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  I didn’t have much trouble with Frank and his crew, or really anyone anymore. They were too afraid of what I brought from the city’s center. And Frank actually turned during the few hours I had spent in the darkness. He was now part of us. Selfishly, he was probably the ugliest turning I had seen since. His mutation caused him to lose a leg, and a crack tore up his face rather nastily. Though I didn’t really feel sorry for him. He did, after all, kill Susan and Kyle and had me thinking I had lost Olivia in the process. But he became one of us, and I had a certain connection with him just like the rest. So I couldn’t hate him as much as I wanted to.

  Susan and Kyle were buried in a plot in the backyard of their home. Olivia and I place flowerers there at least once a month. I try to ask for mercy, and even now, I can’t forgive myself for what happened to them. I just hope they have found some sort of harmony in the afterlife. They had lived such hard lives and deserve some peace at last.

  “Jacccckkkkkssssssoooonnnn,” a voice lingered in my subconscious.

  “Eve,” I thought.

  “I… I… can rem, re…remmmmembbbberrr. Sieeer… Siiee… Si, Sierrrrraaaaa’ssssss Barrrrrr.” Eve struggled to speak, but with every passing day, I was getting her closer to the way she had been.

  “Yes, that’s right.” I smiled slightly.

  Joey has become a new sort of leader of the Downtown area. He had been an integral part of helping us adapt the best we could to the area, to this new life. And I thank him every day I see him.

  As for myself, it hasn’t been easy. Every day I fight with myself with what I did, try to make it seem like I couldn’t do anything. That the virus would have spread no matter what. Though I know otherwise. But I will never let myself drown in this emotion. No matter how long it takes, there will come a day when I will be able to reverse this change. These people will be made whole again.

  “Jackson!” Olivia ran into the room again.

  “Yes, yes. Okay Olivia.” I put the pen down. I could pick this up later. Grabbing Olivia by the hand, I lifted her into my arms and moved out the front door.

  “I love you,” Olivia hugged my shoulders.

  “I love you too.”

  The day outside was bright. The hot orange ball of fire managed to hover in the sky above, and it was sweltering.