They'd gone to talk, but it went out the window the minute they got to the second floor.

Almost as soon as Hunter's foot hit the top step, Shawn turned to him and was all over him. It was a typical Shawn thing to do. Whenever he was feeling stressed he liked to feel close to someone. Hunter found him hard to resist, but nevertheless, he managed to break the kiss. He saw a flash of hurt in Shawn's eyes at the rejection of intimacy, but he turned from Hunter and continued onto the second floor.

Hunter followed behind Shawn as he walked down the hallway until he found a room with the door left open. He was cautious as he peered into the room, Hunter came up close behind him, hoping to establish some closeness but Shawn moved away, went into the room.

"Seems safe." He said, turning to Hunter.

"I'm sorry, Shawn. I wasn't being a jerk back there I just wanted to get somewhere... safer."

"It doesn't matter." Shawn said.

"Of course it matters. It's about you, and you matter more to me than anything else."

Shawn turned from Hunter and went over to the window. "You saw those people in the pool, Hunt? I did that to them." It was almost whispered, but the silence made Shawn easily audible in the room.

"They were practically dead already. There's nothing human about them when they're infected."

"Human being's do worse to one another. And they're not diseased. These people are sick and I haven't cured them."

"You're not a doctor, you can't cure them. There isn't even a cure for this."

"But I have cured them haven't I? I mean, they're not suffering any more, right?" Shawn asked, turning to Hunter.

"Right." Hunter said confused.

"Bull!" Shawn spat. "So it's okay to kill the sick now?"

"It's not like they've got a cold, Shawn. They kill people without a thought. That's not normal. It's not human."

"But who am I to judge them? I mean, how fucked up am I for going in there and just wiping all those people out. Sick people."

"We're not talking about a hospital ward here Shawn. They would have killed me and you without a moments hesitation. That's not normal behaviour."

Shawn looked deflated, like his point of view would never be understood by Hunter, he turned away again, looking back outside. "They're still people." He said.

Hunter moved to the bed and sat on the end of it. His back was to Shawn. "I thought I was gonna die." He started. "In that pool.... I can't remember the last time I've been that scared. I don't think I ever have. And I was...." Hunter stopped himself. "I was just so glad you found me."

He looked round to the window to see Shawn staring back at him.

There was nothing either could say to soothe over the wounds that had been inflicted on the other by their situation.

Hunter wished more than ever that he was like Shawn. That when he felt scared and hurt that he could just reach out and let Shawn take care of him, rather than have to build himself up alone and keep Shawn at a distance. He comforted only to offer it, he didn't wish to receive it when he was so weak. Shawn would never see it like that, but he knew the truth. He needed to prove it to himself and to Shawn that he was able to take care of himself and Shawn.

Let Shawn know he could trust him with his life.

Shawn watched the infected in the street. Watched as one of them sat in the drivers seat of a car and tried to remember how to drive it. It was pathetic, like watching a toddler try and do something that it wasn't aware it couldn't do. It got frustrated the same way the infected was in the car. When it was frustrated enough, it got up and walked away.

They were just people.