I was myself again—not a zombie but who I originally was….a human. As I slowly surveyed my surroundings, I realized that the only thing filling my vision was white. Every single direction I could possibly look in contained no trace of a post-apocalyptic world made by humans. I’d say I was standing on the ground, but it felt more like I was hovering in the air.

  I caressed my bald head in confusion as I dug through the pockets of my thick, brown jacket. There was a baby picture I had of Sunshine before those zombies tore me apart. Maybe it was still there. However, instead of my daughter, it was a picture of…someone else. A mother smiling tiredly while she held a little girl close to her chest in front of a pot with flowers—dirt splattered on their faces.

  Suddenly, my vision became hazy, the photo swirling like a whirlpool. It was sucking me in…absorbing me.

  *****

  “Nice and slow, mi alma,” a woman said, steadying the arm of a child who was sprinkling water on a pot of sunflowers. “You give our babies too much water, and they’ll drown in it.”

  “So, the sunflowers are weak?” the kid asked, glancing up at the woman.

  “Of course they are,” she answered. “There are so many things in the world that could break these flowers—fragile little things. That’s why they need someone like us to take care of them and to…protect them.”

  “Like a mom?”

  “No, like two mommies,” she said with a smile. “But…sometimes a mother needs a father to protect her too.” She turned to me. “Isn't that right, Jerome?”

  My eyes widened a bit as I took a few steps forward. “How do you know my name, Rosalina? Is it because I just absorbed you?”

  “I guess so,” she replied, setting the sprinkler down on a short stool next to her. “It’s still early so wanna have some breakfast?”

  The girl nodded and their eyes turned to me, waiting for me to answer. I was pretty confused about what they wanted me to say. There wasn’t anything for us to eat in the room. In fact, there wasn’t anything in here, aside from us and the flower set up they had. The room didn’t have any doors or any kind of exit.

  “If you’re confused about how we’ll eat here…don’t you know we’re in the state between absorption?” To my surprise, she twirled her finger around and a table popped out of nowhere in front of me. “All you have to do is think it, and whatever’s in your imagination will appear in front of you.”

  “Wait…so this is one of those near death experience things?” I felt the wood of the table. “Where you hallucinate stuff before you die?”

  “Yeah, I think.” Rosalina held the kid’s hand and walked to the table, chairs appearing with each step. “I think I’ve experienced this another time, but I was guided by you instead.”

  “Huh? Does that mean I’m…dead!?” I shouted, forming a fist. “I knew it! I shouldn’t have tru-”

  “You’re not dead!” she cut off, pursing her lips. “I know that for a fact you aren’t dead. And please…enough questions about all the outside stuff. That’s not important to me right now. This is the last time I’ll be able to be…myself again, and the last I’ll ever see Sunflower’s face. Immerse yourself in me, and let me live my life one more time.”

  I softened my face, hesitating to answer.

  Rosalina smiled at me. “It’s the least you can do considering you killed me, after all.”

  After that last sentence, I finally gave in with an “Ok.”

  No more words for now. Just absorb…

  They were a happy family of two, chowing down on the only breakfast they could afford—bowls of Froot Loops cereal. A simple meal that would only last five minutes, and yet they treated it like it was the best food in the world. And of course they did. Aside from ramen, it was the only meal they were confident they could have daily.

  But Rosalina’s daughter loved every bit of it. Six years old and already so grateful. Maybe one day, if she worked hard enough, she’d be able to get her daughter those clothes she’d always wanted. Even without those special clothes or good meals, as long as they had their flowers, they were happy.

  However, a family wasn't complete without a father. At least, that's what Rosalina thought.

  “When is Dad coming home, Mom?”

  “I already told you, Sunflower. At the end of the month–every month. As he…always does.”

  As she predicted, Dad would come back, and he came in with a bang. A bang louder than any gunshot that could pierce through her head, and the bang only came from the door being knocked down. Yet, that bang was not louder than the man’s boots pounding on the floor toward them, and the punch to Rosalina’s face following that.

  A woman could only pay half of what she owed to a pimp and take the rest for herself before someone found out. Unluckily for her, that day would be today, resulting in a swift beat down of almost everything that she was in that moment. Not even the screams of his daughter stopped him from taking everything that he was owed—TV, clothes, anything that could be sold. The flowers weren’t as fortunate, the father stomping on them as a form of “deserved punishment.”

  I didn’t do anything to help…No, it was more like I wasn’t allowed to help. It was as if I was watching an episode of a show, except I was also in it.

  Finally, the horror stopped, and the man seemed satisfied with what he’d achieved. However, that satisfaction was only with Rosalina. According to him, the child still needed to pay for her mother’s mistakes. I didn’t know what he meant by that specifically.

  Obviously, Rosalina did as she immediately drove a fork into the man’s eye. The pimp shrieked in agony, kicking her in the belly. He probably would’ve killed her if it wasn’t for the sudden miracle appearing to save her. A miracle in the form of a shockwave that nearly tore the house apart and sent everyone tumbling to the ground.

  It was the day the nuke had hit New York.

  To most, it was the worst day of their lives. To Rosalina…it was the best thing that could possibly happen.

  So, she ran. Her daughter ran. They both ran as fast as they could. Bunkers or any other hideouts. Towns so far away from the bomb’s impact that they were completely unaffected by it. Anywhere was fine as long as they were together.

  That was the mindset they had for years until the same man greeted them, accompanied by a group. Despite missing an eye, he was now a well-established leader of the Slavelands, respected by most and feared by even more. And he just found a new addition to the workforce. After all, you can’t just run away from a stubborn pimp for years and not face the consequences, and Rosalina needed to repay her debt. The mom could have run away like she did years ago, but she didn’t. Instead, she went through with it, fearing her daughter would face the same brutality she was forced to receive.

  With that decision made, the Slavelands made quick use of her. The mines? Worked in. Zombies? Killed. The houses? Cleaned. The men? Satisfied.

  When the days were over, she could finally go back home and spend time with her Sunflower, who waited all day in the Big House for her. If Rosalina worked hard enough, the pimp would allow the two to look after all the flowers in the area. Every evening they would do this when the sun was still setting, hours passing before they realized it was the dead of night.

  It was on one of those nights where Sunflower would start to…change.

  “Mom….do you regret being my mom?” she asked, gripping the pot.

  “Sunflower, why would you ask me something like that?” Rosalina placed a hand on the girl’s head. “Do you really think I'd say yes to that question?”

  “But…everything that's happened to us these past couple of years wouldn't have happened if I wasn't born. You wouldn't have had to steal so much money to buy me stuff. My da-that man would've never come to our house and hurt you. We wouldn't be stuck working here every single day if I had never been b-”

  Rosalina slapped her, shattering the assertion her kid was about to make. “I don't wanna hear you speak like that ever again, understand?”

  “But you know it’s true…” she muttered, caressing her cheek. “We’ve been here for six years now and nothing has changed. You promised we would find some way out of here, but all we’ve been doing is playing with some stupid, fucking flowers.”

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  “Hey! Where’d you hear that word from!?”

  “Everyone here says it…who cares if I say it too? All the other kids say it too.”

  Rosalina paused for a while, taking in Sunflower’s words, her struggle. Then, she said, “Sunflower, do you remember what I told you before everything changed? How sunflowers were weak and needed people to take care of them…or else they’d die?”

  “Um, no,” she responded, furrowing her brows.

  “Yeah, I thought so. You were only six. But I’d like to take back that statement.” She nestled her daughter in her arms. “Sunflowers are strong. You give them enough time to grow, and they’ll withstand any force that could be thrown at them. Wind, rain…getting stomped down—they can take on any of that. Why do you think I gave you that name? It’s because I know you’re going to be the strongest girl I know.”

  “You really mean that?” Sunflower asked with a faint smile.

  “Of course I do!” She turned to me. “Jerome, tell her she’s the strongest girl in the world!”

  I flinched, surprised she actually acknowledged my presence again. “Well, she’s not stronger than my Sunshine, that’s for sure. But, if I had a list, then she’d be number two.”

  She chuckled. “You hear that, mi alma? You’re a strong girl. You don’t need to do anything drastic to try and prove yourself to me or anyone here. So just wait, ok?”

  Unfortunately, Sunflower didn’t want to wait any longer. The pain she faced in this hellhole was too much for her to handle. The thought that she’d have to spend another day here wasn’t one she wanted in her head. So, she did it.

  Somehow, she got access to a gun. Not only was she, for the most part, an obedient house worker, she was also only twelve. Who the hell would expect her to shoot three of the masters? Unfortunately for her, there was one man who did—Master Corleone.

  The pimp. Her father. He alone stopped her with a quick strike to the jaw, stopping her from doing anything else. However, he didn’t kill her. According to him, the girl had “serious potential.” She still needed to be punished though, and that’s exactly what he intended to do.

  That was when Rosalina charged into the house and shielded her daughter from any more pain. Not a single word spilled from her mouth—her eyes was all Corleone needed to see to understand what Rosalima wanted out of this defiance. And so, the daughter was safe, but in exchange for her safety, Rosalina would need to be sacrificed. To take the full brunt of what Sunflower was gonna receive.

  They did many things to her. I had my eyes closed for most of it so I couldn’t remember or describe what they specifically did. I just heard a lot of laughing and a lot of screaming. It felt like months of this went by…I wasn’t really sure. Standing in the shed that whole time was like a nightmare.

  Then, for the first time since I’ve entered Rosalina’s world, they talked to me. As in, someone from her past. I opened my eyes and realized…Elias was speaking to me.

  “You deaf or what?” he asked, waving a belt at me. “You want a go at her too, right?”

  I was about to say “no” without any hesitation, but Rosalina stopped me. “Say yes,” she muttered.

  “Why?”, I asked, keeping my eyes off her.

  “Because…there was someone else in the shed with these guys. A black man. I don’t remember what he looked like so you’ll have to do it.”

  “No,” I said bluntly.

  “Do it,” she repeated.

  “I said no.”

  “You’re gonna ruin everything! Just hurry up and do it already!”

  “No.”

  “I said do it!”

  Suddenly, the world around me began to break like glass as I fell into a dark void. After a couple seconds of falling, everything reformed just as quickly as it shattered. I was still in the shed, though the men were no longer there. Instead, it was Sunflower, standing in front of her mother.

  “Mom…what did those assholes do to you!”, she shouted, holding back tears.

  “Sunflower…did you get taller?” She pulled on her chains but they remained intact. “I haven’t seen you…in so long.”

  “It's been months. I think I turned thirteen a couple weeks ago.”

  “Ah, that’s nice. I’m sorry I missed your birthday…”

  Sunflower took out a key from her pocket and started to free Rosalina. “Don’t apologize to me. I fucked up. I let my emotions get the better of me and I got you stuck in here! I-I’m sor-”

  “No…I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking…dragging you into this for years. I’m a horrible mother.”

  “No! I didn’t mean what I said before, ok? I loved taking care of the flowers with you–they’re not stupid. You’re the best mom I could’ve ever had, ok? I love you, mom, ok!?” She hugged Rosalina’s bloody body, tears spilling out. “I love you, ok? I never stopp-.”

  The shed’s wall burst open, a horde of zombies sauntering inside.

  “Sunflower, what happened out there?”

  “A bunch of the workers came together and made a whole bunch of noise. A lot of zombies heard it and now they’re destroying the whole place,” she said, hoisting her mother up. “I don’t know what happened to Corleone, but I hope those zombies ate the shit out of him.”

  “But, how are you gonna get out of here? They’re blocking the exit and they’re coming this way!”

  “Don’t worry, mom. I stole a few guns just in case. I’ll kill all those-”

  “Don’t be an idiot! A few guns aren't gonna save us. I’ll buy some time, mi alma.”

  ‘Wait, what do you mean by that?” said Sunflower, aiming the gun at the undead group. “Mom, don’t tell me you’re gonna-”

  Rosalina screamed at the top of her lungs, directing the attention of the zombies solely to her.

  “Mom, stop! I can’t let you sacrifice your life for me again! I said I can handle-”

  Shockingly, a swarm of vines erupted from the ground and wrapped around Sunflower’s torso. Then, a few more spawned and ripped a hole through the back of the shed and carried her out, ignoring her pleas for her mother to stop.

  My eyes widened once I realized what this meant. Rosalina was a Radius. I guess she just didn’t know it.

  Although, there wasn’t another vine that appeared to save her. She was left to sit there as the zombies put an end to her life, just like they did me.

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to absorb it all. I opened them after a while and saw that I was in another place. It was like the white space from the beginning, except now it was all pitch black. I wasn’t hovering either. I was standing.

  “How’d you deal with it?”

  My ears twitched as I looked up to see where the familiar raspy voice came from. In front of me was Rosalina, now in her Type Two Radion form. “Deal with what?” I asked. “Your past?”

  “No, becoming a zombie. Being a zombie. Being with your daughter as a zombie.”

  I smiled softly. “It was easy. As long as she was by my side, I could handle not being a human anymore. Even if that meant I couldn’t eat, sleep, or have my…” I looked down and sighed. “My down there…”

  “I wish I were like you during my first years.” She summoned vines from the nothingness and created a person with them. It was…Rosey!?

  “What’s she doing here!?”

  “I had to make a plant clone of myself to watch over her after I…died. But I didn’t get the skin or hair color right. And I guess I made her a bit too crazy. No wonder Sunflower ran away from me and ended up in Brooklyn.”

  I was already sure Rosey wasn’t her true mother after the experience I just had, but this confirms it.

  “I’m a coward,” she continued.

  “Of course you’re not!” I exclaimed, approaching her. “I wish I could create clones to look after Sunshine after I left her to train last week. She’s alone with some really weird guy who only wears tighty-whities! Can you believe that? Sunshine’s lucky I’m such a chill father though.”

  “You want her daughter to…fight?” She tilted her head in confusion.

  “Of course I don’t! What kind of father would I be if I allowed my baby girl to fight dangerous monsters and bloodthirsty serial killers during the apocalypse?”

  “Yeah…I agr-”

  “But at the same time, what kind of father would I be if I saw all the dangerous shit this world had to offer and not teach my daughter how to fight? A pretty stupid father if you ask me,” I said, laughing right after.

  She paused for a moment and then sighed in relief. “Yeah, I definitely was wrong about you. You really are a good dad.”

  I thanked her for the compliment and gripped her neck gently, my fingers sinking into the ooze. My human body cracked until it eventually shed like snake skin, revealing my zombie body underneath. “I swear I’m going to save your daughter. And then, I’m going to save my daughter. She’s got this dumb disease bringing her a lot of pain right now and I intend to find a cure. Even if everyone tells me there isn’t one!”

  Rosalina smiled at the declaration. “You know, those plants on the arena seats, I think they can help your daughter out…just make sure she doesn’t smoke it.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m a strong advocate of the ‘kids shouldn’t do drugs’ movement. She’s gonna chew every last bit of that stuff.”

  “That’s good. And this might not be that helpful but…I heard from one of the masters a couple years ago that there’s…someone or something that knows about this disease. Possibly an actual cure for it. Heard something about…Philadelphia I think.”

  “Philadelphia?” My eyes brightened. “I was wrong about you, Rosalina. You’re a good person and a good mother!”

  “I wish I could’ve heard that from my Sunflower…”

  “I’ll tell her that you were.”

  Tears began to flow from her eyes. “I wish I could tell her that none of what happened was her fault…”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  “I wish that piece of shit Corleone would get what he deserves.”

  “If me and him ever cross paths, I’ll tell him and then kill him for you.”

  Her body slowly began to enter my palm as I said my final promise.

  “Tell my Sunflower…how much I love her.”

  “I will.”

  ******

  There were many promises I made to Rosalina before she disappeared before my eyes, and they were promises I intended to keep. It was a good thing the path to achieving that first one was directly above me, still restrained by the spiked, brittle grass. The energy in my body was itching to be released as I watched Jason struggle, like a radioactive beast in a cage. Everything in my body was screaming at me to kill him, but I had to hold that voice back. After all, I only had one minute to save Sunflower, and she mattered a lot more for now.

  Now that I’d absorbed Rosalina, the task should’ve been easy with this new form of mine. Vines were on the top of my head, reaching down to the middle of my back like dreadlocks. Grass was wrapped around my legs, shaped like baggy sweatpants, and the outline of a rose’s head bloomed in the center of my chest like an emerald tattoo.

  I crouched my legs, flexing the ooze of my thighs, and jumped straight towards Jason, spawning a leaf blade aimed for the hand holding the girl’s head. To my dismay, the dry crumbled to dust, the shockwave of my jump destroying Rosalina’s final attack. Jason began to fall, stuffing Sunflower’s head inside his white coat as he readied his machete. Our blades collided, and he tried to land a kick on my side but I smacked his leg away. A cluster of leaves flew out of my mouth and blinded him while I fell, conceding the first clash.

  With a swift punch, the masked man sent the leaves spiraling back in a whirlwind, barely a second after I fell. However, I had expected it. I released another bunch of leaves from my hands, more than what I fired before, and they were immediately caught in the whirlwind Jason created. Then, I sprouted stinkweeds on my feet and the gas blasted me upwards, giving me some view of Jason in the air.

  Somehow, the guy was able to fly just like me! No…not flying–he was standing on the air, or rather, his feet were planted on the radioactive energy flowing in the air. I remembered him doing that during the fight with the dragon, but I had no idea how he was. Maybe a Radius ability?

  I set that thought aside once I plummeted to a position where I was right behind Jason. I aimed my fingers and fired a bullet.

  “Shot in the Chest!”

  My bullet disappeared along with a large portion of my chest. Without hesitation, I raised my hands and vines erupted my palms, surging forward as a convulsing mass of life. They crashed into Jason’s body with the force of a tidal wave, thrusting him forward until he slammed against the arena’s wall. Once I reached his body, I spawned a few more vines from my fingertips and slipped them through his restraints, searching for Sunflower’s head.

  I didn't know the specifics of what Jason’s Radius ability was, however I had an idea of what it allowed him to do. He uses a phrase that would be a way for someone or something to die, and it happens right after those words leave his mouth. So, as long as I kept these vines over his mouth then I should be fine. There was still one thing I was confused on though…

  He could've easily defeated me had he just said something like “Decapitation” or “Sliced to Bits” like he did last time, so why didn't he just do that before? Was he overconfident or did his power have limits? Answering those questions would have to wait as my vines finally made contact with the head. But I didn't forcefully pull it out from Jason’s coat. Instead, I absorbed it, her head liquifying into energy, pumping through my vines like blood till it entered my body.

  The moment the hole in my chest regenerated, Jason broke free of the bindings and caught me off guard with a blow to my jaw. I’m sure the maniac expected me to go flying after a punch with that amount of power to it, but unfortunately for him I didn’t move an inch. I simply stood my ground and watched him intently with hollow eyes.

  “AI-”

  I grabbed his face before, shoving it into the wall before he could use his ability. His muffled growls vibrated against the wall as I held him there, his hands clawing at mine in a futile attempt to break free. I couldn’t let anybody stop me from what I needed to do, and no amount of struggling was gonna knock me down just yet!

  I opened my mouth, a rush of energy crawling towards my mouth. Then, with an explosive release, a beam unleashed out of me, striking Jason head-on. It propelled Jason like a rag doll out of the arena and into the city beyond, culminating in an explosion that eviscerated a couple buildings in the area. The arena trembled under the force of the blast, its walls groaning as dust and debris rained down around me.

  A blast like that wouldn’t kill him. I was sure of it. This wasn’t a battle of two strong fighters who wanted to compete to see who was the strongest. This was a battle between two stubborn guys who just wanted to beat the shit out of each other, no matter how much pain we had to take.

  Quickly, I shot another set of vines at Sunflower’s body and began to absorb her. Before she died, Rosalina didn’t tell me how exactly I could revive the girl, but the moment I gripped the mother’s neck in our final conversation…I realized the answer was quite simple. Sunflower’s body was turned into grass, and yet everything about it was also pure energy. It wasn’t just pure energy though. It was Rosalina’s energy, and she was radiating with it.

  Rosalina turned the kid into ooze using her own body to…immortalize her. No one could ever hurt her or kill her once she took on that form. She’d be just like a plant…

  I couldn’t turn her back into what she once was, however I can keep her alive…keep her aware of her lost humanity. And the only way to do that was to absorb and release. Just like I did with all my other techniques.

  Absorb Sunflower, rebuild her inside of me, and release her as one, living body. I didn’t know how long that would exactly take. I can’t really distinguish between all the energies in my body.

  Though, I did know one thing for sure.

  The first and second step to fulfilling that promise I made…were now complete.