Ella

The sun is hotter than I remember. Seeing the birds fly over my head feels bittersweet as I burst out from the compound and leave the damp prison behind me.

The salty smell of the dense desert fills my nostrils as I suck in the first breath of fresh air in a lifetime.

I look around, wondering which way I should go. To my right is a truck, so I run toward it and stick my keys into the ignition, hoping this will take me where I need to go.

If I can get to a city with a vehicle, it’ll be much quicker to come back too, so this makes me feel a little less restless. A little less guilty about leaving Cage behind.

The mere thought of leaving him here chokes me up, but I try to ignore it as I stuff the bottles of water I snagged from the kitchen into the bag.

However, the moment I press the gas with my foot, nothing happens. The truck sputters, trying to run, but the engine doesn’t actually start. I push the gas again and again. “C’mon!” I growl, frustrated with the car.

The more I turn the keys and ram the pedal with my foot, the angrier I become until I start slamming my hands onto the wheel. I have to get this truck to start, have to make it work. I have to. I have to … for Cage.

My eyes fill with tears again as I stop trying, realizing it’s not going to work.

What’s the point of having a truck if it doesn’t drive?

Nothing.

There’s no point.

No point … to any of this.

Defeated, I roll out of the truck and slam the door shut in annoyance. With my bag slung over my shoulder, I kick a rock in front of me and start walking.

I don’t look back.

I keep walking, into the sun, into the blistering heat, knowing this could be my death sentence.

But what other choice do I have?

None.

There is no choice … No saving grace.

Nothing except my legs putting one foot in front of the other.

The sand bites as I go through the desert, far beyond the distance I imagined I could ever walk. I keep going in a straight line, hoping I might eventually find a road. But in the middle of nowhere, the chances are grim.

The road I saw when I escaped before was a lie.

A sham, conjured up by my mind.

There’s nothing but dirt ahead, and I have no choice but to keep moving.

My water bottles are already halfway empty when the sun above me moves position. The only thing that allows me to keep track is the shadow cast on the breast-shaped mountains to my left. The wide nothingness around me tenses me up, but I ignore the knot in my stomach and keep going.

I’ve done it before. Back when I found my sister … and had to carry her all the way back through the woods to the road. Then I had to wait for a passerby in a car to call for help. My sister’s body was heavy but so was my heart, and I needed to bring her home.

I didn’t give up then, and I’m not going to give up now.

There’s no time to think about the pain in my muscles.

No time to think about how I’m ever going to find my way back home.

No time for anything but walking.

Just walking … so I can save Cage.

I can’t let him die a lonely, miserable death in there.

I just can’t.

So I keep going, way past my limit, way past the distance my body is willing to carry me. The sun has caused my red skin to blister, and my vision has become blurry from the heat. My water bottles are completely empty now, and even the last drops from the inside of the plastic don’t provide enough to quench my thirst.

Still, I don’t give up.

I can’t give up.

I can’t give up for Cage.

For this baby. Our baby.

I can’t give up.

Not until my feet become numb. Not until my throat is as dry as the air, and my skin and lips cracked. Not until my body refuses to move another inch and collapses to the ground.

And even then, I crawl.

Through the thick, scorching heat across the endless desert.

When even my fingers feel like they’re burning, I stop, my body needing the break before it breaks down.

Turning on my back, I gaze above me at the bright blue sky, thinking about the last time I saw it and wondering if this will be the last time.

Vultures are already circling above my head, waiting for the last of my spirit to leave my body. Waiting for me to give up.

I’m tempted. So tempted to just let it all go.

I’m already free. Free as a bird to roam the skies if I wanted to.

My sister’s waiting for me up there in the clouds.

I reach for her, wanting to get closer, hoping I can touch her. Hoping she can see I put up a fight. I didn’t go willingly. But I went with pride and honor.

I went on my own terms.

In freedom.

* * *

Lights circle me, and I wonder if I’m in heaven. It’s so bright and welcoming but very cold. Colder than I expected. The thirst is still there, but it doesn’t burn in my throat as much as it did before. I wonder if everyone experiences heaven this way, or if it’s just because I’m still on the way there. Floating up into the sky … that would be a sight to behold.

“I’ve got vitals,” a voice echoes close to me.

I wonder who it is. Could it be God? Or maybe it’s my sister … I can’t wait to see her again and hug her tight. However, the moment I try to picture her, all I see is a man, calling me from down below on the ground. A beastly man … roaring like a lion.

Cage.

He’s still alive. I can’t die. I can’t die, knowing he’s still in there. I’m not going without him.

I blink, forcing my eyes to open, forcing myself to continue living even when my body refuses to do so.

My limbs buzz, and the ground underneath me shakes. But that ground feels much colder than I remember it being and much harder too.

Something blocks the bright light above me, a shadowy figure.

“What’s your name?” There’s that voice again. It’s so warm and unlike anything I’ve heard in weeks.

My chapped lips part, but no sound leaves my mouth as I try to talk. My throat clamps up, and I cough.

“Take it easy,” the voice says.

When I squint harder, I can definitely make out the figure of a man but not one I recognize.

“Do you know what day it is?”

I shake my head, but my muscles barely move, still tensed up from the battle I fought against Mother Nature herself.

“July third,” he says.

July… I count out the weeks in my head.

That means I’ve been locked inside the compound for more than seven weeks.

Seven weeks … of my entire life.

I was gone … gone from the surface of the planet.

No one knows where I am.

And no one knows how to find us … where to find Cage.

I almost shoot up into a seated position, but something keeps me down. Straps around my body, tight and suffocating.

I shake my head, my eyes searching for a way out. I feel a hand on my arm, and the voice speaks again.

“Calm down. You’re not going anywhere but the hospital right now.”

Hospital? How?

A minute ago, I was lying on the ground in the blistering heat, and then the next, I’m in this cool, compact thing with a man I don’t know.

“You were in the desert, remember?” he says, cocking his head. “You’re lucky a passerby found you while driving along the road. She called us.”

Us?

I look around and notice the medical equipment, the badge on his shirt … and then I hear the sirens above me.

I’m in an ambulance. A real ambulance. With real people.

“We’re lucky she made you drink from her water bottle, or you might’ve died.”

I try to swallow, but everything hurts, and it’s so hard to comprehend what’s going on.

It feels like minutes ago, but I know now that isn’t true. My mind is playing tricks on me. Just as it did when I thought I was dying … when in fact I’m being saved.

Rescued by honest and good people bringing me to the hospital.

A hospital in a real city where I’ll finally see the real world again.

Where I can see my parents again and hug them.

Where I can … go home.

Without Cage.

Because he’s still stuck inside that compound, probably screaming out my name, not knowing when and if I’ll ever come back.

I grasp the shirt of the man who’s sitting in front of me and say, “Cage …”

“What?”

A tear wells up in my eye as I realize the task that lies ahead. “I have to save him.”