I ran.
I ran without letting myself feel anything, without thinking about my surroundings.
I ignored the fact that I could very well die right then and there.
But I did allow myself one thing- I allowed myself to listen to Warren.
He had stopped mourning his father. Now, my mind was being filled with a steady stream of indistinguishable yet distinctly encouraging words.
It made me feel lighter, somehow.
It felt like I was running endlessly, yet it felt like I wasn't moving at all. All around me was just a grey blur. I was beginning to feel that there would never be an end to these statues.
I felt something cold and grimy brush the hand that held the sonic. I barely managed to bite back the scream that bubbled up inside me. They were starting to catch onto what I was doing. I wouldn't have much time.
I won't lose you, too. I heard Warren in my mind with a ferocious clarity.
I'll try not to be lost. I thought back.
I forced myself to surge faster.
Finally, I could see a break in the grey.
I'm going to make it! I sent him cheerfully, tears of relief welling up in my eyes. I wiped them away before they could stop me from seeing.
I made it to the end of the Angels, and I refused to look back. I told myself that I would be fine here, with Warren and the Doctor protecting me. I had a job to do.
I stuck the cylinder- Defabriculater- into the ground. Now all I had to do was focus the sonic on it and press.
I looked at my empty hand in horror.
My heart beating faster than ever, I frantically patted down all my pockets, then the ground around me, in a desperate search.
Nothing.
It was nowhere.
A hysterical laugh shook my body. Everything I had done was in vain. I was going to die. I had doomed the Doctor and Warren to the same fate. The Angels had won.
I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry- an endless loop sounded in my head for a long while before I realized I was the one saying it. I allowed it to start coming out of my mouth. "I am so sorry," I sobbed. I was consumed in utter devastation. I could not make myself move, nor could I let myself rest there to be killed.
I turned to face the Angels.
Before I knew that I had made the decision, I was in the maze of Angels again. It was a hopeless search; there was no way to tell where I had dropped it. I felt like I was turning myself in circles. I probably was. I couldn't keep anything straight in my head. I allowed the tears to fall this time.
Warren, I pleaded, tell the Doctor to leave me. I won't make it, but that's okay. Just- go.
And I turned to the nearest Angel.
It was already poised to attack. Its sharp stone teeth and nails looked ready to tear into my skin.
I took in a shaky breath. Then I let it go.
Everything around me slowed.
And then I blinked.
LILLY
It was a cry of intense anguish.
It was from Warren.
Was it to be the last sound I heard before I was killed?
LILLY NO. PLEASE. DON'T LEAVE ME. YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME.
But why hadn't the Angel done it yet?
I was ready.
I heard a whirring sound from somewhere behind me.
"LILLY," I heard again. This time, it sounded like he was close.
Was I already dead?
Was I dying?
Then something slammed into me, knocking me to the ground.
I opened my eyes.
I was alive.
Warren was there.
The Angels-
The Angels were gone.
"War-"
No. They weren't gone.
They were in the sky.
The blinding white sky. It consumed them.
"Warren, why-"
I looked at his face. He looked scared.
I realized we were slipping.
Slipping up.
Somehow.
The white sky was going to get us, too.
I got a firm grip on Warren.
And we went into the light together.