Trust Me

"Come on!" sounded 48's excited voice as she tugged the blindfolded Allen ever forward. She still refused to tell him exactly where she was taking him, but he followed anyway.

"Why are we going up a slope...?" he asked hesitantly, feeling the earth's shape shifting slowly upward as 48 continued pulling him ahead. Allen's worry began to grow a bit-- 48 always had odd ideas, and was often attracted by shiny things that could get her into trouble, or had no real value at all. She could be taking him up a mountain to find some pretty gold deposit or something silly like that; hopefully it didn't involve any cliffs.

"Don't you trust me?" she responded with a quiet giggle. "Just keep coming, and watch your step, there's a rock."

Despite 48's warning, Allen still managed to trip over the rock. With a gentle laugh, she pulled him to his feet and continued to drag him ever onward. Allen lifted his free hand to lightly tug at the cloth covering his optics, and was immediately slapped. "No peeking!" 48 sharply reminded, yanking him onward.

This continued for another few minutes, the ground continuing to slope higher. "Stop!" 48 called out. "Okay, guess where we are."

Allen took a moment to blindly gouge his surroundings. There was an upward draft coming from somewhere in front, and he'd noticed that instead of echoing, 48's voice had been yanked away by some unseen force. This made him finally come to the realization of where they were...

"The factory!?" he gasped, his expression horrified. 48 gave an exasperated sigh as she yanked him forward.

"No, you silly!" she smirked. At long last, she pulled the cloth away from Allen's optics and pointed outward:

The cliff fell away a few inches from where they stood, the world seeming so small beneath them. To the east, the stars were slowly beginning to show through daylight's weakening hold on the sky, and to the west, the brilliant dying sun cast its glow upon the earth, and upon the two ragdolls perched above.

"The Overlook..." he breathed, staring at the landscape before them. The ground far below was littered in ruins from the apocalypse so many years before, but in the setting sun's light, it all looked shockingly beautiful.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" 48 whispered, her breath also taken away by the fantastic look of their world. Allen nodded, pulling her close.

"Absolutely beautiful," he murmured, "but not quite as beautiful." He took another moment to look at her small, scarred form, the sun's rays also casting her in a pretty glow that seemed to accentuate her features, before kneeling down and placing a soft, gentle kiss on her lips.

--

I spent way too much time on this. XD But honestly, I love how it turned out. 8D

48 and art (c) =NightRunner42
Allen (c) ~TheEmptyOne
9 concepts (c) Shane Acker and Focus Features