Wake Me When It's Over

Strangers Just Like Me

The silence was something that Lance had always hated.

It had started when he had first began to babysat his nieces and nephews. If the house was quiet, he knew that they were up to something, and it was more than often something that required him to either scrub the walls clean or mop the bathroom floor. Looking back at those days, his heart yearned to able to see Mateo's cheeky smile and Mila's devilish grin before they pulled a prank on the others.

Alas, those days were far behind him.

The human population had fallen into ruins when an unknown virus was unleashed into the world about a bit less year ago, supposedly under government care. The only thing Lance could say about that was that the government was full of lying bastards. The virus had taken over the world's population in less than three months, and now, six months later, there was no cure or any antibiotic to cure a zombie transformation. They were living in hell, just waiting and hoping to live long enough to see the next sunrise.

He hated it.

No one had asked him if he wanted to be thrown in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, but as usual, he was thrown into a battle without knowing what the hell to do. It was like those games you played online, except you actually had to worry about staying alive. Out here, the only resuscitation there was was when you had been bit and were going to turn into one of the walkers, which was what they called the stupid zombies since they walked even after death.

Lance wiped the sweat off his brow, perching himself next to the window of what seemed to have been some young kid's room before the virus broke out. It had been his home for the past week while he tried to look for any supplies so he could move out of this town, and while it had been good shelter, he knew he couldn't stay much longer. More and more walkers were showing up every day, and he did not want to be their next meal. He was too good looking to die anytime soon, in his opinion.

"Hunk, what's our food status?"

"Well, we still have a few cans that we found in the deli down the street and there's also a bunch of ramen, although I don't think we'll have much use for it," the mentioned boy replied, scratching his chin.

Lance emitted a sigh, slightly pouting. "Is that all? Don't we have anything else?"

"Well it's mainly just a bunch of cans that we shoved into the back of our truck," Hunk said, frowning. "There's some beans, some pasta, and some corn."

"So basically just a bunch of vegetables?" Lance asked, arching a brow. Receiving a nod from Hunk, he groaned.

"Great. You know, I never thought I'd miss corn chips as much as I'm missing them now," Lance said, closing his eyes.

Hunk hummed in agreement. "Me too, man. Oh, and some salsa too!"

"I miss real cooking," Lance responded, opening his eyes slowly, sadness evident in them. "How long has it been that we've gone without real food?"

"Six months and counting."

"It feels a lot longer than that," Lance said, biting his bottom lip. "Do you think...we'll ever have actual food again? Not just canned food?"

Hunk sighed. "I don't know, but I wish we did. Remember when we had cookies every Friday and exchanged them with one another? Man," he chuckled, "those were the days."

"If you two are done complaining about your lack of food then I suggest that it's time we get moving," a voice said from behind Hunk, low and clearly annoyed.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Pidge, what's your problem? We're just trying to remember the good old times, you know!"

"The old times are gone and there's nothing we can do about it," Pidge snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. "We're living in a world where all we have is canned food and the occasional bird meat, and you have to deal with it. Stop complaining and just be happy you have something instead of starving to death like many others have."