"Do you think he's ever gonna wake up?"

"It's kinda hard to tell. Look at him. He looks like he belongs in a morgue."

"Still looks better compared to us. When I look at my hand, I can see straight through it to the floor!"

"Will the both of you quiet down? I think he's waking up."

"All right, sis. Do that cute thing you do and snuggle up against him."

"Natalya, why the hell are you supportive all of a sudden?"

"Shh! Just give the two of them some space. Come over here."

"But, bruv, I have nowhere to sit. His couch was smashed to bits. If I sit down on it, a plank of wood will go up my—"

"Guys, he's waking up!"

The world was blurry as Aaron blinked his eyes, his room slowly coming back into view. His flat was still a mess and it amused him when he realized the mattress he slept on was beside the bed frame that should've been supporting it. The sight of his door wide open also would've frightened him if it weren't for the fact he would've been more dangerous than any intruder.

When he scooted over, he realized someone else was beside him on his mattress. He smoothed his hand up their back toward their head. Or rather her head. He smoothed his hand through her unforgettably soft and beautiful blonde hair as her head rested underneath his. His other hand found hers and he did not plan on letting it go anytime soon.

"Good morning," Nika greeted. She nuzzled closer to Aaron and kissed his neck.

"Nika?" Aaron asked.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Happier than I've been in months, honestly. All this Deadman shit in my veins makes it hard to tell though."

"No kidding." Nika grabbed Aaron's face with her hands. "You really need to smile more."

"I think it might be physically impossible for me now," Aaron replied.

Nika couldn't help but chuckle. "Nah, you can do it. I'll help you!"

Her ghost started squeezing his cheeks and playfully messing with his face in an attempt to make him smile. But in the end, his expression remained equally as dead as he was. "Nope, can't do it," he replied.

Then Nika flashed a little smile. "How about some motivation?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, and the two of them kissed. Aaron missed a lot of things because of the Ambrosia, but that was probably what he missed most.

When they parted, Nika found she was successful. He managed to crack a tiny smile, almost as if it were a ray of light breaking through darkness. "I knew you could do it," she said.

"What the shit happened to your face, bruv?"

Aaron accidentally yelped in alarm, wrapping his arms around Nika in defense. Once she started laughing, he knew they were safe. It was just Jonah peaking over from the other side of the room.

"Why are you telling him that?" Natalya chimed in. Unlike Nika, her hair was in a ponytail for distinguishment. "You're the one who got shot in the head."

"But I thought you got shot in the head, too," Jonah replied.

"Please stop," Aaron said. "You guys are bringing me back a ton of painful memories."

"Bruv!" Jonah exclaimed. "You're awake! I thought you died!" Natalya slapped him on the shoulder. "What? We're all dead. That makes it okay to joke about it now. It's like telling a racist joke because you're part of the race the joke is being racist toward, which makes it not racist."

"Jonah," Aaron said.

"What's up?"

"Shut up."

Natalya grinned, an even more rare sight than Aaron's smile. "I missed you guys," she said.

"But you never even talk to us," Nika replied, sitting up on the mattress next to Aaron. "I'm your sister and you still didn't talk to me."

"True, but that was when we were alive," Natalya replied in an irreverent manner. "I can be a whole new person now!"

Aaron leaped from the mattress and angrily trudged over to his bathroom. He could hear his friends try to persuade him to come back, but he entered the tiny room and punched the mirror, shattering it to bits. The glass shards cut his fist, but the wound healed instantly.

"Aaron!" Nika called as she ran over to him. "Are you alright?"

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" he replied. "You're treating your deaths like if they were harmless little incidents! Just bad moments in life to talk about and laugh at in the future."

"But we're all okay now, Aaron. We're safe and together."

"But you guys are the reason I've become this!" Aaron held his hand out and let his talons burst from his fingertips. "Without you guys, I've become a monster!"

"Aaron," Nika said.

"Schaefer didn't destroy this place! I did!"

"Aaron."

"I got infected! I made it spread more by picking fights with stronger people! I led Bloodletter here! I led Schaefer to you!"

"Aaron!"

Aaron dropped to his knees. "I'm a failure."

Nika kneeled down to the floor and clasped her hands around his face. A tear had drifted down his cheek. "Aaron, you're are not failure," she said softly.

"You were the best thing that's ever happened to me," he croaked as another tear left his eye.

"Aaron, could you please put the claws away?"

The talons slowly retreated back into his fingers. Nika took his hand once they were gone. Natalya and Jonah stood beside him and knelt down to his level, placing their hands on his shoulders to comfort him.

"You are not a monster," Nika said.

"But..." Aaron tried to reply.

"Monsters have no intention but to destroy," Natalya added. "Aaron, you had a plan. Your heart was in the right place. In fact, the difference between you and the other monsters is that you had a heart in the first place."

"Bringing down a madman is crazy and getting superpowers is awesome," Jonah said. "You've done both, bruv. So you know what that makes you? Crazy awesome."

"But look into my eyes," Aaron said. "They're empty."

"They only look empty," Nika replied. "But we know you're still here. And we're still here with you, too."

"And you can trust Kat with getting that evidence to Lovecraft," Jonah took over. "Trust me, bruv. You'll be a legend."

"Just don't let it go to your head," Natalya added with a wink. "I'll see you guys in a bit." And she vanished into thin air.

"You guys are gonna leave me?" Aaron asked.

"Of course not, bruv," Jonah said as he slowly began to disappear. "We'll always be here with you."

"Then why are you vanishing?"

"That's a really good point, bruv." And Jonah disappeared.

Only Aaron and Nika remained in the room. The two of them rose from the mattress as Aaron took her hand. She paused to look at the box containing the ring, covering her mouth with her free hand in shock.

"I swear I would've given it to you eventually!" Aaron added frantically. "I was just nervous."

"Don't worry," Nika smiled. "I would've said yes."

She kissed him on the cheek, and the two of them walked out of the flat toward the elevator. They remained silent the rest of the way, but both of them were surprised to see that it still had working electricity. Aaron pressed the button for the first floor and the elevator began its descent.

"I heard you ran into your brother out in the Dead Zone," Nika said. "Sorry about what happened to him."

"How'd you know?" Aaron asked.

"Jonah. He was surprisingly excited for someone who just died."

Aaron chuckled. "We're really gonna be making those kinds of jokes now?"

"Why not? We're all safe now."

"You think so?"

Nika wrapped her arms around Aaron's neck and he pulled her closer. "We're all together now," she replied. "I wouldn't have felt safer anywhere else."

Aaron hugged her tightly. "I love you," he told her.

The elevator slowed to a stop as if reached the bottom floor. Then he heard another voice call out his name, "Aaron?"

Before Aaron could say another thing to Nika, she placed her finger on his lips. "Later," she whispered, and she faded away.

Harry, Jade, and Kyle appeared a few feet in front of the elevator. "Aaron!" Harry shouted as he bolted toward his brother. He threw his arms around him and squeezed him into a bear hug.

"Harry?" Aaron asked. "Are you actually hugging me?"

"I'm actually trying not to eat you right now," Harry replied. "Just kidding, mate. I missed you."

He let go, still keeping his hand on Aaron's shoulder. He was slightly intimidated by Aaron's grim expression. "I can't tell if you're happy to see me or not," he said.

"Nah, he is," Jade chimed in. "You can tell." Then she took her turn to hug Aaron. "We're so glad you're safe."

Aaron didn't respond. His attention was focused elsewhere, on the wide open door leading into the DZI's headquarters.

"Aaron?" Kyle asked. "You alright, bruv?"

Aaron trudged toward the DZI's headquarters. All around him, he watched as Commoner Deadmen wandered around like a typical crowd in a city. Deadmen were gathered around in groups like families and friends, and undead children ran joyously around the Commons without a care in the world. The only sinister part was the fact they occasionally paused to consume the flesh off the uninfected corpses.

What weirded out Aaron was the fact he wasn't weirded out by this at all. It felt like an average day in the Commons.

He pushed through the door and continued his journey down the corridor. Everything from his past as part of the DZI was there. The infirmary. The magazine. The mess hall. Then he reached the garage.

Not a single vehicle was left behind. Deadmen were feeding off the corpses of those who weren't lucky enough to reach the buses. Aaron even recognized a few previous citizens of Matheson walking among the undead. But what he was really focused on was the tire tracks leading out the open gates. The Dead Zone was only a couple of feet away from him.

He couldn't help but think about what Kat would do once she arrived at the new Babel Tower. Would they accept her evidence? Would the secrets of the Deadmen's origin come to light? Would Schaefer's false reputation as a hero die with him? He could only hope so.

"They're gone, mate," Harry said as he, Jade, and Kyle entered the garage. "They'll be starting new lives elsewhere now. I know I didn't get to meet them—especially since they'd try to kill me—but I wish the best for them. Any friend of my little brother Aaron is a friend of mine."

"You do realize they were trying to kill him, right?" Jade asked.

"Nah, those ones weren't his real allies," Kyle replied. "The ones who stuck around for him...those were true friends."

"Thanks, Kyle," Aaron said, still gazing out into the open world.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Jade asked. "We basically have this whole place to ourselves now."

"Actually could you guys give me and Aaron some privacy?" Harry replied. "Just for a little brother-to-brother chat."

Jade and Kyle briefly nodded their heads before the two of them turned back toward the door. They quickly waved goodbye before disappearing back into the Commons, leaving Aaron and Harry behind at the entrance back into the outside world.

"You did good, mate," Harry said.

"I hope so," Aaron replied. "But I didn't do this for me. I did this for them."

"Now that it's over, what are you gonna do now? Is there something you'd like to do for yourself instead?"

Aaron remained silent for a moment, still watching as the tire tracks continued out of the tower before disappearing into the grass. "I've never thought of that," he replied.

"Well, whatever you think of doing," Harry said, "I hope I can do it alongside you."

"There's still quite a lot of Dead Zone out there. Maybe we'll find something to do or someone else who might be willing to be our friend."

"Without a doubt, mate. No doubt at all."

The two of them remained still as the sun rose another day on the Dead Zone. Matheson was quiet. Aaron was a dead man walking. But in the end, a part of him couldn't help but still feel alive.

THE END