"No, no, no..."

Jane continued to mindlessly toss over lipstick after lipstick. She knew what brand she liked, yet this store had none! Seriously, how did this store have none of the good brands?

"Ben, can you-"

Jane had stopped her sentence, turning around to find Ben in a pile of makeup products, applying on green lipstick. They both stared at each other for a second in silence.

"Where's Sans?" She asked.

Without hesitation, Ben pointed a hand towards the vast ceiling of the Walmart, landing on a sign for the toy section. Jane narrowed her eyes at it from their side of the store.

"That... actually makes sense." Jane dug her arms under Ben's, lifting him from the pile of makeup products he had been trapped beneath. "Can you go get him? I don't want to stay here too long, survivors tend to search bigger stores like these."

Twisting her knife in her hand, the blank haired human straightened, looking out across the vast aisles. She could fight anywhere, really, and probably win. But the idea of Sans or Ben encountering a survivor alone wasn't one she'd like to live out.

After Ben scurried off, Jane returned down to the makeup, picking up another bottle and looking at it. "Wrong shade," She muttered, tossing it over her shoulder.

Ben evenly walked away from the growing makeup pile, wiping off the green lipstick. Yeah, it didn't suit him. He'd go for a light green next time.

If anything, he liked the new group. When he originally saw Sans bring back Jane, he almost thought life was going to get far worse. A bossy survivor with a strong arm and plenty of knives? To be honest, he thought she was going to end up killing them.

This was a pleasant turn of events, to say at the least. He liked this, even better compared to him playing video games right after he turned. Ben remembered standing in the video game store in silence, the screams and sounds of violent turnings occurring outside. And he could remember barricading the door, staring at the floor in silence until the screams dwindled down.

Finally, could he remember looking up at the blinking screen of a tv, stained with blood, asking to continue the game. He turned around, looking towards the door. He was hungry. Outside was food. Instead, he sat down onto the couch, awkwardly pressing the button to continue.

His life now, though, was better. More fun. He'd say his best friend was hands down Sans, the skeleton shared his sense of humor and was a blast to be around. Jane was a little bossy, sure, but they did need a leader to keep themselves organized, and Jane never stopped them from having fun. When she was in control, she got so much more progress done for their little group. It was rather impressive how good she was at surviving the end of the world.

A flash of light stopped Ben, causing him to turn. He was close to the toys aisle by now, having found himself within the pool one. It wasn't a surprise all zombies tended to like shiny things, he and Sans had long since come to the conclusion that they liked shiny things because it was eye catching and nice to look at. When zombies were bitten, their brains were 'dumbed' by the virus, as Ben put it. Stimulating their brains, which shiny things did, helped a lot.

The flash was from within a plastic container, with a picture of a happy family on the front swimming in a large open pool. Ben lightly picked it up, staring at the image. Smiles danced across each of their faces, and he could see his own reflection on the mirror like surface, his expressionless face hovering over the pool.

Water, collecting over his hands, as he flailed. He couldn't swim he couldn't swim he couldn't-

The box clattered to the ground, Ben covering his mouth as he breathed heavily. Gulping from a sudden spike of fear, he gripped the front of his t-shirt, lifting his foot, and stomping firmly against the image.

Again. Again.

Stomp after stomp, he smashed the image of the stupid family into the ground, destroying the object. Once it was destroyed, Ben calmed down, the sound of silence following his previous round of destruction. And so, he stood, basking in the faint whimper of his own breath, staring at the previously happy family that now was unrecognizable.

~~~~~~

"Eyyyyyy..."

"I love you!" A high pitched voice rang.

"Iiiigggg..."

"I love you!" The voice repeated.

"IIIiii... I! I!"

Ben peaked around the corner of the aisle, squinting at the scene sprawled out before him. Sans, plopped onto the ground, was surrounded by various toys meant for children. Some of them were broken, a few others were stained with blood, but overall were in good shape. A few children's books were folded inside of Sans' skull, the covers that were peaking out showing they were about speech.

The highlight of the scene was the toy stationed in front of Sans, glowing with a collage of colors, each more brighter than the last as they flashed through. There were a few buttons, and Sans was repeatedly pressing a certain button, making the toy speak out.

"I love you!" The toy repeated.

"I lou...louagggg.... Yyygggggg..." Sans grunted.

"Sahh? (Sans?)" Ben asked.

Sans jumped at the voice, the toy clattering to the side as he accidentally kicked it.

"Aghgjhge! (Ben? What the heck?)" Sans asked.

"OAjaihdjkf? (Are you trying to learn how to talk?)" Ben asked.

It wasn't much of a secret. Sans was surrounded by children's toys meant to help them talk, and he was blatantly trying to use this toy to learn how to speak. Sans looked a bit flustered from getting caught, grabbing the toy and moving it back to its original spot.

"(I was just trying to learn how to talk a little,)" Sans grumbled, checking that the toy wasn't damaged.

"(That's... actually a good idea, I think my hands going to cramp from writing so much.)" Ben sat down next to Sans. "(But why are you trying to learn that phrase?)"

Sans nervously pressed his fingers together, looking away.

"(Ooooohhhhh.)" Ben caught on quickly, leaning in with a grin. "(You likkkeeeee her.)"

"(Shut up!)" Sans muttered.

"(I knew it! You brought her back because she was pretty!)"

"(I didn't bring her back just because of that! She was strong and nice, she even liked my puns! I just didn't expect her to be... well, really hot. All the time. I'm guessing you figured it out awhile ago?)"

"(Yeah, I saw you eyeing her when she killed that horde with just one knife. It's pretty obvious.)"

Sans covered his face. "(She's just so cool, you know?)"

Maybe it wasn't just her, but their circumstances that pushed these emotions. After all, Sans was a zombie with no memories, and he found the first dateable person, a hot woman who was protecting him. No doubt he had become rather attached to her, she was the only girl he could really talk to. All other zombies were focused on food, and tended to avoid Jane at any given moment. Ben could say he grew rather attached to Sans and Jane as well, especially since they were all three stuck with one another all day, everyday. It was bound to happen that Sans would get a crush.

"(I think it's pretty cool that you're learning how to talk, I think that'd be a nice surprise.)"

"(It's taking forever, though. Talking is hard.)"

"(Talking is pretty hard because we have to learn it all over again. How about we-)"

The clatter of a noise sprung to life, making the two look up. They could hear the clatter of a toy making noise. Sure enough, that was expected. This was the toy aisle.

But neither of them pressed any buttons on a toy, and Jane certainly wouldn't.

"(Should we go tell Jane?)" Ben asked.

"(You go tell her, I'll check it out. If I scream very loudly, it's either a survivor or a chore I have to do.)"

Ben snorted. "(Got it.)"

Once he was gone, Sans stood up, easing his way out of his aisle and looked at where the sound came from. He could see the soft flashing lights of a toy. He got why he was inside of the toy aisle, but why was someone else. There was no materials on this side of the store for survival, all of the food and weapons had been cleared.

Was it a zombie?

He shuffled forward, pulling his fluffy hoodie more firmly around his frail body as he peaked into the aisle, ready to sprint away at a moments notice.

It was a... little girl?

A pink, fringed, and bloody dress hugged her body, ruffled around the edges and torn towards the bottom. She had been crouched down next to a glowing toy, pressing the large button to cause the lights to shimmer across her brown hair.

"(Hello?)"

The little girl jumped, looking at Sans with wide eyes. A teddy bear fell out of her hands, but she quickly went to grasp it again.

"(Wait, wait, it's okay, you-)"

"(I'm sorry.)" She choked out.

Sans paused. What?

She only sniffled as a response, shaking her head. "(I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry. I didn't mean to. I was scared.)"

What does she...

Sans took a step back, then another, his eye sockets going wide when it finally clicked in place. Unconsciously a hand slapped against his shoulder.

It took no longer before Ben and Jane were rounding the corner, Jane already prepared with a knife. The little girl shook her head, on the verge of tears, ignoring the other two.

"(Sans?)" Ben asked.

"(She's the one,)" Sans said, feeling the bite mark under his hoodie. "(She's the one who bit me.)"