Your Eyes, Vacant & Stained

by j0yyriding

Summary:

When Frank wakes up from a night of heavy drinking while on a work trip, he's unsure how to navigate the new apocalyptic world with the walking dead.

He's soon picked up by a strange group of men who're traveling across the country after losing everyone they love to the virus. Will they make it to their final destination, or die trying?

Chapter 1

The cold room shook Frank awake. A strong breeze whipped the curtains around before settling back down. He was adjusting to the pounding in his head before attempting to open his eyes. The room was bright, he squinted and turned away from the windows. The bathroom mirror reflected the sunlight straight into his face as well.

A soft, long groan escaped his throat as he tried to blink away the pain. The wind whooshed again, whipping the curtains. The cold snaked down Frank’s naked spine. The taste of not brushed teeth and hours of alcohol sat heavily on his tongue. Rotting.

He pushed himself onto his elbow, reaching for the half full glass of water that sat on his night table. Gulping all of it down before breathing again. He dropped back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. Letting the water settle into his stomach in hopes it would kick away the hangover nausea. He attempted to recall the previous night, but the memory was hazy.

He arrived at the hotel sometime in the late afternoon, meeting a few of his coworkers in the lobby. They were out in the Mojave, somewhere in Nevada where the hotel sat on a beach with a horizon long lake, with only desert surrounding the rest for as far as he could see. Their company was paying for the trip, they were supposed to be recruiting for the new position Frank had just been promoted out of, but when Frank heard they got access to an open bar it was downhill from there.

The drinking had become an issue, he knew that. Mornings like these continued to remind him of what was unpleasant about drinking. But the sweet kisses of warmth that overwhelm him after a few drinks had become too addictive. He craved the touch of warm skin against his, but no one stuck around like alcohol did. Which... he only partially blamed on the drinking.

“Alright…” He said to himself, trying to talk up his motivation. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled himself up. The blood rushed to his head and he squeezed his eyes shut, pushing the heels of his palms deep into his eye sockets. Another, louder and angrier groan came out before he got to his feet.

The room spun a little, but he caught his balance quickly. Slowly he shuffled over to the small bathroom, turned on the shower and brushing his teeth while the water warmed up. His headache died down only a little as he kept the lights off, he spit out the previous night’s endeavors and wiped his face. Catching his reflection in the mirror, he looked more skeletal than usual.

Why do you keep doing this to yourself?

The water was hot, hotter than the bile that escaped his throat last night before he went to bed. The memory hit him like a brick and gave him another wave of nausea. He dropped his face against the cold tile wall, turning the faucet towards his face. He let the warm water nearly drown him.

You are fine. You are not going to get sick.

He pulled his face out, now red and burning. The air felt nice. He inhaled deeply and released it through his mouth. He fought through the waves of pain while he washed himself. His pale skin was a bright red color when he finally got out. The air in the bathroom was humid, but he left the bathroom door open so it stung from the chill. The breeze from the window helped clear the humid air out, leaving Frank’s skin covered in goosebumps.

Across the room, the window was wide open. He could not remember opening the window at all, he didn’t even know windows in hotels were able to open.

As he walked out into the room more, mostly searching for his clothes, he realized the window was not open. It was completely shattered. Sharp shards stuck out from the top corners of the window and Frank’s heart began to beat faster.

He was not the type of person to get scared very easily, but he knew he had little control over his anger when he drank. The fear that he might have thrown something out of his hotel window caused a strong wave of nausea to hit again. He reached out and grabbed the nearby dresser to balance himself.

The smell that he assumed was his breath earlier hit him again; something was rotting. Panic raced up his throat and through to his fingertips. If he did hurt someone, he wondered how long it would be before someone noticed and called the police on him.

He inched closer, the curtains whipped loudly unable to move, something was caught in them. He reached his hand out, he felt hot from the nausea swimming its way back up his throat. Whatever was behind the curtain, he was not prepared for the answer. As he gripped the curtain, unsure of whether the rustling was coming from the wind or something stronger. He gathered his courage and yanked the curtain back. To his horror, one of his coworkers, Kyle, from the previous night, was stuck. And he was currently hanging half out of his window.

His body was bloody and bruised, shards of glass were protruding from his torso and arms, intestines were dangling out the window, his eyes were half-closed as he glared up at Frank with a pale green glaze. His mouth hung open weakly and it looked like his skin was hugging his bones tighter. Frank began to shake. The smell was overwhelming now, he almost wished he hadn’t brushed his teeth so the smell of his own vomit would mask the rotting scent he was able to distinguish now.

A groan could be heard in the room, but it wasn’t from Frank this time. Is my mind playing tricks on me..? The groan slowly elevated into a gurgling screech. He was so caught off guard, he threw his body backwards into the bed, clutching at his towel. The groan turned into a scream and it was gut wrenching, similar to a banshee’s scream but with a more blood-choked gurgling.

Blood began spilling from the man’s mouth, but he could not move. Frank felt stupid for becoming so terrified of something that could not move, let alone hurt him. He pushed himself back up onto his feet, shaking away the fear and readjusting his towel.

Slowly, he moved towards the window. Kyle stopped screaming so loudly, Frank assumed he realized he was unable to move. Frank took a sidestep closer to the window to look down over the ledge. It seemed like the world had stopped. The water continued to lap against the beach, and he could identify heat waves in the distance coming from the sand and concrete but no one was around. When he had arrived the previous afternoon, it was hard to see through the crowds of people checking in or leaving but, this morning, it seemed abandoned.

Frank redirected his eyes down, below his window, a body had splattered across the concrete. A wet pool of blood surrounded it, he wondered if that was why his hotel window was broken and could only blame himself. But, the longer he looked, the more he realized that wasn’t the only splattered body on the sidewalk.

Why hasn’t anyone called the police…??

A nervous twist gripped his stomach as he looked back at the half-severed man next to him again who was now making biting sounds at Frank. He moved closer to the window to get a better look down and that’s when he realized what he thought was his other coworker was actually only the other half of the one currently hanging out the window. His torso was mangled and spilled out and down the side of the building, his intestines unwound and the end of his spine wiggled freely. Below, in the bushes next to another smashed other body, was a pair of legs mangled and covered in lacerations.

Frank backed up. The guy on the floor continued munching in his direction, clearly hungry. Frank didn’t feel safe getting ready around the guy, but he knew he couldn’t leave him there to stay in whatever state he was in. Frank spun around and checked his surroundings, determining the bedside lamp to be the most blunt option.

Hahaha! You really are a fucking maniac, aren’t you?

The darker voice in the back of his thoughts liked to taunt him. But he ignored it and grabbed the lamp anyways. Pulling it back like a baseball bat, he swung at the man’s head and the lamp broke. Along with a small piece of the man’s skull. The man sat unmoving now. His eyes were vacant. Skull slightly caved as Frank brought the lamp down a second, then third time. Double tap, he vaguely remembered.

Frank dropped the remains of the lamp next to the body and sat down on the floor next to the bed. He pulled up his knees and used them to hold up his elbows while he rubbed his eyes deeply, attempting to remember anything from the night before. If he was not already screwed, he was now.

Stars began forming in front of his face, when he tried to open his eyes his vision was mostly black and spotty. He closed them again and laid his head back. That was when the fog began to recede a little. He remembered the after party he and his two coworkers weren’t supposed to go to. The sun had set, and the air was even cooler.

Loud music was coming from all around him, the drink in his hand was just the ice left over from the last drink he had. The lights around the area were blinding, the bar was on top of a stage next to the DJ. Frank could feel the rhythm through his feet vibrating all throughout his body.

His face was flushed and he felt hot, the top couple of buttons on his shirt were undone, he couldn’t remember where his tie had gone but he hoped his jacket was with it. He put the sweating glass onto the bar and leaned in, “DOUBLE CROWN ON THE ROCKS?” He yelled over the music into the bartenders ear. The bartender just nodded and took his cup.

Frank looked around while he waited for his drink. The party had a large crowd, scattered around the beach and pool area, all the other bars off the stage seemed to be filled with people, even his coworkers, Kyle and Derek, were at a tiki-themed one just down the beach, chatting up some girls. He figured this one was empty due to the location of it, but that was why he picked it.

He had no interest in meeting anyone new, let alone talking to the people who were there with him. He felt the cup against his hand again and turned around. He flashed his company card to the bartender who just nodded and turned away. He dropped two singles on the bar before stalking down the beach to the tiki-bar.

The whiskey burned his lips but went down hot and smooth, he could feel himself getting drunker faster. He began his journey over to Kyle, Derek, and the girls they were schmoozing.

He took another sip, and then another. Derek took notice of him then and waved him over, one of the girls turned around to smile at him but her smile turned to a frown that eventually turned into her yelling something he couldn’t hear.

Frank was so distracted he didn’t notice the large man stumbling towards him. “Hey, easy there,” Frank shouted, holding his drink up and out of reach to prevent spilling it, but the guy didn’t seem to hear him, or care. The man lunged at Frank, teeth bared and growling.

Frank knocked the man back with a single armed push before downing his drink. It didn’t go down as smoothly when he gulped it over sipping it. The man only stumbled before regaining whatever balance he had and went after Frank again. This time, Frank dropped his glass and swung at the man, missing due to his lack of hand-eye coordination in his current state.

The man grabbed Frank’s other arm and began to bite at him. He was more than relieved to see Kyle and Derek were behind the man now and pulling him away by his arms before he actually was assaulted.

What kind of a psycho tries to bite people when they’re drunk? He thought to himself. The security for the event was there in no time, taking this guy down easily. But the man continued to bite at everyone who came near him, thankfully not actually biting anyone to Frank’s knowledge.

“Hey, you okay man?” Derek shouted, he was getting hazier as they stood around. Frank nodded while Kyle began dusting him off.

“I think I’m just gonna go back to my room…” Frank slurred, his vision had gone from single to triple in seconds and that’s when he knew he hadn’t eaten enough food to have drank as much as he did. His body swayed and Kyle casually held him to keep him straight.

“We’ll come with you,” Derek said, but Frank could tell Kyle wasn’t ready to leave yet. Frank shook his head, making himself dizzy.

“Nah- *hic* nah, you guys- you guys stay here.” He insisted, patting Derek on the shoulder, drunkenly pushing him away, Kyle detached when Frank was not paying attention. “I’ll be totally fine!” He slurred and began making his way away from them towards the hotel lobby.

“We’ll come check on ya in a little bit!” One of them shouted at him as he continued to walk away. He didn’t turn around, he just wanted to be alone in his bed.

The cold wind coming from the broken window snapped him back to the current day. He could hardly smell the copper anymore that plagued the room. He didn’t want to put the Z word on this situation, but he couldn’t think of another explanation. A half-severed body in his room that was still living. The biting at him was especially weird. But he knew he would never find anything out by staying on the floor of a rotting hotel room.

He made his way over to his duffle bag, fishing out the casual clothes he was planning on wearing on one of their free days. The trip was only supposed to be for a business week, but today was day three and everyone seemed to have fled, so he was still packed well with basic supplies.

Once he was dressed, he made his way to the bathroom, stuffing any soaps and toiletries that he could into his bag to take with him. Nearly anything not glued down was his now. He stopped and checked himself over in the mirror, hoping the black jeans and button down wouldn’t be too hot for the weather. Without thinking, he grabbed a small glob of pomade and did his hair quickly.

Once he was satisfied, he stuffed his personal products into a separate pouch in the duffle bag and began towards the bedroom door. He took one final look over to the window, the blood and the body. Something he hoped he wouldn’t have to see again but knew if this was what he thought it was, there might not be a choice in how many more dead bodies he sees.

He slipped on his sneakers and left without hesitation. The hallway was empty and quiet. His watch claimed it was a little after ten in the morning. He hoped to find at least one other living person on his way out.

He pushed away that thought. It is not zombies, he reminded himself. It cannot be, he would’ve heard about it before it hit. He would’ve had time to prepare. Unless this is the first place to be hit- He pushed away that thought too and continued down the hallway.

It felt like someone was watching him, but every time he checked over his shoulder, no one would be there. The hallway seemed longer than he remembered, the elevator was in the center of the building. He found the small lobby on his floor and began towards the elevators but stopped dead in his tracks when he rounded the corner.

Across from him was a wall completely made of a floor to ceiling mirror. A full body was slumped against the mirror, blood splattered all over it and the surrounding floor. The once white flowers on the decorative table between the elevators were also now drooping and blood soaked. Thankfully, this person’s head was down so he didn’t have to stare into another dead man’s eyes. At least, he hoped he was dead.

Quietly, he inched closer. The carpeted floors only helped. The person didn’t move. Frank reached the elevator finally, not taking his eyes off the body. He clicked the down button and a loud ding rang out. He felt his soul jump out of myself momentarily, his eyes not leaving the body that was still unmoving.

An eternity later, the doors finally slid open and he nearly hopped inside, pounding the close doors button. As they slowly closed in front of him, he regained his confidence and the elevator descended. The elevator wasn’t free of what he assumed to be fragments of people’s bodies splattered against some of the walls and floor.

The descent felt as though it was building up to something suspenseful, but, as Frank prepared a battle stance with his fists raised, the doors slid open and the lobby was surprisingly clean. The contrast of the elevator made him feel like this was just a prank for Halloween, but it was the middle of August and the blood he accidently stepped in followed him through the carpet as he walked out, squishing for nearly every step.

The second he stepped outside, the sun reignited the pounding he thought had previously departed. He gazed over the lines of cars before the pounding took full control. He squeezed shut his eyes while he gripped at his skull, stumbling forward a little. Then a scraping sound caught his attention from behind and a heavy weight smashed into his back. Without thinking, he dropped to his knees and threw the weight over his head onto the pavement in front of him. A hairy man with a vest and cargo shorts landed on his back in front of him, groaning.

Before he could think, Frank swung the slightly weighted duffle bag onto the man's head, clutching it like a handbag to control the follow through. Frank looked around in panic, anything that could be swung harder than a bag with mostly paper would be nice... He spotted a truck that had a ladder strapped to the top and bolted for it. Unsure of whether or not there would actually be anything helpful, his bag wasn’t enough and he was beginning to doubt the no zombies idea.

He practically flew into the truck as his weight slammed against it, the other man was able to get to his feet and began dragging his body towards Frank again. Now he could tell the man’s leg, ankle, and feet were all pointed in wrong directions and it made him gag. He swallowed a small chunk of vomit.

He went back to rummaging the back of the truck, there wasn’t much in the back of that either, maybe a couple of plastic buckets, a mostly empty tackle box, a couple of fishing rods; Frank became frantic and threw the duffle into the trunk before jumping into the bed as well. Being careful to avoid hitting his head on the ladder overhead.

The groaning man was only a few cars away as Frank began to throw some of the useless items out of the truck, a couple of tarps bunched into the corner of the bed were thrown over for Frank to discover a compartment built into the bed of the truck.

He dropped to his knees and yanked the compartment open to find a box full of miscellaneous tools inside. Good enough, he thought as he looked up again, the man closing in. He grabbed the biggest thing he could and swung at the man, a wrench smashing the man's jaw off as if his skin had already fully rotted.

Frank felt repugnance plague his insides as he jumped back out of the truck to see the man trying to get up again. He slammed the wrench down into the man’s skull this time, brain matter and skull fragments flew in all directions. His stomach could not take it any longer, as he examined the brain matter stuck to his pants he wretched, holding himself up by the truck.

Glancing around, he noticed there were bodies scattering the parking lot. The smell of the rot in the festering sun made him sweat harder, his nausea grew and he wretched again. Heaving up more of the whiskey from the previous night. The pungent sting burned his throat and coated his teeth, and he thought to himself, as he did every hang over, this is the last time I drink.

He looked back at the body, trying his best to avoid looking at the disaster of a head, he began to feel around the guy's pockets. He wiggled out a wallet, lighter, an Altoids tin, and a key ring with a fob attached. The first thing Frank did was click the lock button on the fob, hoping it was the truck they were intruding on but he heard a chirp a few rows away.

He quickly went through the wallet, realizing money probably would not benefit help him anymore but pocketing the seventy-eight dollars regardless before dropping the wallet back onto the body. He turned around to check out the back of the truck again before heading towards the chirp of the fob, deciding to keep the wrench just incase.

Doing a once-over, he deemed nothing else important. He looked in the direction where he remembered the chirp coming from and clicked the lock key again. He followed the noise, only letting the car chirp once or twice to avoid any more unwanted attention. As he made his way over, he flicked open the Altoids tin and, to his pleasant surprise, he found it packed with pre-rolled joints.

“This is better than what I was hoping for…” He said out loud to himself as he popped one in between his small grin, lighting it with a deep inhale that barley created a cough.

The parking lot wasn’t free of bodies, but it looked like most of the cars from the previous day were still there. Frank pondered through a couple of ideas on who had made it out alive, and what they did to fight for their life.

He swore at himself for not having much memory of the night before, but he was thankful that all he had to do was sleep through it. He rolled his eyes at himself. A couple of chirps and he found an old mossy green pick up with a tiny bit of rust.

A couple of hits and he couldn’t care what kind of car it was, as long as it got him to people who weren’t trying to eat him.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Frank explores the wasteland and finds some cool stuff

I think it might be zombies...

The joint was gone within ten or fifteen minutes, Frank wasn't sure. He was unaware of how long he’d been driving, either. Much to his fear, radio stations were almost all out. Some stations were playing songs still, but others were just silent, the ones that preached were very quickly skipped.

This truck had a CD player, and a couple of CD’s hidden in the glove box. The song title and artist blocked the clock on the outdated radio. The sun was still high but it was definitely past noon, the joint had pushed the hangover into a hazy, less nauseating spot in the back of his mind that allowed him to relax.

The drive had been mostly boring, it was basically all wasteland besides the bodies and cars littering the streets. Most bodies in the roads had been driven over so many times they were practically flat, the others were in piles near flipped cars almost as if someone had been piling them there. Occasionally packs of them would be wandering in the distance, turning towards the sound of the truck as Frank drove by. Frank never really liked sand, or hot places, but his boss had said there would be some big people at the event last night. He wondered if any of them made it out alive.

It had to be nearly two hours before he finally hit a town. The town came out of nowhere, the town literally came to a dead end in the middle of the desert, where Frank rolled in from. He feared for a few moments that he was seeing a mirage, but he pulled the truck over in front of a couple of shops and got out. Using his hands to block the sun, he gazed around the small town that seemed to just go straight down a dusty, two-lane road.

The town felt horrifying, ghostly. The silence made Frank’s ears ring as the wind picked up slightly. A banging of a window cover in the distance made him jump then laugh at himself . He shook off the goosebumps and took a few deep breaths. A few blocks down he spotted a gas station, the truck was so close to empty, he wanted to kiss the parking lot once he reached it.

But bodies were sprawled aggressively around the town, most of them looked crushed by vehicles, and Frank wanted to avoid any contact with whatever virus was changing people.

He turned to look at the businesses he parked in front of, one was a thrift shop, the next one was a post office, and the third one was a pharmacy. Post office seemed useless to Frank, he slung the duffle across his back so both of his hands were free. He also took the wrench from before in with him, for protection , he told himself. He clutched it close to his chest as he bee-lined it to the pharmacy, almost praying that it hadn’t already been hit.

He silently pushed open the door, inside was dark but Frank could see supplies scattered on the floor and two of the shelves laying on top of each other against a wall. Supplies were scattered everywhere, a few lights had been shattered and the shelves that were on top of each other were also broken.

From the outside, it looked like a small building, but as he was making his way through the aisles, they seemed to just keep moving further and further back. He scoured the shelves, unsure of what he really wanted, but the store did not have much left to offer. Many of the boxes or bottles containing things had been ripped open, left spilled on the ground scattered with other broken glass and plastic.

I know it's the apocalypse but is destroying everything on your way out a necessity?

Eventually he dropped onto a knee and grabbed a travel aid kit from the bottom shelf, shoving what was left of it into his bag. He stood up and slid down the aisle to grab a couple different types of pain-killers that were shoved so far back they must've been forgotten. Even if they weren't strong enough to get him high, he knew the joints were going to run out eventually.

He was lost in thought while browsing what remained of the leftovers when he heard the click of a gun. Slowly, he looked back towards where he came in as he raised his hands up.

A dark figure stood tall next to him holding a shotgun nearly in his face. Frank couldn’t figure out how the man got so close to him so quickly and quietly, but he didn’t think now was the time to ask.

“Have you been bit?” He said more like a statement, than a question.

“Uh, wha- bit?” Frank stammered over his words, he’s been in a couple of drunken fist fights but he’s never had a gun held to his head.

"Did one of those things bite you . Answer me, or I'll shoot." The figure threatened.

“Please, I just woke up like three hours ago and the world is suddenly on fire. I haven't been bitten by anything.”

“What’re you doing here?” The figure was unmoving but Frank had calmed himself down a little, although his heart beating could probably be heard from where the figure was standing.

“I- I am literally just driving through, this car is out of gas, I pulled over, now I’m here and you have me at gunpoint.” He let out a minor sound of panic as he ended the sentence. “I have nothing to fight you with, look,” Frank lazily tossed the wrench to the person's feet, the gun twitched a moment but maintained its target.

“What’s your name?” Again, he said it more like a statement.

“Frank! It’s Frank, now come on man!” The stress was heard in his voice even more this time, even though both spoke in low voices.

The person lowered the gun and Frank was pleasantly surprised to see the man was more attractive than he wanted to admit; his hair was overgrown, greasy, and black, his skin was smooth porcelain with very slim features; his lips and nose were thin and piercing, contrasting his enticing round brown eyes. Frank thought maybe vampiric was a better term to describe the lanky man. He was wearing all black clothes as well, Frank refused to believe he was not drenched in sweat.

Don't let the pretty boy distract you, Frank.

“Thank you,” The man budged the wrench back to Frank with his foot, creating a short scraping sound and then deafening silence. “What’re you doing here, anyways? Isn’t this, like… some apocalyptic shit?” But the man had already walked back around a different shelf,  presumably back to where he came from. “Hey! Hey, hang on!”

Frank scrambled up, collecting his things, slinging the bag across his back again and followed the man around the corner to see him packing a similar bag with gauze and alcohol. The man seemed to ignore Frank, which annoyed him.

“Do you really think I’m going to let you off the hook when you just had a gun pointed to my head?” The man sighed and shoved a bottle of isopropyl into his bag.

“Do you want me to do it again?” The man threatened, Frank immediately threw his hands back up.

“Hey, you seem like you’ve been doing this thing for awhile. I just woke up this morning to people eating people.” The man sighed again, defeated.

“My name’s Gerard. Obviously I’m doing the same thing as you are except my friends and I have been following the virus. Will you get over here and help me pack some of this shit?” Frank rushed over and dropped down, Gerard pointed at sanitizer and sanitizing wipes and Frank followed his direction and stuffed some into the other mans bag. 

There was a moment of silence between them before Frank spoke up again, “Did you say you were following the virus?” 

Gerard nodded, “There’s a lot to it but basically no one believes the virus exists because it’s moving so fast and slow at the same time.” Frank only became more confused, and he figured Gerard could read it on his face. “Look, it’s a lot to explain, but I’ll help you fill up your truck if you drive me back to my safe-house.” Gerard looked Frank in the eyes this time, and Frank felt a twist in his gut.

Frank gulped, they both paused the packing to look at each other, “You, uh… you guys already have a safe-house?” Gerard smiled and Frank felt his face grow hot and red, feeling like a child he looked away.

“I’ll explain more while we get gas, it’s just an abandoned building we’re squatting in.” He laughed lightly and continued to steal random boxes, Frank wondered if Gerard even knew what he was packing. “Come on, there isn’t much else here, did you find what you needed?” 

Frank shrugged and nodded, he wasn’t going to admit he came in here without a plan. “Did you check out the place next door yet?” 

As Gerard stood up, Frank shrunk in his spot. “The post office?” 

“No, no, sorry, the thrift shop? Have you been there yet?” Gerard frowned and shook his head.

“No, sorry, shopping for clothes wasn’t exactly top priority on my mind today.” He chuckled and held out his gloved hand to help Frank stand up. Frank accepted his hand, but when Gerard pulled him up, he also pulled Frank towards him. A faint smell of nicotine and coffee radiated off of the strange man, Frank enjoyed the combination more than he wished he did.

“Sorry, I just… Making conversation, aha…” Frank rocked on his heels and shoved both hands into his pockets. 

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

“Did you want to check it out before we get gas?” Frank shook his head. Gerard remained fairly relaxed as he led them both out of the pharmacy building, careful to scout outside before giving Frank the okay. “There should be canisters there.” Gerard’s tone lowered and Frank knew to follow.

They walked over a block before speaking again, careful to remain fairly quiet even though any creature that was here seemed to be dead now. “So, you and your friends are squatting in an abandoned building… trying to catch up to the virus?”

Air escaped Gerard’s nose as he smiled, “Close yet so far off.” He gave Frank a side eye as they continued towards the gas station. Each building they walked by looked just as abandoned as the last, none of them were destroyed but most were obviously ransacked. Doors hung open, an eerie silence floating around. “My brother and I are from Oregon, that’s where this started actually. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard about it, we’ve been listening to the news stations we can find but nothing is actually covering what’s going on.” Gerard checked around a corner where the road led down into a neighborhood. It was clear, they were almost to the gas station now. “And we aren’t trying to catch up to the virus, we’re more like… storm chasers except we’re… virus chasers.” Gerard grinned widely at Frank, very proud of what he just made up. 

“So, is your brother back squatting for ya?” This made Gerard chuckle.

“He’s not squatting for me, I’m the quietest one in the group so I tend to over scrounge when I get free time. It’s been awhile since we ran into someone, though.” 

“You keep talking about your “group”, who’s your group?” They arrived at the gas station and stopped next to each other.

“It’s just my brother and I and a friend we grew up with.” Gerard shrugged and nodded his head towards the gas station, not giving a chance for Frank to process before he started walking closer.

Frank scrambled to follow him carefully, getting his wrench into a defensive position. Gerard peaked inside through the windows, it looked as deserted as any of the other buildings they found, but they remained cautious. 

Frank kept watch closely next to Gerard as Gerard pushed open one of the front doors, the inside surprisingly still had electricity but the place had clearly also been ransacked.

Cash registers were tipped over, shelves were barricading some windows and side doors. Blood was splattered randomly around the store, a couple of bodies behind the counter had been nearly fully devoured.

There was a body laying on the ground between two shelves, food scattered all around and over it, it was unable to be seen without looking down the aisle. The body was severed at the waist but her head was twisted up and it seemed to stare at Gerard with her twisted scream frozen onto her face. Intestines spilled out down the aisle and her legs were wrapped around the corner of the end of the shelf. Gerard sniffled and continued on towards the refrigerated section.

Frank was stuck on the woman’s body. She was looking at him now with her terrified, vacant eyes. When he was finally able to pull away from her face, he realized she was missing an entire arm while her other arm reached upwards towards him.

He couldn’t help but wonder who she was reaching for. Or why they didn’t help her. 

“Haha, hell yeah!” Frank jumped at the sound of Gerard exclaiming something from the end of the coolers. He heard the sound of a fridge seal back shut as he peaked around the corner. He saw the woman’s legs bent in all directions poking out from behind the shelf at Gerard's feet, but Gerard didn’t seem to care.

Gerard turned around and flashed a couple of frozen pizzas that looked almost fake to Frank, until his mouth started to water and he realized how hungry he actually was. “Are those both supreme?!” Frank quickly met Gerard in the back, forcing the image of the woman away, “We’re gonna have to get you home before they thaw anymore.” They were still mostly frozen, but there was a slight squish as Frank maneuvered the pizzas into Gerard’s backpack.

A crunching drag behind Frank made his blood run cold and Gerard twisted around, raising the shotgun again as he’d done when he met Frank except Gerard had the gun over Frank's shoulder this time. 

They quickly met eyes before Gerard looked back at whatever was behind Frank. His expression was hard and intimidating, but the crunching slowly moved a crawled closer. " Get behind me... " Gerard whispered.

Frank slithered around him to hide and saw the woman from the other aisle pulling her way towards them. Her face was still frozen in a mid scream, her mouth was drooling and her tongue was whipping around randomly as she dragged her body closer. Loud groans were escaping from her throat, her sounds made her look less human.

Okay, zombies are real.

The crunching sound made Frank’s hair stand on end. She dragged her intestines through the broken glass of the fridge doors, a couple of pieces of glass were big enough to cut her and create spurts of blood at the leftover containers and rations on the shelves. Frank’s hunger quickly turned to nausea again and he pulled away a bit, allowing Gerard’s body to hide the woman’s mangled one. 

Gerard took a step, she continued to scrrrrraaaaaaapppppeeeee through the glass. Her mouth made strangled, gurgling sounds, but since it wasn’t able to close, a lot of the bloody saliva continued to spill out of it. 

As Frank ducked to his right he felt himself get hot again at the sight of the woman's mangled legs, what little water he had from the drive there was gone again. From around the corner, a couple of loud thuds that were accompanied by the sound of a thick material shattering could be heard. Frank wiped his mouth clean and stepped back around the corner to see Gerard holding the gun backwards with the hilt embedded in the crushed skull.

He felt the nausea come back and pulled away again. He looked down the aisle where the woman’s body originally was and saw a few leftover medications, some basic summer supplies, and a couple of bags of chips still.

He wasn’t hungry, but he needed to distract himself. He pushed himself down that aisle, pulling his duffel around to his front, he started shoving everything still sealed into his bag. He grabbed two bottles of sunscreen too and stared at the condoms for a moment. Was this something that really mattered during the end of the world?  He questioned himself.

“Hey, did you get my zipper closed?” He turned around and saw Gerard barely peeking over the shelves to look at him. 

“Oh, uh, no, hang on, sorry.” Gerard's head dropped a little and his eyes disappeared as he chuckled.

“You’re fine, I’ll come over to you, there’s nothing else over here anyways. I guess a lot of people had coolers when they left town…” Did anyone leave town or did everyone just get eaten or turned?

Without another thought, Frank shoved the box of condoms into his bag and zipped it quickly. Gerard rounded the corner as he was situating it onto his back again. Gerard had a small smile the entire time and Frank wondered how he could be so positive while actively killing people.

But he realized they weren’t people anymore. The only people left were them and whoever Gerard was with. Gerard stopped right in front of Frank and spun around so he could finish closing his bag. 

“Thanks.. Come on, I think I saw the way into the basement, they have to have canisters down there.” Frank sighed deeply as Gerard went back towards where he found pizzas, Frank followed without question.

And Gerard was right. In the back corner of the gas station, they had two bathrooms and a way into their basement. The basement was dark and dingy, but there weren’t any bodies down there, let alone any blood. There weren’t any windows and the room was relatively small minus two shelving units pushed against a wall that held random cleaning supplies, light bulbs, and snacks that hadn’t been touched. 

Gerard flashed a devilish grin at Frank, “You got any room, still?” Frank flushed but nodded and followed Gerard to the shelves.

They weren’t stocked with much, mostly just bags of salty snacks and a couple boxes of candy. When Frank threw his bag off onto the floor, he unzipped it quickly and shoved his hands in, feeling around to push the condoms into the back. He didn’t really want to raise any questions with a stranger. 

“Hey, you gonna help out?” Gerard was staring at Frank but his arms were out grabbing everything he could.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just rearranging stuff to fit everything.” Frank mentally patted himself on the back before hopping up to help Gerard. They were able to fit a couple of bags of nuts, sunflower seeds, a few different types of sour candy, a bottle of disinfectant plus a bottle of bleach stored in the water bottle pouches of Frank's duffel. Gerard collected as many cartons of cigarettes' as he could shove into all of his pockets.

Gerard exclaimed, “Yes!”, once they had finally gotten the zipper to the other end. Frank noticed the weight difference but was hoping Gerard would split the loot if he helped him out more.

Canisters were sitting in an opposing corner, Gerard was already making towards them before Frank had time to even stand. He threw the bag over his shoulder instead and followed. Each took two canisters and made their way outside. “Then we’ll know they have three more here if we lose these, or if someone steals them.” Gerard said casually as they made their way out of the gas station. 

“Unless someone comes here and finds them.” Frank argued as Gerard squatted and used a stray metal rod to pry the gas pump open. To Franks, inside looked like a lot of metal and copper rods. But Gerard reached into a side pouch on his duffel and pulled out a plastic tube. As he began yanking at different things in the gas pump, Frank realized he was holding a hand pump and within a few minutes Gerard had hooked the pump up and was beginning to pump for fuel.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you’ve been at this for awhile…” Frank spoke without meaning to, but Gerard basically ignored him as gas began pumping through. He watched as Gerard skillfully switched the pump with a canister while barely spilling anything. 

Gerard smiled up at him. “So, we can just split everything once we get back to our place.” Frank sagged slightly with relief, his stomach was painfully empty, he would’ve accepted food even if it fell on the ground.

Frank stood and watched Gerard fill each canister as they mostly remained silent. Frank scouted around nearby corners at one point, but returned back to Gerard when nothing interesting was discovered. 

Eventually the gas stopped and the last canister was mostly full. Gerard capped it off and they left.

They pretended as though blasting someone's brains out meant nothing as they walked in silence back to the truck Frank stole barely three hours earlier.

Frank tossed his duffel into the backseat before crawling into the driver's side, he started the car's accessories and watched the gas level rise as Gerard dumped the not-yet-full canister into the truck. He slapped the outside of the driver's side door from the window when the needle reached the F.

The canister was empty. 

Gerard pulled open the back door and placed the empty canister onto the floor behind the passenger seat, leaving the door open as he lugged the last three canisters over. He placed them in a row behind the drivers seat on the floor, the seats hugged them together to prevent them from spilling.

Gerard slammed the door shut and rushed around the front to get into the passenger seat, Frank started the car. Gerard yanked the door open and used it to pull himself in. He flashed Frank a wide, toothy grin as Frank watched him in fear. It took him nearly a minute to snap back into his consciousness and shift the car into drive and begin driving through and out of town.

"Okay, turn up here," Gerard resisted against the seat belt as he pointed out the windshield, "it's gonna take awhile, and you're gonna think you're lost, but please trust me."

Even through Gerard’s greasy, shoulder length hair, and his coffee stained teeth, Frank felt a safety radiate from him.

Stop acting like a U-Haul lesbian, Frank. Pull yourself together. But he could not stop himself from sneaking glancing at Gerard when he got the chance.

Chapter 3

Frank trusted Gerard even more when he did begin to feel lost.

Nearly two and a half hours passed before they reached the destination Gerard had promised to bring Frank to, and Frank wondered how he got to town without getting lost. Gerard had him twisting and turning down random roads. Some roads lead through small suburbs of houses, while others were pure barren desert.

Eventually, Gerard turned them into a district in the deep south of Nevada that Frank wasn't familiar with. Huge, oversized buildings loomed over their car, nearly casting a shadow over the entire town.

Each building was white, painted brick and they were as long as they were tall. Each sign for every business hung up in small, discreet black lettering only just above the entrances. Each business had a small, password protected parking lot very clearly labeled "EMPLOYEE'S ONLY PARKING".

Gerard snaked Frank through a strip mall parking lot before a large blue and yellow electronics store came into view. Frank laughed uncomfortably.

They're holed up in a Best Buy? Do they even have seating?

"Here, turn right here, yeah. Then left at those dumpsters. There's an employee's entrance tucked away-" as Frank turned at the dumpsters, he was greeted with three large sixteen wheelers that were clearly restocking supplies.

"You guys are staying in an electronics warehouse?" Frank whispered excitedly, Gerard just chuckled in return.

"Of course! It is one of the biggest buildings in this city, plus those things," He thumbed behind us as if one was there, "can’t stand the white-noise from the TV’s."

As Frank pulled in, Gerard pointed him through the back lot and had him eventually park in an alleyway between two buildings. Gerard hopped out, "Come on, the guys will love ya," he flashed a Joker-esq smile at Frank, it made his stomach clench. He shook it off as Gerard was already grabbing his bag and heading towards a staircase, "leave the canisters there, we haven't found our own car yet so I'd love if you held on to those until you leave tomorrow."

Frank grabbed his own bag and weakly laughed, "Yeah no, that's… that's fine," Frank walked around the truck and locked it as he ascended the stairs behind Gerard.

Gerard slapped him hard on the back when he caught up, "Don't worry, Frankie," Frank’s dick twitched, he blushed, "I would never expect a ride and free storage without offering you a room." Frank gulped and Gerard held his shoulder longer than he was okay with. Frank attempted to divert his thoughts, but Gerard's strong, leathery grip made him imagine where else he could wrap his gloved hands.

Gerard withdrew his hand and turned it into a fist before smashing it against the metal "EMPLOYEE'S ONLY" door in a pattern Frank did not recognize. As Gerard knocked, Frank listened; One, two, three, pause… one, two, three, four, Gerard banged before throwing his body weight down onto the knob, and his shoulder into the door, forcing it to swing open.

Frank’s stomach jumped again, he had felt strange and was in a daze since he woke up but the sight of a fully working electronics store that wasn't completely destroyed restored a small amount of serotonin in Frank's brain.

"FRESH MEAT!" Gerard’s voice echoed throughout the store while the door behind them slammed and locked shut. Frank and Gerard loomed over the store, taking in each aisles number and what they offered. "Here," Gerard nudged for Frank to follow him down the stairs to the left.

The left and right sides of this small loft offered a staircase leading down into the main store. The loft held a break room next to the right staircase, while the left stairs offered a dual, gender-neutral bathroom.

Frank followed Gerard as Gerard led him through the store. Frank’s eyes moved from left to right and back again as kitchen appliances, rows of computers, aisles overflowing with video games and movies, and working televisions littered this building. Everything was only half lit, some aisles loomed in gray or black shadows that made Frank's skin crawl.

Although each aisle looked mostly empty, Frank couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. He shuddered.

Frank was pulled back to reality by Gerard loudly gut laughing at him, Gerard had slowed down to walk next to Frank and watch as he continuously became distracted. Frank blushed again and hoped the redness from the liquor hadn't worn off yet.

Gerard hooked his arm around Frank's waist and pulled their hips together. An electric shock laced through Frank's leg as he felt Gerard's fingers push into his belt loops, feeling his cold, gloved finger rub slightly above his underwear line against his skin, the feeling found its way up through his gut and to his chest.

"Just be nice, aight?" As Gerard looked down at Frank, his eyes shimmered, or maybe it was the light bulbs that were half on, Frank couldn't tell.

When days became blurred between being drunk or being hungover, Frank's emotions began to become numb. But this half lit building raised an eerie feeling within him while Gerard's touch and watchful side-eye made Frank feel safe, and unlawfully horny.

He pushed down the thought of being with Gerard and attempted to focus on being thankful of Gerard, "Hey," Frank stopped them both. But Gerard kept his hand around Frank's waist, even though it was just by the fingertips, "I just wanted to say thank you. Before I meet everyone, I just want you to know…" Frank paused, and took a deep breath, Gerard's fingers still touching his stomach sent short electric volts through his torso. "I am… glad that we met." Gerard smiled, "I… I appreciate that we met before I died." Gerard laughed and Frank couldn't help but mimic.

"I had a good feeling about you, Frank." Gerard's voice was serious, but he held the joy. "Thanks for being trustworthy." Gerard squeezed Frank's hip and he twitched again. Gerard just gave him a coy smile and lowered eyes. "Com'on, I already yelled, they're gonna wonder where we are," Gerard rolled his eyes, "or not."

Frank was yanked along by the shoulders by Gerard to the back of the store, it became completely dark until they went through large Employee's Only doors. The back room was totally lit up, all doors and windows were barred, and it looked lived in.

Empty food packaging scattered across the coffee table, three large black couches all sat facing on three sides of the coffee table. The free side faced towards a large flat screen tv that played a news channel Frank wasn't familiar with.

One man, with dirty-blonde hair, a long face, and a twig body, was laying on his stomach on the couch to the right. His head on the end of the couch closest to the tv, his neck over stretched to watch. His skin was pale gypsum with a few large marks slashed across his right cheek, Gerard's was similar but smooth and unmarked, Frank felt uneasy and unwelcomed.

A tall head peaked out from the left end of the couch that faced directly across from the TV. His hair was dark brown and very curly, even though it was pulled back into a low ponytail, it still reached just past his shoulders and looked thick and greasy. This stranger's back was to them completely but Frank still received a better feeling from this guy.

Gerard cleared his throat and both men looked towards them. The man with ponytail whipped around and greeted them both with a huge, contagious grin. He had darker skin then Gerard and the other man, with eyes that were so deep he felt like he could get lost in them.

The man with the ponytail nearly ran from his couch to embrace Gerard in a large, off the floor hug.

When Frank lost contact with Gerard, he felt a small hole in his stomach.

But Gerard laughed and expressed joy alongside the stranger while the pale, skinny man slowly stood up.

The stranger's true height wasn't obvious until he got closer to Frank and Gerard.

Frank knew he was shorter than most, but Gerard wasn't even half a foot taller than him so he wasn't intimidated, but the pale stranger towered over everyone. And, although he had a small center, his jacket looked snug at the shoulders.

A smile broke the pale strangers face as Gerard and him embraced as well. The other friend took a few steps back, but began to make his way around the embraced pair when Frank met his gaze.

The man with the ponytail stuck out his hand, "Hey, name's Ray. If Gerard trusts you, I got your back." Ray slapped Frank hard on the back as well, and Frank wondered if this was west coast culture.

Frank chuckled but turned his attention back towards what Gerard was saying quietly with the pale stranger, Ray seemed too entranced in Gerard's survival to care much about meeting Frank.

It didn’t take long for Frank to become isolated. He stood awkwardly nearby as the three spoke in soft voices. Frank shoved his hands in his pockets and examined the blocked off area they seemed to have inhabited.

The room was large but mostly empty, it looked like it could have been the area for electronics but only one television was hung up and turned on. Numerous electronics were smashed or destroyed and seemed to have been swept into the edges of the room. Frank was caught by the news again, but there was no mention of whatever-the-fuck he just escaped.

Instead, the blonde news woman was split-screening with four celebrities about the film they were currently in. Frank scoffed and turned away, he glanced over at the men again and it seemed like an agreement was made. Gerard was smiling and slapped the tallest man on the shoulder before immediately making eye contact with Frank. Gerard waved to him, and Frank followed. Ray walked off through a door without saying a word.

“Frank, this is Mikey, my younger brother.” Mikey seemed to tower everyone in strength and height, he was intimidating and standoffish. Frank raised his hand to shake Mikey’s, but casually turned it into a wave when Mikey stood like a statue. “Mikey, this is Frank.”

“You bit?” Mikey shocked Frank with his slightly higher pitched voice.

Frank looked at Gerard, then back at Mikey. “Uh-”

“Can you use a weapon?”

“Well I-”

“Do you fight? I mean…” Mikey held his hand up, palm down, and pushed down in order to mimic Frank being small. Gerard giggled at this, but Frank stood his ground.

“Look, I know I don’t look like much, but I can swing a bat, and me being shorter just means I can hide better.” By the end of Frank's rant, he put a finger comically onto Mikey’s chest while Gerard giggled next to them.

But Mikey didn’t break, he didn’t even blink and the silence between them lasted uncomfortably long. Gerard’s giggles died fast.

“Don’t hold us back.” Was the last thing Mikey said before turning and walking away through the same door Ray disappeared through.

“Hey,” Gerard grabbed Frank around the shoulders. “Don’t take it personally. We’ve lost a couple of friends and… Mikey is tough.” Before Frank could respond, Ray walked back out with an armful of what looked like blankets.

He dropped them onto one of the couches and sighed to catch his breath before spreading his arms out to present what he arrived with. “We were mostly able to get blankets, but we did have some extra pillow cases so we can just make a makeshift bed for ya.”

Frank waved his arms back and forth in front of his chest, “Oh! No, no, you really don’t have to-” As he took a step back, Gerard grabbed him around the waist again and Frank felt weak again.

“Hey! Give us a chance, we're not gonna kill ya.” Gerard deviously smiled, “Yous helps me, I helps yous.” His Jersey accent was bad but it made Frank laugh and relax. “If you want to leave in the morning, no hard feelings. But, if you, for-some-reason-or-another, decide you wanted to stay…” Gerard wagged his eyebrows. “Just help out finding your own food and we’ll all keep each other alive.”

“Oh, and you definitely don’t have to sleep on these sofas,” Ray took their attention as he stroked the black leather. “I tried to sleep on these the first night we got here-”

Gerard interrupted him.

“He fell asleep watching-”

“A Movie. Thank you.” Ray held his pointer to his thumb at Gerard before turning back to Frank. “I swear I couldn’t move my neck for three days. I can show you where we’re sleeping but there isn't much space left.”

Frank looked at Gerard, almost for approval, before following Ray's guided store tour that began in the room they stood in. Once Frank stood next to him, Ray took three steps into the living room, spun on his heel, and spread his arms eagle, “This is the living area! We usually watch TV, eat, and gather here to plan where we’re going next.” Ray walked back up to Frank and past him, motioning for him to follow.

Ray led him through the doorway he saw Mikey follow Ray down earlier. It led into a hallway with small offices on either side. Ray walked them down the hall, the end was clearly cut off by a bright red EXIT sign above two huge double doors that they had piled heavy appliances in front of.

Each room Ray would point to wasn’t actually dedicated to anything, he just gave a general gist of how they’ve been using the space.

Each of them had their own cubicle that they recreated into a makeshift sleeping area leaving only three extra cubicles, all of which either had no blinds or broken ones. The three of them had curtains they were bringing from each location, Ray explained. It was easier to continue bringing their own stuff from location to location rather than trying to find new stuff each time, but they had to travel light since they’ve been on foot.

“So why do you guys do this?” Ray had just finished showing what he did to his cubicle, without any windows there was just a makeshift bed hidden under three broken down desks with a couple of books and a notebook stacked next to it, when Frank spoke.

Ray only shrugged, “When our city had the outbreak, all of our news stations basically just said there was nothing to worry about but Mikey and Gerard actually had their house attacked…” Ray’s voice lowered. “We had all been chatting about it for a week before the outbreak really took over… We’ve lost a lot of people.”

“I guess I understand that part, but why wouldn’t you guys run? Find a city that’s safe?”

“Well the outbreak only started a little over a week ago, that’s why everyone is reluctant to talk about it. When we did try to tell people they told us we were overreacting about a “basic flu”.” Ray did air quotes with his fingers.

Frank’s head was spinning. He had heard some news about people getting sick but it didn’t seem serious at the time and he dropped the thought. Now, it felt like the previous night's party happened even years ago.

“Hey, man, you okay?” Frank thought he could feel Ray’s hand on his shoulder but he might have just seen Ray reach towards him because his vision started to fuzz black around the edges and he lost total control of his body. Frank dropped hard onto his side, his hip taking the brunt of the floor while his head almost went through the drywall.

His limbs all felt like they fell asleep simultaneously and his brain put him back into bed, before he woke up. The blurring corners of his vision began to cave in and make his breathing pick up. Ringing filled his ears and all he saw was black.

---

Frank's senses eventually, slowly came back. The ringing became so loud that a headache developed as the ringing toned itself out. His vision came back slowly from the center, the black blurs receding from his vision again.

Ray was the first thing to come back into view, his face etched with fear and concern that melted into relief as Frank’s eyes stopped rolling. “Here,” Before Frank could think, Ray had a chocolate bar held out towards him. “It’ll help you feel better.”

Frank forced his arm up and pushed the chocolate into his mouth, letting it melt on his tongue. Gerard and Mikey were standing by too, Gerard was picking at his cuticles as he watched Frank come to. Mikey was expressionless and closed himself back into his room before Frank was able to push himself back up, with Ray’s help.

“S-Sorry about that… I forgot I haven’t… Haven’t had food today.” Gerard tsked and shook his head while turning and walking back out to the main area.

“It’s alright, man, this is kind of a crazy situation anyways so I don’t blame ya! It’s overwhelming.” Ray was helping Frank adjust more than he anticipated. When Gerard held the gun to his face, he was afraid that was going to be it. Now, he feared he was going to die from lack of care for himself. “We should get some food into you though, come on,” Ray clutched Frank’s elbow and wrapped an arm around his waist to hoist him to his feet. “I’ll show you where the kitchen is.” Frank stumbled a little, his stomach turning as he gathered his footing. He leaned deeper into Ray than he wanted to as they hobbled off towards the main room again.

That's when he noticed how much more depth his eyes had. They were as dark as calla lilies but interwoven with a soft amber around the rims. His nose was noticeably crooked now that Frank was so close, it pushed the bridge out and off to the side. His cheek bones were high and his cheeks were sunken in, he noticed a few small scars around his eyes too but decided now was not the time to ask. He looked like he really worked out, it intimidated Frank, and turned him on. Frank assumed that was how he was able to drag him through the hall.

As they walked through the main area, past the couches and television that still displayed a news station that was reporting on some state fair nearby.

The smell of cooked pizza began wafting through as Ray led him into the next room which was full of kitchen appliances, a makeshift kitchen was created where they clearly pushed appliances together around the same electrical outlets so everything was able to run.

Gerard was sitting in an armchair with his feet up on the counters next to the stove. He turned to look when Ray and Frank stumbled in. Gerard jumped up and offered Frank the seat with both his arms.

“I’m making the pizza we found, it’s pretty much thawed anyways. We’re going to have to make sure you don’t go down like that again.” Frank got comfortable in the chair before beginning to feel somewhat normal again. Ray and Gerard stood by with their hands in their pockets.

“Thanks, again, guys. You… You totally did not have to go through all of this for a stranger.” Ray waved him off with a scrunched face.

“Don’t thank us, man, the world is kind of falling apart around us, we’d rather keep others like us alive.” Frank and Ray exchanged smiles.

“So, have you decided where you want to sleep?” Gerard butted in. “Ray and I could set you up while you hang out?”

Frank hadn’t decided where to sleep, his brain was still foggy from fainting and he had nearly forgotten everything Ray was telling him before he dropped.

“I think I’ll just… take the couch… for tonight…” Frank nodded, “Yeah, the couch, that’s fine.”

Ray shrugged, “Aight, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya!” He laughed before heading out, Gerard lingered behind.

“Are you sure you’re good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for the concern, Ray’s chocolate actually helped more than I thought it would.”

Gerard chuckled, “He always has some too, I never know how he keeps finding it. Well, the stove will beep when the pizza’s done if we aren’t back.” Frank nodded in understanding while he watched Gerard follow Ray back to the living area.

The three of them had dinner on the couches, Mikey took a couple of slices and left to eat them in his room, alone. Each person only had two slices, but they exchanged bags of chips and other snacks to help fill themselves up. Mikey didn’t come back out for the rest of the night, Gerard told Frank he would warm up eventually, “They’ve just gone through some shit” was how Gerard described it.

---

When Frank woke up the next morning, before he even moved, he regretted staying on the couch. He remembered falling asleep on his side, but when he woke up the top half of his body was hanging off the side, his head was light from too much blood rushing to it and his neck was so stiff it cracked the entire time he readjusted.

The other three were situated in the makeshift kitchen in all different chairs munching on something small. None of them had noticed Frank wake up as they were enveloped by their own whispers.

Frank pushed himself from the couch and made his way in. Ray and Gerard greeted him happily while Mikey stared down at his food. “Help yourself, it isn’t much but it’ll get us by.” Ray motioned for a pan on the stove, Frank moved over and felt the pan, it was still warm. The other three didn’t pick their conversation back up.

Someone had left the lid off of a saute pan, inside was what looked like, and smelled like, crispy meat and potatoes. Frank poked it with the serving spoon a little before serving himself. It wasn't his first choice, but once he got comfortably seated with the rest of the group, he forked a mouthful into his face.

Intense flavors exploded on his tongue as he ate, he didn’t even notice how cold the food was. He forked down a few mouthfuls messily before realizing everyone was staring at him. Although expressionless, Theo also starred.

Gerard looked pleasantly surprised, but Ray seemed excitable. “What do you think? Do you like it?” Frank nodded, mouth full as he chewed and held another forkful to his face. Raj seemed to straighten up and looked proud of himself as he graciously scraped his bowl clean. Frank followed quickly after, even beating Mikey and Gerard.

“What was that? It was amazing.” Frank wiped his face clean before realizing Gerard and Ray were wide eyed.

“You’re never had hash before?” Ray questioned and Frank returned the wide eyed look, “I mean, I know it tastes a little different but-”

“Hash? Did you put weed in the meat or something?” Mikey chuckled before gathering his breakfast and cleaning up. It was the first time Frank saw him crack a smile.

Ray and Gerard shared a hearty chuckle before Ray got serious. Gerard broke eye contact to continue eating, Ray had the stage.

“Hash is a classic culinary dish that is typically composed of chopped meat, potatoes, and onions all cooked together on a skillet.” Even though Frank had just finished his plate and felt full, his mouth couldn’t help but salivate at the description. “Usually it’s made with corned beef, but we were only able to find ground.”

“I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like, so however you did it was amazing.” Ray chuckled again at this and thanked Frank. Gerard stood up with all of their bowls and went to the sink to begin cleaning them.

“Well, since I had to use ground beef instead, I put it all together myself! Usually this is a camping staple, it usually comes in a can,” Ray showed Frank the rough dimensions of the can with his hands. “My family will just drop it onto a skillet that sits over a fire, throw in some frozen potatoes and let it roast with peppers and onions, mmmm… My family's special seasoning blend is the best part.” Frank noticed how Ray was talking and wondered if his family was a part of the list of people they’ve lost or not.

Ray was sucked into his memory, a daydream, where fire crackled warm against his feet. The wind pushing the smoke away was Ray’s favorite part, but it always chilled him. He would hug his sweater tighter, as if it made a difference. The Arizona heat made his heart ache for the cold Oregon autumn he was missing.

Gerard grabbed his shoulder and brought him back, Frank didn’t seem to notice Ray had been daydreaming for a few minutes, or at least he made it look like he didn’t care. “Ray mentioned yesterday that you guys have been doing this for a little over a week? How is that even possible?”

“Look, I know it’s confusing, but it’ll be easier to swallow if you go slow.” Gerard held up his hands in defense.

“We’ve only been following the virus for about a week physically, we were all watching it before it escaped the lab. Mikey used to work there, until he quit in protest.”

“Okay… so where are you guys from?”

“Oregon, a city that’s, like… forty-five minutes from Salem.”

“And the lab was in your hometown?”

“Well…” Ray and Gerard exchanged looks. “Sort of?”

“We lived a ways away from Salem, but we all spent most of our time there.” Gerard explained. “Mikey and I share a car, so whenever I’d drive him to work, Ray and I would just get together and hang out until he was done.”

“Oh… kay…”

“When the virus finally hit, Mikey, Ray and I all took my car and ran when we could. We waited a few days for the moaners to clear out.”

“MOANers?” Gerard nodded, “Why wouldn’t you just call them zombies?”

“Zombies just feels…” Gerard looked away and tapped his chin in thought. “Overdone?” He said after several seconds.

“Well ‘MOANers’ isn’t exactly great either.” Frank rolled his eyes.

“Regardless! Of what they’re called,” Ray snapped. “When we heard the virus got out, we tried to tell people but no one listened. We had our jobs hit,” Ray pointed his finger between himself and Gerard. “We were only home a couple of days before our houses were hit. Mikey and Gerard came to my place, I lived alone and had to sleep with white noise so the creatures mostly stayed away.”

Frank could tell it was difficult for the boys to talk about what happened, so he stopped prying. “So… How do you guys know where to go?” The mood shifted easily.

“We just keep the news on all the time.” Ray shrugged, “Usually we can tell when a nearby town is hit when the channel goes to static. It helps too because it pushes the creatures away, so it’s safer for us to leave.” Frank slowly nodded along.

“Are you guys going somewhere or…?”

“There’s rumors of a safe town being built up right now, the rumors claim the walls are strong and almost all up.” Gerard bragged. “When I heard last, it was being made in the middle of Wisconsin.”

“The great cheese state!” Ray added.

"Uh, I think you mean The Great Drinking State." Gerard and Ray laughed together.

“So, when do we leave?” Frank didn't mean to kill the fun, but his anxiety was rising without him realizing it.

Gerard sat back down, “Hold your horses, bud. These are just rumors we’ve heard.” Gerard held up his phone, the screen showed a forum with the title Possible Safe Building for “Zombies” Begins in Wisconsin. “Most of the comments are calling the builders paranoid and conspiracy theorists, but it hasn’t hit them yet. A lot of people online are chalkin’ this up to be like those clowns back in twenty-sixteen. This article interviewed someone who was in Cali, they made it back home and tried to tell the story about what happened.” Gerard was scrolling through the page, reading out loud anything that had to do with the virus.

Frank laughed, “So, even with evidence circulating online, people still think this is a prank?” He shook his head distressfully.

“I mean, are you surprised?” Ray cut in, Frank just kept shaking his head.

“Yeah, so, Wisconsin is our main goal, but we have to wait until they either realize the moaners are real-”

“Please… they are zombies.” Frank cut in.

“Everyone has their own name-”

“But they don’t rhyme with boners, Gerard!” Gerard’s lips tightened for a moment before relaxing and continuing his conversation.

“We wait until they realize they are real, or they get hit and we inevitably will follow the virus to them.” Gerard started playing around on his phone.

“Okay… that makes sense?”

“It does, see what we do is we stop in each town and pick up little things that we can easily carry with us.” Ray cut in, “It keeps us light on our feet but we always have exactly what we need.”

“No, that makes sense, I might’ve overfilled my bag already, but how did you guys make it all the way to Nevada from Oregon without a car?” Frank’s question sounded more like a statement.

“Oh we had a car, but we had to leave it behind. We actually lost it not too far from here, it was a long walk but once we found this place, it was totally worth it. That’s why we carry light, just enough food to get by each day, but we keep clothes, sheets, our phones, ya know?” Ray explained.

“I… I literally cannot wrap my head around how people could think this is a joke...”

“No idea,” Gerard started to play on his phone again before showing Frank a new screen. This time it was a news website. “This city is only about two hours away, it’ll bring us to the border of Nevada and Arizona.”

“What does their news website have to do with this? They aren’t reporting on anything.”

“That’s the point. Their last article was yesterday night, we checked their stations and everything’s static. This is our next destination, our main goal is to get through Utah, but this was the next closest city to be hit.”

“Do you know where we are? I was at a Hilton when I woke up, it was about two hours from here but I really wasn’t sure where I was going.” Frank explained.

“Did you not use your GPS?” Ray asked, but Frank was too embarrassed to admit he lost it the night he was attacked.

“I don’t have a phone.” A wide grin spread across Ray’s face as he spread his arms wide.

“It’s a great thing we’re in an electronics store!” Ray hopped up and out of the room, Gerard stood too.

“Wait, do they have burners or something here?”

“Well, yes, but phone companies do still exist, Frank.” Gerard smirked at him, making Frank blush. “We go through a company so we can get GPS and internet access. Come on,” Gerard motioned for Frank to follow. “Let's grab a phone and get you added to our service.”

For the next half an hour everyone was was quickly gathering their belongings into packs and moving it into a pile on the table in the common area. The makeshift kitchen was left with food scraps and dirty dishes, Frank watched it wistfully as the rest dropped onto the couches around him eventually, Gerard choosing the cushion next to him. Gerard was concentrated on his phone, clicking around while chewing his lip. He paused a minute and looked at Ray who suddenly tossed a phone at Gerard, who caught it just as smoothly.

He turned the phone on and continued to click around on his own for around twenty minutes before tossing the phone at Frank, who fumbled the catch. "There ya go." Was all Gerard said before playing on his phone and leaning back casually.

"How..."

"Oh, phone providers are still up, they have businesses everywhere." He turned his phone towards Frank to show a providers app open with five different phone lines with names on them, Frank avoided asking who was the fifth. Gerard took his phone back. "Corporations are using these outages to their advantage... you aren't seriously surprised, right?" Frank's mouth hung open slightly, he closed it once Gerard pointed it out. "They're still making money off of all these people even though they're dead. Their automatic payments don't stop coming through."

"You said radio stations go static, news stations going out is literally how you told me you travel."

"Those are all ground stations," Gerard held his hand flat in front of them. "They're grounded..." Mikey snorted from the couch across from Frank, but Frank chose to ignore him and go back to the device Gerard gave him. Cell phones were not an archaic technology to Frank, he just did not care enough to use one in the way most people did.

Before he lost his, or just left it somewhere, Frank rolled his eyes at himself and shrugged himself off. Focus. He opened the contacts and stared at the numbers. His own old number repeating over and over in his head. "Uh-" He broke the silence and everyone looked at him. "What's my new number, again?" Gerard smirked and pressed a few buttons on his phone again before turning the screen towards Frank. He quickly typed the numbers and cut the text, quickly pasting it into a notes app that came with the phone. "Thanks."

Frank sat there, staring at his phone, the only numbers he had memorized were his own parents, but they were not the type to respond quick- or at all. The voice in the back of his head was back. He rolled his eyes. His parents and him had quite a few falling outs over the years but nothing was unmendable.

Chapter 4

Summary:

my girls have arrived

The truck could only fit two comfortably, three if they squeezed, Ray and Mikey decided to take the trunk since they were both large in the shoulders. The roads were far from clear on the way to their next city, Gerard called it Mesq “With a Q”. He spoke with an accent that sounded like a cowboy impersonating a French man that made Frank laugh.

They drove slowly through large pile-ups, around bodies and potholes. Frank hung his arm out the window while Gerard drove. They didn’t come across many undead that were still walking, but when they did, Ray or Mikey would usually wind up their bats and spike their heads. Frank’s gut twisted every time one’s head blew up, he wasn’t able to comprehend how they were so okay with murder.

He checked his phone over and over again, but there were no new notifications. Frank wasn’t the type of person who was on social media, he barely gave anyone his phone number. But it was over forty-eight hours since he was in contact with anyone he knew, so he had forced himself to reach out. If Gerard was telling the truth, New Jersey wouldn’t have been hit yet, The Virus was barely into Utah.

His first outgoing text was to a group chat he created with his parents and brother, at first he had no idea what to even say to them. He wasn't the type to reach out, but he told them he would let them know when he got back from this trip, which was supposed to be the previous day. He texted them as the group was piling their stuff into the truck. Frank sat in the passenger side with his duffle at his feet. He stared at the phone for a long time, typing up whole texts just to hate them and delete it all. Eventually, he settled with “Got caught up, not sure when I'll be back. Get to safety, if you’ve heard about the zombies, they’re real.” Now, they’d been driving for almost an hour and he hadn’t heard anything back. Frank gnawed at his lip but shoved his phone back into his pocket, attempting to push away the thought of his family.

Gerard glanced over casually, his sunglasses hid it from Frank. The handful of CD’s Frank discovered in the truck earlier didn’t satisfy Gerard, but he always kept two albums with him, he expressed they are "essential to him no matter the circumstances"; The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and Nirvana’s In Utero. They weren’t Frank’s favorite, but he didn’t judge. He wondered whether or not the music choice was why Ray and Mikey offered Frank the front.

Besides the numerous pile-ups everywhere, the skies were clear, the desert stretched far and the mountains cooked in the sunlight. As they drove, the trees got thicker and grass began to cover the ground. They drove almost an hour and a half before seeing the city sign they were looking for. They slowed down in front of it. A truck has driven through half of the sign, leaving just M-E-S-Q. Frank wondered if Gerard had scouted up here without him knowing, when he checked the map on his phone, it said they were in a city called Mesquite, but he continued to refer to it as Mesq, mimicking Gerard's bad accent every time.

A church had finished burning to their left, all that was left was charred pews, blackened ceiling beams had smashed into the confessionals and steeple. The giant marble crucifix with Jesus was still standing, though blacked from the smoke. A green field began to spread in front of them on the opposite side. Gerard had slowed as they drove into the city. A burning police car was turned over in the middle of the street they were following with more cars on either side like a barricade, bodies were everywhere, a semi was tipped over, crushing a few cars, a patch of cacti and more body parts. Between each mountain pass, Frank was able to see they followed a river and before long the mountains fell.

“I think we made it…” Frank’s low voice reached out the window to Ray and Mikey in the bed.

Ray turned his head in towards the truck's back window, “Guys, is that a golf course?”

Gerard chuckled menacingly, “I think you might be right!” He sped the car up, Frank gripping the handle above his door. Mikey got off his butt and started squatting in the trunk, looking like a meerkats making sure it's safe to keep going, while Ray used his arm to hold on to the frame around them. Gerard swerved around some bodies but drove over ones that were macerated and unrecognizable.

They followed the golf course until it ended, then they took the first ramp off highway 15 and quickly found the entrance to the course. The course reminded Frank of the hotel he woke up in. It wasn’t free from bodies and blood but there was a lot less dead here than the last few cities he'd gone through.

“Okay, before we settle here, we’re going to drive around a little bit,” Gerard explained to everyone but mostly for Frank. “We scope the neighborhood out in the truck first, for an easier getaway. This truck is… louder than what we like but at least we can outrun them.” Frank nodded in understanding and Gerard went past the course.

They didn’t go too far, another church was surrounded by a neighborhood that spanned three blocks. They turned down a street and Gerard instantly noticed a half eaten woman who was being dragged by three dogs, the dog's leashes were tied to her wrist, “I don’t think we’re in a safe-zone anymore…” Gerard grumbled.

Frank had his chin resting against the open window as he watched the zombies stand around, fumbling in their yards, he even noticed some inside the windows just staring at their tv’s that still aired reruns of pre scheduled shows. Occasionally one would notice they were driving past and Ray or Mikey would have to wind their bats up again. Ray made a joke about mailboxes and zombie heads feeling the same against a bat, but Frank’s ears were ringing as Rape Me by Nirvana played for the nth time. It wasn’t loud, but to Frank it sounded like the volume was on max.

Frank’s ears rang more, the truck's buzz was gone and he saw black fuzz around his vision again. Kurt Cobain’s voice moaned “rape meeee…… rape meeeee, again……….”, the louder his voice became, the more muffled it sounded. Eventually Kurt’s repeated screaming made Frank feel like he was at a bad house party, trapped in the bathroom while the music pounds at the door. A memory attempted to form, but Frank fought back. As his vision blackened slightly more, he whipped his head up and around to look at Gerard. Gerard wasn’t singing anymore, he definitely didn’t look relaxed.

The bathroom Frank felt trapped in shrunk and his breathing got hard. Claustrophobia suddenly kicked in, Frank didn’t feel claustrophobic often, he knew he didn’t know how to handle it as his body grew hot and his head felt light. Anger bubbled in his chest like a cauldron about to boil over. He smashed the eject CD button and threw the CD down to Gerard’s feet. He turned back out the window, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in while a thick gust of air blew into his face.

Crunching gravel prevented a silence from happening, and it happened too fast for Gerard to realize what was going on. Frank opened his eyes again and turned back to Gerard, he pretended not to notice Ray and Mikey also staring in at them. “Sorry. Sorry, I just- It- Ugh.” Frank took a deep breath. “We’ve listened to that song a lot.” Frank’s head hung. Ray and Mikey quickly turned their backs to them again.

“Hey,” Gerard stretched his arm out and grabbed Frank’s leg. “You’re safe with us, there’s only a couple of us left, we gotta stick together.”

The cruise ended early when the truck coughed. Every zombie at the six closest houses whipped their heads towards the truck. Gerard cursed under his breath and grabbed the wheel with both hands, the zombies began approaching quicker than before stumbling over their own feet, some dropped hard onto their faces as they ran.

Frank frantically looked around in front of them, attempting to remember which way the golf course was.

A handful of loud snapping sounds came from nearby, "Uh… guys?" Ray's voice sounded panicked.

"Yeah?" Gerard yelled back, Frank checked the mirrors but didn't see anything.

"The house with the red shutters!" Frank saw Ray pointing towards a house.

"A good couple of these houses have red shutters, dude!" Gerard hadn't noticed Ray pointing, but Frank moved to stick his head out the back window to see which house it was.

A pack of hunchback creatures on all four paws were creeping out of a nearby home. Most of their jaws were intact and drooling a mix of saliva and blood. The creatures seemed to be dog-like, but most had chewed off tails or ears, and some of their legs were swollen with muscle. They were a sickly ash-brown color with huge circular lesions all over their bodies that were most likely bites that got infected. One of the creatures was much larger than the rest, thick with muscle but still covered in lesions, this ones skin was drooping and slopping off onto the ground. This one was also missing it's entire snout, a weird array of teeth protruded from the chunk of meat that was left of his face.

Their eyes traced the truck as the group stared. Swollen bloodshot eyes with little white left, their irises almost glowed neon yellow at certain angles.

The ones that were able to snarled and snapped, Gerard had slowed the car unintentionally as he was distracted by the hyena-esc scene developing before them.

“You guys never mentioned zombie animals!” Frank’s frantic voice cut Gerard back to real life. A zombie screamed as it slammed its arms against the hood of the truck, all of them had been so distracted with what was behind them, they didn't realize the zombies were closing in. Francis realized quickly he was trapped.

In one swift move, Gerard shook his head, grabbed the wheel with both hands and said, “We didn’t know about them, either” before smashing his foot into the gas pedal. The zombie on the hood slid off and Gerard turned the wheels around it, crushing it's legs and making the truck jump on one side.

Frank fumbled with his phone to get a map up again, Ray was making frantic sounds behind him that he couldn’t make out while Mikey stayed virtually silent as he smashed the zombie from the hoods head and watched the hungry beasts barrelling down the road at us.

The houses all looked the same as they rounded the corner and Gerard turning down every random turn he could didn’t help. To them, it felt like an infinite loop until ever so often the sound of a loud smash and pop as one would get too close and Mikey would use its skull for batting practice.

“Take a left!!” Frank’s arm shot up over Gerard’s vision. Gerard slapped his arm down, swerving off the road momentarily.

“Where?!”

“HERE!” Frank grabbed the wheel this time and twisted it, Gerard felt a slight burn and the whole truck tipped more as Mikey got onto his knees and nearly hung out the side of the truck bed. Frank looked out the back window, “Mikey, I know we’re in danger, but can you sit FOR FIVE MINUTES?!” His anger was bubbling up and he knew it was the lack of alcohol.

Mikey’s stern face, although emotionless, sent a cold chill down Frank’s spin when they finally met eyes. “Drive better, I’m the only reason you’re alive right now.” Mikey turned away without giving Frank a second thought, only making Frank’s alcoholic anger boil. Ray was incoherently yelling still as he smashed down two more zombie dogs that had attempted to bite him.

The golf course began emerging from the horizon like a mirage and Frank began laughing with relief. Gerard looked over at him a couple of times, unsure of how to respond as he noticed Frank was silently weeping as he laughed.

Gerard checked the rearview, Mikey and Ray had taken out a good few dogs, he could only see four left. Each of them were running at different paces, snapping at the wheels and the back bumper. The most muscular one was staying behind the pack, Mikey had been watching that one since the houses. When it wasn't the first to attack, Mikey became suspicious.

“Give me your gun.” Frank held his hand out to Gerard, who was frantically looking back and forth between the road and mirrors.

“What?”

“Give me your shotgun!” Frank pointed at it.

“I can’t,” Gerard grabbed the gun and wiggled, it was seemingly stuck between his seat and the car door.

“You didn’t notice?!”

“We were driving for TWO HOURS!”

“GUYS!!” The sound of a loud popping made Frank and Gerard stop and turn to Mikey. He smashed another dog down, now only three were chasing. Ray was waiting for his moment to hit another. “The golf building is open.”

Gerard and Frank followed Mikey’s point to see a giant gate to an employee’s only parking lot was now totally open, tall brick fences protected the lot and two people stood just inside the gates. They were getting close, “You need to slow down!” Frank shouted, a splattering pop interrupted him and he winced. Only one dog was left.

Gerard let up his foot and let the car cruise to a slower speed, the dog was bounding at them now, snarling disgustingly with saliva and blood splattering everywhere. Ray and Mikey both got onto their knees and readied their aim as the final dog came at them. The two bats greeted one another after a loud splattering pop, aluminum meeting wood, the wood splintered loudly.

The final dogs head was gone and it's body slumped. Gerard and Frank attempted to catch a glimpse of the dog when Ray screeched. The creatures legs continued to run. At first they slowed and nearly stopped, but they quickly started running in place as if it was still going after them. Then the body started to wiggly more and Ray yelled about needing to get moving.

They rolled up to the golf course parking lot, carts and RV’s were littering the space. A large gate that separated the lot from the street closed behind them.

Two women stood together in matching uniforms, guns held defensively towards the truck. The truck slowed and came to a stop right in front of them, the women stood motionless but the gate behind them creaked shut.

Gerard gave them a wide grin and energetic wave. As either girl walked around each side of the truck, they demanded everyone get out, drop their weapons and undress. With very little protest, the group complied. Ray and Mikey left their bats in the trunk and raised their hands as they hopped out, Gerard and Frank flashed the girls their weapons before placing them on their sits.

"Make sure the gun isn't stuck next time..." Frank whispered to Gerard as they were putting their weapons back. Gerard's face went red before they turned their backs to each other.

"No! Not out here!" One of the girls exclaimed, everyone turned to look and saw Ray was taking his shirt off in front of the shorter of the two girls. "Go inside." She hid behind one hand as she pointed forward into the garage with her gun. Ray slid his shirt back down, chuckling before starting forward. Each girl stood behind two of the guys with their guns to their backs.

The girls introduced themselves as Scarlet and Charlotte, both had been employees and working when the virus came through. Their uniforms looked clean enough minus a few bruises and some torn seams. They made the men strip to check for bites, “Our boss turned after he claimed he wasn’t bitten,” Scarlet huffed out as the group got their redressed.

“We knew we couldn’t trust him, we won’t be that dumb again.” Charlotte finished and both girls sneered together at the thought of their now-zombified boss. They kept their guns pointed at the group, but brought them back outside to grab their weapons.

When the girls first introduced themselves, they had to reassure the group they were not related. Although, to the guys, they looked as though they could be twins, they looked exactly the same yet completely different.

Scarlet was nearly a foot and a half shorter than Charlotte, Charlotte’s small but long arms resembled slender man whereas Scarlet's short, round body was closer to the Venus of Willendorf. Scarlet kept her hair long and blonde whereas Charlotte’s was short and very clearly dyed a bright red. Charlotte kept her face bare, Scarlet, although smudged, still had a full face of make-up with lashes still attached.

Charlotte led the group, Scarlet followed behind everyone, through a small lobby area, then a hallway and a few doors. A small grouping of cubicles had been dismembered and recreated into a good sized barracked room. They had two makeshift beds made out of two couches and a handful of loveseats. A mini-fridge still ran in the corner next to a floor fan that wasn’t on, they had dismembered some of the desks in order to cover more of the windows that faced outside much like what the guys had done at their warehouse.

Maybe this group getting bigger is a good thing... Frank's head swam as everyone filed into the room. It felt cramped even with Frank and Ray standing by the door.

Gerard and Mikey each found a hole in the blinds to peer through and saw the perfectly manicured green stretch for miles; they couldn’t see the end. The green also had a handful of zombified people lingering slowly, a couple golf carts were overturned, some with struggling and unmoving zombies stuck under them.

“Oh hey, if you see the fat, old, bald man with the giant “fuck-you” hat, that’s our boss.” Scarlet chuckled, not holding back.

“Yeah, we weren’t really able to kill him…” Charlotte added, quietly.

“Well, how many are out there? There’s six of us now, I’m sure one moaner can’t take six of us.” Gerard wondered out loud innocently.

“Well I can tell there’s more than-” Mikey began speaking when Charlotte and Scarlet busted out laughing.

“Did you just say MOANers?!” Charlotte howled, Scarlet held her stomach.

“I told him it was bad.” Frank interjected, Ray snickered next to him but covered his mouth with his hand.

“God, do most men only ever think with their dick?” Scarlet wiped a tear from her face.

“What do you mean?!” Gerard pulled from the window defensively, Mikey ignored him and continued to search outside.

“It sounds like boner!” Charlotte and Scarlet made each other laugh again.

“I told you.” Frank looked at Gerard who was red in cheeks but not backing down.

“Okay then what would you rather call them? Zombies like every other cliche?! Who even says they qualify as zombies?!” Gerard was throwing his hands around as he spoke.

“That's what they are!” Scarlet, Charlotte, and Frank all said in unison causing Scarlet and Charlotte to start giggling. Frank didn’t take his eyes off Gerard, Gerard lingered on Frank so long he wondered what Gerard was thinking.

"They can't die unless you kill their brain, so," Scarlet began.

"What else do they need in order to "qualify as a zombie"." Scarlet and Charlotte air quoted in unison as Charlotte finished.

Ray leaned close to Frank's ear and whispered, "I know they said they aren't blood related but I'm starting to think they were one brain that was split between two robots." Frank covered his mouth as they giggled together, Gerard was too distracted by the girls to notice.

“Come on, there’s a million names we could use, do we need to use the sexy one?” Scarlet said.

“How is it sexy?!” Gerard defensively crossed his arms.

“Besides it rhyming with boners, it’s literally Moan. Moaners. Moan.” Scarlet mocked a moan as Charlotte explained.

“That. Is. The. Sound. They. Make.” Geoff overemphasized.

“Actually it sounds more like a gurgling, growling screech but-” Scarlet jumped in.

“Guys!” Mikey’s deep voice boomed off the small walls as he pulled away from the window. “Can we move on from this? Who cares what they’re called. They can't die unless we smash their entire bodies, actually, so we need to learn more about this virus before we should even care about what we call them."

“Smash their entire body...?” Scarlet started.

"Everyone, come here," Mikey moved back to looked out the window, eventually, after moving a desk, everyone was able to find a spot to look outside. A handful of people roamed aimlessly, bodies still wriggled under some turned over carts. It took a moment to find again but Mikey directed everyone's attention towards a creature on all fours, missing a head.

The creature was walking around, if it bumped into something, it would just turn towards a new direction and start aimlessly walking again until it hit something else.

"What... is... that..." Scarlet whimpered.

"Has anything had zombie dogs before?" Charlotte sounded panicked.

"A few things have, actually," Mikey told her, "but I've never seen a zombie continue to work after it's head has been decapitated."

"Is that the same-?" Ray trailed off, Mikey responded with a quick 'yup'.

Okay, so, we we all saw that things head explode, but it's still moving... Frank was going over every trope he could think of, "Maybe we need to burn the bodies?"

Gerard groaned. "If we need to burn their bodies, they might as well be brain-dead vampires."

"But they don't suck our blood." Frank argued.

"No, but they do still eat us." Mikey interjected. "So, we'll need to keep an eye on that." He pulled away finally and everyone copied. "We should become more acquainted if we want to work together." Mikey was so stoic and straight forward, Frank thought sometimes he was a robot, he never saw him even crack a grin.

How do you not cope with humor?

“Weeellll... This is where we sleep! And eat… and hide for most of the day.” Scarlet attempted to help Mikey move the conversation on. The creature was outside, therefore not an issue until they needed to go outside again. Frank and Ray had stepped back towards the door to eliminate the closeness from the window gazing.

“But, we have another whole set of cubicles just a little farther down the hallway, we just haven’t been back there to do much.” Charlotte began walking out, Frank and Ray moved to let her through then followed close behind.

The cubicles down the hall were disheveled and abandoned but there were no bodies and most of the blood that did plague the room was stained into the carpets and dried.

“We don’t have much more for furniture…” Scarlet interrupted from the back of the group, each person slowly moving in.

“But we can definitely probably break into one of those RV’s in the back.” Gerard was always looking for some way to commit a crime in a lawless land, Frank’s stomach twisted with excitement and hope for a real bed to sleep in. He wondered if they’d have to share RV’s, he couldn’t recall how many were in the lot when they pulled up since he was more concerned about the dogs that were chasing them then the guns being pointed at them. He hoped if they did have to share, he’d be able to convince Gerard to be with him.

“Is there a reason you guys haven’t tried that yet?” Ray’s voice snapped Frank out of his daydream that almost went too far. Scarlet and Charlotte exchanged a nervous look and laugh before addressing the question.

“We just weren’t sure if those RV’s were clear of zombies or not so we figured it would be safer in here,” Scarlet began.

“Our boss was helping us, it was the three of us left, that’s how we have these.” The girls held up their weapons before Charlotte continued. “He had a bat, we just aren’t sure where it went… Before he turned, he asked us to…”

“Y’know,” Scarlet put her thumb to her throat before slicing across it. “So we brought him outside, thinking we’d keep the blood outside and not contaminate anything else in here. Right when we were about to do the deed,”

“We realized we totally forgot the gun.” When Charlotte took over again, Frank felt a pulse behind his eye and his whole skull cap THUMPed… THUMPed… “So we had to go back inside,”

“Find the guns,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Find the guns,” Charlotte reiterated dramatically. “Then go back outside,”

“And LITERALLY old yeller the guy. So, we head back outside, right?”

“We round the corner where we left him and BOOM!” The four men each jumped at the same time as Charlotte yelled in their faces.

“He’s totally gone.” Scarlet tightened her lips in disappointment. “So, obviously, we weren’t going to just sit outside and wait to be eaten.”

“HELL no. We came back in, hunkered back down in here and watched outside for a little bit before we saw him drag his ancient feet across the green.” The girls stopped talking, looking satisfied with their story.

"Well." Ray broke the silence that lasted too long. "We can take care of him before we leave,"

"Are you guys thinking about leaving already?" Charlotte interrupted, looking around panicked.

"We don't have to come with you, but we need help getting our boss!" Scarlet pleaded.

"Yeah, we wanna at least fulfill his wish before we lose your help..." Charlotte added.

"We definitely aren't leaving yet," Gerard said. "And we aren't opposed to you guys coming with," Frank noticed Mikey roll his eyes and slump against a wall. "But, we'll definitely need a bigger car, so breaking into those RV's might be our only option..." Gerard pondered out loud while the two girls exclaimed excitedly together.

As soon as the room quieted down, Frank's stomach growled, he keeled over a little with embarrassment but they had not made enough food for him to get more before they left this morning. God dammit... Everyone turned to look at him.

"We'll go to the kitchen next." Scarlet walked out the door before anyone could say anything, and they all followed, twisting through only a couple doors. The kitchen was huge, bigger than the rooms they were sleeping in, and all of the appliances were stainless steel.

Multiple refrigerators and bread racks held buckets worth of food. Some prepped foods sat waiting to be put together, an entire parties worth of premade and wrapped dinners also took up most of one of the refrigerators. "We've basically been living off of these," Scarlet handed one up to Frank, he was the shortest one in the group but Scarlet made him feel tall, she barley made it to his chest with the top of her head.

He pulled the saran wrap off the plate to see a pile of mashed potatoes, a smaller pile of mixed vegetables, and three breaded pork chops laying neatly half off the last one. Scarlet continued to hand out the pre-made dinners to everyone, including Charlotte, who took two, most likely so Scarlet could eat as well. No one denied the food, Scarlet pointed to a set of three microwaves all stacked next to a bread baking oven that they all convened around as they warmed the food.

Over dinner, Gerard and Ray explained everything they knew about the virus to Scarlet and Charlotte much like they had to Frank the first night he was with them. This time Frank added his own story of how he woke up in a hotel room with two of his dead coworkers, Charlotte 'aww'-ed but Frank shut it down saying he barley knew them, he was just afraid he had killed someone. He chuckled at himself but no one else responded how he thought they would, he cleared his throat and got up, putting his plate into a sink that already had a few empty plates it in, left them there as they continued the conversation.

Chapter 5

Notes:

I'm so sorry for the late update, I've been dealing with some serious health problems these past few weeks but I'm so excited to get back to writing again ♥

I wonder if anyone would've even noticed if I just... left...

Frank pushed the intrusive thoughts away, he was watching the sky in the bed of the truck, it shifted colors slowly, the wind was picking up and fighting the blistering heat. It was not until the sun started to go down when Frank was found by Gerard.

Frank jumped slightly as he was snapped back to reality by Gerard climbing into the bed of the truck and laying down next to him without saying a word. Frank stared at him, but Gerard refused to look his way. Eventually, he too would look away and return to the clouds. Even with the wind cooling him down, the heat from Gerard's body was radiating towards him and Frank was close enough now that Gerard's cologne wavered in along with it. Frank did not notice his smell before, and now that he did, he struggled to keep his erection down. He hoped Gerard wouldn't notice if they just kept looking away.

"I'm sorry about your friends." Gerard finally broke the silence. The mention of Kyle and Derek again killed Frank's erection. He rolled his eyes and stared at the wall of the truck, away from Gerard, attempting to figure out the most appropriate way to respond.

"Thanks." Was all he finally managed. Frank looked back up and could tell Gerard was staring at him. He barley looked at Gerard before adding, "They weren't really my friends, we were just here on a work trip... We aren't even from the same branches..." That seemed to satisfy Gerard because he finally detached his gaze.

The erection did not ease, the pain twisted up into his gut and he had an urge to rolled over on top of Gerard and take him in the back of the truck, he could care less who saw. He felt himself pulse and tried to avert his thoughts again, can you have a serious relationship with someone without immediately wanting to fuck them? Frank laughed at himself and Gerard turned to him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Frank answered too quickly, he had bent his knee up to help hide his erection now, thankfully the tight pants were holding him down. "Did you just come out here to tell me sorry? I shared because you guys did, I figured it was a group effort... type... thing..." Gerard flipped onto his side to see Frank better, they watched each other for a few minutes after Frank stopped talking.

"Are you doing okay?" Frank's face grew hot and red, he couldn't maintain eye contact any longer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Frank sounded more hostile than he meant.

"You just left pretty abruptly earlier, so I wanted to make sure you were cool."

"It felt awkward when I was done. I dunno, I never feel like I'm in the right place." Literally. Shut up, dude. Frank rolled his eyes at himself, again. He forgot how awkward he could be when he's sober. Instinctively, Frank reached into his pocket for the Altoids tin.

"Well, neither have I. Maybe it's the right place because we never feel right." Frank popped open the tin and put a joint between his lips before he lazily looked over at Gerard.

"And I thought I was lame." Gerard had pulled out a lighter and lit the joint without Frank moving. Gerard smiled at him and took it out of his lips after Frank inhaled deeply. Gerard began inhaling, "Y'know, you could ask-" But Frank was cut off by Gerard grabbing his mouth and pulled him close.

They were not kissing but Frank's entire body had shifted close to Gerard and he felt himself throbbing again. Gerard's face was hot and both of them kept their eyes closed as Gerard blew his smoke into Frank's mouth, Gerard let him go as he finished taking it all in. He watched Frank panic with a smirk.

Frank lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked down at Gerard, exhaling a thick cloud of white smoke, snatching his joint back while Gerard snickered. "You can also ask for consent before making out with me, but nice pothead trick." He took another deep inhale before offering it to Gerard anyways.

They went back and forth sucking at the joint alone as the sky went from orange to pink to purple to black. Eventually the air became chilled, their joint was burned to the end and they were laying so close they were touching now as they watched the stars.

"Is anyone going to come out here looking for us?" Frank blurted out.

Gerard just laughed, "I doubt it, but don't get too excited. I don't fuck on the first date." Gerard winked at him, but Frank just looked nervously away.

"T-that's not what I meant... I just figured someone would get worried about us." Frank mentally wiped sweat from his brow as he thought he was being slick.

"I said I would go looking for you, and for them to stay inside until I get back so, yeah basically we're alone for awhile." Gerard smiled at him. "I want to know you, Frankie," Frank had lost his erection but it came right back at the sound of Gerard using his new nickname again. "If we want to survive together, we gotta get to know each other." And he was right, just because things were going well now did not mean they were totally compatible.

"Okay... What do you want to know?"

"Well all I currently know about you is your name... and the fact that you woke up in a room with your dead coworkers. Traumatized is all I got from ya."

Frank laughed, "That's about it, hi my name is Frank and I'm traumatized." Frank held his hand out for a shake and they laughed together.

"Well, first of all, I don't even know where you're from." Gerard pointed out.

"New Jersey, like middle of the state." Gerard raised his eyebrows, surprised.

"You don't sound like you're from there."

"What do people from Jersey sound like?"

"Well... You, I guess." Gerard laughed at himself. "Since you know Mikey is the only family I got left, what about you? Have any family or...?" Gerard trailed off and waited for a response. What Frank was not going to tell Gerard was how he had texted his family members each individually and then all together in one group chat this morning before they left but still had not heard back from any of them.

"Uh... Yeah, my parents and brother are still kickin' somewhere back home. They're still active online..." He had also looked up his brothers name on a search engine to stalk his social media accounts, since Frank felt like he was above social media that was the only way he could see if his family actually was okay. And they were, Frank's parents had just shared a photo of a fancy dinner they went to this weekend and his brother was posting pictures from a mountain somewhere with his fiance and a tapped maple tree with syrup pouring out. Frank was pissed about them ignoring him but decided to wait before reaching out to them again.

But he pushed the thought away as the warmth of Gerard's hand suddenly on his thigh radiated up into his dick. The blood ran from his brain straight down, warmth pooled in Frank's groin. He cleared his throat but was unable to look at Gerard, who kept touching him. "Like, I said before, we gotta help each other." His hand lifted quickly as he pointed back towards to golf building and Frank felt the shock of cold air again. "If we could find three people in just two days, that has got to be good."

Frank was chewing on his lip as he thought through his next question, "You guys keep saying you've lost a lot of people, condolences on your families, I-I... I just don't understand-" But before Frank could continue, Gerard had sat up and curled his knees to his chest. He rested his chin between them and sighed deeply.

Frank sat up and tears silently fell down Gerard's face. Frank had no time to respond before Gerard had inhaled deeply, wiped the tears away and looked back at him with a pained smile.

"Sorry..." Frank whispered out, but Gerard shook his head and scrunched his eyebrows before Frank could start consoling.

"No, no, you're okay, I'm fine." The red in his face cooled down. "What was your question? I can answer now, it just..." he sighed again. "It's been, like, two weeks since all of this started. I don't really smoke weed so everything just kinda hit me like a brick wall." Gerard chuckled to break the weird tension between the two of them. He was still hugging himself.

"I... You guys seem really good at acting like you're fine." They laughed together and Gerard relaxed his body, inviting Frank back in. "I just wanted to ask if you met a lot of strangers before me." Frank bit his cheeks, he felt stupid for making Gerard cry but he needed to know more. He was so intrigued by Gerard, Ray, and Mikey; he also needed to know how they were able to deal with death so well but now was clearly not the time.

"Actually yes." Frank mimicked an over exaggerated gesture of shock and honor that made Gerard chuckle. "We got stuck in Northern Nevada because the virus slowed down as it went south. It looked like the moa-"

"Gerard. Just called them roamers if you refuse zombies." Gerard scrunched his nose at Frank while he interrupted.

"FINE. The roamers," he said with a sneer. "were slowed down by the heat at first but the virus adapted pretty quick." Before Frank could say anything, Gerard pulled out his phone and shoved the screen in Frank's face, showing a paused video. "This is a clip I got when we first crossed the border, you'll see the welcome sign in the back as I pan around." Frank took the phone and pressed play, Gerard used this as an excuse to scoot as close to Frank as he could. They were nearly touching now, and the chilled desert air was suddenly warm again.

Frank watched the video as it showed a long stretch of highway, an endless desert, and what looked like melting people slowly walking and crawling sporadically all over the road. The camera panned over the mountains, most bodies or body-like lumps in the sand looked like melting cheese, the only thing distinguishing the bodies from rocks or tumbleweeds were the shape of the bodies. Some were long, some were short, but they all had red or dark brown skin and were either laying down or on their knees in pain as their skin melted. As the camera continued to pan, Frank was greeted with a waving Ray and Mikey from inside what must have been their last vehicle, a roofless convertible. Gerard noticed Francis glance at him and smirk.

Gerard rolled his eyes and gave Frank a light slap on the arm, "We hit some campsites close to Cali before we came to Nevada just to see if there was anyone alive. Spoiler alert, there wasn't. They had some dogs that were aggressive but NOT like those ones from earlier." The one that was missing its snout and had teeth coming from all directions flashed into Frank's mind again and he shuddered, pausing the video.

"Have you guys ever seen anything like that?" Gerard's hands shot up in defense.

"Cross my heart, we were virgins to the 'roid dogs with ya." Frank let out a belly laugh.

"LITERALLY! What the hell was wrong with that dogs body?!"

"I dunno, but I bet his owners fed him protein powder." They were cackling together as they continued to make up their miniscule fantasy family.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Dog was getting a breakfast of a can of wet food and PROTEIN." Frank started exasperatingly flexing his muscles while using a much deeper pitch while he spoke. This sent them into a fit of laughter together and, for a moment, they forgot about everything bad going on. The dogs that jumped them had come as a bad memory and they combated it together. It clicked in Frank's head in that moment that that was how Gerard was able to cope; making a complete joke about it.

It probably isn't the healthiest way to cope but...

Once they caught their breath, Gerard urged him to continue the video. The camera panned past the boys smiling in the car to show a very melted body in the road, it had not completely melted but into a terrifying silent scream. The body seemed to be frozen in place as bubbling could be faintly heard when Frank held the speaker to his ear. Its eyes bulged out of its head and its stomach looked like it had turned into a water balloon with too much water in it.

"Do you see how it bulges to much right there?" Gerard put his finger against the screen, even though there was no other body in the frame. "Watch what happens." Gerard was clearly excited to share this video with someone. Frank watched as who he assumed was Mikey's arm by the nearly reflective skin popped into frame with a long machete. Slowly, he pushed the tip into the stomach and a loud hissing sounded off like a ready kettle. As he dragged the knife down it's stomach, the body seemed to lose it's stiffness and all melt into a large heap as the half liquidized organs slushed out. Audibly three voices can be heard making disgusted sounds as the camera shook a little and the video stopped.

Gerard took back his phone, "Yeah, so that was really the worst thing we've seen yet. Or, at least the grossest. I think I can speak for Mikey and Ray on this one, we were all just as terrified as you were when we saw those dogs. We were excited to see the extreme heat of summer was killing off the virus."

"Well, it definitely didn't kill it off."

"No, and I sometimes forget it's a virus and just because we followed one road to different towns that got infected, doesn't mean the towns we avoided weren't hit."

"No, it would be pretty ignorant if that was what you thought."

Gerard nodded in agreement, "Exactly, so my theory is because we saw it struggling with heat so much, it will probably react the same way once winter hits. All the mo-Roamers," He corrected himself, smiling proudly. "will slow down and hopefully freeze again like they did for the heat. So, that's kind of why we want to go to Wisconsin. That, and because of the safe house they're currently making."

"Yeah, I really hope that isn't just another rumor. But, I think I see a flaw in your theory."

"Shoot."

"I can understand that if they melted in the extreme heat, they most likely will freeze in the winter, but... what happens when they thaw?" Frank said it more like a statement rather than a question. He could tell Gerard was thinking it over, but he continued, "Let's not forget the fact that it is, quite literally, July. Winter doesn't come for, like... six months basically, and isn't Wisconsin only a days drive away?"

"Wisconsin winters can start as early as October! And yes, it is-"

"Hang on, hang on, hang on..." Frank rubbed his temples. "If Wisconsin is the destination, and you're from Oregon, why are you in southern Nevada picking up strangers."

"If the world was ending, and no one believed you even after your family dies, wouldn't you go where ever you wanted to just to feel good before it's over?" Frank was taken aback by Gerard's answer, but knew he was right. The thought of places to go besides home was strange because he had little desire to return home knowing the inevitable.

"You got me there." Frank acknowledged.

"...And we wanted to see Vegas. It's not as fun when money isn't be thrown around by drunk people." They laughed together again. "So, Frankie..." There was the nickname again, Frank felt dumb and weak as his dick nearly instantly got hard again. "Where in the WORLD have you always wanted to go?" Frank smirked at the thought, knowing full well the airports would be shut down soon and traveling outside of America was going to become difficult.

"What about... Denver." One place he knew he wanted to go to before he died was Colorado, besides wanting to go for the copious amounts of marijuana he assumed he would find, he has always wondered what the world looks like from the top of some of the tallest mountains in the nation.

A wide grin stretched across Gerard's face. "You better prepare yourself then, because Ray has already requested it! We will be stopping there on our journey through the beautiful cities of Middle America. I bet you guys have more in common than you think."

"Oh really?"

"Well, he was our stoner friend!" Frank's mouth tightened into a line.

"I. Am not. A pot-head." Frank defended himself but Gerard laughed at him.

"Okay, if you say so!"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Well, Ray didn't bring any weed with him, for one. So you got him beat on that." Frank stuttered and fumbled over his words as he figured out how to fight back.

"I found these on a body when I took the truck!" The tin made a clicking sound as he hit it in his pocket.

"Well. You must be lucky then. Keeping you around might be a better idea than we thought." Frank could tell Gerard did not believe him. "Come on," Gerard started to push himself out of the truck bed. "We don't want anyone thinking we're being naughty out here." Gerard winked at Frank as he also got himself out of the truck, slamming the door behind them. The clock on their phones showed it was just after eleven.

"Don't worry, Gerard, I don't think they're gonna assume we were fucking out here."

Gerard's face went beat red and Frank mentally praised himself for making Gerard as bothered as Gerard made him. Gerard began stumbling over his words this time, "That's-that's not what I meant! We probably smell like weed!" Frank slid a side eye over to Gerard, who definitely meant sex when he said 'naughty' but did not predict Frank to respond as quickly as he did, and with as much sass.

"Maybe if I get reeeaaallll close to Ray tonight, he'll want to go out back and do something naughty with me and a joint." Gerard's face was almost as red as the people Frank saw boiled alive in his video from earlier. Gerard stayed silent this time, but his face remained red as they walked in together. "Just kidding." It was Frank's turn to wink this time as the two of them walked through the halls to their makeshift rooms.

When the two entered, Mikey and Ray were already curled up under their blankets, two empty beds lay between them.

Chapter 6

The sun dragged Frank's eyes open again, sleeplessness yanked at the growing bags as he felt like no sleep was enough. But when he looked around, the room was empty besides him. Muffled sounds floated in occasionally from far away, outside the door as he covered his head again and turned over attempting to get more sleep.

Sorely interrupted by the door swinging open and Gerard's voice yelling, "Goooooood morning!" in a sing-song voice. Frank was unable to suppress his groan, but the enticing smell of a hot breakfast piqued his interest, making him peak out from under the blanket.

A wide grin was plastered over Gerard's face while Frank showed the complete opposite. Frank groaned louder and covered his face again.

"Oh, come on, Charlotte warmed it up for us and it was great." The hot smell of eggs and bacon floated into Frank's nose making his mouth water. "Plus, you never know when we're gonna get food this good again."

"You guys ate without me..?" Gerard's smile faded quickly.

"Well... I felt bad waking you." He shrugged; Frank continued to stare at him from under the blanket. "Come on, I basically made you breakfast in bed." Gerard made his way through the room to squat in front of Frank. "It's good, I promise." Frank didn't move for some time, but the smell of food made his stomach growl louder than he expected causing him to blush. Gerard's smile came back. "Come on, I promise it's good."

Frank huffed but pushed himself up and took the plate, shoving a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Then another, Gerard continued to squat and smile at him. "Do you want a bite?" Frank asked between mouthfuls of food, Gerard chuckled.

"No, I'm just glad to see you eating. We're going to need all the strength we can get before we go and check those cars in the lot."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Well, the girls are collecting the small stash of bullets for the guns they have, Ray has taken to the golf clubs and is making them heavier to smash things better, Mikey's wrapping his bat with some barbed wire they found downstairs-"

"There's a downstairs?" Frank had gone through all of his eggs and was crunching loudly on the bacon.

"Well, yeah, where did you think they store all the balls and extra shit?" Frank just shrugged, mauling the rest of his bacon. "And the girls are helping them. Ray gave them his bat for three of their clubs. He's really excited to 'play golf with their heads now'." Gerard air quoted while laughing. "If you have a preferred weapon of choice I'd suggest looking around for it now before we get going."

Frank thought for a minute, Gerard took his plate from him and stood up. "I'll let you get dressed and everything, I'll go throw this in the kitchen for you. Hopefully the keys to one of those RV's is still here. It would be nice to take some of these pre-made meals with us, so they don't go to waste." Gerard left before Frank could reply. He sat there thinking over the craziness of the past few days.

Scarlet and Charlotte seemed trustworthy enough, it’s not like we can just leave them here to defend themselves... In a world full of zombies, how can we not trust the only other living beings around? Frank sat for a long time mulling it over in his mind, surprised at himself for not questioning the trustworthiness of everyone sooner. What the fuck else am I supposed to do without them, I guess...

Eventually he got out of bed and changed his clothes, thankful again for that final shower he got before leaving his hotel room. He hadn't started to smell yet but wondered how many more days he could go without another one. Or how long it's been since the guys had taken one... He pushed the thought away and slung his bag over his shoulder, heading out into the main lobby. The front doors had been propped open and he saw Mikey and Ray sitting on the truck bed admiring their new weapons, Scarlet sat on the pavement near them looking relaxed.

"Hey!" Charlotte had popped up from behind the main counter making Frank jump a little. "Oh, I'm sorry! I hope you liked breakfast." She could not look Frank in the eyes.

"What're you doing back there?" He moved towards the desk, and she looked more nervous.

"Well, we keep the keys for anyone who comes here to valet for them, but they're all locked in this safe." She banged on the safe door with a golf club that looked modified. Frank was glad they were not relying on just guns, especially after Gerard said their ammo stash was small. "I've tried a few combos, but nothing had worked so I've been looking for it being written on a notepad or something."

"What kind of safe is it?" Frank tried to peak over the counter but was not able to see it. Charlotte motioned for him to come around the desk and squatted to the ground where the safe sat. "How did you work here and not know the passcode?" Frank squatted next to her and examined the buttons.

"Well neither of us were valets, and our boss was very paranoid, so no one knew the code except him and the valets."

"Damn, you weren't kidding when you said he was crazy before..." It was the usual electric safe you would see in any retail or restaurant, but it was clearly aged and had been used quite a bit. "What codes have you tried?"

"Well... all of his families’ birthdays, the date this place opened, his phone number minus the area code... I even tried these random numbers just to see if any of them worked." Charlotte waved a piece of paper in front of them, it seemed to be the numbers of the club members that attended the course.

Frank looked back at the keypad and ran his fingers over the keys, a few of the buttons were chipped and peeling. He pushed them in a random order, but the lock beeped loudly.

"What are you trying?" Charlotte looked just as confused as she sounded.

"Well, some of these numbers are clearly overused see," He fingered the plastic on the 3 and the 7, showing harsh cracks. "Which means the number has to have these five numbers used but with it being a five-digit code, figuring out what repeats and what order they're in is going to be the hard part..." Frank tried another random combination of the numbers and the lock buzzed loudly again.

"So... it has to have a three, seven, five, one, and zero?"

"Yup..." Frank tried again, the lock buzzed again. Charlotte stood up and walked away without saying a word. Welp, okay sure I'll just do this for you. He punched in another combo, and it buzzed again. "Ugh..." Frank groaned audibly, throwing his bag onto the countertop, and sitting down on the ground to become more comfortable.

Frank had tried three more combinations of the numbers, all causing the lock to buzz loudly and negatively at him. As he was ready to give up, Charlotte walked back in and beside him, dropping to the floor to sit too. Gerard followed close behind her. "Heard you guys have a lock problem."

"Yeah, I'm running out of combinations to guess so I'm sure I'll get it..." Frank tried another, but it just buzzed at him again.

"Hang on, let me try this quick." Charlotte scooted closer and Frank moved out of her way. In a swift movement, Charlotte punched in a combination Frank had not tried, and the safe beeped happily. The lock disengaged and she yanked open the door to show numerous rows of keys on different hook levels on each shelf. Charlotte smiled proudly at herself, Gerard was leaning over the counter, this was the first time he had taken his eyes off of Frank.

"Nice! How'd you figure it out?" Charlotte whipped out a sheet of paper and showed it to Frank. It looked like a large batch recipe for an egg-based breakfast, the number she tried had been the number of how many people the recipe would serve.

"I have never seen a recipe that could feed over a thousand people, how did you even figure it out?" Charlotte had both of her arms digging through the keys inside when Frank asked.

"Well, we used to do this all-day breakfast event where people could come as early as four A.M. to get food, or as late as like... midnight, I think sometimes one even if it was a busy night. Anyways, this was the dish that would be prepared that day, usually it would take the whole day prepare it all and make it, but it was our bosses favorite, which is why we had a breakfast day in the first place. It was a cheap meal that we could make cheaply, and old people loved it. The zero threw me off because the recipe only serves over a thousand but DUH, the zero came first!" She yanked out a few keys, her mouth holding the biggest smile Frank had seen on her. "Oooooh, I so hope one of these RV's has a shower."

"There's no showers in this whole building?" Gerard spoke, Charlotte and Frank had almost forgotten he was still here. But Charlotte laughed.

"He was a cheapskate! He thought allowing his team to shower at work would be a waste of water, especially with how much water the kitchen would use. He once yelled at them for using 'too much' water because the re-fried beans he was ordering required water in order to be made. We stopped offering re-fried beans after that." Frank laughed at this.

"Good lord, this guy sounds insane. Good job, Charlotte, I don't think any of us would've been able to figure that out." Charlotte's face turned red, and she began stammering a thank you out as Ray, Mikey, and Scarlet all walked back into the lobby talking loudly to each other. Frank and Charlotte stood up to greet them.

"Hey Frank! Any luck on the safe, Charlotte?" Ray asked sweetly, leaning over the counter just as Gerard was. Without saying a word, Charlotte spilled the keys onto the counter causing Ray and Scarlet to cheer for her. Mikey even cracked a smile, which surprised Frank.

"How'd you figure it out?!" Scarlet sounded astonished.

"Well, honestly I wouldn't have been able to if Frank didn't investigate the buttons first. But this," she pulled the recipe sheet out again and placed it on the table.

"A recipe for... Eggs, toast, and baked beans? Sounds very... Brit'ish." Ray mocked in an English accent.

"Oh! Breakfast day!" Scarlet got cozy next to Ray on the counter to look over the sheet. Ray stood still as stone. "What number was it?" Scarlet was using her finger to scan all the different numbers on the sheet as Charlotte dropped her finger onto the amount it served, and Scarlet's mouth dropped open. "No. Way. We would've literally NEVER guessed that."

"I KNOW. He might've been a dick, but he was smart sometimes, I guess." Charlotte left the recipe on the counter and moved back down to the safe. "There's a few more RV keys in here, but I know there's only three out in the gated lot."

"Oh, we scouted behind the fence while we were out there," Scarlet backed off of Ray as he started telling his story. "There were a ton more in the back lot, outside the gate obviously, and we saw some parked around the front on the road, Scarlet mentioned sometimes people would park there if they weren't planning on staying long."

"That's true," Charlotte said as she popped back up with a handful of keys again. "We should definitely check those ones before we go to the back lot, did it look infested?"

"No more than the green is." Ray continued. "Which, I assume, will be easy to avoid?" He held his breath as he waited for one of the to reply. Scarlet and Charlotte glanced at each other.

"I mean... We can avoid the green, but it's not like the back lot is fenced in, so there's a higher chance of it being more dangerous if we get loud." Charlotte replied and shrugged. "As long as we have these keys, I think we can avoid any loud noises or anything that might attract them to us."

"We are all still pretty dirty so I doubt any of them would notice our scent." Scarlet added. Frank kept his mouth shut, he had changed out of his bloody clothes, but didn't look as clean as he truly was, especially since he had narrowly avoided most of the fighting since meeting Gerard.

"Welp, we will see about that won’t we?" Gerard banged on the counter and stood up straight, Mikey had made his way to stand by him. "Now that we have the keys, I think we're ready to go searching, yeah?" He looked around at everyone.

"Um..." Frank spoke up now. "Actually, I still need to get a better weapon. Preferably something longer than that wrench I was using." Frank had left the wrench on the floor of the truck after the girls had go. He did not think much about what he would use instead, but he knew he was not comfortable using something as short as that.

"You can use my old bat?" Ray offered, pointing his thumb back to the trunk where it lay bare among the other bat and golf clubs that had all been upgraded to do more damage.

"The guns will be good as a longer weapon when we run out of ammo." Gerard suggested, shrugging. Everyone stared at him with a different phase of confusion on their face.

"Gee, you know eventually your gun is going to break if you keep using it like a bat." Mikey pointed out. Gerard shot him a scrunched look.

"Actually, I was going to look around and see if there’s maybe a fire axe in case of emergencies? Something with a sharp end would be cool, I don't want anyone else to have to hurt their hands upgrading another bat or something for me."

"Why wouldn't you do it yourself?" Mikey asked quickly, but Frank just shrugged.

"I don't really want to put in that effort." This made Scarlet and Charlotte laugh together. Frank smiled, but Mikey stayed stone-faced.

"We actually do have one! I never thought about that, it's downstairs with the clubs." Scarlet said.

"Why wouldn't it be up there? You probably wouldn't want to go downstairs when there's a fire going on, especially since the way down in right next to the kitchen which is literally probably the only room in this whole building that would set on fire." Scarlet and Charlotte shrugged together again.

"I remember when he ordered it," Scarlet started.

"Me too, but he never got it installed." Charlotte continued.

"Yeah, no he literally got it in, and it didn't come with the emergency box or whatever,"

"I literally remember him saying he wasn't going to pay more money for 'something that he would probably never use'." Charlotte air quoted.

"I remember that too! I mean, he never did use it but still..." Scarlet finished and the guys all stared for a moment. It almost scared them when the two of them got going back and forth.

"Well, I'll be the first to use it, can someone show me downstairs?" Frank poked in. Scarlet nodded enthusiastically and motioned for him to follow her as she turned on her heels and began walking to towards the kitchen. Frank scrambled to follow her as the rest of the group stayed and continued to talk about an action plan for when the two of them came back.

Eventually their talking became incoherent as they reached the kitchen, Scarlet took a sharp turn left down a hallway Frank had not noticed the previous night. The hallway was mostly empty, and relatively short, they reached a large metal door marked BASEMENT in just a couple of steps.

"Watch your step, there's no lights down here." Scarlet warned as she yanked open the door and pulled a tiny flashlight from her pocket to shine down the steps. The air was cold and dusty as they made their way down. The dusty was still stirring from when they came down earlier for the club. The metal door closed loudly behind them, making Frank jump.

"That doesn't lock behind us, right?" He asked nervously as he stayed close to her. She giggled at this.

"You are scared, aren't you? No, there's not even a lock on that door. The lack of lighting was our boss’s idea of a way to keep people out. And it worked, I don't think I've really ever seen anyone come down here, but you can probably tell from the amount of dust." Scarlet spoke through a few coughs that the dust caused as they walked through the basement. There were no windows so the darkness enveloped them quickly, making Frank constantly look behind him even though he could hardly see. He stuck close to Scarlet as she weaved them through shelves full of random golfing supplies, clothing, and cans of food.

In what seemed like the back corner of the entire basement, an unused fire axe sat upside down among huge bags full of golf balls. Frank got excited and grabbed it only to realize there was a very thick layer of dust that covered it. He peeled off the dust with his hand that he wiped on his pants, "Hold your breath." He warned Scarlet as he took a deep inhale; he watched as she did the same before banging the axe against the bags of golf balls. Dust flew up into the air and the two of them began to squint as the dust was irritating more than just their lungs. "It's not perfect, but I can spray it down in the kitchen, come on, let’s get out of here." Frank mumbled as he took a few steps away from the huge cloud of dust he just created.

The two made it back and up the stairs without a challenge. Frank did not realized Scarlet had held her breath the whole time and waited to breathe again once they got out into the hallway again. "Sorry, I thought it would clean it a little better." They examined the axe, it had significantly less dust on it than when they found it, but it looked as though there were a few layers just stuck to it from the lack of care.

"It's fine!" Scarlet seemed to be heaving a little, quite out of breath. "The kitchen has a giant sprayer at one of the prep sinks, it's by the veggie storage, I'll meet you back in the lobby?" Frank nodded and they went their separate ways once they reached the kitchen doors again. Frank had remembered seeing the giant sprayer but did not want to interrupt Scarlet, and he was thankful to have some time alone now.

He made his way through the kitchen, looking at everything again. He had never worked in food service or anywhere with a kitchen like this one, it amazed him a little to see such large kitchen appliances. Although he was the shortest in the group, minus now Charlotte, he did not feel tiny until he stood next to the refrigerators in this room.
He made his way over the two giant sinks with a springing hose like faucet hanging over it. He dropped the axe in, blade down, and sprayed it with full force. The hose shook in his hand as he used the other to flip the axe over. It took some pressure, but the ace was clean, as he pulled the axe out, the wooden handle felt awful now that it was wet. I didn't even think about that, this is going to take forever to dry. Frank groaned at himself but shook the axe anyways and made his way back out into the lobby.

Everyone was still crowded around the counter; Mikey was now leaning against a wall behind Gerard and not participating in much of the conversation that just sounded like everyone talking over each other. Frank cleared his throat and got everyone's attention, hauling the axe over his shoulder.

"Who's ready to go raid some RV's?"

Chapter 7

Notes:

to all my mikey-girlies: im sorry mikey is so mean, he was mean coded in my story when the idea first came, i need someone to cause a rift and ray is too precious. the next chapter i promised will be out today i just need time to finish it!

Frank was the first one to walk towards the front door but Charlotte quickly got ahead of him, she had her right hand full of keys hanging from her fingers but no weapon. Instead, Scarlet was close next to her holding both.

"So, if the paperwork is correct, this key," She pulled the first key from her pointer finger. "should let us into this RV." There were only three keys on that finger and, as Frank looked around the lot again, only one was on this side of the building. The other two were tucked around the other side of the building and could only be seen from their rear-ends peaking out. Charlotte had used the key and gotten the RV open while Frank was looking around.

Ray was the one to volunteer to check inside before everyone else, "We peaked through the windows earlier and didn't see anyone but y'never know." Everyone backed up to give Ray some space, Mikey and Gerard were close behind him, weapons drawn and ready. Ray yanked open the door and the atmosphere became uncomfortably silent. The slight shuffle of Rays sneakers on asphalt almost made Frank jump, his heart was beating in his ears.

The RV moved slightly as he pressed his body weight up the stairs as quietly as he could. He whipped his head from the drivers seats to the back quickly before disappearing into the darkness. Frank watched intensely as the rest waited for Ray to come back, or scream. No one noticed Gerard look back at Frank to give him a reassuring grin, Frank was worried his fear was spreading across his face that he had attempted to keep as stoic as Mikey usually was.

Ray's head popped back out and a group sigh of relief happened. Ray had a goofy grin before saying, "Sorry, I just wanted to be as dramatic as possible. This thing is totally empty." Frank, Gerard and Scarlet all filed into the vehicle. Mikey volunteered to stay outside with Charlotte as she held the keys, not wanting to get them possibly mixed up. Scarlet leaned Charlotte's golf club against the side of the RV before going in behind Frank.

Ray had gone to the back of the camper where the beds were and was visibly tossing the tiny room around. Gerard went straight to the front of the camper and started digging through the glove compartment and pockets around both seats. Frank and Scarlet looked at each other desperately new to looting in the apocalypse and decided to take either sides of the kitchenette area. Scarlet was a bit taller than Frank and silently decided to peak through the hanging cabinets while Frank begrudgingly got to his knees to rummage through the standing cabinets.

"Nothing back here but some women's clothes and blankets." Ray tossed another blanket lazily onto the bed, giving the rest a look of disappointment. Scarlet was immediately distracted by him.

"Women's clothes? What size?" Scarlet had stopped searching as Frank begrudgingly tossed aside more pots and pans, finding nothing of use.

Ray shrugged, "I dunno? Small? Medium?" He started looking around for the clothes he tossed about but Scarlet had abandoned her spot to take over the room from Ray. Ray swiftly moved out of her way and joined Frank in the kitchen.

Frank huffed loudly before giving up, "Nothing down here either." He shouted to the group. Ray's hand appeared in front of his face, he looked up and was greeted by Ray's soft smile. He accepted his offer to help him stand.

"Ah ha!!" Scarlet exclaimed from the back, holding up a handful of different colored fabrics. Frantically she started checking the tags. Much to her disappointment, none of then would fit her.

"Yeah, there's just loose money and... shit," Gerard threw around random papers and wrappers from the front of the camper. "Nothin'."

A sigh of disappointment rained on them as they filed off the camper to Mikey and Charlotte again.

"Anything?" She asked them, but Scarlet just shook her head, taking Charlotte's club again.

"Well, let's try the next two!" Charlotte tried to keep her attitude high to keep the groups enthusiasm up but after the next two campers showed up mostly empty save for some bedding and more clothes, nothing could bring the mood back up. They had hoped one of the three within the gate would have a shower of some kind but the only plumbing all three had were the small sinks in the tiny kitchens.

The group reconvened in front of the building again. Charlotte had left each RV key with their respective camper before heading to the next, she only had four keys left for the RV's that sat outside the main gate.

"So..." Gerard spoke up." We have some gas for the trunk we drove here," he thumbed towards their truck. "But that doesn't take the same gas as the campers do-"

"And there's barely enough space for us." Mikey butt in.

"Yeah, so I'm not opposed to switching over to a camper for when we leave?" Gerard continued, mostly ignoring Mikey. Charlotte chucked at him.

"Scarlet and I carpooled here in her mini-coop. It wouldn't fit all of us either. Do we wanna check the campers and see if any have gas?"

"Maybe we should check the RV's outside the gate first?" Ray asked.

"What for? Doesn't seem like a lot of these people brought shit they needed to camp with." Frank rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's the worst part about this place." Charlotte started.

"People who vacation here are usually very rich so they just don't think they need a lot of the same survival stuff that normal people do. Like cans of food."

"Or showers." Mikey huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I was completely unaware you could even buy an RV without a shower." Frank was leaning against their truck now.

"They're the small kinds of campers, we see them all the time." Scarlet waved him off. "But the ones outside of the gate seems bit bigger, I bet one of them has one!" This caused everyone to start arguing over each other about whether to take their loses and leave or to keep searching through the campers. Scarlet stood and watched as everyone argued, her face grew red as she started to feel worse for causing such a rift.

But, Ray saved the day and spoke in a loud, booming voice. "OKAY. GUYS." He clapped his hands and everyone stopped, all looking in different directions than the next person. Scarlet's face cooled but the redness was replaced with a light blush color. "We can't just stand here and argue about what to do next. It's already past noon so we might as well prepare to stay here another night. No big deal." Mikey rolled his eyes again, which only Ray caught. "Since we're going to stay, let's just check out the other RV's. Worst case scenario, we have to fight off a couple of zombies. Best case, we find a shower and food and push the thing into the gates."

Charlotte let out a hardy laugh. "You think we could push a whole RV around the gate and into the lot?"

Ray shrugged, "Figured it would be safer then turning it on and making a ton of noise before we're ready to leave?"

"You guys made a ton of noise coming here and the zombies didn't follow you up to the gate?" Scarlet added.

"You have a point... I didn't think about that before..." Ray quizzically held his chin. "Do you think we could turn it on and get it back in here without attracting another horde though?" Scarlet and Charlotte shrugged together.

"I think we're getting very ahead of ourselves here, already, guys." Gerard jumped in. "Let's just check out the campers first, if one of them has a shower we'll still need to find a water hookup for it. Frank and I did go through a lot to get a few canisters of diesel so I'd hate to see it go to waste but I can collect more."

"We have a water hookup around back, actually." Charlotte said.

"Perfect! Let's check out the other RV's then. Charlotte, while we search, could you turn on the vehicles to check their gas levels?" Charlotte nodded. "Mikey, can you stay watch while we search the RV's?"

"As long as I'm not alone."

"Okay, Frank since you have an axe, do you want to stand watch with Mikey?" Frank was taken aback that he was asked, but did not say no; he just nodded. Mikey, on the other hand, did nothing to hide his annoyance but also did not protest.

Instead of going through the main gate, Scarlet and Charlotte took them around back to show them where the water hookup was and to let them out of the parking lot from a smaller, more quiet gate meant for staffers to get to the green easier.

Since yesterday, it seemed as though the green had cleared, or at least the zombies had all wandered off far enough to stay out of their way as they made their way around the gate to the unprotected lot. There were tons of cars parked out here, scattered from the front of the lot to about two blocks away from the actual building. The RV's were all within just a couple of spots of each other in the spots marked as "Camper Parking Only".

The parking lot was not as free of zombies as the green had been. Within a couple of the cars, people with discolored skin and chunks of flesh missing were scratching at their doors and windows towards the group as they walked by. Since they came around from the back, the RV's were closer than if they had come from the front, but that did not prevent them from getting jumped. The zombies within their cars had made Charlotte recoil but when two jumped out at them from between a few big vans, Charlotte and Scarlet had yelped and jumped away from the group.

Ray quickly took care of the two zombies, throwing one off his body by slammed it into a car and using his bat to bring the other one down onto the pavement. He smashed the one onto the pavement in the skull twice, creating a loud crunching followed by a splurting sound before he whipped around and, with little time to react, was saved by Gerard. The zombie had regained its footing faster than he expected and Gerard jumped between the two connecting his bat with the skull of this zombie. Another loud crunch filled the air as Gerard followed the zombie down, smashing his bat into the head again as it hit the pavement. Both men were heaving by the time the zombies were down, one twitched but neither tried to get up again.

"Thanks." Ray clapped Gerard's shoulder.

"Always double tap." Gerard told the group before waving them forward to the campers. The first one in this line-up was no larger than the first three they had checked out, but Gerard still suggested looking just in case. Ray checked inside the campers first, like last time, before giving the okay for the rest to come in. Mikey and Frank stationed themselves on opposing sides of the camper, not saying a word to each other. As expected, this first camper was empty. When Charlotte checked the gas tank, it was less than half full.

Defeated the group moved onto the second one down the line. This one was bigger than the rest, but when Ray busted in he was immediately thrown back down a step by a zombie chomping at him. He was using his bat as a block between his body and the zombie but the zombie did not care about the barbed wire digging into it's chest. Ray stepped off the camper steps and threw the zombie down onto the pavement, topping it to hold it down. Mikey grabbed the next zombie that emerged from the camper, one that was much smaller than the first, and threw it to the pavement as well. As Ray smashed the big ones head, Gerard took to the small one and also caved in it's skull. Another three zombies flew out of the RV as everyone was half distracted, two small ones and one big one. Mikey took another small one and threw it to the ground, Frank hit the last small one in the back of the head with his axe, slicing almost completely through it's neck.

Ray pushed himself up and hit the one Frank almost decapitated to make sure it's whole head was gone. Mikey had squashed the second small one as Gerard was wrestling the last big one to the ground much like Ray had done with the first. Frank quickly came over and used his axe to separate the head from the body of the one Gerard had pinned under him. Scarlet and Charlotte had shuffled to hide behind the door to watch as the guys took on the fight.

"This one better have a fucking shower." Gerard growled as Frank helped him off his knees. All of them, save for the girls, had splatters of blood and chunks of brain matter covering their clothes, faces, and hair.

Ray cracked his neck before pushing forward into the camper again. "It's clear!" He shouted from inside, Charlotte and Scarlet had moved in quickly behind each other. Frank was unaware of why Mikey followed them in until he saw Gerard had pulled out and lit a cigarette without him noticing. He ran his fingers through his long, black hair, pushing it back out of his face almost using the blood to slick it back.

"Where'd you get that?" Frank pointed at his mouth, Gerard smirked.

"It's a secret." He winked and Frank did what he could to not blush. Gerard took a long drag before holding the butt out to Frank. Frank took a couple puffs before handing it back. Unlike the dull buzz he was used to from weed, nicotine still had a fresh effect on him. The two passed the cigarette between them for a few more hits before Gerard spoke up again. "Thanks. For saving me, or whatever."

Frank shrugged, "I was just makin' sure you didn't get bit. That's why we stay together, right? To survive?" Gerard's smirk melted Frank in his shoes every time, especially when he'd side-eye him. Frank was usually one to hold his shoulders high and be dominate towards others but Gerard was making him feel so small. And he liked that.

Ray popped out of the RV, "So, this one does have a shower, but not much gas."

"Well, we can always take gas from the other cars." Gerard waved his hand around at the plethora of cars still around them.

"Okay, there's no food on here still but there's five beds so..." Mikey's arm came into view handing Ray a slip of paper before disappearing back into the camper. "Oh, yeah and... uh... yeah, this..." Ray stumbled over his words and just held the paper out towards them. Frank took it and 'ughed' loudly, swallowing a gag as Gerard slipped in next to him to see the photo of the family they just dismembered. Ray watched silently, Frank was barely able to continue looking at the picture, let alone the bodies.

"Yeah, I'm not too surprised. They looked child sized." Gerard was emotionless. He took a long drag from the cigarette before taking the photo over to one of the adults to stuff the photo into their pocket. Ray had popped back into the camper while Frank dry heaved away from the bodies. Gerard clapped Frank on the back this time, offering him the cigarette again but Frank just held up his hand. "It'll get easier." Gerard finished the cigarette.

"So, I think if we can get two of us to get the gates open right before we pull the RV around, we could probably curb the zombies that follow us in." Charlotte was discussing a plan as everyone joined Frank and Gerard.

"That makes sense, I don't mind going. Charlotte, you should drive it over, you're the one who got us the keys." Ray volunteered. Charlotte blushed a little but determination covered her face.

"I'll stick with Charlotte!" Scarlet announced.

"I can go with you, Ray." Gerard offered.

"Sweet. Mikey, Frank, maybe one of you stay with the girls and one of you comes with us?" Frank was deep breathing with his forehead pressed against the hot car.

"I can stay." Mikey said without hesitation. Frank was thankful but was too focused on calming his stomach to reply, instead he just waved a thumbs up and continued his breathing.

"Perfect, so then Mikey, Charlotte, Scarlet, wait for us to hit the gate with one of our bats then start the RV. We'll pull the gates open then shut them once you're inside. You guys ready?" Ray pointed to Frank, mostly, but looked at Gerard.

"Do you want to check out the last RVs?" Gerard questioned.

"I mean..." He motioned at Frank, who was not looking. "We can always check it tomorrow. We did kinda take out... a lot..." Ray looked around at the bodies they left scattered behind them. "Plus, it's getting dark. We should move this thing in before it's too dark. Zombies don't really wear reflective gear." Gerard nodded understandingly and grabbed Frank's shoulder.

"You good to move..?" Gerard spoke in a low voice to Frank. "I'll be blocked them from your view." He offered. Frank took a moment before nodding and peeling his face off the metal. Charlotte and Scarlet had already started back up the stairs into the camper as Gerard took Frank under his arm to guide him away from the bodies with Ray. Mikey stayed outside the camper as the two girls climbed into the front seats, awaiting their signal.

The walk around to the front was relatively easy. Most of the zombies they saw were locked in their cars, or too far to be bothered with the three of them. Once they arrived at the gate, Ray gave it a good yank to see how easy it would be to open and was surprised that the automated system within didn't create any resistance.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Gerard and Frank nodded together, readied with their weapons. Ray banged on the iron of the gate and looked around to make sure no zombies were disturbed by the sound. From afar, the sound of the camper sputtering to life gave them more of a fright than the simple banging on the gate. But, to their surprise and relief, they were able to cruise the RV through the parking lot, onto the main road, and into the gates without too much disturbance. Very much unlike the guys welcome to the girls. They were in the clear as they went through the gates and started pulling them back to lock them in again, a loud shatter of glass had made the three of them looking around in panic as zombies started to climb out of a nearby houses window.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Gerard exclaimed as they yanked harder, the resistance from the automation that usually controlled the gate was effecting them now. Frank took his hands off the gate and pulled his axe up, ready to swing as the zombified bodies hit the ground and rolled into the main road. As they stood, they pushed on into something near a sprint. One was slugging a broken leg, one was dragging itself with it's hands, and one was basically still able-bodied enough to run with little to no hold back.

The fast one reached them before the gates could close completely. "FRANK, GET IT!" Gerard's yelled broke Frank's frozen fear as he could not get his mind off of the children he had brutalized.

They are already dead... They are already dead... He repeated to himself.

"FRANK, I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU DON'T-" Before Gerard could finish, Frank threw his axe up over his head and, with his own yell, threw it down onto the runners skull. Splitting it open in two from the top and slicing down through to it's neck like a knife through warm butter. Gerard and Ray closed their eyes and flinched as more blood and brains sprayed at them. Frank had stood wide eyed, now covered in brain matter as well. He pulled the axe up again and, as the body was dropping to the ground, he brought it down again into it's chest. He did this a third time. Then a fourth before pulling himself away from the body. Ray and Gerard were almost completely distracted by Frank to realize another one had reached the gate as well now.

The RV's engine cut. "What the hell are you guys doing?!" Mikey screamed from the camper, throwing the door open he ran at them with his bat and hit the one with the dragging leg. Frank was standing and staring at them, eyes still wide with shock as one eye twitched while Mikey took out the other zombie. Ray and Gerard pulled the gate shut just as the one dragging itself by it's hands got to the gate. It was chomping at them and hitting the gate mindlessly like an elderly person attempting to get into a store past closing hours. Ray and Gerard sighed together before fist bumping.

Mikey whipped around the Frank. "What the fuck were you thinking?! You were supposed to help them, why were you just standing there?!" But Frank just stared, eyes wide and blood dripping down his face. Mikey took each of his shoulders in his hands and shook him. "Frank. Frank, what the FUCK man?!"

Instead of responding like a normal person would, Frank just looked at Mikey with wild eyes, a smile broke across his face and he chuckled a little. This only pissed Mikey off more and, out of instinct, Mikey slapped him. Frank stood stunned. Hand instinctively going to the cheek that was just slapped. He blinked a few times and Gerard and Ray grabbed Mikey by the arms and yanked him off Frank. "He almost got all of us killed, he deserved this. He LAUGHED."

"But we didn't die, everyone's fine!" Gerard started, "He's in shock, Mike. We've been doing this awhile, he's hardly had to kill anything yet."

"The only reason we aren't zombie food is because of ME, not him!" Mikey was struggling hard against their grip but Ray and Gerard together were able to keep him restrained.

"Mikey, you've got to chill, man. We all have made mistakes." Ray attempted to coax Mikey down as Frank held his cheek and continued to stare at the three men.

"I warned him to not hold us back when we met him and he almost just let you two die. We're just going to pretend that didn't just happen?!"

"I... I'm sorry." Frank's voice came out small but sincere.

"Sorry my ASS. Frank, if you can't carry your weight, you need to leave. Find another crew who you wont hold back."

"Mikey!" Ray and Gerard scolded him together as he stopped fighting back against their restraint.

"This is... difficult... I don't-"

"I don't care." Mikey sounded venomous. "This shit is difficult for all of us, not just you. You need to get your shit together."

"I'm sorry." Frank's crazy eyes tamed, but the blood spatter across his face still gave him a haunting appearance. "I froze up. I fucked up. I'm fucking sorry."

"Sorry doesn't change shit. Don't let it fucking happen again." Mikey ripped his arm from Gerard's grip, Ray willingly let him go and he stomped back towards the building. Mikey checked Frank's shoulder as he walked by, nearly pushing Frank onto the ground.

Once Mikey was out of view, Ray and Gerard noticed Charlotte and Scarlet peaking out of the RV, watching them silently. With the show being over now the two of them climbed off the camper and speed walked back inside with their heads down. Ray and Gerard exchanged a look as Frank stared at the body he brutalized.

"I'll go talk to him..." Gerard started on his way to find Mikey when he stopped next to Frank to speak in his ear again. "Frankie, you're fine. Shit like this happens. We weren't always this used to killing, I promise. We've all frozen up before." Gerard put a comforting hand on Frank's bicep and gently squeezed. The warmth of Gerard's hands brought some comfort to Frank, reminding him he was still alive and was still human.

Ray moved in to comfort Frank when Gerard moved away finally. "Don't be mad at Mikey, he's always struggled with anger but it got worse after... we left home." Frank could tell Ray was holding back but decided not to push for more information. "I'm not saying to give him a break, or excuse how he acted. Just... Don't let it impede on your judgement of him. He's been struggling more than Gerard and I have." Frank met Ray's eyes and nodded. Ray's smile could be seen in his eyes and he took Frank into a hug that surprised him.

Ray's arms around him made him feel good and safe. His body immediately sagged into Ray's as he wrapped his arms around to hug him back. He inhaled Ray's smell as he took a calming deep breath, which was almost overpowered by the smell of rotting body, but it was still there in the crook of his neck. Ray broke the hug sooner than Frank wanted to, still smiling down at Frank. "Y'know, Gerard was right."

"About?"

"We've all frozen up before. It was really hard for us to get used to this but we..." Ray sighed and closed his eyes momentarily, his smile fading. "We got used to this kind of a thing after having to... having to take out a few people we were really close with. It feels more like murder when it's someone you love." Ray attempted to give a comforting smile but only appeared to be sad. "You have to remind yourself it isn't murder if they've already been taken.

It isn't murder if they're already taken... Frank repeated in his head as Ray also headed back inside. The monster that had reached the gate was tiredly chomping at Frank still, but his ears began ringing as soon as Ray's feet against pavement faded away. Frank took his head in his hands and squatted to the ground. Eyes squeezed shut as he processed what just happened. God, you're going to make them all hate you before you can even get to your family... Frank still had heard nothing from his parents, or his brother, causing him to give up on attempting to reach them. He pushed the palms of his hands hard enough against his eyes to see stars before rubbing the pain in his head away through his temples.

Tomorrow will be better. I will do better tomorrow. It is not murder if it is already taken.

Chapter 8

Notes:

:) a treat for my patient readers

Dinner that night was mostly silent, but completely awkward. Mostly silent because you would need to glue Scarlet and Charlotte’s mouth shut to get them to stop talking, and even then, Frank thought they would talk through the glue just to be social. It was obvious how much the girls loved each other, and even more obvious how much Mikey hated Frank right now.

Ray attempted to keep the peace while everyone ate. Scarlet found more pre-made meals for everyone to have for dinner, realistically they could stay here and survive for months, probably as long as they continued to ration properly. But, with the dog-like creatures and the runners basically surrounding them, Gerard proposed it would probably be safer to continue following the virus like they were already doing.

It was easy to convince the girls they were safer not staying in one place. Food would eventually run out and there was no sign of the government or government bodies giving a single fuck that people are turning into walking corpses. The only sign that the virus was continuing to decimate societies was the lack of radio and television transmissions.

Frank turned in early, after having barely touched his food. Ray offered to wrap his food back up so it wouldn’t go to waste, but Frank only responded with a wave of his hand before disappearing into their make-shift beds.

Wanting to give him space, Ray, Gerard, and Mikey decided to stay up with the girls, well into the night.

But Frank couldn’t find sleep. He stayed awake staring at the wall for what felt like hours. Although it was just a muffle, he could hear everyone else yelling excitedly. Frank just couldn’t shake the events of the day as easily as the rest of them could.

He sat up in the dark, there was some light streaming in from outside the door from another room nearby, allowing Frank to see clearly. Forcing himself forward, he searched for the duffle bag he was storing his pre-roll stash in. Snatching them out of his bag, he made his way out front to the truck again.

He forced himself to not even hesitate on his walk out as he heard the shouting of everyone having fun in the rec room. The smashing of pool balls then a yell of agony followed by laughter. Frank felt his chest tighten but the cool air of the late night untangled it and the fun from inside was forgotten.

Frank situated himself on the edge of the truck bed again to light up alone, again.

You started alone last time too… Frank chuckled out his first hit, reminiscing on his time spent in the truck bed getting high with Gerard last time. Taking another deep hit and leaning back on his hands, Frank allowed himself to relax.

The night was mostly silent, there was an ominous banging against glass in the distance, and the air just smelled… wrong. The corpses around them rotting on the pavement. The sun during the day basically baking the decomposing corpses into the boiling gravel. The smell of spoiled, overcooked pork burned into his nose with a disgustingly strange twist of burnt rubber.

Frank attempted to huff the tangy weed smell given off by his joint to stay calm. He could hardly control himself as his mind wandered back to when Gerard almost kissed him, but instead he blew his smoke into Frank’s mouth.

He dwelled for a while on the heat of Gerard’s breath against his mouth. The hint of cigarettes that never quite stuck as strongly as Frank was used to.

He felt his face get hot as he thought about how nice it would’ve been to lean into Gerard. Wondering what Gerard would’ve done in return. It would be a lie if Frank said he never noticed Gerard checking him out or leaning more towards him when they’re standing together.

Frank imagined the way he would definitely taste like cigarettes, but maybe there were other addictions he would be able to decipher from how his tongue tasted. His eyes slowly closing as his head lobbed back.

Frank’s jeans had been gradually getting tighter as his imagination went on, his face felt as hot as it does after a couple of stiff drinks. Frank was unconsciously hitting the joint while his imagination warmed him up.

At some point while he was distracted, the joint stayed between his lips and his now free hand was rubbing himself outside his jeans.

“Hey- “The slightly slurred words from Gerard scared the shit out of Frank, he jumped away in defense as Gerard slinked around the bed of the truck to push his body against Franks. He wasn’t sure how much Gerard had seen but the hint of cigarette smoke that stuck to him meant he was watching for a little bit.

Frank hesitated, breathing hard, “Are you sure you want this...?” Gerard’s eyes were heavy, and he stumbled a little while staring deeply into Frank’s eyes. He nodded slowly, blinking slower. Frank inhaled the joint until it hurt, feeling his dick grow even harder.

But when he pulled the joint away, leaning slightly closer to Gerard, Gerard instead wrapped his mouth around the joint and took a hit too. He pulled away from Frank, taking the joint with him, leaving freezing air in his wake.

 Gerard sobered up, or he was acting drunker than he was, either way Frank was still hard from just being so close to him. The smell of a strong whiskey was intertwined with the sweetness from the tobacco.

Gerard pulled the joint away, blowing his smoke directed towards Frank, but the wind stole it and yanked it away from them both.

He took another hit, being more casual about the exhalation before handing it back to Frank. Gerard made Frank feel small from the beginning, as much as Frank wished to see Gerard standing over him again like the day in the pharmacy, maybe even with a gun again if he’s into that, it made Gerard a little more intimidating than he normally was.

Gerard standing in front of Frank now, Frank didn’t feel intimidated, but he was staying more aroused than he wished he was.

Gerard held the joint out and Frank took it back, unconsciously taking a deep inhale. Gerard broke the tension that Frank couldn’t tell whether Gerard also felt or not, “Couldn’t sleep?”

Frank just shook his head. “Smoke break?” He coughed out, making Gerard chuckle.

“Can you still smell it on me?” Gerard sniffed the hoodie he had thrown on before coming out here and only shrugged. The cigarette smell Frank was intoxicated by was unrecognizable to Gerard’s nose.

There was another long, awkward silence between the two as they huffed and passed the joint. It quickly burned out as they stared at each other. Frank watched as Gerard took the last hit and stamped out the butt.

“Would you like to join us?” Gerard gestured back to the building. Gerard returned both of his fists to the pockets in his hoodie, rocking a little on the heels of his feet.

Frank shook his head again, “I don’t want to ruin the party by pissing anyone off.” Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Just ignore Mikey, we all had a long day. You should come have a drink.”

“I probably shouldn’t.”

“Why?”

Frank shrugged, “I can’t trust myself when I drink.” Frank was unable to meet Gerard’s eyes, he had averted them to stare at some rock that sat in the truck bed with him.

Instead of responding, Gerard closed the gap between them again. Gerard’s hands had slipped out of his pockets at some point and planted them on either side of Frank’s hips.

A harsh, red, warm heat crept up Frank’s neck, slowly heating up the skin on his face.

“Can you trust me when I’ve being drinking?” Frank was too flustered to make out exactly what Gerard was asking; he could feel his face burning hot as they stared at each other. Frank stumbled and stuttered over a few sounds before Gerard moved one hand from beside his hip to being on his knee.

Frank’s eyes went to Gerard’s hand while Gerard continued to stare at him, smirking a little at how cute he thought Frank was while he was so flustered. He slowly brought his hand up a little higher, Gerard could obviously see how hard Frank was getting from just his touch.

Frank was still staring down at Gerard’s hand as he slowly crept up his thigh, making Frank’s breathing hitch and speed up. Gerard wouldn’t take his eyes off Frank’s face, leaving only a couple of inches between them. Even in the dark away from the building, he could make out Frank’s red cheeks.

Gerard continued his hand up his thigh, to his dick. With the lightest touch he held his palm over his already throbbing cock. Frank exhaled quickly. A silent beg occurred when Frank raised his eyes to meet Gerard’s, his eyes now red and half lidded from the weed. Frank felt relaxed and uptight all together, but Gerard squeezing his cock helped to massage those feelings away.

Gerard squeezed again, making another quick, but soft, exhale fall out of Frank’s lips. Gerard became more entertained every time Frank made a noise. Gerard’s hand was gone faster than it arrived, but it soon returned as Gerard fumbled a little with Frank’s jeans, tearing them open with more hunger than he wanted to let off.

The cold air grew warm on Frank’s dick as Gerard reached into his boxers. Gerard’s hands weren’t soft, but the immediate friction from the calloses made Frank’s head fall back and a low, long moan poured out.

Gerard was gentle at first, seemingly aware of how dry this hand-job already was. When he saw how much Frank was enjoying it, though, he pulled away too quickly for Frank’s comfort. He spit into his palm before dipping into Frank’s boxers again.

Frank moaned quietly as he forced his head back down to meet Gerard’s half-lidded eyes. He couldn’t hold his mouth shut as he panted lightly as Gerard stopped tugging on him and started to lightly rub his thumb against the tip of dick.

Gerard was great at teasing the tip, he stopped quickly to push and pull his hand up and down again, pulsating pressure randomly but gripping hard whenever he returned to the base of the head.

The rising heat flustered Frank, Gerard was inching closer, and Frank could only distinguish his distance based on how much of his lips was hot from Gerard’s breath.

“Is this okay…?” Gerard asking for consent. Fuck. Frank’s breath hitched and he leaned in without responding. But Gerard’s reaction made Frank think he was expecting them to kiss. Gerard pumped a little faster, smiling against Frank’s heavy breathing.

One of Frank’s hands was gripping Gerard’s hair while his other was digging deep crescent moons into the arm that was invading his pants. But the pain didn’t stop Gerard, if anything it encouraged him to go faster as Frank started breathing heavier and faster. Bucking into Gerard’s hand a little, causing him to deviously grin.

Gerard enjoyed the feeling of Frank underneath him; he enjoyed the feeling he was overcome with when he protected him in the gas station a few days ago, but now…? Gerard forced his tongue between Frank’s panting lips. Gerard became conscious of his movements on Franks dick and changed it to be faster, circling the tip of his head every time he pumped up. Creating an up and around rhythm; Up and around, down. Up and around, down.

Frank’s tongue fought Gerard weakly as he yearned to stay as close to him as possible. Gerard pulled his mouth away, dragging out a long line of saliva attaching them. Frank followed the rope of spit to Gerard as he pulled away. Feeling so much colder now, Gerard stared down at him, most of his face darkened by the shadows of the night, but the lust couldn’t be hidden. The piercing look shot through Frank’s chest, making Frank desperate for more.

Frank didn’t fully register Gerard’s evil smirk until he was about to reach his peak, hips bucking slightly in rhythm with Gerard’s pumping. Then, he stopped. Suddenly gripping right under the tip of his dick. And slowly pulled his hand away.

A guttural groan escaped the depths of Frank’s body, a sound he’d never heard before, but he’d also never been denied an orgasm before. He’d been with men before, and women, but no one focused so much on him like this.

The pain from the buildup made his balls tighten and cock twitch. Frank’s mouth hung open just enough for Gerard to shove his sweaty middle fingers into his mouth and pulling their faces close again, Gerard’s breath caressing Frank’s cheek as he spoke, “Now you smell like cigarettes, too…” Gerard rubbing his nose lightly over Frank’s cheek as he spoke, going down his neck.

Frank panted again weakly, his head rolling back again while Gerard lightly skimmed his neck with his lips. Parting them with an inhale, Gerard swiped Frank’s neck with his tongue before biting down hard on a sweet spot.

Frank’s dick throbbed, his teeth impaling Gerard’s fingers as Gerard gripped his jaw tighter, wrapping his other arm around Frank’s body to hold him up as he pulled him closer. Frank gave in, using his tongue to trace between Gerard’s fingers.

A low chuckle dropped from Gerard’s mouth, and he pulled away from Frank. The cold air of the night blowing away any warmth Gerard added to their moment.

“Thanks for sharing your joint again. I should get back.” The smirk never left his face, Frank sat in an awkward flustered mess on the truck bed, still panting slightly with embarrassment, pants undone and hair disheveled, as Gerard turned and walked back to the building.

Gerard’s stride was nonchalant, Frank’s dick twitched slower, but the motion still forced a jolt to shoot through him. Frank couldn’t take his eyes off Gerard; both of his hands back in his pockets, he walked away as if he didn’t just make Frank feel the most deprived he ever has in his life.

Frank’s hand unconsciously reconnected with his dick, attempting to mimic a fraction of how Gerard made him feel, but failing miserably. He became hyper aware of the way his own skin felt against his own callused hands and missed the feeling of Gerard grabbing hold of him.

The lack of warmth killed the mood the most. Frank felt like he couldn’t maneuver around himself within his pants after Gerard did it so effortlessly. He still felt a phantom version of Gerard’s smooth up and around, down rhythm.

But his hands were unable to copy the smooth, yet careless motion of Gerard’s hands on his cock. His dick throbbed again, not for his own hands but for Gerard’s.

His cock was not going to soften, but the feel of his own skin attempting to finish what Gerard started made himself cringe. He gave up and attempted to stuff his dick back into his pants behind the tight zipper, dealing with more of a fight than he had the energy for.

Ignoring the button, he quietly made his way back to their beds. He was too pent up to deal with the shit from Mikey and couldn’t take his mind off how far he could get with Gerard if he got more time alone with him.

As Frank walked back through the lobby, ignoring the excitable sounds radiating from the rec room that were louder than earlier, he quickened his pace back to their beds. He forced his way through the door, practically throwing himself onto the bed and immediately his hands were back at his zipper.

His pants were off within seconds, he boxers quickly being pushed to his knees without a second thought. He thought about taking off his shirt but the lingering smell of whiskey and tobacco from Gerard was stuck to it in a way that made the next throb of his cock become painful.

A bead of precum expelled from the tip of his dick as he grabbed himself hard, his brain was so fuzzy he kicked away his blanket as he began to jerk himself off. Huffing the smell that so barely lingered on him still, Frank felt desperate as he gripped himself harder for every deep inhale of Gerard’s smell that stuck to him.

A quick breath escaped him, unintentionally, as he teased his head a little to help edge the orgasm that already couldn’t match what he just experienced outside. Frank rolled his eyes at himself as he indulged himself in the feeling he was denying so much earlier.

Frank fantasized about Gerard pushing him to his back forcefully while he continued his smoothly intoxicating rhythm from before.

Up and around, down.

He imagined how slickly wet his body would get with Gerard pushed so close, breathing heavily down his neck. Frank was reminded by how hard Gerard bit down on his neck, keeping that smooth pace while pumping his dick from before, but wanting to feel more of Gerard’s teeth on his neck.

Up and around, down.

Frank felt himself grow closer and closer to his peak, the denial from before making him bite his tongue with agony as he struggled to reach it. He attempted to imagine the different positions Gerard could jerk him off in, but his throbbing cock was never satisfied by the ideas. Until Frank switched ideas.

He switched his ideas from being topped by Gerard to pleasing him, the throbbing stopped as Frank started to get closer and closer to his end.

Up and around, down.

He imagined going down on Gerard, pulling out his dick and taking as much of it into his own mouth, but the lack of knowledge about how big Gerard was messed with the idea slightly. Frank wasn’t bothered by it, but it tried his best not to overthink the size… or girth… or how veiny it was.

Frank was so unaware of his surroundings, the loud slapping of the side of his hand slapping against his pelvis began to sound like someone sloppily giving head without the same amount of pleasure. Frank abruptly stopped as he heard a loud snore cut through the air.

Frank froze solid. Hard dick still being gripped as he paused to find the source, Frank turned to his right and saw the empty bed that Ray occupied the night before. His head whipped around to the left, in the bed on his other side he saw Gerard on his front, topless with his mouth hanging open. It made Frank laugh to see his dominating friend in such a vulnerable position, then he realized his dick was still in his hand…

Up and around, down.

A quick breath jumped out of him again as he stared at Gerard’s sleeping face, his mouth hanging open allowed Frank to imagine himself in charge. He pictured how thoughtful Gerard would be when it came to pleasing him. Frank always wished to be in charge, but he typically became weak when the situation presented itself.

At one point, as Frank indulged in the lust radiating from his dick, his eyes wondered and landed on the pile of Gerard’s clothes. Gerard typically wore clothes to bed, at least in Frank’s experience over the last few days. Except tonight, his clothes were in a pile at the end of his bed, bright red and black plaid boxers sitting eagerly on top.

Frank’s eyes shot back up to Gerard’s face; mouth squished wide open against his pillow, then back down his pile of clothes. After the teasing Gerard did to Frank tonight, he thought Gerard deserved something similar.

With one more look at Gerard’s face, Frank pushed himself out of bed and made way towards Gerard’s boxers. Frank never let his own dick go, gripping it hard as he moved swiftly to the end of their beds just to wrap the soft fabric of Gerard’s boxers around his desperation. The friction of dry cotton became extremely apparent at that moment.

But Frank couldn’t care, all he wanted was to indulge in Gerard. He started slow, allowing his entire dick to get a feel of the fabric from the boxers before Frank figured out what way was best to rub himself with.

Frank thrusted multiple times into Gerard’s boxers before realizing the smell of Gerard in his own shirt had been huffed out. Without a second thought, Frank stole Gerard’s shirt from the same pile and nearly suffocated himself with the scent that teased him from his own shirt.

Animalistically, Frank ripped off his own shirt of soft fabric and yanked Gerard’s worn, rough shirt over his head. It was slightly larger on him; without a second thought he pointed his dick up and used the t-shirt as a catch as he huffed deeply.

Before he was able to finish, a soft but noticeable thud from the hallway outside the door startled Frank, but not enough to make him stop. He hesitated and listened intently. When Gerard’s drunken snore ripped through the air again, Frank jerked himself off harder and faster.

Gerard’s snores were ugly, but the fact that he was so vulnerable now knowing Frank would come back to their room right away made Frank wonder if he came straight here on purpose or if Gerard was too drunk to know what was going on.

Up and around… squeeze, and down.

He unblinkingly watched Gerard’s sleeping face. The feeling of his teeth leaving a phantom of need on Frank’s neck. He returned his mind to that moment, pretending the bite lasted longer than a couple of seconds. Gerard’s teeth sinking deeper and deeper until he drew blood. Like a vampire, Gerard lapped it up in Frank’s imagination.

Up and around, squeeze… and down.

Frank inhaled deeply again, being reminded of Gerard’s smell. Frank’s lack of alcohol, but strong addiction to it, made his mouth water. Mostly for the alcohol, he did want some, but he wanted Gerard. Adding his favorite smell on top of it all just made him want Gerard to pin him down.

Up and around, squeeze, and down. Up and around, squeeze, and down.

Finally, his eyes. Gerard’s devious yet playful facial expressions always reached his eyes when talking to Frank. The way he looked at Frank both times in the truck bed; Gerard knowing he had full control in making Frank so weak. He thought of the time in the gas station when Gerard peered at him over his shoulder, he was so sure of himself – It made Frank feel safe.

Up and down. Up and around, squeeze, and down. Up and down. Up and around, squeeze, and down.

The final thought Frank had before his mind became numb was the way he felt the day Gerard and him first met, Gerard’s shotgun barrel inches from his face. Frank could smell the metal, and strangely also cigarettes but he assumed that was from huffing Gerard’s shirt. Frank felt tiny remembering it, and he loved it.

And he broke. Rushing over the edge, he exploded up his stomach and chest, leaving multiple traces of sticky whiteness inside the shirt as well. Gerard hadn’t moved since Frank started; Frank literally didn’t stop staring at him the entire time he masturbated.

As he slowed his pumping, he eventually grew soft again in his hand, still watching Gerard. His breathing slowed as he wiped his hand, and dick, and chest… and stomach, off on the inside of the shirt as well. Yanking it off, he tossed it with Gerard’s dirty clothes, the inside remaining on the inside, so no one finds the surprise he made specifically for Gerard.

Falling back, Frank made himself comfortable again within his own sheets, although he wished he had the balls to curl up next to Gerard instead.

He pushed the thoughts away, not wanting to tempt himself more. But, as Frank was falling asleep, he realized he was the most comfortable doing so while watching Gerard sleep.

Chapter 9

Notes:

travel chapter.... what do you guys wanna see next...? [eyeball emoji]

Frank awoke the next morning bitterly cold with an intense craving for alcohol almost immediately. He lapped at his dry lips and searched around the now empty room for water but was unable to locate any.

He was slow moving, but the curiosity of where everyone, and all their things disappeared too was enough to push him to dress quickly and put everything he brought back into his duffle. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he left for the lobby where most of the group was.

Ray was leaning against the front desk in front of Charlotte, obviously flexing slightly. Charlotte had a soft blush on her face as she shamelessly flirted back. They hardly noticed Frank as he hid in the shadows of the hallway, not wanting to ruin their moment alone.

Frank could see Gerard and Mikey shoving bags into the RV; Scarlet making her way back inside as he examined the area.

 Frank decided to wait until Scarlet walked through the front doors before letting himself be seen. Still, no one looked his way anyways because Scarlet immediately started talking, “The mini fridges have now also been stocked. Those plus most of the big fridge and some of the freezer space should keep us fed at least until we find another place safe enough to loot. Morning, Frank.” Scarlet casually greeted Frank, making Ray and Charlotte almost jump when they realize he was standing behind them.

“Oh, hey man!” Ray pushed himself off the counter to greet him, not fully turning away from Charlotte who attempted (poorly) to hide her disappointment of her time alone with Ray being interrupted.

Frank waved weakly, Scarlet continued without hesitation, “There’s enough room in the freezer for a good bit of lick-orrr,” Scarlet mimicked drinking with her thumb and pinky, smiling at herself. “Yeah soo… I dunno what you guys wanna bring but I think everyone could pick like three, maybe four, bottles of liquor from the backroom and we can discuss what doesn’t fit when the time comes.”

Scarlet smiled with all her teeth; Frank felt like his own void beside the three of them. He didn’t feel like he belonged.

Ray’s fist banging the desk twice shocked the silent room to alarm again, “Welp! I guess Lottie and I can grab some bottles—”

“I’ll come with you.” Scarlet declared, all three leaving Frank to stand alone in the lobby. He watched as Gerard and Mikey finished shoving their bags into the RV’s storage. Absently, he walked out to them.

Gerard and Mikey were dressed very similarly, band tee and jeans; both men having noticeable sweat staining their armpits. The summer Nevada sun beat down on Frank as he got closer to them, causing a sweat to break slightly across his forehead.

“Morning.” Frank barely spoke louder than a grumble, Gerard turned to face him with a slight grin on his face ever so slightly smirking as their eyes met. Mikey did not turn around.

“Morning, how’d you sleep?” Mikey slammed the storage door shut and boarded the RV without saying a word, but neither Gerard nor Frank really gave a shit about his attitude right now.

“Fine…” They stood awkwardly together, Gerard producing a cigarette seemingly out of nowhere. He lit it and inhaled, making Frank almost forget how to breathe as he watched, mesmerized.

“Sorry,” Gerard inhaled again, Frank’s confusion painted on his face as he noticed with Gerard’s next exhale that he was actively trying not to blow the smoke in his direction. So, he remembered his manners… “We ran out of space after the girls piled their bags in.” Gerard thumbed towards the door Mikey slammed shut only minutes earlier.

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” Gerard interrupted Frank just to pause to take another hit. “It’s alright though, my stuff couldn’t fit either.” His devious smirk grew while he routinely smoked. “It’s not like there’s enough room for all six of us in the RV anyways,” he shrugged. “Figured we could take the pick-up too.” Inhaling…

And holding it.

As if he was using it to count the seconds before Frank responded.

“Okay… Makes sense.” A gruesome silence enveloped them for too long; Gerard’s smoke infused exhale was silent.

In the same moment that the RV’s engine startled them back to reality, Ray and the girls bustled out of the double doors carrying only two bottles of wine and a bottle of whiskey. The whiskey clearly missing a handful of shots worth.

“That doesn’t look like much.” Frank directed their attention to the three moving towards them, wanting the silence to end.

Charlotte groaned, nodding, but Ray was the one to speak up, “We drank more than we should’ve last night.” Gerard scoffed, flicking the ash from his cigarette. The girls made their way onto the RV as its engine kicked back to life.

Ray paused between them, feeling the heavy tension between them. Gerard smoked; Frank squirmed. “What’re you guys doing with those?” He pointed at the pile of bags that belonged to Gerard and Frank that were sitting on the pavement.

“No more room in the camper storage,” Gerard’s gaze lingered longer on Frank between his flicks over to Ray. “Figured we could take the truck. Maybe get a head start and drag away the attention of the zombies before you guys leave.” Frank noted the fact that Gerard finally called them zombies, after so much resistance, before realizing Gerard’s plan was to essentially make them bait.

“Oh… That’s actually a pretty good idea.” Ray seemed to not notice Frank’s face shifting to fear as he stared at Gerard. “Did you tell Mikey, yet?”

Gerard shook his head, half of his mouth opening into a smirk as he spoke, “Not yet, we just thought of it.” Frank stood stunned as Ray nodded in understanding.

“I’ll let him know, just give us a heads up when you’re ready to go.” Ray patted Gerard’s shoulder before making his way into the RV as well. Leaving Gerard smirking down at Frank.

“I didn’t agree to be bait, Gerard,” Frank threw his hands into the air, “I haven’t even gotten to shower yet!” He crossed them over his chest. Gerard’s smirk just grew into a devilish grin as he finished off the cigarette, crushing the orange butt under his foot.

“I haven’t showered either. We can lure the zombies away then throw them off with our dead scent. Like they do in the TV shows.” Gerard shrugged, shoving his hands carelessly into his pockets.

“Our zombies, I appreciate you finally calling them that, by the way, are a lot different than the shit we see on TV,” Frank paused. “Also, this isn’t fucking TV!”

Gerard chucked before leaning over and grabbing both of their bags and Gerard’s extra backpack. Turning on his heels, Gerard set off towards the truck that sat on the opposite side of the parking lot, much closer to the gate than the RV was.

Scrambling after him, Frank was sure there was nothing he could say that was going to convince Gerard not to ride alone with him. There was only a minor amount of anxiety that built in Frank’s stomach about finally being alone with Gerard again, and while they were both conscious.

“Hey!” Gerard ignored Frank as he tucked a bag under the front passenger seat, moving around to the other side to shove the other duffle under the driver’s side seat. “Gerard.” Frank said sternly, moving around the back of the truck to the driver’s side to meet Gerard at the door. “What kind of an idea is this. We could probably all fit in that RV, plus why would we want to separate from everyone else?”

Gerard straightened, turning to loom down at Frank, making him feel smaller than usual. “It’s payback for what happened yesterday.”

Frank’s face heated, red running up his neck into his nose. “Pay…back…” In a flash, Gerard had yanked his shotgun from the front seat and pressed the barrel to the underside of Frank’s chin. Keeping the gun parallel to their bodies, it was unseen from the RV.

Gerard’s eyes flashed down to Frank’s growing pants before shooting back up to meet his gaze. Embarrassment harnessing him, Frank mindlessly swallowed, hard.

“I saw what you left for me, that was one of my only black shirts.” Gerard tsked. “But I was talking about freezing up at the gate.” Gerard dropped the gun from his chin and slid it onto the floor of the driver’s seat.

Frank exhaled sharply, attempting to remember the fear he felt in the hopes it also killed his boner. “I guess that’s fair…” He agreed, but Gerard moved past him to greet someone else. Frank turned around to meet Mikey approaching.

“Ray told me what your plan was, sure you want to go alone?” Mikey completely ignored Frank standing there. Gerard didn’t attempt to include him in their conversation either.

“We’ll be fine, I’ve gotta plan.” Gerard shrugged carelessly, shoving his fists into his pockets again while Mikey’s eyes drilled into him. “Here’s where I was thinking we could check out next.” Gerard pulled his phone out and pulled up a map to a location Frank was unable to make out from where he was standing. His unfamiliarity of the west gave him anxiety that he attempted to ease by indulging in trusting Gerard.

Mikey nodded, pulled the address up on his own phone and began walking back to the RV without another word.

“Where are we…-“

“Utah, baby.” Gerard hoisted himself into the driver’s seat, flashing a wicked smile at Frank with a cigarette between his teeth. Frank wasn’t sure how the cigarette got there but he desperately wanted to huff it after he watched Gerard suck on it. Gerard slammed his door shut and turned the ignition. As Frank made his way around the truck to hop in alongside him, Gerard clicked the locks and met Frank’s now panicking eyes.

“What the fu-“

“Open the gate. You froze yesterday, prove to us we should keep you around.” Gerard inhaled deeply and puffed his smoke straight at Frank like a dragon. Frank coughed dramatically, stumbling further away from the truck.

Grumbling, Frank made his way to the front gate. Gripping two of the bars, he scouted around the area. The street seemed to have cleared since yesterday, it was difficult to see within the houses. the couple roaming undead seeming to be soliciting close to homes with noise coming from them.

Frank began to push the gate open again, pushing away the memories from the previous day. The gate squealed as he pushed but nothing could distract him until he heard the slam of a loud, plastic door.

Frank’s eyes whipped around to the RV and saw Mikey, Scarlet, and Charlotte nearly pressed against the glass of the windshield in the RV. Gerard laid back, relaxed in the front seat of the truck; one of his arms stretched around the passengers headrest while the other brought and pulled away the cigarette he was indulging on.

If it hadn’t been for the loud shattering of glass to his right, Frank wouldn’t have realized some zombies had been alerted. Outside of a nearby house, Frank saw half of a body sticking out of a window on the first floor of a nearby home.

The window was small, rectangular and barely allowing the bloated undead to get through. There were three other zombies in that same yard who instantly became interested in the body that flung itself out the window, screaming a gutturally bloody screech.

Frank froze, his feet and head felt hot, but the rest of his body was frozen even as a line of sweat began to bead across his forehead.

The body in the window continued the scream, but Frank watched as it planted two hands into the glass shards still jutting from the window frame and pushing itself up like a baby learning how to crawl.

The zombie’s face contorted into a scrunched screech as it threw its head back, screaming in an octave Frank had ever heard before. Blood running from its eyes, mouth and palms, it dragged its body out of the window. It didn’t seem to notice it was dragging glass through its body until the body was sliced open, from chin to stomach, as it fell out into the grass below.

Frank watched in horror as it began to drag itself through the yard. The left side slacking behind the right, it whipped its arm up and pointed it in Frank’s direction, leading the other undead in the yard to turn and stare at Frank.

And Frank did the same thing he did yesterday, he fucking froze.

Before a horde could form, Gerard was by Franks side, pushing him and the gate together as if it weighed nothing. “Get in the truck!” He barked, pushing Frank away from him.

Frank hesitated again, but only momentarily before twisting and stumbling to the truck. Without thinking, he pulled himself into the driver’s seat, smashed the gear to drive and squealed past the gate into the road.

Frank came to a squealing stop as Gerard ran up and hauled himself into the passenger seat. Without another thought, Frank followed Gerard’s plan to distract the zombies which were all now very interested in getting to their truck.

Frank pushed his palm deeply into the wheels horn as he watched the already forming group move from the lawns into the street next to him, steadily increasing in speed.

“I hope you know how we’re going to get them off of us.” Frank turned to Gerard as he floored the gas pedal. The truck choked and coughed repeatedly as it kicked off into the street, successfully catching the attention of the horde.

“Slow down a bit, let them chase us. Just keep going straight.” Gerard was strangely calm, which helped Frank level his own anxiety as he relaxed off the speed. “You go too fast; they can’t keep up with us. Thus, we lose their attention, and our plan was a waste.”

 

 

Gerard pointed Frank on and off the main road and through numerous neighborhoods, directing him when to slow down and speed up. Frank quickly realized they were leading zombies off the main roads and leaving them within the neighborhoods to clear the road.

They did this until they got to the edge of town where they sped off onto the highway towards their next stop, Utah.

“Ah, finally…” Gerard tapped away on his phone beside Frank. Frank refused to take his eyes off the road as civilization fell away to be replaced with an endlessly flat desert framed half by the nearly clear blue sky and half by tall, brown mountains.

“What?” Frank popped the ballooning silence as Gerard continued typing on his phone.

“Ray finally got to me…” He stopped again, Frank was beginning to interpret this as stand-offish and felt like he had just disappointed Gerard further by freezing up again earlier. But, as Frank opened his mouth to further probe, Gerard continued, “Ray said they’re about halfway to Utah.” Gerard paused again; Frank swore he could hear his fingers tapping but the truck groaned much louder. “So… we’re probably like, ten minutes behind them?”

Gerard put the phone down and stared directly at Frank, but Frank continued to watch the road. Much like the video Gerard had shown him of the piles of melting, fly infested zombies, these roads had smaller mounds of bodies. They weren’t as fly infested, and Frank thought he could still tell which body parts were where, as these bodies weren’t nearly as disfigured and cooked. Vultures could be seen poking and slurping pieces of meat; the meat almost looked a sickly green on the inside, but Frank attempted to convince himself the sun was making him see that.

 Even though they quickly drove, Frank was unable to prevent his brain from showing him images of the zombies attacking someone – or something – and melting together under the scorching sun as the ground bakes them from their feet up.

The visual of maggots being laid within the squishing flesh, feasting away at half eaten bodies that have been bubbling like cheese on a frying pan made Frank’s stomach turn and he contemplated lighting up.

“It sounds like the next place they want to stop is Cedar Cit-ay!” Gerard grew a toothy grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Mikey wants to stop by the mountains on their way… We have time to kill.” He continued, shrugging. Frank attempted to ignore the zombies that weren’t quite melted but didn’t quite look… normal anymore. Some were still able to roam the dry, prickling landscape but many were covered in splinters from the cacti, or were half melted and stuck in place.

Gerard turned away to grit at the ugly green sprouts of grass that now littered the desert. The cacti looked thick and tall but the grass growing from the hot earth looked like the tufts of animal fur you pull off cats and dogs during shedding season.

“Mikey likes to hike?” Frank tried to sound cool, calm, and casual. Pretending everything between Mike and him was fine.

“Oh, he loves to, back home he loved to walk our dogs, it was his thing…” Gerard fell short, and Frank heard it in the way he spoke. There was more to that memory, but Gerard was unable to push it out. And Frank wasn’t one to pry so he dropped it.

They drove in silence for a long time, eventually the roads cleared more and more. Neither said anything, but Frank could feel the tension growing. A little over half an hour into their drive the blue and orange ‘Welcome to Utah’ sign came into view.

“Life elevated… Isn’t Colorado taller than Utah?” Gerard turned his attention to Frank, stunning him out of his nearly dissociative state.

“Is it?” Frank had never traveled much before work, and that was just a recent perk from his last promotion. He had no idea how tall a state was, or if that was even the proper term to describe one state’s elevation to another.

“Colorado has Pikes Peak, it’s like one of the tallest mountains in the U.S… I think…” Gerard rubbed his hairless chin thoughtfully.

“Why don’t you look it up?” With Frank’s family lacking a lot of common sense, he grew accustomed to telling others to look up their questions rather than ask him for the answer.

Gerard caught Frank’s gaze when he lifted his phone to show his black lockscreen, pointing a finger in the top corner. “No signal.”

“Darn.” Frank said, emotionlessly.

“Hey!” As Frank turned to look at him, Gerard lightly slapped his hand against Frank’s cheek a few times. “Think through how you’re going to act before I make you pay me back for my shirt.” Gerard held Frank’s cheek as he spoke. Frank watched as Gerard’s eyes darkened, and his smile grew devilish.

Gerard rubbed his thumb just under Frank’s bottom lip, causing his mouth to slack open slightly. Gerard tsked, “You’re so fucking cute.” Gerard forced Frank to rip his eyes away and back towards the road. “Watch the road. I’m not dying in a car accident.” Frank felt painfully hard as his erection grew into the zipper of his jeans again.

Gerard smiled at himself as he relaxed his head against his headrest. “I don’t think there’s really anything out here for us to hit.” Frank waved a hand out at the landscape in front of them. Since it was hardly past noon now, the sun was high above and the zombies that were still stumbling around were being slowed every second.

Gerard lolled his head to the side to gaze at Frank, “Don’t say that. We don’t have any wood to knock on.” He smirked, watching Frank closely.

“You’re superstitious?”

“You’re not?” Confusion twisted Frank’s face.

“Why would I be?” As if an otherworldly presence heard Frank testing the universe, a loud popping sound exploded around the two of them. Both men jumped slightly and began looking around for the source.

Immediately, the scraping of metal against asphalt took over the air and screeched through their ear drums. Frank swerved off the side of the road and slammed on the brake, thankful that both decided to buckle up as they jolted forward.

The screeching stopped as the truck coughed again, choking on it for a moment before going silent as Frank put the truck into park and pulled the key back towards him.

Gerard was out first, nearly hopping to the ground, already examining the back tire on his side. Frank got out and saw both tires on his side were fine. Making his way around the back, he immediately saw the shredded rubber remains of the back tire.

Gerard just squatted in front of it, examining it as if there was nothing he could do.

“Fuck.” Was all Frank could get out. Gerard stood and slapped his palm against Frank’s shoulder.

“Good job, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“You basically caused this.” Gerard shrugged, giggling slightly to himself. Frank punched him, but it hardly made Gerard move.

“All because I couldn’t knock on wood?! That’s bullshit. This isn’t even my truck! Fuck, why didn’t I think to check ANYTHING before I took it. What was I even thinking.” Frank was panicking now, rambling because of it. He squatted then, holding his head in his hands as he stared at the ground.

“Hey,” Gerard got down to his level, this time gently placing his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be fine. Look,” Gerard turned and pointed in the direction they were driving in. “See that building? We can make it there before the end of the day, here…” Gerard pulled his phone out and played around on the map they were using to get to St. George.

He zoomed in close to the building nearby on the map but no data about it was coming up. Gerard was able to see it would take almost an hour to walk. Frank returned his head to his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.

Gerard let him mope for a few minutes while he leaned against the truck and smoked a cigarette. As he reached the end, he watched Frank, who hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes of them being there.

Gerard squatted in front of Frank and offered him the cigarette. Frank couldn’t see him, but he opened his eyes at the scent. Staring at the cigarette for a moment, Gerard pushed it towards him to offer it again and Frank took it. Inhaling deeply and holding it momentarily, he coughed it out. Gerard smirked at him as he took another big hit from the dying butt.

When Frank offered it back to Gerard, he silently offered him the rest and Frank silently thanked him by finishing it.

“So, if we get going now, we can get there before two. Hopefully when we get there one of us will get service, or they’ll have wi-fi we can connect to.” Gerard pulled Frank up with him and began to lead him to the truck to grab their bags.

“Do you think Ray or Mikey will see the truck and know it’s us?” Frank questioned, mindlessly grabbing a duffle while Gerard grabbed a bag.

“If they haven’t already gone by.” Frank dissociated slightly, attempting to push away any strong feelings as the buzzing of tobacco kicked him into gear.

“I thought they were stopping somewhere?” Frank stuttered as Gerard moved around to the driver’s side, grabbing the last duffle and his gun.

Gerard just shrugged, “They could’ve, or they could’ve kept going. I haven’t heard from anyone in a while.” Frank did his best to not freak out as he used the buzz to push his feet to move with Gerard towards their destination.

Chapter 10

Summary:

hello again (:

The closer the two got to their destination, the more eerie the desert became. Frank had noticed as they drove that the zombies roaming quickly dissipated. The video of the melting body clumps Gerard had shown him days before was still plaguing his thoughts. Not seeing anything like that anymore made him question whether it was even real.

Frank rolled his eyes and sighed at himself, earning a sidelong look from Gerard, who was walking tall with his shoulders back while Frank hunched a bit. The weight of the bags and weapon, plus the claustrophobic heat that blistered onto his skull, made him feel heavier than normal.

They stayed silent for most of the walk, Frank was too hot to think anyways and didn’t mind. Gerard was the one to break the silence once the building was so close they could make out a large parking lot first, in front of a three—maybe four—story building with lines of large windows going across each floor. The parking lot had a fair number of cars in it still, but it was terrifyingly quiet.

“Hey,” Gerard chuckled, pointing at the large green sign that used to say the exit name, but half of the sign was missing, and it was littered with bullet holes. “That’s my last name!” Gerard flashed a toothy grin at Frank as Frank moved to look at the sign, South Way, it said on two separate lines.

“South?” Frank smiled at himself as Gerard hit his arm, causing Frank to stumble sideways and release a mischievous giggle.

“It’s Way, you ass. Come on,” Gerard had stopped them momentarily to point out the sign, but he continued walking almost immediately. Frank trudged slowly behind him.

The closer they got to the exit, the more of the structure came into view. The design made it look as though three different buildings were placed one after the next, then stuck together. Each section of the building was a different color, and each had their own style of windows. Eventually, as they got closer, huge nets that went up another two or three stories began to appear behind the building and—

“Is this another FUCKING golf course?!” Frank dropped one bag and his axe in frustration before running off the road and climbing up the dirty mound that elevated the parking lot. The duffle he had slung over his back stuck to him grossly as he clawed his fingers into the hot dirt.

Gerard smirked as he watched Frank attempt to climb, lighting a cigarette casually before grabbing the bag Frank dropped (which was technically Gerard’s) and his axe before slowly following behind. He took deep drags of the cigarette as he worked his way around the dirt to climb up it without dropping to his hands and knees.

As Gerard pulled himself up onto the burning asphalt of the lot, he saw Frank not too far over splayed out on his stomach, hands and feet out like a starfish, his face straight down into the concrete.

“How’s it goin’, bud.” Gerard squatted beside Frank, Frank’s mouth watered at the scent of the tobacco, he wanted a taste, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted it from the stick or from what held onto it.

Frank threw up his thumb without saying anything. Gerard puffed the smoke out of his nose in a weak laugh as he patted Frank’s shoulder.

“I can carry this stuff but let’s get inside.” Gerard straightened, turning his attention to the building that was so obviously another golf course. “Maybe they still have wi-fi…” Gerard yanked out his phone and tapped a few things before holding it out towards the building.

Neither of them had gotten service since before they broke down and, although Gerard was decent at staying calm, cool, and collected; he was significantly worse at staying that way when it came to his brother.

Frank had made a mental note during their walk to count how often Gerard checked his phone for service. It was one hundred and eight times. They had only walked for a little over an hour before spotting the South Way sign.

Frank listened as Gerard finished the cigarette, stamping it out with his foot before inhaling deeply and wetly coughing into his arm.

Frank turned his head to lay his cheek flat on the ground, watching as Gerard hacked a bit before spitting away into the dirt.

“I’m not one to mention people’s vices…” Frank started, but Gerard cut him off.

“Then don’t.” Gerard walked past Frank without sparing him a glance. He moved straight towards the building, leaving Frank to cook on the ground.

But Frank didn’t move right away either. Instead, he laid there, staring at the now vacant area that Gerard was previously inhabiting. Despite their current situation, Frank was unable to deny how beautiful the scenery was out West.

Is Utah still considered ‘out west’ or is this just Midwest now…

He argued with himself for a while, attempting to decide on his own where the line is to divide the West and the Midwest as he got lost within the clouds that did nothing to hide the sun away even for a few seconds.

He wasn’t sure when, but at some point Frank fell asleep. Or maybe he passed out, he wasn’t entirely sure. When he came to, it felt like his eyes had never closed. His vision blurred back in as the blackness around the edges receded slowly.

Gerard was crouching over him, giving him minor relief from the sun, but the ground still radiated up into his face.

“When I walked away, you were supposed to follow.”

Like I don’t know that? Frank mentally rolled his eyes, closing his real ones as he groaned.

“Come on,” Gerard got up, planted one leg on either side of Frank’s hips, wrapped up under his armpits and peeled him off the asphalt. Tiny pebbles stayed embedded within Frank’s cheek and forehead as Gerard wobbled a little at Frank’s deadweight.

“Just leave me here to die…”

“I’m not letting you die in the parking lot of a fucking golf course, Frankie, now get your feet under you and MOVE.” Gerard pulled Frank up onto his feet before taking his arms back and shoving the axe into Frank’s chest.

Frank wobbled as he regained his balance, hands absently wrapping around the handle to hold the axe to his own chest. Hearing Gerard call him Frankie again had twisting in his groin as he grew slightly hard. It didn’t help that Gerard could practically throw him around like he weighed nothing.

God, you are such a bottom… Frank groaned out loud, wiping the rocks out of his skin as he followed Gerard to the building.

This course was significantly different from the one they were previously staying at; it had a much larger community area around the front and the side, blanketed by fake grass with a random scattering of now overturned picnic tables and chairs. Wrapping around the entire building looked like a mini-golf course, the netting behind the building was for the range, the full eighteen holes started beside the mini-course on the opposite side from the highway. It spanned out as far as the eye could see. The florescent green grass and plastic looking trees being framed by the brown mountains and dirt ground made the course look so… fake.

Once inside, the strange, modernized style of the building made sense. Walking into the far-left side first, they were greeted with the typical ticket stand style booth sitting center as soon as they walked in. Mini-golf balls and putts were stacked in brightly colored, random arrangements. Behind the booth were more tables and chairs, sturdier than the ones just outside, and these were all neatly put together. Looking untouched by the sudden onslaught of the walking dead.

Frank’s stomach twisted uncomfortably as his gut made him feel like he needed to puke.

“I don’t like this, Gee…” Frank had his axe at the ready, it was much too quiet. But Frank quickly realized giving Gerard his own nickname during Frank’s suddenly intense fear was a bad idea because Gerard didn’t hear the anxiety coating Frank’s tongue. Instead, he eyed Frank up and down from over his shoulder, his face was stoic, but Frank could see something in his eyes that burned like fire.

Frank felt like he was naked, as Gerard continued to stare, seeming to undress him with his eyes.

“Are you scared?” Gerard’s voice had a darker note to it than usual, Frank felt his heart beat in his cock as it twitched harder.

Frank felt the handle of the axe grow slick with sweat as Gerard continued to watch him grow more uncomfortable. But Frank decided to shake his head slowly, watching as Gerard turned and straightened out to peer down at him.

Frank used all his power to pretend he couldn’t see that Gerard was also growing hungrier for the taste of him again as Gerard’s dick got noticeably hard in his obnoxiously tight jeans.

Gerard took a step closer; Frank felt his temperature rise a little. Even though they were in a completely open room, Frank felt like prey being trapped in the corner. And he wasn’t sure he entirely disliked that idea…

“We should look for the wi-fi password…” Gerard drawled, watching Frank closely. Frank was confused about the mood shift from being hot and bothered to the wi-fi again. “There’s probably a manager’s desk, probably an entire room…”

Ooooooh… Gerard stepped closer, making Frank gulp. There are ulterior motives…

Frank bit back a smile and hoped if he bit hard enough the pain would turn him off a little but that didn’t happen. Frank couldn’t help himself as Gerard smiled at him, he was so close now Frank was able to smell the faint scent of the cigarette on his breath. All he wanted was to feel their mouths moving together again, to feel the wet heat from the two of them being too close and wanting each other too much without even touching.

But Frank really wanted to touch him, especially now with them being a handful of inches apart and all he was craving was to taste the leftovers from the old cigarette.

“Come on,” With one last look up and down, Gerard turned on his heels and began to walk to the center of the building. Frank shook himself back to reality before following closely on Gerard’s heels. This area was concealed behind a single, tiny door that just read LOBBY in bold, red lettering.

The center area looked almost like a hotel lobby; a large desk sat in the center of the large room. Behind the desk was a fake waterfall spanning up two flights, where either side was framed by a large set of stairs that wrapped up to the second floor. The second floor was lofted, allowing the lobby to have a high ceiling. The loft had a glass railing, it was impossible to see what was upstairs with the waterfall in the way.

“This is…” Frank started, unable to take his eyes away from the over extravagance that seemed so… unnecessary for a golf course. They both dropped their bags in front of the desk, silently agreeing the only thing they needed was their weapons.

“Yeah…” Gerard replied, ignoring the fact that Frank trailed off. Gerard checked behind his shoulder, seeing Frank was distracted and pushed on. Frank checked behind the desk, not realizing Gerard was still walking.

The desk seemed to be mostly empty. It looked like a couple of piles of papers had been scattered across the surface, some had landed on the ground but none of them had any information that mattered to Frank. A lot of them looked like excel sheets full of numbers and names.

He sifted through the pages, unsure of what he was looking for. The desk was completely empty. No keys, cables, phones, or a computer.

How were they even checking people in…? There’s no way they did this –

A loud bang cut off Frank’s train of thought, making him jump. He whipped around to face the archway Gerard had disappeared through earlier.

Followed by silence, Frank forgot about the desk and its contents to find the sound. The silence grew as he entered the restaurant, the floor had switched from tiles to a dark red carpet that matched the dark red and black theme of the inside.

This room was also strangely still set up and undisturbed by the apocalypse that seemed to become suffocating for Frank. Every seat was flipped upside down, each table holding four hanging chairs. The hostess stand looked neatly put together, not a single menu or utensil pack was out of line.

A large bar occupied the back center of the room, the barstools were still standing but all six of them were tucked neatly underneath the bar. A rectangular window with no glass sat to one side, beyond the open window was unmistakably a kitchen yet he couldn’t see a door in from this side of the bar.

To the right of the bar, the opposite side of the window into the kitchen, was one long wall that spanned to the end of the room. The entire wall was filled with different types of slots games, since they were all powered off it cast a heavy shadow around the corner. An endless void that loomed over Frank, even the large windows letting in the sun didn’t seem to reach this far back.

Following the wall past the window was a corner that Frank didn’t hesitate to follow. The hallway he found himself starting down was even darker. The looming sense of dread filled his stomach and his mouth dried up. Even if he wanted to try to call Gerard’s name, it wasn’t going to come out.

The end of the hall was impossible to see, making feel like an endless void that wanted to eat him more than the cannibals outside did. He could make out three doors down this hall before it grew too dark; two were bathrooms, made obvious by the gendered signs on each, while the last had an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign on it.

The sign reminded Frank of the first time he’d met Gerard, Mikey and Ray. How he felt safer with them than he had felt since waking up in that hotel. This reminder helped to wash away some of the dread that was creeping up from his stomach into his throat. Although his mouth remained dry, the hints of acid coming up made him swallow whatever his mouth could gather.

The subtle squeak of Frank’s shoes came back as he pushed through the door that led into the kitchen. It was lighter in here, he could make out the huge gas stoves, the long prep tables, ovens that could fit three of him inside. The squeaking became annoyingly obvious as he went deeper, a few walk-in cooler doors shined as he walked past.

He was certain the sound came from back here, the bang sounded like stainless steel and the kitchen was basically just stainless steel.

It wasn’t long before Frank found the culprit of the sound, a large pot was turned over on the ground between a couple of tables. Frank felt a minor sigh of relief as saliva filled his mouth again. Looking up, there was a long rack hanging from the ceiling that held numerous pots and pans.

Although it wasn’t impossible that the pot dropped by itself, Frank was suspicious of Gerard’s intentions behind sneaking off and now hiding from him. Absently, Frank bent over and collected the pot, he was too short to reach up and hang it from the rack again, so he settled with placing it on top of one of the stove burners.

“Okay, Gerard. I get it,” Frank swung around and scanned the very empty room. A huge dishwashing line took up the majority of the very back of the room. “You figured me out. I sometimes get horny when I’m scared.” Frank threw his hands in the air, “I’d rather know you’re not a zombie before I let you do anything.”

Silence.

Frank crossed his arms and leaned against the counter behind him. Waiting.

More silence. He crossed his ankles and rolled his eyes, unable to prevent himself from chewing on his bottom lip as he never got the response he wanted.

Ugh… This is why we should’ve never split up in the first place…

Frank waited a little longer, not breaking the silence again until he pushed off the counter and made his way through the kitchen. “Gerard…?” Frank found another walk-in cooler door, more prep tables with slicers and knife blocks decorating them. Behind a locked, cage door was a small liquor room. In the limited light, Frank could still make out that hardly anything in there had been used.

His mouth watered, missing the taste of whiskey, especially when it was being tasted from Gerard’s tongue—BANG.

Frank jumped, nearly losing his balance as he rammed his hip into a table next to him. The bang came from where he was, quickly making his way back around, he immediately saw the pot he picked up earlier now on the floor again on almost the other side of the room.

Either there was a very strong ghost, or Gerard was having fun fucking with him.

He hoped (and assumed) it was the latter. Huffing, he picked the pot back up and placed it onto the stove again.

“First of all, rude.” He said out loud, knowing Gerard was listening. “Second of all, I saw you come back here, you can’t scare me.” Truthfully, Frank only assumed Gerard came back here. That was when Frank realized Gerard could be in the bathroom, or even behind the bar.

Frank made his way through the kitchen again, slower this time, checking around the opposite way from the liquor he found. Rounding the other corner he was greeted with a short hallway, only two rooms were down here. One room was labeled EMPLOYEE BATHROOM, the other labeled MANAGERS OFFICE.

As Frank mindlessly gulped, he unknowingly swallowed the last of his spit before his mouth dried from fear. He cursed himself for hoping he would find Gerard behind the door, because at least Gerard was a physical being. He wasn’t sure if fighting a ghost was even an option…

But, as he pushed open the door to the manager’s office, and flicked on the light, he was greeted by an empty room. At least, it looked empty. Frank quickly confirmed this after checking under the desk. The room was much too small to hide anywhere else.

The back and forth of Frank’s relief and fear was making his stomach feel sick, without thinking Frank stomped out of the office and into the bathroom next door. Which was, of course, also empty save for the toilet, sink, and paper towel dispenser.

The next BANG that sounded from the kitchen didn’t scare Frank this time, instead it pissed him off. Gerard saw this as a game, he was toying with Frank at a time when they should both be careful about how loud they were being.

With a growl, Frank flicked off the lights to the bathroom and office and stalked back into the kitchen. He stomped up to the pot on the ground again, whipping his head back and forth, peaking around each corner attempting to see any sort of movement or see even the tiniest of squeaks.

“I know you’re having fun, and you somehow think I deserve this, but—” Then, the tiniest of squeaks did come. It came from a door in the back next to the end of the dishwasher line, where a mountain of clean dishes were stacked uncomfortably high.

This door crept open slowly inward, exposing another dark room. It was less like the endless voids Frank had found in the corners of the rooms while making his way in here. This was a portal into another world. Frank couldn’t make out what anything inside the room was but there was no movement. And, once the door creaked open to its full extent, that previously deafening silence enveloped the room again.

Frank set the pot onto a prep table instead this time, caring far more about what he was seconds away from discovering. He moved slowly towards the now open door, being conscious to walk in a way that prevented his steps from being so loud.

He reached the doorway and peered in, allowing his eyes to adjust. Tall shelves full of different boxes and cans, lots of dry goods. Frank clocked it as the pantry. The shelves seemed to reach the ceiling, and they were stocked full. Frank felt the wall beside him, attempting to find a switch for the light. But as his eyes adjusted, he noticed a string hanging high above attached to one shitty light bulb that didn’t even have a cover.

Of course… Frank flicked his eyes around again, if there were zombies in here, he knew they wouldn’t be silent. Even the one in his hotel room that he didn’t see right away had been making sounds, it was just muffled from the pounding hangover.

He took one step in, listening. Then another, still silent. Three steps in and he felt confident he was alone. Four steps and he reached out for the string on the light only to be startled again when the door behind him slammed shut, thrusting him immediately into darkness. The string forgotten as he shrunk into himself.

“Gee—” Was all he was able to get out before his face and stomach were slammed into the wall next to him. His sweat soaked hands caused his axe to go flying, clattering somewhere between the shelves.

Warmth cocooned Frank as Gerard covered him with his own body, with Frank’s cheek squished against the wall, Gerard gradually snaked his hand around Frank’s waist. Starting at his waist, Gerard’s fingertips played under the hem of his shirt, teasing Frank’s depraved skin. Gerard moved his hand up under Frank’s shirt to caress his chin before clasping his fist closed around Frank’s throat.

Stealing his breath without warning, and Frank fucking loved it.

“You think I’m going to wait for you to let me do things to you…? I remember how you acted on the truck that night…” Gerard’s free hand went to Frank’s cock that was fighting for freedom under his jeans. “I think it’s time for payback…”

Gerard nipped the sensitive area behind Frank’s ear, licking up his lobe and he squeezed Frank’s dick, eliciting a desperate groan from Frank.

Gerard let out of soft chuckle as Frank pushed his hips back into Gerard’s stiff dick that dug into him. “I knew you liked it…” Frank choked on another groan as Gerard squeezed his throat harder. “We’re going to have some fun…” Was the last thing Gerard said before beginning to unzip Frank’s pants.

Chapter 11

Summary:

ima need some feedback on this one

this is a dark romance but was it dark enough? too dark?

my smut skills are rusty

Frank groaned deeply as Gerard took his time to pull the zipper down, each tooth individually yelling within the dark walls.

Gerard hooked the tip of his thumb around the zipper, pushing his nail and fingertip against the underside of Frank’s already hurting cock. Frank hoped the pain from the slowly, steadily increasing pressure of Gerard’s finger would cause enough of a distraction for him to lose his boner but it was the opposite.

Frank pulsed as Gerard nearly got to his base, precum threatened to leak from his tip and he bit back another groan. Gerard didn’t hesitate when he finally got to the bottom of the zipper.

He palmed Frank’s erection through his boxers, Frank couldn’t help his hips from thrusting against Gerard’s hand. The cool wall kept his head chilled as Gerard helped coax his blood south.

Gerard gripped Frank’s length momentarily before flicking his thumb against the rim of his head; Frank jumped, biting his tongue, strangling the hitch in his breath. He could feel Gerard squishing his chest harder against the wall while pulling his hips away, Gerard’s dick squished against his ass and back.

Immediately, Frank was imagining what Gerard’s shaft looked like, whether he was circumcised or not, the type of bush had had… If he has one… Frank chuckled at his thought because who would be shaving during the end of the world?

Gerard’s hand killed the giggle Frank mindlessly lost from his throat, “What’s so funny, Frankie?” He nipped Frank’s ear.

Gerard fingered his way through the opening in the front of Frank’s briefs, the electricity of the contact between their skin touching made Frank twitch and leak slightly.

Rubbing the head, Gerard sighed into Frank’s neck, his desire made obvious as he ground his cock against Frank’s ass, almost matching the pace of his thumbs torturous movements.

Frank allowed himself to finally let go. The chill from the wall radiated through the bones in his face and down his spine, shooting through each pulsing wave of blood that helped keep his erection strong as Gerard roughly yanked and tenderly caressed.

Without giving warning, Gerard bit Frank’s shoulder and kicked his feet further apart, a yelp jumping out of Frank’s throat as Gerard squeezed the base of his dick harder than normal.

“Do what I say…” Gerard breathed up Frank’s spine, squeezing his other hand clasped around his throat. “And you’ll be allowed to get off too…” Gerard’s smirk could be heard by the end of his sentence, and Frank realized Gerard didn’t just see him as prey.

Gerard was a predator who liked to play with his food before devouring it.

Gerard continued to squeeze Frank’s shaft until it hurt enough to make him cry out, “Gerard, please!” Another desperate plea.

“Please…” Gerard’s mouth touched just behind Frank’s ear, his hot breath trailing down his neck. “What…” Another shoulder nip met with another sharp inhale, Frank bit his bottom lip, attempting to stifle it.

“Please… go… easy on me… Gee?” Frank took a while to collect his thoughts as he huffed, thinking calling Gerard by his nickname would soften his intensity.

Frank was quickly proven wrong.

With his aggressive force, Gerard kicked Frank’s knees in, causing him to slide down the wall until his knees thunked against the concrete floor. A slight friction burn rubbed into his cheek as Gerard pushed against him the whole way down.

Gerard released Frank’s cock; a sigh of displeasure sounded from his tongue. Hand still clasped around his throat; Gerard raked his now free hand up Frank’s nape to clench his hair in a tight fist. Gerard yanked Frank’s head back, licked the length of his ear, and twisted him around to face him.

Gerard nearly slammed Frank’s head back against the wall before catching himself. Hand still clasped around his throat; Gerard held Frank’s face inches from his own. Hand still tangled within Frank’s greasy strands as he bent over him.

“If you wanted it gentle, you wouldn’t have risked all of our lives when you froze up that day…” Gerard’s voice was deep, menacing. Much like the first time they met, he embodied the shadow-form Frank first saw him as. “Or did you forget this is your punishment...?”

Although this turned Frank on, he couldn’t help but feel shame on top of it all. He let down the people who were forced to trust him because they accidentally stumbled upon him.

Not even all of them…

Memories of Mikey’s hate towards him flashed before his eyes. It was really only Gerard who came to trust him. Ray was nice, and Frank liked him, but Mikey seemed to viscerally hate Frank. No matter what he did, it seemed Mikey was mad Frank even existed…

Frank was losing himself to his thoughts.

His erection was weakening, and Gerard took notice immediately.

Instead of punishing Frank more, Gerard released his grip and ran a gentle hand up his stomach, stopping to hold a calming open palm against his chest. The hand around Frank’s throat had also faltered in tightness but remained where it was.

“Frankie…” Gerard’s voice was gravely with concern, and lust. It was a strange combination that aroused Frank more than he was willing to admit. “If you need me to stop…” The fingers of Gerard’s hand resting against Frank’s chest began to gently rub, endearingly.

Gerard wanted so badly to connect more with Frank but didn’t know what to do. Frank’s hips thrust slightly, causing Gerard’s other hand to clench Frank’s throat without a second thought. Frank wanted so badly to connect with Gerard but didn’t know how to express his own feelings besides indulging in the way his body wanted to respond to Gerard’s touch.

Frank locked eyes with Gerard during his proposition for safety. He nodded slightly into the hand Gerard had wrapped around his throat. Gerard couldn’t hold back his smile as his hand momentarily clenched Frank’s throat.

Frank just wanted to forget. Gerard just wanted to indulge more than he ever had before.

And they took their frustrations out on each other with very minimal talking.

Gerard ripped himself away from Frank’s searing skin, Frank couldn’t understand why until Gerard stood tall, looking down at him. He pressed one tough boot into Frank’s leg, pinning him to the floor.

Frank hungrily stared into Gerard’s eyes as he unlatched his belt and yanked down his zipper. It wasn’t until Gerard pulled his dick out that Frank pulled his eyes away from their intimate gaze.

Frank immediately did everything he could to memorize the way his cock looked in this moment.

It stood straight out from his body with a soft curve up. The surface of his shaft was soft, only a few veins pulsed along the surface at the same pace as Gerard’s heart. Which seemed to quicken the longer Frank stared.

Frank didn’t realize his own hands had been climbing Gerard’s still clothed legs. One hand found its home on Gerard’s inner thigh, caressing the sensitive skin that warmed Frank’s palm, as his other hand wrapped around the base of Gerard’s cock.

Gerard moaned as Frank slacked open his mouth and took nearly all of his length. Gerard felt the soft wall of Frank’s throat at his tip before pulling almost completely out. Gerard tangled his fingers withing Frank’s gross hair again, holding him against the wall as he harshly thrust in and out of Frank’s mouth for a moment.

Frank gagged but didn’t protest, locking eyes with Gerard again. He wrapped one hand around the base of Gerard’s dick as Gerard face fucked him.

Eyes wet, Frank’s other hand crawled up Gerard’s stomach, under his shirt. Gerard thrust in and out aggressively a few more times before groaning and stilling.

“Fuck, Frankie, what you do to me…” Gerard forced his length to the back of Frank’s throat one more time before pulling out completely, practically pushing Frank off.

Gerard seemed to turn his entire body to the right, completely away from Frank, “Wait, what are you d—” Frank was strangled to silence as Gerard whipped his dick back into Frank’s face.

Frank had never been slapped before, and never with a dick. So, the response his own dick made when he was slapped with Gerard’s cock caused a wave of embarrassment to wash over him as he cursed his own cock for twitching.

Gerard pulled back again and slapped Frank across the face again, Frank refused to break their gaze.

A red, dick shaped mark began to show on Frank’s cheek after the second hit. Gerard caressed Frank’s chin this time, rubbing his thumb against the cheek he’d been slapping in an attempt to soothe the possible bruising.

When Gerard’s thumb reached the corner of Frank’s mouth, it lolled open to allow his thumb in, but Gerard refused to enter as he peered down at Frank.

Gerard’s head tilted so slightly, genuinely surprised at how submissive Frank became under such little pressure. Frank’s tongue flicked out and licked Gerard’s thumb that was absently rubbing the corner of his mouth.

Gerard smirked, a single chuckled escaping before he pulled his hand back and slapped Frank across the face.

Frank was stunned. Despite how cold his exposed cock felt, it was still hot and thick, Gerard’s slap making him pulse embarrassingly.

Frank opened his mouth to make a comment on Gerard not needing to be so angsty, but Gerard shut him up before he could utter a sound by shoving his cock back down Frank’s throat. Frank twitched again and couldn’t help but grip himself, painfully jerking himself off to get some sort of relief.

Gerard’s head fell forward as he thrust in and out of Frank’s mouth, holding himself up against the wall by his forearms. His leg pushed harshly into Frank’s thigh, Frank was hardly able to move with how close Gerard had him pinned.

Gerard pushed deep into Frank’s throat before pulling all the way out, a thick string of saliva tracing from Gerard’s length to Frank’s slack mouth.

Frank’s wet eyes met Gerard’s half lidded, lazy ones that towered over him. Gerard held himself back from allowing his own finish. Frank hadn’t earned it yet.

Gerard pushed himself from the wall, Frank unmoving.

“Up.” Gerard demanded. Frank stood, instantly. Gerard couldn’t hold back his smirk, enjoying the submission Frank was such a natural to.

“What happened to doing it in the manag—” Frank’s throat closed as Gerard gripped onto it suddenly. Squeezing the rest of the air out, Frank immediately panicked, hands shooting up to the one preventing him from breathing.

“I didn’t want you to find me right away…” Gerard paused, easing his hand to allow Frank small huffs of breath as he fantasized momentarily. “Although, I will admit the thought of you bent over a desk in front of me is enticing…” Gerard squeezed Frank’s neck at the end of his sentence as a reminder for who had the power right now.

Within moments, Gerard’s hand came off Frank’s throat to grip his chin. Without giving Frank much chance to breathe, Gerard crashed their mouths together. Frank was the one to push his way into Gerard’s mouth, huffing for air between their twisting tongues.

Frank’s hipped bucked into Gerard’s hand, forcing him to pump. Gerard gripped Frank continuing to jerk him off as they smiled into the kiss.

Frank caused Gerard to jump when he grabbed his cock at the base, in return. Gerard’s dick was still wet with Frank’s spit, the memory of Gerard being so forceful pulsed the pressure of his growing orgasm.

Gerard abruptly halted his pumping and removed both hands from Frank, pulling away. Frank hungerly followed Gerard’s mouth, making Gerard chuckle at his desperation. Frank groaned but didn’t falter in pumping Gerard.

And Gerard let him.

Gerard stood there, shuddering as Frank jerked him off, pressing his other hand against Gerard’s chest to rub around his shirted torso desperate for any form of skin-on-skin he was granted. Frank’s mouth eventually found Gerard’s neck as he kissed his collar bone before biting hard.

Payback for payback… Frank was pleased with himself, even though it caused Gerard to push him back against the wall. One hand gripped Frank’s jaw hard as his other hand tore Frank’s off his body. Frank was breathing heavier than Gerard.

STOP being so needy!

 Frank scolded himself but his thoughts were fogged by Gerard pressing their bodies together, hard.

“I know how bad you want me, Frankie.” Gerard’s lips flicked across Frank’s, a groan slinking out as Frank thrust into Gerard’s rough clothes. Even the smallest amounts of friction were enough to ease the need to cum. “But this is supposed to be punishment for almost getting us killed,” Gerard paused, “Oh, and for my shirt.” He growled a chuckle.

Even though Gerard sounded stern, Frank still felt the subtle smile he held. Frank may be “in trouble” but he knew it was just an excuse Gerard was using to have his way with Frank. Gerard positioned himself so their cocks were beside each other before Gerard thrust back against Frank.

“Please…” Frank pleaded, cursing himself for letting the first man to touch him in months see him so weak. Their mouths breathing heavily in tandem, anytime Frank leaned in for another kiss, Gerard pulled away only slightly.

“Please…” Gerard moved the grip from around Frank’s jaw to his throat, squeezing slightly as he spoke, “What.” It sounded less like a threat, but it was one Frank wasn’t used to.

Gerard had let Frank mindlessly hump against their squished bodies, allowing him to breathe through each grunt even though Gerard’s fingers twitched to close tighter around his throat.

“Please…” They locked eyes. Franks were pleading and wet, still, but Gerard’s were dark and toughened as he watched Frank writhe under his grip. Eventually, Frank glared, “Please…” A defeated sigh. “Please. Fuck me. Gerard.” Frank seemed to bite the words out, but he continued to move his body against Gerard’s as desperation overtook him.

Frank didn’t have time to react as Gerard moved his hand down to grip his wrist, other hand clasping his hip just below, and flipping him so his cheek was pressed against the cold tile wall again. Gerard’s stiff dick now rubbing into Frank’s ass while Frank’s exposed dick jolted away from the chill, Frank unintentionally pushed back against Gerard. Gerard’s hand moved from Frank’s wrist to his throat again, the other remained on his hip.

“You sound so fucking delicious when you beg…” Gerard nipped Frank’s shoulder, moving the hand stationed on his hip. The chill of his exposed side made Frank shiver and whine.

Gerard had hooked his fingers into Franks waistband and yanked down his dirty, blood-stained jeans to expose Frank’s ass. A swift spank echoed throughout the dark room making Frank gasp as the flash of Gerard’s red hand print faded quickly, the pain along with it.

Gerard removed his hand from Frank’s ass, squeezing Frank’s throat slightly as a reminder to not move, although Frank hardly had the time to register that Gerard was doing anything before Gerard kicked his feet apart and yanked his hips away from the wall. Frank now bent over, ass out.

The room suddenly felt so cold to Frank, asshole now exposed, he attempted to bury his face deeper into the wall to chill the embarrassment that was climbing across his nose.

Gerard’s hand returned, gently, to Frank’s ass. Caressing and massaging his way closer to Frank’s hole. Pausing, his thumb absently rubbing back and forth as Frank shuddered under his cold fingertips.

When Gerard’s finger finally pressed against Frank’s opening, Frank couldn’t stop himself from flinching. Gerard’s finger was cold, but moist with something Frank didn’t recognize but he welcomed.

“Relax…” Gerard cooed into his ear, loosening his grip on Frank’s throat this time instead. “You know we’re both here for more…” Frank sighed heavily while Gerard massaged his ring. Whatever Gerard was using for lubricant was slowly sliding down one of Frank’s legs. The liquid was warm compared to the cool touch of Gerard but felt slimy.

Without any more foreplay, Gerard shoved his pointer finger in to the first knuckle, receiving a yelp from Frank that grew Gerard’s smile.

Then to the second knuckle. Frank relaxed. He opened slightly to welcome Gerard deeper, but his clenching pulsed as Gerard rubbed the inside walls of Frank’s anus. Gerard snickered as Frank mindlessly pushed back onto Gerard’s finger, granting him to the next and final knuckle.

Frank was practically panting when Gerard pulled his finger back out, spanking Frank again. “I wasn’t ready to give you all of that but if you think you’re ready…”

Frank opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was the rest of the air in his lungs as Gerard shifted his dick to line up with Frank’s asshole. He rubbed his head around the rim momentarily before plunging in past the minor resistance.

Frank silently thanked whoever was listening for Gerard being courteous enough to use lube because the stretching of Gerard’s dick was much more intense than just his finger. “Fuck!” Frank groaned, head bowing as he pushed himself back into Gerard until his ass met the fabric of Gerard’s shirt.

Frank felt the initial stretching pain of Gerard’s head pushing into his hole, but his shaft slid in easily. Gerard banging roughly against him built the twisting knots at the base of Frank’s cock. Every thrust in and out was felt by the subtle shrinking and widening of his asshole as Gerard thrust back and forth.

Frank was already seeing stars from Gerard inserting himself, but they grew brighter as Gerard tightened his grip onto Frank’s throat again. Holding Frank in place as he thrust back and forth quickly, barely pulling out before slamming back in. He did this repeatedly until Frank felt drool pool on his tongue as he panted. Frank’s dick pulsed repeatedly in the air between him and the wall, desperate to be touched as precum leaked from the tip and dripped onto the floor below.

“Gerard, please,” Frank gasped out as Gerard pulled completely out of him, keeping the tip of his dick against Frank’s hole.

Then Gerard stayed there, unmoving. One hand on Frank’s throat, the other missing from Frank’s body completely.

“Frankie…” He dragged Frank’s name out, making Frank’s dick twitch and leak more. “Be a good boy and beg for me.”

Frank huffed as his building orgasm took control of his brain, the stars he was seeing had dissipated the longer Gerard stayed outside of him.

“Please, fuck Gerard, please. I need this.” Frank paused, closing his eyes to catch his breath so he didn’t sound so desperate. Although, he was beginning to think Gerard preferred him sounding needy. “I need you inside of me.”

Gerard released a long, deep sigh before wrapping his free hand around the base of Frank’s cock, “You’re such a good boy.” His voice had grown deeper, only turning Frank on more. Gerard’s other hand was still cold but not icy like it had been when he was fingering Frank, instead it was a welcome cooling to Frank’s blisteringly hot skin.

The relief of Gerard’s first pump of Frank’s dick was almost enough to make him cum immediately. Frank grunted as he attempted to think of anything that might turn him off just enough to not bust so easily.

“Again.” Gerard demanded, pausing at Frank’s base after one pump.

“Please, Gerard.” Another pump, then pause. “Oh god, FUCK! Please!” Frank pushed back against Gerard’s dick as Gerard pumped once more. Pausing at the base again causing Frank to wiggle with need. He felt so empty without Gerard, “Gerard, please…” He pleaded, “Please… I need you inside of me.” Frank couldn’t stop panting as Gerard pumped from the base to his tip before rubbing his thumb over the head of Frank’s dick.

Gerard played with the head of Frank’s dick for a moment, pulling the gasps from Frank as he spread the leaked precum around and down the shaft. Gerard’s next pump was slightly faster, then faster, eliciting a long groan from Frank.

Gerard couldn’t resist as he plunged back into Frank all the way, Frank’s exposed ass smacked into Gerard as he pounded into Frank while pumping Frank’s dick to the same rhythm.

Both were breathing profanities into the room as Frank joined Gerard’s rhythm, riding Gerard anytime he was fully inside to massage his prostate more. Gerard had yanked up his shirt to welcome the sound of their skin slapping each other.

It only took a few deep thrusts before Frank exploded through Gerard’s fingers as Gerard pumped to Frank’s head and rubbed his fingers over it.

Frank’s hot semen shot at the floor, and the wall, dripping between Gerard’s fingers. Gerard chuckled before picking up speed, shuddering as Frank’s ass clenched tightly every time more cum shot from him. Every thrust that hit his end pushed more ropes of cum from him.

Gerard slowed his rhythm, pushing into Frank as deep as their bodies would let them. Gerard would hold still for a little bit every time he reached his base, allowing Frank time to grind his hips for more pleasure. The panting from Frank was enough to almost push Gerard over the edge he was currently teasing.

He waited until Frank’s cock was empty and softening before he fully pulled out again, taking his hand off Frank’s cock, turning Frank’s groans of pleasure into displeasure before he started to catch his breath.

“You didn’t—” But, before Frank could continue, the sound of jerking off that he knew so well sounded from behind him. Gerard slowly began choking Frank as he loudly jerked off. Frank writhed under the choking, hands shooting to his throat to grip Gerard’s fingers that refused to falter.

Frank continued to grind against Gerard’s thighs, feeling the lubricant splash slightly as Gerard quickened his pace. It didn’t take long for Gerard to finally let go of Frank’s throat, he gasped for air as he felt Gerard lift the back of his shirt and spray his hot seed all over his back.

Frank remained facing the wall as Gerard painted his back with his cum, making Frank wish he could go for another round just to feel Gerard inside of him again.

Gerard dropped Frank’s shirt, using it for a moment to wipe his own dick off before stepping away from the heaving, sweaty mess he left Frank to become. The slime of Gerard’s semen squished uncomfortably against his skin. Whatever he used as lubricant was staying slippery while Gerard's cum was quickly hardening into the fabric.

Frank already felt his skin beginning to crawl.

“That’s for ruining my shirt.” Frank could still hear the smile behind his words even though they sounded aggressive.

Frank’s knees were weak, nearly shaking from the pounding. Frank had almost exclusively been fucking men before the apocalypse, but it had been quite a few months since his last one-night stand. Relationships were never really his thing, but Gerard made him feel something different. Frank still felt a softness in his chest and twisting butterflies in his gut.

Gerard pulled Frank back to the moment as he kissed his neck and face. Gerard helped him straighten out and regain his footing before giving Frank some space.

“Hang on, let me grab something for you to clean up with.” Gerard’s voice was still like a low growl, sending a shiver down Frank’s spine as he stood with his pants half down, thankful that the room warmed up since they started.

Gerard’s pants were still mostly on, only his dick stuck out as he threw open the door to the dry storage and walked out without turning any lights on.

Frank stood, feeling awkwardly exposed with his pants around his knees, unsure whether he should cover himself up or not.

But when Gerard came back, he still had his dick out and was wiping it off with what sounded like crinkly paper towels, like the ones from shitty restaurants. Frank held back his distaste for the texture as Gerard approached, “Here.” He held his hand out, but Frank couldn’t make out what it was until he grabbed it.

He grabbed the material and was thankful for no paper towels, instead he held a wet washcloth that was rough from overuse. He stood there for a minute staring down at it as Gerard stuffed himself back into his pants, crumpling the soiled napkins he was using.

“Hey,” Gerard touched free arm, “I hope I wasn’t too rough with you.” They stood in silence for a moment before Gerard continued, “I was pretty upset about my shirt though…” He chuckled.

Frank finally looked up and met Gerard’s gaze. Gerard had a small grin that only showed from the side of his mouth. His face looked blissful and tired; Frank took some time to examine it now.

He had subtle lines framing his mouth and eyes, although he still looked young. Even in the dark, Frank could see his face was slightly flushed even now.

Gerard fished for a cigarette and pushed it between his lips without looking away from Frank, not even blinking as they stared at each other.

“You should clean yourself up before it gets too cold.” Gerard nodded down slightly to Frank’s hand, causing Frank to finally look away. The cloth was already cold, but Franks skin still burned and was sweating. He didn’t think the cold would be unwelcome at this point.

Their eyes met again for a few seconds before Frank finally spoke up, “What did you use for lube?”

Gerard couldn’t hold back his laugh, almost dropping his cigarette. Almost.

“We’re in a restaurants storage room, they have literally gallons of cooking oil.”

“You used… cooking oil… in my asshole.”

“I just wanted you lubed up and ready for me.” Gerard winked while his smile grew, and Frank could only scowl. The hand with the towel dropping to his side. “Wanna smoke?” Gerard held up his black lighter between them.

Frank blushed and rolled his eyes, but nodded after finally breaking their gaze.

Chapter 12

Frank cleaned up quickly before the two of them left to lounge on some of the toppled over chairs that sat on the fake green outside.

Gerard turned over two chairs and motioned dramatically for Frank to sit in one before taking off his shirt and dropping his ass into the other, cigarette hanging unlit in his mouth the entire time.

Frank stared at the sweat that had built across Gerard’s body. His hair was still greasy and hanging in thick chunks that were coated with dissolving viscera, his clothes were also bloody like Frank’s, but Gerard’s clothes seemed to have bloody stains engrained in them.

Gerard lit his cigarette finally; taking a long hit, he leaned back onto his lounger before holding the lighter out to Frank. Gerard’s eyes fluttered shut as the sun beat down onto their faces, a thick tobacco cloud releasing from his barely parted lips.

Frank accepted the lighter, taking no offense to Gerard not offering a cigarette as he lit his own joint, eyeing the slowly emptying pack as he relished the earthy taste.

The two sat silently together for awhile while they each indulged in their own vices. Frank hadn’t noticed before the bird’s singing overhead. He relaxed back into his chair to watch the light clouds breeze slowly through the light blue sky. It was well passed noon now but still a few hours from nightfall.

Frank had gotten used to pretending his phone didn’t work as he still hadn’t heard from his family. The text “Got caught up, not sure when I'll be back. Get to safety, if you’ve heard about the zombies, they’re real” sat unopened by any of them. Frank found it easier to pretend he never reached out than to attempt any further contact that would most likely be ignored.

“Have you heard from the group?” Frank was unable to relax like Gerard so clearly could. Frank sat up and hunched forward, feet planted on the ground on either side of the lounger. Gerard was leisurely smoking his cigarette while Frank anxiously sucked and huffed his joint. The stickiness inside his shirt was rapidly drying in the sun, the disgusting crunch of dried seamen making his skin crawl.

Frank ripped off his shirt and threw it to the ground beside him, Gerard watched from the side of his gaze in an attempt to not look too interested.

“No.” Gerard responded irritatingly carelessly. “You can put your jerk off shirt with mine until we can wash them, it’s in the back pocket of my bag.”

“Are you not worried about your brother? Or Ray?” Frank turned to Gerard who kept his eyes closed as he relaxed with his free arm behind his head.

“It isn’t new for us to be M.I.A for a couple hours, Frankie.” He took a long drag, holding it for a long thirty seconds before releasing it into the air like a thick cloud of smog releasing from a factory. “I’d say you need to take a chill pill but you’re already half-way there.” Gerard nodded slightly towards Frank’s joint.

Frank huffed before turning away, busying his mouth with the joint in an attempt to push off the growing pit in his gut telling him something was wrong.

“Are you always so anxious?” Frank twisted back around to glare at Gerard.

“What are you talking about.” Frank meant it as a question, but it came out more like a statement.

“Your leg.” Gerard didn’t move but Frank became hyper aware of the fact he was unconsciously shaking his leg up and down. He forced himself to stop before turning away again and inhaling another quarter of his joint.

“I haven’t exactly gotten used to the fact you guys are ‘infection chasers’,” Frank mockingly quoted himself with his fingers. “But I feel like everything in history has said not to split up and we did, and now we’re not in contact with the rest of the group, did you even get Scarlet OR Charlotte’s number? Just in case?” Frank didn’t realize how hard he was huffing until he finished yelling. Gerard’s hazel eyes bore into him, but his body remained unnaturally relaxed.

There was a stretch of silence between them that caused Frank’s leg to start shaking as he huffed deeper on his joint, suffocating himself momentarily.

Gerard broke the uncomfortable growth of silence, “Do you remember the day we met.” Gerard meant it to sound like a question… it came out a statement instead.

Frank didn’t respond, what was he supposed to do? Admit he practically jerked off to the memory of Gerard towering over him with the gun in his face?

Absolutely NOT.

Gerard continued when he realized Frank was just going to finish his joint without answering, “I was away for three days without contacting them when you found me.”

“You mean when you found me?” Frank earned a chuckle from Gerard.

“I guess from your point of view, yeah.” They both flicked their litter onto the ground between them. Gerard sat up, dropping his legs to either side of his lounger to mimic Frank. “Three days, and it probably would’ve been another day or two before I got back since I was on foot. With zero contact to the guys.”

“Why?” Frank finally looked back, their eyes meeting immediately.

“I forgot my phone.” Gerard shrugged.

“Are you always so reckless?” Frank half mocked Gerard’s earlier call out for his anxiety.

“We got stuck in the universe that got a zombie apocalypse, how do you expect me to act?” Gerard waited for Frank to respond, but Frank just stared at him. “If it’ll make you feel better, I can shoot Mikey or Ray a text.” Gerard already had his phone out and a text up and started to a group between the three of them.

“Have you not texted anyone since the truck broke down?”

“When did you expect me to shoot them a text, while I was getting us to this place or when we were fucking in the kitchen?” Frank’s face reddened, making his anger so much less threatening. “Did you text them?” Gerard’s voice remained calm.

“I don’t have their numbers.” Gerard’s brows stitched together. “Can you send one of them a text.” Frank turned away. “Can we go look for some showers or something.”

“Do you want them?”

“Want what?”

“Do you want their numbers?” Gerard stood, “I just texted them both but if you want their numbers, I can give them to you… Maybe just Ray’s, Mike will come around soon enough. Come on.” Gerard picked up their shirts and made his way around Frank towards the side door they came out of earlier. “If they have a full restaurant and full kitchen, they’ve gotta have some sort of bathroom in there."

Frank begrudgingly stood and followed Gerard silently back inside. They each grabbed their bags again from beside the front desk and headed up the stairs to the lofted area.

The second floor looked and felt like a cheap motel compared to the main floor. The carpet was a faded red checkered pattern with beige walls that hardly complimented it. Two elevator doors that lead up to two other floors sat in the center while each hall to the left and right seemed to go down ten doors – Frank saw this as nearly forty showers to be able to choose from.

The two hurried to the first few doors down the right hall, the first door led to an ice and soda machines, the second to a large laundry room with industrial sized washer and driers. Once they reached the third door, both assumed it to be a hotel room, but realized quickly neither had any key to get in.

“I can run downstairs—” Frank began but was cut off as Gerard dropped his bags and took a step away. “Wait, Gerard what are you—” But Frank was interrupted again when Gerard lifted his foot and slammed the heel of his boot into the handle.

Frank cringed at the crunching sound but when Gerard tried the door and it still didn’t open, he repeatedly bashed his heel into it until the handle gave and turned under his weight. Frank recoiling and looking around every time his foot came in contact with the metal.

The door didn’t swing open, it fought against Gerard’s body weight, but he stood in the doorway with a sly smirk holding open the door for Frank.

“That was fucking stupid of you.”

Gerard sneered, “If nothing heard us downstairs banging pots around, then nothing is going to hear us up here.” Frank knew he was most likely right about being alone.

The difference between this place and the hotel he woke up in was immense. To start, this entire building and lot was spotless with blood and bodies. Sure, there were a few cars in the parking lot but there was no sign of anyone else, living or undead, roaming around.

Frank rolled his eyes but grabbed Gerard’s dropped bag and hauled everything inside. Gerard gently closed the door behind them, Frank noticed it didn’t click.

Frank moved into the room to drop the bags close to the bed as Gerard kicked off his shoes and moved through the bathroom, almost examining it as he pulled out the packaged shower gels and towels.

Flipping on the shower, Frank rushed in to see Gerard already undressing from the rest of his clothes. “Hey! Who said you could shower first?”

Gerard continued to pull his pants off, socks coming with them, paying little mind to Frank’s anger, “We didn’t agree to anything, but I don’t recall you slamming your foot into a metal rod, do you?” Gerard responded sarcastically.

Frank huffed.

“Besides, I never said you couldn’t join me.” Gerard winked at Frank before shoving off his boxers to reveal his soft dick. Frank’s face grew hot, and he knew it was turning red, but he decided to pretend it was due to the shower heating up so quickly.

Gerard stepped into the tub with a handful of the free soaps, but Frank didn’t join him. Instead, he returned to the bed and laid flat on his back to stare at the ceiling while he waited for Gerard to be done.

He wanted to relish in the heat without having to share it. Most of his memories of showering with a partner were fifty percent in the water and fifty percent freezing your ass off away from it.

Frank almost fell asleep before he heard the shower shut off with Gerard sauntering in soon after with just a towel loosely hung around his waist.

“Did you leave any hot water for me?” Frank asked as he sat up to meet Gerard’s striking eyes. That stupid little smirk still plastered across Gerard’s mouth. Even his recent orgasm didn’t protect Frank from getting half hard at seeing Gerard basically completely naked, and clean…

Contrary to before, Gerard’s long hair was now dripping wet, clean and brushed all back so it curled out at the nape of his neck. His skin had somehow gotten paler, making the green and brown of his eyes more striking.

“Y’know, you could’ve guaranteed yourself hot water if you had joined me.” As Gerard moved closer to Frank, his clean scent almost made Frank’s mouth water. With lust for Gerard or his own self to be clean, he wasn’t sure anymore.

“I don’t like to share.” Frank rolled his eyes away, but Gerard was on him in seconds. He pushed his way between Frank’s knees, encasing Frank by placing a hand on either side of him. Gerard leaned in close to Frank’s face and Frank felt that growing heat from earlier come back.

At some point between the beginning of their conversation and Gerard trapping Frank, Gerard’s towel had dropped away. Frank was doing what he could to maintain eye contact but Gerard, despite the slight chill in the room, was growing stiffer as the two stared at each other from inches away.

“Good.” Gerard breathed heavily into Frank’s face; the fresh smell of mint surged a strong mix of horniness with jealousy. Gerard’s hand moved from the bed to Frank’s thigh, squeezing slightly before moving his way up. Frank’s cock twitched and his head got lighter as the blood rushed straight down before Gerard even touched him. “I don’t like too either.”

As Gerard squeezed Frank’s shameful boner, he leaned in for a rough kiss. Gerard’s other hand shot to Frank’s neck almost as if he knew Frank was going to attempt to get up and push back. Frank immediately became aware of his own gross clothes and thick layer of film that seemed to be covering his mouth as Gerard refused to let him move.

Their kissing evolved quickly. Gerard shoved his tongue into Frank’s mouth and began stroking him through his pants. Gerard’s own dick beaded precum but his focus was solely on Frank who was almost hyperventilating during the pockets of air Gerard granted him between twists of their tongue.

Frank was catching himself growing more intoxicated the longer they kissed. As Frank started to lift his hands to return the favor, he caught himself instead and put both hands against Gerard’s soft chest. Gerard immediately eased his hold off Frank and pulled back, moving both hands to caress Frank’s cheeks as his gaze softened.

“Sorry, too much?” Although stern, Frank could hear the unseen anxiety that Gerard clearly harbored laced within his words.

Frank shook his head, moving a reassuring hand up his chest to his shoulder. “I don’t think you’ll get to my “too-much”, but I do need to shower. I don’t want to re-dirty you immediately.”

“Hmm…” Gerard hummed for a moment, thinking, but pleased with Frank’s response, “I’m pretty sure I was the one to initiate this.” Gerard removed a hand to gesture at their close bodies.

Frank used that moment to steal a glance at Gerard’s still exposed, and still very hard dick, only for a split second. This glance didn’t go unnoticed though because Gerard’s lips were already curling deviously before their eyes met again.

Frank rolled his eyes, pushing harder against Gerard to get up and Gerard let him this time, chuckling as he stepped away to begin pulling out new clothes. Frank moved quickly to the bathroom, leaving the door ajar as he flipped the shower back on and peeled off each gross layer of clothing as the water warmed.

Within seconds of the water flowing down Frank’s head and shoulders, he was dissociated. The warmth enveloped him, the humid air making it slightly harder to breathe. He had a thousand-yard stare as he watched the bottom of the tub begin to turn red as slopping chunks of viscera washed from him.

It wasn’t until the water ran clear that he began to clean himself with the shower gels Gerard had placed on the side of the tub. Squirting a glob of soap into his hand, he began to work the soap through his hair. Scrubbing harshly as the hot water pounded down his back like a heavy storm.

Once he felt sufficiently scrubbed, and suds were falling from his head, he dunked under the running water. With the water suffocating most of his hearing, and his mind, Frank didn’t notice the slight chill in the air as the room aired out; nor did he realize it had become easier to breathe, even as he pulled his head out of the water to take a deep breath.

Frank didn’t even seem to hear the quiet wet sounds of skin lightly slapped skin, instead Frank turned around the grab the body wash and froze as he noticed the shower curtain had been pulled away slightly and Gerard was sitting relaxed upon the closed toilet lid. He was still completely naked; his legs were spread apart, and he was stroking himself.

This time, Frank didn’t stop himself from staring at Gerard’s glistening dick as his hand leisurely pumped. Gerard bore into Frank with half lidded eyes, Gerard seemed to me admiring Frank’s body but when Frank’s gaze lingered back up Gerard ensured his were already there to meet his.

“Don’t let my presence stop you.” Gerard’s voice was lustful,

“What are… you doing…?” Unable to hide his own arousal, Frank began to get hotter despite the shower beginning to inch colder by the second.

“Just… admiring the view…” Gerard mimicked Frank’s drawl but with confidence as he continued to stroke himself without shame. Frank envied the balls this guy had to have to be turned down and still attempt to make a move. “You declined my invite into my shower, but I don’t recall you saying I couldn’t join yours.”

“I never said you could.”

“Leaving the door open was an invite.” Gerard was obviously enjoying this more than Frank, but seeing how much Gerard was enjoying himself did something to the building horniness that twisted in his lower gut.

“You left the door open too.” Frank snipped back.

“I was obviously inviting you to join me.” Gerard smirked for a moment while Frank huffed.

“I’m not sharing the water with you.” Frank moved to continue his shower, leaving the curtain open. He thought nothing of it, but it told Gerard everything he needed to know.

“You don’t have to…” Gerard jerked himself off a little quicker as Frank covered a washcloth with body wash before he continued, “As long as I get to keep watching.”

It was Frank’s turn to stare into Gerard’s soul this time, Frank thinking he’s being more intimidating but the quickened motion of Gerard jerking off proved otherwise.

Gerard bit his lip as Frank started to wash himself, turning his gaze away so Gerard wouldn’t get as much satisfaction out of Frank’s obviously growing interest. The slick, wet pounding of flesh was overpowering the continuous trickling of the shower.

“How can you even go again so soon?” Frank huffed, not stopping his hands as they worked their way down his body.

“It didn’t take much to get you up either.” Gerard pointed out, but Frank refused to look at him because he was right. Despite Frank’s long overdue orgasm only hours earlier, he was already fully hard. If it hadn’t been for the suds and water rushing down his body, Gerard would’ve gotten satisfaction from seeing Frank expelling precum.

Frank rolled his eyes and blamed the comfort of the shower for why he was so hard again. Showering didn’t turn him on but the feeling of being clean again definitely helped. As Frank finally reached his own dick, he moved to lean back against the shower wall to face Gerard, using the washcloth to clean his length up and down a couple time as they watched each other.

Their pumping quickly started going in unison as they watched each other, both of their breathing shortened as their bodies tightened as they grew another orgasm together. Frank wasn’t as aggressive as Gerard – It was obvious one of them was looking for another release while the other was just teasing.

“You didn’t use a condom earlier.” Frank immediately wanted to hit himself in the face, even if he was just edging, he wondered what compelled him to blurt this out.  

The two men were challenging each other through their lust filled gazes, Gerard’s stupid smirk painting his face again. Frank felt agitation shock through his veins. “I’m clean, no need to worry.” Gerard almost sounded offended, but he understood Frank’s fear.

“Why should I believe you?” Frank’s question made them both stop their pumping completely, Gerard taking offense now as his face twisted into hurt.

“You could’ve stopped me. Or asked before we started.” Gerard’s dick was deflating quickly as he straightened out. The relaxation from his body and face was gone within seconds.

A heavy pit dropped in Frank’s stomach as his dick grew soft too. He knew Gerard was right, Frank had willingly walked into Gerard’s trap earlier knowing most likely what was going to happen. He didn’t regret doing it, nor did he really regret not stopping Gerard beforehand. But now he just felt stupid for bringing anything up instead of letting them tease each other to completion.

“I- er- Ugh.” Frank stumbled over his words before groaning and pinching the bridge of his wet nose. Gerard stood. “Sorry, I—” but Gerard cut him off before he could continue to say something even more stupid.

“You’re the first person I’ve had unprotected sex with. That’s how I know.” Gerard strode to the opposite side of the room to leave, grabbing the doorway and turning around to look at Frank one more time before saying, “Are you clean.” It hardly came out as a question, but Frank knew it was meant as one.

“Yeah…” His voice was barely heard over the now cold shower, a loud ding that sounded like a text tone went off from within the hotel room.

“Good. I should’ve asked you before we started, if you were clean,” Frank gave Gerard a confused look before he continued, “What with all those condoms you stole from the gas station our first day together I might’ve been more cautious you were trying to protect someone else from yourself rather than yourself from someone else.” Gerard threw him a mischievous grin before disappearing back into the room.

Frank finished washing himself off before hoping out of the shower to begin drying. He hadn’t noticed until stepping out of the tub that the entire bathroom floor was soaked. The mirror was mostly fogged, and he felt stupid for not thinking about the spray from the water while he was distracted by Gerard.

After drying most of his body, Frank spread his mostly wet towel onto the ground and replaced it with a dry one. Wrapping it around his waist before joining Gerard in the bedroom. There was an awkward silence between them as Frank emerged and started searching for clean clothes.

Gerard was lying on his side on top of the still made bed, fully clothed, intently staring at his phone.

“Was that your ringtone I heard earlier?” Frank broke the silence, but neither looked at each other. Gerard didn’t respond as Frank started to dress.

“Yeah…” There was a hesitation in his voice.

“What’s wrong?” Gerard huffed, sitting up deep in thought. “What?” Frank asked, only a little more urgently. His attempt to hide his anxiety had gotten significantly worse during the apocalypse.

“Well… I started our dirty laundry next door before I joined you in the bathroom…” Gerard hesitated again.

“And?”

But Gerard didn’t respond, instead he turned his phone around to show Frank a text message in all caps that read, SEND HELP GOT CAUGHT. Immediately after was a pin that was nearly on the other side of the state. Frank’s eyes bounced around the text before realizing it was from Charlotte.

Panic painted Frank’s face as their eyes met. Gerard’s mouth stuck into a line, but Frank could see he was thinking through their next course of action.

Frank deflated, “Fuck.”

Chapter 13

They packed their things quickly before huddling back over to the laundry room, Frank wanted to hit Gerard for encouraging them to indulge without fear of where everyone else was.

Frank was delegated the job to find out the best route to the pinned location in Charlotte’s text while Gerard whipped their sopping wet clothes to free some water from them. Setting the driers to speed dry while Frank spoke, “So… by car, they’re a little under an hour and a half from here.”

“And by foot?” Gerard leaned casually against the harshly vibrating box beside him.

Frank glared at him, wanting to say you can’t be serious, but he kept his mouth shut and checked anyways.

“A day,”

“Oh, thats not so bad.”

“And eleven hours.” Frank moved his glare back to Gerard’s too relaxed face.

“Hmm.” Gerard’s hum was hardly heard over the rattling drier, their jeans slapping loudly against the side walls.

“We aren’t walking.”

“Well, I don’t see why we should try replacing a tire when we can just take another car.”

“Well, I think you need to remember we were driving a truck, and diesel doesn’t just go in any type of vehicle.” Frank paused as Gerard rolled his eyes. “Not to mention, there were hardly any cars even in the parking lot. This place was clearly empty when the town was hit.”

Gerard had pulled his own phone out again to check the map around them, “If this place was totally empty, the chairs outside wouldn’t be turned over.” Gerard didn’t look up from his phone to see the fire that he ignited in Frank’s eyes. “Look, there’s a hotel just across the highway. It’s impossible that the hotel is totally empty.”

Gerard pushed his phone into Frank’s face, almost making him go cross-eyed as he followed the blue GPS line from their current location to a hotel across the way. Frank used his fingers to look at all the surrounding buildings; A bank sat on the corner next to the hotel. A gas station sat on the opposite side, wrapping around the other corner with a building that two other businesses shared.

“You literally woke up in a hotel.” Frank’s gaze flicked up; Gerard raised an eyebrow in response. If Frank’s gaze could burn, Gerard would’ve scarred.

“Fine, let’s go see if we’re able to just find another vehicle at a hotel. Simple, because I’ve done it once.” Sarcasm dripped from Frank’s tongue.

“Glad we’re in agreement.” Completely ignoring Frank’s anger radiating off him, Gerard turned toward the now beeping dryer to empty the contents back into a bag.

They had as little struggle leaving the golf resort as they did when they arrived. The sun was slowly setting as they made their way up the hill past the driving range to the bridge above the highway. Frank and Gerard were reluctantly silent to each other as they made their way up and across. Overhead, traffic lights were either blinking or totally out.

The lack of green was still unfamiliar to Frank. The dry, brown dirt that covered the ground and mountains made Frank feel claustrophobic. He was increasingly aware of the lack of zombies as they traveled cautiously towards the hotel. This also increased his awareness of the amount of sweat that was gathering against his skin.

The map made the businesses look significantly closer together than they were. The closer they got, the further apart the buildings seemed to stretch. Frank could see the heat waves in the air in front of him as his chest increasingly grew warmer.

The air was so still, the silence was deafening. They reached a gas station first, a location Frank overlooked when checking the map earlier.

They stopped side by side in front of a couple pumps, both staring at the desolate lot and seemingly abandoned building.

Frank opened his mouth, but Gerard spoke first, “We can come back here after we get a car.” Frank shut his mouth. They both turned and kept walking through the barren desert. The silence grew a ringing in Frank’s ears. He forced a cough to attempt to break the silence, but it did little, and the ringing continued to increase like a heating kettle.

Gerard coughed after, Frank couldn’t tell if it was in solidarity or just coincidental timing, but he decided not to dwell on it. They passed the shared business, which was a massage parlor on one side and a tech repair shop on the other; both empty and looked mostly untouched inside.

They didn’t loiter in front of the businesses long, the eeriness crept up Frank’s spine leaving him flushed in goosebumps even with the thick layer of sweat. The hairs on the back of his neck stood and he turned around, feeling as though they were being watched or followed.

They reached the hotel in what felt like an hour but was only half. The sun beat down hard among a clear blue sky, making it difficult to tell what time it was without checking their phones. Immediately, the hotel looked lower quality than the one Frank woke up in. The one Frank stayed at was over ten stories high, on a huge beach with crystal clear water, all the buildings were crisp white and had higher quality furniture inside. Although Frank couldn’t attest for the inside of this Hampton, it wasn’t nearly as impressive.

This one had similar coloring to the golf resort, there were three separate types of siding and none of them matched. The paneling of one was black, the brick for the next was stone red, the final section was mock cabin wood. Frank grew to hate the architecture the longer he had to look at it. The only comfort that came to him was from the parking lot that wrapped around and the handful of cars littering it.

“Did anyone in Utah go to school for design or were they just raw dogging every building as they went.” Frank sneered with little question about it.

“Raw dogging?” Gerard turned his entire body to look at Frank confused.

“Yeah… like…” Frank wasn’t sure how to explain immediately. “Like… doing it raw…” He had more question to this than the last one phased as one.

“I’ve never heard it used that way.” Gerard shrugged, looking back at the hotel and its entirely empty parking lot. There was a moment of silence as Frank stared at him.

“Gerard?”

“Hmm?”

“How old are you?” Frank hadn’t removed his eyes from Gerard. He didn’t peg Gerard as much older than him; late twenties, possibly thirty on a rough day.

“I’m thirty-two.” Frank immediately felt the age gap.

“Oh my god, you’re, like, as old as my DAD!” Frank exclaimed, attempting to reconnect with Gerard in the only non-awkward way he could muster.

Gerard glared down at him, immediately reminding him of his smaller stature, but Frank held his ground. “And you?”

Frank pushed his shoulders back and stood straighter at the question, “Twenty-six, I’ll be twenty-seven at the end of the year—” Frank cringed as he cut himself off, feeling childish with his response.

“Oh yeah? When’s your birthday?” Gerard raised an eyebrow with genuine curiosity and his tone was gentle. His frame relaxed a bit, but Frank remained puffed up.

“Halloween.” Frank said confidently.

“Ooooo, cool guy over here.” Gerard laughed at himself, deflating Frank a bit. Frank hid his irritation.

“When’s yours?” He was curious, but he asked more as a curtsy.

“Ninth of April, no cool holiday like Halloween but every day is some sort of national holiday or three.” Gerard giggled at himself but now Frank’s curiosity was piqued.

“Does every day really have three national holidays?”

“Ehh… give or take.” Gerard flipped a flat hand up and down as he spoke to signal yes and no.

“So, what is your national holiday… or three, then?”

Gerard half smiled, as if he’s been waiting his entire life for this question (he sort of has), “I personally liked to celebrate national unicorn day on my birthday.” He spoke with confidence and mock arrogance, as if Frank was a fool for not knowing what national holidays were on April 9^th. “But it’s also national Name Yourself Day and Cherish an Antique day.” Gerard was matter of fact with his speech, his eyes closed as if he were a teacher indulging in his favorite subject.

“Wow, those sound like… intense holidays.” Frank stifled a giggle as they relaxed within each other’s comfort again. The argument in the golf resort left behind with the building.

“They’re very hard to get friends and family together for on account of no one appreciating unicorns or antiques like I do.” Gerard was now the one puffed and confident while Frank was giddy and pleased to be free from the watchful eyes of whatever else was dwelling in the wasteland around them.

Frank chalked his paranoia up to being from the weed during an irrationally stressful time as Gerard dramatically gestured for Frank to take the lead going inside, much like he did when he set up chairs for them to sit earlier. Frank took the invitation and lead them in.

As Frank assumed, this hotel’s furniture was cheaper, and the carpet was stiff against their shoes. But there were no spots of blood or dead bodies like what Frank encountered when he woke.

“I found the keys to the pickup in the pocket of a guy outside the hotel…” Frank whispered as the two scouted around the seemingly empty lobby.

“How’d you know he was dead when you checked his pockets?” Frank turned back to meet Gerard’s eyes, pleading silently against having to admit what he was about to.

“I killed him first.”

Gerard’s eyebrow ticked up and he straightened out. “So, you were able to kill one when defending yourself but not when defending the group.” Gerard’s anger grew his whisper to a normal tone soaked in frustration as he straightened himself.

Frank stood straight alongside him, dropping his whisper, “Gerard. You know it’s different.”

“How?!”

“Me going against one zombie coming at me versus a hoard of them running at me?!” Gerard’s lips straightened into a line as he fell silent.

The two had escalated to shouting without realizing until the silence began to ring again.

“I panicked, Gerard.” Gerard yanked out a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep inhale to hold as the two stared at each other. “I wasn’t even sure how it happened; I think I just blacked out and did it. I-I barely even remember getting in the truck and driving away, there was so much blood and bodies everywhere.” Frank hadn’t noticed he was shaking, staring at his hands in a blank stare.

Gerard grabbed Frank’s hands gently to stop the shaking. His cigarette ashed as it sat between his lips, burning slowly waiting for Gerard to suck on it again. Frank stared at the red tip, refusing to meet Gerard’s eyes this time.

Neither wanted to admit the heat and anger were getting to them both, regardless of the fact they recently relieved stress, the text from Charlotte had ignited a new flame of anger from them both.

“Hey.” Gerard’s voice was softer, his teeth were clenched but the cigarette remained unbent between his lips. Frank hyper focused on the burning tip, his shaking subsided. “Let me lead through here, but don’t choke this time.” As Gerard’s speech grew sterner, Frank finally met his gaze.

With a slight nod from Frank, Gerard twisted on his heels and swung his bat casually as he made his way through the lobby. Frank following close behind.

“You said you found the guy outside of your hotel?” Gerard was the one to speak first as they rounded a corner to a hallway with a sign pointing to the elevators.

“I walked out the doors and he came at me, I… I think I was still in shock, so I didn’t even realize what he was doing… He had keys in his pocket.”

The walls were poorly painted rather than covered in wallpaper, some of the paint chipping in areas to give it a strangely white speckle effect in the corners, like reverse mold. As they made their way down the hall, both grew more anxious the longer they went without seeing any bodies.

The bottom floor was quiet, Gerard began jiggling the doorknobs before they finally reached the elevators. He pushed the Up button before Frank could even get a word in.

“You know, there’s probably a master key down at the front desk.” Gerard looked down to Frank.

“Do you want to run back and check? I could meet you upstairs.” Gerard shrugged at Frank’s face slightly twisting in anger.

“What do you plan on doing when you get upstairs.” Frank spoke through gritted teeth and the elevator dinged.

“I’m going to find out which floor the maids were on, one of them will have universal key but they might also have car keys.” Gerard checked Frank out from the corner of his eyes before giving him a wink and walking inside.

Grumbling, Frank scrambled in behind him.

Gerard hit every key on the pad, so the ride was painstakingly slow. Each floor they stopped on, Frank was instructed to hold the door while Gerard ran out to peak around each corner looking for a maid or open hotel door.

The first handful of floors served them nothing, at some point, while Gerard was out checking a floor, he had stubbed out his cigarette. Frank didn’t notice until it became slightly easier to breath. A bit of his anxiety lifted with it.

The doors slid open again to introduce the 5^th floor, which was second the last. Gerard moved out onto the floor as Frank stationed himself in front of the doors.

Gerard's gasp caused Frank to whip his head towards him, “Maid cart, open hotel door!” Without hesitation, Gerard bolted down the hall while Frank scrambled behind trying to catch up.

In a flurry of almost tumbling, Frank ran into Gerard who had frozen in the doorway of the hotel room. Gerard caught Frank as he nearly bounced off Gerard’s stiff figure. It took Frank a moment to right himself before peaking around Gerard. Without realizing it, his clutch on Gerard’s arm squeezed harder, leaving Gerard with red marks that he ignored the making of.

On the floor in front of them was the body of a hotel cleaner, a lean and short man wearing a light pink uniform with dark red accents. His body was face up, as if he investigated the bathroom and fell backwards.

Gerard pushed himself into the room, Frank reluctantly following as he refused to unlatch himself. Peering into the bathroom, the two saw a pristine white room slashed with dark red spray all over the wall and floor around the tub. It wasn’t until the two registered the two dead bodies inside the blood-soaked bathroom that they realized the maids dark red accents weren’t a part of the uniform.

The body of a naked women was floating in a tub full of deep black-red water, there were large water stains on the floor that suggested the tub was overflowing at some point. The woman looked serene. Her stare was blank with half lidded eyes and a closed mouth. Her chin was nearly to her chest making it seem as though she was staring at the wall.

On the floor next to her sat a man whose body was strangely contorted, a gun lay on the ground next to one of his hands. The man was also naked and covered in blood, his head lay on the side of the tub where his blank gaze stared out the door towards them. A gunshot hole opened the bottom of his chin through the top of his skull. The walls of the tub had brain and skull chunks still stuck to it.

Frank looked back at the body next to them and noticed the bullet wound in his stomach and shoulder. Both men must’ve gotten surprises when they met.

Frank’s grip was broken, and his attention was brought back to Gerard, when Gerard dropped to the floor and began rummaging through the dead maid’s pockets. Frank swallowed back vomit as Gerard carelessly pushed through bloodied clothes.

“Ah, hah!!” Gerard exclaimed, throwing his hand into the air to show off a simple car key attached to a carabiner and a cat head shaped key chain. “Come on.” Frank couldn’t even process everything they just encountered before Gerard was up and began jogging back to the elevator.

Frank was frozen, in shock of finding a slew of dead bodies. Frank was still staring at the women in the tub as his gut twisted. There was something different about her form the other two; her skin was a sickening pale chartreuse, and her blank stare seemed to be glazed over thick with a white film like lizard eyes.

The silence was broken by the faint bell of the elevator doors being summoned to open again, “Frank?” Gerard shouted down the hall.

As he began to turn, the woman in the tubs eyes slowly began to move away from the wall. Frank’s heart jumped to his throat as their eyes locked. Hers still glazed over and unblinking. Striking blue eyes, stained with the splattered remains of her partner next to her, somehow still vacant.

Against Frank’s assumption, she didn’t move again after meeting his gaze. She just stared at him. He couldn’t tell if that was better or worse, but he could feel it make his blood run cold.

“Frankie?” Gerard’s voice was nearly sing-song-y with ignorance as he began to make his way back down the hall, Frank pushed himself out of the hotel room before Gerard could make it all the way. “You all good? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Gerard stopped in the middle of the hallway for Frank to meet him before venturing to the elevator together again.

“I think I may have…” Frank mumbled. Gerard raised a brow at him but said nothing as they made their way back outside.

“Welp,” Gerard pushed himself out into the parking lot to look around the mostly vacant spaces. “Let’s start with the closest one.”

Gerard began to move to the nearest car, but Frank stayed, “Why don’t you use the fob? Click it and find it.”

With an over the shoulder smirk, Gerard dangled the keys in the air for Frank to see again, a plain car key and a cat key chain. The key had no fob with it. A groan escaped Frank’s mouth as he sluggishly followed behind Gerard as he attempted to force the keys into nearly every car there.

The sweltering heat began to bead their sweat by the third car. Gerard let out of loud sigh of relief when they were almost out of cars until realizing the lot wrapped around the building and had more vehicles hidden further away. Gerard assumed this was the employee parking and quickly made his way back there.

They both had sweat through their shirts by the eighth car they tried, “Gee, we should go back inside and grab water or something before we keep going.” Frank was nearly huffing as he dragged his sweltering body between the boiling hot cars. No relief could be found when every sitting spot was hot enough to cook an egg.

But, on the ninth car, the key slid into the door with no resistance and Gerard popped the front door open with a wide, toothy grin. “You were saying?” A maniacal giggle bubbled from his throat as he threw his pack into the back seat and sat down into the tiny silver chevy.

“Unlock these doors right now,” Frank scampered over to the passenger side, yanking at the door handle. Gerard started the car while Frank threw his bag into the back, keeping a tight grip on his weapon while he got comfortable in the seat.

The blast of a high AC was unwelcome at first with its also boiling hot air, but the relief was met slowly as it cooled. The two men sat in the cold air until their skin goose bumped and their shirts felt more wet cold then sweaty.

“Can you pull up the location they sent us again?” Gerard held his phone out casually to Frank, “We’ve got most of a tank so hopefully we can find a gas station there or something, I don’t want to waste more time.” Although he attempted to mask it, Frank could tell Gerard was fearful for the safety of his brother and friends.

Frank took Gerard’s phone, feeling overwhelmingly like Gerard was trusting him with his life when he knew it was just with getting the directions up.

Most of the saving is from Gerard for you…

Frank clenched his eyes shut and pushed away his voice from his head as the screen loaded the map for them. He held the phone back out, “Here.”

Gerard smirked over at him as he reversed out of their spot to leave, “Can you direct us? It’s not safe to text and drive.” Frank’s mouth grew into a tight line as Gerard light up another cigarette, the first inhale choked Gerard, and he had to roll down the window all the way to spit before continuing to smoke. “Thanks.” His voice was scratchy and deeper than before, flushing Frank with blush as he got a little turned on by the added huskiness.

It wasn’t until they got onto the highway northbound before Gerard turned on the radio. They were greeted by static for most channels, a few prerecorded sermons were even still running. Frank wondered for how long those churches kept those going for.

“Blegh,” Gerard switched from the radio to the disk drive. Silence at first while the CD spun loudly in the console. “Hopefully this maid had some good music taste, can’t believe I didn’t think to grab my music from the truck…”

“We’ll find more music; do you have anything on your phone?”

Gerard chuckled, “This is a burner, just like yours. There’s nothing on it that could identify me.”

“Oh…” Frank felt foolish for not realizing that sooner but accepted it without question. Before either could speak again, Weezer’s My Name is Jonas started to play from the speakers, Gerard immediately started to tap his fingers on the wheel.

Anything is better than what we had before…

Frank accepted his fate of probably having to listen to The Blue Album at least twice before they made it to the rest of the group. Resting his forehead against the glass, Frank let the rumbling soothe him as he imagined what they were going to roll up to.

Chapter 14

The hour and so drive went quicker than Frank expected, especially when they realized the CD was a mix of artists and not just one Weezer album.

They both remained silent for the drive, but once the GPS led them to a small, gated community they both straightened in their seats and peered around. The sun was setting before they reached the neighborhood.

The gated community was more of a neighborhood of smaller gated communities consisting of four to five houses each. Once they passed the neighborhood threshold, there were no signs of zombies at all. The streets were mostly clear, Frank could see inside the gated areas, and some had cars parked in front of houses. No blood, old or new, was staining anything, but there also didn't seem to be any living humans patrolling or cleaning up. 

The GPS led them to the back of the neighborhood that eventually looped at the end and led all the way back up the way Frank and Gerard just came from. They had passed at least thirty houses, each one looking similar but not identical to the last, one contractor clearly designed this place. 

All the gates were closed except for the one they were being led to, that gate was swung completely open and looked to be tied up with fairy lights. Gerard cut the engine just outside the gate, parked in a way they'd be able to hop in and escape if necessary. 

As they walked through the gate, they realized the fairy lights led from the gate to the center of the houses in the roundabout. There were five houses which the fairy lights also led to from the center. The deeper they walked into the roundabout, the louder the music they hadn't noticed at first became, and the darker it grew.

Each exchanged a hesitant look before lifting their weapons. They both opted to leave most of their things in the car; Gerard decided to leave the gun in the car to attract less attention to them, but Frank wondered how smart that was now. Most of the houses they passed had all the lights off and seemed uninhabited, but these five were blasting light like the sun. Frank wondered how every light being on in every house hadn’t already attracted major hoards.

The closer they got to the fifth, odd house in the center of the other four, the two realized it wasn’t really a house but a cathedral mansion. It had everything a house did but was triple the size and had windows larger then four Franks put together. The top peeked like a church with a cross at the very top, spotlights from either side of it highlighted it like a star on top of a Christmas tree.

The music was noticeably loud now, neither of the men recognized the lyric-less mess of instruments but it brought a homely, warm feeling to the place. Neither of them feared a possible zombie jumping.

Before they could reach the door to the church, a giggling bunch of children ran past them quickly, not giving them a second glance as they entered one of the neighboring houses playing a game. Frank and Gerard exchanged a what the fuck kind of glance before lowering their weapons completely and letting themselves into the large white wood doors.

Despite the entryway being huge, it still looked and felt like a normal home. There was a bench on each side of the door with a couple pairs of shoes hidden beneath them. A nearly empty coatrack covered a corner with a decorative plant. The archway out led to a huge living area with three triple cushioned couches, each pointing to two separate flat screens that were hung next to each other on the wall.

There was no sign of anyone being here. Everything was pristine white and looked untouched, or just cleaned.

“Now this is a set up,” Frank cracked a forced smirk and elbowed Gerard in the side. “You guys wish you could’ve had this at that appliance shop.” He let out a chuckle, Gerard relaxed a little with it.

“Come on, we need to find them… The pin just stops in the house…” Gerard walked through the living room to find an equally as large kitchen that was just as sterile feeling.

On the opposite side of the living room, Frank opened the door to a master looking bathroom; full tub with shower, a toilet, a sink that could have been a double but instead had an oversized bowl with a weird design. The door next to that was a deeply shelved towel closet stuffed full and smelling fresh.

“Gerard… everything here is so…”

“Clean.” They both met in the living room, “I know. It’s weird. Those were normal kids out there, though, so there must be people here.” Gerard turned towards the giant double doors that sat on the opposite wall from the front door. “We can go through there, otherwise, there’s a staircase that leads to a basement in the kitchen.”

Frank’s head tilted slightly, “Basement?”

“Well, the stairs go down, they lead us to a lower level.”

Frank pointed to the double doors, “Let’s quietly peak through those, did you hear any sound coming from the staircase?”

Gerard shook his head, “The music is still pretty loud over there, we can check the doors quietly but I doubt anyone is going to notice us.”

Frank gave Gerard a disgruntled look, scrunching up his nose, “We’re going to stay quiet, who knows what’s on the other side of those doors.”

“If I were four zombie apocalypse adventurers…, where would I get captured…” Gerard giggled at his own dark joke before pushing forward through the double doors.

Frank was right to be quiet, the doors led out to a wide landing with a double staircase leading down into one of the largest chapels Frank had ever seen. It was currently empty, from where they peered down to it.

This temple was very different from how typical Christian or Catholic churches looked. The pews were dark wood chairs cushioned with cream pillows. All the chairs faced into the middle of the room towards a single body pedestal surrounded by stairs. The windows didn’t have any beautiful mosaics, instead they were typical large windows you would see in a house with vaulted ceilings. A large gold framed mirror was hanging on the wall opposite from the men, where either side had an door propped open to the backyard.

The music was blaring in here, bouncing off the walls with an uneasy echo. The smell of hot, roasting meat also drifted its way into their nostrils, Frank’s mouth nearly watering.

“Hey…” A nudge from Gerard ripped his eyes away. Gerard’s hand was extended, pointing out one of the tall windows next to the pews. Only a few feet away from the building was a huge dance floor with a handful of kids still on it.

The music started to die, and the kids quickly began to filter out of sight towards the open doors. Frank and Gerard crouched at the top of the stairs, waiting for them to enter but they stayed in the yard. The music was quickly replaced with the sound of squealing excitement from a choir of children.

The two of them exchanged a look of confusion before creeping their way down the stairs. Nothing from outside came into view until they were nearly at the doorway. The outside expanded only a few feet back and had multiple fairy lights strung up over a long table with food sprawling from one end to the other. Tens of circular tables with nice tablecloths, also covered in hot meat dishes, surrounded the front of the table filled with people of all ages in nice dresswear.

The main table was set so everyone was facing towards the temple except for four, very familiar heads facing the opposite way. The table looked uneven and strange, young children sat at each end and filled most of the seats moving in besides a handful of adult women who sat every five to seven kids.

In the center of the table, standing tall with raised arms was a man dressed in a black tux with no jacket. His vest was a deep purple overtop a grey shirt and jeans. It wasn’t until they noticed the guy praying to the sky that they realized each woman at the long table was also wearing purple, but in shades that gradient from light to dark, left to right. They all had matching sandy, blonde curly hair. Each child was also dressed in a corresponding color to the woman who they now assumed to be each child’s mother while the man was likely the father, or husband, to them all.

“And let us welcome our new guests!” The praying man yelled, scaring Frank and Gerard. His raised hands extended out towards them before splaying out to either side of the table. “Join us, friends. Everyone is welcome here. The food is fresh and still hot, and we still have plenty seats open.” Frank and Gerard hesitated momentarily before stepping past the threshold into the lawn.

Everyone was silent as they paused just outside the door for a moment to take a glance around. Every single pair of eyes was glued to them like a horror movie hivemind. The silence made Frank’s stomach turn. Ray, Mikey, Scarlet and Charlotte remained unmoving and looked slumped over now that they were getting closer.

“Moriyah, Willow, fetch the two men a plate. Little bit of everything.” Two girls from different moms stood quickly and raced to a standing metal rack of white plates. They looked around the same age but were dressed in very different styles of dresses. Each a different shade of purple.

They stacked the plates high with an assortment of sliced fruits and steaming hot meat, a little salad, and some form of mashed potatoes with a dark gravy. Their plates were placed at either end of their friend’s chairs. The two young girls pulled out two empty chairs and offered them out towards the men, keeping their eyes on their feet. Frank and Gerard exchanged a worried look before separating and taking a seat next to Ray and Charlotte.

The girls took their original seats back quickly, Gerard stared over at their group of friends who were all sitting with their eyes shut, but still obviously breathing. Each of them also had a plate in front of them. Frank stared down at the food. Strong scents of rosemary and thyme were nearly overwhelming his senses now.

“Please, help yourself everyone.” The praying man said, first staring each at Frank, then Gerard, before moving on to sweep his eyes over the crowd around them. “Do not wait for me, I will be ensuring our new friends feel welcome and have everything they need.”

Frank glanced up at the man who was continuing to stand there, towering over everyone in the area. Gerard elbowed Ray in the gut, succeeding in getting him to stir and force open his eyes.

His face was heavy, looking exhausted and high. Ray stared at Gerard for a long time, saying nothing, his face remaining blank with beat red eyes. Slowly, his gaze moved from Gerard’s face down to his plate, where his gaze remained as a small grin lazily plastered across his lips.

Gerard’s eyes shifted quickly between Ray’s plate and face; his plate looked identical to his own. Something Gerard didn’t think more of after moving on to poke his brothers arm gently, reaching past Ray to get to him.

Mikey woke with a response like Ray; his eyes were groggy and red, his face looked heavy and hard to hold up as he stared blankly at his brother. Gerard had seen them both high before, but this was worse than that, they seemed tranquilized. Mikey’s attention also quickly left Gerard’s face and moved down to his own plate.

Both slowly began taking small bites of each of their dishes, Gerard peered around the long table and realized all the children and mothers were also beginning to eat. Every one of them had their head down as they discretely took tiny bites of their meal as well.

Around them, the round tables seemed to do the same. The women and children had their heads hung over their plate as they took small bites. The men held their chins high as they grossly chomped at their thicker than average meat slices, grease dripping down many of their chins.

Frank’s attention had returned to his plate as he examined the food. The potatoes were fully mashed, had green herbs littering throughout and the gravy was thicker than he was used to with an unrecognizable smell. The meat was thicker and fattier than his normal cuts of meat as well, he assumed home grown animals were a possibility and maybe their cuts were different then restaurants or stores. The scent of the meat was what made his mouth water, though.

At some point, Mikey had nudged Scarlet into Charolette, waking both from their tranquilized slumbers to barely orientate themselves before also finding the food and digging in. As Frank watched everyone else eat, he suddenly lost his appetite. He was also overly aware that the man was still standing in front of them, watching them but saying nothing.

Frank noticed immediately Gerard was also not touching the food, instead he scanned the room and met Frank’s eye on his way back up. Between them, their friends were grossly devouring their food like everyone else. The biggest difference was Scarlet and Charlotte’s chins remained high along side Ray and Mikey.

Gerard broke his gaze with Frank to look at the standing man, who happen to be staring down at him with wide eyes and a creepy grin.

“Please, friend, eat. Food has become scarce around here.” Gerard’s eyebrows twitched, his eyes fluttering quickly back over the table again to admire the copious amounts of food that currently surrounded them.

Gerard picked up his fork and poked at the food, pushing some of it around to examine the inside of it all. The meat was what he was least familiar with, he cut into it with the side of his fork, and it nearly melted apart like slow cooked meat usually does. But the smell was off, even with the copious amounts of herbs.

“This food is delicious, John.” Ray’s voice slurred next to Gerard, making him jump.

The man in the middle slowly ripped his gaze away from Gerard, his creepy grin unmoving as he held his hand down towards Ray, “See? Even your friend is enjoying the food, and thank you, sir.” He half bowed his head, closing his eyes as his grin remained as if this was how his face looked when relaxed.

“You know his name?” Gerard directed the question to Ray, but Ray mostly ignored him to eat the food.

“Why of course they know my name! They’ve stayed with us for quite a while.” John said, his wide eyes now locked on Gerard in a stare down.

“Then what’s his name?” Gerard thumbed at Ray to challenge him, John’s grin not faltering.

But it was a nearby wife who spoke up instead, “Ray. His name is Ray.” Her head raised but her utensils were put down and she was no longer touching her food. John’s gaze slowly swept down to view his wife.

“Thank you, Kristina. His name is Ray. Obviously.” The woman barely nodded up at John with a small grin on her face. He returned to the stare down with Gerard without giving her more praise like she wanted, she quickly returned to discretely eating her dish.

Gerard continued his stare down of John while Frank finally broke his concentration from his plate. Too many horror movies and video game situations flashed through his memory of strange cult-like family and a grand meal. The feeling of his stomach flipping was what brought him back to reality.

Frank’s eyes slowly raised to examine Charlotte’s pleasantly groggy expression. Frank immediately noticed Charlotte ate her plate one entre at a time, and was still working on the first, the half-mashed potatoes. Something in Frank was thankful for that, he gripped her wrist tightly, another wave of relief washing over him when her heavily lidded eyes slid over to him with little hesitation.

The immediate recognition that sparked in her eyes gave Frank the pinch of hope he needed. “Charlotte… how can we help…?” His voice was barely above a whisper, John and Gerard too distracted with each other and Ray mindless eating for any of them to notice Frank. But panic bloomed in Charlotte’s eyes as she mindlessly shoveled another forkful of potatoes in her mouth.

Tears swelled in her eyes as she shuffled the food around between her teeth before gulping it down. “They told us… if we didn’t eat it all…” She choked on her tears as she whispered back. She shook her head slightly.

“Did you see them make it…?” Charlotte shook her head again. When their eyes met again, Charlotte began to swivel hers away from Frank’s face to look past him. Frank eyed John, sweeping his gaze over the others on his end of the table. No one seemed to be paying attention to them, Frank thankful that Gerard was sometimes obnoxious enough to get the attention of the room.

Frank followed Charlotte to see two large fire spits over still crackling bonfires. Each spit had two bodies rotating slowly, dark and dripping making sparks shoot into the grass occasionally.

Each body was very obviously that of a decapitated person, the spit stick going through their assholes up through their exposed throat. They were faced towards each other, so their necks nearly touched to form a grotesque double body. They were tied up into the fetal position, so they slightly resembled how pigs typically looked.

But it wasn’t easy to make people look like pigs. And each body had a decent amount of meat sliced from them, leaving them dripping blood as well as oil. The skin of all four of them was dark red and blackening in some areas, while the exposed meat from the inside was still light pink and glistening. Frank slowly looked back down to his plate.

Don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up—

A tightness gripped Frank’s throat as he stared at the meaty chunks on his plate as his worst fears manifested into reality before his eyes. He wanted to keep believing it was some exotic meat he’d never tried before like… alligator or... duck.

Charlotte was staring him down with fear in her eyes now, waiting for him to look back at her. When he finally did, all he could muster was, “P-people…” Charlotte began nodding slowly, tears streaming down her face as she fought the drugs in her veins. “They’re… people…” Frank’s voice grew only a little, but the women and children at the table with them stopped immediately, peaking at Frank. Each one had a mix of fear and anger, each casting a different emotion towards Frank, but he didn’t notice. He couldn’t take his wide eyes off Charlotte who was fighting to stifle her near sobbing.

Without warning, one of the women across from Frank in an amethyst dress stood abruptly, dropping her chair behind her as her arm shot up to point at Charlotte as she suddenly started to scream.

Her scream was high like a pig squeal as she grabbed the attention of everyone in the yard, especially John and Gerard. “Gerard!” Frank’s shout made everyone look in the direction he was pointing, that’s when Gerard saw the spits. Gerard shot from his chair to throw his food along with Ray’s and his brothers.

The commotion seemed to sober the four of them up quickly as Ray fell backwards in his chair to the grass, attempted to frantically crawling away from the table as he gagged. Mikey stood quickly in a similar way to Gerard, they two of them crowded the opposite side of the table from John who remained standing there with a creepy grin, saying nothing even as his wife continued to scream and point at Charlotte.

Charlotte dropped to the ground quickly, hiding behind her chair crying, Frank grabbed the potatoes from her plate and flung them at the screaming woman in front of him. She was silenced as her mouth filled with the cold mash.

Scarlet was the last to respond, she was still dazed as the rest scrambled. Frank pushed Scarlet on her shoulder to wake her more, but he quickly realized she was conscious, just silently staring with wide eyes down at her plate. Her face was paler than he’d seen before, that’s when Frank saw her plate. She ate the same way Charlotte did, one entre at a time.

But Scarlet started with the meat and had finished it off.

“Scarlet...?” Frank’s voice couldn’t even make her look away; it was as if she wasn’t there at all. The next few minutes somehow went in slow motion, but Frank was unable to move fast enough.

Scarlet had tears falling onto her plate and within seconds her food came back up all over the table. It was dark green with bloody red chunks of meat and reeked of stomach bile mixed with rosemary. She threw up all over her plate, the table and the surrounding plates, including John’s untouched food that was most likely cold now.

But the reaction this caused from John was sporadic. His head whipped from Mikey and Gerard in a fighting position to glare at Scarlet. His creepy grin replaced with a disgusted anger as snarled his teeth at Scarlet’s mess.

With the blink of an eye, a gunshot sounded, forcing everyone in the yard to freeze. John held his disgusted face with his gun pointed out at Scarlet.

Frank and Charlotte had watched as a bullet sliced through Scarlet’s chest, blasting open the back of her chair and splattering blood and chunks of body into the grass, onto Mikey’s legs. Charlotte and Frank’s entire fronts were splashed as, Frank jumping back but Charlotte remained on the ground staring in disbelief at her best friend.

Bloody vomit drooled from her mouth as her body went limp. Time sped up again, Charlotte’s agonized screams filled the air as guests at the surrounding tables started to get up and run. Some tables flipped; others were being hidden under. John’s wives and children also started to scramble once they realized a woman was just murdered before their eyes.

“You are my witnesses, saith the Lord!” John’s booming voice took over as the sound of screams and clattering dishes filled the atmosphere. Ray stared at Scarlet in shock as he finally shuffled up to an overturned table, stopping him from going further. “And my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He.”

 Mikey and Gerard ran round opposite sides of the table, planning to grab him where he was, but each were stopped by a wife with a similar handgun. Each man shot their hands up in surrender. Charlotte wheezed and snotty sobbed into the grass beside her friend, clutching her lifeless arm as her head slumped onto her shoulder. The longer Frank watched her, the more dead and empty her eyes became. Flashes of the woman in the tub made Frank’s stomach turn and threaten to come up.

“Before me, there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, and THE LORD. AND BESIDE ME, THERE IS NO SAVIOUR!” John’s voice slowly escalated into a shouting that dragged everyone’s attention to him, including his wives holding Mikey and Gerard at gunpoint, giving them an opening.

Gerard grabbed the woman’s wrist and elbow, twisting and bending it up to point the gun away from himself. She fought well but she wasn’t nearly as strong. With a painful yelp, she released the gun into Gerard’s hand who immediately turned it onto her and shot. He hit her in the gut, causing her descent to be slower than Scarlet’s.

She clutched her stomach as blood tainted her nice dress. On the opposite side, Mikey hadn’t achieved quite as good of a victory as Gerard, but he still got the woman down and disarmed her. Instead of shooting her, Mike had stomped her knee backwards and broken it, preventing her from being able to stand.

The yard was nearly empty at this point safe for the other wives and their children who stood inside the house, under cover, watching through the large cathedral windows and doors. Some children were audibly crying for their mothers, this made Gerard feel nothing.

Gerard and Mikey moved in towards John, who was backing up and swinging the gun back and forth between them. Sweat was pouring down his head, making his gross, thin hair stick to his face.

Frank dropped to the ground beside Charlotte and wrapped his arms around her as she continued to sob, Frank had never heard such gut-wrenching loss in a cry before. She remained clutching her best friend body even after Ray crawled back to join them. He embraced them both, allowing room for Charlotte to keep her hands and head against Scarlet’s lap.

Mikey and Gerard ran at John, who began shooting wildly. Frank and Ray both took better cover while also covering Charlotte so she could grieve without fear. Every bullet missed anything of importance, one hit the church and sounded a loud ringing that reverberated for longer than a minute. This caused more of the children inside to cry, forcing the mothers to comfort a gaggle of kids they couldn’t hold all at once.

Mikey attacked John’s knee much like he did to one of his wives, forcing him to the ground while Gerard stomped onto his hand to release the gun. He kicked it as far as the dry grass would let it go before holding the gun to John’s head, foot still on his back to hold him to the ground.

“What the FUCK is your problem?!” Gerard’s voice sounded distressed and cracked only a little. “You fed her human and then murdered her for being disgusted by it?! We aren’t apart of your creepy little cult down here, you fucking monster.”

Without warning, Mikey scrambled a few feet away and gagged up the meat he had eaten. John remained sweating underneath Gerard but said nothing, instead his mouth twisted into a sick smile again. He refused to meet Gerard’s eyes but continued to smile.

“Well?! You gonna say anything or just sit there like the piece of shit you are?!” Gerard’s anger was boiling over and John beginning to chuckle helped. With a scream, Gerard smashed John’s mouth with the butt of the gun – once, twice, three times. He watched as a few teeth fell from his mouth with the pooling blood. “You aren’t a fucking God.” Gerard pulled himself off John, leaving him choking on broke teeth and blood. “You’re a pathetic man with no self-control or care for anyone else.”

Standing tall over him, Gerard spit at John and pointed the gun at his head again. But, as he opened his mouth to speak again, a wife in purple barreled out from the church doors. Gerard probably wouldn’t have noticed her had Mikey not yelled and pushed Gerard out of the way of the next gunshot that deafened them.

Mikey and Gerard rolled across the grass a moment before composing themselves again. The wife at the door held a huge hunting rifle and was following Gerard with the scope, completely ignoring the two men and crying woman in their embrace.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HIM.” That’s when Frank realized it was the same woman who screamed earlier about killing Charlotte. Frank pulled himself away from his friends and started searching for his axe. It should’ve been next to his chair, but it had been moved to nearly the other end of the long table they had sat at, next to it was Gerard’s bat. Both weapons had clearly been moved away from them sometime during the event.

Frank began his crawl towards them under the table, stopping momentarily to speak to Ray, “Get Charlotte out of here, I’ll cover your back.” Immediately, Ray was coaxing Charlotte to get up and moving, keeping an eye on the woman with the gun.

Mikey and Gerard were scurrying in the same direction as Frank, staying low to the ground so to avoid giving away their position. The woman with the rifle stomped into the grass, eyes and hair were wildly wired.

As Charlotte composed herself, she slipped off Scarlet’s two rings and grabbed her phone from her pocket. She kissed her best friend’s hands, then her head as she stood, Ray was pushing her away from the body with so much force, the last look Charlotte shared with Scarlet was vacant and plastered with sadness.

As they reached the end of the table, the woman rounded the opposite side, only then realizing they had all gone the other way. Mikey and Gerard met with Ray and Charlotte past the table, they all started to sprint as Frank fumbled out from under the table, both hands full with their discarded weapons.

It didn’t take long for Frank to catch up to them as they rounded the house, they got into the street when another gun shot rang out, grass shot up just in front of them. Frank twisted around to see the woman aiming at them. The windows of the house were filled with blood thirsty faces of children and their mothers shouting at them to die, how God would take them, and cheering on the one shooting at them.

“Where’s the RV?” Gerard shouted as they passed the houses.

“They took it apart.” Mikey’s anger was obvious, and Gerard didn’t try to hide his disappointment.

“Where’s the truck?” Ray cut in.

“The tire popped.” Gerard began.

“How did you get here?!” Ray couldn’t stop himself from interrupting.

“We have a car, it’s just past the gates, it should fit us all.” He scanned everyone with an awkward grin. Another shot popped and the gravel sprang up beside them. Charlotte couldn’t hold back but yelp.

Gerard got ahead of them, leading them towards the car as another shot popped sooner than the last, smashing some of the rock wall that surrounded their properties.

They reached the car quickly, “Ray, you should get the front, you’re the biggest out of all of us.” Frank opened the back door and ushered Charlotte in, “I mean, sorry that came out weird.”

But Ray took it at face value and laughed it off, “Nah, I totally get it, I have these huge rippling muscles.” Ray flexed his arms into different positions, getting a relieved chuckled out of Frank.

Without anymore conversation, Ray got into the front, Gerard started the car, and Mikey and Frank took either side next to Charlotte in the back. All doors slammed simultaneously as the engine roared to life and they all took a deep breath together.

Just as Gerard switched gears, another, final gunshot sounded out and the driver side mirror went flying. Charlotte, who still had tears streaming down her face, choked momentarily as the metal hitting metal scared her.

Gerard tossed the handgun into Ray’s lap, “Scare the bitch.” With a toothy smile, Ray aimed out his window and started shooting back at the woman, getting much closer to her than she got to them.

She hopped on her feet a few times before dropping onto her butt, the rifle bouncing off the asphalt away from her.

With squealing tires and one last look behind, Gerard sped them away to safety.

Notes:

This chapter is very inspired by other zombie media/tropes that I love, it's faster than I wanted it to go but the characters took it in a way I wasn't planning, it's also longer than any of the previous chapters so I hope it's still enjoyable!

Inspiration came MOSTLY from Telltale's The Walking Dead Game and TLC's Sister Wives, gotta love those Plygs, they make a great people eating cult :)

Chapter 15

Notes:

thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story thru the years as i continue writing <3

i hope you're enjoying the adventure we're on (and i promise we'll be out of Utah soon)

They didn’t stop for almost five hours, in near silence. Charlotte had spent the first two and a half hours stifling her sobs as she clutched Scarlet’s belongings to her chest. She eventually fell asleep with her head on Frank’s shoulder, giving the rest of the group the next two hours the ability to relax off their adrenaline.

It wasn’t long into the drive before the highway became littered with melting bodies and abandoned cars, like before. The zombies that were still upright and walking were too slow to reach them. The night forced them to drive slower to avoid hitting anything, but the car was surprisingly quiet, attracting little attention.

Frank watched the clock on his phone casually until they reached the sign for Moab, a city surrounded by mountains, preventing much of the wondering corpses to end up here.

The road in was easy, the curving range they had to drive down to get into the city was mostly empty, the city itself being obscenely flat upon entry. The stretch from the welcome sign to the city only had a couple of motels littering every few miles before they saw anything actually civilized.

The streets through town were wide with most of the cars left behind taking up space off the road or in parking lots. It looked like people were still living here, since they also hadn’t come across any zombies since arriving – but there was no movement, happy sounds like music, or even cars rumbling lightly. Every stop light they drove under just slowly blinked red.

Frank checked the time; 1:26 AM. Holding back a groan as Charlotte’s lolling head rolled forward when Gerard slowed the cars pace even more while cruising down the street. Frank noticed Gerard and Ray were motioning their hands together as they both pointed out the passenger window. Frank followed what they were watching and counted the buildings with them.

A Mexican restaurant, credit union then a tree farm strategically hiding most of a trailer park campground. Eventually a neighborhood came into view and the town gained more life. A hotel, multiple restaurants, a salon, and a real estate agency were scattered around the main street. Side streets wound through neighborhoods that remained flat, and others that wound halfway up the mountains. Although it was obvious most, if not all, of the businesses were closed, the streetlights remained on alongside the signage on each building.

The deeper Gerard cruised through town, the bigger the other side of the mountain range grew. The houses fell away as lush greenery took over the bases of the mountain, they passed a couple more hotels, bike and ATV rental places, a few more restaurants, and a gas station.

Gerard eased the car to a complete stop slowly in front of a red blinking traffic light. More hotels and restaurants could be seen across the way and down each side street.

Throwing his arm around the headrest of Ray’s seat, Gerard spun around to greet the backseat passengers with a strained grin. Charlotte was still asleep while Mikey had his head against the window with closed eyes. Frank and Gerard shared a quiet look of knowing, Gerard’s eyes had lost a bit of their light, Frank thought as they stared at each other.

“So… I think we can find everyone new stuff here, but we should get some rest first. I really don’t think they followed us and there’s really no sign of other life here so we should be safe…” Gerard didn’t sound as sure of himself as he normally did, but Ray jumped in quick to help with the reassurance.

“No, I think we’ll be fine. They took our bags, but they left us our phones. I’m not sure what they were thinking…- “

“They were only thinking about themselves.” Gerard cut it sharply. Mikey stirred from his rest and sat up. “Normal people have to get desperate in order to eat another human being, but they weren’t desperate. They all looked well fed and overly clean, they were desperate for the excuse to be monsters.”

The car grew silent after Gerard’s slightly heated rant. Charlotte remained in a deep sleep; Frank didn’t think his exhaustion could even match how she was feeling.

“The apocalypse brings out the best in all of us.” Mikey deadpanned to no one in particular.

Ray cleared his throat, “Let’s either go to a house, or get into one of these hotels. Hotel seems like a safer bet to me, personally. We can probably find a master room key or something.”

“Can we be done with the hotels.” Frank meant for it to sound less aggressive. No one took offense, Ray’s face screwed up in confusion, but Gerard smirked, his eyes immediately lustfully looking down at Frank somehow, making him feel smaller. “We can just check a home for a security system, right? Usually, they have the little stickers or code input-thingy next to the door, right?”

“Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be hard, but it would be a waste of time.” Mikey wouldn’t look in Frank’s direction.

“Eh, maybe we can find a place that had a family, more clothes to pick through.” Ray shrugged in agreement.

“House it is!” Gerard exclaimed, ending the conversation and accelerating the car to make a quick U-turn in the four-way, waking Charlotte abruptly.

Contrary to the city streets, the suburban roads were pitch black and silent compared to the unconscious humming of lights no one noticed was there until it was gone. They wound slowly through the neighborhood, watching for any signs of movement their car may have awoken.

After circling the same fifteen houses with no interruption, Gerard finally pulled into the driveway of one of them. Killing the engine, no one made a move for a long time. No one made a sound either, causing Frank’s ears to ring eventually from the deafening silence.

Frank caught Gerard and Mikey exchange a look and head nod through the rear-view mirror before Mikey pushed his way out of the car, leaving his door open as he strode silently to the front door.

They all watched as he scouted around the windows, peering in for long moments before moving around the side of the house. Frank caught himself constantly checking the time again while Mikey was out of their sight, only a couple minutes passed before Mikey came back around to the front, but it felt like it took almost an hour.

Instead of coming to the car, Mikey gave Gerard another nod and bee-lined for the front door again. Although partially hidden behind a wall, Frank could tell Mikey was trying to open it. He could tell it was a failure when Mikey turned back towards the car, but he remained in his spot.

Frank reached for the door handle.

“Don’t.” Gerard’s hard eyes pierced at Frank through the rear-view mirror. Frank released the handle.

Mikey was checking under the mat, a few potted plants, in the dirt next to the door but seemed to find nothing. It wasn’t until he ran his hand over the top of the door frame that he felt a key lodged between the house and door. Jiggling it slightly was enough to loosen it, he held it in the air to show the group before turning back and making his way into the house.

As soon as Mikey entered, Gerard and Ray made their way out of the car as well. Charlotte and Frank exchanged a tired glance before following the rest.

Ray grabbed the only luggage they had, Gerard’s backpack and Frank’s duffle. Gerard held his bat while Frank had his axe, the shotgun nowhere in sight. “I can take the couch if there aren’t enough rooms.” Ray offered quietly to everyone, but mostly to Charlotte. She nodded slightly in agreement before shuffling behind Gerard and Ray, who took the lead to get into the house.

The front door lead directly into a hallway with a straight staircase on their right. The hallway led straight back into either a kitchen or dining room, Frank could only see the table and a couple chairs. To the left, between the kitchen and front door, was a huge set of open double doors that led into a modern style living room. Everything in the house felt angular, white… sterile. Like the cannibals house.

Mikey was coming down the stairs as they entered, “All clear, basements empty too. There’s three bedrooms, one master with a bathroom. Two other bathrooms too plus an extra toilet downstairs.”

Gerard’s face showed he was impressed, “Doesn’t sound like we’ll be fighting over too much tonight.”

“And none of us have to share rooms either.” Mikey pouted, Gerard slapping a hand onto his shoulder.

“Speak for yourself.” He threw a wink over to Frank before throwing his head back into a loud as he walked further into the house. Mikey gagged and threw his tongue out, rolling his eyes.

As Gerard made his way down the hall towards the kitchen, Mikey went around into the living room and Ray made his way upstairs. No one dared hit a light switch. Charlotte and Frank stood together awkwardly at the front door, both unsure of who to follow.

Thankfully, Ray was the one to break the silence from the top of the stairs. “Hey, Charlotte, want to come pick out a room?” They both looked up to Ray, Frank noticed he wasn’t holding the bags anymore, and that Charlotte had begun to blush.

Silently, she nodded, ducking her head as she nearly ran past Frank to get up the stairs. Ray motioned her out of sight towards the rooms.

Frank went to Gerard, who was rummaging through the cupboards. “They still have food, and not too much of it is expired yet so that’s good!” The counters were clean and there was nothing in the sink. The dining room and kitchen were attached, there was a wall with two more large double doors leading from the dining room into the living room, where Frank saw Mikey sifting through a desk facing away from them. “We can pack some of this up and bring it with, that would supplement what everyone else was holding…” Gerard paused.

“Yeah, I hope everyone else can find clothes too, getting to shower would be nice—” Gerard smirked over his shoulder, making his way to the sink to flip it on. Frank nodded his approval, “but, having a clean pair of clothes that fit would also be great. For... everyone else…” Frank winced at himself, he had clean clothes that fit and will be great post-shower, so did Gerard. But everyone else was left with the clothes still smothered in their dead friends’ insides.

Gerard shrugged, “Even if there aren’t clothes here, we can check one of the next houses, or, honestly, these people have to have a washer and dryer – look at this place!” Gerard’s hands flew up towards the ceiling.

Gerard was right, they were in a house with high ceilings, random art pieces and modern furniture choices that screamed ‘I like to show off how much money I have’. There was no way they wouldn’t have a washer and dryer somewhere.

“Where’d Charlotte go, by the way?”

“She followed Ray upstairs.” Gerard’s eyebrows raised in delight, insinuating what they could be doing. But Frank rolled his eyes, “Charlotte just watched her best friend die, there’s no way they’re fucking up there.”

Gerard shrugged casually, stalking Frank suddenly. “You never know what adrenaline and fear do to a person.” Gerard stopped in front of Frank, leaning down so their faces were only inches apart. “I know I’ve got some pent-up anger from not killing those bastards.”

Gerard’s hand met Frank’s thigh gently as they glared aggressively at each other. Frank with annoyance while Gerard’s eyes clearly dilated. Slowly, he brushed his fingers up to Frank’s cock, squeezing him until he got semi-hard. Frank blushed the harder he got, angry with his body for being so weak to Gerard’s hands.

Gerard leaned closer to Frank, grazing his lips over his neck before whispering in his ear, “I can tell you want me too.”

The double doors swung open, “I found some letters to the owners, they were Mormons too. Went to some compound when they got wind of the other towns getting infected.” Mikey’s voice made Gerard and Frank jump away from each other.

Mikey’s eyes narrowed at them, but he made no comment about it. Ray and Charlotte also made their way in from the hall. Charlotte’s eyes were red, and her face was flushed, Ray had a comforting arm around her shoulders for comfort. Frank looked at Gerard in an ‘I-Told-You-So’ sort of way, making Gerard roll his eyes.

“So, not everyone is convinced it’s a government conspiracy.” Gerard directed his attention to his brother as he made his way to the kitchen island to meet everyone else.

“No, guess not.” Mikey paused, staring at the pieces of paper. “But having Mormons react like this doesn’t exactly help it look very real.”

“Yeah, I grew up having a very negative outlook towards most churches and beliefs…” Charlotte spoke quietly, her voice still drenched in depression. “I don’t know if I would believe anything bad was happening if I only saw stuff about religious people running in fear.”

“Had you heard about it before it hit you?” Frank asked suddenly. They exchanged an uneasy look.

“No, it hit us very suddenly in the middle of our shift.” Frank realized she was talking about her and Scarlet; it made his chest burn. Charlotte shrugged, “Scarlet was always the more online one of us… I never liked being on my phone for long periods of time.” She stopped trying to hide the pain in her voice. “She never mentioned seeing anything about it before our shift, so it must’ve hit quick.”

Mikey and Gerard shared the same grim, hung expression. Ray squeezed Charlotte as tears silently fell against her will.

Frank’s mouth went into a line, “Yeah, it hit me quick too.” They sat in silence again; Frank wasn’t sure what compelled him to ask that, but he was glad to hear the answer.

Ray broke the silence with a clearing of his throat, “Do you guys want to pick rooms or…?”

“We need all the sleep we can get, who knows if they plan to look for us or not.” Gerard, paranoid more than the rest, never stopped checking the rear-view while they drove. Frank watched too, but no movement ever followed them. Even the few zombies they passed on the way in were too slowed down to catch them, “Maybe we can take shifts sleeping?”

Mikey was the one to roll their eyes this time, “Lets just lock the door.”

Everyone looked around at each other in silent agreement, no one wanted to give up what limited sleep they’d be allowed to have before daybreak.

“What about the car?” Charlotte asked, directing her eyes up to Ray who continued to hold her.

“I can go check the garage for a manual door opener?” Ray suggested.

“The garage is totally empty.” Mikey stated. “No cars, no shelves, no tool bench… It’s strange.” For the first time since meeting Mikey, Frank heard his fear cracking through as he spoke. Fear and confusion melded together, his stoic facade evading him.

“I’ll go with you, either way. We can push the car in together if the garage can be opened quietly.” Gerard offered his help.

“I can come too.” Mikey offered as well.

“Frank, why don’t you and Charlotte go pick out rooms. Whatever you don’t take, Mikey will have.” Gerard challenged Mikey with a mischievous smirk, but Mikey just stared at his brother, back to his stoic state.

They dispersed in a tired silence, splitting up with no further discussion. Charlotte led Frank through the rooms upstairs. The master was clean, the bed was made, the walk-in closet was mostly empty; clothes were everywhere, some hung loosely off hangers while the floor had small piles of random articles of clothing that weren’t deemed good enough to bring.

The second room was clearly a teens room, the walls and bedding were both a light pink color, a white desk sat against the wall across from the bed. A low, white dresser was at the end of the bed, matching night tables decorated either side of the top of the bed. One had a pink lamp on it with an alarm clock, the other a notebook, a couple of books, an empty cup and a pen.

“Ray found this one and told me to take it…” Charlotte admitted, feeling embarrassed she didn’t wait for everyone before choosing where to stay. The teens room wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t clean like the master bedroom was. Clothes were piled and falling out of a skinny laundry basket in the corner, some were littered on the floor around it too.

“Did you check out the closet?” Frank pointed towards the small sliding doors behind the laundry basket.

Charlotte nodded, “There’s a lot of clothes in there, thankfully clean, but I might clean the stuff in the basket too for more options. They looked close to my size…” A small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth; she fought the sadness that still squeezed her insides.

Frank gave her a small smile back, “Good, just get all those clothes together and put the basket in the hallway, I can bring it down for you.” Frank peered around the room again, taking in the trophies on the shelves, the wooden cross hung on the wall beside the small poster of a boy band Frank didn’t recognize.

“Thank you…” Charlotte’s voice was quiet, but she sounded happier than before.

Frank looked her up and down quickly, “You can throw your current clothes on the lid, the bloody stuff can all go in together, away from the not-so-bloody stuff.” Charlotte looked down at herself, breath hitching as she remembered her clothes were nearly soaked in her best friends’ viscera.

Charlotte hugged herself, not being able to bring herself to look back up at Frank. “Thanks…” Her voice below a whisper this time. “There’s one more room…” Frank could tell she wasn’t ready to give up the clothes just yet, so he followed her to the final room.

They passed a bathroom between the girl’s room and the last room, that happened to be a very cozy library. Inside, two of the opposite walls had floor to ceiling bookshelves, the wall between the bookshelves had a giant bay window that a large Victorian style lounger sat in front of. The walls and shelves were uncomfortably white and most of the books were different versions of the bible, memoirs from names Frank didn’t recognize, and large hardcovers of the dictionary and what seemed like every encyclopedia ever released.

Frank pulled out one of the encyclopedias and the spine cracked on the first page he flipped to. The pages were fresh and flat, unblemished and clearly untouched. He pushed the book back into place, most of these were for show. He shook his head slightly in disappointment.

He didn’t realized Charlotte hadn’t followed him into the room until he turned back around the check out the room again.

“Ray said he’d just take the couch downstairs…” Frank hadn’t seen the living room yet, and he was certain Ray hadn’t really either. Ray was the best one out of all of them.

“Well, I could take this one.” Frank shrugged.

“I think Gerard was implying you two would share a room…” Charlotte blushed lightly at this, he never pegged her as a prude, but sex had never been brought up between them. He was unsure of her comfort level, causing his face to blush in unison.

Frank peered around the room again, it was cozy, but the lounger was definitely not big enough for two fully grown men. “Welp, guess I have to take the master bedroom.” The two of them gathered back together and shared a genuine smile with each other before Frank grabbed his and Gerard’s bags to drop them into the master bedroom.

Below, in the garage, Ray was able to push open the garage with very little squeaking, Mikey helped while Gerard stood in the driveway watching for anything they may have disturbed.

But the night remained still, and nothing attacked even as they pushed the car slightly uphill into the garage. The task was significantly easier with all three of them pushing the car in, the garage door squealed more as they shut it again, but after a long five minutes, they all agreed they were safe for now.

They reconvened in the hallway again. Mikey locked the front door before anyone could even get a word in.

“Did you find us a nice room?” Gerard wagged his eyebrows at Frank.

“It’s pretty clean.” Frank shrugged, underplaying the large, four-poster bed that made it feel like royalty slept there.

“I get the library?” Mikey questioned; Frank nodded without saying a word. Mikey nodded slightly in agreement and Frank couldn’t help but enjoy Mikey finally accepting him.

Ray moved past the group into the large living room, the couches didn’t look the most uncomfortable, and the fabric was made up of a rough type that reminded Frank of curtains. A gaudy floral pattern was plastered across each couch.

Ray patted the largest couch twice, kicking up a wide plume of dust causing him to cough. “Maybe I can throw a sheet over the couch and make it feel more… bed like.”

“There’s some extra sets of sheets and blankets in the closet down here.” Mikey pointed behind them at an unopened door under the stairs Frank had ignored earlier.

“Damn, you’re thorough for how quick you work.” Frank attempted to compliment Mikey, get him to feel more comfortable around him.

“There’s a reason I got out to check the house.” Then Mikey smirked at Frank, suddenly making Frank feel small like Gerard usually does.

He’s actually fucking smirking, Frank’s small grin twitched in the corner, unsure of how to feel.

Ray had already made his way around the kitchen to get to the closet without pushing through everyone. Mikey wasn’t kidding, there were at least four other bed sheet sets, multiple blankets of varying thicknesses and fabrics. Ray took the items off the top of each pile, too tired to think too much about it.

The time was already past three in the morning now, and everyone was struggling to keep their eyes open.

As Ray prepped his makeshift bed, Gerard began taking his leader role again. “Let’s just get as much sleep as possible. No alarms, we stay as silent as possible. Mike, you and I are going to go around and make sure the back door, and all the windows, are locked too before we head to bed.” Mikey nodded in agreement and started making his way around the kitchen first. He was peaking out the blinds too before pulling them all fully shut.

“Charlotte, Frank, Ray, get some sleep. We’ll figure out what to do next tomorrow.” Gerard talked through a yawn that fought its way through, forcing Frank and Charlotte to yawn together.

Ray was already cuddling up on the couch, content with not helping to ensure anyone’s safety. It helped Frank not to feel bad when he followed Gerard’s orders and headed up to their room, Charlotte close behind him.

They mumbled their goodnights before going to their separate rooms.

Frank stripped his clothes slowly, hoping to go to bed with Gerard, but once his clothes were off and he was under the blankets, he was unable to fight off unconsciousness as his head hit the pillow.

Chapter 16

Notes:

sorry for the wait, got pregnant again lmao

Frank’s eyes cracked open through the crust of much needed sleep that didn’t feel fulfilling. The room was still dark. When Frank sat up to peer around the room, he noticed the other side of the bed hadn’t been touched still.

Rubbing what tired he could from his eyes, he grabbed his phone quickly to check the time. It was just before six in the morning.

Three hours isn’t bad… six would’ve been nicer. Frank yawned widely, dropped the phone onto the bed as he got up. Yanking on the first pair of pants he could grab from his duffel, and pocketing the half empty carton of joints, Frank made his way into the hall to check on Gerard.

The hall was darker, the doors leading to Charlotte and Mikey’s rooms were shut still and there were no sounds or smells of anyone cooking. He crept into the hall and down the stairs with little to no sound. The floors were a clean hardwood that would normally warrant squeaky steps if it wasn’t such a new build.

Downstairs, the first creeping colors of the sunrise filtered through the front windows. Ray was still curled into the couch sound asleep. Gerard was nowhere in the living room, Frank felt minor dread set but forced it away. He felt for the joints in his pocket again and hoped maybe he could find Gerard outside taking a smoke break.

Frank contemplated walking out the front door but thought against it with Ray being so close. He opted to go through the garage instead. The door leading to the garage held a tiny room with a couple pairs of shoes lined up against the wall that were clearly here before them. On the wall was an empty coat rack with a picture of Jesus above it, making Frank feel uneasily like he was being watched.

The door that opened to the garage had rubber on the base, causing a scraping sound that made Frank wince. He waited momentarily, listening to see if anyone else heard the scraping but when nothing stirred, he made his way out.

The garage would’ve been pitch black had the door leading outside not been left open. Relief flooded Frank too soon as his assumption of Gerard being outside clouded his senses. He ignored the unusual chill that snaked down his spine at the same time.

A few steps into the garage and the faint smell of nicotine wafted through the air. Frank’s mouth watered slightly, an unconscious need to tangle his tongue with Gerard’s to see if he could taste his old cigarette. Frank rolled his eyes at himself as his pants tightened around him.

Get a grip on yourself…

With a deep sigh, he walked deeper into the garage, making his way around the car to get to the other door.

As he was about to walk straight past the car, fingers tightened suddenly and quickly around his bicep. “Huh—” Frank didn’t have time to react as he was spun around with his back pressed into the hood of the car by a taller, stronger body. Gerard’s mouth eagerly met Frank’s. The kiss was gentle at first, full of need.

Gerard’s hands held Frank’s wrists against the hood behind him, Gerard slightly grinding his already hard cock against the growing strain in the front of Frank’s jeans. Their kiss began to turn into many small, needy kisses. Neither of them could breathe as Gerard pushed his tongue into Frank’s welcoming mouth. Spit gathered quickly as their tongues wrestled, Frank attempted to free his hands from Gerard’s grip, but it was useless. Gerard wouldn’t budge.

Gerard was the one to pull away, forcing Frank to chase for the aftertaste of coffee he suddenly craved. Gerard couldn’t hold back a smirk while Frank’s face heated to a nice pink color.

Still holding Frank’s wrists, Gerard moved to kiss his jaw. Frank felt himself twitch against Gerard’s bulge as Gerard traced his jaw to his ear, nipping his lobe lightly.

“Hold on,” Gerard halted immediately, his mouth still against Frank’s neck. “Thank you…” Frank took a deep breath to recompose himself. “Can I just have some time? I just need…” Frank was silent for a moment; Gerard loosened his hold on Frank’s wrists. Gently, Gerard intertwined his fingers with Frank’s.

Gerard pulled away to look Frank in the eyes, “I get it. You’re stuck in the desert with a bunch of strangers and one of us was just killed.” He shrugged. “It’s not easy to handle. I liked Scarlet, she was cool. I’m sad she’s gone… I’ve just gotten used to having to keep moving on.”

Frank’s body sagged, Gerard’s bluntness made him feel existential, but he was right that moving on was all there was to do. It didn’t feel good, but he was still alive. He kept reminding himself of that.

I’m still here… I’m still here… I’m-

He felt his inner thoughts begin to pick up speed as his anxiety about the situation started to spark again. He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to push his inner voice to the back again. Gerard’s voice breaking through helped.

“Hey…” Frank felt Gerard’s hand cup his cheek, sending a calmness from his face to the knotting sickness in his gut. Their eyes met after a long silence of Frank cherishing the warmth of Gerard. “I’ll be here with you until the end.”

Frank knew, as soon as the words left Gerard’s mouth that he was never going to be able to promise Frank that they’d even make it to the safe house, but Gerard had proven over and over he knew how to survive so Frank decided to push the negative thoughts away again and pretend Gerard could never die. With his cheek still pressed against Gerard’s hand, he leaned into it, attempting to steal some of Gerard’s fearlessness.

They stared at each other for a long time, Gerard’s face had softened and showed more comfort than Frank could muster. When Frank started to feel the uncomfortable growth of romantic gazing, he broke the silence but refused to look away.

“So… I can smell coffee on you still, but the house doesn’t smell like it… Do you just permeate the scent?” Gerard laughed and Frank felt every worry melt away with his sounds of happiness.

“Follow me.” Gerard took his hand back and pulled his body away, beginning to walk towards the open garage door Frank was originally going for. With no hesitation, Frank followed.

The fresh air of the morning mountain town was something Frank had never experienced before. The air was free from the reek of blood and bodies, the light breeze refilling his lungs felt like a cup of ice water after a long walk. The sun was up but didn’t beat down like it did in the flat desert.

Gerard made his way through the yards of the neighboring three houses before he made his way inside of one through the sliding glass door in the back. “How’d you know it was safe in here?” Frank peaked around every corner before following Gerard, who nonchalantly waltzed in and began making himself at home in the kitchen.

This house had a nearly identical design to the house they had camped out in, and the strong smell of coffee was the first scent Frank picked up on when he walked in. A half full drip coffee pot sat on it’s stand beside the sink. Again, nearly identical to the one in the house they were staying in.

Gerard shrugged, “I told you I wander. Mikey’s not the only one who knows how to check the safety of a location.” He pulled down a clean mug from the cabinets behind him, placing it on the counter next to one Frank could only assume was his own. Steam was still visible as he poured the tar-colored liquid into the cup. “There’s creamer and milk in the fridge, not sure what you prefer…” Gerard glanced over at Frank, waiting for a response. Frank missed Gerard’s eyes as he found the fridge with his own. “There’s also sugar and other stuff in the cabinet.”

When Frank looked back at Gerard, his focus was solely on the cup now. “I’ll just take it black, thanks.” A smirk broke Gerard’s mouth before he turned around and handed the cup to Frank.

Frank cherished the warmth between his hands. He wasn’t cold, nor were his hands, but the warmth was another comfort Frank was able to latch onto now that Gerard was so far away. Gerard poured himself another cup while Frank burned his mouth on the first couple of irresistible sips.

“So… How’d ya sleep?” Gerard casually leaned against the counter now, one cup clutching his mug while the other held the counter.

Frank shrugged, “Fine. The bed was fine.” He wanted to ask if sharing a bed was weird to Gerard and if that was why he never made it up, but he held his tongue, instead choosing to burn it on the coffee again to keep it busy.

The silence between them grew to the size of the island that separated them. Frank couldn’t stand it, “How did you—” But Gerard cut him off quickly.

“Oh, I didn’t sleep.” It was Gerard’s turn to shrug this time, deciding to take a sip to avoid explaining himself.

Frank’s brows stitched together, “You know, we probably have a bit more driving to do today, unless you think everyone’s going to be content just sticking around here?” Gerard shrugged again but continued to sip his coffee. “I’m not really wanting to stick around here for very long…”

After a long gulp, Gerard placed his nearly empty mug back onto the counter, “We can talk about how everyone feels once we’re together. Ray, Mikey, and Charlotte have nothing but the clothes off their backs and the weapons they stole from the family. We need to have a group meeting before deciding what we do next.”

“Will you let yourself sleep after that?”

Gerard smirked and shrugged. “We’ll see.” Frank was visibly annoyed but held his tongue this time, deciding to push the topic would just encourage Gerard to avoid sleeping even longer.

Frank finished his coffee in silence while they awkwardly moved their eyes around each other to examine the house they were occupying, Frank getting distracted by the sunrise.

The curtains on the bay windows were wide open, allowing the light to slowly spill throughout the living room and front hall. The double doors from the dining room to the living room were already wide open, emphasizing how clean and bright the living room and dining room were.

Frank hadn’t noticed just how nice these places were while shadowed under the moon. This place had a lot more color than the one they were in; paintings were on all the walls, statues were on pedestals in some corners, there were no plants though which kept that sterile feeling from the white of the walls and furniture.

It wasn’t until Frank placed his mug onto the counter that Gerard cleared his throat, “Was anyone else awake yet?” Frank shook his head. “Hm… We should head back. I scouted a few of these houses while everyone was sleeping, there’s a ton of different clothing types we can all pick from. Plus, there’s still food in most of these places. I’m sure if we got everyone together, we’d be able to get repacked with new things and get back on the road by the end of the day… Maybe tomorrow morning, harder to see the zombies at night.” Frank agreed to go, and they quickly made their way back out, leaving the evidence of their morning where it was.

Gerard all too casually made his way to the house through the yards, not looking around constantly like Frank was. There was a lack of fear in Gerard that was constantly making Frank envious. Frank’s negative feelings fell away once they reached the garage, making their way through it into the house where the loud crunching sounds of a coffee maker filled their ears and a strong scent of burnt coffee nearly choked them.

Gerard and Frank walked into the kitchen to see Charlotte at the table facing away from them, Ray on his elbows against the island, and Mikey also facing away as he put the coffee pot away. Each of them nursing their own steaming cup.

Frank caught Mikey rolling his eyes as they made their appearance in the room. Ray stood up straight at the sight of them, a weak smile broke across his cheeks. “Phew, we were worried you guys got—” But Ray stopped himself mid-sentence, “Er—We were worried about you guys…” He hid behind his mug.

Frank and Gerard approached the island, Charlotte remained facing away while Mikey seemed to be staring the pair down.

“Hopefully not too worried, I was just checking out the neighbor’s places.” Gerard was great at easing the tension in any room. “The next couple houses have clothes and food still left behind. We could probably repack you three,” Gerard’s eyes swept across the room, Ray and Mikey were locked into the conversation, but Charlotte remained facing away with her eyes cast out the window to the backyard in a thousand-mile stare. Her coffee still full to the brim. “Then… we can get back on the road…” Gerard cleared his throat.

“Coffee?” From Mikey was the only response he received. Gerard nodded while making his way around to the pot next to his brother. “You?” He offered to Frank with little emotion. Frank’s stomach twisted in that moment from the last coffee he had. He shook his head and found his own spot on the island to lean on across from Ray.

“What have you guys been up to…?” Frank spoke slowly to the room, but his eyes were fixed on Charlotte. Ray’s eyes flickered towards her; Mikey kept his gaze trained into his cup.

Charlotte could sense the group nearly staring her down, her gaze broke from the window to look down at the cup she hadn’t brought to her mouth yet.

“I want to go back…” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it rang loudly against the bare walls.

Ray and Frank looked at each other. Frank’s mouth opened slightly before being cut off by Charlotte’s voice again. “I… I know she’s gone…” Her face grew red as the stains from the overnight tears began to reappear before new ones began to fall in their place. As she stifled her sobs, she continued, “I just want to say goodbye…” She squeezed her eyes tight as she let her tears keep falling while she choked back her breath.

The guys all exchanged worried glances around the room while Charlotte attempted to put herself back together, but the continuous wiping of her nose and nonstop falling of tears proved she wasn’t ready to accept the loss yet.

“I just… I just wish…” Ray pushed himself off the counter and made his way over to her, sitting beside her to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Charlotte broke then, something Frank hadn’t really seen yet in the apocalypse. She didn’t hold back this time; her tears became never-ending salty streams, snot mixing in as she crumpled against Ray’s chest to let out a few quiet wails of pain.

Frank straightened, Mikey and Gerard continued to sip their coffee quietly while avoiding eye contact. Frank shot a dirty look their way that neither caught, he rolled his eyes and made his way to sit across from Charlotte and Ray. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it again, unsure of what to even say.

No one close to him had died yet, his grandparents were gone before he could really remember them and, for as far as he knew, his family was still safe from the virus and maybe just didn’t trust a random number texting them claiming to be their son. That’s why they hadn’t replied, he convinced himself.

Frank became lost in his own thoughts. Charlotte composed herself, wiping her nose but leaving her cheeks to air dry. Her sobs turned into hiccups; she kept her eyes down as she pulled off from Ray’s chest. His arm remained around her shoulders to keep her close, she appreciated the comfort after a long night alone.

“It just happened so fast…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her eyes looked almost vacant to Frank, as if her soul had died with Scarlet.

“I know what you mean.” Mikey’s usually stern voice had an edge of sadness Frank had never heard before. Frank and Charlotte turned to look at him, Gerard and Ray kept their eyes cast down. “Back when this shit started, Pete was one of the first to go.” A long drag of silence occurred while Charlotte and Frank waited for him to continue. “I loved him…”

Gerard silently gave Mikey space; he downed the rest of his coffee, setting it on the counter made no sound, his sneakered feet didn’t even squeak when he began the journey across tile floors as he found a seat at the table beside Frank.

“Pete and I were together for… a long time.” Mikey’s eyes strayed from the group to peer out the window over the sink beside him. Tall, brown mountains spanned high around them. It was nearly suffocating. Mikey didn’t let that close his throat, instead he swallowed the lump that was attempting to form. “He was my best friend; we grew up together. He was always there when I needed someone. We had a lot of firsts together, I guess.” He paused reluctantly.

Frank saw Mikey roll his eyes at himself before squeezing them shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. Will we see the mighty Mikey finally crack? Frank thought to himself, almost immediately feeling bad for his own sudden lack of empathy. He shook his own feelings and refocused on the vulnerable man, standing alone on the opposite side of the room.

“When I lost him, the only thing that got me to keep going was Gerard.” Gerard perked up at this, but Mikey returned to gazing at the mountain range.

“Well, that and the zombies.” Gerard added quietly.

Mikey shot a look that could’ve sliced his throat, making Gerard zip his lips and toss the invisible key over his shoulder. “We had to leave, obviously. Our city was the one that had the outbreak initially, local news stations were reporting hundreds of infections every couple of minutes before they were finally shut down. That was only a few hours after I lost Pete…”

A deep sigh escaped Mikey’s mouth, he was releasing so much he’d just been shoving down before, he was afraid to admit it made him feel better. “I was on the phone with him when… when…” Mikey choked at this point. There was a deeply rooted sadness in his eyes that Frank could spot even from the other room. Mikey cleared his throat quickly, “he was attacked. Our final words to each other were I love you but, honestly… I’m not sure he heard my reply…”

Charlotte had started crying again at some point during Mikey’s story, Frank hadn’t noticed until she sobbed quietly next to him at Mikey’s words. Frank saw tears staining Ray’s face as well, Gerard hadn’t cried but his head hung low as his face nearly looked haunted.

“He’s gone, so I guess… I guess it doesn’t really matter if he heard me or not because at least he knew I was with him until the end.” Mikey broke away from the window to look at Charlotte in her big, wet eyes. “Scarlet knew you were with her until the end, even if she didn’t hear you say goodbye, she knew how much you loved her.” Charlotte broke; her sobs gripped Frank’s heart in a painful fist. Ray released her as she pushed up and made her way to Mikey, embracing him immediately. Mikey held his hands up momentarily before bending slightly and hugging her back.

The two of them next to each other would’ve looked goofy had they not both been crying into each other’s clothes. Mikey had easily a foot on her so hugging her looked like an adult attempting to hug a toddler wrapped around his knees, truthfully Charlotte at least went up to his chest. The boys at the table remained quiet as the two stayed that way, everyone was welcoming to the differing grieving processes and Charlotte’s had a lot to do with human connection.

Mikey’s silent tears had stopped much sooner than Charlotte’s wet sobs, but he held onto her until she calmed down and pushed him away herself. A sad smile spread across her face as she thanked him, Mikey said nothing, but he returned her sad smile and nodded.

“So,” Gerard was the one to speak up next, Ray had composed himself shortly after Charlotte left his side. “It sounds to me like I need to help you guys keep moving, so why don’t we take a little swing into the neighbors houses and distract ourselves with some looting?” Gerard was able to plaster his usual tiny teethed, crooked smile across his cheeks that helped ease the tensions in the room.

Somehow, Charlotte actually laughed at this. Frank wondered if it was the delirium and adrenaline from the last 24 hours on top of hearing about Mikey’s ex that caused her to laugh because it infected him as well.

“You have a great way with words, man.” Mikey said sarcastically, a smile still playing on his lips. “Is that what you were doing all morning? I heard you leave after everyone went upstairs but you never came back.”

Gerard shrugged, “Yeah, I needed some fresh air and then the house next door looked ripe with pickings.” Gerard rubbed his hands together deviously. “The next four houses actually are all empty save for some necessities we might need for the rest of our journey north.”

“I think I’d really love a shower and new clothes.” Charlotte sniffled out happily.

“Is there a certain house with everything we might need or…?” Ray interjected.

Gerard shook his head, “No, unfortunately each house only has some stuff. The place right next door had a good selection of “girl’s clothes”,” Gerard air quoted with his fingers. “three daughters and a mom so you’ll have a good selection for styles. The house next to that was just a young boy and his dad, not much there although…”

Gerard pulled his chair further away from Frank before dramatically observing him from head to toe, “Hmmm…. Yeah, actually you might be able to fit in the boys clothes, he was probably, like… ten years old?” Frank whacked Gerard in the arm, sending him into a fit of giggles while Frank pretended to be pissed.

“I’m not even that much shorter than you…” Frank’s mumbling went ignored.

“The next two houses after that were similar to this place, I didn’t take a super close look at all the clothes, but we can scout again.” Gerard shrugged, “Might help us take our minds off everything too.”

It took nearly the entire day to get everyone their own bags full of new clothes, food, and even hygiene products. No one wanted to be left alone while packing, so they all remained together in the same house. It was easy to stay busy when each house had it’s own set of books, hide-a ways, and lives inside of them.

Around lunch, they had just searched the second house and found nothing that great. Frank found a box of expired condoms in the dad’s bedroom but left them, remembering the non-expired ones in his own duffel. What good those have been. Frank chuckled at himself before feeling himself grow hard at the memory of Gerard taking him last.

Eating lunch while trying to push away and hide an erection was more difficult than Frank anticipated, especially in dirty, tight jeans. They had all settled on having basic ham and cheese sandwiches to keep their energy up. Even while everyone laughed and talked together over the table, Frank found himself getting lost watching Gerard. This did not help his erection situation.

By the time they reached the final house, the sun was setting, and the sky had turned a bright orange. Everyone was exhausted and ready to bring their bags back to, what they dubbed, their main house so they’d all hopefully have the time to wash and change before sitting down for dinner.

The walk back was when everyone felt the heaviness of the day finally collapsing. Everyone slugged along the sidewalk to their place; they were either nearly dragging their bags or being folded in half by the weight. The bags didn’t make it past the front door threshold before being abandoned.

Charlotte offered to make dinner while everyone showered, so she showered first, Ray took the guest shower as he was keen on helping her cook tonight. Mikey, Gerard and Frank sat together in a comfortable silence as they waited their turns under the forgiving streams of water.

Mikey practically jumped over the couch when he saw Ray enter the room wearing all black, his usually curly hair was soaked down flat, he walked down squishing the ends into a towel. “You guys are going to love the showers here. I don’t know how the master is but if the guest rooms was that nice? Hoooooly shit.” Ray chuckled as he took up Mikey’s spot on the couch.

Mikey was gone and in the shower before Charlotte finally came down in a nice light pink tank top paired with black shorts, “I’m only wearing this for bed so if we get attacked in the middle of the night, someone will have to cover me until I can change.” Her face looked more alive now as she let out a laugh. “Are you ready to start cookin’?” She added enthusiastically to Ray.

Ray stood up straight and, mockingly, copied a soldier’s salute, “Aye, aye, captain!” They made their way to the kitchen while Frank pushed himself up the stairs and into the master where he had slept before.

The bathroom smelled lightly of strawberry soap, Frank didn’t mind and was thankful of Charlotte for leaving the fan on and opening the tiny window in there. The heat from her shower hadn’t fully dissipated yet but that didn’t stop Frank from starting up the hot water again, thankful again that they even had any to begin with.

The room steamed up again quickly, even with the door ajar, fan on, and window open. He pushed open the curtain and took a deep breathe, just as he was going to step in, he heard the door behind him shut.

Gerard was on him before he could even turn to look, fully clothed his scratchy fabric rubbed roughly against Frank’s bare ass. One of Gerard’s hands was slithering it’s way up Frank’s chest to his neck while the other was already tangling itself within his pubic hair. Frank was embarrassingly hard before Gerard even touched him, but that turned painful now as Gerard teased, “Care if I join you..?”

Chapter 17

Frank had expected Gerard’s hand to squeeze around his throat, instead he cupped Frank’s chin and tipped his head back, so he was against Gerard’s shoulder while his free hand gently teased up and down Frank’s length. Gerard’s mouth was against Frank’s ear, Frank could feel that stupid grin against his skin, a bead of precum formed quickly.

Gerard’s thumb rubbed Frank’s jawline with care, his other hand finally taking Frank completely from the base; his touch was strong but gentle. Gerard didn’t hesitate to start kissing Frank’s ear, moving quickly down to his neck and shoulder where he left his mouth the longest.

Gerard’s kisses made Frank feel recharged, each touch from Gerard felt like it was healing him from the outside in.

Gerard nipped Frank’s shoulder quickly, making Frank jump and forcing a moan from his throat that only made Gerard’s smile grow.

“Won’t the others realize what’s going on...?” Frank embarrassingly huffed out as Gerard started to slowly stroke up his cock to his head. Another kiss was planted where his neck and shoulder met. Gerard thumbed the precum before it could drip off and used it as lubricant as he made his slow descent back to Frank’s pelvis.

“Who cares?” Was all Gerard could mutter before twisting Frank’s head to the side and pulling him into a not-so-gentle kiss. Gerard’s tongue immediately invaded Frank’s mouth, and Frank welcomed him without hesitation.

The hot water from the shower lightly splashed at Frank’s nakedness while Gerard slowly pumped up and down, Frank felt helpless as a shiver ran down his spin. More precum beaded that Gerard swiped up quickly while wrapping his fingers up and around Frank’s head, dragging it all the way down to his base and squeezing.

Gerard’s hand stopped pumping, but Frank couldn’t pull himself away from Gerard. His brain was malfunctioning from Gerard’s aggressive tongue, so when Gerard finally did pull away, Frank couldn’t stop himself from drooling.

Frank’s face was flushed red with half open eyes barely able to focus. Even with the window in the bathroom open, the room was full of steam. All he could focus on was Gerard’s devious smirk as he looked down at Frank.

“Are you going to get in…?” Gerard’s voice was barely audible over the shower head, Frank nodded slowly, neither of them breaking eye contact. Gerard pumped Frank once, twice, three times up and around his head and back to the base before squeezing one more time and letting go of his dick and his face.

A deep sigh fell from Frank’s mouth as his body sagged back into Gerard, whose smirk didn’t falter. They stared at each other only momentarily before Frank broke the gaze and pushed off Gerard. As he stepped in and drenched himself in the comforting warmth, Gerard undressed quickly to hop in behind him.

The shower wasn’t very tall, which was fine for Frank, but Gerard was only able to get wet from the knees down unless they switched spots. Gerard was content watching Frank enjoy the heat that provided his body with some reprieve, especially since Frank’s erection was refusing to relax.

Frank shut his eyes as he dunked his head under the water while Gerard greedily stared from behind, his own erection growing. When Frank pulled his head out, he slicked his hair back to get it out of his face. Wiping his face down, Frank twisted around to face Gerard and opened his mouth to suggest switching spots, but the words were caught in his throat as he saw Gerard leaning back against the cold tile wall, casually stroking himself.

Frank did his best to not stare at the rhythmic motion of Gerard’s hand, instead he focused on Gerard’s face and pretended his cock wasn’t twitching from jealousy of Gerard’s hand being occupied. Gerard’s smirk barely hid the pleasure of knowing he was torturing Frank.

Instead of attempting to find words, Frank just stepped out of the water and motioned for Gerard to take his spot. Gerard didn’t hesitate to unhand himself and push off the wall, somehow sauntering the three steps it took to become engulfed in the stream.

Gerard shoved his head under the water the same way Frank had, silently soaking the world around them away. Frank felt the cold immediately, thankfully the bottles of soap were bundled up in the back corner of the tub making it easy for Frank too busy himself.

Frank savored the cleanliness that accompanied his hard fingers scrubbing the dried blood from his scalp. Before long, his head was covered in suds as his eyes closed involuntarily. He allowed himself to zone out to the sound of the mock rain, leaning casually against the cold tile wall. It felt nice against his growing hot skin. Even out of the water, the cold only hurt momentarily. It wasn’t even cold enough to kill his boner that still hurt from being teased.

Suddenly, a short and small rain splattered across Frank’s face and chest, making him jump back to where he was. Gerard whipped his head back as he pulled himself from the water, in turn wetting Frank down.

“That smells nice.” Gerard commented without turning around, Frank hadn’t noticed the piney scent until Gerard mentioned it. Gerard inhaled deeply, holding it for a moment. Frank’s scrubbing slowed to a stop as he watched Gerard, his eyes struggling to stay up as he noticed Gerard’s cock also refused to deflate. On Gerard’s exhale he stepped out of the way, gesturing for the switch. Frank obliged, embarrassment creeping up his neck to his cheeks as Gerard caught him ogling.

Frank couldn’t remember the last time he showered with anyone. It wasn’t something he ever found appealing, yet with Gerard, he found himself almost enjoying being watched during a vulnerable situation.

Frank rinsed the soap from his hair, falling into the calming darkness behind his lids. Water drowning all sounds, clearing his over processed brain. Only a couple minutes passed before he felt an arm wrap around his chest while another wrapped around his waist. Gerard pulled Frank slightly from the water holding their bodies together, he was obviously slick with soap against Franks back.

While Frank craned his neck back to push his wet mop of hair out of his eyes, Gerard’s mouth found the crook between his throat and shoulder. Frank let himself relax and rest his head on Gerard’s shoulder while Gerard began gently washing Frank’s chest with a shower cloth in slow circles. The clean smell of sage filling the shower air.

It had the rough feeling of newness that Frank reveled in. The satisfaction of scrubbing off the day’s excursion seemed to never get old, even with his last shower being barely two days before where he was arguably more disgusting.

He pushed his thoughts away, doing his best to keep the flashing images of Scarlet off his mind. Gerard’s hands helped. As the one on his chest moved up and around each shoulder and down each arm in a routine sequence. Frank couldn’t help but close his eyes from the pleasure.

Gerard moved the washcloth lower, scrubbing Frank’s stomach, hiding his tattoos in a layer of white suds. Gerard’s mouth was moving up his neck to kiss his ear and chin slowly with each circular motion of his hand. Once his stomach was done, Gerard wrapped around each hip but refused to move around to Frank’s back yet.

Gerard slowed the closer he got to Frank’s aching hard on, which twitched occasionally the closer his fingers got. Gerard moved his free hand up as his clothed hand ensured Frank’s pubic hair was clean.

Gerard pushed the suds away as his hand snaked up to hold Frank’s chest just below his neck. Frank didn’t mind rougher sex, especially when someone like Gerard wasn’t afraid to take the lead. But he would never turn down a sensual session with lots of… love…?

Was that truly what he was feeling towards Gerard? Love? His heart started to swell. That word was basically foreign to Frank. His parents were always weirdly distant towards him, and his brother and him had stopped being friends sometime after high school. Frank chalked it up to them going separate ways with work and life in general, but he knew it was their political beliefs that it truly stemmed from. He just didn’t want to admit that. He never really dated in school either, being the weird emo kid, most people ignored him if they weren’t bullying him.

After graduation, there was mostly drunken fucking, nothing with anyone notable or worth a second night with.

Frank mentally slapped himself, get back here… They don’t deserve to ruin something as good as this…

Frank came back to himself and Gerard’s rough touch. He could tell his erection had softened only slightly as his mind went elsewhere, thankfully, Gerard didn’t seem to notice. The lack of halting in Gerard kept Frank hard.

Frank’s breath hitched as Gerard nipped his ear lobe with a smile. Frank couldn’t help but smile either as he felt that swell in his chest again while knots tied themselves in his stomach. Gerard’s hand suddenly moved from his pelvis down to grip Frank at the base of his shaft with the washcloth, eliciting a heavy moan from Frank that accompanied a deep sigh of relief to finally being touched. His dick twitched again as precum eased its way from the tip.

Gerard’s cold, wet body was shocking to Frank’s back as he held him closer. His warm breath was contrasting to the rest of him; it sent a shiver down Frank’s spine. “Are you okay with this…?” Gerard pumped Frank once all the way to the head, wrapping around it and coming back to his base. Gerard squeezed slightly before pausing his movements again.

Frank couldn’t spit the words out; another sigh escaped his mouth as he nodded enthusiastically. Gerard couldn’t help but chuckle at Frank, a sound Frank wanted to hear from him more often.

“If I do anything you don’t like, or if I make you uncomfortable, double tap my leg with your first two fingers.” Gerard held up the two fingers together from his free hand and tapped Frank’s arm twice to demonstrate. “Is that okay?”

Frank nodded, but as Gerard wrapped that hand around Frank’s neck, Frank grabbed his arm before he could squeeze. “I want to feel your hand.” Gerard smirked at this, releasing Frank’s throat to switch the washcloth into his other hand. But he didn’t continue to wash Frank, instead he hung it onto a hook that was suction cupped to the shower wall.

“I would rather feel you, too.” Gerard’s smirk remained, and Frank could hear it through his voice. “I was just making sure you were clean.” They laughed together, and for a few moments Frank was able to forget about the blood and murder that had changed his life the last few days. Gerard took Frank by the chin and twisted his face towards him so they could devour each other again while Gerard pumped Frank painfully slow.

Frank slipped his tongue into Gerard’s mouth first, doing his best to not thrust into his hand like he desperately wanted to. Gerard tasted like fresh mint, making Frank self-conscious about how his own breath smelled.

When the fuck did he have time to brush his teeth..?

Gerard hungerly attacked Frank’s tongue with his own, they lashed at each other while Frank brought his hand up to cradle Gerard’s face. Gerard pumped him a few times before stopped at the head. He squeezed slightly before beginning the slow repetitive motions of going up and around his head.

Frank couldn’t stop his breath from hitching. At the same moment, Gerard bit down on Frank’s tongue. “Ow!” Frank retracted and pulled away a little. The two locked eyes, Gerard stupidly grinning down at him with a face that matched Frank’s in redness.

“Too much?” Frank almost wanted to hit the smile away. Almost.

“You just… surprised me.” Frank didn’t love the bite, it was weird and didn’t do much to turn him on, but he didn’t hate it either. And if it was something Gerard liked he wasn’t one to kink shame.

“Just don’t forget the two fingers when I’m fucking you, then…” Gerard’s voice had gotten lower, distracting Frank from noticing the hand that was once holding his chin was now missing. Gerard reconnected their lips for a few more sloppy kisses before tearing himself away. Frank chasing his mouth, making Gerard do that chuckle again that twists his insides.

Frank groaned as his erection became painful. Gerard stopped pumping his head and moved back down to the base of his shaft to hold his dick again. Without warning, Gerard’s missing hand was found again when Frank felt a finger begin rubbing lightly around his hole.

Frank’s knees felt weak and there was a pain in his lower abdomen from the need for release he was being denied. Gerard’s hand was slippery with water when he pushed his fingertip in. The water wasn’t enough to lubricate so he was met with a little resistance that Frank enjoyed.

A soft “fuuuuuuuck…” came from Frank as Gerard pushed a little bit more in, then out before pushing an entire finger up. His other hand began to pump Frank again simultaneously. Frank’s body shuddered with the sudden extreme sensations.

Gerard could tell that Frank was close, he was bad at hiding it. Frank’s breathing quickened and his dick pulsed more. Just when he was about to finish, Gerard stopped at the base of his shaft again and pulled away. His finger popped out and Frank nearly collapsed from the pain built up behind his imminent orgasm.

Gerard, satisfied with how much he’d edged Frank, bent him over into the shower water. Unfortunately, Frank’s head was in the free air on the opposite side of the water, which Gerard let him stay in as he got lined up with Frank’s entrance.

“I don’t think the water will be enough lubricant to get you inside of me.” Frank attempted to stand up straight, but Gerard’s callused hands held him at a near ninety-degree angle. He settled for watching Gerard over his shoulder. If he hadn’t felt small before, he certainly did now.

“Don’t worry about me, babe, we’re in the shower for a reason.” Frank watched Gerard reach outside of the curtain and come back with a clear bottle Frank could only assume was actual lube.

His assumption was confirmed when Gerard nearly poured the bottle down his entire length, using his head to cover Frank’s asshole with the shockingly cool liquid. Gerard made the bottle disappear again and Frank redirected his attention to the shower floor. Streams of thick, clear liquid occasionally snaked down the drain from between their feet, the shower was so clean he felt like they were desecrating it.

Without warning, the bloody bathroom from the last hotel flashed before his eyes. Suddenly, the two of them were standing over the zombie’s cool, pale body with a full tub of dark red water. The woman below them was staring up at Frank, he felt dangerously close to her being at the angle Gerard had him at. There were thick, stringy chunks occasionally touching their ankles that Frank chalked up to be grey matter. Panic mixed with the intense emotional build up he already had; he hardly noticed it before it was too late.

The hyperventilating came first, but Gerard couldn’t hear him over the sound of the running water. Frank felt frozen in place as his chest heaved quickly, but with one slow thrust, Gerard entered Frank carefully. Frank’s hands shot out the push back against Gerard and steady himself. Squeezing his eyes shut in ecstasy as Gerard slowly went all the way in, pulling out just a little bit before pushing all the way in again. Gerard sighed deeply, holding Frank by the hips.

When Frank opened his eyes again, they were back in the master bathroom shower, pristine like it had never been touched before by anyone. Thankful that Gerard can bring him back, even if it was mostly due to his dick. Frank’s encroaching panic attack burst away as the edging from Gerard barely held back an orgasm.

Gerard moved in and out of Frank in short, quick motions; doing his best not to hit anything that would set Frank over the edge. Gerard preferred a sensual start with a rough ending and Frank was learning that might be his favorite too. He was sick of the apocalypse and needed the memories to be fucked away for a bit.

Gerard pulled almost all the way out, and just as Frank was turning around to meet Gerard’s gaze, Gerard hooked a couple of his fingers into Frank’s mouth, like a fish caught on a lure, and yanked him up so the bottom half of his face was under the warm stream. Frank choked momentarily as water filled his mouth and throat, Gerard thrust himself harshly back in, slamming against Frank’s prostate; sending water shooting out of mouth and nose, his eyes red and bulging as he begged Gerard with them. Frank wasn’t sure if he was begging Gerard to stop or keep going.

But the smirk Gerard responded with gave Frank the answer Gerard preferred, and with his other hand, Gerard took Frank’s leaking cock in his hand and squeezed before beginning to pump in rhythm with his own thrusting. Frank choked again on the water before closing his throat and aiming his face down a little, so the water was only entering his mouth. It didn’t make it much easier to breathe but it definitely preventing anymore choking. His eyes struggled to stay open fully due to the water splashing into them.

The position was awkward, not just because of the near waterboarding, but Gerard was a bit taller than Frank and sort of had to bend his knees in order to get into him at a good angle. It was easier when Frank was bent in half, but where was the fun in that?

With Gerard in full control, Frank was being denied his orgasm again with more edging. Gerard would only occasionally let himself go all the way in, and when he did, he knew Frank was enjoying it from the strong pulse his dick gave off. Frank wasn’t sure where the extra lube Gerard used on him ended and where his own precum started. Everything felt wet and slippery, Frank got lost in it quickly.

With his throat closed, the water mostly piled up in his mouth before spilling over with copious amounts of drool. If Frank could feel anything more than pure euphoria from how Gerard knew how to perfectly manipulate their bodies together, it would be embarrassment.

Sex before Gerard had always been a “lets get off and go” type situation. There was hardly much foreplay, and it was always vanilla missionary or doggy style, the easiest positions for him to get off from. There was certainly no edging or… torture play? Is that what Gerard was doing now? It didn’t feel like torture… well, it did, but not in a bad way. Frank always had a fascination with the hardcore category; he just never found someone else interested enough to try it with him.

Gerard stretched Frank’s mouth open wider, pulling him so his back was arched at an uncomfortable angle. His thrusting became animalistic, and he nearly forgot he was pumping Frank as well because his hand had stopped moving as he got closer to his own release.

Frank attempted to beg Gerard not to stop but with half his mouth being held open and full of drizzling water, his words came out more like desperate gurgling sounds. Frank stared at Gerard’s twisted up face with his still bulging eyes; he couldn’t tell if they were wet from the shower or from the tears of needing to finish after so much edging.

Gerard opened his eyes at Franks sounds, slowing his pace again and making Frank’s eyes roll back as his orgasm was stopped again. Somehow, Gerard knew exactly what Frank needed though because as soon as they locked eyes again (Frank, definitely crying from the mix of pleasure and pain) he sped up his thrusts, ensuring each one hit Frank with an overwhelming bump. With each hit, he gripped around Frank’s head and wrapped his fingers up and around it until they came almost together.

Frank felt as his insides became coated and filled with each pump out of Gerard, his entire body was hot and he was sure most of the wetness on him was from sweat and not the shower. When Frank finally finished, he mostly shot the wall. Long strings of cum painted up and out like fireworks, so high up that only someone cleaning the shower would be able to get it down the drain. On the last few pumps out, he mostly oozed between Gerard’s teasing fingers.

That alone was enough for Frank’s post-nut clarity to immediately jump back to embarrassment, especially since Gerard was still holding his mouth and huffing behind him. Thankfully, he pulled Frank’s head from the water so he was able to breathe again. That didn’t stop the drool from continuing to leak out though, which also wasn’t helping Frank’s growing embarrassment.

Gerard pulled his fingers from Frank’s mouth, the stretching pain was there for a couple minutes while his mouth went back to normal. Without warning, Gerard pulled out but kept his hand on Frank’s limp dick. Everything in the next few minutes happened so quickly, Frank hadn’t even come out of the haze from his orgasm really until it was over.

Gerard started back on Frank’s dick with the washcloth from before, having added more soap so suds him up with. He went over some of the same areas again before moving to wash Franks back, butt and legs. Getting onto his own knees to wash his calves and feet. Frank watched him with half lidded eyes while leaning against the wall for stability.

The sage smelled more comforting this time, full engulfing the room again when Gerard stood, got more soap and began washing himself. Frank watched him lustfully, knowing he couldn’t go for another round but wishing he could.

Gerard was attempting to not meet Frank’s eyes again, knowing they lingered over his entire body. He wanted Frank to look. He enjoyed how quickly they’d grown together, especially since Frank never protested what Gerard wanted.

It took the chill of the bathroom after the shower was shut off to bring Frank back out of his haze. The window and mirror were completely steamed over, when Frank dried himself off, he watched the clouds of steam that filtered under the door and out the window.

The two of them dressed quickly in the bedroom instead, finding their skin was not drying with all the steam around. Gerard would occasionally catch Frank watching him, so Gerard would occasionally poke at Frank’s stomach or underarms to annoy him.

When they reentered the kitchen, the stove had just gone off and Charlotte was pulling out dinner. No one mentioned how long they were gone, or what they were doing, to Frank’s relief. Deep down, he knew they all knew, but it was better left unmentioned.

And when they ate, everyone was animate and lively, not pretending everything was suddenly okay, but accepting they had to keep going if any of them expected to live.

 

Chapter 18

Notes:

happy birthday ray toro!

Gerard wouldn’t let them leave the next morning until he drank a minimum of what felt like a gallon of coffee to Frank. While everyone else had their single cup, Gerard refilled his three or four times while he came in and out of the house to smoke a cigarette. Ray packed everyone’s bags into the trunk while they each silently dreaded who was going to smash together in the tight back seat.

Gerard had elected himself the official driver of the apocalypse by hiding the car keys in his pocket. Frank assumed his back seat position as he was small enough to take the middle without feeling suffocated, although he secretly hoped Gerard would ask him to sit up next to him.

Over breakfast, they discussed heading to Denver, Ray and Frank were tapping away at their phones to find out whatever they could about the next state.

Most news sources were still acting as though entire cities weren’t currently completely abandoned or overrun by zombies. Ray was able to find a new forum about the safe-house out in Wisconsin, but the virus still hadn’t hit them. The lack of zombies in half of the country was creating intense strife in all online communities; half of those communities were furious at the ignorance of what could easily lead to mass extinction, while the other half were angry at the accusations of ignorance while completely dismissing the virus even being real.

Ray also set himself to the task of seeing if any local channels on the TV were still airing from their current spot to Denver, and only Denver was still airing it’s scheduled programs. Frank, knowing they were stopping in Denver to refill their lacking share of marijuana, decided to check out the locations of all the dispensaries in Colorado that they could stop at.

“Holy shit!” Frank exclaimed, clicking through the seemingly hundreds of red pins on his map. “Did you guys know Colorado has a dispensary on every street corner?”

Mikey and Ray laughed together, “You don’t get out much, do you, kid?” Ray slapped Frank’s shoulder endearingly.

“Well, Jersey’s legal, first of all.” Frank sassed. “We have like… less than thirty dispensaries for the entire state, Colorado has a hundred in each city.”

“Do you know about the bars in Wisconsin?” Gerard interrupted as he walked through the garage into the house.

Everyone turned to look at him making his way to lean against the island, crossing his arms over his chest. Charlotte was the one to speak up, “Bars in Wisconsin? Where we’re heading?”

Gerard nodded with a small, pleasant smile. “I was checking out the town the safe house is in, I’ve been to a lot of places but not many of the random Midwestern states so I wanted to see where else we could check when we get there and there’s probably four bars to a block, on every block, in every town.” It was a gross over-exaggeration, Frank knew, but his jaw still dropped a little.

“Are you serious?” Frank asked.

“I went there for my third twenty first birthday, I can attest to the hundreds of bars. There are usually four or five to a block or neighborhood.” Mikey responded.

“Your third twenty first birthday?” Charlotte and Frank said at the same time, a smile cracked Mikey’s lips.

“When I turned twenty-one, Pete, some of our friends, and I took a cross-country trip to the countries most famous bars. Each state had two or three, but Wisconsin had eight. And, at the time, one of our friends who came on the trip with us had started a lucrative business in fake IDs, so he came with to help supply me with new fakes.”

“Why would you need fakes? You were already twenty-one?” Frank asked.

“Oh, I was twenty-one, but not on the days we went to the bars, obviously, since we were traveling. He whipped up some half-assed fakes the morning of each destination spot so I could tell them it was my birthday and get the drinks for the night free for everyone.”

Frank wasn’t impressed, but Mikey wasn’t trying to impress him. “That seems like a waste…”

Mikey shrugged, “It didn’t feel like a waste at the time.” He held his smirk, one Frank was able to recognize in a dark room. His dick twitched before he pinched himself, that’s his brother… he attempted to remind himself while averting his eyes.

“I remember when you did that…” Gerard reminisced, chuckling while his gaze seeming to glaze over as he looked off into the distance.

“Where were you?” Frank asked. “Mikey said he went with Pete and some friends?”

“Oh, I was in college.” This time, Frank’s mouth actually dropped open, but Gerard just casually shrugged. “I came home to celebrate for his birthday, but I went back that Monday for class.”

“What’d you go to school for?” Frank asked with hardly a beat of hesitation after Gerard stopped talking.

“Art.”

“You can do art?”

“Did you not have hobbies before the apocalypse?” His smirk told them he was joking, but Gerard’s question came out with a bite.

It made Frank blush and turn away, face hot as he went back to playing tapping around his phone screen, “I didn’t go to school for my hobbies.” Frank mumbled out.

“You got some shit to say about following your dreams, Frank?” Mikey spoke with venom; his defensiveness was not unseen by Gerard. Gerard held out a hand to him, Mikey rolled his eyes. “Anyways, yeah there’s multiple bars on each street.” Mikey continued. “Colorado is the home of potheads; Wisconsin is the home of alcoholics.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the virus doesn’t infect the dead in Wisconsin simply because of their blood-alcohol levels.” Gerard laughed alone before coughing it away awkwardly. “We probably shouldn’t stop much between here and Denver. It’ll be safer for us, especially if those cultish freaks try to find us.”

“D-Do you really think they’re still after us...?” Charlotte’s voice was quiet, but the fear was unmistakable. Frank and Ray exchanged a look of grief for their friend.

Gerard had no words of encouragement; he only shrugged. Resentment built inside of Frank from his response, usually Gerard was the one to help us push together and keep going, how did he have nothing to say even if he had to lie just to make Charlotte feel better?

Frank offered his hand to Charlotte across the table, she took it.

“I have a feeling we were the first people to ever get away from them,” Frank started while Gerard stared, arms crossed again. “I bet they’re afraid we’re going to go to them and finish them off!” Frank realized as soon as it came out of his mouth how ridiculous that sounded.

They’re afraid of us?? Come on, Frank, you sound so fucking stupid…

But, even if Charlotte agreed that Frank’s idea was dumb, she didn’t make it known. Instead, her sad eyes began to tear up again, but a smile tugged at her lips.

“Do you think we’ll find others when we get there?” Charlotte redirected her attention to Gerard again with a new determination in her look that infected Gerard as soon as he saw it.

Gerard shrugged again, “Only one way to find out.”

 

 

Mikey took shotgun. Charlotte squeezed between Frank and Ray in the back. Frank sat like a moody teenager with his forehead against the glass watching as they zoomed through the desert. Mounds of melted bodies were beginning to show up again the closer they got to Colorado.

It took an hour and a half of driving before they finally got out of Utah, the state border created a very obvious line of division between the two states. Where Utah’s streets were nearly clear of cars and zombies, Colorado’s side of the highway was so cluttered with smashed vehicles they had to slow down and off the road occasionally to avoid collisions.

The zombie count stayed low for the first twenty minutes into Colorado until they reached the first city, a vandalized exit sign told Frank they were next to ‘Ita’ and ‘Apton’.

Gerard slowed the car down before the exit, “How’s everyone feeling?” He twisted around in the seat to see Frank still moody, Charlotte alert and sitting straight up looking around, and Ray relaxed with one arm up on the headrest behind Charlotte.

“We’ve got four-ish hours before we hit Denver.” Mikey monotonously informed the car. “The next city is about an hour away.”

The three of them were silent, Charlotte seemed distracted by something in front of them while Frank remained against the window. It was Ray who finally shrugged and said, “We haven’t been on the road that long.”

Gerard and Mikey looked at each other with annoyance before turning back towards the road and accelerating away.

As they drove past the expanding city, the desert turned from heavy brown dirt to high mountains and lush greenery. They drove through the outskirts of what google told Frank was Palisade (the vandalized sign said PaRis with an awkward capital R in the center and the rest of the name blacked out).

Frank had never been to Paris, but this town was quite small, and obviously poor compared to where they had just came from. The houses were tiny and shack-like, there were hardly any sidewalks to venture on, and zombies were everywhere.

Everyone in the car was tense as they slowly drove through, attempting not to gain the attention of the undead. Hoards of them were huddled within stores and gas stations while only handfuls of them wondered around outside.

The street through town was divided, which helped a little bit when it came to crashed cars. Instead of massive pile ups, they were in small bunches that seemed to help barricade them from the zombies.

Everyone had their windows down, except Frank, to keep an ear on how loud they were being. Thankfully, the tiny car Gerard nabbed was quiet compared to the gas guzzler Frank stole.

Concrete barriers eventually popped up to separate the divided highway and they were out of the town. Frank hadn’t noticed they were driving alongside the Colorado river, Charlotte was twisted around in her seat and had her eyes locked on the handful of zombies that straggled after them. When pointed out, Gerard brushed them off for not being fast enough to chase them.

And he was right. The zombies eventually gave up their pursuit and stumbled around each other as Gerard sped up on the clearing road. They followed the Colorado River for the next hour until they hit the next town, Gypsum. Their welcome sign, untouched.

Without questioning anyone, Gerard pulled off into Gypsum and came to a slow stop in front of a gas station. While everyone stared to the left at the location, Charlotte was fixed behind them still, as if she was searching for someone.

“So, who wants to go inside?” Frank could see Gerard’s stupid grin from behind, how is he so excited? The memories of their last encounter at a gas station made their way back into Frank’s memory, a shameful erection starting to form at the thought of Gerard protecting him again. He pinched himself hard in the leg to kill it.

Frank gave Gerard an “are-you-serious” look, Ray’s face paled while still staring at the dark windows that didn’t give them a hint of how the inside looked, and Charlotte was stuck on the road behind them.

Mikey rolled his eyes and sighed loudly before pushing himself out of the car, “Thanks, bro!” Gerard shouted after him, dramatically wiping the back of his hand across his forehead. Mikey made his way around the car to pull his baseball bat from the trunk before making his way to the store.

There were two cars sitting at pumps, abandoned. Gerard pulled around to sit across from one before getting out and tapping around the pumps screen. Frank watched as Mikey pulled the door to the store open to look around before making his way slowly inside.

With a clearing of his throat, Ray popped out of the back seat and stretched. Frank pushed his way out to do the same. Charlotte remained inside the car, picking at the cuticles around her nails.

“I can fill up once Mike approves the pump inside.” Gerard told them without turning around, he instead moved around the pump to the car on the other side. Frank followed.

“What’re you—” But he was cut off by the loud sound of glass shattering. Ray bolted around the car as Frank moved between the pumps to see Gerard smiling gleefully next to the car’s broken window. “What are you doing?!” Frank hissed, feeling foolish for trying to be quiet.

Gerard’s shrug pissed Frank off, his total lack of self-preservation was sending Frank’s already high anxiety higher. His stomach had twisted at the first sound of glass shattering; the anxiety mixed with tension made Frank feel like he needed to throw up.

“Do you have the siphoning kit still?” Ray’s voice cut through Frank’s anger as he joined them at the other car.

Gerard nodded, reaching into the car to unlock it. “Yeah, if you go into my bag, it’s in the large pocket on the side.” Ray left for their trunk. Frank’s gaze went back and forth between the two of them.

Ray rummaged through the trunk to get into Gerard’s bag. Gerard searched the car for anything; he tossed a small pocketknife at Frank that he found in the glove-box, Frank grabbed it but stumbled it down his front before getting a good grip on it. Gerard moved through the car, finding not much else inside besides trash and coins.

As Ray approached with the siphoning kit, Gerard came back around to pop the gas cap for him. Ray offered the kit to Gerard with a look of embarrassment; Gerard begrudgingly took it with a glare that didn’t break until he started the set up.

“Maybe Mikey will find some canisters inside like we did.” Gerard looked at Frank momentarily lustfully before going back to setting up. “I can’t start this without them, though, soo…” He stood up and turned around to face Frank and Ray who had just watched Gerard the entire time.

Ray and Frank exchanged distraught looks before they went back to the trunk to grab their own weapons like teenagers just told they couldn’t play together until cleaning up their mess. “I wonder what’s taking Mikey so long.” Frank said in passing as him and Ray started towards the door.

Another, louder smashing of glass stunned everyone as one of the front windows exploded. A body came through with the shattering and slid to a stop just before their feet. Gerard jumped from his spot and joined them. Ray and Frank were stunned, staring at the body in tattered clothes on the asphalt. Charlotte remained in the car, her attention now on the scene unraveling before her.

Mikey stood heavily breathing within the store, eyes wide open and wild, teeth grinding almost loud enough for the others to hear. It was dark in the store still, but they could see he was covered in blood and his clothes were torn up and missing chunks; the three men made their way around the body to the window. “Mikey! You good?!” Ray asked astonished as they spotted three more bodies scattered around the store aisles.

Through each heavy breath, Mikey attempted to calm down. “Don’t worry guys,” The sarcasm was dripping from his angry words. “I’ve got it under control.” He shot Gerard a look that could’ve sent daggers through him.

As the three entered the store, Mikey remained half cocked and calming down in his spot. “Are there any others?” Frank asked stupidly while Gerard made his way behind the checkout counters.

Frank received the daggers look next while Ray went through the store without waiting for an answer. “I don’t know, Frank.” He bit out through clenched teeth. “I barely made it passed the front FUCKING DOOR!” Mikey’s voice rose quickly as he exploded, Frank shrunk slightly until Gerard joined them.

“Thank you for checking the store for us, Mikey.” Gerard spoke in a level voice, attempting to defuse the situation. The lights flickered on, “You can head back to the car and just hang out, I can deal with the rest.”

“Yeah, because I dealt with the fucking hard shit.” Mikey spat before storming out of the store. Ray rejoined them to watch Mikey leave.

“You gotta stop sending him into dangerous situations, dude.” Ray slapped Gerard’s shoulder, Gerard started to sputter at him.

“I didn’t send him into shit, he offered!”

“He didn’t offer.”

“Yeah… You didn’t really give him a choice, Gee…” Frank added cautiously. But their comments didn’t upset Gerard, instead his cheeks grew slightly pink before he waved them off and followed his brother out to the cars.

Ray and Frank watched Gerard start pumping gas into the car before they looked at each other. “Gotta pee?” Ray asked, thumbing behind them.

Frank shook his head, “Do you?” Ray shook his head too before Frank continued. “Wanna help check for a basement or canisters?”

Ray nodded, “Did Gerard check behind the counter yet?”

“I assume he did, since he had to go back there to start the pump.” But, contrary to what Frank believed, the two of them found a couple empty gas canisters sitting on the floor behind the checkout counter. Frank took both before they headed back to the car as well.

“What chya doin’?” Gerard was leaning against their car this time, Mikey sat with his arms crossed in the front seat. Ray moved around to get in next to Charlotte, who was back to picking at her cuticles silently.

Frank’s face twisted with confusion, “Grabbing the canisters for…” But he trailed off as he realized the siphoning kit was now missing. Gerard followed his gaze. “Hey, I thought we were going to—” But Gerard cut him off.

“Yeah, after I thought about how we took all that diesel for the truck and got no use out of it, I decided against wasting what little space we have in this one.” Gerard thumbed behind him to their car, then crossed his arms. The strong smell of gasoline pumped through Frank’s nose just as quickly as it pumped into the car.

“And you decided not to mention this to us because…?” Gerard’s shrug sent Frank’s growing anger off the rails. Without realizing it, he blew up. “First, you can’t provide any comfort to our friend who just lost their best friend in a fire fight. Second, you send your own brother into the store you want shit from because you don’t want to go in.” He dropped the canisters, sending the loud plastic tumbling around his feet. “And now this, you want to siphon this shit, you don’t want to siphon this shit, then you decide you aren’t going to tell anyone you changed your mind. What the FUCK are you on today? Why are you acting like this?!”

Gerard was more taken aback by Frank’s angry words than by his own brothers from earlier. It was like he didn’t know he was acting differently, but Gerard nodded solemnly regardless and without hesitation. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

Frank lost his heat from Gerard’s instant apology. He expected at least a little resistance, but no resistance and Gerard admitting he was wrong stunned Frank. “Huh?”

“You’re right. I’ve been… thinking a lot today.” Frank’s dying anxiety tightened up quickly at Gerard’s words.

Ohgodohfuckohgodfuckshit what did I do.

Frank was inside his own head before Gerard could continue, the fear of what Gerard’s been thinking about was unmatched to his fear of the cannibals finding them. He went over the last thirty-six hours, Gerard seemed completely normal yesterday, especially in their shower together.

 Frank’s stomach twisted and worry made him sink as he feared he performed poorly, or maybe Gerard really despised the way Frank slept. Frank wasn’t really sure how he slept since he was, y’know, asleep, but maybe he snored and kept Gerard awake the whole time. Or maybe he drooled, and the smell of his breath deterred him.

But, despite his fears trying to kill him from the inside out, Frank stood silently waiting for Gerard to continue while his mind raced after every negative thought it could imagine.

“I’m sorry for pushing everyone away. Usually, when I get a really good… thing, really bad shit starts to happen… And you’re a really good thing, Frankie.” His heart twisted this time with the same intensity as his stomach. All he wanted to do was throw up.

Thankfully, when Frank opened his mouth, puke wasn’t the first thing out of it. “What bad shit has happened since us that wouldn’t be directly caused to us currently living in an apocalyptic world?”

Gerard scoffed, laughing a little as if Frank’s suggestion to life going sideways due to a world ending event was ridiculous. “Come on, Frankie. Don’t try to blame the world for my problems. I ignored Charlotte because I’m an asshole, and now she’s ignoring me and acting strange. I let Mikey go into the store alone and get jumped because I didn’t want to do it. And I changed my mind last minute about the siphoning and totally pissed you off.”

“That last one is a lack of communication issue between us. Next time, just think out loud! We got the pump on, I’m not even angry I brought the canisters out, they’re empty.”

“Okay, well, that doesn’t account for the other two. Charlotte is still acting strangely and Mikey got hurt directly because of me.”

 “Did you ever think, maybe, bad shit happened after the good shit because you made sure it correlated?” Gerard side-eyed Frank at his suggestion, this time. His head cocked slightly to the side before Frank continued, “Charlotte’s acting weird because she just lost her childhood best friend, fuck, near soul sister and we just have to move on like it didn’t happen. Mikey didn’t get forced to go inside, he’s just the one who was willing to put his life on the line for the rest of us.” The pump popped to a finish, making them both jump. There was silence between them as Gerard processed what Frank said.

“Maybe you’re right…” Gerard admitted, although he wasn’t fully convinced, he had no desire to fight about it any longer with Frank. He was just ready to get on the road again. He yanked the pump from the car and hung it up, despite them being more than likely being the final people to use it for a long time. “Should we get back on the road?” Gerard suggested.

Frank was displeased by how quickly Gerard conceded but refused to push him any further. So, he just nodded. They climbed into the car together; Ray was packing up a first aid kit that Mikey was using to fix himself up with. Charlotte remained picking her nails and watching the road behind them.

“How’re you doing, Mikey?” Gerard asked, probably much later than he should’ve.

“I’m fine. You get to scout the next building.” He begrudgingly stated while turned away, still wrapping a cut on his arm.

Frank returned to his previous position of moody teenager with his forehead against the glass as Gerard accelerated off towards their next two and a half hour drive.

Chapter 19

The drive was near dead silent. Gerard had the radio station on low as he and Mikey cycled through the various numbers that were mostly emitting static. The desert was boiling them alive inside the car. The air conditioning hardly worked and there were only vents in the front, Ray and Frank had sweat rolling down their foreheads while Charlotte could enjoy the brief cold breeze with Gerard and Mikey. 

Gerard quickly gave up his hunt through static, landing on a channel with a very loud preacher. “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my spirit upon him—”

"Turn that shit off." Mikey clicked through the next couple of radio channels, not fast enough for the words of the catholic priest to embed themself into Franks frontal lobe.

“What? Not into audiobooks?” Gerard remarked with a snicker.

The heat waves floating above the expanding desert made Frank feel even hotter, his forehead scorched from lying against the window. Mikey found a station that still played music.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Gerard shouted, cranking the music while aggressively headbanging to some Iron Maiden song Frank didn’t immediately recognize. 

Suddenly, Charlotte spun on her seat to stare out the back window. Saying nothing. Frank couldn’t hide the fact he jumped at her speed. "You good?" Ray's voice wavered a little, sounding almost muffled.

The guitar riffing from the radio was muffling too, Frank noticed immediately. Gerard was headbanging and animatedly singing along, attempting to lighten the mood, Frank assumed, while Mikey begrudgingly stared out his window.

Is the elevation fucking with me...? Frank thought to himself as he tried to pop his ears. 

To no avail, Frank leaned into the front seat. "Do you guys have any gum up there?" Without waiting for a reply, Frank half crawled into the front seat searching for the magical chewy stick that would fix his ears. 

"Huh?" Gerard suddenly stopped headbanging before a terrified yelp escaped into Franks ear as Gerard twisted the wheel suddenly. 

The car skid to avoid a head on collision with an unnaturally huge, overly muscled man taller than their car standing in the middle of the street. Frank could only assume he was a zombie based on his size alone, but the entire lower half of its skull was peeled back and exposed to create a long, wide hole where its mouth should’ve been, with teeth sticking out in random spots. As they skid, Gerard missed a deep pothole with a chunk of metal in it, causing the car to flip. 

The next few minutes for Frank slowed down. His body floated to the top of the car, his head and back smashing into the roof with an ugly crunch. Charlottes body lifted out of the seat effortlessly, she curled into a ball and bounced around the back seat. Gerard, hands gripping the wheel, smashed into his door then into the roof, and into Frank. Mikey did the same, smushing Frank between them. Ray was the only one wearing a seatbelt. He remained in his seat, his long curls flying everywhere.

Everything froze. Frank was able to look around with his eyes but couldn’t move anything else. The zombie they avoided hitting was staring at him with an inhumane look of hunger. The creature’s mouth was sopping wet and dripping before Frank’s eyes while he was completely frozen. Long, thick globs of saliva dribbled out of its mouth silently as it stared into Frank’s eyes.

Then it blinked.

Is this what happens before you die? Do you become so shocked by the trauma you’re stuck right where you were before it all ended?

Frank tried to shake the thoughts away, feeling that familiar twisting anxiety starting to build in his chest. Was he ready to stay right here in time forever? He attempted to call out to anyone in the car with him. Could they talk to each other? He couldn’t even muffle out a grunt.

Frank blinked and was no longer in the flipping car with his friends. Instead, he was standing in the bath, the one where him and Gerard had spent their hot shower together, completely naked. But he wasn’t with Gerard this time, instead the bath was filled with black as ink water that rippled noisily when he moved. 

What the...

Frank lifted a foot, it came out warm, dripping with bright, scarlet red liquid. It wasn’t water, it was too thick to be water the way it coated his skin and dripped back in to join the rest. Turning black as soon as it hit the surface. Dropping his foot back in, another blink of his eyes and the liquid was that same bright, scarlet red.

Frank tried to move out, but his limbs were frozen again as he was stuck staring down between his legs. The ripples from his previous disturbance quickly swam away, leaving the stagnant blood sticky and chilled between his toes. The memories of the car and whoever was in it with him quickly faded away.

Without a warning ripple, the woman from the hotel bathtub emerged up out of the red slowly, staring him dead in the eyes as her chest and arms floated to the surface, taking their places on either side of him. The bloody water dripped out of her hair and down her face, mostly pooling on her chest. Her skin was pale white with a slight sickly green tinge to it that reflected in her vacant eyes. 

Frank attempted to open his mouth but even that was frozen shut. So, he just stared at her as she remained unblinking, mouth hanging slightly open.

Her mouth didn’t remain stagnant for long. Almost immediately, her mouth started slowly opening wider and wider until she lay with a silent scream. Frank’s heartrate skyrocketed as claustrophobia clutched his lungs. The rest of her expression was unmoving. Frank would’ve broken out in a sweat from how hard he was trying to move but even his sweat was frozen in place.

“It is a heavy burden upon us, a bundle that strains us. We feel as if Jesus is saying ‘Cast off your bundle at my feet, and I will take care of it. Give me your heavy burden that crushes you,’” She started to speak rapidly, scaring the shit out of Frank. His heart racing so fast he was afraid he might have a heart attack. “‘And I will carry it. Unload your worries and turn them over to me!’ Jesus will carry your burdens for your promise to believe in him. TRUST! In him. Be not our materialistic burdens, let us be burdened with His burdens that do not weigh us down.” Her voice was deep like a man’s, powerful and aggressive, despite the words coming out.

Frank was in the tub now, in replace of the woman, his tattooed arms floating in front of him. The deep gashed on her wrists, now on his and oozing. His mouth was moving but it wasn’t his voice, “Man is a hopeless creature… When we stop concentrating on our own sins, we become too invested in the sins of other man.” It was the same male voice as before, but less aggressive. He was nearly whispering but his mouth was unnaturally stretching with each word. “Did Jesus not die for our sins? The sins of the individual?” Frank rolled his eyes, he’d skipped out of church all growing up, finding it boring and fearmongery. Was this his eternal punishment for denouncing God before giving Him a chance?

He wasn’t going to start praying now.

The cuts on his wrists suddenly burned as they seemed to melt back together, leaving his wrists clear of any wounds. But the burning didn’t stop, it moved from each wrist into the palms of his hands and began scorching. He so desperately wanted to dunk his hands in the ice-cold water, but they were frozen on the surface.

Frank’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest, he hadn’t been able to breathe properly since before… before what? Frank was forgetting how he got here now, remembering only a hot desert and… other people, maybe…?

The burning in his palms grew hotter, each hand felt like someone had an aux cig lighter against them, forming two deep red circles of burned skin.

“Jesus is tired from his journey… he traveled far from his home with your burdens on his back. Feet bare and shoulders burnt from the sun in the heavens…” His voice, or the one coming from his throat, grew quiet. His flesh sizzled and popped as the ring of burning flesh burned away, exposing the muscle and then the bone of his hand. A scream held in his throat as he watched in horror. The voice continued to control him.

“When Jesus sees a woman, during his travels, busying herself with chores, serving those around her, he tells her, ‘Ease yourself. Your worries and troubles are a distraction, you deserve to rest, and even more, you must rest by my side, looking at me. Listening to me.’” A dark-haired man appeared at the end of the tub, leaning his head on the side of it while sitting on the bathroom floor. His skull was blasted open, chunks of his brain leaking out of the top like melting ice cream. Frank could make out white chunks of skull, or teeth, and fleshy red chunks he could only assume to be cooked flesh.

“Give yourself to him. He will be there when you need him the most, and he will take what is hurting you. You just need to trust him. Believe he is there with you.” The voice went on as the holes in Frank’s hands melted through. It was a strange relief when it was done. His skin was still burning, but it was dull and fading. “If you do not believe you are alone, are you? If you believe he is the one with you, standing by your side, taking on your burdens when he knows you need it the most, is he not there?”

Frank’s hands lifted before him, stopping in front of his face so he was able to see directly through each palm. The hole in the mans head created a smaller hole within the one in Frank’s hand, making him feel a morbid satisfaction.

As Frank examined the open skull through his hand, it shifted to look back at him. There was no soul behind the fading warm brown eyes, the soulless white eyes haunting him. The sunbeams of green and gold were already gone; Frank knew those eyes well. He hadn’t realized the complete silence he was now sitting in while staring at Gerard’s lifeless body.

Gerard’s mouth opened, “Where is your God now?” His voice was his own, not the preachers.

Frank’s eyes shot open, a loud gasp filled the car as he ripped his melting skin from the car window. Charlotte jumped next to him, into Ray. Mikey peered around from the front, smirking before turning back.

“You good?” Gerard eyed Frank from the rearview as he calmed his heaving chest. Frank reoriented himself quickly.

The car. He was in the car.

He just fell asleep and was dreaming. The preaching Gerard stopped on earlier was still going, Mikey never switched to find music.

“C-can we listen to something else…?” Frank’s voice came out timidly as he frantically started checking his palms, the memory of the stigmata wounds fading quickly. To his relief, his hands were normal. There were no cuts or burns, just his dirty, dry skin.

Gerard gave him a quizzical look before shrugging and playing with the stations again, finding some faraway music that crackled through static.

The desert he was previously stuck in no longer surrounded them, instead lush green trees created a thick forest barrier that made him feel safe. The grass was bright and flowing. The streets weren’t as clogged with car wreckage and a lot of the roaming zombies were in the trees. Frank could make them out as they stumbled through branches in an attempt to follow the sound of their car.

“I can get you some aloe when we get out next, I took some just in case.” Charlotte reassured Frank while pointing at her own face where his had a dull ache to it.

He repositioned himself to check it out in the rearview mirror and saw a huge, red mark of burned skin in the shape of a sunbeam scorched across his face. He slumped back into his seat, relieved of the fear that previously suffocated him.

Frank had no fear of a god, but he did fear the human brain.

“How long was I out?” Charlotte shrugged while Ray checked his phone.

“Eh about two hours.” Ray responded.

“Are we almost there?”

“Should only be, liiiiike… half an hour.” Gerard spoke with an unsure grin. “We passed a sign that said The Den so it can’t be much further.”

Frank’s eyes narrowed at Gerard. “Why do you sound so unsure of yourself?” He asked without hesitation. “We have virtual maps that tell us exactly where we are.”

“Yeeaaahhh… about that…” Gerard’s shoulders raised to his ears while Mikey flipped around to show Frank their map. ‘SIGNAL LOST. PLEASE RECONNECT AND TRY AGAIN’ it stated, in large grey lettering. Mikey touched the screen a few times to show the map was somehow completely locked.

“How does that even happen.” Frank was in disbelief as he pulled out his own phone to check, only to be met with the same screen. “What the fuck…” He whispered to himself while tapping around the screen.

He peered out at the forest around them again. There were no powerlines, no homes, no desert. When Frank really focused on the woods, he saw very few zombies among the trees. All of them he did see were wearing some form of hiking or work out gear. Denver was famous for its mountains, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were driving through an area meant for hiking, but the road to Denver should’ve been completely flat and deserted from what Frank remembered seeing on the map before they left.

“Are you sure we aren’t lo—”

“Don’t! Say the L word!” Gerard shouted from the front.

“Lesbian?” Laughed Mikey.

“The other L word.” Gerard continued with a  devious chuckle, the reference flying over Frank’s head in his growing fear.

A moment of silence before Mikey finished, “Lesbians…?” The two of them cackled like witches together in the front as Frank’s fear intermingled rage before he exploded.

“Can you take anything seriously ever?!” He shouted, face hot as anxiety squeezed his stomach.

Their faces neutralized into stone as the humor died away. “Lighten up.” Mikey said coldly.

Gerard held a hand against Mikey’s chest, giving him a look that Frank couldn’t see. “We’re not lost, Frank.” Gerard’s voice was not reassuring to Frank, but Gerard continued before he could get a word in. “We can only go one way, really. I’m sure we’ll hit some form of civilization soon.” He did not sound confident in those words.

Must be hard being confident and in charge. Frank thought to himself before confidence, and stupidity gave him a burst of confidence.

“Who put you in charge, Gerard? Are we supposed to have a leader because we’re some shitty form of amalgamation? Why’d you hide the keys for everyone else? Does driving make you feel like a leader?” Frank’s voice was as heated as he felt.

“I didn’t hear anyone complaining about me driving when we left.” Gerard’s voice was stern, Frank could feel the hurt that laced between each vowel as he spoke. Frank shrunk in his seat, Gerard more intimidating than ever before. “Besides, we’ve got aaaaallll the time in the world, who cares if we take one wrong turn?” Instantly, Gerard’s non-chalant self returned, nearly giving Frank emotional whiplash.

“I care!” Frank exclaimed.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Gerard practically ignored him while shrugging.

Frank wasn’t a fan of plans changing at the last minute, it made his anxiety worse. Already having to learn how to let go because of the apocalypse, Gerard could’ve at least stuck to their original plan so he wasn’t waking up in strange places anytime he fell asleep. But, as he pouted in his seat, the anger dissipated, and he accepted the situation.

They had no service for the next two hours. The heat was putting everyone on edge, even Ray, who seemed to mostly stay levelheaded, who fanned himself aggressively with a dirty pamphlet for a golf resort in Utah. “Are you sure that air conditioning doesn’t go higher?” He asked with a desperate bite. When Gerard shook his head, Ray just rolled his eyes and fanned himself harder.

The lush greenery quickly turned back into the blazing desert as they drove on. There were hardly any zombies, and the ones they did see were slow and melting. “For a city with snow on it’s mountains, it has some insane heat in the fall.” Charlotte hadn’t said much the entire car ride until they reached the first signs of a city. She fanned herself with her hand, Frank wondered if it was even really helping or if it was just a desperate attempt at tricking the mind.

“It’s technically not fall yet, that’s in September.” Mikey said, matter-of-factly.

Just as Frank feared, they weren’t in Denver. They approached a tiny, abandoned town with only a couple of buildings scattered around a single road, three streets leading off into a neighborhood of maybe fifteen houses. Small patches of trees littered the town, giving it more life. But there were no signs of zombies anywhere, let alone people. It reminded Frank of the eeriness of the abandoned town where they stayed the night before, but this was less likely to be a freakish cult… he hoped.

Gerard said nothing as they drove through. He avoided looking in the rearview mirror, doing his best to not meet Frank’s told-you-so eyes that bore into him from behind.

They came across a ghost town that could hardly even qualify as a town next. Three major buildings and two houses before the desert expanded in front of them again. Another half hour of driving and their service was back; Frank was on his map like a maniac. Frantically refreshing through the spotting bars of service.

“Welp… we’re two and a half hours away from Denver again.” Frank groaned loudly.

“Relaaax, Frankie.” Gerard’s nonchalant voice returned, they rolled to a stop in front of the sign for Colorado City. “We’re still in Colorado… City!” He motioned at the sign with a crooked grin. Frank’s body betrayed him; his heart swelled along with his dick at Gerard’s words.

Peering into the flat city showed the crew what a real infected location looked like. Cars parked in lots with broken windows and doors left open. A couple of storefronts had been smashed through, but the majority were left to rot within their dark remains.

Zombies in various forms of decomposition were scattered and stumbling everywhere, spread out across the entire downtown strip. Charlotte started to loudly pick at her cuticles while her legs shook. Frank got into his map within seconds, “Well, there’s no way through the city, we have to turn around and go back.” His lips tightened as he caught Gerard glance at him quickly.

Ray had started on his phone too, searching for anything that might be of relevance. “Gerard… did you say there was a sign for The Den?”

“Yeah, it was a few hours back, but I followed the way it was pointing.”

“Are you sure? We’ve been on one road the entire time.” Frank questioned.

“Well…” Gerard nervously chuckled. “There were a few forks in the road…” Frank’s gaze glazed over as his panic swelled to a pop, simultaneously feeling fine and like he had to vomit.

“There were forks…” Before Frank could continue Ray spoke over him.

“There’s a safehouse set up on Pike’s Peak from a few workers of the gift shop up there.” Everyone stopped to look at Ray. “We could go there or…” He played around on his screen for a moment, “We could go east for awhile to Saint Louis. If we can get there—”

“When we get there.” Gerard cut him off unexpectedly.

Ray cleared his throat, “Yeah. When. When we get there, we can go north and head straight to the safehouse in Wisconsin.” Mikey and Charlotte agreed they had no desire to turn back. 

Franks map advised taking the fastest route, taking them back through Denver. When he turned his phone around to compare it to Ray’s idea, Gerard twisted in his seat to examine them both. 

“Alright…” His eyes passed back and forth between the two of their phones. He poked around a little bit on Ray’s screen, then on Frank’s, chewing on his lips as a mental debate took over his thought process. “Let’s go to the Peak.” He said quickly, nodding. “Or, I guess, The Den.” He cackled.

Before anyone could protest, Gerard was reversing away from the scene in front of them. The drive was only another thirty minutes before they reached the road that would lead them to their mountainous location.

Charlotte had begun picking her nails very loudly while frantically staring out the front window. It was another twenty before they were stopped by large wooden walls. Spikes were stationed along the length of the wall, the tops lined with barbed wire thicker than what they used to wrap their weapons.

“Can zombies climb…?” Frank asked quietly as his neck stretched to look up the wall.

“I don’t think I want to know…” Gerard replied, straining to look up the wall along with him.

“Looters.” Mikey suggested monotonously.

“Looters?” Frank’s brows furrowed.

“Looters would be able to step around those spikes easily. Without the barricade on top, the walls probably wouldn’t be that hard to climb.” Mikey shrugged as if his suggestion was ridiculous. “I’ve seen a lot of zombie shit, it’s not that hard to deduce.”

“No, no he’s got a point.” Gerard agreed. “Lots of zombie movies have looters as a secondary source of conflict.”

“Oh, so we’re going by movie logic now?” Frank pestered the brothers, getting a chuckle out of Ray.

“Were we ever not going off movie logic?” Mikey questioned, looking directly at Frank now, making him hot. “What else is there to base this shit off of?” Frank’s face grew hotter as he shrunk back into his seat.

The gate to the giant wall began moving silently inward as it opened for them. Before Gerard was able to take his foot off the break, a man in a beanie appeared in the crack of the doors, aiming a gun directly at Gerard. The doors stopped opening when they were only a few feet apart.

Gerard’s hands shot up, “WE’RE NOT BIT, WE’RE SAFE!” He shouted through the glass of their closed windows.

The man heard him shout, confusion painted his face as he moved towards them, keeping his gun raised and ready. Behind him, two more people with raised guns popped out from between the doors and made their way to surround the car. Everyone’s hands went up.

When the person in the beanie got to Gerard’s side, he motioned for Gerard to roll his window down. The gun remained on Gerard while the window slowly moved down. Gerard spoke with a chuckle, “Sorry to scare you guys—”

“Who are you. Where are you guys from.” The man spoke gruffly, interrupting Gerard immediately. His questions sounding more like statements. 

“I’m Gerard.” He spoke slowly, hands still raised. “This is my brother Mike, we’ve got some friends.” Gerard thumbed at the three in the back, “We’re coming in from Utah, just traveling around looking for a safe place to stay.”

“No new residents.” Was all the man grunted out. Frank watched as the man was sweating but refused to take off his hat. Even with the air being cooler than before, it was still hot enough to break a sweat between the long gusts of wind.

“No, sorry, uh… We’re not trying to stay here.” Gerard clarified. “We’re just looking for a place to stay tonight. We’re heading back to the city in the morning it’s just a long drive so we wouldn’t have much daylight to work with if we went there instead.” Frank hadn’t thought about that when Gerard was figuring out what to do earlier.

It was late afternoon now, and they had skipped lunch, something Frank’s stomach took notice of immediately. A loud grumble was heard from the front seat, earning Frank a look from Gerard.

“We’re just trying to find a place not littered with zombies.” Mikey’s voice was stern with a touch of annoyance as he shouted at the man in a beanie. Frank got a good look at him while they argued.

He had long black hair like Gerard’s, even though his hair was shoved under a beanie, Frank could tell it was greasy. His eyebrows were thick, and his face showed the hints of blonde facial hair but there was nothing to prove it could grow. He wore a black and blue baja jacket that Frank cringed at.

Do all stoners suffer from being a walking stereotype? Frank thought to himself as the ache from his still raised arms began to burn.

“Do you have any weapons on you?” Beanie guy asked.

“No, er—I mean yes but not with us ri—"

“How did you get here without any weapons?" Beanie guy’s voice hastened as he interrupted Gerard again. Frank could tell Mikey was getting fed up because Frank was feeling the same frustration.

“We have weapons, they’re in the trunk.” Mikey shouted at them; he bordered sounding like a pissed off teenager. Beanie guy narrowed his eyes at Mikey before returning to Gerard.

“Pop the trunk.” That was all he had to say before one of the other two gunmen started for the back of the car. Gerard popped it quickly with a finger before shooting his hand up again. There was a long silence while the other gunman rifled through their trunk.

“Do you think they’d get mad at me if I asked to get out to grab aloe?” Charlotte whispered to Frank through a smile he hadn’t seen her wear in days. Neither of them could contain their giggling while the gunman slammed the trunk shut.

“So, can I at least ask the name of our captor?” Gerard had a wide grin on his face while the other gunman returned to his original place, giving Beanie guy a thumbs up.

“You said you were coming from Utah.” Beanie guy started, ignoring Gerard's question. He nodded in response regardless. “How’d you get all the way out here? Last we saw, Colorado was done-so.” Frank noticed the guy lowered his gun slightly.

Gerard shrugged, “We drove.” Gerard was fighting a giggle, but Frank was tired of the smart assed back and forth. Thankfully, Mikey was the one who exploded first. 

“Can we play catch up AFTER we’re somewhere safe?” He motioned at the large doors in front of them, the movement made all three gunmen ready their aim. “We aren’t infected, we don’t have our weapons on us, what more do you want from us?!” His voice cracked on infected, Frank feared they might be dealing with their trauma in the wrong ways… by not dealing with it at all.

Did Mikey ever give himself time to grieve the death of his partner? Or did they just up and leave as soon as they could so they had an easier time pretending they could forget about it?

Frank wanted to ask Mikey these things when he told everyone about him and Pete’s final phone call, but Frank didn’t think hounding him with questions at the time was a very good idea.

Frank watched as beanie guy exchanged a look with the other gunmen, all of them looking unsure of what to do. “Jeff, walkers.” Beanie guy demanded, the one closest to the door’s half jogged back behind the doors. Moments later, the doors began to push open, and the remaining gunmen dropped their weapons. Everyone’s arms relaxed in unison. “Gerard? You said your name was Gerard?”

Gerard perked up and nodded, throwing out a hand exaggeratedly, “Nice to meet ya.” His voice deadpan. Beanie guy took no offense to Gerard’s bratty, smart assed self. He gripped his hand and shook, Frank felt sick watching the intense eye contact between Gerard and Beanie guy.

“I’m Bert. I’m the leader of the Wall Walkers here.” Frank could see beanie guy—Bert’s—eyes were lightening blue and intense. Bert refused to look away from Gerard.

“Wall Walkers?” Gerard questioned. Frank noticed Gerard didn’t pull away from the handshake that had stopped. They’re just holding hands now, why isn’t he letting go? Gerard did break their eye contact to dance his brows up and down to everyone else in the car.

“Yes. Wall Walkers. It was an idea based off zom—”

“WALKERS… Y’know. Another name for zombies.” It was Gerard’s turn to interrupt this time as he smiled proudly at his revelation.

“Is this some kind of inside joke?” Bert diffused the pestering tension Gerard was creating.

“I was trying to keep group morale up when I met these stragglers,” Gerard thumbed back towards Frank and Charlotte. “They kept harassing me for not calling walkers zombies!”

“Harassing is a strong word…” Charlotte spoke barely above a whisper at the same time as Frank.

“It was HARDLY harassment!”

“You guys bullied me into calling them zombies!” Gerard exclaimed.

“Shut this down.” Bert’s voice was stern as he slapped his hand against the roof of the car. Everyone jumped at the sound, looking at Bert for more. “Head inside, go to your right immediately. There’s a parking lot behind those buildings; you can park there. I’ll walk behind and meet you guys.”

Notes:

Unholyverse mention lmao

Chapter 20

Summary:

mcr just played a new song at mcrLA#1 so here's a new chapter -- i luv yall

Bert spent the rest of the sunset walking the crew from where they parked to around the makeshift mountain base. The welcome center had multiple build outs set up as stations for the Wall Walkers to easily, and safely, meet up and switch off between shifts.

During the tour, they met up with a handful of Wall Walkers. Each of them polite and disciplined, not how Frank expected them to act when the virus hit them only a couple days before. He expected them to be more frantic, lost even. But Frank was only really lost for a few hours before being picked up by someone who helped navigate the new world.

“It’s not much, there’s a few bases on the road up. The peak is the least impressive, don’t tell anyone I said that.” Bert said as they exited the welcome center, winking at them.

Outside had cooled significantly in the increasing darkness. The wind whipped their clothes around, Frank thankful for his being tight even if they still stuck to him from the sweat. “I worked here with Jeph, Joey, and Layla; you’ll meet Joey and Layla up top, Jeph will come with us. He’s my second in command. Joey oversees transportation. Layla separates and sorts the rations. She’s basically our leader but her and I pretend to co-lead.”

“So… How’d you become co-leaders with this Layla person.” Gerard questioned as Bert led them around the center to a couple of vans at the base of the path up. They were firetruck red and tiny. Anxiety attempted to pump vomit into Frank’s throat at the looming sense of claustrophobia, but his empty stomach fought it, he coughed through a dry heave instead.

“We were both managers here when the attack started.” Bert explained while tapping a few buttons on a console next to the vans. A cabinet below the console popped open to reveal a handful of keys, some thick bank collection bags, and walkie-talkies. Bert pulled a walkie out, static clicked through before Bert held down a button and started talking into it, “Joey, I’m bringing the newcomers up.”

Static buzzed for a moment before a deep voice came through. “Okay, we’re ready for ‘em.” Bert cut the static and shoved the walkie back in before grabbing a couple keys and slamming the cabinet shut.

“As you guys can see,” Bert started, turning towards them and motioning to the tiny red vans, “These are a bit small for all of us, so we’ll split you guys up.” Jeph joined them then. Bert tossed a key at Jeph, which he caught effortlessly.

Oh, that was practiced. Frank didn’t hide the fact he rolled his eyes.

“I’ll take the first van up; Jeph will take the second right after.” Bert ignored Frank’s actions and continued, “You guy’s won’t be separated for long.” Frank couldn’t trust Bert’s smile but had no reason as to why besides a feeling in his gut that he feared may just be jealousy.

“I can stick with Charlotte.” Ray offered up immediately, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. A small smile spread onto Charlotte’s face as she looked up at Ray with a twinkling fondness.

“You said you two are brothers?” Bert motioned between Gerard and Mikey; Gerard only nodded in return. “Why don’t you two come up with me, the second van is a little bigger so it can fit more bodies without being as cramped.”

Oh, so I just don’t get a say. Frank rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but no one seemed to notice. Or care.

The Way brothers followed Bert closely as they piled into the van. There were enough seats for everyone, but it would’ve been more cramped than their car. Still, Frank wouldn’t have minded being squashed against Gerard for the short ride. Or maybe even stuck sitting on his lap, Frank fantasized. Gerard and Bert spoke animatedly in front of Mikey as they took their seats.

“We’ll see you guys up there!” Bert shouted through the open window. The van started silently, only the crunching of gravel told them they were moving away. Gerard and Mikey didn’t turn to wave with Bert. Instead, they all kept chatting as they drove away.

Jeph motioned the rest of them to follow onto the second van; they did without hesitation. “So, how do you guys all know each other.” Jeph had shaggy black hair, a sharp nose, and a very short beard. He had gauges, lip piercings and tattoos, giving Frank hope for the rest of the people they had to meet.

“Frank actually met Gerard by chance while he was scouting the town we were in.” Ray spoke for them as Jeph started the van; Frank felt no desire to befriend them still. His gut was still telling him not to trust them but his fear of it being built on jealousy told him otherwise. “We picked up Charlotte while on our travels.” The gravel crunched below the slow wheels, the one carrying the rest of the group was already out of sight around the bend leading up the mountain.

“And you guys made it all the way out here from Utah?” Jeph’s questions sounded less like he was getting to know them, and more like he was trying to be an interrogator. Frank refused to lower his guard like Gerard had done almost immediately.

“Actually, Gerard, Mikey, and I are from Oregon.” Jeph’s face showed he was interested in Ray’s story, but Frank wondered how much of that was for show. “Frank found us in Arizona, or was it… Nevada still?” Ray twisted around to offer Frank the floor, clearly not wanting to be the center of the conversation.

“We were still in Nevada.” But Frank turned away to cut himself from it instantly. He watched as the base grew smaller, and the sky expanded in front of them.

Ray broke the awkward silence with an uncomfortable laugh; he was clearly trying to make a good first impress, something Frank couldn’t give less of a shit about. “Frank found us in Nevada. Charlotte, we picked up from a golf resort in Arizona on our way north.”

“Oregon to Nevada, eh? You guys just traveling for shits and giggles?”

“We’re actually heading to the safe-house that’s started up in Wisconsin?” Ray pulled his phone out to try showing Jeph, but the service out there was nonexistent. He shoved it back away instantly.

“The virus must be so different in the colder climate. Here, they melt like ice cream basically.”

“You should’ve seen them in Nevada and California! They were melting together into these huge balls of flesh.” Ray laughed through the morbid imagery with Jeph.

“Woah! I can’t even imagine. When we got hit, Bert and I were both home, we were frantic. Layla called us from worked, horrified about how she’d get home, so we suggested we meet her here and the three of us got this place up and running almost instantly.” Jeph paused, looking slightly embarrassed for over-sharing but continued talking regardless. “It’s really cool you guys were traveling out there, seems kind of stupid, and definitely dangerous, but you all made it here alive and unscathed so it couldn’t have been that dangerous.”

“Yeah, we’ve been pretty lucky,” Frank felt a twist in his gut as Ray started. “Hardly any attacks, none of us have been bit. I’d joke that God gave us some plot armor—”

“He did!” Jeph interrupted. “Five strangers traveling halfway across the country and no one’s gotten hurt or died? I’d go as far to say you might be God’s favorites.” He finished with a laugh.

But Frank immediately knew what was going to happen next. As if on cue, Charlotte started to wail, tears broke and rolled down her cheeks, silencing everyone. Jeph did his best to avoid looking at her while Ray froze up, realizing he said too much.

Frank took the initiative and squeezed Charlotte into a hug. When Ray comforted Charlotte, he engulfed her completely like a bear; when Frank hugged her, they were able to rest their heads on each other’s shoulders while holding their hearts close together.

Charlotte cried into Frank’s shirt as he overheard Ray whispering to Jeph, “Charlotte was with her best friend… we just recently lost her…” Jeph said nothing in return as they made their silent ascent up the mountain.

It took them an hour to get to the top.

By the time they reached the peak, Charlotte stopped crying, the sun was down, and the conversation never picked back up. When they parked, Frank immediately noticed the other van was already empty of the first group. The jealousy gnawed at Frank as he wondered where Gerard was, having all the wrong ideas about what he and Bert could possibly be up to.

The thoughts were thankfully whisked away as they clamored out of the vehicle. Clouds covered everything around them, only allowing the peaks of some other mountains to poke through. Anytime the clouds shifted with the wind, Frank could only see the deep black void that sat below them.

He was so used to the light pollution; the brightness of the moon and stars was shocking. Stupidly, he felt like he was eight years old sitting in a planetarium again as he identified some of the constellations above.

“Layla’s probably already got dinner served.” Jeph motioned for them to follow; Frank did his best to hide how eager he was to meet up with Gerard again. He could hardly admit he was even excited to see Mikey again.

God, so desperate for attention and it’s hardly been sixty minutes… Frank rolled his eyes at himself while following behind everyone else into the gift shop.

The building was small from the outside, and even smaller on the inside. Pikes Peak merchandise shelves and racks were pushed against a wall of windows as a makeshift cover. Five tables were set up around the shop, only three were occupied, one of which sat Gerard, Mikey, Bert, and a brunette girl.

Jeph approached nonchalantly, “Lay-Lah!” He was overenthusiastic, and she could care less. He barely yanked a grin out of her.

“Hey Jeph, everyone’s already sat, foods still warm in the back, though. You can help yourself.” She nodded a hello to Ray, Frank, and Charlotte before turning back around to reengage in the conversation Frank so desperately wanted to be apart of.

Jeph brought them to an employee break-room fit with an entire kitchen set up and its own bathroom. Frank had smelled a faint lick of the food in the main room, but back here it smelled strongly of garlic, onions and beef.

“Looks like chili stew tonight!” Jeph exclaimed, clearly trying to fix the air between them from Charlotte’s breakdown earlier. Jeph served them all before getting himself a bowl. Frank was the one to plant himself down at a table first and, of course, it was right beside Gerard.

Gerard said nothing to them as they sat down, he only smiled slightly and waved as he didn’t want to interrupt whatever super important thing Bert just HAD to tell him right then and there.

Frank glared at Gerard until they finished eating, hunched over his bowl and half hidden behind his hair. Ray and Charlotte took notice but said nothing. Gerard, Mikey, and Bert were completely oblivious to it.

Frank heard them enthusiastically talking about music, then comic books, movies, and more nerdy shit Frank has happily invested time in. But none of them spoke to each other until dinner was over and they were being shown where they could sleep for the night—even then, it was only to say goodnight.

Jeph pulled Bert aside while Layla began cleaning up the tables. He whispered in his ear something Frank couldn’t hear, but when Bert turned his eyes to Frank and Charlotte while he looked them up and down Frank immediately knew he was sharing Charlotte’s reaction in the van earlier.

Bert led them through a window that led to where they’d added rooms to the side of the building, Jeph held up the back of the line. It was constructed with large slabs of plywood and chain link fencing with blankets stapled to every opening. It kept the air out well enough, but the lack of privacy was obvious. Even though they had the option to pick one of the single bedded rooms, none of them had a real door and the plywood thin walls prevented anyone from having a conversation at a normal volume without being overheard.

No one had a real preference to where they slept, Gerard was overly thankful to Bert for allowing them to stay the night, repeatedly telling Bert “Anywhere we can stay is fine”. Everyone mumbled their thanks awkwardly after him, giving the floor to Bert to choose where they went again.

“We do have the barracks room, it’s to keep the Wall Walkers well slept between their shifts, tons of beds in there.” Bert started back towards the shop, going behind the blanket of the first arch the passed earlier. “Most of us do night shifts right now. Seems to be when the zombies are the most active.” He spread his arms out, motioning to the room in front of them. “This should do, right?” Bert moved away to allow everyone inside.

There were eight beds, some were single mattresses on the ground, some had simple wooden frames. The strong breeze made the wood rattle against the chain link; a shiver ran down Frank’s spine.

The beds were completely empty now, which Frank found strange but decided to ignore.

“Wow…” Ray had been examining the entire structure with amazement. “How were you guys able to set all this up in such a short time?”

“A lot of the people who made it here when the virus hit were people who could hold their own, this usually came with a good skill set, like construction or auto repair. Lots of trades workers since so many of them travel for their jobs, they were just nearby and joined.” Bert explained.

“Oh, so you’re allowing some new residents?” Gerard pestered flirtatiously. Frank rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, doing his best to pretend he didn’t care.

“Hey, a lot of these people could be vouched for. Colorado is a big state but the people here are mostly from Colorado City. Layla lives—er, lived, in Denver but her family is gone…” Bert became awkward, suddenly. Frank noticed he was eyeing behind them, probably making sure Layla can’t hear him… Frank assumed, remembering back to Charlotte’s outburst. “That’s why she called me, frantic. I lived near her parents. I didn’t have great news to share besides the fact that I wasn’t bitten, and I was on my way…”

Bert’s face sagged, Gerard placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Bert gave him a small, thankful smile while Frank’s jealousy skyrocketed.

Oh, so you can comfort Mr. Colorado, Doesn’t-Make-Fun-Of-Me-For-Calling-Zombies-Walkers-Even-Though-Its-STUPID, who we JUST met five minutes ago, but not Charlotte, who’s been traveling with us for days? Frank was sure smoke was blowing from his ears as he fumed inside, if they weren’t in a room full of people, he probably would’ve exploded.

“We’ve all been losing people, she’s definitely not alone.” Ray added. Even Ray was pissing Frank off now. “I think this will be great for us. Charlotte, are you comfortable sharing a room with a bunch of dudes?”

Charlotte scoffed, laughing, “I’ve spent more time in a room ‘with a bunch of dudes’ than you probably expect.” She quoted Ray as they laughed together, Ray not quite realizing what she meant.

That’s when another man pushed the blanket away from the arch behind them, carrying all five of their different bags on his body. “Ah, thank you Joey!” Bert exclaimed, moving to take some of the weight off him. “Joey went down after we came up to grab your guy’s bags. Hopefully that was okay.”

Although everyone in the group could see Gerard’s eye twitch (even Charlotte), he did well at hiding his anger. “Hah… No. That’s… totally cool.” He said through nearly clenched teeth. Frank noticed Gerard didn’t thank them, and their weapons were nowhere in sight. Frank could only hope they left them in the trunk.

Frank kept his mouth shut through all of this, even as he felt overwhelming anger that was truly just jealousy in disguise—but he wasn’t going to admit that. They walked between the two rows of beds, each picking one to throw their bags onto.

Ray and Mikey were across from each other, Charlotte next to Ray, Gerard next to Mikey, Frank ended up between Gerard and an empty bed.

“The shift change was at nine, so lights out is at nine-thirty.” Bert informed them. “We’d prefer if you’re either in bed at that time, or, if you’d prefer to stay up, some of us hang out in the main room or at the bottom of the mountain. I do the night shift so if you’re up, you’ll be stuck with me or Layla.” Bert gave them a goofy grin that Frank wanted to smack off.

Frank and Charlotte were the only ones who went to bed at lights out, they brushed their teeth and changed into new clothes, or none in Frank’s case, that weren’t stinking from sweat. The remaining unclaimed cots filled up just before they got comfortable under their thin sheets.

In the dark, Frank rolled repeatedly over and over, causing his sheets to loudly rub together, as sleep refused to come. The wall walkers that joined them were snoring immediately, which didn’t help, but Frank’s mind was also plagued with thoughts about Bert and Gerard touching, he didn’t think even complete silence would help.

When he found himself on his back, staring angrily at the ceiling, he whispered out to his friend, “Charlotte…?” He waited a moment, listening. The heavy breathing and snoring of strangers continued to orchestrate a nightly soundtrack Frank wasn’t used to. “Charlotte…!” He whispered slightly louder, but still, no one responded.

So, Frank sat in a heated silence, broken only occasionally by a loud laugh coming from somewhere inside the gift shop that only made Frank more pissed off.

Eventually, he fell asleep. Staring down the two beds that remained vacant next to him.

Chapter 21

Summary:

mcr played two nights in a row, you get two chapters in a row ♥

Frank didn’t know when they came to bed, but when he woke up, Gerard and Mikey’s bed sheets had been shuffled around and left messy. Frank was, again, alone when his eyes opened, aside from one wall walker who was sprawled on his back across his entire bed with no blanket.

The heat on the peak wasn’t nearly as bad as ground level, Frank was thankful autumn could be felt in the air despite the wall walkers sweating body. Frank did his best to avoid looking but the guy was built. His sweating skin accentuated the defined muscles in his arms and torso, his abs glistening with each breath as sweat pooled between the ridges.

Frank sighed and looked back to Gerard’s bed; his dying morning wood awoken again by the sleeping mans body. Frank peaked out of the shared room to find an empty gift shop, only pissing him off more.

The previous night, while Charlotte and him were getting ready for bed, they found the bathroom attached to the break-room actually had a shower. With the angry jealousy at a boiling point, Frank decided he deserved to treat himself.

Grabbing clean clothes from his bag, he covered his throbbing erection as he snuck out of the room, giving the bulky guy one more look before running through the break-room into the bathroom.

The sweat from the previous day was like a film against his entire body. Each scratch at himself caused flakes of dead skin to fly off around him. Besides the sweat, he was mostly clean, the shower was more for an easier clean up after his release.

It was easy to undress and hop in, the water warmed up slowly, so he played with himself while he waited. Casually pumping up and down while thinking about a certain naked man. Once the water hit him, he felt a strange twinge in his stomach about masturbating to someone who wasn’t Gerard. His hand held his cock as it deflated slightly, and he sighed himself into beginning his wash.

He didn’t get far before his brain was replaying his time with Gerard in the shower while his head was under the faucet. Gerard wasn’t chiseled like the wall walker he was ogling but Frank preferred Gerard’s softer body to the hardened effort behind the other guys. His dick knew that too as he almost came before returning his hand to play.

Still suds up, Frank used the wall to hold himself up as he casually stroked himself from base to tip in long, slow pulls. Teasing himself slightly by adding a surprise squeeze every couple of strokes.

He started biting his lip, holding back as he felt himself growing closer with each pump. Closing his eyes, he enveloped himself within the memory of Gerard. Missing that fresh pine scented body-wash they used before, the one on his body currently was scentless. It helped his imagination take over.

He imagined Gerard’s soft fingers circling his asshole, how good it felt when he popped one in to play before they fucked. Frank sped up without realizing it and had to force himself from the memory in order to hold back.

He took a relaxed deep breath as his brain decided to go to their other memories together instead. The time in the hotel kitchen seemed like ages ago, yet the fear Gerard instilled fear in him before they fucked against the wall was something Frank wouldn't forget anytime soon. He sped up his pumping again unintentionally, slowing only after peeling himself from the shower wall and wetting his entire body again.

His shower was growing cold much quicker than the showers they were granted before. The chill helped his looming orgasm take a step back so he could cover himself in soap again, just need to make sure I’m clean… Frank thought as he leaned back against the wall. The soap served well enough as a lubricant, just the right amount of friction for Frank to forget he was soaking wet and getting colder.

His body temperature helped warm the room and keep his erection going as he stroked faster. The next memory that invaded Frank’s space was their first time smoking alone together. Gerard was drunk and horny, interrupting Frank’s smoke break away from everyone.

He relished in the way he remembered Gerard’s hand gripping his face to pull them together, Gerard blowing the smoke from his hit into Frank’s mouth—Frank’s hand went faster, the slick sounds getting louder than the pattering of the shower. That stupid smirk he always made when he knew he was making Frank hard. He was so close to coming, he couldn’t stop himself now, he was… so… close…

A knock sounded at the door, and Frank froze. “Frankie?” Gerard’s voice came through the door. That was all he needed, Gerard’s voice. Frank came into the tub. “Frankie, are you in there?” Thick, near transparent ropes of cum intermingled with water as it drained.

Frank barely took a breath in before responding, “Yeah, be out in a sec.” Huffing out, he listened as Gerard walked away, finishing up the shower quickly.

He was dressed and entering the gift shop again within minutes, rejoining Gerard, Mikey, and (to his dismay) Bert. The smell of hot coffee was overwhelmed by the stink of weed and cigarettes on the three of them, they weren’t hiding how obviously high they were. Even Mikey’s eyes were blood shot and he had a loose grin plastered across his face. Frank watched as Gerard’s coffee cup jittered between his fingers.

“Where are Charlotte and Ray?” Frank asked, attempting to pretend he wasn’t the only one there who was stone cold sober.

“Joey’s showing Ray around the vans mechanics, Charlotte is with Layla… doing… something…” Gerard broke off in a fit of giggles that made Bert bust out in laughter. Only pissing Frank off more.

“We just came inside to grab more coffee.” Bert pointed out through his nonstop giggles.

“Aren’t we supposed to be going to Denver?” Frank’s question came out more like a statement as he spoke through grinding teeth.

“Relax, Frankie!” Bert swung an arm around Frank’s shoulders; he was disgusted by the way his name fell off Bert’s tongue. “We’re just making sure you guys are fully prepared to leave again.” Frank cringed away from Bert’s touch and started making his way outside, feeling like this was getting closer and closer to a cult like in Utah.

Charlotte and Layla were nowhere to be seen, Frank yanked a joint from his crumpling cigarette carton—staring down at it, imagining what would’ve happened if he was in Jersey when this outbreak started, instead of in Nevada on a stupid work trip.

“Hey, wanna try this instead?” Ray popped out of nowhere beside Frank, holding out a freshly lit joint to him.

Frank stared at it for a minute, glanced up at Ray’s cheeky smile, back down to the joint, then took it and inhaled deeply. The cough after he exhaled caused his eyes to water as he doubled over. He offered it back to Ray but Ray declined with a hand.

“Keep it,” he told Frank. “Charlotte and I shared one already.” Ray pointed somewhere behind him, Frank assumed towards wherever Charlotte was hiding.

“Why did you light another?” Frank asked through his coughing fit.

Ray shrugged, “Jeph started another but Gerard, Mikey, and Bert left to find you, Charlotte went off with Layla, so I got stuck with it.”

“What about Joey? Bert said you were with him.” Frank was ready to leave this place, he was starting to think they never should’ve stayed here in the first place.

“Yeah, he needed to go start his shift with the wall walkers, so he already started to go back down.”

“Without any of us?!” Frank was near frantic now, he thought the plan was to get up and go but now he realized everyone was more interested in getting high and forgetting their main goal. Frank couldn’t judge much, he realized as he continued to casually smoke the joint.

“Woah, dude!” Ray’s hands went up defensively. “Everything’s going to be fine, Charlotte’s ready to go too, let’s just go inside and see where Gerard and Mikey are at.”

Frank took his time finishing his joint while Ray waited alongside him. Neither of them exchanged another word before walking in to find Bert, Gerard, and Mikey sitting around a table with a bong being passed between them.

Mikey was relaxed and laid back while Gerard nearly vibrated next to him, talking excitably about some comic idea he had. Coffee filled once again even as it was getting to be lunch time.

 Frank’s simmering anger bubbled again, why hasn’t he shared any of his ideas with me before? He’s never been THAT excited to talk about anything… Frank attempted to take a hit from the now missing joint, shoving his hands into his pockets instead in frustration.

Bert offered the bong to them after he finished a hit, his eyes heavy and red. “How’s it goin’, guys?” Frank was coming to hate that stupid grin.

Ray held his hand up to decline the offer, “Good! We’re good… Uh,” Ray only hesitated for a moment, something that was completely missed by the stoned-out boys. “Frank and I were thinking about bringing the bags back to the car, just to make it easier to leave whenever… you were ready…” Ray was trying hard not to come off as awkward.

“Gerard has something to tell you…” Mikey taunted with a smirk.

Gerard let out half a laugh, refusing to meet Ray or Frank’s eyes. Frank took a seat as far away from them as he could, crossing his arms. If his eyes could shoot daggers, Gerard would be dead. “What’s up.” Frank bit his tongue until his eyes threatened to water.

“We were chatting and… Bert and Jeph were talking about the next shift change being the best time to go because we’ll have daylight and the roads will be scouted a way out.” Gerard explained.

“What are you getting at.” Frank sat up straight, his anger mixed with anxiety as his gut screamed at him.

“We’re just going to hang out for a few more hours. Come on, Frankie.” Gerard pulled out the chair beside him, patting the seat. Frank’s dick betraying him as it started to grow hard.

Really? You’re that weak to a nickname? There was proof just this morning that he certainly was that weak to a nickname. Frank couldn’t decide if he wanted to slap himself or Gerard more.

“Come, chill out for a sec.” At Gerard’s words, Frank took one deep breath, maintaining eye contact. He stood up, turned towards their temporary rooms, and he stomped away.

No one attempted to stop him.

In a couple of swift motions, he repacked his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and stomped out through the gift shop, to the console system next to the vans. Everyone grew silent and watched him as he made his way through, no one attempting to stop him.

Joey was still missing when Frank reached the little metal box. Frank quickly made his way over to the edge of the peak, pushing his body hard up against the rope. He took a deep breath as the wind whipped his hair around. Even with the sun pouring heat over him, his skin still prickled from the chill of the air.

He peered around the clouds, finding small symbols and shapes—one looked vaguely like a dog… or maybe a cat… some sort of four-legged creature with a tail, a lot of them looked like fish swimming between the different cloud ponds floating between them.

Frank pulled his pack of joints out again, peering down into the soon to be empty cartoon. His anxiety gripped his stomach as he feared having to deal with this entire mess without an easy way to cope. He stuffed the pack away again, lighting the joint quickly.

As he peered out into the clouds again, he saw one that looked like a heart.

“Hey, Frank!” Frank jumped and spun around to see Charlotte and Layla coming towards him from around the building. Charlotte was waving, Frank thought he saw a real smile on Layla that wasn’t annoyed.

He was able to smoke a few hits before they met up at the little metal box, Frank helping to close the gap between them quicker. He offered the joint to them, both declined.

“What’re you up to?” Charlotte asked, pointing at Frank’s bag. He could hear her own anxiety dripping off her tongue.

“Oh, I think I’m going to just go scout for a bit.” Frank answered too quickly, but Charlotte chose not to push. She could sense his own anxiety just as well. “Need to get some energy out.” An uncomfortable chuckle escaped his throat.

“Do you need a lift down?” Layla offered, moving towards the metal console.

“Uh…” Frank hesitated, he wasn’t the best at thinking on his feet, but he had a strong feeling no one else was sober enough to drive. “Yeah. Yeah, could you drive me down. Uh—please?” Frank was obviously not used to asking for help. “Thanks. I’d really appreciate it.”

Layla could sense Frank trying to get out of some sort of situation, so she didn’t wait to punch in a pass-code that popped the door to the cabinet open. Inside had keys and walkie-talkies like the ones at the base of the mountain, but this one lacked bank bags, making it feel oddly empty.

She grabbed some keys and motioned for them to follow; Frank didn’t wait as he huffed faster at the joint. Charlotte was more than happy to go wherever Layla went and followed close behind them.

“Give me one sec.” Frank requested. Layla started the van and hopped in with Charlotte while Frank stood outside, finishing his joint with his eyes closed and face pointed towards the sun. Each puff felt heavy in his lungs. He thought about how he wasn’t smoking as much, the high was hitting his anxiety hard as he began to feel the filter leave his lips puffy from the heat.

“Mind if I join ya?” Frank jumped at the sound of Gerard’s voice beside him. Gerard had somehow made his way to Frank without making a sound, Frank half blamed the fact that the two women in the car were yapping about what music to listen to on the way down.

“And if I say I do?” Frank’s question hardly sounded like one, his eyes drilling holes into Gerard’s.

It only pissed off Frank more when Gerard smirked at him. He took one step closer, shrinking Frank as he looked down at him. Frank despised his body for how it felt being like prey to Gerard.

The way his eyes half closed, slightly biting his lip with a fang, he looked villainous. Frank knew he would drop to his knees and become Gerard’s evil minion anytime he wanted, but the face he was making right now helped to provide proof of Frank’s weakness. His dick fighting against his jeans.

Frank broke the eye contact, taking one final hit before stubbing the butt and turning away from him. Gerard followed regardless. They both climbed into opposing seats yet neither spoke, contrary to Charlotte and Layla, who couldn’t stop talking. They took no mind to the men behind them.

Frank spent the hour staring out his window, over the cliff, watching as the ground slowly grew closer and closer. Gerard spent the time staring at Frank, waiting for him to turn around. He didn’t even look at Gerard until they reached the base of the mountain and got out.

Frank began his journey around the back of the base, alone, to where their car was parked. He had swiped the car key when he grabbed his bag from the room. He wasn’t going to leave, he just wanted to do a silent, sit in protest until someone noticed he was gone.

“Hey!” Gerard had chatted momentarily with Charlotte and Layla after stretching from the long drive, not realizing Frank had started to leave quickly. When Frank heard Gerard shouting, his feet moved faster. “Frankie!” Frank squeezed his eyes shut, fuck… His dick pulsed. “Wait up!”

Frank paused. And waited. Gerard caught up within seconds. He huffed a thank you that Frank didn’t respond to before they both started towards the car again.

The walk was short but secluded. They didn’t say a word to each other the entire walk; when a duo of wall walkers route met theirs, they both nodded a hello in sync. Frank’s breath caught in his throat; he hated himself for being so gullible.

Frank waited until the car was in sight before clicking the locks, Gerard did a very dramatic gasp beside him. “You swiped the keys?!” He exclaimed through a smile. Frank just rolled his eyes in response.

When they reached the car, Frank yanked open the bag seat and threw his bag in. “I’m going to nap, so you can either—” But Gerard cut him off.

“You’re going to nap?” Gerard narrowed his eyes. “You basically just woke up. Have you even eaten yet?”

If the devil were real, he was in control of the grumbling of Frank’s stomach because it signaled in that moment. A hot blush spread over Frank’s cheeks while Gerard flashed a proud smile. The fucking weed, I shouldn’t have had that second joint… His stomach screamed as he clutched it into silence.

“Let’s hang out for a bit down here, maybe go for a walk, then we can—”

“SHUT UP.” Frank broke. “Shut up, you’ve been such a dick to me ever since we got here!” Gerard stood stunned, staring at Frank as he shoved his finger against Gerard's chest, waiting for him to continue. “I called you out at the gas station and you said you’d stop. Now you’re being even worse, you’re getting lazy and high and, and, you’re flirting!!” Frank threw a finger into Gerard’s chest as he glared up at him.

Gerard was just smiling, Frank boiled hotter.

"I’m... flirting." Gerard replied, unable to hide his amusement. "That's why you're so upset? You think I'm flirting. With Bert?" Frank realized suddenly how utterly sober Gerard was. It made him sober in seconds.

"I don't think you are, you very clearly are." Gerard scoffed at Franks accusation, refusing to break eye contact. 

"I didn't know you were the jealous type." Gerard quipped.

“I’m NOT! The jealous type!” Frank emphasized, like a nuisance.

Gerard just kept grinning.

Frank so badly wanted to punch him.

“I think you definitely are.” Frank watched as Gerard’s eyes flickered down to stare at his lips, it was momentary, but Gerard had to rip himself away. That's when Frank realized, with Gerard's vocal fluctuation, that he was flirting. 

Frank couldn’t help but get hard almost immediately, Gerard grabbed each of his wrists and held them above his head, against the door frame. “Took you long enough.” Gerard moaned into Franks neck as he moved in. Quickly kissing the crook where his throat and shoulder met, he moved up his neck to his chin, breathing heavily against his prickling skin. Gerard shoved his knee between Frank’s legs, squishing his thigh against his already hurting erection.

“You’re such an asshole…” Frank breathed into Gerard’s mouth as he moved into a needy kiss. Neither of them waited before inviting the other in, their tongues twisting and licking each other aggressively.

Frank used Gerard’s nicely placed knee to ride against. As they traded spit, the heat of the metal car burned Frank’s wrists. He grew hotter and hotter the longer their tongues intermingled.

Gerard’s mind started to numb from the pleasure of Frank grinding against him, he didn’t realize his hips were moving in a rhythm with Franks. The roughness of both of their jeans created agony between their groins, scraping them both painfully but neither could hold back.

It took them a long time before they could pull away from each other. Drool was spilling down their chins, pre-cum staining their jeans. Frank chased Gerard’s mouth when he finally pulled away. Gerard had that villainous smirk again that made Frank’s hips buck against Gerard’s rough bulge.

“I may be an asshole, but you never told me you’d be jealous of strangers.” Gerard snickered, poking fun at Frank, making him roll his eyes nearly out of his skull. Gerard moved in and nipped Frank’s throat; a yelp jumped from his throat. Gerard couldn’t resist giggling as Frank attempted to pull his wrists free, and failing.

“You clearly wanted me to be jealous, you fucking—” Frank was cut off by an aggressive kiss from Gerard.

Frank growled as Gerard yanked their lips apart again. “You’re the one who was so easy—”

“Asshole!” Frank nearly yelled into Gerard’s face as he was pushed onto his back, into the backseat of the car. Gerard quickly trailed kisses down his neck, then chest. Lifting his shirt, he continued down his stomach, causing Frank to buck up. Gerard placed his palm on Frank’s cock, applying pressure as Frank thrusted into him.

“Down, boy.” Gerard smirked down as he rubbed himself against Franks throbbing dick. Frank couldn’t stop the yelp he let out as he felt himself grow closer to finishing again.

They huffed into each other’s faces, staring deeply, sharing the moment as it slowed. “I think I lo—” Frank choked. Gagging on his own words while Gerard’s head tilted.

“You think what?” Gerard probed.

Frank knew what he was about to say. He wasn’t going to let himself say it.

“I think I… I think I loathe being outside.” He spoke in a quick panic. Gerard’s face twisted into disbelief for a moment before it melted into sweet understanding while Frank’s two fingers tapped his arm lightly.

Their eye connection never broke; Gerard didn’t bring it up. Instead, he gave Frank a soft smile, kissed his cheek and said, “We can discuss hard limits with each other when we aren’t sleeping in the same room as strangers… or my brother…” Gerard whispered into Frank’s neck. Kissing one final time before pushing himself up and moving out of the car, offering a hand to pull Frank up with him.

Frank couldn’t admit to himself how badly he wanted to continue, but how thankfully he was for Gerard not pushing him to do more.

“Do you really want to stay in here by yourself, or can we walk back together?” Gerard offered his hand out to Frank, a soft smile painting his lips.

Frank’s heart fluttered heavily, his erection refusing to deflate. He accepted. Taking Gerard’s hand as if they were entering a ballroom as the main attraction. Gerard dramatically bowed and threw his arm out for Frank, “Lead the way, Frankie.”

Frank’s eyes burned from the rolling as he fought down his erection while walking back to the base where they left Charlotte and Layla.

Chapter 22

Gerard never apologized…

Frank tortured himself with that thought as they met up at the welcome center again. As soon as they arrived, the other van holding Ray, Mikey and Bert pulled in. An entire seat was covered in everyone else’s bags. Gerard and Frank greeted everyone as they climbed out, Bert yanking Gerard into a hug as if they weren’t just hanging out. Frank rolled his eyes.

“Shift change is happening.” Bert told them as eight wall walkers emerged from the building, going straight to the vans. Charlotte and Layla moved with the crowd to rejoin their group. Bert stopped one of the random wall walkers as he attempted to move past, “Not you, Dan. You’re going to come with me. Let’s go, everyone!” Bert started off the exact way Frank and Gerard just came from.

Dan had a mostly shaved head with thin, blonde hair sitting like a mop on top. The heat caused him to sweat so much during his shift that his hair was clumping from the increase of grease.

Frank was confused, but it was Gerard’s head that tilted as he asked, “Where are you going?”

“To escort you to The City, of course.” Frank’s stomach dropped while Bert continued to walk with Dan.

“It’s quite the drive.” Ray remarked, noticing the tension between his friends and Bert since they arrived. “Frank said we were still a couple hours away when we last could check, right Frank?”

Frank’s arms folded over his chest, anger not even trying to hide from his face. “Yup.” He stated stiffly.

“Nonsense!” Bert slapped Ray on the shoulder, “The City’s only, like, thirty minutes that way.” Bert then pointed in the same direction they drove back from when they first discovered The Den.

Gerard’s realization hit immediately. “Oh, you think we’re going to Colorado City!” Ray’s face mimicked his realization.

“Well, obviously.” Bert said through a laugh, Ray pulled himself away from Bert’s gripping fingers as they tightened on his shoulder. “Where else were you expecting?”

“Denver. We have plans to go to Denver.” Frank spoke out, it was Bert’s turn to look confused.

“Oh, yeah, that drive is going to be a couple hours.”

Frank rolled his eyes, Thank you, Mr. Obvious. He thought Bert’s confusion looked forced, possibly staged.

“Hey, Dan?” The wall walker Bert pulled aside looked at him now, curiously. “What do you say to a weekend getaway?” Dan looked excited as he expressed it sounded fun. It was clear he was younger, Frank guessed he might still be in his teens. He was awkward as he stood with everyone, listening in but barely adding any commentary.

Layla’s hands flew into the air, one finding its place on her hip while she spoke with the other, “Excuse me! Hold on,” She halted the vans from leaving. “When did I agree to running this place on my own?” She didn’t sound angry, but she definitely wasn’t joking.

“We’ll be back before dinner tomorrow. Plus, you’ve got Jeph.” Bert’s voice sounded like condescending venom as he clapped his hands together and gave her a tight smile, immediately spinning on his heels and walking away before anyone got the chance to stop him again.

Layla didn’t hide her displeasure as she hugged Charlotte goodbye, Charlotte getting slightly choked up, thankful to find friends while the world ends. Layla wasn’t nearly as broken up, but she didn’t hide the sympathy as it painted her face.

Charlotte caught up quickly to Ray as he covered the back of the group. Bert led with Dan following closely behind. Gerard, Mikey and Frank were scattered around between the duos, Frank occasionally kicked a rock to display his displeasure.

Naturally, Bert was the first to reach their car. He leaned against the hood while everyone else caught up.

“So, who’s comin’ with me?” Bert asked with a huge smile, eyeing Gerard lustfully.

But the group shared a harsh look of confusion that offended Bert.

“What? I saw how cramped you guys were when you showed up. Figured I’d offer help.” His voice was stern now, losing its previous playfulness that Frank despised. When no one said anything, Bert offered again, “So?”

“Thanks for the offer, Bert, but I think we’ll all stick together for now.” Relief flooded Frank as Gerard answered the way he’d hoped. “We’ll follow reeeeeaaaallll close behind though.” It was Gerard’s turn to flash a condescending smile this time, moving past Bert to the driver’s side door.

Suddenly, I’m not too upset he was hiding those keys… Frank thought as he followed Ray and Charlotte to the backseat.

“Fine. Suit yourself.” Frank thought Bert was going to storm away but he turned back towards them one more time before leaving, “Follow close, I’m known for my fast driving. Oh, and don’t accelerate or brake too fast, you don’t wanna alert the forest walkers.”

Wall walkers, forest walkers… Next thing I know, they’re going to call the zombies roaming the city, city walkers. Frank sneered then snickered at his thoughts quietly as everyone got comfortable. Bert and Dan quickly peeled out of the lot in a black truck before Gerard could even get the car started.

 

---

 

The drive was long, and boring. It was mostly wooded area until they got back on the main road and returned to the disgustingly hot desert. The predicted two-hour long drive ended up being a little over three and a half hours because of the wreckage that only got worse the closer they got to Denver.

There weren’t many zombies, thankfully, and the ones that did take notice of them were too slow to catch up. As they rolled up to the ‘Denver. Population: 729,019’ sign, Frank couldn’t help but break a sweat over how much of that was even still alive.

By now, the night had taken over. As the sun set during their drive, Frank feared for what would come next. Bert clearly knew Colorado City well enough, and Pikes Peak, but what about Denver?

Frank’s mind reeled with questions, fear and anxiety intermingling at the base of his stomach with each new one that his brain concocted.

Bert had slowed to a stop in the middle of the street, waiting with his windows open for Gerard to roll up next to them.

“So, you plan on showin’ us the city in the morning light?” Gerard quipped from their respective vehicle.

Bert cackled, “Wouldn’t have had to wait until morning if we just went to The City instead.”

“Got a plan for where we can stay, then? Since you insisted on coming.” Gerard and Bert were sparing their words in a way that made everyone around them uncomfortable. The cool night air kissed Frank’s face momentarily, he put his face against the back of Gerard’s seat listening to the two grown men spat about what to do next.

Denver was by far the worst city they’d been to in terms of zombies and abandoned cars, so when Bert told them about a parking garage in the center of the city that was near their safe-house, Frank nearly blew.

Bert was detailing where they’d have to drive, then where they could walk to sleep for the night when Frank interrupted him, “You didn’t think to mention how bad the infection was here before we left?”

But Bert only shrugged, taking no accountability, “You guys seemed pretty hell bent on coming here so I wasn’t going to argue.” Frank caught a sly grin creep onto Bert’s face for a split second before it disappeared again.

No one else noticed.

Bert spoke to him in a much less playful way than he did with Gerard. The sarcasm that was lacing his previous words disappeared, his voice now stone cold.

Frank didn’t bother to say anything. Instead, he closed his eyes and chose to ignore them while they discussed the different locations they’d be heading to.

To Franks dismay, Gerard didn’t even try to argue. Instead, he agreed to everything and said nothing as they all silently drove behind Bert’s truck.

It took twenty long minutes to get to where Bert was directing them. Frank watched out his window as groups of zombies became disturbed by the noise they were making. There was little hesitation from them as most turned and began dragging their melted, sand-covered feet through the asphalt streets.

The car suffered through jumping curbs as they went off road multiple times to get around wreckage, Frank wondered if Gerard was regretting this yet or not.

While Frank watched piles of cars shake as zombies popped out of windows like worms out of an apple, Ray broke the silence.

“Hey, Gerard… Since no one else will do it, I gotta tell ya, man… You’ve been acting weird ever since we got here. Why are we trusting this guy so much?”

Frank wouldn’t make it obvious that he agreed, instead he silently watched out the window as the conversation instantly became hostile.

“What is with you guys?” The anger was unmistakable. Gerard’s eyes showed them as well, through the rear-view. “Are you jealous my attention is being taken up by someone else?” Ray was taken aback, instantly catching Gerard’s eyes as they flicked from himself over to Frank for a split second.

Frank ignored them.

Gerard’s anger did rub off onto Ray, though. “I just think… You’re pretty open to making friends after the shit we just got out of.”

That’s because we weren’t there… Frank thought, keeping his eyes fixed outside as hordes of zombies would follow behind them. He blamed himself for indulging in Gerard, assuming maybe if they hadn’t split up, they could’ve saved Scarlet, but he couldn’t help but think… How did you guys make such good friends with those cannibals, Ray…?

Frank’s brain ran through different scenarios that could explain why they got caught up, but the idea’s all fell apart as the conversation in the car got more heated.

“They offered us shelter when we showed up as strangers. They gave us food, a place to sleep, a fucking shower—”

“Only Frank got to shower.” Mikey cut in, Gerard growled. “And Ray’s right, how do you think we ended up drugged? Why are we following this guy around? We’ve gotten this far with little to no help.”

“Little to no help?” Gerard’s voice was dripping with frustration. “We’ve had plenty of help since we left home. Two of those examples are sitting in the back seat right now.” Charlotte blushed and attempted to shrink herself into the seat. Frank continued to stare, stone-faced, out the window.

“Yeah, but they’re different.” Ray argued.

“How!?” Gerard’s hands flew off the wheel and into the air for a second before slamming back down and gripping until his knuckles went white. “How are Frank and Charlotte joining us any different than meeting Bert and his friends. We took Frank and Charlotte, Bert’s not even staying with us!”

“They were alone, they had no one else, of course we were going to help them.” Compassion shined through Ray’s words as he gushed about their rescues. “Bert and Layla have a whole crew already. Shit, they have an entire village essentially! The only other community we’ve run into wanted to kill us! Why should we trust them?”

“In a post-apocalyptic world, there is no more money. All we got is humans and haggling. They didn’t immediately kill or drug us, and they helped without question. Plus, they’re willing to show us where to go around here, how does any of that sound bad to you guys?”

“You’ve never needed someone to ‘show you where to go’.” Mikey’s gaze fixed onto his brother. “Actually, you’re somehow really good at going places alone.” That stabbed into Frank’s chest, remembering the way he felt when they first met.

The fear that coursed through him as he got himself started in the new world, unsure of where to go or who to trust. Until the scary man with a shotgun pointed at his face showed up and became his knight in greasy, blood covered armor.

Maybe… I was too trusting… Frank’s heart twisted painfully, thankful he hadn’t confessed his previous feelings of love to Gerard. The feelings were still there but if Gerard didn’t feel the same, he’d rather avoid making himself look like a fool.

“Mike, you were up all night with us. I don’t know why I need to explain myself. You saw how well we all got along.”

“Actually, I went to bed shortly after Ray. I don’t know when you came to bed.”

And there it is. Frank suddenly wanted to puke as Gerard and Mikey went silent, glaring at each other. The vomit couldn’t wait for Frank to breathe before crawling through his esophagus. The accusatory tone of Mikey’s voice made Gerard’s face beet red as he stumbled over his next few words.

“We weren’t up that much later, and we weren’t alone!” 

“No, you weren’t alone. You had each other.” Ray shrunk out of the conversation silently alongside Charlotte. Both peering at each other with big eyes as the brothers were at each other’s throats.

“I wasn’t out all night with him.”

“You weren’t in bed when I feel asleep, or after I woke up.”

“I got up early to make coffee.”

“Your sheets looked like you threw them around, not like you slept on them.”

“You know I have trouble sleeping!” Gerard hissed as he yelled at his brother. The entire car became eerily silent; Mikey’s angry gaze bore deep holes that Gerard attempted to ignore as they swerved around and bounced out of their seats following Bert’s guidance.

“Did he help you catch a few hours or was he helping keep you up?” Mikey’s question came out more like a statement as Gerard’s fist slammed into the wheel, silencing even his brother now, who still refused to look away. Frank held back as the vomit tickled his uvula, setting off his gag reflex. He hid it well because no one seemed to notice.

“Drop it, Mike.”

“I’ll drop it when Bert proves to not be a piece of shit who eats other people.” Mikey twisted quickly to look at Charlotte, her face going pink at the sudden attention on her. “Sorry.” He hardly sounded sorry, but Frank was starting to believe Mikey did care about them all, he was just bad at showing it. And sounding like it…  

Charlotte said nothing, she just nodded awkwardly before Mikey looked back at Gerard.

“You can’t just go assuming everyone is trying to eat us just because we’ve had one unlucky run in.”

“I dunno, Gerard, I feel like that’s all the evidence I need that we should be fucking careful about who we start to trust.”

“Just give him a chance.” The vomit Frank was desperately trying to swallow back finally pushing through at the softening of Gerard’s voice, Mikey aggressively scratched at his bandaged arm, flexing his fingers to stop himself. The timing was perfect as Bert finally pulled them into a ramp and led them up to the second floor to park.

Frank threw open his door before Gerard could come to a complete stop. The contents of his stomach, thankful for lunch being mostly digested, came out smooth with a harsh burn down the length of his throat.

Bert had parked their truck across the aisle. He cackled at Frank as He and Dan approached. There were only a handful of cars in the ramp with them, and they were widely spaced apart. There were no zombies in sight, something Frank noticed immediately.

Bert’s hand clapped onto Frank’s shoulder as he threw up a round of water mixed with stomach acid. The mingling mixture reached his shoes, his head grew hot, and his vision darkened around the edges as he watched the liquid spread out in front of them.

“Not used to seeing so many city walkers, eh bud?” Frank near to fainting couldn’t fathom caring about responding to Bert’s condescending remarks. It wasn’t the zombies that made him sick, they never made him sick anymore.

Frank wiped his mouth as his friends grabbed their bags and weapons from the trunk. “I’m fine.” He pushed Bert away roughly before grabbing his things from Ray’s outstretched arm. Bert chuckled in response, moving to be in front of everyone.

Frank noticed Dan was holding both of their weapons, but no bags.

“Welcome to Denver, my friends!” Bert bowed, Mikey slammed the trunk, everyone suddenly became an audience member. “I will be leading you to our safe room, it is in the office space of an abandoned building but trust me, it’ll be free of any building roamers.” Bert’s smug face made Frank roll his eyes and cross his arms. “We just have to get past them first so, Dan, if you’d be my assistant.”

Bert held out an empty palm that Dan replaced with a handgun and machete. He tucked the handgun into the back of his jeans and strapped the machete to his thigh.

“Lead the way!” Dan’s voice nearly shocked Frank as he had already forgotten what it sounded like.

Bert yanked out the oversized knife and pointed it towards the exit down the ramp. At the entrance of the garage, three zombies had stayed pacing back and forth as if they weren’t allowed in. All three had ripped clothing that were splotched with black and brown stains, two were dragging their feet slowly while the third had a limp so bad her entire body would drop a few inches with each step.

They all very clearly had chunks of skin melted or melting off from the heat, displaying the dry, red muscle underneath in some areas and dirty, white bones in others. Bert and Dan led the approach, slowing down once they were only a few yards away. Bert held out his arm to make everyone else halt.

Dan continued to follow silently crouching behind Bert, until Bert let out an ear-splitting whistle that bounced off the cement blocks surrounding them. Dan and Bert prepared a small blockade with their bodies side by side, each holding a large blade in preparation.

Frank suddenly questioned the zombie’s intelligence because the previously limping and dragging bodies whipped their heads at the sound and broke out into a near sprint causing Charlotte to squeal and hide behind a nearby car.

Bert and Dan wasted no time taking them out, though. Even with the zombies outnumbering them, Bert and Dan easily chopped into them together like a grotesque murder dance. Each took a swing at one, then would swing at another after the recoil.

Frank could hear the slashing of metal against bone as they easily sliced through the rotting corpses, blood pooled on the ground below them with slices of flesh as the zombies were shredding by their quick movements.

Charlotte rejoined the group as Bert and Dan continued to brutally destroy their limbs long after they stopped twitching. Frank and her shared a look of disgust at the sheer pulpification of human remains occurring before their eyes.

Gerard was the one to break off first and head down towards the blood covered men, the rest were quick to follow.

It wasn’t until Gerard reached the other two that they finally stopped. They looked wild with their heavy breathing, disheveled hair, and sweaty faces. Bert made them more uneasy when he smiled with his teeth, reminding Frank of Patrick Bateman with blood splattered across his face.

“You’re going to make us cover ourselves in that, aren’t you.” Mikey’s annoyance was obvious, but Bert ignored it.

“I’m gonna make ya cover yourself in it.” Bert’s smile never faded, but Mikey didn’t fight him. He just sighed and followed Dan and Bert as they dipped their hands into the viscera and scooped some out.

They spent the next thirty minutes covering patches of their exposed skin with the body smoothie, begrudgingly applying some chunks to their clothes as well. Frank felt the warm handfuls of blood soak through his clothes and chill as it stuck to his body hair.

It was well into the night when they finally took to the streets, the moon was nearly center sky now and illuminated the roads well.

“Do we need to act like them too?” Frank whispered before dragging a foot and rumbling a low moan out. Charlotte giggled at him, but Bert only glared at them.

“No, they mostly smell us. And your acting sucks.” Bert turned back to lead, ignoring Frank as he took it a step further. Frank groaned again as he threw an arm dramatically in front of himself while stumbling into Gerard, snapping his jaw loudly twice before laughing at himself with Charlotte.

Bert led them down different tight alleys lined with overflowing dumpsters and dead bodies well past the point of reanimation… Frank hoped. Nothing twitched as they went by, but that could’ve also been due to the bodily mush currently spread on their bodies like jam.

They stalked among the shadows as silently as they could, easily avoiding any form of confrontation; Frank got that gut feeling again that told him something was wrong. He clutched his arms around his stomach to attempt quenching the pain, but that alongside his growing hunger hurt.

The sound of their steps matched the sound of Charlotte’s brittle nails crumbling as she picked at them with panicked haste. Frank’s stomach grumbled loudly, earning him a smirk from Gerard. But Frank couldn’t smile through the pain.

When Bert finally stopped them at a grey door with EMERGENCY EXIT in red across it, they were all feeling a bit feisty from hunger. Charlotte jumped forward with her mouth open but before anything could come out, Bert yanked open the door setting off the alarm.

Charlotte squealed and everyone covered their ears quickly, the siren sounding off louder than anything they’d heard in weeks.

Chapter 23

With the screaming siren causing everyone to curl into themselves, no one realized what happened when the door slammed shut again. Bert, Dan, and Gerard nowhere to be seen. The siren continued to destroy their eardrums as a loud grumbling hoard made the earth shake below.

Frank was the first to compose himself and push past the blaring noise. He immediately attempted opening the door, pushing and pulling did nothing.

Mikey joined him quickly using all his power to work at the door, but it wouldn’t budge. While they made the door groan, Ray stepped back to examine the building. With no electricity, it was too dark to know exactly how tall the building was, but he could make out windows starting on the second floor.

“Let’s get around to the front and try that door!” Ray yelled at them; the sheer panic everyone was experiencing prevented much thought as they agreed and bolted.

Even with the lack of arguing, their time had already run out. The alleyway Bert took them down originally was now filled with zombies so tightly compacted they struggled to move forward.

The closer it got, the more Frank could see the bodies were all melted together creating one large monster. Arms of one melted into the hips and legs of others created a disturbing, Cronenberg-esc beast.

The skin around its mouths stretched tight with each groan, bones snapped as each one attempted to pull apart from the mass unsuccessfully with each step. Each chomp from a starved mouth spread spit everywhere.

The mostly naked creature scraped harshly along the cement walls, blood and flesh sloshed off leaving a grotesque trail of viscera. As legs unnervingly moved the mass with desperate haste, overflowing garbage bags popped easily and pulled along underneath it.

The exit alarm was preventing everyone’s brain from fully functioning, Charlotte got a look at the zomberg, Frank decided to call the thing, and screamed along with the siren. The guys were stunned into silence, Frank thought the dogs were the most fucked up thing they’d stumble upon, but this took the cake.

Mikey threw up without warning in front of the door. Ray had already sprang into action, he shoved a dumpster against the wall, under the closest window.

He tested the sturdiness of the garbage before reaching his hand out to Charlotte and shouting, “Come on! Get on here and crawl though the window!”

“What if it doesn’t open!?” Ray gripped Charlotte’s wrist and offered her his bat, swapping her for the club she was carrying.

“Use this and smash it open!” The scraping skin squelched the closer it got, Charlotte played with the barbed wire around Ray’s bat, checking over her shoulder momentarily as the beast’s mouths growled in unison.

When Charlotte looked back at Ray, her eyes were full of tears as she registered what she needed to do. She couldn’t hold back her sob as snot shot out of her nose, fear overtook her as small creatures, melted together like the zomberg, crawled out of the shadows and hissed at them as they huddled closer to stay away.

With Ray’s help, Charlotte hopped onto the trash can lid and attempted to push open the window. Below, the squishing sound of a small animal being bashed cut through Charlotte’s fear more than once.

With another scream, she swung the bat into the glass. But it bounced off, throwing her arm backward, she stumbled. Ray caught her and helped keep her on her feet.

“You can do it!” He encouraged. She saw Mikey slam his bat into a melted king rat creature; it exploded like a water balloon. Frank was hacking at the zomberg in the alley, slicing off outstretched limbs while leaving deep wounds that popped open with a warm squelch each time his axe connected with flesh.

Charlotte got a second wind of self-assurance as she saw how hard her friends were fighting to stay alive and she threw the bat into the window again. It bounced off, but she was better prepared this time. She took her recoil and used it to hit the window harder. With the next bounce off, her arm was strong with confidence, and she smashed the bat through.

The sound of the glass shattering came at the same time as the siren ending. Their ears rang in the new silence, unable to hear the chomping growl coming from the zomberg until their hearing came back.

But Charlotte didn’t wait before throwing Ray’s bat in and slamming her hands into the window frame. A yell of pain rippled from her throat as the broken glass cut up her palms and chest as she yanked her body through the window. Rolling onto the floor, she made sure to avoid the barb wired on the bat the best she could before jumping up and going back to help the others crawl through.

Ray had gotten Mikey up the trash next, he fought off the little animalistic zombergs that were surrounding them as Mikey climbed. Like moths to a flame, the small creatures scurried out with more grotesque bodies that included different limbs like the heads of cats and the wings birds.

Mikey needed no help as he did a front roll into the hallway next to Charlotte. Ray encouraged Frank up next. Frank had assumed he and Charlotte were the same height, until now. His arms and legs were outstretched and in pain from his attempts at the zomberg.

Charlotte offered her hand to him, but he shoved the axe into it instead of taking it. “Take this first!” He shouted, a long scraping followed by a disgustingly wet plop gained the attention of everyone.

The zomberg finally popped itself out of the cement prison it was stuck in. Landing on what was most likely its face first, it pushed itself back up instantly, training its sights on them. A hoard of zombies were freed and flooded into their space.

Frank only froze for a moment this time, refusing to let the anxiety take over, he jumped on the lid attempting to grab the bottom of the frame.

“Agh!” Frank’s hands were cut deeply as he hit the frame and fell from the shock. The lid dented in and threatened to break under his weight.

“Frank, get your ass up here NOW!” Mikey screamed at him, throwing his arm down towards him. Frank watched Ray whack the zomberg creature as it gushed blood from the wounds he previously left. He pushed off the solo zombies that attempted to snap their jaws at him “FRANK!”

Frank grabbed Mikey’s hand and climbed up the wall, falling through the window on top of him. Frank lay between Mikey’s legs, their eyes met, and both blushed as Frank scrambled to get up to his axe.

Charlotte’s yelling gained both of their attention instantly as Frank saw her hanging out the window, “Ray, please just grab my hand!!” Her voice was desperate, Frank and Mikey didn’t have to think before moving to the window beside her.

Ray was below, still fighting the zomberg while grotesquely bent over. Pushing off the free zombies and melted animals that nipped at his arms and legs. Ray kicked out multiple times to keep the animals at bay, but they were growing in number quicker than he could handle, and the zomberg wasn’t slowing down.

“Ray, don’t be a hero, get your ass over here!” Mikey yelled, stretching out his body further than Charlotte could’ve.

But Ray ignored them, he continued to slash at the zomberg with the golf club. The wire around it would occasionally slash open more wounds on the creature that were so thin they’d clot before blood could even drip out.

A screech bellowed from the square-ish mass, followed almost immediately by a scream from the freaky animal creatures around Ray’s ankles. The zomberg began throwing its body towards Ray, attempting to close the gap that he attempted to make wider. As he inched closer to the nearly caved in garbage, Ray peered up at his friends.

Mikey and Charlotte both reaching desperately towards Ray, pleads falling off their tongues as Ray just watched them. Something clicked in Frank as Ray finally moved his gaze to the only one not offering help.

Time nearly paused for Frank as he watched Ray smile, take a deep breath, and say, “Save yourselves, I’ll hold them back!” He kicked over the trash, jumping onto it and finally snapping the plastic that supported the life of the group.

Frank took a breath with Ray and for a moment he felt like they were in sync. They both knew what was going to happen next and Ray was making sure they could keep going.

Survive, for him.

Ray twisted away from the zomberg and smashed some of the pests around his feet. Frank was transfixed on the explosion of blood from each little weirdly hairy, flesh mass to realize what Charlotte and Mikey were starting to beg against.

“Ray, don’t fucking do this to us, please!” Frank had never heard Mikey so sad before, even when he shared his story about Pete. There was a desperation that had never quite reached his throat before now. Frank heard the tears threaten to drop from Mikey’s sad eyes as he watched them fall from Charlotte’s angry ones.

“Ray, please!! We can’t do this without you!” Charlotte screamed to release the anger that built quickly inside. Frank was familiar with the feeling, but he never indulged in the release. Frank knew what was going to happen next, and he couldn’t accept it even as he watched it happen.

Ray twisted his body back towards the zomberg, throwing the club behind his head. With a yell, he began rapidly slashing at the zomberg while the animal masses jumped and latched onto him wherever they could. Tiny claws peeled through the fabric of Ray’s clothes as he screamed, wincing at the teeth gnawing at his skin.

The screaming coming from Ray’s mouth as the zombies weakened him were deafening. Frank fell to the floor; he couldn’t watch as his friend was devoured in a back alley. The small beasts feasted on Ray’s legs as he did all he could to fight back against the piling solo zombies.

Mikey and Charlotte were stunned as Ray’s limbs were gnawed off of him, the animals ate away at his plump flesh, the zomberg slammed its body on top of Ray with a shout. Ray fought underneath for a few moments before the suffocation took him.

Frank listened as his muffled shouts ceased. Charlotte dropped to her knees first, staring blankly at the carpet below her. Mikey took a long time to finally leave the window; the zombies below had mostly gone silent after claiming Ray’s body.

Mikey fell back onto his legs much like Charlotte had, his gaze just as blank as he stared ahead of him at nothing in particular. Frank’s heart hurt, his stomach threatened to push up nothing, and he wanted to just lay down and give up as he attempted to accept Ray was gone.

A loud plastic crunched below them, and Frank knew it was the trash crumbling underneath the weight of the zombies walking over it.

Charlotte’s nearly silent sobs piqued Frank’s brain as it attempted to black out what he had witnessed, the trauma was trying to suppress itself before he could even process it. A banging alerted Frank to where they were now.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck….

A darkly carpeted hallway with numerous doors stretched out in front of them. Each door had a thick, black electronic lock preventing them from entering except the one at the end of the hall, where the banging came from.

Needing to get away from the squelching of the zombergs wet jaws gnawing at his friend, Frank grabbed his axe and ran onto his feet towards the rattling door. Mikey followed quickly behind, grabbing his bat and leaving Charlotte to compose herself.

Frank hesitated once he reached the door, “Should I open it?”

Mikey’s jaw clenched tightly, anger boiling behind his eyes, “How else are we going to kill them?” He hissed, hardly sounding like a question.

Frank’s mouth tightened into a line before he used the axe to push the door handle down and yank it open. Mikey readied his bat as a single zombie stumbled through the door with raised arms.

His bat collided with the zombie’s head immediately, giving no one time to think as blood splashed back at them. Mikey helped the body fall backwards with another whack of his bat. Even though the head was already mostly mush, Mikey smacked down again. And again. And again. BANG. Again. BANG. Again. BANG.

It wasn’t until the barbed wire snagged on the rug underneath the eviscerated skull that Frank finally grabbed Mikey’s arms and held him back from doing more damage.

Charlotte watched from the window still; her fingers worked hard at destroying her cuticles while her eyes stared deeply into the carpet. She wasn’t aware of what Frank and Mikey were doing.

“Come on.” Mikey’s voice cracked as he stared into the smooshed brain congealing at their feet. Frank’s eyes swapped back and forth between Charlotte and Mikey, unsure of what to do next. Charlotte wouldn’t move; she was visibly shaking before him. Mikey, on the opposite side, was robotic with his movements. Eyes straight forward and glassed over as he made his way into the dark building. Refusing to wait on Frank.

Frank decided Charlotte needed him more and dropped to a knee in front of her, grabbing her shoulders to shake her a little. “Charlotte.” Frank did as stern a voice he could, but he couldn’t cut through. She just stared at him with the same expression she previously gave the floor.

The sound of another skull smashing easily between mushy brain and skin came from within the darkness Mikey ventured into. Frank peered over his shoulder momentarily before returning his attention to Charlotte.

“Charlotte. Please. Don’t give up now. I’m not letting you give up.” Frank’s arms were under her armpits before she could wipe the snot off her nose. Without warning, she broke into a loud, wet sob. Frank was so used to her outbursts now; he just continued to drag her towards the way Mikey went.

She struggled slightly against Frank’s arms every few steps, but the fight in her was dead and gone, she would never be able to scrub the scenes of her best friends dying from her mind. Every night after this, Charlotte’s brain would conjure nightmares of her remaining friend’s brutal deaths until her own arrived.

These nightmares would intermingle with the real images of Ray and Scarlet’s deaths, both of which lived in the depths of her neural folds. Plaguing her brain with constant images and flashbacks when she least expected them.

When Frank got past the threshold to the next room, Charlotte realigned her feet underneath her and broke out into a jog with him. Another loud crunching sound echoed out to them as Mikey smashed another zombie’s skull in. Frank and Charlotte made their way through the large empty room, following the sounds Mikey made, alerting them where he was.

Their eyes were already adjusted to the darkness; it was easy for them to maneuver around the bodies Mikey dropped in their path. A soft amount of moonlight broke through the glass doors on the other side of the room that Mikey’s form blocked while Frank and Charlotte closed the gap between them.  

The doors led them into a dark, circular common area with uncomfortable seats and low tables. Large contemporary paintings were scattered along the walls at random, between them were different sized suits all equipped with the same large electric locks Frank saw before. Some had windows, some didn’t. Some had name plates, most didn’t.

“Where do you think we should—” But Frank was cut off by Mikey shushing him. It took a moment to register behind Frank’s still ringing ears, the unmistakable sound of an elevator ticking away.

A yanking in Frank’s chest pushed his legs to run towards the sound, Mikey stuck close behind. Both reaching the elevator as it slowed to a halt, the screen above it displayed a digital seventeen.

“We should take the stairs.” Mikey’s voice was quiet as he nervously scouted around their space, finding no immediate threats. “Are you both able to do a good bit of stairs? I don’t want to be stopping on every floor to catch our breath.”

Even though Mikey was staring down Frank, Charlotte took the comment personally, flashing her fangs for the first time. “I’d love to see you go up fifteen flights of stairs without stopping for some air.” She shoved a finger into his chest, he took a half step back, keeping his expression cool.

“Guys, let’s go.” Frank broke the growing tension by cracking open the door to the stairs. Mikey and Charlotte stared at each other for what felt like forever to Frank as he stared into the abyss they had to enter. Listening for any signs of movement.

There was a pooling sadness behind Mikey’s eyes that Charlotte wasn’t paying mind to, without a word, Mikey spun around and took the lead into the darkness. Charlotte stomped her foot and started up the stairs after him. Frank ensured the door closed quietly behind them, enveloping them within the dangerous black hole.

Mikey went up the steps two at a time, Charlotte kept a good pace behind him. It was Frank struggling up the steps after the third flight up.

On their way, Mikey and Charlotte had to take out three undead. Each body was thrown down behind them, nearly hitting Frank in the process. By the eighth floor, Frank was wheezing while Mikey and Charlotte loitered around the door waiting for him.

He was nearly crawling on his hands and knees by the time he did reach them, collapsing onto the platform beside Charlotte.

“Just, give me,” Frank’s chest heaved up and down. “a second…”

“We’re over halfway, no more breaks after this.” Mikey demanded. “Get your shit together.” Frank was enjoying a nice Mikey, the sudden meanness stung. But he understood, he was sure Mikey wanted Gerard safe just as badly as he did.

Frank’s sweat dripped off his forehead as he nodded against the cold ground. The sound of a door whipping open shocked them all into silence. Mikey’s previously relaxed stature was now crouched beside Frank and Charlotte, all three of them staring wide eyed at each other. Frank steadied his breathing.

But the most they could make out were two voices and a couple words including “Don’t” and “fuck”. The voices were coming from multiple floors above them. While the anger rose between the voices, Mikey moved over to the middle of the stairwell in an attempt to look up and see them.

But as he peered up, he just as quickly had to pull away as a body flew past him, smashing into the rails every few floors before exploding against the concrete first floor.

The door above them yanked open and closed again quickly after the body’s smash reverberated off the walls. They heard a scream start but was cut off by the door, a scream they were all very familiar with.

Mikey was gone before Frank could blink, Charlotte and Frank chased after him but never caught up as he remained two to three flights ahead of them. They encountered no more zombies on the staircase; Frank allowed some sense of safety to wash over him too soon.

When Mikey reached the seventeenth floor, he could only hope his brother was on the other side of the grey door that greeted him. But with each angry bang of Mikey’s bat against the floor and walls within the room he couldn’t see yet, Frank’s hope dwindled away.

His hope had nearly vanished when he and Charlotte did reach Mikey and they saw as he was using the zombies to get more of his anger out, completely unaware they had even entered the room. His pupils were black and had lost the ability to focus. It was the same thousand-yard stare Frank had seen on Charlotte before.

One he knew Gerard would soon wear.

Moonlight poured into this nearly empty office style floor.  There were six desks aligned together with another one facing the door, a couch with a low table, and a couple of conference rooms hidden behind some doors.

A loud thump sounded in the opposite direction of Mikey, Frank immediately bolted. Mikey hadn’t heard it over the blood rushing to his ears as more and more bodies turned to chunky mush at his hands.

Charlotte went to Mikey; she grabbed his arms and attempted to talk to him. Bring him back to reality.

Frank attempted to open the door that muffled the thump he’d heard, but it was locked. “Gerard?!” He shouted, slamming his shoulder in the door.

Silence greeted him from the other side for a long time, he slammed his shoulder into the door again, “GERARD?!” The adrenaline was hitting Frank now; he backed up and kicked his foot into the handle over and over again. He felt no pain, but the door remained locked.

A frustrated yell came from Frank as his final, non-overreacting braincell kicked into gear and he realized what he was holding. A wicked grin spread across his cheeks as he readied the gore-stained fireman’s axe, chopping through the door with one whack. As his adrenaline rose, his sanity dropped.

It took four hits before Frank had created a hole wide enough to see within. He could easily see everything in this conference room thanks to the floor to ceiling windows inside. A huge oval table sat in the center of the room surrounded by office chairs. One of the chairs had a very distressed tied up Gerard with Bert behind him, his gun against Gerard’s head.

“Put the gun down, Bert!” Frank shouted through the hole, chopping it open a little bit more. “We didn’t want any trouble, Bert.”

“STOP FUCKING BASHING YOUR WAY THROUGH THE DOOR THEN!” Frank paused, raising his hands into the air.

“Let him go!” He bartered.

“EAT SHIT!” Charlotte saw life come back through to Mikey only after he slumped onto his knees in the organal gunk. Bert and Frank’s arguing was completely ignored until Mikey finally looked up at Charlotte, she couldn’t help her smile through blurry eyes.

“Why would I stop coming in if—Grr, FUCK YOU, BERT!” Frank swung into the door again and it finally crumbled; Frank threw himself through it.

“STOP!” Bert threatened, slamming the tip of his gun into Gerard’s head. But Frank saw him shaking. The closer he got the easier he could see Gerard, whose mouth was gagged with a tightly wound cloth.

Drool dripped from his mouth around the restraint; his hair was wet with sweat and the rope tied around him was leaving bright red marks against his struggle.

“Bert, what the fuck are you doing?” Frank placed the axe on the table. “Just let him go, we don’t want to hurt you.”

Well… actually… I want to hurt you a lot right now. Frank’s fingers twitched around the axe handle.

Mikey approached calmly, walking through the doorway making little noise. Frank only knew he came in when Bert’s panicked eyes flickered to the door, scaring Bert into pointing the gun at him momentarily before placing it back against Gerard’s head.

“DON’T come any closer.” Bert’s voice was shaking nearly as much as his hands were. “You guys weren’t supposed to make it inside. Dan wasn’t supposed to fucking chicken out on me, ugh!” Bert smacked the gun into Gerard’s head again, blood trickled out from behind his dark mop of hair.

Mikey raised his hands too as he inched closer to Bert, “Bert, why’d you leave us out there.” Bert’s eyes were bulging with fear, his tongue growing too large in his mouth for him to respond. “We were chill, dude. Why the FUCK did you leave us out there to DIE.” Mikey’s anger was replaced with sadness as his voice dropped to a whisper, “We lost him… We fucking lost him because of you… You and your weird attachment to my brother.” Mikey was getting close to Bert; Bert was frozen as he shook in place.

While Mikey crept around Bert, distracting him, Frank dropped to the floor and hid below the table. Gerard and Frank caught each other’s eye before he disappeared onto the silencing carpet to crawl to them.

“Stay back!!” Bert shouted, pointing the gun at Mikey now, leaving Gerard behind completely.

“We lost Ray because of you, you stupid piece of shit!” Mikey slammed his club into the ground, tearing threads out. Bert visibly jumped while a sad groan was muffled from Gerard, tears coming out quickly.

Frank looked up at Gerard from under the table, his puffy red eyes were the weakest Gerard had ever looked before.

Mikey paused in his approach, “Fine. You win.” Mikey dropped the club, Bert jumped as it clattered to the ground.

Frank waited until Bert composed himself and stopped shaking before jumping into action. He rolled onto his side, raised the axe up over his head and chopped it into the back of Bert’s knee, slicing almost clean through.

Bert desperately screamed while a line of blood started showering Frank. Bert dropped to his knees as Mikey grabbed his club again, but Frank’s adrenaline was pumping hard, making him move faster.

Frank got to his feet, grabbing a chunk of Bert’s hair to expose his throat to the air. His Adams apple bobbed hard as Bert gulped down his suddenly overwhelming fear. He slammed Bert’s head into the ground, swung the axe up high and back down—Bert’s throat opened instantly, his head nearly sliced off in one go while more blood squirted up at Frank’s face like a fountain.

Bert’s eyes stared at Frank, but Frank refused to meet the dead gaze. His arms swung up again and back down, Bert’s head rolled off and stopped at Gerard’s feet.

Frank took a few deep breaths before he flipped his hair back and smeared the blood around his face with the back of his arm. Mikey stared at him, astonished, not making a move.

Frank turned around to face the still restrained Gerard. Blood and sweat stained everything on him. Frank was still breathing heavily as Gerard calmed his sobs, they stared at each other, refusing to break eye contact.

Frank felt lightening strike between them as they comforted each other with just a gaze. Calm washed over the entire room as sunlight suddenly peaked over the buildings.

Frank was the one to break their gaze, slowly he looked outside. Frank watched the sun rise for a few minutes while Gerard watched him, never looking away. His cheeks drying as he accepted the inevitable.

With one deep sigh, Frank ripped himself from witnessing the only natural beauty left in the world to go back to Gerard. He tucked the blunt end of his axe under Gerard’s chin and lifted his face. Gerard’s eyes were hungry staring at Frank, “I saved your ass. I’m in charge next time.”

Gerard’s pupils nearly blacked out his eyes as they grew from Frank’s words alone. Without having to tell him what Frank was insinuating, he nodded. Frank’s eyes moved down Gerard’s body to lap, he watched as Gerard’s pants tightened, and a bulge formed.

Frank cut Gerard’s gag first, then the rope. He sawed through the restraint while Gerard spit the extra saliva built up onto the floor.

“We met at a really weird time in our lives.” Gerard earned a chuckle out of Frank. Frank relished in their happy moment before killing it almost immediately.

“I’m sorry about Ray.” Frank’s voice remained steady.

“I’m sorry I got him killed.”  Gerard’s voice cracked.

 

Notes:

im crying in the club too guys, dont worry

Chapter 24

Notes:

just wanted to thank my readers/commenters for letting me know we all cried together in my last chapter. this one is a whole lot of slow burn chewing, but it's okay, we suffer together (:

Frank collapsed on the floor beside the decapitated body. He watched as the sun came up while images of the past couple of hours flew through his mind. The golden colors of the sky seamlessly melted out of the darkness they previously used as cover.

Gerard didn’t try to stop him, instead he silently got up and took the spot beside Frank on the carpet. The blood pooled heavily behind, the carpet sucked up most of it. Mikey joined them slowly, sitting upon the table first before laying back onto it. His spine popped loudly as the pent-up pain was relieved from the forced stretch.

Charlotte was the last to come into the room, having found comfort and safety in the previous room during their confrontation with Bert. She stayed close to the door, watching from afar, not wanting to break the moment the guys attempted to take control of.

Frank’s arms went around Gerard’s shoulders, inviting his head to rest on his shoulder. The dirt and grim between them mingled among the threads of their clothes and where their skin touched.

Without knowing it, all four of them silently said their goodbyes for Ray to the fading stars above. Purples and pinks blended within the clouds of red and gold until the soft, light blue of the sky finally took over.

A soft chuckle blew out of Gerard’s mouth, “Y’know… Ray used to—”

Mikey cut him off with a loud groan, remaining on his back as he rubbed clenching fists into his eyes. “Gerard…” Depression leaked from his words.

“You know what I’m gonna say, don’t ya?” Frank saw a few tears going down Gerard’s face when he lifted his head. Gerard wiped them away quickly, Frank’s arm fell from his shoulders to the floor, keeping Gerard wrapped closely against his body. “Before all of this… shit started, we’d always go on night drives together. Sometimes, if everyone could pitch in, we’d do overnight road trips all over the state just to explore while no one else was awake…” Gerard’s voice broke off as he choked back a sob, Mikey picked it up quickly.

“Driving at night is always easier…” Mikey’s sigh was heavy with exhaustion. A bitter reminder to Frank only after their last evening encounter.

“Almost every trip we had, Ray always made sure to find us a good spot to park… We’d get out, he’d usually have us hike a little…” His crying stopped as he suddenly composed himself while recollecting the memory of his lost friend. A laugh huffed forcibly out of him. “And we’d all just sit together. He’d point out each constellation, star, or shining planet that graced our sight. We had sort of a large group of friends back home, some closer than others… Ray was friends with everyone. Not one of them had something bad to say about him.”

That’s when Frank realized how Gerard was able to move past everything so easily, and why Gerard couldn’t comfort Charlotte before, in the kitchen, when she confessed to missing Scarlet. Gerard and Scarlet didn’t know each other for long; Gerard didn’t have anything happy to look back on yet. There were no comfortable memories with her where flesh eaters weren’t a problem.

Frank feared for how Gerard would react when he died, even if they got to the safe-house before that. Would living within the walls of an unknown sanctuary while the world around them struggled to find a cure be enough to make up for lost time?

Does he cherish our memories the same way I do…?

Gerard allowed his tears to slowly flow until they dried on their own. He didn’t lean back into Frank for comfort and Frank did his best to ignore the choking knot that formed in his throat because of it.

When the sun finally shined brightly overhead was when the rest of them decided it would be good to get moving. Frank was the first to get up. Mikey sat up from the table with his head down, Frank could only assume he was crying with his brother.

“We should find a way out… maybe see if we can recover anything from Ray’s body…” Frank’s stomach hurt this time, twisting with the need to vomit but the emptiness inside rattled away instead.

“Frank. Chill out.” Mikey snapped, but Gerard wouldn’t let the fight start.

“No. Mikey. Frank’s right.”

“What’s to say those zombies aren’t still there? I had to watch Ray die, Gerard. I don’t want to go back and look at that spot again.”

“I’ll go. I didn’t get the choice before, let me go back. I can meet you guys out front, you don’t have to come.” Gerard got up to leave, but Frank’s hand stopped him. Gerard’s attention moved from Mikey to Frank, who pointed out the sleeping Charlotte curled up on a patch of rough, unstained carpet.

Gerard’s body sagged as Mikey joined them. A calmness none of them had felt in days washed over them as they watched Charlotte’s chest slowly rise and fall with each breath. Her mouth hung open in a silent yell, drool dripping slowly down her chin.  

“We’ll stay here.” Frank offered in a whispered tone, feeling the exhaustion hit suddenly. He very weakly punched Mikey’s arm with an exasperated chuckle. Mikey didn’t have the energy to even shoot a dirty look; he just looked down at Frank for a moment then yawned. “That blood will protect ya.” Frank gestured around Gerard’s stiff with blood and guts outfit.

“No. It won’t…” Gerard looked down, disappointment painted his face while anger twisted within. “Bert lied… I think Dan and him were just fucking with us…” The blood on Gerard’s face was dry and crumbled when he wiped his face. “I’ll fill you guys in later… Ray was right, I don’t… really know what came over me…”

There was hesitation in his words that Frank picked up on but didn’t push about in that moment. “Guess not all movie tropes are accurate…” He shrugged while Mikey found a spot to sit against the wall near Charlotte.

“Yeah, well… Apparently, we should ‘trust no one’.” Gerard quoted the air while beginning to leave.

Frank had a sagging exhaustion he carried that finally got some relief when he joined Mikey on the floor, leaving a small gap between them. “What zombie movie is that from?” Frank was a big zombie movie fan and none of them came to mind.

“It’s not.” With that, Gerard was gone.

Maybe it needs to be… Was the last thought to go through Frank’s head before he welcomed the darkness of sleep.

Gerard found his way down to the second floor where Frank described how they escaped. It took him longer than expected as he cautiously made his way down the staircase, easily avoiding any flesh eaters. He knew he was in the right place when he found the only window that was smashed in instead of out.

The alleyway wasn’t empty like Gerard hoped. Vomit shot up his throat at the first sight of the large, melty mass of bodies that was slowing down as the sun heated it up. None of the other zombies stayed, most likely because Ray wasn’t enough for them.

Gerard was thankful, though, for the lack of evidence his childhood friend left behind. On the ground, the leftover stains of sprayed blood had already darkened. There were shreds of fabric stuck in the corners of the buildings. The barbwire wrapped gulf club sat alone and unmoving.

 Gerard allowed a few tears to shed before he spotted the phone.

It wasn’t hard for him to run down to the door he was originally forced through. When he made it outside, he saw the zomberg pulsated as each body breathed together in the blazing heat.

The acrid accent burned his throat and across his face not just at the sight, but the smell too. It had a strong scent of days old body odor, rotten flesh, and hot garbage. Gerard’s stomach was nearly empty besides some gulps of water, which splashed and sizzled on the pavement.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and instinctively yanked out his carton of cigs to check the pack, but less than half remained. He made a mental note to grab more on their way out.

Without disturbing the beast, Gerard snatched Ray’s dirty phone and ran back inside before the heavy metal door could shut behind him. Gerard was able to make it up the stairs back to the room everyone else was safely tucked away inside.

“Hey, guys I was able to—” His words got caught as he saw all three of them happily sleeping, Frank’s head on Mikey’s good shoulder, Mikey’s head on top of his. Gerard’s chest tightened as his heart grew.

He looked around a moment before crawling under the desk and curling up within its shadow, but he didn’t sleep for a couple hours, and when he did sleep, he was still up and moving before everyone else. Insomnia plagued him.

It wasn’t until nearly dinnertime that everyone woke up, they still had a handful of hours before sunset. Gerard was up only a couple of minutes before the rest. Frank hadn’t felt so refreshed, even with the crusty bodily fluids all over him.

Frank and Mikey looked at each other as they sat up, both of them said nothing as their cheeks turned a light shade of pink that didn’t last. Gerard was not in the room with them.

Charlotte sniffed as she sat up, “Do you guys smell coffee?”

“Holy shit!” Frank exclaimed, looking at his burner. “We slept the whole day!” He showed off his phone to the other two, Charlotte gasped but Mikey yawned. “Dude. How can you still be tired?”

“You know how Gerard practically doesn’t need sleep?” Frank and Charlotte nodded in unison. “I’m like the opposite. I could sleep forever if I had the chance.”

“You might get to soon.” Frank laughed, but no one else did. Okay, dark humor does not land here… Frank noticed Mikey’s hands flexing repeatedly at his sides, he growled a little. Frank chose to ignore it. “I bet if we follow the coffee smell we’ll find your brother.” Frank left without another word. The other two silently followed.

They found Gerard quickly on their floor, but in a different office space. As opposed to the one they passed out in, the one Gerard was holed up in was lined with untouched beige cubicles. Dust kicked up in thick clouds around then as they walked through to a kitchen hidden in the back.

“Mornin’.” Gerard greeted them with a smile. “Well, I guess, evenin’.” He chuckled.

“How did you even find coffee here; this place is a tomb.” Mikey kicked a nearby cubicle wall sending a puff of dust straight into their faces. Charlotte coughed and waved it away.

Gerard shrugged, “I guess I’m just lucky.” Mikey rolled his eyes at his brother while Frank moved in to grab a dusty mug off the shelf. When he attempted to use the sink, nothing came out.

“Jeez, wasn’t Denver just hit? How are these buildings so decrepit.” Frank used the inside of his shirt to wipe the dust off instead.

“Dust gathers fast.” Gerard suggested, shrugging.

“NOT this fast, did you not see Charlotte choking?” Mikey matched Frank’s annoyance. “Look, we’re wasting time, we need to get out of here. There’s a more than zero percent chance Layla and the others will be looking for us, especially by now.”

This triggered something in Charlotte that Frank immediately noticed. She began to tug harshly at the skin around her fingers. He couldn’t see it well in the dark, but Frank knew she was bleeding around the edges.

Charlotte and Mikey impatiently waited while Gerard leisurely sipped his coffee, staring his brother down meaner than Frank had seen before. Frank gulped his coffee down in four big sips, killing the nausea that fought within the pit of his stomach.

Frank noticed Mikey flexing his fists still, not wanting to piss him off more, he nudged Gerard’s coffee arm. When Gerard looked at Frank, his expression softened. Frank eyed him, then glanced down at his cup, and back up again. He tipped his head back, telling Gerard to hurry with his drink.

Gerard held their gaze, lifting the mug. Frank’s stomach filled with butterflies.

Gerard finished his coffee; they maintained eye contact the entire time.

Is he… doing as he’s told…? Frank raised an eyebrow, the corner of Gerard’s mouth perked slightly.

Mikey make a loud, over-exaggerated gagging sound, “Get a room.”

Gerard whipped his head back to his brother, “Hey, Bert could’ve been an anomaly in that group with his murderous tendencies. He threw Dan down the stairs for questioning keeping me tied up!”

“I’d like to remind you Dan was also one of the guys who pushed you through that door and was working with Bert up until he died.” Mikey snarked.

“Those cult members never followed us.” Gerard was not very convincing to any of them.

Frank twitched at each clicking sound of Charlotte suddenly chewing on her nails again. It became immediately distracting.

 “Or they didn’t know where to follow us.” Mikey retorted, making Gerard’s eyes narrow. “Maybe none of them even knew how to drive, religions got some crazy ass rules. You’re being so stupid, Gerard.”

“Excuse me?” Frank and Charlotte froze, exchanging a frightened look before turning their attention back to the brothers.

“I said… You. Are. Being. Stupid. Gerard.” Charlotte released the gasp Frank bit back. Neither brother broke eye contact. Mikey’s jaw flexed in the intense silence between them. “Why are you leisurely brewing coffee instead of getting us up to leave. We can’t stay here even if the Denver guys don’t try to find us, and that’s a STRONG IF, since their friends won’t be coming home.”

“First of all, they’d only just now be worried about them showing back up, if that. Bert wasn’t acting like he liked me; he was kinda instantly obsessed with me.” Frank rolled his eyes so hard they could’ve rolled out of his head. “He wouldn’t stop talking to me, especially as he spiraled. It seems he wasn’t liked very much by the Denver group and sort of just gained a leadership position because he helped organize them.” Gerard’s voice calmed down from the previous stubborn anger.

Mikey crossed his arms, reluctant to believe him. “If Dan, who was, like, seventeen by the way,” Frank had a grim look on his face as he nodded in agreement “was willing to help him, why wouldn’t the rest at least come looking for them?”

Frank could almost see the wheels spinning within Gerard’s head as he stood and stared for a minute, saying nothing. Every time Charlotte’s nails clicked against her gnawing teeth, Frank twitched. Mikey aggressively scratched at his bandage, breaking the eye contact he had with his brother.

“You’re right.” Gerard finally said, everyone turned to look at him with wide eyes. He continued before anyone could say anything. “I’ve been reckless which has led to some stupid decisions. I’ll be more thoughtful during future interactions.” He sealed his sentence with a smile.

It sounded almost scripted, robot like almost. Is this guy immune to saying he’s sorry, Jesus Christ…

“Frank,” Gerard turned suddenly. “You said you wanted to lead.” He gestured towards where they came from.

Frank’s face grew hot as he felt everyone look at him, yet no one protested. In one movement, he quickly refilled his and Gerard’s mugs offering the pot towards Charlotte and Mikey.

When both shook their heads, he dropped the pot onto the counter and their descent out of the building began. He and Gerard sipped their coffees as they chose the stairs; the elevator had fully stopped working finally.

Going down had been easier than going up. Their eyes all adjusted quickly to the darkness of the stairwell, kicking bodies out of their path. As they reached the first floor, Frank slipped on a thin slice of skin blown off from Dan’s splattering. Gerard caught his elbow, preventing him from fully falling, but his cup went flying.

A loud shattering made them all freeze and listen for zombies, but after five full minutes, nothing came. Gerard placed his now empty mug on a random desk on the first floor.

They found the front easily, the sun already twisting the sky into oranges and pinks. The air was stiff but cooler than before, the four of them stuck close together in two pairs: Frank and Gerard, and Mikey and Charlotte.

Fear threatened to overwhelm Frank as a busy street welcomed them. They stuck close to the building, hidden within the shadows as Frank and Gerard scanned the area. The way they came was just as busy as the other way out of town; some bloated bodies dragged themselves through the streets, others with dripping flesh were finally cooling down and began to walk almost normally. But, since each one still had rotten flesh that would slosh off occasionally, it was easy to tell the difference.

With Frank leading, they did their best to quietly and quickly make their way back to the car. It did not go uninterrupted. The first block they made it across filled them with false hope as nothing really cared about them.

Frank did his best to retrace the steps he took, somehow, millions of years ago. Each turn they took, Frank felt more lost, but refused to admit it as a couple zombies took notice of them each turn. Charlotte did not hide her fear as she continued to nervously look back, constantly running into Gerard while the group attempted to pick up speed.

None of the zombies were runners, or even joggers, like some of the ones they’d found before. It almost felt like these ones were somehow deeper into the decomp process than the ones from Nevada and Utah, even though Frank knew Colorado wasn’t hit until after both Nevada and Utah were infected.

Frank made one more wrong turn that landed them at the start of a dead end, the hoard behind them started to pick up speed as they stood there, staring.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Frank?” Mikey growled out, he attempted to not raise his voice but failed. Mikey’s jaw clenched with his fists as he bit back more words, looking behind them as the hoard congregated together into a crowd of bodies moving at them faster than a normal walk now.

“We need to go, like, half an hour ago!!” Charlotte gripped tightly to Gerard’s arm while Mikey readied himself to take out a few faster strays that reached them.

Frank felt his anxiety start to seize him again, like before, as he watched Mikey bash his bat into the head of a nearby stray. The barbwire tangled in the already matted nest of hair. Mikey used his foot to kick the zombie off before bringing the bat down against its skull again, shattering it instantly. The bat didn’t stick the second time; blood splattered across the other three’s faces when Mikey threw the bat backwards to swing it into the next approaching undead head.

“FRANK!” Mikey’s voice echoed as he screamed behind him. The force of his swing shattering the second zombie’s skull with one hit. Frank shook the fear off, squeezing his eyes and taking in their surroundings.

FuckfuckfuckfuckfUCKFUCK!!

Frank ran down the alley to search for a door to anywhere, but there was none. His heart thumped hard in his throat, sweat bled down his forehead, sticking his hair to his face. Gerard pushed Charlotte behind him to join his brother in taking out the faster stragglers, they took out three more as Frank’s frantic search was halted by a guttural roar from within the hoard quickly closing in on them.

Fuck, I’m going to get everyone else killed now, I couldn’t help Ray, I can’t help them. Fuckfuckfuckfuck…

Frank felt himself lock up as his vision narrowed watching Gerard and Mikey fight for their lives, Charlotte cowered within the shadows against the building to their right. Her hands flew to her ears when the hoard roared at them, tears sprang free and ran like a dam broke behind her eyes.

Frank looked all around, the dead-end wall went as tall as the two buildings they were stuck between, with no entrances on any of the walls. Huge, overflowing dumpsters sat on either side of them, but there were no windows to escape to like before. These buildings were much shorter than the ones they’d recently explored. Frank missed the signs out front, but he thought they looked more like convenience stores than office buildings.

Frank looked up the brick wall, another head popped, Mikey was yelling something angrily, no longer afraid of alerting the incoming crowd but Frank had tuned them out.

A couple stories up, a ladder sat, closed and out of reach.

“CHARLOTTE! GET OVER HERE!” Frank’s voice startled all three of them, but only Charlotte was free to pay attention.

“You better hurry the fuck up, Frank, or I’m adding your fucking head to this pile!” Mikey threatened.

“Shut up, Michael!” Gerard gave Mikey a dirty look, that was returned to him. Neither stopped killing, even as they were forced to back up while the hoard finally blocked their chances of escape.

As Charlotte approached, Frank pointed at the ladder. Charlotte’s mouth fell open slightly as her eyes widened. “How do we get it down?!”

Frank thought maybe he could lift Charlotte to reach it, but he didn’t realize how short they both were until she rejoined him. Throwing their weapons at it wasn’t going to work either, Frank could see a little padlock keeping it in place.

Frank checked on Mikey and Gerard, who were backing towards them quickly.

“Gerard…” Frank ran from Charlotte to Gerard, feeling him up immediately.

“Hey! What’re you—” Gerard’s hands flew up while Frank felt under his arms and around his chest. Mikey jumped in front of them to protect them from a chomping zombie with one arm.

Frank found what he wanted in the back of Gerard’s jeans, and it wasn’t his ass.

Frank spun on the spot, aimed Bert’s handgun at the ladder with one eye closed, and pulled the trigger.

The popping of the gun deafened them all, the sound shook off the building walls into the surrounding area. The sound of crunching rust companioned the stuttering of the ladder as it slipped out of its hiding place.

“LET’S GO!” Frank led again, with confidence now even without his hearing. He bolted for the ladder as Charlotte was already making her way up. If she can reach it, so can I… He attempted to keep his confidence strong.

Instead of following her, he pushed both Way brothers to go ahead of him. With a minor protest from Gerard that Frank shut down when he moved away to protect them. The hoard was here now, the faster stragglers were gone, and a wall groaned and snapped their jaws at him. Frank felt the fear in his chest, but his ego had grown so much from knowing he got his friends some extra time, it couldn’t overtake him.

He slashed at a few zombies, taking one’s head off while sticking the axe through the face of another. A third lost an arm and a leg before Frank’s axe found a home within the thing’s chest.

“Frank!” He heard Charlotte’s muffled scream from above him, most likely already on the roof. Frank didn’t turn to look, instead he twisted his axe sideways to hold it in both hands and ran at the murderous pact.

He shoved five or six of them to the ground and pushed a handful more back from the force of the first ones falling. One caught his arm and tore his shirt sleeve off as he twisted to get away. Without looking back, Frank threw the makeshift strap holding the axe over his shoulder and ran into a jump. He grabbed the last rung on the ladder; sweaty hands made his fingers slip. His other hand shot up to balance himself out before he could fall.

A cheer from above scared him to look up. Gerard, Mikey, and Charlotte had the time to reach the top before he’d even begun. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he dangled there.

The smile was ripped away as he felt fingers tightly grip his shin and pull. His hands burned as he tightened his grip and started impatiently climbing. The hand on his leg pulled back roughly, the sweat on his palms greased his grip. His hand slipped.

With a deep breath, Frank threw that arm over a rung, picked up his free leg, and bashed it into the zombie below. A loud cracking sound was the first real sound he heard after the ringing in his ears stopped. But his leg was free, and he was thankful to be alive. He continued his ascent quicker than ever.

When he felt a comfortable enough distance away, he looked down again to see the zombie’s hand and forearm were still hanging on and he couldn’t help but yelp. He couldn’t shake it off, and it wasn’t moving, so he continued his climb until he reached the top where the other three helped pull him onto the roof of the building.

Frank landed on his hands and knees; he breathed rapidly as he attempted to calm himself. He felt someone loosen the grip on his leg and he allowed himself to collapse fully onto his face.

“Whenever I played zombie games before this…” Frank could hardly breathe, his anxiety mixed with his crashing adrenaline as he closed his eyes. “I never took into consider—” in, out, in, out, “—ation how much cardio…” in, out, in, out, “was needed…”

 Gerard took a seat next to Frank; he attempted to comfort Frank by petting him. He brushed his hair out of his face and used his fingers to detangle some of the matted blood. With his eyes closed, Frank was able to pretend they were okay.

“Isn’t the first rule in Zombieland literally cardio?” Mikey leaned up against a metal pipe, crossing his arms and killing the moment.

Frank opened one eye to glare at Mikey before shutting it again and ignoring his comment.

The zombies below couldn’t climb, thankfully, but the rattling of the metal against brick shook as they gathered themselves.

Once he could breathe again, Frank sat up as Charlotte rejoined them after having walked away without saying a word.

“What should we do now, boss?” Gerard teased. Frank ignored him and stood, moving to the edge of the roof to look around their area.

The sun was still up, but they were running out of time. Their roof connected to three different buildings all diagonal from each other, Frank recognized nothing, he couldn’t even make out which parking ramp was the one they came from.

Frank unconsciously scratched his head when Charlotte jump scared him, “Hey.”

“Hey, sorry I’m still a bit shaken up.” Charlotte waved him off.

“You don’t have to apologize, Frank. You saved our lives.” Frank blushed hard this time, his entire nose and both cheeks turned into a tomato. “Do you see where we parked?”

Frank shook his head. “I don’t recognize any of these places, did you possibly write down where it was?” Charlotte chuckled.

“No, I didn’t think that far ahead… Bert didn’t really set off any red flags for me besides his weirdly quick obsession with Gerard.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it…”

“I understand.”

“Thanks…” A slightly awkward silence slipped between them. “Hey Charlotte… Do you trust Gerard?”

A look of confusion crossed her face before it softened into understanding. “I do. I don’t usually trust strangers, especially not random guys who pick up other strangers. That’s double the strangers!” Charlotte was clearly trying to cheer Frank up.

“Yeah… strangers do kinda suck…”

“I’m glad we aren’t strangers anymore, Frank.” Her hand met his bicep; a soft smile spread between her cheeks.

“Me too…” Frank mimicked her smile, then Gerard interrupted them.

“Hey, strangers!”

“Okay, now that word doesn’t sound real anymore.” Frank’s smile grew when Charlotte nearly choked as she laughed, nodding aggressively through her fit.

“What’re you guys talking about?” Gerard decided not to ask what Frank meant, since Charlotte was still catching her breath.

“We’re trying to figure out where the parking ramp is, but I think if we go across these roofs, we can put some distance between us and the zombies.” Gerard held up Ray’s phone, something Frank and Charlotte had completely forgotten about. “Is that Ray’s?”

Gerard nodded. “And…” He flipped the phone open, navigating quickly to the photos. “Ray took a picture of where we parked.”

Ray, you beautiful, genius, you.

Notes:

btw, if anyone is seeing mcr chicago, i'll be there! i should have one more chapter up before the show ^.^

Chapter 25

They waited until sunrise to move again. Their previous idea that it was better to travel at night was proven wrong when the zombies clearly slowed from the heat of the sun but sped up from the cool moon shine.

During the night, Gerard and Frank were able to pinpoint where Ray took his photos; he had three photos in a row. One of the parking garage, the name of it, (fingers held up in frame to show them floor number), and the sign of the street it was on.

Frank’s fear of getting them lost deeper in Denver dissipated when Gerard found the parking garage was only three blocks away—and in the direction Frank already suggested they go in.

“See? You’re a born leader.” Gerard hardly suppressed a smile as he and Frank developed a plan with Charlotte and Mikey on how to get out.

As the night crawled along, the alleyway filled with curious brain-dead thirst that growled and snapped below.

Conveniently, the roof they were held up on was that of a dispensary. The manager’s office had a significantly stocked snack closet with a lock they broke effortlessly in their starved state.

Charlotte found an open skylight above it. Frank and Mikey lowered into the store with no confrontations. Frank was able to find multiple jars of loose pre-rolls left around the shop that he consolidated into two pocket sized packs he stuffed into his pants.

Mikey went on his own as soon as his feet hit the ground. After Frank scoured for more than he could find, he went on the hunt for the Way. Mikey was holed up inside the office, ripping heavy clouds of smoke into the air. Frank coughed as he entered, Mikey had time enough to half hotbox the room.

“Jesus, dude.” Frank said through coughs while Mikey blew out another chest full of smoke with no reaction. Two zombie bodies were piled in the corner; Frank looked from the pile over to Mikey. “Yeesh…”

Mikey took another hit but said nothing; he offered the bong to Frank as he sat beside him. Frank couldn’t refuse.

Mikey waited until Frank took a few hits before breaking their silence. “It’s pretty fucked up what we’re dealing with, isn’t it.”

Frank stared straight ahead, Mikey didn’t try to meet his eyes. They passed the bong back and forth in near silence.

“I genuinely don’t understand how you guys got used to this...” Frank admitted, embarrassingly.

Mikey took a deep hit and held it, letting himself get lightheaded before releasing it again. He stared at the floor as he replied. “I don’t think I’m used to it.”

Frank took the bong but didn’t take the hit; instead, he paused and put the bong down to listen to Mikey.

“I love my brother and he’s all I had left… I couldn’t give up while he was still around…” Mikey’s existentialism made Frank’s chest hurt. Frank froze as he attempted to figure out what to do.

“Heh… Yeah… The world is really fucked up…” Frank wanted to hit himself for being so dumb. It was the weed. The weed is making me act weird. He coped.

Mikey didn’t wait for a real response. He picked the bong back up and took another couple hits while Frank gathered his thoughts. “We’ve made it this far, and Gee’s still kickin’.” Frank laughed uncomfortably. “Don’t give up now, Mikey…” Frank looked at him this time, he couldn’t hide the sadness he felt for his boyfriend’s brother.

Boyfriend? Frank rolled his eyes at himself. We’ve just fucked a couple times, don’t get ahead of yourself.

Mikey said nothing as he stared into the bong.

Frank reached out to touch Mikey’s shoulder. Mikey didn’t protest, he welcomed Frank’s comforting hand while taking another hit. Frank was astonished at the lung compacity Mikey had, “I’m all for numbing ourselves but how much have you smoked since we got in here?”

Mikey finally turned to him, “This is my third bowl.” He burnt the remaining greenery before placing the bong onto the table.

“Christ, dude, are you alright?” Frank saw now that Mikey’s body sagged, his head hung, and his eyes were red but wet. He was crying.

Frank’s face grew hot, he froze.

Mikey let tears fall in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking up. “I’m…” He choked and bit his tongue to kill the tears. Clearing his throat, he leaned back. “I’m just not dealing with Ray’s death very well…”

Frank sense there was more to how Mikey was feeling but decided now was not the time to pry. Mikey wiped his face dry, stood up without saying a word, and left Frank there. He pulled himself back up through the skylight silently, Frank only got up to move when Gerard popped his head through.

When Gerard spotted him, his entire face lit up. Frank’s stomach fluttered as their hands touched again when Gerard yanked him back up.

Over the next few hours, each took turns keeping watch as the others slept. Nothing even threatened to attack them that night. The hoard in the alleyway dispersed over the hours, finally leaving it empty the next day long after they left.

Gerard slept the least out of the group, his insomnia grew more difficult to deal with by the day. Once the sun rose, he was able to finally get his eyes shut for two very solid hours before springing up more awake than the rest. Cancer stick between his lips and lit before they even knew he was up.

Gerard was awake during Frank’s shift, Charlotte nearly passed out when she shook Frank awake to take over. Mikey was deep into his REM cycle when Frank curled up close next to Gerard on the edge of the roof.

The sweet tabaco smoke blew into Frank’s face as he attempted to light his own lip fixation. He took a few hits before offering it to Gerard. They traded, smoking each other’s addiction, tasting the faint hint of the other remaining on their lips.

The second Charlotte’s quiet snores started; Frank grabbed Gerard’s face and kissed him. Gerard’s body relaxed instantly. Frank pushed his tongue in as they returned to their familiar dance together.

Frank refused to move his hand from its place along Gerard’s jaw as they let their coping mechanisms burn freely between their fingers. It simultaneously felt like they lost Ray a million years ago and thirty minutes ago. All the two of them wanted was to forget reality for a couple of minutes.

Gerard was desperate for a caring hand to forgive him for his wrongdoings without taking responsibility for them, while Frank was desperate for Gerard’s love in return for his own without admitting it.

When their kiss finally broke, Gerard’s cigarette burned his fingers and Frank’s joint had gone out with the majority of it unburnt. They relit the joint and enjoyed it with their legs hanging over the side of the building. Frank hugged Gerard to his body as they both shivered every time a breeze licked their bare arms.

“Sorry… I wasn’t sure when we’d get to be alone again…” Frank said sheepishly, reigniting the high from before he slept.

“You don’t have to say sorry. I missed feeling you against me.” Gerard smirked; Frank couldn’t help the need he felt for the man next to him. His dick fought the sadness that seeped from Mikey to him only a few hours earlier.

His dick won the battle when Gerard leaned back in and placed his hand on top of Frank’s lap to gently rub at the covered, growing hardness.

Their kisses quickly became hot as they breathed heavily into each other’s faces the rougher Gerard rubbed. Their tongues twisted nonsensically, Frank’s hips bucked slightly into Gerard’s hand, Gerard immediately took that as a sign to go further.

But, as he started rabidly undoing Frank’s jeans, Frank gripped his wrist to stop him. Frank pulled away from their kiss, Gerard’s mouth chased after his.

“What if they hear us…” Frank flicked his eyes over to where Charlotte and Mikey slept, hidden behind some metal pipes, he realized now that he was looking.

A heady chuckle fell from Gerard’s lips and suddenly, all of Frank’s cares melted away. As did the grip holding Gerard back. “I’ll be extra quiet.” Gerard’s head began to lower while his hands worked at prying Frank’s jeans open.

His dick popped out with little help from Gerard, who did not hesitate to wrap his mouth around the head. His tongue instantly wrapped around it, Gerard allowed his saliva to collect before spilling it out down Frank’s shaft. Gerard got comfortable with one knee below him and one knee over the edge, he began to undo his own pants.

Frank’s head lolled back, his eyes closed from the pleasure. Gerard worked Frank with his mouth so well Frank couldn’t help but wonder how much experience he had before to be this good. Gerard went up and down his length sensually, Frank was able to easily stay quiet beside Gerard’s wet, slurping sounds.

Frank didn’t last long with Gerard’s expertise at work. It wasn’t until he came down Gerard’s throat that he realized Gerard was working on himself too. In the haze of his post-nut clarity, Frank watched Gerard spurt a few ropes off the side of the roof before it oozed out in long strings as he pushed out everything he could.

Frank’s shift ended as quickly as it began, soon he was switching with Mikey, who had the final shift to watch through the sunrise. He and Gerard sat together for a little bit before sleep finally overpowered him.

Mikey and Gerard didn’t talk much; Ray wasn’t brought up and both remained stoic. Gerard made sure to smoke every hit he could of his next cigarette before he slept, agonizing over the nearly empty carton that wouldn’t be refilled until they got back to the car.

As they predicted, getting to the parking garage was easier in the daytime. Even if they gained the attention of a zombie, the blaring ninety degrees slowed them too much to keep up. Gerard allowed Frank to lead the way back with his GPS this time. They returned to their two by two formation and nearly ran to their destination.

The bodily mess they originally lathered themselves in nights before fully dried into the concrete, leaving a large brown stain with withered organs decorating it. It was the home stretch to the car, and the relief flooded in quickly as they hurried up the ramps.

They rounded the final corner before their spot and Gerard exaggerated a weep of happiness. But the rumbling of a car made them all freeze and stare around at each other as it grew louder quicker than they knew what to do.

Mikey was quickest to think and began running up the next level, “Come on.” He whisper yelled. The car outside unmistakably pulled in and everyone jumped into action, stumbling up the levels to see Mikey trying door handles.

A large, green van had its back doors unlocked. Mikey ushered them in quickly, making sure everyone was comfortable before he hopped in. Doing his best to remain as quiet as possible, he held the doors just barely open enough to see through.

 A small, silver car, similar to their own, rolled to a stop at the only two occupied spots below. Jeff and two other wall walkers got out, each equipped with their own weapon. Jeff checked Bert’s truck while the other two slowly approached theirs with guns fixed on the windows.

“Empty.” One of the walkers confirmed, the other jiggled the door handles and the truck but gave up his efforts quickly.

“Same here…” Jeff met back up at the car with the others, all three peered around the parking garage for any sign of life, but nothing caught their eyes.

Jeff did, however, notice a green van parked just above them, in his line of sight, and he decided to stare at it. He didn’t notice Mikey, or the fact that the doors were open, but that didn’t prevent Mikey from breaking out in a sweat.

Behind him, Charlotte, Frank, and Gerard were all laying like sardines on the ground to prevent any accidental movement. Mikey was crouched at their feet, suddenly thankful for his short crew.

After a long time, one of the wall walkers spoke, “Can you ping his phone and get coordinates or somethin’?”

Jeff ignored the question at first, continuing to stare at the green van, lost in thought so long the other wall walker spoke up to push the conversation. “Heh, yeah, you were his best friend, right? Did he share his location with you or something?”

Jeff ignored him, too, for a minute. Mikey was sure they were caught.

“Yeah. He was. Let’s go find him.” Jeff broke his eye contact and got back into the car with the other two. When they left, they didn’t drive up the ramp, they pulled into a spot and turned around.

Mikey could breathe again. He waited until their cars rumble grew faint before busting out of the van. “Let’s go. We need to get out of here, now.” The other three didn’t struggle as they threw themselves out and ran back to their car with Mikey.

Gerard took drivers side, Mikey took passenger, Charlotte and Frank shared an all too spacious back seat. Avoiding touching each other, not on purpose. They rolled down the windows and listened until they couldn’t hear Jeff’s car at all before they peeled out and ditched town.

Mikey took over navigation, being in the front, Frank willingly gave it up as his adrenaline crashed once the Denver sign was behind them.

Forward, to Wisconsin, said no one ever…

The map claimed it was just under three hours to get from Denver to the state border with Nebraska, but the trip took closer to five hours with all the wreckage to bypass and bodies to avoid.

At one point in the mountainous desert, while maneuvering around a flipped semi, they momentarily rubber necked when they came across a small group of zombies moving quicker than the rest as they devoured a well-fed mountain goat.

Gerard, Mikey, and Frank could barely break their gaze as the flesh eaters ripped it apart, throwing the inedible parts into the air behind them. A ring of mammalian waste was forming around them as they ate closer to the ground.

Charlotte was the only one who couldn’t be distracted by the gore-y disaster beside them. She returned to the same visibly stressed habit she was doing post losing Scarlet. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the road behind them while peeling her skin and plucking off the tiny grow out of nail she had.

As they reached the welcome to Nebraska sign, a large river formed beside them that Frank enjoyed watching as they found the nearest gas station to refill at.

The car wasn’t empty, but there wasn’t enough to get through Nebraska, and they wanted to avoid stopping too much more, being so close to their destination just as fall began to hit.

Mikey avoided getting out of the car at this station, alongside Charlotte, yet neither spoke while they sat there waiting for Frank and Gerard to come back, both who refused to go alone and were ultimately yelled at to go together ‘as long as there’s no fucking involved’ by Mikey.

They didn’t have time to fuck, even though Frank’s favorite memory of Gerard was being protected by him that first day they met. The way Gerard looked over his shoulder at him while protecting him made his chest squeeze no matter how often he thought about it.

Three zombies loitered inside the convenience store, thankfully only two had most of their bodies, one was only the top half crawling around the floor like when they met. Frank ignored the gut punch of déjà vu. Gerard took out the crawler and one of the walkers in the time it took Frank to take out one, who was missing an arm.

They swept the place but found no other undead. They split up quickly. Gerard went behind the counter to start the pump and steal the remaining, half stomped carton of cigarettes while Frank went to the food and filled his arms with a variety of chips, dried meat strips, nuts, and nutritional bars.

They left together, Gerard opened the back door for Frank to move in as his hands were full and Charlotte was too dissociated to notice their return. Gerard pumped the gas and rotated in his spot as he watched for any strays that may have caught them leave.

Gerard got them back on the road not long after, peering at Frank’s snack pile that now separated him from Charlotte.

“Can you sort the rations?” Gerard half joked. Once they got back onto the road, he’d noticed Frank’s mouth was nearly watering as he stared at the food pile beside him.

Frank spent the next thirty minutes separating the different types of food he grabbed and sorted them as well as he good. When there was an uneven amount of something, they proposed a voting system where they’d vote for what they want and discuss a trade or claim for the item. This worked perfectly and kept them busy as the horizon grew flatter.

Notes:

this weeks upload schedule is today (wed) ch25, thurs-26, fri-27 (post mcr-chicago) ((this is more likely going to be saturday but i have high hopes))

i apologize in advance, i had fun with these updates (:

Chapter 26

Nothing happened in Nebraska until they reached Lincoln...

Notes:

i'm sorry, y'all, i had to, fuck nebraska. see you at mcr chicago <3

Chapter 27

Notes:

you didn't think i was going to ACTUALLY make you wait until after the show, did you? don't worry, im not trying to be fist fought in the parking lot tonight lol <3 (or maybe i am... this is a big chapter)

Mikey had a sudden meltdown.

“How much longer do we have to sit in this FUCKING CAR.” Gerard had kept the radio on, even though most of the trip shared static, so the sudden yelling made him jump and wince away. Mikey kicked the dash with a heavy boot once, popping the glove box open.

Angerly, Mikey slammed it shut again, but it fell back open. The lock was broken. Mikey sat there slamming the door repeatedly, harder every hit. Eventually, he closed it so hard it cracked into place and remained closed.

Mikey took a deep breath and closed his eyes. No one said a word, at first. It was Gerard who finally broke the silence. The Welcome to Lincoln sign crawled by, unvandalized. Nebraska was surprisingly empty; Frank had to continue to remind himself the cows and corn out populated the people.

“Are you okay?” Gerard kept his eyes trained on the road ahead.

“Am I okay. Did you seriously just fucking ask me that, you stupid fuck.” Mikey spat.

“Woah!” Gerard gripped the wheel.

“Woah, okay, Mikey, jeez.” Frank jumped into the center seat to join the fight about to break out up front. Charlotte had her eyes trained out the back window for so long, she fell asleep with her head lolling to the bumps in the road hours before the confrontation.

“SHUT… The. Fuck. Up. Frank.” Mikey bit his tongue, avoiding looking back at the nosey asshole blocking him from his brother.

“Dude!” Frank threw his hands up.

“Mikey, please.” Gerard threw his hand into his brother’s chest.

Mikey roared disgustingly, it was half a gurgle as his eyes bulged from his head. “PULL… OVER…” Mikey started attacking the door, pulling at the handle like a maniac.

Gerard had no time to find a good location to stop before Mikey twisted in his seat and started bashing his feet into the door to get it open.

“HEY, HEY, HEY!!” Gerard grabbed Mikey’s shirt collar and yanked hard. “Chill the fuck out, dude!” Gerard was clueless to why Mikey was doing what he did, but Frank figured it out immediately.

Mikey didn’t hide the intense, near rabid scratching he did to his bandaged arm. His angry, wild eyes flew to look at his confused and scared brother.

“LET ME OUT.” Mikey demanded. He pulled his legs in and sat normally all of a sudden, staring out the front window. Silent. Eyes; dead.

Gerard said nothing as he pulled over. It wasn’t until he came to a complete stop that he clicked open the doors. Mikey flew out his side, nearly screeching.

Gerard and Frank remained frozen in their seats as they watched Mikey scream out into the sunset. He spoke nothing intelligible, just nonsensical noises.

Gerard let his brother have his meltdown, assuming it was another stage of coping with Ray’s death. Mikey used his entire body to react to the trauma now, something he never did before.

It made Frank sick.

Mikey immediately dropped onto his hands and knees; his body trembled as his muscles randomly started to spasm abnormally. An arm flew forward, then a leg went out to the side. His neck craned back as another growl ripped its way out of his throat.

Frank and Gerard watched in disgust as Mikey’s body contorted this way and that before he started thrusting like a puking cat. He choked on bile and blood as a roar built in his chest. Frank had to hold back his own vomit as he watched Mikey’s decorate the road.

Gerard was out of the car and at his brothers side immediately, “Mikey, Mikey!” Frantic, he dropped to his knees. “What’s going on? How can I help?”

But Mikey said nothing, he just waved his brother off and spit out the buildup of snack leftovers from his teeth. His body stopped shaking and he fell onto his side, eyes closed in relief as he curled into himself. One arm wrapped tightly around his stomach.

Gerard waited until after Mikey started to breath normally again before touching his shoulder with the bandage. Mikey yanked away from him with a hiss, his eyes bulging suddenly from his death glare. Gerard shrank away momentarily.

“Mikey. What’s going on.” Gerard had a guess what was wrong but needed his brother to admit it.

Frank stared silently beside the still sleeping Charlotte. He contemplated waking her, but decided she deserved to sleep after everything they’d gone through. Frank thought Gerard’s insomnia may have started to rub off on him because he was finding himself less tired the longer they had to fight for survival.

Frank wondered if Gerard was an insomniac before the apocalypse or if he earned it as a byproduct from disaster.

“I… I need to tell you something…” Mikey’s eyes remained shut as he huffed through his words, completely out of breath from his insides evacuating.

Gerard’s mouth grew into a hard line, he didn’t respond. Frank was sure he saw tears spring from his eye, but nothing fell. Frank’s stomach dropped when Mikey’s free hand went to the bandage on his upper bicep.

It was wrapped so tightly, the lower half of his arm was a slightly greenish yellow color that wasn’t noticeable until his old paleness shined. But the wound sight wasn’t just pale, nor was it an open slash like Frank thought, and it certainly wasn’t healing like it should’ve been.

A nearly perfectly round bite marked his arm. Some of the flesh was missing and there was bright yellow, putrid ooze coming from it. All around the bite, blackened veins pulsed outwards towards the rest of his body. Frank hadn’t realized how soiled Mikey’s dressings had become.

Neither of them gasped when the reveal happened. Frank slumped in the car, stomach attempting to work its way past his throat as it closed tight. Gerard’s body sagged as he held his hand on his brother.

“When were you going to tell me…?” Gerard words were barely above a whisper, tears threatened to spill but the rage that brewed inside held them back.

Mikey, on the other hand, was filled with a relief he couldn’t describe. No longer hiding the secret that would confirm his end on this planet, his body sagged too. His face relaxed and he dropped onto his back to stare at the stars in the sky.

“I was getting to it.” Was all Mikey said, only pissing Gerard off more.

“You were… getting to it…?” Gerard repeated the words as if he felt the reasoning in his own mouth for his brother’s secrecy.

“I didn’t want you to do anything stupid.”

“Michael.”

“Gerard.”

“What the fuck, dude?” Mikey only shrugged, he closed his eyes again, thinking over the constellations above. “Why would you lie?”

Mikey couldn’t help his brain from reminiscing about Ray again, tears fell, and he didn’t resist. The dam behind Gerard’s eyes broke then too as he hung his head over his dying brother.

“I didn’t lie.” Mikey coughed and spat out more blood. It was darker than usual. “I just… withheld the truth for a while.”

“Fuck you, Mikey.”

The first time Mikey really smiled in front of Frank, and it was horrifyingly bloody even from a distance in the dark. A delirious laugh bubbled around the sticky redness. “Love you, Gee.” Mikey choked on his tears.

The two sat there for a long time, crying together. Charlotte slept peacefully. Frank stared at the stretch of highway barricaded by corn that they had yet to explore. As night fully took over, an explosive chorus of buzzing bugs filled Frank’s ears.

After the sun fully fell and the land around them became scarier, Gerard and Mikey started talking again, but in hushed voices, preventing Frank from hearing them. Frank definitely didn’t mind ignoring this part. He anticipated the sound of a skull exploding to happen soon, so he closed his eyes and slumped further into the seat.

But the sound never came, and Frank quickly fell asleep to the buggy white noise.

Frank slept until the next morning, somehow not waking throughout the six hours it took before sunrise. He did not feel refreshed; the tiredness somehow dragged him down still.

Charlotte was awake next to him, watching out the back window and nibbling at her cuticles. Gerard was relaxed as he maneuvered around the car parts and the slowly populating state.

Mikey was in the passenger seat too, Frank thought for a moment that Mikey’ bite was from a dream, but he saw his arm had a new wrapping on it and the yellow ooze underneath lightly seeped through in a circular pattern.

“Oh, good, you’re finally awake.” Gerard looked at Frank from the rearview.

He knows I know… right…?

Frank said nothing, locking eyes with Gerard. Mikey watched the world go by, ignoring the two.

“We’re close to Des Moines now.”

“How long was I out?” Frank asked, sternly.

“Like sixish hours.” Gerard said casually, looking back at the road again. “No biggie, the tank still has a little longer.”

“Can we stop at a liquor store?” Frank asked pathetically. “I need to decompress.” He quickly added.

Gerard lazily passed his gaze to his brother, who had a map open on phone.

“Oh, brother of mine, can you find a liquor store in Des Moines for us?” Gerard nearly batted his eyelashes at Mikey. Adding a quick, “Please?” When Mikey didn’t respond right away.

They pulled off at the next liquor shop, just outside of Des Moines. Iowa wasn’t as empty of zombies as Nebraska, but Denver still haunted their nightmares.

Frank threw himself from the car, storming into the liquor store without a word to the others. It was quiet inside, Frank didn’t realize he was completely alone until he was already inside and unprepared.

The lights were on, and the shelves were lined with very little inventory missing. Frank walked around the shop until the rows of whiskey welcomed him. He grabbed a bottle, dropped to the ground, and popped it open, chugging down an eighth of it before the door opened and shut again. Gerard joined him on the floor.

Frank surrendered the bottle to Gerard’s outstretched hand. “Y’know, it’s pretty early to be drinking.”

“Say’s the guy who’s about to drink and drive.” Frank snapped. Gerard had the bottle to his lips, but Frank’s comment made him skip the swig. Frank snatched it back and took another overwhelming chug. “Why’d you leave him with Charlotte?”

“He’s my brother, Frank…”

“He’s been bit.”

“He’s still Mikey…”

Frank thought for a moment then took another swig. The buzz hit him hard, like a ton of bricks. His head got heavy, his stomach churned.

“How long are we keeping him, then.” Frank didn’t hide his anger.

“I… I want to see how long it takes before he changes.” Frank shot a narrow gaze at Gerard, silently scrutinizing him.

“That’s fucked up, dude.” A long silence stretched between them. Gerard took the bottle again, disregarding the laws of the old world, he took a long swing without a wince. Frank hid his adoration well; his horniness annoyingly attempted to poke through his jeans. Whiskey dick was not a symptom of Frank’s quick decision. “He was bit when he scouted that gas station, wasn’t he?”

Gerard nodded. He looked eerily similar to his brother, staring into the bottle, Frank thought.

Er… or Mikey looked exactly like Gerard…

Frank started counting on his fingers. “So… it’s been almost a week.”

“It’s been five days, Frank.”

“It will be six later today.” Frank took the bottle back and downed some. His food was not sitting well at all. His stomach growled almost as loud as Mikey did as the sugary alcohol mixed poorly with the gas station food that refused to settle before. Gerard said nothing, the door opened again behind them and eventually Mikey joined them.

Gerard took the bottle again, “You break the news to Charlotte?” Mikey nodded. Gerard took a swig then offered the bottle to his brother.

But Frank snatched the bottle before Mikey could reach it. “We don’t know if swapping spit passes the virus or not.” Mikey avoided meeting anyone’s eyes. Frank stupidly drank more even though his vision was distorted and his words slurred.

“How’d she take it?” Gerard stared at his brother sadly; the alcohol warmed him from the inside.

Mikey shrugged. “She kinda has a dead eyed stare right now… didn’t really have a reaction…”

Frank hiccupped loudly, glaring at the two lying brothers.

“Well, Mikey.” Frank pointed with the hand holding the bottle. “Your dead boyfriend was scientistic, right?” Hic. “Workin’ all close with the virus and such.”

“Frank, what the fuck—”

“No, Gerard! Shut up!” Frank’s face grew red hot as he turned his attention slowly back to Mikey. “How long does it—” Hic. “Take.” Frank caught his breath and held it, attempting to eliminate the drunken hiccups.

Mikey continued to stare at the floor, numb to the remembrance of his lost lover. Gerard didn’t hesitate to grab another bottle of whiskey for Mikey, but Mikey declined.

“I don’t know how long I have… Pete worked in the same facility, not directly with the virus… He was locked inside when the virus broke out in an attempt to keep it contained… Leave it to the fucking billionaire CEO to sneak out after being bitten without anyone stopping him.”

“Well. How long did—” Hic. Frank took another deep breath, setting the bottle between his knees while he blinked through the two brothers becoming four then back to two again. “How. Long. Did. It. Take. For him to change.” Frank concentrated on his words.

But Mikey shrugged, “Wish I could tell ya. When the community found out he left and was on a plane out of the city already, the flight attendants working on his private jet turned on him and crashed the plane. The last message they sent out said they were willing to go down with him if it meant stopping the spread of it…”

Frank was the only one staring the other two down while they guiltily watched the tile below.

 Mikey took a deep breath and held it too, he didn’t realize how peaceful it was to know when you were going to die. Nothing really bothered him anymore, he felt no need to hide anything. “Obviously, he wasn’t the only person infected, and, as you can imagine, the lab didn’t stay locked down. I remember how you used to lock up whenever a zombie would come at you. It’s something you have to train yourself out of. Imagine being at work and a group of your coworkers, shit, your friends start coming at you wanting to eat you alive.” Mikey stopped himself to prevent the tears, he shook his head.

They all sat in silence while Mikey’s words sunk in. An hour ticked by and Frank’s extremely sudden drunkenness had sobered a bit. Mikey was the one to break this silence, to Gerard’s relief. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner. I was… scared.”

At least one of them knows what an apology is…

Gerard didn’t wait to pull his brother into a sideways hug, Frank’s guilt from his rudeness earlier ate him alive and he didn’t resist the instinctual gulp of whiskey to reignite the faded buzz. He was sick of crying. He was sick of losing the people he’d grown to love in such a short time. People who treated him better than his family ever did.

He never believed it when people told him ‘Your found family is your true family’, until he met Ray and the Way brothers. Three strangers who extended help and offered a home while the world literally fell apart around them.

“You didn’t really think I’d kill you out there, did you?” Gerard asked with an unnerving laugh.

“I wasn’t sure honestly… I don’t want to turn, but I really don’t want it to happen around you guys. I kinda assumed you’d leave me out there in that field at least…” Mikey admitted.

“So, we’re just going to accept this as okay.” Frank interrupted the boys having their brotherly moment, he tried not to sound rude but that was difficult for him when he’d gone so long without liquor.

“Frank, he could be good for awhile longer.” Gerard suggested.

Frank had none of it. “You do realize we’ve been chasing this virus near daily, meaning the transformation process can NOT take that long. I’d be shocked if he makes it past a week.” Frank’s bitterness dripped from his tongue like venom.

“Well then why don’t you just fucking kill me already then, Frank.” Mikey met Frank’s angry gaze with just as much rage. “You don’t trust me; we both know I’m infected and going out. So be a fucking man and kill me.”

They stared each other down as if they were about to duel. Mikey pushed Frank but Frank refused to go over the edge. Instead, even in his heavily intoxicated mind, he backed down.

“You’re right. I can’t kill you.” Frank took a guilty swig from the bottle again. “But the second you turn, I dunno who’s going to be the one to do it.” Frank knew he probably couldn’t do it even if Mikey was snapping at him. They had grown so close even through their constant fighting, Frank was overwhelmed with sadness at just the thought of losing Mikey too. Ray being gone left a hole he knew would follow him to death, Mikey was going to do the same.

It was finally Gerard who stood up, he waited until he sobered up a bit wanting to maintain a safe trip. In a world of zombies, going out via drunk driving sounded lame.

“Come on. Charlotte must be wondering where we are.” Gerard offered his hand out to both men, who looked at each other before Frank grabbed hold first. Gerard helped Mikey up while Frank attempted to settle to very sudden swaying and triple vision.

“Ooooh fuck, thisssooo much worssse than, ugh,” Hic. “Thought it’d be.” Hic.

Not the fucking hiccups again. He held his breath in a drunken protest.

His words slurred so much and so suddenly, both brothers gave him a wide-eyed stare, unable to fully comprehend what he said.

“Yeah, lets get you back in the car…” Gerard wrapped an arm around Frank’s waist and guided him to the car with Mikey close behind. Neither of them realized Frank had swapped his near empty whiskey bottle with a larger, unopened bottle just before they left.

Charlotte was still in the car, and she looked just as defeated with a dead-eyed stare like Mikey described. When Frank got in beside her, she didn’t react. She stared at her hands in her lap, she’d gotten significantly tanner during their trip, yet right now she was almost as white as a ghost.

They rode on without saying a word.

They got just past Des Moines, the sign vandalized to say DeMo with large, spray-painted smiley faces all over it. Gerard used Mikey’s map to move around the outer skirts of the city to avoid whoever was hiding within.

The changing began just as Frank predicted. The second the bite hit it’s sixth day of festering; Mikey’s body started to contort even worse than the night before. And it started while they were all in the car together.

Mikey banged his head against the window three times in a random interval before Gerard asked what was up. Frank knew immediately what was happening when Mikey didn’t respond, instead his arm shot up and bent at a wrong angle suddenly, the loud crack sent Frank’s stomach back up all over the floor at his feet. Gerard slammed on the brakes.

During the drive, Charlotte had twisted in her seat to watch behind them again without saying a word to anyone else. She had no reaction to the changing and vomiting happening around her.

Mikey’s head twisted too far around as he turned to look at Frank. His mouth growled out into a toothy sneer, his eyes blood shot.

“Gerard!” Frank desperately pried at the door in panic, but the child lock was on.

“Mikey!” Gerard tried to get his brother’s attention by yelling and hitting him, but nothing worked. His brother was gone as soon as the changing started. His skin slowly started to match the sickly yellow green that oozed from his bite site.

Mikey started snapping at Frank, broken arm reaching out disgustingly towards him. He couldn’t stop himself from puking again.

“FRANK! JESUS FUCK DUDE STOP!” Gerard’s panic came out full force, the only thing holding Mikey back from attacking anyone was his seatbelt. “Mikey, please!” Denial riddled his bones.

“He’s fucking gone, dude, we have to kill him!” Frank was cornered in the back, unable to get a good angle on him. “Please! Help me, Gerard!”

Gerard began to hyperventilate, eyes switching from Frank being chomped at and his brother doing the chomping. He wrapped his arm around the bat he had wedged between the dash and windshield.

“GERARD, PLEASE!” Frank pleaded as Mikey’s broken, twisted fingers grabbed at his clothes and pulled him closer. Frank attempted to pull away, but zombie Mikey had some sudden preternatural strength preventing him from getting out of the grip.

His back dug into the door handle, leaving painful indents in his skin.

Gerard went to push Mikey away with the bat, but he couldn’t do it. The sight of his brothers instant decaying sent fear within him he’s never felt before. Frank twisted harshly, Mikey’s fingers broke more against the strength of Frank’s forceful hands. His begs turned into desperate unanswered yells.

The car seemed to shrink the more Frank’s thrashing was met with the confining door. Claustrophobia enveloped him and he felt that seizing up Mikey mentioned he used to do. He did what he could to stay in the moment and not fall victim to the anxiety.

With a long exhale, Gerard said, “I-I’m sorry Frank, it’s Mikey… I… I…”

Charlotte came swinging in suddenly, wielding Bert’s knife, and in an act of desperate mercy, she stabbed into Mikey’s head. She yanked it back out harshly, almost hitting Gerard in the backswing. The knife resisted when she attempted to take it back. It took her four stabs before Mikey finally stopped.

Mikey’s face was unrecognizable with the large, bloody gash in the center of his face. His jaw barely held on and his eye dangled wetly against his cheek. The socket oozed the gross yellow pus and pungent black blood.

Frank and Gerard were stunned, mouths dropped open as they stared in silence. Nobody was breathing.

Charlotte still had those dead eyes and unfeeling facial features. She looked at neither of them as she wiped the knife off on the seat beside her and tucked it at her feet again.

She turned back around in her seat to watch out the back window, “We’re gonna need a new car.” She said to the now silent passengers.

Chapter 28

Gerard's hands flew to his mouth as he held back the vomit burning his tongue. He felt the acid cover his teeth with a disgusting film. Mikey's body festered quickly in the hot car.

Gerard kicked himself out and onto his back, rolling over desperately to empty his stomach. Even after nothing more could come up, his body continued to dry heave. The smell of his brothers bloody, pus-leaking body sprung tears from his eyes.

Frank quickly got out after him, stomach too empty to vomit again. He fell to his knees beside Gerard, digging into the dry dirt.

Charlotte remained in the car, staring at the road behind them.

When Gerard's stomach finally gave up, his heaving chokes evolved into a lost cry. The vomit nearly reached his hands before he pushed back onto his knees to get away, tears rained onto his clenched fists.

Frank's heart hurt. He felt like a touch on the back would be silly in this type of situation. Gerard's sobbing quickly turned into sniffling whimpers and loud gulps, Frank finally reached a hesitant hand out to touch Gerard's shoulder.

He didn't pull away.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Gerard…" Frank squeezed his shoulder and when Gerard didn't respond, he quickly came up with something else to say. "I didn't know it would be that fast… Maybe we could've cut his arm off or something before it spread..."

Gerard's tears lessened, he wiped his face on his dirty shirt. "That would've required that he tell us about the bite. And Mike is too proud for that." He paused for a moment. "Was."

Frank's heart snapped in half, he'd never seen Gerard's eyes so lost. They were almost as vacant as the undead that haunted them. Gerard didn't look at Frank, he sat there sniveling for minutes, too long…

In Frank's opinion, they needed to work on getting Mikey buried or disposed of so nothing more happened to him. But, Frank also wasn't sure when it would be appropriate to bring up getting rid of his... boyfriends?... friends?... best friends...? brothers body.

Probably never. He decided, taking a deep inhale of courage he wrapped his arm around him instead. Gerard didn't move for a moment, but he ultimately let his head relax onto Frank's shoulder. They stared into the flat green and brown land before them.

To their right was a totally open field of corn, a small drainage pond sat at the lowest point of it. To the left was a dense forest already losing leaves to the slowly cooling autumn air.

Frank opened his mouth to speak but Gerard beat him to it, "Charlotte's right… We need a new car." Frank looked over his shoulder to their remaining friend who continued to ignore them to watch the road behind, fearfully. Even from outside the car, Frank could see she was gnawing at her fingers again. Frank was certain he could see her twitch slightly every couple minutes…

"Gerard…" He pulled away from Frank to look at him while he spoke. Frank's anxiety came back when he saw the sadness in his hazel eyes again. The tears didn't stop, they just continued to silently flow. "We should bury him."

The floodgates broke at his words. Frank knew he was right, even if Gerard didn't explicitly agree out loud. Frank also knew Gerard would regret leaving his brother to fester inside of a car, so he was going to do everything in his power to give Mikey a proper burial.

Gerard was a crying, snotty mess that Frank pulled away. Without much thought, Frank started digging in the dirt between them with his fingers like a dog digging for a bone.

It didn't take long for Gerard to recompose himself as he chuckled at the smaller mans attempt at digging a grave. Although a few tears still raced to Gerard's chin, he was able to speak through them.

"I don't want to bury him. That doesn't guarantee he… he…" He took a deep breath, Frank watched him with a growing pain in his chest. Gerard cleared his throat. "We should burn him."

Frank couldn't hide his shock. They stared for a long time. Long enough for Gerard's tears to stop and his face to dry. Neither shared another word, Frank just slowly nodded while attempting to wipe the dirt from his hands.

As the sun began to set, Gerard and Frank moved around the edge of the forest collecting thick sticks and broken branches.

Charlotte spent a long time not helping, she continued to stare at the empty road behind them. Fear filled her from head to toe and she felt little to no comfort from the men she was left with. She was just numb.

But, watching the two struggle to set up a shitty pyre for the first man she's ever killed. There was something special about that, she felt, remembering their short time together. The first person she had to kill was someone she almost considered a friend.

It was difficult for her to really consider him a friend, seeing as he was an asshole most of the time and hardly spoke to her otherwise. She examined the mutilated face dripping in front of her. Disgust filled her first before the sorrow. Mikey was the only one who really tried to relate and comfort her after Scarlet—

Charlotte couldn't think about her. She shook her best friends face from her brain yet the tears fought their way out anyways. Why does he get a burial, but she couldn't…

But, she knew why. Which is why the tears came out hard and she almost lost control of her breathing as she stared at the mangled mess that made her stomach hurt. She couldn't help but force her brain to remember Mikey's story about Pete, and how his last words to his boyfriend may have not been heard before his death. Just like Scarlet for her.

Or Mikey for Gerard…

She decided now wasn't the time to be spiteful. With a deep sigh, Charlotte dried her face and joined the two pathetically sad boys at their project as the sun moved its way closer to the horizon.

The sun began to set when the pyre was completed and they were ready to add Mikey's body. No one said a word as a look of knowing passed around them, Gerard was the one to go to Mikey first.

Frank and Charlotte kept their distance in the shadows of the trees over the field. The pyre was just off the road before the hill really sloped.

Gerard stood outside the passenger door for a long time just staring at his brothers twisted body. The sky melted into a deep burnt orange sprinkled with pink, slowly the purple of night ate away at it.

Gerard didn't cry. Frank and Charlotte knew to get ready when the clicking of the car door opening popped into the dead air. Frank lit a joint and cigarette, both held between his lips.

Gerard ducked into his brothers seat and unbuckled him. He didn't cry when he tucked one arm under his knees and behind his lower back in order to pull him out. Or as he walked his brothers body across the street.

Mikey's body was sickeningly light compared to before. His head flopped backwards unnaturally and bounced with each step to his final resting place. Gerard tried to ignore the gore that sprang loose out of the hole in Mikey's face and stained the asphalt, but each slap to the ground squelched.

Gerard's stomach threatened to erupt again but there was nothing left to eject. He repeated phrases including a hundred different goodbyes in his head. Gerard's nose was spoiled with the fresh air, his brothers decaying body had a smell to it that would tattoo itself into his memory until the end of time.

When Gerard reached the pyre, Charlotte took up Frank's offered joint. Gerard didn't meet their eyes, he hung his head. The sky was finally purple and black as the night beat the sun away.

He still didn't cry as he laid Mikey onto the low, pathetic bundle of sticks that cracked loudly underneath the weight of his brothers quickly stiffening body. Frank used Bert's knife to carve Mikey's name into the dirt as Gerard said his final goodbye.

"Welp… Here we are… We both knew it was coming, I just… didn't realize it would be so soon…" He sniffled in some snot but still didn't cry. He placed his sweaty hand on top of his brothers frozen one. "I… I had a good time… I hope you're with mom… and dad… Heh, I bet Pete's pretty excited to see you…" He squeezed the unrecognizably stiff fingers. "Ray's probably so pissed to see you this soon…" Frank sucked down the rest of the joint, quickly lighting another in its place. Gerard couldn't smile. "Say hi to them for me, Mikey… I love you brother… I think it's better if I stay but…" Gerard's throat began to quickly close. "I'll see you again, our souls will collide again when my time here is up… you'll always be my baby brother…"

Gerard finally cried. At first, it was just a few tears, then he finally pulled his hand away and they started to flow uncontrollably. He struggled to stifle his sobs as he joined Frank and Charlotte.

He took the burning cig Frank held onto for him and deeply inhaled. The tears didn't stop but he regained control over his lungs again, which was enough for him to keep going. Frank and Charlotte had done what they could with what they had at their disposal to set up the pyre so it had chunks of flammable brush stuck all throughout to help it light up. When Gerard was ready, he moved in snagging Frank's lighter without a word exchanged.

Before he lit the first one, he peered down at what used to be Mikey's face. One eyeball was still in and stared straight up, the rest of his face looked like he was eaten through by a bear.

Gerard gently brushed Mikey's hair off his face and leaned down to kiss his brothers forehead. Before pulling away, he lit the first bundle of brush just below his head, then moved around the pyre and lit each one he could find.

He decided the other two did a good job at filling the burial spot because it lit up with no struggle. Burning first the mutilated skull and moving down to his feet until he was a boiling lump of flames emitting hot waves towards the last three.

Gerard stood at Mikey's feet while the other two remained above his head. They all stood there mesmerized by the flames attempting to lick the sky.

Gerard tried not to stay too long, having little desire to watch his brother turn to ash. He turned and walked away without saying a word, because Frank and Charlotte were only there waiting for him to be ready to go. Frank flicked the butt of his joint into Mikey's flames, "See you in the next lifetime, Mikey." Frank followed Gerard back to the car with Charlotte close behind, who said nothing to Mikey's charred remains.

---

They spent the next few hours slowly driving through DeMo attempting to find a new car without the scent of death lingering within, none of them conversed. Gerard kept the windows open to try airing it out but nothing could remove the smell of death and he soon got too sick to drive it anymore.

He flew into a neighborhood and parked in the first house he could. The garage was a dark brown attached to an ugly beige house. The tall tree in the front yard was populated with brown leaves that broken off with each gust of wind.

Gerard pulled the key from the ignition and the silence deafened them. The smell could be ignored now.

"Let's go." He threw himself from the car and bee-lined to the house.

Frank's eerie deja vu made him sick as he watched Gerard scout the house the same way Mikey did to the one after they escaped the cult. Charlotte chewed her cuticles nearly to bone as Gerard disappeared around the back.

This house was much smaller than the one they stopped at before, the attached garage took up half the lot. It was a single story with brown siding and a decaying brown roof. A chain-link fence hoarded fallen leaves and trash in its corners.

Frank had flashes of Mikey getting jumped at the gas station, did Gerard take his bat? Frank yanked the bat from the front seat and left, not wanting to sit with the stain of Mikey anymore.

Charlotte leisurely followed Frank as he fearfully chased Gerard's path. Gerard scared them both as he suddenly, silently popped out at them.

"Back is locked, none of the windows will open either but there's no zombies that I can see." There was something gone in Gerard's voice. He sounded careless. He moved straight to the front door where he discovered the front was unlocked.

"First sign of the midwest," Frank announced. "No one locks their front door."

"Seems stupid." Gerard commented.

"It is." Frank laughed. Charlotte remained mostly silent behind them as she watched out for the living and dead.

Gerard didn't bother looking around the house, he went to the garage to find a car. When there wasn't one, he stormed out and went to the next house without saying a word. Frank and Charlotte didn't exchange a word as Frank followed Gerard like a puppy.

Charlotte found a seat on the hood of their old car, stealing a joint from Frank's pack sitting in the back seat. Eventually she sprawled onto her back to watch the night sky. She swore she could still see the pillar of smoke from the pyre, making her stomach twist before the high took over and killed it.

They didn't find a car at the next house either, or the third. When they hit the fourth and found a truck, it wasn't until Gerard tried and failed to get it to run that he started banging on the steering wheel and screaming his frustration out.

"Why the fuck was this so easy before?!" Gerard slapped and kicked the vehicle from the inside. Frank watched without saying a word until Gerard slammed his head into the wheel and stilled.

"Do you think people are starting to believe the people saying there's a zombie invasion now?"

Gerard said nothing for a long time, and he didn't move when he finally did talk. "I dunno… Ray was the one who kept track of that stuff…"

Disgruntled, Frank left Gerard in there. He spotted Charlotte just as she flicked the joint away. He left her alone and made for the opposite streets houses. None of them were anything special, and almost all of them had their front doors unlocked.

After mostly finding empty garages, Frank was about to lose hope when the last one actually looked lived in. The worktable had tools scattered about and a couple electronic devices were taken apart on top.

A dirty Harley-Davidson was propped up next to a car covered by a beige tarp. Frank didn't recognize the shape, but was impressed when he whipped off the covering to find a shiny, like new car underneath. It was long and sleek, the black paint shined even in the dark.

The interior was completely leather, he could tell it was old just from the knob and button controls even though the seats were like new. He flipped the mirror down and a key fell into his lap. It took him a moment to shake the shock at his sudden luck. He became giddy the second the car started.

It was easy to gain the attention of his lost and waiting friends. Gerard returned to the house they stopped at and when Frank slowly pulled up, Gerard was on his feet instantly.

"Where did you find an impala?!"

Frank shrugged. "It was in a garage." Gerard smiled for the first time all day. And it was broken, the pain was obvious behind it, but Frank was thankful for it either way.

Charlotte joined them, leaning in through the passenger side window. "This is a pretty sick car, it's a sixty-seven and looks like it's in perfect condition. How many miles are on it?"

Frank and Gerard stared at her in awe. "You could tell that just from lookin'?" There was a hint of doubt in Gerard's words.

"Yeah, my dad was really into cars when I was growing up… I didn't really care for 'em, especially after high school. That knowledge just kinda sticks with you." Frank and Gerard looked at each other then back at Charlotte, who was the calmest she'd ever been.

"There's a little under fifty thousand on it." An impressed frown melted Charlotte's mouth.

"This thing can get us to Wisconsin." She slapped the door twice, "Let's get on the road." She went to the already abandoned silver car and emptied their belongings into the new trunk. She left behind Ray and Mikey's bags and climbed into the back seat. Behind her back, Gerard grabbed the bags anyways tossing them on top.

Frank weaved through the streets of DeMo for an hour before they made it out in the direction to Wisconsin. Gerard navigated through Ray's old phone, explaining Ray kept a list of places online forums were claiming to be safe and not safe. It hadn't been updated since before they got to Colorado, but the safe-house location in central Wisconsin was a saved address in his phone.

The Chevy rumbled loudly through the flat state, flying past miles of corn fields to avoid the pile ups. The map gave them an estimated time of four hours to the northern commune, but they ended up driving until after daybreak.

The Welcome to Wisconsin sign had been vandalized to say moo Wisco, not very clever but the cow drawn on the sign was cute and resembled a Japanese milk bottle cow cartoon.

Wisconsin started off promising with rolling hills occasionally sliced into tall cliff faces made out of sandstone, but the hills flattened and disappeared the closer to Madison they got. Most of the acreage between consisted of cattle farms broken up by small wooded areas and, to Franks dismay, more corn.

Gerard found a couple old rock CDs in the glove box and popped them each in after the last throughout the remainder of their trip. By the time the commune grew into their view, the three of them had memorized the songs and were uplifted by the lack of sleep.

Charlotte got an hour of sleep in the middle of the trip, but was frightened awake by nightmares consisting of Scarlet's face turning in a vicious monster like Mikey while being trapped like Frank.

Gerard's insomnia thrived, nightmares feared his mind. His eyes burned but he never complained.

Frank stole a cigarette from Gerard when his eyes began to falter, but ended up having to smoke a joint after in order to kill the buzz a little.

"I could use some coffee." Gerard spoke out-loud to no one in particular.

"We're almost there, I'm sure you'll get some." Frank and Gerard smiled together as they longingly stared at each other for a moment. The interstate had little blocking their path once they were within city limits.

It was colder than normal this day, even with the cloudless sky above. They rolled through hills of dying greenery and tipped over trucks, there was a surprising lack of undead every street they chugged through.

As they passed multiple exits for Madison, each one was tagged with 'MadTown' and '608' in puffy, colorful graffiti.

Madison had a glaring amount of cars crashed through the street level businesses as they drove around the square, going north. The tight capital streets were almost impossible to get through, Frank noticed quickly the handful of zombies trapped and banging on the windows to the frat houses.

Speed bumps and human remains littered the roads they were guided through. Everyone toughened their stomach at the wet pops and gentle glide the car did every time they rolled over a limb.

They followed the lake up and around until the map stopped them in front of what looked like an apartment building, to Frank. There were four stories and was made of ugly brown masonry.

The first two floors were boarded up with thin plywood clearly reinforced with additional boards and spikes. That's when Frank realized what he previously thought was just another pile up was intentionally smashed city buses creating a wall passed where the building ended.

"I didn't think we'd ever see it…" Gerard admitted. Charlotte's giddiness took over and made her maniacally giggly as they all craned their necks to check out the netted up balconies with ripped up flags flying freely. American flags, Wisconsin state flags, most of them were red with a cartoon badger in the center.

"Guess we could get out…" Frank suggested, sunlight blinded them.

Gerard grunted and Charlotte sneered. "How do we know we can trust them?" Frank and Gerard's eyes met.

A little red dot suddenly popped up and trained onto Frank's chest.

Frank chewed his lip, looking down at the tiny hardly swaying light, panic flooded him. "We can't."

Notes:

welp.. we're here... whats next?