Like the Plague [Karkat x Reader] Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“I still don’t get why the fuck you would call them Z’s. It just sounds stupid.”

“Well…it’s better than calling them zombies! When I think zombies, I think fake; therefore I call them Z’s.”

“…Whatever.”

You and your brand new traveling companion, a grumpy troll named Karkat, were now walking along the side of a road. The road itself was in decent condition, with only a few dirt spots where the weather had beaten away the asphalt. Several old cars with various plants growing over the hoods and grass entangling the wheels dotted it. A good distance behind you was the city in which you had left Kaye, your former traveling partner. You still found it kind of hard to believe that after five years, she had decided to betray you. Had she been planning to the whole time, and was just waiting for the right moment? You fell silent in thought, your (e/c) gaze falling to the ground as you kicked a small piece of asphalt along in front of you.

Karkat noticed your prolonged silence (he hadn’t been able to shut you up since the both of you left the city) almost immediately. His ears twitched slightly, and he glanced sideways at you. “Not that I mind, but why the sudden silence?”

You shrugged, giving the piece of asphalt one last kick and sending it away into the grass. “Eh, the scenery’s getting a bit repetitive, don’t you think—ooh! Punchbuggy!” You perked up at the sight of the familiar car, and hit Karkat on the shoulder.

“OW! What the fuck was that for?!”
***

You and Karkat had come to a bit of a crossroads. Literally. You had both paused where the road split into two paths, the one on the left going under a bridge and carrying on straight, the other turning and disappearing behind some trees.

“Ugh, fuck this. Let’s just go left; at least we can see the path.” Karkat muttered, turning to continue down the left branch of the road.

You, however, didn’t budge. “I don’t know, something’s telling me we should go right. There are less cars blocking the road, and—”

“And it’s blocked by a dozen fucking trees. We can’t even see where it leads, (Name), so the way on the left seems a lot damn safer.”

“Just because you can see it doesn’t mean it’s safe. Trusting my gut kept me alive this long, why stop now and die?” You crossed your arms, refusing to move from your spot. Karkat let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, trudging back over to you.

“(Name), quit being so fucking difficult and come on. Night is going to fall soon.” There was a hint of a growl in Karkat’s voice, and he tugged on your arm. When you still didn’t move, another sigh escaped his lips. “I’m fucking serious, (Name). Get your ass moving.”

“No, not until you agree to go—right!” Your voice rose in volume, a result of your surprise as Karkat picked you up and slung you not-so-gently over his shoulder. “Put me down! We need to go right, I’m telling you!”

“Lower your fucking voice or we’ll attract zombies,” he hissed, not making a move to set you down in the slightest. “We’re going left, deal with it.” And then he set off down the left branch of the road, sticking to the grass on the side as to avoid having to weave his way through cars.

All of a sudden, he came to an abrupt halt. You were relieved when he put you down and your feet touched ground. “Did you hear that?” he asked, his voice much lower than usual. It seemed like he was actually trying to whisper.

You shook your head; and speaking of your head, it had started hurting, probably a result of the knockout via Kaye. Karkat suddenly grabbed you by the arm and yanked you forward. Turns out that he had started walking, and you hadn’t followed. “What the fuck are you standing around for? Come on.” He tugged your arm again, and you finally started walking after him.

A mere couple of minutes later, you heard growling. It seemed like Karkat had been on the alert, because he whipped around so fast with his gun in his hand you thought he was going to mistake you for a Z and shoot you. “You can’t tell me you didn’t fucking hear that.” He stared at you incredulously. You appeared perfectly calm, and hadn’t even bothered to draw a weapon.

“Dude, calm down. It was just my stomach, I’m starving.” And then came another growl, but this time… “Now that was not my stomach.” You jerked around to face the source of the noise: a car was shaking uncontrollably, as a zombie was probably trapped inside of it. Slowly, one by one, cars all over started shaking, the infected inside now awakened and sent into a craze due to the fact that potential meals were so close. “Shit. The bombs, use the bombs!”

You had to hit Karkat upside the head to get him to react. The troll dug franticly through his backpack and finally pulled out one of the delicate bottles. You snatched it from him and threw it in the midst of the cars. As soon as it hit the ground it exploded, causing the cars and the infected inside to be engulfed and devoured by flames. Karkat threw a second bomb, this one flying farther than yours, to take care of the inhabitants of a few more shaking vehicles. He then zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders once more.

“Oh hey.” The troll turned to you, lifted a hand, and slugged you on the shoulder.

“What the hell was that for?”

“Punchbuggy.”