It was 10 weeks since the world ended and they still hadn't found any food, apart from a few bags of groceries they found in the trunk of an abandoned car on Hayvenhurst.
Daniel knew eventually they were going to have to find store or market, but the idea of going somewhere more populated, where there would be zombies, filled him with dread. If anything happened to him Eli would be left alone, and he didn't think the kid would last long without him.
They went out, driving to random places, too scared to go in any houses or stores.
"Look at that," Eli said, as he pointed at the doors on Ventura that had been marked with a cross in red spray paint. "What do you think that means?"
"I don't know," Daniel said, feeling a shudder run down his spine. "I don't think I want to find out either."
There was a Whole Food market on Saugus avenue, bordered on three sides by empty roads. There were piles of dead plants and rotten watermelons by the entrance, but the double doors were wide open, and they sat in the car peering through them, wondering if anything was inside.
"We need food," Daniel said. "I'll have to take the chance."
"I'll come with you," Eli said, but Daniel pushed him back into his seat.
"No, stay there," he said. "I'm just going to look through the doors. If anything comes into the parking lot, hit the horn."
"OK," Eli said with a nod.
Daniel opened the car door, then closed it behind him and crept up to the store. He couldn't see anything walking in the aisles, so he stepped inside.
The smell hit him immediately. Piles of rotten fruit and veg were heaped in racks. Black overripe bananas and puddles of tomatoes that had almost turned to liquid and seeped across the floor. The air was thick with small flies, and Daniel lifted his shirt over his nose to try to block the smell.
The smell was getting too much, and Daniel felt himself start to retch, so he grabbed the nearest things he could see that hadn't turned to mush inside their packaging and ran out into the fresh air.
"What did you get?" Eli asked, when Daniel got in car.
"We'll need a gas mask before we can go back in there," Daniel said, as he handed Eli some bags of dried Kale.
It was 11 weeks since the world had ended, and they took a ride to where Encino Hills drive met Mulholland Drive. It was supposed to be a trip to get some fresh air and clear their heads, but as they got out of the car Daniel realised the usually spectacular view across the valley was actually a view of how completely and utterly fucked they were.
The air was filled with the smog of dozens of fires, as buildings burnt and the world fell apart. There was no cars moving along freeways, no planes coming in to land at LAX. There was nothing but devastation and rot.
They didn't speak on the way back home. Daniel was afraid he'd blurt out how the world was over, how they were done, how they had no chance of staying alive when everything was gone.
There was a black bag at the side of the road on Encino Hills Drive. They stopped to look in it and Daniel hoped it was food.
It was guns. Lots of guns.
"Have you every fired one before?" Eli asked as Daniel picked the bag up and put it carefully in the trunk of the car.
"No," Daniel replied. "But it can't be that hard, can it?"
It was almost 3 months since the world ended when Daniel walked out of his house and noticed his car had a flat tyre.
"God dammit!" he shouted, allowing himself this one small display of emotion because he knew Eli was still sleeping.
He changed the tyre for the one in the trunk of the car, and everything should have been fine.
Yup, everything was fine, they could still drive around, but nope, he couldn't go anywhere knowing there was no spare tyre in the trunk.
So they went to the dealership, with the new bag of guns on the back seat of the car. When they pulled into the parking lot there was only a few zombies shambling around, so Daniel pulled out one of the guns and shot the closest one in the head.
It had been two days since they arrived at the dealership, and the zombies were still swarming outside, around the black Audi. They were milling around, moaning loudly, and Daniel had no idea what the hell was making more of them turn up every day.
"How are we going to get back to the house?" Eli asked. "There's no way we can get to your car now."
"I don't know," Daniel replied honestly. "Maybe someone will come along."
There was a black car pulling a trailer along the road outside the dealership and Daniel decided to make a run for it. They sprinted across the parking lot, waving their arms.
The car slowed and waited for them, so they ran towards it. Daniel opened the back door and threw in the bag of guns, ushered Eli into the back seat, then opened the passenger door and jumped in.
As the car started speeding way from the zombies, Daniel turned towards the driver and said, "Thanks for helping us. Not many people would do..."
He stopped speaking, looking at their rescuer.
Holy shit, it couldn't be, could it? "Johnny? Is that you?"
"You're just in time, LaRusso," Johnny said with a grin, as he skipped to the next track on the CD player. "Listen, they're playing your song." and the opening chords of Dude Looks Like a Lady by Aerosmith filled the car.
It was a few days later and Daniel and Johnny had done nothing but argue since the moment they got in the car. There were brief moments where Daniel felt like something else was going on, but it wasn't until he and Johnny got into a fight over a bag marshmallows at a country club that he realised exactly what it was.
"Can I see you in private for a second?" Daniel asked, and Johnny nodded then followed him down the side of the balcony and out, into the trees.
Daniel wasn't sure if Johnny felt the same tension he did, and if he didn't he probably thought Daniel was taking him out and away from the kids so they could fight. Shit, he hoped he didn't have to try to crane kick Johnny in the face again. He wasn't even sure if he could get his leg that high any more.
Before he could even get a word out, Johnny pushed him roughly against a tree and kissed him.
Daniel kissed him back without even thinking, bringing his hands to Johnny's head and threading his fingers through his hair, pulling him in. It felt like 34 years of missed opportunities, as Johnny pressed himself up against Daniel's body, letting out a moan as he moved down, kissing his neck and along his jawline.
"Johnny," Daniel whispered into the near darkness, scanning the trees.
They were out in the open, in the pitch black, and Daniel could hear zombies shuffling, cracking twigs as they stumbled through the forest. They could be attacked at any second. It was terrifying, and at the same time it was one of the most thrilling moments of his life, then Johnny dropped to his knees and reached to unbutton Daniel's pants.
They were at the Getty of all places, fooling around while the kids slept in the next room. It was almost like being a teenager again, furtively fumbling with the lights out, trying new things for the first time without making a sound, constantly aware that you might get caught at any time.
They talked about the possibility of sex, if they ever managed to find a safe place to do it.
"Hey, how do you know all this stuff?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.
Daniel shrugged his shoulders. "Amanda and I experimented a little with anal sex."
"Niceeeee," Johnny said with a grin. "She let you do that to her?"
Daniel coughed and said, "Other way round. She did it to me."
For a second it was like Daniel could see the cogs whirring in Johnny's head before he said "Wait, she had a c-"
"Toys, Johnny!" Daniel interrupted. "She used toys on me and a strap on. It's called pegging. Lots of guys do it."
"So what do we need?"
"Condoms, lubricants," Daniel started.
"Condoms?" Johnny asked. "Pretty sure neither of us can get pregnant."
"I don't know about you, but I think getting a UTI from unprotected sex when all the antibiotics are going to be out of date soon probably isn't the best idea."
Johnny hummed. "Yeah, you have a point."
"And since I've done it before, I think for the first time that you should do me," Daniel said.
Johnny looked at him briefly, then snapped his eyes away. "OK. Yeah, you know what you're doing."
Except it didn't quite worked out that way.
Their first time was at the groundskeepers cottage, the night they arrived and found a family dead in the basement. Johnny had been desperately upset by the discovery, but Daniel managed to calm him down and pry the Whiskey bottle from his hand.
They'd gone upstairs and locked the bedroom door, then taken their clothes off, laying next to each other naked, relishing the feeling of being able to touch each others skin for the first time.
"I know we said when we did this the first time," Johnny said shyly. "I know we said that I'd do you." He paused a moment, looking down, then quietly said, "Do you think it could be the other way round?"
"Are you really sure that's what you want?" Daniel asked, feeling surprised at Johnny's question.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Johnny said.
Daniel couldn't quite shake the feeling that Johnny's request came from a place of sadness, and it was the first hint that Daniel had seen of the absolute depths of despair that Johnny held deep inside himself. Something he saw in full force the next day after Miguel had almost been bitten by a zombie, and Johnny revealed how desperately terrified he was at the thought of being left alone again.
"I'm just so tired of it all," Johnny said, as Daniel held him close, rocking him slowly.
"We'll stay here a while," Daniel replied, pulling his arms tightly around him. "We could all use the break."
"The day I met Miguel I'd gone back to my old apartment to die," Johnny said, barely audible. "I wouldn't be alive without him, but I almost let him die today."
"It's OK," Daniel whispered, closing his eyes and feeling tears prickle under his lids. "Everything's going to be OK."
And then Johnny burnt down the Santa Monica pier. A national landmark gone, destroyed in a few hours. Johnny said the fire had been an accident, and Daniel was content to let the kids think that, but he knew better.
While the kids slept on the upper deck of the boat, Daniel took Johnny downstairs, and hunted for a first aid kit in the rooms below.
As Daniel finished re-bandaging his head wound Johnny leaned forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Daniel's waist, resting his head against his chest.
Daniel wrapped his arms around Johnny's shoulders and rested his cheek on top of his head. After a moment Daniel softly asked, "The funnel cake story was a lie wasn't it?"
Johnny nodded slowly. "I thought this time I could do it without putting Miguel in any danger, and I ended up putting you all in danger."
"You have to stop doing that," Daniel said as he ran his fingers through Johnny's hair. "You're not alone now. You're never going to be alone again."
Johnny pulled away. "You don't kn-"
"Shhhh," Daniel said, placing a finger against his lips. "We're never leaving you."
"But y-"
"No," Daniel said, leaning down and placing a soft kiss against his lips. "I'm never leaving you, and to be honest I don't think you could get rid of Miguel even if you tried."
Johnny let out out a soft laugh.
"Hell, even Eli is starting to look at you like the sun shines out of your ass now you're teaching him karate," Daniel continued.
Johnny laughed then looked up at him with shiny eyes. "What about Robby?"
"When we get back we'll find him together," Daniel said quietly.
"You really mean that?" Johnny asked. "Cause Kreese used to say the same thing but he kept putting it off."
"I'm not Kreese. We'll go looking as soon as we can," Daniel said softly, wiping a stray tear from Johnny's cheek with his thumb. "I think you need to get some rest though."
Daniel found blankets and coats and piled them into the centre of the room then pulled Johnny down with him.
"What, no goodnight kiss?" Johnny asked jokingly
"That's all you're getting ,"Daniel said with a laugh. "You need to get some rest after today."
He leaned in and kissed him softly, then wrapped his arms tightly around him, as Johnny lay his head on his chest
"You love me," Johnny said.
"I do," Daniel replied. "And I'm going to keep saying it until you believe me."
Johnny breathed out, sounding almost contented. "The kids probably think we're down here having sex."
"They're young. They don't realise how exhausting everything is after you hit 50," Daniel laughed. "And you just know they're listening, the little snoops."
"Well, I'd hate to disappoint," Johnny said, then he slammed his foot down repeatedly against the hollow deck and shouted, "Yes! Yes! Harder, LaRusso! Right there!"
Daniel let out a snickering laugh against Johnny neck, "Oh, so even with my imaginary dick in you it's still 'LaRusso'."
"Yup," Johnny said, then he let out a loud moan and shouted, "Yes! Yes!"
Daniel slapped his hand against the deck and let out a shout of his own, then sniggered into Johnny's shoulder, "I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow."
It didn't take Johnny long to fall asleep, and Daniel laid awake for a while longer listening to the sound of Johnny's slow breathing.
It was four months since the world had ended, but Daniel knew that nothing was over as long as he had Johnny.