Better Off Dead

“Jessica, Michael is here.”

“Oh...okay, thanks mom.”

“Hey Jessica.”

“Hey Michael, I wasn't expecting you.”

“What's all this?”

“Listen, you have to swear not to tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?”

“I'm leaving.”

“What do you mean you're leaving? Leaving where?”

“I'm going...across the wall.”

“You're joking. Do you want me to just put a bullet in your head now, save you the trouble?”

“That's not funny.”

“You're damn right it's not. You can't go out there Jessica!”

“I have to go. I can't stay here one more minute, and I have to know what's really out there.”

“Why now? Why you?”

“I'm suffocating under this religion, in this place. I can't breathe, I can't be myself.”

“And who is that?”

“You wouldn't understand.”

“What wouldn't I understand Jessica? I've known you my entire life.”

“Well then maybe you should understand why I have to go Michael! That place beyond, it's calling to me.”

“That's a dangerous line of thinking.”

“Why? Because there might be something more out there? Something our leaders don't want us to know about? Something that might set us free from this oppressive society?”

“No one who has gone past the wall has come back alive.”

“Maybe it was because they didn't want to come back.”

“You'll die out there.”

“I'm dying in here.”

“Would you stop?”

“I have to pack! Get out of my way, you're not going to stop me.”

“Be reasonable Jessica.”

“No Michael! I'm done being reasonable, I'm done doing what I'm told, and I'm absolutely done with being held back from my true purpose.”

“And what's that? To ignore every warning sign, decades of stories about the darkness beyond the wall, and to just leave everyone you've ever cared about behind? That's your purpose? To die, alone?”

“If it is, then so be it. Better to die living out there then to live dying in here. Take your hands off me!”

“Just stop for one moment, please. Let's just, let's just think about this.”

“Michael-”

“Please just, give me a day. Give me a day and I'll...I'll go with you.”

“You'll go with me? Do you even know how to shoot?”

“Of course I know how to shoot. I just don't want you going alone.”

“I'm going now. Tonight is my only chance, during the festival the wall will have the least amount of guards at their posts for the next two months until winter solstice. Did you hear me?”

“Yes, alright! I'll go get my things. We'll leave tonight.”

<br />

“Wait until the fireworks start, they'll be distracted. See that metal sheet? It peels back from the wall, we can slide through.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just trust me.”

“I didn't realize what a shitty, patchwork job this wall was. I'm surprised it keeps anything out. It's just a bunch of sheets of metal and plywood plastered into a make-shift fence.”

“ Look, they're starting, let's go.”

“Shit!”

“Get up! Move!”

“It's too dark, how the hell can you see were you're going.”

“Just pick your feet up this time, focus on the fence, don't look at the watchtowers. Now move!”

“They're going to see us.”

“Not with the firework display. Come on, nothing ever happens out here anymore. When was the last sighting, a decade ago? And was that even really what they saw? Just keep moving! Here, lift.”

“Wait, my backpack is hung up. Alright, got it.”

“Quiet until we're further away from the wall, the fireworks are petering out.”

<br />

“It doesn't make sense. How would a simple wall keep them out, if they're as dangerous as everyone says?”

“Maybe they've learned they'll get shot down? Would you keep your voice down?”

“We're far enough away from the wall, they can't hear us. We can switch our flashlights on too.”

“I'm not worried about the guards hearing us, I'm worried about the creatures. They might be nocturnal.”

“With exceptionally good hearing?”

“Maybe, I don't know. There could be one nearby, in the trees for all we know.”

“There hasn't been a sighting in months. What if they died off?”

“Died off? How?”

“Did you ever see War of the Worlds, where bacteria kills them? Basically they're not from here, they're not used to our sicknesses, and get wiped out.”

“Or the opposite could happen, they could introduce their bacteria to us and wipe us out.”

“I like my version better. Besides, I'd think that would've happened by now.”

“And you don't think our bacteria would've wiped them out twenty years ago when they first showed up?”

“You never know.”

“Seriously Jessica, keep it down!”

“Why, are you scared of the dark?”

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Sh! Listen.”

“I don't hear anything.

“Wait, look...oh shit! Oh God!”

“What the fuck is that thing?”

“Get down!”

“D-did you...did you shoot it?”

“I think I missed. Can we go back now? Have you seen enough yet?”

“But...but they were supposed to be gone.”

“Jessica, it's just not safe.”

“No, it's not fair! I can't live in that place any longer. The rules, the confessions, the priests...”

“What about the priests?”

“I can't do confession again, I won't!”

“Hey, slow down. You're shaking, what's going on?”

“I can't go back Michael. I'd rather take my chances out here.”

“But you saw that thing. Look, whatever is going on, we can fix it. If something is happening at your confessions, we'll talk to the bishop, we'll figure it out. Just tell me what happened.”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Please Jessica, let's just go back, we can fix whatever has happened to you.”

“No Michael. It's too late. Soon, everyone will know.”

“Jessica, oh God Jess, you're pregnant? What is your plan? To have a baby out here and live off the land? We have to go back.”

“I'm never going back.”

“Well I can't stay out here. We'll die!”

“I understand.”

“You're both going to die out here, you know that?”

“It's still better than the alternative.”

“I can't let you, I won't let you.”

“It's already done.”