Heartstopper stories

The Last of Us

Content warnings: Violence, gun use, apocalypse 

Nick's pov

I can't express how glad I am that I can hold Charlie's hand in public now. There are still people who give us weird looks, but we don't get bothered by it. We have each other and that is good enough. It feels kind of weird that we have such a good and secure relationship. We've been dating for a year now. I think that's pretty long. I mean, I've never been in a relationship before so I don't know if this is long. But I think it is. It doesn't feel like that though. It feels like we've just met and are still in that first lovely, clingy, kinda cringy bubble. I don't mind. I love the bubble.

Charlie and I were walking out of the movie theater and to the bathroom. I knew Charlie was holding his pee so he could see the end of the movie. I told him multiple times that he should just go, but he was way too stubborn to listen to me. While he was in the bathroom, I picked my phone out of my pocket and turned the airplane mode off which I turned to not get any notifications while the movie was playing. Suddenly, I was flooded with messages from my friends, my mum, and the news. I ignored the messages from my friends and mum and clicked on the news article.

Stay off the streets! Many people are infected with a fungus.

This morning, patients have broken out of the hospital who were infected with a fungus. This infection has caused the patients to behave like so-called 'zombies' and attack anyone who comes near them. The infected have already spread to several countries and are now also in England. The military recommends staying off the streets until further notice. They will try to wipe out the infected and save the citizens who are in hiding.

My face dropped as soon as I read the article. Suddenly, I heard a scream coming from the bathroom. I ran towards the noise and found an infected man biting another man. I was terrified. I ran back outside and tried to find something sharp. I ended up finding a gun behind the counter and ran back to the bathroom. The infected man was still there. I put the safety off and pointed the gun toward the infected man. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to reason with him. "Sir, please step away from the man." The infected man turned around and let out a horrifying sound. I took a few steps back, still aiming the gun at him. The infected man wasted no time and ran towards me. That's when I pulled the trigger. He instantly fell dead on the ground. The man who was bitten was groaning in pain. I wanted to help him, but I knew it wouldn't be of any use. He would turn into one of them. I shot him too and looked around me.

The bathroom stalls were all locked. "Charlie?" I said, hoping he would come out of them. "N-Nick?" I heard him stutter. I sighed with relief. "You can come out. It's safe now." I said. Charlie came out of one of the stalls and ran into my arms. I held him tight. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked him. He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I got in the bathroom stall as soon as I saw him come in." He said. I heard some noises coming closer. I took Charlie's hand and we both ran out of the bathroom. "Don't let go, okay?" I said. Charlie nodded. We ran up the stairs and into a storage room. I locked the door behind us and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. Charlie did the same thing. We didn't hear any noise, so we both called our parents.

My mum was inside. She had locked herself in the bathroom. She sounded so scared. Charlie's parents had locked themselves, Tori, and Oliver in the basement. Everyone was safe, for now. Then we heard some footsteps coming up the stairs. Charlie and I froze in our spot. We hung up the phone and turned them off. We both put our hands on our mouths to make as little noise as possible, but I still heard little whimpers coming from Charlie. I held his other hand and stroked it with my finger. The footsteps went past the door and Charlie and I both sighed with relief. I carefully opened the door to see if the person was still there, but they weren't. "We can't stay here. We have to find a safe place." I said to Charlie. He nodded and took my hand. "We stay together." I gave him a quick kiss and we ran out of the storage room.