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His hand gripped at the soil, pulling himself upwards, revelling in the earth's warmth, heated by the sun. The sun! Holy shit, the sun! How long had it been since he’d felt sunlight on his skin? It couldn’t have been more than 24 hours, but it felt like years. Jason flopped onto his back, gasping in the fresh air like he’d been holding his breath for months. He just laid there, soaking in the warmth on his face. They'd made it. He and Salim had crawled out of hell after what seemed like an eternity. Not without a price, of course, but Jason wasn’t ready to process that just yet.
He heard the faint thud of a body hitting the ground next to him, and turned to his side to face the man who had saved his life more times than he could count. Their eyes met, and Salim smiled. Jason couldn’t help but take in every feature of the other man's face, now fully illuminated by the sunlight. He could tell Salim was doing the same. After a few moments, Jason let out a shaky laugh.
“We’re alive,” he breathed. Then louder, “Holy shit, we’re alive!” At once, he was hit with a wave of relief and joy at being there, right then, on the surface. Shaky laughs became more certain and soon they were both doubled over, laughing their fucking asses off, because holy shit, they made it out of that god damned pit alive.
At some point while they were laughing, they must have drifted closer, because Jason suddenly found himself just inches away from Salim. Seeing his smile, hearing his laugh, Jason decided, were things even better than being warmed by the sun. “God, i’m so happy, I could kiss you.” He blurted out, unable to stop himself. He had just a millisecond to register the shocked look on Salim’s face and think oh fuck before the sky above them began to darken. Jason felt a brief moment of panic wash over him at the blackening sky, before setting his face in determination, grabbing Salim’s hand, and making a mad dash for the shepherd's huts.
It was looking like there would be one final push, and by God, was Jason going to fight to make sure he and Salim would see the sun again.