(Narrator)
The desert had no end.
He didn't simply lie in front of them.
It seemed to close in around them.
The sky was an almost sickly white, cloudless, without depth. The sun, suspended above the invisible city, cast almost no shadow. Heat rose from the sand as if the earth itself were breathing.
Each step became more difficult than the previous one.
Ki-Moon moved forward in silence, constantly wondering if this was the right choice.
Carina was following him.
Behind them, the rest of the group had finally disappeared, hidden by the dunes.
The desert naturally lost its inhabitants.
He didn't need walls.
All he needed was a few kilometers of sand and a harsh sun.
Ki-Moon continued, however.
Her silhouette sometimes wavered in the heat.
Only hope still animated his body, we know that, but the mere fact of not being sure can push a man to perceive.
"There is still hope"
He stops.
He barely catches his breath.
Then it collapses.
Carina doesn't seem surprised.
She didn't have much saliva left either.
Her lips were dry and her face had lost the color it had retained just a few minutes before.
But she was moving forward.
Her tired body fell to her knees beside the one she had chosen.
Like a shadow too small to belong to its owner.
Ki-Moon.
She placed a hand on her knee and took a deep breath.
– We have to find the city.
She looked at the horizon.
– there's still a little bit left
Ki-Moon did not respond.
She looked up at the sky.
– It exists.
It wasn't hope.
She had so much that she didn't have to believe in a mere hope for her survival.
It was pointless.
A reality that Carina did not understand.
She lowered her eyes.
His father looked at things like a man who always had a solution.
Ki-Moon, on the other hand, looked at them like someone who had stopped waiting for a solution to appear.
It was different.
And strange…
This made her want to stay close to him, a feeling of usefulness but also of helplessness.
She had never been alone, but now she was more alone than ever.
All his life, there had always been someone.
People who knew where she should go, what to eat, what to do, how to behave.
Even when she was locked in her room, she was never truly alone.
Someone was always behind a door.
His father called it a perfect life.
Carina called it a cage without bars.
She wanted her rebellious phase.
More…
She didn't know exactly when it had started.
Perhaps in the first corridor.
Perhaps when she had actually seen her.
Now she really wanted him to make it, it's like supporting a team simply because they resemble you.
Every grain of sand stuck to his face reminded him of that decision.
Perhaps it was the best decision she had ever made in her life.
At least, that's what she thought.
– Ki-Moon.
It came out of his dry throat and was carried away by the hot wind
– stand up
Carina waited.
– KI-MOON.
Ki-Moon did not respond.
She curled up and gently rested her head against his back.
– Continue
– just a little
– there will be water…