Epilogue: A Battle Worth Fighting For

"Yuri? You awake?"

Yuri sighs as his eyes groggily open. His vision was blurry at first but after a while, he finally managed to make out the fan whirling around at the ceiling. As soon as he woke up, he immediately realize that he couldn't move his right arm.

"Can you hear me?"

Yuri then carefully rose up with his left arm and sits up straight in his bed to see the person who has been sitting in front of him on a chair.

"Nolan?" Yuri said softly.

"Hi Yuri. It's been a while." Nolan said with a warm smile as he leans forward. Yuri then looks around the room that he and Nolan are currently in. They are in what seems to be a small medical ward. He looks down and sees that his wounded right arm is lay firmly set in place by a heavy cast and sling. Using his free left arm, he lifts up the sheets and sees heavy bandages covering the chest and abdomen wounds he received from Yeager and Alexei respectively.

"You're safe now Yuri. After we got you out of Cocoon Island, we brought you here to patch you up. Thankfully, the doctors say you're no longer in critical condition but you still need to rest in bed for a week or two, so relax." Nolan explained.

Yuri nods his head as he allows himself to lie back down on his bed. However, he gasped and his eyes snap open when he suddenly remembered someone important to him.

"Estelle!" He cried as he shot upright from his bed. "Is she-"

"Don't worry Yuri, she's fine." Nolan reassured him quickly as he holds up his hands. "As well as the other survivors you've rescued from the island. In fact, they were actually here a while ago but when you were slowly beginning to regain consciousness, I told them to leave so that I can chat with you privately."

Yuri sighs heavily in relief as he settled down. "How long was I out?" He inquired.

"For twenty-three hours to precise." Nolan replied. "I have to admit. This whole mission caused me and my boss a lot of trouble for the last eighteen days, especially after the deaths of two of our soldiers." Nolan paused for a moment to scratch his head. "But in the end, you succeeded. You saved Miss Heurassein and with her help, we can finally eradicate the Rosch virus and bring peace back to the islands of Cocoon and Stellar. Refugees can even finally return back to these islands after we have cured the infected. The entire world owes you a huge debt, Yuri Lowell. Thank you." He ended with a solemn bow of his head.

Yuri smiled at Nolan and bows his head back at him.

"What happens now?" Yuri asked.

"Well, after you, Estellise and Judith recover from your injuries; we will send you and the other survivors back to the mainland. Estellise and Schwann will remain working for the military for a while though because we need their help to develop the vaccine to eradicate the Rosch virus." A smirk then takes form on Nolan's face. "But I promise you. Once they are done working for us, we'll return them back home safely too."

"I understand." Yuri said. "But promise me this. While Estelle is working for you guys, make sure you serve her lots of strawberry sorbets."

Nolan stared blankly at Yuri for a moment before he broke out a laugh. "Okay then." He replied. "I'll make sure of that."

"Good." Yuri said with a grin. "One more thing…who is your boss anyway? You still haven't told me."

Nolan momentarily stayed silent until he stood up from his chair. "The only way I can answer that is if you enlist yourself back into the military. Would you like to?" He said as he places his hands behind his back.

Yuri chuckled. "I'll think about that."

"As you wish." Nolan flashes a quick smirk at Yuri before making his way out of the ward. He leaves the door open as he walks out, allowing a certain pink-haired woman to enter the ward.

A huge smile plasters across his face as Yuri sees the visitor. "Estelle."

"YURI!" Estelle squealed ecstatically as she sees him awake and well. Immediately, she rushes over to his bedside and wraps her arms around him, pulling Yuri into a warm embrace.

Yuri yelps and flinches a bit as Estelle's hug accidentally triggered a fresh wave of agony through his body.

"Oh." Realizing her blunder, Estelle quickly breaks her hug and backs away from Yuri. She blushed sheepishly as she apologized. "Sorry."

After gasping for air, Yuri looks back at Estelle and gave her a warm smile. "It's okay. How's your wound?"

"The doctors apply bandages around my body to cover the wound on my back. I'll be fine." Estelle replied.

"That's good." Yuri said. "How about we try that again and see if this time, we can get it right without hurting me."

Estelle giggled as she nods her head in agreement. She slowly walks over to Yuri and wraps her arms around him again, this time doing it gently and carefully not making contact with his chest wound.

Yuri then wraps his left arm around Estelle and carefully not placing his hand on the wound on her back as he does so. The two snuggled contentedly into their warm embrace, smiling and resting their heads onto each other's shoulders.

Tears of happiness then roll down from their cheeks as both are overwhelmed with bliss and relief that they have made it out of Cocoon Island alive and well. Now that they are out of danger, they can finally live the rest of their lives together happily. And for the first time in seven years, Estelle is finally free from fear. As long as she had Yuri by her side, she will never be afraid for her life ever again. They both stayed in their hug, never wanting to let each other go for a long time.

"Don't mind if we come in?"

Yuri and Estelle snap of their thoughts and turn their heads to the doorway to see Rita standing there with her arms folded.

"Were you watching us, Rita?" Yuri asked her with a mischievous smirk while Estelle chuckled as she strokes her own hair.

"Yeah. Can't believe you're quite the stalker, Rita." Raven said to Rita as he steps forward and stood next to Rita.

"I'm certainly am not!" Rita protested as she stomps her foot angrily. "I just want to come into the room and see Yuri awake, that's all!"

"Are you really that concerned over him? Guess you do have a soft heart." Judith said as she stood behind Rita.

Rita turns around to come face-to-face with Judith. "Hey, I'm a surgeon after all. Making sure people are feeling better is my top priority." She replied to her.

Yuri and Estelle smiled at them as they wipe off their tears from their eyes. Rita sighed as she turns around and enters the room along with Raven, Judith, Flynn, Hisca, Chastel, and the children.

"Yuri! You're alright!" Karol yelled in delight as he, Nan and Patty ran past the adults and rush over to Yuri's bedside.

"I told you all I can look out for myself." Yuri said to the three as he rubs Karol's head. The three children giggled in response.

"Thank you for saving us, Yuri." Patty said to him with gratitude.

"You're welcome. But give Flynn credit too. He also did his part in getting you guys out of the island." Yuri said to the children. Then he looks up at Flynn and the two smiled at each other. "And he saved me and Estelle too. Thank you Flynn, I knew I can count on you."

"You're welcome." Flynn said as he bowed to Yuri and Estelle.

Suddenly, there was a loud bark. Everybody present in the room turn to the doorway to see Repede dashing in.

"Repede!" Yuri cried happily as the dog makes his way to his bedside. Estelle and the others step aside to allow Repede to climb onto the bed and happily lick Yuri's cheek. Yuri laughed as he rubs his head affectionately. Afterwards, he gently pushes Repede away from his face and the dog rests on his lap.

"It's nice to see you again, buddy." Yuri said softly to the dog and he strokes his hand through the fur on his back. Repede whined in response.

"What are you going to do now, Flynn?" Estelle asked.

Flynn shrugs his shoulders before scratching his chin. "Well, I'm thinking of quitting the military. After everything that had happened, I'm officially done."

"I don't blame you." Yuri said.

"The first thing I want to do when we return back to America is seeing my parents again. I gave them a call when we first got aboard on this ship. Imagine the overwhelming amount of shock and joy they had the moment they learn that their son is still alive." Flynn said. "Afterwards, I'll settle down by working in my family's business. I mean, after disappearing from their lives for the last seven years, I've got a lot of catching up with my parents to do."

He turns to Repede who is still resting on Yuri's lap. "You know, why don't you adopt Repede? He lost his owners and father during the outbreak and since he likes you a lot, you can keep him." Flynn said to Yuri.

"Sure, I will." Yuri said with a smile as he continues rubbing Repede's back. "I'll be happy to accept Repede into my household."

"I want to stroke Repede too! I think he's cute!" Estelle cried. She tries to pet Repede on his head, but the dog turns to Estelle and growled while giving her a menacing glare. Estelle yelps as she backs away. She then hangs her head disappointingly and moaned, "He doesn't like me? I'm hurt…"

Yuri and the others simply laughed.

"Give him some time, Estelle." Yuri said as he pets Repede's head to calm him down. "I'm sure he'll accept you one day." He then turns to Hisca and Chastel. "What about you two?"

"Hisca and I are planning to open up a bookstore of our own after we return back to our hometown." Chastel said.

"And since Karol, Patty and Nan have no one to take care of them, Chastel and I have decided to adopt all of them." Hisca smiled as she wraps her arms around Karol, Patty and Nan.

"It's great to have you two as our guardians." Nan said to the twins gratefully as she, Karol and Patty hug Hisca back. Chastel smiled and she wraps her arms around her twin sister and the children, joining in their embrace.

"As for me, I'll return back to working as a surgeon when I get back to Houston." Rita said as she places her hands on both sides of her hip.

"And when I return to Honolulu, I'll search for a new job at another restaurant. And certainly this time one that isn't filled with infected." Judith said with a playful smirk.

"How's your shoulder now, Judith?" Yuri asked.

"The doctors have covered bandages over my wound so not to worry." Judith reassured.

"Finally for me, Estelle and I will work for the military a little longer to help create the vaccine for the Rosch virus." Raven said as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "After that, I'll quit the military too and find a new job, something simpler for an old guy like me. Maybe I'll be a postman, that ain't sound bad."

"Like Raven I said, I'll stay with the military for a while. But after that, I'll come find you and we'll be together again." Estelle said. Then, a small smile plasters across his face. "Besides, you still have a promise to keep."

Yuri nodded. "When we see other again, I'll rent two ice cream shops. How about that?" Estelle chortled before rubbing Yuri's head affectionately. Yuri laughed as well.

After Estelle removes her hand from his head, Yuri took a good look at everyone present in the room with him. His mouth curved slightly into a blissful smile. "Everyone…all of you…you guys kept me alive back on the island…Thank you."

Everyone smiled back at him while Repede whined in response. Flynn nods his head before giving Yuri a gentle pat on his back. Rita chuckled as she places her hands behind her back.

"Wow. I've never been thanked personally before so…that's awesome of you, Yuri. You're welcome." Rita said with a sheepish grin as her cheeks slightly blush. Judith giggled as she wraps an arm around Rita.

Yuri turns back to Estelle and they both gaze into each other's eyes. Repede sees this and gets off of Yuri's lap and bed, allowing the two to have their personal moment with each other. Estelle gently places her hand onto Yuri's right shoulder. Yuri leans forward and places his left hand on the back of Estelle's neck.

Rita groans and shakes her head, knowing what the two are planning to do. Flynn, Judith, Raven and Chastel all laughed while Hisca make Karol, Nan and Patty turn around, preventing them for seeing the 'adult stuff' that is about to happen. Repede simply sat on the floor and whined as he silently watched the two.

Nolan enters the bridge of the ship where a few soldiers sat behind the controls and displays. He sees a woman, dressed in a tan-colored military uniform and a black military hat, standing at the left side of the room and staring out at the ocean through the glass windows. Nolan walks behind the soldiers and heads over to the woman.

"Good evening, boss." Nolan greeted her.

"Good evening, Captain Mathias. How are Yuri and Estelle?" The woman asked as she continued staring at the ocean.

"They're fine and recovering. Once Estelle recovers from her wound, we can begin the construction of the vaccine for the Rosch virus." Nolan said. He paused momentarily to let out a sigh. "At long last, we are finally going to eradicate that horrible virus. I never thought this day would ever come. Don't you, Colonel Farron?"

Colonel Claire 'Lightning' Farron smiled as she removes her hat, letting down her long pink hair. "I never thought so too, Nolan." She lifts her head up slightly and stare skyward. "You were right, Natsu. One day, we would find a cure."

Lightning closes her eyes and sighs blissfully.

"Thank God above for Yuri Lowell and Estellise Sidos Heurassein."

"I love you, Yuri."

"I love you too, Estelle."

Yuri and Estelle then lean forward and kissed passionately into each other's lips.

At first, Yuri wondered to himself if everything he had been through was all worth it. But now, he knows that it is, because in the end, he did get his reward from Nolan. He never told him what it specifically was. But he already knew what it is.

A companion.

The End

Sovereign: Thank you for reading this story. Thank you to everyone who have reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I really had a lot of fun writing this story and wow, after six years, I've finally finished the entire Zombie Paradise trilogy.

I never thought I would ever accomplish that because after I've finished writing the second story, my interest in the zombie genre began to decline, to the point that I no longer have the inspiration to write the third story and held it off for six years.

If it wasn't for my regained interest in anime and story-writing after watching 'Your Name' and playing 'Tales of Berseria', I never would have got my butt back up to finally finish what I've held off doing for the last six years. XD And with that, I feel very happy and accomplished that I've finally completed the series.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks again everyone and until next time, read and review!