Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of a gun going off rang out in the air, making a young Peter Parker drop to his knees, clutching at his ears. The sensory overload was deafening and distracting, a headache already building behind his eyes.

People all around him screamed, scurrying away to find safety from the chaos.

Peter’s ears continued to ring, the sound making it exceedingly harder to focus back on his surroundings. A figure was hunched over his Uncle’s car, blood pouring through the fingers that clutched at his stomach.

Peter fought to push the haze away, determined to help the person who was currently bleeding out only feet away from him.

Finally, his brain caught up, the wheels turning, causing the building headache to pulsate down to his toes. This wasn’t just some random person, it was his Uncle Ben!

He quickly stumbled over, pulling his uncle into his arms. “Oh my god Uncle Ben, what do I do?! What I do?! Tell me how to help, please!”

Ben’s breath rattled in his chest, red coating his teeth. He lifted his shaking hand, trying to find purchase with Peter’s. “Pete, listen to me-cough- this isn’t your fault. You hear me? Take care of…take care of your Aunt, and remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” Ben wheezed, closing his eyes in pain, “I love you guys.”

A sob racked Peter’s body, shaking him to his core. Ben’s grip became limp, falling from Peter’s. “Please Uncle Ben, no no no no no!”

People around him stared, holding each other close, tears rolling down their cheeks. Sirens sounded in the distance.

Peter stood, frantically wiping the blood off his hands, but the smell of chemicals and antiseptic crowded his senses.

He whipped around, trying to find the source of the smell. It reminded him of the hospital, all those years ago when he went with May and Ben to visit a sick friend. Faintly, as if far away, he picked up the distinct sound of a heard monitor, “beep, beep beep.”

“Make it stop, make it stop! Please!”

Peter jolted awake, the images from his dream slowly fading away.

He looked around, trying to remember where he was and how he had gotten there but for some reason he couldn’t think of anything. It looked like a hospital room but with his advanced healing he swore himself away from those, knowing the doctors would ask questions.

The faint beep, beep, beep from his dream was much louder now and the sickening smell of antiseptic made his stomach churn. He needed to get out, he couldn’t be here, it was only a matter of time before the nurses came back and noticed, miraculously, that he was healed from whatever ailment that had landed him there.

But, wait…it was way too quiet. He focused on his hearing, trying to hone in on whatever was going on outside the door. Nothing, he heard nothing except a quiet hum. What on earth was going on? Hospitals were never this quiet.

He ripped the IV from his arm, threw the blankets away from his legs, and swung his feet to the ground. He was a little woozy, but he would have to fight through it, something wasn’t right. His spider senses tensed, sensing something was wrong but not really giving him a clue as to what.

He hobbled to the door, leaning against it to catch his breath. Just how long had he been lying in that bed? He felt weak, like he hadn’t moved in weeks, and his throat felt like sandpaper.

He gently pushed the door, expecting it to swing open with ease but something was blocking it. Seriously, what the hell? What kind of lawsuit was waiting to happen for blocking a hospital door? He huffed, gathering his strength before giving the door another shove. It shot off its hinges and clanged to the ground, “Oops…”

He tiptoed out, stretching his leg over the now useless door. The hallway was quiet and the lights overhead flickered on and off, on and off. Chairs were flipped over and papers scattered the floor.

Something warm dripped on his shoulder, causing him to jump back in alarm. He rubbed at the spot, expecting it to be from a water leak. He inhaled sharply, realizing it was blood that coated his hand and not water. His eyes slowly rose, daring to look at the ceiling. Sure enough, a pool of bright, red blood was trickling down the spotted pattern of the tile.

Panic shot through him and he willed his feet to move, pulling himself down the deserted hallway.

Bile rose in his throat as he passed corridor through corridor. Blood stained the walls everywhere he went. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if there was more blood then there was wall. Sure, he was a hero and had seen bloodshed before, but something about this was different.

He sprinted down the stairs, telling himself that the elevator was probably a bad idea. As he neared ground level, the bodies started to appear. It was hard to step anywhere without almost stepping on a cold, lifeless corpse.

This couldn’t be happening, he must be dreaming! He promptly pinched himself, “Ouch! Ok, not dreaming.” Even though he officially confirmed he wasn’t asleep, he felt like he was stuck in a nightmare. All the scary movies he watched with Ned flashed through his head.

Ned! Of course! He went to grab his phone when he realized he was wearing a hospital gown, which didn’t have pockets. “Damnit!” he swore. What now? He looked around him, half hoping a phone would appear out of thin air. Then he saw it, a landline sitting underneath an upturned desk. He grabbed the receiver, yanking it to his ear. Nothing, not even a dial tone.

“Fuck!” he threw the phone across the room, watching it explode into pieces as it collided with the wall.

What else could he do? He was butt naked, aside from the flimsy hospital gown, and was at a loss as to what was going on. He threw up his arms in frustration, realizing he needed to leave, the hospital held no answers for him.

Suddenly, he was plunged into darkness, the humming from far away cutting off. Of course, a generator, and it had just taken a crap.

Fine, he made his way outside. Cars littered the parking lot, some of them with their door flown open haphazardly. More bodies littered the ground, their skin sunken in from the brutal sun that was beating down. The smell was overwhelming, making Peter’s eyes water.

He walked through the parking lot, holding his gown closed behind him. His suit would have been extremely handy right now, hell, any clothes would be handy right now. He continued to walk, the blazing sun causing sweat to collect on his neck.

Then he saw it, a little gift shop/ boutique that boasted Cheapest Flowers in Town! On its broken window. Hopefully they had some clothing, his hospital gown now sticking to every surface of his body.

Crouched down outside the door, Peter tried too look inside, listening for any sign of trouble. Once satisfied from the lack of noise, he pushed his way inside.

The place looked like it had been ran-sacked. Empty shelves lined the aisles, merchandise thrown around in heaps on the ground.

He walked to a rack nearby, Men’s, 50% off! And began to shuffle through the hangars. Everything was super cheesy and cliché, the perfect souvenir section for travelers. He finally settled on some khaki shorts and a I <3 NYC shirt.

The clothing was hastily thrown on and Peter ran out the door again. He needed to find someone, anyone to tell him what was going on.

A few miles later and Peter was starting to panic, he hadn’t seen anyone! Was he the last man on earth?! Did aliens attack and forget to look inside his hospital room? His chest constricted, breathing becoming more of a task then a habit.

He ran to a nearby park and threw himself on the ground, the smell of grass always soothed him. He laid there for a few minutes, plotting his next move, when he heard something rustle nearby.

His eyes scanned the park before landing on a little girl. Her back was turned to him and she wasn’t moving, too captivated with her shoelaces.

Peter slowly approached her, his hand reaching out for her shoulder. “Hey little girl, are you ok? Can you tell me where your mommy and daddy are?” If he could find her parents, they could shed some light on the current condition of New York.

The little girl titled her head, almost shyly, before turning around and latching her mouth onto Peter’s hand. “Ouch, what the hell!”

He stepped back, observing the glistening bite mark on his hand. The little girl grunted, or maybe some kind of noise? Peter wasn’t sure but he did notice the state she was in. Her skin was gray, sagging around the orifices on her face. Her eyes were yellow and patches of hair were missing from her head. The clothing on her back was tattered and worn, spotted with blood and grime.

Peter’s brain stuttered, trying to reboot. She almost looked like…like a zombie. He had seen many movies and read many comic books, this was the definition of a flesh eater. And he knew, the only way to protect himself was to kill this little girl.

He readied his hands, sizing her up. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t kill her, no matter how scary and far gone she was so he went with the next best solution: running away.

His legs carried him for miles, finally stopping when he was sure there was a big enough distance between the two of them.

A neighborhood came into view, more bodies littered the street and car doors were torn off, some of them abandoned in the middle of the road.

How many people were zombies? How did this happen? Where Ned and Aunt May ok? And why was he suddenly feeling dizzy? His vision became hazy, his hand throbbing.

Then he remembered, he was bitten. Everyone knows once you are bitten, game over. He was turning, he was becoming one of them.

This was it, this was the end, he was going to die. Everything went dark.

Chapter Text

A sharp nudge to his ribs woke him up, causing him to spring forward. “What- what did I miss? When’s dinner?” he asked stupidly, his brain still half asleep.

Then he remembered, he had been bitten. He quickly turned his hand over, trying to find the bite, but all that was left was a small scar. What the hell?

“Who are you?” the person who kicked him asked. Her voice was steady, the gun in her hand never wavering. “Were you bitten? If so, I will put one bullet through your head right now.” She cocked her gun, as if to prove her point.

“I’m Peter, Peter Parker, and yes I was bitten but…I don’t know. Nothing really happened? I got dizzy and blacked out but now here I am, 100% not a zombie.”

The woman scoffed, “Ya right, you have one minute to convince me that I shouldn’t kill you, right here, right now.”

Peter showed her his hand, the bite mark looking like a distant memory. He didn’t blame her for doubting him, he would have done the same thing.

“What the fuck are you? No one survives from the bite, ever.”

Peter contemplated this, why hadn’t he turned? Then it hit him, his spider DNA. Somehow, someway, his body was already mutated enough. The zombie bite could not affect him, aside from a short period of time that consisted of getting dizzy and blacking out.

“I’m-“ but he was cut off by a crash in the distance.

“Shit, we have to go. You, come with me, you have some explaining to do. But first, getting to safety,” the woman said, pulling Peter to his feet, “My name is Michelle by the way”. She grabbed his forearm, leading him to a nearby house. The windows were shuttered closed and the front door looked to be made of enforced steel. She quickly typed in a code, the door hissing open in front of them.

They scrambled inside, the door quickly closing shut behind them. “Wait, where are-“ Peter tried to ask but he was cut off by her shoving a gun into his hands.

“Quiet!” she hissed at him, putting a finger to her mouth, “We need to wait for them to pass.” She leaned her head against the wall, trying to listen to what was going on outside.

After what felt like hours but was actually only a few minutes, Peter heard Michelle sigh in relief. “They passed us, we can relax now.” She slid down the wall and ran fingers through her wild curls. Peter couldn’t help but wonder what that would feel like…running his fingers through her curly hair. He blushed, quickly dismissing the thought. They had just met! What was wrong with him?! He meets a beautiful woman and turns into a hormonal teenager all over again? He needed to pull himself together.

“So, Parker, how did you end up in my neighborhood? Everyone either fled when the news broke, or they turned. What’s your story? And don’t try bullshitting me, we don’t have time for that.”

Peter stared at her in awe, she didn’t mess around. “Honestly, I’m not even sure what’s going on. A couple hours ago, I woke up in a hospital room, just to find everything destroyed. Blood on the walls, bodies and grime splattered across the floor. I tried using a landline, but it didn’t work. I don’t even remember how I ended up in the hospital…”

He paused his story, trying to assess her reaction but her face was blank as ever. “After coming to the conclusion that the hospital didn’t hold any answers for me, I left. I ended up at a park. It was there that I saw a little girl, her back was to me so I didn’t see the state she was in. I approached her, asking where her parents were, thinking they could tell me what the hell was going on. And, well…”

“She bit you,” Michelle supplied, getting to the point for him.

“Yes…So I ran as far away as I could. I didn’t get too far though, I got really dizzy and ended up blacking out. And, here we are now,” he finished up his story, shrugging his shoulders.

“And just how is it that you survived the bite with nothing but a scar?”

Peter drooped his head, he was an advocate of keeping his identity secret, but now that the world was ending, what did it matter?

“Have you heard of Spider Man?” Michelle nodded her head yes and Peter could tell she had quickly connected the dots.

“Your spider DNA prevented you from turning…wow, that’s kind of incredible, makes me wish I was also part spider.”

Peter snorted, “Yep, when I got bitten the first thing I thought of was wow, I can survive a zombie apocalypse now.”

Michelle smiled, the action causing Peter’s stomach to fill with warm, fluttery feelings. If Ned and May could see him now…oh shit, Ned and May!

Michelle sensed the panic on his face, “What is it Peter? Can you um- can you sense something?

I’m not sure how your powers work.”

“Ya, I can sense stuff, but we aren’t in danger! Didn’t mean to scare you. I’m strong, have exceptional hearing, and can shoot webs, but only if I have enough of the web fluid left. We can talk more about my powers later. My…my aunt and best friend are in Queens, not too far from here. Do you think…do you think they made it out ok?”

She scooted across the floor, gently taking his hand in hers. She didn’t want to freak him out but he seemed to accept it. “I’m sorry Peter, I’m not sure. Things happened pretty quickly. Everyone was rushing to get out of the city and flock to the suburbs. I can’t say whether they made it out or not but I have faith.”

Peter sniffled, “Ya, ok…What about you? Any family here?”

Michelle stilled, suddenly fascinated by her nails. “Um, no. My parents live in Florida and we don’t speak much.”

Peter nodded, not wanting to push the subject. They had just met half an hour ago. Or had it been longer? The shuttered-up windows blocked out the sun, making it hard to tell what time of day it was.

And then it hit him, he was in a stranger’s home, with shuttered windows, and a steel proof door, with flesh-eating zombies just on the other side. He didn’t know why or for how long he had been in the hospital and his small family was missing, or worse, dead. Not to mention, he had nowhere to go. Surely Michelle wasn’t going to let him stay.

“Peter,” she nudged his foot to get his attention, “I can hear you thinking from over here, and I don’t even have super hearing. Relax, I’ve got a system in place that will get us though the next couple of months. I was doom’s day prepping before shit hit the fan.”

Peter stared at her dumbly, surely he hadn’t heard her right, “Wait, I can stay?”

“Of course, as long as you pull your own weight around here,” Peter nodded vigorously, “And it wouldn’t hurt to have Spider Man living with me.”

She pulled herself up and motioned for him to follow, leading him to the kitchen. She kicked a rug out of the way, revealing a hidden door. They pulled the latch and the door swung open, a set of spiraled stairs coming into view.

“Any other person may have coddled you and wrapped you up in blankets on the couch so you could rest up, but we don’t have time for that and I’m not that person, sorry…”

“Although I barely know you, I didn’t peg you as the caring type,” Peter said as he winked. She punched his arm, “Oh, shut up.”

They descended the stairs, Peter taking three at a time just to show off. “Can we talk about how to survive or do you want to give me a parkour lesson?”

“I would love to! But survival first,” Peter answered, folding his hands in front of him like a good student.

Michelle rolled her eyes and turned around to pull a huge tarp off some storage racks. Rows of food and water greeted Peter’s eyes, his stomach taking it in. “This should last us awhile if we ration properly. To be safe, I do raids of nearby neighborhoods once a week. I go again in four days.”

She pushed one of the racks out of the way, a medical cabinet coming into view. “This is locked, I keep the key around my neck. My medical supply is limited so its only for emergencies.” She squinted at him, almost daring him not to do anything stupid. Peter raised his hands in surrender, “Nothing stupid, unless necessary, got it.”

“Right…anyways as far as power goes, I have solar panels on the roof. Nothing gets turned on during the day. Energy consumption is for nights and emergencies only.” Peter nodded in understanding.

“Lastly, I have a small water supply saved just for showering. You get to shower every fourth day, for five minutes max, unless you get covered in zombie goo, then you get a disinfecting hose down so you don’t stink up the place.”

Peter was impressed, the best he had back at his place was an old box of Poptarts. “What about protection?”

Michelle smirked, “Damn Peter, shouldn’t you ask me to dinner first?”

His cheeks blazed and he spluttered, “That’s- that’s not what I meant! I meant house protection, besides what you already have set up with the windows and the door and the guns, what else keeps them from even approaching the premise and testing your defense mechanisms?”

“Nothing yet, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, we could collect wood and sharpen them into spears. Position them around the house. That way, if one does approach, they become a zombie kabob.”

“Not a bad idea Spidey, I will leave it up to you to gather the wood. You can get started on collecting it tomorrow. Let’s go make dinner.”

They trudge back up the stairs and wash their hands in the sink. “So, tonight’s pasta. I have some meat in the deep freeze, but I only eat that once a week and I had some yesterday. Obviously, fresh fruits and veggies are a thing of the past unless you have a zombie farmer on speed dial. Start boiling the water and I will go grab the noodles and sauce.”

Thirty minutes later and dinner was ready. They sat at the table and easy conversation flowed between them. Look, the end of the world was scary, and the unknown put Peter on edge, but something about Michelle and the atmosphere of the kitchen put him at ease.

Once finished, Peter offered to do the dishes. “Ok, but you only get to use the water to wet the dish and rinse it off, nothing more or you get one less minute on your next shower. When you are done meet me upstairs, I will show you to your room.”

Peter laughed, “Yes ma’am! Oh, and Michelle?”

“Ya Peter?”

“Thank you…for this, it means a lot to me. I promise to help you out and keep you safe. It’s the least I can do.”

Michelle smiled, “Ya whatever loser, it’s no problem. Plus, I need someone around to pick on or I might just combust.”

Peter quickly did the dishes, making sure to not use more water then what was necessary. His mind raced the entire time, now that dinner was done and Michelle was upstairs, reality began to creep in again. Staying here in this safe bubble sounded amazing, but he knew he had to try and find Ned and May. But what if they were already dead? If he hadn’t been in the damn hospital, he could have protected them! Ugh, why couldn’t he remember how he had gotten there?

He groaned, drying his hands on his shorts. He needed sleep, his head was pounding, too much stress and sensory overload today.

Once upstairs, he saw Michelle’s shadow inside a nearby room. He knocked then slowly walked in. “Hey nerd, this will be your room. Sheets are clean and the pillow has never been used. There are more blankets in the closet. We share a bathroom unfortunately, it’s the next door down. I already put a clean towel and a new toothbrush on the counter for you. Your shower privileges start tonight, you need it.” She brushed past him, gently patting his shoulder.

“Oh, um thanks? I think?”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me, we are in this together now. I’m down the hall if you need me. Oh, and one more thing,” she turned around and handed him a gun, “Just in case, you can never be too safe. I’m assuming you know how to use one, Mr. Super hero?”

“Ha ha. Yes, I have plenty of training. You don’t become an Avenger overnight.”

“Good. Now clean up and get some sleep, goodnight Parker.”

“Goodnight Michelle,” Peter whispered, a cheesy smile crossing his face.

He raced through his shower, brushed his teeth, and finally climbed into bed, the call of a good night’s sleep beckoning him. He eased down under the sheets, breathing in the clean scent of laundry soap. Michelle’s quirky smirk flitted through his mind, calming his nerves. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

Somewhere in the hallway, peeking through his door frame, Michelle smiled, quietly tiptoeing back to bed.

Chapter Text

Michelle woke up late the next day, well late for her anyway. Having the windows shuttered off meant no natural sunlight to filter onto her face in the morning. She usually set an alarm for 5am but had opted to turn it off the night before given the odd day she had.

She rolled over, staring at her watch, watching the minute hand turn to 6:01am. Lying around in bed wasn’t really her thing, especially as of late, but she found herself thinking about Peter.

He was definitely something else, and that wasn’t even considering the fact that he was Spider-Man. His easy smile and cute brown curls made her heart swoon dangerously in her chest. No man had made her feel this way, even through out college. How great was fate to send someone amazing her way just to be stuck in a zombie apocalypse?

She cursed her brain, they had only known each for a day, she needed to reign in her feelings. Times were dangerous and she couldn’t let her guard down for anything. Even though her mind was starting to make a very strong argument for Peter…

Feelings of any type were hard for her, growing up with a shitty family dynamic. Her mom was a drunk and her dad was at “work” more often then not. She was an only child and had only really become close with her nanny, Shea. Once Michelle had become old enough to take care of herself, her parents had promptly fired Shea, leaving behind a very distraught child (she was only 10 at the time, her parent’s opinion of “grown up” was skewed).

Once she had finished high school at the local public school, she left for college and never looked back. Scholarships and part time jobs here and there helped her acquire her own little apartment and before she knew it, she had her Bachelor’s in Communications. Her plan had been to go to law school but…well, the world had gone to shit and here she was.

What surprised her the most was the letter she had received about 6 months ago. Shea had passed away, leaving her house and money to Michelle. The house was huge and had more space then she thought she would ever need. Luckily, it had come in handy. Michelle had never been much of a doom’s day believer but for some reason she got the itch to educate herself a couple months ago.

On her off time, she read books about it in the library, making a few tweaks to the house here and there. Her most expensive, and favorite enhancement, had been changing out the wooden front door to a steel enforced one. It looked tacky as hell but hey, she liked it.

The house already had a basement, so all she had to do was clean it out and make it ideal for storage and hiding if need be. She slowly began stock piling dry goods while learning how to deep freeze meat wrapped in salt. She tried her hand at canning but didn’t have much success with that.

She had taken on a part time job at the hospital, cleaning and sterilizing instruments and storage rooms. It was then that she was able to sneak home medical supplies. She didn’t have anything crazy but having some Lidocaine may come in handy. She had one dose of penicillin, but she wasn’t sure what she would use that for, only Peter was immune to the bite and no vaccine would help anyone else, including herself.

Her last project had been setting up the solar panels. Even with today’s most advanced technology, solar power wasn’t extremely efficient yet if handled improperly. It was a nice investment for some place sunny like Arizona or California, but it was tricky in New York. With some help from an old friend from college, she was able to make them more efficient. Plus, solar panels lasted awhile, unless they got damaged, then ya, she would be screwed. She would worry about that if the time ever came.

Needless to say, her house was relatively safe and would sustain her for quite some time. Of course, having another person there, eating her food and drinking her water, would lessen that time, but not being alone was nice. She had always preferred being a lone wolf, doing things on her own, but something about the world basically ending changes a person. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it helped that her newfound roommate was easy on the eyes…she still did have certain needs.

She glanced at her watch again, 6:10am. Time to actually get up so she swung her legs over the bed and pulled on ratty clothing. She crept by Peter’s room, finding him still fast asleep. To wake him up or to not wake him up? A soft snore echoed through the room, making her giggle. Ok, let him sleep, he could collect the wood when he woke up. Building a protective barrier around the house wasn’t a bad idea.

After grabbing a quick snack, she headed to the mini gym she had built in the garage. It was nothing crazy, consisting of only a treadmill and lose weights, but it would keep her in shape.

Twenty minutes into her run she heard the door creak open, revealing a disheveled Peter. “Hey Parker,” she said, slowing down her speed, “How did you sleep?”

His eyes were bugged out a little bit, a blush rising on his cheeks. Michelle rose an eyebrow, what the hell? Then she remembered, she worked out in shorts and a sport’s bra, not leaving much to the imagination. She self-consciously grabbed her shirt, throwing it on. “If I wanted to be ogled at like a piece of meat I would walk outside.” Secretly, she enjoyed his gaze, but she couldn’t give that away, so sarcasm was her friend.

Peter quickly snapped out of it, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to stare- not that you aren’t nice to stare at! No, wait, I mean-,” he clamped his mouth shut, “I’m just going to shut up now.”

Michelle laughed, “I’m kidding dork, it’s not like I was naked. I still have about thirty minutes left in my workout, your welcome to either join or make breakfast,” and with that she started up the treadmill again.

She could see him contemplating life, muttering to himself, but too low for her to make out any words. It was quite amusing to watch. After about 30 seconds passed, he seemed to make up his mind, beginning his pre-workout stretches.

Michelle zoned out, focused on her own workout, until she heard the tall tell sign of jumping jacks. She wondered, was there much he could do here work out wise? Her weight collection was probably a joke to him, considering he could stop trains with his hands. Looks like cardio would be his only option.

After five minutes straight of doing jumping jacks, he finally stopped. Sweat dripped down his forehead and Michelle couldn’t help but stare (while also trying to keep up her run as to not look too obvious). He looked around, probably trying to find a towel or something. Coming up with nothing, he shrugged, pulling his shirt over his head.

Michelle’s brain short- circuited, causing her feet to tangle around each other. “Holy abs-!” she started to say, until she completely lost her balance. The safety magnetic strip ripped off the treadmill, sending Michelle sprawling backwards as it came to a halt.

Peter was at her side in an instant, “Shit Michelle! Are you ok?”

Michelle sputtered, trying not to laugh at her own misfortune, “My God Parker, warn a girl before you just whip out your muscles!”

Peter smirked and mischief flashed in his eyes, “Ms. Jones, were you watching me?”

“Uh, duh! How could I not be? Your like…a male model’s dream! If you ever repeat that, I will castrate you.”

Peter laughed, helping her to her feet, “Hmm, ok. Looks like we are even now.”

“Ha ha. I don’t know about you, but I’m done with the gym for the day. Plus, my weight collection is probably a joke to you.”

He shrugged, “Well ya, I don’t actually need to work out. I just wanted to keep you company,” and before she could dwell on what he said he continued, “So, breakfast? Then I’m going out to get wood.”

A few hours later and Peter was out in the open, swinging around, without his suit on. It was exhilarating, even though the only people who could see him were technically dead. He whooped, laughing as he flew through the air. Where was he going to find enough wood to surround the house…? He hadn’t thought this through.

“Oh, hey! Home Depot!” And now he was talking to himself, great.

He was in and out in a flash, stacking wood into a slated cart. He was strong, but he couldn’t carry 50 plus planks of wood. Once he had enough, he used one arm to swing and one arm to hold onto the cart (which he had tied up, obviously). The trip had been rather easy and painless, thank Thor for his superpowers.

Once he got back to the house, he set up in the garage, sharpening the ends of the wood. Michelle offered to help but he waved her away, it was the least he could do.

It was getting dark by the time he finished up and he was proud of his work. He went to find Michelle, wanting to show her that he wasn’t completely useless.

“Peter, I’m not going outside, in the dark, with killer zombies around, you can show me in the morning.”

“Butttttt Michelle, please! It looks great! And I won’t let anything happen to you! It will only take a minute, anyways.” He pouted his lips for affect.

“Fine, you have two minutes Parker.”

Peter fist pumped the air, Michelle muttering “Dweeb.”

She took a deep breath and readied herself, she hadn’t been outside, at night, in a couple of weeks. She was kind of excited. Peter gently took her hand, tugging her out the door.

She looked around, he had done a really good job. There were no cracks in between the wood to be seen. He had meticulously made the house an even better safety fortress. “Wow, it’s actually really good. I didn’t know I was missing this until just now.”

Peter suddenly tensed, pulling Michelle to his side. “What is it?” she hissed, she couldn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary.

Then, she heard it, a low gurgling sound coming from their left. Panic flooded her veins, they needed to get inside now! But Peter relaxed, “Look, it’s working!”

Sure enough, the zombie was slowly working his way into becoming a kabob, ceasing movement after twenty seconds of struggling.

“Alright, that’s enough fun for tonight! Let’s go inside.”

Peter laughed in amusement but tugged her inside anyways, the door hissing shut behind them.

“Thanks again for doing that Peter, it makes me feel a little bit safer. As safe as you can feel anyway, considering the circumstances…”

“It was no problem, really. I am Spider Man after all.”

Michelle shoved his arm, “You are incorrigible, I’m going to bed. See you in the morning nerd.”

She slowly turned and headed to her room, leaving a smiling dork behind her.