With Friends Like These

Reading Bound

"The last thing I heard from Michelle was..." Ryan said.

"What?" Roger urged him to tell.

"That there was a hospital in Reading, about 40 miles west of here, that used to treat cancer, but is now trying to find a cure..."

Brian's eyes widened. Roger just stared at Ryan.

"Well, we should go!" Roger exclaimed.

"Wait, it's not that easy. You see, Michelle came from a group in a bus, and it crashed. She was the only survivor. That bus is still there, and it's swarming with those...things. Either we fight them, or take side roads to Reading. But that would add about twenty miles..."

"I say we fight them."

"Roger, are you crazy? You heard him, it's swarming with th-, erm, walkers!"

"And besides, there's only three of us."

"What if we meet some folks along the way?"

"But what if we don't?" Ryan said.

"C'mon guys, don't be so pessimistic!"

"Better safe than sorry..." Brian trailed off.

They were so busy debating whether to go the main way or the side way, that they didn't notice the abandoned bus right in front of them. Not until they heard the sounds, that is. And smelled the putrid stench of rotting flesh.

"Oh shit!" Ryan said. "Get down!"

They got behind a turned over car. Ryan peeked over the edge, marveling at the amount of walkers.

"Fuck, they're everywhere!" he whispered. "Looks like we'll have to take your plan, Roger."

Brian gulped. Roger put his hand on his shoulder and assured him that it was going to be okay.

They decided to just go for it. They ran at the walker herd, stabbing them left and right. Brian almost got bit by the last walker, but Ryan dove in front of him, taking the bite himself.

"Ryan!" Roger screamed. He grabbed the axe on his belt, and cut off Ryan's left arm where the bite was.

Ryan almost screamed, but Brian covered his mouth. Brian took off his jacket and put it over the bleeding stump, trying to stifle the bleeding.

"Shit, I see more. Can we get him onto the bus?"

"Yeah, but we need to hurry!"

They dragged Ryan's near lifeless body through the doors of the bus, and they forced them shut just as the herd approached.

They almost had a moment's peace, if there could be peace in the end of the world, but there was one lone walker on the bus. Roger stabbed it through its skull.

They watched the herd with terror and fascination through the windows of the bus as the herd trudged by. But something didn't look right. There was someone with a clean face, and gore over a shawl on their body. They had an emotion, and that emotion was terror.

Brian and Roger both saw this person, a young woman, no older than twenty five, walking through the crowd. Roger tapped on the window, and only she looked at them. Her eyes widened, and she tried to sneak over to the door, and she made it. She forced open the door quickly, and jumped inside the bus, a look of relief yet suspicion on her face.

"Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Brian May, and this is Roger Taylo-" he stopped when she pulled out a knife and held it to his throat.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but I think I've heard your names before. I don't want to kill you," she took a breath. "But I will if I have to. Understand?"

"Yes, but understand that we will kill you if we have to."

Her eyes became darker than they usually were, which was brown, and Roger wondered how to interpret this. She didn't say anything at first, but then said,

"My name is Elizabeth. I'm an exchange student- well I was, before the world went to hell. I'm from America."

"Well, nice to meet you, Elizabeth. By any chance were you studying medicine?"

"No...I was studying neuroscience. I was working at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, studying brain cancer. Then when the world fell apart, I ran, and never looked back."

She then noticed Ryan, who was lying in a seat, breathing rapidly.

"Oh my god! We need to help this man!" She pulled out a roll of bandages from her brown pack, under her shawl. Brian was surprised how he hadn't seen it before.

"I thought you didn't study medicine?" Roger said.

"Anyone with a brain can bandage someone." she replied without looking at him. Roger shot her a dirty look.

Soon, his arm stump was bandaged, and that's when Roger noticed that the keys were still in the ignition of the bus.

"Didn't Ryan say this bus crashed?"

"Yeah, it looks okay to me."

"Brian..."

"Yes?"

"I don't think this bus crashed at all. I think something really bad happened here..."

"Like what?"

"I think...I think these people were-"

And that's when the gunshots rang out.

Three years ago, when the world was still normal, Brian May and Roger Taylor slept together for the first time.

"Brian..." Roger said. "You always make me feel safe, even when there's no danger."

Brian looked flattered, and hugged his best friend. And when they pulled apart, Brian had this longing look on his face, that could only be soothed by a kiss.

So that's what he did.