The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the soft mattress that I was lying on. It felt odd compared to the hard floor that I was used to sleeping on. I was so comfortable that I didn't want to stir. I was too afraid that if I opened my eyes, it would all disappear. I was too scared to leave the bliss of the bed to wake up.

The sound of tapping struck my suspicions. It wasn't loud. It was audible enough to give me a headache, though. My eyes fluttered open, and I was about to snap at whoever it was until I saw the figure leaning on the door.

"Marcus?" My voice felt like sandpaper against my throat. It sounded like someone else was talking instead of me. The man looked up, anyway, revealing the icy blue eyes that I could find anywhere.

"Hey Kat," he whispered. "Had a nice sleep?"

"How long was I out for?" I propped myself on my elbows. I had braced myself for the pain that inevitably should've conquered my body. I couldn't feel anything, though. I felt numb, even. My hunger cramps had disappeared and my usually sore body felt as good as new. I wanted to question how I felt so painless, but I was scared that if I did, it would come back.

Marcus walked over and stood next to me. "Only a couple of days." His attire hadn't changed. He still wore the black suit. Marcus's glasses dangled from his collar as they usually did. The only difference now was that I could see hair slowly growing on his head.

Seeing his clean figure made me feel more self-conscious than I ever had. What did he think of me? I was dirty, burned, and my hair probably looked like a rat's nest. I wanted to hide under the covers and never resurface.

"Where's the shower?" I asked.

"Right, do you need help with that?" I rolled my eyes. Marcus hadn't changed one bit. "Your loss. The bathroom's on your left. There should already be a fresh change of clothes next to the sink."

I nodded. He left without another word, closing the door with a soft click. I flung the sheets on the floor. My feet touched the ground. I flinched at the sudden cold. It didn't stop me from reaching the bathroom, though. I started by relieving myself, then grabbing a towel from under the sink. When I stood up, I finally acknowledged the mirror.

My once porcelain skin was replaced with a red one, gashes and large patches of dirt filling up any free area it could capture. My hair was knotted and as wild as I imagined it to be. That's going to be impossible to brush, I thought with a groan.

My eyes trailed down to the bandage on my neck. It was fresh. It probably got changed a few hours ago. I could only imagine the scar it would make. Where did you get that scar? A cat? No, more boring than that. Someone slit my throat and left me to die. The usual.

I then looked at my hands, which were identical to my face. No part of my body had been spared. Everything was bloody, cut up, and dirty. I looked away. I wasn't looking at myself anymore. I was looking at a complete stranger.

I flicked on the shower and fiddled with the temperature. On instinct, I flipped it to cold. I slowly turned the knob to a warmer temperature, not waiting for the water to warm up before hopping in.

Having soap against my skin was the most soothing feeling I ever felt. I expected my burnt and cut skin to react poorly to the hot water, but I could barely feel it at all. I didn't complain. It made the shower all the better.

After shaving and drying off, I worked on brushing my hair. Knots and clumps were torn out in the process, but I managed to smooth it out after awhile. Red hair dye stained the bristles. My hair was practically back to its original color.

I slipped on the t-shirt and jeans that were set out for me. It took me a minute to realize that it was the clothes that I came here with. The shirt was baggier now, but besides that, they were perfect.

I slipped on my shoes and exited the bathroom. Marcus was there once more, sitting in the chair that was perched by the wall. I sat on the bed, waiting for his instructions. When he didn't say anything, I asked, "Why don't I feel any pain?"

Marcus shrugged. "The doctors knew that you weren't going to feel good when you woke up, so he gave you medicine to numb your body. It'll wear off after awhile. Are you hungry? You might not feel like it, but I know you're starving."

I nodded. Just the thought of eating real food made my stomach growl. He opened the door. I followed him. It reminded me of the time had he led me to the Main Hall. I had apologized for popping him in the nose. I grinned. I had felt so powerful doing that. That seemed like nothing now. It even seemed forgivable now.

I was disappointed to see that I was alone at the table. Marcus left me with a plate, telling me that food was served on the table next to me. I was hoping that Aster or Tilly would be sitting eating lunch, waiting to wave me over. Maybe they were still asleep.

Or what if they didn't survive? What if I was the only one who had woken up? How did we survive? Questions swam through my head at a pace that I couldn't follow. So instead, I piled my plate with everything that I found edible, deciding that I should worry about that later.

The enriching aromas of food caused my mouth to water. I grabbed two cups of water before sitting down. I wolfed down everything, forgetting about silverware. The fresh fruits and vegetables felt like heaven. The meat danced down my tongue. The rice and noodles made me want more. Everything made me want to eat more.

I have a month's worth of food to eat, I thought. Might as well get two weeks in now. I couldn't find myself to eat more than a plate, though. My stomach practically exploded with how much food I ate. I turned the food away and instead started to drink cupfuls of water. I did so until I heard Marcus clear his throat.

I rolled my eyes. Always have to ruin everything. I stood up, shooting him a glare. He grinned. "Come on. There's someone I think you want to see."

Before I could ask who it was, a wave of nausea suddenly hit my stomach. My once normal skin felt like little needles were pinching me over and over again. My head spun. I stumbled. Marcus caught me, swearing under his breath as he placed my arm over his shoulder. The pain in my body made me want to scream and cry. I wanted to tear something apart. I had felt perfectly fine. What happened?

Marcus practically lifted me onto the bed. I curled into a ball, my nose crushed on the mattress. He threw open the bathroom door and searched under the sink for something. I watched while gripping my sore stomach. Marcus came back with two liquids and a syringe. My eyes widened.

"It's okay," he muttered soothingly. I didn't move as he filled the needle and cleaned the tip before he pressed it to my arm. I winced as it pricked my skin. Marcus did it once more before stepping back, placing the fluids back where they came from.

The fluids worked through my system immediately. The pain practically evaporated from my body. I relaxed my tensed muscles. Exhaustion replaced my frustration. I rested my head on the pillow, staring at Marcus, whose eyes were still full of alarm.

"Thank you," I whispered. He nodded. After a minute, Marcus left, not making a sound.

I stared at the ceiling in silence. I didn't want to revisit that painful feeling that I had experienced only minutes ago. I had felt it for far too long. All I wanted was to be able to feel comfortable again. I wanted to lay in my own bed and eat my own food. I wanted to leave.

Marcus reentered my room. His head was the only thing I could see. "I didn't think that you wanted to walk after that, so I brought someone to you."

Curious, I sat up. I probably could've skipped down the halls with the new energy that I had. The fear of collapsing again stopped me from protesting, though.

Marcus opened the door wider to reveal a man who was wearing a button down and jeans. On his head were light, tame curls. His tan face looked lighter without the dirt. He still wore the glasses, though they were cleaner now, from the course.

"Aster," I breathed.

Aster grinned. He walked over to the side of the bed. He had a limp, but besides that, he didn't seem to be too damaged. Marcus raised his brows and then left us alone.

We both just stared at each other in silence. We were almost strangers without the suit and blood to cover ourselves with. We were truly looking at the real us at that moment.

Aster cleared his throat. "I think that I can get my fingers fixed."

"Oh?" I cocked a brow.

He scratched the back of his neck. "I wouldn't do that for a while, though. Probably want to settle back in and get life going again before doing something like that." Aster chuckled awkwardly. There was a moment of silence.

"How did Raul die?" I blurted.

He hesitated. "I...shot him. I found the gun in the cart. I didn't want to do it, I just...I couldn't imagine seeing you die. I couldn't have lived with myself if I let that happen."

Which led to the second mystery. "How did we survive the last obstacle?"

"Well," Aster began, "apparently there was oxygen in the box the whole time."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah."

"Then," I sucked in a deep breath, "then how did we pass out?"

"Probably from exhaustion or dehydration," Aster replied. "I'm not sure. Once I was able to figure that out, though, I grabbed a knife from the backpack and used it to crack open one of the walls. I'm not sure what happened next, because I knocked out, too."

My shoulders relaxed. I scooted over, patting the bed. Aster laid next to me. We remained there in silence. His presence made everything feel calm. I rested my head on his shoulder. The smell of pine blanketed my nose. It was an aroma that had never left Aster. Nothing ever smelled better.

I wanted to recap everything that had happened in the last few weeks. I wanted to talk about every crazy, sad, and awful moment. I didn't say anything, though. Instead, I snuggled closer to him and stared at the buttons on his shirt until I fell asleep.

It took two days before I finally decided to leave. I was so attached to the food and comfortable bed that having to depart it scared me. But now that I wasn't getting intense episodes of pains, even I had to agree that it was time for me to go.

I took one final shower before meeting Marcus outside my door. He didn't start walking as I expected him too, though. Instead, Marcus handed me a piece of paper.

"I thought you might want this." Confused, I held it in my hands. My eyes widened.

"A check?" I asked.

He nodded. "For winning."

My eyes widened as I saw all the zeros. There's no way that this was only a third of the money. I grinned at Marcus. I had forgotten all about the cash prize. I held onto it tightly, afraid that if I let it out of my sight, it would disappear. Marcus bobbed his head toward the hall, and we started to walk.

He led me through several hallways. I twisted and turned, forgetting where we had come from. I nearly stopped to take a break until I saw where we were. We were outside next to three large helicopters. Four other people were standing around, talking amongst each other. I smiled.

"Hey, guys." Tilly and Aster snapped their heads toward me. Tilly smiled. She had a few bandages on her face and arms, but besides that, she looked clean. Her hair was in a braid and she was wearing a yellow dress that went down to her knees. I had never seen her look so happy.

I saw Tilly a couple of times throughout the last two days. She was either eating or reading a book on one of the chairs in the halls. Marcus explained that she needed more time to recover, which is why she had never come to visit. I didn't complain. I had needed to rest just as much as she did.

"We did it," she muttered. I wrapped my arms around her small figure. "I can help my brother now."

My heart warmed at those words. For a minute I had forgotten why she was here in the first place. To help the person she loved the most. I knew that he was proud of her, too. Tilly would come home with arms wrapped around her, all in tears. She let go of me, her smile brighter than it was before.

"I have to go now," she told me. "Oregon's a long way from here."

I nodded. "Goodbye, Tilly." I gave her a final hug. My throat felt tight. I had promised myself that I would get Tilly out of the Pestilention alive. And somehow, she was standing there, just like I promised.

Tilly was the first to let go. She gave Aster a final embrace before approaching a man with a waxed head and shades and followed him into a helicopter.

Then it was just me and Aster. I had spent several days just walking at his side, talking to him about things that I would've never talked about with anyone else. We had taken each other's watches at night. We had managed to escape death twice in one day. We had faced over a dozen obstacles together. Nothing could have stopped us.

And now we were splitting apart.

My smile dropped. "Is this really goodbye?"

Aster shook his head. "Of course not." He took my hands in his. "I'm going to use my money to get a ticket to New York to see you. We can hologram each other every day. There's never a goodbye, Kat."

Looking into his eyes, I couldn't doubt his words. We had a life to fulfill. We had so many opportunities that we could do together now that we were out of the Pestilention. I could finish school. I could get a job. Get married. Kiss Aster one last time.

I couldn't find myself to kiss him right then, though. That would mean that it was the last time. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his torso. Aster didn't hesitate to hug me back. The warmth of his body felt comfortable against mine. I wanted to stay like that forever. Always by his side. He was right. This wasn't goodbye.

We would see each other again. I didn't know when, but we could surely make it work. It was worth a shot.

"All right, break it up kids," Marcus said. "It's time to go. I'd like to be back here before the sun goes down, and the day isn't getting any younger."

With an eye roll, I stepped back. Aster smiled warmly at me. "I'll see you later, Kat."

He then turned and disappeared into his helicopter. I followed Marcus into ours. He sat in the front with the pilot, who muttered a few things to us before lifting us in the air. I made myself comfortable in the back. I stared out the window and watched Aster as he disappeared, turned into a little dot in the sky, and then into nothing.

So, this is the end.

We finally made it! After a year and three-month process to write this story, we've finally made it to the end. I can't thank you guys enough for staying this long with me. Even when I didn't upload for a week or when I continuously promoted myself. Even when my grammar sucked or there were boring chapters. You guys have been patient until the end, and I can't thank you enough. I know that several authors could write a thank you far better than I can, but at this moment, I just don't have any words to express my gratitude.

It's funny how I can write a sixty-five chapter book about death but I can't write a solid paragraph about how grateful I am.

Have an amazing Thanksgiving. Make sure to hang out with your family and eat tons of food. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, then just have a wonderful day. As always, don't forget to vote, comment, and share this story with your friends. Vote for this book with your finger. Just a simple, easy way to vote.

This final song is calledHome by AURORA. No explanation needed. :)