Midnight Nation #12

Choose.

David looks upon the Walkers with disgust and pity. The Other Guy tells David not to perpetuate the lie any further, reminding him how hard he fought to regain his soul.

David takes his soul into his hand (it appears as a small blue flame) and looks upon it and looks to the Walkers and then to the Other Guy, then to Laurel.

He walks to her as she hang there dying. “I’m sorry, Laurel. I came all this way—“ she cuts him off. “I know… I forgive you, David.” He continues. “—but I guess I put you through all this for nothing.”

Laurel manages eye contact in her pain. “…Nothing…?”

David leans in close and whispers. “I love you.”

With that he pushes his soul within her breast and a blue flash of light explodes from her and her angelic form soars up into the sky and shines like a beacon.

All over the world, people in the In-between see the sign they have been waiting for, and for the first time experience true hope. Arthur, tears streaming down his face finds that people can see him. The people around the campfires at the beginning of the journey see it and smile. The Walkers look on in awe. And the Other Guy simply looks. He walks over to the rapidly fading body of David who is shivering and wondering why it is so cold. As he fades view the Other Guy simply notes, “Well. I certainly didn’t see that coming.”

As Laurel returns to her place of peace she speaks with the voice that originally summoned her a year ago. She wants to make sure that David knew she loved him and that he had a lovely soul. The last thing she says is that she can feel her heart beating.

David finds himself in tattered clothes on a street, but no markings. Everyone can see him on both sides of the metaphor. He is recognized as a LAPD Detective who went missing about a year ago.

Sarah is at the hospital when he recovers, after he gets over the shock of what happens and doesn’t tell her about Laurel and says that he can only remember walking, she tells him about her experience in Chicago, how she knew he was there and he somehow saved her, though she barely remembers it through a drug induced haze. But she realized that she had to find him. Alive or dead.

As they are leaving the hospital there is a newborn baby in a room they pass. The mother mentions that they had already chosen a name for her, but the moment she looked into her eyes she could only name her Laurel.

As David and Sarah leave the hospital, David is confronted with some of the people of the In-between who hadn’t crossed over, they ask that he speak for them. He says he’ll try his best.

Epilogue

David finds himself on the same road where he met himself several years earlier and has the exact same conversation.

David walks to meet the figure and is shocked to see an elderly man looking just like him with slight scarring where David has fresh cuts from his all too recent ordeal. When it comes right down to it, David only has one question, he asks if he succeeds in getting his soul back the elder David says no. So David asks what happens to Laurel and the elder says ‘We kill her after we get to New York.’

The elder David walks back to a car waiting for him with Laz behind the wheel. When David asks how that worked exactly, Laz simply says that he has connections. Laz tells David that he should cheer up because he’s a hero. David says that he doesn’t feel very much like a hero. Laz points out that the trouble with being a hero is that you’re expected to make these sacrifices and save people and expect nothing in return. David has helped a lot of people on both sides of the metaphor over the years, given a lot of people hope. While a lot of people have thanked him for it the one person who David cared to hear it from never had the chance to say it.

With that he drops off David nowhere near where he picked him up. So David walks to a nearby park and sit and enjoys the weather. After several minutes he hears a voice of a young girl asking if he’s okay. He says he’s okay and looks up to see Laurel as a young teenager wearing a tee-shirt that says “Angel”. Her mother calls her and tells her they’re going to be late. Laurel turns to leave but she stops and smiles at David and simply says “Thank you.”

David is moved to tears and watches her go. He gets a call on his walkie-talkie asking for assistance. He tells him he’ll be there. And then says “I’ll always be there.” To himself.