Chapter 36: Farewell For Now

The clone’s burned body stood stuck in place, a shocked expression permanently plastered on his face. As the rain hit the charred statue, it began to crumble. Soon completely falling apart, becoming nothing more than a pile of moistened ash. The wind picked up the ashes, whisking them away into the air.

Armin and Hannah peeked out of the complex. Arming laughed with relief, “They did it! They really did it!” The two laughed joyfully, hugging each other tightly. Everett, body still aching, smiled. She sighed in relief, “Thank goodness.”

Ferral panted and gasped, the electricity of his gauntlet fading away. His entire body was numb, and his arm dropped dead. He huffed, “We…we…did it…” Ferral forced his body to turn and face Leona. She was still lying on the ground, motionless. “H-Hey…” Ferral slowly made his way to her, dragging his feet. His body eventually gave out, and he fell to his knees, looking down at Leona. “You can…get up…” No response. His breath was wheezy, “Hey…come on…” He forced a laugh, “Stop joking…” Still no response. Ferral gritted his teeth, his smile trembling. “Damn you…” He muttered, “You’ve got some nerve dying before me…now I have to feel sad…” His forced smile falling apart, the rain perfectly hiding the tears that ran down his face.

He didn’t say another word, collapsing on the ground. Ferral lay there, labored breathing pushed from his mouth. He face-to-face with Leona, her eyes closed. As the world around him became blurry, he thought back to the day when the two first met. She hated him, wanted nothing to do with Ferral. But Ferral was infatuated with her. Her attitude and strength. He wanted to strive to be just like her. Unfortunately, their paths had split long ago. And yet, even during his darkest time, Ferral couldn’t help but still feel envious of Leona. She was always stronger than him, maybe not physically, but mentally…emotionally…she had him beat. He wished things had gone differently back then. He felt so guilty that this was what became of them in the end.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, “You’re my sister, Leona…” He whispered, giving one more smile, “I love you…” With those final words, Ferral’s smile faded, his eyes glazing over.

The two woke up, completely surrounded by darkness. They were children again, the two in their tattered orange jumpsuits that they wore during their time at the Facility. “W-Where are we?” Leona asked. “I…I’m not sure.” They looked around, only to find nothing but an endless dark void. Leona looked at her tiny hands, “Are we…dead?” Ferral nodded, “I think so.” “Did we at least win?” He nodded a little faster, “Yeah.” “That’s good.” Suddenly, a distant sound began coming from behind Leona. The two looked over to see that a small white light was coming closer.

As it got closer, it grew brighter. Faint voices could be heard from the light. They were…familiar. “Ferral!” Two separate women. “Leona!” A young boy. “Ferral!” A man. “Leona!” A young girl. They called for both, the light shining brightly at them, it was blinding. The voices became clearer, and they knew who they belonged to. “Mother…Ms. Clare…” Ferral said, mouth agape. “Belle…Buck..Ezekial…” Leona finished. As they continued to call, Ferral and Leona looked at each other with joy. Leona turned and started running off, Ferral ready to join her, but stopped when he felt an icy cold chill down his spine.

He turned to see a purple, shadowy mist begin to approach him. Ferral looked at it, understanding full well what all this was now. Leona looked back, slowing down when she saw Ferral was moving. She ran back to him, “Ferral, come on.” She waved, then noticed the menacing mist. Ferral looked at her and smiled. “You go…” He told her. Suddenly, lines of flames slithered from out of the mist, starting out small but growing in height. Turning to raging flames that began to surround the two. Some of the flames circled Ferral.

Leona asked, “W-What? Why?” A flame passed between the two, changing their age into teenagers. They were the same ages as when they first met. “I can’t go with you.” Ferral replied. The flames passed by again, turning them into young adults. Ferral once again had his prosthetic arm and eye. He continued, “You know what I’ve done…I can’t go…” Tears began to swell in Leona’s eyes. She tried to walk closer to him, but the circle of flames wouldn’t let her. “Th…Then I’ll go with you!” She declared. Ferral shook his head, “You don’t have to, it’s okay. This is just our fate.” “Our fate is stupid!”

The flames passed again, turning them into the adults they had been before dying. “It’s okay,” Ferral said softly, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Go, be with them.” Leona sniffled, trying desperately to stop her tears. “You idiot…” She muttered. Ferral chuckled, “It’s fine, isolation and pain are old friends.” The two didn’t say a word until Leona could properly collect herself. “You know,” She sniffled, “I read about something called ‘reincarnation.’ Where you die and come back as someone else or something. Maybe…maybe that’ll happen to us.” Ferral took a second to respond, “Yeah, that would be nice.” Leona smiled, “Well, when it does, I’ll be sure to track your dumbass down again, and we can be together again.” She joked. Ferral laughed, “Yeah…” He nodded, “I’ll be waiting.” The two stared at each other for a little long, then Leona slowly turned around. “Goodbye, Leona.” Ferral waved. She looked back, smiling, “Goodbye, Ferral. For now.” Ferral smiled back, “For now…” After one more glance, Leona ran into the large light, entering it and fading away. The light grew dimmer until it eventually left for good.

Ferral was left alone. The flames around him began closing in; they wrapped themselves around his legs, slowly making their way up his body. He looked up at the vacant sky, smiling. “Is such a thing as reincarnation even possible?” He asked himself. The scoffed, “Probably not, huh?” He slowly closed his eyes as the flames got close to his face. “Oh well…” His body, completely enveloped in flames, was whisked into the air and taken into the mist.

The storm began to stop, and rays of light sliced through the clouds. One of the rays shone upon Leona’s body, but Ferral’s was still in the shade of the clouds. Armin and Hannah came rushing to the group. Armin was carrying Hannah on his back. When they got there, Everett was kneeling at the two lifeless heroes. She slowly raised her head, with a grim expression on her face. She silently shook her head. Hannah gasped, “Oh no…” Armin looked away, his eyes blurred with tears, and his lips quivered. “Damn it.” He quietly cursed. Everett picked up Ferral’s body, and Armin was going to do the same with Leona, but remembered he couldn’t. “It’s okay,” Hannah told him, “I’ll be fine.” Armin nodded, setting her down carefully, and the two picked up Leona. They brought them to the ruins of the complex, setting them down against one of the walls.

Afterwards, the three checked around to find any survivors. Less the a quarter of them were still alive. Among them were General Weber and Davis. “What happened?” Davis asked, “Where’d that monster go?” Armin replied, “Dead, sir.” “Who could’ve killed him?” Weber asked. Armin led the two outside, showing them Ferral and Leona. “These two gave their life to save us. They’re the ones who killed him.” Weber looked down, saddened, “I see…sehr mutig.…” Davis didn’t say anything at first, but eventually sighed. “I suppose…we own them a great thanks.” He looked at Ferral, “You were right, Armin. That son of a bitch had some good after all.”

During the aftermath, help was finally called, and survivors were rushed to hospitals. Luckily, the rain had cleared the air in the city; however, some fungi had grown. The remaining scientist quickly got to work making more of the cure, once again grateful that the lab with all the supplies wasn’t too damaged. Armin requested a transport to send him to Australia. He also asked to bring Leona and Ferral’s bodies along. The generals agreed, having people place the two placed in chilled body bags to preserve them. Afterward, Armin flew to Australia, asking the pilot to drop him off at the Dead Zone.

When they landed, the same ape guards that took him into the village on his first trip came running out of the jungle. They approached the helicopter, Armin opening the door and hopping out. The head gorilla guard approached him, Armin’s face somber. “We did it,” He said. “And what of the Chief?” The guard asked. Armin took a moment to respond. “The monster that attacked your village attacked us. He stopped him…but at the cost of his life.” The group quietly gasped. The gorilla sighed, “I see…the Chief is dead.” “I’m so sorry.” Armin walked closer, taking out the small pill from his pocket. “Please, let me take this to your Cheiftess. This will save her life.” The guard looked at him, shocked that he even had this knowledge, but agreed.

As they head to the village, two other guards carrying the bags holding Ferral and Leona. Once inside, Armin and the head guard rushed to the hospital holding Nia. When they ran in, Armin immediately saw her. She was resting in a bed of ice, a pile covering the wound in her stomach. Just before he could put the pill in her mouth, a nurse stopped him. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!” She grabbed his wrist. “You’re a human! How’d you get in here?!” “No, ma’am, please! I’m trying to help!” They struggled for a bit before the guard pulled them apart. “Captain Chet?” The nurse was confused. Chet looked at her with a serious look, “Let him. This human is a partner of the Chief, his orders.” The nurse quietly nodded. Armin placed the pill on her tongue, then gently leaned her head to swallow it. They waited for a few minutes, then Nia shot up from the ice, releasing a big gasp. She rapidly looked around, her eyes quickly locking onto Armin. “Where’s Ferral?!”

They spoke in private outside the village. Armin told her what happened; he could see Nia wanted to fall apart with every word. “So, they saved everyone?” She choked up with tears and asked. Armin nodded, “Yes, and if it wasn’t for them, who knows what it could’ve done.” She sat on a rock, resting her head in her left hand. She was in shock, disbelief, anger, even. “Oh Ferral…” She muttered quietly before breaking out in tears. Armin awkwardly patted her back, “I’m sorry. But, if it wasn’t for him, we would’ve never made the cure. He’s a hero who saved all of us.” She sniffled, looking up at him. “M…My Ferral…” From the bushes, Laura and Berus came rushing out, sobbing messes.

“NO!!!” Laura screamed, pathetically punching at Armin’s legs. “Papa’s not dead! You’re lying!!” Berus ran into his mother’s arms, bawling loudly. “Papa…Papa…said…he’d come back!” He said between sobs. Laura’s punches began to slow until she fell to her knees, crying into her hands. Armin’s heart ached; he couldn’t bear to see them like this. He knelt, lifting up Laura’s face, wiping her tears. He smiled, speaking softly, “Hey, don’t cry. Your papa raised strong children.” Berus and Nia looked at him, seeing what more he had to say. “I know you're sad, trust me, I am too, but he wouldn’t want you to cry. You know what he would say?” Laura shook her head. “He would say, hold your head high. You two are his pride and joy, and even when he’s gone, he’ll be watching over you. Grateful he could’ve had such amazing children like you.”

That calmed them down a little, the two wiping their faces. “Papa was super duper amazing," Berus said, “Will we ever be like him?” Nia stroked his head, smiling at him. “You’ll become even more amazing, and he will be the proudest papa in the world.” Laura looked at her mother in disbelief, then looked up to the sky. “Even more amazing than Papa?” She quietly asked herself. She gave a small smile, sticking her right hand up, “Yeah, I’ll be strong for you, Papa. Just watch me….I’ll become even more amazing…”

The wind carried a small red spore through the sky; it barely escaped the attack and the rain. As the spore floated directionless in the sky, it traveled quite a distance across the world. Eventually, landing on a remote and desolate island. Demolished buildings with life growing out of them. This was what was left of Central City. The spore landed in what used to be a cemetery. Once it touched the ground, small roots broke through, sticking into the ground. Within two years, the spore had grown into a large hand-shaped fungus. All the life around the fungus was dead or dying. Its roots spread all throughout the city. On the other side of the cemetery, a large sack-like structure was tethered to the hand. Feeding off the life. Inside the sack, a small infant curled in a ball, resting in the center. Its skin is a light gray, and its hair is a blood red….