## Story 1 ![15-1.png](/uploads/15_1_e813b710ac.png) Weary of fighting, a husband wanders a blighted landscape with his wife at his side.
They had been taken prisoner and forced to battle the Flowers again.
And again. And again. After endless days of blood and pain,
the pair began to harbor doubts about their mission.
Now, they continue a new journey with slow, heavy steps.

One day, they come across another group of deserting soldiers.
They inform the couple they are headed for a land called Paradise.
They claim Paradise is a place where Flowers never take root.
A place where people will never treat them like criminals, beasts,
or worse. A utopia where an idealized life is guaranteed for all.
The couple ruminates on this.
What if they're right? What if such a place actually exists?

After a moment, they decide to join the group. Perhaps they're wrong,
and this so-called Paradise is nothing but a fleeting dream.
Even if it is, it would still be better than all of this aimless wandering.
The couple clutches their weapons tight and set off with their newfound allies.
This time, their steps are not plodding, but joyous.
For they are the first steps on a road to newfound peace. ## Story 2 ![15-2.png](/uploads/15_2_e3b0ebf095.png) The couple—now joined with a band of deserting soldiers—continues along
the difficult path to Paradise. Along with their newfound allies, they again take up
arms against the menace of the Flowers. Today,
they intend to collapse a building and take out the entire bouquet in a single strike.

The husband came up with the idea. And as its owner,
he volunteers to risk his life by drawing the Flowers' attention.
While they are distracted, the rest of the group uses the opportunity to
bring down the building. The Flowers are caught unaware and crushed.
The group is filled with almost impossible joy. They praise the husband's cleverness.
They applaud his bravery.
Their raucous cheers are filled with something very new and strange: hope.

After countless battles, a powerful solidarity forms between the husband and
his new companions. The idea of reaching Paradise actually seems possible when
he is with them. But his wife has been injured in a recent fight, and he is forced to
support her as they walk. Neither of them know when the Flowers will next appear,
and this concerns them greatly. "If only we knew," says the husband.
"If only we could finally put an end to these days of fear."
But even without that knowledge, he continues to press on in the hopes he might finally
know a peaceful, happy life with the woman he loves. ## Story 3 ![15-3.png](/uploads/15_3_fa07c096ad.png) The couple continue the search for Paradise with the rest of the deserters.
One day, they come across a shelter that fits the description. With wary smiles,
they approach the shelter doors. But when they draw close, a siren begins to blare.

It is quickly joined by a clipped voice over an intercom that
utters six heartbreaking words: "This shelter can accept only two."

Time passes. This agonizing moment lasts for what seems an eternity.
Finally, a member of the group snaps and plunges his dagger into the heart of
a companion. He begins to babble and scream as blood spurts across his face.
"Me! I am chosen! I will be first to enter Paradise!"

At his words, the group turns on each other and a merciless slaughter begins.
Voices filled with bloodlust. Voices filled with pain. The alarm continues to rage,
adding its throaty roar to the symphony of anguish and despair.
The husband and wife take weapons in hand and assume battle positions.
It is all so they might live together. It is all so they might survive. ## Story 4 ![15-4.png](/uploads/15_4_37f88a6e7b.png) All the couple wanted was freedom.
Yet what they found at the end of their long journey was an inescapable
hell where friend turned on friend. They are the only survivors.
The husband sought to shield his wife during the fray,
and now bleeds steadily from countless wounds.
His wife helps him to his feet, and together they limp toward the sealed shelter doors.
Only to hear the same terrible words: "This shelter can accept only two."

Suddenly, the husband understands everything. He smiles at his bewildered wife.
"Go on. Live a happy life. Both of you."

Rather than regret, his voice is filled with the stirrings of hope. In one swift movement,
he picks up his sword and drives it through his own heart. His wife can do nothing but
watch as he expires with a smile. Though her heart screams with sadness and loss,
she will not allow that to overwhelm her husband's final, desperate hope.

She turns to face the doors of Paradise. The alarm is silent. In that silence,
her husband's last words replay in her mind. They will not permit her to give in.
Slowly, so slowly, the door opens. She steps inside.
Without thinking, she tenderly runs one hand over her stomach.

It was all so they might live in peace. All for the life inside her—the one she and
her husband would have done absolutely anything to protect.
And now they will continue on. Together.

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