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~~~CHAPTER 5~~~

I leapt up and swung my sword down, ready to make contact with Isaac's right shoulder. If not for the spaulder on his arm, the impact would've easily broken a few bones. Anticipating this, he reacted by ducking to the left and prepared to swipe at my feet once I landed on the ground. But I was also thinking two steps ahead. I stabbed my sword into the floor, and held onto it upside down. Instead of hitting my feet, Isaac's sword hit mine, but didn't have enough force to shatter it; the ground absorbing the energy of the impact took care of that. While he was processing what had just happened, I quickly uprooted my weapon and ducked to the side, giving us both a chance to plot our next moves.

"Nice one" he said. "Can't believe I didn't see that one coming."

"I can't believe I actually pulled that off. I thought I was gonna overshoot it and get a nice taste of the floor."

"Just take the damn compliment" he snickered.

We were almost ten minutes into our one-on-one match, and the majority of it had been exactly like what just happened; one hybrid made a move, the other one artistically countered it. Granted, these were techniques we'd probably never need against the slow, uncoordinated living dead, but it was good to practice them anyway. You never knew if your next opponent would be someone alive...

All right, he's open, he's catching his breath, he's thinking about something... God, this is taking a lot more out of me than I thought... I have to end this now and win for my team...

I was sure Isaac was thinking the same exact thing. We were both exhausted, since we weren't really used to fighting someone of equal speed and strength. By this point, it felt like I had just killed my thousandth zombie in a row. But now wasn't the time to think about that. I needed to plan a new strategy out in my head.

I could dash forward, raise my sword, wait for him to counter my attack, spin around behind him, and end this duel with one tap on the back. Alternatively, I could let him come at me and counter him myself, and use that one split second to decide on a follow-up attack.

Decisions, decisions...

But before I reached one, the buzzer suddenly sounded, breaking our chains of though.

"This trial has now reached its tenth minute" the PA said after the annoyingly loud buzz. We both turned our attention towards the voice; "In the interest of time for subsequent testing today, you are each allowed one final move. You have both demonstrated superb technique, and have proven to be trained very well. Whoever wins this bout will win the competition for their entire team, as both previous tests resulted in a win for each of you. However, should your final attacks end in another draw, both teams will be rescheduled for testing after today's first wave has concluded. When the buzzer sounds, be prepared to strike. Good luck to you both."

Okay, so now I HAVE to make a move. Flush Plan B down the toilet, let's go with my first idea.

Isaac looked relieved after these instructions, as did I. I slowly raised my zweihander and pointed it at him. "May the best hybrid win" I said.

He matched my pose with his sword. "You'd think I'd say 'I intend to', but I won't. Instead, I'll say 'Yes. Yes he will'".

The buzzer sounded for the final time.

En garde!

I dashed forwards and prepared to carry out my strategy, with not a single other thought in my mind. Isaac dashed forwards himself, with pure determination in his eyes. Time seemed to slow down as we came within striking distance of each other. As I saw him bringing his sword up I spun around to his left, trying to picture the final move playing out in my head. I saw it in his eyes: surprise and confusion. This was it! I had him right where I wanted him!

I finished the spin and swung straight down with all the momentum I had. I knew Isaac had armor on his back, so he was capable of taking a hit. A BIG one.

But my sword only hit the air. It struck the ground, giving me a nice shock from the impact.

What the hell? Where did he---

But then I turned my head and saw the explanation: Isaac had done the same thing I did. He was behind me, in the same stance, also shocked from the impact of his sword striking the ground. I understood the reason for the surprise in his eyes; he thought of the same thing I did, and realized it a split second before me.

We both stood still until the obvious thought hit us: all we had to do was repeat our action backwards and hope to strike first.

In a split second, that's exactly what we both did.

And SMASH!

"Di-Did that really just happen?" I asked bewilderedly.

"Umm, yeah... I think it did. Wow." Isaac replied.

We had clashed swords so hard that they both shattered, and we somehow managed to avoid being impaled by the shrapnel. We had both knocked each other out of the fight in an epic stalemate.

Huh... What are the odds...

The PA came on again: "This match, and by extension this series of testing, is a draw. Congratulations to you all on your progress. As previously stated, we will schedule a rematch to break the tie on a future date. However, given Team Delta's schedule, this may not occur for some time. Regardless, we thank you for your participation. You are now free to enjoy the rest of your day off from missions."

Well, all things considered, this was a fun way to start off my day. And it's only 8am... Maybe they started so early to see if we can literally wake up and jump right into the fight.

After recovering our broken swords and re-integrating them with the rest of our armor, Isaac and I joined up with the rest of our teams, and the six of us decided to spend the rest of the day together. We played basketball in one of the base's gyms, we took turns playing games on the PlayStation 3 I recovered a while back, we talked about our best fights against the zombies, and the list went on. Despite the setting, it was literally the best day I'd had in a long time. I knew that everything would be back to normal the next day, and I'd probably wake up with Z-Day fresh in my mind again, but this day was definitely a sign. A sign that maybe my life wouldn't be an endless quest to bury the past under a pile of slain zombies after all.

Around 7pm, during a surprisingly good dinner, the PA announced the list of squads that were to be deployed to a different HAC base the next day, and encouraged them to start getting ready as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Isaac's team was one of them, but I was expecting this. It sucked that he, Liz and Brian couldn't just stay here with us, but they made their commitment and had to uphold it.

"Well, we all knew this was coming" Brian said. "As much as I'd love to stay here with you guys, those zombies aren't gonna kill themselves. Or maybe they will when they run out of food. But you get the idea."

Harry was clearly upset his new friend Brian wouldn't be around. But he masked it with another joke. "Brian, I've known you for one day, and I can already tell you that your humor will be missed. Now all I have is Greg's dry sarcasm."

"It's not sarcasm if you mean every word" I said, earning me another round of laughter.

After a final half hour of fun, we all got up and prepared to go off on our separate ways. Isaac and Liz needed to get ready for their deployment, while Francis, a firm believer in 'early to bed, early to rise' went off to bed after wishing Team Delta luck in their future fights. Harry and Brian, after finally running out of jokes, bid us good night and good luck, and zipped away to go do their own things. That just left me, Isaac and Liz.

"Well, it was really nice finally meeting you, Greg" Liz said while giving me a goodbye hug. "I can tell you had a lot of fun today. Isaac described you as more of the quiet, gloomy type, but I'm glad he was wrong about you."

"Thanks, Liz. I'll admit Isaac _was_kinda right; I'm not always this cheery. But it's nothing good friends can't fix. Thanks for being a part of that, it means a lot to me."

She smiled and walked away, pausing to whisper something into Isaac's ear. Though he had black fur, I swore I could see him turning red at whatever she said. I waited until Liz was out of earshot to ask him what it was.

"She said she'll be in my room." He looked excited and nervous. I didn't blame him.

"Which brings us right back to the conversation we were having this morning. But it also answers my question quite nicely" I said with a smile.

"Speaking of that conversation we were having, is that her over there?" He pointed to an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria. Well, empty except for Kyla sitting there, still reading her book with a cup of coffee.

How did I not notice her there earlier?

"Yeah, that's her all right. I think today gave me the motivation to finally talk to her. I mean, really talk to her" I said.

"I've got confidence in you, Greg" said Isaac. "Remember what I said earlier: you deserve to be happy. Tonight's only the beginning. I wish I could stay and be your wingman, but I've gotta get ready for tomorrow."

"And go see what Liz could possibly want" I added with a smirk.

He laughed. "Yeah. That too."

We both got up and shook hands. "Until next time, Delta One. Don't freaking die on me".

"Same to you, Omega Three. Live long, and kick ass."

He walked away, to whatever surprise Liz had waiting for him. I turned my attention to Kyla, and started to walk over to her table. Though I was still in high spirits, every step seemed to make time go slower and make my heart beat faster with anticipation.

Just talk to her. Don't outright ask if she wants to be your new love interest, just TALK to her...

I stopped in front of the snow leopardess and cleared my throat. "Um, Kyla?"

She put down the book and looked up, smiling brightly. I could immediately tell she was genuinely excited that I was the one starting the conversation for a change.

"Oh, hi Greg! How'd your team's test go? Did you guys win against Team Delta?"

"No, actually. But we didn't lose, either. One of my guys won, another lost, and I tied against their leader. But the higher-ups are scheduling a rematch, so I guess any stalemates aren't good enough for their research."

Kyla seemed surprised, but in a positive kind of way. "You tied against them? As in, you and the guy with similar powers as yours fought each other? Oh, you've GOT to tell me all about it!"

Wow... So far so good, I guess...

I gave her a quick rundown of my match with Isaac. I might have exaggerated a bit, but the start and end were unchanged. Kyla seemed impressed, and that was all that mattered.

"So, what about you guys? Did you do better than we did?"

"We lost, unfortunately" Kyla replied. She didn't seem too upset about it, though. "I beat my opponent in a precision test at first, but their other two guys beat Ross and Evan. I've mentioned my teammates before, right?"

You probably did, but I most likely forgot about them as soon as the conversation was over.

"I think you did once, yeah. Would you mind refreshing my memory?"

"Sure. Ross is, I'm pretty sure, the only lion hybrid here, so he's easy to spot out. He's got electric powers, if you were wondering about that as well. Evan's one of the many wolf hybrids here; gray with white markings. Power-wise, he has telekinesis. They're Subjects Lambda Six and Rho Eleven."

"Ah, now I remember. It's actually kinda funny; both you and one of my teammates have ice powers, were tested on precision, and won. I mean, what are the odds, right?" I chuckled nervously, rapidly running out of things to say to keep this conversation alive.

"Yeah..." Her tone dropped a few octaves. But then, right out of the blue: "Greg, can I ask you a dumb question?"

Oh boy, this can't be good... Can't let her see me worry...

"Uh, well I always believed that there's no such thing as a 'dumb' question, but sure. What's on your mind?"

She took a deep breath and asked me the question I'd been asking myself all this time. "I'd actually like to know what's on your mind, Greg. Don't take this the wrong way, but every time I talk to you, you seem to be in a rush to end the conversation. And now, you're here out of the blue, talking to me for more than a quick second. I'm grateful for it, but I'd just like to know why. If it's something personal, you don't have to tell me."

Wow. You hit the nail RIGHT on the head, didn't you?

I knew it'd come to this sooner or later, so I decided to just get it over with.

But hold on, should I tell her that I'm using her to replace my lost love for my own benefit? Just so that I won't be depressed all the time, and not because of her obvious feelings for me?

Oh God... Is that really what I'm trying to do here?

No. No, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just trying to move on with my life, and like everyone's been saying, this is how it's going to happen. I want to like her, and I know she already likes me. If I can get to know her better, then I'm sure I'll be able to find that spark. I'll be happy for us_, not just for myself._

Well, no matter how I can rationalize it, there's no going back now...

I sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Kyla. You're right, I've been less than courteous to you from day one, when you've been nothing but nice to me every time we talked. The truth is, right when the apocalypse began, I lost everything and everyone I held dear in my life, and never really got over it. It literally happened all at once in a single day, and I was a complete WRECK for a few weeks after. I know a bunch of other people here must've gone through the same thing, but I guess I just _care_too much to let go... Even now, a whole year later, every single day I keep seeing it all happen in my head over and over again. It always puts me in a bad mood, and I never feel like talking to anybody, because if I do, I unintentionally act like a huge jerk. I know you said that I didn't have to share any personal problems, but I want to be completely honest with you."

Kyla was taken aback. She probably wasn't expecting to hear any of this. It was possible she thought I tried to evade her simply because I was seeing someone else.

Maybe now I should give her some good news...

"The other thing is, I know you like me. I'm sorry to just put it out there like that, but I haven't ignored your signs. But it took me until today to realize that I think I'm finally ready to move on. I'd like to get to know you better, and see where it goes for both of us. I just wanted to be happy, but now I want us to be happy. I guess that's the real answer to your question."

She just sat silently for a whole minute, staring at the table. It seemed like an entire hour. I was getting worried that I said the wrong things, but she broke the silence before I could think of any mistakes.

"Greg, I understand." She looked at me right in the eyes. "I understand because I know the feeling. Believe it or not, I lost a lot of people close to me when the outbreak began, too. Only my sister was able to be rescued, and she's just a kid, so there's no chance I'll ever see her around here. Hell, I may never see her again at all... But I know she's alive out there, somewhere, and I guess that's where I get my hope from. But what you just told me... I'm so sorry to hear all of it. If you don't mind, would you want to tell me exactly what happened? I'm a good listener."

My God... She's just the same as me. She's always so nice and happy, but deep down she's just like me... She's not trying to humor me or anything here; she WANTS to listen and help me...

"Okay. I'll tell you" I said with a small smile.

~~~

We decided to walk as we talked, and ended up in Kyla's room after a while. I sat next to her on her bed and finished telling her everything. About how Z-Day started for me. About why I agreed to join the hybrid program.

About my parents.

About Cali...

I could tell that the part about my former girlfriend was more or less what Kyla was waiting to hear. But thankfully, she didn't seem to think that I was just trying to fill the void with her, easing my primary worry. She also wasn't lying about being a good listener; she was as patient and understanding as I needed her to be.

"Now I'm the sorry one, Greg" Kyla said after another long silence. "It was wrong of me to try to flirt with you after you went through all that. But I'm glad we both got our feelings out in the open. If you're truly ready to move on, then I'm here for you."

"You really are, aren't you?" I asked. "You're really willing to be with someone as messed up as me?"

She gently took my hand in hers. "Yes, Greg. I absolutely am. You need me, and I feel like I need you." I could see her blushing underneath her fur. "You're right; I've had a crush on you since the first time I saw you. You're funny, down-to-earth, and handsome; everything I like in a guy."

These were things I hadn't heard in a long time. "Really?" I asked.

"Really" she replied in earnest.

We smiled and stared at each other for what seemed like hours, her perfectly blue eyes peering into my soul itself. It might have simply been the situational ambiance, but I was starting to notice more and more just how beautiful Kyla really was. Every second I spent gazing at her filled me up with confidence.

There was only one thing left to do to for me to make sure we could be together...

Cali, wherever your soul floats in Heaven, if what you truly want is for me to be happy, we're both going to find out right now.

I slowly closed my eyes and leaned forwards.

Kyla was more than ready for that. She threw her arms around me and pulled me into the single and most passionate kiss I've had in over a year.

She kissed me.

I kissed back.

And it felt like I had been completely reborn in her warm embrace.

_I... I'm in love! _

~~~

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Be honest, none of you saw the second half coming this early :)

Now that the training arc has come to a close and all significant background information has been established, the story will REALLY kick off in the following chapters. It may seem happy for now, but things can change pretty quickly in a zombie apocalypse...

If you read this chapter and not the previous one, the characters Isaac, Liz, and Brian belong to Paul Rueger, one of the writers on this site that inspired me to give furry fanfiction a try. You have my sincerest thanks for letting me use your characters.

As usual, please rate, comment, and subscribe.