Bang bang.
They shot them down.
Bang bang.
They hit the ground.
Bang bang.
They came relentlessly, with no fear and no humanity. Some were fast, some were strong. But none of them had mercy.
Their pistols rung out in unison, their machete and swords swung in harmony. With each strike came a body crashing to the ground. There were no misses. How could they miss when they were surrounded by so many.
Genji wished he could have held her hand, to lead her through and assure her that everything would be ok. But he couldn't even afford to look back at her. Not when he was too busy looking frantically around in front of him.
At last, they saw a light. A loud explosion in the distance drew away many of the zombies, leaving the pair with only those near enough to be attracted by the sound of their pistols.
One by one they fell, lifeless corpses that would finally remain lifeless. At last, they reached the edge of the forest that they had thought to be filled with living animals. At last, they were free from the nightmare that their group had found themselves in. It was only the two of them now.
"We made it. We made it Angela! I hope we didn't have to kill any of our members in all that. Let's hea- … Angela?"
There were no longer sounds of pistol fire. There were no longer hideous undead groans. When Genji turned around, he was met with a soft smile. A blood stained smile not from herself. The smile stained with the blood of those she killed.
She didn't bother wiping it off her face like she usually did. She didn't bother to look around carefully before doing anything else. She didn't need to. She simply stood there, giving him a soft smile. It didn't matter because her shirt was stained with blood too. It wasn't simply a splatter this time.
Her padded sleeves were torn with unmistakable teeth markings. It was stained dark red, much too dark for any zombie to have enough blood remaining to stain.
"I'm afraid, that isn't possible Genji."
What does a person say in this situation? He could only move forward instinctively, only wanting to hold her tight and lie to her. To tell her that everything would be alright. To tell her that they'll make it to the next safe haven. But she stepped away and held her hand outward to stop him. Directly backward into the shadow of that dark and unforgiving forest, over the empty clip of her pistol.
"I … Thank you for everything Genji. You gave me hope and happiness when there was none. I think my time was meant to come long ago had you not come to save me. Thank you for risking your life to save me, from both those zombies outside the apartment and from my own willful surrender to death."
She was still smiling at him, her eyes filled with tears. Genji's mouth was open, wanting to find the right words but tasting only the salty drops streaming down his cheeks
"I wish … I could hold you one more time. But I'm afraid I can't. The bite … it doesn't hurt anymore now. It can't be much longer before nothing feels anymore. So I'm sorry I can't hold you one last time. I'm sorry I never gave you that kiss you asked."
"I'm sorry I never got to properly tell you that I loved you."
Genji nodded and tried to muster a smile, wanting her to see him smile one last time. He forced himself to raise his pistol, his aim shaking even as he tried to look for her heart. Her arms were held wide open, an exposed target ready for an embrace. She leaned forward, smiling with his smile reflected behind her eyelids until the last second as the pistol rung out one last time, the bullet piercing both their hearts in different ways.
His weapons dropped to the ground as he rushed forward, catching the falling angel in his arms. He let out a scream of anguish, not caring whether zombies would hear him. He hugged her tightly, feeling the warmth leaking onto his chest. Clinging to her even as her body cooled all too quickly, everything he loved fading away in the light of the descending sun.
When he arrived at the safe haven with her in his arms, there were no questions. His gaze was only on her face, on the way that her golden hair still gracefully streamed across her forehead. On how peaceful her smile was even as they filled the hole with dirt.