"This Is The End" for Anonymous

Pairing: GokuxVegeta

Prompt: zombie!AU maybe? Whatever rating you think is fitting. Oh maybe their powers are surpressed or something.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: In the end, all they had ever had was each other.

Author Note: I regret nothing!

It had been several days since Vegeta had been separated from the group. He couldn't remember exactly how it had happen— it was dark, there was screaming voices, snarling cries of the undead. Before he knew it, he was alone.

Using his survival skills from years of living a hard life, the Prince had managed to find an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city near the harbor. When he wasn't searching for his comrades in the city during the day, he would fish for whatever he could get his hands on in the murky water. At night when the dead were hunting for flesh the most, he would barricade himself in the supervisors office and listen to the howls of hunger that the monsters outside made.

Nothing in his training as an Elite Saiyan warrior could have prepared him for something like this. A virus broke out amongst the humans months ago as a biological attack from another country. Somehow the strain of the deadly disease had turned the humans into mindless, ghoul-looking creatures, full of black bile and puss, having a craving for the flesh and bloody insides of anything that breathed— Especially humans. The government had taken drastic measures to keep the virus contained in the city, trying everything they could to cure the diseased from spreading several different anti-viruses in the air to enforcing a vaccine which they swore was the cure. It got out of hand within a month, the medication enhancing the disease and infection spread like wildfire. Those who died came back, and those who didn't die were hunted by the dead. Martial law ensued and before everyone knew it, there were more dead than anyone could handle, and nearly the entire world was infected and in ruins.

Vegeta closed his eyes and kept his breathing short, doing his very best not to draw attention to the office he was in. Instead of escaping the planet when the virus broke out, he stayed behind to help his fellow comrades whom he had become fond of. Although he had started off immune to the virus when it began, the constant decontamination that the humans had attempted had changed his alien immune system to the extreme, leaving him powerless and weak. His ki was gone and his unreal strength had depleted, just like the rest of the Z gang. He was now the hunted, and it set a whole new prospective for him.

There was a clatter in the hall outside of the office and it made Vegeta jump, his heart racing and his adrenaline always running. He hadn't slept since he had become separated and felt like he was always hearing things. There was some hurried footsteps that got closer to the office that was at the end of the hall. Vegeta dripped the Machete he had found days earlier and swallowed, standing up and quietly walking towards the door. If it was a single walker, the creature would attract the others with it's noise and he would be doomed. He had to kill it before that happened. The only way to kill these things was to destroy the head. The noise of a gun attracted them in swarms. He would have to cut the head off.

The Prince swung the door open, wanting to attack the flesh-hungry creature without it knowing what was coming, blade drawn. Instead of being met with snapping jaws and a snarl of hunger, he was instead met with a yelping, tall man whom he hadn't seen in 3 weeks.

"K-Kakarot?!"

Goku looked as disheveled and terrified as he was with unkept hair, wide, red-rimmed eyes, dirty skin and dried blood on his clothes. The younger Saiyan nearly sobbed at the sight of the Prince, and Vegeta couldn't be more thrilled to see him. The smaller of the two dragged Goku inside the office and he pushed the large mahogany desk against it to block them off again. Vegeta was immediately embraced by Goku, the tall man holding him tight. Months ago he may have pushed him away with a hiss, but their worlds were different now. Vegeta accepted the physical contact by putting his arms around his once-rival.

"I'm so happy you're alive! Everyone swore you were dead but I knew… I knew you were out there." Goku pulled away and looked down at Vegeta, his red-rimmed chocolate eyes wet with tears. "I never stopped searching for you… I swore I wouldn't rest until I found you, Vegeta…" Goku stroked Vegeta's messy, flame-like hair, a wide smile on his face.

The words touched the Prince, his heart finally beating rapidly with something other than adrenaline and fear. He dared to reach up and stroke Goku's messy bangs with affection. The Saiyan was blazing hot to the touch with sweat pouring off of his face, his once vibrant eyes looking red and glassy. "Kakarot… You're burning up…" Vegeta spoke in a hushed manner, wiping the sweat from Goku's hot cheeks.

"There's a sanctuary, Vegeta… Yunzebitto Heights! No one there is infected and they are working on a cure!" Goku held onto Vegeta, his body trembling a little and his nose began to bleed.

Vegeta felt alarmed as he saw Goku's nose begin to trickle blood, taking his hands away from the man's face. "Kakarot what's wrong? Why do you look so sick?" The Prince asked with slight panic in his voice.

Goku grabbed Vegeta's arms and held him still, his nose still running with blood and his hair dripped with sweat. "Listen to me! There isn't much time! You have to get to Yunzebitto, ok?" Goku's voice cracked and he wiped his bloody nose on his arm, sniffling and coughing a little. He looked back to Vegeta with desperation in his glassy, red-looking eyes. "There you will be safe, Vegeta… What's left of us is going there. Please… promise me you'll go." Goku whispered, still holding onto Vegeta tightly.

"I'll go, I'll go!" Vegeta's heart was slamming against his chest, beginning to panic on the inside with how Goku was behaving. Krillin had looked the same way after being bit by one of the bile-filled creatures and turned within a week. He had attacked Yajirobi almost immediately and they had to kill him. It didn't make any sense that the 3rd class Saiyan looked the same way. Vegeta looked down and finally saw it: a nasty, bloody bite on Goku's abdomen. "K-… Kakarot…" Vegeta breathed, looking back up at the sickly man.

"Promise me one more thing, Vegeta…?" Goku was panting, blood coming out of his nose again. The Prince nodded, unable to deny his fellow Saiyan anything. "Promise me… you won't let me hurt anyone, ok?" Goku took the hand that Vegeta was clutching the machete in, stroking the rough knuckles.

Vegeta knew what that meant. His hand was shaking as Goku stroked his skin, looking back into the man's eyes. "I… I promise…" The tall Saiyan lifted his hand to his lips and gave it a small kiss. The simple gesture alone made Vegeta's heart jump up into his throat. "Kakarot…"

"Vegeta… I love you…" Goku gave a sad smile, wiping the blood from his nose. "I should have told you sooner… But I was too scared. Now… I'm not scared of that anymore…" He stroked Vegeta's dirty cheek, tears slipping out of his eyes again. "After everything that's happened, I was scared I would never be able to tell you. You deserve to know how I feel… How I've always felt…" Goku's eyelids were drooping down but he shook it off.

Vegeta didn't know what to say, having no idea that his old rival had had such feelings for him. Why now of all times to tell him? He felt dizzy with emotion and a sudden longing, reaching his hand up to stroke Goku's sweaty bangs from his feverish forehead. He pulled him forward and pressed their lips together, kissing the Saiyan in a slow, sensual manner. Goku sighed and stroked Vegeta's arms, their tongues grazing together and making him shiver. If it weren't for the fever he had, Goku would have swore he was burning up from the contact of his Prince.

Vegeta pulled away slightly and stroked Goku's scalp, their foreheads pressed together. "I'll wait until after you've turned…" The Prince whispered and looked into Goku's eyes. The tall Saiyan whimpered and nodded, tears streaming down his dirty cheeks.

The two men went to the corner of the office and sat close together, Vegeta keeping his arms around Goku as the man laid against his chest. He shook and whimpered, his skin forming lesions from the fever while the bite on his stomach was turning black, the skin around it grey and bruised. Vegeta kept the machete gripped in his hand while he stroked Goku's hair, ignoring the fact that the black locks were coming out in clumps. His onyx eyes were wet as he tried his best to hold back his dread, squeezing Goku a little tighter.

"Kakarot… I…" He swallowed, ashamed in himself for not being able to just say what he was feeling, "I…." He gave a huff and cleared his throat. "I l-love… you too…"

There was no response from his counterpart. Even the sounds of his whimpering and ragged breathing were silent. Vegeta continued to stroke Goku's hair, gripping the machete even tighter, sniffling and shaking off the tears that stained his dirt-covered face. Finally, the body against him wheezed and began to hiss, limbs jerking and breathing quick like an animal. Vegeta closed his eyes and let a few more tears fall before taking a deep breath. The undead body that was once Goku growled and hissed, jerking around more as it smelled the flesh and heard the blood, his jaw snapping.

Vegeta took another deep breath. A promise was a promise, and he was not a man to go back on his word.

END/TBC?.

Author Note: The Walking Dead is my guilty pleasure. The moment I got this I knew I had to write it. Thanks, Anon!