Okay, so - I really, REALLY loved the book and this couple. The way the author approached a dystopian society was so frightful that I had no choice but to think it was accurate. But because I loved this couple, I HATED how both stories ended - the actual book and the short story - Yes, I know, its very unlikely for a couple like this to survive. Romeo and Juliet, for example. But this is fanfiction and I do what I want #rebel. I've never handled sad endings well, the only time I actually accept a character's death is if its really heartfelt and personal and there's a nice little farewell going on but what's with this? Outcome 1: He dies; he gets hung while his pregnant girlfriend watches his limp body sway with a hastened farewell and a not-so-sure-if-she-heard-me 'I love you' and Outcome 2: He dies; He gets shot by his older brother in a cabin after being caught with his pants down - literally - with Persephone. I mean, c'mon. C'MON. I thought that ending was crazy ambiguous (how it said his brother pulled his trigger, so he did the same), so I saw fanfiction potential. Holyshit, this was long. Enjoy the story :D
Sephy
I must've only been a few meters away from the cabin - my ankle released the wails of pain I bit down so desperately with every step it endured - but when the gunshots sounded and the surrounding leaves quaked in disturbance, I was lost. I was far from home. Far, far away from the cabin. My tears flowed without reprieve and my vision clouded. And I couldn't find Callum anywhere. I was millions of light years away from Callum and I couldn't reach out.
With a whimpering, shaking voice, I called to him: 'Callum,' I called, 'Callum!' It got louder, more desperate and I wondered, was this my voice that I was hearing? It had been many years, 3 years, I believe, since my voice quaked with such anger and hurt and desperation and just.. confusion. Confusion of what I should do now. Where I'll be without him. How I'll go on.
And my legs whispered to me - Survive, they insisted - but I wanted none of it. Still, they forced me and I cried and I looked back at that wooden shack that I had spent a single, blissful night with Callum in. When he had held me, I felt I was in heaven but the hardly-intact roof and the windows without glass and the creaky door that seemed a breeze from coming off its hinges looked like hell right now.
I sometimes looked back - both hopeful and fearful - hearing the light footfalls of a staggering man, or the squishing sound of the damp, mossy forest floor behind me. The occasional branch cracked or a leaf crunched under pressure. But I was probably just paranoid. And if I wasn't, my stalker was good at hiding. And God, if you're up there, I hope with all my being that its Callum and that, even if I keep stumbling away from him, he'll be at my side when I next wake.
Everytime I looked back, I thought he'd be standing there, giving me an easy smile. 'I love you, Sephy,' He'd whisper and open his arms for me.
I wouldn't hesitate to run forth at full speed and have him take me deep into his embrace, even if my Achilles' tendon collapsed and twisted and was impaled by bone, I'd charge at him and there'd be no doubt in my mind what I'd say: 'I only need you, Callum. No one else, just you.' and my arms would snake around him and feel his back to make sure he was real.
But Callum wasn't there when I looked back, or when I found the road, or when a young Cross couple pulled over for me - Or when the man, a nice 25-year-old by the name of Zed allowed me to show him the way, he wasn't there in that cabin and I looked wide-eyed and a small glimmer of hope was alight within me, staring in disbelief at Jude's cold, limp body. And Zed urged me to leave but I stayed for awhile longer, thinking that maybe, just maybe, you were still here with me. On this earth.
'Sephy, was it? We better get going! I'll call the cops right away,' He looked ready to gag: 'I just don't like the look of this - Poor guy,'
'That's true, isn't it?' I asked him, looking thoughtful, 'He's a poor guy. Because he's a nought,'
'That's not what I meant.. Anyone who dies like this, it's just bad,' He defended, looking at me with the slightest hint of contempt.
'You're a good person, Zed.' I was speaking so eerily, I almost felt my sanity slipping away from me.
He grabbed my arm, 'Miss, we have to leave now. I don't want to be here, if I had it my way, we would've left right away to get you to the hospital but I've accompanied you, so could you do me the same honor?' He asked me. His voice was soft and his touch wasn't forceful and I smiled up at him - He was about half a foot taller than I.
'You're right - What was I thinking?' Even as we left, Zed helping me to limp my way back to their car, I watched Jude's immobile body and I felt a sad smile grace my lips. Oh, Callum. Oh, my Callum. Could you be alive?