Chapter Text
The land was barren, and all that was left was the remnants of a city. If you paid attention and looked closely, you could guess what was there a decade ago. A laundromat, a grocery store, maybe a school. But now, all that was left was rubble. Within the rubble, sometimes you could find something good.
Boomer, a young blonde teenage boy, was searching for something good. He didn’t stray far from his brothers, as sometimes dangerous creatures lurked. It was the middle of the day though, so he wasn’t worried. Thinking about the encounter he had with his brothers made him scowl, “Brick I told you. This bed really isn’t it. Yeah yeah I know we’re in a zombie apocalypse, but would it kill someone to sleep on a good bed?” He remembered how Brick, his older brother, responded with yes. Yes, it would. Well, now Boomer was intent on proving him wrong. He was going to find a better bed, and he was going to come out alive.
While searching for a bed though, he realized how dire their situation was. There wasn’t food for miles, which meant they would need to relocate soon. He really didn’t want to do that, as it had been a hassle moving all of their belongings from place to place. Especially the mattress, which by now must've been the home of bugs and maggots.
Maybe Brick was right, he thought to himself. Sighing, he went back to his camp to find his brothers. Walking back, he heard an awful “bzzzzz” noise which he never heard before. Boomer wasn’t the smartest out of the bunch, that was for sure, but he knew something must’ve been up. It was the first time he heard such a strange noise in the ten years he’s been living in this ruin of a city.
He quickly ran to his camp. Seeing his brothers safe, made him feel much better. “Brick, Butch, no, I didn’t find a new mattress, yes, Brick, you were right. However… I did hear something strange.” As Boomer filled his brothers in with his strange encounter with the noise, he saw their eyes widen. He always liked feeling smart, feeling special. He really didn’t like being called “Dumber Than The Dumbest” as a child. He could immediately see Brick start pondering about the situation, most likely thinking of all the possible situations. Butch, as expected, was just lounging around. “Boomer hears a weird sound. Who cares? Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep. As if anyone could.”
However, the buzzing became much louder, to the point where Butch jumped off his chair. “Neverminded guys. Boomer was right for once!” Boomer did not like that response. “The heck was the ‘for once’ part about? … I’m usually right anyways.” Butch stared at Boomer. “Are you sure about that Boomy Boom Boom?” Boomer scrunched up his eyes. “YES, I am sure and don’t call me that.” Brick could feel Boomer pouting from a mile away. While Butch and Boomer continued whining on, Brick was staring at something in the distance. He couldn’t quite recognize what it was, but he could see a faint red light flashing as it became closer and closer.
Then he realized. Those were people.
Brick and his brothers haven’t seen people in a very long time, the last time they did was when they were 10, but that quickly was ruined when the new person died the next day. Brick started doing calculations at a tremendous speed, to figure out what to do next. Large group of people. Flashing red light. Advanced technology then, is that a speaker? Haven’t seen that in a while. Wait, speakers don’t need technology and electricity. What’s going on? Laughing and talking, while walking slowly. Most likely not infected, but don’t take chances. A girl?
As he was going to continue thinking, the group got closer and a girl with short black hair and rugged green clothing came closer and brought up her megaphone. “Hey, are you guys alright? We have-” Before the foreign girl could continue, and before Brick could react, Butch jumped on top of her and stole her megaphone. “SHHHH don’t you know that loud noises attract the zombies? We don’t want a horde of them here, crazy lady.” Distraught faces. Unknown people grabbing Butch, taking him off of the foreign girl. She looks upset, and angry. Snatches back her megaphone. Most likely to have anger issues and most likely not rational. Similar to Butch, actually. He thinks to himself.
The angry girl shouts back, “Are you crazy?! So much for trying to save you guys. And for your information, this megaphone emits radio waves so that zombies can’t detect it. We’re smarter than that, you know.” Brick can see it on Butch’s face, that he’s embarrassed and frustrated all over. Butch screams back, “Well how was I supposed to know you have fancy smanshy technology while some people,” he points to his brothers and himself, “are stuck here scavenging for food and proper beds!”
The girl sighs and rubs her head. “We know. That’s why we’re here. We want to invite you guys to stay at the Haven, a shelter for people around the area. We’ve all been hiding from the zombies, and fighting when we need to.” She extends a hand to Butch. “My name’s Buttercup, by the way.” She looks at Brick and Boomer. “If you guys want to stay here, feel free. But know that if you join us, we’ll be providing food, proper beds, shelter and definitely a lot more people than you guys have seen around here.” Brick walks up to her with a menacing stare. “What’s in it for you?” She smiles. “More tools.”
A guy with brownish hair interjects, and says “What she means is, you’ll most likely, or most definitely help around the place. That can include helping with food, cleaning up, mental health, lab and tech research, farming, and more.” Buttercup resumes, “Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Really you’ll be doing everything you can to help out. And if any of you are strong and fast enough,” she looks around, “you’ll join the runners. I’m leading them, and we’re people who go out into the open to find new people, such as you guys, food, and things in general. There’s more of a risk, as you could get attacked and infected. Of course though, if you’re too scared,” she stares at Butch like it’s a challenge, “then feel free to leave it to the big guys to take care of you.” She smirks.
The black haired brother at this point is riled up and angry, he pulls her shirt and says “I’m not afraid of some zombies. I took care of tons of them before you came around. Plus, we’re not a charity case. We can get around just fine without you.” He attempts to push her away, but she stands her ground. Brick walked forward with other plans. “We’ll join.” Butch and Boomer look at him with their mouths wide open, jaw hitting the ground. “Brick what the fuck do you mean we’ll join right after I say we won’t. Are you trying to make me look stupid??” Brick ignored him, “We’ll join you, but this better not be a trick or a scheme or you’ll regret it.” The brown haired boy, Mitch, smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m glad we got to take you in. You look really strong.” Boomer was beaming with pride at this point. “Come on, let’s take you there.”