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“Hey, Five.” She turned around to see Sam smiling, holding his tray from the dinner service. Five budged up on the table to make room for him to sit down.
“Sam! What're you doing here? I thought you were on comms tonight?”
“Yeah, but Janine gave me the evening off. Something about ignoring my mandatory rest periods when certain runners were in the field. You know her.”
“Yeah, I know. I've the day off too, I've been doing two runs a day for the last week so I'm not allowed leave today. Relax and unwind, apparently. I was minding Molly earlier, but Ed's back now.”
“Fancy coming up to the rec roof?” Sam smiled as he said it.
“The roof? Are you mad?” Five just laughed at him. The rec was only one story high, but the roof was about ten foot off the ground.
“I know where there's a ladder. Come on, Five, live a little! At least, live a little when it doesn't involve running away from zoms.” Sam grinned as he spoke, revealing teeth covered in spinach.
“Go brush your teeth and I'll meet you up there.” Five stood up and walked out, grinning. She jogged to the rec, and found the ladder to the roof that Sam had left there for them, and clambered up it to the flat roof of the rec. She pulled off her hoodie and balled it up, using it as a pillow. Lying down, she decided to close her eyes until Sam appeared.
She woke up with Sam pulling her in beside him. The sky had begun to darken, and stars were appearing.
“It's so different to how everything used to be, isn't it?” Sam spoke quietly. Five cuddled into him, feeling his arm around her. They'd never been this close before, usually their flirty banter was confined to runs. She could tell where every part of his body was, from the arm around her back, holding her close, to their legs touching before her smaller ones stopped.
They talked about everything that night – their lives before the apocolypse occurred, their respective journies to Abel. The klaxon went for fifteen minutes to curfew, and Sam sat up at it, and pulled back on his hoodie that had been covering them.
“You ready to head down, Five?”
“Yeah, I guess.” She shouldn't have been disappointed, it was the closest they'd been. But she wanted him to kiss her, to treat her like they were a couple.
They climbed down, and Sam walked with her to her room. Runners got a room to themselves instead of having to share with someone else. Five's room was the approximate size and shape of Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs, but it was hers and hers alone.
“I'll leave you here, then. I should probably run, I'll miss curfew and Janine told me if I did again that she wouldn't take any responsibility if I got myself shot.” He was rambling, doing his adorable nervous tick.
“Night, then.”
“Night, Five.” Sam looked at her for a moment before he turned to run to his dorm building.
“Wait, Sam?” Five waited until he had turned back around to her. “Are you gonna kiss me or not? I mean, I think you know I like you a lot. But I can't wait for you to decide if you're going to get involved with me, I need to know.” It took less than a second after Five stopped talking before he took the two steps to her, and held her close. Their lips met for a second, separated, and then met again. The kiss deepened, and the curfew klaxon sounded. Five opened the door behind her and walked in backwards, refusing to be separated from Sam at all. They reached the single bed before separating.
“Five, I think that's the best damn kiss I've ever had.” Sam said, before going in for another. They ended up spending the night together, kissing and cuddling. Sam snuck out as soon as curfew was over, but their night together was all over Radio Cabel before long.
--
“Hey Five,” Sam kissed the top of her head as she finished her stretches before her run. “Where are you off to today?”
“More spray tests. I'm heading out with Jody. We're going to see if we can manage to get to a jewellery shop on the way back, Ed's asked me to be Molly's godmother. Mine gave me a bracelet when I was born, and I want to try carry on some sort of tradition with her.” Five smiled up at the man who'd become a permanent fixture in the majority of her waking moments.
“Sounds good. I'll see you when you get back, ok?” They kissed for a moment before separating, both blushing. Neither of them were big on public displays of affection, but the moments before a run were different. Both of them had seen what could happen on runs, even routine ones like todays was to be.
The run went off without a hitch, and the two women were on their way to a jewellery shop just outside of the city. Sam opened up a private channel with Jody.
“Jody, I need a favour. Don't respond, this is private. When you get to the jewellery shop, I need you to pick out an engagement ring and two wedding bands. Ask Five what she would have picked before the apocolypse. Get something that won't get in her way when she's running. You do this, I'll sort out the next entertainment run will involve hitting up a yarn boutique I know hasn't been looted yet. For yes, ask Five how much longer will it be. For no, ask Five if it's left or right at the junction ahead. Please.” Sam hated how needy he sounded, but he'd take it if it meant that he could surprise Five like that.
“Five, how much longer until we get there? I didn't think it was this far out!” Jody called to Five. Sam smiled in the shack at it.
“Thanks, Jody.”
“I dunno, Sam?”
“You should be coming up at it now. Turn left at that damn cow statue and it's on the right. No zoms in sight, but there's three about two kilometres away. You've enough time to get in and out quickly. We're not sure if there's a working alarm or not, and if there is the zoms will go for it.”
“Consider us warned, Sam. We'll be in and out in less than a minute.”
The two girls stuck to their word, exiting the shop in forty-seven seconds. Not that Sam had counted, or anything. As they set off from the store, their plundered goods in their bags, the alarm started blaring out.
“Guys, I don't mean to alarm you or anything, but that noise is going to attract all the zoms in a rather large radius any moment now.” Sam spoke into the microphones, trying to hide his worry at the swarm of zombies going to the store not sixty feet from where they were.
“Sam, we'll be fine. We might not talk for a moment, but we'll be here, ok.”
“Stay safe. Both of you.”
Sam stayed staring at his scanners, constantly moving the camera feeds he could see on the screen in front of him. “Guys, go left. There's a group of zoms on your right. Go left, and then a hundred feet down the road there's a zom-free alley that you can duck through. That'll being you across the parallel road, and towards Abel again.”
They followed Sam's instructions to the letter, and half an hour later arrived in Abel, out of breath but without any zombie bites. When Sam saw the two arriving, he slammed on the open gates button before running out of the comms shack to them. Five came straight to him, and held onto him while attempting not to collapse from breathlessness.
“It's ok, you're home. You're home.” Sam smoothed her hair while whispering to her, noticing that Ed was doing the same with Jody. After she caught her breath and was somewhat composed, she looked up an pecked him on the lips.
“Thanks. You know I love you, don't you?” She said, staring up at him.
“I love you too.” Sam stared into Five's eyes, while motioning with his hand to Jody. Jody pushed a ring box into his outstretched fingers.
Five let go of him, and he took that moment to sink, ungracefully, to one knee. “Five...Emily...I know that it's a scary place in the world right now. And I know that every day there's a new danger to encounter, whether it's new zoms or Jack decides to broadcast a list of every public kiss we've ever shared. But I want to know that through it all you'll be there. I love you so much. So, Emily Abigail Jones...will you marry me?”
It was the longest two seconds of Sam's life, before a grin broke out on her face. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!” Sam slid the ring onto her finger, thanking Buddha and Jody simultaneously that the platinum and sapphire ring fit perfectly onto her finger. He stood up and hugged her. Five's mouth got to his ear and asked her favourite question
“Are you gonna kiss me or not?”
The resulting kiss brought a cheer from everyone around them.
--
Janine's face when she discovered their engagement was probably the most surprising thing of all. “Mr. Yao, Miss Jones, what on earth do you mean that you're engaged. I was of the belief that both of you were distinctly against the idea of people rushing into marriages due to the current climate.”
Sam knew that Janine wouldn't approve, but he didn't think that her reaction would be this strong. Before he could respond with anger, Five squeezed his hand and spoke first.
“It's simple, Ms. De Luca. We love each other, and decided not to wait. Every time I go out there, Simon and I have to focus on the fact that we may never see each other again. That we may never have any tangible reminder of our relationship, of how much we love each other. At least this way we have something. It won't have been just a 'fling', or a few months of a relationship. We've been together for eight months, people got married after shorter times before the apocalypse.”
Janine looked at them with distaste, which softened and turned into happiness. “I am happy for you. I'm glad that you've found someone to be with...especially after everything that has happened here. You are both good people, and you deserve each other. I'll support you, even if Amelia won't.” In a very un-Janine-like gesture, she hugged both of them in the middle of the farmhouse sitting room.
Everyone in Abel got behind the idea of two of the most beloved residents getting married, and despite the engagement happening at the end of April, the date was set for June sixteenth. Jody had agreed to help Five make her wedding dress, and knitted a lace veil for her to wear. Jody had also made her own dress, Five had asked her to be her Maid of Honour. Molly was going to be the flowergirl, and Sam had asked Jack to be his Best Man. Jack also arranged for Phil to conduct the ceremony. There wasn't a registrar in either Abel or New Canton, but Phil had worked in a registry office before the outbreak.
Different people offered their talents for different parts of the ceremony. Owen had agreed to bartend, the guys at the Pepe's camp had given a crate of tequila, and the kitchens had agreed to make a cake for them. The most surprising offer of all was from Nadia, who had negotiated with the permanent advisory council in New Canton, and they had all decided that it would be appropriate for Sam and Five to have their honeymoon in New Canton. They would get three days of not having to do anything, except relax and unwind. Nadia had even swung a room for them together.
The morning dawned bright and sunny. Jody, Molly and Five all got ready together. Molly was wearing a purloined blue dress that Runner Fourteen had found in an untouched bridal shop. That same shop was where the majority of Jody's dress had come from, as well as Five's bodice. The three looked perfect.
Just before they went out, Five went to her jewelery box and pulled out a necklace. Jody closed the clasp around her throat, and the small locket rested against her.
“It was Sara's. Before...before she died, she gave it to me. Told me that it was an heirloom, she wanted me to have it. It feels appropriate to wear it, today of all days.” Jody smiled as tears came to her eyes. Both of them missed their friend, and celebratory days hurt more than the sad ones. Molly running up to them quickly made them push the sadness to the back of their mind. Finally Janine arrived, and offered her arm to Five. Not even Sam knew this part of the ceremony, but Five had asked Janine to walk her down the aisle.
The music began, and they strode down the aisle, standing tall. Sam was at the top, wearing a suit. Zoe started crying seeing her in her dress, and even Janine looked teary. Neither Five nor Sam remembered a lot about the ceremony. They managed to get through it all without crying, until the vows.
“Five. I think I started to fall for you the moment I saw you running into Abel. I don't have a lot to offer you. I'm a failed engineering student who now moonlights as a comms operator. But you chose me. I promise that I will always love you, I will always respect you and I will always care for you. You've been there for me during some of the worst moments of my life, and I promise that I'll do the same. No matter what happens with us, I will always be yours. The only thing I can give you is myself, and I give you myself wholeheartedly.” Tears streamed down Sam's face as he finished, and Five kept blinking to try stop her tears.
“I love you, Sam. I know the moment that I fell in love with you, and it's when you guided me home in the middle of the night. You've always stood up for me, whether I was right or wrong. I can't tell you how much I adore you, all I can say is that I'm always going to be there. You've kept me safe and alive at times that I doubt anyone else could have. You've saved my life. You've saved me. I have nothing else to offer you apart from love and care that I promise I will always have for you. You are the sun to my moon, the sky to my clouds, the Simon to my Kaylee. I promise to love you, to care for you and to respect you.” Five's voice kept cracking, but she managed to keep going through her vows.
“Do you, Samuel Yao, take Emily Jones to be your wedded wife, to love and to hold, for as long as you both may live?”
“I do.”
“Do you, Emily Jones, take Samuel Yao to be your wedded husband, to love and to hold, for as long as you both may live?”
“I do.”
“By the power vested in me by myself, I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Sam raised Five's veil, looking down at her tear-filled eyes. “Well, Mrs. Yao...are you gonna kiss me or not?”
There was a resounding clap when Five answered that question.