Craig and Kyle searched the whole motel for supplies as soon as they woke up; they managed to find several cases of water and ready to eat food that hadn't gone off.
"jackpot." Craig whispered when he found all the miniature bottles of alcohol.
In the car Kyle tried to flatten his frizzing hair, "so, where are we going?" he asked shoving a breakfast bar into his face.
"the Observatory, it's not too far." Craig explained, wolfing down his own food.
The young Jew frowned, "what's the point in going there? We need to find other people." He insisted.
"unfortunately most of the people we'll find are pretty dead." Craig deadpanned, "plus, Tweek will know where to find me if I'm there."
Kyle quirked an eyebrow but didn't respond.
The journey didn't take too long since Craig had made the same trip maybe hundreds of times and he smiled slightly at the sight of the Observatory.
A huge, white dome like building, a long telescope extended towards the sky and everywhere completely empty.
Craig felt a twinge of sadness that Tweek wasn't already there, he had half been wishing that his blond boyfriend had, somehow, managed to escape all the way out there and would be waiting for him.
"this place is impressive." Kyle commented as they stood in the foyer, his voice echoing around them.
Out of familiarity Craig flicked a switch to turn on the light show they saved for school visits; soothing music filled the room, stars, galaxies and planets whirled above their heads and the lost teens sat on the cold floor beneath it.
Craig tipped out all the tiny bottles of booze and the pair slowly drank their way through them.
"I wish Stan was here." Kyle sighed after drinking nearly all the whiskey.
Craig snorted, "I bloody don't." he muttered.
With a drunken sigh the red head laid on the floor, "I wish he was here so I could tell him…" he trailed off.
"tell him what? What a douche he is?" the last Tucker chuckled to himself.
"…how much I fucking love him man." Kyle finished passionately.
Craig nodded, he had first told Tweek he loved him in the Observatory but rarely said it out loud and now he regretted not letting his boyfriend how much he really cared.
All too soon every last bottle of alcohol was gone, clinking at their feet and the light show still playing in a full loop; Craig didn't feel too drunk, just warmer than usual, content even.
"what was that?" Kyle slurred, rolling onto his belly.
Squinting through the fuzziness of drink Craig saw something standing near the doorway to the telescope; he fumbled to pull out his gun.
It was obviously a zombie because of it stumbling movement and vacant stare.
Craig stood on shaking legs he aimed for the zombie's head; the shot rang out through the building but the zombie had dodged the bullet.
Shooting again as the zombie walked towards them Craig missed again.
"what are you doing? Shoot it!" Kyle shouted, starting to panic now the zombie was close enough to see properly.
"I'm fucking trying!" Craig shot again but only caught its stomach.
The zombie was wearing a staff uniform, stained thickly with blood, and moved different to the previous zombies; there was no shuffling, no drooling mouth, it seemed less dead.
"move!" Kyle suddenly shouted, brandishing one of the poles for the barriers.
With a heavy thunk the normally passive red head brought the pole down on the descending zombie's head, splitting it open and stopping it instantly.
Craig didn't realise how heavy he was breathing till the music dipped as it started its' loop again, his hands still shaking, "think there are any more?" he asked quietly.
Kyle threw the pole onto the ground, "we should leave." He instructed.
"no, I can't, I have to wait for Tweek." Craig insisted, shaking his head but feeling dizzy again.
"and what if he never turns up? What if he's back in South Park as a zombie." The red head snapped.
Shaking his head violently Craig had to sit back down, "I would have seen him, I know he'll come, he has to….he has to."
There was silence between them, the zombie was still oozing blood onto the floor, eventually Kyle sat next to Craig and without warning, in the middle of the day, they both fell into a drunken sleep, propped against each other.
"Kyle? Kyle?" a voice was shouting through a thick fuzz of hangover.
Groaning at the invading light Kyle managed to open his eyes, burning them instantly, he nudged Craig awake.
"Kyle!" came the voice again and a small boy approached them.
There stood nine year old Ike Brofloski in a white lab coat and huge smile.
Stumbling to his feet Kyle embraced his little brother tightly, "how did you find me? What about the government?" he asked through a raspy voice.
Craig swayed on his feet as he joined the brothers in the light, more used to a killer hangover than Kyle.
"I traced you with your phone." Ike told them smugly, "looks like you had some trouble." He gestured to the zombie body on the floor.
"it was different Ike, it didn't move like the dead." The red head tried to explain but looked confused himself.
The young Canadian nodded, "I know, we're trying to work it out."
For a long moment they all stared at the dead body on the floor, the blood had dried and its head completely caved in; Kyle approached it cautiously, looking it over like a doctor.
"got any gloves?" Kyle suddenly asked.
Amazing Ike produced a pair from his lab coat pocket; snapping them on Kyle didn't waste time in ripping at the hole Craig had made in its stomach.
A putrid smell filled the air as gas escaped the torn flesh, the young Jew gipped for a moment before poking around.
"Craig, go check in the other room for me." Kyle said suddenly.
Carefully Craig went to the doorway and saw several skeletons, their flesh ripped from their bones by unskilled fingers and hungry teeth.
"there were people here." He shouted back, "looks like they were eaten." He added.
Kyle nodded, "I thought so, look." He gestured to the insides of the zombie.
Trying to steel his stomach Craig peered into the rotting body; all the insides looked like those creepy dummies in science class but everything was either grey or dark red.
"look, you can see food in its' stomach and shit in the intestines." Kyle told them in a knowing voice, "they can feed and digest, the more the feed the more they live."
Ike began to clap, jumping up and down like the little kid he was, "I knew you'd figure it out! I told them to take you too."
Blushing deeply Kyle removed himself from the zombie.
"so, we know what's going to happen to some of them, how do we stop it?" Craig asked.
"we'll have to figure it out." Ike replied, shrugging, "but now, you guys need to come with me." And he turned to leave.
Craig caught the red head by the sleeve, "I can't leave, I need to wait for Tweek." He hissed.
Looking between his little brother and Craig the young Jew looked lost, "we can't stay here, we'll be safe with Ike." He tried to sound soothing.
Craig stubbornly shook his head, "I need to wait for him!"
"why not leave him a message." Ike suggested, "if he is going to come here then he'll see it and we can rescue him too."
For a long, slightly hungover, moment Craig thought about it; as much as he wanted to be there when Tweek arrived there was no knowing when he would, after all he disappeared when the apocalypse started.
"gimmi a pen then." He finally said, holding his hand out.
Ike pulled a pen, followed by sweet wrappers, out of the other pocket.
Craig found the payphone by the main desk and wrote Tweek a message onto the wall:
Tweek. Call Me.
It was simple but his boyfriend would know exactly who had written it and with that Craig, Kyle and Ike left the Observatory to the waiting helicopter on the grass, quickly grabbing their bags from the car before carrying on.
The loud whirring that started up after the boys had all climbed in was deafening, the wind whipping their hair about and all too quickly the Observatory became smaller.
Craig gazed out down the tiny, string like road, wishing to see a car but all was empty.
"where are we going?" Kyle shouted through the little headset on his earphones.
Ike put his finger to his lips and winked, "it's top secret."
That didn't make Craig feel better.