12 Years Before the Initial Outbreak

That was it. The end of life as he knew it. Axel stared blankly at his World History textbook, only vaguely aware that all of the people in the classroom were staring at him. It didn't matter, honestly. None of it mattered anymore. His life didn't matter anymore. He might as well just throw himself out the window right now, because there was no purpose in continuing his existence.

"Axel…?" Ms. Pemberly. God, her voice. It was like nails on a chalkboard to him, after the crushing blow she'd just delivered. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

He looked up at her, some small shred of hope still remaining in his eyes. "You…you're lying."

She sighed. "No, Axel, I'm not. Adolf Hitler was a bad person. He killed millions of people, darling."

"But…but I'm sure they all deserved to die!" He cried, standing up and slamming his little fifth-grade hands against the desk. "They were niggers and kikes! He was just saving us all from their sickness, right?"

The silence in the classroom went from being sympathetic to shocked. He looked around, eyebrows raised, wondering why the fuck people weren't supporting him in this. He was right…right? "Axel Russo! To the principal's office! Immediately!"

Wait…what? "But it's true! Daddy told me that Hitler was going to save all the whites from the niggers and kikes who were trying to murder us." Ah, there. That would set her straight. He folded his arms with a triumphant smile, but she didn't back down. Instead, she marched over in her heels that were too high for a classroom and grabbed him roughly by the arm and threw him toward the door.

"The principal's office. Now."

205 Days After the Initial Outbreak

One would honestly hope that when 99 out of 100 people in the world have become mindless eating machines that go after their fellow humans, at least most of the bad people would be in that 99%. Because really, bad people deserved to be devoured. Rapists and child molesters and murders and wife beaters all deserved to be eaten alive by those disgusting creatures and proceed to join their ranks.

Long ago, Axel accepted that the world was full of bad people. He hated them, but he by no means tried to ignore their existence. Rather, he just went out of his way to avoid them. If he saw someone who looked a little sketchy, he'd cross the street so that he wouldn't have to walk past them. He tried not to antagonize those little bastards who thought they were just so cool because they carried guns and beat up their girlfriends.

Yet here he was, being a bad person. What a hypocrite. He should just jump from the balcony of the St. Regis and end his life quickly. He seriously considered this, while he stood with his ear pressed against the bathroom door, the sounds of quiet moans muffled by rushing water gracing his ears. Yes, just hurry up and kill yourself.

He thought of what the air rushing against his skin would feel like as he shoved his hand down his pants and began stroking himself. He wondered if he would feel anxious as he met the ground, though all he could feel at the moment was lust. He ached for release. To be set free of his body would be nice, but really, all he wanted in that moment was an orgasm.

204 Days After the Initial Outbreak

"Axel Russo," Roxas through his controller onto the coffee table and folded his arms stubbornly. "You suck cock."

"You're just jealous because I'm a better driver than you are."

"This is nothing like driving in real life!" The blonde yelled, pointing at the TV accusatorily and giving Axel a murderous stare. "This only proves that you have better hand-eye coordination than I do, but I don't think that really matters anymore, given that the world has gone to shit."

"You need hand-eye coordination to use weapons, though." Axel mused, pretending to get distracted by something out the window. Honestly, this kid got worked up way too easily.

"That's different."

"Nope."

"Yes, it is."

"I don't think so~"

"Axel, it's different."

"You're wrong."

Roxas fell silent, prompting Axel to look back at him. While the redhead was grinning, the other male just looked completely defeated. His expression was flat and his posture was slack and he just stared blankly back at his companion.

"Um. Are you okay?"

It clearly took a moment for Roxas to form his response. "Axel, you're a little older than I am—"

"Six years, yeah."

"—but you have got to be one of the stupidest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Congratulations. You have set a new standard."

Axel pouted. "Come on, Roxy. Don't be like that. I was just messing with ya. Wanna watch a movie?"

"First of all, stop calling me that. Second of all, don't talk down to me. It pisses me off." Roxas folded his arms and leaned back against the couch, staring at the paused Grand Theft Auto with such disdain Axel was almost afraid to talk to him.

"There are dead people walking around twenty stories below us, dear. You don't have the luxury of being pissed off. Come on." He scooted closer to the younger boy and nudged his shoulder, which received a nudge back. A good sign indeed. "What do you say to Titanic?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You'll start crying."

Axel frowned. He would. The last time he and Roxas and watched Titanic together (Naminé wasn't a fan of American filmmaking so she elected not to join them) he'd burst into tears at the very end, and Roxas ended up nearly strangling him.

"It's been two weeks since we got here…" Roxas started, drawing Axel's attention back to him. "And the first day you hounded us with questions, and I answered all of them, and then we watched movies and played games and ate and slept and bathed. And that's all."

Axel cocked an eyebrow. "Your point?"

Roxas turned to look at him, his expression flat yet somehow expectant. "I don't know a single thing about you other than your age and your name."

"Oh."

The silence that followed was the pure definition of awkward.

"So tell me."

Honestly, sometimes Roxas spoke like he was dealing with a young child who didn't really understand what he was trying to say. And English was his second language! Shouldn't he be embarrassed about every word that came out of his mouth? God, he was just so…so…

"You're so—"

"Don't you dare call me sanctimonious, Axel." He said, his tone warning. "Just swallow your goddamn pride and tell me about yourself. Where were you born?"

Roxas, one. Axel, zero.

"Here."

"In the city?"

"Yes. What about you?"

"Moscow." Roxas turned so that he was leaning against the arm of the couch, and Axel mirrored his position. Both of them had their legs crossed Indian style, and both had their arms folded across their chests. What a picture. "You knew that."

"It seemed like the appropriate time to ask."

The blonde rolled his eyes and smiled. "What about sexual orientation?"

Axel choked on this one. "I'm sorry, uhm."

"You know…gay, straight, or taken? Well," He gestured in the air in front of him. "Never mind that last one."

"I definitely didn't ask you that."

"I know you didn't. But I'm asking you."

Over the last thirteen days, Axel thought he'd gotten kind of used to Roxas's personality. He was blunt, that was for sure. He was a firm believer in brutal honesty, he had a very dry sense of humor, and he was a realist sometimes crossing the border into being cynical. Obviously, there was something Axel had missed. The question had caught him completely off guard. "I don't think—"

"Jesus Christ, Axel, if I was going to judge you for what you say I wouldn't have asked. Naminé isn't here, though I doubt she even cares. Oh, and one more thing. All of the people you know are fucking zombies!" He snorted. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm a proud member of the LGBT community."

"Oh. You're gay?" Somehow, the words felt strange passing his lips.

"No, Axel. I'm a lesbian."

"Ah, well. That makes sense. You know, considering you are a giant pussy."

"Oh, ha-ha. You're so funny I could die." Roxas sneered at him. "Forget it. It's not like I'm going to get any useful information out of you anyway."

"What would be considered useful information?"

"It doesn't matter because I'm so pissed off at you right now that anything that comes out of your mouth will be deemed useless and a waste of my time. So." Roxas cleared his throat and glanced toward the kitchen, where his sister had emerged and was busy at work on that night's dinner.

"So?"

"Just shut up."

Axel sighed melodramatically and turned to watch Naminé as well. She had become quite the busybody since moving into the hotel. She cooked, she cleaned, and she made sure that the boys bathed regularly. Just like a mother. She'd even taken on the daunting task of venturing down to the basement to hunt for food. The industrial-sized refrigerator was packed almost full (Axel had barely been able to make a dent in it in the half year he'd been living there) but the undead wandering around down there made obtaining said food a frightening task.

"Um, excuse me, Roxas." When she spoke, both of them raised their eyebrows. All of her syllables were exact and measured and quite adorable. It was Roxas who had suggested she take this opportunity to practice her English – it would be mean of them to speak Russian around Axel all the time, and what the hell. It's never too late to learn another language.

"What is it?"

"What time is?"

He smiled at her. "What time is it, Nam. And it's…" He glanced over at the clock before turning back to her. "Almost midnight."

"Damn, we're eating late." Axel murmured. Roxas shot him a warning glare, which was met with a middle finger in his face.

"Ah. Dinner will be near." She grinned and continued with her preparations, humming some song that Axel wasn't familiar with.

"Thank you." Roxas grinned back at her, then turned back to Axel, his voice low and dangerous. "I so swear, Axel—"

"That wasn't directed toward her, it was just an observation." He said quickly, one of his legs shooting out and kicking Roxas in the shin. Not too hard, but just hard enough. "You've got a serious stick up your ass today."

Roxas frowned. "I haven't been sleeping well."

"Why not?"

"The moaning is hard to get used to."

"Oh, shit, I'll have to do something about that." Axel murmured. "Sorry, I didn't think I masturbated that loudly."

oOo

Two hours later, Naminé was fast asleep in the bedroom she'd designated for herself. Dishes were washed, dried, and put away. Lights were turned off, save for those in Roxas and Axel's rooms and the bathroom.

"Are you going to take a shower?"

Roxas looked up at Axel from the game of solitaire they were playing on the latter's bed and shrugged. "Probably. Maybe it'll help me relax."

"I could think of a few things to help you relax."

"Oh, really?" Roxas cocked his head to the side, looking genuinely curious. Ah, some cultural barriers were just too broad to cross. "Like what?"

"Like jerking off." Axel grinned. The moment the words passed his lips, Roxas recoiled as if he'd been physically slapped by them. Too. Funny.

"Jesus, you're disgusting."

Several moments passed between them in silence, but a silence that was comfortable. The sounds of the undead outside made their way through the windows, and Axel tried his best to distract himself with the sound of his cards being laid down. Unfortunately, cards don't make very much sound.

"I wonder how much hot water we have left." Roxas said, so quietly the redhead almost missed it.

The subject was a tender one. It wasn't something that Axel liked to bring up very often. Because the moment they ran out of hot water, the electricity would surely follow. And then this little paradise would promptly turn into a hellhole. A death sentence.

"Well, I only have a few of the generators running. So long as we can keep those fueled we shouldn't have an issue."

"How long will we be able to keep them fueled? What will we do when we run out of fuel?" Roxas had stopped playing and was now looking straight at Axel. In his eyes was that same terrifying thing that Axel had seen the first day they'd met. He didn't seem scared. He didn't seem anxious. He wasn't prying. He was completely unreadable. His normally lively blue eyes were clear and cold, and his expression was flat. He was so detached, and the redhead couldn't stand being around him when he got like that.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"We need to make a plan, Axel."

"Well we don't have to make one right now, do we?" He tossed his hand down and swiped the cards off the side of his bed, meeting Roxas's gaze. For someone so much younger, it really felt like he was in control of the situation. "Go take a shower."

They held each other's gaze for a bit before Roxas sighed and stood up, picking up the scattered cards and organizing them into a neat little pile. He placed them on Axel's bedside table, then wordlessly passed under the door frame and into the adjoining bathroom.

It wasn't until he heard the door shut that Axel thought to follow him.

A/N: Hey look!

An update.

I hope you guys are as shocked as I am.

...in a good way.

~Sara