The End is Nine

Prologue.

-1 year ago-

"Are you absolutely one thousand percent sure about this?" A twenty-nine year old Jack Frost croaked, his hands firmly placed on his younger sister's shoulders. Emma Frost nodded vigorously with a reassuring smile.

"Two thousand percent sure, Jack. This has been a long time in the making." She confirmed. With a heavy sigh he released his grip on Emma's shoulders and backed away. Needless to say, he wasn't that thrilled that his 'little' sister had signed herself up for the first trial of the Z-Virus vaccine, but the twenty-three year old was certain everything would run smoothly.

"I-I just want you to be safe..." Jack uttered, his blue eyes boring into his sister's brown ones.

"I will be, besides I'm not the only one undergoing this trail, Jim is as well." She reminded. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door which startled both of the Frosts. "That'll be Al, he's escorting Jim and I down to the lab. Honestly, Jack, you have nothing to be worried about, these guys know what they're doing." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother's waist, squeezing him in one last hug.

"I love you, Emma." Jack mumbled as he returned the hug, placing his chin upon the young woman's head.

"I love you too, Jack." She whispered.

---

The lab was busy as usual, set up in the very heart of Atlanta, this once makeshift lab was where Emma Frost and Jim Hawkins were to spend the next forty-eight hours of their life being constantly monitored after the vaccine was released into their system, shortly followed with a dose of the Z-Virus.

Sitting on a shabby medical cot, Jim Hawkins stared blankly at the wall a few meters away, the man hadn't been the same since his girlfriend Ariel had died from blood poisoning a decade ago. Emma knew that Jim was careless now, there would be days where he would be reckless, hard to calm and other days he'd sit alone for hours staring off, trapped in his own thoughts. The young woman sighed softly before hopping up onto the cot next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" She mumbled, now staring at the wall herself.

"Shit, you?" He grunted in response. Emma chuckled silently at his blunt response.

"I'm doing OK." All of a sudden Jim threw his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. "These guys know what they're doing, what could go wrong?!" Emma exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood.

"We become infected?" Jim responded sarcastically.

"I highly doubt that..." Came a new voice. The pair looked up to see the head scientist, Mrs Lemon, dressed in pristine white overalls with two syringes in hand. She gave them a warm smile before placing the syringes onto a small table next to the cot. "We have been working on this cure for a very long time, we assure you, nothing will go wrong."

---

Jack took his time walking back to the building that he boarded in along with his girlfriend Rapunzel and his friends, Merida, Hiccup and Jim and finally his sister Emma. The man dug his hands into his pockets to shield them from the cold. Winter was beginning to set in, there was a light snowfall most evenings and the leaders of the salvaged community were setting up for a harsh winter.

During the colder months the infected were less active, not many survived, but that still didn't mean the survivors were safe during winter. With the world in chaos, cities in ruins, shelter was hard to find and illness could spread easily. A few years back a simple flu alone wiped out dozens of people living in the inner circle of Atlanta because there was limited help.