Part 10 – Horizon

Justin and Alex lose the infected somewhere in the twisting corridors of the second floor. They duck into various rooms to let the mindless people run past. It is an insane game of hide and seek, but they get the hang of it until they reach the other side of the hospital. They eventually find the other stairwell and escape is close enough to taste.

Justin stumbles often, but each time Alex helps him to his feet. And when they reach the roof, they can finally rest easy. The helicopter is long gone, but Alex expected as much. However, all of their bags were left on the roof.

"I guess they were thinking of us," Alex says.

"More like this stuff couldn't be brought onto the helicopter." Justin sees something that makes him bend down, but he gets lightheaded, and ends up sitting down and holding his head. When he can see without black spots in his vision, he picks up a semi-automatic hand gun that was left with the bags.

"Maybe they were thinking of us," he says with a laugh. They could have used that gun earlier, but it will still come in handy.

"Is your head okay?" Alex sits down beside him.

The open wound on his head still hasn't stopped bleeding. His shirt is sticky with blood.

"I don't know. How big is the cut?"

"Um. There's too much blood in the way, I can't tell." Her fingers brush against his head, and he winces away. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I'll be all right."

Just as they start to relax, they hear a crash of glass and various screams. Alex and Justin walk to the edge of the roof to see the infected jumped from the second-story windows. Most of them get back up, but a few remain laying on the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Alex asks.

They watch as the infected run out of the hospital area, back down an alley between two buildings, hidden from view.

"It's like they were scared. They were trapped in there, so they got out any way they could. It's interesting that they stay in groups, so much like wild animals."

"Yeah, interesting." Alex rolls her eyes and sits down, hanging her legs over the edge. Justin almost berates her for recklessness, but instead he sits and lets his legs dangle alongside hers.

"That was really stupid, what you did," he says.

"What?"

"Coming back for me. You should be on that helicopter right now."

"Without you? No way. Although it might have been nice to be the oldest for once."

Justin laughs even though his head throbs in resentment. "I'm serious. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful. And relieved. If I'm going to keep living, I guess I don't want to do it without you, Alex."

"Good, 'cause you're stuck with me." She smiles. She is dirty and grimy, but in the golden light of the morning, she is still so radiant. It makes his heart ache in a good way.

An eerie inhuman howl echoes in the streets below them, and Alex shivers.

"What will happen to us?" she asks.

He only has one answer when he looks at her and a warmth bubbles up inside him. It is the only thing that makes sense with them. He leans down and chastely kisses her before whispering, "We will survive."

Alex's eyes brighten, and she rests her head on Justin's shoulder. Then they watch the sun rise on their very different lives, knowing they will make it. Together.

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The En- To be continued. . .

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story. :D I have planned for this to be a trilogy with two sequels, so I hope there is some interest in that. Lol, I'm writing them regardless, but I would love to know your guys' thoughts after reading this fic.

So much love for all of you. *hearts* (Yes, yes, back to Principles, I know.)