With every week that went by, the walls grew that little bit taller, and Novus felt that little bit safer. With the new hunting and scavenging initiative, they had been able to stock up on food, supplies, medication and scrap material; more than ever before. The place was thriving and the people were smiling, they had even just thrown their first ever pregnancy party, as one of the younger couples had made the brave decision to start a family.

Max respected their bravery, but he didn't envy their challenge. Bringing up an infant child in the midst of all this, whatever this was, it seemed an impossibility to him, but at the same time, he realised its necessity. After all, if everyone stopped procreating now, the human race would die out whether the current generations survived or not.

Lizzie's face was a picture during the celebrations. Max hadn't seen her smile like that in too long... since before JJ. It wasn't just at the notion of a new born baby coming into the world, but at the pride she felt for playing a part. The couple had pulled Max and Lizzie to one side before they'd made the announcement to thank them personally.

Without your work, the supplies, the extra security... we wouldn't have felt safe enough to take this next step.

There had even been talk of Lizzie being the child's godmother. Max smiled, godmother, he didn't think that he would be around to hear such tradition again. Novus really was a heart-warming, tight-knit community, preserved inside this bubble of optimism and anticipation. For the first time since he'd met Lizzie, he had found a place good enough in which to leave her behind, if that day ever came.

It was as if someone had captured one little fragment of life and popped it into a bottle to serve as an immortal reminder of humanity at its best. Max guessed that the majority of the people within the Novus walls had almost forgotten about the horrors beyond. Most never ventured through the gate, no one heard or saw a clicker, there were only a handful who even peered over the top of the wall. They were isolated, in the safest and purest way possible.

They had decided to put a cap on the height of the wall, keeping it at around four metres along the entire perimeter. The rest of the scrap material they used to fortify the base of the structure, to add new layers, blockades in the streets, and thicker, sturdier walkways along the rooftops. The latter had been Max's idea, for the sake of his own height-fearing stomach.

Novus grew stronger by the day, and not just in terms on security. Over the past month they had found seven new survivors who had all integrated well into the mini society. Rodney had started up some initiatives of his own, including a weekly forum where the people of Novus could voice their concerns, ideas and issues to a member of the board (Rodney was generally the only volunteer. He had also claimed the paediatrics ward of the hospital and turned it into a sort of day-care service for parents to drop off their kids for the odd break. The walls were restricting for the youth of the camp, they were used to running around, going to parks and playing football with friends, none of which was possible anymore.

Rodney did what he could to keep them amused with a selection of games, sports and lessons. The group had actually become so popular that Lizzie often had to step in and help out with its day to day running. She, of course, didn't complain. She was only too happy to spend time with the little ones.

George had taken some time to adjust to the new routine. He couldn't understand why his two best friends were giving so much attention to these other children, and in the beginning would act out in wild tantrums. After a few weeks, and numerous talks from Rodney, he eventually settled down and made some new friends in the process.

It was of vital importance to keep making Novus feel like a home for its inhabitants, more like a gated community than a bomb shelter.

While out hunting one day with T and his squad, Lizzie had insisted that they abandoned the scheduled mission for scrap metal in place of looting an abandoned store entitled 'AstroTurf-rific deals'. It was unclear whether the shop had been left to rot before or after the apocalypse, but Lizzies out-the-box thinking turned out to be a stroke of genius.

She had refused to fully explain her intensions with the day's loot, instead demanding that the hunters bring the entirety of it up to the top floor of the hospital. They were then ordered to leave her to it.

Lizzie had gained enough respect and recognition around the camp in her short time there to be given the benefit of the doubt, and many found her sheer determination in the name of AstroTurf rather amusing. The laughter didn't last for long.

After a full night's work alone on the roof, Lizzie finally opened up her project to the community the following morning. She had laid the turf as best she could over the expanse of the concrete flat roof, while cleverly arranging the looted plastic pot plants, deck chairs and sun loungers found on display in the shop.

She had turned an unused fire exit rooftop into a beautiful beer garden for the adults of Novus to come and relax, drink, and rest up from a hard day's work. The children were unfortunately banned due to the plummeting drop over the low rooftop walls, but they were happy enough with their own paediatric haven anyway.

It was little touches like the beer garden, the day-care and the new security measures that had made the three newcomers some of the most popular people around camp, much to the irritated grumblings of many of the pre-existing board members.

But, in truth, their opinions barely mattered anymore. Val had been so impressed with the strides that Max, Lizzie and Rodney had made in such a short space of time, that she cleared the majority of their new ideas without a second's hesitation.

***

As the sun finally set on another day in Novus, Max, Lizzie and Rodney clinked their glasses together on the rooftop garden, watching the rays just dip behind the furthest towers in the silhouetted city skyline.

"Cheers," Max smiled, taking a sip from his Triple F.

The homemade brew was named by its chef, a kitchen worker called Ferguson, who said it was supposed to mimic the 'fff' exhale noise you made when sipping at the 50% alcohol.

Max winced, "Fuck me, Fergie's making these stronger, I swear!"

Lizzie arrogantly waved her glass at him, "I told you to dilute it. It's not so bad with water and a squeeze of lemon... nice even."

"I don't know if I'd go as far as nice," Rodney shuddered. "Definitely warms you up a bit though."

"Want another?" Max smiled wryly.

Rodney hauled himself to his feet, waving his hands in protest, "No, no, no. Not a bloody chance. I should probably go and relieve Grace of her duties down at the day care anyway."

"Look at Rodney with all his little employees now," Max teased through slurs.

Rodney disappeared down the fire exit stairs until only his extended middle finger remained, then he was gone, leaving Max giggling at his own joke.

Lizzie smiled, "You know, I almost forgot today."

"Forgot what?"

Lizzie paused, "Everything. My old life, the outbreak... everything. When everyone was up here, toasting a drink to Michelle and Ethan, talking about welcoming a baby into the world... I don't know, I just forgot. You know that feeling you get when you're on holiday, and your life back home gets pushed riiiight to the back of your mind, just for a little bit... you know?"

"Yeah," Max smiled warmly. "I know exactly what you mean. Like everything else is on pause."

"If we didn't have to go out there everyday and see... them, I might even enjoy it," Lizzie admitted before taking a hefty gulp.

Max swivelled his chair to face her, "You know you don't have to go out here, you don't have to see them. I've told you before, y-"

Lizzie raised a palm to silence him, "And I've told you before, what else am I supposed to do? Let someone go out there in my place? Let someone else risk their life? Say I did quit, say I knocked it on the head to just stay here and enjoy my days. What if one day someone misses a snipe that I would have hit, or fails to spot a clicker that I would have seen. What then? What the hell would I do then?"

Max chuckled under his breath before turning back to face the blurring skyline once more, "You're exactly like your father."

He knew exactly as the words left his mouth that they were a mistake. The drink had loosened his lips, and now the sentence was echoing around his skull like a scream in a church. His eyes bulged with panic, desperately trying to claw the words back in, but it was too late.

This wasn't a subject that the two discussed. Not yet.

After what seemed like an eternity of seconds clunking past at the pace of decades, Lizzie finally replied.

"That's what mum used to say. Only when I was being a stubborn brat, of course."

Max spat out his drink, and choked on the remains as he laughed, "That does not surprise me one bit, kid. Did she used to put her hands on the ba-"

"On the back of her neck! Yes!" Lizzie cried. "Every time she told me off! Like she was about to claw her own skin off."

Max shook his head, "God, how many times did I bare the brunt of that glare?"

"Not as many as me, I'll tell you that," Lizzie grinned.

The sun had completely disappeared from view, but Max and Lizzie sat atop the hospital warmer than ever. He didn't know whether it was the Triple F, or the basking glow of nostalgia, but for the first time Max felt like a dad rather than a father.

"She still loved you, you know that, right?"

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"She never stopped loving you, not for as long as I knew her."

"How could you possibly know that? She never even mentioned me to you," Max sighed.

"That's true, but she never dated. Not once. In my 14 years with her, I don't remember her going on a single date," Lizzie recalled.

Max looked up, "Not one?"

"Not one. You don't know how I tried!" Lizzie exclaimed. "I must have signed her up to a thousand dating sites, but no one was ever good enough."

"Is that so?" Max choked.

"Apparently not," Lizzie smiled.

Max wiped his eyes before they could produce a tear, aware of the likely jibes he would receive. "She must be laughing right now, god would she be laughing."

"She'll be happy though," Lizzie added. "Happy that we found each other."

"Who knows, kid."

"Oh, come on. She'll be up there somewhere cursing the day that she didn't give you a real shot at fatherhood. You... you're a great dad, Max."

Max stared back into her watering eyes, the eyes of Lizzie's mother, his soul mate, when the cries went up around the Novus walls.

"Body! Four o'clock! There!" a guard hollered, as countless flashlight beams hurriedly attempted to locate the figure.

Max jumped to his feet, peering over the edge of the roof, but the late evening sky was pitch black by now, it was impossible to see anything but the faded torchlights.

Lizzie was already half way down the fire exit steps by the time Max had turned, but he soon caught up to her, as they stampeded down the hospital's main staircase.

By the time the two emerged back into the night air, the guards had all located the figure, and had their weapons trained in.

The clicker mumbled as it weaved inbetween the blockades, slowly stumbling directly towards the main gate. Another mumble. The another.

"Get ready to fire," the lead guard on watch ordered, hovering his finger over the trigger.

"Don't shoot," the mumbling figure finally managed to croak, before falling to the ground. "Don't shoot."

The guards checked every angle beyond the mystery man to rule out the possibility of an ambush, before reluctantly opening the gates.

Max and Lizzie pushed their way to the front of the group, just as the two panels parted to reveal the collapsed young man in the shadows.

The man pulled himself up using some kind of walking stick, before continuing to hobble towards the compound. As he neared the gate, it became clear that it wasn't a walking stick, or a staff in his hand at all, but a pool cue, with a knife strapped to the top.

"Karl!" Max cried, running towards him.

The boy shook his head.

There was something off. As Lizzie's vision improved, she stopped a metre or so away from him. His gate, the way he carried himself, a certain bite mark on his arm...

He looked up. His eyes. The eyes always gave it away.

"JJ," she sobbed.

******

Author note: As most of you will know, I have never done an author note at the bottom of a chapter before, I like to keep you guessing and let the story do the talking, but I wanted to share one detail with you.

I want you to cast your minds back to the final chapter of Death After Death, the final paragraph in that chapter. Chapter 55.

Can't remember? Let me help. Here it is:

Whistles crashed around her eardrums. Red images of JJ's face plagued her eyelids. Orchestras of clicks echoed around like victorious applause. Never-ending tears streamed from Lizzie's haunted eyes. Giving way to the pain, she sank to her knees, as Max broke her fall. The clickers still surrounded where JJ had fallen. Wails cascaded from Lizzie's mouth, as natural as breaths. Inconceivable agony tore through her heart. Neither of them moved; even Max's tears dripped against Lizzie's forehead like pellets.

So what, right? Now take a look at the first letter of each sentence. Put them together.

Whistles crashed around her eardrums. Red images of JJ's face plagued her eyelids. Orchestras of clicks echoed around like victorious applause. Never-ending tears streamed from Lizzie's haunted eyes. Giving way to the pain, she sank to her knees, as Max broke her fall. The clickers still surrounded where JJ had fallen. Wails cascaded from Lizzie's mouth, as natural as breaths. Inconceivable agony tore through her heart. Neither of them moved; even Max's tears dripped against Lizzie's forehead like pellets.

Welcome back, JJ.

RIP Karl.

Seb x