{Apocalypse} Septiplier Fanfic

Back on His Feet

Author's Note: Super sorry this one is so short! I got real tired while typing this and I just wanted to get it done. Next few parts will be much longer, I promise! Thank you so much for reading!

As Jack took a hold of Mark's hands, he very carefully stood up off the couch. "Alright, I'm going to let go. I'll catch you if you fall or stumble" Mark's words were as gentle as ever; Jack loves his voice so much...it's so soothing and comforting, it could put anybody to sleep.

Jack nodded in response, standing on only one leg. When Mark moved his hands away, Jack slowly and very steadily set his right foot on the ground, not yet putting his full weight on it. As he fully rested all his weight on both feet, Jack slightly winced. Tears formed in his eyes, surprising Mark "I-I can stand just fine, ...but....there's no way I'll be able to walk, ...or run for that matter" he sniffled "There's no way I'll be able to help the survivors against the gang...I'm useless". Mark quickly stepped forward, very gently cupping Jack face with his hands "Seán, look at me". With watery eyes, Jack did exactly that.

"You are not useless" Mark said, definition in his voice "We've come this far, Jack; You cannot give up now. There's little kids at that barn, they need us".

"B-But, my leg...h-how am I going to-?".

Mark interrupted Jack with a sigh "You can overcome it, I know you can. Do you know how hard it is to see with only one eye? I run into stuff all the time now; my peripheral vision is a lot smaller now, but that hasn't stopped me. Seán, if you give up, the boss is literally going to kill you".

Jack's tears started to fall, and Mark instantly felt bad for talking that way to him. Before Mark could bombard his love with apologies, Jack sniffled and rubbed his eyes "Y-You're right, ...I-I'm sorry". Mark let out a soft and gentle sigh "N-No, it's okay. I shouldn't have guilt tripped you like that". Jack shook his head and hugged Mark "You had every right to, I needed to be reminded of that...". Mark reluctantly returned the hug, the two of them just staying quiet for a moment.

Jack slowly pulled away, looking up at the one-eyed American. He then looked away and slowly started to walk backwards, away from Mark. He winced, trying to overcome the stinging pain. After walking back a few feet, Jack walked back towards Mark, eventually getting the hang of it, although he had somewhat of a limp, ...hopefully that will go away. "O-Okay, ...I think I can walk fine" Jack sighed "I just...need to practice running".

Mark gently brushed the faded green hair out of Jack's eyes, giving him a gentle and loving smile "That'll be easy" he leaned close and pressed a soft kiss to the Irishman's forehead "We can go outside for that. I'll catch you if you fall". Jack looked at him worriedly "But, what about the zombies...?". Mark's faint smile slowly faded, and he looked away, having a troubled expression on his face.

"Mark? Is...something wrong?".

"Um, n-no...I-I'm fine. Don't worry, there's no zombies near the back of the building" Mark quickly replied, as if he was anxious about something "C'mon, we should go and have you practice running before-".

"Mark, ...if there's something wrong, I want to know. I don't want you to bottle up your feelings" Jack interrupted "You'll just hurt yourself that way. What's wrong?" he asked, his voice tender and concerned.

Tears formed in Mark's eyes. He sighed shakily "I-It doesn't matter. Nothing happened, I-I mean, n-nothing's wrong".

Jack's eyes widened at Mark's sudden, defensive tone "Mark, ...please don't lie to me. I only want to help you...".

Finally, Mark gave in. He nodded, wiping his eyes "When...I didn't know that it was you under that mask, ...I...clearly didn't have a handle on my temper anymore. Thinking that I lost you wasn't the only reason I acted that way". Jack kept quiet, allowing Mark to talk. "Before you joined the gang, the boss took me outside to the back of the building...t-to...teach me how to use a gun properly".

Jack's eyes lit up. The mention of guns really started to worry him even more.

"He...taught me all these tips...but...he also had me do target practice" Mark wiped his eyes again, trying his best not to let his tears fall "A-At first...the targets ranged f-from cans, to corpses.." he bit his lower lip "...th-then...h-he" Mark looked away "H-He ...made me shoot and kill a live dog".

Jack's heart wrenched painfully "O-Oh Mark..." He gently hugged his red-dyed hair love "I'm so sorry...I...had no idea". Mark sniffled and tightly returned the hug "I-I'm sorry f-for the way I acted...th-the things I said...the things I did. I-I probably could've killed you". Jack shook his head "You had every right to act the way you did. You've gone through so much shit" he looked into Mark's chocolate-colored eyes "And I know for a fact that you wouldn't have killed me. You wouldn't kill anyone, not even the leader". Mark just buried his face against Jack's neck "I just...wish things were back to normal..".

Jack's soft expression changed to shock. He sighed "I do too...Mark. I do too".

~~~~~

The two men then spent the next few hours outside, have Jack practice running and walking on his hurt, right, leg. After that amount of time, Jack mastered those movements, but he still sort of had somewhat of a small limp. After all that work, Mark pulled out his handgun. Alarmed at first, Jack stepped backwards "Since we're out here, I might as well teach you how to use a gun" Mark said, calming Jack's out of place fears "It might be really useful tomorrow". Jack nodded, politely taking the gun that was being handed to him.

Mark taught Jack everything the leader taught him the day before. He gave tips such as: "act as if every gun you handle is loaded", and "relax and take a deep breath before shooting a distant target". To Jack, this whole thing was unsettling. He has shot a gun once before the apocalypse, but something about this whole situation was much more uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the fact that he could possibly be shooting an alive human in a few hours.

After all that, the two lovers went back into the building to relax until 10:00 p.m. They went back into the recording area and sat on the couch together. Curious, Jack went up to the TV and fiddled around with the Game Grumps' video game consoles. His jaw slightly dropped when he turned one of them on "It's actually working". Mark's eyes lit up. "Um...you wanna play some video games?..." Jack asked, turning around to look at his boyfriend.

Playing video games; why did that seem like such a foreign concept? Mark gave a small smile "Sure. That'd be a nice way to kill time".

Before the apocalypse, Mark and Jack both played video games as their job. It was always super fun, but not as fun as it was at this exact moment. It felt oddly nostalgic playing these games again. Even holding the controller felt peculiar. Especially for Mark, since he was, obviously, lacking his left middle finger. For the first time in a long while, Mark and Jack were cracking jokes and happily laughing, genuinely enjoying their selves. Before they knew it, it was 9:59 p.m. Mark looked at the time "We're gonna be leaving real soon. We should stop and get ready. The boss...might not like that were dicking around on video games...".

Jack sighed and nodded, turning the television and game console off "You're right" He stood up "Let's just get this over with".