Exit

Her knees are scraped when they meet the earth. She barely notices.

All she cares about is just being there. A dark spot within a field, drenched in sunlight. She is her own – until she chooses to, she is not going anywhere.

She twines her fingers with the yellow strands, cloudless mind and sky. It's all fine to her, at last. It really is.

It matters not if her skin glows red, or a fire she can't quite place is consuming her lungs. With a throat bent by the acid fumes, a heavy ribcage, she still breathes on. She earned it.

With all she went through, she knows for sure – surrendering couldn't possibly be worse. What else could she bargain for? The fate of the others?

She might as well have, a shadow whispers to her. She could have chosen. But now she touches the earth, weaving dust patterns, and Aperture remains a graveyard.

There must be something that sets her apart, mustn't it. She coughs out a chuckle. In the end, it is all hers – the merit and the prize.

Laughter bends her head back. She lets it flow even if it hurts. Her bare teeth glisten with blood.

Broken or not, she won the way out.