As always,

THEMoDePo: You know what? I hadn't planned on killing Artie, it just happened! Sometimes the story gets a mind of its own, you know? About Blaine turning into Rick... I can't see that happening. Come on, Blaine is too much of a sweetheart to become like that (and I don't really like Rick, to be honest). But thanks for the ideas! And especially thanks for the constant and very appreciated support! You're the best! :)

Darrinia: oh my God, I'm sorry I'm killing all your favorites! And well... there will be more deaths yet, at least one :( And yes, I want to finish the story, it's just... It's being a very hard time for me and writing isn't coming exactly easy, you know. But I promise I will try my very best. And also yes, a bit of friendly Coopbastian (now and on the next chapter) coming just for you ;) Thank you so much for always being there for me! I love you!

Raiderva: I'm glad you liked Artie's passing... but hey, don't go ahead of the story, the wheelchair is not lost! And you don't know how much your words mean to me... Thank you for them, I'm so glad to see you think so highly of my stories! Thank you so much, dear! :)

Mildlifecrissis: Well, of course you can't expect Blaine to just sit and look at how the others fight, right? He has had to do that enough and he can't stand it. And yes, I love how everyone loves him (as in the show they pretty much ignored him most of the time), though obviously Sam is the one who loves him the most. And thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the constant support, readers like you keep me going! :)

Me-Me157: Please, don't apologize. You know that, as much as I love your reviews, it's not mandatory for you to leave them, right? Yeah, I know the last chapters were kind of slow, so that's why there is going to be a lot of action from now on. I'm so glad you liked it ;) Abnd of course I wanted to thank you for all your support all through the story, you're so great!

A: You want to know a secret? I'm not a big fan of zombies either ;) I just wanted to get Blam into a lot of survival situations and this seemed like the best way :) I'm glad you decided to give it a chance and that you liked it. I intend to write more blam (I have to one-shots on the go), I'm just not very inspired lately. But I will try! Thank you!

Guest: I know... :( Thank you so much!

A/N: I don't think I can keep apologizing... But please, don't give up on me, I'm still here, struggling to keep going in spite of all the difficulties! I will make it!

CHAPTER 25

Blaine felt the cold even before he dared opening his eyes, even if he was tightly wrapped in two blankets that only left his head uncovered. He was surprised he wasn't engulfed in Sam's embrace anymore –that fact contributing to the cold in his body and in his heart–, but he had been so exhausted the day before, and they had spent so much time just crying in each other's arms until dawn, that it was probably quite late and Sam had left him to sleep as he got up to start the day.

Just thinking about Artie brought fresh tears to Blaine's eyes, even if his eyes already felt sticky because of the ones he had shared just before falling asleep. He was gone. Just like that. He had been bitten right in front of their eyes and no one had been able to stop it or even realized for a whole day. Blaine tried to reason with himself and admit that they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it even if they had known from the beginning, but still… It was so unfair…

He quickly dried the tears from his eyes –he was not the only one hurting, he didn't have the right to dwell on his sadness while the others got everything done– and finally managed to open them. He was surprised to find himself alone, with none of his friends around to tell him what was happening. His heart filling with dread, he managed to sit up, desperate to find some answers about the whereabouts of the only people left in his world, and he almost got a heart attack when a strong voice sounded behind him.

"Morning, Squirt"

"Gosh, Coop" Blaine protested as he instinctively brought a hand to his heart as if he was trying to control his heartbeat, turning around to look at his brother, who had been sitting behind him all alone –of course Blaine would never be left alone in his condition, he should have known that–. "Don't ever scare me like that again"

"I'm sorry, buddy" Cooper immediately apologized, moving closer to his brother so he could rearrange the blankets and put them around his shoulders now that he was sitting up when he noticed the younger boy starting to shiver at the morning cold of the gas station.

"Where is everybody?" Blaine asked, smiling gratefully at his big brother for his constant attentions. Gosh, how he had missed him!

"They… uhm… they went to retrieve Artie's body to bury it" Cooper hesitantly explained, not wanting to cause his brother even more pain than the one already reflected in his big eyes but knowing he couldn't lie to him. "They're probably paying their respects to him right now"

"I should be there too" Blaine lamented while shaking his head and breaking Cooper's heart all along.

"You need your rest and everybody knows that. And as I hardly knew him, we decided it would be appropriate for me to be the one to stay here with you so all the others could go. Although it was not that easy to convince Sam to leave your side even if it was only for while" Cooper explained with an amused smile that told Blaine how he was only half joking –and knowing Sam and how protective he was, he could totally believe it.

"I still can't believe we lost Artie just like that" Blaine said, furiously drying a stray tear that had found its way down his cheek before he could stop it.

"I know" Cooper understandingly answered as he put his arm around his brother's shoulder to side-embrace him, trying to offer some kind of comfort. "It's so sad and unfair… But we have to go on"

"I know… But if you or Sam…" Blaine tried to say, but his voice broke down before he could voice his deepest fear. Not that his brother needed to hear his words to understand it.

"We'll be alright" Cooper tried to reassure him, squeezing him more strongly to his side until Blaine rested his head on his shoulder, his heart breaking at the obvious fact that Blaine was much more afraid to lose either one of them than about his own life. "Just as you'll be. We'll protect each other"

"Ok" Blaine answered, and even he could see how little convinced he sounded. After all, they all had been protecting Artie too and he was now gone. But he didn't have the energy to keep talking, or even think, so he disentangled from his brother's embrace and lied down again. "I think I'm going to sleep some more, I'm still so tired"

"Of course" Cooper answered understandingly, fondly ruffling his little brother's hair for a second. Even if he was really tired or he just wanted to escape from reality for a bit longer, Cooper could understand, and he would gladly grant him his wish, he thought as he tucked the blankets more securely around his little brother's form.

Blaine realized he might indeed have dozed off again when he didn't feel a presence near him until there were some lips resting the sweetest kiss to his temple.

"Hey" Sam's familiar and comforting voice sounded impossibly close to his ear, so Blaine forced himself to open his eyes to look at the person he loved the most in the world.

"Hey" Blaine answered, even offering a small smile that he was sure wasn't reaching his eyes, as he sat up to give a quick peck to Sam's lips that somehow turned into a long and slow kiss meant to reassure them both of the love they shared.

"Did you have some breakfast?" Sam asked once the kiss broke, resting his forehead against his boyfriend's as if he was not ready to separate from him yet.

"No, I'm not hungry" Blaine answered before he could stop himself, though he knew that wasn't going to be a satisfactory answer for his worrier of a lover.

"Well, you need to eat something in order to take your medicines" Sam unsurprisingly replied as he finally separated from Blaine, although just enough to reach a plate he had left near while he woke him up. "And you're going to need all the energy you can get"

"Alright" Blaine easily agreed, even if eating was the last thing in his mind, if only because he wanted to make it easy on Sam, and he took the plate from his hands to start eating.

"Thank you" Sam honestly said as Blaine took the first bite, very well understanding he was only doing it for him.

"Cooper said… Did you…?" Blaine tried to ask, though his voice faltered before he could even finish his question. Fortunately for him, Sam knew him like the back of his hand and could easily guess what he had been trying to ask.

"Yeah, we couldn't just leave him there" Sam answered with a grave tone as his hand tenderly squeezed Blaine's thigh in a poor attempt of comfort. After all, he had been able to say his goodbyes to their friend, or kind of, while Blaine had been left behind.

"How… how did it go?"

"We kind of did a funeral… Like the one you threw for Ryder"

"How's everybody?" Blaine asked, and Sam's heart warmed at the familiarity of Blaine worrying about everyone –at least some things never changed, even in a hell like that, right?

"They're hanging on" Sam tried to reassure his boyfriend while taking his hand in his and entwining their fingers together. "Kitty is… having a hard time, but I'm sure she'll make it with time. She's a strong girl"

"I should have been there" Blaine lamented while his eyes got slightly glassy with unshed tears and Sam's heart broke at the image.

"Hey, you need to take care of yourself, and that is more important than anything else" Sam rushed to say, and it sounded as if he had been expecting Blaine's words and had the answer ready to comfort him –and to know Sam knew him so well and cared so much about his feelings warmed Blaine's heart a thousand times more than any words could do. "Artie would have told you that himself"

"I know" Blaine agreed with a sad smile, this time being him the one to squeeze Sam's hand to let him know he was alright.

"Then don't think about it" Sam said as he put his arm around Blaine to bring him closer and kissed his forehead in a comforting gesture. "You can say your goodbyes to him internally… Or you can voice your thoughts and I will listen to them if it's of any help"

Blaine smiled in appreciation of Sam's constant need to make everything easier for him, and he was going to reciprocate all his love with a kiss when they were interrupted by Puck.

"Here" Puck said in a serious tone as he wheeled Artie's chair until it was in front of Blaine. "You should use it, Blaine"

"What? No" Blaine instinctively refused before he could even begin to think how much sense it made for him to use it.

"I know it feels all kinds of wrong, but… it isn't" Puck sadly added, trying to convince him even if he knew it wouldn't be easy for him either if he was in his situation. "It doesn't make sense leaving it here to root when you could use it"

"No, Puck, I…"

"Blaine, Artie would have wanted for you to use it" Puck interrupted Blaine even before he could begin to protest. "You know how much he cared about his friends. Gosh, he wheeled himself a long way just in case some walkers could hear the shot so it wouldn't bring them to us! If there was anything he could do to make it easier for the rest…"

"Still…" Blaine tried to protest, but again Puck was having none of it.

"Look, I understand how you feel, but we're going to need to walk a lot today. You know you won't be able to hang on for long in your state, and that Sam or Cooper will eventually need to help you or even carry you again. Why don't you make it easier on them, even if you won't do it for yourself?" Puck knew it was a dirty trick, he had seen enough of the boy to know it would be easier to convince him to do something through the people he loved. But he didn't care, he wanted to make it as easy as possible on his friends and he would say whatever was needed to accomplish it.

Blaine sighed in what seemed like surrender before turning to look at his boyfriend's face, as if asking him for his opinion. After all, he was probably going to be the one to pay the consequences of his decision the most –or in other words, the one that would end up carrying him around if he couldn't go on–, so he should have a say in it.

"Puck is right" Sam said as he unconsciously played with a stray curl on Blaine's forehead. "You need it. And using it doesn't make you a bad person, you know. Artie would be glad that some good came out of his passing"

"Alright" Blaine finally surrendered, knowing he didn't have any arguments to refute Puck's and Sam's words, even if it still didn't feel right. But as Puck had said, if there was any way to make it easier on Sam and Cooper, after everything they had done for him, he had to take it. "I'll use it"

"Good" Sam agreed with a reassuring kiss to his cheek. "And now let's get this breakfast into you so we can keep going"

For once, nobody tried to convince the others to stay in the place. Even if they knew Blaine was really not up to travel, the little shop in the gas station was not a safe place: one of the walls was completely made of glass, which meant they could easily be seen from outside, and an attack from other people would be too easy if they thought they could have something useful to steal. Even the walkers could break in if they somehow managed to break the glass if too many of them piled up on it –as they already did with the fence back at McKinley–. Plus it was a very cold place, and they doubted they could really get any rest if they couldn't stop shivering.

So it wasn't long before they were ready to leave. Blaine wordlessly got up from the floor thanks to Sam helping hand and moved to sit on Artie's chair, trying not to dwell on how wrong and weird it felt. But when no one said a thing or even looked twice at him, Blaine understood they had talked about it prior giving the chair to them and all of them had agreed that it was the best solution. And knowing nobody was judging him and everyone cared so much for his wellbeing helped, if only a little.

Blaine took advantage of the fact that everyone was getting their bags and backpacks on their backs to start wheeling ahead of them, not wanting to give anyone –mostly Sam and Cooper– the chance to push the chair for him when he could perfectly do it. It wasn't as easy as it looked, though, as he didn't have the years of practice Artie had –and even then, the other boy had needed help after a while too–, and he hadn't moved for more than five minutes when the cramps in his arms couldn't be ignored anymore and he was forced to stop.

He raised his gaze as he tried to regain his breath, and he was surprised to see Sam standing next to him, looking sardonically at him as if he had been expecting exactly that to happen. But Blaine knew he shouldn't be surprised: after all, it was strange that Sam hadn't even tried to help him when they started moving, so he was probably just waiting until Blaine would realize what a fool he was being on his own.

"You about done?" Sam asked, arms crossed over his chest while looking sarcastically at him with an obnoxious smirk on his face.

"Yeah" Blaine relented while looking down to avoid his boyfriend's gaze, obviously embarrassed about having made a fool of himself.

"It's easier to push it, you know" Sam said, all joking aside immediately as he moved behind Blaine's chair to help him with it, only taking a second to kiss the top of his head in a comforting gesture before starting to push him. "Plus I want to take care of you"

"You've already done so much" Blaine lamented, stretching his neck all the way back so he could see Sam's face over him, and was rewarded with another kiss, this time to his forehead.

"Well, then let me a little more"

"But…"

"You'd do the same for me" Sam interrupted him before he got too driven away. After all, he could perfectly understand how vulnerable and useless the situation made Blaine feel, especially considering he had been the leader and the strongest of the bunch until then. But Blaine had selflessly taken care of him in that hospital, and anything that Sam did for him would never compensate that. "Hell, you did the same for me, and I wasn't even awake to thank you"

"You would have complained too if you had been awake" Blaine only half-joked, knowing Sam had the same independent and strong nature that he had and would have hated to know someone was taking care of him like that.

"Ok, you might have a point there" Sam agreed with a chuckle and a last squeeze to Blaine's shoulder before resuming their pace so as not to be left behind the rest of the group.

Without having to adjust themselves to Blaine's slow pace from the day before, the group was managing to make a good time in their walking. They were still lost in the middle of nowhere, though, and that thought was so scary that hardly anybody found the motivation to talk. After all, they had decided to travel but not under those circumstances: not on foot and surely not while Blaine was still not up for travelling. They only wished they would get somewhere soon to rest and protect themselves for a few days until the circumstances improved.

Sebastian turned around after a while to check on Blaine, still worried about his condition after the extreme effort he had been forced to make the day before, and he was glad to find him in a much better condition than the day before thanks to the fact he didn't need to walk. Blaine caught his worried gaze and sent him a grateful smile, moved that his friend would worry so much about him, but before Sebastian could reciprocate the gesture, something far away behind Blaine and Sam caught his attention.

"There are walkers following us" Sebastian said, his voice suddenly full of a fear that made everyone turn around to check that what he was saying was true.

"Schhhh" Cooper tried to shush the youngsters when they started getting nervous and talking louder than before at the discovery.

"Coop, did you know about it?" Blaine asked, having noticed the lack of surprise in his brother at the news.

"They've been following us practically from the beginning" Cooper explained, resuming his walking and expecting everyone just to follow him, which they did.

"What?" Jake asked, too loudly for Cooper's taste.

"Keep your voice down!" he admonished him in a whisper.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Blaine asked with no trace of reproach in his voice, as he knew how sensible his brother was so he was sure he had a good reason.

"Because there was no reason for getting everybody nervous" Cooper explained, and Blaine's heart warmed at how Cooper worried and took care of everyone, even if he hardly knew them. "They're slow, much slower than us. They will never catch us if we keep up this pace. It's the ones scattered around this area that should worry us, and that's why we need to be silent"

"They'll catch us if we stop" Sam added, looking worriedly at Blaine, who would need to rest sooner or later even in spite of the chair.

"We won't be able to stop unless we find somewhere to stay, I'm afraid" Cooper lamented, perfectly understanding –and sharing– Sam's worries about his little brother.

"Then we will keep going" Blaine intervened, trying to reassure the other two that he would be alright and they didn't need to worry about him. Even if he perfectly knew they would worry anyway.

They unconsciously started walking even faster than before, wanting to put a bigger distance between the walkers and themselves even if they knew that what Cooper said was true, and it was highly improbable that the walkers could catch them. But knowing those monsters were following them made them feel at ease, and only the fact that they knew there could be more of them around, closer, kept them from screaming their frustrations.

Pushing Blaine's chair was surely easier than carrying him on his back, but after doing it with no rest for so long it started becoming a heavy task for Sam too. Not that he was going to complain, of course: as Cooper had said, they couldn't possibly stop. And even if he knew he could ask for somebody to relieve him of his task, he didn't want Blaine to think he wouldn't do anything in the world to take care of him, after everything he had done for him. He didn't have any intention of delegating his task to anybody else, but just the thought of keeping pushing the chair all day made him sigh tiredly before he could stop himself. He wished Blaine wouldn't notice. But of course he was not going to be so lucky.

"You tired, honey?" Blaine immediately asked, turning his head back to look into Sam's face, just in case his boyfriend decided to lie about it.

"No, I'm okay" Sam immediately answered, as Blaine was expecting, in a joking tone to sound more convincing. "Do I need to remind you how not heavy you are, my sweet tiny boyfriend?"

"He might be tiny, but he gets heavy after a while" Cooper intervened, also joking but making it perfectly clear he was not buying Sam's pretence. "Let me push the chair for a while"

"No, I can do it" Sam insisted, not even stopping in case Cooper decided to take the matter into his own hands and push him away from the chair.

"I know you can, but your arms are going to kill you tomorrow. Let me help"

"No, really, I'm ok"

"Sam" Blaine intervened, knowing he was going to need to use a little persuasion –or even manipulation– to convince him. "Why don't you let Cooper push me for a while and you walk next to me? I haven't seen your face all morning and I miss you"

Even though Sam could clearly see what Blaine was doing, he couldn't help but sigh and surrender. After all, his arms and his back were starting to hurt, and walking alongside his boyfriend instead of behind him suddenly sounded like the greatest idea ever.

"You manipulative bastard…" Sam mumbled loud enough for Blaine to hear it while he finally let go of the chair, which made the latter chuckle, and as soon he saw Blaine's sweet smile he realized how much he'd missed seeing his face too. "But I've missed you too" he confessed while taking his hand in his.

"I knew it" Blaine joked, pretending to be so full of himself, but he still squeezed Sam's hand in his to let him know he was just fooling around and how grateful he was for all his help.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked, noticing how the color still had to return to Blaine's usually golden cheeks and how dark the bags under his eyes still were even if he had slept a few hours.

"I'm good" Blaine answered, and he sounded honest enough. It was probably just a matter of time until he got completely well, right? "Much better than yesterday now that I don't have to walk"

"You still should be resting" Sam lamented with a sigh as he gently caressed Blaine's pale cheek with his free hand. "You're still not up to this. You still…"

"I know, Sam" Blaine interrupted him before he could work himself up, but he brought the blond's hand to his lips to kiss its knuckles in gratitude. "But we don't have another option"

"Fuck, I know" Sam answered with a soft voice in spite of the pain in his heart and how much it made him want to scream, even if Blaine knew better.

"But hey, I'm going to be okay, you know? I promise"

"It should be me trying to encourage you to resist and not the other way around" Sam replied with a sad chuckle, as usual marveled at Blaine's courage and strength.

"Knowing you care and worry so much about me encourages me more than enough" Blaine tried to reassure him in total honesty. After all, only a few days ago Sam was afraid of admitting his feelings for him, and now he never failed to demonstrate to him how much he loved him in any occasion he got.

Sam didn't move an inch from Blaine side from then on as the latter's big brother pushed the chair, both of them relinquishing in the pleasure of holding hands and being close enough to have a quiet and silly conversation for once –and even exchange some sweet smiles and quick kisses under the amused and fond gaze of Cooper.

Only a soft thud and a surprised yelp broke their enchantment, and they turned around in surprise to find Sebastian lying face-first on the ground.

"Seb! You okay?" Blaine asked, immediately worried even if he could hear some of the others trying to stifle their laughs at the ridiculous incident. After all, it just seemed as if Sebastian had managed to trip with some minuscule rock.

"Fuck!" Sebastian exclaimed embarrassedly as he sat up, but he saw Blaine's worried expression and he rushed to reassure him he was alright. "Yes, I'm okay, I just tripped"

"Guess we now know who the clumsiest one of the group is" Puck intervened, and this time some of the others weren't able to help it anymore and openly laughed at Sebastian's antics.

"Ha ha ha, you're so funny, Puckerman" Sebastian answered, his voice a funny mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

"You sure you're okay?" Trent asked after having a good laugh, worried about his friend even if the situation seemed so funny. "You didn't hurt an ankle or anything?"

"No, just my pride" Sebastian answered, finally smiling himself as he shook the dust out of his hands. "Help me up, will you?"

"Don't move" Cooper suddenly intervened, cryptically keeping his voice down as he extended a hand in front of him to reinforce his words and stop him from making any move.

"Why?" Sebastian asked, his face the mask of confusion even if he obeyed.

"There is a rattlesnake just behind you" Cooper answered, and it wasn't until silence fell amongst all of them with shock that they could clearly hear its sound.

"What?" Sebastian exclaimed in panic, but somehow he managed not to move or even raise his voice, trusting Cooper to tell him what to do.

"If you move it might feel cornered and attack you, and it's very poisonous. One of them killed one of the people from my plane" Cooper explained, his voice almost a whisper as he tried to keep the kids –and the snake– calm.

"Coop, what can we do?" Blaine asked, not even trying to belie the fear he was feeling for his friend, and Sam rested a gentle hand on his shoulder to keep him from panicking. "Should we…?"

"No!" Cooper shushed him to stop him, afraid his little brother would make a wrong move in his need to help his friend. "Nobody moves"

Maybe it was the fact that Cooper sounded so confident; maybe it was because he was older and thereafter more experienced; or maybe it was because he was an Anderson and they had already seen what those were capable of. But the thing was that nobody moved a muscle under Cooper's command and they patiently waited until he very carefully took a couple of steps to the side to get a better angle and then he swiftly got his gun out of his waistband and shot at the snake in one quick movement, killing it instantly even if the snake was already in the middle of the jump to attack Sebastian.

Everybody remained rooted to the place in shock for a second, thinking about how close they had been to losing Sebastian, but it was again Cooper who made them react.

"Run!" he shouted to get the others into motion, making them understand that the inevitable shot would have alerted all the walkers around to come to their encounter.

Sam didn't hesitate to put himself behind Blaine's chair again and started pushing while he ran, glad to hear the others also starting to move all around them. They didn't have any time to waste, and now that a lot of walkers were going to appear from the trees surrounding the main road, he was sure of that, they would need to find a way to give the skip to them, as they couldn't keep running forever and the walkers, even if they were slow, never stopped.

They hadn't covered a long distance when the wheelchair carrying Blaine, which had clearly not been designed to be pushed with that high a speed over such an unstable terrain, gave away and lost one of his wheels, sending both Blaine and Sam to the ground with the unexpectedness of it.

Blaine had hardly hit the ground before his brother's hands were already grabbing him under the armpits to get him on his feet.

"Are you alright?" Cooper asked, wincing at the angry-looking scratch on Blaine's cheek from when he had hit the ground, though fortunately he didn't seem to have been injured further than that.

"Sam!" Blaine yelled, unintentionally ignoring his brother as he watched his boyfriend still on the ground, groaning in spite of himself as he held his left shoulder with the opposite hand.

"I'm alright" Sam rushed to answer as Blaine's panicked face suddenly appeared in front of him as the smaller boy ran to kneel at his side. "I just hit my shoulder, but I don't think it's dislocated. You?"

"Let me see it" Blaine begged, not even remembering to answer as he tried to move Sam's clothes to the side so he could check his shoulder, but once again his brother's hands grabbed him and stopped him from it.

"We don't have time for that now" Cooper said, already throwing Blaine's arm around his shoulders so he could help him on their escape, only once he saw that Puck and Kitty were helping Sam to his feet.

They had only taken a couple of steps when Sam, already on his feet and acting as if there was nothing wrong with him, made them stop for a second so he could take Blaine's other arm around him and help him from his other side, his arm closing immediately around the curly-haired boy's waist to give him better balance. Of course he wasn't going to let others take care of Blaine for him if he could help it, Cooper thought with a smile, feeling grateful that his brother had found someone who cared about him so much even in a situation like that.

"Let's go" Sam confidently said.

Practically carrying the smaller boy between the other two, they continued running with the rest of their friends. The distance with the walkers following them was getting increasingly bigger as they ran, but the bigger problem were those other walkers coming out of the woods, having been alerted by the shot and the noise they were making now as they ran, as they were much closer to them, and they were starting to get tired.

"Gosh, look!" Marley exclaimed, getting everybody's attention ahead of them.

The rainstorm from the days before –and which already had forced them to leave the house they had considered a home for some days– seemed to have been even worse in that area, and the force of the water, even if it was already mostly gone, had caused a portion of the road to cave in a good drop.

"That's great!" Cooper exclaimed with a smile in his face. "That will keep the walkers at bay"

"It could be dangerous" Trent protested, hesitantly, as they had no idea how stable that terrain could be. "We don't know what we will find down there!"

"But we know what we will find up here, so come on!" Cooper insisted, and he let go of his brother to sit on the edge of the drop and jump.

"Coop!" Blaine practically screamed, and only Sam's arm around him kept him from trying to grab his big brother and falling after him.

"I'm alright, see?" Cooper said from down the pitch, looking reassuringly towards his brother. "And now come on, I'll help you"

"Cooper, are you really sure…?" Sebastian tried to ask, still not convinced, but the yelp coming from Mike at having to kill a walker that had been very close to bite Santana from behind stopped him.

"Guys, I don't have the time to convince you, jump right now!" Cooper ordered with the authority that his older age gave him, and the kids immediately obeyed and jumped from the edge just as Cooper had done, helping each other so nobody would end up hurt.

As soon as everyone was down, they started running towards the other side of the pitch, knowing it was just a matter of time that the walkers would also jump behind them. Getting out of the drop again was not going to be so easy, but they knew it meant being safe so they would do whatever it took.

"I'm going up first so I can help you from up there" Sam told his boyfriend, knowing there was no way Blaine would be able to climb that far in his weakened state even if he helped him from below. "Puck, help me up, please"

Puck obeyed and entwined his own hands together so Sam could rest his foot on them and jump while Puck was able to lift him as high as possible, so the blond could hopefully reach the edge and get all the way up. It was easier said than done, though, as Sam painful shoulder kept him from moving as easily was he would like. He ended up hanging from the edge, not strong enough to cover the rest of the distance, and only when Sebastian made it all the way up thanks to Trent's help and was able to grab him from above, Sam was able to safely reach the top of the drop.

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked from all the way down, obviously worried about Sam's struggles and the pain he could so obviously see in his face.

"Don't worry, I'm…" Sam started to answer, but when he turned to look at the people still downstairs, he was appalled to see some of the walkers were starting to jump from the edge at the other end of the pitch, and if they didn't get out of there immediately, they would end up stuck with them in there, which would undoubtedly turn the situation into tragedy. "Everybody up, come on!" Sam yelled, desperately. "Cooper, get Blaine up so I can lift him from here!"

Cooper didn't hesitate to do what he was told and grabbed his brother to lift him up as much as he could. Of course it wasn't that easy with Blaine because he couldn't help that much in his situation, and he wasn't able to propel himself up to reach Sam's outstretched arms and the strategy of using Cooper's hands –like Puck had done with Sam– didn't work and Blaine fell to the floor before he could stop it.

"Come on!" Sam impatiently rushed them from his position, lying down on his stomach over the edge so he could reach his boyfriend's hand more easily, even if he hadn't managed to do so yet.

"We're trying!" Cooper protested in frustration as he tried again to lift his brother enough while holding onto his legs, almost breaking down into tears of helplessness when he could hear the increasing babbling sound of the walkers coming closer to them yet still he couldn't do anything to help.

"Ok, Sam, forgive me for this" Puck said before he climbed halfway on the wall until he could grab onto some root protruding from it and with a scream from the effort he was doing, he put one hand under Blaine's bottom and pushed him up as much as he could while trying not to fall himself.

It wasn't much, but it was just enough so Sam could grab on one of Blaine's stretched arms before Puck could drop him. He was afraid of hurting his boyfriend because he was holding his whole weight by just one of his arms, but he couldn't reach the other one as much as he tried. He tried pulling him, but he was not strong enough to lift him like that even if Blaine tried to help all he could with his strong legs against the wall. Fortunately for him, Sebastian was at his side in an instant, he was able to grab Blaine's other arm and between them they were able to pull enough until Blaine was safely over the edge of the pitch.

Sam only had some strength left that he used to embrace Blaine tightly to his chest as Puck and Cooper were also helped all the way up, and he felt like he was never going to be able to let go of him now that he knew he was safe between his arms.

"For a moment I thought I wasn't going to be able to embrace you again" Sam whispered in Blaine's ear as he tried to regain his breath after the enormous effort they had done.

"I love you so much, Sammy" Blaine replied, gratefully reciprocating the embrace of the young man who had saved his life more times than he could count.

"Are you both alright?" Sebastian asked as he rested a gentle hand on each of their backs, having noticed how exhausted they both looked, and how Sam seemed to be in some kind of pain coming from his shoulder since the fall.

"Are you alright?" Blaine repeated, looking intently into his boyfriend's eyes when the embrace broke, hoping not to find any kind of discomfort into them even if he knew his chances were slim. After all, he had seen Sam struggling to lift himself out of the pitch, and he knew it wouldn't have been so difficult for him if his shoulder wasn't hurting.

"I am now" Sam answered, only half lying because the relief he felt at having Blaine in his arms again muffled the pain considerably –if he didn't move his arm too much.

Blaine decided to ignore Sam's lie for a while, knowing he wouldn't want to delay the others, and he gratefully cupped the blond's cheek to attract his face closer so he could capture his lips in a sweet and grateful kiss that was soon interrupted.

"Come on, we don't have time for this" Cooper gently reprimanded them, feeling bad for not giving them some time, which they obviously needed, but knowing they had other worries. "We have to overcome the next obstacle"

"What do you mean?" Unique asked in confusion.

Cooper didn't answer with words this time, but all the eyes turned to what his finger was pointing: in front of them there was another missing piece of the road, but in this case, a flow of running water had found its way through it to the point it had formed practically a river. A dangerous river with a very fast volume of water. And it was the only direction they could go of.

A/N: So it was not supposed to end here, but it was getting sooooo long I had to divide all the action in two chapters... But at least this way I'm able to post sooner, right?