Adventures with the Dead of Science

Ariel and Laney had not spoken to each other in 2 hours. They were lost in their own thoughts, their own fears, and the heavy silence was eating away at them.

The sun had set over an hour ago, and it was getting cold. The wind had picked up, and large snowflakes whirled through the air. They had no coats or gloves either, having left them back at the hotel in haste. But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

The worst of it was that they didn’t know where they were going. Earlier that day, they had stolen a car from a parking lot at a gas station when they were running from the doctor and his strange men with guns. They had been driving for hours now, both of them too scared to stop and ask for directions, too scared to look at a map on their phones.

Laney was the first one to break the silence. “I’m so stupid! We’re going to die out here because I couldn’t take one simple picture!” He started sobbing again, his tears mixing with the falling snowflakes as they melted into his skin.

Ariel wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t make him feel even worse about himself. She knew he was blaming himself for everything that had happened today: for leaving their coats behind, for stealing a car in the first place, for agreeing to go on this trip with her in the first place... She also knew that he wasn’t wrong in any of these things either. It all *was* his fault; she could never have gotten herself into this mess without him.

The silence grew heavier once again as Ariel tried to find something comforting to say. But before she could say anything, Laney started talking again: “You know what I realized? I don’t want to do anything after high school! What am I supposed to do? Work at a gas station like my dad? Get married? Have kids? It doesn’t matter anymore!” He started yelling now; tears streaming down his face as he screamed into the night sky above him. “My life is over! Everything I wanted is gone! I just want to die!” His voice broke terribly as he began sobbing again while he continued yelling: “I want to die! Why can’t I just die like everyone else!?” The last words came out as a wail as he collapsed onto the ground next to Ariel and started crying uncontrollably into her shoulder.

Ariel hugged him tightly; stroking his hair as best she could through her own tears: “Shhh... Shhh... It doesn't matter though... You're still alive... And you're alive because you're special... You're alive because you're different than everyone else ... You're alive because you can see me... And because we have a job ahead of us... We have to save Europe from all those evil people who are trying to kill us... And there's only two of us who can do it... So don't give up yet! We need your help! We need your strength! We'll get through this together!" She said these things as much for herself as for him; she needed these words too, more than anything right now. She knew deep down that they would be dead if it weren't for Laney's ability; there was no denying that fact now. She kept reassuring herself that he really was special now; the only person who could see her when she should be dead.

She hoped that saying all those things would pull Laney back from the brink; she hoped that saying all those things would help her believe them herself too. But despite her efforts and her reassurances, Laney didn't seem any better after hearing her words; if anything, she thought he may have cried harder when she said them all. He finally stopped sobbing long enough so that he could yell: "But you shouldn't have died!! I failed you!! I failed myself!!" He began sobbing again almost immediately after saying this last sentence; crying into Ariel's shoulder harder than before until he passed out from exhaustion in her arms on the side of the road in Sweden.*