After the tragic event, the three took Anna's corpse to a more hidden area of the lab before burying her tomorrow morning. Then they washed themselves to be able to eat dinner clean and free of danger. After doing so, they walked to the dining area with silent atmospheres, Alex and Samson exchange sorrowful looks, wandering on how to tell the group of what happened, and how to comfort James at his darkest time. James on the other hand, is frozen in shock, his hands paralyzed, eyes rarely blink while tears run down.

"James..." Samson said as he thinks of everything possible to not let James freak out more, "I'm sorry-" He added.

"Not now. Just, please give me time" James said with a shaky breath.

Guess now isn't really the time. Alex thinks

James stops at his tracks, and so did Samson and Alex.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." He said. Not wanting to disturb him, the other two just did what he said and went ahead to the dining area. But before entering, they stopped. "Should we tell them?", asked Samson anxiously.

"We should, the longer we keep it, the more pain we'll give them...", replies Alex as she takes a deep breath and stands on in the doorway, still holding the same expression, Samson follows.

"Samson, Alex, we saved you some food. Come on!" Danny invited them both but the others noticed their unusual silence.

"Hey, what's with the faces? You look down." mentioned Missile.

"What happened?"

"Anything wrong?"

"Tired? Problems?" The group bombarded them with questions until one question got their attention.

"Where's Anna and James?" Asked William. The two raised their heads as if they sensed something hit them. Samson couldn't help it but break a tear. Frozen in fear, Alex steps up and gets the strength to tell them.

"Guys, we have something to tell you..." She lost a lot of air as all of her strength faded.

"What is it? Come on tell us." Asked Kate.

"Anna is-" Alex was cut short as James took over walking into the room.

"-gone. Anna's gone. Anna's fucking gone" Said James repeatedly over and over again. His eyes were welling up with tears. Olivia stands up from her seat in a hasty action.

"Heh, " she smirked, not believing what James just said. "Please tell me you're joking" she added. She kept debating until she saw the blood on his shirt.

"Where did those come from?" Said Olivia as she points at James shirt stained with blood.

"S-she took her own life. Couldn't handle.P-pain. Brother." stuttered Alex.

"No, please no no no no!" Sophia trembled from the news she just heard. Everyone eating dinner had their expression mirror those of the three. Sophia along with Olivia and some others started weeping, others rushed to their rooms and there they mourned. Carlito, Danny, Bent and Kate were the only ones left on the tables. Alex and Samson headed towards them, James stood frozen by the doorway before leaving and heading to his room.

"I'm sorry" Said Samson as tears rushed down to his chin.

"For what? This is none of your fault" Replied Danny.

"What kind of coordinator couldn't even save the life of one of his fucking friends?" Samson asked no one in particular.

"Samson, you took her in and took care of her friends." Consoled Alex.

"Yeah, not just that, you also made her stay as comfortable as possible...while it lasted." Added Bent.

"But most of all, you were there by her side at her death, she wounds ask for anything more but people who tried to save her." Said Carlito as he brings Samson's head to lean on his shoulder while comforting him by wrapping him in a warm hug.

"Just eat your dinner, eat the feelings away." Danny said. Alex and Samson pick at their food while the rest start thinking of their way to say goodbye to Anna.

...

After a few minutes, the two finally finished eating. Samson started cleaning up the tables when he told the others to go get some rest. They all agreed and head straight to their rooms, Carlito stayed with Samson as he helps him clean up. He joins him in washing the dishes and making sure the doors and all other entrances were fortified shut. Finishing their chores they walk to their room, but before entering they paused at the doorway.

"Carlito."

"Yeah?" Carlito replied but at the same time he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks. I really needed a shoulder to cry on" Said Samson with a weak smile. Carlito pats his back letting out a warm smile.

"Well I guess this is goodnight." Samson let's out a loud yawn.

"Goodnight sleepyhead." They enter the room together to find Kate sleeping in the oddest position. Samson let's out a snort and Carlito's mood brightens seeing him smile again. They shut off all the lights and only moonlight passes through the top window letting in cold breeze as the night passed by.

***The Next Morning***

Samson wakes up with a head start, yet still brought down by what happened last night. As usual, he gets up, fixes himself up and head straight to the kitchen starting to cook breakfast. It wasn't strange for him to cook without James at that time, he still knows that he is still grieving for his loss, so Samson had to cook all alone, which only meant double time.

Okay, now what next, what next? Samson thought to himself as he tries to cook fast to have enough food for everyone. Due to his fast and careless actions, oil got to his skin more than five times, his hair all messed up and sweating completely just to feed the entire group. After a few more splatter of oil and moments to pass, he finally finished cooking some scrambled eggs, sausage, stale rice, lastly, he prepared the cereal bowls and milk.

Unlike his usual meticulous way of waking people up, he approached everyone gently,not wanting to disturb those still mourning. He knocks at the doors and calls out to them. "Guys, breakfast's ready." He repeatedly knocks gently until raspy, tired voices replied, "We're coming."

James, Missile, Kieran, and the rest of the refugees came out of their rooms one by one. Their eyes were pink and puffy from tears, their hair was that of a nest, and they all had sullen looks on their faces.

Alex, Bent, Silver, Danny, Kate, and Carlito came out of their room looking much more presentable compared to the former group. They all plopped down into their chairs and couch cushions they usually eat at except for Alex, who went straight for the coffee maker. Samson served everyone their food on paper plates with plastic utensils. Alex poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down. Everyone at the dinner table is silent. Alex sips her coffee and breaks the deafening silence with a question.

"So, did you guys sleep okay last night?" She asks awkwardly. Everyone gives her a mumbled reply and goes back to eating. No one has any idea what to say especially after last night. Bent wheeled over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water. Alex noticed him struggling so she walked over to him and offered a hand.

"I don't need your pity." He grumbles. Alex furrows her brows in confusion as Bent goes back to the table. She shrugs to herself and goes back. As he wheels back into the room, Bent bumps Silver's seat accidentally on-purpose. Silver lets this slide and continues on enjoying his meal. Everyone keeps slowly eating their breakfast except for James who is picking at his food.

"Hey, are you okay?" Missile asks James. James grunts and abruptly stands up from the table. All eyes are on him as he does his best to speak in a clear voice.

"I'm not hungry." He states. He goes to his room not bothering to clean up after himself or wash his dishes.

"Okay, now that he's gone, we need to discuss something." Samson announces. Everyone's attention is diverted to Samson, who is now standing up. He motions to Anna's former room.

"Guys, we all know that Anna's death was hard. But we have a bigger problem. Danny, William?" The two boys give each other confused looks.

"We have made a discovery. Apparently humans are not the only ones able to be infected, animals are also in the risk." Samson mentions this leading to people inside the room change expressions.

"Wait, how did you even figure all this out in less than a day?" Asked Silver as he tries to negate Samson unbelievable statement.

"If you don't believe it, it's still true. After killing a spider, its blood came out black with outline shades of green." Says William.

"Rocket..." Whispered Bent beneath his breath.

"How is this possible?" Asked Missile.

"I can't give an extreme conclusion, but for now, due to the viral strength and the virus' cell formation, it can even beat an animal's immune system,and that is usually stronger than that of a human," Samson looks down in dread, "which is the bad news."

"So you're saying that dog right there could turn into a zombie at any moment?" Asked Silver.

Bent shoots him a glare "He's not just some dog." He says.

"Okay calm down" Silver raises his hands as a surrender signal.

"Yes, Rocket can turn into a zombie, but I'll be doing all I can to prevent that from happening." Replied Samson.

"Yeah and from what I remember, Samson asked us to get a living zombie." Danny stated as he continues eating. William hits him with his elbow.

"Oww!"

"You what?!" Said Olivia as she spewed her water.

"I need it for research purposes, studying the virus will take time, I need it in about 13 more hours before the virus in the spider's body dies." Samson replies.

"You're not serious are you?" Asked Kate intimidatingly

"What does it look like?" Samson shoots and everyone backs down in shock.

"And that's why you don't surprise Samson with anything just like that." Said Carlito as has leaned back on his chair comfortably while looking a Danny who rolls his eyes.

"Well let's just eat, we have loads of work to do later on after everyone cleans up." Samson declared.

"What about James?" Asked Terrence.

"He needs his time alone, I know how painful it is to lose someone you loved the most. Said Samson as he looks at Carlito with sorrowful vision without him noticing.

...

Everyone finishes eating and one by one heads to the restrooms for grooming, while waiting for the newbies to finish, Samson does the dishes, Alex plays with Rocket, Danny sharpens some of the arrows, Kate prepares the monitors, Carlito counts and fixes up his bullets and Bent stares at his fucked up leg. The newbies finished grooming themselves and it's the other group's turn. "Everyone head to the back fields after we finish for," he sighs, "Anna's funeral." announces Samson.

James heard this and his expression darkened, and so did the group as they think of their final words to Anna before finally resting in peace for eternity.

...

Finally, Samson finishes and everyone heads back to the field. They waited as Carlito digs up a hole fit for a grave. James and Samson heads to the room where Anna's lifeless body is lying. "Will you be okay with this?" Asked Samson in concern. James kept silent, staring at the body that once lived to be a blissful and charming girl. "Yeah," he finally broke silence, "I'll be fine, it's better for her to finally rest." Samson places a comforting hand on his shoulder. They step beside the body and wiped the blood with a clean piece of cloth. After so, James carefully carries the body outside where everyone is waiting. As he was walking, tears rushed down to his cheeks while maintaining a still and silent expression. Olivia and Kieran, her best friends, cried and fell to their knees, seeing their best friend's lifeless body get closer to the grave where it will rest forever.

James, left at the darkest depths of his hearts, thinks of his last fantasy with Anna, thinking that while he was carrying her, she was giving a warm and sweet smile, exchanging looks as the sun shined all day. He finally reaches the hole and he places Anna's corpse gently. He gets a handful of dirt and says his final words, "Anna, I wish I would've let you know before, how much I love you, how much it meant to me when you smiled, how dreadful it was when you cried, now I lay you, in a bed that you will be forever sleeping, away from the chaos that humanity started," James covers the body with the dirt he was holding as a symbol of letting go. "I love you Anna." He whispered.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Carlito covered the body with dirt then fully filled the grave. Samson hands James paint and a brush and slab of wood, perfect for a gravestone. He accepts this and writes down, marking the words Here lies Anna Cruz, 2038-2052, 'The Rose of The Desert'. Praying for her soul, they stood there for a moment before going back inside the base. Samson signals everyone to go back inside, all did except James, who was still kneeling, in front of the grave shedding tears

Silently with still expressions, Carlito tried to approach him but Samson grabs his hands preventing him to do so and shakes his head. They all get inside leaving James for a moment of grief.

...

"So what now?", Silver asks.

"Now, we take care of the spider thing. We only have a couple hours left." Danny says.

"Okay, then. Let's start planning." Alex tells no one in particular, "Everyone, main room in ten." Everyone went to their rooms and freshened up the best they could. James slowly came back inside and trudged into his room. After ten minutes, everyone gathered into the room except for James.

"Everyone here? Besides James, I mean." Samson asks. Everyone nodded and settled down.

"Now, I know we're all going through a lot but we still need to find the crawler. Obviously, we'll need fighters and the computer nerds-"

"Hey!" Kate interrupts shooting a glare at Samson. Samson rolls his eyes and continues,

"-I mean, our tech crew. Runners, we'll need you guys on standby. and watch outs, just do what you do. Alex, Kate, Danny, and Carlito will guide you guys accordingly. Good?" He says. Everyone nods in agreement. "Ok. Now go ahead and plan. I'll be with James if anyone needs me."

Everyone goes to their respective 'areas' to plan as Samson goes into James' room like he said he would.

"James? You good in there?"

J/C

A/N:

Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter is pretty much decades late but Clyde and I have been really busy with school lately so we worked on this chapter together and made it extra long for you guys. Thanks so much for understanding!

-J