Uh- Guys I kinda- I kinda made a pt 3 for the Zombie story... (3002 words)
Same size vore, mild harm (character hasn't eaten much for a while), and swearing.
The last can in the aisle. Alex held his breath, praying to a god that he didn't really believe in anymore that this one would still be good enough to eat. Slowly, Alex raised the can opener. In a weird way he almost didn’t want to open the can, because if it remained closed, then there's still that hope that Alex wouldn’t have to go yet another day without food. He doesn't know how much longer he can make it without eating. It has been two days already, with him surviving off of small crumbs and water. In addition, the previous week he had to skip eating multiple days, which also didn't help his current predicament. The hunger was starting to get to him. Even the stench of the rotting food and corpses had started to neutralize into something more tolerable, more appetizing.
Zed, of course, has not been affected by the new lack of food, but even with this Zed still showed a sort of empathy towards Alex’s situation. They know the feeling of what Alex has been going through, if not having known a feeling of hunger worse than what was happening to Alex right now. It seems like months ago now, even if it was only a week, that Zed had started to open up a bit more about their feelings. They described how often it felt like someone was ripping out their internal organs whenever they were around Alex or any human for that matter. Zed compared it to having not eaten for months, which to be fair they hadn't eaten anything other than food that, now Alex knew, didn't even make a difference to the hunger clawing at them.
Sighing, Alex finally decided to open the can. Placing the can opener onto its lid, he turned the knob little by little, until finally the lid was able to be pried off. A smell wafted towards him, one that Alex knew all too well.
“Fuck!” He threw the can to the ground, spoiled meat and beans splattering along its path. It landed only a few feet away, slowly oozing out its expired contents, almost taunting Alex with what could have been his meal. Tears started to stream down his face, while he fought the urge to quickly lick them off in an attempt to preserve any sort of nutrients he still had. He must have shouted quite loud, because within a few seconds he heard the quiet tapping of someone approaching.
“Alex?” Zed whispered, trying their best to sound calming. They spotted the spilled can, and understood instantly what was wrong. Alex didn't even look up as Zed came closer, soon coming to sit by him. He knew Zed wanted to say something, they were making the little lip smacking noises they make every time they want to talk, but can't quite figure out what to say. In a weird way, it was cute. It almost reminded him of a fish trying to eat a food pellet that's too far away, but the fist sits there anyway, pursing its lips in an attempt to grab the distant food. Alex let them go on, grabbing at the imaginary fish food until they were finally able to put a sentence together. In the meantime, the silence allowed him to calm down a bit.
After a long time brewing, Alex finally looked up at Zed. Zed, it just so happened, in that exact moment was finally able to find their words. “Do you want me to go look at the other store we saw earlier?”
Alex shook his head, “There were way too many zombies. Covering up my scent or not, they would still be too close to not smell me.”
“Then what if you stayed at home and I looked?” Zed offered.
“Then I would be at home and still end up zombie food,” Alex paused, smirking at Zed before adding, “to zombies I don't want eating me that is.” He waited for Zed's ever so predictable reaction. Their shoulders tensed up, smiling a little before trying to hide it along with the blush forming. Most of the time, Zed tries to cover their face with their shirt, but since they were wearing a shirt that by all means was too small for them, and ended up practically glued to their form, they had to opt for covering their embarrassment with their hands.
After giving them time to ground themself, Alex went into a bit further detail as to why he couldn't stay home. “We both know that, at this point, the only reason I have not been found and killed is because of you. If you leave, and a zombie horde walks by, I am toast.” Alex let out a giggle, only for his pun to fall on a very confused Zed. “You know, cause they’d eat me? Toast?”
A light chuckle escaped Zed's lips as they finally understood the joke being made. “Ok, I get that, but that store had a lot of food in it. Alex, I know you keep saying you're alright, but you aren't. I know you aren't. We need to either figure out a plan to get into that store, without you getting eaten, or we need to figure out somewhere else to look. We have searched everywhere in a… “ Zed paused, “I- I don't know 50 mile radius?”
Alex put up a hand, “No, no. That's definitely not true. Where the hell did you get 50 from?”
“I don't know, you know I'm not good with maps. You're the map person, not me.” Zed folded their arms across their chest.
“The map person? You mean the fucking navigater?”
“Map person, navigator, same difference.” Zed waved their hand dismissively, “My point being that we either are going to have to venture out of the city, or into that store.”
It was true, and Alex knew it. He was starving, and this store might be his only shot at food for the next 10 miles. He wouldn't make it 10 miles to the neighboring town, that was for sure, and the two of them had already cleaned all the good food out of the stores here. That store was his only option at this moment, an option that would most certainly get him eaten. Eaten. An idea popped into Alex's brain, like a dog locking eyes with a squirrel.
“Well, I am not going to get into that store without getting eaten.”
Zed attempted to respond, “I kno-” before being cut off by Alex.
“But, maybe I could get eaten by the right zombie?” He looked expectantly over to Zed, who was still trying to understand Alex’s request. Zed looked down at their lap, going over Alex's words again in their head, then quickly looking up at Alex once they understood what was being asked of them.
“I…” Zed opened and closed their mouths, the words not wanting to come out, “You want me to eat you? So that the zombies, er- the other zombies don’t?”
Alex nodded, happy that they both seemed to be on the same page.
“But… I mean you're like…” Zed motioned a large circle in front of their abdomen with their hands, trying to display how large Alex appears when Zed eats him. “That- that’s going to be suspicious. Plus, I don’t know if you know this, but walking around with an extra 150 pounds is not exactly easy. You are practically the same size as me! I’m not this big hunk that can whisk you away, I am a short frail excuse of a living… I mean dead I guess… being.”
“Ok, then maybe we go in there together, we rush over to the food section, and you eat me before looking through the canned goods. Sound like a plan?”
“Not really, that sounds more like-” Zed was cut off by Alex putting his hand over their mouth.
“It's a plan. Don't argue with the hungry human.” Zed sighed, air from their nose blowing against Alex’s hand. Alex took this as a sign of defeat, and removed their hand from Zed’s face. “Ok, let's go then.” Alex got up, rushing towards the place they entered the store.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Zed hastily whispered. Alex hadn't realized just how many zombies were in this store until now. The place was packed to the brim with them. One that really piqued his interest was acting as a cashier, if a cashier had only half a head and had blood stains all across their mouth. Otherwise, most of the rest of them were wandering the aisles, many limping from section to section smelling the items before placing them back down with a sad look.
“I didn't know there were this many.” Alex admitted with a hint of guilt. He paused, trying to think of their next move.
Alex shimmied his way along the alleyway, making sure to make minimal noises and minimal movement. Soon, he reached the window he wanted to see inside of. He lifted his mirror, using a trick he remembered from old spy movies, angling it so that he could see into the store without having to show his face in the window. Inside, he saw this window faced a lone aisle, one that seemed to be empty. “Perfect,” Alex waved for Zed to follow him. Slowly, Alex inched his way up to the window, making sure to continue to scan for zombies within the ally as well. The window, unfortunately, was still whole, and in perfect condition. However rare this was, and however sentimental this window would have been for Alex in any other situation, he knew it was bound to break eventually, and that he was going to have to be the one to do so. Alex took his knife from his pocket, and carefully sliced into the frame holding it in place. The window was small enough that he was able to use one hand to free it, and one to hold it up while he was doing so. It took quite a while, but he knew that he needed to be patient with this. Too fast and he would push the window in, shattering it and alerting all the zombies in the store. Too slow, and he might catch the eye of a wandering zombie. Once the window was free, he handed it to Zed, who in turn gently placed it on the ground with a soft *clink*.
Alex scanned the aisle one more time before hoisting himself onto the windowsill. He slid down into the store, taking care to not make any loud noises. Zed was swift to follow, joining Alex in the aisle. Alex figured they were in what used to be the toiletry section, based on the number of faded toilet paper wrappers and scratched signs that bragged that their tissues were softer than the rest. One sign drew Alex’s attention more than the rest. It read, ‘A stack O’ Lumber Jack's toilet paper is equivalent to…’ then it was cut off, the rest of the letters too worn to read. Alex didn’t quite understand what it was about this sign that hypnotized him, but it did distract him quite a lot. He shook his head, taking a step forward. A sudden noise made him stop dead in his tracks. Light steps came from the next aisle over. Alex froze, and Zed did the same. For a moment, all that they could hear was the footsteps as they gradually went away. Alex silently sighed from relief, starting forward once more. Tap tap tap tap. The footsteps started up again, this time coming closer. There wasn't enough time to run, he knew that in the time it took him to get out the window he would already be surrounded. So he did the only thing he could think of. Alex turned to Zed, grabbing their face and prying open their mouth. Whether it was zombie instincts kicking in, Alex's panicked expression, or Zed understanding exactly what Alex was thinking, Zed began to help him crawl into his mouth.
Zed gripped his waist, shoving him into Zed’s mouth. The plush flesh that was now starting to become familiar greeted him. Similar to the first time he was eaten, Zed did not take the time to taste him. Rather Zed began to rush the process, tilting a bit back and swallowing. Blood rushed to Alex’s head as he was pushed into the tight confines of Zed’s throat. It was almost suffocating, but it didn't last long. Zed swallowed again, bringing Alex into the stomach. Evermoving walls greeted him, almost reaching out to grab at his face, wanting to feel every inch of him. As more and more of his body was taken inside Zed, more of him was pushed into his final destination. To Alex, and to Zed as well, this process felt like it took hours, however in reality it took Zed no more than 2 minutes to scarf him down. Once finished, Zed sucked in a deep breath, one that both him and Alex knew he technically didn't need, but in a strange way it felt right.
The way Zed swallowed him ended Alex in a very uncomfortable position. Alex was upside down, with one arm pinned in a position that, although allowed him to scratch his upper back, was not comfortable. He wiggled a bit, trying to free his arm. He felt pressure on his sides, which was most likely Zed silently telling him to stay still. After a moment like this, he felt the pressure release, which he took as his signal to try and get comfortable again. He managed to get his arm into a more natural position, but that was only half the problem. Now the second problem was trying to get upright when there is no solid surface beneath him.
“Zed,” Alex whispered as quietly as he could, “Can you sit for a moment so I can get myself upright?” Although he received no verbal answer, he felt his world move downwards, and felt a sturdy surface appear beneath him. With this prop, he was able to move himself upright. “Thank you, I'm okay now.” Alex felt another shift, this time upwards, which he took as a sign that Zed was now planning to go on to the canned food aisle to look for food. This was confirmed, as Alex began to sway and bob with Zed's movement within his fleshy enclosure.
With the blood no longer rushing towards his head, Alex was able to take in what had just happened more clearly. The reality of the situation hit him full force. He had shoved himself down Zed’s throat without warning. He hadn't taken any consideration for Zed, just his own survival. Although he knew he shouldn't beat himself up too harshly, and that Zed would quite easily forgive him, he couldn't help but feel a little bad for the haste and lack of remorse he showed. Alex wanted to apologize, but since he had no clue what was happening outside, and for all he knew there could be a thousand zombies watching Zed’s stomach for any sort of abnormality, he decided against it. Instead, he gently placed his hand against the nearest stomach wall, and gently rubbed. At first, he didn’t get much of a reaction, but soon, he felt the gentle rubbing of Zed’s hand gliding back and forth over his form. Alex couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face at the idea of Zed happily tracing their hand over him.
After a bit of this, Zed suddenly stopped, and slowly flopped onto the ground. Alex sat for a moment, wondering why they had stopped, when he heard a faint clicking sound he instantly recognized as the can opener. He shuffled impatiently, waiting for any sign from Zed that one of those cans housed anything edible. The only thing his movement ended up doing, however, was make Zed's stomach make more noise. Without warning, a long, deep growl erupted from Zed’s stomach. Alex felt Zed’s hands grip his sides again, something that now Alex is starting to think is Zed’s way of telling him to stop moving. However hard it was, Alex stayed still, listening to each can open with decreasing enthusiasm. Between the warmth, the lack of anything to do, and the soft gurgles of Zed’s stomach, it was becoming more and more hard to stay awake. If it weren't for the stress of the situation at hand, Alex probably would have fallen asleep sooner. However he fought it for quite a long while, even if he did end up losing the battle against sleep in the end.
“Alex?” A hazy voice cut through his dreamless sleep.
A low hum was all he could muster in response.
“Alex, I'm out of the store. Do you… want out?” Alex recognized the voice as Zed’s now that he was starting to get pulled more out of his deep sleep. Alex thought for a moment, trying to piece together what all was happening. A light pressure on top of his head quickly reminded him that he was in Zed’s stomach.
Alex weighed his options, but eventually settled on the fact that he was far too comfortable to leave. “No.” He sleepily replied, closing his eyes again hoping to fall back asleep.
He didn't expect Zed to speak again, and as such was a bit startled when he was asked more questions. “Are you ok? You sound… weird.”
“I was sleeping…” Alex sighed, hoping that was a good enough answer.
“Sleeping?” Alex heard the disbelief in Zed’s voice.
“Mmhm. Sleeping. Good night.” To bring home his point, he moved to nestle further into Zed’s stomach walls.
“Oh, um. Good night.” Zed was still in a bit of shock, but Alex didn’t care. He didn’t even care about the food. All he could focus on was continuing his nap where he knew he was safe.
