#zombie apocalypse to nuclear threat

[plotandelegy]

Practical and Unique Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Design Ideas for Fantasy Writers

 You've decided to destroy civilization in your fantasy novel? Sucks to be your character. Now let's make their situation a little better or worse but at the least unique, practical, and resourceful. 

Use What's Left Behind: The end of the world doesn't mean the end of human ingenuity. Think of what materials survived your apocalypse and how to reuse them. Crumbling skyscrapers can be reinforced and turned into vertical communities, or broken-down cars can be transformed into steel-tough barricades. Old school buses or train cars? 

The Importance of Defense: Your characters aren't the only ones who have survived. Threats lurk everywhere. Design shelters that have built-in defenses. Your skyscraper community may have drawbridges between floors, or your train car home can be easily detached and sped away in case of danger. Remember the secret exits!

Incorporate the Natural Environment: Trees, caves, and mountains offer robust options for post-apocalyptic shelter. A hollowed-out hillside, for example, provides cover from harsh weather and is easily defensible. Make sure the natural element isn't in a highly radioactive environment. The trunk of a massive, ancient tree could house an entire family. Underwater habitats in the middle of a lake or an ocean? 

Reinvention of Basic Utilities: How will your characters access fresh water, dispose of waste, or maintain a consistent food supply? A river or rainwater could be cleverly directed and filtered, or a salvaged solar panel can provide electricity for a makeshift greenhouse. Composting toilets aren't glamorous, but they get the job done. I may be too used to modern comforts because that last one is a big ew.

Adapting to Your Apocalypse: If you have a nuclear winter scenario, consider shelters with radiation shielding and heat sources. Alien invasion? Consider camouflage or underground dwellings. Zombie outbreak? Elevate your shelters; zombies can't climb! Well, I hope your zombies can't climb. If they do, you may be a sick unhinged person. Keep it up. Makes for better fiction.

Remember, It's Home: This is where your characters will spend a lot of time. Personalize these spaces to reflect the inhabitants. Maybe one character is obsessed with salvaging books, so there's a small library corner. Perhaps another is a mechanic, and there's a well-stocked tool area. Little details will make your post-apocalyptic shelters feel more like home. Or not. A lack of home-related details could add to a sense of impermanence. Having to pull up and run a lot, maybe leaving things behind in your haste, adds to the suspense.

No long ending paragraph today. Have fun writing!

-Indigo

[cdyssey]

Tropes Draft #1: Apocalypse

Hi there! My friends @nakedmonkey, @smashingmagicklovely, @fat-fem-and-asian, and @harrietdyker played a game on Discord this week where we drafted a cast for a film based on common tropes in an apocalypse story, and now we're looking to settle a winner via poll! See short synopses of each movie under cut, but, of course, you're welcome just to vote based on vibes alone! At the end of the week, we'll reveal whose film was which.

[01.] sarah snook and ayo edebiri star in indie zombie drama ALL OF THE MEN ARE DEAD. snook plays alice, a world weary survivor trying to locate her younger sibling lachlan (liv hewson), who vanished after a fight. she rescues lost survivors brianna (ayo edebiri) and her younger sister lily (violet mcgraw), along with their dog tiger (DITTO THE DOG ! #1 on the call sheet) from a horde of zombies. In return, brianna says that she met lachlan a few weeks ago and directed them to the safe zone her mother zoya (sheryl lee ralph) leads before getting separated. she offers alice the same safety if they find their way back. despite her growing fondness for lily, alice can't shake a feeling of unease with her new companions. how does brianna know these lands so well? how did lily know alice's name? why did they leave the safe zone at all?

[02.] At Rainbow House, everyone is welcome and treated like family. At least, that’s what Eleanor Glass (Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver) and her wife Marcia (Academy Award winner Allison Janney) intended when they opened their LGBTQ youth center, which is under existential threat by the ominous corporation CTOA, headed by Maxwell Price (Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo). Now, in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, Eleanor and Marcia have made efforts to turn the center into a safe house for all those who lost everything. Alongside longtime program director Charlie (Academy Award winner Ian McKellen) and Eleanor’s street-smart protege Sunny (Emmy winner Zendaya), they work tirelessly to protect everyone - even as CTOA continues its efforts to dismantle the organization. But when Price and his daughter Ashlyn (Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega) show up seeking shelter, Eleanor and Marcia must choose between their commitment to welcoming everyone as equals and their fight with Maxwell Price. Sunny’s secret relationship with Ashlyn complicates matters further, not to mention the possibility that CTOA had more to do with this nuclear fallout than anyone could have expected. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (Weaver), Everyone’s Inn is a bold tale about love, found family, and the secrets we keep.

[03.] The Letum Project: In a near distant future, the lethal Letum Virus that targets both the developmental and nervous systems simultaneously is turning victims into distorted, violent walking corpses, and is running rampant, dismantling societal infrastructures at a rapid pace and wreaking havoc on a global scale. A team of elite medical professionals, spearheaded by Dr. Freya Wright (Olivia Colman) and partner Dr. August Beck (Mads Mikkelsen), has been working tirelessly in an underground facility to find a cure for the past 10 months, but an unexpected death in the team brings into question what the motivation behind the project really is. Propelled by the mysterious and tragic death of her wife and fellow researcher, Allison Harris (Rebecca Hall), and the unexplained disappearance of friend and mentor, Dr. Amelia Bailey (Harriet Walker), Dr. Greta Harris (Dagmara Dominczyk) embarks on a rogue quest to find answers along with colleague and famed vascular neurologist, Gabrielle Gomez (Gina Torres). What they find above ground is a nightmarish scene; entire towns of infected people left to rot in now fenced zones, while survivors now live off of rationed food and essentials in a highly militarized state, the rich prioritized over the poor. But those aren’t the only truths Greta is forced to face. Allison and Gabrielle had been working alongside Amelia on a project they had kept from the rest of the team; a potential cure that might have been successful had Allison not found herself suddenly infected. Betrayed by the revelation, and now finding themselves hunted by Dr. Wright and Dr. Beck, Greta is left to wonder if there’s anyone left to trust. Aided only by sporadic morse code messages received through an old radio left to them by an anonymous source shortly before their escape from the facility, Greta and Gabrielle embark on a dangerous quest to find out.

[04.] Gödshead: A deadly virus has ravaged North America, leaving only sparse pockets of healthy populations behind in its wake: small towns and even smaller villages, family compounds, isolated homesteads surrounded by barbed wire fences. For years, former real estate agent Parker Kingston (Tawny Cypress) lived in such a protected home with her two daughters, the responsible Audrey (Jasmin Savoy-Brown) and the younger, far more rebellious Ryan (Amandla Stenberg), but the start of the film finds both Parker and Ryan reeling after a raider attack results in Audrey’s death and the sudden loss of their home. Grief-stricken, wounded, and utterly undone, mother and daughter must carry on anyway, taking sanctuary in a heavily walled village called Gödshead. Though their personal relationship is tumultuous, both Kingston women settle into something of a routine in the quaint village as they get to know its colorful denizens. They share a house with Dr. Hutchings (Paul Giamatti), a cantankerous but well-meaning history professor; Parker forges an intimate bond with Marnie Thompson (Samantha Sloyan), a kind if strangely fragile teacher who takes care of the village’s children while their parents work. They also get to know Mayor Willa Thompson (Frances McDormand), Marnie’s mother, whose stern but fair hand has ensured the village’s continued prosperity. But what exactly is the price of prosperity in an apocalypse? Parker and Ryan soon discover that there’s more to the village that lies beneath its seemingly peaceful surface—indeed that the trade-off for peace is a sacrifice that all citizens of Gödshead must be prepared to make. Winters are brutal in the mountains, and meat is scarce; there’s a lottery every winter in Gödshead, and everyone has a number.

[05.] The Sick: The zombie apocalypse did not end the world as we know it. Nobody knows how the infection works, who can pass it on and why, and what, exactly, it does to a person: they just know who is sick. They just know who to kill. When Claire (Romola Garai), an exhausted local news reporter, is assigned to report on Refuge, an organisation fighting to protect the hunted sick, she finds out her best friend, the good-hearted Raul (Diego Luna), has been a part of the organisation for months now, but she does not get to confront him about it before he strangely dies. Claire takes it upon herself to get his latest case, the young and funny Layla (Hunter Schafer) to safety in his honor. With the help of Raul’s boss, the eccentric Eddie (Ncuti Gatwa), they go on a cross-country journey towards the shelter built by Refuge. But on their way, Claire’s investigative tendencies can’t let go of the feeling that Eddie is hiding something, and Layla is getting sicker, worried for her companions’ safety around her. It’s a rest-stop encounter with Harper (Harriet Dyer) that gives Claire her answers and Layla the opportunity to protect her friends: a former colleague of Eddie, left to die by Eddie after getting infected, Harper, now part of a resistance organisation fighting for liberation of the sick, is out for revenge, but revenge is not as clear-cut a thing as people think. She tries to convince Layla to abandon Claire and Eddie’s shelter idea and join her, because Eddie can’t be trusted and Claire is too naive. And if Claire was not conflicted enough about the discovery, Raul’s cousin, the mysterious Mateo (Vico Ortiz), who blames Eddie for Raul’s death, is working with Harper, and tries to convince Claire to join the revolution, too, so she won’t die in it.

[homage-el]

HEy TuMBLR!

I realise it's been a while since I posted a written work, but I've been working on one for a short while now. Here's an intro to it's universe ig?

(Will be Posted on Ao3, updated irregularly)

"In the land of a futuristic post-apocalypse Earth, everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong. In the presence of the threat of nuclear war, everything nuclear de-escalated, but that didn’t mean the war did. Biomechanics and great feats of engineering quickly created the first examples of this, automatons and zombies. Both of those apocalypses rose in different parts of the world, with the Eastern Coalition’s Mechanical Grade Automaton uprising and the Western Union’s Zombie Outbreak, the few safe havens remaining were great structures and eternal fortresses such as the Guangzhou Harbour Tower and the One World International Aerial Trade Centre. However, this tale takes place in a tiny little wandering city known as.. London."

[bignaturalsbatman]

i know several other movies have probably done this before the Dark Knight Trilogy, but i'm dubbing the phenomenon of "movie/series takes a different angle on a genre's themes and motifs to tell a specific story and everyone subsequently treats it as the style standard for the genre" as the Dark Knight Effect

popular instances include

batman instantly being rewritten as an abusive, grim asshole with zero support system, with many DCU movies following suit in tone

godzilla's nuclear context being lost in western adaptations

the walking dead reframing people as the biggest threat in a zombie apocalypse being taken as the genre standard (WWZ novel and the last of us is right there???)

the MCU

whatever big 3/big 5 anime of the season being the tone standard for everything that comes out for the next 2-5 years

the "liminal discourse" about SCP/backrooms/poolrooms indie horror

disney & pixar movie formulas and how people treat them

[denimbex1986]

'Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" is set to be one of the biggest (non-"Barbie") films of the summer, a grand historical drama with a vast A-List cast and intense exploration of one of humanity's greatest errors. It's a chance for Nolan, a filmmaker never short of ambition, to stretch himself even further as a storyteller, but it's also a rare opportunity for its title star to take on a leading role. Cillian Murphy is a Nolan ensemble staple, having played the Scarecrow in the "Dark Knight" trilogy and made appearances in "Inception" and "Dunkirk." 

The Irish actor and "Peaky Blinders" favorite has long been an underrated presence on screens big and small, having spent well over two decades establishing himself as a striking character actor and reliable talent. He's made horror films with Wes Craven, fought zombies in "28 Days Later," romanced Scarlett Johansson in "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" and told stories of the Irish War of Independence in Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley." He's done it all. He's even dealt with the peril of an atomic weapon and the threat of mass extinction on Earth in a movie before! Thanks to Danny Boyle and "Sunshine", Murphy is familiar with this quandary.

Sunshine is an apocalyptic horror sci-fi

In between his zombie horror "28 Days Later" and the Oscar-winning drama "Slumdog Millionaire," Danny Boyle aimed for the stars. Screenwriter Alex Garland, with whom Boyle had worked on his messy adaptation of "The Beach," took inspiration from the likes of "2001: A Space Odyssey," Ridley Scott's "Alien" and the Russian classic "Solaris" for his jaunt towards the center of our solar system. In "Sunshine," it is the sun itself that is dying. With it, so will all life on Earth perish as the planet's temperature drops beyond the means of human habitation. Eight astronauts from around the world have been tasked with flying towards the sun on the spaceship Icarus II and planting a bomb on it that they hope will reignite its solar fury. As many a sci-fi horror featuring people in enclosed spaces floating through the vast nothingness can attest, it doesn't take long for things to go wrong.

"Sunshine" has an enviable good cast, the kind of ensemble of character actors and future leading icons that would put most films to shame. Alongside Murphy, who plays the lead physicist Robert Capa, are a pre-Captain America Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis from "Fear the Walking Dead," and Benedict Wong of "Doctor Strange" fame. To have the cast form a tight bond, Boyle had this ensemble live together for several months and undergo space training and scuba diving. He also took them on a tour of a nuclear submarine to give them a sense of the claustrophobic living conditions of real astronauts, and even sent them up on a zero-G plane to experience weightlessness. Murphy worked with physicist Brian Cox (not that one) so that he could fully understand the awesome scale of the bomb required to make the sun work once more. He found the experience of making "Sunshine" so revealing that it made him an atheist!

Why Sunshine is so terrifying

Many scientists grumbled over the inaccuracies of "Sunshine," from slow-motion movement during weightlessness to whether or not a bomb really could reignite the sun. For Alex Garland, such details were beside the point, although both he and Boyle did hire a number of advisors to shape the science of the film into something believable. The real power of "Sunshine" is in its portrayal of isolation among its astronauts. The crew of Icarus II are shaken, both by the magnitude of their mission and the sheer psychological terror of being stuck in space for an extended period of time. As a viewer, you feel entrapped in the space this ensemble shares, made all the more stifling by Boyle's refusal to cut back to scenes on Earth that are common in this genre. Everything is designed to make you feel trapped, including the space suits that have a post-box-sized slit to see through rather than a full-face visor (the suit was nicknamed Kenny after the character from "South Park" because of this choice.)

The other recurring theme is an age-old one: science versus faith. The mission of Icarus II is stridently atheistic, one of pure logic designed to do for humanity what nobody else can or will do. They are following in the footsteps of Icarus I, which went missing seven years prior while trying to deliver its own bomb to Earth. When the crew discover this lost ship, they find its crew charred to death save one astronaut, Pinbacker (Mark Strong playing, of course, a villain). After years of loneliness and untreated first-degree facial burns, Pinbacker has gone mad and tries to sabotage the Icarus II mission, claiming that God (meaning the sun) has told him to send all of humanity to Heaven. This third-act frenzy makes "Sunshine" a more traditional horror film than its preceding parts, and it does become less satisfying as a result (although there is a moment where Pinbacker has the skin pulled from his arm that is truly horrifying).

Sunshine is more relevant than ever

Despite positive reviews, "Sunshine" didn't inspire audiences, and only grossed around $32 million from a modest $40 million budget. Reviews generally agreed that the third act was weak and let down the rest of the film's more metaphysical approach to the sci-fi horror genre. It didn't hurt anyone's careers, least of all Cillian Murphy, who went on to a strong career in film and TV that has culminated in his acclaimed role in "Oppenheimer." It's a movie that makes excellent use of his unique face and ability to convey a blend of unnerving and empathic (which is perfect for J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who became Death, the destroyer of worlds.)

Audiences did eventually find their way to "Sunshine." Its philosophical terror remains potent, arguably more so as we experience the disintegrating effects of climate change in real-time. Much like its cinematic predecessors, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Solaris," "Sunshine" acutely captures the gargantuan scale of the galaxy and how it cannot help but overwhelm you, the mere human being, trying to be its equal. In the film's first two-thirds, the enormity of the mission is inescapable. If these mere mortals do not succeed, billions of people will die and that is a weight that smothers them, as it would for any of us. 

Ultimately, we are but specks that populate a slightly larger speck floating through the vast nothingness of the universe. When we confront that painful reality, especially as non-believers in an omnipotent deity, it's understandably tough to deal with. It can break you. Yet there is also awe here. The astronauts are left dumbfounded by the sight of the sun so up close. It's no wonder that Pinbacker gazes upon it and sees the face of God. We are but debris in the grand scheme of life and "Sunshine" nails that sensation, but it also believes in fighting to survive amongst it all. There is hope amid the desolation, and that's worth saving.'

[magnus-the-maqnificent]

📓

Okay I definitely plan on writing this buuuut

Malec Supervillains AU

It’s a sci-fi pic, and it’s set in a futuristic world where all of the shadow races exist, but there’s some sci-fi-ish explanation for all of them. Vampires and werewolves are the result of two separate zombie apocalypses, warlocks from a freak nuclear accident years ago, Shadowhunters from experiments to create the perfect soldier. Faeries have been around for centuries and no one knows how they came about, and they live in secret cities that no one has access to.

Magnus and Alec meet in a bar one night, and instantly feel a connection to each other. As if they’ve known each other a long time. But whenever they try to get close, someone gets in between - either Alec’s siblings, or one of Magnus’s friends. Neither of the groups give a proper explanation about why they don’t want them to be together.

But Magnus and Alec still meet in secret, and slowly, strange things come to light. Both Magnus and Alec have a memory gap of the same length of time, caused in both cases by an “accident” three months ago. People react strangely to seeing Magnus and Alec together in public. Magnus’s magic reacts to Alec’s touch, drawing strength from him and becoming stronger. Neither knows why.

When one of their public sightings somehow results in a police chase, Magnus and Alec are rescued by the Fae who take them to one of their cities. There, Magnus and Alec find out that they’re heroes to the Faeries - and villains to the rest of the world.

They had protected the faeries from some threat, but fighting the same threat had resulted in many deaths that malec had been blamed for. And, as per the recent crime laws, their memories were erased and they were let back out into the world with measures to ensure they would never meet again.

The rest of the story is basically malec figuring out their backstory, what happened in the time they both forgot, why they became villains - and when they do, how they complete the mission they’d started :)

Like I said, I definitely plan on writing this, but the plot has a lot of polishing to do rn

[leafdebrief]

my priorities spelled clearly

can be summed up, keeping only a single principle in mind which is the desire for continued life for me and the people i love on a planet, as being the following priority list:

have a planet

that is it.

the only thing threatening that with urgent immediacy is catastrophic climate change, and it is doing so with urgent immediacy threateningly.

next things on the list would be: a real life zombie apocalypse scenario, or nuclear annihilation.

the number 2 case is already at a point that will happen if it's going to because we passed the part where any tangible effort to avert its scifi possibility from being reality was tossed over a year ago, and now we're past the stage where Rick Grimes fell into a coma at the start of the show, and now we just have to wait to see if he's actually for real and going to really wake up to the CDC locked up in titanium desperately doing what they should have done 3+ years ago. first season is underway. it's a cliffhanger.

case 3 is boring. so fucking boring because it means some egomaniac was so goddamn insane and egotistical that they somehow managed to rationalize the insanely egotistical decision that they should end all of evolution as we know it for the rest of time as we know it because they made a bomb so fucking terribly incredibly irresponsible that it could actually do such a thing.

priority number one is have a planet. those are your three biggest threats now. the last you cannot do shit about. the second you could have but did not and now cannot. the first! The first though! That One. you still can, even if it's a tiny thing that isn't nothing, but you should do it now and in every little thing you do even though so little has been done about it that it will be so unpleasant you won't even want to think about it.

do that one.

[ebook-2]

undefined

Read Free eBook HERE! How to Survive The End of the World https://ebook-2.com/ebooks/how-to-survive-the-end-of-the-world How to Survive The End of the World: 102 pages Preparing for Armageddon, Natural Disasters, Nuclear Strikes, the Zombie Apocalypse, and Every Other Threat to Human Life on Earth Most of us have thought about how we would handle various types of scenarios that could signal the end of the world. There are plenty of movies on the subject, psychological papers, and even survivalists that are part of reality TV shows. Perhaps you have had dreams about being one of the few left and what you would do in order to survive. #howtosurvive #endoftheworld #howtosurvivetheendoftheworld #howtosurvivetheapocalypse #survivetheendoftheworld

[pandashr00m]

One problem I've always had with zombie apocalypse media particularly from 10~ years ago, is that it's always during the set in the same initial outbreak, and is always about how humans 'are the real monsters'.

Of course bad people will always be present in any society, that much is a given. But when that is the majority of the types of stories in a genre, the audience will only learn the lesson that; 'once things go bad, there's no coming back'.

Especially, after living through a pandemic (so far), growing up in a wolrd with a climate catastrophe, and the now almost ignored threat of nuclear holocaust, the stories that have really gotten through to me are the ones that cut past despair. Stories about people surviving isolation, loss, societal collapse, yet still living in hope, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem they find a way to rebuild and live better lives.

Something about having anxiety and being really trapped inside the internet these past 2 years, has really caused me a sense of doom about the world but, its these tales that are the only thing I feel, that actually recognize the fears I have and reassure me that things can be better.

And most zombie stuff doesnt do this!

Zombie apocalypse stuff is all about guns and murder and lootin', and how bad people can be -which again, isn't inherently a 'wrong' but, too often those types of story just leave you feeling shitty, with no resolution or way out. It's just despair porn.

I personally, would really love to see zombie apocalypse media that follows characters you wouldn't usually see depicted as survivors i.e, those with disabilities, the homeless, and very socially oriented uplifting people. Because not everyone can survive solo or in a small family unit, some people need a stationary base of operations and, everyone NEEDS friends and family in the apocalypse. Usually, encampments of people trying rebuild society in the genre are a very pessimistic look at parts of our current societies.

I've seen teen oriented zombie stories where zombie factions are based off of stereotypical high school cliches, where focal character will be a socially avoidant gamer, and everyone but his party as a 'bad' way of forming groups. Whether it be jocks, band kids, teachers, other less cool nerds, -all of then can't compare to the mc and his close knit band. The problem here lies with authors writing characters that reflect their introverted ways of forming friendships and neglecting the benefits of other organisations of social connection.

For sure, the 6 or less group of survivors with the main character will have an easier time moving around and being sneaky but, the encampment of survivors in the hundreds has better odds of weathering zombies until they decay and stop being a threat, and surviving after the initial outbreak.

Raiding stores and warehouses will help at the start but eventually you'll need your own renewable food source after all the canned beans run out. At which point the main character will have to settle somewhere to get them sorted, but the encampment just down the river has a head start in that department!

Its not like these clustering of people are not immune to hubris being their downfall or a broken fence but, in disaster stories it is important to show humans being good to each other, coming together to compliment each others strengths, and surviving the initial threat. All roads of human organisation lead to the formations of society, it is especially important with tales of those societies 'collapsing', to show what the fundamentals of why we band together in the first place.

Imagine if rather than shows and books about a white man raiding walmarts and shooting anyone he wants, they were replaced with optimistic stories about the value of working together when fear might urge a 'every man for himself' mentality.

I think that would've helped our sort of global reaction to the covid pandemic, so many of us where scared for ourselves only and where quick to drop the safety of others for our own comfort. Having these types of stories are important and respectable because they give us the strength and understanding to face specific types of adversity that we might never had thought we'd face.

Individually, but somewhat unrelated, there where to books that helped me out during this time. With my mental health struggles and emotions about the pandemic. They were "year of wonders" by Geraldine Brooks. A story about an English town that volunatarily self isolates when the black death appears. And Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura a story initially about revenge and war and then about, redemption and building a better life for those you love.

[batmansymbol]

Alone Out Here cover and prologue reveal!!

The cover for ALONE OUT HERE just went live on LetsTalkYA!!! I adore this art and how it encapsulates the tone of the book. In my extremely biased opinion, it pairs with the prologue—above—like a fine & foreboding wine.

AOH also has a release date: April 5, 2022!

The gist of the book: 53 teenagers on a generation ship hurtle into deep space after total environmental collapse, trying to build a new society. Call it Lord of the Flies in space and you're not wrong.

But with high-concept books, the blurbs can feel pretty impersonal in order to set up the worldbuilding. So I want to tell you a bit about the girl with the ponytail. That's Leigh Chen, the narrator. As the U.S.'s First Daughter, she's spent her life molded by media scrutiny, familial expectations, and now (drumroll) the threat of apocalypse.

So, at 18, she's become diplomatic to a fault: dodging choices, never committing to a viewpoint, and maintaining the appearance of resolve to hide any cracks beneath the surface. It's only now, when her voice starts to matter, that she begins to ask herself who she is. Leigh loves to run and she loves to hide. She is so, so far from perfect. She is doing her best. I can't wait for you to meet her.

You can pre-order ALONE OUT HERE at Bookshop here. :)

Transcription of the prologue under the cut:

I remember one night more clearly than the rest. It was the hottest July on record, and I was fifteen, lying awake and sweaty on the faded linen sofa in Lilly’s basement. With the way the crickets were squalling, Lilly couldn’t get to sleep, which meant no chance of sleep for Marcus or me, either. So the three of us were talking ourselves out into the universe, fantasizing in scratchy voices about God and death and the first day of sophomore year, and around two a.m., we wound up whispering about the end of the world.

We’d kicked the questions around before. Maybe you did, too. If the Apocalypse hit tomorrow, which five people would you pick for your zombie survival team? Which three things would you take down to the nuclear bunker? What would you save from the wasteland?

We never settled on answers. Lilly drifted off halfway through, and the next morning, Marcus kept swapping his choices back and forth, clarifying the rules over breakfast. “Is there internet in this wasteland?” he asked, thumbing his glasses up. “If I brought my headset, could I have unlimited games?”

Lilly rolled her eyes and said, “God, Marcus, what kind of amateur apocalypse do you think this is?” and I lay back in her window seat and laughed, loose-limbed, careless, because everything we were saying felt unreal.

That was three years ago. Now, most nights, I lie awake and watch those moments replaying across the backs of my eyelids. I retrace the pikes of sunlight angled through the kitchen window or feel the frayed threads of the sofa, the patches that Lilly’s golden retriever pawed to death when he was too young to know better. I hear the way my best friends sighed after they laughed, deep and contented, like they’d just taken a cold drink on a hundred-degree day. It hurts to remember, knowing that two months later, the announcements froze that world like amber engulfing a living thing. But I can’t make myself stop.

I wish I could show it to you, too—really show you. I wish I could scan my old life out into VR space so you could walk all the way inside. We’d step through Lilly’s messy little kitchen like archaeologists through some perfectly preserved temple, and I’d pause the scene, point to the scar on Lilly’s chin, and tell you that happened when we were thirteen, the day she hacked off a foot of her hair with a pair of garden shears on a dare from Marcus. He wasn’t even being serious, and as for me, I stood there and watched with a stupid grin on my face, not believing it would happen until it did. And maybe you’d say Lilly sounds reckless or impulsive, and Marcus and I should have known better. And I’d say, probably, but that’s Lilly, that’s Marcus, that’s us. That’s what I’d save.

[bitches-who-write]

HeadCannons about the Bowers gang with reader during an apocalypse? Doesn’t have to be a zombie apocalypse, just an apocalypse lol

So this request is written as headcanons but follows a story, that’s why it’s so long lol.  Hope you all enjoy this!

Z End:

So in layman’s terms… you’re all  screwed.  An apoclypse?  Yeah, hate to say it but the Bower's Gang isn't your best option of survival... or are they?...

As if the world couldn’t get anymore fucked, now there have been reports of a possible attack.

You were at the grocery store when you heard the news. Chaos erupting around you.

Some of the townspeople brushed it off as yet another conspiracy theory, while the majority of people took the threats seriously and fleeted town.

What did they mean attack?  Was it nuclear?  Alien?  Zombie? You were so freaked out.

You tried to call your family but couldn’t reach anyone. Your phone suddenly goes quiet as you realize you now have a dead battery. It's almost as if something just drained the battery completely.

People begin pushing and shoving, grabbing as much food as possible and speeding off.

Shit, shit, shit, you thought to yourself ; hands shaking  as you fumble to fill several bags with canned food and drinks.

As you sprint down the street you look up towards the sky. Although it’s the middle of the afternoon, ominous clouds begin to cover the sky.

But nothing like you’ve ever seen before.  This wasn’t just some rain strom rolling in.

The wind picks up, practically pushing you forward  as the temperature drops drastically. You put up your hood and try to keep up your fast pace.

You cut down an alleyway and go to run across the street in the direction of home, but your hood blocks your peripheral vision.

You hear tires screech and a familiar voice yell out, “What the fuck is wrong with you?! You fuckin’ piece of shit!”

Laying in the fetal position with your  hands defensively blocking your tear-filled face, you squeeze your eyes shut tightly. Your grocery bags sprawled out around you with some bottles of water rolling away.

When you finally open your eyes, you see a fuming mad Henry Bowers leaning out the window of Belch’s car, which is now sideways from his attempts to not hit you.

Vic bounces his leg impatiently, “come on guys, we gotta go NOW!”

You hear a roar of what sounded like thunder but amplified by 100.

It makes you jump as you all quickly look up at the sky.

“Move the fuck out of our way, Y/N!” Henry spat.

“W-wait! Take me with you!!!”

Belch looks at Henry for a moment but Vic frantically shouts. “WE’RE WASTING TIME! Get her in the car man.”

“Yeah, she has food! Plus, she’s got a hot body.” Patrick lips his lips, looking down at you from his place in the car.

Henry doesn’t even bother to get out in order to let you in the back. He just pulls you into the car and onto him.

The way Belch floors it makes you stumble and fall into Henry’s lap even more. Your hands on his chest to steady yourself.

“Now get in the fuckin’ back!”

You clumsily crawl over the center console and into the backseat where Vic and Patrick were.

Patrick smirks as he grabs your upper arm, helping you in the back.

Henry checks out your ass as you're bent over trying to crawl in the backseat.

Vic looks so frantic while Patrick looks unfazed.  More amused and turned on by you than anything.

You glance up at the rearview mirror to see a stoic expression on Belch’s face as he speeds and takes shap turns while Henry still looks like a ticking time bomb of anger.

“G-guys- w-where are we going? What’s happening?!?”

Patrick goes to speak up but Belch interrupts him. “Don’t tell her anything, she’s already shaken up enough.”

“Tell me what? You pushed, demanding to know.

Patrick pulls out the cans of food you got from the store frowning, “Ew, fuckin’ canned peas? String beans?”  he scoffs. “Thought you would’ve gotten better shit considering we’re all gonna die.”  Patrick begins  to laugh, finding so much amusement in this situation.

Tears fill your eyes and you begin to shake. Vic attempts to calm you down by awkwardly putting an arm around you.

In a soft voice he says, “Look, we’ll explain everything to you soon.  Right now let's just get to where we’re going.”

After driving another 10 minutes, Belch whips the wheel, turning into the woods.

You get out of the car and watch cautiously in confusion as Henry lifts open two wooden hatch door in the ground, revealing broken concrete steps leading to what looks like a bunker.

You all file in, one after the other. Belch was the last to enter so he placed  2 metal bars across the hatch doors to barricade it shut.

Patrick takes out his trusty lighter and hairspray and illuminates the path until he begins to light candles.

Henry turns on all the lanterns in the meantime.

“W-what is this place?” You ask anxiously as you look around, practically hugging yourself to keep yourself small.

It's filled with posters of cars, and half naked girls.

There's booze. cigarettes, magazines, a radio and a dark board down there.

It looks kinda like a makeshift hangout.. but in the middle of the woods... and under grown~ Yeah.. that raises suspicion considering who it belongs to.. but whatever at least it's shelter for now.

Patrick smirks, his voice low and taunting. “It’s our own little place, sweetheart.  Let's just say, we get away with a lot down here.”  He laughs like a maniac, making the others smirk and sneer at your nervousness.

You look shly at Vic with pleading eyes. “Please, just tell me what’s going on.”

You hear another wave of that ominous rumbling from the sky but this time, it sounded almost as if a plane was crashing out of the sky!

The entire floor rumbles and shakes as you hear an explosion outside. Belch’s eyes widened. “MY-  MY CAR!”

Patrick laughs hysterically, “ha ha, dude, that’s amazing!” He goes to give a high-five to Henry who laughs but smacks him in the forehead instead as he keeps walking by.

“Okay, Y/N.  Listen to me carefully now.” Vic says, sitting across from you but leaning in so he’s mere inches from you.

We're under attack… I’ve read so many books on this beofore.  The day has finally come.  This is an apocalypse.”

Your eyes tear up as you shake your head no, thinking about your family.

“We.. we need to go then! Find help! Or, help others! in need of shelter!”

Vic used both his hands to harshly grab your cheeks so you stop moving and have no choice but to look into his eyes.

“Don’t you get it, Y/N?! You can’t leave here!”  He sighs, softening his grip and lowering his voice when he sees you cry more.

“An attack means fallout. You heard that explosion a minute ago? That means the air above ground is contaminated now.  The proximity of the explosion was right above us… that means we’re in a hot zone... which means...it could be at least a year before we can surface again.” Vic emphasizes.

The other guys stopped their goofing off and actually looked serious now as they listened to Vic, too. But that doesn't last long.

“Pshhh fuck that! There’s no way I’m wasting a year of my life in this shithole of a bunker.” Henry scoffs, looking annoyed once again.

“Henry is right!” you gulp nervously. “Y-you don’t know for sure, Vic.  Maybe there’s still people out there!”

Vic sighs; starting to get upset himself now. He stands up and shouts, “Everyone outside of here is dead!”

You begin to sob loudly, Patrick imitating your crying, making the room even louder.

Belch covers his ears in annoyance. “Shut the fuck up, both of you before I kill you myself.”

As the evening goes on, you all become hungry. You take out the canned food that you grabbed in a hurry from the store.

“Well…. You guys can eat that shit but I know what I’ll be eating, instead.”  Patrick says with a shit eatin grin on his face as he rasies his eyebrows up and down at you.

“Gross, someone keep him away from me.”  You roll your eyes and sit on the opposite side of the table.

Henry takes a few bits of food before pounding his fists down on the table and giving you a hateful glare. “GOD DAMNIT, Y/N! You just had to get the shittiest food out there, huh?  We should have just left your ass on the street. Or better yet, let Belch run you over."

You are filled with anger but also want to cry at the same time.  You were an emotional wreck. Great, you think to yourself.  There’s an apocalypse and I’m  stuck with the fucking Bower’s Gang of all people.

Henry get’s up and makes his way to the hatch doors, Patrick right behind him.

“Where are you going?? Didn’t you hear a word I said earlier? No one can leave, you’ll die if you do!” Vic shouts.

“oH CaLm DoWn” Patrick jeers sarcastically. “It’ll be fine Vicky boy!  Let the real men here do some exploring.”  Patrick winks at Vic, then licks his lips looking at you as he shoulder bumps past you both

Henry dislodges the door, taking one metal pole as a weapon for him and giving the other to Patrick.

“Fine but if you two leave, you’re not allowed back!  You’ll contaminate us all!” Vic retorts, looking apprehensive.

Patrick giggles, still looking directly at you. “I want to contaminate her with my~”

“Shut the fuck up, Patrick!” You shout, but then hide behind Vic when Patrick makes a fake lunge towards you.

Henry and Patrick take off.  It’s been several hours since they left yet they still haven’t returned. 

Belch looks nervous but finally speaks up.  “I’m going to look for them… yeah, yeah I know, Vic.  Don’t come back, I’ll be ‘contaminated’.”  He says, putting his hands up in mockery as if to say “ooohhh”

With that Belch leaves, taking one of the lanterns with him.  You and Vic decide to get some rest.  There’s really nothing else to do.

When you both woke up the next morning, the other 3 were still missing.  You gulp nervously, looking at Vic with sorrow knowing he just lost his friends.

Friends who were more like dumb-ass brothers to him.

Well, turns out Vic was right… The apocalypse is real. It’s just a matter of time until you find out exactly what type of  apocalypse  you’re dealing with though.

With that, the lights flicker and bunker shakes again as another explosion can be heard from above ground. 

You cling onto Vic's arm tightly, thankful it’s him you’re stuck with and not Henry, or especially Patrick.

Pshh, if this was Patrick, he would try to convince you that you two need to re-populate the world.

You can just imagine that teasing grin and playful voice saying, “Come on, princess it’s your  God-bearing gift. Time to spread those legs now."

Yup,  you were more than thankful for Vic right about now.

[leon-scott-kennedy]

Distrail

Chreon, Rated-T

Read on Ao3

For a price, anyone could check into a seedy motel, even three people covered in blood, guts, and grime, no questions asked, especially with the ashes of Raccoon City still cooling 100 miles away. So the horizon still held a faint glow of destruction when Leon and Claire stumbled, barely conscious, through the front door of the Tadpole motel at 2 PM October 1st, using each other as support and Sherry clinging to Leon’s back like a koala if a koala drooled and snored.

Two other motels along the highway turned the odd couple away, rumours already flying about Raccoon City, zombies, and a nuclear cover-up. But at the right price, triple the going rate, Claire managed to convince the manager to let them bunk down, courtesy of Leon’s stressed credit card.

The fact Leon’s credit card worked, or that he even still had his credit card, was a miracle. His wallet hadn’t exactly been a priority, and honestly, they could sleep in a cockroach-infested basement, and Leon would be happy because they were dead on their feet after hiking on foot what Leon estimated to be a good 30 miles of rough terrain to get to the nearest town. The sun barely peeked over the horizon when the sky behind them exploded.

Raccoon City was gone. The people Leon had sworn to defend were gone. Sherry and Claire were all he managed to protect, and he’d be damned if he failed now.

The motel room wasn’t terrible; two double beds, a small tube TV, and a leaky faucet. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t something out of a horrible nightmare. They’d left that behind them.

“I’m glad we don’t have a blacklight,” Claire joked, but her tone fell flat.

Leon nudged the bed farthest from the door suspiciously with his boot, dragged back the yellow duvet, and inspected the mattress before he lay Sherry down and tucked her in. He even let Claire shower first, insisted, while he watched Sherry sleep, tossing and turning and whimpering from reliving the horrors in her dreams until Claire emerged from the bathroom, hair still damp, and crawled into bed beside Sherry.

By the time Leon scrubbed his skin raw, the water was cold, and Claire had passed out cold with Sherry cuddled up beside her, little hand tangled in the front of Claire’s dirty tank top like a lifeline. Leon passed out face first on the other bed. He couldn’t even muster the energy to get under the covers.

Movement woke Leon. He jolted awake, reaching for his gun on the bedside table, only to find Claire, fully dressed, perched on the end of his bed and tugging one of her boots. She smiled sadly at the gun levelled at her head.

Leon lowered Matilda, gasping for air. His arm fell limply to his side. “Claire?”

“Hey.” Claire pulled on her second boot. “Sorry.”

Leon blinked at the sleep crusting his eyes. “What... what are you doing?”

Claire sighed and set her foot back down solidly on the ground, hands grasping her thighs. “I need to find Chris. I need... I need to know he’s okay.”

“Now?” Leon glanced at the clock. The bright red numbers read 7:46. The setting sun outside glowed faintly behind the curtains.

“If you ever need me...”

“Forget me. What about Sherry?” Leon snapped, somewhat mollified when Claire winced.

“I know you’ll take good care of her.” Claire’s attention briefly snapped to the sleeping 12-year-old that had survived literal hell. “Leon... if I didn’t have to.”

“Yeah. Yeah, whatever,” Leon scoffed, then rolled over. His heart thundered in his chest. He heard Claire briefly wake up Sherry to say goodbye, promising they’d be in touch, that if Sherry ever needed her, all she needed to do was call.

The door creaked open. Leon clenched his eyes shut, willing down the panic swelling in his chest until it ached. This was it. He was all Sherry had left. They were on their own.

“Take care of our girl for me.” Claire’s voice was barely a whisper.

Leon’s hands trembled, buried in the sheets and pillows, he struggled to suck down air, and his hearing fuzzed. Claire was gone.

For hours, Leon faded in and out of consciousness, barely able to keep the crush of dread at bay. Finally, at some point around 3 AM, he gave up all pretense to sleep and kept a vigilant guard. He jumped at a car alarm, tensed at the slam of a door, and clenched Matilda tightly when soft footfalls passed their door. Eventually, Sherry climbed into his bed to watch early morning cartoons with him.

“Is Claire going to be okay?” Sherry asked softly. She hugged Leon’s arm, cuddling into his side like he used to with his grandma.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about her,” Leon said. He slumped to the side, gently resting his head on top of Sherry’s. “She’ll be fine, kiddo.”

When the sun rose, Leon and Sherry trekked down to the front office to extend their stay another night, then hiked into town searching for clothes and sustenance. Being out in public, surrounded by people, set both Leon and Sherry on edge. They jumped at the slightest sound, and Sherry refused to release Leon’s hand for anything less than going to the bathroom, and even then, he had to stand guard outside the stall. Thank god he had pissed before they left the motel because Sherry was clinging to the back of his jacket while he tried seemed ridiculous.

Their shopping trip was quick. They grabbed what they could, Sherry setting a brisk pace through the little thrift store they found, dragging Leon from rack to rack. They scrounged up a few changes of clothes, socks, underwear, which Leon was a little uncertain of, a jacket that fits over his side holster since he had a license to carry, and a backpack that they filled with snacks and a deck of cards from a little corner store. It turns out Leon’s palette was similar to a twelve-year-old.

The tenuous credit limit finally crapped out on Leon when he tried to buy a six-pack at a shady liquor store on the way back to the motel.

“No job. No money. Just great,” Leon sighed.

For the rest of the day, they holed up in their room munching on junk food, watching terrible daytime TV, and playing Go Fish until Leon made the brilliant decision to teach Sherry how to play poker, and she fleeced him for all the Cheetos.

Leon had no plan beyond survive, and he hadn’t even planned for that. His body ached from being tossed by mutated monsters and shot. His wrapped shoulder twinged.

“Shit,” Leon cursed and clutched his wound. They needed help. He needed help. Taking care of a kid without any resources would be impossible; never mind, he’d never taken care of a person in his life. He had no siblings, no parents. His grandma died when he was nine.

Leon smiled at Sherry in reassurance when she questioned him. This little girl couldn’t be another statistic of the system. He could fix that. He would fix that.

Covered in orange Cheeto dust, Sherry crashed around 8 in the evening. The glow of the sun behind the curtain reminded Leon of the mushroom cloud that had enveloped the sky 36 hours ago. Leon’s stomach twisted in knots. Every creak, every thump, every squeaky break, Leon tensed, waiting for something to crash through the door and disrupt the precarious peace.

Leon hunkered down on his bed, the one closest to the door and any potential threat that came for them, and prepared for another sleepless night on edge.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Around one in the morning, his eyes beginning to droop, Leon nearly fell off the bed in his mad scramble for his gun when someone knocked heavily on the door. Checking his clip, Leon cautiously crept to the door, motioning for now very awake Sherry to stay out of sight.

“Who is it,” Leon called.

“Hi. Look, I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Chris Redfield. I’m looking for my sister Claire.”

Leon blinked and glanced back at Sherry, whose head had popped out of the blanket at the sound of Claire’s name. Then, double-checking he had bolted the chain, Leon opened the door a crack to peek out.

A man a little taller than Leon stood under the flickering light outside the door, his hair cut short and a 5 o’clock shadow. Chris Redfield, decorated member of the Racoon City Stars Division. Leon recognized him from the old photo Claire had shown him, but also the records he’d run across during his frantic hunt through the Police Department.

“Chris?” Leon said, astonished it was actually him. He slammed the door, unbolted the chain, and flung the door open again. “What the- Claire’s looking for you. What are you doing here?”

Chris, who eyed the gun uncertainly, brightened at the mention of his sister. “Is she here? The manager at the front recognized her. Said she was here with some guy and a kid.” Chris glanced past Leon into the room to Sherry curled up in the other bed peering out with curious fear from under the blankets.

Leon shook his head, eyes scanning the parking lot. “She’s not here. She left this morning to find you.”

“Fuck.” Chris winced and glanced at Sherry again. “Shit, sorry.”

Sherry giggled into her hands, and Leon rolled his eyes. “I think she’s dealt with worse.” Like the apocalypse.

“But she’s okay. She’s alive?” Chris asked.

“Who? Claire? Yeah. Yeah, she’s fine. Saved my ass more than a few times.” Leon smiled wistfully and then frowned. So Claire had left, and now, here, her brother was trying to track her down. It must be nice to have someone that gave a damn about you.

“Oh, thank god.” Then, finally, all the tension and stiffness in Chris’ posture melted. “I got her message, and...”

Leon scanned the dark parking lot again for any sign of life, then gestured into the motel room. “You should come in.”

“No.” Chris waved off the invitation. “No, I need to find her.” But the fatigue in his voice threatened to topple him, and that would definitely fell Leon if he tried to catch him.

“Dude, you’re dead on your feet,” Leon said. “It’s the middle of the night. Crash for a few hours.”

“Yeah!” Sherry chimed in, bouncing on her bed. “Stay!”

Chris shook his head. “I can’t.”

Leon pursed his lips. “Look, I don’t know you, man. But I do know that if you pass out behind the wheel and wrap yourself around a pole, you’re pretty damn useless to her.”

Chris opened his mouth to argue, and Leon sighed, tilting his head to the side, ready to give up when Chris snapped his mouth closed and cleared his throat. He studied Leon closely, scrutinizing him like he would a suspect, but Chris must have been satisfied with what he found - weakness, terror, immaturity - because he finally said, “just a few hours.” And the anxiety squeezing the life out of Leon eased, just a tiny bit. Enough that he could breathe.

Chris excused himself to run and grab his go-bag, and Leon cursed his stupidity because nothing was stopping Chris from running. That tightness immediately returned, but a few minutes later, another sharp knock sounded at the door.

Leon smiled tiredly and welcomed Chris into the room, relieved to have the company, someone who knew what they were doing; an adult. Leon grew up fast, but he’d never been an adult in his life. Racoon City was supposed to be a fresh start, and now, he was back to square one. Not even. He was in the basement of square one—the root cellar.

Leon finally caught a good look at Sherry with the lights on, still covered in orange dust, her fingers and cheeks stained. “Jesus. Did you eat the Cheetos or roll in them?”

Sherry laughed. “Leon taught me to play poker, and then I won all the cheezies,” she said to Chris, who grinned.

“Nice job.” Chris offered her a high-five, which she eagerly accepted. The hero worship was already forming.

“He gets a little wrinkle right here when he lies,” Sherry said, pointing a small finger between her eyebrows.

“Okay,” Leon said, scooping Sherry off the bed and carrying her off under one arm. “Let’s get you cleaned up and back in bed, munchkin.”

Cheeto dust proved a formidable adversary, but they managed. When they walked back into the room, Chris was standing exactly where they had left him, his bag still slung over his shoulder and his boots laced.

Getting Sherry tucked back into bed became a struggle now that the brand new company hyped her up; no hesitation whatsoever. She liked Chris. She even made Chris put her to bed, Leon faking offence at being disregarded for the new guy, but there was something about seeing a six-foot boulder of a man coax a tiny twelve-year-old back to sleep that made Leon’s chest ache. Especially when Chris told the story of how Claire was convinced that if she left fake teeth under her pillow, she could trick the tooth fairy into giving her more money. It never worked. The tooth fairy left chocolate coins instead. Fake money for a fake tooth.

Leon watched perched on the edge of the other bed, a little envious of Chris’ skill with kids. He double-checked the safety on his handgun, then the clip. Chris eyed Leon as he set his weapon back down on the bedside table, and Leon couldn’t muster the energy to be self-conscious about his paranoia.

Chris may be Claire’s sister and a fellow survivor of Raccoon City, but Leon didn’t actually know him. For all he knew, he was a traitor like Irons or Wesker. Maybe he wasn’t the man Claire believed him to be. What the hell had he been thinking? Inviting a stranger to stay with them?

With Sherry asleep again, Leon and Chris were left to settle in for the remainder of the night. For Chris, that meant shedding his bulky jacket and combat boots.

“It’s Leon, right?” Chris said. He stood awkwardly beside the bed, watching Leon click off the light and climb under the blankets, tucking himself up against the edge of the mattress as close as he possibly could without toppling off. “Claire mentioned you in one of her messages.”

Leon almost facepalmed. He hadn’t introduced himself. He really was doing everything backwards. “Yeah. That’s me. Leon S. Kennedy.” He curled up into a small ball.

“Jesus Christ.” Chris swiped his palm across his mouth. “You’re the new rookie.”

Leon chuckled humourlessly, his hands tightening into fists around the sheets pulled up to his neck. “Was a hell of a first day.”

Chris picked up real quick that Leon didn’t want to talk about it. So instead, he climbed into his side of the bed, the one closest to the door. The mattress dipped under his weight, and Leon tensed. Where else would Chris have slept? The floor? The last person Leon shared a bed with was his ex, who had seemingly saved his life. If she hadn’t broken up with him, if he hadn’t gotten drunk, if he hadn’t slept in hungover as hell, he would have arrived right in the middle of the initial panic, and who knows if he would have survived that. No one else in the department had.

What would it have been like? The screams, the moans, the pleas for help- the sounds still played on repeat in Leon’s head. Lieutenant Marvin Branagh, mouth agape, stumbling towards him with his hands out. Leon had put two bullets between his eyes.

The first indications of a panic attack slammed into Leon. Abruptly, his throat closed. He couldn’t breathe, his vision slid out of focus, and his chest compressed. Like someone reached into his chest and squeezed his heart in a vice. His entire body shook.

Suddenly, a warm voice murmured in his ear, the soothing tone talking him down, calming him. Leon wasn’t alone. He wasn’t trapped in the police station battling endless waves of the undead, the people of Raccoon City he’d taken an oath to serve and protect.

“Leon, kid, you need to breathe,” Chris said. His presence was a solid wall behind Leon. “I’m going to touch you, okay?”

Leon focused on Chris’ voice. His vision began to swim back into focus, his hearing rushed back in a sudden wall of familiar night noises like the drip of the faucet in the bathroom or the lonely car that passed on the highway. He nodded, not fully understanding what Chris was saying. An arm slid around his waist and pulled him back into a firm chest. Leon flailed, seconds from panic again when Chris’ voice rumbled in his ear.

“You’re going to be okay. I got you.”

Leon grasped Chris’ arm, his grip probably tight enough to leave bruises, and he choked on a shuddering sob.

“It’s okay, Leon. You’re going to be okay.”

Gasping for air, Leon rolled over and buried his face in Chris’ chest, and Chris let him. Leon’s sobs were muffled in Chris’ arms, not wanting to disturb Sherry in the next bed. He felt every subtle muscle flex when Chris tightened his grip or shifted them into a more comfortable position. That’s how Leon passed out, wrapped in the reassuring embrace of a complete stranger, one who understood the hell he’d lived through and the fear and uncertainty he felt in his soul.

Morning came quickly. Leon woke up still curled into Chris’ chest with a death grip on the other man’s faded t-shirt. Chris’ nose was buried in Leon’s hair, each soft snore ruffling his hair, but his embrace hadn’t lessened overnight.

The warmth of embarrassment burning, Leon snuck out of bed, anxiously loosening Chris’ hold and dashing for the safety and solitude of the bathroom, horrified at his complete lack of control the night before. No one had held him like that before, at least not since he was a child and his grandma would sit up with him after a nightmare. But, sadly, this was another type of nightmare, a waking one.

When Leon finally mustered the courage to wander back into the room, Chris was up, sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees.

“You okay?” Chris asked the same time Leon burst out, “I’m sorry!”

Chris sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong. When I showed up on your doorstep last night, I saw right away that you were barely holding it together.”

Leon’s fists clenched at his side. He couldn’t meet Chris’ gentle gaze.

Chris crossed the room in two enormous strides and considerately grasped Leon by the shoulders. “It was the shock finally hitting you. It happened to me too, but I was alone,” Chris admitted. “Hey. Hey, come on. Look at me.”

Leon bit his lower lip, but he slowly looked up, eyes stinging. “I don’t know what to do.”

Telegraphing his movements, Chris gently pulled Leon into a tight hug. “You’re not alone. We’re going to do this together. I want to take Umbrella down, but first, I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

Leon jerked back so fast Chris stumbled. “I want to help. I want to make those sons of bitches pay.”

Chris smiled. “Good. But first, I have a safe house.”

Together, they set the plans. Leon and Sherry would meet Chris in two days, hopefully with Claire in tow, at Chris’ new safehouse three states over. Sherry and Leon could catch a bus a couple miles down the highway to get them most of the way. The trick would be getting up the mountain to the cabin. But they were in this together. Hope simmered once again.

Armed with a freshly drawn map on motel stationery, Leon watched Chris pack. Umbrella wouldn’t know what hit them.

“Here. Take it.”Chris handed Leon two rumpled twenties, a five, and a few ones he dug out of his wallet. “It’s all the cash I have on me, but it should be enough to get you there. I’ll drop you off-”

“No.” Leon took the cash, but waved off Chris’ offer to give him and Sherry a lift to the bus station. “It’s in the opposite direction. We’ll be fine.”

“Two days,” Chris promised. Sherry had climbed out of bed and now clung to Chris’ arm as if he couldn’t leave as long as she was attached. He ruffled her hair. “With or without Claire, I’ll be there and we’ll go from there.” Chris grabbed Leon by the back of the neck and dragged him into a gruff hug, their foreheads lightly pressed together. “It’s gonna be okay, kid.”

And Leon believed him. That is, until two hours later when an unmarked vehicle pulled up on Leon and Sherry hiking down the side of the road, hand in hand. They never made it to the rendezvous.

[key201303]

Tumblr originals presents: 산 채로 죽은 (Dead Alive) written and directed by Key

Starring: Lee Daeyeol, Choi Sungyoon, Lee Jangjun, Son Youngtaek, Bae Seungmin, Bong Jaehyun, Kim Jibeom, Kim Donghyun, Hong Joochan, Choi Bomin and Choi (Y/N)

Teaser

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2021 1 season HD 5.2

January 25th 2018. That’s the date that marked the beginning of the end. You have spent an amazing day hanging around with your brother and your longtime crush, enjoying the little fair that has been mounted on the promenade for the last week like if you were kids. And once the sun starts to fall, your brother decides to give you some alone time with your crush, making the night even better for him to finally confess his feelings for you.

You swore to your older brother who patiently waited for you at home and was now curiously listening to your story that night was the best night of your life so far. Everything was so perfect and for the first time in a long time, you didn’t regret moving together with your brother. But perfection does not exist, and all the happiness fades away with a simple bomb.

The night that started as the most beautiful dream you have ever had, suddenly turned into your worst nightmare as your brother asked you to stay inside the house while he checked the outsides, trying to find a coherent explanation for the explosion you have both heard in the middle of the night.

Now, three years later, you find yourself in the middle of an apocalypse caused by the nuclear explosion that took place that night because of a small leak in the nuclear station of the city. A virus has taken over humanity and now you all tried your best to survive. But unfortunately, in one of those times you, your brother and Bomin went out to get some food and water, one of them bit you, leaving a terrible wound on your arm and, what was worse, infecting you.

You’ll have to stay strong if you want to survive and you’ll have to do inhumane things if you want your heart to keep beating before you become one of them. But having in your way 6 other boys that are also looking for a solution and that doesn’t want you around will make everything more difficult. Will Bomin be able to kill you and end your suffering? Or will he be able to find the vaccine before you become dead alive?

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of disease, mentions of a vaccine, mentions of death, death threats, brief mentions of suicide, mentions of heatstroke, mentions of medicine (specific warnings will be made for each chapter)

Genre: Apocalypse AU, zombie AU, fluff, angst

Casting information

Chapters

Prologue

Chapter I: "The Beginning of the end."

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[stellocchia]

It’s Sunday, which means Fanfiction Time!

On Going:

The Unexpectedly Endearing Chronicles of Buzzkill and Amalgamation by miss_match

Chapters: 3/?

Superhero AU with Bee Duo as Supervillains, Tommy as their uninvolved roommate and Rocket Duo as detectives!

The Love There That’s Sleeping by katdog133

Chapters: 2/5

Techno and Dream escaped from prison, only Techno was heavily injured so he was left behind. Cue to Tommy rescuing Techno and general Bedrock Bros reunion

To Decay Gracefully by SilverWing15

Chapters: 7/8

AU where Phil is a reaper and Techno and Wilbur are sort of his apprentices. They’re all investigating Tommy’s murder so that his ghost can finally move on. This one gets pretty damn dark, so keep that in mind...

bloodlines by youreyeslookliketheocean

Chapters: 13/19

SBI royal AU. The threat of the Egg is approaching fast, and Tommy ran from it (and from something else) and reached the kingdom of Pogtopia where he warned king Phil. The fic puts focus on all the members of SBI pretty much equally and genuinely I just really enjoyed it so far

When it's strange to take a walk downstairs by justsummr

Chapters: 13/?

Phil-centric forstercare AU. Phil decides to become a foster parent and end up taking in two brothers instead of just one. He definitely bit off more than he could chew, this dude really needs a break. So do Tommy and Wilbur actually. Just, everyone does

Completed: 

a very good reason by Anonymous

Chapters: 1/1

Ngl, this is a crack fic just taking the piss out of some of the more ridiculous arguments sometimes used in defence of c!Dream

let’s beat someone up (isn’t that my dad?) by vibes_shine

Chapters: 1/1

Superhero AU with vigilantes Bench Trio. It’s a crack fic and mostly focused on Bee Duo 

If I could(I would give you the moon) by FlightySpores 

Chapters: 1/1

Zombie Apocalypse AU, also known as Tommy gets adopted by zombie SBI...

There's More To Life Than Loss And Letting Go by yeet_all_the_thots

Chapters: 1/1

Gotta admit that enderman hybrid Tommy is not something I ever thought about before, but they made it work!

going nuclear by milo_the_fish

Chapters: 1/1

Niki ends up killing Wilbur and Tommy definitely doesn’t take it well. At all. The title is literal

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

@midnightwinterhawk​ has done it again. Here’s their fav apocalypse/dystopian fics! Enjoy.

Sterek

A Christmas Miracle by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) 

(1/1 | 5,033 | Teen)

Scott needs to get his pack beyond the border and away from the Hunters that are wiping out all supernatural creatures, but while he's trying he runs into an unexpected old friend.

Finding My Way Home by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 | 7,846 | Teen)

It took only three days for Derek to decide he had to go home. He couldn’t stay in New York. He had to head out and find Stiles. He knew it was insane, that it would take him days, weeks to get to Beacon Hills, but he didn’t think about that. He just found some paper and started making a list of what he needed.

One of his neighbours broke in while he was getting ready to leave. They came at him with a knife, intent on scaring him off so they could take what they needed. He insisted he was leaving and they could grab whatever once he was gone. It wasn’t good enough, because they were terrified and desperate. He didn’t think the guy had ever hurt anyone before—his name was Jerry, he worked in a bank, and was generally a nice person—but he seemed crazy enough not to worry about it this time.

He swung the knife. Derek caught it in his hand, stared Jerry down, and flashed blue eyes at him. Jerry had run, but Derek knew he’d be back with more people. He’d come back insisting Derek in apartment seventeen was one of those monsters they’d been hearing about. He needed to get out.

The New Real by Gia279

(22/22 | 68,906 | not rated)

This is some Sleeping Beauty bullshit.

It's a mad, mad world by ElisAttack 

(11/11 | 73,627 | Explicit)

"They call him the Feral Wolf." The man laughs hysterically as Stiles backs away from him, fear coursing through his veins. "Feral Hale. Do you know why? Huh?" The man creeps closer, testing the restraint of his chains, white talcum falling from his skin, swirling in the air like the dust devils plaguing the wasteland. "Because he's fucking mad."

Or the one where Stiles is a prisoner looking to return home, but to do so, he may have to rely on a questionable drifter.

North of Salem by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas)

(12/12 | 85,152 | Explicit)

The world is ending in a fight between the supernatural and human worlds. On the front line there are packs that keep the threat at bay

The Circus at the End of the World by mikkimouse

(25/25 | 91,049 | Explicit)

Three hundred years ago, the world ended not with a bang or a whimper, but with magic.

Since then, magic has been outlawed, and the world has clawed its way back to some kind of stability, with people and shifters alike divided between living within the walled safety of the Havens, or the small, less protected outposts dotting the frontier.

Derek Hale and his sisters, Laura and Cora, are the proprietors of Hale's Circus of Magic, Monsters, and Mystical Wonders, known colloquially as the Circus at the End of the World. They and their ragtag pack ride the rails between the outposts and the Havens, performing for those who can pay (and some who can't). Their circus is a small haven in and of itself, a place of safety for those who have nowhere else to go.

It's a quiet life...until Stiles Stilinski joins the crew.

The circus has something Stiles needs—a ticket into the Haven of Santa Francesca. His father has been abducted, and Stiles is determined to get him back no matter what he has to do.

But Stiles has another secret, one that puts him and every member of the circus in danger.

And if he's not careful, it could get them all killed.

Radio Tower by HyperLittleNori (Shiguresan)

(12/12 | 130,176 | Explicit)

Inspired by the concept and stunning art by the talented Suis0u on Tumblr. Everything was different. The world he knew was gone. It’d been a long time since he’d started thinking he was probably one of the last humans on earth, that out there the only sentient beings were those that would devour him whole. He wasn’t sure why he continued with the radio broadcasts, continued to talk into nothingness. The only explanation was that there was a spark of hope in him yet that he wasn’t alone. The lonely safety Stiles has built around an old radio tower in the middle of nowhere is about to be broken. Stiles isn’t sure if Derek is a harbinger of chaos or hope at the end of the world. 

Enemy Lines by qhuinn (tekla)

(17/17 | 149,179 | Explicit)

This is the story of werewolf Derek Hale and human Stiles Stilinski: two people who grew up in the same town but completely different worlds, their realities split by the war between men and wolves.

Years later when Derek returns to Beacon Hills, he does it as Alpha of a military pack on a mission to capture those responsible for the region’s resistance. With his main objective, Sheriff Stilinski, out of sight, he settles for the next best thing: his son, Stiles.

Neither of them suspects they’ll need to trust each other if they want to make it out this alive.

Steter

A Light at the (Near) End of the World by ladyoneill

(1/1 | 998 | Teen)

The world he grew up in has ended in a supernatural war that devastated the human population. A survivor, Stiles lives a solitary, quiet life in Wales until there's a knock on his door.

To Go Faster Alone or Go Further Together by Faetality

(1/1 | 2,137 | Teen)

The world ended years ago, but they’re still living.

A Pack of Two by Divinae

(1/1 | 2,446 | Teen)

Stiles has lived alone for years.

Not by choice.

Everyday he waits... with hope.

The Devourers by Malapropian

(1/1 | 2,660 | Explicit)

It’s the end of the world, but Peter can’t complain. Not when his days start and stop with Stiles.

In Your Footsteps (I Will Walk) by cywscross

(1/1 | 8,873 | Teen)

It takes him months, but Stiles gave him a destination, gave him direction, gave him hope, and so he goes.

Trust in the End by ShebaRen, Tahlruil

(2/2 | 18,314 | Explicit)

Stiles had always kind of assumed that the end of the world was going to be full of fire and panicking people. Nuclear warfare had pretty much been his guess as to how it would all go, but he could be flexible on that. His only certainty was that it would be man-made, because people always messed things up.

He hadn't expected the end to be full of snow and freezing cold. He hadn't expected to be so alone while it was happening, hadn't thought he would be making a trek from California all the way up to - if his maps and bearings were right - Washington State. He definitely hadn't expected for it all to happen while his parents were away on a trip for their second honeymoon.

Thankfully he'd fallen in with a wolf who had saved his life and then hung around like a bad penny afterward.

Bite Down by EclipseWing

(4/4 | 27,586 | Mature)

In which Stiles is forced to survive the zombie apocalypse with a sociopathic murdering werewolf for company.