Dead Frontier/Epilogue

This is Dead Frontier's epilogue.

Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER

Jake sits at the counter of his apartment with his backpack strapped on tight, munching on a fresh apple. He watches with a bored expression as Lienne and Ivy rush to get ready. He thought sharing a space with them would be absolutely terrible, but he’s actually learned to enjoy it. Lienne has done a good job taking care of them both, making sure they get to school, keep their grades up.

“Hey, Jake,” Lienne says from across the living room, slipping some bangles on her wrists. “They built a new ice cream place a few blocks away. Me and Ivy were gonna go after school. You wanna come?”

“I was actually gonna hang out w-with some friends after school,” he says, smiling sheepishly. Lienne wears a similar grin and steps forward with her hands on her hips. “That okay?”

“Of course it’s okay,” she says.

Just then, Ivy comes rushing out of the room. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” she says. Jake stands, and she immediately interlocks her arm with his. He forces a groan as she leads him out the door, and Lienne trails with a laugh.

Crutches under his arms, Adam trudges down the hospital corridor and to room 447. When he enters, a familiar, smiling face greets him. “Dr. Wiggins. Hey,” Adam says.

“I told you to call me Joel, man,” Dr. Wiggins says, chuckling. He watches as Adam sets himself down on the firm hospital bed and places the crutches alongside the wall.

“How’s the leg?”

“It’s actually pretty cool,” Adam says, regarding his new prosthetic. It’s definitely been hard to get used to, but it has him on two feet again. Joel has done so much to help him get back to full capacity, Adam can’t really use words to describe his gratitude.

“Good, good. I’ve got a more important question, though.”

Adam narrows his eyes at him, expectantly. “Yeah?”

“I told you to fix that fucking edge-up, man. How long you gonna wait?”

“My hair’s fine,” Adam says, and he can’t help but laugh.

Joel scoffs loudly and shakes his head. He plops into his chair and rolls over toward Adam. “Alright, I obviously can’t get through to you. I’m telling you though, fixing up that lining, this new leg--ladies gonna be rolling all over you, man.”

Adam looks down, wiggles his mechanical leg around a little. It’ll take some getting used to, but he thinks he can manage.

“Really nice out here,” Daniel says. He and Tora stand in Echo Park’s center, where a beautiful fountain is the foreground to the skyscrapers of downtown LA. The buildings’ lights seem to shine exceptionally bright tonight.

“Yeah,” Tora says, nearly mesmerized. She tucks her arm around his and leans her head onto his shoulder. She can say with the utmost certainty that this has been one of the best years of her life, and he has attributed greatly to it. She can’t imagine it without him, honestly. And he can say the exact same thing.

“Tor,” he says. “Mind if I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“It’s...nothing.”

Tora looks up at him, then back at the view. The fountain spews out an arc of water, and they watch for a few seconds. “What is it?” she asks.

His face is red with embarrassment. His hands are clearly shaking, and she looks at him with a confused expression. But then he reaches into his back pocket, takes a step back, and reveals a small black box. When he opens it, a shining diamond ring is placed in the middle.

A face peeks out from the pink bundle of blankets held in Lucy's arms. This certain room of her apartment is decorated accordingly: a jingling mobile hangs above a crib, blocks and other childish toys are spread out around the floor, and the back-most wall is adorned with whimsical letters that make up the name "Stella."

Music seeps from a radio sitting on the purple nightstand Lucy stands near--it's a familiar Beatles track. As the song changes, there's a short period of silence as they wait for the next one to start.

When the first note hits her ears, a smile plays on Lucy’s lips. “This was your daddy’s favorite song.” Stella smiles a toothless grin and Lucy laughs, rocks her a little slower.

''‘He say "One and one and one is three"

Got to be good-looking ‘cause he's so hard to see

Come together right now over me

Oh, come together

Yeah, come together...’''

Lucy mumbles the words in a sing-song voice and watches as the girl’s eyes close slowly. Lucy brings her close to her chest and holds her tight.

THE END