As always,

THEMoDePo: Oh please, don't cry! Though let me warn you that if you cried at this... you don't know what you're in for in future chapters! :) Yes, Blaine "kind of" confessed, though I don't know if it's the right time to confront their feelings yet. Thank you so much, dear!

Darrinia: Hahahaha, of course I can't let Blaine die (yet) because there would be no story left otherwise! And yes, I can see you wanting for Blaine to kill Kurt quite badly! :) Thank you so much!

Gleeville: hahaha, I was this close to PM an spoiler, but I thought it would be better for you to read the whole chapter. Thank you so much!

Angellovercriss: First of all I need to tell you I loooove your reviews, because you mention so many details and things you've liked and I can see you're read it really meticulously and it feels great! And then... you have a dirty mind, mister! (about the wanky thing) ;) There is going to be tones of life-threatening situations, don't worry! But I have to warn you, if you're already crying with this, you're about to have a very hard time in future chapters ;) Thank you so much, sweetie! :)

Me-Me157: Of course, Sam stopped hesitating as soon as Blaine's life was at stake, I'm glad you noticed that little detail ;) I don't know if Sam is really aware of what Blaine really meant when he told him that he loved him, and they will not have the time to address those feelings until they're safe and sound! Ooops, I'm sorry if you're not a fan of cliffhangers, because well... there are going to be tons of it ;) Thank you so much, dear!


A/N: Hey, remember when I said I didn't know if I would be able to post one chapter a week? ;)

Not that happy with this one as with the other ones, but well... Enjoy it anyway! More soon! :)


CHAPTER 4

Sam could hardly see through his tears as he shot one bullet after another, some of them finding their destination and making some of the walkers fall before they were even near them. He was shouting with desperation at every shot, obviously not feeling the need to keep silent any longer, and he was clutching Blaine so strongly he was sure he was leaving bruises on his freezing skin.

But he would run out of bullets soon, and he wouldn't have the time to reload the gun before they were on them, even if he could find the extra magazines Blaine had packed. The thought of just standing up and running and leaving Blaine there never even crossed his mind, and when the gun was finally empty, and the closest walker was only a couple of feet away from them, Sam only closed his eyes, wrapped himself completely around the other boy in a desperate and useless attempt of protection, and prayed that it would be quick and neither Blaine or him would have to suffer a lot.

But Sam never got to feel anything. Not a walker touched him or the precious burden in his arms because a shot stopped them first. And then another one. And another. And when Sam dared to open his eyes again, he saw two people at the edge of the road where they had fallen from hours ago, standing against the lights of their own car, shooting incessantly towards the remaining walkers until there was not a single one standing.

"Hey, you there!" one of them shouted when the terrible noise from the shooting stopped. "Are you alright?"

"No" Sam answered with a rough voice, and had to clear his throat a couple of times before he could attempt raising his voice. "Please, please, help me! My friend needs help! Urgently!"

He guessed that the desperation had been very evident in his voice, as the two people –two young men– only looked at each other and wordlessly started running down the drop from the road.

"We did it, Blaine" Sam said, trying to swallow the last of his tears as he rested his head on top of his friend's. "We survived"

The other two boys hurried to them and didn't stop until they were right in front of Sam, who was already carefully resting Blaine on the floor to stand up.

"Evans?" one of them asked in utter surprise, so Sam squinted his eyes even further to try and guess who that person was even if he was still standing against the light.

"Sebastian? Sebastian Smythe! Oh my God, I can't believe it" Sam said as he jumped to embrace the taller guy, not been able to hide his excitement and relief at the familiar face, before turning to the other boy to embrace him too, remembering him as being another one of the warblers. "And I can't remember your name, I'm so sorry, though I know Blaine likes you very much"

"It's Trent" the other boy answered with a smile, not offended by any means.

"Guys, I really need help" Sam said, his voice filled with desperation again, as he moved slightly aside so they could see the boy on the floor. "It's Blaine"

"Blaine?" Both of them asked in unison, unsurprisingly, as Sam knew they both felt quite deeply for him.

"What happened to him?" Sebastian asked as they all gathered and knelt around the unconscious form of their friend.

"We had an accident and he is trapped under the car" Sam answered as he signaled at Blaine's trapped leg, finding it quite difficult to contain his tears at the relief he was feeling –and the guilt he hadn't been able to do anything for him–. "I couldn't get him out of there"

"Is he hurt?" Trent asked, wincing sympathetically as he got to take a closer look at his former classmate, who looked as if he was unconscious.

"I don't know, but he's freezing, he's been lying on the cold floor for hours" Sam patiently explained, though the only thing he wanted was to rush them into action. "He's hypothermic and has been lethargic for a while now. Do you have any blankets?"

"Yes, there has to be a couple of them in our car" Trent replied and he stood up to run back towards their own car without even waiting for an answer.

"Open your eyes, B. Come on, open your eyes for me" Sam tenderly pleaded as he hovered over his friend and cupped his face between his hands, which were still shaking, and Sebastian could have sworn a relieved tear ran down Sam's cheek when Blaine's eyes finally opened and turned to look at him, though it was hard to say in the darkness. "That's it, buddy, you're doing great"

Sebastian felt like crying himself in sympathy at the emotion he could see in Sam's face as the blond tenderly moved some stray curls from Blaine's forehead. He couldn't imagine what those two must have been through for Sam to be that terrified. But before he could ask, Sam started talking to his friend again, his whole attention on the smaller guy.

"Hey, I got us some help!" Sam continued in his soft and reassuring tone, almost as if he was talking to a wounded animal, though Blaine didn't look as if he was understanding a word even if he was still looking at him. "Didn't I tell you someone would come? And not just anybody! Look who it is"

"Hey, Killer" Sebastian said when Sam pointed at him, and even managed a small smile when Blaine's eyes turned to him and there was a hint of recognition in them.

"We got help, B" Sam added as he turned Blaine's confused face towards him again. "Your friend Trent is here too and they're going to help us so we can get you out of here"

Blaine still didn't answer, and he looked completely disoriented and exhausted, but he managed the smallest smile at his friend's words –or just at his loving ministrations, Sebastian didn't know– and it was all Sam do not to burst into tears at that vision, so he contented himself with bending over and placing a long and tender kiss on Blaine's forehead that made Sebastian wonder if maybe something had happened between them since the last time he and Blaine had talked, a couple of months ago. It surely looked as if their friendship had evolved towards something else in that time, but he knew it was neither the place nor the time to ask. Especially considering Blaine was still in immediate danger and Sam was beside himself with worry.

"Here" Trent appeared out of the blue and handed Sam three blankets which he immediately tucked Blaine in as securely as he could. "I thought this could be useful too"

Sam nervously laughed with relief as he saw what Trent was holding in his hand: a beautiful and magnificent jack they could use to lift the car from Blaine's foot.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you guys finding us" Sam said, still fumbling with the blankets so only Blaine's face would remain uncovered.

"You didn't deserve what happened to you both either, so…" Sebastian replied as he took the jack from Trent's hands and got into action, stopping Sam before he could move from his place. "You stay with him. Someone will have to pull him out when we lift the car, after all"

"Alright" Sam answered gratefully. He didn't really like delegating the job of getting Blaine out of his imprisonment in others –Blaine was his responsibility after everything they had gone through together–, but Sebastian was right: Blaine wasn't going to move on his own, and Sam preferred not to move from his side if he could help it.

As Trent and Sebastian worked to lift the car, Sam once again lifted Blaine's upper body from the ground and wrapped him up with the blankets before taking him into his arms and vigorously rubbing his arms in an attempt of warming him up. And though Sam knew it was too soon to see any improvement on him, he let himself be comforted by the fact that Blaine hadn't closed his eyes again and seemed to be looking curiously at everything happening around him.

"Ok, Sam, we're ready" Trent said. "I don't know if this is going to hold on for too long, so be ready to pull Blaine out as soon as possible"

"I'm ready" he confirmed the other two boys just as soon as he broke their embrace to grab Blaine under his armpits, just as he had done a few hours before, though this time it seemed more probable that it would work.

With the help of the jack, it didn't take them too long to lift the car just enough to free Blaine's leg, and Sam hurried to drag him a few feet away from the car, much more than was really needed, just in case. He wanted to check his leg and make sure it wasn't broken or anything, but he knew getting him to safety –and warm– was the priority now.

"We need to get him warm as soon as possible" Sam explained as he fixed the blankets around his friend again. "I don't know where you were going but... would you…?"

"Of course we will take you with us, Sam" Trent answered kindly, as there was no way they were going to leave them there.

"I'll help you carry him to our car" Sebastian offered as he moved in front of Blaine so he would be able to take his legs. "Trent, you cover us in case more walkers decide to come to the party"

"Be careful with his leg" Sam couldn't stop himself from warning the other boy, though Sebastian looked almost offended at the thought that he would do anything that could hurt Blaine.

"I know, Sam" he patiently answered while Sam carefully put his arms under Blaine's upper body and they lifted him between the two of them.

Very slowly and cautiously so as not to jostle the injured man, Sebastian and Sam started making their way to the car, closely guarded by Trent who was holding his weapon in his arms in case he needed to protect the others. The ascent towards the road wasn't that easy with the important load in his hands, but fortunately Blaine was a small guy and wasn't that heavy, so they knew it could have been worse.

Sam looked quizzically at the car waiting for them at the top of the slope, as it didn't go with Sebastian's sophisticated style at all –it was old and dirty, and Sam could bet it had a lot of miles under its wheels–, but the latter noticed and turned to him with a smirk.

"What's wrong, Evans? Were you expecting a limousine?"

"No, of course not" Sam answered, blushing at having been caught in his musings. "If it can provide us with shelter and transportation, it's good enough for me"

"It's the only car we could find" Trent explained as he opened the door to the backseats for them.

"Do you want to go in the front, Sam?" Sebastian offered, even if he already knew the answer.

"No, I prefer to go in the back with Blaine" Sam answered once his best friend was safely tucked into the car.

"Here" Sebastian offered as he took off his jacket and offered it to the blond. "I know you're not going to take any blanket from Blaine so at least wear that"

"There's no need…" Sam tried to refuse, surprised at Sebastian's generosity –after all, everything he had seen from him the few times they had met hadn't been that good, even if Blaine had tried to convince him more than once that he was a good guy under all that attitude.

"Please, you're shivering like crazy, you are not that far from hypothermia yourself" Sebastian insisted as he helped Sam into the jacket himself so he wouldn't be able to refuse.

"Ok, thanks" Sam sincerely thanked him before getting in the car next to his friend.

Once inside, Sam resumed the position that had become so familiar to them in the last hours and lifted Blaine's upper body to hold it to his chest, equally wanting to keep him warm and needing to feel him close, so he could be sure his heart was still beating at all times. For both of them.

"I'm sorry, Sam, the heating doesn't work" Trent announced once he got into the driver's seat with a guilty expression. "We already tried but it's a pretty old car"

"It's okay" Sam answered with a tired sigh, because he didn't want their rescuers to feel guilty. "It's still warmer than out there, and the blankets are really great. Plus I'm not sure it would be wise to try and get him warm too quickly"

"What happened to you two, Sam?" Sebastian asked as soon as they started driving. "How did you end up trapped under a car in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's a long story" Sam said, sighing again, as if it was the only thing he still had enough forces to do. "To sum up, just before… all of this happened, I got on an accident and I was in coma for two weeks and when everything started… only Blaine stayed with me"

"He stayed on his own?" Sebastian asked, astounded at the short boy's strength.

"You bet he did" Sam answered with a proud smile, looking tenderly at the sleeping boy in his arms. "He managed to keep us both alive, but as soon as I woke up we escaped from the hospital and we were travelling to Westerville to see if we could find his parents when he had an accident with the car"

"There is nothing left in Westerville" Trent answered with a sad tone. "Most people died, and the rest escaped. The whole city burnt down in a stupid attempt of finishing off those biters"

"Biters?" Sam asked in curiosity.

"How do you call them?"

"Blaine calls them walkers"

"I guess it all started so suddenly that we don't even have a name for them" Trent sadly answered. Sam had hardly talked with the boy before –only when he had confessed about the Warblers doing asteroids a few months ago– but he could see now why Blaine had such a good opinion of him.

"So there is nothing left in Westerville?" Sam asked, not wanting to believe all their suffering had been for nothing; that they wouldn't be able to find Blaine's parents after all. "Anything?"

"No. Even Dalton burnt to the ground" Trent explained, and even if he kept a neutral tone on his voice, Sam could tell they had gone through a lot, just as he and Blaine had. "Most of the boys whose families didn't live in Westerville and were still at Dalton, like us, died in the fire. We were lucky to escape"

"Shit" Sam lamented rubbing his forehead in frustration. "I was so hoping we would find Blaine's family. He thinks they're dead and that will just give him more reason to believe it"

"Sam, it's… it's highly probable that they didn't make it" Sebastian intervened, turning around to look intently at him.

"I know, I just… He doesn't deserve that" Sam sighed, looking down at his friend and tenderly running his knuckles down his cheek. "I don't know how I'm going to break it to him"

"Just being there for him. Though I don't think I need to tell you that" Sebastian answered with a pointed look that made Sam feel as if he was implying something with that.

"And where were you going, anyway?" Sam asked, trying to change subjects so Sebastian would stop looking at them like that.

"As Trent said, there was nothing left in Westerville and, since my parents are in Paris right now, we were trying to get to Chicago, to see if we could find his family" Sebastian explained, moving to more general topics at Sam's question.

"Though we wanted to go by Lima to see if… if we could find someone we knew there" Trent intervened, showing Sam how they were just as lost they were.

"We didn't know everything was just as screwed up there" Sebastian added with a troubled sigh.

"Do you think… do you think this is the world now?" Sam asked. After all, he had only had the chance to talk to Blaine since he woke up, and he needed to know the vision others had from the situation they were living.

"I don't know" Sebastian answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It's definitely all we've seen until now" Trent added, not sounding too optimistic and getting them all to quiet down to get lost into their own thoughts.

"Sam?" a soft voice broke the silence after a while, getting Sam's heart beating double-fast at the excitement of hearing his friend's voice again –and curiously proud that Blaine would know it was him holding him in his arms without even having to open his eyes.

"Hey, B" Sam answered tenderly, smiling down at him as he squeezed him more strongly to his chest so Blaine could feel him, noticing Blaine was starting to shiver again, which he considered a good sign. "I'm here, buddy"

"Looks like he is starting to respond" Sebastian said, smiling gladly at the image.

"I don't know, his skin still looks kind of bluish" Sam worriedly answered as he started rubbing Blaine's arms and chest and turned his whole attention to him again. "Hey, B, can you hear me?"

"Where are we?" Blaine asked, still not finding the energy in him to open his eyes, though Sam was glad to see he seemed much more alert and coherent than before.

"We are in a car now, and not under it, how does that sound?" Sam dared to joke. After so many hours of absolute terror and despair, he felt they both needed a bit of light and absurd mood.

"Good" Blaine smiled, appreciating Sam's humorous efforts.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm so cold"

"I know, buddy" Sam sympathetically answered, resting his head on top of Blaine's in an attempt of comfort. "But at least we got some awesome blankets now! And how does your foot feel?"

"Numb" Blaine answered, still not able to say more than a couple of words in a row, though Sam could see he was much more aware of his surroundings than just a while back.

"We'll have a look at it… as soon as we stop somewhere" Sam promised, as he realized he really had no idea what Sebastian and Trent's plans were in the short run –and he didn't care that much, just as long as he could keep Blaine safe.

"Sam, was Sebastian…?" Blaine tried to ask, because he felt like he had had the strangest dream in which his former friend from Dalton had come to their rescue.

"I'm here, Killer" Sebastian answered from the front seat, and chuckled when Blaine was so surprised he forced himself to open his eyes for a second so he could make sure for himself he was not dreaming.

"Sebastian?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, even if he was seeing him with his own eyes, because he was afraid he was hallucinating because of the hypothermia.

"And Trent is here too" Sebastian answered with a fond smile as he pointed with his head at the driver, even if he could see Blaine had closed his eyes again, exhausted by the effort.

"Hi, Blaine" Trent said, sounding happier than he had done since they had met.

"Are we at Dalton?" Blaine asked, turning again to Sam as if he was the only one he could trust on, while his shivering intensified again.

"No, B, we're… in a car, I told you" Sam patiently answered, purposefully avoiding the fact they were driving in the opposite direction from Westerville, not wanting him to know about the state of the village yet.

"I'm glad you're alive, Sammy" Blaine said out of the blue as he moved on his own for the first time in a long while just to nestle more comfortably against Sam's chest.

"I'm glad you're alive too, B" Sam answered, trying to keep his voice from shaking with emotion in front of the other two boys as his arms closed more closely around his friend's smaller frame and his lips made contact with Blaine's forehead once again in a silent kiss.


Sebastian winced as he heard the chattering of Blaine's teeth at the backseat. He knew it was a good thing, that his body was responding after the shutdown it had experienced just an hour ago because of the hypothermia, but it still felt painful to hear him struggling like that. They had been friends once after all, and Sebastian still cared about him. He still felt sorry about everything that had happened between them and, above all, for hurting him. But maybe one good thing could still come out from the horrible situation they were living. Maybe the need to lean into each other to survive could bring them to be friends again. He would surely like that.

And speaking of friends… Looking at the two occupants of the backseat, still tangled together in a mass of limps and blankets as if they never intended to let go, Sebastian wondered about it. The last time he had spoken to Blaine, that one time when he had tried to lure him back to Dalton after his breakup with Kurt, Sam had only been a friend. Well, obviously more than a mere friend, considering it had been him the one to convince Blaine to stay at McKinley. They were getting to know each other; they were probably best friends already but… what he had seen since he and Trent found them… How Sam had clung to him like that, how he had cried over him, how he had been so willing to die with him instead of just running away… And what Sam had explained about Blaine staying alone for two weeks at his bedside to make sure he would survive… Even if you didn't have all that information, you only needed to be with them for a couple of minutes to see something was going on in the way the hadn't moved from each other's arms for a second, or in the way Blaine asked for him every time he woke up, or how Sam would tenderly shush him and remind him he was there for him.

They had gone through a lot together, alright, and that tended to reinforce relationships in a way nothing else could. He himself would die before letting something happen to Trent, after everything they had shared in the last few days. But with Blaine and Sam… somehow it felt different. Just wait until Blaine was alright and they became friends again, Sebastian thought with a smile, the little guy would have a lot of explaining to do to his old friend.

"Guys, I don't want to scare you or anything, but…" Trent started with a guilty tone, getting everyone else on alert immediately. "We're running out of gas"

"What? You've got to be kidding me" Sam said, not able to stop himself even if he knew it sounded as if he was accusing Trent of something.

"I wish I was" the other boy lamented. "We had a full deposit, but you remember when those biters came out of nothing, I lost control of the car for a second and hit that rock at the side of the road, Seb? Maybe it did a hole in the gas tank and it's been leaking ever since"

"It's possible" Sebastian answered, nodding his head in agreement while trying to keep calm for the sake of the other three occupants of the car. "How much gas left?"

"Practically none" Trent answered with a frown, feeling guilty he had not noticed it before.

"It's okay, Trent. You know, there is a gas station just a few more minutes down this road" Sam explained, as they were already back in the outskirts of Lima and he knew the place very well. "Maybe the gas pumps will still work"

"A lot of people escaped, Sam, I'm afraid they will have finished off any reservations of gas in the country" Sebastian explained while frustratingly shaking his head.

"We won't know that for sure until we try" Sam contradicted him, trying to sound more optimistic than he really felt.

"No, no, no, no, not again" Blaine suddenly exclaimed in desperation, surprising all the other boys as they had thought he was asleep.

"Don't worry, B" Sam tried to calm his friend down while holding him more strongly to his chest, worried about his mental state on top of everything else. "There are four of us now and no one is hurt. Nothing is going to happen to us. I promise"

Blaine just nodded and Sam had to smile at his stubborn friend, who had promised to trust him and that was what he was trying to do even if he didn't think it would be that easy. It was just another reason to feel proud of him and his strength, Sam thought.

Everyone held their breaths as they drove down the road Sam had indicated, praying that they could reach the gas station. The car finally stopped only a few yards before they arrived, and they sighed in relief when they saw they had made it.

"I'm going to see if I can get us some gas" Sam immediately offered, but before he could move to get out of the car, Blaine grabbed the lapels of his coat with a strength that belied the real weakness of his body.

"No, Sam, don't go" Blaine begged him, his eyes huge with fear, and it broke Sam's heart to see him looking that vulnerable –though he completely understood.

"Blaine, I'll be back in a minute, nothing is going to happen to me" Sam tried to reassure him with a smile, though it didn't work.

"I'll go with you" Blaine unsurprisingly offered, and Sam smiled again at his friend's stubbornness.

"You can't come with me" Sam tried to reason with him. "You're still too weak, and we haven't even checked your leg yet, we don't know if you can walk"

"I'll go with him, Killer" Sebastian offered, knowing it was the only way to keep Blaine in the car –man, he knew how obstinate he could be!

"See? Sebastian will look after me" Sam added with a hint of joking in his voice, hoping it would reassure Blaine if he saw he was not afraid of anything happening.

"Don't go, please" Blaine begged him one more time, even if he knew he had already lost that battle.

"It will only take a minute" Sam insisted, resting his hands on top of Blaine's to squeeze them for a second before disentangling them from his coat. "Just stay here with Trent and rest a little, and we'll be back before you know it"

"But…" Blaine tried to insist, but Sam was already letting go of him.

"Trent, don't let him out of this car under any circumstance" Sam gravely pleaded in a whisper to the driver before leaving the car, sorry about burdening him with such a task but knowing it may be needed.

"I'll look after him, don't worry" Trent promised him as he handed a gun to Sam and kept on for himself –in case any of them might need it to defend themselves.

Sam walked out of the car without looking back, knowing he may lose his determination if he got to see Blaine's pleading eyes again. Both he and Sebastian clutched their weapons to their chests, hoping against hope they wouldn't need to use them, as they kept watching out around them all the time. Sebastian was also carrying a powerful flashlight, but he didn't want to use unless it was absolutely necessary for fear of attracting any possible lonely bitter around, so they only used the moonlight to reach the gas station.

Everything seemed as empty as the road had been, and there was not the slightest noise to be heard, so apparently there were no walkers around. More running than really walking, they reached the pumps and tried, one after another, to get some gas out of them, to no avail.

"Damn it" Sam whispered in frustration as the last pump was checked. "What are we going to do now?"

"I guess we'll have to find another car" Sebastian, always the practical one, answered.

"Do you know how to hotwire a car?" Sam asked in a sarcastic tone, following Sebastian as he walked a little further down the street, where there was a car parked.

"You're the one in public school, right?" Sebastian answered, and Sam was about to get offended before he noticed the smirk on the warbler's face that told him he was only joking. "It can't be that difficult"

Sam and Sebastian approached the car and checked to see if any of the doors were open –which were not.

"Great, we will have to force it open too" Sebastian protested.

But before Sam could answer, he felt something cold and sharp push the back of his head, and only when someone else talked, he knew it was a gun pointing dangerously at him.

"Move and you're dead" the voice threatened.


A/N: Ooops, another cliffhanger... Sorry!