"How long has it been?" I glance over at Angel and ask.
She looks down at her watch and sighs. "Seventeen hours." Kyla, whose laying between her legs on the desk, sits up.
"Does this mean that you guys didn't create the cure?" She groans and lays back between Angels legs.
"Shut up, Ky! We did more than you." I retort quickly.
"Well at least I didn't make a pretend cure, get everyone's hopes up only to fail like the loser I am." Kyla quips.
"Go to hell." I reply as I feel Spencer shake with laughter beneath me. We're laying on a sleeping bag near the glass door on the other side of the lab. Waiting...
For what you may ask.
Well for these stupid zombie to wake the hell up so we can see if the cure actually works or not. We've all been in and out of this room all night, checking and hoping something changes...but nothing. He's been sleeping since Dr. Johnson startled him yesterday.
"Maybe he's playing sleep like Spencer did that time." Angel suggests, Spencer giggles. I lightly slap her on the arm.
"That was so not a funny thing to do Spencer." I whisper to my girlfriend.
"Yeah! Maybe he's doing that!" Aiden chimes in.
"No one asked you bubble butt." Kyla throws out to him.
"Why you so meaaaaan?" Aiden whines, folding his arms over his chest and pouting.
"Cause you're such an easy target." My sister replies quickly.
"Leave Aiden alone Ky." I tell her. She smacks her teeth and groans.
"Ashley!" Glen calls my name, the tone of his voice making me shoot upright. I move so quickly I make Spencer's head jerk forward awkwardly. I apologize quickly before standing to look at Glen. He's pointing to the man.
"Holy crap." I breathe out as I walk towards the man. I guess we were so caught up in waiting that we didn't even realize how much better he's looking. His pigmentation is completely back.
He looks...alive.
His eyes are open, which I'm assuming is the reason Glen just called my name like something was on fire.
"Sir?" I call out to him softly as I walk towards him. I don't want another episode like yesterday. I can not wait another seventeen hours. His eyes snap in my direction and I can tell his terrified right now.
"Ashley is he-" I cut Aiden off, lifting a hand. We can't all surround this guy, that would definitely scare him. I turn around and hold both my hands up, telling the five other teens to stop walking and just wait. Kyla groans and drops down to the floor, sitting Indian Style.
My sister the brat.
"Go get Dr. Johnson." I throw out, not caring who exactly leaves to get him, before turning back to the man. "Sir, I'm not gonna hurt you." I tell him softly. His eyes widen as he looks from me to the straps around his arms and feet. "Those are just for your safety." I tell him.
"And ours." I hear Aiden say. I roll my eyes at him before I lift a hand towards the strap on the man's right hand and he freaks out.
"Noooooo." He cries out, cringing away from me.
"He speaks." Spencer whispers.
"I just wanna take the straps off." I tell him calmly. He shakes with every step I take towards him. "Can I do that?" I ask him, holding up my hands to show him I don't mean any harm. He takes a moment to stare at me then nods once. I move closer to him and release the zip ties from around his wrist and ankles. His left hand shoots to his right wrist to rub it.
Very humanly action.
"What's your name?" Angel asks from behind me. I turn around to look at her. She just shrugs. I don't want to overload this man right now. He's been a freaking zombie for God knows how long. There's no telling what's going through his mind right now.
"Joseph." He answers in a deep voice. I turn back around to face him. He smacks his lips together and makes a funny face like he just ate something disgusting.
Boy if only he knew.
"Can we get you something to drink?" I ask him. He nods, and gives me a small smile. I turn around and see Spencer already leaving to get it. "If you don't mind me asking Joseph, what's the last thing you remember?"
He swallows thickly and scratches his head. Replaying the last moments he remembers in his head. "I was coming home from work, I was gonna pack up my family and get to one of those military bases for safety." He pauses and sighs as his hand shoots to his throat. He's probably unbearably thirsty. On cue Spencer comes in the room with a glass of water. I take it from her and hand it to the man. "Thank you." He says before gulping down the beverage. "Another please?" He questions, holding out the glass to me. I give him a small smile and nod, handing the glass to Spencer. She exits without protest.
"That's the last thing you remember? Going home from work?"
"No." He shakes his head.
"Do you know what happened to your family?" I question.
"They were taken, those things... they got them." He says, his voice laced with sadness.
"Do you remember being one of them?"
"No." He looks up at me. "Did I kill people?"
What the hell do I say to that?
"I...I'm not sure." I answer honestly. "We only found you yesterday."
"Oh." He nods as Spencer hands him another glass of water. He drinks this one down as quickly as the first.
"What'd I miss?" Dr. Johnson comes into the room with his hands laced together and a smile.
"He's awake but he doesn't remember anything after he was bitten." I tell Dr. Johnson.
"Fascinating." He says to me before turning to the man. "May I examine your arms and legs please?" He asks Joseph who turns to me. Almost as if he's asking me whether or not Dr. Johnson should be allowed to do it. I nod and he nods to Dr. Johnson. Dr. Johnson bends down and examines the mans legs before examining his arms. "No visible marks of any kind. No scars or lesions. Almost as if the serum cured everything he may a have ever had." Dr. Johnson says full of excitement.
I think back to what Eric said about the serum the government was creating. The one that started all this. Could my blood be the reason for this mans sudden flawlessness?
"I have a birth mark on my ankle, it's always been there and as clear as day." Joseph says. We all lean forward to look at his ankle as Dr. Johnson pulls down his sock.
"Nothing." Dr. Johnson says amazed. "It's all gone. Everything." He stands up. "And you say you don't remember anything after you were bitten?"
"No." He shakes his head.
"You think that's the same for everyone or..." I trail off.
"It could be." Dr. Johnson nods. "We won't know for sure until we test it out. Did you want to do the honors or should I?" He asks, turning to look at his granddaughter with a smile on his face.
I gulp a lemon as I tell him, "I'll do it." I nod, walking over to the table to grab a syringe. My throat is suddenly dry as I make my way over to Rebecca. I chance a glance at my girlfriend, hoping she isn't as nervous about this as I am. She gives me a reassuring smile and it gives me all the confidence I need to do this. I take a deep breath and stick the needle in Rebecca's arm. She chomps at me and growls as I push the needle into her arm. "You're gonna be fine Beccs." I whisper to her and smile. I step back watching as her eyes drift close.
It can be minutes, hours or days before she wakes up.
And there's no telling what she remembers. I just hope her last memory isn't one of me leaving her behind...
–
"Why are we doing this again?" Aiden asks, clenching the pole in his hand tighter.
I roll my eyes and sigh. "Now that we know the cure works, we have to cure all these people." I tell him for like the tenth time.
"Well I don't think this is such a great idea. Maybe we should try to find another way in." He suggests.
"Right." I nod sarcastically. "Do you suppose we go through this wall or that one?" I ask with a quirked brow. Spencer, Kyla and Angel giggle.
"I'm just saying." Aiden shrugs.
"Well just don't." Is my reply as we continue to move the stuff we used to barricade the basement door.
"Aiden's right. What if we can't handle all these zombies and they eat us? That would totally suck." Glen chimes in.
"Ashley and I can handle this if you guys wanna take off." Eric thumbs towards the stairs and the look on Glen and Aiden's face causes me to chuckle.
Still don't like him but he gets points for that.
"Shut up dude and help me with this." Aiden scoffs as he moves a table from in front of the door. Angel, Spencer, Kyla and Glen are all positioned behind the door to hold it shut once we begin this process.
I decided there was no way we were gonna be able to handle all the zombies at once so one or two at a time is what we decided on. Once they open the door we're gonna make a lot of noise to draw the zombies this way and let a couple come out before everyone stationed behind the door closes it. We only have about forty syringes so we probably won't get to everyone today but it'd be nice to get most of this done because we don't plan on staying here much longer.
"Ready?" I ask the four behind the door. They nod once and I ready my bow as they open the door.
Just in case.
Once the door is opened, Eric squeezes in first.
What?
He volunteered.
"Clear." He whispers and comes back out.
"We're gonna to make some noise." I tell the group.
POW POW POW
Three gunshots ring out and we all snap to cover our ears, turning our attention to Aiden who has his gun pointed towards the ceiling.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I ask him and he shrugs.
"What? You said make some noise."
"You could have killed someone you idiot." I snap.
"Oh don't be so dramatic, I pointed it upwards." He says as he holsters his gun.
"Look at the ceiling you moron." I tell him and he looks up. "Stainless steel, more sanitary than that other crap. They could have ricocheted!" I add.
"Oh." Is all he can say.
"Um guys." Eric says, pointing to the door. A couple zombies fall out trying to climb over each other.
"Close it, close it!" I tell the four holding the door and they do so quickly. Struggling to keep it closed.
"Huury!" Kyla yells as Eric races over to one of the zombies, grabbing it and dragging it by it's legs. I grab the other one and pull it towards the stairs. He tosses me a syringe. I catch it in my left hand and stick it in the zombies arm quickly. We then drag the zombies under the stairs to complete their transformation.
"Next." I tell them and they open the door to allow a couple more zombies to come out and we do it all over again. After twenty-two zombies we're tired and just want to go upstairs and lay down with our respective partners.
"Can we just finish this tomorrow?" Kyla whines, pushing on the door to keep it closed. Everyone mumbles in agreement.
"Yeah. Let's finish up tomorrow. Eric help me put this stuff back." I command, walking over to one of the tables.
"Shit, shit, shit." Falls from Glens mouth and I don't like the sound of it. He loses his grip on the door and even with the three girls holding it, it pops open. We all take off up the stairs the thirty or so zombies hot on our trail.
"Nice going, Glen." Spencer chides her brother.
"It was an accident, Spencer!" He snaps back.
"I have an idea." I tell the group. "On three let's run in and bring all the zombies in with us, then run around the level and lock them in until tomorrow."
"Good idea." Eric agrees.
Well no one asked you Eric.
When we get to the third level I open the door and everyone runs in, the zombies right behind us. We take our times, letting all the zombies catch up, making sure they're all inside before we speed up and lead them around the halls.
"Go faster fat head." Angel shouts to Eric as she almost runs into him. I hold in a laugh. We all make it to the other side and back around to the door before the zombies reach us. Eric and I shut the door and lock it. Everyone is breathing heavily as we lean against the wall, stairs and railing to try to catch our breath.
"Next time the strong people are holding the doors." Glen says out of breath.
"So you'd rather be the one sticking the zombies then?" I question with a raised brow.
"Right." He nod with narrowed eyes. "Better stick to holding doors." He nods and Aiden nods in agreement.
–
"Any change yet?" I ask Dr. Johnson as I walk into the lab. We all took showers after that mess downstairs then Spencer and I rested for a bit before she fell asleep.
"Nothing major." He shakes his head. "She's looking better though doesn't she?" He asks with a smile as I pull up a chair next to him and sit down.
I nod. "Do you think she's gonna remember?" I turn to him and asks.
"Depends on what you're referring to." He says, keeping his eyes on her.
"What happened that day. How she turned?"
"Hard to say. Joseph seemed to remember his final moments pretty vividly. But everyone is different, can't say for sure."
"I don't want the last thing she remembers to be me leaving her." I reply softly, dropping my head as I stare at the girl in front of me. The girl I once loved more than anything.
"There was nothing you could have done, I'm sure if you could have you would've." He turns and lifts my head, giving me a small smile. "Rebecca knew how much you loved her. She told me all the time. And she loved you. I'm sure that she can forgive you for whatever happened." He adds and gets up from his chair. "I'm gonna get dinner, did you want anything?" He asks and I just shake my head. "I'll be back shortly."
"Okay." I nod and turn back to look at Rebecca as I hear the door close. "I'm sorry for the way things happened Beccs. I really wish I could go back and change it. I would have saved you. I would have fought those things off. I love you, Beccs. If you can hear me, know that I love you and that I will always love you. I'm such a coward for not having the guts to say this when you wake up, but I'm not the same Ashley anymore. As much as I love you, I love Spencer so much. She's grown into my heart and I can't mess up with her again. I didn't like the feeling of not being with her. So I'm sorry." I lean forward and drop my head on her shoulder as the tears start to flow freely. I don't wanna hurt Rebecca, she doesn't deserve that.
A hand lands on my shoulder and a soft voice tells me, "It's okay. I understand." I shoot up quickly and stare down at my ex girlfriend. Eyes wide with bewilderment.
"You're awake." I breathe out. The soft smile that plays at her lips tells me she's back. That the Rebecca I knew and loved is here right now. That becoming a zombie changed nothing about her except her appearance and well... you know, her need to devour human flesh. "Beccs." I whisper, wrapping her up in a hug.
"Ashley you're squeezing the life out of me." She says and I pull back, tossing my head back in laughter at the irony of that statement.
"I've missed you!" I hug her again.
"Please release me. I'm sure I smell like night of the living dead." She jokes and I can't help but smile at her. I glance down at her hands and feet and realize her straps are gone.
Who did that?
"I think my granddad did it." She says softly, answering the question I only asked in my head. She was always so good at that. Reading my mind. She smacks her lips together, I'm guessing she's thirsty like the guy was. I run over and grab the two bottles of water I'm guessing Dr. Johnson brought in for her and hand them to her. "I remember hearing his voice right?" She asks as she opens the bottle of water and gulps it down. I nod.
"Beccs, do you um... do you remember anything?" I ask timidly. I'm not really sure what she's gonna remember but I'm hoping her last memory isn't of me leaving her.
"It's okay Ashley." She nods, opening up a new bottle of water. "I know what you're afraid of. You had to run, if you hadn't we would have both been zombies."
"Forever." I mumble.
"What do you mean?" She scrunches up her eyebrows.
"Well, my blood was kinda the cure. Mine and Spen-" I pause, scanning her face for a reaction to me almost saying Spencer's name. She doesn't even flinch. "Do you remember anything from while you were a zombie?" I ask, taking my bottom lip in between my teeth.
"Still the charmer I see." She smiles weakly, sitting back in the chair. I take the two empty bottles from her and sit them on the table next to me.
"I was never a charmer." I shake my head and smile.
"Sure as hell got me somehow." She jokes.
"You were easy." I retort. She lets out one quick laugh that quickly turns into a cough. "You need more water?" I stand quickly and asks.
"Mhm." She nods. "I feel like I haven't had anything to drink in years." She says grabbing her throat. "It's on fire." She adds.
"I'll be right back with your granddad and some water." I tell her and turn to leave.
"Ashley." She calls out to me softly, stopping me.
"Yeah?" I turn back to her and asks.
"I didn't like the show, by the way." She smirks and I narrow my eyes at her trying to figure out what she was talking about. My eyes go wide in realization. She has memories from when she was a zombie!
"You..." I trail off as she nods.
"I am so sorry Beccs, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay." She shakes her head and shrugs. I nod quickly and turn to leave again. "I'm happy that you're happy." She says softly. "But Ashley." She stops me again. "Tell her that if she hurts... I'm gonna have to kill her." I don't turn back around this time. Opting to just keep walking. A smile appears at my lips as I leave.
I can't believe Rebecca is back.
–
"Dr. Johnson." I say as I walk into the dinning area where everyone is sitting around having dinner. The look on my face must have given it away because before I can even get the sentence out he's running past me and down the hall.
"She's awake?" Spencer walks up to me and asks.
"Mhm." I nod, a small smile appears at her lips.
"Is she how you remember her?" She asks with a bit a sadness in her voice.
"Exactly the same." I nod. She drops her head and turns to look at the group, everyone laughing and talking amongst themselves. I smile as I scan everyone's happy faces.
It feels good to know that this is almost over. That soon things will go back to normal.
The new normal I guess.
"Spencer." I call to her, taking her hand in mine. I know she's uncertain about our future now that Rebecca's awake, but I need her to know that everything is gonna be exactly the same with us.
"Hmm?" She turns back to me and asks.
"Come with me to the roof?" I question, lacing our hands together.
She opens her mouth to speak but gets interrupted. "Ay yo Ash come join us in this celebratory dinner!" Aiden shouts to me. I look past him and make eye contact with the strangers that we picked up a few days back. They're smiling happily as they eat dinner along with my makeshift family.
"Later Aide. Right now I need some alone time with my girlfriend." I tell him and everyone in the room coo's at us.
Yes!
Even the adults!
Little Francisco points and laughs at us.
"You better watch it Francisco before I tell everyone about you and Jessica." I point a stern finger at him. He ducks his head before shaking it. Pretending to not have any clue what I'm talking about.
I'm pretty sure the adults will be keeping a better eye on those two from now on. "Come on." I tell my girlfriend, pulling her out of the room and up the stairs to the roof.
–
"So she remembers everything?" Spencer asks as we sit on the roof of the building, the light breeze cooling us from the hot sun.
"Yeah." I nod. "Even the little show we put on." I chuckle lightly.
"Crap." Spencer shakes her head in shame. "Well I'm glad that she's back. I know that you and her have a history and I get if-"
"Don't." I shake my head at my girlfriend. "Don't think for a second this changes anything Spencer. I love you. I already told Rebecca this. I'm not going anywhere with you, Spencer. You're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. You got it?" I bump shoulders with her and she nods and smiles.
"I love you too." She says as she lays her head down on my shoulder.
"Did Eric go check on the people from the basement."
"Yeah." She nods. "Only two are awake so far."
"What about the hostages?"
"They weren't really hostages now were they?" She asks, lifting her head up to look at me.
"No." I shake my head. "I guess not. What are they still doing here, did we not let them go?"
"Yeah Tim did actually, He gave them some of the serum and told them they were more than welcome to leave. Turns out they wanted to stay. Even after how mean you were to them." She chuckles.
"I was not mean!" I shriek in protest. "Rude maybe...but mean, no way!"
"Right okay, whatever you say." She counters.
"What about Joseph, how's he doing?"
"You sure do ask a lot of questions." She smirks before laying her head back down on my shoulder. I smile and kiss her on the forehead. "He took a shower, ate some food which he could hardly stomach, then went to sleep." She tells me.
"Maybe we should try feeding him ground up human bits for a while, you know, just until he can get back to the solid stuff." I say, trying to keep my voice as serious as possible. She looks up and scans my face. I try to keep my laughter in as long as possible but fail. "Kidding, kidding." I tell my girlfriend. She rolls her eyes at me and lays back down.
"Ashley." She says softly, linking her arms in mine.
"Hmm?" I mumble absentmindedly as I play with her fingers.
"What happens now?" She asks, her voice full of apprehension. I smile as she lifts her head to look at me. I glance at her then look out into the city. All the millions of people here and around the world that will need our help.
"Now we cure the world."
This is the last chapter. It was fun and I'm happy that you guys stuck with me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter