The crisp stream beneath my horse's hooves spilled over the cliff in frothy turrets and crashed down some thirty feet below into the disturbed pool at the base of the waterfall. The soft gurgling of the crystalline water swirled into the lilting notes of birdsong, creating the most beautiful and natural melody I had ever heard.

This small gem of the outdoors was a welcomed and highly contrasted change of scenery compared to the bleak destruction blasting the rest of the world. It was as if the carnage of the other states never reached here and Mother Nature continued just as God ordained her to.

Who knew a two day ride from the Star settlement would bring with it such a lovely sight? I wanted to bottle it all up in the canteen stored in my backpack and keep it there to bring a bit of the solace and awe of the waterfall with me. If the scientists could create zombies, couldn't they at least find a way to do that?

On second thought, those dummies would probably end up creating a pocket-sized hell. After all, they did manage to inadvertently fuck up the whole world.

The swishing tail of Soren's horse broke my focus from the ethereal allure of the waterfall and the towering deciduous trees surrounding us and replaced it on Soren. He stood knee-deep in the water and peered over the waterfall's edge as his horse munched away at the lush grass growing on the bank of the stream.

Everyone clearly enjoyed it just as much as I did, and it brought a smile to my face. I patted the thick and sweaty neck of my pinto steed, happy with my choice of finishing the final leg of this journey alone with Soren. "Beautiful, ain't it?"

"Yes ma'am it is." Soren nodded as he glanced over his shoulder at me. "But not as beautiful as you."

A giggle emerged from my lips like a butterfly from its cocoon and took flight in the heady air to join the twitters of the birds and the rush of the waterfall. The warmth of affection filled every cavity of my chest like sweet honey and I smiled at him, unable to form a response. But I knew my smile said more than words ever could.

Our picture perfect moment quickly turned into a scene from a horror movie as the hair-raising shriek of a revenant broke into the peacefulness like an unwanted party guest.

The horses snorted and pranced with wild eyes and I struggled to keep mine under control. One of my hands gripped the reins and the other reached for the pistol resting in its holster. It had been awhile since we encountered any revenants and, as much as I hated the thought of it, we were due a visit.

"See anything?" Soren asked quietly as he held his antsy horse steady.

I shook my head and kept my eyes peeled. One stalked out there somewhere, its cry and the panicked movements of the horses told that. But where it was located definitely was another matter entirely.

Rapid footsteps and the snap of breaking twigs redirected my attention from the trees on my left to the bushes at my right. The pulsing of my heart kicked up in a new rhythm when my eyes landed on the muddy and bedraggled female revenant lunging toward Soren like a rabid dog.

"Soren, watch out!" I cried out in warning.

But my cautioning came too late.

My lungs constricted in panic as the revenant barreled into Soren, sending them both sailing over the waterfall like a pair of daring adventurers. Only this wasn't fun and games, it was life and death.

I grabbed the reins of Soren's sorrel mare and held on tightly, dragging her along while urging my horse into a gallop down the rugged trail cut into the rocky terrain near the waterfall. I'd already lost sight of Soren, and it filled my being with a sense of doom and loss. But I shook it off. Right now I needed to get my ass down there and as fast as possible, regardless of how dangerous this was for me and the horses.

My pinto whinnied fearfully when his hooves slid on the loose pebbles but I pushed him onward and frantically steered my way down toward the waterfall's base. There were no signs of Soren, or anything humanoid, and it only fueled my anxiety like gasoline on a fire.

I couldn't lose him now.

Not after everything we'd gone through. Not when we were this close to reaching the research facility.

The mare shied to the side but I kept my grip on her reins and pulled her along. I could see the foamy, troubled waters rippling so rapidly in the plunge basin and, by the looks of it, I wasn't too sure if anything could survive the fall into it. But the sight of a human-like object resting just beneath the surface sparked hope within me that maybe something could.

Without a second thought, I coaxed both horses headfirst into the drink. A shiver ran over my body the moment the frigid stream touched my skin and rode up half of my body, and I didn't want to think about how cold it would be underneath. My pulse drummed in my ears as I reached into the swirling current and gripped a handful of whatever I could grab before pulling it above water.

The screech pierced my eardrums seconds before enraged yellow eyes met mine and needle sharp teeth clinked emptily a hair's breadth away from my arm.

I let go of the mare and grabbed the sidearm from its holster before unloading a few rounds into the female revenant's pale, snarling face. Blood streaked the water red as when I let go of the body and watched it sink and shift with the current.

The pinto snorted, his pink nostrils flaring and his eyes showing the whites. I could tell he wanted to bolt, but the water kept him still. "It's okay boy, just a bit longer," I soothed, hearing the crack of anxiety straining my voice.

If I didn't find Soren then. . . .I had no fucking idea.

Glancing around the bubbly water, I nearly leapt from the saddle when I spotted another form being dragged by the undercurrent. I hated to force my gelding forward and scare him more, but Soren's life depended on my swiftness.

If he was still alive.

I forced the niggling fear away from the forefront of my mind. He had to be, so there would be no thinking otherwise.

When my hands grabbed the fabric of Soren's shirt, I pulled up on his dead weight with painfully clear realization. Despite the doubts clouding my focus I held onto him and fought the flow to the bank. I slipped from the saddle in my haste and fell to the gritty bank with Soren. The heavy noise of our landing settled a flame of despair on the dryness of my heart, setting it ablaze as I turned Soren onto his back and noticed he was completely motionless.

There was no rise and fall of his chest. His beautiful brown eyes remained closed and his lashes were dusted with tiny sparkling droplets. His ashen skin appeared almost as gray as the rocks he lay against while a bloody gash steadily seeped crimson onto his forehead.

Nausea rose inside me, burning my throat like potent acid. I swallowed it back and pressed my hands to Soren's chest before pushing against him. Once. Twice. A third time.

Nothing.

"Soren, fucking breathe!" I cried out, pressing harder and faster in my frenzied attempts to force the water from his lungs. I paused long enough to bring my mouth to his and blow before starting back on his chest again. "Please."

Every ounce of hope I'd managed to salvage vanished. How was it we were so close to the research center, but it felt as if we couldn't be any farther away? I knew every second I couldn't get him to breathe lowered the chances he had at pulling through. If I had to guess, his survival rate was so low on the spectrum no one else would even continue resuscitation.

But I wasn't everyone else.

"Please, Soren. You can't do this to me. I love you and I need you. Come back to me," I begged and my voice broke. My hands never stopped their movements, but with every push I forced against his chest the more I realized it was useless.

No, it wasn't useless. Was it?

The soft splatter of tears fell against the back of my hands as I raised them above my head. I balled them tightly into fists, winging a short prayer heavenward before slamming them down in a last-ditch effort to bring my man back.

The moment my fists connected with Soren's chest, he spewed water onto me like a fountain as he sat up ramrod straight. His lips parted in a gasped, wheezing cough before he brought up even more of the water he inhaled.

There was no denying this was brought about by God. Sure, there would be those who would more than likely disagree with me, but it didn't change how I felt a bit. I prayed for this, for Soren's life, and God answered.

A miracle was defined as a surprising and welcome event that ain't explicable by natural or scientific laws and therefore considered to be the work of a higher power. If that didn't fit what happened here, then I had no clue as to what else it could be. Either way, gratitude flowed through my veins with every beat of my heart as I rubbed Soren's back.

Once his coughing subsided and his breathing returned to normal, we chased down our horses and rode through the trees to where the old Little Rock hospital, now turned Star Research, loomed in the distance of the crumbling and overgrown city.

There was just something about being this close to our destination even though it was in the last place on earth I wanted to be. The fear of the unknown mixed with hope for the future and the pain of my past to create a brew of intoxicating proportions. Although I should've felt a sense of completion, I didn't. Because I knew when we got there, Soren would be placed in the hands of the Stars and out of my reach.

"It's unreal how close we are," Soren voiced as we eased our horses through the jungle-thick grass on the outskirts of what used to be a grand metropolis.

I nodded. "Definitely seems like some kind of a dream," I agreed softly although I wanted to label this a benign form of nightmare. The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the sparkle of excitement in his eyes.

"It's all thanks to you." He smiled at me with such affection and softness that my heart fluttered. "I love you."

A gentle warmth radiated through my being and chased away the bad feelings, if only for a moment. "I love you too—"

The pinto squealed shrilly beneath me and pranced to the side before slinging me off in a viscous and unexpected buck. I could hear Soren yelling as I surged through the humid air, but I couldn't understand his words over the cries of the horses. I tried to brace for impact by throwing my hands out to catch myself, but my forehead head took the brunt of the fall. It smashed into an unforgivingly hard hunk of cement with a reverberating jolt, jarring my brain and instantly fading my surroundings to a silent shade of black.