V.I.R.A.L

The walk was full of resent and guilt. That's how Zinnia felt, dragging her feet through the snow, losing all feeling in her hands and face. Holding herself tightly, she couldn't help but shiver, struggling to keep warm. Slight traces of smoke piled around her, doing very little; she didn't once stop not letting anything stand in her way. She had no idea where she was going nor who she was looking for. Zinnia was just letting the storm guide her to wherever she needed to go.

A strong gust of wind knocked her back as she lay on her back covered in snow. Her fingers were numb, going a dark purple as with each passing moment, she was struggling to even raise a hand to the storm's wrath. Legs shaking, she slowly, after quite a while, picked herself back up, refusing to die in such away. She couldn't let her father's sacrifice be all for nothing. Stumbling around, she took the blind walk of faith, slowly losing the will to carry on. Swaying left and right, she felt herself losing conscience again as her legs gave way, and she plummeted to the ground all out of strength and hope. She lay in the snow, passing out whimpering to herself. "Not like this… Not again."

On the verge of losing conscience, she heard heavy footsteps. Unable to move her head to look, she felt a sudden tug as she was being dragged through the snow. Struggling to see her head lay back as she saw the outline of a person dragging her away. Staring at them blankly, she tried to make out the person's figure, and for a split moment, she swore she got some details—a bald cut and a large scar down the right of their face. Zinnia stared at them, struggling to stay awake as she whispered the final word before passing out. "Gale?"

****

Emil sat at the end of the camp, staring on, feeling himself drifting off. Snapping awake as his head dropped, he looked around, keeping guard, sighing to find nothing. "You sure you don't want to swap?" Florence asked, holding a bottle of water.

Catching the bottle, Emil shook his head slouched over. "I can't rest now. We could be attacked at any moments."

"It's been a few hours. I'm sure if the Garden was going to attack, they would have done it by now."

"You have a point. But this is the Garden we're talking about. We can't for a moment let our guard down against them." Emil stated.

Florence sat on the tree trunk next to him, giving a faint nod. "Well, this isn't your first rodeo with them, to be fair. It's only natural you're on edge."

"That and I'm worried about the others."

"I'm sure Alton and the others are fine. You've fought off the Garden before, haven't you?"

"Not like this. This is something far different. The first time we even encountered the fuckers was back during the first few months. Vanguard had stumbled across a small essence of the Garden, nothing more than a whisper. But it was enough to make us realise something was coming. Then the Moss and Acceptance on that island, Paradox and Alton to even my own home with the trials. It seems the Garden has always been there. We were just too naive and young to realise it."

"So, you wonder about that too. If we were as knowledgeable about the Garden now as we were back then, maybe we could have halted them and stopped this from happening. How many do you think we lost?"

Emil sighed, shaking his head. "Somethings are better off not known."

"There's something else, though, isn't there?"

"He's worried about Zinnia," Jinx said, walking through the forest towards them. "Anyone can see that."

"I've been out of the game for so long. Since Mortem took me over, I was lost going over some of my old memories. They weren't important; they were all just before Zinnia left. Before Alton faked his death. They were nice to revisit but now thinking about them makes me sick to my core. The Garden caught us b surprised. We weren't anywhere near ready, but we had each other to at least survive. Zinnia doesn't have that luxury. She's all alone and if the Garden finds her…. I fear."

"I get, I get it. You want to go and find her."

"I know it's selfish of me to suggest such a thing when we have to protect many more who can't defend themselves. Zinnia is strong. I know that, but I can't just sit here and have the possibility that the Garden gets her." Emil whispered, standing up. "What's the point in fighting for a better tomorrow if you can't see it with the people you care about?"

"Can we just take a step back and think about this like rational people?" Florence argued. "She vanished what three-four years ago? No one has heard or even seen of her since then, and she's certainly not the sort of person to allow something like Mortem killing her friends to happen. No offence Emil but all the signs are pointing to Zinnia being dead."

"You don't think I know that. Besides all the odds. I need to know; I need to make sure."

"We don't even know where to look. We looked for her in Alton's absences for years, as did Mortem, and you just expect to find her easily?"

Emil gave it a thought, vaguely remembering something. "When I was under the influence of Mortem, I vaguely remember Kurt running off before the big battle. Why else would he unless he found Zinnia?"

"Alright, let's say he did find her. We still have no leads."

Emil turned, shaking his head. "No. We have the biggest lead out there. Think about why no one could find Zinnia at all in Victoria during the past four years? Isn't it obvious she isn't in Victoria?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's all take a step back here. You're saying Zinnia left the country? Past Rhinefield. Past Sunset Peak that's highly unlikely."

"But not impossible."

Jinx held her chin, thinking. "Could people really survive out there in that weather?"

"How would we ever know? We've never been out there. I'm certain people survived. Zinnia is out there."

"And if she's not, we're walking to our deaths."

"You don't have to come. I'm going to find Zinnia alone if need be."

Jinx flicked Emil's ear sighing. "You're so hopeless, stepbrother. Like you could do anything in your condition. If you're going to find Zinnia allow me to help."

"Holly?! Are you serious?" Florence cried. "Are you both out of your mind?"

"I suppose we are. So, are you in?"

"Me?! What good will I be?!"

"I mean, you could stay here and look after the others. That's fine too. But it's only a matter of time before the Garden rolls through here and kills us all. If we want to stand against the Garden, we need Zinnia Trost."

"When you put it that way, I really don't have much of choice."

"No. No, you don't." Jinx said.

"Ugh. Fine, you've got me. Let's go find Zinnia then…. But shouldn't we be worried about Monty first?"

"Monty is with Iris. They'll be fine. Besides, I think it's much safer for us to find Zinnia than fighting Acceptance for Iris and Monty." Emil explained.

"I understand. We'll have to tell Gemini though we will be leaving the camp in the safety of her alone." Florence explained before turning away. "No point waiting around. It's not like we have any supplies to rally up. I'll speak to her now."

Florence walked off as Jinx counted her bullets, looking to Emil. "Do you think we'll find her? I mean, if it's not the Garden, we have to worry about its freezing to death."

"I don't know. But all I can do is try. I've been useless these past few years, allowing myself to be a puppet for that bitch Mortem. I need to start standing on my own two feet without Team Rhapsody. For once in my life, I need to do something with my own free will, and if there's a chance I can save Zinnia, I'm going to take it. Or at least die trying.

****

Zinnia woke, finding herself in bed with a fire keeping her warm. She looked around, slightly confused as an older man walked in. "Oh great, you're awake. It's dangerous to be walking out there alone missey. You're lucky to be alive."

"Where am I?"

"In the middle of nowhere like most of us these days."

"Gale…" Zinnia whispered, looking around. "Did a boy bring me here?"

"A boy? I'm afraid not, sweetheart. The only people who live here is myself and Henry."

"Henry?" She spoke before being startled by a large husky rushing in, jumping on the bed. The man kept the dog back, chuckling. "Oh… The dog?"

"Sorry about that. Henry is a very energetic boy. He's the one who found you out there leaning against a tree passed out. He saved your life."

Zinnia leaned over, patting Henry on the head. "Thank you, boy…."

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing out there in this weather?"

"The weather is always like this, though."

This got a chuckle from the man as he nodded. "I suppose you are correct about that."

"I was just walking. Letting the storm guide me."

"That doesn't sound very safe. What about your home? Your family?"

"All gone…. We were attacked. It's all gone now."

The man frowned, nodding. "I see; I'm sorry to hear that. Well, feel free to stay here for as long as you like. There's always room. I didn't quite catch your name, dear."

"It's Zinnia."

"Zinnia. Well, it's nice to meet you, Zinnia. You can call me Pete. I'll let you rest up for now. You're safe now, so get some sleep."

Pete closed the door as Zinnia stared out the cabin window seeing the storm rush by. She curled up in her blankets, staring at her frozen hands whispering to herself. "Safe? Am I really safe?"