It felt like they'd walked forever through the snow, which started falling again soon after the group fell silent. Larry kept a grip on Sal's wrist, not in a way that made him seem like a prisoner but instead like the taller boy wanted to protect him. The two others were a few paces in front of them, just out of earshot if they were quiet.
"That's Travis and his dad, by the way. They're both asshats, I usually avoid them but Travis just had to follow me out today." Larry glared at the back of the two blonde's heads. Sal just coughed in response, not really sure what to say. Snow stuck to their hair and walking through it had made Sal's legs numb. "He acts like he's some kind of leader, even though all the adults vote on shit. When we get back I'll take you to my mom, she's nice and will give you something for your cold, we won't have to deal with them much longer." After he spoke he glanced down at the other with a smile.
Sal thought he was weird, not really in a bad way, just weird in the fact that he was acting like he was taking Sal home after school instead of having just rescued him from zombies in the middle of the apocalypse.
"It's cool you guys are all together, like," he was cut off by a cough. "With your families and stuff." He was shivering, god, he must look so weak and pathetic. Larry must have noticed he was cold because the other released his grip on Sal's wrist and instead but his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders, pulling them closer in an attempt to warm him in some way. It sort of worked, as Sal felt his ears and face heat up with a blush.
"What happened to your family, that is, if you don't mind me asking or whatever."
"Well, my mom died before everything happened. It was me, my dad, and my cat when the things started appearing. The cat, Gizmo, died when he clawed at one of the monsters and it attacked him. I think he wanted to protect me or something." He fiddled with his hands, picking at the hangnails. "I got split up with my dad in New Jersey, he's probably dead. Even if he isn't, I'm probably never gonna see him again." He glanced up at the other, who gave him the classic 'I'm sorry for your loss' sort of look.
The walked in silence for a while, the two they were following even further ahead because of how slow Sal was moving.
"I for sure thought I was dead. I probably should be dead, if I'm honest." Sal mumbled his words, glueing his eyes to the disturbed snow in front of him.
"No one should be dead, dude." Larry sped up slightly and Sal just shook his head, though the other wasn't looking, he was focused on the building now in front of them. It looked like a school, though smaller than ones he had seen previously. It was a brick building, with fencing surrounding the grounds. "This is where we stay, it's the old high school. It's pretty big so there's enough room for everyone and it's got good locks and all that safety shit."
Larry took his arm off the other and once again grabbed his wrist, pulling him along as he followed the two blondes through a door. They received a disapproving glare from the man when Larry pulled Sal in front of the others and down a dark hallway. It was lined with lockers and was surprisingly clean other than the dust that had built up. Everything was quiet, no one else was around but Sal could see evidence of people living here through the windows of the classrooms.
Larry turned suddenly, pulling Sal to one of the classrooms. Sal hadn't expected to turn, so he stumbled, almost falling over.
"Oh, sorry. You okay?" The taller boy paused in front of the door, letting go of the other's wrist. Sal only nodded, nervously pulling on his hair as he looked around. The place was warmer than he'd expected and even though he thought it was a little eerie, he felt safer than he had in a while. "Okay, so my mom should be in here, come on."
Sal followed Larry into the classroom, which didn't look like it belonged in a school at this point. Most things had been cleared out, there was a room divider in the corner, blocking a mattress off from the rest of the room. There was a table and wardrobe along the same wall and some more furniture was littered around. A woman sat at the table, facing away from the door, but turned when she heard the door open.
"Larry! Where were you, I've been so worri- oh, who's this?" The woman stood and rushed over to her son, not noticing Sal at first, who stood behind Larry. She looked similar to Larry, with long brown hair and light brown eyes.
"Mom, this is Sal, I... found him." Larry pushed the blue-haired boy in front of him, towards the woman. "He's sick."
As if on cue, Sal broke off into a bout of coughing and Larry's mother instantly looked worried. She turned away, towards a shelf scattered with items. "You still haven't answered where you were and what do you mean 'found' him?" The two teens sat at the table, Sal putting his head down tiredly and Larry nervously messing with his hands, trying to think of how to answer his mom.
"Well, I went out, but, I brought a gun and a hatchet, so I was safe—"
"It's not safe even with all those weapons, Larry! How many times do I have to tell you!" She turned around, looking angry, she now had a box full of varies first aid items and medicine. She walked over to the table, next to Sal, setting down the box before crossing her arms.
"No, but, if I wasn't out I wouldn't have heard Sal and I wouldn't have gotten there and shot the—"
"You shot a gun? What if there was a horde nearby, you would've attracted them all here!"
"Mom, the thing was on top of him it was the only thing I could do!"
"Wha- Was he bitten?" She switched her gaze to the younger teenager, Sal's head was on his arms and he wasn't paying any attention to the conversation. Larry reached over and touched the boy's shoulder and he shot up in his seat, rubbing his one exposed eye.
"Sorry, I- I'm just a bit tired." Sal pulled his hair out of the ponytail, nervously running his hands through it.
"Hey, Sal. I'm Lisa, were you bit at all, or scratched, or do you have any cuts or anything that were touched by the creature?" Lisa had a kind smile, she had a very motherly vibe that made Sal smile in return.
"No, nothing like that, I cut my hand but it's fine." He held out his hand that he'd grabbed the thorns with, the wounds weren't bleeding but dried blood was on his palm and fingers. Lisa grabbed some sort of wipe from the box, using it to clean Sal's hand.
"Um, I'm gonna need you to take off that mask... okay?" She wasn't sure why the boy was wearing the thing but she didn't want to seem rude. His expression turned nervous but he didn't protest, just slowly reached behind his head and unlatched the prosthetic, setting it down on the table in front of him. He let his hair fall in his face, thankful his bangs were overgrown.
His eye that was previously covered in shadow was half closed, he had once had a glass eye but had lost it a while back so he just had to live with one empty hole in his face. Most of his face was scar tissue and there was a cut on his lip that had been reopened and exposed teeth even when his mouth was closed. Lisa just smiled and Larry leaned forward slightly to get a closer look.
"Dude, your eye's, like, gone." Larry looked confused, as soon as he spoke Lisa changed to a shocked expression and was about to scold him when Sal laughed a little. Despite his wanting to cover his face and run away, he couldn't help but find humour in Larry's bewilderment, it felt really weird to laugh, it wasn't even a real laugh, really, more like some sort of snort. He hadn't done it in a while and he was sure he sounded really weird.
"Yeah, it is." He smiled at the brunette, it felt weird but right. He reached a hand up and pushed his eyelid up. "I lost my glass eye." Larry just smiled and sort of chuckled, the boy continued to stare at Sal's face. It wasn't like other people stared, it was different but Sal couldn't explain it.
Lisa put the back of her hand on Sal's cheek briefly. "You've got a fever for sure. What are your symptoms?"
"Well, my throat feels like I swallowed a cactus and I'm coughing and I'm sure I'd vomit if I had anything in my stomach." He leaned forward on the table, putting his head on his arms.
"When's the last time you ate anything?"
"Um... I don't remember, it's been a while."
"Oh, well then, Larry go get some food." The boy didn't need to be asked twice, he just nodded and left down the hall. "How long have you been alone?" Lisa looked more worried as she pulled some cough syrup out of the box.
"I haven't really kept track of the days. I got split up with some people at some point on a highway." He turned his head so he could see the women more easily, he felt drowsy and wanted nothing more than to sleep but he'd thought it safe to wait. Lisa just nodded at him, getting up to put the box away.
"You don't have any weapons or anything, do you? I'm going to have to speak with everyone to get them to let you stay, but first, they need to know you're not dangerous at all." Sal slowly lifted his head a little bit, thinking for a moment before reaching into his worn high tops and pulling out a small pocket knife, throwing it on the table.
"That's all I got."
The room was silent until Larry came back, he carried a simple meal, a sort of soup with vegetables and some kind of meat.
"I got there before one of the assholes told them you were here so they probably thought it was for me, they might not have let me take it back here if they thought I was giving it to someone," Larry whispered when he sat down again, not wanting Lisa to hear. He had a goofy grin on his face, laughing slightly at how quickly Sal ate.
"The last thing I ate was some stale crackers, let me enjoy this." He only received more laughs from the other in response. Sal finished quickly, already feeling better.
"Okay, Sal, take a cap full of this" Lisa pointed to the cough syrup. "And this ibuprofen, it'll make you feel tired so Larry will bring you to where he and some other boys sleep while I go talk to the rest of the group." Sal only nodded, doing as he was told. He didn't quite understand why this family was so nice to him, they didn't even grimace when they saw his face. He wasn't complaining, he liked it, he felt happy which was a big change as only a short while earlier he'd been out in the snow wishing he could shoot himself in the head. Now, as he was led down the hall once again, he couldn't help the smile that plastered itself on his face.
