Teen Titans: Apocalypse

~Four~

The city was empty and silent. Cars were left to dilapidate on the side of the road, and even in the middle of it. Newspapers blew around in the soft breeze that carried them like tumbleweeds. Traffic lights still changed color, unaware that nobody was driving anymore. Shop doors were left open, various items scattered the ground. Window shards lie before the frames of which they once belonged. Gotham was nothing more than a barren waste land.

Olivia made her way down the sidewalk, reminiscing before. She remembered the reporters rushing along the sidewalks, desperate to interview everyone, and everything. She remembered the panicked people smashing the store windows to steal whatever they could. She remembered running down the very streets she walked now; Batman and the Titans by her side, trying to contain the madness.

A sudden stumble, followed quickly by scrambling caught her attention. Olivia stopped in her tracks, whipping around wildly. She half expected to see one of them; shuffling mindlessly at her, moaning and hissing. She had seen videos of them. It was terrifying to look at the screen, seeing their lifeless, blue-silver eyes. Those eyes had once been human. They had once been full of life.

However, instead of seeing one of them, she saw a shadow dart down an alleyway. Olivia squinted, trying to see it better. It hadn't moved like one of them. Cautiously, Olivia started forward, alert and moving in the cat-like way she had trained in. Her black boots softly hit the ground with a light tapping sound. She stopped once reaching the entrance of the alley.

"Hello?" Olivia called softly, praying she wasn't wrong and it turned out to be one of them. There was a sharp gasp, followed by the loud thud of slamming metal. Olivia watched a dumpster lid fall shut. "Wait!" She shouted, darting closer, her heart racing within her chest. "It's okay. I'm not one of them."

Olivia watched as the dumpster lid was pushed up, and a grubby, pale face stared with large, dark chocolate brown eyes back at her. Olivia recognized the eyes instantly and stepped forward to pull the dumpster up.

"L-Livie?" The timid voice shook. The next moment the fifteen-year-old was climbing out, and collapsing to the ground before her.

Theo Wellington stared up at Olivia from the ground, breathing heavily. She offered a smile at the stunned older girl before jumping up and throwing her arms around her. "Livie!" Theo exclaimed, gripping the girl as if letting go would mean she'd vanish. Olivia returned the hug, squeezing the shorter girl tightly. After a moment of this, Olivia pulled back.

"Where have you been?" She demanded, frowning at the girl in blue. Theo's smile disappeared suddenly. The girl gave a shrug, but glanced toward the dumpster. Olivia followed her gaze, curious. "You've been here the whole time?" She asked, approaching the rusty red dumpster. Theo shrugged once more. Olivia glanced briefly at the girl before pulling it open and stepping back as a putrid smell assaulted her nose.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed tripping back to land with a thud on her bottom. "What the hell is that?!"

Theo glanced into the dumpster, staring sadly at the body tossed haphazardly into it. Maggots wiggled around his arms, giving the look that his skin was moving in places. His mouth was open in what appeared to be a silent scream. The white bugs slid out of his open mouth and landed on his lap. Flesh was missing in many places, exposing bone and muscle. The man in the dumpster-once legendary and feared by all-was nothing more than an empty carcass.

"Is that Slade?" Olivia asked, now standing behind Theo, gazing over her shoulder at the man in the dumpster. Theo nodded.

"Yes. That's Slade. Salem is beneath him."

Olivia was surprised to hear that her father was also in the dumpster. But she soon saw the extra hand beneath Slade. She hadn't spoken to her father, or even seen him for quite some time. Before the outbreak, both he and Slade were partners in crime, soon becoming the most feared in Gotham. Until one day the two fell for each other. After that, they spent more time together than terrorizing the Titans.

Olivia saw genuine sadness in Theo's moist brown eyes. She guessed the girl stayed behind to be with her dead father. But Olivia couldn't just leave her out in the streets anymore.

"I'm sorry." The older girl apologized, slipping a hand around the gloved one of her friend. Theo turned away from the dumpster, gazing up at the taller girl, her mouth open slightly. A single tear slid down her cheek. "It's okay. They didn't suffer, at least."

Theo recalled the final moments with her father and Salem. It was mere weeks before Olivia had found her. Theo had been locked in Slade's place soon after the outbreak. Although the man never admitted it, he wanted to keep her safe. The only one to leave was Slade. He wouldn't even let Salem out.

After being confined indoors for weeks, Theo started trying to sneak out. She was desperate to get any news on Olivia and the Titans. It wasn't until the news of Lloyd falling sick that Slade finally decided he'd only let her out once. However, that didn't happen.

Not a day later, Slade and Salem both fell sick. Theo said she'd get help, but Slade insisted there was nothing they could do. There was no cure. And the only reason people were being hospitalized was to lesson their suffering.
"They just go there to die." Slade grunted to her, "they either suffer, or they're put down like animals."

"They poisoned themselves." Theo sighed, closing her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. "We had one dinner together. The only dinner I had ever had with my father. And they drank the poison, telling me to leave before I got sick."

Olivia stared in shock at the girl. "That's... I'm so sorry.."

"It's fine." Theo shrugged again. "Like I said; they didn't suffer."

Suddenly, Olivia grabbed the girl's shoulders, kneeling down to look her in the eyes. "Come home with me, Theo. Please."

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Bruce made his way down the hall at Wayne Enterprises, his heavy lab coat swishing back and forth as he walked hurriedly. He didn't wish to wear it, but it was for protection. He refused to wear the mask, however. He would not be looking at his children with a mask on his face.

"Please, Mister Wayne." The receptionist begged, galloping beside the rushing man, waving a mask. "It's for your own protection."

"I don't care." The man hissed coldly, "They are human beings. Not toxic creatures. I will treat them as people, not contaminated animals."

"But, sir," the lady protested, grabbing his arm. "They are contaminated."

Bruce merely growled, scaring the poor woman. He then proceeded through the swinging doors marked 'danger; toxic' before him.