Chapter Text
but suddenly the world turned sideways
percy
three days, twelve hours.
Percy had been through a lot. Even if you took away the cramped apartment, the countless schools he’d been kicked out of and his ADHD and dyslexia, he still struggled. His stepdad was evil and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Fighting zombies came easier to him than most, he was used to violence and knew how to defend himself, which is probably why he made it through the first 24 hours when most people died. His mum included, she was a fighter, and they’d both escaped the zombie-infested apartment block, but then she had a change of heart and went back to save the man who’d ruined his life. Smelly Gabe died doing what he loved, fucking up Percy’s life and hurting his mum.
Now, two sleepless nights later, Percy was searching through an abandoned supermarket, desperate to eat something, desperate to feel something, so empty and broken he was on the verge of giving up.
His near-lifeless fingers traced the empty shelves as he speed walked down the empty isles. His eyes scanned the area surrounding him, terrified the zombies would come back and get him too. He’d got to the point where he wasn’t scared of death, the dark part of Percy’s mind was beginning to crave it in fact, but the idea of becoming a thing which only destroyed, terrified him. There was a part of Smelly Gabe he saw in the zombies which scared him more than the idea of death or anything else. His arm twitched just thinking about it, and his body shivered a little, which reminded him how his mum was looking for an Anxiety diagnosis for him. Just another fucking problem, he thought.
He stayed like that for a little, wandering the isles of the eerily quiet Walmart, his mind occupied with the fear that had been semi-consuming him all of his life. He could deal with one Smelly Gabe, but an army of even more brainless and smelly ones... he twitched again and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to picture his mum’s smile to calm him down.
When he opened them again, his heart skipped a beat as he met eyes with another person. A girl, also 16, with grey eyes which met his with a sad yet almost apathetic, like she was giving up too, look and blonde hair which stuck to her head with blood. She clutched a kitchen knife with one hand and her other held a piece of cloth to her head, pressing onto a bleeding wound. The hand with a knife was shaking a little, but she held it definitely and Percy’s first thought when he saw her wasn’t her strange beauty, or how sad she looked but the braveness she appeared to have. There was something about her facial expression, or the way she clung to her knife that made Percy want to be protected by and to protect her.
“You’re drooling.” She said, her voice quivering a little but it was well disguised behind the sarcasm.
“Wha-” Percy stammered, still taking in that he’d met another survivor in the zombie-torn streets of what once was New York.
“Your mouth, it’s drooling…” Then she looked him up and down and seemed to decide to drop the sarcastic act. “...sorry I’m a little off, I’ve seen a lot, I guess… sorry I’m rambling...I’m uh- I’m Annabeth.” The girl said awkwardly, holding out her hand for him to shake, taking it off her bleeding head for a moment.
Percy shook it and felt the stickiness of the blood touch his fingers, and he then took another look at her wound. “Percy. You okay with your head? I can tie bandages, and I could help you out.” He offered, and pulled out the last bandage he had out of his pocket.
“That would be great, actually. We could do a trade, you’re looking for food right?”
He nodded his reply.
“Then I’ll trade some food for you to do my head bandage. Even stevens.”
Percy did her bandage, his fingers glad to have something to fiddle with. They sat in silence the whole time, but he enjoyed her company. It felt good not to be alone for the first time in a few days. When Percy was done the girl handed him a bag of Lays chips and a Snickers bar.
Then she just stared at him, long enough for both of them to realise neither wanted to leave.