Rapture (ON HOLD)

.:Chapter Three:.

     "Do you see any of them?" Zacky asked quietly as Brian peeked out of the mail slot on their front door. The brown-eyed man shook his head, furrowing his brow in concentration as he tried to spot any of the reanimated bodies that were wandering around. "Maybe it's not as bad as they're saying in the news.." He muttered, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew they were out there.. Just waiting for their next meal, their next victim, the next clueless person to stumble outside after a night of drinking or not having seen the news.
     "No.. It is. Look." Brian murmured grimly, taking a step back so that Zacky could see outside. The hazel-eyed man drew in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as he knelt down and looked out of the mail slot. Hundreds of them were wandering around, swatting and bumping into each other, occasionally grabbing at people that would run by. He watched in horror as a little boy, probably ten years old, was separated from his group of survivors; the zombies quickly swarmed him, and the sounds of fearful and pain-filled shrieks consumed the air.
     "Oh, my God.." Zacky gasped as he stepped away from the mail slot, covering his mouth as tears clouded his hazel eyes. He started to shake his head violently, but before he could say anything about not wanting to leave the apartment, his brown-eyed roommate pulled him into a strong and reassuring hug. "B-Brian, we.. We c-can't go out there," He stuttered fearfully.
     "We have to," The brown-eyed man shushed him, stroking his hair behind his ear. "I know you're scared. Frankly, I'm scared too. But we've got to do this. We've got to go find the others. We've gotta survive, Zee." His tone was firm, but the delivery of his words was shaky. He seemed to be even more frightened than Zacky at this point, despite being the one to always keep calm in hectic situations. "Listen, I've got the keys to the car. I want you to take this," He handed Zacky the metal bat. "Stay behind me. If anything comes at you, I want you to swing as hard as you can. Remember that summer we spent playing baseball, and I taught you how to swing properly?"
     "Y-yeah.." The hazel-eyed man whispered, wiping the tears from his eyes as he looked up at his roommate.
     "Use that exact technique. Bend your knees, shift your weight and swing. Okay? We can do this." Brian whispered. Zacky nodded, gripping the baseball bat as tight as he could and then standing behind Brian. Without even realizing it, the brown-eyed man grabbed his roommate's hand and laced their fingers together, not waiting for a reaction from Zacky before he tore the door open. The car was barely twenty feet away, but they had seen that these zombies could gain ground quickly. Brian dashed out of the apartment with Zacky hot on his heels, frantically pressing the unlock button on the remote for the car. The hazel-eyed man's heart pounded with fear as he watched the entire hoard of zombies turn in their direction, heading straight for the two men.
     They quickly dove into the car, shutting the doors and locking them as they both heaved for breath. "That was more running than I've done in a long time," Zacky commented breathlessly, earning a weak chuckle from his roommate that sat in the driver's seat. After they caught their breath, Brian slipped the key into the ignition and started the car, quickly backing out of the driveway. To calm himself down, Zacky pressed the play button on the CD player, smirking when Metallica's Fuel came on. "Well.. If this isn't the perfect song to kill some zombies to."
     "My thoughts exactly." Brian grinned, swiftly navigating through the hundreds of stumbling bodies. The brown-eyed man didn't even slow the car as he pulled onto the highway, pressing on the gas a bit harder to make the car go faster. "Call Matt and Mel, let them know we're on our way." He murmured, glancing around as he switched lanes. Zacky nodded, pulling out his phone and dialing Matt's number, listening to it ring a few times before he actually picked up.
     "Hello?" Matt's deep, gritty voice came over the speaker.
     "Hey," Zacky said. "We're on our way over. Grab some blunt objects, like a bat or a crowbar or something. The way you kill these things is by destroying their brain." Brian nodded in approval, barely swerving so that he narrowly avoided hitting a zombie. The hazel-eyed man let out a quick breath, seeming to have been slightly frightened that they almost hit someone. Or... Something that was once someone. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
     "Alright.. We'll be waiting." Matt murmured ominously before hanging up, a loud click resounding in Zacky's ear. He lowered the phone, a sigh escaping his lips as he looked down at his lap, wondering when this would all blow over... Or if it would all blow over. What if this was just the start? What if, soon, the world was overrun by reanimated corpses and flesh-starved beings?
     "Hey," Brian's voice shook him out of his thoughts. He watched as his roommate's tan hand slipped over and placed itself on his arm, his thumb stroking the tattooed skin underneath it. "You alright..?"
     "Y-yeah, why?" The hazel-eyed man stuttered. Brian sighed softly, pulling the car over to the side of the road and then putting it in park.
     "Zacky, you're crying.." He whispered, wiping the tears away from his hazel eyes with his thumbs. A faint pink blush began to creep across the hazel-eyed man's cheeks, his breathing coming in slow, short bursts. "I know you're scared.. And I know that you're wondering what's gonna happen... But I promise, everything is gonna be alright."
     "You don't know that, though. Nobody knows that.." Zacky whispered distantly, staring into Brian's deep brown eyes. There, in the swirling, melted chocolate of his roommate's irises, he found a strange sense of calm; it was as if someone had just breathed life back into him, as if he was taking his first deep breath of fresh air. "I mean.. I know you're gonna do everything you can to protect me, but you don't know how well that's gonna work.. I just.."
     "Zacky," Brian sighed. "Just have faith in me. Please." At these words, the hazel-eyed man could see how hard Brian was desperately trying to keep everything from falling apart. He nodded slowly, biting his lip as he looked down at his lap. "Now.. Let's get going and get Matt and his girl. They're waiting for us, and we're sitting here having a bro moment like a bunch of idiots." He chuckled weakly, shifting the car into drive and pulling off of the side of the road, heading in the direction of Matt and Melita's apartment.

     It wasn't long before they arrived, and although they had to fight off some zombies with the single metal bat that they carried, Zacky and Brian made it up the stairwell to their friend's apartment safely. Before they could even ring the doorbell, the door was flung open and they were pulled inside. Zacky was pulled into a tight hug by Matt's shorter girlfriend, Melita, who seemed to be trembling with slight fear.
     "Thank God," She murmured, her very clear British accent showing in her words. "You guys took longer than you meant to, we were worried something had happened." As she stepped away from the hug, the hazel-eyed man was able to examine Melita more closely. Her long, two-toned hair was pinned back in a bun, complimenting her slender face well. She was just a tad shorter than Zacky, but she had an hourglass figure which made her clothes fit in all the right places.
     "No, we.. We had kind of a bro-moment in the car." The hazel-eyed man laughed shyly, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he scratched at the back of his neck.
     "Well, since that's over.." Matt grinned, casting a subtle glance at Brian, who narrowed his eyes in a warning sort of way. Even though he was the tallest of the group besides their friend Jimmy, Matt was the most soft-spoken and kindest one. He had dark brown hair that was buzzed close to his head, bright green eyes that seemed to hypnotize whoever looked into them, and a wide smile set between two heart-melting dimples. There wasn't a single bare inch on his muscular arms, both of them covered in tattoos that faded wonderfully into one another. Matt was easily one of the most attractive people that Zacky had ever seen; but Brian had already claimed his spot as #1 most attractive in his heart. "Let's get going. We've gotta go get Johnny and Jimmy, and then we'll head to Vegas. Hopefully it hasn't spread there yet."
     "Right.." Brian muttered softly, glancing at Zacky in a strange way before he turned and placed his hand on the doorknob. Once the door was open, the group of four individuals tore down the staircase and sprinted for the car, locking themselves in once they sat down. Then, after the vehicle was started and they left the parking lot, they began the drive across town to Jimmy and Johnny's apartment. After that, they would head to Las Vegas and take shelter there, hoping to remain hidden in one of the city's underground bunkers until the entire incident was settled.