Rise of the Dead

Chapter 20: The Big Reveal

"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." ~ Bryant McGill

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Madeline's P.O.V

*Six Months Later*

What have I done? I can't believe it. It was all an accident, an experiment gone wrong. I never meant for this to happen.

How will she ever forgive me? Forgive us? We let her down and she's so blissfully unaware, totally oblivious to what we forced her to do.

I have to find her before they do. She has the key, the cure, but she won't know unless I find her.

She'll wish I'd left for good, she might even kill me. I hope she does, I deserve it.

I have to find her- she's the answer. She's my girl.

This is it, the big reveal.

Months pass without me really knowing, my conscience blurring my sanity. But now, it's time. The vegetation tickles my bare legs and the summer dress I wear clings to my body. I walk out of the long grass and clear my throat.

In those few moments millions of thoughts travel through my mind, I can't believe I started this. Who knew that giving my advice on the formula could create this infection, my mum and dad- the military scientists, the same two I helped. The same two in the photo just before I blacked out.

I can't believe how no one noticed, how I knew all about the virus. How I never flinched in hand to hand combat, my survival knowledge and how I knew the zombie's weaknesses and strengths like the back of my hand. The way I always knew what to do, the way I ordered the others around like lost sheep. And all the cryptic phrases I told my sister, Sophie.

I was surprised to see her in the cellar after my assumption she'd been with my parents, but I covered it up well, pretending not to know her name or anything about her. Introducing her to the group as Amelia's friend. I thought I'd been discovered when I first called her Soph, the nickname only I used, but the others let it pass.

I never meant to become this, so unloyal and deceitful, but slowly I feel I'm slipping back to my old self, or what I can pull from the wreckage. Josh did that, he put out the flames and pulled me from the metaphorical debris and collapsed concrete. I can't bear to hurt my friends again, all I want is forgiveness. They'd probably be stupid to forgive me, though, after what I've put them through.

I was supposed to become detached from the situation after I found out I helped create the virus and try to end it without anyone knowing what I'd done.  But my friends kept me alive, and that gave me warmth.

As I clear my throat she turns around instantly, her knife raised and I put out my hands defensively. She stares at me in disbelief, hurt and disappointment flickering across her face- she thought I was dead. A lump rises in my throat and tears prickle behind my eyes, it's all I can muster to whisper her name.

"Amelia..."

*One Week Later*

Amelia was gracious and blindly understanding, we've been friends so long that she understood the guilt and debt I felt. I still don't understand the forgiveness she showed me, I doubt I ever truly will. I never meant for this to happen, I guess that's what she could see.

I remember the week after the time in the lab, we all split up to spread the cure and people had started turning human again. But the problem is no easier, only a few have been changed successfully as we can't distribute it quickly enough before someone else is killed and those we change are always too shocked to stay by us.

I'm walking over the scenic hill in a peaceful silence- the sun setting behind me in rays of amber and rose gold, the sun warming my exposed shoulders with its golden glow. I think methodically over the past year, the people I've betrayed- Josh. We should probably split away from the group soon, leaving Amelia and Toby, of course, I'd take Soph with me.

As for Lara and Nicholas, we haven't seen them in over a month- they just disappeared. This is what unsettles me more than anything, they said they were coming back. We had made plans but after they hadn't returned within four days we assumed the worst had happened. A part of me wonders whether they went to find and cure their daughter, but I know the more likely outcome is that they were killed by the infected whilst trying to leave London.

Still, I feel the zombies aren't responsible. Instead, the death a combination of human error and bad judgement. 

But I really need to talk to Josh, I must find him soon. We have been separated, spreading the cure, for about seven months and it's been torture. I have something else to say to him. I think back to when it started, the sickness, cramps and eventually the extra weight. I'm pregnant. And Josh needs to know he's a father.

I stare down at the huge bump sticking out from my belly and I smile peacefully, that's when the pain starts.