Until The Sun Dies

The End and the Beginning

 Teresa: So close. They are so close to safety. But Teresa can see that Thomas is fading. Only one of them is going to make it out of this alive. She always saw this coming. But she knows, it has to be him. Teresa feels the ground beneath her start to shake, she has to act fast. She places her hand under Thomas's armpits and shouts to him, "Get ready to jump!" Thomas nods, too weak for words. "Three! Two! One!" Teresa pushes Thomas upward with all her might as he pushes off the ground with his legs. Then it's like the world is moving in slow-motion. Thomas soars through the air, reaching out for his friends. Fear clutches Teresa's heart as it looks like he won't make the jump. But then by some stroke of luck, a gust of wind pushes the berg closer and Gally's hand wraps securely around Thomas's arms. Brenda and Fry move like clockwork, grabbing onto Thomas's arms and pulling him up into the safety of the berg. Teresa smiles. Thomas will survive. He has a way to make the cure and he can save the world. Her work is done. Thomas turns to look at her, fear filling his beautiful eyes. "Come on Teresa! Jump!" Teresa simply smiles at him. The ground beneath her feet begins to shake violently and cracks splinter across the surface. With one last look at Thomas she shouts, "I love you!" And that was it. The floor beneath her fall from beneath her feet. Sending her down into a chasm of flame and ruble.

Thomas: Jumping with all of his strength, Thomas flings himself towards the outstretched arms of his friends. With Teresa's help, he soars right into Gally's hands. Gally is joined by Fry and Brenda who pull Thomas into the safety of the berg. Thomas then turns to help Teresa. To his curiosity, she's smiling peacefully. An alarming thought enters his mind. She's not going to jump. But she has to. "Come on Teresa! Jump!" Teresa's smile grows and Thomas can see the ground beneath her start to crack and crumble. Thomas shakes his head. Teresa shouts to him, "I love you!" And with that, the ground below her disappears as she falls into the flames. "NO!" Thomas screams, the sounds tearing his vocal cords. Strong arms pull him back as the door of the berg starts to close. "NO! Teresa, no!" Thomas wails as blackness starts to invade the corner of his eyes. "No... no... Teresa..." Thomas senses his world slipping away from him. He collapses to the ground, his vision going dark. His last thoughts are of Teresa.

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 You: A cool breeze passes across your face. A strange sensation washes over you. It's like you're alive, yet not quite connected to the world. You can feel the wind and you can hear the birds. But it's all far away like it's not even real. You try to sit up, but nothing happens. Fear starts to claw at your heart. You try to open your eyes, but no movement follows. Your heart starts to race, you can't move you can't see. You don't even know how you got here. Then the voices start. All around you different voices talking about you, talking to you. The sounds crowd your mind and become so loud you just want to cover your ears. You try to cover them, just one simple movement, but like before your body doesn't respond. You start breathing heavily as the panic starts to eat at your mind. But then everything goes silent. Only one voice can be heard now. "It's ok now. Shhh, you're ok. They're gone." The richly accented voice fills your mind. Your breathing normalizes and your heart rate returns to its usual pattern as peace washes over to you. It's a boy, a boy you remember, a boy you love. You have the urge to reach out to him, to hold his hand and tell him you're ok. But you can't, you're stuck in the grey area between death and life. Day after day, boredom threatens to drive you insane. You try to move, you try to squeeze the boy's hand, you try to smile. But day after day you lay motionless a bed that grows more and more uncomfortable. But every day when you think you can't handle the boredom or frustration any longer. The boy starts to talk. He tells you about his day, what he did, what the people around him did. All the boring little things in life that you crave so desperately. Today was the same. You lay in silence, listening to the birds, trying every few minutes to move. The boy starts to talk once again, sooner than usual. "I need you to wake up now. They're saying if you don't wake up in the next two days, they're going to 'end your suffering.' That sounds nice of course, but that means they're going to take you away from me for good." The boy's voice cracks with a sob, "Please. I'm begging you to wake up. please." Your heart snaps in two. You've been trying so hard to wake up for so long. But your time is almost up, it's time to wake up. You concentrate on the boy's hand gripping yours. You concentrate on your desire to comfort him. Your hand moves. Your fingers entwine themselves between his with a squeeze. The boy jumps to his feet, never releasing your hand. "Y/n!? Love, can you hear me!?" You smile. You've tried to smile thousands of times. But this time your face reacts and your lips turn upwards forming your first smile in who knows how long. "Y/n!" You can imagine the pure look of joy on the boy's face, but it's not enough, you have to see him. Concentrating on him, his joy, his touch. You open your eyes. And just like that, you're released from your never-ending sleep. Like a flower pushing through the ground in spring, you relish the sunlight that fills your eyes. His face is the first thing you see and a joy like no other fills you to your core, inflating in your chest like a balloon.

"Hi, Newt."