#vampire veronica

Archie beamed. “I’ll write one for you next time, Betty.“ 

Betty wasn’t sure that would be something she could get through with a straight face. “Oh, Archie. That’s so sweet…”

While she was still thinking of an excuse to avoid that particular situation, they were interrupted by Jughead and Veronica taking seats beside them at their regular lunch table. Jughead had a mound of food from the cafeteria. Veronica had the discrete catering she’d had delivered to school by her butler.

“What’s happening now?” Jughead glanced between Betty and Archie, a sandwich already in his mouth.

“Betty likes my new song,” Archie answered enthusiastically.

Jughead gave Betty a knowing look, but she glanced away from him, feigning obliviousness.

Jughead had an uncomfortable way of seeing through her act. Veronica was much the same. Betty glanced across the table, where Veronica was drinking a red smoothie like she did everyday for lunch. 

When Betty had been planted at Riverdale High, the plan was to be a nondescript student with nondescript friends. She had thought she had the perfect opportunity when she’d met the high school boy living next door to the house that had been provided for her and the two agents who were masquerading as her parents. Archie was the kind of dense teenage boy she knew would be perfect for helping her cover.

So, she had taken on the persona of a smitten high school girl. Archie had been flattered by her affections, and was eager to introduce her to his friends. However, the people he introduced her to were not the similarly oblivious jocks she was expecting. Instead, apparently Archie liked to attach himself with the outsiders.

Veronica was a recently dethroned rich girl from out of town. Betty had immediately expected Veronica to treat her as new competition for Archie’s attentions. So when Archie had asked Betty on a date right in front of Veronica, Betty had instinctively glanced her way to gauge her reaction. Veronica had met her eyes and shrugged. “No worries, B. Been there, done that.” Despite herself, Betty found that she enjoyed her company.

Jughead had apparently been Archie’s best friend since childhood. They were an odd combo. Archie was almost unerringly positive in his opinions of other people. Jughead was shrewd, critical, and quick witted. 

He’d kept Betty at a distance for weeks, even though they shared a lunch table every day. Then one day, she had come out of literature class so heated that she had spent half of lunch break rambling about the ways high school education fed into the misogynistic ideologies of teenage boys. 

As far as her cover was concerned, it wasn’t her finest hour, but when she had finally come to an end of her rant, Veronica had clapped delicately from across the table, and at Betty’s side, Jughead was grinning openly. Archie had blinked blankly and said, “Wow, I hadn’t thought of it that way, Betty.”

After that, Jughead’s demeanor around her changed. He gave her a small smile every time he saw her, even if he had just been scowling only seconds before. Sometimes it seemed like he would say things just to see if he could get her to laugh. Betty liked it. She liked him.

But that wasn’t the persona she had taken. And anyway, it was never good to get feelings mixed in with a job.

So she continued to be the girl who hopelessly pined for Archie while he gave her and every other girl in the school only temporary attention. Jughead would roll his eyes, and Veronica would watch her with a skeptical expression. And Betty would continue to fill her role, in position waiting for the Living Dead to come to Riverdale.

When she had been placed here, they had already known it was a matter of when not if the infection would grow to Riverdale. Betty had been provided with an arsenal of supplies to keep the infection under control and had a direct line set up at the house to call for backup. As far as Betty was concerned, she was prepared for it.

Except, she hadn’t exactly been expecting it to start at school, during the middle of lunch. There was a scream that broke through the comfortable buzz of lunch conversation. Betty turned and saw a student across the lawn pounce at the person in front of them, pushing them to the ground and gnawing at the side of their face. 

Betty reached for the gun in her backpack, but before she had even pulled it out of the side pocket, she was abruptly lifted into the air. She had been hoisted onto Jughead’s shoulder as he started running.

“Wait!” she yelled, “What are you-” She pulled her head up and saw Veronica running at their side, pulling Archie’s arm along so hard he was struggling to run straight. 

Since when had Jughead and Veronica been this strong? Betty struggled against Jughead’s grip but could barely even move.

“Let me down,” she insisted. She had extra weapons and ammunition stowed away in a hidden compartment behind her locker. If she could get there early, she’d be in a good position to take out those already infected. 

Neither Jughead or Veronica paid her any mind, refusing to stop until they were several blocks away.

“What was that?” Archie asked, catching his breath. Jughead and Veronica didn’t seem winded at all from the run. 

“Monsters in Riverdale,” Veronica answered simply.

Jughead finally let Betty off of his shoulder, gently sliding her down to her feet. She took a moment to give him a stern glare. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“Betty…” He responded with a disgruntled sigh.

“We might have just saved your life back there, B.” Veronica walked up beside her and put a hand on Betty’s shoulder. “I know this is going to be a lot to take in, but believe me. That was a zombie attack, and it’s only going to spread.”

Yes, I know, Betty thought. For a brief moment, she considered just telling them everything. Explaining that this was exactly why she was here in Riverdale. 

She didn’t really have time for that. So she ran.

“Betty!” All three of them called after her. She ignored them.

Betty pulled out her handgun as she reached the school, and found a decent vantage point from behind a bench. Outbreaks could grow fast. By now there were probably at least a dozen Living Dead within the school. 

She grabbed a large twig from the tree above her and threw it as hard as she could at the large metal trash can a few yards away. It made a heavy, echoing thud.

The creatures took the bait, walking in uneven steps toward the noise. 

Betty took her shot, one after the other. There were more of them then she had bullets. She would have to get into the building if she wanted to clear them out.

She crouched, ready to run, when one of them approached her from the side. She spun around, lifting her leg so that she could kick it away, but before she could act, a large arm covered in matted fur swung against the creature’s head, batting it to the ground.

Betty looked up to see a towering beast with giant fangs, a torn flannel shirt and a knitted crown-shaped hat.

“What-” she muttered in disbelief. 

“You could have just told us,” Jughead said, his voice recognizable, though significantly deeper than she was used to. She watched as his bones and muscles started to shrink. The fur quickly disappeared, leaving Jughead looking completely normal, except for the now tattered shirt that was barely hanging over his shoulders.

“Seriously,” said Veronica as she sat down on the bench Betty had previously been using for cover. Veronica had two long fangs along her front teeth that Betty had never seen before. “You could use our help. And let’s be honest with ourselves, if you offered Jughead so much as a kiss, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you.” She glanced over at Jughead with a teasing smirk.

Jughead made a strangled groan.

Veronica turned back to Betty with a sigh, “Can you imagine how much of a pain it is to deal with a werewolf with a crush? I’ve had to shut him into a locked bunker just to keep him from howling outside your bedroom window.”

Betty glanced back at Jughead, words still eluding her. Jughead’s eyebrows were set in a scowl, but his face was a burning red. “Are we taking care of the zombie problem, or not?” Jughead said, tucking his head toward his chest and turning away from them.

“What about me?” Archie asked. He was standing several feet behind them, looking a little lost.

“We’ll see if we can grab you some football gear or something,” Jughead growled. In the blink of an eye, he was a wolf again. Then he turned to Betty, his body still tense, but his eyes soft. “What’s the plan?”

“Can you get me to my locker?”