After Fate Fell

39 • ELLA

Hey guys! First I want to thank you all for the overwhelming support I'm receiving about this book! Thank you all so much for reading, commenting, and supporting!
Also, I have midterm exams coming up late this week and next week, so I will not be publishing any more chapters until at least next Wednesday, October 10. Hope you like this one!
-Braden

1 year, 3 months, and 17 days after it all.
•ELLA•

I am awoken by the sound of a car door closing. Marina's hair flows in the wind behind her as she starts walking away from the window I'm looking out at her through. I almost stand up, but I realize I'm in a car, and also my body won't let me. My muscles ache. I had been sleeping in one of the most uncomfortable sleeping positions in the tiny backseat of this car, and honestly I am shocked that I was able to sleep like this. I guess I was just too exhausted to care.

I get up, sore but trying not to listen to my muscles, and quietly open the car door. I don't want to wake Five or John. They need as much sleep as they can get.

Once I am outside the car, I try to close the door quietly, and I realize the door didn't latch closed, but it doesn't matter. No sand is going to get inside, and it's not like there's a child in the backseat and the car is going high speeds. So I don't worry about it. I turn around and am not surprised by the landscape out before me. Sand, stretching out as far as the eye can see. The sun has barely risen, and I'm surprised that I'm actually able to see the sun in the sky. The sand isn't blowing around as strongly as last night, but that doesn't mean it's calm. I try to cover my eyes with my hand, and it works pretty well, but not perfectly. Some sand still manages to make it into my face, and some tries to get into my eyes. I have to constantly keep blinking to keep it out.

I see Marina a little bit ahead of me, no longer walking away, just standing in the desert, staring off into the endlessness of it all. I don't think she's noticed that I'm here yet. I walk toward her, wondering what she's doing out here, just standing while the wind whips her hair around and the sand pelts her face. She does nothing to cover her face or her eyes, so I'm guessing her eyes are closed. She stands, almost completely motionless before me.

"You don't have to hide that you're at least a little nervous about this," I tell her, and by the way she turns around, I realize that she knew I was there.

She looks at me, and I can see the fierceness in her eyes that I've learned to know so well, her face doesn't even change, it's just her eyes. I sense in that look I know so well, that either she actually isn't nervous at all about this, or she's trying really hard to act like she isn't.

"Ella, look at us. We've come so close to where we need to be, where our journey on Earth comes to an end. I can almost taste it, Ella. And none of this, getting caught in the storm, getting separated from the others, getting stuck in the sand, amounts to anything as long as we push through. We have made it through every possible challenge on this planet. We've had so many unexpected things thrown at us, and yet, here we are, so close to going home. Ella, we push through and we find the others. They can't be far, I know it, we all know it. The storm lasted what? Ten minutes after Nine turned away from the river? When we find them, we get this car out of the sand, or maybe we all just pile into theirs, we can squeeze. Then we go find this thing. It's here. It has to be. Ella, we find that thing, we do whatever we need to to bring Legacy back, we take the next step. The next step in going home. I may not know the details of how long it'll take to find the others, or how we're gonna get home, but we will. And all of this driving me, driving us, I don't think any of us have a reason to be nervous, to fear of what's to come. Because we know what's to come. We've always known what's to come. This is it, Ella," she hasn't blinked through all of this, her eyes remain open and focused on me. I honestly don't know what to say. I just know that she snapped, and she's ready for whatever comes our way. Don't get in her fucking way, because Marina has got her eyes on the prize, and she's not letting anything stop her.

"I...." I stammer, still not sure of how to react. I want to tell her how amazing that was, and how stupid I've been for thinking that there's a chance that we could die out here, that we could never make it to the depletion source, and that we could never make it home. Because after hearing this, I know that we'll make it, and there really is nothing that can stop us. "You're right Marina," is all I can get out.

She turns back around, facing away from me, into the never-ending desert.

"We should go wake up the others," she says. "We need to get the day started, we need to start moving."

"Alright," I say, and wait for her to turn around, back toward the direction of the car where the others are sleeping, but she doesn't. I guess maybe she was saying I should go wake up the others while she meditates or whatever. I guess it doesn't matter to me, I'll give her space. Whatever she needs to do to get ready for the journey ahead, she should do.

I start to walk back toward the car, and I can see that there's still no movement from John or Five. They're still asleep. When I finally reach the car, I open the back door and yell in while I grab the bag I prepared last night.

"Alright, let's get up boys. Time to get up and I don't think Marina can wait much longer," I say, startling John, and Five doesn't move.

I close my door and open the driver's door. I put my mouth right up to Five's ear.

"Fifth One!" I yell sarcastically, referring back to back in the hotel room in Francistown when he was calling me 'Tenth One'. "Get your ass up!" I don't try to put it calmly. Five and I have gotten to know each other well enough for me to be able to joke with him like this. If I was Nine waking him up, I'd probably get slapped.

His remaining eye opens, and he rolls over.

"Aw come on man," he says, closing his eyes again.

John motions for me to get out of the way and he takes this opportunity to push Five out of the car door and onto the sand below, which now is at the level of the door, the wheels are almost completely buried underneath it. He jumps up, not even protesting, and grabs his bag. We're both shocked by this, but we don't complain.

"So," Five says, somehow excited even though he was just completely out. "Are we ready or what?"