Had it been any other world, any other scenario, they would have never been destined to meet. Sirius and Remus, different in almost every way, yet experiencing the same end of times. It had to be years now since they fell into each other’s lives, and though they may quite possibly be the last two alive people in this sector of the globe, they found solace in each other.
It was hard at first, having to care for more than just themselves, but they made do, they survived with each other, and they would until their last breath. Whereas now, as the sun was setting against the horizon, they both looked up at the soon to be sleeping sky. Eyes glassy, a tear escaping both of their eyes, grasping one another.
They had been avoiding the inevitable for a little too long, but time did what it will always do; it caught up. Their excuse for a home was nothing too much, but it was enough. They were enough, and as the stars woke up, they laid together in the grass, their dog by their side, all succumbing slowly to slumber.
~
It had been twenty-eight days since he last had contact with another person. Another breathing, alive person that was. In the more recent days, he had taken to the more natural areas of the world, finding a welcoming quiet in the trees and the solitude they provided. The trees of pine and redwood were a difference so stark to what he was used to in The Before that though these times were quite literally the worst of the worst, he found a haunting peace within the lack of noise he had in the city. He had created what he referred to as ‘camp’ for himself and the dog he had found back in the last town.
If he was being honest with himself, the dog that he had dubbed Padfoot technically had found him, and some may call the little companion a burden, but he considered it a good omen. His hope had drained in almost every component, but the four-legged friend provided some comfort that he wasn’t alone, not completely at least.
He had always been fond of dogs, and animals in general. Back in The Before, he had been on track for a graduate degree in animal science, with numerous jobs having already reached out to him for openings within their departments. Shelters, relief and rehabilitation centers, all asking for him to join them.
Centers that were now within the shambles of what once was.
But that was in The Before.
Before everything came crashing down, before the world had practically shifted on its axis, metaphorically, at least. The physical world was fine, but its human inhabitants were practically no more.
Not after The Breakout, the disease.
Coming back to his senses, Sirius took in his inventory for the day. He had enough food for him and Padfoot for at least another week or so, but that was dwindling faster as the days progressed. He was running out of the limited amount that he had from his last trip into the city, and he assumed Padfoot was sharing some of the same emotions.
The cabin that he had come upon was furnished enough that he could assume this was a place of residence that saw people rarely, but the sheer quality of all that laid in it practically reeked of new money. He motioned for the dog to follow him in before it got too dark, the sun just bidding goodnight to all those who were left. That was another component of this natural setting that he noticed; the stars (which is a whole other tangent he could go on about) started to shine as the sky was still painted. He knew that Padfoot couldn’t see the broad spectrum of colour that shone, but he liked to imagine that had she been able to detect the different shades, that she, too, would be awed.
There were three rooms to this cabin, one main one accompanied by a gracious size bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom had been neatly composed, waiting for a guest that would seemingly never arrive. The bed was neatly made, heavy blankets and a copious number of pillows being neatly folded and laid upon the too large bed. The kitchen had had no perishable foods, further proving his assumption (and his hope) of the lack of life here.
Because now, life being found almost promised certain death.
The place also had running water, which meant that some sort of deity must have taken pity on him. When he first found this out, tears had streamed down his face for a few minutes. It had been so long since anything promising had been shown to him, and now it felt almost too good to be true.
So, after taking what might have been his second shower of the day (what could he say, he was taking advantage of what he had), locking the doors and windows, double checking the locks, hen triple checking the locks, he settled into the lightly dusted duvet followed by the layers of quilts, silently motioned for Padfoot to take her spot next to him, to which she happily obliged, and dozed off, enjoying the little hope that had filled him.
~
Remus was tired. Not only physically, but tired in every manner and form he could be. This was his second drag of the day, and while he knew the contents of the little cylinder would eventually take his life, given the current circumstances, he risked it, nonetheless. Why would he have been forced to live through all of this had it not been for some form of torture? No person should have to live through the horrors that was The Breakout, and any that did probably deserved it.
Taking the ash from the light, he drew another tally into the many that followed behind it. He had been here for all but seven months now, it all being recorded by the faded ash marks of the drags he had taken, and he was filled with a detest with every new addition.
He was tired.
The lab environment that he had been laying ‘refuge’ in for this stupidly long amount of time had been his second (and final) stop when The Breakout first happened, and he had been there ever since. He laughed now at his feeble attempt of survival back then, having stopped only at a corner market before coming here. He had grabbed all the canned foods, first aid, and vitamins that he could find. And cigarettes. Priorities, people.
He had only been twenty-two when The Breakout happened. He was a graduate student, teacher’s assistant, held nearly a 4.0 GPA, and was en route to a career almost promised to him once he was out. He had taught a group of undergrads in the labs that he now considered his new residence, and every now and then he’d get flashbacks, hallucinations, whatever they were, of what life was like in The Before. Whether he would hear remnants of a student’s voice, or the wind would blow through the door making him think he heard footsteps. Either way, he was thinking of a time that he could never get back; the ghosts that walked the halls were merely nothing but wisps of his shattered memory.
Taking another drag, he felt the tight smoke enter his lungs, holding it in for a second before exhaling. The peace here was haunting, and he hated himself for craving it. Yes, it was true that the birds that were chirping along with the sharp cut of the breeze was nice, almost welcoming, but at what cost? The same streets that were once filled with noises fueled only by human design were now being reclaimed by mother earth.
Well, mother earth and the undead.
It was sound that attracted them. If any were in the area and a sound louder than the creak of a door rang out, it would catch their attention like a moth flying to a lamp. They moved quicker than he had expected too, way quicker than any movie he had seen. And they smelled, no, they reeked. No one ever mentioned anything about how the undead would smell, and he had criticized himself at the start of this all for not realizing that surely a rotting corpse would not smell of nice fragrance. It still got to him though, even after the months that have passed. He almost always wore covering over his face, not only to deter the smell a little, but also because skin was how they got you. One tear, one scratch, and you were chow.
Putting his cigarette out, he slowly got up, stretched his limbs and joints, then stalked to the slightly ajar door. On the inside he had set up a makeshift residence, with some emergency blankets (as well as a couple he had snagged from the corner market on a quick supply run), and a solar powered lantern in one of the corners. Lab equipment was spewed out around the rest of the room, equipment that he left out around the fear of an accidental crash occurring had he try to put it away, but also because he wanted to remember. Maybe it was a little more of a self-punishment to himself for surviving because in his mindset, he was not worthy to have been left. There were others, others that deserved life more than he, yet here he was.
So, turning off all the lights, shutting all of the doors, double checking the locks, then triple checking the locks, he shuffled over to his miserable excuse for a bed.
His miserable excuse of a life.
~
Sirius almost killed Remus when they first met. He had run out of canned foods and dog treats, and Remus needed to restock his Marlboros. Sirius had entered with his dog quietly, gently tiptoeing over the shards of glass and debris that littered the floor. He had cleared a path so Padfoot could follow him in, softly brushing the grime away with his boot. He had grabbed a shopping basket before strolling through the collapsed aisles, and almost laughed at how ironic the situation was. Here he was, wandering through what used to be some sort of store, a basket in one hand and blade in the other as he freely grabbed anything within reach, doing so as quiet as possible. He had rounded the sweets aisle when he saw the person before him, and quickly halted in his steps. He pulled his face covering up, just in case, then cleared his throat. He had found through a many trials and error that when it was just one wandering about, making himself noticed worked better. Also, it added to the twisted ego he had found within himself after so long of dealing with these guys.
The person whipped their frame around instantly, and Sirius clenched his jaw, setting down the basket and raising the blade as if he were a tipping scale. This one was acting…off. It wasn’t charging at him; it wasn’t even interested in him. It just turned back to where its focus had previously been, tilting its head slightly. Sirius cleared his throat again, a little louder this time, and when it didn’t even move, he looked towards his companion, who wagged her tail in response. He knocked the blade against the aisle, the clanging sound emanating from the action shocking whatever, whoever, was in front of him. It turned around him, he turned towards Sirius, and his face looked nothing more than mildly annoyed.
“Are you going to kill me, or are you just going to keep waving that thing around for fun?”
Sirius’ eyes bugged, and he put a finger up to his mouth, motioning to his ear afterwards. A little “shh” erupted from him before he glanced around in a swift motion, checking for any other presences.
“Make a choice already mate, I’m tired and late for my afternoon nap.”
Sirius was flabbergasted to say the least, his mouth slightly agape.
“You-you’re alive?” He looked at his dog once more, then to the man in front of him.
“Obviously. Not by choice, though.” He motioned to Sirius’ knife. “Are you going to put that thing down then?”
“I-” Sirius was baffled. This guy has just been…here. He hadn’t met another live person in a long time. Too long of a time. His care for the noise level dissipated almost instantly after that, figuring that anything around would have already gravitated towards the two of them.
“I’m Sirius. This is Padfoot.” He motioned to the dog, who in turn nudged her head against his hand. The man walked over to the two of them, examining them both.
“You been infected?”
Sirius shook his head.
“Have you?”
A mirrored response.
And then the man stuck his hand out, allowing Padfoot to sniff it before giving her a quick pet.
“I’m Remus.”
They’d decided to stick together after that, whether it was because they would help each other stay alive, or because they just missed the company of another actual person. Either way, they befriended each other, they lived and moved from place to place together, and they grew to love the other’s presence, though rather begrudgingly at first. They had sought out a little place away from any civilization’s remnants, eventually making the best with what they had after finding a little cabin (Sirius had told Remus that he had a knack for stumbling upon cabins), only having to go back to the nearest town a couple times a month for the supplies they couldn’t provide for themselves with.
It was Sirius’ turn to go for the run this time, and though it was a three-day trip on foot there and back, it needed to be made. Remus was outside tending to the garden they had started; the sun having begun its descent below the horizon only a little bit prior. Padfoot had left with Sirius, one always being found not too far from the other.
So, when Remus was mid-watering the soon-to-be lettuce and Padfoot frantically ran up to him, his senses were immediately on high alert. Then she barked at him, and his stomach dropped. In all the years he had known the two, Remus had never heard her bark. Something was wrong.
“Sirius?” He called out in a hushed manner. A response called out to him from not too far away, and when his figure came into his line of sight, the watering can dropped to the ground, its contents soaking the dirt beneath him.
Sirius’ arm was poorly wrapped up, and there were blotches of deep red and black quilting the gauze. Remus, followed by Padfoot, scurried to the injured man, a frantic look in both of their eyes. It was safe here, they could talk and not worry about being seen, yet Remus still spoke in a gentle tone.
“What-did they-did you-” his fumbling words were cut off by Sirius, who in turn placed his good hand upon the other’s shoulders and nodded.
“It was only a matter of time.”
The tears started to flow from both parties. A whine emitted from Padfoot.
“Remus, you know what you have to do.” With a heavy heart, Sirius laid something cold and sharp in Remus’ hand. The tears had turned ugly, sniffing and cries being torn from them both.
“No. No, I won’t do it-” Remus’ body shook, a sob being wretched by him. “-I won’t do it.”
The words were soft, spoken amidst hiccupping breaths.
“You-you have to. I’ll-” Sirius started to fold in on himself now, a mixture of the pain from his lost battle with an undead and the pain from knowing he was leaving the two he loved overcoming him. Remus caught him with his body, both of them sliding to the ground. “-it’s the right thing to do. It’s the only thing to do.”
Their sobs filled the air of the woods around them, flowing through the leaves of the trees, into the wind that blew through cold grass as the night arose. Remus nodded, but any chance of recovering from the devastating blow he just had to face was thrown away when he felt the cold snout of Padfoot nudging against his and Sirius’ elbow. She knew something was wrong too, and there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it.
So, Remus did what he needed to do, with trembling hands and a spliced heart. He laid down with Sirius, hands intertwined, bodies holding one another, their dog by their side, and before one of them left into that permanent slumber, a whisper was heard.
“Take care of her for me, yeah?”
Their eyes had both closed, and the crickets had filled the space around them. Nature was taking her pity on the victims of this disaster.
“Yeah, I will.”