FSE

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The air is thick and the ground is hot. He can feel it coursing through his veins, the pain, the mental struggle. He coughs as his vision returns, with some blood trailing down his face, he slowly pushes himself to his feet. His knuckles are bloody and his legs are tired.

He turns around and sees his friends lying dead beside him. He remembers the building catching on fire, the glass smashing. Then the guns started firing.

Niall whimpers quietly as he looks at his dead friends. The ones he'd known before the apocalypse, the ones he'd made after the apocalypse, all gone.

Except for one.

He pants as he realises he isn't there.

"Aaron..." His eyes widen and he turns away from the bodies. He screams at the top of his lungs, he doesn't care if the walkers hear him.

"AARON!" He screams, "AARON! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He pants heavily and coughs some blood. He holds his chest and collapses to his knees.

He coughs again and tears start trailing down his face.

A cough can be heard beside him. He turns to his right and notices a husky lying near the curb. The walkers are slowly pooling onto the road, drawn to the screaming.

Niall crawls as fast as he can to the husky and he kneels beside him, "Aaron...Aaron," He trails off. The husky's eyes open and he gives the otter a warm smile.

"Was wonderin' where you'd got to..." Aaron coughed, but the smile didn't falter.

"We...we need to get...o-out of here." Niall groans as he reaches underneath the husky's back and picks him up.

"I didn't know you were...that strong," Aaron's vision is blurry and his breathing is faint, "Usually it's me who carries you around and saves _your_life."

The otter frantically looks around for a way out. The herd of walkers are slowly coming closer. He notices a shed nearby and makes a break for it.

"There he is! Shoot him!" Someone shouts from a distance. Bullets fly behind Niall, some landing right beside his feet, but none of them manage to even clip some fur, as the otter runs into the shed.

He groans as he puts Aaron down and turns to the door.

He pushes a shelf in front of the door and stands in front of it. He pants heavily as the gunfire continues outside. Aaron coughs and catches the otter's attention.

"Aaron..." Niall whispers as he grabs the husky's paw, "God...I thought I lost you."

Aaron looks at Niall. His lip quivers and he looks down at himself. Niall follows Aaron's gaze.

"Niall," Aaron groans, "Niall..look at me sweetie..." Niall doesn't respond. He pulls off Aaron's shirt gently and stares at his chest. A few bullets have hit him, but it doesn't look too serious.

"You'll be fine..." Niall gives Aaron a warm smile, "One hundred percent."

"That's not..." Aaron groans, "That's not...the problem..." Niall frowns.

"What do you-?" Aaron coughs again.

"Shoulder..." Aaron whispers. Niall crawls closer to the husky and slowly pulls him to the side so he can get a better look at his shoulder.

As soon as he sees it, his world collapses.

"You're bit," Niall whispers, "No no. Fuck, no! This can't be happening!" Niall stands and starts to pace. Tears trail down his face and he whimpers.

"Niall...N-Niall! Calm...calm down..." Aaron's tone lowers. Niall kneels beside Aaron and grabs the husky's paw, "I'm sorry..." Aaron frowns.

"You promised..." Niall's lip quivers, "You promised we'd both make it!"

"No..." Aaron replies, "I promised that you'd make it."

"But..." Niall tightens his grip on Aaron's paw.

"And you will, alright?" Aaron returns Niall's gesture by tightening his paw weakly.

"Not without you," Niall whimpers, "I love you Aaron, you're my whole life."

"And you're mine too, darlin'..." Aaron lets out a shaky sigh and looks away from Niall.

"They're still shooting out there," Aaron says, "At least...you'll be...you'll be free from walkers when you get out."

"Unless someone else survived except for us..." Niall replies.

"The bodies...nobody else made it, did they?" Aaron asks.

Niall covers his mouth and nods. He starts crying. Aaron pulls Niall close to him. Niall rests his head on the husky's chest and strokes it gently.

"At least I made it this far," Aaron chuckles, "All I wanted to do, was see what the new world would become," Aaron and Niall's eyes meet, "There's still some hope. Not everyone is a monster..." Aaron's breathing quietens and he looks at the door.

"You can still see it..." Niall whispers, "Just...c-can we...?"

"A bite on the hand, maybe...but a bite on the shoulder?" Aaron frowns, "I'm gone, Niall."

"No...no..." Niall sobs quietly.

"L-Listen, sweetheart?" Aaron says, "Do you...d-do you remember when Nathan took us to see that movie with Ryan?"

"Which one...?" Niall whispers.

"The one where you and I held each other for the whole movie," Aaron smiles, "It was a rom-com and it was a-awful, but..."

"But?" Niall tilts his head.

"Look, the point is..." Aaron's smile fades, "I was in heaven, right there...just holding you in my arms. And I'm here now...with you in my arms again. It's funny, isn't it..?"

"I-I guess," Niall's ears lower, "I just...t-there has to be another way."

"There is none," Aaron lets out a quiet sigh, "I'm dead, Niall. There's...there's no way to change that, but there is something you can do for me."

"Anything!" Niall's eyes widen.

"Survive," Aaron's eyes narrow, "D-Do whatever it takes to keep you and your group safe. You will find more people. There are many good people out there."

"You're going to make another group. And you're going to tell them stories about what you've been through in these last few years," Aaron sighs, "Hell, you might even find another gay guy."

"No...never..." Niall whispers, "I don't want anyone else, I want you, damn it!"

"I think I heard something in here!" A muffled voice from outside can be heard.

Aaron's breathing slows and his eyes start to slowly close, "Niall...I'm sorry."

"Aaron, please, no. I love you..." Niall whimpers and holds the husky tightly.

"I love you too...my little otter. Stay...stay safe..." Aaron's breathing slowly fades and his eyes close.

"No..." Niall sobs and holds the husky tighter. After a few seconds pass, the shelf is knocked down and the door is opened. Niall looks up at the door and grabs a wrench from one of the shelves. He crawls out of the shed and notices a wolf with a knife looking away from him.

Niall runs at him and slams the wrench into the back of the wolf's head. He spends the next few seconds repeatedly slamming the wrench into his head until he pushes himself up. He narrows his eyes as he sees a car in the middle of the road.

He can see him, the bear, standing in the centre of the road with a big grin on his face.

"Fucker," He whispers, "You killed them. All of them. You're going to pay." Before he gets a chance to get closer, he notices a Molotov resting on the ground.

"Must've had it on him." He glances back at the wolf before he picks up the Molotov. He takes a good long look around and doesn't notice anyone else, except for a few people standing at the car.

Niall lets out a small growl and propels the Molotov at the car. The otter stares at them as the people catch fire and scream as they drop their guns and collapse. After a few seconds, the car explodes and debris is sent in all directions.

Niall grunts as a piece of the car slams him in the head and knocks him out.

His vision returns and he hears grunting nearby. He slowly pushes himself to his feet, only to see him.

The bear, standing right beside him, with a gun in his paw.

"Hello Niall." The bear pants.

"Travis," Niall mutters "I've already killed all of your friends. You're next, you fucker..."

He smirks, "We'll see about that." He pulls the trigger, but only a click can be heard.

Niall growls and leaps onto the bear. The gun is knocked out of his paw and they end up rolling down a small hill and towards the burning car. Niall coughs and pushes himself to his feet. He looks down at his bloody knuckles, then looks up at Travis, whose standing in front of him.

"This is what you wanted, right?" Travis chuckles, "To kill me? Well, here's your chance. Come on." Niall doesn't waste any time. He screams and kicks the bear in the leg. The bear grunts and collapses onto his knees.

Niall slams his fist across the bear's jaw and knocks him down.

Travis growls and swipes Niall's legs from underneath him. The bear pushes himself onto Niall and wraps his paws around the otter's neck.

"Stupid...fucker!" He growls, "Just go away!" Niall pushes the bear off of him and rolls on top of him. He slams his fists into the bear's face over and over. He doesn't stop when bruises start to form and blood starts to trail down the bear's face.

The bear pants and glances to the side. He notices a knife that's been wedged into the back of a fox - one of Niall's brothers - and grunts as he pushes Niall off of him. Niall feels his back being singed by the flames as he's almost pushed into them.

Travis runs to the knife and pulls it out of the fox's back. He turns to Niall. Niall backs away slowly as the bear comes closer with a grin on his face.

"Come on, little otter...let me take your skin!" He laughs manically as he swings the knife in Niall's direction. Niall ducks and groans as the knife slashes his ear. He holds his ear with one paw and grabs the knife's handle with the other.

He groans as his ear starts ringing. He uses both paws to try to pry the knife away from the bear. Travis kicks the otter away and raises the knife. Niall rolls out of the way just in time for Travis to swing the knife at him. It hits the ground beside the otter.

Niall takes the opportunity to kick the knife out of the bear's paw. He stands up and pushes the bear against one of the cars. Travis laughs as he pushes the otter away and stands above him.

Niall tries to crawl away, but the bear kneels atop of him and wraps his paws around Niall's neck.

"Mine...mine!" Travis growls. A moan is heard beside them, and Niall turns to see Aaron walking towards them. It wasn't him anymore. He was one of them.

Travis hasn't noticed and he's still choking Niall. Niall groans and rolls Travis off of him. The bear rolls away slightly, but stops and pushes himself up.

"Now you-..." Aaron sinks his teeth into the bear's neck. Travis collapses to the ground as Aaron starts to feed on him.

Niall pushes himself to his feet and pants with tears trailing down his face. He notices a rifle beside the body of a vixen. He lets out a shaky sigh and grabs it.

"One shot left." He whispers as he looks at Aaron.

"Always saving me, Aaron," Niall whispers, "You never change." Aaron looks up at Niall and groans. Travis lies still on the ground as Aaron continues to feed on him.

Niall steps closer, but not too close. He knows that Aaron is long gone.

"I'm not gonna let you stay as one of them," He whispers, "I love you Aaron, and you know that."

"I'm gonna survive," Niall holds the rifle close to his eye and aims it at Aaron, "And it's all because of you."

"Thank you." He whispers as he slowly pulls the trigger and the shot rings out.

Niall looks away and drops the rifle to the ground.

He looks around at the devastation caused by the people that were hunting them. They are all dead now, all of them, including everyone he held dear.

Aaron has no idea why he was the only one that survived this.

He freezes as he hears a familiar voice, "Niall!" He turns and sees a panda running towards him.

"It's me, Kyle!" The panda exclaims, "We need to g-go! Everyone's..." Kyle notices the bodies, then notices Aaron lying dead atop of Travis, "Oh..."

Niall lets out a shaky sigh, "Come on. Let's go." Kyle picks up the rifle and watches Niall as the otter slowly walks away.

Kyle whispers to himself.

"He's gonna survive."