The decreipt once-supermarket building loomed in front of them like a lurking monster. The slate grey walls had cracks and ivy vines creeping up in places, the windows broken and resembling crooked teeth in the sparse light offered by the crescent moon.

Will inhaled shakily from his crouch in the hedges, watching as two dark figures darted across the concrete expanse and disappeared into the shadowed entrance. His Astro 680 .22 long rifle was a cold, uncomfortable weight in his hands. The crisp winter air bit against his exposed skin, numbing his fingers and stinging his eyes. He sighed and rubbed his palms together. Should the need arise for fighting, he would be useless enough as it was without being too cold to even fire properly.

There was an eerie silence. It settled over him, heavy and unrelenting. It had been ten minutes now since Leo and Nico had snuck inside to grab supplies for the rest of their group. He started fidgeting. In and out, Leo had said. So where were they now?

Seconds bled into each other, and then into minutes. The crisp winter air bit into his skin and he shivered in his worn leather jacket. Twenty minutes passed. Half an hour. His Mickey Mouse watch, belonging to his late brother, ticked omniously loudly. Finally, his patience snapped.
Will was just jumping up to head inside as well- screw what Nico had said, he was done watching helplessly from the sidelines- when there was a tremendous blast. One intact window shattered, glittering shards raining down.

Will sprinted towards the supermarket, his heart thumping wildly. And then, he heard a sound, terrible and blood-curdling and so anguished that it drove him to tears and made him beg every diety he remembered that he would never hear it again-

Nico screamed again.

He skidded to a stop at the entrance, where the door hung off its hinges, just as a slight body slammed into him and they tumbled to the ground with a soft oof of surprise.

Nico stared down at him. His face was ashen and sickly.

"We need to leave," he rasped, gripping the front of Will's shirt in a vice-like grip.

There was a series of loud crashes and then gravelly moans resonating through the earth. Will nodded and scrambled to his feet. He grabbed his rifle and fired a few rounds into the darkness, before they sprinted across the parking lot. Their feet slapped loudly over the concrete. Ragged breaths and burning chest driving all coherent thoughts from their heads except for the need to survive. To escape.

So it was a few minutes until it dawned on Will. They had stumbled out onto the deserted street, mobs of the undead creatures shuffling along behind them at a astonishingly swift pace.

"Nico," he managed to gasp out. "Nico, where is Leo?"

His boyfriend turned to look at him. No. The terror and pain swimming in his dark irises formed a lump in Will's throat. God, it was too soon for this. Too soon for another loss. How would they tell the others?

The creatures were getting ever closer. Then there was a sharp intake of breath from beside him. Nico was staring into the distance, where the dusty road snaked into the shadows of the night. More silhouettes were emerging, joining the throng, blocking their path.

"This way," Nico said, grabbing his hand.

And then they were running again, past run-down houses and seedy apartment buildings. Past random patches of yellowed grass with the ghost of past children and sweet laughter still ringing in the stale air. Will closed his eyes to ward off the onslaught of memories. Kayla and Austin slumping to the ground in front of his eyes. A pair of golden eyes staring blankly at them and Nico sobbing. Tried to focus on the dire situation at hand. Nico's hand was ice-cold in his own.

More and more were appearing in alleyways, staring them with eyes like lamps, bulging and yellow. Their crooked teeth were exposed in gleeful grins, eager to add to more to their infinite numbers. Will was trying to think frantically of escape routes, could they fight them off, their hideout was in the opposite direction but if they-

Nico stumbled.

"Neeks," Will breathed, immediately kneeling beside him. He was aching and bone-tired, but more sad than anything because the smaller boy looked so lost and exhausted and ready to give up. "Neeks, come on, get up. We can do this."

They were getting closer. The stench of rotting and the sounds of their rattling breaths were clearer than ever.

"I can't," Nico wheezed and stretched out his leg for Will to see. Deep lacerations stretched across his calf, the skin mottled and yellow, blood running down in rivulets.

Will hissed. It was a wonder Nico was able to run at all.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay. I can heal you when we get back. It will be okay."

Nico pushed his shoulder, trying to muster one of his effective glares. "You go on without me. I...I can't."

The lump was getting bigger, choking him, sucking everything from him -heart, body, soul- with all the force of space-induced vaccum. He encircled Nico in his arms.

"No."

"Don't be stupid! Get out of here! I can probably hold them off-"

"I am not going anywhere without you!"

"Will you listen for once-"

"I can't," Will shouted, his voice cracking at the last word. Nico froze. He went on in a whisper. "I can't, okay? I can't lose you. I couldn't live on without you."

Nico's eyes fluttered closed. He laid his head on the taller boy's chest, listening to his racing heartbeat. Fingers curled around the fabric of Will's shirt.

A loud crack like a gunshot split the night air. One of the zombies had tried to climb over the fence lining the road.

"Hey," Will spoke up softly after a long pause. "Dance with me?"

Nico stared at him as though he had lost his mind. But Will drew him up and simply held him. He marvelled at the messy raven hair. The pale skin, almost transclucent in the moonlight. The pink lips and long lashes.

Everything inside him was breaking. His chest was cracking open and his heart was spilling out and his throat was closing up. He reached out with trembling fingers to brush them along his jaw and mouth.

Nico closed his eyes again and gripped his wrists loosely. Then they were kissing. It was slow and careful and gentle. It was desperate and needy and filled with countless I love yous and It's not fairs and I don't want us to dies.

Will's hands dropped to press into the skin at the small of Nico’s back. He parted his lips slowly, pulling Nico’s breath into his mouth and tasting the fresh mint of toothpaste. Their tongues met somewhere in the middle and flicked lazily together.

When they parted, Nico's eyes were big and remorseful. Will could count every bump across his skin, every tear clinging to his lashes. Every stuttering breath and hitch in his chest.

Will began to sing. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..."

Nico breathed in sharply. That song. It was their song, having danced to it in their high school prom, sung to each other numerous times before going to bed. They had shouted it to the wind as they chased each other in the park.

They began to sway.

The zombies were almost upon them, surrounding them from all sides, gnashing their teeth.

"You make me happy when the skies are grey," Will murmured in his ear. "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away...."

Will did not to look at the approaching monsters. The one at the front had a mop of wild curls. But that was all that was left of their friend. The skin was sallow and grey, cracked and mottled in places. Instead, he focused on the feeling of Nico's nose against his collarbone, his thumbs grazing Will's skin under his orange shirt.

The first claw grabbed his sun-bleached hair and Will tried not to wince. Nico hadn't noticed yet.

He kept on singing, though his voice was raw with unnamed, intense emotions. "Please don't take my sunshine away-"

Nico heard a gasp and a soft gurgle in his hair. And then a heavy weight slumping on him. His eyes flew open. Will's head was twisted at an awkward angle, his gaze empty. The stars were sprinkled across the unseeing irises, now truly reflecting the sky they resembled.

Nico never got the chance to scream.

A/N: I....I dont know why I do this to myself. Or to you guys. -sniffles-
Let me know -sniff sniff- what you think! -sniff-
Moreover, this prompt is not mine. Thank you to whoever wrote it!

Hugs and kisses,
Hylla