Heartbeats and Heartbreaks
Angst, unedited, major character death TW, gore, and violence as well
Lance never saw his trip to Vegas ending how it did. He really didn't. To his credit though, nobody would've, considering what happened.
It started on the third night of their stay, Lance cuddled up to Shiro, his fiancé, on their hotel room bed. Shiro was talking on the phone with Keith, and he was listening to Keith's muffled voice from the phone and smiled as their friend mentioned their recent engagement. The tv was on, for background noise, and it was cantered on the news channel. Lance had turned his attention to the screen, and leaning more against Shiro, enjoying the warmth.
"We've received reports of odd behaviour from patients in a New York hospital. Said patients appear to have no pulse, but are walking and moving. They appear to be hostile, and must be restrained at all times. Doctors however say that there's no reason for panic-" the reporter said, her face serious. Lance's heart jumped, and he frowned, not noticing that Shiro had finished talking and had hung up.
"-so far only three people across the United States have been reported to be infected, but health organizations advise citizens to be careful. Wash your hands frequently, clean your dishes regularly and thoroughly, and avoid contact with infected persons," she added. The tv clicked and the channel changed to a rerun episode of 'The Bachelorette' as Shiro pecked Lance on the cheek.
"You were getting tense," he mumbled softly against Lance's neck, placing a soft kiss against it. He smiled and turned as best as he could, pulling Shiro into a chaste kiss, pulling away after a second.
"Thank you," he said softly, settling back against his fiancé's chest again, closing his eyes as exhaustion washed over him. Between the soft rise and fall of Shiro's chest, his steady heartbeat, and the quiet drone of the tv, Lance really didn't stand a chance, and he quickly fell asleep. Shiro smiled and held him close, watching him sleep silently for a moment, before turning the tv off finally and the lamp beside the bed followed suit soon after, leaving the two sleeping peacefully in the dark.
The world they woke to was utter chaos, though they scarcely knew it. Shiro woke up first, as he always did, and checked the time before nudging Lance awake. Lance protested a bit but rolled off of him gracelessly, and yawned, stretching as Shiro stood, stretching. He headed to the washroom as Lance sat up, and turned the tv on, checking the news like he always did first thing. He could hear the shower starting as the blaring siren of an emergency alert startled both of them. Shiro dashed back into the room, his shirt half off, and looking confused. The honestly terrifying electronic voice reported everything in monotone, which just made it worse.
"-is found to be highly contagious, and has spread across the country overnight. Infected individuals are highly dangerous, do not come into contact with them at any cost" the voice droned on. The two looked at each other, slightly panicked. Shiro took a deep breath and thought for a second.
"We should wait before we panic. Let's see what comes of this before we jump to conclusions," he said decidedly, getting a shaky nod from Lance.
They spent the day in the hotel, calling their friends and family, checking in on them and watching the news incessantly for more updates on the situation. It only got worse though, and by the end of the day everyone was in a panic, and it had been dubbed not so affectionately a "zombie outbreak". Those who were infected showed symptoms within hours, first sign being chest pain, followed quickly by lack of pulse, glazed over eyes, and absentmindedness. Then? Aggression. Total blind rage, causing them to turn on any and everyone. They bit, scratched and hit, seemingly unconcerned by who they were hurting. Those that were found with lacerations, bite marks, or anything of the sort also became infected.
Lance and Shiro soon jumped into action, packing Shiro's old Cadillac with food, water bottles and gas canisters. They may have stolen some blankets and pillows from the hotel, and sorted them in the backseat, but that wasn't important.
"Shiro, we need to find a courtroom or a minister or something," Lance said softly from the passenger seat as Shiro got in the driver's.
"What do you mean? Why do we have to find a minister or courtroom?" Shiro asked, mystified. What possible reason did Lance have, that they needed to go to a courtroom?
"If something....happens, to one of us," he explained, pausing and looking at Shiro, his expression pained. "We won't have the authority to handle the healthcare stuff," he said. Shiro caught on and his expression dropped. Lance had a point. If they ended up in a hospital, and they couldn't speak for them-self, the doctors would have to track down their family. Which would be near impossible with the amount of panic. "And we don't know when we'll be able to get married if this continues," he added.
So it was settled. After a small talk, the two decided to go to the courtroom first thing. The judge was rather hasty, but the forms were signed after some panic, and they were officially married. It wasn't exactly how they envisioned that going down, but they couldn't exactly be picky. They were lucky they had hid their supplies so well, seeing as nobody had broken into the car, which had happened to the on they were parked next to. The widow was shattered, the alarm blaring, and the door still open. Someone was in a hurry.
Evidently most of the city was too. As Shiro drove, Lance saw several people frothing at the mouth and beating someone senseless, a sight that made Lance more than abut queasy. They made it to the freeway, and drove amongst many others. Some were slow, others sped so fast down the road it was insane. Several cars were abandoned in the side of the road, or even in the middle, doors ajar, and one even had someone furiously screeching as they pressed themselves against the window. In a matter of hours the country was in total disarray.
The longer they drove the less cars they saw. They had decided to flee north from Arizona, deciding that there would be a less populated area up there, plus, Shiro's family lived in a small town up north. Except when they got there, the town was abandoned. Not another human in sight. It had been two weeks, and the epidemic had become a pandemic, so it shouldn't have been surprising, but it wasn't easy. Shiro had been heartbroken to find remnants of a struggle in his parents house. Including dried blood that stained the kitchen tiles, and the carpet. They stayed one night, Shiro staying up the whole night, unable to sleep. They restocked their supplies, getting gas from the abandoned gas station and filling the extra cans again, grabbing food that wouldn't spoil, as many water bottles as they could, and even a few pots, a pan and two bowls, with forks and spoons, as well as a can opener.
As weeks went on the can opener would prove to be their saviour in times where they couldn't find a store or house to ransack for more food and they were running low. Shiro had been devastated by the obvious signs his parents didn't make it, that he hadn't looked once at the picture he had taken from the house without sobbing. Having Lance helped ease the blow but it was still bad. They spent many nights cuddled in the back of the car, Lance holding a shaking Shiro close, crooning softly to him.
They had managed to avoid the infected people for a long time, prompted by the radio warning that told them to kill them on sight and destroy their brain. Neither were fond of the idea of killing someone, Shiro mostly because of his past in the army, and Lance mostly because he wanted to believe that those who were infected could still come back. Could still be saved. That ideal was scrapped soon though. Days after they had left Shiro's parents house, they ran into their first hoard. It was small, but took them so long to fight off. There were maybe ten, but it wasn't until Lance was almost pinned by one that things got serious. Shiro had grabbed the axe they kept for wood chopping and used it. Once they thinned out the group they were able to make an escape. They stopped once they were sure they were safe and worriedly checked for any scratches, relieved to find that they had escaped unscathed. After that they grabbed whatever weapons they could. Though they were far and few in between.
They had been on the road for three weeks when they found it. A small and rather pathetic looking town. But that's not what the good news was. The good news was, on the edge of the town, on the very outskirts of the tiny thing, was a hotel. Adjacent to it was a small restaurant and the windows were boarded up. But outside the doors stood a familiar face. Matt. Shiro's old childhood friend. The reunion was sweet, the two were ecstatic, and Lance was thrilled to learn their other friends were there as well.
They were welcomed in, but were checked over for any recent wounds, and were cleared to stay once they four nothing. The group swapped stories of how they all got there. Hunk, Keith and Pidge all went together, Matt went with a separate group, of several new faces, and Coran and Allura stayed together. They had all one by one found each other and set up base in the small one storey hotel.
Lance and Shiro were given a room together, choosing the only one with a single bed that was left out of the three extra. Neither were too keen on leaving the other. They unpacked the Cadillac and parked it behind the hotel, Lance helping Hunk sort the food, and Shiro taking the fuel to a different area, and sorting their stolen blankets and pillows on their bed, before putting the weapons in the weapon stash.
After a few days of settling they were both given jobs. Shiro was to help guard and boost their defence, so the infected couldn't get in, and Lance was given the job of lookout, stationed on the roof, hidden in the leaves of the tree that hung over the roof, with a rifle, and some water. Lance had no trouble settling in his job, his aim impeccable. His dad had owned a gun range so he had spent a lot of time shooting them, much to his mothers chagrin. Shiro settled into his easily as well, and things were quiet for a bit. Sometimes one or both of them were sent to gather supplies, which left the other quite anxious if both of them didn't go, but they pushed through it. They cherished their downtime, spending almost all of it together.
Thanks to Pidge, they also had running water and electricity, though a rather limited amount of both, meaning showers were definitely off limits and baths were luxuries. Lights worked and they were able to keep their technology running, and the stove working, so they were pretty well off. But their water? Wasn't safe to drink. None of them wanted to chance it. Which meant excursions for bottled water were frequent compared to other supply runs.
Lance had been on a supply run for food and water one day, and had been gone all day. The whole group was worried sick, but nobody more than Shiro. He had gone alone, taking one of the cars to a neighbouring town. He went on his own so he could fit more supplies in the car and so there'd be less noise, but he had been gone so long. As Shiro paced in front of the entrance frantically, his heart rate spiked and his breathing erratic, his mind wandered to the gunshots they had heard about two hours earlier. Even in the cool air of the hotel he was sweating, the dark doing nothing to conceal the pinched muscles in his face.
Matt and Keith watched him quietly, silently debating which one of them should try and get Shiro to sleep since night was closing in and it was getting dark. Eventually Keith just sighed and stepped up to him stopping him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He was about to say something when Nyma, who had been guarding the door outside came in, looking rather upset. She pulled Matt outside and he immediately saw Lance's form, curled up, his back to them as he sobbed softly. He wasn't wearing a shirt but he had his wrapped around his waist and ribcage.
"What happened?" Matt asked frantically, rushing over. Lance turned and whimpered, clearly in pain. He held his arm over his stomach and wouldn't look him in the eye. He silently lifted his arm and Matt saw the large bloodstain clearly from bleeding through the makeshift bandage.
"I-I ran in to a hoard, there were so many," Lance tried to explain, his voice cracking. Matt was acutely aware that Shiro and Keith were now outside with them, Keith holding Shiro back away from Lance. "I tried to get through them but I couldn't," he added, a sob tearing through him. Shiro shook Keith off and stepped closer to Lance who shook his head. "Don't, it's been too long since then," he said softly, another sob ripping through his throat.
Tears streamed down Shiro's face, and he was only vaguely aware of a hand on his shoulder. He didn't even hear Matt telling Keith to gather the others. All he could see was a blurry image of Lance pulling off his ring from his finger, and urging Shiro forward. He stepped closer, within arms reach, and Lance pressed the ring into his palm, a sad smile on his face.
"Lance.....no, please, y-you can't," he said softly, his voice cracking as he was pulled a step back. "You can't leave me," he whimpered, his voice almost inaudible.
"I have to," Lance responded, wincing in pain as he twitched. He was getting more and more pale as time went on, clearly losing blood still. He yelped in pain, and his hand flew to his chest, gripping at it, his nails digging into his skin as he groaned loudly in pain. Chest pain. It was sudden and they all knew what it meant.
"Who's going to do it?" A small voice from beside Shiro chimed in. Pidge. They all collectively looked to Shiro, as Lance writhed in pain. Shiro's eyes were glued to his spouse in horror, incredulous that this would happen.
After several minutes, it was decided. Shiro would do it. He hadn't wanted anyone else to, though he was reluctant to do it. Once it set in that someone had to do it, he decided he would have to be the one to off Lance. So, a small pistol was placed in his hand, and he handed the ring Lance had given him to Keith to hold. The others were off to the side, watching but giving them space. Shiro helped Lance up, and hugged him gently, before stepping back. Tears clouded his vision once again as he lifted the gun.
"I love you," Lance said quietly, tears streaming down his cheeks, as he looked down the barrel of the gun.
"I love you too," Shiro sobbed, taking a shaky breath, his finger tensing on the trigger. "I'm sorry,"
A gunshot rang through the air, followed by the sickening thud of Lance's body hitting the ground. Shiro dropped the gun and covered his mouth in horror as he looked at his husband laying there, before screaming, the sound dissolving into a heaving sob. He barely registered the group pulling him into a hug, or Nyma picking up the gun and turning the safety on again.
After they let him go, he sat on the ground by the door, still crying, still staring. He watched as Rolo and Matt very very carefully moved the lifeless body, though where to Shiro had no idea. His eyes went back to the bloodstained pavement, and he turned away, guilt squeezing his heart.
Keith eventually got him inside, and sat him at one of the tables in the restaurant portion of the building, where Hunk was making food, trying to rid himself of the image of his best friend falling to the ground lifelessly. Keith took a spot beside Shiro and grabbed his attention by placing the ring in front of him. The simple gold ring glinted in the dim light, reminding him of when they both first saw it. They had been picking out a necklace for Lance's mom, and he had caught a glimpse of the ring. Shiro remembered vividly how his face had lit up at the sight of it, his smile soft and his eyes bright.
Shiro picked it up and stared at it, the design of a heart carved into the inside of the band. That small detail had been enough for Lance to fall in love with it. The look on his face was enough to remind Shiro why he had fallen in love with Lance as well.
He loved Lance so much. So so much. And now he was gone. He had killed the love of his life
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