Andrei- Moldova

Alin- Romania

Tsvetan- Bulgaria

...

I basically wrote this to get over the writer's block I'm experiencing with another fic, and to piss a lot of people off. Warning for death, gore, zombies and guns.

I'd say I was sorry, but I'm truly not.

…

"I don't understand," Andrei looked up at his brother in horror as the older boy pointed a gun in his face. Alin shook as he tried to focus his aim, but he didn't know if he could go through with it. This was unthinkable! It was murder!

He was going to murder the one person he lived for. The one person he'd sworn to protect. Andrei was all he had left in the world, and he was going to blow the kid's brains out.

He glanced at the red, inflamed bite mark on the child's leg and bit his lip, blinking back tears. The evil wound stood out on the boy's thin, pale legs poking out of his coat like an ugly rose in the snow. Already, the younger brother's skin was off-coloured and his veins turned dark grey as they filled with zombie venom, especially on his hands and feet. Andrei stared at him, terror on his grimy face as he wrapped his arms around him and shivered. He stood in a muddy, patched coat, his dark hair messy and dishevelled and covered in gore. And it wasn't just zombie brains and intestines, but Alin didn't like to think about that. All that mattered now was what he was about to do.

No, this wasn't murder. It was simply euthanasia. A mercy killing.

It wasn't like Andrei was going to live for long anyway.

"Is there a monster behind me?" the child asked, too afraid to turn around, "should I duck so you can shoot it?" It was then that Alin realised his brother wasn't scared of him, but of whatever he thought had dared break into their safe place. Such was his belief that Alin would never hurt him…

They were in the bedroom of an abandoned house, standing amongst blood and an upturned cot in the smallest room. The yellow paint had faded and there were toys and books scattered across the floor, which Andrei had played with for the few weeks they'd hidden here, seemingly undisturbed by the smell of death, and the blood that covered his new playthings.

There had been three of them originally: him, Alin and Alin's partner, Tsvetan. The trio had spent months travelling to different parts of the city trying to find temporary shelter and food to steal. There was no one around to top them, since the whole country had fallen into chaos. There was no one left to fight the zombies. No army. No police force. No government. So the people who were still alive had to fend for themselves, and that's what Andrei, Alin and Tsvetan did. They kept each other alive and protected each other through the hell they were in. Well, Alin and Tsvetan protected Andrei, as the five year old couldn't defend himself.

They found this place deserted, Alin assuring the other two that they'd be safe here. Tsvetan had been more sceptical, particularly when he discovered bodies in the sitting room. Still, Alin had moved them into the garden whilst Tsvetan had kept Andrei away where he couldn't see the rotting broken carcasses. Later, when the child was asleep, Alin had reminded a somewhat disturbed Tsvetan that this was the only house in the street that still had a door, and they'd be perfectly safe as long as they were careful. The other had seemed to believe him, though he faltered as his eyes fell on the blood smeared across the walls.

Alin didn't want Andrei to leave the house at all, but he didn't like leaving his brother alone whilst he and Tsvetan looked for food and other supplies. The boy still didn't fully understand what was happening, only that there were monsters everywhere and the two adults were all he has left. That was why they had to leave their neighbourhood. Not only was it one of the areas that experienced the most violence, but they could easily stumble across one of Andrei's school friends, either as a body, or one of the reanimated corpses feasting on it. He didn't know how to explain to a five year old that everyone he knew was probably dead, so just told Andrei that there were monsters and they had to leave. Continuing to keep Andrei sheltered from the bloodshed was a struggle though, especially since he was taken everywhere with the other two, but somehow, Alin made sure that Andrei didn't see too much. The bodies on the street were just 'sleeping', the zombies were just monsters- like the ones in cartoons- that Alin and Tsvetan needed to defeat whilst Andrei closed his eyes and cowered in the corner.

No, Andrei couldn't be left at home. The child hated being separated from Alin, and could easily be reduced to tears over the matter. He also couldn't spend his life being cooped up inside with nothing but his own mind for company, and even an hour on his own could convince him that his brother and 'Uncle Tsvet' weren't coming back. Alin couldn't risk him panicking and going out to look for them, and subsequently getting ripped to pieces. But he couldn't stay with the boy either, as it would mean Tsvetan going out on his own without backup, so the three of them would leave together, but only when they absolutely had to.

And it had worked, until today.

They'd found some tinned food in a smashed up news agents, enough for nearly a week, and were walking home, Andrei in between them, toddling along as he held his guardians' hands, and celebrating their find. It was a surprise attack. They'd turned a corner and found a crowd of a dozen or so 'monsters', who pounced on them hungrily with surprising speed. Alin dragged Andrei back, shielding him as Tsvetan began shooting, just like every other time this happened. It was their battle plan. Andrei looked in a mixture of horror and thrill as he watched Tsvetan defend them, convinced this was all just some adventure- desensitised to it all.

One of the undead knocked the gun from Tsvetan's hands, and the remaining zombies overpowered him, Tsvetan soon becoming lost in a frenzy of gore and blood and death, furiously fighting until the end with a tennis racket he carried with him, screaming at his loved ones to run. But there was no way Alin could leave him. He grabbed the abandoned gun and dived into the fray after him, just in time to see his partner disembowelled by one of those demonic beasts, who pulled his intestines out and into it's mouth whilst others ripped his head off.

Alin only just managed to shoot his way out, determined to kill every dead bastard he could see. He emerged from the fight victorious, only to find his brother trying to crawl away from a zombie looming over him, crying out for Alin to save him. This wasn't a fun adventure anymore. Andrei didn't want to play this anymore. He begged Alin to take him home and away from the horrible monsters.

The older brother just pointed the gun at the attacker, shooting it in the head, still numb from the loss of Tsvetan, before picking Andrei up and running. He didn't stop for anything, barely glancing at his brother as he ran. It was too late to save Tsvetan, but Andrei didn't understand, the child screaming for his uncle but Alin couldn't even begin to explain why they'd left him behind. He just ran until he burst through the front door of 'their' house, up into the box room, setting Andrei down in the corner whilst he fell to his knees, screaming and crying out. Tsvetan was gone. Just like that, he was left alone with Andrei. The loss crashed down on him and he felt utterly hopeless. He punched the wall, feeling like he'd been the one with his guts pulled out, before glancing at Andrei. The child was terrified of him, pressed against the desk behind him, looking at Alin like he was the monster. Alin just apologised- voice hoarse and broken- and pulled his brother into a hug.

He held Andrei close, promising that everything would be fine now whilst Andrei cried out his shock and- it later turned out- pain. Alin cried because he'd not been able to protect his spouse, and could still see Tsvetan's slaughter fresh in his mind. He had to remind himself that he needed to carry on and be strong for Andrei. They'd live on and find a way out of this hellhole. Then Tsvetan wouldn't have died for nothing.

Turns out he did.

Andrei still looked at Alin nervously as he mumbled that his leg hurt, and that the nasty, mean monster had bitten him, and Alin's heart froze. No, he'd misheard. Andrei probably cut himself on some glass, that's all. But then the boy showed him his lower leg, and the fresh teeth marks in it. Dried blood caked him down to his bare feet, and Alin was covered in it too, not that he noticed.

He just looked at the bite marks in horror. It couldn't be true. There was no way in hell that his brother was dying as well! But it was painfully real, and Andrei's injuries wouldn't just kill him, but turn him too. Andrei would become a hungry, dead monster with no memory of his family, only caring about fresh meat and bloody, warm organs. Alin couldn't face it. He couldn't live if his baby brother become one of them.

So here he was, standing over his dying brother and pointing a gun at him. As soon as he realised what needed to be done, he'd jumped up, retreating to the other side to the room to get as far away from Andrei as possible. The boy looked at him in bewilderment, and Alin wondered if he looked fearful of Andrei. But when he felt the weight of the firearm in his hand, he knew it was Andrei that had the better reason to be scared. He lifted the gun up, but knew he'd never be able to coldly shoot his brother.

He couldn't do it like this.

"No," he replied, lowering his gun, "there's no monster here." Yet.

"Then why were you gonna shoot?" Andrei raised an eyebrow. Even though he was five, the boy always seemed to act older, especially in these past months as he innocence was ripped from him like the undead had ripped through his parents, community, and now Tsvetan.

"Nothing," Alin shrugged, trying to reassure the younger brother with a grin, though they both knew how fake it was, "I just heard a noise!"

"Where's Uncle Tsvet?" Andrei glared up at him, determined to get an answer. It was a fierceness that Alin hadn't seen before; the bite must be changing his character already…

"He has to go home the long way," Alin explained, "because of all the monsters hanging about. He'll be back soon! I promise."

"But-"

"Uncle Tsvet can't die," Alin reassured him with a wink, "he's too stubborn for that sort of rubbish. Now come give your big brother a hug and get to sleep. He'll be here when you wake up, tomorrow." His throat caught on that last word, and he hoped the other hadn't noticed.

Andrei nodded, and Alin sat down, placing the gun on the floor and opening his arms to his brother. Andrei limped over, plopping down on Alin's legs as the other wrapped his arms around him.

"You're safe," Alin whispered, stroking the child's hair. Andrei nodded, resting his head against Alin's chest. He felt his strength leaving him, but just blamed it on the long day. Everything was so scary, but now he was safe in his brother's arms and no more harm could come to him. If he went to sleep, then he'd wake up with his family complete and everything could carry on as normal. Maybe Alin would stop acting so weird then…

"Night," he whispered, smiling up at Alin as he closed his eyes. Alin held the child close, as if Andrei was still a tiny baby, leaning against the wall and finally allowing himself to cry. As he picked up the gun again, he noted that there were two bullets left. The perfect amount for what he planned to do.

He'd always said he'd never be able to live with himself if Andrei died…

Andrei looked peaceful as he drifted off. Alin was glad of it; the idea of his brother being awake for a brutal end, confused and terrified and feeling betrayed by his protector, was too much to bear thinking about. Alin aimed the gun at Andrei's forehead, the muzzle mere centimetres from the child's pale, cold skin, perspiring as the venom began to drag him into a fever. He told himself that Andrei would feel no pain; one blast and it would be over. It also reassured him when he thought of how he would then turn the gun on himself.

He closed his eyes too, breathing hard and uneven. He couldn't watch this. He could convince himself that this was a mercy killing, the right thing to do, but he'd always feel like a murderer. A cold blooded monster that had covered himself in the brain's and blood of a sleeping child.

But this way didn't feel right either. He needed to see his brother's death.

So Alin opened his eyes.

And was met with Andrei's own ones, wide and fearful. He looked up at his brother in confusion, heartbeat fast as he tried not to panic.

"Al?" his voice was a whisper, so innocent and pitiful and still not believing his brother would ever threaten him like this. It was all some sort of mistake. He waited expectantly for his brother to explain what was happening.

"I'm sorry."

It was the only explanation Alin could bare to give before he shot his brother.