Chapter Text
“What?!” Spencer exclaims, blinking with his mouth falling agape. A zombie and a human? Traveling together? That was unheard of! definitely not cliche!
“Uhm.. Yeah…” Diego responds with a sheepish chuckle, confirming his words. “Only if you’re comfortable with it, of course!” he quickly adds.
Spencer swallows in response, the thought swirling within his mind. If Spencer had to admit, having Diego around would definitely work to his advantage. Traveling alone wasn’t too safe, especially with raiders wandering around too. Not just that, but it was obvious to the bare eye that even for a dead man, he was strong, muscles and all.
“Just think about it..okay?” The zombie would hold out his hand. “In all honesty, you can trust me.” a warm, assuring smile bloomed on the man's face.
With a quick motion, Spencer immediately pulled his hands closer to his chest, not completely set on the idea. Diego frowns and pulls his hand back.
“I understand… if you’re afraid of what could happen.. I could just-” Diego began, but Spencer cuts him off abruptly.
“No. It’s fine.” He’d let out an exasperated sigh, making up his mind. “We travel together, but on my terms.” he’d oblige reluctantly, it’d work in his favor with an extra member.
Lighting up, Diego grins and slings an arm around Spencer's shoulders.
“Really? That’s great! Gracias!” he replied gleefully.
“Yeah, yeah.” Spencer huffed, ducking under Diego's arm to get out of his grasp.
If he was really going to do this, then he’d need to keep his distance. He was a zombie, nothing could change that. Even a mutation couldn’t change that.
“Also keep your voice down, I don’t want unwanted attention.” Spencer scowls slightly, leading the way.
“Sorry mi amigo! I got carried away!” Diego chuckles softly, quickly following after the British boy.
While they walked, Diego went on about his life before being a zombie. Honestly, even if Spencer was somewhat annoyed with the man's outgoing personality, he did admire his tender approach to wildlife and its species.
Taking a disheveled map out of his pocket, Spencer clears his throat.
“My bunker isn’t too far from here. when we get there, we settle down.” his eyes scanned the map, his finger tracing over where they were.
“You have a bunker?” Diego replies, looking amazed.
“Uhm..yeah? You didn’t?” Spencer raises a brow, adjusting his glasses.
Diego shrugged.
“Well you can’t just get a shelter like that. All I really had was my home. Yet, I didn’t survive too long.” He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
“Sorry to hear that.” Spencer adverts his gaze, his voice going softer.
“No worries! I was perfectly fine in the end!” Diego motioned to himself, quickly lightening up the mood.
…
“You know, when you said following your terms..I was definitely not expecting this.” Diego let out a soft sigh, chains jingling beside him as Spencer got comfortable on his own mattress, fluffing out the pillow.
“You’re a zombie. How could I know that you won’t frenzy out?” Spencer shoots back.
“You have a point.. But is this necessary?” Diego smiles in question.
“Yes.” Spencer responds quickly. “I am not taking my chances.”
Turning over, he’d blow the candle out, attempting to get a bit of sleep even in this bloody catastrophe of a world. Diego repositioned himself too, attempting to get comfortable. Honestly, Spencer felt a bit guilty. The man had been very kind, but that didn’t change the fact that he was a man-eating monster. He had to be cautious.
“Wait, amigo, I didn’t catch your name at all.” Diego’s voice interrupted the silence, rolling amongst the darkness and lingering in the air.
After a bit of silence, Spencer spoke up again.
“Spencer.” he replied quietly, folding his glasses and setting them beside his mattress.
The silence came back, leaving a trace of awkwardness between them.
“That’s a nice name.” Diego muttered softly.
Ever so slightly, a small smile found itself on Spencer's face, though he composed himself quickly and closed his eyes. No, ridiculous. While attempting to sleep, every small noise would awaken him, every creak, every shift. Everytime, Spencer would jolt back awake, his eyes nervously tracing among the room.
Immediately, after the third time, he’d light the candle back up, having a shortness of breath. He yearned for sleep, but it wasn’t so easy with a zombie alongside you, even if they still had a brain.
Meanwhile, Diego was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes squinting in uncomfort when the light was suddenly turned back on.
“Everything alright?” Diego turned to him with concern etched on his face, the chains clinking against the ground.
“I’m just paranoid..” Spencer buries his face into the pillow. Shortly after, he peers back up at Diego, his brows furrowing. “What are you? Nocturnal?” the brit grumbles.
“Not really, just…dead. Kinda,” Diego shrugged, “It’s not an essential need anymore.”
“Well, you’re not exactly dead.” Spencer replied, motioning to Diego’s state at the moment.
“but I’m not a human either.” Diego smiles back with a wink, which Spencer chose to ignore.
“I wish I was in your position, I'm bloody knackered.” Spencer groaned.
“I don’t know, it’s very boring to be up all night and morning.” Diego chuckled back.
“Do you get any sleep anyway? Like…can you fall asleep at all?” Spencer asks curiously.
“Hardly,” the zombie sighed in response, “I can, it’s just difficult. I do try, regardless.”
“Diego.. May I ask how your life was before all this?” Spencer shifts on the mattress, pulling the blankets up some more.
Diego’s expression dulled a bit as he looked back up at the ceiling. Maybe it was a touchy subject? Letting out a sigh, he looked back at Spencer with a smile, shrugging subtly.
“You know what? Sure. Why not?” he hummed.
Spencer paid close attention, waiting for Diego to start talking.
“Well.. As a human, I was a tour guide. I explored different parts of the world and their cultures. For example, cuisines, rituals, all that stuff.” He perked up on an arm, laying his head on his hand with a slight excited grin.
“You told me earlier. Lucky, I have never traveled before.” Spencer huffed.
“Really?!” Diego gasped, his eyes widening. “Gee, mi amigo, we met at the wrong time.” Diego frowned. “If we met some time ago, I could've shown you all over the world. Maybe more..” he added, staring into Spencer's blue eyes.
Maybe more? Was he implying something?
“Yeah…I've only ever stayed in the UK.” Spencer shrugged awkwardly.
“You haven’t even been to any place else in Europe? No France? Germany? Portugal?”
“Nope. Nowhere else.” Spencer replied.
“Well, I’m gonna wish that the world gets better, and the infection dies out. If so, I'll take you wherever you’d like to go.”
Spencer blinked.
“That’s a bit generous, don’t you think? I mean, we only just met..” Spencer mumbled.
“So? It could take years for the infection to die out, it might never,” Diego hummed, “we wouldn’t be strangers if that were to happen? Right?”
Spencer thought about his words. Yeah, they wouldn’t be strangers, but only time will tell how long they’ll survive for. Not to mention, he felt his heart sink a bit at the thought of the world never rebuilding itself and getting better. That possibility was the most realistic of them all.
“Whatever, tell me more.” Spencer urged, a hint of interest on his face.
“Okay, okay, let’s not get hasty now!” Diego chuckled. “Lets see, could I tell you about how I turned into a zombie?”
Spencer nodded eagerly in reply.
“Well… It all started when..”
.
.
.
A knife would be chopping against a wood cutting board as the TV blared in the background. Diego hums softly as he prepares a meal for the night. A romantic comedy was currently playing in the distance, the drama stirring as the movie went on.
Sometimes, Diego wished he could be in some kind of romantic comedy. It sounded a bit crazy, but that was what he wanted. He’d eventually go into the fridge to snag a few vegetables, preparing to saute some more.
Suddenly, his TV glitched, then went static, making Diego jump a bit from the loud noise. He spun around and stared at the screen as it switched automatically onto the news.
“TV’s can do that?” he muttered to himself as he moved towards the screen and sat on the couch.
Diego winced at the volume, turning it down as he listened to the news.
“Attention! Zombies have been spotted on all continents due to international flying! The infection is spreading rapidly and airlines will be closing immediately. we inform all of you to stay inside until the time being.” The desperate tone caught Diego off guard.
Zombies? How could that be?
Anxiously, his hand went to grab his phone, calling up his mom. Everyone had heard about the news. He was scared, no, terrified. Zombies? How could zombies actually be real? He had spent hours on the phone with his mom for the time being, everything seemed like such a blur.
It was all so sudden, all so new. They’ve had virus outbreaks before. But this? This was far worse. If it was anything like the tv shows that he’d usually encounter once in a while, he’s done for.
Glancing at the cupboard, he’d bite his lip. If he was not allowed to go out at all (not like he could bring himself to anyway), he’d run out of food and supplies in 2 months max. Previously, he had to go shopping, yet he procrastinated on the visit to the store. God, how much he regretted that awful choice.
It’s alright. Everything will be alright. Diego had told himself, however he was doubting his words as the days went by.
Soon enough, after weeks, power was cut off too, leaving everyone around the world without electricity due to job restrictions caused by the infection. From what he’s seen, everything has just been getting worse. Some people listened, while others went against the safety measures and went out into the world regardless. Luckily for him, he hadn’t seen any zombies roaming around, which was good.
Still, he was all alone. Suffering in his worry, all alone. He couldn’t even reach out to friends or family anymore either. He’d never know if they were safe. Were they safe? Would he be safe?
His food supplies had begun running low, which wasn’t a very good outcome either. A neighbor definitely wouldn’t lend any supplies. In a zombie apocalypse, zombies weren’t the biggest threat, people were worse surprisingly. There was competition within limited food supplies and weapons and such. He had learned that the hard way a few days ago.
Diego had quietly left his home to go next door and ask for some supplies, in which he assumed they were friends. However, he didn’t get a warm welcome, quite the opposite. He was reprimanded to go away, threatened if he furthermore bothered them. Silently, he obeyed, frowning, but heading back to his own house anyway.
...
It had almost been a month since the apocalypse. The first time he’d seen a wandering zombie was through the window. Words could not describe how terrifying that was.
His time was biting down with the limited food resources. The position was very dangerous, and potentially even risky. Even so, he decided to just go to the nearby corner store. It was around the block, unsafe, but possibly an easy journey.
Carrying the courage to leave, Diego grabbed a kitchen knife and went on his way. He was cautious and overlooked his shoulder all throughout the way. He hadn’t seen anything just yet, thankfully.
The roads were empty, creeping Diego out to a degree. He bit his lip as he finally arrived, walking in slowly. It looked alright and safe to enter, so he did as he pleased. He snagged a few items, sighing in relief.
Out of the blue, a low, hungry groan was heard from behind him, a cold shiver running down his spine.
Fuck.
Before Diego could react, a cold hand clamped onto his shoulder, jagged teeth sinking into his neck, sending an agonizing pain throughout his body as his nerves reacted. Instinctively, he let out a pained scream as the zombie's teeth tore farther into his flesh.
He’d whirl around in a surge of desperation, knocking the decayed corpse off balance. Their mouth was smeared with blood. His blood. When the corpse tried to lunge back at him, he drove the kitchen blade upward, grimacing as he killed the zombie.
Staggering back, his heart pounding, he’d look around frantically. Was there anymore?
The zombie had been so fast, he didn’t have enough time to react properly. His breaths were short, his eyes wide. He had been bitten. He’d surely turn out like one of these freaks.
Diego’s hand would move to his neck, a fresh bite present, blood oozing out. He cursed, gathering all his things and getting the hell out of there. He forced his legs to move faster, the adrenaline kicking in. He was gonna die. He was- He had been bitten.
As soon as Diego got back home, he could feel something stirring within, and it wasn’t his anxiety. He slouched down by his bed, holding his things to his chest. This was it, he’d die alone. All alone. It was stupid to go out, he was regretting his decision. Starvation was the better option.
His eyes, welled with tears, glanced down at the food he had taken. He hadn’t gone there for nothing…
Through his suffering, he began eating, what could be called his last meal. Tears slowly streamed down his cheeks as he stuffed his mouth to bear the fear. He was gonna die. Sooner or later. Time would tell.
It didn’t take long for symptoms to start kicking in. He was getting sicker as the hours passed, his vision becoming a bit fuzzy. He had tried his best to fight to stay awake, however it wasn’t enough. Soon enough, Diego’s eyes fluttered to a close.
.
.
.
“I ended up waking up, my neck hurt, but it felt like I was still human. Once I stood up I took a look in the mirror…and here we are. Paler than usual.” Diego sighed, uncomfortable with the memories.
Spencer was speechless himself, taking it all in.
“I’m so sorry.” He muttered, their eyes locking for a brief moment. He coughed and averted his eyes.
“Ah, it’s fine. Really.” Diego dismisses with his hand. “At least I’m not alone anymore.” he smiled warmly, and Spencer found himself smiling back, sharing that warmth.
“I was separated from my family as well, when the outbreak happened.” Spencer admits, Diego's gaze softening.
“You can tell me, I'll be the ears.” Diego assured him.
“I’m a math student, so… I have my own place too. My plan is to find them someday, in hopes they’re alive.” Spencer sighs, his eyes tracing back to Diego. “I assume you too?...”
Diego nodded.
“One way or another.”
An oddly comforting silence came upon them as Spencer yawned softly.
“You’re tired. Get some rest.” Diego smiled.
Spencer shook his head.
“What about-”
“Sleep. I’ll wake you up if I hear something. You don’t need to worry.”
“Okay, thank you..” Spencer mutters, another yawn escaping him. “Goodnight.”
“Night! Don’t let the zombies bite!”
“Diego.” Spencer glared his way.
“My apologies…too far?” Diego chuckled sheepishly. “Goodnight, amigo.”
And with that, the candle blew out.