A/N: Hey guys! I know this teeny little chapter probably isn't worth the three-week wait for it, so I apologize in advance. I've been plagued with a bit of writer's block but, more than that, a ton of school stuff. My finals are next week, so I've been super busy. Anyway, I got this chapter together for you and I hope you like it! Thanks for continuing to follow/favorite my stuff even though I haven't been active on here lately! Hopefully I'll be able to update more often once school slows down.
The apocalypse had hit David Moss hard, right where it hurt the most. Then it rubbed salt in his wounds and laughed in his face as he rolled on the ground, trying to deal with the pain of his loss. That pain never went away no matter how long he toughed it out, so eventually David warped under it. He hadn't broken—his desire to live was still intact—but there was no doubt that the person he'd been Before was all but gone. The pain and hatred and sorrow that had been bottled in his gut for the last four months corroded him until he was almost unrecognizable. The days of running a gaming channel on YouTube under a ridiculous nickname with seven of his friends were long gone and the only bit of 'Lasercorn' still left in David was etched permanently in ink on his back.
"Sohinki, why don't you just forget about trying to find Anthony?" David asked bluntly as they wove their way through the darkened streets.
Unsurprisingly, Sohinki ignored him. David had asked that question or some variation of it a dozen times during the past six days and he'd tried almost everything he could think of to dissuade his stubborn companion from trying to seek out a man whom David still regarded as a traitor. But thus far he'd failed miserably; Sohinki was so determined to find Anthony that he'd ignored David's warnings and moved their searching to after-dark hours, claiming that Anthony might still be on a nocturnal schedule if he was trying to coexist with a vampire.
David decided to try a new, harsher approach to convincing Sohinki. "You realize that your stupid obsession with finding Anthony might cost Mari's life, right? The more time we waste, the more likely it is that she's gotten killed."
A slight weight settled on Matt's brows but he didn't look nearly as bothered as David had been hoping. "I know that," he said impatiently, "but we also can't help her if we never fucking get to San Francisco."
David scoffed and rolled his eyes. To his immense frustration, there was no reasoning with Sohinki at this point—his mind was too set on his goal. David was about to put voice to his anger when Sohinki interrupted him.
"Isn't that building over there where Anthony's old apartment was?"
David frowned toward the building Sohinki was pointing out, which was silhouetted against the moonlit sky.
"How the fuck should I know?" he said blandly.
"I remember seeing it once before after we all got drunk at a party and Joshua had to drive us home," Sohinki muttered.
David frowned. He had no recollection of such a night, not even among the countless pre-apocalypse memories he'd done his best to repress. But then again, if Sohinki was right, David might've been too wasted to remember the event anyway.
"I think we should head over there and check it out," Sohinki said.
"A building like that is probably full of rabids," David argued.
"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe that's where Anthony found Kalel. It's worth a shot to check it out."
David sighed. Half of him wanted to continue arguing with Sohinki—which had been such a common occurrence during the last two months that David did it almost by instinct now—but the other half wasn't opposed to the idea of trying to infiltrate a building full of rabids. He'd enjoy the opportunity to blow a few dozen rabids' rotted brains out with his pistol.
In the end, he decided not to protest and followed the other man down the dark streets. They'd only been walking for a minute before Sohinki suddenly stopped, looking at a large shape lying at his feet. David stepped up to join him and looked down at what he could now see was a decapitated rabid corpse. The head lay face down a few inches from the rest of it, surrounded in almost-black blood.
David crouched down and dipped a finger into the blood, finding only a thin congealed layer on the surface. "Fresh," he told Sohinki as he stood and wiped his finger on his pants.
"It looks like a vampire's kill. A human couldn't kill a rabid like that—they'd have to be at range or they'd risk getting bitten."
"I know," David said shortly. "And that means the bloodsucker could still be nearby, which means we should get the fuck out of here. Unless you want to end the night with holes in your neck?"
Matt threw him an irritated glance. "No. We're going to check out that apartment complex. The vampire has probably moved on by now anyway."
This time, David couldn't stop himself from rounding on the younger man and unleashing his anger. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sohinki? Are you even listening to yourself and how goddamn stupid you're being? You can't seriously think checking a building that's probably fucking empty is worth risking getting bitten by a vampire. You've never been this stupid and reckless before, so what gives? Is it all just because you want to get in Mari's pants?"
David saw a flash of white-hot sparks in Matt's brown eyes and he felt a surge of triumph at having finally provoked the other man's anger. Matt stared at David with an ugly look on his face for a long moment before he exhaled loudly and turned away. "I don't have time for your shit right now, David," he spat. "I'm going to search that building. If you're scared of vampires, then by all means go find a hole to hide in till morning."
David glowered and cussed colorfully as he followed Sohinki down the street. He kept his pistol clutched tightly in his hand, fully loaded and ready to fire at a moment's notice. It wouldn't do much good against a hungry vampire, of course, but it was the only weapon David had.
They passed a second rabid corpse—also cleanly decapitated—on the sidewalk half a block from the apartment building.
"Sohinki…," David growled warningly, stopping by the corpse.
"If Anthony really is around here, all these corpses might just be from Ian," Sohinki told him without turning back or pausing, but even he didn't sound very convinced by the suggestion.
"Is that supposed to comfort me?" David snapped. "A bloodsucker's a bloodsucker."
Sohinki stopped walking and rounded on David with an expression of disgust. "Will you just shut the fuck up already, Moss?"
David scowled but didn't continue to press the issue. He'd fought with Sohinki often enough to be able to sense that the younger man's temper was worn down to a thread: if David pushed much harder, Sohinki would snap and the furious screaming that would follow would undoubtedly alert any nearby rabids and vampires to the men's presence.
Sohinki and David were still locked in angry eye contact when David saw a flash of shadowy movement on the street behind Matt. He immediately lifted his pistol into firing position at arm's length, training its barrel toward the figure. Out of the corner of his eye, David saw Sohinki's eyes widen and his hands go for his rifle as he realized that David must have seen something. Sohinki whirled around but only a second later David saw all the tension leave his shoulders as he dropped his rifle again.
"Anthony!" Matt called in a voice loud enough to make David flinch.
The figure froze and turned toward them. Even in the darkness, David recognized the tall, lanky, dark-haired figure of their former friend.
"Anthony, we need to talk to you," Sohinki said as he took several steps closer to the other man.
David hesitantly lowered his pistol back to his side—without clicking the safety back on—and followed Sohinki down the street.
Anthony took a few steps forward to close the distance between them, stopping in a patch of shadows that partially obscured his face. "Is it urgent?" he asked. "Because I kind of need to be somewhere…." There was a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Yeah, it's urgent," Matt said. "We need your help. Remember how I told you that Mari left to go to San Francisco? Well, David and I have decided to try to track her down, but we'll need your help to get there."
"What do you mean, 'help to get there?'" Though the shadows cloaked Anthony's face, his voice gave away his uncertain frown.
"I want you and Ian to help us look for Mari," Sohinki said.
"The fuck?" David exclaimed, rounding on his companion. "That wasn't—"
"I know, David," Sohinki said without looking at him. "We can talk about this later."
David growled but forced himself to turn away and store his anger for later. At this rate it seemed like David would have to hold himself back from strangling his companion when he finally got the chance to talk to him alone.
Sohinki kept talking, seemingly oblivious—or at least indifferent—to David's fury. "Anthony, what do you say? We'll never make it to San Francisco if we don't have help from you."
Anthony was quiet for a long moment and David saw his hand reach up to stab through his hair. "I don't know…. I mean, I'd like to help you guys, but I'm not sure it's really possible and I'm not sure I could get Ian to agree."
"Not even for Mari?" Matt tried.
Anthony exhaled shortly. "I don't know…. look, Sohinki, can I have a minute to talk to you alone?"
Sohinki glanced over at David, who stiffly nodded. He knew Anthony probably wanted to talk to Sohinki about David, which wasn't surprising in the least. After all, the last time Anthony had seen David, the latter had just stabbed Anthony's best friend in the back.
"Keep it quick," was David's only comment. "I don't want to get eaten by rabids while you two are chatting."