Yes, this is the last installment of Love 4 the Dead. I hope you enjoyed it, cus I know I loved writing it. Don't kill my buzz by flaming the ending. I'm so insanely happy with how I ended it.
INSANELY LONG EPILOGUE ALERT!
Epilogue
October 28th, 2012
"I have been working for three years on this antidote and now, I swear it's ready. I beg you, sir, let me test it on an infected. I'm confident that it will work."
I was still wearing my lab coat. I was standing in the office of the most important person in the country at the moment.
The military commander looked me over, seeing my pleading eyes. He was an old-fashioned man, but everyone swore he had a soft spot for me. He sighed. "Until you're sure you can mass produce this, I don't think you should start testing it on humans, getting people's hopes up."
I walked around, more animated than I had ever been in the past years. My eyes lit up at his challenge. "Oh, but sir that's the genius of it! With proper working it can be turned to an airborne antidote. I've tested it on every stage of the infection, from new contact to years of exposure. I've tested it with injection and inhaling. I have all the data backed up on millions of computers throughout the country. I've sent it to scientists in countries across the globe for safekeeping. It works!"
'What about the Special infected?"
I flinched slightly, "Well none of our subjects have developed special abilities. It may save them, or it may kill them. We're not really sure."
"Alright, we'll bring in a human subject for you to test on." Just then, the sound of helicopter blades echoed through the camp. We both ran outside.
I saw a sickly looking girl climb out of the chopper. They scanned her eyes and I saw the screen go red. "She's infected! Separate her!"
A man roughly pulled her from her family. They lined her against a wall and one raised a gun to her.
"STOP!" I yelled at the man. I roughly pushed him arms down just before he fired off a round.
I turned to the commander. "Sir, please let me test it now, I have it right here. Please, I can save her!"
He looked seriously at me and nodded. I rushed over to the crying girl. "Ma'am, I'm a scientist. I've been working on a cure to the Green flu. With your permission, I would like to test it on you."
The girl looked scared shitless, as I probably would have been too. She nodded weakly, coughing a bit of blood onto the ground.
I held her arm gingerly and pushed a syringe into her vein. She winced slightly as the foreign medicine rushed through her bloodstream.
"I estimate that the antidote will take about three hours to spread through your body. In about five, you will be mostly cured. Until then I'm going to have to keep you isolated."
She was shaking, "Th-thank you. But please. My name is Anna Greenwood. My father is Thomas Greenwood. If he's here p-please tell him I made it. Please!" She looked desperate. I nodded.
"I promise I will. But for now you need to rest." She willingly followed as I led her to the science facilities. Over the years, it had advanced from a large tent to an enormous building. The camps had advanced from fenced-in tents to large societies with constant military protection. Each was a city within itself. We traded with some occasionally, but for the most part we were self-sufficient.
Society had advanced to a point where money was no longer necessary. Everybody did their part to keep the world turning. Without incentive more than the satisfaction that they were putting the world back together. Piece by piece.
A familiar longing tugged at my heartstrings. I remembered my Devon out there. Pushing me back into the chopper seat, kissing me one last time...
I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed the memory away. I couldn't let my past continue to haunt me like this.
Well, that's not exactly true.
I couldn't really call Devon my past could I?
Not when I still had this ring around my finger.
I touched it delicately. It was so beautiful, even through the years of dirt and grime it had acquired.
I sighed and looked up as I heard someone call to me. It was the pilot who originally brought me here. I had bonded with him over the past years and we had become good friends.
He was smiling at me, he took my hand and started dragging me outside. "Zoey, there's something you need to see."
Devon POV
I watched in awe as Zoey ran up to the sick girl and injected her with something.
An antidote, she had said.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I smelled the sickness leaving her already.
I ran up to my pilot friend at the gate.
"I know, I saw too." He said smiling at me. "I'll go get her."
More tears streamed as my heart inflated with hope.
I heard the doors of the facility slide open and I felt like I could fly.
"What is it, Tom?"
It was her.
It was really her.
It was finally time to see her, after these long years of waiting.
She was giddy. After finding a working antidote, I didn't blame her. She looked to the gate where I was and stopped short. Her smile slowly melted and awe crossed her face.
She sees me. She remembers me!
She ran the rest of the way and grabbed at the chain-link fence separating us.
Tears dripped down her perfect face as she recognized me. "Devon?" she said in a small voice. She was trying hard not to choke up. "Oh, please tell me that's really you."
I answered her by sticking my hand through the fence and cupping her face in my hand. I gently removed a tear with my thumb.
"Zoey, he's here now because you have the antidote. He stayed away because he knew they wouldn't let him in. He knew they would probably just kill him."
She looked at him as though remembering he was still there.
She turned back to me gravely, "I don't know what it does to Special infected. It could kill you, Devon."
I stuck my arm out farther, desperate for her to understand. "Z-zo-Zoeeey" It was all I could muster from my decaying lips, my bloated tongue, my raspy throat.
She sniffled and a tear dropped from her beautiful face. "I won't, I can't take the risk of losing you, Devon. Not again. I can't lose you again."
She started backing away from me. I was appalled, how could she walk away knowing I remained like this?
"I'll come back to you, Devon. I swear I will." She turned and ran off, wiping away all traces of her tears.
Tom looked down at my hunched form. "She's going to the Commander. She's going to test it. I swear once she's sure you'll be safe you're the first one she'll use it on."
I nodded numbly and leapt away, back to the surrounding woods I had come to know so well.
ZOEY POV
"Please, let me test it on Special Infected, I have to know if it will work on them."
The commander stared me down, "How do you know that woman wasn't a Special Infected?"
I shook my head slightly, how many times did I have to tell him before it sunk in? "She wasn't showing any signs of Special blood. Each Special shows tell-tale signs early on after being infected, hours even." I shot off into my rant, talking quickly and impatiently, "Witches have elongated fingers turned to points at the tips and high body heat, Smokers have a serious cough and often find it hard to breathe, Jockeys backs hunch over and their voice becomes extremely high pitched, Chargers-"
"Alright!" He cut me off. "Enough, I get the point. What makes you think a Hunter would be the best first test subject?"
I was really going to have to sell this. I had my underlying reasons for testing Hunters first, but the commander couldn't know about that. I'd have to tell him about Devon.
"Our studies have shown that Hunters go through the least amount of mutation during the process, making them the most likely to change back normally. Right next to Witches. However, Witches are far more dangerous and with their body temperature so high any sedatives we give the will be quickly disposed of in their system."
He narrowed his eyes, extremely skeptical still. I resisted the urge to chew at my lower lip as I always did when I was nervous.
He let out a defeated sigh, "Alright, if it will further your research, I can have a team bring you a sedated Hunter by the end of the week.
My heart lit up and I smiled. "You won't regret this sir. This will be a huge step towards advancing the cure."
He nodded and turned back to his work, dismissing me.
I practically skipped back to my quarters.
October 31st, 2012
I stood next to the heavily sedated Hunter lying strapped to the table. The team of specialized military personnel had brought it in minutes earlier. Not it, him. I had to constantly remind myself that these infected were still people, not the monsters I had once thought they were.
He was rather muscular, as I assumed all infected were. He had ink marks indicating tattoos on his wrist and biceps, but his skin was too decayed to tell what they were besides smudges of ink. One of his sleeves had been cut off his jacket for easier access to a vein.
I filled the syringe with the greenish clear liquid antidote I had created. I took a deep breath and plunged it into the thing's vein, pushing until there was no more in the syringe. The Hunter let out a screech as it's heart rate rose dramatically from the unconsciousness it had just been in. It fought against the restraints as his heartbeat skyrocketed, going high above normal level.
Shit, I'm gonna lose him. I was glad I was alone, I was distraught at the mere thought of my antitode possibly killing Devon.
I pinned the Hunter's shoulders down as it's heart gave thundered on then stopped, giving out after its last moments of exertion. I was breathing hard.
Then, something amazing happened.
The decay rapidly fled from his limbs, showing his smoothed skin. There were bumps and slight discoloration along his arm, but on the whole he was returning back to the appearance of an uninfected individual.
My mind raced with the possibilities that could arise from this trial. It could lead our research in exactly the right direction. I silently thanked the commander for making video tapes of all our work in here mandatory.
I moved to unstrap the poor man when I noticed one of the tattoos he had on his wrist. It was a word, no a name with words over it, printed in old english lettering.
Love Always,
Zoey
I nearly choked when I read it. He had gotten it on his 21st birthday, a gift from me. I remembered the card I had written him with the present: For you. Love Always, Zoey.
I slapped back his hood, revealing two piercing green eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
I whimpered, "No." I shoved my face into his chest and started heaving, sobs wracking my body. "NO! Devon!"
How could I have done this to him? How could I do anything else without him? He had been my reason for going on. The hope that he remained out there, waiting for a cure I could bring him was the only thing driving me these hard, long years.
I walked to the cabinets, tears blurring my vision. I searched nearly blind though the one at my station. I found the gun assigned to me, kept hidden away in case I ever had to use it again.
Well, now the time had come.
I loaded the gun.
One bullet, that's all I would need.
I turned to face the small camera still recording.
"I'm sorry." I couldn't say anymore. There was nothing more to say. I couldn't think about the possibility that the fate of humanity was resting on my shoulders I couldn't think about the lives that would be lost due to my absence in finding the cure.
I could only think about Devon, lying cold and lifeless on the table before me.
I could only think about how I would do anything to feel his arms around me once more.
I sat on the stool and held Devon's hand, looking deep into those shallow lifeless eyes. I rested my head down on his shoulder and pointed the gun to my head.
"I love you."
I pulled the trigger, and I swear Devon's hand was right there with mine, bringing me to be reunited with him once again.
Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, subscribed to alerts, and/or favorited me and/or this story. You have no idea how good it feels to see all those messages for people liking your work.
So check out my other L4D story if you wish, Falling in love is such an easy thing to do. Zoey/Ellis, Romance/Drama, rated T (if you need help finding it ;D). Or you can look at my RENT one [Roger & Mark, Romance/Drama, rated T ;D] which nobody has reviewed (grumble).
