The Falling Stars (The Vamps and One Direction Zombie Apocalypse)

Chapter 29- We're All Mad Here

Life at the radio mast was like a vacation. We slept late, partied for the first time in months and actually enjoyed ourselves.

The Vamps were back together again, and so were One Direction, well almost. It was just like we were two bands sharing a holiday while on tour. We sang endless songs, played games, and smiled until our cheeks ached.

For all we cared, it might as well have been before the zombies.

It was a regular Saturday morning three weeks after we had arrived when Brad finally got the radio on the right frequency for McFly again after the explosion.

“Hello, this is Danny speaking” Said Danny, seemingly in a phone voice like the kind my Mum would have used.

“Danny you idiot! It’s us!” Hissed James.

“Oh. We thought you were dead.”

“Don’t sound too excited! But anyway we got to the radio mast and Tristan is here!!!!” Brad cut in

“Oh my god that’s great! Still no luck finding Harry for us,”

I knew I wouldn’t be needed anytime soon so I headed down to the bottom floor and put on some trainers, picking up a cross bow from the umbrella stand we had been forced to deposit our weapons in the day we arrived. I remembered L watching disdainfully and raising her eyebrows every time Ava Rose acted like she had finished, only watching her pull more knives from inner pockets and the heel of her shoes until the stand was full to the brim.

I pulled out the lock from the seven deadbolts holding the door shut and flicked a few more latches before moving on to actually unlock it. Some of the bolts were stiff and I had to use both hands to guide them open but once they were I was glad to feel fresh air on my face again.

It was hot and dry, even for a summer day and I almost immediately felt small droplets of moisture begin to collect on my brow from the heat of the midday sun which burned high in the sky above me.

I exited the building on the pretence of collecting water from the pump but a better idea was presented to me when I saw the six or seven undead wandering the grounds.

It had been nearly a month since I had last seen a zombie, let alone had any target practice when it came to guns or crossbows or anything. I had a lot of that strange tense fury I had felt the night of the first party inside of me and I knew it could only be detained by fighting something.

I hated the part of myself that thought, this, but knew I had to. I could feel my soul growing darker every passing day, the pure light of innocence fading like an old t-shirt that had been washed too many times. I knew my will power would never allow me to become fully evil, but no matter how hard I or anyone else really tried, we would not be able to shake the darkness from ourselves. We were really no better than those creatures we killed, or the other corrupt humans we met on our travels. We were all monsters in some way.

Six bolts later and all the creatures were dead on the ground, their bodies folded and crumpled like pieces of paper. They were human once, and I had killed six of them. We were serial killers, all of us, trying to pretend they weren’t human when they really were. Our own survival instincts were so strong it forced us into murder, and it forced us not to care.

I had collected the water in minutes and just wanted to get out of the heat when the van appeared. The dusty blue van rolled out of the heat haze and into the parking bay as I watched, and I jogged over, jostling the heavy canister of water and cross bow over my shoulder.

With a sweeping motion the vans door opened and Zayn stepped out into the dust. He gave me a half smiled and gestured with a single thumb towards the back of the van, where L and Casey were opening the sliding doors, allowing Perrie to get out of the van, lugging an enormous crate loaded with food. I helped by grabbing one of the smaller crates in my free hand and opening the doors so we could head back up, stopping on the third floor to drop the food off in the kitchens.

When I reached the van again there were more helpers who had all the food so I was not required to take anything else with me. I headed up to our floor, under the impression that I could take a shower because after my brief excursion in the hot sun I was pretty sweaty, but I could hear screaming.

The only sound coming from the end room was a long drawn out yell of pain, which didn’t stop for breath at all. I lurched forward, undoing the locks and bursting into Louis’ room. He was pressed against the same wall where I had always seen him, yelling loudly, tears streaming down his face and into the hem of his shirt.

I didn’t know what to do, as I’ve never been good when people are in pain, so I knelt down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder, softly supporting him. He jerked away from my touch like it was boiling but after a second or too returned to feel my grip on his muscle. He was still shouting, and it took me a few seconds to realise someone else had joined us in the room.

She leant up against the door, her back pressed flat against the wood, her head back as if the sounds in the room caused her physical pain, her eyes squeezed shut. She looked across at me after a minute or so, tears trailing slowly down her cheeks, smudging her eye make-up into black trails.

Despite her small height she crossed the room in four strides and knelt down in front of Louis. She winced as she knelt and I saw the blood on the floor beside the right knee of her skinny jeans and the hole that must be there. Her hair was piled up in a messy knot on her head and she wore a black vest top emblazoned with a fire and the words Dauntless: The Brave. Her fingertips grazed Louis’ cheek and he looked her dead in the eyes fearfully, his irises burning with a pale sort of innocence.

She smiled and Louis’ voice subsided into a small whimper, tears still falling from his eyes.

“I found you Louis it’s okay,” She said, an almost wistful smile curling her mouth up at one side “I found you Louis, and you found me, and if it weren’t for you I’d be dead because you saved me” a strand of pink hair fell out of the knot on her head but I didn’t really notice. I was mesmerised by the way she was almost hypnotising Louis, so mesmerised that I was taken off guard when she started to sing.

After a little while of singing and coaxing, Louis had calmed down enough and even stretched his lips into a very forced smile by the time we left.

“Are you okay?” I asked L the minute we had put the locks back on his door.

“Not really.” He voice cracked and more tears spilled from the corners of her eyes which she didn’t bother to wipe away “I wasn’t lying, about him saving my life you know” I lifted my own hand and wiped at her cheek with my thumb. I was about to move my hand away but her face leant into my hand like a support so I left it there, hoping my palms weren’t as sweaty as I thought they were. “He killed four of the infected for me” She sniffed “They’d cornered me, just after I left Ava for the first time. I didn’t know what to do, she always looked after me and taught me stuff. I’ve known he since I was born!” I wiped away some more tears “I slid down the wall, and sort of prepared myself to die, but then I heard all these gunshots and then he was standing there.” She moved closer in, wrapping her arms underneath mine and resting her head against my shoulder. I hugged her back, feeling her shaky breath from crying and the unsteady beat of her heart “He’s always been like that, though. But sometimes I can make it better, it just hurts when I can’t, it really does”

“I know,” I whispered into her shoulder, even though I knew I didn’t and probably never would.