The Railroad

Chapter 2

Wilbur's head shot up from where it was looking down at the ground at the sound of the door opening. His expression immediately went from a pained grimace to a gentle grin at the sight of George, and he bounded up from his hospital bed, placing a large hand on the glass screen separating them.

George put his considerably smaller hand up next to Wilbur's and returned the taller boy's kind smile. Wilbur always seemed so delighted and relieved to see George had come back to visit again, and he treated all of their time together as if it could be their last.

Realistically, it could. They still didn't know how the virus entirely affected the brain functions, it was different for everyone but the overall factor that it messed with your brain was there. It could cause someone to simply shut down overnight, in the blink of an eye. They really didn't know that much.

"I've missed you, Gogs," Wilbur whispered, muffled by the layer of plexiglass.

"It's only been a week, Wil," George chuckled softly.

"You know what I mean."

George didn't answer. They both knew that he did. It was quiet for a minute, neither knowing quite what to say. George missed the good times they used to share, back when everything was simpler. They used to play king of the hill on the playground in elementary school, ignore the popular kids who thought they were better than everyone in junior high, and skip class to go to thrift stores in high school.

Even after the outbreak they managed to have a good time. They were going into sophomore year at the time, and they pretty much just joked around through it all. They graduated together, and Wilbur came to the same college that George did: Columbia. He was a law major and George was going to receive his M.D. It was his dream to be a doctor and there was no way he was gonna allow a zombie apocalypse to change that.

Once the war ended and everything shut down, school continued as normal with Colombia professors giving them their assignments digitally. George graduated two years prior, and Wilbur finished a year before he was turned into a zombie.

Since he'd had enough knowledge to begin conducting research, George had been searching for the cure. Other scientists had also been looking, but they all had their hands full with other things. And besides, like George's father always said, no one had the gift of science and medicine quite like George did.

At first the hunt for the cure was not as big a deal to George, and then Wilbur was turned and another... incident happened, and since then the cure was all George was living for. It didn't help that he was under immense pressure from his father, but he also felt some obligation to help all these people. There wasn't much else to look forward to these days, other than when they wouldn't be "these days" anymore, and the world went back to normal.

But the truth of the matter is that they could never go back to normal, whatever that even meant. Nothing would be the same again: the governments had fallen apart, they had no contact with parts of the world that weren't included in America, there was destruction everywhere, and tens of millions of people were dead. That's not exactly something one could come back from, is it?

With the cure, at least they could work on piecing together some sense of normalcy, and do it together. There wouldn't be walled cities, zombies wouldn't have to be isolated from their loved ones for years, and people could simply stop hating one another for things that weren't their fault.

It was wishful thinking, but it was all George had left.

"How's Sally?" Wilbur asked, hope in his big brown eyes.

"She... misses you."

"But yet she still won't come see me?" There was a pause. "Right, thought so."

"Wil, she wants to, you know that. It's just hard for them to see you this way."

"You think, George? Well imagine being me. Imagine wanting to eat everyone you care about, to see the look in their eyes when they see me this way, to be hated," the tall brunet ranted, hands curling into fists. After a moment or two he relaxed, and his expression turned despondent. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," George murmured comfortingly. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you... how hard this is."

Wilbur nodded, resting his forehead against the glass. He looked so defeated, so dejected. He was giving up hope, and George didn't blame him, but the brunet feared what it would mean the day his friend finally quit. Would he remain somewhat himself? Or would that other force take over? No one knew for sure, but George couldn't let it happen.

"There's a cure," he blurted out suddenly.

"What?!" Wilbur shrieked, eyes lighting up once more.

"Well, not quite yet, but I'm close. I'm so close, Wil. And once I have a cure that's been confirmed to work, you're gonna be the first one who gets it. I promise."

"Oh George," Wilbur laughed incredulously, running a hand through his thick brown hair. He continued to laugh, more like soft chuckles, but it was still laughter. It was a sound George hadn't heard come from his best friend in a long time.

"You just gotta hold on a little longer, okay?"

"I'll get to see Sally again! And Tommy, and Techno (the family nickname for Wilbur's brother), and Phil!"

George took this excitement as a yes, Wilbur could hold on until George produced the cure that would turn him back into the Wil that his family loved. George was even more determined to get that cure now. If not for anyone else, he would do it for Wilbur.

The rest of George's visit they talked about what they would do as soon as Wilbur was released. They came up with so much stuff that the brunet was skeptical they could finish the list before they were forty, but it was fun to imagine regardless. He missed his best friend, and perhaps having him back could give George the missing piece of the void he felt inside.

He hoped so, or else he didn't know what he would do.

~Word count: 1,047~

A/N: again, ik, short. im sorry i dont know what i was thinking when i was writing this first bit lmao, but it does get better i swear. i hope you enjoyed the george/wilbur content, because there wont be a ton but i wanted to include as much of it as i could where it fit. i hope you enjoy!