BADLANDS

colors

the world doesn't exist, nothing matters when he kisses her with everything he has, whispering, "im sorry, i'm sorry, god i'm fucking sorry," desperately through every breath. it's a meld of longing and betrayal and forgiveness, a rush of skin and heat and finality.

everything is so fucked up.

x

"you're ripped at every edge."

5 DAYS LATER
10:53 AM

they hike day and night, trekking up further up into the mountains. the thin air is getting to her head, making the world around them blur.

they're dangerously ill-prepared, but there's no stronger motivation than full, whole-hearted insanity.

she has visions while she's awake and visions while she's asleep. nothing is real and after that night, they don't talk anymore.

what is there to say? i'm sorry we're dying? she only thinks about the climb, and nothing else.

at night, she sleeps on the rocks outcropping that hang over the edge of a cliff. they're gaining height rapidly, able to see the vast desert they left behind. the blue sky is dulling down to a pale, ghostly white as they head towards the sky.

the peak is so close now.

x

"you're spilling like an overflowing sink."

7:45 AM

"we're almost there, you know," his stare is haunting, shaky eyes fixated on her face. he tries to hide it, but he hasn't stopped coughing up blood. he hasn't stopped screaming in his sleep.

it's the first thing he's said in ages. "yeah, i..." she looks down, trying to resist drinking the precious water they have left. "what are you going to do first? when we escape."

"i don't know," his eyes crinkle up, trying to regain the humorous accent they once had. "die of boredom, probably."

"mhm," she stares at the golden sky hanging above them. she can see the top from where she lays. "i don't know what i'll do, honestly. i've never known anything but... this."

it's the looming escape, spreading the tiniest sliver of hope between them.

"im not going to miss any of it," he whispers finally, staring at the sky above them. they're side by side on the edge of the cliff, watching the sun set. "the badlands...not even my family. my brother wanted me dead anyways, and my parents were always too stoned to care, right up until they were dead."

"neither will i," she tells him, trying to keep her focus on him. she feels herself losing reality again.

they stay like this, laying in silence. "i still love you, you know that...right?" his voice barely breaks a whisper. "that wasn't me out there, that was-"

she doesn't need to answer. he knows. he knows that she loves him too much to put into words.

"imagine if it had been loaded," she wonders aloud. his eyes meet hers, and for a moment he looks sane again. "if i hadn't ripped the bullets out beforehand."

"lets just not think about that, okay?" she coerces him to sleep, letting her hands fall against his face in a mellow rush of affection. the rest of the journey   she slips into a blur, but she doesn't feel fear anymore. his love enfolds her.

x

"now i'm tearing through the pages and the ink."

12:00 AM

the top of the mountain. the edge of the world, the gate to the end of the badlands. it's right in front of them, only a few feet away.

they freeze in their tracks. fear and hope seize her body into paralysis. she finds that she can't move or breathe. he grips her hand tightly, eyes fluttering shut. in the face of the end, he can barely walk.

"come on," she smiles, pulling him as they hike upwards.

the summit is a flat stretch of barren land, capped with shades of white and pink.

suddenly, she feels the familiar nausea as the earth spirals out of control, flickering with shades of blues and reds. the ground is flooded with light, voices whispering and curling around her.

"stop," she cries desperately, clenching onto his hand, digging her fingers into his skin. they're so fucking close, if she just takes a few more steps-

she just pushes with every ounce of will inside of her, ripping apart her visions.

they've made it.

wonder and relief fill her body. she desperately tries to look over the other side, trying to see if there's anything there.

but she finds she can't.

she physically can't see anything over the edge. only a glowing, heavenly light that fills everything she can see, the sky a swirling clash of bright light.

there's only one way to find out what's on the other side.

"together?" she whispers pulling his hand closer to her.

"together," he promises.

they take the step forwards, eyes closed and heads held high.

into the light.

it envelops them, sucking them into an embrace of heat and energy, spreading throughout her whole body. she lets the unknown overtake her. she doesn't know what awaits them.

with a blinding flash, her life dissolves into darkness. when she opens her eyes, the words are printed across everything that exists.

the truth.

YOU CAN'T ESCAPE.

x