Mirage

Apocalyptic Apples

In which everybody fucking dies bai💀 el em ay oh
tw: MAJOR character death you've been warned

It was already dark, wet and his legs burned from running. Running for what seemed like days; he was so tired. Tired of it all. He was ready to give up, the easy way out. What would be the point of going on anyways? Everyone was gone. Everyone but-

"I don't- I don't think I can do this. I can't keep going," Tam panted, leaning against the now shut door of the shop they're hiding in.

Keefe ran hand through his ruined hair that he was too distressed to worry about. "We can't just- Can't we just... I don't know, give up?" He winced at the way his voice cracked on 'up'.

"I don't know! It's been a week since- What even happens when they go? Do they die o-or... are they still in there somewhere?" Keefe's eyes burned remembering their friends' screams.

"I don't know."

It was hopeless. There wasn't anywhere else to go, no one else left. The city itself was unrecognizable; everything rundown and broken, crashed cars with busted windows and ripped up seats, allies overrun by the undead once-civilians.

He was shook out of his spiraling thoughts by a weak hiccup. Keefe let out a shaky sigh and slide down to where Tam had his legs pulled to his stomach on the floor. He folded his arms and tilted his head to rest on Tam's shoulder.

"At least..." Keefe racked his brain for something reassuring to say. He's was trying so hard not to deflect with a joke.

"Just make the joke. I won't disintegrate, I swear." Keefe jumped a little at his voice. Then felt a little offended at the sarcasm.

"What you're saying is you like my jokes."

"What I'm saying is your bad jokes are the last bit of normalcy we'll have for a while. So, spit it out." Tam laughed weakly. It was clear he was trying to no think about what happened with Linh.

His mind traitorously flashed to Sophie having to pull Tam away from her, frantic tears running down both their faces and the blood in Sophie's already draining from her own infection.

And Linh. Skin grey and staring unseeingly at them. Expressionless.

"Well, I was thinking about those 'last people on earth' movies and how the directors would be having a field day right now."

Keefe almost felt Tam roll his eyes. "I literally hate you."

"Nah, you love me."

"That's debatable." A moment of silence followed, the only sound coming from muffled hits to the metal door and their own breathing.

"Really wanna go out this way?" Keefe mumbled.

He heard a sigh. "What other choice do we have?"

"Lovers' suicide?" he cracked.

"Lovers'-"

"Let me have this, Tam." He felt Tam freeze at the name drop. "What?"

"You didn't call me by some dumb nickname, for once," he mumbled back.

"You know what they say; Trauma bonding or whatever." He let his mind wander until- "Wait! Oh my God." Keefe jumped up and grabbed at his discarded backpack.

Tam almost fell over at the sudden weight shift. "What."

Keefe pulled out a plastic bag. "Apples."

"Apples?"

"Apples!"

"Andddd you lost me." Tam folded his arms over his chest.

"They're poisoned," he said like it was the most obvious think in the world.

Tam looked at him like he'd finally lost it. "Why the ever-loving fuck do you just have poisoned apples in your bag? What is this? Snow White?"

"Uh, lab accident with Dex. Anyway, if you're for real about wanting out?" He held one out. "This is your back door, I guess." Tam looked like he was thinking it over. "But before that, there's one thing I want to do!"

He dropped the apple back into the bag and put in on the backpack.

"And what's- he-hey!" Keefe pulled Tam down to the floor and wrapped the other's arm around his own waist.

"Next, we die in the morning?"

"That's such a weird thing to say after dragging someone into spooning you," he sighed. "But yeah, I guess."

Keefe didn't answer. Instead he just listened to Tam's heartbeat slow down. "I'm sorry," he said. There was a pause so long he started to think Tam fell asleep.

"For what?" Keefe dragged his attention away from the tired rumble in his voice.

"I talk a lot of shit about you—mostly to your face—but you're actually a pretty great friend, so." He shrugged.

"S'not like I was any better."

"True, but-"

"No, no." He felt his head shake a bit. "I'm sorry too, I guess."

"You guess?" Keefe smiled.

"I'll take it back."

"Nooooo! Now that you've said it, I'm never letting it go."

"Oh. My. God. You can really ruin the moment." They both laughed, fully knowing that it might be their last.

—

They were gone by morning.