heart is taking over

Liv’s hand covered her mouth and her eyes filled with tears when the light lit up his face and she saw the man she loved staring back at her. This whole time she’d thought it was dead… she’d sworn Blaine had killed him. She’d convinced herself she’d seen it… but had she actually? The second his attempt to kill him failed she knew what was coming, she’d looked away just seconds before the gun shot when off. Liv had just assumed Blaine had really killed him. Closing the gap between them she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly, even though he was freezing her half to death. “I don’t care if you’re zombisicle, I’m just happy you’re alive — I — I thought you were dead. Everyone thinks you’re dead,” she said, pulling back to look at him. Liv’s hand moved to feel his cold cheek, still not entirely convinced this was all real. “Have you been here the whole time? — God, — I’m sorry… I’m so sorry I didn’t look for you… or do something!” The blonde was a rambling mess as she backed out of the freezer, wanting to get him somewhere warm sooner rather than later. “How long have you been in here? — You must be starving!”

Lowell felt like he was seeing an angel, someone sent down from the heavens to save him from this freezing hell. The way the light from outside the room surrounded her gave her this angelic glow, and he couldn’t help but imagine that this was as close to a religious experience that he would ever have now that he was one of the undead. The light from her flashlight was blinding, but he smiled nonetheless. Lowell features were mostly frozen and numb with pain, but his happiness and relief were evident. “It’s me, it’s me.” he assured her, hoping she hadn’t been frightened to see him in this state. “It’s me, in the undead flesh.” Lowell hoped to lighten the mood slightly, not only for her sake but his as well. He was so overcome with emotions in this moment, so happy to have been found before the police inevitably arrived to look into the shooting and found his frozen body. It was a miracle he wasn’t expecting, a miracle he probably didn’t deserve.

It was when Lowell saw the tears welling up in her eyes that he remembered that she hadn’t known that Blaine’s attack hadn’t sent him to the grave (again). He felt bad now, despite the fact that the situation had been beyond his control. The thought of her being upset was a depressing one, and one that he wasn’t thrilled like the face. Lowell was thankful to have her arms wrapped around him, and warmth started to slowly creep back into his frozen body. He returned the gesture as best he could, his arms still stiff from the time he’d spent in this godforsaken freezer. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Things didn’t go exactly as we expected.” It felt nice to have her hands on his cheeks, which flooded his face with warmth. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, soaking up the moment. “No, no. Don’t be sorry, Liv. You didn’t know. No one knew. Except for Blaine, he’s been having a grand time with all of this. I think he might be delusional enough to think he and I could still have a jam session after all of this.” Lowell slowly followed her out of the freezer, glad to be free of his prison. “Honestly I’m not sure how long I’ve been in there, the days sort of blended together. But it’s safe to say that I’m a little peckish.”

With Major fresh out of the psych ward and acting more unhinged than when he went in there Liv was forced to sober herself up to keep an eye on him. She hated it, she hated every second of pain and longing, but she knew it’d only feel worse if something happened to the first love of her life while she was intoxicated. Liv had been keeping tabs on Major for a few days now, leading her some butcher shop across town where his phone GPS said he’d been for the last few hours. “Major?” she called out, entering the seemingly normal establishment. It wasn’t until she got to the back door that she noticed all the bloodshed and bodies everywhere. “What the—?” Pulling out her phone she called Ravi, she was midway through telling him what she was seeing when she spotted Major on the ground with blood around him. Seeing he was badly hurt she managed to stop the bleeding. Giving Ravi enough time to get there and get Major out of there before any cops could show up to question him about what had happened. “You go— I’ll check to make sure there isn’t anyone else here. I’ll meet you back at the morgue. Liv moved through the butcher shop on full alert, half convinced some gun wielding psycho would pop out at any time. As she passed the freezer door she caught sight of a figure in the corner. It made her jump, startled by what looked like a person in the meet freezer. “Hello?” she called out, moving closer to the door, her eyes on the window. Pulling hard on the heavy door she managed to get it open, “—Is anyone in here? — A-are you okay?” she asked, still not sure what she’d seen since it was dark and an unusual place for people to hangout.

There was a commotion outside the freezer, and the sound of gunshots and shouting filled the air. For a split second Lowell was thankful for his cold prison, as it meant that he was being spared whatever pain was being inflicted out there. However his optimism about escaping began to dwindle when the firefight came to an end, leaving him to wonder if he would be left for dead. Somewhat literally, considering he was already halfway there. Would it have been better to be a victim of this massacre than to slowly revert to full on zombie mode or become a human popsicle? He spent a few minutes debating about what would come first, whether the cold would overtake him or his hunger would get the best of him. Lowell retreated from the corner where he’d been huddled up for warmth, walking over to the freezer door and peering through the small window. He could see the bodies of his captors strewn across the room, and blood covering the majority of the surfaces in the backroom of the small shop. With a trembling hand he dared to rap his knuckles against the door, the sound booming through the silence. “Hey! Is someone out there?!” As the seconds ticked by they felt more like hours, and he sighed at the lack of response that followed. Whether everyone involved in the shootout was dead or he was just being ignored, Lowell was on his own for now. He moved slowly back to his corner, curling up to preserve the little warmth his body was able to produce.

In truth he wasn’t sure how much time had passed between then and when he heard faint movement outside the door. He’d been so fixated on the frost that was coating his body he hadn’t been watching the little window, and he could only hope that whoever was out there was a friend rather than a foe. Mustering up all his energy, he forced himself into a standing position once again. Lowell would hear movement right outside the door, and, despite feeling weak and being unable to stop his teeth from chattering, he tried to hide himself from sight in case he needed to launch a surprise attack. The light that flooded the room as the door swung open blinded him, and he shaded his eyes with his hand as they adjusted to the brightness. The voice he heard was familiar and comforting, and Lowell moved towards it from his hiding spot. “L-Liv?” he asked, his voice shaky. “Is that really you?” He could’ve have cried at the sight of her, although the the tears would’ve just frozen on his cheeks. He shuffled forward, trying to keep his shivering under control as best he could. “I would make a joke about popsicles, but I think I need to thaw out a bit before I’m capable of that.”

things had, of course, not gone according to his impromptu plan, and that was how he’d ended up locked in this freezer. in all honesty he didn’t have the slightest clue how blaine had gotten him there, but he understood that he was there to stay until he was of some use to the other man. lowell sat shivering in the corner, a growing pang of hunger in his stomach. eventually someone would come in and throw him a bit of brain to keep him from going full zombie, but there wasn’t much else to do but fixate on food. or liv. as the minutes slowly ticked by he could only hope that she was safe, that blaine hadn’t figured out that she was onto him or that she hadn’t made a rash move. that was the worst part of being in here, not knowing if she was alright. or if he’d ever even see her again. but it was the belief that he would that kept him going, that kept him fighting against succumbing to the cold and hunger. lowell found get out of here somehow; he had to.