It was a feeling Sans couldn't explain. A burning desire to protect someone innocent. Which was odd, because Sans didn't know this guy, he could just sense he didn't deserve to get hurt. Indescribable, yet it came so naturally that it was second nature.

That's why he didn't let Jane hurt the new zombie, who had admitted he had snuck in because he was looking for a place to sleep. The zombie wasn't trying to eat anyone, and he wasn't trying to do anything.

"Sans, move," Jane demanded.

Sans shook his head, gurgling out. No, he couldn't let her kill him.

Like he let the kid kill someone else he cared out.

Sally peaked out from underneath the table, curious to the situation, no doubt.

"No, Sans, you don't understand!" Jane said, gripping onto the knife tighter. "He- I... That zombie is Jeff. The person I've been trying to kill."

When Sans processed what she said, he looked back at the other zombie. Jeff, the new zombie with the thick black hair and pure blue eyes, looked more confused than anyone.

"(Is my name Jeff?)" He grumbled.

They were silent for a moment, everyone processing what was going on. Jane knew this boy from her past, but it was clear he didn't remember. Poor Jeff looked like he just learned what his name was, and he probably did. Sans got his name from his id, Ben got his from a video game save file, and Sally found hers from the pictures in her house.

Sans motioned for him and Jane to talk outside, telling Jeff to stay put. Jane sighed, but followed, giving Jeff a harsh glare as she left.

"(Um... you want a sandwich?)" Ben asked Jeff awkwardly.

~~~~~~

Jane sat down onto the sidewalk, arms crossed, no doubt furious her revenge had been stopped by her close zombie friend. Sans sat down next to her, trying to offer a bottle of ketchup to help her mood. She declined.

"Sans, you don't understand," Jane said, resting her chin onto her hand. "It's... He's the reason I'm... like this." She motioned down to her body.

'Hot?'

She smacked his arm lightly. "No, that's all my work. But he's the reason why I'm like this. He's the reason I hurt so many people."

'What do you mean?' Sans wrote sloppily.

"Haven't you ever wondered why my skin is pure white? Sans, this isn't natural. My eyes, too. I mean, look at me. I'm not a natural human, no healthy person is born with pure black eyes." Jane pointed at her eyes to establish her point. "I didn't look like this before. I was a normal girl, with a normal life, before Jeff came in and ruined everything."

Birds chirped above, making Sans look up. It was a beautiful day outside, flowers were blooming, birds were chirping...

Where was he going with that?

'What happened?'

Jane looked down at her hands, before hesitantly pulling away a glove to show off a wedding ring. "I guess it's time to tell the truth. You know, I didn't originally hate society. Or people. I was happy. And who knows, maybe you were before you got bitten, Sans. But I had a wife. We went to high school together, went to prom... we were high school sweethearts."

Sans hugged his knees to his chest and listened quietly to her story. He didn't say anything, didn't object. Just listened.

"Oh, I was madly in love with her. A teenage crush. My parents were well off with money, and were supportive, so we got married quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, but you do stupid things when you're in love, especially when you're young. Everything was going well. We had a house, we had a cute cate we named Snickers... I loved her, I loved everything. Then, one night... I woke up to the smell of fire."

Jane shook her head at the memories. "My wife didn't make it, nor did my cat or house. You know, I remember that night, standing in the hallway, watching the woman I loved get stabbed by him. He was only thirteen at the time, but he managed to burn and kill everything I cared about in one fell swoop. My parents were his victims taken earlier." She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky. "I tried to get help, but no one listened. I was just a crying girl to them. No one thought that Jeff was alive, much less a thirteen year old could do something like that. That's when I started to hate my gender."

"Then... a person showed up at my door one day. A person who said they could help."

At this point, Jane crossed her feet, balancing a knife carefully in her hand. Sans continued to listen, acknowledging that Jane was sharing a piece of her past with him.

"You know, I've thought about that day for so long. What if I turned them down, what if I didn't agree. If society wasn't so stupidly twisted, I wouldn't have made that mistake. But I did. They said they could make me stronger, through some experiments, and they did. It's my hatred that kept me going. My hatred for Jeff... They called it hate juice, I don't remember the scientific name, but it made me stronger. I could crush things with my bare hands, run faster, kill better. I was a killing machine. Haven't you wondered how I'm so strong? How I'm able to take down hordes with only knives? It wasn't exercise, it was the experiments. Sans, I was created to kill in that lab. That's why I love this apocalypse so much, why I hated society. Why I hate Jeff. He made me this way. He turned me into this person. Into this monster."

'Well, I like this person and this monster.'

Jane smiled softly, reaching over a hand to pet him again. "You're too precious, Sans."

'But you don't have to be mad at him. He doesn't remember, he can't pay for the crimes he doesn't know he committed.'

"That... fine, yeah, I guess that makes sense," Jane said, "I won't stop hating him, though. The whole reason I escaped the lab was to kill him, and... instead, I caused this."

'What do you mean?'

"I'm the reason why zombies exist."

Sans couldn't write. He dropped the object from surprise, staring at Jane with utter surprise.

"After I escaped, I didn't kill them," Jane explained, "I was their first experiment, and it was my hate that kept me going, that transformed me into this. They thought they could replicate me, make me again with someone else. But their other test subjects weren't a... weren't like me. They didn't have enough hate. They didn't have a goal. They gave up, each and every one, until they became mindless, hungry creatures of who they were before. I was the only good experiment. And they tried, again and again. That's when something blew up, I believe it was a reactor, and released their failed experiments. Which was a problem. If it was a few zombies, the government could have handled the zombie outbreak, stop it before it happened. But it was a horde released onto an unsuspecting town. Then the horde grew with the newly infected, and it continued to spread. Into... well, look around. You're just another victim of it. This is all my fault."

She dug her hands into her hair and knelt forward, no doubt feeling hatred towards herself for having practically caused the end of the world. Sans, however, didn't judge her that way, and acted accordingly. After he wrote out his bit, he poked her to get her attention, showing her his doodle board.

'It wasn't your fault. It was the scientists, they're the ones who experimented and caused this. It doesn't matter if you could have stopped them, they're the ones who let it get this far. I don't blame you for this.'

"I could have killed them, but I didn't," Jane said, "And I should kill Jeff before he gets his memories back and tries to kill me again. I hate him. He ruined my life."

'Did he?'

Jane looked at him, questioning what he meant.

'If he didn't do that, the scientists still would have done the experiments, and we still would have ended up like this. You might have lost your family still, and... hey, you met us, right?'

After seeing what he wrote, she softly sighed, smiling towards the ground again.

"I guess," Jane said, "I don't love her anymore, the hate juice did a number on me, so all I kept from my past is hatred. I don't love my parents anymore, or society, or my old wife. I remember loving them all, but now it's just... bleak. Gone. But I have found a new life, one not full of idiots, and I don't want Jeff to ruin this. I care about Sally, I car about Ben... and I care about you."

Was it time? Was he ready?

Days of practicing and training had Sans turning towards Jane, poking her firmly so she was looking at him. Instead of writing, though, Sans set down the doodle board, and took a deep breath.

He could do this.

"I... " Sans said carefully, balancing out each sound to be as cohesive as possible. "Looveee... you!"

"W-... What?" Jane asked, leaning forward.

"I love you!" Sans repeated with more confidence, clapping his hands together.

"Do you... you're talking!" Jane said, "You're talking and you- did you learn how to say that just to tell me?"

Sans nodded, repeating the words again.

"I-" Jane took hold of his small hands in her own. "I- I should make this clear, if you date me, that means I will actually brutally murder any other person who tries to touch you. I'm a person full with a liquid called hate juice, and I will attack anyone who tries to take my happiness away. I think I should make that clear so you can back out if you want."

"I love you!" Sans said again, intertwining his fingers.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jane said, a genuine and happy smile taking hold of her face. "I love you too, you adorable little zombie."