Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lights flashed from red, to green and then purple. Laughter, loud party music and yelling was the only thing the racoon boy could hear. His blonde hair was all messy and had two fuzzy racoon ears in the middle. He was wearing a red and white shirt with jeans and held a red party cup with what was definitely not alcohol. He was ‘a child’ and could not drink the stuff. In truth he was a Big Man and … it was fruit juice. He sighed and drank some of the overly sweet liquid. When I say this boy had friends, I mean that he has an older brother with many friends. His brother was supposed to be there today at the party, but he had to get on a train and go to a concert where he and his band were going to play music. He said he had forgotten he had to do it. He knew that was probably a lie though... he and his brother had just arrived and were starting to settle down at the place when his brother remembered… leaving Tommy… all alone.

His dad was busy doing things, like getting the milk and just general disappearing dad things. He was really regretting agreeing to tag along to the party, truly he was here for the food, which in all fairness really sucked , but seeming cool to his brother may have also been on the agenda. Since his brother had left and the food was shit there wasn't much point to staying but there were tons of people in front of the door and he didn't especially feel like crowd surfing today so he stayed. How he wished this party would end.

You know maybe you shouldn't ask for too much because that was when the screams and shouts started. At first, Tommy thought it was general party stuff. Someone was probably having a contest or something, anything normal like that. The shouts had started in the kitchen, so Tommy and everyone else at the party had assumed it was probably two dudes seeing who could chug the most beer, you know the normal teenager stuff.

Then the screams changed from ones of fun and laughter to shouts of horror and absolute terror. People started yelling for help and sprinting out of the kitchen knocking over anyone in their path. Tommy was pushed around by the flood of people rushing towards the front door. What were they even running from? Tommy’s instincts told him danger but his anxiety told him to get out if this god forsaken crowd. Using his tallness to his advantage he slowly made his way through the crowd of people and towards the stairs. Most people were headed for the front door so Tommy figured the upper level would be a quiet place. That's when he heard it.

He had just reached the top of the stairs, the groaning and scratching of the polished wood floors. The soft thuds of footsteps slowly make their way closer to him. He froze dead in his tracks. Those noises didn't sound like people. Sure drunks were dumb and made zombie like noises but these were different.

He slowly turned and came face to face with rotten flesh and disgusting smelling breath. He felt a cold hand wrap around his ankle and warm putrid breath on his face that sent shivers down his spine. Before he could react he felt a hand, a much warmer one, wrap around his wrist and yank him down the hallway as they ran together. They were running so fast all Tommy could do was look down at his feet and focus on putting one foot in front of another. God why do rich people always have such long hallways?

Tommy's raccoon ears perked up as he heard the footsteps following them get much louder, like there were more of them and they were definitely getting much closer and much faster.

That's when the adrenaline kicked in, he sped up making sure to keep a hold of the hand that had grabbed him before. As he sped up he started dragging the person along with him, deciding on reaching for the door at the very end of the hall. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him and grasped the door handle yanking it open, keeping the momentum he pulled his arm forward somewhat flinging his saviour into the room. What he realized then were his saviours, whatever that didn't matter now. As he swung around slamming the door shut he caught a glimpse of what or rather who had been following them. He saw greenish gray rotting skin and flesh. He locked the door. He pushed his body against the door as it began to rattle. Bam! Bam! Bam!

Were those shits chasing him zombies??? Bam bam bam! Tommy could hear his own breathing and could feel the pounding in his chest. Zombies? Who would've thought. His tail flicked back and forth rapidly as he waited for the banging to stop. He looked over at the other two people in the room, so that he could know who he was stuck with for, what seemed to be, the rest of his life. The despair on his face was so saddening when he saw a boy in a sweater and overalls with goat horns. This was the boy that saved his life, but he didn’t look that strong. The other person seemed more intimidating, with half of their face being white and the other half being a blackish gray. One red eye, one green, Tommy would have been shaking under their gaze and cowering as they towered over him if they weren't shaking and crying in the corner. The boy with overalls was at least staying somewhat calm.

Tommy was sure that he would not survive even five minutes with these people. He had absolutely no faith, he would have to be the one being the big man. Any minute now, the door would bust down and he would be able to try his hardest, but with no good backup, he would die almost immediately.

Thank primes the banging on the door slowly got quieter and the footsteps outside slowly went further and further away. Then, it was quiet. The zombies must've crashed the music somehow, and now there were only distant screams and sirens… “What in the actual fuck-” The person that was in the corner stood up, and they indeed did tower over Tommy. They clamped a hand over his mouth and shushed him. “Are you stupid? They’ll hear you! Don’t yell.” Goat boy walked over, his hooves clanking against the wooden floors as he did so. “No, they won’t. They’re too far away.” His ears twitched in annoyance and he went to the window, watching the slow monsters go further and further away… “What do we do?” Tommy asked, his tail flicking nervously behind him. The strange tall person went back to crying in the corner and left Tommy to talk to the other person in the room. “Uhhh…. Hello?” He said awkwardly. “Did you know that bees have five eyes?” The boy asked. There was silence for three seconds. “Who the hell starts a conversation like that?” Tommy asked, his face deadpan. Then he realized something. “You’re british! Oh, thank god. I’ve only ever seen Americans all night.”

Wilbur was the only British person he had seen all night and although Tommy would prefer dying with his brother, this other person would have to. “Hey, being American isn't that bad!” The tall one said, done crying, parts of their face was red for some reason. “Oh, sure.” The goat boy retorted. “What’s your name?” He asked the strange person. “Uhhh… can you just call me… Ran?” “Stan?” Tommy asked, not hearing them correctly. “No, it's-” “Stan is a nice name!” The second British person said, “I’m Toby.” Stan tried to object, but it was too late. Even the author currently writing began to call them Stan. “Tommy!” The child said, grinning. Then he remembered. “How are we gonna get out of here?” Toby and Stan suddenly remembered as well. “Ohhhh, right.” Toby said. He walked over to the door and opened it. “WHAT THE FUCK MAN!!!” Tommy panicked and ran over to the door. “There's no zombies.” Toby gestured to the empty hallway. “Don’t scare me like that!” Tommy calmed down and Stan strode over to them. “Let's go.” Stan said. Toby followed. “Come on Tom.” He called over his shoulder, his hooves clicking against the hardwood floors. The child whined. “Oh noooo…” He said to himself before going after the other people.

“Did you know that some cats are allergic to humans?” “Toby, stop it.” An exasperated Tommy groaned. Stan was far ahead of the both of them, while Tommy kept whining and complaining. Toby was there so he would shut up so Stan could focus and find a place to hide. “Did you know that sloths can hold their breath for longer than dolphins?” “TUB- uh, I mean TOBY!” Stan stopped and turned around. “Guys, do you hear that?” Tommy stopped yelling and Toby stayed still, they both listened. “Hear wha-?” “HELP US!” Tommy blinked and the other two ran in the direction of the sound. He ran after them and tried to catch up. He was lucky he was in football, he caught up pretty quickly.

“Uhhh… Hello?” Tommy asked hesitantly when he almost crashed into Stan, who was standing still. Toby was also standing still. “Guys?” He asked hesitantly. There was no response so he went around them to see what they were staring at. There, on the floor, was a person, writhing in pain. Their skin was tearing apart, a large bite on their arm. “Jessica!” Two women were huddled away from the person on the floor, presumably, Jessica. “Toby! Stan! Stop standing there and help me get them out of here!” Tommy shouted as he scanned over the room for anything that could help. As he quickly assessed the situation he realized they were not in a good spot. The whole room was wrecked and mostly empty, there was spilled alcohol from the party covering the floor.

“OMP, OH MY PRIMES, JESSICA!” the blonde girl screamed. Jessica apparently was writing on the floor blood pouring out of her arm. Until she suddenly stopped, groaning and twisting her body in unhuman ways. Scratching the floor she crawled towards the two other girls. Her skin bubbled and started to tear. It turned green and rotten, Tom, Toby, and Stan were taken aback and Tommy started to scream. “WHAT THE FUCK!!!” Toby runs to the side and grabs an empty beer bottle and smashes it over Jessica's head. Stan looks at him and pulls him back before Jessica tries to bites him “why did you think that would work?” Toby shrugs “I dont know thats how they do it on AMERICAN tv” Stan sighs and the girls start screaming more as Jessica crawls towards them. Tommy, not knowing what to do, grabs a fire extinguisher and tosses it to Toby and shouts at the girl. “OI! BITCH! SHUT UP YOU'LL ATTRACT MORE ZOMBIES''

Toby hefts the fire extinguisher over his head and swings it down onto Jessica's head. The two girls and Toby are splattered with brains and kool-aid colored blood. The blonde girl screams and backs up, bumping against the stove turning it on. “WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT” Tommy backs up from the girl as she screams at him. He notices she accidently turned on the stove “HEY WATCH OUT” She gasps as her luscious flowing blonde hair catches on fire. She whips around and tries to put herself out. Her friend tries to help and… well that doesn't end well.

Toby, Stan and Tommy stand in shock at the two girls in front of them are going up in flames. Snapping back to reality, Stan grabs a pitcher of punch and dumps it on the girls, in a sad attempt to put them out. Toby brings up the fire extinguisher and sprays them with it. The girls’ high ‘pitched’ screaming continues as the smell of burning flesh fills the room. The flames spread across the counters as the girls’ screams die out and they fall to the ground. The fire spreads quickly across the floor and onto the walls and smoke begins filling the room. Toby deserts the fire extinguisher opting for running towards Stan and yanking him away from the fire.

Tommy leaps back and whips around coming face to face with yet another zombie. “HOLY PRIMES '' Tommy shouts trying to stumble away from the zombie. The zombie falls forward brushing against Tommy on its way down. Tommy screeches as his left arm is covered in fire, the heat burned his nerves, his skin felt like it was being ripped off. The pain was unbearable as he fell to the ground. His ears rang as he barely hear Toby and Stan yelling at him in the background. His lungs burned as he tried not to breathe in the smoke. His eyes watered as he tried to keep them open. He felt his arm bleeding as he felt himself being picked up and covered in a blanket. He faintly heard the backdoor opening and the rush of the cold morning air. He gasped as he felt the cold pool water being dumped over him. There was no more fire so he decided it was time to take a bit of a nap.

Chapter Text

Tommy slowly opened his eyes to be met with bright blue eyes. “AAGH!” Tommy sat up and bonked his head on one of Toby’s horns. Toby moved to the side as Tommy collapsed on the floor, clutching his side which was hot with pain. “ToBy wHoT tHe FuCk!!!” he looked around to see they were under some sort of bridge. “Ugh… what happened” Tommy groaned. Toby looked up “um well lets see… the zombie apocalypse started, we, as in me and Stan, saved you from a zom-” “I KNOW THAT!!!” Tommy interrupted. Stan, appearing out of nowhere, decided to explain better than the goat boi's long story short a zombie set you on fire and I accidentally wounded you so we took you out of the house and made you, well, not on fire. Then you fell asleep somehow so we took care of your injuries the best we could and ran away from the house and now we’re here.” “Thank you Stan, at least you understand me despite being American” “I- being American isn't that bad also its not Sta-”

“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SHIRT THIS THING IS HORRID” Tommy shouted looking down at the Hawaiian shirt that had replaced his normal one “ok” Toby interrupted Stan and Tommy's bickering. “What's our plan to do now since you know the zombie apocalypse happened and all that shit” The guys sat around on a bench they found discussing what to do next. “Well i think it's best to stay together since you know safety in numbers” Toby proposed. “Yeah i agree, we also should get weapons and a preferably zombie proofed base of operations.” Stan added. They sat and thought for a moment. “Oh! I know.” Tommy looked up at their surroundings “This is the Prime Bridge right?” Tommy said looking back at the other two, who nodded. “My brother's apartment complex is near here and,” he paused, digging in his jacket pocket, which was luckily not too charred from the fire and still wrapped around his waist. “I have a key to get in!” He drooped a bit. “i have no ideas for weapons though.” Toby stood up from the bench. “That’s ok, I think there's a sports store just down North Lagger which is just down the corner so maybe we head there first?” Stan also stood up. “That’s kinda far to walk especially if there are zombies around.”

Tommy smirked. “Well boys,” he said, glancing at the locked up bikes on their right. “Let’s commit some crimes.” Stan sighed. “ I really don’t think that’s a good idea, plus those bikes are locked up. How would we even get them?” Toby looked around before bending down and picking up a fairly large rock. “Like this?” He squatted down next to the bikes and hit one of the locks with the rock. The lock surprisingly broke and the bike was freed. Stan stuttered, Tommy pulled the bike out of the stand and hopped onto it as Toby broke two more locks. “What? Don't know how to ride a bike, bitch boy?” Stan sighed as he pulled out one of the bikes and hopped on. So now newly equipped with bikes and newfound determination, they rode down North Lagger towards the sports store.

oOo

“Dicks huh.” Tommy plainly said, staring at the sign above the store. “Beggars can’t be choosers.” Toby shrugged as he walked towards the store. Stan and Tommy followed him as he pulled on the doors. “It's locked… well, here we go '' Toby said digging into his pocket pulling out the rock from earlier which he then threw through the glass. The other two looked at Toby in shock and then at each other as Toby carefully climbed through the broken window. He then yanked off a mannequin's arm and used it to break the rest of the glass so the other two can climb thorough safely. “Welp…” Stan said, stepping through the glass. Tommy stepped in afterward.

Tommy was immediately attracted to the football section, not him being a football player. Stan caught up to him and stopped him. “Remember what we’re here for!” “Right, right, weapons and stuff.” Stan nodded and looked over to where Toby had been. “Oh man, where'd that idiot go?” groaned Stan when he saw Toby was no longer there. They went off to find him and left Tommy to shop by himself. He grinned as he scanned the shelves. There were a ton of football things he thought might be useful in surviving zombies, but they were pretty bulky and probably wouldn’t fit Toby too well. It would slide right off of Stan’s slim body. He sighed and moved on to the baseball section. His eyes landed on a metal baseball bat. He gasped and picked it up, feeling it in his rough hands. It was smooth in his grip, and lightweight too, well, for the most part. It was heavy enough that he could bash heads in with it. His eyes sparkled. ”Linda, my love.” He looked around for more things, taking the bat with him

“Toby!” Stan called, searching through the Dick’s for their friend.
He felt something hard and cold poking him in the back. “Hands up American,” Toby said behind them. Stan spun around. “Toby! What is that, a gun? Why do you have a gun?!” Toby grinned. “Pretty cool right?” Toby grinned, swinging the pump action 12-gauge shotgun over his shoulder. “Toby, stop waving a gun around!” Stan said, eyeing the weapon in question cautiously. “Oh come on, it's not even loaded,” Toby quipped, continuing to wave the gun around. “Hey Stan, you wanna check the shanky shit over there?” “I- ugh.. sure,” Stan grumbles. The duo walked over to the “shanky shit.” Stan took the time to admire the variety of knives and different kinds of blades. One particular machete caught his eye. He carefully pried it out of it’s case, turning it over in his hands. That's when a loud

CRASH! BANG! CLANG! sounded throughout the Dick’s. Both Stan and Toby turned their heads searching for the source of the sound. “Fuhuck!” Tommy’s voice echoed through the big area that was the Dick’s. “Tom? You alright?” Stan asked hesitantly? “Oi, boss man. Where are you?” Toby shouted. “GOD FUCKING DAMMIT AMERICA.” Toby walked in the direction the sound came from, his hooves clacking against the Dick’s floor. As they walked towards the end of the aisle, they saw swimming gear scattered across the floor. They looked back up to see Tommy pinned against a wall by a shelf that previously held the gear. They made eye contact with Tommy and then each other.

“Well are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me?” Toby snickered before doubling over laughing. Stan kept a somewhat straight face (not really) but there were definitely some giggles here and there. Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes as the two continued for a good solid couple of minutes of them laughing at him and then calming down, then looking at him and then bursting out laughing again. “Oh my Primes, i dont think I’ve ever laughed this hard,” Toby said wiping a tear from his eye and finally managing to calm down. “That’s because I am 1000% funnier than your entire life, Tubs.” Tommy said. He stopped and wondered why he had just called Toby 'Tubs' reflex probably. Toby and Stan walked over and after a bit of struggling managed to lift the shelf up far enough for Tommy to wiggle himself out. “Okay, so we have our weapons?” Tommy said, brushing the invisible dust off himself. “Yep,” Toby replied, holding up a shotgun and a box of ammo while Stan held up a machete. “Okay hmm,” Tommy thought for a bit. “You think they'll carry food here? You know that's kinda important.” Both Toby and Stan muttered agreements before splitting up again to find more supplies.

oOo

Tommy walked down the aisles, newly found backpack in hand. He had already found his weapon, some rationed camping food and a few packs of water bottles he lugged back over to their designated meeting spot. In the bag he also had a solar powered battery, a hunting knife, and the food. He walked through the last aisle. Not seeing much else of use, he started back towards their meeting spot. Toby sat on top of the water bottles mindlessly kicking his feet or well hooves . “Hey, what's up bee boy?” Tommy said, walking over to sit beside him. “Bee boy? What kinda nickname is that?” Toby questioned before leaning over and waving at Stan who was heading back as well. Tommy rolled his eyes. “Whatever, anyways what did we get?” He sat down on the floor rubbing his hands together. “Well-” Toby started “ i got the shotgun, a few boxes of ammo, a couple bags of these camping foods, and some sleeping bags,” he finished, showing off his small pile of stuff. “Good, good,” Tommy replied. “ I also got some camping foods, these bottles of water, this battery, a hunting knife, and good ole Linda,” he stated, brandishing his baseball bat in his hands. “Well I got most of the same stuff, but how are we gonna get all the supplies to the complex?” Stan questioned, looking at the pile of things they had collected. “Oh I know just the thing,” Toby smirked.

He led them over to a corner of the store and opened an employees only door. He grabbed a ring of keys from a hook on the wall and walked back out of the employees room then led them to a golf cart. Pushing in the key, Toby hopped in the cart which purred to life as he put on a pair of sunglasses he seemingly pulled out of thin air. “You guys ready to rock and roll?” Tommy hopped in beside the boy, leaving Stan to sit in the back. “Sweet ride, big man!” Tommy said. He had a large childish grin on his face as he held onto the roof of the car. “We can probably make it look cooler and more zombie-resistant with a few supplies but for now, this is pretty good.” Stan said, as Toby started driving the golf cart. He stopped it in front of the garage door and the two Brits ordered the American to step outside and open it for them. They sighed and did so, making sure to close it behind them. Toby and Tommy almost drove away, but he noticed them starting to drive again and grabbed onto the back just in time. “Oi, Stan. You alright back there?” The tall one in question was laying on the chair with their legs bent due to the length of their legs. They grumbled and said “Nooooooo…….” “Alright then. Toby, take a left!” The cart jerked to the left and Tommy nearly fell out. He was laughing and yelling with Toby while Stan got sick and increasingly more disappointed in the two boys.

After a few more turns, a few sorta close calls with zombies and a few narrowly missed stop signs, they arrived in front of the complex. Tommy leaned out of the cart and entered in the code and the gates swung open.

Tommy gave Toby a few more directions and they ended up parking in front of Building 5. Stan stumbled out of the cart. “I thought you knew how to drive-'' Toby swung the keys around his finger. “Hey, I never said that, it's your fault for assuming.” Tommy grabbed his bag and tossed it over his shoulder, Linda in one hand and key in the other. He walked up the metal stairs, the other two shortly following behind him. Opening the door to the hallway of more doors all labeled with numbers, Tommy walked towards the end of the hallway and Toby followed after him. Stan stood in the hallway listening for something. Toby turned around to face Stan as Tommy was fiddling with the key. “What's up boss man?” Stan sighed and walked over to them. “Well, we should work on clearing out some of these rooms soon, cause some of them definitely have zombies.” Tommy finally unlocked the door and swung it open.

“Aaaand, here we are!” Tommy opened the door to ‘his’ home to reveal a surprisingly neat apartment. Toby and Stan walked in and Tommy shut the door behind them. Toby immediately tossed the cart’s keys on the kitchenette counter and began digging in his bag for something. Stan dropped his bags by the door and looked around the room before awkwardly sitting down on the couch. “Here we are!” Toby said, walking towards the couch holding an armful of different kinds of sweets.

“Where did you even get those?” Tommy questioned, sitting next to Stan on the couch. “The registers duh… what, did you guys not bother to check them?” Toby stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, as he sat between Stan and Tommy. Tommy scoffed as he propped his feet up on the coffee table and leaned against Toby, holding out his hand expectantly. “Well? Are you gonna share, big man?”

oOo

The trio had been lounging on the couch into the late hours of the night. Toby already fell asleep leaning on Stan as he read a book he’d grabbed off one of Wilbur’s many shelves. Tommy laid his head on Toby's lap as he stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes listening to the silent hum of the ceiling fan, which thankfully still worked, the quiet turning of pages and some kind of high pitched groaning… wait. Groaning? Tommy strained his ears to hear where it was coming from, it sounded like it was coming from a nearby apartment. The longer he listened it sounded more like crying rather than groaning- what a pussy, but hey maybe it was a survivor!

Tommy slowly got off the couch, trying not to wake Toby as he walked and pressed his ear against the wall. “Hey, Stan, come here,” he quietly said. Stan looked up from his book, then carefully wiggled himself out from under Toby and stood next to Tommy pressing his ear against the wall. “Woah, that sounds like crying, it sounds young . Do you think it's a kid?” Tommy thought out loud for a moment. “Maybe?” Stan walked over to the door, opening it, and dragged Tommy (the child) behind them, trying to find the source of the crying. “Oi, big man, you're choking me,” Tommy whispered, struggling to speak. Stan had been dragging him by the back of his shirt. “Oh, sorry.” The two teenagers crept around till they found an apartment where the sound was loudest. Tommy cockily said, “Stand back big man, I got this.” He backed up a bit, throwing his shoulder and himself against the locked door in a sad attempt to break it down… a sad attempt that didn't work. He sat clutching his shoulder as Stan undid the lock with two hairpins he had. They walked into the seemingly empty apartment. “Hello…?” Tommy asked awkwardly to no one in particular. “Hi Tom.” “Not you, you stupid bitch!” “Hey!” They wandered around the house until Tommy found a closet where the crying was coming from. “Oi, Stan! I think I found them!”