Dave Dies at the End
[Author's note: This Fanfiction is based upon a playthrough of Organ Trail I did recently (which you can play here! ), and therefore will be slightly odd and may differ from canon locations and characteristics. The characters are also aged up slightly to be able to drive the station wagon. Enjoy.]
John, Dave, Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat had been in Washington D.C. for some kind of sightseeing tour, when everything went to shit. At first it was only a few people, but whatever virus was causing people to turn into shambling green cannibals was wreaking havoc on the capital city. They had only eight hours to gather as many supplies as possible, but they were only able to gather a miniscule amount of items. Just enough to get them started, but definitely not enough to keep them going for any amount of extended time.
"Alright guys, now that we've got all we can, we should get going. This map says that the Safe Haven is in Oregon, so we should head there. Rose, do you think you could plan a route for us?" John asked, handing Rose the map after they had all clambered into John's somewhat junky station wagon.
"I don't see why not." She replied, taking a fountain pen out from their supply bag and hastily marking where the dead zones and major rest stops were. "If we take this route, everything should go according to plan, and no one will be harmed." She pointed out the map to everyone there so they could get a grasp on the situation.
"I've seen enough zombie movies with Bro to know that zombies like to hang around at night. We should drive during the day." Dave added, not wanting to have anything overlooked. Everyone nodded as John started up the car, and they drove off into the sunrise. Soon after they left however, a nuke was dropped on the very spot they were last standing, thus making Washington D.C. into yet another dead zone. For a while, they were able to get supplies easily by trading and whatnot, but after a while they had run out of medkits, and Rose kept getting injured or sick on the way to their next destinations from either trying to help fight off the undead, or due to the fact that there was little to no clean water around for any of them to drink. First it was a broken arm, then dysentery, measles, and cholera. Although it wasn't all at once, it seemed like it had all blurred together along the way.
"John…We must get medical supplies soon. I do not know how much longer Rose can last this way." Kanaya stated, gently stroking Rose's hair as she wheezed, nearly incapacitated from her fever. John looked back at the two, his expression filled with concern.
"Don't worry Kanaya. We'll get some from the rest stop up ahead." He smiled softly at the anxious troll, even though he was uncertain people would even want to trade medkits. They had stayed at the rest stop for what seemed like days, even though it was only a few hours. No one had any medkits to spare for Rose, or anyone else for that matter. Kanaya was beside herself with what seemed like a mix of blind fury and complete and total depression. She chased a few people away with her chainsaw before John could even make an offer for a medkit. She reluctantly agreed to wait in the car with Rose after some persuasion from Karkat. As Karkat led Kanaya back to the station wagon, John finally managed to get someone to trade him two medkits for the last of their batteries. Hopefully the car's battery wouldn't break down anytime soon. Kanaya rushed over to John and snagged the medkits from him immediately and used one on Rose.
"Rose, are you alright now? Please tell me that you are alright!" she cried, grasping Rose's shoulders firmly, yet gently enough to not harm her. A few coughs and mumbles rose from the other girl's throat before she nodded weakly. Karkat placed his hand on Kanaya's shoulder softly.
"She probably needs more rest Kanaya. She's been through a lot the past few days." He whispered, making sure he kept his volume to a minimum so that Rose could get the rest she so desperately needed. Kanaya simply nodded, and prepared her bedding so that she could be there for Rose if she needed anything. A few miles down the road, John had decided to step out and scavenge for food nearby. He knew that they probably weren't gonna keep finding wild fruit out in the middle of nowhere like it was some kind of video game. Almost every time he had gone out, he had found quite a bit of food, yet he was only able to carry back so much. It frustrated him to no end, yet there was nothing that could be done. During their travels, they happened across a peculiar tombstone.
"Should we go take a look?" Rose asked, suggesting that there could be helpful hints written on the engraved slab of rock.
"Nah, I don't think that's a good idea. We should keep going." Dave replied, saying that there might be some kind of danger nearby.
"I think Rose has a point though, Dave. There really could be some kind of important information that we could be missing." Karkat agreed after mulling it over for a bit. Kanaya simply nodded, still staying close to Rose. John checked the area from the car before deciding that it was probably a good idea to check it out. As John made his way over to the tombstone, a chill ran up his spine. He cleared off some dust and read the inscription aloud to himself.
"Here lies Andy….Peperony and chease? What the heck?" he muttered, not noticing the slight shifting of the dirt and moss below his feet. He stepped back a few steps, about to examine the rest of the tombstone, when a rotting green hand that was missing its thumb burst from the ground. John stumbled over a rock, but managed to pull out his shotgun in the nick of time. "Oh, you must be Andy." He said to himself as the rest of Andy's decomposing body pushed itself from the crumbling earth and shambled toward John, who quickly jumped to his feet and took aim at Andy's head. "Fuck you Andy!" he shouted, sending a cloud of buckshot straight through Andy's face and out the back of his moss covered skull. "Rest in pieces, bitch." He said, turning and heading back toward the station wagon with an almost smug grin on his face. As soon as he arrived, however, Dave was laughing to himself. "What's so funny Dave?" John asked, tilting his head to the side slightly, and looking at everyone else's annoyed expressions.
"I fuckin' told you guys there would be some kind of zombies or something over there!" Dave's laughter continued for a bit before he calmed down and regained his cool kid composure. "Seriously though, John could have gotten hurt. Y'all are dumb." He added, adjusting his shades slightly, which were sliding down the bridge of his nose from his laughing fit.
"Okay, I admit I might have overlooked the fact that there may have been danger, but if we had simply ignored it, we could have missed an important piece of information! I think that would have been far more stupid." Rose responded, her tone slightly raised. Dave's mouth hung open slightly, astounded at the fact that anyone even replied to his statement at all.
"Rose, are you saying that some mysterious and vaguely written clue that may or may not have been scrawled on a dumb rock in the middle of nowhere by a drunken hobo would have been worth John getting bit by one of those green assholes?" he asked her, his voice slightly tinged with anger. He leaned around the seat in order to look her directly in the eyes. "May have overlooked, huh? I bet you didn't even think of the fact that John could have gotten bit."
"Dave, are you suggesting that I do not care for the safety of our traveling party?"
"Yeah, I might be!"
"I would never bring anyone in this station wagon in harm's way!"
"THEN WHY WAS JOHN ATTACKED BY ONE OF THOSE THINGS!?" Dave grabbed the collar of Rose's shirt and brought her up to his eye level.
"THAT WAS NOT MY FAULT!" Rose cried, her eyes started to tear up. She felt guilty about suggesting to check the tombstone, but she really didn't think there would be anything to worry about.
"You guys, I'm fine…I shot the zombie rig-"John tried to reason with the siblings, but was quickly interrupted.
"SHUT UP EGBERT!" they shouted in unison, but continued their heated arguing almost immediately afterward. Kanaya leaned between the two and gently pushed them apart. Although they were still fuming, they were quiet and let Kanaya speak.
"This was no one's fault. Neither of you could have predicted what had happened at the gravestone. Just calm down and consider the fact that both of you were trying to think ahead and ponder which option would be best for our expedition." She explained, her voice calm and collected. She turned to Karkat, who had been practically tugging his hair out with frustration in the corner of the station wagon's trunk area. "Karkat, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you outside." He nodded and hopped out the back of the trunk, followed by Kanaya.
"What is it Kanaya?" he asked, his tone serious as the two walked across some train tracks in order to distance themselves from the station wagon a bit so they wouldn't be overheard.
"It seems to me as though Rose and Dave have a strong tension forming between them, and this worries me." She stated, crossing her arms across her chest with concern. Karkat raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms as well.
"You're worried about Rose getting sick again, aren't you Kanaya?" he asked, his tone a little flat. She looked over to him, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. He had hit the proverbial nail on the head.
"I am afraid that the stress will simply become too much for her to handle. She is a very strong woman, but everyone has a breaking point." She explained, averting her gaze to the ground below. Karkat fell silent, contemplating just how serious this situation was.
"Kanaya…I've been thinking. What if we don't make it to the Safe Haven in Oregon? We're still so far away, and John almost got bitten by that zombie…What would we do if someone did get bitten? Would we try to save them, or put them out of their misery right then and there?" he teared up a little, his body trembling from his slowly growing anxiety. Kanaya's head snapped up at the sudden change in Karkat's voice. She walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Karkat, I am confident that John will be able to keep all of us safe." She assured him, bringing him into a tender hug.
"Thank you Kanaya…I don't know what I'd do without you." He smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace. This was short lived however, as a zombie came shambling out from the forest behind them at a startling speed. They turned just as the zombie swiped at the two of them, and were able to get out of its way.
"Karkat, we must run!" she grabbed his hand as she sprinted toward the station wagon. Karkat was right behind her, but she was running too fast for him to keep up properly, and once they reached the train tracks again, his shoe caught on one of the rail spikes, causing him to trip. Kanaya was unable to react quickly enough, giving the zombie the ample opportunity to rip Karkat's trapped limb to shreds. Karkat's blood curdling screams were the only thing that had alerted Kanaya to the fact that he was no longer running with her. "KARKAT!" she screamed, revving her chainsaw, rushing the zombie, and shearing its face in two. She helped Karkat up enough for him to hobble away with her as the others practically stumbled out of the car. The others looked at them as they approached with horrified looks on their faces. Karkat's candy red blood was flowing down his torn up pantleg and down the street, mixing with the dirtied gutter water and moistened soil. He had been bitten, and it was only a matter of time before symptoms would start to show up. Karkat looked up at Kanaya weakly, his eyes filled with fear. All they could do to help him was patch up his wounds and hope that he wouldn't turn.