Claustrophobic | Skephalo

A New Introduction

Zak

Zak isn't sure of the exact moment he found himself unable to release any more tears. His lip quivered at a quicker speed, and Oxygen became harder to obtain as he hyperventilated beside Clay's feet; his mind was completely blank as he stared at the lifeless body of the boy he loved fall helplessly towards the floor.

No one dared to speak over the sound of Vincent's screaming, but to Zak, everything sounded like it was underwater. Covering his ears, he tried relentlessly to drown out the sound of hopelessness ripping through Vincent's throat. Nothing worked. It was almost as if the commotion was inside Zak's head, only pushing him further away from the world around him.

Dried blood crusted around where Darryl's bright green eyes used to be, and although they were now closed, Zak couldn't bear to look at them. The image of the deep black zombie eyes was burned into his memory indefinitely, along with the bruises and cuts along his wrist that he knew would take forever to heal.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as the syringe dropped from Clay's hand and landed on the hard concrete floor, Darryl's body not far behind. Dave and Finn both jumped forwards to catch him, each grabbing one of Darryl's arms as he toppled backwards. They managed to stop him from hitting the ground, while Zak could only look over at them as the two glanced at Darryl worryingly.

He didn't look good. Not at all.

But as soon as Darryl's face began to grow blue and started to swell, Finn changed that. He slammed his fist into Darryl's chest, half-intentionally and half-accidentally, and the motion brought the natural color back into his cheeks. Darryl gasped for air, clinging helplessly onto Finn's shirt, his eyes snapping wide open.

"He's up!" Zak hears a shout from Vincent's direction, and forces himself to make eye contact with the former zombie.

Green. His eyes, they're green again.

Clay's dramatic sigh of relief could be heard over the cheers coming from Vincent, Dave, and yes- even Finn, and the world slowly started to speed back up for Zak. It was almost as if all of his stress disappeared as Zak threw himself onto his feet and started towards Darryl.

"Where—" Darryl coughed. "Where am I?"

Without answering, Zak wrapped his arms around the gasping boy. He could hardly process the events of the last few minutes and wanted to burst into tears, but his eyes were far too dried out to even think of crying, so he hugged Darryl tighter, burying his face in Darryl's shoulder.

"You're okay," Zak whispered for only Darryl to hear.

Darryl regains his composure and pushes Zak off of him gently, his hands lingering on each of Zak's shoulders. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you were in really bad shape for a while there- I was so scared that you would turn completely, forever. When you grabbed me," Zak shakes Darryl's hands off and holds out his bruised wrist, "I really thought I had lost you. But... It's all over now. You're okay."

With a serious frown on his face, Darryl raises an eyebrow. "I did that to you?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't your fault. You were one of them, I think."

"One of who?"

"A zombie," Zak breathes out, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at Darryl's face. He was stricken with confusion, and has absolutely no idea what Darryl remembers about being a zombie. "Don't you remember being bitten?"

Darryl's eyes widen as he takes a step backwards at the negative connotations of Zak's words. "What is a zombie?"

"Is this a joke? It's not funny, Darryl. I was seriously scared you were going to die."