A/N: Basically, I went out to see World War Z with friends and that kind of inspired this. Plus, I'm so off-put by the fact Joey kissed Lucy back in Monday's episode (1/7/13) and I just felt like I needed to let out my need for some Lauren/Joey love. So, here it is. As always, reviews are lovely and I'd love to hear what you think! Cheers. Also, I was listening to Oblivion by Bastille when I wrote this, hence the title.
Lauren Branning did not intend to fall in love. Of course, she should've known. Love... it isn't something you have much say in, she mused. Maybe, she had thought, maybe she could have prevented herself from spending as much time as she did with her cousin – her relative, her blood. It wasn't right, she'd be told time and time again when she had admitted to their relationship. Not healthy, not how people should be. People had turned on her and him, refusing to even speak to them for how disgusting they found their love. "It wasn't right", they had yelled and spat out.
It wasn't right when Lauren let her stares linger on him. It wasn't right when she felt her heartbeat speed up at the mention of his name. It wasn't right when she felt sparks at his touch. It wasn't right when she got lost in his eyes when he looked at her, wishing she could just stay there looking into them until her death would greet her.
Lauren wasn't exactly a person who followed the good way of things, what was right – or simply considered correct. She wasn't a model student with good grades. She didn't have a positive outlook on life. She didn't treat people as kindly as she knew she could. She had struggled with heavy drinking. She refused to let anyone help her.
So, in a way, falling for Joey was something that she could've predicted. It was the way she functioned; going headfirst into trouble.
The thing that couldn't have been predicted for her was the fact Joey equally fall for her. Older, wiser and with a much friendly attitude, Lauren couldn't understand why he cared for her. She couldn't even bring herself to care for herself, she was that deep into her own self-loathing. Joey, however, managed to do something no one had ever done for Lauren for years. He made her feel loved. He seemed to cherish her and she soon began to feel dependent on him – she neededhim to make her resist the temptation of drinking, she always slept better when he was there for her and she had a reason to be brave. He was there. He was hers. She was his.
...
If you had told Lauren a year ago the world would come crumbling down, she'd have out-right call you proper mental. She would've shrugged you off without a single concern, believing full well that the world would still go about its way without any strain.
No one had predicted what had happened those months ago. The word zombie was passed about with jokes not too long ago; a silly movie cliché Hollywood basked in. A trick to frighten children and adults alike. Zombies weren't real.
No one knew how they came about, all they knew is the world had turned into a horror movie. There was no safety, no place to hide. It was chaos and the clouds always hung grey and air smelt of burning and rot. People were alone and lost; dying and undead. Families were divded and friends forgotten. All anyone could do was run.
So, Lauren and Joey had ran. Neither of them had seen any of their family since the plague had reached their home with a force. Times came where Joey screamed and cried for his sister, as Lauren did with her own along with her brother and parents. They broke apart and rebuilt themselves on a daily basis. The only thing that kept them pushing forward was one another.
First they had headed out west with the promise it was safer. Then, when the promise was surely broken, they packed up and went on towards the east. Leaders told the public that this was temporary and the world would go back to how it was soon.
That never happened.
...
Lauren felt the weight of fatigue on her shoulders as she read through the words on the page. It was a random novel she had come across somewhere along the road. Lately she'd been doing a good deal of reading to pass the time.
The words were pounding in her head however, and she sighed dully as she shut the book, gazing out at her surroundings. The daylight was giving way to night, and the sunset was something she would've found magnificent with it's bright colours if it weren't for the creeping paranoia of being attacked that tugged at her stomach.
Joey was laid down by her side, sound asleep. Lauren had forced him to allow her to take watch due to the fact the poor lad was desperate for a full night of rest. She felt guilty that she had been so quick to accept his offers of taking the longer watches and decided she was slowly going to repay him by doing more.
She looked at his features with a sad smile. He was handsome, no denying. The hell the pair had been through and were still going through was evident on his appearance. Skin tight around his cheekbones and taking on a few shades paler from the lack of nutrition. Bags under his eyes that refused to disappear. Hair greasy and lank.
Lauren still thought he was the most beautiful person she'd ever seen.
...
Side by side, they were walking down the road. Both carried bags filled up with a mixture of food, clothes, weapons and such on their backs. Morning broke so they had made the choice to keep moving forward, without knowing where they were seeking. The streets were littered with rubbish and crashed cars. The sight wasn't a surprise but Lauren still felt an uneasy feeling as she looked around.
"Hey," Joey said in a gentle voice as he watched her. She turned to him and he gave her a smile that she couldn't help but return.
"Your birthday is coming up," Joey continued. Lauren shrugged, looking ahead. She'd be twenty, yet she hadn't really thought of her birthday. All she ever thought about was will Joey survive.
"Yeah," she replied with a short laugh. "Suppose I won't get any birthday cake, eh?"
Joey frowned despite Lauren intending it to be a joke. She felt a lump in her throat as he moved to hold her hand in his.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. He kept his eyes looking down at their hands, the frown still on his lips. "I wish... God, I wish we could do something for it."
"Hey, hey," Lauren quickly soothed, catching his chin with her spare hand. She lifted his face up to hers and made sure he was looking into her eyes. "I got the best birthday present I could ask for."
At his one raised eyebrow, she leaned in to capture his lips. The kiss was short but sweet, and when she pulled away she pressed her forehead to his and told him, "I got you."
He laughed and held her close.
...
A few days later, they found themselves exhausted and starving as they pushed onwards to their unknown destination. Their food sample was dwindling, but neither of them wanted to voice it aloud for fear of admitting. Lauren took to curling up against Joey when her turns for sleep came and Joey had sought out to cheer her up more as she turned twenty.
"When this is over," he told her as he had stroked her dark hair, "I'm going to buy us a proper house and we're going to throw a huge party and... "
He trailed off as she clung to him, feeling the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Lauren," he had whispered until sleep had over-taken her.
At that current time, Joey was telling Lauren a story of him and Alice when they were younger. It was the thing that really helped; distraction. Lauren had already heard all Joey's childhood stories at least three times by then, but she didn't care. She still felt an unexplainable joy as he told her his personal feelings and gave her that special smile reserved for only her. His brown eyes would light up with excitement and he would make wild hand gestures at some story points, and Lauren knew this was love because she had never felt so happy despite the glum that she was forced to endure.
As Joey was talking, however, Lauren saw a movement in the corner of her eye. Instantly, her hand shot to her only gun in her pocket and her whole body felt as though its temperature had dropped.
"Joey," she warned lowly. His eyes widened in fear as he acknowledge her stance.
The movement came again, this time clearly a figure. Closer.
Joey caught sight of it too and yanked out the gun from his bag, hands trembling.
"I thought we were clear," he whispered with dread.
Lauren felt her skin prickling. She licked her dry lips nervously, and lifted the gun to her chest.
Please, she thought, just let Joey be okay.
A moment past without anything happening. The pair stood frozen, the atmosphere tense.
"Lauren, maybe it's gone?" Joey suggested, eyes frantically scanning around. Lauren began to shake her head when the beast came out, lunging at Joey.
"Fuck!" she yelled out, aiming her gun and firing as quick as she could for the zombie's face. The zombie fell from Joey quickly, and Lauren was relieved to see he was left without a scratch.
"God, God," she whimpered as she helped lift him up from the ground, holding him tightly. "Joey, God, I thought... I thought I was about to lose you."
Shaken, Joey pressed his lips to her forehead. "Not quite yet, babe."
As Lauren drew back, she felt something grab at her leg. She shrieked as she was pulled down by the wounded zombie, a sick realisation hitting her she hadn't been clear the creature was fully dead.
Teeth tore at her arm before Joey managed to get the creature off her frame, madly shooting until it fell down once more, now completely unmoving.
"Lauren, Lauren," Joey was out-right sobbing as he clutched his girlfriend in his arms.
"Joey, it got me," Lauren said slowly. Her mind screamed at her, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
She and Joey looked down at her bleeding arm, a twist in Lauren's stomach as she looked at the damage.
"No," Joey whispered, his dark orbs blazing and his whole body beginning to tremble. "No, no."
"Joey, I'm so sorry. You know you need to kill me... Before I become like, like, them."
"Lauren, no. No, you're gonna be fine. We're gonna make it through."
"Joey, you know what you need to do," Lauren said. I don't want to die, she thought to herself, I don't want to die. Yet she knew she was already dead. Dead the moment that zombie had let his teeth sink into her sink.
"We can find a cure, babe," Joey said, his eyes welling up with tears. "We're gonna be okay."
"Joey, please - "
"Please, Lauren, you can't die. You're all I have, we're the only two left. How am I suppose to go on if you're not with me? You promised me... You said we'll be together through this... Please." His voice was cracking and the words were whispers because he couldn't summon up the strength to keep himself calm.
In that moment, Lauren understood that Joey wouldn't be able to kill her and her heart felt like it shattered. She swallowed as the pain in her arm began to intensify and she felt her mind begin to become hazy.
"Babe, look at me," she demanded. Joey met her gaze with his expression of pure heartbreak and it took all Lauren's strength to say what she said next.
"Remember our first kiss? I drank too much, you brought me home. You didn't push me forward because you were afraid, but honestly? I wanted to kiss you that whole night. Remember our first date? It was so beautiful, I never could forget how handsome you looked so dressed up. Remember the first time we slept together? God, you know, I can tell you it was wonderful." She laughed a little but Joey's expression didn't soften, so she pushed foward.
"I remember every touch we shared – you know how much I love when you push my hair from my face? Well, I do. Every time you say you love me, I think I surrender more of myself to you. You already have my heart. And I've always been and always will be yours. I love you, Joey Branning. More than I've ever loved anyone. More than I ever could love anyone."
"Don't do this, Lauren. Don't say goodbye, p - "
"Remember the good times. Remember me and you when we were free and happy, dumb but so alive. Without worries. When the world was right and we were safe. Remember us fondly. Don't remember me here and now. Forget this moment. Remember me happy."
Lauren had held Joey's hand with his gun at the last part. Slowly, with calmness, she lifted the gun up to her temple.
"I love you."
She then forced him to pull back the trigger.
...
Hours passed, but Joey hadn't moved. He cradled Lauren's dead form to himself, his throat raw from screaming.
...