Tim didn't sleep that night.Didn't breathe properly. Didn't even blink unless his body forced him.
He just sat there on the cold ground under that busted bridge, holding Luna's pink hoodie like it was the last heartbeat left in the world. His fingers were curled into the fabric so tight the knuckles had gone white.
The hoodie still smelled like her… a mix of bubblegum, rain, and something he could never name.And that was enough to break him all over again.
Pluto crouched beside him, eyes red, face streaked with dried tears. His whole body was trembling, like grief was an earthquake that wouldn't stop.
"Pluto," he whispered, voice soft and cracked. "We have to… we need to go back. We can't leave her there."
Pluto didn't respond at first. He took the hoodie from Tim, pulled it to his chest, pressing his face into it, trying to remember the exact way Luna laughed, the way she tilted her head when she was annoyed, the stupid little snort she tried so hard to hide when he made bad jokes.
He remembered everything. And it hurt.
Finally, his voice came out; barely a whisper. "I can't… I can't believe she's gone."
Pluto swallowed the lump in his throat. His legs felt like they were made of cement when he stood. But he still stood.
Together, they walked back under that dark, broken archway.Back to where the world had collapsed.Back to where she saved them.
And there she was.
Luna's lifeless body lay exactly where she'd fallen ; dust settled on her hair, her skin pale but peaceful, like she'd just fallen asleep mid-joke. The crack beneath her was sealed now, hardened into stone again, like the earth itself didn't want anyone else touching her sacrifice.
Tim dropped to his knees instantly.
Pluto broke down beside him, both hands covering his face as he cried with that raw, ugly sound people make when their soul hurts more than their body ever could.
Tim whispered between choked breaths, "You idiot… you didn't have to do this. You didn't have to go alone."
But then something… happened.
A soft warmth.A faint hum.Like the air around them was inhaling.
The ground beneath Luna glowed with a thin ring of dazzling blue light. It curled upward like mist, swirling around Tim and Pluto, wrapping their arms, their shoulders, their chests. The air buzzed like a heartbeat was being shared between worlds.
And then… her voice.
Soft.Echoed.Not from her lips, but from that glowing light itself.
"Don't cry idiots."
Tim froze, tears suspended on his lashes.
"You two always fight," Luna's voice giggled weakly, like a memory trying to be strong. "So… stop for once. Stay together. Live. Please… don't let my death be the end. Let it be the reason you finally win."
Pluto sobbed out loud. "Luna please… come back. Please…"
Her voice softened." Tell the others I believe in them. That I always did. And tell Tim…"The light flickered."Tell him he wasn't the burden he thought he was....."
Tim's whole body shook.
Then the light burst upward ; bright, cold, beautiful. It wrapped her body, the whole bridge, the boys, even the cracks in the ground. For a second, the world looked like it was made of blue fireflies.
When the light faded, Luna's voice faded with it.
Silence.Just the sound of the wind moving through broken metal.
And then footsteps.
Asuka, Tango, Tanya and the rest of the group emerged from the shadows, panting, bruised, but alive. Asuka saw Luna and stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening, mouth falling open. The way her voice cracked when she whispered "No…" made everyone else freeze.
Emmanuel clenched his jaw, fighting back tears. "She did it. She actually..... she saved all of us."
Tanya wiped her face roughly. "We can't let this be for nothing."
They regrouped, fueled not just by grief but by something sharper....resolve carved out of loss.
Varex's lab wasn't far. And they weren't done. Not even close.
Inside the wreckage, Tango found notes Luna had stolen earlier. Formulas. Calculations. Half-done antidote research, Varex abandoned when he switched to weaponising the virus.
The team worked like their hands were on fire.
Hours.Sweat.Fear.Hope.
And finally.....a vial of shimmering silver-blue liquid.
An antidote.
They tested it on the nearest restrained zombie....a tall one, unusually still. His tag read:
OMEGA
Siria injected it carefully. Tim held his breath. Everyone waited like the universe was on pause.
Omega ...growled. Then… slowly… his skin regained colour, his eyes cleared, his breathing steadied.
Human.Alive.Saved.
Tim's voice cracked as he whispered, "Luna… we did it."
Pluto squeezed his shoulder. "She'd be proud."
And for the first time since she died, Tim let himself believe that maybe....just maybe....her sacrifice wasn't the end of the story.