The Virus

Immediately stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles after the hours he spent tied up, he was incredibly thankful that what he was really didn't correspond with the many zombie movies he had seen in his life. He had worried constantly just as the outbreak became known that, if he was ever infected, his limbs would break and bones would splinter with little to no warning. After studying them, however, he did learn that zombies were surprisingly strong and robust, and really didn't appear to behold any fragility. If they did, a simple acting like outstretching his arms would have caused several breakages-- if the tied rope already hadn't.

Eyeing Zack closely, with just the faintest of hungry looks behind his eyes, he seemed to overcome it and moved instead for the door, the blood having been enough to keep him from ravenously rampaging in front of Zack. "I... I'll be right back, I promise. Do I get a kiss goodbye~?" He laughed drily, hesitating by the exit cautiously. There was the whole dread involved of having to find a human and killing them (though he knew the hunger would mask any guilt when it came to it), but there was also a great risk of heading out. Humans with guns prowled the streets often, and his appearance gave him away instantly now he was infected. "...If I don't come back, look after Mars, yeah? I might end up with a bullet in my head, and I know that's the only real way of killing us zombie folk, aha..."​
 
"She'll be fine," he reassured quietly, and tried to subtly nudge the other towards the door. "Just... If you don't go and feed, I'm not letting you in. I shouldn't be letting you in at all, period, but I will. I won't let you in unless I know fully that you've gotten a proper meal, and so you won't hurt either of us."

Once finishing his murmurs, Zack could be heard boarding up the door once again from the other side. It was quicker than usual, and in his mind, there was no telling what Logan would do.
 
"Jeez, you boarded it back up quick-- cheers for that. Thanks for making me feel normal again," he grumbled from outside the door, hesitating just a few seconds or two in case Zack decided to let him back in. Clearly, that was idiotic to believe. Why would Zack let him back in and put himself at risk, until he was sure that Logan wasn't going to attack him? Knowing that, finally, he trudged down the stairs with a faint grumble still leaving his lips. He did convince himself while he walked that he was just going for a stroll around, that nothing was going to happen and he, himself, wasn't going to do anything either.

Within the hour, though, he had returned to Zack's apartment, weakly knocking on the door and shifting his heavy weight from one foot to the other. He had no real reason to be weak, given he had spent the best part of that hour feeding, and so at least Zack would be relatively safe until his hunger kicked in again. However, the guilt had also set in. At the time, having found a few humans hiding away under a makeshift shelter, he had felt absolutely no guilt. Instincts kicked in, and, along with another zombie or two who heard the commotion, the little ragtag family had been killed-- and brutally so. Now, though, after wandering back to Zack's home and coming out of the hunger-fuelled daze he had been in, he only had to catch his reflection in glass to realise the enormity of what he had done. He was covered in blood -inevitably-, with most of it covering his mouth. He did try his best to wipe as much off as he could, though it only really proceeded to stain his hands in return.

"Zackarie? Come on, buddy, lemme back in," he miserably whined, pressing his forehead against the cool of the wall and clenching his bloody fists tightly against his sides. "I-I need a bath, alright? I feel like fucking shit."​
 
After a good full minute of silence, the sound of the nails being pulled and the locks being unlocked, he creaked open the door just a tad, his eyes surveying the hallway warily. After all, of Logan had made a zombie friend while out, what was stopping him from following Logan right to his home. When there was no one else, he silently motioned for the zombie to come in quickly, before boarding up once again.

In that hour, Zack had mostly remained still on the couch, the television on while Mars stretched out on his lap. He was too stressed to eat, and too scared to move from his spot, and only peeled his attention away from the whines.

"Go take a bath," he insisted quietly, while returning to his spot where the sleeping Mars was sprawled out on.
 
"I will in a second, alright? Let me see Mars first, you hardly let me near here, and you know, I wouldn't... hurt her. Nor would I hurt you. I'm... it's all under control now," promised the zombie as comfortingly and as confidently as he could, deciding to show that rather than tell as he scooped Mars up and smugly smiled at the appreciative mewls he created from the feline, who remained indifferent about her owner's transformation. She could have easily sensed something was wrong, and she definitely may have realised that, but she chose not to treat him any differently.

"...In good news, I made a buddy out there. So if you do get fed up of me and can't stand me being around you, I have a zombie friend," he continued happily, leaning on the wall to avoid dirtying the couch. He still respected Zack, and even if his legs ached, he knew better than to sit down and get blood everywhere-- though apparently, he didn't think of that when cuddling Mars against his chest.​
 
"Oh, you did? Did you kiss him?" Asked the man, rather passive aggressive as he took a seat at the opposite side of the room, an untouched can of peaches in hand. He eyed the whole interaction cautiously, and eventually sighed.

"Look, please take a shower. I don't want my house stained with human blood, Logan- I-I mean, do you know how strange that sounds? My god..." he murmured, before daring to take a very small bite of a slice of peach. "You can enjoy Mars when you're done. I'll... I dunno, you can sleep in my room tonight, I'll sleep in the living room."
 
"...If you don't fucking want me here, I'll go. I mean, I get I'm a monster or whatever, but I don't... need you being so mean. No, I didn't fucking kiss anyone. I befriended a teenage kid who was scared. Does that make me a bad person? Or are you going to just assume that I was out there, kissing people-- you know what, I'll move out, leave you alone. How about that? That sound good?" Logan bluntly continued, growing more offended by the second. He understood completely that he had been a jerk in high school-- but he had never cheated on Zack, ever. He dated other people when they weren't even an item, so for Zack to continue to act like this? It did greatly annoy the zombie, and feeling angry around Zack wasn't the most comfortable feeling in the world. "You know, me and Mars will be just fine on our own, actually."​
 
Stubbornly looking away, Zack replied with silence as he tugged his knees to his chest. He decided, though, that it probably wasn't the best time to pull into himself if he planned to keep Logan around. His internal debate on whether or not he wanted to keep the other around was evident from his wet eyes and his knit brows. On one hand, he wouldn't be living with an actual, man-eating zombie. On the other, though, Logan was his first and only friend and lover. Pressing his forehead to his knees, he decided a feeble shrug.

"... I'm just upset, you know?" He finally whispered, while his toes wriggled absently. "I'm just... It bothers me, that we'll never be able to do anything like that again. You can kiss everyone you want, but I only ever liked you, Logan. Now, you're a zombie, so what am I supposed to do?"
 
"Become a zombie like me, and bam, all our problems are solved~ Kidding aside, I'm... not going to hurt you, Zack. As long as I feed every day, I'm pretty sure I can control myself. Like a vampire, y'know? On all those movies, they don't go feeding from every human they see, do they? They can slip into society easily, as long as they're, like, well fed and shit-- you know what I'm saying. If I go out and feed, I'll be alright, I think-- it ain't so bad, actually. I mean, I didn't cry or anything," he blurted, only realising seconds later that he hadn't been accused of doing so, and by saying he hadn't done such a thing only seemed to confirm the opposite; that he had. Because, he had admittedly had a moment of crying into his hands after the horror hit him, only to be weakly comforted by the teenage boy he had met.

"Whatever, y'know? We can still totally kiss, if you're feeling brave," he joked lightly, keeping Mars cooped up in his arms and turning his eyes to her to avoid Zack. "Or I could leave, I guess. I don't wanna be a burden on 'ya. Besides, you're scared of me. I... I know you're the victim here, but it's not nice for me to see you... look at me like that. With fear in your eyes. Makes me feel like shit."​
 
"Do you know how many times I've considered killing myself since this all happened? I mean, I have the rope, I have all the pills you could need, I have knives..." he suddenly blurted, his face still hidden by his knees. "I thought, what's the point? I'm some loser kid who no one would miss, you know? So... So when you showed up, I was pissed, yeah, but it gave me a reason to stick around, make sure you're okay. Now to know you're a zombie, the one reason to keep around is gone, you know? I probably can't find a cure, and I'll either be torn to shreds or changed and just shoot myself... Just, stay around? I don't want to be alone, a-and iI'd rather you eat me alive."
 
"So hey, suicide's the answer? That's so dumb-- and cowardly, actually. You're just going to give in? I mean, jeez. If you don't want to keep living in fear, say the word and I'll give you a good old bite on the hand so we can live out our lives together as meat-eating zombies. Romantic, eh? Until all hope's lost, you keep on looking for a cure. You're legitimately my only hope, so don't go whining about ending it all, Zack. I... I f-fucking want to be human, I want to go through a day without having to murder an innocent family, you know?" Logan responded with a surprising amount of vitriol behind his words. After all, seeing Zack seemingly consider suicide when he was still human was a little annoying, to say the least. Logan would give anything to be human again, and Zack was willing to throw it away before he had even properly tried to find a cure? "Look, I... I love you. I won't want you dead, to be honest. Who's going to keep me in check then? Mars?"​
 
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"You were doing fine before me, right?" He reminded, having peaked his head from his knees just a tad. "You probably would have just continued living your life, if you didn't find me. Look, I'll... I'll try, okay? I just, it might takes years, Logan. I'm no super scientist, a-and I'm used to doing this sort of thing with other people, so I wasn't just blindly combining chemicals. Not to be mean, but you know nothing about this sort of thing."

At this point, it was at least a good sign to see the man unfurl his legs. He was careful to keep a good distance between he and Logan, and eventually made his way to the cabinet to snatch the proper pills. These depressive episodes weren't surprising - he dealt with them even when he and Logan were still friends.
 
"...Then it'll take years, big deal. I'll wait, it's not like I've got anywhere to be, is it?" Countered the man, watching his friend closely, but, knowing that he couldn't approach and lend his support physically, he simply stayed rooted to his spot away from him with only Mars' purrs breaking the growing silence between them, until he chose to speak once again. "...I want to be able to stick around, Zack. We're still best buddies, right? So... So I'll be around regardless of whether you get a cure or not. I'm not attacking you now, am I? I think I'll be able to control myself."​
 
"What if you get mad at me and lash out? You'll just hurt me, and I'll probably die in one strike, let's be real. Even... Even before you got popular, you could have snapped my neck easily every time you went to give me a noogie. I don't know, j-just... I'm stressed, okay? You don't really have much to care about now, other than killing people, right?"

As he untwisted the caps, he chugged back a lovely cocktail of pills that only someone like Zack could seemingly be so careless in swallowing. When he finished, he carefully rearranged the massive cabinet and glanced back over to Logan.
 
"...You know, I get you're not happy right now, but the way you phrase things is pretty damn hurtful, Zackarie. I don't... want to be reminded that I have to kill people, thanks for that. Can we just quit bickering already? I don't want to hurt you, and I don't see myself hurting you anytime soon," he grumbled, deciding to sit down on the couch despite being bloody. Frankly, he was pissed off, and he didn't entirely care in that moment if he pissed Zack off in return. "...Whatever. If you want me around, I'll be around-- but really, I-I'm not suddenly a monster. I still feel things, f-fucking hell."​
 
Zack physically cringed at the sight of the perfectly clean furniture being immediately soaked in blood. He had planned months ago to cover the seats, but he thought only he would be living in the apartment, so saw no need. He would admit that it probably wasn't the best idea to purchase light grey furniture, but he certainly was regretting it now more than ever. With an odd whine in disapproval, he didn't much care to be close to the zombie as he hurried over and practically pushed him off the seat. When noticing the blood stains, he tugged at his hair in horror.

"L-Logan, what the fuck?! I told you to take a shower, and you decide to ruin my furniture? I-I had to buy that furniture with my own money. Do you know how much that was?! I-I mean -- I can't. I fucking can't. Get in the shower now, or so help me, I will sew your mouth shut, understood?!" He snapped... Well, as much as someone as Zackarie could snap. He hurried to the other room, full of cleaning supplies and chemicals, in hopes of salvaging the fabric.
 
"In an apocalyptic world, Zack, I find it hilarious you care so much about a damn fucking settee, to be honest. Maybe I'm a little angry at you, and yeah, perhaps I went too far-- but isn't this what you expect of me? I'm just an asshole who murders people now, apparently. Get used to the blood or throw me out, that's what I suggest. Hey, what if I bring a nice young girl back and rip her to shreds right here? Not surprising, if I act like a monster, I suppose. Monsters don't take showers, either, so hey, I'll just lounge here, if it's all the same," grumbled Logan back to him. Granted, the sight of Zack nervously and frantically rushing around did make his frown deepen-- but he felt he had enough of a reason to continue acting like a jerk after being made to feel like he did. "...I'm going to go out, actually. Board the door up, don't let me back in-- I couldn't care less. I'm just gonna find that kid, hang 'round with him for awhile."​
 
"... You can't be serious," whispered Zack, as he stared up from the floor in shock. He furiously scrubbed away at the stains, using the cleaning as an excuse to keep his eyes away from Logan's. He wanted nothing more than to lash out at the other, try and convince him he wasn't in the wrong, though simply decided to try and be the bigger person. With his arms still moving rapidly, he only paused for a brief moment to gather his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Logan. You're... You're not a monster, okay? Well, you are, for doing something so fucking rude like this." He grumbled, bitterly, though offered a quick glance towards the other to at least show a genuine apology. "You can leave, sure. I'm... not going to force you to stay here. Can Mars at least stay here? I don't want her out there..."
 
"You want me to leave Mars with you? It's testament to how much I trust you that I'll allow that-- you may not trust me, but I have faith in you, actually. I'll... I'm not moving out completely, I couldn't leave you alone. I just need some space, and you're not really... helping me feel calm, to be honest," muttered the boy as he heaved himself up from the couch, offering Mars a gentle kiss to her head before leaving her on the bundle of blankets she now claimed as her bed. "I... guess I'll be camped out in some dank alleyway all night, if you wanna come find me, huh~? If you, y'know, get lonely and want me back, I'll just be out there. Like I said, I need space, but I can come right back if you want me to-- I guess you'll feel a lot safer without me here though, let's be honest. Not exactly the pillar of safety for you, as I am."​
 
"I hope you don't honestly expect me to go into an alleyway, alone..." Zack insisted, while moving to sit on his knees properly while hovering over the ruined furniture, his frown only growing by the minute. "I don't know, just - can you at least stay on the same block? I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I don't want to meet your new friend, Logan. He'll bite me in no time, or worse. Look, just... I'll go and look for you tomorrow morning, is that enough time?" He whispered, his clearly poor sense of social interaction evident by his need to plan their arrangement down to the T.
 
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