Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The start was a blur for most people but Rafe. Rafe was in the room when it happened, he witnessed the disgusting transformation, the murders, the beginning of it all. He witnessed the beginning of the end of the world, of the end of life.

"Rafe, can you hand me my drink" Wards voice rung throughout his ears as he watched other doctors do experiments on people, quickly becoming nauseous and scared at the same time, "Rafe!" The voice rung through again and Rafe cocked his head to the side in question, "Hand me my drink and stop being so spaced out, it annoys me when you aren't paying attention." Rafe hands his father the drink as he watched Ward slowly sip on it while inspecting the green goop in his other hand

"What is that..." Rafe asks as he looks closer at the liquid.

"Chemicals that we hope will help this situation." Ward tells him as he looks back at the person through the window getting experimented on, he was screaming out in a type of pain that made Rafe want to shrivel up and hide, it was filled with so much pain and agony that it scared him. Blood was running down the poor red haired boys arm and cheek, he was foaming at the mouth and desperately trying to escape the binds that held him to the bed.

"Why's he doing that..." Rafe refers to the doctor poking multiple needles with different substances into the flamed haired boy.

"Reasons. Go hand this to Renfield." Ward said bluntly as he shoves the green goo into Rafes hand, in which Rafe quickly grabs and walks into the room, the screams becoming louder along with heavy panting and rattling of the bed

"Here" Rafe says as he shoves the goo into the doctors hands looking at the boy in pity and fear, the doctor smiling at him creepily, he looked dead in the eyes but his smile was wide that showed his bright yellow stained teeth

"Thanks kid." Renfield says as he injected the goop into the kids arm.

Rafe quickly runs out of the room as screams fill his ears, he runs to the toilets as his head spins from all of the screaming from all different rooms, they all sound the same, like they all got the green goo injected into the blood stream. 

Rafe feels vomit coming up into his throat, he shoves the toilet seat up as he collapses onto the floor and lets out his lunch in big chunks. After letting out all the disgusting liquid mixed with food he realises that it went quiet

He closes the lid and flushes everything in it, quickly running back into the room with his father seeing Renfield and Ward looking at the red haired boy with a impatient look, like theyre waiting for something extraordinary to happen

Rafe sits there in his fathers seat for five minutes as he looks through the glass at all three people, one tied up to a bed with a needle still poked into his skin and two others roaming around freely and talking with white coats on, it made Rafe feel sick again.

As Rafe stood up to go to the bathroom he saw the patient snap his neck to the side, intrigued, Rafe stays and watched what happens next, the boy goes back to fighting against the restraints, his teeth falling out and some turning rotten, white foam from his mouth now brown, his skin turning a sickly white before becoming a dark brownish green, his eyes becoming dead and some of his eyelashes falling out, his hair becoming bald with wrinkles and small patches of hair, holes appearing on his body as slight patches melt away.

Rafe witnesses that boy in agony become a monster who rips apart the restraints within a second with his dead eyes locked onto Reinfield, he launches over to that him as he starts clawing at his chest, Rafe sees Ward leave the room in a hurry and lock it in the corner of his eyes as he can't take his eyes off of the kid and Renfield in shock, blood spurs out onto the white concrete and onto Renfields face as he coughs it up.

The zombie digs his nails into the side of Renfields face and claws at it until it's deep inside his head, quickly ripping his forehead off and using his leftover teeth to rip into his brain and eat it. After Renfield goes limp he twitches as his body does the same as the kids, it goes a sickly white before becoming a brownish green, every bit of the process goes through Renfield but he looks different to the boy as his forehead is dangling to the side of his face, exposing his skull and his shivelling up brain as it goes black.

Rafe covers his mouth in disgust, shock and fear as his eyes well up with warm, salty tears, one dripping down onto his cheek as he quickly presses the red button for emergencies, he springs into action and sprints out the room slamming the door behind him, he runs past multiple zombies on the way to the exit seeing them occupied by eating a humans brain or biting so deep that they get turned into one of the monsters before they got a chance to die. Rafe didn't know what was worse, getting bitten so deep it turns you into one while you're alive or dying a painful death before having to come back to life to be the monster that murdered you.

Rafe runs as far as he could when he breaks into a house and starts grabbing a backpack, food, water, a shirt and jacket, hearing protests and screams of the people that live there he quickly jumps out of a window and runs. He runs for what feel like weeks but only turn out to be days.

He made weapons and a bunker somewhere in the middle of the woods.

He recruited a team, took them in and saw they wanted to help people.

He made more weapons.

He recruited more people.

He saved more people.

He saw people turn into hideous creatures.

He ran away from those monsters.

He saved more people.

Saved, recruited, looked death in the eye and ran. Rafe saw all of that and yet, he still helped people but he couldn't help but worry about his sisters. Wheezie and Sarah. Where were they, how could he find them.

So he started a team to save and recruit people, even if they looked like they couldn't make a week out in the outside world and not the bunker. 

Its been 15 months. 15 months since the zombie apocalypse started

The team were out and looking for people when they heard a smash of glass, about two weeks ago Rafe ended up finding his friends from when everything wasn't a near death experience. Kelce and Topper. If Rafe had found them then he had a chance of finding Wheezie and Sarah.

"Quiet." Rafe commands to the people talking in the background, they quickly snap their mouths shut as they hear the seriousness in Rafes tone, Topper and Kelce looking at Rafe with wonder. After the deafening silence they hear another window smash, Rafe quickly going into a sprint to the sound, catching his team off guard before quickly following.

Rafe runs and doesn't think as he hears a scream, he screams out "Sarah! Wheezie!" His team looking at him in fear of attracting the monsters, Rafe doesn't bother to give them a glance as another window breaks, he hears a snap almost like a bone that only turned out to be him snapping a stick under his foot but he still runs quicker, Rafe is out of breath but it doesn't stop him but it does make his team slow down.

"Sarah!" Rafe yells as he runs, his feet burning and his lungs getting smaller and smaller

Another smash of a window.

"Wheezie!" Rafe yells again, tears slightly welling up in his eyes as he sees all the smashed windows in an abandoned house

Rafe goes quiet as he tries to calm his breathing, he slowly climbs through the window and cautiously looks around while taking step by step, walking over broken glass and blood, his heart pounding hoping that it isn't one of his sisters.

Rafe hears a snap of a stick and he goes still as his breathing turns into panting. His heart pounding as he slowly goes after that sound. Goosebumps on his arms making his leg hair and arm hair stick up

"Hello..." Rafe speaks quietly and breathy, "Anyone?.." he speaks in the same tone and walks closer to the door that had the sound behind it.

He slowly opens it with his dagger in his hand as he left his gun at the bunker. The only way of killing a zombie is cutting its head off and quickly stabbing it in the heart or blasting its head off. Rafe comes to the conclusion that he's going to have to kill it the harder way. Stabbing.

There he sees a young girl about to get turned into a monster, the zombie had his teeth baring to her neck as it was about to bite down hard, brown saliva falling onto her shoulder as one of the zombies hands covers her mouth, muffling her pleads for help, tears running down her eyes.

Rafe runs into action and quickly shoves the zombie off of the girl and stabbing his dagger into the zombies head and quickly pulling out and stabbing it into the heart then removing it and slicing the monsters head clean off. The zombies head falling onto the floor and the body becoming limp.

Rafe is panting as he wipes the dirty blood off his face with his already dirty sleeve. He stands up off the body and looks at the girls whose curled up on herself, she looks fourteen maybe fifteen. 'Just like Wheezie' Rafes mind wonders, his eyes quickly showing pity for the girl whose crying into her knees infront of him

"Hey..." Rafe says as he slowly approaches the small girl crying, "What's your name?" He asks, as he crouches down slightly, enough off of the ground to not get stabbed with glass but low enough that he has to support himself in a squat with his arms over his knees

"Mm mm" The girl says making a 'no' sound, as she shakes her head side to side, he can tell that she's still crying and has a wobbly voice.

"Hey I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm the leader of the safe place for the apocalypse..." Rafe says as he reaches a hand out and touches the girls hair slightly, smile obvious in his voice mixed with pity.

"S-Stop... touching me!" The girl screams as she moves one hand and shoves his off.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I should've asked... do you have anyone that I can help you find before we take you back?..." Rafe says as he looks at the girl whose body is shaking with sobs

"I-I want, I want m-my!" The girl hiccups with sobs before continuing trying to speak, "I-I, I want, I-I want m-my brother!" Is all he gets out of her as she violently sobs, her body shaking more extreme then before, vulnerabity radiating off her.

"Okay, we'll help you find him, okay, I promise, he may even be at the safe place..." Rafe says as he rubs the girls arm, completely forgetting to ask in the urge to comfort the young girl, but noticing how she doesn't push him off now "Do you want me to tell you my name? Maybe that'll help yeah?" He continues on

The girl unnoticabley nods her head yes but Rafe could feel it, he smiles at her as she slightly whispers a quiet 'yes please'

"Okay... but do you wanna go back to the safe place?" Rafe feels her nod a yes before letting out a slight laugh, "My names Rafe, do you wanna get up now so we can make our way there, I can carry you if you want..." He says as he looks at the girl quickly lift her head, wincing it pain from how quick she looked up.

"Rafe?..." The girl asks, looking at his eyes, then scanning his entire body before grabbing his hand, scanning for something, "Rafe!" The girl screams before enveloping him into a hug that could crush him making him lose his balance and collapse on to the floor

"Yeah..." Rafe says laughing quietly it wasn't long until she pulled away and looked Rafe properly in the eyes.

Rafes face drops as he chokes out a laugh and a quiet sob before speaking with tears in his eyes "Wheez..." he sees the girl shake her head with tears and this time he closes Wheezie into a hug tight enough to cut off circulation.

He realises how tight he's holding her and quickly lets go before fussing over her, his hands reach up to her face and move her head side to side, seeing a small shard of glass in the side of her neck, blood dripping down with dried up brown saliva. He looks at the rest of her noticing treatable but bad injuries

"Do you want me to carry you back? You're leg is covered in glass." He points to the leg that's bleeding out around sharp shards of glass. Wheezie nods her head slightly to not aggravate her neck more than it already is and reaches her arms up to his neck, quickly grabbing onto him and lifting herself up.

Rafe isn't carrying her yet as it may be dangerous from the glass shards on the ground so they walk outside slow enough to not attract attention but quick enough to get out of the house within five minutes of Wheezie limping and putting her body weight onto Rafes side. 

They get outside to be met with Rafes team, Wheezie quickly lets go of Rafes arm and shoves herself behind him making the team look at her weirdly and saw Rafes body shaking up and down with laughter.

"Umm, Rafe? Who's that?" Topper asks pointing at Wheezie hiding behind her brother.

"It's Wheez." Rafe says smiling as hands wrap around his neck for support, everyone start speaking and yelling at Rafe, he ignores them and bends down slightly letting Wheezie climb onto his back.

The yelling dies down and everyone looks at the two and what their doing, Rafe bending over slightly, Wheezie climbing onto his back and wrapping her legs around his waist and loosely wrapping her arms around his neck. Rafe grabs onto her calf's and holds tight enough for Wheezie not to fall but lose enough to not hurt her leg, Wheezie lays her head on Rafes shoulders covering her eyes with her arm which is infront of her. So close to passing out from the adrenaline rush that turned into exhaustion

"You good?" Rafe whispers to Wheezie who hums a quiet yes. "Okay, let's get going, I want all of you to kill the zombies in our way so Wheezie doesn't get hurt anymore than she already is, and I can't run with someone on my back so, hurry up, let's move." Rafe explains as he starts walking as fast as he can with Wheezie on his back

His team nodding their heads as they follow Rafe. Everyone walks through the abandoned ghost town, looking around and noticing the scorching heat falling onto their bodies, they walk through the woods where the safe place is cautiously hidden

They Walk.

And walk.

And walk.

And walk.

And finally they get to their destination, hidden under bushes, behind and infront of trees and through a trap door falling onto a platform next to a ladder, two ways down, the ladder or the stairs, everyone besides Rafe, Wheezie, Topper and Kelce who take the stairs, take the ladder Rafe not letting go of Wheezie at any moment and making sure to be cautious about her still injured leg

Rafe makes his way to the main area in the bunker and slowly bends backwards to he can put Wheezie on the lounge, "Top, go get the medical kit-" Rafe says before getting interrupted, Topper follows his orders and goes searching for the first aid kit.

"Boss! We found someone when we split up" Someone walks up to him yelling, Rafe can't remember his name. His annoyed expression becoming obvious as the person stops him from taking care of his sister.

"Well hurry up, spit it out. Who'd you find?" Rafe spits out venomously as he doesn't take his eyes off of Wheezies wounds.

"She ain't telling us her name. She's blonde tho" That makes Rafes head snap towards the voice. Wheezie must have caught his eyes going wide as she puts a hand on his shoulder and pushes him away, making him get closer to the guy in front of him.

"Well hurry up, show me." Rafe says with pure panic in his voice mixing with fear and worry for Wheezie. He looks back at Wheezie as he walks away seeing her smile with a slight nod of the head just as Topper gets back with the medical kit, he also looks at Rafe and looks like he's struck by lightning for a moment before giving him a smile and a thumbs up, him helping Wheezie instead of Rafe making Rafe let out a sigh in relief and gratefulness.

Rafe follows the guy who is named Kye, as he just remembered his name, they walk into a room quietly and Rafe sees the back of whoever's head, it was blonde as straight with a slight wave to it, it was long like Sarah's but also short like Rose's. He hoped it was Sarah.

"Sarah?" Rafe asks making the women flinch at the sudden noise. He was hopeful but that quickly died down as the women turned around and he looked into the eyes of the monster who replaced his mother.

"Rafe..." The monster says as he looks at her sourly

"Rose." Rafe greets back coldly and turns around on his heel, whispering 'She doesn't come near me, or Wheezie and when we find Sarah, she doesn't go near her either.' Before he leaves the room with a loud slam of the door

Rafe walks back into the main area, seeing Wheezie with bandages about to be wrapped around her leg and an antibacterial liquid sitting on the floor next to Topper along with cotton pads with blood on them, the blood slightly getting lesser and lesser on each cotton pad.

"Rafe!" Topper yells wrapping Wheezies leg and Rafe slowly goes over staring at Wheezie as she's biting her lip in pain from the pressure being put on her leg, he looks at her in pity as Topper keeps wrapping

"Hey Top" Rafe says patting his back in a quiet, discreet 'thank you', it was quiet as Rafe drowned out everyone in the room besides the two infront of him, Topper smiled at Rafe as he gave a slight nod in a discreet 'you're welcome'

"I have a question..." Wheezie says under her voice, Rafe and Topper look at her and notice she's only looking at Rafe to answer the question

"Fire away Wheez." Rafe smiles at her urging her to continue

"Who was the women you went to go see... was it, um... was it, Sarah?..." Wheezies eyes were sad and the smile slowly started faltering off Rafes face as he looks at her with sad eyes, nodding his head no, the slight hope in Wheezies eyes fulling disappeared

"We were together when it started and then zombies started chasing us. We had to split up..." She continues speaking, "What if-" Rafe quickly cuts her off and makes her thought go away, Rafe knew what Wheezie was about to say, 'What if Sarah got turned into a zombie. What if she didn't make it, What if she's dead.' Rafe had thought the same things but he made sure they were pushed into the back of his mind, far away in the back of his mind.

"No, nothing happened, if I found you and my other team found... No, it's... Wheez, she's going to be fine, she's alive." Rafe was convincing on making others believing him even if he didn't believe himself. Topper looks at him knowingly, Topper knows he's scared, and tired, and angry. Topper knew he was feeling every emotion just by looking at him, but Rafe couldn't let anyone else know, especially not Wheezie, he needs to be strong for Wheezie and for the safe place.

"Other team found who Rafe... who'd they find?" Wheezie urges him to continue, he looks at her with slight anger, not towards her but towards Rose.

"No one important, don't, just um, don't worry about it okay?" Rafe says trying to avoid the interrogation. Wheezie narrows her eyes at him

"Who Rafe." Rafe shakes his head at Wheezie almost hoping she can read his mind as he keeps repeating, you don't want to know, you don't want to know, "Rafe, please... was it Sarah... is she hurt?" Wheezies voice becomes shaky and scared thinking about her sister in pain 

"It was-" As Rafe was about to tell Wheezie he hears the bursting open of a door, Wheezie quickly grips onto Toppers shoulder digging her fingers into it, Topper wasn't phased by Wheezie but he was phased by Rafe looking so alert as he hears a door bang open and closed.

They stare at the only entrance waiting for something to come through the doors. Finally it did, and Rose walked through. Rafe looks at Wheezie with an apology written on his face and Wheezie understands why Rafe didn't want to tell her

Rose looks no different besides the growth of her hair and couple bruises and cuts on her body. "Rafe! Can we please talk- Wheez..." Rose says jumping from greeting Rafe to noticing Wheezie

"You don't get to call me that, Rose." Wheezie coldly spits out as he crosses her arms over her chest, Rafe looks at her proudly before looking at Rose smug with an obvious mocking smirk on his face.

"Sorry, Wheezie." Rose corrects herself walking closer.

"Yknow what, better if you don't even speak to me. Dont even try to come closer." Wheezies tone is venomous and sharp.

Roses face goes wide with shock and rejection, Kye walks out into the main area and Rafe immediately makes his voice become sharp and cold.

"I thought I told you. She doesn't come near me, Wheezie or Sarah when we find her. She shouldn't even think about speaking to us." Rafe speaks like Rose wasn't in the room but he hears her let out a sigh and a hurt sound at his words. "Get out Rose." Her face goes wide at Rafes choice of words.

"What?! What on earth do you mean get out?! Go back to the room? I just wanted to speak to you!" Roses loud voice catches everyone's attention, the entire room goes quiet as they listen intently.

"I mean get out. Not to the room, I mean outside. You don't have any right being in the safe place. Don't think I don't know what you've done." Rafe smiles after he finishes as he sees her face lose all colour and fear glosses over her eyes. 

"Rafe you can't do that! I'm your mother!" Rose screams not noticing her words and that makes Toppers head snap up and Wheezies and Rafes face grow angry.

"You!? You're my mother?!" Rafe screams loudly making everyone flinch. Rafe doesn't scream as much as he did two years ago, after he went to get help he stopped getting as angry. The last time he lashed out and started yelling was a couple months before he went to get help. Rafe is twenty one, Wheezie is fifteen and Sarah is twenty. Two years make a huge difference whether you're in an apocalypse or not. But then you realise you can quickly fall back into the time you were the worse version of yourself no matter the age.

"Yes!" Rose screams back, Rafes face filled with anger and they argue back and forth. The room silent as they listen.

"You were never! I mean never! My mother! My mother was kind and not a monster! You are the opposite. You are a monster inside and out!" Rafes words catch her off guard as she starts spluttering her words, Rafe doesn't stop yelling.

"My mother was beautiful, faithful and honest! She was also respectful and knew when she fucked up! She showed love and loyalty. You are an ugly monster, unfaithful and you lie! All! The! Time! You're disrespectful, you are a narcissist! You showed hate and no loyalty! You only showed that to Ward because you are a horrible person! You're a liar! You're hypocritical! You're narcissistic! You are a gold digger. You are not my mother, and you have never and will never be." At the end of the yelling Rafe is in Roses face standing at his full height, intimidating her. His look sour and his voice sore from yelling and screaming. Roses eyes were filled with unshed tears, and fear coating her body with how she was shaking and letting out cracked breaths.

"Get out. I know what you've done and I hate you with every bit of my body. You die or burn out there I'll be smiling. I die or burn out there I will hate you for eternity anyway. Get. Out." Rafes voice was cunning and stern. She immediately gets two people on each side of her, picking her up by her arms and lifting her towards the exit.

"Dont do this Rafe! Dont do this! If you do this you will regret it! I'll make sure you regret it you intolerant piece of shit! You're good for nothing! You're going to regret this I swear Rafe! I will make your life hell!" Rose screams as she tries to fight of the people escorting her to the exit, they hear a latch open for a couple second before they hear this big bang go throughout the bunker and vibrate the floor.

Rafe is exhausted after the day he had. He needs sleep as he needs to go on a mission like today and try find survivors.

Rafe takes steps to walk over to Wheezie as quick as he could, he whispers a good night in her ear as he kisses the top of her head as she gave him a quick hug from the side. Topper smiles at him and nods. In which, Rafe returns before retreating to his room.

He needs sleep.

Chapter Text

The next day Rafe woke up for his back to be tired, his head pounding along with his dry throat, he slips out of his bed forcing himself to get up and have a shower that's connected to his room, the bathroom was small and so was his room as they had to fit enough rooms for everyone to have a place to sleep, some shared rooms but in this case Rafe didn't.

People considering him as a leader and someone that knows about everything going on in everyone's life, all he wants to do is crawl back into bed but he can't, because he needs to find Sarah and he isn't going to give himself a break before that happens.

Rafe steps into the bathroom and shoves his clothes onto the counter, stripping out of his old dirty ones that he'll clean later when he can keep his eyes open, he shoves the dirty clothes behind the door and opens the clear door to the shower, turning handles to make the now spitting water become lukewarm

Rafe steps into the shower and his muscles immediately relax and he can feel his mind getting easier to let thoughts go through.

Rafe slowly lets his body drop to the floor as water drips down his hair onto his body, warm water making his eyes drop and feel himself getting tired by every minute he lets water drop from the head of the shower

Everything goes to his head all at once, the sound mind now overwhelmed with thoughts about everything, with the occasional flashbacks of his life.

"Sarah!" Seven year old Rafe yells while laughing at his six year old sister climbing monkey bars while squealing in excitement, the one year old Wheezie on the wood chips picking them up and throwing them and quickly clapping her hands laughing

"Rafe!" Sarah mocks back laughing and squealing still, Wheezie giggles while smiling up at Sarah's body

"I'm gonna get you! I'll catch up" Rafe yells smiling brightly as he grips onto the monkey bars quickly going from one to another, catching up to Sarah quickly

"Ahhh! No! Rafe!" Sarah's says laughing making her body shake, she stays on the same bar making her hands sweaty, Rafe around four bars behind her as she falls onto the wood chips weird, he hears a pop

Sarahs crying makes Wheezie start crying as Rafe looks down at the ground in shock before getting his head together, he lets go of the monkey bars and drops to the ground in a stance to make sure he doesn't hurt himself in the process

Sarahs sobbing loudly as Rafe gets closer he can see why, her knee is popping out the side of her leg. "Rafe! It hurts! It hurts!" Sarah says rolling over making a shooting pain go throughout her body, her sobs getting louder and her body shaking more violently, Rafe sits down and looks at her

"Sarah it's okay, it's going to be okay!" Rafe says in a panic voice but trying to keep it calm as possible, "Dad! Dad! Mummy! Mummy!"  Rafe yells as he lays his sister on her side and cries out for his parents

"Rafe, please make it stop, it hurts! It hurts really bad! Please!" Sarah is crying into the wood chips while playing with them in her hands trying to calm herself down unintentionally

Rafe rubs her back and yells out to his mum again, his dad doesn't matter at the moment, he doesn't like his dad that much and he just wants his mum and apparently so does Sarah by the way she repeats 'I want my mum, I want mummy, I want mum, Rafe, I want mum!'

His mum quickly comes out from the house to the distressed noise, "Rafe! Sarah! Oh my goodness! Are you two alright!" She yells in panic as she picks up Wheezie from the floor mumbling a quiet 'hello', patting her back and rubbing it in circular motions making her body go up and down in comfort

"Sarah hurt herself! Mummy it's scary! Her, her knees on the side! Is it meant to be there!?" Rafe yells as he gets off the ground next to Sarah and runs up to his mum hugging her side as she walks over to Sarah 

"Oh sweetie..." Their mum says in a quiet voice of pity, "How about we go to the hospital? Yeah?" After those words came out of her mouth Rafe lets go of her side and holds his arms out so he can hold Wheezie so his mum can carry Sarah.

Rafes eyes were wet from salty tears and not warm water as he thinks of how long they stayed at the hospital, how Rafe got blamed for the entire thing. How that was the first time his father hit him.

As thoughts starts going through his mind, 'What if Sarah isn't okay' 'what if Sarah's dead' 'what if Sarah is a zombie' 'what if they can't find Sarah' 'what if Sarah is starving' 'what if Sarah is dying from dehydration' 'what if Sarah is sick' 'what if Sarah is deathly ill'

What if. What if. What if. It didn't stop like he couldn't shut his brain off

Every thought he had about Sarah were bad. All the what ifs clouding his mind all at once. Tears making his eyes bloodshot and his ears muffled by water.

"Rafe! You in there?" A knock at the closed door and a familiar voice

"Um-" Rafes voice cracks as he coughs to clear his throat, "Yeah! Yeah! I'm just having a shower!" Rafe yells back before turning off the water and grabbing his towel and wrapping it around his waist 

"Okay! Hurry up though! We needa get going for the mission!" The voice said yelling out and Rafe heard a door shut as the voice got further away

"Okay... get dressed, leave, no, no, say bye to Wheezie, leave, find Sarah and other people, bring them back." Rafe mumbles to himself as he throws clothes on his now dry body

"Get dressed, say bye to Wheezie and tell her I'll be back soon, leave, find Sarah and others to bring them back" Rafe mumbles again as he opens the door and leaves the bathroom, throwing the towel on the floor before leaving his room overall

He walks to the main area, as soon as he walks in he sees his team with guns and daggers swinging in their hands, bags on their back as they have proper uniform to prevent them from getting seriously injured but Rafe is in casual clothes with a dagger in his grip and a gun in the side of his pants

"Why are you in casual clothes. Its dangerous going out there" one of his team members say with a look on her face

"Half of the people here survived in a tank top and pyjama pants. I think me wearing a t shirt and cargo shorts with runners aren't going to increase my death." Rafe says bluntly and sour, he was tired, he doesn't care at this point, he just wants to leave and find Sarah, his team looks at him and Wheezies eyes look concerned from where she was on the lounge

"You're gonna be okay right?" Wheezies voice was concerned just like her face, Rafes mean demenor calms down as he looks at his little sister

"Of course I'm gonna be okay, I've been doing this for the past 15 months, by myself for the first three." Rafe goes over to Wheezie and gets down on the ground in a squatting position and smiles up at Wheezie 

"You promise?" Even at Wheezies age, she still never let the promises go and Rafe doesn't mind

"I promise Wheez" Rafe interlocks their pinkies and doesn't let go, he brings his thumb out and Wheezie does the same "Lock it in?" Rafe questions and Wheezie smiles at him, Wheezie and Rafe touch eachothers thumbs as they smile at eachother

"I'll be back soon, okay Wheez? Bye for now" Rafe says as he gets up and goes back to his team whose staring at him, he gives everyone but Topper and Kelce a death glare, they all looked at him weird, but Topper and Kelce who were use to how soft Rafe got when it was Wheezie or Sarah or even a partner, they smiled at Rafe instead of giving a dirty look or uncomfortable look

As they open the hatch and get out slowly, careful to not make a lot of noise. They go out into the trees, making their way to the main abandoned town, the hotspot to find people who are hurt or hiding.

Once they got to the abandoned town, they split up into pairs, but Rafe decided to have Kelce and Topper with him, Rafe standing in the middle and his two friends walking by his side, laughing about and looking around for people who may need help

Rafe is quiet the entire time as he listens to his two idiot friends banter about something he finds stupid.

"What the fuck do you mean 'sushi is disgusting' dude I would murder anyone to have some of that right now!" Kelce yells at Topper who shrugs his shoulders with a smug look on his face

"I said what I said, sushi is disgusting, I would prefer to make out with Ward and marry that man than eat sushi. I hate it." Topper says making Rafe face go up into a disgusted look as he thinks about Topper and Ward together.

"Okay, why did I get brought into this, first of all, that's disgusting, do not go near that man that started this entire apocalypse, second of all, sushi depends on what mood you're in to actually like it, and third, shut the fuck up." Rafe stops walking and stares as he points at Topper, then Kelce and then both of them, before he starts walking again

"Why do we need to shut the fuck up, it's not like those monsters are out." Kelce says sarcastically, Rafe glares daggers at him with his eyes

"I'm contemplating whether I keep glaring daggers with my eyes or I get my actual ones out and shove it into your hand." Rafe says as Topper whistles and Kelce puts his hand up in a form of surrender

"Chill... I was being a dickhead, I know those monsters are out but then again how are we supposed to find people if their too scared to yell out for help?" Rafe thinks about what Kelce just said, he finds no words to come out of his mouth.

"Never knew you knew how to be smart Kelcey boy" Topper says grabbing Rafes shoulders and makes him walk faster as he shoves his face into Kelces personal space making him stumble backwards and catch himself

"Yeah. Me either" Rafe says still deep in thought as to find people, the only way they've ever found people is when they were getting attacked or trying to escape a zombie. Not ever just found them hiding...

"You good?" Kelce asks standing next to Rafe as Topper is now jumping with the support of Kelces shoulders

"Yeah... no, how come we only find people when their in danger and never when their hiding?" Rafes question was genuine as he looks at Kelce

Kelce hums before he starts speaking, "I reckon we find people when they're getting attacked or running from a zombie because the noise is easy to track down, if they were hiding they wouldn't want to make noise in case of the zombies getting to close to them... taking them by surprise on how they managed to find their hiding spot. Some people don't even know what the zombies look like, that's why a lot of people turn into zombies, because their in a state of shock and can't move their body because it's frozen from fear." Rafe looks at Kelce as he explains and sees him multitasking with making sure Topper doesn't get hurt as he jumps on and off Kelces back

"He's got a point Rafe, the more shocked a person is, the easier it is for their body to lock up in fear, and in this case that can make you die, and how we only find people when their getting chased, or are screaming for help is just logical" Topper states as he jumps on Kelces back and manages to stay there with Kelce holding onto his legs

"I know... now at least, but I don't want to find Sarah about to get murdered by a fucking zombie that our dad created. Also why are you on his back?" Rafe states before questioning Topper who just shrugs

"Felt like it, but I do know what you mean, you don't want to find your little sister hurt because of your dad." Topper says as he leans back slightly before going back to his original spot of Kelces back, who makes him lean forward so they both don't fall backwards

"We know you don't want to find Sarah getting chased by a zombie, but if im being honest, she's too strong for that, as if a zombie could take that little psycho down" Kelce states letting go of one of Toppers legs and patting Rafe on the shoulder before quickly putting it back and lifting Topper up onto his back more

"Little psycho is an accurate name for Sarah" Topper says laughing

"What memory are you thinking about when you call her a little psycho" Rafe asks, putting his hands on his hips and looking at his two friends who clearing have unresolved sexual tension

"Well, remember when I came over to your house after that fight we had when we were 12 and she was 11?" Topper starts and sees Rafe shake his head up and down, "Yeah, you told her about it and I went to your house to apologise and she answered the door and slammed it in my face, and when it opened again she had a knife in her hand. I was terrified." Topper finishes and Rafe looks at him with an amused smile and Kelce laughs quietly but his body is shaking from that quiet laughter

"What about you, why do you call my sister a little psycho?" Rafe asks Kelce as his laughter quickly goes away

"She was 9, we were 10, I was screaming at your game while you were in the room with me because you kept beating me, we got into a fight about it and I slammed the door on the way outside the house, but I forgot my phone in your room so I snuck in late at night and I must've made some noise because then she came into your room and saw me, she didn't have a weapon and then she saw me and grabbed your screwdriver off your desk and threatened to scrape my eyeballs out with it if I didn't treat you right and she actually ended up shoving it into my arm. Thats why I have a scar on my forearm... she's terrifying I tell ya" Kelce finishes and Topper is laughing in his ear and Rafe is laughing at his words

"Fuck me, you're kidding right?" Rafe asks with laughter

"No. Im not. She stabbed me with a screwdriver. So yeah, she's tough and I think she's gonna be fine when we find her" Kelce says lifting Topper up further on his back

"She chased me around our house with a knife once because I decapitated her doll." Rafe was blunt and that made his two friends piss themselves laughing

"Jesus, you decapitated her dolls, that was the consequence!" Topper yells laughing into Kelces shoulder that are shaking with laughter

"Your whole family are little psychos." Kelce states before getting a punch in his arm from Rafe

"Shut up dickhead." Rafe smacks Kelces arm and walks quicker than before

Rafe and Kelce walk in silence and Topper stays on Kelces back, his eyes drooping and about to fall asleep, Rafe notices how it gets darker everytime they get further in

Rafe looks around with curious eyes, wondering why it's so dark when it was light 10 minutes ago... then the realisation struck him, "shit." He murmurs making his two friends look at him

"Shit? What do you mean shit." Topper asks, all of a sudden wide awake and getting off Kelces back.

"Rafe?" Kelce asks with curiousity stuck in his tone

"We need to turn back. Be quiet, we're close to the main zombie area..." Rafe whispers and looks at his two friends who's eyes are now wide

"Fuck..." Topper and Kelce whisper at the same time, turning on their heels at the same time and start walking quietly to back where they were, Rafe doesn't follow, his two friends gone.

Rafe hears whispers in his ears, sounding like Sarah, the reason he didn't follow Kelce and Topper.

Rafe walks further in, with nothing but his gun and dagger and a few medical supplies, his gut telling him to turn back but his head telling him to keep going, to find Sarah, so he's quiet as he walks ready to run

He hears feet dragging, his guard put further up then before, he grab his dagger and his gun, dagger in his right and gun in his left

Rafe finds a building with small amount of light coming out, "survivors." Rafe whispers as he gets closer to the building, not caring about being as sneaky as he was before.

He walks closer to the door and tries to open it. Its glued shut. He walks around the building and finds another door, giving that a try, it opens with ease but unlike the door he tried to open beforehand, its dark underneath the door and inside.

Everything is so quiet, Rafe can hear his own heartbeat and breathing. He can hear his footsteps and scratching, he walks further and can feel his heartbeat increase, his eyes still adjusting to the sudden darkness causing him to trip and almost fall, catching himself before that's possible.

He steps forwards again and collides into a body, 'the survivors?' Rafe asks in his mind, but before it could come out of his mouth, he heard a groan that sounded like a zombies. Then that figure started running towards him, Rafe grabs his dagger tight and stabs it without hesitating and cuts its head of before stabbing it in the heart for good measure

More figures start to come into view, around 20 black siloettes, Rafe knew he wouldn't be able to kill that many, they were strong but easier to kill when they were caught off guard.

Rafe did the only thing he could in that moment.

Run. Rafe ran and ran around that dark area, avoiding things he could see slightly that may get in his way or make him fumble, until he could find the door or a different area.

As Rafe ran he could tell one was behind him, he hesitated his running, thinking if he should kill it or keep running, the hesitation enough for the zombie to collide into him and tackle him to the ground

The zombie scratches at Rafe collarbone, and his cheek, Rafe holds his scream of pain in as the zombie pushes his wrist again the concrete making him drop his gun, the pressure against his wrist strong enough for Rafe to feel his bone crack.

Rafe silently screams as he puts his dagger into the zombies skull, pulling it out and doing it another 2 times, before fully pulling the sharp knife out and stabbing it into the zombies arm holding his left wrist down, the reaction to that being exactly what Rafe wanted, the zombie let go of his wrist and Rafe took that to his advantage and stabbed the zombie in the heart.

Rafe fumbles to get on his feet and grabs his dagger from the zombies heart, as soon as hes properly on his feet he starts running, not looking behind him to check if he had actually killed the zombie.

As he runs he sees a small light under a door but he notices it quickly closing, so he runs quicker, as he gets closer, he notices it's a roller door and there's people behind it, he runs quicker then before because if he doesn't make it under then he is going to die from the zombies behind him

The zombie group are still behind him, chasing him and running as quick as they can to catch Rafe and turn him into a hideous monster, some have their teeth bared and others are reaching out as far as possible to grab a hold of his shirt

The roller door is getting closer to the ground and people are walking away, Rafe runs quicker and drops to the ground sliding, as he's sliding he sees the door getting closer and closer to the ground, he keeps sliding as fast as he was running and manages to get under the door with enough room for him but not the zombies as two seconds after he made it, it closed all the way to the ground

He looks at the door as he's still on the ground and sighs out of relief before climbing up onto his feet and patting the dirt of his pants off him as much as he could with one hand

The adrenaline is quickly wearing off as he's behind that door, he realised he lost his gun back where he got his wrist broken, so he's back to his dagger. With the adrenaline loss, he notices how much his wrist is actually aching.

He turns around and sees light and hears laughter, he slowly walks to where the noise is coming from, his eyes getting blurry from the scratches on his face and collarbone, and probably somewhere else on his body

Rafe could feel his blood dripping down his shirt and onto it at the same time, drying up and quickly getting wet with the red liquid from how much he was bleeding

He stumbles into a room where he can smell fresh food, Rafe forgot to eat before he left and didn't have dinner last night, the smell of food making his stomach growl in hunger

He notices that the talking stopped after he stumbled into the room, he feels like there's people watching him like an eagle, so he looks up and focuses his eyes on the people staring so intently at him

He knows he probably looks like shit, he can feel and taste the blood dripping into his mouth, he can feel the blood seeping through his shirt, he's dirty and sweaty from running and getting tackled, his wrist looks out of shape and swollen. He feels guilt in his stomach as well, for not finding Sarah, and getting hurt so badly that he probably won't be allowed out to find her until everything heals properly once he's back in the bunker.

"Fuck, sorry, I didn't mean to intrude" Rafe wasn't technically lying... but he also wasn't telling the full truth, "Well, I sorta did, I was just looking for my sister and I saw light but the door wouldn't open so I took the long way and well yeah, that's all, I'll leave now" Rafe felt awkward as he explained to the people looking at him

No one was saying anything so Rafe took that as he sign to turn around and leave

"Are you crazy?" Someone asks making Rafes head and body turn to look at the person who said that, he had black hair and a bandana wrapped around his forehead, he was also dark skinned

"Why?" Rafe questions and the guy stumbles over his words as others look at him like he may actually be crazy

"Zombies are waiting outside where you came from. You step out and you'll get eaten and turned into one." The guys says like it's obvious knowledge

"I survived getting here. I can run fast so I think I'll be fine" Rafe states, his sister isn't here, so he nearly just died to be met with assholes who don't understand how far he'll go for his family

"Wait you said you had a sister right?" A brown haired guy asks with a bandana wrapped around  his wrist.

"I HAVE a sister. Shes not dead." Rafe corrects him, getting irritated from them keeping him in a place when he could be searching for her

"okay, sorry, you have a sister, what's your name and we can help you find her" Rafe looks at the brunette skeptical

"Why should I tell you my name, how the fuck would that help me find my sister, I have to go anyway, my other sister is waiting for me at the bunker." Rafe says having enough of the boys he's met with, just as he was about to leave a hand grabs onto his shoulder

"How bout this, I'm John B, that's Pope." Rafes head turns as he looks at John B, before moving over to Pope

"Okay..." Rafe is skeptical and it shows with how he's speaking

"The rest of our group should be here soon, so sit, and we can help you find your sister, plus you need to be treated, and you look like you haven't eaten in 3 days" John b says guiding Rafe to a seat, Rafe slowly sits down and looks at the two boys in front of him

"So how many people are in your... group?" Rafe asks looking at them intently

"We have 5, you get to meet the other three when they get back from looking for someone close to one of the girls" Pope says as he eats the fresh soup they had just made

"So what's your name?" John B asks

Rafe looks at him and just grabs the bowl infront of him and eats the soup inside of it before letting go and staring at his lap

"I don't see why that's important..." Rafe says quietly, Pope seems uncomfortable but John b changes the subject

"If you don't wanna tell us that alright man, but you said you have a bunker?" John Bs positivity scares Rafe slightly, especially when the boy smiles when there's an apocalypse going on outside

"Yeah... a lot of people I've saved have heard about it and were looking for us..." Rafe says still weary about the two boys infront of him

"Wait, are you part of the rebellion?" Pope asks, his eyes popping out of his head

"I started the rebellion" Rafe states as they look at him in shock

"We've been looking for where you guys are, but we never seemed to be able to find it, it's like you guys are off the grid" John b states as he has another spoonful of soup

"So you're the leader of the rebellion?" Pope asks and Rafe nods his head yes, "Cool!" He says overly excited

"How bout we make a deal? I take you back to the bunker and you can become apart of the rebellion, if you want, but you guys have to be out in the field just until we find my sister" Rafe knew this was a risky deal, because what if they think this is how they recruit people to go out in the field

"Okay, and hypothetically, what if we didn't want to go out into the field?" Pope asks shrugging his shoulders

"I'd still take you to the bunker but then you guys would have to be a med and treat anyone who comes back with wounds, and you wouldn't be able to leave the bunker so you would be stuck underground until we properly start the rebellion and invade t.g.r" Rafe states taking his last spoonful of soup, John b and Pope look at eachother

"We love being out in the field but what if one day we don't want to go out into the field?" John b asks

"Then you don't have to, you are forced to stay inside if you're injured severely, but if you just don't want to go on that day, you have to help around the bunker like everyone else" Rafe says leaning forward and waving his hands around slightly

"We're in." They both state at the same time making Rafe chuckle

"So we can start heading back to the bunker once the rest of your group is back, and you guys can explain on the way there, bring anything you need but we have almost every supply we need" Rafe says and sees Pope and John b look at eachother with the same look in their eyes

"Is weed okay? To yknow be in the bunker" The fear in their voice makes Rafe laugh

"We have a dealer in the bunker and I've got some in my draws, I'll give you two and the rest of your group a discount, normally for a joint you would need to clean your entire room and do the dishes at least 2 times a week, but you guys can just clean your rooms" Rafe states laughing at the two boys grateful faces as they start fake crying

"You're too kind!" They say at the same time

"Who are you guys talking to?!" Another man's voice yells as a door closes

"Are you guys on mushrooms again?!" A woman's voice yells as another woman's voice laughs at that, Rafe looks at the two boys and laughs at them

"No! We found the leader of the rebellion, well, actually, he found us!" John B screams back and Rafe can hear people running now

"What?!" A girl with brown hair yells

"You're kidding right?!" A boy with blonde hair yells in excitement

"Man. This is Kiara and JJ, my girlfriend and one of my best friends" Rafe looks at Pope as he says that before looking over at them

"Kiara?" Rafe processes what Pope says and looks at her

"Holy fuck!? You're still alive?" Kiara asks and Rafe stand up and she quickly tackles him into a hug

"Yeah kie, surprising isn't it" Rafe hugs her back and can see the questioning looks on her friends towards the hug their sharing

"No shit, I thought you died in that lab when your asshole of a father started this entire thing. I was worried." Kiara states and slaps him on the chest making him hiss "also you look like shit." She says laughing at him

"Yeah well that's what happens when you almost die every day, and almost get murdered around 30 minutes ago" Rafe says smugly

"Jesus Rafe!" Kiara screams and that made everyone look at him

"You're Rafe?!" The three boys scream at the same time

"You heard about me?" Rafe is genuinely confused as he asks that question when they all nod their heads minus kiara, "also, didn't you  two say there was five people, I only see four" Rafe asks Pope and John B who shrug their shoulders

"I don't know where my girlfriend is..." John b says curiously

"Are y'all all dating eachother or something. Why are you all dating someone" Rafe says, "Especially during a fucking apocalypse." He continues on, making the ones who are dating laugh

"See! He gets it!" JJ screams at his friends and walks up to Rafe patting him on the back

"Obviously, it's stupid if you date during an apocalypse because your vulnerable and have a increased death because you would probably do anything to help your loved one." Rafe says and JJ grabs a hold of his shoulders and uses them to bounce himself up and down like he was on a trampoline, he was smiling like a madman

"Thank you! But yknow I'm not gonna lie, you look way different then what you did when you were a kid, like a hot different." Those words JJ just spouted made Rafe choke on his own spit, laughing at the blondes bluntness

"Excuse me- wait. What do you mean by what I looked like as a kid?" Rafe asks curiousity laced in the question

"Yknow, seen you around with your daddy dearest, didn't even like him that much but met you once and you went surfing with me at the prime age of 8 and I was 7" JJ explains making Rafes mouth open in shock

"That's you?" Rafe asks and JJ nods his head, Kiara, Pope and John B all watch the interaction

"Oh by the way, when we heading to your bunker" JJ asks getting further away from Rafe and crossing his arms looking at him with a smile

"Oh JJ bud, there's a thing to it" That makes Kiara and JJ look at John b

"What do you mean thing." Kiara asks before looking at Rafe, a question glazed over with annoyance in her eyes

"It's not that bad, it's just if we want to go outside and into the world then we have to be apart of the search team, and we also have to find his sister. Then we can decide whether we wanna keep going out in the field or not" John bs explanation was as spot on as it could be

"So we help find his sister. And then decide if we want to stay out into the field or not, well what's her name maybe that'll help. Along with a discription of her?" JJ says and states at the same time looking at Rafe, with the other two boys

"Um, okay fuck, she has blonde hair, it's long, I think... fuck it's been so fucking long since I've seen her... greeny blue eyes? Maybe brown eyes? I don't remember, she short I know that because she stopped growing in 9th grade" Rafe explains as best as he could

"What's her name?" Pope asks

"Sarah, her names Sarah Louise Cameron." Rafe says as he sees everyone but Kiaras eyes widen

"Sarah?" The three boys ask and almost like a summoning, she enters the room quietly

"Who's yelling so much I'm tired. So shut up." Sarah's voice rings through out Rafes head, he wonders if he's imaging it or if she's actually there

"Hey Sare..." John b says and that makes Rafe realise he's not imagining things

"Hey John B. Who is this rando in the main area?" Sarah says obviously tired and grumpy

"That's cold Sarah. Can't even remember me." Rafe says sarcastically while turning around

"Yeah well who are you- Rafe?" Sarah starts angrily before it turning into happiness

"Hey psycho" Rafe is smiling as Sarah runs up to him and hugs him by the neck, Rafe hugging her by the mid section while his hands are locked in with one another ignoring the pain of his broken wrist to hug his sister

"Fuck! Do you know how long I've been looking for you!" Sarah yells angrily but her grip still tight against Rafe, almost like she's scared to let him go, Rafe feels the same even if it's against his injuries he doesn't push her off

"I've been looking for you and Wheezie since this whole thing started because of Ward, even though I was alone for the first three months, I found Wheezie around a day or two ago, you don't realise how bad it was, she was bleeding like crazy and had glass impailed in her." Rafe hugs her tighter before letting her go and she let go after another minute of talking, the siblings both hear gasps but it doesn't matter right now

"Is she okay now though!" Sarah asks worried but relief fills the worry when Rafe nods his head yes "also you look like you've been throught hell and shit."

It was obvious she was referring to how he looked and his wrist along with scratches on his body and when he smiled there was blood on his teeth from it dropping down his face

"Anyway, now that everyone is here, we need to get a move on before it's dark dark so we can get back to the bunker with out a problem, so you guys need to grab your shit and what you wnat, also yes. There's weed at the bunker, John B and Pope already asked that. So cmon hurry up" Rafe was in leader mode now that he knew his sister was safe, that both of them were safe. He wanted to get the group that stood infront of him to the bunker where he knew would be safest

"You heard him, we're getting outa this shithole!" JJ says as he tackles John B who flips him over and gets up quickly, all of them running to their rooms

"This is gonna be entertaining..." Rafe mumbles to himself and then realises. Topper and Kelce don't know where he is, neither does Wheezie and the rest of his team

"Fuck. This is gonna be chaotic." He swears under his breath seeing everyone go all around the house, "and entertaining." He says smiling at the chaos surrounding him

Chapter Text

"Okay so how do we get out of here?" Rafe asks as he looks at Kiara and Sarah before swapping over to John B, Pope and JJ

"Since we just came back their probably staying at the door, and then we have a back way, a roller door keeps them seperated to us" Kiara says as she starts heading towards that area

"Wait, I don't think that's a good idea." Rafe says stopping her, he sees Kiaras mouth open but before she could say anything John b speaks up

"He's right, it's how he got in because the main door we shut was super locked. He took the back way, that's why he has scratches and is bleeding, and how his wrist got broken I assume" John b says making Sarah's head whip towards him

"It's not broken he hugged me with it earlier?" Sarah says confused as she walks up to her brother

"It is, I think... and what John b said is true, the back way isn't safe" Rafe says as he looks between Sarah and the group

"So we're stuck until tomorrow." JJ sighs before banging his head against John Bs shoulder, who reaches an arm out and plays with little bits of JJs hair

"They probably won't even be gone by tomorrow, they saw us come in here and they saw you go in the back. We're most likely to be stuck here for 3 days, minimum." Kiara replied as she sits down on a chair

Rafe sees everyone deflate at that, so he starts looking around, table, glued window, throw table at the window, no that would make too much noise... too much attention towards them. Axe and the side. No, there's probably zombies there.

He thought of many possibility's, none worked out without having at least a small or big chance of death. He sighs and shoves his head back, his hands dragging over his face, he sees the group look at him before going back and looking at the ground

He opens his eyes, head still hanging back, a vent. He drops his hands at an alarming rate, it makes everyone's eyes look at him once again. Rafe looks at the tables. Theres three of them. Make it like a triangle or stack them on one another.

"Rafe what are you thinking?" Sarah asks, knowingly. God how does she still know him so well?

"The vent. We stack the tables up or put them in a pyramid sorta thing, climb up onto it. Just trust me with this" Rafe says as he starts grabbing a table with one hand, dragging it, John b and JJ ask no questions as they start moving the other tables and bring them over to where Rafe placed his

"Ok do another one on the end of this table, the bigger one" Rafe guides John b as the two tables line up, the smaller, almost school table going on top of the two big tables

"Stack that on top" He guides as JJ let's John b do it and looks at Rafe with his arms crossed, curiosity peeping in his eyes

Rafe looks at the tables, and the vent straight above it, "lets hope this doesn't collapse." Is all Rafe says and it makes everyone's heart spike, for tables they were taller than usual.

Rafe climbs up on the tables until he's at the top in the middle, standing at his full height, his head back as he looks at the vent, he reaches his arm up and notices the gap in between, so he stands on his toes in his shoes, still unable to reach.

"Fuck me. I can't believe I'm about to do this." Rafe mumbles to himself. He knows the people underneath him heard it from their concerned faces.

Don't hesitate. Don't hesitate. Don't. Hesitate. Are the words repeating in Rafes mind. 3, 2, 1. After the count of one in Rafes head he jumps and managed to grab a hold of the vent, there was nothing blocking it. Gasps can be heard underneath him as he uses both his hands to grab the top of the vent, which leads to a roof and pull himself up, groaning in pain from pain shooting up his left wrist and into his fingers.

Once his feet are through the vent, making his whole body on the roof, he lays down on the roof and sighs, no zombies on the roof. Clear sign. Then he looks around the edges, they're camping at the doors.

"Rafe!?" He hears his sister yell, he notices the zombies don't move but they just groan.

"Rafe! If you don't answer us right now! I will personally murder you if you're dead!" Kiara. He knows those threats anywhere

Rafe walks back over to the vent and sees them at the bottom, just slightly, so he sticks his head through 

"Jesus!" Pope yells in surprise. "Dude, don't scare the shit out of us like that" he finishes

"That was so dangerous Rafe!" Sarah scolds him, and Rafe just smiles at her

"It was." JJ starts, looking at John b smiling mischievously, "that's why I'm next!" JJ yells and Rafe sees John b chasing after him but JJ is quicker and gets up onto the tables and without a hesitant thought, he jumps and grabs a hold of the vent, slipping slightly before Rafe grabs a hold of him with his good hand and balances him out again, before they knew it JJ was on the roof next to Rafe

"Jayj! You almost just fell!" Rafe heard Kiara scream making him chuckle

"And?! It was awesome" JJ replies and Rafe quirks an eyebrow at him, Rafe sees how reckless this boy is and it intrigues him

"Cmon! Who's next?" Rafe yells and he sees Sarah climb up with John b behind her making sure she doesn't fall. "Watch your hands John B." Rafe says looking at John bs hand on the bottom of Sarah's back

"Calm down Rafe, I'm 20" Sarah says as she gets up on the last table

"And I still don't trust guys you bring home and say you're dating, also I'm older" Rafe says as he reaches his arm down for Sarah to hold onto to get in the vent

"One year Rafe. One year!" Sarah yells and after she finishes she jumps reaching for Rafes hand and missing slightly

Rafe shoves his body halfway down the vent and grabs a hold of her wrist, he can feel JJ holding onto his ankles to keep him on the roof, Rafe holds his body with his fucked wrist, he can hear the bones popping but he has to stay on the roof to make sure Sarah doesn't fall

"Fuck me!" Rafe says out loud after hearing his bone pop, he uses all of his strength to push against the pain in his wrist and pull Sarah up

"Rafe I'm slipping!" Sarah yells all of a sudden as she grabs onto Rafes arm with her free arm and captured arm

"Work with me, I need you to put a hand on top of the vent once I start pulling you in the vent!" Rafe says as he starts lifting her up so she's inside the vent

Just like Rafe had said, Sarah let go of Rafes arm and put it on top of the vent pulling herself up with Rafe helping, not long after, Sarah's feet disappear from John bs view and shes on the roof

Sarah lays down on the roof with Rafe on the other side laying down and sighing in relief while holding his wrist with his other hand in pain

"Fuck! Dude, that doesn't look that good." JJ says as he grabs his bag and starts digging in it, Rafe stares at the boy and then at Sarah who's looking at them with curious eyes

"I'm hoping that's it's only fractured but I doubt that's the case, considered I heard bone snap and pop." Rafe says and sees the blondes head shake up and down before grabbing something and looking straight at Rafe before throwing something at him

"It's a brace, so it would have to do for now. Its not that fancy or anything so you just have to slip it on" JJ says as he starts going to the vent and Rafe nods at his instructions and does exactly what JJ had told him to do

"Yo! You three still there or what?!" They hear a voice from below and JJ shoves his head down with a smile

"Yup!" He replies as Kiara starts climbing the table, JJ brings his head out and Rafe returns it with his hand and arm.

"Seriously. You're wrist is probably broken." Sarah says from where she's standing now, Rafe turns his head to her and gives her the fakest smile out there before turning his head back to the vent ignoring JJs quiet laughter

"Jump on the count of three!" Rafe yells at her as he leans further down "one, two" Rafe yells as he holds onto the vent and feels JJ holding his legs down, "three!" And with that Kiara goes to jump but the table falls on the side taking her with it, the table smashing on the floor near the three people left inside

"Fuck! What was that noise?!" JJ yells as Rafe pushes himself out of the vent and onto the roof

"The table collapsed and broke into pieces." Rafe states as he gets up of the ground and looks around the building, noticing a space that shows light and no zombies

"Rafe what are you doing?" Sarah comes up to him as he leans over the roof to get a better look at it, there's a window

Rafe runs back to the vent and sees that Kiara is okay and John B and Pope are trying to find another way out

"Guys! Do you see a rock anywhere?!" Rafe yells into the vent and sees everyone down in the building look up at him

"Uhm? Wait! Yeah, I see one!" John b says

"How big is it?" Rafe asks and John b shows him, it covers almost his entire hand, "Good! See the window right in the corner of the building!?" Rafe finishes

"Yeah?! We can't break it though! Too much noise!" Pope says as he wraps his arm around Kiara

"No, smash that window! There's light shining directly at it, natural sunlight, if they go near it they'll get scared and back off!" Rafe finishes and John b disappears from eye view, not long after Rafe hears a smash of a window and groans of people and zombies

He goes over to the side where he saw the window and saw John b climb out and put his hand over his eyes, Pope and Kiara doing the same thing

Rafe sees zombies coming around the corner and it seems they heard them because they almost started running until John b pulled everyone back to the sunlight

"Remember what I said! These types of zombies hate sunlight and are scared of it! But I don't know if they die or not if they touch it!" Rafe yells and sees them look up and close their eyes and hold their breath, Sarah and JJ doing the same thing while Rafe just looked at the zombies

The zombies saw the three and started running towards them, stopping at the end of where the sun was, cowering back in fear and running away from the light

"Holy fuck." Rafe hears JJ say as he eyes are open in shock

"Holy fuck indeed, now cmon we gotta get down there" Rafe looks beside him and sees a pole gutter, "perfect." He says with a smile on his face and jumps on it before sliding down and  joining the group from inside that are standing directly in the sun

Rafe looks up and sees JJs face along with Sarah's, two very different expressions, Sarah's looks like she's over Rafes bullshit already while JJ has a face of excitement 

Rafe keeps watching the pole until one of the two people end up sliding down, not to his surprise it was JJ, as soon as he was on the floor Rafe could see Sarah hesitating before pulling her mind together and sliding down the pole, her eyes squeezed shut

"Yo, Sarah, you've done way more dangerous stuff than that? You looked like you were about to shit yourself" JJ was quite blunt and that made Rafe huff out a laugh to his expense and also Sarah's

"Yeah. I'm fine, and I wasn't about to shit myself." Sarah says defensively, everyone sends her a look, not believing what she was saying

Rafe smiles at her before trying to hold in his laughter. Everyones gaze on Sarah now moving towards him

"What's so funny?" Pope asks as he puts one hand on his hip and another on the side of Kiara pulling her in closer

"Sarah." Are the only words that leave Rafes mouth, everyones eyes go wide and Rafe just has a smile on his face

"Excuse you!" Sarah says as she gets close to Rafe and hits him in the back of the head

"Oi!" Rafe yells back before flicking her on the forehead, "I said you, because you're lying, you're petrified of heights. The only reason you managed to get up on those tables is because you didn't look down." Rafe continues on and rubs where he flicked Sarah before rubbing where Sarah hit him

"What do you mean she's petrified of heights? No one can be fully petrified of heights-" JJ says before John b smacks his arm

"You're only saying that because you've jumped off a cliff into the ocean. Your not scared of heights or getting dangerously injured. Which scares everyone" John b says and JJ puts a look of fake offense and Rafes eyebrows quirk up in interest at the statement, again.

"In my defense. Its fun" JJ says as he overdramatically leans on John B, who looks at him with a face before putting his arms ontop of his hair and laughing

"Sarah's afraid of height becaus-" Rafe gets cut off to a hand slapping over his mouth, he looks at Sarah and licks her hand making her jolt and let go of Rafes mouth, wiping the spit on her clothes, "When she was younger, she fell off monkey bars and dislocated her knee, and she climbed a tree and got scared so she would refuse to get down." Rafe saw the face of betrayal on his sister as he smiled at her

Everyone laughs at Sarah's antics when she was little and Rafe looks at the concrete trying to hold in laughter before it disappears immediately

"We need to leave." Rafe says with slight panic but urgency in his voice, he notices the worried eyes as they stay on his face

"What?" Kiara asks with curiousity taking over her voice

"We need to leave. Now, like right now." Rafe says as he stares at them and points at the concrete, the darkness taking over the light 

"Yep! Yep, we needa dip." John b says as he pulls his backpack up further

"Ladies first." JJ says to Rafe doing an overdramatic bow, Rafe gives him a look, "You know where the bunker is, we dont" JJ finishes and Rafe stops looking at him like he's a maniac

"And you did say you're fast." Pope buts in, Rafe looks at the new group he's accustomed to and sighs

"Fuck, hurry up then and get ready to run. Because as soon as your foot's out of sunlight, they will start coming." Rafe says as he pulls the brace up on his hand and tightens his bag on his shoulders before sprinting out of the sunlight and into the darkness

To Rafes word, as soon as he started running, he was fast and zombies must have heard that he left because they started coming out of darkness and chase after him

The group in shock of how true Rafe was making them wonder how long he had actually been doing this, running away from people. They shake themselves out of the trance and John and the first to make a move and start running to catch up to Rafe

The ones still in the sunlight that is slowly turning into darkness taking that as a sign to start running as well, just like that they sprint off before going into a proper run, noticing zombies coming up behind them

Rafe looks behind him and sees zombies chasing him and his new found friends. Rafe smiles as he starts getting closer to sunlight from where he came with Topper and Kelce where he knew zombies wouldn't follow them

Rafe runs fast as he faces straight ahead, a barbed wire fence that he had to climb after his friends, aka, Topper and Kelce retreated back "Get ready to climb!" Rafe yells with a smile as he jumps and starts climbing the barbed wire ignoring the pain up his wrist and his hands due to the wire digging into his palms

Once he gets to the top he jumps over and down onto the ground smiling at the people running from behind the fence as he stands there laughing at them breathlessly

Quickly after he laughs he sees them all jump up onto the fence and start climbing, Rafe backs away from the zombies clawing the fence while people climb and quickly get to the side he was on

"Okay, let's go, we can walk from here until it's pitch black." Rafe says as he starts walking the way he, Kelce and Topper came earlier in the day, the group nods their heads as they follow along in silence

They all walk as they look around, the broken buildings and bodies laying on the floor with blood around them. It's a sight they were all used to. Rafe walks ahead of the people behind him considering he knows the way and they don't

Everyone walks for around thirty something minutes, Sarah getting slower by each minute due to exhaustion, John b staying by her side while she walks slowly and they quietly whisper to eachother

"John B, I'm tired..." Sarah whispers to her boyfriend who has his arm around her waist, John b nods in agreement as he rubs her waist with his thumb in a circular motion

"Me too just hang on for a little bit longer" John b whispers as Sarah lays into his shoulder for support

Rafe turns around at the noise behind him and he sees JJ and Pope messing around and trying to step on one another's shoes as Kiara looks at them laughing occasionally, then he sees John b wide awake and caressing his sisters waist who looks like she's about to collapse.

Rafe stops walking and starts walking backwards towards John b and Sarah, everything stopped as he looked at how exhausted Sarah looked and quickly turns back around but crouching silently, John b nudges Sarah in a questioning way and she opens her eyes to see Rafe infront of her crouching slightly

Sarah sighs in relief and lets go of John B and gets on Rafes back, hands around his neck and legs around his waist, Rafe does a jump and puts her in a more secure spot and then walks all the way to the front again, Kiara, being used to this doesn't look any different, but JJ, John B, and Pope all look at the siblings in curiosity and shock as they think about how well they can read eachother, and how often Rafe gave his sister Piggyback rides...

"How much longer Rafe?" Kiara asks as she's as exhausted as the rest of them, Sarah lays her head on her arm and is quickly drifting of to sleep

"Depends how quick you guys can walk, we keep walking like this only another 30 something minutes, we technically go on a mini jog only 20 minutes, and if we run, 10 to 15 minutes" Rafe says as he adjusts Sarah on his back to help his wrist, now only holding onto one leg instead of two making sure her foot doesn't drag against the concrete

"Soo? Are we gonna speed walk, run or walk normally?" Kiara asks as Pope wraps an arm around her shoulders, head cocking to the side in question

"It's mini jog, run or walk. It's not speed walk bc it'd still be 30 something minutes" Rafe says as he turns around and looks at Kiara with Sarah on his back, sleeping peacefully

"Oh... so we just keep walking?" Kiara asks as she holds Popes hand and JJ walks next to John b as they have an arm on eachothers shoulders and they laugh at something together

"Yep, since I don't wanna wake up Sarah." Rafe says as he faces the front again and continues walking in silence

As they walk another 15 minutes, the silence gives up and Rafe can occasionally hearing quiet kiss noises followed by over dramatic loud kiss noises, he turns his head in wonder, seeing Pope and Kiara doing quiet kisses and then behind them, JJ and John B being over dramatic as they pretend to kiss, Rafes body laughs in silence as he looks at the four people behind him as he keeps walking noticing the sun getting closer and closer to the ground as the moon rises

Rafe looks at the stars and then at his watch, his pace slowing down as he checks the time, 20 minutes until its pitch black and not just the moon reflecting light.

Rafes head looks back up at the stars, he has always been interested and fascinated by the stars, he had a spot in his house where he could sneak out at night time by the age of 8, Rafe found the stars as his escape route, from his mother leaving and how painful it was, from his father getting married a month later to a devil named rose, from his fathers abuse, from his friends constantly asking him things and from being more of a dad to his younger siblings than his actual father, sneak outside and looking at the stars calmed him down, helped him be civil and cooperative, the stars helped, the night time helped, the interest of space helped Rafe keep calm and balanced.

In the moment he has Sarah on his back and a broken wrist, Rafe keeps his eyes locked on the stars, he feels his breath get calmer and his heart rate slow down, he breathes in the fresh night air as he keeps his eyes on the stars as a small smile forms on his lips

"You look just like Sarah." JJ says and Rafe quickly turns his head and looks at JJ and John B looking at him, at JJs statement John B nods an agreement

"What?" Rafe asks taken aback, JJ puts a hand on his shoulder and John B laughs at Rafes word

"You look like Sarah, she always looked up at the sky at night and kissed her thumb before putting it to the brightest star in the sky in that moment." John B finishes as Rafe looks between the two boys and his sister

"Oh?" Rafe says as they back away and smile at him before letting him wonder to his own head as he keeps walking to the direction of the bunker

"Rafe? Hello... Rafe? I can hear you, yknow? Why can't I see you?" A young Sarah says as she walks towards the quiet yet loud noise

Sarah walks into a room after opening a squeaky door, noticing how it is pitch black.

"Rafe... where are you?" Sarah asks again holding her teddy to her chest as she takes cautious steps

"Over here Sarah" Rafes voice comes out smooth as he sees his sister walking inside the house that is pitch black, but Rafe can see his sisters shoulders deflate in relief

"What are you doing on the roof?" Sarah asks her older brother as she climbs out the window and sits down next to her brother who puts an arm around her shoulder and tilts her head up to look at the star

"Look, that one right there, that's the brightest star ever... it's always been my favourite." Rafe says in a soft volume, Sarah looks in the sky and sees the bright, white light

"When you're away at camp and you see it can you kiss it to remember me?" Sarah asks as she looks at Rafe with high hopes, Rafe looks at his sister and laughs under his breath

"I can't kiss it directly but I can kiss my thumb and line it up with the star?" Rafe says before asking if that was as good as kissing it and Sarah smiles, she beams as she looks at her older brother

"Yeah! And then I can do it as well if I'm missing you, I can come here to your spot too! That way it feels like we're actually here together!" Sarah says as she waves her hands around in excitement making Rafe laugh

"How bout this we do it at the same time, we come out here before 12 am and kiss it as soon as it turns 12, then we can talk to it if we really want to and if we need stuff off our chests" Rafe looks at his sister who hugs him tightly with slight tears in her eyes

"I'm gonna miss you..." Sarah whispers as she lets the tears fall into Rafes shirt

"I'm gonna miss you too..." Rafe says back as he looks at the bright star in the sky and caresses Sarah's head while rubbing her back

Rafe looks at his feet as he walks with slight tears in his eyes with a smile growing... Only then does Rafe realise how close he is to the bunker

"This way" Rafe says through a slightly cracked voice, no one thinking anything of it as he walks through bushes and trees and grass, wiping his eyes saying that dirt got in it or a leaf poked it

Rafe gets to the hatch and he sees everyone behind him puffed out, he crouches down and lets himself balance Sarah on his back before opening the hatch slowly and quietly, as soon as it opened he could hear the chaos blooming inside

"How are you meant to get down?" Pope asks and Rafe moves out the way and looks at the platforms formed as stairs, "oh."

"Hey Sare, wake up, you can go back to bed soon okay?" Rafe says as Sarah slowly but surely wakes up and gets off Rafes back rubbing her eyes

"Hi..." Sarah says sleepily as she rubs her eyes again and leans against John b who puts an arm around her and kisses the stop of her head

"You ready to go?" Rafe asks and the people laugh before nodding their heads

As they walk in slowly they hear the chaos louder than before, the yelling and arguing

"No! We go back out there and find him!" Someone yells as they sound angry and frustrated

"No Topper! We can't go out there right now!" Someone yells at Topper as they scream louder

"What?! What if he's fucking hurt! What if he's dead in a ditch somewhere or dying in a fucking ditch because you won't let me go back out there and find my best friend!?" Topper yells as the group walk through quietly and observe the situation, Topper is getting up in someone's face who is in his team

"No! Not right now! Its too dangerous!" The person yells as she gets up in his space and jabs his shoulder

"If it's too dangerous! Then we should help him! If it's so fucking dangerous, then why can't we go out and try help him or fucking find him?!" Topper gets angrier by the minute as he starts screaming and walking over to Wheezie "What about Wheezie huh?! What would she do if she lost her older brother?! Youre a disgrace to loyalty, so I'm going to find him myself if that's what it takes." Topper yells before calming down and hugging Wheezie and talking in a calm tone

"Funny that, I'm good by the way, you don't gotta risk killing yourself for me" Rafe says as he walks in the room and drops his bag to the side, JJ looks around the corner and sees Rafe drop his bag, Rafe quickly runs up to Wheezie and ignores the pain in his left wrist and hugs her tight and spins her around as Wheezie hugs back as tight and cries into his shoulder while laughing, JJ notices how close Rafe was with his sisters and he smiles.

"Holy shit." JJ says as he looks at Rafe with curious eyes.

Sarah quickly runs through JJ and the door, she runs up from behind Rafe and collapses into her two siblings.

"Sarah..." Topper asks as Wheezie cries and hugs Sarah, Rafe letting them have their moment and step back, the rest of the group following in Sarah and Rafes step

Kiara, Pope, John B and lastly JJ walk through to the living room and look around in amazement.

Once Sarah and Wheezie let go of their hug, Rafe looks at the friendgroup

"We have spare rooms, I'm pretty sure you guys will have to share or have your own room, I'm not completely sure how much rooms we have" Rafe says as he walks past the doors and the group following behind him, showing the corridor of doors.

"Woah..." they all say at the same time as they look around.

"Here's the first room, since I'm looking round right now there isn't enough room for it individually, so you would have to share, two people in one room and one will have to share with a random person or share with me" Rafe says as he looks at the five people wondering who's going to share

"Me and Pope will share" Kiara says with a smile and a slight giggle as Pope laughs under his breath

"Okay, also there's personal showers inside the rooms as well" Rafe says nonchalantly and smiles when he sees their faces light up

"Me and John B are sharing a room, we know JJ likes his own space most of the time" after Sarah says it, JJ smiles at them and how they understand him

"Thanks... but if I'm being honest, I have to get used to people right? May as well bunk with someone" JJ says and he sees Sarah smile before smiling wider looking between JJ and Rafe

"You can bunk with me if you want, I've got a whole room to myself, have since it's started" Rafe says and Sarah smiles wider between the two boys, "my rooms the first one when you go through the door and to the left." Rafe smiles at the blonde boys smile towards him

"How big is your shower?" JJ asks with piping curiousity

Rafe smiles at him before giving him a sneaky smile, "The biggest one in the entire building." At that JJ smiles big and goes to walk away with Rafe but Sarah pulls him back as Rafe walks away

"You like him. Good for you, Rafe has never had an interest in women, he's always known he's gay." Sarah says before letting JJ reply and disappear into her room

"Maybe I do like him..." JJ admits under his breath and runs off to catch up to Rafe walking into his room, "I missed showers!" JJ yells as they go into the room and he hears Rafe laugh as he runs into the bathroom and starts the shower

"Figured you might need clothes." Rafe says as he looks at JJ without his shirt on and passes JJ some of his clothes that looked slightly too big for the blonde boy

"Um thanks..." JJ says slowly as he looks at Rafe in the eyes and then his lips quickly before looking back into his eyes and smiling quickly, "Bye!" JJ says before slamming the door shut and letting out a sigh of relief with his red face

JJ hears Rafe laughing at his antics, it wasn't quick before JJ got out of his shower and got dressed, it was around an hour later and he walks into the now shared room between him and Rafe seeing Rafe showered

"How'd you have a shower?" JJ asks curiously and Rafe quirks an eyebrow at him

"Shared showers" Rafe says with a smirk, he lifts up the covers to his bed and it shows Rafes toned muscles and that he's shirtless and wearing grey trackies, a chain around his neck and his wet hair looking messy and beautiful at the same time

"Your hand..." JJ looks around and spots a medical supplier, he grabs out a mini cast to last until the morning when he can find the nurse and get it properly treated

JJ walks over to Rafe and quickly wraps his wrist and straightens it out as best as he could before giving him Panadol and Nurofen, he then looks up and meets Rafes eyes and then his hand, seeing Rafe pull back the covers more

"What." JJ asks, his voice cracking in between the words making Rafe chuckle under his breath before laughing

"Don't have another bed available. You gonna have to get comfortable, sweetheart." Rafe says with a smirk and sees JJs face go bright red as he climbs into the bed and sleeps next to Rafe 

Rafe puts an arm around JJs waist and smiles sleepishly as JJs heartbeat picks up before cuddling him back

Rafe and JJ are face to face and they feel their breathing slow as they stare at eachothers eyes in the darkness, they slowly get closer until they can feel eachothers breath 

"Do that again and I punch you... anyway... we should sleep..." JJ whispers and Rafe smiles at him before going in for a kiss and quickly moving away from his lips and to his forehead

"We should..." Rafe whispers back and pulls JJ closer by the waist, his face getting redder as he shoves his face into Rafes bare chest who is laughing while half asleep before it stops and listens to JJ drift to sleep, Rafe quickly following his lead

They stay in Rafes bed all night cuddling and somehow getting closer, JJ now laying ontop of Rafe and Rafes arms wrapped around JJ back, JJs arms wrapped around Rafes neck as his face is emerged into it

Rafe and JJ, love at first sight, a brand new escape route. Escape route of the apocalypse.

Chapter Text

It's been a couple months since the whole fiasco with finding both his sisters and taking them to the safe haven/the rebellion but it doesn't mean everything was happy again.

Rafe isn't getting enough sleep, JJ, Sarah and Kiara can see it on the mission, since they got split up from Pope and John b on accident, he's getting aggravated easily and easier, not to them or Wheezie, Kelce and Topper but the rest of them, so much that people are starting to avoid saying anything that happens to be bad

"We go this way." A random blonde guy says as he points in the opposite direction Rafe was planning on going, "That's the way back to the base" Mysterious blonde boy states as if it weren't obvious but Rafe looks at him and turns around, his hands balling into a fist before relaxing, the movement repeating.

"Rafe?" Sarah has curiousity in her voice, Rafe turns his head to look at her, he shakes his head 'no' and Sarah understands almost immediately.

"Whyd he shake his head, tell him we need to go back, the other two can find their own way back even if it gets them killed." The blonde boy states, the only blonde Rafe likes is Sarah, JJ and Topper, no one else...

"Fuck off. You can be a bitch and go back to your safe spot, I'm going to look for my sisters boyfriend and Kiaras boyfriend since you have no fucking balls." Rafe says as he turns around and walks the opposite direction to the base

"And you plan on doing that with a broken wrist, by yourself?" JJ asks as he runs up next to Rafe, Rafe looks at him through the side of his eye and sighs before looking forward, the other blonde boy and the people who agree with him, no where to be seen.

"No. You have to take Kiara and Sarah back and I'll find John B and Pope. Also, my wrist has been fine for a while now" Rafe is blunt but caring at the same time, JJ looks hurt...

"They're my best friends Rafe, I'm not abandoning them when I know I can help find them. John b is like my brother okay, so no way in hell I'm abandoning him to be eaten by zombies." JJ states, Rafe looks surprised by JJ's sudden serious look, then he realised, John b is a soft spot for JJ.

"John b's where your soft spot is..." Rafe says with an amused smile, JJ's eyes widen and his mouth goes slack

"Yup!" Sarah and Kiara say at the same time, shocking both Rafe and JJ.

"You're meant to be back at the base." Rafe states bluntly and tiredly.

"And you're meant to be getting sleep." Sarah says and Rafe opens and closes his mouth. Hands in his pockets and lips pursed as he looks at the ground. Sarah looks at her older brother with a hint of concern

"I'm not the only one that noticed!" Kiara yells and points an accusing finger at Rafe who cringes at the yelling and confrontation

JJ stays quiet as he is the one that wakes up and sees Rafe sitting up in bed, spaced out, or just getting out the shower with bags under his eyes. JJ was also the one that had to wake him up time to time due to the nightmares making Rafe move in his sleep and mumble incoherent words. It was around 6 days ago that it had happened...

"Hurry! In here" Rafe yells at his team as he slams open a door with a young, injured boy on his back, his name being Jack.

Rafe goes inside and carefully puts the boy down as he has a careful look at the injuries, Rafe may have a messed up hand but that doesn't mean he isn't going to stop going on missions, although the nurse did try and force him to when it first happened and said that it can happen again.

"Rafe!" Sarah yells out and Rafes head snaps towards where he heard her, fear obvious on his face, JJ looks over at Rafe and sees the panic on his face. JJ walks up to Rafe and puts a hand on his shoulder

"Rafe?" JJ whispers in confusion but Rafes head keeps going side to side in a panic, JJ sees Topper come and take the young boy so he can properly treat his injuries, JJ tries again, "Rafe?" This time Rafe actually looks at him, not around him.

"JJ?" Rafe was confused, as in his vision, JJ just appeared out of mid air, as he was about to say something else, he heard the same thing.

"Rafe! Help!" Sarah's voice yells throughout his head, and JJ looks confused, Rafe is bouncing on his feet as he looks around JJ

"Rafe what are you looking for?" JJ whispers so attention doesn't go to them.

"Sarah." Rafe whispers back and JJ is more confused than normal, because Sarah is over with John B

"Sarah? She's fine, she's inside" JJ says as he rubs Rafes shoulder before patting it. Pointing over to Sarah

"No, she's yelling for help. JJ let me go I need to go help her" Rafe panics as he starts shaking JJ's hand off his shoulder and runs outside with people in the background yelling and protesting at it

"What are you doing?!" Topper yells

"Rafe! Get your ass back here!" Kelce yells

"Rafe?! What the fuck are you doing?!" Kiara yells

"Are you crazy?!" Pope yells

"JJ! Stop him!" Sarah yells

"Rafe?! You're gonna get yourself killed?!" John B yells

"Boss?! What the fuck?!" 

"Where are you going?!"

"Someone stop him!"

"Someone go after him! Help him!"

"Rafe!"

All the yells mix together but JJ's standing there wondering, what the fuck does he mean Sarah's in trouble.

To JJ and everyone else Sarah is standing next to John B but Rafe thinks she's outside and yelling for help...

Rafe runs, noticing the yelling is getting closer and closer, "Sarah?!" Rafe yells in a panic as he runs quicker

"Rafe!" Sarah screeches and he notices the voice gets distant so he turns around and runs around the corner, "Rafe! Help!" Sarah's voice yells and Rafe notices the voice gets closer each time he turns a corner

"Sarah?!" Rafe yells again, his breath taken out of his lungs as he pants but doesn't stop

"Rafe! Over here! Help please!" Sarah's voice yells and Rafe notices it sounds like she's just around the corner, so he runs and turns around the corner

"Sarah... are you okay?" Rafe says to the woman with blonde hair, not having a proper look

"Rafe..." A voice comes from a phone, sounding exactly like Sarah.

"Hi Rafe." Blonde hair now turns into a face as the woman turns around, Rose greets her stepson

"What the fuck Rose. Baiting me with Sarah. Really?" Rafe has pure rage on his face as he starts walking towards Rose.

"It was the only way to get you to come here, someone very important wanted to see you again, and I know your weaknesses." Rose says as she wiggles the phone with a sly smile

Rafe hits the phone out of her grip and off to the side, "Who. Who the fuck wanted to see me?" Rafe says as he shoves Rose back. Her smile faultering

"Rafe?" A man's voice with regret in his tone makes Rafes face fall and step away from Rose.

"No. No. No! No. He's not there, that's not him, it's not you, it's my imagination... just my imagination." Rafe laughs as he turns around and looks at the man who owns the voice, still laughing he squeezes his eyes shut as he takes a deep breath in before opening them again

"Rafe, it's okay, I'm real, I've been looking everywhere for you..." The man says as he smiles and laughs in relief as he starts walking up to Rafe

"No! Fuck off Ward! You stay the fuck away from me!" Rafe yells as he starts walking away from both of the adults, walking backwards as he grabs a dagger out of his pants

"Rafe... put the dagger down." Ward says cautiously.

"Get the fuck away from me! Or I'll shove this dagger down your throat!" Rafe yells as he continues walking backwards from where he came from.

"Rafe! Wait!" Ward yells as he reaches an arm out towards Rafe, while Rafe shoves the dagger back into his pants and runs, he runs away from the zombies again and now, his father and step mother.

"Rafe?! You zoned out again, what is up with you? You've been doing that for like the past week. Maybe the no sleeps catching up to you" Sarah says as she looks at him with worry

"Don't worry bout it, let's just find John B and Pope yeah?" Rafe says as he walks away from the conversation

"Rafe?" Rafe hears JJ whisper and he hums in acknowledgment, "What happened the day you ran out. Ever since then, you've been having nightmares or no sleep at all." The whispers continue and JJ has pure concern in his eyes

"I'll tell you when we're alone okay. Right now we need to find your friends..." Rafe says as he walks forward quicker, seeing JJs head nod in agreement

"Your friends too." JJ states in a soft voice, he can see Rafe slightly drifting off while walking, he sees that Rafes head is occasionally dropping before he wakes himself up, JJ can see him falling asleep while walking, he can see him falling asleep while standing, he can see how tired Rafe is, in fact, he knows how tired Rafe is.

"They're probably lost, most common way for them for when their lost will be, this way." Rafe states as he points in a direction, he starts walking, the three people with him looking at him weirdly

"Gotten lost before?" JJ jokes as he looks at him, trying to read his face

"No, other people. They lose sense of direction when running from zombies and normally take off this way since that's where there's most sunlight." Rafe says walking quicker as he stares straight ahead

It didn't take long to find Pope and John B, as they were walking they heard crashing and yelling, along with rapid footsteps getting closer

"Rafe..." Kiara whispers but Rafe puts his finger over his mouth and pulls out his dagger, holding it firmly, ready to attack anything that comes around a corner

Soon after Rafe gets into a stance, a body runs around the corner and Rafe body slams him onto the ground

In Rafes eyes he's staring at cold blue ones that belong to his father, his dagger goes further into his throat and Rafe felt like he needed to end Wards life before he could hurt anyone else.

Rage is an obvious emotion in Rafes eyes, his pupils go wide and he has no light behind it, almost like he has flashbacks like soldier do when they get back from war, like anything could trigger them

Worry was the emotion that was in the cold eyes infront of him, the ones he thought belonged to Ward.

"John B?! Wait Rafe?" Popes voice says but it doesn't snap Rafe out of his small trance he's in, as he has the dagger to John B's throat, he can just imagine Ward.

John Bs eyes weren't even blue, Rafe imagined it. He thought it was Ward, and he tried to kill John B, all because of a flashback and his imagination.

"Rafe?!" He hears Sarah yell, he blinks multiple times and quickly pulls the dagger away from John B's throat and violently gets off him, backing away slightly

Rafe felt his breath quicken and his eyes get hazy as he stared at John B

"Are you alright man? Its fine, I know you didn't mean to knock me the fuck out, zombies and shit yknow, but like can we go back to the base?" John B says as he pats Rafe on the back

"Oh yeah..." Rafe says as he starts walking back to the bunker. John B, Pope, JJ, Sarah and Kiara look at him weirdly but still walk behind him, following him back to the bunker silently.

Once they got back, the entire team that was out, started yelling and questioning Rafe, forgetting about how easily he's getting aggravated lately.

He was blocking them all out until one person yelled something, "You can't just take off, you can't just leave, and abandon us or are you gonna be just like your father?!" Rafe was walking away but when he heard that sentence, he stopped and turned.

"Never. I mean fucking never! Imply that I'm anything like my god forsaken asshole of a father! He started this bullshit, he's the reason there's zombies! I'm the one who's trying to end it! Do you understand? Do you understand?!" Rafe yells grow louder and louder by each word, he screams loudly at the end and makes half the rebellion flinch at the authority in his voice

"Rafe just go to the room cmon, let's go, Kiara take care of him, I'm going with Rafe." JJ butts in and grabs Rafes hand and starts pulling him towards the room they share

"Fine. Kie! Kick him the fuck out! I don't care." He screams as he gets dragged away by JJ

They walk to their shared room, and as soon as the door is closed, Rafe grabs a book from the ground and throws it harshly against the wall, a dent showing from where he threw the book

Rafe quickly goes to the bathroom connected to his room, he turns the shower on and stands under it. When he was finished, JJ did the exact same.

After they had their showers JJ spoke up, "Now. We're alone, tell me what happened that day you ran off, because, the nightmares started that night." JJ states as he sits on the bed, Rafe following his actions.

"Rose tricked me into thinking Sarah needed help, I panicked and followed and the next think I knew, I pulled a dagger on Ward. Ever since I saw him, everything's just been weird, I've been thinking of, well, everything he's done. After the first couple nights of nightmares I just gave up on sleeping." Rafe explains as he stares at JJ and sees how JJ looks at him with shock

"Well, I have a trick that might help you sleep. And if I'm being honest, you should've stabbed Ward, without a doubt." JJ smiles softly as he strips his shirt, leaving him in grey sweatpants

"What a strip show?" Rafe asks but following JJs motion, Rafe strips his shirt as well and lays down on the bed, getting under the covers

"No, we're gonna cuddle, maybe human contact will help your nightmares." JJ says getting under the covers and laying ontop of Rafe, Rafes hands go onto his waist and hold it lightly.

"JJ, has anyone ever told you, your very comforting?" Rafe whispers quietly and softly.

"Yeah..." JJ softly whispers, smiling lightly.

JJ lifts his head up and he looks up at Rafe, making eye contact, Rafe moves his hand to JJs neck and lightly strokes his cheek, love full in his eyes as he looks at the blonde boy, staring at him in admiration.

JJ moves up so he's closer to Rafes face, Rafe smiles and pulls his head closer to his, JJs body going with it and pulls him into a deep kiss, shocking JJ but it quickly fades and he kisses him back just as fierce.

Their lips move in sync and like they were puzzle pieces meant to go together, they both smile into the kiss, JJ stops kissing and pulls away, just so he can stop laying on Rafe but instead, he straddles Rafe.

Rafes hand goes to JJs waist, gripping hard, the other hand pull him forward so JJs lips crash into his own, JJs hands are in Rafes hair and holding his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss of it was even possible.

The cuddling trick was meant to help Rafe sleep, but instead, they stayed up all night, making out and laughing

Chapter Text

During the night, Rafe and JJ couldn't sleep, though it was bad considering Rafe was already sleep deprived but they didn't have a care in the world as their lips kept connecting and feeling sparks constantly go off whenever the two touched

No words were spoken loudly either, it was just lips constantly connecting and panting breaths with sweet murmuring praises and quiet whispers, and by the time they went to sleep, the sun was rising, though they didn't know that as they were underground.

Rafe held JJ tight as JJ sleeps on-top of Rafe, though from time to time they swapped positions so Rafe was sleeping on-top of JJ while slipped in between JJ's legs, having his head on JJ's stomach, then to spooning eachother.

It felt natural, their bodies already so use to eachother that they merged together and were realising that they were next to eachother even while asleep, being careful not to knock eachother off, hit one another in the face or do anything to hurt the other while asleep 

Their bodies were already so use to someone being beside them that it was natural instinct. Their positions were constantly changing, but neither boy woke up or let go of the other, it felt... safe, to be in one another's arms, and presence, their bodies felt safe, safe enough to be constantly enamoured in a calm state and drowsiness mixed with a hint of sleep.

If it were in JJ's words, it would be like getting high of weed, mind going blank and the feeling of being unreal, like it wasn't reality, like it was a different dimension and you felt like you were constantly floating. The constant tingling going through out his entire body, laughing at one of the unfunniest things out there, showing that you feel safe.

Rafe was always an early riser, even if he went off a couple minutes of sleep. So when he woke up and checked the digital clock, he was surprised to see PM instead of AM.

Rafe looked down at his chest to find blonde hair sprawled over his chest, Rafe makes a small laugh at the boy laying on his chest, then realisation comes over Rafe, even though he only got a couple hours of sleep, it was the most sleep he's gotten in a week.

The boy laying on his chest is the reason he gotten that much sleep and stares at the crown of his head, noticing the somewhat darker routes and lighter ends, even in the dark. 

Rafe takes in a deep breathe through his nose, noticing that JJ still smells like body wash and like a sweet vanilla even after multiple hours. Rafe carefully and hesitantly puts his fingers in JJ's hair and slowly starts playing with the locks, after small amount of seconds he got more confident and started massaging his scalp and then pulling his fingers out from the hair to start seperrating the tangled locks.

Rafe realised the night before, that kissing JJ's lips felt like all his bruises, inside and out, were disappearing in a millisecond, like they were healing and no longer so permanent. Rafe felt like crying because of how safe JJ made him feel, Rafe felt like he could cry waterfalls and JJ would make the tears disappear with a simple kiss like how he'd done with the internal bruises.

While Rafe was stuck in his own head, JJ had woken up to fingers brushing though his hair, JJ moved his head up to look at Rafe who was staring into the distance, completely oblivious to the blonde waking up

"Rafe?" JJ whispered but it sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room

Rafe snapped out of his head to his name being called, looking around the dark room only to be met with piercing blue eyes.

Deep blue ocean eyes meet and JJ goes to speak but before he could even get any words out, Rafe drags JJ up further. The hand that was previously in JJ's hair was now on his neck as Rafe pulled him in and closed the distance between them in a record time.

JJ immediately shuffled up further, the angle of his neck starting to hurt as the pressure that was put on his lips with much force. As much as JJ didn't want to pull away he had to.

Rafe protested by trying to capture JJ's lips once again, though JJ pulled back further and pulled his body into a sitting position. JJ was now sitting on Rafes lap, straddling him.

Rafes head laid against the headboard of the bed frame, looking at JJ. JJ was sitting on Rafe, looking at him. Though this time, JJ had time to speak

"Rafe..." JJ whispers and Rafe replies by smiling at him, urging him to continue with a hand on the blondes waist, gripping it tight but not tight enough for it to hurt. "Are we dating now?" JJ whispers once again

Rafe stares at the boy sitting on his lap, processing what he had just said only to let out an amused laugh, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand "Fucking hell." Rafe says in between laughs that has started to subside.

Rafe looks at JJ once again, laughter completely gone as he grabs ahold of JJs neck and waist, pulling him close and aggressively kisses the dense boy.

Rafe pulls JJ closer to him, although it was quite uneven, one side was closer to Rafe and the other was further back, Rafes hand on JJs neck moved to hold onto the other side of his waist and even his position so they were flush against eachother.

Rafe stops holding JJs waist with his hands, instead, he wraps his arms around his torso. Rafe leans forward and JJ quickly wraps his arms around Rafes neck, one hand on the top of his back and one in his hair, gripping it slightly.

Rafes tongue licks at JJs lips while his arms tighten around the blonde boy, making him gasp and give access for Rafe to slip his tongue in and explore with such passion

Rafe noticed that JJ tasted like a lolly he hasn't had in years because of the apocalypse, he tastes like jolly ranchers, more importantly he tasted like the blueberry one mixed with the watermelon. It was addictive. He tasted sweet but he smelt like vanilla. Two completely different things but it went so well together

Rafe leaned further forward, not breaking  the kiss but JJ had to arch his back to not break it either. Rafe hears but also feels that JJ let out a groan, and, to Rafe, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Rafe leans back and brings JJ with him, kissing JJ was addictive. The small, barely audible whines coming from JJs mouth, JJ constantly trying to breathe while trying not to break the kiss, in Rafes opinion, JJ is addictive.

JJ's like a drug, addictive and gets your head spinning, making you do uncontrollable things.

Rafe has had his fair share of drugs, but JJ was by far his favourite, one he never wanted to give up, one he couldn't get enough of, one that he wanted to keep for himself.

JJ pulled away, panting as he opened his eyes, once again, deep blue eyes meet, but this time, it was a small outline as both pupils were blown like they had just taken drugs.

Both of their pupils are pulsing, whether it's because of lust or because they really like eachother, maybe even love, both boys couldn't put their fingers on what they were feeling and what the blown pupils meant.

"Yes, JJ. We're dating." Rafe speaks, and JJ smiles at him, leaning in for another kiss but this one wasn't as aggressive and fired up as the last.

The kiss that JJ initiated was gentle, and sensual, Rafe could only sigh because of the softness and tenderness of the kiss. One of Rafes hands started tickling over JJs spine, it sent a shiver through JJs body and both boys couldn't help but smile into the kiss

The smiles died down as they continued on with the slow kiss and sweet touches. Rafe could do this forever. He would happily die while kissing JJ, he figured it would be the best way to go, the only right way to die, in Rafes opinion.

"What the fuck." A voice breaks through the silence. Rafe and JJ pull away from eachother too quickly that Rafe bangs his head against the headboard and JJ stumbled off Rafes lap and onto the floor, banging his head once he collided with the ground.

"Shit! JJ, are you okay?!" Rafe ignored the pain in his head that was now pounding. Rafe looks at his door and sees the entire friendgroup, the only person who wasn't surprised by walking in on them kissing was Sarah.

Sarah was smiling and giving him a subtle thumbs up, Rafe let out an amused chuckle at his sister.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on, why was JJ on your lap, why were you guys kissing, are you guys dating, wait are you guys friends with benefits, oh maybe you guys are just hooking up, or even the fuck around and don't catch feelings, that's normally JJs thing, but-" Pope was ranting and was quickly cut off as he spoke too quickly to the point you couldn't understand him

"Pope!" JJ yells, laughing at Popes rambling. "We're dating. Also I don't always go for the 'fuck around and don't catch feelings', I've been in a relationship before." Rafe laughs at JJ defending himself, JJ gives him a sharp look.

"A relationship that didn't even last a day because you got bored." Pope says as he looks at JJ. "You get scared away easily Jayj. Especially when you're in a relationship." Rafe looks at JJ, Pope doesn't understand that Rafe can handle JJ, he understands JJ. He understands JJ because he relates to him, he may get scared easily when it comes to a romantic relationship but this time, Rafe doesn't want to get scared, and for once, he isn't scared and he doesn't want to run away from JJ.

Rafe can see that JJ is about to speak again, but instead of JJs voice it was his own. "I get scared of relationships as well, but I'm not scared of this one. I mean, it's JJ. My longest relationship was 2 hours. I'm not scared of being with JJ because of his commitment issues, because I have them as well." Rafe was so serious as he spoke to the friendgroup that call themselves 'Pogues' and he can see JJ looking at him with a subtle smile.

That subtle smiled made Rafe give one back. Rafe could die while kissing JJ, he could die by looking at JJ, he would happily die knowing he breathed the same air as JJ, because, It's JJ.

"Woah." John B whispered as he looked at the lovesick boys in front of him. "I like him." John B bluntly said as he smiled at JJ. "Keep him Jayj, I give my acceptance for you to date him" He joked

"I don't need your 'acceptance' JB, but I appreciate the gesture" JJ laughed at his best friend

"Of course man, but Rafe, if you ever break his heart or hurt him in a way the kinky fuck doesn't like, I know how to skin a man slowly and painfully." John B was smiling the entire time he was speaking and Rafe felt a shiver go down his spine but made himself stay still, just because he's dating JJ doesn't mean that he's going to act any different, unless it's towards his boyfriend.

"John B, I could say the same thing, you hurt my sister, I know how to kill a man in 78 different ways and make 75 look like an accident, I also know how to torture someone in 113 ways." The smile on Rafe face was threatening and John B actually let his shiver show.

Rafe was still the rebellion leader. "Okay... that's a bit concerning but okay." John B said

"Anyway. Kinky fuck, huh?" Rafe asks John B who just lets out a hyena laugh and quickly snapped his mouth shut, making his laugh funnier than he was supposed to.

"Hey, I'm not that bad okay, JB doesn't know what he's saying." JJ quickly defends himself, shooting a glare towards John B whose face is going red to muffle and hide his laughs threatening to spill out

"We used to live in the same house Jay. I've heard things I could've lived without hearing." John B says dramatically as he acts traumatised

"Okay..." Rafe was skeptical but he showed it in a joking way, JJ was going to speak but Rafe cut him off "Sarah, can you tell the team that they can go on this mission without me and JJ, and before you ask, no. You're not going unless John B is. Also JJ, get off the ground and get on the bed" Rafe speaks calmly as he speaks to multiple people at a time

"I'm going so Sarah can come" John B smiles and Rafe stares into his soul

The stare is enough but Rafe says the words that were circling in his head, "John B, if you let her get hurt, or if you run into people you can't trust and they touch a single hair on her head, I'm breaking all of your bones in your body." Translation : Let Sarah get hurt and I'll murder you.

"Chill dude, I got it, trust me on that." John B smiles while pulling Sarah away from the doorframe and back to their room to get ready for the mission

"I guess, we should go too?" Kiara questions as she raises an eyebrow up at Rafe and JJ

"Get off it Kiara." Rafes tone was full of humour as he stares at the curly haired girl still at his doorframe

"Nah man, but we do need to get ready to go, are you sure you guys aren't coming?" Kiara speaks as she moves her eyes side to side to look at JJ, who's still on the floor and Rafe, who's sitting on the bed

"Yeah, we're just gonna hang back this mission, maybe help around the base" Rafe speaks while JJ starts getting up off the floor and goes to wipe the dirt off his hands on instinct only to find that there's nothing on them

"Cool, anyway, bye, we'll see you when we get back!" Kiara says as she steps back out the door and slowly closes it while speaking, JJ and Rafe look at eachother before another yell from Kiara goes to their ears "Use protection!" Her voice is far but clear

Rafe looks at JJ before opening his mouth, "I will!" JJ has a sparkle of pink on his cheekbones as he glares at Rafe who's quietly laughing