He didn't know why he was hiding. At first he could justify it. At first he was hiding and fighting for Roxas' sake. He wanted to be alive for Roxas, and he wanted to protect him. And he had done that for a while. Axel didn't count months. Time loses its meaning when you have no one keeping track of it.

The Twilight News wouldn't come to Axel's front door and tell him the date, the television's static wouldn't either. And really, who gives a damn what day it is? October and July didn't matter anymore, and the only difference between the times now was when the sun went up and when the sun went down. There was no one o'clock or two o'clock. Everything was either light or dark.

Axel liked to think he protected Roxas for a year, but it felt like a day. He had tried though, fuck did he try. They were at a gas station trying to find food and other shit that had light weight to it. Something easy to carry so they wouldn't wear themselves out. Roxas had just picked up a packet of noodles that had been kicked under a shelf when the fucking thing came out of no where.

Neither of them had time to react. One minute Roxas was whispering about how easy noodles were to cook, and the next he had some fucking zombie at his throat. Axel managed to get close enough to get sprayed with blood when the skin was torn from Roxas' neck before he knew it was too late. It didn't matter though and he swung his bat at the zombie. He kept hitting the thing until he could see brain matter and skull fragments all over the cheap tile floor.

It took seconds and it felt like his life had hit a fast forward button until he turned to look at Roxas. Everything slowed then. The image of his best friend clutching his throat and gasping had been paused long enough to burn into Axels mind like an image on a screen left on too long. Permanent.

Kneeling beside Roxas and grabbing his hand, Axel tried his best to comfort him, but he knew his words were empty. The "you'll be okay"'s were laced with regret and the "I can fix this" were filled with sorrow. Axel knew there was nothing he could do, and Roxas knew it too. But he continued his whisperings. He continued to tell Roxas he was okay and that he loved him. He loved him so much and he meant the world to him and he can fix this.

He only stopped when Roxas pointed to the bat. He understood what Roxas wanted, of course he did, but he didn't want to believe it. This had been his worst nightmare since the virus came. He could deal with a lot of things - zombies, seeing people dying, finding people half eaten and killing what were once his friends, but killing Roxas had always woken him up in a cold sweat.

"Please don't let me become one of them."

Those were the words that made Axel pick up the bat again. He stood over Roxas, tears sliding down his cheeks, his head shaking. He couldn't do it, but he knew he had to.

"I'm sorry."
"I forgive you."
"I love you."
"I love you too."

Those were the last words Roxas said before Axel shut his eyes and ended his soulmates life.

Axel sat beside Roxas' body until light turned to dark, and dark turned back into light, but he knew he had to keep moving. Axel buried Roxas in the small field out by the gas station. He had sat by the grave and sang softly to the ground hoping that Roxas could hear. He only went back into the gas station to grab the packet of noodles.

And now here he was, back at the gas station field. He tried to reason with himself. He tried the same lines he tried on Roxas - it will be better, you'll get through this, but really, who the fuck was he fooling? Axel realized that there was no actual living when the world turns to Hell, and it's just a matter of when you'll get killed.

He had questioned whether to dig Roxas up or to dig himself a separate hole. He didn't like the idea of zombies coming around and eating them, but really he'd be dead so what the fuck did it matter? In the end Axel reopened Roxas grave and knew that it hadn't been long since his death. He got in beside Roxas and pulled a gun out. He had kept it since the very beginning and saved one bullet because he knew he'd need it eventually.

Laying beside Roxas, Axel put the packet of noodles he had taken that day beside them and shut his eyes. He could hear the faint sounds of feet dragging and the wind blowing against the grass. Grabbing Roxas' hand, Axel put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.