Zanvis: ALIVE. (Part two of Apocalypse AU!)

Chapter Four: Zane.

"How do you feel, Laurence? Does anything hurt? Can you breathe okay? How many fingers am I holding up?"
Zane sat up against the wall, turning his head to look into the door of the sleeping room. Everyone had gone about their morning duties, but everything had been forgotten when Laurence woke up.
Zane could hear Garroth asking Laurence a ton of questions, prompting mumbled responses from Laurence and a few "let him be"s from Aphmau.
Aaron was silent, as usual, and there were faint snores from Travis. Zane wanted to run in there, wake him up, and tell him about everything that had happened since he went through the healing process. Zane tried not to put any thought into how Aphmau managed to get the walker virus out of him.
"Laurence? Laurence?!"
"Calm down, lover boy, he's just falling back asleep," Aphmau said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"I want him to wake up.."
"He will. He lost a lot of blood. More than you think."
"Is he okay?"
"Yes. As long as he isn't constantly pestered by you!"
"What about him?"
"He.. he's.." Aphmau sighed. "He'll be okay. Eventually."
Zane put his head back against the wall. He didn't need to be in the room to know she was talking about Travis. She always used that super vague way of speaking, as if even she wasn't sure of how this would turn out.
"What happened to him?"
"He got bit. He left it alone and the bite wound got infected. Not just infected by the virus. Infected by natural bacteria. He turned and tried to attack us. Mostly Zane, because that's who was beside him."
"Poor baby brother... wait.. how is he so normal looking if he's a.. a.."
"Walker?"
"Yeah. That."
"I took the virus out of him. Most of it, at least. I'm still working on it."
"...How did you do that?"
"Maaaagic."
"...Ookaay.. can I see the bite?"
"Why do you want to?"
"I just.. I want to learn."
"You're not that different from Zane, honestly. Always so curious." There was shuffling for a few seconds. "There."
"That's the bite?"
"Yeah."
"That just looks like a normal bite. Like a person bit his arm."
"Great! That means it's working! It used to look like a piece of rotting meat with a bite taken out of it."
Garroth gagged. Zane felt sick.
"I just hope this doesn't affect his brain in any way. He wasn't even a walker for an hour, but a lot can happen internally in the ten minutes he was turned."
"Did he bite Zane or anything?"
"I don't think. Zane hasn't been showing signs of a bite, and he wasn't near Travis for too long."
"That's... good."
"I didn't see any infections with Laurence, by the way. And Aaron said your leg was fine."
"That's great! I should have taken better care of him.."
"You did everything you could. You honestly did good, especially with your wound."
"I could've carried him somewhere the second he got shot."
"If you would've walked in the other direction, he wouldn't have gotten help."
Garroth sighed. "I just... wish I could do more."
"Just be with him for now."
"Shouldn't Zane be with.... Travis?"
"Not until he's better. And, Zane, I know you're listening- you can see him soon. You'll be able to sleep on your own bed from now on. He's in stable condition."
Zane didn't respond to her. He sighed quietly and rubbed his face with his hand.
"I'll make you and Laurence a bed. Unless you want separate beds?"
"I uh- yea- no-"
"I'll take that as a 'share a bed."
     Garroth sighed loudly. "Yeah, sure. That works." There was silence for a while, only broken by blankets being moved around. "Laurence?"
     "Mh..?"
     "You're awake!"
     "I'm alive?"
      Zane frowned and turned his head away, powerful waves of emotion blocking his logical thinking. He hated to admit that he was jealous of Garroth. Laurence just got injured and he was already awake and able to move. Travis drifted in and out of coma-like states. When he was 'awake,' Aphmau would make him eat whatever he would accept.
     Noises outside caused Zane to be on his feet in seconds, peering out through the boards. A pair of walkers across the street tried to claw a closed door. He sighed softly.
     That could have been Travis. That was Travis for ten minutes.
     His stomach gave a faint growl and he decided that he should probably eat something. He walked over to the table and frowned at the sight of the can of fruit. Garroth had eaten half of it, which was good, but he left it out in the open. Zane picked up the can but didn't use the spoon. He sat down on the edge of a chair and tipped the can up, basically drinking the fruit instead of eating it. He didn't think Garroth was bit or infected, but he didn't want to take any chances.
     He paused when he thought he heard Travis groan.
     He's sleeping. It's not him. It was probably Laurence.
     The sleeping room went quiet- more quiet than it already was. Zane yawned loudly just so that he could break the uncomfortable silence. He began busying himself with cleaning, making noise so that he couldn't hear any more conversations. He was aware of Aaron watching him, but he refused to actually look at him. He had a feeling Aaron knew he was aware of his presence.
     "Travis was awake for a few seconds."
     Aaron's voice caught him off guard, even though he knew he was there.
     "I can hear."
     "You can?"
     "Yeah. Aphmau and Garroth were talking up a storm in there. Especially about Travis." Zane tied up the current bag they used for trash.
     "They weren't talking very loud."
     "I have good hearing."
     "I can tell."
     For the first time, Zane looked at Aaron. His expression was blank for the most part, though his eyes showed curiosity.
     "How is Laurence?" Zane knew that the best way to avoid a conversation topic was to constantly change the subject and not let any conversations go on to long.
     "He's awake. Garroth is with him. His condition is, like Aphmau said, stable."
     "That's good."
     "Travis is in somewhat stable condition."
     "That's good."
     Now, Aaron looked deeply curious. "Why didn't you come in and talk?"
     "Didn't feel like it."
     "I think Travis wanted to see you."
     "How do you know how he thinks?"
     "Unless he knows someone by the name of 'Zay' enough to say their name before falling asleep, he wanted to see you."
     "He's probably just sleep-talking."
     "Travis doesn't sleep-talk."
     "How do you know?"
     "Why do you keep challenging me?"
     Zane shook his head. "How's Aphmau? I haven't gotten to speak to her recently."
     "She's tired. Healing two people can be exhausting."
     "What's the exhausting part? Watching over them? Giving them meds?"
     "Hoping they don't die."
     Zane opened his mouth, but immediately closed it. His eyebrows slowly lowered.
     Aaron sighed. "Zane—"
     "Why?"
     "What?"
     "Why do you want me to suffer?"
     "I don't know what—"
     "You know what I'm talking about."
     "I don't want you to suffer."
     "You bring him up."
     "I don't intend—"
     "No matter how hard I try to push those bad thoughts out of my mind, I'm always reminded. By you, by Aphmau, by Laurence—"
     "How does Laurence remind you of Travis?"
     "Stop."
     "No. Tell me—"
     "I said stop! I don't want to talk!"
     Aaron watched him with his observant, dark eyes. "You can't stop talking forever."
     Zane turned his head away. Maybe he couldn't be silent forever, but he certainly could be silent now.