Chapter Text
Regulus got maybe three hours sleep when Evan wakes him up in the morning. The slight shake of his shoulder has him shooting up in a panic.
"Sorry lovely, I didn't mean to startle you," Evan says softly, rubbing his thumb along the exposed skin of Regulus' collar bone. Barty was already up at the other side of the warehouse talking with Pandora. Dorcas was over by the food having some breakfast. Regulus leans into Evans touch for a moment, enjoying the peaceful morning. It's not often they get to wake up like this, with no zombies around, able to just stay in bed and relax. "Breakfast?" Evan says after a moment of silence. Regulus grins at him. He can't remember the last time he had breakfast.
He and Evan make their way to the others, Barty gives Regulus a kiss on the cheek and hands him a packet of dried fruits. Regulus eats the fruit slowly, savouring every bite. His mouth is watering and he's pretty sure he's drooling but he doesn’t care. Pandora is pulling her hair out of the braid she keeps it in, running her hand through it. It's all knotted together and clumpy with a mix between grease, mud, sweat, and a bit of blood. She looks at her nails and pulls a face at the grime that’s stuck under them.
"I don't do this often in case I run out, but I've got some shampoo if anyone wants to wash their hair," she says, standing up and making her way to a box. There's not much shampoo in the box, but there's enough for the five of them to share.
"Oh my god, yes!" Evan cheers, grabbing the bottle when it's passed to him. It's lemon scented.
"There lake is close by, I usually go there to wash," Pandora says, getting another bottle of shampoo out. This one is almost empty, and is lavander scented. Regulus' hair has grown since the apocalypse started. It's past his ears, brushing his shoulders. He hates it. Barty suits his longer hair, but Evan is the same as Regulus, looking for scissors at every store to cut it. At one point they tried to cut it using Reggie's daggers. That didn't work out very well.
After everyone has eaten breakfast they make their way to the lake, taking the towels they had found at the B&B Dorcas stayed at. Pandora has brought a bar of soap as well. They get to the water without any zombies showing up. They start taking off their clothes, leaving on their underwear for modesty and in case they need to take a quick escape.
For some reason, Regulus isn't expecting the water to be cold. He flinches as it splashes up the side of his ribs. Now, standing in the lake wearing just his underwear he realises how skinny he's gotten. He can clearly count every one of his ribs, and his belly is sticking out from suddenly being filled - even if it was just a tiny bit of food. Evan and Barty are the same, and from what he can see so are the girls. Evan's muscles are defined from using the baseball bat all the time and Regulus finds himself staring at him.
Barty walks over to him, careful not to splash him with the water. Regulus smiles at the tattoo of a snake curled around Barty's heart, it's been a while since he's seen it. Barty stops in front of him and starts brushing water through Regulus' hair, getting it wet enough for the shampoo.
"Is it killing you having me and Evan walking round with no shirt and dripping wet?" Regulus jokes, grinning when Barty splashes water on him playfully.
"I'm trying not to think about it. Pandora and Dorcas are right there and we don't want to scar them." Barty starts rubbing shampoo into Regulus' hair, and he lifts a hand and traces the scales of the tattoo.
"I can wash my own hair, you know," He says, just to be annoying. Barty hums.
"I know, but I want to wash it for you," he says. "Duck down." Regulus does as he asks, ducking his head under the water to wash the shampoo out. Barty chose the lavander scented one and the smell fills Regulus' nose, causing him to relax, smiling to himself. It takes three washes to get all the dirt, grease and grime out of his hair. Evan has come over and passes the bar of soap over before he starts washing Barty's hair. By the time Regulus has finished washing himself, the water around him has gone cloudy and muddy. He moves a bit further away from that spot to rinse his hair with the cleaner water. Pandora appeared next to him, swishing her hands in the water around her.
"There's a hair dressers close by that we could go to today. Get you guys a hair-cut," She says, squinting up at the sky and looking at the clouds that pass by.
"Pandora there's no hair stylist," Regulus says, slightly amused at how casual Pandora sounded.
"I know that, silly, I mean we could cut it ourselves," She clarifies, giggling at Regulus. Regulus looks over towards Evan and Barty. They've finished washing their hair and are now splashing each other with the water, laughing. It's been months since Regulus has seen them this happy. During an apocalypse, being openly happy and messing around like this is hard, constantly on the lookout for zombies. Pandora gives him a knowing look before heading back to Dorcas.
Regulus sneaks up behind Barty, Evan catching his eye over his shoulder. Barty is too busy trying to splash Evan with the water to notice someone coming up behind him, so it's easy for Regulus to grab him at the hips, ticking him. Barty laughs, turning round to grab Regulus, but slipped and splashed the water everywhere as he went down. Evan bends over, clutching his stomach with laughter. Regulus can hear Pandora and Dorcas laughing from where they're stood. The three of them wrestle in the water for ages, until they're shivering from the cold and their fingers have pruned up. Dorcas and Pandora have already gotten out the water and changed, keeping an eye out for zombies as the boys mess around.
When they finally get out of the water, Regulus is shaking so cold he feels sick, but he doesn't regret it. They sit next to the girls, teeth clicking together.
"Did you have fun?" Dorcas asks, grinning at them.
"I am so fucking cold. Where's the towel?," Barty says, hugging himself and rubbing his arms to stay warm. Pandora throws a towel at them. It's already damp, but better than nothing. They dry themselves off as best as they can before getting changed into their now clean clothes, laughing when Barty shakes his head like a dog leaving it sticking up at odd angles. They pack up their towels and toiletries before leaving.
It's when they head back to the warehouse things start to go wrong. They're chatting to themselves quietly, keeping an eye out for zombies when they hear crying coming from a dark alley way. It's muffled, as though whoever it is doesn't want to be heard. The group freeze, nodding slightly to each other before tightening their grip on their weapons and slowly making their way over.
In the alley, there's a man around their age. He's sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest and gripping his hair. There's no one else around. Regulus can't tell if he's human or zombie, and by the looks of it, neither can the others. Barty kicks over a loose pebble before anyone can stop him. The pebble skips across the ground, coming to a stop next to the man's foot. He looks up, eyes red and tearstained.
"Who are you?" he asks, though his voice is muffled by his arms, hiding the bottom part of his face.
"We're here to help you," Pandora says, carefully taking a step closer. Dorcas reaches out a hand to stop her from getting too close.
"You can't help me," The man says, shuffling away and pressing closer to the wall.
"Tell me what happened." Pandora's voice is smooth, almost relaxing. She carefully moves closer, shaking Dorcas' hand off.
"They all died. My family. They were ripped apart and I couldn’t do anything to stop it," The man whispers. Regulus feels a shiver go down his spine, something doesn't feel right about this.
"I know that's a scary thing to watch, and you have to understand it wasn't your fault." Pandora is almost at the man now, and Regulus shifts slightly looking around. It's too quiet here.
"Oh but it was," the man says. That's when he drops his arms, raising his head fully. The bottom part of his face is a mess. His nose is ripped off, his lips are black and Regulus can see into his mouth from a hole torn in his cheek. Pandora stumbles back, hand grasping for her knife but she can't seem to reach it. The man lunges at her and several things happen at once.
Dorcas reaches forward for Pandora, who stumbles back to her. Regulus releases his knife, throwing it towards the zombie where it lands deep in his neck. And a group of zombies charge towards them out of nowhere.
The zombie in the alley dies as soon as Regulus' knife embeds into his skin, but he doesn't have enough time to prepare himself for the next attack before he's grabbed by the arm. He slashes his spare knife down, stopping right before he reaches skin when he realises it's not a zombie, but instead Barty pulling him along. The new herd of zombies chase after then as they run through the streets. They slip between buildings, climbing through windows and crawling through broken fences. At some point Regulus and Barty get split off from the others, somehow shaking off the zombies. Regulus takes in a few deep breaths, pressing his hands against his stomach where a stitch is starting to hurt. His throat if dry and he feels sick from all the running, but none of that is compared to the fear he feels when he realises that Evan isn't with them.
"Where's Evan?" Barty asks, apparently coming to the same realisation. Regulus looks around, not recognising the place. All the buildings are broken down, probably destroyed during the riots that happened during the beginning of the apocalypse. There's no zombies around, but they can be heard in the distance screeching and wailing. Panic grips at Regulus' heart when he hears a scream coming from the direction they just ran from, it sounded like Dorcas.
Without waiting, Regulus sets off running. The adrenaline is the only thing keeping him going at this point. Barty catches up to him pretty quickly, and both of them skid to a stop when they see what's happening in front of them. Evan, Dorcas and Pandora are in a dead end, pressed up against a wall with no way out. There's maybe thirteen zombies crowding around them. It's not the biggest herd they've ever seen, but it is the biggest one they've been trapped by.
Evan is swinging his bat around, trying to keep the zombies at a distance. Dorcas has a knife clutched in one hand, the scythe from the warehouse in the other. Pandora has more knives, jabbing any zombie that gets too close.
"Stay back," Barty murmurs to Regulus, pulling a lighter out of his pocket. He flicks it open, and the flame dances around in a way that is almost mesmerising. Regulus takes a step back, keeping an eye on any zombies that might try and join.
"Is this a good idea? They might run away from the flame and get closer to Evan." Regulus knows that Dorcas and Pandora are there as well. But he doesn’t care about them nearly half as much as he cares about his boyfriend. Maybe that makes him a bad person, but he doesn't care.
"It'll be fine. I wouldn't risk Ev's life like this," Barty reassures. He pulls an aerosol can out and holds it behind the flame. Evan spots them right before Barty clicks the nozzle and pushes the girls to the ground, landing on top of them. The flame shoots out, catching on the zombies clothing almost immediately. The screams that come out of their mouths are far too human for Regulus' liking, and he resists the urge to cover his ears. Some of the zombies fall straight away, the flame burning down to their skin, their flesh melting away. Some try run away, but Regulus throws his knives at them before they get too far.
It isn’t long until all the zombies are dead, the smell of burning flesh and hair clings to the air. Evan slowly looks up, before rushing towards his boyfriends and pulling them into a hug.
"I thought I lost you both," he whispers into their ears. Regulus presses his forehead into Evan's shoulder, clinging back. Dorcas gives herself a shake and helps Regulus collect his knives.
Movies and books lie about how easy it is to pull a knife out of a body, the suction of the wound keeps the knife in unless Regulus manages to twist it the right way, pulling with some effort. And some of the blades are embedded in the bones, stuck. Eventually he collects most of his knives, slipping them back to where they belong. Pandora is still on the ground and Regulus notices that she's crying silently, watching the others. Barty walks over to her, brushing some of her hair out of her face.
"I really thought I was going to die," She whispers, looking right though Barty. "I thought we were all going to die." Regulus doesn’t know what happened to them while he and Barty had gotten split off, and he doesn’t really want to know. Evan wouldn’t have gone into a dead end unless he had a reason. The five of them finally make their way back to the warehouse, Pandora still sniffling and Regulus clinging to Evans hand. All of them are covered in blood.
They pass what looks to be a hair salon and Pandora stops, looking at the smashed window.
"Still want a haircut?" she ask, nodding towards the building. They make their way inside, being wary of any zombies that could attach them. Pandora pushes Regulus into a seat, picking up a pair of scissors, and before anyone can stop her, she starts cutting his hair. The mirror is splattered with a mixture of things that Regulus doesn’t want to know, so he can't see his reflection well. At least if it turns out bad, no one will be around to see it.
After a while, Pandora moves onto Evan.
"How do I look?" Regulus asks Barty, spinning the chair round. Barty replies with a kiss, gently cupping his face. Regulus closes his eyes, leaning into it. They sit for a moment, their faces pressed close together, until Pandora interrupts them.
"Barty, your turn." Regulus turns to Evan. His hair is much shorter than it was before, but it doesn’t look terrible. It actually looks quite good. While waiting for Barty to have his hair cut, Regulus joins Dorcas by the door, keeping a look out.
"The three of you are cute together," she say, glancing at him. "I don’t think I've said that yet."
"Oh. Thank you," Regulus says, trying to fight the blush he can feel crawling up his neck. Dorcas just smiles in response, and they go back to watching in silence.
When Pandora is finished with Barty, they make their way back to the warehouse. They ran quite far away from it while getting chased, but luckily there's no more zombie attacks for the rest of the journey. When they finally get back in, Pandora locks the doors behind them and Regulus falls onto the makeshift bed they made the day before. He's got a headache that started somewhere during the zombie chase and he doesn't know if it's because of dehydration, the heat, the running, or lack of sleep. He closes his eyes and wraps his hand around the ankle of whoever it is that stops next to him.
"Drink this." It’s Barty, waving a bottle of water in his face. Reluctantly, Regulus takes a drink. Evan joins them, falling onto the bed behind Regulus and throwing an arm over his eyes.
"It's only like, three o'clock," he says. It's been an eventful day and it's not even over. Regulus passes the water back to Barty and closes his eyes again. Barty straddles his hips, sitting upright and talking to Evan. Regulus doesn't know what they're talking about and doesn't really care, just paying attention to the hand running through his hair and the weight of his boyfriend on top of him.
At some point Dorcas comes over and joins the conversation. Regulus doesn't open his eyes again until he feels a feather light kiss on his lips.
"You awake, Reggie?" Barty whispers against his skin, Regulus groans in response. "C'mon, time to eat."
This 'eating food every day' thing is brilliant. Regulus sits next to Pandora and they share a packet of dried fruit. Its banana today, and Regulus hums while eating it. He's not a fan of Banana, but considering last week he there hadn't been any food at all, he was almost drooling over it.
"I think we should stay here the rest of the day, after the eventful morning we've had," Dorcas suggests after they've finished their food. Everyone nods in agreement. There's not much to do in the warehouse, so they decide to spend the rest of the day learning more of the weapons. Dorcas teaches herself how to use the scythe properly and Regulus teaches Evan and Pandora how to throw knives to they hit their target. Barty picks up a machete, somehow breaks everything around him and twists his wrist, and places it back on its stand with a meek smile.
Regulus smiles to himself. It's nice, being able to relax. Not having to look over his shoulder at every moment sure there's a zombie after him.