She clutched her stomach as red ran down her shaking hands.
How had it ever come to this?
The thought plagued her as her eyes scanned the valley of blood and death.
Weren't they supposed to be heroes?
Weren't they supposed to save the world?
How could she save a world that was already dead?
But that didn't matter.
She continued walking; she had to find them.
She had to make sure they were safe.
She had to make sure she was safe.
That was all that mattered.
She held on to that desire even as she walked over the spilt blood of the innocent.
Even as she pushed through the smell of rotting corpses and the sound of bestial howls.
Please let the world just grant this one request.
But this world was a cruel, unfeeling place.
And even that last hope was ripped to shreds.
She fell to her knees and let out a chocked gasp.
In front of her was just another body in the sea of corpses but not to her.
This was the girl whose smile shone more than the sun.
This was the girl who gave more than she could possibly receive.
This was the girl who had given her purpose and the will to live.
This was the girl who she had sworn to protect
To her, this girl was everything.
So as she stared back into those cold dead silver eyes, she wept.
She wept until no more tears would come.
But this world was a cruel, unfeeling place.
And she was not even given time to grieve.
Her grief drew them to her.
Black towering beasts intent on her demise.
The same creatures that had taken everything from her.
Did she even have anything to live for anymore?
Would it really be so bad if she died here?
The girl wouldn't have wanted that.
She would have told her to move on, to live, to be happy.
And so she realized.
She couldn't die here.
To do so would be to spit on the girl's sacrifice.
If it was for the girl's sake, then she would live.
After all, she had so much left to do, so many words left unsaid.
So many people that she could save.
The beasts came closer.
And so she realized.
She didn't want to die.
So she ran, and when she could no longer run, she walked, and when she could no longer walk, she crawled, and when she could no longer crawl, she died.
And became just another body in the sea of corpses.