Was it possible? After all this time.... Is this really Daniel, though? That was one of their talents: mirror your loved ones. Of course. It's just another predator playing with its next victim.

"It's b-been a...while," the creature—Daniel?—grumbled hoarsely.

"No," I let out, my limbs moving as if an inexperienced person controlled them. "No, you're not him." It couldn't be him. I had seen the guy I loved die, and even if this thing looked exactly like Daniel—my Daniel—I wouldn't believe its act.

Lauren, as shitty as it is living underground, possibly bound to never seeing the surface one more time, you gave me hope that day we met, his words lingered. Like they were giving me time to think.

I'd seen him walking around the tunnels for a while, but that specific time he was strolling in front of me, down the northeast corridor, headed to the kitchen. I clearly remember how one of the wall's wires must've been overcharged, because it went flying across the corridor.

Had I not pulled him back, it would've beheaded him instantly. That's when he started calling me...

"Angel." It was all it took to shut down any kind of potential excuse I could think of to convince myself this wasn't him, because it was him. The tears stung my eyes, burning with old memories coming back.

"It is you." My hand reacted unwillingly, reaching out to feel the previously smooth face, which was now spotted with blisters here and there. Immediately, though, he backed away, a growl escaping his mouth. The needle-like teeth carried a metallic smell, and I could almost feel the small, remaining pieces of Bones flying all over me.

"No!" He slouched back, his spine arching while both feet ruffled the sandy dirt beneath them. "Don't touch.... Dangerous."

"I don't care," I whispered, allowing myself to crawl out of the wall and get slowly near him—I wouldn't call Daniel an 'it'. "I am so sorry, Danny."

He swished his head, panting soft moans. "Not...your fault."

"They think they found a cure," I said, letting the words out in hopes of soothing my guilt rather than the other way around. "I'll get it for you and everything will be okay."

"No cure...Angel," he heaved, his eyes darting up. Something stirred the white tornado inside of them, and I knew by heart nothing good would come next.

"Dan—"

"Need you t-to...kill me."

The words were out, and as much as I wanted to believe I'd misheard them, I knew I hadn't. A scrunching pain settled inside me, and some distant voice broke the shock. "We gotta move faster! C'mon."

Daniel's head followed the sound, finding a slim guy running toward the growing crowd, but he quickly ignored him. I saw him reach for somethings on the remnants of Bones and his friend instead, putting those somethings in front of me with begging eyes. "No."

"Please...."

"No!" I pushed the old knife and pocket lighter away, shaking my head when he stubbornly caught it. "How dare you ask me to do that? I won't." He opened his mouth—though it wasn't necessary since it was starting to loll open by itself—but I spoke over him. "I lost you once, and it almost killed me. That's not gonna happen again. Forget it."

"You d-don't understand," he stuttered, a slight growl threatening to come out. "I did...things. Bad things."

"That doesn't matter now, Danny. We're together and that's what matters."

"If y-you ever loved me...k-kill me, Angel." He got closer, breaking his own rule of closeness equaling danger. I could almost feel him again, our faces only inches away. "Please."

One request. One weapon.

It came across as mathematically simple, yet mentally challenging.

Refusing felt just as horrible as accepting. He was desperate, and I knew it. You could hear sorrow and regret inside his gravelly voice, begging for a way out. Who was I to deny it? I'd never understand what he went through, the things he said he did, nothing. Depriving Daniel from his only wish meant condemning him to endless suffering, and I couldn't bear doing that.

"I can't."

"I-I'm begging you." Slowly, his bony, bruised fingers pushed the rusted knife closer. "You have to m-make it all stop," he cried. "The voices, A-Angel.... They won't stop t-talking."

"My life is miserable without you, Daniel. Please don't make me do this."

"If y-you don't, who will? I s-saw you one m-more time...that is all I needed." His words flooded my mind with horrible images in which I ended his life, over and over again. But I had to make a choice now. With the rumbling of motors and the sound of metal doors chirring, I knew there couldn't be any more stalling.

Either I killed the guy I loved, or let him live and be miserable for God knows only how long.

"Just come with me," I said instead, getting on my feet. Like an unknown force had taken over me and pushed a wave of optimism into my system. Maybe I could get him to understand that whatever he'd done would be left in the past. Get a fresh start. "We will figure something out, Daniel, because I won't be the one who gets you killed again."

If he hadn't taken his own life throughout this past year—as harsh as it sounded—I knew he didn't want it enough.

"Angel, plea—"

"Lauren!" Daniel's words were muffled by the familiar, yelling voice of my brother behind me.  "Laurie?!"

I snapped my head backwards, cursing under a breath. If he saw Daniel—well, if he hadn't already—he would kill him. Panic overcame me, and this was the last thing I needed. "Gabriel, I can explain."

But I had no time to react.

Without a warning, he aimed his rifle at something behind me, pressing on the trigger in a swift, impulsive motion. I took cover in my own arms from the whistling ricochet, the pain I had inside coming out like an uproar from my throat in a silent, breathless scream.

When I risked a glance, I found Gabriel's confused face staring back at me, but I looked back instead. The horror inside of me entered a limbo state, suddenly becoming a faint annoyance in the pits of my stomach. Where Daniel had once stood, there was nothing.

The faint smell of his lingered, but other than the mutilated corpses and Bone's knife and lighter, the space appeared empty. Like he'd gotten blown away by the wind.

"I swear, I saw something move..." Gabriel murmured, and I met his eyes once again, feeling beds of briny water pouring out of mine. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"The hell were you thinking?" I yelled, the sobs getting constantly caught up in my throat. "You scared him! He was here, Gabriel!"

Suddenly, it was no longer I who acted on panic but him, too. "What are you talking about?" His hands cupped my face, and I felt them shaking along with the rest of my body. "What just happened, Laurie?"

The world crumbled around me, that's what happened. Piece by piece it fell, and I could only melt into his chest, seeking for comfort when I knew I wouldn't get it. "I saw him, Gabe," I sobbed, reality sinking in painfully slow. "Daniel.... He was here."

"It's okay, Lauren," Gabriel spoke softly, trying to sooth me, but the pressure enclosing my chest locked my throat instead. "Maybe you just confused—"

"I know what I saw! I spoke to him, Gabriel," I thundered, grasping onto his shirt when the muscles in my legs decided it had been enough. The support from his arms was enough to keep me standing, but the inside of my mind resembled the catastrophic results of a hurricane.

"We have to go."

"No," I said, my head shaking. "I can't leave him again. We gotta go look and see where he is, Gabe." I intended to walk away, but it was a failed attempt with the refusing stiffness of my limbs.

"This isn't up for discussion. That plane is taking off in five minutes, and I won't myself get in it without you." The imperative determination in Gabriel's voice was backed up by the imprisoning grip of his arms going around my waist, causing the world to flip upside down.

"Put me down, Gabriel!"

"No."

I tried hitting, kicking, and squirming, but I'd never realized how strong he really was until now. I could only see the dirt below his feet creating a small layer of dust raising. People's screams were louder, rowdier, and his grip tightened.

"Make way! He's here," someone, who sounded a lot like Hugo, ordered from behind me. I finally gave up resisting, soaking the back of his shirt instead for a couple more seconds before the blood that had been accumulating on my head came rushing back down when he put me back on the floor.

The grey paint of the old jet was chipped, starting to turn red with rust, and its motors rushed a merciless wind directly on our way. I noticed it was outside already, Block D's gates opened widely while the crowd fought our people to get in. Some of them were clogging the airstrip, but they'd have to move.

"C'mon, we have to get inside," Gabriel shouted, his hand on my upper arm. I didn't say anything, though, staring into his eyes and looking desperately for an answer. Because—why? How could he not understand what just happened? "Don't stare at me like that."

"Twice, Gabriel," I said over the motor's howling. "I've left him twice."

"That wasn't Daniel, Lauren!" He stepped closer, and I saw his eyes glistening. "I know you think that somewhere inside of the Wendigos still lives a person, but no, it doesn't. You know they mimic people whom you care about in order to mess with your mind, so don't—"

"I'm telling you, Gabe, for Christ's sake, it was him."

"Even if it was, Laurie," he started, his voice brittle. "There's nothing you can do. We cannot risk getting one of those things—"

"They're not things," I uttered, interrupting him again.

"Fine! We cannot risk getting one of them into the jet with us! It's a death wish."

"Don't you get it yet, Gabe?" I shook my head, the remnants of tears crystalizing on my cheeks as they dried out. "We're all dead already."

My legs started walking on their own toward the metal stairs that led to the jet's doors, and I heard Gabriel saying something else. It's not like I paid him any minds, because by this point, nothing really mattered anymore.

Kill me. That's all he wanted, for me to end his suffering. And I failed him. Even though I knew part of him feared death, could it be worse than what he'd seen? I couldn't put myself in his shoes—not even for half a second—so how did I have the power to deny his only wish? 

If he didn't blame me before, he surely did now.

Piper's honeyed voice greeted me inside, and I saw her standing up from one of the beige cushions. "Thank God you're okay, Lauren. Vincent! Come here!"

I couldn't process her words before I found myself cradled in someone's arms: Dad. "Let that be the last time we ever go on separate ways."

I took my time before speaking, measuring my words before they slipped out. "I saw Daniel, Dad.... I spoke to him."

His muscles tensed, and he drew some short distance between us. "What?"

"Boss, we're having a hard time containing the Outside People. If we don't do takeoff now, they'll block our track." The guy sitting in the cabin turned around in hopes of getting my father's attention, but his eyes were locked on mine—apprehension irradiating from them.

"One more minute, as soon as Hugo and Gabriel get inside," he answered lazily, lowering his voice before speaking to me. "What do you mean you saw Daniel?"

"When I got out of the tunnels, these two guys...they, uh, they tried to jump me, and he killed them...." I was terrified of diving into details, mainly because, if I did, I might just crumble into pieces and trigger another episode.

Dad's arms brought me close again, and I heard Gabriel's voice emerging from the stairs. It was my father's voice, though, the one speaking into my right ear. "Was he...?"

"Yeah," I said silently, one single tear rolling down my cheek. "It seemed like the Hunger hadn't taken of him just yet.... And I left him behind again, Dad."

"You did what you had to do, Lauren." Unwillingly, he pushed away, not before planting a soft kiss on my forehead. "Wait for me in one of the seats back there. We can talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it," I murmured.

"Boss?" The guy insisted, and Dad's gaze bounced on him before returning back to me.

He nodded, giving me a forced half smile before walking into the small cabin. Gabriel stood in the entrance, Hugo, who was ironically playing with his own beard again, next to him. I didn't let my eyes linger on them for too long, finding Piper back on her seat when I turned around and walked past her until I reached the last seat.

There, curling up on the cushion, I limited myself to look out the window. Phoenix, as empty as it was, appeared unwelcoming. Like the city had acquired a life of its own, and it was in to repel foreigners.

It didn't matter how I felt for the city anymore, though. The burden inside of my chest was much stronger than whatever nostalgia produced by the scorched landscape displayed outside the impenetrable, streaked window.

Now, I'd have to live with an unbeatable doubt for the rest of my life, one that no one—not even I—would be able to answer: what if?

What if I had granted him that last wish?

What if I'd refused to go with Gabriel, fought harder to stay?

What if he agreed to come with me? Would we be together?

Truly, I couldn't come up with the answers to any of these questions, beating myself up over and over inside my head. He probably hated me now. I'd let him down but once again, and that was unforgivable.

He counted on me.

I failed him.

Gabriel took a seat next to me, but my gaze remained steady on the angry, grey sky. "What do you mean by 'we're all dead'?" He asked silently, and I began picking on the old cuts of my fingers involuntarily.

"This isn't considered living, Gabriel." I left the window for a second, looking into his eyes as the sound of the door shutting echoed in the jet. "We sleep, eat, train, and socialize in tunnels underground the surface because the Virus turned the best of us into a Hunger-driven species.

"And we're also terrified of facing the people who once refused to share a rood with us due to the ruled that bounded our safe haven, so we're chained to live like rats, below the ground, alone. I don't know about you, but we all stopped living the minute Earth crumbled apart. We're nothing without it, and we were nothing with it before, too."

"So you really believe there's no chance for us to work through it?"

I strapped my seatbelt on, thinking about it while the guy at the cabin spoke one last time. "Attention, Base One on Block A, this is Commander Loughery speaking from Base 4 at Block D. Ready for takeoff with an estimate time of three hours and fourteen minutes until we make contact with Ohio's Alpha Base."

"Copied that, Loughery. The airstrip is free for you now," a raspy voice spoke through the radio communicator, and I saw Dad nodding, taking a seat next to Commander Loughery.

"Very well, starting takeoff process. We'll send you the Okay Signal once we pass Oklahoma. Until then, take care, Ritchie."

"You, too, Loughery."

"Over and out," he finished the transmission, turning the old radio off and pressing the piloting buttons to get the jet ready. Before I knew it, we were slowly moving, and so I went back to Gabriel's question in order to distract myself.

"We will try to rebuild ourselves, of course. We always do."

If we succeeded, well, that was a completely different thing, and I doubted he'd like to hear that. After all, he'd never grown acquainted with pessimism. 

"I guess we just hope for the best now, right?" Gabriel's question secretly sought for approval, so I wasn't about to deny it.

For now, I'd let him believe everything was fine. I'd let him believe the beautiful lie we never get tired of telling ourselves, "Yeah, perhaps we can fix this.... Perhaps we still have a chance."

I left his eyes to look out the window again, the people suddenly becoming smaller as the jet lifted into the sky. I heard Gabriel sighing next to me, sinking into his own seat without saying any other words throughout the flight.

Seeking for happiness in this world nowadays was like chasing the clouds or hoping to find the rainbow's starting point. Nobody could possibly know how much time there was left; nobody could possibly guess the fate that awaited us, but—who knew? And I asked myself again.

What if, maybe, just maybe, Gabriel was right? What if we did have a chance, after all?

If so, I'd fight for it.

For him, I would.

"Together, no matter what," I whispered, seeing what used to be Phoenix completely disappear below the grey clouds and breaking way to something I thought I'd never see again.

The Sun.

There, finally above them all, shone the one star I missed the most. All the others could be dead by the time you saw them. When light reached Earth, there could be absolutely nothing behind the white spec painting the sky. This one, though, the Sun—our Sun—would always be there, a constant reminder of a conquered battle. One more day.

That's when everything became clear. Even if I could go back and change all the mistakes destiny had its own ways of fulfilling whatever prophesy it was meant to carry out.

Our time here was written in stone from the start, yes, but, thinking of it, didn't we all learn how to carve once before?

NOT THE END.