☾︎♫︎𝚅𝚒𝚛𝚞𝚜 𝚉𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎 𝙰𝚄;𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝;𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝;𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑;𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍♫︎☽︎

Nick was running quickly through the various streets and being careful not to be seen. The creatures dominated much of the city and the virus was expanding fast. There were few left those who were not contaminants in this city.

He stopped abruptly and flattened himself against the wall,out of the corner of his eye he observed one not far from him.

The skin was green –but not light green like the sweatshirts Dream wore– but dead green.
The brain was open,the right hemisphere covered by green skin,while the left hemisphere was open to the world and the gray brain could be clearly seen.
It moved slowly,limping sometimes,and sniffed in the air in a trace of something.Most likely a trail leading to his next meal.
He had a cream and black striped shirt that was full of scratches and bites leaving large open rips. Not that the rest of his clothes were intact. He had ripped pants that left her legs bare,and boots with holes in his toes.
One of the legs had a hole in the skin that showed the leg bone.
There was only one word for that abomination: A zombie.

About 7 months ago,doctors began testing a special new cancer cure on some animals to see how they react and whether it could be usable or not.

What they did not expect was the effect of the cure. It melted the brains of animals and changed their skin color causing them to become dull and dead. And as their brain was turned to mush they were thought to be dead,but in reality they could still use the basic joints.

A state of Emergency was issued to this discovery and all research was suspended,isolating the animals. Unfortunately,however,one of the animals that was tested on,a squirrel,escaped. And it contaminated other animals to the point of bringing the virus to humans.

And now the population was divided between zombies and humans. Some doctors were trying to reverse the formula but it would take perhaps more than a year,and so the humans had united in a single,sealed and secure Government military fortress to fight the zombies and have dominance,while also giving the doctors time to get to the cure. But there was still a long way to go.

Once the zombie walked away Sapnap resumed running towards one of the fortress's underground entrances:a digit-coded metal hatch that was camouflaged with its surroundings.

Looking around and making sure he wasn't being followed or having zombies on his heels,he quickly put the code and opened the hatch,then closing it and resealing it.

He went down the stairs and held the package tightly. He had been sent by the resistance forces to take some deliberate weapons from other states. The survivors helped each other in this way,avoided communication in plain sight and hid camouflaging themselves avoiding the zombies,but delivered packages in predestined places with information,weapons,supplies with food and water,medical kits and medicines that could be found. Sometimes there was even a letter with the packages in which was being reported or summarized the situation or also asked for help from reinforcements.

He walked the road in near darkness except for a few torches on the wall. The tunnel was about twenty meters long and was poorly lit,little could be made out of what was there. If not for the old and dirty walls,now falling apart,and a few rats here and there,nothing else was distinguished.

It took him a couple of minutes to finally get out and breathe the clean air of the outer camp,away from zombies and moss.

"I'm back!"
Sapnap announced,getting the attention of Skeppy and Bad who were close by.

"How did it go?"
Skeppy asked him as Bad watched him from head to toe noting that he was not injured or bitten.

"Take a look"
The boy placed the package in plain sight so that they could see it. The other two smiled at him complimenting him.

"Anyway...where are Dream and George? They usually always wait for me here when I return from missions..."
Sapnap asked with confused eyebrows incarnating.

Skeppy and Bad look at each other first and then stare nervously at him.
And the few soldiers who were close enough to hear their conversation avoided his gaze as he looked around.

"Well....mhm...they...."
Bad tried to explain,but no meaningful words came out of his throat.

"Ok....Why are you acting weird? What happened? And why everyone avoids looking me in the eyes?"
Sapnap questioned as he looked around,trying to catch a glimpse of his best friends. Strange that they weren't in the camp...and from what he knew they hadn't gone on a mission while he was gone.

"Well....you see...ehm..."
"They are in the infirmary..."
Skeppy decided to break the news,as Bad couldn't do it.

"....What?"
.......
The infirmary. A place quite feared by the survivors. The infirmary is not in the open camp outside the government facility,but inside it. It's located on the first floor in the medical wing. Between operating theaters and laboratories where they analyze the virus. The only people who went there were those who were bitten or seriously ill. But since no one got sick that often,it was mainly used for people bitten in transformation.

Before they lose their minds,a couple of vials of blood are extracted from the bodies to study the reaction of the blood cells,and experiments are made with the first attempts at an antitode. But beyond that,they are then later sent out and removed from the camp forever before they can transform.

"....are...are they hurt? They didn't go out,it is impossible that they caught the virus!"
Sapnap protested by abandoning the package on a nearby table,where other soldiers took it to take it to their superiors.

"They are not there because they got hurt....they are there for other people...."
Skeppy told him trying to keep eye contact,Bad was now looking at the floor with tears in his eyes.

"Oh,thanks god. At least they aren't in danger"
Sapnap let out a sigh of relief knowing that his best friends weren't at risk.

"Sap...you...better....sit down..."
Bad told him avoiding his gaze,as did Skeppy.

"Why?And why does it seem like you are about to cry? What happened?"
What else had happened while he wasn't there? And he had been absent for less than a week. There are people who were absent even for 2 months or more, sent to who knows where to do who knows what.

His boyfriends for example...Karl and Quackity had been sent on a 3 month long mission to a country on the other side of the country. And they weren't back yet. He had spent most of the time praying they were fine and not in danger,avoiding as many tasks as possible in order to be present whenever they could return. But that he knew,they still weren't. Unless they were back in these 4 days of his absence. But if that were the case,they would have been the first people he would see once he got out of that secret passage.

"Karl and Quackity came back two days ago while you were gone...."
Skeppy told him.

"What?! And are you just telling me now ?! Where are they now? I want to see them!"
The boy began to look for his partners,not even seeing them among the people present outside. Maybe they were inside or somewhere else in the camp? It was huge after all....

"oh God I can't do this..."
Skeppy sighed heavily, Bad at his side put a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Sapnap...they...they are the people who are in the infirmary right now...."
Bad finally told him the much ignored truth.

When they found out,too,it was a tragedy. Apparently on their return,the zombies found and attacked them. They had trouble escaping,with the result that at some point,they were bitten. Luckily they were in a town near the resistance fortress,and it took them very little to get to the camp and ask for help. The transformation takes more or less a week,in slower cases 2 weeks,in the fastest ones only 5 days.

"Fuck...."
With eyes wide open and his heart in his throat,the boy started running through the various corridors,avoiding as many people as possible,to get to his destination.

No no no no no no no
This can't be happening,pls God tell me this is just a nightmare. This isn't real,this isn't fucking real. I can't lose them,I can't.

The door to the infirmary swung open,alarming everyone of his presence. The infirmary was full with doctors in white coats and masks coming in and out with test folders and syringes with bags of blood. There were other 10 people on the beds,some with their eyes closed,some with already cadaveric and colorless skin,others awake and with bandaged limbs,and a couple of soldiers at their sides. Friends,family members,partners. But he didn't care about the others.

Sapnap made his way among the beds most surrounded by doctors. George and Dream on the right side of one of the beds as they looked at the people above as if they were now ghosts.

They aren't dead! Stop looking like they are! This isn't fucking fair!

George was the first to realize his closeness. He motioned with his hands to approach their side calmly,then indicating one of the doctors who was drawing blood.

He walked slowly between the space between the two beds,while some doctors made room for him. Finally in front of them,he could observe the damage.

Karl was on the bed to his right,his skin had already turned gray and he was barely making eye contact,like he was falling asleep,but he wasn't fucking falling asleep. Sometimes he moved his limbs,in a kind of spasm,but other than that he didn't move much.

Dream had whispered something about the fact that he was the first of the two to be bitten and that their transformation would only take another 2 days,being a fast case.

Quackity was on the bed to his left. Unlike Karl,he was still conscious and still managed to move without spasms,even though some minor tics were already visible. His skin was paler than usual,a clear sign that in a couple of hours he would be catatonic. Doctors were doing eye checks and taking DNA for future experimental antitodes most likely.

It was he who became aware of his presence,while he was in front of their beds.

"Sap....hey..."
Her voice was low and shrill,a clear sign that her vocal cords were also starting to change. Within 3 days he would have done nothing but grumble...He will no longer talk...

Like waking up from a coma,Karl opened his eyes to observe him,but he said nothing,he just smiled.

"...Hi....."
He said hesitantly looking at them.

"How are you?"
Quackity asked him, as the doctors walked away from their beds,once they had picked up and done what they needed.

"Are you-Are you sirius? I should ask that question. I-I..God this is too much- I..."
He wanted to laugh from the stress and cry at the same time. It wasn't fair. It was absolutely not fair. Why did they have to be the ones to be infected? Why was the world so cruel?

They had made a promise...a future together...and now it was all falling before their eyes. In 72 hours they would even become mutal enemies for survival.

"I know...let it go. You need it"
Quackity's eyes were bright,a clear sign that he too was holding back tears.

And so Sapnap let his feelings flow into a silent cry that was witnessed only by his best friends and his dying boyfriends.

"I-It's not ri-right.....T-That's no-t how it was su-ppo-osed to go-o..."
"I-I kn-ow...We....kn-know T-hat"
Quackity sobbed,he had started crying too,finally facing the reality he wanted to avoid with all his hope. He's going to die,he and karl are dying.

The monitors that have been monitoring their heartbeats for two days were getting weaker and weaker and the doctors had already said that to avoid problems,while they were in their dead-fase they would move them to a different city.

There are 3 stages in the progression of the disease:

1-The Beginning:
The infected develops in 2 days,in their case,the virus that attacks the motor and cardiovascular system,starting to make the victim consume slowly until his death. The symptoms they show right now are from this stage.

2-The Death-Fase:
The patient shuts down until his heart stops beating and his body becomes cold as ice. This is a phase that lasts only 24 hours and during it,it is as if he is in a coma. You can perceive and feel external factors but you are in a deep sleep in which it is impossible to wake up. Memories begin to be forgotten as well as all the emotions felt as a human.

3-The Final Mutation:
The affected person's brain,after the second stage,melts and the person awakens from the coma,not remembering anything from his previous life. Become passive-aggressive and with a thirst for brains. His appearance changes and his skin turns gray-green with sagging or missing body parts.

Right now he and Karl are in the middle between phase one and two,and it won't be long before they enter completely the two.

"We...we don't h-have mu-uch ti-me le-e-ft"
He sobbed uncontrollably as tears wet his paling cheeks.

Karl beside them moved his hand towards Sapnap in a gesture of reassurance. Even if he couldn't speak,his physical contact would do it for him.

"If I had come with you....If I had come with you,you wouldn't be in this condition now.....it's my fault"
The grip on his hand became a little firmer as sapnap looked into Karl's eyes,realizing that there were still emotions.

"It's not...it isn't your fault...You weren't the one who bite us were you? Nothing of this is your fault. Don't make Karl angry at you for this bullshit"
Quackity reassured him as Karl nodded his head,clearly agree with what he said.

"It was an accident Sapnap. You couldn't have known it was going to happen...don't feel guilty about things you don't have..."
"But I didn't protect you. If I protested more,maybe they could make you change your mission,or put me with you guys...but I didn't"
"You didn't do it because you had faith in our abilities despite the danger....there's nothing wrong with that..."
Karl nodded again,smiling at him.

His heart monitor was starting to beat less and less...there is a gap of 3 hours between him and Quackity. He would die first,and 3 hours later his boyfriend would join him. If only they had been more careful....

"....But I wasn't there to protect you or even to welcome you....we could have had more time...today is the third day and you..."
"We know...we know that"
".....How many hours do you have left?"

Quackity looked at Karl before answering him.
"Karl still has 2 hours to live before he enters that phase,I have 5 hours"

Just 2 hours before he lost Karl and 5 to Quackity....this was all a nightmare. A horrible one.

"We had a promise .....We were supposed to get married at the end of the month and live happily together... now we couldn't do anything of that...."
Silent tears run down their cheeks.

There was no return from all this,they knew. But they spent the last few hours together all the same to distract themselves from the fatiguing moments,reliving their most beautiful memories together.

The first one they bid farewell to was Karl,who died with his hand still intertwined with theirs. In a silent death devoid of sound,if not the metal beep of the machine. His eyes already closed for at least half an hour before.

Beep-beep....beep-beep......beeeeeeeep

They were a trio that had just become a duo.
The cries of despair for help were completely ignored,everyone now accustomed to that tear-jerking agony.

5 hours later,the duo became a single.

Quackity died in violent spasms,but never letting go of sapnap's hand as his eyes rolled inside his head.
And Dream and George had to take him away by force as he slumped against their beds in a desperate attempt at comfort.

That same evening,the two beds were transported away to a distant city,without anyone knowing where or which one,to prevent them from going to look for them.

Sapnap wasn't the only one crying that night. Everyone who had at least interacted with them was silently praying that they had a transformation without pain,and that their souls could sooner or later be reincarnated in a distant future,far away from this apocalypse.

But the truth hurt:They were gone and would never go back. He was alone and would be until his death.