Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lance was shaking with excitement. After weeks of scrounging for equipment, trading with Runners, people from the nearby settlements and begging Major Allura, it was finally happening! The radio show was about to go live.

Shiro was fiddling with some wires while Lance set up the music they had available. They had the frequency ready to go, some notes with news and they were ready.

Lance could see Hunk through the glass in the booth in front of him. Hunk was in charge of radio communications, and coordinating the townships Runners. He dealt with Runners while they were out on missions, giving them instructions, and keeping them safe from any shambling zombie hoards. Right there, only one Runner was out on an early morning mission, testing how far their signal went. It was the perfect opportunity.

Shiro and Lance had been travelling together for a long time, and they’d bounced around the idea of having a radio show on the go, but it was hard hauling around all the equipment, and Shiro only having one arm didn’t help any. Plus it was impossible finding the time or place to set it up, or be regular about it. And being on the run from zoms didn’t allow much free time for hosting. When they’d settled in Altea township, it seemed like the perfect time to start. And now, finally, they were getting the show on the road! Or… well, on the air. They weren’t on the road anymore.

Hunk waved at Lance through the glass and gave him a thumbs up. They were ready to go.

While Shiro was finalising the settings, Hunk gave them their intro.

“Hey Five!” He said cheerily, speaking to the newest addition to the township, Runner Five. “Uh, listen. Some guys here at the base are testing something. I have to listen to it, so I’m going to kick it through to you as well, while you’re out there. You just keep doing your thing, though. Run until you’re tired, and we’ll see how far the signal reaches. That cool?” There was no response from Runner Five. They were more of the silent type, apparently. Hunk seemed okay with, and took their silence as permission. “Cool. Here they go!”

And with that, they were live. There was some static to start, but Lance took over, and let Shiro test the mic out and then they were ready.

“Here, try that.” Lance said.

“Uh… hello?” Shiro said, skeptically, into the mic.

“Cool, cool, right. That’s good” Lance said, satisfied with the transmission.

“Well done.” Shiro said, approving.

“Why, thank you,” Lance gave an exaggerated bow for no one but Shiro. It’s not like they could see him anyway. Oh yeah, the radio show. “Shall we?”

“Oh! Yeah.” Shiro exclaimed. He straightened in his chair, cleared his throat, and snapped into his Radio Persona. “Hello, listeners. If you’re out there… My name is Shiro, and that other voice you heard is my partner, Lance.”

“Hello,” Lance said, cheerily.

“We’re here at Altea Township,” Shiro continued. “And I guess… uh, well, you’re listening to our first broadcast!”

“Welcome, welcome,” Lance interrupted, or joined him, in speaking. “It’s taken us a while to get all this equipment together.” Lance couldn’t stop himself gesturing to the jumbled mess in front of him, even knowing no one could see. “But here we are, and we’ll be broadcasting as often as we can on this frequency , pending our grisly demise.”

“It’s a constant threat,” Shiro teased.

“Obviously,” Lance agreed.

“Obviously.” They both chuckled.

“But until then,” Shiro continued, snapping back into Radio Presenter Mode, “we’ll be bringing you music, as well as news from Altea and all the surrounding areas.”

“Everything you need to keep safe, and slightly less miserable!” Lance interjected.

“Wow,” Shiro said, rolling his eyes. “Fatalistic much? You’re going all out on this ‘we’ll all be dead soon’ route.”

“Shut up,” Lance scoffed. “No one will be listening yet anyway, except for Hunk!”

“Hi Hunk!” Shiro waved to him, through the window of their tiny studio. “Hope we’re coming through loud and clear!”

Hunk waved at them again, and looked briefly away from the cameras in front of him to give them an encouraging smile.

“And I’d like to dedicate this first track of ours, to you, Hunk.” Lance had his old iPod set up, and hit play on one of his cheesy pop tracks, and muted their mics.

“What a great song to get us started,” Shiro said teasingly.

“Hey, if a fun pop song won’t make people feel better during the literal zombie apocalypse, then nothing will!” Lance insisted.

“Alright,” Shiro said. He paused before asking, uncertain: “How do you think we’re doing?”

“I think all we did was introduce ourselves, it lasted over a minute, but we’re doing great. Best show on the air.”

Shiro laughed. “But really,” he asked. “How were we?”

Lance shifted in his seat (which groaned loudly as he did so, thank god they weren’t broadcasting that) to wrap his arm around Shiro’s shoulder. “I think we’re doing great but we’re about to get a lot better.”

Shiro smiled at him, and leaned in for a quick kiss.

“GROSS!” Hunk’s voice suddenly enveloped their studio. “Can’t you do that in your own time? Or get your own comms station?”

“Maybe one day!” Lance called. “Now get off our frequency, you’ll scare away our listeners!”

“WHAT LISTENERS?!” Hunks shouted, thankfully off the radio and just through the glass. “I’m heading off for a few, don’t break anything alright?” And he walked toward the door. He was wearing his portable headset, in case of the Runners got into serious trouble, but with that he was gone.

Lance grumbled that exactly, Hunk would scare them away. But Shiro just tugged him back, to show that the song was nearly over and they’d be back on air in 15 seconds. Back to work.

“Welcome back listeners!” He said, when the song was over. “Now for some news for those of you near Altea today, we’ve been getting reports that the east side of the city is no-go.”

“Yeah. I think there are a lot of bedroom heroes on the nearby college campus.” Shiro added. “They thought that they could outlast the end of the world with a few gallons of bottled water and a Swiss army knife. Now, a few months later, they’re all pouring back out onto the streets, and that whole part of the city is a nightmare zone.”

“Really makes you hate all those survival-horror movies and games doesn’t it? Made everybody think they knew what to do to survive.” Lance quipped.

“Stupid Romero,” Shiro joked.

“Damn that guy!”

“It’s not all doom-and-gloom though!” Shiro said, snapping once again, back into news-mode. “We’ve got to give a big shoutout to those down in Arrus comics. They radioed in to say they’ve cleared the area downtown, and are keeping it that way. There are a few new green-zones popping up all the time, and it’s so great to hear it from the source.”

“Well done to them,” Lance added. “And I wish you all the best of luck keeping it that way. If any of our listeners are in that area, I’m sure they wouldn’t say no to an extra pair of hands.”

“Or half pair,” Shiro joked, waving his good hand, his only hand, in front of Lance.

“Or half pair,” Lance conceded with a smile.

“And thank’s to our friends at the Ministry of Recovery, and at New Galra, we’ve got more food -”

Lance scoffed. “Friends?”

Shiro quieted. “What?”

“Are the New Galrans really our friends ?” Lance’s said disdainfully.

Shiro’s face became very tight, but his voice didn’t change as he said. “We had some miscommunications in the past, but we’re working on that, and they’re trading with us again, and offering beds and food to anyone who needs them, so yes. I’d call them our friends.”

Lance shrugged. “Alright, alright. But you won’t catch me sharing a cocoa with any of them.”

“Fair enough,” Shiro said. “Well that’s enough news for right now, how about another song?”

“Will do,” Lance said, leaning forward to his play. “This is one of my favourites.”

As soon as the song was playing, and mics were back to being quiet, Shiro turned on Lance.

“There was no need for that!” He snapped.

“No need for what?!” Lance snapped back.

“We’re just starting this show, there’s no need to… undermine me when we’re trying to reach out to people in New Galra as well as those in Altea!”

“Undermine you?!” Lance repeated. “Well I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were the one in charge of this operation. It won’t happen again, Mr. Shirogane.”

“That’s not what I meant…” Shiro said, deflating. “I just… I don’t want people to hate us right out the gate, y’know?”

Lance wasn’t really angry, so it wasn’t hard to let it go and comfort Shiro.

“They won’t.” Lance reassured, reaching out to touch Shiro’s knee. “Your voice is too soothing to hate.”

Shiro laughed, and grasped Lance’s hand with his. They sat idly, for a minute while yet another cheesy pop song played. The song was just about over, when Lance saw Shiro tense up. He let go of Lance’s hand to grasp at his shoulder and hiss.

“You alright?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Shiro gritted out. “Just a phantom pain."

The song ended then, and their mics went live, and Shiro nodded to Lance that he saw, but didn’t stop. “And you know, the weird thing is? It still itches. I only remember it’s gone when I go to scratch it and it isn’t there. I have to hold myself back from trying, sometimes.”

“Ah, so is that why you’re always clenching your first?” Lance asked.

“That, and the fact I’m trying to restrain myself from hitting you most of the time too,” Shiro teased.

Lance laughed at that. “Hey now, just because civilization has fallen doesn’t mean you smack me around. I’ll call Major Allura on you.”

Shiro threw his head back in a laugh. “Can you imagine? She’d take it so seriously, too!”

Lance quieted his laugh to do an impression of Allura’s British accent. “Now, Mr. Shirogane, I’ve had a very disturbing report about a case of what we once would have called ‘domestic abuse’. I’m certain I don’t need to remind you of my stance on law and order here in Altea.”

“Stop!” Shiro wheezed. “That’s uncanny!”

Lance powered through, his own laughter breaking his impression of the ever-poised Major, and leader of their little township. “I’ll have you tried in the court if I hear any more about it!”

Shiro wiped his eye, he was laughing that much. Lance smiled. Shiro hadn’t laughed this much since he lost his arm.

“It’s like a bad After School Special!” Shiro said.

“This week on ‘Days of our Zombies’, Shiro makes a terrible mistake!” Lance switched then to his over-the-top, American TV show presenter voice. He was a man of many talents, and impressions.

“The real mistake was letting you follow me around since the start of the outbreak.” Shiro joked.

“Yeah, well, you should have known better!” Lance grinned up at him, moving in his seat to make sure Shiro saw his smug face.

“I’m a sucker, what can I say,” Shiro sighed.

“You fell for my ‘I have the only surviving edition of Tom Wait’s discography’” schtick.”

“Speaking of which, time for a song?”

“Great idea!” Lance said. “Here’s one I know you’ll like,” and played something a bit heavier.

“Finally, a break from pop!” Shiro exclaimed.

“The mics are off, they can’t hear you.” Lance said. “No need to pretend you’re above Ariana Grande.”

“Shut up,” Shiro said, pushing Lance back in his chair, as he cackled.

Lance paused then, to watch Shiro prepare their final burst for the day. It really had been too long since he’d seen Shiro so carefree. Lance knew then, that he’d fight tooth and nail to make sure they kept this radio show going as long as possible, if only to keep Shiro smiling.

As soon as the song ended, Shiro rolled right in with their final announcement. 

“Great song choice Lance. Now, folks, that’ll be all for our first broadcast, but from now on we’ll be on everyday.”

“Yes we will!” Lance continued. “We’ll be here for two hours at dawn, two hours at noon, and two hours at dusk.”

“We hope to give accurate, real-time information about zombie movements around Altea and keep anyone travelling, or plain old surviving, enough to keep them alive.”

“And keep them company!”

“Exactly,” Shiro smiled. “We’ll be giving weather updates, the times for sunrise and sunset, and more!”

“Tomorrow we’ll be giving tips on how to find edible food, and pointers on how to survive through the night.” 

“We have lots of programming planned, and we can’t wait to share it with you all. We’ll be back briefly at dusk tonight, which will be around 7:30pm, with some basic tips and some more music.” Shiro explained. Lance smiled at him, knowing how much work Shiro had put into these short messages, and how much more into preparing the following days broadcasts. “I believe we’re going to close off with one last song, isn’t that right Lance?”

“Actually, we’ve got a few!” Lance said. “I hope these three songs are of some help to you, as you scour the zombie wasteland in hopes of surviving.So, thank you for listening to the first ever broadcast of - uh… we didn’t think of a name for this show, did we?”

“We’ll think of one and share with our listeners tomorrow.”

“Oooh, leave ‘em on a cliffhanger!” Lance hummed excitedly into the mic. “Keep ‘em coming back for more!”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Exactly. Well, stay safe out there listeners!”

“Stay safe,” Lance repeated. “And goodbye.” He hit play on the last tracks of the day, something more mellow and soothing. Shiro did all the writing, Lance did all the music collecting and playing. It was a wonderful system, and even though they only did one show, it was going great.

“See?” Lance said. “We’re doing great.”

“We should spread the word, to some others in Altea.” Shiro suggested. Maybe they’d like to tune in?”

“Maybe get Allura to get the word to some more people at the base of New Galra.”

“A few more listeners wouldn’t hurt.”

“Maybe even pressure us to be more professional!”

Shiro gave Lance a sidelong glance. “I don’t think anything would make you act at all reserved.”

Lance shrugged. “I could make an attempt.”

“An attempt that would last three and half seconds.”

“An attempt nonetheless.”

Shiro shook his head, but he was smiling. They had a few more minutes before the songs ended, and they had to stay in the comms shack until they did. Then Lance would have to figure out some of the wiring here, learn how to play the few CDs the Runner’s had managed to salvage and a lot more. Plus Hunk wasn’t back from break yet, and they weren’t supposed to leave the comms un-manned while a mission was underway. Not that Lance knew the first thing about the equipment Hunk used. It too was a mish-mash of whatever they could find, or scrape together from the debris of electrical stores. Major Allura had somehow hacked into the cities traffic cams and most securitys cameras, plus all the Runners had a headset that they could talk to Hunk through, but there was a lot of monitors, switches, they had to move the cameras, look out for zombies, consider the area, maps and so much more. Lance had no idea how Hunk did it all, but bless him for it. Because of him, Runners were able to make it back home safe, and with supplies and materials to keep Altea running.

“And what about a name?” Lance asked, turning back to Shiro. “If we get more listeners, we need to have a name!”

“I dunno. Have you thought of anything?”

“WNYZ?” Lance said, hopefully.

“Nope,” Shiro said immediately. “Not a chance.”

“IT’S PERFECT!” Lance wailed.

“We’ll think of something,” Shiro assured.

“Why would we need to? We’ve already got the perfect name.”

“We should probably tell Allura how the broadcast went,” Shiro said, changing the subject expertly.

“She was pretty excited about the idea! You wanna go now?”

“No time like the present.”

“Alright,” Lance said. “Let’s just wait for Hunk to get back, and then we’ll head over to the house.”

The story of Altea Township was an odd one. Allura and her family had owned large chunks of land for generations.She was always unclear on how many generations, or why she had a British accent if her family had always lived in the United States, but Lance learned to stop asking questions.

There was a large manor house, with dozens of large rooms, a small farm and greenhouse area, and an armoury (which made sense, as the family came from a military background, which again confused Lance with the British-ness, but Allura glared at him so he shut up). When the outbreak hit, the high walls around the land kept Allura safe, and when the initial disorder died down, she went in search of survivors and brought them home. Somehow, the population grew, and word got out, and it grew again. So Allura built barracks, and used more the grounds to plant more farms, and then the town grew again. When a pseudo-government eventually sprung up, the Ministry of Recovery, and heard about Allura and her work, they started sending supplies, and doctors, and builders and engineers. Soon enough, her family’s whole land had been turned into a bustling little town.

Shiro and Lance had only been here a few months, having heard stories about it while on the road. And the people here were more than welcoming, so they’d stayed. And Allura was so focused on rebuilding society, growing and learning, how could they not? If it weren’t for Shiro, Lance would have fallen instantly in love with her. But alas, his heart was taken. He doubted Allura would have accepted anyway. She had bigger things on her mind.

So, when their songs had finished, and Hunk had returned, they rushed right over to Allura’s office in the main house. She grinned at them when they entered.

“Well done you two! The radio show was a success!” She beamed. “Maybe not perfect, but that just means you’ve got lots of room to improve!”

Lance snorted at that, but Shiro smiled and nodded a “Thank you, Major.”

“I’ll let you two have the run of it, and we can have a meeting at the end of the week with any suggestions or alterations I may have. But for now, do whatever you please.”

Lance grinned. “Whatever we please?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Within reason, of course.” She didn’t roll her eyes, she was far too polite to do it in front of him. “It should be good for morale around here!”

“We’re just excited to finally be able to contribute.”

Allura waved Shiro’s comment away. “You needn’t worry about that. You’ll always be welcome here at Altea.”

“We appreciate that, Major, but we want to help whatever way we can.” Lance insisted.

Allura beamed at him. “Very well. You should probably speak with Hunk about learning to use ROFFLENET. It could prove very useful to communicating with anyone listening to your broadcast.”

“What’s..” Lance said, unable to hide the laughter that he was (poorly) holding. “What’s… ROFFLENET?”

“ROFFLENET”, Allura said, with a tone like she speaking to a child “is ‘Radio-Operated Free-Form Link-Layer Emergency Network’. It’s a very simple version of the internet, mostly used for email or survival information on text-based websites. There’s even a few area noticeboards to communicate between settlements. There’s a small group, travelling and setting it up for people, using scavenged tech. It’s proved very useful and your radio show could put us in contact with key individuals.”

“Why is this the first time we’re hearing about this?” Shiro asked.

“We didn’t want to tell many residents,” Allura said sadly. “We feared if word got out, people would be desperate to contact relatives, and overwhelm what few servers we have, or eat up all our energy. Only certain people know about it, like myself, Hunk and the other operators. And of course, Ministry Officials. We’ll let the rest of the township know soon.”

“But,” Lance asked. “If we talk about it on air, won’t that clue in the others?”

“True,” Allura conceded. “But the boards and notices can be quite complex and finicky. Also, Hunk doesn’t have much free time to show you. I presume it will take him two or more weeks to teach you how to operate it, which should give us enough time to inform the other residents.”

“Sounds good.”

“Well, if that’s all, you both should report to the rec centre. One of the Runners just returned from a run with a rather sizeable supply of books and boardgames. I’d like you two to organise them before tonight. Dismissed.”

With that, they turned and left, giddy. The show was a success, they not only had Allura’s approval, but had permission to do much more with the show. This was only going to get better.

They spent the week doing their three-times daily show. It meant early mornings, opening with a song, and being overly cheerful. Lance hoped they weren’t as bad as pre-apocalypse early morning radio hosts, with their fake cheer and loud voices, they sucked. But Shiro and Lance had to try encourage and comfort anyone listening who’d just endured another night in the zombie wasteland. They tried to have as much fun with it as they could, telling stories, playing fun and upbeat music, giving critical information on zombie movements. Mostly, they just had fun with it.

“You’re listening to Radio Altea,” Lance said, in a dream-like voice, reminiscent of someone who ran a yoga parlour, or a natural remedy store. “We’re here, for you .” Shiro snickered behind him.

Lance powered on “Coming up next, more music, more fun! Stay tuned.”

Lance then played a slow, mournful love song while Shiro continued to laugh at him.

Lance really only did stuff like that to make Shiro laugh. Shiro had smiled more in the past week than Lance had ever seen. In a way, it made sense. But honestly, Shiro seemed to have had more fun on the road, running for their lives, than he had the first few weeks in Altea. Maybe he wasn’t used to standing still anymore, or the loss of his arm, and the weeks of recovery and not working weren’t good for him.

But being on air, having something to do, helped a lot. Lance had done whatever he could, but there was no reaching Shiro. Now, Lance wanted to cherish every moment Shiro had that light back in his eyes.

He’d meant to say something during the song break, but he must have gotten caught up in staring at Shiro. In his defence, Shiro was incredibly handsome. It was easy to get distracted.

Shiro flicked their mics back on, and Lance spoke up.

“Did you know I had my first kiss to that song?”

“Really?” Shiro pulled a face. “That’s so…”

“Cheesy?” Lance supplied. It was cheesy.

“Pretentious.”

“Well screw you!” Lance burst out. Shiro choked on his surprised laugh at Lance’s outburst. “You won’t want to know what I did to this one” Shiro continued to laugh, not offended but amused, as Lance searched for that terrible song he lost his virginity to.

When he found it, he quickly hit play and turned the mics back off. Lance fumed half-heartedly. That was a sweet song! And he hadn’t told Shiro that before! And he’d totally just… brushed it off.

“Hey,” Shiro said, leaning over to touch Lance’s leg. “I’m sorry, but you’ve got to admit, that song is horrible.”

“I’m never telling you anything again,” Lance said, indignantly. “I’m going to be a total enigma. Nothing but secrets, you won’t get nothin’ past me.”

Shiro snorted, and pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s temple. “You’re the furthest thing from an enigma, I’m sorry to say.”

“What does that mean?!” Lance demanded, turning on Shiro, who still didn’t stop smiling.

“You’re an open book. Even if you didn’t wear every emotion plainly, you’re terrible at keeping secrets.”

“That’s not true!” Lance insisted. “I never told you about the time I hooked up with Plaxum, when we were on the road!”

Shiro raised his eyebrows. “Yes you did. As soon we got together, you apologised for doing that when I was in the next room. Which I knew about anyway.... Because I was in the next room.”

Lance swore.

Shiro kissed him again. “Song’s nearly over, let me do my bit.”

Shiro cleared his throat and spoke into the mic. “You’re listening to Radio Altea. Keeping you informed in a post-civilization world. We’ll go over today’s news after this musical interlude.”

Lance quickly played another song, and sat back.

“I like that we don’t have secrets,” Shiro said to him. “Please don’t be upset.”

“I’m not,” Lance said. “I’m upset your taste in music sucks, but not about that.”

Shiro laughed. “Alright, you got the headlines?”

“‘Headlines’” Lance mocked, “Like we’re a real news show with headlines .”

“You know what I mean!”

“I know, I know.” Lance shoved some stray pieces of paper around their cramped desk until he found the one with the headlines . “They’re right here.” Shiro grabbed the piece of paper, and together they looked over them until the song ended.

“Welcome back,” Shiro said. “We’re nearly finished with our noon broadcast. Let’s just run over today’s news before we leave you until dusk.”

“Just a reminder, that the sun sets around 7:45pm today, so try to get yourself a place to rest for the night before then.” Lance supplied.

“And, in searching for that place to rest, remember to stay away from west Altea today. There seems to be a large congregation of fast zoms all along the river, with some crawlers hiding in the industrial park nearby.”

“Congregation, what is this? A Church?”

Shiro kicked him. “Also remember, there were supply drops at Arrus, just north of Balmera and half a mile south-east of New Galra today. If you’re near any of those locations, there should be a dozen packs with food, medical supplies and other items.”

“And please,” Lance reminded. “Only take one per person. We know how hard it can be out there, when food is scarce, but there are others just as scared as you.”

“Right,” Shiro agreed. “We have to look out for each other, now more than ever.”

“With that, we’ll be back later tonight with more news and updates. Until then, stay safe guys.”

“Stay safe,” Lance echoed, and played another song to sign off.

Lance collected their things as they waited for the song to end. He was excited for lunch today, they’d just had a harvest and vegetables were aplenty.

That excitement lasted as long as it took them to get to the door, where Allura stood waiting.

“We have to cancel your radio show,” she said, and Lance’s heart broke.

Chapter Text

Their next broadcast opened on a sober note.

“Alright, everybody.” Shiro said. “We’re back.”

“Just barely,” Lance said snidely.

Shiro sighed. “Stop being so melodramatic.”

“You think this is melodramatic you shou-”

“ALRIGHT!” Shiro cut him off. “So this situation is less than ideal, but let’s not get carried away!”

He sighed again, but Lance didn’t back down. He was pissed. Allura was going to take them off the air, when this was the only thing that kept Shiro (and thus, Lance) happy.

“Maybe, we should explain to our listeners what’s going on. Yesterday - “

“Yesterday, we got a little message from our resident dictator!” Lance spat.

“Easy!” Shiro said, voice raised.

“No!” Lance shouted back. “I’m sorry, I don’t care how little fuel we have - “

“Stop it!”

“No, I’m serious!”

Shiro leant forward and hit play on whatever song was nearest.

“We are not fighting about this on air!” He snapped.

“Well you didn’t want to talk about it off air either,” Lance said. He was furious. He knew, rationally, the Major was making what she believed was the best choice for the township. But Lance could give a crap about the rest of the township, he cared about Shiro.

“Because there’s no point!” Shiro said, vehemently. “There’s no point getting upset, there’s nothing we can do about it!”

Lance crossed his arms and sat back in the chair. “Fine, whatever.”

Shiro didn’t turn away from him, searching for something, words, a crack in Lance’s armour, he didn’t know. Neither stepped down, and so they sat in a tense silence for three minutes while whatever song Shiro selected played.

“Sorry about that,” Shiro said when it ended. “Slight uh, technical issue there. As we were saying, we got a message yesterday from Major Allura.”

“A nice wake up call,”  Lance sneered.

“Alright!” Shiro snapped, trying to get back on point. “Anyway, it wasn’t the best of news. So, in case you weren’t aware, we’re running our transmitter on a gas generator.”

“Like most other things.”

“Like most other things here in Altea, right,” Shiro agreed. “Which, is part of the problem. With the growing population, and lessening supply… well, fuel is short. So it’s become a matter of -”

“Priorities,” Lance quoted, full of anger.

“Right, priorities.” Shiro said. “And so, the Major informed us, until fuel is more abundant, our transmissions are -”

“An unnecessary drain on resources!” Lance parroted, mocking Allura’s accent one again.

“Right,” Shiro said sadly. “So, it means we’ll be off the air for a while. Until there’s a more stable supply of fuel here at the base. But rest assured, we’ll be back with you, as soon as we’re able!”

Lance scoffed then. Shiro rounded on him. “What is it?”

“I just don’t know how you can be so calm!” Lance said, enraged.

“Let’s just talk about this later!” Shiro said, desperately.

“What?” Lance demanded, unable to keep the rage out of his voice. He was shaking with it. But seeing Shiro, his eyes and tone begging.

“Lets just… let’s just talk about it later?” He implored.

Lance finally saw past his own rage, and saw how hurt Shiro was. Whether by the news, or Lance’s reaction or both. He was really hurt. Seeing that, Lance deflated and felt… drained. And dirty.

“Sure…” He said, weakly.

“Alright…” Shiro heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to the mic, in full presenter mode. Lance’s heart ached, knowing it might be weeks before he saw it again… if ever. “So listeners, all dozen of you… we’re in a tough spot right now. We’re doing all we can to work it out, and we’ll be back with you as soon as we can.”

“If anyone has a few spare cans of gasoline,” Lance added, hoping Shiro took the olive branch it was, “we’d really appreciate it.”

“It would certainly speed things up,” Shiro smiled. “But for now, we’ll leave you with a song. Stay safe until we get back, everyone.”

“Stay safe, guys.” Lance repeated, and played a song to match his mood, something sad and angry.

Shiro sighed. “Fuck…”

“I’m sorry,” Lance said. “I know I shouldn’t have said that, on air… But this whole situation makes me so mad!”

“You think it makes me happy, either?!” Shiro demanded.

“No,” Lance said. “But you weren’t talking to me and I didn’t know… I just thought you didn’t care.”

“Of course I care!”

Lance reached out to grab Shiro’s hand. He squeezed it tight. “I know, I know you do, I’m sorry.”

Shiro squeezed back. “I don’t like this any more than you do. But, if we throw a hissy fit, Allura will never let us back on the air.”

“Good point,” Lance laughed lightly.

“Guess we got ourselves some free time back,” Shiro joked.

“Yeah, but I don’t think we’re going to be allowed stay in bed all day.” Lance said.

“No, I doubt that..”

“Guess I could finally get Hunk to teach me about ROFFLENET,” Lance mused. “Maybe help out with the Runners...”

“Coran was showing me how I could help out on the farm, one handed!” Shiro was extremely pleased about this.

“Nice!”

They stayed in their small shack, holding hands until the song ended. Lance was going to miss their tiny, cramped, messy studio. It had only been a week, but he’d grown to love this place. He felt like he was really helping others. Offering advice, giving potentially life-saving information. He really felt like he was a part of the rebuilding movement. And now it was gone, because they didn’t have enough goddamn fuel. And sure, they’d installed a few solar panels, but not everything could charge with solar, or so he was told.

“They’d better find some fuel fast...” Lance grumbled.

Shiro laughed. “Don’t be so down… We still have each other.”

Lance smiled. “That we do.” He kissed Shiro briefly. “Whatever else, we can be thankful for that.”

“We should probably get out of here,” Shiro mumbled against Lance’s lips. “Before Hunk yells at us again.”

“Hmm… maybe.” Lance said, making no effort to move, and kissing Shiro again.

“Lance!” Shiro laughed, but he didn’t make a move to leave either, so Lance continued to kiss him for a few moments more.

“We should probably plug all this stuff out, save what fuel we can…” he said, dejectedly.

“Yeah,” Shiro sighed. “I was just figuring out how to work it all, too!”

“You were not!” Lance snorted. “The one time I let you play a song, you switched to the Runner’s frequency, and all we broadcasted was them panting for three minutes!”

“Yeah, but I learned not to do it again, didn’t I?”

“Sure you did, pal.”

Shiro harumphed, and got to work unplugging all their equipment. Lance refused to move any of it out of their studio/shack though. It was his quiet rebellion and optimistic streak, hoping fuel would be back, and hoping Allura saw and let them back on the air.

“If we were fine a week ago, how did we run out of fuel now?!” Lance demanded.

“Lance!” Shiro scolded.

“No, but I’m serious!” He said. “A week ago, Allura was all gung-ho about us doing this, giving us the green light and wishing us luck. What happened in the last week to change it?”

“It’s not like we have a gas supplier anymore, or we can just pay someone for more,” Shiro reasoned. “What with cooking, heating what little water we can spare for cooking and the occasional shower, the med tent and Hunk transmitting to the Runners? It’s bound to run out fast.”

Lance shrugged in agreement. “I guess… Is it weird that the zombie apocalypse was easier to digest while on the road? Being in society again has thrown me off.”

Shiro snorted. “Probably not the best phrasing there. I agree though.”

“On the road, we were always on edge and waiting for zombies, and mostly secluded.”

“But back here, around other people, eating, sleeping and bathing semi-regularly.”

“It feels like everything else should be back to normal too!”

Shiro nodded. “I guess it’s an adjustment.”

“C’mon,” Lance said after a moment. “We should get out of here before Allura comes and yells at us.”

With that, they left. Lance had to stop himself from pausing at the door to look back wistfully at their tiny cramped studio. This wasn’t a goodbye. They’d be back soon, he had to believe that.

They headed toward the rec room, and spent the few hours before dinner to help keep things organised, and entertain the kids that lived in Altea. There was a small school/play area for them but they were kids, they like toys. Plus, the carers needed time off too, and Lance was more than happy to keep the kids busy for an hour or two. It was fun, playing tag and hide-and-seek, and reading stories with them. It was… simple. Peaceful, really. Shiro didn’t know how to act around kids, always flustered, never knowing whether to baby-talk, or what. Some of the older kids made jokes about him to Lance, and he made some terrible jokes too, at Shiro’s expense. That was entertainment enough for Lance.

After a filling dinner of tinned beans, carrots some almost-stale bread, Lance hunted down Hunk and insisted he teach Lance to use ROFFLENET, and how to use the comms station.

“It’s really not that complicated!” Hunk said excitedly. “You just need to watch the camera ahead and behind, and you do need to plan out a route in advance, and make sure we have cams in that area, and if not you need to be able to hack into any cams nearby. Some don’t have good quality, so you really need to pay close attention and -”

“Yeah that sounds so simple.” Lance interrupted. “Look, maybe I’ll just… shadow you for a few runs and see if I get the hang of it?”

“Sure thing!” Hunk beamed. “We don’t do runs this late, it’s too dangerous once it gets dark but after dinner I usually go back to the comms shack and ROFFLENET any information I can. I can give you an intro on that tonight?”

“Perfect!” Lance said.

“Great! Let me just finish my food and we can go!”

Lance told Shiro, who’d decided to skip the lesson.

“One of the runners has started to write a novel and is going to read the first chapter tonight in the rec centre. I think I’ll give that a shot!”

“Cool!” Lance said. “Tell me what I missed later?”

“Will do.” Shiro smiled. Lance gave him a brief kiss before rushing back to Hunk. He was eager to learn more about this ROFFLENET, and being a comms operator. Maybe, if he worked more in the comms shack, Allura would see he was serious about this and let them back on the air.

When Hunk and Lance got back to the comms shack, Hunk talked him through ROFFLENET. How to access it, the forums and message boards. It wasn’t the complicated, if a bit archaic. It was like it was built in the 90s with how badly laid out it was. But, it wasn’t too hard to figure out.

Lance spent the next few nights, after doing whatever odd jobs he could around the township, in the comms station. Hunk spent a lot of time showing him how to search for specific information, towns and settlements, government news and more. The hardest bit about it was learning the names and points of contact. It’s not like they had any spare bits of paper for Lance to write it all down, but sooner or later he got the hang of it. He learned which settlements were nearest to them, who to talk to, who was reliable and more.

Eventually, he was helping Hunk out most nights, trying to find new information about zombie movements. A lot of towns had doctors and scientists, trying to make something to stop the zombies, or a vaccine, and they all wanted to share information. Part of Hunks job was finding that, and reporting it to Allura, or the ministry so they could offer any assistance they could spare. Most people were using the boards to reach out to missing family, or there were a few people offering team-ups or a place to sleep.

Lance enjoyed it, to a degree, but it was a lot of reading. And some people, for whatever reason, were blogging their day-to-day life post-apocalypse. But, sometimes, there were nuggets of information hidden in that crap, so Lance had to read it all. He left late most nights with a screen-headache. Who knew that would be a problem in the zombie apocalypse?

Shiro, in their down time, was working in the townships hospital or pharmacy. Mostly doing cleaning or comforting patients. There wasn’t much else  he could do one-handed, but he was there as a shoulder to lean on too. And the doctor liked keeping Shiro close, so she could examine his arm or give him physio tips whenever she had a spare moment. Lance was grateful for that. Shiro liked deny he was in any pain, or pretended he was okay with having lost his arm, and that it didn’t bother him, but Lance knew it did. So knowing the doc was looking after him eased a lot of Lance’s nerves.

Lance kind of resented that they couldn’t spend more time together. He almost missed their time on the road, where they were alone 24/7, for weeks on end. But then, that wasn’t really an option after Shiro got hurt. And here, they didn’t have to fight off zoms every day, they didn’t have to face death in the face any time they wanted food or water, or a place to pee. That’s one things movies never showed you, how dangerous it was to go to the toilet during the apocalypse. It could literally be life or death, when crawlers were hiding in the bushes you were trying to do your business behind.

In Altea, they had a bed (well, a camp bed. Shiro being injured meant he got priority, but Lance had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor) and hot food, and the occasional shower. They were able to get their clothes washed, instead of stealing what they could from houses and sports stores. Here they had a home, a community. Lance had to get over it.

The radio show was meant to be their way of contributing to the township, and still spend time together. It was working so well! Damn lack of fuel. As much as Lance hated it, there was nothing he could do.

One day, they got their lucky break.

Lance was on rest, having worked for 9 days straight, and was relaxing with Shiro in the farm house when he heard Hunk bellow “RAISE THE GATES! WE’VE GOT A MOTORCYCLE COMING IN!”

A motorcycle? Lance sat up, jostling Shiro, who all but fell on the floor.

Lance had been monitoring runs with Hunk, and when one went out today he didn’t think too much about it, but a motorcycle? Who’d be coming in to Altea on a motorcycle? What was going on?!

“I have to go. I have to see what this is about.” Lance said distractedly before heading out to the quad.

“I’ll be here!” Shiro called, picking himself up off the floor as Lance raced away.

Lance reached the quad just as the gates opened, and a genuine, honest to god motorcycle pulled in. There was a man Lance didn’t recognise riding it, with the new runner on the back, holding a toddler in their arms.

And, in everyone’s arms and hanging off the side of the bike was…

“Is that fuel?!” Lance exclaimed.

Hunk ran out of the comms shack, headset still on, Allura not far behind him.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded. “Hunk, explain!”

Hunk held his hands in front of his, like he was trying to hold Allura off. “Runner 5 was out, trying to rescue this child we saw in No Mans Land, you knew about that. Well, this is Sal, her father, who isn’t a zombie! Yay! He’s a mechanic and offered his skills to Altea, and he showed us a fuel supply, for his bike and other vehicles.”

Sal offered his hand to Allura. “Pleasure to meet you, Major. Hopin’ you don’t mind if me and the little one here stay with you. It’s just… we lost her mother not long ago to the hoards.”

“Of course you’re welcome to stay here,” Allura said softly. “We don’t turn our backs on anyone here in Altea. And that intel about fuel will be vital to our survival. I appreciate it. I am, however, furious with a certain radio operator.” She turned to Hunk, who winced.

“I’m sorry, there just wasn’t time to tell you!” He pleaded, taking a step back and keeping his hands between them, as if he could stop Allura if she ever tried. “They were being followed by a pack of zoms, and how could I let a child die out there? I had to help!”

Allura sighed heavily. “I understand, but please. In future, inform me before you invite a stranger into our town. Security is of the highest priority, Hunk.”

“Of course,” Hunk said, “I’ll take responsibility for these two. Find them a place to stay, get them checked out by the doctor.”

Allura noded. “Very well. Lance, is there a reason you’re standing here, gawking?”

Lance hadn’t been able to move, or react at all, since he saw those cans of fuel. Six can of fuel, just sitting on the side of the bike, swinging precariously as Sal moved the bike away from the entrance, like it wasn’t one of the world's most precious commodities.

He forced himself to tear his gaze away from the precious fuel and meet Allura’s eyes. “He brought fuel with him,” he said, dazed.

“He does,” Allura confirmed, slowly. “It’s going to go a long way in keeping Altea township running.”

“And he knows where we can get more, he has a fuel dump where he regularly collects fuel?”

Allura sighed once more, catching on. “Lance…”

Lance stood up straight, facing the Major and put on his best military voice to state “Allura, this is my formal request to be the one directing that mission.”

“What?” Allura asked, taken aback.

“I want to be the communications operator for the fuel run, Major.”

“Lance... why?”

“Also a tech supply run shortly after.”

“Drop the soldier facade Lance,” Allura said. “Let’s go back to the house and talk about what you really want. I need a cup of tea.”

Allura turned, and walked quickly back to the farmhouse, and her makeshift office in there. It took all of Lance’s restraint not to babble at her as they walked, but he made it. As soon as Allura shut the door to her office, he burst.

“Look, I know I haven’t ran a mission on my own just yet but I’ve been working with Hunk, and watching him, I know what to do. Plus, Sal will be there to give the information too, so it’s not like I’ll be alone. And, Allura, I know we need the fuel. Those six cans will help us, sure but we need more. Especially if you’re going to put our radio show back on the air, like I know you will, you always keep your word Allura, it’s one of the many things I like about you. And that brings us to the tech run, we really need better radio equipment if we’re goin-”

“ALRIGHT!” Allura shouted. “Lance, I get it! You want your show back, but this is-”

“I know the township is important, Allura.” Lance implored. He reached his hands out to grip hers, and in a rare show of humanity, she didn’t brush him off. He gripped tight as her spoke, begging her to understand him. “But so is our show. And so is the tech in the comms shack. I’ve been building up contacts on ROFFLENET, I’ve got locations we can scout for supplies. We need more headsets, and mics, and god, cables! And I know.... There’s so much more I could go into but basically, we need supplies and I can get them for us. And I’ve been working my butt off in the comms shack, learning everything I can so I can be an operator when I’m not on the radio, but Allura, you can be certain, our show will be on the air again. If I have to raid every gas station from here to Texas, I will do it.”

He saw in her eyes, that she understood. Her bright eyes shone, and if Lance wasn’t already madly in love he’d be so tempted by everything about her. But right now, he needed her to allow this. He needed her to confirm that they’d be allowed back on the air. He needed this, for Shiro.

The silence in the room was heavy and expectant, but Lance knew in his heart and soul she wouldn’t let him down. All Allura cared about was rebuilding after the apocalypse, rebuilding the world be better than it was before. But people could get disheartened when the world around them was filled with crawling corpses. Any bright spot they could find, they clung to. Allura could see that people around Altea liked their show, it was like something from before the outbreak brought back to them. Some semblance of normality, and it comforted them. This show was more than just Lance and Shiro’s pet project, it was a symbol of what they were trying to rebuild.

“You can do the tech run, but Hunk will be doing the fuel supply run.”

Lance leapt in the air and whooped.

“You won’t regret this!” He shouted, as he raced to tell Shiro the good news.

“We’ll have to workshop some things before you start!” She shouted after him.

Lance barely heard her, he was gone so quickly. They were going to be back on the air! Their show was back! Shiro was going to get that warm smile back!

He found Shiro waiting where he’d left him, on a couch in the farmhouses common area.

Lance dropped on top of him, surprising an “oomph” out of his boyfriend.

“Hey,” Lance grinned.

“Hey yourself,” Shiro said. “I was in the middle of something.”

“Sorry,” Lance said, not sorry at all.

“What has you so smiley?” Shiro asked, wrapping his arm around Lance’s middle, and rearranging them so Lance wasn’t laying entirely on him.

“Oh nothing,” Lance said coyly. He laced his fingers with Shiro’s. “Just the fact that out radio show is very like a zombie coming back from the grave.”

It took Shiro a moment to understand what Lance said. He rolled his eyes at the bad joke before it clicked.

“Wait, what?” He said, dumbfounded.

“Some guy showed up with a butt-ton of fuel and is going to bring back more. We’re not in shortage. We’re back baby!”

Shiro laughed, shocked. “Are you serious?” He said, sitting up suddenly.

“As the zombie plague.”

“We’re really allowed back?” Shiro really didn’t seem to believe what he was hearing.

Lance smiled. “Yes, Shiro. We’re really back.”

They looked into each other's eyes, smiling, for a moment, before Shiro held Lance in a tight hug. Lance wrapped his arms around Shiro, and repeated it. They were going to get back on the air. Shiro laughed into his neck, full of disbelief and joy.

Lance stroked Shiro’s hair, as he said “Allura will probably want to talk to us before we do, but -”

“I don’t care.” Shiro pulled back to look Lance in the eyes once more. “I’m just so happy, I don’t care what she has to say.”

Lance grinned. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I am pretty happy.”

Shiro thumped him lightly.

“Hey!” Lance laughed. “What did we say about domestic abuse?”

“I’ll give you a domestic,” Shiro growled, pulling Lance in for a kiss.

Lance indulged him briefly but, they couldn’t kiss for long. “This is Allura’s house, I think she’ll go crazy if she catches us fooling around on her couch.”

“Good point.” Shiro said. “Race you back to our tent?”

Lance didn’t answer, already on his feet and bounding away.

Shiro’s laugh echoed in his ears, all the way to their tent, where the celebrated together. And Lance could not be more grateful for that stranger who showed up today in the quad, for saving their lives.