As always,
THEMoDePo: Well thanks! You always manage to make it all worth it! I'm glad you liked all those slow moments because the action is about to start. Thank you sooooo much for your constant support! :)
John W. Black: Thank you so much!
Darrinia: I'll try to include another moment between Sebastian and Cooper in the future then, just for you ;) I love that you like the anderbros moment, it was very special to me too, and that you can understand their feelings so well. And yes, thanks for your helpd ;) And thank you soooooo much for always being there, preciosa!
Mildlifecrissis: Poor Blaine, it's not like he has another option, now he definitely needs to walk around! :) And yes, it had to be him who helped Mike because of what he felt for Tina. And yes, obviously Cooper simply adores his little brother. I'm glad you liked it, and sorry it tood me so long to conitnue. Thank you soooooo much for your constant support!
A/N: Ok, first of all, thank you again for your patience! I know it took me a bit longer than usual to update but well... Christmas holidays are a busy and stressful time, and I haven't been at my best either, so... The fact that I feel not a lot of people is interested in this anymore didn't help at all either to my already small motivation, so I have to apologize to those still reading this. So sorry!
Also, I guess most of you heard about Mark Salling's arrest and everything... I hope you can separate him from his character, and understand that Puck has nothing to do with it. I wondered about what to do with him, but he's an important part of the story and getting rid of him wouldn't make any sense. I hope you can all understand.
CHAPTER 24
"Well, then we better start working quickly on unsealing other exits" Mike quickly took the initiative, surprising everybody for a minute as he had hardly spoken three words in a row for days. But maybe the fact that he had already opened up and faced his pain had helped? Or was it the danger of their situation? Whatever it was, they were glad to see the leader in him appearing again.
"You're right" Puck immediately answered, looking worriedly at the smoke coming from the corridor and that was starting to dangerously fill the living room. "Where are the tools?"
"In the kitchen, maybe?" Marley replied, and didn't wait for anyone to agree before she covered her mouth with the collar of her sweater and left the room in search of the tools.
"We need to protect ourselves from the smoke" Cooper warned the youngsters. "Find cloths and soak them into water to cover your mouths with them"
Cooper's words took everybody out of their reveries and quickly got them into action. Sam only took a second to give Blaine's lips a reassuring peck before flying away from his side at the couch to obey Cooper, leaving him there without knowing what to do. It was not in Blaine's nature to stay still while others worked around him, but he was still too weak to do much or even to decide what to do. But he was still dying to help.
"I found them!" Marley triumphantly yelled as she came back to the living room, her hands full with the tool box she had been looking for.
"Let's work on the windows as well as the main door, so we can leave through the first thing that gets open" Cooper urgently suggested, worried about the first coughs he was starting to hear on some of them because of the smoke –his brother amongst them. "We don't have any time to lose"
Everyone who was not looking for rags and cloths to cover decidedly ran to Marley to grab something from the box that could prove useful to work, Blaine included. But he hadn't been able to take more than a couple of steps away from the sofa that he felt a hand grabbing his arm and pulling him down.
"Stay down so you can breathe easier" Sam ordered him as he kneeled down and successfully was able to get Blaine to sit on the floor thanks to his weakened state.
"No, I want to help, I…" Blaine tried to protest, trying to disentangle himself from Sam's grip to stand again.
"I don't have the time for this!" Sam yelled at him before he could stop himself, leaving them both equally stunned with his unusual rage. But one look at Blaine's eyes, full of confusion and pain, was enough to break Sam's temper and he tenderly put the wet cloth he was carrying over Blaine's mouth. "I'm sorry, love. Just cover your mouth with this and stay down until we go. Please"
"Ok" Blaine's voice sounded so understanding and obliging and loving in spite of being muffled by the cloth that Sam's heart melted.
"I love you" Sam reminded his boyfriend before he quickly kissed his forehead and fled before Blaine was even able to answer, and only Artie's comforting squeeze on his shoulder –as he wasn't able to help either– kept the curly-haired boy from going crazy with frustration.
"Shit, this is not coming off!" Puck grunted in frustration as he kept pulling on some of the wood planks they had used to seal the door. "Breaking the wood with an ax would be so much quicker"
"I think I saw one down in the basement when we first came here" Unique announced.
"I'll go get it" Marley immediately offered herself, as she was aware that she was probably more useful that way, as she was not as strong as most of them and would probably not be able to get any work done anyway.
"No, the basement is too near the back door, you can't risk going down there and then getting stuck because the flames blocked the entrance" Jake immediately opposed, worried about his girlfriend's safety. "Why don't you start packing everything you think we can carry with us? We'll be leaving as soon as we can"
Marley sighed in frustration, but nodded in agreement and started doing what she had been told as the others worked on freeing them from their burning prison. She knew her task was just as important –they couldn't leave without some of the things they had in the house, and once some exit had been opened they wouldn't have time to start collecting them–, but it frustrated her not being able to help in more direct ways.
Just as it did to Blaine. Even if he knew it made sense for him to just wait for once and save his strength for the moment they would have to run, it pained him to a big extent to see his boyfriend, his brother and his friends working desperately to get them out of there while he just sat there, covering his face so he wouldn't get any smoke on his lungs. Even Artie was doing more than he was, helping Marley in packing everything that could be useful once they were in the run.
He looked at Sam, patiently working on extracting the nails he had hammered the planks with only a few days earlier himself, and knew his boyfriend was distracted enough so he could leave the room undetected –hopefully Artie or Marley wouldn't choose to stop their task in that precise moment so they wouldn't see him either–. Not bothering to stand up, giving how hard that was and the fact that it would make it easier to be spotted that way, he got on his fours and crawled all the way out of the living room and towards the office that had become his and Sam's room for the last few days, intending to also gather their own things to run.
He immediately noticed the change in the atmosphere, as the office was closer to the back door than the living room was, so there was a whole lot more of smoke there. Blaine for once did as Sam had asked him and stayed down, knowing the air would be a bit clearer there, and as quickly as he could he started putting everything he could think of in the backpack Sam had been carrying with him since their short stay at McKinley: clothes, bandages, his medicines, all some other medicines Sebastian and Trent had brought from the drugstore –as painkillers and different ointments–, their weapons; all those things he knew they couldn't go without. He even took those wooden weapons Sam had designed from a chair's legs, knowing they had lost a lot of their weapons in the prison attack so they could come useful.
A bout of bad coughing made him stop for a minute, draining the little strength he still had, and he realized he didn't even have the cloth Sam had given him with him anymore. He let himself fall on the mattress for a second, his eyes involuntarily filling with tears with the stinging from the smoke and the fear of what was ahead of them: he had assured Sam he could do it, but wasn't he exhausted already just from packing and trying to breathe through the smoke? What right did he have to slow everyone's pace because he wasn't strong enough? What right did he have to have Sam or Cooper risking their own lives to help him, because they loved him too much to leave him behind?
He was trying to gather the strength to get up again when he saw someone passing by the door in a full run, and even if he didn't have the time to see who it was, he was sure that it was sweet Marley trying to get that ax from the basement the others so obviously needed to let them out of there. Blaine guessed the others weren't making big advances on their mission if they still needed the ax, but he doubted they had given her permission to go –or if they even knew what she was doing.
Without thinking twice about it, Blaine threw the full backpack on his back and awkwardly got on his feet as he knew he would be faster that way. Leaning against the walls, trying to keep his balance, he walked down the hallway to the now open door to the basement, with the intention of convincing Marley to get out of there before it was too late. But before he could touch the door due to his unusual slowness, one of the beams from the ceiling fell in front of him, missing him just by inches and blocking the door to the basement, effectively blocking Marley's exit.
Knowing that his pride would have to be left to the side because it was completely impossible that he would be able to move the beam on his own, Blaine turned around and started limping back towards the living room, the coughing getting so bad due to the smoking in the corridor that he could hardly keep himself standing.
"Help" he tried to yell as soon as he reached the living room, but not more than a whisper came out from his throat, which was violently being shaken with coughs. He tried again, but this time not even a whisper came out.
Fortunately for him, Artie was able to hear the coughing, and when he turned to the source of the noise, he was appalled to see the state Blaine was in, coughing like a madman and slipping to the floor as if he couldn't hold his own weight anymore.
"Blaine!" Artie yelled, and it was enough to make everyone stop on their actions and turn around to see what was happening, and most of them winced at the vision.
Both Sam and Cooper immediately threw their tools and ran to the smaller boy, who was sitting on the floor as he desperately fought to get some breath between the horrible coughing that was shaking all his body.
"Blaine!" Sam exclaimed as he knelt in front of the other boy, panic-stricken at seeing his boyfriend in such distress.
"It's ok, Blainey" Cooper said in a reassuring tone, much more calmly than the blond boy as he put a hand on Blaine's shoulder for comfort and another one under his chin to make him look at him. "Stay calm and try to breathe with me. Deep breaths, come on"
Blaine did what he was told, but as he tried to take a deep breath the coughing turned worse again. He felt his lungs burning with pain, and the panic he could see in Sam's eyes as the latter shook him and repeated his name wasn't helping to control the fear that was starting to grip his heart at his inability to breathe. Knowing he had to do something fast if he didn't want to choke, he turned his attention to his brother, whose expression was far calmer and more reassuring, and again tried to coordinate his breaths with his.
"You're doing great, Blainey" Cooper said with the ghost of a smile when he noticed Blaine starting to breathe, even if he still couldn't control the coughing. "A little bit more, come on"
"Marley" Blaine whispered, but his voice sounded so rough and painful that he doubted he had even been heard.
"What did you say, sweetie?" Sam asked, as he fortunately had noticed he was trying to talk.
"Marley… Trapped…" Blaine tried again, weakly pointing at the end of the corridor before the next bout of coughing broke, though luckily this time it was enough for Sam to understand what was happening.
"Guys! Help me here, Marley got trapped in the basement!" Sam yelled towards the people still in the living room, and he was not surprised when Jake ran by them towards the basement without hesitation, his brother close at his heels.
"Go… with… them" Blaine whispered to his boyfriend, knowing the Puckerman brothers wouldn't be able to move that beam on their own.
Sam looked intently at his boyfriend, and even if he was starting to regain his breath and the color was starting to return to his cheeks, it was quite obvious the battle going on inside Sam's head, as he didn't want to leave Blaine until he was a hundred per cent sure he was alright, but he also wanted to help their friends.
"I'll stay with him, you go, Sam" Cooper decided for him as he gently pushed him. After all, he could see Sam was pretty scared, and the best thing to do was to keep Blaine calm so he could focus on his breathing.
Sam silently obeyed for once and ran behind the Puckerman brothers to help them, trying to will his heart to regain a normal pace after the fright he had gotten with Blaine. He would surely admonish him later for disobeying him yet once again and putting himself at risk, but it would have to wait, at the most important thing right then was to make sure Marley wouldn't be the next victim.
"Marley?" Jake shouted at the slightly open door behind the beam that was blocking it, silently praying that his girlfriend would still be alright.
"I'm here!" Marley's strained voice reached them immediately, as she was obviously just behind the door, but the horrible bout of coughing that followed her words was a clear indication that they didn't have a lot of time.
"We'll get you out of there in a second" Jake promised her as he put his hands under the beam and pulled before the others were even ready, obviously not being able to even move it an inch on his own. "Boys, don't just stay there, help me move this thing"
Puck and Sam rushed to comply and quickly grabbed on the beam themselves to help the younger boy. At the count of three, all of them used all his forces to lift the beam from the door, but it was even heavier than expected. The strain on their faces was quite evident as they held into them, and it was that suffering in Sam's face that kept Blaine from letting himself be moved from where he was still sitting at the other end of the corridor, even if his brother kept insisting, unable to move until he knew everybody –especially Sam– was safe and sound.
Another fragment of the ceiling, much smaller this time but covered in flames, fell on Sam's shoulder before he was even aware of it to avoid it.
"Shit!" he exclaimed before he could even stop himself when the burning wood made contact with his body, though he didn't stop pulling on the beam to get it out of him.
"Sam!" Blaine yelled, forgetting about his weakness to try and run to his boyfriend, but his brother stopped him before he could even get up from the floor.
"Stay still once and for all, damn it!" Cooper admonished him and gave him a pointed look to let him he was not going to deal with any more of his silliness before he stood up himself and ran to help the boy who obviously meant so much to his brother.
Cooper covered his hand with his sleeve for protection, and he rushed to push the burning plank from Sam's shoulder before it could do really serious damage, and then proceeded to help them with the beam. The added strength was exactly what was needed, and with a last effort they were able to separate the beam from the door enough so it could finally be opened.
"Marley!" Jake exclaimed when he saw his girlfriend doubled over next to the door, coughing her lungs out, though she seemed unharmed apart from that.
"I found it" she proudly said between the coughs as she pointed at the ax in his hand, that Puck immediately took while Jake helped her to her feet.
"Come on" he encouraged her as he put his arms around her and helped her towards the living room.
"You alright?" Cooper asked the blond boy, who seemed to be in one piece but had a slight grimace of pain on his face as he touched the burned area on his shoulder.
"Yeah, it's nothing" Sam immediately diminished the importance of it, even rolling his shoulder to show his brother-in-law it wasn't a big deal.
"You should get that checked, just in case" Cooper insisted, but he could see Sam was not listening to him anymore as the blond walked towards where Blaine was still sitting, looking anxiously at him.
"You alright?" Blaine asked in a scared voice as Sam knelt in front of him, his hands moving on their own accord to cup the blond's cheeks.
"I'm alright" Sam immediately reassured him as he covered Blaine's hands with his own.
"Did you get burnt?"
"Only a little"
"May I…?" Blaine asked, already trying to move Sam's ruined hoodie to the side to check on his skin himself, but Sam gently stopped him.
"Yes, I'll let you check it, I promise, but later, once I'm sure we're out of danger" And once I've checked you're 100% alright, he added to himself when Blaine coughed again. "Now let me help you inside"
"Alright" Blaine easily agreed, not wanting to give his boyfriend any more reason to worry, as he let himself be practically picked from the floor until he was standing on his feet and Sam's arms around his waist we're keeping him upright and gently pushing him inside the living room.
"Coop, get the backpack, please!" Blaine yelled at his shoulder, asking his brother to take everything that he had risked his life to pack and that had been forgotten until then in Sam's backpack, lying next to the door he had just left.
"I'm going to be angry at you for that stunt later, you know that, don't you?" Sam gently admonished him as he lowered him to the floor again, only half joking.
"Yeah, I know" Blaine admitted, blushing as his boyfriend scolded him in front of a smirking Artie.
"Good" Sam answered with a chuckle as he took the cloth that was hanging loosely around his neck and tied it around Blaine's to cover his mouth, as he had managed to lose his. "And now please do as you are told and stay here"
Sam was about to go back to work on opening an exit for everyone when a louder noise than the rest resounded around the room, followed by Puck's triumphant yell.
"It's open!" he exclaimed when the ax finally broke the planks covering one of the large windows from the living room. "A couple more blows and we can get through it. Start getting ready, people, we're going out"
The youngsters didn't stop a second to celebrate Puck's success –only hollered their happiness for a second– but obeyed instead, taking everything they would need with them –they would be taking the bus, so they didn't have to worry about carrying too much–. And that, thanks to Marley, Artie and Blaine's diligent work from a while before, didn't take them more than a few minutes before Mike leaded them in the evacuation.
"Now we need to be careful" he explained while he stood next to the window, ready to go outside. "Remember there are a lot of walkers just outside the fence and we need to go all around the house until the bus, so we are definitely meeting them"
"We should wait until we are outside and try and walk in a tight group, all together" Blaine suggested as he held onto Sam to remain upright. "Remember when we arrived to the prison and we walked on a circle? We need to do that again, it's far safer and more efficient than just trying to fight the walkers on our own"
"As usual, you're just right" Puck answered. "The fence will hold them outside until we're all out and then we can proceed as Blaine said"
"Ok, let's start" Mike, looking more and more like his old self with each passing minute, said. "Jake and I will go first and then Puck and Cooper can pass Artie through the window and we'll take him from outside. Right, Artie?"
"Sure" Artie answered with a sigh, hating to always being such trouble but knowing there was nothing he could do.
Just as Mike had suggested, he and Jake were the first ones to climb through that window. They knew it would have been much more comfortable with a door, but they couldn't ask for more given their current situation. They turned around towards the house, where Santana and Brittany gave them Artie's chair –as Artie was already in Cooper and Puck's arms– so they could comfortably leave him there as soon as he was out. And getting him through the window without dropping him turned to be a little trickier than expected, given the considerable height from the window to the floor on the outer side of the house, but in the end they managed.
"I'll help you from outside, Squirt" Cooper immediately volunteered and was out of the window before his brother could even begin to protest that he could do it on his own.
"Come on, sweetie" Sam encouraged his boyfriend while he all but lifted him to sit on the window sill, from where Cooper took over and gently helped his little brother to the grass outside.
All the others followed the first ones outside, one by one, as calmly as they could on their situation. Fortunately, in the long while it had taken them to open an exit the worst of the storm seemed to have passed and the thunder, that had been so loud and scary only a while ago, now seemed to be miles away, even if the rain was still falling hard on them.
As they had decided, the ones outside were patiently waiting in the rain for the rest of them to be helped outside. Sam had made Blaine sit against the wall to rest until they had to run, and Artie was just looking from his chair as student after student made their way through the window. In fact, he was so concentrated on that that he never felt a presence behind him until it was already grabbing his shoulder. And in one quick movement, the walker behind him made him tumble from his chair and threw him on the floor.
"Guys!" Blaine yelled at the top of his lungs when Artie's little surprised yelp alerted him that something was wrong and he turned around to see him being attacked. Unfortunately, he knew there was no way he would be quick enough to stand up and run to him, so it was better if he got him help before it was too late. "Someone help Artie, please!"
Sam and Puck turned around at Blaine's plea and were terrified to see Artie on the floor, desperately fighting a walker while two others were starting to reach him too. They didn't know how they had gotten inside the fence –maybe a section of it had burnt too?–, but it didn't matter: they had to be quick or they would lose Artie for sure.
Without a second thought the two friends ran to Artie, even if they hardly could see him under the pile of walkers trying to get him. In a swift movement, Puck got his gun out of his waistband and shot at one of them, the one next to Artie's legs, conveniently stopping it as the bullet reached its brain. But the other lurkers were too close to Artie to have a clean shot, so they knew they would have to fight. Grabbing their knives strongly in their hands, they jumped on the monsters and fought with them until Artie was freed from their attack.
"Artie, you ok?" Puck asked as he kicked the walker still lying on Artie's legs away from him, scrunching up his nose in disgust at the stain it had left on Artie's pants when he had blown its head off.
"Yeah, yeah" Artie answered while trying to regain his breath, taking Sam's hand to help him sit up. "But damn it, that was close"
"It was" Puck agreed as Sam and he helped Artie back to his chair.
"Be careful!" Sam heard Blaine scream desperately, and he only had time to turn around slightly before he could see at least ten walkers also finding their way to them.
"The walkers have entered!" Sam shouted for everyone to hear as he started fighting with the closest ones, terrified that his hands were full with them and he couldn't go to protect his lover.
Puck also started fighting like a madman, putting himself in front of Artie for protection, just before the rest of the youngsters ran to help. Cursing his weakness, Blaine only got to watch how the others fought as he kept himself against the wall, trying not to interfere or get any attention on him so nobody would have to come to his rescue. He looked worriedly at how more and more walkers seemed to be finding their way towards them, probably attracted by all the noise they were doing, and he prayed that they wouldn't lose anyone else.
"We can't just stay here, there are more of them with each passing minute!" Cooper yelled over all the ruckus. "We need to get to the bus now!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, even if they didn't know how they were going to do it. Fortunately those monsters were not fast, and maybe if they made a circle as Blaine had suggested when they were still in the house, they would be able to make it without any casualties.
They were still trying to figure out how to do it when Blaine noticed Sam's face go completely white when the blade of his knife, the only one he had on him, broke as it embedded itself on a walker's cranium. And the couple of seconds he had lost was enough to get him completely surrounded by other walkers without anyone else noticing. And it would be a matter of seconds before one of them started biting onto his flesh.
Getting his forces renewed in an instant at seeing the boy he loved about to be eaten alive, Blaine got up from the floor and ran towards where his boyfriend was, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.
"Sam!" he yelled to get his attention –and with a little bit of luck, the attention of some of those walkers so they would forget about Sam and turn to him instead– and threw his knife at him, which Sam easily caught up and started fighting again, even more fiercely now that he knew Blaine was also there.
Blaine got one of the wooden weapons Sam had made from that old chair and that he was carrying on Sam's backpack and tried to fight too. But he soon discovered he was not well enough for that, as his moves were slow and weak, and the weapon was not as effective as a knife was. Twice he tried to embed it on the walker in front of him, but he missed and only managed to hit the monster –which of course didn't affect the walker on the least–. With a frustrated yell, he tried again and this time he was able to kill it. But all the time he had lost with it worked against him, and that walker had not yet fallen when another one appeared unexpected behind it and threw itself at Blaine, pushing him to the floor without him being able to stop it.
Blaine thought he could have vomited at the stench that emanated from the walker on top of him as it tried to lower his head enough to bite into his flesh if he had the time, Blaine thought as he fought to keep it at arm's length. He had lost his weapon on the fall, and even if he hadn't, both his hands were busy trying to keep that monster far enough from his body. But he couldn't lie to himself about it: he was very aware that he was losing the battle, as he hardly had any strength left and the effort he was doing kept him from even trying to scream for help. The walker's head was coming closer and closer to his still tender shoulder, and his last thoughts went to his brother, who had been through hell only to get to him, and to Sam, sweet perfect Sam, who would undoubtedly spend the rest of his life blaming himself because Blaine had been trying to help him.
He closed his eyes, as he was already feeling the walker's breath on his neck and it was a spectacle he surely didn't want to see, when all of a sudden he felt its weight lifted from his body and the unmistakable sound of bones breaking. He dared opening his eyes a glimpse, and it was then when he discovered Sam next to him, his eyes wide with terror as he knelt next to him and cupped his cheeks in desperation.
"B!" he yelled, and Blaine wished he could regain his voice quicker so he could stop Sam from worrying so much. "B, please, tell me it didn't get you"
"It didn't get me" Blaine answered in a small voice, closing his eyes again even if that time it was from relief as Sam lifted his upper body from the floor and strongly held him against his sturdy chest.
"You alright?" Sam asked, wishing he had more time to hold Blaine in his arms and get comforted by the fact that he had not been bitten and his heart was still beating, but unfortunately, he didn't.
"Yeah" Blaine answered, his voice already stronger if only by the strength Sam was giving him through his embrace. "You?"
"Yeah, thanks to you" Sam answered with a quick kiss to Blaine's forehead before turning to look around them and see how everyone else was fairing. Fortunately everyone seemed still in one piece and getting together in a circle to move towards the bus.
"Watch out!" Cooper yelled, suddenly at their side, when an unnoticed walker made their way towards them and was dangerously close to biting Sam's back. Fortunately, Cooper stopped him with a well-aimed blow.
"Shit" Blaine exclaimed when he noticed how close Sam had been to being bitten, and he clung more desperately to him in hopes of getting his heart back to a normal rate.
"Are you two alright?" Cooper asked in a rush, more than slightly scared about finding them on the floor and Sam holding his brother up –had he maybe gotten hurt?
"Yes" Sam answered in both their names.
"Then what the hell are you doing there?" Cooper practically yelled at them, though Blaine could see it was more from fright than real anger. "Let's get into the bus now!"
Not wanting to get a negative answer or give Blaine time to protest, Sam didn't even ask for permission to carry Blaine to the bus and silently picked him up into his arms and rushed to obey Cooper and make it into the human circle his friends were making. Helping Blaine walk would probably take them more time, and he felt calmer having him in his arms anyway. And Blaine seemed to feel how much he needed it, as for once he didn't protest and just closed his arms around Sam's neck, silently trusting him with his life.
The others closed around them as soon as they saw them to protect them, the same way they were doing with Artie, and Cooper rested a reassuring hand on Blaine's back before bodily putting himself between the couple and the walkers, ready to defend them at any price.
They started slowly advancing towards the bus, only taking the time to kill those walkers getting in their way and leaving the others behind, and before they knew it they had made it to the vehicle. Mike and Puck jumped in first to get Artie into it, and then Sebastian did the same to help Blaine when Sam left him on the steps.
Once they were sure everyone had made it safely, Santana took her usual position at the controls of the bus and closed the door while trying to ignore the walkers knocking desperately on it.
"Are we sure we want to leave?" Kitty asked as she looked around her: Blaine seemed completely spent already while Sebastian helped him to a seat and Sam rushed to sit next to him, obviously worried about him; and Artie didn't seem much better, his face pale and covered with sweat, probably from the fright he had gotten or how much it mortified him to depend so much on the others. They surely didn't look ready to travel. "Maybe we should just move to another house for a couple more days"
"We picked that house for a reason" Santana answered, trying to remain calm because she knew it was an honest question. "And that was because it was the only one with a fence, hence it was the only one relatively safe. You've seen how the whole neighborhood is infested with walkers, there is no way we can stay here without any kind of protection. Besides, the fire already burnt our fence down and moved to the next house, it's a matter of time before the whole street is on fire"
"It's raining, the fire will die down before that" Kitty insisted, even if she could see she was already losing the battle.
"Even if that was true, it changes nothing about the safety issue" Santana reminded her. "I know it seems difficult, and I know we don't seem ready, but we're here now, aren't we? We can always stop again if we find a place good enough for that"
"We can do it, Kitty" Blaine intervened from his seat, knowing it was mostly him the girl was worrying about. "We've been through worse"
"I'm not sure that's true" Kitty answered with a chuckle, marveled at how the petite boy always tried to diminish the seriousness of his injuries. "But you're right, it's not like we have another option, do we?"
"So let's get going, people!" Santana yelled in an encouraging way as she turned around and started driving.
All the others started sitting around the bus, as they would probably were going to be in it for a good while. After a short while, Sam made himself more comfortable on his seat and took Blaine's hand in his to entwine their fingers together. He was surprised when Blaine only smiled and leant into his side, though, as it just showed him how weak he was still feeling.
"You're not going to pretend with me, right?" Sam whispered to him, knowing it was easier to get Blaine to be honest if he didn't have an audience.
"What?" Blaine asked, knitting his brow in confusion.
"Are you really ok? Are you going to make it?" Sam asked, trying not to show how worried he was about his boyfriend's endurance, though obviously Blaine knew better.
"Sure, of course" Blaine rushed to answer, grabbing Sam's chin between his fingers so he would look at him and see in his eyes how honest he was. "Yes, I'm tired and I'm weak, I know, but… I'll survive. With your help"
"You don't even have to ask for that" Sam answered before resting a long kiss to Blaine's temple, moved to no end that Blaine would feel comfortable enough with him so as to admit his weaknesses and even ask for his help.
"And what about you? We should take care of that shoulder" Blaine insisted, as no lack of strength or stupid weakness would ever stop him from worrying about Sam's injuries too. "It must hurt pretty bad"
"It's not that bad, just a little singed" Sam joked, wanting to diminish the importance of it for Blaine's sake, though the truth was that the burn stung more than a little.
"Still…" Blaine tried to insist, but Sam quickly shushed him.
"I'll let you have a look at it, I already promised, as soon as we stop somewhere, ok?" Sam answered, a smile breaking irremediably in his lips as Blaine put an arm around his shoulder and brought him to lie on his chest in a protective manner.
"I just want you to be okay" Blaine answered, reinforcing his message with a sweet kiss to Sam's nose that instantly melted the blond's heart.
"We'll be okay" Sam promised while he rested his hand in Blaine's thigh and closed his eyes, letting himself fall in the security that his boyfriend's arms around him provided, even if it was only for a little while.
Kitty smiled at the ever-entwined couple –as Blaine rested his head on Sam's and closed his eyes in contentment at having him in his arms– and smiled fondly at them, wondering how it had taken them so long and a whole apocalypse to get together when their feelings for each other had been obvious to her from the beginning. But well, better late than never, she guessed. And they surely seemed to be making for the lost time.
She continued looking through the bus: Brittany was at the front seat, undoubtedly keeping Santana some company as the latter drove; Unique and Sugar were lively talking and joking about something –and Kitty thanked the universe there were still people like them in the world–, while Jake and Marley were lost in an embrace, probably still too shaken at how close the girl had been to not live to tell the tale; Puck was dozing off, his mouth hanging open and with a small tickle of spittle falling from the corner of his mouth that made her laugh; and Cooper, Sebastian, Trent and Mike were on the back of the bus, probably debating about their options, judging by the solemnity of their faces and the seriousness of their tones. So that left only Artie.
Kitty turned around to look at her special friend, who was quietly sitting on the place where the others had helped him to. He was silent and he looked a little under the weather. He was probably just scared a bit, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?
"Artie?" the petite girl as she sat on the seat right in front of his and turned in it around to face him. "You okay?"
"Yeah" Artie answered, not sounding too convincing.
"You could have fooled me" Kitty answered sarcastically, only half joking.
"Well, I suddenly got a bit cold and my body feels like it weights a tone. I think I might have caught something" Artie confessed, and looking more closely at him, Kitty realized he looked a bit feverish.
"You seem to be getting a fever" she announced after checking his forehead with the palm of her hand. "Trust you to get a cold at the best of times"
"I know" Artie answered with a soft sigh, turning to look through the window –and away from Kitty's prying gaze. "As if I wasn't a burden enough as it is, right?"
"I didn't mean that" Kitty rushed to answer, her heart breaking at the thoughts going on in Artie's head. "I was just joking. You're not a burden to anyone, Artie. You know we all love you"
"I know that" Artie answered with a sad smile. "And that's exactly why I am a burden to all of you, because you feel obliged to take care of me"
"We all take care of each other, not just you" Kitty answered in complete honesty. "Or haven't we all taken care of Blaine just the same?"
"Yes, but he'll be alright in no time and he won't need for you to babysit him any longer" Artie protested, knowing that even if he and Blaine were in similar situations right then, his was much more permanent that Blaine's. "That won't happen to me, though, right?"
"Artie, you are a part of this group exactly the same as everybody else is, a valuable piece of this family. You need more help than others? Ok, I'll give you that. But… so? You help us too. If I'm injured or sick tomorrow, I know you will do anything in your power to help me. How is it any different with you?"
Artie finally let himself be convinced by the blonde that had lately become so important to him –too much for a friend– and smiled sweetly at her.
"Thank you, Kitty. I really needed to hear that"
"You're welcome" she answered, completely avoiding the praise. "And now why don't you imitate Puck and have a nap? I'm sure you'll feel better after it"
"Maybe" Artie replied, agreeing on how good it would feel to give his battered body a rest. He couldn't have picked a better time to fall sick, right?
They drove for a long while, their spirits falling down at each village they passed, as every one of them was as destroyed and dead as the last one. It was not as they were expecting to magically find a frontier between the hell they were living and the healthy civilization they were hoping to find –thanks to Cooper they perfectly knew that whatever virus or illness they were facing, it had spread a long way across the country–, but seeing so much destruction, misery and corpses was not easy anyway.
Sam looked up from Blaine's chest when he noticed the change in his breathing and he quickly noticed he had fallen asleep. Well, not that it was surprising, after all the excitement of the day. It was the first time he had left the office, after all, and all of a sudden he had been involved in a fire and had had to fight some walkers as they ran away. He was bound to be exhausted and weak. At least he didn't have a fever anymore, Sam was glad to find when he rested his hand on his boyfriend's forehead, careful so as not to wake him up. And well… Sam couldn't say he was not glad that at least, as he slept, Blaine didn't get to see all the devastation they were passing by.
Wanting to make Blaine more comfortable, Sam carefully rearranged their positions and had Blaine rest against his chest instead, so he could keep him warm through his embrace and hold him so he could cushion the rattling of the old bus so he wouldn't wake up with the slightest bump of the road and closed his eyes to ask the universe to give that amazing human being a rest for a change.
The landscape from the highway they were at right then wasn't that painful to see, as there were no building around to be destroyed. They only found abandoned cars every now and then –and some walkers and corpses Sam pretended not to see–, so Sam played a game with himself about imagining they were on some kind of vacation, and his dreamy boyfriend was sleeping in his arms just because he was exhausted from all the fun they had had during the day.
Sam was taken out from his daydreaming when the bus suddenly started trembling and making a strange noise and, after a few seconds, it completely stopped.
"What the hell happened?" he practically yelled, though he immediately regretted when Blaine almost stirred at the noise.
"I don't know" Santana answered, feeling strangely guilty even if she objectively knew it wasn't her fault. "Maybe we ran out of gas? I know we didn't have a lot of that, but the hand on the fuel gauge didn't move. Maybe it's broken, I don't know"
"Or maybe something broke down" Mike suggested from the back of the bus. "It doesn't really matter since we can do nothing about it"
"I'm really sorry, guys" Santana apologized to everyone, though he was looking specifically at Sam and the angry face he was sporting at the moment.
"It's not your fault, Santana" Sam answered with a sigh, trying to soften his expression to let her know his anger was not directed at her. "At all. It's just… shit"
"Let's not waste any time lamenting on our bad luck" Puck suggested, after immediately having woken up from his nap at the change in their speed –or the sudden absolute lack of it– and the discussion following it, while he was already standing up and hanging his backpack from his shoulders. "Let's go"
"Go where?" Cooper asked, looking worriedly at his sleeping brother.
"Somewhere. Anywhere" Puck answered. "We can't just stay here, right?"
"No, but…" Sam tried to protest, but Puck stopped him before he could give any arguments.
"We can go now or we can go tomorrow because nobody is going to come for us. I thought it would be best if we didn't get to spend the night in the cold here" Puck tried to explain, also looking at Blaine and worrying about how he would fair in a freezing bus all night in his state.
Sam looked at Cooper for a second, as if asking him for his opinion –after all, he was Blaine's big brother, Sam couldn't possibly claim all responsibility for the boy on his own, right?–, and it took the older man at least a minute to sigh and nod at him. They knew Puck was right: they didn't have another option. But it broke their hearts having to put Blaine through yet another trance they weren't sure he could overcome.
"Then come on, everybody get ready, it's time to walk" Mike said to encourage everyone to start moving, but also to take the focus out of Blaine and Sam to give them a little time. "Take only what you can carry, we don't know how long it will be until we find somewhere to stay"
"Sweetie?" Sam whispered as he gently shook Blaine's arm, not wanting to scare him awake, as everyone started getting ready for their trip. "You need to wake up"
"But I'm so tired" Blaine answered in a barely audible voice, his eyes still closed, sounding really exhausted indeed –which didn't help in one bit to put Sam's heart at rest.
"I know you are, but we need to leave" Sam insisted, trying to sound understanding but resolute at the same time while he watched Blaine fighting to open his eyes.
"Where are we?" Blaine asked, and Sam couldn't help but to smile fondly at him at the adorable way in which he rubbed his eyes, almost as if he was a little kid.
"Right in the middle of nowhere" Sam answered too honestly before he could stop himself, frustration and fear already taking its toll on him.
"What?" Blaine asked, fully awake all of a sudden thanks to Sam's tone.
"We ran out of gas or something" Sam explained, tenderly removing some curls from Blaine's forehead in a poor attempt of comfort. "We'll have to walk now"
A flash of pain and desolation crossed Blaine's face before he could stop it, but he immediately hid it under a reassuring smile –that Sam perfectly knew it was only for his benefit– and tried sounding as confident as he could manage.
"Alright, let's go then" he said, lifting his upper body from Sam's chest so the latter could see how ready he was.
Smiling proudly at him, Sam picked up Blaine's hand in his and pulled him upright to follow the others outside. It was going to be a long way indeed, but one look at Blaine's resolute expression and Sam knew they could make it.
They hadn't been walking for more than half an hour when Sam noticed his encouraging hold on Blaine's hand wasn't enough anymore as their pace was getting increasingly slower with each step, and the only reason they weren't being left behind was everyone's patience and understanding that made them walk more slowly too. But not wanting Blaine to feel bad with himself, or make him feel as if he didn't appreciate his endurance, he wordlessly took Blaine's arm and threw it around his own shoulder to help him, closing his own hand around Blaine's waist for more support. Blaine didn't say anything either, but the grateful smile he gave his boyfriend and the trusting way in which he leant against Sam's side were enough to warm his heart.
Blaine wasn't the only one who was experiencing trouble to keep up with the others, and Mike had started pushing Artie's chair when he noticed how the younger boy was getting more and more tired by the minute. The flush of his cheeks and the sweat on his forehead in spite how cold it was were proof enough that he had a nice fever already, and Mike prayed that whatever it was that Artie had caught, wouldn't spread too much around them, as getting everyone weak and sick was not exactly what they needed right then.
"Does anyone have any idea where we're going?" Brittany asked after a while in a resigned tone that made Santana take her hand in hers.
"I'd say anywhere where we can find some shelter for the night" Cooper answered, looking worriedly at his brother and at the boy at the wheelchair, knowing none of them would survive a night at the open in their current situation. "We can think about our possibilities tomorrow"
"It's getting dark already" Puck observed in a grave tone. "We should find somewhere fast, before the temperature drops too much"
Everyone knew how right Puck was, they could already feel the cold in their bones and it was not fully dark yet, but they didn't know if they were near anything by then. What they knew was that, as much as they would want to, there was no way they could go any faster without leaving anyone behind.
Blaine's endurance chose that moment to reach its limit, and his knees buckled. He would have ended on the floor if not by Sam's quick reflexes, but as soon as he recovered his balance he tried to continue, hoping Sam wouldn't say anything. Of course he was not going to be so lucky.
"B" Sam patiently said, trying not to show his anxiety at his partner's suffering so as not to get him in the defensive.
"I'm alright" Blaine unsurprisingly answered as he tried to take another step, even if his feet failed to respond.
"You're not" Sam insisted as he carefully lowered Blaine's body until he was sitting on the floor, giving him the rest he so desperately needed before alerting everyone of their situation. "Guys, wait, we need a rest"
"Just give me a minute" Blaine answered, still panting from the effort, when all the looks turned to him and he could see that worry he hated so much in all those eyes.
"No, you can't go on" Cooper intervened, moving to sit down next to his brother so he could rest a comforting hand on his thigh. "You did the best you could, more than anyone else would probably have, but that's it"
"Just let me try, I can make it" Blaine insisted, and it broke everyone's heart when his voice broke at the end, as they knew he was feeling like a loser and extremely guilty for delaying everyone.
"No, Blaine" Sam replied as he knelt in front of him and tenderly picked his hand in his. "I know what you're going to say, but please climb on my back, you can't go on any longer"
"Yes, I can, if you help me" Blaine answered, his eyes getting glassy with unshed tears at the frustration and the pain he was feeling.
"B, it's better for everyone if you take care of yourself" Sam tried to make him see, as his hand moved on its own accord to Blaine's cheek to remove a stray tear that had found its way down his skin. "If you pass out from exhaustion it will be much harder to carry you, you know? Plus I'd probably get a heart attack if that happened. Let's keep it simple, ok?"
"But Sam, you can't carry me for that long" Blaine protested, and it was exactly then when Sam really understood that Blaine was not trying to look strong, or being too proud, but just worrying about him and wanting to spare him from making such an effort. "Even if you say I don't weight that much, you'll worn yourself out"
"We'll take turns with Cooper" Sam compromised, looking at his brother-in-law for confirmation. "Right, Coop?"
"Of course" Cooper agreed with no hesitation, fondly rubbing his little brother's wild hair in an attempt of getting a smile out of him.
"I can help too" Sebastian offered, and it was then when Blaine realized that most of their friends were circling them, obviously worried about him.
"So do I" Trent added with his trademark kind smile.
"Or me" Puck said with a shrug of his shoulders, as if it wasn't that big a deal.
"See? You don't have any more excuses now" Sam said with a smile, moved to no end at how much all their friends seemed to care about Blaine, as he looked intently into Blaine's eyes to break the last of his reticence.
"Alright" Blaine finally agreed, chuckling when Sam raised his fist in the air as a sign of victory. "But you have to agree to something too"
"What is it?"
"That the minute you get tired of carrying me you'll say so"
"I promise" Sam answered with no hesitation: anything to get Blaine to agree, he thought, even if he was not sure he was ready to stick to that promise and let others take care of Blaine when he could do it himself.
As there was no point in them losing any more time, Cooper helped Blaine to his feet and onto Sam's back, who immediately put his hands under Blaine's legs to keep him from falling –and to keep him there, because you never knew with that hyperactive boy!–. The others quickly got ready, and this time it was Sugar who placed herself behind Artie's chair and started pushing for him, having also noticed the poor state he was in.
They continued like that for a good while. There hardly was any conversation between them, as they were growing more tired and more preoccupied as they kept walking and didn't seem to reach anywhere they could stay in for the night. It was completely dark by then, and the cold was surely seeping through their bones. And if Sam was so cold, and he was doing the physical effort of walking and carrying his boyfriend, just imagine how cold Blaine would be, considering he was not moving, he was still sick and usually very sensible to the cold.
Fortunately Cooper must have thought the same, because he had taken a blanket out of his backpack and had thrown it around his little brother's shoulders, carefully tucking him in to make sure he would be as comfortable as possible. And it must have helped a bit, because Sam had been feeling the weight of Blaine's head on his shoulder for a while as the smaller boy fell irremediably asleep, Sam thought with a fond smile. Not that he could blame him, after all the excitement of the day.
"Guys, don't get scared" Santana's cryptic words took him out of his reverie. "But there's a bunch of walkers coming out our way"
"Shit" Jake exclaimed as he took his gun out of his waistband, only to be stopped by his brother.
"No" Puck said. "We should avoid shooting if it's possible. The noise of the guns will only attract other walkers near"
"We're going to have to fight face to face" Sam added, his voice trembling as his heart started beating a million times faster in fear. How was he supposed to fight while carrying Blaine around? And letting go of him wasn't an option either, of course, as he could hardly defend himself.
"Let's stop here" Cooper suggested, understanding and sharing Sam's worries. "We'll wait for them here. That way we can protect Blaine and Artie better if we make a circle around them"
"Good idea" Mike agreed as he pushed Artie's chair towards the center of the road.
"B?" Sam whispered over his shoulder as he shook Blaine's legs to get him alert. "B, you need to wake up now"
"Are we there yet?" Blaine asked in a confused voice.
"No, but we've got company"
Blaine raised his head from Sam's shoulder in an instant, perfectly understanding what that meant. And he hardly had any time to see the walkers coming towards them before Sam lowered him to the ground and pushed him to sit next to Artie's chair.
"You grab your knife and be ready to defend yourself if it comes to that, but stay here and let us do the job unless it's absolutely necessary, ok?" Sam warned him in a tone that left no room for argument, so Blaine just nodded, for once not wanting to make things harder on his boyfriend.
Silence fell upon them as they anxiously waited for the group of walkers to reach them, all of them forming a circle around the two most vulnerable members of the team to protect them. Due to the darkness, they couldn't really tell how many of those monsters there were, but they hoped it was not a large group.
"Artie, you okay?" Blaine asked as his eyes fell on the sick boy. As he had been sleeping most of the trip, both in the bus and on Sam's back, he hadn't noticed about Artie's state until then, but he was horrified at how horrible he looked.
"I'm not feeling that good" Artie admitted with a small voice. "I think I've caught something"
"Well, these guys will take care of us and we'll be safe and sound somewhere in no time, buddy" Blaine tried to sound optimistic, and he was glad when Artie smiled gratefully at him.
Puck could hardly wait until the first walker reached them, and took a step forward to skillfully stab his knife into its skull in one quick movement. They were quickly surrounded by those monsters, but the way they had formed to fight them was very successful and those stupid lurkers couldn't pass the barrier they had created. Mike failed one of his moves, but Sebastian was quick to help him before he was hurt. And Brittany did the same with Trent, even if her arm was still on a sling since the attack at the school.
Blaine's heart seemed to be about to flow out of his chest at having to see Sam, Cooper and the rest fighting for their lives, even if they seemed to be making a good job of it. It killed him to know he couldn't help, or worse, that they had to fight for him, but he knew they were doing it willingly because they loved him, so he guessed he should be happy after all. Just as they all took care of Artie.
Turning around to face him again, he was appalled to discover Artie had fallen unconscious, and his head was awkwardly falling over his own chest. Blaine quickly kneeled up in front of him and pressed two fingers to Artie's neck to check his pulse and he winced when he discovered how fast it was.
"Artie?" he said, his voice full of fear as he gently shook Artie's shoulders and patted his face in a desperate attempt to bring him back from his unconsciousness. "Artie, can you hear me?"
A hand rested on Blaine's shoulder and he imagined it belonged to Sam or Cooper, or maybe Sebastian, checking on him after having finished all the walkers off.
"Artie's not waking up, I'm afraid he might… " he explained in a rush, but when the person touching him didn't even try to speak and the nauseating odor of rotten flesh reached his nostrils, Blaine turned to look at the hand on his shoulder only to discover it didn't belong to any living thing. "Shit!"
Blaine jumped from his skin and turned around in one go, falling on his butt in front of that creature who had seemed to overcome the barrier unnoticed as the others had gotten a bit separated while they fought. But he was quicker than they were, and when the walker knelt down on the floor to start biting on him, Blaine reinforced his grip on his knife and strongly embedded him on its brain until it fell dead right in front of him.
Another two hands grabbed strongly on his arms as he tried to regain his breath, and this time he didn't even hesitate: he struggled like a madman to liberate himself from the tight grip holding him down, refusing to surrender even if he hardly had any strength left, and when he was able to extricate from it, he jumped to his knees and turned around with his knife ready to attack.
"Blaine, stop! It's me!" Sam's voice finally registered in his brain, and he realized he must have been calling him for some time by the fright he could see in his eyes as he hid behind his own raised arms, trying to protect himself from Blaine's attack.
"I'm sorry" Blaine apologized with half a sob as he lowered his weapon. "I thought you were…"
"I know" Sam immediately forgave him, even crawling the distance separating them to embrace him close to his chest as he looked at the fallen walker behind Blaine with disdain. "Are you alright? Did some of those monsters get you?"
"No, it was just a bit too close" Blaine explained as he let himself fall in the comfort of Sam's arms for a minute. "You?"
"We're all fine, fortunately there were not too many of them" Sam reassured him with a kiss to the top of his head.
"Artie's not fine" Blaine said as he broke the embrace, suddenly remembering about his unconscious friend. "I mean he wasn't bitten or anything, but he fell unconscious. I don't know what's wrong with him"
"Artie?" Kitty said in a worried tone as she copied Blaine's gestures from before and gently slapped Artie's face.
"What?" the other boy answered in a weak voice when he finally regained consciousness.
"Oh my God, Artie, you gave us the fright of our lives" Sugar protested with a shaky laugh.
"You're burning up with a fever" Kitty said as he checked his temperature with her hand.
"I just need a bit of rest and I'll be as good as new" Artie replied, not wanting the girl to worry too much.
"Let's keep going then" Kitty suggested in an authoritarian voice as this time it was her who got behind Artie's chair to push it. "We don't have any time to lose"
"If those walkers were around, maybe there were somewhere near" Sebastian said, trying to lift everyone's spirits with his theory. "You know… before turning into walkers. Maybe there is something close for us to stay in for the night"
"You're right" Unique added. "I'm sure we're very close to something now"
"Alright, so let's go" Sam said as he crouched slightly in front of Blaine for him to climb on his back.
"You can't carry me anymore, Sam, you must be exhausted" Blaine immediately refused. "Cooper can help me now"
"Sure" Cooper agreed.
"I'm not exhausted, I can carry you a bit longer" Sam insisted, not ready yet to delegate on what he considered his task.
"You promised to stop when you were tired"
"Well, I'm not tired yet, so come on, jump already"
"Alright" Blaine surrendered with a sigh. "But can you get me the backpack first?" Blaine asked, signaling at the backpack Cooper had been carrying for him until then and that had been left on the floor forgotten during the fight.
"Sure" Sam answered and went to obey his boyfriend's wishes, only to find him already on Cooper's back when he returned to him. "What the hell…?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but you weren't being all that reasonable…" Blaine tried to apologize while also defending his own posture.
"Don't blame him, it was me" Cooper added on his brother's defense. "I just wanted to reminisce about the past when I used to carry him everywhere because the little prince would get too tired to walk on his own little feet"
"Hey!" Blaine protested in mock outrage as he slapped the back of Cooper's head, making Sam chuckle fondly at the two brothers and forget he had been tricked.
Half an hour later they still hadn't found anywhere to shelter for the night. It was completely dark by then and the cold was intense, to the point where everybody was shivering and their teeth were clattering without them being able to stop it. Cooper was still carrying Blaine while Sam walked to them every now and then to rub on Blaine's arms in a poor attempt of keeping the boy warm.
Cooper was about to ask someone else to substitute him as Blaine's carrier when Marley's excited voice caught his attention.
"Hey, look! A gas station!" she yelled.
"We can't go back to the bus now, it's too far away" Jake answered while sadly shaking his head. "Plus we don't know if it will still work"
"No, but if it has a shop we could stay there for the night, right?" Marley insisted.
"Right" Puck intervened without being able to stop a wide smile from spreading on his lips. "Guys, we've found our shelter"
There was a collective cry of joy and relief –and Sam kissed Blaine's arm, grateful that his boyfriend was going to find the rest he so desperately needed at last–, except from Artie, who was fairing worse and worse by the minute, and Kitty, who was dead worried about him.
Not remembering about how tired they were only a minute ago, all the youngsters practically ran towards the gas station, hardly able to wait to be inside, away from the cold and danger. It had been a long walk, after all, and they couldn't wait to feel warm and safe and be able to rest through the night, after all the emotions of the day.
Sam didn't even wait for Cooper to lower Blaine to the floor before he was putting his arms around the shorter boy's waist and pulling him off his brother's back himself. Fortunately, Sebastian's theory about people living near before turning into walkers was right, as there were clear signs that this place had been used until very recently: blankets spread around the floor, drinking water, food leftovers, a gas lantern for camping probably used to warm the place… It was kind of sad, knowing the fate the previous owners of the place had met, but they weren't going to waste everything they had left behind just for that, right?
"Why don't you sit here and rest?" Sam asked his boyfriend even if he was not giving him the option to refuse, as he was already gently helping him down on a spread blanket –surprised that, for once, Blaine wasn't even protesting, but he was probably too exhausted for that–. "You've definitely earned it"
"I'm freezing" Blaine answered, gratefully smiling at his lover as the latter wrapped a second blanket around his shoulder, over the one he had been carrying during their trip, and fondly rubbed his arms to get some warmth into him.
"You'll warm up in a second" Sam promised as he moved to grab the gas lantern in front of them. "Let's see if this thing still works"
Fortunately it did, and even if it was not a big thing, it helped a little and, more importantly, gave them the opportunity to heat up some food and drinks that would help warming them up from the inside.
Everybody else got into action to make the place safe, even if it was only for the night. After all, it had failed to keep the previous users safe, right? They didn't dare sealing up the place like they had done to the house, in case something else happened and they got trapped inside again, but they rearranged the furniture to block every possible entrance.
Sam was helping Puck and Unique push some shelves against the main door when he slipped a bit and slightly bumped into it, causing him to grimace visibly at the contact with the burned skin of his shoulder. A grimace that didn't go unnoticed for Blaine, even from the distance, because he had been silently keeping an eye on him all the time, knowing how he could not trust him to take care of himself, even if he knew Sam would usually say right the opposite.
"Sammy, please, come here so I can have a look at your shoulder" Blaine asked from his place a few feet from him, though some of them had to hide their grins at how much of an order it sounded as sweet as Blaine tried to be.
"Not now, I want to finish this first" Sam protested as he again tried to push the shelves, not aware that Unique and Puck had stopped to look amusedly at the couple.
"You promised" Blaine reminded him.
"I didn't say when" Sam contradicted him, stopping also to look at him, arms akimbo to make more of an impression –even if he should have known that wasn't going to have any effect on his boyfriend.
"Either you come here or I will manage to stand up and go there myself, it's up to you" Blaine threatened with a resolute expression that elicited a sigh on Sam –who started walking towards him in surrender, as he didn't want for Blaine to move– and more than a few muffled laughs between their friends at their old-married-couple behavior.
"You stubborn mule" Sam murmured as he sat down next to his boyfriend on the same blanket and ignored his triumphant smile.
"Look who's talking!" Blaine replied with a mocking outraged expression that quickly turned into a deep frown when he unzipped the top of Sam's hoodie and he took a look at the angry-looking burn. "It looks pretty painful" he said in a sympathetic and loving tone that immediately made Sam forget about his annoyance at him.
"It's not that bad, just a little burn" Sam answered in a reassuring tone, not wanting for Blaine to worry about him any more than necessary, but the little grunt that escaped his lips when Blaine gently touched the area belied his words.
"It's not that little, and burns hurt like the devil" Blaine seriously answered, wanting for Sam to know that he was not buying his pretence for even one second, while he moved to take something from the backpack in front of him. "Lucky for you I brought that ointment that Seb and Trent got from the drugstore. I'll spread some over it"
Blaine didn't wait for Sam to agree before he knelt up behind Sam and put a generous amount of the ointment on the blond's shoulder and then proceeded to very gently spread it around the reddish area. The contact hurt at first, but the cold from the ointment and Blaine's miraculous hands immediately calmed the pain.
"Mmmm, that feels good" Sam admitted, letting himself fall in the comfort that his boyfriend's hands always provided.
"There" Blaine said when he finished and he put his arms around Sam's neck from behind to rest a loving kiss on his cheek. "You'll feel better in no time"
"Thank you, sweetie" Sam answered as his hands rested on Blaine's forearms that were still around his neck. "And now, are you going to rest once and for all?"
"Yeeeees" Blaine answered in a jokingly exasperated voice, but he still obeyed and sat down next to Sam, not wanting for the blond to worry. "But only if you stay here with me"
"Where else would I want to go?" Sam answered in all honesty while fondly pinching Blaine's cheek, needing his company just as much as the other way around, so he suddenly had a great idea. "Why don't you lean against my chest, love? You'll be warmer and more comfortable that way"
"I thought you were never going to ask" Blaine joked as he waited until Sam separated his legs to get in between them so he could rest his back against Sam's chest, only to be immediately enveloped in his warm arms. "Oh, that feels nice" he said, practically purring as Sam started caressing his hair. "It will be your fault if I fall asleep"
"Don't worry, I would never dare blaming you for that after the day you had" Sam added, not adding how it was exactly his purpose to get Blaine to sleep as soon as possible. "How are your lungs, by the way?"
"Good as new" Blaine answered, and Sam knew he was being honest as he hadn't coughed for hours.
"You think now it's the time for me to reprimand you for your little stunt at the house?" Sam said, only half joking, but with the tenderness which he kept running his fingers through Blaine's curls, the latter knew he was not really angry anymore.
"I would rather not" he joked, hoping to distract him for the scolding he knew was coming.
"You could have been seriously hurt" Sam said, more seriously this time. "If you had listened to me…"
"If I had listened to you I wouldn't have been able to pack that ointment, you know? Or more importantly, I would have never seen Marley going to the basement and you guys wouldn't have made it in time to get her out of there, so I can't say I regret it" Blaine honestly answered before his voice broke a little. "I can't lose any more people"
"And we're not going to" Sam assured him before he could stop to think that was a promise he didn't know if he could keep. But all he wanted in that moment was to reassure his kind-hearted boyfriend and put his heart at ease so he could rest as he needed, so he glued his lips to Blaine's temple and made sure that he knew everything that he felt for him. "I love you"
"I love you too" Blaine answered gratefully, closing his eyes to enjoy the moment more deeply as his own hands rested on Sam's arms to caress them up and down.
"That doesn't mean I'm not still angry at your disobedience" Sam reminded him in a mischievous tone.
"Yes, sir" Blaine answered with a chuckle. "Will you forgive me if I give you a kiss?"
"Try" Sam dared him with a smile, and he looked amusedly at Blaine when the latter fell for his provocation and turned around to capture his lips with his own. "No, I'm still a bit annoyed" Sam continued to joke, to which Blaine smiled and rushed to kiss him again, more deeply this time, until he could feel Sam melt against him. "Ok, I forgive you"
"I knew you'd cave in" Blaine joked before giving a last peck to Sam's perfect lips and then he let himself fall on Sam's chest again, on his side this time so he could put his own arm around Sam's waist and feel him closer.
"Hey, what do you think it's wrong with Artie?" Sam said after a few minutes of companionable silence, making sure to keep his voice low so only Blaine would hear.
"I don't know…" Blaine answered while shaking his head. "He got too sick and too quickly for a simple cold, right?"
"Maybe there are some other illnesses around?"
"Let's hope not. Maybe it's the flu or something like that. I wish we had some medicines to help him"
"Oh my God, we have to go back!" Sam practically yelled all of a sudden.
"What?" Blaine asked in fear, lifting himself from Sam's body so he would be able to look at him.
"Your medicines!" Sam explained, his face distorted with the anxiety of thinking that Blaine would not overcome his illness thanks to his carelessness. "We need them, you're not in full health yet, and you still haven't beaten your infection completely!"
"Relax, honey" Blaine said, cupping Sam's cheeks in his hands to make him look at him. "I took them. They're here in the backpack"
"Oh, thank God" Sam answered in deep relief before cupping the back of Blaine's head to kiss his lips in mild desperation. "That's why I love you"
"And I love you just for that" Blaine answered as he gratefully embraced Sam strongly to him.
Sam reciprocated the embrace for a couple of minutes, and then he rearranged their positions until he was resting his back against a showcase and Blaine was lying on his chest again, where he could keep him warm and make sure he would rest. In fact, he knew his constant caresses with the tip of his fingers in his scalp and the back of his neck were making him drowsy, so Sam didn't try to engage him in any more conversations that would keep him awake. Instead, he contented himself with looking around him, where everybody was already sitting around the gas lantern too –or using it to warm what would be their supper, as Unique– and listened to the quiet conversations starting.
"How is he?" he heard someone ask in a whisper next to him, and he turned his head around to discover Sebastian sitting next to him.
"Just exhausted" Sam answered as his gaze turned irremediably towards the smaller boy against his chest, who had already closed his eyes, and rearranged the blankets around him to practically bury him under them.
"I'm glad he's doing fine" Sebastian agreed with a smile as he also sent a fond look at his not-so-asleep friend.
"Don't talk about me as if I wasn't here, I can still hear you" Blaine intervened, still awake even if his voice sounded slightly slurred, eliciting a hearty laugh from the other two boys.
But before either one of them could answer their attention was caught but the worry of Kitty's voice.
"Guys, Artie is shivering like crazy and he's got the highest fever" Kitty said, looking desperately at their friends, hoping somebody could offer some help.
"I'm alright, Kitty, is just a cold" Artie protested, but the girl only shushed him, knowing not a thing he could say was going to put her mind at rest.
Mike got up from his place and kneeled in front of Artie. After checking his temperature he frowned, and then he rested his hand on Artie's thigh.
"We don't know what's wrong with you, so I guess the only thing we can do is treat the symptoms. Your fever is very high and that's the first thing we need to take care of, so I'm afraid we're going to have to lose the blankets" Mike said, looking sympathetically at his friend.
"But I'm so cold" Artie protested, holding the blankets more closely to his body.
"I know, but that just means your fever is still rising, and we can't have that" Mike insisted, and he didn't wait to convince Artie before taking the blankets from him in one quick movement.
"Is that really necessary?" Kitty asked, her heart breaking at how Artie's shivering seemed to increase in just a second.
"It is, if we don't want the fever to climb to a dangerous point" Mike answered and he was about to go grab some cold water to cool Artie's skin when a stain on his recently uncovered legs caught his attention. "What's that?"
"Oh, that's the blood from the walker I killed when he was trying to bite Artie" Puck answered, vividly remembering how close they had come to devouring their friend.
His heart in his throat, and hoping against hope that his suspicion would be wrong, Mike carefully lifted Artie's pants. And his heart skipped a bit at what he found.
"Mike?" Kitty asked, having noticed the change in the boy's expression. "What's wrong?"
"Artie" Mike started, trying to take control of his voice in spite of how much it was shaking. "Artie, you were… you were bitten"
"What?" Artie asked, not wanting to believe even if he could see the terrified expressions of all his friends, the tears starting to appear into their eyes, their hands covering their mouths as if to muffle a scream.
"It's not possible, I killed that walker" Puck protested as he jumped on his feet, as if suddenly he couldn't stay still.
"Apparently it bit him before that" Mike lamented as he lowered the leg of Artie's pant in surrender, knowing there was nothing they could do for him.
"But how didn't he realize until now?" Puck asked in anger before he could stop himself.
"Because it was in my leg and I can't feel anything" Artie answered in a surprisingly calm voice.
"No" Kitty said before breaking into full sobs. "No, no, no, no!"
"Kitty, it's okay" Artie said in a reassuring voice as he took the petite girl in his arms.
"But Artie, we can't…" Mike tried to say, even if he couldn't find the right words to tell his friend that he was going to die and there was nothing they could do for him.
"I know" Artie interrupted him with a nod of his head as he continued rubbing Kitty's back in an attempt of comfort. "I know"
Silence only broken by a few muffled sobs fell on the place, as no one knew what to do or say: Artie was sentenced and there was nothing anybody could do for him.
"Shit!" Puck shouted, anger and guilt making him kick the nearest wall, and the only thing he achieved was to increase the sobbing of those who were already crying.
"Hey, don't" Artie said, just as calmly as before, as he seemed to be the only one willing to accept his fate. "I never thought I'd made it this far anyway"
"Artie…" Marley tried to say, but Artie didn't want to listen, just in case it broke his resolution.
"No, listen to me" he interrupted the girl. "Thank you for keeping me alive for so long, you're all the best friends anyone could ask for. I love you, guys. I'm so proud of you"
"Artie, I'll… I'll do it for you" Puck, his eyes filled with tears he refused to shed because of the guilt eating him, offered. He knew it would be the hardest thing he had ever done, but Artie didn't deserve to die alone.
"No" Artie immediately refused. "I need to do this myself"
"Are you sure?" Puck insisted with a lump on his throat.
"Yeah" Artie confidently answered. "I only need you to open the door for me"
Puck nodded and wordlessly moved to the door followed by his brother to move aside some of the furniture they had used to block it.
"Artie…" Blaine said, looking intently at his friend as he lifted himself from Sam's body.
"I don't want to say goodbye, ok?" Artie asked, and of course no one had the heart to contradict him and they preferred to respect his last wish.
Artie silently broke the embrace with the former cheerleader still crying on his chest. Cupping her face with his hands, he dried some of the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs and then he slowly brought her face to him and joined their lips in a sweet kiss, his heart breaking at the missed opportunity of exploring those feelings they had recently begin to experience towards each other.
And then, without another word, he turned to the door and disappeared from the place.
Marley ran to embrace Kitty, who had been left unmoving on the floor as she sobbed desperately, and both girls cried for their friend while a few others joined them in silence.
And the silence was only broken a few minutes later when a shot was heard in the distance.
"You said we weren't going to lose anyone else" Blaine whispered with no trace of reproach in his voice as he left himself be enveloped in Sam's embrace.
And just as everybody else, the two boys remained crying in each other's arms until dawn.
A/N: I'll try to continue!