Written for the Hunger Games Competition

Prompts Used:

Word: lavish

Emotion: embarrassment

Dialogue: "What did you do that for?"

Weapon: Brass knuckles

Genre: friendship

Character A is blind and has been left behind by their parents and siblings during the zombie apocalypse. Upon waking up, they realize that they're alone and locked in their room. After turning on the news and hearing reports of the apocalyptic spread of zombies, Character A realizes what's going on. Character A vows to survive and prove their family wrong. Character A wants to show everyone that just because they're blind, doesn't mean they're helpless or should be left to die.

This is an AU. Zombies have overtaken the UK. I have written the Zombie curse as something new, rather than people already knowing it. The Ministry aren't very useful. They have placed spells to stop anyone in the UK from apparating anywhere. The floo network is also down.

It was the quietness of the house that woke Sirius Black up from his sleep. He wasn't used to the quiet, he was used to the screaming and shouting starting at the crack of dawn each morning.

It was far from the crack of dawn, as the temperature of the room showed that the sun had been shining in for a while. There was no lingering chill from the night.

Sirius was quite confused as to why no-one had come to wake him.

He slipped from his bed in a practised movement, his feet finding his slippers. He reached for the robe draped over the end of the bed and slid his wand into the pocket and walked across the room to where he knew the door was.

His hand closed around the doorknob, turning it and pushing the door open. Grabbing his walking stick by the door-frame, he counted his steps across the hallway and carefully proceeded down the stairs.

"Regulus?" he called. He listened for a moment for any answer, any noise.

Nothing.

"Mother, father?" He hesitated. "Kreacher?"

Nothing.

It was in that moment Sirius knew something was wrong. No matter how much he and Kreacher disliked each other, Kreacher had to come when called.

Unless his parents ordered Kreacher not to.

With utter panic, Sirius turned to the stairs again, heading to his brother's room. Upon opening the door he felt his brother's familiar magic,and his brother's voice echoed through the room.

"Sirius.

I knew you'd come to my room when you realised the house was empty. I'm sorry that you're alone right now, I tried to reason with Mother and Father, but they were adamant that you were to be left behind – but I couldn't leave you without an explanation.

There has been a virus spreading quickly through the muggle world – Muggles have been turning into Inferi-type creatures called zombies. Zombies eat flesh, eat brains. Their sole purpose is just that. They possess no magic that we know off, just that they are undead.

Their infection is passed through biting. One bite and you'll soon be one of them. There is no cure. The Ministry is in a panic. There are no portkeys and no apparation, as the pandemic needs to be kept within the United Kingdom.

I've warded the house and cast spells on the food to keep it fresh for you. You should be safe there. Once we get to Uncle Cygnus', I'll do what I can to send word to Uncle Alphard.

If you need to leave for any reason, such as them somehow getting past the wards, there is a bag on my floor with supplies. On top is a charmed compass – it'll lead to Uncle Alphard's. Be safe, Sirius.

Regulus."

...oOo...

Sirius took the day to prepare himself for his first venture outside of the house that had been his prison for the last ten years. He washed and dressed, before making something to eat and followed that by bringing the rucksack into his room.

Sirius opened the bag and began to slowly withdraw the items, carefully counting what it contained. Regulus had packed it perfectly, each outfit rolled together ready for him.

The compass was put to the side until Sirius had packed everything. After some thought, he used a sticking charm to attach it to his watch from the dresser.
It was not like he used the watch, after all.

Sirius headed to the front door, the rucksack on his shoulders. He knew he could do this – he had magic as an advantage after all – and he was a great dueller. His father had Sirius take private lessons so he'd be every bit as skilled at magic as any other wizard.

Opening the front door, he cast a quick spell to ensure the coast was clear. He pulled the door shut behind him and his hand found the handrail.

Six steps.

He touched the compass, feeling the point on the top telling him to turn left. He listened carefully for any noise. He hoped it was dark enough to offer him some cover in his travels.

He went over the plan in his mind. Walk slowly, keep doing the charms to ensure he was alone. Listen carefully to check nothing had snuck up on him and walk for about a mile.

A mile was a long distance for someone who had been locked in a house for his whole life, but he had faith in himself.

Sirius couldn't hear a sound apart from his own heart pounding. Wand in one hand, walking stick in the other, he turned left and began walking slowly down the street.

He had been walking for about twenty minutes before he heard it. He didn't even need the charm to check. He could hear the shuffling sound as the creature moved and he was suddenly aware of a faint smell that travelled on the wind – something like rotting meat. He knew it had to be one of these zombies that Regulus had mentioned.

He listened carefully, trying to judge exactly where it was, his wand held tight in his hand and ready. He quickly spun around, shooting a 'Stupefy' in the direction he was sure the sound had came from.

The shuffling continued, seemingly moving aimlessly, and Sirius knew the creature was getting closer. He shot another couple of stunners,but could only assume they missed. Panic settled in his stomach. Maybe the creatures were resistant to magic?

"Diffindo!" he shouted. The shuffling halted for a split second, but that was enough to know it hit.

He threw it again, aiming to the creatures' face.

It was clear that it wasn't going to be enough.

"Confringo," he said hurriedly, panic gripping him. He hoped that this would be enough. The noise stopped and suddenly Sirius found himself covered in blood and guts. A thud told him that the creature had fallen to the ground, and he felt himself gag.

He brought his sleeve up in an attempt to wipe his face, but froze when he realised that that hadn't been the only zombie around. A familiar shuffling sound – not as close as the first – could be heard.

He ran through spells in his head. What did he know about Inferi? What killed them? Maybe the same things could be used in this situation.

His lips curved up into a smile when he realised that fire could kill just about anything.

...oOo...

James hunched over their plan for that evening. They had been travelling all the previous week and were tired out. He had planned for them to stick around the property for the next two days before setting out again.

He glanced up at the girls who had laid out the contents of all their backpacks and were doing an inventory.

"How's it looking?"

"Well, we're almost out of potions ingredients," Alice said. "Also we could do with some glass jars for the fires. We don't want to set a real one after last time..."

James remembered how the smoke attracted quite a few zombies, and quickly agreed with Alice.

"What about food?"

"I'll say about two days," Alice said, her eyes scanning the items. "Unless there's anything good here."

Mary left the room to check. "Make that five days," she said on her return.

"So we need to do a search for supplies," James said, making a note on his parchment. "Anything else?"

"Towels and blankets. Medical supplies too," Remus replied.

"Right. We need to work out a guarding schedule, Remus and I will get onto this row of houses and see what we can find."

He quickly started to list the names of their current household.

"Rotating four hour shifts," he muttered. "Frank and Alice, if you can take the first shift and just keep rotating until me and Remus return?"

The pair nodded and James pushed the chair back.

"Do we know anyone who lives in this side of London?"

"Only Marlene, but she's out of the country with Lily," Alice replied.

James nodded and grabbed an empty rucksack, Remus doing the same. They made their way to the door.

...oOo...

Sirius curled up on an unfamiliar bed, checking the wards carefully to make sure they were strong enough. "Homenum Revelio," he said, flicking his wand to see if there was anyone or anything nearby. The spell showed nothing was lurking outside.

Satisfied by the results, he rested his head down on the pillow, wand clutched tightly in his hand as he tried to sleep.

He had been travelling for just over three weeks now – not very fast, unfortunately, but he was going at a nice steady pace and each night was a little bit closer to his uncle.

...oOo...

James and Remus quickly walked to the end of the street, taking in the first house.

They always set up in the middle of the street. People searching would always go to the first house, so they had more chance of finding a house with supplies if they went for one in the middle of a street.

Remus done the checks to make sure that the place was empty before they headed inside and set some quick and temporary wards. James started on the cupboards, grabbing tins of beans and canned fruit and anything else that he knew the group would eat. He moved to the fridge, looking for anything that had a long expiration date – a packet of bacon would be amazing. They had found some in the last house,and it put everyone in great spirits.

Jackpot. A double pack of bacon – thirty slices in total. He cast a quick charm to keep the packet cold so it wouldn't go off, and chucked it into the backpack on top of the cans. An unopened pack of butter and a large big of cheese, and he closed it again.

The freezer had a few interesting bits – chicken strips, fish fingers, beef burgers. He smiled. Hopefully this lot would last them another few days.

He listened to Remus walking about upstairs. He came down with a couple of large towels.

"No nice blankets," he replied with a shrug. "But I found a couple of packets of bandages in the bathroom."

"Onto the next house?" James suggested, pulling his invisibility cloak out. Remus nodded.

...oOo...

James and Remus were almost at the end of the street, and James was pleased with the haul! They had bandages, some painkillers and larger blankets. Food-wise, Remus had been in a great mood since they had turned up teabags. Bacon, sausages and bags of frozen things. Countless cans of food.

They reached the last house, which was empty of supplies.

"Remus, let's head back. I think we have enough food for about two weeks here," James said, noticing Remus frozen in the hallway.

"We... we can't head back," Remus said.

"What, why?" James asked, frowning.

"Because... don't you smell that?"

James sniffed curiously. "I don't smell anything unusual."

"It smells wonderful," Remus whispered. "We need to follow the scent."

"Remus, we have to get back to the group," James replied.

"No... you go back to the group," Remus replied. "I can't. I want... need to find out what this smell is."

"Come back with me to drop this stuff off, and we'll go together," James said.

"Straight away?" Remus asked.

James nodded.

...oOo...

Sirius felt a presence looming over him. He didn't need eyesight to know someone was there. He could hear them.

His fingers tightened around the wand in his hand, and he refused to panic. A zombie had somehow gotten passed the wards, but he would take this creature out just like the rest of them.

A hand landed on his shoulder and Sirius brought his free arm back, clutching the muggle contraption that his brother had given him, and brought it as hard as he could into the stranger's face.

'Take that, zombie,' he thought smugly, pushing the creature down to the floor, jamming his wand hard into the creature's neck.

"Stop! What did you do that for?" Hands came up. One pulling at his hand with the wand in, the other pushing his face near his mouth, and he bit it, hard.

The creature let out a howl of pain, quickly pulling the hand away. "Remus, he bit me!"

"Stop!" Someone shouted, causing Sirius' wand to raise up towards the voice.

His momentary distraction led for the man under him to flip them over. Sirius found himself on his back on the floor, his hands pinned down. He fought against the hold.

"If you promise not to attack me, I'll let you go," James told him.

"You attacked first," Sirius accused.

"I didn't -" James started.

"Look," came a soft voice, causing Sirius' head to shoot around, even though he couldn't see the person who spoke. "I think this has been a massive misunderstanding. James, get up."

"But -"

"Let him up," Remus insisted.

James warily got up off Sirius, watching him suspiciously, and Sirius slowly lifted himself up from the floor.

"How about the three of us sit and talk?" Remus suggested. "Me and James will go downstairs, come and join us when you're ready."

Sirius gave a slight nod off his head.

He listened as the door closed immediately to his right, indicating that his bed was only about four, possibly five steps in front of him. He moved forward slowly.

...oOo...

Sirius counted his steps. He made sure to do a count each time he moved to a different place – in case he needed to leave in a hurry. It was six steps across the landing, and he turned to go down the fourteen steps.

Once he reached the bottom, he turned towards the voices, walking stick in hand, and he heard the noise of it hitting a door. He reached out and pushed the door open.

The pair stopped talking.

"Bit of a pimp cane you have there," came the first voice. "It's quite pretentious really, isn't it? Pure-blood?"

Sirius' fingers ran over the top of his walking stick. He had never considered people using them as pretentious, and he had no idea what a pimp cane was.

"Pretentious?"

"Yes," James replied. "It's quite a lavish item for someone who doesn't need something like that."

Sirius frowned to himself and tried to remember the layout of the living room from when he walked through there the previous evening. He recalled a chair a few steps in front of him, but couldn't remember whether it was three steps or four.

Wordlessly he walked forward, freezing at three steps to work out where the chair was, and a moment later, he was sitting down.

"Crap, I didn't realise... I'm so sorry," James stuttered, embarrassed at his mistake.

"Why are you here?" Sirius asked.

"We followed you," Remus explained. "We found your trail and were curious."

"Well, hopefully your curiosity has been sated," Sirius replied. "Will you be seeing yourselves out?"

"We would like you to come with us," Remus said. "I'm sorry that James startled you upstairs and that he's insulted you down here, but that's not our intention."

"So what is your intention?" Sirius asked. "You were curious so you turned up, and now you've seen that I'm blind, you feel sorry for me and feel the need to protect me somehow?"

"Not at all," Remus replied. "I'd have invited you whether or not you were blind."

"What did you hit me with?" James blurted out. Sirius smiled as he opened his hand, showing brass knuckles.

"My brother got them for me," Sirius explained, knowing they would have asked. "I didn't think I'd need it, but it's better to be safe." He looked in the direction where he assumed the men to be. "What's your name?"

"I'm Remus, and my friend is James. Look, it's not a pity invitation or anything, but it's not safe out here – especially for someone to by by themselves."

"Yet I'm blind and I've managed for three weeks," Sirius retorted. "I can keep myself safe."

"Well, how about letting me accompany you?" Remus asked. James turned to look at him in shock. To really look at Remus.

Finally it clicked. The way he reacted to the scent and the way he was looking at the man as though he'd willingly throw himself in front of a zombie to protect him. Had Remus actually found his mate?

"We'll both stick with you," James said.

"Look, I'm sure your hearts are in the right places and everything, but I don't need your help. I've spent my whole life being a burden – to the point where my family left me. I'm not going to become a burden to the next lot of people I meet."

Sirius knew it would be better travelling with others. He'd have someone to talk to, maybe make friends with – the man with the soft voice perhaps... but he didn't want to burden them. He wasn't willing to give up his independence and allow people to do everything for him.

"You won't be a burden," Remus replied. "We would never think that. Look, stay with us for a few nights. If you still prefer to be on your own –"

Sirius held up his hand to silence Remus. He had heard the unmistakeable shuffling sound and smelt the rancid air.

Something had gotten past the wards. Sirius jumped up, lifting his wand and pointed it down the hall.

"Confringo," he shouted.

He listened in satisfaction as the zombie fell to the ground. He was glad of his distance to the creature – at least this time he wasn't covered in blood and guts.

"Gross," James said, looking down the hall.

"You know what?" Sirius began. "I think I might go with you after all."

"Great," Remus said, relieved.

"What made you change your mind?" James asked.

"Well, one of you tampered with my wards but didn't fix them... plus neither of you heard that zombie coming down the hall. I'm actually quite concerned for your safety," Sirius explained. "I think you need my help."

Not that Sirius would admit that he needed their help too and that it would be nice to have some company.

But he couldn't wait to spend time with the little group and he had shown Remus and James that he could look after himself.

Massive thanks to Raybe for her help with this, and for Sable Supernova for helping me work out the ending of the chapter.

Also to Jordi for betaing it.