Last Breath

"Fuckin' hell…"

"What is it?" Ben's teeth clenched as he heard the exclamation, and it seemed to Kenny that he was bracing himself for whatever bad news was in store for him.

"We're gonna get you up. Just-"Kenny was cut off by Ben's pained moan as the older man tried to slide him off of the jagged, metal balcony rail he had been impaled on. Blood pooled around the high school band member as Kenny let go, causing the teenager to slide back down. Ben looked at his chest, finally seeing the damage done by the fall.

"Maybe, he can stay quiet? If he can stay quiet, we can take our time and save his life." Lee kept glancing from Ben, to the entryway into the alley. Kenny felt his heart skip a beat as he looked up to see a walker saunter past the opening, all three holding their breath as it did so. Ben began whimpering. Shit, pain must be comin' on.

The kid was pleading quietly, hushed. "I can be super quiet. I can be-"He was cut off as Kenny's head jerked back up. Lee heard it too, both men glancing in the direction of the sound that had become part of their everyday lives for the past 3 months. That low, almost hissing sound that they make when they see you. Shit just never went their way. "Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Ben echoed their thoughts aloud as the world went to hell around them.

A few began limping into the alleyway from both sides, dragging their rotting husks of what had been human beings once upon a time closer to them. The bodies were in various states of decay, the only thing marking them as similar being the milky white stare of death as they advanced. "Fuuuuck…" Adrenaline taking effect, Kenny grabbed Ben once again and yanked, stopping short once more when Ben let out a pitiful, agonized cry. He set the kid back down again as the dead closed in.

Ben looked to his side and saw them coming, eyes widening in fear as their gazes seemed to all fix upon him. He turned back to Kenny, hands trembling as his life slowly drained out of him and the pain became less of a dull nothing, and slowly became a fire in his chest razing everything in its way. "Don't let them get to me. Please!" Kenny gave a sorrowful look down at the boy, then stood up and turned to Lee.

"Got any bullets left? This has only got on left in it," he said, sliding the magazine of the Beretta nine-millimeter home.

Lee glanced back, seeing the herd begin to grow. If he still had his axe, Kenny thought, there might have been a chance to fight through them. But Ben… "Just one!"

"Fuck…that's not enough…" Kenny stared at the ground, sliding the magazine of the pistol out and checking it again. "Give it to me."

"What?"

"I said give it to me! Get outta here and go get Clem! She needs ya Lee."

"I'm not leaving!" His friend widened his stance and pulled his gun, the one Carley had scavenged in Macon sometime before they had met Lilly's group at the pharmacy. Seeing it brought back recent events he'd have given his right arm to forget. Turning to face the encroaching swarm with his best friend, Lee yelled over his shoulder. "I'm not leaving you!"

"What did I just say, damnit!" They didn't have time for this.

"Let's get Ben and get out of here, man! We can all make it!"

Lee made his choice, Kenny thought bitterly. But he wasn't the only one who got to choose. With a sad glance at the concrete, Kenny shoved Lee back. The college professor stumbled behind the gate, bracing himself on the brick wall and reorienting himself just in time to see the metal gate shut behind him. With Kenny on the other side. "Damnit, Ken!" Lee lunged forward, grabbing at the bars that separated the two.

"Lee, Lee it's ok."

"No, Ken, no it's not!"

Voice low, mournful, Kenny spoke as he looked back at Ben, trembling in fear as he fixed his stare at the walkers slowly advancing. "It's just somethin' I gotta do. You know that." He pulled away from the fence, widening his stance as the first of them reached for him. He slammed his fist into the side of its head, and it crumpled to the ground and stopped moving. "Now go get that girl!" The second one lunged, and the redneck brought the gun down on it like a blunt weapon. This one, too, didn't move. He could barely make out the sound of Lee struggling with the gate in the background, yelling curse words as Kenny suddenly realized he was being forced back toward Shawn.

Wait, who? That ain't right… Distracted, he barely fought off a third. It grabbed him, going for his neck. The teeth made contact with his arm, and he shoved it away and into its brethren before it could break skin. Several of them fell under the weight thrown against them, buying some time to fight off the ones coming from behind him. Ben, still stuck on the metal rod, was frantic as Kenny stormed past him. Kenny forced himself to blink several times as the faces of the walkers closest to him took on the familiar shapes of the ones he failed to save.

Goddamnit, you piece of shit! He kicked one, sending it sprawling back as others advanced over it. Good for nothin' failure! He barely noticed one to his left grab him, sinking teeth into his shoulder. I'm sorry. Shawn, Ben, Duck…Kat… He pushed it away, kicking it in the head as it landed on the ground. The skull split and blood began to flow, signaling the end of another abomination. Blood began to stream from his wound, soaking his shirt in a tide of crimson as he backed away from them slowly. Ben whimpered beside him as the noose around them tightened. Fuckin' disgrace. Never helped anyone. I deserve this. Another one, what had been a bit of an older woman before she died attacked. Too caught up in his thoughts, Kenny failed to defend himself.

The woman's teeth cut into the flesh of his side, ripping away a sizeable piece of his skin. He grunted in pain, refusing to surrender. Don't give up. Keep goin'. Save him. He backed up more, nearly tripping over Ben as the creature fell to the ground with nothing to support it. He felt a dead hand grip his ankle, and another bite pierced his calf. Ben cried again, one of the things only feet away from him.

Kenny yelled, leaping away from the grasping hand around his ankle. Kicking the one nearest Ben, he looked around and realized what a moot point it was. They were everywhere. No way out. For either of them. He yelled, trying to make sure he was heard above the sound of the approaching walkers. "They ain't takin' you again Shawn." Ben's eyes widened.

"Who?"

"GET BACK YOU FUCKERS!" Everything seemed to slow down as they closed in. Rotting faces and empty eyes, cold hands reaching and grabbing for food. The heavy piece of metal in his hand, one last round trembling in the dark, cold chamber. A shot in the distance echoed, probably not as far away as it seemed. Lee, Goddamnit, it's too late. The flash came from the gate, and one of the dozen walkers dragging themselves in his direction dropped as Lee attempted to save his friends. His last bullet.

They reached Ben. Teeth pierced the kid's leg, as he cried for help. "FUCK. KENNY-"In one smooth, fluid motion Kenny turned. His strength ebbed as the bites and blood loss began to take their toll on him, striding over to where Ben lay. That moment seemed like forever, as he brought the cold gun up. Ben was staring into his eyes, filled with fear just as Shawn's had been so many forevers ago. His eyes filled with the same knowing he'd witnessed in Katjaa's, before she'd taken that last, quiet walk into the woods with their little boy…

Emotionless, dull. Kenny felt nothing as his finger squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet away. Blood oozed from all of his wounds, and the act of keeping the gun trained on Ben was agonizing. Don't give up. Stick it out. He turned away as Ben went limp and silent, the boy's pain vanishing in the blink of an eye. Everything hit him at that moment. All the pain he'd caused at Hershel's farm and in the the meat locker, the clearing in the woods, Crawford…

He staggered as he walked, looking into the eyes of the herd as they bore down on him. I finally did it Kat. One of them collided with him, sending him to the ground. His eyes blurred with tears as he hit the pavement with an audible thud, but he felt nothing. I finally thought of someone else. His hearing went out as they set in. God, I miss you so much. Darkness closed in, engulfing him as he took a last, shallow breath.

I'm comin' honey. We can be together again…