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enderpearlgirl1005 · 5 months

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Years of The Dead

Chapter 4 Emotional Reunion

Ella couldn't believe her eyes, standing right there in front of her was her old friend who she hadn't seen in years. Stanley had the same shocked look on his face when he laid his eyes on Ella. Ella started remembering the first time she and Stanley had met each other.

It was several years ago, two weeks after her brother committed suicide. Ella was sitting on a bench on campus with her head in her knees crying. She still couldn't believe her beloved older brother was gone, just like her parents. Now she was all alone as her other relatives lived out of state and she couldn't afford to see them. She could only feel sadness and couldn't see herself ever being happy again, and started wondering if she could go on like this.

However she then felt someone sitting next to her, she sat her head up and saw a fit and good looking guy sitting next to her.

"Hey, I'm Stanley, we're in the same class. I couldn't help but notice that you've been pretty bummed out ever since you've come back from that two weeks vacation you took." Stanley stated.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Ella said.

"Hmm... hey it's a lovely day isn't it?" Stanley asked.

"I guess it is." Ella dismissively depression coating her voice.

"Hehe, hey look up, that cloud looks like a but!" Stanley pointed out while laughing.

Ella looked confused by what Stanley had said, but she didn't see any cloud of the sort. She then felt a hand patting her head and Stanley saying "Ha! Made you look!"

When she heard that Ella couldn't help but smile a little as her brother had used to play that trick on her.

"Hehe, that's kinda funny." Ella said.

"I hope so, I wanna try and help you feel a bit better as I hate seeing others sad." Stanley explained while smiling.

"Um, thanks Stan." Ella said. Stanley smiled and Ella looked at him and she saw in his eyes that he truly wanted her to feel better. When she looked in his eyes she felt herself becoming stronger and her desire to continue on with her life the way she wanted.

After that day Ella and Stanley started becoming closer and closer to one another. Soon they had become the best of friends and gained more friends over the years in college. He even got her into some good muscle building sports such as boxing, rugby, and jodo.

Unfortunately all those good years did not last for long because after they all graduated from college and got jobs things for one of them turned for the worse. Ella had joined a wonderful company where she only had to do all nighters when the busy season hit and the company had gotten a large investment.

However things weren't so good for Stanley as the company he joined sounded good at first, but it was a living hell. Ella learned through the grapevine that the company was exploitative of their employees. Stanley had to work for god knows how many hours a week, he barely went back to his apartment, hardly got paid, and worst of all his bosses would berate and yell at him all the time.

The last time Ella saw him, he was hardly even a shell of the person he was when they first met. She remembered their last conversation where she'd try convincing him to quit and go work somewhere else.

"Stanley please I'm telling you, you gotta quit! Come on, I can talk to my boss's and once they see how good you are I know they'll hear you! Please I don't work as much as you and I'm well, so this is why I want you to quit! I want the Stanley I became friends with to come back!" Ella exclaimed as she looked at a tiered and beyond worn out Stanley.

However Stan just got angry and yelled "Ella! You don't understand! I've work so hard on this job! I can't quit now! If I do, my boss will mock me and the others will take over the workload I left behind! I can't do that to them! Another thing! STOP BRAGGING HOW GOOD YOUR LIFE IS! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING YOU BRAG ALL YOU WANT ABOUT THIS SHIT!"

After that night Ella and Stanley havent spoken since, as he didn't have the time to and she didn't want to as long as he was working there. She was deeply hurt by his words that day, and hated that company for what they had done to her friend and wanted to burn it to the ground. However she didn't have the power to do so and she prayed everyday since then that the next time she and Stanley meet he'd be in a better place.

Back in the present Ella and Stanley were standing there in the halls of what was left of a once beautiful hotel. Ella couldn't believe that Stan was alive after years of the apocalypse and that hell's job he had.

"Stan-'' Ella was about to start speaking when Stanley wiped his head down and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'M SO SORRY ELLA! *sob* YOU WERE RIGHT! I SHOULD'VE JUST QUIT THAT WORTHLESS COMPANY! B-but, instead I got jealous of you." Stanley spoke the last bit in a more quiet and sorrowful tone.

"Wha-? You were jealous of me?" Ella asked confused, she was also slightly taken aback by his words.

"Yes! You always layed out your benefits for the company you worked for. And I heard through the grapevine that your company was like heaven compared to mine! So I got jealous that you scored what would be the lottery in the workforce compared to what I got! I was so upset over it that I lashed out at you due to everything, but after that day I was so ashamed of myself. You were my best friend and I possibly ruined everything we had, just because of my stupid jealousy. I stopped communicating with you cause I was afraid that if I tried you would yell at me. I was scared that you'd tell me you didn't want to talk or hear from me ever again. So I stopped communicating with you because of that, but I'm so sorry! Words and actions can never express how truly remorseful and regretful I am about everything!" Stanley cried out as he spilled out everything he had wanted to say.

"Oh Stan... I never wanted to stop being your friend, you were there for me when I needed it. You helped me cheer up whenever I was missing my parents and brother. You even helped me keep my spirits up and not go down a self destructive path that my family would never have wanted for me. So I could've never hated you for anything in the world. I was mostly upset for what that company had done to you, and at myself for not being able to help you soon enough." Ella explained, feeling regret of how she was unable to save her friend sooner.

"Hehe, well now thanks to the apocalypse, I'm finally free! And I've never been happier in my entire life! You might think I'm crazy for saying that, but... I'm so happy the apocalypse started! It's thanks to this insane pandemic I was able to free myself from my toxic work environment and do the things I wanted to do for so long. However there was still one thing I wanted to do, and I wasn't going to let myself die till I did it." Stanley explained.

"Huh? What's that Stan? Whatever it is I'll help you, as I want to make it up to you." Ella explained.

"Well I can do it now with you Ella." Stanley said.

Ella looked up at him confused by what he meant, and she became even more confused when Stan took her hands and held them in his own.

"Ella we've been friends for a long time, and I know that we've drifted apart because of our carries, but I didn't want to die before apologizing and confessing something to you." Stanley explained, his words full of passon.

Ella blushed a bit as Stanley got down on one knee while still holding her hands so tender and lovingly. "Ella, you're so strong, so brave, and so head on. You've never let anyone take advantage of you, you always let everyone know how you are feeling. And most of all, you're so brave, strong, and beautiful. So since two years after we became friends, I... I... I fell deeply in love with you!" Stanley confessed with all his heart.

When Ella heard Stan confess his feelings for her, she felt her heart do summer salts. She couldn't believe that her college friend had feelings for her after two years of them being friends.

"S-Stan I-" Ella was about to say but stopped when the pair heard groaning coming from behind them. They looked and were horrified to see some evolved infected running at them.

"Oh Shit! Let's talk later!" Ella exclaimed in a panic.

"Yeah! Let's head somewhere safe!" Stanley exclaimed.

The two panicked and ran for it, the evolved infected chased after them and ran as fast as they could. They soon ended up on the roof and saw that there wasn't another way off.

"Oh crud! What do we do?!" Stanley asked in a panic.

Ella looked around the area for a way off the roof. She then spotted another building nearby that they could jump to. Was across from the street so it was a little distance away but they could try to jump, it would lead to a few injuries but nothing serious.

"Hey Stan! That building over there you see it?" Ella asked as she pointed to the building.

Stanley looked and saw what Ella was talking about, however he was confused on why she was pointing it out.

"Um, yeah I see it, but why? We kinda got an issue on our hands!" Stanley pointed out as he heard the evolved getting closer.

"Well it's in jumping distance, so let's take a leap of faith together and go!" Ella blurted out as clearly and as quickly as she could.

"What?! Are you sure we can make it?!" Stanley questioned in a panic.

"Yes! We can make it if we do it together! Come on Stan!" Ella called out as she offered her hand to him.

"Are you sure?! It's been a long time since I've done this so I'm not sure if I can even make it with you! I might just slow you down." Stanley explained as he looked down to his feet.

"NO you won't! Listen for five years we haven't talked and for five damn years, I wanted to see you again! Now we're finally here and I want to see if the old Stan I knew back then is the same one here! You also told me you had a crush on me right?" Ella asked quickly.

Stanley froze for a moment, the world around the two of them seemed to have slowed down to just a snail's pace, as Stanley looked up at Ella. Her now purple eyes shimmered in the light as her long raven hair flowed as the wind blew through it.

"Come on Stan! I've been alone for three years! The only survivors I met had gone insane and none of them were my friends! I thought you had died too, but now you're here with me again! And now I know that you've fallen in love with me two years after we met! So I'm going to either die with you, or live with you! As, I'M NEVER SPENDING THE REST OF MY LIFE ALONE DURING THIS APOCALYPSE!" Ella declared with her eyes sparkling.

When Stanley heard that he felt a light shine inside his heart, and he let his face show the biggest smile Ella hasn't seen in a long time.

"Alright! Let's take a leap of faith then! I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life alone either! I'm finally with you again, and I'm not gonna waste whatever time we have left to just throw this away! I made a huge mistake five years ago, and I'm never gonna make it again!" Stanley declared as he took Ella's hand.

Just at that moment the evolved reached the top floor, and the two decided to finally take a real leap of faith, and a metaphorical one, as they begin to restore their friendship. The evolved ran up to them and tried to grab at whatever they could, but the two rekindled friends where faster and jumped.

Ella and Stanley held onto on another hands as they flew across the sky and to the next building. Ella was able to land on it perfectly, but Stanley mis-calculated a bit and almost fell off the edge. Thankfully Ella was able to grab onto him and pull him up before he did, as she was determined to not lose her friend (and hopefully lover) again as she did five years ago.

After pulling him up Stanley embraced Ella, in a tight warm hug like never before. Ella was taken aback by this for a moment, but it soon subsided and she started crying a little as she hugged him back.

"I'm so happy you're alive, and I hope that you're back to the real you." Ella said as she started to tear up a bit.

"I am the real me E, and I'm gonna show it to you. I promise you I will never make the same dump mistake I made all those years ago." Stanley let Ella go a bit, but his hands remained on her shoulders. "From now on, I'm staying by your side, and even if you won't return my feelings, then I'll just be happy to have you as my friend again." Stanley vowed with all his heart.

Ella smiled warmly, and held onto Stanley's hands as she looked him in the eye.

"Let's reconnect then, and slowly start to see if I do feel the same about you Stan." Ella proclaimed.

Stanley smiled when the words reached his ears, and his eyes once again became watery as he once again hugged Ella, who gratefully returned it. The two reunited friends stood at the top of the building, with the evolved on the other one groaning loudly and trying to reach them. Ella felt, if they were still human they'd be giving the two a round of applause. Even while the sun began to set, it shimmered on the two, as if congratulating them on their beautiful and emotional reunion.

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