Tw: swearing, zombies, weapons, blood, injury
The doors slam open and half a dozen zombies pour in.
"I'll control them," Techno calls, pushing against the doors to steady the flow. "You guys kill them as they come."
Dream spares one last glance at George, who gives him a ready nod. Then, side by side, they launch into battle.
The first zombies fall easily. Dream slices his knife through them, George fires arrow after arrow from behind. Sapnap whirls his axe through the group, slamming down any of the zombies that are still standing. The world fades, Dream's mind stops spinning, and all that's left is adrenaline and instinct.
The others huddle in a group, watching each other's backs as Techno strains against the cafeteria doors.
"I can't hold them much longer," he warns through the fray as growls and groans rip through the air.
"Let them come," Sapnap yells, and the doors burst open, bringing a tide of zombies toward them.
There's a scream - Dream thinks it's Karl - as a flood of zombies surrounds them, lurching and retching. Blood sprays over Dream's hoodie as he cuts through two of them, searching the red-stained room for Karl. But Sapnap's already there, jumping in front of him and Montero to protect them. They form a group with Bad and Skeppy and Quackity, steadily fighting their way to the door.
"Dream!" Sapnap yells. "Get over here!"
"Wait!" Dream returns, his voice hoarse, as he narrowly misses a zombie's hand grabbing for him. His eyes scan the room, searching desperately for George. George who was right behind him a second ago, who's disappeared between the zombies...
An arrow spears a zombie in the eye and relief floods through Dream, making his legs go weak.
"You almost left me, idiot!" George accuses, pushing through the zombies. Dream grabs his hand tightly, interlocking their fingers, and George holds on just as firmly.
"I'll never leave you," Dream says, wiping blood from George's cheeks. "I swear."
George makes a face, tightening his hold until Dream's hand feels numb with it, though he barely notices. "That's cringe, idiot. Make better speeches."
Dream scoffs and George laughs and the world feels like normal again.
Until a growl sounds right by Dream's ear.
"Dream!" George shouts and he yanks him out of the way as the zombie that was behind Dream topples over with an axe in its skull.
"Be more fucking careful!" Sapnap shouts over the chaos. He grabs his axe, ripping it out of the zombie's head as he appears in front of both of them. "And group with us."
Dream has never been more thankful for his friends as the three of them cut their way back toward the group, where Techno and Bad are keeping off most of the zombies.
"Stay together!" Sapnap calls out, and Dream's happy to let him take the lead, to focus only on clearing a path in front of him and keeping George at his side. They stay close enough to touch, and every brush of George's arm against his reminds Dream that they're still fighting.
They wade through the doors, taking down zombies in every direction. The hallway is swarming with them, but Dream barely notices. He just keeps swinging his blade, feeling blood splatter over him and adrenaline rush through his blood. Next to him, George and Sapnap do the same, keeping the others in the group safe.
The school's front doors come into view and Karl shouts, "We're almost there!"
Dream feels hope pull at his gut, just as another cold feeling hits him. Like a premonition, like what he'd felt before when he'd been talking to George.
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)
------------------------------------------------------------
Guys, please don't hate me for another cliffhanger...
Hope you enjoyed <3