The Trick to Falling in Style

Immortal

He was running with as much energy as his body could muster. Someone was clinging to his hand, dragging him alongside themself. They were a lot faster than him simply because of their longer legs. They threw panicked looks over their shoulder, but he kept his eyes firmly planted onto the world in front of him. In the distance, he could see the rising walls of a safely protected city. The wall could always be seen from his cell's window, but it had never looked this large. It had never taken up this much of the horizon. It had never seemed as likely as it did now that he would reach it.

"Come on," The person whispered with a dire tone. They pulled him through the barren land that stretched between the laboratory and the distant city, helping him cross over large craters and avoid the bloodthirsty monstrosities blocking the way. The person finally stopped them both in front of the wall. It was larger than anything he had ever seen before. He had to crane his neck all the way back to see the top of it, and his mouth dropped open at the sheer size of it. He pressed one hand against the wall, feeling the smooth concrete cold under his touch.

"This is where we part ways, Theseus from Beyond the Wall," The person told him, leaning down onto his knee to look at him. The person was covered in blood and burn marks, and it seemed like their skin was starting to melt off their bones. They pressed a muddy hand against his cheek, wiping some blood onto his skin as they swung their thumb back and forth. Something hopeful continued to shine in their eyes even when their body was slowly giving out.

A boom thundered across the air. The person pushed him away, and he fumbled onto the ground. The person grabbed their shoulder, and more blood began to spill across their fingers like a waterfall washing through rocks. They hissed in pain, but they found the strength to point to the side. His eyes slid over to find a small crack in the wall. It was far too small for a monster to get in, and an adult human would find the endeavor difficult. A child, however, especially one malnourished and petite for his age, wouldn't have any trouble. He stared at the crack with widening he eyes. He turned back to the person, ready to drag them alongside him. The person shook his head, "Go."

Another boom, and the person howled. They fell to their hands and knees. Through their pants, they managed to lift their head up to look him right in the eyes. "Go, damnit!"

He took several hesitant steps before he broke out into a run. He kept stumbling over his graceless feet, but he never fell to the ground. He maintained a forward motion no matter if it looked more like running or shambling. He eventually made it to the crack. He slid his body in, keeping his head out for a second longer to look at the person. Two new figures joined the person, their visages clouded in shadows but their guns glinting in the dim light. The person was laid out on the ground, and he wasn't sure if they were dead or unconscious. He refused to let the tears fall. Instead, he took a deep breath and darted all the way into the crack.

As he shimmied his way through the darkness, the rough concrete began to dig into his dirtied clothes. It cut deep enough that he was sure it was going to scar or assist him in bleeding out. The shadows swallowed him whole until he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Terror, bone-deep and exhausting, clung to his mind like a parasitic plague. He kept his mouth shut tightly, trying not to breath as he approached the light distantly waiting at the other end of the crack. He shoved his body all the way through, feeling another unsmooth edge cut into his shoulder. He fumbled onto his knees on the other side, gasping for breath.

When he looked up, he discovered that he was in a whole new world. He was resting on the back porch of a wooden building. When he looked down, he saw through the wooden boards that he was several feet above the ground. He sucked in a tight breath, looking around for more clues as to where he was. Instead, he met the eyes of a woman with light hair and a mask over the lower half of her face. "What in the world do you think you're doing here?"