Before It Breaks | ✔ |

Epilogue

Epilogue

Here's the epilogue! I'm so proud of it 😢 Hope y'all love it as much as I do.

Malarkey had been in SHIELD's custody for over a month now. He was but weeks away from his trial, and panic was now setting in.

Daisy sat down with him for the first time in a while; she had sort of stopped visiting. Malarkey had always been a charming, sociable man, so to sit in a containment pod for so long with very little human interaction was maddening.

"We updated your list of charges." Daisy shoved it at him. "The new ones are highlighted."

Malarkey chuckled to himself.

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The girl looked over to the boy, fear etched into her thin, pale, tired face. "Are you sure about this?" she whispered.

The boy looked the girl straight in the eyes. "It's our only choice."

"But- it's not right, why can't we just try to-?"

"It won't work!" cried the boy. "That will only get us so much. But if we do this, we'll get more! I know it's wrong, but it's all we can do. We gotta SURVIVE. You know that."

The girl's shoulders slumped. "No one will get hurt, right? I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"No one will get hurt. Hey, look at me." The boy grabbed the girl. She turned to face him. He took her face in his hand, gently. "We're gonna be OK. I promise."

She nodded, and the boy gave her a hug. She watched as he disappeared into the building, and she stood there, waiting patiently and silently for him to return. She would play her part soon enough. She was a fast runner- they both were. They'd get out of there, and they'd be OK. She had to believe him. She had to believe the only person she had in the world, or else there would be no one she could trust.

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"Can I tell you something?" asked Malarkey, looking over at Daisy.

"It depends," muttered the agent. "Is it relevant? Does it have to do with your charges, the trial, or what you've done?"

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The girl's eyes trailed down to her arms. Her sleeves had hitched up a little, and when she looked, she could see the little scars. They were reminders- horrific ones, at that- of what had happened. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she tugged down her sleeves. The shirt was getting short on her. They'd have to get her a new one soon. It would be nice- not only was it getting short, but it was old and worn. It wasn't doing her any good. She was cold.

Her head popped back up as she reminded herself to be alert. After watching for a few minutes, she saw a door open and the boy ran out towards her with two sacks. He ran towards her, and when he was close enough, he thrust a sack at her.

The girl caught it and took off running. Their feet pounded on the wet pavement as they ran, weaving in and out of alleys and quickly losing the manager of the grocery store they had stolen from.

They finally stopped in an alleyway. The boy, panting heavily, leaned against a wall. The girl did the same, and opened the drawstring sack. She pulled out a small bunch of grapes and popped a few in her mouth. She bit down on the sweet round fruit, enjoying the juice that was released from the grapes as they popped open in her mouth.

She slowly chewed the grapes, to make it last longer, and marvelled at how good it tasted compared to the leftover, rejected food they would work for at restaurants that were closed for the night. This here was heaven.

The boy ate his own bunch of grapes, and when they were both done, a long while later, the boy straightened up and drew his bag shut. The girl followed suit.

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"I became worried," began Malarkey, "that perhaps the cure I was coming up with would only work on Kristen. What if it didn't work on others? I needed to find it out."

"What are you saying?" asked Daisy dangerously.

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"What do we do now?" asked the girl. "Do we run?"

The boy thought for a while, wondering what to do. He didn't feel at ease staying in one place for too long.

"We should leave," he decided.

"When?" asked the girl.

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"What I'm saying," said Malarkey, "is that Kristen wasn't the only one."

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"Now," the boy mumbled. "We need to leave town tonight. We've been here too long."

The girl nodded, and the two headed off. They needed to get as far away as they could. They couldn't let The Man find them- not again.

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"How many others were there, Malarkey?"

Malarkey looked at Daisy with a strange smile on his face. "There were two. Two others."