Page 15 of The Last of Love

Fleur searched Lena’s eyes, a flicker of hope mingling with her fear. “You really believe that? How can anyone be sure of anything?”

“Absolutely, I believe it,” Lena replied, determination hardening in her voice. “But you need to be honest with me. I can’t protect what I don’t understand.”

Fleur took a deep breath, the tension in her shoulders easing just slightly. “Okay. Some labs were preying on desperate survivors like us. They’d promise refuge, safety… but it was all a lie.”

Lena frowned. “What do you mean?”

Fleur hesitated, then continued, “One lab would actually turn people into zombies just to conduct tests on them. Can you imagine? They’d take someone in, promising to help, and then…”

Lena’s eyes widened in horror. “That’s fucking awful.”

“Exactly,” Fleur said, her voice shaking slightly. “And another lab used survivors as bait to see if their cures would work. They’d put people in danger just to see what happened. It was like some gory horror film or fucked-up game.”

Lena’s heart was racing, but she still wanted to know more. “How could they do that? How could anyone ethically feel okay with that?”

“They were more focused on results than humanity,” Fleur replied, anguish in her eyes. “It was a nightmare. They treated them like objects.”

“I can’t believe you were forced into that. I can’t imagine.”

Fleur felt a wave of vulnerability as she absorbed Lena's empathy. “I find it hard to talk about. Maybe we can keep walking for a bit and just take in the surroundings.”

“Sure, but I think we have trouble ahead,” Lena whispered as she pointed to a trail on the ground leading to a dead animal which had been freshly killed and devoured by the dead. A tell-tale sign they were close.

Fleur slowly pulled her knife out of her waistband as Lena slid out the metal crowbar she carried in her backpack.

“Let’s hide over here,” Lena whispered, pointing to a stack of huge logs.

They waited as the rustling grew louder from the trees at the other side of the track. Two rotten zombies started to make their way back to the animal remains.

“Shall we take one each?” Fleur asked.

“Good thinking.” Lena nodded. “I’ll go left, you go right. And if you’re using that knife again, the temple spot is the quickest hit.”

“I have actually done this before,” Fleur huffed.

“Sure. Let’s wait for them to start feasting, then I’ll swing lefty while you get the other one.”

They sat and waited for a moment, as the slow, stinking rotters did exactly as predicted. They leant down, feasting on the bloody entrails.

Lena nodded at Fleur. They creeped quietly behind them before Lena swung straight into the head of the left one, whoquickly fell to the ground. Fleur pressed the knife straight into the temple of the other, who gargled, groaned and collapsed on top of the animal. A deer, they guessed, from what was left to identify it.

“Good work,” Lena said as she wiped her crowbar on the nearby grass to clean off the sludgy zombie matter.

“It still makes my heart beat a million beats a minute. The adrenaline always gets me.” Fleur sighed.

“That means you're alive, it’s a good thing. Staying sharp is imperative in this world. Let’s get going in case others are nearby.”

Overall, the trip had been relatively smooth sailing. A lot of the masses of dead were in other parts of the country. They had heard a huge hoard had been led west into a mass pit to contain the outbreak. They wanted to believe it could be true.

“We haven’t seen much of other people out here,” Fleur commented as she scouted the views from the path they were trekking.

“And that’s a good thing. People don’t come out here much. Just crazy people like us,” Lena laughed.

They took a break near a creek, the soothing sound of rushing water wrapping around them like a warm embrace. Fleur closed her eyes for a moment, letting the melody of nature wash over her. While she missed the chaos of the city she had once called home, she found peace in the wilderness. She slipped off one of her boots, wincing slightly as she massaged her foot, trying to ease the pressure of the blisters she had been hiding from Lena.

“Whoa. Are you okay?” Lena’s voice cut through her thoughts, concern lacing her tone as she spotted the dried blood on Fleur’s socks.

“Yeah. It’s just a little blister. I’m fine,” Fleur replied, attempting to sound nonchalant.

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