AN: So yeah in this chapter, blaine is a little schitzophrenic in this chapter. But mostly because he is all talk and practically caramel inside *_*

Sorry for the delay, kinda caught up in school again. XC Damn you school :D

Klaine all the way. And I expect Adam to be more than mediocre or I´ll hate him. I´m sorry for being irrational, but I wouldn´t hate him if I knew for certain that Klaine is endgame. :D

Hope you like this chap as well. took a little long .

1.1.2013

I stand in front of a grave, my hands clenched and the cold air stings as I breathe in. My limbs seem to have frozen in place, rooted in the earth the woman I once loved now rests in. I had never been one to talk to gravestones. Why should I, when I knew she couldn´t hear me? But today I had come with the intention to break my vow to never cry over her after her burial, since I had tried to be strong not only for me, but for Kurt.

"I have failed you. How am I supposed to protect our son now? Soon I will be dead and I can´t do a thing to change it. He will die as well. I should have told him sooner about this. About you and your…departure." I gulped down the lump in my throat and continued. "I called Frederic. He said he would try to find a cure. If he does, I don´t really care if there is enough for the rest of the world, as long as my boy is being protected. I knew you would scream at me for saying that, but I am just being honest. You know, sometimes I imagine you watching over us and seeing Kurt grow up. He really is a good kid, after all we´ve been through. He is the one thing I am proud of. So if you…like, have any connection to God or whomever, ask him to protect our child."

I shook my head, realizing how stupid it was talking to someone who had died so many years ago. If I had wanted to spend my time with useless talking to air, I could have done it elsewhere. There wasn´t a relieving moment I felt when I walked away from her grave. Something at me had apparently hoped for something, since I now felt disappointed. I shouldn´t have come here at all. As soon as I sat in my car I dialed Frederic's number again and asked for an update about the cure. No progess- I´m sorry.

September 2013

Kurt´s head buzzed because of the shaking of his body that happened every time he coughed. His mouth tasted like blood, metallic and sticky, no matter how hard he tried to swallow it. Another cough echoed through the room, waking him from the quiet slumber he fell in and out of.

"Aww. Fuck if the bastard doesn´t start coughing, I swear I will gag him and watch him choke!" Someone snapped.

Kurt didn´t recognize this voice, but whoever it was, he sounded absolutely capable of going through with what he said. Exhausted by the sleepless night and desperate for something to happen, he coughed again, but this time he made it sound fake.

"I said shut up!"

When another fake cough left his mouth, his eyes were instantly drawn to the beam of the flashlight at the end of the choir room. Then it was directed at him and he squinted his tired eyes to protect them from the brightness.

"Nick, turn the light off and go back to sleep. He just wants you to be angry."

When someone spoke this time, he knew it was the skull-boy. The boy who had threatened to beat him up just hours ago, was now defending him. At least sort of. He doubted that a drowsy voice could hold enough authority to prevent this Nick from shutting me up for good.

"What about Jeff? He hasn´t got any sleep for days and this coughing idiot doesn´t help at all." The one with the flashlight retorted.

"I don´t hear him complain."

The beam left Kurt´s face and swung into another direction, illuminating the well-known and still strangely foreign room. In the yellow light, Kurt could make out stirring people, pulling their blanket over their head to continue their peaceful sleep. Only one boy was sitting in his bed. Boredom drove Kurt to care for the now paintless left side of the face that lay covered in shadows. He was sure the boy had washed the paint from his face too, everyone else from the tribe had done so. The water apparently still ran in the school, as it did in the supermarket.

"You can´t be fucking serious! You know about his condition and until Coop is back here, I will not take any more shit of you Blaine. Come on Jeff, we will sleep somewhere else." Nick yelled. More and more tribe members were awake by now, rubbing their eyes, or instantly watching the fight that had broken out. More flashlights were turned on, waking even the last sleeping person. Now Kurt was able to see every face clearly.

"I am not Blaine any more than you are Nick." Skull-boy replied, his expression and voice calm, while the atmosphere suddenly seemed tense.

"Fuck you, Ace then. Whatever. Wes, help me carry our mattresses!"

The boy named Nick bend down at his waist, to pick someone up in bridal style. Pale arms instantly locked behind his back in support and for the first time, Kurt could see the boy much clearer, he remembered starring at him and given him the creeps. Now, in brighter light, he could only wonder why he had felt remotely intimidated by the blonde guy. His cheeks were sunken in, his arms should be more than just skin and bones, but they weren´t. Kurt then coughed, but wouldn´t let himself be distracted by the pain or the new load of blood sticking to his tongue. Just like the first time, his gaze was captured by hollow brown eyes. Realization had dawned on him sooner he assumed, but it only hit its aim about now. This boy would starve soon, and he would only be the first one.

As an enemy , he shouldn´t feel sorry for him and at first he didn´t. Kurt thought of the brutality that would ensue if he would keep his mouth shut about food. Hungry humans, were not humans at all, they turned into monsters. One monster looked at him right now, blue eyes that seemed eager to begin with his torture, while he held a starving boy in his arms in a gentle manner.

"Nicky, the coughing doesn´t bother me. We can stay here."

"Shut up Jeff! I don´t want to hear any more words. Do you think everything is about you? The slut keeps me from resting my body. And without a strong body I can´t beat him into telling us where he has gotten the food later on." Nick said, still focusing on Kurt.

Kurt wanted to laugh at the meekly attempt to cover his intention of leaving. Of course he only did it for this Jeff. Even though Kurt didn´t doubt he meant the last part as well. He only sat up straighter, unblinking in the eye of danger. When a cough raced his body again, his eyes didn´t shut fast enough to miss the smirk on Nicks face. This was only the first of many battles Kurt would lose and the most painless one at that. The shame dwelling in his body made attempts to climb up his cheeks and color them red and he was too weak to fight it. He just hoped the light wasn´t bright enough to show the blush.

"Whoever wants to follow me and get rest instead of…well this, do so. Wes, mattress!"

Murmurs aroused then the rustling of blankets. Through tear-filled eyes caused by his coughs, Kurt watched one of them get up and grab one mattress and pulling it out the door. Murmurs turned into whispers, that were finally shut up with a sharp whistle. Skull boy – Blaine- Ace- The Leader. Slowly one flashlight after another was turned off and the shadowy figures lay down again. Only the leader had his one on, illuminating the floor in front of him and then blinding Kurt as he drew nearer.

"Take this! I actually want you to live through this night." He heard him say, before something was pressed against his lips. It felt hard, but warm. Plastic and rectangular, hollow in the middle. It was an inhaler.

"Open your fucking mouth bitch! I would gladly strangle you every time you cough, but that wouldn´t be much fun."

Kurt shook his head. Doing so, he glanced at the device in front of him. It seemed to be the right one. Again, his lips were met by plastic. Then he was kicked in the ribcage, his mouth opening in a surprised O, flowed by the a shape when his mind felt the waves of pain. He actually didn´t taste the medicament. He instantly inhaled, like the enemy had wanted him to.

"Good boy."

"Fuck you!" Kurt growled, kicking out with his legs, but only meeting air, as he couldn´t see too well with the beam directed at his face.

"Feisty thing huh? Do your costumers really want to fuck something like this? If I were to buy you, I would fuck you raw until you were too weak to even cough."

Kurt was shut up by that, imaging the scenario described. When he shivered, he felt disgusted to the bone.

"You couldn´t pay me enough to have permission to even touch me!"

"Who needs permission? You are our hostage, our thing! Whenever we will feel the desire to fuck something, who do you think we could use?"

For the first time in hours, Kurt didn´t know what to say. His eyes widened in shock and realization and the soup he had for lunch fought its way up his throat again. He was utterly terrified.

"Good night Sweety." The skull boy whispered into his ear. Kurt felt the heat of another body in front of his face, as darkness surrounded them again. He smelled smoke and sugar on the boy's clothes. A mixture that made him feel dizzy and even sicker, but nothing prepared him for the tongue lapping at his earlobe.

The chuckle that followed sounded too melodic to belong to the man he despised. He noticed the boy had retreated several seconds later, as a relief breath left his mouth. In the silent room Kurt´s thoughts seemed to scream horribly loud. The conversation between Nick and Blaine didn´t interest him, not really. Still, he found himself thinking about it, drifting into the sweet calmness of sleep shortly after, the smell of sweet smoke stuck in his nostrils.

Waking up a few hours later felt, for the first time in weeks, actually good. Not measured with the time before the virus. Nothing can hold up to that time. How little they thought of it, up to the point it was gone. Kurt rubbed his face in the jeans of his knees, reluctantly blinking them open to the sharp light of the sun. He didn´t need the cold metal on his wrists, or the stiffness of his should to remind him of his position. Captured and about to be broken beyond repair, if he wasn´t already that is. The choir room smelled of sweat and unclean air, but at least Kurt seemed to be alone. In the light of the day he was able to analyze the damage done to the room that had been his favorite place on earth, sometimes. They had ripped away the legs of the piano, crumpled the keys and only the useless body of it lay down a few feet away from him. Judging by the crumbles and a plate, it had the function of a table now.

Something squeezed the insides of him and he wasn´t sure if it was his lungs, or sadness. Scribbled on the white board were obscene words, in these times everyday words to be exact and some names. Right in the middle, in bold red letters their tribe name was written: The Warblers. Glancing over to the cupboards with the doors ripped out, for whatever reason, he squinted. There, in the top shelf was picture of the New Directions. From that position he could barely make out daces, but he remembered taking the photo too well to be wrong. Kurt stood in the right hand corner, chubbier face and shorter. But that was not the reason he felt like hyperventilating. It was the names scribbled down under it. All of their names. Kurt Hummel right under the picture of him. They would know. If they knew they would never let him die of blood loss. They would quickly let go of the part that remained human to torture him for this information. Because he was Kurt Hummel, and he knew!

Quiet steps, just as loud as his own wildly beating heart, drew his attention towards the mattresses. The blonde guy, Jeff if he remembered correctly, walked towards him. He wore a far too big white shirt and loose-fitting trousers. He still looked sick, but without the healthier guys holding him in his arms, the effect wore off. Yes, he still seemed to be underweight and weak, but with the smile on his lips he could have been random guy #3 you met in America. At least the ones he used to meet years ago.

When Jeff was two feet away, he sat down, his knees pulled towards his chest, mirroring Kurt's position. Slightly tan hands on the kneecaps were the only thing wrong in the picture. Kurt felt mocked and annoyed when seconds passed without a conversation. The boy just sat in front of him, smiling and looking. Kurt knew he shouldn´t. He was in deep trouble even without them knowing who he was. Still, the bitter part of himself he had gained over the last month roared too loudly to be ignored.

"What? Am I some kind of attraction in here? No television set or radio? Where is the rest of the tribe that promised me a good old beating today? I am disappointed to say the least. Not that you could get any information out of me." Kurt spat. Jeff laughed, a short and deep sound.

"I knew you were a talker. I am Jeffrey Sterling and you are?"

Stunned, Kurt shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was not what he expected.
"Oh just pick a name your friends gave me. Slut is a bit old fashioned though."

"You´re funny. Seriously though, just give me a name I can call you. Doesn´t matter if you make it up. Some of us have a new name as well. Blaine for example flips if someone doesn´t call him Ace now. I never felt the need to rename myself, though. Jeff fits just fine."

Kurt remained quiet. This guy was seriously nuts. Couldn´t they skip the part of superficial pleasantries and come right to the beating part? What was the meaning in this? Would they really think he was stupid enough to reveal his secrets just because the dummy was nice? Jeff´s smile didn´t waver as he seemed to wait for an answer. Realizing he would get none after a few minutes, he slowly slid closer. Kurt pretended to be unimpressed by the new hand on his kneecap. Apparently his silence was the sign for Jeff to switch techniques. Kurt coughed as short breaths were taken too shallow to reach his lungs. But the hand didn´t move down his inner thigh's. It remained there, motionless, harmless. Just a warm hand on his leg.

"I´ll call you Fawn then. I would tell you the reason for this, but my price would be some information about you. Nothing mayor. Just a childhood memory or anything. It tends to get lonely here with the boys gone." Jeff confessed.

"You know it wouldn´t be so lonely and boring with me free of the handcuffs. We could do something together then. Like scrabble or chess." It was a try. A simple and stupid one. That is why Kurt wasn´t too disappointed when Jeff laughed again.
"Hey, I may be sociable and lonely, but I am not stupid."

"Worth a try."

"It was. Believe me when I say I would help you escape, but I am not capable of doing that. Ace has the keys."

Kurt slid slightly closer, ignoring the strain in his shoulders and the biting metal on his wrists. Jeff seemed unfazed by it.
"You could easily steal them. You know where they are, don´t you?"

"I do. But they are my family. If setting you free means losing them, I am sorry to be so selfish, but I choose them. I could never leave Nick. Do you still have family somewhere Fawn?"

At mentioning the asshole from last night, Nick, the dull eyes of Jeff were filled with love. Kurt had seen love heal people. It had healed his father, Rachel, Tina and even Quinn. He didn´t know how being in love felt like apart from books and movies. But he assumed Jeff did.

"I don´t." Kurt lied. Jeff´s hand squeezed his knee at that.

"I wished the Warblers could be your family then. When Coop returns and you cooperate a little, I am sure you could join. He always liked me. Ace won´t like the idea too much though, but we will find a way."

"Jeff, what is going on here? I thought I made it clear you had to stay in our bed! I know the whore would try to persuade you. Fuck, Jeff!"

Both boys on the floor flinched at the suddenly too loud voice coming from the opened door. Nick stood there with another boy. The right side of his face was in black and white striped, resembling a zebra. An angry zebra. Jeff didn´t pull back though, a look of resignation and love, fear and longing on his face. His face was calm when he spoke though.

"It was boring. We were just talking, no reason to throw a tantrum."

"You just told him he could be a member of this tribe. I knew you were stupid but that tops it. He is nothing but a streetslut with someplace he hides food. As soon as he spills his secret, we will off him." Nick answered.

While talking, he walked over, grabbed Jeff by his arms and yanked the taller boy up to a standing position. Kurt watched as the quick fight left Jeff´s features as he submitted. Kurt hadn´t trusted or believed a word of him, so seeing this shouldn´t feel this disappointing.

"We will talk about this later okay? We found some food, not much but it will do for three days."

"Found it, or stole it?"

"This time we really found it." Nick said. Kurt knew he was lying, hell Jeff probably did too, but he watched as the blonde relaxed into an embrace. Obliviousness was not a solution, not even in times like these, but it sure as well helped making oneself fell better.

The rest of the tribe walked in by dawn, all of their faces freshly painted. The purpose of it remaining a secret to Kurt. The creativity to come up with various ideas about them was hiding behind more important needs, one of them was telling himself over and over again that he wasn´t hungry. He had eaten just yesterday at lunch. Compared to the meat and mashed potatoes, cooked as soon as electricity was switched on in the school kitchen, yesterday's soup sucked even more. It was like comparing a beautiful butterfly to a moth. Kurt´s stomach growled loudly as he caught the smell of dinner. You are not hungry! Hiding his face in his bend knees in frustration, he didn´t look up when he was spoken to. While all the other guys had chosen to eat in the cafeteria, with its comfortable chairs, the leader was the only one who didn´t bother for that. Blaine had simply sat down on his mattress and had chuckled when the first growl escaped Kurt´s body.

"Hey, are you that hungry? Maybe you could ask really nicely for it, and I let you have some."

Kurt kept his mouth shut and willed his ill mannered thoughts at bay. It would do him no good to further anger the man who planned to torture him.

"Assuming that you sell yourself for a living, one could assume you would be more entertaining."

Stifling the first cough after having inhaled the medicine, Kurt raised his head. Roughly 19 hours. His condition had worsened it seemed.
"One does as one can, while being handcuffed to a table. It would be easier to do my job, if I could use my hands." The leader smiled around the plastic cutlery between his lips.

"Believe me when I say that you have places much better than your hands if it comes to fulfilling my needs."

Disgusted by the implication, Kurt faced the window, instead of watching the skull paint on Blaine´s face move whenever he talked. The yellow light of the lamp in the auditorium made the white of the boney seem sick, only adding to the already gruesome appearance. If he intended to appear inhuman, he had got it right.

"Don´t pretend you are a virgin and what I say repels you. Because it´s either that you truly are a whore and get pair with food, or you have a food source someplace safe. Maybe at another tribe."

Kurt swallowed, coughed and swallowed on dry air again. The leader had hit the nail spot on and he could only try to appear impassive, while his mind tried to come up with something to say. Anything, really. His breath quickened when a tune filled the air, a soft whistle, short and melodic. One he had heard before. Shortly after that Nick burst into the room, followed by a dark-skinned boy that had the left side of his face painted in deep green scales and dangerous teeth around his lips. Jeff was the last one, walking in much slower and he was the only one that looked at him with pity.

"What is it now? I hope you called to torture him into telling us. Otherwise I have much more important things to deal with." Nick said.

If Blaine was annoyed at being talked to in that way, he didn´t show. His stance remained proud and dominant.

"I think we wasted enough time with talking. David, I want you to take him to the gym and explain our rules. I want him to be prepared to fight me in one hour sharp."

"No." Jeff breathed out.

"Indeed no. You give this creature the opportunity to win? Why not beat him up if he is cuffed? What difference does it make if all we want is information?"

"We may try to look like them, but we are not animals, nor will we ever be. He won´t be of any use to us dead, and he won´t talk even if we break his spine."

Nick huffed at that, swatting away Jeff´s hand when it rubbed his right arm in a comforting manner.

"How do you know that? We could try! You know we need that food. Just today it took us hours of scanning two cities to find this. Who can guarantee us that we are as lucky next week. Or the week after. Even he just hides fucking Twinkies, we need them!"

Blaine sighed.

"He is human too. We could rightfully earn this food if I win. You know that I´ll win."

"Coming from the man who called him bitch and slut? And then what? You think he will just tell us where he gets it?" Nick screamed.

"He won´t have another choice. Otherwise he will starve along with us."

While Nick still protested against whatever had been concluded, the crocodile guy crawled under the table to open the lock. Kurt felt him fumble with the keys, proding against the metal to find the lock. It opened soundlessly and Kurt got up and ran. Hands tried to grab him, but he could escape them, since they didn´t expect him to suddenly leap up. His body felt weak, when he made it through the hall. His heart beat quickly, as he instinctively chose to run to the right side, trying to get to the place he felt relatively safe at. The girls bathroom. Loud breaths surrounded him, and he tried to run faster, knowing they were right behind him. At the first curve, he stumbled, but caught himself before he could fall and then he could see his goal. It was only a few feet away from him. For a millisecond he saw it, before it blurred, as he was shoved against the next wall. Kurt´s head gave a dull sound as it collided with it and black dots littered his vision. The breath grew in their intensity and he only now realized it had been himself causing the noise.

"That was not the smartest thing to do in a school full of boys who are healthier and fitter than you are." Crocodile David said, while pinning down his arms against the wall.

Feeling the surge of power that had raced through him as he had made an attempt to escape, leave him, he gave in to the pressure to sit down, forcing the crocodile to do the same to maintain the grip on his wrists. Kurt wanted to fight, he really did, he was simply too exhausted to do so. Shortly after he was picked up by Crocodile David who transported him to the locker rooms. It didn´t resemble the gentle way in which the beast Nick had held Jeff. Kurt mostly was dragged over the floor, his jeans breaking on some patches. He was finally placed on a bench, uncuffed, but being no threat in his condition. Laying down, and looking up to the bubblegum that had been put on the ceiling, he tried to calm down enough to even out his breathing.

"Hey you. Whatever name you have, it is important that you listen now."

Kurt found himself shaking his head no. He would have done that at anything he was asked at this point.

Are you clever? Headshake. Do you miss your Dad? Headshake. Would you give anything to with places with him. Headshake. Is the leader in an annoying way sexy? Headshake.

"Yes you will. If you don´t and you end up losing because of it, Ace won´t hesitate anymore. He tries to be his old self, but being heartless comes easier to him. So you will fight, lose and be tortured every day. Or you can try to win back your freedom."

"What do you even care?" Kurt asked, his mind a fuzzy mix of pain and nonchalance.

"Despite of what you think, we are not soulless beasts who just beat up everyone we cross. It´s just that you were at the wrong place at the wrong time and we hope to be lucky and get your secrets out of you. You on the other hand, were just unlucky."

Unlucky indeed. And there was only one way to make it out of here safely. Win against a man with muscles, where in lack of food, bones should appear. His chances of winning, practically zero.

So there will be a fight next chapter.

1. Who do you think will win?

2. Do you like Nick?

2. Crocodile David is a great name haha, isnßt it?