Consequences

Disclaimer: I do not own Warm Bodies or anything related.

It had been a particularly difficult work day for R the that day. After nearly arriving to work late because he couldn't just not see Julie again that morning, he managed to stub his toe on a pipe and nearly pull a muscle trying to lift a couple large wooden beams. He was determined to keep up though! No way in hell would he let the people around him think he was too weak to handle this job. He had just as much to prove to himself as he had to his co-workers. Besides, he really wanted to contribute and help them rebuild. It had only been a few days since he helped John hunt down some Boneys- was it three or four? But at least most of his injuries no longer needed gauze covering. There was that at least.

It was just about time for him to go home, when he noticed something strange around his area. He had been working on securing the roofing of a new house being constructed, when he noticed his partner for the project had not said a word. The man, Matthew, or Matt as he had insisted to be called, was usually a really chatty guy. R didn't mind really, it certainly beat awkward silences. "Matt? Are you okay?" R asked cautiously. Something didn't feel right. He set his tools down and stepped over a couple boards to get to the section of the shabby little house they were working on where Matt had been. "Matt?" he called again, turning the corner.

"That's close enough, corpse."

R stood rigid still. His eyes searched the surrounding area and he spotted Matt laying on the ground nearby. He had a head injury from the look of the blood in his hair, but otherwise looked alright, at least from what he could tell. R felt his heart speed up in panic, feeling the cold metal of a pistol press against the side of his head. He froze, not remember what he was supposed to do at times like these. "You don't... you don't need to do this..." R said softly.

"Shut up," The man hissed, pressing the pistol harder against him. "Get on your knees, freak," he growled. R carefully lowered himself to the ground. Fear's icy fingers gripped around his heart. He knew he could do nothing to stop this man. So he shut his eyes, awaiting death to once again claim him, and for good this time. Even as he surrendered to death's call, his heart longed and cried out for his Julie, his love.

R heard a gun go off, so loud it nearly deafened him, and for a moment, he expecting to drop dead. But no, it seemed fate was not through with him yet. He was still alive. Opening his eyes, he slowly turned his head to see another man struggling with his assailant. The man was a guy R had seen guarding the wall nearby, he must have spotted what was happening. The guard kicked the man's shin, making him react to the pain, and easily disarmed him. The guard whacked the man across the face with his own pistol, making him drop to the ground, unconscious.

"Are you okay?" The guard approached R.

"Y-Yeah... thank you," R answered, his heart still racing.

"Come on, help me take this asshole to the General. He'll probably want to know what happened," the guard said, waiting for R to help him. R took a breath to calm down and went to the other side of the attacker, grabbing his other arm. They dragged the man to the center, ignoring the shocked looks from the people they passed.

"What's this?" John frowned when R and another of his men dropped a familiar looking man by his feet.

"The man nearly killed him, sir," the guard reported. "He knocked out Matthew but I think he's okay."

"You think? Well go make sure, son!" John retorted. The guard nodded and rushed off. John frowned at the man by his feet.

"Who..?" R began.

"He's Tommy's brother," John muttered. Now that R thought about it, the man looked familiar. Ah, yes, he remembered now. He was the man with Tommy that day at the bar. R had assumed they were just friends because they looked so different. "Kevin," John turned to the young man cleaning his rifle. "Take this asshole to the cells until I can figure out what to do with him," he instructed. Kevin set his weapon down and did as he was ordered. "R, how are you, son?"

"I... I'll be alright," R shrugged.

"Go home, boy. Clear your head. I'll talk to Greg," John told him in a surprisingly gentle tone. It was usually a tone he reserved for his daughter. It even surprised himself to use it on the former zombie.

"Thank you, Sir," R nodded and walked off. His feet followed his heart's instructions, seeking out Julie. Not exactly tell to her what happened, fearing it would worrying her too much, but just being with her always made him feel alive. He craved her presence now more than ever. He had almost reached her house when a familiar face approached him. It was M. "M? What are you doing here?" He asked curiously. M was usually too busy leading the people that still seemed to follow him to drop by for a visit. It was usually up to R to go to the stadium, so this was kind of odd.

"R," Marcus greeted his friend. "There is a problem," he began with a grimace. "Come with me..." R followed M back to the stadium, still feeling a little amazed at how easily he and M could walk in and out of the gate. A basic test told them they were 'virus free' which was a wonder in on itself, and some of them knew R by now anyway. They walked a bit in silence until they got to an enclosure that M and the others must have built.

"What's going on?" R frowned, hearing load screams and something bashing against the wall of junk piled up.

"One of us," M muttered. "Or, maybe not," he shrugged.

"You're not making any sense," R glanced back over when whatever was in there slammed into the wall in their direction.

"I- well, maybe you should... see for yourself. Come," M led R up some stares. R had to help M a little as M did not have the type of help that R was getting at the moment. He hoped that would change soon. M took him to a large window overlooking the parking lot where the odd enclosure was. Right below them, they could see inside of it very easily. They saw what looked like a deranged zombie, he wasn't even healing like the rest of them were, he still looked rotten. "He didn't accept the change," M let out a breath, looking down at the crazed undead sadly.

Flesh! Flesh! Kill! Devour!

The half-mad tore at it's face, relishing the feeling of freedom it seemed to bring from being released from the binds of it's own flesh.

Kill! Hate! EAT!

It would devour the world if it could... perhaps it can?

"He's turning into a Boney. We need to... kill it," M said grimly.

Wild horrible eyes stared up at the them, hungrily. It looked around him again, taking in a breath and smelling living nearby. It screamed again. It could spell them but it couldn't see them. It's eyes looked, but it did not see. It's eyes were in the way.

"Oh, ugh," R turned to look away, seeing someone, or something for that matter, gouge it's own eyes out was just about as disgusting as he'd ever seen since his rebirth. Maybe he had gotten soft. It was still repulsive though. At least it distracted him from what happened earlier. "We should probably tell General Grigio..." R mentioned with a frown at the crazy thing wrecking itself.

"Maybe," M grunted. "He needs to know that not... everyone is going to heal right, at least, not right... in the head," he nodded. Both of them left once more and walked back into the city, heading straight for the center. John had been coordinating another hunt in the future with Rosso, when he heard the guard questioning someone at the entrance. He turned to see R and M standing there and signaled for them to come in. The guard at the entrance didn't know them as well as some. "General," M grunted in greeting.

"Marcus," John answered back. "R," he nodded to the younger man. "What can I do for you, gentlemen?" he asked curiously.

"There's a problem back at the stadium," R began.

"What sort of problem?" John frowned. "Do I need to take armed men?"

"No, not really... but you may want to come see for yourself," R told him.

John glanced at Rosso who nodded in understanding and took the plans with him. "What's going on?" He demanded.

"It's a- well, a zombie," R sighed. "He hasn't healed like most of us. He's turning into a... Boney."

"Then kill it. I don't see the problem," John blinked in confusion.

"We don't have weapons," M shrugged.

"Oh, I see," John nodded, then pulled out his pistol. For a fraction of a second R was reminded of when John had put his gun to his head and almost thought he would do the same to M. What he did instead, surprised him even more. He offered the gun to his friend. "Take it. Do everyone a service and kill that thing before it escapes from whatever cage you have it in," John said.

"Thank you. I will," M accepted the pistol.

"Do you know how to use it?" John questioned.

"Yes," M nodded. "I remember having one when... I was alive," he answered.

"Good. Then maybe we could talk about how else you can help us and your people when you finish your business," John offered. This was a big step. John was well aware of M's connection to the other former zombies and knew if he could form a... well, maybe not a friendship exactly, but an acquaintance, then things could go a lot smoother.

"I agree," M nodded, and slapped R on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "I'll let you get back to Julie," M winked at the younger man, chuckling softly when his friend blushed. R decided he wouldn't tell M about what happened to him earlier. M had a lot of things on his plate at the moment. R knew that M cared about him a great deal, almost like a brother or an uncle. If he learned about the attempt on his life, he might take measures into his own hands. M had always been a little better at accepting the terrible violence within them.

R watched his friend leave and then turned to John. "Do you know where Scott and his men are... now?" he asked carefully.

"No," John shook his head, giving him a sympathetic look. "They wandered deep into the city and could be anywhere. It would take us all night to locate even a clue," he answered. "Come on, it'll make Julie happy if you join us for dinner," he offered.

"Yeah..." R agreed with a shy smile. John still intimidated him, but it was starting to get easier to talk to him at least, especially with how much more... cheerful the older man had been lately. It was a little odd to look at sometimes, but it was a good thing and he wasn't about to complain. Perhaps what happened wasn't just changing the former undead, but the living as well.

"Dad? R?" Julie's eyes widened at seeing both men walk into the house.

"Hi Julie," R smiled softly. His heart, as always, thudded against his chest whenever his eyes landed on his beautiful visage. Now more than ever, after he thought he wouldn't see her again, he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and never let her go.

"I'm going to go get dinner started," John muttered, seeing how the two looked at each other. It was clear they wanted to get 'reacquainted'. John would let them have a few minutes to themselves. It wasn't that he didn't trust R, he actually did, he was starting to anyway. But he did not trust his daughter. Especially around boys.

"I missed you," Julie grinned, ignoring her crutches as she made her way to him. R took a few long strides and was by her side, taking her into his inviting arms. R said nothing. He just pulled her close and held her. He rested his chin atop her head and took a deep breath. Julie snuggled against his embrace but could tell something was off with him today. "R? What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"I um..." R cleared his throat and pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. "I... didn't want to tell you," he began.

"What is it? What happened?" Worry creased Julie's forehead and R leaned in to kiss it tenderly.

"It's... it's nothing, nevermind," R shook his head. Maybe this was a bad idea?

"Hell no, R! You come in here telling me there's something you didn't want me to know in that way. There's something wrong, tell me," Julie insisted.

"I was attacked today," he mumbled, not looking at her. Julie slid her hands onto his cheeks, forcing him to look at her.

"Tell me," she implored again. Her voice wavered but her eyes remained steady. So R explained to her what happened. He told her he was threatened and almost killed by Tommy's brother. If it hadn't been for the guard nearby, that would have been it for him. Julie wrapped her arms tightly around him, hiding her face in his shirt as she squeezed her eyes shut. So much for her perfect world. That certainly didn't last!

R held her close, stroking her hair gently. He wasn't sure which of them was more upset at the moment. He certainly felt horrible earlier, but right now, all he cared about was comforting Julie. He didn't feel quite as bad as long as she was with him. R noticed John standing by the doorway with an unreadable look. It was almost sympathetic. Almost.

"I'm... not sure how to clean the fish," John suddenly spoke. He watched as his daughter very slowly pulled herself away from the young man's grip and look over her shoulder at him. He had expected her eyes to be red and cheeks puffy, expected for her to cry, but apparently he had raised one tough cookie. She looked visibly upset of course, but nowhere near as much as he'd seen many other women look when something like this or worse happened. "If you don't mind..?" John asked softly, his usual gruff tone softening for his daughter's sake. Of course he did know how to clean and gut fish, but he also knew that keeping busy always seemed to calm his daughter down. Julie nodded, wiping a few rebellious tears that managed to escape her and reluctantly pulled away from the arms of her boyfriend. R followed them into the kitchen, intending on helping them cook in any way he could.

R hated the quiet more than anything. It was what he had to endure when he was a zombie. If it wasn't for M, who he could at least mutter things to once in a while and get a response, he would have gone insane. The silence coming off Julie was about as bad as anything he had endured. He would trade not being able to speak just to hear her talking and laughing again. "Julie?" he asked, glancing over to her while he diced carrots. It was a slow process for him, since he wasn't exactly sure how to cut the vegetables without slicing and dicing his own hand, but he was determined to be useful.

"Hm?" Julie murmured.

"So... how do you know how to clean fish... so well?" He asked, trying to distract her.

"Oh um, my mom showed me how, years ago," Julie explained. "We camped a lot when we were on the road. Sometimes, if we could, dad would let me help him fishing in a stream or river we stopped by. Mom would then show me how to clean and prepare the fish. I don't know how she knew how to clean it, but there you go," Julie shrugged and a very soft smile appeared on her face.

R saw that as encouragement and continued with the conversation. "How did you prepare them?"

"We would grill the fish over an open fire, tons of them sometimes. I think without all the fishing companies, there were a lot more fish around... we would have feasts and sometimes. When the radio from the car caught a rare, still active station, we would dance..." she trailed off. There were tears in her eyes but this time, they were from a happy memory.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," R smiled.

"It was," Julie nodded. She took a shaky breath. "Okay, I think they're ready." She stepped back and regarded the three whole fish. "I'm pretty sure they don't have anymore scales," she shrugged. R and John shared a look, glad that Julie had been brought out of whatever gloomy storm she had been caught in. John nodded to R in thanks, then went over to inspect his daughter's work.

"So, 'you going to cut those carrots all night or what?" Julie turned to smile weakly at R. She still looked upset, but it was clear that she was trying to get passed it. "Let me help, or we'll never eat," she offered and went over to instruct him on easier ways to slicing vegetables.

It was a quiet meal for the most part, but this time, it was surprisingly a pleasant, companionable silence. It was not at all strained or hostile. It was just a little bit awkward though, but that was only because R and Julie were seeing each other and they were sitting at the table with Julie's very protective father. But that was almost... normal. Natural. Not at all upsetting really. It was crazy how ordinary they felt at the moment.

"I spoke to Greg a little while ago. He's willing to give you a few days off. It's not easy to go through what you did," John mentioned after taking a sip of water, placing his chipped cup down.

"I appreciate it, Sir, but I don't think that's... necessary..." R shifted a little uneasily. He didn't like being treated special.

"It is, son. It's necessary for your state of mind. 'Don't want you getting distracted with hammers, drills and saws all around you," John argued. "It's just a few days, two at most if you like," he said. "I insist."

"I don't know what to say," R blushed.

"It sounds good to me," Julie smiled mysteriously. "I can help him with his state of mind," she grinned.

"Julie," John gave his daughter a warning look.

"What? I know basic psychology. I could totally help him," she chuckled. John didn't say anything, just gave her a hard stare. "Okay fine, whatever," Julie huffed. Figures her dad wouldn't let R spend that much time around her. Did he really not trust her? ...Well okay, so maybe she really couldn't blame him. How many times had she snuck out with Perry? How many times had she disobeyed him, brought in alcohol, started a fight, or just caused trouble in general? Yeah, her dad knew her well. Well, he should also know then that she'd find a way to spend time with R.

John was glad his daughter didn't seem quite so depressed anymore, and he understood, especially now that she learned there had been an attempt on R's life, that she would want to stay with him. But he knew that desperation to be closer to R could be a powerful motivator to do things he was sure neither of those two were ready for. No, they were better off seeing each other now and again, and then spending time apart. He was well aware of how crafty his daughter could be though. He knew she would somehow find a way to disregard his concerns and he sighed inwardly. It was times like these he was glad he had never had any more kids.

A few moments of silence followed, each of them happily chowing away on their food. The fish was actually pretty delicious. Finally they could now have a source of protein that seemed pretty abundant until they could get bigger pastures for their other animals. Since the zombies weren't a problem anymore, they had carefully started branching out a little more. There was a shoreline just a few miles away from stadium city. People had seen fish around in that area before, but at the time, it had been too dangerous to go near there. Not anymore though. Of course, they still had to worry about Boneys, but Boneys stuck to places they could hide in, generally. There weren't a whole lot of other human settlements nearby, so they didn't have to worry about competing for resources for the moment either.

John glanced up from his plate at the young man sitting next to his daughter. R had finished his food and was idly pushing fish bones around on his plate. John could tell that R was still very troubled by what happened earlier that day, even if he didn't outwardly show it so much anymore. It might have gone easier if he had known how to disarm the attacker. From what he had heard, R knew how to fight, at least street fight, but besides the little John had shown him before and the basic he seemed to already know, he hadn't known how to deal with that 'Purist'. He decided some training would do him some good. "I think it's about time you start officially training with weapons," John finally spoke up.

"You serious, dad?" Julie gave him a look.

"Absolutely," John nodded. "If he's going to be a part of this community, he needs to learn to defend others as well as himself."

"I... don't know," R hesitated. "The idea of killing... again..." he trailed off. "I... have a lot of blood on my hands already..." he muttered darkly.

"That may be true, but have you ever killed just to kill? Killed just because you could or wanted to?" John questioned. This was something he hadn't even thought of before, but seeing the dark emotions in the young man's face, remorse for what he had been, inspired this kind of thought from him.

"...No, it had always been because of need," R answered, an odd look in his face, as if he hadn't thought of that either.

"Then what you did was for your survival, yes? You did it because you had to. In the same respect, we too must kill, or be killed. It's a vicious world we live in, son, but sometimes the only way to stop further violence, is with violence," the older man explained.

"I...I guess you're right," R didn't look completely sure, but at least he looked thoughtful.

"For the most part, you would be learning what to do with and around weapons. For now you'd be helping to defend against Boneys," John assured him. He knew by now how R felt about harming another human if he could help it. "You helped a great deal last time. I know I for one would feel better if you were with us, son," John told him honestly. He saw the look of awe and joy in the young man's face and knew he had said the right words to convince him.

"...Alright, I'll do it," R nodded.

"Good man," John said, nodding approvingly.

TBC...

A/N: Oh boy, do I have some goodies planned for the next chapter! Muahahaha! Sadly, nothing with shotguns though. In this chapter I wanted to explore into what it might be like when a zombie began to turn into a Boney, as well as remind people that it's still not completely safe with Scott and his monkeys nearby...lol. I hope ya'll liked it! Sorry for the vivid images... was inspired again. Bad 'The Walking Dead'! Lol! J/K I wasn't actually watching 'The Watching Dead' this time, I was just in an odd mood. Besides, what's a post-apocalyptic story without a little bit of gore and dark scenarios? Seriously!

Oh BTW, any of you who think John is changing too quickly, just keep in mind of everything that he and R went through, just like Julie and him. In the movie, John is a bit stubborn but by the end, he accepts what's going on and even apologizes to R lol in his own way anyway. I don't think it's too unreasonable to say that seeing R striving to help people and be a good person, wouldn't lessen him a bit. And with the fact that they could now get supplies much easier and the thousands of zombies no longer bothered them, wouldn't that make him relax a little more? That's my excuse anyway.

Shout-Outs:

OmatikayaClan: You know I will :D

No One: Angsty? The chapter or the story as a whole?

lovelyloupus: Yes, lots of sexiness that chapter lol, lots more to come! :P

hannahleep123: Me too, but I have to give it at least one day for people to have a chance to read and review lol.

Surely Sherlocked: Muahaha...

Aki Yuhi: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you think so highly of my story! I appreciate your kind words and I'd give you a hug if I could lol.

batgirl147: I will do so and thank you, glad you think so!

Fang-delight: To tell you the truth, R was the character I was most afraid of writing out of character lol I'm glad I still haven't yet!

arrowprincess12: Thanks a bunch! :D

warmbodies1d: Lol that's true.