Work Text:
The year was 3145, children and parents were messing around and having fun and two students just happened to be walking at the park that day when a huge siren blared. “Warning! Warning! Seek immediate shelter! The bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living!”
“Huh?!” Tyler grumbles in confusion. “Who do they think they're kidding? Tch….Is the government pulling this kind of stunt to test us or somethin’?” He scoffs, his tone full of dismay.
Tyler Hernandez, a 21 year old Junior in College. He’s notoriously famous for being a cold and indifferent person who usually skips his lectures. He’s very athletic. Although he may be characterized as a ‘bad boy’ that doesn’t care about anything, he has very good grades, which is probably the only reason he hasn’t actually dropped out of College yet despite all his threats of doing so.
“Heh, I find that this would be a quite thrilling situation! I mean, imagine all the opportunities we might have from this!” Aiden squeals in excitement as he rests his arms behind his head. “And what benefits would those be?!” Tyler retorts irritably.
Aiden Clark, a 20 year old Sophomore in College. He’s a year younger than Tyler and is one of his closest friends. He is what you would call ‘an adrenaline junkie’ who has a huge social circle. He is what you could call the ‘complete opposite’ of Tyler. He’s also very athletic.
The two College students were about to just walk off and count this as another one of the governments ‘tricks’ when they heard a loud shrill coming from the other end of the park.“What the hell?!” Tyler shouts in confusion as he turns around abruptly to discover the source of the sound. It seemed to have made him jump in surprise so he was even more curious to find out the reason for such a loud noise.
“Aw~” Aiden coos as he leans closer to Tyler. “Is someone scared~” He teases. “Tch” Tyler scoffs. “No-” Their conversation was interrupted when a huge wave of people started heading their way. Mothers, children, Fathers, were all running with pure horror portrayed on all their faces. Aiden and Tyler stood frozen there, confused as to why everyone is running in their direction, actually, Why were they running at all?! “Umm….What’s..Happening?” Tyler asked in confusion as they both stared at all the people heading their way. “I don’t know, but I have the feeling that we should run.” Aiden responded, already backing away and turning his body to prepare for a sprint. “Yeah- Yeah, we should probably do that.” Tyler responded as the two boys broke out into a sprint and ran as fast as they could away from the crowd.
As they kept running, screams kept erupting from all over the place, mostly behind them which made them think that if they stopped running, they would be next. Every corner they took, every minute they ran, there were always screams. They never saw what was making everyone scream but they could hear that it was doing some pretty nasty stuff to make them scream as loud and desperately like that. They kept on running and running without looking back in fear that something bad might happen if they do. “HAHAHA!” Aiden laughs hysterically. “This is such a thrill!” He said excitedly. “Calm down you maniac!” Tyler yelled. “Why are we even still running?!” Aiden yelled. Tyler slows down and comes to a complete stop with Aiden stopping just after him. “That’s a good question.” Tyler answered, his tone laced with curiosity. “What are we even trying to run from, exactly?” Aiden asked. “I..Don’t know..” Tyler said hesitantly. “And- I don’t think we want to know.” Tyler added.
“Well, do we have any ideas-” Just when Aiden was about to finish his sentence a loud groan could be heard just a few feet away from them. “What was that?” Tyler asked, his voice higher than he meaned to.
I grotesque blueish-purple arm appeared from around the corner followed by a disfigured, bloodied mess of what seems to be a person’s body.
Aiden laughs concerningly. “T-” He inhales softly but quickly. “That does NOT look like a human.” He states, his voice unmistakably scared and trembling. “No kidding, dude..” Tyler laughs awkwardly. “W-we should probably, you know, get out of here.” Tyler says, his gaze never leaving the ‘human’ that’s slowly making its way towards them. “Yeah, let’s go!” Aiden agrees, turning around and sprinting. Not long after, Tyler joins him in running away from the zombie.
The zombie joins them in the chase, its arms flailing around as if it were a puppet on strings. A loud groan escaped the zombie’s throat, making both Tyler and Aiden groan at the piercing noise, as its speed accelerates, closing the distance between it and the two boys.
It seemed that the groan that had emitted from the zombie not too long ago, alerted others that soon joined in on the chase.
Aiden turns his head to look at what the increase in volume from the zombie was and his eyes widened seeing all the other zombies that joined in. “Ahm– Tyler?!” Aiden yells, his voice shaking. “It seems that we finally got our Harem! Just– not in the way we expected!!” His voice cracking as he added on to his sentence, his voice getting higher at the end.
“The frick is that suppos–” Tyler turns to look behind him and freezes. “Nevermind! Just shut up and run faster!” He yells to Aiden, increasing his speed. “Why didn’t we just run as fast as this before!?” Aiden yells, picking up his speed as they finally managed to outbeat the zombies.
Tyler and Aiden ran into a seemingly abandoned house and locked the door behind them. Aiden slides down the door, his legs going limp beneath him as he laughs nervously, coming down from his high. “That was crazy.” Aiden says, his voice wavering with a small chuckle bubbling up his throat. “Normally I like the adrenaline, but…This time i’m just glad I had some to get me out of that situation.” He laughs again. Aiden’s hand flies up and tangles into his hair as he brings his knees close to his chest and wraps his free hand around his knees, locking him in place.
Tyler walks into another room which seems to be the Kitchen. He looks through the cabinets for any snacks for them so they could get something in their system and relax for the time being. If they were gonna survive with all of those ‘monsters’ out there, they were gonna do it the right way. He found a couple of protein bars and gave one to Aiden, which he gladly accepted and ate happily.
“So, what are we supposed to do now?” Aiden asked, putting down his food.
Tyler sighs softly, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m still not sure of what to do, you know? This all happened so suddenly and I’m still trying to figure out how this all started.” He explains. “The most we can do right now is stay hidden since we don’t exactly have any manpower to fight off these creatures.” He adds.
“What are we gonna do when we run out of food?” Aiden asks, concern flashing across his features, his bar now completely forgotten on the ground.
“I guess we’re just gonna have to find out when that happens.” Tyler shrugs.
They were both anxious and it showed. Neither wanted to actually admit it. They just wanted to stay safe and be with each other.
Tyler pulls out his phone and turns it on. No signal. He grits his teeth with soft grunt. He was obviously frustrated.
What? They just close down the area and not try to come rescue any survivors? The least they could do is try to eliminate these creatures! He thought, gripping his phone tighter as his shoulders tense up.
His thoughts were interrupted when they heard a large hoard of zombies headed their way along with the large amount of groans accompanying it from outside the door. They heard someone screaming for help running their way.
Aiden gets up and backs away from the door as they hear the screaming getting closer and someone desperately knocking at the door.
“Help! Please help me! I don’t want to die!” They could hear the desperation and fear in their voice as they screamed out for help.
Aiden moves towards the door, reaching for the handle.
“Wait-” Tyler's hand flies up and grabs Aiden’s wrist. “What if they’re infected.”
Aiden pulls his hand away from Tyler’s grip. “It doesn’t matter! They’re human right now…and..I don’t wanna let someone die because of something we thought!” Aiden opens the door and pulls the person inside, shutting the door immediately and locking it almost as fast.
“Thank you!” The person cries out, falling onto the floor and crying. Aiden leans down and looks them up and down checking for wounds, or more specifically, zombie bites.
From what he could see, there wasn’t anything they should be worried about. No zombie bites. Aiden lets out a sigh of relief before looking up at Tyler, only to see a look of disdain and anger mixed with a little something he couldn’t quite recognize.
“Calm down, Ty.” He says, standing back up and walking closer to Tyler. “They’re safe. No marks or anything.” He adds, his eyes focusing on Tyler's expression to see if his words changed it at all.
Tyler seemed to have calmed down a bit but it didn’t last long. The zombies were heard outside pounding on the door as it began breaking against their strength.
Tyler grabbed Aiden’s hand and yanked him away from the door and brought him to the stairs. The person on the ground didn’t seem to hear the zombies over their intense sobbing.
The zombies broke through the door and Aiden tried to reach for the stranger but was pulled back by Tyler and forced up the stairs and away from all the danger.
The two boys could hear the persons screams and could do nothing about it as they needed to get themselves out of harms way.
Aiden looked wide eyed down the stairs. That didn't last long as a zombie saw him and the rest followed as they all walked up the stairs and towards him. Tyler, once again, dragged Aiden into another room and shut the door behind them.
“Why didn’t you let me help them?!” Aiden yelled.
“Because if you did, you would’ve died as well!” Tyler answered aggressively. “I don’t know if our families are alive anymore…” Tyler looks down at the ground feeling too ashamed to look into Aiden’s eyes. “And, if that’s true…I don’t want to lose you..” He added. “You’re all I have left…” He said, finally looking up at Aiden, meeting his eyes.
“Ty…I-” Aiden was interrupted by a loud pounding against the door from the zombies. “Darn it!” Tyler yelled, running to the door and pushing his weight against it to make sure the door didn’t open.
Aiden looked around the small bedroom they were trapped in for another way out. He spotted a decently sized window and immediately went to open it. He stuck his head out, looking for a safe place to land.
“Tyler! There’s a nice spot to land out this window!” He yelled, looking back at Tyler only to find that he was already running out of strength to hold the door. Aiden ran to help hold the door down with him. “What are you doing, idiot!” Tyler yelled at Aiden. “You said that you couldn’t lose me! Well, if it’s true that our families are dead…I can’t lose you either…” Aiden added solemnly.
Tyler looks to the ground as if he could find a fault in Aiden’s words if he looked hard enough.
“Fine. On the count of three, we both make a run for the window.” Tyler said, looking in Aiden’s eyes for any hint of rejection. Aiden nodded. “Okay, 3…2….1!” They both ran to the window and jumped out, landing in a dumpster.
They didn’t have time to recuperate as more zombies came piling into the area they were in. They quickly got out of the dumpster and started running in the opposite direction of the zombies.
“Where are we gonna go?!” Aiden asked, his breathing getting heavy from the running. “I don’t know.” Tyler responds. “We’re just gonna have to keep running until we can find another safe place to hide.” He added, trying to run faster to make more distance between himself and the zombies.
They kept running for the next few minutes and eventually they got to a house that looked relatively safe. They quickly entered the house and locked the door behind them. They didn’t hear any groaning behind the door which relieved them.
Aiden lets out a soft sigh, “I can’t believe that we ran for so long…” Aiden said softly, still trying to catch his breath. “Yeah..Let’s get some rest for now.” Tyler said, his breathing just as heavy as Aiden’s.
They both strode away from the door and looked into each room of the house for a bedroom to lay down in. They finally found a bedroom with a bed and they both collapsed down onto the bed, the whole day catching up to them. “Goodnight, Tyler…” Aiden said drowsily. He was coming down from his adrenaline rush. “G’night..” Tyler replied. He was just as tired as Aiden. They both ended up falling asleep pretty quickly.
A loud clattering sound abruptly woke the two boys up.
“What was that?” Aiden asked. He was still groggy but woke up pretty quickly after finally processing the situation. “Stay here-” Tyler says before Aiden interrupts him. “No, we’ll both go check out the noise.” Aiden said firmly, leaving no room for argument. “Fine.” Tyler agreed, getting up from the bed and walking towards the door, unlocking it. Aiden hurriedly got up from the bed and followed Tyler to the door.
They both slowly opened the door, peaking their heads out. Aiden, being the curious person he is, steps out of the door, warranting a disappointed grunt from Tyler.
More crashing could be heard from down the hall as Aiden inched closer with and anxious Tyler following closely behind him. A low groan was heard coming from the kitchen, which made the two tense up. Suddenly, a low groan was heard behind them which made the two turn around only to see a zombie slowly creeping up on them, now, only a few feet away.
Aiden grabbed Tyler’s hand and pulled him away from the zombie. With the abrupt action from the two boys, the zombie launched forward, its jaw hanging unnaturally. “Aiden!” Tyler instinctively tried to reach forward and pull Aiden behind him but was interrupted by the crashing sound coming from the other end of the hall and a zombie appearing from what seems to be the kitchen. “Darn it!” Tyler groaned. He grabbed a vase from a stool beside him and brought it up in front of him meaning to use it as a weapon against the zombie. “Aiden!” Tyler grabs another vase that so happened to be right next to his vase and hands it to Aiden. “Use this to protect yourself.” Tyler said, his voice firm but filled with worry for both himself and Aiden.
The two boys fought off the two zombies in that narrow hall. They were eventually able to back them into one of the rooms and close the door.
Tyler held the door closed while Aiden went to the kitchen to grab a chair. When Aiden got the chair and brought it to Tyler, they wedged it under the door handle to prevent the zombies from opening it and getting out.
The two finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Wow….That was..a lot more..surprising..?” Aiden said, hesitating at the end as if he was finding the right words to describe what just happened. “I honestly thought that it would be a lot more harder, you know? Like in those video games?” Aiden says softly, a small smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood. “Yeah…” Tyler says. He was drifting off into his own world in his head. Some zombie must’ve come in here and bitten these two people. If so…Where is it? Did it get out? How did it get in?
His thoughts were interrupted by Aiden shaking him. “Yo! Tyler! You in there?” A big smile was on Aiden’s face which was abnormal in the situation they’re in. None the less, it still put a small smile on Tyler’s face.
They had to find another hiding spot. If this place had zombies in here, who knows if more could get in. “Let’s grab whatever we can carry and get out of this house. We need to get to more secure location.” Tyler said firmly. “Alright.” Aiden replied. He also had the feeling that they should probably find a different place to hide out in.
They were able to pack up some essentials into a small backpack they found lying around the house. A Medkit, food rations, flashlights, batteries and radios. Thiy may not be a lot, but they couldn’t risk bringing too much stuff and slowing the process of finding a safe place to stay. They had to be smart with their supplies. The rations they packed should be able to last them a couple of days, maybe even a week if they divide it carefully.
The two headed off on their journey for finding another safe place to hide, expecting a long, and somewhat, dangerous journey. They cautiously walk through the surprisingly vacant streets. They were prepared for any zombies that might come for them, but none came which made them a little suspicious.
“This seems a little too good to be true..” Aiden whispered. “Yeah, I get what you’re feeling…” Tyler agrees.
A low groan comes from an alley nearby, followed by a whole swarm of zombies appearing from that same alleyway. “Knew it.” Tyler said as they both start slowly backing away from the hoard.
As more zombies kept appearing, the boys started to run in the opposite direction. “Well that was a bust.” Aiden said matter-of-factly, panting through his laughter. “No kidding.” Tyler agreed, the two boys still running.
Unfortunately for them, they had gotten cornered by the zombies from all angles, their back pressing against each others, as they frantically look around for any blind spots or gaps. “Well darn…” Aiden says somewhat dramatically. “This is a real pickle we’re in…” Aiden added, his tone somewhat sarcastic. “Stop being so sarcastic. This isn’t really the time for that.” Tyler said, his voice cold as he tried to look for any way out where both of them survive.
The zombies kept slowly creeping up to them, their bodies hanging unnaturally as they walk and their scents as repulsive as trash that’s been sitting outside in the harsh environment for a long time and now smells sour and rotten. Enough to make a grown man cry and vomit from pure disgust and horror.
A loud ringing noise was heard beyond the crowd of zom\bies that seemed to attract all their attention. With that opportunity, Tyler grabbed Aiden’s hand and dragged him quickly out that crowd as fast as he could. A cloud of smoke suddenly enveloped the area, making the two boys feel dizzy from inhaling too much of it as they ran, their movements becoming frantic and desperate.
A large hand clamped over Tyler’s wrist as he was suddenly yanked forward, being pulled away from Aiden. “Aiden!” Tyler yelled, worried for him over his own safety as he tried looking around for him, but couldn’t see anything through the fog. Tyler’s wrist was squeezed even harder, making Tyler turn his attention back to what ever was gripping him. As he looked up he was able to make up someone with a gas mask on. They were human! A survivor!
Just then, Tyler was unexpectedly knocked out by whoever was keeping him there, a chocked sound escaping his throat before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, succumbing to the darkness. Only one thing, or person, was on his mind right then, Aiden.
Tyler woke up with a loud gasp, springing up into a sitting position, ruffling the sheets of the bed beneath him. “Aiden!” He yelled, as he looks around frantically. “Aiden!” He was in an unfamiliar place. It was fully furnished and the beds were comfy. Where am I? What happened? And who brought me here?! He though, before he was rudely interrupted by a voice.
“You seem to be very worried about this ‘Aiden’ person, huh?” A voice said calmly to him. Tyler looked towards the entrance, a scowl clearly presented across his features. A tall woman with short orange wavy hair and black clothing was staring at him with a coffee mug in her hand. “Is he your lover?” She asks, genuinely curious. “Why should I tell you?” He asks angrily. “I don’t even know you…” He mutters that last part. “The name’s Ashlynn, There, now you know me.” She says smugly. “Do you know what it feels like to lose the only person you love the most in this world…?” Tyler says softly, the earlier anger is completely gone. He feels a little weird daying that so randomly. Ashlynn sighs, “I see. Seems like I was right then about that Aiden person.” She smiles softly. “Who brought me here?” Tyler asks curiously. “That would be Ben. He’s sorry about not being able to get to your ‘friend’ on time.” She says, without a care in the world. She slowly walks towards the bed Tyler was in. “Unfortunately this is the real world. You don’t have times for feeling like love. It doesn’t exactly matter in this situation we’re in. Right now, all we need you to worry about, is your own survival.” She says, completely serious. Tyler balls his fists up and clenched the sheets tightly. “Think on that, kid.” Ashlynn adds before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. “Tch…” He scoffs.
A few days had passed after that. He found out that this is a small shelter that houses many different kinds of people. They go out into zombie populated areas and look for any survivors. Right now, Tyler was in the small cafeteria area, nursing a small milk carton.
“Hey youngster.” An old man approached him and sat down at the same table he was at. “Hey, Mr. Kanzaburo..” Tyler said solemnly. “What are you thinking about, Tyler?” Mr. Kanzaburo questioned. “Just someone…” Tyler replied. Mr. Kanzaburo was the only person he really got along with in this warehouse full of people. “You’re thinking about someone you love, right? I used to love someone…They were the biggest part of my life. They always told me storied of crazy situations, much like this one, actually.” He sighs. “You know, falling in love with someone means exposing the softest, most fragile parts of yourself to them…And praying..they don’t destroy it..Are you ready for that kind of commitment?” Mr. Kanzaburo asks. Tyler was surprised by the question and by how he phrased his whole ‘speech’. Tyler shakes his head to clear his thoughts before nodding and looking down at his hands. “I-.....He means so much to me..and I still believe that he’s alive..” Tyler looks back up at Mr. Kanzaburo with a determined look. “You remind me of when I was young..” Mr. Kanzaburo sighs softly, looking up at the ceiling of the small warehouse they were in. “I hope you find the person you’re looking for.” He adds softly.
A more months passed. During those months, he went out with the group of people from the safe warehouse and looked for survivors with them. He met many people during that trip. Some became his friends like Logan Fields and this girl named Taylor James. There were also some people that he absolutely hated like Baron and Maverick. He never bothered to learn of their last names.
They were all out on a supply run, looking through houses, supermarkets, anything they could find that seemed to have any food or anything useful that could feed everyone in the warehouse. They had planned to stay out for a few days to check up on the whole area. Kind of like to scavenge further into the city for any other survivors or camps of people. They didn’t have much luck. Most of the camps that they found were populated with so much zombies that it was flooded. If they weren’t flooded with zombies, they were deserted and barren. Taylor sighs loudly. “We’ll never find any other survivors at his rate!” She yells dramatically. “Calm down, Taylor. We’ll find some eventually.” Tyler says, calming Taylor down from her small fit. “But-”
A loud clash rang out through the sky. The group immediately tenses. They knew that the sound would most definitely attract zombies, so they went and found a small warehouse nearby and hid in there. While in there, they found a bed, rations and medical supplies. “Is someone…Living here?” Logan asks quietly. The question was going though everyone’s minds. Who would want to live here?
“Who are you guys?” A voice asked, echoing throughout the relatively big place. Tyler recognized it. It was a little different, but he still knew who it was. “Aiden?” Tyler said quietly, disbelief flashing across his face as he took a sharp intake of breath. A figure stepped into the light and Tyler could finally see. It really was Aiden! “Aiden?” Taylor said questioningly, but Tyler was already running to Aiden and tackling him. He had already started crying and Aiden had hugged him back upon realizing that it was Tyler. “What’s up…” Aiden said softly. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just on the floor with everyone watching them. A scream was heard from where the group was standing. Barron got bit by a zombie that had snuck in!
The two boys immediately got up and stood defensively in front of each other. A zombie suddenly appeared behind them and Aiden was able to realize fast enough and pull Tyler behind him and put his arm up to block the zombie. Unfortunately, with that, the zombie sunk its teeth into Aiden’s arm. Tyler’s eyes widened and knocked the zombie away before checking on Aiden’s arm. “W- You’re gonna be okay! I- Uhm- You’re..” Tyler panics, his breathing fast and uneven. He was panicking, trying to figure out what to do.
Aiden looks down at Tyler as he fusses over him. “Ty…I-” He pauses. “There’s nothing you can do..” Aiden says hesitantly. “But…I just got you back..I can’t..lose you again.” Tyler says softly, his throat burning. Aiden lifts Tyler’s chin. “I love you…I always have..” Aiden says softly. “If that’s the case then bite me.” Tyler says confidently. “What?” Aiden’s eyes widen. “I can’t bite you!” He yells. “If there really is no way to stop you from turning…Then I’ll turn with you.” Tyler says softly. “I..love you too…I always knew you were alive and..If you ‘die’ again in front of me..I don’t know what I would do..” Tyler looks right into Aiden’s eyes. “Bite me.” Aiden smiles softly. “Fine..” Aiden grabs onto Tyler’s arm and slowly bites into it. Tyler lets out a small groan at the pain. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you..Even as zombies…” He says softly, still staring into Aiden’s eyes. “Me too..” Aiden replies softly.