A bright light shone into Columbus's eyelids, causing him to squeeze his eyes tightly shut, eyebrows knitting closely together. The longer he laid the more aware of changes in his surroundings from the previous night started to penetrate his senses. Something cool laid on his forehead, while a sharp contrast of something warm wrapped tightly around his midsection. As his senses started waking up, Columbus allowed himself to open his eyes, flinching slightly at the bright sunlight in the Hummer. The brunette shifted his body, craning his neck forward to try and view what was constricting his chest so tightly, and was surprised to see a burly set of arms planted firmly around his midsection. Columbus pitched his body forward, the momentum of his weight knocking the arms to his abdomen the jarring movement waking the owner of the arms.
"Jesus Christ, what in the hell are you doing, Jaymes?" A gruff southern accent assaulted the silence, before Jaymie realized who the voice belonged to.
"Keith?" His voice croaked out, dried out and gruff, sending a wave of coughs wracking through his body, as Tallahassee's warm arms cradled his shoulders steadying the heaving body one of his large hands pressing its knuckles to Columbus's sweaty forehead.
"Yir still burning up." Tallahassee noted as he rearranged Columbus to lay back down onto the seat as he awkwardly reached onto the floor, picking up a discarded of Aspirin shaking the bottle listening to the pills rattle inside validating that there were still pills present.
"Why in the flying fuck, did you leave the goddamn hummer." Tallahassee seethed, popping the bottle open and pushing two pills between Columbus's dry lips, chasing it quickly with a bottle of water he had wedged into the car seat.
Columbus turned his head away his lover, cheeks burning in embarrassment. "I thought you left me" Came the whispered reply slightly muffled by the bottom lip firmly planted between Columbus's lips as he chewed it worriedly.
"For the love of God, stop worrying that lip." The taller of the two commanded, cupping the brunettes sweaty face with one of his hands, using his thumb to gently extract Columbus's lip and gently coaxed the brunette to look at him.
"Are you crazy? Cuz' I know you ain't stupid" Tallahassee grunted, using his calloused thumb to gently stroke the brunettes thinning cheek.
"I'm sorry." Jaymes sniffed, nuzzling into the soft touch sitting up so he could press his body into the southerners chest.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, ya hear?" He growled fingering the chestnut brown curls that were pressed into his chest, feeling the boy weakly nod.
"We gotta keep movin'. Go back to sleep darlin'" After this was said, gentle kisses were pressed to Columbus's mouth before Tallahassee laid the brunette back onto the seat and tightly tucked him back under his snakeskin jacket, pressing one last fleeting kiss to the brunettes forehead.
They had driven for hours before Columbus was awoken to Tallahassee shaking his shoulder gently, pulling the jacket down to his hips, allowing the cool night air to sooth his warm skin.
"Whats wrong? Why did we stop? Are you hurt? Do you need me to-" The rapid questions were cut off by a pointed look and a hand gently gripping his chin.
"Easy there spit fuck, t's time ta eat. Don't want ya any skinnier than ya already are." A playful smirk danced across the southerners thin lips.
"Oh, oh, okay , um, give me a minute please." The brunette lifted the corner of the jacket flushing a deep red when he saw he was still naked. "Where are my clothes?"
"Aw hell its not like its nothin' I ain't seen before."
" Please? Its kind of breezy out, and the conditions are perfect for a whole host of different-"
Tallahassee rolled his eyes before leaving Columbus to ramble in favor of fishing something out of the passenger seat and tossing it to the brunette, who caught it clumsily causing the pile to fall into its individual pieces of new, clean clothes. Carefully running his hands over the material Columbus beamed a toothy grin at Tallahassee as he explored the pieces a new pair of boxer shorts were on the top, followed by a new dark brown hooded sweatshirt his other one had become tattered and the ends of the cords almost non-existent from all of the nervous chewing he did to the plastic ends, and a new purple v-neck shirt that almost matched Tallahassee's perfectly. Clothing was a rare commodity in Zombieland, clean clothes were a luxury, new clothes however where unheard of and Columbus was thrilled to no longer be covered in bile, both is own and zombie, along with putrefied remains of decaying flesh and stinking of stale sweat. Columbus launched his body forward rocking it into the blondes squeezing him tight in a sign of gratitude before shyly capturing the thin chapped lips of his lover into a chaste kiss that Tallahassee quickly escalated onto the border of obscene. The southerner playfully grabbed the brunettes bottom earning himself a surprised squawk of protest accompanied by a heavy blush from his partner.
"Git dressed, food'll get cold." The large male grumbled detaching himself from Columbus's grasp and checking the shorter males fever, sighing in relief when he felt the smaller body's temperature had dipped back down to normal.
Columbus made short work of getting dressed, and scrambled out of the hummer, an uncomfortable pressure on his bladder making its presence known as he set his feet on the ground. Glancing beyond the front of the hummer Columbus noted they were in a large field of dried dying grass and large yucca bushes dotting the landscape with huge boulders casting long obscure shapes across the desert plain a large forest loomed in the near distance, only about 300 yards from their campsite. Deciding to relieve himself before joining Tallahassee at the fire Columbus quickly jogged to a particularly large Yucca plant, turning his back to the fire he began to empty his bladder, a sigh of pleasure bubbling forth after not using the bathroom in nearly three days had taken a toll on his body. After several seconds and possibly the most pleasurable bathroom experience of his life, Columbus had finished and was zipping up his pants and had started to fish out a bottle of hand sanitizer when a voice called over the quiet night.
"Spit Fuck, Where are ya?" The southerners voice had a twinge of fear with anger lightly laced between the words, a hidden malice that Columbus ignored having grown used to the burly mans callous attitude.
"I'll be right over, give me a second." Columbus called back, struggling to get the cap of his hand sanitizer open after struggling for almost two minutes the brunette finally popped the cap open with a triumphant call, squirting a heavy amount of the alcohol into his palm.
"I didn't ask when you was comin' back, I asked where you was." The voice from behind Columbus was unexpected and caused the smaller man to jump in surprise dropping his hand sanitizer in the process.
"Jesus Christ, don't do that." The brunette gasped, clutching his chest, his heart hammering wildly and his breathing ragged, but had no time to chastise the older man before he was easily slung over the southerners shoulder and carted back to the campsite.
"What the hell are you doing? I said I was coming." Jaymie protested, thumping his balled fists weakly on Keith's back indignantly.
"And I said it was time ta eat." Keith replied coolly, spitting a wad of tobacco out of his mouth and onto another yucca plant, this one near their fire before placing his precious bundle on a particularly large moss covered boulder before walking back to the car and returning with the blanket and a few handkerchiefs that Jaymie prayed weren't used and wrapped the large blanket around the brunettes shoulders cocooning the boy into the fabric.
"Tally its too hot." Jaymie whinged, rolling and shrugging his shoulders to escape the heat of the blanket The blonde quickly thwarted the boys attempts and wrapped him back up tightly cutting off any protest with a pointed look before wrapping both of his lovers hands in handkerchiefs.
"I found that split pea baby shit you eat." Tallahassee grumbled turning his back to the fire and picking up a hot can of soup from the glow of the orange ashes in his own rag bound hands, testing the heat before handing it to Columbus who gladly accepted the can, kissing his lovers chin to thank him. After about eating half the soup Columbus sat the can on the boulder, sighing happily as he watched his lover quickly finish off his can and open a jar of peaches.
"Eat your food." Tallahassee grunted not looking up from his jar, which he was trying to pop the seal from the lid to access its sweet contents.
"But I did?" Columbus replied, confusion dancing across his features, he was finished, he didn't need the whole can.
"Finish it" Keith was now looking up from the now opened jar of peaches and was giving Columbus a pointed look.
"But-"
"Did I fuckin' stutter?"
Columbus sighed knowing that he would easily lose this battle and finished his now cool soup feeling uncomfortably full as he set his empty tin down and leaned back onto the rock, looking up at the stars that covered the night sky vaguely paying attention to the shuffling of his lover approaching his boulder.
"Good boy," Tallahassee praised noting the empty tin of soup before pressing a kiss to Columbus's lips, his mouth tasting like the sweet peach syrup. "You tired baby doll?"
"Not particularly" Jaymes hummed leaning forward to rest his chin on his bent knees before he was uprooted from his spot and replanted into Keith's lap. They sat like this for several hours enjoying the quiet and the dark and each other presence as the light from the fire slowly started to ebb away the darkness of night penetrating their surroundings before they were interrupted by the sounds of snarls, growls, and clumsy dragging footsteps.
"Keith?" Jaymes asked, his voice shaking as his body trembled almost violently.
"Get in the car." Keith growled back in a hushed voice, silencing the brunette with an outstretched palm, his head turned towards the row of trees close to their camp.
"But-"
"Get in the god damn car Jaymes." Jaymes didn't need to be told twice as he stumbled over to the car, opening the door to pull his shot gun into his arms before quickly turning back to the campsite, the fire almost completely extinguished Tallahassee's silhouette easily blending into the shadows of boulders.
"What are you doing?" Jaymes hissed, the cool metal of the shot gun pressing against his shirt caused him to shiver as he glanced nervously over his shoulder toward the edge of the wood. The shuffling grew closer and feral shrieks joined the symphony of horrific sounds.
"Get in the car and lie down. Don't make me tell you again" Came the harsh reply over the eerie night air leaving no room to argue, Jaymes didn't have to be told twice before he clambered into the car and quietly shut the door spreading his body across the seat his feet facing the line of trees. Gun shots rang throughout the air causing the brunette to flinch and aim his shotgun towards the car window, Tallahassee's whoops of freakish delight were the only indication that the other man was uninjured and dare he say it, having fun.
A face loomed in the window not long afterword, the shock of the sight jarring Columbus out of his head space, it was a man or, what was left of one. His camouflage and fluorescent orange vest indicated he was a hunter as black bile gurgled from its throat, dribbling down his stubble covered chin and onto his chest, staining the vest further. His face was mauled, long scratched stretched from ear to cheek, with one eyeball laying gruesomely on his cheek, the decaying remains of an optic nerve was the only thing tethering the eyeball to the rest of its rotting skull.
Using its forehead the hunter started slamming its skull into the window, the force of the blow causing the window to splinter, spider like cracks branching from the point of impact. Three solid hits later and the glass shattered, stabbing into the hunters flesh and finally severing the rest of the optic nerve holding onto its eyeball causing it to hit the ground with a wet smack.
Without second thought Columbus pulled the trigger, the noise of the blast within the confines of the car left his ears ringing as the bullet obliterated the hunters skull sending it flying in hunks of rotting flesh. Columbus quickly climbed out of the car making sure to ram the butt of his gun into the remains of the hunters skull insuring its demise before running toward the edge of the wood and scrambling up the lower branches of an old large tree.
From the height advantage Columbus now found himself at he could watch Tallahassee's silhouette at the camp, tossing his pistol to the ground in favor of something with a handle and a round flat end, the resounding metallic crash that it made when connecting with another zombie's cranium made Columbus almost certain that it was a cast iron skillet.
"Jaymes?" The other man yelled as he made his way over to the car, swinging the skillet in an almost practiced ease, his movements fluid as he smashed zombies skulls like over ripe melons. When the area was clear he jogged the rest of the way to the car, flinging the door open.
"Jaymes, don't do this ta me. Where are ya?" Panic was thick in the southern squeezing around his vocal cords.
"I'm up here, Tally." Columbus called back, firing at another zombie that was clawing at the base of the tree he was seeking refuge in.
"Git yir ass out of that god damn tree. I told you to stay in the car!" Tallahassee called back using his skillet on the last zombie in the area, the resounding crack on its skull echoing throughout the now empty forest.
"Oh yeah, sure lets stay in the car and ignore the undead fucks trying to eat my insides. Perfect" Columbus spat back in retaliation, the now warm barrel of his shotgun throwing off heat into his chest, warming him quickly in an almost soothing manner as his heart beat slowly returned back to normal.
Drop down Jaymes, we gotta keep moving." The southerner called up into the tree, his feet planted firmly at the base as he stretched out his arms to catch the brunette. Columbus huffed and dropped his shotgun into Tallahassee's awaiting arms.
"You know damn well what I meant, spit fuck. Drop down, I'll catch you." Columbus glanced down at the coaxing blonde, but the height difference that he was now starting to realize made him dizzy and he wrapped his limbs tightly around the tree squeezing his eyes shut.
"I swear to god, you don't want me comin' up there to get ya." Tallahassee growled, his patience quickly slipping.
"I- I'll be down, just, give me a minute." Another wave of nausea.
Tallahassee cocked his gun, "I will give you to the count of three to get yir ass out of that god damn tree." The threat didn't go unnoticed, but Columbus chose to ignore it as he shifted his weight to stretch his foot to a lower branch.
"1...2...God damn it spit fuck get out of the fucking tree." The southerner fired the shotgun that Jaymes tossed to his feet, the bullet lodging into the tree about 4 feet above Columbus's head causing the shorter man to spasm in fear and drop from the tree in a mass of flailing limbs into Tallahassee's awaiting arms. Once he was safely caught he clung to Tallahassee as if he were a life line.
"Please don't do that again." The brunette sniffed, burring his face into his lovers neck and shoulder trembling.
"If you would just do as you was told fir once we wouldn't be havin' an issue." Tallahassee countered walking to the hummer, placing the brunette on his feet before they got into the vehicle.
"Get in the front baby doll, I don't want ya by all that broken glass." Keith said stroking Jaymes' cheek with his thumb before swatting his bottom playfully.
"Go on, I don't wanna tell ya twice." Jaymes scrambled into the front seat awkwardly before checking the back seat and buckling his seat belt, and locking his door, jumping when Keith closed his door.
"Go to sleep baby doll." The command was gentle and was accompanied by Keith stroking the crown of Columbus's head the brunette leaning into the touch .
"Where are we going now?" Jaymes yawned sleepily, stretching his arms above his head.
"You're goin' ta bed." Keith stated, keeping one hand on the top of the brunettes curls keeping his eyes on the long dirt road that stretched before them.
"But I'm not-"
"Sleep, Jaymes." Keith soothed, removing his hand from Jaymes's hair to put in a country CD, humming along with the tune.
"Where did you find a Country CD in Zombieland?" Jaymes asked, yawning once more.
"Enjoy the little things Baby Doll."
Authors note.
I am so sorry for not updating for so long, I feel pretty awful. Well good news is I finally am out of high school for good and I have oodles of free time to update this! Although I tend to forget, and I'm almost kind of sad to say that I only have one more chapter for this fic before its over. I hope you all enjoyed!
~Hope