Hello once again, ladies and gents. This is the best streak I've had of updating my stories in years! It's amazing, ain't it? Anyways, not sure how good this one is, but I hope you enjoy anyways.

A Method To Madness

Skeletons On The Stairs

"So, after the near complete failure of the last scavenging mission, I think it's time we sent someone out again, and since we're all here..." Lukas said, "I think me, Jerry and Jake will go out."

Jerry smiled. "Yay! I get to go out!"

Jake patted him on the back. "Yeah! It'll be fun."

"We'll actually be searching the last house in this neighborhood that we haven't searched yet." Lukas explained. "So we'll have to be extra careful."

"Your just as crazy as Jerry!" James said. "He's probably just gonna stand there and do nothing. That's what happened when I was searching in that house you found me and him in."

"He can be lookout, then." Lukas said. "Simple, isn't it?"

"Alright, I got nothing for that one." James said. "But your still crazy."

Jerry put a hand on James' shoulder. "Don't worry, Adam! I'll be fine. I know your worried about me."

"Worried? Yeah, right, Jerry." James said. "Why would I be worried about you?"

"Because we're brothers, Adam! Why else?" Jerry laughed. "Your funny, Adam."

They all stared at Jerry. "Brothers? Jerry, I met you a month or so ago. How am I your brother?"

Jerry simply laughed, his smile never faltering. "Stop it. Your being too funny."

"But-"

"James." Lukas said. "This is exactly why I wanted Jerry to come. I need to figure… That, out."

"Figure what out, Lukas?" Jerry asked. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"Uh… Well..." Lukas laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "No, no! I just, um, wanted to make sure you were alright to go out, that's all!"

Jerry gave a concerned look, but smiled. "Oh… Okay."

"James, can I talk to you in private?" Lukas asked.

"Oh, uh, sure..." James replied.

"Follow me." Lukas led them to his room, and he shut and locked the door behind them. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Jerry."

"Well..." James shrugged. "All I know about him, personally, is that he calls me Adam instead of James, always laughs and says 'Your funny, Adam' when I say my name is James, and wears that mask of his almost constantly."

"Anything else? At all?"

"Well… He acts… Almost like a kid, at times. I mean, he tried climbing into the couch with me the day you found me and shrugged it off! Then he puts that stupid mask on my face..."

"I see..." Lukas sighed. "I can't really make anything out of that. I would need to have an actual session with him… But I don't think he'd want to."

"Why? He loves talking. And talking. And fucking talking."

Lukas shrugged. "For some reason, people don't like talking about their mental problems. And if I tried to convince him your not this Adam person, who's to say he won't get violent?"

James nodded. "True, true."

Lukas unlocked the door. "Well… That was all. I'll see you when we get back, I suppose."

James nodded. "Yeah. See you then."

"Are we there yet?"

"Nope."

"Are we there yet?"

"Nope."

"Are we there yet?"

"Yep."

Lukas stared blankly at Jake. "You possess inhuman amounts of patience. You would have been a good father."

"Thanks, Lukas!" Jake said, smiling as he looked at the door of the house they were about to go into. It was torn down. "Jeez! What happened here?"

Jerry slowly walked into the building, leaving his companions behind. He looked to his left, seeing a staircase with a skeleton on it. He walked over, seeing a large pool of blood under it along with a bullet through the skull, and a bullet through one of the shoulder bones.

Jerry sat down on the steps, caressing the area where the bullet entered the skull.

Jake walked in, and instantly went wide eyed upon seeing Jerry. "Uh, Doc, what the fuck do you make outta that?"

Lukas walked in, jaw dropping. "Um, Jerry?"

Jerry looked up, and shook his head. "Uh, yeah, yeah, hey!" An uneasy smile found its way to his face. "So… Found a skeleton."

Jake nodded. "Yeah… And… Were you, uh, touching it, a second ago?"

"No." Jerry looked down at it. "At least, I don't remember touching it."

Lukas slowly nodded. "Y-yes. Well, I think we may… Um, want to continue, with the search, then?"

Jerry nodded. "Yeah! Sounds good Lukas!"

Standing up, he started to follow his companions again, but his eyes lingered on the skeleton.

"Jerry, you have to leave me!"

"No! I will not!"

"Jerry, I've been shot! They'll kill you!"

"I don't fucking care, I am not leaving you to die!"

"You have to, Jerry, please!"

"Jerry, are you going to come?" Jake asked.

"Oh, um..." Jerry mumbled. "Y-yeah..."

"You… Okay there, Jerry?" Lukas asked, opening a cabinet and looking in. "You look like a ghost."

Jerry nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Jerry?" Lukas asked. "Because if you aren't, we can go back-"

"I'm fine, Lukas!" his smile returned. "Perfectly… Fine!"

Lukas simply nodded uneasily, going back to his search. "Jerry, could you search upstairs, maybe?"

Jerry nodded. "Yeah, why not? I'm up for anything!"

"I'll come with you." Lukas said. "There could be anything up there."

Jerry nodded, walking back to the staircase, eyes lingering on the skeleton as he walked up with Lukas. There was a door to his left, and he opened it, quietly walking in with Lukas. There was a bed in the middle, a closet to the left, and a dresser in the corner.

"I think it's safe." Lukas said, looking around the room quickly. "So, Jerry. Where did you get that mask from? And why wear it?"

Jerry stood in the middle of a toy shop, a teenage boy looking almost like James with him. "Hey, Jerry! Look at this."

Looking over at the teen, Jerry smiled. "Yeah?"

The teen held up a string mask with an alligator on it. He put it on. "How do I look? I always liked alligators."

"Not gonna lie, it looks pretty bad." Upon seeing the boy frown, Jerry corrected himself. "The mask, I mean. If it wasn't so cartoony you'd look pretty cool!"

The teen shook his head. "Wanna try it on?"

Jerry shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Found it."

Lukas nodded. "Well, of course. But why wear it?"

"...I like alligators."

"I… See." Lukas said, looking through a drawer on the dresser. "What was happening before you met us and James?"

Gunfire. Ears ringing. Blood. So much blood.

"Oh, God, Jerry, it hurts! Jerry!"

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."

He was carrying him now. There were still bullets coming. Now the undead were becoming involved as well.

"Jerry, am I going to die? Am I gonna die?!"

"Shut up! Your fine! Your fine!"

"Jerry, I'm scared!"

"Stop it, stop it, you'll be fine!"

"Jerry, no I won't! I'm gonna die!"

"Adam, stop!"

"Lukas, why are you asking me this stuff?" Jerry asked.

"I'm just curious, Jerry." Lukas smiled. "Come on, you can trust me. Tell me."

Jerry shook his head. "No… No. I'd rather not."

"Maybe… sit down? Just relax, and talk."

Jerry's eyes widened. "Oh, I see now. Your trying to evaluate my sanity because you think I'm crazy!"

"What? Jerry, no, I don't think your-"

"Yeah, right!" Jerry said. "What, was it the mask? Was it the skeleton? What, what was it?"

"Well..." Lukas sighed. "No point in lying. Yes, I was trying to evaluate you. You seem… Troubled. Crazy? I don't think so, no."

"But why? I'm acting perfectly sane right now! Right, right?!" Jerry asked. "Because I am sane! I am!"

"Why… Do you sound like your trying to convince yourself?" Lukas asked. "Just… Calm down a little, Jerry. Please?"

Jerry laughed. "Haha, yeah… Yeah..." He let out a deep breath. "Yeah! Calm. Nice. Mmm."

Lukas nodded. "Er, let's go check on Jake, shall we? This was the only room up here anyways, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." Jerry said. "Strange there was no bathroom."

As they walked down the steps, Jerry purposely avoided looking at the skeleton. "Jake! We're back down!"

Jake walked back, smiling. "Hey! How did it go? I didn't really find anything."

Lukas shook his head. "Nothing at all of use, unless you want some panties."

"Ooh, may I?" Jake asked. "No really, can I? I haven't been panty raiding in years, dude."

"You... You actually did that?" Lukas asked. "Actually, truly stole woman's panties?!"

"It was the only action I was ever gonna get, dude." Jake said. "I mean, look at me! I'm a mess before the Apocalypse and during it, too!"

Lukas shook his head. "Pervert."

"Hey, you'd do it too if you knew you were doomed to bein' by yourself in bed." Jake said. "I am a desperate man and I do not deny that fact."

Jerry laughed. "You guys are silly."

Lukas shook his head. "Let's just head home already. We didn't find anything."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

As they walked back, Lukas and Jake walked just out of earshot of Jerry. "Lukas, did you find anything out about him?"

"Well… Admittedly, no." Lukas said. "But I can tell he is very troubled. I think it has something to do with that skeleton. Maybe it triggered something from his past? A memory?"

Jake shrugged. "I don't know anything about psychology, Doc. Only thing I know about it is if you go through too much bullshit you end up going insane."

"Jake, that is the smartest thing I have ever heard you say, and it itself was bullshit."

"Thanks, Doc!" Jake stopped walking. "Wait..."

"Just come on, we're nearly there. Just a single block left." Lukas said. "Jerry! When we get back, could you go check the water filter? For some reason, it hasn't been working properly today."

"Sure, Lukas." Jerry said. "It's on the roof of the building next to the bunker, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Jake said. "Just go up the stairs and you should get up."

"'Kay." Jerry said, as they approached the building. Walking inside, he saw the front desk had a bell on it. Smirking, he walked over and dinged it. "Ah, yes, how may I help you, sir?"

Shaking his head with a smile, he walked upstairs and went to the roof. Seeing a contraption in the middle of the roof with a pipe leading down the side of the building, he walked over, eyebrow raised. "What the heck? I just realized I didn't know how this thing works!"

"Uhh..." Shrugging, he opened a panel, and pulled a filter out. It was covered with a strange brown liquid. "Ugh, that's gross."

Walking over to the edge of the roof, he wiped it off with his hand onto the ground below. Turning around, he saw a person. Before he even realized who it was, he drew his gun and aimed it at them.

Then he paid attention to who it was.

A boy, in his late teens, with glasses and light brown hair, stood next to the water collector, a smile on his face. Blinking, the boys shoulder was covered in blood and a bloody hole in his forehead was present. Recoiling and nearly falling off the edge of the building, Jerry blinked once again. The boy was gone.

"That… That..."

"Jerry, I saw someone."

"What? You saw someone?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, yes. I saw a man! He had a gun, and there were two others."

"Adam, where are they?"

A gun went off, and the wall beside Jerry now had a bullet hole in it. "Nevermind." Quickly taking his gun out, he ran, grabbing Adam by the arm and shooting behind him as he ran.

"Jerry! Where are we going?!"

"Don't know, don't care!" bullets whizzed by, along with yelling behind them. "Just run!"

He heard a scream, but not one of the people behind him. Turning around, he saw Adam on the ground, holding his shoulder in pain. "Oh God! Oh God, it hurts!"

"Adam!"

Gunfire. Ears ringing. Blood. So much blood.

"Oh, God, Jerry, it hurts! Jerry!"

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."

He was carrying him now. There were still bullets coming. Now the undead were becoming involved as well.

"Jerry, am I going to die? Am I gonna die?!"

"Shut up! Your fine! Your fine!"

"Jerry, I'm scared!"

"Stop it, stop it, you'll be fine!"

"Jerry, no I won't! I'm gonna die!"

"Adam, stop!"

He saw a building in the distance. He ran to it, laying Adam on the ground as he attempted to open the door. "Damn! It's locked!"

Walkers were coming from behind them now. If they didn't get in, they would both be dead. There was a window on the door. Pulling his pistol out, he shot the glass out and reached in, unlocking the door. Shooting a walker that was about to attack Adam, he picked him back up and went inside. Seeing a staircase, he laid Adam down on it. He shut the door.

"Your okay now, Adam. We'll be okay now." Jerry said, stroking the hair out of the boys face. "You'll be fine."

Adam shook his head. "No, no. I've lost too much blood, Jerry..."

"I said your fine and that's final!" Jerry said, glancing at the door. It was creaking as walkers pounded against it. He heard a window break. "We're okay, Adam!"

"Stop lying!" Adam said. "I'm a 16 year old! I can understand that I'm going to die, Jerry, and that you will too if you stay here!"

"Shut up already!" Drawing his pistol, Jerry turned to the door. "They'll be handled quickly."

Shooting down the walkers, Jerry failed to notice the one creeping up behind him. As it sunk its teeth into him, he realized it was Adam, now turned.

Jerry shuddered. A hallucination. That was all that was. The boy in front of the rain collector, getting bitten by Adam, all of it. It wasn't real. But he couldn't help but touch where he had been bitten.

A warm, sticky, red liquid was on his hand after removing it. Recoiling back, and now feeling an intense pain in his neck, he felt again and there was nothing, and the pain vanished. "What's going on?! What heck was that?!"

No, no. I've lost too much blood, Jerry…

I'm a 16 year old! I can understand that I'm going to die, Jerry, and that you will too if you stay here!

Jerry, am I going to die? Jerry, am I gonna die?!

Jerry, I'm scared!

"Shut the fuck up already!" Jerry yelled, on his hands and knees. "Please, for God's sake, shut up!"

He felt something slide down his face. A clear liquid, salty to the taste, and he realized suddenly what it was. "Am… Am I crying?"

He laughed. "Why would I be crying? Adam is fine! He's in the bunker! Haha! Yeah. He's fine!"

Footsteps. Snapping his head in the directing of them, he saw James standing there, a curious look on his face. "And why, may I ask, are you on your hands and knees crying? What, trying to live out some fantasy?"

"Your funny, Adam." Jerry said, standing up. "No, I was thinking about that day."

"What day?" James asked. "You have to be a bit more specific."

"You know!" Jerry said. "The day you were shot."

"...What?"

"Remember, Adam? A long time ago, a few months after this all started, you said you saw people. And a few seconds later, we were being shot at and chased. Then, at one point, you were shot." Jerry laughed. "Your really heavy for your size."

"Uh, no, I don't remember that." James said. "Um… Mind refreshing my memory?" Maybe, just maybe, if he agreed to tell him, he'd finally get to the bottom of what was wrong with Jerry. "Y'know, it'd be kind of important to remember getting shot."

Jerry nodded. "Sure! It all started when you saw a toy store and thought it'd be funny to look around in it."

Two people, a man with a wide, warm smile and a young teenager, both walked down a seemingly abandoned street, the man having a gun in his pocket. "Hey, Jerry, there's a toy store over there! I wonder if they have anything good?"

"Adam, your 16, living in the Apocalypse, and are now wondering if a toy store has good toys?" Jerry laughed. "Your funny, Adam."

Adam shook his head. "Nah, you don't get it. I like to collect rare stuff, and sometimes, I look for rare toys too." Adam smirked. "And what if we find a young kid? Wouldn't they like them?"

Jerry rolled his eyes. "You plan for the weirdest crap, Adam."

Adam nodded. "I know I am."

Walking into the abandoned store, Jerry looked around cautiously. "Just because it's a kids store doesn't mean it's safe, Adam. Remember that."

Adam nodded. "Of course. I remember what world we live in, you know."

Jerry shrugged. "Just making sure."

Walking around, Adam sighed. "Well, I don't see much. The only stuff I've found that's even remotely rare is a ballerina toy, and I hate ballerina toys."

"Why?" Jerry asked. "What, afraid of me being weirded out by what your into?"

"What? No." Adam said. "I just don't like them. Too… I don't know, it's just something about them."

Jerry shrugged. "Meh, alright."

Jerry stood in the middle of the toy shop, Adam now walking over to him, holding something in his hands. "Hey, Jerry! Look at this."

Looking over at the teen, Jerry smiled. "Yeah?"

Adam held up a string mask with an alligator on it. He put it on. "How do I look? I always liked alligators."

"Not gonna lie, it looks pretty bad." Upon seeing the boy frown, Jerry corrected himself. "The mask, I mean. If it wasn't so cartoony you'd look pretty cool!"

Adam shook his head. "Wanna try it on?"

Jerry shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Putting it on, Jerry couldn't help but laugh. "This feels so weird. I like it."

Adam looked him over, smirking. "Mm, yes, it does look rather nice on you, Mr. Jerry."

Jerry laughed, patting him on the head. "Your funny, Adam."

"Well..." Adam looked around. "It was fun, but I doubt there's really anything interesting in here."

Jerry nodded. "Yeah..." Taking the mask off, he smiled. "I think I'll keep this one. Heard it's super rare, you know?"

"Totally." Adam said.

Walking out of the store, the kept walking for quite a while. "We should really find a place to stay at, Jerry." Adam said. "I'm tired of walking all day."

Jerry nodded. "It does get tiring. But hey, good exercise, right?"

Adam nodded. "I guess..." As they kept walking, Adam suddenly stopped. "Jerry, I saw someone."

"Then, someone shot at us, and at one point you were shot. I had to carry you to a building, the one we searched today, in fact! And I broke in and put you on the steps. There were walkers banging on the door, the windows were being broken… All sorts of crazy stuff. Sort of a blur now though… Don't remember many details afterward."

James nodded. "I… See. Your sure you don't remember anymore?"

"Well… A little. Maybe if I start talking I'll remember." Jerry started thinking. "Okay, so you were on the staircase, talking about how you were going to die, I was telling you it was going to be alright… Hm..."

"Jerry, please, please, please go! Now! I don't want you to die because you thought I was somehow going to survive this!"

Jerry shook his head. "Adam, I can't, I can't leave you like this! I can't leave you to die! I can carry you! I can, I swear!"

Adam shook his head. "Do you see all of this blood, Jerry? I'm bleeding to death, and those walkers will knock the door down in a few minutes… I'm done, Jerry."

Tears streamed down his face. "No… no! I won't let you die! Please, don't die!"

"Everybody dies, Jerry. It's just my turn." Adam put on a weak smile. "Don't worry. Go."

"I can't leave you to die! You'll be eaten alive, you'll turn, and I won't let you turn!"

"Then shoot me."

"...What?"

"Shoot me, Jerry. That's the only way, if your being honest." Adam closed his eyes. "It's okay either way. Leave me, shoot me, it's okay. I won't judge you. After all, you wouldn't if you knew about the weird stuff I was into, right?" He let out a weak laugh at his own joke.

There was no noise now. Jerry heard nothing. He looked at the gun in his hand, making sure it was loaded. "I..." He aimed the gun at Adam's head. "I… I... I love you, Adam."

"I love you too, Jerry."

He pulled the trigger.

He stared in shock and horror at James. "Oh… Oh, God..."

"What? What? You never finished, you just spaced out after telling me about you saying it was alright or some shit!"

Jerry fell, onto his side, shaking tremendously and his breaths became quick, short and rasping. James crouched down next to him, only to be pushed away. "What the fuck is going on?!"

James looked from Jerry to the staircase. "Ah, shit. I have to get Lukas or something, and quick!"

A few minutes later, Lukas and James burst through the door to the roof, finding Jerry still on the ground, shaking badly.

"Oh, dear Lord! I think he's having a panic attack!" Lukas said, running over to Jerry's side. "Jerry! Jerry, please, it's okay! It's alright!"

"He's dead… He's dead… He's dead..." Jerry whispered.

"What the hell happened?!" Lukas asked. "Did something happen?!"

"I don't fucking know! He mentioned something about me getting shot once, but I hadn't, so I had him tell me about it, and suddenly when I ask him to tell me about what happened in the end he went nuts!"

"...What?!"

"You have to be there to understand!"

Lukas felt Jerry's forehead, shaking his head. "Damn! He's on fire, and he's sweating everywhere!"

"Is he okay?!" James asked.

"He'll be okay… But..." He shook his head. "When he calms down, just help me get him to his room. He'll probably be tired, or even passed out by then."

"What the fuck did I do? Did I do anything?" James asked himself. After a few minutes, Jerry seemed to calm down a little.

Jerry glanced at them both, shaking his head. "No no no no no no…."

"What, Jerry, what?" Lukas asked. "It's okay. We're both here."

Pulling himself into a fetal position, he rocked on the ground, back and forth for a few seconds, before passing out.

"...What the hell was that?"

"Like I said… I think he had a panic attack. And when we go in, I need you to tell me everything about what you two were doing up here." Lukas said. "Okay?"

James nodded. "Yeah… Yeah." He looked down at Jerry. At some point his mask had fallen off. Picking it up, he sighed. "What the hell did I do to you, Jerry?"

That revealed quite a bit, huh? Anyways, read and review. Please?