A/N: i wrote this all throughout today so if anything feels rushed, that's why. this chapter is a bit over 4k words, and actually has quite a few warnings I wanna give:
our first real battle scene happens here so there's some violence, and there's some pretty gross descriptions of zombies and their bodies. also, brief moment of someone throwing up. and finally, right at the end, there's just the sound of a gunshot. as we progress, guns will become a weapon some of them use more regularly, so I wanted to take a second to point that out for anyone who might be uncomfy.
have fun
--
"If I have to go one more day eating eggs or bread and without a real shower, I'm going to throw myself at one of those zombie creatures."
Nick slumped after sliding into the booth, joining and sitting across from Johnnie, who was flipping through a book that had been among the others on the shelf that was now pinning the door shut. He looked up, chuckling at his words, "We're only on day five. If this goes on as long as most apocalypse movies, all of us would die from boredom and or smelling gross."
They had been using hand soap in the bathroom and running water to "clean" themselves, but that was only so effective when they didn't have clean clothes to change into. Jake brought up the idea of running down to the thrift store for a new outfit, especially since the street that they were on seemed to be pretty clear, but no one wanted to risk leaving unless it was absolutely necessary.
And as long as they still had food, shelter, and running water, it technically wasn't.
"What're you reading?" Nick slightly changed the topic, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table.
"History of rock music." Johnnie lifted it up to show off the cover before placing it back down, "I already know some of it, but it's pretty interesting."
"Did you read as a hobby before all this?" the triplet questioned. The emo laughed at that,
"Absolutely not. I'm dyslexic, actually." he huffed, "But like everyone else, I'm bored."
"Matt sorta picked up reading just before all this, but he's never been so dedicated to it before." Nick looked over to where his brother was sat, curled up in one of the arm chairs with a mug filled with fruit juice on the table in front of him. There was also a few other books there, placed in a little stack.
The man had worked his way through a good handful of books in a few days without anything to distract him besides eating and occasionally double-checking that the bookshelf effectively held the door shut.
"I've been listening to whatever albums I saved to my iCloud when I was like, seventeen, and I'm getting sick of it. I can only loop early Panic! At The Disco albums so many times before wanting to throw my phone out the window." Johnnie admitted without anything to prompt him, pulling his device from his pocket and placing it on the table in front of him. "Do you know who's using the charger? I should plug it up, honestly."
Throughout the whole building, they found a grand total of one charger hidden in the employee break room that was the size of a closet. Matt was using his phone to take some sort of notes, and Johnnie used his for music, but the rest of them just occasionally tried sending out texts and calls to no avail.
"I don't think I've even bothered charging mine." Nick said, shaking his head to answer his question. "At least you have something to listen to, and earbuds."
"I'm really shocked I had them and that they actually work- they were rotting in the bottom of one of the pockets in my leather jacket for months. Closer to a year, probably." Johnnie chuckled, folding the corner of his page and shutting the book, sliding it to the side so that it sat next to his phone. "Are there any plans for the day?"
"Yeah." He nodded, "I counted up the ingredients we have again last night- there's plenty of liquids, but our actual food is already running low. We have a lot of flour but the eggs are running out, and so is the fruit. Jake told me that the milk was gonna go bad so they used the rest in the pancakes this morning."
"So...we have to consider leaving, then?" Johnnie asked, earning a nod. "Shit."
"The streets have gotten pretty quiet in the last day or so. I don't think it'll be easy, or anything, but maybe the worst part is over?" Nick suggested, "We can try and get back to our apartment, get some stuff and then hop in our van. Or we could go to the store you guys were at and pack ourselves into your car, if it's any closer."
"It might just be quiet because those zombie things are." The emo pointed out.
"I know that." Nick replied, and he's almost whispering now, "But what other choice do we have? Survive off of fruit juice and flour while we sit tight for a rescue team that probably isn't coming?"
"I think we should wait until everyone's together to talk about this." Johnnie bit at his lip, pulling on his piercing. "Where's Chris and Jake?"
"Oh, I have no idea what those two are doing half the time." Nick shrugged, leaning back against the cushioning of the booth. "They're probably still in the kitchen cleaning up from earlier?"
--
"I swear, I didn't do this many dishes before the world ended." Chris was stood at the sink, rinsing off dishes while Jake sat on the metal table behind him, flipping through a book of what seemed to be the cafe's baking recipes.
"I cook, you clean. It's basic house rules." Jake shrugged, shutting it and setting it to the side. "Plus, I don't think anyone thought we'd be here this long, so we didn't actually split up the tasks or set a schedule."
"We're running out of everything, though." Chris turned off the sink, shaking off his hands and drying them with a paper towel. "I think we're gonna have to leave soon."
"I know. I've been trying not to think about it." Jake admitted, kicking his feet out below him. "If I don't think about it, it's not real."
Chris laughed at that, "I wish that's how everything worked, honestly."
The two of them had this loose routine. Jake cooked the food and Chris helped him, mostly by cleaning to the best of his ability or measuring something whenever his hands were full.
They talked about a lot of random things- like what their videos together would've looked like if they had met up before the world ended. Or how they should totally start a baking series now that they were starting to get a hang of the whole ordeal. Or about their closest friends, about how Nick and Johnnie were actually very similar and how Matt was definitely a musician in an alternate universe.
And every time, they almost got lost in it. When they were in that kitchen, having friendly discussions while baking for their friends and family, it was almost like they were just two guys getting to know each other and not two people providing for the team because it was the end of the world and if they didn't, no one would eat.
"We should head out there, shouldn't we?" Jake asked, glancing at the door that'd lead them to the storefront. And even though they had no way to know for sure what was gonna happen once they stepped out there, there was this feeling in the air that told them that their short-lived routine would be broken soon.
"Probably." Chris agreed. He held out his hand to held Jake off of the counter even though he probably didn't need it. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be, I guess."
--
"We should arm ourselves." Matt suggested, "There's knives in the kitchen, right?"
"Yeah." Chris confirmed, "I think there's enough for everyone to get one."
They were all gathered around the booth like they did whenever they all sat down to eat and talk, like they were in a business meeting or something.
"Do we know where we're headed next?" Jake tried, "I know this weapon collection shop, I think it's a few blocks away? If we're talking about arming ourselves."
"You just know where a weaponry shop is?" Nick questioned, giving the other tattooed man an odd look.
"They sell like, murder paraphernalia, too." He shrugged as if this was no big deal and not a little concerning.
"They sell what for what?" Nick's eyes only got wider.
"It's like, shit from crime scenes. Or stuff that was once owned by serial killers." Matt explained.
"And why do you know that?" The man now turned on his own brothers.
"I've been doing nothing but reading for...five days, now?" He answered, "Shocking information, but you can learn stuff from those things."
"Oh, whatever." Nick scrunched up his nose slightly, "I have a lot of questions related to your sanity, Jake, but hitting up a weapon shop is probably a good idea. That way we're safe while we try to get to a car so we can leave the city."
"We should get whatever food we can together, too." Johnnie cut in with a suggestion after mostly just listening for a while.
"We can use what's left of the eggs and stuff to make bread?" Chris looked to Jake, who nodded. "We should also make sure that the phones are charged and take the cord with us."
"I think there's a clothing store near there, too. Oh! And a gym!" Jake seemed to remember the details as he spoke.
"Like, a gym with showers?" Nick asked, earning a smile and a nod. "I'm significantly less weirded out by the whole weapon collection store slash murder thing, because a shower sounds amazing."
"We're gonna leave the blankets and stuff, right?" Johnnie asked, "Since we have two bookbags and should focus on food and survival stuff?"
"That's probably a good idea." Matt agreed, "Maybe bring some of the small ones in case it's cold wherever we end up."
"There are a bunch of water bottles behind the counter- we can fill those with water?" Jake suggested.
And just like that, as they continue to go back and forth and back, a plan starts to fall into place.
None of them wanted to leave and put themselves in the path of whatever danger was waiting for them, but they didn't have much of a choice. All they could do was make the best of the resources they had and try to plan ahead as much as possible.
They were pretty good at it, too, considering their circumstances.
--
Weaponry shop, clothes store, gym.
According to Jake, they were all right next to each other; They just had to find them first.
This proves to be incredibly difficult without a car or Google Maps.
Jake positions himself at the head of the group, the straps of one of the two book bags pulled over his shoulders as he lead them through the eerily quiet streets. There's the obvious remnants of bloodshed everywhere, and every couple of buildings, there's the clear signs of the doors and windows being blocked off because everyone seemed to have the same idea of hiding themselves away.
"Be honest with me," Chris begins, finding himself at Jake's side, "Do you have any idea where we are? Or where we're going?"
Jake leaned close to him, whispering in an attempt to make sure his words were shared only between them. "No, I do not. But I think we aren't far. Maybe."
Just behind him, Nick, who had the other bag, groaned. "We've been walking forever already. I thought you said you knew where this place was!"
"I said that I thought it was a few blocks away!" Jake stated defensively, "It's not like I frequent this store or anything."
"Well, you clearly go there enough to know that it's nearby." he huffed, "I thought that maybe, you'd know where you're going."
"Oh, stop complaining." Matt told Nick, "It's not like I drive around without GPS much, either."
"Thank you!" Jake said loudly, giving Nick a look. "We're all tired, and yet, you're the only one running your mouth about it."
"Someone else is taking this bag at some point if we don't get where we're going soon." Nick gave up on the back-and-forth with Jake. They had all been getting a bit testy since leaving the cafe, some more than others.
"I'll take it next." Chris offered, "If it'll get you to shut up for two seconds."
"Well, if some people didn't insist on taking books we didn't need with us, then maybe the bags would be lighter!" Nick turned his annoyance towards someone else, now, looking at Johnnie and then Matt.
"I put one book in there! Fuck off." Johnnie defended himself immediately, "If you had a source of entertainment, you'd want it, too. You're still holding onto your phone even though it's practically useless at the moment."
"A phone is nowhere near as space-consuming and tiring to carry around as some dumbass emo history book." He bit back.
"It's history of rock music, actually. Learn your music cultures, bitch." Johnnie corrected, now sounding just as annoyed as Nick.
"I grabbed books that I thought may help us." Matt said, "Weird survival guides and shit."
"Who gives a shit about your music cultures when we are literally running out of food?" Nick completely ignored his brother in favor of arguing with the other man. It seemed that those two were either fighting like they wanted to kill each other or talking like no one else in the group existed with no in-between.
Chris and Jake stopped in their movements at the front of the group, the black-haired one speaking up. "Guys, look."
He was ignored by everyone including Johnnie, who replied to the younger man quickly, "I don't know how you still have shit to say about me being alternative when your arms are covered in tattoos."
"I don't know how you still find the need to put on black eyeshadow every morning when you're like, thirty five." Nick doesn't even seem to notice that everyone's stopped moving, and Johnnie has now turned around to face the younger man.
"Guys, seriously." Chris wrapped his hand more tightly around the handle of the knife he had been carrying, backing up while staring straight ahead of him. This got Matt's attention.
"I'm twenty six! I'm not that much older than you!" Johnnie's voice gets louder, and he doesn't step back as the red-haired man moves closer. He usually wasn't the kind to uphold confrontations like that, but the exhaustion and confusion found only in the end of the world was enough to push him forward in the interaction.
There was definitely some fiery concoction of words on the tip of Nick's tongue, but he never gets to say them because he's distracted by the sound of Chris being tackled to the ground beside him.
"HOLY SHIT!" He shouted, jumping to the side. Suddenly, whatever argument they had been having didn't matter. The youngest triplet blindly slashes his dull kitchen knife at the creature on top of him- one that looked like the ones they had seen on that first day except they were now fitted with skin that was paling and going green as it rotted, and Nick gets the straps of the book bag he had been complaining about off of his arms.
He makes quick work swinging it around by those straps, hitting the creature in the head with the bottom of the bag, hoping that the weight of the books stacked at the bottom would knock it out.
Like it was nothing at all and with the disgusting squelching of rotting human brain matter and the cracking of bones, it's skull is knocked inwards and it goes motionless, falling limply over his younger brother. Brown-ish blood seeps through what was once blonde hair, and so does some of that previously-mentioned brain matter.
It's disgusting, but at least Chris was safe.
Meanwhile, another one of them was lunging at Jake. This one didn't have the same rotting skin, which they could only assume meant that it had been forced into this state more recently.
He dropped his bag immediately, grabbing for the knife they had stuffed in the pocket meant for a water bottle. Before his hand even wrapped around the handle, though, Johnnie had tossed his knife over his head, successfully creating enough force to plant the blade in it's forehead.
It didn't drop dead, but it started moving more slowly.
"How did you even-" Jake begins to question in a completely bewildered tone as he pulled open the zipper of his bag, grabbing for one of the cafe-branded metal thermoses they filled with water. "It doesn't matter. Throw this next."
He handed it off to the smaller man, who stared at it for a moment too-long before complying.
The metal container makes a loud clashing sound against the plastic of the knife handle, knocking the creature backwards right as it was closing in on them. It's body goes still just in front of Jake's feet, and he has to step back to avoid that brown-ish blood coating his unfittingly white shoes.
Behind the pair of them, Chris was throwing the dead zombie's body off of himself, scrambling to get up and away from it. The front of his shirt was smeared with old blood, and chunks of miscellaneous rotten human flesh.
"Holy shit, that was insane." Matt spoke up first after a beat of silence passed, but then Nick was shouting,
"Get out of the way!" because there just had to be one more of those things emerging from an alley behind his brother. Matt made quick work of spinning around, clutching his knife in his hand and blindly making a quick "slashing" motion as far ahead of him as his arm would allow for.
With an insane amount of luck, he ends up cutting through it's shirt and the skin pulled over it's collarbones, causing that same aged and sickly-sweet smelling blood to gush out like a waterfall and coat it's torso. It falls to it's knees but continues crawling forward at a shocking speed.
Matt scurries back, not expecting the thing to withstand a wound that large. Chris rushes up to his side, stabbing downwards and burying his knife into the top of it's head.
The creature seems startled, a shudder moving through it's body before it just kept moving.
The final blow comes in the form of another metal thermos flying through the air, making a loud ringing noise as it hit the side of it's head. Finally, it fell down onto it's stomach, one of it's hands a mere few centimeters from Matt's shoe.
The five of them held their quiet, closed up in a little cluster and surrounded by three terribly aged bodies. Even though it wasn't really possible, it felt like you could hear their heartbeats and panting breaths mixing with each other like some sort of harmony on a song as their eyes scanned the surrounding area for anything else.
"Is that actually it?" Chris asked, looking at the other people in the group, who all shrugged.
"Is everyone okay?" Nick voiced the next question, "I think I hit myself with the book bag when swinging it, but that's it. Might get some bruises."
The other four looked over themselves, coming up with no significant injuries.
"I nicked myself with the knife." Chris admitted, holding up his palm, which had a paper-cut thing scratch on it. "Barely bleeding, though."
Nick took a look at it, "Rinse it with some water and wrap it with something. It should be fine."
"Yeah." the youngest agreed in an airy voice, barely focused on what was happening. he looked down at his shirt. "Oh my...."
He took a breath in, his face taking the same expression as Nick had in the back of the car on that first day, when he almost-
"Oh, gross." Johnnie scrunched up his nose, turning the other way as Chris kneeled over on the concrete, clutching his stomach. He barfs over the body of the one that had pinned him down, chunky vomit mixing with blood and rotten guts.
He is the only one that actually does it, but looking around at the state of the battle scene surrounding them, they all sort of feel like throwing up. Once Chris was done, Jake handed him a water bottle before zipping up his bag.
"We should definitely get out of here." The black-haired man suggested, wrapping an arm around his shoulders like either of his triplet brothers would when things got a bit chaotic.
Usually, Nick wouldn't like to see someone they barely knew pulling that move. In that moment, though, he was just glad they all got out of that situation alive. He went to retrieve his bookbag, which had rolled to the side right into a puddle of browned zombie blood.
"Should I even..." he trailed off, looking up at Matt and Johnnie, who both shrugged. "Do you think the blood can infect us, or something?"
"You don't have any cuts or anything." Johnnie pointed out. "And all of our food is in there."
"I'm definitely not digging any knives out of the zombie bodies." Matt decided, "But we should probably take the bag and see what we can keep from inside of it."
Nick scrunched up his nose staring down at the bag, and Johnnie sighed, stepping over one of the bodies and snatching it up without saying anything. "I was gonna-" Nick was cut off.
"It's fine." Johnnie said, before quietly adding, "Sorry for arguing with you."
"I started it, though." Nick's gaze softened, and the two of them start walking to try and catch up with the other pair. And Matt, apparently, who decided to leave them to figure out their stuff. They fall into step with one another easily. "Y'know, I think it's your stupid book at the bottom of that thing that knocked out zombie trying to eat my brother's face. So, thanks, I guess."
"Not so stupid anymore, is it?" he teased, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I guess not." Nick hummed, staring down at his feet. "I'm sorry I called you thirty five. And made fun of your makeup. And called the music stuff stupid. And-"
"It's okay." Johnnie laughed, "I'm sorry I called you a bitch."
It was Nick's turn to laugh, now. "I don't even know why I feel more annoyed at everything than usual. I shouldn't be yelling at anyone."
"I have an idea." Johnnie said, and Nick was listening, "Maybe it's because it's...the end of the world? And we were forced out of leaving the closest thing to a safe shelter we had. Everything's out of wack, man."
"I guess so." Nick ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath. He stared in front of him at the other three, who seemed to be conversing quietly about something. "Do you think Jake's gonna get us to the weapon shop before dark?"
"Honestly?" Johnnie didn't answer the question immediately, earning a nod, "I have no idea."
--
The answer to that question ends up being "yes."
What would've been a twenty minute walk becomes a day trip with how many wrong turns they take, alternative routes they settle for in an effort to avoid any weird noises, and pit-stops they made because everyone was exhausted after the post-zombie battle adrenaline wore off.
But eventually, they end up at the door of some worn-down and janky establishment in a shopping center none of them had heard of before. It was practically hidden, honestly, even though it was pretty out in the open.
They could see the gym and clothing store a few doors down, but they all end up agreeing that they should definitely prioritize getting weapons. They had plenty of water bottles to throw, but a few of their actual knives had been abandoned in the corpses they were used on.
"This place is sketchy as hell, Jake." Johnnie told him, "And I went to basement emo concerts in my early teen years as a normal hobby."
"Maybe." Jake shrugged, "But they got guns and whatever else we could need to protect ourselves, so you'll have to get over it."
The other four make eye contact with each other, and those of them that still had knives- Nick and Matt, at this point, adjusted them in their hands.
Like it was nothing at all, Jake adjusted the straps of his bag one more time before stepping up to the double doors and pulling them open. As he does this, the rest of them file in.
In this moment, there's a few things that happen. Like the cafe, there's a bell that rings out to signify that someone had walked inside.
After that, there's the sound of what they could only assume was a dog barking. There's a loud shuffling, and a feminine voice that states, "Oh my god!"
This is when everyone realized that the weapon shop had already been occupied. But before any of them could say anything to assure to this person that they weren't there to cause any trouble, there's one more sound that zips through the medium-sized shop.
A gunshot.
--
A/N: i wrote this all in one day and did very minimal editing. you guys know by now: if you see any mistakes, no you didn't !!
this is the first of the earlier chapters in the plot plan that I was really excited for, honestly. I know I introduced the temporary safety of the cafe only to immediately take it away but the plot has to progress, so you get them travelling. I'm having a lot of fun with the Chris + Jake and Nick + Johnnie pairings. Nick and Johnnie wildly switching from being potential besties to having beef may continue if you guys are into the dynamic and it's as fun to read as it is to write. Let me know what you think.
nick's "you're like, thirty five and still wearing that eyeshadow" comment is hilarious to me and no one can take that away from me. to be clear, i don't actually feel that way and really like johnnie's style it just feels like something this version of Nick Sturniolo (tm) would say when he's annoyed and tired.
do you guys have any predictions about their next moves as they navigate the apocalypse and how they will play out? or just something you wanna see? you should totally comment and leave votes and save this to your library and share the fic if you do because i'm a teenage author who's looking for validation.