Ethan

Ethan, fingers curled around the hilt of his makeshift sword, parried another lunge from the rotting creature. Zombie blood splattered his already mud-spattered jacket. "Damn, what a day," he muttered, grinning. All around him were the ruins of a once-thriving city, and ahead lay only hordes of the living dead. Ethan had always been an optimist, even in this zombie apocalypse.

Suddenly, among the gray mass of walkers, he spotted her. Lily. Her fiery red hair seemed an impossible flame against the backdrop of the general decay. She deftly wielded her bow, firing arrow after arrow into the zombies' heads. Ethan couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Hey, ginger!" he shouted, interrupting the deep growl. "Aren't you tired of shooting? Maybe I'll cover you while you have some tea?"

Lily just gave him a withering look. "How can you even flirt in a situation like this?" she muttered through clenched teeth.

"Well, you know, beauty must have admirers even in hell," Ethan retorted with a wink.

Lily rolled her eyes, but a smile flickered at the corner of her lips. Together, they made their way to safety—an abandoned fortress hidden in dense forest.

At night, by the fire, Ethan told her stories of life before the war, peppering them with cheeky come-ons. Lily laughed, and there was hope in that laughter. They were two sparks in a world of darkness, and perhaps it was from these sparks that a new fire would be rekindled. "You know, Lily," Ethan said, looking into her eyes. "Zombies eat brains. You have nothing to fear." Lily playfully nudged his shoulder.