Kay, Amanda, and Warnado reluctantly woke up that evening, as the whole group prepared for a full night's journey through the forest. Even Astro was finally awake, and able to stand with assistance. Kay was glad to have him back.
The same could not be said for David, who still needed to be carried by the others. Destiny grew increasingly restless as the night went on. She squeezed David's hand, telling him that everything would be alright.
Another night turned to dawn and the group made camp underground once more. Tyron and Jennifer carried David into the room and set him down on a bed which Steve had placed, to try to make him more comfortable.
"He's not looking very good," said Jennifer, "or sounding very good, either. He's barely breathing."
"He's strong…" Destiny insisted. "I know he is. He'll overcome this, just like he always does!"
"We can't just stand around and do nothing!" said Tyron.
Astro raised his hand from where he sat. "I can help him."
Kay turned toward Astro with a look of disbelief. "Not in that condition!"
"He's far worse off than me. I can't just sit here and watch him die. Help me up, Kay."
Destiny's sad eyes stared softly at David's closed lids.
Astro approached slowly, his arm over Kay's shoulder. He bent over the bed, rested an arm on the sheets, and placed his hand on David's chest. He closed his eyes and his brows furrowed in concentration.
Suddenly, David gasped, and his eyes opened.
"David!" said Destiny, a tear falling from her eye as she smiled.
"You're alive," David said, eyes watering in happiness. His voice was whispy and faint, as if the words themselves had run some distance and were about to collapse. "The gauntlet…"
"It's gone," said Destiny, eager. "The endermen, too. They're far away now. We're safe."
"That's wonderful. I can't wait to… I'm so…"
David's voice trailed off and his eyes closed.
Astro winced in pain. Kay grabbed him before he could collapse onto the bed.
"There's no time!" insisted Tyron. "Is there anyone else that can help him? Warnado? Fristad?"
Warnado stood frozen in place, staring at David.
Fristad shook his head in sadness.
"Warnado?"
Warnado broke eye contact. "I can't."
Destiny continued to stand by David's bedside as the others, at a loss of what else to do, finished building the underground bunker and planned out their shifts. As many of the others went to sleep, Destiny stayed awake.
She whispered to David, still smiling faintly, recounting all the times they shared together:
"Do you remember that time we were running by those bluffs… I pushed you off and grabbed you, and we were flying over the ocean? Or maybe that one time we were fighting alongside each other… they stabbed me in the back, and I was trampled. The others assumed I was dead… but you didn't, and you fought through them and pulled me out? Or the cave?"
"We've always been there for each other" she said, "and I'm still here for you."
Doubt flashed through Destiny's mind as she wondered if David could hear her. His face looked strangely still. Destiny pressed her fingers against David's neck, and then burst into tears.
An hour later, as Destiny's tears went dry, it became clear that David was gone forever. Kay walked up to Destiny and put a hand on her shoulder, consoling her.
The whole group ascended to the surface, where they helped carry the body some distance from the shelter. Steve dug a hole with an iron shovel, but it was far too big. Tyron and Fristad ended up digging it in the pouring rain which burned orange in the light of the declining sun.
Steve looked about himself sadly, then went off and fashioned a tombstone from a sign. This only lasted a few seconds, and the others were still digging, so Steve stood uncomfortably beneath the shelter of a tree. Kay was stood beside him, still too wounded to be of much help in the digging. Astro was propped against the tree, barely conscious, bleared eyes floating about Destiny.
"What was his full name?" Steve asked after a long silence, spinning the sign by its handle.
"I don't know," Astro sighed without looking at him. "That's strange... He told me quite a bit about himself back at the Tower. Didn't mention his second name."
"No clues?" Steve pressed, eyes pained.
"He said he was reincarnated from a guy called Carter," shrugged Kay.
"David Carter? Sounds about right."
"I didn't say that was his name."
"Then why tell me that?"
"I don't know. I was thinking perhaps they had the same last name."
"Okay. What was his last name?"
Kay looked at Steve earnestly: "You'll have to ask her."
He nodded at Destiny, who stood staring at the growing grave. The rain was pelting down on her.
For a second Steve thought of calling out to her and asking, but he couldn't conceive a way of saying it. He would always come across too casual or falsely interested. Hi! What's the surname of your dead lover?
"David it is."
Jennifer and Amanda came back with a large bundle of flowers, and wordlessly handed it to Destiny.
Warnado was sat in the branches of another tree, staring down at David's body.
As Destiny watched the body of David be set into the grave and the dirt be filled on top of it, Destiny couldn't help but feel as if the man she loved was being buried alive, and felt like she should stop them. But she didn't want to be a burden to anyone.
Her lover's death felt so sudden… so senseless. Destiny hated the endermen for taking him away. She hated the tower. She hated this dimension.
The soil above David was smoothed out, and the grass replaced. Destiny walked up to the patch of grass whose seams were barely visible, and scattered the flowers atop it like flour or like dust.