They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes…

But what if your death is long and drawn out?

Do you get to see more of your life… is it more detailed?

The answer is yes.

But it's never been proven…

Because no one's ever survived death.

Until now.

DOOMDOOMDOOMDOOMDOOM

My eyes flew opened and I gulped greedily at the cool air that filled my vacant lungs.

I was alive.

I was fucking alive!

I sat up and looked around… everything came back to me.

I lifted my shirt up and removed the bloodied bandages.

All that was left of the deep, deadly gashes on my abdomen were three long, shallow, white scars.

There was no more blood, there was no more pain.

I stood up and walked over to one of the blank computer screens… afraid what I might see.

But I saw me… I wasn't turning into one of those demons… I was still me.

I looked to the screen on the left… we were still under quarantine…

That meant John and Sam were still here! I had to find them.

I jogged over to where the Kid's body lay… I grabbed his weapons and ammo…

"You were brave, kid… you did great." I said a prayer for him that Goat had taught me, then kissed his forehead. "Rest in peace, Kid… say hi to Goat for me." And I ran off in search of my friends.

I felt different… it was strange. I was hyper vigilant, aware of everything that was going on around me…

I never felt more alive in my entire life.

I heard something move to my right.

"John?" I called out as I moved towards it. "Sam!" I turned the corner…

Someone charged me with a knife… I popped one shot off, direct hit in the head… I kept going.

As I kept going, they kept coming. Some had changed completely, some still in their partial human form… but all were still evil.

No matter where I went, they were there. It was as if the fuckers were waiting for me…

They probably were… they were fucking scientists after all.

"John! Sam!" I kept calling as I made my way through the labyrinth of never ending hallways. I felt as if I was going in circles, but I kept going.

Bodies were everywhere: being ravaged by rats that gorged themselves on the flesh, eyes, and internal organs of the people who were unlucky enough to find themselves murdered, by the demons. I watched in disgust as one rat climbed out of a woman's mouth, only to enter back through her vacant eye socket, getting better access to her now useless brain.

Fuck.

I moved on, killing more and more of those fucking demons. Not once coming across an uninfected person… not once coming across Sam or John…

I was starting to fear the worst.

That I was alone here with only these demons to keep me company.

But no!

Gunfire!

I ran as fast as I could towards the sound, killing several more demons that got in my way.

It was right around the corner.

"Hold fire!" I yelled.

"Who the hell are you?" It was John's voice! "Come out." He ordered me.

I walked out into the hall, hands in the air and gun hanging at my side.

"Cowboy?" John asked, shock evident in his voice.

"Reaper." I sighed in relief as he lowered his gun.

"Aidan." He whispered as he ran over to me and hugged me as tight as he could.

"John." I mumbled into his shoulder. God, I had never been happier to see anyone in my entire life.

"You're alive." He whispered into my hair and kissed my head. "I thought I'd lost you."

I pulled back to look into his eyes.

This was getting too emotional for me…

I hated when things got fucking emotional.

"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did ya?" I joked. He didn't laugh, but did something I was totally unprepared for.

He kissed me!

He poured all his emotions into that single kiss; his fear, rage, grief, worry, relief, passion, and, dare I think it, love.

He pulled away after several seconds.

"Don't leave me ever again." He whispered with his forehead against mine.

"Not as long as you stay with me." I whispered back.

He pulled away and reality came crashing back down around us. There was an unspoken understanding that passed between us…

We had to find Sam.

Our guns at the ready, we moved on. We came up on the elevator doors.

LOCKDOWN 01:54

We had to find Sam before the lockdown was over. John and I looked to our right… there was a huge fucking hole in the steel wall… I looked to John for an explanation.

"Sarge." He growled. "He found that gun in the weapons room."

"The BFG." The memory of the schematics for the Bio Force Gun came back to me in a flash.

How in the fuck did he get that!

We moved along the hallway, guns going left and right, up and down, searching for any threat that might come our way.

There was something around the corner… it was Sam.

John ran over to her and checked for a pulse.

"Sam." He called to her.

"You're alive." She whispered to him, eyes closed.

"Shh. Don't talk."

"Reaper." I whispered as I pointed my gun at the worst of all the demons.

"Last man standing, Reaper." Sarge at the same time I said John's nickname.

He glared at Sarge. He knew as well as I… that wasn't Sarge.

"You're alive, too." Sam said to me as she lifted her head. I nodded, but kept my eyes trained on Sarge.

"I think she needs medical attention." Sarge was trying to act like a normal human…

Fuckturd.

John stood up and stepped next to me.

"Get her to the elevator." He whispered to me. I nodded… this was his fight.

I picked Sam up, and with one last look at Sarge and John, I left with Sam in my arms and whispered. "Come back to us," to John.

I carried Sam to the elevator doors and gently set her down.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked her.

"My leg… it's broken." She gasped in pain as I felt for the break. As my hands glided over her leg I was amazed at how sensitive my touch was. I could feel every tiny hair on her lower leg, every goose pimple, every old scar and every new scrape. I reached a bump that would be hard for all but the most practiced doctors to feel without causing her any excruciating pain. My finger tips glided over it and around it.

"It'll need to be set and cast, not much displacement, close to the ankle, still aligned. I don't think you'll need any surgery." I told her as I sat back on my haunches and grabbed a small flashlight I got off of the Kid.

"You sound like a doctor." She tipped her head back against the cool metal door of the elevator.

"Nah, I thought about it though…" I checked the responsiveness of her pupils. "You have a slight concussion." I clicked the light off and moved to sit next to her. "I went with my brother to the doctors once after he had broken his leg…I think I annoyed the doctor with all the fucking questions I asked though." She chuckled slightly.

"How do you know so much about medicine?" She asked. I knew she was just trying to stay conscious, so I humored her.

"Well, we were all given the basics in first aid during training… but I took a few courses in college and became a certified EMT."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I gave a bitter laugh. "The only thing in college I had the patience to finish."

"Why did you become a Marine?"

"I had dreamt about being in the military my entire life… Marines just seemed to fit." I shrugged.

"You're sound like John. He was so smart; he could have been anything he wanted to be. But he decided to become a Marine instead." She looked over at me. "Why?"

"I don't know… I just knew it was what I wanted to do." I shrugged again. "Didn't you feel the same about becoming a scientist?"

"Yeah, I guess I did." She looked up at the ceiling. "But John wanted to be just like dad, once. Until the accident."

"Well, I didn't plan on joining up right away either."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I planned on joining the ROTC and getting my degree first, then entering as an officer."

"What made you change your mind?" Her words were starting to slur.

"I got into a fight with my mom… a lot of fights. She wanted me to be something I didn't want to be, so..."

"You left."

"I left, and I never looked back." I laughed bitterly. "I had cut myself off from, not only my entire family, but all emotions as well, until I met Goat."

"Goat?"

"Yeah, he became a father to me." I smiled remembering… well, everything about him.

"Sorry." She breathed.

"'s okay." There was a lull in conversation for a while.

"Did you hear what he said?" She asked.

"Who said?"

"John. When you were… dieing."

"Don't leave me?" I ventured a guess. "I was the last one of the team left, besides him… that's all."

"He said that. But he also said he…" I stopped her.

"Shh." I told her, grabbing my weapon.

I heard something…

"What?" Sam asked. I put my hand up, signaling her to stay quiet.

"Here, take this." I handed her a hand gun. "The safety's off, so be careful." I stood up and pointed my gun towards the hallway.

A figure appeared…

It was…

"John!" Sam and I said at the same time. I let my gun fall to my side as he came over to us. He wrapped his strong arms around me and let out a sigh of relief.

So it was done.

He knelt down next to Sam.

"Are you okay?" He grabbed her face and looked into her eyes.

"Yeah, I have a broken leg and a slight concussion." She smiled over at me. "Or so I've been told." I slightly grinned at her and opened the elevator doors.

"Well, I think it's about time we get the fuck out of here." John nodded and cradled Sam in his arms as the three of us stepped into the elevator.

DOOMDOOMDOOMDOOMDOOM

We watched through the glass top roof as we made our ascent up into the world of the living.

I put my head down on John's unoccupied shoulder.

"Almost home." He said to Sam and me as he set his head down on top of mine.

The sun shone brightly, like a beacon telling us that our time in hell was over, and heaven was finally within our grasp.

Fin… almost.

2 weeks later

"Did you have weird dreams after you were injected with C24?" John asked me as we stood next to each other, drinking coffee. I couldn't help but notice how fucking good he looked in his blue-gray oversized sweatshirt and jeans. The smell of coffee, sage, and old-spice overwhelming my senses…

"Huh?" I asked dumbly, his words breaking me out of my stupor. He grinned; knowing what was attracting my attention… jerk.

"I said did C24 give you any weird dreams when you were first injected?"

"No." I said slowly… news to me. "Why?"

"I had a fucking crazy dream that you had turned into one of those things." He had this look of seriousness on his face.

"And…" I started, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer to my next question. "Did you… you know…" He raised his eyebrows at me. Damn sexy mother… "Kill me?"

He looked at his coffee. Took a sip of the bitter beverage, and then meet my eyes with his deep brown ones.

"Yes." He was solemn in his reply, like it was upsetting to him to remember what happened in that fucked-up dream.

I took a sip of my coffee and stared out across the vast landscape.

The sun was rising here in the desert. Everything seemed to have a pink tint to it. The eastern skyline was a mass array of colors, reds, blues, pinks, purples, oranges, all painting the mesas and hills in a color that can't be describe by mere words nor ever recreated. I breathed the cool, dry air in deeply, letting it refresh me, letting it awaken me more then a million cups of coffee could.

"Thank you." I whispered to John. No more words were said; he put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on the top of my head as we watched the sun rise up over the painted desert.

"So," I started, "what were you going to say, you know, when you thought I was dieing. I mean I heard the whole 'Don't leave me. I need you,' part. But what did you say after that?"

I felt his laugh as its deep rumble encased my entire body.

"I said I…"

Fin.

I have an idea for a sequel, or I could just post an epilogue. You pick! I had so much fun writing this, and I hope you all had as much fun reading it!

Hotarunokoishi: I'm sorry, does this make up for it, or do you still hate me? Hope you like this chapter and thank you for being such a faithful reviewer!

Vana: I'm proud of myself for making you speak in single word sentences. I was so sure about putting the fact that Reaper cried in there, but I thought it might be good to see him show a bit of emotion.

Hatedly, no, I don't think that's a word, but I guess it does fit! I just did that little twist to freak (and piss off?) the people who were reading this. I thought it would be fun… for me at least. Glad your hysterical side has a short attention span!

Thanks for reading this and for reviewing, I've really enjoyed hearing from you!

EnyoGraeae: (Pats on the back) See? Everything turned out alright. Don't we all wish we could comfort Reaper! But he did catch a break! I put the claws in stomach in his nightmare because it's sort of like him working through his emotional issues. I hoped you like this story and thanks for reviewing, I loved hearing from you!

Lamminator: Yeah, they had to recognize each other first or there wouldn't have been any emotions. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story; I've loved hearing from you!

To Arami, please don't use my other stories to beg for an update on the others. But I will tell you that I am having trouble writing that story and am not sure if I will be updating it any time soon. You will just have to stay patient, I am sorry.

Well, there's the end. I would like to take the time to thank everyone who read this story, even those who didn't review. I had fun writing this, and I hope you had fun reading this! Thank you all!

Until we meet again, I remain faithfully yours

Amanda.