Licensed Apocalypse

*twenty-four* Burn

Lucis opened his eyes. White ashes fell slowly onto his face. He sat up, slight pain shooting up his chest. He was sitting in the middle of a giant burn spot. There were charred walls standing in random areas around him. I did this. Lucis thought. I caused this to happen.

"Ah!" A voice boomed. "He's awake!" Lucis' head shot to the side, alerted by the sharp voice. The masked officer walked up to him, a tattered mask still hanging on his face. "How do you feel?" He asked.

"Better." Lucis said weakly. The man helped Lucis up. Lucis looked down his body and saw his chest, where the wound had been, had been wrapped with thick white gauze.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"We never left the battlefield." Lucis father responded, and pointed towards part of a rocky mountain with bodies covering it.

"I know where we are." Lucis said. "But what was this place called before the apocalypse?"

The man beside him shrugged. "I don't know. The answers are so hidden, if you find them you'll forget the answer. It's irrelevant to the now. It doesn't matter in the present." Lucis nodded, eyes roaming the houses below the mountain. He tried to find the street the house was on.

"Where are you going to go?" Lucis asked, looking at his father. "I destroyed your home."

"I don't know." Lucis' father said, looking down at his son. "I'll find a safe place to stay. Then, I can move." Lucis remembered that Oliver used to always be two steps ahead. Maybe I could take a page out of your book Oliver. Lucis thought.

"You could stay with us." Lucis said, meeting the man's eyes. "We could need you, dad."

**

Clara was out there somewhere. She had vanished when they were treating Lucis. But they didn't care. Clara had been a pain. Well, to everyone but Lucis' father at least. When they arrived at the house Oliver collapsed onto the couch and disappeared instantly into the realm of sleep. Eric walked into the kitchen and pulled out some food.

"Is anyone hungry?" He asked. Three heads shot up, wide awake. "Okay..." Eric said. "I'll get something ready." He turned to the nearest counter and began to work. Oliver's head fell back down and Oliver drifted off back to sleep. Lucis collapsed into a nearby chair and, following Oliver again, fell into a deep sleep. Soon Eric yelled, "FOOD'S READY!" Everyone jumped up and moved quickly into the dining room where Eric was laying down some heated up lunchables he had found in the deep reaches of a supposedly empty cabinet. Everyone finished their food quickly and sat back into their chairs, taking deep breaths and waiting for their stomachs to digest the food. Lucis and Oliver simultaneously sighed and slid down in their chairs. They met each other's eyes and started laughing. Soon, everyone was back in the living room and fast asleep, sleeping the remainder of the day awake.

Eric woke up at 6:01 AM. He sat up, yawned, and stood up to go get a glass of water. His feet padded quickly to the dining room and drained a filled glass of water he had quickly filled. He slipped back into bed and fell back into a sound sleep. In the morning, he was the last to wake up.

"How'd you sleep Eric?" Oliver asked. "I heard you get up."

"I slept well." Eric said, sitting down at the dining room table. "I got up to get some water." Oliver nodded. "Where are Lucis and his dad?" Eric asked. Oliver shrugged.

"Lucis said they were going on a walk." Oliver informed Eric. "They left 20 minutes ago."

"20 minutes? Aren't you worried?" Eric said, shocked by his friend's calm face.

"They said it might take an hour so no. I'm not worried." Oliver clarified. Eric nodded, worries dieing down. Oliver set a hot mug in front of him. "Trust me," He said. "This ain't as bad as it used to be." Eric instantly identified it as coffee. Gratefully, Eric took a drink. Thankfully it didn't taste like it used to.

"Thank you." Eric said, giving Oliver a nod of gratitude. Oliver returned it with his own form of nod.

"You're welcome."

The door burst open and Lucis and the man behind him jumped the traps quickly, the door slamming behind them. They looked out of breath. Really out of breath.

"What's going on?" Eric demanded as he and Oliver jumped up, coffee mugs flashing to the table. "What happened?"

"Zombies." Lucis panted. "There... were too... many of them..."

"They're coming our way." The man behind him said. "We need to get ready, they're almost here." Before he could finish his sentence, Eric and Oliver already had their weapons in hand.

"Let's do this." Oliver said, bloodied ax raised. If this was an action movie, what would have happened next would have looked epic.

Lucis wasn't wrong. There were a lot of zombies. Too many to count. Lucis and Eric raised their guns, ready to fight. Oliver and Lucis' dad raised their weapons high. And charged. Bullets flew past them, knocking down the zombies with ease. Oliver and the man broke through the crowd, adding more bodies to the ever growing pile. Any zombie that got past the two's blades would meet a cold quick death from either Eric or Lucis. Lucis preferred the long distance especially with his wound. He shot down a zombie that had snuck past Oliver and Lucis' father. A bullet hit the one behind it. Lucis looked over at Eric who was loading his gun.

"Good shot." Lucis complimented.

"Thanks." Eric raised his gun. He fired, knocking a zombie to the ground. Lucis raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

"Bullseye." he muttered under his breath.

**

"Good job guys." Oliver said. "That was some good shooting." Lucis and Eric nodded, smiling. They were inside and had just defeated the hoard of zombies.

"How many do you think there were?" Lucis asked. The three others shrugged.

"I wasn't paying attention to the numbers." Eric said. "I was just focusing on killing them." It was Lucis' turn to nod.

"So," Oliver said. "What now? There's nothing standing in our way. No scientist, no people trying to kill us." Lucis shrugged.

"Survive I guess." He said. "That's all we gotta do."