Never Let Me Go

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. A room that was going to be hers as her days of rigorous training drew to a close, and she took his place as the sanctuary's courier.

"Are you ready?" Thomas stood with his back to her, watching the outside with a stern expression, and arms crossed in defiance on what he saw on the other side.

"I am prepared." Carey's response got a rare chuckle from the hardened bulwark of a man. She remembered how easily the laughter would come when she was first selected for the apprenticeship. When he laughed a pinprick of optimistic light shined through his eyes. She realized one day, after combat drills and during a walk through the enclosed evergreen biome with young ones, that it was his hope that shined through; and each time he was allowing it to fly out of him and stay with her.

Carey was determined to protect the fragile sparks. As time went on and her initiation to the outside world drew closer, the sparks became more and more precious. Thomas turned to face her, and Carey was disappointed that his eyes were the usual hardened ice.

"Well then...It's time."

There wasn't any sort of fanfare or prepared goodbyes from the young ones. Carey was sure at least one of them would approach as they dutifully marched to the Door, surely one of them had fond memories of their faithful protector against the monstrous forces on the outside. It was hard for her to see him the way they saw him. He was a lethal predator, quietly standing guard in the periphery, nothing behind his eyes but his entire being radiated a resoluteness that was overpowering to most. Her inner self desperately drew those precious sparks closer.

They arrived at the Door, a sturdy but small thing, lacking any sort of reverence in its design. Various charts and graphs were displayed on monitors beside it, one of the readings had the header 'Environ Stability', with a percentage number that increased slightly every year. Thomas opened the safety guard covering a large button and slammed a fist against it, and the door jutted open. He walked through, Carey followed.

They were safe in the immediate vicinity of the sanctuary, small automated weapons blasted any alien presence that meandered too close. It was here that Thomas decided to untether his firearm and turn and face Carey. For a wonderful and infiinite moment, they just stood there looking at each other. The waves from the nearby sea crashed into the shore, animals Carey had learned were called seagulls glided overhead.

Eventually, Thomas offered her his weapon in an outstretched hand. Carey reached to take it, hesitating for a soft moment before taking it. It was in that moment he spoke, "I trust you." And all the light that he had left in him flew out to her, priceless treasures of ether.

"I trust you too." Carey aimed and fired, seagulls shrieked and scattered, and the sound reverberated to the edges of the world then came back again just as his body hit the ground. She mourned for a short time,equal to the time between waves crashing onto the sand. She carried his body up the path along the cliff, walking past the isolated cryo-chamber storage building where Thomas would have interred himself if he hadn't been bitten and infected a few days prior. Something he managed to avoid for years scavenging the waste.

The cruelty of the joke stunted her laugh when she reached the summit some hours later. She sat with what remained of Thomas and took in the view. He promised her they would see the view together before he interred at the end of his watch, before their plans changed. Carey sat there for some time, eventually deciding to bury Thomas. A mound of small rocks marked his grave.