~One Year Later~

"Just a bit farther...." Aphmau warned, flicking her fingers back and forth to signal to the workers.

They workers obey, pulling tighter on the rope that was lifting a large statue, one that had great significance to Aphmau.

So, as the workers returned the sculpture to it's upright position, Aphmau couldn't help but smile.

The statue could not fit in any more than it already did, it's rustic, heroic stance sending a powerful message throughout such a lushess garden.

Elysium had many plants and an abundance of wildlife to make the space station seem somewhat homey.

Aphmau never thought, after what happened before she left Earth, that she could ever find somewhere to be her home ever again.

She was wrong.

As she was observing the warping vines around rusted lamp posts, and the vibrant bushes outlining that certain area, she heard a distant familiar voice, more like a distant shriek.

"Aphmau......come.....quick......Helen........oh irene..." Nana skidded to a halt after having sprinted towards Aphmau, her palms resting on her thighs, her head hung as her body heaved to re-oxygenate itself.

"You lost me at Helen," Aphmau remarked, saying the woman's name somewhat coldly.

After gathering herself, Nana stood up straight, a rare large smile tugging at her cheeks, which surprised Aphmau, especially because she was talking about someone like Helen.

"Helen needs to speak with us, all of us."

*

Aphmau and Nana arrived in the central control room via an automatic sliding door, both unfazed by the large contraption in motion commencing in the even larger room.

It was two stories, the entrance which the women used being on the second one. So, while looking down at the commotion below them, they descended the convenient staircase along the side of the room, to their final destination at the circular conference table in the center of the first floor.

There, in one of the wooden contemporary chairs set up against the table, sat Teony, her laptop balanced on her lap.

And alongside her, was Helen.

Her viridescent eyes pierced Aphmau as she drew near. Helen's dirty blonde hair was done up in a neat bun, her fair clear skin accompanied by a tight sleeveless navy blue dress, the only imperfection shown was a singular beauty mark on the far end of her cheek.

Okay not so much of an imperfection, but Aphmau liked to think there was at least one.

"For a goddess, you'd think you'd be more efficient," Helen remarked, momentarily glancing at her wristwatch.

"And for the Overlord of an advanced civilization, I'd think you'd be smarter with your words...." Aphmau somewhat subtly threatened, Helen hiding her amused smile.

"Okay, now to inform you why I interrupted your busy schedules..." Helen did her voice interpretation of air quotes.

Helen's smile only grew. "We found a cure.."

*

"A cure? For what? The Apocalypse? Cancer? A new flu shot for the common cold?!" Aphmau exclaimed, knowing what she meant, but nonetheless refused to believe it.

All this time.....

"Yes, we've been spending our valued time and resources to find a more comfortable option for those terrified of injections." Helen did her infamous resting bitch face, crossing her arms.

"But how? I thought the infection once set is uncurable...." Teony wondered.

"We thought that too, until....actually, and as much as it pains me to say this, it's all thanks to Aphmau..." Helen painfully spits out.

Aphmau eyes widened, as she pointed to herself. "Me?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Helen rests her fingers on the table in a stretched manner. "The walker, that poor guy, you brought with you on your space shuttle, we were able to extract some samples from him, and some of our scientists found a specific antibody that was consistent with other samples taken off the exterior of your space shuttle, that we attacked with a certain antigen. Which seemed to return our test subjects to their original form before the infection, and those with loss of mass or skin, we put a cell regeneration aspect into the serum..."

The girls went into their own forms of shock. Teony steadied herself in her chair, Nana rocked back and forth slowly in hers, and Aphmau proceeded to walk towards one of the windows.

Out of that certain window, was Earth, and since Elysium was just out of Earth's atmosphere, they were pretty damn close.

Aphmau observed the way the blue outlines the green, the way the world warped inwards oh so perfectly. (Not to anger any flat world believers, whoever you may be).

"So that means....." Teony's words faded as her voice did, Helen finishing for her.

".....they're alive....all of them, well all of which were.....just walkers." Helen looks specifically at Aphmau, knowing that her parents didn't die just walkers.

But besides them, Aphmau was thinking of others as well.

"When will you administer the antidote?" Teony questions, her eyes welling up with unshed tears.

"We already have....."

*

"Now, they may be a bit disgruntled and maybe even violent, which can be expected after such trauma." Helen warns, steadying herself with a ledge above in the space shuttle. Teony, Nana, and Aphmau buckled into seats against the wall of the shuttle as they flew down to Earth.

In an unsettling storm of emotions, the girls merely nodded, trying to control their breathing as they prepare themselves for what was to come.

Why weren't they jumping for joy you may ask? Well, that's hard to explain, most emotions are.

But here is a quick recap, these girls watched them die, watched them sacrifice their wellbeings to the vicious beasts.

So knowing they will see them literally become undead, left them all with slight anxiety.

"Ironically, we have found that its best for loved ones to observe the process so we've handpicked your friends and prepared them for resuscitation in one of the airplane hangers......" Helen starts, but Nana cuts her off.

"So wait, you are telling me we should watch?!" Nana says, panicked and disgusted.

"Trust me, or at least try to. It may seem odd but.....imagine it like, as if watching your dreams come true." Helen showed a rare kind smile.

"We are minutes from touchdown ma'am." The pilot yells back to Helen.

Aphmau's heart quickened ever so quickly.

Katelyn, Garroth.....Aaron, all of them.

Come back....

*

As the girls nearly ran to the airplane hangar, they saw the many walkers which had chased them just a year before, jumping in joy as they hugged their loved ones, amazed about their returns.

Apparently the people on Elysium had released the serum as a gas, worldwide.

I wonder if they have enough.......

Though they were told not to run, the girls disobeyed, practically sprinting towards the hangar.

Although as they saw what was inside, they felt the need to run in the opposite direction.

"Zane....." Nana whispered.

"Lucinda....Katelyn...." Teony whispered.

"Aaron....."

They were lined up in a single filed manner, each in their own cage, unconsciously laid out on gurneys.....their bodies......

Oh god, their bodies.

"We have sedated them, so we can commence the transformation without them feeling pain, here...." Helen is handed a metal briefcase by the pilot from before, she rests it on a nearby tray table, unlocking the tabs to flick the top half up, revealing 3 syringes filled with dead orange serum. (heheh dead get it)

"There are a few more cases, now Nana, you take these three over, and Teony, here's another three...." With the antidote in hand, the girls did not stick around for any more of Helen's monologues.

While opening the last case, Helen makes a weird face at the content of the case, shooting the pilot a deadly look. "Why are there only 3? This case is suppose to have 4"

The pilot nervously scratches the back of his neck. "There was a slight miscalculation ma'am, that's all we got left."

Helen inhaled sharply in shock, but it was nothing to what Aphmau was feeling.

10 people to revive......9 syringes to revive them......

Someone isn't coming back.......

OOOOOH who could it beeeeee hmmm

Also if you haven't watched Infinity War yet, go do it, watch it and watch all the characters you love and adore.....die

Hey! That's like my books!

Also I kinda wrote this chapter to convince myself that some characters from Marvel aren't actually dead yet sooooooooooo ENOUGH SPOILERS.

Have a nice day my crystals!