Bitten {Benchtrio Zombie Apocalypse AU}

7

Tommy woke up to someone gently shaking him. The boy groaned, burying his face in his pillow. He heard someone chuckle. Tommy looked up slightly to see Phil smiling down at him.

"Good morning. Techno's making pancakes." Phil told him, before moving to where Tubbo was sprawled out on his bed.

Tommy smiled lightly. He missed Techno's pancakes. The blonde boy swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching as he sat up. Tubbo groaned, only waking up when Michael jumped on him.

"How's Ranboo?" Tommy asked before Phil walked out.

The older paused, "he hasn't woken up yet. But the cure seems to be working so far."

"How does the cure even work?" Tubbo rubbed his eyes as he sat up.

Phil hummed, sitting down on one of the beds, "well, the virus works sort of similarly to cancer in the sense the virus spreads faster then the body can regenerate, and the body can't detect it as foreign. The cure is similar to chemotherapy. It attacks the fast reproduction of the virus, but it also damages the quick growing cells of the body. Wilbur found out that two drugs used for cancer were affective against the virus. He thought that one dose would be enough since we were killing a virus and not tissue. Unfortunately, one dose doesn't work. It takes a few days to a few weeks of the drug to completely kill the virus, depending on how much it spread."

"So, Ranboo's gonna be out for a while?" Tubbo pulled Michael into his lap.

Phil nodded, "we're hoping he wakes up soon. The drugs can take a harsh toll on the body."

"Can we see him?" Tommy asked.

"Clean up first." Phil laughed lightly, "you remember where the bathrooms are?"

The boys nodded. Phil gave them a small smile as he stood.

"Alright, I've left some clothes there for you. Clean up and then come down for breakfast. After that you can see Ranboo." Phil told them, walking out of the door.

The man sighed. Hopefully Ranboo will pull though. Phil walked downstairs to the kitchen where Techno was still making food. His long pink hair was pulled back in a lazy ponytail, a few strands dangling in his face.

Techno glanced up at his friend, "how are they?"

Phil shrugged, "they're okay. Scared for their friend. Tubbo had some cuts on his hand that might need to be looked at."

Techno hummed, pushing up his glasses a little. Phil sat down a the small table they had. It was the only nice thing that survived the scramble for materials. A beautiful rosewood table. It was expensive as hell, once made for the higher ups of the lab. The first time Wilbur brought Tommy and Tubbo there, they carved their names into the underside.

The sound of hurried footsteps came down the hall. Michael ran into the room, now clean and in new clothes. His hair was dyed a light pink, similar to Techno's. The child was giggling, and moments later Tubbo ran out behind him, also clean and in new clothes.

"Michael!" Tubbo laughed as he chased the boy, "I'm gonna get you! You can't run from me!"

Michael squealed in laughter, running between Techno's legs and the stove. Techno simply took a small step back and allowed the child to hide.

Tubbo smiled, taking a seat at the table, "so I heard there were pancakes?"

"Almost done." Techno told him, pouring more batter onto the pan, "where's Tommy?"

"He couldn't find his bandana." Tubbo said, "he should be out soon."

As if on cue, Tommy ran into the kitchen, "I found it!"

Tubbo laughed, turning to his friend, "where was it?"

"It was on my bed!" Tommy smiled, sitting down.

Michael then ran out of his hiding place, crawling in the seat next to Tubbo. Techno followed with a plate of warm pancakes. The pink haired man then took a seat himself.

Tommy and Tubbo immediately dug in, the latter helping Michael cut his pancakes. Phil smiled. They were always hungry, even as kids. He was glad to see not much had changed.

"So," Techno spoke, "you three want to see Ranboo?"

"Yes!" Tubbo immediately said, Tommy nodding as his mouth was too full.

Techno hummed, "good. You can learn more about the virus when you help administer the medications."

"You know about the virus?" Tommy asked after he swallowed his bite.

"Well yeah, how else would we develop a cure?" Techno said, "And on top of that, we need to study the virus to make a vaccine."

"A vaccine?" Tubbo tilted his head, "you can vaccinate against this?"

Techno nodded, "vaccines are made up of a partial, weakened, or dead version of a scientist-made germ, bacterium or virus. Preemptively exposing the body to these infections through a vaccine stimulates the immune system’s natural response to an infectious disease without having to actually live through the disease."

"The only problem is the zombie virus, which we've named Human Necroviridae, dies quickly without a host." Phil said, "and keeping zombies is dangerous."

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.

Phil chuckled, "it means we can't study it for long before it dies."

"Oh..." Tommy turned back to his pancakes.

Techno sighed, "don't worry. It can only be spread through blood and saliva. So as long as a zombie doesn't bite you or bleed in an open wound, you're fine."

"And speaking of open wounds," Phil looked at Tubbo, "don't think I didn't see your hand. We're getting that fixed before you go see Ranboo."

Tubbo flushed lightly, "okay..."

Phil smiled softly. Everything seemed to be going well. His kids were back. Their friend was doing well. And hopefully, Ranboo would be willing to help them study the virus if- when he wakes up. Phil shook the doubt from his head. When he wakes up.