They had been walking for hours.

Roman was in the front, Patton and Logan on either side of him. The other three were in the back.

"I don't think there's anything out here." Patton murmured, wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm starving."

"You have anything to eat in that backpack of yours?" Virgil asked Logan, who shook his head.

"I only brought water." Logan shrugged weakly. "If I had food, I would've passed it out by now."

"What's that over there?" Janus asked, pointing ahead of them.

They followed his gaze, spotting what looked to be a building. Not one building, but two. Not two, but three.

"There's a town." Remus said, glancing at them all.

"Maybe they have food." Patton suggested.

They all walked to the entrance of the town.

A sign stood at the entrance, old but sturdy.

"Welcome to...New Myrtbaie?" Logan read out, brow furrowing. "I've never heard of a town with that name."

"I don't think it shows up on any maps." Janus, who was taking a Human Geography class, murmured. "I've certainly never heard of it."

They walked inside the town.

It was eerily silent, the only sound being the quiet lull of the breeze. Nothing moved. There was no chatter from inside the houses, no footsteps from the creaky floorboards of the shops.

Just quiet.

"It's like a ghost town." Remus gave a low whistle, looking around. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get possessed and won't have to deal with this mess."

"I think it's been abandoned." Roman said, crossing his arms.

"We should split up, there's bound to be supplies in these buildings. Groups of three." Logan held up three fingers for emphasis. "If something goes wrong, we meet up here."

"I'm not stupid, I'm going with the smart one." Remus scoffed, pointing to Logan.

"Same here." Janus adjusted the beanie on his head.

"I wanted to go with Ro-Ro anyways!" Patton huffed, grabbing Roman's hand.

"Whatever." Virgil shrugged, pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head.

They split off, one group exploring half of the town, and the second group exploring the other half.

---

"Roman," Patton began, Virgil in front of them, "I..."

"Yes, Patton?" Roman asked, looking at his boyfriend.

"I'm really sorry about what happened back in the forest." Patton murmured, squeezing Roman's hand. "I shouldn't have blown up like that. I'm sure you were already feeling terrible."

"No, I understand where you were coming from, Pat." Roman sighed. "I just don't really think that was what I needed to hear."

"I'm really sorry." Patton frowned. "I love you, Ro. More than I could possibly say. I just don't want you to...lose yourself. It's easy to do in the midst of all this."

"I get it." Roman gave Patton a small smile. "I love you too."

"There." Virgil spoke up, pointing somewhere in the distance.

There was a large building a little ways off from the town. It stood by itself, no other buildings around it.

It was made out of metal, unlike all the buildings in the town, which were wooden.

"A warehouse." Virgil told them, speeding up his pace a bit. "There could be loads of stuff in there."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Roman rose a brow, pushing forward, his fingers interlocked with Patton's.

They made it to the warehouse pretty quickly, realizing that there was a tall fence around it.

"I wonder what was stored here..." Roman hummed in thought.

"...d-do we have to jump the fence to get in there?" Patton asked, eyes already tearing up at the thought.

"No, there's a gate." Virgil told him, gesturing to it with his hand. "We can just walk in."

"Thank goodness." Patton sighed in relief, placing a hand to his chest. "I wouldn't want to break in."

"Honestly, Pat, lighten up." Virgil grumbled.

“I just don’t feel comfortable with breaking the law, Vee.” Patton frowned, looking at Roman to back him up. 

“Who’s here to stop us, Pat? Everyone is fucking dying!” Virgil scowled, going through the gate. Roman pursed his lips, following him in.

“Should we go back and check the other houses?” Patton asked them, glancing in between them. Virgil looked to Roman for the answer.

“Afterwards. We’re already here, after all.” Roman said, approaching the door to the warehouse. 

He took a short breath, before opening the metal door. 

A loud screech cut through the air, causing Patton to cover his ears out of reflex.

"Clearly, this hasn't been opened in awhile." Virgil snorted.

"You're very observant, Edgar Allen Poo." Roman hummed, taking out his pocketknife.

"It's Edgar Allen Poe, idiot."

"Oh, I know." Roman smirked at Virgil, who rolled his eyes and scoffed.

They slowly made their way inside.

"It's so dark in here..." Patton whispered, grabbing Roman's hand.

Indeed it was.

They could barely see, the only source of light being the sun they had let in when they opened the door.

"Do you see any food?" Roman asked them, looking around.

"Do you see anything?" Virgil snarked.

Everytime they stepped, the floorboards released a quiet groan. It was unnatural, since it never seemed to fade away, even when they paused their walking.

An object caught Roman's eye.

It was a bag that had a few cans sticking out of it.

Virgil and Patton seemed to spot it as well, since they were suddenly all walking towards it.

Just before they reached the cans, the floorboards gave out underneath them.

Roman's eyes widened as he looked down at the inky blackness of the hole that was about to swallow them up.

He didn't even have time to look at Patton or Virgil, before he slammed into the ground and was knocked out cold.

---

Roman let out a low groan, cracking his eyes open.

Everything was blurry, but from what Roman could tell, he was in some sort of dimly lit basement.

Patton lay in front of him.

His fall seemed to have been broken by some sort of mattress. He was dazed, but otherwise unharmed.

Roman tried to move, but his entire body felt heavy. Opening his eyelids seemed to be the extent of his energy.

Patton turned to him, brows immediately furrowing in concern. "Oh gosh, Ro!" He heard him exclaim, crawling over to Roman.

That's when Roman spotted it.

The walker that was lurking in the darkness, slowly making its way over to Patton. 

He tried to say something, tried to let out a warning, but he could only manage a pathetic, choked sound.

“Don’t talk, Ro! Just try and stay awake! I’ll figure out how to get us out of here!” Patton told him firmly. “I’m tired of being a liability, you can depend on me this time!” He furrowed his brow, looking around. “Where’s Vee?” He asked.

His eyes landed on something behind Roman, and he released a small sigh. “There he is. He fell on top of some boxes, he looks fine.” Patton cupped his hands around his mouth. “Virgil?! Can you hear me, kiddo?!”

As Patton shouted for Virgil, the walker crept closer and closer, and Roman could slowly make out some of the details of its face. 

It was skinny, almost skeletal. It appeared to just be bones with flesh hanging off of it. It was virtually silent, sneaking up on Patton.

Come on, Roman! Get up!

He tried to move his hands, wanting to at least reach for his pocket knife. It was no use, his body was refusing to cooperate at the moment.

Roman’s breathing became more labored as staying awake became a conscious effort. “P-Pa--” He slurred out, gaining his boyfriend’s attention. 

“What’s wrong, Ro? Are you alright? I’m trying to wake up Vee, then we can get you out of--”
The walker grabbed Patton’s shoulders from behind and bit down on his neck. 

Patton released a horrifying scream, tears immediately springing to his eyes. It didn’t last long, because he began choking on his own blood, some spilling out of his mouth. Patton let out a horrible, gurgly noise, flailing in the walker’s grasp.

The walker tore at his flesh, which must’ve been agonizing. 

Roman saw a flash of purple, and suddenly his pocket knife had been picked up. 

The knife was slammed into the head of the walker, who went limp immediately, flopping to the floor.

Patton fell on his side, choking and spluttering. 

Virgil scooped him up in his arms, eyes wide and brow furrowed. “Oh my god!” He cried, tears brimming. “Just--Hang on, Pat! We’ll get you back to the others!”

Patton looked into Virgil’s eyes, an almost apologetic look shining in them. His gaze drifted over to Roman, and a few tears leaked out of Patton’s eyes.

He went still, eyes glazing over, tears still streaming down from them.

“Patton?! Patton, this isn’t funny!” Virgil shook him, clutching the blond tighter. Virgil’s composure crumpled, and he released a weak, “Shit.”

Roman felt his body begin to shake, a sob building up in his throat.

His Patton. His sweet, lovable Patton. He was gone, just like that. 

Virgil turned to him, noticing Roman’s condition for the first time. “Ro...?” He asked, voice wobbly. The longer he stared at Roman, the more horrified Virgil’s expression became. “Oh god, Roman?! Say something, Ro, c’mon!”

Roman wasn’t sure why both Patton and Virgil had been so frantic when they first spotted him.

That wasn’t until he finally noticed the pool of blood that had been pouring out of his head the whole time.

He passed out shortly afterwards.

A/N:

I wrote this on two separate devices. :)