Chapter Text
“Leave me behind, I’m only weighing you down.” Declan half shouted, trying to shout over the screams to Mason who was struggling to support him. It was the end of the world as they knew it. Mason wasn’t sure when it started, but it spread so quickly through countries that he wasn’t sure when their last normal day had been. He thought this was all over when coronavirus finally started calming down, but he was wrong. They were all wrong. This new mutation, it was different. Instead of killing people, it was making everyone kill one another.
It was like all the old zombie films that the two of them had watched growing up, only it had come true, and it was worse than they could ever imagine. Declan’s mum fell sick first in their families, with neither of them thinking anything of it, till Declan got a phone call of his dad warning him that he can’t come round anymore, because his mum had just bit him.
Mason had physically had to sit on Declan to stop him going round to his parents’ house. By this point the news had broken across the world that people were going around biting each other, turning each other into these zombies. St George’s was put into lockdown, with the players all isolated into one room, frantically keeping an eye on each other.
Declan had given up on trying to ring his parents, the call constantly just going to answer phone, slumping down on the chair when the last failed attempt cut off just a few seconds after the phone first started ringing. There were a couple of them round the room like it, Mason had thankfully been able to get through to his parents, they and the rest of his family had all managed to find shelter away from everyone else, meaning they were safe for now.
Within a blink, everything turned to complete and utter shit. Jarrod, new, sweet Jarrod who had only just joined them for the very first time, Dec’s teammate, one of Dec’s best friends on the entire planet, who he had been so excited for him to finally join him, turned away from where he was perched on a settee near the window and sunk his teeth into Reece’s, who was sat next to him, shoulder.
The scream that Reece let out was blood curdling but cut off a mere few seconds later when the figure which had once been Jarrod bit hm once again, feasting on the skin. The room erupted. With everyone sprinting away from the pair, however John Stonsey, for how fast he could be on the pitch wasn’t quick enough to get away, before Jarrod and then Reece both sunk their teeth into him.
There was a mad dash, of everyone trying to get closer to the door or the nearest window, before realising that the door was essentially blocked off not only by the three of them but also by a couple of their own staff members who had been tasked with keeping them all inside the room while they tried to figure out what the fuck was going on.
Mason and Declan were grabbing onto each other, gripping their hands together like their lives depended on it. Declan pointed at the nearest window, launching them both across to it, while their three teammates looked around for their next victims. “It won’t budge!” Mason yelled, the panic audible in his voice as he tried to open the window fully. “Mind out of the way.” Declan inhaled, before sprinting at the window, the glass breaking as his body hit the window dead on.
“DEC!” Mason yelled straight after him, jumping through the window, adjusting his body last minute, so that he wouldn’t land straight on the younger boy. “I’m fine.” Declan panted, shaking off the glass which was all over his body. “We don’t have time to stop.” Declan had one of his hands pressed to his side, trying to ignore the screams coming from inside the room behind them.
“You’re hurt!” Mason exclaimed, trying to get to the younger boys’ side, before his hand was swiped away by the taller man. “I’m fine, C’mon Mason.” Declan began pulling the shorter man along with him, as they broke off into an uneasy sprint, neither of them daring to turn around and see if any of their other teammates had managed to escape the utter carnage which was occurring. They just didn’t have time.
It was only a few minutes later that Declan collapsed onto the floor, the hand pressing into his side with a sharp inhale. “Let me look.” Mason argued, not taking no for an answer this time, before raising Declan’s top, inhaling sharply at the shards of glass which were hanging out of the younger man’s side. “For fuck’s sake, why would you try and hide this.” Mason shouted angrily, his hands fluttering over the brunettes bleeding side.
Declan coughed with a groan. “I wanted to get you safe.” Mason’s nostrils flared angrily at this point. “We’re in this together, you asshole. Us against the world remember. That includes fucking zombie apocalypses, Declan!” Mason took a deep breathe in, closing his eyes for a few seconds before they sprung open again, him standing up once again before shoving the stronger man up with a strength he was unaware he possessed.
“We need to keep moving.” Was the only reply Mason giving as he shoved Declan’s arm over his shoulder, taking some of his weight, as the two of them carried on in the direction away from St George’s. The two of them stumbling down through the woods, Mason having to lean Declan up on a tree for a minute, as he tried to regain his bearings.
Declan’s eyes were blurry, but his voice never wavered as he propped his weight against the three. “Leave me behind, I’m only weighing you down.”. Mason’s eyes were furious when he spun back around, pulling Declan up off the three. “Of all the dumb fucking things you’ve said over the years, that just tops it off. It’s me and you against the world, remember. We didn’t leave each other behind once growing up, so don’t start that bullshit now with me, or I’ll feed you to the zombies myself.”
Declan’s eyes had grown wide as the older man ranted his anger out, reaching out to grab Mason’s hand to stop him. “I won’t let you kill yourself to try and carry me. That’s also not how it works Mason. If it comes down to leave me behind to save you, I’ll do it every time.” Declan somehow with the last of his strength managed to stop them, pressing his lips to Mason’s lips.
“Let me go, Mase. I love you.”
“Don’t leave me, Dec. Stay with me.
Please.”
The end.