Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

BREAKING NEWS: OUTBREAK OF “ZOMBIE” VIRUS AT ST. ANNE’S HOSPITAL IN NEW YORK.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Roman gaped at the television sitting in the center of the conference room, ATN headline scrolling in red across the screen.

“‘Zombie’ virus? What is this, World War Z?” Shiv scoffed.

“I think it’s kind of fun.” Tom said, distracted. He was halfway through dialing Greg on his phone. “Maybe we’ll get to go hide out on a remote island and watch all the poor people die.”

Shiv rolled her eyes, and Tom left the room. She could hear Greg’s stuttering through the speaker– “Have you heard about the, um, the zombies? They seem to be, uh, ingesting…people” – until the door shut behind Tom and muffled their voices.

Idiot, Shiv thought.

The headline on the TV continued to scroll, but the newscasters were talking about the hidden miracles in essential oils, ignoring the supposed breaking news.

“What do you think, Ken?” Roman asked. Kendall was sitting on the other side of the conference room, chewing his pen and looking at his computer. “Ken,” Roman said again, louder.

Kendall looked up. “What?”

“Jesus, dude. Have you seen the news?” Roman asked.

Kendall did not look well, his dark circles giving a new meaning to sleeplessness, and he failed to hide his hands shaking. Compared to his wild and frenzied attempts at giving himself a birthday party, however pitiful, Shiv couldn’t tell if he was coming down from the many, many drugs he probably took or if he was just sad. Kendall always looked kind of sad, though.

“What news, Rome?” Kendall replied, his shoulders drooping and his voice tired. He looked back at his computer.

“The fucking–Shiv, help me out–the fucking zombies! Look!” Roman pointed to the television.

“Zombie apocalypse, Ken,” Shiv said.

Kendall looked up at the television, clearly did not read the headline, and went back to his computer. He sighed. “Ok, Roman.”

Roman threw up his hands. “I think we should be pretty fucking concerned. Should we be more concerned?”

“How many private jets do we own, Roman? I think we’ll be fine.” Shiv said snidely. Maybe she could leave Tom behind and he’d get eaten by a zombie, though he’d probably still follow her to eat her heart and her brains like a sad, zombie puppy.

“Fuck you. I hope a zombie fucks your brains,” Roman threw a pen at her.

Shiv dodged the pen. “Gross, Rome. I didn’t need that image.”

“Oh, did that gross your little lady brain out? Do you need little Tom to protect your little lady feelings?” He flapped his hands around, mocking Shiv.

“Shut up, asshole. Like you have any brains for a zombie to eat.”

Roman smiled wildly, having caught Shiv, and leaned into the table. “You do realize that means I’d survive? I’d survive while you’re getting brain-fucked by a bunch of zombies?”

“You just called yourself stupid, you dick.”

Kendall spoke, interrupting the argument. “Can we just focus on Mom’s wedding? We’re supposed to be helping with the planning.”

“I don’t even know why she asked us,” Shiv said. “I’d rather just burn it down.”

“Don’t be so fucking boring, Kendall,” Roman whined. “Think of the zombies.” He mimed a zombie, reaching for both of them like he was going to eat their brains.

Tom appeared in the glass behind the conference room door, still on the phone but about to come inside.

“I think your husbands cheating on you with our cousin,” Roman remarked.

“Shut the fuck up, Roman,” Shiv glared.

Tom hung up his phone and opened the door. He looked happier than he ever did with her, Shiv noticed. And all from a stupid phone call.

Tom was practically jumping for joy. “Greg said the zombies have made it out of the hospital and are attacking tourists. It’s a fucking free-for-all!”

Chapter Text

Roman looked down at his phone to see Connor calling. The car he’d called for Kendall, Shiv, Tom, and himself had finally found a moment of quiet, though the streets outside were unrestrained chaos. Their car was barely moving, but it was safe.

Roman tapped his screen to pick up. “Con?” Shiv and Kendall looked towards Roman, listening, but Connor’s reception was spotty, and Roman could only pick out a couple words.

“I–Tuscany–Willa–can’t–”

“Look, Connor, I can’t hear you–”

“Planes–Dad–”

“Con–” Roman tried, and the call dropped. He stared at his phone, concerned. “Huh.”

“I’m sure he’s ok,” Shiv offered. Roman hummed, unsure.

“He said Willa, didn’t he?” Kendall asked. “So we know he’s with her.”

Roman didn’t respond. He’d assumed Connor was fine until he got that call, but now he wasn’t so sure. “Dad hasn’t called any of us, has he?” He hadn’t gotten a call from Gerri, either, he realized. Or a text. He flipped his phone in his hand, thinking about whether to text her or not. She probably wouldn’t appreciate a dick pic right then, so that was out of the question.

Kendall shook his head. He leaned his head against his hand resting on the door armrest and closed his eyes.

Shiv turned her gaze towards the window. “Not me.”

“Um,” Tom started. Everyone looked at him, and the air in the car seemed to freeze.

It took Roman a second to realize why he had spoken. “No way. No fucking way.”

Shiv looked between Tom and Roman, confused. “What–”

“He fucking called you? You’re not even in the family!” Roman nearly jumped out of his seat to grab Tom. He was furious. Kendall just leaned back in his seat and pinched his nose.

“I mean, son-in-law–” Tom tried to defend himself.

Shiv started laughing. “Wait a fucking minute, our dad called you?” When Tom didn’t respond, she went from disbelief to stone-cold in a single moment. “Why did Logan call you, Tom,” she dead-panned, tense and on the edge of her seat.

“Honey, it was–he was just calling to check in, you know, in his scary, ‘I could kill you but I probably love you’ kind of way,” Tom said, fiddling with his coat sleeves.

Shiv was silent.

“Well, what the fuck did he say?” Roman snapped.

Tom looked down. Roman was intense when he was angry. “I can’t really–he was just asking if I was with you, Shiv, that’s all.”

“If you were with me,” Shiv repeated.

“Yeah, I think he was making sure you were ok. He asked about you, too, Roman, though he sounded more mad than concerned,” he trailed off

Shiv squinted at him. This didn’t sound like their dad at all. Roman couldn’t remember a single time their dad worried about any of them, and he noted that Logan didn’t ask about Kendall. He’d bet money that Kendall was thinking the same thing.

Kendall spoke up, quiet, like he was stating a fact rather than asking a question he already knew the answer to. “He didn’t ask about me, did he.”

Tom shifted, awkward. “Uh, no. He didn’t.”

Roman wondered what it felt like being the favorite of a man not bothered enough to call any of his children, much less talk to them face-to-face. It was the start of a zombie apocalypse for fuckssake, and they had all been in the same building, Logan just floors above them.

“Ken, you know Dad loves you,” Shiv said, unsure but wanting to comfort Kendall all the same.

Kendall smiled, sad, still looking out the window. He was sinking into his seat but trying not to for his siblings. “No, he doesn’t,” he said, almost wistful. Kendall knew his dad hadn’t loved him for a very long time. What was love, anyways, if not an excuse to build someone up before tearing them down?

Roman felt that his relationship with their father was a little more complicated, and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to maroon himself from the family like Kendall did. He’d stick by his dad’s side until the day he died, even if it killed him.

The car stopped suddenly, and the partition between the driver and their seats rolled down. “I can’t go any further. This is the end of the road,” he said, his eyes reflected in the rearview mirror.

Roman scoffed. “Are you fucking–we have to get out? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Cars around them had stalled, and people were abandoning their cars in the middle of the street to get onto the sidewalk where they could run. Roman couldn’t see if they were running from anything, but he knew it wasn’t good. Except Roman didn’t run. If it came down to a race between him and a snail, the snail would win. He could never survive a zombie apocalypse. He was kidding himself if he thought he could. Delusional at best, completely losing his mind at worst. And it was beginning to look like he might lose his mind.

Tom opened his door and began to step out.

“Tom!” Shiv yelled, trying to pull him back inside.

“The driver’s right, we’re not moving. We have to go,” he said, and he pulled Shiv out of the car.

Roman tried to breathe. “Fuck. Kendall, you ok?”

Kendall hadn’t really moved since the car stopped, his head tilted back in his seat. He still looked like death warmed over. “Do I look ok?”

Roman took a deep breath. “Shit. Fuck. Ok. Let’s go.”

Kendall sighed and slowly climbed out of the car, Roman following.

-

The streets were overrun.

“Can we get a helicopter? Someone get a fucking helicopter, I’m fucking claustrophobic,” Roman shouted, trying to squeeze his way through the crowds to keep up with Shiv and Tom. He at least had Kendall by his side, but he was mostly dead weight. He smiled every now and then at Roman’s comments, and that made Roman want to keep talking.

Shiv, on the other hand, felt betrayed by Tom and wasn’t paying much attention to the crowds. It was one thing to kiss up to her dad because he was her husband, but learning that he was all buddy-buddy with her father? And she hadn’t even known? She was supposed to know these things. She was supposed to be the one at the wheel, the one in control.

Roman was still talking. “Where the fuck are we even going? We’re all going to fucking die, aren’t we? Jesus Christ, and I never even got to talk to Gerri–”

Shiv whipped her head around. She felt extra paranoid having Tom by her side. “Talk to Gerri? About what?”

“Oh, uh, nothing.” Roman hadn’t meant to let that part slip.

“If you’re fucking keeping secrets, too, you better tell me what the fuck is going on.” Shiv stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pointed her finger at Roman, nearly poking his eye out. “This is not fucking cool, and I do not fucking deserve this. I’m a Roy just the same as you–”

“We need to keep moving,” Tom interrupted, and pulled Shiv forward again. “We need to get back to Waystar.”

“Tom, get your fucking hands off me.” She ripped her arm from Tom’s grip, and the moving crowd threatened to split their group up, pushing from all directions. “I know something’s going on, there’s no use hiding it. If you fucking think–”

“There are fucking zombies, Shiv. We need to go,” Tom stressed.

Shiv huffed, almost stomping in frustration. “Fine. We’ll talk about this later.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, and started leading them into the crowd once more. Thankfully, they weren’t that far from the Waystar headquarters, so it wouldn’t take them long to get back.

“Fucking Beavis and Butthead over here. Hope Shiv doesn’t pull a Gone Girl ,” Kendall muttered. Kendall huffed a laugh, smiling slightly, and Roman smiled back. He was happy to see his brother smiling again, even if it was just for a little bit.

Chapter Text

Back at Waystar, the building was nearly empty, the last few employees rushing to get home. Shiv couldn’t think of a time it had ever been so empty or silent. Outside the building, people were still running for their lives, but inside, it may as well have been a remote island. It was eerie, and their footsteps echoed throughout the lobby while they walked to the elevators.

“We need to try to find Logan. He’ll know what to do,” Tom said, rushing ahead of them.

“About a fucking zombie apocalypse? He’s not that old. And where the fuck is everyone?” Roman asked, looking around like someone was hiding to ambush them.

“Where the fuck do you think?” Shiv bit back.

“Guys,” Kendall droned.

Roman rolled his eyes and made a face at Shiv.

Shiv supposed it was good they were safe. As safe as they could be, at least. It had been awhile since they had watched the news, too, so while she had no idea how far the virus had progressed, the crowds outside did not seem good.

Tom stopped at the elevators. Shiv hated looking at the back of his head.

Kendall was dragging his feet slightly behind her, reluctant to be in the building. “How do we know he’s even here? He could’ve taken a fucking trip to the Moon without telling us,” he asked.

“He’s here,” Tom said and called the elevator. Shiv seethed.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside.

-

The ride up the building was silent with Shiv stood in the middle. Roman was anxiously biting his fingernails.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. Shiv felt like she was about to attend her own funeral.

The floor was empty, save for Logan’s office. Gerri, Frank, and Karl sat inside, Logan pacing in front of his desk.

Shiv was scared. She wanted to be with her dad, and she wanted to be with her mom, but she also knew that they could never offer the kind of comfort she wanted. She had to be that for herself, and she held her chin high when they walked into their father’s office.

“Tom!” Logan said happily. Then, he spotted Kendall, and his face went cold. He turned to Karl and pointed to Kendall. “Get him the fuck out of here.”

No one moved. Kendall leaned his back against the door to the office. He was staying.

“Dad, why are you still here?” Shiv asked. “Shouldn’t you have left by now?”

Logan looked at her like she asked a dumb question. Maybe she did. He ignored her and pointed to Kendall again. “I’m not saying anything until he’s gone.”

Kendall chuckled.

“Are you–” Roman cleared his throat. “Are you working on Gojo? I don’t know if that’s the best idea right now, Dad–”

“Don’t be stupid, Romulus. That fucker doesn’t know his ass from his head. If we don’t take it now, we’ve lost.”

Tom stepped forward, meek. “Logan, I’m not sure if you’ve seen, but there appears to be, um, zombies. On the street. Just a little ol’ virus, but it’s, uh, gotten out, so to say.”

Roman rolled his eyes and scratched his head, partly in annoyance and in embarrassment.

“We need to go, Dad,” Shiv said, trying to be louder than Tom.

Logan waves his hand at her.

“Shiv’s right, Dad,” Kendall finally says. There’s a heavy weight on his shoulders. He knows his dad has left him for slaughter, but his voice is steady. “We need to get a helicopter.”

Logan pretends to ignore him. Gerri, Karl, and Frank sit in awkward silence, waiting to get the signal from Logan on what they should do.

He walks over to the window overlooking the city, standing tall. From above, it’s hard to see that anything has gone wrong.

“Gerri, get the pilots ready,” he announced. Shiv sighed in relief.

-

On the helicopter pad on the roof, they waited for the helicopters to descend, wind blowing fiercely. Shiv could practically taste how close they were to getting out of the city.

Logan was grumbling nearby. He wasn’t taking the virus seriously, and Shiv knew he had threatened the pilots somehow.

The helicopters landed, but the blades continued to spin while the pilots waited for them to board. Logan, Gerri, Karl, and Frank began to board the farther helicopter. Shiv noticed one of the pilots in the helicopter closer to them struggling to open his door.

“Dad, wait,” Shiv said. Logan paused, halfway out of the helicopter.

Tom walked towards their helicopter, hesitant. “Uh–”

The pilot tumbled onto the pavement, gasping for breath. Tom froze. A bright, bloody gash had been bitten out of his neck. The second pilot climbed out after him on all fours, blood running down his chin. Logan scrambled to get inside his helicopter–Gerri, Karl, and Frank already inside–his children still standing on the helicopter pad, when the second pilot spotted him and jumped for his leg.

Much too fast for a human, the pilot grabbed Logan’s leg and bit down hard. Logan screamed, trying to fight him off. His grip on the helicopter slipped, and he fell to the ground.

“Logan–” Gerri began to say.

Logan continued to fight the zombie pilot. “ Fuck off!”

“Guys–” Tom said, alarmed. The first pilot was convulsing on the ground, the virus in his system.

“Fuck.” Roman took a step back towards the door to the stairs. Logan was probably infected now.

Shiv didn’t know what to do. She was frozen where she stood. Kendall was inching his way around the pilots, aiming for the empty helicopter.

Roman stood by the stairs. “Ken, what the fuck are you doing?”

“We gotta get out of here,” he said.

Roman looked like he was about to have a breakdown, hyperventilating while he watched the helicopter pad go to shit. “What the fuck. What the fuck.”

Logan was still struggling with the pilot, who continued to chew on his leg. Gerri, Frank, and Karl were watching, unsure on what to do.

“We need to get back inside, Ken!” Shiv shouted.

“This is our way out, guys!” Kendall said, reaching the helicopter. He climbed inside the pilot seat, though Shiv wouldn’t trust him within ten feet of a helicopter.

Roman shook his hands out and smacked his face. “Fuck. Fuck. Ok. Shiv, let’s go.”

“What?”

“Let’s go.” He motioned for Shiv to follow him, but she didn’t move. Roman grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the helicopter, avoiding the still-convulsing pilot. They climbed into the helicopter together, leaving Tom on the tarmac.

“Tom!” Shiv shouted. “Come on!”

Tom stood there for a beat. “We need to help Logan.”

“Tom, are you fucking kidding?” Shiv laughed.

“Tom, get in here,” Kendall said, motioning for him to join Shiv and Roman in the back.

He hesitated, but turned towards the helicopter and reached to grab the handholds on either side of the helicopter doors to pull himself in. Shiv and Roman tried to pull him in as fast as they could, but Tom was suddenly pulled backwards. Logan had somehow crawled to their helicopter, the zombie clawing at his leg, and had grabbed Tom’s ankle.

“Tom, help,” he gasped. “Get this thing–off me–help, Tom–”

Tom shook his leg in panic, trying to get Logan off of him. “Shiv, Shivy–”

“Kendall, go,” Shiv commanded.

Roman looked at Shiv in alarm. “Can’t we just leave him?”

The first pilot on the ground jerked. He rolled onto his stomach, his limbs contorting unnaturally, and started crawling towards them slowly.

“Kendall, fucking go.”

Kendall pulled a lever back and pushed some buttons. The blades on top of the helicopter started spinning furiously. Tom screamed in frustration, Logan still holding on tight.

The helicopter began to lift off, Tom still holding on. The pilot crawling towards them grabbed onto Tom’s other ankle, and Shiv watched in horror as it took a bite out of Tom’s calf. He collapsed onto the helicopter pad while they rose higher and higher.

“Fuck,” Roman said, in shock.

Chapter Text

The helicopter blades whirred in the air. Shiv, Roman, and Kendall were silent in their seats. They had put on their headphones soon after taking off, muffling their hearing.

Roman couldn’t believe they had left Tom behind. He couldn’t believe they had left their dad behind. He’d always hated Tom, knowing how much his marriage with Shiv was a sham, but he didn’t think Shiv would ever have the guts to leave him behind like that. And their dad, all chewed up like a dog toy, clawing at Tom, desperate for help. He’d never seen Logan so helpless, and he knew he’d be having nightmares about that for weeks.

Shiv was looking out the window, tears rolling down her cheeks. Kendall was looking forward, his expression glazed.

“I hope Connor’s ok,” Shiv sniffed, her voice crackling over the microphone in her headphones.

Shit. They’d forgotten about Connor.

“We’ll call him when we land,” Kendall said, trying to be reassuring, but Roman could hear the worry in his voice.

“Where are we going, by the way?” Roman asked, petulant. “Don’t want to be, fucking, flying forever.”

Shiv wiped her tears away with her palms. “Roman…”

Kendall sighed. “I don’t know, Rome. Away, I guess.”

Roman looked out the window. Skyscrapers passed by them. “Away. Fucking–away.” He was silent for a moment, but he couldn’t stop picturing their dad on the helicopter pad. He didn’t know what he was going to do or who he was going to be without their dad constantly by his side, watching and judging his every move. “When the fuck did you learn how to fly a helicopter, Ken? Playing daddy’s little pilot on the side?”

Kendall huffed a laugh at the change in subject. “Rehab.”

Shiv rolled her eyes and took a shaky breath. She was now without a husband, and they were all without a father, however shitty of one he was.

“You’re doing a good job,” Roman commented. “Saved our lives and all.”

“Thanks, Rome,” Kendall said. His expression looked a little less vacant.

“Guess we’re not going to Mom’s wedding, though,” Roman said, thoughtfully. “Can’t say I’m sad.”

A laugh escaped Shiv. Then she started giggling hysterically.

Kendall and Roman both grabbed their headphones, Kendall keeping one hand on the dash. “Jesus, Shiv, turn off your fucking mic!” Roman cried. It wasn’t long before they all started laughing, though. Laughing that turned into laughing-crying, but laughing nonetheless.

“What a fucking mess,” Shiv choked out through her giggles. “Dad’s dead! Tom’s dead! We’re in a fucking zombie apocalypse!”

Roman and Kendall quieted immediately, Shiv’s laughs tapering off back into silence.

“We could call Greg,” Kendall offered. Shiv and Roman broke out laughing again, Kendall joining them.

“Fucking Greg fucking Hirsch,” Roman laughed.

Shiv sniffed and wiped her tears again, somber once more. “I think Tom was cheating on me with him.”

Roman looked at her incredulously. “Greg? You’re joking, right?”

“Greg would get rejected by a zombie, Shiv,” Kendall said, glancing back at them.

“I don’t know. I just had a feeling.”

“Didn’t you cheat on him ?” Roman asked.

Shiv punched him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain. “Shut the fuck up, Rome.” 

“Careful, Shiv,” he groaned. “Gotta watch out for the homophobia police. Don’t want to get your liberal license revoked.”

Shiv looked out the window again. “How long is this going to last?”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the zombies will start shitting rainbows and unicorns!” Roman said with jazz hands.

“I don’t think I can handle thinking about that yet,” Kendall admitted. “Can we just–get to safety? For now?”

Shiv didn’t respond. The skyscrapers outside were starting to turn to trees, suburban roads and highways winding beneath them.

Roman took a deep breath. They were safe, and they were together.