AN: This Zombie AU is co-written by CapAleran2 and JadeOccelot. We've written our own fanfictions, but this co-writing thing is a first for both of us. We're hoping you enjoy this as much if not more than our individual works. If you like what you read, be sure to follow/favorite and review and tell us. It is always appreciated.
Storyline: Rumors and reports of an unknown virus spread through Kansas City, Missouri. The news reveals that it's not just in the east coast, it's spreading all over the map. Out of the initial chaos emerges a group consisting of family and friends that band together in jointed effort to trek across the country in a hopeful and desperate bid to escape the fate that awaits the rest of the world.
[AU/Zombie, modern/no magic]
*Rated Mature- There is intense language, violence, gore, and some sexual situations. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
*We do not own any of the pictures.
*We do not own any of the music.
*We do not own any of Fairy Tail - that's all Hiro Mashima.
"Sura"/Audiomachine
ONE
"Another school year is about to end. Hard to believe that my little girl will be starting first grade and Iggy will be a third grader once summer is over. Till then nothing but fun, hot sun, and the kids will be home all day. I just hope Natsu will be able to spend more time with us this summer..."
Natsu came loudly down the stairs having donned his blue fireman's shirt and strode through the hall into the kitchen. Nashi and Iggy were sitting at the table with breakfast in front of them, munching away before the start of their school day.
Lucy stood at the sink washing her hands. She looked at him as he appeared through the doorway. Her pleasant expression faded a bit when she saw his shirt as he made a beeline for her. He kissed the back of her head as he passed. She followed his body with her eyes. "When are you going to be home this time?"
He opened the fridge and swiped one of the energy drinks, turning his head to her. "Dunno. They've got one out on vacation and another man sick."
"It seems like they always have someone out." She mumbled, wiping her hands with a dishtowel. She tried not to be bitter; she knew that her husband's second family was demanding. Natsu spent half his weeks at the firehouse for his long shifts. She just wished he'd spend the time he had at home more wisely.
"Do I have to eat this? I'm not hungry." Nashi whined from the table. She lifted the spoonful of cereal up out of the bowl and the contents sloshed back into it.
"Just eat, Nashi." Lucy said without looking at her. Brown eyes stared at Natsu's back as he stood there and drank.
The five year old frowned. "But I don't wanna."
"Nashi. Do what you're told." Natsu glanced at her before finishing the drink in his hand and moving his eyes towards his son. "You two better behave while I'm at the firehouse."
Iggy looked up from the eggs on his plate. "We always do, dad."
"I know you do. But it's not summer vacation yet, so no slacking off and forgetting about responsibilities. Your mother is going to want your help with chores and with Nashi."
"Fine," Iggy groaned as he turned back to his eggs. Natsu frowned for a second before he suddenly smirked.
"If you two do what your mother tells you, I'll take to you guys to the lake when school's out next week when I get back."
"Really?!" Both Iggy and Nashi looked at their dad with bright eyes at the prospects.
"Yea, why not? It sounds like a good day trip. A family outing. Maybe we'll take our fishing poles too and I'll show ya how to grill up some fish."
Lucy smiled.
He gave her a side wink as he spoke. "But you two have to listen to your mom and behave till the last day of school, one strike and no trip."
"We'll behave! We'll behave!" A chorus of excited cries filled the room, and Natsu chuckled.
"Good. I'm looking forward to it." He turned to Lucy to tell her goodbye before he left. She crossed her arms over her chest, forcing him to suppress a huff. "Luce, please don't. I know what you're going to say."
She raised an eyebrow and stared. "Do you."
He grimaced and tried to wrap his arms around her.
"You told me you didn't have to work an extra day this week." Her tone was firm.
Natsu scratched his head. "Sorry Luce, I wasn't suppose ta but the guy who's shift started that day called in sick and they need another body at the house. I had no control over that."
She spun around to face the sink and grabbed a glass to fill at the facet, sighing after she took a sip. "I know, I know. I just wish you could spend more time here. Your kids miss you. I miss you."
Natsu pressed his chin to her shoulder and hugged her from behind. He murmured into her neck, his breath hot on her skin. "Tell ya what. When I get back, how about we go out for the night? You and me? We can have Levy or Mira watch the kids."
She took a deep breath. "That sounds nice, but our children want to see you too. Iggy's been bugging me about his bike. I have no idea how to fix it for him. I told him that you'd have to take a look."
"Alright, we'll have a family day then and the next night we'll go out? That way I can spend time with all of ya and that's not counting out camping."
Trying to hide her growing smile, Lucy turned her head away. She had been irritated with him, but it was hard to keep it up when he was trying to remedy the situation. He tilted his head to see her lips move just in time.
"I love you."
He noticed she didn't say anything about his suggestion but grinned none the less. "Love you too Luce," he gave her a quick kiss, ignoring the their kids' grossed out groans. He then gave Nashi a quick kiss on the forehead and ruffled Iggy's hair despite their protests, and headed out of the kitchen, grabbing a blueberry muffin from the stovetop on the way out. "I'll be back Saturday, call me if anything happens."
"Bye dad!" The kids waved from the table.
"Bye guys, remember our deal!" With that he was gone and out the door, bounding down the porch steps in a hurry. Lucy watched him through the window as he climbed into his red pickup. It would just be her and the kids for a few days, as he stayed at the firehouse for his entire shifts.
By now she should be used to sleeping alone, ever since Natsu became a fireman. She hadn't been too thrilled with the idea, but he had told her before they had gotten together that it's what he wanted to do with his life. She glanced from the pickup as it drove out of the driveway to gaze at the two children sitting at the table.
Iggy looked so much like his father, there was no doubt that he was theirs. Lucy had only been seventeen when she found out that she was pregnant right before graduation. Natsu was already in the academy at the time and there had been no way to communicate with him to tell him the news till he came back. By the time that he completed the academy training, she was into her second trimester.
Lucy had been excited to see him there for her graduation, but also felt nervous. She didn't know if he would be happy or if he would leave her when she told him. However he had been the one to surprised her when he said that they should get married; he admitted he had planned to propose when he became a full fledged firefighter but the baby made it even better. Over two years later, Natsu was employed at one of Kansas City's fire departments and they had their second child, Nashi.
She shifted her gaze between her son and daughter. Iggy had inherited a mix of both of his parent's hair colors, creating a strawberry blond color, while Nashi's was as pink as Natsu's. Her son had the same light skin tone as her, and her little girl was a shade lighter than her father's. And while both were still young, their individual personalities more than showed that not only were they their kids, but were their own persons as well.
Lucy broke from her trance when she remembered the time. Her eyes widened. "Oh, you're going to be late for school! Get your backpacks!"
"But I'm not done eating yet, mama." Nashi said and wrinkled her nose.
Iggy jumped down from his chair. "You weren't eating anyways."
His sister made a noise with her mouth. "I was too!"
"Both of you stop arguing, just get your things." Lucy snapped, grabbing her keys from the hook on the wall.
"It was her fault."
"It was not!"
Lucy blew out a breath and herded them out the front door. Unfortunately, both children came with Natsu's competitive spirit.
After a typical drive with kids arguing in the back and Lucy trying to break it up while keeping her eyes on the road, they arrived at the school. Other vehicles were parked along the street and in the parking lot in front of the school's entrance, making a hard job of getting as close to the doors as possible.
"Alright you know the drill. I'll be right here to pick you up after school." Lucy said as she helped them out of the car. Her keys jingled in her hands and she tried to right Iggy's backpack, but he shrugged her hands away.
"Okay mom." They piped as they headed for the school entrance. Lucy called out, managing to get Iggy to look back at her. "Walk your sister to her classroom."
"Mom, you don't have to tell me, I do it every day."
Lucy's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Is that back sass?"
Remembering his father's deal, Iggy rushed to apologize. "No, no ma'am."
"Hey Lucy!" A voice closed in and caused her to turn see who it was. Walking towards them on the sidewalk was Levy and Wendy. She smiled as they closed the distance between them.
"Hello Wendy!" Lucy greeted the blue haired girl.
"Hi Lucy!" The twelve year old greeted.
"Um Wendy, bell's going to ring in a minute." Levy reminded her. Wendy eeped before taking off towards the doors, calling goodbye back to Levy as she caught up with Iggy and Nashi and walk with them into the building.
Lucy shifted her attention to Levy. "Cutting it pretty close time wise, don't you think?" She raised one eyebrow in a look.
Levy was dressed for work as a teacher's assistant. She looked the at time on her phone and gave a small nervous chuckle while adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "Well, ah. You know. Gajeel arrived home yesterday, and…"
Lucy grinned. "It was an all nighter. I get it, you don't have to tell me. But I'm sure it's good to have him back."
The smile on Levy's face widened. "It is. I've missed him so much. He surprised us both when we walked through the door after school. I thought Wendy was going to faint from excitement. He helped her with some of her homework and then we went out to dinner. After he put her to bed, we spent some time together ourselves."
Lucy snorted. "I hope it wasn't loud enough to wake up Wendy."
A blush appeared on the blunette's cheeks. "I wasn't- we weren't that-"
"Details later," Lucy laughed. "I'll see you Friday for Mira's cookout, right?"
"Yea, Gajeel's looking forward to using the grill. I gotta go, I'll text you later." She then waved to her and rushed into the building, leaving Lucy alone to head back home.
Thursday was the last day of school and they had planned to celebrate the arrival of summer break that Friday at Mira's home. The only problem was that Natsu wouldn't be home until Saturday afternoon and would miss it. He had been a little disappointed as well, but such was life. He would have to wait till Saturday evening to see his cousin. As Lucy slid into the driver's seat, she tried to put it out of her mind and focus on the tasks she had at home. At least Natsu was still working in the city.
Natsu sat across from his coworker at the station's kitchen table, staring him down with furrowed brows. His lips twitched up into a grin. "Let's face it, you're never gonna beat me."
He unscrewed the cap from a red pepper flake bottle and gently shook it, rattling the flakes inside. Hot food was something he liked, but not everyone within the firehouse could tolerate the kind of heat. He was pretty sure he'd end up making some cash at the end of it.
"This is stupid. We all know who's going to win." Gray casually commented. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The others stood around while the two at the table dumped a handful of the flakes into their palms.
"My money's on Natsu." Another man said. He put a crisp five dollar bill on the counter behind him, adding to the pile of paper money already started.
With his elbow on the table's smooth surface, Natsu looked smugly at Eisenwald. "Sure ya don't wanna back out?"
Eisenwald only smirked. It was his way of saying he was in.
"Alright."
At the same time they threw the flakes into their mouths. At first there was no heat, but the longer the spicy food sat on their tongues, the more the heat began to kick in. Natsu sat stone still, keeping the flakes on his tongue. He gazed at Eisenwald, knowing the alarming rise of heat would make the man quit.
Gray watched along with the others. He didn't bother making a bet. If he had, he would have been able to hustle them; he knew Natsu's tolerance to heat. The others waited with bated breath for any sign of yielding. Natsu smirked and began to chew the now sizzling pepper flakes.
"Give up, Eisen. He pours that shit on his pizza and just about every other food he eats." Gray took a step forward and stood at the end of the table facing them. Eisen shook his head, but his face was reddened and his eyes were leaking tears. Despite the heat and pain he was in, Eisenwald's face blanched when Natsu added even more flakes into his mouth.
A few minutes more and the heat was too much. With tears rolling from his eyes, the poor opposition leaned back from the tabletop and began spitting out the pepper. Natsu started to laugh and he chewed the rest that remained in his mouth.
"Anyone else wanna try? What's the pot up to now?" Natsu boasted, glancing around. His eyes settled on his friend Gray. He was frowning and then shook his head.
"You make betting here boring."
"Eh, you're just jealous of my talents." Natsu joked. He leaned back in the chair and puffed out his chest.
Gray rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't call tolerance to heat a talent."
"This coming from the guy who stands in the snow in nothing but his boxers." Natsu aimed Gray a leveled look.
"That was because you stole my clothes and threw them around the yard!"
Natsu began to laugh when his cell phone rang in his pocket. He immediately reached down to look at the caller ID, drawing a more serious expression, as he expected it to be Lucy. A mixed of relief flooded through him when he saw that it was not. He answered in a carefree manner.
"Hey, Metalhead."
"Where're you at Salamander?" Gajeel's rough voice broke the silence from the other end.
"The station. When did you get back? Thought you were on deployment?"
"I was but me and Lil got back yesterday, surprised the girls good. Gihi. When ya off?"
"Not till Saturday."
Gajeel cursed. "Damn."
"Why ya asking?"
"The cookout is on Friday, remember?"
Natsu stood up, causing the chair to scrape against the tiled floor. "The cookout is THIS Friday?"
Gray snapped his head to his friend. "What? Juvia is going to be pissed that I'm not there!"
"That Ice Princess? Great, now Juvia's gonna spend that day crying her eyes out and drown us all." Gajeel griped, hearing Gray's comment through the receiver
Natsu only groaned. He brought his hand to his face and let it slide down his cheek. "Now I get why Luce seemed upset that I was working an extra day."
"You can't ask for that day off?" Gajeel asked from his end.
He shook his head even though Gajeel couldn't see. "No, I'm working that day in the first place because we're short some men, thanks to some bug that's going around."
"Well, shit." Natsu couldn't help but think those exact words in his own mind. "What bug? The flu?" Natsu heard Gajeel ask.
"Dunno, something with a fever. Dizziness, nausea I think."
"Sounds like the flu."
"But it's the wrong season." Natsu pointed out.
Gray had wandered into the other room to watch the weather report on the television. It changed from the weather segment to a breaking news report. The bold red lettering on the wide screen piqued his interest.
"I think they're talking about it on the news now," Gray pointed out to Natsu though Gajeel could hear him on his end.
"A simple flu doesn't make the news." Gajeel muttered, realizing that it changed his previous statement. He listened as the volume was increased and the other two went silent as they watched the news bulletin:
"There has been increasing cases of a flu-like virus sweeping across the east coast. Reports have confirmed cases in states as far north as New Jersey and into southern coastal regions of Florida. The symptoms include a high fever, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. It is advised to perform proper sanitation practices, paying special attention to high traffic areas and reports to any cases in your area. If you or someone you know shows any of the previously stated symptoms, it is highly advised to visit your local hospital as soon as possible..."
The bulletin continued to discuss what to do in prevention, but the guys tuned it out. "What the hell kinda flu is that?" Gajeel growled.
Gray continued to stare at the television screen, though he wasn't paying attention to what was actually being said anymore, "From the caution that's being used, it may not be a flu at all."
"Whatever it is, it's staying on the east coast. It's not even in West Virginia." Natus stated.
"Salamander, how quick can you get to your home?" Gajeel suddenly asked.
"From here? Ten, fifteen minutes. Why?"
Gray snorted. "He's calling you an idiot, dipshit."
"What was that?!" Natsu growled as he got into Gray's face.
"Can you get home quicker than that if it was an emergency?" Gajeel once again suddenly asked.
Natsu turned his attention to the voice on the phone. "Well, yea-"
"Okay, and I don't live that far away. Ten, five minutes if I don't stop. Lil lives-" Gajeel was starting to mutter to himself at this point.
Gray leaned closer to the phone and scowled, already getting irritated with his mumblings. "Just what're you getting at?"
Gray's voice seemed to remind Gajeel that he was still on the phone. "I don't know... I might just be being paranoid here. Instincts still high and all, since I just came home from duty." Gajeel replied as he let out a breath. "It's probably nothing."
Natsu sensed the different tone in his cousin's voice. He had grown quiet, something Gajeel wasn't at times, especially around him and their mutual friends. He wondered if he should ask what was bothering him, but before he could open his mouth to speak, the bell at the station started ringing to signify that there was a fire emergency.
Gray started for the doorway, looking over his shoulder at his pink haired coworker. The other firemen in the vicinity dropped what they were doing to respond to the call, one cursing at having to put down his sandwich.
"Sorry, gotta go." Natsu breathed.
"Don't get burned, Salamander. And I'll keep an eye out for Bunny Girl and your brats for ya till you get back." With that, Gajeel hung up. Natsu stared at his cell for a few seconds, thrown off by what Gajeel just said. He shook his head and reminded himself that there was fire to put out.
"Come on let's go!" Gray shouted back at Natsu.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Natsu yelled back, putting everything else in the back of his mind as he followed Gray and their fellow firefighters to the fire engines.
Gajeel stared at his cell in his hand, not really looking at the object. His mind still wouldn't let him recall what he had seen in recent months, what he had heard while overseas. It just didn't make sense to him. It wasn't as though his patrol had been allowed to stop and investigate. They had had specific tasks to complete on a time sensitive matter.
His brain kept searching for instances of where he had saw symptoms that were stated earlier. Having been recently deployed, he and Lily had witnessed many unpleasant scenes. Some of which were of people who had turned into skinny, deprived messes, all with one or more common indicators.
But in the back of his mind, there was a reminder of what he had heard, as if he'd seen or heard of this before, but from where exactly? It was hard to pinpoint. What if this unknown sickness was spreading to the US? What if this virus was already on every continent?
He took a breath, hearing laughter from in the other room. Levy and Wendy were baking homemade cookies. There were two mixing bowls sitting next to all the ingredients on the counters. His little sister had managed to smear flour across her cheek when she scratched her face, causing his lighter-blue haired fiancee to laugh and wipe it off with a wet towel.
Gajeel put his phone away while trying to push away the disturbing information. He watched his two girls as he moved towards the kitchen. He appeared in the doorway and crossed the room to reach Levy, casually catching her lips with his. He peered over her to see the prepared baking trays. The dough was still clumpy and raw. With a scoop of his finger, he plucked up one pile from the neat rows.
"Hey!" Wendy shouted, trying to smack his hand away.
Gajeel grinned as he licked it from his finger, glancing from his sister to Levy. "I knew you liked chewy cookies, Lev, but isn't this a little too soft?"
She smiled at his jest and scooted him aside with her wide hips. She tried to shake off one of his hands that had wandered near to her bottom. "Ha ha, you're funny, Gajeel. These haven't been baked yet, silly. They have about ten minutes."
Wendy checked the oven. "It's finally ready." She pulled open the oven door to slide the trays inside. The heat billowing out caused her to suddenly back away.
Gajeel turned to her, taking the trays so she wouldn't get hurt. "I'll do that Baby Blue."
Wendy pouted at that nickname. "Why do you still call me that? I'm almost thirteen, almost a teenager. I'm not a baby anymore, I'm a preteen."
Gajeel put the tray in and closed the oven door before answering. "You'll always be Baby Blue to me, even when you're ninety and have gray hair coming out of your ears." He laughed when Wendy covered ears.
"What about me?" Levy asked curiously. She stacked the mixing bowls to place them in the sink before spinning around to face him.
"What about ya?" Gajeel asked, raising a studded brow as he moved to intercept the mixing bowls before the faucet was turned on.
Levy gave him a level look. Her fingers caught a tendril of hair near her eye that had escaped her headband. In the process, a small sparkle caught from the kitchen light on one of them. "I think you know."
Gajeel gave her a blank stare for second and then grabbed a mixing bowl and a rubber spatula that was in it. "Nope" was all he said before he started snacking on the cookie dough that was still stuck to the sides of the bowl, using the spatula to scoop them out.
"Gajeel! We agreed to wait to set a date until after you came home. Now you're here and you haven't mentioned it once." Levy stared at him, tempted to snatch the bowl from his grasp in frustration.
"Why didn't you just say that?" He simply asked and he raised the bowl higher up, as if he sensed what Levy was thinking.
"Well I was going to, but I thought you'd bring it up on your own. I thought you'd remember."
"I did remember but you just said 'what about me?' after Wendy asked why I still call her Baby Blue, how was I supposed to connect nicknames to our wedding day?"
Levy pursed her lips. She loved him but sometimes she wondered. "It's ok, I'm sorry. But now that you're settled in, can we discuss this sometime tonight?"
"Sure Shrimp."
Wendy chuckled and hopped up on the countertops as she took the other mixing bowl, intent on the dough inside. "She's been kind of a wreck these past few weeks."
"You-you weren't suppose to tell him that!" Levy exclaimed, blushing for reasons Gajeel didn't know.
He glanced from his sister to Levy and licked the spatula again. "What for?"
Levy felt the blush still on her face. "I-I've just missed you. You have no idea how happy I was to see you when we walked through the front door."
"She cried when she thought I was asleep." Wendy said nonchalantly. She swung her legs out from the counter as she snacked on the cookie dough in her bowl.
"Wendy!"
Gajeel smiled. "I missed ya too. Both of you. I ain't going anywhere like that again." He put the bowl down and moved to wrap his arms around Levy in a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and her eyes popped open at his comment. She tried to pull away but his thick arms kept her tightly there.
"What do you mean," Levy's words were muffled. "'Like that again'?"
Wendy was now alert and watching her older brother with interest. "Gajeel?"
He spoke into Levy's hair. "That was my last deployment."
Wendy let out a squeal and excitedly jumped down from the counter to rush in to hug him from behind. "Do you mean it? You're done for good?!"
Levy smiled up at him, loosening her grip. "You're here to stay?"
"Yep. I'll need to find a job in the city though, my pension only offers so much, but otherwise I'm officially honorably discharged from the Marine Corps."
At the smile spreading on Levy's face, he felt his chest tighten. Deep down, he was relieved to be done with military life. It had been his life for a good handful of years, and there were things he was sure to miss about it, but looking down at his two girls that he had been forced to leave behind each deployment, leaving that life behind was worth it if it meant he can spend the rest of his with them.
Some hours later that night, Levy gathered the things she would need for the school day in the morning before going to bed. She was absorbed in her thoughts and absentmindedly bumped into Gajeel's bare torso as he came out of their master bathroom, almost dropping the clothes in her hands.
"Shrimp, what did I say about paying attention to your surroundings?" Gajeel grumbled but helped picked up what did fall from her arms.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled.
"You don't have to apologize, just pay more attention to what's going on around ya," He replied but raised an eyebrow at the tone of her response. "What you thinking about?"
She shook her head slightly and met his gaze. "It's the last day of school tomorrow."
"And?" He asked as he sat down on the edge of their bed.
"There's just going to be a lot to do. The younger grades will be playing games outside on the football field with the teachers, and us assistants will have to help take down the classroom decorations. The older grades -Wendy's grade included- will have exams in each class. I told her that she better study for it."
"Had she been having trouble in school?"
Levy changed into pyjama shorts before she answered. "Not really, just in her math class. She's got all A's otherwise."
Gajeel watched her while she completed her task. He threw back the blankets from the made up bed. "You're helping her right?"
"It's ratios and square roots. I would help her if I could, I just don't remember any of that."
"So get her someone who does."
Levy blew out a breath. "They provide tutors for students, but there are only so many to go around."
Gajeel frowned. He threw back Levy's side of the blankets as she slipped in beside him and turned to her. "What grade does she have in it now?"
Levy bit her lip, nervous to say. "I believe it's close to a D."
"Are you serious?" His eyes widened and he turned his body towards her. "She could end up failing!"
"She won't though. She's been studying, she's probably doing that now. And even if she fails math, it's that one class, she's doing great in her other classes so she won't fail the grade. She'll be fine."
"I should have been here to help her." He growled to himself.
"Honey, don't do that to yourself. You had no control over it." Levy touched his arm and snuggled closer. "She'll be alright."
He relented, trusting Levy with his baby sister. Afterall, Levy was given partial guardianship over Wendy when they had gotten engaged. While Gajeel was on deployment, it was Levy who cared for her. He trusted Levy with everything that belonged to him, and now with him finally coming home for good, he saw that she had done very well.
He glanced down to his arm, where she was pressing her side to him. He could tell there was something on the tip of her tongue.
"So... I was originally thinking of a June wedding, but that seems to be cutting it close. On the other hand, if we wait for utumn monthsautumn, the colored leaves will be beautiful but also everywhere... We co-"
Gajeel nearly fell back against the headboard at the sudden topic change. "Way to change the subject, Shrimp."
"You said we could talk about it later. It's later." She said, then giggled. "What do you want?"
"Um..."He stared at the ceiling above his head. "I don't care. Whatever works for you will work for me."
"But I want to know what you would like." Levy insisted gently.
He reached up to shut off the lamp on the bedside table, then settled back into the bed. Levy brought the blankets up to her chest and returned to his warm side.
"This is your thing," he brushed the short bits of her hair from her face with his hand and then pushed her closer with the same. "I'd be good with a few words said and a kiss to seal the deal that makes you my wife and mine alone."
"Of course you would." Levy mumbled even as she tried to hide her growing blush. She ran her fingers over his chest, trailing down his chiseled abs. "Are you sure you don't care?"
He watched her fingers make their way to his bellybutton and lay flat. "I'm sure."
"What if I wanted everything pink? Even your suit?"
"Oi! What are you trying to do to me?" He firmly inquired and snatched her fingers from his skin.
She kept it up with a growing laugh. "Or make you wear a kilt? Or have the wedding at the lakeshore. You can finally wear that red speedo Natsu got you."
He growled as he turned his body towards her, seeing the playfulness in her features. He grinned, showing his pointed teeth as she struggled to escape his grasp within the rustling sheets. "Don't you dare make me wear those. I'd have to get ya back somehow, and ya wouldn't like that."
"Try me." She said firmly, her lips twisted into a grin. He had her by the wrists above her head with his body now on top of her. He leaned down and briefly kissed her.
"Maybe I will…"
She tried to pull away when she saw his furrowed brows and his signature smirk that had always caught her attention. His hands were like stones, keeping her pinned to the mattress. She couldn't escape and quickly sucked in a breath as his lips caught hers again.
It had been a long time since they had gotten any intimate alone time. The first night he was home had been the one exception. He moved from her lips to her jaw, savoring her smell as if he would never get to again. Whispering into her ear, he felt her shudder and start to giggle. She relaxed under him and he let go of her wrists to place one hand on her hip.
Levy pulled his face around to kiss him again and wrapped her hand around his shoulder, feeling the muscles and the new, additional scars that he had gained. Her fingers lightly traced them, but she'd ask him about that later; he gently bit her lip, taking her attention from his shoulder.
He pulled further away to get a good look at her. A grin slipped up on his face. Underneath him, Levy closed her eyes and smiled. "I love you."
His grin slightly widened and he slowly leaned down again and kissed her lips, then her forehead. She immediately turned her head to sneeze.
Gajeel blankly stared at her. "You ok?
"Yea, I only sneezed." She replied and shrugged her shoulders. Her hair fell into her eyes.
"You know there's something going around, right?" He narrowed his eyes and rolled to his side.
She watched him, then righted herself. "I feel fine."
"You dizzy?"
"...no." She answered with a quizzical gaze.
"Nauseous?"
"Gajeel, I told you I'm fine." She sat up, running her hand through her hair to clear her face. "What's wrong?"
He laid there just looking at her. "There's a virus or something spreading through the east coast like wildfire."
She seemed unconcerned as she settled back against him under his arm. "If it's the flu-"
"But it's not." He firmly stated, a growl at the end. "It was on the news just today. They don't know what it is."
She silently processed his words and swallowed. Maybe it was just a larger, more aggressive strain of the common flu virus. It'll probably die out like most ordinary illnesses. But she had never seen him so worked up about an issue from something as simple as a sneeze. She took a deep breath and let it out, her breath hot against his chest.
"Well, it's not here-"
Gajeel snorted. "Yet."
She frowned. "It's not here, so let's not worry too much about it. It may not even reach here before it weakens."
He said nothing, only grunted when he felt her lips against his skin. He hugged her closer and quickly settled into a comfortable position. Soon he felt her steady breathing, knowing she had fallen asleep. He laid there trying to sleep himself, but failing.
His mind wouldn't quiet down, something he'd have to get used to being at home for good. But he knew it was more than that. That damn virus wouldn't leave him alone, and as much as he would like to forget about or not worry about it as Levy put it, his instincts were telling him that this virus was only going to get stronger.
AN: This is an introductory chapter to show our four main characters and their families. The next two chapters will show you who will be in the group that forms as the outbreak unleashes (and it is a large group of people). More information will be revealed in further chapters, just be patient. The chaos hasn't even begun its ascension to its highest peak, so stick with us. We have also added a piece of music to each chapter for additional support.