Chapter 13

The Tension of Tears

The faculty room was filled with minor scuffling as things were being moved around while some of the boys chattered. Once the doors were securely locked, Craig thought it was the time to explain about what he discovered. The boys listened as he informed them about the majority of the 'zombies' being blind. Of course, Cartman argued against that and was joined in by Kenny. But in the end, the boys all agreed to simply refrain from making too much noise, keeping out of sight, and avoid being grabbed.

After a few minutes of searching, the boys found keys to the bus. With that task completed, they then focused on getting some rest and preparing for the next insane move; getting the hell out of school.

"Mmm.." Creamy eyelids flutter open to reveal pools of glistening azure. As the blurred vigilance began to subside, Butters could make out a pair of dark cerulean eyes staring back endearingly. "K-Kenny?"

"Hey Butter-cup.." his soothing vocals brought jitters to the younger blonde's nerves. He had always loved the sound of Kenny's voice, as cliche as that sounded, but Butters didn't care. Ever since he first heard the other blonde speak without his hood, Butters thought he was speaking to an angel. His vocals were deep yet smooth; definitely deeper than his own slightly high pitched vocals. So lost in his thoughts, Butters failed to see the incoming ball of cotton until it touches his lacerated cheek. A pained hiss escapes his pink hued lips when it begins to sting. "Owie! Wh-what is that?!" he whimpers.

A deep chuckle vibrates from Kenny's throat as he pulls the cotton back. With his free hand, Kenny reaches over to caress the jittery blonde's unmarked cheek. "Sorry babe, just bare with me ok? That fucker really did a number on you," he would whisper. Stroking the unmarked flesh, Kenny soothes his little 'Butter-cup' before pressing the piece of cotton on the opposite cheek once more.

As agonizing as it was to endure, Butters nodded his head and brought his face closer for Kenny to mend. Waiting for the older blonde to finish, his azure orbs begin to wander. A large silhouette that was saturated next to Kenny's crouched form nearly made Butters jump out of his skin until realizing it was just Cartman. He catches his breath and sends the hulking brute a calm simper, but is soon taken back when finally noticing the folded up sweater in the grown teen's arms.

"Ey poor boy, found this in a drawer…may fit him," the hulking adolescent said gruffly before copper-toned orbs oscillated to meet confused azures. "How you holding, Butters?" he asked, setting the attire next to him. He then shifted to crouch beside the masculine blonde, which was confusing Butters further. In all his years of knowing the Hitler worshiping sociopath, Butters has never seen the look of concern in the other boy's eyes. It actually frightened him a little. 'Since when did Eric become so…caring?' he thought to himself. His thoughts are soon broken when Kenny presses on his cheek too hard.

"Ow! F-fine, Eric…what happened?" he asked with another whimper.

Kenny pulls back the blood stained cotton-ball and places it aside. "You passed out after that thing attacked you….he tore you up a bit, but lucky for you, your Hello Kitty sweater took most of the damage."

Cartman couldn't help but to laugh at that, "y'hear that, fag? Fucking Hello Kitty saved your ass!"

Looking down towards his torso, a tint of rouge painted over young Butters' visage when seeing how true Cartman's statement was. The entire frontal portion of his favorite sweater had been completely shredded. Bits and pieces still clung to him, but mainly because of the clumps of dry blood crusting over his flesh. Observing more closely, he could see numerous lacerations that had already been taken care of decorating his torso. It's no wonder he felt like he was on fire.

Absent minded, the Stotch boy lifted an arm to carefully smooth it over the bandaged wounds. They itched, but he dared to not scratch at them for fear he may undo the wrappings. Another hand appears and takes hold of the blonde's. Tenderly, it's pulled towards the chapped lips of Kenny McCormick. The rouge tint on Butters' face intensified to a darker shade.

Watching the display of affection being act out in front of him, Cartman rolled his tawny-hued eyes in minor disgust, yet showed no signs of moving away. "God, gag me.." he huffed. He then emits and 'oof' when he's elbowed in the gut by the masculine blonde. "Ey, asshole!"

"Why are you even over here, lard ass? Shouldn't you be checking on Kyle?" Kenny finally spoke up with a low chuckle. He then pivots from the hulking male as he gathered the grey sweater to help dress Butters.

There was a moment of no response from the hulking brunette, which soon struck Kenny as odd. It didn't matter who it was from; Cartman wouldn't let an insult like that go without a final comeback of his own or at least a punch to the insult-er. So as Kenny turned to look back up at the behemoth of teen, he could see the anger clear in the brunette's eyes. But what struck the blonde was also the hint of…worry? "Cartman?" he called.

"Was he bitten?" Cartman questioned. His unreadable gaze fixated on Kenny alone.

"Eric, wh-what are yo-!"

A large hand suddenly reaches out to grab onto the younger blonde's arm, silencing him. The iron grip was harsh, Butters emits a 'yelp' as he is tugged forward towards the larger male. "Did that son ova bitch bite you Butters, yes or no?!"

Icy cerulean orbs were wide in panic as the petite blonde gaze up to what seemed like an angered and impatient quarter-back. The bellowing tone in Cartman's deep vocals petrified the poor teen. He couldn't find his feeble voice. A whimper escapes him when hulking hand is yanked off him and he's pulled into Kenny's lean mass.

"The fuck, Cartman?!" Despite Kenny not wishing to attract attention, his pugnacious snarl rang as loud as Cartman's while he held the trembling Stotch boy in his arms. Across the room from the three boys, the rest of the group had indeed been watching the commotion take place. Craig even looked about ready to jump in and just remind them to keep the volume down. However, it was Kyle who began making his way over to the brunette and two blondes.

Kyle's arms and torso had also suffered minor lacerations, but were now neatly dressed in medical gauze. Who'd thought Clyde was talented in basic first aid? Clyde had even found the red-head a teacher's coat to wear over his tattered attire.

Approaching his close friends, Kyle called out softly, "guys?"

The Jew is ignored when Cartman's voice booms once more, "Look, all I'm asking is if Bu-"

"No!" Butters cut him off. He was growing more and more terrified of Cartman's allocutions. But even though he felt lightheaded and just about ready to faint, Butters managed to find his voice. "N-no Eric…it…it o-only clawed a-at me," he stuttered out. Just great, all this crap was bringing back his stuttering. Butters had hoped after getting with Kenny it had gone away, but apparently it just lay dormant. The timid blonde flinches when feeling a pair of lips pressing upon his forehead. His head is then tilted back as he's pulled into a tighter embrace. It hurt, but Butters didn't mind, it was a good kind of hurt. Chapped lips soon descended onto his, eagerly engulfing them only to reluctantly pull away.

Kenny's brows were furrow and his eyes were dangerously narrowed as he guided Butters to sit him on a random desk. "Just what the fuck are you trying to get out from all this, Cartman?" The masculine's low toned vocals were hoarse and full of repugnant spite. Friend or not, Kenny would pummel anyone who hurt Butters. Hell, he would draw blood from any bastard that so much as made the sweet-hearted boy cry. The fat lard before him may have him out-sized, but even Eric Cartman knew better than to provoke the pugnacious blonde when he was like this.

Wishing for this to not escalate further, Cartman raised his arms up in surrender before clearing his throat. "I just had to make sure," he responded truthfully.

Hearing this made Kenny's brows relax as well as his body, but not because of what the large brunette said. It was the way he said it. For once, Cartman's voice sounded, feeble, sullen, spewing with melancholy if not broken towards the end. It was as if he was trying to keep himself from chocking on his words.

"Make sure…about what?" Kenny pried.

"Look you poor ass piece of shit!" And the asshole was back. "You've seen the movies! If you get bitten, it's fucking over! You might as well put a bullet through your own skull.." the hulking brute snapped.

Kyle's eyes widen. "Cartman!"

A sinister guffaw came vibrating from the opposing blonde as he ambled towards the larger male; as if moving to stand in front of Butters protectively. "So what, you're saying if Butters HAD been bitten, you would have killed him?" Kenny snapped back, his fists clenching tightly. "What, you were going to do it with your bare hands?!"

Shrugging his broad shoulders, Cartman bluntly replied, "I did it to the god damn hippie!"

A tedious silence suddenly fell over the atmosphere of the room. It wasn't until he heard Butters 'gasp' and saw Kenny's knuckles turning white did Cartman realize how badly he just fucked up. Slowly pivoting his turning his bulk mass, he could see Kyle's stiff lean form, biting on his lower lip. 'Fuck me..' Cartman's thoughts were soon invaded when a fist collided with his plump cheek. The surprise punch to the jaw had actually sent the behemoth staggering backwards into a teacher's desk; his mass slamming into it hard. "Gahh! What the fuck, Kenny?!" the brunette hissed while placing a large hand over his throbbing cheek and jaw. Fucker hits harder than expected.

"Of all the fucked up things you've ever pulled, Eric fucking Cartman, this is the lowest of the low even for you!" Kenny's bellows thundered from his lungs as he pugnaciously stomped towards the hulking brunette from across the room and practically straddled onto him. Before Cartman could even retort against the antagonized blonde, strong hands grabbed onto his throat and commenced to squeeze, slowly cutting his airway.

"Oh my gods, Kenny stop!" Kyle immediately panicked from his friend's actions. Without hesitation, he had wrapped his arms around one of the blonde's arms in attempt to pull him off. He was beyond surprised that even with Cartman trying to desperately pry the enraged teen's hands off his throat, Kenny refused to budge. He was completely crazed with rage and blinded by the melancholic of loss.

"You fat heartless son-ova-bitch! Why?!" the blonde ranted, squeezing even tighter, "He was your friend! He was your fucking friend! Why Cartman?!"

The grip around said jock's throat was increasing with each straining intake of breath. The guy had the mind of a viper, squeezing every time Cartman took a strained breath. His vision was even beginning to blur. For the first time in his life, Eric Cartman felt a sense of helplessness. 'He's really going to kill me..'

By this point, Craig had jumped up from across the room and had latched onto Kenny's opposite arm. With the combination of Craig, Kyle, and Token, who latched onto his waist, Kenny was finally pried off the hacking behemoth. Even with the strength of three boys holding him back, Kenny still had blood on his mind.

"You just wait you fat fuck! I'mma slit your fucking thro-"

"Kenny please, just stop! For fuck's sake, he had to do it!" the Jewish teen blurted out.

Once more the room falls silent. Kenny had seized his struggling against the boys holding him in place. He slowly turns from the behemoth to fixate his obviously appalled gaze towards Kyle. "The hell are you saying, Kyle?" he said to him.

Kyle's shoulders trembled violently as he tightly clung to the older boy's arm. As tears were already streaming down his cheeks, he refused to meet Kenny's eyes directly. He just couldn't bare it. He felt like a betrayer in a way.

"H-he didn't…he d-didn't ha-have a…a choice.." the red-head finally choked out.

The tensions within his muscles were starting to wear off and relax. But even so, the blonde's fists continued to clench as he watched best friend breakdown before his navy eyes.

"Stan h-he….he became one o-of th-them! He was bitten by one of th-these damn fuckers tr-trying to s-save me" Kyle bawled, his knees giving out as he lowered down to the floor. "A-after a wh-while.." he sniffed, "he became one of them." The sniveling red-head could careless of the others in the room watching this spectacle. He must have seemed pathetic to them; the confident, prideful Jewish youth here on his knees, bawling like a baby. A light skin-toned hand reaches over and tenderly wraps around Kyle's trembling lithe form, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Oscillating his viridian orbs, Kyle saw it was none other than Kenny himself. A free hand would motion up to his fiery curls and commence in sympathetically stroke over his meshed locks. "Ke-Kenny…he had to d-do it.." the red-head chocked into the blonde's chest. Kenny didn't care that his shirt was getting wet with tears. In silence, he continued to calm the boy with his ministering gesture. "I couldn't do it Kenny! I just couldn't d-"

"Shh, shh,, that's enough," there was no anger in Kenny's tone. In fact, it was as if the light haired male was fighting every fiber in his well-being to not cry. "I'm sorry….I'm sorry, Kyle" he whispered into the Jew's ear, his hand not seizing its placid tender rhythm.

Now that things seemed more tranquil, Craig stepped back to saunter over to where Tweek had been tugging on his hair. Kenny's dark cerulean eyes would follow as the silent jock sat next to the timid teen. He could tell Craig was just as surprised about this as the rest of the boys in the room. Albeit Craig might have seen Stan as a particular rival, he was still a 'friend' to the dark haired teen. A friend to them all.

Kenny's temperate gaze soon motioned over to where Cartman was still trying to regain his much needed oxygen. The Nazi worshiping brute was attentively avoiding his gaze. This actually made Kenny feel guilty after what he had almost done to the hulking male. A part of him really wanted to kill the bastard, but another part could only feel remorse. Either way, it may be a while before he can look at Cartman the same way again.

And so shit starts getting real.

Until the next chapter!

Review and Comments are loved.

(Fixed)