Vanilla Dusk ✓

Life Part 7

All those memories rush back to him and they play in his head like a tape. His life before the outbreak wasn't particularly successful but everything he has experienced so far has a place in his heart. His chest feels heavy. It's no longer just a tingle of warmth but a combination of different sensations. There is an urge to cry whenever he thinks of his family and those precious to him; another urge to smile whenever Shann holds or kisses him; an urge to dash downstairs to show the others his album and diary; an urge to clasp Shann's hand and lead him out of this rotten cage.

'Elis, can you feel anything now?'

They're lying side by side on the mattress, their hands intertwined. They both stare at the glass dome-shaped light on the ceiling.

Something is pounding in Elis's chest, of which he is sure. It's beating, thumping, hammering and sometimes racing when Shann squeezes his hand or smirks at him or whispers in his ears. It goes thump, thump, thump... His cheeks feel warm all the time and his eyes, no longer void and bloodshot, blink almost every second. Words that stem out from his mouth are lucid and comprehensible.

'That film about the android...' says Elis. 'I've watched it too. The android stays with the boy in the end, right?'

'Yes,' replies Shann. 'Love is still love in whatever form.'

'It was my birthday,' says Elis. 'Johan bought five tickets for the football match. We were in the stadium when the outbreak struck. People started screeching and yelling in panic, running and rolling down the spectator's stand. The creatures flooded in through the entrance and bounced on the footballers, the coach and then the audience. The field suddenly became a gory mess and there were mutilated corpses everywhere. People started stepping on one another as they filed out of the exit. Noah and Tonni got pushed down to the ground by the crowd. Mateo got bitten while trying to smash one of those creatures with a bin. John was trying hard to shove me out of the exit along with the crowd but it turned out that the exit wasn't safe either. He swung himself in front of me when a creature almost grabbed me. He asked me to hide in the toilet but my feet were nailed to the ground. I couldn't take my eyes off the creature tearing out his veins.'

'So, you didn't flee?'

'I stayed,' says Elis calmly. 'I was thinking – if I had to live alone, I might as well join them. They'd be less lonely.'

Elis doesn't quite remember how he got bitten in the end, but when he opened his eyes again, he was bleeding, convulsing, coughing up blood and shrieking until all memories and feelings were wiped out and he became another living dead.

'I get it,' says Shann. He might give up too if all his family members got bitten right in front of his eyes. There's no point escaping alone like a coward. 'And you didn't kill me. That's weird.'

'I was planning to, but then...' Elis trails off, frowning in deep thoughts. After a while, he snaps his fingers and exclaims, 'Shann, I think you're the cure. You've got the antidote.'

'What?'

'Your tears and your blood...ignited something in me and I suddenly didn't want to kill you anymore,' says Elis. 'I started reviving my feelings and memories the moment I drank your blood. And you read to me, chatted with me, taught me everything all over again...This might work on others too.'

'My blood isn't a serum,' says Shann. 'You probably felt something because I used to be part of your memories.'

'It makes sense.'

Elis nods and climbs on top of Shann, straddling him with a smile. He bends down gently to kiss him. Shann kisses back. They nibble each other's lips and only stop to gasp for air. Shann sits up and stares at the other boy, who is now fully alive, breathing, blinking and speaking.

'Tomorrow, I'll show them the album and the diary,' says Elis determinedly. 'I'll play them their favourite music and tell them stories of their past. I'll teach them to read, to spell and to speak all over again. I'll make them remember everything.'

'You think that will work?'

'If what you did works on me, it should,' says Elis confidently. 'But for now, why don't we enjoy ourselves first?'

He leans in to nuzzle Shann's neck and Shann chuckles, pulling him close.

'Right.'

And for once, they see the light to the darkness outside. Shann knows that somewhere out there, his family is still living, making every day count and missing him. They will surely reunite one day. Elis knows that somewhere buried deep in his family's dead hearts, there is a switch only he can flick and one day, they will all learn to laugh, cry and smile again.

Tomorrow, everything will be okay.