The stench of decay was heavy in the stale air. With every step, the weight of the dead seemed to press in from all sides. Broken glass cracked beneath Val’s boots, her cheek pressed against the cool metal of her gun. The small group moved slow and steady as they searched the empty airport.

“It’s all clear.” Dante announces as he slips his gun into his backpack. “Keep your eyes out for anything useful.”

Val glanced at the corpses. Her dim flashlight illuminates the gore. “These bodies… they’re fresh.”

“You call that fresh?” Akari scoffs.

“Either way,” Cam calls from behind, “I really don’t like this.”

Akari crouches by an open suitcase and began to rummaging through the stained clothes. “Same. I know we’ve seen worse but this place is off.”

Cam flipped open more luggage, the thud of the suitcase crashing against the floor and echoing off the moist and rustic walls. The wind whipped through the jagged remains of the skylight, sending a shiver down Val’s spine. Her gloves brushed against the counter of a deserted cafe, the grim and dirt slick beneath her fingers.

“It’s hard to imagine this place before The Red Fever.” Dante leans against the counter, eyes trained on an old photograph in his hands.

Val cocks her head to the side and peeks over Dante’s shoulder. The photo’s edges were bent and worn over time as if it’d been trying to protect itself from the years passing. A bride and groom held eachother, hands intertwined. Around them stood their friends with raised champagne glasses and wide grins on their faces. Life seemed so easy back then- everyone looked so happy with their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders.

_What happened to them? Did they stick together or did this moment crumble like everything else?_

“Do you think anyone can feel like that now?” Val’s voice was soft, almost lost in the suffocating silence of the airport.

“I don’t know,” Dante admits with a low voice. He pauses, “Maybe. If they’re lucky.”

Val feels Dante’s stare as she takes the photo from his hand, their happy smiles still lingering in her mind. A silence stretched between them, thick and oppressive. The only sounds were Cam and Akari’s footsteps and the sound of luggage shutting.

That’s when the first note cracked to life.

The song blared through the airport’s intercoms, the disoriented and grainy tunes almost deafening in the usual quiet. Above them, the lights flickered to life and cast haunting shadows. The air filled with the low buzz of a dying generator and a bittersweet song from a time long ago.

_ “We’ll meet again,”_ the women’s disoriented voice sang._“Don’t know where; don’t know when.”_

“What the-?” Val begins, her hands already at her gun.

_ “But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”_

Akari reaches for the knife strapped to her side, “We need to leave. Now.”

Val’s eyes darted to the end of the hallway where the lights flash and small shadows shift agains the walls. Then she hears the small sound of shoes scrapping against the tiles.

“Someone’s coming…” Cam’s voice trails off, quickly cut off by him tugging on his bag and collecting any last minute supplies.

“They’re too close. We can’t outrun them-“ Akari starts with a worried voice.

Dante’s jaw clenched as he looked over the group. He glanced over the bags and everyone’s tired and beaten faces. Then he glanced back down the hall, his shoulders slumping.

“I don’t think we’re all making it out.” He mutters, voice quiet

“No,” Val snaps and shoves Dante’s chest, “don’t you dare-“

Dante places a firm hand on her shoulder and his eyes softened. “It’s the only way. Take the group to that stairway exit while I hold them off.”

“We won’t leave you,” Cam protests.

“You have to.” Dante’s voice is hard, stubborn as always, “the mission was get the supplies and get the hell out. And that’s what you guys are going to do.”

Val reaches for Dante’s arm and tries to ignore the stinging in her eyes. But Dante’s already turning towards the hallway. He pulls out his gun and rests it comfortably against his shoulder.

“Get out of here!”

“Please-“ Val pleas, her voice breaking.

Dante turns towards her, probably for the last time. He cups her dirt coated face; his eyes softened.

“I’ll be ok, Val. I promise.”

She fights back the tears as her chest tightens. “You liar.”

Akari tugs in Val’s arm, pulling her towards the exit, towards safety. Val looked back, the sound of gunshots now booming over the music.

Dante glanced. He gave her a warm smile and a quick nod.

_ “But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.” _

After the gunshots echo through the air, everything blurred. The world spun and the sounds all came to her foggy and muffled. Val’s breaths felt too heavy and slow- as if her lungs were unable to breathe properly. Her vision danced as darkness closes in, her last memory of Dante- his warm smile and dark eyes,

Then, nothing.

Val woke to bright, flickering and lifeless lights and the stench of antiseptic filled her nose. She’d been expecting to smell blood and rotting flesh, but the stank of medicine and bleach was almost a relief to her. It was the smell of survival home, faint, but better than death.

The sound of a monster beeping and quiet whispers bring Val back to reality. Her eyes strain open, memories of the recent events flooding back to her.

“Dante…” Her voice cracks as the truth settled in. _He’s gone._

The smell of the hospital burns Val’s nose, drowning out the stench of gunpowder and blood. The familiar sounds of machinery and soldiers barking commands fills the damp air.

She clenches the sheets beneath her fingers, the fabric soft beneath her calloused hands. Her throat tightens as Dante’s face flashes across her mind. His laugh still lingers in her mind, frozen and forever out of reach.