Chapter Text
The outbreak started in the middle of winter. It was an icy day outside, too much so that Remus almost breaks his neck multiple times while running to his apartment. But run he had to; zombies littered the streets.
Getting into his apartment foyer and unlocking the door into the main hall to get to the elevator was an ordeal.
The ice might have sucked for him to run on, but it at least didn’t make things easy for the zombies either.
He paces in the elevator as it ascends to the top floor where he lives with his brother and his brothers boyfriend/his best friend.
The elevator door opens and Remus steps out slowly looking both ways before rushing to his door, then stops.
What if they’re zombies? He’s going to have to kill his brother and best friend!
He slowly turns the handle and peeks inside, the television is playing some Disney movie, Roman and Janus are seemingly asleep on the couch.
Remus slowly and silently creeps into the room and then hurriedly goes into his room to get his morning star (he got it at a ren fair a couple years ago to everyone’s dismay, but who’s gonna be laughing now when he beats zombie ass with it huh?)
He sneaks back into the living room, morning star at the ready. He whistles loudly to get the two (hopefully not zombies) to wake up.
Both jump awake, Roman falling to the floor with a squawk.
“What the hell Rem?!” Roman shouts rubbing his nose in pain.
Jan is staring at him, wary and amused.
“I think your brother has finally snapped.”
Roman looks at his boyfriend “what are you talking-“ he looks at Remus “-abOUT REMUS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
“Oh good” Remus sighs and lowers his weapon “you’re not zombies.”
The boyfriends look at each other with twin looks of confusion then to Remus in concern.
Roman gets up slowly, walking towards Remus like he’s a startled animal, they don’t have time for this they need to make plans and think about the freakin zombie apocalypse!
“Remus, are you alright?” Roman slowly asks, Remus rolls his eyes.
“Uh, yea but we won’t be soon” he gestures to the window.
“What do you mean by that?” Jan asks.
“Zombies! Why do you think I have my morning star? I was making sure you’re not zombies!” He throws his hands up in the air, taking the morning star with the motion and making the other two flinch away.
“Okay, okay just be careful with that thing!” Roman shouts.
Janus gets up and moves to the window, Roman puts his hands on his hips.
“You’re seriously not going to entertain the idea of this zombie thing are you?” He directs at his boyfriend.
Janus just stares wide eyed at the scene before him.
It’s a ridiculous notion, that zombies would actually exist, and yet here Janus is staring out of his fourth floor apartment at a small cluster of what has to be zombies (cause what else would they be?)slip on the icy road outside.
Roman and Remus are arguing in the background.
“Seriously, put that thing away before you hurt someone!”
“Um! I’m gonna be hurting zombies!”
“Zombies do not exist!”
“Look outside dipshit!”
“I’m not going to be fooled into one of your tricks.”
“Roman” Jan whispers, neither brother hears.
“Uuugh! I’m not fucking with you this time!”
“Okay sure, you just want me to believe that zombies are roaming the streets right now?”
“Yes! Cause it’s true!”
“ Roman !” Janus says louder and both brothers look towards him. His face must convey the horror he feels cause Roman falls silent, his own face contorts to something Remus can’t put an emotion to.
Roman slowly walks to the window to stare out at the chaos. He shakes his head wildly, backing up and bumping into Remus, he jumps in fright and whirls on his twin with a manic look in his eyes.
He’s speechless, what is there to say about this situation?
Janus comes up to him slowly and wraps Roman in a hug.
“Don’t wanna say I told ya so, buuuuut like” Remus shrugs and motions to the window again.
“No, no no, this is a bad dream. This can not be happening, zombies aren’t a thing!”
Janus hums a soothing tone in Roman’s ear, Roman doesn’t take kindly to it.
He breaks himself out of the embrace, starts to pace and then turns to the other two, he feels like he’s about to explode! How are they so calm about this? Their world just changed! There are zombies for fucks sake!
“Why are you not freaking out with me?!” Roman yells.
Remus scowls, Jan just sighs.
“Roman, Starlight, Darling-” Janus starts as he walks towards a shaking Roman “-there’s nothing to do about it, yes it’s more than not ideal, but it’s a thing that has now happened and we need to deal with it as such.”
Roman scoffs “Yes, Okay sure! But can we not have a little freak out moment here! Everything has just changed and I don’t know if we can survive something like this!”
Remus has had enough of this, he goes to his room and rummages through his closet, he pulls out his large camping backpack and gets to work on making a getaway bag.
He moves around the apartment to gather up supplies, when he passes the living room to get to the kitchen he sees Roman shaking in Jans arms, he stops and rustles his bag.
“I suggest you two do the same thing, we have enough to survive here for a little while longer and we can go on runs to the store down the street if we absolutely need to but we should all have a getaway bag just in case.”
Janus nods while rubbing Roman’s back, the actor isn’t crying but he is shaking violently.
Roman stares at Remus like he’s seeing him for the first time.
“Rem, how can you be so nonchalant about this?”
Remus sighs, moving towards his brother and hugging him.
“Look, Ro. Do you remember when we were kids and we were playing that silly game and you insisted you wanted to be the prince and since you were older you got to have the title?”
Roman nods, so Remus continues.
“Well, I said if I can’t be the prince I’ll just be your knight instead? Even though I so totally could have just as well stayed as duke?”
Roman nods again.
“That’s what I’m doing here, I’m stepping down a rank to be the knight until you can get your shit together.”
Roman lets out a small laugh “yea, okay. I’ll be back as the prince soon enough... just let me process a little longer?”
Remus nods “yea sure, we’ll rule again once you feel up for it Broman.”
“It’s a good thing we’re on the top floor” Jan points out.
The brothers look at him.
“What? I’m just saying, the poor shmucks on the bottom floor must be having a really bad time right about now.”
Remus laughs at that and Roman just scrunches his face a bit.
“Should we check the floors?” Roman asks in a whisper.
Remus hums “mmm, probably, we might get some supplies from looting” he says offhandedly then perks up a little bit, in a more joyful tone he says: “looting! I’ve always wanted to loot things in an apocalypse scenario!”
Janus chuckles “silver linings I suppose.”
~
As Janus gets together his bag -Roman following his lead- he jerks up like he just remembered something.
“I have to call our father!” Roman yells.
Remus, from the other room groans.
They haven’t spoken to Romulus in years, he doesn’t see why this should be any different, it’s not like they can get to him from where he’s probably all the way at the other end of the earth doing who knows what.
“No point Ro, he’s probably on some secluded island right now!” Remus yells.
Roman sighs, he supposes Remus is right. It’s not like he’d do the same for them. He hasn’t really been there for them much.
Janus picks up his own phone with a sick look on his face.
“Oh god, I hope Thomas is okay” he says lowly dialing his brothers number.
It rings once. Twice. Three times. Come on Thomas! Four times, the line picks up before Janus can hurl his phone across the room.
“Heya short stuff! Thomas is in the shower what can I do ya for?”
He sighs in relief.
“Remy, you and my brother need to not go outside, but scope out your place, please just trust me when I tell you the next thing, I know it’s going to sound crazy but you need to trust me okay?” He rushes out.
“Sure thing Janny, what’s wrong?”
“Well, there’s no easy way to say this... the zombie apocalypse has come” he waits a beat for a response, but none comes. “Rem? Are you there?”
“Listen, that is like, super not cool to spring on a guy.”
“Remy, please you have to believe me” He pleas with his brother in law.
He hears noise on the other side, a sliding door opening he realizes.
“Remington! I swear to god if you become a zombie and kill my brother I’m going to find a way to bring you back and kill you myself!”
Remy laughs a little bit “chill babe, there’s a fence around the house.”
He hears Thomas’ voice faintly “who you calling babe on my phone?”
“Just your little bro” Remy answers and he hears Thomas fake gasp in shock.
“You’re cheating on me with my brother! Well, I’m sure Roman would gladly take me instead after both of us gets our hearts broken.”
Janus sighs, as much as he enjoys these moments and who knows when they’ll get more like this he needs them to take this seriously right now.
“Remy! Zombie! Apocalypse! Happening right now!” He shouts.
“Oh, right. Sure. Thomas your brother says a zombie apocalypse is happening.”
Good, Thomas will believe him.
He hears scuffling then the phone jostles and Thomas is on the line.
“Janus, are you sure?” He asks
“Yes” he hisses “of course I am, I’m watching them fumble around on the ice as we speak!”
When they were younger, they had a zombie movie marathon, both of them got unabashedly terrified of the prospect of it actually happening so they made a secret pact with each other, if one ever actually happens they have to tell the other and they’d believe them no matter what. It was a silly promise between children but both of them took it seriously, even in adulthood.
“Janus you have to come to Florida. I have a bunker we can stay there for however long we need, bring Roman and his brother too!”
Janus laughs out loud “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. But you have a bunker? Since when?”
“We have a bunker?” He hears Remy exclaim in the background.
“Uh, yea my paranoia got the best of me there, but! It’s a good thing it did cause I can sustain at least ten people for about five years in that thing!”
“I’ll talk to the twins” he says, Thomas let’s out a sigh of relief.
“Okay, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to stay in touch for. Please be careful Jan, I cant loose you.”
“Nor I you” he says back, both brothers hang up at the same time.
Thomas starts to gather up all that he can to bring it to the shed out back, which houses the bunkers secret entryway.
Remy follows his instructions without complaint, he kinda enjoys when Thomas gets all authoritative anyway.
When Janus turns around after his call, he sees Roman and Remus staring at him.
“We’re going to Florida” he simply says.
“I’m guessing Thomas is okay then?” Roman asks.
“Yes, and crazy as it may be he has a pretty well stocked bunker.”
“Sweet.” Remus comments.
“It’s not going to be easy to get to Florida” Roman says.
“No, but I’m sure we can do it” Janus says, semi lying. He does think it will be hard to do and he’s not sure that they’re going to be able to do it unscathed, but they have to try and they need their spirits up, so Janus will lie as much as he can to make them not loose hope. Cause really, all they have right now is hope.