For years, Aidan and Diana have been trying to find an opportunity to meet each other in person. Finally, they did meet, but they didn't expect it would be right before an apocalypse. Although it wasn't because Diana wanted to meet Aidan that she decided to go to Malaysia. Even though she had the intention to meet him sometime in the future, she had come earlier, way earlier than expected...
It has been a week since they got shelter with the others at the underground base of the Malaysian military. "You alright, babe?" Aidan asked as leaned against the bathroom, looking at Diana kneeling at the bathroom toilet bowl, vomiting. They have yet to declare they were dating after their spicy bathroom session but they called each other 'babe' anyway.
"I... am... fine..." Diana said before vomiting a little more. She has been feeling like that for a week now, it has been worrying Aidan. They couldn't find out why she has been feeling like that these past few days.
"Rollcall starts soon, let's get ready," Aidan said as he held Diana up to the sink to clean herself up. As Diana cleaned herself, Aidan thought back to the story Diana told him about her escapade, she looked like a completely different person here, Aidan thought.
As Diana got out of the bathroom, Aidan decided to ask, "Actually, what do you think is our relationship status?"
Diana wiped her face with a piece of towel and she replied with a shrug and said, "Lovers maybe? Friends with benefits?" Even Diana was uncertain about their relationship status.
"We'll see about it, we must go now, the commander has something important to tell us all at rollcall."
They walked along the hallway slowly, Diana's vision was shaky, it is something you expect to see after a terrible afternoon nap. They all sat at the cafeteria tables in the hall, on the wall in front of them was a projected map image of Putrajaya. Every soldier looked at the projection with mixed feelings of curiosity, excitement and fear as their attention was brought to the projected image.
Firdaus stood up in front of the projected image, dressed like a military commander.
"Today will be our last day together here. For one last push, we shall attack..." he paused to let the projected image zoom in on Putrajaya to show a 3D model of the Malaysian Prime Minister's office, "... the Perdana Putra." he continued, "Over country has been overthrown by these communist rebels who now reside in the Prime Minister's office."
"Why are we doing this?" one of the officers raised his hand to ask, "We should be trying to eliminate zombies instead!"
Firdaus didn't look surprised at that question and said, "There is no hope left, the zombies spread and the number of zombies will overwhelm us no matter how hard we try, we will die anyway! Well, if you were to die for your country, would you want to die for the country under a communist rule or what it once was? A country that we lived our whole life through!"
The officer lowered his hands. Aidan saw that he whispered something under his breath. Everyone was divided into four divisions. Aidan and Diana were lucky to be on the same division. Felicia and June were in another division. Each division will attack from the respective sides of the office. Each division leader was handed a large bag of bombs.
"I would like to say that no suicide bombings will happen," said Firdaus, "We just want to destroy the building to eliminate the communist once and for all. But if there is no choice, I'd say at least you died for your country. Understand?"
"Understood, sir!" the whole hall shouted. Division by division, they were led to the exit. Along the way, they were handed a bulletproof vest, gun holster that holds a pistol and a pocket knife then finally an assault rifle. Aidan and Diana were in the 4th division which would start the siege form the back of the Prime Minister's Office. Division 1 will start the siege from the entrance, division 2 and 3 will begin from the left and right respectively.
Soon enough, they got onto their respective military trucks. Aidan sat across from Diana in the truck, the other soldiers and officers were chatting like it is their last.
"It is alright, Aidan, don't need to be scared," Diana said as she pat his shoulder, she must've noticed Aidan uneasy look. Why was he feeling this way? Even Aidan himself couldn't understand. He has always felt scared but this time the feeling was intense. Maybe the fear of death has caught up with him. Zombies aren't scared of death, they don't mind getting run over by vehicles like right now, Aidan thought, maybe I should be a zombie, and he chuckled at that joking thought.
It wasn't long before Perdana Putra was in sight. The only lights were the headlights of the truck, lighting up the night. All the trucks split to their respective spots. From a distance, the hammer and sickle flag flew high and mighty in place of where the Malaysian flag once flew. Aidan and Diana's division was a few miles away, same for the other divisions, this was to avoid detection. Through radio, the division leader managed to talk to Firdaus who gave all the divisions a countdown before starting the siege.
They started moving in, there was a barbed wire barricade surrounding the Perdana Putra with guards walking around. Shots began to be heard which distracted the guards on Aidan and Diana's end and ease their way to penetrate the walls of defence. For the first time in 2 years, Putrajaya lit up in lights and sounds. As they entered the compound of the office, the division had to split, and Aidan realised that he would be split from Diana. He was worried, and he told Diana as they were about to be split into two different groups, one heading left, the other heading right. Diana hugged Aidan and assured him she will be alright.
Before Aidan could say more, Diana headed off into the battlefield. Aidan had no choice but to join in too with the group that was going right. For the first time in his entire life, Aidan stepped foot into the prime minister's office, of course, it was vandalised with spray paint defacing the walls and furniture tipped over but the hint of luxury was still there. As they walked, the group leader placed the bombs around the building. They were confronted by the communist as they began open firing, the group hid behind some furniture and returned fire.
The first few explosions were heard on the opposite side of the building. He was worried about Diana, but that was what got him motivated to fight more. The group pushed ahead until they met at the front entrance with the other divisions.
"What was that explosion for?" Muthu who was in the 3rd division asked, "it wasn't part of the plan!"
"Zombies started entering too, sir!" one of the soldiers shouted. Explosions were heard again as the left wing and right wing of the office collapsed over the zombies and dead bodies, but that couldn't slow them down, remember, zombies, are very violent at night. Aidan though was more worried about Diana.
Aidan looked among the sea of crowds of division members and finally caught sight of Diana who was talking to Felicia at the bottom of the curved staircase that is often sen in mansions that would lead to the second floor.
"Diana!" Aidan called out as he headed in their direction.
"Diana!" he called out once again to which she turned to him. She was excited to see him and stood up to hug him.
"Are you alright?" Aidan asked her as she looked up and down her.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I am alright," she said teasingly. They both chuckled.
Suddenly, another explosion was heard, this time was close to them which almost destroyed their eardrums. The explosion killed almost everyone, someone must have thrown a grenade into the crowd, must be one of the communist members. 2/3 of the division troops were killed. Aidan and the remaining troops shot the communist members who ambushed them and they were successful, only Muthu, Firdaus, Aidan, Diana and Felicia were left. The ambush really hit them hard.
"Where is June?" Aidan asked Felicia.
"I don't know," she replied, "We were divided at the beginning of the siege and I couldn't see her since."
"Let's not waste any more time," Muthu chimed in, "We have the leader of the communist in the main office. They began walking up the stairs, and surprisingly, the other members of the communist groups were killed. Firdaus bent down at one of their bodies and noticed that there was a cut across their neck. Their throat was slit. Was it suicide, Firdaus thought. Each body had the same cut, and they were lying in a pool of blood it was the same for every floor, leading up to the fourth floor.
They walked in the direction of the Prime Minister's office on the fourth floor, the dirty red carpet led to the office entrance which was a luxurious wooden door. On a count to three, they smashed into the office. To their surprise, it was empty, although trashed. Aidan sensed something was up, it felt unusually quiet. Aidan checked around the room and wandered off to another room.
"Nothing here!" Muthu said. Firdaus recommended they leave and so they did. They slowly walked down the stairs and killed tons of zombies along the way until they managed to exit the building. They stood below the flag pole to look up at the communist flag.
"We will raise the Malaysian flag when the sun rises, for now, we need shelter," Firdaus said.
"Wait, where's Aidan?" Diana asked as they snuck away.
They turned and looked at each other and sure enough, Aidan wasn't among them. Diana immediately turn around to run back into the office but Felicia held her back. As if like clockwork, a large explosion erupted from the Prime Minister's main office, the explosion blasted glass pieces onto the ground below along with concrete debris and pieces of wooden furniture.
"No! Aidan!" Diana shouted as she tries to push Felicia away. But Felicia persisted and held Diana back along with Muthu.
"Let's go! More zombies are coming!" Firdaus shouted as Felicia dragged Diana away. Midnight came about, Diana sat at the window frame, facing the Perdana Putra, where she witnessed the teal-coloured dome collapsing into the zombie hoard below. Diana flinched away from the sight.
Diana looked around the room, Felicia was dead asleep whilst Muthu and Firdaus were sleeping in another room. How could the world be so cruel, she thought as she shut her eyes in tears.
"Diana?" she could hear him say, "Diana?" again she heard. She opened her eyes and saw Aidan sitting across from her by the window. It was evening, about 2 to 3 pm the sun was lighting up the room, and she could see the room was clean and neat, it felt like home, looking out the window, she saw that the Perdana Putra was there, this utopia feeling assured her and yet it scared her. She once again travelled to another timeline.
"You almost fell asleep again," Aidan said chuckling. Diana chuckled too but was confused. THey continue to admire the view. "It has been two years," Aidan said.
Diana was surprised, "How did you know?"
"Know what?" Aidan asked, confused.
"The apocalypse?" Diana said, thinking he meant the zombie apocalypse.
"What apocalypse?" Aidan said, "I meant this." and he lifted his left hand and showed an engagement ring on his fourth finger.
Diana lifted her left hand too and saw she had a ring on her finger as well.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Diana said followed by an awkward laugh.
Aidan smiled in return as he continues to look outside, a plane flies over in the distance.
"What did you mean apocalypse?" Aidan asked.
"It's nothing," Diana shot down the question.
Aidan remained silent for a bit, then said, "Oh yeah, I remember now, you said that you have been like 'travelling in and out of realities' or something like that, right?"
Despite being confused, Diana played along and said, "Yeah, what about it?"
"You mentioned a while back that you met a different version of me, a more..." Aidan went silent for a bit then continued, "depressed version of me."
"I do not understand all of these well," Aidan continued while Diana looks with curiosity and a little bit of fear, "But I believe you now, I believe there is a world where is could be worse or worst. Like you mentioned about the zombie apocalypse or something." Diana was puzzled, she don't remember saying anything, especially to Aidan in this alternate universe. heck she has never met Aidan in this universe, yet she found him familiar.
"But please Diana," Aidan said, "The doctor has already said, please stop doing it, traversing between universes, it will cause memory loss and can hurt you mentally." Aidan sobbed a little but continued, "Please accept our reality the way it is, I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Don't worry," said Diana as she hugged Aidan in assurance, "I will try to." tears begins to drip down her eyes too. As she cried, she suddenly returned back to the 'zombie timeline'. She saw in the distance, the Perdana Putra was still on fire and a hint of orange as the sun rises merges well with the firey sight. Felicia and the others were still asleep.
She snuck out and head in the direction of the Prime Minister's office. She noticed the Malaysian flag, dirty, ripped and torn but still recognisable as the national flag was flying high. Down at the flag pole, she saw someone sitting, a silhouette illuminated by the sunrise. She cautiously walked slowly and noticed it was Aidan. Diana ran over to see he seemed dazed, looking over Putrajaya.
He heard footsteps and turned to the source to see Diana rushing over, he had a blanket covering him, his face had wounds and he was tied to the flagpole with a chain, although Diana didn't notice.
"Hey Diana," Aidan said followed by a sad smile.
Diana said nothing, she moved in and hugged Aidan. Aidan coughed but accepted her hug.
"I thought you died in the explosion," Diana said.
"I was lucky..." Aidan said.
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That night......
Aidan wandered off into another room, it was a bedroom, must've been for the prime minister. As he was about to turn to leave, someone came up from behind him and held him captive, the familiar Indian voice said, "I wanna have one last talk to you." it was recognizable as Jayden's.
"What the hell, Jayden!" Aidan shouted.
He held Aidan in a chokehold with his arms wrapped around his neck, almost choking him, but was not tight enough to actually choke him.
"You stole everything from me!" Jayden confronted.
"What do you mean everything?!"
"My girlfriends!" he shouted, "You tried stealing them all away from me! Even now, this girl, Diana, you tried stealing her from me, didn't you?!"
"I have known her longer than you do!" Aidan shouted back, "And your other girlfriends, I just let them know how bad of a person you are! Look at you now, never changed!"
"Fuck you!" Jayden shouted as he tighten the choke hold. Aidan struggled to get himself out as his vision begins to blur. Suddenly, his vision came clear and was able to breathe again, in front of him, stood June, showing great concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I am," Aidan said as he looked around to see Jayden lying on the floor, groaning in pain.
"Let's go!" June said and they started making their leave.
As they exited the prime minister's room, Jayden got up and held June in a hostage position with a gun aimed at her head. Aidan turned around and shouted, "Let go of her and aimed his gun at Jayden, his hands were shaking.
"Oh, Mr Hero, how daring of you!" Jayden mocked.
"Just go!" June shouted as Jayden pulled her back into the office, with his gun aimed at Aidan.
"But June-" Aidan said.
June interrupted and said, "I don't care, just go!" she held up a trigger button. Before Aidan could run, an explosion blasted from inside the office, bits of chipped wood flew in Aidan's direction and cut his cheek.
"No, June!" Aidan shouted as he cried......
-----------------------------------
"And that was the last I saw her," Aidan said as he cried, holding Diana's hands. Turning to the left, Aidan said, that'll be the last sunrise I'll ever see and that we'll share." followed by a sad smile.
"What do you mean your last?" Diana said quizzically, "We still have many to share!" she continued. Aidan coughed and pulled down the blanket to reveal a bite mark on his right calf.
Diana was speechless, she looked at him and said, "We can do something, maybe amputate the leg? I have seen that in games and movies!" Diana said frantically. Aidan held her arm and said, "It's too late, I can't feel my hands too," Aidan added as he almost cried. Diana noticed his eyes were becoming grey, slowly turning white.
"The time has come for me," Aidan said, he opened his arm out in a sign to hug Diana. Diana looked sad, Aidan too had tears flowing, but still had his arms open.
"I don't want to let go," she said, refusing to hug Aidan.
"Me too," Aidan said, "It is hard to wanna leave you, the memories we can make in the future, it's endless." he sobbed once more and said, "We grow up, Diana, life goes on, with or without me, you can still be the strongest girl, the strongest I know and will ever know. Just please, don't give up."
"How about I traverse to another universe, one where-" Diana said before being interrupted by Aidan.
"Please no," Aidan said, "Never do. Whatever we have set before us is what God wants us to live, if this was what he wanted, then let it be. Maybe one day, Diana, in another universe, we would have been together on better circumstances, but this is what we shall accept."
Diana broke down in tears and went for the hug, one she most probably won't forget. Aidan whispered in her ears, "I love you, Diana."
"I love you too, Aidan," she replied and hugged him tighter. After the long hug, Diana pulled away. They looked each other in the eyes.
"Kiss?" Aidan asked. Diana didn't reply, instead, she kissed Aidan on the lips passionately, the best since their bathroom situation last week.
After the kiss, Aidan took his bag, by then, the sun had fully risen. He handed his bag to Diana and said, "Take this, all are by me." Diana opened the bag to see 4 books, crumpled rose pieces, a small acrylic keychain of a rose in a glass jar and a BTS bracelet charm. She immediately held up the bracelet charm and wore it around her arm with excitement. Aidan smiled at this sight.
"Thank you, Aidan," Diana said as she admired the bracelet. Aidan instead nodded, the veins on his body were becoming obvious. He was turning. Aidan put the bag around her back.
"So, it is time now, huh?" Diana said, her voice cracked
"Yes," Aidan said, his voice becoming unclear, his tears starting to flow more, same can be said for Diana.
"Don't forget me even when I'm gone," said Aidan, "Remember, I will always love you... babe."
Diana chuckled at the word 'babe', "I won't forget, I love you too..." Aidan reached out his hand and Diana held it, it was like Eve holding Wall-E's hand.
"Goodbye Diana."
"Goodbye... Aidan."