Attempting to Discover Where to Begin
"What about Colorado?" Blaine asks, looking down at the map in his lap as they drive. They've been going for about an hour, taking back roads through less populated areas so as not to become overrun. Thankfully, the brothers only come across a few corpses here and there, and they just stumble helplessly along the side of the road as Cooper's car zooms by.
"What about Colorado?" Cooper returns, his jaw tight. He doesn't want to admit it, but he wants to go there too, even if searching for their parents is useless and dangerous. He can't let Blaine know that, though. He can't give him that hope only for it to be ripped away.
"Just hear me out," Blaine starts, "I know it's far away, but we can siphon gas-"
"You know how to siphon gas?" Cooper asks, turning to look at his brother. He's surprised at how normal their conversation is despite the overturned cars and chaos around them.
"That's beside the point," Blaine says, smiling slightly, "What I'm saying is, I know it's far, but it'll be safe. I'm sure we can find some guns or something and we can go to the mountains… There's animals we can hunt and-"
"And mom and dad are up there?" Cooper finishes, glancing at him again.
"I know it's a lost cause…" Blaine says, looking down, "But we don't have anyone else, Cooper. It's worth a shot."
It's quiet in the car as Cooper judges his next words carefully. Finally, he sighs and says, "We'll see where the road takes us."
About five or so hours into their drive, the boys reach a small town on the border of Indiana and Illinois and decide to find a place to stay instead of driving through the night – partially because Cooper is exhausted and Blaine is hungry, and partially because neither of them want to make the drive in the dark. The thought of breaking down on some unknown road where there could be zombies or anything else out there terrifies both boys. So instead, they find themselves in some small, seemingly deserted town in Indiana, sitting in the car on the side of the road and trying to plan their next move.
"Well we could just eat in the car…" Cooper starts, breaking the silence between the two as they stare off down the street into the upcoming town.
"But if it's deserted, we could always go in and find some food…" Blaine counters, looking down at the map again as if it's going to give him an answer.
"But what if it's not?" Cooper asks, and immediately regrets it. Blaine glances up at him at the question, a look of worry spread across his face and the older boy instantly starts backtracking, "I mean, I'm sure we're fine here, I just don't want to go parading down the street only to find…" He trails off so as not to worry Blaine even more.
Surprisingly, the younger boy seems un-phased, "How about we drive through… Just really fast before the sun starts going down, and if it seems safe, we'll find a house and see if they have any food…"
Cooper just stares at him blankly for a moment before shaking his head and muttering, "You watch too many zombie movies."
"It's paying off, isn't it?" Blaine retorts, his mouth twisting up into a grin, which makes Cooper smile as well. He smacks his little brother playfully before starting the car, glancing at him, and driving slowly forward.
The town is eerily quiet as they drive through it. Their power is obviously off as well – when they reach the one stoplight in town, it just sways slightly in the wind, lights off. The sight sends a thrill of terror through Cooper because it definitely looks like something he's seen in a horror movie.
All we're missing is a random horde of zombies to come out of one of these side streets.
He shakes the thought from his head as soon as it appears and continues slowly down the street. When they reach an intersection, Blaine points to the left at a large farmhouse, situated across the street from a little white church. "What about there?"
"I thought you wanted to check out the whole town first," Cooper replies carefully, glancing at him.
Blaine just shrugs, "We haven't seen anything yet. I say we just get in and get out."
Though he doesn't want to, Cooper sighs and agrees, taking a left down the small road, aptly named Church Street. They pull off to the side of the road and take in the large farmhouse as well as what looks like a guesthouse and a rundown barn. "You had to choose the creepiest looking house on this street, didn't you?" Cooper asks incredulously, turning to look at his little brother again.
Blaine smiles, "But it is the largest house on the street."
He doesn't smile, though, when Cooper reaches into the backseat and hands him the baseball bat. His eyes are wide as he looks down at it, and Cooper grabs the axe for himself before speaking up, "Just in case."
"Coop…" Blaine says carefully, tearing his gaze from the bat to look at him.
"Just… pretend they're those assholes that jumped you," Blaine flinches slightly when he mentions it, but he continues, "I know you've been working out, B. Put it to good use."
Blaine laughs nervously, gripping the bat tighter, "I'll try."
Together, the brother's get out of the car, locking the doors behind them, and make their way cautiously up to the house, constantly looking around them, making sure they haven't been followed. When they reach the driveway on the other side, they notice that it's vacant. No cars are parked in front of the house, and from what they can see, there's none in the back either. "They probably left," Blaine offers as they near the front door.
"Smart people," Cooper scoffs, looking up at the creepy old white farm house. Once they're on the porch, he turns to Blaine. "Ready?"
The younger brother nods, and Cooper reaches forward, trying the front door. When it's locked, he glances at Blaine again then knocks. "Hello? Anyone in there?" When there isn't a reply after a few seconds, Cooper shrugs, hands Blaine his axe, and grins slightly before mumbling, "I've always wanted to do this…" And without warning, he kicks the door hard, like he's seen in plenty of movies, and sure enough it gives out, swinging open and hitting the wall loudly.
Blaine just rolls his eyes at his brother and hands him his weapon before following him into the dimly lit house. The floorboards creak underneath them as they make their way through what must be the living room. Cooper finds his way to the big window in the room and pulls the curtains open, allowing some light in. From what it looks like, as they take in their surroundings, the family must have fled right when things started happening. Photos are clearly taken off of their hooks on the wall, as Cooper points out, and as they make their way through the kitchen, they notice that things like utensils and even pots and pans are missing. The family had definitely had enough time to be organized about leaving, that's for sure.
"Let's make sure this whole place is safe before we start looking for supplies, okay?" Cooper says quietly, turning to look at his little brother who nods in response.
After going through the remainder of the first floor, Cooper and Blaine head up the stairs slowly, each step creaking loudly as they go. They get to the top, where Cooper points Blaine off to the right and he goes off to the left, weapon raised just in case. All of the doors are open upstairs – a small closet and two bedrooms on Cooper's end – save for one, at the end of Blaine's hallway. He checks the first room, which happens to be a bathroom. It's mostly empty except for a small pink step stool with a Disney princess on it, something that a little girl would have used to brush her teeth. The sight tugs at Blaine's heart and he hopes that the little girl and her family made it out safely.
After the bathroom, Blaine heads for his closed door, his heart pounding. He's sure that it's nothing – they haven't heard any footsteps or groaning – and he takes a deep breath before he twists the doorknob. The first thing he notices is how bright the room is. The curtains are open, allowing light to flood into the bright pink room, and he smiles to himself at how cute it is for a moment. That is, until he sees her.
Standing off to the side near the shadow of the closet is a small girl with long, dark hair. She can't be more than four or five, and Blaine almost calls out to her until he loses his voice becauseher neck. There's a massive bite mark in the crook of her neck and the dried blood from the wound makes the lacy white shirt that she's wearing cling to her pale skin. Blaine lets himself wonder how a human could do that with their teeth, before he's brought quickly out of his thoughts because the girl is shuffling slowly out of the shadows and toward him.
He knows what he should do. He should raise the bat that his brother gave him for protection and hit her, because she's not a harmless little girl anymore, but he can't. Blaine is frozen on the spot, watching as the girl lets out an animalistic snarl, hobbling forward.
"C-Cooper?" He calls, regaining his voice and backing slowly out of the room.
"What?" His brother calls back from one of the rooms, busy digging around through someone's belongings.
"Cooper!" Blaine repeats, his voice more frantic, and that seems to get his attention. Suddenly, he can hear Cooper's footfalls, fast and heavy down the hallway, and if he looked, he'd see his brother nearing him, axe raised, but he can't take his eyes off of the little girl inching toward him.
It happens all at once – Cooper is suddenly in front of him, studying the small child for a split second before bringing the weapon down into the side of her head. And then the girl is dropping to the floor with a thunk. Blaine's hands shakily drop the bat at he stares at the corpse – the blood oozing out of the wound on her head. Cooper leans down to retrieve his axe, steadying the girl's head with his foot before pulling it out with an obscene sucking noise, and then he turns to his little brother.
And then Cooper drops his weapon as well when he sees Blaine. His eyes are wide, threatening to spill over with tears, and his hands are shaking, covering his mouth. "I-" he tries, before he can't contain it and the tears run freely down his cheeks
Cooper is there in an instant, just like he had been the other day, arms wrapping protectively around Blaine as he comforts him. "Shhh," His voice is soft against Blaine hair, "It's okay. You're okay…"
"I couldn't even-" Blaine starts, voice catching, "She was just a little girl…"
"I know…" Cooper soothes, "Her parents must have left her here…"
"I couldn't even do it," Blaine finally manages out.
"It's okay," Cooper repeats again, stroking Blaine's back, "I've got you. Don't worry, okay?"
In return, Blaine wraps his arms around Cooper's middle, pulling him tight against him. The actions pull at Cooper's heart and he strokes Blaine's hair soothingly, trying to calm him. It's a few minutes before Blaine's body stops shaking and his tears stop falling. When the younger boy does pull away slightly, arms still on Cooper's waist, he tilts his head up to look at him, eyes flicking down to his lips then back up and if Cooper didn't know any better-
Oh my god, are we going to kiss?
The sound of a car door slamming outside the house makes Blaine jump though and, sadly, pulls Cooper out of his thoughts. Without speaking, the two boys practically run to one of the bedrooms that had been on Cooper's end of the hall and make their way to the window. Outside, a red truck is pulled up behind Cooper's car and a girl is looking cautiously around the front yard.
"I know that car," Cooper breaths, squinting his eyes as he looks out the window.
"Coop, I hate to burst your bubble, but we're in Indiana. Unless you have friends from here, I doubt you know that car…" Blaine counters, but Cooper's mind is already running wild because he does have friends from Indiana. A girl and her boyfriend he had met in one of his English classes last semester, to be exact. He remembers them telling him that they were from Indianapolis, but there's no way that they could have gotten out of the city, let alone find him, right?
"Hello?" The girl with the short blonde hair calls, hands on her hips, "Hello? Is anyone here?"
And that does it for Cooper. Without a word, he's running away from the window and down the stairs, Blaine trailing behind him, quietly calling, "Wait – Cooper, what are you doing?"
"Emily!" Cooper yells, emerging from the front door. He can't see her from around the corner of the house yet, but he knows it's her. It has to be. When he rounds the corner, he's surprised to see his friend from English class, Emily, staring at him with dark eyes. And her gun is pointed right at him. He immediately raises his hands, "Emily, remember me? It's-"
"Cooper?" A boy's voice sounds from the truck, and he can see Emily's boyfriend, Derek getting out of the driver's seat, "Cooper Anderson?"
At that, the girl lowers her weapon, staring over his shoulder, where Cooper is sure Blaine is, before smiling, "Jesus Christ, I was about to shoot you."
"I'm glad you didn't," Cooper replies, smiling and stepping forward. As he does, though, she raises her gun again, using it to point at the blood splattered on Cooper's shirt and jeans.
"You bit?"
Cooper shakes his head. "No, there was this girl up there, my brother-" He turns to motion for Blaine, "Blaine found her. We uh… we had to take care of her…"
She nods understandingly, "Where are your weapons?"
"Upstairs," Cooper explains, "We were just searching the house."
"That's what we came here to do," She smiles, "Then we saw the car and couldn't believe that someone could actually be alive out here."
"Well, we are," Cooper offers, smiling and shrugging.
At that point, the other people in the truck decide it's safe to come out. Emily introduces her fifteen year old sister, Ivory, then Derek's eighteen year old brother, Shane, and their friend Cody. As they all get acquainted, Derek pulls Cooper off to the side.
"Where are you guys heading?" He asks hushed, and turns to look as Blaine immediately hits it off with Emily's sister.
"Colorado, I think," Cooper replies, watching Blaine, "Our uh… our parents were out there when everything happened."
The look in Derek's eyes tells Cooper what he already knows – that there's probably no use in looking for their parents – but he nods knowingly. "Emily has family in Kansas, so we're thinking about heading out there…"
Cooper nods, "How was the city?"
Derek's eyes widen, as if that didn't tell Cooper enough, then he leans in, "I don't know how Emily's sister made it though that. People were – it was bad. Really bad… She's a tough kid."
"I'm just glad you made it out of there," Cooper says softly, still watching his own brother, "What about your parents?"
Derek just shakes his head, "They didn't make it."
"I'm sorry," Cooper offers, though he knows it's not much.
"It's alright," His friend replies, turning to look at him, "Look, if you guys want to team up… I mean, at least until we get to Kansas… I'm sure it could help all of us to have a few more bodies."
Cooper nods in agreement, "I'll talk to Blaine about it, but I think that would be for the best."
The seven of them stay in the house that night, after securing all of the doors and windows, and pushing a table up against the front door that Cooper had kicked in. They take the body of the girl outside and dig a shallow grave with the shovel Cooper brought just as the sun sets, then set up sleeping arrangements. Thankfully, Emily and Ivory offer to sleep in the girl's room, leaving Cooper and Blaine one of the other bedrooms upstairs. Derek and Shane take the other, and Cody, weary about sleeping downstairs, drags the couch up the stairs with the help of Derek to join them.
Just as they're getting ready for bed, there's a soft knock on the doorframe, and Cooper looks up to see Emily smiling back at him, holding out the gun that she had been wielding earlier. "We figured you two could use something better than a baseball bat and an axe," She offers as Cooper takes it. "We stopped by a police station on our way out here," She explains, smiling a little as she does so.
"Good idea," Cooper compliments, "Thank you Emily." And at that, she says goodnight, leaving the brothers alone in the room.
They're laying side by side in the bed not long after, staring up at the dark ceiling. "Coop?" Blaine's voice breaks the silence.
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry… About earlier…"
"What do you mean?" Cooper asks, turning to look at him though it's too dark to see.
"I didn't… I didn't mean to freeze like that…" He draws a deep breath, "I just didn't know what to do."
"It's okay," Cooper says lightly. He wants to reach down and grab Blaine's hand. He wants to, but he doesn't. His thoughts suddenly drift to how he had been feeling before everything had happened – how his biggest worry at the time was that he was in love with his little brother, and what he was going to do about it. Now, his only worry is keeping Blaine alive. "You've got me," He continues reassuringly, "I'll keep you safe."
Without warning, Blaine turns and scoots closer so their bodies are pressing together, "Thank you Cooper. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Cooper's heart pounds as he ruffles Blaine's hair-
Instead of kissing him like he wants to
-And he smiles into the darkness.
This Chapter's title is from the song "Waiting..." by City and Colour.