and i wish i could change it

zombies don’t talk

a starter for @alwaysbecontaminated

The street was grimy and covered in ash. He left a trail of footsteps behind him. The silence was deafening as he rounded each corner carefully, making sure he wasn’t walking into anyone or anything. Every few minutes he would look over his shoulder and confirm his continued isolation. Gabriel’s legs ached. With every step, a 𝐣𝐨𝐥𝐭 of pain ran through to his hips. He had to keep going though. Ever since he had started this solo journey outside his home, the fire inside him started. The only thing that kept him going was finding his father.

 He had been walking all day, the sun had faded behind the horizon, and darkness had set in. Gabe decided to stop somewhere for the night. He decided to make his temporary home among a row of shops. Most of them had the security gates still intact. He slipped into the one that had the least windows and slowly shut the security gate behind him. He didn’t bother to lock it though, ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑍’𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡. 

 He surveyed the room, it was a small drug store that had been completely ransacked. The pharmacy counter nestled in the back corner was smeared with dry blood. He walked through each aisle, his quiver pulled, arrow ready. Once he was sure the place was clear, he set his backpack down and loaded it up with whatever was left intact. A bag of chips, a snack cake, some bottles of aspirin. He slid over the counter to the other side. Whoever had raided this had taken all of the stronger pain medication, and left the empty bottles scattered with the trash “𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚…” Gabe whispered to himself, head shaking  “𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒛’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒙𝒚𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏.” he scanned each label quickly, grabbing what he thought might be useful. There was blood pressure medicine, diabetes medicine. He left the insulin where it was, it hadn’t been refrigerated so it had probably gone bad “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆” 

He put his bag on the floor, and tried to push it to some level of comfort. He lied down and closed his eyes. Sleep didn’t come easy, it never came easily. Even when he did manage to sleep, it was always light. He was always listening, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙙. This night however not only did he fall asleep, he even had a 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. It was short, but he cherished it. It was a memory of his trip to Thailand, a beautiful elephant stomping across his path. When he woke up he couldn’t shake it off. The feeling of … 𝑛 𝑜 𝑟 𝑚 𝑎 𝑙.

The sun had barely managed to peek out through the clouds, he couldn’t tell what time it was. He gathered his things and shoved some loose pieces of gum into his mouth as a makeshift toothbrush. Today was the day he would make it to the hospital stronghold in Atlanta. It was the only building still left in the city. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. Gabe lifted the gate slowly, making sure the coast was clear. The signs along the road told him the hospital was only 10 miles away. He was sure he could make it in good time. 

He stretched, his arms above his head and yawned. That was the best night’s sleep he had had in awhile. He walked, and walked for what felt like an eternity before stopping for lunch. He had a healthy balanced meal of dehydrated mashed potatoes and tuna from a pouch. Better than nothing. After eating every crumb, and licking the bag clean, he started his trek again.  Every few feet he would silently sneak by a zed, at one point there was a 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝. He cursed to himself, as he detoured through muck filled alleys. 

 He knew he was close, there were signs of life everywhere. Large 𝐱’𝐬 spray painted on doors, windows 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 in, but not only on the ground floor. There was a truck sitting across the middle of the road, a small car behind it, forming a makeshift barricade. He climbed over the car and caught the hospital in his line of vision. He started a sprint, not realizing how dangerous that could be. They fired a warning shot he narrowly missed ❞𝙄’𝙈 𝘼𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀.❞ he shouted “𝐼 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝑑! 𝑍𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘!”

most people seemed to lose track of the years, of how long it’s been since the world went to shit, but not five. five counted it down to the weeks, as though counting down the time left until he could be reunited with his family - even if he’s well aware that day wouldn’t be coming. likely ever. he found them the day he ran away, lifeless bodies covered in rubble with no explanation as to what exactly happened to them. academy destroyed, ruins pinning down their bodies, though ben and vanya’s had been missing. it gave him a false sense of hope at the time, that perhaps they made it through, that he still had family out there, but after years of searching, he found himself giving up. the hope hurt more than the acceptance, than allowing himself to slowly drift off into madness reginald has always warned him of. he’s surprised it wasn’t just an excuse to prevent him from time traveling for once. never would’ve guessed the man was capable of being truthful. at least he managed once before his death. good riddance, to be honest. 

five has been staying in hospital building for about a week now, convinced dolores has come down with something that only garnishes peculiar looks from those who have found refuge within the confines of the building. some doctors who had made a career here before the world ended and some psychiatrists who insisted they let five live his fantasy of being ‘married’ to a mannequin. fantasies are all some people have anymore, delusions of their currently cursed reality. the only way they’re capable of coping. he's just a child, let him have this, he had overheard at some point, shrugged it off easily enough. their opinions don’t concern him, much rather focus on dolores and some attempt to fix the mistakes the world had made. to fix the time line. the resources he requires are scarce, but that doesn’t stop his searches. or his desire to protect those that gave him shelter for the time being. so when intruder crosses into their territory, he doesn’t hesitate to give off a warning shot, purposely missing, yet aiming close enough to startle the man. warn him not to come any closer. lowering the rifle, five teleports before the stranger with an arched eyebrow. cautious.