Alex caught Ana’s eye. Her expression was hard to read. Ellis’s confession was coming so late in the day, after everything they had been through. Everything that had been done. Was there a place for pity?
Ana straightened up.
“Look at me.” Her voice was unnervingly calm. Ellis kept his eyes downturned, fixed on the ground.
“I said,look at me!” Ana pulled herself forward. Reluctantly Ellis looked up. They locked eyes—adversaries at the final showdown. The air between them crackled with danger, anger—grief. In that second, they were connected by something wider, something deeper than them.
“You did what you did. It happened. Now it’s time to move on.”
Surprised, Alex glanced at Ana. She was calmer than anyone had a right to be as they faced their own death. She knew what she was saying and meant it.
“Ellis, I forgive you.” Her last words were barely above a whisper.
Ellis stared at her, his expression written over with confusion and pain. He hadn’t expected this and didn’t know what to do with it. Ana held his gaze.
“I forgive you.”
Slowly Ellis started to fold in on himself. He started to cry. The tears that he had been holding back released in a flood. Shaky, ragged breaths racked through him as he stood fixed on the spot.
“Fuck you, Ana.Fuck you!”
Angrily he pushed away at his tears, at his emotions, with the back of his hand. He fought with himself, battling for control.
“If you think that changes anything, you’re fucking wrong,” he shouted, taking several threatening steps towards her.
Alex instinctively pulled Ana closer.
“GO! Or I willfucking kill you!” He held his fists in the air; his outpouring of emotion suppressed under a newfound fury. He was livid. He was dangerous.
This was it. Alex’s heart sank as it finally hit him that Ana’s plan, whatever it was, must have failed.
There was nothing for it. Nothing they could do—not with his leg. Alex knew he’d rather get shot by some random stranger a hundred times over than let Ellis strangle them both with his bare hands.
His head dropped; he was slipping a little, the pain was overwhelming him. He buried his face in Ana’s hair for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing in.
“NOW!” Ellis stepped towards them, his voice, his movements laced with rage.
“Together, okay? We go together. Our way,” Ana whispered to him.
Alex’s heart was beating wildly. He didn’t want to die. Every fiber of his body wanted to pull away, to run, to live. There were so many things he’d never do, places he’d never see, songs he’d never hear. So much of life ahead, now gone.
Ana turned her face to him, tears running down her cheek. She smiled sadly, and in that moment, it was just the two of them, alone in the world. This was the only way now, their path. Their end.
“I’m scared,” he whispered.
“Do you trust me?” she asked.
“Always.” He gently leaned forward, his lips touched hers, soft at first, then with passion and fire, pulling them close, enveloping them in something powerful and deep. Something eternal, that couldn’t be stolen by death. They would die with grace. They would die with love. They would die together.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Ellis moved closer, fists held out threateningly.
This was it. Their finale. Together, they turned their backs on Ellis, the Motel Loba, and the Balloon Game for the last time.
“It’s time to let go,” Ana whispered, as though to herself. Her words were lost in the sage-scented air. Alex nodded. At last, after everything, it was time.
Half-carrying him, Ana stepped over the line. The first step, then the next. It felt easy, like nothing—after all the fear. She kept them both moving along, heading towards the highest peak in the distance. Alex focused his eyes on it. The view from there must be beautiful. You’d be able to see for miles. The motel would look so small, like a kid’s toy. A game.
Crack.
