Epilogue

3 Months Later...

John Mellany pushed open the door to Leslie's hospital room, a bouquet of roses in his hand. Grinning widely, he walked over to her bedside and presented her with the roses with a small bow, lighting up the face of the bedridden woman.

"Awe, you're so sweet," she said hoarsely. Despite the time that had passed, Leslie was far from ok. In fact, the doctors had initially been forced to place her in a medically-induced coma to protect her higher brain functions. However, over time, she'd gotten better, and for the past few days had been completely conscious for the first time since the attack. However, because she was still stuck in bed, John made it a point to stop by as often as possible since she first woke up, every time trying to keep her in good spirits. Today, however, he felt he could take that to the next level.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he told her. Reaching over to her nightstand, he picked up the remote and turned the TV on, displaying the evening news. On the screen, he saw three men, their faces censored, being led under heavy guard into a police van.

"...while we don't as of yet have confirmation of their identities," the anchorwoman was saying, "we have learned that these men are wealthy and influential people, who have apparently used their vast resources to somehow damage national security. As always, CNN will be covering this story right until the end. Stay tuned for..." He switched it off and turned around to find Leslie staring at him, an expression of disbelief on her face.

"How?" she asked.

"I convinced a bunch of people in high places that they'd misplaced their loyalties," he replied slyly. Walking over to her bed, he rested his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "Leslie, it's finally over. The Triad is finished." Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small box that he kept concealed in his hand. "I remember you once told me that we could never be together while the Triad was around, and since they're finally gone..." He opened the box in front of her to reveal a diamond ring. "Leslie Crawford, will you marry me?" Her smile told him all he needed to know.

Three months in Europe wasn't that bad, Greg thought to himself. Actually, it was the best part of this whole adventure. Even so, I'm glad to be home. And that was definitely the truth. These quiet, suburban streets never looked so good.

Yesterday, he'd bid a tearful farewell to his friends and comrades who'd been with him from Groom Lake to the end. After they all promised to keep in touch, they'd boarded separate planes to begin the last leg of their journey: the trip home. Despite his longing for a nice, normal life, he did feel a little regretful that it was all over. The past four months had been, in spite of the constant danger, quite thrilling, and a small part of him enjoyed that. A very, very, very small part.

Turning down onto his street, he looked over at the pale blue house that he'd thought he might never see again. Breaking out into a jog, he quickly reached the front steps. Ringing the doorbell, he wondered what his parents' reactions would be to seeing him again. They'd probably been worried sick since he'd disappeared, and he couldn't really blame them. That, of course, led him to the other big question: what should he tell them? His experiences since his abduction had been so incredible he doubted anyone would believe him. However, he pushed all those thoughts aside when the door swung open, and a middle-aged woman stepped out. A huge grin on his face and tears in his eyes, he said, "Hi, mom." Greg Peterson was home.

The End

A/N: OMFG! Honestly, I can't believe it! I just wrote 'The End'! To tell you the truth, there were times when I never thought I'd ever get to the end of this story. But, here I am, almost one whole year after I started, holding a two-hundred and four page story. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

As for all of you, I can't thank you enough for your support. I know I've said this, like a gazillion times over the past eleven months, but without you guys, I wouldn't have gotten this far. You've really been a huge part of what made Genetic Tampering, and as I finally put this story to rest, I'd like to give you all one last shout out. YOU GUYS ROCK!

However, even though Genetic Tampering is done, doesn't mean that I am. For the past six months I've been plotting out my next story, which I now finally get to start working on. For all that I did well, GT suffered because it was my first novel-length story. I did just as much stuff wrong as I did right, but everything, right and wrong, has taught me a lot about my writing. As such, I expect my next story to be considerably better than this one. That's the plan, anyway.

It's called Apocalyptic Prophesy, and, like the name suggests, it's about the end of the world, and, more importantly, the people who are trying to stop it. The prologue should be up in the supernatural category of this website within the next day or so, and I hope you check it out. It'll be worth your time, trust me.

Well, that's all she wrote, folks. Or, to be more precisely, that's all I wrote. Thank you all again for putting up with me for so long, and I look forward to hearing from all of you in the future.