SAW YOUR SEAT AT THE COUNTER WHEN I LOOKED AWAY. 

SAW YOU TURN AROUND, BUT IT WASN'T YOUR FACE. 

  ''Oh, shit...''

The wound is deep. Blood is pouring out, soaking his sweatshirt.

My body aches at the sight.

How is he conscious?

Reality hits me hard.

He can't get out of here. Not without help.

I can hear the explosions closer.

So close.

 The air seems to shake around us and the screams begin to fill with desperation. DEMA soldiers are on the hunt, there's no time left. If we don't move, we'll both end up like Clancy. I look at his limp body, his black tears still wet on his face.

No, I can't let him end up like this.

I try to get closer to him again, hands up high, so he knows I'm not a threat.

  ''I'll help you '' I say, with a determination I didn't know I had '' Lean on me. We can't let them catch us. You don't want to be controlled, do you?''

 He looks at me, his eyes tired. His trembling lips seem to want to say something, but in the end, he just nods. He has no choice now.

We can't let DEMA's soldiers find us.

  "You can't... I'm too big..."

  "It doesn't matter," I shake my head. "I won't leave you here."

 I stand beside him, my arm around his waist, and with all the effort I can muster, I try to lift him up. He falters at first, his body wobbling as he leans on me. I'm shorter than him, much smaller, but I don't care. The weight of his wounded body nearly crushes me, but I'm not going to give up.

DEMA won't have him.

  "Come on... one step at a time," I whisper, more to convince myself than him.

 I feel every muscle in my body protest, but there's no time for weakness. We stagger at first, barely managing to take a few steps forward.

His breathing is ragged, heavy, and his hands shake.

Covered in the same black that stains mine.

I notice him turning his head, looking at Clancy.

Looking at him one last time.

  "I'm sorry..." he whispers.

A lump forms in my throat.

 I want to say something, promise him that we will make his death mean something, but I can't. There are no words that can ease this loss.

We finally reach the door frame, he can barely stand.

 The exit is right there, so close and so unreachable at the same time. But we have made it. We are out of the room, out of the worst part.

For a brief moment, I allow myself to believe that we have won.

But I know that is not the case.

This time I am the one who looks back.

 His body lying on the floor, motionless. I would like to run to him, hug him, tell him that I am sorry.

But there is no time for goodbyes.

  "Come on...we can do it" I say.

 With each step we take, I feel the weight on my shoulders increase, but also the distance between us and the darkness of DEMA grows.

I keep walking. Walking, walking, and walking.

We go down the stairs. The pain in my body is horrible.

Every time we take a step and enter new rooms, my confusion increases.

Nothing can be heard anymore. 

This is strange.

AH!

Finally. There is the door to the exit of this fucking tower.

We walk towards it, our bodies tired.

It is hard for me to breathe, each step we take feels slower than the last, but we make it.

We go out.

The sunlight blinds us for a second, contrasting with the darkness that surrounded us.

  "We made it..." I murmur.

But I interrupt myself.

Silence.

No explosions.

No screams.

No people anywhere.

Calm.

A horrible calm.

As if the whole world had suddenly stopped.

I stop. I have no words.

  "No..." I hear him say, his voice muffled.

Bodies.

 Dozens and dozens of bodies lying on the ground. Some farther away and others very close to us.

There is no movement.

There is no sign of life.

The air is thick.

The task of breathing is difficult.

I inhale a mixture of oxygen, blood, metal and ashes.

There is destruction everywhere. Collapsed buildings. Columns of smoke rising into the sky.

The only thing I could call home is gone.

It no longer exists.

Suddenly, I feel the Bandito sobbing.

His chest moving up and down, breathing unevenly.

  "What have they done to them...?" he asks, his voice barely audible.

Then I realize.

It's them.

The Banditos.

Their signature clothing. The yellow ribbon.

Their faces frozen in an expression of terror and absolute pain.

He tries to scream, but only a muffled howl comes out.

He has almost no strength.

It's devastating.

The rebels. Those who fought to give us freedom, have died.

 We stand paralyzed in the middle of that hellish scene. The wind blows, raising dust and ashes, but there is no other movement.

We are the only ones alive.

  ''I should have saved them... '' he continues crying ''I should have come sooner. I am a horrible leader...

I want to tell him that it is not his fault. But part of me feels the same way too.

  ''No, we couldn't have known... '' I try to say, although my voice sounds hollow, with no desire to continue.

 He doesn't listen to me. His gaze is lost, fixed on the nearest corpse. A Bandito with his arm extended, as if he had been trying to reach something, or someone, before falling.

We stay silent for a few minutes.

 There is no way to ease that kind of pain, to fill the emptiness of seeing your friends, your people, lying dead in front of you.

Suddenly, I feel a surge of adrenaline. This silence is not normal. Something is wrong.

  ''We have to move...'' I say, more urgently''DEMA is not over with this. If they destroyed the Banditos, they are not going to let us go that easily''

He doesn't move, but I can't wait any longer.

 With a tug, I make him move, forcing him to walk again, even if he staggers. I can't let him stay there, lost among the corpses.

My body is in a lot of pain, but I know that if we don't keep moving, we'll be next.

  ''Please, come on...'' I insist ''You can't give up. We have to keep walking...

He staggers, his breathing labored, but he insists and lets himself be carried.

We keep walking with difficulty. Each step is painful, but we have to get out of here.

For once in my life I feel like moving on.

The streets are torn apart. More bodies are still visible. Residents of DEMA.

Innocent people.

I really want to cry, but I have to be strong.

Be strong for him.

I feel like breathing is getting harder for him. His skin is getting paler and paler.

  ''Come on, I can see the border now...''

We keep walking. I feel like with every step I take, he can no longer support his own weight.

We finally arrive.

I look at the broken barrier that separates this city from the outside.

I look everywhere. There is no one.

I stop walking for a second.

I'm going to be on the outside.

Oh my God.

I'M GOING TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE.

I keep moving.

I cross the border and...

I start to see green.

Green, green and more green.

The ground changes.

Rocks.

Ha.

  ''Hey...we're out. We made it'' I tell him, still not believing it.

But he doesn't answer. I notice he can barely keep his eyes open.

I move forward. I move forward and forward.

We pass by some small stone mountains.

More and more trees come into view.

I've never seen one before.

I admire them for a while, until I realize something.

Where are we going now?

Shit.

I don't know where to go.

  "Where...?" I take a breath. "Where are we going?"

He doesn't seem to hear me, but he takes a deep breath before answering:

  "On the outskirts..." he murmurs, breathing badly... " There's a camp. There are still Banditos waiting for our... my arrival."

I look at him in surprise.

A camp.

There are still Banditos alive.

  "Okay...''

On the outskirts.

That's not close.

Days away.

And he's getting worse.

The wound on his side has started to leak more blood, staining his clothes.

I feel like I'm carrying a giant rock.

I can't bear his weight, but I force myself to keep going.

The path is getting harder. His steps are slower, heavier.

He's not well.

I can feel it in his breathing, in how he leans more and more on me.

  "Hey..." I whisper. "You have to hold on. We're close, okay?"

But I know it's a lie.

The camp isn't close. Help isn't close either. At this rate, we won't make it.

We're falling apart.

We come to a river.

The sound of it is so relaxing.

But it's the least I can do right now.

Relax.

Suddenly, he stumbles.

I try to grab him, but his feet lose their balance.

I fall to my knees next to him.

I feel my skin tearing from the impact.

I turn to him. His face against the rocks.

I turn him slowly. His eyes closed.

  ''No! No! NO!''

He's unconscious.

  ''Come on, get up! '' I give him a few small blows on the cheek, trying to get him to react ''Get up, dammit!'

I try to get him up, but it's impossible. My hands and legs are shaking.

  ''FUCK!''

I feel like rage is consuming me.

I shake him hard.

  ''Come on! Get up! You fucking get up! Don't give up now! '' I yell at him, even though I know he can't hear me anymore ''You can't die here! They need you! You're the leader! YOU'RE THEIR FUCKING LEADER, YOU HAVE TO FIGHT, DAMN IT!''

The tears start to come out, uncontrolled.

It's not fair.

None of this is fair.

  ''Come on! ''my voice breaks ''Come on...please...''

No.

He doesn't move.

I let out another scream.

A heart-wrenching scream.

My throat burns.

But I don't care.

I scream, scream, scream.

I don't have anyone anymore.

  ''FUCK!''

Suddenly, I hear a noise.

A soft sound.

A kind of ''Uh', that resonates with a lot of echo.

I stop.

I slowly get up, looking around.

Shit...

I start to shake uncontrollably. I'm going to die.

Then I see it.

A small, strange creature, with small horns sticking out of its head.

Its big black eyes watch me curiously.

  ''What the fu...?''