Desinence. (The Beginning Of The End)

.30.

Chase and the others had come in from a latch on the ceiling. I couldn't figure out why I hadn't thought of this before. We weren't in a cellar, we were in some sort of building. But the only way of opening the latch was from outside. On the inside, the edges were completely flat and sealed off, so we were trapped once again.

When I first saw Foster lying limp and still on the concrete, I thought he was dead. But after I crawled over to him and lifted him up, he groaned in pain, and I was releived to find that he was alive. His head was in pretty bad shape, and there was so much blood on his face that he looked like a zombie himself. He had too many broken bones to count. His rib, his collar bone, but the worst injury he had was his knee. It was twisted and broken and Foster whimpered anytime I brushed over it. There was no way he was in condition to walk, so if we managed to escape, one of us would have to carry him.

Other than Foster's injuries and Eli's bruises, not much harm had been done. But I knew they would be back. They would come back until every single one of us was dead. We had to get out. 

The food slot was out of the question. After Alyssa had escaped, the place hadn't been opened again, and I'm almost positive it was boarded up as well. These people were being extremely cautious.

It's unfortunate, but I could feel defeat settling in. Hope was slipping through our fingers like sand, and we were running out of time. In an odd way, I accepted the fact that I would die here. We all did. We were just happy that Alyssa and George would get away.

I sat against the far wall where the others had been lined up. Foster layed next to me, his head resting on my leg. The others sat scattered around me, some looking at the floor, others staring directly at me but saying nothing. I knew we were all feeling this way. That it was over. This was it for us.

It had been quiet so long that it startled me when Cade let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess this is it." He muttered. "Hey, at least we went down fighting."

I didn't respond. I was feeling too much to really feel anything.

Eli patted my shoulder once. "You did good leading us, Evan." He said, quietly. "We did all that we could."

I thought about this. I thought about everything that had happened from the moment I woke up in Winsted up to right here, right now. Was this really it? Me, meeting George, Alyssa, Oz, Tamara, Alice, everyone. My life had just begun to get better, and now it was over. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that everyone had to die. Kathy, Tara, Tamara, Bryant, Marcus, Carlie, Kate, Todd.  Their lives were stolen. And now, we were going to die. But I had done what I had to. I had saved George. That was my last dream. To save him. And I had. Yes, I would die happy knowing that Alyssa and George had survived. I remembered the last time I thought I was going to die, a few months back at camp. I was going to let Keenan kill me, to save everyone at camp. I had felt the same way. But this time was different. I could feel it coming. The end. It felt strange. It lingered on the edge of all of our lives, patient, content. It seemed almost..peaceful. A warm haze settling over us. The only thing I regretted, during this whole experience, was that I didn't get to say goodbye to my friends. I looked at Oz. He was sitting across from me, his legs crossed, looking down. His red hair stuck to the sides of his face, and he looked cold and broken, but he also looked calm. He was ready for it, too. We all stared death directly in the face, but we weren't going to run. We were going to shake his hand and say hello. Hello, how are you?

I then began to think about Death. I almost smiled, imagining the small hooded man that popped up into my head. I wondered what it would be like. Tara said that it would be different for me, but I still didn't understand. Maybe the Afterlife wasn't a place. Maybe being dead was just a state of mind. Just knowing that you wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Knowing that you didn't have to worry about yourself or anyone else. There would be just no pain. And it would be just...Peaceful. Before now, I never really allowed myself to think about giving up, but now seemed like the best and only option. And it was too close to deny. Too obvious. 

I was in an unfamiliar state of mind, and I felt like I was floating three feet off of the ground. 

"Evan," Keenan said.

I pulled my mind away from my far away thoughts and looked at him.

He was staring at me with apologetic eyes. "Do you remember that night, when you told me to shoot you?" He waited for me to respond. When I didn't he continued. "Well, even when I held the barrel up to your head, I knew that you weren't the traitor. I could feel it. But...But I was going to pull the trigger anyway. I'm so sorry."

"We do crazy things for the people we love most," Was my only response. He loved everyone at camp. As did I. Everyone did. And I would have done the same, if it meant keeping them safe.

Keenan smiled slightly. 

"Yeah, we do." He replied, quietly.

"You know," Oz said. "Everyone at camp just adored you, Evan. Even if you didn't realize it, you have earned your place. You are one of us. You're a good person, and a great friend. I never doubted you for a second." 

"Thank you," I replied. I could feel my eyes start to swim. 

It was true. I was one of them. I had found the one place that I truly belonged. And I was happy that I would be with them when I died. I would go out with my family.

"I liked Kate." Foster breathed. 

This caught me off gaurd, and I stared down at him, confused. "What?"

"I liked Kate. I mean, I liked her a lot. I never told anyone. Not even Micah. And now she'll never know." I saw his lip quiver, and I suddenly felt very sorry for him. Then again, I suddenly realized something. 

I loved Alyssa.  Ever since the beginning, I knew this. She was the one that I would do absolutely anything for. She was the one I could see a future with, the one I thought of every night before I went to sleep. And I never told her. This upset me, because I know felt like I didn't have the correct closure. But I couldn't mourn over this fact forever.

"I know how you feel." I muttered. "I like Alyssa."

Foster glanced up at me then, his brows pulled together. "No you don't." He stated. "You love her."

"Everybody knows that already," Oz repsonded, a small smile playing out on his lips. And he looked very Oz-ish in that moment. Like none of this happened, and we were still sitting around the fire at camp, telling stories. "It's pretty obvious."

I couldn't help but smile, either. "I thought I hid it pretty well."

Eli layed back, and he pressed his shoulders against the wall, his feet outstretched in front of him. "Nope," He responded, and now everyone cracked a small smile.

It was quiet for a long time. The only sound that could be heard was our even breathing, and the occasional shift in position. I finally whispered, "We did good."

Everyone stared up at me. No one replied.

"We made it farther than anyone else would have." I murmured. I looked up at the dark, stone ceiling. "Promise me that you will all go knowing that we succeeded. We won."

"We did," Oz agreed, silently.

And that was when we heard it. The clanking, metal sound as the latch on the ceiling began to open. 

I didn't even falter. I looked around at my friends. My brothers. This was it. This was the end. Chase was here to put us to peace, and we would go out happy. Foster glanced up at me, and I could see the goodbye in his eyes.

The latch finally opened all the way, sending a wide patch of light into the dark room.

Here it comes, I thought.  I closed my eyes.

Goodbye.

That was when I heard her voice. "Are you alive in there?" She called, a familiar hint of humor in her tone.

I quickly opened my eyes, glancing up at the ceiling, only to find Alyssa peering into the opening. 

She smiled. "Ah, thank goodness. You all looked like a bunch of corpses."