An empty socket stared out at him, red bleeding through the white bandages. On the other side of the bed, its former twin lay on the coverlet. Steve sat in a nearby chair, bloodshot eyes fixated on the man in the bed. Stubble darkened his jawline, his skin a dark tan from spending too much time out in the sun, long hair brushing his shoulders. Despite this, he was still the Bucky Steve had known all his life. He was the one who'd saved a sickly Steve from the bullies on the playground one day in first grade. His family was the one to take him in when his mom passed away and when Steve decided to follow in his father's footsteps and join the army, it was Bucky who helped him set up a training regiment, who stood right beside him to enlist.
Looking at the man in the bed now, pale and clammy, Steve couldn't help but think of the other person he'd failed to save. Peggy. If anyone could survive on their own, it was Peggy yet even so he couldn't help but hope that she was alive out there somewhere with people to watch her back.
The rustling of bedsheets brought Steve back to the present. Bucky's face contorted in pain before relaxing again. Steve didn't know how long he'd been in here but when Clint poked his head in, it was dawn.
Closing the door behind him, he stepped into the hallway where Clint was waiting.
"We're heading out. You coming?"
Part of Steve wanted to stay here for when Bucky woke up but another part of him needed an excuse to unleash all his pent-up stress and what better way to de-stress than beating on the very creatures that had cost his best friend his arm.
"Yeah. I'll go."
Glancing back at Bucky's door, he followed Clint down the hallway. In the kitchen, Tony was sitting on the island patching up the battered leather he'd found in one of the many abandoned rooms in the house, laughing at something. It was actually rather an ingenious idea, if an undead tried to bite you, your arms would be protected by the leather. On the last run, they'd found some more jackets they could use while on runs. Natasha was smiling, shoving her knives into her belt and other hidden places on her body. Steve was still a bit unnerved by how many weapons she could conceal on her body without anyone being none the wiser. On the other side of the island, Pepper and Coulson were quietly speaking. Steve grabbed one of the larger jackets, grabbing one of the guns and opening the cartridge to make sure it was full of ammo. Beside him, Clint was checking his arrows.
"So who's ready to kick some undead butt?" Tony whooped, jumping down from the island.
"Like you're even killing that many, Stark. You just stand there and look pretty," Clint retorted, grinning wolfishly. Tony made a noise of protest.
"I object to that! Not the pretty part cause that's true but I kill undead! It's not my fault you guys live off violence," Tony huffed. Behind him, Pepper rolled her eyes in amusement and Coulson pursed his lips.
"Bet I can kill more than all of you," Natasha piped in, eyes flickering from Steve to Clint to Tony and back.
"It's on. Loser gets first watch!" Clint called. Steve shook his head fondly, knowing there was no way Natasha wasn't going to win. They headed out in a jovial mood, ribbing each other and yelling out their kills every time they came across an undead. Steve was grappling with an undead, his leathered forearm shoved in it's jaw as he fumbled for the knife at his hip. Tony came up behind the creature and shoved his knife into the back of it's skull, blood spattering across his face.
"Hey that's cheati-" Steve began to say when Tony shushed him, eyes set on the sky, sweaty curls dangling in his face.
"Do you hear that?" he said. Behind him, Natasha pulled her knife from the head of an undead and cocked her head. For a moment, Steve couldn't hear anything and then he heard it. A low buzz like a hum. It.. it sounded like a... helicopter.
Clint pointed and there, in between two buildings, was an actual helicopter. They watched dazed as it disappeared behind a building, heading Southwest. Sharing a look with Tony, the group seemed to pick up their movements, wanting to get home as soon as possible. The helicopter had put them all on edge. Sometimes it felt like they were the only ones left and the sudden realization that not only were they not alone but that there were groups with enough resources to power a freaking helicopter was… startling to say the least.
They cleared the store in a matter of minutes and gathered everything they needed then hurried back home.
When they stepped inside, Bruce came out of the living room, eyes wild as they settled on Steve.
"He's awake," he breathed. Steve is scrambling for the door before Bruce is even done speaking. He flings the door open.
"What took you so long, Stevie?"
Tony's taking first watch, settled on the roof, a gun at his side. He's humming 'Eye of the Tiger" under his breath as he watches the undead mill around aimlessly in the streets below him. The wind cuts through him, making him shiver despite the jacket he has on. He's so bored up here, his hands itching to work with something. Maybe he should have brought something to tinker with. Almost as if he heard his unconscious cry for company, the door opens up behind him and Steve steps through. He settles beside Tony with a plate full of sandwiches and a can of peach preserves.
"How is he?" Tony asks, mouth full of food.
"He's sleeping now. Still in pain from the shoulder but he'll be fine. He'll be wanting to get out of bed soon, he's stubborn like that," Steve explains, face tilted up to the moonlight.
Tony hums in acknowledgement, looking at Steve's profile lit in moonlight. There's dark smudges under his eyes yet despite this, he's so painfully attractive. Pale skin bathed in the silver glow of the moon, deep blue eyes fringed by long lashes, a strong jawline and high cheekbones and soft-looking lips. Tony looks away, swallowing around the lump in his throat.
"Do you think there's safe places out there?" Steve asks, looking up at the stars and Tony knows he's thinking about the helicopter.
"Yeah I do," Tony answers. Down below, something stirs the undead into a frenzy. Grabbing his gun, Tony looks through the scope but there's nothing out of ordinary. He shrugs it off thinking maybe the wind carried their scents but the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. Warning bells go off in Tony's head.
"Are all the lights down there off?" Tony asks, scoping the area out again. He looks up at Steve just for a second and he sees it. A bright little red dot just on his chest. Tony dives sideways, knocking Steve down just as the bullet comes whizzing past their heads. Down below, the undead are moaning and groaning, calling to the others. Peaking over the side, he sees the dark figure that opens the gate and the light of the foyer spilling out onto the grass. Beside him, Steve points out the figure on the roof of a nearby building.
"You shoot. I need to wake up the others," Tony thrusts the gun into Steve's hands and makes a run for the door, bullets spraying as they hit the floor under him. A searing pain in his left bicep blooms, skewing him sideways but then he's flinging the door open. Flinging himself down the stairs, he starts pounding on the room doors. The groaning and moaning of the undead below and the sounds of gunshots above causing enough of a racket to wake some of others up before Tony even pounds on their door. Natasha pokes her head out her door and only nods when Tony looks at her. When the group has congregated before him, he turns to Pepper who looks thin and pale.
"Pepper, get them to the lab and open the garage door. Clear the path down."
He says the last thing to the spies. Behind them, Bruce and Donald are holding Bucky up between them, Darcy and Jane bringing up the rear.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Pepper shouts.
"Steve" he yells, bounding up the stairs. Behind him, the sounds of guns going off starts and the moans double. He flings open the door.
"STEVE, WE HAVE TO GO."
"If I don't take this guy down, we can't escape."
He fires off another round and this one seems to hit the guy. The figure disappears. Tony sets off down the stairs with Steve in tow. When they reach the staircase, the undead are blocking the foyer, a shoving mass of rotting fodder. The ones closest to the stairs turn their head and begin to reach for them. Tony turns, running into Steve. He moves toward the library, barricading the doors behind them and throwing books off the shelves. He pulls on "A Thousand Nights" and part of the bookcase swings open. Grabbing Steve's hand, he pulls them down the dark staircase, the trapdoor behind them swinging shut. The door at the bottom swings open into the lab and they stumble in to find themselves at the end of Natasha's gun.
"I'm sure there was a clause in the contract you signed that said you couldn't kill me," Tony says, hands in the air. She puts the gun down and moves aside so he can open the garage door. And then he sees Coulson. He's propped up against the door, gun in his hand, blood drenching his shirt and dribbling down from the corner of his mouth. He's barely lucid, eyes struggling to stay open. Tony looks away, something clawing at his chest. He opens the garage door, trying to ignore Pepper's cries and the way Natasha and Clint seem to curl in on themselves. Tony fiddles with the panel hidden under his painting of Iron Man. There's no way he's letting any of his inventions fall into the wrong hands. He sets the timer and runs out behind the group.
They come out on the other side of the house and knife the small cluster of undead shuffling to join the party. They're almost into the alley when the shooting from above starts. Behind him, Steve curses and turns to hand the gun to Tasha who aims and shoots. They all see the way the man falls over the edge. Tony thinks of the helicopter and the skulking figures and thinks that if there are other groups out there, maybe the undead aren't the only things they should be wary.
A few streets away, they feel the tremor through the ground, hear the explosion, see the ground before them light up with color. Pepper looks at Tony, green eyes brimming with tears, and threads her fingers through his. He shuts his eyes briefly and when he opens them again, it's to find blue eyes looking at him.
NOTE: Ooh wonder who those mysterious shadows were. I wanted to really get the group back on the road and give this story more of an apocalyptic feel and we can't have that if they're holed up nice and warm at the Stark mansion. So sorry for the wait. I hope you guys enjoyed. Until next time.