9: Ghosts of the Past

The airplane landed in a Philadelphia covered in snow. Ellis had never before experienced such cold. Though both were wearing the winter coats his mother had given them before they left, Ellis shivered. Zoey briefly put her arms around him. She was more used to how cold it could get up North sometimes. Ellis told her he'd never been this cold, and he'd never seen so much snow.

Because the subway system in Philadelphia had not been fully restored yet, Ellis and Zoey had to take a bus to the city center, where her father's apartment still was. During the bus ride, Ellis began to notice that Zoey was breathing heavily, she couldn't be tired so it had to be something else. He pulled her close to him to let her know that he was there for her. It was clearly visible from the bus that parts of Philadelphia had been badly damaged during the period of the Green Flu. Fires had raged, wanton destruction likely caused by a combination of the zombie apocalypse and criminal elements who had temporarily gained a free hand. Order had been restored since.

"This is where I used to live", Zoey told Ellis. The apartment block they had arrived at was still standing, but it had been sealed. It was one of the apartment blocks condemned to destruction by the city authorities. "Are you OK, dear", Ellis asked her. "I'll be fine", Zoey said, but Ellis didn't believe her. Zoey held his hand tight and pulled him towards a black door. "But there's no one here", Ellis said to her. She rang the bell anyway and the door was opened. "But… it can't be… Zoey? Is that you? You're still alive!".

Ellis looked at the elderly man who obviously recognized his fiancée. "Ellis, this is the janitor of our apartment block", she said to him. "Is this your brother or something? I never knew you had a brother, I always thought you were an only child. I'm so sorry about your parents". Zoey told the janitor that Ellis wasn't her brother, but the man she was going to marry. "Zoey, you're breaking my heart", the janitor smiled at her. "Anyway, I gather you would want to get into your father's apartment. It's already been cleaned out, apart from some of your family's possessions that I was able to save before the cleanup crew came. I'll give them to you when you go. Here's the key. But be careful, the building is condemned. You're not insured if you go in."

Zoey gratefully took the key and led Ellis up several flights of stairs. Arriving at the apartment she sighed. "Zoey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to", Ellis said to her, holding her tightly against him. "I know Ellis, but I have to, I already told you this". The floorboards in the apartment creaked as the young pair entered the abandoned apartment. Zoey was audibly starting to sob as she looked around. Ellis held her hand and made sure she could see him the whole time. "This is where it happened", she said to him, choking in her tears as she pointed at the dried blood on the wall near the living room door. "After my father shot himself, I picked up the pistols and ran, and this is the first time I'm back". She cried and he held her head against his chest.

After a few minutes she led him towards what had been her room. Most of what had been there, was gone. There was one small picture still hanging in a corner. It was a picture that had reminded her of better times, of her parents' tenth wedding anniversary. There was a little girl in the picture, smiling between her parents. "I was just six years old", Zoey said. "This is the happiest memory I have. I can't believe the picture is still here. I want to take this with me, Ellis. I need a happy memory, because I can't leave this apartment just thinking of nothing but death like I did the last time I left". Ellis didn't know what to say and just pulled her close to him. She was still crying, but signaled to him she wanted to go. Ellis held her hand as they left the apartment. Zoey knew that she would never return.

Zoey and Ellis returned the key to the janitor. "You're likely the last people to get in the building", he said. "They're gonna pull it down soon, probably next week". The janitor also handed her a small suitcase, which contained some papers and small items that he had managed to save from the apartment. He had told her he had gone into every apartment doing this for every family, in case someone would come back. "One more thing, someone… now what was her name again… she came around here a couple of times, she asked about you. Oh yes, here it is". The janitor handed Zoey a piece of paper that contained a name and an address. "She claims to know you from university, the day before yesterday she told me she would return to her parents in Wisconsin, or something". Zoey and Ellis bade the janitor farewell.

As they walked towards the bus station, Ellis asked Zoey who had left that note. "It's Fiona, my dorm roommate from university. We always used to watch movies together. She left her address. I will write her when we get back to Savannah. She might the only one that I used to go around with that survived". Ellis felt sad for Zoey because he knew that she had been an only child, just like both her deceased parents.

"I've got another address, Ellis, another address we need to go to". Ellis remembered he had suggested they visit the Veteran's Administration office in Philadelphia. They had been walking for twenty minutes when Ellis saw a large building. It was Mercy Hospital, it seemed busy. "The Veteran's Administration office should be right around the corner", Zoey told him. They walked on to the Veteran's Administration office and the two of them entered the building. After about fifteen minutes they were called into a small room by an officer.

Zoey explained to the officer that she was looking for the family of William Overbeck, who had served in the Vietnam War, and who had stayed in the city for some time. "Yes we have this name in our records. But as far as we know, there's no family. Overbeck had no children". Zoey explained that Bill, as she referred to him, had helped her and two others escape from the city during the Green Flu. And that Bill had sacrificed himself to keep her and the two others safe. "All I can do is record your details, in case someone contacts us", the officer told them. Zoey felt dejected at hearing this but nevertheless she and Ellis left their details behind.

As they walked outside, Zoey cried again. "He saved me, and there's no way I can repay him or anyone for it", she sobbed. Ellis tried to comfort her, "If we just remember him in some way, I think that would already be something". "Thank you for being here with me, sweet Ellis. And yes we will remember him. This I will promise him right now, if he could hear us". She tightly grasped his hand and didn't let it go until they reached the hotel they had reserved a room in. Before they went to bed, she took his hands and looked him in the eyes. "I'm ready, Ellis, ready to go home. Ready for the rest of our lives". She fell asleep in his arms. Their plane would leave the next morning.

Ellis and Zoey returned to Savannah. Christmas and New Year's Day were low key events throughout the country and indeed most of the world. After some discussion with Ellis' mother the pair settled on the date for their wedding. It was to be March 19, a Friday. There were just over two months to go.

Ellis and Keith reopened the automobile repair shop that they now owned. Business was slow in the beginning, but started to pick up soon. Rochelle introduced Zoey to the director of the news station that she had worked for, and Zoey was able to start working as a production assistant. During lunch on her first day, Rochelle told Zoey that she had moved in with Francis, and that Francis and some of his biker buddies had formed a security force that would patrol deserted areas.

Rochelle explained that it was a dirty job, and potentially dangerous, so that's why the authorities agreed to let people like Francis do it. Many people with some sort of criminal record would be offered a fresh start and Francis was to be one of them. Also, Rochelle told Zoey that Louis had moved back North to take up a management level position at his old IT company and that Coach had left his old job as a football coach behind to open up his own restaurant, Coach Burger. Where Nick was, no one knew.

Time flew by and soon it was already March. Six days before their wedding Ellis and Zoey still shared a room in his mother's house. They would have their own place soon, but not before their wedding. The doorbell rang. Ellis went to open the door and a young woman was standing there. "Hi, I'm looking for Zoey, my dorm roommate". "You must be Fiona, then", Ellis said to her. Ellis let her in. Zoey sprang up and raced to embrace Fiona. "Zoey, you look so good, I never thought that I would see you again". "Fiona, I'm so happy to see you".

Zoey introduced Ellis as her fiancé. Fiona explained to Zoey that she had received Zoey's letter and the open invitation to come and see them in Savannah. "I can't believe you ended up here, and now you're getting married too", Fiona said. When Ellis briefly left the room Fiona whispered to Zoey that she was jealous of her, because Ellis was so handsome and seemed so sweet". "I do love him so much", Zoey said. "And he saved my life, in more than one way. It's almost like it is destiny". Zoey and Fiona embraced several times, and she was offered a room to stay until the wedding.

The evening before the wedding Keith came to pick Ellis up. Keith was to be Ellis' best man at the wedding. Zoey was going to stay the night with Ellis' mother and sister and her best friend Fiona. Ellis would spend the night at the house of Keith's parents along with Keith himself. Ellis' mother embraced her son and told him how proud she was of him. His sister gave him a big hug and joked that his last day as a free man was nearly over.

Ellis embraced Zoey and he had tears in his eyes. "I don't wanna leave you alone tonight, Zoey". "It will be all right Ellis, I won't be all by myself". "Tomorrow, my darling angel, I'm coming back for you. I wanna make you mine". "I know, sweet Ellis, tomorrow I will become yours forever". "I can still hardly believe it, Zoey, but I do know it is real, and I do love you so very much. I will dream of you tonight. And tomorrow, it will come true". "And I will dream of you, sweet Ellis, I love you too. Hold me". Ellis then looked her in the eyes and put his arms around her. He started kissing her. Minutes later, he got into Keith's car and Keith drove away. Zoey waved at him one last time and blew him a kiss with her hand.

She was sure her parents would have approved of Ellis, and Bill would have approved too. She realized that she finally felt closure. They would always be with her. Less than half an hour later, she was fast asleep, dreaming of her soon to be husband Ellis.