So sorry for the long wait guys, things got ahead of me and I got caught up in a bunch of other stuff and a lotta homework (stupid school) but I'm back now. :) Sad to think that this is the last chapter of 72 Hours, but everything must come to an end. (Heh, sorry Draganix :P)
This probably sucks completely, but even if you could still review, that'd be brilliant. :) If you're someone who's been silent from the beginning, what better time to voice your opinion than in the finale of the story?
Hah, I ain't gonna say much more, just enjoy the chapter and I hope everyone enjoyed the story, it was definitely a fun one for me to write. :)
Brief warning, some may see the fight scenes as a tad on the gruesome side.
Jerry stared in dismay at the boy in front of him and felt the world come crashing down. Jack was the thing he hated, the thing he despised for taking his parents and Jerry had promised him everything was going to be okay.
Jack's teeth snapped and Jerry went flying backwards in shock, falling onto the floor as Jack slowly forced himself to his feet, his neck cracking grotesquely.
He felt Kim yank him up to his feet and he grabbed onto her arm. "What do we do?!" he hissed towards her, the two of them slowly backing away as Jack began to get his bearings, those lifeless eyes etching the Dojo into his mind.
"He's gonna kill us!" Rudy yelled in fear, toadying and backing up as Jack advanced further on them.
"No," Jerry said gently, holding a hand out. "Wait..." he trailed off with narrowed eyes, watching in confusion as Jack turned away from them and limped over to the corner of the room, where the mats had crashed onto each other.
"Uh, what's he doing?" Milton asked in a low voice.
"I've no idea," Victor shrugged. "Jack?" he called to him, but he ignored him and got back to his feet, his right arm limp and dangling as he walked back over to them.
Heavy breathing heaved out of Jack's mouth as he ambled closer, Jerry swallowing but staying rooted to the spot as he figured Jack was walking straight towards him. He kept his eyes firmly on him, feeling Jack press something cold and hard into his hands, his fingers latching onto it subconciously.
Jack stumbled backwards and Jerry looked down at the object in his hand, his stomach dropping as he recognised it as Jack's gun. There was a single bullet in the magazine and Jerry had a sinking feeling that Jack had put it in there while he had been left alone.
"Jerry...?" Kim said worriedly, leaning over his shoulder.
Jerry looked from the gun and then to Jack, then back at the gun, nearly dropping it in horror once he realised what Jack was trying to get him to do.
"N-No!" he yelled, a little louder than he wanted to, looking at Jack incredulously. "I'm not gonna shoot you! We already went over this," he reminded him, stepping back, but Jack's greyed hand seized his arm in a terrific grip, freezing him in his tracks.
Jack brought his hand towards his face - Jerry's breath hitching in his throat as it passed Jack's mouth - and uprighted the gun, pressing the barrel against the middle of his forehead. He nodded slowly and closed his eyes in resignation.
Jerry slipped his finger into the trigger, licking his lips nervously. He couldn't do this; Jack wasn't even a danger to any of them, he was just standing there and wanting to die. He wasn't fighting for his life, but then again, Jerry supposed he had nothing to live for anymore.
He didn't realise his entire arm was trembling until he felt a hot tear spill out of his eye. Quickly he wiped it away and tried to program his brain to just move his finger and release the bullet into Jack's brain and give him his wish, but he couldn't do it. He could not do it.
Impulsively, Jerry took the gun away from Jack's forehead, his eyes opening in confusion. He tossed it away and across the room as far as he could. Jack's mouth pulled into a thin line.
"I can't do it," Jerry said to him, his voice trembling as more tears threatened to fall down his face. Faced with it, faced with the monster Jack had become, he still couldn't kill his best friend. Despite what others would say, the thing with the blank eyes and greyed skin in front of him was still his best friend.
Jack's expressionless face suddenly contorted into an ugly growl and his hands latched onto Jerry's shoulders, picking him up with ease and tossing him across the room, just as easily as Jerry had thrown the gun.
He landed against the wall, sliding down it and falling onto his side. He grunted in pain, gritting his teeth as he sat up to look at Jack in shock. This was the thanks he got for not killing him?!
Jack was in front of him in seconds, his speed compared to an older Zombie being much quicker, grabbing the scruff of his shirt and yanking him up off the ground a few inches, slamming him back against the wall. He reared his head back and Jerry squeezed his eyes shut in terror.
But he didn't feel anything teeth sinking into his flesh, he only felt himself fall those few inches to the ground, his stumble making his eyes snap open. Rudy and Victor had managed to throw Jack away from him in time.
The latter rolled backwards, roaring furiously up at them from where he was kneeling.
"Told ya he'd make one hell of a walker," Victor said, almost in admiration. Jerry didn't want to know if it actually was; there was nothing admirable about this situation.
"Not helping!" Jerry hissed in annoyance. "What the Hell do we do now?" he asked frantically, trying to ignore Jack as he easily got to his feet, not weighed down by stupidity as other Zombie's were.
"Try and distract him while one of you three" - he gestured to Jerry, Kim and Milton - "injects him with the cure?" Rudy suggested with a shrug. Jerry thought it sounded like a good plan, except for the fact that a small part of that Zombie was still Jack, which made it all the more dangerous.
"No, it's gotta be drank," Victor said in dismay, slapping a hand against his forehead. "I completely forgot that part," he added apologetically.
"Great thing to forget!" Rudy shot towards Victor sarcastically, looking away instantly as he glared at him.
"Alright, uh..." Rudy looked at his remaining students, surverying them while looking worriedly over at Jack. "Milton, you help Victor, Jerry, Kim and I'll keep Jack occupied," he said and Milton nodded, walking over to where Victor was pulling a jar out of his pocket to put the ingredients in.
Jerry turned to Rudy and Kim, the three of them forming a semi-circle.
"Maybe we could tie him up somehow?" Kim suggested, nervously biting her lip, but any response that could have been given was cut off with a guttaral roar.
The sofa flew towards the three of them, each of them diving out of the way in seperate directions. Jack growled in annoyance and stalked towards them, heading in Kim's direction.
"Gee, that's a great plan, Kim," Rudy said sarcastically, the three of them quickly regrouping together, Jack having to turn around. "But how?!" he asked in despair. "He's one of the smartest Zombie's I've ever seen!" he finished, gesturing towards Jack wildly.
"Most of them just drool over each other and limp like an old man," he muttered with a chuckle, Jerry not being able to hold his grin back.
"Oi!" Victor snapped, looking up to narrow his eyes at Rudy.
"No offense," he added quickly, holding his hands out.
Victor simply rolled his eyes and went back to preparing the cure. Jerry huffed out a breath and looked back to see Jack rearing a hand to strike Rudy with.
"Rudy!" he yelled.
Rudy's eyes widened and he ducked out of the way as Jack's hands swiped for his face. He glared at his Sensei with venom, the white in his eyes burning, and headed straight for him again.
Licking her lips, Kim stepped forwards and kicked Jack hhard in the back, stopping him in his pursuit of Rudy. He turned around, a monstrous look on his face that rid Kim of her smile. She screamed as Jack lunged for her angrily, twisting out of the way and diverting Jack's attention from Rudy and Jerry.
"What do we do?!" Jerry hissed in Rudy's ear, watching as Kim backed away, going in a circle so she didn't end up walking backwards into any walls and trapping herself. It seemed to be doing a good job of confusing, and angering, Jack.
Rudy pursed his lips, glancing over to an overturned punching dummy in the corner of the Dojo, humming thoughtfully. "Go help Kim, I've got an idea," he said, patting him on the shoulder before rushing off.
Jerry tore away from his spot and ran over to Kim, throwing himself through the air and tackling Jack to the ground. He landed with a heavy thud and Jerry quickly got to his feet, Jack momentarily stunning himself as the back of his head hit the floor.
"You alright?" he asked her, walking over to her to check for injuries.
Kim side-stepped him, ignoring his concern to look at him like he was crazy. "I'm not the one who just full on body-charged a Zombie!" she said breathlessly, moving her hair out of her face and eyeing him like he was insane.
"It's gonna be alright, Rudy's got an idea," he said with a smile, brushing her off.
Jerry and Kim then looked at each other, swallowing. "Yeah, we're doomed," they said in unison.
Slowly, Jack dragged himself up to his feet, roaring in frustration, his eyes blazing in Jerry and Kim's direction. He walked towards them, getting noticeably slower, and Jerry felt behind him, grabbing the first thing he could and throwing it towards Jack.
His face fell when a small, decorative pillow bounced away from him.
"Really?" Kim said in disbelief.
"It worked in a movie," Jerry defended himself with a shrug.
Kim's upper lip curled in a snarl and she socked him hard in the arm. "This isn't a movie!"
Jack's teeth flashed menacingly above them and they both scrambled up as they snapped shut, thankfully on empty air. They backed up slightly, creating some distance between themselves and Jack, Jerry spotting Rudy out of the corner of his eye.
He was concealed behind the upturned sofa, holding a punching dummy and a few belts. He gave Jerry a thumbs up and Jerry tapped Kim on the shoulder, pointing over to where Rudy was. She looked over and nodded at him.
"We just have to let Rudy make his move and then one of us'll tie Jack up," he whispered to her, not realising there was a large shadow casting over him until it was too late.
Jack snarled loudly in their faces, interrupting the two of them. They screamed, the sound seeming to shock Jack back a pace, as their backs hit against the wall, holding tightly onto each other. Jack's breath wafted up Jerry's nose and made him gag, sharpened teeth snapping closer to his face...
Grunting with the effort, Rudy appeared from behind Jack and threw him down on the ground, putting his boot on Jack's stomach so he couldn't get back up. He tossed Kim an old belt and she rushed over to Jack as Rudy began forcing him into a sitting position, propping him up with a punching dummy.
Kim started wrapping the belt around him, noticing Rudy had tied several to it to make it longer than normal, and Jerry rushed in to help. Kim's hands were fumbling with the knot and he helped her tighten it just as Rudy jammed a lamp into the small gap between the punching dummy and the belt.
"We did it!" Rudy yelled with glee, jumping up and down like a child while a displeased Jack growled from beside him, immediately making him stop.
Drowning out Jack's noises of protest with deafening cheers, Jerry and Kim impulsively flung their arms around eachother, grinning wildly.
They stiffened and the smiles slid off their faces as they both realised what they were doing and who their arms were wrapped around, breaking away awkwardly. Kim chuckled sheepishly and Jerry scratched the back of his head.
"Now what do we do?" Rudy asked in Victor's direction, stupidly deciding to start waving his hands in front of Jack's face.
"I'm almost done, just hang in there," Victor urged. He then straightened up from crushing the wolfsbane into the jar and eyed Rudy in disbelief. "And what the sam-heck are you doin'? He'll have your fingers off faster 'n you can say apocalypse," he muttered, Rudy instantly withdrawing his hands.
"Uh, guys? Look!"
Jerry turned abruptly and almost as soon as the words left Milton's mouth, several Zombie's barrelled into the Dojo, obliterating what was left of the door. Jerry's eyes widened in horror, sharing the look with Kim.
"What a time for this!" Rudy yelled in annoyance, although smartly kept his distance. Weirdly, they weren't headed straight for their source of food, they were just stood there in a group, some bumping into each other.
"Goddamned things must have a frickin' radar!" Victor cursed loudly, glancing over at Jack, who was making no move so far to get out of his restraints. "Milton, can ya keep coverin' me? I can't watch my back and make this thing," he asked him, squatting back down next to the pile of ingredients and the jar.
"Sure," he nodded, moving to stand over Victor and shield him from the Zombie's view. "You guys good over there?" he called to them.
"No," Rudy said in panic, frozen to the spot. "The only decent fighter we've actually got is a Zombie that we tied to a punching dummy!" he added frantically, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and biting his lip.
Even as a Zombie Jerry could have sworn he saw Jack roll his eyes.
"Hey!" Kim snapped towards him in outrage. Rudy just shrugged sheepishly.
"Well, he's got a point," Jerry said in agreement, glancing over at Jack to ignore Kim's narrowed eyes. "Doesn't mean we still can't, though," he reasoned and Kim nodded, looking back at Rudy for confirmation.
The Sensei gave a single nod and the two of them charged towards the Zombie's, disrupting them as they crashed into the group. The one's on the perimeter started to break away - Jerry dared say smartly - as Rudy and Kim started to unleash their attacks on the ones closest to them.
Biting his lip anxiously, Jerry checked how close the Zombie's were to him, before running over to the firedoor and slamming it shut. He put all his weight on the sofa and heaved it towards the firedoor, creating a makeshift barricade. If a Zombie was hungry, it would be gone in minutes, but at least it would give them time.
Now he only had to deal with the ones already inside and get them out.
"Who knew you'd have a good idea, Jerry?" Milton called over to him sarcastically, but Jerry didn't appreciate it this time, especially since he wasn't even helping anyone and was only stood there while Victor was making the cure.
"Really?! You pick now to insult me?!" he yelled back incredulously, giving Milton a look of exasperation.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jerry spotted a Zombie ambling towards Kim and Rudy, who had taken out two and were now furiously battling against three. For sluggish, dead corpses, they were surprisingly good at staying 'alive'.
Taking a deep breath, Jerry looked at the sofa and ran over to it, leaping off the cushions and thankfully landing on the Zombie - heavily thrusting his knees into its chest - and pinning it to the ground before it could do his friends anymore damage.
Kim turned and noticed him. She darted away from the Zombie that had been about to snag her hair and picked up a trophy from the floor just as Jerry felt his wrist caught in an iron grip. "Jerry!"
Jerry outstretched his hand, latching tightly onto the trophy while the Zombie tried to bring his appendage towards its mouth. He brought the trophy down on its face hard, yanking his arm away when it was stunned. He turned it upside down and jammed the 'lid' of the cup into its forehead, crushing bone and causing the wound to ooze gunk.
He stood up and brushed himself off just as Rudy punched the one he had been wrestling with to the ground and viciously stamped on it's head, it's arm giving an eerie twitch before it stilled.
"Guys, watch out!"
The two of them spun around at Kim's cry and saw the three that had been wise enough to move, heading straight for Milton and Victor. There was no way Milton could hold them off and if they lost the cure to those undead silmeballs, Jerry would be their worst nightmare.
Steeling himself, Rudy charged forward and leapt into the air, sliding on the ground and taking a Zombie's legs out from under it. He scrambled up as the Zombie fell and crashed into the others, creating a gruesome domino effect as they landed ontop of one another before thudding to the ground in a tangle of grime, cracked skin and bones.
Rudy immediately kicked one off the pile and started stamping on it's head, not even bothered by it's faling - but still deadly - claws. Jerry and Kim sprang into action, Kim knocking down two Zombie's with a headshot kick and crushing their skulls underneath her trainers.
Jerry stepped forwards to help, but he felt something solid hit him in his side, knocking him to the ground. He landed on his side painfully, his vision going hazy. Growls filled his ears and he barely processed his own shriek as vice-like fingers began climbing up his body and hollow, sunken eyes filled his vison...
An almighty roar came from above him and Jerry felt the dead weight smacked off him instantly; he sat up and to his surprise, saw Jack tackling the Zombie. He glanced over to Jack's restraints - he'd torn straight through the belts but had made no move to go after any of them.
With a tremendous amount of strength, Jack pried the Zombie's grip from him, forcing himself to get back up on his feet. He threw his head back and it cracked into the Zombie's nose, the latter staggering away with a grunt.
The two Zombie's circled eachother, Jack clearly on-edge and very angry. Before the other could make a move, Jack lunged forwards and his teeth tore voraciously into the Zombie's neck, blood gurgling from it's jaw and where Jack's teeth had sunk in. Snarling, Jack brought a hand up to the Zombie's head and grasped it's straw-like hair tightly.
The Zombie's head thudded to the ground, spattering over both Jack and the floor, and Jerry shot up quickly, kicking it away from him. He looked up at Jack and he was stood there, motionless and seemingly looking farther than the length of the room as thick blood slopped out of his mouth.
"It's done!" Victor called happily from the other end of the room. Jerry burst into a huge grin as he started walking over to them, eyeing Jack warily as he shook the bottle. "But we've gotta move fast, he's started eatin' flesh and he's gonna be hungry," he said, an edge to his voice as Jack's head followed his voice.
Kim made an incoherent noise and turned towards him. "Jerry, your letter!" she said, slapping him on the arm to get his attention.
"What about my-"
"Read it to him," she said hurriedly, Jerry looking more and more confused as she went on. "It might distract him, especially if it comes from you," she added with a knowing nod.
Jerry grimaced as he spotted his letter, still folded up, over by where the sofa used to be. Problem was, it was behind Jack and he was not going to risk it since he and Kim were the two closest people to him.
"Uh, Milton, you're squirrelly," he said quickly, not taking his eyes off Jack. "Help a brother out?" he asked, breath hitching in his throat as Jack turned towards the sound of his voice, but still, all he did was stand there.
Jerry was interrupted by a sharp jab to his side and realised Milton was waving the folded piece of paper in front of him. Jerry took it with an apologetic smile, Milton looking wary.
"Are you sure this is gonna work, Kim?" Jerry asked as he unfolded the paper, the words seeming so distant to him, like he hadn't really wrote them.
"It's either that or we have Rudy tell Jack about himself," Kim whispered to him, leaning over slightly. "And we want him distracted, not bored into insanity," she added, everyone bar Rudy nodding in agreement.
He sighed and cleared his throat, swallowing down the nerves that crept up his body. It was only a letter, he tried to reason with himself, but it was a letter containing his feelings about Jack. Feelings that were meant to be kept secret, even from Jack himself.
Almost automatically, the words began rolling off his tongue.
Jack,
Well, this seems a bit awkward and I'm gonna seem like such a sap for this, but I just need to get this out, and what better way than when you're sleeping and you can't see it or tease me? It's not like I'd be able to say it in person, anyway.
If you die, I'll honestly feel like a part of me's died with you. Sounds stupid, I know, but it's true. You're my best friend - pratically a brother from another mother, really - and there'd be a huge part missing if you died.
I'll love each and every one of our moments, even the arguments 'cause we'd always make up afterwards - and I did get a bear out of it once. You'd always manage to make me feel better even if you only smiled at me. I don't know what's gonna happen or even if you're gonna make it out alive, but you just have to know (well, you actually won't, 'cause you'll never see this)
I love you."
Jerry felt his face flush lightly as the last words left his mouth, but he felt a grin form on his face as he noticed that Jack, even in his Zombified state, seemed to have heard the words. He seemed much more docile and Jerry could have even sworn there was a faint hint of a smile on his mouth.
"That did the trick," he said smugly, folding the letter up and putting it in his pocket.
"Aww," Kim cooed from beside him, smiling. Her smile turned to confusion, as did Jerry's, when she noticed the sound of sobbing. "Woah, Rudy are you crying?" she asked incredulously, turning towards him with widened eyes.
Rudy sniffed and wiped his eyes with his jacket sleeve. "That was just so sweet," he said, his voice breaking as he threatened to break into another wave of tears. Kim hit him sharply in the arm and he seemed to zone back to normal.
"Now how are we gonna get it into his mouth?" Milton asked aimlessly, throwing his hands up in the air.
Jerry's eyes lit up after a sudden start. "Give it here," he said to Victor, holding his hands out for the bottle. Victor tossed it towards him and he snapped it down between his palms.
He twisted open the cap, being hit with a foul smell that made him gag. Holding his breath, he walked slowly up to Jack, who made no move to stop him, even as Jerry's hands got closer and closer to his mouth.
Ignoring his shaking hands, Jerry pried Jack's jaw open, Jack seemingly letting him do it. He poured the cure into his mouth, some dripping thickly over his cracked lips and dribbling down his jaw as Jack just let it hang open. Jerry pushed it closed and pressed his lips over Jack's to stop anymore from falling out.
Gradually, Jack began to register what was in his mouth and started to swallow, Jerry stepping away when he did. After the last mouthful, Jack's eyes fluttered closed and he collapsed to the floor, his legs completely boneless and unable to hold him up.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Rudy asked worriedly, coming abruptly away from the wall.
"I don't know," Victor said, kneeling down beside Jack, everyone following suit.
Kim's hands flew to her mouth as Jack started to violently writhe on the ground, pounding his fists into the floor and snapping his teeth, his back arching grotesquely. Without thinking, Jerry grabbed hold of one of Jack's arms to hold him still and was surprised to find that his fit wasn't fuelled back his freakish strength like the others had been.
He was going to be okay.
Kim held onto Jack's other arm and Jack seemed to calm down slightly, still giving off guttaral sounds from the back of his throat as his pulse began to start thrumming gently again under Jerry's fingers.
Slowly, Jack's teeth stopped snapping, those terrible noises were silenced and his head slumped to his side, his skin ridding itself of the deathly palor it had previously held. His fists no longer hit the ground after a final, feeble attempt and he stilled completely, a long, single exhale coming from his mouth.
His eyes opened, the white fading out and revealing dark brown.
Dazed, Jack sat up, being greeted with cheers and everyone bending down to smother him with a hug. Jerry was smug in his pride that he had gotten his arms around Jack first, although he wasn't too crazy about having Milton's bony knees digging into his back.
"You're okay!" Kim said in relief, Jerry managing to see her, through the nest of arms, snuggling into Jack's other side with a big grin on her face and Jack hugged them both back with slight difficulty.
"Thank goodness I have my best student back!" Rudy's yell came out muffled and Jack wheezed out a laugh.
Jerry felt a little weight lift from off his back and Victor's surprised cry of, "Good lord, give the boy some room." Then Jerry felt Milton get off him. "You'll suffocate 'im," he added with a chuckle, but Jerry could tell he was smiling.
The rest of them released Jack with apologetic murmurs, but just as he was about to get up, Jerry felt Jack's hand clench tightly around his sleeve like a child that didn't want to lose it's teddy bear.
"Thank you," he whispered, his voice worn and tired.
Jerry smiled at him, not being able to resist pulling him into another hug.
"You're welcome."
Huffing out a huge breath, Jerry swept some debris out of the Dojo's door. Well, it couldn't exactly be called a door anymore; the broken pieces were stacked on top of each other while Kim and Rudy worked on enforcing the frame, the smashed windows barred up with wood for the time being.
It seemed like they were cleaning up after a large war, but in a way they were. They were victorious survivors who had managed to save one of their own from turning into the very thing that destroyed their lives and turned the world upside down. They came out top because they were the Wasabi Warriors and lived by the code.
Jerry swept some more glass shards and splinters out the door, turning to look at Milton. He got up off his knees, having finally gotten the bloodstains out of the mat. From across the courtyard, Jerry saw Jack and Victor readily piling the dead Zombies in a large pile.
"You take over," Jerry said to Milton, handing him the broom. "I'm gonna help Jack and Victor," he decided, not waiting for Milton's confirmation before he walked out into the courtyard.
"Hey, need a hand?" he offered as he got closer. Jack swung another Zombie onto the pile and wiped his grimy hands on his jeans.
"If you can handle the smell," he said with a slight grimace.
"I was around you for a while, wasn't I?" Jerry teased, making Jack fold his arms. He rolled his eyes back in response.
Victor chuckled, but then his expression went serious and he leaned towards Jack, sniffing him.
"Boy's got a point Jack," he said in a pinched voice. He cleared his throat. "Y'do smell a bit on the ripe side," he added, Jerry shooting Jack a triumphant grin.
Jack exaggerated an affronted look. "Well," he huffed out, "Sorry I can't smell like a daisy after being a Zombie a few hours ago," he added, the smile going from his face when he saw the expression on Jerry's face.
It was his whole fault this had happened anyway - not the apocalypse, he wasn't that destructive - because if he had been paying attention during the fight, Jack wouldn't have had to come and save his ass like always, and he wouldn't have gotten bitten. Jerry would have, but he probably deserved it.
"I'll give y'all a minute," Victor decided, Jack nodding and smiling gratefully. "There's more bodies over there, anyway," he added, glancing over to another section of the courtyard.
Victor patted Jack on the shoulder before he went away. Jerry was still looking down when Jack turned to him, hands shoved in his pockets. How Jack didn't hate him for causing all this was a miracle.
"Why didn't you shoot me?" Jack asked in a soft voice, reaching out to touch Jerry's arm. He looked up at him; he probably already knew the reason, he just couldn't say it again.
"We'd already gotten so far with the cure," Jerry said with a shrug, Jack nodding with a secretive look on his face. "Seemed stupid to waste all that work," he added knowingly, Jack agreeing with him.
"Besides, I said I couldn't do it and I meant that," Jerry admitted, trying not to look Jack in the eyes. He had seen that his hands were shaking, but what he didn't know was that Jerry was physically incapable of pulling the trigger on his best friend.
Jack looked bewildered at that, but he hadn't been the one holding the gun. "So, you would have let me bite you?" he wondered incredulously.
Jerry swallowed; would it have made him a bad person if he wanted to say 'yes'? "If the cure hadn't worked, I woulda just knocked you dizzy and 'set you free' somewhere," he said with a thin smile.
"What and you'd bring little packed lunches everyday and we'd sit by a lake?" Jack asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Minus the part about Jack being a Zombie, Jerry thought that was a pretty good idea.
"Well I do make a mean sandwich," Jerry boasted proudly, raising his eyebrows.
The two of them chuckled, Jack's stopping noticeably quicker before Jerry's did. He barely had time to register Jack's fingers linking with his own, let alone the other boy's lips softly pressing against his mouth.
"What was that for?" Jerry asked in a slight daze, blinking heavily once Jack pulled away from him, instantly missing the warm feeling.
"My last one had Zombie cure in it," Jack said with a smile, although the joke was only known to him, since Jerry had no idea what he was going on about.
"What?"
"You watched my back through all of this," Jack said with a grateful smile, his eyes holding the most sincerity Jerry had seen from him in a long time, a look he knew was reserved for him and no-one else. "Call me crazy, but that deserves more than a hug in my book," he added, gently squeezing his fingers.
Jerry cocked his head in mock confusion. "What book?" he teased.
Jack playfully punched him in the arm. "You know what I mean," he said with a roll of his eyes. "And you really expect me to still think we're gonna be 'just friends' after everything that happened and me hearing your letter?" he asked with a knowing look.
"I know it was terrible," Jerry said hurriedly, feeling a blush creep over his face as Jack continued to smile at him. "But I wrote it when you were dying, cut me some slack!" he pleaded desperately.
Jack's smile got bigger. "Nah, I thought it was cool," he said reassuringly, patting him on the arm. "And it did distract me long enough for you to cure me, so thank you."
Jerry was wrapped up in Jack's arms then, the taller boy's face nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Jerry hugged him back tightly, feeling Jack's head move and his breath tickle the space behind his ear.
"Thanks for everything you've done," he whispered, sighing heavily as he allowed himself to lean further into the hug.
"Eh, we gotta have each other's backs right now," Jerry said as they pulled away from each other, still holding Jack at arms length.
"Hopefully things'll be back to how they used to be, one day," Jack said wistfully, looking around the deserted courtyard that had been thriving. "Maybe we could mass produce the cure and turn everyone back?" he suggested.
"And what, drop it over the world via plane or something?" Jerry asked incredulously, the idea sounding far-fetched even to him. And he put a toll booth in the boys' bathroom once. "I'm pretty sure the President's gonna do something, given the Zombie's don't get him first," he said with certainty.
"Oh he's in the White House," Jack said with a snort. "Zombie's ain't gonna stand a chance," he added with a knowing chuckle.
Jerry shuffled awkwardly on his feet before he was able to get his next words out: "Hey, do you wanna go to the arcade?"
Jack's eyebrow raised quizzically. "It's still an arcade?" he asked in surprise.
"No, more of a shelter now," Jerry corrected himself, playing with his fingers nervously behind his back. "But they have burgers, I'll pay," he offered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"You had me at you'll be paying," Jack said with relief in his voice, Jerry narrowing his eyes jokingly. "It'll be nice to eat without throwing it up," he said, patting his stomach and chuckling.
"It's a date," Jerry said with a smile, liking how the word sounded. "We need a little bit of sunshine nowadays, anyway," he added.
"I'm already looking at it," Jack said with a grin. He laughed at himself and grimaced. "Too cheesy?" he asked. Jerry nodded.
"Yeah." He rolled his eyes and put an arm around Jack, pressing him snugly into his side, Jack's arm going around his waist.
The sound of a throat being cleared made them turn around. Victor was there, holding a large tank of gasoline.
"Where're you two goin'?" he asked, unscrewing the cap. "We got Zombie's to burn," he said excitedly, swinging the tanker over the Zombie pile, dousing them generously.
"Sorry we'll have to miss it," Jerry said, although not really sorry at all. As much as he hated those things, he really needed a burger.
"We're going on a date," Jack said proudly. Jerry decided the word sounded better coming from his mouth instead.
Victor dropped the can in surprise and Jerry winced, but strangely Victor wasn't angry, he looked... relieved? "It's about goddamned time, boy!" he cheered happily, clapping a confused Jack on the back.
"Huh?" both boys said in unison.
"When you were stayin' over at mine, I half expected to walk in on you both sleepin' in the same bed or somethin'," he chuckled, looking at them both with a knowing look in his eyes.
Jack chuckled nervously and Jerry looked at him in surprise.
"Okay..." Jack trailed off, forcing out an awkward chuckle. "See you later, pops!" he blurted quickly, making to hurry Jerry away.
"You be good to him, Jerry!" Victor said in warning, pointing a large finger at him. "Or you're gonna get a little taste'a Southern fury," he grinned, Jerry swearing up and down the expression was 'Southern hospitality'.
"Oh put the pitchfork away, pops," Jack waved him off briskly, grinning with laughter in his eyes.
Jerry again slung an arm comfortably around Jack's shoulder and the two of them walked away from the pile of Zombies, heading towards the 'arcade'.
Victor watched the two boys go, a fond smile on his face. He put down the tank of gasoline after one last tremendous swing and took a matchbook out of his pocket, eyeing the pile of Zombie's victoriously. The humans had won and thankfully Jack wasn't among them - all thanks to Jerry.
"Rest in Peace, son," he murmured thoughfully to the air, looking up at the sky. "That boy's gonna make us both proud," he said with a fond smile, glancing over to the slowly shrinking figures of Jack and Jerry before they disappeared from the courtyard.
The match was struck and thrown onto the pile of Zombies, the infectious creatures going up in a large wall of fire.
Good riddance.