The day of the festival came and everyone was poised and ready to go, Alice was having a hard time containing her excitement. Ever since the festivals in the Caribbean she had begun to develop a kind of festival fetish.

The nights leading up to the festival were very active in Alice's bedroom since she worked Zeel to the bone. This finally earned her a victory in their sex life for once. Though this was much to the dismay of the other occupants in the mansion, who had to constantly listen to the banging on the walls.

The following morning, Lexa and Henry installed a sound isolation system, though Zeel suspected it to be more for themselves than anyone else.

"Ready?" Zeel asked as he managed to fit one more knife in his shoes.

"Yeah ready!" Alice replied as she finished sticking her daggers in her pockets.

"Good, let's go," Zeel said adjusting his T-shirt to not show too many scars.

"What about the base?" John inquired looking at the mansion, this would be the first time everyone attended an outing together. Shouldn't anyone be worried about the mansion being infiltrated or going crazy and blowing everything up?

"I pity anyone who would try to break into the mansion," Henry replied holding Lexa's hand, and also indirectly answering John's question. Sadly, Henri misinterpreted John's question. He was asking if the mansion could be left to its own vices.

Thinking about it for a while, John also agreed that he pitied anyone who would try and break into this fancy, looking dungeon.

Passing by Sarah's and Sam's homes, the group then made their way towards the festival. Alice and Zeel were just enjoying the moment. With their keen intuition, they could smell the danger lingering in the air.

They decided to enjoy the rest of their adventure since after tonight the true battle would probably start. This would also be the night they bid farewell to Sam and Sarah, as Zeel planned to wipe their memories.

The festival grounds were bright and filled with the joyous laughs of children and adults alike. Games could be seen alight from miles away; laughs could be heard at every corner of the grounds. Zeel watched with amazement that people could become so happy from some useless machinery that does nothing but spin and light up.

Almost on cue, everyone went their separate ways opting to go and play the games they were best at. Sam, ever the loner, just staggered off in his own direction.

Zeel and Alice first attended the shooting games, which they devastated. They then played everything else they could. The last stop on the checklist for this world was the Ferris wheel; something even Zeel felt slightly eager to try. So much for useless machines that just spin and light up huh?

"I watched an ancient movie about Ferris Wheels once," Zeel said observing the flickering lights.

"Really? I don't remember ever riding one," Alice said as she also stared at the stars in the night sky.

"I have seen the stars and what they have to offer, but they still amaze me," Zeel said looking at one star in particular.

Alice noticed and decided to ask since there could be a story behind that particular star "What is the deal with that star?"

Zeel thought for a while and then held his head "I am not sure. It is important I know. I have been told about it before…,"

The more Zeel tried to word his thoughts, the brighter his body glowed and soon Alice noticed the outline of chains wrapping around his entire body. The chains gave her Goosebumps by just looking at them.

"Zeel!" Alice yelled "Stop thinking. Please stop thinking!"

Zeel as if in a dream snapped his head towards Alice as his body returned to normal.

"What were we talking about again?" Zeel asked in confusion.

"Nothing! We are fine" Alice replied.

The incident soon faded from their minds, but Alice kept the incident in mind so she could investigate further. Sitting atop the Ferris wheel hand in hand, Zeel and Alice both stared into each other's eyes for a while before their lips met.

**

Sitting in a diner a couple of hundred kilometers from Paradise Hills was a downtrodden Number 6. Though with her badass attitude, she never showed much of her emotions, other than the innate wildness she possessed.

Currently, she was looking for the other numbers but came up empty each time. This time she was gonna try her luck looking somewhere further up North.

All of a sudden a gust of wind blew open the diner window. The strong winds drew her attention to the computer that was near the window. Elizabeth stared at the computer for a while before turning it on. The first headline on the webpage drew her attention immediately.

"Uploaded 2 minutes ago. Zeel and Alice kiss on top of the Ferris wheel," was the headline she saw and in a daze, she began muttering to herself "Zeel and Alice?"

Then it clicked, number 3; though she was not sure about their connection they did appear in her vision. Elizabeth barely heard what they said at the time but she vividly remembered the names – Zeel and Alice. Guess even consciousness has a bad connection and signaling at times.

"Well next stop Paradise Hills," Elizabeth said as she exited the diner, not aware that this moment would change her life forever.

**

"Is there something we haven't tried as yet?" asked Alice.

"Well, we avoided the haunted house since it would do nothing to us," Zeel replied.

The duo headed towards the haunted house; meeting Henry, Lexa, John, and Sarah along the way. They all boarded the tractor that would act as the guide throughout the course. A little after the tour started, John noted that his palms were becoming sweaty, and he was growing increasingly tired for some reason.

"Guys I don't feel too well," John said to act as a signal for them to go home.

Ignoring him, Zeel replied "It's gonna finish soon", Not wanting to spoil the fun for Alice. Zeel also detected no immediate abnormalities, or at least nothing that would threaten their survival.

The trailer then came to a stop as everyone made their way through the forest back towards the festival grounds. Zeel and Alice had long been aware of being followed

However, they ignored it since it was akin to kids having fun for them. Compared to Alice and Zeel, those on the football team were indeed kids – both Alice and Zeel were approaching their thirties after all.

In their early months, Zeel had run experiments on them both as a precaution and found the Z-virus to be almost perfectly integrated into their genome. This enhanced all aspects of their bodies and abilities.

With this information, Zeel speculated that if they were allowed to die of old age, their life expectancy could be anything within the range of 200 to 300 years. However, almost perfectly integrated was completely different from full integration.

The strangling genome sequence of the z-virus was a compound that could stimulate the aggressiveness in the subject, this was the sequence that gave zombies their less desirable aspects. Why was all this mentioned? Well, you would need it to understand what happened next.

Three footballers dressed in camouflaged clothing, night goggles, and military paint came running out the bushes. One grabbed Sasha and darted away like a frightened rabbit. The other footballers close-lined John, sending him spiraling into the air.

Henri and Lexa stepped aside, this also acted as a test for John to see what he would do in such a scenario. Alice and Zeel were also just prepared to watch, that was until John's hands glowed with a rainbow light – briefly flashing on Alice's and Zeel's bodies.

Then all hell broke loose.................................…