In which you both fight to survive (1)
Listen to: Borderline - Tame Impala
zombie apocalypse au!
"Phoebe! Watch out!" You swung a metal pipe across, getting it off of her. You cocked your gun, the bullet lodging it's place in the head. "You good?" You held out your hand for her to take.
She gladly took it, brushing herself off. "I'm so done with these fuckers." She grumbled as she walked alongside you.
"We'll be fine. Don't worry about it. We're gonna make it to Bee's soon." You reassured, reloading the gun in hand.
She huffed. "We would've been fine had we not gone off." You rolled your eyes, she was a bit pissed at you for forcing her to go along with you to smuggle.
"But we got more shit." You shook your bag that was holding supplies. "It was worth it."
"It's different, y/n! It's more dangerous for me." She argued, walking backwards. "You're lucky you're immune."
You sighed, guilt filling your gut. "I'm sorry, okay?" She was a few steps ahead of you. "Look, I swear to you, I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. There is and was no way I'm letting you get bit."
_____
"Y/n!" You shot up the zombie that was on you. You saw Phoebe struggling to push the one on top of her. You held up the gun and squeezed the trigger. It clicked.
"Fuck! No ammo." You charged at the zombie, tackling it off of her. You kicked it away, grabbing your knife. As it jumped onto you, you stuck the knife inside of it. You got up, panting. Phoebe was wincing, holding her side. "Shit, are you okay?" You fell to your knees, pulling up her shirt to see the wound. "It's not a bite, don't worry." You brought her over to a log.
"I'm not gonna turn?" You shook your head, wrapping her side. "Holy shit, thank god."
"I'll have to fix it up properly when we get back, we gotta hurry." You helped her up. You stayed behind by a few steps. "We should've taken the horses."
Phoebe huffed. "No, it hurts to ride." She turned to you once she realized. "Don't."
"That's what she said." You joked, earning a smack from the girl in front of you. "Ow." Her eyes caught onto a patch of blood that soaked through your shirt.
"Shit, you're bleeding." She pointed to your shoulder, making you furrow your eyebrows. You pulled up your shirt to see another bite on your shoulder. "Oh my god."
You grunted while you poked it. "That's why it hurts." You wrapped your own shoulder to stop the bleeding, with a little help from Phoebe. "Okay, I'm good. Let's move on."
It was quiet between the two of you. Phoebe often just took a small break to relax and take in everything, you couldn't tear your eyes away from her. You admired her, she was so strong for getting through this for so long. You knew there were multiple like you, immune when it comes to getting bitten, you were lucky. Phoebe survived, you believed that she fought harder for her place in the world than you have.
The two of you were friends, best friends. You had escaped from a gang, falling into the small town that quite a few survivors turned to. This was a town that not many people knew about, but it was pretty much thriving. They let you in when they realized that you were pretty much a child.
When you were a kid, you were studied and tested. People wanted to know why you were immune. Once you hit 16, you grabbed a few guns and ran. You never knew how people knew about you, how you were immune. You never showed it, and you never said anything about it. You were like a legend, the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
You met Phoebe and the rest of her friends while you were given a tour around the place. You found it amazing that there was a community of people working so hard to try to bring that normalcy back into people's lives. You stumbled into them, your eyes catching onto the girl before you were pulled to finish the tour.
From then on, you and Phoebe were joined at the hip.
"Do you think there's gonna be a future where things go normal again?" Phoebe's voice pulled you out of your thoughts.
"What's normal? What would you consider normal?" You finally walked alongside her, looking at her. "Majority of the people that lived during those normal times aren't alive anymore. It's just people our age and maybe a little older, but even then, they barely knew a time before the apocalypse."
"Good point." Phoebe hummed. "I just wanna live without the worries of an infected coming after me. Is it just me, or is calling them infected still so weird to me?"
"It is pretty weird." You laughed. "But it is what it is." Your ears caught onto a sound of talking nearby. You shushed Phoebe, crouching your way to the edge of the cliff.
"What?" She followed behind you, a little confused. You hid behind a rock, a finger to your lips as you peered over it. "I didn't know being immune came with super hearing." She joked.
You rolled your eyes at her, grabbing your bow and arrow from your back to point it at the sound. "It's a perk." You drew it back aiming it at one of the men below.
"Why are you gonna kill those guys?" All she saw were two guys talking, all alone.
"They're looking for me." You released the arrow, quickly drawing another one. It got him perfectly in the neck. His friend looked at where it came from but there was nothing.
"What if there's more?" She kept her voice hushed, but she looked around to see if there was other men.
"Just trust me, there isn't." You stayed hidden for a few more minutes, you knew this guy was still staring up at the two of you.
"Who's up there?" He yelled, spinning around. Phoebe gave you a panicked look, but you reassured her with a wink. "That arrow can't come from no where!"
He continued to call out, but now he was looking around. You bit your inner cheek, popping out of the rock to aim it at him once more. He was faced the opposite direction, so you were able to stand up without him knowing. Phoebe tried to pull you back down, but you already unleashed the arrow. You smirked upon hearing it hit the man, coughing and choking on some blood.
You peered around to see if there was anyone else. Once you confirmed it was nothing, you and Phoebe resumed your walk. "So, you just casually have great hearing and amazing aim? I get it with guns, but bow and arrows?"
"I try not to brag about it." You joked, shrugging. Phoebe smacked the uninjured shoulder. "But I think it's fair because I've been hunted since I was a child."
_______
"Hey!" You yelled, covering part of your face as you looked up. "We're back!"
The big gates slowly opened, revealing Bee and a few of the others. "Holy shit, what happened to you guys?"
"Getting out was a lot harder than getting in and getting the stuff." You let out a small grunt at the pain.
"You guys should've taken the horses." Bee chastised, tending to Phoebe's wound. "Did you guys get bitten?" You glanced to Phoebe, who just looked at you.
"I think we're good." Phoebe smiled, lying right at the older girl's face.
Bee nodded, nudging her head to you. People went over, just to help you out. "Nah, it's okay. I'll be fine." You made a face to Phoebe. "We can patch each other up." Bee looked at the two of you, clearly suspicious of what was going on.
"Okay, I don't get it, if you're immune, why don't you tell everyone? Or at least Bee" You scoffed, closing the door to your little house. "You can trust Bee, if you trust me, you can trust her."
You shook your head as you pushed her shirt up. "Please, I didn't tell you shit. You figured it out." You told her while you were fixing up her wound.
"Because you made it obvious." Phoebe argued. You apologized as she winced a few times. "How do you think I got it?"
You chewed on your lip, trying to observe it. "No idea, but I do know that there's no way it could be a bite. You probably just got cut or something." You stood up to go and clean your hands. "Plus, were you expecting me to hide it while we hooked up? I'm sorry, but it's on my hip."
"Okay, that's fair." She laughed, jumping onto the counter beside you. "Come on," She tugged at the belt loop on your jeans to pull you close. "Let me take a look at your shoulder." You pulled off your shirt, tilting your head so that Phoebe could take a closer look. You bit the inside of your lower lip as you watched her focus. You watched as her lips twitched and her eyebrows slightly furrow. She finally pulled away from your shoulder with a small smile. "Ta-da!"
"You're so pretty." You mumbled, bringing your hand up to push some hair away from her face. "I love the bangs on you." She started to flush.
"Your hands are so cold." She took your hand in hers, bringing it to her lap but not letting go. "I guess you're easy on the eyes too."
"Do you think I should get a haircut too? My hair is starting to get pretty long." Phoebe ruffled your hair, making you scrunch your face and push her hand away. "Phoebe!"
"It's fine, y/n." She smoothed down your hair, cupping your face. "Don't leave me." She mumbled before kissing you softly.
______
"Hey," Archie came into your home, you waved at him. "Can we talk?"
You nodded, rolling your chair over to the couch where he was seated at. "What's up?"
"Have you ever gotten bitten?" You gulped, looking at him.
"Um..." You trailed.
"Oh my fucking god." He stood up, holding out his gun. "You were bitten, weren't you?"
You held up your hands, taking steps back. "Woah! You gotta hear me out here!"
"You need to leave, y/n." He spat, his gun following you. "You need to leave before the others find out."
"What the fuck? No! Okay? I'm gonna be fine." You tried to reassure him, but he didn't believe you.
He cocked it. "Y/n, you're going to kill whatever this town achieved." You scoffed.
"No, I'm not." You licked your lips, your hip hit your desk which contained all your guns. "Why do you think I was hunted as a kid?" He was glaring at you, finger so close to pulling the trigger. "Archie put the gun down, and let fucking explain."
"Then explain." He lowered his gun slowly, but not putting it away. "It better not be some bullshit explanation."
"As a kid, I was hunted, I've traveled across the country and killed so many people. I've been on the run." Your voice was slightly shaky. "I've been on the run. Because I'm immune."
Archie just scoffed at you, not believing you for one second. "Oh please. Stop with the bullshit."
"I'm serious!" You pulled up your shirt to reveal the bite on your hip. "I was bitten when I was a kid, this is years old." He took a few steps to take a closer look at it. "But Archie, you can't tell anyone you know this. The more that people know, the more unsafe it's going to be."
"Y/n..." His voice was soft, he now started to feel bad for you. "You can't be here anymore."
"What?" You exclaimed, anger starting to flow through you. "And why the fuck is that?"
"You said it yourself, the more that people know, the more unsafe it's going to be. People are going to find out at some point." He reasoned. "I can hook you up with some extra supplies and a horse."
"Archie, where am I gonna go? It's unsafe everywhere."
_______
Dear Phoebe,
"Hey, have you seen y/n?" Phoebe asked. She had been looking for you for a while, but you were no where to be found.
I'm writing this to you because there is no other chance for me to see you once more. Shitty move, I know.
"Did you try her house?" Sonya suggested, pointing over to your house.
I know I promised you that I would never leave you and I would be there to protect you, but truth is, I can't keep you safe while being there.
Phoebe shook her head. "I was gonna check that last." Sonya just shrugged, not sure where else you could be.
Archie found out about my immunity. It was a little entertaining, he pointed his gun at me. He tried to kick me out! But even when I told the truth, he kicked me out. Told me that everyone is going to find out soon enough.
Phoebe walked into the house, finding it empty. Your presence no longer there. She walked over to your desk, finding a paper addressed to her. Before she reads it, she looked around, maybe there's something else.
He's by me as I write this letter to you. He's making sure I actually leave. He gave me enough supplies to last. It's like he's breathing down my neck right now. I cannot believe him.
You wiped the tears away from your eyes, the sun was barely peaking. You slipped onto the horse, heading off into the horizon. You had enough to last you for the next few weeks until you find somewhere to live.
I have no idea where I'm going to go. Somewhere out west, maybe somewhere on the upper west coast. Maybe I'll even take a trip to Canada. I don't know. I know they're probably all dead, but I could look for my family. It'd be nice to reunite with them.
Phoebe still hasn't opened the letter, unable to read it. She immediately went over to Melanie's, you were a good friend of hers, maybe she'd know. But then again, you and Phoebe were the closest, if anything, she should know where you would be.
I don't know if I'm going to make it out here. So this letter is my goodbye.
"I'm sorry, Phoebe, I don't know where she could've gone. Maybe she went off for a ride? Go ask the stables." Melanie felt a little guilty for the girl. She knew how much the two of you loved each other, it made no sense for you to just up and leave.
I love you so much, Phoebe, more than anyone else. You've helped me grow and learn more about myself. I've always admired you for your strength and your perseverance, how you always make your way through it. I also love how you were never afraid to be your true dorky self around me, you're not as tough as you like to make it seem.
You sit against a tree trunk, shaving some wood with your knife. You've been travelling for quite a bit and you decided to take a break. You've tried your hardest not to think about Phoebe. You aren't sure if you want to try anymore. You're probably going to run out the supplies. You're pretty sure you're never going to see Phoebe again. She was what kept you going after all.
Please don't kill him, he was doing what was best for the town. With that being said, I don't think you should come after me. It's not a very smart idea. Chances are, by the time you find me, I'm dead. My immunity can only do so much.
She was sobbing in her sister's arms, she had just read the letter. The first thing she wanted to do was strangle Archie, but Bee managed to stop her. She was right beside Phoebe as she read the letter, immediately pulling the younger girl into a tight hug. "I'm sorry." She whispered, rubbing her back.
I'm sure there are plenty people out there that are like me, maybe I'll run into them and we can all live together. I doubt any of them will be as amazing as you, probably full of assholes like me. Being out here alone is scary.
"Why would he do that?" Phoebe cried out, unable to stop the tears that were flowing. She was absolutely enraged.
If I do run into people, and I'm telling them about who I am and why I'm alone. I'll might tell them there's nothing else for me.
"I don't know." Bee was apologetic, she knew she didn't need to, but someone had to if Archie wasn't going to. "I'm so sorry."
They might ask why that is, and I'll tell them that I screwed up. I can't be with the girl I love anymore, and it's the only reason that I've been going these past few years. If I can't be with you anymore, what else am I living for?
"I'm going to go after her." Phoebe grabbed your letter, looking over it once more. She saw that there was small droplets on the page, dried droplets. You were crying as you wrote the letter.
I'm sorry that I have to do this to you. Remember that I will always love you.
Phoebe flipped the letter around, something dropping onto the ground. She didn't even notice that you had attached something. It was your chain that you always seem to wear, no matter where you were. She used to make fun of you for constantly wearing it, saying that it's going to backfire on you when someone chokes you out with it.
P.S. here's my necklace that you loved to make fun of me for having. something to remember me by
"If you're going to go after her, don't go alone. Have a plan." Bee gave her a look. She knew that whatever she said wasn't going to stop Phoebe from going after you, so might as well help her out and do it safely.
been playing a little too much tlou 🙏🙏
lmk if you want a part two