“We started off with a noble cause,” Yukari murmured, drinking her hot coffee.

Jessica held on to the hot can of milk tea, warming her numbingly cold fingers. It had been a while since she had been in a fully functional cafeteria. She was now anticipating her chicken chop to arrive. It was an odd timing, so they had the whole café to themselves.

“The walker virus was first discovered fifteen years ago, five before The Enigma. They found it first from a kid in Thailand. He was sent to Bumrungrad Hospital with seizures, foaming in his mouth and ridiculously high fever. They couldn’t save him; nothing worked. Within 3 days, he was dead,” she announced with a hint of regret, “But his death wasn’t the end; it was a mere catalyst. The doctors who tended to him started to exhibit similar symptoms and within the week, the entire medical crew who had tended to the boy dropped dead, either in the hospital itself, or back home. Then, the people whom they made contact with, their colleagues and family began to be afflicted with this strange ailment too. It was spreading like a network of communicable disease. Panicked, the UN quarantined Thailand indefinitely, but it still got out. Malaysia and Singapore was wiped out within a year. That was how virulent the parasite was. That… was what I was told by them.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was in Japan when they told of this. We were warned that it was airborne by my medical superiors and the news, but I realised that despite the amount of coverage that this new disease got, there wasn’t a single live footage being revealed to the public. They were hiding something. I dug deep and I found something very disturbing,” Yukari looked at Jessica, “It wasn’t airborne, not at all. Sure they foamed in the mouth and had seizures and all, but when they die, they did not stay dead.”

“They kept that a secret?”

“They did, Jessica. In the videos, the corpses reanimated and attacked. That was how it was spread. I saw footages of Petaling Jaya in Malaysia and it was absolute havoc. There was blood and skin everywhere; people were running directionless, chased by some kind of monstrosity. Screams echoed from my speakers as the video went on before the cameraman succumbed too. The UN embargoed every single footage of it to contain panic. Slowly but surely, it began spreading like wildfire. The military tasked for containment was overwhelmed and they couldn’t stop it either. They died and became one of them.”

Jessica’s chicken chop had arrived. She thanked the waiter and looked at the mouth-watering sight. The brown mushroom gravy smelt great and the fries were just the way she liked it, hot and crispy, yet soft on the inside. She dug in, while attentively listening to what the doctor had to say. It was just too good to resist.

“Of course, I kept the footage to myself. It was way in the deep web and I didn’t want to lose my job. However, I wanted to be in the loop. I needed to know what was happening. I only told one person about this, about the truth.”

“Yoona.”

“Precisely. We enrolled in the emergency pioneer study for an immunity vaccine. A cure is a no longer possible when the afflicted are already dead, so we tried to prevent affliction all together. Ultimately, both of us landed up here,” Yukari cleared and finished her cup of coffee, “Our first major breakthrough was the discovery that it was spread through bodily fluids, especially saliva.”

“Then, what?”

“Yoona left because she couldn’t stand by the atrocities that we have done to achieve that.”

“Atrocities?”

“Through our futile and desperate search for a cure, we did countless human trials without going to animals first. We put live but attenuated parasites into an injection, like an immunisation, but it was a failure. Simply put, countless people died due to rejection. Their bodies went into shock due to the vaccine and either they die of multiple organ dysfunction, or they turn into walkers themselves. You follow me so far?”

“Yeah.”

“Good; this is where the story goes straight into science fiction. We discovered why the vaccine, which proven in theory to work, doesn’t in reality. It needed to be incubated, heated at well above body temperature for five years to mature. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t work. Now, I’m sure you’re asking yourself how we even know to the point that it took five years. In short, it’s theoretical. I could go down into the histology the parasite but you won’t understand it anyway. Anyway, back to point, I’m sure you know that there are androids being manufactured, right? Although they didn’t really have the time to be assimilated into the mainstream, they existed nevertheless.”

“Yeah, the robots being made to replace maids and all. It was on TV.”

“Those were the low-end series. There was a line being made that supersedes the mainstream series by a mile; these were made for military use which could very well pass off as a human in the Turing test. Unfortunately, the company only made one proper, with the others possessing major defects.”

“So you incubated the cure in this robot?”

“Yes. We programmed it to protect itself at all costs while incubating the vaccine. We had no choice. Should our facility get overrun and we all die, we must ensure that the vaccine is safe. We couldn’t do that in the lab. Once the electricity is cut, everything would go to waste. Thus, we need a self-sustaining method: the android. Also, walkers are not attracted to non-organic beings. It was a win-win all around,” Yukari scoffed, “However, when it observed the savagery that we did to our own, it just ran away. It was protecting itself from us. It disabled its own GPS tracker, which the company said was not possible. Thus, our own hope for a vaccine is still out there. We don’t know where it is. This was three years ago.”

Jessica finished her meal and wiped . She was satisfied. Yukari’s phone began to ring and she excused herself, leaving her alone to indulge in her own thoughts. She ran her fingers through her hair and despite how much she despised the decontamination process, she couldn’t deny that it scrubbed her clean. Her hair felt smooth and fluffy, in contrast to her oily, glued up strands when she was still out there. It was all these simple things that she had taken for granted. It only took the apocalypse to make her realise.

“Jessica…” Yukari returned with a very grim face, “We need to talk.”
 

***

Jessica stared at Yuri through the one-way mirror, sitting in her observation room. The latter sat and faced the mirror expressionlessly. Her face was pale under the white light. Jessica shivered. Could it be because it was cold or was it the weight of the recent hail of a news? 

Jessica pressed her right palm softly against the glass and let out a deep breath, forming a small area of warm fog on the glass. She didn’t know what to do. She felt like breaking down into tears and give up, but how could she? It wasn’t just about her alone; she had to consider the consequences of every single action she took and was about to take. A billion thoughts flooded her injured mind. She was on the verge of breaking. Every day that passed was a test for her integrity to remain sane and not totally shatter. Krystal already cracked her psyche and yet, reality was not done, not even close. She fought so hard to appear strong, but it was a matter of time before she felt that she would succumb.

As she stepped into the observation room, a jaw-crunching blast of cold air blew against Jessica’s body which gave her goose bumps almost immediately.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Aren’t you afraid, Jessica, that you’ll get infected too?”

“No, Yukari said the virus is no longer airborne. It only spreads through physical contact.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“No, I’m not afraid. What exactly happened in Novak, Yuri?”

Silence again.

“Yuri! Answer me!” Jessica was starting to lose her paper thin patience, “I deserve the goddamn truth!”

“You should have left me behind.”

“Stop spouting ing nonsense! I asked you one damn question!”

Yuri looked away.

“HEY!” Jessica slammed the table, which got Yuri’s attention, “Look at me! DON’T YOU TURN AWAY FROM ME, YURI!”

“You want to know the truth? Fine!” Yuri gritted her teeth and glared at Jessica, “Back in Novak, they infected me with a Night Walker! There you have it! I’m going to lose my control very soon!”

Jessica’s face was filling up with despair at the confession despite her suspicion and anticipation for a long time.

“The Night Walkers are not as stupid as you think they are. I fought against one of them to protect you all and because of that, the rest are hunting me down by scent. I know for a fact that they are hunting me right now and it won’t take long for them to find me.”

“It can’t be…” Jessica croaked, “No, not again…”

“I’m not done!” Yuri exploded in sudden rage as her eyes grew red with pooling tears, “You want to know the goddamn truth!? All of it!? Well here’s the best part: I murdered everyone in Novak. I released a Night Walker that they kept imprisoned and enraged it so it would go on a killing spree with me! I killed Melissa and I remembered every detail! She begged for her life and I tore her trachea out! YOU WANT ME TO GO ON!?”

Yuri let out a soft gasp when she saw how devastated Jessica looked. They stared in silence as Jessica’s tears fell, and Yuri’s heart shattered from the inside.

“GO!” Yuri shouted, giving Jessica the shock of her life, “YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

Jessica shook her head while crying silently, looking at Yuri.

“GO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

“No.”

“ OFF, JESSICA!” Yuri grabbed her chair and threw it across the room, smashing it to pieces, making Jessica jump out of her seat in shock and fear, “I SAID LEAVE! LEAVE, JESSICA!”

“Yuri, why- why are you doing this to me…?” Jessica whimpered, “We’re supposed to be a family…”

“Family!? off! Here’s more truth since you love it so much: I never cared for you or Krystal! You both are just a means for me to survive, nothing more. Now, Krystal is ing dead and you’re hopeless to me! So, get lost before I kill you too, I swear to God!”

Jessica gave Yuri a tight, hard slap to her cheek.

Yuri was shocked, holding her cheek. Jessica gave a look that was filled with such disappointment and pain that Yuri will never forget. She could feel her cheeks red hot, burning with pain. Unable to utter another word, Jessica turned around and stormed out of the room, with a loud slam of the door behind her, leaving Yuri alone with the echoes of the repercussions of her actions. Yuri looked down and saw Jessica’s tears on the floor, gleaming under the white light.

It was then that Yuri realised that she was trembling.

“You need to go, Jessica… You need to get away…”

***

Jessica stood at the top of the bunker, overlooking the massive crowd, as they were anxiously waiting for the transport to sanctuary.

Somehow, she had lost all her eagerness to escape this hellhole. She had nothing to look forward to. She fought so hard to keep the precious people close to her, yet ultimately, she had lost everyone. No matter how hard she tried, she failed. Was this really how her story was supposed to unfold? Was there really no light at that dark looming horizon? Jessica wished she knew the answer, because right now, she was really at the bottom of the barrel of her life, scraping and hoping for a glimpse of light.

She looked down from the railing. It was a good ten floors above ground. That was a long way down. Jessica gazed dreamily at the random movement below her. It was funny how disorderly the movements of the people were, so much so that it became systematic: systematically disorganised. Somehow, she had lost her vertigo for the moment. Perhaps, her fear of falling down had been replaced by the desire to do so. She had truly stepped foot in a very dark place.

‘Maybe I should just jump.’

She was contemplating when she heard footsteps climbing up the ladder.

“There you are. I knew you would come here,” Dr Yukari greeted, “Am I interrupting?”

“Uh…” she looked down at the crowd again, “No.”

“Oh good,” Yukari walked and leaned against the railing next to her, “I just came up to tell you that the departure has to be brought forward to tonight at midnight. Scouts have found multiple walkers converging on this area and a quite a lot of them are Night Walkers. The chances of them circumventing us are very slim. It’s just a matter of when. Something is attracting them here, and we are not taking any chances with the future of mankind. So, you still have another five hours to prepare.”

Jessica gave a nod, nothing else.

“I, uh… I heard about what happened with Yuri.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Yukari.”

“I’m afraid we have to,” Yukari insisted, “There’s a reason for that. I am here to give you a choice.”

“A choice?”

“Yuri’s fate is determined. She has about a week left, at most, before she turns completely,” Yukari gazed into Jessica’s eyes, “I know what goes through your mind. You’re contemplating of staying with her but know this: once those carriers depart for Hawaii, they are never coming back. Do you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“This is a one-chance thing, Jessica. You have to go. You’ll be safe in Hawaii. You deserve a normal life. No more walkers. No more fear. No more pain.”

Yukari grabbed Jessica’s right palm and opened it, before putting a pill into her palm and closed it.

“Take this. Think very wisely about this pill and keep it close.”

“What’s this?”

“A medical breakthrough. Though it doesn’t help save mankind, it does help on a very personal level. This pill, it targets specifically the amygdala in the limbic system of your brain, temporarily destroys the memory cortex related to the emotion of depression. Don’t worry, your brain will recover from it, but your memory won’t.”

“What?”

“Put it simply, you will forget. This is your chance of a clean slate. I suggest you take it before you depart. This pill will help you to leave your past behind and move on.”

Yukari left Jessica stunned with her palm gripping tightly on the pill.

“Remember, Jessica, don’t forsake your future because of the past.”

With that, Dr Yukari climbed down to ground and left Jessica lone to make the decision of a lifetime. Jessica looked at the direction of which Yuri’s holding cell was located while holding the pill tightly within the grasps of her closed fist, and then shifted her gaze to the hangar bay doors, which would no doubt open within a few hours, opening the final pathway to salvation. There was no middle ground here. Everything had to come to an end, and a decision must be made.

Alas, the countdown to an ultimatum had finally begun.

***

9.00 PM (3 hours before departure)

Jessica had dinner with Yuri in silence.

The white walls were starting to get very disturbing to her eyes. The food was good though, considering that the standards of cuisine took a dive after the Enigma, military cooking tasted like heaven. A simple meal of pork chop and spaghetti tasted like a miracle to their desperate taste buds. Of course, it was no match for Taeyeon’s home-cooking but it beat canned food any day. At least it was fresh and warm.

The observation room was deafeningly silent and blindingly white that Jessica felt dizzy after a while. Maybe it was the tension between the two. The lack of windows and the distracting shadow of the moving ventilation fan in the shaft just directly above them made matters worse. It was pretty damn cold too, just as the rest of this military installation. The hot mushroom soup was their primary source of warmth.

It wasn’t only when both of them had finished their meals that they started a conversation. A thousand thoughts seared through Jessica’s mind, but there was one that she had to settle before anything else. She had to clear the water before it really was too late, but decided to keep the pill a secret.

“We really need to talk, Yuri.”

“Why are you back here? I thought-”

“Shut up, Yuri. I know what you’re doing. Just shut up,” Jessica ploughed through and took out the Walkman from her pocket and placed it on the table for the other woman to see, “Do you remember this?”

Yuri kept quiet, looking at the device that once belonged to her.

“I have recorded multiple audio logs in this, just as you asked me to try. I hated it at first; I felt stupid, but after a while, it became one of the few ways I could speak my heart out, truly and honestly. This tape inside now contains some of the truest things that I have ever spoken. I think I really like it now.”

Yuri still kept mum.

“I know what you’re doing, Yuri, and it will not work. I’m not some stupid child,” Jessica leaned forward, “No matter how much you claim to hate me, I don’t care. We are family and always will be.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, Yuri. We spent the last ten years together; you, me and Krystal. It was the three of us versus the world and we conquered for a very long time. Nothing will ever take that away from us. So, do you really expect me to believe that you never cared for us at all?”

Yuri’s just could not hold eye contact. She just couldn’t.

“A person who was just using Krystal and mys