalistic pig.

PIERRE:
I’m not a cannibal. I’ll count to three, one...

PAULINE:
Then why do you want to kill me? Why?!!

PIERRE:
I don’t want to kill you, but your lies are forcing me! And please remember that I am not the attacker in this story. Two...

PAULINE:
I am not lying! I swear to you, hope to die dead right now a horrible, painful death, I swear on everything dear to me, I am telling you the truth! Truth, only truth, and nothing but the truth! We still have time, just untie me and help me find Melanie.

PIERRE:
Three! (Long pause as they both freeze.) You do deserve to die.

PAULINE: (she laughs wildly)
I knew you couldn’t do it! I knew it! You are a coward, you can not kill me, you are afraid of me. Coward! Weak, impotent pig, I was right all along! You are defeated by an unarmed, tied-up woman. You are the one who doesn’t deserve to live, why don’t you use that knife and end your own miseries. Or if you are afraid, let me do it. I’ll be glad to help you!

PIERRE:
You are insane.

PAULINE:
Oh I’m not insane, I am very sane and you are the one who needs help. Let me help you, please I’ll help you. I’ll release you from of your miseries, all your problems, you will not feel pain anymore, you won’t suffer, you will be well fed and warm. Let me help you. Untie me.

PIERRE:
So I was right. You were going to eat me after all?

PAULINE:
Truth hurts. It was nothing personal.

PIERRE:
Nothing personal?! Nothing personal! You are a beast! Beast in the body of a woman. A freak! Aren’t you ashamed to live? You want to feed on your own blood, your own flesh....What are you anyway? You are lower than just an animal. What kind of animal feeds on its own children?!

PAULINE:
The hungry one! And please spare me the pathos. Save it for your preacher’s pulpit.

PIERRE:
You make me want to vomit.

PAULINE:
Vomit then, but don’t you judge me, don’t you dare to judge me. Are you a saint, Buddha, Jesus... to teach me what is right and what is wrong? You are not, so shut up! You don’t know what I have been through, you don’t know the things I saw, you can’t imagine the things I had to do, You don’t know who I am, and you have no right to judge me.

PIERRE:
Oh, but I think I do! I do. You don’t know who I am. Maybe I am a father, a husband; you don’t know if somebody’s life depends on mine... maybe there is someone out there who loves me, who cares for me. You didn’t know anything about me, and yet you stabbed me with that knife without the slightest hesitation. That hurts. It really hurts. And now you tell me it’s nothing personal? It is everything personal, it is my life that we are discussing. It is everything but impersonal. My life!

PAULINE:
Life is over . . . priced.

PIERRE:
Maybe, but still, it is not free.

PAULINE:
Do you intend to kill me?

PIERRE:
No.

PAULINE:
Untie me then.

PIERRE:
So that you can kill me?

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE: (pause)
All right.

(He unties her.)

PIERRE:
Here, (she takes the knife from him) now kill me. Kill me! What are you waiting for? Kill me and feed yourself, there will be enough meat for couple of days and you will not be hungry anymore. Why are you looking at me like that? You said that you want this. Kill me; that is what you want, isn’t it? I give you permission, what more do you want? I am not joking, go on stab me, now! What do you want me to do; do you want me to do it myself? Kill me! Do you intend...

(She stabs him in the healthy shoulder.)

PAULINE:
There, are you happy now, are you happy?

PIERRE:
You stabbed me?

PAULINE:
Because you asked for it.

PIERRE:
I can’t believe you stabbed me... again! Why?

PAULINE:
You wanted it, you asked me to stab you. You begged for it.

PIERRE:
I asked you to kill me, not to wound me and let me bleed to death!

PAULINE:
Don’t you yell at me! This is your fault; I have nothing to do with it I just did what you told me to do. You told me to stab you and I did!

PIERRE:
You are crazy.

PAULINE:
You are crazy! To give a knife to a crazy woman? How crazy do you have to be to do something as stupid as that?

PIERRE:
Let’s skip the idle discussion, ok, and just give me something to tie around it before I bleed to death.

PAULINE:
And just why in the World would I do that?

PIERRE:
Because I ask you politely?

PAULINE:
I am afraid that it won’t be enough...but since I am a merciful and compassionate woman, I will help you...even though you don’t deserve it! (She rips the part of her dress and ties it around his wound. They talk while she is carefully tying it.)

PIERRE:
Why didn’t you kill me?

PAULINE: Because you told me nothing about yourself; I still don’t know if you are a father or a husband, I don’t know if anyone depends on you, I don’t want to kill two or more flies with only one stab. I want to kill only one at the time.

PIERRE:
Bullshit.

PAULINE:
It is not bullshit!

PIERRE:
Yes it is.

PAULINE:
Then why didn’t I kill you? You tell me, since you know everything anyway.

PIERRE: (pause)
You like me!

PAULINE: (laughs)
I like you? Really?

PIERRE:
Yeah.

PAULINE:
Well, I am sorry to break your dreams Romeo, but you obviously haven’t seen a mirror for a long, long time. You are not irresistible my dear, on the contrary.

PIERRE:
I didn’t think of myself as irresistible anyway, but does someone need to be irresistible to attract a bit of your attention?

PAULINE:
Sorry, you’re just not my type.

PIERRE:
And just what is your type?

PAULINE:
I don’t know... it’s not you! I know that for sure.

PIERRE:
Perfect flawless models?! I bet they are your type. But you know what, they are all gone - they disappeared along with Dinosaurs. Take what you can. At least our kids will be smart ... ugly tough, but smart!

PAULINE:
Yes, I think that perfect models are my type indeed - perfection for perfection. (She laughs at her discovery cheerfully.) Physical appearance is the first thing you notice about someone, just an envelope. And “What really matters is inside” right? But that is called "The Philosophy for Ugly People".

PIERRE:
I am sorry to break your dreams my dear Juliet, but you are one of them.

PAULINE:
If you are trying to seduce me, you are not going about it the right way.

PIERRE:
I am not trying to seduce you. You already like me.

PAULINE:
And just how, did you come to that conclusion if I may ask?

PIERRE:
I have strong intuition about things like this, I guess. I just knew as soon as I saw you.

PAULINE:
How? I wanted to eat you as soon as I saw you.

PIERRE:
You see? You felt something too, subconscious desire to have me close to you!

PAULINE:
I had a subconscious desire to have you close to me?

PIERRE:
Yes!

PAULINE:
In my stomach?!

PIERRE:
What is closer than that? No! You just thought that at first, but then you were attracted to me.

PAULINE:
I was?

PIERRE:
Yes, and I knew that you couldn’t hurt me.

PAULINE:
You‘ve lost too much blood. I tried to kill you and I stabbed you. Twice!

PIERRE:
In the shoulder! Both times! You know better than that, you know where my heart is but you aimed at my shoulder. You didn’t want me dead. Now kiss me and let’s get it over with!

PAULINE:
I didn’t want you dead?

PIERRE:
Yes.

PAULINE:
Where you Freud in a previous life or what?

PIERRE:
Surely I was.

PAULINE:
So subconsciously, I am madly and deeply in love with you?

PIERRE:
Perhaps, and perhaps I am madly, deeply and insanely in love with you too. Subconsciously – of course.

PAULINE:
Wow! We should get married!

PIERRE:
Of course! We’ll do it with God’s blessing! Why not! Right here and right now!

PAULINE:
Right here and right now!

PIERRE:
Right here and right now!

PAULINE:
God, this is so romantic.

PIERRE:
Totally.

PAULINE:
Hollywood. Ask me to marry you!

PIERRE:
Will you marry me?

PAULINE:
Not like that! Go down on your knees and ask as if you really mean it and as if you are really, really in love with me.

PIERRE:
Do I have to? It really hurts when I move. Let’s skip the marriage!

PAULINE:
No we will not skip the marriage and yes you have to! It was your suggestion! Now you have to do it properly.

PIERRE:
I am not joking, it really hurts and if I move I could start bleeding again.

PAULINE:
I am not joking either, ask me to marry you.

PIERRE:
My wound is too fresh, I am serious.

PAULINE:
I am deadly serious.

(He stares at her)

PAULINE:
Do it.

PIERRE:
No.

PAULINE:
Ask me to marry you.

PIERRE:
I do not want to.

PAULINE:
Yes, you do.

PIERRE:
No!

PAULINE:
On your knees! Now!

(He doesn’t move, she puts her finger into his wound, he screams.)

PAULINE:
Will you stay so cool now? Huh? Will you? On your knees!

PIERRE:
Bitch! You sick fucking bitch! (He screams again as she continues to torture him.)

PAULINE:
I am not a bitch, I am just a woman in love, that’s all. You said it yourself.

PIERRE: (In a break between screams.)
Sadistic psycho bitch, that’s what you are!

PAULINE:
That’s no way to talk to your beloved future bride. Ask me to marry you!

He slowly gets on his knees in front of her; she takes the rusty chain from the floor and tries to separate the chain links.

PAULINE:
Here, these can be our engagement rings. Chains, how appropriate...”With this ring I chain you for life.” (She laughs.) Ask me, go on. And don’t forget to be persuasive!

PIERRE:
Will you marry me?

PAULINE:
Oh, come on...you can do better than that!

(Pierre knocks her, she falls down and he takes Pauline’s knife away. In the fight for the knife he stabs her in the stomach.)

PIERRE:
Why are you so fucking self-destructive?!

PAULINE:
Does this mean that the engagement’s off?

PIERRE:
I didn’t want this!

PAULINE:
Well, you got it, anyway! I didn’t believe you could actually do it. Congratulations.

(He rips part of his pants to tie it around her wound.)

PAULINE:
Oh Leave it! It is too late. Why the hell did you have to stab me in my stomach?! Why didn’t you stab me in the heart or just cut my throat? Don’t you know that stomach wound is the slowest and the most painful death!

PIERRE:
Sorry, it seems I skipped that lesson in school. Why did you have to torture me with this ridiculous marriage game?

PAULINE:
Why are you so sure that it was a game? I always dreamed of getting married in a big wonderful church full of relatives and friends and flowers and all...

PIERRE:
Cut the crap, we will have to put something around it. We can’t leave it… like that.

PAULINE:
Oh, who cares? I don’t. (pause) Do you?

PIERRE:
I don’t want you to die.

PAULINE:
Why not?

PIERRE:
Because...You could be the last woman left in the world...and, and...Who would I talk to then?

PAULINE:
You are not the last man left in the world.

PIERRE:
How do you know that? Maybe I am!

PAULINE:
I just know. You are not. You are like cockroaches, nothing can exterminate you. But I could be the last woman.

PIERRE:
Yes you could.

PAULINE:
And the entire human civilisation could die with me.

PIERRE:
Perhaps.

PAULINE:
I think I would like that. It deserves to finally rest in death.

PIERRE:
Maybe it does.

PAULINE:
Actually I think it died in the collapse long time ago. We managed to drown it somehow I guess. And It’s been rotting and decaying ever since and turning into something… unrecognizable. And what has that great human civilisation ever done for me anyway? What?! Absolutely nothing! (Pause) I’ll be happy to die if that will kill it off, too.

PIERRE:
You don’t mean that.

PAULINE:
Yes I do! Look where we live, just look! There’s nothing here! There is no going back, and there is no going forward either. We are stuck and nothing is moving anymore! Nothing! What can I hope for; a better life? I can hope that a bug will pass by and prolong my miserable life for couple of minutes, or that the rain will fall and save me from dying of thirst?! I don’t want that anymore. That is not living, it is not life. I’d rather die, actually I can’t wait to die, death is my last hope! (She starts to cry.)

PIERRE:
Calm down. The wound is not too deep, we can stop the bleeding and you will be all right, you won’t die. (He tries to tie the cloth around her again.)

PAULINE: (she pushes him away in great pain)
Get away from me! I told you to leave me alone! I want to die! Leave me alone!

(He stares at her.)

PAULINE:
Go! Go away, get out!

PIERRE:
All right, die then! Die! It’s great to enjoy self-pity, isn’t it! Is your melancholy making you feel better, are you proud of yourself? You will die as a great martyr woman! Poor little you! But you are not martyr, what you are, is the most egoistic and egocentric person I ever met in my entire life! Is there anything in this world you think about except yourself? The rest of us suffer too, we have our own stories and life’s miseries and if you can not see them, it doesn’t mean that they are not there. They are maybe even greater than yours, but you don’t care do you? You are the only thing that matters, the world is here only to decorate your life and we should all cry when you feel sad.

PAULINE:
Great decoration... I am not being egoistical. Future generations should be grateful to me: I’ll spare them life’s miseries, frustrations, pain, and all the other crap that comes along with life.

PIERRE:
How noble of you. You are a true personification of virtue. You deserve a medal for goodness.

PAULINE:
I know, I know...(She waves him away.)

PIERRE:
I hope you’ll burn in hell.

PAULINE:
Me, too. I had an eternity of coldness and drafts in this awful place.

(He is madly looking straight ahead and keeping his mouth shut.)

You’re out of humour? Has anyone ever told you that you look funny when you’re "mad"? (He does not answer.) Well, you do. It’s cute actually. (He still does not answer.) Now you should reply with a compliment, something like “well, you look nice too when you’re...waving with that long beautiful hair of yours, or smiling with that piano-key-teeth smile of yours!” (He smiles.)
A smile! Thanks. Look, if you really want to tie that thing so badly, and if it will make you feel happier, then do it. I don’t think it will do any good for me, anyway.

PIERRE:
I will not force you to live. If you want to die, it’s ok with me.

(She is passing out; he jumps and quickly ties the cloth around her wound then puts a hand to her chest to check her heartbeat.)

PAULINE:
Taking the opportunity?

PIERRE:
No I was just checking your pulse.

PAULINE:
Yes, yes of course...you barbarian. There is something I want you to do for me.

PIERRE:
You shouldn’t talk right now.

PAULINE:
But you have to promise me that you’ll do it! You’ll have to!

PIERRE:
I’ll do it if I can.

PAULINE:
Yes you can, but promise me first.

PIERRE:
I promise.

PAULINE:(pause)
You have to eat me.

PIERRE:
No.

PAULINE:
But you’ll die if you don’t!

PIERRE:
Don’t you worry about that.

PAULINE:
You think that you’ll catch a nice big bug or rat or whatever you usually eat? You won’t! You have two wounds and you are not able to run! You can’t even walk normally.

PIERRE:
I would rather starve to death than to eat a human being.

PAULINE:
It is only flesh. I am not offering you to eat my “being”. Only flesh, nothing more or less...well there are also bones of course, but the point is that I will die anyway and I would rather be eaten by you than by those stupid worms. It would be a terrible waste of food.

PIERRE:
I am sorry, I cannot do that for you, nor for anybody else.

PAULINE:
I am dying! You have to obey what the dying person asks you to do! You have to.

PIERRE:
Ok, I will do it. I will eat you.

(She is suspiciously looking at him.)

PAULINE:
You are a miserable liar. I wanted to eat you. You think I stabbed you in the shoulder because I wanted you to live or because I like you?! Don’t be naive. You had two wounds and I expected you to bleed to death, you should have bled to death. I just wanted to have some fun before dinnertime.

PIERRE:
That is not true.

PAULINE:
Yes it is. You were amusing me, like a little rat trapped in a glass bell, and I was a cat and I just wanted to see what you would do. And here’s what you did: made a hole in my belly!
God this hurts! I am not hungry anymore I guess this means that I’m losing my senses. Good. But I am still thirsty, I am so terribly thirsty...

(Pauline is passing out again. Pierre checks her and then finds a part of a church statue (the hand) that can be used as a vessel, he takes it and runs out of the church. Immediately after that Pauline opens her eyes and turns her head in the direction of the knife that Pierre left on the other part of the stage; the knife shines with an unnatural sheen. She begins to mumble the song, “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” as she crawls, using superhuman strength. It is obvious that every movement is causing her incredible pain. The real “Yellow Rose of Texas” performed by Mantovani’s Orchestra begins to play. The red trace stays behind Pauline as she comes closer and closer to the knife and stops when she finally grabs it. Pierre comes back with the water in the stone hand. Pauline hears him coming and hides the knife under her body. Her face is facing the audience.)

PIERRE:
You moved.

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE:
Why?

PAULINE:
Is that water for me?

PIERRE:
Where’s the knife?

PAULINE:
I don’t know.

PIERRE:
Give me the knife.

PAULINE:
Give me the water.

(He stares at her coldly.)

PIERRE:
Ok, now you are pissing me off!

PAULINE:
Too bad.

PIERRE:
Will you give it to me? (She coldly stares at him.) I am leaving now.

PAULINE:
Go. (pause) Just leave the water.

He puts the water down a few steps away from her and slowly leaves - she doesn’t look at him as he leaves but after he is gone she quietly begins to sob - honestly and painfully for the first time. She takes the knife out and looks at it.

After a several seconds he slowly returns and looks at her; she is turned with her back to him and she doesn’t see him. He picks the water up, quietly walks to her and holds the water in front of her mouth

PAULINE:
This fucking wound hurts like hell.

PIERRE:
Yeah?

PAULINE:
Uh-uh. (pause) (She notices that he is nervously looking at the knife.) What? You are still afraid of it? Good, you should be. (She lets it drop) I wanted to kill you with this knife.

PIERRE:
I know. You changed your mind?

PAULINE:
No.

PIERRE:
Do you hate me?

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE:
Why?

PAULINE:
You remind me of myself. My old me.

PIERRE:
You hate your old self?

PAULINE:
Yes.

PIERRE:
Why?

PAULINE:
Because it changed, it became my new self. You will change too. You’ll see...

PIERRE:
We all change...

PAULINE:
Yes, we are humans and we all adapt...but you will not change. You mustn’t. Change won’t bring you any good.

PIERRE:
Ok, I won’t change.

PAULINE:
You won’t…

(Lights fade out, the sound of the hard rain is heard in the darkness, rain is falling on the Church marble, garbage outside the Church, metal, stones...But not on the plants! Lights slowly fade in: Pierre and Pauline are on the floor. Pauline is dead and Pierre is sleeping beside her. They are holding hands. The rain is falling on them and they are both totally wet. Lights slowly fade out again. The sound of the rain stops.)

The End