He barks out a laugh. “If you’re going to be kissing my boo-boos, don’t be surprised when I come home with suspicious wounds in suspicious places. Speaking of...” He jumps to his feet, keeping me in his arms. “If you guys will excuse us,” he says to Ali and Cole, “we’re in the middle of a date.”
They boo and hiss, but Frosty keeps going, carrying me away.
“No movie?” I tease.
“Oh, you’ll get your movie. I’ll pop in a DVD.”
“Desperate to be alone with me?”
“You have no idea.”
Joy practically fizzes in my veins as we enter our bedroom. People usually say some variation of “this is life, get used to it” when bad things happen. But right now, everything is just right. Everything is perfect. And to me, this is life. I’ll get used to it.
*
Ten years have passed since I first fell down the zombie hole. I woke up and discovered zombies are real and only slayer light can destroy their darkness. I lost so much. My parents, my little sister. My grandfather. But I gained so much, too. Cole, friends who understood me in a way no one else ever did, and now...a family of my own.
Cole proposed to me my freshman year of college. I said no—but only to make him beg. Which he did. Fun! Then, of course, I said yes. He’s my best friend, my heart and soul, my future. We married a year later, and I’ve been Ali Holland ever since, the happiest girl in the world (and probably ever, of all time)!
Cole did, in fact, become one of the youngest, hottest detectives on the force. I say “one of” because Frosty did, in fact, become one of the youngest, hottest detectives on the force. Women go crazy for the two of them, but Milla and I just laugh about it. Our boys are devoted. (AKA whipped.) The four of us, we’ve been to hell and back, and the bonds between us are unbreakable. That’s never going to change.
Besides, why would our boys want anyone else? We’re awesome! I’m a counselor for troubled teens, and get this...I’m a mom! Cole and I have two rug rats. A boy, Phillip Tyler (Ty), named for our dads, and a girl, Miranda Janelen (Rane), named for our mothers. Both darlings see zombies, and their abilities...good glory, both Ty and Rane far surpass Momma and Daddy.
I have a feeling our third munchkin—due any second—will surpass even his—her?—siblings.
Speaking of our third, we’ll name the darling Emerson, whether boy or girl. A tribute to my little sister.
If you couldn’t tell, we’ve settled into our “normal” lives quite nicely. Anima hasn’t been resurrected, but zombies still rise. At least we’ve learned the root cause of the infection. Our actions here, in this physical world, dictate the condition of our spirits when we die. Evil deeds cause rot, and rot spreads. So, as long as there’s evil in the world, there will be zombies. And as long as there are zombies, there will be slayers. (Or janitors.) But now, thanks to a little tip Rebecca gave Frosty, we can turn average citizens into slayers. They just have to believe us when we tell them about the spirit world in operation around them, and they have to want to do what we do. That desire does something to their spirits, brings dynamis to life.
We cleanse the zombies we can, without fighting them, without being bitten by them. But we’ve discovered a resistant strain of zombie toxin that doesn’t respond to our waves of power— zombies we have to take down the old-fashioned way. These unclean zombies are the ones that rain black ash when they die. The others rain white-as-snow ash.
We do what we can.
You’ll be happy to know the gang is still together. Bronx and Dr. Reeve are married. In fact, they were the first to tie the knot. They have a daughter, Allison (named after me!) but delivery almost killed Reeve, so they decided to adopt the rest of their kids. They run Sunlight, a foundation for the troubled teens I send their way. Teens who don’t yet know—or aren’t ready to accept—they are slayers. Or, if they aren’t, that they can be.
Gavin and Jaclyn got married, divorced, then married again. They think it’s fun and keeps their spark burning white-hot. Jaclyn is now pregnant with twins, so I’m pretty sure they’ll stay together this time. Gavin is a fireman, and she’s an instructor at Sunlight.
Chance and Love live together, and after babysitting Ty and Rane decided they never ever never wanted to have kids. Go figure. Chance runs some sort of software company (he starts talking shop, I tune out), and wears pin-striped suits on a daily basis. Even though I’m a married woman, I’m not blind, and the guy looks go-o-o-od in those suits. Love, on the other hand, ended up famous. Someone posted pictures of her all over the internet. She was dressed in slayer gear and strapped with weapons, and people couldn’t get enough. Those pictures went viral, and a very well-known company hired her to model swimsuits (she was on the cover!). Now, she’s in high demand.
Emma, Kat and Helen visit me when they can. Both Ty and Rane can see them, and boy, do the kids love their aunt Em and auntie Kat, and they think Grandma Helen is the prettiest grandmother in the entire world.