The Apocalypse [Dreamnotfound AU]

Stay Together

There's a shriek to his right.

"Dream!" George screams as a zombie grabs hold of his hoodie and yanks him back. Away from the group, away from Dream.

Heart pounding in his ears and blood rushing through him, Dream breaks formation in that moment, sprinting toward George and the zombie holding him.

"Dream!" someone - Sapnap, he's pretty sure - hollers. But Dream's beyond hearing, beyond anything as he grabs the zombie holding George and shoves his knife into its eye. George gasps as he nearly falls to the ground, but Dream catches him before he can, pulling him tight to his chest.

"You idiot!" Dream gasps, tears stinging his throat. "You nearly died!"

George is shaking in his arms, his eyes closed as he presses closer to Dream. And Dream forgets about the rest of the group as he pulls him closer, letting himself breath George's the warm, spiced scent. It dulls the lump in his throat, soothes the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. And when George places a hand on his heart, he feels his pulse steady.

"The others," George murmurs, pushing away from Dream to glance around. The hallway is littered with bodies, but mostly clear. Except for up ahead, where a group of zombies swarms toward where Dream thinks their friends must be.

"We have to help them," George says, and Dream feels his heart jump. A selfish part of him almost wants to tell George to stay put, to watch the fight from the sidelines where it's safe. But he knows it won't matter what he says, not when their friends are in danger.

"Come on," he says instead, taking George's hand. Together, they sprint through the hallway to catch up to the others.

Sapnap's POV

"Stay in formation!" Sapnap hollers at the others as Dream breaks off to save George. "We can't break now!"

Bad and Techno just nod grimly, herding the others down the hall. And even though they're all probably feeling the same thing as Sapnap, they don't scatter. Even as the zombies swarm them.

Sapnap forces himself to continue, to keep slashing through each zombie. A scream bursts from him as he goes, the sound of pure frustration. He's more terrified for his friends then the rest of them combined but he can't show it. Even though they're like family to him, he forces himself to stay grounded.

Instead, he fights with more of a vengeance than before, praying that Dream and George aren't dumbasses and can stay alive.

It feels like the torrent of zombies will never end, even as they move closer and closer to the doors. Even as more and more zombies fall.

"Sapnap!" Karl calls, and Sapnap whirls around, cutting through another zombie. Karl motions frantically at somewhere behind them and Sapnap feels his the weight on his chest lighten as he catches sight of Dream and George, alive and pushing their way through zombies.

He locks eyes with Dream, and something like a deep understanding passes through them. Dream gives him a half-smile, and George looks as relieved as Sapnap feels that everyone is alright.

"Guys!" Sapnap starts to call, but a shard of pain hits his arm, forcing him to double over.

"Nick!" A terrified voice calls over the chaos, but Sapnap's head feels light, his arm tingling with pain. And he suddenly remembers the scratch, the zombies, the fact that he could die or turn into a monster at any moment.

New dizziness passes through him, black stars peppering his vision.

"Get him out of here!" another voice says, and Sapnap feels hands lift him up. The sounds of battle fade away, and all he can hear is a soft voice murmuring in his ear, "It's gonna be okay, Nick."

The voice sounds close to tears, and Sapnap doesn't know what to say to comfort it.

"The roof!" the same voice says, talking to someone else. "We'll meet you guys there!"

The last thing Sapnap feels, are hands dragging him up a stairwell, before everything goes dark.

Bad's POV

"Fuck!" Skeppy calls over the sounds of battle. "This is really bad!"

Techno throws his weight over the door leading to the stairwell, locking it so that no zombies can follow Sapnap, Karl, and Quackity up to the roof. "We're still alive, aren't we?"

"But we're split up!" Skeppy argues, a note of hysteria in his voice. "Our formation's gone!"

"Calm down, Skeppy!" Bad says, shaking himself out of his daze. "We'll be fine! Karl and Quackity will take care of Sapnap. We just have to focus on clearing this floor so that it's safe for them when they get back."

"What about Dream and George?" Montero asks, voice worried, gesturing to the other two who are still behind the group, fighting their way through stray zombies.

Techno's face is grim. "We need to split up."

Even through his confusion, Bad whirls on him. "That's a terrible idea."

But Techno shakes his head. "It'll be easier to fight stragglers than a whole group. If we can split the zombies up, then eventually we can take them all down."

"What about the doors?" Bad asks, gesturing to the still broken barriers. "They'll just keep getting in if we don't fix them."

"Not if we block the hallway," Techno answers, motioning to classrooms around them. "Find as much furniture as you can," he adds to Skeppy and Montero. "Me and Bad will fight off the zombies. We'll block the hallway and focus on the zombies already in the school."

They don't have much of a choice, Bad realizes, as Skeppy locks eyes with him. His boyfriend gives him a determined nod as he and Montero move toward the classrooms to gather the furniture.

Bad catches sight of Dream and George, the swarm of zombies around them growing bigger. "We need to help them."

"We can't," Techno says grimly as the zombies back them up against the hallway wall. "Not if we all want to survive."

(1605 words)

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Guys, please don't hate me for another cliffhanger...

Hope you enjoyed <3