FicWad

Ray's heartbeat pounded against his ears as he kept his hand clamped over his mouth. There was sweat running down into his eyes, his brown unruly curls sticking to his forehead blocking his view of the slits on the closet door. He would have given anything at that moment to move the locks out of his eyes, to move his hand away from his mouth, to just breathe but he can't. He has to stay quiet so he can get through this night and safely get to the base he and the guys saw on the news before they lost Gerard.

His back was pressed against the back wall the closet, far away from the door as possible. He heard low moans coming from the other side, far but getting closer with every muffled step that accompanied it. The pungent scent hit him first, the smell of rotting flesh wafting into Ray's nose, before a dark silhouette appeared in front of the slits. Ray's fingers clawed into his cheeks, smothering the whimper that was dying to get out. A low and rumbling moan sounded in front of him and Ray started to slink down to the floor.

"Calm down Ray," He thought to himself. "Keep calm, damnit!"

The moaning started up again and Ray tried to concentrate on his heart rather than on how much the moans sounded just like the ones Gerard used to make during band practice. He took deep breaths to regain composure as the closet doors started to shake underneath the pounding fists. "Arrrrgggghhhh! ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!"

The moans grew louder and the door was cracking underneath the poundings while Ray sat silently with his eyes clenched shut. "Calm, Ray. You can get yourself out of this mess." He himself didn't believe his own words but he just has to hear them.

There was a long split in the middle of the right door, widening at every strong force and Ray knew that with just one more blow he was done for. He held his breath and waited for the door to burst open.

A loud pop was heard to Ray's left, out in the hallway, something that sounded like one of the fireworks Frankie swiped from the Wal-Mart this morning. Morning seemed so long ago to Ray. A moan of confusion followed the loud pop and the shuffle of sneakers walking away from the closet had jumped started Ray's still heart back to life.

"COME AND GET ME GERARD! MY BRAINS ARE JUST WAITING TO BE EATEN!" Ray would have rolled his eyes at Frank's taunting under any other circumstances but right now he was grateful that his best friend was suicidal enough to get Gerard away from him.

Ray let out a deep breath and waited a minute before climbing to his feet. The closet door flew open and he quickly made a grab for the baseball bat, his makeshift weapon, which he had forgotten all about during his fear. He was just about to swing when he caught a glimpse of Mikey's facial features in the dim lighting. "Come on Ray."

Ray didn't comprehend the order; he was too busy marveling at Mikey who he thought he was lost when the boys were suddenly separated inside the Montgomery Manor. "Mikey," He breathed, his heart filled with relief when he was sure he was really there in front of him.

He saw Mikey look quickly over his shoulder. Ray noticed him fiddling with his own baseball bat, this one made out of metal while Ray's was made out of wood, and the frown that pulled down Mikey's lips. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Come on Ray. We have to get Frank."

Mikey's hazel eyes were hard and firm beneath the frames of his glasses, his chestnut brown hair smothered under his gray knit beanie. A thud upstairs caused Mikey to look up toward the ceiling. Ray couldn't get a word out after Mikey had yanked him out of the closet by his wrist. The boys ran quickly through the carpeted hall, Mikey leading Ray through the abandoned house, their lips zipped shut as not to attract any attention to themselves. They ran up the back stairs, a quicker way to get to the second floor without being seen, and crept down the hallway towards the room that held the commotion. Both Ray and Mikey crowded the door to the bedroom, a teenager on either side, and both peered in to see what caused the shuffling and grunts.



As Ray leaned his head into the room, he immediately regretted it. The smell of decaying flesh was overpowering and because of the proximity, it had formed tears around his eyes. The scent had entered his nose, mouth, and eyes, violating every single one of his senses and he had to try his hardest to not cry out in disgust. He looked over to Mikey, to see if he could smell the presence of death like he could but if Mikey did, he didn't let it show. His lips were just pressed close together as he stared out into the middle of the room, his grip on the bat at his side tightened.
A pained grunt had caught Ray's attention. In the room, Frank was sprawled across the floor, his lead pipe a few feet away from where he lay, with a body hovering above him. Frank was struggling to keep the body from crushing his because if his strength gave out, he could easily become infected. Ray stepped forward but Mikey's bat had blocked his path before he could help. Ray looked at him with bewildered eyes and Mikey stared him down.

"Not yet." He mouthed. His features graven into his face as if it was made out of stone. That made Ray step back into his former position. He looked inside and watched hopelessly at Frank and the figure of his former best friend. The moonlight spilled into the room and shone onto the two bodies and Ray shivered at the sight.

The moonlight shone against Gerard's skin, now a sickly shade of green rather than that near-to-ghostly pale skin that he bore when he was alive, showing off the dried blood, that Ray wants to assume is Gerard's own, that surrounds his mouth. Pieces of his skin were tearing from his cheeks, revealing the ill colored flesh underneath. His long thin black hair curtained around most of the gaping holes on his face but Ray can see some bald patches on his friend's scalp. There was a sharp pang in Ray's heart when he took Gerard's, no not Gerard, the zombie's features in. A loud moan escaped Gerard's lifeless lips and Ray looked worriedly at the lean boy to his side.

Mikey shook his head as Ray gripped his bat in fear. If they don't do anything right now, they might just lose Frank just like they lost Gerard. A forceful grunt coming from Frank had been enough of the needed strength to push Gerard off of him. The decaying teenager flew off from the unexpected force, hitting the ground hard while Frank scrambled to get his lead pipe. Ray watched Frank leap to his feet, pipe in hand, before the younger boy bolted for the door.

Frank slammed the door behind him, panting to fill his lungs with air. He took a few seconds to catch his breath before he noticed his friends on either side of him. "Oh, thanks for the help guys. I really appreciate it."

"You had it under control." Mikey said as he leaned against the wall, lifting up his bat so that it was at eye level.

"He was snarling at me, Mikey. He was eyeing my throat like it was a fucking snack. Gerard almost tore my fucking throat out! Does that sound like I had it under control to you?" Frank growled, his voice low under his breath as he faced Mikey's profile.

Ray could see a swift movement in Mikey's bottom lip before Mikey turned to face Frank head on. His jaw was set and he spoke quietly through clenched teeth.

"You're here now. Your heart is still beating. Your family is safe. You're still alive."

Ray felt the air thicken with tension and as much as he wanted to fix the situation that was playing out with the two boys in front of him, they had bigger things to take care of.

"I know what I'm doing Frank. You had it under control. You were fine." Mikey assured, backing down from his position. He turned the bat in his hands, giving it his full attention. "You're here now, aren't you?"

Ray caught Frank's eyes when he looked over his shoulder, Frankie's eyes holding the worry he clearly showed. Both Ray and Frank jumped at the sudden crack against the door. A painful moan echoed through the other side of the door and Ray had to stop himself from taking a step backward. They have to take care of this problem; their former friend. Another blow against the door caused Ray to let out a gasp, his fingers tightening against the bat.

"Mikey, what do we do?"

Ever since word about the zombie outbreak hit every media station, Mikey had taken the reins of group leader. The amount of knowledge he retained from all those zombie movies had proved useful to the boys’ survival so far... well most of the boys. Mikey kept his eyes on the bat as the door started to show visible dents under Gerard's force. Ray wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he stared at Mikey in the irritating silence. Mikey made no movements; he didn't jump at any of the sudden blows Gerard made. Mikey let out a shaky breath, the only thing that showed any emotion other then the tough bravado Mikey wore, before he lowered his weapon and spoke.

"You guys go out and stay in the car. I'll stay here and finish things."

Ray noticed how Mikey's eyes were wet in the scarce moonlight. In them, Ray could finally see the fear that Mikey was desperately trying to hide. He opened his mouth to say something, something comforting or useful, but Frank's voice carried out before he could speak.

"Mikey, what are you going do up here all by yourself?"

The shuffling on the other side of the door had stopped and all that was heard now was the muffled angry moans.

"I'm doing what I have to do."

Ray couldn't help but think of themselves as characters in one of those zombie movies Mikey loved so much because none of this seems real. The outbreak, their drive to the safe house, Gerard not human and Mikey taking his brothers' role as leader; it all seemed like a nightmare they just couldn't wake up from. Mikey jerked his head to the left, motioning to the hallway that led to the stairs. Ray got the hint and pulled at Frankie's arm.

"Come on, Iero."

Ray pulled the shorter boy down the stairs, out the door and carefully towards the car despite all of Frank's protests.

"Ray, we can't leave him up there. He needs us." Frank said, as he paced in front of the car. He was waiting for Ray to open the car doors but he caught himself glancing at the second story of the abandoned house they broke into.

Ray fumbled with the keys, his hands shaking with thoughts of all the possibilities that could happen to Mikey while he was in that house. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and steadied his hand. Pushing the key into the lock, Ray spoke.

"Yeah, he needs us but he needs to do whatever he needs to by himself. We have to remember that he lost someone close to him."

Frank stopped pacing once he heard Ray's words and was at his side at once. "Did you forget that we lost someone too?"

"You didn't see the hurt in his eyes, Frank. We lost a friend, yes, but Mikey lost a brother."

Ray slipped into the car, lying across the backseat as Frank claimed the passenger seat. They sat in silence not having the energy to talk about anything that might distract them from their horrible situation. As they waited, Ray's eyelids grew heavy and not before long Ray was sleeping against the leather seat.

The opening of the driver's door had startled Ray awake, wielding the bat as fast as he could. The body moved inside, threw the metal bat in the back seat, and slid into the driver's seat without a word. "Mikey?" Mikey didn't say a word as he turned the key he had just placed in the ignition and gripped the steering wheel. As they drove out onto the street, Ray noticed the dark liquid on Mikey's hands; a faint and familiar rustic sent filling his lungs. He glanced down at the metal bat beside him and almost gagged at the sight. The base of the bat was covered with dark red blood and a small blob of pink matter while handle bore red hand prints. Ray shut his eyes and scooted away from the weapon. If he didn't think about it, he could almost believe that they were just driving up to New York City to catch a show instead of a military base they were unlikely to get into.

"Is it a long drive?" Ray asked, only focusing on the task at hand and not that they were one man short.

"We'll be there in about twenty minutes. Thirty tops." Mikey informed, his voice steady and low, focused only on the road in front of him.

It was going to be a quiet ride mourning the second loss of their friend, Ray knew, but all they have to look on the future and wait the thirty minutes that assured them to safety.

*Author's Note: Not sure if I want to continue this. Or know how... If you guys tell me you would like a continuation I could possibly come up with something. :)