BETTER SAFE THAN ZOMBIE

Epilogue | The Quarantine

Light filtered through the windows, blinding me with their sudden brightness.

A door burst open, and I heard sounds of someone shooting fire and the scream of a dozen zombies. A soft whirring of an engine cut through the noise of bodies thumping to the floor, and still I kept my eyes closed, hardly daring to believe it.

I heard the sound of chains breaking and hands patting me down.

"She's clear," a muffled voice announced.

I opened my eyes to see a mask peering down at me, his clothes looking vaguely like the uniform soldiers wear. Sure enough, along with the mask, he was wearing a helmet too. Was it even possible?

"This one's also clear," another muffled voice said, and again the sound of chains breaking. Warm arms suddenly engulfed me, and I met the familiar green eyes of Ethan Blake.

I smiled.

"We're unkillable, aren't we?" I murmured before the soldier separated me and Ethan. Now that I came back to my senses and can fully evaluate my surroundings, I realized that about fifteen soldiers milled in the room, all with guns cocked at our surroundings. The soldier holding me began to drag me away.

"Wait," I said, confused. "Where are we going?"

"Well, miss," the muffled voice replied, "We're going to take you both to the nearest quarantine."

***

[ A YEAR LATER ]

-

"Did you talk to your dad already?" I asked Ethan as he sat beside me in the cafeteria, ignoring the appreciative eyes of the many girls surrounding us.

Okay already, he's handsome, I thought, glaring at all the girls. Get over it.

"Yeah," Ethan replied, gulping down his soda. "Its always a hectic schedule over at the lab, you know, with all the zombies they've been curing. But I managed to corner him when he got home."

Dad hadn't explained the mechanics to me, but it seems they have managed to isolate and culture the virus in vitro. After that was a little more difficult, but they finally managed to create a drug that interfered with the virus' replication or something.

Of course, it simply didn't stop with that. I hadn't had the heart to listen to all of Dad's explanation, but apparently once the drug had been taken in by the infected and stopped the virus from spreading, it halts the person's deterioration into an even more zombie-like state. After that, they were injected with another systemic drug that contains chemicals which triggers the immune cells to destroy the host's already infected cells (and bypassing what was left of the other healthy cells).

There was a big disadvantage to the cure though. It couldn't heal the other zombies who had already progressed to the end stages of the disease. They had already mutated to something that wasn't even human--Dad had even hypothesized that maybe they had completely mutated into a new species. Of course, this was all basic speculation.

"Poor man," I said. "Just think of the mess that is going to be left behind for him to clean after you got your birthday wish: have a full-blast party and live to the fullest before the uncured and old zombies eat your guts."

He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. "So, are you coming?"

"Well," I teased, gesturing at all the girls secretly looking at him under their hair, "I don't know. A lot seemed to be secretly fantasizing about kissing you tonight. I don't want to get them too intimidated by my exquisite beauty and undeniable charms."

"Oh, and don't forget to include infinite modesty," Ethan said.

"Oh, yes," I sighed. "As the gifted Venus on this earth, who am I to break all of this mortals' heart in their conquest to conquer the heart of my mortal lover?"

Ethan grinned and grabbed our food. "C'mon, let's go outside to eat. There's enough paparazzi here to make me feel overwhelmed."

"Oh, they're just probably dazzled with my beauty," I said, waving a hand airily and grinning.

"Well, can't say I blame them. When they see how awesome, gorgeous, intelligent..."

I blushed.

"...your boyfriend is."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, smacking him on the chest. We slowly walked towards the exit, munching our lunch. I looked sideways at him. "If this is how you make your girlfriend feel special, no wonder you haven't got many. I don't know whether to believe if you DO love me anymore."

I meant it as a joke, but Ethan took it seriously. Pausing at the doorway, he tilted my chin with his fingers to make me meet his emerald eyes. He looked intense and serious. Uh-oh.

"Hazel, I love you," he said slowly, never looking away. "I love that your nose gets red when its cold outside, I love that you snore, I love that you smack me in the chest when I annoy you, I love that I can annoy you, I love that you're dauntless, I love your witty remarks and the fact that you have a short temper, I love that you're tactless and you have a hero complex sometimes. I love that you can be sometimes selfish, spoiled, and annoying. I love everything about you. Now, do you want me to get down on my knees and sing a ballad for you and all your gorgeous beauty? Well, hate to disappoint, but that'll never happen."

He took a deep breath. "I love you for your flaws, Hazel Williams, and I'll do anything for you just not that sappy shit. Besides the fact that it gives me goose bumps, a lot of guys already did that before me, and I don't want to be one of that many guys. I'm a different guy loving a different girl and I want our story to be unique and realistic, not some fairytale crap."

"Wow," I said. "Did you really just insult me and somehow made it into a love speech?"

He smiled and draped an arm around my waist. "Yes, and it was also spontaneous. So, are you coming?"

I grinned. "My dad said yes."

"Woohoo!" Ethan yelled, grinning. "We're going to rock this party, Haze. Oh, and get ready to get drunk. I also love the way you barf in the toilet after thirteen shots."

I rolled my eyes. "You're wacko, Ethan."

He smirked. "And so are you, girlfriend."

I laughed at his imitation of a homosexual voice. "Ever heard of the story when the girl accused her soul mate-to-be of being gay?" I asked.

Ethan laughed. "Ooh, that sounds interesting." He leaned in for a kiss. "Tell me."

I smiled. "But the prince has to kiss the princess first."

Ethan's hold on me tightened. "Consider that done."

***

Hazel's last tip: In man's struggle against the world, bet on the world. It's much bigger.

A/N: Finally. Its done. I edited it all (as if. It seems to me that no matter how hard I try to read every word, there's always going to be some misspelling and stuff. Grrr). Its complete. Thank God *relieved sigh*. Well, what do you think? If you have any critical suggestions, I'm happy to hear it :)) XO