1992, in a small, unknown village inside a shed, 8.56 PM

⁞

For reading books, watching shows and movies, having it repeating constantly in his head – Natsu Dragneel should have been ready for this.

He saw it coming. He had time to prepare. The weapons, the traps, all the different sorts of clever ideas that he had thought out. How could he be so foolish? So dumb?

Hearing the buzzing, sort of rasping noise from outside made him squirm. He was done for it.

At the moment, he was inside a run-down barn, curled up into a ball in fear. Outside was probably one or two zombies or so, and he had lost his Double-Action revolver along the way to his current hiding spot. He was left with one knife, but he was no good with stabbing the corpses because of the fact that he had to aim for their heads. It was kind of tricky when he actually had to grab a hold of the rotting body and jab it in the face. When he had his gun, he could shoot them and most likely brain got damaged at the first or second shot.

But now he had that darn cutter, and that darn cutter only.

And for the fist time in years, he felt afraid of the living dead. A profound feeling of fright struck him right in the heart and he had to bite down on his lip to keep his somewhat pathetic feelings in check. Was this his end? Was this the end of Natsu Dragneel?

He did not dare to think any further and just swallowed hard, he had to deal with it. Accept his fate.

Or else, he would spend his last moment on earth insane.

When the G.Z.A. (The Great Zombie Apocalypse) came, Natsu was sure of himself. He was certain that he, the boy who had a weird fetish for zombie-chicks, loved watching movies until late at night would make it through and hopefully not be the only one to survive. Drooling over stitches and rotting flesh, gory wounds. Man, he loved that stuff.

When the dumb bimbo in the beginning of the movie screamed with a high pitched feminine voice as black blood squirted into her face. Cliché films where the badass characters turned every living dead into actual lost corpses, shooting them in the brain and in the end finally finding an uninhabited island to live out the rest of their life. And then, in the very end, scaring the viewers by making a fucker sneak up on the hero, only to mess with the relieved fan. Yeah, that was pretty much how most of them went down.

But, now. Oh bloody hell. Now he knew he had overestimated himself, he was doomed. So, so, sooo fucking doomed. This was no horror movie, this was actual life.

The words of his dear friend repeated in his head. Those movies will do you no good, Natsu.

Oh Lisanna, she was right.

Just like she'd always been.

That sweat smile of hers when Natsu did something crazy. Her flimsy hand she covered her eyes with during the bloodiest scenes when he had talked her into spending some "bonding time" with him. Oh man, she was not into those movies. Now that he thought about it, he actually felt bad about pushing her to give them a chance. She had given him and his stupid movies way too many chances, yet she always tended to bear with him. Again and again. That made a feeling of appreciation swell in his chest and he had to gnaw on his knuckles to keep the tears from falling. Natsu wondered where she were- If she even were…

* Slap *

No.

His own palm left a stinging light red mark on his cheek. He deserved that. She was a strong girl. Doubting in his friend's ability to survive. No way, he knew her better than that. She could make it through this, the chances even bigger with her strapping big brother.

And her big sister. Her slightly maniacal and masculine sister, no less. Actually, when he though about it she even seemed stronger than her big brother.

The sound of the undead came closer and closer by the minute and the only thing he could do was hold his breath. Waiting for his in all likelihood grisly death. His fatality, the very end of his lifespan. Funny how he just turned eighteen.

But then his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Even if he survived, what was the point? If he did, then would he dedicate the rest of his youth to study for becoming a cop, serving justice – just like his old man. Then what?

He'd rather be eaten by a bunch of zombies.

"Nhghn..." He groaned and clenched his teeth hard. A droplet of sweat made its way down his temple until it reached and slicked his left eyebrow. Sweaty hands and thoughts about how he appreciated everything life given him in the last minute.

Maybe it was someone he knew that would come and eat his brains. Maybe someone he held very dear to his heart. His family.

Wendy, Lisanna, Cana, Elfman. Heck, even Gray.

Igneel.

Dad.

"Thank you, old beard guy in heaven." He almost giggled at himself like a girl for his own silliness.

The ripping of plank was heard from behind and Natsu did not even feel like watching the one he was about to get eaten by. Maybe it was some old gross person. A pervert.

He did not feel like knowing.

Harsh breathing and the sound of slow clapping shoes reached his ears and Natsu swallowed hard. This was it. This was his end.

His body was tense and his breath got stuck in his throat. Funny how the sight of an old wooden ceiling would be the last thing he saw before he died.

"I… gaahhh…-!" He snapped his head back when a feminine voice was heard and he saw her. Clutching her head with her hands, her blond hair almost getting ripped off her head by her dangerous force. Underneath her eyes were smudged back and she wore a long, ragged dress.

"Oi! You're… You okay?!" He rushed up to her and held a palm against her bare shoulder, only to yelp when she shrugged back. Brown, mysterious eyes darted downwards.

"Don't touch.. me.. Or you'll…-" She removed her hands and looked up at him. "Get this..."

He almost stumbled upon her in fear.

The pale arm who were stretched out before him seemed perfectly fine. That was, until he spotted the nasty penny-sized bite mark on the flesh of her upper arm. The area around the wound, about a half an inch spread, had darkened somewhat and he realized that he hadn't teared his eyes away.

"Your arm..."

Because of her being sane for the most part, he did not feel as afraid as he should have been. Natsu found himself staring at her wound intensely and snapped out of it as he saw the terrified look in her eyes.

"I'm a… I'm a… I'm a monster… I'll soon be like..." She got down onto the cracked stone floor covering her face with her hands. "What was God's intention when he chose to massacre us like this?!"

Natsu stared at the girl below him. She clutched onto the cracked floor as though her life depended on it and looked like she was about to break down in tears any second.

"Oh fuck..-" He got down on his knees and reached out to touch her only to have her recoil once more.

"I said stay away!" She looked at him again and scowled. "And don't say such words in my presence, rinse your mouth!"

He stared at her with his mouth agape. Did she seriously lecture him when she was at the verge of her own death?

"I have devoted most of my life into trusting the Lord and I can't accept such indecent speech on my watch."

Oh, right. So that was it.

She was a lady at the verge on her death, but also a lady with faith in Jesus. Well, what did it matter?

"How the heck can you think about that stuff now?!" He grabbed a hold of her wrist and yanked her forward so that he could look her straight in the eye. "How can you still remain reachable?! You were bitten by a zombie just now, weren't you?"

Her face was merely an inch away from his and she gasped at the close proximity. And so she avoided his gaze by turning her head sidewards. He understood by the soulful expression crossing her features that she was aware of her fate. Her grim fate.

Oh hell, he was not the best with words. If he messed this up she would surely snap and eat his brains or something.

Like he would allow his pitiful ass to screw this up.

"Hey, you? Hey?" He released her and tapped gently at the angle of her chin to gain her attention once more. She flinched from the sudden contact but this time she did not scoot away from him.

"As long as there is life, there's hope."

The girl was still for a moment and stared at the ground. And suddenly she looked up at him with hopeful, tear filled eyes.

"Yes. You are right." He smiled gently at her and cautiously supported her to sit upright. A tear rolled down her chin in a straight line and she let out an embarrassed laugh. Quickly she wiped it away and stood up on trembling legs.

Natsu wondered how long ago she had been bitten. From the looks of it, it had only passed a short period of time since she was infected.

"I… My father hired some men who were specified with this certain subject. I believe he told me before about their theory of how the virus worked. If I'm not mistaken, the curse spread throughout the body by the blood." She kept a straight face as she spoke with a stern voice.

Natsu nodded with his heart beating wildly in his chest. In any normal situation, he would tease her for calling it a curse. But she had information? Maybe this girl could be of use to him.

"And because I am aware of my significance, I will do something drastic to save my own life." She had slumped down on the ground on her rump and was lifting the hem of her dress so that he could see her naked legs. At this he covered up his eyes and his cheeks turned somewhat red.

"What are you doing?! And don't strip when there's a guy right next to you!" he peered at her through a gap between his fingers and furrowed his brows. It appeared that she had gripped something under the cloth and she was pulling it out at a slow pace.

"I recommend you not to look now."

And so the following thirty seconds that passed seemed to go in slow motion. She held a dagger in her left hand, trying not to shake as she sliced a hole in her skin and brawn. She clenched her jaw as she cut off pieces of the infected flesh she had missed. Blood ran down her wrist as she suffocated a cry. And Natsu was paralyzed in shock. Why? Why would she harm her own body when they were in such a critical situation?

But then realization hit him. Of course. She had to get rid of the source before the disease spread to her heart and pumped blood to the rest of her system.

A mewl escaped her lips and she stared right into his eyes. An originally blond strand of hair now mucky hung down over her eye and he realized that he did not know a thing about the girl. He did barely even know what she looked like from all the dirt and filth on her body. How she laughed when she sat in front of the television on a Saturday night with her friends, talking about everyday life things.

And now. She held a hand over the gushing wound for pressure. It was clear that she was suffering, great agony written upon her face.

"Could you… gah, could.. please..." The girl swallowed hard before speaking again. "Rip my dress..? A bandage please?" She lifted her elbows so that he could reach the cloth.

Natsu was roused by her request and began to crawl towards her. He stared down at the article and her trembling legs. How would he go about this?

He unzipped his leather 8-ball jacket and reached for the knife. He had it secured in an inner pocket. Because of his trembling fingers, he happened to cut the tip of his thumb on it and an intense chill ran down his spine and left him in shock.

It hurt like hell. Just that small graze and he was feeling sorry for himself.

"Oh, man."

He lifted the cloth up and did not even have the time to look at her bare legs this time. He just sliced the fabric and teared it away from her dress. Folding it in half he asked her to remove her bloodstained palm so that he could wrap it up. She did as he commanded and let go of the flesh wound and he began to envelop it.

"What is your name?"

Natsu looked up at her as he tied the whole thing up. Examining his work one last time he stood up and reached out his hand.

"Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." She mustered up a smile and nodded firmly. "And you?"

"Lucy Ashly. It is a pleasure meeting you, Natsu."

…

Do not worry, this is not a crossover people. I only adore Earthland NaLu and Edolas NaLu when they are together with the real deal.

Feel free to ask questions if I've forgotten to mention something :) I will, however, not spoil things that I would consider important for the "flourishing". ;) x

- Vivi