Warnings: Swearing
Characters: Seán McLoughlin, Chase Brody, Jackieboy Man, Marvin the Magnificent, Jameson Jackson, Dr. Schneeplestein
Apocalypse AU

(( Forty-Theme Challenge, Prompt 14: Together. this is right at the very, very start of the AU since I realize I haven't written that yet))

Terror. That's the only way he could have described the way he felt when he heard those sirens.

They'd been laughing, gathered around a board game. They could hear the neighborhood outside—it was so alive.

Then the sirens went off. It was like the rest of the world had been put on mute. The entire world had taken in one collective breath and held it. Wide eyes had been cast around the table.

Then, chaos.

They'd bolted for Chase's van and took off through the streets.

Honking. A crash right in front of them. The sirens just seemed to get louder.

Chase and Henrik were both on their phones, frantic, crying. Chase's kids were with their mother, bolting for their designated vault. Henrik's twins, the others could hear one of them crying, with their grandmother in Germany. There was nothing either of them could do but hope that their little ones made it.

They could all make it. They could make it, to the tiny vault out in the middle of nowhere. To the tiny vault they'd hoped they would never have to use.

It went into lockdown behind them.

Into the cryochambers, then…

Nothing.

No dreams, no thoughts, no feeling, as the chambers froze them in time.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when Seán gasped for air and reached stiff arms out to shove his cryochamber open.

When he stumbled out, Henrik caught him.

"Easy," the older man said.

"Did—" He stopped himself with a cough; why was his throat so dry? "Did they even work? Doesn't seem like we were under for long."

Henrik's expression said enough.

They'd definitely been in cryosleep, and shit outside was bad.

"…How long?"

"We don't know," Jackie said as he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Jameson was also awake, but Chase and Marvin's chambers were still shut tight. "Radio's dead, clocks aren't working, nothing."

"We don't know how long we were under," Jameson signed.

Henrik guided Seán toward the other two, then turned back to wait for the remaining two to wake. "We cannot even set foot outside unless properly geared for it! The atmosphere will kill us now!"

Seán swallowed. "So nuclear war actually fuckin' happened?"

"Happened, and passed. Been over long enough we can survive the radiation left over." Jackie dragged his fingers through his hair. "But…the air's fucked, now. Can't breathe it."

"There might be places with breathable oxygen," Henrik added, "but is not here. We will need specialized masks for filtering out the toxins in the air. And…no reception. I'm worried for civilization as a whole. There's no signs of anyone trying to contact the vault—military was supposed to when the first cryochamber turned off, but it's been hours."

"We…think it's been at least fifty years since we went into cryosleep."

Henrik nodded. "At least. For what we know, over a hundred years might have passed by now!"

Seán thought he'd be sick. "…What about your kids? Chase's?"

"I—" The doctor cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "We don't know. We can…only hope all of them made it to their vaults and survived. Is too late to do anything about it now."

Seán reached up to grasp his friend's shoulder; Jackie did the same. Jameson only hung his head.

"We can…get through this," he said. "We've got each other, right?"

Jackie grinned a little. "Right! We'll figure it out. Long as we stick together, we'll survive this."

"I feel surviving is all we'll be doing for a long time," Henrik murmured.