The Underground

"Are you comfy now?" Matthias asked, tucking Lukas tightly into the covers. Lukas and Matthias had taken the guest bedroom while Berwald had volunteered to take the couch. Once he had successfully made Lukas comfy to his standards, Matthias climbed into bed and snuggled the Norwegian until both were warm under the covers.

"How's your back?" Matthias asked, as Lukas rested his head on the Dane's shoulder. He snuggled in closer, replying, "It's good I suppose… The Ibuprofen Berwald gave me is kind of starting to work."

Matthias kissed Lukas' forehead, "Well that is good~ I hope you get completely better soon."

Lukas nodded, yawning, "Matthias?"

"Yes?"

"What if… What if my family isn't there? What if they are dead and we went all this way for nothing?" Lukas' buried his face into Matthias' arm, embarrassed that he showed his doubts.

Matthias clicked tongue, "Oh… So that is what you have been worried about lately…" he then turned on his side, so he could face Lukas, and continued, "I assure you they are fine. Your dad is a survivalist, right? It is practically impossible for your family to die with him around!"

Lukas looked down, smiling a little, "You're right… I don't know why I worried… It's just with all we've been through and them living close to the city, I-!"

"Shh…" Matthias said, kissing him on the lips to shut him up in a sweet way, "You will see your family again. And I am pretty sure tomorrow if there aren't any complications, you will be able to complete that task! Isn't that exciting?"

Lukas nodded, "Very, actually. I can't believe I'll get to see Emil after so long. I wonder how he has turned out with the whole having to survive to live thing. When the world was normal, he couldn't keep his eyes off his phone. I don't know how he is dealing right now," Lukas laughed a little.

Matthias laughed along with him. After hearing so many stories about Lukas' family and Emil, it almost felt like he knew them personally. He couldn't wait to actually meet them and maybe become part of the family.

Shortly after, the two fell asleep, holding on to each other all while having sweet dreams of tomorrow.

~ (***)~

"I didn't know you were a doctor! How come you never told us?" Matthias asked, as they all three climbed into the car for another day of traveling to Lukas' family's house.

"Because you never asked me, and I wasn't a doctor yet. I was studying to be one," Berwald answered, as he started the car. Lukas was still asleep, and since Matthias didn't want to wake him up yet into back pains, he had carried him out to the car.

It had rained that night, the wet, morning dew collected along the window of the car. The atmosphere had made the whole house cold, but they thanked the blankets for keeping them warm.

Lukas was snuggled up against Matthias in the car, using his shoulder as a pillow. Matthias made Lukas' sleeping position as comfortable as possible, so he wouldn't have a crick in his neck in the future. Matthias was so excited for Lukas that he was going to get to see his family today! He was excited to see the people that raised such an amazing person like Lukas, too.

Berwald started to drive on, as Matthias continued to ask questions about his past. Matthias had learned that Berwald's parents lived in Sweden where he was born, he was an only child, Tino wanted kids, so before the apocalypse, they were working on adopting a kid, and so much more.

It was about an hour and a half into the drive was when Lukas finally woke up. He was immediately bombarded with questions like, "Are you feeling better?" "Is your back back to normal?" "Do you want to go back to sleep?" "Are you cold?" All questions were asked by the worrying Matthias. Lukas smiled, and said, "I actually feel better, and my back was just bruised, so it is fine."

"Ok, that's good," Matthias replied, "You're not cold are you?"

Lukas was going to reply, but Matthias was already wrapping him in a warm, fur blanket. "Wow, you were prepared...What's going on?" Lukas asked, confused as to why Matthias was being so protective and serving. He usually was every other day, but today, his worrying was incredibly strong.

"I just want the day you see your parents again, a good day all around!" Matthias replied, beaming with joy as he grinned.

They both then felt the car pull over, so they turned their heads to Berwald. "Why are we stopping?" Matthias asked, realizing they pulled into a gas station, "Oh… This is the only reason why I never wanted to get a car. I hate the gas stations…."

"Oh they're not that bad," Berwald said, getting his gun out, "Just be prepared for anything."

He then got out of the car, with Lukas following right behind him. Matthias reluctantly got out too, knowing that he had to keep an eye on Lukas at all times. All three had guns to protect themselves with, as they walked up to the gas station.

Matthias knocked on the door this time, looking in the window to see if there was any visible movement within in the gas station. He waited five minutes, before calling it clear and walking inside.

"Stay here," he said to Lukas and Berwald and went to the back to the bathrooms and break room. Lukas waited, still having his gun ready for anything. Surprisingly, there was still food in the gas station, almost like this place hadn't been touched.

"Should we get the food while we can? Matthias and I are running out, and my family probably needs to restock," Lukas said, to Berwald, but almost in a way like he was talking to himself.

Berwald shrugged, "I'll get the bags then. You pick out stuff, because this will be a short trip. I have to supply the car with gas, and go."

Lukas nodded, and started looking around the gas station. After a minute or two, Matthias came out of the back area, and said, "Cost is clear! This is the safest gas station yet!" Lukas nodded, smiling, as he occupied himself in choosing which chip bags he wanted to take. Suddenly, he was picked up by the arms of Matthias, who was laughing.

"What are you doing?" Lukas asked, confused but not changing his nonchalant expression. Matthias carried him over to the cashier table, and sat him down on the desk, still holding him. "You wanna know something weird?" he asked, fixing himself in between Lukas' legs, and hugging his waist.

"Not really, but what is it?" Lukas mused, smiling.

Matthias replied, "Well, when we get to your parents and brother, we probably won't have any alone time, if you know what I mean…" He grinned, blushing, before Lukas replied, "What do you mean? They'll probably let us go on runs to get food alone. We could have plenty along time then."

"What, you mean fighting the infected? I mean a different kind of alone time…" Matthias said, smiling awkwardly to try and make Lukas understand before Berwald came back to hear the more than interesting conversation.

Lukas finally got what Matthias was saying, and replied, nodding his head, "Oh… Dammit you're right…"

Matthias nodded, laughing, "Took you long enough! That's fine though. We really don't have to do that to have fun, ri-?"

Lukas interrupted him, "Let's do it now."

"What?"

"You heard me. My parents most likely will not be fond of us sleeping together, especially in the same house as Emil. They probably just want to protect his innocence even though he is living in a world where innocence kills you. Anyway, let's do it now while we can," Lukas explained, leaving Matthias dumbfounded.

"Right here?" Matthias asked, still shocked at the sudden offer.

"Yes. Right now," Lukas replied.

"Isn't it kind of unsanitary?" Matthias asked, trying to recover from his blush.

"Matthias," Lukas said, putting his arms around the Dane's neck, "When have you ever cared about that kind of stuff?"

Matthias grinned, "True.. Let's do this!"

Lukas smirked, as Matthias threw everything off the counter, cashier and all, having it crash to the ground. He had a goofy grin on his face, as he started to undo his belt, and Lukas started to unbutton his pants.

"So how are we going to do this?" Matthias asked to himself out loud, seeing the environment they were in, "Ooh!"

He then spun Lukas to the side a bit, and pushed him down lightly, making it so he was laying down on the counter, half his legs hanging off the side. After that, Matthias jumped on the table and straddled Lukas with a big grin across his face now.

"Now…" he said, grinning as he spoke each word, "Since this is our last time, I'm gonna make it a grand finale. How do you feel about that?"

Lukas smirked, "I like the idea but don't think it is our last. Someday we'll have an oncor~"

Matthias laughed, "You are so cute!" He then kneeled down a little to kiss Lukas, but something behind the cashier caught his eye, causing him to almost throw up. Confused, Lukas asked, "What's wrong?"

Matthias tried to focus on something else, but the imagine was still in his head, "Nothing… Just a major turn off…"

"It's that bad?" Lukas said, starting to get up, as Matthias got off the counter. Lukas turned around to see what it was, and almost threw up as well. Behind the counter, there was a skeletonized body, lying in the corner, with two practically bone skinny, infected infants, gnawing on the bones of what was most likely their mother.

Lukas got off the counter quickly, and pulled up his pants. "Geez that was-," Matthias was at loss for words that could describe what he just saw. Lukas nodded, still trying to get over the shock of seeing that so closely.

"Sorry we ended that so soon… I just really couldn't-," Matthias started to apologize, but Lukas interrupted him, "It's fine. I'll get my parents to work out a deal with us, alright?" He smiled faintly, "Let's just get out of here…"

Lukas grabbed as many water bottles he could before walking out of that gas station. He had one weakness when it came to types of infected, and that was kids. Just thinking about what could have happened made him sick, and seeing those two infants made it worse.

Matthias followed close behind him with some food, and they made their way to the car. Berwald was there, still filling its tank up with gas. When he saw the two he said, "Leaving already? I was gonna get you two the bags after I filled the car up."

"Ya, I changed my mind about the fact we need more food. My parents have probably stocked up so much that they have a grocery store in the basement," Lukas replied, frowning, as he put the food in the open trunk of the car.

After they were all done loading and filling the car up with the necessities, they were back on the road again. They were taking back roads, so it took longer than it would have on a highway, but the highways were backed up to their exits with abandoned cars, and aggressive infected.

It took about two more hours until they finally reached the street where Lukas' family's house was on. Matthias could feel Lukas shaking as Lukas leaned over him to look out the window. Lukas unknowingly smiled as he could faintly see their country side house in the distance.

Matthias smiled at Lukas' excitement and also observed the quiet, almost un touched street they were driving on. The sky had grown dark by the time they had gotten close to the house, and the stars were their only source of light.

They finally parked the car at the house, and everyone stayed silent. The lights were on in the kitchen, and someone was walking around it. Lukas smiled, it was probably Emil still trying to get cell service or something…

He could feel tears brimming the edges of his eyes. After so long, this was finally it! He could see his family again, and be with them through the rest of this! He climbed over Matthias and opened the door, practically falling outside of the car. He ran to the house, and walked up on the porch and to the door.

He knocked on the door, and opened it anyway, knowing it was safe. Right when he opened it though, blood spattered all over his face, and silence dimmed the scene. He opened his eyes to see his little brother, Emil, standing over four bodies of infected, with a machete in his hand. Confusion and shock was all he felt.

Matthias started to walk up the porch, as Emil started sobbing. Through his sobs, he started to yell at Lukas, screaming, "You were ten minutes late! What took you so long? Why now?! Why now did you have to come? You were- Why were you so late?!"

Lukas was ignoring Emil's screaming, because all he could think about was how his parents were dead on the floor, and they were infected. How could his parents ever get infected? They were professionals at surviving any matter, so how could this happen?! Lukas could feel a hand hold his waist, as Matthias spoke the words, "Oh God…."

Lukas nodded, before turning into him, and crying into his chest. He wrapped his arms around Matthias' chest tightly, crying into it. Emil felt like he was about to go crazy with all the commotion, and what he just did. He just… killed his parents. He had to of course, but nothing could change the way that sentence felt to say in his mind.

He just killed the things that hurt his parents and he finished his parents off. Yes, nothing hurt more than that sentence right there. He looked to his brother who was now crying in some random guy's arms. Shouldn't it be him he would hug? Since they were family, shouldn't they be there for eachother?

He felt like walking away from this all, but that was obviously not the appropriate step to take in this situation. He had to calm down and wait for Lukas to calm down.

After a few minutes of crying and sobbing and questioning one's own sanity, Lukas finally went over to Emil and hugged him, "I'm so sorry…" he said, breathlessly, through tears. Emil finally dropped the machete, and hugged Lukas back, "I am too… This was- This was all my fault…"

"No it wasn't, Emil," Lukas reprimanded, "Don't you ever think it was your fault, because I can see that they were infected. You were protecting yourself from things that weren't mom and dad anymore, ok?"

Emil nodded, "O-Ok…."

The two stayed like that for what felt like hours to Berwald and Matthias. They were crying and holding each other for an eternity before they finally separated by Emil saying that he was tired and was going to bed.

Lukas tried to follow him, not wanting to leave his brother alone, but Emil stopped him, and said that he just needed time alone. Matthias knew this was his turn to be there for Lukas, so he ran to Lukas and hugged him lightly. Lukas started to cry again into his shoulder.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, Lukas.. I know this is hard, but you will get through this, alright?" Matthias said, rubbing his hand up and down Lukas' back. He rocked them both back and forth, as Lukas was holding on for his life.

"I-I want to be with Emil! He can't do this alone…" Lukas sobbed out, wiping his tears on Matthias' shirt. "I know, but your brother did just technically kill his parents, so let him have time to think by himself, alright? You guys can be together in the morning, but you both need some sleep," Matthias replied.

Lukas wiped his tears, and said, "Can-Can I see my parents? I want to see them, please!" He started to sob again, wanting to go to his parents. Matthias kept him from fully seeing them, because he didn't want Lukas' last vision of his parents to be zombified corpses. Lukas started to cry, almost screaming between sobs, "Let me see them! Matthias, please!"

He tried pushing Matthias out of the way, but Matthias managed to nudge Lukas up the stairs, assuming that his room was on the second level. "I cannot let you seem them Lukas! Please just… get rest! Do you really want your last thoughts of your parents to be the face of a dead zombie?"

"I don't care, just let me see them!" Lukas was crying too much to use anymore strength, so he was just hanging off of Matthias, barely punching him to make him stop carrying him upstairs. Though he knew that Lukas probably hated him currently for doing this, it was truly best for him.

Matthias ended up carrying him bridal style up the stairs, because Lukas had given up and practically collapsed into Matthias' arms, still crying. Matthias guessed that the room down the hall on the far left was Lukas' room, mainly because it had stars glued to the white, wooden door, and a picture of a green monster looking thing was taped near the stars.

It looked like a room Lukas would have since he said he used to be really into magic and mythology. Matthias opened the door, still carrying Lukas, and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind them both. Lukas had calmed down from a few minutes ago, but was still sobbing into Matthias' shirt.

Matthias quickly pulled the covers down on the bed, and replaced them with Lukas, pulling them back over his body. He kissed Lukas' forehead and started to leave to go downstairs again. He hated to leave Lukas a crying mess like this, but he had to get the bodies out of their main room, not wanting Lukas or Emil to have to see that when they come downstairs the next morning.

As he turned around, planning to go do that, Lukas grabbed his hand, making him stay in place. "Please…" he said, weakly, "Please don't leave me alone Matthias, I don't want to be alone!"

When Matthias turned around to see Lukas, he could clearly notice Lukas' bloodshot eyes and red, puffy cheeks. There was blood spattered on his face, that wasn't coming off even with the tears constantly flowing down his cheeks. Every few seconds, he could hear Lukas' breath hitched up or hiccup between his cries. How could he leave the one he loves alone like that? That would be terrible to do that…

He sighed, realizing that both choices was something he had to do. He thought about what had to be done in the amount of time, and staying with Lukas was obviously what he had to do at the moment. When Lukas fell asleep, then he could finally take the dead bodies and put them somewhere where the two brothers wouldn't have to see them. Then, when Lukas was ready, he could ask him what he wanted to do with his parent's bodies, and help him achieve that.

He couldn't imagine losing family like that, after spending so long trying to reunite with them. That must have been what hit Lukas hard about this whole situation. Matthias tried to imagine losing Lukas like that, but he couldn't even imagine it. That would honestly be the end of his world.

Matthias crawled into Lukas' bed and spooned him, holding him in his arms. He could feel Lukas shaking, sniffling every once in awhile, as he tried to hold in his sobs. He shushed him soothingly, whispering sweet nothings in his ear to calm him down more. He loved Lukas so much, and hated seeing him like this.

After thirty minutes, Lukas finally used his last piece of strength, crying, and fell asleep. Not hearing the sobs anymore, Matthias assumed that Lukas was now asleep. He started to get up, knowing that no matter how much he didn't want to leave Lukas, he had to get this done.

He sneakily made his way out of the bed without waking the sleeping Norwegian, and made his way out of the room.