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Whoever was using Peyton's phone had texted Ravi that they were taking Liv to the safe house. What if it actually was Peyton, Major thought, and everything they thought they knew was wrong? He didn't say as much to Ravi, who was grimly trying not to get his hopes up, but as they took a more circuitous route than usual to the safe house, he couldn't help but think how nice it would be if she was really there.
So Major was somewhat less surprised than Ravi was to walk into the safe house and see a zombiefied Peyton holding Liv as she wept.
Ravi stopped short, Major crashing into his back. "Peyton."
"Hey. I'm so—" But then it was her turn to stop short, as Major came around Ravi's side. A smile blossomed on Peyton's face, and she gently turned Liv around to face Major.
His name appeared on Liv's lips, but with no sound, and then his arms were open and she was in them, and he was holding her tight with no intention of ever letting go again, for any reason.
"Major. Oh, Major." She turned her face up to him and he kissed her.
At last there was a loud clearing of the throat behind them, and all four of them emerged from their embraces to see the kids standing there, looking embarrassed, amused, and nervous. "Yeah, um, sorry," said the oldest one, "but … we don't know what happens now."
"Do any of us?" Liv looked from Major to Ravi.
Ravi nodded. "Yeah. I, um, need to find some lab space to keep making the cure—I only had time for one dose, and I used it on Enzo."
"But they blew up the morgue." Liv winced, and then her face twisted. "Poor Michelle."
"I know." Major's hand closed on her shoulder. "We'll see what we can do to help her kid."
"Clive! Clive needs to know."
"It's in the plan." Ravi looked absolutely exhausted and overjoyed as he stood there with his arm around Peyton. "I finish making the cure; we get it to everyone in Seattle; we get my friend at the CDC to get started on the vaccine for the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Peyton goes to talk to Clive."
"And what do we do? Put us in, Coach."
Ravi shook his head at Major. "You two stay right here. As far as the world knows, the former commander of Fillmore Graves and the great Renegade are both dead. I—I think you need to stay that way. If you don't …" He sighed heavily, knowing what he was saying. "You'll never be safe."
"What about us?" the kid asked. "And everyone else who got scratched because it was the only way to live?"
"There's some chance the zombie virus overwhelms things like cancer cells—it may have potential as a cure. But other illnesses … well, I need to look into it more."
"And until then?"
"We need somewhere safe that we can keep you all indefinitely. It wouldn't do for the world to know that there are still zombies in it."
Major snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Zombie Island. It was supposed to hold hundreds of zombies, and Vivian Stoll had already started on the buildings. I don't know how much is finished, but I think there'll be enough."
"So we, what … we go into exile? Permanently?"
Liv was going to have a hard time with this, he could see—she had found a purpose as a zombie, a way to make a difference in the world. Leaving the world entirely, for someone as driven as she was, would be very difficult.
Major thought he'd be okay with it. Sure, he liked things like football games and bars, but mostly he just wanted peace. And raising a bunch of zombie kids who were never going to grow up wasn't that far from where he had started out.
"We can come up with something for you to do," Peyton assured her. "We'll find a way to stay in touch, and you can do research, or you can—"
"Stagnate."
"It won't be like that," Major promised her. "We can make it whatever we want."
"Except a life with our friends and the people we love."
"Except that." Ravi nodded. He held his arms out for Liv and she went into them and cried. Then Major hugged them both, and Peyton from the other side, and they all cried. Major wasn't ashamed to admit it. He doubted these would be the last tears any of them shed over the situation. But—they were all alive, and they were all together, and there would be a future, and that was more than they'd had yesterday.
The kid cleared his throat again. "Um … sorry. Again. But … how do we get to this island?"
Peyton grinned. "You know, Blaine had a lot of money. And a lot of stuff. What do you want to bet he had a helicopter, or a private plane? And, since I was basically his wife—sorry, honey," she said to Ravi, whose face had blackened into a scowl. "I get all his stuff."
"Wait, Blaine's dead?"
Liv nodded. "He and Don E will be spending eternity at the bottom of the well, with Brother Love."
Major felt a little bit sorry for Don E. He hadn't been a bad guy, all things considered, just greedy and impulsive.
"All right." Peyton took a deep breath, looking up at Ravi. "Let's get this show on the road. I'm still acting mayor, I think, so I should make a public appearance, and go check in on Clive. And you have work to do."
"So much work," Ravi agreed. "You'll all be okay here for a while?"
"Yeah," Major said. "Just—any chance we can go home and pack?"
"No, but Peyton and I will pack for you."
"Great. Thanks, guys." Liv closed her eyes and leaned against Major.
"We'll be here," he assured them, cradling her close.
The two of them left, and Major held Liv tight, reminding her that he was there, and he was alive, and so was she, even if they were both technically still dead, in more ways than one.