There wasn't much time left. That was all he knew. Jake could easily remember what had happened within the weeks prior, however the past few days had blurred together to the point of him not knowing the date. He didn't know the day of the week either and he tried to put together the pieces of what he did know, but couldn't decide if it was Wednesday or Thursday. Or maybe it was Sunday? He had no idea and that worried him. But the days of the week didn't seem to matter anymore. Surviving this tragedy was the main goal. It was way more important compared to something as silly as dates.
He remembered when this all started. This apocalyptic scenario that would only happen in the movies... the zombie apocalypse.
It started a couple weeks back when someone died of a mysterious disease that left scientists puzzled; then dead corpses rose up from the ground, somehow able to move again, and began to spread the disease like a wildfire to adults and elders for the most part. They were the easiest targets. Luckily for Jake, his best friend had been coaching him on fighting since they first met. In fact, Dirk and Jake were most commonly found fighting in the front yard of Jake's house. So they really were the most prepared for a situation like this, as weird as it was. As well as Dirk teaching Jake how to fight, he has been teaching Roxy Lalonde and Jane Crocker as well. The four came together to try and defend themselves as a team. They called themselves zombie extermination crew, but deep down they knew they had no chance. They knew that they were just trying to take out as many zombies as possible before they died too, just like everyone will. And that seemed like it was going to happen soon. They decided to go to an abandoned house to stay there the time being. Unfortunately, the zombies had found a way to get into the house, which left them in a lot of trouble. It was around eight at night when the teens heard a crash. They split up to investigate; the boys in one group and the girls in the other. Jake and Dirk ran together down the stairs where they instantly had to fight off the undead who had cornered them. It immediately became a battleground, Jake, not having his pistols on him, was forced to use his bare hands. He was fighting hard, but the zombies were fighting harder. A human could only do so much against an undead savage.
The two boys were clearly at a disadvantage, even more so when Jake was ambushed. "Jake!" Dirk called out in panic, swinging his sword through the hoard of zombies. None of them seemed to care about the blond, they were all gunning for Jake. The zombies ripped and gnawed at Jake's olive skin, tearing it off in bloody chunks. The Englishman screamed in agony, his crimson blood starting to coat his skull tee shirt. He collapsed to the ground, too weak to support his own weight anymore. The zombies remained standing over him until Dirk finally managed to fight them all off. "Get the fuck off him!" Dirk screamed, chopping off the last zombie's head. When it was just the two boys once more, Jake rubbed the blood off his nose. It was then that he realized what a critical state he was in. "Dirk... help... me... Dirk!" Jake stammered, holding his arm (which would probably need to be amputated) and his stomach, which was spewing crimson blood. The blond's mouth hung open, gaping in horror. Jake's body had literally been torn to shreds. Chunks of skin were missing, his limbs hung on only by a few strands of muscle, and bite marks covered his entire body. The Strider was too shocked to speak. When Dirk didn't reply, Jake started to cry, tears streaking down his face. "I don't... want to die. Dirk!"
Dirk couldn't break free from his state of horror. Jake had been completely mauled. Zombie bites were definitely the worst way to go. The pool of crimson blood surrounding the ravenette grew larger by the minute. It wouldn't be long until...
Jake became one of them.
Tears well in the Strider's eyes, but his shades concealed them well. "Jake... I'm sorry," Dirk muttered, holding out his sword so it pointed at his best friend's head. "With that amount of blood loss your chance of survival is minimal to none." His voice cracked, but he attempted to play it off. "And I can't have you becoming a zombie on me, bro... I can just end the pain for you. At least you'll-" He gulped, trying to keep his tears in his eyes. "At least you'll go quick."
Jake nodded, understanding where the Strider was coming from. He didn't want to become one of those corpse-creeps anyway. He wanted to die human. "Can you... u-use a gun? I know it will be messier and all, b-but it's quicker." Dirk gulped and turned his head away, the tears in his eyes now rolling down his cheeks. Every word Jake said was another pierce at his heart. He wanted to end it already. Jake was going to die soon, he should just end him now and get it over with. Wordlessly, the blond nodded his head and scanned the room, searching for a gun to fulfill Jake's death wish. One of the zombies was carrying a firearm. It was the corpse of a police officer who had been bitten. Dirk kneeled down next to the body and snatched the gun.
Glancing at his arm, Jake shuddered as saw how it was barely connected. That was just beyond nasty. He shook his head, cradling his arm like a baby to his chest. "And maybe... I can say a few w-words before I go? Just so you can uh... tell the girls." When Jake was nervous (or in this case scared) he tended to babble a lot. "What do you think happens after we die?" Jake asked softly, biting his lip as another tear streamed down his face. "Because I used to believe it was nothing, but the thought of nothingness and not existing scares me."
Dirk took in another deep, shuddering breath as Jake asked him more questions. "I don't know man," he answered honestly. "But you'll end up somewhere great. Somewhere better than here. You should consider yourself a bit lucky, you got an escape ticket from this hell." The Strider was simply rambling on now, unsure of what to say. "You'll be in a happier place, I promise."
Frowning, Jake reached out a shaky finger on the arm that wasn't hanging on by a thread of muscle to silence Dirk. "Let me talk for a little bit. There are some things I need you to tell Jane and Roxy." He cleared his throat, hacking blood up in the process. After wiping his mouth and taking in a deep breath, he began. "This is for Roxy. Roxy, I am so so proud of you. No matter how little credit we often give you, you are incredible and definitely the strongest out of all of us. Despite common belief, you are our leader because you have united us. Thank you for listening when I needed to talk and I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you with your own problems. However, you seem to be better now and for that I am proud. Don't let Janey and Dirk mourn for me too long." He nodded as he finished. "That will suffice. Do you think you can remember the one for Jane as well?" He looked up to meet Dirk's eyes. "And I have one for you alone as well."
Biting his lip, Dirk turned his head away, refusing to meet Jake's eyes. He couldn't look at him without breaking down. Dirk used his arm to wipe the never ending tears from his eyes. His entire body shook as he listened to Jake speak. Couldn't he just end it now? He felt like he was speaking to a zombie. In his heart he knew Jake was dead. There was no way he'd survive. He was practically talking to a corpse. Dirk wanted to silence Jake before he'd go insane listening to his crush die right there in front of him. The ravenette's words were so sweet, kind, and caring. Only a person with such a good heart would think about his friends until the end. Dirk nodded his head slowly. "Okay... I'll remember them. I'll at least try to." His voice wavered again.
Jake nodded, continuing with his goodbyes. "Jane... I'm sorry that I'm an idiot. I know that you lied about not having feelings for me and I'm sorry for talking to you about... well... love issues. You deserve so much better than me. Promise me that you will tell the truth, no matter how hard it is, to the next guy who comes around because you are beautiful. Don't mourn for me too long, it would be a shame to see you frown and if there is a heaven... I will have to come down to Earth and haunt you until you smile again. Keep baking because you are talented. Take care of Roxy." He looked down, his eyes scanning the floor. "And now for yours Dirk."
The blond bit down hard on his lip and stared at the ground. He gripped the the gun in his hand tightly, trying to calm himself down. "You don't have to say anything for me," He muttered under his breath. This was painful enough. All Dirk will be able to think about for the rest of his life will be Jake's final words. "You don't have to waste your final breath."
"No... It wouldn't be a waste because I need to say this, as selfish as it is. I need to tell you all that I'm going to say. It's really important," Jake pressed, his green eyes staring at Dirk's shades. "I'm not trying to make this harder for you, I need to say this and if you can't do it anymore... I'll shoot myself. As terrifying as it is, I will probably owe it to you after I finish saying what I'm going to say."
Eyes widening, Dirk shook his head vehemently. "I'll do it. I'm not letting you go through that mental insanity bullshit," he insisted. "Just say what you have to, I'll listen... I won't freak out." At least, he hoped he wouldn't freak out any further than he already was. "Just go."
Jake took in a deep breath, calming himself by looking directly at Dirk. "Dirk Strider, you are my best friend and you always have been. And to be honest, death won't separate us because no matter where I end up, you will always be my best friend. Nothing will ever change that, okay? Nothing will change how we would strife or how we would laugh or how much fun we had together. Well, perhaps what I'm about to say might? But I'll try not to freak out about this. It was about a year ago when Roxy forced Jane to talk to me about her feelings and she failed miserably. But the reason I didn't notice that was because I kind of had been hoping... that it would be you rather than her. And I spoke to her about my feelings on that. Whenever I say you... well my heart would go crazy and I knew how I felt and that it wasn't... normal? But I would try and ask you, but something would always get in the way. And I guess I eventually gave up because you turned down Roxy and she's beautiful... but I needed to tell you before I die that I love you. And this is cruel of me, but I had to tell you now... you are such a great guy, Dirk. P-please don't forget that. You can't mourn over my death for too long and you have to take care of our girls. So what I'm trying to say is not to forget who you are and that is an incredible guy..." Jake sighed, blushing a bit. "That's it."
Dirk's orange colored eyes grew large and wide. No... Not now. Fuck, no! Why did he have to find all this out now?! Why didn't he confess to Jake earlier?! And now it was too late. A mix of emotions overwhelmed the blond. The Strider could no longer pretend to be strong. Heavy sobs escaped him. He reached his arm up and pulled off his anime shades, wanting Jake to see him without the frames on at least once. He kneeled down next to Jake, cupping his face and kissing him tenderly. Tears continued to stream down his face in waterfalls. "I love you too," Dirk muttered once their lips parted, staring into Jake's beautiful green eyes. And with that said, he pointed the gun to the side of Jake's head and pulled the trigger.