With your feet, one the air and your head on the ground,
Light pours into a light and airy room, the walls are white; there are hints of black and green throughout. Separating the white and making it more homely and less like a hospital. Regulus groans. He's woken up before his alarm again, grabbing his phone he checks the time.
7:47 AM
"Well, screw that." he drops his phone and can hear it fall somewhere. He would grab it, but he can't be bothered to get out of the warm cocoon of blankets he has created. He will just close his eyes until the alarm goes off and then he will find his phone.
Regulus curses at himself as he rushes out the front door of his apartment. He slept through the fucking alarm, and now he has only fifteen minutes to get to the dance studio. Less than ideal to say the least. He decides that the trains will take too long and elects to just sprint across town. He knows he will still be late, but maybe he will only be ten minutes late instead of thirty. Finally, coming up on the building, Regulus slows his sprint into a light jog. He feels far more relaxed now that he is actually in the building, the sounds of people practicing and perfecting the moves along with their music. He pushes the door open to the main rehearsal room and is greeted by his director.
"So glad you can join us Black, we were beginning to worry we would have to rehearse without both of our leads." She says to him. Regulus' eyes scan the room, and there is a severe lack of platinum, curly hair. "She called in saying that she wasn't feeling well, probably that bug that has been going around."
Without his dance partner, Pandora, Regulus' day is quite dull. Pandora has been his dance partner for the last three years, and Regulus couldn't have chosen anyone better than her to dance with. When he first met her he didn't like her, he thought she was odd. Well, he still thinks she's odd. She had this strange way of looking at the world, and she had insane theories, but she's Pandora. That's just how she is. Many would probably look at them and think they are a couple, but they couldn't be more wrong. Regulus and Pandora are best friends, that's it. She is the first person who actually understood him. He has other friends who are very dear to him, but none understand him like Pandora.
Regulus goes through his routine a couple of times that morning and has to make do with someone from the ensemble; she's a capable dancer, but no one is quite as graceful as his best friend. At some point during the morning one of the dancers has to go home because she just about collapsed while rehearsing with a fever. Aside from that, the morning dragged on, and Regulus counted the minutes until he could leave for lunch.
Once the time for lunch came around, Regulus practically sprinted out the front doors into the street. He expected there to be someone to shout at him, but the roads around him were quiet, and there were far too few people for downtown London. Though unsettling, Regulus didn't think much of it. Maybe he had forgotten a holiday or something. He hoped that since there were not any people out in the streets maybe the coffee shop he planned on going to wouldn't be busy for a change. Walking down the eerily quiet roads, the few people that he did pass looked at him wearily and would quickly pass him. Regulus was used to people looking at him, he was aware that his looks were, though what people would call attractive, quite haunting. He was pale and had sharp features; along with piercing blue-grey eyes, he had black hair that contrasted his face and made him look paler if that was actually possible.
Regulus quickly steps into the coffee shop, and the smell of grounds fills his nose. Pandora makes fun of him for needing to have a coffee every day for lunch, but he thinks she isn't allowed to talk because, though not coffee, she has to have a tea every day with her lunch. Regulus feels strange being here without her since they always eat together and then go back to the studio to practice for another hour. He steps up to the ordering counter and gets his usual drink and a sandwich. He stands to the side while waiting for his order and finally looks around the shop. He has never seen it so empty. There are only a small handful of people scattered around; all with their eyes glued to the small television on the wall in a corner. Regulus only glances at it and can tell that the news is playing. He decides to send Pandora a text. He goes to take a picture of the almost empty shop, but he stops when he looks at what the television says.
ANARCHY IN THE STATES
The United States is in complete lockdown after a strange and deadly pathogen appeared seemingly overnight.
The television quickly cuts to what Regulus believes is a street somewhere in New York City. It is live footage of people running around frantically, and things are on fire. Regulus scoffs to himself; Americans are always lighting things on fire. He looks closer at the people, some of them seem to be trying to grab the others running around them. They look very unwell and are lethargic. The barista calls his name and Regulus swiftly grabs his order. Glancing at the barista, he notices that they look ill and are covered in sweat; they look like they could fall over on the spot. Regulus briefly wonders if that person could possibly have the same illness that is on the news. Looking back at the television, showing a man being attacked by another person, attempting to push them off of him; the attacker grabs the man's arm and sinks their teeth into his arm. A terrible scream fills the coffee shop, and Regulus has to look away from the sight. One of the other customers in the shop gags and faces always from the television. Regulus' eyes wander back to the barista who in the few minutes that he had looked at them, looks even worse and is having to lean against the counter to hold themselves up. He decides that lunch can wait and puts the sandwich into his backpack. He takes a gulp of the coffee and burns his tongue and throat. He steps out of the shop and back into the street and there are even fewer people than before. He has a little bit longer than he normally has before he needs to be back at the studio, so decides to pay his brother, Sirius, a visit.
The streets are eerily empty for London at lunchtime. Only a few people quickly walking past looking over their shoulders. Regulus feels uneasy but tries to not think too much about what he saw on that television in the cafe. Crazy things were always happening across the ocean in the States. Just last week, Regulus had heard an outlandish story from over there that made his head hurt. Whatever that was is probably isolated in certain cities like New York and maybe LA, but the chances of it being all the way across the world in Europe were low. Then Regulus hears an ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream from behind him.
Behind Regulus are two people, a man, and a woman. The man has this haunting look to him. It reminds Regulus of those pictures people took in Victorian times; the people would take photos of their dead loved ones while they all sat around them. The reason those photos are so creepy is because you can always tell who is dead, and right now, Regulus can tell the man is dead. The thing is, the man is moving. He's more than moving. He's chasing the woman. He's about to step in and help this girl until the man grabs her arm, sinks his teeth into her arm, and pulls a chunk from her arm. The scream that this woman lets out is the most terrifying sound Regulus has ever heard. He stumbles back as the man continues to tear into this woman, eating her alive. A few feet away Regulus hears a groaning, near is a woman lying on the ground. He runs over to her to help her get away from the gruesome scene not far up the street.
"Hey! You gotta get up." He crouches next to her, "I don't know what's going on, but it isn't safe, you can't stay here." He grabs her hand to help her up, but she just leans into him. She clearly has a fever, her body feels like a furnace.
"Jesus Christ, are you okay? You need to get to a hospital." He looks around to see if someone might drive by to give them a ride. Just up the road, there is a car, but it swerves erratically until it drives straight into the building across the street from Regulus. He turns his face away from the wreak shielding his face and the girl next to him. Shards of glass fly past them, cutting Regulus' cheek. He goes to help the woman to her feet, but her body is limp next to him, and behind him, the man seems finished with the woman he attacked and is making his way slowly over to them.
"Okay, you really need to get up, lady. Something is seriously wrong!" He shouts, but she doesn't move. Until her arm twitches slightly. Regulus gets his hopes up until her eyes open and he realizes that whatever is happening with the man creeping closer to them has happened to this woman. She's dead.
Regulus pushes himself away from her and quickly gets to his feet. The woman clumsily gets to her feet, and this low animal-like growling sound escapes her mouth. She reaches out to him, trying to grab ahold of him, he staggers back. His mind is racing. He can hear in the distance other people screaming and shouting, as well as other sounds of explosions and crashing. Everything around him is going to shit all at once. He turns quickly and runs up the road, avoiding cars and people. He needs to get to Sirius' apartment, then they need to get out of the city. He doesn't completely understand what the hell is happening, but he knows that London isn't safe. He remembers that he has a phone and fishes it from his pocket quickly pressing his brother's contact. The phone rings, rings, and rings until.
"Hey! I missed your call, leave a message, and I can get back to you later. Although, if it is important just text me because I never actually check voicemails." The prerecorded message ends and the beep sounds.
"Sirius, for once in your life pick up the damn phone and call me back, I don't know what the hell is going on, but we need to get out of the city. Maybe go to James' parent's place, they're out of the city. Just somewhere not in London! I'm heading to your place now, text me back or call me, anything! See you soon." Regulus hesitates before ending his message, "And I uh- be safe." He turns off his phone and continues running in the direction of where Sirius lives. When Sirius was apartment hunting a few months ago he was very adamant that he and his boyfriend needed to live somewhere near all the good bars and shops. He claimed that that is where all life is. In reality, Sirius is just picky and likes expensive things. Regulus is now cursing his brother because he was right about the area being where life was. Where it was. Now, all there is crashed cars and frantic people, as well as the dead attacking others.
Ahead of him is his brother's building, he quickly runs inside, closing the door behind him. He locks the door and steps back. The sounds are muffled now, but he can see all the people running in all directions and plenty of people getting attacked. Regulus scrambles his way up the stairs to his brother's floor. The building is quiet. He almost slips on one of the steps and realizes why. He's stepped into blood that's dripping from the landing a few steps ahead, and on that landing is a man. He's clearly dead. His eyes are open just gazing lifelessly into the distance. Regulus has to suppress bile that builds up in his throat and creeps around the dead body. He doesn't want to stick around long enough to find out if that man is planning on coming back. Finally getting to Sirius' apartment he fumbles with the spare key that Sirius gave him, his hands shaking, and goes to go into the apartment, but the door is already unlocked, and not just unlocked, but also open slightly. Regulus' stomach feels like it's in his throat, he suddenly imagines his brother and his boyfriend stalking around the apartment just waiting for someone to have the misfortune of picking this apartment to hide in. They wait to sink their teeth into- He quickly clears his head and pushes into the apartment.
"Sirius? Remus?" He shouts, there is no answer, "Are you guys home?" There is still no response. Trying to push away the many thoughts going through his head, Regulus quickly sweeps the apartment and finds no one. Sirius and Remus aren't here. The place looks normal, nothing is broken, and all their clothes and food are still there. They probably went out somewhere. Regulus tries calling both Sirius and Remus, but neither of them answers. He steps over to the windows that overlook the streets below, all the mayhem is still going on. Up in the sky, Regulus can see smoke coming from multiple different directions and half a dozen military planes fly past the building shaking the windows. Down the street, he can see men in uniforms running through the streets, shooting at the attackers. There are so many of them now. More of them than living people. Regulus steps away from the windows and falls back onto the couch. The world is ending, and he's alone. He doesn't know where his brother is, and the dead have literally come to life and are attacking people. Regulus can't breathe. How can this be happening? All of this is crazy! People getting ill, dying, and then coming back as bloodthirsty monsters is completely mental. The more Regulus thinks the more he thinks that this is just one fucked up dream and he's about to wake up any minute, his alarm is going to go off, and he won't be late for work. He sits there for a long time waiting. He doesn't wake up. This is really happening. He wants to cry. What the hell is he supposed to do? He looks around the apartment and thinks. If Sirius and Remus are out there, they could already be dead. He hates the thought. Then he realizes that if something ever happened, they would go north, that's where James' parents live. The Potters have a sizable home out in the country, far from other people. It would be one of the safest places during all of this madness. Sirius will go to James first. He tries not to feel hurt by the idea but would rather his brother be alive outside the city with his best friend than still in this city looking for him.
Down below, the streets are still loud with gunshots and shouting. He debates grabbing a few things and then leaving immediately but decides against it. Leaving now while all that fighting is going on could be a death wish. Not only could he get attacked by those corpses, he could get shot. Though he doesn't like the idea he decides to stay in his brother's apartment for the night and leave in the morning for the Potter's home. He realizes that it has already been several hours since he left the studio for lunch. He pulls out the sandwich that he didn't eat earlier and tries to eat some of it. His appetite is completely gone, but he forces himself to eat. On top of everything happening, he doesn't want to be hungry.
He looks through the kitchen cabinets and pulls things that he could easily carry without spoiling, this is when he finds out that the power is out. The fridge is off, and none of the lights work. Regulus looks through the closet too, looking for any clothes that may fit him, or even anything that Sirius or Remus would miss. Sirius' leather jacket is hanging in the closet. Sirius would be devastated if he couldn't get this back, it was one of the first few things he got after he left their parent's home, and it's covered in multiple different patches from different artists and bands that Sirius has loved over the years. He grabs it and pulls it on. It is slightly too big for him, but it's embarrassingly comforting to wear. He grabs a few shirts and some of Remus' sweaters. While rummaging through the closet, shoved in the back there is an aluminum bat. Regulus doesn't even know where this bat came from since neither Remus nor Sirius plays any sports, but he isn't about to complain and grabs it. He may need something to protect himself from those...things.
Satisfied with what he found he brings everything back out to the living room and sets up a makeshift bed on the couch. Something about sleeping in their bed seems wrong. It's dark outside now, but none of the shooting has stopped. The entire city seems like it has no power, only a few places illuminated by what Regulus has to guess are fires. He locks the door to the hall and settles onto the couch. After several hours of trying he finally falls asleep.