Chapter Text
Behind them were the growls and screeches of the undead. Mccree hurriedly packs up several important stuff into a pack and simply throws the blanket over Buckeye, abandoning the saddle and reins and slips a rope around him, “come on,” Mccree says as he, along Hanzo, Genji, and two others head out. Yori yets out another series of barks as the undead before racing off to join the others at Hanzo’s side.
The night began with the rustling of leaves and dead grass, the quick shuffling of feet and erratic breathing from the living as they raced with the gnarring undead. They screeched and hollered out for any one of them to slip up, to fall behind to fail the run so that they could begin their feast.
“Where are we even headed?” Mccree called out between breaths, of which both Hanzo and Genji replied in unison, “The cabin.” Mccree’s nodded, there had been a cabin not too far from the town, however, it was locked and Hanzo nor Mccree wanted to waste precious sunlight to try and open the door without breaking it. Even if getting in would still be a problem, it was the best of not many solutions they had left as their endurance dwindled.
Soon the cabin was in sight, and with a last flicker of hope, they ran harder and faster. They skidded to a halt before the cabin and from there Hanzo and Mccree looked to one another, panting and wondering what was going to happen from there. Suddenly there was a click, “In, get In!” Genji yelled. The two strangers didn’t hesitate, Yori and Hanzo walked in and Mccree didn’t once hesitate to bring in Buckeye, and it didn’t seem like Genji wasn’t going to say much about it.
He quickly rushed in, locking and shutting the door behind him. “You’d been in this cabin the entire time?” Mccree said while collapsing on the floor, catching his breath.
“Not the entire time, Just yesterday, there was a key under the mat, and to prevent theft, we locked it.”Genji Shrugged.
A sudden banging and snarls at the door made everyone jump, everyone but Genji. Yori snarled with a barely open maw and eyes shifting from the people in the room, and the door. Buckeye startled and trotted in place, flicking his head.
Hanzo hadn’t said a word as he panted and slide down the wall of the cabin, looking at Genji. He couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t believe his eyes nor ears. In an odd and twisted fate here Genji sat, arms folded and relaxed before him across the one-room cabin. They looked to each other, and tensions rose in room, no one talked.
Hanzo examined his brother from across the room. He looked paler than he remembered, and his eyes were duller and carried a heavy calmness to them as they stared back into Hanzo’s stern but worried look. Genji’s right hand was metallic, much like Mccree’s. It only made him think of how Genji escaped, his little morbid theories. His hair, unlike Hanzo’s own, didn’t gray, it was still the same jet black as before. Scars littered his face, but they were, for the most part, healed ones that only traced the remnants of what they were. They didn’t seem to just litter his face but over most of his body.
Hanzo was then very suddenly aware of the katana he carried on his back, and how it very much matched the wakizashi that sat by Genji’s side.
“Long time no see, brother,” Genji said breaking the silence, “I never expected you to still be alive.”
“I could say the same…” he said leaving it at that, the memories he’d been trying to push back began to flood back as Hanzo’s eye’s began to get watery, his face scrunching to pull back tears.
The two brothers suddenly got up from their sides of the wall, and walk towards each other in a tense silence filled the room as the two stranger and Mccree watched, the outside growls and thuds had even muted, for now.
They stopped just in front of one another, eyes never leaving the others. Hanzo could feel a sort of panic settle inside of him. A scene so similarly played in nightmares, only now he was in a cabin, and Genji wasn’t entirely an undead. Hanzo didn’t know what his brother was, he looked mostly human, but something about him didn’t look or feel human.
But that didn’t matter now. What felt like an eternity was all but several seconds, and Genji finally spoke.
“I’ve missed you so much, anija,” he spoke softly but with warmth as he brought Hanzo into a hug. Hanzo didn’t hesitate to hug him back and hid his tears in the sleeve of his brother, “I missed you too,” Hanzo choked out.
Mccree looked on with a smile and heavy eyes. It was nice, to see his best friend and possibly romantic travel companion reunite. He’d seen them both suffer, both wishing for the other for so long, it was almost ironic how He seemed to be the spectator of both stories.
Mccree turned his attention to the other two. A mocha skinned man smiled as well at the couple. He had long dark raven dreads kept back in a loose ponytail and warm, kind dark eyes, he looked vaguely familiar in some sense and Mccree couldn’t place why. Beside him sat a bronzed skinned man, he looked no older than the rest of them in the room, but gave an air of wisdom to him. He had soft, amber eyes and a sleek physique.
The night had settled down once again, and the frosted cold drifted into the wooden cabin once again. It was silently agreed on that it would be best to rest now and introduce one another later the next morning. Taking blankets left from the pack, they made a makeshift bed in which they all could rest somewhat comfortably. They all huddled close to one another for warmth, the strangers beside Genji, Genji beside his brother Hanzo, and Mccree beside Hanzo. The night was quiet again, it was still and comfortable and it seemed that the undead had given up the chase for now. Upon fluttering heavy eyes, Mccree could feel a strong but gentle hand grasp his own beneath the blankets. Mccree gave a weak tired smiled as he softly squeezed the hand back before falling into a well-deserved sleep.
The next morning, they had all awoke in the late mid-morning. Still unsure of whether or not it was safe to go on outside, and more so not wanting to risk anything. Nothing was known from what, or how many were around the house, the undead were known to wait out or even stalk their prey. Mccree set to passing out a cold soup for breakfast. He passed an open can to the mocha skinned man first, “Name’s Lucio, nice to meet you, man! I’ve heard a lot of stories about you from Genji,” he cheerfully introduced himself. And Mccree thought he held himself well, “Pleasures all mine, name’s Jesse Mccree.”
Next came the bronze man, “greetings,” he said in a soft, calm, but powerful voice, “ I’ve heard many great things about you.” Mccree nodded, “Howdy, think I’ve heard some stuff about you too, yer the one who helped Genji on his solo travels right? Zen...er, Zenyatta?” he questioned passing the soup. Zenyatta gave a soft, amused smile, “Zenyatta I am,” he replied.
Mccree grabbed 4 more cans, opening one for Yori to eat and patting Buckeye. Sadly, he’d have to wait until they exited, but Buckeye didn’t seem to mind as he calmly stood there, probably catching a few more Zs before heading out.
Mccree headed over to Genji and Hanzo who seemed to be talking about something.
“Could we not simply go around?” Hanzo questioned his brother, looking at the map.
Genji shook his head, “I’m afraid not, the town may seem small but the undead in it and around it are...unlike others we may have encountered before.”
Mccree smiled as he watched the two brothers, after a heartfelt reunion, seemingly fall back into a new normal. Mccree sat right in front and in between the two brothers, “sorry to interrupt but, breakfast calls for ya,” he smiled.
Genji took a careful look at the can of soup given to him, a beef stew. Genji and Mccree exchanged a knowing glance, “thank you, Jesse.”
Hanzo rose a brow in suspicion. “I have...a specific diet I must follow,” Genji vaguely answered.
Hanzo glanced at the can of soup and said nothing more of the situation, for now, it appeared.
“So how’s the plan movin’ along so far?” Mccree asked passing Hanzo’s own soup over while opening his own.
“We can’t seem to agree on how to maneuver across and away from the town, as it seems the town is infested with what my brother calls ‘super-evolved’ undead,” Hanzo said crossing his arms.
“The safer route would be to cross the nearby mountain path,” Genji said pointing onto the map.
“But we don’t have the supplies to last the mountain pass, nor enough horses or otherwise to carry the supplies,” Hanzo shot back.
“So you suggest we take the road down towards the town? A suicide mission?” Genji questioned.
“We have the manpower, the population couldn’t be that big,”Hanzo answered.
“How about we take the other road, it's a small ways back, and It’s not as safe a path as the mountains, but it avoids the radiated undead townies and leads to a small city we could restock ourselves with maybe even a few farms to take a few horses.”
Genji and Hanzo looked to one another and nodded. “I’ll go tell the plan to the others,” Genji said getting up, and patting the back of his friend as he headed on towards Zenyatta and Lucio.
Hanzo gave a sigh, “I'm beginning to wonder if we’ll ever make it out of this hell,” Hanzo said tiredly, rubbing his temple trying to rid the headache.
Mccree gave a smile and warm chuckle, “Aw, Han don’t ya say that. Soon enough, dawn will be just down the road, and we’ll be sailing the hell outta this hellhole.”