October 13

1413 Hours

With Irene and the first bottle gone the next person went on to throw the bottle. Preston scrammed as soon the bottle left his hand. It successfully landed farther away than Irene's, dragging an even larger cluster away from the horde. Red threw his bottle and it landed on a car that was a few feet away from where Preston's landed. The alarm instantly started blaring out, most of the horde gone from the entrance, yet it still was dangerously close to it. Paula managed to throw her surprisingly far from the rest, hitting another car. The horde was dragged farther down the street. There were still a handful lingering near the exit and they needed to be dragged away. Aryll walked up to the edge and looked around, trying to decide where to throw her own bottle.

"Hey, throw it down this street." Tetra said. The alley was completely barren of creepers and seemed like the perfect place to lure in a horde. The little girl ran to where Tetra was and lit the rag. She flung the bottle so that it would fall in the entrance to the street. And it did. The handful of creepers began their way towards the flames. Tetra threw her own bottle deeper down the street, where the creepers followed like obedient little pawns. Both blonde girls ran down the staircase and left Link and Ness alone.

"I'm going to go on ahead and… throw this thing." Link said as he neared the edge. He placed one of the bottles down and pulled his lighter out. Once the rag was lit he threw the bottle away it landed next to where the car Paula had hit was. The creepers kept gathering farther and farther away. Ness walked towards the edge and threw his own bottle, managing to clear the entrance. The couple stared at the two bottles left.

"Let's save these. We may need them."Link said as he picked his own. He turned around and began trotting towards the door, ignoring the raven haired boy.

"You know, I'm sorry." Ness spoke before Link managed to reach the door. The blonde stopped at this. He turned towards the raven haired boy with a questioning look. "About Lucas…" He could feel two daggers dig deep into his nape. "I had to think for the well being of everyone." He added. The crunching of footsteps could be heard behind him.

"I…" Link started while standing dangerously close to Ness. He raised his hand and grabbed the other boy's shirt. Ness turned his head to look back at him. His head hung low and his shoulders shook slightly. The taller boy tugged slightly at his shirt in order to free it from the blonde's grasp. It slipped right away with no resistance from Link. The blonde rubbed his eyes for a moment before looking up at Ness.

"I don't want to…" Link started, his voice weak and cracked. He contained an impending sob and out came out a soft groan instead. "I don't…" He tried to finish but his hiccups wouldn't let him.

"What don't you want-" Ness tried to ask him but got shoved back instead.

"I don't want to hear your shitty apologies and I don't want to hear his name in your mouth." He shouted after that. Link took a step back before looking up to meet Ness's cold gaze. "I bet that if it would've been one of your fucking boyfriends that are downstairs you would've done anything to get to them." He spat out venomously, turning on his heels after he finished. Ness remained immobile for a moment before he picked his bottle and trotted into the staircase.


October 13

1419 Hours

The group was standing at the end of the food court and at the beginning of the escalator. They were staring at the barricade with uncertainty.

"Listen to me." Ness spoke after the silence had become deafening. All the heads of the group snapped towards him. He gave the barricade a glance and nodded to himself. There were three sofas, two aligned and pressed against the door and one perpendicular to them. "Okay…Red and Preston are going to pulling the couch on the right and Tetra and Link the one on the left. Irene and Paula are taking care of the one in the middle. Aryll… I'm taking care of her." The group nodded at this and they lined up in front of the escalator. "One…" Ness took the lead of half of the group and Link stood next to him on the other escalator. His gaze never met Ness's. "Two…" The air around them grew tense as they all held in their breath. "Three!" They all started running down the steps at full speed. Ness stood back with Aryll's hand in his as the rest of the group dispersed and pulled on the couches. Once the couches were out the way the raven haired boy secured his grip on the hammer and the little girl before running towards the door. He violently kicked them open and began running down the street. A bunch of creepers turned to the fleeing group. Ness zigzagged through the few creepers left on the street, avoiding their grasp at all costs. Aryll had a hard time keeping up with his pace.

"Aryll!" He shouted as he stopped when a creeper managed to grab her by the hair. He instinctively dove the hammer in the creeper's skull. It fell down next to Aryll who was currently crying rivers. He pulled her along with him again. The rest of the group managed to put a few down on their way. Irene deftly avoided the ones that threw themselves at her. Tetra had no problems hitting their heads with her bat. Paula sneaked around them almost imperceptibly. A flaxen shadow ran to his side.

"Which one is your car?!" Tetra shouted at him. Ness looked at her for a second. He eyed their surroundings looking for the vehicle. It was a few blocks down the road.

"The black Ford SUV!" Ness shouted back at her. The closer they got to the car, the more creepers chased them. The raven haired began digging his pockets for the keys. Once he got a hold of them he sped up his pace. "Aryll! I'm going to let you go, but you've gotta keep running!" He shouted at the little girl. Without warning his grasp on her disappeared. His pace immediately increased. Ness then felt a jab on his right side and the next moment he was rolling on the floor. When his eyes opened, he saw a creeper crawling towards him. He felt a warm liquid pooling around him. His gaze shifted down to his side. Fucking great… The boy turned his gaze towards the creepers. Everything had become blurry. All he could make up were silhouettes. They slowly trotted towards him, all with an inconsistent limp of their legs. Suddenly, five silhouettes, that moved faster than the others, entered his vision. They swung objects at the slower moving silhouettes, which caused them to collapse to the floor. His head turned to the creeper now at arm length of him. His body ordered him to scream, kick, punch, or at least gasp, but all he could do is open his mouth in an attempt of a scream. The creepers head was then crushed by a boot, the bloody grey matter splattering everywhere. A pair of arms grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up to his feet. The blurriness in his eyes cleared and was transformed into a searing pain that traveled down to his left side, where a share of glass had lodged itself. He then began looking the floor for the keys he'd dropped.

"Hey! I have them! Now let's get going!" Tetra yelled at him as she shook the keys. Ness sucked in a breath as they began moving forwards, the girl helping him walk. Link ran to Tetra and snatched the keys from her hand. He then turned around to face them.

"Here, give me your bags. I'll take it to the car." The blonde said as he pulled the backpacks off them and dashed ahead of them. The group quickly followed him, Preston being the one to stay back and help Tetra.

"You go on ahead! Have everything packed and ready for when we get ready!" He said to her as he positioned himself in front of Ness. He then pulled the raven haired onto his back, his stomach lying on his shoulder. Ness let out a wail at this, followed by a series of strained moans. Preston ran as fast as he could with the boy on top of him. After a couple of minutes of the most strenuous trotting he had ever undergone the brunette reached the car.

"Take me to the driver's seat…" Ness mumbled. Preston looked back and saw the horde was after them. He hesitated a moment before putting his friend back on his feet and helping him up into the car. He then ran to the open doors and jumped in just in time to avoid a creeper. Paula shut the doors in a hurry. The raven haired boy started the engine with weak hand. He then stepped gently on the gas, his face growing wan by the second. Soon, the car was moving and the creepers were left behind.

"Ness, stop the car somewhere in here. You can't drive in your state." Tetra said from the passenger's seat.

"I'm… getting us… out the city… first…" He panted. The blonde girl tried to argue once again, but she earned herself a glare instead. Her thin lips met and she remained silent.


October 13

1430 Hours

The car was parked in the middle of nowhere and Ness was laid on top of a plastic bag on the pavement. Tetra was treating his wound while Red and Preston kept guard. The boy let out a growl from deep within throat when the alcohol met his gash.

"I told we would need a lot of it." Tetra said as she giggled. Ness weakly scoffed. The girl rolled her eyes as she continued cleaning the wound with the gauze. She then grabbed a surgical suture from her own personal backpack.

"They have those at pharmacies?" Preston asked bemused. Tetra shook her head as she took out a needle holder out too.

"Before… Before all this happened I used to steal my mother's supplies and practice on my stuffed animals. Still did until recently." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I would've liked to become a doctor myself." She added as a dreamy smile played on her lips. It lasted a fleeting second before she leaned down towards Ness. "Breath, it is going to hurt like a bitch." And with that all the sweetness in her flew into oblivion. The next ten minutes were filled with curses, tears, banters, and a few laughs from everybody.

"Thank you." Ness said as he looked up into her sky blue eyes. She rolled her eyes, dusting herself off as she stood back up. The boy remained on the floor, refusing to make any brusque movements at the moment.

"Chop, chop. We need to get you into a new shirt and into a clean place." Tetra said as she extended a hand towards the boy.

"I'm alright… It's not even that cold." He said nonchalantly as he looked around the place. He could tell the temperature around them neared the forties but he remained obstinate in the decision of laying down. The blonde girl laughed at this as she crossed her arms.

"Ness, you're currently shirtless. I can see your nipples and I tell you, you can poke an eye out with them right now." She said with her voice filled with amusement. Red and Preston shared a laugh of their own at this.

"Bite me." The boy on the ground said. Tetra bent down and got a hold of his hands.

"Come on, Nessie, on your feet." She tauntingly cooed as she tugged at his limp arms.

"No, Tetra…" He tried to counter, but her tugging turned into pulling.

"One!" She started counting.

"Ow! Tetra!"

"Two!"

"Shi- Stop you scarlet woman!"

"Three!" She said as she pulled him up to his feet. His weight pushed her up against the car.

"Fuck youuuu."