Together in a Broken World

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

A New World

ZACH

When I wake, my vision is fuzzy. The world is impossibly bright. A loud ringing buzzes in my ears, but the sound subsides, replaced by the deep murmur of voices.

My vision slowly focuses. First, I’m aware of a room. A hospital room, I’d guess. Then, objects around me take shape. The IV bag to my left snakes down and goes into my arm. A large instrument panel to my right makes beeping noises.

Then faces. An older man in a lab coat. A woman with gray hair tied back into a ponytail beside him. And then I see him. Aiden. He’s alive, and I’m alive. Either that, or this is some kind of afterlife.

I reach out to touch him to be sure. “Aiden?”

He squeezes my outstretched hand. “Zach, you’re awake!”

“You got shot.”

“Yep. I’m on the mend. Thanks to you.” He lifts up his shirt. A bandage wraps around his waist.

“Everyone here owes you their life. You stopped Connor.”

His name brings a cascade of memories. It was me. I shot Connor. Aiden helped, and the fall killed him, but that’s a technicality. I had to do it. He was going to kill Aiden and everyone else in the lab. But that doesn’t make it feel better. I didn’t want to take a life. Even one so despicable as Connor. Now, I’ll carry this burden.

But Aiden is alive. And I’m alive.

Wait. I’m alive.

“What about the Infection?” I plead.

Aiden grabs my hand. “The treatment worked. It’s in remission. You’re the first person ever to survive.”

*

AIDEN

We spend the next few weeks in the bunker, fully recovering.

When Connor shot me, the bullet went directly through. It missed my lung by a centimeter. I was very lucky. They stitched me up once they stopped the bleeding, and I recovered quickly. Yet, weeks of rest are still called for.

They combined the vials we delivered with the protein they isolated. From that, they synthesized a strong drug that immediately neutralized the Infection in Zach.

Zach gets blood tests daily to measure the XT58 in his blood. After a week of treatment, it’s undetectable. And when they stop the treatment, there is no rebound. Still, it’s something they’ll observe long term.

My physical wounds are all healing, and maybe the mental ones can also. Finding out Connor was the source of all my misery was like having my heart ripped out of my chest. But knowing the truth somehow makes everything easier to bear. For the first time since Marcus’s death, I shift the guilt from myself. The scar will always be there, but now a path forward exists.

Zach and I spend as much time together as possible. We have a room together in the bunker. Before this, the only life we knew was on the run. It’s nice to get some normal time with him. To truly get to know him. There’s still so much we have to learn about each other. And I look forward to every minute.

Zach is lying on the bed, reading a book, when I walk in with my hands behind my back.

“Okay, I know something’s up.” Zach looks at me with narrow eyes, but a smile is on his face.

“Close your eyes and put out your hands.”

“What is it?”

“A surprise. You’ll find out in a second. Do what I said.”

Zach sits up and puts his hands out. He lets out a yelp when I hand him something freezing cold. “Aggh! What’s this?”

“Okay, open your eyes.”

He holds in his hands a bowl filled with two gigantic scoops of chocolate ice cream.

“Oh, my god! Where did you get this?”

“I made it.” I beam. “You just need the right ingredients. The rest is simple chemistry.”

Zach digs into the ice cream ravenously.

“Hey, slow down. Give me some.” I scooch beside him and try to edge my way into the bowl, but Zach swats me away with his spoon. Then he gives me a big smile, scoops out a sizable portion, and feeds it to me. A dribble of ice cream goes down my chin.

“Oh. You’ve got a little something there.” Zach licks it off. And since his lips are in the vicinity, I kiss him. The kiss is cold, chocolaty, and wonderful.

*

Deciding to leave the Collective wasn’t hard for me. They saved Zach’s and my life, and for that, I’m grateful. But I’ve paid my dues, and I’m optimistic about the future for the first time since this all began. The Collective will need a lot of help to make the world aware of the treatment they’ve developed. But that’s a job for others. I’ve done my part.

After discussing it, Zach and I decide to take over Curtis’s farm. It isn’t a hard choice. We were both so happy there. Before returning to the farm, we travel to collect Curtis’s body. We bury him alongside James. That seems like the right choice. Reunited, finally.

After that, we pack up enough supplies to get us on our feet and return to the farm. Without the FLA on our tail, the drive is fast and uneventful.

Curtis’s desire for simplicity was admirable, and we hold to that spirit. But Zach still loves to tinker and improve. So he rigs up a big solar farm from some equipment we scavenge and installs a bank of whole-home batteries. All the conveniences of modern living include central heating, an electric oven, a refrigerator, and, of course, a big-screen television with many old DVD movies. I improve our defenses by rigging up cameras around the property’s perimeter.

We also establish some trading routes with Curtis’s old contacts. It’s clear that Curtis planned on handing off the farm for a while, and we were happy to find he had people watch the animals while we were away. He took detailed notes of all the different people, what they traded, and strategies for working with them. In no time, we have a good supply of cheese, cured meats, and we even have some people specializing in scavenging supplies for us. It’s fascinating to see the seeds of civilization taking root. And I love experiencing all of that with Zach.

*

ZACH

On a warm autumn evening in late September, Aiden and I are around a fire pit we set up outside the farmhouse. He strums the guitar, and I’m spread out on a blanket, singing to the melody he’s playing.

When the song ends, I smile at Aiden. “This reminds me of that night in Elk Springs when we sat by the fire. I knew right then I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Aiden lies beside me on the blanket and gives me a gentle kiss and a warm smile.

I run my hands through his hair. “It took you a little longer, didn’t it?”

He stares into the fire and contemplates his answer. “I was in a terrible place back then, and you rescued me from it.” Then he looks me in the eye. “But if I’m being honest with myself, and I really think about how I felt, I already cared for you deeply. I came back to rescue you, after all. Even if you ended up rescuing me.”

I laugh, then kiss him. “I love you, Aiden. And I’ll love you forever.”

Aiden smiles. “I’ll love you forever too.”

We hold each other for the rest of the evening. The sun dips below the horizon turning the clouds a deep orange and red, casting Homestead Farm in a golden glow. When the sky darkens, and the fire’s last embers fade to black, we walk hand in hand back to the farmhouse and onward to the rest of our lives.