#hope we had more of the red machete

[rickswh0r3]

Request!!! (Whenever your back from vacation) can you do an edit dedicated to ricks hatchet:) and all the times he goes crazy and uses it🫶🫶 love uuuuu

OMG IM SO LATE IM SORRY BUT I LOVED DOING THIS EDIT 🫶🫶🫶🫶

taglist : @itsgrimeytime @catt-leya @addicted2twd @starkstiless @blazemm98 @sinsandsweetness @bloodyglennrhee @grimesgobbler @murder-jacket @andrewstinkylinky @eternalrose81 @marlboro-reds-13 @dxrkymxrchy @nadiasgf @taylormarieee @loveforcarl

[fr3sh-tragedies]

Hurt What's Mine

[Shadow of the Tomb Raider] Lara Croft x Female Reader

Word Count: 8.05k

Proofread: No

Content Warnings: Language, mentions of blood, heavy descriptions of gore and death, hospitalization, brief mention of medication

Categories:

Angst Fluff Mix

One-Shot Preference Headcanon

[A/N]: Thank you for 170+ followers! I've got a couple of people who have requested things through my inbox, and I'm hoping I'll be able to answer them soon! I will be open to requests soon, but there are a few more characters I want to write for ahead of time so it's easier to get an idea of what fandoms I'm open to. If you sent in a request, thank you! Once I've posted for a bit longer, I'll upload the masterlist I've made as well as the rules for requesting, then I'll answer requests!

[A/N] #2: If you do have a request that you'd like me to write in the future, please let me know! I'll get to it eventually, things are just hectic right now. Thank you for reading!

Enjoy!

Amongst the loud snapping of twigs combined with the rustling of the leaves overhead, softened chatter could be heard throughout the entrance to the forest. The sky, which had been painted warm shades of red and orange mere moments before, had grown murky with hues of purple and black. Small stars illuminated the sky as it grew darker, bright pools of light poking through the inky atmosphere to aid the moon in flooding the landscape with a soft glow. In accompaniment with the darkness seemingly swallowing up the woodland area that Lara and [Y/N] wandered into, a harsh breeze rushed through the air.

As the two walked deeper into the forest, Lara made sure to reach over when coming across drywood and break it free from the ground, tucking it under her arm. After seeing her do this, [Y/N] mirrored her actions and began to gather wood as well. The two had decided they’d head into the nearby forest to gather kindling for the fire they planned to build back at camp. There, Jonah was waiting, sorting through his supply of herbs and a small flask of water he’d said he would use to stir up a broth of sorts that would help all three stay warm for the night. The only problem being there was no fuel for a fire nearby, so both women volunteered to scavenge for some together.

It had taken quite a while to make it to the woodland area safely, but the conversation they had struck up with each other managed to keep the journey bearable. Thankfully, Lara had remembered to snatch her makeshift machete before heading out. Using the sharpest part of the rusted blade, she sliced through the brush that obstructed their path, allowing them to meander forward with a partial trail behind them.

Soon enough, neither of them were able to carry more of the drywood they came across. With a huff, Lara spun on her heel and jutted her chin toward the path she had made. “We should head back. We can always come back later if we need to gather more.” [Y/N] nodded, trailing behind the brunette as she led the way. A few minutes passed in silence, both women focused on not tripping over the loose roots or pebbles that littered the dampened blades of grass. Ultimately, as they neared the halfway point of the path, [Y/N] decided to break the silence.

“God, I’m glad we haven’t had any run-ins with Trinity. Those guys are a huge pain in the ass,” she complained. At her words, the corners of Lara’s lips perked up into an amused smirk. “Yeah, they are. We still need to keep our guard up, though. There weren’t any traces of them following us here, but that’s been the case the last couple of times as well. They’ve got the wrong motives, but they’re clever, and they know how to handle stealth operations.”

A grimace painted [Y/N]’s features as she nodded in response. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Silence once again fell upon them, allowing their senses to return to the sound of their own footsteps beneath them as they staggered ahead. While they recalled the way they came from, they struck up another conversation with one another, trying to keep the mood light in the eeriness that made itself known between the towering trees. It seemed to work–both felt more at ease as they chatted away. Merely a moment seemed to pass, however, before a loud clamp echoed throughout the area, followed by a ticking and whirring noise nearby.

Before either had time to react and understand what had happened, Lara flew backward with a holler and collapsed onto the ground. She was yanked forward once she made contact with the soil. The whirring noise returned, louder this time, and she was soon dangling high in the air by her foot. She groaned, her ears ringing and vision blurry from the way her head had bashed against the floor. Her eyes were pinched tightly shut, though her hand instinctively reached for her belt to find her gun.

Squinting and blinking her eyes rapidly, Lara managed to clear her view. All at once, she could make out what had happened. Just a few feet away, [Y/N]’s leg had been caught in a similar trap, but she wasn’t conscious enough to try and escape. Lara’s arm whipped forward to take aim, watching with a newfound sense of terror as a horde of shielded soldiers, clad in black, swarmed forward to the two. Even as she struggled to steady the hand that she gripped the gun harshly with, Lara began to fire warning shots, striking several of the soldiers and watching them plummet to the ground in waves.

A few that hadn’t been shot dashed toward [Y/N] and took hold of her limp arms. They hollered at each other to get her down, using her as some sort of human shield to avoid being killed as well. Upon seeing them grab the unconscious girl, the blood pumping from adrenaline underneath Lara’s skin lit aflame with fury and a desire to defend. Her aim became far more accurate, more fatalities becoming visible as she fired away at them, a wolf’s snarl lacing her words as she bellowed at them to leave her alone.

She knew she just needed to get enough of them down so she could break free from the pulley that tightened the rope around her ankle to a painful degree. If she could do that, she could protect [Y/N] and help her flee. A false spark of hope flushed through her veins as she noticed she had cleared most of the squad, the lie of it evident as her clip ran empty and more men emerged from the distance. She cursed at herself, her hands unsteadily flying back up to her belt to find another magazine and reload. As she struggled with fiddling her pack open to search, she failed to register the sound of thundering footsteps nearing her from behind.

Finally, she pulled a clip free with a small huff of relief. She let her empty mag drop to the ground, flicked upward with the new one to reload, then cocked the hammer back before taking aim. A single bullet fired from the barrel, and everything went black.

Everything seemed to come back at once–every sense flowing forward and overwhelming Lara’s mind. A muffled groan slipped past her lips as she managed to lift her head. Entirely unaware of her bearings, her eyes flitted around in confusion, unable to see with her eyes wide open. She jerked her arms forward, hoping to grab hold of whatever fabric covered her face, only to feel cold steel dig harshly into the skin on her wrists. She hissed in pain, wriggling for a moment as she tried to understand what had happened.

Her focus returned to what she could feel. She had been chained to something, though it was hard to make out exactly what it was. Against her back, she could feel jagged wood scratching at her scarred skin each time she moved. Her arms encircled whatever it was she was pinned up on. Piecing things together, she figured she had been cuffed to a wooden beam somewhere. That didn’t explain where she was, though. Aside from the village she and the others had passed through once they arrived, there were no structures of any kind as far as she could tell. Had one of the villagers turned and taken her hostage?

She could feel the frigid grated steel beneath her, which confirmed she had to be somewhere else. The ground in the homes of the village had been purely dirt and tattered cloth.

Then where the hell was she?

What had happened before she blacked out?

“Oh, look who’s up from her nap,” a booming voice called out, pulling Lara from her thoughts. Her head shot up, a quick yelp of pain greeting her as her head throbbed from the sudden motion. “Who the hell are you? Where am I? Where’s [Y/N]?” She couldn’t recall what she had been through beforehand, though some part of her told her she needed to defend herself regardless. A deep chuckle rumbled nearby before the owner of the previous voice stepped closer. Lara braced herself for a hit, fighting back a flinch when gloved fingers gripped the top of what had been obstructing her view and tugged upward.

She squinted with a hiss as the overhead lights flashed their way into her eyes, effectively blinding her for a moment. As her vision cleared and adjusted, she jerked her head to the side to face whoever had granted her the ability to see again. A moment hardly passed before her face contorted with anger: her brows furrowed tightly together, practically knitting themselves as one, her jaw clenching as her teeth ground painfully against each other.

“Who the fuck are you?” She snapped. Quickly, her outrage completely replaced the feeling of distress, only worsening when her gaze flickered down to see Trinity’s emblem stitched into the man’s tactical vest. He laughed, tossing the woven bag that had been tied around her head to the side. “You don’t need to know who I am, but I certainly know who you are.” He grinned, then reached behind Lara to pick something up from behind the pillar. Briefly after, he leaned back again, dangling her tactical belt tauntingly in front of her, still fully equipped with all of her weapons.

Her eyes widened a fraction at the sight, instinctively flying down to find and confirm that she had indeed been stripped of her only means of defense in this position. Immediately, she knew she needed to free herself. With the methods she had been taught after tussling with offenders before, she knew she could easily wrestle this man to the ground and overpower him. With her arms restrained, however, she could only fight back at an infuriatingly close range.

He seemed to notice the stress that had returned to Lara’s mind, letting out another cackle at her misfortune. He stood, twisting his torso far enough to hurl the belt over the railing. As he made his way over to squat in front of her again, she took this opportunity to look around. She had been right: she was chained to a wooden support beam, and she was seated against steel. Through the holes in the grated plates, she could see she was far up off the ground, at least three or four stories high.

Looking up, she could see layers of other platforms above, towering to an ungodly height. Dropping her gaze back down, the platform she was on curved around a circular building just behind her, and ahead of her, a long metal bridge stretched out to connect to an identical structure. As her eyes focused in on a figure across the platform, her blood ran cold, wishing she hadn’t recognized what was happening.

Everything that had happened before she ended up here came flooding back. The forest, the traps, the soldiers, everything. Now separated, [Y/N] was similarly cuffed to a pillar. Her binds seemed tighter, red lines already formed on her wrists as though she had been struggling against them for a while. For the first time since making it to the town, Lara felt genuine fear. Had they already hurt [Y/N]? Had they forced her to give away where Jonah was?

“[Y/N]!”

“Ah, so you noticed,” the man voiced, bringing her attention back to him. Shakily, she lifted her head, She screamed at herself, willing her voice into intimidation. “Let her go. She has nothing to do with this.” Internally, she cursed at the way her voice wavered and cracked.

The man grinned devilishly, shaking his head. “You don’t get it, do you? The moment you brought her here, you forced her to be a part of this. Like it or not, she has everything to do with this.” He leaned forward, blocking her view of [Y/N] and forcing her to look him in the eye. “It’s your fault.” Bringing his hand to his chin, he glanced up and mockingly pretended to think. “I suppose the saying, “like father like daughter,” is true after all. Wouldn’t you say so?”

At the mere mention of her father, a concoction of emotions bubbled beneath the surface of Lara’s skin. Even so, she forced her expression to remain stern. “Don’t you fucking talk about him.” Once again, she was met with a laugh.

A soldier that had been stationed nearby stepped closer to the two, concern laced in his tone. “Sir, shouldn’t we be careful? She’s taken out half of our men already, and most of it was entirely on her own.” The man in front of Lara rolled his eyes and stood, giving a small shrug. “Relax, I’m just having a bit of fun. There’s nothing she can do like this,” he gestured toward her. “With respect,” the soldier started, “she’s gotten out of tougher situations. Maybe we should–”

In an instant, the man, who Lara assumed was the captain at this point, whipped his gun from its holster on his hip and stood. He flicked his arm upward and pointed the barrel directly against the soldier’s forehead, prompting him to freeze. “I’ll fucking take care of it, you got it? All I’m gonna do is get her to tell me a few things, then we’ll blow both of their brains out, then be on our way. Stop me like that again, and the first round will go through your thick skull. Understand?”

Quickly, the soldier nodded and stepped back to his station. “Yes, sir.”

The captain then tucked his gun away. He turned and made a motion with his head to the group across the bridge. Lara glanced behind him to see what was happening, only to panic further as they crouched beside [Y/N], who flinched away at their touch. “Don’t touch her!” She screamed, thrashing violently against her restraints.

“Oh, don’t worry,” the captain teased, crouching down in front of her again to look her in the eye. “As long as you answer some questions, we won’t hurt her anymore.” Anymore. That word bounced through Lara’s head as she barely managed to notice that [Y/N]’s skin was littered with bruises and cuts. She swallowed hard, glaring at him. “What do you want? What questions?” He again acted as though he was deep in thought. “Well, for starters, you could tell me where the artifact you're looking for is.”

She scoffed. “So what? You can use it to wipe out humanity? Like you tried to do with the Divine Source?” The captain forced a smile. His hand lifted from his side and made a motion toward the group behind him. Lara watched, horrified, as one soldier used all his strength to kick [Y/N] in the stomach, another grabbing a fistful of her hair and slamming her head back against the pillar. She cried out in pain, desperately trying to free herself.

“Like I said, tell me what I want to know, and she won’t get hurt.”

Lara practically growled at him when she spoke. She ordered him to call the group back, threatening to make his death hell if he didn’t comply. “What do you think you can do? Can’t exactly kill me while you’re stuck here.” She scowled, her fingertips tapping at the chains in search of the padlock. Her arm shimmied a bit, allowing one of her hairpins to slip from the cuff of her sleeve and into her hand that she kept tucked away for situations exactly like this.

As she fiddled with trying to find the padlock, the captain continued to hound her with questions.

“Where’s your camp? I know you brought someone else here too.” She shuddered at the thought of Jonah being dragged into this as well. “I don’t know. I don’t even know where the hell I am, and you expect me to remember how to get back?” Another motion was made, prompting another harsh punishment to be given to [Y/N]. Lara shouted her name, begging her to hold on and promising she’ll get the two of them out.

The captain scoffed and crossed his arms. “Are you really not grasping what I’ve said? Answers for me means less pain for her.” Panicked, Lara thrashed again, her hands trembling as they continued their search. “I’m trying! But you aren’t giving me questions I can answer!” It was hard to mask her relief when her fingers finally found the padlock, though she instead focused on wriggling the bobby pin into the lock. “Well,” the captain huffed, standing again and slipping his gun from his belt. “I think I know something that might trigger your memory.”

At that, he turned and began walking toward [Y/N], wordlessly ordering the group of soldiers to back away. “No, don’t hurt her!” Lara was practically screaming at her hands to still, and with another brief moment, she finally managed to pick the lock, wrestling her arms free from the chains and stumbling as she stood. Without an ounce of hesitation, she lunged forward toward the captain, grabbing hold of him and trying to keep him away. He hollered in surprise, reaching back to claw at her and get a grasp. “Get off of me, you bitch!”

The team of soldiers that had been abusing [Y/N] only a mere moment before were now hurtling toward her. With a bit of a struggle, three of the soldiers managed to pry her off of him, throwing her back before forcefully pinning her against the pillar yet again. She fought against them, screaming for them to let her go. The captain ahead grumbled and stared her down for a moment, though he was quick to turn and walk toward [Y/N] again.

As Lara thrashed against the soldiers holding her down, the head of the team reached up toward a sheath against his hip, his gun having been smacked out of his hand and over the ledge from Lara’s outburst. Something felt as though it were burning in her mind, growing hotter and hotter as the captain closed the space between him and [Y/N]. She couldn’t let Trinity take another person she loved away from her. She wouldn’t allow it.

Hardly managing to remember her training, she turned and lunged her torso forward, using all of the momentum to headbut the soldier grasping her right arm in the face. He howled in pain, letting her go and falling backward. She then turned to the man holding her left shoulder. In the blink of an eye, she whipped her arm in a circular motion, gripping his wrist and forcing his arm to twist until he let go. Just as quickly, she shuffled forward and kicked the third soldier square in the chest, effectively knocking the wind out of his lungs.

Before she could stand, two more men sprinted forward and blocked her path, one of them managing to land a few rough kicks to her face and head. She hooked her arm beneath the back of his leg, jolting up to stand and flipping him backward. The second soldier struggled to free his rifle from the band on his back. By the time he managed to try and aim at her, her forearm flew sideways and struck his wrist, the impact catching him off guard and causing him to drop his weapon. Lara then leapt forward and gripped the straps of his tactical vest. She spun around to gain more force before driving him around again and launching him over the railing, not bothering to watch as he plummeted toward the ground countless meters below.

She turned, determined to get to the captain, but froze in place. Still so far away, he had freed [Y/N] of restraints, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to fight back. He pinned her against the platform, his knees planting themselves on either side of her hips as he drove his knife down into her stomach. Lara watched as [Y/N] tried to gasp for air, only to choke and let out a silent scream.

She felt everything grow heavy, ready to give into the temptation to drop to the ground. An inhumane level of fury coursed through her veins, and soon she found herself running forward at full speed, no longer in control of her body.

The neared the captain in only a few seconds, leaping from the ground and thrusting her arms forward. She tackled him off of [Y/N]’s writhing body and ripped the blade from his hand, dropping it and instead using her fists to beat any part of him she could see. Hit after hit, punch after punch, a new bruise formed on his skin, thinner sections splitting open into gashes. His blood seemed to all pool together beneath his head.

Lara let out a yell with each strike made against his skill. She lost count of the amount of times her knuckles made contact with the swollen form beneath her, not even noticing that her knuckles had begun to tear open and bleed from the sheer force alone. As his arms and legs fell limp against his sides, Lara’s punches came to a stop. Her bloodied hand reached over and grasped the handle of the knife, knuckles white from the tightness as she lifted the blade above her head.

Instantly, she plunged the knife down, listening with a sick joy as the thin metal ripped through layers of skin and organ, cracking through parts of his ribs. Mirroring what [Y/N] had done, the captain hopelessly tried to gasp for breath, instead wheezing and sputtering while his hands weakly scratched at her arms. Only for a moment, she kept the knife there. Before she could watch the life leave his eyes, she drew the blade out and immediately thrusted it down into his jugular with an equal force.

Her hands let go of the handle and dropped to land at her sides. She stared down, gleefully studying the way the captain clutched at his throat, a thick puddle of blood erupting from his mouth and trickling down his cheeks and jaw, disappearing into his hairline and accumulating with the crimson red under his trembling form. Glaring down at him with dull eyes, she lazily tugged the rifle from his back, forcing herself to stand and turn around.

She hadn’t heard the group of soldiers thundering up the stairs, but she had apparently sensed it. Effortlessly, she lifted the rifle and took aim, crouching down and firing away as the men made their way up one by one. By the time the team died out, she heard the gun click. Her gaze bored down at the rifle, realizing she had burned through the ammo. With a grunt of disapproval, she discarded the gun, then ripped another one away from a nearby lifeless body. She used that rifle to finish off the squad, blankly staring ahead after lowering the gun.

As her mind clouded over, taking in the scene before her, she tossed the gun to the side, straining to hear as it clattered against the steel platform. A bloodbath. That was the only way she could possibly describe it. Piles of bodies across such a small space, silver metal now stained red from blood and black from gunpowder. Lifeless eyes of the fallen seemed to watch her as she lifted her hands, taking in the way blood coated her skin. She wasn’t sure how much of it was hers and how much of it was the captain’s. She paid it no mind, instead rotating her hands to examine her knuckles. She had most definitely broken a few, if not all, of them,

Had she actually done all of this?

Nothing felt real.

The sudden sound of harsh coughing broke her out of her trance, forcing her attention toward the source. She scrambled over to [Y/N]’s side, holding her head up as she processed just how badly she had been hurt. Adding onto the gaping wound in her torso, countless bruises and cuts peppered every exposed inch of skin. The back of her head had been dripping blood from being hammered into the wooden beam. Lara gasped and frantically helped her prop her head up to prevent choking on her blood, her eyes scanning the surrounding area for something to help stop the bleeding. She grimaced when [Y/N] whimpered from the way she stretched over to grab a torn uniform.

Thinking on her feet, she slid to the wall of the base and leaned the wounded girl against it, apologizing tearfully each time she yelped in pain. After tearing the uniform into a thinner piece, she began stuffing part of the wound, earning more cries. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, finally using the rest of the cloth to ball it up. “This is going to hurt, but I need you to trust me.”

Before [Y/N] even opened her eyes, Lara forced her hand downward, applying an immense amount of both pressure and pain to the wound. At this, [Y/N] screamed in agony, her eyes beginning to roll back as her breaths quickened. Lara cupped her jaw and shifted forward. “[Y/N]? No, [Y/N], I need you to stay with me, okay? Keep your eyes open! Everything’s going to be okay, I promise. Stay with me,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

“[Y/N], please, I can’t lose you. Not like this. Keep your eyes open–that’s all I need you to do!” Her words fell upon deaf ears, no matter how desperate they became. Before Lara could beg for her to listen again, [Y/N]’s head drooped down, her body now completely limp.

“[Y/N]?” Lara whimpered, shaking the unconscious girl’s head as a silent plea. When no response came from the motion, the Croft felt her tears beginning to spill, only being able to whisper “no” repeatedly. Her hand, the one that had been holding up the woman’s head, slid down to check for a pulse. She gasped softly when she found it, though realized she had to act quickly from how weak it was. “Shit,” she blurted, once again examining her surroundings. That bastard had thrown her radio over the railing with her weapons. There was no way she could contact Jonah without alerting any other potential Trinity bases of where they were. One look down at [Y/N], however, forced her to take that risk.

She stood and quickly rushed over to the nearby bodies, her calloused, bloodied hands desperately searching their equipment for a radio of sorts. She cursed with each failed search, though lit up only a fraction once she found one. Quickly, she ran to sit by [Y/N]’s side again, holding her up and pulling her close, keeping an eye on her as she sent out a message.

“Jonah? Jonah, are you there? Can you hear me? I need your help: [Y/N]’s bleeding out!”

She released the button, only earning static in response. Her eyes shot back to the woman beside her, her only shimmer of hope dimming immediately. Her finger clicked down again, lifting it closer to speak into it once more.

“Jonah, I need you here! Jonah, please, can you hear me?”

A choked sob erupted unwillingly from her throat. She felt like curling into herself and breaking right there. Now hunched over, she clutched the radio tightly against her chest, grasping a handful of her hair as she tried to come up with another plan. All she could bring herself to do for a moment was weep, terrified of losing the woman propped up by her side.

Her mind cleared for a brief second, and although she had no idea where they were, she knew they couldn’t stay there. More reinforcements were bound to show up sooner or later, and she was in no state to fight them all. She stood, peering out at the landscape in hopes of finding a landmark she had passed before. The lids of her eyes threatened to shut, heavy with fatigue from the loss of adrenaline and the salty tears that had fallen.

She staggered closer to the rail, gripping onto it tightly as a way to ground herself as she searched further. Her heart felt like it was going to sink down into the pit of her stomach upon spotting a village in the distance. She turned to [Y/N], unsure if either of them could even make it that far. There was a chance it wasn’t the village she had been in either, on top of the fact there could be more traps hidden in the forest.

That only stopped her briefly. She knew they needed to leave, and she knew it was better to head out with the chance of finding Jonah than staying there to die.

Willing every ounce of strength she had left, she plucked the rifle she had thrown to the side back up, slinging it over her shoulder before wobbling back to [Y/N]. She huffed, sucking in a deep breath to ready herself, then bent down to pick her up, one arm tucking itself underneath her knees, and the other wrapping around her torso.

She turned, stumbled forward toward the stairs, and wrestled with the urge to look down at the unconscious form in her arms.

Each step down felt like a mile, Lara’s calves straining and aching, feeling as though they would give in and snap like twigs. By the time she managed to make it to the ground, it took everything in her not to collapse. She just kept telling herself they’ll be there soon. That was all she could do to keep moving forward. If she didn’t make it, not only would [Y/N] die, but she would as well. The marks from the beating she had taken had begun to finally sink in, adding to the difficulty.

She swayed every few steps. Her body threatened to fall over anytime she leaned too far.

She had no way of knowing she was going in the right direction, only able to rely on her instinct. There was no path, no landmark, no sign of nearing the village, which is why it was such a surprise when she could hear hollering up ahead. She strained her ears, hardly managing to make out that the unidentified voice was calling her name.

“Jonah?” She whispered hoarsely.

“Lara! [Y/N]! Are you two out there?”

“Jonah,” she weeped, unable to raise her voice any further.

Her feet continued to stumble toward the sound of his voice. The closer she got, the stronger the small spark of adrenaline she somehow still had grew. Finally, realizing he was only a few feet away, Lara managed to pick up her pace, lightly jogging forward. “Jonah, we’re here,” she cried out weakly. She moved ahead, breaking through the entrance of the forest to reveal the small patch of land they had originally tried to set up camp at. There, Jonah turned around and instantly ran over.

“Lara, you’re alright! I heard gunfire, but I didn’t know where you were, and–”

“Jonah, we need to get back to the plane right now. [Y/N]’s losing too much blood, and I don’t know how much longer she’s going to last,” although her tone was weak, there was no doubt she was terrified. Jonah finally looked down to the woman in Lara’s arms, his body tensing at the sight of all she had been through.

“Shit, what did–okay, but what about what you came here for? We can’t come back! Trinity’s going to–” Jonah knew that even mentioning the artifact in that moment was a mistake, but his mind was racing, preventing him from thinking logically.

“Forget the artifact, Jonah!” Lara snapped, her raspy voice finally reaching the volume she’d wanted to have when calling for him. “I don’t give a shit about that right now! I just want [Y/N] to survive! I’m the reason she’s in this state to begin with–I don’t want to be the reason she dies!”

At her sudden tone, Jonah could only nod and motion for Lara to hand [Y/N] to him to carry her there. Reluctantly, Lara did so, only after realizing she wouldn’t be able to make it to the plane in time if she were the one taking her. Without a moment to lose, Jonah began rushing up the path toward where they had landed, shouting behind him for the Croft to follow.

The ringing returned the closer they got, her vision blurring and growing dark. Everything was spinning, and she had to force herself to keep track of Jonah. By the time they had all made it into the plane, Lara’s body finally gave out.

“You know, I don’t think I had ever scared my father that badly before,” Lara murmured, a gentle chuckle escaping as she smiled fondly at the memory. With a sigh, she felt the pad of her thumb caress the tattered skin on the back of [Y/N]’s hands. For just a single moment, the ticking of the clock hanging above the door synced up with the beeping of the monitor beside the bed. Just as quickly, they fell out of rhythm again, and Lara waited for them to repeat it. Every few minutes, for the past several weeks, both would beat together for just a brief second, only to fall apart again.

It was the only thing she could look forward to anymore. It kept her distracted so she didn’t have to process everything just yet–so she didn’t have to look up at the woman deep in a coma in the bed she sat by. Jonah would come in here and there, reminding her to eat something small or to bring her a spare blanket for the night. Nurses would step inside to take vitals and update Lara on what was happening. And even though [Y/N] was there, whenever everyone else would leave, Lara still felt alone.

She could talk to her, but it was more like talking at her. She had no idea if the woman could hear anything she said, nor did she know when she was going to wake up. It had been seven weeks since they made it back from the expedition. Lara’s injuries were treated fairly easily, but [Y/N] had fallen into a medical coma from blood loss and excessive blunt force trauma. Her chances of survival in the beginning were slim, but things started to steadily improve as the days passed by.

Those days, however, felt like years to Lara. The woman she could once talk to and joke around with, the woman she could once hold and be held by, the woman she could once gaze into the eyes of, now lay before her, unmoving and silent. She was alive, but to Lara she seemed dead. She had been so lively before, and now she couldn’t even open her eyes.

To fill the never-ending silence that weighed heavy upon her shoulders, Lara would talk aloud, pretending as though she was sharing her thoughts with [Y/N] like she had done before everything went awry. Recently, after running out of small-talk she had murmured like it was scripted, she had resorted to retelling memories she had of her father back as a child. Somehow, even as [Y/N] stayed unconscious, Lara felt comfortable sharing her favorite times spent with her late father. Anyone else would’ve been waved off and told she wasn’t comfortable, but [Y/N] had always been the one person she could come to to speak of him freely.

Even seemingly dead, [Y/N] was still the only one she trusted. It was funny, in a way.

She huffed out a sigh, lifting the woman’s hand to her lips and pressing a featherlike kiss to her knuckles. Once her lips left the clammy skin, she brought her head down to lean it against the back of her hand. Her eyes closed, brows furrowed as she bit back a sob.

“I wish I had never brought you with me. If I hadn’t, you would still be comfortable at home, watching TV and sleeping in. You wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t… You wouldn’t be hurt, or strapped to this machine, or fighting for your life. You wouldn’t be in a coma.” She sniffled, squeezing the hand still against her forehead. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry, [Y/N]. I would take it all back if I could.”

Some part of her waited, half-expecting a response. She whimpered, clearing her throat to prevent herself from bursting into tears again. With a hard swallow, she lifted her head, gaze trailing up to [Y/N]’s face. She smiled. “I have no idea how, but you still look so beautiful. Even when you’re out like this.”

Her free hand lifted far enough to caress the girl’s cheek, then pinch the bridge of her own nose, internally groaning at how heavy her eyes felt. Once her hand planted itself back on her thigh, she glanced over at the heart monitor, watching each movement on the screen intently for a moment, allowing herself to gather her thoughts. Finally, she faced [Y/N] again. Her hand squeezed her leg, unsure of what to say.

“I love you. So, so much. I should’ve said it more before… all of this, but I’m saying it now. I do love you, [Y/N], more than anything in this world.”

She huffed out a pained laugh.

“I don’t know why I’m so mad at you. None of this is your fault. I’m the one who dragged you into the expedition, and I’m the one who ended up getting you captured. I wish I hadn’t begged you to come with me. You deserve to be at home, not in this bed. I should’ve protected you, and I didn’t, and for that, I’m so sorry. You deserve someone better: someone who wouldn’t have gotten you into this mess.

“The worst part is: I don’t even know if you can hear me. I’m not sure if you’ve heard anything I’ve said this entire time. I’m not sure why knowing that you might not hear me hurts so badly, but it does.” Tears once again pricked the corners of her eyes. “God, I wish I could hear your voice again. I miss you so much. I know you’re right in front of me, and I know you’re still breathing and alive, but I’ve never felt so alone. It doesn’t feel like you’re really here. It feels like you’re not you.”

The tears stinging her eyes now blurred her vision and poured down in thick masses. Her free arm raised, allowing her to use the sleeve of her jacket to wipe them away. Once they dried, she looked up at her again, hands trembling harshly.

“Please wake up. I’m begging you.”

Grumbling was all Lara could do in her unconscious state. Any small sound she could hear had her grumbling louder: pages flipping, pens scribbling, pills rattling, doors opening, monitors beeping. Everything that she could hear seemed to be working against her, screaming at her to wake back up. It was late at night when she finally let herself drop her head onto the edge of the hospital bed to rest. Hand still clutching onto [Y/N]’s, she managed to drift off for the first time in days.

The sounds grew incessant, however, stirring her partially awake. Each little noise irritated her further, and she had to fight the urge to muffle the scream bubbling up in her throat with the sheets cushioning her head. To add onto her growing frustration, something squeezed softly at her hand, forcing her back to her senses.

“For fuck’s sake,” she mumbled, lifted her head, then looked down at her hand. Her brows pinched tightly together, she sat there, processing what she had just felt. Again, her hand was squeezed.

Her brain, although severely sleep deprived, finally managed to register what had happened. Immediately, she looked up from her hand, her eyes landing on [Y/N], who finally opened her eyes for the first time in months. She gazed back at Lara the way the brunette had been craving the entire time. Upon seeing that she was now awake, tears instantly trickled out from Lara’s eyes, a shaky sob accompanying them.

“[Y/N]?” She whispered, unsure if she was actually awake.

“Hey, Lara,” came her raspy reply, a tired grin gracing her cracked lips.

Right away, Lara sprung up from her seat by the bed and leaned forward, capturing [Y/N] in a tight embrace. “Oh my god, I don’t–” She sniffled. Her leg lifted up, allowing her to sit beside the woman now practically cradling her in return. “You’re awake. You’re finally awake. I don’t believe it.”

She leaned back from the hug, cupping [Y/N]’s face in her hands and studying every little feature she could see. Sob after sob wracked through her body as she pressed a kiss to the wounded woman’s lips, only shifting back to pepper the rest of her face in similar kisses. “I thought I lost you,” she whispered after calming down enough to speak. Her voice trembled and broke more with each passing word, rambling about what she had feared.

“God, I love you so much.”

Again, she captured [Y/N]’s lips in her own, pure relief washing through her senses when she felt her kissing back. Weakly, the bandaged girl chuckled. “I love you too,” she rasped out.

Lara instantly leaned back into the embrace, clutching desperately at the hospital gown she rested against. She swayed side to side, shivering as [Y/N] soothingly rubbed up and down her back. She couldn’t begin to explain how she felt at that moment. All she could say was she was so relieved to know that the woman she held closest to her heart was alive and breathing.

“Can I ask you something?” A soft voice whispered. She leaned away again to look her in the eye. “Of course. Anything at all.”

“What happened after I was stabbed?”

Lara froze, now growing uncertain. “You don’t remember?” She sucked in a shaky breath when her only response was a shake of the head. Her gaze dropped down, unsure of where to start. She scratched the back of her neck anxiously, took another deep breath in an attempt to steel her nerves, then cleared her throat. “Well, I’m not really…”

She turned to glance behind her, ensuring no one else was in the room before she spoke again. There was no shame in what she had done–not for her–but she’d be torn away instantly if someone overheard. [Y/N] had just woken back up, and she wasn’t going to risk losing her all over again. Although, that still might be a possibility, depending on how she took the news.

She explained herself, sparing no detail of what she had committed in her blind rage. From wrestling with the soldiers to stabbing the captain of the team in both the chest and the throat, she confessed every little atrocity that had been brought about by her hands alone. As she spoke, she averted her eyes, too afraid of being gazed at with disgust. She focused on the pattern stitched into the bedsheets bundled up atop [Y/N]’s legs.

Finally, she managed to tear her eyes away from the sheets and look back into [Y/N]’s. She swallowed, surprised to see that familiar glint of admiration in her eyes. There was no sign of repulsion or discomfort at the heinous things she had admitted to. “You’re not mad?” Was all she could ask. [Y/N] snickered and shook her head.

“Are you kidding? Those asswipes beat the shit out of me, and one tried to kill me. I don’t exactly have sympathy for them after that.” Relieved, Lara sighed and grinned. It was a breath of fresh air to see her laugh again, even though it was rather weak.

She turned to sit next to [Y/N], who she then pulled into her side. With a quick peck to the top of the head, she closed her eyes and yawned. “Tired?” “Mmhm.” “Yeah, same.” Lara laughed, looking down at her in confusion. “You were in a coma for nearly three months. Why are you tired?” [Y/N] smirked and rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t willingly unconscious. Plus, my body just sucks,” she murmured, earning another chuckle.

“Well, I love your body,” Lara mumbled, tugging her closer. “Every bit of it.”

Waiting a moment, [Y/N] leaned against the brunette fully, her head dropping onto her shoulder as she closed her eyes. She grinned, listening to Lara yawn again before she shivered. “Move your legs for a second,” she whispered to the already half-asleep woman. “Hm?” “Move your legs.” “What? Why?” “So I can cover you up with the blankets.”

Lara seemed to take a moment to understand what she had said. Finally, though, she lifted her legs with a groan, letting [Y/N] slip the covers out from under her and essentially tuck her in beside her. Both sighed in relief: Lara from the warmth of the sheets and [Y/N] pressed against her, and [Y/N] from the feeling of Lara holding her close.

Lights had been turned off throughout the ward for a while, which both women were silently grateful for. As they shuffled to lie down more comfortably beneath the covers, everything seemed to settle down for the first time in months. Lara’s body finally relaxed, the lack of sleep from the past several weeks catching up to her at a rapid speed. She hummed softly as she turned onto her side, pulling [Y/N] into her chest.

“I’m never taking you on a trip like that again,” she slurred out. “At least, not until I know Trinity won’t be there.”

[Y/N] nodded as she listened, also partially asleep. She squirmed a bit, sliding closer while trying to mind her IV. As her head settled against Lara’s chest, she yawned. A moment passed before she spoke again.

“You do know the nurses are gonna come in any minute and realize I’m awake, right?” A groan sounded from Lara, prompting a snicker from [Y/N]. “I’m gonna crawl back into the bed again the second they leave. I just want you in my arms right now.”

“Well, either way, I want you to know that I could hear you for most of the time I was out. And I also want you to know that I plan on saying “I love you” as many times as you did before I woke up. I really do love you. I mean, you were right here the second I woke up, and I don’t know if you ever…” She thought for a moment, opening her eyes and looking up at Lara. “Did you ever leave the room?” Even as she fought to stay awake, Lara scratched her cheek nervously. “Only when I used the restroom. I was afraid I wouldn’t be here when you woke up.”

[Y/N] grinned. “Well, I’m glad you were here. I was worried you wouldn’t be here at all when I woke up. I figured you’d leave and head home, or maybe go back to the village we were at.” Gently yet reassuringly, Lara squeezed her closer. “I would never do that to you. You’re everything to me.”

“And you’re everything to me.”

Another yawn managed to escape the brunette’s lips. She pressed a small kiss to the top of [Y/N]’s head and sighed, already drifting off again. “I love you, so damn much. No one’s going to hurt what’s mine, never again.”

“I’m yours, huh?”

“Of course.”

A gentle smile graced [Y/N]’s features as she shuffled closer, pressing a kiss to Lara’s collarbone as her eyes fluttered shut.

“Of course I’m yours.”

[buildarocketboys]

peterick + 69 (nice) (also these are all gonna be peterick because there are so many good ones for them)

@floralegia haha you both had the same idea...uh in contrast to the funny number, this is kinda pretty angsty ybc...sorry? Been wanting to write some young blood chronicles and this was kinda the perfect opportunity

69. “Why the hell are you bleeding!?”

Patrick comes to.

Patrick's eyes have been bright yellow this whole time, possessed not by demons but by a constant, overwhelming onslaught of sensation.

Pete has been fighting Patrick, he realizes now, not to protect the briefcase or even to protect himself, but because that's all that's left to do. That's what's expected of them.

Well, Pete's not gonna do what they want him to anymore.

He sets his bass-cum-machete down on the ground. No more.

As he does so, Patrick's hook catches him in the stomach, the momentum plunging the blade deep into his guts. Pete falls, in what feels like slow motion, watching the yellow seep out from his best friend's eyes, changing to brown and then his natural blue.

Patrick stares down at him, aghast.

"Why the hell are you bleeding?!"

Pete looks down at himself, his abdomen a mess of blood and guts, and chuckles weakly. "Your hook," he says, and suddenly it's the funniest thing in the world. He can't stop laughing.

Patrick looks at his hook in horror, registering the smear of red across the metal and the blood dripping from the end.

He drops to his knees. "Oh fuck...Pete, what have I done?" He gathers Pete to him, laying his head gently in his lap. Pete is still in hysterics, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps now as life leaches out of him. "Everything was just so loud," Patrick whispers. "I just wanted it to stop, and- WILL YOU STOP LAUGHING?"

Pete manages to contain himself. "I'm sorry," he says weakly. "It's just...after all this... it's the way I would have wanted to go, Patrick."

Patrick presses his eyes closed. Pete hears his breath catch. "It's not the way I want you to go," he says. "I don't want you to go at all!" His breath hitches again, and suddenly he's crying and trying to stop himself from crying all at once, angrily brushing tears away from his face as they fall. "First Joe and now you," he says.

All Pete wants to do is comfort him. He reaches up and touches Patrick's face. "It's not your fault," he promises. None of this is Patrick's fault. He won't let Patrick blame himself for what those people did to him.

"I just wanted it to stop," Patrick whimpers. "I didn't know how to make it stop."

Pete brushes tears away from his eyes. "It's OK, buddy. We made it stop."

Patrick shakes his head. "You made it stop." He sniffles. "What am I supposed to do without you?"

Pete tries to shrug, although he's not sure it comes across. "You keep going. Keep fighting. For both of us."

Patrick shakes his head. "I can't- I have to make this right. I have to save you, Pete. I- I'll get you to a hospital, they can fix you up, it's a stomach wound, stomach wounds don't kill you immediately, I read that somewhere once, we've got time."

Pete shakes his head. It makes his vision go blurry. "No time left," he manages to say. Words are getting harder now - harder than they've ever been. He puts every last ounce of effort into his next ones: "I don't regret a single second of it." He squeezes Patrick's hand, so Patrick knows that he means he doesn't regret a single second with him.

Patrick forces himself to give Pete a watery smile. "I don't either," he admits. "Well, apart from the killing you with my hook part. That part sucked."

Pete laughs. "Yeah..."

"I wish we had more time," Patrick whispers.

Pete lets his eyes flutter closed. There'll be no more time for him. "In another life," he whispers, and he hopes Patrick hears it, hopes he believes it.

The next moment, he's gone.

[gamergirl-06]

Where art thou Michael?

Requested by my lovely friend @hyunjinbiased-blog this is going to be FTM as well. (I’m working on another request at the moment as well which will be ready soon.) (God Bruno is hot, the stuff I want him to do to me lol)

Anyway hope you enjoy this!!!

You and Bruno walk around the remains of what was once the bustling Beverly Hills, now a complete ghost town except for the presence of the undead walking around.

You look ahead to see if you could spot your brother, Michael Anders, Yes, you were his younger brother, (Y/N) Anders.

You and Bruno returned from the Halperin hotel after contacting a doctor to find out from Andrea that your brother had gone missing, which was highly out of character for Michael as he was keen to survive whatever this plague was.

You didn’t spot him anywhere and Bruno squeezed your hand in assurance, “Don’t worry babe, we’ll find him.”

You look at him and smile and you give him a kiss on the lips. You loved this man so much.

You and Bruno had been dating secretly since before the outbreak, even your brother Michael didn’t know you and Bruno were together.

You had planned on telling him but he went MIA before you could. You had no idea where he could have gone or been.

You spot your’s and Michael’s house and immediately point it out to your boyfriend.

He looks to where you’re pointing as you say “Maybe he is in the house, let’s go have a look.”

You walk up to the house, killing any zombies in your way as you both hoisted yourself trough the windows and into the house as the front door was boarded up.

You look around the house and noticed a walker on the floor, Someone was definitely here quite recently.

“Hey Bru I think someone has been He-.” You cut yourself off as you see Bruno looking at old baby photos of you.

Your face is a light shade of pink and Bruno looks up to you and smiles.

“Your cute, still are cute” he smiles.

You could have melted but you were too worried about finding the whereabouts of your brother before something could happen to him.

Before you could even speak and tell him to stop looking at the photos, he locks eyes with a photo of you as an awkward teen.

Your face goes completely red , “Bruno, please stop looking at that picture”.

He looks at you with a straight face, “And why should I do that?.”

You wanted to escape from the embarrassment you turn around to not look him in the eye but then you felt a hand on your shoulder.

You turn fully around to see Bruno and his arms lock around your waist and he leans down to capture your lips in his.

When you pull away he says “Now you are still adorable as an awkward teen, even now you’re adorable, it just makes me fall in love with you more.”

You blush very heavily as he speaks to you with so much love and admiration.

“I guess we better go find Michael then” Bruno says as he leads you to a door that, when upon trying to open it, appears to be locked.

“Damn it, we need a key” Bruno groans.

“There was a key in the kitchen last time I saw it” you say walking into the kitchen and go over to the pin board taking the keys off it and returning back to the locked door.

You open it and a walker jumps out at you and you use all your strength to get it off you but Bruno grabs out his machete and slices its head clean off.

“Thanks” you thank him as you look around the room to find some clues.

Bruno goes over to the map on the bed giving you guys the first clue to where he might have gone.

You look at the post cards reading them for clues as well when you saw one that was recently addressed with your Neighbour, Jessie’s house number.

“Aha another clue” you said, “hey Bruno can you go over to the phone and press the recent messages”.

He walks over presses a button and a message plays:

“Hey Michael and (Y/N), it’s Roxanne Kwon, if Jessie is there studying, can you tell her to be back here by 8 I don’t want her to miss the party..umm, it’s best that Michael doesn’t come though after..you know”

The recording ends, you don’t remember that message but then you heard the answer machine say the date of when the message came through: The day of the outbreak.

You now knew that he might have been with Jessie which was a relief to you but you didn’t want to get your hopes up.

Bruno inspects the recently killed Zombie against the lower part of the wall below the window.

Bruno smiles “that was definitely Michael”.

You look at the zombie and knew, that would infact be Michael’s handiwork, now you know he had come through here.

You both jump out of the window from the bedroom and walk out the back gate and up the stairs that entered the property of Jessie Kwon.

You and Bruno walk up to the door and Bruno knocks before Rikky came up to it to answer.

“Sorry Zombie’s Party’s over” Rikky said not recognising you.

“We’re no zombies friend” Bruno told him with an annoyed tone.

“Oh wait (Y/N) is that you?.” Rikky asked. He held more respect to you than your brother, mainly because you didn’t call him names like your brother Michael did.

You smile and wave “Hi Rikky glad to see your still alive.”

He laughs “yeah, and what are you doing here I thought you were gonna leave Los Angeles?”

“Yeah plans changed, may we come in?” You asked politely.

He rubbed the back of his neck “uh..yeah about that, if I open this door a whole bunch of zombies might rush in and I’m pretty sure that’s a bad thing”.

Bruno rolls his eyes “The gates automatic, just close it”.

“The gates broken because a whole bunch of dudes, not me, were riding on it and it broke, there is a whole bunch of spares in the garage but it’s full of riff raff” Rikky replies.

“Then we will go in there and fix things yeah?” Bruno’s time was very pissed off.

“Oh ok sweet, I’ll hit the garage button and me casa is your casa”.

Last thing you heard was “Roxy find your jeans we got company”.

Bruno looked at you “have they always been like this”

You shake your head “no, they used to be very smart people, I guess they changed once the outbreak hit”

The garage opens and a crusher, 2 grande walkers and a swarm walker rush at you both but you both managed to get a good rythum and take them all down and helped each other to take the crusher down.

Once they were all dealt with, you and Bruno grabbed a circuit breaker for each gate and you took the front while Bruno took the back.

Once the gates shut you both killed any of the infected that wandered in and met up at the front door and opened it.

Rikky jumps at the door opening and says to you two “oh hey were you guys getting the pizza or were you fighting zombies in the yard?”

You and Bruno both breathless say in unison “fighting..zombies”.

“We were wondering if you had seen Michael by any chance?” You ask.

“Did you say pizza?” Roxy spoke and you both shook your head.

“ZOMBIES!” Bruno said firmly.

Rikky looked at you “what are you doing here?”

Rikky just looks at you “I apologize for what I’m about to say but What do you want with that stiff”.

Roxy whispers to Bruno “they don’t,get along, you don’t call the lead singer of gods and whiskey a ‘has been’ the correct term..is ‘was been’ they both start laughing.

“Baked bean” Rikky adds and they Laugh even more and you both grew a bit impatient.

“Ok Where is Michael” Bruno said with an authoritative tone (hot,Bruno you can use that voice anytime with me).

“Ok ok, Jessie might know” Roxy said but then Rikky jumped in.

“Oh she’s not here, I’m not getting that feeling of disapproval”

“Oh look a note” Roxy took it off the fridge

“Dear mother, if you must have sex at 3 in the morning, could you refrain from screaming and moaning quite so loudly” Rikky imitated what could have been on the note.

You and Bruno both blush and look at each other, Bruno then smirks and walks closer to you.

“You know once we find Michael, we could…entertain ourselves”

You weren’t prepared for that and a whine of surprise came out of your mouth, Bruno leaned closer to your ear and whispered “if you whine like that in front of me, I will not hesitate” (woah my boy woah)

“That was you” you both heard Roxanne said “says she went up the hill to help a friend.

��Alright thanks” you say

Roxy then says to you “hey can you please bring her home and safe” she says

You smile “of course” she shoots you a small smile and gives a little ‘thanks’ in return as well.

You and Bruno trek up the hill near the home and make it up to a still in construction house.

When you guys got closer you heard music, “is that music?”.

You look up on the balcony area and see zombies eating some bait. You very quickly and sneakily take them down with your weapons and enter the unfinished building to find a way to shut off the noise.

You find a generator and take out the battery to dissolve the electric water problem on the stairs before proceeding forward.

You could hear a cry for help “Someone help me help!”, you knew by the voice it was Jessie.

You get to the music and shut it off with a whack of your (weapon of choice) and head towards the door we’re 2 walkers were banging their fist on it.

You took them out and open the door to reveal Jessie who was stood tall.

“Thank you for saving me,I really appreciate that” she said.

“No worries, do you know where Michael went?” Bruno asks.

She looks at you “He went to Monarch studios, said he had to get something important, so I made a lot of noise to distract all the zombies while Michael snuck through to the studio access road, my plan was to hang with the construction guys till the zombies got bored and left.”

“And these construction workers were these zombies” Bruno asked.

“Well obviously I didn’t know about that, they were fine yesterday” she defended.

“Thanks Jessie, I appreciate you” you say.

“Not a problem (Y/N)” she said with a smile.

“Well you better go home, your mom is worried about you” you said.

“Oh the regained consciousness did they? You know she was perfectly sensible before she met Rikky, now it’s like trying to keep a couple wasted teenagers alive” she said.

“And they are lucky to have a responsible adult around” Bruno said.

You and Bruno left and walked up to the access road and saw a bunch of zombies huddled together so you threw your meat bait and they went straight to it.

Bruno threw a Grenade and blew them up and you searched for the keycard and then after finding it open the door to tie next destination.

Within the closed up road there were more of those things along with a crusher but not to fear as you shot the fuel truck causing an explosion killing them all.

The crusher survived but after one hit of Bruno’s axe it went down.

You guys eventually made it to Monarch studios and you trudged about the set looking around for Michael.

No sign of him.

You came across some trailers and logged them for supplies before moving on.

You came across stage 7 and you kill a zombies near the doorway grabbing the key and opening the door.

You realised you guys needed a circuit breaker to open anything so you climbed up on the sets and found one, jumping down and placing it in the box.

The door opens and you both stand behind the Special effects controls and you press the water button, spraying water on the floor.

As the zombies came running at you, Bruno pissed the shock button shocking the Z’s to death and finishing off a crusher before going behind the door.

You repair your weapons and upgrade before continuing.

You enter a jungle themed set and defend yourself against zombies dressed as native tribe people.

You move to the next room and spot another on of the special affects buttons at the back of the room. You throw your bait in the middle of the room and Bruno joins up as you both mirror your earlier actions.

Once they were taken care of you grab supplies that are floating about and smash a crate before leaving the set and going down this long hall, killing a few more on the way out and go outside.

You spot another recently stabbed walker and Bruno smirks “That’s Michael’s handiwork alright”.

You walk up the path ahead of you and find footprints. The shoe pattern was the same one as Michael’s shoes.

They were leading to were he had gone so you continued to find more of his footprints and you also spot a green substance.

It was very bloated and didn’t look normal, not normal bile.

As you two entered a stage nearby, the same green stuff was on the wall near the stairs, which made you gag.

“Whatever it is, it seemed like it was following Michael, we better get moving before it finds him” Bruno grabs your hand and you walk up the stairs and across a platform just above a set.

Bruno jumps down first before you and catches you when you jump from the platform and sets you down.

“Let’s take this elevator” you say as you press the button.

You hear Moana from the incoming horde and you both groan as you ready your weapons ready to fight.

You held off a horde as you waited for the elevator and eventually wipe sweat from your brow. You heard a ding and cheered.

“Finally” you walk out and look back to see that in fact it was a fake elevator.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You say.

“Ugh I’m starting to hate movie magic” Bruno said in a whiny voice (I find it hot when he says the line that way).

You smirk “who is whiny now”.

He stops and smirks back “only for you baby”.

You both jog and see a set with a giant spider and you climb over boxes onto the set and head straight for the trailer near it.

The sign I the door read:

Emma

Jaunt

Rise of the godspider

After putting your hand to the door the door busts open and your brother sprays you with a fire extinguisher.

“MICHAEL!!” You shout.

“Oh god what are you guys doing here” he said

“No you first” Bruno said helping you up.

He stuttered “I came to get..um..oh god”, his eyes look directly behind you and you and your boyfriend turn and see this bloated zombie spitting bile at you and you both dodge.

A zombie tries to attack Bruno but due to having bile spit on it, it’s arms came of easily and died.

Bruno dropped the arms with wide eyes and looked at you “ready my love”.

“I was born ready” you say

With that you both attack, slaughtering those Z’s causing them to fly everywhere and eventually setting your focus on the bigger zombie.

With all your force, you both slash and stab it until it eventually collapses and dies.

You both hug each other and exchange a kiss and look into each persons eyes.

“You did amazing love” Bruno complimented.

“Says you Handsome, your the best Zombie slayer there is” you say.

He chuckles “we will see about that mi amor”.

You walk back to the trailer and see Michael looking down at the Romero.

“Oh Michael I have been worried sick, do you have any idea how worried and scared I was, I thought you could have been dead, don’t ever do that again” you say hugging him tightly.

“I’m so sorry (Y/N/N) I promise I won’t do it ever again” Michael said.

You pull away and Bruno looks atyou when his wallow talkie starts to go static “Babe, I’m gonna have to take this, give me a minute”.

Michael just looks at Bruno before he looks at you in disbelief “you guys are dating?”

You look at the ground “yeah, been that way since before the outbreak”

He places his hands on your shoulder “and why didn’t you tell me? I’m really happy for you”

He pulls you into another hug as you spoke “because it was secret, we really wanted to keep it on the down low.”

He lets go of you and nods,confirming that he understands why you chose too. Bruno then walk back in and sighs.

“Sam wants to go and get guns” he said.

You nod “alright then” you turn to Michael “hey Mikey, do you want us to escort you back?”

“You don’t need to worry about me, just go get those guns” he said.

“I love you Mikey” you say and he responds with “I love you too”.

You walk out of the trailer and Bruno goes to follow you but is immediately stopped by Michael.

“I need you to promise me something” he said.

“Sure what is it” Bruno said a little nervous of what he was gonna ask.

“I want you to promise you to look after my little brother” Your brother told your boyfriend.

Your boyfriend nodded “I promise you till the day I die”.

He left with you and you were on your way to find some guns with Sam.

-Timeskip-

You couldn’t help but watch Ronnie die in front of you as he was killed by those fuckers.

“RONNIE ROMNIE NO DAMMIT! Your endangered Malperida YOUR ALL DEAD!” Your boyfriend screamed as he charged at the infected with anger as you worked on defending him if he didn’t know.

You finally came to the moment to take down The zombified Nikki Gutte. You and Bruno took turns to get a critical hit on her but managed to kill her off before heading to find sam.

While you were talking you heard more Moans and Sam sighed “Goddamnit every zombie in the neighbourhood must’a heard those screams.” He hands you and Bruno guns “take the top floor, I’ll cover them from the driveway”.

With that you both ran to the top floor and took aim shooting any and all Z’s, refilling ammo and shooting more Z’s as they came.

After they were all dead you regroup with Sam. You make your way back down stairs and meet up.

“Having fun?” He asked.

“It helped” Bruno said wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

“Listen I made contact with a cdc doctor, he wants me and (Y/N)’s blood for a cure” he said.

Sam turned around with folded arms “is that so? One thing I have learned is that the voice on the radio promising to fix all your shit never happens, we’re doing just fine!.”

“You know Emma will come-“ you say but Sam cuts you off.

“She won’t” he snaps.

“You might just be surprised” you say.

Sam let’s put a huff of amusement “surprised my ass”

You couldn’t prepare for what was about to happen once you guys got back to Emma’s.

As you enter Emma’s house you don’t see Michael so you go into the gym and find Sam,Emma and Michael.

You gasp when you see the bite on your Brothers hip. You kneel beside him and hold him.

“Michael..why?” You had tears rolling down your face.

Emma kneels down on the ground next to you and places a hand on your shoulder her own tears flowing down too.

Michael looks at you both and says “guys I’m fine” he laughs a little, due to his disoriented state.

He pulls out the Romero and hands it to Emma “and the 2019 Romero goes to..” he trials off.

“Oh my lucky charm, this is why you left” she said as she held it, you getting angry at the fact Michael as dying all for a stupid Romero. And to be far you hated Emma the fact she treated your brother like garbage at times.

“Michael I Romero wasn’t worth it for this, what was worth it was being with me, your brother” you say

Emma glares at you but looks at your brother as he speaks again “I have special blood”.

“Yea you do have special blood” you say to him hoping like you he too was immune.

At this point Sam had given Bruno the gun “if he so Mitch as twitches funny, you know what to do”.

Bruno looks at you, his heart shattered at seeing you so broken and sad.

Emma looks at him “don’t even think about, I took you both in you owe me this”.

You look at her “what the fuck do you mean we ‘owe you this’ it’s my fucking brother.”

You walk over and Bruno holds his arm around you as he speaks to Emma “Emma he is gonna turn”.

“You don’t know that” she said as Michael groaned and you all look over at him and he sadly passes away.

You begin to sob uncontrollably “I can’t see him turn”

Bruno looks at you “sweetheart, why don’t you step out of the room, go to Andrea and Sam.”

You nod and walk out to Andrea and you just collapsed, Andrea immediately comforted you and pulled you to your feet and giving you the biggest hug ever.

She held you more as you heard the gunshot and you sobbed even more and she whispered “shhhhh I’v got you”.

Bruno then walked out and you flung into his embrace as he held you.

He couldn’t believe what he did, he just killed his own boyfriend’s brother, but he knew you didn’t want him to live like that.

It was a moment that no one will forget in a hurry.

(Side note: I feel like I should cosplay Bruno??)

[butterfly-writer]

hey! i saw you're taking requests so,, could i request best jeanist and prohero!reader (they/them) trying their hand at flirting? reader is confident and very good at it while jeanist is also good at it! but can't help but get flustrated by how cute and creative reader's compliments are. sadly they have to stop because some villain showed up and they must fight them but they still think about eachother's words.

it's got a sweet and fluffy touch honestly! i hope this is okay for you (otherwise, tell me no so i know you're not writing it, i have another idea for a request if you want😔🤲🏻) and i also hope you're having a good day/night!

Compliments.

Best Jeanist x Prohero!Reader (they/them)

Summary: They tried flirting with each other but had to stop because a villain came but they can’t stop thinking about the compliments.

Disclaimer: Reader’s Quirk: Blood manipulation.

★☽A/N: I never wrote Beast Jeanist before but I shall do my best!! He’s legit such a clean guy, the way he held his phone in season 6 😭

Contents: FLUFF, a few bloody moments but it’s mainly reader’s Quirk.

◆::◇::◆::◇::◆

They thought it was time for the next level of dating….

Flirting.

The Pro Hero, H/N, is one confident and bold one, they;re flirting like a pro while Best Jeanist is alright at it but he can’t help but be flustered by the compliments.

Compliments be like:

◆ H/N wrapped their hands around Best Jeanist waist (Short or not short) and started to compliment like crazy, like, “My pretty boy.” , “My, do you look fine, my sweetheart.” And they’re just! Ugh!!! So sweet and it makes him feel so loved.

◆ Best Jeanist tries his best at flirting and it wasn’t that bad at it! Just a few small compliments like: “My sweet hero.” , “How are you, sweetheart?” JUST A LOT OF PETNAMES, LMAOO!! He’s trying his best, give him some credits!!

◇::◆

They were flirting as they walked along the streets, patrolling the district when they got really juicy with the compliments to the point they’re stopping to make out a bit, Best Jeanist flustering up with the compliments. 

They immediately stopped when they heard a huge crash from afar, looking to see a villain stealing a bunch of food and money, “Why don’t we stop him, how about that, sweetheart?” H/N smirked, Best Jeanist flustered a bright red but brushed it off and nodded, heading to the scene together.

“Really? H/N and Best Jeanist? How lucky am I!!!” The villain cackled, eating all the food he stole and he became more muscular. ‘Eating junk and he’s suddenly buffier? Must be his quirk.’ H/N noticed before slashing a huge scar along their forearm, blood dripping to the ground then all of it collected itself into a huge blob and shaped itself into a blood-formed machete.

The hero immediately dashed towards the villain and easily cut through the villain’s arm, “Ah! What the fuck?! I thought heroes can’t kill?!” The villain yelled, “Who said we can’t hurt them?” H/N chuckled, throwing the machete and catching it by its handle swiftly and dashed back, catching the villain off-caught. The villain was about to attack when H/N left an opening but missed when the hero suddenly disappeared, “Huh?” He said confusingly, looking up to see the hero with a grin and their body up in the air with thin threads holding them up, looking down to see Best Jeanist with his threads around his arms. Best Jeanist swiftly sends one of his threads towards the villain, tangling it around his body.

The villain roared and bursted out of those threads and charged towards the Fiber Hero but he was immediately stopped by a weapon blocking his way. "Not so fast, I don't want my sweetheart to be mashed potato," H/N chuckled as they used their machete to push the villain away. Best Jeanist stood helplessly, his face heated, 'Sweetheart? Why did they have to say that?!' He pondered as his face flooded with crimson red. He quickly brushed it off when he saw H/N crash to the ground, sending his threads in the direction of the villain and catching him in his intertwined web. Quickly standing, H/N ran and sent a strike onto the villain's neck with the machete's blunt side, striking a nerve and knocking him unconscious.

Cheers from the civilians roared the streets, thanking the heroes with cheers and praise. “Phew! That was close, wasn’t it, sweetheart?” H/N smiled towards Best Jeanist, “Please stop calling me that.” Best Jeanist mumbled, H/N tilted their head with confusion but then as if, out of realization, their eyes widened but then smiled a sneaky smirk and hugged Best Jeanist’s hips, “Look at you, all flustered~ You’re so adorable, sweetheart!” H/N chuckled, leaving Best Jeanist with a flustered face.

“I hate you.” Best Jeanist mumbled,

“I love you too, sweetheart.” H/N chuckled, kissing Best Jeanist with a quick kiss before turning back to the civilians and waving back in joy.

◆::◇::◆::◇::◆

★☽A/N: WHY DID I ENJOY WRITING THIS?? I actually had so much fun writing this!!! Thank you again, for the request! Keep the requests coming!!!!! <33

[kira-bennett]

fucking stressed beyond belief right now

TL;DR: My savings? fucked. Family drama? Ongoing and getting worse. My health? Going down the fucking drain, apparently. The election? I really don't like waiting to find out if my friends and I are going to have our rights stripped away, or if we are going to be in danger because the fascists lost and think the answer to that is terrorism.

I'm going to put these in order of most to least important, but this is going to be a long one.

I am obviously extremely stressed about the election. I am a disabled (unilaterally deafblind) queer afab person whose friend group is made up almost entirely of people who are some variety of queer/neurodivergent/disabled/etc, and I am in a ruby red state. I desperately need Kamala to win because my local and state government isn't going to do anything to benefit my community, so I am 100% reliant on the federal government to restrict how badly they can fuck us over (or, you know, do things to help, but at this point I am willing to just accept "minimally fucked over.") My state is 100% ready to start stripping my friends and I of our rights as soon as they can, and if Trump wins they have the green light to do that, and I am fucking terrified of that happening. Between what he has done in the past, Project 2025, and what Trump himself has promised to do, I don't want to live in an America where Trump gets a 2nd term. You know what else I am terrified of? The fact that, if I get what I want and Kamala does win, these fascist assholes are going to throw a temper tantrum about it. We have already seen people threatened with machetes for voting, ballot boxes lit on fire, and bomb threats sent to polling places in GA. Just imagine how bad it will be when you tell these assholes they lost. I live in a state with 37 federally recognized active hate groups and I have run into members of 7 of them (thankfully, I have only had one coworker dumb enough to brag to me about being a member of one of these groups, and I don't work at that place anymore). (sidenote, but I highly recommend everyone familiarize yourself with the symbols associated with the hate groups active in your state). So even if Kamala wins the election and I don't have to worry about the president taking away my basic human rights, I have to go to work tomorrow and worry about these people looking to take their anger out on someone. I don't exactly look like a cis/straight/christian/republican woman, so I will probably look like a good target for them. I know two of my friends have to work tomorrow, so I have to worry about them being targeted (especially since they work nights and crime does tend to spike at night).

Now onto more personal issues. My sister decided to throw a full-blown temper tantrum over wanting to see a specific dentist for her jaw pain and, because she is one of my mom's favorites, my mom throws a fit until I just handed over the $2,250 for her to get her fucking dental splint and botox. This took a huge chunk out of my car savings ($1,500 from car savings, $750 from my "I get to actually go out and hang out with my friends now" fund). She promises she is going to pay me back, but given that she has "borrowed" $12k from me in just the past two years (so not counting the whole year when I first got a job, after being kept at home against my will mind you, and she took my card and spent anything that didn't go to bills/grandma's funeral payments) and hasn't paid any of it back (but can get mini fridges for my younger siblings rooms while complaining about her electric bill) I don't really have any hope of that happening unless a certain other family member (who I have contacted, and I am waiting to hear back from) pressures her into it. So now I'm just here, working on commission after commission hoping to make back my car money by the end of the year (although I may still have to ride out the whole commission season like this if I want my "fun with friends" fund back.) and find a way to convince her to give back my driving privileges or let me get lessons from someone else (something I also covered when I contacted that other family member). I know my mom is going to have a fit if that family member does choose to address this stuff with them, but I am left with no other choice. I can't just keep living in a hostage situation where I am led on by false promises while I watch her spoil other people, literally at my expense. I wish I could just throw a fit like they do where they hit, slam doors, break things, and yell at people until I get my way, but I have a feeling I wouldn't get the same results they do. Regardless of what happens, I am going to have to do "committing arson at Bath & Bodyworks" levels of burning the candle at both ends if I want to have any hope of having a car by the end of January. Now, there is some mental illness stuff that actually makes doing that much work easier for me (lets just say when I am home alone with no way of getting out for anything other than work, a part of my brain just starts compulsively working on anything to distract me from the fact that I am trapped here) but it's still a lot to have to deal with.

What isn't helping is that my health is just going down the toilet at a pretty rapid pace. I have always had issues with sleep, but I have started experiencing new difficulties with that, so sleep and I are almost entirely divorced. Additionally, I have been having issues eating, or, more accurately, my issues with eating have gotten worse. I have always experienced heartburn when I eat certain foods, but that used to be managed by just taking meds as needed/if I plan on eating something I know triggers a reaction. You know, normal people shit. Now it happens if I eat anything in any meaningful quantity, so I have been having to take more meds, and even then it doesn't always work. There have been too many nights in the past couple of weeks when I have to play "heart attack or heartburn." Additionally, I have been having issues just swallowing. This is a thing I have had issues with for a while. One of the downsides of not having a gag reflex is that sometimes things will just get stuck in your throat, and you just have to keep swallowing until it goes down. Before, it only happened every now and then. Now, it seems like it happens towards the end of every meal, and it's so fucking annoying. Thankfully, I should be getting my insurance card soon, so I should be able to get that checked out, but I still fucking hate it.

[patchworkgargoyle]

oc fic: freaks to the front

For @strangerthingsocweek!! This isn't the first idea I had, and I wrote it in a rush, but hopefully it's fun.

You all might get sick of me and Dominik by the end of this week tbh, but too bad.

Pairing: transmasc OMC x Unnamed Freak || Rating: T for language || Words: 1,192 || Tags/Side Characters: Canon setting, post-season 4, Kali Prasad and her crew, Dustin Henderson, Jeff, and Gareth. Title from Freaks to the Front - Amyl and the Sniffers, mostly for the Freak reference and also for the vibes.

When Kali had told him they had to go help her sister, Dominik hadn’t imagined this.

Spending a couple days on the road to drive through Indiana to get to a shitty little town? Easy. Dodging past a military blockade? Fucking concerning, but not that different from evading police. Seeing ash fall from unsettlingly dark clouds that flashed with red lightning? Well past concerning and right into what the fuck is happening?

Kali sat in the front passenger seat of the van, staring intensely out the windshield as she told Funshine where to go, apparently getting directions from her telepathic sister named Eleven, of all things. Dom had seen a lot in his short time with Kali, he knew all about her strange powers, but he hadn’t heard the whole, basic rundown of her story until now.

Figures that the government would be running shitty experiments on little kids. That the experiments worked was still wigging him the fuck out.

“Turn left,” Kali said, and the van veered around a corner, jolting and rocking over some rubble, knocking Dom off-kilter and into the wall with a metallic thud. Axel whooped, loud in the crowded space, Dottie cackling from the floor, and Dom just glared at them. He looked to Mick, who was watching the tiny town speed by with a serious frown.

“What’s going on out there?” he asked, and Mick shook her head.

“Hard to tell. Kali, where are we going?”

“El said some of her friends are in trouble, asked us to pick them up on our way,” she said calmly, before giving another direction. Funshine sped up.

“I hope they aren’t more brats like she was,” Axel grumbled, and Mick shot him a look.

Dom craned around to look out the tiny window by his head and saw a crumbling building whiz by. “This place looks like a fucking warzone,” he said under his breath, hearing Mick hum in agreement.

 Kali glanced into the back. “We’re close. Dottie, get ready to open the door, El says to watch out, and that guns won’t hurt it, only push it back.”

“It? What do you mean, ‘it?’” Dom asked, sounding more shrill than he’d admit, but the van barreled over more debris and interrupted anyone who might’ve poked fun. His heart raced in his throat when Kali told Funshine to speed up, and for the first time since he’d been kicked out of his home, Dom regretted throwing himself in with these maniacs.

“Get ready,” Kali commanded, and Dom’s hand clenched around the handle of his machete. Dottie clung to the door handle next to him, ready to whip it open, and Axel and Mick braced, guns at the ready anyway.

Tires screeched, Dom tensed, and the door whipped open. He launched himself out of the van, brandishing his machete, shouting at the five people he spotted immediately. “Get in!”

All five looked at him. Or, four of them did. It was only when he had a chance to pause that he saw the fifth was way too tall and didn’t have a fucking face. It was a maw of teeth and flesh surrounded by… petals, or something, and his skin crawled just looking at this—this monster. In real fucking life.

Then it roared, or screamed, sounding like a chainsaw on crack, and absolute disbelief was the only thing that kept him from fleeing from the thing in terror as the sound of it pierced his eardrums and made his hair stand on end.

“The fuck is that!?” Axel screeched.

“Demogorgon!” one of the actual humans said, and Dom was shaken from his fear when he realized he was a child.

“Like fucking Dungeons and Dragons!?” Dom yelled, and the kid gave him a surprised look before shouting at the other guys as he raced to the van.

The monster roared again and tried to follow, but Mick and Axel started shooting, bullets not even piercing its sickly grey, leathery skin. But the impacts distracted it, knocked it back, and Dom motioned for the kid to haul ass and praying to a god he didn’t believe in that that thing wouldn’t recover too quickly.

The kid barreled past with a slight limp, shouting at the other guys as they scrambled into action. When he reached the van, Dottie hauled the kid inside, getting out of the way for the others. Two clambered in, but not before the monster got its bearings, straightening up as he heard the telltale click of a pistol out of ammo. Shit.

The shortest, a floppy-haired guy, spat fuck fuck fuck fuck as he ran. Shaking its awful, disgusting head, the thing walked, and then picked up speed. Dom backed up to the van and said, “Kali, do something!”

“I’m trying,” she hissed.

Of course, right then, the guy tripped. Dom darted forward on instinct and snagged his hand, yanking at him as he flailed for balance.

But the monster was on them.

Shouting, “Go, go, fucking go,” Dom hauled them both backwards into the van. His legs hit the floor, he toppled back, and strong hands grabbed his arms and pulled him and the floppy-haired guy clung to each other in a blind panic.

The monster lashed out, one massive clawed hand raking down the guy’s leg before grabbing his ankle. He screamed, and Dom acted without thinking. He kicked, teeth bared in a furious grimace, steel-toed boot colliding wetly with the meaty, tooth-filled hole that passed for a mouth. Someone yanked the machete out of his hand and started chopping at the thing’s arm as he kept brutally kicking out.

Tires squealed and spun until they caught on the pavement and the van lurched into motion just as the monster let go with a wounded, wailing gurgle. The person behind him pulled Dom and the guy further in and Dottie slammed the door closed, leaving that horror in the dust.

The van was quiet except for the road of the engine and everyone’s panicked breathing. Dom blinked, realizing that Axel and Mick were still by the door. Who the hell had gotten them in the van?

Dom looked back and came face to face with the biggest of the four guys. His pretty blue eyes were still wide with fear, but he was looking back at Dom, darting over his face, inevitably glancing at all his piercings before pausing at the ones in his lips just a touch too long. When Dom’s jaw dropped in surprise, the guy blushed and looked away.

His usual recklessness reared up, fueled by the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “Thanks for the save, darling,” he purred, smirking, and the guy’s face flushed an even deeper red.

“Dominik, can you not be a slut for one minute?” Axel sneered, and Dom just flipped him off, still watching the cute guy’s face as he tried to look at anyone but Dom. Oh, he was cute, and Dom thought he might have fun in this shithole called Hawkins after all. Aside from the fucking monsters.

The floppy-haired guy put an end the awkward pause. "Could someone please do something about my leg?"

[melanieathene]

Suptober 2023 Day 14 - Fever

The fever hit without warning. One moment, Dean was perspiring lightly from the exertion of pursuing the witch. In the next, beads of sweat dotted his brow and he began to shiver uncontrollably. His steps slowed, and he stumbled to a complete stop: hands braced on knees, head hanging low. He sensed more than he saw his brother run past him, machete in one hand, gun in the other.

“Way to go, Sam,” he wheezed, the breath leaving his lungs in one long, shaky exhale. Replacing the lost air proved to be quite the challenge. He coughed, coughed again, and finally managed to inhale. Dizzy and decidedly weak in the knees, Dean decided the ground was a prudent place to be. He sank to a kneeling position, wavered there a second, then toppled over to land in a crumpled heap.

He lay there, gasping like a fish too long out of water, his face flushed an alarming shade of red.

And that was how Castiel found him.

“Dean!” he cried, dropping to one knee and placing a hand on Dean's forehead. “You're burning up!” he declared, worry evident in his voice. “But there's no trace of a virus... Was it something you ate?”

“Don't think so.” Dean moaned, and pushed his face further into the deliciously cool hand. “Sam had the same thing for lunch, and he's okay.”

Castiel's free hand travelled slowly across Dean's chest, trailed lower to his rib cage, down to his stomach, and lingered there. “It's not your appendix,” the angel murmured. “I can't find any root cause for a fever.”

“I feel better when you touch me,” Dean said, surprise evident in his voice.

“Touch you where?”

“Here.” Dean tapped his head. “And here.” He pointed to his chest.

Castiel felt the pit-pat of the hunter's heart increase in tempo when he laid a hand over it.

“Lower,” Dean moaned.

Castiel moved his hand down to Dean's belly.

“Lower.” Dean clasped the angel's hand in his both of his own and dragged it towards his crotch.

“Uh, Dean...” “Lower,” Dean begged. “Please, Cas? Please...”

“Dean!” Castiel pulled free and backed away. Instantly, Dean curled into the fetal position and emitted a wail of sheer misery.

“Dean!” Sam echoed, arriving just in time to witness this odd exchange. He rested a hand on Dean's shoulder. “You okay, man?” he asked.

Dean reacted as if he'd been poked with a firebrand. “Don't touch me!” he screamed. “It burns! It burns!”

“What the hell?” Sam sputtered, watching in amazement as Castiel rested a hand on the same shoulder and Dean quieted immediately.

“I believe he is suffering from a spell,” Castiel said, allowing Dean to link their fingers together. “Before she fled, did the witch have time to say anything, Sam?”

“Not a word.” Sam frowned, thinking. “There was a dusting of grey powder on the table. It swirled into the air when we burst through the door. Dean ran through it, chasing after the witch. The wind was behind me, it blew the dust away before I entered the room... Didn't Dean bump into you as he followed her out the back door? Maybe that's why he's so fixated on you.”

“That's very possible, Sam.” Castiel cast a bemused look at Dean. “No nibbling on my fingers, Dean.”

Sam snorted a laugh, quickly turning it into a cough as Castiel turned a disapproving stare his way.

“Sorry,” Sam offered. “I know it's not funny, but you have to admit it's pretty weird. Who leaves sex pollen lying around the house? And leave it to Dean to stumble into it.” He shook his head. “Well, we'll just have to muddle though somehow, and hope the effects wear off. The witch is dead, so she's can't revoke the spell. Maybe Rowena can offer some advice? I'll look into that... do a little research. In the meantime, let's get you two back to the motel. Maybe a warm bath – or a cold shower – will make Dean feel better. I'll book another room so I don't accidentally bump into him.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Castiel said, more than a trace of desperation in his voice.

“Whatever you feel comfortable doing.” Sam grinned.

Sam was seated in the diner located across the road from their motel when the bell over the door jingled and Dean appeared.

“Morning, Sam,” Dean chirped, slapping his brother on the back. Easing himself into a chair, he picked up a menu and studied it.” “Mmmm, pancakes,” he murmured. “Or bacon, sausage and eggs with home fries and baked beans? Why not both? Ooh! They have pie!”

“I see you're back to normal,” Sam said wryly.

“Never felt better, Sammy. The spell ended shortly after midnight.”

“And you waited until now to tell me?”

“”Uh, sorry. It kinda slipped my mind. I was – We were – ”

The bell over the door sounded again, and a distinctly rumpled-looking angel entered. His coat hung off one shoulder; his tie was missing, his dark hair a tousled mess. A pink blush tinged his cheeks, and a purple bruise peeked out from under the collar of his crookedly buttoned shirt. A satisfied smile graced his lips; a matching smile lit Dean's face as Castiel seated himself beside him.

“Never mind, I get the picture,” Sam said, and hid his own smile in his coffee.

[jaytoons7]

"What's going on?" When Slice proposed to Wilhelm, Please!

💍💖

It had been about a year since Terrence was overthrown by Reginald. The clan was still sort of picking up the pieces after what happened during those past few years. With all that in mind, It made Slice wonder...

...Was now really the right time to do this?

Now, Slice was never known to be the nervous type. He always leaped into any battle or raid with confidence, Machete in hand and a grin on his face.

But after the raid that killed many beloved Toppats like Caly and Crusher, Not helping that he completely snapped at Terrence and even threatened him afterwards, Slice took a more backseat role in the clan for his own sake. Although, If anybody asked, He would say it was because of the scar he got on his face that same day.

Slice had been through many hardships in his life that changed him, And that was honestly what he was worried about. He looked at the small box in his hand, What if he wasn't the same person that Wilhelm loved anymore? What if he says no?

Besides joining the clan itself, Wilhelm was one of the best things that had ever happened to Slice. Wilhelm had directly asked Slice to help him improve his English, Which they spent a lot of free time together doing.

Between that and doing heists together, The two began to get really close, Eventually falling in love.

Slice took a deep breath to ground himself. He wasn't gonna back out now! He hid the box behind his back and walked to the cafeteria.

Wilhelm was sitting in said cafeteria finishing his lunch. He saw Slice walking over and smiled. "Good afternoon, Meine Liebe. I hope your paperwork has not been too taxing today." "N-No, It hasn't." Slice tried to keep his cool. "I just got finished with a huge batch, I have the rest of the day off."

"Wunderbar! I was actually wondering..." Wilhelm started to blush. "If we could spend the rest of the day together..." Slice nodded, But his hands began to shake. "I-I'd love to! B-But... I wanna ask you something first. C-Could you stand up real quick though?"

Wilhelm gave Slice a curious look before standing up. "What would you like to ask me?"

Slice took a few shaky breaths. "W-Wilhelm, I know things have been a bit shaky in the clan recently. Terrence just got dethroned not long ago and we're all still adjusting to Reggie's leadership, So I don't know if this is the best time but..."

His face turned red from both nerves and blushing. "I-I love you so much. You've made me so happy in spite of everything that's happened. Th-That's why I wanted to know."

Wilhelm looked down in surprise when he saw Slice going down on one knee. "What is... Going on..?" Slice pulled out the box and opened it, Revealing a ring with a gold band and a red sunstone in the center.

"Wilhelm Krieghaus, Will you marry me?"

Wilhelm stood in stunned silence for a second before tears began falling down his face. "Ja..! Ja, Schatz! Of course I will!"

Tears began falling down Slice's face as well before he got up and hugged Wilhelm. "Thank you! Thank you! You've made me the happiest Toppat alive!"

The two hugged for a minute before separating. Slice then gently slid the ring onto Wilhelm's finger. "You have chosen a very beautiful ring." He hummed.

"Thank you." Slice wiped a few remaining tears from his face. "Right helped me pick which one to steal. The gem's a sunstone. I chose that because well, You've been the light of my life. Like the sunrise at the end of a cold harsh night. That's probably really cheesy..." He nervously laughed.

"It is perfect." Wilhelm leaned forward and pulled Slice into a kiss. They would both finally be united as one.

(I changed the quote a bit to match Wilhelm's speech pattern)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 8x06 Mysterious Coda Discussion Continued

@galadrieljones

I just watched the episode!! AH. There’s some stuff I wanna look up. I am extremely intrigued by the “coda” and idk how clear it is to you all what we’re seeing but it’s pretty clear to me. Also for now, I’ll just leave you with my most salient take-away, which is the music at the end of the episode, in the scene with Morgan and Mo. Listen to it, then go back to the Coda coda. It’s the same exact music!

@wdway

Yeah, I noticed the music too. I can't wait for lethal to watch so we can really dive into the whole episode but especially the "tease." Did you have the same impression that it was a tease for TD?

@galadrieljones

I think it has implications for TD. Like I said I need to look some stuff up to be certain of my prediction!!

@wdway

It definitely gave me similar feelings as I had with the red machete. I'm not saying that this will be what we might hope it is, but I think it is a taste definitely.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Morning, Gals! I finally watched both episodes.

I think it's super cool that Morgan is now looking for Rick. Clearly, he'll be part of the CRM storyline. Though, based on his role in S8, I could have told you that. Anyway, I guess I didn't realize he would leave half way through the season and not be in the rest of it.

I'm honestly not as excited about the rest of the season if he's not in it. I mean, I guess what it really is is that I'm more interested in Morgan's return to Alexandria and search for Rick. The last time Morgan saw Judith, she was a baby, so a reunion between them would be fun. I can see Judith and Mo becoming pals.

I assumed the tease at the end was about Alicia. We saw her put her severed, desiccated arm into the bag. But it definitely would be cool, given all the Alicia/Beth and Alicia/Madison stuff, if the two of them reunited, and we got more concrete information about Alicia's state of health.

I mean, I was surprised they killed off Finch. As I said at the beginning, I really thought they would find some way to cure him. But they also definitely planted the seed that if they could find the right ratio of radiation--enough to kill the walker virus but not him--they might have saved him. And of course Alicia's--and even Charlie's--exposure was much different than Finch's. So maybe we aren't done with that storyline yet.

I didn't like the Dwight/Sherry thing. I thought it was kind of dumb. I get that he's clearly going to be part of the CRM storyline, heading back to Georgia and everything, and either they just don't have a role for Sherry or the actress has opted to leave the show in lieu of other projects. But still. After he travelled cross country to find her, it's Dwight that says they should call it quits? I kinda had to roll my eyes at that. Anyway, I do have some errands and such to run today, but I'm all for it. Let's discuss! ;D

@wdway

I'm so happy for us to talk about the scene. @twdmusicboxmystery, unless Alicia had a arm transplant than this is not her. Her arm was cut off from the elbow, it can't be Alicia. Supposedly the voice on the radio is Madison, so not Madison. We see all the fingers on both hands so it can't be June. This person is blonde. Yes, BLONDE!!!

Look at her hands and up to the very top they have a little bit of blonde hair showing. Did I hear gasp! I did not immediately see the hair but once I did oh my gosh. This is what I meant by the tease. They're making they're making sure we can see both hands both all fingers there is a water bottle right next to her and of course the radio I'm going to call that flashlight color (blonde) the map, the bag and of course Alicia's replacement arm.

The second one was the original shot and I enlarged it so we can see that this person is caring a large knife (?).

I'm not sure what that object is in the center could that be a compass?

I am not saying that this is Beth. I'm just saying that this is a tease. It is placed after Morgan's final scene in Fear which has the music that we heard from his coda in Coda. You guys know how I believe that in his first episode in Fear they teased him coming upon a car with an injured person laying on a pink blanket, I've always thought that was a hint towards Beth and so now we get a scene in his last episode of Fear where we immediately see a blonde, I'm assuming this is a woman, I just think that this was meant for TD.

I've been trying to rack my brain as to who this could be. I mentioned the other day that it reminded me of the Red Machete, because we never was able to see who took the Red Machete, they did not show the face. Here again we're seeing this person and yet not the face.

I was trying to mark off all of the blonde actresses that we have seen in Fear and I am so open to any that you guys can think of that I'm missing.

How did this person get Alicia's (I'm going to call it) mechanical arm? And here's the other thing, Alicia we know the last time we saw her, she had gone through the fever and she was okay, really more than okay. We believe that Beth survived a bite and was given treatment so these are the only two people that we know of that survived a bite. And here we have a blonde female who is holding Alicia's mechanical arm. ????

@galadrieljones:

I love your observations. There are parts of this coda that really bug me. Not in a bad way, but in a “wtf” sort of way. I will explain. I think that, regardless of whether it’s Beth, they are being sneaky. They want us to think it could be. The lock of blond hair throws me off.

Also, I am struggling with whether these are female hands. In the beginning, they look mostly female, as the bones are fine. But then as the scene progresses, I’m not sure. They look borderline masculine to me, when they pick up the map, the sunglasses, and the arm. There is an androgenous effect here, as far as I’m concerned. The blond lock of hair looks not super long, but it’s really apparent. That throws me off the most.

The actor is moving their hands so deliberately, almost lizard-like. I think they’re trying to achieve an effect of “this could be a man or woman."

@wdway

I understand you're back and forth about the hands. I've had the same thoughts but in the end I think they look more feminine than male hands. Even if this is supposedly Beth it's not necessarily Emily. I also think that the reason they are being very artsy with the hand movement is that people will go back and just as I did start looking at the hands in terms of all the fingers are there so that eliminates June there's two hands, arms, that eliminates it being Alicia. Madison is supposedly on the radio broadcasting, it's not Madison. I think they are feminine hands. These look like a younger woman's hands, not someone Carol or Madison's age because your hands age quite differently as a woman gets older.

@wdway

If the tease is about Beth than I just want to think about that for a moment. One of the other reasons they would be showing the hands like they are with this person writing would be that in s4e1, Daryl comes upon Beth in her cell and she's writing in her journal, the last time we see Beth with Daryl she is also writing a thank you note, there is a definite connection they want us to make with Beth and writing, imo.

To Be Continued...

[odysseywritings]

Still Human

@flashfictionfridayofficial

(tw blood and gore)

Living in this apocalypse made me wonder if any of this was worth it. Staying in the cities only had me surrounded by hordes of mindless ghouls. No talking, no fear, no dreams. All they wanted was flesh. My saving grace was their slow shambling gait to keep them from slaughtering me. Worst of all was my health. My busted leg and deteriorating sanity were almost death sentences.

There's constant sickness in my gut when I see their decayed faces and exposed bones. Fake copies of neighbors and friends. Of family. Alex felt less like my name with history and more of a label without a use. My vision spun, tilted, zoomed in and out when they closed in on me. Every street, every building, every corner filled with the living dead under neon signs and the falling red sun.

I had to find a save haven with other survivors. I checked the radio and internet religiously for signs of activity but nothing was certain. The last commune I heard about was overrun. None of the dead were bitten. Every death was from gunshot.

My one good leg buckled from the constant walking. Every rest stop had to have a high area or a locked door. I remember sleeping in a shack and waking up to broken glass and grey arms reaching in despite cuts from the shards. I still can't sleep for more than a couple hours at a time.

I wanted to wave the white flag. I wouldn't let those things get to me and rip me apart while I'm screaming for death. What's the alternative other than going out my own way? But I kept going, finding new paths, trying to find someone. Anyone.

I slept another night in a locker room of an abandoned restaurant and woke up abruptly again. Not by zombies, but from gunshots. Someone was out there yelling and shooting. Not careless enough to be some macho idiot but competent enough to stay alive longer than I thought. This shouldn't have been my business, but the yelling was getting higher, and my guilt had the upper hand.

I grabbed my handgun, packed ammo, and went out. I looked outside and saw a woman clad in black finishing unloading her gun and pulled a machete to hack up stragglers. I hurried up, just glad to find living company, and yelled back to signal that I was alive and not infected. She glanced at me but kept focus on the undead.

I covered her blind sides and alternated shooting and stabbing with a knife. Even with my leg, I felt weirdly eased, just knowing I had help. The wave slowly ebbed as the piles grew until the only ones up were us two.

Exhausted and covered in brownish blood, we sat down and took long breaths, enjoying silence with a stranger. I couldn't see any bites on her hands, and I wasn't interested in finding wounds on her legs and arms, so I just asked for her name and where she was going.

Sue paused and admitted she wasn't sure, just that she'd never go back east. I got curious but I didn't want to interrogate someone I just met. Sue's aura was intimidating but not threatening, and I felt my body calming and vision clearing the more I was next to her. I smiled from this foreign feeling I almost forgot about and she smiled back. This was a real honest to God human and not some hopeful delusion.

I can make it now. We can survive together. Maybe there's others out there like us. It never felt so good living until now.

[unseededtoast]

Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Part Nineteen

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

"You got stabbed by a machete, you lost a lot of blood."

The morning sun is rising in the sky, illuminating the redness on my skin that is drying to a rusty brown. My hair sticks to my face and neck with sweat, and my butt has gone numb from sitting on the hard floor for far too long. My eyes are trained on the wall in front of me, and my ears are focused on Joel's breathing next to me.

With heavy eyelids, I look down at him to ensure he's still breathing and am satisfied to see him still alive. My eyes trail down to the large wound on his abdomen, and I know that there's still work to be done. Forcing myself off the ground, I rummage around for  a needle and some thread.

Thankfully, these people kept their medical care items with their sleeping supplies, probably in case they had to make a quick getaway. However, half the first aid kits are picked through and the other half are empty. After I've gone through every first aid kit available in here, I realize there's no needle or thread to be found. But in a town like this, there's bound to be one needle and a spool of thread somewhere.

Grabbing my hunting knife and making sure I've got a gun in my thigh holster, I take down the blockade from the front door and decide to go supply searching. Plus, I'd like to find my curved blade from last night as well. I'm confident that there will be nobody else showing up here, if there were, they likely would've shown up during the night.

The sunlight makes it easier for me to navigate around, and I walk back a few streets to look for my curved blade. The tall grass makes it difficult to locate, but I find where the grenade went off and start searching thoroughly there.

After ten good minutes of thorough searching, the sunlight shifts in the sky and illuminates the hilt of the knife five feet in front of me, concealed by debris from the grenade's explosion. It finds its way back onto my person and then I start looking for a needle and thread, systematically going through each building with careful eyes.

The search for a needle and thread proves to be more of a challenge than I thought it was going to be. It takes at least eight buildings before I finally find where they keep their garments. These people have been using a small garage as a closet of sorts, and stashed away in the corner was a small case of sewing supplies.

Quickly, I make my way back to Joel and reconstruct the barricade before I lean over him once more. His eyes are still closed and I press the back of my hand to his face, his skin still pale and chilly.

"Joel." I try to get him to open his eyes, but he just grunts in response. I was hoping he would wake up so he could take some of the oxycontin we found so that he's not suffering in pain. However, I think his wound is probably taking too much of a toll on him, so I'll try to make this as quick as I can.

It takes a few tries, but I eventually get the string threaded through the needle's eye. I rest on my knees, leaning over Joel's body and take a calming breath. I've done this before, but many years ago and with stakes that weren't quite this high. Before I can talk myself out of this, I stick the needle through the skin of Joel's abdomen and begin sewing the skin together.

His face contorts with pain with each stitch and I apologize each time the needle breeches skin, but this has to be done if the wound is going to heal properly. As I pull the needle through for the last stitch, I lean down and cut the string off with my teeth and tie it in a knot, confident it'll hold as long as he doesn't push himself too hard for a few days. Knowing Joel though, that's likely going to be a tall order.

The string and needle find their place back in the sewing kit and I resume my position with my back leaning against the wall next to Joel so I can keep an eye on him. I know I can't stay with him like this for long though, I have to find water for us; the rest of ours was used last night to clean Joel's wound to the best of my ability. Surely, these people had to have some sort of water supply.

I rummage around in my bag and pull out the map that has a new tear in the top of it from last night's events. My eyes find the approximate spot that we're at, and I see that there should be some sort of lake about a mile to the east. That shouldn't take me long to get to and back. Folding the map and placing it back in my bag, I reach for our empty water containers and decide to make the trip. When Joel wakes up, he's going to need to rehydrate himself.

I do my best to blockade the building and see where the sun is at in the sky to determine which way is east. Thankfully, the sun is still rising and it's rather easy to decide which way I need to go. The water containers clink together with every few steps, and I stay on alert the whole way to the lake, not wanting to be surprised or ambushed.

My eyes scan for more tripwires as well, becoming paranoid that they're everywhere around here. Soon enough, I reach the edge of the town and am met with overgrown grass and a sporadic spread of trees. Things seem peaceful enough but I cannot get the tension to leave my shoulders and I know I'm sure to feel this for the next few days. My mind is so occupied with listening for threats that I can't even admire the wildflowers adorning the overgrown grass. They're just blurs in my peripheral, my focus is getting back to Joel as soon as I can.

Luckily, the river is easy to locate. Its rushing waters lead me right to it and I waste no time in unscrewing the water bottle caps and filling them up. Small fish jump out of the water every few seconds and predatory birds swoop down to try and catch them, seemingly unbothered with my presence. The cool water is almost inviting me to take a dip and if Joel weren't severely injured a mile away I might consider indulging. Instead of fully immersing myself I settle on washing the dried blood off of my hands and arms. Knowing I can't be away from Joel for longer than is absolutely necessary, I make the short trip back to the town once my hands are clean and the bottles are full.

My barricade is untouched when I return and I drop off the bottles beside him. His eyes are still closed, his eyebrows tightly knit together, probably from the pain. If he would wake up I could force some painkillers into his system. But, I leave him be and go to rummage around in the town to see what I can find, after all his body does need rest after enduring that kind of wound. I'll give him the pills when he wakes on his own.

The bodies from yesterday's incident are littered everywhere and the smell of their decomposition is only going to get worse in the day's heat. With nothing else to do, I busy myself with piling their bodies up and going through their pockets. They're bound to have some good things, seeing as how they had a grenade to throw at me.

After an hour of solid work, I'm able to pile their bodies in one empty building, where they will permanently rest for all eternity. It took a few times to get used to the way their limbs flopped every which way and how their heads would just fall with gravity, but after the third body I got the hang of it. With each body I piled up the more I find myself reflecting on my actions.

I ruthlessly killed these people without an ounce of guilt, and I still can't seem to be all too shaken up about it now as I turn their pockets inside out. Only a few nights ago I was thoroughly disgusted with myself about the older couple on the farm, and I even felt a little guilty about the Fireflies we killed, so why is this so different for me? There's definitely some sort of difference, but I can't seem to pinpoint what it is.

With a distracted mind, I go about stuffing my pockets with the townspeople's grenades, bullets, and other weapons before I go back to check in on Joel. The sun is at its peak for the day and the sun is blisteringly hot once again.

I enter the building I've left Joel in to see his eyes have opened, and he's trying to sit up. Dropping the items in my hands, I rush over to him and push his hands away from his wound. His dark brown eyes look at me in confusion as I lift the hem of his shirt to check the wound. It's red and angry, but the bleeding has stopped and it doesn't look like it's getting infected. Gently, I lay his shirt back over top the cut and sigh, resting back on my heels.

"You almost bled out on me there." I crack a small smile as his head thumps back down on his backpack that I turned into a makeshift pillow.

"The hell happened?" His gravelly voice asks, and I sit crisscross beside him, blowing out a short burst of air between my lips.

"What happened was you got stabbed by a machete, you lost a lot of blood." I keep it short, not wanting to freak him out by what happened. But judging by the white scar beside this wound, he's no stranger to injuries.

"And you took care of 'em all?" He almost sounds like he's in disbelief, and I'll let him get away with the doubt this once.

"I did. I had to, I wasn't going to let them kill you." My voice turns into a whisper and I turn my eyes down, away from his face while he stares back at me.

"Shouldn't have risked yourself for me, I would've been alright." Joel tries to dismiss, but I'm having none of it. My eyebrows shoot up.

"Says the person who has saved my ass too many times. It's the least I could've done." I truthfully tell him. After everything he's done for me, I owed him this. Though I didn't do any of it out of debt. My hand comes up to push away a stray curl from his forehead, and my fingers find themselves lingering for a millisecond too long before he's clearing his throat. In the blink of an eye, I return my hand to my side.

"I should be fine to keep goin'." He tries to sit up, but I push him right back down with a shake of my head.

"No, I don't think so." My palm stays firm against his shoulder to keep him in place. His skin is warm and it's a welcome observation after feeling his skin become cold from blood loss last night.

"We gotta keep going." He argues with me, but I won't let him get his way.

"Joel I had to cauterize that wound last night and I put those stitches in. I'm very aware of just how bad it is. You're going to rest here for a few days, and you're going to let me take care of you." I tell him how things are going to go, not giving him a second option. I can tell he's less than thrilled with my words from the frown that becomes prominent on his face. He huffs in annoyance and I take my hand away from his shoulder to grab the red pills. I shake one out and offer it to him.

"It's a good thing we found these. Take this, and here's some water." I pass the pill and a water bottle into his grasp. His hand clutches the pill and he grimaces as he goes to sit up.

Without thinking, I hook my arm under one of his and help him sit against the wall. I can tell the movement has irritated the wound, and I check to make sure it didn't start bleeding again. My fingers ghost Joel's skin as I check, and I'm satisfied to see everything is still dry. As I lower the hem of his shirt back into place I notice that Joel's face looks a little flushed and it's only then that I realize that half of my shirt is missing and a good portion of my torso is on full display right in front of his face. Embarrassed, I back away from him to give him some space and feel like I should explain myself.

"Oh, sorry. Um, you see I had to pack your wound with something and I just kinda tore this without thinking. It was the adrenaline I think. But these people have a whole stockpile of clothes so I'll find a new one." I ramble and stand back to my full height, backing up towards the door as I speak, feeling my cheeks become warm. Flustered, I open the door and go back to the building where I found the sewing supplies.

My cheeks burn from embarrassment, or at least I think it's embarrassment. The thought gets pushed from my head as I look through their supply of clothes, and settle on a simple brown linen button up. My old shirt gets tossed into the corner and I go about searching for a new shirt for Joel, knowing the one he has on right now has been ruined by his blood. They have a plethora to choose from, but one shirt in particular catches my eye and I just know it's something he will like. I grab the soft material off the hanger and drape it over my arm as I make my way back to him.

Thankfully the awkward tension has dissipated with my return. Joel is drinking the water I found when I enter, and he places it beside himself when he hears me. His eyes lock onto the shirt over my arm and I hold it out for him to see.

"Thought you'd like this one." I say, looking over the material. It's a just a simple flannel, similar to the one I first met him in but this one is brown and not green. Not only did I pick this one because I thought he'd like it, but I think it would make his dark doe eyes look even more beautiful. Joel nods once,

"Thank you." He says and his eyes drift from the shirt to my face, and I give him a small smile, folding the shirt for him and placing it beside him.

"Eat this, it'll help the pill absorb. But fair warning it's probably all crumbles." I say and rummage around in my bag, finding the granola bar from a ransacked building. The wrapper crinkles in my hands as I pass it to him. He unwraps it and it's not as crumbled as I thought it would've been. He splits the bar into two and holds out a half for me, but I shake my head.

"Thanks, but you need it more. Plus these people have to have a stash somewhere. I'll find that." I decline his offer, pushing his hand back to him. The tiredness is beginning to creep up on me, and it's worse than usual, likely due to the adrenaline crash.

I sit beside Joel and rest my head back against the wall, letting my eyes close. The tension from my shoulders starts to dissipate, but I can feel that the muscles are achy. I know that if I stay here for too long, I'll never be able to get myself going for the rest of the day. And there are still things to be done. But five more minutes can't hurt, right?

Five minutes turns into an hour and I'm rubbing my eyes as I force myself back to my feet, Joel snoring beside me. He fell back asleep shortly after he finished the granola bar and his rhythmic snores almost lulled me to sleep. But the rumbling of my stomach became too much to ignore. There has to be some food stored here somewhere and it's time I find it.

The buildings I've already been through are immediately disregarded. If they had food in them I would've found it. So instead I branch out from this street and carefully go through the buildings residing on neighboring alleys and roads.

Some are left barren and empty, a shell of their former businesses. Others are strewn with sleeping bags, nothing interesting hidden among them sadly. The door squeaks open to a smaller building and my eyebrows are quick to shoot up on my face. Seems I've found their armory.

From the looks of it, they went easy on us with the grenades. Haphazardly secured to the wall are machine guns, makeshift flamethrowers, dirty bombs, and bear traps. My eyes study the wall and take note that there appear to be no missing bear traps, each hook has one dangling from it. But with these people, I won't entirely discredit that there's one sitting out there somewhere. Mentally, I make note to bring Joel here once he's healed enough, he'll have a field day in here.

I move on without taking anything, feeling secure with the weapons I have now. The building next to the armory is empty, but the walls are scorched. They probably tested the flamethrower here. It's a wonder the building didn't catch fire. Luckily, the adjacent building is just what I have been searching for.

It's almost as if I've stepped into a fully stocked grocery store. Old shelves are lazily piled with cans, granola, and other non-perishables. There are even some first aid kits scattered, though none of them are stocked very well. Tucking a kit under my arm, I shop around and settle on a can of decade old spaghetti-o's. A delicacy.

With my loot, I head back to Joel and try to make a plan of how to heal him quickly and make contingency plans in case someone else shows up here. From our experience so far, I know nothing good can last long so I don't want to let myself get too comfortable here.

Despite knowing we are likely not safe, I don't feel an urgency to keep moving, an almost calm feeling comes over me, much like it did back at the farm in the garden. Maybe it has to do with food security, but something in the back of my mind tells me it has a whole lot more to do with Joel's presence than anything else. I do my best to tune that voice out.

Part Twenty

[agreementtale]

Hello! Happy gyftmast!

Quick question!

Do you have a certain look in mind for 'Reader' character or keep it kind of neutral?

Well, to be honest for each Fic I wrote I see the readers being very different from each other, but for most I have not thought of an appearance, only a vague notion of it:

Puzzle Room – Bright and long hair, like blonde or light brown, a simple dress and round face.

Spinning Around – Lavender purple or blue hair, nonbinary haircut, male presenting clothes.

Do you think you are above Consequences? – I headcannon them with Dark hair, depending of the point of story they look different, the longer they go the more deranged they look.

Deserved Kindness – I headcannon long hair and kinder, cheekier apperance.

The only readers that I actually have a set appearance on are:

Every once in a while you have a bad day - AGT Reader If we only have One Night - Multiverse Reader.

AGT Reader is the Seventh human of AgreementTale Universe (not the Fic I have, that would be set on the AgreementFell Universe) at that point in story they would be unhealthily thin and frail looking male presenting teenager, they are being treated for malnourishment and have spent a while on the hospital, but covering with baggy clothes, messy brow/red hair at that weird length when you had short haircut and is trying to grow it out to medium length. Brown eyes, with a bit of determination Red shinning through, bags under eyes, teenager still, but carrying the weight of the world in their shoulders. I have not specified any of that in the fic, because 1- I don't plan on writing AGT but in flashbacks on AGF and 2 - I found the fic was more comforting without a description, anyone can see themselves in the reader and they can ship themselves with Papyrus if they want to (I know I did sometimes), but that's the main reason that that one is tagged "&" and not "/", if you are going to use The Human it has to be platonic, if you decide to use your interpretation of Reader then be my guest and ship at will!

Multiverse Reader is one that I have set a storyline in my head and plan to make other fics one day (after I finish my current ones), at that point in the storyline they dress mostly in black, combat boots, utility pants, a belt with a machete on it, long sleeves shirt with pockets, very survivalist style. For accessories they have a red collar on their neck, with a delicate golden skull pendant, in each of their hands they have a black glove that ends in a bracelet, on the left one it has a single red stone, on the right one the bracelet has pink stiches all over it. The inside of the fingers are pink imitating a cat paw, it has retractile claws, but only visible in a fight. When underground they mimic a black cat monster, so they also have simple cat mask, a fake tail, black headphones with cat ears, red hair on the longer side and a black scarf that they use as a hoodie. On surface they would not bother with the entire disguise they could even dress a bit lighter, but collar and gloves they would keep on themselves always. I headcannon them as Agender, but they were Assigned Female At Birth and at that time of the story, female presenting, this is only relevant because Lust!Paps helped them with the clothes, so, they are functional, but boobs and waistline are still a thing (Their waist line would not be so small though, because they have a bit of muscle, not enough for a 6 pack, but the start of a lateral abs).

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any more questions!

[shadowbunnydragon]

Red Moon Falls (Episode 2)

Hiya there, folks! I'm happy to have finished this second episode! I had fun writing it, and I hope you all have as much fun reading it!

Red Moon Falls (Episode 2)

by

Elite Shade

[Sinister Intro Music]

ANNOUNCER: "In a world where sinister forces lurk in the shadows, where the truth is obscured by mystery, and where legends and nightmares hide and wait, there is a place where the paranormal and the unexplainable happen with unnerving frequency."

[Flashes of images of a blurry humanoid figure moving between trees in a forest, transitioning to images of lights in the sky above a desert.]

ANNOUNCER: "The town of Red Moon Falls. On the surface, it is a sleepy small desert community. Skulking just beneath this visage of Small Town America are paranormal powers at work. And there is only one person keeping the darkness at bay, a man who delves into the deep of the unknown to do battle."

[Fade to Black, followed by words in large red print reading 'Blood Moon Falls', before fading to black again.]

The camera fades in on Duke standing in a hole, shoveling out some more dirt onto a nearby pile. He is shirtless, revealing a series of scars ranging from bullet wounds to claw marks to stab wounds, to one that is curiously shaped like Abraham Lincoln's profile from the penny. He sticks his shovel back in the dirt and lets go to stop and rest. Wiping some sweat off his brow with one work-glove adorned hand, and using the other to take a long swig from a silver flask with the other, Duke looks up, seemingly surprised.

DUKE: "Oh, hey there, a[BLEEP]holes!" He chuckles. "So we're still doin' this sh[BLEEP]t? Alright, fine. So, uh, for one, I'm out of jail. My grandma paid my bond, which was real nice of her. Though she made me promise to re-shingle her roof in exchange. I don't mind doin' that, but she expects me not to drink or smoke anything beforehand, and that's really the only way I can actually stand to do any kind of work... well, unless I'm good and p[BLEEP]sed off and planning some kind of revenge. Still, it's nice to be out and about again. Though I do have a court date, which sucks, but it is what it is. Worst comes to worst, I'll have some community service to do, and I can always drink and smoke some good sh[BLEEP]t while I do that. And, uh... oh! You're probably wonderin' why I'm here digging this hole!"

At that, Duke takes another swig from his flask.

DUKE: "Okay, so, remember when I said that there was a poltergeist in my house? Well, that f[BLEEP]ker is still there, and it's still trying to kill me. The latest attempt was it trying to trick me using a trail of candy to a large wooden box in my living room, being held up by a stick that had a string wrapped around it that led just around the corner to my hallway."

He snorts before looking down and kicking a clod of dirt.

DUKE: "I may have been a little stoned when I went in my house earlier and, well, I was able to kick my way out of the box... right after that f[BLEEP]kin' poltergeist started grabbing random knives and a couple machetes I thought I lost and driving them into it, trying to stab me."

Duke pulls out a rolled joint from his shirt pocket and lights it, taking a drag.

DUKE: "So yeah, I decided to take care of the poltergeist situation once and for all. As I said before, I had a pretty good idea where the piece of sh[BLEEP]t that is currently haunting my house was buried, and that is right here, in the Hazelwood cemetery. I found all this out after I looked into some info about my house and the previous owner. Aside from them possibly being turned into a wendigo shortly before I bought it at an awesome discount, there's nothing of note there in the house's history. Finally, I was able to get my friend that we in town call Psychic Pete, great guy and a decent medium when he's not trying to upsell ya on his services; to try and get a reading on the entity in my house. Son of a b[BLEEP]tch tried to upsell me on a cleansing, but I wasn't in the mood to fall for it. Anyways, he agreed that the body is up here somewhere."

Duke sticks the blade of the shovel into the dirt again, scooping some more out, the joint between his lips.

DUKE: "As for the significance of knowing the location of this entity's body, well, a lot of folks have a lot of different ideas of how to get the haunting to stop. Some of the more religious types figure blessing or praying over the grave will help dispel it, put it to rest, etc. Some think that random crystals they bought from some soft-speaking jackass of a hippie will do something, but like prayer, that's just a fresh steamy load of horesh[BLEEP]t. I myself like to take more of a scientific approach to the situation."

The shovel hits something solid, causing Duke to chuckle. He scoops out some more dirt, before bending down. There's a few inaudible grunts coming from the hole, before a loud creak and a CRUNCH is heard. Duke stands up with a large chunk of wood that he casually tosses aside.

DUKE: "Basically, first, you confirm that this is the correct body. Now, since I don't know the actual name of the person this 'geist used to be, I kinda had to utilize a little trial and error."

The camera zooms out to reveal thirty to forty graves that have also all been dug up, some with body parts scattered around them. Zooming back in on Duke, he bends down again, this time popping back up, hoisting out an ashen gray mummified corpse wearing a brown suit and tie. He unceremoniously tosses it by the opened grave. Leaning over, he snorts and spits right in the corpse's face, before using the blade of the shovel to jab the side of its head. The camera suddenly vibrates, and Duke yelps as he goes flying up out of the hole, to drop back onto the ground next to the corpse, his joint still in his mouth.

DUKE: "That's a big 'ol yes."

Duke dusts himself off and turns to the camera with a smile.

DUKE: "Step two of my scientific process to get rid of this annoying f[BLEEP]king haunting, is to then power up the trusty wood chipper I'm currently renting from Jai, who owns the local hardware store."

Duke points and the camera quickly pans a little to the right to reveal the bright orange machine. He walks over to it and fires it up.

DUKE: "Step three is to carefully, and respectfully, shove the assh[BLEEP]le's corpse through the wood chipper headfirst, pour salt on the chunks, burn them, salt them again, and then rebury it all. Easy, peasy, and with no added hassle--WOAH!"

With the blades spinning, Duke was suddenly shoved forward by something invisible, now gripping the sides of the mouth of the chipper as the force keeps trying to shove his head in.

DUKE: "WELL, AT LEAST IT'S OUT OF MY HOUSE! KOFFESHA!"

A green energy began to radiate from Duke's body. There is an ear-splitting shriek that causes the camera to vibrate as he flings himself away from the wood chipper. The town fixer scoops up the corpse and, with a heave, rams it in headfirst. There is a harsh grinding sound as the dried corpse is fed into the woodchipper. Out came spraying the dried chunks of what used to be a human being, all the while Duke is pushing the legs in, taking drags from his joint. When at last the feet were sucked in, he stepped away. Stooping down, he picks up a canister of salt and walks over to the pile of chunks.

DUKE: "Ashes to ashes, chunks to chunks, motherf[BLEEP]ker."

He proceeds to pour the salt onto the pile, before turning to have his back to the camera. There is a ZIP, succeeded by a steady trickling sound.

[The picture fades to black, with it fading back in, not with the camera in Duke's truck.]

DUKE: "So yeah, all in all, I'd say that that wasn't too bad. Not nearly as much of a pain in my a[BLEEP] as the time I had to fight that drunk hag down at the marsh. 'Course, now that I can go back inside my house, I gotta start cleaning up whatever mess that f[BLEEP]knugget left me behind."

Duke lights another joint as he drives, taking a few puffs. He is now wearing a bright blue Hawaiian shirt with a long white hooked claw on a necklace. The camera pans to out the window, showing the rocky and sandy landscape passing by. Above was a bright blue sky, the sun not yet near the center, with a few small scattered clouds lazily drifting by. In addition to various rock formations, there was the occasional cactus and ocatilla, all with blooming flowers visible.

DUKE: "By the way, I did take a look at the name on the headstone after I got done reburying the remains. It said his name was Calvin Hobart. Took me a minute to think back on it, and then I remembered where I knew that name from. Son of a b[BLEEP]tch and I went to high school together. He was this little weird dude who always stank, stared at any girl he thought was pretty, to the point where it started creeping them out, and then would get, like, ridiculously angry every time a girl he asked out shot him down. He'd yell, call them whores, say that he never gets a chance, blah blah blah."

Duke takes another drag from his joint.

DUKE: "If you tried to tell him that no girl wants to go out with a guy who stinks and who stares without saying anything, he'd just blow up at you and claim you were picking on him. Anyways, he hated me. Claimed that I stole some girls right out from under him. All I did was ask Sarah McArthur out, apparently a few minutes after she told him no. That happened a few times, and I had no freakin' idea at the time. Then he tried to fight me in the school parking lot, no idea why. It was... actually pretty sad. My grandma ninety threw harder punches than that guy. I still laid him out flat, I just didn't feel good about it... oh, and, uh, I may have taken, like, fifty bucks from his wallet after the fight was over, but as far as I'm concerned, that was just him paying the Dumba[BLEEP] Tax."

Duke sighs and holds up a gold ring with a large amethyst embedded in it. The camera zooms in on the words Shimmer Hills High School engraved in a circle around the stone. Duke then turns to look just past the camera to the back seat.

DUKE: "Oh, and f[BLEEP]k you, boom mic guy! Me taking this ring is just good 'ol Calvin paying the Dumba[BLEEP] Tax again! I'm not some degenerate graverobber!"

The camera shifts to look at the black duffel bag laying next to Duke. Printed on the side, in white calligraphy, were the words Graverobbing Kit. The camera is forcibly yanked up to look Duke in the face.

DUKE: "I will have you know that that was a gag gift from a friend! It's not like I have an actual kit for diggin' up and robbing graves, or that I'd be dumb enough to keep them in a bag advertising what they were on the side of it!"

Duke reaches down and grabs the bag to move it, only for some of the contents to spill out. This included a foldable shovel, a small pickaxe, a flashlight, and a large ziplock bag filled with jewelry, gold watches and, as the camera zooms in close, some gold teeth. Duke hastily starts stuffing everything back inside while trying to keep his eyes on the road.

DUKE: "That doesn't prove a damn thing!"

[Commercial Break]

[The camera fades in as Duke is pulling into his driveway.]

DUKE: "I still can't believe that f[BLEEP]kstick actually asked me if I used that f[BLEEP]king wood chipper to dispose of a corpse! He had no way of knowing that that was a chunk of human bone that fell out!"

Duke mutters to himself as he gets out of the truck. The camera is jostled as the crew quickly exit the vehicle. Just as Duke starts walking towards the front door, he turns and shakes his head.

DUKE: "Oh now, what's this c[BLEEP]ksucker want?!"

The camera turns to show a bright red '57 Plymouth Fury pulling up just outside the gate to the chain link fence. Out steps an older man with a completely shaved head in just a white shirt and jeans.

MARVIN: "Hey son!"

DUKE: "Dad, what the f[BLEEP]k are you doing here?! If Mom finds out you're back in town, she's gunna shoot ya again."

Duke is rubbing his temples as his father hops over the fence, holding up a rolled piece of parchment.

MARVIN: "Aw, come on, Bud, Lucy's not gunna find out. I just wanted to stop by and see my favorite son."

[The footage cuts to Duke sitting on a lawn chair for a talking head interview, a bottle of beer in his hand.]

DUKE: "Don't get me wrong, I love my dad."

Duke takes a swig of beer before continuing.

DUKE: "But I'm the only one of his kids who actually still talks to him. See, I know folks talk about how I try get rich quick schemes... and fine, I do. And it's gotten me into a little trouble now and again."

The footage cuts to show a photo of a school gymnasium engulfed in flames.

DUKE: "But that's nothing compared to the ridiculous sh[BLEEP]t my old man gets up to. He's started about ten or eleven cults, I think, I actually lost count after that one about where he claimed to be a magic space wizard with a sword made of pure energy. Oh, and all of them are based on popular movies. Like the one where he claimed that aliens were going to attack most major cities on the 4th of July."

Duke takes another sip of his beer, and then a drag from a joint, and shakes his head.

DUKE: "Not really sure where he was going with that one where he tried to convert the motel he was staying at into some kind of fantasy chocolate factory, but he still went for it nonetheless. Though, I will say, him ending up on the news and getting arrested can be pretty entertaining."

Cut to a clip showing a procession of people in handcuffs wearing white robes, their skin all painted orange with green dyed hair. Two officers then exited a motel room, dragging a yelling and squirming Marvin, wearing a purple tophat and matching coat.

MARVIN: "YOU GOT NOTHIN' ON ME, YA B[BLEEP]ARDS! NOT A DAMN THING! I GOT A WILLY FOR Y'ALL TA WONK ON, YA F[BLEEP]KS!"

Back to Duke who now has his head in his hands, not looking up at the camera.

DUKE: "In case you guys didn't read the part of the pamphlet I'm sure Susie gave you, I'm gunna be straight with you and let you know that my family is kinda cursed, at least on my Dad's side of things. To summarize, someone in the past that I'm related to made some kind of deal or something with some kind of creature or entity or maybe a conscious force of nature. They got what they wanted, but then their bloodline got cursed, and now the curse manifests in the seventh son of a seventh son."

At this Duke looks back up into the camera.

DUKE: "Three f[BLEEP]king guesses as to what I am. My dad's a seventh son and, wanting to have a lot of kids for what I'm sure was another scheme he came up with after going to the movies, he stopped after number six with his wife at the time. And then started dating my mom without telling her he was married. They got hitched, him hiding his original wife and family, and instantly got to work making me. See, because he's a f[BLEEP]king idiot, he didn't think that it was collectively the number of kids you sired. He just thought it was seven per woman you impregnate. So yeah, that was all a fun little surprise to find out on my thirteenth birthday! That and the fact that my mom and me were his secret second family!"

Duke takes another, deeper swig of his beer.

DUKE: "... F[BLEEP]kin' dumba[BLEEP]...

[The film returns to Duke and Marvin standing in his front yard.]

MARVIN: "Where's my hug, buddy?"

Marvin, still clutching the parchment in his hand, holds open his arms for a hug.

DUKE: "No."

MARVIN: "Huh?"

DUKE: "The answer's no, Dad. I'm not getting involved in whatever scheme you're cooking up now."

Duke turns to walk away.

MARVIN: "Woah, woah! Hold your horses there, buddy! I'm not cooking up any schemes..."

Duke snorts and takes a drag of his joint.

DUKE: "Then what's with the parchment?"

MARVIN: "Well, I know how much you love going around and investigating paranormal phenomena, and I thought that you might be interested in what I came across when I... borrowed a friend's grandpa's old steamer trunk!"

Marvin proudly presents the parchment, holding it out for his son to take it. Duke, however, doesn't reach for it at all.

DUKE: "Dad... did you get yourself mixed up with another cursed object? 'Cause I told you last Christmas, after that f[BLEEP]kin' nutcracker came to life and tried to cut out my liver to eat, that you were on your own as far as curses go."

MARVIN: "Son, I remember, and I just felt so bad about it. I mean, I still had fun on that Vegas trip I went on the day after, but I was still really concerned."

DUKE: "Really? 'Cause it seemed like you thought it was all really funny, especially when that little f[BLEEP]kstick BIT OFF MY LEFT NUT!!!"

Marvin tapped the parchment to his chin.

MARVIN: "Well, hell, boy. How many times do I gotta keep apologizin' for that whole fiasco?"

DUKE: "At least once would be a nice change of pace!"

MARVIN: "... Well, anyway, here, a little something that I got and made me think of you."

Again, Marvin held out the parchment.

DUKE: "Dad... is this a cursed item? Just shoot straight with me."

MARVIN: "Son, you know that I'm a straight shootin' cowboy, above all else."

DUKE: "... So it's definitely cursed then."

MARVIN: "Okay! Okay, ya got me!"

Marvin throws his hands up into the air in exasperation.

MARVIN: "This scroll or whatever you call it is cursed! And I need to get rid of it."

DUKE: "I take it that it's something that to pass on, has to be taken from you willingly, right?"

Marvin looks down at his shoes, his free hand in his pocket. Duke sighs and holds out his hand.

DUKE: "This is the last f[BLEEP]kin' time, Dad. I mean it."

MARVIN: "Oh, thank ya son!"

He hands Duke the scroll, and immediately starts running to the fence.

MARVIN: "If ya live through the night, call me!"

Marvin yells this without even looking over his shoulder as he hops the fence. He then gets back in his car and quickly peels out.

[Cut back to Duke sitting in the lawn chair, now holding up the scroll.]

DUKE: "If I didn't take it, he woulda just begged and pleaded and refused to leave, and try a whole bunch of annoying bullsh[BLEEP]t. Not really sure what this curse is yet, but I'd rather deal with it, rather than him, any f[BLEEP]king day."

A series of overlapping whispering voices can be heard, slowly rising in volume.

DUKE: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Let's get this sh[BLEEP]t over with."

He unrolls the parchment and starts to read something on it.

DUKE: "Huh... been awhile since I've seen one of these f[BLEEP]kin' things."

The parchment shudders, and a skeletal hand and arm shoots out from the center of the scroll. The inky black and dripping bony clawed fingers grab Duke by the throat, as the skull of a full blackened skeleton starts to rise from the scroll.

DUKE: "BRING IT, SH[BLEEP]TSTAIN!!!"

[Roll Credits]

And there we go, folks! Tune in next time for more Red Moon Falls!

[thaoilations]

this is so bleak sorry i was listening to comfortably numb by pink floyd when i wrote this i’ll go back to writing happy and normal ones tomorrow gbdye

They’d been driving the truck for a few hours. It was silent, the two of them still processing what they’d just gone through. It was daylight now, a grey but hot and muggy day. Mimi stared out the window at the brown unattended grassy fields stretching on for miles as Thao drove along the dusty roads, not a soul in sight— the only thing resembling a human for miles being a walker tearing into someone who was not so fortunate on the side of the street, only lifting their head for a moment to lazily growl at the truck passing before going back to their mauling in disinterest.

Less than 24 hours ago, they’d had a group. A dad and his 17 year old son, a hippie woman in her 50s, 3 girls a year older than Mimi who were friends from school, and an old man who wasn’t much use besides his skills in controlling the radios and operating the tower. They’d been staying together in an abandoned summer camp site since the start of the outbreak, when the world went to potty. They’d worked hard to make the place safe, boarding it up— assigning roles to scavenge and keep the place liveable. Thao was one of the few who’d go out to hunt for supplies, never letting her girlfriend join her— who’s role was to prepare the food for everyone and scrape together the best meals possible for the survivors with the supplies provided. It was the one day Thao had decided to take Mimi to drive out somewhere to spend time alone, away from everyone — and when they returned hours later, the camp site had been raided, supplies stolen, inhabitants dead and walkers storming the gates. They grabbed what they could, got back in the truck and just drove. They’d been driving since.

“If the map is correct there’s gonna be an Amazon warehouse up ahead. We can tear open some packages and hope there’s something useful in there.” Thao noted, and Mimi nodded, silent in thought. T glanced at the girl who just stared ahead, pale and drained— the once bubbly girl now pensive and scared. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest, as if the world ending had been at all her fault. “Won’t last forever. Just gotta survive til it’s over.”

“I don’t see how it’s ever gonna end.” Mimi responded, eyes now on the warehouse in the distance in interest.

“Their bodies are rotting. One day they’re not gonna be strong enough to walk and bite. They’ll just wither away, I mean they’re corpses.” Thao yawned.

“But they’re gonna keep biting people who still have healthy bodies. It’s a cycle.” The brunette argued, picking at her nails.

“But it’ll happen less and less because all of the original walkers are dying. People are smarter now. We’ve adapted.” Honestly, Thao wasn’t sure if she had full faith in what she was saying — but if it helped her girlfriend sleep at night she had to convince her that they’d be okay— and that they were going to essentially rebuild the world. Mimi nodded, seeming to believe her point and she felt a little more satisfied by this as she pulled into the empty lot of the warehouse. “Atleast I don’t have to worry about paying for parking anymore.” Thao comment, meant to be a joke.

She parked up, and the girl with faded red hair turned to the younger girl, who was reaching into the back for her bag.

“What weapons do I bring?” The brunette bit her lip.

“What weapons do you think you’re the best at using?” Thao didn’t miss the opportunity for a teaching moment. Mimi thought for a moment, sticking her hand in the bag and pulling out the hand axe. Thao scrunched her nose in disagreement, taking it out of her hand and putting it back in the bag, pulling out the machete instead.

“Axe is too short distance. Machete will put some distance between you and the walker.” She explained, grabbing her katana that was laying along the back seats and slid it into her back strap, climbing out the truck. Mimi followed, and she then handed the girl her pistol, who fastened it into her thigh holster and Thao pushed hers into her back pocket. “Alright, let’s go. Keep your wits about you.” T nodded and Mimi followed her, the two of them looking around as they approached the building’s doors. As they walked, Mimi’s stomach growled and she sighed.

“Cant believe we used to not eat on purpose.” She comment and Thao sniggered, peering through the glass doors.

“Dumb as fuck.” She responded before pushing the doors open. It seemed people had been in there, as the doors had been left unlocked— but due to dumb luck thousands of parcels wrapped in brown cardboard still flooded the shelves. “Nice.” The older girl raised her eyebrows, the two of them remaining quiet for a moment as they listened for any growling or shuffling of feet. It seemed the coast was clear, and the two of them head down an aisle, tearing open parcels— finding sacks and pocketing whatever was useful, which was few and far.

“We should keep a couple of these unopened, and keep them until christmas so we have presents to give eachother. It’ll be funny especially if the package is just useless junk.” Mimi mused with a chuckle as she tore into a parcel, raising her eyebrows at a pack of vitamins and she checked the sell by date before pocketing them in her sack. Thao chuckled, but shook her head.

“Nah. Not gonna carry around a load of shit we probably don’t need. Also there might be something in one of them that could save one of our lives and we’d just be carrying it around not using it.” She protested and Mimi nodded in agreement. “Plus, we won’t even know when it’s christmas.” They laughed.

After a while, the two of them spread out through the warehouse— trying to figure out if the packages were organised or categorised in any way for efficiency. They tore open packages aisles apart, and as Mimi was tearing into a square box, the shuffling of feet caught her attention. She glanced, expecting it to be Thao but jumped back— seeing a decaying corpse slowly limping towards her in a faded blue Amazon polo.

“Shit.” She let out a shakey sigh before picking up her machete and approaching it and swinging, the blade sliding right into the centre of its skull as it reached out to her with exposed bones that were once fingers. She tried to pull the machete out as it fell to the ground, but she struggled having wedged the blade in too deep. Mimi grunted as she tried to pull it out, suddenly hearing a growl and snapping of jaws right by her ear behind her. She gasped, throwing herself forward and turned around letting go of the machete— seeing a group of walkers exiting what appeared to be a staff room, five of them stumbling out a door in the wall.

“Thao!” Mimi called, unsure if she would have heard her a few aisles down. But it wouldn’t matter, because she pulled out her pistol and she was certain to hear that. She took it off safety, aiming and shooting down two of them before her glock clicked empty. Her heart dropped, and in the knick of time Thao came running down the aisle. Mimi turned around to her and she pulled out her gun.

“Head down!” She commanded and Mimi dropped into a ball as Thao blasted all the walkers down. Mimi stood up again slowly, ears still ringing from the blasts and turned to look at the now completely brain dead group. Thao caught her breath, boot coming down on the first walkers skull and crushing it beneath her like a tin can as she yanked the machete out her skull, handing it back to her girlfriend.

“Two bullet rule, Mimi.” She lightly scolded, walking over to her and pulling her every which way, checking her for scratches and bites — stepping over to the pile of walkers to check they weren’t still alive after she was certain Mimi was okay.

“I know. I forgot to check before I came in, sorry.” She sighed, now pulling some spare bullets out her pockets and loading them into her pistol. The two bullet rule was a bleak one, coined from the start of the outbreak — the two of them agreed to always have two bullets loaded between the two of them incase one of them gotten bitten, and worst case scenario had to shoot the other and then themselves.

“Grab some packages, the noise would have attracted more so we should hit the road.” Thao shoved some packages into the rest of the space in her sack and gestured for Mimi to do the same. She stuffed some packages that looked promising into the sack before they left, heading back to the truck.

“Now we know where this place is we could always come back.” Mimi shrugged and Thao nodded, turning the keys in the ignition — checking the gas. There was still enough in the tank to last them a little while, and they kept a few jugs of it in the boot.

Not long later, they found a house and checked it before boarding it up— cooping up for the night. Thao brought in some logs and lit a fire at the fireplace and they snuggled up together on the couch to attempt to get some sleep for a few hours before they’d refill their tank and head out again.

Mimi stared at the burning embers and relished in it’s comforting smell and warmth, pulling the blanket further up to her chin as Thao sat up a little behind her.

“Hey.” The red head tiredly got the girls attention and she sat up reluctantly so she could face her.

“Whats up?”

Thao dug into her pocket, pulling out a dark blue velvet box. She placed it into Mimis curious open hand.

“Found this for you today.” She offered and Mimi pried the box open, inside sitting a silver necklace with a pink heart stone in the centre. In this world, materialistic finds were pretty much worthless if it didn’t keep you alive— but god did Mimi miss the simplicity in getting dolled up. She gasped with a happy smile and pulled it out, instantly handing it to Thao and turning around, pulling her hair out the way so her girlfriend could fasten it around her neck. The red head clipped it on and Mimi turned around smiling down at it.

“Its so pretty.” She cooed and Thao leant on the backboard of the sofa. The brunette suddenly posed seriously. “How’d I look? As gorgeous as the day you met me?” She joked, bursting into laughter knowing she was dirty and tired looking now.

Thao laughed too but still said “Yes.” And there was some element of seriousness in her tone. Mimi smiled at her before pulling her back down to lay in a hugging position.

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

[strangerquinns]

Chapter Twelve: The Final Moments

The Ascension of Kas

Vampire/Kas!Eddie Munson x afab!Reader

summary: It’s been eight months since Vecna had won, leaving the group in despair with the aftermath. But you seem to be having it the worst with the hauntings of your boyfriend keeping you awake at night. But are the visions of Eddie only a dream, or is Vecna slowly showing that he is once again ready to finish what he’d started? based off these fanmade trailers (x) & (x)

warnings: death, blood, violence, gore, murder + other Stranger Things related themes.

words: 2.3k+ // The Ascension of Kas Masterlist // stranger things masterlist

"What is your plan, Munson?" Steve asked as he watched the metalhead check over the weapons he'd taken from Nancy and Jonathan.

Eddie checked the ammunition in the shotgun Nancy had brought with her, before strapping it into the holster she'd given. Eddie's hand grasped tightly around the handle of the machete Jonathan had passed over with a determined look on his face.

"I plan on killing the motherfucker," Eddie spoke "Don't think there needs to be more of a plan outside of that."

"Do you think it's wise to go alone?" Nancy asked "There were four of last time and we still failed,"

"We have an advantage this time," Eddie spoke, looking at her, "Me. I'm the last person he's going to suspect coming for him. I know where Vecna is gonna be, he's weak and vulnerable."

A frown came onto Eddie's lips as his dark eyes moved toward you. Robin was standing in front of you, her hand caressing your face, as you were deep under Vecna's curse. His heart ached within his chest to see you like that, but it only fueled his anger more.

"With her being under his curse means he's going to be using all his strength on her. Also, you said that...El? The super girl is going to be looking for him remote traveling...we need her to keep him occupied."

Everyone looked around at each other for a few moments before Nancy sighed and nodded her head. Deep down all of them knew that Eddie was currently their best bet, with their own plan going off track. And with you tight in Vecna's clutches, they were going to take anything they could to save you.

"Be careful," Steve spoke, his face stoic as he stared at Eddie. "We'll keep her safe."

Eddie nodded his head, "I know you will."

Eddie sighed and moved toward you, Robin stepping out of the way, as he reached to hold you. His hand moved along your cheek before bending down and whispering into your ear, "Hold on for me, sweetheart...I'm coming for you..."

Eddie pressed his chapped lips to your forehead before stepping back, feeling his wings span out behind him. Before anyone could move or say anything further - Eddie was gone into the sky.

All four of them stood there and stared off into the sky. Nancy sighed softly and turned her attention back to you. Your eyes still fluttering wildly with the whites of your eyes showing. Her stomach twisted as memories of being under Vecna's clutches played through her mind.

"Do you think he's going to be able to save her?" Nancy asked, her brows pulled together with worry.

"At this point, he's our only hope," Robin spoke

~.~

Your lungs felt like they were on fire as you pushed yourself harder through the Upside Down labyrinth. Deep down a part of you knew that you were in the hellscape that Vecna had created in your mind. A tiny speck of home seemed to slowly grow within your chest when the high school came into view. There was something within you that was pulling you toward the decrepit building. A loud shriek echoed through the sky from the demobats just as your hand wrapped around the handle and pulled it open. Your breath was harsh and labored as you fell to the floor, your eyes scanning the sky through the small window on the door.

The foggy red sky lit with another rumble of thunder, but there was no other movement outside the building. You sagged heavily against the door and let your body relax for a moment. But after a few long minutes, the air around you shifted and became heavier. It was that moment when the hairs on the back of your neck stood up as a sense of danger hung around you.

A sickening fear moved through your body that made it impossible to move. Even though you knew danger was close - you felt frozen.

Tears filled your eyes and slowly started to move down your cheeks.

"Please...please...please..." You silently prayed as you pressed your body tighter against the wall behind you.

"Why are you running from me, sweetheart?" a voice spoke.

It was deep, eerie, and caused your stomach to twist. It was meant to be Eddies, but there was something about it that wasn't right.

"You're not real...you're not real..." You chanted, closing your eyes tightly

You could hear the heavy sound of his boots hitting against the linoleum of Hawkins High's hallways. Soon the nightmare version of Eddie that Vecna created loomed over your body, bending at the knees to sit in front of you. His hand reached out to you and caressed your cheek, leaving a cold feeling along your skin. You let out a small whimper and flinched back away from him.

"Open your eyes, you'll see I'm very real," Eddie spoke

You sook your head and kept your eyes closed till suddenly you felt something wrap around your wrist and pull you roughly to the side. Your body slammed hard against the floor, causing you to cry out in pain before you were pulled a few feet. The vine wrapped around your wrist tightened and yanked you upward till you were slammed against the wall.

You pulled frantically on the wine to try and free yourself, but it was useless, you weren't strong enough. A sudden movement caught your eyes and saw Eddie moving toward you. His dark curls were hiding his face slightly as he stood from the position he was in but it still brought tears to your eyes.

It was that night in the Upside Down all over again. His body was torn apart by the demobats with pieces of his flesh ripped away. You could see the bite marks along his arms, legs, and body. The leather jacket was missing leaving his Hellfire shirt fully exposed with the tattered fabric barely holding together. It stained and splattered with blood with the scared and mangled flesh beneath. But the wounds openly bled with drips of blood onto the already filthy floor.

"You know this is entirely your fault. What happened to me. You could've saved me." Eddie spoke.

Eddie paused for a moment before turning to look at you. His face was sunken in and nearly skeletal, reminding you of the zombie movies that you'd watch with Eddie. It made you flinch back further into the wall and let out a scream. The fear overcoming you nearly being too much. The large bite wound on his neck and ripped down into his collarbone. Eddie tilted his head to the side slightly as he took slow and steady steps toward you.

"Just admit it...you didn't want me anymore. You were happy to get rid of me,"

"No, Eddie...no..." You cried, shaking your head violently.

"Admit it! Admit it, and release yourself from the guilt!" Eddie screamed into your face.

"I love you, I love you, Eddie...please..."

You knew this wasn't your real Eddie, but you couldn't help but plead to this version of him.

"Don't worry, I'm going to end your suffering," Eddie sadistically smirked

From beside you, his hand rose up and was quickly transformed into the larger hand Vecna's. His claw stretched out over your face before soon descending down onto your face. The long talons clasped into your face and soon your body felt weightless.

~.~

Eddie landed outside of the Creel House that was deep within the Upside Down. The screech of demobats could be heard as they swarmed around the home. Eddie felt the violent vibration of anger move through him as he stared up toward the window at the top of the Victorian home. His hand tightened around the worn-down handle of the machete in his hand and could feel the shotgun sway slightly with each step he took.

Edde moved up the broken-down front steps and stepped through the door. Despite the screech of the bats outside the home, it was eerily silent within the home. There was a chill that seemed to wrap around Eddie's tall frame as he stood in the front foyer of the home. Eddie knew exactly where Vecna was staying and knew where he went to remote travel and a part of him expected this to be easy. But a larger part of him knew it wouldn't be that simple.

One by One, he took the stairs till he was at the top.

The door to the attic was left open giving him a full view of the monster.

Vecna was floating within the room with his tendrils and veins connecting to his body. His face was stoic and blank with his eyes closed. One would think that the monster was sleeping.

"There you are, you son of a bitch," Eddie growled

Just as Eddie took a step forward toward Vecna, machete raised high, a tendril from behind him quickly reached out. Eddie froze for a moment when he felt the slimy leather-like tendril wrap around his wrist. Eddie fought against its hold but only felt another come and grab at one of his ankles.

Eddie let out a yell of both shock and frustration as he was thrown across the room, his back breaking into a wall and splintering the exposed wood.

"Did you really think that you could defeat me?" Vecna's deep voice echoed out through the room. "Did you think of me to be that naive?"

Eddie groaned in pain, struggling for a moment to rest on his knees, as he stared at the man that had controlled and destroyed his life.

"I was kind of hoping for it, yeah," Eddie coughed out

Vecna let out a noise that sounded nearly like a growl, it came from deep within his chest as he slowly descended to the floor.

"She begged for her life," Vecna stared, as one by one a tendril was extracted from his back. "Begged for her Eddie. Pathetic how humans can be."

Eddie felt the monster within himself quickly take control, this time without Vecna being the one to command it. His fangs pressed against this plump lower lip as his nails dug deep into the wood beneath him.

"You're lying," Eddie hissed, standing quickly in front of Vecna. His form was tense and ready for any moment to attack.

"Am I? You know of my plan this entire time, Edward. She kept a hold of your humanity...I needed that gone. And as long as she was alive...that never was going to happen." Vecna took a few steps toward Eddie, "So I took care of the problem."

Eddie's breath came out harsh and labored as he listened to Vecna speak. He wasn't sure if Vecna was trying to goad him, or was telling him the truth. That he'd succeeded in taking you away from him.

Was I too late? Was he able to complete the curse after I'd left?

"Was her blood not the sweetest thing that you'd ever tasted?"

Eddie's glare hardened with his hands balling into fists tightly.

"Tell me, Edward, did it not arouse you to taste from your love?"

Eddie didn't even think twice before launching his body toward Vecna. His wings spread out beside him sending his body forward at a fast speed. But even with his speed on his side, Eddie was still too slow for Vecna. Right before Vecna was within his reach, his body was sent in another direction, slamming into another wall. But Eddie didn't let that deter him, the moment he was able to catch his footing, he charged again.

Vecna was weak when Eddie charged at him again, his powers slower this time in reaction to his movements.

Eddie's claws tug deep into Vecna's shoulder and grabbed at him violently before slamming him into one of the attic walls. The animalistic sound that came from Eddie was a sound he'd never heard before. But the anger he felt was something he'd never experienced before.

He let it take control of his body as he landed another blow to Vecna.

But just as he reached to scratch across his chest, a tendril wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back, slamming him down into the ground. Eddie's head moved to the side and saw the machete lying across the floor of the attic not too far from him.

But just as he reached for it, he was hoisted up, his other hand enclasped in another tendril.

Vecna stood there, blood dripping from his body, as he watched Eddie. His body was stretched out and listened as the boy screamed.. Eddie could feel his body stretched and slowly began to tear, tears watering in his eyes as he fought against the pull.

"Maybe I must end you as well?"

~.~

Steve paced along the edge of the forest line while Nancy and Robin anxiously watched you with Jonathan closed behind. Nothing had changed. And neither of them was sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Come on, Munson...Come on," Robin whimpered softly, anxiety moving through her body so ferociously it was bringing tears to her eyes.

Nancy reached over and placed a comforting hand on her friend.

"Guys,"

Jonathan's desperate voice broke through everyone's own thoughts and their attention was brought back to you.

Slowly you began to rise and hover over the picnic table, your toes barely touching over the top, before Steve raced over to grab you. His hand wrapped around your ankle and pulled on it as tightly as he could. But he was struggling, everyone could see. Nancy was next to help in pulling you down with Jonathan doing the same.

"No, no...no! Please! Y/N! NO!" Robin screamed, her fingers moving and gripping tightly into her hair as he stared up to watch you.

~.~

I was going to keep going, but I decided to be torturous and stop there. O hope you enjoyed it, one chapter left, and then this series is coming to a close. I am not going to lie, I don't know how I'm ending it still. I have a few different scenarios. Like

Will I kill Reader? or kill Eddie?

Will I turn Reader into a vampire too? Or somehow Eddie is no longer one?

Will Reader and Eddie live happily ever after? Or in the end not be together?

I don't know yet.

Please leave your thoughts!

~.~

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