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Chapter 5

The Light

Exhausted, restless and famished; the team had made little progress. The endless path still stretched further before them, farther then they could have imagined possible. As the day descended into late afternoon— or what they thought was afternoon— the journey towards Little Rock had become a mission to escape this shadowy prison.

"There ain't no way Little Rock is this far," Gallows stated grudgingly, keeping a steady hand on the rocky wall next to him. Whether from the mere darkness of from fatigue, it was becoming difficult to see. Not that there was much to see anyway.

"We may have passed it," Clive added somewhat deterred.

"I say we go back!" Gallows announced with arms crossed, "Or at least rest"

"No, we must keeping going," Virginia countered absently, still pressing on ahead of them. She was surprisingly undaunted, though she was uncertain whether it was fear or anger that drove her forward, she wasn't going to stop now. She knew if she did, she would have no determination, nothing to focus on and then she would certainly break.

Why had he pushed her away like he did? Her only desire was to help, that had been her intention from the very beginning. Even from the start, he had shown absolutely no appreciation for anything they did! Perhaps it was self-pity for himself…And even so, no one should pity themselves!

Now she wasn't even sure if he was still following behind them. Fine. She didn't care anymore.

"Ginny, who knows how far this damn trench goes," Gallows protested, "Clive's probably right, we ain't no closer to Little Rock than before!"

"Then there's only one way to find out," Their so-called fearless leader replied, "Wouldn't want this exercise to go to waste, would we?"

Virginia could hear Gallows grumbling as he followed slowly; he had learned that it was fruitless to contradict her optimistic nature.

"Any thoughts on how this happened?" Virginia inquired, glancing over her shoulder at Clive. He was examining the jagged, fractured ground as it passed under his feet.

"Earthquake, perhaps?" He replied, clearly uncertain about his answer, "Though it doesn't seem like any earthquake I've seen. No warning, no after shock; It's peculiar"

"Then what else could it be?" Virginia murmured; they had seen some bizarre things happen during their journey, but what could explain this sudden rift in the geography. What if the rest of the planet was experiencing this as well…? What if the planet had finally begun its rebirth, the ultimate cleansing of the evil that had corrupted it?

The realization had just begun to sink in when she heard Gallows chime in excitement, "Hey, I think I see the way outta here!"

He was pointing ahead of them, at a vague light that lingered in the distance of the long trench.

Suddenly, there was an earsplitting KA-CHACK. The world seemed to start shuddering, shaking lose rocks from the unstable trench walls. Fragments clattered to the ground, stirring sand and dust into the air.

"What's going on?" Virginia turned to her comrades and she was distracted by Jet, who had stayed with them all this time and was propped against the shaking wall. It would have been like him to vanish, but then again he been just as trapped as she was. Her daydreaming was disrupted by Gallows, who was tugging urgently on her sleeve.

"Ginny, the walls! We gotta go!" The next thing she knew, she was being drug behind him. The slender path had suddenly become narrow, the walls were getting closer.

Stones crashed into the enclosing space, dust began to obscure the light. The darkness began to consume them and Virginia felt her head spin. They couldn't make it, the exit was too far. This was where their journey would finally end; crushed between these walls.

Suddenly, there was a sickly crash from behind her. A deafening bang, like thunder, sent her falling to her knees. She felt rocks tumbling onto her legs and stomach.

Vaguely, she heard Gallows shout from somewhere around her, "Unbelievable!"

Her cheek pressed into the jagged stone ground, she couldn't hear anything. Perhaps there was no sound at all or the din was so piercing it was inaudible. She felt a gentle hand, although cold, press against her face. A brilliant glow of purple— no amethyst— was shrouding her eyes. Its vividness was blinding.

Then, it faded as she slipped into unconsciousness.

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"The darkness is inevitable"

"…What?" Her voice was hoarse, barely escaping her lips.

"Humans; unfit creatures worthy only to exist in a world as stained as they themselves are"

"I don't understand…"

The voice was approaching ever closer, "This world is condemned; the day of reckoning is advent"

"Who are you?!" Virginia cried, unable to feel her body moving, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Prepare, human, your days are shortly numbered"

Suddenly, she heard screaming; earsplitting, agonized screaming. She felt strong hands grasping her shoulders, shaking her vehemently. She then found herself sitting up on the cold ground, the light of a small fire greeting her from nearby. Her eyes were wide-open, it was then she realized it was her that was screaming.

"Jeez, why are you screamin'?!" Gallows demanded frantically, shaking her.

"Where am I…?" Virginia muttered, her head was slightly heavy.

"Damn, you 'bout gave me a heart-attack," He added in relief as he released her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" Clive asked, kneeling next to her, "You fainted"

"Yeah, you've been out for hours," Gallows added, sighing, "We were just sittin' here, waiting for you to get up, and all of the sudden you started screamin' like you'd seen a ghost or somethin'"

"Oh… Sorry, I just had a bad dream is all" Virginia murmured reassuringly, rubbed her throbbing head. What was that dream all about? And that light she had seen just before she had fainted? There were too many questions and no answers. Then she remembered, "But what about the trench and the walls and—"

Abruptly, she searched the vague landscape for Jet, but found him absent.

"Well, after you fainted, somethin' weird happened," Gallows explained, drawing her attention again, "Not too sure what though; the walls were closin' and there wasn't no way we were gonna escape, course' I was draggin' you and you were like dead weight"

"The walls suddenly disintegrate, you could say" Clive concluded then he pointed behind her.

Turning, she was awestruck by the sight. Nearly half a mile into the trench, the wall had completely crumbled. Walls had closed, but it was difficult to see far enough where the wall was still standing. It was resembled a massive crater, as if a meteor had fallen from the sky. Only that so-called 'meteor' was missing now.

"W-what happened?" Virginia asked, startled by the sight. Large slates of stone were plowed into the dirt; the rest was nothing but rubble now.

"Like I said, we're not sure what happened," Gallows explained, crossing his arms, "Maybe it was the Guardians…"

"I don't think so…" Virginia struggled to stand, discovering the hem of her dress was torn and she was covered in dust. There was a sharp pain in her ankle, probably from a fallen rock. She did her best to disregard the pain, "If it were the Guardian's, we would have felt them"

Clive watched her struggle to keep her balance, "Perhaps you should rest for the night"

"No, I'm alright" She flashed a feeble smile, but he was clearly unconvinced. Virginia glanced around their small encampment, in hopes to see him lounging around or pretending to be asleep, "Where is Jet?"

"He said he was goin' for a walk, but that was a few hours ago," Gallows explained, settling his back against a rock and attempting to make it seem like it was comfortable, "Maybe he actually left this time. Heh, good riddance, the little punk"

Clive simply shook his head, but Virginia was quite offended.

"Why would you say something like that?" Virginia demanded in disgust, "Maybe that's why he always tries to leave, because he believes no one wants him here!"

"Who does?!" Gallows countered with a knitted brow, "All he does is put everyone done anyways; 'specially you, Ginny, why are you defendin' him?"

"If no one else will," She turned abruptly to Clive and asked, "Which way did he go?"

Clive pointed to his left and Virginia promptly headed in that direction. Passing Gallows without the slightest glance, she said in a contemptuous tone, "I'll be back later with Jet"

As she began to fade into the dark horizon, Gallows shook his head, "I don't get women sometimes; always gotta gripe about somethin'!"

Clive shook his head and sighed, "I'm certain they don't get you either"

"What's that supposed to mean…?"

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Virginia hadn't ever ventured into the wasteland at night before; she had never been one to call it spooky either until now. It was silent with the exception of the crunch of sand and rubble beneath her feet. But she pressed forward into the barren night. But it wasn't until she was twenty minutes from camp that she realized what she was doing.

"Why are you going to find him?" She said aloud to herself, "You're supposed to angry with him! That jerk never appreciated anything you did for him…Maybe Gallows was right"

She began to turn back for camp when tightened her fists, "No, I can't let him go that easily"

After what felt like an eternity, Virginia could feel her weary head drooping. The overwhelming pain in her ankle was unable to be overlooked any longer. Her breaths had become short and every muscle in her body pleaded for her to fall to the cold ground.

Suddenly she felt a cool hand tightly grip onto her arm and it took only a second for her to muster the strength to reveal her ARM, hold it high and prepare to fire. Then she realized who she was pointing it at.

"Jet," She murmured, slowly return the lucid ARM to its holster, "I finally found you"

"I found you," He corrected in a reserved tone as he released her arm.

Virginia returned him a smug expression before bending to massage the side of her boot. Groaning at the intense pain, she fell onto her bottom and began removing her boot.

"What happened to you?" Jet asked; concern slightly etched in his voice. He knelt next to her and watched curiously.

"I guess I twisted my ankle," She paused to glance at him as if trying to decipher an intricate code, "During that mishap"

"…" He blatantly hesitated with his response so he was left with only one simple reply. He stood again and stated, "Oh well, you'll live"

"How comforting, as usual" Virginia retorted sarcastically, returning her attention to her ankle. Through the twists of pain that ailed her, animosity was written on her face. Gritting his teeth, Jet realized he had taken a step backwards.

Kneeling next to her again, he noticed her ankle was swollen and had become a slight shade of purple. It had been terribly injured from the falling rocks, he had seen it himself. But this wound would be but a simple cut compared to what could have happened.

Her face contorted in pain, as she attempted to ease the pain away, but in vain.

"You shouldn't touch it," He murmured, instinctively taking her hand and drawing it away. He quickly let her go and turned away, blushing. "I mean…it might be broken; rubbing it won't help, genius"

Virginia watched him closely for a moment and then smiled as she clasped her hands onto her lap, "I don't think it's broken, I would have noticed a while ago. Maybe from the constant walking to find you"

Jet glanced at her again, perplexed. "You came looking…even though you were hurt, why?" He then realized his question was rather standoffish, almost cynical.

She smiled still, "Well, yes, I was afraid you were trying to sneak off again," She explained, her expression becoming sheepish, which was unlike her, "That's a bad habit you have, no?"

Jet was taken aback, wasn't she still angry for pushing her away? He was certain she would have wanted him gone. Perhaps, she had taken a hit to the head and had forgotten about the incident in the trench. Then, he remembered her ribbon; he still had it, wrapped tightly around his wrist.

Slowly, he untied it and handed it to her. With averted eyes he muttered, "Look, I'm…sorry…for saying I didn't need your help"

Completely astonished that he was actually apologized, she took into her hand and glanced at it as if it were a gift. She gazed at him again, noticing he still was glaring into another direction in both disdain and shame.

"I apologize too," She stated abruptly, gaining his full attention. She squeezed the small strip of silk tightly between her fingers, "Maybe I shouldn't have imposed, like I did"

Jet was utterly speechless, why was she apologizing to him…?

"And after that, I told myself that I didn't care, that it was pointless to try," Virginia continued, "I lied. It is a terrible thing; lying. My father had always told me that…" A tender, but forlorn smile grew on her face as she remembered her father. She let the small smile to grow into nervous laughter, "So I guess we both made a mistake"

Staring now, she hadn't ever been given the opportunity to admire his eyes. They seemed so… spellbinding.

Jet suddenly stood, shaken but of course attempting to conceal it. With a hard gaze in another direction again, he murmured, "Let's go already"

"But, I can't walk" Virginia pointed out, beguiled by his odd behavior, "Maybe we should just stay—"

Suddenly, there was that brilliant light again. But it was smaller this time, gentler. Jet was kneeling again, his hand gently pressed against her wounded ankle. The glow seemed to just flow from his fingertips just as like the glow of the moon. Gradually, the pain faded and vanished.

As did the radiant light, it was suddenly gone.

Jet reluctantly pulled away, mesmerized by his own hand. Virginia gaped at him, utterly astounded.

"It…it doesn't hurt anymore," She stated, touching her ankle which had regained its normal olive color. She returned her gaze to Jet, who was standing once again with strangely repugnant expression.

"You have healing powers?" Virginia inquired, through the question seemed rather childish.

"No," Jet replied, turning away and already stomping towards camp, "C'mon already"

Watching him for a few moments, she began refitting her boot. And soon, she caught up with him, surprised to feel no pain whatsoever.

"Why didn't you tell us you had the ability to heal?"

"I can't, It's not like I could save you if you were bleeding to death or anything," Jet retorted defensively and then remembering what had happened the last time he did that, he quickly added, "I mean…I don't know how to use it, it just happens…"

"That was you that saved us in the trench," She murmured, something within had told her that, "You seem angry about it… Where would we have been without you?"

Jet didn't respond.

"Well, you were blessed with a wonderful gift…"

"…Whatever," He muttered, keeping his amethyst eyes on the ground at his feet, 'Blessed, huh?'

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Gallows sighed, "Where in the hell could they be?" He was still propped against the same rock, arms crossed. He harbored the same sour expression for the past hour.

"Here they come," Clive replied, watching the remaining members of their small team approach.

Gallows was immediately on his feet just as Virginia passed by, "Ginny! I wanted to say that I was— Hey, Ginny looks a little—" He abruptly scowled at Jet.

"What?" Jet chided, blushing madly, "STOP STARING AT ME!"

"I'm watching you, pal" Gallows backed off still glaring contemptuously, pointing two fingers at his own eyes and then at Jet.

Settling a few feet away from the others, the stoic android watched their fatigued leader attempt to find a place comfortable on the sandy ground. He was still slightly blushing; fortunately she mustn't have overheard Gallows' accusation.

He now peered down at his hand; both praising his power and scorning it. It was a great burden, being what he was. Virginia had told him it was a blessing, a wonderful gift. Perhaps, in time, she would make him a believer.

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Sorry about the last part of this chapter. It's pretty late so I kinda rushed. But I hope you enjoyed