this ruin of ours, percy&dale—apocalypse au

PERCY;

three days ago, the entirety of district six broke into a widespread panic. it was something about a virus from one of the hospitals being released into the streets after a string of break-ins at their storage facilities. the peacekeepers forced everyone to stay inside, for our 'safety' they said, but we all knew they wanted to clean up the situation as quickly and quietly as possible. the capitol didn't want to deal with another rose plague.

two days ago, the first few bodies were found. aurora had an inquisitive mind, always chasing her curiosities, and snuck out of the house. venus, afraid of being left out of anything, chased after her. they never came back, i waited all night for them too, kept the window unlocked and the light on my desk on. i knew i should've went with them, i'm not entirely sure why i didn't. a gut-feeling, i guess, something in my mind that told me not too. maybe it saved my life, or maybe it doomed theirs.

one day ago, district six burst into flames. it started with the hospitals, then the peacekeeper vehicles were toppled over, and then the hordes of people began fighting. peacekeepers fired out into the crowd, bullets burying themselves into many, but some of them got overwhelmed. smoke bombs were dropped to deter people, but it had the opposite effect, in fact. because in the chaos, nobody noticed the fallen bodies rising, nobody noticed them dragging the first few people down, sinking their rotten teeth into their skin and tearing chunks of flesh from their bones. nobody noticed until there was too many of them, and the only choice of fight or flight was taken away entirely. it became how long you could outrun death.

i escaped to dale's in the midst of that, i don't think i've ever ran that fast. if i close my eyes, i can still feel the borderline volcanic burning sensation in my legs. but then, it's all a blur from there. i remember the chime of the bell as i burst through the door, panicked with sweat pouring down my skin. there's a gap in my memory, an empty frame in my mind. i remember...screaming and then a gunshot and a terrible sinking feeling in my chest. and then...i fell asleep.

today, it's quiet. there's a faint crackling of fire in the distance, the flames nearing their end, slowly simmering and dying out. but other than the burning, nothing. no sign of the war that occurred outside the it walls of this house just last night.

i blink when i first open my eyes, wiping the crust from the corners and shielding my face from the sun beaming through the glass of the window. there's a soreness in my neck and back from falling asleep propped up against the door, but the pain was worth it, i think.

"dale?" i ask in a hushed whisper, biting my lip because i was scared of being too loud, of bringing any attention to the presence of us. "dale, wake up," i say again, gently pushing on the side of his shoulder. the door creaks under the shift in weight and i freeze, suddenly. my entire body goes rigid and still, but my heart starts to beat faster than ever. it's going so fast, i swear it's going to burst out of my chest.

seconds pass, i wait for something to come for us, to rap their undead and flesh-ridden fists on the door, but nothing comes. no sounds or rapid movements, a quiet sigh of relief slips from my lips.