CRACKED ᵀᵂᴰ²

𝟐𝟓. heaven can wait

"Over here!"

A shaky breath escaped his lips. Milo closed his eyes and thanked whatever God might be willing to listen to him. Then, he carefully started crawling to the other side of the little cave. It was covered in shadows, which was why he'd missed the small shape huddled in the corner at first.

"Carl? You okay?" His voice sounded strangely muffled in the darkness.

He could hear shuffling noises as the teenager crawled towards him.

"I-I think so."

As soon as he was close enough, Milo pulled him into a tight embrace with his uninjured arm. Carl held onto him like a child wanting comfort after waking from a horrible nightmare.

"I got you," Milo mumbled.

For a moment they simply sat like that, holding on to each other in the darkness. It was easy to forget how young Carl still was. The world had forced him to grow up far too fast and it was only in moments like this when Milo was reminded that he truly was just a kid. Nobody should have to go through everything they had, but especially not someone like Carl...

He forced himself to let go of him, trying his hardest to smile reassuringly. "Well, we got ourselves into this situation. Time to get ourselves out of it."

The tiniest of smiles appeared on Carl's face, but the sight of it felt like a huge victory.

Milo clapped him on the shoulder before peering back into the darkness. There was someone else in here he had to find. The fact that he hadn't heard from him so far was worrying. "Uncle Javier?"

No one answered him.

He shared a worried glance with Carl, then tried again. "Javier?"

Still nothing.

"Wait," Carl said, making Milo turn to look at him. "Use this." He reached into the bag that was still slung around his shoulder and pulled out a flashlight, handing it to Milo.

"You came prepared, huh," Milo said, trying his hardest to seem lighthearted to keep them both from panicking. He turned the flashlight on and by some miracle it still worked. A bright beam cut through the darkness, showing the true extent of their dire situation.

Most of the roof had caved in. The cell had been completely blown apart. Though the wall leading to the original exit seemed to be mostly intact, which was part of what saved their lives. It was from that wall that the tiny bit of sunlight was coming from. Milo scanned the debris of what remained of the cell, searching for any sign of life.

His breath caught in his throat.

Javier had been thrown into the opposite direction by the blast. It had cost him his life. A thick, steel bar was buried in his chest. His legs were completely crushed by a large piece of rock from the roof. He was dead.

"I'm sorry," Carl muttered.

All he could do was nod, unable to find words. He hadn't seen the man in years. They were essentially strangers to each other now and yet they were related by blood. A tie unable to ever be completely severed. A fact proven by him coming here to get his uncle out in the first place. He just wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel right now...

"Yeah," Milo finally managed to say, "me too."

The only solace he could find was the hope that if there was some sort of afterlife, Javier was there now, reunited with his wife and kids. Milo shook his head, wondering why he was considering such things all of a sudden. He'd sworn off religion a long time ago, but somehow it seemed like religion wasn't completely done with him yet.