gt oneshots

rosie

The acrid smell of death followed Evan everywhere he went. It lingered in the air around him for the first couple of days, thick and heavy and suffocating. Like everything was covered in raw sewage.
     But after six months, Evan had gotten so used to the smell that he hardly even noticed it anymore every time he left the bunker. He just focused on killing monsters and tried not to get too much blood on his shirt in the process.
     The monsters had started popping up in town about a year ago. Huge, mindless beings that usually hunted in packs, though Evan had managed to pick off a few loners with his knife. Poison oozed out of their eyes and noses. Their teeth ripped through human flesh like broken glass, which was something Evan had learned the hard way. Now a long pink scar tore across the length of his chin to his collarbone.
     Shortly after the monsters started showing up in Goldsboro, all the radios lost their signals. No one could contact anyone outside of their own town. Beyond the city limits the monsters were bigger. Stronger. So no one could leave their towns either.
     It was hell. Watching everyone around you die or be driven mad by their own grief and horror.
     That's how Evan had stumbled across Emily. She was a human girl that had lived in the apartment across from him and his parents when he was younger. She'd been a baby then. Evan had just turned eleven.
     Emily was seven now. Evan had turned sixteen a week ago. Her parents were killed at the beginning, she'd told him.
     He'd found her four months ago while he was out on a food run. Most of the gas stations and convenience stores had already been looted, and he knew some people that hid out in them and shot anyone that tried to come in.
     You couldn't be too careful. And most people were more worried about living another day than offering help to anyone else. That's how so many kids ended up on the streets. Parentless. Completely alone until a monster eventually wandered over and picked them off.
     Evan had found Emily huddled up behind a gas station. As soon as he kneeled down to ask where her parents were, or if she still had any, the tiny girl had scrambled into his hands and refused to let go of him.
     So he'd taken her with him. She was just a little girl, after all. It wasn't like he could've left her behind to fend for herself. She was covered in dirt and dried blood. Her arm was badly broken, bent at an odd angle as she clutched it to her chest. And she kept trying to get words out through her tears, blubbering something about losing her bunny.
     He'd had the little girl with him for four months now. She'd quickly become like a little sister to him, even though he'd never had any siblings before.
     And now Evan was convinced that he wasn't going to die. He had someone to live for.
     Because if he got killed, then who would be around to play tea party with Emily?
                                       •••
     Evan tried to wipe the fresh blood off his sleeves, but he was only smearing the mess around. The tall boy kept his knife out as he made his way through the deserted streets of what used to be Downtown Goldsboro.
     Now it just looked like a dump. Graffiti covered nearly every inch of the structures left standing, while the rest were just burnt piles of rubble. The streets were covered in broken glass, the last remaining pieces of what used to be convenience store windows.
     Evan hadn't found much, per usual. A couple dented cans of Campbell Soup that he'd stuffed into his bag.
     Emily hated soup. But she'd have to suck it up, because that was the only thing Evan had managed to find left behind in all the rubble.
     Then he spotted it. Something small and fuzzy and yellow that had been abandoned amongst the wreckage.
     A tiny plush bunny with big floppy ears. He plucked the little thing up and shook it off, carefully brushing away any shards of broken glass before stuffing it into his bag.
     Emily loved bunnies. She'd spent hours telling him all about the little pet rabbit she'd had when she was still living with her parents, before the world had gone to shit. Before the monsters came. Before their lives ended.
     She'd lost the bunny after their city was destroyed and left in ruins. Rosie, she'd called it.
     Evan held onto his knife a little tighter as he walked back to the bunker. There were still looters and thieves hiding behind dumpsters and abandoned gas stations. He wasn't taking any chances on his way home, especially when he had a large bag of food on his back.
     People wouldn't hesitate to kill him for it if they found him wandering these streets alone. And he wasn't about to get stabbed over a can of soup.
     When he got back to the bunker, Emily was still curled up underneath the bed. He told her to stay hidden every time he left, just in case someone, or something broke in when he was gone.
     She poked her head out and grinned when she saw him, racing over as fast as her little legs could carry her.
     Evan kneeled down and let her hold onto his hand while he put his bag down beside him. He rifled through it with his other hand, curling his fingers around the little plush bunny he'd found on his way back.
     "Did you get more food?" Emily asked, clutching onto his thumb tightly and peering way up at him with soft eyes. She noticed the blood on his sleeves and her smile fell. "You ran into more of them?"
     "Yeah, but it's okay," he muttered. "I got chicken noodle soup. Your favorite."
     Emily glowered. "I hate chicken noodle soup."
     Evan smiled slightly and rolled his eyes. "I know. But I think I found something else to make up for it."
     Emily perked up a bit, pressing her cheek against the tip of his finger. "What is it?"
     Evan pulled the little rabbit plush out of his bag and gave it to her. Emily slowly reached up to take it, staring down into its little button eyes with a soft expression of awe.
     "A bunny," she whispered, slowly looking up at Evan. She was grinning. "Just like Rosie." She hugged onto the plush a little tighter, burying her face into one of its big fuzzy ears before she reached up to hold onto Evan's hand.
     Evan smiled a little, taking the little girl's hand between his thumb and forefinger gently. "Yeah," he whispered, gathering her up into his palms. She pressed her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around the rabbit. Evan rocked her back and forth softly and shut his eyes.
     "Just like Rosie."