Dead EndChapter 8

Jules is dead.

Jordan has been staring at him for a solid fifteen minutes now, sitting by his head. Not a zombie, simply dead, he looks almost normal. There is frothing at his mouth, his eyes still eerily white, but aside from that, he looks like he might roll off the couch after taking a nap from a bad shift at the coffee house. He’s still, is the point. Still and unmoving and Jordan… doesn’t know anything. 63yPhI

Jules is dead, and Sebastian killed him. Except—Jules was a zombie, attacked Sebastian, has a bite mark on his wrist where the open wound is black. There’s a trail of blood throughout the apartment, and the sound of shooting and explosions ringing loudly outside. 

Jules is dead, and he was a zombie.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

”What—” Jordan bites down on his lip. He scoots closer to Jules, lets his hand rest gently on Jules’ hair. Taking a deep breath, he croaks, ”What now?”

”We return to my house,” Sebastian says, easily, his voice calm and steady. When Jordan glances at him, the other man is in the midst of picking up the knife Jordan dropped. He doesn’t seem rattled. Doesn’t seem shocked. Of5Tmz

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Jordan gulps. His fingers clench on Jules’ hair, and he frowns heavily. ”We can’t just leave him here,” he protests. His stomach is queasy at the mere thought, was already quest from the sight of Jules’ still body. Jules is always in motion; dancing as he cleans, singing in the shower, bobbing his head in time with music. He’s not… unmoving like this. Even when he sleeps, he tosses and turns and sometimes even falls over the edge. Andrew sleeps nearly on top of him, allegedly to keep Jules still but Jordan knows… knows that he just likes the intimacy.

Fuck, what is he going to tell Andrew?

”Shit,” Jordan lets go of Jules to grip his own hair, pulling on it. ”Fuck!” he swears, almost yelling. Banging his hand on the floor, he curls over Jules and mutters, ”Fuck,” again.

He feels a hand land on his shoulder. Hesitant, the touch soft, the hand curls over his shoulder and settles there. ”I’m sorry,” Sebastian says, his voice low. His hand is searing, the warmth almost burning Jordan. Jordan shakes his head in silence, a lump of air in his throat keeping him from speaking.

”How did you know about this?” Jordan asks abruptly, a burning need to know cooking his insides. 

(Jules is dead. He was a zombie, and now he’s dead.)

Sebastian hums, a low sound that sends shivers down Jordan’s spine. His voice is hoarse as he says, ”It was a dream, I think. Or a vision. Perhaps even time travel. I don’t know how, or why, or when. I just woke up one day, and the knowledge was already in my head.”

Jordan clenches his eyes shut. He falls back on his ass and scoots away from Jules, settling against the wall. Sebastian moves with him, his hand leaving Jordan’s shoulder for a moment before retuning when he, too, was sitting. Jordan breathes, counting his breaths in his head as they go in and out. He pulls up his knees to his chest and curls his arms around them, putting his head on his arms. With his eyes shut, he counts and he breathes and he counts. h81BEX

Sebastian’s hand stays on his shoulder. After Jordan has counted to two-hundred (after having restarted a couple of times when he forgot where he was) he tips over his body to the right, feeling it impact against Sebastian.

Sebastian instantly throws his arms around Jordan and hugs him tight, like he’s been waiting for this. And Jordan doesn’t care that this man is suspicious as fuck, that he kidnapped Jordan, that he killed Jules. Because Jules was a zombie. Jules tried to bite them, grunted instead of speaking, his eyes gone and his mouth frothing. 

”I just…” Jordan licks his lips and presses tighter against Sebastian. ”Need a minute.”

”Take all the time you need,” Sebastian whispers into his hair, his head pressing against Jordan’s. The silence around them is only interrupted by the vague sounds of cars honking outside, the sound of screaming from the streets, of cars skidding, of guns shooting. But here, there is a bubble of silence surrounding them and every sound is far-off and faint. 0 Wzql

Jordan starts shivering after a while. His eyes peek open and after taking a deep breath, he turns his head slightly until he can see Jules. Biting his lip, Jordan whispers, ”Can we… can we put him somewhere?”

”I’ll put him on his bed,” Sebastian says, brushing his hand over Jordan’s back. Jordan shudders, but presses into the sensation. He’s still staring at Jules.

”Okay,” Jordan says after a beat, sniffling a little—his nose has started to run for some reason. He nods against Sebastian’s chest and clears his throat. ”I’ll lead you to his bed,” he mumbles.

”You want to rest some more first?” jZTCwJ

”No, I want to—” Jordan doesn’t know how to finish the sentence and lets it hang in the air, incomplete. He wants to bury Jules, but he also knows they can’t do that. First they’d have to carry him down, and then dig a hole big and deep enough, not to mention that most of the area around the apartment building is concrete. There’s no space big enough for a body.

No, they’ll put him in his bed, and Jordan will write a note on the door so that Andrew doesn’t go in blind. It’s the best thing do to, the only thing they can do.

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”Okay,” Sebastian says. He helps Jordan up, leads him into a sitting position and then pulls him up the rest of the way. Jordan sways a little on his feet for a moment, his legs trembling and seeming one gust of wind away from toppling over. He shakes his head, pinches his arm to focus, and waits while Sebastian picks up Jules. And when his hold is secure, Jordan leads the way to Jules’ bedroom.