Chapter Text
*GASP*
I open my eyes and frantically gasp for air. As I try to stand up, my bones start to ache, and I fall to the ground. The cold floor hits the left side of my body. My hospital gown bringing no warmth at all.
"Gwen..." I whisper weakly as I try to crawl on the floor.
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ONE MONTH BEFORE
It seems like this battle is never ending.
The Green Goblin takes another blow at me. I shoot a web to his face, successfully freeing myself from his hold.
I climb to the wall.
"Listen Goblin, we can do this the easy way..."
I shoot another web at him.
"Or the hard way"
"You damn web-slinger...I swear I'll KILL YOU!!!"
In less than a second, he lunges at me.
We fight back-to-back for some minutes, until fire erupts.
It came out of nowhere...the place looked like hell in only five seconds. I feel heat and smoke on my face.
I begin to cough.
I begin to feel weak!
How could a simple fire make me so weak! I must fight...I have to....
I hear the laughter of the Green Goblin close to my ear.
"Now...it's time to see who you really are behind that mask Spider-Man..."
His hand removes my mask in one swift swipe.
He drops it.
"P-Peter? Peter PARKER?" I can see his face looking horrified. He steps back, stumbling.
"I-I..."
He slowly slips off his mask.
My eyesight feels weak, I can almost feel myself faint.
My blurry vision almost maps out the Green Goblin to be....
Norman Osborn?
That...that can't be...
Harry....
The fire starts to feel more intense.
Norman does the unthinkable.
He carries me out of the fire.
As I pass out, I can hear his voice.
"HELP"
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BACK TO PRESENT DAY
As I'm busy crawling on the floor, I lift my head up to look at my surroundings.
I'm in a hospital.
"Nurse....nurse!" I yell, trying to get help.
No one.
I notice that the clock on the wall doesn't tick.
The flowers that were next to my bed are dried up.
How long has it been...?
Since....
Since what...?
I grab my head trying to remember...everything aches.
Suddenly it comes to me.
I remember now.
I was in a battle...with the Goblin...
Norman.
Norman is the Goblin.
I have to go after him! He can't get away from me...
I finally gather the strength to stand up.
"You'll pay Norman..." I whisper to myself, as I stumble through the room and reach for the door.
Everything here looks gray.... almost abandoned.
"Hello? Anyone in here?"
I look at the hospital lobby, and no one is there. No one waiting in line, no doctors, no nurses.
What is going on here? Am I going crazy? Is this all just a dream?
Suddenly I hear something. Finally! Something living in this place!
"Hello-"
Then it comes.
The thing. I don't even know what to call it right now. It's dead, for sure. But it's walking. It's a living-dead creature. It's walking sort of sluggish, and its skin is pale. The eyes are lifeless. Barely any hair. On its forehead, a lump of flesh is missing.
I scream in pure terror.
My instinct immediately reacts, and I shoot up a web at the face of the creature.
Well, that does nothing but make it angrier.
By that point, I just make a run for it. I run down the hallway, but it seems to be a dead end.
The door in the way is locked down with a piece of wood. With messy paint, someone wrote,
"DONT OPEN. DEAD INSIDE"
Right as I try to process the information, the door starts shaking and rumbling.
They're coming.
I run, but I bump into the other dead thing I saw first.
I punch and it, but it keeps trying to come near my face. It hisses, and it opens its mouth to try and bite me. I jump under it and web its arms together.
I run and I can already hear the mounds of dead coming from behind me. I manage to find the nearest exit (successfully this time), and lock the door shut. Hopefully that keeps them in there. Though I doubt it, as they crashed through the other door, even with the wooden lock.
The sun beams brightly on my face. I can smell the putrid odor of something, but I can't seem to find-
Then I see it, hundreds of corpses. Flies lingering above them. I resist the urge to puke.
What the hell happened here?
Is this some sort of pandemic? Disease spread? What could have caused this?
Aunt May...Gwen... are they okay? All of my friends?
I immediately run frantically, still in my hospital gown, and barefoot, towards my house.
I have to make sure everyone's okay...
As I'm running, the whole city seems dead.
Cars are parked but none are moving.
I look closer at one of them.
One of the dead are inside there.
My heart starts beating more and more, out of fear.
Those things are repulsing.
I run and run. Nothing can stop me. Little pebbles hurt my feet, but I don't care. The ground is burning hot and I'm sweating bullets.
After a couple of minutes of running, I'm out of breath. I decide to just web through the city, like old times, even if I'm half naked in this hospital gown, with my suit gone. I mean, half of the city is probably already dead. Doesn't matter if I reveal myself now.
I finally get home. I try to open the door. It's locked.
"Aunt May!" I shout. "It's me, Peter!"
Silence.
"AUNT MAY!" I scream. I knock the door like crazy.
Silence.
"I'm coming in!"
With one swift kick, I knock the door open.
"Aunt May?"
The house is completely silent. And everything is put exactly where it's supposed to.
I cautiously walk around, making sure there are no of those...dead things around.
"Aunt May..." I whisper.
She's nowhere to be found. My heart starts pounding a million times per second. What if...what if she's in the mounds of bodies over there at the hospital?
No.
That can't be. I mean I'm sure Aunt May had people who could have helped her. Even without Uncle Ben, she can take care of herself. I'm sure Anna Watson took her with her. I'm sure Mary Jane came to check up on her. I'm sure Gwen did too and-
"AUNT MAY" I yell out of desperation.
I go up to her room and try to find if there's any signs of her packing or leaving.
I look through her drawers, and her clothes are still there. What I do notice is that all the photographs she had put up are gone.
What would my Aunt May never leave behind?
Pictures! Of course. Pictures of Uncle Ben, embarrassing ones of my high school years,
Bingo.
So, she's alive. Aunt May must be alive. Maybe she went somewhere. But now I have to find her.
I start to feel a bit uneasy as my throat starts to swell up. My only question right now is,
What the hell is going on?
I stumble as I go into my room, open my drawers can change into some regular clothes. I quickly grab a a duffel bag and pack stuff I think I might need. I rush out the door.
I have no idea where to go.
Should I go into a random house? Try to investigate?
As I walk through the street, I start to feel uneasy again. Like I'm about to faint. I go into a random house porch and I sit down.
It takes my entire will to not start sobbing my eyes out right then and there.
I start to feel woozy and I stand up. I stumble slightly and I feel my eyes close as-
"NED! I GOT ONE!"
It's a woman's voice. Then-
THUMP
Someone hits me from behind and everything goes to black.
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"Betty, you did it! You got one of those walkers!"
"Told you I could! Now let's see here...OH MY GOD! PETER?"
Betty steps back in horror and looks at Ned, who's face in shock.
"B-Betty..what do we..."
Betty immediately drags Peter towards the house. "C'mon Ned, help me get Peter to a bed. AND quick!"
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My eyes open and I find myself laying down in a bed.
I try to get up, but my hands and feet and handcuffed onto the bed.
"HEY" I scream. "HEY"
Suddenly a woman comes in the room and makes a "hush" noise with her mouth.
"Peter quiet down now, you'll attract more walkers!"
"Betty?"
Betty nodded. "Yes, Peter, it's me."
"Now let me get you uncuffed..." Betty searched in her pocket and pulled out a key which she used to slowly remove my cuffs.
"Why...why did you cuff me? I'm not dangerous..."
Betty suppressed a laugh. "It wasn't me who cuffed you, Peter" she says as she removes my feet cuffs. "It was Ned."
"But why?" I say standing up. "I mean, what the hell is going on? Where's everyone? What are those dead things walking around? What are walkers?"
Betty gives me a confused expression. "Peter, I must have hit your head really bad..."
As I'm about to answer that I'm genuinely confused, Ned comes in the room.
"Hey Peter. C'mon, I made us some soup."
Betty and I follow him into the dining room. Everything is lit up with lanterns, it seems like there is no electricity. All of the windows are shut off with wood, expect for the one on the door. Are they trying to protect themselves from the dead? Or people? I decide to keep my questions for the table.
The soup has already been served. I take my seat. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating.
"So, Peter, have you been living under a rock?"
All I do is stare at Ned and blink. How do I explain to him the fact that I was in a coma and left behind by everyone?
"I was in a coma...I just woke today to find..." I throw my arms up in the air dramatically. "This"
Betty looks at me in awe. "Well, Peter, we might as well explain what's going on. But beware, this might be a lot to take in so be prepared."
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SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK
"I think I got one...finally...something actually good to eat here..."
Flash points his bow towards the deer, while it calmly stares directly at him.
Next to Flash is Harry, who is guarding them both from walkers by keeping his rifle raised, ready to shoot. Or that is what he tells himself. In reality, Harry had never touched a gun in his life. Let alone kill someone. It was until this shit-show happened that Norman gave him one. Harry doesn't like the idea of having to shoot walkers, even if they are technically dead. He's afraid. Terribly.
Flash is about to make his shot. The deer is perfectly within the reach of his arrow. The idea of having a somewhat decent meal excites Flash.
He's about to let his arrow go until...
Another bow shoots, and its arrow hits the head of the deer. The deer goes down.
"Hey! Who the hell stole my shot?" Flash yells into the woods. "That was supposed to be my meal!"
"You mean OUR meal..." Harry says.
"Oh, yeah. Whoever stole that from me I swear I'll beat..."
Suddenly Harry puts his hand over Flash's mouth. "Shut up! Something's coming..." Harry whispers as he gently lays his rifle down and makes Flash crouch down. "Lie down."
Footsteps are heard.
"But the deer..."
"Hush! Do you want to get us killed?"
Both of them watch as the footsteps get louder and louder...
Norman Osborn comes out of the bushes and drags the deer.
Flash's face goes through relief and fury in a matter of seconds.
He gets up and runs towards Norman.
Harry runs after him. "Wait up!"
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"Here Peter, take this. It's a bit old, but it'll help you not get tired so easily."
Ned drags me a blue, beaten-up bicycle.
"Thank you." I say, as I drag out toward the road, ready to leave. "And thank you for everything."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us a bit more Peter? You need rest." Betty tells me.
"I'm sure Betty. I need to find Aunt May anyway."
Betty comes closer and kisses my cheek. "Take care Peter. We'll be here if you ever need to come back."
Ned hands me a long knife.
"You'll need this. Shooting them works, but the noise attracts more of them. Stab them in the head."
"Thank you".
I start my way to find Aunt May.
I bike so fast I feel like I'm almost going to fly. I don't even know where to go. I just bike forward and let the road lead my path.
As I'm biking, I think about the walkers. I think about how scared Aunt May must have been, Gwen.
I just want to see them both again.
I hear a noise.
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"Flash please, don't do something stupid-" Harry says, trying to calm Flash down.
Flash goes up to Norman and shoves him.
"Hey man, that was my shot! What do you think you're doing? You weren't supposed to go hunting with us, you're supposed to keep watch with May, remember?"
Norman brushes off his shoulder where Flash touched him. "I might not be keeping watch, but at least I'm supporting this damn group! While you and Harry are being
useless, I'm trying to keep us alive."
"What do you know about hunting you old man? Ever since this thing started all you've been is a piece of shit-"
Harry tries to separate them. "C'mon Flash, lay off it okay? Let's get back to the camp now. May must be wondering where we are. Dad, let me help you with the deer..." Harry says, as he grabs Norman's wrist. Norman pulls away sharply.
"I can do it myself."
Flash scoffs. "Well go back to the camp old guy, me and Harry are going to get some supplies from the city. C'mon Harry."
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I turn around as I hear that noise and a crowd the size... maybe the size of the entire city of New York is behind me. The sight is terrifying. Just guts all over the place, hanging off their face, body.
I try to bike faster, but another crowd of walkers comes after me.
That's exactly when I start panicking.
I take out the knife Ned gave me and start trying to attack the walkers. I stab one of them in the head and it falls.
I'm terrified but I keep doing that. I try to shoot some webs as well, but as they keep coming, I can't keep up anymore.
I find one of those military tanks, just stationed in the middle of the road.
I web myself up to it. The walkers still keep coming.
I go inside the tank.
Finally, some peace-
A walker inside awakens and I stab it immediately.
I try to catch my breath.
How am I going to get out of this place if it's filled with walkers everywhere?
KNOCK
What the-
I hear the camera screen buzz.
I hear laughter.
"Hey dumbass."
Flash? And Harry?