THE PATH AHEAD

Claire's fingers rummaged around the weeds, revealing a plump, brownish mushroom.

'Edible.'

She pulled out a pocket knife and carefully cut the base of the stem. She added the mushroom to the bag hanging from her left arm, making sure she didn't crush the rest of its contents, mostly wild berries and some culinary herbs.

Stopping for a moment, she closed her eyes, and listened. Birds chirping from the heights, tree tops fluttering in the wind, some kind of small animal stirring sticks and fallen leaves in the distance…

It had rained the previous night. With each breath, her nostrils filled up with the fresh, moist aroma of wet dirt. It was chilly, but nothing too unbearable.

Everything looked normal, mundane, as if nothing had ever happened. It was almost difficult to believe. How much time had passed? Two years? That new reality was so focused on day-to-day survival that counting time had lost most of its relevance.

After the rescue operation, authorities finally shed some light on the true magnitude of the issue. Humanity was no longer the dominant species on the planet; the "stingers", as they called them, had stolen that spot.

The military focused all their efforts on stopping the expansion of those monsters, but it was a war they couldn't win. Sunlight is, after all, an inexhaustible resource. They couldn't hope to compete against something like that.

Claire continued making her way through the thicket, with her eyes on the ground. After some more foraging, she raised her gaze to the sky and analyzed the sun's position.

'I should be getting back.'

…

She glanced at the meadows and the houses decorating the landscape here and there, on both sides of the road. It was a rural area, far away from big centers of population. In such isolated communities, survivors of the pandemic had gone back to the old ways. The military provided them with supplies from time to time, but a large portion of their sustenance came from nature itself. Agriculture, cattle, hunting…

A peaceful life, for those able to forget the horrors of the past, and ignore the danger lurking past the horizon.

Claire exchanged greetings with the few people she crossed paths with, but she wasn't in the mood for talking. She remained caught up in her thoughts the entire walk back.

At the town center, she turned a corner and spotted a big building of rustic appearance, in front of a square. It used to be the town hall, and after lots of remodeling and rebuilding to repair the damage caused by abandonment, it had returned to its functions as a community center.

Claire's eyes opened wide as soon as she saw something dark and big on the road, directly in front of the building's entrance. A military truck. Their last supply visit had been recent, it should've been weeks until they were back.

'Maybe…!?'

She crossed the road with long strides and ran all the way to the entrance. A group of soldiers discussed something in front of the door. One of them saw her coming, and stared at her with a confused look on his face.

Out of breath, she tried to say something, but no words came out. Among the soldiers, she saw a familiar face, who stared at her as well.

"A-Ah….! Stella!"

"Claire! Where are you going in such a hurry!?" said Stella, patting Claire's back. "Come on, breathe."

Stella had turned out to be a blessing for the community. The way she had taken leadership and established roles among the survivors was admirable. At least she had gotten something positive out of her experiences during the incident.

"Don't say anything, just go inside." she added. "He's back."

Claire lunged through the door. There was a man in the middle of the building's lobby, with several pairs of curious and nervous eyes fixated on him.

"All good?" he said.

In front of him was a girl with light brown hair. She was wearing a blue dress with flower patterns, and she looked at him with her head down. He had kneeled down to be at her eye level.

"Mhm…" Eleanor let out a mumble of affirmation, keeping a prudential distance from the man.

Claire approached them, until she was barely a couple of feet away. The man stood up and turned towards her, allowing her to have a clear vision of his face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but doubted at the last second. Had he changed so much during those months? His facial features were the same, but something was off.

William's eyes carried a very different message than what she remembered, and they had an unusual radiance, irradiating a soft azure light.

"Um… W-William… What's—?"

"It's done. It went okay."

"You sure? What about you? Are you okay?"

William nodded.

Without a second thought, Claire hugged him, a gesture that he reciprocated. A feeling of relief coursed through her body.

'Thank goodness… I don't have to lose anyone else.'

"Come on, I don't think there's time for reunions. I'm guessing many things must have happened while I was gone. Bring me up to date, would you?"

"Alright, alright…" replied Claire. She let go of William and wiped the tears off her eyes, with a smile on her face. "Let's see, where do I begin?"

******

As he listened to Claire, a part of William was deep in thought. He glanced sideways at Eleanor, always following him closely. He realized she no longer pinched his clothes, but she rather walked some centimeters behind him, without taking her eyes off him. A sign of recovery, perhaps?

To be honest, everyone needed to recover. They should let their wounds heal, look ahead, and take the new chance life had given them.

What's done is done. It made no sense to look back anymore.

######

The first time those monsters walked by his side, it was a terrifying experience. The second time felt strange. A couple dozen times later, he began getting used to it. Once an hour had passed, he no longer cared.

The shamblers who previously infested those streets had disappeared. Only those creatures remained in their place. "Stingers", as they called them. Apparently, some time after Lilian was removed from the city, a new queen had emerged in her place, and the shamblers got disposed of, allowing a new colony to thrive.

They wouldn't stop running all over the place, traversing the streets in all directions. The majority of buildings had suffered catastrophic damage as a result of the Convergence, but the roads were relatively clear, since the constant activity had pulverized the rubble and flattened the vehicles. To be fair, they didn't even look like streets.

The stingers passed right by his side, turning their heads in his direction, staring into his eyes; yet ignoring him.

Nora and Lilian had made it. With their help, they had managed to find a viable solution. A new strain of the virus. William didn't understand the details, but the fundamental idea was that it allowed him to camouflage as another member of the colony, something about pheromones. This new strain was also supposed to have almost no side effects on the body and mind of the host, thus avoiding the violent process of degradation that led to the creation of shamblers.

The risks were noteworthy, but William didn't care in the slightest. He had offered himself as a test subject as soon as he had the chance. He knew exactly what he needed to do if he wanted to move on. He was willing to take any risk.

After hours of walking, he arrived at his destination. When he got out of there, he'd have to personally thank that Colonel Rowan, for allowing the field trials to take place at that location in particular.

The old apartment building stood in front of him. Or rather, its ruins. The access door to the underground parking lot had been torn apart, exposing the dark interior.

'Well, this makes things easier.'

Under the surface, not much had changed. He pulled out his flashlight and headed into the sewers, walking down that same path he had walked so many times before, until he reached that closed door. That basement under a collapsed building. That dark room.

He took a seat in front of the open doorway, and laid his eyes on the immobile figure on the other side.

"Hi, honey." he said. "A lot has happened. I wanted to see you one last time."

…

"We managed to get out of this place, you know? Everyone is safe now, far away from here. It's a beautiful place, surrounded by nature, I'm sure you'd have loved it."

…

"I adopted a kid. Her name is Eleanor. She's… had it rough, and I'm somewhat at fault. I've been taking her to therapy, we have a psychologist in our community. They also organized some sort of school, where she's been learning things along with a couple more kids. Bit by bit, I hope her wounds end up healing. I don't think I can become the fatherly figure she deserves, but I'll do my best."

…

She was cold. The carcass that once was Amanda was appalling to touch, and her skin was falling apart in pieces, as if disintegrating into dust. However, there was still a speck of life in there. He could feel it. He could hear a soft, unintelligible whisper inside his head, something he had never heard before.

He didn't want to try and decipher it.

"Honey, wait for me. I promise I'll see you again, when the time comes. I love you…"

William hugged Amanda tightly, holding back his tears. He knew what was coming. He didn't want to hear it. For the last time, he let his bottled emotions get out, allowing his own cries to flood the room.

'Forgive me.'

…

The cigarette tasted bitter, much more than usual. He took some last puffs while bathing in the rays of sun that reached the inner courtyard.

The crops no longer existed, but in their place, a flower bed of intense colors had grown, intertwining with the vines and bushes that started to reclaim the ruins.

He finished the cigarette, threw the butt away, and observed the packet. There were at least a dozen more cigs inside. He sighed and crumpled it up, dropping it to his feet along with the lighter.

"Goodbye."

******

Nora looked at the door and saw a man with a white coat peeking into the room. He seemed hesitant to step inside, and stared back at her with an inquiring look on his face.

[It's okay, Nory, I'm alright. He can come in.]

Nora nodded at the doctor, prompting him to approach them. They were being quite cautious, not taking any unnecessary risks. It was to be expected, considering the kind of experimental treatments they were putting Lilian through.

"Doctor…" said Nora, getting up from her seat to greet him.

"Good morning, Miss Lamb. I have good news." the man's face lit up with a smile.

"R-Really!?"

"We've confirmed that the Sting in her organism has stabilized, the new strain is now dominant. She must remain under periodic observation, but everything seems to indicate the degenerative process has stopped."

"Oh, thank god…!! Did you hear, sweetie!?" yelled Nora.

Lilian was sitting by the window, looking at them inexpressively. Her physical transformation had aggravated more and more over the last two years, but it was a relief to know it wouldn't get any worse.

Her face had lost all trace of emotion, she was like a porcelain doll; the only shred of life she had left was the light emanating from her eyes. Although it kept its soft, delicate appearance, her skin had turned gray, and two hard, articulated antennae had sprouted from her skull. In addition, she had lost the capacity to speak.

[I heard! See? You told me everything would be okay. I knew you were right!]

Nora gave her a warm smile. She knew Lilian wouldn't be able to smile back, but she felt a comforting sensation deep within.

"What now, doctor?" asked Nora, focusing her attention back on him.

"I was about to say. We'll relocate you."

"Huh? Where to?"

"The new variant of the Sting has produced satisfactory results, so we no longer need you to stay here at the hospital. We have the samples we need; our efforts will now focus on the application of these results. We'll take you to a military checkpoint in a rural area, far away from the stinger colonies, to get you ready for integration into a civilian community, where you'll be able to reunite with your comrades. In other words, we'll try to help you go back to a normal life, Miss Lamb."

Nora's breathing became irregular, and a wide smile appeared on her face, along with tears of excitement.

"A-Are you serious…? Will we, at last…?"

"Keep in mind you'll have to be under permanent armed escort. After all, Lilian is still a stinger queen. We'll have to monitor her, her influence on the environment, and her reaction towards other people."

"Right, I understand. Doesn't matter, I'm so glad to hear all this!"

"We'll inform you when everything is ready for your relocation. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

As soon as the doctor left the room, Nora rushed to Lilian's side and grabbed her hands.

'Lilian, sweetie…!'

[It's been a long time since I went outside. I can't wait.]

'We'll do that and much more! You'll see!'

[Something isn't right, Nory. What's up? Tell me.]

Their hearts were an open book for one another.

'…I'm sorry. I could have done better. All those times I doubted we'd make it through all this, all those times I doubted myself, or I doubted the others… I'm sorry.'

[It's no biggie. It's over, right? Now we keep walking, one lil step at a time.]

Nora let out a chuckle.

'Of course. Back then, I would've been okay with dying by your side, with us dying together… Never again. The path ahead is still long. So, please… walk with me.'