Warning - mentions attempted suicide.

Emily had no idea why, but when Ben collapsed on the ground, arcs of electric blue light forking across his body, she dropped her makeshift weapon and shield and actually reached out to help him. With her hands. Towards a man being tasered. It was possibly the second stupidest thing she'd done in her life; next to the last-minute holiday she decided to book to Cape Verde - because that one had been working out a real treat so far. It seemed Ben realised quicker than she did, because he managed to drag his hand up, limbs jittering, as he yelled out, "No!" and then the next thing Emily knew, she was flying, her body slamming back against the wall so hard it made her teeth rattle and her head swim.

It also seemed to knock some actual sense in to her, because the minute the ringing stopped and her eyesight cleared, Emily managed to drag herself up, stumbling over numb feet as she started to run. She wasn't sure what direction she was going in; it could be back the way she came for all she knew - back to the dull rooms and the robots and the pain. She used the walls to keep herself propped up, her body running on nothing but fumes and panic. The corridor took a sharp right, and when she turned the corner, Emily could see a large open doorway.

It felt like her soul lit up. Hope! Actual to goodness fucking hope. It filled her up like helium - rushed to her head like a first kiss. She could feel a small breeze brush against the fuzz of hair growing back in over her skull, catching on her eyelashes. The air was hot and thick, with the acrid taste of a mouth full of car exhaust fumes, but it was real. It was beautifully, overwhelmingly real. Emily walked towards the opening. A metal walkway stretched beyond the doorway, leading to another strange bullet shaped building, but she wasn't focusing on that. She could see a small window of sky, getting bigger and bigger as her feet dragged towards it. She couldn't remember when she'd last seen the sky. It was on the plane, wasn't it? When the ocean had reached up to swallow them. That sky had been blue and clear and endless. This one was hazy, a dull rust tint to it, like the sunset after a day of scorching heat. It might be the most beautiful thing Emily had ever set her eyes on.

When she reached the threshold, her mind blanked, but her feet kept pulling her forward like the autopilot switch had been flicked on in her brain. Metal clattered under her bare feet, jagged edges and gaps in the floor let the air trickle over her soles. The railing was twisted and broken in parts, warping under her palm. It didn't make any sense. Emily was about half-way across when it hit her. She crumpled to her knees like all of her strings had been cut.

A city stretched out before her, filling everything in sight until its edges blurred into the horizon. She was so high up, it almost looked like it was built out of Lego; just blocks and blocks piled one on top of the other, with decaying skyscrapers - taller than mountains - thrusting out of the ground like pillars made to hold up the sky. Everything was painted in smoky grey and faded brown. A few of the towers billowed black pillars that bled into thin wisps of clouds. Emily leaned against the cold splint of railing at her side, twisted her ruined arm around it. She was a burnt-out wreck of a person in a burnt-out wreck of a world. Such wonderful serendipity.

"Emily?"

She ignored the voice; a small part of her wondering if he was as tired of saying her name as she was of hearing it. Was this the only world he knew? Did Ben just look around at this endless sea of broken buildings and shattered peaks and think 'home'? The walkway creaked as he stepped onto it, and Emily finally turned to face him. He was dressed exactly as he had been in the cell, except over everything was a long brown coat that reached to his feet. His hair was sticking out at odd angles, and the pale oatmeal of his pyjamas were dirtied and a little singed. She remembered looking at him once and thinking that he was in the same position as her. Trapped and desperate. That they could escape together - but there was nothing for him to escape to. It was always this - she had just wanted so much to believe the lie that if she fought and clawed hard enough, she could see her family again, rather than face the truth around her.

"Emily," he repeated, looking at her so earnestly, extending out his hand as he slowly made his way across the platform towards her. "Please."

"I was never going to see them again, was I?" she said, more to herself than to him. She turned back to look out across the world. "You know what's funny? I think some part of me knew. I just - I just couldn't face it because if I can't go home…"

"Emily please," Ben said again. He was inching closer with each step. "Let me help you."

"It's alright," she said. Emily used the rail to hoist herself up. It was surprisingly easy. She felt lighter somehow, like her bones were hollow. She turned back to Ben and gave him a smile. "I can help myself."

Then she stepped off the platform.