Take the spiral stair up to the top of the city
Where the wind hits our skin like it's 2250
And the stars are all put there on purpose
When I'm being carried on you… carried on...

There's an matter cloud forming round back of the building
And it might take us with, so let's - quick - raid the shelving
Take the keys take your wallet, a flashlight a lighter
Carry on, you

Are you sure
Because sure isn’t a word anymore
It’s a thing that people used to say
When everything was gonna be okay

Hello gorgeous
How’s your arm
I would get us breakfast in bed if it weren't for the alarms
So we might live longer, let's learn a martial art
Make our own bathwater, walk like we got armor on
The night light paints white satin on you in all my clothes
I’ll fetch you when you’re close

All the stoplights are changing, but no one’s awake yet
And it dawns on you well after dawn that it’s vacant
As relief turns to fear, and your tears taste your blanket,
How can I carry on

Are you sure
Because sure isn’t a word anymore
It’s a thing that people used to say
When everything was gonna be okay

Hello gorgeous
How’s your arm
I would get us breakfast in bed if it weren't for the alarms
So we might live longer, let's learn a martial art
Make our own bathwater, walk like we got armour on
The sunlight paints white satin on you in all my clothes
I’ll fetch you when you’re close


When the worst does its best
And I can’t catch my breath
O how many rooftops do we gotta leave behind
To carry on in this disaster they designed

Hello gorgeous (You got your way all those times)
How’s your arm (I held up the ladder you climbed)
I would get us breakfast in bed if it weren't for the alarms
(gather, puppets for this show we named life)
So we might live longer, let's learn a martial art
Make our own bathwater, walk like we got armour on
The night light paints white satin on you in all my clothes
(the race is never over)
I’ll fetch you when you’re close

It’s never over (never heard that shot fired)

-----

Claire backs away from the ledge, coughing, but not talking. They decide to follow the highway through the desert and to the oasis.

After they get some restless sleep, they pack everything they can and set off for the vacant exit ramp that twists toward the oasis. A sun, half glistening yellow and half machine, slowly rises above their heads, its oppressive rays bearing down on them.

As Theresa’s mind grows weaker from the heat, memories of her past leak back into her brain: an airstrike --- Earth was taken over, then further back --- to what life was before the Greenhouse, before dull achy holes where wires were, and before Claire --- and way before now, Theresa’s lips tried to say, too dry from the heat. She sees the foggy face again --- and Claire was right: that face, that fog, is from 2250. Eyes blink stinging from overuse --- “Put a tube down my throat,” Theresa petitions weakly through numb lips ---- as her eyes grow dryer she sees that face --- 2249 ---- she did --- Theresa watched New Years’ on TV with that face --- Big, candy numbers to announce that 2249 behind us --- 2250 --- Theresa wonders when when will the past is supposed to start, as the foggy face fills the dizzy void in her eyes and her tongue grows numb --- Twenty….do thfiteh … The star they sent has upstaged the Sun we underestimated --- then what? The face --- water, to carry memory --- without water the mind is left to grind against itself ---