Licensed Apocalypse

*twenty* You WILL

"ERIC!" Lucis yelled. Eric was at the otherside of the empty hallway. He turned around. "Did you cover for me?" Lucis demanded, striding forward. He was trying valiantly to hide his anger towards Eric. Eric nodded. His eyes drifted to something on Lucis' face.

"I- gotta go." He said, turned, and ran off. Lucis took a deep breath. The anger wasn't going away. What had Eric been looking at? Lucis found a mirror in an empty bathroom nearby. There was a vein slightly showing on his strained face. Lucis let his face smooth into a proper look of anger. Eric knew he was pissed. Lucis had to hide his anger better. Or do I? Lucis thought. He released the edge of a sink (he had been gripping it so hard his hands had turned white) and left the room in a storm attempting to calm the anger. This time, it worked. When Lucis found Eric talking to another officer he almost lost his cool. Almost. The sight of Eric and the memory of what Oliver told him warred all the good things Lucis had to say for Eric in Lucis' mind. But Lucis did have proof for what Oliver had to say. And he trusted Oliver. He always would. Eric saw Lucis. He looked away, no emotion distorting his plain features. He discreetly guided the officer away. Eric had already made new friends. He had already thrown Lucis away like a used dog toy, all chewed to bits. So much for letting him stay in my house. Lucis thought, fists clenching as the two walked away. If Eric can get new friends that quickly, I can definitely do the same. He turned, determined to do something to get back at Eric, and almost bumped into someone. It was a girl, he instantly recognized her as one of the newly instated officers.

"Sorry." Lucis said, taking a quick step back.

"It's okay." The girl said. "Where are you off to?" Lucis shrugged.

"Anywhere."

The girl laughed.

"I've never heard that!" She giggled. Lucis smiled.

"First time for everything." Lucis said.

"I'm Clara by the way." The young officer said, extending her hand.

"Lucis." Lucis took her hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Lucis."

"It's nice to meet you too Clara."

Bingo.

**

Turns out Clara was the crush of half the young male officer population. Even Eric. Lucis felt people glare at him as Clara greeted him with a smile on her face. But Lucis didn't care. Clara was the nicest person he'd encountered here. She didn't care about the survivors or anything else everyone else cared about. She almost made Lucis forget about the machine that was meant to kill him, Eric, and Oliver. Almost. Lucis felt like he could tell Clara everything. Except about Oliver. As their friendship grew, so did Eric's envy towards Lucis. From Eric's perspective Lucis had been really mad about something so Eric decided to stay away from him for a while. Surely Lucis would understand. But then the next thing Eric knew, Lucis was talking to his crush. What the h***? Eric had no clue what was going on. But he was going to find out.

Officers all had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. So, at lunch, Eric decided to confront Lucis. He didn't get the response he expected.

"Hey Lucis!" Eric said, cornering Lucis and Clara. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Lucis said. He said something quietly to Clara who nodded. Rage and envy boiled up inside Eric. Lucis followed Eric to a secluded area. "What do you want Eric?" Lucis asked. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, is it?" Eric asked. Lucis looked taken aback. "First you look at me like you're trying not to kill me then you start talking to Clara of all people?"

"Oh please don't tell me you like Clara!" Lucis said.

"Yeah, me and like 20 other people!" Eric said. "What happened?" Lucis hesitated, the faint line of a vein popping up again. Eric saw his hands clench. This was the same expression he had shown Eric a while ago.

"What would you say if I told you I found Oliver?" Lucis asked. Eric hesitated but only for a split second.

"I would be really happy." Eric lied. "Did you find him?" Lucis death stared him.

"I. Don't. Believe. You." Lucis hissed. "I've seen how you look at Oliver. You hate him." Eric laughed but it was clear it was faked.

"Why would I hate Oliver?" Eric asked.

"Because he attacked you." Lucis said. "Or at least, he didn't mean too. I don't know what happened that night."

"Neither do I, Lucis." Eric said. "Neither do I."

**

Lucis and Eric hadn't talked since. Lucis kept helping Oliver in secret. Soon Oliver was in full health and able to fend for himself. But he didn't leave the sanctuary of the cave. It calmed Lucis to know that his lifelong friend was nearby. He wished this had never happened. He wished he was back in the house with Oliver without the knowledge of this place or Eric or Clara. He wanted to forget about this. He wanted to go back to normal. But the zombie apocalypse wasn't normal. It was the god forsaken zombie apocalypse.

"Are you okay Lucis?" Clara said, snapping Lucis out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine." Lucis nodded, picking up his fork again.

"You zoned out there." Clara said, leaning forward.

"I'm just tired." Lucis told her, playing with his food. Clara gave a small pursed smile.

"We're all tired."

Lucis side-eyed her, not understanding what she meant. Clara didn't see his questioning look and returned to her food. Lucis internally shrugged. Who knows. Lucis stopped playing with his food and finally took a bite. A couple tables away, Eric laughed. A good, hearty laugh. Lucis knew that the only time he would ever laugh like that would be with Oliver. The very person that wasn't exempted by the last people on the planet. Lucis gazed back out into space. He would destroy that machine whatever the cost.

He would do whatever it took.