Chapter Text
Scott was lying down on the couch in Impulse's living room. Him, Cleo, Bigb, and Pearl were crashing at Impulse's place for a meet up. It was chill time and Scott wanted to relax and get comfortable. He stretched himself out over the couch, laying on his stomach.
He didn't have anything better to do, so he was on his phone scrolling. Better descriptor, doom scrolling. His feed was mostly filled with cat videos and the occasional video game gameplay. He normally watched those all the way through, but today he was bored, so he continued scrolling past.
Whilst scrolling these he stumbled upon an video of someone recording a human? Was it human? It looked almost dead. The person holding the phone was clearly shaking as the view was extremely unstable. They camera steadied as it zoomed in to the creature. It was following someone, keeping up way too well as the person was running from it. Just as he was about to scroll, the person running tripped and the creature caught up, killing them.
The camera started to shake more again. A truck driving very unsafely. It ran into the building right next to the person recording with a loud crunch. As this happened the person recording screamed and the video cut off. Scott gagged at the gore. The scream and gag grabbing the attention of Cleo.
"Scott? Are you okay? What are you watching?" They asked with genuine concern. They looked over to him from the place she was sitting on the floor. Sitting not to far from him, but not too close either.
"Cleo, I just watched someone get murdered! Who would post this to the internet? And why hasn't it been taken down?" He inquired, recalling it with disgust.
"Show me," Cleo basically demanded, pulling the phone out of Scott's hand. Scott handed her his phone letting her watch the video. After watching it she appeared to have the same look of disgust on her face, "they haven't taken this down?"
"No, do you think it's edited? It looks like a really realistic zombie costume." Scott said, rambling off a bit.
Cleo shook her head, "I don't think it's edited or a costume. Would it be crazy if I claimed the impossible?"
Scott grabbed his phone from Cleo. Deciding to take a moment to think about it before responding, "I suppose it could be real. How would there even be zombies though? I haven't heard anyone else talking about this. I feel as though it would be big news." He wasn't so keen on just believing one video, people make pranks all the time! What would make this one not?
"That is what I want to know. Does it say where it is? Maybe we can figure it out from there," Cleo asked. She had gotten up brushing off their legs. Scott shook his head. He had also gotten up to follow Cleo. Cleo continued her thoughts, "I think we should tell everyone, and prepare just in case. This does seem to be serious."
"I just don't know if I can believe in zombies, Cleo, doesn't that seem like an outrageous claim?"
"Say that when you're dead. You're not the only one to have seen a video like that. That is why I asked."
Scott rolled his eyes, but followed Cleo as she found Pearl, Bigb and Impulse. They moved back into the living room, everyone taking a seat. Scott was sitting next to Cleo sort of leaning on them. Impulse had claimed a seat in the recliner, and Bigb was on the other side of Scott while Pearl sat on the floor beside him.
"Cleo? You said this would be important. I am kind of worried." Impulse starting up the conversation, "what did you need us all for?"
"Has anyone else here seen videos of death and things that look like gory zombies from movies?" Cleo asked, looking around.
Pearl and Bigb exchanged glances before Pearl nodded. "We were just talking about this, it seems like in the past two days they have been springing up. If it was one or two it would seem like a prank, but I don't think it is."
Impulse looked confused, "there has been what circulating?"
"Let me pull this up," Scott responded, grabbing his phone to look for the video he had just seen. He pulled up his watch history before getting up and offering his phone to Impulse. He watched Impulse take it and his face turn to disgust just as Cleo's had. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight.
Scott took his phone back before carefully taking his seat back. He put his phone away going back to lean on Cleo. A sense of comfort when it seemed like something bad was about to start.
"I am not completely convinced that this is not a mass prank! Maybe a company trying to promote their movie! It could be CGI!" Impulse claimed after a moment of thought.
Scott nodded against Cleo before speaking, "he has a point, CGI has gotten pretty good these days. Also, with the rise of AI, maybe this is a trend?"
Cleo shook her head and folded her arms, making her slightly uncomfortable to lean on. "I don't think it's possible it's AI. I haven't seen an AI video that realistic and that long ever," Cleo said in reply, "and I wish it is CGI, but can a movie really fund all of the accounts?"
"Maybe, just maybe, something on the news will confirm our suspicions." Bigb reached for the remote and started to flick through channels. It took about five or six before finding the news channel.
They had gotten lucky as the reporters were currently reporting on strange things happening in Nevada, near Arizona. According to the reporters, several fires had started in Las Vegas. They also reported that when firefighters had come trying to fight said fires, their trucks were later found crashed.
Bigb clicked the TV off before they could finish their reports. "If that does not confirm it, I do not know what does."
Scott has instinctively huddled closer to Cleo. The rest of the group looked stunned. Impulse shifted uncomfortably in the new silence. Pearl looked utterly flabbergasted. She kept that expression for longer before speaking, "so what are we supposed to do? I can't say I have been in a zombie apocalypse before."
"We need to get preparing. We need to prepare food, water, clothing, and shelter. I can't say I have ever dealt with this either, but if the world shuts down, we will not have easy access to food," Impulse told the group, "I need to get Skizz and Tango!"
Impulse had gotten up abruptly causing Cleo to get up quickly after him. In turn this knocked Scott off to the side of the couch. He turned to Pearl and Bigb, "so, now what?"
"I think we need to prepare mate," Pearl replied, "how does one we do that? I don't know!"
"We could search Impulse's house for goods?" Bigb asked. He got up and looked under the cushion of the couch, "nothing there!"
Pearl got up after him and playfully bonked him on the head, "who would keep what is necessary for a zombie apocalypse in their couch cushions?"
"You never know what treasures you find in the couch cushions Pearl!" Bigb exclaimed.
Scott slowly got up after them, following along. He was trying his best to ignore their constant chit chat while still chiming in here and there to act as though he were actually paying attention. At some point he split off from them in the search, saying it would be better if they covered more area. Even though he thought it was silly to treat Impulse's home like a large area.
He began in the garage looking for things like flashlights and camping things. He assumed this would be where Impulse would store it. Digging through the shelves he found some flashlights, batteries and a set of tools.
He expanded his search over to the next set of shelves finding the camping supplies. "What do I even bring from this?" He muttered to himself. He shuffled around the shelves looking for anything he thought could be valuable. He grabbed the solar charging bricks, mess kits and first aid kit. He attempted to grab another first aid kit, nearly dropping it.
Scott decided it wasn't worth trying to carry anymore so he made his way back to the steps outside the garage door. With too much in his hands he had to careful place some of it down on the step below him. He opened the door and used his body to hold it as he grabbed the stuff he had placed.
He took the rest of his findings to the table where they had decided to keep all the "treasures", (as Bigb had put it), and set his things next to the rest of it. He was surprised to only find snacks. "Snacks? Really just snacks?" Scott mumbled to himself.
"They're not just any snacks Scott," Pearl responded, "They're travel snacks for the end of the world."
Scott jumped, trying to keep his composer, "Pearl? Where did you come from?"
"I was raiding impulses cabinets. He doesn't have enough snacks, so this is all I have been able to find," She replied with a sad tone before quickly adding, "With Bigb's help of course."
She seemed proud of herself so Scott just chuckled. "I am sure snacks are the most important thing for the end of the world."
Scott watched as Pearl gave him a grin, likely the grin of approval. She left saying she was going to find wherever Bigb was. Scott walked over to the window, not expecting to see much. It was sunny out and not a cloud was in the sky. Impulse was also dragging Skizz down the street with Cleo following closely behind. All besides the last part seemed like a normal day, not the end of the world.
Scott couldn't help himself from laughing while they made it to the front door. Skizz was doing the typical skizzisms. Impulse got him in the door and Skizz exclaimed, "you could have just asked!" This made Scott start to laugh harder.
"Smajor! Dipple-dop dragged me over here saying, 'there is a zombie apocalypse and I am not letting you die'. Please tell me what is going on."
"The end of the world. The end of the world is happening and everyone had decided to film it." Scott told Skizz, "and now we can prepare properly. I tried my best to find things on your house but I don't know it well enough." Scott motioned towards the coffee table full of snacks and gear.
"Ah, I probably should have at least directed you to that before I ran off.." Impulse let out a chuckle after he said it.
Scott shook is head in a condescending but silly way. "Impulse.. you really should have. Now we should collect the others so we can fully prepare. I really doubt the zombies are going to sit around and wait for us."
Impulse nodded, "let me find Bigb and Pearl." He left for the stairs, leaving Cleo, Skizz and Scott in the living room.
Scott not knowing what to do sat down and started organizing the items they had gathered. Ignoring the conversation until Bigb and Pearl were gathered. When they had been, the group started to discuss how to leave, what they needed, and what they thought may or may not happen.
After they had discussed, everyone was left to gather what they had been told. They slowly started to fill the truck with what they needed. After everything they had on them that they felt they needed had been packed it had become dark. Rest was needed they would buy what they needed tomorrow.
Scott settled down on the cot that had been set up for him. He settled into the blankets staring up at the ceiling. Today he had learned it was they end of the world, tomorrow he had to uproot his life so it would end. It felt a bit to hard to sleep, but as the exhaustion of the day hit him he slowly drifted off into slumber.
Scott woke up to the emergency alert blasting from his phone. He blinked at the light, his eyes slowly adjusting. It was two thirty in the morning, what could this possibly be? He opened the alert to read it.
It read, "EMERGENCY ALERT: Officials have discovered there is some kind of disease that is slowly killing people and sending them into a zombie like state. It is spreading quickly. It started in Las Vegas and has spread to as far as Kingman Arizona, Lund Nevada, Los Angeles California in just a few hours. STAY INSIDE. Do not panic. Barricade your windows and keep your doors locked. Officers and scientists are working on how to stop the spread of the disease."
Scott sat up so fast it made him dizzy. He sat there trying to regain his composure hearing Bigb rush down the stairs.
"They have reached where Grian is. We have to go, we need to get there before they kill him!" Bigb sounded urgent.
Pearl had followed him groggily as he was waking everyone up. Scott stood up and went over to him, "stay calm. If we want to get there in time we need to not panic and make things sloppy." He said resting a hand on his shoulder.
Bigb nodded before asking Scott to get Skizz and Impulse. He nodded walking over to where they were sleeping. He woke them up and informed them of what was happening, questioning how they didn't wake up to their phones screaming.
Both of them got up and got dressed as quickly as possible. Once everyone had gathered Bigb started to file them into the truck. Skizz and Impulse were in the front, Bigb and Cleo in the middle, and Pearl and Scott had been stuck in the back. They started on the road, headed for Kingman.
Scott tried to stay awake as best he could, but the sleep came back to him. He had been waking up consistently during the night, and struggling to go back to sleep. Even though the car was bumpy, he supposed he just was that tired.
He woke up to the truck screeching to a stop. He watched as Bigb jumped out of the truck and rushed towards a house on this street. Scott moved to get the sun out of his eye before looking back out the window. He watched as Grian stepped out of the building, followed by Bigb.
A zombie slowly appeared from behind one of the houses. It sped up significantly seeing the people outside the vehicle. It caught up to Grian, as it did Bigb launched himself at Grian and screamed! "GRIAN!" They both tumbled out of the way just as the Zombie lunged towards where Grian was standing.