Eternal Love

If Love Could Save Us

"Anthony, no!" I cried out as my fiancé lurched through the front door.

His skin was deathly pale, eyes glazed over. He opened his mouth and let out an inhuman snarl, ambling towards me with arms outstretched.

This couldn't be happening. Not tonight, the eve of our wedding. We were supposed to be curled up in bed dreaming of our future together. But in a few hours, everything had gone horribly wrong.

A mysterious virus had turned over half the residents of our town into ravenous flesh-eaters. And it had taken my Anthony too. He was one of them now - a mindless zombie, unrecognizable save for the engagement ring still gleaming on his pallid hand.

I scrambled away, my heart shattering into pieces.
"Anthony, it's me...Andrew. Your fiancé. Please snap out of it!"

But there was no spark of recognition in those cold, dead eyes as he lunged for me. I narrowly dodged his grasping hands and managed to shove him into the basement, locking the door securely behind me.

Anthony immediately began hurling himself against the door, snarling and shrieking, clawing frantically with bloodied fingers. The sound was unbearable. My beloved partner was gone, replaced by this monster wearing his skin. I slid to the floor and broke down in wrenching sobs.

Somewhere in town, a siren began to wail. The emergency broadcast system blared to life, announcing quarantine instructions I barely heard over the cacophony from the basement. It didn't matter anyway. Nothing mattered now except the impossible choice before me.

As the hours stretched on, the chaos outside grew louder. More zombies would be stalking the streets soon, desperate for living flesh. I knew what had to be done before Anthony escaped and attacked someone himself. Or came for me next.

I forced myself upstairs on trembling legs and grabbed my handgun from the cabinet with grim resolve. But when I returned to the basement door, I froze up, sweating and hyperventilating. Could I really do this? Could I pull the trigger and end the life of the man I loved?

"I'm so sorry, my darling," I choked out.
"I wish there was another way."

The zombie threw itself against the door again with a feral snarl. The bloodthirsty sound turned my stomach. This wasn't my Anthony - not anymore. Just a shell possessed by some hellish infection that had erased his consciousness. A vessel of destruction that had to be put down.

With tears streaming down my face, I unlocked the door and swung it open. Anthony - or what remained of him - came barreling out. The fire in his eyes chilled me to my core. He was nothing but insatiable hunger now. No trace left of the man who had kissed and caressed my body with such tender devotion.

I raised the gun with a broken sob.
"Forgive me!"

Anthony lunged...and then stopped short, mere inches from me. For a split second, his frenzied eyes seemed to clear. He choked out a single word in a raspy, decayed version of his warm, loving voice:

"A...Andrew?"

I froze in disbelief. Was it some sort of cruel trick? Or could it be...

"Anthony?" I whispered. "Are...are you..."

Before I could finish the question, the madness gripped him again. He let out an inhuman roar and grabbed me in a vice-like chokehold. My gun clattered to the floor as I struggled for breath, staring desperately into his bloodshot eyes. Begging for another flicker of the man trapped deep within that gnarled corpse.

Nothing. Anthony was gone. With my vision darkening, I renewed my fight to break free of his grip. If I was going to die here today, at least it would be next to my beloved, joined with him unto the end.

The emergency broadcast had said scientists were already working tirelessly on an antidote. If any trace of Anthony's consciousness still remained inside this monster, I had to believe there was hope of bringing him back someday. Whatever minuscule chance existed, I would take it. Even if it meant chaining us together in this basement until the remedy was found.

I managed to break away at last and created barricades around the area- over door and window openings throughout the house, sealing us in and locking the world out.

Anthony growled and threw himself against the barricades, but they held firm. I huddled on the floor, chest heaving, vision swimming, as the zombie who had once been my soulmate gradually tired himself out.

When he finally turned those cloudy eyes my way once more, I thought I saw a hint of exhaustion and resignation this time. Not hunger or bloodlust. Just a profound, aching sadness.

I stretched my hand out tentatively. "Come here, my love. We have a long wait ahead of us."