Page 85 of Her Sloth

But her chest…her chest is moving.

“ADDY! FUCKING ANSWER ME!” I shout as I lay on my back and crawl headfirst into the car.

A burning pain shoots over my back. But I don’t care.

I crawl farther in so I can kick off the deformed door.

It flies open.

“ADDY!” I shout again as I crawl underneath her until my head is directly under hers. I am fumbling on the belt, but with her weight on them⁠—

“Addy, please,” I whisper. Tears are streaming down my face at this point.

And then she looks at me.

Her one hand brushes over my cheek.

A weak smile.

“I’m so sorry,” she says faintly.

“Don’t,” I tell her softly, still working on the belt.

“I messed up,” she says with a fading voice. “Now we’re all fucked.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Can you push yourself off the roof?”

“I’m so sorry,” she says again, her eyelids flickering.

I cup her face.

“I’m not,” I say. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. Fight, Addy. Fight.”

And then, a loud explosion erupts, rolling through my chest with pressure first.

Everything is distorted; my ears hum.

Flames around us.

I am not getting her out.

But I also won’t be leaving her.

So I just kiss her.

“It was always ride or die,” I say. “We rode. And now we can finally die.”

It’s okay to end like this.

I close my eyes.

I am dying with her.

And she with me.

Things can finally rest.

It’s peaceful.