Okay, so I told myself that We Are Gonna Be Friends was going to be my last story on this site and possibly my last Fanfiction work forever, or least a long time, but I got this idea and couldn't help but write it! So this will be my,,, second to last piece?
So to everyone who has stuck with me over the past 2+ years and even people who have only read this story, thank you all so much!

Fez.

Jace had to admit, he did kind of see this coming.
The zombie apocalypse was foretold in the media- video games he had never been allowed to play, in horror and comedy films, in books; everything.

When the first reports- rumours really- had reached Brooklyn about a strange virus spreading across Africa and then Europe and now America, no one had really thought much about it. People had assumed the scientists would step in with a vaccine and cure before the end of the summer, and that the American people could go on living their lives without any fear.

However even when those rumours had first started to fly, life changed for Jace and his adoptive siblings Alec and Izzy. His parents, Maryse and Robert had always been rather… eccentric. Of course he loved them, and owed them for bringing him into their home and bringing him up, but they were definitely strange.
They believed the apocalypse was coming and for every weekend since Jace could remember, they had been going camping or hunting or some other survivalist military-type training that ranged from starting a fire with just wood, or foraging for berries or advanced hand to hand combat.
It was strange but fun and him, Alec and Izzy had never really believed what they were doing would actually be used, much less in a zombie-infested world. Sure some parts came in handy: when Jace was showing off his muscles to the ladies, or when Alec was being bullied for liking boys and had spectacularly fended them off before Jace could even step forward or when Izzy had been groped by some disgusting destined-highschool-dropout and had punched him twice in the face before the dumb brute could even blink.

All those years of training- no matter how military or exhausting or irritating it was for Jace- had paid off, as when the first zombies began shuffling down the streets of the city Jace loved. For all of their insistence of their children doing this training, Maryse and Robert were killed quickly. The zombies were dumb but they were not the zombies that the media had spread. They were hunters, they could run for miles when in kill mode, they were fast and would hunt out sources of loud sounds, and smell blood from blocks away and when you underestimated them, they could and would kill you.
Their group had seen their fair share of death already:
Max, little Max who insisted on bringing his manga books on every camping and hunting trip they went on, had been at school when the hordes really hit the city. Teachers had locked children in the main hall for their safety, but zombies had burst through and the family found little Max with his head caved in and blood on his knuckles from where he had tried to fend the zombies off.
When Maryse had been too slow to dodge a zombie that quickly took the chance to sink its teeth in her neck the infection had set in in mere seconds. The bullet that lodged in her forehead stopped the virus pretty quickly however. That was when they still didn't really know what they were doing, or how advanced the zombies were.
Robert had followed only weeks after, when their small group were searching for food that hadn't already been ransacked from stores. The zombies had found them and cornered them all, before Robert- never the same after shooting his wife- began shooting through the wall of zombies and urged his children to run.
Alec, Jace and Izzy had made it out that day, but Robert did not.
And since then, they had been even more careful- carrying swords and knives not guns, rationing and only leaving their new home at the top of an apartment block for food and to scour for survivors that they could help. They knew that staying in the city was dangerous, the country had less zombies but no resources. If they didn't immediately find a good place to stay, they would starve or freeze.
Plus, they felt they had a duty to help any people they found. They knew they were lucky that it just so happened that their… strange parents prepared them for an apocalypse their entire lives. So, they gave out food when they could spare it; directions to safe places across New York and tips on how to avoid zombies. They'd helped a few people but had no idea if those people had actually made it to safety.

And that's what they were doing now, backpacks strapped to their backs with all their worldly goods stepping through the rubble that was left when people went crazy at the thought of the end of the world. Now graffiti and ash where buildings had burnt and crashed cars filled the streets. Windows of shops were broken, with their insides ransacked for goods. Fools had taken TVs and other electronics, money from cash registers and materialistic items.
Whatever had happened to those people, Jace hoped they were happy with their 30-inch plasma TV in a zombie-ridden world without need for money.
"Guys, I'm picking something up." Izzy called, her voice low. There was no need to yell in the silent streets unless you had a death wish. She was examining her radio, tuning it with a frown on her face. Sadly, no radio stations still played the Top 40, but there was definitely some message crackling through the speaker.
"Hello. Is there anyone out there?" the voice called, amidst a constant fuzz. "This is a call for help. We are in the 'scraper on 40th street. We are not zombies but are in need of any resources you can spare." The voice dimmed into a hum as Izzy shook the machine.
Alec peered around a corner to check there were no interested zombies and turned back to Izzy and Jace. Jace noticed with some fondness that Alec needed a haircut. The length of his fringe was reminding him of Alec's forbidden emo phase past. Jace knew he needed a haircut too, let alone a good wash. He glanced at himself in the dusty reflection of a shattered window. His face was a lot thinner and his hair was curling at the ends into a halo around his face.
"Reply and say we're on our way. "Alec instructed Izzy, and her face screwed up into a glare as she squinted at her older brother. Jace could see one of their usual sibling bickering arguments coming on and rolled his eyes, walking almost out of earshot to scope out the street for any stalking zombies.
"Alec it's a receiver not a transmitter. We're just going to show up and make him let us in." she replied, rolling her eyes. Alec gave her an unimpressed look, walking in the direction of 40th street.
"What if it's a trap?" he asked, and Jace jogged lightly to catch up again, his sheathed knife bumping his knee- a steady reassurance.
"He sounds like a nerd, we can take him." Jace shrugged, taking the device from Izzy much to her annoyance. He fiddled more with the dials and the voice resumed, but clearer.
"Hello, if anyone is out there, please find us at the burnt tower on 40th street." Izzy rolled her eyes.
"It's only clearer because we're closer." She stated, and Jace gave a quiet scoff.
"He keeps saying 'we' and 'us' there's more than one of them." Alec warned.
The skyscraper was just ahead of them. Almost a quarter of it had been ruined, charred remains jutting into the sky. While it didn't seem the best place, it was safer from zombies (stairs were not their thing) It seemed these people at least had common sense.
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Izzy insisted forging ahead, and Alec rolled his eyes, feeling like the whole situation was already doomed, but following his sister anyway.