V.I.R.A.L

Zinnia was once again ready to face her demons. This time she wore her streaming outfit, a red leather trench coat but with no mask this time. Cupping her gloves tightly, she saw the bunker's door slowly crank open. She closed her eyes, building up her confidence. The bunker burst open as a strong gust of wind blew out. Everyone was moved back as a howl of the blizzard carried on. The built-up confidence dwindled as she turned to Gale, looking scared. He gave her a nod and a thumbs up. Knowing there was nowhere else to go, Zinnia pushed forward. Walking down the flight of stairs, she slipped as the steps were frozen solid. Crashing down the last number, she hit the ground with a thud. She cried out in pain, rolling over, finding herself in pitch white. It was so blinding she couldn't see. But she quickly noticed the door once closed was ripped open. She didn't move. The fear was beginning to take fold. She knew all too well what this trial was going to be. She had to face the thing she feared the most. Ask Zinnia six months ago what she feared she wouldn't know what to say. She'd laugh off saying something silly like heights or spiders knowing it was just a throwaway answer. Ask her again today, and she would say a throwaway reply, too afraid to admit the hard truth.

With a drunk false sense of courage, Zinnia pushed on stepping once again into the endless winter ready to face her fears. She wasn't in Rhinefield this time. The much smaller neighbourhood told her that much. There were no tall buildings in sight. The tallest is a high school not too far off in the distance. But the picture was no different than last time. The small town was eaten up by the storm. Any sign of life or happiness was forever gone. Thanks to her choice of clothing Zinnia wasn't nearly as cold like last time, and with no weights holding her down, she was able to plough through the snow with ease. Holding herself tightly to keep warm, she came across a broken sign fallen off the building. The sign spelt out where the trial had taken her. Sunset Peak. Zinnia let out a faint gasp, she knew of this place. Only through hearings, the town that got frozen over by the second ice age they call it. A sudden never-ending blizzard took the town overnight. No one survived apart from a small handful of survivors. V.I.R.A.L responded fast with building a wall so tall it stopped the new ice age hitting the rest of Victoria. That wasn't the reason she knew of this place. She knew of the town because it was the same town Alton grew up in.

From one house, in particular, was a small flicker of life—a faint light. Zinnia didn't feel relief by this. Just undying dread. She knew what was to come. Ripping her legs through the snow, she lifted them as high as possible, making little progress towards the torn down house. Eventually, she arrived at the front door, or where the front door should have been. The light was much clearer coming from the place. She stepped inside, compared to the world outside the house was in better condition apart from the stairs to the upstairs portion had collapsed. Pictures still rested on the shelves and walls, and the paint hadn't dried out too much. Glancing over the pictures Zinnia's suspicions were confirmed. The photos showed a much younger Alton, one with long hair and for once a smile on his face. The first photo was of him and his mother at the park. The second was of his tenth birthday. The third was him at school with a girl with short red hair, over the months of research Zinnia knew this girl to be Alton's former friend Sam Belling. This was the childhood home of Alton Brantley.

Leaving the photos where they were Zinnia walked into the front room. The roof had caved in, and small echoes of snow drizzled in. In front of her was a large chunk of ice sparkling with the light from the sun. Alton was inside the crystal his appearance matching that of his Garden form. Zinnia approached the crystal staring intensely at it. Her heart racing. She placed her hand on the ice as a small crack was seen wedged deep in. Followed by another. Soon enough, Alton's eyes flew open, his yellow gaze meeting Zinnia's. She stumbled back falling to the ground as the ice shattered and Alton fell to his knees, staring down. Moving his fingers, this was followed by his neck as he readjusted to his freedom. The blizzard absurdly stopped leaving nothing but uneasy silence. Zinnia was still on the floor as Alton made eye contact with her. He showed no emotion. No sign of joy to be reunited with his ally; his look was as cold as ice around him. He didn't say a word as a large icicle ripped from the ground underneath Zinnia. She rolled back just able to avoid her doom.

Alton stood up, letting his hair flow. "Zinnia Trost. This is your fault."

"What?" Was all she could muster out trembling in fear.

Alton gripped his head moaning in pain as he began swaying around, crashing into the walls and frozen furniture whimpering to himself. "No, no, no. I cannot accept this. I cannot! I needed. I needed. I needed you!" The blizzard blasted on again sending Zinnia back crashing against the wall behind her. Alton gripped his hand forward, making sure Zinnia couldn't escape. "You abandoned me! I needed you, and you turned your back on me!"

Zinnia saw the guilt and pure defeat in Alton's eyes; it brought her to tears as she shook her head. "No, I wouldn't. I would never abandon my friend!"

"Liar!" He screeched, blowing the entire house apart. Zinnia was sent flying out crashing into the snow outside which luckily saved her fall. Alton stepped out, freezing the ground around him with each step. Zinnia lay back dazed as Alton raised his hand as dozens of icicles appeared. "You're nothing more than a traitor!"

Zinnia pulled herself from the ground running from the onslaught. Managing to dodge most attacks one stray icicle slashed her leg as she collapsed once again face-first into the snow. She began shivering in utmost fear. Alton towered over her his face void of anything as she curled up, pulling herself away, terrified. "Stay, stay away from me! You're. You're nothing more than a monster!"

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"So, that's how you see me?" He whispered, raising his hand shards of ice breaking from his eyes. "The only monster I see is you Zinnia!"

Slamming the ground Zinnia was spared. She was unsure why but she wouldn't sit around wondering why. Crawling through the snow, she heard Alton's cries of desperation become more distant. Zinnia took one last hand into the snow retracting finding the snow burnt to a crisp. This caught her off guard. Before she could react, she was kicked in the stomach rolling her over onto her back as she gagged struggling to breathe. Alton picked Zinnia up by her neck as he held her up. She began choking, unable to breathe as she felt her entire body freeze up. "Stop. Please, stop!"

"Begging me to stop? You don't get to beg! They are all dead! Everyone because of you! I begged for mercy! Begged for someone to save us yet you didn't come! So, I took events into my own hands!" Alton roared. "They took everything from me. Everything. I threw away the last semblance of me to save what little was left. I needed you by my side."

Zinnia was thrown to the floor as Alton began concentrating the blizzard into a small point in his hand ready to finish Zinnia off. "We love what we fear. Now die."

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Looking up Zinnia bit her lip clearing her mind as she was ready. "And we fear what we love…" The blizzard blasted towards her as Zinnia found herself moving without even realising. The ground behind her burnt to a crisp as her whole body jolted into bolts of lightning, making her transparent in a bright purple ray of brilliance. Roaring past Alton a thundering clash struck as Zinnia reappeared purple lighting trickling around her whole body. She didn't give time to question where this surge of power came from as she threw a punch directly impacting against Alton's face. "I refuse to fear you any longer!"

Alton didn't budge. His face knocked to the side as the bolt of lightning left a graze on his cheek. Zinnia was on her knee panting as Alton turned to her with a bold look on his face. "Acceptance."

Everything went dark as the world faded. Zinnia stood up in the darkness, confused. She looked around to find Alton nowhere to be found. Nor was the exit in sight. She was unsure if this meant she had passed the trial or not. That was until a voice echoed throughout the black void. The voice belonged to Florence. "These trials are over. Hear my warning Montagues. Your time has come. I will wipe your very existence off the face of V.I.R.A.L. These are your final moments as right now I declare war against each and every one of you. My only conditions are your annihilation."

Zinnia looked up in confusion. There will still no sign of escape. She began yelling out. "Emil! Gale! Anyone! What's going on?! Hello! Somebody, please! Let me out of here!"

Meanwhile, outside the trial, everyone had collapsed defeated by Florence's ambush. The doors to the trial left forever shut, leaving Zinnia trapped. Florence stood on top of Emil, staring at the bunker with a proud look. Rubbing her foot in deeper, she began to giggle. "The age of the Montagues is finished."