Happily Ever Afterlife

"Where the fuck is everyone?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking around the empty road.
"We can't be the only people still human here!" Jack continued.
"We're not." Jesse interrupted. "We're just the only ones stupid enough to roam the streets."
"Oh."
Breathing in the stale air, I tightened my grip on Vic's hand.
"What's wrong baby?" he asked, whispering in my ear.
"I'm scared." I admitted.
"Come on Kellin!" Justin called out. "It's like we're in a movie; live a little!"
"Well, I'm sorry I can't enjoy myself when there's the possibility of being killed by the undead!"
"Speaking of..." Jesse whispered.
She was standing barely a quarter of a mile away from us, her once perfect dress ripped to shreds.
Her hand clutched a headless teddy bear, that dragged across the dusty floor with every step she took closer.
"Shit." I mumbled.
Her face was drawn of all color, dark circles surrounding her eyes in sharp contrast.
The bottom of her lip was coated in a thick red substance, that quivered like a child on the edge of tears.
A large gash ran down her left arm, ending at a missing finger.
"What the fuck do we do now?" Vic asked.
"Kill her!" Justin suggested excitedly.
"What?" I demanded.
"Out of all the people I could have been stuck with during a zombie apocalypse, it had to be with Kellin Queer! Fucking Christ, Kellin! I'm pretty sure you watched enough Walking Dead episodes to know what to do!"
"Yeah, find somewhere to hide where they wouldn't think to go inside."
"That's when there's a lot of them!" Justin reminded me. "It's only a little girl, I'm sure we can take her down."
"Your stupidity is what's going to kill you." I muttered.
"He's definitely going to be the first one to go." Jesse laughed.
"How can you laugh during a time like this?" I demanded.
"I'm pretty sure I've watched enough horror movie to know that you and Vic are going to be the first ones to go. It's always the couples." Justin finished.
"We're not stupid enough to make out in the middle of a darkened forest!" I protested.
"I might be." Vic countered.
Before I could ask what he meant, he had stopped walking.
Placing a hand on the small of my back, he pulled me closer until his lips were hovering just above mine.
Pressing them, I could taste his sweet scent and I almost lost myself in the moment.
Parting my lips, I started to allow entrance before I realized what was happening.
"Vic!" I yelled out, looking towards the little girl. "You're going to get us killed!"
"Oh, Kellin. One little zombie girl isn't going to kill you when there's a band full idiots in front of us."
"I think Vic just proved that you're going to be the first one to go." Jack laughed.
"Shut up." I mumbled.
"I have a question... What the hell are we going to do about her?" Gabe asked, finally speaking up.
"I already said it; kill her!" Justin shouted.
How can someone be so excited about their potential death?
"If you're so intent on killing her, then why don't you?" Jesse asked.
"Fine, I will! Anybody willing to come along?"
"I'm good." I stepped back instantly.
"I will!" Jack volunteered.
"Cool. The rest of us are going to find the rest of Pierce the Veil." Jesse muttered.
"We're barely a mile away from where they are." Vic added.
"Catch up if you're not dead." I mumbled.
"Have more faith in us Kellin!" Justin smirked.
"Fine."
We started veering away from the girl, intent on taking the longer way through the clump of trees.
It was silent except for the soft padding of our footsteps and the occasional snap of a twig.
The pair of Toms I had on didn't quite fit me, so I quickly fell behind.
Vic led the way through the wooded area, followed by the remaining members of the band.
Bushes were starting to grow along the path, making it hard to maneuver.
Everyone else had just taken a sharp turn, putting them out of sight.
My foot caught on a root, causing me to stumble.
Untangling myself, I meant to move forward when something grabbed my ankle.
Cold fingers wrapped around my leg and pulled harshly.
Falling down, I started screaming.
"Vic!" I shouted, tears threatening to spill. "Something's got me! Something's FUCKING GOT ME!"
Before I could yell anything else, I heard laughing.
Justin and Jack were standing behind me, laughing their asses off.
I could see Justin was the one who had grabbed my ankle.
"Kellin!" Vic yelled, appearing in my line of sight. "What happened?"
"These two bastards-!" I started, unable to find the right words.
"We, just, got, Kellin good!" Jack laughed.
"Fuck you." I spit out, scrambling off of the floor.
"What about the girl?" Gabe asked, coming up to us.
"Taken care of." Justin smiled proudly.
"Put a bullet through her fucking brain." Jack added.
"Where did you get a gun?" I asked, intrigued.
"Kellin!" Justin yelled. "You can't be in the middle of a zombie attack and not be prepared! What are you going to do when you find yourself face to face with one?"
"Cry?" I suggested truthfully.
Honestly, that's probably what I would do.
Laughing, Justin walked ahead and let us out of the wooden area.
Pretty soon, we reached an old abandoned looking house made of cement walls.
It looked like something soldiers during World War II would hide in to protect themselves from bombs.
"Mike!" Vic yelled, pounding on the entrance. "It's us, let us in!"
After a couple minutes, the doorway opened and we were faced with Vic's brother.
"Hey guys."
"What took you so long?" Tony demanded, pulling himself off the floor.
"We lost half of Sleeping with Sirens." I shrugged. "The less important half at least."

Days passed in cramped silence.
The only time I actually talked was to complain about hunger.
Pierce the Veil would occasionally strum their guitars and sing in Spanish while the rest of my band tried to join in.
"Vic!" I yelled, after a while. "I'm hungry!"
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.
"Find me food?" I suggested.
"Where?"
"The fuck should I know!"
"..."
"Actually, I think I know where." Gabe spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"Any of the houses down this street."
“Wait, what?” Jack spoke up.
“These houses are bound to have some food, even if they’re canned month-old shit. It’s food, right?” Gabe explained.
“No, it’s not!”
“Shut up Kellin.” Gabe smirked. “You wanted food, and we’re getting you food.”
“Fine.” I muttered.
Sighing, Vic stood up and looked around the room. “There’s no fucking way I’m going out there by myself.”
“Don’t look at me!” I yelled out.
“I’ll go!” Justin volunteered.
“No!”
“Why?”
Everyone looked at me.
“If something happened, Justin’s the only one who could actually protect me.” I whined.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Vic frowned. “You don’t care what happens to me.”
“I love you!”
“Yeah, sure… So, who’s coming? Mike? Gabe?”
“Sure.”
“Yeah.” Mike agreed.
The three of them stood up and headed towards the door, taking a simple handgun with them.
Shuddering, I didn’t want to think about what could happen.
“We’ll be back in twenty minutes, regardless if we find food or not.” Vic sent me a pointed look.
“I hope you find food…”
Closing the door behind them, I sat down and wrapped my arms around my waist.
The windows were boarded over, so I couldn’t see what was going on outside.
Except for one, but it faced an empty field.
“Kellin, he’ll be okay.” Tony assured me.
Did I really look that worried?
“I hope so.”
“Why don’t you just write a song?” Jesse suggested, handing me Vic’s notebook and a pencil.
Agreeing to it, I opened to a fresh page and started penning my thoughts.

“Don’t bother sleeping without one eye open. Their arms wrap around you to hold you tight.”
Fifteen minutes passed in a calm silence before Jaime yelled out.
“They’re outside!”
“Who?” I jumped up, hoping he meant Vic and the others.
Running towards the only unbarred window on the second floor, I looked out into the semi-dark night.
Clusters of them, gathered in groups crept forward in a slow and melancholy motion.
“Kellin!” Jack yelled, frantic. “Where the fuck are you!”
“Upstairs.” I replied, looking through the thick glass.
“Thank god.”
“I can see their faces at the window…” I trailed off, enthralled by the army of the undead.
…and scared shitless.
Skipping a few steps, I sped downstairs and towards the living room. Jaime and Tony weren’t anywhere in sight.
“Where are they?” I demanded, catching sight of my band.
“They…left.”
“What?!” I yelled.
“It’s a family thing, Kellin.” Jesse spoke up. “Jaime and Tony just ran, saying they were going to find Vic and Mike.”
“Fuck.”
Vic was going to kill me that I let the rest of his band leave.
If I ever saw him again.
No.
I was going to see, I’m sure of that.
Scratching and clawing could be heard on the other side of the wooden planks.
Adrenaline started to flow through my veins as the moment of realization finally started to set in.
“Jesse, you take the front door! Justin and Jack, you take the back! If anything comes through, you put a bullet through their fucking brain!”
“Finally!” Justin shouted. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all day! Time to kick ass!”
“Where will you be?” Jesse asked me.
“Upstairs.” I decided. “Keeping watch for Vic.”
“Of course…” Jack rolled his eyes.
Ignoring him, I climbed the steps a lot slower and settled myself on the floor near the window.
Catching sight of the masses of bodies, I contained the urge to retch. They were literally corpses.
Corpses in motion as their clothes hung in tatters and their limbs slowly detached.
Focusing my attention towards the horizon, I tried to see in the blacked out windows of other houses.
Nothing.
Worry started to tug at me as I considered where Vic was.
“V-Vic…” I let out, leaning against the wall and closing my eyes.
I ended up falling asleep.
When I finally woke up, it was darker outside than I expected. I couldn’t see anything outside anymore.
“Jack?” I called out, sitting up. “Justin? Jesse?”
Creeping downstairs, I was surprised to find it empty. A cold wind was coming from the far end of the house.
“Justin?” I tried again, begging for an answer.
The cold draft led me to the back door, open wide into the night.
“Jesse?”
The silence echoed around me, taunting.
“Guys, this isn’t funny… If you’re hiding from me, I’m going to murder you.”
Cracking at the end of that sentence, my voice completely ruined any form of threat.
Squinting into the distance, I could finally make out moving bodies.
The sudden different between the tall and short body made me smile for a second.
“Mike! Vic!” I called out, standing in the doorway.
Instead of an answer, they moved stiffly and crept forward.
“Fuck.”
Out of everyone in the world, it would be me who’d end up alone in the middle of a wake of the undead.
“A taste for blood hungry for flesh…” I whispered, turning around to open the door.
Shaking the handle, I started to freak out.
Locked.
“Fuck!” I yelled out, a little louder than before.
Following the two brothers was a clan of others, edging just as slowly.
They’re closing in on me.
He approached me first, his skin drawn of color and his eyes contained a milky film over them.
“Vic…” I whispered, taking him in.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I realized it wouldn’t ever be the same again.
He was standing in front of me, but it wouldn’t make a difference.
He was dead.
His hand started to move down my spine, enveloping me in a cold grasp as I took a deep breath.
“I love you…” I whispered, the tears streaming.
“Kellin!” someone screamed.
Looking up, I could see Jack and Justin running towards me. They were perpendicular to the others, but still too far.
They wouldn’t make it.
Jaime, Tony, and Jesse were behind them.
Dead.
There’s nowhere else to hide.
Gabe was standing still behind Mike; dead.
“Kellin!” Justin screamed again. “Kellin, kill him!”
Shaking my head no, I looked away from my friends.
Placing my arms around Vic’s waist, I rested my head against his chest and let the tears continue to fall.
“I love you…” I repeated.
Pain started to shoot through my body as the inevitable happened.
You’ve felt the bite; don’t tell your friends what you’ve become.
In a sick and twisted way, we could still be together. Even if there’s nothing to come, I could always pretend.
It would be like a happily ever afterlife.
Closing my eyes, I felt my heartbeat slow down. No choice but send your body back to hell…