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

Chapter 38- One for Now, One Forever

Zombies had been gathering in large numbers outside the base for several days after they worked out we were there.

The ambled aimlessly across the grass and road beside the transmitter, moaning and dragging their feet along the ground. The sounds of their alert kept us all awake at night, as their scrabbling and banging made noise all the way up to the top floors. Due to the lack of sleep, we were all tired and irritable, having extremely short tempers, and were also very dehydrated.

We only had about ten gallons of water in a big canister left, and sharing that even in small amounts was going to run out in maybe a day or two. We knew eventually someone was going to have to go out and get some more from the well but no one was volunteering.

Eventually, we made the decision that two people should go, one to get the water and one to defend. Who that was going to be was another story though, as everyone was looking around anxiously for ages before someone actually piped up.

“We’ll do it” Said Zayn firmly, his hands clasped with Perrie’s as they stepped forward into view. I had never really spoken to Zayn. He was always one of those people who kept himself to himself so much and always seemed serious, although I had once seen him attempting to skateboard on the corridor so it couldn’t have been that bad. Like Harry, he generally kept away from all of us who arrived second, and only seemed attached to Ava Rose, which it was still a mystery to me as to why.

I looked around to see how everyone else was dealing with the news, to be immediately brought to the attention of L, who had tears pouring down her face and onto the collar of her shirt, making tiny circular marks on the dark red fabric. I knew something bad was going to happen, and by the way she was crying- we were powerless to stop it.

“Two will leave us, one of them forever” She had said that day on the roof when she had told me about her gift. The words ricocheted around the inside of my skull like splinters of broken glass, tearing at everything in my body painfully and removing their ability to process natural thought.

It’s going to be Army Base 1 all over again. I thought to myself, clasping the back of my neck in my hands in stress and hoping it wasn’t the day L had foretold, although I knew in my heart it was.

~~

I stood on the roof, my gun loaded and pointing towards a menacing group of the undead as Zayn and Perrie began to edge their way outside. I was flanked by L, Liam, Jake and Casey, who after our physical tests had been given the best aim so this was most likely to help them as they went along with the plan.

They walked quietly across the grass, never noticed, until they reached the well. Perrie tried to turn the huge wheel that would unlock the fresh water, but it only gated, rusty from the persistent trickle of rain which had fallen over the last few days. The wheel looked slippery to touch, and her hands slipped away a few times as it began to turn in contradiction to Perrie’s previous attempts.

Zayn looked wary as one undead began to take a small interest in them and began to edge towards them, but seconds later it fell to the ground, an arrow buried deep in its skull, foul grey blood seeping out of the side and into the dirt.

I looked around at L, and saw he muttering under her breath

“It isn’t going to do anything” She shook her head and more tears came out at each side, masked by the rain as her hair blew out behind her and she squeezed her eyes shut.

There was the whistling sound of a cross bow being fired as Casey took down a zombie which was lurking behind Perrie menacingly. She had the well open by this point and was pumping water into the canister from a long tube and a pressure switch which fed it along the pipe and into the canister painfully slowly.

L’s breathing was ragged behind me and not normal. I turned to see she was sitting on the ground, her eyes squeezed shut and shaking violently.

“What’s up?” I asked, running over to her and grabbing her shoulder “What do you want me to do?!”

“I’ve seen...so much death... not long” She was crying freely, and her breath was ripping out of her lungs way too fast. Jake had noticed too.

“She’s having a panic attack!” He yelled “Take her downstairs, out of the way, anything now, you need to regulate her breathing!” Following his instructions, I threw my weapons on the ground and picked her up as best I could.

I walked as fast as I could down the stairs as she clung to my neck.

“Oh god what’s up with her now?” Asked Ava. She was sitting with Tristan on the sofa and she sounded almost irritated.

“She’s..having a panic attack” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“You’re supposed to kiss people who are having panic attacks, it stops them breathing so hard and calms them down.” She said

“Well in that case I’m having a panic attack” Smiled Tristan, and they started kissing.

I carried her down the stairs and onto our corridor before realising that after her and Niall broke up she had been sleeping on the sofa in Louis’ room. I knew I couldn’t take her there, as Louis’ mood was often swayed either way by how L was, so I carried her into my own tiny room and laid her down on the bed.

Her breathing was slightly slower, but still out of sync with normality.

“Do what Ava said then” She half smiled, curling her knees up to her chest in a foetal position.

“What?” I asked stupidly

“Err, you know, kiss me?” She replied, a glimmer of her non panic attack sarcastic self bleeding through.

“But...” I said

“Forget the argument Connor, forget it all together, I’m having a panic attack now right? Kiss now, talk later..”

I nodded, and kissed her softly on the lips, her gasping breath warm on my face. Her breathing slowed to halt and by the time we finished kissing she was shaking a lot less. She still held her arms around my neck, and refused to let me go when I tried to move.

“Stay with me?” She asked quietly, her voice urgent

“Always” I replied, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

~~

We missed everything, while I was helping L with her panic attack, and I was glad I had missed it.

There was a sombre atmosphere as we reached the main room that night and Ellie was crying in the bathroom as we passed.

Ava was writing neatly on the black board paint on the back wall. It was the names of the dead, newest of which she was currently writing on.

‘Zayn Malik, aged 21’

‘Perrie Edwards, aged 21’

There was nothing left for any of us to do except crumple to the ground and cry.