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“Go!”
Jack could still remember Quint’s voice as bright as day.
“We have to look for him!” Jack insisted.
“Not in this situation, we’re not.” Ever since they went out to get out some supplies last time, Jack has started to become irritated with June. After all, she was the reason why--
“Incoming!” Dirk screamed from outside the treehouse, interrupting his boiling anger.
Jack ran outside to look at the situation, and he saw the array of monsters in the distance. “Do you think they’re headed here?”
“Shouldn’t be.” Hearing June’s voice was a disappointment, “We haven’t done anything to attract their attention.”
Usually, it was Quint who answers his questions with his nerd talk and logical information, but this time.
“We’ll head out to look for Quint.”
“Do you not see the monsters outside? They might not see us right now, but they will see us eventually.” Dirk, looked borderline angry.
“It’s non-negotiable!” bit back with fury.
“I swear if this is your hero complex again--”
“Is that what it is? Being a hero?”
“Yeah, it’s why he saved you!”
Jack felt like he had been slapped as Dirk and June looked at him with disappointment, but most importantly. He felt horrible for what had happened.
~~
“I hope Dirk is watching Rover properly,” Quint said with worry as he threw a chocolate snack on the shopping cart.
“I’m sure Rover is fine/ We need to get out of here as fast as we can.” June hurriedly looked around as he snatched some cleaning supplies, as well as toiletries. “How bad could it be?”
“Yeah, Quint,” Jack could remember his voice swooning as he looked at the sole female of the group.” Trust your friends.”
“Well, you’re all probably right. Did we get everything yet?”
“Yep, let’s go!”
They ran out to their usual route. Going out taking supplies didn’t usually take three people, but they went out to a further area. More people meant more security, yet when they saw zombies slobbering all over their car, something felt wrong. Of course, he ignored it.
“Don’t worry, June! I’ll protect you,” Adrenaline was rushing all throughout his body as he took his hockey stick. “Coming through!”
Jack rushed towards the horde of zombies as he swung his hockey stick all over, hitting no one in particular, just to exude manliness.
“Quick get in the car!” he yelled once he’s created a path for his fellow humans. June seems to have been fighting off some zombies herself
“Ahhhh!” A terrifying high-pitched scream resounded all throughout the place.
Turning around, Jack saw the shopping trolley filled with the things they got. Immediately pulling the groceries to the trunk of the car, he knocked on the back of the driver’s seat.
“Drive!” Jack signaled June, who was already on the driver’s seat. The car drove out and Jack went to the back of the trolley to have a high-five with Quint, but--
“Stop the car!” Jack’s heart stopped as he looked at the area where they just came from, Quint nowhere to be found.
“Go!” he heard the familiar voice come from nowhere in particular as a firework was shot from underneath a car, to get the zombies off their backs.
Jack felt the car speed off, and Jack felt his body run cold as he stared at the scene with shock.
~~
The sun began to rise and Jack still had no clue whether or not Quint was alright.
A whimper by his side was the only warning he got before being slobbered in the saliva of Rover.
“I’m not in the mood,” he said as he walked away to wash off.
He felt Rover lick him once more and Jack swung his arm.
“I said I’m in the mood!”
“Hey!” Dirk yelled from the treehouse.
Jack looked up. He didn’t want to sleep with them up there for fear of lashing out on them, but Jack may have been too optimistic about that part.
“What’s your problem?”
His brain felt like it blanked. He couldn’t think of anything but saving Quint. The weeks they weren’t together in the first wave of the zombies was horrible enough, but now.
“Everything is!” the truth spilled out without him meaning to. “We shouldn’t have left him!”
“We could’ve died as well!” June reasoned out.
“Not if we had each other’s back!” Jack never fought with June. He didn’t even dare to before, but everything about her just angered him more. “In the first place, this is all your fault!”
“What, how? He told us to go!”
“We shouldn’t have left him behind! If it wasn’t for you I--” He paused with dread. Realizing what he was about to say.
“What? Say it!”
“I would’ve saved him myself!”
“At the risk of your life?” Dirk asked incredulously.
He thought back to his memories with Quint. How the guy was the only one who was really with him all those times he felt alone. How Quint was the first and only friend he had after all those years. The one who didn’t abandon him after learning that Jack was abandoned by his own parents.
He turned, not answering. Jack turned to the car.
“You can’t possibly be thinking of going out there!” June’s voice really riled him up.
“It’s none of your business!”
“Of course it’s our business!” Dirk explained as they both dropped from the treehouse. “We’re coming with you.”
~~
June knew from the beginning that Jack had some sort of obsession with him. She was an overachiever, she did things on her own and didn’t need help. So of course when Jack Sullivan transfers in and starts offering to help her with stuff she knew exactly what he wanted.
After the Zombie outbreak, she thought she’d never see a kid like her again. After all, the odds of an adult surviving during the apocalypse was slim. What more with children like them?
“It was underneath this car where we last saw him.”
Seeing Jack now, worried about his so-called best friend, June can’t help but feel like seeing a younger sibling grow up. She’s always known that Jack’s feelings for Quint will always be above his feelings for her. After all, Jack’s protected the guy more than he’s even tried to protect her.
It seems both Jack and Quint don’t realize their feelings though.
“I found him!” they heard Dirk scream from a nearby hardware shop as Quint appeared from behind the counter waving at them.
June turned to check on Jack and if sh wasn’t feeling so pitiful, she would have laughed. After all, Jack looked absolutely fuming.
~~
Why wasn’t it him who found Quint first? The question hung on his mind and bothered him to no end.
“But, man! I can’t believe you came back for me!”
“Of course we wo--” June again. Why did she have to always have to try so hard?
“It was my idea!” he interrupted their conversation as he drove back to the treehouse. Angry that Quint has been thanking Dirk instead of him.
He saw Quint’s smile from the rearview mirror and Jack felt his face flame. He looked back to the road. Monsters may be lurking.
~~
“Rover!” the big tongue lathered Quint with saliva and Jack can’t but feel jealous. Jealous? He didn’t want to have a bath in saliva either? “I can’t believe I missed this. It’s only been a day!”
“Have you eaten yet? We have some leftovers from yesterday. Plus the things we got.” June, again .
“Yes!”
“Also, I think Rover missed you the most,” Dirk mentioned with a laugh as Rover kept on lapping Quint up.
Jack couldn’t handle it any more. With a swift movement, he dragged Quint up into the house of his foster parents and closed the door with a bang. He released Quint inside and opened the door only to reveal his own face. “Bestfriends only!”
Quint looked at him with curious eyes.
“You alright?” the question was asked with such softness that Jack couldn’t help but hug Quint as tightly as he could.
“I should be the one asking you that, you idiot.”
Quint chuckled. “Nah, surviving is as easy as a science project.”
Jack realized that though he was hugging Quint, Quint hadn’t hugged him back. He frowned as he looked at Quint.
Quint looked back at him and Jack was about to call his friend out on it.
“We should probably head out.” Quint suggested, getting out of Jack’s hold.
“Wait, no. Why?”
“Why not?”
Why not indeed? Jack racked his brain. “It’s bestfriends only time.” It was a pathetic response, but it was the only thing that came to mind.
Quint chuckled and Jack found it lovely. “Come on, man. June and--”
“I don’t care about June!” the desperation in his voice was more apparent than he thought as he clung to Quint’s arm. Clearing his throat, Jack looked down. “Can’t we just- just spend time together?”
“Alone?”
The question made Jack feel terrible, realizing that he hadn’t spent time with Quint alone ever since they met June and Dirk.
Nodding, he hoped that Quint would understand.
“Alright,” Jack finally felt Quint’s arms wrap around his body and Jack had a realization. His heartbeat sped up as he understood this.
He liked Quint. Probably more than he should.