Borrowed Cars and Rented Homes

"We live in borrowed cars and sleep in rented homes.
That's why we try to keep each other- in fear we'll die alone."

- "I Told You So" - Transit

After another week in the Red Cliff house, Blaine and Cooper decide that it's time to leave. It actually starts as an argument between the brothers as they're gathering food in town one day, and it ends with Cooper caving and agreeing with his little brother.

"We're starting to run low on food here…" Cooper sighs as they walk together down the now familiar canned food isle of the grocery store.

"Not like that matters," Blaine replies, maybe a little too sarcastically.

"What does that mean?" Cooper asks back, glancing over his shoulder at him.

Blaine shrugs, "It means that we're leaving soon, anyway, aren't we?"

Though Cooper knows that they should leave soon, because they do need to find their parents and the house isn't really that safe, he's been avoiding it. The past few weeks alone with Blaine in the small cabin have been wonderful. They spend every day together, gathering food and supplies, but by the time the sun sets, the spend the night tangled in eachother, forgetting all about the ruined world around them. Cooper is worried that once they leave, they'll have to be on their toes all the time again, and those moments will go away.

When he doesn't reply, Blaine stops walking, "Right Cooper?"

"Well… Yeah," Cooper sighs, stopping and turning to look at him again, "It's just… we don't know how bad Aspen is. What if it's overrun?"

"That's why you've been training me almost every day, Coop," Blaine argues, voice harsh, "We came to Colorado to try to find Mom and Dad, not to sit in some shitty cabin for weeks." Blaine's words hit Cooper hard, because it has only been a week since his little brother was laying in his arms, asking if they really have to leave, and now he's the one pushing it.

"I know…" Cooper mumbles, looking down, "I just worry is all."

"We'll be fine Cooper," Blaine shoots back, "We need to give it a shot. Please."

"We will," Cooper almost snaps, then steadies his voice when he sees the hurt look on Blaine's face, "I just… I don't want to think about what would happen if it is overrun. I don't want to risk losing you…"

Blaine's face softens and he takes a few steps toward Cooper, "And you think I want to risk losing you?" He smiles a half smile, "We'll be careful, Coop, like we always are."

Cooper nods, "I know…"

"We'll talk about this more once we get to the house," Blaine says smiling before he leans up on his toes and places a kiss on Cooper's lips.

And they mean to talk about it when they get back, but they don't really get the chance. When the boys walk out the car, they see a couple of corpses wandering down the street and they quickly and quietly make their way to the car. Cooper winces as he starts it, attracting the attention the zombies, and he peels out of the parking lot, hoping that they don't follow them back to the cabin.

What Cooper doesn't expect, though, is what they find when they pull up to the cabin. In the far side of a field across from the house, they can make out what looks like a crowd - a herd - of zombies, making their way toward town.

"What the fuck?" Blaine whispers, staring at the window and hoping that he's just seeing things. They've come across big groups before, but nothing like this.

"Blaine," Cooper says numbly back, "Get in the house. Get your things." He considers going inside and waiting it out for a split second, but decides against it because what if we've already been spotted? He can't take that risk.

"What?" The younger Anderson whispers harshly, turning toward him.

"It's time to go," Cooper confirms, unbuckling his seatbelt, "Come on. We only have so much time."

Both boys rush inside. Cooper sprints up the stairs, gun in hand, and begins throwing clothes into both of their bags, while Blaine stays downstairs, gathering food and other supplies. Within a couple of minutes, Cooper is running back down the stairs with both bags in hand to meet Blaine, who is just finishing packing things in the living room. The older brother glances out the window, and his heart sinks when he sees that the monsters are nearing the road in front of the house. "Do you have everything?" He asks, hushed.

"Everything we need," Blaine replies, glancing up at him, worried.

"Lets get out of here, then," He whispers back, and then both boys are sprinting out of the house and throwing things into the car, just as the herd gets to the road. He can see their dead, bloody faces as they near, and though he's seen plenty of zombies by now, the sight still fills him with terror. Cooper panics for a split second before throwing the car in reverse and peeling out into the front yard instead of into the now occupied street. The car - thankfully - plows easily through the small wooden fence, and within a minute, the boys are speeding through the town's main street, leaving the cabin behind.

Blaine lets out a deep breath as they leave town, "That could have gone a lot worse."

"Yeah…" Cooper replies, nodding in agreement.

The car ride out of town is silent. And it's silent as they cross the familiar bridge, and Blaine reaches his hand over the center console to grab Cooper's.

It isn't until they're on the highway that Cooper glances down at the gas gauge, and curses under his breath. In the commotion of trying to get out of town, he hadn't even thought about gas. Now, they only have a little more than a quarter of a tank left, and they don't even know where they're going to stay once the sun sets.

"What?" Blaine asks, when he sees the look on Cooper's face.

"We don't even know where we're going," Cooper sighs out, "What if we run out of gas before we find somewhere to stay?"

Blaine, always the problem solver, doesn't say anything. Instead, he just grabs the Colorado map that they picked up at some rest stop and scans the page. "Well we're not too far from the highway," He says, his eyes traveling over the page, "I bet we can get to Eagle by the end of the day and find a house to stay in… Or at least find a secluded spot to sleep in the car…"

Cooper can't help but note how much Blaine has changed since things started. Before, he relied on his older brother to tell him where they were going or what they were going to do. Before, he had been terrified of the thought of sleeping in the car. Now, he is taking charge, being the level headed one. He knows what he's doing, or is at least starting to get the hang of it. Cooper can't help but think that maybe this world is good for Blaine. That maybe he fits in here. "Yeah," He finally replies, "That sounds good. I'm sure there's some cars around there that we can siphon gas from, too."

It's only about a forty minute drive from the time they get to the highway to Eagle, and once they get there, both boys' hearts sink.

The city is practically burned to the ground. And recently.

The buildings in the downtown area of the city are still smoldering as they boys drive slowly by, staring at the window at it. "Lightning?" Blaine asks, staring out the window. There had been a thunder storm that had rolled through a few nights ago, but Cooper knows that if it had been lightning, the fire wouldn't have stopped at just the town. No, there had been some kind of accident.

Or it was on purpose.

Cooper shakes the thought from his head as they drive by, "Where's the next town?"

"Glenwood Springs," Blaine replies quickly, looking down at the map, "But… It's an even bigger city than this one, Coop. It's probably overrun."

"Well we don't really have any other choice," Cooper sighs, "We'll figure something out."

And they do. Sort of.

The brothers are about halfway through what they learn is Glenwood Canyon, when they run out of gas. Thankfully - despite Cooper muttering fuck fuck fuck fuck under his breath - they manage to pull the car down some off ramp and into a deserted looking rest stop parking lot.

"Well at least we found somewhere decent to stay…" Blaine sighs, stepping out of the car.

"But we still don't have gas," Cooper argues softly, surveying their surroundings.

Blaine glances up at the sky, and calculates that they probably have about an hour or so until the sun starts setting. "We can walk up to the highway," He offers, "We still have those gas cans, and I'm sure there will be some cars up there."

"Yeah," Cooper agrees, nodding, "I guess that's all we can do."

So that's how the brothers find themselves walking together down the highway, surrounded by high rock cliffs on both sides and a roaring river to their left. "It really is beautiful," Blaine remarks, smiling to himself, "No wonder Mom and Dad love coming out here so much."

"It is," Cooper comments, noticing how Blaine says love and not loved, "Too bad we didn't see this until now."

Blaine shrugs, "But come on… How many people get to see it like we do? How many people do you think have got the chance to walk down this highway and actually admire it?"

Cooper chuckles, "Always looking on the bright side."

"We'd both go crazy if I didn't," Blaine says back, smiling up at his brother.

It's hard for Blaine to be positive, though, when they eventually find at least ten cars, and every single one is out of gas.

"There's no way they all ran out of gas," Cooper mumbles, standing up after they try yet another car with no luck.

"It's like someone already got to them," Blaine agrees, sighing as he stands as well. "Should we go back?"

"Might as well," Cooper sighs, "We can pick up searching tomorrow. I don't want to be out here when the sun sets." And just as the boys are about to turn around to head back, Cooper hears what sounds like the crunch of a boot on the gravel of the side of the road. He reaches his hand out, stilling Blaine, and nods his head, silently telling him that there's something behind them.

On the count of three, both brothers spin around, weapons raised, prepared to fight. What they find, though, surprises them.

It surprises them because it's not a zombie.

A man, maybe in his twenties or thirties stands behind them, arms raised over his head, one hand gripping a handgun, and looking somewhat scared. He has chin length blonde hair, which looks relatively clean given the situation, and is wearing some cut-off shorts and a plain clean looking t-shirt. "Please don't shoot," He says softly, "Please."

The brothers share a glance - and though Cooper wants to say something along the lines of give me one good reason not to - they silently decide that he doesn't seem like much of a threat. That, and the fact that they haven't encountered another living person since they left their friends causes them to lower their weapons. The man visibly relaxes, his hands dropping to his sides, and he actually smiles at them. "Man, it's good to see some living people out here instead of those walkers."

The brothers are silent for a moment before Cooper speaks up, "Yeah. It is." He studies the man for a moment before continuing, "Are you alone?"

The man smiles, "Nah. My friend and I… We were actually doing the same thing as you two. Looking for gas."

"Your friend?" Cooper asks, his guard still up, "And where is he?"

"In a truck up the road a bit," He says, still smiling, "He uh… he's a little shoot first, ask questions later, if you know what I mean. That's why I was following you guys. Didn't want you to find our car and have him freak out on you."

Cooper grunts and nods his head in response, unsure of what comes next. They haven't much human interaction for almost a month now, not to mention they haven't met any new people since everything started. He doesn't have to worry about that for long, though, because the man speaks up again, "Are you guys staying anywhere around here?"

Cooper and Blaine share a glance, both silently asking eachother if they should be honest with the man, and Blaine speaks up first, having decided. "Our car ran out of gas down at the next exit. We were just looking for some so we don't have to stay down there tonight…"

The man's eyes seem to light up and he smiles slightly at the boys, "Well we can definitely fix that. Follow me."

Once again, the brothers glance at eachother before deciding that maybe the stranger is their best bet and following him. It isn't a long walk - only another five minutes - before they reach a silver pickup truck, parked on the side of the road. They wouldn't think anything of it, if it weren't for the arm hanging out of the drivers side window, cigarette stuck between a pointer and middle finger. Before they reach the truck, though, the man inside seems to see them out of his mirror because the cigarette is dropping to the ground and the door is opening.

He's a relatively big man - well built - with shaggy dark hair and a bit of scruff on his chin. He looks like he used to play football or something in a past life, but not now. He doesn't look too old, maybe in his mid twenties, but his eyes. His eyes look like they've seen more than most people in their fifties have. His eyes and the dark circles under them are the first thing that Cooper notices. The second is his rough voice. "Tim," He says gruffly, putting out his forgotten cigarette with his boot, "Who are your friends?"

The smaller man smiles for a moment, then turns to Cooper and Blaine, "I actually didn't get their names…"

"Cooper," The older Anderson says, stepping forward with his arm outstretched. The first man, Tim, shakes it, then the bigger man does. "And this is my-" Cooper clears his throat, "This is Blaine."

For a reason unknown to Cooper, he doesn't introduce Blaine as his brother. Maybe it's because they're not really brothers anymore, or maybe it's because he doesn't want people to know anymore. Whatever the reason, he holds his tongue, and Blaine doesn't seem to mind as he shakes their hands as well.

"Names Mike," The man with the dark eyes finally speaks up, "You guys staying anywhere around here?"

"Actually," Tim speaks up, "Their car broke down. I was wondering if we could give them a hand… Maybe take them back up to town…"

Mike narrows his eyes at Tim for a moment, as if he's upset that he mentioned town in front of them, then he turns his eyes to Cooper and Blaine, studying them. The brothers stand there awkwardly under his gaze, and don't know if they're relived of confused when after a moment he nods his head and turns to Tim again. "There's a gas can in the back. Go fill them up and meet me back up here. You can ride with them to town." He ends his order with a look at Tim that says something along the lines of make sure they're not crazy and then hops back in the truck without another word.

"Sorry about him," Tim says softly as they walk back down the road a couple of minutes later, gas cans in hand, "He's a little testy sometimes."

"Don't worry about it," Cooper replies, "I would be too if I were him. He seems like he's seen a lot."

Tim nods in return, "He has. I know it's pretty stressful on him - all of us look to him to be our leader. He just got thrown into it and he's only twenty five."

"All of us?" Cooper questions, wondering just how many people are back in this town.

Tim smiles, "You'll see. Our setup is actually pretty nice…"

At that, the rest of the walk to the car is quiet - the brothers trying to figure out what exactly they're getting themselves into and Tim trying to judge their personalities. Blaine grips Cooper's hand though, when the other man isn't looking, and sends him a reassuring look as if to say, we made the right move.

And Cooper really hopes they did.

It isn't long before the car is up and running again and Tim is sitting in the back seat as they make their way back up to the highway to Mike's truck. When he sees them coming, he starts it and peels off, Cooper trailing close behind. "So… how far away is this town?" He asks, trying to start a conversation in the quiet car.

"About forty-five minutes," Tim replies, smiling. It's quiet again before he speaks up, "Where are you two from?"

The brothers share a glance and Cooper answers, "Ohio."

"Ohio?" Tim echos, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Cooper sighs, "Our uh… My parents were in Aspen when everything started, and we really didn't have anywhere else to go, so we decided to head out here." He avoids mentioning that they're related again, earning a glance from Blaine, but ignores it.

Tim is silent at that, and Cooper knows it's because Aspen is probably overrun, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he clears his throat and changes the subject again, "So how did you two get stuck together? I mean, you said your parents are out here, but what about you, Blaine? It's Blaine, right?"

The younger Anderson glances at Cooper for a moment, weighing out his options before reaching across the center console and lacing their fingers together so Tim can see. "I was at Coop's house when everything went down… I didn't want to risk leaving him alone… You know?" It's a shitty lie, but Tim seems to buy it and smiles at the younger boy.

"You two are lucky."

"Why do you say that?" Blaine asks, taking over the conversation for Cooper as he drives.

"It's rare that anyone finds love in this huge mess, ya know?" He's still smiling, "I know a lot of people who would kill to have a partner in all of this."

Blaine squeezes Cooper's hand at Tim's words.

Within twenty minutes, the boys are following Mike through Carbondale, a small mountain town situated in a big green valley. Blaine's face is practically smashed up against the window as they drive by, admiring the beautiful scenery. It isn't long, though, before they're leaving Carbondale and heading into yet another canyon. There's a gorgeous peak to their left and a thick forest to their right as they drive next to the river. And it's another twenty minutes before they're turning left off of the road into what looks like a small town. Cooper glances at the sign as they pull in, and learns that the town is called Redstone.

And what they see next surprises both boys.

There are people, some women and men and their kids, some teenagers, outside. They're not milling around and groaning like the dead that Cooper and Blaine are used to do - they're living, breathing people, sitting in their front lawns and watching as the two cars make their way down the main road. The town is small - Cooper guesses the population couldn't have been more than two-hundred before the outbreak - but it's strong. "Mike helped put this place together when the world went to shit," Tim finally speaks up, as they keep driving slowly by. "His parents used to live here, and when he came here to find them, they were gone. The town wasn't overrun, though, so he gathered up some people and they rebuilt. They set up a system. A few people keep watching throughout the day and night, making sure we're safe."

"Its… incredible," Blaine breaths, "How many people are here?"

"Last we counted, twenty-nine," Tim says, proud, "Thirty-one with you two now."

"Wow," Blaine says, still amazed as he stares at the seemingly untouched town.

"It's nice," Tim agrees, "From the road, you can't really see much, thanks to the river and all of the trees, but from our post, we can see anyone coming or going. It makes it really easy to keep everyone safe if any of those walkers come through." It's silent in the car, and Tim takes it as his cue to continue, "We'll find you a place to stay for the night and get you all settled in in the morning."

"Sounds good to me," Cooper finally speaks up, smiling.

"There's a couple of houses here that are run off of solar power, so I'm sure you two can get a shower in tomorrow, too, if you want," He continues.

"A shower?" Blaine asks, excited, "I'm definitely okay with that."

Once they reach the end of the road, Mike hops out of his truck and walks over to Cooper's side of the car, then leans down on the open window. "You two can stay down here in the house next to my place for the night," He says, voice rough, "If you like it, you're welcome to stay, if not, we'll need you out by tomorrow, sound good?"

Cooper glances at Blaine, who looks visibly nervous at the sight of Mike, but he just grips his hand tighter, "Sounds good."

"Tim, get them settled in," Mike orders, then walks away without another word.

Within fifteen minutes, Tim is helping Cooper and Blaine load their things into the small house. "I know he's a little intimidating at first," He says, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them, "But he means well."

"I'm sure he does," Cooper replies, though he's still weary of the new people.

"He's done some questionable shit since building up this place," Tim continues, "But he's always had a reason, and he never leads us astray, ya know? Just… give him some time, and I'm sure he'll warm up to you two."

"Will do," Cooper says shortly, and at that, Tim seems to take the hint.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it. If you need anything, I'm two houses down on the left," He says, smiling, "See you in the morning."

And at that, Cooper and Blaine are finally alone again.

"I thought he'd never leave," Blaine murmurs, leaning up to press a kiss on Cooper's lips.

"You know… You didn't have to wait till he left to do that," Cooper muses, smiling against Blaine's lips, "He doesn't know…"

"Nice move with that, by the way," Blaine teases, "You're lucky we don't look too much alike."

Cooper chuckles, "I know. I figured it was for the best not to tell them."

"It definitely was," Blaine agrees, kissing him again.

They finish getting their things moved in and within another thirty minutes, the boys find themselves laying in a queen bed, bodies intertwined. Blaine's head is laying on Cooper's chest, and he lets out a deep sigh before speaking softly, "It's nice."

"What's nice?" Cooper asks quietly, fingers stroking Blaine's hair.

"Feeling safe," He replies simply, "It's nice to know that there's people keeping watch right now. We don't have to worry."

"It is," Cooper agrees, though there is a pit in his stomach when he thinks about Mike. He feels like there's something off about him, but he hopes it's nothing. "I just hope we made the right choice coming here…"

"I'm sure we did," Blaine assures, "Mike does seem a little rough, but you would be too, if you were in his position…"

"Yeah, I guess so," Cooper agrees, sighing.

"I love you, Coop," Blaine returns, leaning up to kiss him reassuringly.

"Love you too," He replies softly, "Goodnight Blaine."

Cooper is still awake, though, even as Blaine's breathing slows and evens out when he falls asleep. Though he knows they are safe, he's still a little uneasy about Mike. And Tim's words - he's done some questionable shit - are still ringing in his head as he stares up at the dark ceiling.

AN:
I apologize for all of the Colorado references. I lived in that area for a few months and absolutely LOVED it, and I've been DYING to incorporate it into one of my fics. I figured this was my best chance :]