CHAPTER XXXVI
"A Love Worth Surviving For"
I was stepping into another war.
Maybe not the biggest one I've fought — but perhaps the most important.
Because this wasn't just about food, survival, or even bravery anymore.
This was about love.
Unspoken. Unfinished. Undeniable.
As I tightened the grip on my sword and took my first steps toward that dark, uncertain house…
One promise pulsed louder than fear in my chest:
> "When I return… I will finally tell Mon everything."
No more silence.
No more holding back the flood I've been drowning in.
She deserves to know — not just what I feel, but how deeply, how completely, how wildly I've fallen for her.
Because the truth is…
> "You come into my chest with every breath I take.
With every inhale, it's you my heart remembers.
I walk the streets of your soul every single day — quietly, like a prayer.
You move like the wind — free, untamed… and I?
I am the dust that follows you, that rises when you pass, that loses itself in your direction."
And I wonder sometimes…
Who could ever love her like this?
With the kind of love that burns quietly in the background, steady like a heartbeat — never demanding, just always there.
Who else would carry her name like a shield into battle?
Who else would still ache for her in silence, long after the world has stopped spinning?
> "Who could love you like I do?"
No one.
Because I don't love her from convenience or habit.
I love her from the storm — from the ruin — from the ashes.
I love her because even when I was drowning in my own darkness, her name was the only light I remembered.
And now, I'm ready.
Not just to fight what's ahead.
But to come back and finally say it.
To hold her close and whisper all the things I've buried too long in fear:
> "You are the breath I breathe.
The path I walk.
The air that carries me.
The home I've never stopped returning to."
And this time, I won't wait for the right moment.
Because love like this doesn't need perfection.
It only needs truth.
So I walk into the battlefield now — heart steady, sword ready —
not just to survive…
…but to return.
To her.
And to the words I've waited far too long to say.
I had crossed the line now — into the house that looked more like a forgotten memory than a home.
Inside, everything was silent.
Too silent.
Like the kind of calm that settles right before the storm breaks.
The air was heavy, cold.
Dust hung mid-air like it was afraid to fall.
My boots creaked on the wooden floor, and for a split second, it felt like time itself had stopped breathing.
But then —
A sharp sting. Right on my neck.
A faint warmth trickled down my collar.
Blood.
Before I could fully react, instinct kicked in.
I spun around, senses alert.
And there it was.
A creature — long, twisted, terrifying — standing right in front of me.
It wasn't like the zombies we'd fought before.
No.
This one was something else entirely.
A mutant.
Its face was a grotesque blend of flesh and rage, its limbs stretched unnaturally, its body hunched yet powerful.
And it growled.
A deep, throaty growl that didn't just echo — it stabbed my ears.
So loud, it made my skull ring.
I stepped back — slowly. Cautiously.
But before I could retreat further, I felt a presence behind me.
Another one.
I was surrounded.
There was no way out now. No door. No backup.
Only me.
My sword.
And the fire in my soul.
But you know what?
I wasn't afraid.
Not this time.
Because I had come here carrying the strength of someone I finally believed in again — myself.
And the love I'd felt in Mon's arms just moments ago? It hadn't left me.
It had armed me.
I had only two options:
> Do something incredible.
Or die trying.
I tightened my grip on the sword — my blade of memory and legacy — and swung it clean through the neck of the first zombie.
Its head rolled across the floor as black blood splattered the walls.
Another one lunged. I kicked it hard in the chest, sending it crashing back into a wooden shelf.
They came faster now.
Angrier.
More relentless.
I turned, spun, ducked, and slashed.
My sword moved like it had a mind of its own.
It remembered battle.
It craved purpose.
Blood flew like ink in the air as I carved my way through them, one by one.
Until finally — I stood, panting, smeared in gore… but still standing.
And then—
"SAM!"
Alex's voice rang out behind me.
I turned to see him rushing in, holding a small bag in one hand, relief and panic battling on his face.
> "We found supplies — food, water, gear… enough to last us a few days."
I blinked, confused.
> "How did you know I was here? I didn't tell anyone I was coming."
Alex smirked, shaking his head.
> "Only one person I know fights like that.
Besides, with all that noise? It wasn't hard to find you.
But if you keep it up, you'll call more of them here.
We need to move — now."
Aliyana and Blue appeared behind him, panting from their own battle.
Blue gave me a look — part admiration, part urgency.
> "Sam, cover the front. I'll watch our backs.
Alex and Aliyana will carry the supplies."
I nodded.
We moved fast.
More zombies began appearing from the shadows, but I was ready.
Each strike was sharper than the last.
Each kill felt cleaner, more focused.
I wasn't just fighting to survive.
I was fighting to get back.
One by one, we climbed into the bus — I was first. Then Aliyana. Then Alex.
But as we all caught our breath, I realized something.
Blue wasn't with us.
I turned back, my heart skipping a beat.
> "Where's Blue?"
We barely had time to react.
Suddenly —
A blaring siren shrieked from the direction of the house.
So loud… it shook the windows.
So intense… it pulled every undead creature in the area like a magnet.
Zombies that had been wandering aimlessly now turned — all of them — toward the house. Toward the sound.
And just as we began to grasp what was happening—
BOOM.
An explosion.
Violent. Earth-shattering.
The entire house — gone.
Splintered wood. Shattered stone. Debris flying like shrapnel across the street.
A shockwave knocked the bus slightly back.
A wall of fire roared into the sky.
And just like that… the siren stopped.
So did the zombies.
The entire horde, once moving toward the house, now lay scattered — burned, broken, obliterated.
Aliyana covered her mouth in disbelief.
> "What just happened…?"
Alex's face was pale, his voice low.
> "Blue…
She knew what she was doing.
That explosion…
She sacrificed herself to draw them all in — to save us."
Aliyana turned toward him, her voice shaking.
> "You mean… she planned to die?"
Alex nodded once, his eyes glassy.
> "She knew she'd never make it out. That was the only way to stop them… and give us a chance to escape."
Silence fell over the bus.
No one spoke. No one moved.
We just sat there — stunned, heartbroken, forever changed.
Blue… the fierce, fearless leader — had just given everything.
For us.
The blast still echoed in my chest like a second heartbeat.
And as I looked out the window, watching the smoke rise into the darkening sky, I whispered silently in my heart:
> "Thank you…
For being the hero we didn't deserve."
To be continued…