Bitten {Benchtrio Zombie Apocalypse AU}

1

Tubbo tugged their wagon of supplies over a stubborn rock in the abandoned town. He, Tommy, and Ranboo had been walking for two days after Ranboo had been bitten. The taller boy was fairing better than expected, the infection spreading slowly up his arm. The bite was closer to his wrist and the infection had only gone to about the middle of his forearm. But at least he still had his sanity.

Tommy sighed heavily, "hey Tubbo, how are we on food?"

The shorter boy glanced back at the wagon, "we might need to stop soon. We're also running low on antiseptic."

Ranboo grabbed his arm lightly. It didn't exactly hurt, he assumed it was because the nerves had died, but it wasn't exactly comfortable knowing he was slowly turning undead. Not to mention how terrified he was of turning his friends.

Tommy hummed, "shouldn't there be a store somewhere around here? I mean, it's the middle of a town."

"This town looks like it's already been looted." Ranboo said as he looked around.

The wagon bounced on the pavement. The boys walked down the empty street in silence. A few birds chirped form broken buildings.

Tommy stopped, "this is going to take too long. Let's split up."

"Are you sure?" Tubbo asked, "one of our radios died yesterday. One of us will be out of contact."

"I'll go by myself." Ranboo stepped forward, grabbing one of the radios, "you two go together."

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, glancing at Ranboo's arm.

Ranboo nodded, "yeah. It's safer for you two."

Tommy and Tubbo gave each other a look. Neither of them wanted to leave Ranboo on his own, not with his condition. If something happened to him, they wanted to help.

"How about you and I go one direction, and Tommy goes another?" Tubbo suggested.

"I agree!" Tommy nodded frantically.

"Wait-! Hold on-!" Ranboo yelled as Tubbo grabbed his uninjured arm.

Tubbo gave him a smile, "we'll be okay boss man! Right Tommy?"

Tommy rolled his eyes, "obviously! I'm Tommy-fucking-innit! And you two are an unstoppable duo!"

"We'll be fine Ranboo." Tubbo told him.

Ranboo sighed, "okay..."

"Alright." Tommy nodded, "we'll meet back here in an hour. I'm pretty sure the horde is long gone from this place, but keep an eye out for any stragglers."

The two nodded. Tommy walked off one direction, taking the wagon with him. Tubbo lifted a backpack onto his shoulder. Ranboo mirrored him, careful to avoid his bite.

Tubbo and Ranboo walked down the quiet streets. They were pretty sure they were in the shopping area of the town, where loads of little shops packed the sidewalks and tattered banners fluttered in the breeze.

"Hey." Tubbo tapped Ranboo's arm, nodding over to a small pharmaceutical office.

Ranboo nodded, adjusting the bandana over his face. The boys moved toward the building. Tubbo pushed open the door with some force, a few pieces of glass falling off the edges. Glass crunched under their feet. Nearly empty shelves busied the floor, and simultaneously made it feel more empty.

Tubbo walked off to one of the shelves, primarily looking for more antiseptics. They seemed to help slow Ranboo's infection, so he and Tommy made sure to clean and dress Ranboo's bite with it every day. And so far he seemed to not be progressing as fast as others that they'd seen turn.

Ranboo went over to the back room. The door had been barred from the outside by a chair. He pulled the chair away, slowly opening the door.

A zombie lurched out, grabbing Ranboo's shoulders.

"Tubbo!" Ranboo shouted, grabbing his knife.

Ranboo threw the zombie to the ground, cutting off it's jaw before Tubbo smashed it head in with a spiked bat. The zombie stopped moving.

Tubbo pulled Ranboo up, "holy shit are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Ranboo sighed, "that rooms probably unlooted."

"Be careful." Tubbo told him.

Ranboo nodded. He walked into the room. It was a small office, storage room combination. Ranboo started searching through the boxes. He was right to assume that the room hadn't been looted, finding pain meds, steroids, antibiotics, vitamins and supplements.

As Ranboo placed the things in his bag, he started feeling dizzy. Spots flashed in his vision as he leaned back against the wall.

Tubbo heard something behind him and turned, his eyes widening in horror. Ranboo lurched towards him. His eyes were unfocused as he stumbled towards the shorter boy, grabbing his shoulders.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo yelled, pushing him to the side, "Ranboo please!"

The taller fell harshly against the counter. He pushed himself up with a snarl, throwing his body at Tubbo and knocking them both to the ground. The boys wrestled for a minute. Ranboo snapping at Tubbo under his mask, and Tubbo keeping the distance between them with a bat.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo cried, wincing as the spiked dug into his hand, "this isn't you! Please Ranboo! Boo!

Ranboo blinked, stopping his attacks. His eyes widened as he pushed himself off Tubbo.

"Wha-wha-what happened?" Ranboo breathed heavily.

Tubbo sat up slowly, "you attacked me..."

"I-I-I... What..?" Ranboo whispered.

Tubbo crawled over to the taller boy, "show me your arm."

Ranboo held his arm out to his friend. Tubbo unwrapped the bandages around Ranboo's arm. The bite was surrounded by blackened veins, spreading up his arm and across the back of his hand. It hadn't seemed to have spread since they last checked, but Tubbo still cleaned and applied antiseptic before dressing with clean bandages again.

"Why didn't you kill me when I got bitten?" Ranboo asked, "you could have avoided all of this."

Tubbo shook his head, "I couldn't kill you. I couldn't pull the trigger."

"Then why didn't you give it to Tommy?" Ranboo sighed.

Tubbo sat back next to Ranboo, "You know why. Tommy was sure we could find a cure. His brother got close once..."

Ranboo nodded. The two sat in silence for a while, trying to come to terms with what was happening.

"We should probably get back to Tommy." Ranboo said, standing up and grabbing his bag.

Tubbo nodded, following suit. The boys walked in silence, one half dead and the other unable to save him, to their friend who held on to a possible false hope.