Jackunzel Week Day 2: Confession. So this is a Zombie Apocalypse AU and I figured that the day could mean a confession of love. So I think that this AU could work. However, here's a warning. Do not read if you can't stand character death and blood. I can't write a zombie AU hehe *flops over and groans* Okay so this was inspired by "The Fallout" by everythursday, and if you ever want to read a Dramione fic that makes you laugh and cry, read it. Oh and this scene where Jack and Rapunzel are dancing was inspired by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that one scene where Harry tries to cheer Hermione up by dancing with her.
Just figured I ought to give my inspirations here on a list. Plus it might seem all over the place and uggggh I hated writing this and trying to actually make it good. (At which I ultimately failed) It may get a bit OOC, just ngggh I suck and I fail at making it seem believable.
July 12th
Jack Frost never expected to find the girl he fell in love with in a pile of rotting flesh.
He and his team of ragtag young adults, survivors from the terrible event, had broken into a home, the tall apartment charred and with broken windows, the bits of glass scattered around the grassy area that surrounded it.
Searching for supplies, he encounters a girl that's on his survival team holding a few items towards him. She's lucky he looked up in time. He already has a rifle clutched in his grasp.
"There's some food," she says, displaying rusted cans of beans and corn. Jack tries to remember her name. Elsa, he believes that her name is. It's pretty hard to forget her with her pale, almost white hair. It's just like his own.
"Where are the others?" Jack asks wearily, following Elsa into what used to be a sitting room. Overturned couches, fallen decorations, there must've been a party when all hell broke loose. Pretty paintings are slashed in half, and presents with torn paper that would never reveal the treasures they held lay strewn aside.
"Merida's upstairs. Hiccup's with her," Elsa says, pausing by a broken wine glass to see if the liquid residue left inside is recent or not.
That's when Jack lays his eyes on her.
There are a few bodies, dried blood staining their shirts and jackets, thrown all over the sofa that protrudes stuffing. They're all dead- except for one. Her eyes are closed shut, her chest hovers ever so slightly, but she plays the facade well.
Golden hair stained red with blood fans over her chest and the floor, tattered clothing hangs on her frame as if she had fought with someone- or something. Elsa crouches by the girl, reaching for the girl's face. The girl makes a small noise, a whimper of sorts at the back of her throat. Elsa retreats.
"We're not going to hurt you," she whispers. "We're human." A pause that seems like forever passes by. Without knowing it, Jack holds his breath. The girl cracks an eyelid open to reveal an emerald green eye that is filled with tears.
"You're not-" The girl exhales but won't open her eyes. "A zombie?"
Zombies. A mainstream term that people used to throw around jokily. Then it happened. The idea that many deemed ridiculous. A zombie apocalypse that destroyed almost all of mankind overnight, caused by an experiment gone wrong. Anyone bitten would become infected. Those who weren't, were killed and eaten. Jack has to admit that this girl had every right to be scared, even as he scoffs at her ignorance.
"Zombies don't speak," Elsa whispers soothingly. The girl finally opens her eyes. Jack inhales without realization to see her thin, obviously starved face turning towards his.
"Who are you?" the girl asks, her voice wavering. She stands slowly, reaching for the destroyed couch behind her to help herself up. "And how did you find me?"
"Survivors," Jack grunts out before Elsa can answer. "We weren't looking for you, just for some stuff."
"You were going to rob my house?" The girl asks indignantly. Alright, Jack finds himself getting irritated at this.
"You find a better solution when every place is either overrun by those undead maniacs or lined up with explosives," Jack snaps back before he can stop himself. "Where have you been?"
The girl looks offended, but only for a split second. "Hmph." She turns to Elsa, because she's better than Jack. "Can I go with you?"
"No," Jack says before Elsa can even answer. "You'd get caught in a minute. This is a team for survivors- we just met you. No."
Elsa frowns. "Jackson Overland Frost, you might be the leader of this team, but you're sure as hell not the only one who makes decisions," Elsa spits bitterly. Turning to the girl, she smiles. "Of course. What's your name?"
Jack is torn between feeling bad about not knowing Elsa's full name and anger at her for defying a clear order of his.
"Rapunzel," the girl says. "Rapunzel Corona."
Jack snorts, unhappy with the entire arrangement. Little did he know, that this was the first day that he started falling for her.
August 7th
They never stayed at one place for too long. It would eventually attract attention, and they were a group of quite human people that any undead crone would love to sink their rotten jaws into.
Today, though, they stay overnight. Jack stumbles into the kitchen to find himself a late night snack of something canned, but he finds he's not alone.
Rapunzel is dancing in the kitchen. Her hair whips around her frame, almost wrapping her up in those locks of hers, and her skirt flies outwards. Like everything they have, the clothing is scavenged and on the larger or smaller side. Jack, though, looks at them as if they fit her perfectly.
She's humming something, only pausing in her movements to take a bite of the canned pineapple she has opened. Then she's back at it again; swaying, dipping, humming. On one turn, she finds herself face to face with him.
"Jack!" Rapunzel gasps, sliding to an abrupt spot so that her bare toes squeak on the dirty tile floor. Jack can't stop the chuckle that sprouts from his throat when she colors a deep red.
"Don't stop on my account," Jack moves towards the opposite corner and helps himself to Rapunzel's pineapple. "It's very entertaining." He leans against the counter and smirks at her, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.
Rapunzel huffs, refusing to start her dancing with him in the room. Soon, she begins rummaging in a pile of things heaped at the corner of the kitchen, most likely from the previous owners. Jack raises his eyebrow, assuming she's lost it. When they had first arrived at the house, they had searched it, but it had appeared to be a pile of old electronics. Nothing useful for them.
Rapunzel, however, yanks something out that Jack hasn't seen in a long time. A radio. Jack opens his mouth to say that electronics haven't worked, that all power sources are gone, but closes it when he sees the way Rapunzel's face lights up at the hunk of damaged metal.
Somehow, she gets it to work. Fiddling with dials, getting pieces of wires to connect with the top, and finding an old CD, it begins to play. Jack is torn between marveling at the music, or marveling at her.
Rapunzel smiles triumphantly, shooting Jack a glance that tells him that he was wrong. It was as if she read his mind, Jack thinks amusedly.
She's back to dancing again. Swirling slowly, but getting faster, her feet hit the floor in a jig and she kicks a leg high in the air. Jack chuckles again, because she's shamelessly moving as if she's alone.
Rapunzel's skirt swishing, her heavy breathing, and the music blaring an old tune Jack was fond of in his younger years are the only sounds in the room. To be fifteen again, oh, what Jack could give. He's already approaching twenty and he's got no one left. His sad thoughts must mirror on his face, because Rapunzel pauses in front of him and extends her hand.
Jack furrows his brow at her because this is bizarre. There's no way that he'll accept, he thinks. Rapunzel grabs his roughened palms before he can speak, and yanks him towards her until his chest slams against hers, letting a giggle escape her lips.
Rapunzel moves him to the side and back again, in time to the man who sings. She keeps a bright smile on her face, one Jack does not realize he is copying until later. Rapunzel laughs when her bare feet step on his toes, Jack laughs when she stumbles into his arms.
He spins her. Rapunzel swirls around again, this time in Jack's arms. He holds her by one hand, the other circling her waist and he laughs again. Rapunzel can't contain her laughter either, giggling uncontrollably every time they butcher dances.
They attempt a waltz that they horribly accomplish, Rapunzel's right hand in his left, Jack's right hand on her waist. Rapunzel rests her head on Jack's shoulder as the song slows down, and Jack rests his chin on her head. They're quiet, letting the song fade out to indicate the ending.
Jack notices Rapunzel is crying silently, her wet eyelashes pressing into his neck.
He holds her tighter because he does not know what to do.
August 26th
They hadn't been alone since the night they danced. When they raid another home, Jack goes with Merida and will not listen to Hiccup, Elsa, or Rapunzel's protests.
When Jack is suiting himself up with weapons, Rapunzel quietly goes to his side and asks him to come back.
"Why?" Jack asks, clearly confused as he straps a rifle to his chest. "Punz, I never said I was planning to die-"
"Please," Rapunzel cuts him off. "Just come back."
"I promise," Jack says solemnly. Rapunzel hugs him tightly. He hugs her back, his head burrowing into her shoulder.
They're only interrupted when Elsa coughs from the doorway. Her eyes are hazy, and her slim fingers clutch a cigarette. She had picked up the bad habit when they had raided a house owned by someone who hoarded the nicotine by the cases. Hiccup, the ever rational one, had attempted to get her to quit, but Elsa insisted it helped her cope with the shit she'd been through.
"Merida wants to leave," Elsa says now, exhaling ringlets of smoke from her lips.
Jack nods, but Rapunzel's hands fist themselves into his shirt. She reluctantly lets him go.
August 30th
When Jack and Merida finally return, they're blood splattered and bear supplies.
Hiccup announced their return triumphantly, giving Jack a thump on his back and Merida an awkward hug. Elsa scolds them for taking too long, and Rapunzel, having feared them both dead, bursts into sobs.
Jack immediately envelops her in a hug, staining her with the blood, but Rapunzel's shaky laughter lets him know it's alright.
November 18th
The five of them decided to break into a quiet home at the end of a street all at once.
"There's safety in numbers," Elsa argues, which Jack won't hear.
"We're asking to get killed, Arendelle," Jack gets angry enough to refer to Elsa by her last name. At least he's remembered it this time.
Elsa flounces in by the front door, followed by Hiccup and Merida. Jack growls but walks in after her. Rapunzel timidly follows, because she doesn't want to be the only one to take Jack's side.
The quietness was a deceiving trap. Inside the kitchen, they encounter the fright of their lives.
Zombies.
Their sagging faces green and decaying, maggots in the peeling flesh and moans eliciting themselves from throats that have lost their lungs. There must be five or ten of them, limping closely towards the warm bodied humans in their presence.
Jack yells at them to run. He grabs Rapunzel by the hand, Merida shoves Hiccup away, but Elsa pauses in front of one zombie.
"Anna?" she whispers slowly, her blue eyes watering. "Anna!" Jack reaches for her, but Elsa avoids his touch. Hiccup whips a weapon out, aiming for the zombie, but Elsa gets too close and he may shoot her if she doesn't back away.
The zombie Anna is Elsa's sister. At least she was once. The zombie only limps towards Elsa, attempting to growl. The glassy eyes, stringy auburn hair, it was a sight to behold. Yet Elsa greets it as if it were made of gold.
"Elsa, get the fuck over here!" Jack screams. Rapunzel doesn't think she's ever seen him so distressed. His eyes are wild, his hair is mussed.
"Elsa!" Hiccup echoes, worry threading his words. "Elsa, just-"
"Anna," Elsa breathes, touching the zombie's cheek affectionately. "I'm so sorry- I'm so sorry I left you alone- When they bit you, I should've stayed with you- I could have helped you-"
"Elsa!" Rapunzel takes her turn to scream, her own eyes widening. "Elsa, please!"
None of their words take effect. Elsa is in a place only she can access, approaching the zombie with shuddering breaths.
"Elsa, lass, yer-" Merida's words are lost on Elsa, the distress evident in her own voice as well.
"Anna-" Elsa sobs, and embraces the creature that was once her sister. "Of course I want to build a snowman." The words only mean something to Elsa, maybe once to her sister, but syllables and letters could not put feeling into something dead.
"Elsa!" Rapunzel screams again, reaching, but it's too late.
Elsa's death is brutal and gory. The zombie rips her apart, her blood spilling, Elsa's last breath a mangled cry of her sister's name.
Rapunzel screams yet again, the sound tearing her throat, as she reaches for her friend's dead body.
Jack shoves Rapunzel away, after Merida and Hiccup, who have taken off running. Rapunzel sobs uncontrollably, heaving until she's sure that her heart had torn in two, when she's aware that someone next to her is sniffling.
"She's so fucking stupid!" Jack bellows, tears betraying his anger for sadness. "So fucking- stupid-" He cries like a little boy, sniffling and rubbing at his nose and eyes with his sleeve.
Rapunzel knows that Elsa was like a sister to him. To all of them. Even Merida cries, letting Hiccup hug her to bring some sort of comfort to the redhead. Rapunzel knew her for even less time, but she won't stop crying either. Elsa was her first friend- the first person to give her a smile since the terrible event...
November 20th
Jack locks himself into the room of a safe house and won't leave for three days.
During these days, Hiccup and Merida leave him alone but Rapunzel does not.
Unsure of what to think, unsure if Elsa meant more to Jack than just a friend, Rapunzel takes meals to Jack's room, and the only thing that brings her solace is when the dishes she has placed outside of his door are gone.
December 1st
Since Elsa's death, Jack insists that safety procedures are in order. He does not let anyone travel alone, and gives at least three more guns to each person to carry. Anything hazardous is to be disposed of.
"I'm sorry, Punz," Jack says sadly, looking at Rapunzel, who has been brushing her hair out. "The hair has to go."
Rapunzel pauses. "M-My hair?" she asks, running her fingers through her silky locks. "Jack, you don't understand-"
"Rapunzel, please," Jack says, his voice sounding weary and thin. "It's too long. If you're running, it could get caught on something, or something can grab it."
Rapunzel bites her bottom lip, praying that Jack can't tell that tears are beginning to well in her eyes.
"Ah'll help ye, Rapunzel, if ye want me tae," Merida offers, which is unlike herself. Rapunzel can only nod, letting Merida walk her into another room, in front of a cracked mirror.
Rapunzel stands and lets Merida put the blade of her knife against her hair.
"Where?" Merida asks softly. Rapunzel can only shrug, pointing at her chin because she can't think of anyplace else that will be simpler.
Merida sighs, inhaling and cutting the long strands in one fluid motion. The blond locks fall to the floor, tangling in the dirt that stains the carpet, and Rapunzel exhales a shuddering sob before she can stop herself.
Merida's response is placing the blade to around her neck, chopping her own red curls messily and watching the cascade of hair join Rapunzel's.
Rapunzel fingers her now short hair. It is jagged and splays around her chin, making her green eyes seem bigger than before. Her hair meant everything to her. It had been her last memory of home. Memories of how her mom would brush it, and how her dad would play with it, they were lost with it. She had been growing it since she was little, never cutting it. Now, when she finally did, it was someone's order and not her own choice.
Merida seems to notice that Rapunzel is feeling horribly, so she exhales and looks around the room. Her eyes land on a box, left with worthless cosmetics, that she brings to Rapunzel now.
"If ye want-" Merida holds the box out. "We can dye it. Make ye look different." The color is brown, and Rapunzel exhales at the sight. She decides to do it. She doesn't want to remember her past self anymore.
"Okay," Rapunzel whispers.
When she and Merida emerge, their hair cut short and Rapunzel's colored brown, Hiccup and Jack stare.
Merida jabbers on to Hiccup about that he better not comment on the length, while Jack takes in Rapunzel's appearance.
"I figured it'd be better brown," Rapunzel tries to smile, but it comes out forced. Jack reaches for a tendril, tucks it behind her ear and gives her a solemn look.
"I'm sorry," he repeats. He hugs her close, and presses a light kiss to her forehead. "It's better for you."
Rapunzel cries because she can. She can feel selfish and sad that her hair has been cut because there's no one that will tell her otherwise. The only thing Jack does is hug her tighter, murmuring how sorry he is.
December 13th
Jack's safety procedures seem extreme, but when the time comes, they're grateful for them because they're currently cornered in an alley.
What begins as another raid turns into a game, where they go from being the hunters to the hunted.
Zombies crowd around them. Rapunzel's breathing gets harder, remembering Elsa's death again. Jack steps in front of her, Hiccup steps in front of Merida. Rapunzel thinks that is a sweet thing for Hiccup to do, but Merida shoves him aside with an angry sneer.
Rapunzel does the same. She won't let Jack die for her, and she pushes him gently to the side.
The zombies are getting closer. Jack opens fire, the bullets piercing many of them and sending sparks flying their way. Merida does the same, pushing through the crowd to kill more at once.
There must've been thirty or so zombies that had found them. Rapunzel is reluctant to shoot, and has to remind herself that they are dead and cannot feel anything that she fires.
Hiccup and her are the worst with weaponry. Hiccup is brilliant, and could fix the machinery, but using it was something else entirely. Rapunzel finds that the same fate bestows upon her, but they don't do too terrible until Hiccup's third gun runs out of ammunition.
The zombie he had attempted to shoot grabs at Hiccup, knocking the boy to the ground and clawing as Hiccup scoots away shakily. Rapunzel notices as she's killed another one, and her eyes widen as the zombie bites Hiccup's shin.
"Hiccup!" she screams. No. This is too similar to Elsa's death. She can't do it. She raises her gun to open fire, but someone beats her to it. Merida fire several bullets expertly into the zombie's back, causing it to fall limply and not move. Hiccup grabs the area that the zombie has bitten and moans, Jack racing over next to his friend to help.
"This'll hurt, Hic," Merida says, unsheathing a knife from her belt. Rapunzel notices that she's crying as she does it. Grabbing his leg, Merida cuts off the area that had been infected, with is everything past Hiccup's knee.
Rapunzel feels like she needs to throw up. There's blood everywhere. She can see his bone. She ducks behind a wall to compose herself, breathing hard. Jack rips off his jacket and wraps Hiccup's wound tightly to stop the bleeding, and he and Merida help him walk towards a new safe house.
Rapunzel won't stop shaking. She shakes because it reminds her of Elsa. She shakes because they could've lost Hiccup. She doesn't stop shaking until they find shelter and Jack places a hand on her shoulder.
"He's alright," Jack says softly, and it is all Rapunzel hears before she faints.
December 24th
It's Christmas, but it does not feel like a holiday.
Hiccup has fashioned himself a metal leg, which he insists works better than his actual leg ever did. He seems drunk, Rapunzel notices. Another successful house had contained cases of beer, which Jack insisted everyone needed to celebrate.
Hiccup has drunk too much and Merida is no help by egging him on. Rapunzel watches them both sing drunken carols, whilst Jack just chuckles at the idiotic fools he calls his friends.
"Merrrrrry Christmasss!" Merida exclaims, throwing her arms around Hiccup and giving him a big fat kiss on his lips.
Jack laughs openly at Hiccup's stupid expression of happiness and intoxication, but Rapunzel finds it rather sweet.
Hiccup kisses her back, wrapping her inside his embrace, before letting her go and continuing their terrible singing.
"IIII wanna wish ya a merry christ-masss," Hiccup starts singing first, Merida joining in. "Felizz Nayvidaid!"
Even though they butcher it, Rapunzel smiles, tears threatening to leave her eyes.
Jack scoots closer to Rapunzel and places his hand over hers.
January 17th
"You don't trust me. I'm wounded."
"I would never trust you, Jack Frost," Rapunzel stares down the hill he insists they sled upon. "But this makes it official."
"It's just a small drop, Punz," Jack's smile is all too cunning. "C'mon. It's not dangerous."
"I beg to differ, that is very dangerous," Rapunzel insists. Jack gives Rapunzel a push to the front of the sled, sliding in after her.
"I promise to not let you fall," he said. "If we die, I give you permission to kill me."
"No, there's not enough snow," Rapunzel huffs. And her statement is true. Very little snowfall graced their area that winter, and therefore the hill was just a steep area of trees, rocks, and thin snow and ice.
"Fuck that," Jack says, teetering the sled dangerously when he leans in to whisper into Rapunzel's ear. "Don't tell me you've never had fun before, Punz."
"What?" Rapunzel cried indignantly. "Take that back!"
"It's obvious you need fun, and I'm the best guy to introduce you to it," Jack says smugly.
"No, I do not-!"
"Then trust me on this," Jack's eyes twinkle. "It'll be fun."
"I know enough about fun, thank you very much," Rapunzel says, and leans back against Jack's chest because she's secretly scared of being at the front of the sled.
"Then you're afraid of heights."
"No, I used to live in a tall apartment, you know, and sit on the balcony of like the 30th floor," Rapunzel defends herself.
"Then you have nothing to fear."
Jack pushes their sled off, sending Rapunzel screaming and him whooping for joy.
March 2nd
"Ah'm pregnant," Merida admits to Rapunzel, playing with the tablecloth.
"You're-" Rapunzel gasps, her hands flying to her mouth. "How?" Merida snorts, taking it literally.
"When a lass meets a laddie, an' they're both flyin' high o' somethin', they have se-"
"Not that," Rapunzel interrupts. "Who-?"
"Hiccup," Merida admits. "Just don' tell 'im yet, please. Yer the only one ah can talk tae about this stuff."
"I can help put you on a diet," Rapunzel's eyebrows arch in concern. "And somehow increase your rations without Jack noticing. You know how strict he is on that."
"Ah bet if ye asked him, he'd give ye the world," Merida chuckles.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rapunzel jumps up to get Merida a snack, already feeling concern for the fetus inside her friend.
"Nothin'," Merida shrugs. "Ah mean, it's obvious. He's liked ye fer a while now."
"No he hasn't," Rapunzel says quietly, because while a part of her would like it to be true, the other part tells her that Jack would never like a girl like her. A sophisticated type, like Elsa, might've worked for him instead.
"Fine," Merida says with another shrug. "Ah mean it, though. He would give ye the world if her could."
Rapunzel pauses by a pack of crackers, analyzing the information, but finally shrugs it off. "Alright, then."
March 28th
It almost eats her.
It's mouth is above her arm when it's shot in the back several times and falls limp next to Rapunzel's arm.
"Move!" Jack screams at Rapunzel, anger evident in his voice. Rapunzel scrambles out of the way as he shoots zombie after zombie, their dead once more corpses clattering.
Merida isn't on the mission, she had told Jack about her condition. As much as Jack was insistent on numbers when they hunted zombies or performed raids, he never let Merida fight, which got the hormonal pregnant woman rather mad at times.
Hiccup had stayed behind with Merida as well. It was awkward, but the two of them have a strange sort of relationship at the moment. He would bring her food when she craved things and he would rub her stomach and talk to it.
Rapunzel had encountered that one night, and found it so sweet.
"For fuck's sake, Rapunzel, get the hell up!" Jack yells, snapping Rapunzel out of her thoughts. Standing up, she brushes dirt of off herself and fires at another zombie that gets in her way. There's too many. They can't do it, not the two of them.
"Jack!" Rapunzel screams as he's almost captured. Jack grunts, skidding to the floor just in time. Soon, they're back to back and surrounded.
"Go," Jack says harshly.
"What?"
"You fucking heard me, go!" Jack snaps at Rapunzel's look. "I'll cover you. Escape. Get the hell out of here."
"I'm not leaving you here alone!" Rapunzel fires into the crowd, Jack doing the same, their backs pressed together.
"Rapunzel, leave," Jack no longer sounds sad. He's loosing his temper. "Now."
"That's what you've always wanted, wasn't it?" Rapunzel chokes out before she can stop herself. "When you first met me. You didn't want me on your team. Only Elsa-" She shudders at the name and continues. "Only she wanted me there. I bet you would've let her fight with you."
"Fuck, Rapunzel, I'm telling you to leave!" Jack yells, still shooting. Rapunzel follows suit, hiding her tears even as the gun expelled bullets that leave her terrified.
"Why don't you trust me? I can-"
"I love you!" Jack screams, dropping his gun. Rapunzel is so caught off guard by his confession that she lets her own weapon droop. The zombies only move closer to the two of them, the constant threat of death only looming closer. "I love you." The sentence comes out quieter, and Rapunzel turns to face him.
"You-?"
"Save yourself," Jack's crying now, and he hugs Rapunzel to his chest, the dirt streaking her cheeks. "Please."
Rapunzel pulls away and kisses him hard, in the middle of a crowd of zombies.
His lips taste of grime and give a metallic tang of blood, but she won't let him go. When they do part, she stares into his eyes.
"I love you," she breathes. And then she grabs his hand, barrels through the crowd, and knocks him out with the butt of her gun.
March 4th
Jack wakes up groggy, to notice that he's in a white room and covered in a blanket.
"What the-" he sits up and frowns at an IV that's stuck in his arm. "Where am I?"
"You're in the infirmary," someone else's voice answers for him. Jack looks up to face a woman in spotless white, her face softening when she looked at him.
"How did-"
"Your friend," the nurse replies before he can even ask. "She brought you in here a few days ago. Poor dear, she was just as shaken as you were."
"Rapunzel!" Jack tries to rip the IV out of his arm. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"Calm down there!" the nurse stops Jack before he can cause himself any more damage. "She's alright. She's already left."
"But last time I saw her, we were about to be eaten by-"
"They're gone," the nurse says calmly.
"Wha-?"
"The zombies. After your friend dragged you out of there, she found our troops of human survivors. They've been wiped out, not to worry," the nurse says soothingly.
"How-?"
"The last ones are going to be killed," the nurse smiles. "The apocalypse is over."
Jack leans back, sighing. It was over. It would all be over. The girl he loves is safe. She's okay. It seemed like just yesterday the outbreak occurred, and that Jack's family was killed in front of his eyes. Flashes of moments running for his life, the clothing that stained with Elsa's blood, everything he hated came back in a rush.
He doesn't believe it. His mind can't fathom life without the zombies anymore. He had just been trying to survive in the messed up world, and only to find that they were finished off without his help, he can't. By the look on his face, the nurse gives him a sympathetic look and leaves the room.
"...Ah'm goin' tae see 'im, an' yer not tellin' me otherwise!" a familiar voice yells from outside. Calm insists that she couldn't were also heard, to which the voice Jack recognized responded with a line of curse words any sailor would be proud of. Jack's ears perk at the sound. That could only be one woman: Merida.
Sure enough, Merida bursts into the room not a second later, Hiccup and Rapunzel trailing after her.
"You're alive!" Hiccup says, albeit too cheerfully for Jack's liking. Jack scowls towards them and stretches. He notes that Hiccup keeps Merida's hand in his own, and raises his eyebrows. Hiccup catches him looking and blushes.
"Me and Merida-" he explains. "We're going to be married. We figure it'll be better for the baby."
"Hush!" Merida shoves her fiancé goodheartedly. "Yer goin' tae make him think he's invited to the wedding!"
"I'll be pretty upset if that child the she-devil's carrying isn't named after me," Jack quips, just to be annoying. Merida sticks out her tongue instead of spewing colorful language because Hiccup's murmuring that anger isn't good for the baby while he wraps his arms around her.
Jack finally sets his eyes on Rapunzel. She still looks as beautiful as when she kissed him, minus the blood and dirt. Today, she gives him a tentative smile and brushes a strand of brown hair behind her ear, blushing a lovely pink.
"Merida, we need to leave," Hiccup says, mostly for Jack's benefit. He can see the way he stares at Rapunzel, ushering Merida away, because Merida cannot take a hint, insisting that she barely got to see her friend for the first time in almost a week.
"Hi," Rapunzel manages once the two are gone.
"Hi," Jack smiles back. "You're surprisingly evil. Who knew you could knock a poor guy unconscious?"
Rapunzel laughs, the sound like music to Jack's ears. "I had to, you selfish boy!" she insists, sticking a finger into Jack's face. "You were trying to die and leave me alone."
"You wouldn't be alone, you would've had Merida and Hiccu-"
"No," Rapunzel shakes her head firmly. "Don't you understand, Jack? You would've been happy because I was safe. But I would never be happy if you had died."
Jack can't help but smile because this is something out of a movie, the way she steps closer to his hospital bed and grabs his hand, sitting on the edge.
"I meant it, you know," Jack says. "That I love you."
"I meant it too, you dolt," Rapunzel says, smiling again. "It took you a long time to tell me."
She leans over to kiss him.