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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a "What If" scenario, so it's non-canon. But I'd suggest you familiarize yourself with the REAL thing before reading... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setting: Outside Greg's house on Z-Day, five seconds before Cali's supposed demise.

Scenario: What would've happened if Greg was able to save Cali way back in the beginning? What events would they miss out on, and what events would take their place instead? The answers may surprise you...

~~~VOLUME 1.1~~~

"AAAAHHH!!! GREEEEEEEEG!!!"

The soldier and I spun around to see Cali, still close to the car, trying to fight off a lone zombie that had appeared out of nowhere. She tossed and turned madly trying to escape the zombie's grip, but involuntarily made it impossible for any soldier to get a clear shot at the ghoul.

I dashed towards her with the little strength left in my body, aiming to tackle the zombie to the ground and curb-stomp him Sam B-style...

...And by some kind of miracle, I reached him just as he was about to take a huge bite out of Cali's left arm. I swiftly shoulder-tackled my girlfriend's assailant, putting him a good few meters away from doing any more harm to anyone. But that wasn't enough for me, oh no. Oh God, no. No, I wanted this zombie to SUFFER. I wanted to show it just what it meant to hurt someone I cared about, even if the creature was only acting on mindless instinct.

Before it could pick itself up off the street, I ran up to it again and delivered a swift kick to the head, knocking the walker right back down to the ground. As its head hit the hard pavement, knocking out one of its rotten teeth in the process, I wasted no time going absolutely berserk. I kicked at the zombie's head madly, and then switched to stomping after seeing it'd do more damage.

There were no other thoughts on my mind at all; only the single goal of killing this walking corpse.

And holy SHIT did I kill it...

"DIE!"

CRACK!

"DIE!"

SMASH!

"DIE! DIE! DIEEE!!!"

Sickening, squishy sounds were all that followed for the next half a minute. But I didn't notice, not until I stopped to catch my breath.

Okay... Okay, it's dead. It's dead... I'm all better now. All better...

Once my rage had completely worn off and I stopped seeing red, I saw that my boot had reduced the zombie's head to a puddle of rotten brains and dark, congealed blood. It was truly a horrific sight, worse than anything I'd ever seen in a game or a movie. On any other day my stomach would've given out upon seeing such a disgusting thing, but it seemed like even my own body was afraid of my anger right now, and thusly refused to inconvenience me.

I turned and saw the soldier checking a distraught Cali for any bites or wounds, but her only visible problem was being very shaken up. I calmly walked back over to my girlfriend, fully expecting her to look at me like I was completely insane for over-killing the zombie in such a hate-filled dramatic fashion. But instead, she brushed the soldier off and hugged me as tightly as she ever had before; sobbing softly from the aftershock of the horrifying event she just survived.

She didn't say anything; her jaw was still trembling uncontrollably, but I could feel the silent, eternal gratitude radiating from her embrace all the same. I hugged her back just as tightly, unable and unwilling to let her go anytime soon.

She's all I've got left... God, Mom and Dad...

My eyes began leaking again as I buried my head in Cali's neck. "They're gone, Cali... My parents are gone... We were too late... But..." I slowly shifted my focus to her eyes as my words hung thick in the air. "But I've still got YOU! I SWEAR I'll never let you end up like them..."

She was just as upset as I was, despite knowing that her own family was supposedly safe and sound somewhere. "I'm so sorry, Greg... Charles and Pam were good people. They loved you, and they loved me like their own daughter. I was always so grateful for that..."

"I know" I replied through choked tears. "My dad even carried a picture of the two of us in his wallet... They loved us both and wanted us to be together forever..."

Cali gently took my head in her hands and smiled. "And that's why we're going to LIVE, okay? We're going to live through this for THEM, because it's what they'd want us to do." She wiped the tears from my eyes as she spoke and kissed me lightly on the lips. Her perfect green eyes twinkled with sincerity as she pulled her head back from mine. "Okay, Greg?"

I smiled and wiped her own tears away, then pulled her in for another tender hug. It was as if Cali's loving embrace could instantly make any of my problems melt away, and it was exactly what I needed at the moment. The only arms I had to hold me now were hers, but they did their job and they did it well. "Okay, Cali. You're right. Thank you for always being here for me. You know I love you."

"I love you too, Greg" she replied while gently rubbing my back. "I love you so much."

Though he certainly did looked moved by our sudden display of love, the soldier then stepped in and brought us back to reality. "Come on, we've got to get you two to safety before any more undead show up. My team's not done here just yet, but we've got an evacuation helicopter coming in for pedestrians within a few minutes. For the time being, stick with the people down there." He pointed to the group of hazmat personnel and soldiers near my house, but more specifically to the armored cars they came here in. After what Cali and I had been through, waiting in one of those was a godsend.

We stayed in one such vehicle for about an hour, laying back and holding each other close while refusing to watch the violent bloodshed going on outside. There were plenty of gunshots and moans echoing in the background, but we refused to acknowledge them. We only focused on each other, since the events of the day had brought me and my girlfriend closer together than ever before. Not that I took Cali for granted at all previously, because I would never think of her like that. But when suddenly faced with the possibility of losing her, my brain got kicked into overdrive and it made me realize something very important about myself:

My life wasn't over; Cali WAS my life. She was a big part of it before, but now she was ALL that it was going to be about. It was us against the world from then on. And at that moment, in that armored car in the middle of my zombie-infested neighborhood, I promised to cherish her all the more because of it.

~~~

Sure enough, the evacuation helicopter came by some time later just like the soldier promised, and we were quickly ushered inside. The pilot wasted no time taking off, and I could see down below that the soldiers and hazmat personnel were packing up and moving on themselves. I'd never been in a helicopter before and wasn't too comfortable with being able to see EXACTLY how high up we were going, which rendered me VERY uneasy. Thankfully, Cali and the pilot were more than willing to ease my nervousness with heights by keeping me preoccupied with talking.

"So, where exactly are we going?" she asked as we finished ascending to whatever the appropriate altitude for flying was.

The pilot pressed a few buttons on the helicopter's dashboard and checked several of the gages off to the side before answering. "Don't worry; I'm taking you two to someplace safe. There's a shitload of shelters around here, all sponsored by this huge pharmaceutical giant. They're tight with the military, so you've basically got the best doctors and the best shooters all in one place."

"Sounds like a good deal to me" I replied. "What's this company's name?"

The pilot paused for a moment. "Uhhh... Dammit, I can't remember the name... I'd never heard of them 'till this morning, so I guess it didn't sink in. It was some long-winded name, that's all I remember."

"Whatever, it's probably no company I've ever heard of" I said.

The pilot turned his attention back to the empty sky ahead of us. "From what I've heard, you two've got nothing to worry about. You're in good hands."

~Three months later~

Mmmmh... That feels nice...

I mentally sighed with pleasure as Cali roused me from my sleep by gently climbing on top of me and slowly kissing down my neck. No alarm, no penetrating sunlight, and for the first time this week, no distant gunfire had the unholy privilege of waking me up. Today, it was all Cali. And it was perfect. It was passionate, unconditional acts of love like this that made me simply want to run outside the shelter and hug every zombie I saw. It didn't matter that we'd been held up in this hastily assembled, uncomfortable camp for the past three months, or that there were barely enough supplies and food to get all fifty-something of us by. As long as I had my companion to hold me tight, every passing day managed to suck less and less.

And I knew she felt the exact same way as me. I knew, because she said literally the same thing I just did two nights ago night. And the sex that came right after that was spectacular.

But as for the present, I was losing myself further and further in the moment and wanted Cali's soft kisses to never end.

Damn... Awake for three minutes, and I'm already getting high off of her...

Automatically, my hands crept from my sides to underneath her tank top and began rubbing her bare back, taking in a generous share of her body warmth. Cali's pace quickened a little upon realizing I was now awake, and as her head slowly made its way back up to mine, I opened my eyes just in time to lovingly gaze into hers as our lips met in a soft kiss.

"Morning, sunshine."

The sudden sense of déjà-vu her warm welcome brought made me chuckle nervously, but I nevertheless continued to softly stroke her back. "You know, the last time you said that was on the day I almost lost you. I hope you're not trying to jinx things for us, babe."

She smiled wryly. "Hmmm... Not sure if serious or sarcastic..." She was probably thinking I was just joking around and being my usual self, but a considerable part of me actually was being serious. I didn't want to tempt fate in any way, shape or form EVER again after that day.

"Oh, sarcastic, of course. You know me..." I responded with a smirk of my own, choosing to not disturb Cali with the truth. "But you've also just made me realize how much I miss the internet... NOT cool."

"Believe me, so do I. I actually miss gaming WAY more, to tell you the truth. Your roommates were always so easy to beat at Halo 3, even when they were sober... Heh, beaten by a girl at a video game... That's like a double middle finger to the face."

I chuckled again and slowly worked my hands from her back down to her waist, grabbing the bottom of her tank top and slowly inching it upwards. Cali cooed softly in anticipation of what was coming up as she ran her fingers through my hair and pecked at my cheek. Her eyes lit up and encouraged me to quit the teasing.

But that wasn't my style. At least, not at this moment it wasn't. No, I wanted to play this little game out and make the ending all the more special. "Better 'n ME, even. You were a regular freel---"

And then, just as things were about to get interesting, somebody walked into our tent, instantaneously robbing us of our privacy and blinding us with a quick, painful flash of sunlight.

"Come on you two, time to get up! There's lotsa work to do today!"

My heart felt like it had stopped as the realization that Cali's preteen brother Mikey had just walked in on us in a very intimate position. Luckily, he didn't hold the tent's flap open for too long, so the inside was still relatively dark and he probably couldn't see what I was doing to his sister. But regardless, Cali and I were completely frozen in place. Her eyes frantically stared into mine as if asking me what to do, but I had no answer.

Leave leave leave LEAVE!!!

"C'mon, Mom and Dad said---"

"Will you get the HELL outta here, Michael!? We are having a MOMENT!!!" Cali finally yelled. Her words only earned her an eye-roll from her brother, but he still took the message and started to leave.

"Awww please, sis, you two are jus' cuddling! 'Thassa really BORING moment if you ask ME!"

As Mikey exited the tent, we remained frozen in place, with my hands still halfway from removing her top, her fingers still in my hair, and the two of us sharing the biggest mutual what-the-fuck look of all time.

But it also didn't take my girlfriend and me very long to simultaneously burst out laughing.

"You know, it's a good thing you like to take the foreplay slowly, Greg!" Cali said between fits of laughter. "One more minute, and he'd walk in and see your face between my breasts... Imagine explaining THAT to him!"

"Awww, THAT's where that was going?" I moaned with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "But I assume the moment's passed, because I'm pretty sure we both just got the life scared out of us."

"Sadly, yes" she agreed with a smile as she climbed off of me. "But let's just say that we'll both try our hardest to make up for it tonight..."

"That, my lady, is a DEAL."

~~~

It was a miracle that Cali's family had survived the events of Z-Day, but the two of us being lucky enough to be brought to the same survival shelter as them was the real icing on the cake. It didn't take long for Cali's family to meet up with us, and there wasn't a dry eye between anyone when they did.

But of course, when asked about my own family, everything shifted from joyful to gloomy.

Even after three months, the death of my parents wasn't an easy thing for me to get over, despite Cali's best efforts to console me. But her family, instead of serving as a constant reminder of what she had and what I had lost, immediately took me under their wing and made the road to emotional recovery a lot easier. My parents had loved Cali like their own child, but the feeling was mutual between me and Cali's parents; Jon and Cheryl. Hell, the three of us were on a first-name basis after only a few months back when I was dating their daughter. I considered myself lucky back then, but I considered myself even luckier now. I was still part of a family.

Presently, daily life in the shelter boiled down to eating, sleeping, and helping the people in charge with anything they need. It wasn't a free ride; everyone had some weight to pull (sans the children), but motivation was a non-issue when the ultimate reward was our continued survival. There was often hard work, but just hard enough so that you wouldn't feel like a zombie yourself at the end of the day. Of course, the best part was that over the months, the manual labor had done a considerable lot for my body, something that made Cali and I very happy. I had ripped muscles, and she had the ideal boyfriend, now in both mind and body.

It was weird to think about, but for the time being, life in the apocalypse actually wasn't so bad...

But though the day went on like normal for the most part, the evening brought a few visitors. It was during dinner time, with the five of us sitting calmly and discussing the events of the day, when we were approached by the man in charge of the shelter accompanied by two soldiers and a scientist I'd never seen before. He explained that his three guests were from the company that sponsored the shelter, and wanted to talk to Cali and me about an offer. He led the two of us and the scientist, who introduced himself as Gustav, into our tent as everyone else waited outside.

Gustav summed up the nature of his visit to us fairly cleanly; he was looking for help. The company that sponsored our survival camp was actively seeking more and more people to assist their work at their corporate headquarters, wherein they had devised a 'suitable counter-measure against the undead.' He wasn't willing to go into detail, but he highlighted the fact that there was a specific personal profile required for the kind of work he had in mind.

And lo and behold, the only two people out of EVERYONE else here that fit the bill were Cali and me.

"You're kidding, we're the only ones?" I asked him.

"Oh yes" he replied. "You and Miss Greenlaw have the exact physique and skill sets that we require for our continued work. I can't guarantee that it'll be any more glamorous than the kind of work you do here, but I can promise that you two would be partially responsible for permanently ending the zombie infestation."

He removed his glasses and looked us in the eye. "Gregory, Cali, I'm asking you to help us save the world."

...Save the world... Us?

"I... I don't know what to say" Cali said after a moment. "This is heavy..."

"Heavy doesn't even begin to describe it" I countered. "But... I'm not gonna lie, I am kind of intrigued..."

"Me, too... Tell us more, Gustav" Cali replied.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot more TO tell, as the entire operation was highly classified. The only other significant details were that if we accepted the offer, we would be granted privileges to contact the shelter camp whenever we wanted, enabling Cali to at least stay in contact with her family. Regardless, Gustav explained that if everything worked out the way his superiors expected, they would only require our services for about a year. From then, we'd be flown back here and decide where to go with our (hopefully) zombie-free lives. He then exited the tent for a moment to let us think it over, and presumably to give Cali's parents a short version of what he just told us so that everyone would be on the same page. In the meantime, my girlfriend and I sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity as we mentally reviewed Gustav's offer.

I was the first one to break the silence. "Cali, I know this is gonna sound strange, but---"

"You're thinking about doing it, too?" she chimed in. "I actually thought it was only me..."

I sighed deeply, but managed a smile. "I'm glad. I mean, that guy just sat us down and told us that we could help wipe out the zombies once and for all. I WANT to be a part of that, Cali. I want to make sure nobody has to go through what I went through. I think THIS is the right thing for us to do."

She smiled herself. "I know you feel that way. And I do, too. We could either wait out the apocalypse here, or we could go somewhere else and actually make a difference. So let's go MAKE that difference."

We walked out of the tent and immediately ran into Gustav, talking with Cali's parents as I thought he would.

"We're in" I told him. "We're gonna help you guys save the world."

~~~

Saying goodbye, of course, was the hardest part. I wasn't particularly attached to anyone in our camp other than Cali's family, but it seemed that everyone wanted to come up to us and wish us well. Mikey was particularly reluctant to let his big sister go, but was surprisingly just as sad to see me leave as well. It was a mutual feeling, though; I was an only child and often thought of him as the little brother I'd never had. He was annoying, sure, and often never gave Cali and me any privacy to do boyfriend and girlfriend things, but what ten year-old little brother wasn't like that?

"You're the man of the camp now" I told him. "Make sure everyone does their job and no zombies get inside. Get it?"

His sorrow slowly shifted to a determined smile. "Got it!"

"Good!"

And we sealed the deal with a fist-bump.

Immediately after, Jon pulled me aside for a moment while Cali and Cheryl said their goodbyes. He placed his hands on my shoulders and took a hard stare into my eyes. He was a tall man, nearly a foot taller than me, so I could certainly feel the magnitude of the situation all the more. "Greg... My boy... I could go off on a long-winded speech about how important Cali is to me and her mother, or something about how you're going to have to watch her back much more carefully from now on... But I won't. I won't because I know you already know these things. You're a good kid. You're everything I've always wanted my daughter to have in a man and more. Don't forget that."

It was hard keeping my composure after hearing something so heartwarming. "Th-Thank you, sir. But... It's not just Cali whom I love. You guys have been like a second family to me before, but after Z-Day... Well, you guys WERE my family. I'm so grateful for everything you and Cheryl have done for me."

We smiled and shook hands, saying nothing further to each other. Nothing else needed to be said.

After a similar heartfelt goodbye with Cali's mother, Gustav and the soldiers led us to their vehicle parked outside of the shelter, and we drove away into the night. It was a few minutes until we reached a carefully camouflaged helicopter, which was more than big enough for the five of us plus the pilot.

And after the second helicopter ride I'd ever had in my life, albeit it being much longer and by extension WAY more uncomfortable for me, we had arrived at the pharmaceutical company's base at long last. The pilot landed on the roof's helipad, and several workers awaiting our arrival kindly opened the doors and helped us out. I was ready and willing to throw myself on the ground and never let it go after spending such a long time in the air, but realized at the last second that such an action wouldn't look too good in front of the people we'd soon be working with. Also, it would embarrass the hell out of Cali. Lose-lose.

Gustav dismissed the soldiers and led me and Cali to the rooftop's only door, but paused before actually opening it and leading us down to whatever we'd agreed to be a part of.

"Now, I just want to warn you two; once we enter the building, there are things you will see inside that are... different than what you might have been expecting. You will see things that the world doesn't know about, and still wouldn't know about had it not been for the zombie crisis. Things that you'd never thought could possibly exist. Are you two SURE you're ready to enter?"

I nodded towards Cali and took a hold of her hand. "I'm ready if you are."

She smiled and grabbed my own, lacing our fingers together. "I am. Let's go inside."

That was all the confirmation the scientist needed. He walked towards the door and typed something into an adjacent keypad, and a second later the door unlocked and automatically opened for us.

"Well, this is it, kids. Welcome to Optimal Genetic Developments."

~~~

~~

~

Now here's how this works: you, the readers, can ask me a "What-If?" question about the main plot, and I'll pick my favorites and turn them into new LITA: Infinite mini-chapters. This storyline in particular has another part, but not every scenario will be as long.

And even if this doesn't become a thing, I WILL finish this part, at least.

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