No, it's not a trick! It's a Halloween treat from your truly!

I don't own Total Drama or The Walking Dead.

Making his way down the street to their suburban home, he couldn't help sighing with frustration. His wife was increasingly on edge, and he couldn't help the growing temptations of avoidance and evasion when it came to going home after work.

She was so high strung and he was starting to worry that she was slipping back into the way she was before - the way she'd been after their youngest had been born. She'd managed to recover from that, and she'd been good for so long. He'd almost tricked himself into believing that perhaps she'd be that way for good.

But the quality of his home life was getting worse each day. He couldn't blame his daughter for retreating into her room whenever she was home. He couldn't blame his son for his growing addiction to reality television. He didn't blame either of them.

Their mother seemed hell-bent on making both of their lives a living hell.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the young man stumble out of a nearby alleyway. The man stood there as he walked by, stumbling after him for a moment before grabbing him from behind.

Pausing to take a deep breath before he started up the steps of the house he shared with his wife and their two – now teenage – children. The kid had given him a nasty bite but he was hardly concerned. A simple bite wouldn't kill him, no matter how much of his flesh the kid had sunk his teeth into.

After a moment, he made his way inside the house. Taking off his shoes and placing them on the shoe rack, he was startled when he straightened and found his daughter standing in front of him, her blue-grey eyes stretched wide with concern.

"Hey darling," he began before his daughter cut him off.

"I'm so sorry. This never should have happened to you." She said, moving to her father's side and inspecting the bloodied bite-mark where he'd been bitten clean through his shirt. "When I sensed the darkness surrounding our family, I should have warned you."

"Don't worry," her father assured her. "This isn't anything for you to worry over. Now where's your brother?"

"In his room." She answered simply and her father nodded, giving his daughter a quick one-armed hug and a kiss on the forehead before making his way down the hallway to Topher's bedroom.

A knock on his door went unheard as the geeky guy fiddled with the settings on the DJ program on his computer, his noise-cancelling headphones blocking out all possible distractions. He missed the second knock as well as his name being called. It wasn't until the older brunette woman made her way into the boy's room that he realized someone was here to talk to him and he pulled his headphones off.

"Your father and I have been talking,"

"Not again," The boy said as the woman closed the door behind herself and moved to sit on his bed.

"Yes, again." she said. "You're not doing yourself any favours, Cody. Your brother's off in college trying to make a career for himself and you're here – doing absolutely nothing with your life. Your father wants-"

"This isn't nothing, mom." he replied, irritated. "My videos are just starting to get popular. I'm gonna be famous-"

"Please be realistic." his mother said. "This isn't a real job. It's getting harder and harder to convince your father – if you don't get a job and start doing something with your life, I'm not going to be able to keep convincing him to let you stay here."

"It was slow at first, but I'm making over two hundred dollars a month, mom." he insisted. "There are youtubers out there who make thousands of dollars a month and soon I'll be one of them!"

"Cody, youtube is not a real job." she said. "And I can't help you if you won't help yourself. Your younger brother is off studying architecture so he can get a job after he graduates while you sit in your room all day and play games. You need to get a job and you need to get one soon."

Their mouths both set in a thin line, Cody did not respond. Taking this as a victory, his mother stood up and made her way out of his room, closing the door behind her.

Sighing aloud, Cody leaned back in his chair, his head tipped back as he stared up at the ceiling. He got at least two lectures from his mother and one heated argument with his father every week and it had long become tiring. But his parents didn't know what they were talking about. People could get famous and make livings on youtube! They just didn't understand.

Staring up at the white ceiling above him, he ran his fingers through his hair. His life was frustrating beyond belief. His parents had no faith in him and they'd long made it clear that he was not their favourite offspring.

It wasn't until he heard a tap at his bedroom window that he broke out of his trance.

Turning around in his black leather commander chair, he found someone he had certainly not expected to be crouched on the roof on the other side of the glass. Making his way over to the window, he pulled up the window and let his visitor inside.

"'Sup little bro? How's college life?"

"Mom and dad – have they been bitten?"

Cody couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Nope. And I haven't either."

"That's a relief." his brother said, ducking through the window and into his brother's bedroom. "We need to get going – are you any better with the machete I got you?"

"Yeah, definitely." Cody lied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Wait, where are we going?"

"To a safe house." he said. "I was right – it has begun."

"What's begun?" Cody asked, staring at his brother for a moment, stunned.

"The zombie apocalypse." he said. "It's started."

"Shawn, there are no such thing as zombies." Cody said with a frustrated sigh. "I think you need to lay off the weed a bit, bro."

"I'm serious, Cody." Shawn insisted. "I just saw a zombie bite some guy he passed in the street. The apocalypse is starting, and it's starting now!"

"It was probably a robbery or a prank or something." Cody said, before repeating his previous statement. "Zombies aren't real."

Cody turned to go back to his computer when he brother grabbed his arm, turning him back to face him and holding him in place by both arms. "Do you hear yourself right now? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Do you hear yourself right now?" Cody countered, exasperated. "Shawn, you're the best little bro a man could have but you have got to get a hold of yourself. Zombies aren't real."

Shawn frowned. "Well don't you sound like Dad."

"What? No, I-"

"I thought you of all people would understand."

"Shawn, wait-" Cody said as his brother climbed out onto the roof.

"When you realize that I'm right, come find me."

"I'm nothing like dad!" Cody yelled, leaning out the window after his brother, only to find the other boy had vanished from sight. "Shawn?"

Making his way through the front door of the house he shared with his two sisters he took a deep breath. Neither one was going to like what he had to say, but he was certain they'd understand. This was a thing he had to do. For all of them.

As he walked into the kitchen, his twin gave him one look and knew something wasn't right. "You've got something on your mind."

"I've got news." he replied.

Nodding mutely, she pulled up a seat at their kitchen table, gesturing for him to take a seat as well. She was a very misunderstood individual. As much as she did have a temper problem, she did have a soft side. They'd known each other since birth and she knew him better than anyone, and vice versa.

She was a tough, prickly individual and she had few friends, whereas he was friendly and had several, even though most of them were his comrades. No matter how many people he got to know, how close they were to him, his twin sister would always be his best friend.

"Scarlett back from her dad's yet?" he asked, glancing around for their half-sister.

"Her train is delayed; she won't be here until nine." she answered, fixing her dark eyes on her brother. "Brick, start talking."

"Scarlett isn't going to like this,"

His sister looked relieved. "You're being located again?"

"The military is really concerned about this new disease that's been spreading," Brick said. "They're relocating a large portion of the force to near one of the more highly afflicted areas so that if things get out of control and people get violent, we're there to protect the citizens. But Scarlett's not going to-"

"Scarlett's sixteen. It doesn't matter if she's not happy – she doesn't support this family, she doesn't get a say."

"I know, Eva, but I still feel guilty about constantly shifting her around and interrupting her studies. She doesn't have many friends as it is and now she'll have to go and make new ones."

"She'll be okay." his twin assured him. "She's a lot stronger than you think. She just makes a big fuss because she doesn't like having to tear down her lab every time we have to re-locate. Once she gets everything set up again, she'll be fine."

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