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“Everything should be fine in about a week, I think.”
Cecil had been saying as much for nearly three weeks now, but Carlos figured it gave him hope. After all, according to him, it wasn’t the first apocalypse to hit Night Vale. It wasn’t even the longest one given that the apocalypse of 1925 lasted nearly eight months. But, for Carlos, the sudden and complete isolation from the entire world and sudden extreme drop in population wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t even normal by the strange standards for Night Vale. It was just terrifying because occasionally he wondered what would happen if Cecil was wrong.
Scrubbing at his face with his hands, he quickly rose from his swivel chair, eyes tired of looking at notes and slides and trying to figure out a way to make everything normal again. He could feel Cecil watching him from where he sat on a table. He wanted to be angry at him for his constant optimism and smiles but he couldn’t. Not really.
After all, Cecil had did little more than issue the warning on his show of a rain storm (because of course a rainstorm would bring about the apocalypse) before actually ending it early and rushing to Carlos’ lab. He had thought the other was being overdramatic and just a bit paranoid, but sure enough, by time the rain stopped only a third of Night Vale was left.
Cecil had been pretty happy about their mutual survival until he learned that Steve Carlsberg had survived the apocalypse as well.
Taking a deep breath, he looked around his lab with a scowl. “I need more samples. I need more data. I—I need fresh air.”
Hopping off his perch, Cecil smiled brightly at him and nodded. “Outside we shall go. Just remember to grab your gun and aim for the head if anything comes at you,” he said as though there was nothing wrong with the way they found themselves living.
Certainly Carlos never saw himself as the post-apocalyptic type, but after a nasty run in with what Cecil said was just a butterfly, he learned. So he grabbed the hand guns the remaining members of the NRA had given out, happy to have everyone on their side for once, and followed Cecil out.
If not for the lack of people it would’ve looked like any other day. But even the hooded figures seemed to move with caution since the rainstorm. It made being outside or marginally better than slowly going stir crazy inside his lab.
“So, where are we off to today?” Cecil asked in his far too relaxed voice.
Running a hand through his hair, Carlos couldn’t immediately say. Instead he let his feet carry him for a few minutes before stopping. “We need meat and then maybe we should see Steve.”
The other man groaned loudly as he rolled his eyes. “This is why I hate apocalypses. It involves seeing Steve far too much.”
“He might be able to help me solve this and—“
“I know. I know. He had rations and all that. I just really hate when Steve becomes the go-to-guy.”
The way he complained about Steve as though nothing had changed baffled Carlos, but he had stopped questioning it two weeks ago. Cecil either knew how to manage or was in a very helpful state of denial. Carlos just couldn’t quite figure out which.
Hell, it didn’t even really matter as the former radio host began to make his way to Steve’s, taking the ‘shortcut’ through Old Night Vale, gun drawn. He never let his hand shake or got jumpy, although Carlos had almost broken both habits already. Everything about him was calm, even as a large, slinking figure passed by them with a startling speed.
Swallowing, Carlos almost didn’t notice that Cecil had not only stopped, but had grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. With his shoulder pressed tightly to Cecil’s, he tried not to keep his gun steady as he internally panicked.
“Do you think we should’ve stopped?” He questioned in a hushed voice.
Licking his chapped lips, Cecil didn’t even manage to get a word out. Gun following the figure’s movements, he didn’t even manage a shot before it struck him from behind.
Jumping out of the way, Carlos lifted his gun with unsteady hands as he took in the creature Cecil was struggling under. He couldn’t tell what part was the head or anything. All he could see was Cecil’s hand clawing at it as he screamed out words that didn’t make sense to Carlos. There was a familiar noise amongst the screams and shrill cries of the creature. Then as quickly as it struck, the beast stopped moving.
It simply fell to the side and Cecil climbed out from under it. Finding his balance on unsteady feet, Cecil let out a few hacking coughs as he glared at it. “This is why I hate rabbits.”
Carlos didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t until he felt a hand on top of his did he snap out of his stupor, nearly pulling the trigger of the gun.
“Whoa. Save bullets. You already shot off two,” Cecil said as he rubbed his back, trying to calm him.
Lowering the gun, his entire body shaking violently, he looked toward his boyfriend with wide eyes. “What? I didn’t shoot—“
“Yeah you did. You killed it.”
When he checked the gun, he was surprised to find out that Cecil had been right. Somehow, in the midst of it all, he had killed the supposed rabbit. The fact that he couldn’t remember it bothered him nearly as much as the idea of losing Cecil.
“What are we going to do with that?” He asked as he nodded at the rabbit.
Cecil sighed as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “We’ll bring it to Steve’s. Let him clean it, I guess. You ok?”
Carlos nodded. “I’m fine. You?”
The guy merely shrugged as though it was nothing. It was the first time that Carlos had actually taken in his appearance, a frown immediately falling over his face as he did.
Cecil had all sorts of cuts all over his arms and his shirt was torn. Not that he seemed all that bothered as he took off the shirt and began to tear it into strips. He merely tied them together into a makeshift rope and tied it around the rabbit’s neck. “It’ll slow us down,” he had explained, rising to his feet. “But it’s too heavy to carry. The fur should keep it from getting too banged up though.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Taking off his own shirt, Carlos handed it over to Cecil with a small frown. “Take it. You’re a bit too pale to be walking around without a shirt. You might burn, or worse.”
“I’m more concerned about my glasses being broken,” he laughed. Still, he did as he was told and Carlos picked up the broken remains of Cecil’s glasses.
When they returned home, he’d force Cecil to start wearing his contacts, as he was quickly running out of spare glasses, but that would have to wait. They were already closer to Steve’s than they were to the lab. So with a heavy sigh, Carlos pocketed the glasses as clutched his gun a bit tighter in his hand.
“If you get tired—“
“Doesn’t matter. I can’t see well enough to shoot. You can.”
Nodding, Carlos kissed Cecil chastely. “Stay close and don’t die.”
Ducking his head, Cecil nodded in agreement as a small blush spread across his cheeks.
In the midst of one of Night Vale’s apocalypses, people didn’t say I love you anymore. They merely told each other to survive it all and as they made their way through Old Night Vale to Steve’s house, Carlos could see the beauty in it all.