Chapter Text
Ray's eyes creak open with a displeased grumble deep in his chest. Sun shining through the slight crack where the comic books don't cover the windows. Pushing himself up off the floor, Ray grimaced when he smelt the unmistakable scent of a mix of sweat and dirt wafting off his body.
His body was screaming at him as he sat up fully; his body ached from the last few days of sleeping on the floor. He could hear the undeniable groans coming from outside the comic shop they had been hauled up in.
Ray grabs the bat next to him as he pulls himself off the floor, putting his spare hand against his back as he stretches. The hand stretched back up to itch at his scalp as he let out a strained yawn. "Fuck…" He groans, letting both his arms fall slack at his sides, back hunching over along with them.
Ray's socked feet shuffle along the floor, scratching at his bare stomach underneath his shirt. Making his way over to the small back room, he peeked his head in, hand shooting up from his stomach to flip on the light switch despite knowing it hadn't been working since yesterday afternoon.
"Mikey…" Ray calls out his eyes, immediately falling over to where the boy had been sitting for the last three days. The small window in the corner gave just enough light for Ray to make out some of Mikey's features. The blanket that Ray had wrapped around his shoulders still sat in the same spot, and the plate of chips Ray had given him yesterday morning still sat next to him, untouched.
"Morning Mike's." Ray whispers, walking over to the couch and picking up the plate of chips so he could sit next to Mikey. "You didn't eat your food." He said, despite knowing Mikey wouldn't answer him, he hadn't spoken since they got here. He would have picked a better place to be trapped in if he had known they would be stuck here for so long. At least a place that had more food than various types of chips and Mountain Dew.
"I hope you got some sleep last night." Ray continued while shoving the stale chips into his mouth. He looked over at Mikey, his eyes immediately drawn to the dark eye bags on his face. Ray sighs as he puts the last of the chips into his mouth.
Standing up from the couch, Ray makes his way to the counter, pouring some fresh chips onto Mikey's now-empty plate. Bringing it back over to him, placing it onto the couch while crouching down.
Ray stared up at Mikey's sunken face and tired eyes, his eyes crinkled with tears, a sad smile plastered onto his face as he reached up to move the greasy bangs out of Mikey's eyes. "Maybe you could try to eat a little today." Ray's voice was quiet, so Mikey would know he was speaking to him, and only him, despite the blatantly obvious fact they hadn't seen anybody, at least not anyone… Alive.
"I'm gonna go try to clean myself up a little bit," Ray says as his hand trails down to Mikey's to give it a small squeeze before pulling away to stand up. "You can call out if you need anything." He continued, backing away slowly toward the door. "I'll be right back."
Ray turned as he entered the main part of the store again. Walking over to the counter, he began to rummage through all the drawers in an attempt to find anything, absolutely anything that could make him feel a little cleaner than he did at the moment.
He threw heaps of paper onto the floor, along with candy wrappers that had been crumbled up into the drawers, his hand rummaging through the miscellaneous items scattered throughout. Groaning in frustration when nothing caught his eye that would cure his current predicament.
He rolled his eyes up onto the counter when he spotted a small bottle of sanitizer. Blinking over at it, he seemed to freeze for a second. The hand that was still clutching the baseball bat in his palm patted against the drawers until they closed, bringing both his arms up to stare at them. Cuts and scabs were littered throughout, but he couldn't help as his eyes wandered to the smudge of dirt smeared over.
The bat falls from his fingers with a clank, hurriedly reaching out to grab the bottle, holding it securely to his chest with a shaky breath. Ray tugs down the hem of his shirt, his eyes scanning over to the room Mikey was in.
His cheeks flushed for a second before turning away, practically tripping over his own feet, walking further into the shop to crouch down behind a shelf, before he tugged off his shirt. He wiggled his pants down lower onto his hips, as much as his belt would give… and as much as the position he was in would let him.
Ray squeezed a generous amount of sanitizer into his palm, letting the bottle fall to the floor as he stared down at the clear liquid threatening to ooze past his fingers. His eyes widened in panic, his knees dropping to the floor as he leaned back, holding himself up with his arm as he smacked his palm onto his stomach. His abs contracted under his palm when he felt how cold it was.
He quickly smeared it up and down along his chest and stomach. The last of it getting smeared into his underarms. Leaning back up, Ray reached down to grab the bottle of sanitizer again to squeeze some more into his palm. He gently placed it down next to him this time.
He looked down at his arm, his shoulders going tense before he even touched his palm down onto his forearm. He let out a gasped squeak when the sanitizer touched his cuts. An electric shock seemed to shoot up through his spine, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
Ray's eyes faltered over to the shelf he was between as he took deep breaths. His eyes landed onto spiderman comic sitting eye level with him. It was the new release of what he had recently been reading. Ray bites down on the dry skin of his lips, bringing his hand down to rub it along his jeans before reaching out to grab the comic. His hand shook slightly as his fingers gripped it.
A loud groan broke the silence of the room, along with the feeling of sandy skin on his wrist. Ray flinched back with the comic in hand. "Shit!" He panicked upon seeing the person's face, the blood on their face, and the flesh rotting off their face. The smell wafted into his nose, making him scramble back onto the floor. "Fuck!"
Ray threw the comic book at the person's face. He jumped up to his feet, pushing over the shelf onto them as he screamed. "Mikey!" He ran back to the room Mikey was in. "Mikey!" He echoed. Ray's eyes scanned over the room, the empty room. The plate of chips fallen onto the floor. Blanket crumbled up over the sofa. "M-Mikey." Ray's voice broke out.
A groan broke him out of his panic, swiveling his head around he let out a shriek when he saw the rotted flesh of the person again. He slammed the door shut in their face, his head shooting back to the desk in the room.
He tugs the drawers out of the desk, letting them fall loudly to the floor. Ray falls to his knees, his hands swatting through the clutter on the ground, picking up a stapler gun in a panic. He shoots up as the door flies open, screaming as they tumble forward for him.
He puts his arm out to stop them, flipping them around so he could pin them up against the wall with his forearm. Bringing up the stapler gun, he slams it into their head multiple times before pulling the trigger multiple times, shooting staples into their skull.
Ray backed away as their body went limp, tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched their body flop down to the floor. Staring down at his torso, he lets out a whimper, seeing the blood splattered against him.
"Mikey…" Ray croaked out his feet, shuffling him forward before his brain even had time to fully process. He used the wall to hold himself up as he walked back to the shop. The front door was wide open.
He let out a soft wheeze as he pushed himself off the wall. "Mikey." Ray called again, tumbling out the front door. His eyes scanned across the barren streets. "Gee!" A scratchy nasally voice called out, causing Ray to perk up.
"Mikey!" Ray called out once more as he turned the corner, where he heard the voice. His eyes immediately fell onto Mikey's form walking along the sidewalk, looking around. "Mikey!" Ray said, running closer to the boy as he turned around.
Mikey's eyes lit up as he saw Ray, like he was seeing him for the first time. "Ray?" He said, stumbling closer to Ray as he crashed into him. Ray hugged Mikey to his chest for a beat before pulling away to grab Mikey's face in his hands.
"Are you okay?" Ray questioned.
"Ray, Where's Gerard?" Mikey questioned at the same time. A silent second passed over them before Ray spoke once again.
"I was so worried, what happened? Why are you out here?" Ray bombarded, as Mikey blinked at him, Ray's nails gently scratching into the side of Mikey's face without much thought. Ray didn't give Mikey much time to answer before he wrapped his arms around his shoulder and started leading him back inside the comic book shop and closing the door safely behind them.
Mikey was about to gasp out another question when he was cut off by Ray melting down onto the ground in front of him, small sobs shaking out of him. Mikey's shoulder tensed up as he crouched down in front of Ray, hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I was so worried." Ray cried out, leaning desperately into Mikey's soft touch. His whole body was shaking under his palm as he continued. "You were just gone… I… I thought something happened."
"I'm here." Mikey whispered back to Ray. His hand rubbed down into Ray's shoulder.
Ray's eyes looked up from the ground to stare at Mikey before he reached out to hug Mikey against him, nuzzling his face into Mikey's neck as Mikey's arms came down to squeeze around him.
They sat like that while Ray sniffled against the skin of Mikey's neck, Mikey's fingers stroking up and down his spine. Mikey didn't speak up until the sniffles had stopped, and it was just replaced with the silent nuzzling of his neck.
"You have no shirt on." Mikey stated, speaking right into Ray's head of hair. It caused Ray to flush. "I'm sorry, I…" Ray stuttered as he tried to pull away, only for Mikey to pull him back. "It's okay."
Ray didn't try to pull away again. Their bodies melted together into a pile of mush on the floor. A mix of limbs of contentment of just being within each other's presence. That was enough, at least for now.