AN; so I went back and edited the last few chapters so they don't suck as goddamn much anymore (yay, I suppose?). We are getting near the end here people. It's this chapter, the next chapter to wrap everything up and then maybe MAYBE an epilogue. Also, I feel like for a zombie love story we haven't really focused much on zombies. What about you?
But don't worry, I plan to remedy that within the next few thousand words.
On with the chapter!
Tweek stared at Craig silently as they drove. His shoulders quivered and his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "What?" The human asked. "What is it?"
"You...almost shot...Token...for me." He said slowly. He was beginning to have trouble piecing words together, had a tougher and tougher time remembering Craig-is-boyfriend-not food.
"They were going to kill you." He said. "I couldn't let that happen."
"They...can't. I am...not to die." He motioned to his torn and ruined body. "Remember?"
"I couldn't take a chance. We don't know what actually is keeping you alive and how long it'll last. We need to be careful. Now get ready to duck and stay low. We need to go through the town and find a place to hide for awhile and I don't want anyone to see you."
"Can't we...go?"
Craig laughed darkly, his eyes dull beneath the brim of his hat. "The CDC's set up a barrier around the town. No one can get in or out."
"It's that bad?"
"Baby, you have no idea." Tweek watched in horror as he saw the carnage that decorated his home.
Windows were broken and zombies stood dumbly in the streets. They could almost pass for normal people, save for their colorless skin and the tell-tale bite-marks decorating their exposed flesh. They growled but did not approach the car, a few of the braver ones trailing it. "How?" He asked. "How?"
"We don't know. That's what they're trying to figure out. I know you didn't have anything to do with it, don't worry." He stroked the blond's head softly. "I'll protect you."
Tweek felt the pulse in his hand and groaned. He was sooo hungry. At the same time, he remembered the cows. How he had ripped them into shreds and devoured them like an animal. How everything was his fault. Kyle's brother, Craig's father, the town...all because of him. "No." He whispered, staring hard at the exposed tendons in his arms. For the first time since his reanimation, he wished he were dead. He wished whatever strange force that had brought him back had left him in the ground. He felt defeated. "No."
"No what?" Craig asked, concerned. "Tweek?"
"No!" He shrieked.
pain, pain, being lifted into the air, a blurry face, hang in their kid, you're doing fine, Craig, Craig, pain, Craig is not food, Craig IS food, everything is food, pain, pain, hang in there kid, Tweek, alive, alive, crawling, crawling, the dirt underneath his fingertips, he couldn't breath, pain, pain, Craig, HELP. NO. He was so hungry. NO.
"Tweek calm down!"
"Let me out! Let me out!" He pounded on the glass and it shattered, digging into his palms. Tweek fell out the window an Craig stepped on the brakes.
He jumped out an ran around the other side. Tweek was curled into a ball, shaking. "I want to go home." He moaned, looking for all the world a scared child. "I want my mom."
"Tweek, we have to go." He shouted, attempting to haul him to his feet. The zombies slowly advanced without the loud noises of the car to deter them. Old Mrs. Pilgrim growled and held out her arms, her knitted shawl dark with blood. "Tweek!" He screamed as fingernails dug into his shoulders, pulling him away. "Run!"
He opened his eyes and gasped, lunging forward. He snarled from the back of his throat and slashed at her. She dropped to the ground as blood poured from her throat. "No!" He repeated. He snapped the arm off another one and felt the waves of betrayal wash over him. They moved like a singular being, focused only on the traitor that stood between them and their next meal.
Tweek lost himself as he fought, kicking, clawing, biting, swallowing mouthfuls of dead, bitter flesh as he slowly worked through the hoard. They were younger and less damaged but he had had practice holding down struggling meals. They were used to weak humans, not a fellow walker. Soon, they were no more. Craig watched in silence. His shoulders burned and his chest ached as he took in quick, shallow gulps of air.
"Tweek." He said.
The blond dropped to his knees and buried his face in his mutilated hands. "I didn't...want it to be like this..." He mourned. "I didn't."
"This...is going to suck." Clyde said finally.
"I'm am done, I am so fucking done." Token mumbled quietly.
"Stan." Kyle said soothing, hugging the taller boy to him. "Stan talk to me."
"I-"
"Well, this is awkward."
They swiveled around to face the newcomer. Damien sat perched in a tree, sipping contentedly from a can of Coke. "What are you doing here?" Kenny asked, confused. "You hate Earth."
He pouted and finished his beverage, crushing the can against his knee and tossing it over his shoulder. He dropped gracelessly onto the ground. "Yeah, well, I'm grounded here until I stop the end of the world." He said. "So let's get to it." He snapped his fingers.
Pop.
"Yes, sir?"
"You!" Stan said in a strangled voice.
Pip stared at him blankly. "Me." He agreed. "Damien?'
"Pip, cancel my appointments for the day. I have to save the world or some shit."
"Yes, sir. Anything else."
He paused. "Prepare a reboot. Just in case."
"Yes, sir."
"And make it quick."
Pop.
"What's a reboot?" Clyde asked.
"How are we not freaking out about talking to the sun of Satan?" Added Token. "Seriously, is it just me that's not used to this shit?"
"So, Marsh, where's that sister of yours?" Damien said pointedly.
"County jail." He said. "But I don't understand. Why do we need her? The zombies in town die like normal people."
Damien ran a hand through his hair. "Because Tweek isn't like those others. He's a first generation. He was brought back like magic. The others are sorta...it's kinda...like incest. Alright the first few times but then shit really starts going wrong after a few generations."
"Ew." Clyde wrinkled his nose.
"Yeah, well, that's how it goes. Now what are we waiting for? Like hell I'm staying up here any longer than I have to." He began to walk away.
"The car's that way."
He turned around. "Of course."
Shelly looked, to put it simply, like shit. Her skin was tinted yellow and her hair was scraggly. She looked up at them from beneath her heavy eyebrows and sneered. "Sup, turds."
"Lovely as ever." Kenny mumbled.
Damien lifted his hand and the lock clicked open. Her eyes widened and she sprang to her feet. He caught her by the arm as she attempted to flee. "Ah, ah, ah." He scolded.
"Let me go! There are fucking zombies out there! I'm getting the hell out of here!"
"I don't think so." Damien said. "We didn't bust you out for nothing."
She kicked out again and growled before deflating. "What do you want?"
He smiled.
"Here, Tweek, Tweek, Tweek! Here boy!" He whistled.
"He's not a dog!" Clyde hissed.
"Calm down, yeah, Clyde?" He said. "I know what I'm doing. Here boy! Yummy, yummy!"
Shelly screamed against her gag, held aloft by a glowing bubble of red energy. "This isn't working!" Kyle said. "Stan, two o'clock."
He fired a shot off into the chest of an ambitious zombie.
"Hi guys." They all jumped a foot in the air.
"Say that again?" Damien asked smugly.
Tweek rubbed his arms and looked away. "You don't need to be afraid of me." He told them.
"Tweek, are you-"
"I'm ready to go now." He interrupted. He clutched at his chest as if to keep it together. "I just wanna be able to rest." He whispered.
They slowly relaxed. "It's alright, Tweek." Clyde soothed.
"All you have to do is eat Stan's sister."
"What?" He squealed.
"Damien!"
"What?"
"You didn't have to put it like that!"
"How else should I say it?"
"I don't want to eat anyone!" Tweek cried.
"Listen, kid, here's the thing. No one just comes back. We can't tear them from eternity. You're here because you have unfinished business. Revenge. So just kill her and we can have you on your merry way."
"No!" He shouted. "Stan...she's your si-sister!"
"I know." He agreed. "And I hate it. But its her or the world."
"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
"This can't be right." Clyde piped up. "Tweek isn't like that. He doesn't want to do it. It can't be his reason."
"Well, it's the only thing we've got. So, dig in." Damien flattened his palms and dropped her onto the road.
"Nope, nope, nope." He chanted.
"Hurry up, before your guard dog gets here."
"Craig won't...hurt you." Tweek said. "He is good. He just wants to keep...me...safe."
"He's fucking insane." Kyle said. "Now please take a bite of this girl's heart so everything can go back to normal."
Tweek's stomach rumbled and he looked down at her. He wrinkled his nose. She flailed like a fish. He, like many others, did not hold Shelly near and dear to his heart. "She's gonna taste bad." He complained.
"Tweek, please eat my goddamn sister." Stan yelled.
"Careful. I hear skank goes straight to your hips." Kenny said, attempting to lighten the mood. Shelly roared dully with anger.
"We've got company." Kyle warned. Zombies. Dozens of them. All closing in.
Stan raised his gun and fired. Mr. Garrison went down. Again and again as they huddled close together. Damien disappeared in a puff of smoke. "That dick!" Kenny yelled. He punched Bebe in the face. "Stay down!"
"Don't just punch them, you idiot! You'll get bitten!" Kyle shouted.
Stan pulled the trigger and dropped the gun. "I'm out of bullets." He said.
"Everyone get the the car!" Token exclaimed, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Tweek watched them run. "Tweek, come on!" Clyde yelled.
He shook his head and looked down. Shelly had stopped moving and now simply laid on the floor, looking at him. He licked his lips. He remembered her. It was her fault. This entire thing was all her fault. He bared his teeth in a snarl and leaned in. "Now it's just you...and me." He said, removing her gag.
"You can't do this." She said, spit and blood dribbling down her chin. Her lips were torn and cut from her braces.
"I think I can. Quid pro quo. My life for your life." He inhaled. He was thinking more clearly than he had in days. Being able to form coherent sentences, use words with more than two or three syllables the change was almost frightening. "I don't want to do this. Really, I don't. You're going to taste awful. But I need you to understand I can't live like this. The world can't live like this. I just want to be able to sleep. Is that too much?"
She looked small and afraid. She didn't look like a murderer. She didn't look like the girl that would push him and all the underclassmen into the lockers. She looked human. She looked...exactly like he did.
Lost.
Confused.
Could he really do this?
He had to. He took a deep breath and pressed his teeth against her collarbone, savoring the feeling of a pulse. He took in his last moments of the world, noted the phantom feelings of the sun on his back, the snow at his knees and the wind in his hair. It was not what he would have wanted for his second death but he'd take it.
"Tweek." She said quietly.
"Hmm?" He would allow her her last words.
"I'm sorry."
His eyes widened as the world around him went to hell.