closed; zombieverse because fuck me but not literally god

[denarius]

[ you talked me into this im going to Nd you.

the air smells like rust and blood, no matter how much silver wipes at his nose to wash away the smells. it stagnates, choking his breaths, and leaving nothing but its own putrid scent behind. it's enough to make him gag, so he slips the mask back on over his head and tries to breathe a little easier. it helps, but it's probably more of a placebo, based on how much he's inhaled to begin with.

the shelter that he and gold had managed to scrounge together isn't too far from here, and he's due to return in a short period of time. can't be too reckless, he reminds himself, when gold's leg makes him more anxious than usual. this is gold's job, he's just taking over for the time being. no wonder why the mask is so loose around his head, then.

he fixes the strap on the backpack that's falling apart, and breaks into a run before the zombies get him. two years ago he would have laughed at the possibility of nuclear fallout, but here he was, running from them to spare himself the energy.

silver pushes the door to their lodgings (silver refuses to call it home because it's not home and lyra's gone) and drops the bag of cans at his feet, kicking the door open with the back of his foot. he rips off the gas mask and throws it at gold's backside. ]

Hey. I'm back.

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[denarius]

[ Silver's eyes fall upon the bloody bandage. It wasn't supposed to be healed but the wound was supposed to be closed at least for the time being, and if it was open again then Gold probably decided to walk on it like a moron. ]

I told you to stay off of it! Of course it's going to-

[ Deciding for whatever reason to glance at it again, Silver's stomach drops and the roll of bandages falls with it. Blood, sure, ok, whatever, that would heal in time, but the discolouration confirms the uncomfortable feeling he's been trying to hide this entire time.

He abandons the roll of bandages on the floor and closes the gap to seize Gold's shoulders instead, squeezing them tightly enough for his knuckles to turn white and probably bruising the skin underneath. His voice cracks when he opens his mouth again. ]

Why didn't you tell me sooner?! We could have done something--!

[billiards]

[ There's no universe where this could ever go over well, but he isn't prepared for how badly Silver is taking this. The roll of bandages goes unthought of the moment it leaves Silver's hands, now squeezing Gold's shoulders hard enough to make him yell out in pain, trying to push him off. ]

Ow, S-Silv, stop! [ Any trace of laughter from his voice is long gone once the weight of Silver's distress settles on him. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen, and yet- ]

I didn't want you to worry about it! You were stressed out already so I figured I'd just handle it myself, I didn't think it'd actually get worse!

[denarius]

[ He stops squeezing the moment he feels Gold's resistance, though his hands remain on Gold's shoulders to keep himself steady despite the amount of trembling he's doing. Silver swallows, unable to formulate a response with his throat now dry. Eventually, speaking again with his voice still cracking, Silver tries to argue again. ]

But it did get worse-! And was I not supposed to worry about it if you couldn't walk!?

[ Inhale. Exhale. Silver's eyes focusing on the axe they use to bolt down the back door. ]

What do you want-- no, what can we do about it now?