The Apocalypse [Dreamnotfound AU]

Roadtrip

Tw: blood, weapons, anxiety

George's soft, steady breathing tells Dream that he's fallen asleep.

In his lap, Dream thinks and he still can't believe it. His arms are still wrapped out George's waist and he feels happy and warm, even as night falls. The city's buildings thinning and soon they'll be out of danger. At least for the time being.

"Hey," Karl whispers, next to him. He nods at Sapnap, who's fallen asleep, his head resting against the back of the seat, his baseball bat hanging loosely from his hands. He's snoring lightly and Dream and Karl hold back a laugh as they lock eyes.

Skeppy has also fallen asleep, and Bad seems exhausted. He's still driving, but his shoulders are drooping and the car swerves slightly.

"Should he still be driving like this?" Dream says quietly. "I can take over, if you want."

Karl smiles. "What about him?" he says, gesturing to George.

Dream doesn't want to let George go, but they need to get to safety. He nods at Karl, who taps Bad on the shoulder.

"What do you want?" Bad says sleepily.

"We'll take over, Bad," Karl says. "Get some rest. Me and Dream can switch seats with you and Skeppy."

Bad doesn't protest. The car stops at the curbside. Dream casts a look around, half expecting to see the hoard of zombies from earlier. He remembers their bone-chilling growls and a shiver passes through him.

"Come on," Karl whispers to him. He's already squeezing out of the convertible, past Sapnap who doesn't stir.

Dream grabs George's waist gently, and shifts him off his lap and onto the seat. He pauses when George's eyes flutter and a mumbled word escapes his lips. But he settles back into a deep sleep and Dream gets out of the convertible. He stretches. His long limbs are stiff from sitting in the cramped car for so many hours.

Bad is out of the convertible, leading a half-asleep Skeppy into the back seat. Skeppy stumbles and his head falls onto Bad's shoulder. Dream can see Bad's eyeroll even in the dark and he smiles a little. Bad settles in the back with Skeppy cuddled against him. He falls asleep instantly. That leaves Dream to take the driver's seat.

As he opens the door, he hears a groan behind him.

Karl lets out a shriek and clamps a hand over his mouth, waving wildly at something behind Dream. Dream spins around, drawing his kitchen knife almost on instinct. He sees a flash of bloody teeth, before he plunges the knife in the zombie's head. The monster shudders and collapses on the road. Blood pours out of its skull. Dream jerks away before the crimson can soak into his shoes. He feels suddenly sick, nausea shooting up his throat...

"Breathe, man, breathe," Karl says, his voice somehow soothing. The nausea fades a little. Dream avoids looking at the zombie again as he wipes his knife down on his jeans.

He glances at his friends in the back. Apparently, Karl's shriek hadn't woken any of them. Relief bubbles through the shock.

"Are you sure you can drive?" Karl asks. Dream nods, but another burst of nausea stops him.

Karl pats the shotgun seat. "Sit here. I'll drive."

Dream just nods and slouches into the seat. Karl starts up the convertible and the cool night breeze makes him feel a little better.

"You ever kill one before?" Karl asks as they drive onto the road.

Images of the zombie still flock in Dream's mind; a rapid-fire flurry of bloody, grotesque visions. His mind focuses in and out like a camera and the effect is disorienting. It makes it difficult to form words.

"Once," he says in a stumble. "I didn't even think about it. It was to protect... someone."

"Then you did the right thing," Karl says  quietly, and Dream's mind narrows in on the words. The other images slowly fade away until he can think again.

He focuses on the breeze sweeping gently over his face. "What about you?"

"Never. They terrify me, to be honest. We were lucky not to run into too many, before we found this ride abandoned by a sidewalk. It was fight or flight, and we chose flight. They couldn't keep up with us."

"Good move," Dream says.

Karl nods, keeping his eyes on the road. There's a distant look shining in them, like he's been transported to the past as he says, "I've known Bad and Skeppy for ages. Way before this. We used to game together and we were planning on meeting up when we found out we all lived in Florida. Lucky we did. They saved my life."

He smiles sadly. "What about you? How do you know Nick and George?"

Dream's gaze snaps to Karl. "How do you know Sap's real name?"

Karl shrugs like it's nothing, even though, as far as Dream knows, Sapnap doesn't open up to people easily. "I like to call people by their real name if we're like, face to face. I felt weird calling him Sapnap, so I asked him about it." He glances sideways at Dream. "Now I just need to find out yours."

Dream laughs quietly. "No chance. No one calls me by my real name."

"You do you. But if you change your mind, let me know."

Dream smiles. "Will do."

They're quiet for a while, but there's nothing tense or awkward about it. Karl's easy to talk to, even if Dream barely knows him. They're lucky they met good people, he thinks. It would have been a lot more difficult it was just George, Sapnap, and him on their own.

Karl breaks the silence. "So what's the deal with you and George, if you don't mind me asking? We're all accepting here, if you couldn't tell," he adds, gesturing vaguely to Bad and Skeppy. "But no pressure."

Dream mulls the question over. His gut tells him he can trust Karl with his secret, though even Sapnap doesn't know it. It's complicated, is the first statement that comes to mind, but it's too simple, too obvious to describe his feelings.

"Me and Sapnap are childhood friends," he says quietly. "We met George in high school. He'd moved from England and everyone made fun of his accent." He scoffs. "They were all assholes. Me and Sapnap kind of took him in. We all liked gaming too, and George turned out to be really good at coding, so he used to code stuff for us to play. I didn't realize I felt anything else for him until about a year ago, probably. We were already living together by then, all three of us. Sapnap was talking about a zombie movie he'd watched. Ironically. He asked who I would save if it was between him and George. I didn't answer it, obviously, but I thought about it later. I realized I couldn't live without George. I guess it sounds kind of horrible, but it's not like I wouldn't protect Sapnap. It's just different."

"I get it," Karl replies. "Probably not the best context though, to figure out you have feelings for someone."

Dream chuckles. "No kidding. But that was when I realized I probably liked him as something more than a friend. I just didn't know what that meant for us, so I didn't do anything about it. I still haven't really done anything."

"You seem really close. I mean, I could tell there was something going on between you two."

Dream blushes. "How? You seemed to realize it instantly, even though you'd only just met us."

"You weren't being all that secretive, to be clear."

"Maybe not," Dream says. A flicker of hope darts into his heart. "Not that I know how he feels about it," he adds quickly, and the blush in his cheeks deepens.

"You'll figure it out," Karl says, but his smile tells Dream he already knows George's feelings. Better than him. How is that possible? Dream thinks, perplexed. "In time."

"Thanks," Dream says, and he means it.

They spend the rest of the night reminiscing about old memories, and by the time the sun crests the horizon, Dream has almost forgotten about the apocalypse that tore up their lives.

What a roadtrip, he thinks, smiling.

(1380 words)