Promises Remade ☆ Gally - TDC | ONGOING

Struggle to Survive

My breaths come short and quick, my entire body throbs with pain, and, as if they heard me, the rumbling sound of the Berg comes from behind me. My head spins in the direction as a light flashes down onto us, illuminating the burning building we stand on– well, the burning building I am laying on. I push myself to my feet quickly as does Teresa, she pulls Thomas with her. She looks over at me, contemplating something. "GET THOMAS ONTO THE BERG! I'LL GET THEO!" I shout over the sound of the engine. She nods and pulls Thomas over to the edge of the building's roof. "THEO! COME ON!" I shout over the loud engine. 

He does not answer. I kneel onto my knees and shake his shoulders, a sudden déjà vu hits me and Theo's face morphs into Newts for a split second. I blink quickly, a tear slipping past my eyelids. 

"FINLEY!" A voice pierces the suddenly thick and smoky air of the night and I look up to see the back of the Berg open. Everyone is there but my eyes land on Gally. His eyes are panicked and flicker with concern.

"COME ON!" Brenda shouts, waving her hands frantically as Vince and Minho try to grab Thomas to pull him onto the Berg. I go to grab Theo's shoulders to drag him over to the Berg like I did to bring him up all those flights of stairs, however, I startle as his eyes fly open. 

"Th-" Before I get the chance to finish, he lunges at me. My back slams against the ground behind me as a chorus of shouts come from the Berg still hovering at the edge of the room. Theo lets out an animalistic growl, teeth bared as he jerks his face toward mine. My hands fly up, clasping on his shoulders which barely holds him back. Black saliva drips onto my cheek, I turn my head away, my gaze meeting Gally who is trying to jump onto the roof but is held back by Frypan. 

"LEAVE ME, FIN!" Theo roars causing me to meet his gaze, once again. However, he does not listen to his own words and does not budge, still fighting my grasp. He continues to lunge at me, his nails digging into the skin of my wrist in an attempt to push them off of his shoulders. I

"Please, Theo," my words mix with a sob. "Let me help you." His eyes flicker with recognition, my words pulling him back in momentarily. It does not last long though. I move my hands from his shoulders to his throat and push, sending him to stagger back. I stand to my feet and back up, keeping my eyes trained on him, and within a blink of an eye, he sprints toward me. I put my arms out, keeping him a distance away. But he's strong. Way stronger than I am. He keeps pushing me back further and further, trying to reach me. Another animalistic growl sounds from the back of his throat before he shoves me once more, causing me to stagger to the edge of the rooftop. 

I close my eyes, expecting to fall, but the fall never comes. Instead, a tight grip latches onto the collar of my jacket, and my eyes fly open. "I'm sorry, Fin. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Theo repeats over and over. 

"It's okay, Theo." I try to catch my breath, tears streaming down my face as does Theo's. He tightens his grip on me and throws me onto the ground of the rooftop, and I roll across it, having to stop myself– luckily I end up in the centre and far away from the edge. I look over my shoulder, to see Theo storming towards me. He lunges on top of me, gripping the collar of my jacket once again and pulling me up partly off the ground. 

"You need to kill me, Fin. You gotta kill me." 

"N-No, Theo. No," I shake my head. 

"You've gotta do it!" He shouts before reaching for the gun I took from Janson that is now placed in my belt. He pulls the gun into his grip and points at me, "DO IT OR I'LL KILL YOU!" He screams, the gun shaking in his hand. 

"THEO!" Teresa shouts from a few feet away from us, her hands held up in caution to show she means no harm. I look behind her to see Thomas now on the Berg with Brenda and Minho helping tend to his wound, and it looks as though he is barely conscious. Frypan and, now, Vince is holding Gally back still as he tries to get off the Berg. "You do not want to do this. We can help you, okay? We can all get on this Berg together, as long as you just put the gun down."

"It's too late! You can't help me! No one can!" He shouts between sobs. Teresa tries to take another step forward, but Theo ends up pointing the gun at her before hauling me to my feet, pressing my back to his front and the tip of the barrel of the gun to my temple. Teresa's eyes widen, and more shouts come in chorus from the Berg. Everything suddenly becomes a blur, all of their voices sound so distant. The only thing I can focus on is the pounding of my heart against my rib cage and the cool sensation of the gun being pressed to the side of my head. My lip quivers and as Theo turns the safety off of the gun, I close my eyes with expectance to never be opening them again. Waiting for the sound of the trigger to click and the bang of the bullet being released, but it never comes. I, however, no longer hear the pounding of my heart, only the deep breaths of a boy standing behind me. 

"Theo, please-" I try with my eyes still shut tightly. 

"DON'T!" He shouts in a begging yelp. The barrel of the gun digs deep into my skull. I wince from the wave of pain, a headache suddenly on the verge. 

I cannot die. I cannot leave Gally, or Fry, or Minho, or Brenda. I cannot leave Thomas, or Jorge, or Aris, or Vince, or Sonya, or Harriet. I cannot leave my friends, the people I love. But, I also love Theo. He is all I have left. I do not wanna die. I have thought about death a lot. It is what my life is surrounded by; the loss of everyone I have seemingly known. But, I also think about my death; How would I die? I never expected it to be like this; Where would I go? Heaven or Hell? Heaven is an indefinite spiritual reward reserved for whoever lived morally honourable, whereas Hell is an everlasting holy punishment for whoever has committed morally wrong offences- also known as sins. 

Have I lived up to the expectations of being accepted into Heaven? It does not matter though as I think there is no Heaven. 

When you die, you die. 

There is hell, though. But, I believe that doesn't happen in the afterlife. No, Hell is life on Earth. Being alive and enduring such cruelty is hell. It is nothing but torture and brutality that just is amusement and entertainment for the supposed God above who is laughing his ass off at us while we struggle to survive. 

And, even though, life is hell and being alive is hell, I do not want to die. That is the first time in a long time that I have ever wanted to live. I need to live, there is so much I want to still do. My eyes meet Gally's, and his are filled with tears, a pleading look in the depths of his piercing, ocean-blue eyes. "Please, Theo," I try once more. 

I cannot break another promise to Gally. I cannot leave him again. I need to make it out of this. 

 

A/N-

Another update! 

We are getting so close to the end!! Oh god, I think I am gonna cry!!

Anyway, hoped you all enjoyed!

Much love, 

- Alex <3