Hey, hey guys. I'm back from my break now, and I've got alotta new stories up, so enjoy. Some of you may or may not recognise this story, it's because I originally had it up as a Kick story, and I hate that pairing now. Well, I always have, it's just I didn't have the balls to post some slash, but now I have, I made 72 hours a Jarry story, and made it better.
No seriously, I was re-tweaking all the chapters, and I was like, "Did I really write this?" So I've deleted the crappy version because there's a rule about the same content being on the site twice, and uploaded the Jarry version. I've changed some of the stuff about Zombies, and Kim is in, but there won't be any kick moments, at the minimum they'll talk to each other or hug platonically. xD
This story is dedicated to Georgia (VaultofSecrets) because she said in a review to one of my finished stories that she'd read a Zombie story, just not Kick, so I made this for her (and you guys obviously) to read.
This story, as I said in the summary, is rated M, though there's not gonna be any sex - might be a few close scenes - it's only for the violence as I'm upping the gore this time. :)
Enjoy, and I'll need over eight reviews for an update.
Jerry peeked his head out into the dimly lit courtyard, deciding it was safe to run. He couldn't see anything that was dangerous. He knew perfectly well it wasn't safe to walk alone anymore, especially not at night.
Not since the infected invaded and millions were massacred by their once loved ones.
Everyone was afraid; it was like everyone had given up, their hopes lay crushed on the empty, desolate streets and few remained in town to fight. If somebody had told Jerry a few months ago that a Zombie apocalypse would divide up the town and threaten everyone close to him, he would have called them crazy and moved on. But now, he was living it. Living in Hell on Earth.
Zombies' true aims and purposes around Seaford - and some places around the world - were unknown, other than to kill, terroize and make more of their own, nobody really knew what they were doing here on Earth.
Not much was know either, except that everything had started down in Texas after an explosion in a nuclear powerplant and those killed came back as Zombies and that one bite was the key to turning someone into a Zombie, although other means had made themselves apparent too, ones too terrifying to mention.
The symptons were easy to spot, but only to a trained eye. To unsuspecting people, the person infected would simply look like they were having a bad case of the flu, early on during the transformation that was. Calling it a transformation left a sour taste in everyone's mouths; it was not a transformation. It was a curse of the vilest sort.
The first symptom was vomiting and uncontrollable shivering, causing the victim to lose a considerable amount of weight and their bones would become visible through their skin.
The second was that the bite would become severely inflamed and start frothing; the toxins in the bite would start to take effect, giving the victim awful headaches and muscle pain.
The third and final stage was the last stage of the metamorphosis and possibly the most disturbing and sickening. The victim's skin would start to decay and become mottled, then their eyes would turn white, making them a true Zombie and supposedly, according to the stories told, incurable.
And they only had 72 hours to live once bitten.
There was no cure either, anyone bitten was doomed, unless they ended their life. But it didn't matter unless they destroyed their brain. If a person committed suicide with their brain still intact, it would only speed up the transformation, making it almost instantaneous.
There had been a cure once, the remedy only known to only a handful of people, and those people had been killed under suspicious sounding circumstances wherein everybody ruled off the Zombies as the culprits.
In a certain way, Jerry and everyone else living in Seaford was more lucky than those in other countries, because in Seaford everything still seemed remotely normal, with only a few hoardes of Zombies lurking in street corners.
But there was still a huge risk which everyone was smartly taking the necessary precautions for; all the adults were buying guns and shortening their children's curfews unless they were with a friend or two. Hence why Jerry was walking home - or rather running - much earlier than he normally would have done, since Jack had had to go home to help his mother with the shopping, or that was what he told Jerry anyway.
Jerry spotted an alleyway, deciding he wasn't stupid enough to go in there and get eaten by whatever was lurking in there, and was about to turn around when a low moaning sound rumbled from behind the trees. His eyes widened as a pack of Zombies - ugly, disgusting things with rotten skin and the odd few had limbs chewed off - limped slowly towards him, their eyes looking malicious and hungry.
Seeing no other choice, he darted into the alleyway, the Zombie's slowly, but surely, coming after him. Nothing in his karate training - not that he was good enough to even put up a remotely good fight against starving Zombie's - could have prepared him for this; Zombie's couldn't feel pain.
Jerry screamed as their skeletal hands groped for him in the darkness, backing him up against the wall as he tried to avoid them. Their arms smothered him as his back hit the brick wall and all he could see was a mess of blackened skin and white eyes. He whimpered and gasped as their fingers clawed at his hair and skin, screaming loudly as they opened their mouths, revealing yellow crooked teeth, ready to make a meal out of him.
"Hey!" he heard a familiar voice yell angrily. The Zombie's made grunts of confusion, some releasing him to turn towards the sound. Jerry squinted through the gaps their bodies made, spotting Jack's muscular form standing at the other end of the alleyway.
"Jack help me!" he screamed wildly. He had never been more happy to see Jack in his entire life, if anyone could save him, it would be his best friend.
"I'm coming, Jerry!" he called back. Jack leapt forwards with a flying side-kick, smashing into the Zombie's, knocking back a good majority of them. They stumbled clumsily and Jack reached an arm into the fray, yanking Jerry out of harm's way and safely behind him. The Zombie's glared at him murderously, no doubt upset they had lost their chance at an easy meal.
"Cover your ears," he instructed. Not wanting to waste any time that Jack could use by killing Zombie's, he did as he was told; eyes nearly popping out of his head as Jack pulled out a smart looking twenty-four calibre shot-gun and aimed it at one Zombie's head.
Shots rang out, killing any Zombie in the way instantly, thankfully muffled by Jerry's hands over his ears. The Zombie's were falling down like dominoes, pained-sounding grunts emitting from their mouths.
Jerry spotted a legless one dragging itself across the floor, smearing dirty blood everywhere, heading straight for Jack. But he couldn't see it, he was too preocupied blowing a stubborn one's brains out.
So Jerry, doing the only thing he could, ran over to where the Zombie was, apprehending it, and began jumping up and down on his head. His shoes cracked right through it's skull, mushing it's brain to pieces. It was disgusting, yet interesting to a few people, how they could live with whatever they had had chewed off before they died.
One last shot was fired and Jack kicked the Zombie to the ground, it's head smashing against the wall; the entire place looked like something out of a horror movie - but then again, their lives were a horror movie - blood was everywhere, staining the walls, the floor, Jerry's shoes and some of Jack's shirt, while their lifeless bodies lay sprawled and mangled on the floor, their empty eyes staring back at them.
"Come on," Jack said after a moment of silence, slinging a protective arm around him and motioning to the other end of the alleyway. "You can stay at mine tonight," he said and Jerry smiled as they began walking, trying to scrape the Zombie brain off of his shoes. His mother had already had a hard time keeping the food to a sustainable amount with his baby brother there. It was one less mouth to feed the way he saw it.
On the walk home, Jerry found himself increasingly jumpy, even at the sound of passing cars. He supposed being cornered by Zombie's in an alleyway and almost becoming their meal - paradoxically one of them in the process - would to that to anyone. He was just lucky Jack showed up when he did.
They made it back to Jack's house just as the horizon became a burning pink color, usually the time most Zombie's would come out to play, and the time when Jerry no longer felt safe. His house had protection, but it wasn't very high-tech and a Zombie or two had gotten in before, resulting in a sleepless month and nightmares that had since fizzled away.
"Woah!" Jerry commented, open-mouthed at the sight of Jack's house. Nothing much had changed, except the large electric fence barricading it, giving it a fortress-like apparel. That must have been why Jack's been so buff recently, Jerry thought absent-mindedly, smiling at his friend before cheering, "Swag fence, dude!"
Jack chuckled before opening the gate and gently pushing him inside. He shut it after him. "That reminds me," he smiled before reaching above his head and flicking a switch. The fence flickered up around them both, sizzling as it surrounded them with a glowing blue light.
"Cool," Jerry marvelled, wide-eyed, making Jack chuckle. He wondered when the fence had been built; he had stayed round Jack's house only last week when his house was being fumigated and he had refused point-blank to share a bed with his cousin, Pepito. Not after last time. Just thinking about it left a sour taste in Jerry's mouth.
"Fifty-thousand volts of electricity," Jack said proudly as they walked inside. "Any zombie tries to get through, they're toast." Jack bolted the door shut behind them, pulling the curtains closed, while Jerry tried not to cringe at the thought of Zombie's frying on the fence.
"Where's your Mum?" he asked, noticing the usual smell of Mrs. Brewer's cooking filling the house was gone.
Jack had suddenly gone very quiet, looking down slightly, clearing his throat before saying, "Out, for a bit." Jerry couldn't help but feel something was wrong, but maybe she had just gone out. Maybe to get more food, or some more gas for the fence's generator.
"Come on." Jack nodded his head towards the top of the stairs, not giving Jerry a time to say anything before he grabbed his wrist anyway and began leading him up the stairs.
Jerry frowned as Jack turned away from his bedroom - quickly hurrying past his Mum's room, which was strange to say the least - and headed down the other end of the hallway. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Checking you for bites," Jack responded, pushing the door to the bathroom open and turning the light on.
Jerry froze. He had forgotten about getting bitten, admist the sheer terror of being cornered against a wall by those... things and having to stamp on one until it was dead. If it wasn't, Jerry was up against a Zombie with a vendetta, although being legless, it couldn't do much except swipe at his heels.
Jack was rummaging through the medicene cabinet, pulling out a bottle of anti-septic and a handful of cotton buds, before turning to look at Jerry expectantly while saying, "Well come on." He walked closer to him. "Take your shirt off," he instructed.
Jerry licked his lips nervously, his face reddening. It only reddened more as Jack laughed at his apparent nervousness. He didn't know why he was, Jack was a boy too. But also his best friend... "Right now?" he asked, Jack nodded at him. "But-"
He stopped talking at the sound of a click, realising Jack was pointing his gun at him, smirking wickedly while saying, "Shirt off, punk!"
Jerry had no idea whether the gun was still loaded, or all of it's bullets were in the Zombie's heads, but he couldn't hold his laughter in. It felt good to laugh, and Jack was the only one who could give him such a reaction as of late.
"You wouldn't shoot me," he chuckled towards Jack. The other boy smiled warmly, before Jerry found himself pressed against Jack's chest - very muscular chest - with an arm draped carefully around his neck with the barrel of Jack's gun held loosely against his temple.
"Wouldn't I?" Jack whispered playfully in his ear. Jerry had to hold onto Jack's arm, and his slowly slipping composure, to keep from falling into Jack's body. He didn't know what was going on with him, but he did know the situation had escalated pretty quickly; from playful stand-off, to lighter version of sleeper-hold that had his mind filling with dirty images.
Jerry scoffed to cover up his nervousness and wormed his way out of Jack's hold, begrudgingly stripping his shirt off. "Happy now?!" he asked in slight exasperation, splaying his arms out.
Jack smiled and walked closer to him - Jerry could swear his eyes looked preadatory - to inspect him throughly. Jerry bit his lip as he started to feel queasy about the idea; he didn't know if it was Jack's soft touch probing at his skin, or his close proximity. Either way, it was something that he wanted over with to save the awkwardness.
"You're good," Jack said after a while - long enough for Jerry to teasingly accuse him of staring at him while checking for bites - and Jerry swiftly grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head, relieved that his body heat dropped considerably.
"It's late." Jack glanced outside; the sun had set, being replaced with inky black darkness. There was no moon out, no stars shining, it was perfect ground for Zombie's to lurk and prey on the unsuspecting or the poor stragglers who couldn't make it home in time. It really was Hell on Earth here.
Jerry followed Jack back to his room, noticing Mrs. Brewer still wasn't back yet, but didn't say anything about it; Jack seemed tetchy and distant when he said something last time.
Jack locked his bedroom door behind him, stripping his shoes and jacket off. Jerry was more than happy to take his shoes off, it was revolting to think there was still pieces of Zombie's underneath them. Jack pulled the curtains shut and Jerry made himself comfortable on the sofa bed he had slept on so many times before.
It was good to be close to someone, everybody needed somebody to rely on, someone to trust. Trust was as rare as pure gold these days, it was every man for himself, but that wasn't how the Wasabi Warriors operated, they looked out for each other and Jack definetely held the position of the most loyal. Jack had become like his brother, during this time, despite Jerry feeling something deeper than a friendship.
The air conditioner flicked on and started pumping out icy air. Jerry snuggled deeper into the blanket, trying to warm himself up, but it didn't work. He just laid there shivering while his teeth chattered violently in his mouth; he tried rubbing his hands over his arms, but it felt like ice on ice. Pure torture.
"Jerry?" He sat up at the sound of Jack's voice to see him looking at him worriedly through the darkness. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm freezing," Jerry replied sheepishly, trying desperately to not hold his jaw still. One thing puzzled him; How had one air conditioner made the room so cold in minutes?! And how had Jack been remotely close to sleeping before his teeth chattering woke him up?
"Sorry," Jack apologised softly. "I have to keep it cold in case the fence stops working and the Zombie's get in," he explained; as long it was for their survival, Jerry didn't care, he just found himself wishing that Jack had brought some thermal blankets before hand. "They hate it," he added with a knowing smile before settling back down into his bed.
Jerry frowned, curling up into the smallest ball he could physically squeeze himself into. He found himself shaking and shivering uncontrollably, visualizing himself on the hot beaches in Madrid. The visualization didn't help one bit, all it did was remind him that the rest of his family were over there, away from all this.
He tried to immerse himself in thoughts as he closed his eyes, trying to drift off, but each time he came close, he would shudder violently and wake himself back up. He sat up and peeked curiously at Jack, or rather his sleeping figure. He wasn't even shivering. Jerry would do anything to be Jack right about now.
A while later, and another failed attempt at getting to sleep, he felt felt waves of heat wash over him as his body temperature increased rapidly and his shivers stopped almost instantly. He frowned, feeling more material around him, then human skin. Blearily, he realised Jack was hugging him close, sharing his body warmth.
"What are you doing?" he asked sleepily, finally being able to stay still without his teeth chattering.
Jack chuckled softly, burrowing his head into the back of his neck. "Warming you up," he replied, his hands gently slipping under his thin shirt and splaying his fingers across the skin, warming it instantly.
Jerry smiled; Jack was always there to help him... protect him, even if it was in the most unusual ways, Jerry knew he could always count on him. He was fiercely loyal to everyone, although he couldn't help but feel there was a special spot reserved for him. The idea was crazy, but completely possible. Jack had even admitted during a game of 'Would You Rather?' that he would save him from a sinking ship and possibly die doing it than escape himself.
Those words may have been a harmless game, but now living in Seaford had become a desperate race for survival, they now had meaning. A meaning which Jerry carried with him, and would carry with him until everything was over. If it ever was.
Feeling too tired to keep his eyes open, Jerry closed them with a contented smile, feeling truly safe, safe in Jack's arms, for the first time since the Zombies invaded.