This story is briefly based on the maze runner but turning the virus into something more like zombies. In this story I will also do my own ¨Please Tommy please¨ scene. If you have understood that phrase I suppose you already know what is going to happen, even so I will try to make an alternative ending that could even be considered a happy ending.
This is my second time writing Bechloe and it's probably horrible so I apologize for that. Also, my first language is not English, so this reading is probably much worse. I'm so sorry to make your eyes burn like this. If you have still decided to read this, I hope you like it.
Flashback and songs in italics.
Everything had started so slowly. It seemed impossible to look back and find normality, the only thing she could remember was this. This destroyed, broken, apocalyptic world... Hell, that word seemed like science fiction just a few years ago... a few years ago... When everything was different, normal, simple, safe, easy.
Flashback
"What's that?" She asked the brunette taking a seat on the sofa, next to the girls who were watching television with obvious concern.
"News" The taller brunette replied, without taking her gaze from the flat screen. It was strange that she would react like this, usually Stacie was the most carefree person she had ever met.
"News?" She asked the lowest brunette in the room looking at the same point as her companions and finally understanding why so much silence and expectation.
The news showed a disturbing last minute, a general lack of control, the virus had begun to spread at a devastating rate, it seemed impossible to think that it would happen but there it was... Passing before her eyes.
The graphs were passing before her eyes while it was demonstrated that practically the entire American country was gradually being completed and filled with positive outbreaks infected with the virus, the cases had increased to a chilling level. At that moment everyone knew it was just the beginning of the end.
For the first time in her life Beca had to admit that she was afraid, very afraid, her back was tense, her stomach was suddenly a knot and her hands began to be restless without knowing what to do or say while the chaos It was unleashed on the screen before her eyes.
She suddenly caught her breath as she felt a strong, firm grip on her right hand. She slowly lowered her gaze until she found a hand tightly clutching hers, looking up she confirmed her suspicions. Chloe had taken her hand, she had noticed Beca's fear and was comforting her, however she was not looking at her, her blue eyes were still glued to the screen.
She was also afraid, it was evident by the excessive sweating of her hand now clinging to the brunette's, the visible tension in her body and her eyes... Oh her eyes... I had never seen those eyes so empty and fearful, they reflected the sheer terror of the most dangerous uncertainty of all approaching by leaps and bounds.
End Flashback.
Beca leaned against the dirty old wall before sighing and letting her body fall, until she was finally sitting and leaning against the wall in the dark room.
Flashback.
She remembered perfectly how it had happened, at first the virus that was slowly spreading through Washington, nobody was too worried. Doctors, the most important health organizations insisted that there was no reason to worry, it was a common virus, contagious and dangerous for some but common, positive cases would be controlled in a few weeks. No one should be alarmed and no one did.
Weeks later the "common but contagious virus" manifested itself in the majority of the population as if it were rabies, only this time it was not an animal disease. On the contrary, it was extremely contagious for humans, but they did not die from it, they simply became uncontrollable, the infected person goes crazy, becomes a totally wild person and out of his mind. The only advantage is that the mutation virus, the mutation caused it to take a bite from an infected to a human to infect it. Even so, the name he gave to the virus VC321xb47 in the beginning, The Flare, was kept.
And from there everything was a complete disaster, soon the entire United States was absolutely full of positives that devastated everything. Who would have thought that fucking America was going to fall to a virus in a month or so? Who? It was simply devastated, despite its size, strength and evolution in every way, it could be the great world power, but it was devastated as if it were a small third world country, The Flare was lethal.
Healthy humans had to hide to survive, the media stopped communicating the situation, hospitals were emptied when they collapsed and all the positives escaped in The Flare, schools, institutes and universities were soon great shelters where people tried to preserve their lives on the as long as possible.
Barden was no exception, soon the university became a great refuge where students and professors, although scared, could breathe in plan between your wide and great walls, closing all the entrances and leaving only when strictly necessary.
But the resources stopped being produced and with it came the shortage, the students took turns going to the nearest supermarket and bringing food to make the largest number of people survive for another week. The problems came when the last people who came out to bring food did not return, after them another group went out for food and never returned ... The last group had left just a few days ago when a noise was heard in the now only one front door, everyone thought it was the group that had managed to survive or just come back with supplies, how wrong they were.
That day was an absolute massacre, a group of infected entered the facilities, destroying everything in their path, attacking anyone who got in front of them, some managed to escape, others did not.
Beca only remembers running, running with all her might and since she hadn't done it before, running while holding Chloe's hand tightly just as she had done that day watching the news, making sure the brunette did not escape from there, now she made sure that the redhead didn't let go of her grip and would be left behind.
She trying to leave behind the image of her father being pushed to one of the walls by several infected, and the screams that she a few seconds later she heard already in the distance, the screams of Benjamin Mitchell.
In front of her, beside her and behind her she could see and feel Jesse running, there was also Stacie, Lily, Emily, Benji and even Amy who had had the incessant help of Bumper, who had been lucky enough to be with Amy when everything exploded.
End Flashback.
"You are remembering it right?" She asked a soft voice coming from his left, he didn't have to turn to know who she was.
"I can't forget it" she replied without taking her eyes off the weathered wood of the floor where he was now sitting herself.
"I know, neither do I but thinking about it continually will not bring them back" she repeated the same voice, this time accompanying her phrase with a soft caress on her shoulder.
"We don't even know what happened to them, not to Aubrey... We may never know" She replied thinking about the Trebles and the Bellas who never left Barden that day, like Aubrey, his first year captain, Chloe's best friend, she was in another county when it all blew up, they never heard from her again.
At the mention of her friends, acapella classmates and her best friend Chloe collapsed, she put aside her positive and encouraging facade to show how devastated she really felt with the situation.
"Do you think I don't know? Because I know, Beca, I know perfectly well... I'm just tired of seeing you like this, it's exhausting to see you like this... Every day I see you, I feel you thinking over and over again about what happened and it keeps happening "Chloe got up letting Beca's body shudder with the dust she caused by doing so.
"Chlo..." She began without knowing quite what she said or what she meant at this very specific moment.
"No, nothing from Chlo now, you have no right, Beca" Soon the tears accompanied the speech "You have no right to be the only one affected by this, I try to move forward, survive as we can, go to Washington as our only chance. And What do you do? Nothing, remember the past, remember what was lost, what will never come back "
"Washington" Beca couldn't help but roll her eyes at the mention, that's where they were heading now, to Washington. They had found another group of survivors while wandering the remains of Missouri, that group told them of a theory, a speculation that said that the cure for the virus existed, the cure existed and it was in Washington. And they held on, held on to that little halo of hope with all their might.
"Yes Washington, because it's the only thing left for us ... It's the last hope we can hold onto and God knows I'm going to hold onto it with my last breath... I just... I'm so tired" Again She dropped, but this time it was not on the floor, but on the mattress of the room in which they were.
"Fuck... Chlo... I'm sorry, I can't help it, I can't stop my mind from going to that day" She apologized approaching the redhead's knee "Now that we've separated I can't help thinking about it more often, to think that I will not see them again "
The group had decided to separate to cross Wyoming and Idaho, they were among the most infected areas on the American map, the smaller the group the better. That is why they had decided to go in pairs, at most in threesomes, leaving Amy with Bumper and Jesse, Emily with Stacie and Benji and Lily with Beca and Chloe, although the Asian had decided to separate paths as the days went by, without many explanations. Anyway Beca and Chloe weren't worried, it was Lily after all, if anyone could survive this it was her.
"I can't bear it, I can't bear you thinking about it constantly... I'm so fucking scared Becs, I don't get an idea... and you... You are my best friend, my travel companion but not right now. it feels like this "
Chloe was starting to see Beca as a kind of negative figure that didn't allow her to move on in the slightest and she hated that, she loved the little brunette, she loved her way of being a few months ago, a few weeks ago, but ever since They left Barden, everything changed so much that it was so difficult.
"Chloe..."
"I don't want to break down, not until we have tried all the possible options, not until I know that there is nothing to do ... I want to try and I want you to be there with me ... With all of us" He corrected after a few seconds, He was aware of Beca's condescension to the cure, he did not believe in her, he only believed that this group of strangers had placed false hopes in them, had led them to the epicenter of the virus and put them in more danger than they had ever been. For the love of God they had traveled the fucking country in a rickety bus that could barely bear the weight of all, while praying that they would not find any group of infected.
"I can't bear that you don't support me" It was the only thing that Beca needed to get out of her reverie and focus completely on the pain of her friend, her best friend, Chloe Beale, the girl she secretly loved for years, she couldn't do her This, not now... After so long together in all kinds of situations.
"Chloe... Look at me, just look at me fuck... I'm sorry, I'm very sorry" She quickly got on the bed, hugging the shape of the redhead, noticing the weight she had lost due to the little food she had been able to afford, they had been too busy searching for guns and knives to defend themselves with.
The redhead continued to vent, tears falling uncontrollably as she let herself be carried away by the emotions that she had been holding for all these weeks apart. He could normally stand Beca's going, just hanging out with Stacie, Amy or any of the others to clear himself of the brunette's environment, despite how much she missed his company, just as it used to be before. But now they were alone alone, it was impossible to escape Beca and the black cloud that she carried on her head.
After the minutes Chloe decided, she gripped Beca's shirt tightly and let the last thing left to get out of her come out like a torrent that had been trapped inside her for too long. And then the calm began after the storm.
"I have an idea, get up" Beca proposed after minutes of absolute silence in which you could only hear how the redhead's breathing was stabilizing more and more and more I confirmed the minutes advanced.
"An idea?" Chloe asked, the Scholarship from before had an idea, she had mixes in mind, songs for her set at the Bellas performances, ideas for going to a party, eating at a restaurant or hanging out having fun in any way. The new Scholarship had only defense weapons in mind and, to a lesser extent, food.
"If an idea Beale, you make me feel like a robot without feelings" Although it was a pretty accurate description for what it had been in the last few weeks.
"I'd rather not answer" The slightest hint of a smile appeared on Chloe's face as she wiped away the remaining tears.
"Take my hand my lady" She asked Beca willing to take Chloe where she planned to develop her idea.
"Say please"
"Oh, you know, I never say please... Take it or leave it Beale, but this is my last offer."
Chloe knew it, Beca had always expressed her refusal to tell anyone, perhaps because she considered it something too low or degrading for her badass status, perhaps because it had to do with some of her childhood problems, which Chloe did not know yet. in full despite having tried so hard to try, slowly tearing down the walls of Beca Mitchell over the years.
There had been numerous occasions in which the Bellas, more specifically Chloe and to a lesser extent Amy, had tried to get a "please" out of Beca, but their attempts had been completely useless.
There was even a very good anecdote that included Chloe Beale's tickling, who would only stop by uttering the secret word: "please", some witnesses claim they saw Beca Mitchell urinate on herself, others say she just gasped, others that Chloe almost lost a tooth from the brunette's tantrums. But no one claims to have heard Beca Mitchell say please.
"I accept your offer Mitchell"
Beca smiled, she was willing to leave her worry behind for tonight.
Soon they were in the attic of the house, after climbing a small ladder that was deployed, both girls found themselves holding two flashlights while observing that area of their temporary shelter.
They had arrived at the house about two weeks ago, the hardest weeks for both of them, Beca felt unable to continue with hope after what happened in Barden and the forecasts according to the extent of the virus and those affected they had had to face. As Chloe felt more and more alone, trapped in a haven that she could not ensure was safe, with a ghost of the person she used to know best a few months ago. Her favorite person in the world reduced to a mere shell that moved from side to side dragging a great weight, more than her small shoulders had ever carried.
"Oh God... Is this when you confess that you are actually a psychopath and have been planning all these years to have me alone to end me?" Chloe asked, deciding to break the silence with a light joke, it felt good to make a joke for once.
"Exactly Beale, that was exactly my plan from the beginning" The brunette rolled over before almost smiling. She rolled her eyes, oh how she had missed doing that so nonchalantly.
"Weird... But seriously, I want to know what it is you wanted to teach me, what is your mysterious idea?" She asked the redhead again, starting to get impatient, feeling her muscles stop tense from fear and worry to tense from the strong sense of uncertainty and anticipation, but she was a good feeling.
That talk with Beca had helped her to let off steam, let go of everything, let her best friend know and get to know her point of view, finally being in connection with her again or at least trying, little by little.
"Close your eyes" She asked the brunette without giving any clue about what she wanted to teach.
"Say please" Chloe always had to try.
"I never say please"
"Okay... okay... that's it" And to prove her point she put her hand on top of her already closed eyes, assuring her friend that there wasn't even a hole to spy on her movements.
Then she heard some noises, Beca seemed to be looking for something among the boxes that were in that attic.
"Open your eyes Beale" she asked again after a few minutes, when apparently everything was ready.
And that's how Chloe did it, she slowly cleared her hand from her eyes and before opening them she sighed, to choke on the air just a second later, once her eyes were already wide open.
"You have..." She was not able to finish before bringing her hand this time to her mouth, covering it as her eyes again filled with tears.
Music, Beca had music. Vinyl records to be exact. And next to it a small open record player, the kind that just looked like a briefcase at first glance.
"It seems that the owner of the house was especially a fan of the music of the 80's, and well I have been able to rescue some records that were not destroyed by the humidity"
Choosing as a shelter a house that was already old before the disaster had not been her best idea, but the house was large, it had several rooms, a basement and an attic to hide in case of emergency, it was what they needed.
"You had this all this time and I just found out ?!" Chloe suddenly yelled interrupting Beca's speech.
"What do you mean by all this time? We've only been here two weeks and I've been fixing the turntable, what use would it be to show you the couple of records that I found in perfect condition and that we could never have heard?" She asked her making Chloe lower her head, calmer and somewhat regretful of her initial outburst.
"You are right"
"But I think it's fixed, I mean I haven't tried it, but I fixed several of these that my... Father had, and I think I know what I'm talking about" Fixing the move had not been easy, every time I did it I remembered the voice of his father indicating and asking him not to damage his precious treasure.
Her relationship might not have been the best over the years, but just when they were on their way to fix it, that happened and her mother... Beca didn't know anything about her mother and frankly she had no hope whatsoever.
"Becs... But... We cannot, we must not make noise" The infected could easily detect human presence in case of hearing something as loud as music, also now that the world was totally silent, music would be suicide in case of having infected nearby.
"Chloe... I know we shouldn't but... I want to... I want everything to go back to a tenth of what it was before... Just for tonight" He asked and promised at the same time, he needed approval from Chloe, they put themselves at great risk.
"I want us to be Beca and Chloe again, I want to be Bloe again, because everyone loves a good Bloe, whatever that means" Beca quoted Amy, in her famous phrase, uttered after Chloe got mad at Beca for denying him to listen to one of his mixes, and as a consequence, ignoring the brunette for several days.
They had learned to defend themselves from the infected but it was still too dangerous if they were close or there were too many of them, doing this would be a way of saying "Fuck it, I don't mind dying here tonight, not while it's with you and so on".
"Just for tonight"
Both girls were expectant as Beca took out the hit record from the 80's while trying to place it perfectly in its place and seconds later to position the needle accordingly, before touching several of the buttons on one side and slowly turning the wheel one extreme.
As the piece spun, the music began to be created in the room, invading every corner, it was not extremely loud, but considering the echo of the station and the ears of both girls eager to hear something, it seemed the loudest party in the world in their heads.
At last the music had returned to their lives, it was also true that they were all singers, their small group of survivors had enough skills to make a song practically perfectly, however the mood to sing was not adequate. Nobody had been trained to sing a happy, daring, romantic or silly song, much less sad, so they all preferred not to sing, it was easier that way.
Once Beca verified that indeed the device was working without any problem, she had no problem changing the song despite Chloe's complaints, looking for the track she wanted to hear, since she had read the order on the side of the box that contained the song of vinyl record.
"Oh no, you're not serious" Chloe couldn't help the laugh that shot straight out of her throat when she heard the first notes of "Never Give You Up" She didn't understand why, but that song had always caused her to laugh, although still so he likes the rhythm and the lyrics.
We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy
To the redhead's surprise, Beca had no problem getting up from her seat and starting to imitate Rick Astley's mythical dance while the initial letters sounded.
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
The brunette stretched her hand to where Chloe is still sitting while lip-syncing and pretending to be singing herself.
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Chloe finally dared to take the hand that was offered to her, getting up and starting to dance in the strangest and strangest way with the brunette, she only remembered having danced like that while being extremely drunk.
And this is how she felt right now, drunk with euphoria, with pure joy and happiness as a simple old song played through a newly repaired record player. While she danced with her best friend pretending they were at a party carefree and drunk when in reality she was risking her lives by dancing to a song and pretending that nothing else was happening around her.
Besides the horribly ironic lyrics since it was practically a man who promised to be there for her lover and never leave her.
And still she Chloe wouldn't change a thing.
The minutes had passed as if they were seconds and with them several songs. Both had enjoyed the rhythm of "Under Pressure", danced like crazy with "Come On Eileen", feeling every word of "Time After Time" or "I Want To Freak Free" and why lie sung at the top of their lungs "Livin ' On a Prayer "as if it were the last thing they could ever do and with the noise they were making, that was more than likely.
I got to take a little time
A little time to think things over
I'd better read between the lines
In case I need it when I'm older
The last song that sounded on the album was "I Want To Know What Love Is" leaving Chloe slightly frozen, that song was too romantic for them, it was practically the most direct statement you could hear and suddenly Beca was giving her the message again. hand for her to take.
Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like the world upon my shoulders
Through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder
"Dance with me... I'm not going to ask you please" He added before Chloe even thought she could get it.
In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
Can't stop now I've traveled so far
To change this lonely life
Chloe had no choice but to accept, refusing to do so would be too strange and would completely break the atmosphere of carefree happiness that she had managed to create... Tonight.
I want to know what love is
I want you to show me
I want to feel what love is
I know you can show me
As the words passed and they took on meaning, the slow dance developed. Chloe placing her arms around Beca's neck while Beca took her waist with little determination.
I'm going to take a little time
A little time to look around me
I've got nowhere left to hide
It looks like love has finally found me
Chloe couldn't help but stare into those sea blue eyes as she wondered when they had lost their shine, the same shine that right now seemed to shine brighter than it ever had. Despite the fatigue, weight loss, fear and dark circles that now seemed permanently tattooed on her eyelids, Beca had never been more radiant.
In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
I can't stop now I've traveled so far
To change this lonely life
Before the redhead knew it, she had leaned in too far, bringing their faces dangerously close, mixing their breaths. But the brunette hadn't backed down, it had to be a sign. It was a sign and Chloe had to take it, take a chance for the first time and try. Seconds later her lips had found the most direct and appropriate path to Beca's, meeting delicately for the first time.
Let's talk about love
-I want to know what love is-
Love that you feel inside
-I want you to show me-
And I'm feeling so much love
-I want to feel what love is-
No, you just can't hide
-I know you can show me-
Neither of them spoke when they parted due to lack of air, nor when their lips came together again and again. At some point her hands began to play a role of their own in which removing as much clothing as possible from the other person was the goal.
I want to know what love is
-Let's talk about love-
I know you can show me
I feel it, I want to feel it too
I know, I know you can show me
-I want to feel what love is-
I know, I know you can show me
Neither stopped, not even when they fell to the cold wooden floor and heard the music stop, they both agreed with this. Just for tonight.