Fanfiction: Influenced
Category: Web Shows (Youtube)
Chapter: 1
Author: Sakura Lawliet
Editor: Quietgirl117 (Wattpad)
Word Count: 2,196
Disclaimer: I do not own Youtube (obviously) or any of its users. I especially do not own H2O Delirious, VanossGaming, CaRtOoNz, and any other YouTuber mentioned in this writing piece. I only take credit for the plot and story.
Warning(s): None.
CHAPTER 01:
Un(Lucky)
Jonathan was absolutely terrified by how quickly the world just spiraled into shit. There was fire and destruction everywhere, and he just couldn't understand. He couldn't comprehend anything as he watched everything pass by in a blur of motion, glancing over at Luke's stoic face to ground himself occasionally. Jonathan could feel his fingers twitching and trembling slightly in his lap as he fiddled with the flimsy papers that were his pictures, trying to calm the storm inside his head. His breath was almost unbearably hot in the mask he wore, but he didn't dare to take it off.
It was stupid, but it made him feel just a bit safer, just a bit more distanced from the pain and destruction that fell around him. It made him feel safer knowing others couldn't read the panic and fear on his face. He stared down at the photos in his hands, his fingers still worry their edges as he tried to forget everything that was happening and just focus on the crazy fanart depicting him and a great many of his friends.
It wasn't until Luke was placing a hand on Jonathan's knee that the younger looked up to take back in the reality they both shared. Jonathan shivered as he watched burnt remains of buildings, of homes, and bloodied corpses pass by, turning his attention to Luke, who had pinched features as if holding many emotions at bay.
"Who would have thought?" Jonathan found himself murmuring, watching Luke glancing at him in slight surprise at his sudden voice before going back to the road. Jonathan looked to the time display on Luke's radio and deflated, "Right now I would have been playing a game with the guys..."
Luke patted his knee, hand not moving away just yet, "We shouldn't think about the past," the older man said softly, "We aren't ready for that yet."
Jonathan smiled bitterly from underneath his mask, "You're right."
Many hours passed, Jonathan having fallen asleep a few times during the lull in conversation. Luke was very tired, Jonathan could tell from his blank expression, but the male would never admit it. Luke always tried to seem the more reliable person, even when he was troubled as well.
Jonathan cleared his throat, "How long has it been?" He noticed the darkened skies, and the blinking stars. Jonathan must have slept longer than he realized.
"About an hour and a half." Luke murmured.
"Oh," Jonathan looked down, "How's the gas?"
"We're almost out."
Jonathan felt a shiver of fear run down his spine as he turned to gaze out the window, watching as the car's headlights cut through the darkness, "Where are we?"
"There was some road signs that said we're nearing Cleveland."
"In Carolina?" Jonathan asked confused, never before hearing of a Cleveland in his home state.
"No, we entered into Tennessee about an hour ago."
Jonathan paused, "Oh." He watched as they passed by an abandoned car in the middle of the highway, headlights glinting off the metal which had caught Jonathan's attention. His heart sink just a bit more. "Do you think we're lucky or unlucky still being alive?"
Luke gave him a glance that clearly said he was angry, "Of course we're lucky."
Jonathan was silent, fingers fiddling in his lap.
"Just because everything is falling apart, does not mean we should as well. We see all these abandoned cars, and abandoned places, but does it really mean anything?" Luke stared at the road with a slight frown and steely voice. "We haven't seen any of those... creatures yet, and yes, we haven't seen any people either, but they could be hiding."
Nails bit into Jonathan's skin as he dug into his fingers with his fidgeting; scraping and abrading away at his fingernails. "Luke-"
"Stop thinking negatively," Luke said more softly, losing his biting tone. "I feel lucky that I'm not alone, I have my best friend with me. It's more than I could have asked for."
Jonathan smiled, "Flatterer," he accused.
Luke rolled his eyes, giving a glance to Jonathan before grinning, "I'm a smooth talker."
"Same thing."
"Not at all..." Luke frowned, eyebrows furrowed with a confused expression. Jonathan followed Luke's line of sight after he felt the car start to slow down considerably.
An accident must have happened, Luke's headlights reflecting off many cars that laid in the road. Some were completely destroyed or underneath another. There was no way around the blockage, the road was cut off entirely.
"Fuck," Jonathan commented, worry surging through his body.
"It's fine," Luke said, as they came to a stop, "We can turn around and take the exit we saw a little ways back."
Jonathan nodded as Luke reversed, but his eyes continued to stay on the wreckage. Luke put the car into drive and Jonathan had finally pulled his gaze away from the pile up to look through the windshield when the car made a sputtering noise and came to a stop. Jonathan froze, saliva drying in his mouth as he swallowed in fearful realization.
There was absolute silence as they stayed still until Luke tried to restart the car. The engine made a noise before falling silent as well. Luke took a deep breath as he leaned back in his seat. Head turned to the ceiling, Luke let his breath out slowly.
"Bad luck?" Jonathan tried with a meek voice.
Luke chuckled hollowly, "Yeah, bad luck."
Jonathan shifted in his seat, staring into the black abyss of the night. "What time is it?"
"About 12:40."
"It's really dark out." Jonathan stated.
"Well," Luke said slightly amused, "It is nighttime."
"Yeah..." Jonathan frowned, staring at the road that they already traveled. The headlights were no longer on and the road was engulfed by the night, seeming like it wasn't even there.
A hand on his knee, brought Jonathan back to Luke who was obviously forcing a smile. "We can stay in the car for tonight, tomorrow we'll continue on, alright?"
Jonathan nodded and Luke patted his knee a few times before pulling it back. Luke used a flashlight he grabbed from the dash in front of Jonathan's seat to reach into the back, grabbing one of his bags to open and pull out some blankets from. He repositioned himself back into his seat, shoving a fluffy one into Jonathan's lap.
"Here, get some rest."
"Sure," he murmured, moving his blanket to a more comfortable position and going to adjust his seat before he remembered that the car wasn't on. He frowned, but Luke shifted in his seat which caught his attention. Luke was moving things from the back seat onto the floor.
"There you go," Luke said when he was done. "Sleep on the back seat, it'll be more comfortable."
Jonathan frowned, "What about you?"
"Tonight you have the backseat and the next time we're in a situation like this, you can have the uncomfortable option, okay?" Luke proposed, "Tonight you sleep in the back."
Jonathan knew Luke wouldn't back down any, he was a stubborn man, so Jonathan threw his blanket into the back seat, "Fine," he grumbled, following after his blanket to the back seat. He squirmed and squeezed himself between the two front seats, and was relieved by the nice feeling of stretching out his legs in the back when he succeeded. Jonathan sighed as he cuddled up with his blanket in the backseat.
Jonathan woke up to the sun in his eyes. He groaned, tossing himself onto his back, legs cramped up against the door of the car. His eyes squinted in the bright light, as he searched for Luke in the front seat, but instantly sat up when he realized that Luke was indeed not in the car. His chest constricted painfully, breathing halted in panic, as he scrambled to fling his blanket away to exit the car. It was like a cold ice water that spreaded throughout his veins at the realization of being alone.
Jonathan opened his door and jumped out, but froze when he saw Luke's form standing behind the car. He was looking down the highway, hand held up to shield his eyes from the sun. Luke must have heard Jonathan open his door because he turned around to smile at him.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Luke teased.
Jonathan was silent in his relief, a warmth coming back to thaw his heart, "Shut up, let's just go already."
Luke laughed, "Alright, fine."
Jonathan's hands were shaking just slightly as he reached into the backseat to grab the bag Luke pulled the blankets out of last night. Stuffing his blanket back into the bag, he grabbed Luke's that was seated lumpily in the front seat to pack up as well.
Jonathan heard Luke sigh, and he caught a glimpse of Luke's sad face as he stared at his car, "I can't believe I'm leaving my car out in the middle of nowhere."
"There's not a lot we can do about it." Jonathan said, passing Luke his bag for him to carry.
"Yeah, I know. It still makes me upset," he admitted, "I worked hard for this one."
Jonathan scoffed with a hint of amusement, "You totaled your last car, you needed this one, not wanted."
"As a matter of fact, I did want this one!" Luke exclaimed, opening the driver's door to root through his console and dash. "The crash gave me the incentive to get it."
Jonathan laughed, pulling his backpack up onto his shoulder, "Okay."
"Oh, I found some chapstick!" Luke grinned, pulling himself out of the car, holding up mentioned object.
Jonathan smiled, grabbing his duffle bag full of food and threw that over his shoulder as well. It was heavy, but he just wanted to leave more than worry about what he had to carry. "You have anything in your trunk?"
"No, I cleaned it out yesterday, actually. I was looking for something that I don't even remember about anymore." Luke said, standing up after finding some napkins from some fast food restaurant and that chapstick he stuck in his pocket. Everything else was useless for their journey. He grabbed his keys before shutting the car door and turning to Jonathan. "My other bag?"
Jonathan crawled into the back seat and dragged out another bag, handing it to Luke. "Here."
"Thanks," Luke said, crouching down to rummage through the bag real fast. He pulled out a handgun which Jonathan felt another great wave of relief.
"I feel a lot better now," Jonathan laughed, as Luke holstered the firearm to his waist. "I even forgot you owned guns."
Luke gave a smile, "Hopefully, I don't need to use it."
Jonathan nodded in agreement, "Yeah."
Luke stood up and situated the bag over his shoulder. "Ready?"
Jonathan nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be."
Luke shifted his bags to sit better on his back, "Alright, let's go."
Jonathan and Luke had only been walking for 10 minutes before he was completely bored and tired. "Luke..." He quietly whined.
"Shut up, Jon." Luke huffed, "We still have a long ways to go."
"This is absolutely terrible, it's so hot and gross out here."
"It's all we have."
"I know," Jonathan pouted as they climbed the large inclined hill of the highway they followed. "Luke, you should carry me."
Luke gave him a quick amused, but exasperated glance. He continued forward still, about the same four paces ahead of Jonathan as before. "Definitely not."
"So mean. Jonathan lives matter, you know?"
Luke was obviously rolling his eyes, "Geez, maybe I'll remember that when I end up trying to murder you."
Jonathan grinned, "How rude."
"Shut up."
"You know, I thought you were a great guy-" Luke stopped as he made it to the top, putting a hand up to silence Jonathan.
Jogging slightly to catch up to Luke, Jonathan was stopped quickly next to the older man's side. A hand on his arm gripped him tightly as they overlooked the stretch of highway they uncovered. Jonathan swallowed thickly, fear swelling up quickly in his chest.
"It's so much more scary to see it in person." Luke commented quietly, as they watched sluggish figures maneuver their way around another terrible car pileup in the middle of the highway. It made shivers run down Jonathan's back.
Hand still tightly holding his arm, Jonathan angled his hand to tug on Luke's shirt, "Let's go."
Luke nodded in silent agreement, turning around with Jonathan to go back down the hill. "We can go back to that exit we saw a little ways back."
"Sounds good."
Originally posted on Wattpad the Eighth of January, 2018.
To visit my or my editors Wattpad, visit my bio.
[Did I forget to mention that this is a slow burn? A slow story?
Because this is a friendship based journey, things are really sluggish in advancement. Sorry if its not to your liking, but I hope you find its worth it.]
I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading,
~Sakura