Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1319728.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      Gen, F/M, M/M, Other, F/F, Multi
  Fandom:
      Homestuck
  Relationship:
      Jake_English/Dirk_Strider, Eridan_Ampora/Sollux_Captor, Gamzee_Makara/
      Tavros_Nitram, Tavros_Nitram/Vriska_Serket, Cronus_Ampora/Kankri_Vantas,
      Calliope/Roxy_Lalonde, Jane_Crocker/Roxy_Lalonde, Rufioh_Nitram/Horuss
      Zahhak, Meenah_Peixes/Aranea_Serket, John_Egbert/Karkat_Vantas, John
      Egbert/Dave_Strider, Dave_Strider/Karkat_Vantas, Nepeta_Leijon/Equius
      Zahhak, Mituna_Captor/Latula_Pyrope, Meulin_Leijon/Kurloz_Makara, Damara
      Megido_&_Rufioh_Nitram, Aradia_Megido/Equius_Zahhak
  Character:
      Dirk_Strider, Jake_English, Jane_Crocker, Roxy_Lalonde, Jade_Harley, Dave
      Strider, John_Egbert, Rose_Lalonde, Karkat_Vantas, Kanaya_Maryam, Tavros
      Nitram, Vriska_Serket, Eridan_Ampora, Sollux_Captor, Equius_Zahhak,
      Nepeta_Leijon, Feferi_Peixes, Aradia_Megido, Terezi_Pyrope, Gamzee
      Makara, Kankri_Vantas, Cronus_Ampora, Damara_Megido, Horuss_Zahhak,
      Rufioh_Nitram, Meenah_Peixes, Latula_Pyrope, Kurloz_Makara, Porrim
      Maryam, Mituna_Captor, Meulin_Leijon
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Zombie_Apocalypse, Sadstuck, Zombiestuck, Explicit
      Language, Humanstuck
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-03-16 Updated: 2014-08-24 Chapters: 2/? Words: 4556
****** Saviour of the Waking Dead ******
by Peixesgal
Summary
     When the world falls apart, four unlikely groups of children try to
     survive the zombie ridden North America. Will the Betty Crocker
     Corporation truly take over the world? Or will these teens be able to
     work together long enough to win back their freedom?
Notes
     with fanart:
     http://prospails.tumblr.com/post/79139265513/vris-scrib
***** Prologue *****
Everything fell to shit the way you would expect it to. First, a few people got
sick, and started acting weird. Then, people realized that – whatever it was –
was spreading, fast. The government started to shut down travel, and then
started to quarantine areas. But by then, predictably it was too late.  I was
thirteen when The Betty Crocker Corporation took over the world by turning
everyone into zombies, fourteen when they took responsibility for it, and
fifteen when the C.E.O changed her name to “Her Imperious Condescension” or
“The Condece.” Now, I’m sixteen years old, and my only family is dead. Ok, not
my ONLY family, but the only family that I have ever known. My brother, D,
raised me. He was my hero. And now? Now he’s dead. I made sure of that. Those,
those freaks got him. Now, those of us who are left are on our way back to
Huston, to My brothers twin’s place. D said that His bro and my twin (that I
had no fucking idea existed) where there. That it was a safe place. Like I
believe that bull-shit. But what else can we do? I can’t let anyone else die.
It’s all up to me.
“Dirk? We found a vehicle big enough to fit all of us that will run. “ Roxy
pulled me from my thoughts. Looking up from the hands that I had been staring
at, I see her, short blonde hair all frizz, her long scarf trailing in the
grime of the street. Her best friend, Jane is standing nervously beside her.
Shorter, more filled out, darker hair, and skin, the perfect contrast to Roxy’s
taller pale and thinner frame.
“Where is Jake?” I can’t spot him anywhere on the deserted highway.
“Syphoning gas from other vehicles. We’ll need all the gas we can get to go all
the way to Texas right?” Jane steps closer to Roxy. She is probably frightened
of me; which is fair, considering almost five minutes after we met I shot my
own brother in the- well, yeah.
“Why did he go alone? Jane, will you please go find him and act as back-up?”  I
try to sound nice. It still sounds like I’m snapping at her. She stumbles over
her ripped skirt as she rushes off.
“Dirk, I know… I know these last few hours have been hard, but-“
“Hard!? No shit RoLal. No mother FUCKING shit. I had to … to … and now I find
out that I have family I never even knew of, and I have a twin. A TWIN! And we
have to get all the way back to Texas and… Shit, I’m sorry Rox. I’m just trying
to keep everyone alive. “ Roxy walks over and wraps her arms around me. I go
stiff for a second, then relax into her familiar frame.
“I know Dirky, I know.” She reverts back to her childhood nickname for me when
she’s feeling emotional. I squeeze her back, glad for the presence of my best
childhood friend.
“Hey Chums! Do you think this will be enough?” Jake and Jane return each
carrying a twenty-gallon gas can. Jane seemed to be struggling with two hands,
while Jake easily carried his in one, even if it did make his muscles strain
against his umber skin.
“Oh, sorry for interrupting!” Even under her hazelnut skin, I could tell that
Jane was blushing. Well shit.
“Shit no, we where just hugging!” Roxy practically leaps from my arms, blushing
furiously.
“Yeah, its whatever. Lets get this shit-show on the road shall we?” We pile
into the jeep Roxy had picked out, tossing what few possessions we have in the
compact trunk. The engine roars to life as I hotwire it with practiced hands.
The sun finally begins to set on what turns out to be the first of the longest
and hardest days of my life.
 
===============================================================================
 
            The door slams behind us as we all stumble into my old apartment.
Everyone is out of breath; hordes that big don’t come around that often. John
limps to my bead and sits, propping his freshly twisted ankle up on the bedside
table.
“Uh, Dave? Are you sure staying here is the best idea? Aren’t cities… dangerous
or something?” John’s joke is lost a lost cause, even to him. He glances around
like he is expecting Zombies to burst from the wall screaming, “SURPRISE!” like
its his fucking birthday or some shit. Well, It is his birthday, and we do have
the shittiest luck, but I still don’t think that’s gonna happen.  I shrug in
response.
            “Bro said that important people where coming to meet us here. I’m
not about to leave when he said not to.” Bro has been gone for a month now, but
I’m not willing to move on yet.  He said it was important. And besides, what if
he’s still alive? He said he would be back in a few days, what if he just got
stuck chased up to the top of some other building? He hasto be alive. I can
feel it. Rose looks me over, like I’m a fucking psychopath.
            “Dave, I do not think that you’re brother-“
            “Shut the fuck up Lalonde. We are not moving until whoever is
supposed to meet us here gets here.“ I glare around the room. Jade stands
closer to her brother, her long hair tied up in a long ponytail with a blood
smeared green ribbon. Rose stares hard back at me, and then looks away, I can
see the top of the scar from where the live telephone wire dragged across her
back, not only almost killing her with massive amounts of electricity, but
leaving her with a scar from the burn that came with it. It’s the only memory
of her mother that she has left.
            “O-ok Dave. We wont leave you.” Jade smiles at me, but it doesn’t
quite reach her eyes like it used to.  We have all been hardened by the years
of live in the hell-hole that used to be called earth. I sigh and spin around,
heading to the washroom to get the gore off of my face; and the rest of my body
for that matter. While in the process of cleaning, I find a few gashes that are
just too big to but a bandage on. Funny, how numb you become to pain after
years and years of it.
            “Hey Rose? I’m going to need your sewing skills.” She was a
knitter, but after the world ended she had to switch to sewing. Her tawny form
comes into view as she turns the corner with the first aid kit in her hand.
            “We forgot to grab painkillers.  We have vodka though. Would you
like some to dull the nerves?” Nodding, I take the bottle of clear liquor from
her hands, and swig from the bottle. It’s not the strongest alcohol out there,
but it’s all we had. Shit, if only that stupid horde didn’t show up while we
where trying to find supplies. 
            “Ouch! Don’t just dive in with that fucking needle without any
warning!” I flinch as the suture needle pierces my ragged skin. Rose continues
to stich my skin closed, ignoring my protests. Besides me, she is the best at
stitching people up, but she needs to concentrate more then I do. I watch as
she pulls a row of even stiches tight across my side, tie it off securely, and
move to my chest.
            “Are you going to be ok, Dave?” I look hard at her, then sigh and
pull my hair out of my eyes. I need a haircut soon.
            “I don’t know Rose. Are any of us going to be ok?”
 
===============================================================================
 
“LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!” The words hit me like a slap to the face.  My
younger brother was always yelling at me, but never has he yelled quite like
this.  Couldn’t he see that all I was trying to do was protect him?
            “Karkat, please refrain from such triggering language. All I said
we that you where to stay out of harms way, by staying back on this trip.” My
arm stretches out, trying, yet again, to bridge the gap that formed when our
father was murdered. He brushes it off angrily.
            “FUCK YOU. YOUR NOT DAD, KANKRI. SOLLUX IS GOING, AND HE’S THE SAME
AGE AS ME. YOU CAN’T FUCKING CONTROL ME. SO YOU CAN GO ON AND FUCK OFF.” My
eyes follow him as he storms off to find his friend. It’s stupid, but I get so
upset when we fight. All I want is to protect the only family I have left. I
collapse into a nearby chair, and bury my face in my hands, wiling the tears to
stay put. They don’t. I sit in the silence of the hotel room that Karkat has
clamed for himself while we stay here. Time passes faster then I thought,
because the next thing I know a gentle hand is on my shoulder.
            “Kankri. It’s time. Your brother is strong. Stronger then you
think. He will survive.” Looking up at the woman I now know to be my best
friend, I manage a weak smile. She has always supported me, and knows me better
then anyone else.     
            “Yes. You are right as always, Porrim. I just worry for him. He
never listens to anything I say. No one does, but you would think that I would
be safe to presume my own brother would. My father was an inspiration to the
survivors. Everyone expects me to fill his shoes, but when I try, they make fun
of me. Even my own friends…” For once, I am lost for words. Yet again, tears
well hot in my eyes. Porrim pulls me from the chair and into a warm embrace. We
stand like that for another little while, and the taller woman strokes my hair
while I sob into her shoulder. After a time, we part, and I use the sleeve of
my tattered sweater to wipe my face and nose.
            “Everything will work out, Kankri. You’re brother loves you. He
would not purposely hurt you.” A warm smile spreads across Porrim’s face. I nod
in return. Karkat may be angry, but he has never been stupid. Without another
word, we leave his room, and head to the stairs to make our way to the lobby,
where everyone agreed to meet up. As we make our way past the third floor,
echoes from the long hallway float through the open door.
            “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!...” just over the repetitive
shriek, I can hear Latulas voice, attempting to calm her boyfriend.
            “Mituna, please baby, please calm down. It’s over. Nothing is
coming for you. Your safe, babe. I’m right here, you can get though this…” I
marvel at the strength in character Latula possesses. To have your significant
other go mad, and then to stand up to Meenah? Nobody crossed Meenah. She was
our leader, and the strongest in the group. When she found out Mituna had lost
his sanity, she wanted to kill him right then and there. Only Latula and
Mituna’s little brother, Sollux tried to stop her. I was able to stop the fight
before anyone got hurt, and with Porrim and Aranea’s help, we worked out a
deal. Latula would look after Mituna. If he became a burden to the group, then
they would have to leave. I didn’t like the idea, but it’s the best we could
hope for. The world comes back into focus as Porrim and I reach the lobby.
            “Alright Suckers! We need food, so we are going to go get it. Lets
head out!” Meenah was never one for speeches. Little did I know, we would loose
three members of our group on this trip, one of them being my baby brother.
 
===============================================================================
 
            “Come Oooooooon, Tav! We have to keep moving!” Vriska yells back at
me. Unfortunately, my body wont let me take another step. I stay, rooted to the
spot, hands on my knees, trying to regain the breath that was lost from the
long sprinting pace Vriska was keeping us at. Hufing, she stormed over to me,
and grabbed the sides of my open buttoned up shirt.
            “You need to keep your ass in line, Toriadork.  I won’t have you
falling behind on me.” Gamzee starts to make his way towards us, a murderous
look on his face.  Standing up to my full hight, I shake my head at him
slightly. I know that Vriska doesn’t mean it in a mean way. She’s just worried
about me.
            “I’m sorry, Vris. I’ll try harder to keep up.” I smile down at her.
Even with the eye patch covering the empty socket where her eye was, I can see
the worry in her other, the piercing blue reaching deep inside me. I lean down,
pressing my lips to hers. For once, she indulges me.
            “I thought I told you not to kiss me in front of the others.” She’s
trying to sound mad, but she’s not being very convincing. I smile at her, and
slip my mask back down over my face.  We all wore these silly masks, because
Vriska thought it made us look cool and intimidating. Mine was a gas mask
stilled as brown bull.  Vriska pulled over her black arachnid mask, the bright
cobalt eyes always creped me out.  Jogging back up to the group, we herd shots
fired down the street we where about to cross.
            “Oh shit. Noww every fuckin’ zombie in the area is gonna come
runnin’.” Eridan’s purple and gold prince mask glinted in the light as he
glances around. Sure enough, we began to hear the sounds of a massive horde
gathering, and converging on our location.
            “fuck.” Vriska hissed the word out as she began to run forward.
“Get ready, we aren’t going to get out of here without a fight” a mixture of
fear, worry, and adrenaline rocked though my body. I gripped the spear I
carried, and touched the shorter knives at my waist, making sure all where
accounted for. Around me, Eridan was loading his Heckler & Koch MP5 sub
machinegun; Vriska was drawing her Kopis, the blue one that used to hang on her
wall. A revving from behind told me that Kanaya had started her chainsaw, and
an experimental twang and swish was herd from Equius’ bow, the one he modified
to be used as a hand-held weapon for short-range attacks. As the mass of bodies
came into sight at last, the ten of us ran into battle, screaming like idiots.
I slipped onto a daze, wielding my lance expertly, stabbing, twisting, and
whipping it though the air. All around me, my friends fought forward, as a
group.
            BANG! BANG! BANG!
            Whoever had originally got the attention of the dead was shooting
again. The horde was so large that it started to disperse, apparently just
smart enough to know that they we where much to small of a group to be that
much of a meal. Soon, there where only about thirty to forty of them left out
of the original two hundred or so. And in a few more minutes, that number had
dwindled down to fifteen. We where a skilled group of fighters. We had done
this before. As I wrenched my spear from the last corpse in front of me I
straightened up, looking around at my friends. With a quick glance, it seemed
as though everything was fine. No… something was wrong. I counted heads. 
Eight, Nepeta was slicing up her opponent with her odd gloves, the ones with
the knives coming out of them. Nine,  Feferi holding back one zombie with her
trident, and stabbing at another with her Sai. Where was ten? Where was
Vriska!? Screaming her name, I break from the group to look around. Out of the
corner of my eye I see movement, and I spin around and run towards what I now
see to be a small group of zombies, all attacking a figure in the middle.
            “VRISKA!!!” Without heed for my own safety,  I barrel into the
group, impaling two of the living dead on my spear, and whipping them aside
with a sick crunch. All I can think of is getting to her. I furiously hack at
the bodies around me. Pain shoots from my leg, and I look down to see one of
them tasting the flesh of my calf. Reaching into one of the holders in my belt,
I grab a short knife, and stab it in the skull. Its jaw releases me, and it
slips to the ground. I don’t care. I am already onto the last of them, a great
hulking brute. When he was alive he was probably well over six feet tall. I go
to step forward, planning on using the momentum to slip my spear through its
ribs. But suddenly my leg won’t support my weight, and I collapse.
            “ARRRRAAAGGGGGGG!” Just as the zombie bent down to take a chomp out
of me, Gamzee’s Baseball bat whistles though the air, and the nails imbedded in
it lodge themselves firmly in the ear and skull of the monster. I feel a hand
on my shoulder.
            “You Okay, mother fucker?” I barely register his voice; my vision
swims as I see the girl I love gasping for air her body torn apart by the
monsters that attacked her. I drag myself over to her side, and gently remove
her mask, before ripping off mine.
            “Vriska, oh Vriska please stay with me, oh god, oh god, oh gog-“ I
choke back a sob. This can’t be happening. I lift her head onto my lap.
Shakily, she lifts her hand to rest on the side of my face. How can she smile
at a time like this! Why is she so much stronger then me!?
            “Tavros… You have to…. Listen to me” Her sentence is broken up by
stuttering, gurgling gasps. “Tavros… You have to … Be strong … for me…. Okay?
You… have to… have courage….” All I can do is nod in response. My head is
throbbing, and I’m shaking, from the pain in my leg, and the pain of my
breaking heart. I can’t tell her that I won’t be going on with our friends
either.
            “ Vriska, I have never told you, but I love you. I love you so
much. I always will.” I lean over, and sob into her hair.
            “ I…. Lov…..” A long sigh escapes her lips, and her hand slips from
its place on my cheek, and thuds onto the concrete of the street.
            “I love you… I Love you… I love you…” I can’t even think anymore. I
just keep repeating the phrase over and over into her hair. Millennium passes
before Gamzee’s hand gently touches my shoulder again. 
            “Bro… I know bro. But we have to go. Come on. Get up.” When he
tries to help me to my feet I stumble, and he finally sees the wound on my leg.
“Oh shit mother fucker, oh shit your bit.” I nod at thus statement. I don’t
recognize the trembling in his voice. The world turns into a blur as I hear
Gamzee screaming for help, as if from a long way off. I try to tell him that
everything is going to be okay. But my mouth won’t move. Everything is heavy. 
Like my blood has suddenly turned to lead. Other voices join Gamzee’s, speaking
words I can’t comprehend, and then a searing pain scorches though my leg as a
loud rumbling fills my ears. My last thought before I black out, is of Vriska.
***** Kankri *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
     I squatted in the freezing rain, clutching at the staff of my scythe.
Leaning against the abandoned office building, I peek around and look to the
roof of the building on the opposite side of the street. A quick but bright
flash of gold tells me that Meenah is in position, and that she doesn’t see
anything or anyone nearby. I dash across the street, the empty rucksack
flapping against my back, and then into the grocery store beside the building
that Meenah scaled. I can see Rufioh and Horuss come at it from other angles.
Surprisingly, the glass doors at the front slide open effortlessly. They must
run on solar power. Slowly, I peer around, listening hard for the sound of
movement. When all seems clear, I inch into the store. Reaching behind me, I
pull the empty rucksack off of my back, and head towards the pasta aisle.
 
     “Shit.” Looking up, I see Horuss paused in front of my aisle, rubbing his
shin. Wincing, he straightens up and continues to the condiments aisle. He must
have banged his shin on something. Horuss was always a bit clumsy; unless he
was working with his hands. He became especially clumsy around Rufioh, whom he
had an obvious fondness for. Ever since Damara died, Horuss has done everything
he could to console and help his best friend move past the loss of his
girlfriend, even if Rufioh barely noticed him half the time. Shaking my head, I
go back to stuffing my bag with different types of pasta and packets of spices.
 Once the bag was filled to capacity, I walked around the store, checking for
any useful items, and then checked in on my friends. Horuss was in the canned
goods aisle, because he was the strongest of us, and I wave at him as I walk
past, as he gives a quick toothy grin in response. Continuing past the aisles
that used to contain fresh produce, I head down to the last aisle, where I know
Rufioh would be. Turning the corner, an explosion of colored bags differing in
shape, size, and content came into view. Sitting cross-legged in the middle,
empty bag tossed behind him, was Rufioh Nitram.
 
     “What do you think you are doing?” He looks up, shocked that there was
someone watching him fawning over the treats.
 
     “Oh hey there!” Rufioh blushed a bright red, and quickly started stuffing
the snack food into his bag. He only got it about halfway through before a loud
crash pulled us from our job.
 
     “…Horrus? Was that you?” Tentatively I called out for my other friend.
Within a few seconds, he appeared at the end of the aisle, crouching and and
quickly moving towards us.  
 
     “No… Guys I think we better get out of here.” Rufioh scrambled to his
feet, but in his hurry, he slipped and fell face-first into the mess he made.
 
     “Why is it that the one time you choose to be clumsy is now!?” I hiss, not
even waiting for the crashing noise to finish reverberating around the store.
It was too late; one of the dead rounded the corner and headed across the few
inches towards Rufioh.
 
     “NO!” Never in my life have I seen Horuss move so fast. He sprinted across
the space between us and the attack, whipping out an arrow for his crossbow
from his belt. Sliding across the slippery grocery store floor, he shoved
Rufioh over and slammed the arrow he was holding into the zombie’s neck.
Minutes of silence went by, and what an awkward scene it was. Rufioh was lying
sideways on the floor, back flush against the aisle, staring wide eyed at
Horuss, who was staring in shock at the zombie that fell on top of him; he
himself was partially lying on the floor propped up on one hand. the other was
still clutching at the arrow embedded in the zombie’s jugular vein. I was
frozen in the same spot, still standing from in shock, and once again at a loss
for words. This seemed to be happening more and more often.
 
     “Horuss… Horuss you hurt yourself.”  Rufioh’s voice was shaky as he stood
up and gently touched the arrow that had slipped out of Horuss’s open belt bag
and sure enough, the tip was invisible. The awkward angle that Horuss was lying
at had made the bag full of rigid arrows brace against the floor, pushing the
head of one into Horuss’ side. Horuss didn’t even look down.
 
     “Rufioh, are you ok? It didn’t get you did it? And I didn’t hurt you, did
I?” Horuss’ eyes searched Rufioh over, making sure he was ok, not even worried
about the arrow head shoved in his side.
 
     “No, I’m fine. Horuss, we should be more worried about you. You have an
arrow in you for christ sake! Why did you do that! it was reckless and stupid!
You could have died!” Rufioh’s trembling increased, he reached around Horuss
and clutched at him, burying his head into Horuss’ shoulder. “I- I can’t lose
you too.”
 
     Both Horuss’ and my eyes widened at this. Horuss gently pushed Rufioh
back, and they stared at each other. After what seemed like a long while Horuss
leaned in, and kissed him. It was sweet and tender and beautiful; everything I
had imagined my first kiss would be like. It was a movie moment. And to be
honest, standing back, watching the beginnings of a budding romance, I felt a
little sad. Sad that I have not found that kind of relationship. But I was far
too busy trying to keep everyone alive to be in a relationship anyway. I had to
protect everyone, especially Karkat. That’s the burden Father left to me. I
must do it, personal happiness aside. Even so…
 
     “I’m sorry, Rufioh. I’ll be more careful next time, ok?” The black-haired
boy leaned over and hugged the boy he had been in love with for over a year
now. In a moment he pulled back, to look at his wound.
 
     “We should probably do something about this.” I took that as my cue, and
stepped forward to inspect the arrow.
 
     “It’s not embedded too deeply, but you really should be more careful,
Horuss. I am going to have to pull it out.” He nods at me and looks away. As
gently as I can, I grasp the arrow’s hilt, and quickly pull it out. Horrus
groaned, and bit his lip. Working quickly, I tightly bandaged the wound with
one of the bandages I had in the first-aid kit I always carried around with me.
Once I was done with this, I handed Horrus some painkillers. We just raided a
pharmacy, and I had found some more supplies in my walk around this store. We
could afford to be a little more lenient with them for now.
 
     “Thanks Kan.” Horuss smiled up at me after I finished my ministrations. I
smiled back, but it felt fake.
 
     “Well, we better get out of here, before we have any more run-ins.” I
stood up, buckling the top of the kit, and grabbed my supply bag. Once Horuss
was up, leaning heavily on Rufioh’s shoulders, I took up a brisk pace, making
sure to stay far enough in front of the two boys that I could not hear them
whispering to each other. As we left the building, I see Aranea rushing towards
us. I speed up to meet her, and as we get closer I see she is flustered and
panicked.
 
     “Kankri, something is very wrong.”  
 
 
Chapter End Notes
     sorry this took so long! I was dealing with a lit of personal issues,
     but now we have a chapter two! its a lot shorter then I wanted it to
     be, but its something. I am hoping to move past this writers block
     and be able to post much more often once I move into university.
     Again, sorry for the wait!
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