YouTuber OneShots

Who Do We Save?

[Trigger Warning: Blood, Death]

"Sean?" A voice shouted through the old, withering warehouse. Mark glanced at the girl to the left of him, his hand in Amy's protectively on his other side. The girl who'd called out to Jack had short brown curly hair and a loose black leather jacket that hung largely on her smaller frame. She was the same height as Amy, slightly shorter than Mark, but undoubtedly the most brave of all of them. "Sean, where are you?"

Her voice was laced with terror and worry as she edged further into the winding tunnels and hallways that led to the filing room where they'd heard Jack cry out just moments ago. Mark was uneasy about going into a dead end hallway in such a violent area. Who knew what monsters could've been lurking in the shadows their flashlights didn't quite reach. Who knew why Sean had decided to sprint back there without giving his team a heads up first. He could've just as easily been bitten, running back there like that. He'd made so much noise in his mad scramble that they were certain something had heard them.

It didn't matter now, though. Signe wouldn't stop shouting his name. They had to be quick. Amy had commented about him being injured after he'd cried out and it seemed nobody disagreed with her inference. Mark had tried to gently convince Signe that Sean would figure out whatever was happening and make it out alive. He knew Sean's chances of survival alone in a place like this were slim but one life was better than four. It was an awful thought. One that made Mark's stomach flip and knot horribly as guilt and the sorrow of loss gripped him. His best friend was lost and injured, if not killed or turned already. Zombies were bad enough on their own. Mark didn't want to see the man he'd once called a brother become one.

Signe shook Mark's hand off her shoulder and scuttled forward through the slim hallway, her fingers tapping nervously against her belted handgun. Something rustled in the room to her right, the door slightly ajar. She yanked her handgun from its holster and held it cautiously, her flashlight beneath it so she could see more clearly. Amy pushed in front of Mark, going to back her more quickly. If something attacked her, Amy would be there. Her pink hair was muddied and matted, much the same as Mark and Signe's hair had. Somehow, she still managed to look beautiful to Mark no matter what happened to them through all of this.

When Felix had fallen to the apocalypse, she was the strongest of them all. She told them they had to keep moving. She made sure they all made it through the loss. Amy was the one who supported everyone, regardless of what was happening. He grabbed her free hand and searched his belt for his knife.

Signe's breath caught in her throat and her gun fell to the floor as soon as she pushed the door open further. A figure was slumped on the floor, trying to use their elbows to keep their face from falling against the cold concrete floor. The figure moaned profusely, eyes shut tightly in agony as their drained body trembled in the cold night air of the warehouse. The only color on the figure's pale body was a grassy mess of hair atop their bloodied head. He must've heard Signe's gasp because he craned his head to the side to look at her.

His eyes were bloodshot and terrified, blood dripping from his lips. His irises and pupil were gone and instead clouded by the familiar zombielike film she'd seen on the many zombies she'd shot already. His neck was marred and bloodied where massive teeth marks shredded through his shoulder. His collar tore itself more as he moved, revealing his wounded shoulder more prominently now. Mark cried out in anguish, taking a step back down the hallway so he could try to comprehend what he'd just seen without being sick. He expected it to happen but he didn't expect to actually see the change. It was too much.

Amy looked like she was about to hurl, covering her mouth with her hand and stepping away with Mark after swiping up Signe's dropped gun, still within shooting range of Sean if he tried to lunge at Signe. She hated that she even had to think about shooting one of her best friends but if it meant saving Signe's life, it was something she had to do. Signe stayed stark still, mouth open as silent words spilled from her unmoving lips. Her lashes gave way to a light stream of tears as she stared down at her dying boyfriend. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't blink.

Sean howled in agony, collapsing to the floor completely now, clutching his shoulder as his trembling grew worse. Something inhuman grumbled in the room he was in and his eyes darted to its source immediately. "Signe, run!" He managed to cry out, throwing his free arm out as if to motion for her to get away. The groan of the other creature grew louder and still, Signe didn't move. How could she? She wanted to run to Sean, to hold him in her arms, to tell him he would be okay, to make everything okay, to get a cure for him. Something grabbed a hold of her arm, tightly and violently. She didn't flinch, didn't even register that something had grabbed her really.

That was, until Amy shouted, grabbing the arm of whatever had grabbed Signe and yanked its chest into her knife before driving it through its skull and shoving it to the floor. She wiped the murky zombie blood off on her white stained tank top and turned to Signe. "We have to go. There's nothing we can do for him. I don't want to leave him either but I don't want all of us to go out like Felix did. Sean can't be Felix's Marzia and you can't be Felix. We can't lose you like we lost them. He's gone. If not now, then soon. We need you, Signe. We can't help Sean this time. We all love Sean, Signe. You have to know that. But this," she gestured to Sean's weakened, hardly moving form. "this is not Sean. He wants you to be safe. He wanted you to run. What do you think would happen if we found a cure and he woke up knowing he'd killed you? Please, Signe. We have to go."

Signe nodded slowly, Amy's voice sounding as if she'd spoken through water. Amy thanked her and rounded back to Mark, telling him they were going now. Signe took a step into the room, over the corpse of the zombie Amy just killed and over to Sean. He moaned in pain, looking up at her in horror. "Go! I don't... w-want to hurt... you..." His voice was hoarse and broken, some words slurred, others so sharp it hurt Signe's ears. She sat beside him, stroking his ice cold cheek gently with her thumb, her other hand running through his fading hair.

His eyes fell shut and he buried his face in the concrete floor beneath him. His hand reached for Signe's, taking it from his cheek and rubbing gentle circles into her palm with his thumb. "I want you to be safe, Signe. Forget about me. Mark and Amy can protect you from me. I can't. I love you. Be safe."

"I will, I love you too. We'll find a cure. Just be careful. Don't get shot, please. We'll get you back. We have to." Signe assured herself more than she did him. He laughed softly at that, knowing that a cure wasn't possible.

"Sure. But you need to go. Now..." Sean's breath hitched mid-sentence as his body went still. He was gone. No heartbeat. No breath. No Sean. Signe knew what that meant. She kissed his forehead one last time before scrambling to her feet and hurrying out to Mark and Amy.

"It's time to go," Signe panted as they headed for the exit. Footsteps followed them slowly, heavily, loudly. There was a soft, familiar, and gut-wrenching grumble echoing down the long hallway. The three of them turned around to see Sean, his hair faded so much it looked an eerie purple color, with zombielike silver eyes and pale skin. His eyes flicked from Amy to Mark before settling and staying on Signe. He was curious and thoughtful and hungry as if trying to comprehend where he'd seen her before and at the same time, thirsty for his first meal. It seemed, they were all prime candidates for his dinner tonight too.

Amy raised Signe's handgun and nodded to Mark, who wrapped his arms around Signe, burying her face in his chest. A gunshot rang through Signe's ears and she screamed in horror, shoving away from Mark and whirling to stare in horror at what had just happened. Sean stood, the right lens of his glasses shattered where a bullet had flown through it and into his skull. Blood poured from the open wound where his eye had once been but it didn't seem to even faze him for he continued to inch closer to them.

Amy made a sound of anger and disgust, grabbing Signe and hurrying alongside Mark as they sprinted from the warehouse. It was the middle of the night. Primetime for getting picked off by a zombie. They kept sprinting, as far as their legs would take them to safety. No one said anything. No one complained. Tears were silent and grief would have to wait until they were safe. Sean was gone and Signe was more determined than ever to find a cure.

[Heya guys! I have an idea for a part two of this so let me know if that's something you guys would want to see. If not, have fun with this lovely cliffhanger forever. Cheers!]