A Shield Widow zombie apocalypse AU would be fantastic. I have no other specifics, just Nat and Steve being badasses, please.
They were safe for now at least. This was the first time they’d been able to rest in god knows how long. Steve leaned back against the wall and pulled Natasha close to him. They needed to stay close in case anything happened. They sat in silence for a long time before Natasha turned to face him. She hesitated before whispering. “How much further do you think we can get tonight?”
Steve shrugged, the two of them jumping a little when they heard a creak. It was just the noise that every building makes, but in this situation, they had to be cautious of everything. He stood, pulling Natasha up with him and walked as slowly and quietly as they could to the window, looking down to the streets outside. She pulled a map out of her bag and looked over it quickly.
“We’re about a half hour away from that old store. It’s not really safe, but it should have some food and stuff in there. Hopefully.” Natasha whispered, looking out onto the streets and seeing only a few of them out there. She took hold of Steve’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“We’re about an hour away from where we said we’d meet everyone if we got separated.” Steve replied, glancing at the map. “We should head there. It’s safe and the others might be there by now.” He added, before moving to lean against the wall and sliding down to sit on the floor. Natasha had never been able to keep up the same amount of hope that Steve had but she knew there was no point in trying to tell him that it was unlikely they were still alive. He never listened and kept insisting that they were fine. They had to be.
She sat next to him, cuddling up to him once more. It felt good to just have someone there who was alive and who they were supposed to be. She knew that she’d never be able to manage this alone and out of all of the people she could have picked to be wit at a time like this, Steve was at the top of the list.
Once they’d managed to sneak into the store and grab what little supplies were left, they took another short break to plan ahead. They couldn’t stay there too long and they knew it, but stopping for a bit of food wouldn’t hurt. Natasha sat across from him, their knees touching and they shared the food. They were silent for the most part, until Natasha cleared her throat. “You know, I agree we should head to the meeting place, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up Steve.” She mumbled, not looking at him. She knew if she did she’d see the pain that was so often there whenever the others were mentioned.
He shook his head, putting away what little bit of food he had left. “Tasha, they’re Avengers. They can do this, I know they can. If me and you can make it this far, then the others will be fine together. Don’t worry.” He said, more forcing himself to believe it rather than Natasha.
When they made to leave, they had realised they’d made a horrible mistake. They didn’t know if they’d made too much noise of if it was just that they were there and those… things just knew. Either way, they weren’t sticking around to find out. They looked to each other, readying themselves and taking a moment to get themselves prepared for what was about to happen.
They had their weapons at the ready; Natasha had an array of knives and blades that she’d been able to grab before the tower was overrun and Steve had his shield, a knife and a machete that he’d been able to pick up. Guns were strictly forbidden as the noise drew far too much attention to them.
That’s when it all happened. Something that they had hoped they’d never have to do. They ran as quickly as they could but the streets were too packed to get any kind of distance between them and the things that were out there at first. They had to take most of them out. Take the head off, that’s the way to do it. Keep it as clean and as quick as possible. Don’t let any of the blood get on you if you can avoid it. They managed to fight their way through most of the crowd, but when Natasha turned to Steve, he wasn’t there. She should have felt his hand pull away from hers, but they were both so caught up in trying to keep pushing through that she didn’t realise until it was too late. She went back, fighting her way through the onslaught of the dead and when she finally got to him, she realised he’d been bitten. She knew that the serum should be able to keep it isolated and at bay for a good while, but if they didn’t do something about it soon, he’d turn.
She pulled him into one of the small building near them, barricading the door with what help Steve could provide. Once they were as safe as possible she dragged Steve onto the work top, lying him flat and checking him over. His arm had been bitten. His shield arm. But nothing else. The rest was either his blood or the blood off whatever they were outside. It was either take the arm off and take the chance, or lose him completely. She couldn’t do this alone and she’d rather have an injured Steve than none at all. She used what she could to hold him down and make sure he didn’t move. She disinfected the machete as best she could, before bringing her arm up, muttering an apology before she let the blade fall.
They were safe for now at least. They were in a secure building and they had supplies. Steve wouldn’t be good to move for a few days at least, even with the super soldier serum it would take a little while for him to be able to move forward. All she could do was try her best to hope that the others were alright, and that Steve would pull through this. Because she knew that one of the only reasons she’d kept going for so long was because of Steve’s endless hope and desire to live. It had kept them going this long, and she needed to believe it would keep them going for much, much longer.
((Feel free to send me prompts! Just head here and tell me what you want.))