Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Guys it smells like it’s gonna rain,” Tommy squinted at the sky before looking back down at Tubbo, who was rolling his eyes.

“Tommy, the last time you said that it didn’t rain for 4 weeks. 4 weeks! That’s literally a drought,” He shoved Tommy, causing him to slam his hands on the table so he didn't fall.

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic. It was only 26 days,” Ranboo stated, matter of factly. “26 days isn’t 4 weeks.”

They both stared at ranboo, expressions blank. Tommy broke the silence with a groan before laying onto the picnic table between them, his arms reaching to ranboo.

“Boo, I love you and youre so so smart, but you are insufferable.”

“What- i’m not wrong?” ranboo looked at tubbo for a possible explanation, but only got a shrug in response.

“Sorry, bossman, but he’s only half wrong,” his tone was light and his slight smile made it obvious it was a joke, which put ranboo at ease. If he was genuinely insufferable, he might explode.

“Oh, alright. I’ll try to be less unlikable.”

Tommy looked up at ranboo, still laying on the table top. “No. stop that. Don’t be likable. I like you because you’re unlikable.”

“I- ok. Whatever you say, tommy.” ranboo lightly nudged tubbo’s foot under the table, receiving a small kick back. He looked down at his phone, seeing it was time to go back inside. Even if the sun and slight breeze was wonderful weather, it was time for french. Ranboo hated French class.

Despite his disdain for foreign languages, he stood up and collected his bags, the other two following his lead. Since ranboo didn't have a lunch to pack up (he forgot his.), he was done much quicker than the other two.

Tommy adjusted his bag before quickly grabbing ranboo’s left hand. He’d make a joke about how clingy the blonde was, but he probably would have grabbed for his hand anyways. Tubbo took his place at ranboo’s right side, both his hands occupied by his phone. The trio started their journey inside, heading to their classes.

Tubbo gave a small wave before leaving for his class, leaving ranboo and tommy to walk silently up the stairs to the second floor. They both silently agreed that they would drop tommy off at algebra and ranboo would walk the rest of the short way to french.

The silence isn't awkward. It was actually quite nice. Tommy swung ranboo’s hand back and forth, in the same way a child might. Ranboo tripped over his feet a few times, but they both ignored it.

Tommy squeezed ranboo’s hand a little bit before letting go and giving a small wave and smile, leaving for his class. Ranboo smiled and waved back, continuing his way to french.

There weren’t a lot of other people in the hallway. It was just ranboo walking down the hall by himself. His hands twitched and he shook them to release the pent up energy. Everyone started staring at him. Everyone was staring at him. The energy built and he shook his hands some more, but it made the staring worse. Was it always this hot? Since when was this hoodie so itchy? Was it always this hard to breath?

And suddenly he was walking into the threshold of his least favorite class. No one acknowledged his entrance, which should be a good thing.

Ranboo’s brain never worked like it should. He didn’t want to be noticed. He didn’t want people to see his flaws and downsides, which were abundant. He didn't want people to snicker and point.

But he also wanted to be noticed. He wanted people to know he was there. He wanted to be noticeable and important enough to where people remembered him.

But he was quiet and fidgety and dropped his pencils a lot and never answered questions right, so maybe he wouldn't be remembered.

The french teacher stood and started talking in his dreadful language, which meant it was time for ranboo to zone out. He tapped his foot on the ground and took apart his pen before putting it back together. It was fun and kept his brain from shutting down, so he found himself doing it fairly often. He wished he could do that to his brain. Take it apart and see how it worked before putting it back together. Maybe he’d figure out how to be better. Be not unlikable.

Why was he still caught up on that? It was a joke. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a snide comment. To he use that word right? He’s never took the time to look up the definition of snide. He just assumed by context. But context never really helped for ranboo. Maybe he should look up the definition of snide.

He glanced up at the teacher, making sure he was sufficiently distracted-he should look up sufficient too- before pulling out his phone and looking up the definition of snide.

Derogatory or mocking in an indirect way. Hm. yeah that's definitely what he was going for. He tapped the search bar, about to look up the definition of sufficient, before there was a loud knocking on the classroom door, which had been shut. When did that get shut?

The teacher paused his rambling to unlock the door, quietly opening it and peeking around into the hall.

Before he could say anything, the door was shoved open by a student-actually, a lot of students. 7 or 8. All of which were yelling and panting. Some of which were crying. They quickly slammed and locked the door again. And was that tubbo-

“What’s the meaning of this?” the teacher asked, unsure of whether to take this seriously or as a prank. The end of the year was coming closer and the seniors were yet to do their prank.

A short girl with brunette hair fell to the ground and sobbed, covering her face with her hands. She was barely able to speak.

“I-i should’ve stayed to help her. The door b-burst open and I didn't know what to do. I could’ve saved her.” she choked in a gasp before breaking down again. A startled boy sat down next to her with a hand on her shoulder, which was shaking from her sobs.

Tubbo scanned the room before catching ranboo’s eyes. He immediately ran over and threw his arms around the tall boy, who barely had time to stand up. He reciprocated the hug in silence, rubbing the short brunette’s back gently, whispering soft reassurances. He voted to ignore the dampness growing on his hoodie and ran his fingers through his friend's hair. He looked up at the French teacher, who looked at him expectantly. Ranboo quickly looked back down at the ground.

The teacher started to walk to the desk to call the office, but was frozen in his place by a bloodcurdling scream in the hallways, followed by more urgent yelling and sobbing. More students were banging on the windowless door, trying to open the door. Everyone flinched from the chaos unfolding in the corridors.

Many of the kids, including ranboo and tubbo, began to inch away from the door, and closer to the opposite wall, which consisted mainly of windows. Ranboo turned behind him to glance at the outdoors and instantly paled.

This side of the school was the student parking lot, and since they were currently on the second floor, they could see the whole lot. Usually, all the juniors and seniors would park their cars here. Sometimes you could see people sitting in the front seats, skipping class. Sometimes you could see frantic students running out to get projects they left or binders with important notes. But most of the time it was empty. Just the cars and the dusty ground.

But not now.

Now the parking lot was full of kids. Running kids. Kids running to the open spots in the gates to get away. Kids with bleeding arms and legs and stomachs. Kids dragging their wounded friends to try and escape. Kids disposed of on the ground, abandoned in the hecticness of it all.

Ranboo gagged and stumbled to the closest desk, leaning against it with his arm. Tubbo almost fell in the movement, barely saving himself. He sniffled and stood upright before glancing outside the window too.

“What the fuck…” tubbo barely spoke as he started sobbing again. “What the actual fuck!?” he stumbled back, as ranboo did, but wasnt able to keep himself upright. He landed on the ground with a thud.

Everyone else in the class rushed to the window to see the teens running from the school. There were gasps and sobs and yells. Someone had apparently opened a window, because suddenly the room was filled with the horrified screams.

Ranboo felt the world tilt around him. It was just another school day. It was a normal day. They had left lunch at 1:05 like always and walked tommy to his class and-

He shook tubbo’s shoulder and started pulling him up to stand. It was unsuccessful, as ranboo’s strength was parallel to that of a toddler. Still, Tubbo pulled himself up and steadied himself against the desk.

Ranboo grabbed tubbo’s hand and pulled him to the door, ignoring any doubts he might have in his head. It was only when he grabbed the door handle did tubbo start resisting.

“W-wait, what are you doing? You saw what was outside, you're just going to walk out there? Thats fucking insane.”

Ranboo turned around and grabbed both of his friend’s hands. He looked at tubbo’s forehead and hoped it make up for the lack of eye contact.

“Tubbo, we need to go help tommy. I- i can’t just sit here knowing i'm not there to help him if he needs it. And if you don’t want to come with me, then fine. But you know I can't just.. Just stay here. I have to be useful. Now, more than ever. Please let me be useful.” he felt selfish, using this as his chance to prove his worth. His worth as a friend, as a good person, he wasn't quite sure. But he didn't want to be useless.

Tubbo considered this for a second. Ranboo could practically see the gears turning in his head. There were a few seconds of silence before he nodded.

“I'm only agreeing because I know that if I stayed and you went out there on your own, you’d be so horribly screwed.” ranboo was surprised by the humor, but it still brought a small smile to his face, which made tubbo smile.

Tubbo stepped closer to the door to hear for any commotion outside. Somehow, the rest of the inhabitants of the room hadn't noticed them, which was quickly ruined by a loud scream coming from the hallway, followed by someone shaking the door in its frame. Tubbo full body flinched away from the door, almost pulling ranboo to the ground.

“PLEASE LET ME IN!! PLEASE, IT’S COMING!!!” a boy, whose voice was a bit too high to be anything but a freshman, was begging. His voice sounded hoarse from screaming. Ranboo turned to the teacher, who was in complete shock. He quickly shook his head, which made ranboo’s heart plummet. His disappointment was interrupted by more sobbing and banging.

At least he wasn't screaming anymore. It had diminished to pitiful whimpers and hyperventilation. “P-please… they’re almost here… just let me in please….” his breath audibly rattled in his chest. There were quick, heavy footsteps in the distance.

Ranboo fell, once again, to the ground. His legs curled under him and he let himself bend over, his forehead against his knees. He clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the pain from outside. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

He heard the impact of a heavy body against the door, and an ear piercing scream. The sounds of someone’s insides being displaced flooded Ranboo's brain. The sound of… something. Tearing apart its prey. There were more heavy footsteps, which implied multiple things were out there.

No one made any sounds, allowing the thick dread to sit in the room. The noises continued from the hallway for a good five minutes before they could hear the lumbering being left to go elsewhere.

And it was silent again.

They all sat like that for a few seconds before ranboo scrambled to the nearby trash can, thankfully empty.

He threw up and sobbed into the small container, only half aware of tubbo holding his hair out of the way.

He felt distant from his surroundings. Like he wasn’t actually there. There’s no way this was happening, right? This has to be a dream. Or- or maybe he’s in a coma? And this is his fucked up brain trying to send him some kind of message? Maybe this is an elaborate prank or something. This can’t be real.

Once he was sure nothing else would come up, he leaned back against his friend, who handed him a water bottle. He sipped some of it before spitting it back out into the trash can, and then took another sip, swallowing it this time.

Before anyone had any time to stop him, ranboo stumbled back to his feet. He had resigned himself to this being a dream, so what would happen to him? He can’t get hurt. It’s literally a dream. Right?

He put his ear against the door, before remembering his poor hearing. Tubbo suddenly appeared in front of him, following ranboo’s actions. After a few seconds of listening, tubbo gave a short nod.

The sound of the opening door was distant. The sound of sneakers splashing into blood was distant. The panting and burning in his chest was distant. The only thing keeping him in this reality was tubbo’s hand in his.

The duo sprinted down the wall way, only slowing down to peek around corners. Luckily, the creatures seemed to have evacuated to another floor, so the two were able to get across the school fairly quickly.

They almost got to the door of the geometry room before Tubbo stopped in his tracks.

Ranboo frantically searched around for the creatures as he whispered yelled. “Tubbo, come on, we don't want to be stuck out here.”

“But- what if they don't let him open the door? We don't know what those… things are like. What if they can talk and they would try to convince us to let them in the room or something? What if they don't think we’re us? What if they open the door and attack us?” he ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep, but shaky, breath.

“Just…. It’ll be fine. We have to hurry.” ranboo rushed to the door, half dragging tubbo behind him. He knocked on the door and stage whispered to whoever was listening on the other side.

“It’s uh.. Ranboo and tubbo? Can we please come in? There's no… monsters nearby. We just want to help…?” ranboo was suddenly very uncertain about his actions. Was there even anyone in there?

His anxious thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and a hand on his wrist, violently pulling him and tubbo in the room. He felt tight arms around him before seeing the blonde hair tucked by his shoulder.

He quickly reciprocated Tommy's hug, feeling tubbo’s arm around him as he did the same. They could feel Tommy's shoulder shudder as he sobbed in relief.

His voice was rushed and muffled by ranboos hoodie. “Oh my gods i thought you were gone for good when you weren't answering your texts and holy shit i hate the both of you you both,” he gasped for air and sobbed harder, pulling his friends impossibly closer. The trio sat there quietly, absorbing the relief they felt with being together again.

After Tommy's shaking calmed down and his sobs had slowed to sniffles, ranboo lifted his head to look around the room. Most of the students were minding their own business, huddled with their own friends, hugging their knees to their chest, looking out the window, whatever else they could do to distract from the chaos erupting around the school. A few kids watched the reunited trio with a longing expression, quickly looking away when they caught ranboo’s attention.

Ranboo could recognise most of them, if not all.

The teacher was slumped in his desk chair, half slid down. He had his hand holding his head up. His phone rested on the desk, opened to his wife’s contact page. He looked distraught and defeated at the same time.

A lot of the kids were in groups of three. One trio was made up of three fairly popular seniors ranboo recognised as dream, sapnap, and george. Usually the group, fondly named the dream team, was an intimidating force. But now they were sat against a wall, george and sapnap both resting their heads on both of dreams shoulders, who was staring into space. sapnap looked more anxious than the other two, his hands pulling at his own hair nervously.

Another group was sitting in some pushed together desks. He could only recognise niki out of the trio, her pink hair being a huge giveaway. The other two he didn't know the name of. One of the people had shoulder length curly hair and sunglasses. They couldn't see their eyes, but their cheeks were a little tear stained. The other person had curly hair too, but it was long and pulled back into a ponytail. Her hair was split dyed black and white, like ranboos. She looked very tired.

Ranboo found a face he recognised. Actually, two faces. He coaxed Tommy into walking towards Wilbur and techno with him, who were standing by the window facing the teacher parking lot. They didn't notice them at first, too entranced by whatever was outside (ranboo was too scared to even glance out the window. It’d only been like 5 minutes since he threw up last, he did not want that happening again. Sue him.). Wilbur glanced at him and back out the window. After a few moments he did a double take.

“Wait- ranboo? How the hell did you get in here?” he quickly grabbed the teens shoulders, shifting him around so he could inspect for injuries.

“I- Tommy let us in? I didn't know you guys hadn't noticed. I guess we were kinda quiet… wil, im fine you dont need to examine me like some patient.” he didn't mind the care though.

Techno did not respond, barely giving them a second glance. He obviously was very anxious, his hand gently pulling at his ear. He kept staring at the scene outside, grimacing everytime someone screamed, or there was a particularly loud squelch.

Jack, who ranboo somehow hadn't noticed yet, came up from behind him, and gave a weak smile. “Hey, boss man. Hope youre holding up alright…” he seemed to realise how stupid that sounded cuz he quickly shook his head and returned to his spot, hiding behind techno.

Tubbo stepped over to the window and looked down outside. His eyes widened and he looked at ranboo.

“Big man, you should see this.”

Ranboo gently turned Tommy around, fairly sure he wouldn't want to put in more distress.

The scene outside was significantly worse than the student parking lot.

A massive amount of bodies were scattered around the gravelly ground, sitting in pools of blood. Some limbs were separated from their bodies. There was apparently a window open here too, because the room was thick with the scent of quickly rotting flesh.

But none of that was the worst part.

They could finally see the beings that had caused all this havoc to begin with.

They looked similar to humans, minus the fact they were an ugly green color. It wasn't quite the color of grass, but it definitely wasn't human. Bits of flesh hung from their bodies, no longer covering the bits of meat and bones beneath them. Fresh wounds seemed to be empty of blood. They looked infected and eaten by disease.

They looked horrendous.

Ranboo swallowed back another wave of nausea, promptly looking to tubbo.

“Were these what attacked your classroom? I mean, that one girl saw them, I think, because she saw the one girl get attacked.”

Tubbo warily shook his head, still staring at the terrifying monsters. “I- i couldn't see them, i was ahead of everyone else as we ran. They hadn't gotten far in the school yet, so they were all behind us. T-they all just told me to run, so i did. I didn't want to end up like…” he gestured vaguely outside. Ranboo nodded in response.

“Well, they've been relatively inactive over here. We only heard them a few times. No one tried coming in, so we just locked the door and hoped to the gods it would be sufficient. Phil tried calling 911, but they said help was on the way. That was just after we first heard the screams. So maybe 20 minutes ago? I haven't heard any sirens…”

Tubbo smacked his forehead, “shit! I left my phone downstairs. I- i need to call my mom! What if she's not ok??” he started shaking, running his fingers through his hair before pulling on it roughly. His voice was choked. “What if she's not ok? Surely they're not just here. That'd be absurd to hope for. Surely she was able to escape?” he quickly plopped onto the ground.

Tommy pulled out his phone and pressed the on button. He was greeted by a dead battery symbol. Obviously. Tommy was very difficult to get a hold of since his phone was constantly dead.

Ranboo had gotten grounded months ago for some inane reason. He had learned there was no point in trying to keep it from getting taken. It happened often for little to no reason.

Wilbur noticed everyones phone checking and tried to reassure them, “i dont think anyones phones are working properly at the moment. All calls we’ve made have gone to voicemail, save the 911 calls.'' After he said that, he realized what it could also mean, his face paling. But he didn't correct himself, probably to keep the teens semi calm.

Shuffling was heard from the teacher's seat. He was sitting up a bit more in his chair. “Just try your best to relax and calm down, alright, mate? Help should be on the way, there's nothing we can do until then.”

Ranboo nodded at the instructions and sat beside tubbo, who had calmed down quite a bit for the short time it had been. He looked distant and a bit empty though. Hopefully it'll be alright.

Tommy sat down and leaned his head on ranboo’s shoulder. Ranboo absent mindedly pat his hand onto Tommy's face, who wasn't able to stifle a giggle. Tubbo laid down in ranboo’s lap and yawned, emotionally exhausted from the day's happenings. Ranboo stayed sitting up straight, but closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness.

The looming anxiety finally started to set in, the static making his breath shallow. He felt himself drift away from his body, now watching himself sitting there, surrounded by his friends. That wasn't him though, was it? This was the dream version of him. This was a dream. Why was he so anxious? Nothing to worry about. Calm down, ranboo, it's not real. None of this is real.

He felt Tommy shift next to him. He sat up and crawled over to his backpack, pulling it back to his spot by ranboo. He pulled out his math binder and a pencil, handing it them both to ranboo.

He gave a small smile, and took them both, setting the binder on the knee opposite of tubbo.

He started doodling cats at the page. Tommy called them ranboos “comfort doodle”, but ranboo just liked silly cats. They weren't good at all, very round and disformed, but they were definitely cats.

Ranboo drew a particularly strange one, which caused Tommy to scoff.

“Ranboob, that's the ugliest pussy i’ve ever seen.” his voice was shaky, still scared. But he was obviously trying to distract the two of them.

“Wha- he’s not ugly! He’s… skrunkly?” Ranboo's word choice made the trio all laugh.

Tubbo’s voice was heavy with tiredness. “What’s his name going to be?”

Ranboo was quiet in thought for a minute. He thought of his minecraft cat names, Jjjjjjjjeffery and Enderchest, but this one didn't have the right vibes. He ran through a mental list of names he knew and landed on one he felt fit.

“His name is Finley. He likes snails.” He proceeded to draw a little snail next to it.

Tommy snatched the pencil and proceeded to draw a.. Cat? It barely looked like a cat. “Their name is Nori. They do not like snails. He scribbled what ranboo assumed was not a snail. Maybe a stepped on snail? Horrifying.

Tubbo sat up and turned around, taking the pencil from tommy. He drew a dog. “This is Jester. He thinks snails are ok.” he drew a little jester hat on him, justifying his name choice.

They talked about their dumb little cats for a bit, making up scenarios they would be in. It was a nice distraction from the chaos happening outside. Thankfully someone had closed the windows, so it was a calming quiet.

They were interrupted by someone handing them granola bars. They looked up in unison, eyes meeting the pink hair of niki.

“Luckily, I always carry snacks. There was just enough for everyone to have one. Eat it whenever you get hungry.” she gave them a soft smile, almost succeeding in hiding her fear.

Tommy and tubbo glanced at ranboo, knowing he hated granola bars, something about hating the texture. Ranboo made a face but accepted the food. Who knew when they’d get food again.

He shoved it in his hoodie pocket, saving it for later.

The trio sat there in silence, now reminded of their situation.

Everything felt distant. The normal sound of the ceiling lights wasn’t as loud as it normally was and the chill of the room didn't make him shiver as it often did. He was barely aware of tubbo laying back in his lap. He put a hand in the brunette’s hair, not really registering the softness.

He looked at his own hands, littered with cat scratches from his actual cats. A few were covered with red and green bandaids, but most were almost fully healed, only leaving behind faint scars. He recounted the scenario for each one, using it as a distraction from the weird floaty feeling he felt.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his curiosity as to what time it was.

He looked up at the clock on the wall, trying his best to read it. He was never good at clocks…

“It's 5:30, Boo.” tommy spoke loud enough for ranboo to hear, but quiet enough for no one else to. That was… nice. It’d be pretty embarrassing if everyone found out he struggled to do simple things.

It’s been… 3 hours? Jeez, it hasn't felt that long. But then again, it felt like an eternity. He wondered when help would come. Or maybe it had already come? And they just didn’t find their class? Or maybe they were supposed to go outside? What if the.. Zombies got to them before they got to the school?

He thought about the name he gave them for a second. Were they zombies? He hadn't seen anyone “turn” yet. But maybe that was a zombie myth. He didn’t know if there could be myths about things that only just started existing.

Phil cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the group. “Uh… I don't know when emergency services will get here. So… let’s hope they get here tomorrow. I say we put a few desks in front of the door? I know it’s locked, but just in case. And then after that, y’all can chill.” There was a pause before everyone nodded.

Techno, dream, and sapnap stood up and started picking up desks. Sapnap almost put down the first one before they heard frantic knocking.

“S-sapnap? Are you in there? It’s me and quackity! W-we need in! Please! Quickly! They’re coming! Q-quackity’s hurt? Please just let us in!” ranboo couldn't recognise the voice, but sapnap definitely did. Before anyone could talk him out of it, he dropped his desk and unlocked the door, throwing it open to reveal two figures. A tall brunette was practically holding a short ravenette, who looked very dazed and barely conscious.

They rushed into the room, the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway getting closer. Once the way was clear, sapnap slammed the door and dragged a desk in front of it. There was banging and.. Gargling? Groaning? He didn't have time to dwell on it before he was rammed into by one of the newcomers.

“Oh my god, ranboo, thank god. I’m so glad you're here. I- quackity needs help. Please help him.'' The brunette with the colorblock hoodie was sobbing into the taller boy's shoulder, quackity being dumped onto Phil's office chair, who was standing in a panicked stance.

“I-” he didn’t know who this was? He knew he had memory lapses but he didn’t think it was bad enough for him to forget a whole person.

He realized he’d been frozen for a bit too long. “Y-yeah, of course? I need a first aid kit…” he looked up to a wide-eyed phil, who got the hint and went to his teacher's closet, retrieving the plastic red box.

Ranboo took the box and nodded and silent “thank you”. He sat on the ground in front of quackity, who was now… asleep. Hopefully just asleep.

The brunette stood behind him, holding his arms close to his chest and sobbing. Sapnap stood beside him, an arm around his shoulders. Ranboo glanced at the door and- jeez! How did they get so many desks in front of the door?

He dismissed the distractions with the shake of his head and turned his attention back to the passed out teen in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, he went through the steps in his head.

“Can you explain what happened? And how he’s hurt?”

Karl choked in a sob and stuttered out a response. “U-um… we were on the third floor and running from those… things. And he tripped and fell down the stairs. He hit his head pretty hard a-and-” he gasped for air and turned to sapnap, burying his face in the shorter man’s shirt.

So he should probably check for concussion and possibly sprained wrist or ankles. He’d been knocked out, so the likelihood of concussion was large.

“Were you able to get anything out of him before he passed out?” he looked back at the distraught boy, who shook his head. “Alright, that's ok.”

He worked in silence after that. He was usually disconnected from his emotions while doing things like this to keep others from freaking out, and to keep himself from freaking out.

He was a camp counselor for a bit and had seen some pretty painful injuries. He definitely didn't have this practiced calm when he first started. His first wound that needed stitches, he threw up at least 3 times. He wasn’t very fond of gore or anything related. How did he get into liking first aid? He had no idea.

He checked his head for bleeding, and found quite a bit of it. He remained unworried though, since head injuries tend to seem worse, since they have more blood. He grabbed a cleaning cloth and wiped it up the best he could, and as he expected, it was a very small wound. Nothing to worry about.

He put some gauze on it and moved onto his next concern, sprains. He gently prodded quackity’s wrists, none of them getting a reaction. Good. That's good. He poked his left ankle, earning a groan from a now awake ravenette.

“Fuck, dude, that hurts like shit.” he grumbled and raised a hand to his face. “My head hurts like shit too. Everything hurts like shit. Fuck, everything sucks.”

The forgotten boy gasped and ran over to quackity, throwing him into a hug. Huh. he does that a lot.

“Holy honk, you're ok! I- youre stupid!” he fell into the smaller’s lap, spiraling into sobs and hyperventilation. Quackity was still pretty out of it, which was expected. Sapnap sat next to them and rubbed a hand up and down the sobbing teen’s back.

Sapnap smiled apologetically at ranboo, who had since scrambled to stand. “Hey, man, thanks. I don't know what Karl would've done if you hadn’t been here.” oh. So his name is karl.

“I-it’s alright? I didn’t really do a whole lot. And i. Um. still have stuff to do. But… i can just work around… him.” ranboo sat down on quackitys left side and removed the shoe, reveal and slightly bruised skin. Hm. Maybe it was broken. That was more concerning, but not anything too out of his comfort zone. He felt around the tender limb, wincing at quackity’s swears and yelling.

“Hm. well. It’s definitely broken. I can fix it for now, but I might need someone’s help? It’s not going to um. Feel very good. Actually- it’s not going to feel good at all. It’s going to hurt a little. And by a little I mean it’s going to hurt really bad.” sapnap sighed and moved closer to ranboo.

“What can I do to help?” He seemed wary, but genuine. So ranboo decided he could do the heavy work (aka ranboo’s least favorite part of first aid).

Ranboo directed Sapnap's hands into the right places. “And when I say so, you need to pull this part this way. And then get out of the way? Sorry for the bluntness but I'll have to work somewhat quickly.” he nodded in acknowledgement.

Ranboo pulled his hoodie sleeve past his hand and balled it up. This would work. He shooed Karl away, who did so reluctantly.

Before quackity could argue, ranboo shoved his hoodie sleeve ball into quackity’s mouth and looked at sapnap. “Yeah, doing that thing now would be cool.” sapnap chuckled at the awkward command and pulled hard on quackity’s broken bones, wincing at the sound it made.

Quackity bit into the hoodie ball and yelled. Ranboo voted to ignore the tears now streaming down his face. Sapnap moved out of the way quickly and ranboo pulled his sleeve from quackitys mouth and sat back down at his feet, carefully wrapping the now set ankle.

Quackity stared at ranboo, his mouth agape and his cheeks tear stained.

There was a moment of complete silence before quackity exploded.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR? JESUS CHRIST THE HURT LIKE HELL! WHY’D YOU HAVE TO FUCKING MUZZLE ME LIKE A DOG?!”

Ranboo rolled his eyes and replied calmly. “If I didn't, you would have bit your tongue off. Was doing you a favor.”

“A fucking favour?! You could've at least warned me?!”

“If i told you what was happening, you would have backed out, and if i wasn't able to do it, you'd have a messed up ankle for the rest of your life, and i doubt you want that.” ranboo was frankly not very fond of people who got mad at him for doing his work. He was helping. Why does he have to get yelled at for it?

“You could’ve given me a few seconds to brace myself? I don't even know what the fuck that was for? Dude youre a fucking asshole.”

Something inside ranboo snapped. He wasn’t normally an angry person, but things like this just pushed his buttons. He stood up and threw the now empty roll of bandage onto the ground.

“You know what? I could have not helped. I couldve sat back down and watched you sit there in pain and not done anything. The only 3 people in here who know I can do this shit are Tommy, tubbo, and karl. If Karl hadn’t asked me to help, I wouldn't have. But I'm nice. I care. So I did the right thing. And now you're going to blow up on me? Asshole move, quackity. Genuinely? fuck you.” The room got quiet. He hadn't been yelling, nor had he even raised his voice, but his voice was firm. His normal nervous quietness had disappeared, replaced by anger and irritation.

He felt a little bad, but only kind of. He sighed and relaxed, suddenly aware of his tense shoulders and clenched fists. “You have a concussion and your ankle is broken. Don't stress yourself. There are painkillers in the kit if you need it.”

he turned and bee-lined for the back corner, furthest from everyone else. He sat down with his back to where the walls meet. He brought his knees to his chest and tangled his fingers into his hair. He felt the pent up anger in his hands, begging to be released. He didn't feel like breaking his hand, so he hoped pulling his hair would help somehow. He felt tense and stretched out, like a rubber band. He wanted to be released, to get this horrible feeling out of him. He hated being mad. He put his head down, forehead against his knees.

“Hey, boo…” tubbo’s voice was calming and smooth, but it still felt like adding fuel to a fire.

Ranboo made a frustrated noise, pulling his too-long limbs closer to him and pulling harder on his hair. Tubbo must've taken the hint, because when he glanced up, the brunette was gone.

He hated how he was glad his friend was gone, but he just needed some time to himself. His schedule had been messed up, and sure it was because of a zombie invasion, but it still made him upset. There were so many things happening and he just wanted to go home and lay in bed and read a book.

He didn’t look up again until after his tears had dried and his anger had ebbed away. He’d already thought about what his next actions were going to be, so he stood and walked up to tubbo, looking down at the ground.

“Hey, bo. Um… I'm sorry for not responding earlier. Thank you for trying to help. I really appreciate it.” his voice was quiet, and there was a moment of no response where he thought he maybe hadn't been heard, but tubbo gently took his hand and smiled up at him.

“It's alright, big man. You feeling better?” ranboo nodded in response before quickly glancing at quackity. He seemed to be doing ok, laughing at something dream just said.

“I need to apologize. And then I think I might try and make us a makeshift bed? Its…” he looked at the clock, which now read… 8:46. Hm. That's weird. It genuinely didn’t feel that long. It kinda feels like today was going at the same pace as a poorly written fanfic written by some 16 year old laying in bed who is using dysfunctional found family as a coping mechanism……….. Anyways.

“It’s late. And we’ve had a horrible day. And help should be here by morning. So sleep would do us a lot of good.” ranboo looked just below tubbo’s eyes and smiled. Tomorrow will be better. Ok?” Tubbo nodded and let go of ranboo’s hands leaving him to do his own thing.

Ranboo took a deep breath and went to where quackity was, resuming his floor staring contest.

The group quieted as ranboo approached, quackity raising an eyebrow. Hm. This'll be fun.

“H-hey… boss man. Uh.. I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to snap at you. It… today’s been…”

“...shit?” quackity supplied, causing ranboo to smile and relax a bit.

“That's one way to put it. I'm sorry for hurting you, but I just needed to do what I did. I'm not sorry for not telling you. I haven’t talked with you a lot but I know you are very stubborn, and I was not looking forward to dealing with that. I had a job, and I did it. I'm glad you're feeling better.” quackity was quiet for a second before smiling and shrugging, his energy suddenly much more calm and relaxed.

“To be honest, I just didn’t know you could swear.”

“Wha- i can swear? I swear all the time?”

“Pfft- are you serious? Ive never heard you say fuck until then.” sapnap leaned forward to put in his input.

Karl giggled, seemingly recovered from his state of despair. “They’re not wrong, Boo. you should live a little, especially considering our situation.”

Ranboo jumped when he felt two hands land on his shoulders, one more firm than the other. He turned to the owner of the firm hand, eyes locking onto blond hair.

“Yeah, boo boy. Say a swear word. F u c k.” he drew the word out, as if trying to teach a baby to talk.

Wilbur pulled on his other shoulder and giggled. “Just give us a little no-no word, as a treat. Shit, fuck, bitch, your choice.”

Ranboo stuttered and went red in the face, now having all the room’s attention on him. He- ok maybe he didn't swear that much. It just wasn’t a big part of his vocab! He said words like “groovy” and “rad”, not ass and shit. He probably spent too much time around Bad.

Everyone, save karl, techno, and phil, started chanting swears at ranboo, pressuring him to swear.

His voice was quiet and uncertain as he finally broke. “F-fuck?”

The room erupted into cheers, causing ranboo to laugh nervously. He turned to techno and mouthed the words “what just happened?” techno shrugged in lieu of response. Fair enough.

After the short celebration of ranboo’s big feat, people started going into their groups from the beginning, setting up makeshift beds.

Even though most of the people were making their own individual beds, ranboo, tubbo, and tommy decided to make one big bed.

All three of them had to take their hoodies off, which none were happy about. They also pulled out a picnic blanket out of tubbo’s bag. They asked Tubbo why he had it, but even he didn't know. It didn’t matter much though, as it helped protect them from the cold of the white tile beneath them. Tommy had a bunch of plushies squirreled away in his backpack too. Normally, they would tease him for it, but it was actually very nice, since they had nothing to use as pillows.

Wilbur made techno, karl, and ranboo go in the teachers closet to take their binders off before sleeping, which they did reluctantly. But it was nice once they all laid down, comfortable without the tightness compressing their ribs.

Ranboo laid in between his two shorter friends, the trio using their own hoodies as blankets and the plushies as pillows. Ranboo wrapped his arm around tubbo, who laid his head on the ravenette’s chest. Tommy turned to face ranboo and grabbed his arm, holding it close to his chest.

The sky outside was dark and the halls were quiet. Phil turned the lights out before laying in his own bed behind his desk. The only lights originated from the students who were on their phone.

Ranboo closed his eyes and yawned. He would be lying if he said he wasn't scared. But his hopes were raised when he remembered help would be there tomorrow.

He just has to make it to tomorrow.

Chapter Text

i dont think i can continue this for a few reasons.
1. the plan was for all characters to die, even ranboo (the main character) to the zombies. but considering technoblade's passing, i dont thinki i could do that and think im doing something right.
2. ive lost interest in this fic. my mcyt hyperfixation has long passed and i dont see it returning anytime soon.

that being said, here is the draft and unfinished version of the next chapter. it was almost complete in writing and i was about to go back and edit it, but i got bored of it and then technoblade passed, and i just. dont think i can come back to this.
i hope you enjoyed all of what i had written. im sorry if you thoroughly enjoyed this.

Ranboo woke up slowly, gradually gaining his senses back. The room was silent, except for the faint footsteps heard in the distance. What were those about?

He felt warmth to his left, the cold to his right causing him to curl up further into a ball and groan. He heard soft snickering down by his feet.

“Hey, boo. Good morning,” tommy’s voice was quiet, but not quite whispering. Ranboo shuffled around a bit, rotating so his head was by the blonde. He set his head in tommy’s lap, a hand instantly find his hair. Ranboo hummed contently and nuzzled further into the touch.

There were a few moments of silence before ranboo mumbled under his breath, “what happened yesterday?” tommy’s breath caught before he sighed deeply.

“You really don’t remember it?” ranboo shook his head and yawned. “Alright, well… the day was going like it normally did. I don’t know how your first three classes went, but it must’ve gone alright, considering you didn’t complain about it at lunch. Lunch went ok. I thought it was going to rain, but it didn’t.” he hesitated for a second before tensing up. “Um… after we all went to class… there were zombies? They- tubbo ran to your class, and you both ran to mine. Quackity and karl came a bit after you two did. You had to fix quackity’s broken ankle. That’s about it, i think.”

Ranboo turned up to look at tommy’s face before raising an eyebrow. “Tommy, are you trying to gaslight me into thinking we’re in a zombie apocalypse? Because if so, it’s not working.” tommy grimaced, causing ranboo to frown. “I- i mean… i don’t know. It seems unrealistic.” ranboo felt hurt that tommy would try to lie to him about this. Usually tommy and tubbo were really transparent about relaying the days he forgot.

“Ran, why else would you be asleep in phil’s classroom.” ranboo lifted his head too look around the area, and sure enough, that’s where he was. Hm. weird. “And if you still don’t believe me, look outside. I mean, i don’t advise it. It’s bloody hell out there. Bodies and shit. Not something you’d wanna see first thing after waking up.”

Ranboo didn’t fully believe him, but he didnt want to test tommy’s looking out the window idea, so he laid his head back in his lap.

He must’ve fallen asleep, because the next time he opened his eyes, there was a bit more noise. Teens talking amongst themselves about whatever teens talked about these days. Ranboo was very out of the loop concerning pop culture.

Tommy’s hand was in ranboo’s black hair, ruffling it softly. Tubbo was sitting just behind tommy, leaning his back against the blonde. It looked like he was hugging one of the plushies they had slept with that night.

Ranboo sat up and stretched, raising his arms as he did so. He scoot closer to tommy and set a head on his shoulder. He felt tubbo scoot over closer to him and set his head on his back. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute, ranboo still adjusting to the world around him.

Slowly, moments from the day before started coming back to him. The boy outside the door, panting down the hallway, the sound of cracking bones. He grimaced as the bits and pieces came back. He should probably see who all was with them…

He knew tubbo and tommy were there, which was nice. Comforting. He wasn’t alone.

He looked around, noticing wilbur and techno’s bed next to them. He knew it was their’s because wilbur’s guitar case and techno’s painting portfolio lay against the wall behind it. The twins themself were across the room, chatting with phil. Well… it looked more serious than chatting. Phil seemed a bit anxious and techno and wil were watching with a straight face, nodding to what the teacher was telling them. It… should be fine. Not ranboo’s business.

Niki and her two friends were sat huddled together, the trio looking like they’d only just woken up, like ranboo. He should really ask about the two’s names…

Jack was sitting in his bed, sorting through the things in his backpack. He must be looking for things that would help with their situation. He seemed distant and disconnected from what was happening.

Dream was sitting up, playing on a… was that a DSi? Oh my gods it is. That’s… amazing. George was asleep in his lap. They looked comfortable. That’s good.

Sapnap, quackity, and karl were giggling in a corner. They seemed happy. Thats good. Quackitys gauze looked like it needed to be changed. He’d do that later.

His thoughts were interrupted by phil walking to the center of the room and clearing his throat. Everyone (except george) turned their attention to the older man.

“So, we’re going to try moving around the school? To get supplies. We were thinking about stopping at the theatre tech room to get some weapons and shit.” no one batted an eye at the teacher’s language. Highschool teachers weren’t known for their censorship.

“We’re also going to stop at the nurse’s office? So Ranboo can get some proper medical supplies.” ranboo felt everyone’s eyes land on him, causing the ravenette to shrink in on himself. Why? He couldve left out his name. There wouldnt have been so many eyes on him. He felt tommy tense up, his hand landing on ranboo’s arm.

Phil continued like nothing happened, everyones eyes landing back on him. Ranboo melted into tommy with relief. Tubbo gently hit ranboos back with his head, making warmth blossom in his chest.

“We should find a better room on the third floor, so we’re not on the ground. I feel like being on the ground would be a death sentence. But we need to, at some point, send some people to the cafeteria. We dont know how long we’ll be here and as much as i hope help will be here soon, i dont want to be helpless if worst case scenario happens.” the anxiety of the stundents grew exponentially, but they all knew he was right.

“I’ll obviously be a part of the group going. I dont think we should have more than 4 of us going, so me and three of you. Im thinking sapnap, techno, and dream. No offense to the rest of you, but i genuinely think theyre the most prepared for the job, considering their strength.” there was no argument there. The trio we’re definitely the strongest of the group, and they seemed like they had already come to terms with that, as they werent surprised in the slightest.

“The plan though is to to go up a higher and look for a better base. We’ll split up, to go faster and be quieter, not to mention itll be much more efficient. All of us together would be too loud to not get caught. And then ill take a group with us to the cafeteria, since thats on the way. Whoever volunteers, grab saws and shit. It’ll be super fucking helpful.

“Ok so let me split you into your groups.” he clapped, dismissing the only slightly awkward meeting.

In the end, there were 3 groups of 4 and 1 group of 3.

The nurse’s office team was ranboo, karl, eret, and puffy, who ranboo had finally learned the names of. Puffy was short and strong, while eret was tall and fairly scrawny, but both were very intimidating. They both were very adamant on being kind to ranboo and karl, allowing them to go put on their binder once again before they left. Eret took a metal meter stick and brandished it like a sword, her face showing no emotion.

The cafeteria team was as planned, phil, techno, dream, and sapnap. The group were all preparing themselves for any conflict they might encounter.

The school was built weird in the sense that the cafeteria building was separate from the three story school building. Its not very far at all, but they dont know how dangerous it would be outside.

The theatre tech group was tommy, niki, and wilbur. The trio were decently strong and would be able to protect themselves and carry any supplies needed. Niki was relucant to leave her two friends sides, but smiled when wilbur promised to bring her back to her friends.

The final group was the group looking for a third floor room for staying in. these were arguably the weakest people in the group, minus tubbo, who was surprisingly strong for his size. He volunteered to carry quackity due to his broken ankle, the ravenette having no argument against this. George had revealed his narcolepsy during the group assigning, stating it’d be superbly unhelpful if he became exhausted while running. And jack was just a strawman come to life. No strength.

After the groups were assigned, the teens went to pack up their beds and belongings. Ranboo’s hands shook with anxiety.

This- this was insane. In literally every single horror movie you’re told to not split up. And what were they doing? Splitting up. This is bonkers. This is absolutely horrible. This is…

Stupid. It’s all a dream anyways. This is a coma from that concussion he got in 5th grade. None of this is real. Just his brian coming up with a weird story. His trembling significantly lessened after that.

Tubbo and tommy looked like they would do anything to not be in their situations. The trio would be separated, no way to contact anyone if they needed it. The blonde gave ranboo a baffled look at his sudden calmness. The taller boy just shrugged in response. Why ruin dream tommy’s day? No need to tell him he’s not real.

Everyone put on their now packed backpacks, gathering into their teams. Tubbo held quackity bridal style, causing karl to erupt in giggles and proclaiming tubbo and quackity married. The two glared at each other before they declared their divorce. The class chuckled at the antics, all glad for a bit of relief from the nervous tension that had been progressively building up.

The lunch group went first, each member wielding small whiteboards as shields and various office supplies as weapons. The theatre tech group left with them, cowering close to the members wielding objects.

After a few minutes of silence, the other two groups left.

Ranboo looked around calmly, noting there weren’t any zombies nearby. Cool. maybe his brain had calmed down with the whole monster thing.

The large group scampered to the closest staircase, ranboo lazily going with them. The hallways were empty and quiet, plus it wasn’t real at all. Everyone was over reacting. The third floor group rushed up the stairs, the footsteps heard above them.

Ranboo lead the way to the nurses office. While he’d never been in there before (he had a fairly strong immune system and was too anxious to do anything worthy of injury), he knew exactly where it was. He passed it atleast 3 times per day.

They were about halfway there when they heard growling behind them. They group whipped around to met eyes with the zombie staring at them. Everyone froze for a second before puffy started sprinting the opposite direction.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit! Guys!” eret quickly grabbed karl’s hand and pulled him as she chased after puffy.

Ranboo was frozen in place. The zombie had started hurtling towards him with absurd speed. How the hell was it going so fast. It was getting close so quickly.

He was suddenly hit with a massive wave of adrenaline, causing him to scramble in the direction his group went. He couldn’t help the scream that erupted from him when he turned to see the zombie was within throwing distance of him.

He slide to a stop before running the the right, going around the corner. He saw his group already at the nurse’s office, door open. They waved hands at him and yelled for him to hurry up. Ranboo’s chest burned with exertion. His chest felt so constricted. He wasn’t built for running in the slightest.

He felt something lightly tug on the back of his hoodie, causing him to yelp and stumble, barely saving himself from face planting. He gritted his teeth, pressing further, trying to gain speed.

He got closer and closer, the snarling behind him gradually sounding farther away. He crashed into the nurse’s office, the door slamming shut behind him. He collapsed onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling, allowing himself to catch his breath.

The nurse’s office was split into 2 sections. A lobby and the main first aid part. They all currently stayed in the lobby, panting and, in karls case, stifling sobs.

After ranboo felt like he could breath without his lung’s threatening to deflate, he sat up, groaning as he did.

That was certainly real. He almost died.

Oh.

That’s…

His breathing picked up speed again. He tangled his fingers into his black hair, unable to keep the tears from streaming down his face. He sobbed, bringing his knees up to his chest. “I- i almost died. I was th- that close. I was so close to just… not exist. Oh my gods.” his voice was unsteady and he was shaking violently. He felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch away a bit more than he could handle. He fell onto the floor before scrambling to sit up again, pulling himself away from whatever touched him. He tried to see what it was, but couldn’t through the blurriness of his tears.

“D-don’t touch me! Go away. I-” he curled up and leaned against the wall, pulling at his hair and sobbing.

This was too real. He didn’t want this to be real. Things were better when they were a dream. When he wasn’t within arms length of death. When he was safe.

He sensed something in front of him, but didnt bother opening his eyes, which he didnt know he had closed until then. It was silent except for his shuddering sobs.

He felt a warm hand on his hand, which was tangled in his hair. He didn’t have the energy to fight it when both his hands were pulled from his head. They were being held gently, like if they squeezed any harder, they would shatter like glass.

This… this was real. These hands were real and warm and not floaty like his dreams. They werent rotting and cold and painful. They were safe. He was safe. He remembered his breathing techniques from his therapist all those years ago. In and out.

Ranboo glanced up, his tearstained face finally not having tears fall on it. Ranboo’s eyes met black and white fluffy hair. Puffy had helped him. That was… comforting.

Her voice was soft but firm and reassuring. “Ranboo, it’s alright now. You’re safe. We blocked all the doors. Nothing can get in. youre ok.” she smiled at him, filling him with warmth. He smiled weakly back at her.

“Thank you, puffy… gods, it’s hard to breathe. Shouldve left my binder off.” he arched his back to stretch, his chest feeling tight. Puffy chuckled and shrugged.

“Well, now you know for tomorrow. Trial and error and whatnot.” ranboo nodded and looked around for their other two members. As if puffy could read his mind, she explained their absence. “They wanted to give you some space to breath. Theyre in the other room, but they cant hear us. Youre safe with me.” ranboo nodded again and sighed.

“It sucks to be trans during a zombie infestation. I feel like there shouldve been like an orientation for this or something…” ranboo joked lightly. Puffy’s laugh was hearty and made ranboo giggle a bit. Her laugh was an infectious one.

“Well, i didn’t get any slideshows or anything either. Maybe we should set up a fundraiser for that. ‘Cisn’ts against alive’nts and what to do’” she smiled at her own joke, but ranboos jaw dropped.

“Y-youre… you… what?” she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before realisation hit her.

“Oh! You didnt know? I guess thats my fault for not telling you. But um, yeah. I was born male, but i got top surgery and the whole spiel. Any pronouns work, but she/her is preferred. And masculine honoraries are also preferred.”

“Oh. that’s… cool.” he took a second to process that, before smirking. “Wait.. eret uses all pronouns, right?” puffy nodded. “Then… we’re the cisn’t group. The trans army. The… i cant think of any other names.” puffy cackled, throwing her head back as she did.

“Oh my gods, youre right! That’s incredibly! We- we need to invite techno! Can’t leave him out of our little club.” ranboo nodded in agreement, his smile never wavering. Puffy was very kind and made him feel safe. She was strong and warm and caring. She was awesome.

“Puffy, youre awesome.” he voiced, looking at the ground and smiling. He didnt notice how red her face had gotten.

“O-oh. thank you, ranboo. Im glad you think so. Youre awesome, too.”

They sat in comfortable silence before ranboo looked just above puffy’s eyes. “I think im ready to get up now.” puffy nodded and stood, reaching out a hand for ranboo once she did. Ranboo took it and felt himself being pulled up. Jeez, puffy was ripped.

The duo walked into the nurse’s office, eret and karl both looking up at ranboo. Eret adjusted his sunglasses before handing ranboo a grocery bag filled with things.

“I put some things in here that i knew would be helpful. Tylenol, bandages, water bottles, ice packs, y’know. Normal stuff.” ranboo opened the bag and sure enough, it was about three quarters of the way full with medical supplies. “I didnt know what else you might need, so we decided to wait until you were ready.” ranboo nodded in response before he started scavenging the drawers and cabinets, going through a mental list.

These heating pads would be nice to have. Definitely hydrogen peroxide. Bandaids and neosporin might not be helpful, but still good to have. This wrist brace might help in the small chance they need it.

He rummaged through the nurses desk drawers and found the medicine cabinet key. He unlocked it and rummaged through looking for anything that might be useful.

Unfortunately there wasnt anything that would help with injuries or sickness but… there was a bottle of Adderall prescribed to some random kid ranboo didnt recognise the name of. After a very short moment of consideration, he pocketed it. He needed to be able to focus when it mattered. This should help.

He scanned the contents of his bag before looking up at his team, who had since begun chatting with each other.

“I got everything helpful i could find. So we can leave whenever.”

Puffy sat on the ground and dug around in her backpack, pulling out the granola bar niki had handed out. “If you guys still have yours, you should eat them now. We’ll rest and then head out.”

They all sat in the lobby area, eating their snacks. Ranboo struggled to hold his down, gagging everytime he bit down on it. But he needed the food. So he powered through.

There was an awkward silence before puffy gave ranboo a mischievous smirk.

“Did ranboo tell you two about the cisn’ts?” she asked the two brunettes in front of her. The duo chuckled and looked at ranboo for explanation.

He stumbled through his words, not at all expecting puffy to actually bring it up. “W-well uh i mean.. The four of us aren’t cis… so we’re cisn’t? Like.. cis… not… you get it, right? Yeah. but um me and puffy were talking about how it sucks to be trans during the zombie apocalypse and that like.. They shouldve given us an orientation video. It wasnt that funny.”

“It was totally funny! I think we should invite techno to team trans. It would be amazing. We could go on a trip!” she hesitated and cleared her throat. “I mean- after all of this bullshit, obviously.”

Karl gasped and clapped his hands together, his empty wrapper on the ground in front of him. “Oh my gods! We could go to the beach! Have a trans beach day!” ranboo quirked an eyebrow.

“Dude- sand? Seriously? You’d willing get sand everywhere? You’d enver be able to get ride of it!”

“Fair point. But i raise you; sea glass and shark teeth.” karl countered, pointing his finger at ranboo to emphasive his point.

Puffy interrupted with her own counter, “ok but what about.. Aquarium? Gift shops usually have shark teeth and sea glass and while its cooler to find by yourself, aquariums are the coolest place ever.”

Ranboo gasped and set his granola bar in his lap so he couldve excitedly shake the energy from his hands. “Oh my gods, puffy, youre a genius. I love you so much in a platonic way. Aquariums are so cool! I like the jelly fish and the manta rays and-” he had to stop himself to keep from ranting but he kept shaking his hands. Eret chuckled and puffy smiled warmly.

“Ok then thats what we’ll do! I dont see any issues with the aquarium.” puffy seemed proud of herself for her idea. Everyone else nodded, ranboo doing so a bit excessively.

They chatted a bit more, finishing up the snack and allowing themselves to relax before they had to leave again. Eventually they all got up, preparing themselves for whatever running they’d have to do.

Ranboo shoved the first aid supplies in his backpack, making sure theres no way it would fall out or something would break. He might cry if that happened, not like he hasnt cried enough already.

Puffy set her hand on the doorknob, readying to open it. Eret stood next to her, holding karl’s hand. Karl was pale and was shaking. Ranboo was doing about the same.

“Don’t worry about it too much, guys. I know that’s probably stupid to say, but once we find the room upstairs, it’ll be ok. Just try your best. Me and eret are here to do most of the heavy lifting. Just… remember the aquarium.” puffy smiled at the two nervous boys, trying her best to be reassuring.

“Puffy, youre my new dad. I love you platonically.” ranboo’s voice was still shaky, but he had calmed down significantly. Something about the firm warmness inpuffy’s voice was enough to make him feel more at ease.

Puffy took a deep breath before quickly opening the door. Immediately the other three followed. They looked around the hall, seeing there weren’t any zombies in the area. Puffy lead the way to the closest stairway and sprinted up the steps. The group followed her quietly, constantly swiveling their heads to see if anything was creeping closer to them. The halls were eerily empty.

Despite the lack of life, or maybe dead? Ranboo wasn’t sure. Despite the lack of danger, the group continued quickly on its way to look for the possible classroom they should enter.

Maybe they shouldve thought of that ahead of time. They didnt assign a room to go into, for concern it might be infested as well, so the third floor group was assigned to find the best empty room. It couldve been any of these.

It also didnt help that none of the doors had windows, and if they were inside it, they wouldve definitely closed the it.

Ranboo had been so distracted by his thoughts he nearly ran into puffy as she stopped at a corner. She paused to take a breath before peeking around the corner. Ranboo followed suite, out of curiosity.

Puffy wasnt fast enough with pulling them back around the corner, because before ranboo could see anything, he heard growling from down the hall.

“Shit, shit, shit! Other direction! Go!” puffy’s voice was frantic and quickly got eret to dragged karl in the opposite direction. Ranboo and puffy started running after them right before the zombies rushed around the corner, right on their heels.

Eret was panting when she yelled, “how do we know which class to go into?”

Puffy was quick to respond, “look for a backpack or a sign on the door or something! They probably left some identifier outside the room.” she grabbed the strap of her backpack and swung it around behind her, slamming it into one of the zombies skulls. It stumbled and fell to the ground. Ranboo grinned at her, only for the zombies place to be taken by another undead… student?

It looked uncannily similar to that kid he sat across from in chemistry…