Yesterday's Gone: Season Six (51 page)

“None taken.” Will smiled, his eyes still on the burning ship.
 

Boricio had what he thought was a damned good idea. “Hey, can’t you all jump in the body of some fuckers here and live inside ‘em? There’s a lotta assholes out there wastin’ the skin they were born in.”

“No,” Will said, “we need to go. I feel The Void calling.”

“Well, fuck, we just got the gang back together, and you’re gonna leave?”

“I’ll miss you,” Luca said.

“I’ll miss you, too, kid. Come here, and give me a fucking hug.”

Boricio hugged the boy, surprised that the ghostly apparition had any substance. It felt like hugging someone under water. Not that Boricio had ever done that.
 

Strangled someone under water, maybe.

“I’m proud of you,” Will said, coming over and shaking Boricio’s hand.

Boricio wasn’t sure which version of Will this was, the old man on this world or the one on the other who’d adopted the other versions of Boricio and Luca. The Light said it was the one from this world.

The ground began to give way under the ship, causing seismic tremors in the land beneath them.

“Whoa,” Boricio said, jumping up, glad to find his knees steady after being healed by The Light.

Will and Luca stood, staring at the ship as it descended into a massive crater, kicking up dirt and rocks all around it.

Boricio saluted the sinking ship. “Sayonara, cocksucker.”
 

The ground continued to shake, and for a moment, Boricio thought the entire island might go under.

But then, as the last of the ship melted into the ground, everything stopped.

The ship’s dying gasps sputtered out.

Boricio approached the mound for one final look.

A hand appeared, pulling something from the hole. A dark hand belonging to an alien.

“Motherfucker.” Boricio’s fists tightened as he approached the thing fast.

He heard Luca and Will coming up fast behind him.

He reached the mound as the alien pulled itself over the crater’s lip. Boricio saw The Darkness, completely shed of its human form, clinging to life.

The alien looked up at the three of them and hissed, sharp teeth rattling in its wide mouth.
 

“What does it take to kill you fuckers?” Boricio asked, ready to finish it off with a stomp.

Will put his hand out in front of Boricio. “I don’t think you
can
kill the last of it.”

Boricio turned to the old man. “What?”

The alien hissed again and reached out a hand, trying to swipe at him, but it wasn’t close enough.

“Looks like it’s dying just fine,” Boricio said.

“Yes, but we can’t allow its soul to escape,” Luca said.
 

Boricio looked down at the alien and saw it was a bit different from the others. It didn’t have a hundred or so tiny lights under its skin. It had millions, moving fast, like sperm through a busted rubber, swirling in The Darkness.

Will looked at Boricio. “This is all that’s left of The Darkness. If you kill this creature, its soul will escape. It will return and reproduce, not stopping until
It’s
destroyed this planet and everything on it.”

Boricio felt like the bull’s eye of a cruel joke. “So, what the hell am I supposed to do? Lock it in a cage? Put up a sign:
Do Not Feed The Alien?
”

“No,” Will said. “You must do something else.”

Boricio didn’t like the conversation’s direction. “What are you talking about?”

Luca looked up at Boricio, hope in his eyes. “You need to absorb it.”

“What? The fuck I will!”

“We did all we could,” Will said. “The best we could to neutralize most of The Darkness. But this bit will not die. It cannot die. We can only hope to contain it.”

“You think I wanna be bodysnatched? I don’t fucking think so!”

“You’re the only one strong enough,” Luca said. “And you still have some of The Light inside you to keep The Darkness at bay.”

“No.” Boricio threw up his hands and turned away. “I didn’t sign up for this shit. It’s done. It’s over. I’m going back to find Mary and the others. I deserve my own Happily Ever After!”

Boricio started to walk away.

Will and Luca appeared in front of him.

He walked through them, pushing what was left of their bodies out of his way.

Will pleaded behind him. “If you don’t do this, The Darkness will return.”

Boricio spun on the old man. “What’s the difference? If I put it in me, and let’s say for shits and giggles I can somehow contain El Feo, what happens when I die? It’s just gonna get out and do whatever the hell it
wants, anyway.”

“No,” Will said, putting a hand on Luca’s chest. “That’s the thing. You will live for a long, long time.”

Boricio looked back at the pit to make sure the alien wasn’t slipping out of its shell as they spoke. It was struggling, trying to stand. Not yet a threat.

Boricio turned to Will. “So, what, I’m Methuselah?”

“You will live long enough to keep it from ever harming anyone.”

Boricio shook his head. “I know this might come as a surprise to you, but I kinda like myself after Boy Wonder here fixed me. How do I know this thing won’t turn me back? Won’t this only make me worse?”

“You are strong enough to fight it,” Luca said. “I believe in you.”

Boricio laughed. “First time someone believes in me, and it’s ‘cuz they want me to take one for the team. Take a hard one, too. I mean, shit, if I do this, I can’t ever be around Mary and them, right? How can I trust that it won’t try and kill them? It seemed to have quite the hard-on for Mary and her little lamb.”

Will met Boricio’s eyes. “I don’t think you should be around any of them. Don’t allow The Darkness strength to gather.”
 

Boricio scowled. “
Bullshit
.”

Luca said, “You love them, don’t you?”

Boricio stared at the alien, tears stinging his eyes. He never would’ve guessed how much this could hurt — the very idea of never seeing Mary or Paola was a sharp blade through his tender heart.

“Yes, of course I do. And I hate you for making me love them. Shit was easier before you forced me to give a fuck.”

“Sorry.” Luca looked down at the ground.

“It’s okay,” Boricio said with a deep sigh.

“So, what happens if I do this? Is there any danger it’s gonna jump in the driver’s seat and take over, like it did with the other me?”

“No,” Will said. “The Light is too strong. It might fight you over time to try and wrest control, but I have faith you’ll be able to fight it. You’ve already come back from so much.”

Boricio looked out over the mainland. He could feel Mary and his friends, too far to see.

“Can’t I at least say goodbye?” Boricio asked.

The alien gasped, choking as it fell back to the ground.

“Looks like it’s dying,” Will said. “I’m sorry, Boricio. If you’re gonna do this, you need to do it now. Kill the alien, then suck his soul into your mouth.”

Boricio looked at the mainland then back at the alien.

“Fuck it,” he said. “Let’s do this.”

**

Eight months later …

Washington State

Boricio stood along the mountain ridge, training his binoculars down at the wedding taking place in the valley behind the church.

“Well, looks like Brent finally found his nuts,” he said, staring down at Teagan’s swollen belly.

Mary and Paola stood behind Teagan, wearing the ugliest fucking bridesmaid dresses Boricio had ever seen — orange as a rotten tangerine.
 

Boricio laughed.
 

Despite the ugly dress, Mary couldn’t have looked more beautiful. His heart ached at the sight, the first time he’d seen her since The Island.

He longed to descend the mountain.
 

“Go ahead,” The Darkness whispered in his ear. “Let’s go.”

“Fuck you,” Boricio said.

Living with The Darkness inside his head, seeing his every thought, was tough to get used to at first. But in time, Boricio mastered his ability to shut it down. It was like throwing an unruly child into a locked room. They could scream and cry all they wanted, but Boricio held the key, and he wasn’t giving in.

Of course that didn’t stop The Darkness from trying to woo him, pretend they were long-lost friends, lure him back into killing. And while Boricio wasn’t averse to killing fuckers who deserved it — he wasn’t about to give in and go back to his old ways. The Darkness would find a way to take over if he did. But even if that weren’t the case, Boricio didn’t ever want to hurt an innocent again. Fortunately, the world didn’t have many innocents left. And he could keep killing bad fuckers who deserved to be killed.

In a way, Boricio enjoyed having The Darkness where he could watch it, keep it under lock and key, knowing it would never get out and hurt the people he loved.

He watched Mary, again wishing he could go down and see her.

She suddenly looked up, toward his spot on the mountain. There was no way Mary could see him, especially with the sun at his back, but for a long moment it felt like she could.

“I love you” he said, even if his Miss Mary couldn’t hear him.

He had to go. It was too much, and if Boricio didn’t leave, he’d lose his willpower, head down, and crash the wedding.

He left the woods and sent a thought to the only other person who knew he wasn’t dead.

“Thank you for letting me see this, Emily.”

You’re welcome,
she thought back.

“I’ll see you all around. Watch over them, will ya?”

You know it. Bye, Boricio.

“Bye.”

Boricio kept walking until he found the road winding through the valley below and back up toward mountains. He looked north and south, unsure where to go.

The Darkness asked in his head, “Where are we going?”

Boricio reached into his pocket, found a quarter, and flipped it.

“Wherever the road takes us.”

THE END

AUTHORS’
NOTE

Hello, Dear Reader.
 

If you’re one of those people who jumps to the Authors’
Note BEFORE reading the book, turn back now. We’re gonna get into some serious spoiler territory!

Last chance!

OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way, on with the final
Yesterday’s Gone
Authors’ Note.

First of all — thank you!

We’re so honored (and humbled) that you’ve joined us on this journey through six seasons, thirty six episodes, and more than 750,000 words. A journey that began back in 2011 with two writers trying to figure out this whole “serialized fiction”
thing with barely a clue what we were doing. All we knew for certain was that we wanted to write serials —
wanted to write the kind of things we enjoyed watching on TV.

There is no way we could’ve pulled off six seasons of Yesterday’s Gone without YOU! Your support, reviews, email, and messages have shown us how connected you are to this series, and for YOU, we wanted to make sure we delivered the BEST series finale we could possibly write.

GOING OUT ON TOP

Whenever a series (whether it be books, TV shows, or movies) gains a certain amount of popularity, the countdown to expiration begins.

When will the series end?

How will it end?

Will it overstay its welcome (or Jump the Shark)?
 

One of the toughest decisions a creator can make is how and when to end a series. You don’t want to go on too long (I’m looking at you,
Dexter —
you could’ve finished with Season Four, dropped the mic and been remembered as the BEST show ever!). Going on too long leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths, polluting the memory of a beloved franchise and its characters.
 

You also don’t want to end too early, when your fans are still clamoring for more of the magic to continue or there’s still so much left to explore (most great BBC shows —
why must you all end so prematurely?).

For me (Dave), the measure of when to end a series is simple. I ask: are there still mysteries to explore? When the mystery leaves, the magic is gone. It’s one of the reasons I think a lot of shows overstay their welcome. We’ve seen it all, and now you’re just moving pieces around a chessboard.
 

We never want any of our series to feel like that.

There must be a compelling mystery or great character developments to drive the story. We aim for
both
, by the way!

Originally, my plan was to end
Yesterday’s Gone
at Season Three. But somewhere along the way, I realized there was no way to do what we wanted with the characters in such a short amount of time. So we decided on six. It was a nice even number, and it allowed us to really explore the story the way we wanted to — in a story told over two trilogies.
 

Part of the reason we wanted to go six seasons was because we’d barely scratched the surface of Boricio by Season Three. We knew early on that Boricio was more than his beginnings.