Through the trees, I will find you
I will heal the ruins left inside you
Cause I'm still here breathing now...
I'm still here breathing now...
I'm still here breathing now...
Until I'm set free
Go quiet through the trees

"What are you doing?" Lena's panicked scream pierces my ear. "We can still make it!"

"Listen to me." I urge. "When I tell you to go, you're going to go. You've got to drive this thing, okay?"

"What? I can't – "

A booming voice magnified by a loudspeaker drowns out her voice. "Citizen 914-238-619-3216. Dismount and put your hands above your head. If you do not dismount immediately, we will be forced to shoot."

"Lena." I say quietly. "They've electrified the fence. It's powered on."

"How do you know?"

"Just listen to me." I plead, begging her to understand. "When I say go, you drive. And when I say jump, you jump. You'll be able to get over the fence, but you'll have thirty seconds before the power comes back online, a minute, tops. You have to climb as fast as you can. And then you run, okay?"

"Me? What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you."

"We're giving you ten seconds…nine…eight…"

"Alex – "

"I promise I'll be right behind you." "But you have to swear you won't look back. Not even for a second. Okay?"

"Six…five…"

"Alex, I can't – "

"Swear, Lena."

"Three…two…"

"Okay," she finally succumbs. Her eyes are gleaming with tears, and I'd give anything to freeze us in this moment so I can kiss away her fears. I'd give anything to wrap my arms around her, to comfort her, and tell her that it's going to be okay, even though it's us against the world. I need her to be strong for me."I swear."

"One."

This dreamlike world we have been living in all summer disintegrates instantly like a house of cards, moments before the wind, seconds before the inevitable. It's far too fragile. We've been teetering on the brink of destruction for far too long thinking that we are invincible, when the mere whispering of a few words can send our lives spinning out of control.

"Go!" Lena twists the throttle and we fly forward. At the last second, I wrap my arms around her to steady myself from the momentum.

The explosions rattle the ground with terrifying force. More gunfire. A bullet lodges itself in my arm and I cry out in pain.

We close the distance to the fence at a rapid pace: fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet.

Jump. Now. With me.

Lena lets go of the handlebars and rolls to the side, pulling me off of the bike with her. The impact with the ground knocks the air out of me and I lose my grip on Lena as she tumbles away from me. The bike skids into the fence, colliding with a brilliant burst of sparks and flames as the electric current flowing through the fence bleeds out.

The edges of my vision go black and I think no, too soon. With the remaining strength left in me, I force myself up from the ground. I have to make sure she's safe.

That's when everything disappears. The guards, the gunshots, the fire – all gone. All that is left is Lena, and only Lena. Lena, who has more strength than she will ever know, who has breathed life into me and given me wings that will free me from this binding city and return me to my real home – the Wilds. She is all that matters now.

Pain tears through my chest and my mind slowly registers what has been happening around me for the last couple of minutes. I am vaguely aware of the wetness seeping through my shirt. A bullet has lodged itself in my chest, but I am numb to the pain. Everything around me has turned into a raging ball of fire - flames licking every surface clean of the world that used to be. The helicopter overhead creates a wind that whips the fallen leaves on the ground around and around, and I know that if I take only hold of them, they will carry me up, up, up, away from the mess that I have created and dispatch me in the clouds where I can float. Just float. I supposed that is what the cure offers – a way to float through life, to skim over the basics and disregard the details because they do not matter anymore. Kind of like a hazy dream. In my daze, I pretend I'm right beside Lena, climbing the fence, inching towards the freedom that I have craved for far too long.

The moment she drops onto the other side, the fence sputters back to life, humming with electricity once again. Just like that, I am forever confined to this city that sucks the life out of anyone who threatens to disturb its tranquil existence. A mere tangle of wires, so thin and fragile, yet it is the single most impenetrable obstacle that separates me from the world I belong to.

And in a heart-stopping moment, Lena does the one thing that she promised she wouldn't do.

She looks back.

Panic and confusion register on her face as she realize I haven't moved a single inch since we jumped. All I can think is I'm sorry.

That's the funny thing about love. It brings out both the good and the bad in us. A whirlwind of memories flashes before me: Lena high-fiving the Governor; wasting away the day underneath the sun, whispering nonsensical things in each other's ears; the feel of her head in the crook of my arm; her hair swinging in an arc, racing to get home before curfew. That's when I know I did the right thing. Lena, of all people, will understand. Lena, who described the tale of Romeo and Juliet as beautiful, who understands that sometimes, love will drive us to the infinite edges of despair and leave only pain, but love will also be the very thing that makes the pain tolerable. She will understand.

She stays rooted to the spot in the grass, her eyes uncertain. For a heart clenching moment, she hesitates. Her feet shuffle toward the fence and I'm willing her with my mind to stop doing that, to stop worrying about me, to forget about me and go on.

Behind me, the sun's rays spill over the horizon and latch onto every reachable surface, shrouding the world in its pinkish glow.

My lips form one last word. Run.

With that, Lena is set free into the woods. She never looks back, and I never take my eyes off her. She is the last thing I see before it all disappears.

I found my way to you once, I will do it again. As long as I'm breathing, I refuse to give up. I will fight. I'm still breathing.

But for now, I close my eyes and give myself over to the darkness.

And then, something flickers behind my eyelids.

A flock of birds, flying through the trees.

Lena.

Sorry if the writing's a little sloppy; I wrote this while I was studying for my business midterm haha