Techno hadn't known what happened, just that one minute they were talking with quiet laughs as they walked through the abandoned city and then they were completely surrounded by a horde of zombies and they were fighting for their lives.

He grunted as he lunged forward, sword in hand and aiming for the neck of a particularly annoying zombie that seemed nearly determined on getting Techno, either to tear him apart or to turn him into one of them. He felt like he was being reckless, not that it bothered him too much. He knew that Philza was watching his back, and that Philza was probably being more reckless than him.

He never knew what went on in Philza's head; one moment they could be laughing, and the next they could be tearing zombies apart, and the entire time he could be laughing or playing subtle games. Like now, in fact. Techno could see Philza playing a game of chicken with a small group of zombies, getting just close enough to use his dagger, and then jumping away with a laugh when another zombie tried to lunge for him.

Technoblade knew he was playing recklessly, because the sword on Philza's back was still entirely clipped in its scabbard. It meant that he had no intent on pulling it out to use. Techno huffed, turning back to his fight with a hint of aggressiveness.

The voices in his head were also making cutting remarks about his form, about the zombies, some were making jokes about the situation. It annoyed him even more than his friends' obvious lack of safety or concern.

Techno ducked under a zombie that had, at some point, learned how to jump and lunge, swinging his sword up and slicing it in half. He dodged a child zombie that had its arms raised as if looking for a hug or looking to be picked up. It was easy to shove his sword through its head.

The voices thought he was heartless for that one. Techno was just being safe.

One bite could leave him sick for a week, slowly getting weaker and weaker with a fever before he would succumb to death and his body would be left to roam the earth, constantly stuck in a loop of pain and hunger. He'd seen it happen to too many people to even want to hang around others…

But Philza had been persistent. No one had to be alone, so long as they were with the right people. And watching Philza fight was something that often blew Techno away. Reckless but careful. He knew his limits very intimately, and often pushed them to see if he could be better.

Techno glanced towards his friend, sighing in relief when he saw that Philza was being a little safer now; his game clearly over. His dagger was back in its holster at Philza's hip, and instead Philza was using dual short swords to kill these things quicker.

"You know, I think these things are getting more persistent." Philza's voice carried over the field, and Techno snorted lightly.

"You think?" Techno dodged another lunge, ducking under a jumper, and swinging his sword nearly recklessly as he aimed to kill the three who turned towards him. He was a little unsettled by the hanging eyeballs, though. They were dead quickly enough that it wouldn't bother him for long.

"Ah, I remember when this place was at it's peak." Philza's voice sounded nostalgic as the fighting came to an end. Most of the dead were… dead again, and Philza was back to his daggers now that there were less to look out for.

Techno debated stealing those damn daggers and hiding them from his friend. The voices were mixed on that thought.

"At its peak?" Techno asked, he didn't get much of an answer, other than a bright laugh, but he honestly should have expected that. Philza was weird and mysterious, and even slower to trust. At first, Techno thought that Philza trusted too easily, but then he realized he knew next to nothing about his friend despite all that Philza talked about his life and those he'd been friends with or those he'd met on his 'travels'.

Techno turned slowly after a few minutes of hearing nothing but Philza, finding that everything was dead now. Relief pulled at his shoulders, though he refused to show that particular weakness. He turned and found that Philza seemed completely unharmed.

"Well, that was fun!" Philza smiled brightly, moving and, apparently, searching for his short swords. "Awe, I have to clean my scabbard again." Philza groaned, glancing down at his waist with a look of annoyance.

"Shoulda dropped them." Techno intoned.

"And risk losing them? Hah!" was Philza's predictable response. Techno rolled his eyes, even as a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. If there was one thing that Techno never wanted to lose, or to change, it was Philza's light heartedness, and his ability to make the best out of nothing.

"Never change Philza. Never change." Techno shook his head, already turning to continue on their way. He could hear that Philza found his strewn about weapons, and could hear him chasing to catch up.

Techno moved faster just to spite the other.

"Phil-" There was a hint of horror in Techno's voice, which is the only reason why Philza stopped and turned towards him with a look of confusion and worry. Techno's eyes were locked on Philza's arm, and his breathing was a little uneven, which concerned Philza. Techno was typically a solid wall when it came to his emotions, but right now, it was like that wall had collapsed and he was scrambling to pick up the pieces.

"Mate?"

"Please tell me that isn't a bite mark," Techno uttered, Phil glanced down in confusion. There was, in fact, a bite mark on his forearm, Philza hadn't even realized that was there. Never even registered that teeth had managed to sink into his skin. The realization dawned on Philza then, a bite usually meant a death sentence. "I can't lose another friend." Techno's voice was quieter then, a hint of fear in his friend's voice.

"Tech, mate, it's okay." Philza tried to assure him. He turned to face Techno entirely, no longer half turned. Techno's eyes were locked on the mark, refusing to move his eyes despite Phil moving to approach him. "Techno." Techno looked up there, and Phil's expression softened when he saw the blatant pain and fear. "I'm immune, Tech, I'm okay." Philza assured.

"What?" Techno was surprised, and Philza felt a little bad about not telling him sooner. It was for his own safety, not that Philza didn't trust Techno, because Philza knew Techno would lay down his life for Philza. But Philza had been burned a few too many times by thinking like that.

"I'm immune, see?" Philza reached for his other arm, pushing his sleeve up as far as it should so as to show the edges of scarred teeth marks that he knew littered his upper back, his shoulders, and his upper arms. He even had a few on his calves from not being careful enough.

Little hard to be careful when you can't die from being bitten.

There was a breath released from Techno, whose shoulders slumped forward and his head bowed slightly. He was hesitant as he reached forward to trace the one scar that was entirely on his forearm. His touch was careful, like one wrong press and it was remind Philza's body that it was supposed to die after receiving a bite.

"You're okay." There was another breath that escaped Techno, sounding a little harsher than the last. Philza pulled Techno into a hug, letting his friend lean on him as his shoulders started to shake. Philza had never seen, nor heard, his friend cry before.

"I'm okay," Philza reaffirmed. Philza wasn't sure if his friend had been running on fumes, or if the relief had been too much for him, but he did know that he had to catch his friend before either of them stumbled to the ground. "There's nothing to worry about, mate."

They sat there, out in the open for nearly two hours. Surprising, since the last time they were anywhere for more than ten minutes they'd been surrounded by an entire horde. Maybe there was a little luck on their side, maybe there just weren't any zombie's around to attack them.

Whatever the case, Philza was thankful for it. He needed the time to reassure his friend, and it was clear Techno needed some time before his walls were back up, if just a little shorter than before. Another good thing was that there were no survivors to stumble across them, that could be dangerous when someone was vulnerable or while Philza's bite mark wasn't even scabbed over.

"Sorry-"

"Don't apologize." Philza interrupted the apology, a hard look in his eyes as Techno lifted his head to argue. "Most people are not immune, it was a natural, logical, and reasonable response, mate." Techno opened his mouth as if to argue again, so naturally, a zombie just had to groan from somewhere nearby.

"We'll discuss that later." Techno decided after a moment, and Philza laughed lightly as he patted his friend's shoulder. There were more groans starting to sound, and it was slowly beginning to get dark. He knew from experience that once it was just a tiny bit dark, it got dark fast.

"Whatever you say, mate. Let's get moving." Phil waited as Techno pushed himself up before accepting help up. He dutifully ignored the comment about him getting old with a smile. They started walking, so of course, Philza had to try to trip Techno. He failed, of course, but it caused him to laugh again as he received a look of offense from his friend.

"That's not fair." Techno grumbled, but there was a smile on his face. The air around them was filled with a tiny bit of relief, even with the noises around them slowly becoming more concerning. "Let's find some shelter. Sleep through the night."

"Maybe we could repair this city." Philza hummed, looking around with a small smile. "If I remember correctly, this place used to be beautiful, with crystal clear lakes and fields of crops that went on for miles. It's where I got married, too." He felt a little sad, remembering his late wife. Kristin was definitely the better of the two of them, in his opinion. He knew that she would argue that he was the better of the two, with his kind heart and generosity.

Philza, though, believed it was her. With her stunning beauty and unfaltering grace. Loyal to a fault, but always able to see someone's true colors from just a tiny slip up. She'd saved him from some corrupt business partners a number of times, just because they slipped on their words. She was also the better communicator and was amazing at twisting her words to trick people.

"You were married?" Techno asked quietly, and Philza smiled at him.

"Yeah," He nodded. "Her name was Kristin." There was sadness there. "Her and our son, Tommy, were in a car accident at the beginning of the apocalypse. They didn't make it." Philza shrugged, as if it didn't bother him. The slight misting of his eyes betrayed his true feelings on the matter.

"I bet they were amazing people." Techno uttered.

"Oh, they were. Kristin had a way with talking circles around people, and our son could talk and talk and talk. It was sometimes difficult to get him to stop talking, even if only to eat or get a drink." Philza laughed. He took a deep breath, ignoring the stench that now permeated the air with a practiced ease.

"How old was your son?" Techno asked, his voice quiet. It had been quiet for a few minutes, and Philza honestly thought that the other would drop the topic of conversation. He knew that family was a hard topic for Techno.

"Tommy was seven, nearly eight." Philza told him.

"He was just slightly younger than my brother." Techno's voice was quiet, and Philza's ears strained to hear him. His heart hurt, now knowing that the other had probably lost his brother early on too.

"Tell me about him?" Philza asked, "I can tell you about Tommy, too." Techno turned his head and smiled with a hint of fondness, buried in sadness.