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He reached the top of the first aeroline and collapsed to the ground just above the shimmering soup. Mull pulled the filter off his mouth with a ferocity he had not felt since he started the trek upwards. He had no energy for that until now, which was visible in his worn down soles of his shoes and the dirt and dust covered everything.
“Get up. Get up you idiot.” Mull growled at himself, channeling the exhaustion and grief into anger. Anger at himself. Because there was nothing and no one else to be angry at anymore.
He punched the rocks below him and shouted as the rocks cut into his dirt covered knuckles. He pulled his hand away to inspect it. The red was almost invisible in the low light and hidden under layers of dirt. He almost let himself fall down and stop in that moment but he could still hear Imeah’s voice pushing him forward. He had to tell people what he found. Otherwise everyone’s deaths would be for nothing.
With that he pulled himself up once more and pushed himself up onto the next ridge, finding the crevasses and fractured rock that allowed him to climb higher and higher, back up to fresh air. He left his mask back down behind him. The smell of it was bothering him too much now and maybe it could act as a cautionary tale for anyone else who tried to do what he did.
Step by step. Up up and up. Mull knew he was close to the surface but because he didn’t have the gear to scale up a sink hole quickly, he had to go the long way around. Through caves where sometimes the path would go almost flat and other times it was a scramble to make sure he didn’t slip down. With one last turn he had to squint his eyes as he was accosted by the bright light of the sun. After days of only seeing by dim lantern light he had to turn away and shade his eyes. This was it. He was home. He had made it. For a second he felt sheer relief and turned to his friends to give them a hug. Only to freeze with his arms raised as he remembered once again. They were gone. Imeah, Pont, even Jeeoon and the rest of the crew.
“Right,” he forced himself to lower his arms and turned back to continue his march towards the no longer joyful light. He lifted his foot but froze as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
“You made it up.” The soft tone he knew better than his own voice floated into his ears and Mull closed his eyes in pain.
“I did. Without you, I’m so sorry.” Any energy the sight of the sun had given him was already gone, his legs stacks of steel keeping him pinned in place.
The voice tisked. “Come now, I made my choices down there. We already had that conversation.” He did not respond. “Mull! Don’t be stupid.” The hand pulled on his shoulder and a second one grabbed his cheek. “I know you can feel me.”
“I don’t want to look.” He whispered. All feeling had drained and Mull felt like he was floating in a void. He knew if he let himself feel anything, or hope, there would be no coming back.
“Trust me.”
He couldn’t say no to that. He never could. And so Mull opened his eyes and gasped as Imeah’s gaze met his own. Her face split into the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He reached up himself and grabbed her shoulders. “Im?”
“Hi there, that took you a while.” She laughed and brought a hand out to run it through his hair, sending a cloud of dust into the air between them, which sent Mull into a coughing fit.
“What- How?” Mull swiped his thumb across her cheek and left behind a smudge of dirt. He stared at it for several seconds, stuck on the fact that he could interact with his best friend once again. He had given up any hope of even laying eyes on her again, having the chance to bury her, to say goodbye one last time. Now, she was here in his arms. He finally could not hold out any longer and grabbed her around the torso. He pulled her close and rested his head on her shoulder, ignoring the warm tears that began pouring out of his eyes.
Imeah shifted her weight to lean more on her cane and help support the pair before she shifted Mull so she could rest her chin on top of his head. “I’m here. We promised to stick together forever, remember?”
Mull choked on his words when he responded. “We made that promise 20 years ago, I don’t know if-”
“Of course it counts! It counted to me at least.” Imeah shifted backwards and Mull looked up at her. Her eyebrows were scrunched up and he reached up to soften them.
“It counts to me too Imeah, I promise,” he smiled softly but it slowly turned into a frown as he finally realized something was wrong. Why was he looking up at her? Mull glanced towards the ground and saw they were both standing on the same rock, Imeah’s cane stopping on a little dirt patch for the best stability.
“Mull?”
He hummed in response, mind racing as he looks back up her whole body. She was a whole head taller than him now he realized. He patted himself down and stepped away from her to walk in a circle, but everything was normal for him. He traveled the same distance he always did, his arms had the same reach as always, it was all the same.
“Mull, what’s the matter?”
“Do you not-” He turned quickly to face her, his eyes wide. She gazed back at him with a growing worry, as if not getting what he was describing.
“Why don’t you take a deep breath and explain it to me?” Imeah reached out for him again and Mull struggled with himself for a few more seconds before he gave in and went back to resting his head on her chest. For all he was confused beyond belief and even scared, it was nothing compared to the first few steps he had to take after seeing Imeah disappear around that corner. Nothing ever would be as painful as that was.
“Do you not see what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Mull we both made it out, I don’t think that’s something that can be wrong.”
Mull shook his head in response and brought his hands into his chest to tuck under his own chin.
“Are you upset I’m back?” Imeah continued.
“Of course not! I just- Imeah how did you make it back up? How did you keep from being poisoned?”
“I… I don’t know Mull. What I do know is I’m just relieved to be back and safe. Now, can we go back?” Imeah ran her hand through Mull’s short hair again, this time pulling at a few tangles that had made their home in it.
“I-” Mull looks up into Imeah’s eyes and can’t help the relieved sigh he lets out again. He ignores the way her irises are less a dark brown now but more a midnight black. He lets himself brush off the weirdness of angle of his head. He nods once. “Yeah. Let’s go home Imeah. Let’s go home.”
Her smile in response was brighter than any sun could be as she reached down and grabbed his hand to lead Mull with her. Mull couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off her as she lead them. He would figure everything else out at a later time he promised himself, unwilling to break up the peace that once again descended between the two.