Warnings: Gore, character death, zombies

Author's Notes: This is an AU of General Hospital that doesn't really follow any current or previous storylines. The accident that turned Jason Q into Jason Morgan never happened. The world of the AU will be revealed as the story progresses. The AJ that I'm writing is the AJ played by Sean Kanan. Stefan is still alive. Carly is pretty much a non-entity. She will probably appear in the story, but she doesn't have any real connections with Jason other than passing. The main core of characters will be Jason, Sam, AJ, Emily, Nikolas, Alexis, and Stefan, so it's a mostly Quartermaine and Cassadine story.

Jason Quartermaine stared in the mirror, turned his head from side to side. A day later, the haircut was growing on him. The shorter hair was easier to work with in the morning, and it didn't hang into his face while he was trying to work. It had been a spur of the moment thing, a decision that came after seeing his mother. Monica had tried to push the hair out of his face, and he had jerked back from her. The hair was the last thing to tell her that her favored son was gone, that she wasn't going to have one without the other.

Over a year had passed since he moved out of the Quartermaine mansion, declaring that if one son was gone, then the other one was gone, too, and still, it was hard for his parents to get it. He didn't believe that the best way to help AJ was to cut him off, to put him out there alone. In the year that Jason and AJ had been gone, AJ had already started to get better. Without the family around…

So maybe leaving the Quartermaines really was what AJ needed, but to cut him off completely? All they had to do was lay off. All they had to do was have some faith in him, give him a reason to be proud of himself, to believe in himself. AJ worked harder away from them than he ever had when they were breathing down his neck, almost daring him to screw up so they could prove themselves right. Being away from the family was good for AJ, but the way it had happened was horrible.

Jason ran a hand over his short-cropped blond hair. It was childish, really. To be honest, he hadn't minded the hair so much. He did it to spite Monica. Moments after the cut was finished, he felt bad about it, but now, looking at it in the morning, it wasn't so bad. He should have cut it a long time ago. The short hair just made life easier.

The bed moved behind him and Jason stepped to the side, giving himself a better view of the bed in the reflection of the glass. Sam McCall rolled onto her side, and for a moment, Jason thought she was going to push up. Her left hand was planted against the mattress, and it looked like her arm was starting to straighten. Instead of getting up, Sam let her arm slide out to the side until her fingers hung off the end of the mattress. Her hair, so dark brown that it almost looked black, spilled across her face. She didn't bother moving it out of the way.

Sam was a rebellion, or at least she had started that way. When they first started to cross paths, Jason clearly remembered the remarks made about her by his grandfather. Obviously, she wasn't a person on the up and up if she was involved with the Cassadines. Then, she was definitely someone to stay away from when they found she was a Cassadine. Despite all the things that had happened because of Cassadines, Jason had always been sure that his family's dislike of them, especially his grandfather's, was because they couldn't stop Emily from entrenching herself within that family.

Emily was the reason that Jason had done more than pass Sam in the streets or at Kelly's. Emily was Sam's friend, and though she and Emily weren't attached at the hip, she was often around when Jason went to see Emily. Through his adopted sister, Jason learned a lot more about the woman that lay naked in his bed. He learned that she could take care of herself, but that sometimes, she liked to step back and let someone else take the fight. He learned that she had a good heart, even though she sometimes didn't go about things the best and nicest of ways. He learned that she was easy to care about, and that she didn't judge him or his brother based on the things people may say around town.

Jason left the mirror and moved to kneel beside the bed. He needed to get dressed and ready for work. He couldn't show up for his paramedic shift with nothing but a towel around his waist. Knowing that, though, he still took the time to push the hair back from Sam's face. He took the time to drift his fingers over her shoulder, and then across her cheek. Sam's eyelids fluttered, but she didn't wake up. Jason leaned over and kissed her cheek. He let his lips linger, and when he pulled back, her eyes were open, or at least, they were mostly open. He knew she would go back to sleep once he was gone. Sam was a late sleeper.

"Hey," Sam said. She licked her lips and blinked a couple of times. "Morning already?" Jason nodded and Sam gave a soft laugh. "You're not dressed yet."

"I will be."

"Be careful," she told him. "I'm learning that Port Charles isn't the safest place in the world."

Jason laughed. That was a bit of an understatement. For such a small town, they seemed to have their fair share of problems. Between the mob, the random killer that showed up from time to time, and the inability of Port Charles denizens to stay out of trouble, there was usually plenty for a paramedic to do. Jason's job as a paramedic was another rebellion against his parents. They just knew he was going to be a doctor, that he was going to follow in their footsteps. Slowly, but surely, the years had shown him that he didn't want to be like his parents. He still enjoyed medicine, though, and he wanted to help people, so he made a compromise between spiting them and making himself happy. He became a paramedic.

"I'll be careful," he told her. Jason kissed her again, this time a quick one on the lips, then pushed up to his feet. "Go back to sleep."

"I planned on it," she said with a grin. Sam rolled onto her back, then onto her side. As she moved, Jason caught glimpses of flesh that excited him more than they should. He'd seen, touched, and kissed every part of her body at one point or another, but still, a glimpse of her shoulder, the curve of her breasts, the spanse of her back… They all aroused him.

As Sam pulled the covers up over her shoulder, Jason turned away. She was on her way back to sleep, but Jason had enough experience with Sam to know that, should he climb back in the bed, naked and ready for her, she would put sleep off for at least a little while longer. Jason was tempted to get in, more tempted than he'd been with any other woman, and so he turned and put on his clothes.

Jason dressed quickly, and left the bedroom even quicker. He walked down the short hall and down the stairs swiftly, his socks making the slightest of noise across the carpet. When he got downstairs, AJ was already there, his arms over the back of the sofa, his head tossed back, eyes closed. AJ said, "Getting a late start, huh?"

"Looks like I'm not the only one." Jason tried to keep any form of accusation out of his voice. AJ hadn't had a drink in months, but his posture was a little too similar to what it was like when he had a hangover. He had learned that trusting AJ was the best way to make sure he stayed on the wagon, but every once in a while, Jason found himself wondering.

"Don't worry," AJ said, lifting his head. "I didn't go on a bender."

Jason felt bad, and almost apologized. The first few months of living together, when they had moved out of the mansion and into the apartment in Harberview Towers, Jason had apologized a lot. He had expected AJ to eat it up, but instead, he just told him it was fine, that he understood, that it was more important that he was there, putting faith in him when he could. Jason had stopped apologizing so much, but he still felt the urge to do so every now and again.

"Sam's still asleep," Jason said, turning the conversation away from AJ's non-bender and Jason's need to apologize.

"She got her key?" Jason nodded and AJ gave one in return. "Then we're good, because I'll be gone by the time she gets up. I was just taking a breather." AJ pushed himself up and stretched. His suit was only slightly wrinkled. A quick tug on his jacket, an adjustment of his tie, and he looked fine.

He faced Jason and they stared at each other, eye-to-eye. For Jason, that had to be one of the best things about the last year he'd spent with AJ. Before, especially when he was drinking, AJ wouldn't look him in the eye. AJ would look down or to the side, anything not to go head on with his brother. Now, he and AJ stood toe-to-toe, eye-to-eye, and it felt good. It felt real. This was the brother he had when AJ was sober, the one he wanted all the time. This AJ was his best friend.

Jason nodded, then went to the door and pulled on his heavy black boots. He looked up at AJ and nodded again. "Tonight?"

AJ shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "If the day goes well. It should."

"Cool," Jason said. "See you tonight."

A wave from AJ, a return from Jason, and then he was out the door. The door closed behind him and Jason paused. Something… He didn't know. There was some feeling, a shiver that went up his spine. He shook it off. He tried to shake it off. The further he was from his apartment, though, the more that feeling was there. By the time he was outside, it was almost like he could smell it on the wind. Something was wrong, or something was going to go wrong. A voice in the back of his mind told him to go back upstairs, lock himself in. Going out there today was going to be nothing but trouble.

He probably should have listened. He should have gone back upstairs, called in sick, and climbed back into bed with Sam. He also should have kept AJ from leaving, and made calls to others, telling them today was a bad day to go out. Jason didn't claim to be psychic or anything close to it. He was just intuitive, and he knew his surroundings. The hallway had been eerily quiet, giving him a sense of unease. The elevator had moved slowly, giving Jason more time to think about that bad feeling. And outside, there was something in the air, a chill on the wind and a scent that just wasn't right. All of that together added up to a day to stay inside.

Jason didn't go back to his apartment, though. He was a responsible person, and there were lives out there that needed to be saved, people who needed his help. So, he ignored the good sense that told him to go back inside and headed for work. He climbed on his motorcycle, another rebellion against his parents, and headed off to General Hospital. He really, really should have just gone back inside.