Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was 2 weeks ago when it all started. At first it seems to be a harmless zombie. They tried to contain it. But it broke free, infecting others. First, American was taken, then Canada, Next was Mexico. Soon the whole world was affected. 

Larry was visiting the museum the night that it all happened. Once in a blue moon, the Tablet of Ahkmenrah was sent over to the American Museum of Natural History. As night struck, the exhibits came to life, shifting from lifeless statues to living beings. They lived supernaturally as they partied like no other until the news came on. Larry was walking around talking to exhibits. 

Then he heard it… screams . People were running outside. But what were they running from? As he looked closer, he saw them, Zombies. Actual-living-zombies. Well, actually, they're dead, but... Whatever—it doesn't matter.

He quickly turned on the news, “Breaking news, a zombie outbreak has started to affect the whole world.” Larry didn't know how to react. He's seen magic and the most unbelievable things than anyone else, but this was just too unreal. 

“Larry, it'll be fine..” Teddy said, putting his hand on his shoulder. 

“Thanks,” He replied. 

“Now what?”  Jedediah yelled with enthusiasm. “Are we going to stand here and let these zombies take our country?” The miniature began to climb down Larry’s leg. “Come on Gigantor let's get them” 

Jedediah began to run with his little legs. He wasn't even half way to the door before he ran out of breath. “Come…On.” …Guys.” he fell to the ground exhausted. He took another breath. “I can't make it.” He said, giving up on moving for the time being. Larry took a look at the multiple exhibits that surrounded him. He knew he couldn't stay in the museum forever. He needed food, he needed water. 

He grabbed the phone and called his son. “Nick? Hello, Nick? Are you there?” 

He waited for a response. “Dad, is that you?” 

“Nick! Oh, thank god, you're ok.” 

“I'm fine for now. Where are you?” 

“I'm at the museum. It's safe for n—” Larry was cut off by a scream from the other side of the phone. He feared the worst. It wasn’t his son... was it? He took a moment to process what happened. They got him...They got his son.

“Larry, what happened?” Teddy asked.

Larry looks at Teddy with a mortified face.

“Nick… he…” He didn't know how to finish that sentence.

Octavius, another miniature, began to run over to his friend Jedediah. “We must see if Nick is okay.” He looked Jed dead in his eyes, then looked up at “Gigantor" and lifted up from the floor. Octavius went over to help his friend get back onto his feet. They clasped hands together in a friendly manner as they gathered their bearings. Larry figured this place would be zombie free for a while, but wasn’t sure how long he could last. He assumed there wasn’t any food or water in the museum. They sat still for a while, contemplating what to do. 

Larry grabbed the tablet. He looked at it as it glowed. The yellow light filled his eyes, pupils trembled slightly, mirroring the fear building in his chest.

The tablet had brought things to life… but now, with death rising all around, it felt like a cruel joke. They couldn’t stay. Not here. Not anymore.

He quickly ran over to the night guard room. He grabbed a backpack and dropped in some various items. First was the tablet, then a flashlight, and finally he put in a radio. He sat the bag down on the ground. 

“Guys we have to leave,” he began. “It’s not going to be safe here soon. With these zombies here I don’t think..” he trailed off. The exhibit knew it was time to go. They gathered their minimal things and began to head off. Larry conveniently had his car parked outside. The only issue was that it couldn’t hold everyone. Luckily there were some big exhibits that could carry some of the smaller ones. He told them to follow him in his car once they left. 

The hall of miniatures climbed into his car. They filled every crook and nanny of the car. Ahkmenrah got into the front passenger seat and Sacajawea, Attila the Hun, and Dexter joined in the back.  The Anubis statues that once guarded Ahkmenrah and his tablet were now walking with a sense of urgency, behind Larry's car, holding the Easter Island Head. Teddy followed next to the car on his horse walking at a brisk pace of the museum carrying the rest of the Huns. The cavemen came out next, all riding a single wooly mammoth. Eventually all the exhibits were out of the museum and following Larry’s car. 

He knew the zombies would be around but he wasn’t sure what they would do to the exhibits. They weren’t dead but they weren’t alive either. He wasn’t sure if they would become zombies or not. He risked it anyway. He wasn’t sure where he was going but he knew it wasn’t anywhere nearby. He took one look back and saw the museum filling up with zombies. They were luckily able to escape before they came. 

Chapter Text

It started off as a nice day at the woodstone mansion. Jay was working on his restaurant carefully. He didn't want to die, but after Elias tricked him into signing the contract that granted him his most desired yet impending doom, he was more afraid of dying than ever. Sam on the other hand was busy with the book she was writing. She just had the launch party for it. The ghosts were happy for her, except for Patience but she wasn't ever around. She mostly stayed within the dirt alone.

Pete, one of the ghosts, was just coming back from a trip. He enjoyed going around on random adventures. On this specific one he almost completely disappeared. He didn’t know what would happen if he fully disappeared but he didn’t want to risk finding out. He began to crawl through the door. 

“Pete, darling, what on Earth has happened to you?” Hetty asked.  

As Pete regained his missing limbs he began to speak. “Zombies…” He paused, taking a moment to process it all. 

“Ah, splendid Pete has returned!" Issac said coming down the stairs. Hetty helped Pete to the couch, who was still distraught. Sam was busy on a call with some important publishers for her book. She came and sat down in the same room as Pete and Hetty. 

She finished up her call and took a look at her ghost friends. “Oh Pete, your back!” She said happily. Pete looked at her with slight panic. He was kinda shocked. “Pete what’s wrong?” She asked him urgently. 

Pete hesitated before he spoke. He took a deep breath. “Sam… there’s zombies..” Sam laughed it off. She thought it was just a joke by Pete. He didn’t move. He didn’t do anything. He was serious. 

Sam stopped laughing. Her demeanor changed. Sam gathered the rest of the ghosts. She first gathered the main 8: Hetty, Trevor, Pete, Issac, Flower, Thor, Alberta, and Sasappis. Then she gathered the basement ghost. Lastly she gathered the shed ghost Nigel, Jenkins, Carol, and Baxter. There were roughly 20 ghosts standing in the driveway. 

She prepared for the worst. She knew she had to do this just in case. “So Pete told me there's zombies. This means a zombie apocalypse. For those who don't know..” she rambled on about what a zombie apocalypse was until she was sure everyone knew what it was. 

“Is this the part where we panic? Cause I’m ready.” Asked Nancy excitedly. 

Just then Jay stepped out of his restaurant. He was walking up to the mansion as he noticed Sam in the driveway talking to the ghosts. He couldn't see the ghosts but since she was talking to basically nothing,he figured the ghosts were there… somewhere. 

He walked up to Sam and stood next to her. He began to whisper into her ear. “Sam what's going on?” 

“Jay, there's a zombie apocalypse.. Pete found out.” 

Jay didn't believe it at first just like Sam in the beginning. With her demeanor not changing from seriousness, he too knew it was real. 

“So What now?” Before Sam replied to Jay, she ended up blurting something. 

“Well, since the world is ending, each of you ghosts can make us do one thing. Maybe that's cooking a special meal to smell. Rearranging your room. I'm not sure if Amazon is working so buying stuff might not work.”

Jay turned to her confused “woah I didn't agree to this!” He cried. 

“Jay come on.. it might be our last chance to do it. You know the zombie apocalypse and all that..” Jay didn’t like what was about to happen but he didn’t care. He wanted to please his friends. Even though he couldn’t see them, he still loved them. Either way he was going to help them with their final requests. 

Sam pulled out her phone and started to make a list of what every ghost wanted. Pete wanted it simple. He just wanted to be able to have a conversation with main man Jay. Not one of those conversations where Jay is just there not getting the full context. Thor and Flower wanted a wedding. Trevor asked for nothing much but to check up on his daughter's life. Issac wanted to read his book but since he was a ghost someone had to read it for him. Jay was willing to take that task. 

As Jay and Sam finished the many ghost’s  requests that went way into the night they ended up going to bed.  

Chapter Text

Larry was driving aimlessly as he tried to figure out a good place to keep his friends safe. He grabbed his phone. With a quick google search, he was able to find this nice BnB in the Hudson valley, which was part of upstate New York. 

He began to put the address into his phone. He set up the google maps and was now heading in that direction. An hour or two later Larry and the exhibits made it to the location of the BnB. 

The sun was about to rise any minute so Larry rushed inside frantically. “Anyone here? I need help!” 

Alberta groggily poked her head through the wall, “Come on, people are trying to sleep.”

Sam and Jay were both fast asleep when they heard this man downstairs. “Jay, someone's downstairs.” They went to check it out. The ghosts, specifically Pete, Alberta, Hetty, Thor, and Flower followed them down from the second floor, slowly and carefully peeking over. They heard a thud, then another, then the door flew open. Larry ran through searching for anyone. He noticed them on the stairs and went up to Jay. “Do you happen to have a place to store some museum exhibits?” Jay and Sam were both puzzled. Why would someone have those?

Larry showed them outside to the living exhibits. They were confused. At first Sam thought it was just some new ghosts. That was until Jay saw the same thing. “What the-” Jay got cut off by Larry. 

“We need to get them inside before the sun comes up or else they die. They will turn to dust!” 

“To dust..?” Jay echoed to himself. Jay and Sam weren't one hundred percent sure if this was true but seeing these so-called exhibits was enough proof to help. They start to look for places to keep them. They fit the small ones in the mansion; Like Ahkmenrah, Sacajawea, Attila the Hun, and Dexter. The big ones like the wooly mammoth, rexy, and the Anubis statues fit their way into the restaurant.  As the sun began to rise the next day the exhibits all went lifeless. They all turned into statues. Sam and Jay had many questions. This plus the imminent zombie apocalypse this wasn’t going to be good.

“Dude what the hell!” Jay asked. Larry took a long look at the sun that was rising. 

“I didn't tell you the full truth.” Admitted Larry. 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked Intrigued but also kinda mad. 

“Ok… so there's this tablet.” He began to pull it out of his bag. “This golden tablet is the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. It's an Ancient Egyptian tablet imbued with the magic to bring the inanimate to life.” 

“Wait What! Does this mean my figurines will come to li-” 

“Jay, this isn't the time!” Interrupted Sam. 

“We're not sure if it will work but it's highly likely.” 

“Oh sweet!” Jay was excited but also a bit terrified. 

After everything was situated, they gave Larry a room to sleep in and allowed him to get cozy. The ghosts were ready to go back to bed, now more exhausted than they were before. 

Chapter Text

After about four hours of sleep, the three of them awoke. 

“Jay, what are we going to do? Zombies are taking over and we have a complete stranger hoarding his exhibits on our property!” Sam was was in the brink of yelling but remained calm

“Sam, it’s going to be fine,” he said cheerfully. He did understand her but at the same time, he was pretty excited at the possibility that his figures would supposedly come to life at night. 

Meanwhile, Larry was already up and making breakfast. He was making some scrambled eggs. Sam and Jay made their way into the kitchen to find Larry. 

“Hey this is my kitch-“ Jay began, but was cut off. 

“Want some eggs?” Larry angled the pan so they could see the eggs. 

Jay didn’t like people messing around in his kitchen, but he was too hungry to be mad. “Fine. I’ll have some of your eggs.” He walked off and sat at the dining table.

Larry grabbed a few plates and brought out the eggs to them. Larry sat at the table with them. They began to discuss everything. The zombie apocalypse, the museum exhibits, and the tablet. Larry explained the whole museum thing. “For the final time, yes the tablet brings things to life.” Larry was getting annoyed but tried to stay calm. They gave him a place to hold his friends. He tried to show them his gratitude. 

“Thanks for making the eggs Larry. They were incredible.” Sam said gratefully 

“You're welcome!” 

That’s when the ghosts came from outside. They were in the barn looking at the exhibits. Issac came rushing in. "Sam, I saw statues in the barn. That’s not normal…is-“ he took a pause and noticed Larry. His blue eyes captured Issac off guard. He always liked a man in uniform and  found himself wishing he was dead so they could hang out, just even for a moment. “Well who’s this fine looking guy?” 

“Issac, this is Larry.” She explained. Larry was standing just a few feet in front of her. He turned to Jay. 

“Do you know who she’s talking to?” 

“She’s talking to ghosts,” Jay explained. “She can see ghosts apparently. It’s weird but once you get used to-“ 

“Ghosts?” Larry interrupted.“Ghosts are real?” He was flabbergasted beyond comprehension. He never thought for a moment that ghosts were real. Now that someone was talking to them, he didn’t know what to believe. 

“Dude you have a magic tablet in your hands that brings things to life. How are ghosts the unreasonable part?” Larry went quiet. 

Sam turns to face Larry. “Hey Larry, I have something I have to say to you.” 

Larry snaps himself out of it and walks over to her. “What is it Sam?” 

“Well there's this ghost I was talking to. His name is Issac and he’s from the Revolutionary war.” 

“...Ok?” 

“He told me that he was attracted to you.”  

Larry stared blankly for a moment. He looked  down in contemplation. “Me..? Seriously me?” 

Isaac was embarrassed, “I knew this was a stupid idea,” rambled Isaac as he left. 

Larry didn't want to be near a possible ghost, so went up to his room. He sat there on his bed alone with only his thoughts. It was a lot to grasp. First the zombie apocalypse, now ghosts? Why not? What's next, vampires? He didn’t want to think about it but I guess he had to. A ghost had a crush on him. It’s not like he wanted to hurt the guy's feelings. Larry began to spiral, thinking about multiple possible scenarios. He could either do nothing or let him off easily. Either way he was going to end up being haunted. Well at least that's what he thought would happen. That's when he had to find something to do at least. Maybe not now, but eventually. 

He took a breath and cleared his mind…That's when he remembered his son Nik. He was in such a rush about his friends dying that he almost completely forgot about his son.

As if he was compelled, he grabbed his keys and pressed on the gas. Just the thought: Nik was possibly dead. Pete saw Larry run off and decided to go along. Sam and Jay didn't even notice. They were too busy prepping for the apocalypse to see anyone go. Larry sped as fast as he could. He took many sharp turns. He was driving like a maniac. It didn't matter anymore he had only one goal: get to his son

“Nik I'm coming to get you!” He shouted to himself. He didn’t know if his son was alive. But like any parent caught in disaster, he hoped. Hoped with every bone in his body that Nik was okay. Pete glanced at Larry from the passenger seat, a little confused, “Wait, who's Nik?” He asked even though he knew he wouldn't be able to hear him.

After a tense drive that was maybe an hour or two later, they made it back to New York City. It was wrecked. It looked like what you expect the whole end of the world would look like: looted buildings, fires, trash everywhere, car crashes every so often, and more. Larry didn't waste any time. If Nik called, it was from home. He floored the gas going well over the speed limit. It wasn't long till he got there.

It was worse than he thought. He could hear nothing but Groans. Low, guttural, inhuman groans, coming from inside the apartment building. His heart pounded. Panic set in. Dozens of scenarios filled his head. Most of them were awful to picture but he clung to one thing: hope. Nik might be ok. 

He grabbed his flashlight from his bag and barged in without thinking. Anything that groaned, twitched, or moved and wasn’t his son got smashed by his trusty flashlight. He was not about to get affected by this zombie virus. 

He stormed up the stairs. 

The second floor: Each step echoed like a countdown. 

Third floor: Then a groan. It was another one of those foul decomposing varmints. 

He swung hard with his flashlight, the bone broke. The skin began to tear. The skull snapped off, bounced, then rolled down the stairs. Before Larry could think his instincts kicked in and he grabbed the zombie and threw him down the stairs. There was no time to waste. No time to breathe. Nik was on the fourth floor. The floor they lived on. He was going to save him if it was the last thing he was going to do. 

Once he reached the fourth floor he made his way to their apartment. He barged his way in. He slammed his body against the door until it broke open. That's when he saw it. He saw his son. He was almost gone. There was a pretty noticeable zombie bite on his arm. “Nik?” He asked, hoping for any kind of response. “Dad, is th-” Nik paused. He took a deep breath. “Is that you?” Larry leaned in closer. “Yes Nik, it's me. I came to-” He trailed off. 

It was too late. He had to leave him. Larry had to go. The sun was setting. The exhibits were about to come to life. Larry didn't have a cure and Nik was already bitten by one of the zombies. There was nothing he could do. 

Larry walked to the door he broke, his footsteps slow and desolate. He was done. He walked down the steps of the stairs. There was no point in crying. He tried to hold in the tears. They came anyway. Slowly they dripped down his face. He wiped the tears off his face. 

He drove back to the woodstone mansion distraught.