Antonio whimpered, his fingertips digging into the creases in the wall behind him. He didn't want to watch the clicker sink its teeth into his throat, so he shut his eyes tightly. The awful hissing was getting louder with every panicked heartbeat echoing in the young man's ears, and he could feel his esophagus closing up painfully, restricting him from breathing regularly. Not that he was in the first place.
His chest moved up and down with every gasp of air he could manage, and he felt so helpless and defeated and everything that he wished the clicker would hurry up and find him so his misery would end.
The clicker made another one of those disgusting, clicking noises, this time shriller and louder than it was doing before, and Antonio knew that the clicker knew he was there. He took another choking gasp of an inhale, and the clicker lunged.
Its fingers wrapped around his neck, and Antonio took that moment to notice how human-esque the clicker's hands felt, and that this horrible, awful creature was once a normal human being. And of course, only being human, the young Spaniard let out a shriek so loud, all the zombies in the entire city probably heard.
Sharp, elongated teeth were revealed, and the clicker was so close Antonio could smell its disgusting, putrid breath against his face. Within the next second, they were going to plunge into his soft skin, and gnaw his throat apart before ripping apart his stomach to feed on his organs.
But...but nothing...happened.
The clicker made a strange, gurgling sound, almost like a scream of its own, before it died down. Its hands loosened, before completely falling away. A thud against the ground, and then...
"Come on, man. We gotta get."
A strong arm anchored itself around Antonio's waist, forcefully tugging him from the wall and out of the alleyway. He still had his eyes closed, but his feet and legs seemed to move on their own, automatically running with the person - er, well, the thing - pulling him. The person (Antonio assumed it was a person) stopped for absolutely nothing, as if determined to get themselves and Antonio fucking outta there. The Spaniard could hear the snarls and hisses of runners and clickers just meters away from him, and just the thought that they were so close made his heart race even faster with panic.
They were running, running so fast and so hard Antonio just felt like collapsing, but eventually the moans and screeches of the zombies died down. The person slowed down to a walking pace, making Antonio slow down as well.
And then...there was silence.
A voice broke the silence, making Antonio flinch.
"Hey, you all right?"
This person had an accent...Western European-ish, maybe, or Mediterranean. Greek? Turkish? A foreign clicker. Hah. The Spaniard almost laughed.
A scoff came from his saviour, seeing how Antonio hadn't replied to its question.
"Stop being a pussy and open your eyes. I'm no fucking clicker, if that's what you're thinking."
Finally, Antonio lifted his eyelids, albeit quite slowly, revealing his big, frightened emerald orbs. His gaze nervously shifted over to the person beside him, and what he saw almost made his jaw drop.
A young-looking man, thin and delicate-looking, but from glancing at his arms was anything but the latter. His short dark hair perfectly framed his tanned face, the same way dark lashes framed his gorgeous, intense hazel eyes. He looked serious and mature and sexy and dangerous all at the same time, and the youth in his cheeks with the stompy, military boots created such a perfect balance in this guy's physique. Whoa.
By the time Antonio's eyes moved back up to the stranger's face, it was only then that he noticed the young guy had narrowed his eyes dangerously at him.
"The fuck you starin' at?" He demanded, his voice holding a seething, defensive tone in it. The bitterness startled Antonio a little bit, and he shrank back a bit, feeling quite a bit intimidated by this guy.
"N-Nothing," He murmured. "I-I wasn't staring at anything..."
The attractive stranger huffed. "So you do talk. Huh. Whatever, you gonna give me a name or what?"
Antonio dumbly blinked in reply, his vocal cords somehow unable to form words. "Uh...ah...I, ah...um..."
A thin, dark eyebrow raised, followed by a saucy pout, but the Spaniard could see a hint of amusement around the edges of the stranger's lips. "Are you always this articulate?"
Bronze cheeks flushed rosy red in embarrassment, and Antonio cleared his throat before trying again. "I, uh...m-my name's Antonio."
"Antonio," The stranger echoed, letting the name roll on his tongue. "Mmm, okay. What were you doing out there all by yourself? Where are the, uh...the people you're with? I don't anyone thinking I'm doing anything but trying to help you."
The stranger's voice softened a lot, which made the young Spaniard relax visibly. "I...I'm not from a group."
"Not from a group?"
"N-No...I'm...all by myself."
The good-looking stranger scowled. "Bullshit. Everyone's from a group. There's no way in hell a small thing like you is by yourself. Don't lie to strangers, honey. Especially ones that might've saved your fucking life."
I didn't want to be saved, Antonio thought bitterly. "I'm not lying. I'm all alone."
"Buuuullshit."
Jade eyes narrowed. "It's not bullshit. I swear to God I'm by myself. There is no one else." Just saying those words made the Spaniard's heart clench sadly.
The stranger didn't say anything for the longest time. Antonio moved his gaze down to his feet, finding an interest in the hole in his tennis shoe.
After a few moments, the stranger let out a long-suffering sigh. "Alright. I believe you."
"Thank you."
The stranger glanced at the young Spaniard. His arm was still tight around Antonio's waist. Just feeling this stranger's gorgeous eyes on him made his cheeks burn even hotter.
"I'm Lovino," The attractive young man said softly. "I just remembered I hadn't told you my name."
Antonio bit his lip. "Hi, Lovino."
"Hi."
"I, um...I want to thank you for...saving my life."
"Ah, it was nothing."
"No, really. I don't think I would've had the guts to do that. You were really brave."
Antonio could've sworn he saw a hint of red staining Lovino's flawless cheeks, but the latter didn't show he was embarrassed, if he was. "Well, I...I guess it's just from habit, you know? I always tend to feel like Superman when someone's in trouble, especially since I'm pretty good with handling shivs."
For the first time in a long time, a small smile graced the Spaniard's lips. "I could tell. You look pretty macho indeed."
To his surprise, Lovino chuckled. "Ah, shaddup. Er, listen, uh...I want to bring you back to my group. We've got lots of supplies, food and clean water. I'd feel horrible if someone as good-looking as you was starving out there, shivering cold with no shelter."
Immense relief washed over Antonio. The emotion was so intense and spontaneous it brought tears to his eyes.
"Thank you," He whispered, blinking hard so he wouldn't cry in front of this gorgeous stranger. "Thank you."
Lovino turned to look at the young Spaniard, and a small, shy smile grew on his lips. He might've even tightened his hold around Antonio.
The rest of the walk continued in comfortable silence. For the first time in a long while, Antonio felt true, sincere peace.
A/N:Ah, hooray for longer chappy! I know the beginning was really choppy and all, but these next chapters will be a hella lot longer, i promise. OuO R&R!