Hello all!! Tomorrow is my birthday so you know what that means?! Half-drowned Columbus for all!! Yay!! :D Hope you all enjoy!!


It was hot; summer sucked in Zombieland for two reasons. First, there was no air conditioning in most of the houses which sucked, and second, zombies tend to smell even worse when they've been rotting out in the sun for a few days. Even if they didn't encounter any directly, the smell followed them no matter where they went. It was in every city, every house, every street the turned on, and it was disgusting.

The neighborhood they'd stayed in had been nice enough, pretty brick houses and white picket fences that had probably been great for keeping out anything but zombies. Now most of the fences were broken, splintered, blood-stained wood lining the once manicured lawns and the pretty brick houses had shattered windows and broken doors. Yep, Zombieland had an awesome habit of taking everything that was once pure and beautiful in the world and fucking it up.

They had stayed here longer than the other houses they'd squatted in, partially because it was too fucking hot to drive and they wanted to have some sense of normalcy at least for a little bit. So they'd found one of the pretty brick houses that still had some windows and holed themselves up for about a week. Most of the houses still had electricity so that wasn't a problem, the lack of air conditioning was easily remedied with a few box fans. They were moving out in the morning, heading for God only knows where, but it was better than becoming too used to one place. Once again, Zombieland had a tendency to fuck things up when you got to comfortable.

Columbus straightened slightly, looking out across the empty back yard and the rows of fences that spread out in either direction. It was sunny outside, another beautiful day had the entire damn world not been overrun with the undead.
"Whacha lookin' at?" A gruff, familiar voice asked from behind him, the presence of another person settling side his shoulder.

"Just the houses." Columbus answered honestly with a slight shrug. "The neighborhood, everything. Trying to remember what it was like before all of this." He hated the reminiscing game, it was depressing as hell, but he couldn't help it sometimes.

"Eh, the world was shit before all of this, kid. Just a little less shitty. And less cannibals." Tallahassee joked and Columbus felt himself smile at the joke. Despite his rough exterior, the older man was able to make light of most situations and took their situation in stride, keeping the others from sinking into the despair that always hung on the horizon. "The girls were talking about walking down to the end of the street." It wasn't really a questions as to whether or not he wanted to go; he was going, they were all going, it was just a forewarning. Being holed up in the house all day was boring so walking up and down the street, looking at the different houses had been a daily routine for the past few days. Columbus didn't mind, once again, it felt almost normal and would have been if they weren't fully armed with each walk they took.

Columbus grabbed his shot gun and scooped a few handfuls of shells into his pocket, following Tallahassee to the front door where Wichita and Little Rock were waiting. Making sure all their weapons were loaded, they stepped out into the remains of the world and walked down the street.

OOOOO

Little Rock and Wichita had been chattering away quietly for the past ten minutes about the benefits of brick houses versus wood and how their ideal home would be built and set up. Columbus divided his attention between listening to them and listening to everything around them. The neighborhood was quiet; it had been all week, one or two zombie stragglers showing up and staggering around, disappearing within an hour. Still, it never hurt to be cautious.

There was a crash somewhere off to their left and the four froze, looking around carefully for any sign of what had caused it. It was silent for several seconds, the tension hanging in the air like the smell of decay that never seemed to leave. Suddenly, out of one of the houses directly across from them, three zombies threw themselves through the window, charging at the the survivors with murderous intent.

Tallahassee fired two shots without a second though, taking out one of them with deadly accuracy. "Go!" He barked over one shoulder and Wichita grabbed Little Rock by the arm, dragging her in a run into the back yard of the house on the opposite side of the street. Columbus followed in close pursuit, firing over his shoulder at the charging zombies, careful to avoid hitting Tallahassee in the process.

They ran into the back yard of the other house, covering all four corners and holding their ground. There was a tarp-covered pool in the center of the yard, leaves and sticks covering the top and swaying from the water underneath. One of the zombies lunged into the yard, aiming directly for Tallahassee. The older man fired carefully, hitting him right between the eyes and sending him sprawling. He fired again, the classic double tap, but was knocked off balance as the last zombie crashed into him.

"Fuckin' cannibal..." He growled, keeping the zombie at arm's length and out of bite range. The zombie was missing half of his jaw but that didn't mean he couldn't take out a good chunk of flesh if given the opportunity.

Columbus rushed forward, striking the zombie with the butt of his gun in an attempt to knock him away from Tallahassee. He couldn't get a clean shot without running the risk of hitting the other man so he needed him far enough away to aim. The zombie had something else in mind though. He swung his arm out wildly, catching Columbus sharply in the chest and sending him flying.

The younger man fully expected to hit the ground and was more than a little surprised when he landed on something soft and wavy, almost like falling into a water bed. With a startled gasp he realized he'd landed on the tarp covering the pool. He barely had time to register anything else before the tarp capsized beneath him and he sank into the the pool.

He let out a panicked gasp as the water closed over his head, his arms and legs spreading wide in an effort to break free from the watery trap; he only succeeded in getting more tangled. Water filled his mouth, working its way down his throat and into his lungs. He coughed ineffectively, and struggled more, desperately trying to break free and get out of the tarp. It was like being trapped in a blue, plastic net, with no way out and no way to break through. This was bad.

Columbus gasped again, unable to get past the water. He body felt heavy, weighted within the tarp, and he blinked slowly, sluggishly. All he could see was blue, in every direction, up and down. His eyelids grew heavy, vision dimming into a grey murkiness. It seemed odd that he was going to drown in a world full of zombies. That was one of his last coherent thoughts before inky blackness overcame him.

OOOOO

Tallahassee heard the muffled splash behind him, turning just long enough to see Columbus sink into the tarp-covered pool. "Columbus!" He called over his shoulder, watching as the girls broke into a run toward the edge of the pool to help him. He turned back to the zombie that was still snapping at him and managed to knock him back far enough to grab his gun. With unfailing accuracy, he shot the zombie in the head, taking off the remaining side of his jaw and the rest of his face in the process. The creature flopped slightly, sinking to its knees before another shot hit him directly in the chest. Tallahassee was racing across the yard before he even hit the ground.

Wichita was in the pool already, dipping beneath the surface and frantically pulling at the tarp, trying to find some indication of where Columbus was. The movement of the water hid any thrashing movement the ex-college student may have been making and he sure as hell hadn't bobbed to the surface yet. With a muffled curse, Tallahassee jumped into the pool as well to help with the search.

The tarp was huge, swirling and folding beneath the water and every time one corner was pulled away another corner would fill in the void. Wichita was pulling from one side, Tallahassee from the other and Little Rock had a handful of it above them, pulling as hard as she could out of the pool. Still there was no sign of Columbus.

Tallahassee popped to the surface around the same time as Wichita, an angry snarl tugging at the corner of his mouth. "God dammit!" He growled before diving down again, swimming back to where he had been before and pulling at the tarp again. Then he saw it, a flash of pale skin in the midst of all the blue. Reacting instinctively, he reached out and wrapped his hand around a skinny wrist, pulling the owner of it toward him. He could have laughed in relief when he saw the cloud of curls around Columbus' head but he couldn't think of that right now. The kid was unconscious and they needed to get to the surface. Keeping his arm wrapped tightly around Columbus' chest to keep him from getting stuck in the tarp again, Tallahassee kicked to the surface, taking a deep, gasping breath when his head broke the water. "I got him!" He gasped, dragging his limp cargo with him. It worried him how unresponsive the younger man was but he pushed it out of his mind, focusing instead on reaching the edge of the pool.

Wichita had surfaced a few seconds before him and was already out of the pool, grabbing Columbus by the arms and dragging him out of the water. With Little Rock's help, they managed to get him all the way out of the pool and laid out on the concrete beside it. Tallahassee pulled himself out of the water a split second later, dropping to his knees beside the younger man.

Columbus looked bad, his skin a sick grayish color and his lips tinted blue. His eyes were closed and dark curls of hair stuck to his forehead, clinging to the wet skin like glue. He looked dead. Pushing the thought out of his head, Tallahassee leaned over, pressing his ear against the younger man's chest and listening closely. The wet squish of the shirt against his cheek might have been funny had the situation not been so incredibly serious. Tallahassee felt a sick coldness develop in the center of his chest when he realized he couldn't hear Columbus' heartbeat. Shit! The kid's heart wasn't beating!

Cursing under his breath once again, Tallahassee positioned his hands over Columbus' heart and interlaced his fingers. "Don't even fuckin' think about it..." He growled, beginning compressions rhythmically, desperately trying to bring the younger man back. "There's no way I'm gonna fuckin' let you die from fallin' in a Goddamn pool...!" He continued the compressions, ignoring the steady trickle of water down the sides of his face and neck. The girls were behind him, Little Rock crying softly while Wichita pressed her against her side, trying to hide the younger girl from the scene. None of them wanted to see a member of their group in such a situation.

Pausing the compressions, Tallahassee leaned over, titling Columbus' head back and breathing into him. He could see the slight rise and fall of the younger man's chest, a good indication that the air had indeed reached his lungs, but Columbus still wasn't breathing on his own. Tallahassee repeated the breaths two more times, watching from the corner of his eye to make sure they were going in all the way. When the younger man remained unresponsive, he gave a frustrated growl and began the cycle of compressions again. "C'mon kid...come back to me..."

He remembered taking a first aid class when Buck was born, the basics of first response care: dressing wounds, caring for the injured and everything in between. It included CPR but, no matter how many times he'd tried to convince himself he didn't need it, he had never been so glad for that course than he was now. He'd been helpless when Buck died, it had been too late for him to do anything to save his son. Right now he had a choice and he sure as hell wasn't letting Columbus go without a damn good fight.

"Breathe kid..." He mumbled as his hands continued their rhythmic pace. "God dammit, breathe!" He leaned down once more, breathing a full breath into the unconscious young man's lungs. "Fucking breathe, Columbus!"

As if on cue, Columbus jerked slightly, a weak, gurgled sound echoing from deep within his chest. He convulsed weakly, body arching just a bit before he went still again.

"No!" Tallahassee growled, shoving the heel of his hand sharply into Columbus' sternum. "Breathe dammit!"

That was all the encouragement he needed. With a guttural gasp, Columbus convulsed suddenly, coughing and gagging on water as it was expelled from his lungs. He coughed raggedly, curling onto his side and vomiting water onto the damp concrete.

"That's it." The older man encouraged, patting him roughly on the back in an attempt to get the rest of the water out of his lungs. "Cough it up, kid. Let it out..."

Columbus gagged a few more times, wincing as a few more mouthfuls of water were spit out on the ground. When he couldn't cough anything else up, he lay on the concrete, trembling and disoriented. "What the-?" He started but was cut off when someone grabbed him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Don't you ever fucking do that again..." Tallahassee breathed next to his ear, his face hidden against Columbus' neck. He held him tightly, unable to break the contact, almost as if he were afraid if he let go Columbus would still be lying lifeless on the concrete. "I swear to God..."

Columbus relaxed into the embrace, closing his eyes and leaning his head against Tallahassee's shoulder. He was tired, exhausted for reasons he wasn't even sure of and his chest hurt like a son of a bitch. Still, he was perfectly content to sit like this for a bit longer. "I always hated swimming..." He mumbled just as Wichita and Little Rock appeared next to him, wrapping their arms around both Columbus and Tallahassee and hanging on for dear life. They all stayed like that for a long time, each one locked in their own thoughts. Nothing needed to be said; they were together and they were still alive, that's all the mattered to anyone.

When they were finally able to let go of one another, Tallahassee kept his hand fisted in the back of Columbus' shirt, needing the reassurance of the younger man's warmth against him for just a bit longer. They left the back yard, dead zombies and all, and made their way back to the house they'd been staying in. One thing was for sure: no matter how hot it got, Tallahassee was never letting Columbus near a pool ever again.


Hehe, hope you guys liked it!! :D