After wondering around the mountains for a little while, we moved on north to find a dirt road near the desert. We drove into the direction of Midgar, but after a while, our motorcycle ran out of gas. A kind truck driver stopped by and offered us a ride to Midgar, no questions asked. We didn't have much of a choice with miles of desert between us and Midgar, so I hopped onto the truck together with Zack and Cloud. During the ride, Zack began talking to Cloud, making jokes about finding a girlfriend for him or if he couldn't find him a girl, he would try to set him up with me. "I'm just kidding. You know I wouldn't do that to you." I smiled, but Cloud remained silent, "Sure, you wouldn't"
"Come on! You know I wouldn't do that, Kirana! We're friends, right?" I smiled and nodded as I looked up at him. "To the bitter end."
As we neared the truckers destination, he let us off of his truck and went his own way. We thanked him for the ride and decided to walk the rest of the journey. Midgar was just a few hours away from this point onward. But it seemed like our luck had finally run out. I panicked as I heard some helicopters flying overhead. "Zack! We need to hide!" Zack nodded and ran after me towards a nearby rock formation. "Gotcha." He sais as he sat down Cloud. The two of us began looking behind the rocks to see where the helicopters had landed. Shinra helicopters that is. I turned back around and let myself slide down to the ground and spoke quietly. "They found us..." Zack chuckled and ruffled Cloud's hair, after which he turned to me. "Listen to me Kirana. I'm going to attack them head on, that should give you and Cloud the opportunity to escape."I stared at him in disbelief, but saw he was being completely serious. "Are you insane? Zack, they will slaughter you without hesitation! Don't try to be the hero this time. Please?" Zack smiled at me and stood up. "No can do." As Zack walked away, I couldn't help but notice Cloud reaching out towards him, before losing consciousness once again. I groaned angrily and hid Cloud further behind the rock. "Damnit, Zack!" I whispered to myself as I stood back up to look at Zack. Zack walked over to meet the Shinra army with confidence and smiled as he spoke. "Boy oh boy. The price of freedom is steep." Zack drew out his Buster sword and held it to his face, like Angeal used to do, then took his combat stance. "Embrace your dreams. And whatever happens, protect your honor.. as Soldier! Come and get it!" Zack charged the army head on, and I couldn't take my eyes off of the battlefield. Zack killed almost every single infantryman he attacked with ease, but in the end the sheer amount of infantrymen overwelmed him. Zack kneltdown with his sword on the ground, and most of the army's infantryman headed back to their helicopters. One of the infantryman walked over to Zack, as he surprisingly enough stood back up again. As I saw most of the helicopters fly away, and wanted to go and help out Zack, but it seemed like he noticed me and shook his head in disapproval. But in the meantime, the infantryman was moving in on him, and there was anything he could do to defend himself. So eventually, the infantryman shot him point blank and leave him to die.
After I had made sure every single Shinra helicoper was gone, I stood up to walk towards Zack, but before I could take a single step I heard Cloud stir behind me. I turned to face him and saw that he had finally regained conciousness. "Cloud? Are you okay?" Cloud moaned and tried to stand up, holding onto the stone wall for support. I helped him and hung his arm over my shoulder for support. "Zack?" He asked quietly. I shook my head and started walking towards Zack. Once we reached Zack, I set Cloud down beside me and examined Zack's body. He looked even worse up close than I imagined. There was so much blood... I felt warm tears stream down my cheeks as the rain poured down upon us, just like it did back when Angeal had died. Cloud looked utterly mortified. "Zack..." He whispered quietly. Zack slowly turned to face Cloud as he tried to talk to him, and let out a gasp of pain once he tried to take a breath. I moved some hairs out of his face as he began to speak. "For.. all of us.." Cloud looked a tad confused as he repeated Zack's words softly. "All of us?"
"That's right.. You're gonna.."
"You're gonna..?" Zack placed his right hand on my knee and grabbed Clouds head with his left hand as he pulled him to his chest. "Live.. You'll be.. my living legacy." Once he spoke his words, both of his arms fell limply to the ground. Zack slowly turned to face me and pointed into the direction of his Buster sword. I quickly walked over and grabbed it before trying to hand it back to Zack. He weakly pushed it towards Cloud. "My honor, my dreams.. They're yours now.." As Cloud lay one hand on the swords hilt, Zack let it go. "I'm your.. living legacy …" Cloud repeated silently. At that Zack smiled and closed both of his eyes. "Zack?" I said quietly as I felt Zack's neck for a pulse, and shook my head. Zack was gone... Cloud let out a cry of pain before sinking into my arms. I hugged him close in an attempt to comfort him, but it was no use as my own tears kept streaming down my face as well. After a while, I looked up to the sky, and I could see the sky starting to clear up again. Cloud and I stared at each other for a small moment, before looking at Zack. I patted Zack's head and placed a kiss on his forehead, speaking to him one last time. "I guess you turned out to be the hero after all, huh?" I stood up and turned to face Cloud, helping him back up on his feet. Cloud stared at Zack one last time and whispered. "Thank you... I won't forget. Good night... Zack." Cloud weakly smiled at me and grabbed my left hand softly. Together we moved onwards, towards Midgar. Zack had sacrificed himself for us. Our freedom, and I will always remember him as the hero that he was.