The battle was over almost as soon as Ed had killed St. George, that was when the kids knew they had won. Wiping the blood on her shirt, Adelaide slowly made her way through the wreckage of what was left after the battle; bodies of both kids and grown-ups alike littered the ground, causing Adelaide to have to step over some of them.

Walking back towards Jordan's camp, Adelaide placed her sword back in its sheath and noticed Ed, giving him a gentle smile. "You did good, cap," she said once she was in front of him.

Ed smiled and shook his head, brushing off Adelaide's comment. "Adelaide, thank you."

Adelaide frowned, her eyebrow raising a little. "For what?"

"For saving me on the battlefield… and I'm sorry for what I said. You're not the savage I thought you were; you're still you, and I'm sure DogNut would be proud of you."

Adelaide nodded, her eyes filling with tears, but she didn't let them fall. "I'm sure Jack would be proud of you too, Ed."

"Listen, if you want to, you can stay… in North London, I mean."

Adelaide shook her head, smiling a little to herself as her tears almost completely faded. "Nah, you don't need me. You do just fine without me, Edward Carter."

"How'd you know my full name?"

"Seriously? You're asking me this now? Dude, our brothers were best friends… although, I'm pretty sure they were dating. Whatever, I knew about you, just couldn't be bothered to meet you. Plus, you were always away at school and I was either at school or at the rink so there wasn't really a good time. I never saw your face, so this whole time I never really figured that you were him, y'know?"

"Wait a second, Seb's your older brother?"

"Yup, Sebastian Milton – the most annoying brother and human being to ever walk the planet."

"It's funny you say that, Seb was a pretty cool guy. He'd play football with me and my friends sometimes."

"And you didn't take the opportunity to murder him? I'm not mad, Carter, just disappointed."

"Not my fault, Milton. Didn't know that was my mission… anyway, he talked about you a lot. Pretty sure one of my friends had a crush on you."

The pair laughed at that, Adelaide shaking her head a little to herself. It felt strange to talk about their lives before the sickness – it felt like a completely different existence, back when everything was easy, and everyone were normal and didn't have to fight wars.

Admittedly, Adelaide hadn't talked about her brother to anyone in over a year; not even Hayley or Clara knew he even existed. She wasn't embarrassed by him or anything, she just didn't want to talk about how her beloved older brother died right in front of her.

Adelaide looked down at her tattoo, her thumb running over every individual letter as she smiled a little to herself.

"What happens now?" Ed asked after a few moments of silence between the pair, turning his attention to her face before looking down at her tattoo.

Adelaide shook her head, bringing her head back up to face forward. "I don't know... I guess we rebuild." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked at Ed.

Ed was about to answer her when Kyle whispered something in his ear, inaudible to Adelaide, causing him to nod and look towards Adelaide. "Sorry, I have to-"

"You don't need to be sorry, Carter. You're their leader – you go save the world again, you know where to find me. Just shout, and I'll be there." Adelaide waved her hand and turned away from the pair, back towards her own group who were packing up their belongings.

The only member of the group who wasn't packing up was Harper, causing Adelaide to frown a little as she walked towards her. "Harper? It's time to go home."

Harper shook her head slowly, her eyes glassy and it was clear that she was trying hard not to cry. "I… er… I'm not going back."

"You're staying?"

Harper nodded, brushing a piece of hair away from her face. "Please don't be angry at me, Adelaide."

Adelaide didn't say anything as she hugged Harper tightly. Harper froze for a moment, not quite sure how to react to Adelaide's hug since nobody ever received a hug from Adelaide and if they did, it was rare. "South London will always be your home, Harper. I know I'm hard on you, but I want you to know that out of all the warriors, you were by far the most promising. If I could, I would've made you my second."

Harper hugged Adelaide back tightly, gripping her commander's shirt as tightly as she could as she forced back her tears, but a few fell down her cheeks, and she quickly brushed them away with the back of her hand.

Coming out of the hug, Adelaide gave a small smile. "Go on, the world won't wait forever."

Harper nodded again, picking up her crossbow and her backpack before setting off in the direction of the Houses of Parliament – the one place Adelaide secretly knew where she would go.

Adelaide walked through her camp and towards Jordan's part of the camp, she needed to say her goodbye before she returned to the south for the last time. She'd made a promise to herself that after the war was over, she would return to the south and she wouldn't come back – there was nothing for her, but everything changed as soon as she came back.

She found Jordan outside his tent, almost waiting for her. Adelaide looked over at Jordan for a moment, unsure of what to say before pressing her lips to his for the briefest moments and thrusting something into his hands, releasing him from her grasp and moving away from him mere seconds later. Jordan watched the back of Adelaide for a moment before looking down at his hands.

Glasses.

She'd found him the glasses he'd wanted all those months ago, although they might not be what he needed but she got them anyway.

Adelaide may have become the queen of South London and a commander of death; but she still had the heart of a loving girl. Through everything she had been through; losing her family, the love of her life and having everyone she knew abandon her – she still had the heart of a girl who was so innocent to the world. And that was why Jordan liked her so much, but he'd never tell her that. He would only say he respected her, nothing more and nothing less.

What would happen next would be up to them; they were in control of their lives for the first time in over a year. They were free to do whatever they wished, and Jordan wasn't going to waste any time in that freedom by doing nothing.

"Hey, Adelaide, wait up!"

~#~

Back in South London; the entire camp was celebrating their victory over the revenant – their commander had come back alive and victorious. A large bonfire had been lit in the centre of their camp and everyone was invited to join in the festivities and celebrations of London being free from the dead.

Adelaide laughed as she watched people dance around the large bonfire, clapping along to the music. Their music wasn't like the ones they had at the Natural History Museum or any other place in London for that matter, it was far more tribal. A deafening blend of drums, woodwind instruments and various other instruments they had either made themselves or what they salvaged from the burned ruins of their home. Since they had no real access to electricity, they had to make their own version of music.

"May I have this dance?" Jordan asked as he held his hand out to Adelaide. She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it and standing up. The pair smiled as Jordan's arm rested around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they walked through the crowd of people around the pair.

The pair danced together – a little clunky and not in time but they were having fun the whole time, and that's all that really mattered.

South London Crew's music, laughter and sounds of broken glasses echoed throughout the dark and empty streets of London, even reaching The Tower, just proving that the savages definitely threw the best parties. One thought went through the Tower Kids' minds as they watched the dark sky shine a bright orange from the large bonfire; They surely knew how to party.

END OF PART THREE...

Note

The story isn't quite over yet, lovelies! We've still got the epilogue to go! I hope you enjoyed the little scenes between Adelaide and Ed; I kind of wanted Adelaide to have a connection between Ed because they're so similar in many ways.

They both had older brothers who died from infection, both had to become leaders without wanting to be and both of them have done things that they both regret.

Until next time;

Lorna.