Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Part one: Paranoia

LINK - A RANDOM INTERSTATE - JUNE 12th, 6:00pm

Link had to suppress a sigh when he glanced down at his dash and realized his RV was running low on fuel.

He’d been pushing it the past hour or so, praying that it would carry him all the way there. But apparently it couldn’t.

He exited the interstate at the first exit and pulled into a truck stop with a Lovee’s and a McDonald’s all in one.

Oh boy, choices! Link could already feel his indecision acting up as he pulled in next to an available pump.

As Link refueled his RV, he scrolled through his Sheikah phone for the first time since the last gas station stop some hours ago because he did not text and drive, thank you very much! (Though it’s not like Link’s road anxiety would let him do much else. He still doesn’t even know why he does this).

That’s why. Link smiled to himself as he scrolled through the photos he’d taken while at Hyrule National Park that he’d posted on his Forcegram.

The photos were beautiful.

Link had always wanted to travel the world as a kid, and though the stress from the drive and the stress of money and barely having any money for food (most of it going towards gas, of course) grated on him at times, the view from the Dueling Peaks was fucking worth it.

There was a deep clang that signaled the gas tank was full. After checking the screen on the pump to make sure it was right, Link took the nozzle, took it out, clinking it against the filling pipe to shake out any spare drops of gasoline (something his father taught him, he doesn’t know if it’s a common habit, but whatever), and put the nozzle back.

After telling the pump that he would not like a receipt, Link climbed in, locking the door behind him. After checking the cupboards to find what he feared (just packets of half eaten trail mix and candy, and an almost empty thing of coffee and an empty bottle of sweetener), Link pulled his RV out from beside the pump into a proper parking space (he can’t believe people who just leave their cars by the gas pumps while they go inside). Then, he locked the RV and went into the RV for dinner and to restock on road snacks.

On his way in, Link threw away the bottle of sweetener.

It was early evening, and there were only a handful of people in the truck stop.

After a game of eeny-meeny-miny-moe, Link decided on McDonald’s. After ordering, he went into the convenience store to buy snacks, coffee, and sweetener.

“Um, weird question.” The cashier asked nervously. “But…aren’t you that one travel blogger from Forcegram? Link?”

“Yeah.” He flushed, scratching the back of his head. It wasn’t often that he met fans and while he despised social interaction, he never wanted to be rude.

And he wasn’t a travel blogger, he just uploads pictures of my travels, and people like that, he guesses. Helps pay for gas and food, though. Not like anyone would hire a high school dropout, anyway.

The cashier grinned like she’d met a celebrity, complimented my photography, and made some small talk about my life on the road as she scanned my items.

I was glad when I could pay and leave. I found that my McDonald’s order was ready, so I took it and left.

Eating in public made me anxious, so I always ate in my RV. That’s just what I did.

I turned on the engine, turned up the volume on the radio, and sat down at the table to eat.

Of course, Link got the happy meal, despite barely being 18. Because you can be happy at any time in your life, fuck you.

Link had one ear on the radio as he ate. He didn’t really care, but apparently some Sheikah biological company being under scrutiny for maltreatment of human test subjects or whatever, but isn’t every Sheikah company under scrutiny these days?

About halfway through his meal, Link’s phone rang. It was his mother.

Link lunged over to the front of the RV to turn down the volume.

Back at the table, Link answered the phone, smoothly slipping back into his native tongue. “Hello Ma.”

“Hello dear.” She sounded tired. Link did some quick calculations in his head and figured that it must be early morning back in Calatia. “How was your day? Did you make it to Mabe Village yet?”

“No.” Link admitted. “I had to stop for gas and dinner. Hopefully I can make it before it gets late. I don’t feel like staying up til midnight again.”

“I hope you can too.” Ma said.

Link smiled. His ma had always been supportive of him, even when he decided to drop out of high school and use his money for college on an RV. She was the one who first introduced him to his love of photography and nature.

“What are you doing in Central Hyrule, again?” She asked. “Are you visiting Historic Hyrule Castle again? Didn’t you already go there?”

Link rolled his eyes with a smile, despite knowing she couldn’t see him (actually her not being able to see him roll his eyes at her probably saved his life). “Just because you go somewhere once doesn’t mean you can’t go there again, ma. And they’ve expanded the museum with some more artifacts the Hyrulean Historical Society has cleared for public viewing.”

Link could practically hear the eye roll from through the phone, mirroring his own seconds before.

“But no, that’s not why I’m here.” Link said. “There are a couple of friends from high school that I’m meeting up with, congratulate them on graduating and stuff.”

It really fucks Link up, knowing that if he hadn’t dropped out, he would be graduating right now. But something told him he would still make the same decisions to travel the world.

“Oh!” His ma cried. “That’ll be fun. Who is it?”

“The sisters, Aurora and Zelda.” Link explained. “Though they don’t know that I’m coming. As long as they still live in the same house, then I’m planning on surprising them. I’ve been in contact with their parents.”

“Well that’ll be nice.” His ma said. “I hope you have fun, dear. Tell the girls hello for me.”

“I will.”

“Love you dear, be careful and drive safely.”

“I will. Love you too.”

Link sighed as the call ended. The familiar pang of homesickness settled in his chest, like it always did when he heard his mother’s voice or spoke in his native language.

He finished up his dinner and got behind the wheel once again. He turned the volume back up and pulled out of the truck stop, getting back on the interstate and counting down the miles until Mabe village.

LINK - MABE VILLAGE - JUNE 12th, 10:04 pm

Link finally pulled into Mabe village around 10 o’clock that night. As he drove through to the trailer park, Link couldn’t help but notice how Mabe ‘village’ was now much bigger than when he went to school there.

Two years ago, it was a relatively small town living in the Castle City metropolitan area.

Now, it has grown to its own sort of city with the influx of people moving to Castle City.

Link pulled into a trailer park for the night. After checking the estimated temperatures for that night, Link decided he didn’t need to leave the engine on, since it wouldn’t get too hot. Link made sure the doors were locked before curling up under the covers and finally allowing his tired body to sleep.

The next morning, Link decided to walk to where he was going to meet his friends because it was close, and he sorely needed to stretch his legs.

Link didn’t run into as many familiar faces as he thought he would, even though he knew the chances of him running into any school friends on the walk to the park was unlikely.

After a five mile walk, he made it to the park where Aurora and Zelda’s parents had said the graduation ceremony was being held.

Link somehow managed to sneak in right before the ceremony started. The girls parents (who had clearly been looking for me) waved him over when they saw him. They had saved him a seat next to the girls older brother.

“Hello Nigel.” Link gave him a soft smile.

“Link.” Nigel said through gritted teeth. He had always hated him (though he hated everyone) and disapproved of his decision to drop out of school. He had always been an entitled asshole, but ever since a prank he played on Aurora went too far and he genuinely almost killed her, he decided to try and turn his personality around and be kinder.

It was a valiant effort, but he still hated Link’s guts.

“Hello Link.” His parents smiled much more warmly over his shoulder.

“It is so nice to see you again.” Mrs. Sunday said with a bright smile. “I know we talked a bit on the phone but tell me, how’s everything going? Are you eating alright?”

“I’m getting along just fine.” Link smiled back at her. “My ma sends me a little money every month, but she worries too much. I’m doing just fine, you save a surprisingly large amount of money by not needing to pay a water bill. Anyway, I’ve still got the money for college I haven’t used up yet.”

Nigel scoffed but Link ignored him. It was his money for his education, and since he wasn’t going to use it for college, he could use it for gas and food and phone bill money.

“Well we’re glad you’re happy.” Mr. Sunday said.

Link smiled at him but didn’t have the time to say anything, as the principal had stepped up to the podium and began to welcome everyone to the graduation ceremony.

Link kinda zoned out during the ceremony. None of it was interesting, they were all just waiting for their kids/friends to walk across the stage.

Aurora and Zelda were Link’s best friends.

They met halfway through middle school and have been bonded for life. So much so that when Link’s father died, and his mother was scrambling for a way to bring him back to Calatia as well as find him a school (the school system in Calatia is horrible, part of the reason his parents argued), Aurora and Zelda just suggested Link move in with them. So Link lived with them for three years before he dropped out of school.

They were his sisters and he couldn’t wait to see them again!

After who knows how many names, it was finally time for Aurora and Zelda to walk across the stage.

Aurora went first.

She shook hands with the principal and took her diploma. She looked for the crowd for a moment, letting her parents take a picture. As she found her parents and brother in the crowd, she found Link, and her eyes went wide in disbelief.

The principal had to whisper to her to remind her to keep moving.

When Zelda took her diploma and posed for her picture, she saw Link and her mouth and eyes went wide as well, before she grinned madly. She hurried off stage and began to whisper with her twin excitedly.

After the ceremony, the Sunday family and Link walked off to the side, far from other families for some privacy.

Almost as soon as the students were released, Link was tackled to the ground by a grinning Zelda.

“Link!” She squealed. She hugged him.

Link laughed, shifting into a sitting position and hugging her back. Aurora joined the hug. Link blinked back happy tears. He was so proud of them and he had missed them so much.

“How’ve you been?” Aurora asked with an uncontrollable grin when they finally stood up. “We don’t talk as often as we should.”

“I know,” Link sighed. “but it’s hard, being on the road all the time. At least my Forcegram account lets you know I’m still alive, and where I am.”

“Thank Hylia for small miracles.” Aurora rolled her eyes.

After the ceremony, they went out to dinner.

Romani BBQ. It’s the girls’ favorite place to eat. It was also Link’s, and it was just as good as he remembered.

They spent a good while catching up. It was nice.

Link told them about his travels and his future travels, and they told him about the colleges they’re going to attend in the fall, as well as their majors.

Then, around 8 pm, as the sun was beginning to set, that peace was disturbed.

Link had finished eating his dinner. Aurora sat across from him and was in the middle of a sentence before she trailed off, looking through the window by the booth they were in, back behind Link.

Link turned around in confusion and his blood ran cold at what he saw.

Smoke billowed in the air. Some buildings had caught fire.

“What the hell?” Link asked.

Slowly, the others in the restaurant began to notice the fire.

There was confusion and some shouts from inside the restaurant.

Link crawled over Nigel and Mrs. Sunday to get out of the booth.

“Link. No.” Mr. Sunday called. “You can’t— What are you doing?”

“Trying to find out what’s going on.” Link explained. “Maybe an oil tank blew, but whatever it is, those people need help, and we might depending on what caused it.”

Mr. Sunday didn’t say anything. Instead, he just followed Link out of the restaurant.

People were running away from the burning buildings. Link ran down the street. The tallest burning building, in the middle of the fire and likely the cause of it, was the headquarters for the Sheikah Biological Research Center, the SBRC.

The front of the building had a row of glass doors and windows. Link looked inside and saw a security guard, just inside the burning building. But instead of running out of the building, the guard was…shooting at…something.

As if that wasn’t enough to raise the alarm, then what the security guard was shooting at definitely was.

It lurked into view slowly, taking tens of bullets and not seeming to care. In fact, the bullets didn’t seem to cut into its thick skin. Finally, one bullet nailed it in the side of its too-thin waist and sickly green blood poured out with the consistency of molasses.

After that bullet, the guard froze. He just wouldn’t move.

Link couldn’t hear anything going on in the building, was he reasoning with it or something? Little too late for that. Link thought as he remembered how the guard unloaded a full magazine of bullets into the creature. Maybe the guard was just out of ammo.

More and more creatures lurked out of the building. While the first one still lurched over to the frozen security guard, they inched their way to the glass doors.

One was on fire and didn’t seem to notice.

The automatic doors slid open for them.

One creature lifted its head and made direct eye contact with Link. Its eyes were glassy, but with a sure spot of black meant to be the pupil. They were trained on Link behind a crudely carved wooden mask that hid its face, showing only its eyes and teeth, making Link wonder where the lips were, if this… thing was supposed to be humanoid.

Link broke eye contact to glance back into the building and yep—the first creature was indeed eating the security guard right there. The guard looked alive, but was slumped in an immobile pile on the floor.

“Yep, time to go back to the restaurant.” Link said, turning and starting to run back as the wails of fire trucks and ambulances finally sounded from around the block.

Mr. Sunday and Nigel (when had he gotten there?) followed Link eagerly as the crowd of creatures split, the one who had made eye contact with Link following him at a leisurely pace.

On the way back, Link tugged at passersby staring at the creatures, too stunned to move. He got them to move and the survival instincts finally kicked in and they started running.

Link slowed to a walk and tried to seem calm when he reentered the restaurant—panic would get them nowhere.

But, of course, people were already panicking, seeing the burning buildings, the creatures streaming onto the block, and the people running and screaming past.

Half the restaurant ran out, muscling their way past Link, Nigel, and Mr. Sunday.

The rest stayed, unsure of what to do. Do they flee? Or do they wait and see if it’s just a prank? If anything, they should at least pay.

Of course, a news team had already appeared on the scene. A TV was tuned into their broadcast. They circled the burning building in a helicopter, talking about the building and then zooming in on the chaos surrounding the creatures.

The news anchor mentioned that the creatures might be the cause of some experiment by the SBRC.

Link didn’t think much of it—it was a news anchor’s job to spread gossip and breed distrust—but others in the restaurant seemed to take it seriously.

Those left in the restaurant watched the TV in horror as the creatures crept closer and closer to their hiding spot, leaving limp, half-eaten bodies behind them, attacking any who came close with their terrible claws.

The doors burst open to reveal a woman, holding a jacket to her badly bleeding arm. She was the victim of one of the claws.

Her arrival just caused more chaos. Link just shoved his way past the crowd to the woman.

“Hello.” He smiled politely. “My name is Link. I’m here to help you. Can you tell me your name?”

“Delilah.” She answered as Link led her to the booth he and his friends had eaten at mere minutes before. “Do you know what’s happening?”

“No one does.” Link shook his head as she sat down. “Can I see your arm?”

The woman dropped her jacket and revealed an awful, gaping wound the length of her forearm.

“I hate to tell you, but I doubt there’s any needle and thread to stitch up your wound here.” Link admitted. “And I’m not an actual doctor, but until we find an actual doctor, I’ll do the best I can.”

Delilah nodded. “Thank you anyway.”

Using a steak knife, Link cut off part of the table cloth and tied it securely around her arm. He’s sure he’s gonna get fined for it later, but he can’t find it in himself to care at the moment.

“Everyone calm down!” A commanding voice cut through the clamor of the panicked customers.

Everyone quieted down as they looked at the speaker. A man wearing a green shirt and fancy blue scarf had climbed onto a table, commanding respect from everyone as he talked firmly and calmly.

“I won’t pretend to know what’s going on, but I do know that panic will only make things worse.” He said. “First, we need to lock and barricade all doors.”

He nodded at a waitress who nodded back with a firm look on her face. She pulled out a set of keys and began to follow his instructions.

“We also need to draw all the curtains so the creatures can’t see we’re inside. If they don’t know we’re here, then they won’t have any incentive to come inside.” He continued. “We also need to get a first aid kit for the woman who just came in. Now.”

An employee went into the back as a group of people started dragging tables over to the door to barricade it shut.

With his orders given, the man came over to Link and Delilah.

“Hello there.” He smiled. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Delilah.” She replied.

He nodded. “My name is Link.”

Delilah snorted, side-eyeing the first Link.

“What?” The new Link asked, concerned.

“My name is Link.” The first Link said.

“Well that’s confusing.” The man said. “But we’ll have to figure out nicknames later. Can you come with me, Delilah?”

Link couldn’t help but trail after them as they went to the back of the restaurant. An employee handed the man a first aid kit, and he thanked the employee as they walked to the sink.

“So. Link.” Scarfie said as he untied Link’s makeshift bandages. “You seem to have a bit of medical knowledge. This wrapping speaks to some experience.”

“I took a pre med class in high school.” Link explained. “Learned the basics; CPR, stitches, how to tell if someone has a concussion, stuff like that.” He quietly kept the fact that he had a Life spell to himself. He felt his magic, humming and pulsing with his heartbeat. Ever since the fairies had abandoned Hyrule years ago, magic’s all but disappeared. Link wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was scared what power hungry hylians would do if the discovered he was a fairy.

“Well that’s helpful.” Scarfie said as he began to clean Delilah’s wound by wetting a paper towel and beginning to wipe away the blood from around the wound. Thankfully, the bleeding has mostly stopped. “Today was graduation, right? Congratulations.”

Link blushed. “Oh no, I didn’t graduate today.”

“Sorry.” Scarfie said. “I just assumed. You look older than you are.”

“Yeah I uh…” Link felt awkward talking about this. “I dropped out of school near the end of my sophomore year.”

“Really?” Scarfie asked.

“Yeah.” Link nodded.

“Can’t blame you.” Delilah shrugged. “I felt like doing the same thing multiple times.”

“What do you do now?” Scarfie asked.

“I travel Hyrule.” Link explained. “It was always a dream of mine, and you don’t need a high school diploma to do that. What do you do?”

“I’m a captain in the army.” Scarfie explained. “I enlisted right out of high school. How about you, Delilah?”

The captain used some isopropyl alcohol to sanitize her wound. Delilah winced and tugged against his firm yet gentle grip on her arm. When she spoke, her voice was shaky from the stinging pain.

“I’m a hairdresser.” She explained.

“You must meet a lot of different people then, huh?” The traveler asked.

Delilah nodded. “You have no idea.”

Satisfied with the cleaning of her wound, the captain got out the materials to stitch up her wound. “Okay, I’m not gonna lie, this will hurt.”

“Just do it.” Delilah gritted her teeth.

For her credit, Delilah kept the whimpering and wincing to a minimum as the captain stitched up the wound. When he was done, he tugged on the end of the thread enough to pull the wound closed. Then, he snipped the end.

“Hey traveler, can you help me?” The captain asked.

“Of course.” Link stepped forward.

“Hold this gauze against the stitches while I wrap it, please?”

“There you go.” The captain said after tying off the wrapping. “We’ll check it in the morning and see how it’s doing then, but I think you should be good until it heals.”

“Morning?” Delilah asked.

“Well aside from the obvious, it’s getting late, so I think everyone would rather stay here than try and go home when it’s so late.” The captain explained. “Thank you, Link.”

Link nodded.

He went back into the main part of the restaurant, regrouping with the Sundays.

“What are we going to do?” Zelda was asking as Link approached.

“Well we can’t do anything tonight.” Link spoke up. “Might as well wait here for tomorrow, see if the national guard or someone’s cleaned up those monsters. Maybe this is all just a dream on my part caused by road delirium. We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Nigel scoffed but didn’t say anything.

“Just in case though, I’d save your phone battery.” Link said.

Aurora reached into her purse and pulled out her and her sisters’ phone chargers. “Please Link, it’s like you don’t even know us. We’re always prepared.”

Aurora handed Zelda her charger and they went off to distract themselves with YouTube and social media. Link just shrugged.

He went back to the booth they’d eaten in and took out the journal he always kept in his pocket, took out his pencil and began to write and doodle in the pages.

When night fell, everyone curled up on booths and tables. Using tablecloths and jackets as blankets.

Link took off the flannel he’d been wearing (just because it was the nicest thing he owned), bundled it up tightly, and used it as a pillow as he laid on the table with Aurora and Zelda in the cushioned seats.

He’d willingly given up the seat to Zelda, but was starting to regret it as his back already ached from the hard, way too flat surface.

Link fell asleep, purposefully ignoring the hushed whispers of parents and adults in the back, the crackling of fire and gunshots outside, and his growing anxiety that this wasn’t some dream caused from delirium.

Chapter Text

Part One: Paranoia

LINK - ROMANI’S BBQ — JUNE 13th, 9:34 am

The next morning, in the space before waking, Link was sure he was back home. He was in his bed in his RV. Soon, he would wake up and get ready for another long day of traveling.

But then the aches in his back kicked in and he realized he was laying on a table and the events of the previous day crashed back in.

Link opened his eyes and saw he was laying on a table in the middle of Romani BBQ. The lights above were still off despite the light coming through the windows, probably out of courtesy for those still asleep.

Link rolled onto his stomach and, using a finger, lifted the curtain ever so slightly. Just enough for him to peek out underneath the red decal on the window.

He couldn’t see much of what was going on outside, because he saw the back of one of the creatures and dropped the curtain before it could turn around and see Link.

The next few days were spent inside, taking turns charging his phone, just to check the news as the creatures (dubbed ‘ReDeads’ by the news) spread further and further across Hyrule.

It didn’t make sense to Link how they could spread so quickly. Did the SBRC really just have a couple hundred ReDeads in their basement? It didn’t make sense, they had to be spreading somehow… But the news and people who were still active online didn’t seem to have an answer to that.

Although the crowded restaurant was almost suffocating at times to Link, especially after two years spent almost completely alone, he was eternally grateful for the hot meals the employees supply.

On the first day, with the TVs still playing ten different news channels broadcasting the situation, Link noticed something was wrong with Delilah.

He called the captain over.

According to her friends (which she quickly made that day), she had decided to take a nap. But she was shivering like she was cold, despite the summer heat.

The captain partially unwrapped her bandages and winced. “It’s infected.”

“But how?” Link asked. “You cleaned it so thoroughly last night!”

“I don’t know either.” The captain shook his head, re wrapping her arm. “She could’ve fallen in the dirt before she got here, or maybe I didn’t wrap her arm tight enough. However it happened, her wound’s infected now and we have no way of treating her. The pharmacy’s too far away to even think about risking going outside for antibiotics.”

“So what do we do?” The traveler asked. He refused to believe that there was no way to help her.

On the table, Delilah whimpered and shifted. Link felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him, for this lady he’d never met before.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to wait and see if she can fight off the infection by herself.” The captain sighed, laying her arm down gently. “I hate it as much as you do, but there’s not much else we can do.”

The next day, she seemed to recover, at least a little bit. She woke up hungry.

She ate like two platters of ribs before she remembered that they needed to ration the food.

In other words, the traveler and captain were both very confident that she would recover. They were a little curious about how she was able to recover so much so quickly, but they weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As the days went on, the fate of the world outside looked more and more bleak, and Link began to silently make plans about leaving the restaurant. He knew that the food wasn’t going to last long, and it would only be a matter of time before one of the ReDeads managed to get inside and wreck havoc.

So Link started stealing food. He found a knapsack in a cupboard and at night, will go through the kitchen’s stores for any imperishable food they had. He also stole spices because why not? He had access to spices, and didn’t want to eat bland food during the apocalypse if he had anything to say about it (not that he could cook or season to begin with).

He even stole the first aid kit. Hopefully no one will need it as Link plans his escape plan.

Of course, he’s planning on taking the Sundays with him. He would never leave them behind. They took him in after his father died, after all.

Link’s told Mr. Sunday his plan, but didn’t tell the others, to keep it quiet.

One day, when everyone’s too busy to listen to their conversation, Link and Mr. Sunday plan out a route.

It’s hard to know which buildings are clear of ReDeads and Hylians, but the first place would reasonably be the pharmacy, which is two streets and two miles away. If it hasn’t already been raided and cleared out by smart opportunists.

But still, the apocalypse only started four days ago. So hopefully no one’s been brave enough to risk the ReDeads to go out raiding.

“Hey, Link!”

Link looked up from his phone, turning it off and hiding the map.

The captain was calling for him from across the restaurant. He was standing by Delilah. He had a hand on her bandages, and was waving for the traveler.

“Be right back.” Link said to Mr. Sunday as he slid out of the booth and slipped his phone back in his pocket. His blood ran cold. Was something wrong with Delilah? Did the captain need the first aid kit to change her bandages?

The first aid kit was hidden in Link’s knapsack, in the back of a crowded cabinet. There are people in the kitchen right now, making lunch. His chances of retrieving the kit without someone catching him and asking why he has a bag hidden away in the back of a cabinet is very low.

“What’s wrong?” Link asked as he approached them.

“Nothing.” The captain gave a smile, but Link could tell there was something he wasn’t saying. “Just wanted to show you what a healed wound looks like before we remove the stitches.”

The traveler tried to keep the suspicion off his face as he turned to Delilah’s arm as the captain lowered the bandages.

Link somehow managed to keep his face schooled as he suddenly realized what the captain had been hiding.

Delilah’s wound had not healed at all.

It had taken a turn for the worst.

The blood leaking out around the stitches was a sickly green color—the same shade as the blood from the ReDead that Link had seen get shot so long ago.

But the traveler felt the most sick at the skin around the wound.

It was rotting. It was brown and disgusting and looked like the skin of a long-dead corpse instead of a living 20 year old woman.

Link looked up and the captain retied her bandages so no one could see the necrosis.

“Well, should we go get the tools to take out the stitches?” The traveler asked.

The captain nodded. “Follow me.”

Instead of going to the kitchen, where the first aid kit was, the two ducked into the alcove by the bathrooms.

“Well that’s not normal.” The traveler remarked.

“No shit.” The captain sighed. He paced back and forth.

“Hey stop that, you’ll draw attention to us.” The traveler scolded.

The captain complied, but still tapped his foot as an outlet for his anxious energy.

“What are we going to do?” Link knew that the captain had made the same conclusion that he had—Delilah was turning into a ReDead. That’s how they managed to grow in numbers so quickly. “And how is it taking her so long? The news implied that it takes a much shorter time, if the number of ReDeads has grown so much in the past four days.”

“Maybe it’s because of the conditions.” The captain replied. “We cleaned and sanitized her wound. We stitched it up. We probably slowed the spread of the disease somehow. People out there probably don’t have access to safe shelter, first aid kits, or people with medical training. As for what we’re gonna do?” The captain swallowed heavily. “We gotta get out of here. Now. I don’t think we have a lot of time left…”

“When?” The traveler asked. “And we’re bringing the Sundays with us.”

“Now.” The captain barely blinked at the traveler’s demand. “Go get your friends.”

Link nodded and left the alcove. He went back to his friends, still around the table they had sat around that first fateful day.

The girls were fighting over the converter for their phone chargers and the power outlet. Nigel just rolled his eyes at their arguing.

“Link?” Mr. Sunday asked when he saw the traveler approaching. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to go.” Link said, gently pulling him out of his seat. “Come on everyone. Stay calm and don’t draw attention to yourself.”

They exchanged curious glances with each other but followed Link. He walked back to where he left the captain, but was stopped before he could make it there.

“Hey, Link! Something’s wrong with Delilah!”

Oh fuck.

Link turned, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

Delilah had started to contort, bending in on herself. She was muttering to herself and spasming randomly, seemingly losing control of her limbs.

She tore off her bandage as easily as if it were wet paper, revealing the rotting skin that covered her arm, as well as her green blood as she popped her stitches.

Link glanced up to see that most of the restaurant was watching with a dawning realization and horror. The captain had come out of the alcove by the bathroom. He caught the traveler’s eye and they nodded.

Link grabbed Zelda and Aurora’s arms, dragging them behind him, not stopping to make sure the rest of the family was following.

The captain held the door to the kitchen open just long enough for them to slip through before closing it.

The thing with the door, however, was that it had no lock. It didn’t even have a handle. It just swung freely on its hinges. Good for opening it if your hands are full of trays of food, bad if you’re trying to get away from a ReDead.

The captain worked on pushing a table in front of the door while Link couldn’t help but stare out from another glaring hole in their defenses; a giant hole in the wall behind the bar that waitresses used to line orders for the chefs on a line along the top, and to collect trays of food for those at the bar.

Through it, Link watched Delilah.

She clutched her head in agony. She fell off the table, moaning. “My head…” She complained.

A woman with brown hair knelt down beside her and placed her left hand on her shoulder, the only one brave enough to go close to the transforming ReDead. “Hey, Delilah? Everything’s going to be alright. Just breathe and relax.”

She brought up her other hand, supposedly to pat her back, but Link saw the silver flash of light off a concealed steak knife.

Before she could put Delilah down, Delilah shoved her away. The woman fell back, the steak knife fell from her hand.

“Get away!” Delilah cried, not even noticing the knife.

She growled and got back to her feet. The crowd of people shrunk back even more, giving her a clear path to the front door.

At this point, the captain had finished barricading the door, and was bringing over a stool in order to lower the wooden door that was situated over the door. If they could unlock it, then they could slide it down and cover the hole in the wall.

Warriors muttered to himself as he worked on picking the lock with a bobby pin he’d taken from Mrs. Sunday.

Now, people were starting to notice what they were doing and were hurriedly vaulting through the window into the kitchen, knocking pots and pans to the ground. But Delilah didn’t notice.

She rattled the doorknob, frustrated when it wouldn’t open.

She took a step back and, with inhuman strength, kicked the door so hard, the hinges popped and were torn from the door frame, along with pieces of wood, as the door swung so violently from the force of her kick.

Despite the broken door, Delilah stepped out and tried to put it back in frame.

She was hidden behind the door, but one of her hands was against the glass. In between the broken and tangled blinds, Link saw as the claws that were her fingernails etched five lines into the glass as they slid down.

There was a roar from behind the door and Delilah changed her mind and kicked down the door again just in time to watch the captain pick the lock on the wooden shutters and bring it slamming down, separating the people from the monster.

Link went over to the swinging door that the captain had barricaded. He crouched down and peeked out through the glass window in the door.

ReDeads converged on Delilah’s cry. They slowly stalked into the restaurant.

Delilah looked like one of them. Just less…dead. Whatever disease had been passed onto her through the cut had clearly reached her brain.

Said cut was completely healed now. The necrosis was now visible to have grown in several other parts of her body, as her shirt had rode up on her back, revealing more rotting skin along her back.

Her face was expressionless as she came over to the wooden shutters and began to bang on it. She had the single minded focus of a hungry predator as she and other ReDeads banged on the shutters.

Based on the previously shown strength of the ReDeads, Link got the sickening feeling that they were playing with the Hylians. Just playing with their food like a cat releasing a mouse just to swipe it back up again.

Link stood up and went to the cupboard where he had hidden his knapsack. He retrieved it and swung it on his back.

He remembered the locations of both the pharmacy and his RV as he pushed his way through the crowd to the Sundays, who were clutching each other and watching the bending shutters in horror.

Link grabbed Zelda’s arm. “We need to—“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence because just then, the shutter broke. Before anyone could scream or run however, multiple ReDeads let out an ear piercing scream that caused everyone to freeze in fear.

Link now knew what had stopped that security guard from attacking as suddenly, he was rendered completely unable to move.

Fear raced through his body, despite his relative calm earlier. His blood felt like it had frozen in his veins. Link couldn’t move his eyes. He couldn’t even move, as his lungs were permanently stuck in the inhale position they had been before the scream.

He felt a warm substance cripple out of his ears. It was thick and itched as it ran down the sides of his neck, but Link couldn’t lift a hand to wipe the blood away or scratch at the itchy skin.

MOVE!!!!

Link screamed at himself internally, but this was one time his body didn’t obey the commands of his brain. Alarms went off in his brain, not helping the fear that had caused this complete meltdown of the system.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Link was able to twitch his fingers. A few seconds later, he could breathe and move normally again.

His ears rang. Ignoring the gross, wet sounds of something feeding, and the screams of people as they woke up, Link used his free hand to grab Aurora and dragged his sisters through the crowd to the back of the kitchen, looking for the back door.

Unfortunately, everyone else in the kitchen had the same idea.

They pushed and shoved against him as they ran. They vaulted over tables, their heads and shoulders banging against the pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, causing some to fall. Link had to tug Zelda out of the way of one pan before it could hit her head.

At some point, someone realized that the door was locked.

The crowd converged on the back door. There was the sound of banging as people kicked at and shoved their shoulders against the door.

Seeing that they would only get caught in the crowd, Link stopped and began to backpedal just before a ReDead fucking jumped over the crowd, landing right in front of him.

Link was filled with the urge to kick it, but knew that would only make it mad, so he withheld the urge.

Link looked around, frantically trying to find a way out of this.

There it was.

The captain was working on moving the table out of the way of the swinging door.

Link tightened his grip on the girls’ arms and pushed through the crowd to the door. Too scared of letting go of his sisters, Link moved the table with his foot.

Once the table was out of the way, the captain stood. He nodded at the traveler and they all ran out of the kitchen.

The ReDeads were too busy dealing with the crowd of people in the kitchen to notice the four people running out the front door.

“Where to now?” Aurora asked when they were out on the street.

There were a few ReDeads hanging out along the street who hadn’t yet noticed them, so they weren’t a problem. But they needed someplace to take shelter, especially as the sun began to set.

ReDeads were most active at night.

“Follow me.” The brown haired woman who had tried to mercy kill Delilah came up behind them.

Link suddenly realized that everyone had blood dripping out of their ears from the ReDeads’ collective scream.

The group took off down the street after the woman.

Chapter Text

Part One: Paranoia

LINK - JUNE 16th, 7:53pm

She led them to an old gas station near the edge of town. It was sketchy, with cracked pavement, peeling paint, and Out-of-Order signs on all the pumps. The kind of place you would never go to unless in an apocalypse, for fear of getting kidnapped.

But it just so happened that they were in an apocalypse, so they didn’t really have a choice.

The doors were locked with a chain. The woman dug out a key from her pocket and unlocked the lock. She removed the chain and held the door open for the others.

Once inside, she looped the chain around the inside of the doors and padlocked them again.

Whatever Link was expecting to be inside the gas station…he was very, very wrong.

The entire inside had been completely renovated, so it no longer resembled a gas station. It had couches, carpet, tables, a TV, even a few old arcade machines. The only thing remaining from the gas station was, of course, the slushie machine.

“What a convenient hideout.” Link said as the woman went around, making sure the windows were completely blocked with wooden planks she had for some reason.

“Thanks.” The woman said. “My father’s a real estate agent. Real piece of shit, parades me around to act as a ‘family man’ to appeal to clients. So, I’ve taken to coming here to get away from him. He doesn’t notice the boosted electricity bill, and I steal WiFi from the neighbors.” She jabbed a finger over at the neighboring motel.

“Thank you for taking us here.” The captain nodded to her. “You didn’t have to do that.”

The woman shrugged. “Society’s collapsed, there are undead monsters on the loose, we Hylians should stick together.”

“Something tells me not a lot of people are going to have that mindset.” The captain sighed.

She shrugged. “Safety in numbers and all that. Anyway, how about some introductions?”

“Link.” Both the traveler and captain replied (though not at the same time).

“Aurora.”

“Zelda.”

At Zelda’s name, the woman raised her eyebrows. “Funny. That’s also my name.”

“So we have two Links and two Zeldas?” The captain asked.

“Three Zeldas, technically.” Aurora chuckled. “We’re twins and when we were born, our birth certificates got mixed up. So for about an hour, I was Zelda.”

“…So we’re going to need nicknames.” Zelda—the traveler’s Zelda—spoke up. “You can call me…Dawn! That’s my middle name.”

“Well my middle name’s completely ridiculous, let me see.” The other Zelda thought for a minute. “How about…Dusk? I was born at that time of day and it’s always been my favorite.”

“Sounds good!” Dawn smiled. “Nice to meet you, Dusk.”

Dusk wore a purple shirt with a V-neck that revealed the smallest dot of her bra. She wore blue jeans that were purposefully cut a few inches below her knees. She wore a pair of red Converse, and had a kind of turquoise shawl tied around her waist. The ends were fraying and jagged. Whoever made it clearly had no experience.

“And you as well, Dawn.” Dusk smiled. “Now, what about the boys…?”

The captain shrugged. “I mean, I’ve got plenty of nicknames from my soldiers and General, but none of them are very…polite, to say the least.”

“You’re in the army?” Dusk asked in surprise.

“Yes, I’m a captain.”

“Maybe we can do something about that.” Aurora shrugged. She hummed as she thought. “Hmm… Soldiers…leader…fighters… Oh, what about ‘Warriors’?”

Warriors shrugged. “Sure, but why plural? I’m a single person.”

Aurora shrugged. “Why not?”

“Can’t argue with that.” Warriors decided. “What about him?” He nodded to the traveler.

They eventually decided on the nickname ‘Hyrule’, based on an old inside joke between him, Aurora, and Dawn. He just thought that it would cause more confusion between him and the country, but whatever.

“Well, what channels do you have?” Dawn asked. She went to move away from Hyrule.

Hyrule let go of both her and Aurora’s arms, forgetting that he had still been holding on to them. He left white marks around their arms and felt a little bad about it as Dawn powered on the TV.

HYRULE - AN ABANDONED GAS STATION — JUNE 16th, 11:40pm

It wasn’t until 11pm that day (they should’ve been asleep but with the previous day’s excitement, they were having a hard time unwinding) that they were met with their next challenge.

They were seated around the repurposed gas station, just watching cartoons. Bugs Bunny had a way of making everyone laugh, but not even he could help them relax.

Bugs Bunny was quickly forgotten, however, as soon as everyone’s phones pinged with the same message.

In the silent version of an Amber Alert, the government had decided to release a statement regarding the outbreak of ReDeads.

Hyrule wondered off-handedly how the government was still stable enough to release a statement. Then he realized that the government was based in Skyloft, which is at the top of the tallest mountain in the world. They’re probably fine.

Hyrule skimmed over the transcript of the statement—he didn’t have time to watch the full video of King Gaepora talking about the ReDeads.

There were a few things in there that he already knew; they’re the result of an experiment by the Sheikah Biological Research Society; they’re inhumanly strong, but very slow; their screams can freeze a person in their tracks; they eat hylians and humans; their skin is very thick, almost too thick to cut through; they’re active at night and tend to avoid sunlight; and their scratches can turn the victim into a ReDead.

It also contained a lot of useful information that the government had gathered from studying ReDeads and from the files they’d recovered from the burning SBRC building. Like how ReDeads scratches turns people into ReDeads because tiny little parasites are in their blood, and they have veins under their claws. So when they scratch people, they sort of bleed into the cut, getting the parasite inside the new host. The parasite then travels to the brain yadda yadda symptoms and stuff they’d learned from Delilah, and then when the parasite reaches the brain, it begins to break down the part of the brain that controls motor functions, implanting itself there and taking control of the host’s body.

Also, ReDeads have contrasting senses. Their eyes get cloudy as a result of postmortem (something the parasite can’t stop) and their vision is thus greatly decreased. Their hearing is as good as any hylians, if a little weaker. And finally, they have a really good sense of smell. They can track a specific hylian for miles without an issue, but tend to get confused in cityscapes, because like dogs, they can smell all scents, including old ones. But they can smell blood for miles with the accuracy of anyone smelling what their mom’s making for dinner.

Because of course they can.

Hyrule skimmed the rest of the article, barely taking in the part about the government sending search and rescue copters to bring survivors to safety inside Skyloft itself, and even to bordering countries who’ve offered to help Hyrule during the apocalypse.

At least, until the apocalypse reaches their countries, Hyrule’s sure.

After reading the transcript, Hyrule glanced up at the others to see what their reactions to the statement had been as they finished reading it.

“So they can smell blood.” Warriors sighed. He tossed his phone onto the coffee table in front of him. “Great.”

Dawn suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

“Dawn?” Hyrule asked. “Are you okay?”

“So.” Dawn clapped her hands together. “I think now’s as good a time as any to say that I am on my period. …And I think I have a UTI.”

The girls in the room made twin sympathetic faces and hissed through their teeth at that. Meanwhile the boys were just confused.

“A UTI?” Warriors asked. “Uh, what’s that?”

“A urinary track infection.” Dusk explained. “It’s caused when a woman doesn’t change her pad or tampon often enough. And then, because it’s so damp and humid down there, bacteria will grow and invade your urinary track. It’s very painful.”

Dawn nodded along. Wincing and shifting again as she spoke.

“How long have you been on your period?” Hyrule asked.

Dawn shrugged. “Like two-three days?”

“And you didn’t tell anyone?” Hyrule asked. “Did you even have access to clean products at the restaurant?”

“Not really.” Dawn admitted. “I mean, I did get to change my tampon like once a day because I asked some other women. But I never felt right asking them for any more than that.”

“Is there any medicine you can take to help with the pain?” Warriors asked. “Or an antibiotic we can track down?”

“Yeah, there’s Azo.” Aurora chimed in. “As for antibiotics, we could track some down, but with this whole apocalypse thing going on, we’re going to have to ration tampons. Meaning it’s going to come back, and Dusk and I’ll also get a UTI. And it’s bacteria, so it’ll just become resistant to the antibiotic. Yay.”

“So we need feminine products and Azo.” Warriors thought aloud to himself. “We can raid the pharmacy tomorrow. We should probably also get some medical supplies and possibly weapons while we’re out.”

Wordlessly, Hyrule reached into his knapsack and revealed the stolen first aid kit to the group.

“Huh.” Warriors said. “So that’s why it wasn’t there when I went to steal it.”

“Wait, are we not going to talk about the fact that ReDeads smell blood and I’m going to be bleeding for like, four more days?” Dawn asked. “What are we going to do about that?”

“Well we can’t.” Warriors shrugged. “It’s not like you can just refuse to bleed. But tampons go inside you, correct? Meaning the blood will stay inside you. Maybe that’ll help smother the smell of blood.”

“But they’ll still be able to smell it.” Dawn insisted.

“Dawn, if you’re implying that we should leave you behind, it’s not happening.” Warriors said before Hyrule could get a chance to.

“But you’re all in danger for just being near me!” Dawn shouted. “They can smell me! They’ll be hunting me and they’ll find you guys as well!”

“Dawn, with this logic you’re saying that Hyrule and I should abandon you three girls.” Warriors said calmly. “Which we are not doing. Like Dusk said, we need to look out for each other.”

“Would you really risk the lives of four people, including yourself, just to save the life of one?” Dawn asked. “Captain, you should know better than anyone that sometimes you need to sacrifice one in order to save many.”

“Yeah, but my General’ll tell you that I have a nasty habit of trying to save as many people as I possibly can.” Warriors smirked.

“It sometimes doesn’t work out like that, captain.” Dawn said grimly.

“Yeah, well you and my General can bond over that when this is all over.” Warriors said with finality in his tone. “We’re not leaving you. End of discussion.”

“Anyway, if you’re talking about saving the majority, you girls are the majority.” Hyrule shrugged. “So…”

Dawn sighed, thoroughly defeated. Her sister wrapped her arms around Dawn’s shoulders and chest, drawing her close in a hug. “So we’re going to the pharmacy in the morning.” She said.

Warriors nodded. “Get some sleep, everyone.” He turned off the TV in the middle of a skit where Bugs Bunny was outsmarting and pissing off a hunter who kept insisting it was ‘wabbit season’ while Bugs confused the hunter by saying it was actually duck season.

The Bugs Bunny cartoon always reminded Hyrule of his childhood in Calatia. It was bittersweet and nostalgic.

Dusk got out some blankets and handed them out to everyone. Dawn and Aurora took one couch (still wrapped in each other’s arms), Dusk and Warriors took the other couch, and Hyrule curled up like a dog on his armchair.

HYRULE - AN ABANDONED GAS STATION — JUNE 17th, 9:02am

The next morning, they shared a meal of protein bars, chips, and some soda as they planned a fast route to the pharmacy.

“What is a fun fact about yourself?” Dawn asked, with Dorito dust around her mouth.

“What?” Warriors asked. “Is now really the time?”

Dawn shrugged. “I mean, there’s no better time. And I just want to get to know my Zombie apocalypse team.”

“It’s not a Zombie apocalypse.”

Dawn sent him a dry look.

Warriors sighed. “Fine. I can play electric guitar.”

“Cool.” Aurora said. “You’ll have to play for us sometime.” Warriors hummed in answer.

“I can play the recorder.” Hyrule contributed.

Dusk rolled her eyes. “Everyone learns how to play the recorder in fourth grade. That’s not really an accomplishment to be proud of.”

“I went to school in Calatia. Very different standards over there.” Hyrule pointed out. “Anyway, I can play it well.”

“That’s true.” Aurora said, eyes wide as she pointed at Hyrule. Her arm was directly across her twin’s face, causing Dawn to scowl and bat it away. “It’s kind of scary how good he is.”

Hyrule grinned smugly.

“I can play the violin.” Dusk said. “My dad wanted me to play some sort of instrument. I hated piano, so we decided on violin.”

Warriors whistled. “Well. We’ve got ourselves the strangest band ever right here.”

They laughed as they envisioned that. An instrument made for rock, one made for folk, and a third for classical. They didn’t mesh together in any way shape or form. But Hyrule was interested in hearing what that would sound like. He figured the instruments would work together a lot better than any of them thought. Sort of like the group he found himself in right now.

“You said you’re from Calatia?” Dusk directed the question at Hyrule.

Hyrule nodded. “I lived there with my parents for most of my life. Then in 7th grade, my parents got divorced. My dad won custody, and he took me here, to Hyrule.”

“That’s quite the interesting life story, there.” Warriors chimed in. “Especially since you told Dahlia that you travel. How long have you been on the road?”

“Two years.” Hyrule replied. “I left as soon as I got my driver’s license.”

“What about you two?” Dusk nodded to the twins. “What’s your miraculous life story?”

“We just graduated from high school.” Dawn answered. “If we’re still able to go to the colleges we got into next year, then I’m going to study environmental restoration. Aurora wants to be a physical therapist, but for patients with brain injuries.”

“Nice.” Warriors smiled. “I’m glad you two have it all figured out.”

“Well we might change our majors, of course. But this is our current plan.” Dawn said.

“Especially Aurora.” Dusk realized. “What made you choose such a specialized career path?”

Aurora dropped her gaze to her protein bar. “I…have some experience with brain trauma. I was once in a coma for two weeks because of one. I know how hard it is to recover from something like that, and want to help others get through it.”

“That’s a good answer.” Dusk smiled. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Aurora. But I’m glad to see that it hasn’t done much to bring you down.”

“Well what about you two?” Dawn changed the subject easily. “What’re your life stories?”

“Uh, well I went into the military straight out of high school.” Warriors started. It was clear he wasn’t used to talking about himself as he scrambled for something to say. “I rose through the ranks pretty quickly before earning the title of captain. I moved around a lot. The most time I’ve ever spent in one place was when I was stationed in Lorule. I’m on break, so I came back here to relax. Didn’t do me much good, as you can tell.”

They laughed dryly at the joke.

“Well my life’s been pretty unremarkable.” Dusk said. “My father’s a rich asshole. I spent most of my life in boarding school. I was always grateful because it meant I wouldn’t have to be around him.”

“Sorry about your father.” Hyrule said.

Dusk shrugged. “Can’t do anything about it. I’m an adult now. Next year, I was planning on moving out to the Great Archipelago. I’ll find something to do there.”

They chatted aimlessly as they finished their dinner.

They set out when they were ready.

The pharmacy was two miles from the gas station. As they walked, Hyrule made a mental note to try and get some running shoes or something, if he was going to be spending a lot of time walking everywhere. He loved his vans, but they were not going to cut it.

It was weird, walking around in broad daylight. But they had been assured that the ReDeads weren’t active during the day. The only fear they had was of encountering other people.

Other than that, they were able to make it to the Walgreens with no problem.

The building itself was a rectangle, with four right angles, like any building. But the doors cut one of the corners off and were hidden beneath the overhanging left behind, only supported by a single column.

Though there was the problem of the doors being locked.

“Well how do we get in?” Hyrule asked.

Warriors answered by kicking his foot through the glass.

Hyrule shrugged as Warriors kicked away more of the glass. “That works, I guess.”

When all the glass was broken, they ducked below the bar that was on the inside (it was a push to open thing) and entered the Walgreens.

Hyrule had brought his knapsack, but thankfully, there were a few backpacks right by the entrance for the others. Hyrule switched out his own knapsack for a backpack. They were on a stand boasting merchandise for the local high school (Go Hyrule High Eagles!).

While they were there, they also went clothes shopping. They scoured the small stand of clothes for shirts and shorts their size before stuffing them in their newly acquired backpacks.

“Okay, Dawn and Aurora, you two go get the tampons and other hygiene products you think we might need. Dusk, you scrounge up some Azo, and maybe some Tylenol, and cough and cold stuff, in case we get sick. Hyrule and I’ll collect some more first aid stuff. Got it?” Warriors ordered.

Everyone nodded.

Hyrule and Warriors easily found the proper aisle. They looked at each other and shrugged.

Hyrule shook his bag wide open and walked down the aisle, using one hand to push all the products off the shelf as Warriors did the same thing on the opposite side of the aisle.

“What are you boys doing over there?” Dusk called out.

“Collecting supplies efficiently!” Hyrule called, despite the fact that much of the bandages had fallen on the ground.

The boys giggled to themselves as they picked up the fallen bandages. They could practically hear the eye roll and exasperated sigh from the girls, despite being on opposite sides of the store.

The boys collected bandages, band aids, gauze, isopropyl alcohol, suture and thread, and anything and everything else they thought they would need that they could possibly hold.

The entire time, Hyrule was on edge. Even with the sounds of them and the girls raiding the place, it still seemed tooquiet. It was especially ominous with the lack of light. There had been no one to turn on the lights, and they hadn’t been able to find any light switches.

Hyrule just felt like someone or something was watching them.

At least it looked like he wasn’t alone. Warriors also kept looking around nervously.

“Got everything?” Warriors asked when they regrouped.

“Yep.” The girls agreed.

Dusk reached into her bag and pulled out a bar of Hershey’s chocolate. “Also got some chocolate.” She handed the bar to Dawn who grinned and started eating. “Chocolate helps alleviate period cramps.” Dusk explained to the confused boys.

“So, should we raid for snacks and water while we’re here?” Aurora asked.

“Why not?” Warriors shrugged. “We still have room in our bags.”

They ripped up bags of water bottles, stuffing them in their bags alongside any snacks that they could get a hold of. Hyrule still had some canned beans; some other canned foods from the restaurant; and spices. But they wouldn’t say they were good on food. They had no idea how long this apocalypse would last, anyway.

“Okay, do we need anything else?” Hyrule asked when they had gathered water and snacks.

“No, this looks good.” Warriors decided. He zipped up his bag and swung it onto his back. “Not that we’d be able to carry any more, anyways.”

“So let’s get out of here!” Dusk decided.

“Good.” Aurora said, leading the charge back past the checkout line to the front doors. “This place gives me the creeps.”

She reached the door first and knelt to crouch through the glass when there was a suspicious click! Aurora froze as everyone’s attention was drawn to a man, stepped out from behind a concrete pillar right across from the glass doors.

He was holding a handgun, aiming it right at Aurora’s head.

“Back up!” He barked.

Aurora had no choice but to obey. She stepped backward and slowly stood up, raising her arms along with everyone else to show that they were not a threat. Though Hyrule knew this man wasn’t concerned about them being a threat.

“I’m gonna need you to remove your backpacks and throw them over to us, got it.” It sounded less like a question and more like an order.

“Us?” Dawn asked.

Immediately, three other guys appeared from the blind spots of the glass windows. They all held firearms of varying lethality and power. Though one guy also had a sword slung on his back, surprisingly.

“We can’t give them our supplies.” Hyrule whispered to the others.

“Obviously.” Dusk said. Her blue eyes analyzed the scene almost as fast as Warriors’, looking for a way out.

“Look, there’s still plenty of goods left in the store.” Warriors told the men. “Let us go, and you can have free reign on everything else. We don’t need to resort to violence here.”

“I beg to differ.” Another guy said. He had a thick accent that made him sound pretentious. He was the one with the sword and was wielding a rifle. “We’re gonna need all the supplies we can get. So hand them over.”

“I don’t think so.” Warriors said.

Before the gang could threaten them any more, Warriors shoved the girls to one side of the glass doors and pulled Hyrule to the other. The Zelda’s jumped behind a cashier’s desk and the Links caused the merch stand to fall over, laying down behind it to hide from the bullets.

“Well now what do we do?” Dawn shouted over the sound of gunshots and the gang telling them to come out. “This is much worse than our previous predicament!”

“There’s gotta be a back door to this place.” Warriors said.

“Well, there’s a drive through window.” Hyrule mentioned, remembering seeing the signs and painted marks on the road outside. “We can leave through the back!”

But Warriors paused.

“What are you thinking?” Hyrule asked.

“I’m thinking…we could use some weapons.” Warriors mused.

“Yeah, but by the time we get their guns, they’ll be all out of ammo!”

“We can deal with that later.” Warriors said.

“Then what’s the plan, Captain?” Hyrule asked (hey, that rhymed!).

“Well first things first, we need a shield. Which we don’t have.” Warriors grumbled. “Let’s just retreat to the back. If we find anything we can use as a shield, then we can think about taking their weapons.”

Wars gestured to the girls, enticing a few more bullets shot at his hand, but all of them missed.

Wars and Hyrule began to crawl low across the ground. Well, it wasn’t so much crawling as it was dragging themselves. They had to keep their stomachs on the ground to avoid being spotted by the gunman.

Hyrule grabbed a nearby shelf and dragged the end towards him. It screeched loudly against the ground and he heard the sound of guns being aimed at him, but he didn’t stop until he and Warriors could efficiently stand behind the shelf.

Hyrule peeked out from behind the shelf to watch his sisters creep along the wall, before sprinting out of the cover of the cashier desks to the rows of shelves. There was another round of gunshots, but thankfully it didn’t seem like either of them were hit.

Careful to stay hidden behind the turned shelf, the Captain and Traveler headed to the back of the store. The actual pharmacy was in the far back corner from the doors, so when they reached the back wall, the boys ran along it to the pharmacy.

There weren’t any more gunshots as they met the girls. Hyrule was concerned about the lack of activity from their attackers before he heard “Alright, that’s it! We’re coming in! Just surrender your supplies peacefully and you can go free.”

Bullshit. Hyrule really didn’t think the armed men with guns who had threatened and shot at them were as peaceful as they claimed.

The gang entered the pharmacy, either by jumping through the holes in the wall that acted as counters, or by using the employees only door.

Hyrule thought the girls were just being boring for not jumping like he and Wars did.

The attackers barged into the store behind them, kicking over more stuff than was strictly necessary. They shouted threats as they combed the store for the group.

Hyrule looked around the pharmacy area and froze.

There was a ReDead.

Just through a doorway into the deeper parts of the pharmacy.

It was like the countless others outside. Just…sitting there. Slightly hunched over in a way that made Hyrule’s back ache at the sight of it, with its arms hanging free from its body without dangling.

It was completely still.

They hadn’t dared turn on the lights for the pharmacy, but Hyrule could see a discoloration on its claws (they weren’t human hands anymore, they were definitely claws). They almost looked red.

Hyrule’s suspicions were confirmed at the sight of a red, bloody thing lumped on the floor at the ReDead’s feet.

Hyrule didn’t want to focus on it to find out what it was, and was relieved when Warriors closed the door to that part of the pharmacy. And yet, just before it closed, Hyrule caught sight of many more ReDeads and many more lifeless corpses.

Blood leaked out from under the door as Warriors did his best to quietly comfort a shell-shocked Hyrule. “Hey, hey buddy. Look at me.”

But Hyrule could only look at the now closed door. His ear barely twitched at the sound of the girls coming from behind.

“How—“ Hyrule swallowed thickly. “How can you be so calm?”

“I’ve seen worse.” Warriors said with a grim look on his face.

Suddenly, Hyrule remembered his friend was a war captain. “Oh.”

“C’mon, we’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Warriors picked up a fallen compact mirror that had conveniently fallen under the counter, using it to look over the counter (hopefully) without the attackers seeing them. The attackers were slowly combing their way through the store. One kicked open the bathroom door and went in.

“Do we have anything for that shield you mentioned?” Hyrule asked, pulse finally slowing back to normal (well as normal as it is in stressful situations like this).

They looked around.

Dawn found a metal tray with a few prescription bottles on it. She gently removed the bottles and held up the metal tray. “Will this work?”

Warriors took the tray. “It’s small and not perfect, but it’s the best we’ll find back here. I’ll just have to be quick.”

Warriors used the compact mirror to check over the counter one more time, revealing a gunman just appearing from out of an aisle.

“Stay here.” Warriors demanded.

As soon as the gunman disappeared down another aisle, the Captain dropped the mirror in Hyrule’s hand and deftly hopped over the counter, his scarf following him fluidly. His footsteps were near silent as Hyrule and the girls watched him follow the gunman down the aisle.

Then, there was the unmistakable sound of a human skull getting hit with a metal tray. The sound was loud, it had to be. Warriors needed to be able to knock the man out in order to get his weapon.

But that meant that every attacker in the store now knew where he was.

Hyrule watched with bated breath as the four remaining attackers rushed into the aisle where Warriors was.

There was scuffling that indicated a fight, but the four in the pharmacy couldn’t see what was happening. Hyrule flinched every time a gunshot went off, praying the subsequent bullet didn’t hit Wars.

Hyrule was worried that Warriors needed their help, but what could Hyrule do? His Thunder spell only worked outside, and his fire spell required a conduit like a stick.

Despite his worries, Hyrule told himself that if the Captain really needed their help, he would call for them. He stayed put.

There was a loud crash! as one of shelves presumably fell over before falling into another shelf, causing a domino effect. There was clattering as products fell from the shelves.

Then, there was nothing.

“You guys can come out now.” Warriors said, sticking his head out of the aisle.

Hyrule let out a breath he’d forgotten he’d been holding and stood up. He hopped back over the counter and walked over to Wars, holding the backpack he’d left behind in preparation for the fight.

Warriors nodded his thanks, moving the end of his scarf out of the way as he swung the bag on his back. He didn’t want it to get caught between his back and the bag and risk it tugging on his neck.

Hyrule looked down the aisle.

The five guys were all laying around in varying states of pain. The first guy was unmoving on the ground next to the now heavily dented metal tray. The others were all bleeding, presumably from gunshots, if the stolen handgun sticking out of the Captain’s pants says anything. One of the guys was slumped against the fallen shelf.

“Did you kill them?” Dawn asked, slightly horrified at the sight of most of them unmoving.

“Might’ve killed the first guy.” Warriors shrugged as he went to a nearby aisle. “Head trauma is no joke. But the others? They should be fine.”

He returned from the new aisle with three first aid kits. He walked down the aisle and threw the first aid kits at the injured.

The leader, still barely holding onto consciousness, looked up in surprise. “Why…?”

Warriors shrugged again. “That’s not who I am.”

Then, he kneeled down and took his gun from his hands. He gave it to Dusk, who was nearby. She helped him loot the other guys, taking their guns, and searching them for more ammo.

“Who wants the sword?” Warriors asked, unclasping the belt that held it over the man’s shoulder.

Hyrule raised his hands. “I’ll take it.”

Warriors raised an eyebrow before tossing it over and going back to looking for more weapons.

Hyrule caught the sword. The weight was unfamiliar, a little shorter than he’s used to. He grabbed the hilt and pulled it out, just enough to see the blade. It was common steel, and looked like it’d been taken care of enough that it won’t break in two hits.

This’ll do. Hyrule thought to himself as Dawn and Aurora were armed.

“Everyone got everything?” Dusk asked, slipping the last box of ammo into Dawn’s bag.

They nodded, so the group stopped to grab a bag of chips (fighting and hiding from attackers sure works up an appetite) before heading out of the Walgreens.

On the way back, Warriors showed the girls the basics of how to use their guns, promising to give them a better lesson later.

HYRULE - OLD GAS STATION - JUNE 17th, 8:32pm

Before delving into a very nutritious and delicious dinner of chips, protein bars, and soda, Hyrule excused himself to the bathroom to wash his hands and take his pills.

Sure, it was hard finding places to fill his prescription while on the road as often as he was. But it was worth the annoyances if he could actually focus on the road and fill up on gas without freaking out that every little shadow was out to get him.

In the bathroom, Hyrule placed his lemonade on the sink and dug through his pockets for the bottle that he has been carrying around ever since the apocalypse started. Thankfully, he had needed to take his meds at dinner that fateful day, so he had them with him.

He removed the lid and paled upon seeing what was inside.

There was only one dosage left.

They were just at a pharmacy! Couldn’t Hyrule have remembered his paranoia while they were there?

Guess not.

Hyrule took the remaining pill, washing them down with lemonade before he could think too much about what that meant.

Turning on the tap, Hyrule washed his hands and left the bathroom, meaning to pull either Dawn or Aurora to the side to let them know.

HYRULE - AN ABANDONED GAS STATION - JUNE 18th, 3:45am

Yeah…Hyrule never got the chance to pull his sisters away and let them know about the sudden lack of his medication.

He woke up in the middle of the night, and was instantly on edge.

He sat up from where he had curled up in the armchair he had claimed in the two days they’d been there.

Dawn and Aurora were lying on the couch, their heads at opposite ends and their legs tangled in the middle. Across from Hyrule was Warriors, his scarf slung over the back of his armchair. And then Dusk was curled up on a beanbag chair that barely held her body comfortably.

Hyrule sat there for a few minutes. Jumping at every sound and only half believing himself when he told himself it was ‘just the AC’.

The only light came from the refrigerators that lined one wall, and the streetlights outside. The shadows didn’t flicker or move, but Hyrule kept staring into them, half expecting a monster in his likeness to jump out at him.

Hyrule stepped off of the armchair, leaving his blanket behind as he padded over to a window. Once he got there, Hyrule lifted a blind and peered through the new hole.

The street was dimly illuminated by streetlights that hadn’t gotten the message of the apocalypse yet, and were just going about their day. Turning on at a set time every night, casting a sphere of orange onto the sidewalk below. A few ReDeads lurched back and forth across the street. They didn’t seem to be finding any prey tonight.

There was the sound of fabric rubbing against fabric as someone shifted in their sleep. There was also…a clinking sound that you didn’t normally hear when someone rolled over.

Hyrule left the window and walked back around the couch. In the dim light, he could barely see something black, tucked under the Captain’s arm.

Hyrule stepped closer, grateful that he was wearing socks. They muffled his steps as he approached. When he got close enough, Hyrule could tell that the thing was his gun.

Why is Warriors sleeping with his gun?

He clearly feels unsafe, but of what?

Does he think someone here will attack him at night?

What if he attacks Dawn or Aurora?

Of all the paranoid thoughts racing through his head, that last one was the most prevalent. Hyrule glanced over to where his best friends were fast asleep, then back to the Captain.

Slowly, Hyrule delicately grabbed the gun from under Warriors’ arm and pulled it free like it was a Jenga piece. Whenever he was met with resistance, he stopped for a heartbeat or two, waiting to see if Warriors would wake. When he didn’t, Hyrule tried from a different angle. Until finally, he had the gun’s barrel in his fist.

Hyrule didn’t know how to use a gun. Hell, despite Wars’ lessons about how to use a gun for the girls, he didn’t even know the difference between the safety release and the magazine release. So he just kept it in a firm grip, pointed away from anyone, his fingers well away from the trigger.

Hyrule also picked up Dusk’s gun when he saw it laying beside her bean bag chair.

Then he straightened and looked around. Now all he has to do is find a good hiding spot…

When that was done, Hyrule curled back up in his armchair, now significantly more comfortable (and tired). He threw the blanket over him and then positioned his sword against the chair in such a way that he could grab it if need be. Then, he fell back into sleep.