Sorry for the wait! This chapter is relatively shorter. I'll make up for it in the next one.

Part Two

It had taken some time to get Ben to stand upright,and when he finally had gotten on his feet after many attempts, the teenager nearly toppled over onto the ground immediately with a yelp. Kenny caught him under his arms just before he could smash his head on the table.

"Don't force yourself, Ben," Kenny said worriedly, letting Ben lean on him until he could stand on his own again. Ben managed to stay on his feet this time, but had to lean very heavily on the kitchen table. His whole body was quivering as if he were cold, but Kenny knew otherwise. The pain must be unbearable, he thought sympathetically.

"Guh- God..." Ben spluttered, gripping the edge of the table so hard Kenny could hear the bones in his fingers crack.

"Think you can walk?" Kenny asked, uselessly. The answer was obvious. But they had to get out of there, and soon. While Kenny had kept watch over Ben and the world outside, he'd seen, thankfully, that the walkers had slowly evaporated from the area around their hideout, realizing their meal was out of reach and going off in search of less fortunate souls.

Kenny wasn't sure how long they had until they were either trapped again, or they starved to death inside the ironically supply-less kitchen.

"Here, put your arm around my shoulders," Kenny instructed, wrapping his own arm around Ben's torso in a hold that kept the teenager upright without having to cling to the table.

Ben carefully slid one arm over Kenny's shoulders, digging his blunted nails into Kenny's shoulder as hard as possible as he let out a hiss of pain. Ben clamped his free arm down on his stomach, trying to lessen the pain in his side.

Kenny winced, but carried on the procedure of walking over to the front door, which lead to the opposite alley that Ben had fallen into yesterday, and which Kenny had kept a constant, surveying watch on.

"Alright, here we go..." Kenny muttered, adjusting all of Ben's weight to his right side, then reaching out with his free hand and turning the knob, slowly pulling the door open. When the opening was big enough, both Kenny and Ben peered out with squinted eyes as the sun beat down on them, momentarily blinding.

Kenny cast his adjusting gaze down left, and then up right. Left looked as if it led deeper into the small buildings littering the area, and would be more dangerous if walkers were lurking around every corner. Right looked as if it lead to a wider, more central road, and would probably help them find their way out better than the former, likely more confusing path.

Right it was.

"Kenny... I d-don't know if I can do this..." Ben whispered in a strained voice, still glancing sluggishly but panickedly around.

"It's alright as long as you shut up and don't fall."

"Gee, thanks for the concern."

"We're doin' this now. We can't stay here a second longer with the injury you've got." Kenny could feel his patience dwindling as his heart began to beat faster.

"But Kenny-"

"I'm not gonna stand here in the doorway an' argue with you for fuck's sake!" Kenny snapped, but kept his voice at a low volume. So far he hadn't heard any growling or snapping teeth, but who knew how close one of them could be? There were still some lingering just on the other side of the house, scratching at the barrier that Kenny had managed to make out of the small fridge in the kitchen.

"... Alright, fine." Ben relented, his shoulders sagging a little and his bottom lip jutting out slightly in that pouting way of his that fondly annoyed Kenny to no end.

"Fine. Now hold on an' remember to put one foot in front of the other."

Despite himself, Kenny glanced at Ben, who looked like he wanted to say something snappy in reply, but the redhead kept his mouth shut and nodded once, the movement filled with fatigue.

Kenny took the first few steps out the door, and Ben stumbled along next to him at a more halting pace. They made their way down the alley without any problems. Kenny kept Ben close to the building wall, in case the teenager would need extra support, and also to keep the pair of them more hidden and out of plain view.

They stopped where the wall ended and the side of the road began. Kenny released Ben, who quickly caught his fall on the wall, sliding down it shakily. Kenny peered around the corner. To his relief, the street was virtually vacant, excepting some walkers in the near distance to the right, but they hadn't seen Kenny or Ben at all. Kenny turned back to Ben, who was glaring hotly up at him.

Kenny got Ben back onto his feet, ignoring the look, and they began their shuffle down the side of the road, being careful to stay quiet and out of sight. Ben was panting rather loudly, but it wasn't a noise loud enough to draw attention. Cold sweat shone on the teenager's pale, narrow face, which was drawn tight with discomfort. He looked exhausted, Kenny thought sympathetically. So was he. But there was no stopping now.

There was no denying that they needed to find help, and fast, or Ben really was going to die.

Not on my watch he's not, Kenny mentally growled, trying to convince himself.

"Kenny.." Ben called in a pained whisper, and when Kenny turned his head to look at Ben, he saw that the there were tears collecting at the corners of Ben's light gray eyes. It took the older man a moment to realize they were tears of anguish.

With a start, Kenny veered them over to the front entrance of a small store with an umbrella roof. It was a relief to be out of the sun. He gently set Ben down and stayed in a crouched position, clutching Ben's shoulder to reassure him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, trying to meet Ben's clouded eyes.

"It fucking hurts." Ben said in a deadpan voice. He seemed a lot more comfortable sitting than walking. "Kenny, you... you should just leave me here. Find Lee and them. I honestly don't see how you're going to be able to get me out of the city alive. You could make it on your own."

Ben looked up pleadingly at Kenny, who gave a small shake of his head.

"Oh, it's crossed my mind I'll assure you," Kenny said casually, sliding to a sit next to Ben. He gave a dry smirk. "I didn't even think you were gonna live through the day. But..."

He glanced over at Ben, who was watching Kenny with a tiny, contemplative frown, but still the redhead remained attentive as Kenny continued.

"Ben, I... you know I can't do that. We've been through too much together. You're... I... I just can't leave you to die. I still have some humanity in me."

Ben's small frown turned into an equally small smile.

Kenny smiled silently in return, then lightly shoved Ben's shoulder. "Alright, enough of this sappy shit. And wipe that stupid smirk off your face. We've still got a ways to go, this is no time for happiness."

Ben looked surprised for a moment, but managed to school his grin into a neutral expression, turning his gaze to the long road ahead.

.-.-.-.

They had to stop three more times after that. Ben was drenched in sweat by the time the two of them can catch a glimpse the edge of the city, which leads out to a less sheltered area.

"TH-that's not the waterfront..." Ben points out quietly, his hand still clutching Kenny's shoulder in a death grip, a grip that shows Kenny how much pain he's in. The trip wasn't exactly easy for Kenny either, though. Ben wasn't really carrying much of his weight, and he wasn't exactly as light as he looked.

It pains Kenny to push Ben along like this, but they have to keep moving while there's daylight. During their travel from the center of the city to the edge of it, they had searched for any possible ways to get to the rooftops again. Unfortunately there was no way they could try without making too much noise and drawing unwanted, undead attention.

Kenny huffed, hitching Ben up when he started to slip from his sort-of-secure hold. "I know, Ben. We couldn't risk going through the twists and turns of those houses. That's why we're going around. Got it?"

Ben caught his breath enough to mutter a reply, "Got it."

The two of them glanced at each other. Kenny apologetically, and Ben tiredly. That was the only conversation they'd had since their first pit stop.

The two of them went on trudging somberly along. They had begun to cross a street when the walker lurched towards them from the shadows, latching its bony fingers around Ben's upper arm and yanking the teenager out of Kenny's grasp with surprising strength.

Ben screamed, landing hard on his wounded side. The walked, also laying on the ground, began to crawl towards Ben, its bulging white eyes focused determinedly on Ben.

Kenny, who had been standing numbly in momentary shock, lunged at the walker, tackling it away from Ben in a moment of pure adrenaline. The walker struggled with Kenny until it was looming over him, mouth agape. Kenny could see down its disgusting throat as it leaned in for his shoulder. Kenny kept it at bay, pushing at it with all of his strength, letting out strained grunts.

"KENNY! Push it to the side!" Kenny vaguely heard Ben's frantic shout. He focused all his energy towards one of the walker's shoulders, then swung his fist at it, effectively knocking the undead man onto its side, where it continued to reach for him.

Kenny rolled away at the same time as Ben brought the heel of his foot down hard, landing it squarely in the center of the walker's temple. There was a wet, sickening crunch, and the walker was a dead corpse once again.

Kenny struggled to his feet, breathing hard, heart pounding painfully. He looked up at Ben, who was staring down at the gory scene he had created, eyes wide. Slowly, the teenager looked up at Kenny. Then he fell to his knees, and more, less audible crunching was heard as a piece of skull was flattened under Ben's knee.

Kenny was by Ben's side as the teenager slumped onto his right side, clutching at his left one, small whimpers escaping from his mouth.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck fuck fuck..." Ben moaned, rocking his body from side to side, trying to stabilize the pain.

Kenny grabbed onto his shoulders, squeezing tight. He stared down at Ben concernedly. "Ben, it's okay, just walk it off, walk it off."

"Yeah, I'm okay..." Ben took a deep breath, his body going still again. Kenny felt his shoulders automatically relax. They stayed like that for a few moments, Kenny letting Ben recuperate.

"... Thanks. You saved my ass back there," Kenny said.

Ben nodded faintly. "Least I could do," he replied.

"To be honest, I think that's the most you could've done..."

"Yeah, alright, alright."

Kenny smirked, but gave Ben's shoulder a friendly pat. "You okay to go now?"

Ben sat up, wincing all the while. "Fuck... Have I got a choice?"

"Not really. But I can help you up. No need t' thank me or nothin'." Kenny offered Ben a hand, but Ben wasn't looking at him. His eyes were focused on something behind Kenny, and his face was slowly melding into terror.

Kenny spun around. Further down the street, a frighteningly large amount of walkers had begun to make their way towards the two men, slowly but steadily. More and more of them seemed to accumulate by the second, coming out of shadows or around corners, one even fell from a rooftop with a resounding bang.

"Oh, shit!" Ben exclaimed, scrambling to get to his feet. Kenny helped him up, holding him up by one arm.

"We have to run, Ben!"

Ben looked momentarily unsure, conflicted between the approaching slaughter fest and his own still fatal injury. "But-"

"JUST RUN!"

They both ran.

TBC