With Friends Like These

It Doesn't Matter In The End

Brian couldn't see it. He was too busy trying to save the world on his own to see that it was ending around him.

Roger knew the world was ending. He knew Brian couldn't see, that he was too blind with his own affairs. He had to help him survive, even before his own survival.

It all started with a bite. Then the fever began, and that was it. Only you didn't die. You just became a monster. Brian and Roger would soon learn to call them 'walkers'. It took Brian longer to call them 'walkers' and not 'the sick'.

"Brian, you need to eat this meat. I know it goes against your beliefs but you'll die without it!"

Brian and Roger were sitting in an oil truck to escape the walkers outside. The smooth, circular walls of the oil container was a protective barrier against outside forces, but they couldn't stay there forever.

"I know but..it just doesn't feel right."

Roger smiled, but his blue eyes, now dull from lack of sleep showed a deep sadness and hopelessness in them. Brian hesitantly ate the charred meat. A walker bumped into the truck, startling Brian. He could hear their gasping moans from outside.

Brian realized that Roger was right. The walkers were not just sick, they were also dangerous.

He started to cry. Then he started to sob. Roger looked alarmed, thinking that maybe the walkers would hear them, but he knew they couldn't get in. He crawled over to Brian and took him in his arms, and held him close to his heart. Brian tried to get away, but realized that Roger had gentle intentions. Brian put his own arms around Roger's neck and cried into his shoulder.

"it's okay, I'm here for you, okay?" Roger whispered.

"We're all going to die.." Brian said, trailing off.

"No. We're going to survive, we're going to find a cure. We are going to make it, Brian."

Brian continued to sob and Roger held him close, stroking his dark black hair.

Then, the truck began to move.

"What's happening?" Brian exclaimed.

"I don't know, but we need to keep our voices down."

"Roger, I'm scared."

"I know. I am too. But whoever is driving this thing is probably a good person. We just need to hope."

They sat in silence as the truck drove on. Roger tried to listen to whoever was driving, so maybe he would be able to know if they were good or evil. All Roger heard was,

"This is Ryan to base. Copy?"

"Copy?"

"Please, Michelle, do you copy?"

Brian was completely pale, he had heard it too.

"Don't worry. They obviously have a base, they probably have food and water and shelter."

"Michelle..."

"It's going to be okay, I promise." But Roger had no idea what they were getting into. Roger was just as terrified as Brian. Probably even more terrified than Brian.

"Michelle....please answer me..." the man said, on the verge of tears.

Then, the truck stopped. The man appeared to have gotten out, and he opened up the back of the oil container.

"Who are you?" he exclaimed. He pointed a gun at Roger's head, loading it just in case.

"We're good, I swear." Roger said, putting his hands up. The only weapons I have on me are a knife and an axe. My friend here has a knife too. We won't try to kill you if you don't try to kill us."

"You're friends, aye? Looks like you're more than that. Anyways, we're at our base. Be careful, I think there's those biters near by. I just hope my wife is okay.."

Roger and Brian got out of the oil container. Roger held up his knife and they made their way to the camp.

The whole place was overrun. A group of walkers surrounded a screaming woman, who Ryan shook his head at.

"Poor girl had it comin'.".

Then a woman with wild, curly black hair came careening out of a tent. Ryan instantly lit up when he saw her.

"Michelle! Thank God you're alive! Now let's get out of here."

"Who are these two?"

"Two strangers that hitched a ride in the truck. I guess they're stuck with us now."

The group climbed into the truck whole Ryan and Michelle sat upfront, leaving Brian and Roger in the oil container alone.

Roger and Brian held each other close as Ryan and Michelle drove upfront. Brian occasionally cried, but Roger was always there for him. Eventually, they both fell asleep wrapped in each others arms. They awoke when the truck hit a large pothole.

"Brian?"

"Yes, Roger?"

Roger didn't know how to put his feelings into words, so he just went for it. He kissed Brian on the lips, and Brian kissed him back.  It was a tender, sweet, but also a melancholy kiss. Brian and Roger were really just two people hanging on to the same ledge, trying not to fall. But, they were becoming a little something more than that.

They pulled apart to breathe, but soon found themselves locking lips a few minutes after. They knew they wouldn't get a chance for romance like this ever again, so they took every chance they got.

They stopped kissing for awhile and just sat in silence, and soon after, the truck stopped.

"Alright boys, showtime."

Three years earlier, Brian and Roger put on a show in honour of Freddie Mercury, their best friend who died of AIDS.

Brian had tears in his eyes, and so did Roger. This was a big moment, many celebrities were performing that day. Guns n' Roses, Steven Tyler, and more. Brian could barely keep his emptions in during Too Much Love Will Kill You.

That was the day that Brian saw his first walker.

It wasn't a big deal until it got into the concert hall, and even then it wasn't that big of a deal. People assumed it was a rabid fan who got a little too drunk before the concert.

Oh, how wrong they all were.