AN: yes, this is the obligatory lazytown zombie apocalpse au. enjoy!

"Now I finally have the chance to be a real superhero," Ziggy said sleepily, under one of the two blankets they had.

Stingy and Stephanie exchanged a glance. Stingy closed his eyes halfway, turned up his nose, and got ready to make one of his usual remarks.

"We need one, Ziggy, so that's perfect," Stephanie said, before Stingy could say anything discouraging. She didn't really want to make light of the situation, but she thought of what Sportacus would do, and what he wouldn't do was let Ziggy get too scared. She watched the littler kid until he fell asleep, lightly snoring. She turned to Stingy. "We need a grown up," she whispered.

"We don't need anyone," Stingy replied, too loudly.

Stephanie winced, but Ziggy didn't stir.

"We'll do fine on our own. The only thing I regret is not bringing more of my things," Stingy sighed.

Lazytown had become quickly unsafe, overflowing with zombies from everywhere. No one had known where the creatures had come from, or how to heal a bite in time. The mayor had thought a trip to the president was in order, and knew the kids would be safe with Sportacus. He'd taken Bessie with him, maybe just to have company, but maybe because he knew she'd probably survive longer out of town. He promised to be back as soon as he had the president's insight and suggestions, but the moment he left, Stephanie was wondering if she'd ever see him again. Then, it was a blink of an eye until the crystal was going off, and Sportacus said that he'd be back as soon as possible as well, and if anything happened, go to Robbie for help. At that point, Ziggy had already been to scared to stay in his own house all alone, and had taken to spending nights at Stephanie's. It had been late one night when Stingy had showed up on her doorstep, holding his backpack over one shoulder and a goopy kitchen knife in the other, tears and snot all over his face, and implored them to leave town.

"Stephanie, please!" Stingy wiped his nose on his sleeve, rueing that he didn't have a handkerchief. "They're everywhere, they're inside, I c-can't stay here. Lazytown isn't safe."

"Should we go to Robbie Rotten?" Stephanie asked him, raising an eyebrow. Even if Sportacus had said it, it wasn't an appealing option.

Stingy shook his head, eyes flicking behind him. "We need to just get out of here. Take Ziggy, come on!" He re-shouldered his backpack.

"We need to get the other kids." Stephanie wouldn't budge on that, not in a million years. "I'd rather get bitten than leave Trixie or Pixel behind."

"Fine, we can find them, just please, let's hurry up." Stingy hiccuped, wiping tears off his cheeks. He added, as an afterthought, almost to himself, "They were inside my house, touching all my things, getting all that slimy grossness over everything."

"I'm going to pack some stuff," said Stephanie. "You wake Ziggy up." She didn't move.

Stingy let out a shaky sigh, managing to roll his eyes. "Um… aren't you going?"

Stephanie hung her head, chewing on her lip. "If we do this, and leave, do you think-" She kicked the wall next to the door a couple times, not forcefully, just as something to do while she tried to phrase this. "Sportacus will still be able to find us, right?"

The question hung in the doorway for a few uncomfortable seconds, and then Stingy closed the door behind himself. "Of course, he's a superhero. And he has a ship. He'll be able to find us anywhere."

Stephanie nodded, trying to smile. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go get packed." She ran down the hallway into her room and grabbed her backpack from where it hung on her closet doorknob. "I'll need… a change of clothes," she mused out loud, putting a tank top, sweat pants, and a sweater in. "My hairbrush… a book… my diary…" She gazed longingly at her CD player, knowing it would never fit. She shook her head. "Okay. Toothbrush, toothpaste, bandaids." It was all in her backpack, which was only three fourths of the way full. She knew the moment they'd started to leave she'd remember all the things they needed and didn't pack, but she couldn't think of a single nother thing to add. She grabbed a stuffed animal off her bed and put it in the front pocket for Ziggy. Then, she wrapped her scarf around her neck and put on her coat and ran the bag downstairs.

Ziggy was standing bleary eyed, leaning against Stingy's legs. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," Stephanie said.

"Out of town," Stingy amended.

"Do we have to?" Ziggy looked up at them both, very tired.

Stingy nodded. "Obviously. We'll die if we stay here, haven't either of you read any zombie books? There's always a trip involved. There's too many of them here." He had clearly gotten himself together while Stephanie was upstairs. If it hadn't been for the redness in his eyes and on his cheeks, no one would know he'd been crying.

"Why are you wearing winter clothes, Stephanie?" Ziggy questioned. "It's summertime."

Stephanie shrugged. "The nights might be cold. And plus, it's easier to carry on me than in my pack, and we'll need it some time."

"Do you have a blanket? And medicine just in case?" asked Ziggy, rubbing his eye with a little fist.

"I brought my blankie, of course." Stingy patted his backpack. "No medicine, though."

Stephanie's eyes lit up. "I'll grab my blanket too, just in case, and I'll get some medicine from the cabinet as well. Good thinking, Ziggy!"

"Should I pack something?" Ziggy asked, turning up to Stingy. "I have my sack here from when I moved all my clothes to Stephanie's. It's only little, not like a backpack, but…"

"Sure, whatever. Get a bunch of knives from the kitchen."

"Stingy! Superheroes don't use knives!" Ziggy crossed his arms and managed to look disapproving, unintentionally nailing a Sportacus impression.

Stingy bent over to look him in the eye and responded in a sing song, patronizing voice. "The kind that fight off zombies do."

Ziggy glared at him.

"Fine, if you don't want to carry them, I will. I know we'll need them. I've read enough books to figure that out." He sighed, and went over to the kitchen.

Ziggy followed him, after a moment. "I know! I'll pack food! A loaf of bread and some milk and-"

"We don't want to bring perishables," Stingy muttered.

"Perish- what?" Ziggy froze, one hand in the fridge and one holding his sack.

Stingy rolled his eyes. "No dairy, no eggs. Are there two loaves of bread in there?"

Ziggy nodded, grabbing them out and dropping them into his sack. He picked out various items, with Stingy's approval, until it was full. "This is sort of heavy."

"Well, we all want to eat." Stingy had taken two knives out of the drawer, and now had three. He wrapped them in a napkin and fit them into his backpack. He didn't plan on telling Stephanie about them until he had to. He didn't want to face her disapproval.

Stephanie raced back into the kitchen. "I have my blanket - my backpack is pretty full now - and I got some medicine from the bathroom cabinet. I also grabbed your toothbrush, Ziggy."

"Thanks."

"Welcome." Stephanie smiled. "Now, come on. Let's find Pixel and Trixie."

They hadn't found Pixel or Trixie. They hadn't even been able to reach their houses, there were too many zombies. Stingy had started to cry again and Stephanie, going by what was now her mantra, had done what Sportacus would have, and kept in her own tears so as not to frighten the others. She snapped herself back to the present. "We do too need a grown up, we don't know what we're doing."

Stingy turned his nose up at her. "Well, I do. I've read-"

"Books, you read zombie books, I've heard it all before." Stephanie kept her voice down, but glared at him.

They were outside of Lazytown, and although she wouldn't like to admit it, Stingy's hypothesis had been right. They were safer. There were of course still rogue zombies, but nothing like the masses of them in town. They were camped along one of the roads leaving the city and heading towards one of the other cities, inside an abandoned post office. They had barricaded the door with as many chairs as they could find, but since they hadn't figured out how to lock it, they were on edge.

Pixel would know how to lock a door without a key, Stephanie thought absentmindedly. And Trixie would know how to unlock a door without a key. She shook her head. She was trying not to think about them, because all thoughts, even nice ones, would turn into ones where they were dead. And zombified. She shuddered.

"So we don't need anyone. We're doing great." Stingy pulled his blanket tighter around himself.

"I'd like someone," Stephanie murmured. "To look after us."

"Can we please get some sleep?" Stingy laid down, shivering. He didn't like there to be opinions that didn't match his. The post office floor was made of tile, and it chilled him to the bone. His blanket, however fluffy, wasn't all that good a protection.

"Yeah." Stephanie took off her coat and threw it over Stingy. She pulled her sweater out of her bag and put that on instead, coiling her scarf up under her head like a pillow. They had only been on the road for three days, and she already missed sleeping in a bed. After a long bit of silence in the dark, she heard a muffled and begrudged voice.

"Thank you."