Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a joke.
A silly, meaningless joke.
Squiddo and Ashswag were lying on their bed, staring at the ceiling and not doing anything. An average day, where they didn't have any responsibilities or anything to do.
That's when Squiddo spoke up.
"Hey, Ash?"
He glanced at her. "What is it?"
"Would you still love me if I was a cannibalistic zombie?"
They both laughed, before Ashswag replied, "Only if you promise not to bite me."
"Awh, fine.."
It was just a meaningless little conversation. Something they forgot about a day later.
…
Until the apocalypse hit.
Hordes of people turning into mindless husks of their former selves.
A gory landscape of red and pink.
Ashswag held a rifle in his hand, staring at a group of zombies making their way towards him and his teammates. They had just gone out for a supply run, which was always risky, but especially this time since they had headed to a store far from their bunker.
He aimed his gun at one of the zombies, preparing to fire when—
"WAIT!"
…Shit.
Squiddo was still inside the store.
"Squiddo?! You're gonna get hurt, get out of there!" Ashswag yelled out, turning his head to look back, the groans of the zombies slowly getting louder as they approached.
"It- It's okay! I can handle it myself. You guys just deal with the ones outside!"
Ashswag turned back around, aiming his gun again. He fired at one of the zombies, a loud gunshot echoing through the destitute city. He did the same with a few other zombies, while his teammate took care of the rest of them.
The crowd of zombies was reduced to nothing but a bloody mess. Guts and brain matter spilled everywhere, splattering all over the empty sidewalk.
He let out an exhausted sigh, making his way inside the store to check if Squiddo was okay. His teammate followed after him, the two stepping inside.
The lights flickered dimly, his gaze moving to look at Squiddo fighting off two zombies. He breathed a sigh of relief, until he noticed another injured zombie crawling behind her.
"Watch out– Behind you!" Ashswag called out, aiming his gun.
But it was too late.
The zombie sunk its teeth into Squiddo's ankle. Her legs collapsed to the floor. She immediately stuck her other leg out to lift herself up, limping slightly as she did.
"Shit–" She inhaled sharply, wincing in pain.
Ashswag and their teammate immediately took shots at the zombies, each of them falling to the floor. He ran up to Squiddo, kneeling down in front of her. "Are you okay? How does it feel?!"
"L- Leave me… I probably won't make it anyway… " She let out a weak laugh.
"I'm not leaving you," He said firmly.
"But… the zombie– I got bit, I'm infected now…"
"I said I'm not leaving you."
His teammate called out from behind them. "C'mon, dude! We can't bring it back to the base. What if everyone else gets infected too?!"
"I won't just leave her–" Ashswag paused, looking up at him. "...It?"
His teammate backed away slightly, quickly trying to cover up his mistake. "Like– Like the infection, y'know?"
"Is that all it takes for you to stop seeing her as human? Getting bit?"
"Waitwaitwait–"
Ashswag looked back at Squiddo, grabbing her in his arms and carrying her. He stood up and continued to speak. "If that's what it is, maybe you're the one that can hardly be called human."
He pushed past the other man, going in the opposite direction from their base. His former teammate stared after him, a stunned expression on his face.
He walked aimlessly for a bit, searching for any sign of shelter or supplies. Finally, after about ten or so minutes of wandering, Ashswag looked down at Squiddo, examining her carefully.
"How do you feel? Any symptoms?"
There was a moment of silence between them, before she muttered one single word. "...Tired."
He tried his best to remember back to all those articles he had read on the infection and what happened when someone got bit.
Dry skin… headaches… patches of skin falling off… discoloration…
Ashswag sighed, before returning his attention back to Squiddo. He didn't have time to think about symptoms. He needed to get her help.
"Does it still hurt?"
Squiddo nodded weakly.
"Stay calm, I– I'll get us help. I promise," He said, looking up at the desolate cityscape in front of him.
Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in years, as if everyone who had been there had fleed as soon as the apocalypse hit.
…Or worse.
Ashswag quickly shook that thought off. If there were any dead bodies or zombies around here, he'd notice.
He glanced around at all the empty buildings. Surely there had to be something here. Leftover supplies, food, medicine, he was desperate for anything at this point.
Trash was strewn around all over the streets. Soda cans, plastic bags, empty water bottles, anything but things he could use.
That was when he got a whiff of something strange. Something metallic, almost rotting. The scent of… blood?
Ashswag turned his head to notice a smear of red on the wall next to him, pausing. He looked up to see a large apartment building. He thought about it for a second, before deciding to step inside.
He made his way up the steps, trying to find an apartment that he could get into. Soon, he spotted an apartment door left slightly ajar. He walked up to it and looked inside, making sure there weren't any zombies inside.
When he saw it was empty, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Ashswag glanced around the room. It was messy, with half eaten food, cans, and random boxes lying around. There was an old, tattered couch to the side, where he chose to lay Squiddo down on.
"I'm gonna check if there's any good supplies. Don't move your leg, okay?"
She nodded, muttering out a few words. He could hardly make sense of it, but he could faintly make out an 'I'm sorry'.
"...What for?"
"If I just paid attention– If I just turned around– It's my fault for getting bit, you had to leave the team and find a different base, we won't find any supplies, I'm gonna get infected…" She spoke, talking a mile a minute.
When Ashswag finally registered everything she just said, he stopped. "Listen– Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. And if they were gonna insult you like that… I don't wanna be around them anyway."
She opened her mouth to fight back, before giving up and closing it. Ashswag turned around, walking around the apartment to find supplies.
He stepped into the bathroom, opening the cabinets and spotting a first-aid kit. He grabbed it, heading back to the couch and showing Squiddo the first aid kit.
He knelt down, opened the kit up, and began cleaning the bite with a wipe from the kit. Squiddo winced in pain slightly at the feeling.
"How did those guys at the base do it again?" He muttered to himself, applying gauze over the wound. He then wrapped a gauze roll around it, securing the bandage with tape.
When he was done, he gave his work an approving nod as he looked over her leg. "Should be good… You don't have any other injuries, right?
Squiddo shook her head in response.
"Alright… I'll get you some water. Don't move your head too much." Ashswag said, making his way to the kitchen. He looked around for a minute, just to see if there was any food. There were still unopened cans left out, as if someone had been planning on eating them.
He figured the owner of this place must've left recently. His mind went back to the blood outside the apartment.
That couldn't be…
He tried not to think about it as he grabbed a plastic cup, filling it up with water from the sink. He was slightly surprised the water was still on, and checked to see if it was contaminated. Once he determined it was fine, he went back to the living room and handed Squiddo the cup.
She took a drink from it, while Ashswag looked around the living room some more as he sat down next to her.
"There's still some food here. Looks safe to eat… At least I think so," He spoke as he examined the cluttered apartment. "Water's fine too."
"You wanna live here?" She asked, glancing at him.
"Eh, it's not like there's anywhere else we can go…" He shrugged, before trailing off.
"But… I'm pretty sure the previous owners died– The blood outside, the messy living room, and there was stuff in the kitchen that was still unopened. I'm not too sure if it's safe."
Squiddo thought for a moment. "Well, if they aren't using it…" She shrugged.
Ashswag just let out a hum, leaning back against the couch. "Then we'll stay here."
The two just sat there after that, not sure what to say. It was a lot more lively when they had a full team. Neither of them were upset that they were spending time alone– In fact, it was the first time they were together like this in a while.
But it was scary, not knowing how long they had left, if there was a zombie just around the corner, if one of them would get hurt or not…
The feeling got even worse whenever either of them looked at Squiddo's leg. How long until she got infected? Would she even get infected, or would she just die from the bite?
And if she did turn into a zombie…
Would she kill Ashswag?
Their eyes locked for a moment, an unspoken feeling between them. Fear? Protectiveness? Neither of them knew what.
That was when they could faintly hear two voices from down the hallway, as well as footsteps.
"...almost had a heart attack…"
"Oh my god…"
Both of them looked at the door in confusion and worry. The footsteps drew ever closer, Ashswag instinctively moving closer to Squiddo.
Finally, the noises stopped. The door creaked open.
Four pairs of eyes all stared at each other in disbelief and shock.