First off, I don't own Merlin or the characters, I am just playing for a bit, this was a prompt I found on merlinkinkmeme about them living through a zombie apocalypse and decided to try it. The zombies are called 'Rotters' though and are a bit different.
Warning : This is not going to be a very happy story, the rating may go up, depends on how far I go on certain things. I am going to bring in most of the characters on the show, but be aware that they might die, I'm not sure that by the end of this that Merlin and Arthur will live, honestly. There will be some gore, probably a lot of swearing and a lot of name calling between Merlin and Arthur but if you haven't run yet, please continue.
Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story, they are mostly OOC, and they all have their backgrounds and I will go into them, and right now, Gwen's is probably the most interesting and I will get to the Arthur/Merlin thing here, probably by the third chapter, if not the fourth.
Merlin glanced at the girl next to him as he dug into his dinner of canned beans, cold as they don't dare start a fire, wondering, not for the first time, about her story. Her dark hair was kept short, her dark brown eyes were ringed by black, and her dark skin was sallow. The only really personal thing about her that he knew was that her name was Gwen and that she used a cross bow. He didn't know where she was from, if she had any family or if she was heading in any particular direction.
She had saved his life the first time when he had been backed into a corner by four Rotters, stuck in a closet in an abandoned school. She had come out of nowhere with her dog and taken out two of them leaving room for Merlin to take out the others. She had nodded to him and went on her way, not saying one word to him.
The next time he had seen her, he had found her on top of a semi truck trying to fight off six Rotters, her dog's body lying next to the truck, three of the Rotters feasting on it. There were seven Rotters lying on the ground, bolts sticking out of their heads and he could see she was low on ammo. He had rushed in, trying to be the hero and because it was him, he tripped on a pebble and went down. This was enough to get the attention of most of the Rotters, allowing her to finish them off. She had climbed down from the truck by the time he had pulled himself to his feet and was kneeling over her dogs body. He had approached cautiously and stopped when she looked up, eyes haunted, cheeks tear stained and she turned back before she stood and put a bolt through the dog's brain. He watched her systematically pull each bolt out of every Rotter's skulls and clean them off with cloths she pulled out of a pack before she turned. She slung the pack onto her back and then the crossbow over her left shoulder, placing the bolts in a holster on her thigh.
"Gwen," she had said in a voice rough as if she hadn't used it in a long while.
"Merlin," he replied and she squinted at him as if to determine that she had heard right, he got that a lot. Nodding to him, she turned and started walking down the street but stopped when she realized he wasn't following.
"Coming?" she called back and Merlin scrambled to catch up, nearly falling on his face again before reaching her.
He had learned quickly that she didn't say much, hell she didn't say anything really, not that Merlin minded. He had been on his own for so long that he forgot what it was like having someone around, even if that person never spoke. In the first few days he had tried to talk to her but she had either given one worded answers or didn't respond at all and Merlin learned fast that was all she was willing to give.
They had holed up in a small town outside of the capitol of Camelot, boarding up the windows and putting several bars across the doors of a small house. There were two levels, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, Merlin was glad that plumbing still worked by some miracle. Gwen had taken the large bedroom on the ground floor, not even asking if it worked for Merlin and he had taken one with an attached bathroom on the second floor. They had set up alarms on all windows and doors, mostly cans attached to rope, attached to the wood so any movement on them would alert them. Merlin had learned that Gwen rarely slept, he had awoken a few times in the night when the 'alarms' had gone off to find Gwen up already and watching the alarmed area.
Hearing a whine, Merlin turned to find their dog, a large Golden Retriever watching them, waiting for his own meal and Merlin reached for a bag of dog food the former owner had left and poured a bowl. They had found Kilgarrah wandering the street outside and as he had not attacked them, they had let him move in with them. Gwen ignored him mostly, Merlin figured she was still hurting from her dog's death so it fell to him to take care of the dog. Kilgarrah was also a nice early warning system, he tended to let them know that a Rotter was close, long before their alarms. Like now, for instance, when Kilgarrah was pulled from his dinner, his ears perked forward and staring at the front door.
"I'll check," Merlin whispered, and slid from the stool he was sitting on and moved towards the door, picking up his shotgun as he went, Kilgarrah at his side. Moving to the window that framed the front door, he peered through the hole left between the wood planks. He didn't see anything at first but movement to his right had him glancing that way. He could see a man and a woman making their way down the sidewalk, the man had his arm around the woman's shoulders and was limping heavily.
"Who's there?" Gwen's voice had him jumping and spinning around to find her there, her crossbow in her hands, a bolt knocked. Merlin moved out of the way so she could see herself and he heard her curse for the first time.
"Rotters?" Merlin asked and she shook her head before stepping back and removing the bars that held the front door shut. "What are you doing?" he hissed as she opened the door, causing the two people on the sidewalk to stop, turn and raise their own weapons. Merlin followed Gwen out onto the porch, his shotgun raised and appraised the two. The man was near his age, maybe older, with a firm build, blond hair a handgun in his hand and what looked like a sword at his belt. The woman had dark hair framing an angled face and she was probably older than him by a couple of years.
"Are you bit?" Gwen called, her crossbow pointed downwards but at the ready and the two people glanced at each other.
"No," it was the woman who responded, "he fell off of a roof trying to escape some Rotters, I think his ankle is broken." There was a long silence as they all eyed each other, tense, wondering what the others would do next when the tension was broken by Kilgarrah. The dog had stayed behind Merlin until that moment, but suddenly he was darting forward and rushing to the stranger's side. Merlin had a fleeting thought that he was going to attack, but instead, he jumped on the man and started licking his face.
"Kilgarrah?" the man asked, trying to pet the jumping, whining dog as he moved to the woman who laughed and hugged him.
"You know him?" Merlin called and the man looked up from rubbing Kilgarrah's sides, looking annoyed.
"He's my dog, he ran off several days ago, I was afraid a Rotter had gotten him, thank you for looking after him," he said laughing again when Kilgarrah tried to jump on him. As the two on the porch watched the two on the sidewalk they heard a loud groan and looked up the street. Maybe a block away, three Rotters were moving towards them and Kilgarrah stopped and laid his ears back, growling.
"Shit," the woman hissed and wrapped the man's arm around her neck again and made to look like they were going to keep going when Merlin called out.
"Wait," he called, moving towards them, watching as they tensed as he drew nearer. Once he got to the other side of the man, he wrapped his arm around his neck and looked at them. "We have plenty of room, and you'll never outrun them while injured." The strangers looked at each other then the house then the Rotters and all three started moving towards the house quickly, Kilgarrah watching their backs. They could hear the Rotters getting closer and they tried to go faster but the man couldn't walk on his left foot, so it was slower going than they wanted.
Two feet from the porch, Merlin tripped as he was wont to do and landed heavily, luckily he had let go and the other two had only stumbled, unluckily, a Rotter was right behind them. Turning on his back, Merlin fought to pull his shotgun out from under him but realized he wouldn't be able to before the Rotter was on him. Cursing, he looked to find an out as the Rotter moved over him and was about to roll to the side, when suddenly the Rotter's head was gone.
"Come on," the man said, both he and the woman dragging Merlin to his feet as Gwen took out the other two. Once inside, the man collapsed onto the moth-eaten sofa with a groan and a curse.
"Are you always that clumsy?" he demanded, looking directly at Merlin who blushed furiously, noticing that the man was holding a sword that was dripping with blood, explaining the missing head.
"Yes," Gwen said, turning from securing the door to find Kilgarrah with his head on the man's lap, looking up at him with loving eyes.
"Hey," Merlin cried indignantly and she passed him with a smile.
"Gwen," Gwen went on, ignoring Merlin and pointing to herself, "Merlin," she said pointing to him.
"Arthur, Morgana," the man replied, pointing to himself and the woman who nodded to them.
"Let me look at your foot," Gwen said, moving into the room and pulling the foot onto the coffee table in front of the couch. Pulling off the boot and sock, she examined the swollen appendage she pressed on it and nodded to herself. "It's not broken, it's just sprained badly," she determined and stood, "I've got a brace we can put on it." She left the room and walked into her bedroom and Merlin looked between the two people.
Morgana was beautiful up close, dark hair and dark green eyes, tough looking, wearing green cargo pants, black combat boots, black t-shirt and a black leather jacket. She had a shotgun slung over her shoulder, a wicked looking dagger at her hip and a handgun tucked into the back of her pants that he noticed when she turned to take in their surroundings.
Arthur was gorgeous and Merlin thought he could detect similarities in their looks, siblings perhaps, but he was light where she was dark. Light blond hair, and blue eyes, he was wearing jeans, combat boots and a dark blue shirt, and a dark jacket sat next to him, a pack at his feet.
"So are you really always that clumsy?" Arthur asked and Merlin glared at him.
"Are you always such a prat?" he demanded and Arthur laughed
"Usually," the other man responded, "and usually people thank someone who saved their life."
"Here we are," Gwen said, entering the room again, brandishing a ace bandage and sat back down on the table in front of Arthur.
"Are you a doctor?" Morgana asked and Gwen glanced up at her before returning to her work.
"Intern, second year residency at Camelot General," she said and didn't say any more, which had Merlin wondering as he had never heard her speak so much.
"We only have one room left, it's upstairs, Gwen has the one down here," Merlin put in a few minutes later when they had lapsed into silence.
"I can move upstairs, maybe share a room with Morgana so Arthur doesn't have to walk up the stairs.
"I can make it up the stairs," Arthur protested, "I'll share the room with Morgana, she's my sister, so it won't be awkward."
"If you're sure," Gwen said, looking at him skeptically.
"I'm sure, now show me where this room is," he said standing and testing his foot. It seemed to hold him better than it had and he was able to hobble up the stairs after Gwen, Morgana following him.
Merlin checked his shotgun again and pulled his pack onto his back and slid his knife into his hip holster, his handgun into the shoulder holster and his baseball bat into his pack.
"Are you sure you'll be ok with him?" Arthur asked as he watched the other three get ready to scavenge, eying Merlin closely, causing said man to glare at him.
"I can take care of myself," he defended and Arthur laughed.
"Not from what I've seen," he pointed out and Merlin scowled. Arthur and Morgana had been with them three days and they were running out of food fast with the extra mouths. They hadn't had any reason to go outside before now, but the others had watched Merlin trip over his feet and absolutely nothing several times.
"Clot-pole," Merlin muttered under his breath.
"We'll be fine," Morgana replied, pulling on her jacket, "we're only going to the next few houses, we'll be back in an hour." The houses around them were unexplored so far, Merlin and Gwen had been eating what they found in their house and what they had brought with them. Arthur and Morgana had some food, but not enough to feed them all.
"Kilgarrah," Merlin said, turning to the dog who sat watching them as well, "stay with Arthur, watch him." Arthur had been indignant when he had found that his dog followed Merlin's commands more than his after his return. Kilgarrah whined and pressed his forehead against Merlin's leg, pushing gently before turning around and climbing onto the couch next to Arthur, his eyes still on those getting ready to leave.
"I'll check for the all clear," Morgana said and Merlin removed the bars on the door and she slipped out. Both Merlin and Gwen watched her, Merlin's shotgun at the ready, Gwen's crossbow knocked with a bolt. Morgana made her way out slowly and peered down both sides of the street before raising a hand, gesturing for them to move out of the house. Merlin turned and gave Arthur a nod, the other man standing to replace one of the bars as they left and exited the house. They stayed in a triangle formation, each taking a turn to check behind them and they moved quickly and silently to the next house over.
It was a three story ranch style house that was luckily unlocked and they quickly made their way inside, making sure that they had not been seen and quickly swept the house for any Rotters before looking for supplies. The house was empty, but it looked intact, no clothes were strewn about, nothing indicated that the people living there had left in a hurry, something that niggled at the back of Merlin's mind.
"I'll check down here, Gwen, you take the second floor, Merlin, the third," Morgana said. Merlin had found that the woman was very bossy and was very good at getting people to do what she said, just by her presence alone. He assumed she was a lawyer in her previous life, or something where she was in charge, Arthur was the same way but he was more arrogant about it. They didn't talk about their former lives, it was too painful to think about what they had lost when the world went to shit but still Merlin wondered.
Merlin followed Gwen up the stairs and nodded to her when he kept going, stopping at the first door on the right, a bedroom hew knew from the previous sweep and started rummaging. He found some clothes that he thought might fit Arthur and shoved them into a pack he found in the closet. Moving on, he entered a large bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet, smiling when he found a small bottle of Aspirin, some toothpaste and mouthwash. Rooting through the drawers, he found several razors, both male and female and threw them into the bag. Through the rest of the floor, he found more clothes, a toothbrush still in its packaging, floss and contact solution, which he knew both Morgana and Gwen needed. As he made his way towards the stairs, something in the ceiling caught his eye and he looked up to find an entrance to an attic above him. Curiously, he pulled on the string and the ladder dropped down and he climbed up. Stopping with his head just above the opening, he pulled out his flashlight and swung it around, stopping when something caught his eye. There was movement in the far corner of the attic and when he shined his light back, he found four Rotters staring back at him.
"Fuck!" he yelped and scrambled back down the stairs as the Rotters moved towards him. Jumping when he was half way, he slammed into the wall before turning around and slamming the hatch closed, knowing that it wouldn't stop the creature's for very long.
"Gwen, Morgana! We have to leave!" he yelled, running down the stairs, passing Gwen as he went, he grabbed onto her sleeve and dragged her down the rest of the way.
"What is going on?" Morgana asked, walking out of the kitchen where it looked like she was packing food.
"Get that and we have to go," he said, just as he heard something slam into the floor above them.
"What was that?" Morgana asked, but she did as she was told and they all hurried to pack up the food as they heard the first groans above them.
"I don't think the family left, it looked like they holed up in the attic and turned, now they're aware we're here and we need to leave," Merlin said, grabbing one of the bags and slinging it over his shoulder. Morgana grabbed the other and they bolted for the sliding glass doors that led out to the backyard.
"Damn it!" Morgana cried when the doors wouldn't open, seemingly rusted on their tracks.
"Move," Merlin called and blasted the glass out when the girls were far enough away and they dashed through, the Rotters dangerously close. They rounded the house, glad to see that there was no fence blocking their way but stopped short when they found two Rotters in front of them.
"Shit, I hate smart Rotters," Morgana said under her breath as they stood back to back, three more Rotters coming up behind them.
"It's only five Rotters, that's not too bad," Gwen said.
"I don't know where these two came from," Merlin replied, eying the two in front of them, "there were four in the attic, where is the other one?" As he said this they heard breaking glass from above them and found a body flying out of a window on the second floor and coming towards them. They ducked to avoid the glass and the body, Morgana and Gwen going towards the three, Merlin going towards the two, getting separated by the one that had taken a swan dive out of the window. Over the shoulders of the two, he could see another three coming their way, probably attracted by the shot he had taken at the glass doors.
"Guys, more are coming," he called and heard the girls cursing behind him. Trying to think of a way out while keeping the Rotter's away, he suddenly became aware of a pain in his side. Looking down, he found that his white shirt had blood on it and he lifted it to find a deep gash on his abdomen.
"Merlin, can you make it through your group?" Morgana called and he looked down at his shotgun, he had six shells, a full clip for his handgun and his baseball bat. The baseball bat was only if he ran out of bullets but he was sure he wouldn't do that, or he really hoped anyway.
"Yeah, I should be able to," he called back.
"Great, we'll make our way around the other side of the house and meet up on the other side," she called and he could hear her running. Slinging his shotgun over his chest with the strap attached he reached for his handgun, he didn't need to attract more attention if he could help it and raised the pistol. Shooting the closest one in the head, he quickly turned and shot the other, moving forward, shooting the two of the others as he ran across the yard, wondering where the third one went. He saw the girls ahead of him, they were being followed by the family and Gwen took down a young girl, probably around the age of twelve as Morgana took out the mother. As they finished off their group they turned towards him and he was only ten feet from them when something grabbed onto the bag around his chest and pulled.
Merlin slammed into the ground, his head bouncing off of it and causing him to see stars as he lay there gasping for breath, paralyzed for a moment in shock. Above him a Rotter was looking down at him, his mouth was gaping wide, a lot of the flesh had rotted off of his face, leaving the right side of his jaw and cheek exposed.
He vaguely heard the girls calling his name and heard several more shots but he couldn't get his limbs to move as the Rotter got closer and Merlin closed his eyes. Several long moments passed but nothing happened and when he opened his eyes, the Rotter was gone and Arthur was standing above him, holding his sword
"You really are an idiot, you know that?" the other man asked and pulled him to his feet, steadying him when he stumbled.
"What happened?" Merlin asked as the girls rushed towards them and Merlin glanced down to find the his Rotter lying on the ground, his head a foot away from his body.
"I saved your life again, that's what happened, and you're welcome," Arthur said limping next to him as the girls moved to support them both.
"Let's get back, I'm sure these noises have attracted more attention than we want," Morgana said from Arthur's side. They made their way back to their home and entered, both girls pushing the men onto the sofa, Morgana left to put the food away and Gwen went to get supplies.
"Thank you," Merlin said finally after they had been alone for several minutes.
"Idiot," Arthur muttered elbowing him in the side as they waited for Gwen to get back.