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pale-opal · 7 days ago

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So I decided to try one of @/nondelphic's unhinged writing prompts for that Mega Man zombie AU that I mentioned a while ago. The prompt that I specifically chose to write about was this one:

Someone keeps breaking into your character's house, not to steal things but to leave increasingly cryptic notes in their fridge.

So... yeah! Enjoy this short story about Shadow Man struggling to cope with somebody breaking into his cabin for funsies. Oh, and Zero's there too.

Compromised Shelter - A Oneshot

---

The first time it happened, he thought it was his fault.

The generator had only been recently installed, solely so that the fridge would run again (but admittedly, lights and hot water were luxuries Shadow had missed for the past ten years, so of course he wanted to enjoy those, too). They needed it to be able to keep raw meat in the house, as well as anything they couldn't preserve in a jar. That, and the taste of lukewarm canned fruit got old after a while.

The note had been written on a sheet of blank paper, haphazardly taped to the shelf that held whatever they had managed to catch from hunting (or, rather, whatever Shadow managed to catch - Zero had the habit of eating whatever he managed to get a hold of right then and there, but that was fine. Shadow had learned to accept that the boy had his quirks). On it, a single sentence fragment:

Don't forget.

Shadow blinked at it. "Don't forget what?" he found himself asking aloud, confused. Maybe this was something he had written some time ago when he was half-asleep. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd done something strange while in such a state. Once, before the Infected had shown up, he had poured orange juice in his coffee instead of sugar. Not salt. Orange juice. His wife had laughed at him about it for weeks.

Shadow frowned. To use an entire piece of paper to write an unhelpful message to himself... what a waste. He would need to find a way to repurpose it later.

But then it happened again, and it was then Shadow realized something was wrong. This time, the note was taped to the side of the fridge, and had something even weirder written on it.

Your cows need watering.

"I - I don't - my what?" The message made no sense whatsoever. Shadow didn't have any livestock. Did he write this in his sleep again, and mix up the word "crops" with "cows"? That would be the most likely explanation.

But then he saw that the handwriting didn't look like his.

At all.

The letters were too far apart, and Shadow didn't cross his t's in the middle of the letter. Not only that, but it wasn't very neat. And the "o" in "Your" wasn't looped, either.

Long story short, Shadow did not write this.

Realizing that, he decided to try the second-most likely avenue. "Zero?" He called out. "Come here, please!"

The boy was by his side in seconds - he never strayed too far from him. He peered at him, curious. Shadow couldn't help but stare back. Normally, Zero's blue irises would be like beacons against his gray scleras. But today, his scleras seemed to be a bit more white in color. That's a good sign, he thought to himself. Isn't it? He wished that he knew how Zero got like this in the first place, so that these changes would be easier to interpret - not alive in the familiar sense, but most certainly not dead, either. He was almost like the Infected. But there was something about him...

Zero noticed Shadow's staring, and made something of a sniffling sound, trying to figure out what was so interesting about himself for Shadow to be looking at him directly for so long. Shadow cleared his throat, remembering why he had called Zero to the kitchen in the first place. "Did you write this?" He held the note out to Zero for him to examine. He stared at it for a moment, then squinted, trying to read the thing, only to shake his head. "I see..." Shadow folded the note up. If it wasn't him, and if it wasn't Zero...

Then it had to be someone else.

Shadow swallowed, mouth dry. "Let's check all the doors and windows," he suggested. "To make sure no one's been getting in when we sleep." They did exactly that, but they found no openings or signs of forced entry. Shadow pursed his lips when they were finished. Surely something had been left unlocked. He double-checked he'd locked everything properly before turning in for the night.

But then the third note came.

I know who you are.

Well I would hope so, Shadow thought, rolling his eyes. You keep breaking into my house. With that, Shadow decided to take inventory - nothing was missing. Whoever was doing this was leaving the notes as a calling card, and nothing else. It was almost funny, how stupid it was.

But the fourth note was plain unnerving.

They're coming.

Shadow felt his blood run cold. "Who's coming?" He asked himself. He started to panic. Should he try to fortify the house? Or was a horde on its way, and the best course of action would be to simply board up the windows and doors, hide in a closet, and wait it out? Or maybe...

Maybe this was a joke.

Just like all the other notes.

He ripped the fourth note up in frustration. "This is ridiculous," he spat, tearing the paper to shreds. "I will not be made to feel anxious in my own home." He made up his mind - once he found out who was doing this, he was going to shoot first, ask questions later. It would be uncharacteristically violent for him, but every man had his button. And Shadow's had just been pressed.

That night, Shadow planned to stay awake, holding a stakeout of sorts. How else would he find out who had been robbing him of perfectly good paper and his peace of mind? But he hadn't ever done something like that before, and so he naturally made a mistake. He decided to hold the stakeout in his bedroom, so that he could hear the note-writer enter without being seen. However, around two a.m., he dozed off, sleeping comfortably on his bed.

Lucky for him, Zero ended up being a living failsafe, with how light of a sleeper he was. Shadow woke to the blond teen standing by his side and shaking him awake. "Wha- what - Zero? Zero, what are you doing awake?" Zero gestured toward the open door with his head, irritated. But not with Shadow. No, something else was at work here.

A loud thunk could be heard from outside. Shadow sat up in an instant, understanding the situation. "Is someone here?" He whispered. Zero nodded in confirmation, and held up two fingers. "Ah. So two people, then." Shadow got up and grabbed his rifle. "Get behind me."

Shadow crept out of his room carefully, with Zero following his lead. He moved to the top of the staircase, and sure enough, he could hear shuffling sounds from below. "Human, or Infected?"

Zero moved closer, and became completely still. He focused on every sound the intruders made, staring out into the darkness. He sniffed the air once, and then made his determination. "Human," he said, with absolute certainty, voice quieter than Shadow's footsteps had been.

"Alright then - thank you." Shadow hurriedly thought of a course of action. He and Zero would make their way downstairs, and once they were close enough to the intruders, he would turn the lights on, catching them off guard. Then, he could see if they were worth shooting (his nap had calmed him down, and he had started to go back to his usual mode of operation: shooting only if someone was a threat).

But Zero had another idea.

He swiftly started to go downstairs, and disappeared into the darkness. "Zero!" Shadow whisper-yelled. "You don't have to-" A loud growling sound from Zero's throat cut him off. Shadow knew what that meant. He fumbled for a light switch, now trying to save the people who broke into his house instead of shoot them.

Because if he didn't, Zero would most definitely take care of them himself.

A shrill scream came from below, followed by snarling that sounded as if it was coming from one of the Infected. Shadow cursed under his breath - he took too long. He finally found the switch, turned it on, and found Zero trying to bite at a woman's neck. Nearby, a man pulled out a gun, wanting to save her. "ZERO!" He shouted, running downstairs to pull him off of her. "That's enough!"

Zero went limp once Shadow had removed him from the girl, clearly getting the message. He relaxed, wriggled himself out of Shadow's grasp, and got behind him, eyes still narrowed viciously at the intruders.

Now it was Shadow's turn to get aggressive. He aimed his gun at the guy, wanting to deal with the one he knew had a weapon first. "Who do you think you are, breaking into my house li- wait a second." His eyes went from the woman to the man, and then back again.

He knew these people.

"You two!" He moved one of his hands to the trigger. "You're part of the group who set off fireworks last week, trying to lure in the Infected on purpose! And you-" he aimed his gun a little more decisively at the young man's chest. "You've already broken in here once before. I shot you in the shoulder then. Should I shoot to kill this time?"

The young man gave Shadow a teasing grin. "C'mon, man! We were just messing around! Right, Plum?" The girl nodded her head, still shaking from her encounter with Zero. She checked her hands and felt around her neck, looking for bites. "It's so boring out here. You should be thankful we moved nearby - it's good to spice things up, you know."

But Shadow clucked his tongue, unamused. "'Boring' is how I like it, thank you." He stole a glance at Zero - he seemed to be thoroughly at ease now, not seeing the intruders as a threat anymore. But he stayed behind Shadow, just in case. Once he was sure the child was okay, Shadow returned to reprimanding the guy. "And I hardly think that breaking and entering and putting yourself in danger are decent ways of 'spicing things up.'"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll admit it. This time was our bad. But last time I was here, you left the door unlocked."

"Because we were outside, working in the garden," Shadow hissed. "And even if every window and door in this house was unlocked, it still wouldn't be an excuse for you to walk in here without seeing if someone lived here first."

The younger man put his hands up, playfully. He wasn't taking this even the slightest bit seriously. "Cool it, big guy. That's in the past, now. Let's just... all move on, yeah?'

Shadow's brow furrowed. "Did - did you just tell me to 'cool it'?" He shook his head, disregarding the statement. "I will let both of you go if you tell me how you kept getting in here, and if you agree not to enter without my consent. If you go back on your word, I'll shoot you on sight."

"Okay, deal. You have a window in your kitchen that pops right out when it's pressed on hard enough. I grab it before it falls, pull it out onto the grass, do what I want, crawl back out, and pop it back into place. Simple."

"Mmhm." He would have to fix that. He'd put the window back into place that night, and properly reseal it in the morning. "Thank you for your cooperation. Now get out."

The two intruders started towards the door. The guy put an arm around the girl ("Plum", was it?). "Aw, relax, babe! You didn't get bit. Blondie's chill. See? Look." The guy went to give what appeared to be a fist-bump to Zero, only for the latter to snap at his hand, growling. "Okay, okay! Not chill, got it." He bid Shadow adieu before he and his girlfriend finally left. "Your generator's loud - it's gonna attract the Infected or somebody at some point. Be careful. I would hate to see you get your face eaten! See y'all later!" They finally left, shutting the door behind them. The guy's laughter was loud enough to be heard outside, and Plum soon joined him in it.

Shadow locked the door, agitated. "Those two," he murmured, "are going to get themselves killed."

"Annoying," Zero huffed as he followed Shadow to the kitchen. He watched as Shadow put the window back into place.

"Agreed," Shadow said when he finished. "They are very annoying." He sighed as he returned to the stairwell to turn the lights out. "But hopefully, this will be the end of us getting random notes in the fridge." He paused before switching the lights off. "Zero," he began, keeping his tone even, "I don't want you attacking people like that. You could've gotten hurt..." and we don't know what would happen if you were to bite someone. "...and I would have been very upset if that were to happen. Okay?" Zero didn't say anything, and instead wrapped his arms around Shadow in a hug, leaning his head against his chest apologetically. "Oh, it's alright. I know you were only trying to help." He placed a hand on Zero's head reassuringly. "Now let's get you back to bed."

---

And that's all for now! Although, I do want to clarify a few things: 1. Shadow Man and Zero are supposed to have an adoptive father-son relationship in this.

2. Although he wasn't named in the story, the guy who breaks into Shadow's house is Quick Man. Homeboy is twenty years old and is delusional as heck. Maybe he'll mature as time goes on (or maybe he'll die). His girlfriend is Plum from Battle & Chase.

3. Shadow missing hot water for ten years is a reference to how the story takes place ten years after the world ended. My guy has been through a lot. But it's okay. Because now he has an entire fifteen-year-old boy to take care of. Welcome to the single dad life, Shadow Man.

4. If you have any questions about this AU, feel free to ask! I want to talk about it. There's a bunch of stuff going on in it.

Thank you for reading! May God bless you. <3

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