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[ i . one month later ]
; hi pls be nice i know i take forever to upload

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SONYA WAS STILL SICK, but she was getting better. "It sucks. I'd hate being stuck in the Ward all day," Danica said, running beside Rogue. Since Carriers were dropping like flies, Rogue had to rearrange the groups. That day specifically, she was with Danica.

"I know... she's missed a lot. Harri put a flower on Alex's grave for Sonya because she couldn't make it." Instinctively, the Jailer of the Carrier's checked her watch. 5:32. "Shit. Dani, we got twenty-eight minutes to get back. We should probably hurry."
"No problem, we're only a mile away."

No matter how far they were from the Glen, Rogue was always cautious of time. The echoes of her large feet and Danica's small ones thumped against the cobble in a rhythmic beat. "I really miss Alex. She was so funny and easy to pick on," Danica huffed as they sprinted.

Rogue nodded, not answering until she gulped down the water she had just chugged into her mouth. "Mhm. She was amazing. Shame about Marnie, though."
"The girlfriend?"
"Yeah. Do you not know what happened?"
"Nope."

The poor girl was so close to a sending, and if Ada hadn't stepped up, she would've been fed to the Crawlers. Ada made the case that she lost a loved one in the worst way possible, and maybe she couldn't control herself. Rogue didn't understand why she was defending Marnie... she vigorously attacked her...

"Basically, Marnie's gone batty after Alex's death. She was gonna be sent but the crackhead got away with being locked in the finching Pit behind the Inlands."
"Wait, isn't she the one that attacked you?" Danica asked, checking her finished map and handing it back to Rogue.
"Yep. Still got a bad rib."

Running, running, running. It never seemed to stop until the small pauses they allowed in between darting the Maze walls, then they were off again. Rogue stuffed the map into her back pockets, along with the pencil. "Hey, kick those vines to the side for me will ya?"
"No problem."

Half a mile away. 5:43. The swoosh of the leaves brushing the dirt from the floor was pleasant, but got old after time, especially after hearing it every day for more than a year. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, crack.
Rogue had never heard that sound before...

"Shit!" Danica cried out, clutching her bent-back ankle, squeezing her eyes shut as if it would ease the pain. Instant panic shot through the veins of the Carrier. That was definitely not an angle her foot should have been pointing at...

Hurriedly, and without a thought in her mind, Rogue grasped Danica's arms, gently assisting to level her partner. "Dani-"
"I'm fine, Ro, really."

Rogue had a hard time believing her, especially after watching Danica collapse to the ground while trying to step out. "You're not fine." The Jailer tried to keep her voice steady, despite her lungs collapsing and her heart jumping out of her chest.

Danica only groaned. "How long have we got left?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"How far?"
"Half a mile."

It didn't sound intense for two people with four working feet. However, they were two people with three working feet, which didn't increase their shortage of time in the slightest.

Danica used the outings on the walls to raise herself once more, wincing whenever her injury hit the ground. There was only one way they could get back on time, and Rogue was counting on Dani's disapproval.

Rogue instructed for Danica to get on her back. Being the stubborn woman she was, she refused profusely and insisted she could get there on her own. So, instead of being perfectly passive, Rogue hoisted the Carrier onto her shoulders in one swift motion and took off, darting down the memorized passageways.

She had never had the experience of running for two, therefore she couldn't say it was easy. Two times more effort, and two times less distance. But they'd make it. We'll make it.

Each step she took caused an ache to her muscles as if every inch of her was being beaten. Regardless, they had to find their way out.

5:50.
Ten minutes.
1/3 of a mile to go.

The thought that her exertion and stress was futile only briefly passed her erratic mind. They wouldn't die. They would make it to the Glen and joke about it years later when they escape. Getting a harsh punishment from Ximena wouldn't mean anything in comparison to being ripped apart by a Crawler.

Danica was slipping, her dripping sweat making the process more arduous as they went on. Rouge, ironically, no longer had time to check her watch. But the Maze walls were becoming more familiar, wider. She was close. They were close.

Her energy came rushing back to her, the motivation hanging to it, too. She was sure her knees would break, her arms would dislocate, her spine would collapse. It was all better than being dead.

Only a few more turns.
Five turns...
Four turns...
Three turns...
Two turns...

The rumbling of the Gates began.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

One turn...

They reached the final lane. The Glenners were waiting for them on the other side, crying and screaming. Danica began to sob as the Gates edged closer together. Then Rogue could hear nothing but a sharp ring, see nothing but colorful dots dancing in her pupils.

Her heartbeat copied the rhythm of her thumping feet, both going so fast it wouldn't be a surprise if she passed out, which Rogue promised herself she'd wait to do.

Three meters away. The Gates were five meters apart, and the rest of what happened went by like a forgotten dream.

Four Glenners... possibly Beth... maybe Ximena... one could've been Harriet, and Ada yanked them forwards, and Rogue fell onto the grass, eyes closed, drifting and drifting as hands roamed her body and shrieks filled her ears. She was too spaced out to realize the weight from her back had vanished... but before she could begin to worry, all her might shut down.

Salty drops fell from her chin, drenching her shirt. Perhaps the tears could wash the sweat out. It was Beth that propped her up, her eyes dark and restless, not indifferent to Rogue's, shaking her head slowly back and forth... back and forth...
"Please don't look, Ro. Please don't..."

But she had to. She had to know.

Danica was stuck in the Gates. Her leg was compressed, gushing blood that trickled like treacle down the cold stone walls. The screeches were unexplainable, ear piercing and stomach churning. There was nothing anyone could do but tug, tug for her life and the rest of her body that remained.

There was a rip in muscle, the sound almost as clear as the crack of her bones. Her leg had been detached completely, and the grass was painted red.

Danica stumbled before she fell, the indescribable scene sickeningly grotesque. Enormous about of blood flooded from her thigh, and her torn skin dangled until it dropped into a pile on the floor. Drool and snot seemed to pour from places it shouldn't. At that point, she would die. She would. And no one could help her.

Rogue's feeble legs moved without command, knees dropping in the pooling gore next to her fellow Carrier.
"Rogue..." she managed to mutter. Danica was holding out her pocketknife, grazing it against Rogue's wrist indigently.

"Stop this pain..."
"I can't."
"Please Rogue."

Ximena, who had dumped herself on the opposite side of the dying girl, nodded her head forwards. "Pass it to me."
Reluctantly, she obliged, turning Danica's knife gently over to the King of the Glen.

Ximena climbed atop of Danica, pitifully glaring at the missing leg and restricting her unshed tears. Rogue idly stroked Dani's thick black hair, running her fingertips over her dark skin, watching unwillingly as Ximena placed the dagger by her slowing heart, yet mesmerized at Danica's requisite of death.

Moments before her release, moments before the pocketknife plunged into her chest, moments before Rouge's strength could finally shatter, Danica squeezed the arm of her killer and smiled to disguise the agony. "Thank you."

Then the knife made the final incision.

Rogue no longer had to hold it in. The pain came out like an uproar from her throat in the form of a silent scream. The beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. Her voice was melted by the sound of the cries of others. The muffled sobs wracked against her chest.

Death was not kind, but did she have to be so malevolent?

The Glen had turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds. The taste. The smell. Everything was gone. The last painful emotion slammed against her before she lost the feeling of feeling. Everything darkened into nothingness as she passed into the oblivion of unconsciousness. All that remained was Ada's comfort, and her indefinite ramblings. But there was one singular phrase Rogue could be sure of.

"I love you."


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note* hi again peeps! how are you all?
sorry this chapter is a bit short, but the next few will be closing up act one
aka. brace yourselves
aka. i will be an emotional wreck
aka. dramaaaa

the chapters of act one will run to chapter thirteen
FOUR MORE CHAPTERS!!!
I have everything planned and will at least try to get these last few
chapters out before the end of the world :)

Thank you sm for reading and sticking around,
I love each and every one of you will all my heart and soul

- polly

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