Wanderers,

I don't really want to give you excuses because I know you don't care about them. Nursing school kicked my ass. I'm so sorry about the wait on this chapter. Summer should allow for chapters to come out more frequently. These will still come out more often than my new fanfiction, but I do want to alternate between the two for some variety to my writing style. Thank you for your understanding and patience with me and this story.

~Eliza


The boss sat at his desk and waited what appeared to be patiently for Irvine to sit down. The brunet slowly and shakily walked to the chair across from the boss' desk. Once he took his seat Seifer looked up at him and grinned slowly.

"Irvine…" he practically purred. The cowboy winced at the sound of his name coming out of a mouth so venomous.

"Yes?" He tried his best not to sound like a small child cowering from their parents after they did something they knew was wrong.

"We have a pretty good system here, don't we?" He asked slowly, particularly.

"Of course," Kinneas stated plainly.

"And I work very hard to make sure that our system works just right. I don't allow any wiggle room in our specific set of rules because people who violate rules start to think they have a better idea of how to run things. Seeing as our system works and everyone here is happy, I really don't feel that we need another system, do we?" Seifer asked calmly.

"No, no we don't." Irvine said what he knew the boss wanted to hear.

"Then tell me, Irvine… why is it that you violated the rules? Do you think that you're better fit to lead than I am?" Seifer cocked his head to the side and stared the cowboy down.

"N-no!" Kinneas spat out.

"Then why did you break my rules, Irvine?" Seifer threw his hands down on his desk while he stood up in rage. Kinneas shrunk in his seat across from the Boss and tried his best not to whimper.

"I know we aren't taking new members, but they were sick and needed our help!" Irvine tried to defend himself from his Boss' fury. He clenched his fists in his lap and turned his face away from the angry blond in shame. He knew he had broken the rules, but how could he not? The gang needed him.

"You purposely disobeyed my orders!" Seifer exclaimed. He leaned across the desk and grabbed Kinneas by the collar of his blood splattered shirt.

"They would have died without me!" Kinneas shot back, suddenly regretting his outburst of bravery. Seifer narrowed his eyes while the two men stared at each other nose to nose.

"You brought Squall Leonhart here, into my camp, into the refuge in which I so graciously allow you to live in. Can you explain that to me? Can you explain how you thought that would be okay?" Seifer let go of Kinneas' collar and shoved the brunet back down into his seat. Irvine rubbed his neck before speaking.

"That little blond would have died if I hadn't have brought him inside. I watched Aerith resuscitate him. The kid was dead and she brought him back somehow. I wasn't going to watch as he died again, knowing it was on my conscience this time." The cowboy explained.

"You could have just brought in the boy." Seifer snarled.

"We have a strict work for stay policy. You'd have murdered me if I'd have brought in a sick kid who would suck up our resources for nothing in return. Beside, his boyfriend wouldn't have let me take him."

"Then bring his boyfriend in too. Let his boyfriend pay off his debts, but keep Leonhart out." Seifer threw his hand sup in exasperation.

"I couldn't deny any of them access. They're all beat down and tired as hell. Who knows how long they've been out there in the uncivilized wildness?"

"It might not be very civilized for them in here, either."

"Boss, stop messing with my head. I'm sorry that I fucked up. But I can't change it. They're here and they're willing to work. I'm sure they'd do anything to let Roxas stay."

"Anything?"

"Well… I mean…"

"Perfect."


Axel liked Cid. Cid was a gruff old man who didn't seem to take shit from anybody. He kept an unlit cigarette in his mouth the entire time he was checking the red-head for bites or scratches. Axel asked why. Cid smacked him upside the head and told him not to ask stupid questions. Axel liked Cid a lot.

"You know this would go a lot faster if you'd quit moving." Cid muttered through teeth that were clenched on the cigarette butt. Axel rolled his eyes and proceeded to wiggle around a bit more.

"He's anxious." Aerith smiled sweetly at the red-head before moving the flashlight to his back. Cid had checked her for marks first; since she had explained who she was and that she was a doctor. Axel didn't know if the eyebrow raise Cid gave her in return was a look of relief because he wasn't the only doctor now, or if it was a look of annoyance at having someone else to look after. Either way, the physician put her to work immediately afterward.

"Why's that?" Cid pretended to care as he lifted up one of Axel's arms to check underneath.

"Roxas is really sick." Aerith frowned, moving the flashlight again. Axel closed his eyes and shoved the blond from his mind. He couldn't do anything for him right now.

"The one you brought in who seized?" Cid asked, momentarily intrigued.

"His name is Roxas. He has a name." Axel muttered.

"He's just a boy until I agree to treat him. Patients have names and stories. Strangers don't." Cid stated plainly. Axel resisted the urge to argue with him that his Roxas did, in fact, have a name and a story whether Cid chose to acknowledge it or not. Axel was woven into that story far too tightly.

"You'll treat him, won't you?" Axel grabbed Cid's wrist when the old man started to leave the room. He looked back at the younger boy. Axel's eyes were filled with desperation.

"I'll see what I can do." Cid snatched his wrist back and eyed the red-head up and down before leaving the room. Aerith walked over to the dumbfounded teen and hugged him tightly. He was at least six inches taller than her but somehow she seemed so much larger when Axel was afraid and lonely. She had the type of hug that you only get from someone's mom. Axel melted into her touch and let himself experience the worst kind of fear for the first time in a long while. He was scared for someone other than himself.

"He'll be okay, Axel. I promise you I'm going to do whatever I can to make him better." She smiled at his softly once she pulled away and left the room just as Sora entered it. She gave her brother's hand a reassuring squeeze before they finished passing each other. Axel felt a pang of jealousy for how lucky Sora was to have something as precious as a family now that they were trapped in the hell-hole of an apocalypse.

"Hey, Axe." Sora rubbed the back of his head and shifted on his feet awkwardly.

"What?" Axel snorted, wondering why the brunet was acting so weird. The smaller boy dug around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a dirty piece of cloth that had once been white but had since then turned a darker tan color from exposure and being washed in creeks. He handed it to Axel who looked at him oddly.

"You're crying, dude." Sora muttered before adverting his gaze and allowing Axel a bit of privacy to silently realize that he was indeed crying and hadn't known it, but also had tears streaming down his face.

"Your sister must have pulled some gypsy witchcraft on me, man. I don't cry more than once in a day. Wait… switch that. I don't cry ever." Axel chuckled and handed the rag back to Sora, who quickly shoved it back into his pocket.

"So, you're clean then? No bites?" Sora asked tentatively, as if he didn't know where to bring the conversation.

"Of course I'm clean." Axel responded. The two stared at each other for a moment before the door to their room burst open. They whirled around to find Irvine and Seifer barreling through the door.

"You're the boy's boyfriend, right?" The Boss asked quickly without wasting any time. Axel nodded, too shocked at the sudden entrance. "Perfect. Inform him, Irvine."

"Axel… in order for Roxas to stay we need you to do something for us…" Kinneas looked sick as he spoke.

"What is it? I'll do whatever it takes just so long as he gets better." Axel didn't even think about what he was saying, he just said it. He knew that once he said he loved Roxas that there was no going back. He wasn't out for his own survival now. The two of them were a team, and teams stuck together.

"I wouldn't be so fast to agree. If I were you I' really think it over, oka—" Irvine started to warn the red-head, but the boss cut him off with a swift slap to the back of the head. The red-head and the brunet couldn't believe the outward act of violence. Riku had never done anyhting like that to anyone in the gang no matter how much they deserved it.

"It's not an option, actually. Either you do this or we throw you out." Seifer explained with a smile. Sora cringed internally.

"Fine, fine. What is it?" Axel seemed to be growing frustrated with the two men.

"There are sections of the university we have had yet to clean out. These sections have been deemed to dangerous to evacuate but hold crucial supplies that we need. One of these sections in the lower level basement area completely infested with biters. Clear it out." Seifer said.

"By himself? There has to be at least two hundred zombies in the tunnels down there! He'll die!" Kinneas exclaimed. Sora watched as Axel's face shifted from annoyed to paler than he had ever seen in just a few moments time.

"Well then he can bring a friend. How about the leader? He seemed keen on honest pay for honest work, didn't he? Well, dying seems to me like pretty honest work." Seifer mused to himself before Sora spoke up.

"No!" The brunet exclaimed. Seifer gave him a peculiar look in return.

"I'll do it. I'll go with Axel. We'll get it cleared out." Sora stammered quickly.

"I should hope so. We won't be sending in teams to recover what's left of your bodies if you don't succeed." The boss turned on his heel and left the room, allowing Irvine, Sora, and Axel some privacy.

"I'm so sorry, guys. I tried to convince him to let you do something else, but this is a punishment for me. He hates that I brought in new members against his will. He's trying to force you out or kill you." Irvine shook his head in disgust and snarled at the idea.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Sora sat down on the ground and rested his head in between his knees. Hundreds of biters were below ground waiting for them. There was no way they could come back alive from that. The whole gang had barely escaped fifty!

"You don't have to do this, Sora. It's my fight, after all. This is for Roxas." Axel tried to stay calm while he processed what he had just agreed to do.

"I can't let you go down there alone and I can't let Riku be the one to go with you. He's the cure, after all. I can't send him out on a mission where he's sure to die." Sora snorted and ran his hand through his hair in a panic. His heart ached just thinking about it. He knew the real reason he had taken Riku's place.

"What are we going to do?" Axel looked to Kinneas, who had little to comfort them with.

"…The tunnels are infested. I don't want to lie to you guys; your chances are slim to none. I can't let you down there." His face contorted with sorrow for the two younger men. Axel exhaled slowly and tried to internalize his fear.

"We don't have any other choice! If this is the difference between Roxas living and dying then I will dive into those tunnels a thousand times. That's what loving someone means, right? Doing anything to protect them?" Axel looked to Sora for confirmation.

"I don't know what love means anymore." The brunet hid his face back in his legs and thought of the Silveret he was risking his life to spare. He couldn't bear the thought that his once lover would never do the same for him.