“Oh my God,” he said.
“We’re alright,” I said as I got up. He wrapped me up in his arms.
He gave Lasa a hug as well and took the gun from her.
“Nice job kid,” He told her, and I saw her smile beam.
“What happened?” I asked.
“A bunch of zombies got in but…well, you just got to see it.”
Daniel led us to the room where the zombies were being held. There was about ten of them. The guards were able to round the rest up using the repellent.
“We’re on to something big.” Dr. Katou said.
Phoebe hugged me tight. “We’re going to be alright,” she said.
Daniel carried Lasa as we went to wash the zombie blood off me.
When I walked in our room, my phone began to ring. My phone was lying in the corner of the room where the zombie had thrown it. It surprisingly wasn’t broken.
I picked it up and saw that Cate was calling me back after the zombie had called her. I laughed through my tears as I hit the answer button.
Epilogue
Cate
I sat on the stairs outside our dorm and stared at my phone so long my eyes began to blur. I was convinced I had dreamed the whole thing. Not just the fact that I had spoken to my sister but the things she had told me.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that they were finding a cure and my sister was a part of it.
Also, I couldn’t believe she was pregnant. I knew she had wanted another baby for years. It all seemed so bittersweet. She told me a little about her fiancé, but the phone service gave out. The most important thing was that I knew she was safe. That was the most comforting thing.
Natalie came out of our room.
“You can come to bed you know,” she said.
“I’m just…” I said.
She came over and sat down next to me. “Yeah, I know. She really said there’s a cure?”
“They’re working on it, yeah. Something about her friend having a rare blood type and not turning.”
Natalie nodded, “Wow. That is so cool.”
I sighed. “It’ll be a long time before life goes back to normal.”
Natalie laughed, “Life is never going back to normal. There will just be a new and weird normal.”
“I’m going to have so much canned food in my house it’s not even funny.”
“I’m going to stock up on toilet paper and put a porta potty in my yard.”
We both laughed.
“Your sister is pregnant?”
I nodded, “And engaged.”
Natalie made a noise that sounded like a cross between a scoff and “hmm.”
“What?” I asked.
She shrugged, “It’s just your sister lost her husband…”
“Her cheating asshole of a husband.”
Natalie rolled her eyes, “Still her husband and her daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And she found love?”
“Natalie get to the point,” I stated.
“I’m just thinking maybe if we’re heading into a brave new world of cures and no more undead walking around, you’re going to have to not be so closed off from the world.”
“I like being closed off from the world,” I said defensively.
Natalie looked at me and shook her head. “I’m not judging. I’m closed off too. But we’re going to have to go through the painful process of healing. No better time than to start now.”
“How about we start in the morning?” I asked.
She smiled, “That will work I guess.”
We headed into our room. Natalie seemed to go to sleep pretty quickly.
I however stayed awake staring at the ceiling. I knew that Natalie was right.
It was crazy to think how Shelly had found a family. I knew she missed Jackie and would mourn that loss forever. But she had found love and not only had a baby on the way but had adopted a daughter. She had the family she longed for. It’s crazy how even through the worst of times, life still goes on. It still finds a way.
I was in awe of how Shelly kept living her life. She didn’t stop living because of the plague of the dead. In fact, she seemed to thrive.
Where I seemed to just stand still. I wasn’t dead but I wasn’t living. I was just surviving.
With this cure on the horizon, I realized we’re all getting a second chance. The plague of the dead may not be done, but it’s close to being over. But now it will be up to us what we do with the life that’s left. I hope to be better. I hope to do better. I hope that we learn to unite. That maybe after so much violence and grief, maybe the human race will be kinder.
We’re being given a second chance. I was being given a second chance. Regardless. It was a gift and it’s lucky. I hope to be more than just a survivor, I hope I learn to live.
