Adore // Oneshots

Zombie (Joshler)

CATEGORY: Angst, dystopian fiction, zombies
FEATURING: zombie!Tyler and boyfriend!Josh
TRIGGER WARNINGS: ZOMBIES, BLOOD, VOMIT, DISEASE, and CHARACTER DEATH! NOT FOR THE EASILY NAUSEOUS OR FAINT OF HEART!
PROMPT: Josh loved Tyler, but Tyler was a zombie. (semi-based on the game I Saw Her Standing There)
WORD COUNT: Approximately 1,620
THIS HURT TO WRITE.

Josh loved Tyler, but Tyler was a zombie.

That's what they called them, the victims of the terrible disease that had started in Africa, moved through Europe, and eventually made its way into North America. The victims weren't undead, however; they always died at the end of their terrible fight.

On the first day you got the disease, you slept through it. A whole twenty-four hours, completely unconscious. When you finally woke, you had changed. Your skin was pale, and it became increasingly difficult to eat. You knew the end was near when you vomited black bile, and your tears were red with blood.

It only took a month to do you in, and there was no cure.

When it had started to spread across the US, the President had warned everyone to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as much as possible. (A/N: Probably the only reasonable thing Trump has ever done) If you had the disease, you had to go to special hospitals set up around the country, where doctors would care for you until you died. They were still working on finding a cure, but so far everything they had done to the test subjects only killed them faster.

The disease was spread by touch--if you touched anyone who had it, you would get sick. Some people, however, like Josh, were found to be immune.

Josh knew he was immune because his boyfriend was a zombie.

They had moved in together about a year ago, into a small apartment in Columbus. They were great together: all their friends commented on what a cute couple they made. Whenever this happened, Tyler and Josh would just smile at each other, because they already knew.

The day Josh's world started to crumble was like any other day in the new, disease-ruled world. He and Tyler had been holed up in their apartment for four days, trying to avoid going out and catching the disease.

Josh woke early. He was worried. He and Tyler had enough food in their apartment to last them a while, at least a month. LIke many others, they'd started stocking up. Still, he worried that they would run out of food and have to risk going to the store and battling other people for supplies.

He just wanted to forget about everything. Josh rolled over in bed and nestled close to his boyfriend.

Tyler's body was ice cold.

Josh sat up immediately, leaning over him. "Tyler?"

Nothing.

He shook his boyfriend's shoulder. Tyler couldn't be sick. He was so optimistic about the whole situation, so sure that everything was going to be alright in the end. "Tyler!"

Still no response. He was out.

Josh started breathing hard. No, no, this couldn't be happening.

He didn't think about himself catching the disease even once. He couldn't, wouldn't think about anything but Tyler.

Josh spent almost the whole twenty-four hours with Tyler. He made his meals in the kitchen and brought them into the room so he could be with Tyler. He read aloud to Tyler, in the hopes that he could still hear him. He layered Tyler with blankets to keep him warm. He fell asleep next to him, still clinging to hope.

Josh woke the next morning to the sound of Tyler's moans. The poor boy was still coming out of it, and clearly he was in pain somewhere.

"Tyler? You're awake?"