Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keith's POV

We were just getting supplies when I met him.

My brother spun the wheel of our military truck and frantically slammed on the breaks, skidding to a stop. Pidge cried out in the back and Hunk gave a loud grunt.

“What are you doing-?!” I started but then followed Shiro’s panic-ridden expression. Outside my window, about half a football field away, was one of the biggest hordes of walkers I’ve ever seen.

“We have to get out of here.” Shiro nearly began driving but I stopped him when I saw something else. Someone.

It was a tanned, freckled boy, dressed in a white sweatshirt streaked with blood and grime, his blue jeans in the same condition. He carried a small pistol in his right hand and a guitar and backpack were strapped to his back. He was running so hard toward our truck in an attempt to escape the horde and I couldn’t watch his sneakers pound against the pavement any longer without doing something. In a world like this the more that survived the better.

“Wait!!” I exclaimed and Shiro seemed to see the boy in the nick of time, but didn’t slow down. “Shiro, stop the car!” Stubborn, he kept driving. Groaning, I shoved open my door, violently rolled out of the passenger seat, and began dashing for the guy.

Finally, i could see an ounce of hope in his eyes.

He reached for my hand and curled his shaky, slender digits around it, and I urged him faster. He stumbled after me, now at a quicker pace than before. Shiro sped up toward us and I shoved the boy in the open door I left behind then quickly followed suit, slamming the door shut behind me as we both cramped together in the passenger seat.

The boy was heaving, sweat beaded on his forehead and his dark chestnut locks plastered against his skin.

I blinked, breathing hard, when i realized that he was probably around my age. He was surely terrified, and both of us were too stressed out to acknowledge the fact that our chests were firmly smashed together. He stared, eyes wide as he watched my expression.

“Have you been bitten?” I asked frantically, my eyes skimming over his arms and neck to briefly check for possible bites. It seemed he didn’t have the energy to reply in words, so he just shook his head.

“Why would you do that, Keith?! We could’ve been killed!” Shiro abruptly scolded, driving safely away from the horde and in the direction of our makeshift base.

Anger boiled in my lungs. “I would rather take that risk than live knowing I left a man for dead because you said so. ” I huffed and managed to clamber off of the guy I just rescued. Our hips were crushed together between each end of the seat but at least we were in a more comfortable position than before. The boy to my left, who I still hadn’t learned the name of, looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. He probably ran for miles, the horde was extremely quick.

Shiro sighed. I knew it was out of his character to freak out when things got bad, he normally kept a clear head around things like that.

Something was up.

-

At dusk, we finally pulled up behind an abandoned gas station surrounded by a plethora of other vehicles and climbed the ladder to the roof. Walkers weren’t smart enough to get up, let alone know we were there, even with fires blazing, talking, and music quietly playing over an old stereo. On the top of the gas station was a small community, brought together by survivors from Phoenix.

Our friend, Allura, and her girlfriend, Romelle, had managed to collect a large tent full of supplies for those passing through. We couldn’t stay long, though. Eventually our supplies would run out and with a horde like the one we just encountered running around there was no way to get some more safely.

There were words of LA, the last safe zone in America, going around. Some residents were planning on packing up and hitting the road toward the city, and some had already left. Better earlier than later.

Shiro went to turn in supplies and report updates to Allura and Romelle, Pidge left to work on her radio, and Hunk left the boy and I alone to go eat.

I was starving too, and the guy next to me probably was also. First thing’s first, though. I had to get his name.

“So, um, what’s your name?” I asked him after a long silence. He hesitated, probably considering his outcomes if he told me. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” I breathed a small laugh and he gave me a nervous smile.

“My name’s Lance.” He replied confidently, finally meeting my eyes.

I nodded. Lance. “Keith.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “Sorry about my brother, the driver. I don’t know what’s been up with him lately, usually I’m the hothead.” I tried to make casual conversation, digging my hands deep into my pockets. It was hard, talking to strangers.

“Thanks for saving my ass even though your brother didn’t want you to.” He chuckled lightly, his voice was louder than the way he spoke before, and I couldn’t help but notice that somehow his voice sounded slightly obnoxious. “I was living in Phoenix for school but after, you know…” He shrugged, refusing to say the words, ‘the apocalypse’. “I took the tunnel outside the city after they walled up the place and wound up in Buckeye.”

“Do you have a family here?” I hated to pry but getting to know his purpose was a part of living here.

He shook his head. “Nope, they’re all in a safe zone in Cuba. I’m planning on heading to LA and sailing around to meet them in Mexico. What about you?”

“Just Shiro.” I hated talking about my past.

“What about your parents?” He asked and I only looked away in reply. He nodded and quietly apologized, recognizing that it was a huge pressure point.

I took a deep breath and returned my gaze back up at this new guy. I was about to ask to show him around when Hunk came up and asked him to instead. I waved the two off, smiling back at Lance, trying to hide my pain, when he looked back at me.

I watched him go, watching as the lanterns reflected off his hair and the light from the flames danced against his tanned skin. He was gorgeous.

I snapped back to reality when Romelle stood in front of me, tears in her eyes. “Keith.” She seemed panicked. “You may want to hear this.”

“What? What is it? Is it Shiro?” I asked, my heart rate rapidly picking up.

She nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m afraid so.”

I cursed loudly and she shook her head. “He’s infected. H-He… He bit Adam… a-and Allura.” She raked in air. “I was able to amputate Allura’s arm but… Shiro and Adam weren’t savable. I-I had to take them out. I’m so sorry.”

Did I lose consciousness? I could only hear the ringing in my ears. I couldn’t breathe as tears rolled down my cheeks like rivers. I could barely hear Romelle apologizing through sobs as she wrapped her arms around me, an effort to comfort me. We were only here for a maximum of ten minutes. I believed Shiro and I could survive until the end of our days, to be the last of our family and still have each other, and he could live a happy, domestic life with Adam when all of this was over. They can’t be dead . They can’t be dead.

They can’t be.

-

We buried Shiro and Adam at dawn. I couldn’t help but realize that the last thing I said to my brother was an insult. It beat me down, his and Adam’s deaths were so sudden, and between then and the burial everything was a blur. Romelle, Pidge, and Hunk, and I were all there for each other. Lance too, even though he only knew Shiro for a couple of minutes. Allura was out like a light after the amputation but she managed to open her eyes and sit up with us. Cry with us. Mourn with us.

Romelle explained to us that Shiro had told her when he was bitten. She said there was a small group of walkers outside a bar we were looting and he fended them off. He had told me that he was fine. I should’ve acted upon it when I knew he was lying.

I had no idea what to do after that until Pidge said something a week later.

“Let’s go to LA. For Shiro and Adam.” She said after gathering up the group. “Over half the camp has already left and this town is just going to get worse. We have to go accomplish what Shiro and Adam and everyone else in this hell of a world couldn’t.”

“Pidge is right. We can’t give up. Losing people is a part of our lives now. Nearly all of us have lost everything but we still have each other. We’re a family.” Allura chimed in. Her shoulder was stitched and wrapped and she appeared to already be getting used to using her right hand for everything.

“Is everyone in agreement?” Romelle asked, and I nodded along with the others. I was silent, emotionless.

“Good, pack your things, we leave first thing in the morning.” Allura stood up and left, along with Romelle, and soon enough the others, and I was stuck sitting alone. Or so I thought.

“It’s not your fault.” Lance’s voice continued. “I know how you feel. It isn’t your fault.”

“Oh, shut the hell up.” I replied angrily. “You don’t know how I feel in the slightest, you still have your stupid family to look forward to. I have no one, Lance. No one.”

Chapter Text

LANCE’S POV

Those of our group who were left packed up as much as we could before clambering down the ladder and piling into the same military truck as before. Romelle began driving and Allura sat, silent, in the passenger seat. Keith closed the back door with a loud bang and sat down across from me, his arms clenched tightly around himself. Pidge, Hunk, and Hunk’s girlfriend, Shay, sat to my right, and I was sitting and leaning against the wall between the driver and the back. I looked up at Keith sitting alone on the opposite bench, and he met my eyes for a second before turning away and glaring at the floor.

I felt terrible. Maybe comfort from someone else wasn’t his thing, but I knew for sure he wasn’t alone. And if I couldn’t make it to LA, well, it was my new sworn pact with myself to get him there, because he deserved it.

It didn’t help that he was really, really, fucking pretty.

I could feel myself falling for him by the second. Was love at first sight really a thing, or was it just desperation now that time was running out? It felt like both. Even though he seemed like a prick, I wanted him close. 

Nobody said anything for a long time. We didn’t have much to talk about, we already knew that surviving really wouldn’t get us anywhere, as there was no way off this planet and it seemed pretty doomed anyway. The only thing keeping us going was the human drive to just survive as long as we could.  

I picked up my guitar that was leaning against the wall and strummed a few notes, unsure what to play. I took a deep breath and sighed it out, starting a slow-paced song I’d learned a long time ago. It had no words, but the ambience around us seemed to fill in for it. It was called _Sealevel.1 , and I had heard it for the first time when I went down a rabbit hole on Spotify several years ago. Since then I’d been playing the peaceful, repetitive guitar melody that begins in the middle of the song. I play it because it reminds me of home, and home is all I can think about.

I finished and sighed again, putting the pick away and running my hands over the battered guitar. Sure, I’d used it to fight and knock back walkers but it still had this capability to keep people human. I felt like music always kept people human. I know it always kept me from losing my mind.

Pidge and Hunk had fallen asleep, Shay was giving me a tired smile. I dared to catch a glance at Keith, who was still leaned over, his elbows on his knees, fiddling with his dagger in a brooding manner. Of course he’d be brooding. 

Losing a family member that close was like losing a piece of yourself, I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling in that moment, losing two in one night.

He put the knife away and leaned his head back against the truck’s interior, closing his eyes. I looked away and down at the floor.

“I’m sorry.” It seemed that only Keith, Romelle, and I were awake now. We’d been driving for about an hour. 

Keith cracked an eye open. “For what?” His voice was low, barely a whisper.

“I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault, if you guys hadn’t stopped for me-”

“Don’t.” Keith’s voice cut the tension like a knife. He closed his eyes again. “I was the one who went out there to get you. Don’t make me regret it.” He sighed. “Look, it’s been a week. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

And the conversation ended. Keith laid down on the bench and turned his back to me, curling up silently. I sighed, putting my guitar under the bench and leaning my head against the wall between me and the two front seats. I watched Keith for a minute before he began to shake and curl himself tighter, and I had to close my eyes to keep myself from leaning over and comforting him. Boundaries were boundaries.

And that’s when the truck broke down.

Keith and I opened our eyes as the emergency lights came on and Romelle cursed loudly. “Are you serious? It’s the middle of the night and we’re in the middle of nowhere!” She slammed a fist into the steering wheel and grumbled to herself. “Aren’t these trucks supposed to last through warzones?” She huffed and shook her head.

Allura turned around. “Everybody listen up! We’re going to have to walk from here, which is another five days. Stakes are high, we’re lucky if we make it. But I’m not going to allow us to walk the whole way. It’s probably a day’s walk to the next gas station. We can send two people out to get some gas canisters while the rest of us keep the truck safe.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hunk chimed in and gave a thumbs up. Then his smile fell. “Uh, who’s going?”

“Any volunteers?” Allura shrugged, and Keith stood up.

“I’ll go.” He had his firefighter jacket and his cap on already.

“Me too.” The words flew out of my mouth before I could think and I realized what I’d said. Keith rolled his eyes but Romelle shut him up before he could say a word.

“Then it’s settled.” Romelle smiled at us and I nodded in return. “Be careful, the military drops bombs occasionally out at night.” As if on cue, we heard an earth-shattering boom in the distance. “Make sure you know your way back in the morning.”

Keith nodded and turned to me briefly before scoffing and walking toward the back of the truck to open the door. He clicked on his flashlight, illuminating the pavement below, and I followed the action. “See you on the other side.” I shut the door behind us.

Keith was strapping his flashlight to his shotgun with some electric tape that he passed to me when he was finished. I taped mine to my pistol and held it with both hands. Now it was easier to aim now that I didn’t have to coordinate both objects in separate hands.

“Ready?” He asked, trailing his flashlight on me. I could see his outline and parts of his face that weren’t shadowed illuminated by the moon and the stars in the clear sky.

“Ready.”

“Let’s go.”

We began walking, hearing the explosions in the distance and keeping weather eye on the road ahead.

I felt way less safe once we stepped off the bridge, as it was a completely open road, desert on either side. I took a deep breath and I saw Keith visibly shudder and shift his gun in his hand. If there were any zombies, out there we’d most likely see their silhouettes.

We did see zombies. A bunch of them, in fact, but they didn’t seem interested, which made it so much more eerie. I stepped closer to Keith, and he didn’t give much of a reaction. We had to be careful.

Hours of walking later, the tense air from seeing the walkers started to loosen. Our breaths were heavy, we were walking quickly and it’d been about four hours since the truck. My feet were killing me.

We made it to the middle of another bridge and Keith mumbled, “Let’s take a break.”

“That’s the best thing you’ve said all night.” I shook my head and he let out a short breath.

“Got a tent in that backpacking shindig you got going on?” He asked, and I nodded, setting my bags on the ground and pulling out the small blue tent.

It took a couple minutes to pitch it but once we finished, we clambered in and sat down on the thin piece of nylon separating us from the hard pavement.

“You’re positive this will work?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Yeah, I pitched a tent in the middle of the roads all the time during the apocalypse. They can’t smell you for shit.” He gave me a small reassuring smile and turned off his flashlight.

“Okay. Well, ‘night.” I muttered and laid down, turning my back to him. I heard him shift on the other side of the tent and knew he’d done the same.

As my thoughts drifted off, I heard an explosion slightly closer than the rest. It was the last one I heard for a long time before I closed my eyes and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

KEITH’S POV

We only slept for a good four hours before we had to hit the road again. Checking for walkers, I unzipped the tent and looked about. We were all clear, but it wouldn’t be long before it got light again and they could see us. 

“Okay, Lance, looks like we’re good.” 

He nodded and climbed out of the tent. It was around four in the morning, still dark. We had about two hours until the blazing sun would be hitting our cheeks. 

Lance looked terrible, and I probably had the same sunken-in look. I didn’t know if it was the lighting or what, but I figured we wouldn’t be at our best that day, we were far too tired. 

“Dude, I am exhausted.” He shook his head and we started gathering the tent. 

“You look the part.” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m not doing too hot either. Let’s just hurry up and get to this damn troublesome station.” 

“I can’t believe it’s that far away. I mean, maybe we’ll find one closer?” He shrugged. 

“Yeah, I doubt it’s that far too, but gangs have been taking them over. Allura has the entire state mapped out, maybe she knows that it’s the only safe one we can get to.” I put my hands on my hips and thought about it. “Ugh, I think I remember her telling me that our rival group, led by her dickface psycho ex, Lotor, was a two hour drive from Buckeye. I think we might be close to that area. He’ll recognize me, but he won’t recognize you.” What Lance didn’t know about Lotor was that he was my ex from high school as well. He’d recognize me in a heartbeat, and now that everyone had access to weapons, he’d probably kill me too. I really didn’t want Lance to worry, so I didn’t mention it.

“You want me to go into one of their stations and ask for gas, don’t you?” 

I was a bit hesitant in my reply. Sure he was a little annoying but I sincerely didn’t want him to get hurt. “I mean… only if you want. But it’d be riskier to go around. At this point they probably have the whole street blocked off.” 

“Hey, don’t worry, I can do it.” We began walking and I started feeling a little unsettled. 

“You’re sure?” 

“Yeah. And if I get captured, you’ll run in and save me, right? You did it once, you can do it again.” He unwrapped a protein bar and threw the wrapper on the ground, which was fine, because the environment was completely fucked anyway. 

I was glad he still had faith in me. “Maybe, but I’ll need some help.” 

“Look at us, being pals!” Lance exclaimed through his chewing, and nudged my arm. My smile faded. I couldn’t get too close to him, I’d already lost so much, and pushing down my feelings was a better way of survival.

I didn’t say anything, just watched the road ahead. He fell silent as well and took a deep breath, obviously wanting to say something but deciding against it. 

“What?” I blurted and he seemed alarmed. 

“What, what?” 

“What were you going to say?” 

“Oh. Well, you wouldn’t like it.” He shook his head and I stopped walking. 

“Hey, spill. Any thoughts you have about me I couldn’t care less about, so spit it out while you can.” Ouch. I didn’t mean to come off that harsh and it pained me to see his expression that followed. However, he was already speaking before I could apologize. 

He didn’t meet my eyes. “Jeez, I was just going to say that maybe you shouldn’t try to push your own feelings away. I know you want to be friends, you just feel like it's not your right to because you don’t want to lose me like you lost Shiro.” He crossed his arms. “He’d want you to get closer to everyone else, you know that.”

He was absolutely right, and that’s what angered the hell out of me. “Whatever. You don’t know me, and you certainly don’t know my brother. Just… let me be, please.” 

He sighed in defeat. Earlier in the week I had a huge crush on him. Now I had the biggest, damndest of all the crushes ever on him. Dammit. I completely ruined my chances, didn’t I? I turned away, mentally cursing myself. You absolute moron.

We kept walking until we reached a batch of broken down cars in front of a bar and a gas station across from each other. Neither of these were our original stop, they belonged to Lotor’s group. It had just begun to get light out too, meaning Lance had a lower chance of getting shot.

“Okay, you have a plan, right?” I asked Lance, praying he did. I was no planner, I was more of a run in, get the stuff, run out kinda guy.

“Of course. Step one: tell the bouncer-guard lady I just need some gas and if she can let me in, and once she does, I can ask the bartender for some resources. Then I’ll go to that resource, ask for gas and possibly a spare car, then return with the goods. They don’t know me, right?” 

I shook my head. “Got a plan B in case things go sideways?” 

“I’ll work on it while I’m acing plan A.” He smirked and I rolled my eyes, forcing down the threatening heat in my cheeks. 

“Yup. That makes me completely confident this is gonna work.” I sighed. “Okay. Plan B: if you don’t return in ten minutes, I’m coming to get you.” I cocked my shotgun. 

He nodded. “Okay. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m going in.” 

I stayed put behind the truck and watched Lance through the window. The cars were just at the top of a hill, making it an absolutely perfect hiding spot, no one had seen us approaching, and they wouldn’t be able to watch us as we left.

I listened in on the faint conversation. 

“Hey, I’m just passing through. My truck broke down yesterday and the map said-” 

“Shhh.” The bouncer hushed him up, and Lance jerked back. Anxiety coursed through my veins, and I braced myself for her next words. “I don’t need the full story, love. You don’t look like our type but I don’t recognize you from Allura and Romelle’s group so you’re all clear to me. Go on in, hon.” She smiled and Lance seemed completely intimidated by her tall and muscular build. She looked kind of like Hunk, just a little more hardened from the apocalypse. Lance stepped inside and relief washed over me, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.

I started a timer on my watch for ten minutes and got pretty anxious after the first five. “C’mon, c’mon…” I muttered to myself and kept my eyes on the door. At seven minutes I started regretting ever bringing Lance into this. What if he was captured already? At eight minutes I heard yelling, then the bouncer stormed in, alarmed at the noise. I stayed put, though, maybe it wasn’t Lance-related. My timer went off as soon as Lance and the bouncer stepped through the door. I released breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. From the looks of it, Lance was safe. And he had two big canisters of gas, one under each arm. 

“Sorry about the bar fight, love, it happens on the regular and I’m always the one to break it up, on top of taking out walkers passing through.” She scoffed. “So annoying, I can’t wait until this is over. Anyway, have a safe way back, love!” She grinned and Lance waved by lifting one of his hands. He turned to the cars and hurried his way up. 

“That was way easier than I thought it was going to be.” He shook his head. 

“Too easy.”
“Hey, don’t jinx it-”

I must’ve jinxed it, because in that moment a loudspeaker crackled to life, and I recognized Lotor’s voice immediately. 

“You think you can take my supplies right under my nose like that without me noticing, boys?” He cackled and sighed, and I gritted my teeth. “Well, I’ll give you credit for trying. I’d send Allura and Romelle my regards but I don’t think they’re ever going to see you again.” 

“Christ, how badly does this guy need to keep two cans of gas?” Lance muttered to me, and a large number of people stepped out of the bar and gas station. We were screwed. 

“Shit, do we kill ‘em?” Lance asked. 

“What the hell, Lance! No! They’re still people, not walkers.” I turned on the safety on my shotgun and made sure he did the same with his pistol. 

“They look ready to kill us.” 

“Only if we make a wrong move. Besides, we’re better than them.” 

Lance took a deep breath. 

“ Approach my people with caution. Drop your weapons. ” Lotor must be watching us from somewhere. Lance put down the gas canisters and he led the way to the middle of the street. Lotor’s laugh filled my ears when I stepped out from behind the cars. “ Keith, it’s so great to see you again. How’s Allura? ” 

“Still fine, no thanks to you.” 

“ Hm. You’d think that all we’ve been through you’d be nicer. ” 

I hated his possessive tone. He used it with me constantly when we dated senior year. My jaw clenched, I approached Lotor’s goons and stopped in front of them. 

“Alright, drop your weapons.” The bouncer crossed her arms. There was something behind her eyes, that wasn’t there before. I knew I recognized her and it bugged me that I didn’t know where. Who was she?

Lance proceeded to drop his pistol and his crowbar, and I undid my knife holster on my thigh and threw it, along with my shotgun, at their feet. 

“All of them.” The bouncer raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at Lance’s guitar strapped to his back. 

Lance sighed and slipped the strap over his head. He set it down carefully, never taking his eyes off of it as it was carried away. It seemed pretty special to him. 

“Hey, when we get out of here, I’ll make sure we get it back, okay?” I reassured him, and he nodded. 

“Aw, Keith, who’s your boyfriend? You treating him as well as you treated me?” Lotor teased. God, when I saw him in person I was going to punch him so hard in the face. 

Lance gave me a confused look and I ignored it. “Fuck off, you sack of ass.” I snapped back, unable to contain my rage. At this, half of Lotor’s goons lunged for me. I put up a good fistfight but it wasn’t long before I was being dragged away from Lance. 

I was thrown into a cell and a few moments later, Lance was thrown into the same one right after me. 

“Shit. We’re going to get left behind.” I murmured and he sighed. 

“You don’t think they’ll wait up for us?” 

“Pidge and Hunk will certainly try to resist but our group has a pact, it’s kind of an ‘if they’re gone for 60 hours, they’re gone’ kind of situation. Lotor will certainly keep us here until then, since he knows about it. Either that or we die.” 

“Or we escape.” 

“It’s hard to escape Lotor.”

“You’d be right about that.” Lotor’s voice emerged from my left. Speak of the Devil. Through the bars, Lotor was dressed in all black, as usual, black ripped jeans, black tank top, black jacket, black combat boots. It contrasted with his nearly paper-white skin and white-blonde hair. He looked just as I remembered him: a stupidly wicked smile playing on his lips, his light eyebrows arching high, and his cold, piercing eyes humiliating anyone brave enough to meet them. “Both of you are coming with me.” He stepped back and let the guards open the door and handcuff us. 

Lotor led the way further down the stairs into a secondary basement, which just so happened to be a small fighting arena. Of course he’d pick a fight club as a hideout. I almost rolled my eyes at how obvious it was. The ring was a simple slab of round concrete elevated from the rest of the floor and surrounded by a chain-link fence that went all the way to the ceiling. 

“This place used to be a fight club, so we put walkers we capture in here when we’re bored. Didn’t know they liked to fight each other until I saw two fighting on the side of the road.” He shook his head and looked at me. I didn’t meet his eyes. “Sometimes we have our very own human traitors fight them.” 

At that, my eyes shot up to meet his in surprise, and Lance stared at him with a, “are you fucking crazy” look. 

“There’s no way I’m going in there.” I shook my head. “You may have been able to pressure me before but there’s no way I’ll give in this time.” 

“Well, I’m glad you’re not ready for it because you aren’t going in there. Not first, anyway.” Lotor grinned. “Keith, you may watch your boyfriend go first.” 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I seethed through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, so he shouldn’t mean that much to you then.”  Lotor’s smile was unsettlingly sinister. Since the last time I saw him he’d grown colder. 

And it scared the shit out of me. 

Lance was shoved along past me and to the gate. Before he was thrown into the middle of the arena, he gave me a worried look. It broke my heart. He didn’t deserve this to happen to him. If anything, it was my fault he got caught.

I exhaled slowly in order to keep myself from punching Lotor in the face and causing more problems, and I was pressed against the fence, forced to watch Lance take on this walker with his bare hands. Just then, I noticed a rack of weapons on the inside of the fence. Lance was going to have to make a break for them. 

A deafening bell rang and another gate slid open, this one solid steel. The walker came dashing out at abnormal speed. It had to have been a Racer, one of the types of special walkers that had mutated quicker than the rest in order to efficiently get food. 

My eyes widened as Lance made a beeline for a long combat pole and whacked the Racer across its neck in the nick of time, sending it flinging wildly to the ground. It got back up quickly, however, and lunged, shoving Lance to the ground where it could barely reach his face. Lance kneed it in the stomach and it doubled over, the skin and organs made more sensitive as a side effect to the mutation. (Along with bruise-colored skin, lack of blood clotting, and a rotting brain.) 

The fight continued, and Lance was incredibly lucky to have received this zombie. I mean, he wasn’t lucky at all to be in this scenario, but it was the best he could get. It was too fast, and stuck in a closed off area. I was pulled away from the fence when it ran into where I was, and eventually all Lance had to do was dodge until it got tired. 

To Lotor’s dismay, Lance won, purely by strategy and nothing else. It made sense, and seemed to suit him. What was going to be really shitty was my turn.

Lance stumbled out of the arena as the Racer was removed from the scene, and the group that had a hold of me shoved me in. 

“Good luck.” Lance murmured and collapsed against the fence, his endurance and strength fizzled. 

Life or death situations. AKA: Super fucking scary scenarios where the most likely outcome is death. They also make you think of all the things you haven’t done yet. Now I’m no bucket list guy but there were some things I had to do before dying.

Like escaping this place and making it to LA. 

And kissing Lance. 

Alright, give me a fucking break.

The steel door slid open as that damned bell rang again, and out came a calm, collected walker in shorts and a black sweatshirt with the hood up. A Hunter. It crawled forward on all fours, watching me warily. It knew I was the target, and it was going to let my own impatience get the best of me. I moved slowly toward the weapon rack, and it watched my every move, all the while climbing up the fence to a spot several feet above the rack. I was almost an arm’s reach away when it opened its gaping maw and unleashed a blood-curdling screech, dropping at an alarming rate. 

I wasn’t fast enough. Sooner than expected, I was on my back, fighting off a damn Hunter, earning scratches on my arms and face and punches to the stomach. I had no tool, just my fists.

If only I could’ve had some of that good luck. 

It took a violent swipe at my neck, and one claw dragged up my jaw and cheek deeply. I couldn’t bite back a scream this time. 

God, all I wanted to do was make it to LA to see my friends be happy when reuniting with family members. 

Holy shit. Family members. 

That bouncer is Hunk’s mom. 

Blood gurgled into my mouth as it punched me in the stomach once more, but I finally managed to shove the Hunter off of me. The burst of energy at my new discovery propelled me toward the weapon rack and my fingers wrapped around the handle of a machete. I spun and faced the Hunter, to which it dumbly lunged again. I stuck out the blade in wild defense and it embedded itself in the Hunter’s stomach. I let go of the blade and it collapsed to the ground. 

Lotor cried out in rage. “Why does this never work?!” 

Huh. So all that was just to scare me. I mean, I wasn’t going to be surprised if he brought us outside and shot us in the middle of the street but wow , he hadn’t changed at all. 

The Hunter got me good, though. My cut burned like hell, and I could feel my shirt getting soaked. The rest of my body stung from scratches and had sore spots from punches. I definitely had one of the worst scenarios and god damn, I was lucky to live. 

I spat out the remaining blood in my mouth at Lotor’s feet when we passed him and gave him a bloody smile. I heard him mutter something about me going mad under his breath but I didn’t care. He’d just lost. 

Lance and I didn’t speak to each other until we got back to the cell. In the process the guards threw me my jacket and some supplies to fix up my cut, saying it was from Lotor. 

“You okay?” Lance asked as he sifted through the first aid kit. 

“Pfft. No.” I fell onto my back and closed my eyes. 

“Okay, dumb question. Also, where did this attitude come from?” I cracked an eye open and he shook his head. “Really, what happened with you and that dickface?” 

I shut my eyes again. “Well, I get cocky when I’m around him because I know I’m better than him.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question at all.” I could feel him get closer, and then I felt a cold cloth on the cut on my face, which felt nice at first, but started to sting almost immediately. I flinched and hissed in pain. “Shhh, just sit still. You’ll need stitches.” 

FUCK. I hated needles. I was going to faint, no doubt. “Have you done this before?” 

“Yup. My mom was an ER nurse. I always walked to the hospital after school so she could take me home after work. I was just an extra pair of hands in dire situations. Plus I kinda majored in nursing.” He put pressure on my neck and told me to hold my hand on my cheek firmly so he had a hand free for supplies. “Okay, I answered your question, now answer mine.” 

I sighed, my entire cocky ego fading away. “He was my ex.” I opened my eyes to meet Lance’s disappointed expression. He shook his head again. 

“That would’ve been nice to know before going in there.” 

“I didn’t want to make you anxious.” 

“I didn’t know you cared.” His jaw clenched and I looked away. God, I’d really fucked up. 

“There’s something you should know.” 

“Hm?” His focus had returned to fixing me up. 

“The bouncer lady. It’s Hunk’s mom.” 

“That would’ve been nice to know too! You asshole, do you have any idea-” 

“I didn’t realize it until I thought about it!” 

He exhaled in frustration but let it go. “Whatever, there are more important things now.” 

“I’m sorry for bringing you into this.” I dropped my harsh tone and replaced it with a careful one. He met my eyes for a second but didn’t say a word unless it was to give me instructions. 

“Okay, I’m going to stitch you up.” I watched as he threaded the needle, to which I - rather embarrassingly - promptly fainted.