Chapter Text
Chapter 14
Link and you somehow managed to haul the supply crate back to the base, feeling the triumph of two people that had won a lifetime’s supply of medicine. You sorted through all the various bottles, boxes, and medical equipment that was in the supply crate, and in the end, ended up with a very organized storage that doubled as a bench in front of the kitchenette peninsula. The following evening, you spend time tinkering with the box tv that had been left in your base.
The dropping of the two supply crates was a hopeful sight, but that’s where miracles ended. The TV showed nothing static, even when you and Link began to mess with the antenna. The radio was also nothing but static, adding no usefulness aside from white noise.
You were still stranded, but life went on. The weather warmed, and that lifted your spirits. Sunshine spills over your face on yet another trip to the river. You sit next to Link, scrubbing a dirty shirt. The water is warm, and you relax with your shoes off, your trousers rolled up to the knees. You do your best to scrub the clothes clean, but some things just don’t come out anymore. You sigh, rinse the shirt off, and toss it back into the basket.
You look around, eyes gliding over the newly born greenery, the clear water, the fresh aroma of the forest, and a sudden urge overcomes you.
“We should go swimming,” you suggest, turning to Link. The weather was nice, and the two of you deserve a break.
He looks up from the jacket that he was scrubbing, and then looks around. You didn’t have a lot more washing to get done. You could take a slight detour. He nods, and you hop up, making your way downstream. There was a pond not too far from here. It wasn’t very deep, but perhaps the rains had made it a decent size for swimming,
“Hey, I’ll race you,” you glance over your shoulder at your companion, a grin blooming on your face. He raises a brow, and before he can fully catch up to you, you begin the countdown, “three…two…”
You bolt. You know you’re cheating, and you don’t really care. You can hear Link’s footsteps follow yours. The pond is in sight. You amp up the pace, unwilling to let him win, especially since you decided to cheat.
You reach the water first, out of breath, and with a grin on your face. Link is close at your heels. He stops next to you, landing a slap on your shoulder with a bemused expression. You deserve it.
“Sorry, sorry,” you manage as you attempt to catch your breath.
The pond is larger than you recall, clear, and warm. You ditch your outer layers on the shore, and wade into the warm. Link does the same, before following after you. It’s warm and refreshing at the same time, though there’s not a whole lot of space for diving. At the very least, the floor of the pond is soft and sandy, with a few plants growing beneath the waters.
You splash some water in Link’s direction when he swims closer. He lifts an arm up to shield himself, and retaliates, splashing some back in your direction. How dare he reciprocate something you started? You fake an offended gasp, swiping another wave of water in his direction. He ducks under the water, getting his hair wet, but evading your attack. Be that way.
You swim closer, and wait for him to resurface before pushing down on his shoulder, causing him to briefly go underwater again. You take your hand away very quickly, though. You weren’t trying to drown your companion. He resurfaced for longer this time, brushing the water out of his eyes with a playful smile. He shakes the excess water off, already creeping closer in pursuit of vengeance. The duel commences until you feel something brush against your leg in the water.
You halt, spinning around. Looking down into the water, you catch sight of the tail of a fish.
“Link!” You call over to him. “There’s fish in here!”
You lift the fishing hook out of the water, the bait gone, but no fish to make up for it. Again.
There you two sit on the shore with a few fishing rods lined up in hopes of catching something. Link is focused on them, but you’re honestly distracted. You haven’t had fresh food in forever, and your stomach was getting impatient at the mere prospect. You’re honestly debating just sharpening the end of a branch and going fishing the old-fashioned way, but you choose to remain civil. The apocalypse has done enough to you as is. You’ve tried your luck with the fishing rods, but it’s been fruitless labor.
Finally, after what feels like forever, Link hops up, and picks up one of the fishing rods, beginning to reel in what could be tonight’s dinner. You watch, eyes darting between him and the water. You can already imagine some fried fish fillets, and your stomach growls at the thought.
Your eyes widen as you watch a fish be lifted out of the pond. Link lowers it down onto the grass, and you throw your arms around his shoulders.
“My hero!” You grin. “We’re gonna eat good tonight!”
Back home, the two of you go all out. It’s a masterpiece that deserves a Michelin star all on its own — fried in oil, on a pan, with crispy breadcrumbs, salt, spices, you even added some fancy herb for the look.
You stand over the makeshift grill, diligently flipping the fillet over to make sure that it was perfect. A delicious aroma fills the air, and you can feel Link’s presence behind you, also drooling over the fresh food.
“You don’t have to be breathing down my neck, I’m not going to gobble the fish down behind your back,” you joke, turning around, and giving Link a small push back. “And please don’t eat me, either.”
You almost catch a hint of a smile on his face. He takes a step off to the side, instead, his eyes still focused primarily on the food. You would’ve thought that he hadn’t eaten at all in days.
Link takes the fillet off the pan when he deems it done, moving it off onto a large plate. You grab two forks, and join your companion on the edge of your makeshift bed, ready to dig into the warm meal.
And it’s gone just as quickly as it was made. The two of you did your best to gut and clean it out in the forest, but you couldn’t do a whole lot about the bones aside from hope that you got most of them when you took the spine out. The two of you pick it apart, wolfing down pieces as soon as you were sure there were no bones in the meat. And it was good.
“You know,” you say, finishing up the last few scraps. “Despite everything, I’m glad I've been stuck with you. I couldn’t ask for a better companion.”
You smile, bumping your shoulder lightly against Link’s. His expression softens, and he returns the smile, his cerulean eyes meeting yours.
He gets up to take the scraps on the plate back into the kitchenette, and you curl up under the blankets with a full, warm stomach that, for the first time in months, did not contain any canned food.
The following morning, you set out on another expedition further out south. The fish yesterday was good, but it’s not going to last you past today, and you need to stock up more.
Given, it was a rather risky endeavor. The medicine crates that had been dropped some days back landed on the border between Central Hyrule and Faron. That meant that there were likely other surviving Hyruleans living somewhere in the area. Even if you hadn’t seen any signs of them, that didn’t mean that they weren’t there.
No more crates have fallen, unless they were dropped in the night, but you aren’t desperate enough for resources to go out during the hours of the Nightcrawlers, even if you saw them fall. That would be a deathwish.
So, you were limited to what you could find out and about.
You kneel under a balcony, hoisting Link up into an open apartment. He extends a hand down to you, and helps you up after him. The two of you hadn’t raided this neighborhood yet, and with some luck, maybe the families left some non-expired food behind. At this point, the date on the label meant little to you — you didn’t even know what month it was — and so long as it didn’t smell or look weird, it was good to eat.
You crack the glass door of the balcony, and unlock the door. It looks empty, but it’s also a more luxurious apartment with plenty of space for undead to hide. You make a beeline for the kitchen, while Link lags behind in the living room, checking things out with his handgun at the ready. You sift through the cabinets, on the search for anything that looks remotely safe to eat. You check the fridge, and then begin to open up the top cabinets. You find some alcohol, and halt for a moment. You could try to take a few bottles, not for consumption, but for potential future trade. You tap on one of the bottles to test the material. Glass. That won’t do, you need your hands for climbing.
You close the cabinet again, and move on to the lower ones. You find some canned goods, which you shove into your backpack. You open up another cabinet, but your ears catch on to a different sound. You pause, your ears perking up in search of that sound again. Maybe your brain was just playing tricks on you? But no, there it was again, like a soft, distant whimpering.
“Link?” You turn, finding your companion standing at the kitchen island. “Do you hear that?”
He stills, his ears alert and searching for any unusual sounds in the air.
He turns towards the corridor to the right of the kitchen, taking slow, soundless steps in its direction. You follow after him, loading your backpack onto your shoulders as quietly as you can manage.
The two of you stop between two doors, searching for the source of the noise. The whimpering sounds again, and you slip your baseball bat into your hands, keeping it at the ready. Link pushes one of the doors open with his handgun. The door swings open slowly with mild creaking, and past it, you find a nursery.
It looks strangely untouched. An uncomfortable feeling settles in your spine. The whimpering sounds again. Your bat lowers. No. Surely not?
Link and you step closer. A crib stands in the corner of the room, a light blanket hastily thrown over it. Link reaches a hand out, gingerly grasping the corner, and pulling it away. His handgun lowers.
An infant. But not a regular one. The poor thing is in the same condition as any other undead. Its skin peeling, its chest cavity and ribs exposed, reeking of decay. But for a moment, it has you fooled.
A glass-shattering scream echoes through the room. Both you and Link flinch back, hands flying to cover your ears. The thing’s lung capacity would be impressive if it weren’t for the circumstances.
Link is the first to come back to his senses through the scream. He pulls you back slamming the door shut after you, but you can already hear the sound of zombies outside, responding to their siren call.
Your ears still ringing, you rush after Link back onto the balcony, and up onto the roof of the building. You can still hear the infant’s wails, calling all nearby undead to your location.
Link hops over the edge of the building onto the roof of the neighboring one, and you follow after him. You can outrun the Walkers, you know that, but if any Virals are around, you’ll be in trouble. You follow Link down to the ground, and then take off running. The screams fade into the distance, but you’re not out of the woods yet.
You spot a small group of zombies up ahead, and Link ducks into an alleyway, hoping to take a shortcut past them. On the other end, however, a Viral’s already waiting for you. Link jumps back, and as the thing charges forward, you swing your baseball bat. It connects with its shoulder, sending it into the brick wall. Using its moment of daze to your advantage, you rush past it, but it’s hot on your tail.
Link turns, aiming his handgun at the zombie. You glance over your shoulder, and out of the corner of the eye, spot another zombie to his left. You spin on your heel, your bat already at the ready. A gunshot sounds, and the first one drops to the ground. Your baseball bat connects with the second, and it drops, too.
“[Name]!”
You begin to turn, your gaze falling behind you. But you’re too slow.
A white-hot sting ricochets through your shoulder. Teeth sink into flesh through the layers. A bullet zips past you. It buries into the head of your attacker. Too slow.
A body falls to the ground behind you. Your fingers inch to your shoulder. There’s something wet there. You lift your hand. Blood coats your fingers.