Sans stared out the window, anxiously awaiting his brother's return. It had been a couple weeks since the outbreak, and Papyrus was out on a supply run.
He really didn't like sending Pap out by himself, but hey, what else could you do? They had to get supplies somehow, and they weren't going to bring themselves to them, right?
   Snow was falling gently from what passed as the sky of the Underground. The window was fogged up slightly with Sans's breath.
   It was so deceivingly beautiful outside... You almost wouldn't think that anything was wrong.
   But Sans knew it was all a lie. He wanted so badly to believe that everything was just as it had been before, but he couldn't. That sort of wishful thinking was going to get him infected, or even worse.
   He shuddered at the thought. To lose himself completely in the mind of a beast... it wasn't a pleasant thought, that's for sure.
Just then, the front door creaked open as Papyrus came back inside, pulling a wagon filled with supplies behind him. Sans was instantly flooded with relief.
"Anything out there?" Sans asked, sitting up slightly on the couch.
Papyrus huffed, exhausted by the effort of dragging so much back to the house. "Nope. It's totally clear out there. As it has been for weeks. I'm telling you, there's no need for you to be freaking out. The guard has the disease contained."
"Yeah, but for how long? Let's face it, Undyne and her troops can only hold them back for a certain amount of time. It won't be too long until the beasts finally break through," Sans retorted, narrowing his eyes.
Papyrus sighed. "I know. You've said that every single time I come back."
"It's because I love you, Pap. Every time you leave, I fear you won't come back. I'm scared to be alone," Sans replied, his grin faltering.
"Either way, you wouldn't be alone. You've got Sora here with you," Papyrus pointed out, gesturing at the small white dragon, who was asleep on the floor.
"Yeah, but a brother is different than a girlfriend. You wouldn't understand. You've never had a girlfriend," Sans responded, a slight bitterness to his voice.
Papyrus flinched, and Sans immediately felt guilty.
"I'm sorry, Pap. I shouldn't have taken it that far," Sans apologized, looking away.
"It's okay brother. I get where you're coming from," Papyrus murmured, kneeling down to give his brother a hug.
   Sans sniffled, rubbing at his eye socket with one hand. "It's just... This whole disease thing is gettin' to my head. I'm losing my mind, bro."
"Believe me, you aren't the only one stressing out. How do you think I feel? My best friend is the head of keeping those beasts contained!"
Sans sighed. "I know bro. But I don't think you understand the real threat those things pose."
Papyrus raised an eyebrow. "I've heard just as much as you have about the whole thing."
"Yeah, but you weren't on the phone with one of your friends when he gets attacked right then and there. Ramsey's gone because of this. His own father got to him," Sans muttered.
   "I understand that. My friend's girlfriend was one of the only monsters who escaped that mess," Papyrus growled, narrowing his eyes.
   "Great! Then get her to come up with a damn antidote or something!" Sans snapped, throwing his hands up in the air.
   The argument finally woke Sora up. The small dragon drearily lifted her head, her eyes half-open as she gazed questioningly at the two brothers.
   "Sans? Papyrus? What going on?" she asked softly, a lingering exhaustion in her voice.
   "Nothing. I was just going to my room, that's all," Papyrus huffed under his breath as he went upstairs, going into his bedroom and slamming the door shut behind him.
Sans growled in frustration as he started pacing around the living room, clenching and unclenching his fists as he walked. Sora felt a bit uneasy in the presence of him.
The skeleton had recently become more on-edge than normal. He never went outside. He never really talked to anyone who wasn't in the house, not even over text. He refused to let anyone other than Sora and his own brother into the house, out of fear that the disease would be carried into the home.
He didn't even go to Grillby's anymore. And that was saying something, considering how much he cherished the place.
   Times were changing. The disease was making monsters crazy, infected or not. If the sickness didn't get to you, the fear of it happening did.

   It wasn't just the minds of the beasts that were changing. It was the minds of the ones determined to survive that were becoming warped.