Zombies

5

They woke up early and hit the road. Liam and Niall drove the car Louis had arrived in. Zayn drove the camper and Harry and Louis stayed in the back with Freddie. Barbara and Curt drove their car while Casper and Rebecca took the motorcycle.
"We're like 4000 kilometers from the Canadian border. Let's try and get as far as possible today." Zayn shouted from the front.

"How do we know that Canada is safe and Zombie free?" Louis questioned.

"We don't, but it's hopefully better than staying here." Harry sighed.

They drove for twelve hours, only stopping for food breaks, where they all gathered in the camper to keep safe.
"I miss real food." Niall sighed while he forced down some baked beans.

"Hopefully Canada is up and running. I promise to take you to Nandos." Harry smiled.

"Nando's." Niall sighed longingly.

They finished their meal and went outside to fix their surroundings to make it safer for the night. Louis followed Niall around the bus to get the spears from a storage unit on the side of the bus. They walked around the back of the bus and stood face to face with a zombie. Louis gasped but he hadn't as much as blinked before Niall pulled out a big knife and jammed it in the zombie's head. Louis stared at him in utter shock. Sweet, kind Niall killed zombies now with his bare hands without as much as a second of hesitation?

Niall scanned their surroundings and when he couldn't see any more zombies he just wiped the blade on the grass and put the knife back in the holder around his waist. He met Louis's eyes.
"You'll get used to it."

"I hope not." Louis answered.

"It's you or them...or Freddie." Niall said, sounding cold. So unlike himself.

"Right. Is there a correct way to stab them? Obviously in the head but like..." Louis asked.

"As long as you hit the brain it's cool. It takes more force to stab a knife in someone's head than you think. Here, give it a try." Niall replied, like he was talking about the weather. He handed Louis his knife.

Louis took it and just stared at it for a moment then he hunched down and pointed it at the dead zombie. He drew his arm back, gulped, and stabbed him in the head.
"Harder than that. You have to penetrate the brain." Niall instructed.

He tried again, better this time.
"Yes, just like that. Come on, we need to get the spears."

Louis returned the knife after he had wiped it clean on the ground. They got the spears and walked back to the front and spent the next ten minutes jamming them to the ground. He was still upset by the messy stabbing of zombie a moment earlier. Harry came walking up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?"

He always knew when he was upset. It just took one look. Louis loved their close friendship. He felt more than that and sometimes he thought that Harry did too but they had never said anything, never acted on it, like they had a silent agreement to put the band first, which was kind of silly in retrospect, considering the band broke up. They had spent a lot of time apart after that. Harry did his thing and he did his, and they kind of drifted apart, except, when they put the band back together they were back at where they left things. Close but unsolved. It felt so stupid now. Pointless. Louis sighed.
"Yeah, I just got the crash course of zombie killing from Niall. Stabbed one in the head...twice."

"Oh. You'll get used..." Harry said but Louis interrupted him.

"Maybe I don't want to get fucking used to it. It's horrible!"

Harry sighed and pulled him in for a hug, wrapping his arms around him. Making him feel safe.
"I know."

They went to bed. Freddie asked Harry to read him a bedtime story this time and Louis just listened to Harry's deep, slow voice as he read snow white. It lulled him to sleep too.
"Lou? Are you awake?"

"Mhm..."

"I just...I'm sorry that we haven't spoken to each other that much after our hiatus. I thought I needed some distance to...ehm...I missed you. When you got shot on stage my whole world crumbled. Promise me we'll survive this." Harry said emotionally.

Louis felt wide awake.
"I missed you too Haz. Yeah, we're gonna get through this, alive. All of us."

Harry took his hand and held it. They fell asleep like that.

It took them two more days to reach the Canadian border, just to find it closed. There wasn't a person in sight. They got out of their cars.
"Damn it!" Liam shouted.

"Can we get around it?" Harry wondered.

"Not without removing all the cars in front of us first and then climbed the gate and hopefully open it from the other side." Liam sighed.

"Let's start with the cars. Go through them too and look for useful items and food." Casper said and got off the motorcycle.

Zayn backed the trailer and parked it on the side.
"Barbara, can you look after Freddie?" Harry asked.

"Of course dear. We'll stay in the trailer. The poor kid must be hungry. I'll make him something to eat." Barbara immediately complied.

Louis went to talk with Freddie and Harry came with him.
"Okay buddy, we have to move all these cars. Stay here with Barbara. Alright?" Louis said.

"Okay, dad." Freddie agreed.

"Are your gun fully loaded?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Louis answered, rolling his eyes.

Harry grabbed his arm.
"Hey, this is no joke, Lou. We're in danger out there. Here, take this knife as well. Only use the gun as a last resort."

"Yes, sorry Haz." Louis mumbled.

Harry smiled and caressed his cheek briefly. Louis breath hissed. That was intimate, and it was also something Harry hadn't done in years. He stopped that.

They get out of the trailer and walked over to the others.
"Okay, take one car each, work in pairs. Start from the back. Look through it, put everything useful in Louis's car. Back the car away. Look out for zombies. " Casper instructed, like they were five-year-olds.

Louis looked over at Harry who tilted his head to the side and they took the car closest to them.