Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The zombie apocalypse started just over a year ago. The infection started almost two years before that. At first it was almost like a flu - just a fever, nausea, coughing… but then came the hunger. People started eating as much as they could. Stores ran out of food quicker than anything else, with the meat being sold faster than ever before. After almost a year of this fever, people stopped cooking the meat.

Regulus saw it with his own eyes, his father was one of the infected. One night, a few months before the apocalypse started, he was staying with his parents for the week. He walked down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for a drink. His father was there, raw meat stuffed into his mouth. Orion had eaten it so fast, so hungry for it, that it had gotten all over his face. The meat was so fresh that blood dripped from it, covering his clothes and face. Orion hadn’t noticed Regulus - who had almost thrown up, frozen in horror - and continued searching through the cupboards, fridge and freezer looking for more meat.

Regulus had gone back to his home the next morning, not wanting to be in the same house as his father for any longer, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was. It was all over the news when they first started eating people. Everyone was instructed to stay indoors, don’t leave the house for anything. But of course not everyone listened. The streets were covered in dead bodies, soaked in blood. The government called it an infection, an illness. But everyone just called them Zombies - because that's what they were. If you were lucky, you died quickly and the zombies ate you. If you weren't lucky, you got infected as well. Even now, years after the virus started, no one knows how it spreads. At first people wore face masks, thinking it was airborne. That didn’t last long.

Now, a year since people started eating each other, almost everyone was infected. Regulus and his boyfriends Barty and Evan are some of the few survivors, someone not infected. They were quarantined together when it started and they managed to stay together when everything got worse. They watched from the windows of their flat, people running in the streets getting chased. People screaming for help. Their door rattled with people trying to get in.

They never let anyone in, learning their lesson after trying to help a young girl. The infection hadn't shown itself until after a few days, and then she attacked. That was the first time Regulus had killed anyone, even if she wasn't fully human anymore.

Whenever they ran out of food, they would leave the flat together, each carrying a backpack with water, food, torches and a spare change of clothes. They aways stayed together, watching each other back.

That’s what they were doing right now, the three of them walking down the street, the smell of blood and rot filling the air. Each of them had a weapon clutched in their hands, and spare knives in their pockets. It was quiet today. The only noise was the slight scuff of their shoes as they walked. They hadn't eaten in almost three days, and it was starting to show, all of them moving slightly slower than usual.

Most stores they came across had already been emptied. They still searched through them though. Every so often, Barty would pocket some lighters, throwing deodorant or other aerosol cans into his bag, keeping one in his hand.

"A make-shift flamethrower." He had explained when Evan and Regulus had given him a look the first time he did it. They never questioned him again when that homemade flame thrower saved their lives a few days later, setting a zombie on fire and burning it to a crisp. The smell of burning flesh clung to their clothes and hair for days after, but at least they were alive.

Regulus walked slowly through the isles, hardly breathing. The lighting was terrible with the electricity not working and the windows being at the other side of the store. He didn't want to use his torch, trying to save the battery in case of an emergency. Speaking of batteries, in front of him was a stack, exactly the kind his torch took. He quickly opened his backpack as silently as he could and shoved the packs in, closing it quickly.

A noise behind him startled him, before he gripped his dagger tighter, turning in the direction the noise came from.

"Shit." He heard someone whisper to themself. It was a feminine voice, one he didn't recognise. But he still couldn't trust that she wasn't infected, some zombies could still speak perfectly and hold entire conversations before lunging and trying to rip your face off.

Regulus quietly moved back to where Evan and Barty were. Once he was in their eyeline, he signalled that he heard something. Barty nodded his head in understanding, flicking open his lighter and holding a can up to the flame, his finger over the pressure button ready to shoot. Evan raised his bat and the three of them moved towards the noise. They all got to the opening of the isle at the same time and watched a woman around the same age as them, maybe older, searching through the medical supplies. There wasn't much left, just the odd plasters or pills. The woman slipped on some blood on the floor and she cursed under her breath again before freezing. Slowly she turns around, facing Regulus, Evan and Barty.

"Oh," She whispered, "hello."

And then she turns runs.

"I'm going to give a wild guess and say she's not infected," Barty says, rolling his eyes. Evan huffs out a laugh, swatting Barty on his forehead gently.

"Come on," Regulus said quietly. "There's nothing left in this store. We should go find shelter before the sun sets."

The three of them left, none of them putting down their weapons. They moved down the street, sticking to the middle of the road and avoiding any open buildings where a Zombie might be hiding.

They had been walking for almost an hour, Barty kicking a stray pebble every now and then, when they heard the sound of running behind them. They turned round to see the girl from the store running towards them.

"Run!" she shouted as soon as she got close enough, without asking questions, they all ran.

Even after all these months, the adrenalin still got to Regulus. The fear of what was happening pumping through his veins. They had only been running for five minutes when there was a scream behind them, revealing what the girl was running from.

Silly really, what else would it be other than a zombie?

The scream made Regulus run faster, gripping onto Evan's arm to pull him along when he stumbled over his feet. There was an abandoned truck in front of them. The door was open, and Barty jumped in, Regulus and Evan following. Regulus closed the door after the girl, all of them crawling to the back, hoping the zombies didn’t see them climb in. There was an old blanket in the back that they threw over the top of themselves, hiding them from view if someone was to look through the window. After a moment, Regulus slid his hand out the blanket to click the button on the door to lock the truck.

"How do you know they won't smell us?" the girl asked once she got her breath back.

"We do this whenever we have to hide from a herd. We noticed that their senses haven't really changed since when they were human," Evan explained. "It's not like the zombie movies they used to make. They don’t have super strength, they can't smell us out. They're just like humans except… cannibalistic."

"And also they scream and screech," Barty added.

"Shut up," Regulus whispered harshly. He heard the shuffling of feet outside the truck. If he could hear them walking around outside, then they could hear them speaking inside.

The four of them sat in silence for almost an hour, breathing as quietly as they could. Regulus lost all feeling in his legs, and he could tell Barty was starting to get restless. Evan carefully lifted the blanket from his head, peaking out the window.

"They're gone, but it's dark outside now," he said, pulling the blanked back over his head.

"Should we stay here for the night?" Regulus asked, shuffling into a more comfortable position, wincing when pins and needles burst along his legs.

"I don't know… it would be safer, but this isn't the most comfortable of places to spend the night," Evan said. Regulus reached out and found the lever under the front seat of the truck, pushing the seat away from him. The girl next to him copied him, creating a bit more room for them.

Barty shifted a bit closer to Evan, before freezing.

"Are you seriously hard right now? I know where in a bit of a tight spot, and if this girl wasn’t with us I would totally have sex, but come on man, there's a time and place."

"What?" Evan asked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"I can literally feel your dick poking into my thigh."

"Dude that’s my baseball bat." Evan laughed. Barty flushed in embarrassment.

"Is that a bat in your pocket or are you just happy to see me," Regulus muttered under his breath. The girl next to him snorted loudly, then quickly covered her mouth. "Seems like we're going to be here a while, unless you want to leave," Regulus said to her. "I'm Regulus. That's Evan and Barty," he pointed to them as he said their names.

"I'm Dorcas," she said, smiling at him. "Are those two always like that?" she asked, nodding towards Evan and Barty who were bickering with each other, digging their elbows into each other, while their faces got closer, smiles across their lips.

"Yeah, they've been like that ever since we met. Most people think they hate each other. The looks on some peoples' faces when they found out we were dating…" Regulus chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

"I used to have a girlfriend like that, everyone thought we hated each other, and then we'd kiss and they'd be like 'what!'," Dorcas said laughing along with him.

"What were you looking for? Earlier in the store?" Regulus asked. Dorcas was surprisingly easy to get along with.

"Oh, I was just stocking up. My medical supplies was running low, just bandages or painkillers. In the morning we can go to where I've been staying and I can pack a bag. If you guys are okay with me joining you, of course!" Regulus quickly nodded his head, he'd love for Dorcas to join them. "Great!" she grinned. "There was someone I bumped into a few months back, I was so happy I found someone who wasn’t infected, but he insisted he was a 'lone wolf' or whatever, said he didn’t want a woman slowing him down."

"Misogynistic asshole," Regulus said, causing her to laugh again.

They fall silent again, all four of them shuffling around to get more comfortable.

"Do you have a weapon?" Evan suddenly asked Dorcas. She pulled a small kitchen knife out of her pocket.

"This is all I have. I used to have a gun, but the noise would just attract more zombies so I gave it up."

"Here." Regulus opened his bag and pulled out a spare dagger he had, handing it over handle first. "I've got loads of spares." While his bag was open, he threw a pack of batteries to Barty and Evan, who both shoved it into their own bags.

"Do you have any food at your place?" Barty asked after Evan's stomach gave a quiet gurgle. Dorcas grimaced.

"No, sorry. I haven't been able to find any food for a while. I ate the last of it this morning," she explained, looking apologetic.

"We'll just have to find some food together then," Regulus said, smiling at her. He tried to ignore how his hands shook from hunger, how he felt weaker than usual and the running they did earlier didn't help at all. The pain in his stomach had gone the day before and Regulus couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, and shuffled round so he was leaning against Evan. "Anyone going to take shifts to stay awake, or do we trust the locks of this truck enough to all sleep at the same time?" he asked, closing his eyes.

"Well I haven't had a complete night of sleep in months, so I'm sleeping," Dorcas said, curling up into a ball, clinging the dagger Regulus had given her to her chest.

Regulus fell asleep relatively quickly. After spending so long in the apocalypse, you get sleep when given the chance. The last thing he was conscious of was Evan wrapping his arm around him, pulling him closer, and Barty whispering a "Goodnight."

Chapter Text

The order of the phoenix was Sirius' greatest achievement. He and his best mate James had spent the first few months of the apocalypse together, racing through the streets trying to beat each other with how many zombies they could kill. Sirius won. James says that he won, but James is a liar. One day after killing a bunch of zombies, they stumbled across a military base.

When the apocalypse first got bad, the government thought that the army could help. But the noise of the guns and weapons attracted the zombies to them. You'd think that an army with weapons and hundreds of people with experience in fighting would win against a herd of people who, when shot a few times, died pretty easily. They were just like humans - shot in the heart and they died. Cut their throat and they die. Stabbed, die. Blown up, die. Set on fire, die die die. But they don’t seem to feel pain at all, too driven by their hunger. So chop off their arm, and they don’t even flinch. Until the blood loss catches up to them, killing them slowly.

But no. The zombies somehow managed to kill the soldiers, and those who didn’t die were infected and soon turned. The military just sent more and more soldiers across the country, until eventually there was no one left to send.

They had military bases set up in almost every major city. All abandoned.

The base was underground, with three entrances. James and Sirius came across one of those openings. They gave each other a look before grinning and going in. Sure, it was dangerous - But that's what made it exciting. There wasn't as many zombies in there as Sirius thought there was going to be, and the two killed them pretty quickly. They found how to open and close the huge metal doors on each entrance, and then realised that the electricity was solar powered.

There was a large open space, with sofas and tables where the soldiers could relax together. A pile of board games next to a bookshelf. And the bunks were full of beds. Granted they weren't the comfiest in the world, but they were better than sleeping on the ground. The cafeteria was filled with bottled water, with canned and dried food to last for months, or even years if spread out properly. And there was the bathrooms, the toilets were clean and the showers actually had running water - not warm water, but clean. A weapons room filled with knives, guns, crossbows, bombs and anything else you could imagine. The bunker was huge, with enough room to fill hundreds of people without getting in anyone's way.

So of course Sirius and James moved in there. They closed all the doors and only left when they needed to, which was to look for survivors.

Almost every week they would find someone. And now, almost a year later, there were almost a hundred members, all thanks to Sirius and James.

Frank Longbottom was one of the first people Sirius and James saved, finding him cornered by a small group of zombies. As well as a lovely but stern woman caller Minerva. Along with Minerva was her wife, Poppy, who was a paramedic and took over the infirmary, helping people whenever they came back injured from searching for survivors.

Sirius went out as often as he could, searching for survivors. He didn’t tell anyone, but James knew he was searching for his brother. There was no way of knowing if he was alive or not.

It wasn't until they saved an elderly man Albus Dumbledore that they created a name. The order of the Phoenix. Something about rising out of the ashes and coming back stronger. Somehow Dumbledore became in charge. Along with Minerva, Poppy and a man called Alastor Moody. Sirius and James were usually put in charge when sent on missions, and soon so did others their age - Frank, Alice, Marlene, and Lily.

Each of them had been given their own little team. Sirius wasn't happy James was separated from him, but they shared a room every night so it wasn't too bad. Each day, two teams were sent out. One team looking for survivors, the other looking for food or water. Both looking bringing back supplies.

Right now neither James nor Sirius was on a mission, on one of their rare days off. They were in the sitting room playing a card game, someone had found a record player and there was a David Bowie song playing quietly in the background.

Peter Pettigrew, a timid man their age joined them. He had only recently joined the order, saved by James' team right as we was getting chased by a young zombie. Sirius thinks Peter has a bit of a crush on James.

"Hey Pete," James says, flashing a grin at the shorted boy.

"Hi James, Hi Sirius," Peter says, smiling at the two. Sirius likes Peter, even if he is a bit shy.

The three of them played cards together until a quiet alarm went off. The alarm signalled someone at the bunker door. Everyone in the room looked up at the clock on the wall. It was time for the teams that went out to come back, or they'd be stuck out in the dark. Today it had been Frank and Lily's teams that had gone out.

Frank's team came back first, each carrying a bag with some food in it. They took the food to the canteen, planting the vegetables in the little garden they had started growing a few months ago, thanks to Pomona Sprout, and storing the rest in the cupboards.

Lily's team came back next, heading straight towards the infirmary. There was a man with them that Sirius had never seen before. He was tall, skinny, and had honey brown hair that, although matted, looked curly.

Sirius immediately jumped up with James, following Lily and the new recruit. The rest of Lily's team split off, heading towards the showers or the canteen.

"Hi, I'm Sirius," Sirius introduced himself. James started walking along the other side of the tall man. He was taller than James and James was at least 6 foot 1.

"And I'm James."

Standing closer, Sirius noticed faint scars scattered along the man's face and hands. Presumably along his entire body, but hidden by a thick sweater.

"I know, Lily warned me you two would speak to me as soon as I arrived," he said. His voice was hoarse, slightly scratchy. Presumably from disuse.

"This is the point where you say your name," Sirius stage-whispered, making his eyes as wide and innocent as he could.

"Boys, this is Remus. Now piss off," Lily spoke up.

They arrived at the infirmary doors, Poppy was waiting for them, having heard the alarm and expecting patients. Whether it's a new recruit or an injured member, there's always someone in the infirmary.

"You'll enjoy our company one day, Evans," James said, laughing as Lily flipped him off. Though she had a smile on her face as she lead Remus to one of the beds.

"We'll come back after you've had a check-up. We do this for all new members of the Order, it's just to make sure you're not infected at all, and you're healthy. If your health is good, you can join the teams in looking for food or survivors, and if your health isn't 100 percent or you just don’t want to, you can stay at the base looking after everyone here," Sirius explained.

"Get out you two," Poppy said, swatting them with a clean towel. Sirius laughed, pulling James out from where he was trying to subtly flex his muscles at Lily, who was doing a good job at hiding her blush behind her hair.

Why did everyone have a crush on James? Sure, he was attractive, and friendly, and the human epitome of the literal sun, brightening up a room with just his presence. But what about Sirius? He was attractive, he was friendly. He had a nice smile. Why did no one have a crush on him? What about his apocalypse love story? James laughed when Sirius said this to him.

"Siri, you do know half the people in this base are practically in love with you, right?"

Like Sirius said before, James is a filthy liar. Sirius would know if someone had a crush on him. Besides, even if there was someone here who had a crush on him, Sirius wasn't interested in any of them other than sex, which is how he gained the reputation of sleeping around.

Leaving Lily and Remus with Poppy, Sirius and James left to find Frank to see how his mission went. They found him in his room, writing in a journal. Frank had filled four journals since joining the order. He wrote about what he saw on the missions, the different ways to kill a zombie, how to spot the early signs of an infection, things like that. Thanks to Frank and his journals, they've saved so many more people than they thought possible.

"Hey Frankie, how'd the mission go?" James asked.

"Not good," Frank said, looking up from what he was writing. Sirius felt his breathing stutter. Frank's eyes were rimmed red, tear streaks down his cheeks. "There was a zombie. She - she couldn't have been more than, than maybe six or seven years old." He took a deep breath, shaking his head as if to shake off the memory. "She could still speak. Perfect sentences. Um, she asked for us to help her, which I know we shouldn't help someone unless we're sure they're not infected. I *know* that, I do! But she was so… so small." His voice cracked on the last word and Sirius had to look away.

"Frank you don’t have to…" James starts, placing a hesitant hand on Frank's shoulder.

"No, I need to get this off my chest," he said, shallowing hard. "I killed her. She attacked Gideon and I took my knife and I sliced it across her throat. She - she looked at me as I did it. Right into my eyes."

"Frank I need you to listen to me. You did not kill that girl. The virus did, okay? She was already dead when she walked up to you," James said.

Sirius left the room, leaving James to comfort Frank.

Frank always hated killing zombies. He wasn't a killer. And he especially hated it when it was a young zombie.

Sirius hated to admit it, but Frank was soft. Which isn't a bad thing. He gets the job done, and he does it well. But he got emotionally attached without meaning to. Frank's girlfriend Alice was the opposite. She was a killing machine, and half the reason they manage to get out of tough situations. But that’s why people say opposites attract.

After Sirius found Alice and sent her to Frank's room to help comfort Frank, then he made his way to his and James' room. As soon as he made it to the bed, he fell on face first.

In the morning he'd check up on Frank and the rest of his team, find the new recruit Remus, and then have a meeting to see which team will leave tomorrow and where they will go. But right now, all Sirius wanted to do was sleep.

Chapter Text

Regulus woke up to the sound of rain. It was faint against the sides of the truck, but still enough to wake him up. He pushed himself up, untangling his fingers from Barty's and unwrapped Evan's arm from around his hips. Across from him, Dorcas looked like she was waking up.

"Morning," Barty said, stretching his arms as well as he can in the small space and trying not to wake Evan who was still fast asleep, his mouth slightly parted. "What's the plans today?"

"I want to stop by where I was staying and grab my things," Dorcas says, her jaw cracking on a yawn as soon as she's finished speaking.

"Right, let's get up and head to Dorcas' place. We can have a look for food and water on the way," Regulus says.

They need to wake Evan up, regretfully. It's been a while since they've had a decent night's sleep. And they don't know when they'll next manage to get rest.

Once Evan is awake they creep out the truck, everyone pulling their jackets up to protect them from the rain.

The rain gets heavier as they run along. The noise cancels out their footsteps, which is probably the only good thing about it. It clouds their vision, getting in their eyes. Regulus is shivering when they decide to take a quick break. His jacket is soaked through, and his trousers are stuck to his legs. Barty's shoe has a hole in it, and he keeps complaining that his foot is wet.

"When we get to my place, we can stay there for a while to dry off," Dorcas suggests.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day," Evan says. He's jogging on the spot, trying to keep himself warm.

Their break only lasts a few minutes before they're off again. Apparently the zombies hate the rain as much as they do because the streets are silent.

They've been out the truck for almost five hours now, the rain still coming down, just not as heavy. There's a fog covering the air, making it difficult to see.

"Jesus woman, how far away is this place?" Evan complains. They're walking down the middle of the street, Barty making a game of jumping over the puddles. Dorcas looks around, giving a breathless laugh.

"I honestly didn't realise how far I had gone yesterday. I just kept walking and walking. But we're here now." She points to a building in front of them. The windows at the bottom are smashed, and the doors are hanging off their hinges. It looks like a small B&B, but the sign above the door is all rusted and Regulus can't read it.

Dorcas leads them inside, keeping Regulus's knife clutched in her hand. The next time they're safe, Regulus will have to teach her how to hold it properly.

They walk up four floors, the stairs surprisingly clear. Dorcas laughs at the matching expression on the boy's faces.

"When I first found this place months ago, the stairs were filled with dead bodies. I didn’t like stepping over them every day, so I dragged them outside," She explains. "I don’t know what happened to them, and frankly I don’t want to."

The room Dorcas takes them to is small, with enough room for a bed, wardrobe, and small bookshelf. There's a door leading to a bathroom next to the bookshelf. Dorcas pulls a backpack out the wardrobe and places it on the bed.

"While we're here, we should dry off. Do you guys have a spare change of clothes? If not, we can have a look in the other rooms here, see if there's anything that will fit." Barty takes his shoes off while Evan drags the small bookshelf in front of the door, keeping any zombies out. Dorcas takes off her jacket and hoodie, hanging them over the end of the bed to dry. Regulus copies her, still shivering. There's a fluffy towel wrapped around his shoulders, and he turns to see Barty holding a pile of them.

"Found these in the bathroom," He explains. "We should dry off quickly. Don’t want to get sick."

Regulus takes off his trainers and pulls off his trousers, cringing when the fabric clings to his legs. The four of them use the towels to cover their bodies while they take off the rest of their clothes to dry. Regulus, Evan and Barty all have a spare change of clothes in their backpacks. Luckily their bags are all waterproof so everything's still dry. They all put on the dry clothes, using the towels to dry their hair.

"Do you think there's any shoes in this building in my size?" Barty says, lifting up his broken shoes. Regulus looks at his own trainers, dripping water onto the floor.

"Maybe we should all get new shoes. We shouldn’t risk getting an infection or something," he says. Dorcas nods in agreement.

Walking around an abandoned building without shoes is a stupid idea. But Regulus never said they were smart. They all have their bags with them, and their wet clothes are wrapped in the towels at the bottom of their bags. The fact that they're not wearing shoes makes it easier to move around silently, even if Regulus does keep slipping from his socks sliding on the floor.

The first room they find has shoes, but not in any of their size. The second room has a lovely pair of heels. The third room has a set of doc martins and some combat boots. Dorcas and Regulus cheer when they realise that they fit, Dorcas getting the docs and Regulus taking the boots. They remind him of Sirius, and the thought makes him smile. The boots are already broken in, looking like they had been used a lot, so hopefully they won't blister or hurt his feet.

The next room they find a pair of trainers in Evans size, and after a bit more searching they find some Hiking boots for Barty, who grumbles when putting them on, saying how ugly there are and 'why does Dorcas get docs but we don’t?'

They have a look in some of the other rooms of the B&B making sure there's nothing important they're missing. Regulus gags as soon as they enter the final room. The smell of decay and rot fills the air. How they didn't smell it from the hallway is a mystery with how strong it is. They all leave without looking around, none of them wanting to stay in the room with rotting bodies for too long.

"Have you searched all the rooms here?" Evan asks Dorcas as they walk back down the stairs.

"There's a kitchen and bar that I checked first. But there was a door in the back of the kitchen I couldn't get open. Any of you guys want to try?"

They make their way to the kitchen, and three of them keep watch while Evan uses his bat to bash the wooden door down. It takes a while, and Evan pauses every so often so they can listen to any zombies that might appear. After a while, the door breaks fully and Evan climbs through, taking his torch out the side pocket of his bag, shining it into the room.

"It looks like a storage room. Almost everything's gone mouldy though," he shouts through to the others. Regulus follows him through, leaving Barty and Dorcas to have their backs. The storage room isn’t that big, not leaving much room for two people. Regulus is pressed right against Evan as they look through everything. Most of the food has gone mouldy, the smell taking over the small space.

"Anything that might be safe? Any canned or dried food?" Regulus asks. At the back of one of the shelves is a box. It doesn't look too damaged. Evan reaches for it. It's a box of cereal bars, unopened. Evan and Regulus look at each other, grinning.

They leave the storage room, waving the box around like a trophy.

"Is that food?!" Barty cheers, moving to grab it out Evan's hands, who smacks Bartys hands way, opening it himself.

"It says that the 'best before' date was a few months ago," Regulus says. Well, he assumes it’s a few months ago. He doesn’t know the exact date.

"Eh, still safe to eat." Barty shrugs as Evan passes a bar to everyone.

"You guys keep it for yourself. There's six in the box, have two each," Dorcas says, pushing the food back to Evan.

"Shut up and eat," Evan says, throwing the bar back. "You don't know when we'll next have food."

There's silence as everyone opens their bar. Regulus' mouth is filled with saliva at the thought of eating food again. He bites into it, ignoring how his stomach groans as soon as it touches his tongue.

There's not flavour to it, and it's a bit soft, but it’s food.

They all know to eat slow, taking small bites and making sure to chew it properly. Though part of Regulus wants to shove all the food in one go. Instead, he only eats half, putting the other half in his pocket. Evan and Barty copy.

"We haven't eaten in almost four days," Regulus explains to Dorcas. "Even though these bars are small, it'll be better for us to save the other half for tonight instead of eating it all in one go." From experience, they know eating too much too fast after not eating for ages makes them sick.

After throwing the extra bars into Evan's bag, they head back up to Dorcas' room.

"We could stay here for a few days, but I've eaten all the food around here. It'll take us hours to find anywhere with food," Dorcas says. She sits on the bed, Barty and Regulus sitting next to her. Evan looks out the window.

"We should probably *not* leave the building. At least for the rest of the day," Evan says. Regulus stands to see what he's looking at and feels his body freeze up. Outside is the biggest herd of zombies they've ever seen. There's got to be thousands of them. All slowly walking towards the building they're hiding in.

"Shit."

Barty helps Evan block the door to the room with the wardrobe while Regulus and Dorcas pull the bedsheets off the bed to cover the window. The four of them sit in silence, Regulus reaching over to Dorcas, positioning her hands on the knife correctly. She nods her thanks, tightening her grip. Barty takes a small look out the window, taking in a shaky breath.

"They're in," He says. Regulus regrets eating the breakfast bar, his stomach rolls uncomfortably and he has to swallow hard to stop himself from throwing up.

At some point, Regulus reaches over and grips Barty's hand, squeezing his fingers. Barty grips back just as tight.

They've been sat for around fifteen minutes when there's footsteps outside the room. The door handle rattles and Regulus hears Evan take a sharp breath. He reaches over and grabs his boyfriends hand.

"Hello? I need you to let me in! I need help!" A voice calls from the other side of the door. Dorcas covers her mouth with her hands, closing her eyes tightly. The door rattles for a few more minutes before the zombie walks away.

For hours, the zombies wander the hallways. Every so often, someone will try open the door. Someone starts screaming. Regulus can't tell if it’s a zombie or a survivor getting caught. Dorcas is crying silently, trying to hide it. Regulus hasn't stopped shaking and his muscles are starting to ache. Barty keeps popping his jaw and Regulus knows he's trying to stop himself from saying or doing something.

Evan looks like he's about to pass out. Regulus tugs on his hand, and Evan looks up. He starts playing around with the rings on Regulus' fingers to distract himself.

The zombies start to leave. And soon, there's no noise out in the hallway. Dorcas wipes at her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh. She looks out the window and shakily nods her head.

"They're leaving," She whispers, her voice dry.

The boys stand up, stretching their legs.

There's a knock at the door and all of them freeze.

"Is someone in there?" a voice whispers. There's a tapping as they knock again. "The zombies have left. It's just me."

Regulus shakes his head. He doesn’t trust them. There's no way there's another survivor in the same building as them.

"I said the zombies are gone, can't you hear me?" The voice says, the tapping starts to get louder until they're slamming at the door, causing it to rattle and the whole room to shake.

"Let me in!" the voice screams.

"What the fuck, what the fuck," Barty whispers to himself.

"Shit shit shit, the noise is causing the others to come back," Dorcas says, voice panicked. She stumbles away from the window.

"What do we do?" Evan asks.

"I have no idea."

"We should stay here. Its safest here, and there's no way of the zombies getting in."

The zombie at the door is screaming now, scratching at the door with their nails.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Regulus mumbles, stumbling to the bathroom. The other three follow him in carrying their bags and closing the door behind them. Dorcas locks the door.

"God I hope this doesn’t last too long."

"Has this ever happened before?" Barty asks Dorcas. Evan is stroking Regulus' hair from his face, his cool hands pressed to his cheeks.

"No, never. I've never even seen a group that big before," Dorcas says.

"How did they know what room we were in?" Evan asks, pulling Regulus into a hug once it's clear he's not going to be sick.

"I have no idea." Barty closes the lid of the toilet and sits on it once Regulus has moved away from it.

"Guess we just have to wait it out then. Yay," he says drily. Evan slides down the wall to sit on the floor, Regulus still wrapped in his arms. Dorcas leans against the sink.

"I guess so. Here we go again."

The sound of zombies walking around the hallways is muffled here in the bathroom, but all of them can hear when the door starts to break.

Chapter Text

"Good morning everyone!" James greeted as he entered the main room, smiling widely at everyone. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, no one should be that happy in the morning. The Order members mumbled a hello back, and James bound up the front of the room, Sirius dragging his feet after him. "We got a new recruit yesterday! That's so exciting, we haven't gotten anyone new in a while," James was saying. It has been a few weeks since any of the teams had come back with a survivor. Sirius had a look around, searching for the new face. He was stood by Lily and Mary, towering over them.

"McGonagall and Dumbledore have put me and Jamie in charge today, so listen up," Sirius says, opening the notes that Minerva had given him. "Yesterday Frank and Lily's teams were out. You guys get the day off, along with our new member Remus."

"That means the teams to go out today are Alice and Marlene's team. You've been ordered to go along the outskirts of the city. Be careful of the lake, we had an accident with that a few weeks ago," James says, looking pointedly towards Lily.

The 'accident' wasn't anything bad, but there had been a zombie chasing Lily's team and they hadn't been paying attention to where they were going and half the team slipped into the water, getting soaked. It took them a while to get back to base, and Mary ended up getting sick and put out of missions until she got better.

A few members laughed along with James, some jostling Lily's team members as a joke.

"Marlene, Alice, collect your teams and get ready. You'll be gone by ten past seven," Sirius ordered. That gave them at least half an hour to get ready and say their good-bye's. "Everyone else gather round for your jobs today. Peter, gather a few friends, you're going to be checking the food. Make sure the food that's about to go off gets moved closer to the front. Sybill, you will be helping Pomfrey in the medic wing today. Bartha, you've been stuck with the unfortunate task of cleaning the bathrooms and showers."

Bartha groans, getting a few sympathetic looks from others. There's a different person cleaning the bathrooms every day. There's so many members in the order that the showers need cleaned constantly, no matter how clean everyone tries to keep it.

After giving out a few more odd jobs, some people complaining, some people thankful, James sends everyone on their way.

"Lily, Remus, you two stay behind a moment," James says, stopping them from leaving.

They stand by the door as everyone leaves, answering the odd question. After everyone left, James turned to Lily and Remus and grinned.

"Hey, I know you probably have plans to settle in here, but we just have to ask a few questions about how you've been living and surviving the apocalypse," James says to Remus. Sirius turns round from where he'd been saying a quick good-bye to Alice, and wow Remus is pretty. Now that he's got his hair washed and clean, with his face and hands scrubbed clean from all the dirt and grime, and wearing clean clothes. He's really pretty. And he has freckles scattered across his face, broken apart by the silvery scars. The scars look clean and old, as though Remus got them before the apocalypse started.

"Oh, um.. There's quite a few survivors out there," Remus says softly. He's got a slight lisp from where his teeth overlap that slight bit. "Some of them are friendly, sharing their food and shelter. Some prefer to be alone. I've met a few of them, staying with them a few days before leaving again."

Sirius has to fight the urge to ask Remus if he's seen Regulus.

"That's so weird, the last person who joined us said that there was hardly any other survivors or that they hadn't seen anyone," he says instead. Remus turns his attention to him, amber eyes flicking over Sirius' face.

"Maybe they were at a different part of the city. There's a lot of people around the lake in the middle of the city, but there is a few people further away," He explains.

"Oh that makes sense, Peter - our most recent survivor - was found more around the taller buildings at the other side of the city," James says. Lily is leaning slightly towards him, eyes stuck to his face.

Sirius smiles at them. Even though Lily insists that James is 'an arrogant toe rag' or what other names she calls him, she wouldn’t have that look in her eyes if she truly hated him. As soon as James turns away from Remus to look at her, she looks away, pretending she was looking at Sirius, who sends her a wink making her blush.

"Right, um, where did you get your food from?" Sirius asks Remus, clearing his throat and trying to ignore Lily's embarrassed giggles from getting caught. "Was it just from the other survivors or did you have other sources of food and water?" And wow Remus is really staring at Sirius. Usually he likes attention, but with Remus giving him all of his attention its making it difficult to remember what he was asking.

"I mainly got food from others, but I did bump into a girl a little bit younger than me. She had a warehouse with dried and canned food, and she let me have a bag filled with some. That lasted me until just last week. I was looking for more food when Lily found me."

Lily looks up from where she was playing with the ends of her hair when she hears her name.

"I found him in an abandoned shopping centre. Believe it or not, there wasn't as many zombies there as you would think."

"We also wanted to ask you how your medical exam went with Poppy last night. Everything go alright?" James asked. Remus nods.

"Yeah, well other than being slightly dehydrated and underweight everything went well."

"That’s great! Now we know that your health is good, what job would you like around here? Everyone has one, and usually we keep to the same jobs every day, unless it's to clean the bathrooms. Everyone shares that job."

"Oh, what jobs is there?" Remus asks.

"Well, we've got the teams that leave the base," James starts, counting on his fingers.

"Two teams leave each day. One looks for survivors, the other looks for food, clothes, other necessary items" Sirius interrupts.

"Yeah, wait, how has none of the teams found the warehouse Remus mentioned?" James asked. Sirius paused and tilted his head to the side, thinking.

"Oh, it's heavily guarded. You might have seen it, but the doors wouldn't have been able to open or maybe you wouldn't have even got to the doors," Remus explains after the James and Sirius had stood in silence for a moment.

"Thank you Remus!" James says, "Now where was I? Ok so, there's two teams that leave the base-"

"James you've already said the teams. What's the next Job?" Lily says gently.

"Oh sorry. I have ADHD I might do this a lot, since the apocalypse started I've not been able to take any medication - For obvious reasons," James explains to Remus, who has an amused smile on his face. "The other jobs stay at base, so if you really don't want to leave, you can stay and no one will judge you at all."

"We've got working in the kitchens," Sirius continues.

"Working in the medical wing with Poppy Pomfrey, who you met last night."

"Checking and cleaning the weapons."

"Fixing up any broken clothes."

"Cleaning clothes and anything else to go into the washer."

"Making sure everyone is up in the morning."

"Wait that's not a job," Sirius says, turning to James in confusion.

"No, but we need it to be one. The other day Fabian slept in until after lunch and none of his jobs got done," James says. Lily pulls a face and nods in agreement. Fabian's job was to check the perimeter along the base, checking to make sure that there had been no damaged caused through the night and fix anything up if there was. Luckily there had been no damage, but Fabian always makes sure to get up early after McGonagall's scolding.

"I can't think of any other jobs that haven't been taken," Sirius says, looking at Remus who looks slightly overwhelmed. "You don’t have to choose now," Sirius reassures. "You can take the day off. Get to know everyone."

"Right," Remus says. "Would I be able to just sleep today? I haven't been able to sleep properly since the apocalypse started, never sure if I'm actually safe."

"Oh yes of course!" James says, looking annoyed at himself for not thinking how tired Remus would be. "Sirius will help you find a room with a spare bed, I'll go and make sure the teams are almost ready to go."

James and Lily leave, chatting to each other as they walk away.

"Right, I'll give you a quick tour of the base, shall I?" Sirius says. Remus is staring at him again and Sirius suddenly hates how easily a blush shows up on his pale skin, sure that his cheeks and neck are bright red. He clears his throat and walks down the hallway, Remus following along. "Okay so we were just in the main room, which is the room where we go every morning for a quick meeting. It's also where we can spend our free time and relax at the end of the day." They make their way towards the kitchen and dining area. "This is where we eat. It's at the same time every day, but if you ever miss a meal by accident you can easily ask one of the cooks to make you something."

It takes them a while to go through all the rooms, Remus staying silent through the whole tour, looking at Sirius with those piercing eyes. When they finally get to the bedrooms, Sirius leads Remus to the bedroom with a spare bed, which he'll share with Peter.

"There was actually three people in this room the other week, but one of them got infected and attacked another one. So now there's only Peter. And now you!" He has been rambling and talking none stop during this entire tour, not being able to keep quiet. Remus doesn’t seem bothered though, a slight smile whenever Sirius makes a joke showing of his teeth, slightly crooked with an overbite. His canine teeth are sharp, sharper than Sirius' own. "Um, you're really quiet, you know?" Sirius blurts out after they' been stood in silence for a moment. Why why why did I say that! he thought to himself, about to apologise when Remus laughs, a deep rumble in his chest.

"Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just tired," He says and Sirius smiles brightly, glad that his constant chatter hadn't bothered him too much.

Remus made his way to his new bed and sat on it, running his hands along the fabric of the duvet.

"Did you have any bags or anything?" Sirius asks, needing to fill the silence that has once again settled around them. "Spare clothes? Toothbrush? Anything?" Remus shakes his head.

"No. I've not had a spare change of clothes in weeks and I honestly can't remember the last time I brushed my teeth." He pulled a face, covering his mouth. "Ugh my breath probably stinks, sorry." Sirius laughed, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, there's a spare toothbrush in my room. I'm surprised Lily didn't give you one last night."

"She might have forgotten, there was a lot going on," Remus says, eyes drooping.

"Right, I'll be off then. Leave you to rest. When you wake up just head to the main room, that's where you'll find everyone. You remember how to get there?" at Remus' nod he smiles. "Good, good. Have a nice sleep, Remus."

By the time he leaves the room, Remus has already closed his eyes, not bothering to take off his shoes or get under the blanket. Sirius heads to his own room, taking the spare toothbrush from one of the drawers, sneaking back into Remus' room to place it on the bedside table with a note. Remus' face seem to soften while he's asleep, his whole face relaxing, mouth slightly parted. Sirius leaves quickly before he can look at Remus any longer, realising how creepy it is to watch someone while they sleep.

James is at the main room scribbling in a notebook when Sirius eventually gets back to him.

"The teams leave okay?" Sirius asks, sitting down and peering over his shoulder at what he's writing.

"Yeah. They decided to stick together, go as one big group instead of two separate ones. How's Remus?"

"Fast asleep. I told him to come here once he woke up."

The rest of the day was spent doing odd jobs around the base, meeting with McGonagall and Dumbledore to update them on the teams and Remus, and checking on other members of the phoenix.

James is laying on their bed, throwing a bouncy ball in the air and catching it when Sirius walks in.

"Do you think he's alive?" Sirius asks, flopping on the bed next to him.

"Who?" James asks, missing the ball and watching as it bounces across to the other side of the room.

"Regulus." They've had this conversation before.

"Remus says that there's a lot of survivors out there. Maybe Reggie is one of them," James says. Sirius nods, not really paying attention. Regulus is a good fighter, and Barty and Evan would do anything to protect him. The three of them together would be brilliant out there, using their brains to survive. Plus Regulus has always had an interest in knives and daggers, so it's not like he doesn't know how to use a weapon. But with it being months since the apocalypse started and Sirius still hasn’t seen any sign of him or his boyfriends, it’s a bit concerning. "Siri try not to think about it too much. You know we both look for any signs of him whenever we go out. Maybe he's just at the other side of the city."

"Yeah, maybe." Sirius leans into James' side, resting his head on his best mates shoulder. "I just hope he's okay," he whispers.

Chapter Text

The zombies somehow got into the room.

There was a huge crash as the wardrobe fell. In the bathroom everyone fell silent, gripping tightly onto each other hands. The bathroom door has been locked, but if the zombies could break down a door blocked by a heavy wardrobe, a small lock probably won't do anything.

There's a tiny window in the bathroom that faces the building across from them, and Regulus suddenly has a stupid, crazy idea. The window opens easy enough, practically falling off its hinges. Moving as silently as he can, Regulus balances on the side of the bath and leans out the open window. The building is close, barely a foot away. There's no entry in easy reach, but a few feet above is a smashed window. If Regulus could somehow climb up between the two buildings, he might be able to make it.

Except he still feels weak from going days without food. And there's the down side that he's deathly afraid of heights, and he's about four floors high right now.

Evan is standing next to him, looking at the window above with determination. He gives himself a small nod before pressing a quick kiss to Regulus and Barty's lips. And then he's gone. The window is a tight squeeze and it's difficult to get out of considering how high the bathroom window is. But Evan makes it, quickly scaling the wall.

Barty and Dorcas look on confused, but not asking what's going on in case the zombies hear.

It's a few minutes later, the three of them staring out the window and trying to ignore the sound of zombies shuffling around the room they were just in. Then suddenly there's what looks like a rope made of curtains hanging in front of them. Evan is looking out the window above them, grinning wildly. Barty decides to make sure their supplies make it across first. It wouldn't be good if they accidently left them in the building filled with zombies.

They throw their bags out the window one by one, Evan fumbling to catch them. They all freeze when he misses one, but Dorcas manages to catch it as it falls past, and Evan catches it second time round.

Once all their bags are across, Dorcas grabs hold of the rope and salutes the boys before climbing up, almost effortlessly. Barty pushes Regulus towards the window, nodding every time Regulus shakes his head. The rope is in his hands and he's shaking and he doesn’t think he can do it. Barty can see it in his eyes and holds his face in his hands, gently rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip.

"I promise to catch you if you fall," Barty whispers, lips against Regulus' ear.

He gets out the window and is now in between buildings, feet pressed against one, back firmly against the other and the makeshift rope clenched tightly in his hands. Are curtains safe enough to climb with? They worked fine with Dorcas, but what if two people is too many?

Looking up Regulus can see Evan's face at the window smiling at him encouragingly, Dorcas next to him.

"Come on Regulus," he mutters to himself, pulling himself up. It's only a few small feet up, and as long as he doesn't look down he'll be fine.

It takes him longer than Evan and Dorcas put together, but eventually he gets there. He's pulled through the window and immediately he clings onto Evan, arms shaking and legs barely supporting his weight. For the second time that day, Evan sinks the ground with Regulus in his arms.

Within minutes Barty is falling through the window with a giddy laugh, pulling the rope after him.

"Okay we need to figure out how those zombies knew we were there," Dorcas says. They've been sat on the floor for a few minutes, Evan making Regulus finish the reast of his breakfast bar.

"Maybe they're evolving?" Barty suggests. "When the infection started, it took almost two years until the infected turned from just being super hungry to zombies. What if they didn't stop evolving there? What if they're still changing, getting stronger."

"Oh no, no thank you," Evan says, shaking his head. "That is far too scary."

"God I hope you're wrong. But it would explain how they were strong enough to break down the door even with the wardrobe blocking it," Dorcas says.

Regulus shudders. They'd managed to survive the apocalypse for over a year now, would they be able to keep surviving if the zombies keep changing?

"So they're turning into proper movie zombies then?" He speaks up. "Like being able to smell blood from super far away? Like sharks."

"Oh no what if they can't die?" Barty says, suddenly panicked.

"Oh don't worry, they can still die," An airy voice says from the broken doorway.

Four heads turn to the door as one, freezing for a moment before all scrambling for their weapons.

"Woah, that was a bit of a delayed reaction," the girl says. "But don’t worry, I'm not a zombie."

"That's exactly what a zombie would say!" Barty cries. Evan raises his bat above his head ready to strike.

"That is true I suppose. I'm not sure how I can prove to you that I'm human." She cocks her head to the side, thinking. "Oh, I could... No that would never work… or maybe? No that's just silly," She starts mumbling to herself, and Dorcas shoots the boys a look.

"Okay, okay stop speaking," she says. "What's your name?"

"Oh I haven't introduced myself! How terrible manners. My name is Pandora." She gives a bright smile. "Pandora Lovegood."

Now sure that she isn't going to kill them, Regulus gives Pandora a look over. Her dirty-blonde hair has been tightly braided against her scalp and it's obvious that it hasn't been washed in a while. Her clothes are similar to Dorcas', long sleeve top and thick jacket and trousers with big pockets. Pandora has a thigh bag attached to her, and another small bag on her back. Her shoes look worn, but not too badly damaged.

"How have you survived this long?" Evan asks, not lowering his bat.

"The same way you guys have, I suppose. Finding a safe place to sleep, searching for food and water every day, avoiding all interactions in case that person is infected, making sure-"

"If you avoid all people, why did you speak to us?" Regulus interrupts.

"I watched you climb up the side of the buildings. I figured that no zombie would do that. And seeing how that building just got zombie-bombed and you guys made a quick escape, there wasn't much doubt that you weren't human."

Zombie-bombed Dorcas mouths to herself, an amused smile dances across her lips. "Well Pandora, I'm Dorcas. Welcome to the group."

Pandora grins again before dropping to the floor and pulling off the bag on her back. It's pink and decorated with different rainbow patches - included, but not limited to; a rainbow, a care bear, a cartoon alchemy set, a love heart, and oddly enough, a skull and bones. She opens the bag and pulls out a packet of dried fruit.

"Here, I got these a while ago. Nothing better than sharing food to get to know people," She says, opening the packet and handing it around. Regulus takes a few pieces in his hand and looks at it.

"You have food?" He asks.

"Oh, yeah. I found a warehouse filled with dried fruit a few months ago. I always keep a few packets on me in case I can't get back. I'll take you to it if you'd like?"

In the past two days, they've found two lone survivors. Both of whom had lead them to food when they haven't found food themselves in almost a week. Maybe things are finally getting better.

After a few minutes of eating dried fruit and introducing themselves to Pandora, they all stood up to leave, brushing the dust and dirt off their trousers.

"How did you know the zombies can still be killed?" Evan asks Pandora as they're about to leave.

"What?" The girl looks confused.

"When you first arrived, we were saying that the zombies are evolving and Barty said something along the lines of 'what if they can't die' and you said that they can. How do you know?"

"Oh, that's easy really. I killed a few before introducing myself." She must see the expressions on their faces so she gives a soft sigh and smiles. "When I saw you climbing the building - really cool, by the way - I was in a house across the street. I wanted to meet you guys so I walked over, but a few zombies from the B&B saw me and came over."

She takes out a balisong knife out of her thigh bag and flicks it open.

"Aren't butterfly knives illegal in the UK?" Regulus asks. He's wanted one for years, but was only ever able to get a training one that had holes in the blade to prevent it from being sharpened.

"Well, so is killing people. And eating people. And breaking and entering. And stealing. How many of those have you done since the apocalypse started?" Pandora counters, spinning the blade around with a flick of her wrist.

"Fair enough," he laughs before following her out the door. "I haven't eaten anyone though." He gags at the thought.

The hallways are empty and when they get to the bottom of the stairs other than a dead body they all step over as though it's nothing, Barty and Pandora peer around the door making sure the coast is clear. Everyone rushes outside, crouched low so no zombies see them. Pandora leads the way, running along and zipping through cracks between buildings that Regulus never would have thought to take.

Within a few hours they're standing in front of a warehouse surrounded by barbed wire and wooden stakes. Evan's bat is splattered in blood from the few zombies they had to fight on their way here. Regulus lost one of his daggers along the way, and now it's sticking out the side of a zombie somewhere. Maybe the wound will get infected and the zombie will die. Or maybe it will bleed to death. Regulus hopes its painful, that dagger had been one of his First daggers, a gift from his cousin Bellatrix for his eleventh birthday.

Pandora leads them into the building, jumping over random traps on the ground. There's razor sharp wires and snares, Regulus is pretty sure he saw a bear trap along the way and briefly wonders if Pandora is really the safest person to be around.

The inside of the warehouse is similar to the outside. The door gets locked by at least six metal bars sliding across, and every other entrance has been completely blocked up. The walls are covered in blankets and pillows and mattresses to either try and sound-proof the building or just find a way to keep the heat in. There's a hammock up close to the ceiling - no way of any zombies getting to it through the night, It would be incredibly painful if someone was to fall off, though. Pandora opens a box that's nailed shut and reveals row after row of dried fruit. Its half empty, but its more food than they've seen in months.

"Woah," Evan breaths out, reaching out a hand almost as if he doesn't believe it's real. There's a box next to it filled with bottled water. Whoever stocked this place was fully prepared for the apocalypse. Regulus wonders what happened to them, whoever was this prepared wouldn't have starved to death that's for sure.

Dorcas is at the other side of the warehouse. Next to her, attached to some ratty blankets, are some farming tools that could be used as weapons. There's shovels, shears, rakes, axes, pitchforks and so much more that Regulus can't even name. He walks up past Dorcas to brush his fingers across the edge of a bolo blade.

"Am I in heaven?" He says aloud, not even aware he's speaking. "This is heaven, we died in that bathroom and Pandora is an angel."

"She's some angel," Dorcas says, pulling down a Scythe and holding it in her hands.

"Oh, now you look like the Grim reaper," Regulus laughs.

Dorcas holds the scythe to her side, pulling the hood of her jacket up to hide her face. Dressed in all black, with her skin dark so no features can be seen in the shadows, she looks like a creepy modern day grim reaper. She grins suddenly, her teeth flashing in the light.

"Those zombies ought to be scared of me now, huh?"

After playing around with the weapons for a while, Dorcas being a natural with the scythe, they decide to create a bed. Pandora explains that her hammock is so high because she used to share the warehouse with another girl, but during the night she attacked Pandora, almost killing her in her sleep. So now she's high above ground, that way no one can get to her unless she climbs down.

Dorcas thinks it’s a wonderful idea and finds another hammock to hang up. There's ropes hanging next to them, so every night the two girls will have to climb up, pulling the rope with them to sleep.

Regulus, Barty and Evan find a few metal sheets and a clean mattress and build themselves a small private bedroom. There's enough space for the mattress and that is it, and they have to crouch down so they don't hit their heads at every move.

The rest of the day, the group spend settling in to their new space. It's a nice place and definitely safer than anywhere else they've been before. That night, after some dried beans, Pandora and Dorcas climb up to bed - Pandora being faster and more agile than Dorcas. Regulus watches them. The angel and the grim reaper, both hanging in the air, chatting to each other in voices too low to be heard from the ground. Regulus climbs into bed with Evan, pulling the blankets tighter around them. Barty joins soon after, curling close to Regulus, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.

There's a whispered goodnight and a kiss pressed against Evan's cheek, Regulus squished between the two people he loves most, the two people he feels safest around. His home. He drifts off into an uneasy sleep, waking up through the night at every noise. Every time Barty mumbles in his sleep. Every time Evan shuffles around the bed. The rain hitting the metal of the warehouse, the wind outside, the odd groan or scream in the distance.

The sun is just beginning to rise when Regulus finally falls into a deep sleep, face pressed into Barty's chest and a hand slid under Evan's shirt, placed over his heartbeat.

Chapter Text

Remus woke up around the same time the teams came back from their outing, having slept the whole day. Sirius smiled brightly at him as he walked into the main room, shirt rumpled and hair a mess.

"Hey you're awake! Did you sleep well?" He asks, Remus sitting on the sofa next to him.

"Yeah, I can't believe slept the whole day though. Don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight," He says, rubbing at his eyes. Lily wanders over, sitting on the arm of the sofa next to James, resting her arm on his shoulder to keep balance.

"You could always work night shift," She suggests, ignoring James as he looked between Lily, Sirius, and Lily's arm resting on his shoulder, making sure Sirius can see what Lily is doing.

"Ew night shift," Sirius mutters, getting a gently kick to his leg from Lily.

"You've never even worked night shift, Black. Shut your mouth," She says, turning back to Remus. "Night shift isn't so bad. You're basically just making sure that nothing happens through the night, and if something does happen - someone has been infected without us knowing, a zombie tries to get in, or there's a survivor that has found us, you sound an alarm that will go off in Minerva, Albus, and these two's bedroom. That way they can check to see what can be done to prevent anything bad from happening," Lily explained.

"Does that happen a lot? The zombies breaking in or someone getting infected without anyone realising?" Remus asks, suddenly looking nervous.

"No, but we don't want to risk everyone being asleep if it does happen."

"The alarm has only ever gone off twice," James cuts in, "There was the first time, a false alarm. Sirius freaked out so much that he punched me in the face. And the second time one of the newer members was infected and attacked another member."

"That was the people who used to use the room you use now," Sirius says.

"I didn't realise you two shared a room?" Remus says, looking between the two of them.

"They share the bed as well," Lily says, shaking her head in a laugh.

"We're co-dependant on each other!" Sirius says, throwing his arms around James and pressing their cheeks together.

"Why do you sound so happy about that?" James asks, turning his face to Sirius. Their noses brush against each other and Sirius crosses his eyes, making James laugh.

"There's no one else in this world I'd rather be co-dependant on," He says as if that’s a perfectly reasonable thing to say. Remus and Lily share a look, rolling their eyes simultaneously. James presses a hand to his heart, pouting at Sirius.

"Have the teams come back yet?" Remus asks, looking around.

"Yeah, they came back just before you came in the room. They got some new clothes for you, I'll have a look for Marlene and get them for you," Sirius says. He gets up and wanders off in the direction Marlene went. Remus sits in the seat he just left, chatting with James and Lily. Peter joins them just as Sirius leaves the room.

"Marlene! Hello gorgeous," Sirius says, wrapping his arms around the blonde's waist.

"Hey, you," Marlene greets, turning round enough to press a kiss to Sirius' lips. In the room with her are the other members of her team, pretending they didn't see the kiss. Marlene is one of the few people that Sirius enjoys kissing. Enjoys doing anything with her, really. He also knows that Marlene won't catch feelings or expect a relationship out of it.

"I'm here to collect the clothes you brought back for Remus," Sirius says, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Oh I see now, you didn't come to see how I was doing after a day in the city. You just want to take the supplies I gathered and ditch me. I see how it is," Marlene jokes, leading Sirius to the bag of clothes.

"Don’t be like that, darling. I'll spend time with you tonight," Sirius says, nipping the tip of her ear with his teeth. Marlene swats him on the arm, laughing as he grabs the bag out of her hand.

"You better, it's been a while since we last spent the night together." Sirius leaves the room, blowing a kiss over his shoulder as he walks away. "Hate to see you go, love to watch you leave," Marlene shouts behind him. Sirius laughs, giving a spin and grinning as she wolf-whistles. He's still smiling to himself as he arrives back at the main room, throwing himself on top of James.

"Jamie, my gorgeous gorgeous boy, I will not be spending the night in our room," he announces, throwing the bag at Remus, who managed to catch it without looking away from his conversation with Peter.

"Who are you spending the night with?" James asks, wrapping his arms around Sirius' waist.

"Marlene, who else?"

"Sirius, there are so many people in this place you've slept with. How am I supposed to know which one you're staying with tonight?" Sirius tenses at the words. He knows James is only messing around but it still hurt.

"I'm not a slut, James," He says, crossing his arms in a huff.

"I'm not calling you one," James says gently, running his fingers up and down Sirius' sides.

"Then what are you doing, then?"

"Sirius let's not do this now," James says in his ear, voice low. Sirius knows he's getting annoyed over nothing. James was just joking.

"I'm sorry," He says, falling back against his best mates chest. "Sorry I'm just in a bitchy mood."

"It's alright. I'm sorry for implying that you sleep around a lot."

"You're not wrong. I do sleep around a lot," Sirius mutters.

"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with that. Tell Marlene I hope her mission went alright today," James says and the conversation is over.

"Food's ready," a voice says at the doorway, and everyone makes their way towards the dining area. On the tables are bowls full of potatoes made in different ways, jacket, roast, mashed, sliced, chips, wedges and there's more bowls with other vegetables. There's some freshly made bread laid out and other food over the table. Everyone sat down and began eating. At this point, Sirius was sick of potatoes. He would do anything for a burger. Earlier in the apocalypse they caught fish, but after a few weeks all the fish had gone. Eaten by Zombies. Or survivors.

Once everyone had eaten, leaving enough food for anyone who hasn't arrived yet. Sirius follows James back to the main room along with Lily, Mary, Remus and Frank. They sit on one of the sofas, James and Frank sitting at the sides with Lily in the middle, Lily sitting on the arm next to James, Sirius sprawled across the top of them and Remus sitting on a cushion on the floor in front of them. Alice joins a little while later, sitting with Frank.

"Life updates anyone?" Mary asks, looking around everyone with her wide eyes.

"Lily agreed to go on a date with me," James announces, grinning.

"No I didn't," Lily says quickly before Sirius can say anything.

"Aw man, I was hoping that would work," James mutters, flashing a boyish smile at Lily. She turns away from him, but Sirius can see the smile she's hiding.

"Any real life updates?" Mary asks, and Frank and Alice have a conversation with their eyes.

"We think I might be pregnant," Alice announces after a moment and everyone reacts immediately.

"What!" Lily shrieks, throwing herself at her friend, causing Sirius to fall onto the floor. James throws his arm around Frank pulling him into a hug and pinching his red cheeks. Alice is laughing a little breathlessly and Marlene and Mary have joined in on the pile the girls have on the floor, having slid off the sofa. Sirius gives Frank a hug after James has let go, sitting on Franks lap.

"That means you had sex you filthy little dog," He whispers in Franks ear, causing him to turn an even brighter red.

"Please, you've had sex more than I have," Frank says back, and Sirius leans away from him clutching his hand to his chest with a fake gasp.

"Me? I would never I'm saving myself for marriage. I wouldn't even hold hands with someone before getting engaged at the least!" he says.

"Sirius you're literally sat on top of me right now." Frank laughs. Sirius grins and presses a kiss to Frank's cheek, hugging him tight.

"I'm happy for you, Frankie."

"Okay so whoever goes out tomorrow could you find a pregnancy test? Because even though I'm like, eighty percent sure I'm pregnant, I'd still like to know for certain," Alice says after everyone has stopped celebrating.

"Sure, I'll add it to the list of things we need," James says. The rest of the day has everyone relaxed, chatting to each other. A few other people - Peter, Fabian, Gideon - come over to speak to Alice and Frank, offering them their congratulations. After a while, Marlene stands up and stretches.

"I'm off to bed, goodnight everyone," She says.

"Goodnight." Everyone choruses. Sirius gives an absentminded wave towards her, all his attention on whatever it is that Remus is saying.

"I said I'm off to bed," Marlene says with a pointed cough.

"Oh." Sirius sits up, cracking his back on the way. "Yeah me too. Super tired." He gives a fake yawn and stretch that is not convincing in the slightest. "Goodnight guys." He gets up and follows Marlene out the room, ignoring James' "Real subtle, you two," shouted after them. They get to Marlene's room and as soon as the door is closed, Sirius finds himself pinned against it, Marlene pressed against his front, hand resting against his chest.

"How are we gonna do it tonight? You want to get out some energy or just wanting to relax?" In answer, Sirius leans forward and crashes his lips to hers in a heavy kiss. Her mouth opens straight away and their tongues rub along each other, biting and sucking at each other's lips. Marlene's teeth catch on his lip ring causing him to shiver. They pull away only to breathe, and even then Marlene isn't wasting time, ripping off their clothes, biting at any exposed skin along Sirius' neck. They fall onto the bed, breath heavy and panting, skin glistening with sweat, the smell of arousal filling the room. Sirius straddles Marlene's hips, stopping her from grinding against him like she was doing. He slides his fingers along her underwear, featherlight along her skin, completely different to the bruising touches just a moment before. "Fucking hurry up," Marlene bites out and Sirius looks at her, not changing his pace at all.

"What's the rush, McKinnon?" He asks, just to be annoying. Marlene's cheeks are flushed pink and she arches back, neck stretched out perfectly for Sirius to bite into it, finger sliding further into her underwear, rubbing along her skin and into her slick heat. Marlene moans as Sirius teases her, dragging his fingers along her clit, not quite adding enough pressure just yet. She groans, and Sirius decides to speed up a bit, pulling her underwear off completely, along with his own. He sits between her legs, her thighs spread open and resting against his hips.

"Sirius please," Marlene moans, gripping her legs together, pulling him closer. Sirius slips one finger inside her, steadily pumping in and out, the other hand reaches up to her nipples tugging at them. Marlene has completely relaxed under him, arms resting on the pillow next to her head, occasionally tugging at her hair. She's bitten her lips and they're swollen and slick with saliva. Sirius leans down to kiss them, tongue pushing in at the same time a second finger joins his first. He curls his fingers slightly and Marlene's mouth drops open in a silent moan. A third finger joins. Sirius is achingly hard now, and he reaches to the bedside drawers, pulling a condom out the top drawer. He slides it on, hissing at finally touching himself after giving all his attention to Marlene. Marlene is staring at him, one of her hands has gone to her own nipple, circling it gently. Her legs drop open and Sirius presses his aching cock to her, pressing in slowly, watching her face for any sign of pain. They both moan as he slides into place, Marlene wrapping an arm around Sirius' neck, pulling him closer for a messy kiss thats more just their open mouths pressed against each other than a real kiss, but neither of them care.

"Okay," Marlene says after a brief pause. "Okay I'm good." That’s all the conformation Sirius needs to start fucking her. Any gentle teasing from earlier is gone. He drops to his elbows to give himself more leverage and Marlene's leg hooks around his hips, urging him to go faster and harder. Sirius balances himself on one arm, using his thumb to rub at Marlene's clit, wanting to get her to come before him. It doesn’t take long until her legs are shaking, toes curled tightly. She tightens around his cock, nails dragging the skin in his back sharply. The sudden pain of her nails pushes Sirius over the edge and he comes, teeth biting into Marlene's shoulder.

Marlene swallows hard as Sirius carefully pulls out. He takes off the condom and ties it, tossing it into the bin kept next to Marlene's bed for this exact reason. The two of them lay on the bed for a moment, catching their breath. Then Marlene grabs the cover from where it got pushed to the side and slides under it, pulling Sirius with her. They get comfy, with Sirius laying on Marlene's chest, arms wrapped across her waist.

"So... Remus is pretty hot, huh," Marlene says after a moment of silence.

"Oh my got he's so hot, I want to fuck him so bad. Or he could fuck me," Sirius says immediately, causing Marlene to laugh. "His voice Marls, and his eyes the way he looks at me," Sirius groans and buries his face into Marlene's chest.

"I've been wanting to talk to you about him as soon as I saw him," She admits, one hand coming up to untangle the knots that have formed in Sirius' hair. "I knew he was your type."

"Marlene you don’t understand! I gave him a tour of the place and he wouldn’t stop staring at me, it was taking everything in me not to drop to my knees and suck him off there and then." Marlene laughs harder, snorting with how much she's laughing. "It's not funny Marls! I don’t even know the man! Like, he spoke to me at one point and I blushed! blushed Marlene, when have I ever blushed around anyone?" Marlene stops laughing as much, still chuckling slightly.

"Well, I don’t think I've ever actually seen you blush," She says finally. "Exactly! I don’t blush! What has he done to me?"

"This is not where I was expecting this conversation to go," Marlene says, letting out a heavy breath and kissing Sirius on his forehead. It's ridiculously soft compared to what they had just been up to not even ten minutes earlier and Sirius practically melts against her, closing his eyes.

"Neither did I," he admits, breath evening out. The steady rise and fall of Marlene's chest calms him, and the sensation of Marlene's hand in his hair makes him feel safer than he's felt these past few days.

"Round two?" Marlene asks after a moment of silence. Sirius doesn't even hesitate before pouncing on her, reaching blindly for another condom. Afterwards they fall into a gentle sleep, Sirius curled around Marlene with one hand resting on her sternum, feeling her breathe.

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.

Chapter Text

Sirius wakes up that morning slightly disorientated. It takes him a while to remember that he's in Marlene's room and not his own. Marlene is already up getting changed. Sirius watches her for a while, blinking sleepily. She's got dark hickies across her neck and down her chest, and Sirius catches sight of faded red marks on her hips and thighs before she covers them with her trousers.

"Morning sleepy head," Marlene says when she notices him awake.

"Morning. You feeling okay this morning?" he asks, noticing her hobbling slightly when she walks to her shirt across the room.

"A bit achy, but otherwise I'm fine. What about you? Your back is all scratched up, I didn't even realise I did that," she says apologetically. Sirius didn't even notice the slight stinging on his back until she pointed it out. He groans, stretching his arms above his head.

"I'll be fine, Marls. What time is it?" He gets out of bed, shoulders popping as he lifts himself up.

"I'm not sure, but no one has come looking for us so it can't be that late." It's times like this that Sirius hates that the bunker is underground. He wishes he could see the sun, or even just open a window to get rid of the smell of sex that's still in the room.

He throws on the clothes he was wearing the night before and follows Marlene down the hallway. They head towards Sirius' room so he can get changed properly, saying hello to anyone they meet on the way. The room is quiet when they reach it, and Sirius assumes that James is already up. When he opens the door, his mouth drops open and he gestures to Marlene to come in. She follows, and as soon as her eyes reach the bed, she gasps.

Sleeping in the bed, curled up tightly together and no clothes in sight, is James and Lily. Lily's back is towards the door, and James has his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close to him. The door slams closed behind Marlene, and the noise causes both people on the bed to leap up, suddenly wide awake.

"Well, good morning to you," Sirius says, grinning. Lily flushes pulling the blankets to cover her chest, ignoring when Marlene cackles, but James just grins, lounging back on the bed as though he nothing has happened. He has a satisfied look in his eyes.

"Morning, Siri." He ruffles his hair, flexing his arm as he does so.

"Lily, get up, get changed, we need to talk," Marlene says, somehow making Lily blush even brighter. Sirius opens his closet, turning his back to those in the bed, and Marlene joins him, giving them a sense of privacy. "That was unexpected," Marlene whispers and Sirius snorts in agreement. James has been crushing on Lily ever since she arrived at the bunker. Even though Lily clearly liked him back, Siris never thought she'd actually do anything about it.

Sirius changes quickly, not caring at there's other people in the room with him. By the time he turns around, both James and Lily have gotten changed as well. Lily is still red in the face, and James gently takes a hold of her hand, tangling their fingers together.

"Shall we take charge of the meeting this morning? It's only half six, so we're not too late," James says. How he knows the time, Sirius isn't sure. The four of them head to the main hall together, and on the way Peter joins them. His eyes catch on to where James and Lily are holding hands, and something like sadness fills his eyes, but he blinks and it's gone. Sirius almost feels bad for him, knowing he's right about Pete having a crush on James.

They finally make it to the hall and it's already filled with everyone else. Sirius spots Remus standing with Mary and Frank. Remus is already looking at them, and Sirius looks away. Marlene catches his eye and winks dramatically, making him to laugh quietly.

"Good morning everyone! Sorry for the delay, it was all Sirius' fault," James says when they finally get to the front of the room.

"Oi!" Sirius exclaims, earning a laugh from most people in the room. "Just for that, Jamie's team is going out today." James glares at Sirius, but he just smiles in response. James' team was already planned to go out today, but no one needs to know that.

"Alright, my team is going out today. Brilliant. Yesterday Alice and Marlene came back with zero injuries. Last night Lily told me that our new recruit Remus is considering joining a team. Remus is that true?" Remus nods from where he's standing. "Cool, cool. The other team going out today is Marlene's team because of something that was written in the report yesterday." Marlene pulls a face and James spots it. "You okay with that, Marlene?" he asks, double checking that she's good with heading out of safety.

"Yeah, but we might just be a bit slower than usual. I don't think I can run after last night," she jokes. Someone in the crowd wolf-whistles.

The rest of the meeting is spent giving everyone their day jobs, and suddenly the meeting is over. Sirius' job today is to teach Remus what the teams do when outside the base. Lily has offered to help, and the three of them say good-bye and good-luck to James and Marlene as they leave.

"First things first, this is where we keep the weapons," Sirius says, gesturing to the room they're in. It's a small-ish room close to the doors of the bunkers, and it is filled from floor to ceiling with weapons. There's guns, knives, bombs, cross bows, and every other weapon imaginable.

"That's a lot of guns," Remus says in awe. "I wish I had these while I was out there alone."

"No, you don’t," Sirius says. Remus raises an eyebrow, turning to meet his eye. "The guns are loud. All they do is attract the attention of more zombies. Using guns or bombs usually ends in a massacre." Lily shudders. She had been there with James and Sirius the first and last time they used the guns. They lost so many people that day, and would have lost James too if Lily hadn't saved his life.

They spend the next hour showing Remus how to use the weapons.

"If my brother was here, he'd be able to show you how to use these properly," Sirius laughs, holding a curved dagger in his hand. He knows he's using it completely wrong, but Remus isn't taking his eyes off him, so he refuses to stop.

"I didn't know you had a brother?" Lily says, looking up from the knot she's practicing in the emergency rope section. Sirius blinks, not even realising he mentioned Regulus.

"Um, yeah," he says, lowering the dagger. "I haven't seen him since the apocalypse started." All laughter from learning the weapons has gone.

"I lost my sister," Lily says quietly. Sirius turns to her, not knowing Lily had any siblings. "We had a fight before the apocalypse started. While I was out there on my own I kept searching for her. Until finally I found her. She had been infected." Sirius inhales a sharp breath. Lily has tears in her eyes, but she looks determined not to let them fall.

"My mam got infected," Remus says from where he was silently watching the others. His amber eyes are filled with grief. "I watched my dad killer. He then killed himself using the same gun."

Wanting to brighten the mood again, Sirius places the dagger back on the wall and clears his throat. "Okay, now we've seen you with the weapons, and you're pretty good with the machete. Let's go through what we actually do during our trips out the Order."

The three of them make their way towards Sirius and James' bedroom so they can talk without being interrupted. Lily blushes when they walk through the door and spot the bed, still unmade with last nights sheets on. Sirius pulls the sheets off and leaves them piled on the floor on James' side of the bed, before falling on the bare mattress on his side. Lily sits where James' pillow would be, crossing her legs, and Remus tentatively sits on the edge next to Sirius' legs.

"Alright, my team found you pretty close to the end of the day, so you weren't with us during the majority of the outing," Lily starts. Remus nods his head, eyes distant.

"As you know, one team searches for supplies. Whether that's food, water, clothes, medicine, or anything that other people ask for. The other team try and find other survivors, but if they do find anything they think would be useful for the base, they bring it back," Sirius says.

"Sometimes the teams stick together. Usually this is if it's the smaller teams going, or occasionally us team leaders head out together and we'll all go as one big group."

"We've got a couple of maps of the city that the teams take with them. When they come back we can show them to you. Any area that we avoid because they're zombie-prone are crossed out, and any shelter is highlighted. We always cross out any shops once we've emptied them, that way we don't have three teams going to the same empty shopping area," Sirius explains. Remus looks like he's understanding everything they're explaining, which is good. Usually it's James that does the explaining, or even McGonagall, but James is out and Minerva is spending the day in the medical wing with her wife.

Remus is looking at him with those eyes again, and Sirius clears his throat, dipping his head before looking up again, a faint pink dusting his cheeks.

"Any questions so far?" Lily asks, oblivious to Sirius' internal crisis.

"Who's team would I join?" Remus asks. His voice is low, and Sirius has to remind himself that Lily is in the room with them, and he cannot jump this gorgeous specimen of a man without having some kind of indication that he likes him back. Looking at someone does not equal consent.

"Whoever's team you want. The team leaders are Me, Sirius, James, Frank, Marlene and Alice. I think you've met most of them."

"You've not met Marlene yet, we'll introduce you once she returns," Sirius says. Lily turns to him, interrupting whatever Remus opened his mouth to say.

"Why did Marlene go out today? We never send someone out two days in a row," she says. Sirius shrugs.

"James said there was something in her report. Maybe Dumbledore wanted it to be checked out, and that's why the teams stayed together."

"Report?" Remus asks. He's squinting his eyes in confusion and Sirius wants to pinch his cheek.

"Oh, after every outing we - the team leaders - write up a report about anything we saw. If someone gets attacked by a zombie, we write up what happened. We report how the zombies have changed, if they have changed at all. We write down everything we can. I won't bore you too much with the details as it's only the leaders that write these reports," Lily explains. Remus has turned his attention on to her while she's been speaking.

"It's so boring," Sirius announces, simply just to have Remus look back at him again. His eyes seem to glow when they meet Sirius' own grey ones. He lets out a little laugh, barely just a huff of air, but it’s the most beautiful sound Sirius has ever heard and he has a new mission - Make Remus laugh at least once a day for the rest of his life. Lily is looking at him funny, so Sirius shakes his head to remove whatever his face is doing and grins at her, throwing in a wink just to see her roll her eyes.

That whole morning is spent going through everything. Remus asks a lot of questions, and Sirius and Lily do their best to answer them. They're just walking through the corridor towards Dumbledore and McGonagall's office when the alarm goes off. It's far too early for the teams to come back, and Sirius reacts straight away, running towards he doors and grabbing a weapon on the way.

At the door, Fabian and Gideon rush up behind him, both carrying weapons of their own. There's old security cameras and looking at the screen, Sirius can see a figure running towards the door. The door is closed, but there's a sudden banging on it, sounding urgent, desperate.

"Sirius please for the love of all things holy, let me in!" It's Marlene. Without waiting for anyone else to move, Sirius opens the door. Marlene runs in, her hair loose and tangled behind her. She's lost her backpack at some point and her clothes are all messed up. There's blood splattered everywhere and she's clinging to her knife like it’s a life line.

"Close the door," she orders. Fabian and Gideon closes the door, locking it tight behind them while Sirius walks up to his friend. She's shaking like a leaf and her eyes are blood-shot, tears tracking though the mud and blood on her face. Sirius is scared to ask what happened. "Before you ask, I don’t know where James is. Everyone got split up. We agreed to come back here if anything happened, though, so he could be back soon. Have someone waiting here for anyone else to come back."

With that, she walks out the room. Lily looks after as she walks past, concern filling her features.

"I'll go after her, make sure she's okay. You guys wait here for anyone else. Send them straight to Poppy when they come back," Sirius says. He finds Marlene in the main room, searching though the sewing things. When Sirius walks up behind her, she turns and thrusts a pair of scissors at him. Sirius flinches before realising she's handing it to him, not trying to stab him.

"Cut it off," she says, gesturing to her hair. "All of it. I want it gone." Sirius doesn't say anything, just leads her towards the sofa and pushes her to sit down. The shaking has gone down, but not a lot. Luckily the alarm seems to have cleared out the room so they're alone. Her hair is long, reaching the middle of her back. But it's knotted and tangled and it take Sirius a while to find a good place to cut without tugging at it. He doesn't ask her what happened, knowing she won't say anything until she's ready.

When her hair is scattered along the floor, cut short to her head, Marlene speaks. She runs a hand through her hair, grabbing at it and sighing in relief when she can't get a grip.

"There was a herd of zombies. Bigger than I've ever seen before. There was over a hundred of them. We knew fighting them wouldn't work, but they must have sensed us somehow. They came at us and we got separated. Me and James ordered everyone to run, and most people listened to us, but I'm not sure how many got out. As I was running away, my hair came undone and a zombie grabbed me by it, pulling me back into the herd. Sybill saw what had happened and came to save me, but in doing so she got killed." Sirius is silent through the while speech. When she finishes speaking, he pulls her into a right hug, rubbing his hands up and down her back. She pushes her face into his neck, sniffing slightly.

Sirius tires to ignore the fact that James might not come back, that he might be…

They stay like that for a while until Lily walks back into the room, red-rimmed eyes.

"Emmaline has come back, but no one else. I've sent her to see Pomfrey." Emmaline Vance, one of the members of Jamie's team.

"You should go see Pomfrey as well," Sirius says quietly to Marlene, not wanting to say what he and Lily are both thinking. The three of them walk to the medical wing, Marlene clinging to Sirius' arm the whole way there. Sirius gently pushes her onto an empty bed, glancing over to see Emmaline getting a bandage covering her entire left arm. The skin that hasn't been covered yet is a mess of blood and skin and nail marks. Sirius looks away, the sight making him feel slightly nauseous.

Marlene falls asleep as soon as she lays down, completely exhausted from all the running and fighting and crying. Pomfrey looks up and gestures to Sirius and Lily to leave the room, and they give a small nod before leaving to join the others by the main door.

"Do you think he's alive?" Lily asks. Sirius clenches his jaw, looking away.

"I don't know." He really doesn’t know. And the fact he might not be alive? Well that just destroys Sirius.

Chapter Text

In the distance is the sound of chaos. There's screaming, shouting, zombies screeching. A few times Regulus hears the shout of someone's name. By the sound of it, it's happening far away, maybe at the other side of the city.

Regulus is sat on his make-shift bed, Evan clinging onto his arm. It's been going on for over an hour now, and there's no sign of it stopping or slowing down. The five of them are sat in silence listening to the fight, all trying not to think of what's happening. It's obvious that the zombies have found survivors. And by the sound of it, a group of them. A piercing scream fills the air before getting cut off.

Even this far away, Regulus can hear the muffled noise of zombies tearing bosies apart. The wet noise of flesh coming apart. The sound of zombies eating the corpses. He wants to throw up, instead moving his hand to hold on to Evans, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

They had been having a good afternoon, before all this started. Pandora had a stack of playing cards - a few cards missing - and they had been sat in a circle playing different games, Barty breaking all the rules by pretending he was taught differently. They had been happy, or as happy as you can be at the end of the world. That was when the screaming started. And it hasn't stopped since.

Pandora starts humming to herself, rocking back and forth as she pulls a strand of hair in front of her face, braiding it, undoing the braid, then starting over again. Dorcas has her eyes closed, as if she can black out the noise if she tries hard enough. There's the shout of someone's name again, though it's too far away to hear the name. Barty shuffles from where he's lying on Evan's lap, biting the skin around his nails.

"Jesus fuck, this is going on forever," he mutters and Pandora stops humming, tucks her hair behind her ear and gives a humourless laugh.

"They won't stop," she says. "This used to happen all the time at the beginning. When there were more survivors. There's a chance it won't stop until late into the night, or even tomorrow."

Regulus shudders at the thought. He already hates listening to it and it's only been going on for a fraction of the time it will last, if Pandora is right.

"Maybe, because the zombies are evolving, it will be over sooner," Evan says quietly, one hand coming up to play with Barty's hair.

"Hopefully," Dorcas whispers, not opening her eyes.

None of them eat that night, and Dorcas and Pandora stay down on the ground with the others instead of climbing up to their hammocks. They all pile onto the mattress on the ground, squashed together. Evan is tucked between Regulus and Barty, Pandora is pressed tightly against Barty's back, and Dorcas has made herself at home behind Regulus.

All five of them are covering their ears, trying to block out the noise, that’s still going on. The sun has set, and the warehouse is pitch black, making Regulus feel a little uneasy. He can feel Evan's breath fanning over his neck in uneven puffs. There's a quiet, muffled crying. Regulus thinks it's Pandora. He doesn't say anything, doesn't let her know that he's still awake. Doesn't try reassure her that everything will be okay.

"Dora? You okay?" Dorcas whispers from behind him. Pandora sniffs in response, shuffling that makes the whole mattress shake unsteadily.

"I'll be fine, I just hate this," Pandora replies, voice thick with emotion.

"It sucks," Evan says, making Regulus almost jump. He had thought Evan was asleep, like Barty. Regulus closes his eyes, trying to block out the sound. Pandora is humming again, so he focuses on that.

He needs to sleep, his body is exhausted, shaking slightly. But his mind is keeping him up.

What if it was Sirius that was in that group of survivors? Or his friend, James? Will Regulus ever know the answer to that?

He tries to listen, trying to figure out if any of the screams sound familiar, but they all sound the same. Desperate, scared.

After a while, he must fall asleep, because he wakes up suddenly, the feeling that something isn't right pooling in his chest. He nudges the others awake, reaching into his bag to pull out his torch, flicking it on and looking around the warehouse. The sound of the zombies in the distance is still going on, but the screams are less now.

The warehouse is empty, but Regulus still feels uneasy. Instead of going back to sleep like Barty asks him to, he slips out of bed, Dorcas following, grabbing her own torch.

"What's up?" she whispers, helping him search the warehouse.

"I don’t know," Regulus responds, heading towards a dark corner of the room. "Something doesn't feel right..." The corner is empty.

Evan has sat up now, watching them from the bed. Dorcas flashes her torch up to see the hammocks in the air, before heading towards one of the bordered up windows when she realises that they're empty. Regulus follows her, slowly opening the spy-hole in the wood blocking the window.

"holy shit," Dorcas breathes out, and both of them switch off their torches.

The light from the full moon shines on everything, giving them the perfect view of the city. The buildings gleam silver, the water sparkles, and the group of twenty or so zombies standing directly outside the window almost seem to glow. Regulus feels his breath hitch in his throat.

The only thing stopping these zombies from getting into the warehouse are the traps scattered around outside - the barbed wire, holes dug deep covered with tarp. But they stumble by, pausing every so often as if thinking of where to go.

There's the sound of movement behind him, and Regulus spins round, heart pounding in his chest until he realises it's only Barty. Pandora and Evan are walking over, curious as to what it is they've seen. They all stand in silence, watching the zombies walk by.

There's a zombie, a young boy - He's maybe fifteen, sixteen - who wanders away from the rest of the group, standing and staring at the warehouse, head tilted to the side. Regulus could swear he was looking right at them. The boy takes a step towards them, and a loud snap fills the air, before the wailing of a zombie. He stepped directly into a bear trap, legs getting ripped off, collapsing to the ground. The other zombies look at him, and look at the traps on the ground, shuffling away. They leave the boy in the trap to die.

Even though he's a zombie, Regulus almost feels bad for him. His bones are almost poking through his skin, and his cheeks are hollow. He almost looks human, other than the fact his legs are trapped in a bear trap and he's still trying to crawl to them. He's still wailing and screaming. The other zombies are out of sight now.

Evan walks over to the doors, unbolting it and walking out towards the zombie with his bat in hand. Barty follows, ready in case the other zombies decide to come back. They carefully make their way towards the boy, avoiding the other traps they can't quite see in the moonlight. Regulus turns way as Evan bashes the zombies head in, killing him instantly.

When whey walk back in Evan is wiping a splatter of blood off his arms. Dorcas helps him bolt the door shut again and they make their way back to bed.

"I guess your instincts were right, Reggie," Barty says, pressing his nose into the back of Regulus' head.

"Never going to doubt me again, huh," Regulus jokes, feeling Barty smile into his hair.

"Never."

The zombies in the distance are still loud, but it’s a bit easier to block them out now. The adrenalin in Regulus' blood has calmed down, leaving him slightly shaky. Evan runs a hand up and down his forearm, and Regulus can't help but flinch at the contact.

He knows that zombie had to die, knows that he would have killed and eaten them all, but the thought that he was a human before all of this started stays in Regulus' mind. All of these zombies were once people. There had been something in the news, back before the zombies took over, that the infection causing the humans to go cannibalistic only infects a certain part of the brain. The zombies still have the same thoughts as they did when they were human. The human part of them is still in there, but they just can't control their body - the infection does that. So all these humans have to watch themselves killing and eating other people, completely against their will. They can taste the flesh as they eat it, feel when they fight back.

That boy would have felt the pain of the bear trap snapping around his ankles, would have felt the metal crushing his bones. He just wouldn't have been able to show he was in pain.

Regulus hopes that they're thankful when they get killed, that they know it’s mercy killing. He knows that if he got infected, he'd want to get killed as soon as possible. He, Barty and Evan have made a deal, if one of them gets infected, they get killed. It would be hard to do, and Regulus can't think of anything worse than killing one of his boyfriends, but it's what needs to be done if they ever got infected.

Evan removes his hand from Regulus' arm, and he reaches out to hold onto it, tangling their fingers together.

"You okay?" Evan whispers.

"I will be," Regulus replies. Evan presses a kiss to his knuckles and eventually falls asleep. Regulus stays up. The moonlight has no way of getting in through the bordered up windows, so the warehouse is dark. Regulus can't even see Evans face, even when he knows he's right in front of him. He can't see anything, and somehow that enhances the noises all around.

It's started raining. Only faintly, but it's enough that Regulus can hear it on the roof. There's more muffled shrieks from the distance, but the rain seems to cover that pretty well. Everyone else is asleep, and their breathing almost seems to echo in the quiet. Pandora mumbles something about a potion.

The night drags on. Regulus turns around, careful not to wake anyone up. Barty's face is right next to his now, breath fanning over his face. Regulus doesn't know when the last time any of them brushed their teeth was. But somehow the smell of his breath doesn't bother him. Maybe going through a zombie apocalypse together, not being able to bathe for months at a time, sometimes hiding in one spot for so long that they end up wetting themselves, their sense of smell isn't as strong. Or maybe it's just because it's Barty that he doesn't care.

He feels Evan move closer in his sleep, throwing a leg over his thigh.

What are the chances Sirius is still alive? Regulus finds himself thinking. This is what his thoughts almost always turn to when there's nights like this. Regulus doesn't know what he'd do if he found out he was dead. Sirius is the only reason he's still alive today, having found him trying to drown himself at the ocean when they were teenagers. Sirius had dived into the water, dragging an unconscious Regulus back to shore, giving him CPR until help arrived. Sirius didn't leave his side, riding in the ambulance.

Seeing the reaction his brother had to his suicide attempt is the only reason Regulus hasn't tried again. And now, with the apocalypse, he's staying alive because he doesn't want his body to be eaten by zombies. He knows he should want to stay alive for Evan and Barty, but there's the tiniest part of his brain that whispers that they'd be okay if anything happened to him, because they have each other. He knows this isn't true, that they'd be heartbroken if anything did happen. They've had this conversation multiple times before the apocalypse started when Regulus' mental health got the better of him, when he refused to leave his bed.

Now, feeling the breath of Barty on his cheek, Evan wrapping himself tightly along his back, he knows he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Sure, his mental health isn't the best, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be.

If Sirius has died during this apocalypse, Regulus hopes he never finds out. He wants to have this small beacon of hope in his chest for the rest of his life, however long or short that may be.

At some point, the zombies in the distance go quiet. Regulus sits up, looking in the direction they were as if he can see them. It's easier to sleep after they've gone silent, and he drifts off with his head on Barty's chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

Chapter Text

It's past the time the teams usually come back. Sirius is sat in the main room, Lily next to him griping to his hand tightly. James still hasn't returned. Marlene is back from Pomfrey. She's got a few bandages and has been given some sleeping pills, so she's fast asleep leaning against the arm of the sofa, legs on Lily's knees. Frank and Alice are going around, making sure everyone is alright.

Since Emmaline and Marlene, there hasn't been anyone else come back. Unless you count the zombie that followed behind Emmaline, but that was killed straight away. Dumbledore has come down from his office to speak to people. This is the first time Remus and Peter have met him, and both look nervous.

"If Mr Potter still hasn't returned by nightfall, tomorrow I will select a team to go out and search for him," Dumbledore says. Sirius clenches his jaw. Dumbledore might not want to admit it, but James is important. Not only did he help create the order, searching for survivors almost every day, but he was friends with almost everyone in it, no matter who they were. Everyone knew that if they had a problem, they could talk to James. If they needed help at all, James was the one to go to. And now he might not make it back.

Emmaline is still in the medical wing with Pomfrey. Marlene was supposed to stay there, but she refused to. Said she wanted to be here with the others when James got back. When, not if.

No one has spoken to him or Lily since they heard about the attack, but everyone has given them sympathetic looks, as if he's already dead. The worst thing about this is the fact that they don't know if he is dead. Did he get killed after Marlene escaped? Did he get infected? Is he fine, but just unable to get back to the base?

His knee is bouncing up and down, and Lily places their joint hands on top of it, as if that will stop the movement.

"Who will be part of that team?" Mary asks Dumbledore. She's sat on the ground in front of the sofa, leaning against Lily's legs in silent support. Almost every single member had heard that James and Lily had gotten together the night before.

"I will tell you all this if the need to leave arises, however I won't be preparing the team unless we absolutely have to," Dumbledore says before leaving the room. Sirius has always liked the man, he as someone to look up to. But now, the way he dismisses the way that two whole teams have gone, possibly been killed by the zombies, Sirius wants to stab him.

"He'll be back," Lily says. It's the only thing she's said since they sat down. Sirius looks at her, spotting the red around her eyes and wet eye-lashes. He hadn't noticed her crying and now feels shit about it. What kind of person doesn't even notice their friend crying when she's sat right next to him?

"Yeah," Sirius agrees, voice cracking. "Yeah, he'll come back." Best to stay hopeful. Maybe that way his wishes will come true, and James will come back in one piece.

"Maybe you guys should get some sleep. You can't stay up all night, and James would want you to look after yourselves," Remus says gently.

"Don’t tell me what James would want," Sirius snaps. Remus blinks, clearly not expecting that. Sirius hadn't been expecting himself to be annoyed, but maybe he was just stressed. Since Marlene came back he's been on edge, not having a moment to relax or calm himself down. "You don't know Jamie, you've been here for two days, don't order us around."

Marlene woke up from the shouting. When had Sirius started shouting? Lily places her hand on his arm but he shakes it off. Remus looks like he's going to say something else, and everyone else in the room is watching them with wide eyes.

"Sirius…" Lily says, but he just stands up, storming out the room. He's being childish and he knows he is, it's almost like back with his parents - them making one slight comment and him taking it too far.

He storms all the way to his and Jamie's room, glaring at anyone he walks past and slamming the door behind him. The covers are still in a pile on the floor, but he picks up a pillow and screams into it. The others sitting in the room are probably talking about him, about how dramatic he's being. They don't know that being dramatic is a Black family trait.

He's tugging at his hair, gripping at the roots and pulling at it until his scalp is stinging, screaming at him to stop. The pain grounds him momentarily. He's crying now, face still buried in the pillow. Heaving sobs rip from his chest, tears running down his face unable to stop or slow down.

He can't lose James. He can't lose another brother, and Remus just telling him to sleep it off as if that would make everything better nearly broke him. James is the only person who knows what his life was like before the apocalypse, the only one who knows how close Sirius and Regulus were. And now he might not see either of them again, all because of an infection that got out of hand.

There's a knock at the door and Sirius holds his breath, keeping the sobs in.

"Sirius can I come in?" It's Remus. Sirius sniffles in an unsteady breath, standing up and wiping away the tears. His nose is red, it always goes red when he cries, and the tears have made tracks all down his neck. He doesn't bother with his hair, knowing that it's a mess from pulling at it. There's a few loose strands of his hair tangled in his fingers.

He stands on shaky legs and opens the door, still hugging the pillow to his chest.

"What do you want?" he asks. Remus looks taken aback at the sight of him.

"To apologise. I didn't mean to imply that James not coming back wasn't a big deal or anything. I know he's your best friend and-"

"He's not just my friend. He means everything to me," Sirius interrupts. No one seems to understand the bond between the two of them, how they're more than friends, more than brothers, more than soulmates. James is Sirius' entire world, without him, there's no point in living.

Remus blinks, not sure how to respond to that. His eyes flicker around Sirius' face, taking in every detail.

"Okay so he's not just your friend. But I still think you should take a break. Try and sleep." Sirius scoffs, rolling his eyes. Just when he thought he could forgive him, Remus goes and starts trying to order him around again.

"Here we go again," he mutters. Remus stops what he's saying, glaring at Sirius.

"You know what, I was trying to be the bigger person coming and apologising. But clearly I made a mistake, because you're just acting like a spoilt brat." There's a glint in Remus' eyes, glaring at him as he pushes through the door.

"I am not a spoilt fucking prat, you dick," Sirius spits. Remus lets the door fall closed behind him and he starts to crowd into Sirius' space, causing tingle to roll down his spine.

"You are, though. You walk around this place like you own it. Like everyone should bow down to you and kiss your fucking feet, oh thank you so much Sirius, you saved us," Remus mocks. Sirius is taking a few steps back, but Remus just walks closer.

"I did save you," he spits. "Without me, this place wouldn't exist. Half the people would be dead. I saved these people. I saved you!"

"Oh shut up, I was doing perfectly fine out there on my own. You didn't save me, I saved myself." Remus has pressed so close that Sirius falls backwards on the bed, head tilted up so he doesn't break eye contact. Remus pauses a moment, breathing heavy. Sirius swallows harshly as Remus tilts his head to the side as if thinking. "You're not really mad at me," he muses. "You're enjoying this, aren't you." His eyes tail over Sirius' body, to where he's clearly reacting to the argument. When their eyes meet again, he's smirking.

"Oh please, I'm not the only one affected by this," Sirius scoffs. In answering, Remus crashes their lips together, his hands pressed to Sirius' cheeks, pulling him close. Their teeth clash together making Sirius wince, but he doesn't pull back. This is what he wanted. He needs something to distract him, and he's wanted to do this since he saw Remus walking through the door.

Before he knows it, Remus is pinning him to the bed and their clothes have been ripped off and thrown to the side. The mattress is slightly uncomfortable without the sheet covering it, but Sirius doesn't spend too long thinking about it. Instead he focuses on the feeling of Remus' hands, the bluntness of his nails as they scratch slightly at his delicate skin of his wrists.

"Remus I need -" Sirius' pleas are cut off when Remus presses a hand over his mouth.

"Do you ever stop speaking?" he asks. Remus' hand is slightly sweaty and it smells of pure Remus, making Sirius feel almost lightheaded. He moves his head slightly, angling it so that Remus' fingers slip past his lips. Remus' eyes darken as he watches what Sirius is doing, shifting his hips so they're pressed fully against each other. Sirius' moan is muffled by the long fingers pressed against his tongue.

A ringing fills Sirius' head, his mind goes blank and all he can focus on is Remus, Remus, Remus.

Remus wraps a hand around Sirius' dick, tugging at it slightly. The dryness of his hand has Sirius' eyes rolling to the back of his head. Remus huffs out a laugh, pressing their dicks together so he can fuck them into his fist at the same time.

"If I had known this is what I had to do to get you to shut up I would've done it sooner," Remus says. His voice is low, almost at a growl. Something about what he says pulls Sirius out of his head, and without warning he flips them so that Remus is flat on the bed, Sirius straddling his hips. Remus' fingers drop from his hand and onto his hips, clearly not bothered about the change of position. Sirius rides into Remus' hand, pre-come working as a lube and lessening the friction from before.

He's speaking again, he can hear the words tumble out his mouth but he doesn't know what he's saying. Remus pushes up, biting into the junction of Sirius' neck, his fist pumping erratically. Both of them are breathing heavy, their mouths slide together, tongues dragging along one-another and Sirius can feel his heart pounding in his chest, his hands shake where they cling to Remus' shoulders, arms, back, anywhere he can reach.

Sirius' whole body convulses when he comes, a broken moan panting into Remus' hair. Remus comes seconds later, catching every last drop in his hand, making sure none of it lands on the mattress. For a second they're both still, and Remus looks at his hand trying to figure out how to clean it.

Without thinking, Sirius raises it to his mouth, wrapping his lips around Remus' fingers again, licking and sucking all the cum clean. Remus watches him, mouth partly open and heavy eyelids. Once Remus' hand is clean, Sirius drops on the bed next to him. His heart is calm now, and he's stopped shaking. But now that it's over, his brain comes back online.

James is probably out there fighting for his life, and what is Sirius doing? Having sex with Remus, a man he's known barely two days. Remus looks like he wants to speak, but Sirius shakes his head and quickly gets changed. Without a word to Remus, he hurries out the door, still zipping up his trousers.

Lily is in her room that she shares with Mary, the other girl is nowhere to be seen. She looks up when Sirius barges through the door, breathing wildly.

"Sirius! What happened? Is it James?" she asks, standing up and rushes over. Sirius shakes his head, clinging onto her hands. Tears pool in his eyes and he suddenly feels sick.

"I had sex with Remus," he says. Lily looks confused for a moment.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Remus. I had sex with Remus. My best friend is out in the city fighting zombies or getting eaten by zombies or being a fucking zombie, all while I am here, safe underground in the bunker having sex. What kind of person does that, Lily?" At some point while he had been speaking, Lily has lead him to her bed and pushed a pillow into his arms. He clings to it, pulling his knees to his chest in a similar position to how he had been sat before Remus came to the door…

Lily sits next to him. She starts to run a hand through his hair, but it hurts and Sirius pulls back, slapping her hand out the way.

"Sorry," he mutters, relaxing a bit when she places the hand on his back, rubbing in soothing motions.

"Everyone grieves in different ways," she says after a moment of silence.

"James isn't dead. I would know if he were," Sirius says. Lily takes a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"I'm not saying he's dead." Her voice cracks on the final word. "I'm saying that you're sad and scared and worried and angry all at once, and you don't know how to deal with it all. So you're taking it out the only way you know how. Screaming at people and sex. I'm guessing the sex wasn't gentle either?"

Sirius shakes his head, rubbing a hand at his wrists, the slight burn of where Remus' nails dragged across his skin when he pinned Sirius is still fresh in his mind.

"You're letting out all you're energy, filling your mind until you don't know what it is that you were upset about. But that's only a temporary solution."

"I know it's a temporary solution, it's why I feel so shit now," Sirius snaps.

"We'll try find a permanent one, then. One that doesn't include harming yourself," Lily says gently. Sirius turns and pulls Lily into a hug.

"I wish I had you as a therapist when I had been a teenager," he says, laughing through the tears. "My actual therapist was shit. Plus he ended up telling everything I told him to my parents."

"I was a children's therapist before the apocalypse," Lily says. A children's therapist would be perfect for Lily. She has the patients for it, and Sirius already knows that she's the type of person children love.

"You would have been a brilliant therapist, Lil's," Sirius says.

He's just realised that he has no idea who half of these people were before the apocalypse. They could have been doing anything, been anyone. But the end of the world changes people. Before the apocalypse he never would have thought James would hurt someone, not physically anyway. But now? He's killed so many zombies they've both lost count. A sudden idea comes into his head. He lifts his head and looks at Lily, a smile finding its way on his face.

"Meet me in the main room in ten minutes, get as many people as possible," he says before rushing out the room. He feels almost giddy with this new idea. It would be a way to pass the time and also get his mind off James, while also getting to know the other members of the Phoenix.

Is it almost the middle of the night? Sure, and most of the members are asleep. But all the team leaders are in the main room, and any other members that are close to James or anyone else that still hasn't returned are waiting up. For now, Sirius walks towards Minerva McGonagall's room. She'll be awake, she cares about James much more than Dumbledore does, that's for sure.

Chapter Text

There's a slight scuffle in the corner of the warehouse. Regulus, Pandora, Evan and Dorcas all turn towards it, weapons at the ready.

Barty walks towards the noise, closer and closer to the tarp that’s moving on the floor.

"Barty maybe we should stay back," Evan says.

"Pssh, don't be ridiculous," Barty replies. He moves closer, and Regulus takes an unconscious step slightly in front of Evan, preparing to defend him against anything that’s hidden in the corner. Barty picks up an expandable Bo Staff from the wall, flicking it open and using it to raise the tarp.

He screams and falls back, and there's a small black thing that runs at him. Dorcas squeaks a noise of fear, and Regulus feels Evan flinch behind him, touching his back. Pandora wildly throws her knives, missing almost every shot. Regulus seems to be the only one not freaking out.

He calmly walks over to the black cat sat in front of Barty - who is still scuffling across the floor and trying to get away, not looking to see what he's trying to get away from.

"Hello," he says gently, crouching down in front of it. The cat hisses, it's hair across its entire body standing up. Instead of going away, Regulus pulls out a bit of dried meat Pandora found earlier that morning. He offers it to the cat, smiling when the cat pushes it's nose closer, refusing to move it's body. It takes the meat and hides back under the tarp to eat it, it's eyes peeking out to keep an eye on the humans in the room.

The cat is skinny, Regulus notes. It's black fur has fallen off in patches and it's got a few scars along its body. One of its ears has a slice in it, and it's right eye has a scar running through it.

"Is the thing dead? Did you kill it?" Barty asks.

"I'm not killing a cat, Bartimus," Regulus scolds.

"A cat?" Evan asks, moving closer. Regulus nods and points to the corner of the room where the cat is still watching them.

"How is it still alive? I thought the zombies had eaten all animals," Dorcas says as she walks closer.

"Another question, how did he get in the warehouse?" Pandora asks. Regulus pauses to think. The only way in is through the door which is kept locked close at all times.

"Maybe when you two went out last night it slipped through the door," Regulus says to his boyfriends. "It was dark so no one would have seen it."

The others go back to what they were doing before, cleaning the weapons, cleaning their clothes and sewing any damage, re-stocking their bags. Regulus stays with the cat. After watching it for a few more minutes he finds out it's a boy, and straight away calls it Leo.

"Why Leo?" Dorcas asks. She's come over to sit with Regulus, watching as he throws some more food over to it.

"Regulus is the brightest star in The Lion constellation, which is also known as Leo," he explains. He's always wanted a black cat to name Leo, just the same as Sirius has wanted a black dog to call Canis.

"I'd call it Fluffy," Dorcas says with a laugh. Regulus frowns.

"But it has no fur?" he points out. Most of it has fallen off, and the fur that is still there isn't what Regulus would call 'fluffy'.

"Yeah that’s the joke," Dorcas says. After a moment, Regulus smiles.

"Okay, yeah that's funny. Mean, but funny." Dorcas leaves to speak to Evan about something. Regulus watches them speak for a while, and sees a small black shape moving close to him. He doesn't show that he's seen Leo at all, but lets the cat climb into his lap.

There's something special about a completely feral (at least Regulus' assumes he's feral) cat trusting you enough to climb onto you. Leo falls asleep and Regulus tries his best not to move or make any noise.

"Reggie could you come here a moment, Lovely," Evan calls from the other side of the room. Regulus looks up and shakes his head.

"I can't," Regulus says, careful not to wake the cat. Evan looks up and his face softens when he sees Leo curled up asleep on Regulus.

"Barty could you come here a moment," Evan says, turning to Barty instead. Barty looks up from where he's building a makeshift bow and arrow.

"Why does Reggie get a cute pet name but I don’t?" he asks with a pout.

"Because Reggie's love language is terms of endearment. Yours is receiving gifts," Evan explain.

"What's yours?" Pandora asks Evan.

"Physical touch," Barty and Regulus answer at the same time.

"Mine is acts of service," Dorcas says from her place on the floor.

"Mine is quality time," Pandora adds.

"Brilliant, now that we all know what everyone's love language is. Barty, get over here." Barty places down the bow - it breaks as soon as he lets go of it, but Regulus pretends he doesn’t see - and walks over to Evan. They talk together quietly and Regulus focuses back on Leo. He raises a trembling hand to touch the back of the cat, but he wakes up just before contact is made. Leo hisses at Regulus, claws digging into his thigh, before he runs off.

With a sigh, Regulus stands and brushes dust off his trousers as he makes he makes his way to his boyfriends. Evan is leaning against Barty whispering in his ear. Regulus walks up behind them and drapes himself against Evan's back.

"Hi lovely. Did the cat leave?" Evan asks, turning away from Barty. Regulus hums affirmative, accepting the chaste kiss Evan gives him.

"We're trying to find a way to thank the girls. Dorcas got us new shoes and Pandora got us a safe place to stay and food. Any ideas?" Regulus is about to reply when a yawn escapes from him. Even though he's had more sleep recently than he's had in months, he feels exhausted.

"D' you want to have a nap?" Barty asks, already turning to head to bed, but Regulus shakes his head.

"I don’t want my body to get used to sleeping all the time," he says.

"Should we go out today?" Evan asks loudly. Dorcas and Pandora walk over.

"There's nothing out there, though," Dorcas says. "The only reason we'd need to leave is if we need to look for food or water." They all think for a moment. With nothing to do, the apocalypse is rather boring.

"There's a mini-golf place a few blocks away?" Barty suggests. Regulus smiles. On their very first date as a throuple had been mini-golfing. Evan had won, despite Barty trying to cheat.

"Nah, I went there a while ago when I was bored. That place is swarming with Bees," Pandora says.

"Bees?" Dorcas asks.

"Zombies. There's too many syllables so I shortened it," Pandora explains.

"..Right," Dorcas says lightly. "Bees."

"We could just walk around. Maybe fight a few… bees," Barty says.

"You really want out get out of here, huh?" Evan laughs.

"No offence Panda-bear, but I'm tired of staring at the same four walls," Barty says to Pandora.

"Well let's go," Regulus says. "Have a wander round. And maybe we could have a look for food or drink or something." They all got their bags ready, with food, weapons, spare clothes, etc. Anything they might need if they don't get back to the warehouse before dark. "Leo?" Regulus calls just before they leave. The cat is nowhere to be seen.

Regulus is disappointed, but knew that Leo wouldn't stay. Maybe they'll never see the cat again, but seeing him today has given Regulus a tiny ray of hope he didn't know he needed. They close the warehouse door behind them, making sure there's no way a zombie could get in and walk along the road.

"It's a lovely day today," Pandora says, squinting up at the sky. The sun is shining brightly and there's hardly any clouds. There's no wind, and Regulus can already tell he's going to get sunburn if they don't find anywhere that sells sunscreen. They make small talk as they walk, all keeping an eye out for zombies. There's no one about. And Regulus still isn't used to walking along the street without hearing the sound of other people, cars, or even birds.

Barty starts singing under his breath, a song Regulus doesn't recognise. Dorcas joins in, smirking at Barty when he looks up at her, surprised she knows the song. They turn the corner and there's someone in front of them.

"Hi," the girl says.

"Um, hi," Dorcas replies. None of them move closer, all tightening their grip on their weapons.

"I'm from the Order of the Phoenix," the girl says, walking a bit closer. She's limping. Regulus frowns. Is he supposed to know what the Order of the Phoenix is?

"The what?" Pandora asks. The girl keeps walking closer, but they all take a step back.

"A place for survivors. But my team got attacked yesterday. I can't find anyone." Regulus shivers. Pandora was right about a team of survivors getting caught yesterday.

"Your team got attacked? How did you survive?" Regulus asks. If he keeps her talking then there's more chance they'll find out if she's human or zombie.

"Oh, I didn't." The girl giggles.

Oh. Lovely.

Before she can say anything else, Dorcas has stabbed her through the ribs, directly in her heart and killing her instantly. Regulus blinks in surprise as the girl falls to the ground, dead.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asks. Dorcas tugs out her dagger and cleans it on the dead girls clothes.

"The best way to get to the heart is through the side of the ribs, just under the left arm. There's nothing protecting the heart there." It suddenly occurs to Regulus that Dorcas has survived the apocalypse all by herself up until now, and the only reason Regulus has survived this long is because of Barty and Evan. The respect he feels for the woman fills him, making him weirdly proud of her.

"We were right about the survivors," Pandora says as they walk away, leaving the body in the middle of the road.

"Have any of you heard of the Order of the Phoenix before?" Evan asks. Everyone shakes their heads.

"That zombie said it was a place for survivors. I wonder how we get to it," Dorcas muses.

A place for survivors. Sirius.

Regulus takes a breath to steady himself, gripping his dagger tightly.

"There are some shops around here," he says to distract himself. "Want to do some shopping?" Barty cheers, then immediately regrets making a loud noise. The shops are just around the corner, each of them with shattered windows and most of the things broken - all from the riots and the zombie attacks. There's a little shop that doesn't look too badly damaged that they decide to go in.

The door opens on broken hinges and Regulus steps over the glass scattered across the floor, his boots crunching beneath him. The shop is tiny, yet somehow sells everything. Regulus finds a few bottles of suncream and tosses them into his bag, watching as Evan wanders around the hair supplies and picks up a bottle of dry shampoo and waves it in Regulus' direction.

"Leave them," Pandora says. "They'll only take up room in your bag. Having greasy hair isn't the worst thing in the world, besides being a bit uncomfortable."

Dorcas stuffs her pockets with handfuls of chewing gum and bubble gum, sticking a wad in her mouth.

"Jackpot!" Barty cries, rushing towards the counter. He leaps over it and opens the case behind it that's filled of different cigarettes. He fills the side pocket of his bag with the packets before pulling one out and lighting it with the lighter that’s permanently in his pocket.

"Seriously?" Dorcas asks. Barty jumps onto the counter and sits on it, crossing his legs.

"What?" he asks, blowing the smoke in Evan's direction.

"Running away from zombies isn't fun enough, now you have to make yourself struggle to breathe as well?"

"It's for the aesthetic, darling," Barty drawls. Evan walks over and pinches the cigarette out of his hands, taking a drag himself. Pandora slips her hand into Barty's pocket, stealing a pack for herself and lighting a cigarette, holding it loosely in her hand in a way that's so elegant that Regulus almost feels jealous.

"Hey! There's a shelf stacked full of packs behind me!" Barty cries, but Pandora walks away before he can grab the packet back.

"Don't worry Dorcas. At least if we get chased by bees, we'll slow them down enough for you to get away," Pandora jokes, swaying from side to side. Regulus watches as Barty stands up, still on the counter and snatches the cigarette back from Evan.

"What do we do if we get caught by the bees?" he asks, walking along the counter with his arms out to keep balance, smoke trailing after the cigarette behind him. It takes Regulus a while to remember that 'Bees' is what they're calling Zombies now.

"If we get trapped with no way out?" Dorcas asks, sitting on the counter next to Barty's legs. Regulus sits next to her, Evan coming to stand between his legs.

"We fight," Evan says, as if it's obvious.

"I don't want to get eaten alive. I want it to be as painless as possible," Barty says, sitting down finally.

"I have these," Pandora says, holding out a little plastic bag filled with pills. "Apparently they kill you instantly, so if we ever get in a situation where we think the bees are going to get us and there's no way out, we take them." Everyone looks at her for a moment, before Evan speaks.

"Where did you get those?" he asks slowly.

"Does it matter?" Pandora replies, putting the pills back in a safe pocket in her jacket.

"Do they work?" Regulus asks, not expecting an answer.

"Yes." She doesn't elaborate.

Barty seems happy with his cigarette hoard. Dorcas offers everyone some mint gum, and they decide to look in some other shops. The next shop they walk into is a second-hand clothing store. There's a huge blood stain on the floor, and everyone steps around it. Barty picks up a bomber jacket that's several sizes too big for him and throws it around his shoulder like a cape, strutting up and down the aisles and posing like a runway model. Evan 'Ooh's and 'Aah's, clapping his hands when Barty does a twirl.

There's a nice leather bag that Dorcas picks up and shows to Regulus. They look at it together, trying to figure out if it's worth keeping. There's lots of room in it and it doesn’t seem too heavy, plus it's waterproof. They decide to keep it, and Dorcas helps Regulus fasten it to his current bag so it's easier to carry. Pandora has found some nail polish and she's sat in the corner of the room, the smell of the polish fills the air.

"What colour have you chosen?" Regulus asks, walking over to her. She reaches out a hand and Regulus gently takes it, looking at the soft pink decorating her bitten nails. Then she swaps hands over and her other hand there is a deep green, almost black.

"I couldn't decide, so I did both!" she declares, blowing on the polish to help it dry faster. Regulus sits next to her and picks up the dark green polish, applying some to his own nails.

Before he knows it, the others have all chosen to paint their nails too. Evan has gone for a pale Louis blue, Dorcas has chosen a vibrant yellow-green and Barty has a matte black with his middle finger red. For the rest of the morning, they stay sitting on the floor of that second hand shop, going silent whenever they hear something.

At one point, Evan and Regulus leave to find a toilet, and end up just using the alley-way between two buildings, each keeping a look out for zombies. When they get back, the others have taken out some food, sitting on a pile of old blankets like a picnic.

"We're going to have to be careful with how much food we're eating," Dorcas says when they finish. "I checked the crate this morning and I'm worried we won't last long."

Barty leans back on his hands, and Regulus crosses his legs, clicking his rings together.

"We need a map of the city," Pandora says. "That way we can map where we've looked for food. Or we could split up and cover more ground quicker, then share maps when we get back home." Regulus doesn't know when they started calling the warehouse 'home' but it feels right.

"No splitting up," he says. None of the others argue with him, and Pandora hums in agreement.

"Okay," she says softly. "No splitting up."

Chapter Text

In the main room of the bunker, Sirius is sitting on the sofa, everyone looking at him expectedly.

"You're probably wondering why I've called you here today," he starts. No one speaks. "I was chatting with Lily earlier and it has come to my attention that even though I've known some of you for over a year, I know nothing about you other than your first name. So I have decided that we should get to know each other better. Talk about who we were before the apocalypse." He isn't looking towards Remus, but he can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, knowing that Remus is looking at him.

"I'll go first," he decides. "My name is Sirius Orion Black, I am twenty-six years old-"

"Wait as in the Sirius Orion Black," Peter asks. Sirius turns to him and sees his eyes filled with awe. "The guitarist from 'Marauders'."

"Um, yeah. I'm that Sirus Black," he says with a small laugh. "You knew my band?"

"Um, yeah," Peter says in a 'duh' tone of voice. "I had actually been to a few of your concerts." Sirius chuckles nervously. He knew he had a lot of fans, but somehow he hadn't realised that some of the survivors would know who he was. I wasn't like he was trying to hide it.

"Holy shit, I had sex with a famous person," someone says into the silence. 'Not famous' Sirius wants to argue, but he can't seem to open his mouth.

"So did I," someone else agrees.

"Um, yeah. Anyway, I have a younger brother, Regulus. He's twenty-four. I like to believe he's still alive, but I haven't seen any sign of him since the apocalypse started."

"Your brother is the model, right?" Mary asks from her position on the floor. Sirius nods. Regulus had started modelling when he was only seven year old. Sirius had modelled from the ages ten until eighteen, but when he decided to start the band, he quit. Or more like his father fired him and refused to allow anyone else to start a modelling contract with him.

"Yeah." He smiles, thinking of Regulus. How he had been planning to quit the modelling contract and move away to France with his boyfriends. Sirius is thankful that the apocalypse didn't start a year later, and end up having Reggie in a different country.

"He's cuter than you," Mary says. Marlene snorts out a laugh.

"He's also gayer than me," Sirius sasses, and Lily laughs.

"Sirius I'm a lesbian," Mary says around a laugh.

"Who's next?" Sirius asks. Lily raises her hand.

"My name is Lily Evans. I'm twenty-five. I had a sister Petunia, but she, uh, she got infected. My job before the apocalypse was a child-therapist, which isn't quite as interesting as being in a band, but I enjoyed it." She laughs awkwardly before sitting down.

"I'm Frank Longbottom and I worked as a nurse, though I had only just started a few weeks before the apocalypse."

Everyone starts introducing themselves, and Sirius learns more about them than he could have imagined.

Marlene McKinnon had been raised on a farm in Ireland before she had moved to the city, and she had competed in different horse competitions.

Alice Fortescue was a blackbelt in three different martial arts having started when she was only seven.

Fabian and Gideon Prewett were twin brothers in their late thirties. They were cast in a few small roles in movies as background characters but had been hoping to get bigger roles in the future.

The it gets to Remus' turn.

"My name is Remus John Lupin. I am twenty-five. I used to work as a primary school teacher," he says.

"Where'd you get the scars?" someone calls from the back of the room, Sirius doesn't see who it was but everyone hears the slap someone gives them. "Sorry," the person says meekly. Remus just laughs.

"Oh when I was five years old, I was attacked by a wolf. I almost died, but here I am."

"What?" Sirius laughs. "You were attacked by a wolf? A real wolf?"

"Yeah," Remus says, and suddenly Sirius doesn't feel awkward being in the same room as him at all.

"I had ran into the woods next to my home. Luckily my father came after me, otherwise I would've been killed." He shrugs his shirt to the side and reveals a bite mark on his shoulder where the wolf bit him. How had Sirius not noticed that earlier?

A few people move closer to see better. Sirius turns away.

It's almost five o'clock in the morning when Sirius decides to look at the time. Mary has fallen asleep, leaning against Lily's shoulder. Remus looks half asleep, but keeps shaking himself awake. Alice and Frank had left to go to bed a while ago, and Marlene had left to go back to the infirmary to check on Emmaline.

Sirius is still awake, chatting softly with Lily.

"Maybe we should sleep. If anyone comes close, the alarm will go off," Lily says gently after Sirius yawns for the third time. He shakes his head.

"I don't want to," he says quietly. Peter is sitting next to him and Sirius thought he was sleeping until he moves and leans against Sirius.

"Neither do I."

Despite his refusal, Sirius must have fallen asleep at some point. He wakes up when he feels something tickling his nose. He bats it away, opening his eyes groggily. Peter is sitting in front of him, using the string of his hoodie to annoy Sirius into waking up.

"Oi," Sirius complains, pushing him away. When he sits up, everyone else is in the room. McGonagall and Moody are stood talking together, making plans.

"James still isn't back," Remus says, sitting next to him. Sirius gives him a grateful smile, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. His best friend is still missing.

"Listen up everyone!" Moody shouts, causing the room to go silent. "Yesterday, two of our teams went missing. We only got two members back, one from each team. Both say the same thing. A herd of zombies bigger than any other they've seen before attacked them. Today, Dumbledore has selected a few members to go out and search around to either find any other survivors of the attack or to see what changes the zombies are showing. Is that understood?" Everyone nods their heads in agreement. McGonagall clears her throat, before listing the names Dumbledore has chosen to go on the mission.

"Sirius." Sirius nods, he had been expecting this. "Lily. Frank. Alice. And Alastor." Alice's face is pale and she looks shaky.

"I can't go," she says quietly. Frank is holding her hand. Both of them look heart-broken, and Alice is gently placing a hand over her belly.

"If you're name is on the list, you're going. No exceptions," Moody says sternly. Sirius spots a tear slip down Alice's face before Frank quickly wipes it away. No one else seemed to have seen it.

"Everyone else will be given their chores for the day after they have left. You have half an hour to say your good-byes," McGonagall says.

Sirius gets up and heads to his and James' room to get changed. It's only been a few days since he had last left the bunker, but it feels like forever. Once he's changed into some loose trousers, suitable shoes, a long-sleeve top, and a thick jacket he leaves the room. His hair is braided close to his head as tightly as Sirius can manage.

He doesn't have much time to say good-bye, so he doesn't waste time and heads straight to Marlene. She gives him a tight hug, her arms wrapped around his neck and his face pressed next to her cheek.

"You've got to come back, you got me, Black?" she says, wiping at her red eyes. Sirius nods, clenching his jaw in an effort not to cry. He saw how Marlene had come back yesterday. How traumatised she was, how shaken. He selfishly doesn't want that to happen to him.

Marlene walks with him to the bunker doors, clinging to his arm. Lily is already there, Mary in tears next to her. There has never been a good-bye this tearful before, but Sirius doesn't blame the others for being worried, he'd down-right refuse if Marlene had to leave without him after what happened the day before. Frank walks up, with his bags already on and dressed to leave. Alice isn't with him. "Where is Alice?" Moody grumbles, pacing back and forth in front of the door. Frank clears his throat.

"With all due respect, sir, Alice isn't coming. And if this mission wasn't so important, I wouldn't be going either," he says, his head held high. Moody scoffs and turns away from him, muttering something under his breath.

"Are we ready?" he asks. Sirius looks around. Mary has wiped her eyes, giving Lily a kiss on her cheek before stepping back. Marlene gives Sirius one final kiss before giving Lily a hug, whispering something in her ear.

"Let's do this," Sirius says. Mary and Marlene step away, holding onto each other. Everyone else said their good-byes in the main room, and they turn to join them.

"Remember everyone," Moody starts saying and everyone finishes what he' going to say as one.

"Constant vigilance."

Moody says it to every team before they leave, Sirius supposes it's his way of saying 'good luck'.

Just as Frank and Moody go to open the doors, they can hear the alarm going off. They all stop what they're doing and turn to the screen to see what's going on. There's a figure running towards the doors waving their arms frantically, and Sirius can see a few zombies stumbling along behind them.

"Let him in," he says, not yet able to identify the person and not wanting to get his hopes up. Frank and Moody open the door a crack and Sirius almost cries when James squeezes through, collapsing on the ground immediately.

"Shut the door!" he gasps out, and it slams shut, getting locked into place. Sirius is frozen on the spot, staring at his best friend. Lily rushes over to him, checking to see if he's okay and helping him off the floor.

On the screen, Sirius can see that the few zombies that were chasing James has now turned into almost fifty. Moody sees it too and pushes everyone away from the doors and locks the safety doors behind them with a crash. James is hugging Lily, and the others take turns patting him on the back, but Sirius hasn't moved since Moody pushed him away from the doors.

Jamie's back.

His vision goes blurry and his throat is constricting but he still doesn't move. James looks over Lily's shoulder at him and grins, before whispering something to Lily. She steps away and James opens his arms wide.

And that's all it takes for Sirius to run towards him, leaping at him and wrapping his legs around his waist. James stumbles, but doesn’t drop him. Sirius clings to James, crying into his hair and James whispers into his ear, comforting him.

At some point, James slides to the ground and Sirius sits in his lap, sniffling into his neck. There's a kiss placed against his temple, and Sirius finally looks up after what feels like forever. The others have given them some privacy and Sirius is painfully aware of how loudly he'd just been crying.

"It's okay, I'm here, I've got you," James is whispering. Sirius swallows harshly, wiping at his eyes and stands up on shaky legs. James follows him up, keeping one arm around his waist.

"I thought you were dead," Sirius whispers. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but after almost twenty hours he was sure he was never going to see James again.

"What, and leave you to run the Phoenix without me? No chance." James has an easy grin on his face, but Sirius can see the fear in his eyes. The sparkle has gone and Sirius doesn't know when it happened. "Come on, I need to see the others," James says and they walk into the main room, Sirius clinging to James' arm like a lifeline.

Dumbledore walks up to them before anyone else can.

"James. It's good to see you back," he says as if James had just gone on a business trip. He doesn't look at Sirius.

"It's good to be back, sir," James replies.

"I expect a full report of what happened as soon as possible," Dumbledore says and walks out the room, patting James on the shoulder as he passes. Sirius watches as James flinches at the contact, terror filling his features, but he blinks and its gone and James is smiling again, waving at everyone in the room.

"Did anyone else come back?" he asks after he spots Marlene. She steps towards him but they don't touch. James' eyes look over her short hair, and a flicker of understanding passes between them.

"Just Emma. No one else," Marlene tells him. James goes round the room saying hello to everyone, and everyone is asking how he survived, how he managed to get away, but he doesn’t answer. Instead, he curls up on a sofa with Lily on one side and Sirius on the other. After a while, everyone has stopped asking questions and taken the hint that he wants to be left alone.

"I found something or you," James says after a while. Sirius doesn't look up from where he's playing with Jamie's fingers, assuming he's speaking to Lily. "Oi, Padfoot." Sirius finally looks up and sees James looking at him.

"Huh?" James nudges his bag towards him. It's practically empty. With James' encouraging look, Sirius unzips the bag. At the bottom there's something wrapped in a spare shirt. Despite the fact that there's still other people in the room watching everything, Sirius pulls it out. Before he can unwrap the shirt, James clears his throat.

"It doesn't mean anything. But as soon as I saw it I knew I had to get it to you." The shirt slowly falls to the ground and Sirius suddenly can't breathe.

In his hands is a dagger. Despite being stained with blood, Sirius can still see every detail like the first time he saw it. The blade is silver and the handle is dark with emeralds inlayed it. Sirius brushes his finger along the engraving on the edge of the blade, touch feather-light. R.A.B

"Reggie," he whispers. He tears his eyes away from the blade to look at James again.

"I found it sticking out a zombie. I recognised it, but didn't realise who's it was until I saw the engraving. This might not mean anything, it could just be someone who found the dagger and used it," James starts speaking.

"Or my brother could be alive," Sirius interrupts.

"Or… or Reggie could be alive," James agrees quietly. Sirius nods his head once.

"Right." They look at each other in silence. The dagger is a heavy weight in Sirius' hands, and both of them take steady breaths. "How soon do you think you'd be up to going out again?" Sirius asks.

"To look for Reggie? I could leave now. But there's zombies blocking the exit," James says. Somehow Sirius knows he's not lying, both of them want to see Regulus again.

"Dumbledore had planned a mission for us today, we could pretend to do that mission but instead look for Reg," Sirius decided. James nods his head.

"Let's do this," he says.

"Let's fucking do this."

There's a few people mumbling questions, but neither James nor Sirius listen. Instead, they stand up and leave the room, James kissing Lily good-bye. McGonagall's office isn't too far from the main room and they don't pass anyone else on the way. But she's not in.

"Maybe she's with Poppy?" James said, and Sirius suddenly realises that James hasn't been checked over since he got back.

"Let's check," he says.

The infirmary is quiet and cold, it smells of hospital. Emmaline is asleep on one of the beds and Minerva and Poppy are sitting next to each other, whispering quietly.

"Knock knock," Sirius says, walking closer to them. Both of them look up at the same time, both gasping when they see James.

"You're alive," McGonagall says, almost as if she doesn't mean for the words to leave her mouth. James laughs weakly.

"I'm alive."

Poppy starts hustling about the room, grabbing different medical supplies that Sirius doesn't know the name of. "

Sit down, sit down," she says to James, pushing him towards a bed. While Poppy is looking over James and making sure he's okay, Sirius sits next to Minerva.

"My brother might still be alive," he says. He's never once mentioned Regulus to her before, but she doesn't react as if its news at all.

"Might be?" Sirius pulls the dagger out the pocket he placed it in to keep it safe.

"This was the first dagger he got. He always keeps it on him, even before the apocalypse started. When James came back, he said he found it sticking in a zombie. Either he's alive and somehow that zombie got away, or… or he died fighting." He's got tears in his eyes. He's spent more time crying this past week than he has in months.

"And you want to go look for him," McGonagall says. It's not a question, but Sirius answers it anyway.

"Yes. This whole safe haven, I created it for him. So he could be safe during the apocalypse. But… I never found him." Both of them watch Poppy as she fusses over James.

"The zombies are evolving and we'll need a team to go out and track their changes," Minerva says eventually. "That team will be gone for a few days at a time. Maybe long enough to get to the other side of the city and find survivors." Sirius grins slyly.

"It will have to be a team with experience," he says, playing along. "People who know how to survive outside the bunkers… the team leaders, perhaps."

"The team leaders yes. I was also thinking of Remus and Peter, as they are the newest additions to the team and have been out in the city the longest. They know their way around, and if the zombies are evolving like we think they are, those two are our best chance at surviving them."

"Shall we discuss the plans this afternoon?" Sirius asks. "That way James will be a bit better and we can inform the members of the plan."

"In my office," McGonagall says. "That will give us some more privacy."

James is forced to lay down on the bed to sleep for a while. Instead of doing something useful for the day, Sirius pushes another bed next to his and lays on it. He didn't get much sleep last night and he's exhausted.

A little nap before their meeting with Minerva later will do him some good.

Chapter Text

When James woke up that morning, he had thought it was going to be the best day ever.

He had finally gotten with the girl of his dreams, and being with her was better than he ever could have imagined.

"We're sticking together for this mission, yeah?" Marlene asked as they walked along the road. It had rained the night before and the streets were flooded. One of Marlene's team members - Dylan - was kicking the water of the puddles along, splashing all up his legs.

"Yeah. Dumbledore read your report last night and there was a conference with McGonagall and Moody and they all agreed that we need to study the change in the zombies," James says. His bag is heavy on his back, but it doesn't bother him. He's holding a map of the city in his hands, walking past the shops that are scored out with a red 'X'.

"What was the change you saw?" Kingsley asks Marlene, walking along with them. King was one of the members that James is surprised doesn't have a team of his own to lead, he's brilliant at keeping everyone calm and being in charge. But apparently he preferred to follow orders rather than give them.

"The groups are larger, and it's almost like they can sense humans. It's creepy," Marlene says. James shudders. The zombies are creepy enough as they are without them suddenly being able to smell their prey.

"They're animals," he mutters.

When the apocalypse first started, he was hesitant about killing something that used to be human. But then he watched Sirius' band mates kill each other without second thought. Any hesitation will get him killed. They will kill him quickly, mercilessly. If he doesn't kill them first, then he's dead.

Sirius was James' safety. They we're quarantined together when it started and facetiming Regulus and James' parents almost every day. And then the apocalypse started and the electricity went out and there was no way to contact Regulus when he lived at the other side of town. And James watched Sirius break. James found out later that his parents had been infected for a while, they just hid it from him to make sure he didn't worry.

Sirius didn't hesitate killing the zombies. He took them down quickly, efficiently. The only way to get Regulus out of his mind was when they were fighting for their lives. So James created a game. Kill as many as possible, and whoever wins gets to eat the bigger portion of the food they find.

By the time they found the base, Sirius had searched the city for Regulus numerus times. When they had first checked Regulus' flat, it was completely destroyed, dried blood splattered across all surfaces. Sirius didn't speak for almost a week after that. The whole city was constantly full of dead bodies until the zombies decided to eat those too. So yeah, animals. They're not human any more.

They decide to take a break after three hours of traveling. Sybil is complaining about her feet being sore and someone had started groaning about how hungry they were. They found a small building that by the looks of it used to be a café. Most of the windows were boarded up but the inside was relatively clean. They all sat around the tables, James using his sleeve to sweep dust and grime off the surface before pulling some food out his bag.

"It's strange how we haven't seen anything yet today," Sybil is saying, speaking around a bite of her food. "It almost feels like they're watching us. Waiting for something." James felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It was weird that there had been no sightings of the zombies. He had just been hoping they had gotten lucky, but when Sybil said that, he realised she was right. Suddenly he loses his appetite, swallowing the food in his mouth and putting the rest back in his bag.

"Let's keep an eye out for anything. We need to have each others backs," he says. Everyone nods.

While everyone finishes eating, James spends the time looking out the grimy window. There's nothing out there. No animals, no birds, no flies, no zombies. Once everyone is finished and packed everything away, they leave the café, James and Marlene in the lead with Kingsley rounding up the back.

They creep along the road in silence, the only noise of the water splashing around their feet. Until they turn a corner and someone is standing there. The person quickly turns around and runs, hiding themself in an alley way.

"Survivor?" Marlene asks James.

"Possibly," he agrees. They motion to the others to stay behind and follow the person to the alley way that, according to James' map, is a dead end.

The person is pressed against the wall, and when they see James and Marlene they start pressing themselves flatter against the wall.

"Hey," James says softly. "You okay?"

"Oh no, no, no I don't want to die," they mutter, squeezing their eyes shut.

"We're not going to hurt you," Marlene says, moving closer. "Are you alone?" They open their eyes slowly, peering at the pair blocking the exit of the alley.

"You're human?" they ask.

"Affirmative," James says.

"We're a group of survivors. We go by The Order of the Phoenix. Would you like to come back to the bunker with us?" Marlene says. The person's chest is heaving and they look seconds away from bolting.

"My name's Phoenix," they say. James smiles.

"My name's James. This is Marlene."

When it's clear that no one is going to attack anyone, Phoenix slowly moves closer.

"This Order of the Phoenix… how many survivors are there?"

"Oh, loads," James says. "We come out almost every day looking for new survivors."

The three of them join back to the larger group. Phoenix is clinging to their bag, brown eyes shifting constantly.

"Have you noticed any change amongst the zombies?" Kingsley asks Phoenix as they start walking along. They shake their head.

"I tend to keep to myself, I don't know how to fight."

"When we get back to the bunker, we can train you up," King says. They walk for a while, James making small talk with Phoenix as they make their way across the city. James finds out that Phoenix is in their early twenties and came from a big family. They don’t mention anything else about their family.

There's a crash ahead of them, and everyone freezes, hands automatically going to weapons.

"Here," James whispers, handing a dagger to Phoenix.

"But I don’t know how to use it," they whisper back.

"You'll figure it out."

Everyone creeps alongside the buildings, pressed flat against it and making sure they can see from all directions so nothing can sneak up on them. Marlene pulls out her map.

"We need to find the zombies to watch them, but also make sure they don't spot us," she mumbles to herself.

"Is there anywhere high up we could go?" James says. Phoenix move closer.

"There's a building around there we could go up the stairs," they say, gesturing to an area on the map.

"Would you be able to take us?" James asks. Marlene hands the map over, and Phoenix takes it, a smile on their lips.

"I'll find it, don't worry." They winked at James, and he shifted, not sure if they were flirting or if that's just how they are.

"So, how did you manage to survive this long without a weapon?" Kingsley asks, and Phoenix looks away from James, back to the map.

"I just haven't needed a weapon." They don't elaborate, and no one pushes them. Surviving the apocalypse is scary, especially without a weapon or any way to defend yourself.

Phoenix starts walking and everyone follows. They lead the group into a building. The sound of people walking around fills the air, and James forces his muscles to relax, knowing that Phoenix won't lead them into a herd of zombies.

At least, that's what he thought.

The group fall silent, all trying to move as quietly as possible. But Phoenix grins, a sly grin that has James' heart drop down to his stomach. No one else sees, and James can't stop it on time. But Phoenix kicks a stray pebble, scattering it across the floor. There's no way they didn't do it on purpose.

The sound of people walking gets closer, and around the corner appears a herd of zombies bigger than James has ever seen before.

"Shit," Marlene says.

"Everyone scatter!" James says, "You all know the way back to base, get there!"

Phoenix laughs. A sound James knows will haunt his nightmares.

"Sorry James, don't take it personal," they say. And using the knife James gave them, they lunge at him.

James can't see what's happening. He dodges Phoenix and twists their arm so they stab themselves instead. Without checking to see if he killed them, James turns and runs. He can see a few other team member running away, but then the first scream fills the air. James can't see who it was, and he doesn't want to risk turning round to check.

The room is filled with zombies, and they're all fighting five-to-one. The scream attracts more zombies, and James fights the urge to close his eyes. H

e doesn't want to see if his friends are fighting or dying, doesn't want to see them getting ripped apart. The herd is too big to fight, the best he can hope is that he doesn't trip and get caught.

There's people running around, and he feels something grab the bag on his back, pulling him back. The bag is tied at the front so it doesn't fall off, an idea that James thought was smart at the time, but now with fingers tugging at the tie, shaking uncontrollably, he regrets it. He's starting to panic, breath coming in short bursts causing him to lose focus on what he's doing.

The force pulling him back stops abruptly, and James falls, but Kingsley is there to catch him.

"C'mon," he says. They leave the building, James choking on a scream when someone grabs his arm. He slashes at it, not knowing if it was a zombie or team member.

He doesn't give himself time to think before they’re out the building, zombies on one side of them.

So they run.

And run, and run, and run.

James doesn't look back. Not when he hears someone screaming his name. Not when he hear someone screaming for help. Not when he hears the noise of bodies getting ripped apart. He runs, and he doesn’t stop.

They slip on the slick concrete, clinging to each other and pulling the other along. James can't tell if it's rain or blood he's slipping on, too focused on running to look down.

The screaming is still in the air when they're forced to take a break, both sweating and gasping for breath.

"Shit," James says, when he can finally speak again. There are tears in his eyes. He always cries when his adrenalin crashes. Kingsley turns to the side and throws up.

"What do we do?" King asks after he's wiped his mouth. James pulls a bottle of water out his bag and hands it over, taking another one for himself.

"Abort mission and get back to base," James says. There's nothing else they can do.

"What about the others?" James doesn't answer. He doesn't know if the others survived, he didn't see anyone else get out.

Without saying anything, he collapses to the ground, sitting in the rain puddles and pulling his legs to his chest, taking a few steady breaths, trying to ignore the tears falling down his cheeks. Kingsley looks back in the direction they came from. There's so much noise, and James struggles to differentiate between zombie and human. There's blood soaking his hands and clothes and he doesn't know where it came from. Kingsley's clothes are soaked and there's a scratch along his cheek.

"Come on," James says. Kingsley helps him up and they start walking, both clutching weapons and looking around.

"Phoenix was a zombie," James says eventually. Kingsley turns to him, eyes wide.

"What?"

"Phoenix was a zombie."

"No, I heard you. I just… what?"

"They purposely kicked the stone to get the zombies attention, and when the herd came they tried to attack me."

"Shit they really are evolving, huh," Kingsley mutters, looking at his feet as they walk along. His eyebrows are furrowed.

"Unless they weren't a zombie and just a fucked up person who went insane while surviving out here alone," James theorises. Even though the sound of screaming is still loud, James can make out the noise of footsteps running in their direction.

"Run," he says to Kingsley, not waiting for a response before he sets off. He gets a stitch in his stomach straight away, making him want to throw up. And his legs are aching, but he doesn't want to see if it's a human or zombie running towards them.

Kingsley grabs his arm and pulls him into a building, almost knocking him off balance. Before James can say anything, Kingsley slams his hand over his mouth forcing him to stay quiet. Breathing heavy though his nose, James tries to ignore the smell of blood and sweat. He closes his eyes, but then immediately opens them, not wanting to get caught off guard again. Kingsley keeps an eye outside, and he moves his hand when James pushes it out the way.

"Sorry," King whispers after a while. "I didn't want you to make a noise."

James looks around the building they're in. There's a desk across from them with some papers scattered across it. There's dust everywhere, but no blood luckily. The two of them have a look around the room they're in, neither of them going through the doors in an unspoken agreement to stay together. The screams are muffled now they're inside, but James can still hear them. He shudders when one scream is cut off in a wet cry for help.

James walks over to the desk and starts messing around with the loose paper on it.

"Do we go back to base, or look for any survivors?" Kingsley asks. James takes a deep breath.

"Back to base," he says.

"We can look for survivors on the way, but we shouldn't stay out here any longer than we have to."

"How did you make that?" Kingsley asks, and James looks at his hands. The paper he had been messing with was now an origami swan.

"Huh," he says to himself, "I didn't realise I was doing that."

They spent the next few minutes James teaching Kingsley how to make different origami animals in an attempt to distract them from what's going on. It isn't until they hear someone scream James' name in the distance that they're suddenly jolted out of their little bubble they've created.

Both of them look towards the door, hands automatically going towards their weapons.

"Who do you think that was?" King asks.

"I don't know, let's not think about it," James replies. The two of them grab their things and start to move, leaving the paper swans on the desk.

Traveling through the city without a map was stressful. They had accidentally gone down multiple dead ends and almost gone into a building until James spotted the giant lime green X on the side, showing that it was a heavily infected area. But they didn't have the map, James having given it to Phoenix before they betrayed everyone and it had gotten lost in the fight to survive.

The two made their way down the street in silence, the sound of zombies fading the further they walked away. James had come down from his adrenalin high and had finally stopped shaking. His stomach was cramping with how much running he'd been doing and his legs were aching, but they had finally found a decent shelter.

The sun was starting to set and James was glad they'd found shelter before dark. The two of them were squeezed tightly in the bathtub of someone's house. The door was locked and the window boarded up. In the bathtub they had a few blankets over them to fight off the chill of night and they were pressed together so tightly that it was almost impossible to move. Both of them had weapons clutched in their hands, eyes shifting in the dark.

"You sleep first, I'll keep look-out," James says. Kingsley doesn't argue, just closing his eyes and falling into a light sleep.

For hours, James fights with his body to stay awake. He's warm, and despite how uncomfortable the bath is, it's the comfiest he's been in a while. He can still hear the zombies outside, and every so often his mind plays tricks on him that there's someone in the house with them.

Before his eyes close and he falls asleep, James manages to shake Kingsley awake, mumbling something about swapping shifts and falling asleep. It's not a good sleep, as soon as his eyes close images of everything he saw that day comes rushing back. His friends, lying on the floor with zombies over them ripping them apart, eating them. Marlene getting dragged back by her hair, Dylan getting his throat ripped out by the zombie's bare hands. Sirius fighting for his life, but still getting over-powered by the zombies and getting dragged down. And all James can do is stand and watch. Zombies come running at him, but his legs are stuck to the ground.

Just as they reach him, he wakes up, body muscles tense and unable to move, breathing heavy and eyes darting around. When his muscle finally relax enough so he can move them on his own, James spots Kingsley by the bathroom sink.

"I was just going to wake you," he says quietly. The sun is starting to shine through the cracks in the window boarder. Kingsley looks tired and his eyes are bloodshot. James doesn't need to look in the mirror to see he's the same.

"Do you know the way back to base?" James asks. He knows the way himself, but just in case they get split up and King needs to find his way back on his own.

"Yeah," the man replies. James gives a nod leaves the bathroom, giving King privacy to use the toilet and get ready. There's another bathroom in the house downstairs that they didn't use because the door doesn't lock, and James goes down to use that. The toilet doesn't flush, but he just puts the lid down. What's the chances someone is going to use it anyway? There's some toothpaste on the sink next to a toothbrush. James puts some toothpaste on his finger and rubs it on his teeth. It's not the most sanitary, especially considering he just washed his hands with some hand-sanitiser he keeps in his pocket that doesn’t really get rid of the grime or dirt or blood. But it keeps his mouth clean and gets rid of the morning taste of not eating.

They meet up at the front door of the house, as ready as they can be to go out again. The zombies have gone quiet, and James is thankful that he doesn't have to listen to the sounds of his friends dying as he tries to get back to safety. The two walk along the road. There's no zombies around, presumably they're all where the massacre was the night before.

They've been walking for a while now and James' belly has started to rumble, but he idea of eating makes him nauseous. He's still got food in his bag, but he thinks the smell of it will make him throw up. Kingsley hasn't mentioned needing a break at all, so they carry on.

They start walking past buildings that James recognises. There's the shopping centre he and Sirius first took shelter during the first week before realising that a populated place like a shopping centre was a stupid place to try find safety. Just around the corner is where James got attacked and almost died. Well, that's being a bit dramatic, he just got injured but Sirius acted like it was the end of the world, and started quoting Shakespeare while James looking up at him, concussed and not understanding a word that was coming out of his mouth.

James smiles at the memory, how Sirius' posh accent had come out stronger when he was worried. Across the street was where James and Sirius met Barty and Evan for the first time as Reggie's boyfriends. Regulus being nervous and Sirius had been a dick. James, being James, had flirted shamelessly with the two of them, but immediately backed off when Evan grinned and started flirting back. Barty never really has liked him since.

Kingsley stumbles over something, and James looks down to make sure he doesn't do the same. It's a severed arm, the skin where it's been torn from the torso is blackened and rotten, a few maggots wriggling about in it. It stinks, and James looks away, shuddering at the stench.

Something he'll never get over is just how disgusting the world has become. Everything smells, there's dead body parts scattered across everything, the only creature that's not a human are the maggots. James hasn’t seen a single fly or insect in months and somehow that's more unnerving than if the world had been overrun by them.

They turn a corner and there's a zombie stood there. James knows it’s a zombie this time because one of its arms looks dislocated yet there's no discomfort on its face at all. And also because there's a knife sticking out of its ribs.

"Zombie," James points out, and then wonders why he did. Kingsley can clearly see there's a zombie ahead of them.

"Really? Where?" King says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Should be an easy kill, it looks inured."

As they get closer, they can see the wound around the knife has started to decompose. The skin practically falling apart, exposed by the tear in the shirt its wearing. King kills the zombie swiftly. He turns to leave, but James hesitates, looking at the knife.

He recognises it, but can't decide where from. Instead of catching up to Kingsley, he bends down and removes the knife, gagging at the noise and smell that comes out with it. Its covered in blood and gunk and James wipes it as clean as he can get it on the zombies shirt. There's something engraved on the blade, but it's too covered in blood to tell what it says.

"How are you just staying there next to the zombie? Aren't you afraid it'll come back to life and kill you?" King asks, coming back to see what was taking James so long. James jumps away from the body next to him and shakes his head.

"Now why would you say that?" he says, fake scolding King. "I'm going to be thinking that all day now."

"Come on, I think we're almost there." James slips the dagger into his belt loop and follows Kingsley. They take a break by the water, and James forces the rest of his food down his throat. Kingsley eats what little food he had as well, and they drink a bit of their water.

Taking the dagger back out and cleaning it in the water, James can finally read what's engraved on it and his heart jumps to his throat.

Reggie.

Carefully, he take out his spare shirt and wraps the dagger, placing it into the bottom of his bag to keep it safe. He needs to get it back to Sirius.

The sun is about half-way through the sky. If they want to get back to base by tonight, they'll have to move. Luckily, they're close. They stand up and stretch before walking again. They bump into a few zombies on the way, but often just hide out the way as they pass by. James is still un-nerved by how quiet it is, but considering what happened the day before if he ever has to fight a herd that big again it'll be too soon.

It happens just as they see the base, the fencing and barbed wire surrounding the area. They let their guard down, being so close to base made them comfortable, gave the illusion of safety. They should have known better, James should have known better. King is a few steps ahead of James, and that's what kills him.

A zombie comes out of nowhere, silently, and jumps at them. Neither of them were prepared, neither of them expecting an attack so close to home.

Kingsley doesn't have time to do anything, say anything, before a spurt of blood sprays across James' face. It's warm and he can feel it trickle down his cheek, weighing heavy on his eyelashes. For a moment he's frozen, Kingsley falls to the ground and the zombie pounces on him.

Some instinct in James forces him to move and he doesn't realise he's running until he feels something try grab his arm. He doesn't look back, doesn't dare take his eyes off the door to base. He can hear the thunder as more zombies chase after him, some of them screaming or groaning, some shouting at him to stop the same as any human would.

As soon as he can see the rusty security camera, James starts waving his arms wildly. The alarm should have gone off now, someone should be at the door. Someone should let him in. He gets to the door and it's still not open, and he crashes into it, heart pounding.

Just as he's sure he's going to die, the door opens a crack and he pushes himself through.

"Shut the door!" he says, gasping for breath. He doesn't register who's in the room with him, sprawled across the floor and staring at the door. His hand comes up to check the bag and relaxes slightly when he feels his bag still firmly on his shoulders. Someone's speaking to him and James blinks, seeing Frank and Lily.

Lily.  James raises a hand and gently cups her cheek. She's crying. He's about to say something to reassure her that's he's not injured when Moody comes out of nowhere and forcibly pushes him and everyone out of the room. As soon as the security doors are shut, he has his arms wrapped around Lily. His nose is buried in her hair and he feels like he can finally breathe.

Someone pats his back and it takes everything in him not to spin around and attack them. It's not a zombie, it’s a teammate. At least with Lily's arms around him, her soothing words in his ear, he knows he's safe. He pulls back slightly, just enough to look in her emerald eyes, shiny with tears. He doesn't say anything, just looking.

That's when he glances up and spots a familiar figure standing behind Lily. His hair is a mess, his clothes are wrinkled and his eyes are bloodshot. But he still looks as gorgeous as ever.

"Let me see if Siri's okay," James whispers to Lily. She sniffles but nods in understanding. He almost pulls her back when she steps away from him, but looking at the distraught look on his best friends face stops him.

He opens his arm weakly to hug him, and suddenly he's got an arm full of Sirius.

And he's finally home.

Chapter Text

Regulus walked along the road, frowning at the pavement. He was distracted, and during a zombie apocalypse, that was practically a death sentence. At least he had the others with him, so if anything happened they could protect him.

An arm slips between his, and Evan appears next to him.

"What's wrong, Lovely?" he asks. Regulus shrugs.

"Nothing, I'm just tired," Regulus replies. Barty pops up at Evans other side and holds his hand, swinging it between them.

"Tired as in you need sleep, or tired as in bored," he asks. He chews his gum obnoxiously.

"Both, I suppose."

Ahead of them, Dorcas and Pandora are walking with their heads close together, occasionally looking around for danger.

"Well when we get back to the warehouse, we can have a nap," Barty says.

There's movement in front of them, and everyone pauses. As one, they move towards a building on their right, hiding behind the crumbling brick. Regulus absentmindedly notices the moss and weeds growing along the stone, and once he notices that, he realises that all around him the weeds are growing in. Somehow he hadn't noticed before, too focused on surviving.

A group of people walk past. None of them notice the group peering around the corner at them. At first, Regulus thinks they're survivors. They're walking together and keeping light conversation with each other, even laughing at some point. But then he notices the injuries. Injuries that no human would survive, let alone walk around as if nothing is wrong.

There's one with a gaping stomach wound, the insides turning black from infection. Another has the right side of their hair ripped off, some scalp hanging off showing the skull underneath, clinging together with stringy bits of skin tissue. Regulus looks away with a hand over his mouth before he can look at the others. He feels light headed and has to lean on the wall for balance. Pandora shows up in his peripheral vision. He barley manages to supress a flinch when she places a hand on his shoulder, pink nail polish catching the light.

'You okay?' she mouths, and Regulus nods his head, clenching his jaw. Her hand slides down his arm and she slips her hand into his. Regulus squeezes her hand, smiling gratefully at her. The Zombies move slowly, leisurely. Thankfully they don't notice the group hidden by the building, all holding their beath as if that will stop the zombies from smelling them, hearing them. Regulus watches as they slowly walk away, still clinging to Pandora's hand.

When they finally turn the corner, everyone releases a collected breath before standing. They’re almost at the warehouse, so Regulus allows himself to relax a bit, still keeping an eye on the surrounding area for danger though.

When the warehouse appears in front of them, they all speed up, eager to get to safety.

The doors are open.

The doors are open!

Barty is at the front and holds his hand out to keep the others back, Pandora next to him.

"Shit," Evan mutters, and Regulus agrees. A survivor wouldn't leave the doors open like that, which means it was a zombie. Did they definitely close and lock the doors behind them when they left? Did they actually remember to lock up? It's an automatic thing that they do but what if they forgot this time? How did a zombie get in?

Barty and Pandora walk in, weapons at the ready. The two of them duck through the doors and Regulus grabs Evan's hand to stop him from following. After a tense moment, Pandora appears again.

"It's empty." Everyone else walks through stepping over the broken crate boxes that kept the food safe. All the food has gone and there's only one bottle of water left. Regulus feels his heart drop. The whole apocalypse they've had water with them, even when they didn't have food. How are they supposed to survive without any liquid? They've still got the food in their bags with them, which is better than nothing and a bit of water. They all stand, circling the room. Pandora looks like she's going to cry but Dorcas looks pissed.

Together, without speaking, they start to pack. Any food or water is pressed to the bottom of their packs, spare clothes folded on top. Then there's spare weapons, plus the weapons shoved into pockets and belt loops. Barty and Dorcas are at the weapon wall, taking down any that could be useful but are light-weight. Evan goes to a corner and takes the thickest blankets, rolling them up so everyone has one. After everyone is ready, a blanket tucked between the straps of their bags, and a weapon clutched in everyone's hands they leave.

Pandora has the shampoo and body wash in her thigh bag and she's twirling her butterfly knife around again. When she notices Regulus watching, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out an identical knife, handing it over. Regulus gingerly flicks it open. He had a practice one for years so he knows what he's doing, but it's different having a blade that’s actually sharpened. He winces when he blade thinly slices the skin across his knuckles, instead folding the knife back up and slipping it into one of his pockets.

"Where to?" Evan asks. Everyone shrugs.

"Maybe we could find the safe place that zombie was talking about," Regulus suggests. They need to find shelter or tonight, the door has been broken off its hinges, so they can't stay here. But in the morning they could have a look for this 'Order of the Phoenix'.

"I think we should wash up once we've found somewhere to stay, so we should stay by the water's edge," Pandora says. As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Regulus is aware of the dried blood covering him from the zombies they had to fight on the way back here.

"Good plan," Evan says, picking at the dried flakes of blood on his clothes. The group walk out and head back traveling. Pandora heaves out a sigh as she leaves the warehouse, waving good-bye to it.

They walk along the water's edge, looking for any houses or buildings that might be safe. There's a few houses, but almost all the doors or windows are destroyed. After over an hour of walking they find a small school. A couple windows are cracked, but not fully broken so it's not that big of a deal. The main door is thick and barley damaged, and still closes and locks.

The five of them walk inside, staying close together. There are other doors, but all of them are closed and look secure. The corridors are a mess, paper and mud cover the floors, but there doesn't look to be any zombie-caused damage. There are hundreds of rooms, but the only one they all feel safe staying in is the janitors storage room. There are no windows, yet it's big enough for them all to be comfortable laying on the floor.

There's a metal shelving unit hiding the walls, some of them empty, most with cleaning supplies and chemicals in containers. Evan leaves the room, coming back a few minutes later with a set of keys in his hand. When everyone is in the room, he locks the door with one of the key. Grinning, he turns and gives everyone a key.

"Master keys. They'll work on every lock in the school," he says. When Pandora asks where he got them, he shrugs. "Receptionist area. There's always a set of master keys for the janitor to use, I was expecting maybe one or two not seven." Everyone places a key in their pockets and Barty throws his things on the ground, falling on top of them with an 'oomph'.

"I can't be bothered washing myself now," he groans.

"Well if I don't clean myself I think I might cry," Regulus jokes. Pandora agrees with him, running a hand through his hair, trying to separate the strands of hair that have stuck together with blood.

"Barty you stay here and we'll go wash up," Evan says. Dorcas sits down next to Barty.

"I didn't get much blood on me, I'll stay with Barty," she says. "Safety in numbers, and all that."

Everyone places their bags down and Barty starts rolling out blankets creating a bed for everyone. Regulus gives his blanket to Barty but keeps his bag with him. Before they leave, he ruffles Bartys hair and walks out the door, following Pandora and walking next to Evan, their arms brushing against one another. Regulus hates splitting up, they rarely left each other's sight since the apocalypse started, but there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Barty will be safe with Dorcas, and Regulus has Evan with him. And with the water being close to their new shelter, Barty and Dorcas should be able to hear if anything happens.

The three of them walk towards the water and place their things on the side. The wind has picked up a bit and it looks like the sun is going to set soon.

"There's not much shampoo left," Pandora says quietly.

"It wasn't that long ago we used some, we can just wash using water for now," Evan says. The shampoo gets placed with their clothes. The shock of the water wakes Regulus up and he takes a breath and dunks under, getting his hair wet. Pandora does the same and Evan keeps look out. The water around them turns cloudy with the blood that comes off of them. When Evan sinks under, Regulus keeps look out.

As soon as Pandora is clean, she dries off and lets Regulus know she's heading back.

"It's bloody freezing," Evan says and Regulus huffs out a laugh, wading closer in the water to wrap his arms around Evan's neck.

"If we get back, Barty could warm us up," he says quietly. Evan closes his eyes, leaning closer to the smaller boy.

"Do you think Pandora and Dorcas would leave us alone in the safety for the night?" he laughs. Regulus presses a kiss to his cheekbone, trying not to frown at how sharp it is, compared to a few years ago when it was soft, rounded.

"We could find a classroom on the higher floors. One that's empty," Regulus murmurs, trailing his fingertips along Evan's arms.

Opening his eyes, he feels his breath catch in his throat. Slowly turning, making sure Evan doesn’t realise anything is going on, Regulus makes it so Evan is by the shore.

"Evan I need you to do something for me," he says lowly. Evan tenses up, noticing the change from his teasing tone. "Go back to the shelter and get Barty. Go as fast as you can and stay quiet."

"What's going-"

"Evan please," Regulus interrupts, keeping his voice quiet. There must be something in his eyes, because he slowly moves back to where their things are. Every movement he makes causes the water to splash, and every ripple causes Regulus' heart to clench in his chest.

As soon as Evan is back on land, Regulus looks down to the hand he can feel wrapped around his ankle. There's a body under the water. It's hidden by the blood clouding the water, but all the blood must have been what had drawn it to them. If he focuses down, he can see the hair swirling around, the pale skin. The hand wrapped around him feels swollen, almost as if she's been under the water for too long.

There's some faint ripples in the water and Regulus starts shaking as more figures crawl towards him. One of them raises his head out the water, his eyes milky white like cobwebs, his lips a pale blue. By the time Evan and Barty come running back to the water's edge, there's more zombies clinging to Regulus' legs, hundreds crowded around him in the water, but only a few above the surface. Regulus knows how this is going to end. He turns to see his boyfriends, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers, knowing they can't hear him. He doesn't have any weapons on him, his knives are with his clothes. He knows if he moves then he's dead, the zombies will rip him to pieces. Surviving the apocalypse this long lets him know exactly how he will die and exactly what will happen to his body. He's watched it happen to other people, he's listened to the pain they were in when it happened.

"What do we do?" Barty asks, hands in his hair. Evan is frantically pacing back and forth, biting at his nails.

"I don't know," he says quietly. Regulus just watches them. There's nothing they can do. Please look away he begs them, not daring to utter the words out loud. He doesn't want them to watch what's about to happen. If they leave now, they might get far enough away so they can't hear his screams. Luckily Dorcas seems to have the same idea. She comes up behind the boys, gently turning them away. Pandora is standing at the distance, crying.

Regulus gasps as the hands in his legs dig in, nails slicing his skin and tearing at the muscles. He feels the water of the lake seep into the wounds and tries to swallow as nausea takes over. The water around him is red now, and Evan is sobbing. His vision fades at the edges, and he wills himself to pass out. He won't feel it if he's not awake.

Without warning, one of the zombies above water jumps at him. And as if all the zombies were waiting for that signal, they drag him down under. Regulus fights back automatically. He knows he's going to die but that doesn't mean he wants it to happen, he doesn't want to die this way. He's survived the apocalypse long enough that he doesn't want to get taken out while bathing. He water burns as he swallows it down. He fights the zombies blindly, bloody water getting into his eyes. His movements are sloppy, there's no technique no power behind his punches, just instinct and pure fear keeping him going. He punches, kicks, scratches the zombies.

His body is shredded, his skin flapping open, gaping wounds exposed. His body is weak, he can't keep doing this. He can faintly hear screaming, but he can't tell who it's coming from. He doesn't know how long he's been fighting or but he knows that he can't breathe with the water filling his mouth and nose. The sound of the zombies splashing about the water when they had been so silent just a few moments ago messes with Regulus' head, and he knows he won't be able to fight for much longer. He just hopes that Barty and Evan turned away.

Just as his vision starts to black out, just as he starts to feel the zombies bite into him, there's a warrior cry from above and Barty charges into the lake, a shovel in his hands. Regulus tries to follow what happens as best as he can, but his vision is fading in and out. Barty cracks the shovel against the zombies heads, fighting them back. There's hundreds of them, he won't win.

Evan joins, farming blades in his hands, slicing at the zombies, screaming at them, tears pouring down his face.

The next time Regulus is aware of anything, he's lying on Barty's chest with Evan and Pandora inspecting the damage done the zombies did to his body. There's the bodies of the Zombies scattered in the water that's now red. The pain hits him all at once, and he curls up into himself, sobbing when that makes it worse. Barty runs a shaking hand through his hair, shushing him.

"You're going to be okay, you're okay," he whispers. Regulus can't tell if he's reassuring Regulus or himself. Dorcas appears at his side with towels soaked in water. She uses them to gently clean his cuts, wiping away the blood that comes pouring out. He's lost too much blood, there's no hospital to help him. The bandages are in a pile next to Pandora but there won't be enough. Every whimper that escapes his lips is replied with a cry from Barty, a soothing touch from Evan. There's ringing in his ears and he can't focus on what anyone's saying to him. The bandages are wrapped around him tightly, yet blood still seeps through. The world tilts when Barty tries to help him stand and he throws up, watery bile dribbles down his chin onto his feet.

"Sorry," he mutters, not even sure who he's apologising to.

"Hush, lovely, let's get you somewhere safe," Evan says gently. With Barty on one side and Evan on the other, they walk back to the school they found earlier. Dorcas rushes forward and opens the door for them and Regulus pretends that every step isn't agony. His nails are digging into the skin of his boyfriends' arms, but they don't comment. His vision is fading again, but he finally makes it to the bed they lead him to. The room smells of antiseptic, and Regulus barley notices that it’s the medical room before closing his eyes again.

His bandages are soaked in blood and sweat, slipping away from him. His body is shaking violently but he can't seem to stop. Barty piles blankets over Regulus, keeping him warm. Regulus immediately pushes them off, moaning in pain as the fabric irritates his skin.

"Regulus we need to keep you warm," Barty says gently. Evan is looking through the medical supplies, pulling out different tablets and wipes.

"Is the shaking good or bad?" he asks, and Barty glares at him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?! He snaps.

"I don't know, Barty! I'm just trying to figure out a way to keep him alive!" Evan snaps back. Regulus closes his eyes, turning away from them. Their voices raise higher as they argue, until Dorcas rushes over, pushing between them.

"Do you want to attract more zombies?" she asks, frowning. "Your boyfriend is lying on the bed in pain, stop being pricks, shut up, and look after him." She re-joins Pandora, as she comes in holding Regulus' bag and Evan sighs, dropping down next to Regulus again.

"Sorry for snapping, I'm just so fucking scared right now," Barty says. Regulus closes his eyes, he's too tired to keep them open and the adrenalin has started to fade, making the pain almost excruciating. His body stops shaking, and both boys go silent, looking at him.

"I don't think that's a good sign," Evan mutters.

"No shit," Barty snarls, then immediately apologises. Then the world goes dark as Regulus passes out yet again.

The rest of the day is a haze. Regulus is often shaken awake, some tablets forced down his throat that don't do anything other than make his stomach hurt. His vision is blurry when he has the strength to open his eyes. His body is in constant pain, his head is pounding, his chest hurts when he breathes. He spends the majority of his time sleeping, kicking off the blankets and covers that the other pile on top of him. There's some clean bandages wrapped around him, the older ones binned.

"What if he gets an infection?" he hears someone ask through the fog, though he can't tell who it is.

"Try not to worry about that right now," is the response.

Regulus fades in and out, not paying attention to anything around him. Someone walks into his line of sight.

"Sirius?" he asks, groggily. The face comes into focus and Regulus frowns. "You're not Siri," he whispers.

"I'm serious about you needing more sleep," the person says.

"'m not tired though," Regulus complains, ignoring how his eyelids feel heavy, slowly closing as he speaks.

"Sleep, Reg. Let us take care of you."

Chapter Text

Sirius looks around the office. James is next to him with Minerva at the head of the table, paper in front of her as she writes the plan.

"What did you say your brother's name was?" she asks, and Sirius forces his attention back onto her.

"Er, Regulus," he says, James shuffles in his seat and Sirius has to make sure he doesn’t move his arm from where James is doodling on it with a spare red pen, tickling his skin.

"Regulus Arcturus Black," James mutters absentmindedly, eyebrows furrowed as he bends his head closer to what he's drawing. His breath tickles Sirius' arm.

"Is there anyone you think would be with him if he is found alive?"

"Um, maybe his boyfriends. Barty and Evan." Sirius frowns, thinking. The three of them would stick together no matter what. Minerva writes their names down, making no comment that Regulus is dating two people. Sirius appreciates that, he doesn't want to have to explain what polyamorous means again.

"James where did you find the dagger?" Minerva asks, peering over her glasses at him. James shrugs, chewing on his lip and focusing on the drawing on Sirius' arm that's starting to look similar to Kingsley, the red ink looking like blood.

"Some zombie had it sticking outta him."

"Can you remember where abouts you were?" Minerva isn't being as strict as she would usually be with someone who isn't answering her questions. James had just finished telling them both everything that had happened when he was outside the bunker. Everything that happened with Phoenix, with Kingsley. Everything. Sirius is still trying to wrap his head around everything that happened, so it's really no wonder that James isn't focusing on anything right now.

"Was around that place Barty used to work," James says eventually. Sirius thinks for a minute.

"The tattoo shop?"

"Yeah." Minerva pushes the map of the city towards them and Sirius circles the area James mentioned.

"When we get the teams together, you'll go straight here. Dumbledore wants you to look for more survivors from James and Marlene's teams. If you want, look for them on the way but don't take any detours. Now-"

"There's no survivors, they're all dead," James interrupts, closing his eyes.

Sirius sucks in a deep breath. Although he knew everything that had happened, there was still an inkling of hope that someone would be there. Everyone who was in the teams, all dead. Out of everyone, only three survivors.

"We-We'll tell Dumbledore that we're looking for survivors anyway," Minerva says, voice shaky. She clears her throat and shuffles the paper in front of her. Sirius is reminded that she's close to the members as well. It's not just Sirius' friends who are dead, it's hers too. "Sirius if you let all the team leaders and Remus and Peter know about this mission, let them know that if they don't want to join this mission then they don't have to. Send Marlene in here with me and James once you've collected her."

Sirius squeezes Jame's hand before leaving the room, the door closing gently behind him.

There's only a few people in the main room, including Alice and Frank. Sirius makes his way over to them and crouches down in front of the sofa they're on.

"Hey, we've got a mission planned pretty soon if you're wanting to join, it'll just be us leaders and a couple others," he says, keeping his voice low, making sure none of the others in the room overhear.

"I'm not sure," Frank starts, giving Alice a look from the side of his eye. Alice shakes her head.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I'm not fit to leave the base right now. I hope the mission goes well for you though." Sirius leans forward and gives her a peck on her forehead, pretending to ignore the watery smile she's trying to hide.

"That's completely fine, I'll let McGonagall know," he says before walking away, ignoring the shouts for his attention coming from a few other members across the room.

Lily is in her bedroom with Mary and Remus. Sirius leans against the open door and clears his throat, getting their attention.

"Mary would I be able to speak to these two real quick," he says, flashing her a smile. Mary nods her head and rushes out the room, and Sirius closes the door behind her and moves closer to the others.

"What's wrong? Is James okay?" Lily asks.

"Jamie's fine, I promise," Sirius says, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. His eyes flicker between the two of them and he clears his throat. "We have a mission planned. Me, Jamie, hopefully you two, Pete and Marlene." Lily blinks, and Remus folds his arms, frowning.

"So soon? Didn't James just come back?" he asks.

"There's a herd of zombies blocking the exit, we've got no way out," Lily mentions.

"Is it even safe? James, Marlene and Emmaline are the only survivors."

"Why is Peter coming? No offence but he stays in the kitchen, what use would he be?"

"This is practically a death sentence."

"Are James and Marlene even up for it? Mentally I mean. They've been through a lot."

Sirius waits patiently for the two of them to stop asking questions. When they both fall silent, Remus joining them on the bed, he answers them one by one.

"The sooner we leave, the better. We have another exit, one me and Jamie kept secret in case of emergencies." At this he has to hold his hands up, silencing when Lily starts to argue. "No it isn't safe, and yes leaving is basically a death wish, which is why it's optional. If you don't want to join, you don’t have to. Peter and Remus have been included because they were out there longer than everyone else here. Peter might not even join us. And James was the one who suggested this mission, he and Marlene - should she choose to join- will have a meeting with McGonagall before we go to make sure they're both ready. Does that answer all your questions?"

"What is the mission? To look for survivors?" Lily asks.

"Yes, as well as to study the change in the zombies," Sirius says. Exactly like Dumbledore's plan before. Remus looks confused, but Sirius keeps speaking before any more questions are asked. "It will be a long mission. Possibly weeks long, and we won't be back at the base until it's finished. Obviously you don't have to join, and if at any point during the mission you want to get back to safety, you can. I won't be forcing you to stay out in the danger if you don't want to. I will be in charge. Do you understand?"

Lily and Remus nod their heads, and Sirius gives one firm nod himself before turning to find Marlene.

He finds her in her room, staring blankly at the wall. "Marlene," Sirius says gently, rapping on the doorframe. She turns to him slowly, blinking her eyes.

"Hey Siri," she grins, not quite reaching her eyes.

"Can we have a quick chat?" he asks, closing the door behind him as he enters the room. He sits carefully on the bed opposite her, careful not to touch her. It's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago they were waking up together in the bed, entire bodies pressed together.

"I'm not going to fucking break, Sirius," Marlene scoffs, moving closer to him. "Don't treat me like I'm a porcelain doll."

"Sorry," Sirius whispers into her hair, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. They sit in silence for a moment, Sirius breathing in his friend's smell. Her presence fills a room, even when she's not fully present in her mind.

"So what did you want to chat about?" Marlene asks after they've been quiet for a beat too long.

"We're planning a mission." Marlene raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"But James is back. There were no other survivors, who are we looking for?" she asks. Sirius clears his throat.

"Dumbledore still wants us to finish the mission he was sending us on before James got back. Study the zombies changes, help any survivors, research any way we could cure or kill the zombies," he lies. He wants people to ask as little questions as possible. Plus if people think it's the same mission Dumbledore had planned to send them on, then they won't rat them out to him. Marlene narrows her eyes at him and Sirius has to force himself not to show any of his tells. Marlene knows when he's lying, she can read him almost as well as James can. Fortunately she must not be one-hundred percent herself yet, because she seems to believe him.

"Alright. Why are you telling me about it? Am I the one in charge when you leave?" She grins.

"Not exactly… McGonagall was wanting you to join us. You and James both saw exactly what happened, you can help us with what to avoid. That's what I'm here for, really. She wants to speak to you before you leave. She's waiting for you with James in her office right now."

"Oh," Marlene says. She doesn't say anything else for a moment. "I guess I should go speak to her then," she says, shaking herself.

"Do you want me to join you?" Sirius asks as she stands up. She shakes her head slowly.

"Nah, I'll be fine." She smiles a crooked smile, before turning and leaving the room. If she's speaking to McGonagall that means she's at least considering joining them. All that’s left to do is speak to Peter.

"Absolutely not," Peter says eyes wide. He's taking shuffling steps backwards as if that will protect him.

"Pete, c'mon man. We need you," Sirius says, trying not to corner the timid man.

"Why? You've already got Remus! You've got James and Lily, you'll be fine without me!" Sirius holds back a sigh, running a hand down his cheek and along his jaw, feeling the stubble that's grown out he hasn't had time to shave yet.

"They don't have the experience you have, none of us do. You and Remus were found in different parts of the city. You managed to survive for so long with no one. If you come with us, I promise we won't leave you alone at all. You'll always have at least one of us to protect you."

"But what if we need to run?" Peter asks. He's stopped backing away now.

"Then we run," Sirius says, confused to what he means.

"Look at me, Sirius," he says, gesturing to his body. "I'm not exactly the fittest person in the Phoenix. If we need to run, I'll be holding everyone back." He looks disappointed in himself. His small eyes are watery as he looks to the ground, blinking back tears. Sirius places a hand on his shoulder, making him look up.

"Peter listen to me. You're a part of the team. If we need to run and you fall back, we fall back with you. We stick together, yeah? And if protecting you and keeping you safe means putting myself in danger, then I will gladly do it. You're my friend, Pete. I'd do the same to you as I'd do to Marlene or Jamie." Peter's nostrils flare as he tries to hide back his tears.

"Thank you," he squeaks out, biting his lip. "I'll join you. But I'm really sorry if I hold everyone back or get anyone injured or killed." Sirius pulls him into a hug. He wasn't lying when he said he'd treat Pete like he'd treat James. His team is his team. His protection. He'd die for any one of them.

Instead of sitting around and doing nothing while waiting for Minerva to finish her meeting with James and Marlene, Sirius decides to start packing everyone's bags. They'll be gone for longer than a week so he takes the bigger backpacks, the ones that carry almost everything. There's six of them all together. Peter is in the kitchen gathering food for them that could last for the first week or so. Six bags to pack. There's two sets of clothing at the bottom of the pack. Two containers of water. A small first-aid kit for everyone. Lighters and matches. Torches. Rope. Lots of socks (better change socks every day, Sirius learnt that the hard way.) and a sleeping bag. By the time he's finished packing, there's a little space for food and anything else the members think will be important. That's all six bags packed. But Sirius still doesn't know if all six members are joining.

He wanders towards McGonagall's office, surprisingly not meeting anyone on the way. The door is open a crack as he gets there and he can hear people chatting inside. When he opens the door, James grins up at him. Marlene is sitting next to him, laughing lightly at something Minerva has said.

"Hey," Sirius says, sliding into the seat with James, ending up half on top of him.

"Sirius, have you gotten everyone else on board with the mission?" Minerva asks and Sirius shrugs.

"Alice and Frank said no, but I thought they would. Pete took some convincing, but he's getting food for everyone right now so he'll be joining. Remus and Lily will be joining as well. So that's six people." He turns to Marlene and she nods.

"Six people," she confirms. James wraps his arms around Sirius' waist, pulling him in tighter.

"Let's do this," he says. Minerva stands up and the other follow, James resting his arm around Sirius' hips.

"Let's debrief the whole team and get some sleep. You'll be leaving at first light." Marlene heads to the kitchen to collect Peter, and Sirius and James go to Lily's room to get her and Remus.

"I didn't get much chance to meet Remus before everything that happened… what's he like?" James asks on the way, and Sirius' step falters. "Uh oh what happened?" Sirius swallows harshly pulling James to the side.

"I fucked up," he says quietly. At his best friends raised eyebrow, he continues. "You know how sometimes I get too lost in my head and need a distraction? And how most of the time that distraction is sex? Well…" he trails off, but James seems to get it.

"When I disappeared you got stuck and needed pulling out. And Remus was the closest," he guesses. Sirius nods, groaning.

"And now I feel weird about it," he says. James pulls a face.

"Why? You've always done it."

"There's something different about him. He makes me feel…thing."

"Things," James repeat, a smirk pulling at his lips.

"I don't know!" Sirius clenches his fist, but James gently pulls his hands apart before he can do any damage.

"Try explain it," he says gently.

"Like, he makes me feel…. I don't know! I just want to look at him, y'know? Like he's so pretty and his hands are… and his eyes and his lips and.." He groans and slides down the wall, James sliding with him.

"Do you regret the sex?" he asks. Sirius shakes his head.

"I regret the situation that caused it. But I don't regret it. Like if I hadn't been having sex with him as a distraction I'd do it again, but I feel like I hurt his feelings."

"What do you mean?"

"As soon as I finished I left the room." James sucks in a sharp breath.

"You ran?"

"I ran."

"Oh, Sirius," James says quietly, gently pulling his friend into a hug. "Don't worry, I'll speak to him about it." Sirius pulls away and glares at him.

"No, you absolutely will not!"

"Don't worry, I'll be subtle about it." James pulls them up, starting to walk to Lily's room again.

"James you can't be subtle to save your life!" Sirius shouts after him, followed by James' laugh ringing through the hallway.

Sirius leaves James to talk to Lily and Remus alone. He skips the debriefing, sitting in bed and staring at the wall. How he's going to spend so much uninterrupted time with Remus, he doesn't know. And James isn't going to help at all. The man doesn’t have a subtle bone in his body. To keep himself awake, he thinks about what it will be like to see Regulus again. Will they run and hug like the reunions in the movies he used to watch? Will Regulus be fighting a herd of zombies and Sirius swoops in to save the day? Will Sirius and his group get attacked by the zombies like James and Marlene had earlier, and Regulus manages to save them somehow?

Or will he get attacked by a group of zombies and spot a familiar face in the herd? The one almost identical to his. Will he find his brothers body rotting in the ground? Or, worse than that, what if he doesn't find Regulus at all? What if this dagger is the only thing he has left of his brother? No Regulus, no Barty or Evan. Nothing.

About two hours later, the door cracks open and James slides in, shrugging off his shirt and sliding into bed next to Sirius.

"You're still awake?" he asks when Sirius turns to see him.

"Was waiting for you," he replies. "How did the debriefing go?"

"Basically just explained that we leave first thing in the morning and me and you are in charge, we'll be gone for a few weeks and we've got to stick together. You didn't really miss anything." Sirius closes his eyes, breathing in the smell of James. He's missed this. It was only a few nights without him, but they've shared a bed since they were teenagers back when Jamie's parents thought they were dating.

"Love you," Sirius murmurs as he drifts off to sleep.

"Love you Siri. We'll find Reggie," James replies, pressing a gentle kiss on Sirius' forehead.

"Promise?" Sirius can't stop himself asking, feeling like a child but needing the reassurance.

"I hope so," James says instead. That's good enough, Sirius decides. 

Chapter Text

Somehow, Regulus wakes up. His eyelashes are stuck together with tears and blood, but he eventually peels them open. His vision is blurry but he can see he's in an unfamiliar room, with a few white metal cabinets spread around the walls. A couple of them are open, with bandages and plasters falling out.

Evan is sleeping on the floor next to him, a pill bottle in one hand and a thermometer in the other. There's no one else in the room, but through the pounding of his heart and the high pitch noise his brain is making, it sounds like the others aren't far away.

The pain is still there. Almost burning him. But Regulus' body is too exhausted to fight against it. There's a pulsing in his thigh where he remembers a zombie ripping a chunk of skin off. Nausea ripples in his stomach but he swallows it down. His vision is blurry and it takes him longer than he'd like to admit to realise that there's a patch over his left eye. One hand lifts up to it, feeling like it weighs a ton. He reaches towards the eye-patch, groaning in pain when his fingers brush against it.

That was a bad idea. Why did he do that?

Dropping his hand back down, whimpering when it lands with a thud sending a bolt of hot lightning up his arm and along his leg where it landed, Regulus turns back to Evan again. He opens his mouth to shout to his boyfriend, but no words come out. Trying to clear his throat to say something, but it scratches painfully to try.

Instead, he finds an old used bandage close to his leg to throw at the sleeping man. He uses up all his effort to throw the piece of fabric and it barley even gets off the side of the bed, sweat is dripping down his forehead from the effort. But the bandage brushing his hand must have woken Evan up.

"Reggie," he gasps out, scrambling up to his feet. He reaches out towards Regulus but doesn’t touch him. "Hi lovey, how are you feeling?"

Regulus just blinks up at him, pushing his face into his outstretched hand. The skin of Evan's palm is rough, harsh against the scratches along his cheek, but he doesn't mind. His hand is cool against the heat of Regulus' skin.

He tries to speak again, but his throat won't let him.

"Barty!" Evan shouts, getting the attention of the other three survivors. Regulus closes his eyes at the sound, eyelids heavy. Everything sounds fuzzy in his left ear, but he'll worry about that later.

Barty rushes through the room, hair sticking up at odd angles, dark circles around his eyes.

"Reggie you're alive!" He gasps. Regulus tries to smile at him, the movement tugging at his skin. "You've been out for days we didn't think you were going to make it!"

Regulus's face drops. Days? That can't be right. His eye widens, but Evan just slaps Barty's arm, frowning at him.

"Don't be a dick, Bartimus. Reggie you weren't actually asleep that long. I honestly thought you'd be gone longer," he clarifies. Regulus relaxes a bit at that, mustering up enough energy to glare at Barty.

"Sorry, sorry. Thought it would be funny," he mutters. Regulus lifts up his hand, holding his thumb and index finger apart, hand shaking almost violently from the effort. Little bit funny. Barty immediately brightens up, moving to stand beside Evan.

They're not touching at all, and Regulus narrows his eyes, flickering between the two of them and the visible space they've put between themselves. Evan catches on faster than Barty does.

"You getting attacked hit us hard. We've had a few fights about everything that happened," he explains. Barty looks guilty, but doesn't add anything. "We've taken a small break from our relationship with each other."

And oh if that doesn't make Regulus' heart ache more than it already does. Evan's hand is still on his face, thumb brushing his cheekbone and under his eyes. Barty reaches out to hold his closest hand, squeezing it gently.

He opens his mouth to speak again, cursing internally when all this achieves is a pathetic squeak before his throat closes up again, scratchy and sore. Evan wipes away a stray tear that slips out, and Barty raises his hand to his lips, kissing the knuckle gently.

Regulus pulls his hand away from Barty and turns away from Evan, closing his eyes. His skull feels heavy, the pounding in his head is excruciating.

"Reggie," Barty starts, voice cracking on that one word. But Regulus just shakes his head. Eventually the two recognise the silent request to be left alone and walk out.

As soon as they're out of sight, Regulus feels the swell of panic in his chest. He forces himself to sit upright, almost falling off the bed in his effort. His breathing is laboured and worsens the condition of his throat. His stomach clenches and he makes himself swallow, keeping the bile down. The pain in his leg throbs and his vision blurs and darkens at the edges. Small cries of pain escape his lips, but he somehow manages to sit, head leaning against the wall behind him.

Pull yourself together, Reg, he thinks to himself, willing his head to stop spinning. But he opens his mouth to shout them back anyway. He doesn't want to be left alone again, the pile of towels in the corner of the room look like there's a zombie hiding under them, the metal cupboards are big enough for a zombie to hide in. He needs someone to check the room's safe for him, he's completely defenceless like this.

He can't shout them back, no matter how much he tries, not a sound comes out his mouth and his throat burns from the effort. Tears leak out his eye, burning the skin as it drips down his face.

He can't speak, he's lost vision in his left eye, his left ear is all fucked up ringing constantly, there's absolutely no way he can walk right now, let alone run, and Barty and Evan have broken up.

And all in the space of 24 hours.

Getting his breathing back under control, he pull his legs up to his chest, hugging them. The ache is almost unbearable, but he does it anyway. Burying his face into his knees, Regulus lets out a sob, trying his best to keep quiet. He chokes on his tears, coughing into his arms, drops of blood, bile, and spit splattered on his skin. His body shakes with each breath, his throat is screaming at him to stop and his eyes are itching. But he doesn't stop, he physically can't stop himself. He crosses his arms, digging his nails into his forearms. There's a few wounds from the zombies that he catches, grounding him slightly.

Before the apocalypse, he would get manicures every few weeks, making it a bit easier to dig into his skin like he's trying to do now. Sirius was the first one who realised he was doing it. He told Regulus it was a form of self-harm. He might not be taking a knife to his skin, but he's purposely injuring himself, leaving pink crescent moons along his arms. Regulus had tried to tell Sirius he was doing the exact same thing, with the hair-pulling and the drugs, but he wouldn’t listen.

Regulus would do anything to see his brother again.

After a while, his breathing has settled down. He raises his head, wiping his face and snotty nose against his upper arm. Sniffling slightly, he gently releases the grip he has on himself. The fact his nails are shorter is a relief, it means there's no added damage to his arms. However, he was digging in harshly and it has opened a couple of the cuts from the zombies. Once he's gotten his bearings back, he notices that he's only wearing his underwear. Thick bandages cover every inch of his skin. He briefly wonders who undressed him.

The door opens a crack and Pandora pokes her head through. She's left her hair down and it floats along behind her as she makes her away to him.

"Hiya Regulus, brightest star in the Leo constellation, the Lions heart," she says airily, sitting down next to him, careful not to nudge him at all. "Did you know that the Regulus star is the twenty-first brightest star in the sky?" she asks, tilting her head to the side. Regulus blinks at her, surprised she's being so normal - or as normal as Pandora can be.

He nods. When he was younger he was obsessed with the family's tradition of naming children after stars or constellations and he did as much research about his star and all the other.

"I came to see how you were doing. And also to make sure you aren't a Bee." Regulus opens his mouth, confused for a moment before he remembers that 'Bee' is what Pandora calls the zombies. The blonde leans forward and looks into the pupil of his right eye intensely. Regulus fight every instinct in himself not to look away. When she seems satisfied, she gently reaches out her fingers and lifts the patch covering his left eye.

"You're lucky you've still got this," she says gently. Regulus is frozen in place, not wanting to move at all. Even though the patch has been removed, he still can't see out that eye. There's movement on the left side of his body but Regulus can't see what it is. His breathing is rapid, but faint.

Trusting Pandora not to do anything that could hurt him, he manages to hold back the flinch. Pandora hums, turning her attention to his right eye and flashing a torch into it. Regulus jolts back, whacking his head against the wall behind him. He groans in pain, scrunching his eyes together.

"Huh. Interesting," Pandora mutters, putting the torch away. Regulus hadn't even seen her take it in with her.

Next she picks up his hands, inspecting the nails. While he had been sleeping, someone had removed all the nail polish off. "Looks normal…" Pandora says to herself, quiet enough that Regulus almost doesn’t hear her. She then goes to check his tongue, skin, hair, and skin.

Eventually, she pulls back grinning.

"Looks like you're not infected! Brilliant!" She then frowns, pouting her lips in a way that's almost childish. "I'm not entirely sure how effective that assessment was, though. But I know it means I'm safe from you for now. I'll be doing those tests twice a day until I'm sure you're safe," she tells him.

They sit in silence for a moment, Pandora slouching down and sighing. "It's not your fault that they broke up, you know," she says eventually. Regulus doesn’t look at her. "And now you're awake, they'll probably get back together in no time!"

Regulus doesn't answer, and for once since he's woken up he's glad his voice isn't working.

Pandora helps Regulus lie back down again, soothing him when he winces. Her hands are soft, gentler than anyone else he knows. She's humming to herself as she does, a song Regulus doesn't know. Before she leaves the room, as Regulus' eyes are getting heavy again, she presses a quick kiss to his forehead, away from any injuries.

"I hope you feel better soon, my little king," she says, floating out of the room again.

It's not long until Regulus is awake again, eyes snapping open, mouth half prepared to scream. The weight of the cover on him is pinning him down, it's tangled up in his leg and pulling a few bandages free. He kicks the cover off the bed with his good leg and stares at his bare skin.

His legs are pale, almost porcelain. There's bruises scattered around, turning the pale white to a galaxy of blues, greens, and purples. By the looks of things, the bandages are only covering the severe wounds, leaving the smaller scratches and cuts bare. They leave stark red marks against his skin, already scabbing over. There's a perfect hand print by his ankle, the scab peeling slightly where the nails would be.

Further up his leg, closer to his thigh, is where the injuries get worse. His right thigh is wrapped in bandages so thick Regulus is a bit afraid of what he's going to find underneath. His left leg is a bit better, so he braves himself to unwrap the fabric holding him together.

Skin sticks to the bandage as it's raised, peeling at the already sensitive wound. Regulus holds back a whimper, clenching his jaw as he carefully pulls it back. The first thing he registers is the stitches holding his skin together, blood and puss crusted along the edge where his skin has bunched together. The smell hits him next, making Regulus retch, holding his breath as he looks away. Sour. Metallic.

Regulus gives himself a shake. This leg isn't as bad as the other one, if he's going to assess his injuries, he needs to pull himself together.

There's another knock at the door just as Regulus is building up the courage to look back down. Dorcas pokes her head through and scrunches up her face at the sight and smell.

"They seem like they need a clean. Pandora was supposed to do that after she checked you for any symptoms but she says you fell asleep." She makes herself over to one of the metal cabinets across the room and pulls out different bottles, the labels faded with time. "You okay if I clean them now? Me and Panda stitched you up earlier. Barty passed out twice." She laughs and Regulus forces himself to smile, though it comes across as more as a grimace.

Once Dorcas has all her supplies, she pulls a chair over to Regulus' left side, sucking in a steady breath.

"I know you can't see me at this side all that well, so I'll try describe what I'm doing," she says. Regulus has never appreciated anything more. He tilts his head to the side to try see what she's doing anyway, but that just causes the room to spin.

Her hands are gentle on his leg, but still cause pain where she touches him. "I'm going to remove the bandage first," she starts, removing the bandage fully from where Regulus had just pushed it down. She clears her throat and Regulus can hear the sound of liquid dripping. "Going to wash my hands with some of this alcohol solution. I'm not wanting to risk infection."

She talks through every single step. Dampening the cotton pad with cleaning solution. Wiping away all the "crusted gross shite" from the wound. Soaking a cloth in rain water they had collected while he was sleeping. Laying the cloth over the wound and letting the water drip into the wound. Using another cloth to gently dry the area, patting it carefully. Then she applies some petroleum jelly along the stitches before wrapping it again, flipping the used bandage around so the clean side is facing his skin.

The whole time, Regulus is withering in pain, clenching his jaw so hard he hears it crack. Dorcas manages to continue working while he's moving being careful not to jolt his leg at all.

After, she smiles and stands, moving everything to the other side of the bed.

"Now for the other leg." Regulus lets out a broken moan as she starts to peel off the bandage. A sob breaks through his lips, despite how hard he tried to keep it in. "We don't have to do this now, I can come back later" Dorcas says, but Regulus shakes his head. If this doesn’t get done now, he won't have the courage to get it done again today.

Same as before, Dorcas explains the whole process, despite being in perfect view. Regulus doesn't look at his leg, doesn't let himself see how bad it is. The pain is almost numbing and he's grateful for it.

At one point, Regulus feels the wound open slightly, a glob of blood drips down the side. He turns his head to the side, coughing up vomit into the bowl Dorcas had placed next to the bed for this reason.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Dorcas mutters to herself, frantically grabbing at any clothes or fabrics to hold against his skin.

Is it bad? Regulus wants to ask, but he can't get the words out. His thigh is all tingly, more of a tickle than a sting. After a stressful moment where Regulus debates raising his head to see all the commotion, Dorcas sighs and gives Regulus a relieved smile.

"All good, I've sorted it." She wraps up his thigh before picking the blanket off the floor and placing it over him. "I'll come back and check on your eye later. Panda says it didn't seem so bad when she checked it earlier." She places a couple pills in his palm and holds a bottle with the tiniest bit of water in it. Regulus swallows the tablets, gagging at the taste, and swallows the water down, helping his throat a little bit.

"Thanks," he croaks out. Dorcas smiles gently.

"Get some sleep, Reg. It'll help."

The door closes softly behind her and Regulus sighs, ignoring the throbbing in his thighs. Dorcas is right, his body wont heal unless he lets it.

But who knows how long these medical supplies will last. And if he doesn't eat enough food or drink enough water, his body will be stuck like this. He swallows down the need to throw up again, not wanting to waste the pills he's just taken.

He lets sleep take over him again, grateful he doesn't feel pain while sleeping.

Chapter Text

The entire group stands by the secret back exit James and Sirius had boarded up when they first created the Order. Sirius looks at the others, determination written on each of their faces. Minerva stands next to him and James, her hands folded in front of her.

"Be safe out there," she says, her voice sticking in her throat. Sirius can see the tears in her eyes. She the pseudo-mother of everyone in this bunker. She sees each of the members as her children, no matter their age.

It's early so no one else is awake to bother them. Lily has written a letter to Mary explaining what was going on, tears splattering on the paper. Peter looks nervous, his eyes shifting around anxiously. James is standing with his head high. Everyone has their bags that Sirius packed for them on their backs, after putting in whatever else they wanted to add.

Sirius has Regulus' knife wrapped carefully and tucked into one of the many pockets of his trousers. He's not losing that, not if he can help it. He wants it on his body at all times.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" James asks. There's no hesitation as everyone nods their heads. Sirius swallows harshly and straightens his back.

"Let's go before anyone notices we're gone," he says. Minerva places a steady hand on his shoulder.

"I'll let Mary, Frank, and Alice know that they're in charge until you come back," she says. That tiny bit of faith in them coming back gives Sirius more hope than he'd like to admit.

"Let's do this," Marlene says.

Remus helps James open the door, and Sirius turns to Minerva as everyone piles into the exit, the dark tunnel leading out shadowing them instantly.

"Frank will help you push the bookshelf back into place if you can't manage it yourself. Fabian and Gideon might be around, but I have a feeling they found this tunnel when they first joined, so they shouldn't give you much bother for it." He doesn't want to say 'good-bye' to her, so he darts forward and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead, before jumping into the tunnel besides James and closing the door behind them, dust blowing up around them as it thuds shut.

There's a lapse into silence before Peter turns his torch on, showing the way forward. The tunnel hasn’t been used in a long, long time. Sirius and James had only been through it once and that was to see where it came out. As soon as they got back to the base, they shut it up so it could be used as an emergency exit should they ever need it. The walls are a smooth concrete all the way through, and their footsteps echo as they walk along. Spiderwebs litter the ceiling above them, almost brushing the tops of James and Remus' heads.

They walk in silence for most of the journey until Marlene speaks up.

"Is this mission to find your brother?" she asks, looking at Sirius. The others all turn towards him too, except James, who keeps an eye ahead of them.

"Yes," Sirius replies, not bothering to lie. "We look for Reggie, see if there's any survivors with him, and then come back. While we're out there we can study the changes of the zombies if we come across any." Surprisingly, no one complains. "

What makes you think he's alive?" Remus asks. When Sirius turns to glare at him, daggers shooting from his eyes, he holds his hands up in surrender. "I just mean it's been a while. When did you last see him? Almost a year ago? And I know you haven't heard from him at all since, otherwise you would have gone to him before. What changed?"

Sirius sucks the inside of his cheek before answering. It's a fair question, he knows that, but it still annoys him all the same.

"Jamie found something when he was out there alone," is all he replies. Lily hums, walking forward to reach for James' hand. Sirius watches as James links their fingers together, pulling her closer to his side.

"How long is this tunnel?" Peter groans, dragging his feet.

"We're almost half way there," James replies.

"Half way?" Peter complains, causing Marlene to chuckle.

"C'mon Pete, cheer up. At least there's no zombies down here," she says. Sirius reaches over and pushes her shoulder, making her trip. "Hey, what was that for?" She snaps jokingly, turning to him.

"Don't jinx it," is all he says.

They lapse back into a silence, broken only by James and Lily murmuring in each other's ears. Eventually, after walking for what feels like hours, they reach the other side of the tunnel.

"Remember, we have no idea what's behind this door," James says, reaching up to touch the large handle. Sirius stands up to help him and just as they're about to open it, Marlene lets out a small giggle. Sirius frowns, turning to her.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that… what if it doesn't open? We'll have to walk all the way back to base, but everyone else will be awake by now and the exit will be covered up again. I think that would be a bit funny," she says through laughter.

Lily laughs with her, and Peter chuckles along. Sirius turns back to James who's clearly holding back a laugh himself. There's only Remus who's not laughing along, and when Sirius makes eye-contact with him, he rolls his eyes, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lip.

As the laughter dies down, the two leaders try open the door. It's stiff and heavy to open, dirt and grime sticking it together. It takes a while for it to even budge.

"See what you've done now, Marlene?" Sirius says dramatically, throwing himself on the ground, exhausted. James takes a step back, breathing heavy.

"This is shut tight, we did a good job at locking it," he says. Sirius groans.

"A bit too good of a job. Someone else have a go."

"This isn't as funny as I thought it would be…" Marlene says quietly.

Sirius stands and walks out the way as Remus steps up to take his place, placing his backpack on the ground next to Sirius' and placing his hands on the metal door. Sirius watches in awe as the door starts to creak, slowly opening. James turns to Sirius with his mouth hanging open, Oh, he's strong, he mouths to Sirius. Marlene catches his eye as well and dramatically fans herself, pulling herself together when Remus turns round before he can see what she's doing.

"There you go," he says roughly, picking up both his and Sirius' bags and walking through the open door.

Sirius' mouth is bone-dry, and it takes an embarrassingly long time to follow the others through the door, punching a laughing James on the shoulder when he passes. They close the door behind them and turn to find the others already walking down the street, following Remus.

"He doesn't even know where we're going, the wanker," Sirius says grumpily.

"Are you actually mad at him, or are you just mad you're attracted to him?" James asks before he jogs to catch up to them without waiting for an answer.

Sirius groans, dragging his feet as he follows James, who has caught up to the others and laughing at something Marlene has said.

"Of course I'm attracted to him, the bloody git. With his gorgeous eyes and hair, and those huge hands and holy crap he's so strong, he could probably pick me up like I'm nothing…" he mutters to himself, kicking stray pebbles as he walks. In the distance, they can see the main entrance they used for the bunker, the herd of zombies still crowd around it, bigger than it had been when they had been chasing James. Sirius shudders. If they hadn't been about to go on a mission, would they have noticed him? Would the doors have opened on time, or would he have been trapped by the herd and the door?

"Stop thinking so loud," a voice says next to him. Sirius moves without thinking, grabbing a switchblade from his pocket and bringing it up to the jugular vein in the neck of the person who spoke. Remus doesn't even flinch, just blinking slowly at him. "Are you going to put that away?" he asks when Sirius hasn't moved. As he speaks, the skin presses against the blade and Sirius zones in on the tiny blood droplet that escapes from where the blade is pressed.

"Sorry," he mumbles, wiping the blade on his trousers before slipping it back into his pocket. "You startled me." Remus hands one of the backpacks over and Sirius pulls it over his shoulders as they start walking step in step.

"You want to talk about what's going on in there?" Remus asks and Sirius frowns.

"With you?" It comes out snarkier than he intended.

"I don't get you," Remus snaps, all friendly intentions gone. "We get on fine, then we fight. We fuck, then we don't speak. I try to be nice to you, but you go and be a dick about it." Sirius clenches his jaw, the muscles jumping.

"You confuse me," he admits. "And I fucked up when we had sex, it was a mistake-"

"Oh it was a mistake? That's fucking rich." Remus barks out a laugh.

"No! I mean the timing was a mistake! You're doing it again, making my brain all confused and unable to focus properly!" Sirius groans, turning away from the taller man.

Remus pauses a moment before speaking again.

"Explain to me what you mean by that," he says gently.

"What? That you muddle up my brain so all I can think about is your eyes and hands, and how you just opened that bunker door by yourself even though me and James were struggling with each other and it makes me think what else can you do with all that strength."

"I meant what do you mean by 'the timing was wrong' but you can tell me about how you want me to pin you against the wall if you want," Remus says, and Sirius turns round to see a smirk playing at his lips.

"I didn't mention you pinning me against the wall," he says dumbly, a blush flooding his cheeks, because can Remus read minds? What else has he seen?

"You didn't? huh, I must just be thinking that myself," Remus says lowly.

Sirius swallows the saliva that has suddenly flooded his mouth. Remus' amber eyes follow the movement of his throat, and Sirius has to focus on everything other than the smell of Remus' hair. They've come to a stop, standing close together, so close that Sirius thinks he might do something he probably shouldn't do outside of a shelter.

"Um," he says, because he wasn't lying when he said his brain doesn't work around this man.

"What on earth has happened to the man who showed me around the bunker? The one who was so nervous around me he wouldn't stop talking?" Remus says quietly. He glances towards the others, before heading towards them again, tugging Sirius' arm to make him follow.

"He fucked up?" Sirius suggests. Honestly he's not paying attention to this conversation right now, Remus' hand is on him.

"By having sex at the wrong time?" Remus asks, and Sirius nods.

"Yeah, Jamie was outside and I didn't even know if he was alive or not. I needed a distraction."

"But then you regretted it?" Remus prompts.

"I regretted using you as the distraction, I didn't regret what we did." Sirius is following Remus blindly, not noticing that they've separated from the group until Remus pulls him into a building out of sight.

"I didn't mind you using me as a distraction, Sirius," He says. Their bags get dropped to the ground. Sirius looks over his shoulder to the others, but Remus tilts his head back with a gentle grip on his chin. "What I didn't like was you running away with no explanation, or how you haven't managed to look me in the eyes since."

He looks him in the eyes now, amber and silver swirling together.

"The others will be worried about us," Sirius whispers. Remus takes a step closer until Sirius' back is against the crumbling wall.

"I told James I needed to talk to you privately, they won't worry." A stupid part of Sirius' brain shouts that Remus is going to kill him, but it's immediately silenced when he feels a kiss on his lips. His eyes automatically flutter shut, his hands sliding to Remus' hips. Remus pulls back before Sirius can deepen the kiss, still close enough that their noses brush against each other. "I like you, Sirius," he whispers. "I don’t care if you want to just use me as a distraction or as a way of getting out of your head, I'll let you use me however you want." He steps back, causing Sirius' hands to fall. "Now come on, the others are waiting for us." As Remus steps away, Sirius brings a finger to brush against his lips.

"I like you, too," he says, but Remus has already left the building, holding the door ajar for Sirius to follow.

Chapter Text

Having someone pour water into your eye isn't the most pleasant experience. Especially after you've just experienced a water based trauma.

"Keep your eye open," Dorcas grumbles, splashing a bit more water everywhere.

"I'm trying but it hurts," Regulus replies. He can feel his eyes blinking despite trying his best not to. Can feel his body flinching away from where she's touching him, his muscles tense even though he knows she means no danger.

"I can't clean this if you don't let me!"

"What's the point? I've already lost my vision," Regulus complains, feeling the water drip down his cheek.

"It could get infected!" Dorcas cries, before she gives up and grabs a towel, dabbing the area dry.

"What's going on in here, then?" a voice says at the doorway. Dorcas sighs and looks down at Regulus from where she's straddling his hips, holding herself up so she doesn't put any weight onto him. It was the only way she could clean the eye and keep Regulus' head still without him wriggling about.

"We're having a passionate love affair," Regulus says, grinning at Barty as he walks into his line of vision, he tries not to wince when the movement of his mouth tugs at the wounds along his face and cheekbone. His lips are dry, blood slips in his mouth when he closes it, but Regulus is so used to the taste now, he doesn't mind.

"Oh no!" Barty gasps, playing along. "I knew you weren't really a lesbian." He glares at Dorcas, and she laughs, carefully climbing off Regulus and placing the eyepatch over his eye again.

"Crap, I've been caught out," she laughs, giving Regulus a quick kiss on the tip of his nose before leaving the room.

Barty sits on the chair next to Regulus' bed, holding his hand gently. "How are you feeling?" he asks. Regulus blinks slowly.

"My entire body feels like it's on fire," he answers honestly. "My legs are burning and my eye feels like there's a needle poking into it, I want it to stop." He feels his chin wobbling at the end and tries to hold back the tears, certain it wouldn't be good for his damaged eye. But when Barty looks like his hearts breaking at the sight of him, he falls apart.

"I'm so sorry, Reggie," he says. Regulus uses all the strength he can to pull him closer, until he's got his boyfriends arms wrapped around him, burying his face into his neck. His tears drip down the inside of Barty's shirt, but he doesn’t say anything. "I wish I could take your pain away," he whispers against his hair. Regulus closes his eyes, slouching against Barty, trying to get as much comfort from him as he can. The feel of his arms wrapped around his body - how, even though the touch burns, he wouldn't say anything just so he can feel the burn just a little bit longer. The smell of cigarettes that lingers on his clothes and hair from his last smoke is all Regulus can smell.

"I love you," he mumbles against his shirt. "I haven't said that enough since the whole apocalypse thing."

"I love you," Barty replies. "So, so much."

"I also love Evan," Regulus says, and he feels Barty freeze under him. "Barty…"

"Reggie, you know I love Evan, too," he says.

"Then why split up?!" Regulus says, pulling away slightly to look Barty in the eyes. His eyelashes are clinging together with unshed tears, pain swirling in his eyes.

"Reg-"

"No, Barty, don't say you were stressed about me. I'm awake now, there's nothing to stress about, see! I'm fine." He waves an arm as if to show his body, and Barty's eyes trail across the shape of him under the covers.

"Your version of 'fine' is completely different to mine," he says and Regulus groans, wincing when the action irritates his throat.

"You guys being split up puts me in an awkward position," he grumbles.

"No it doesn’t. You're dating me, you're dating Evan, me and Ev aren't dating. We're still speaking to each other, though."

"I don't like you two being split up," Regulus says grumpily. It's not something he ever imagined happening.

"I don't like it either," Barty admits, fingers tracing patterns on the back of Regulus' hands.

"Then fix it!" Regulus says, pulling the blankets further up his chin. Barty sighs, but instead of arguing with Regulus, he folds his body in a way so he's still sitting on the chair, but his head is resting on his arms on the bed.

"I don't know how," he whispers. Regulus turns to face him and notices the tears in his eyes.

"Barty," he whispers, not wanting to raise his voice higher.

"I think I really fucked it up with him," Barty says quietly, breath quivering. Regulus stays quiet, letting Barty speak at his own pace. "I thought you were going to die, I thought you had been infected. You stopped breathing. I swear we watched you die, and I hated it. I hated every second. Seeing you surrounded by those fucking creatures put a fear though me I've never felt before… And when they pulled you under my heart stopped. I don’t remember going in to save you, I just remember thinking how dare they touch you, how dare they hurt you." His voice is seething and the tears drip down his face but he doesn’t seem to notice, eyes focused on the past. Regulus holds one of his hands, moving it up to his pulse in his neck, pressing Barty's fingers against it so he can feel it beating.

"I'm here, I'm alive," he says gently. Barty breathes in a shaky breath, swallowing harshly.

"Watching that happen to you was too much, so I pushed Evan away. I stayed in a separate room and stopped speaking to him. When I did speak with him I couldn't stand close to him, I couldn't look at him. All I could see was a zombie taking him away like they almost did to you."

"Barty…"

"I know it's stupid! Pushing him away to prevent something that hasn't even happened… So I told him we needed to break up. Told him I was too worried about you to even think about him, when really he was all I could think about. I refused to touch him, but holding him was all I wanted to do. I just… I want to keep him safe. If couldn't keep the zombies from getting you, how could I protect him?" Regulus watches as his boyfriend falls apart, eyes scrunched shut to stop the tears from coming.

"You should tell him that," he says gently. Barty rubs the pad of his thumb along Regulus' neck.

"Tell him what?" he asks, clearly confused.

"What you just told me. That you're worried what happened to me will happen to him, that you want to protect him."

Regulus closes his eyes, the repetitive movement of Barty's thumb luring him to sleep.

"I don't know how," Barty whispers again. Regulus hums, fading out of conscious.

"Sure you do," he whispers.

Regulus falls asleep before he can hear what Barty says next, not feeling the fingers brush through his hair, carefully tracing the eyepatch.

When Regulus next wakes up, it's to a feather light kiss on his lips. He strains to open his eyes, lashes sticking together.

"Wakey, wakey," a soft voice sings in his ear. Regulus turns his head away, smiling softly at the gentle laughter in the air. "Reggie baby, come on. Open those eyes."

"No," Regulus groans, throat catching on the word. He clears his throat, opening his mouth when he feels a water bottle placed against his lips. When he eventually opens his eyes again, Evan is looking at him, eyes fond.

"There he is," he says, a smile dancing at his lips. Regulus groans and tries to lift his head, but his body is too heavy. "You need to take some more medication, lovely," Evan says, and Regulus bites back his sarcastic response. His body is heavy and he can barely lift a finger. The light in the room is too bright, even though it's dimmed and yellow.

There's a pill pushed past his lips, but Regulus can't swallow it, no matter how much he tries. It starts to dissolve under his tongue, filling his mouth with the bitter taste. He gags and retches, throat closing up. Tears slip out his eyes, and his body starts shaking from the effort of his heaving. The pill slips out his mouth and down his chin, but Regulus is too weary to wipe it away. He coughs, wanting the flavour to leave his mouth.

"I'm sorry," he mutters. Sorry for wasting a pill when there's not enough to waste. For coughing in Evan's face.

"It's okay, lovely. You didn't mean it" Evan says gently, picking up the dissolving pill and moving it away. He places something else to Regulus' lips, but he turns away, pushing whatever it is back.

"No," he groans, nausea building.

"It's not more medication, I promise." Trusting Evan, Regulus opens his mouth and feels the cool, smooth texture of whatever it was Evan places against his tongue. "Bite," Evan instructs and Regulus does as he's told. A faint mint fills his mouth, immediately overpowering the disgusting flavour from before. He peels his eyes open and looks at Evan in confusion. "Stole some gum from Dorcas," he explains. Regulus lets the chewing gum sit on his tongue, not having the strength in his jaw to keep chewing it.

"We need to put some food into you, that'll help bring your strength back," Evan says, standing up. Regulus watches him with his eyes as he leaves the room. As soon as the door closes behind him, Regulus spits the gum out, flicking it off the bed. He takes a deep breath, trying to take control over his body again. He wants to stand up, to follow Evan through to see the others. But it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since the attack, the fact that he's even awake is incredible. He won't have the strength to get out of bed, let alone walk through the school. He's smart enough not to try. No matter how badly he wants to.

He waits, chest a dull ache with each breath. The room is silent, other than the buzz of electricity from the flickering light above him. There's no noise outside the room either, which unnerves Regulus. He doesn't like not knowing what's going on.

The seconds drag on, feeling like hours. His eyes don't leave the door, almost holding his breath waiting for his boyfriend to return. Evan doesn't take long, coming back with some freeze dried fruit in his hands.

"I'm not sure what good it will do," he admits. "But it's better than nothing." He gently helps Regulus sit up, pilling cushions behind his head so he doesn't choke on the food. Regulus bit hard on the inside of his cheeks to prevent himself from groaning in pain. Evan brushed a hand through Regulus' hair, the strands stringy with grease and sweat. "You doing okay, Lovely?" he asks, and Regulus lets himself lean back against the pillows, resting his hand on his thigh - still burning with pain.

"I've been better," he says through gritted teeth. Evan cups his face in his hands, dipping down and pressing a gentle kiss to Regulus' lips.

When Evan pulls back, Regulus follows like a magnet, eyelids closed.

"You need to eat, Reggie," Evan says. When Regulus opens his eyes, he can see that he's frowning. Evan lifts a piece of dried raspberry to his lips. Regulus opens his mouth, closing it around the fruit. He lets it sit on his tongue for a while before chewing.

Regulus tries to ignore the feelings of nausea, his stomach clenching and turning over, his head heavy and eyes stinging. It's just because he hasn't eaten in a while and has thrown up most of what was in his stomach, he tries to tell himself. It's not the first signs of the infection, he's hungry because there's no food in him, not because he's a zombie. Before he knows it, he's eaten all the fruit Evan brought.

"It's good to see you've got your apatite back," Evan says, smiling softly though his eyes still look troubled. Regulus' stomach lets out a rumble, echoing in the silent room. Regulus forces a smile to his lips, hoping Evan doesn't see how strained it is.

He's so hungry. Now that he's had food in him, it’s all he can think about. The flavour of the fruit as it hit his tongue, the way it felt going down his throat and filling his stomach. His stomach that's still asking for more, that feels emptier than it had before he ate.

Regulus chews on his lip as Evan speaks about something. The gnawing of his empty stomach is almost more painful than the wounds on his body. It's demanding his full attention.

"is there any more fruit?" Regulus asks, interrupting Evan. The other boy pauses, an emotion Regulus can't name flicker across his face before he nods, eyebrows pulled together.

"I'll - I can go get some if you want," he says, standing up.

Regulus doesn't notice he's left the room, but he knows when he comes back in, followed by Barty. "There's not much food left after this," Evan says, placing the fruit in Regulus' hand.

"Thank you," Regulus says, slowly raising the food to his lips. He forces himself to go slow, trying to ignore the way Evan and Barty are watching him.

"You still hungry?" Barty asks, after Regulus has swallowed the final bite. Regulus clenches his fist, trying to stop it from shaking, tucking it close to his thigh to hide it from his boyfriends.

"A bit," he lies. He's not 'a bit' hungry, he's ravenous. "I think my body just needs the energy," he says.

"You'll also need sleep," Evan says, and the two of them help Regulus lie back down again. They both leave the room, heads close together as they murmur in each other's ears. As the door closes, Regulus catches Evan's eye as he turns back with a worried glance.

I'm not a zombie, I'm just sick Regulus thinks. The thought repeats over and over again. Regulus squeezes his eyes shut and holds back a sob. He's survived this far, he's not going to become a zombie now. He can't, he won’t let this happen.