Town of Sadness (RoyalChaos)

Hold On, We're Going Home

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Chilled and Ze made it to the train station at about noon the next day. Their trip there was deathly quiet, the couple walking hand in hand through miles of grassy fields. Steven had worn his serial killer cape, the black one that his his face.

A few hours before, though, had been when the conversation stopped. When the sun rose it was much nicer, and the pair sat in the grass and ate lunch together. Chewing on a piece of dried apple, Ze stared up at the perfect blue sky.

"Do you think New York is still there?" Steven asked quietly, lying on his back.

"Still there? What do you mean?" Chilled turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Wiped out. Back when I was a kid, my parents decided that the only good place left was Salem. The world was falling apart. We came all the way from California just to be safe. Every week, he had someone from the nearest town smuggle him in a newspaper. When I was just ten, I remember the biggest headline. Cities everywhere were being run into the ground with some sort of plague. What if New York City is already done for?" Ze shook his head, sitting up.

"Are you really going to start this now? Can't you at least have some hope?" Anthony sighed, standing up. "We should get going. We're close to the station."

"Is there even a point?"

"Jesus Christ, Steven, of course there is. Our friends, a chance to not be dead every morning. That's the point. Now pack your bag and let's get going," Chilled demanded, wiping at his teary eyes.

Steven threw the remaining food in a bag and pulled his hood back over his head. "I'm sorry, baby-"

"Just don't. Let's just drop it. I love you, but you need to have some hope, Steven. It took enough to get here, we've got a long train ride home."

"Home is Salem," Ze corrected.

"Not anymore. Home is New York. We're going home, alright?" Chilled started walking, not looking back.

Ze jogged to catch up with him, taking his hand gently in his own. He knew that making Chilled sad wasn't good. It made him think about his past, his least favorite thing about himself.

Anthony held his boyfriend's hand tight, hoping he wouldn't notice his quivering body. Of course he knew about the collapse of all major cities. His father had been close friends with the old mayor once, and they heard news before everyone else. New York couldn't be gone, they still had a running train.

Chilled was too tired to talk, so he continued to trudge along with Ze. The sun rose high overhead as they approached the station. It appeared in the distance like a mirage, and only then did Chilled start crying. Tugging at Steven's hand, he pulled him towards the train station, where their friends stood jumping and waving. A beat up blue truck sat parked by the tracks, Nanners and Gassy standing in the bed of it. Smarty and GaLm stood on the platform, hugging and grinning.

The newest couple of killers sprinted towards their friends, hugging whoever they saw first and greeting each other wholeheartedly. Salem was behind them now. They were going home.