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Karkat stared at Gamzee, no, that wasn’t Gamzee anymore. It was just a reanimated corpse that happened to look like Gamzee. Karkat could feel tears well up in his eyes but he pushed them down as he aimed the shotgun at his once best friend. He put his finger on the trigger and began to push down until-
“Honk”
Karkat looked at Gamzee who seemed to attempt a smile but with his mangled jaw looked even more horrifying than the stoic expression he had just moments ago.
“G-Gamzee?” Karkat couldn’t believe it. The reply he got was another honk in a different tone, it seemed all Gamzee could manage with his jaw - it was gruesome, part of his cheek ripped open revealing the inside his mouth strips of flesh still hung across in random places and blood dripping down onto his torn purple T-shirt - but that was good enough for Karkat that sound was a Gamzee only sound. His best friend was still on there.
“Gamzee!” Karkat was crying now but he couldn’t care less Gamzee was with him and he would be ok even if Gamzee was a walking corpse. He lept into Gamzee’s arms and was surprised when those strong arms caught him easily and pulled him close just like when he was alive Karkat thought as he buried his face in Gamzee’s bloody T-shirt.
2 Weeks Later
Karkat stared in horror as the zombies closed in on him and Gamzee. He knew he didn’t have enough bullets and that Gamzee couldn’t take all of these zombies by himself. So he closed his eyes and thought back to the last to weeks.
Gamzee and Karkat sat in a pile of old clothes in an abandoned house cuddled up close. Karkat didn’t mind the smell of Gamzee’s decomposing flesh and he couldn’t care left what parts of his best friend came off on his clothes. Gamzee gently brought Karkat’s head to rest on his lap and patted his cheek as if telling him to go to sleep. Karkat was reluctant to comply but as Gamzee’s fingers gently carded through his hair he was slowly lulled into a deep slumber.
Karkat had been rummaging through a dumpster when they came, drawn by the sound of the rusty lid being opened. Karkat had been nearly fully in the dumpster at the time his legs sticking out as he looked for useful items. He hadn’t heard their low groaning until Gamzee let out a startled honk and Karkat looked out to see what the problem was. When he saw the zombies so close that he could reach out and touch their rotten flesh he panicked. He reached for his gun leaning against the dumpster but recoiled as rotten teeth came dangerously close to his arm. He let out a startled yelp and fell backwards. He began to crabwalk away kicking at the zombie following him. Several other zombies came up from behind and grabbed his shirt pulling at it to try to drag him closer to their gaping maws. suddenly the pulling stopped and karkat looked up tears in his eyes, at Gamzee who was currently bashing the two zombies who had grabbed him into the dumpster until their heads were the consistency of pudding. As Karkat stared in awe he failed to notice the other zombie’s teeth coming dangerously close to his neck. But before the teeth could clamp down Gamzee had hauled Karkat by his shirt away from the corpse and immediately tackled it. Once all the zombies were incapacitated Gamzee had grabbed Karkat and dragged him away from the area before more corpses came wandering towards the sounds made during the fight. He dragged Karkat into the abandoned house that they called their home for now and practically threw him into the pile of old clothes they slept in (well Karkat slept Gamzee kept watch) and sat down in front of him. Gamzee placed his hand on Karkat’s cheek and wiped away the tears with his thumb. Karkat didn’t care that he was crying that was the closest he’d ever come to dying and he was still terrified, when he closed his eyes he saw the gaping jaw of the zombie. Karkat let out a choked sob and collapsed into Gamzee’s arms. He petted Karkat’s hair and maid gentle shooshing sounds while rocking them both back and forth. Eventually Karkat fell asleep in Gamzee’s arms, the zombie watching over him with gentle eyes.
Several days later Karkat was sitting in the pile reading a book with Gamzee curled around him protectively. It made it difficult for Karkat to maneuver and turn the pages but he had gotten used to it. Gamzee had been like this since they had been attacked. He had curled around Karkat whenever he had the chance wrapping his arms around the shorter’s waist and dragging him to the pile to cuddle as often as he could without being yelled at. He also didn’t let Karkat leave the house. When they ran out of supplies Karkat started to load his shotgun to go outside and scavenge but Gamzee had pulled it away and hid it. Then he pointed to Karkat then to the ground as a way of saying ‘stay here’ and left. He was gone for four hours and Karkat was worried sick about what could have happened and almost had a heart attack when he was woken from his restless slumber to the door creaking open. Gamzee had come home with plenty of food and Karkat could tell that he had raided a store or something. But he couldn’t dwell on the thoughts because Gamzee kicked the door closed and shuffled over to Karkat, wrapping his arms around his waist and carrying him to the pile which they both collapsed upon. As Karkat got comfortable Gamzee started to curl around him and started petting his hair until he fell asleep.
Karkat smiled at his thoughts as he looked over at Gamzee who was starting to panic. Karkat entwined their hands and took a deep breath as the zombies closed in. Gamzee help his hand the entire time as the zombies clawed and ripped at his flesh. Eventually everything went black and his heart stopped beating. Several minutes later Karkat opened his eyes to Gamzee’s face. He tried to speak but was unable to make any noise besides a few desperate grunts. Gamzee let out a overjoyed honk and hugged Karkat close. He began to inspect his newly turned friend for any reasons for him to lack the ability to move and when he found none he helped his best friend up and together they began to wander the streets, fingers interlocked.