Claustrophobic | Skephalo

A Long Journey's End

TWO YEARS LATER

Zak

"No, no, come on! That's so unfair!" Darryl exclaims, tossing his controller to the side. It hit the edge of Zak's bed and bounced onto the floor, barely missing his foot. "You're hacking!"

"Hack? I would never," Zak responds with a falsified gasp, a sly smirk forming on his lips. "Just admit it, you lost fair and square." He picks up his boyfriend's controller, placing it on the nightstand beside him. The image reading "Game Over" on the TV screen fades as he presses the power button, leaving Zak and Darryl in complete darkness.

Darryl grabs his phone from his pocket, turning on the flashlight app. The room is illuminated enough for him to find the light-switch, and then he is able to see everything. "How did we waste an entire day playing video games?"

"It's not wasted if we enjoyed it," Zak responds, gesturing for Darryl to sit next to him.

"I guess. Do you wanna go downstairs and hang with everyone else for a bit?"

"Yeah, okay. I suppose that's a good idea since we're going to be streaming all day tomorrow." Zak leans over and pecks Darryl right on his lips, pulling away with a soft smile. Then, the two of them stand up and leave Zak's room, clambering down the stairs.

"Hey guys," Vincent greets the duo as they enter the living room. There was a football game playing on the TV, but no one seemed to be paying attention to it. "Have you heard from Clay? He's not answering my calls."

"No, sorry. But you know Clay, probably working up new deals with foreign governments to administer his cure to different parts of the world. It's really great how he's managed to stay so humble through all of this," Zak replies, plopping onto the couch.

"I mean, you can only save the world once, right?" Vincent responds, shrugging. "I just wish he would answer his phone."

"Yo, I'm thinking breakfast for dinner tonight? I have leftover bacon and I don't wanna throw it out," Finn calls out from the kitchen.

Zak, Darryl, and Vincent hum in agreement, whereas Dave pretends to gag.

"I'd rather live off of beans and old cans of soup again," He explains. "Eat it without me."

The sound of a car door closing brings everyone's attention to the front door. An exhausted-looking Clay enters, throwing his car keys into the key holder by the door. Vincent springs on him in a second, leading him into the living room.

"How was your day?" Vincent asks, attempting to tune out Rocco's barking.

"Honestly? Pretty rough," Clay addresses the rest of the group. "The scientists down at the lab still can't figure out how to make it so the cure doesn't remove memories. It's completely random; some people are cured and remember every detail, whereas some can't even remember their own name."

Darryl and Dave both shuffle awkwardly.

"Well, don't let them stress you out," Vincent assures him. "They used your cure to bring back almost the entire population of Earth, so no matter what, they should be grateful."

"I'm probably better off without my memories, anyways," Dave agrees.

"But what if you have family out there? And they remember you?" Clay turns to him. "What if they're searching for you right now?"

"Then they can look me up on Twitter," Dave responds with a hint of sarcasm behind his voice. "Seriously, dude. Give yourself a break, it's been two years. If they were gonna find a different version of the cure, it would have happened already."

"Do you guys think I have family out there?" Darryl asks, darkening the mood even more.

"I know you used to," Vincent responds. "But I couldn't tell you if they're still alive, or if they remember you."

"I have family out there somewhere, too. My parents and my sister. I just figured that if they were cured and remembered me, they would come home. I'll search online occasionally, but there's no point in me going to every corner of the world searching for people who don't know who I am," Zak says in response to Vincent's comment, who nods in agreement.

"I could care less about my old life," Finn shouts from the kitchen, before rejoining everyone else. "I love living here with you guys. Every day, I feel like I'm less afraid of the world, and that's all I've ever wanted. You guys totally make me feel brave."

"The only positive thing in my life was Darryl, and he's sitting right here. So, I guess I'm fine with the way things are now as well," Vincent says, gesturing to Darryl. "What about you, Clay? Would you go back?"

"And never meet you? No way," Clay responds, slinking his arm around Vincent's shoulder. "Besides, finishing medical school? That sounds like a lot of work. I have a high-paying job now and I get to be a well-known hero around the world. It can't possibly be any better than this."

Rocco's whining at the back door distracted Zak from anything else Clay might have said. He brings himself to his feet and slides the glass door open for the dog, who bolts out the second there's enough room. He steps outside after him, taking notice of the slight chill in the air. It was March third, so the temperatures aren't as high as they would be in the Spring, but Winter had passed. Zak recalls the last winter before civilization had begun to make its comeback, as he usually does when he's alone. The moments he spent in the apocalypse are like an everlasting dream, and he always finds himself drifting back, his thoughts and feelings replaying as if it was a movie.

But it was over now, the credits had rolled. The nightmare had ended.

As Darryl joins Zak outside and lovingly presses his lips against his boyfriend's, Zak knew he couldn't be happier with the results.

•••

yes, this is the end of claustrophobic. thank you guys so much for reading if you've come this far, the overwhelming support is actually so insane to me. this book started out as nothing when i barely even knew who/what the skeppy & trio fandom was, and now it's such a huge part of my life, and i couldn't be more grateful for all the friends i've made.

i will be writing more now that this book is completed, so if you would like to see what i have in store, leave a follow, it would mean a lot! i am currently unsure about a sequel to this story, but i do have an idea so we'll see ;)

thank you all for seeing the potential in my sort of crappy writing and sticking with me to the finale. i love you guys endlessly. <3