Axel felt Sunny jump from his shirt and run off in panic as he slowly approached the shaking man. His heart was in his throat.
"Wha...what happened?"
"I...I just...and I...I'm sorry..."
Axel swallowed evenly and held his boyfriend close. "Shh...jut tell me what happened. Did the dog attack you or something?"
Benatar breathed in and out spastically. "No, I...I don't know, I blacked out."
The brunette reassuringly stroked him. "Shh...it's okay, let's get you cleaned up."
He scooped up his partner bridal-style and carried him to the sink, where he washed his face. Benatar smiled feebly at his gentle touch, snuggling closer to him. The drummer kissed him gently and carried him to the couch, where he laid him down.
"Why don't you take a nap?" Axel said. The Brit nodded and curled up tiredly.
About an hour later, all the blood splatters were cleaned and the dog's corpse thrown out. Benatar had drifted off to sleep and was breathing quietly behind his hand. Axel smiled and sat beside him, rubbing his shoulder.
"Benny..."
The blonde stretched, catlike, and sat up beside Axel. "Morning."
"You seem brighter."
"I don't feel hungry anymore."
The drummer raised an eyebrow, confused. "Really?"
"Yes. I feel great, in fact."
"You don't look great."
Indeed, Benatar's whole face was pale and greenish, and his eyes were sunken and dark. Not to mention the odd scent rising up from him.
Like...rotting flesh.
"Ben...we need to talk."
The keyboardist stiffened. "About what?"
"You...you've been acting really weird lately..."
"S-so?" he squeaked, worried.
"I...I need to ask you...are you turning into a zombie?"
Benatar's heart was about ready to jump out of his mouth. "N-no! I can't be! They just bit me! You can only become a zombie by having one eat your brains...r-right?"
The drummer opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. "I...I don't know."
"Axel, please...I'm not a zombie..." Ben pleaded, tearing up. Sniffling, he covered his face with his clawed hands as Axel awkwardly hugged him.
"Hey, don't cry...I'm sorry..." he said, stroking the blonde's back, "Please don't cry."
Benatar sniffed. "S-sorry..."
Axel kissed him and grinned. "It's okay, you're probably just a little sick."
The Brit nodded, praying that what the drummer said was true.
###
When Puff and Deejay returned, they found Axel and Benatar flopped over on top of on another on the couch, sound asleep. He smirked.
"I knew it was a good idea to buy this." he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out an air horn he had bought for shits and giggles. He aimed it right at the two gay men and pulled the trigger.
BLARP!
"Holy shit!" Axel screamed, falling to the floor. Benatar lurched upwards.
"What the hell, Puff?" Axel snapped, jumping up and shoving the laughing singer, "You are an ass!"
"And you were a perfect target!" Puff chortled, "You set me up for it!"
"Shut up." Benatar muttered, getting up. His quiet statement went unnoticed.
He was hungry again. In fact, he was hungrier than he had been before. He dragged his tongue over his teeth and felt it bump against a chunk of something, which he picked out with his fingers.
It was a grayish, pinkish chunk of something squishy.
Hyperventilating, Benatar's vision became warped again. He despairingly tried to flick off the easily identifiable chunk away, but it stuck to his sharp talons. Unable to control himself, he shoved his other hand in his mouth and bit down hard, hard enough to draw blood. Anything to keep himself from eating that delicious, savory morsel of -
Stop it!
Starved, he drew the piece up to his mouth.
Stop it, stop it, stop it! You're not a zombie, you're not!
His fingers hurt so much they had gone numb, and he was making horrible growls and whines from behind his hand. Finally, he was able to get rid of the chunk on his hand and he drew the bloodied hand out of his mouth. The greenish skin was ripped and torn badly, so he stuck it under the sink and washed off the blood. When he took it out to wrap it, the wounds had already begun to scab over.
Oh, God, no...please, no...this can't be happening to me...
"Benatar? You okay?"
He swallowed weakly and nodded, hot sweat dripping off his head. "F-fine."
In truth, he felt sick and hungry. Feverishly, he raised his head and blindly spoke out.
"I'm going for a walk, okay?"
"Sure."
"Whatever."
"Be back in time for dinner, Benny." Axel requested. The Brit nodded and slipped out, holding his breath.
Once the door was closed behind him and he had walked a good meter away from the house, he broke down and gasped for air. His head pounded as he slunk down the sidewalk, just barely able to see. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and stumbled forward, hoping he wouldn't come across any other dogs.
At some point, he reached a part of the suburb where three hobos were hanging around a lit trash can. He stopped and leaned against the wall, sweat pouring down his face as he panted loudly.
Oh, God...someone help me...
He was shaking like a leaf caught in a hurricane's breeze. His stomach was practically screaming.
As his vision went fully blind, Benatar felt his hands pulling away from his stomach and slowly raising up.
"No..." he moaned, "...no, please..."
His arms hovered in front of him and his legs started shuffling forward.
"No...brains..."
He couldn't stop himself, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He was too hungry to care anymore.
This time, though, he didn't black out. He moaned aloud and felt his hands grab onto the hobo's shirt.
"Santa hates you, too." he growled, before biting down hard on the man's head. The sweet flavor of brains flooded into his mouth, and his senses snapped back into normal mode. In fact, they were even sharper than normal. Immediately, he pulled upward, yanking out the tangled lumps of gray matter and chewing them sloppily, blood splattering on his face and clothes. Despite the man's screaming, he didn't stop until he had eaten all of the delicious brains from the his head. Throwing the lifeless body down to the ground, he groaned aloud and licked his lips, breathing heavily.
The other two hobos could only stare, shaking like mad. Benatar turned his glittering yellow eyes to them and grinned insanely.
###
Puff chewed a twinkie-weiner-sandwich with cheese whiz as he stared at the TV screen robotically.
"Man, Kim Kardashian is such a stupid bimbo." he snorted, opening a huge bag of ruffled chips. Axel tapped his fingers anxiously on the table as he stared out the window.
"Axel, what's wrong? You've been so quiet." Deejay asked.
"I'm worried about Ben. He's been acting weird lately, and I think that zombie bite has something to do with it."
"But he seems fi -"
The TV blared up. "We interrupt this program for a special new report!"
A panicky reporter flashed on screen. "Three homeless men were found brutally murdered on the corner Asterisk Avenue and Ray Drive! All are warned to be on the look out of a serial murderer! Police are ba -!"
Puff turned off the TV and stretched.
"Dude, what the hell? I was listening to that!"
"Oh, come on, Axel. What are the odds that that killer came up to our house? C'mon!"
"Not that! Benatar's out there!" the drummer cried, jumping up, "I gotta go find him!"
"Axel, chill. He's probably on his way home right now." Deejay reassured him. Axel was about to put his hand on the doorknob when a scratching sound came from behind the door, followed by a moaning. Axel stumbled back from the door.
"W-what's that?" Puff asked, looking up fearfully. Deejay tiptoed behind Axel as the scrabbling of claws against the door grew louder.
Puff shakily hid behind Axel's shoulder and whispered, "On the count of three, we all run. There's a shotgun in the closet by the bathroom."
"Good plan."
The moaning grew louder and the doorknob became to rattle.
"One..."
The lock began to shake and click.
"Two..."
The knob fell out and clattered to the floor.
"Three!"
The three ran, screaming, and launched themselves into the closet by the bathroom. Axel pulled the door as near to the frame as possible, but since they were all crammed in the tiny enclosure there was a slight opening. The drummer kept his hands on the handle, keeping it nearly closed.
A hiss echoed down the hall as Puff shuddered and opened the gun box. He pulled out the shotgun and handed it to Axel.
"H-here."
"What, are you crazy?" he whispered angrily, "I can't shoot him!"
"Yes, you can. Now go!"
Biting his lip, the brunette took the gun and fearfully peeked out. His body trembled as he slowly took a step out and loaded the gun.
"C'mon, Axel!" Deejay said. Axel shot him a nervous look and aimed the gun.
Suddenly, the shadow of the killer appeared at the end of the hallway, groaning and making sounds. Overtaken by pure terror, Axel froze and stared. Despite the fact he willed his finger to pull the trigger, it didn't oblige.
"Axel, what're you doing? Shoot it!"
The brunette was shaking like mad. The gun slipped from his sweaty, trembling fingers and clattered to the ground loudly.
The killer turned and started dragging itself down the hallway towards him. Panicking, Axel grabbed the gun and raised it up. Before he could even concentrate, the shotgun went off in his hands and the killer fell to the floor. Realization hit the brunette with the force of a sledgehammer.
/Oh my God. I just shot someone./
The only thing that kept Axel from fainting was the fact that he had done it as self defense, not for fun. Breathing heavily, he stepped over to the body with the gun still in his hands.
"Axel, no!"
He quietly flicked the light switch on (they had turned out the lights to watch a movie) and glanced down at the floor.
His heart skipped a beat and the color drained from his face.
"BENATAR!"
