Zanvis: ALIVE. (Part two of Apocalypse AU!)

Chapter Seventeen: Travis.

Travis listened to the faint sounds of Zane talking to Don in the sectioned off area of the bedroom. They didn't have much need for that room- it was a doorway in the bedroom that just led to a really small room that was meant for more storage. Travis had almost forgotten it was there.
It was Aaron's idea to keep her in there. They didn't feel comfortable with just locking her in the bedroom or the supply room, because that meant she could attack them while they slept or stole their supplies.
"Travis!" Aphmau said sharply, causing him to jump and pay attention to her. She crossed her arms across the table from him. "You have to eat something!"
"I'm not hungry."
"I can hear your stomach growling from here!" She nudged the little can of pears towards him.
"I'm not hungry for fruit."
"Then it's a good thing Aaron and Garroth went out to get us something other than fruit."
"What? What are they getting?"
"They're hunting. Weren't you paying attention? Or were you too busy staring at your boyfriend?"
"I think the second option fits better."
Aphmau let out a soft sigh and leaned back in her chair. "Zane's worrying about you."
"Why's that?"
"Because you won't eat!"
He rolled his eyes. "He shouldn't worry. I'll be fine."
Aphmau's eyes briefly went to his bitten arm, and they almost instantly returned to his face. Her gaze was there long enough for him to notice, though.
"Let's.. let's just hope they bring back something," she said quietly, standing up and walking away. Travis watched her walk into the bedroom and close the door behind her. Travis narrowed his eyes.
Before he could go after her and ask why she left, she walked back through the door, followed by Zane. Zane walked over to the table and put his hand on Travis's shoulder while looking at the bedroom door, which opened a few moments later and revealed Laurence. He took off his mask, put it on the table, and brushed his hair out of his eye.
"So you feel perfectly fine, right?" Zane asked.
Laurence shrugged. "Everything's numb but yeah, I can't feel anything."
"How many times have you had to heal him, Aph?"
"Once every few days." She took a seat across from Travis again, giving the can of pears an almost sad look and nudging them closer to Travis one more time.
Zane watched Travis, his shoulders slumping a little after he realized he wasn't going to eat.
"Do you feel okay, Travis?" Zane asked slowly, then jumped when the door opened.
Travis smelled blood.
Aaron and Garroth walked in, holding a bag that had a few small things in it. Zane looked back and forth between that and Travis, then silently walked towards it and looked in. He wrinkled his nose and stepped back. "Two squirrels."
"How did you catch squirrels?!" Aphmau asked with a gasp.
"I dunno. They're really slow and weren't very scared of us," Garroth muttered, looking down in disgust at the blood on his sleeves.
Travis breathed deeply through his nose, trying to get a better look at the bag.
"Are they... infected?" Aphmau asked quietly while Laurence made his way over to Garroth and hugged him tightly.
"I don't think so. They look like normal squirrels. Try to draw infection out of them and see what happens," Aaron said, holding out the bag to her. She looked away and winced, reaching into the bag and obviously holding back a gag.
"Those squirrels are massive!" Zane said suddenly, looking closely at them for the first time. "Are they cats?!"
"I think it's just the apocalypse," Aaron said with a shrug.
Shuddering, Aphmau withdrew her hand. "There's no infection. I want to know what made them get so big, though."
"Okay, okay. Enough talk- let's just cook them. Travis is shaking," said Zane.
"How do we cook them? Smoke will let people know that we're here," Aaron said, his head tilting a little.
"Bring Don out here. She may be our prisoner, but she hasn't done anything wrong. Yet." Zane nodded at the door and then looked at the squirrels when Garroth left to do that. "I think that if we cooked them with a small fire, it would be a little less noticeable and still be good enough to cook them."
"This'll be dangerous," Aaron muttered.
"What isn't dangerous anymore? It's the apocalypse." Laurence sat down against the wall, looking at the squirrels like he was going to be sick.
When Garroth walked back out with Don, she nervously watched all of them and then looked at Zane. Seeing his injury for the first time, it looked like she stifled a scream. Travis watched Zane look away, so he glared at Don until she looked away, too.
"We can all eat fruit and stuff, right?" Aphmau asked, her tone suggesting an idea. When everyone including Don nodded, Aphmau smiled. "And Travis can basically only eat meat?"
As Aaron walked closer to the table, the smell of blood became almost overwhelming. It wasn't as bad as when he was near Gene and his injuries, but it was still very strong.
"Yeah... what're you trying to say?" Zane asked, snapping back to his normal, unbothered self.
"We have two big squirrels. What if we let Travis have one and then the rest of us split the other?"
Zane opened his mouth, then closed it. "That's.. not a bad idea. It'll be good for us to have meat, but Travis needs it."
"I don't need an entire squirrel," Travis said with a quiet sigh.
Zane gave him a sad look. "You have to eat something.."
"There's a bigger squirrel and a smaller one. Should we all divide the bigger one and then give Travis the whole smaller one?" Aaron asked.
"I think that'll work," Zane nodded. "There's some fire starting things in the supply room and there's a place next to this building that'll be good for a fire. Remember, it has to be small!"
Aaron and Garroth walked into the supply room, while Laurence, and Aphmau started looking outside for any dangers.
Zane leaned down to talk quietly in Travis's ear. "I know you don't want fruit. I also know that you don't think it's okay to eat a whole cat-squirrel by yourself. But trust me. We all have other things we can eat. Like fruits and stuff. You eating the squirrel will help us more than all of us dividing both of them."
Travis sighed, looking up at him. "If that's what you think..."
Zane pecked him on the cheek and started to walk away.
"Wait, Zane. If you're going to make me eat a whole squirrel, then don't risk cooking two and having all of that smoke go up in the air."
"So you're saying not to cook yours?" Zane asked slowly.
"Yeah. I don't need it to be cooked."
"..Travis-"
Aphmau spoke up. "Zane, eating raw meat would probably be better for him than cooked meat. Especially considering-"
"Don't finish that sentence, I already understand. Can it hurt him at all?"
Aphmau shook her head. "As weird as it sounds, his immune system and his stomach and just about everything else are almost completely different. He could probably eat anything and be fine."
Zane blinked a few times. "..Okay. As long as he can't get hurt from it."
"I think he should have his now. We can all wait for ours to cook, but there's no reason for him to wait, is there?" Aphmau asked.
Aaron and Garroth walked out with a bunch of materials and the bag. Zane waved Aaron over. "Give Travis the squirrel now, please."
Confused, Aaron took the weird looking squirrel out by the tail and placed it delicately on the table. Even he looked disgusted.
Travis stared down at it until he heard everyone start moving again, and then the smell became far too overwhelming, and his vision blurred, then became black.