"Shit I barely slept," Grimmjow muttered, annoyed. "You are the nosiest sleeper in the world."

"Sorry." Ichigo felt just as tired having woken countless times to the faces of past friends intermingled with many others who'd attacked him over the last year and finishing with the desperate eyes of Yuzu and her tiny voice calling his name over and over until it turned to a scream. Grimmjow just gave a grunt to his apology and headed back around to the foot of the highway.

Their progress was slower today. The terrain was ideal—flat and the pavement unhindered by sand for miles—but this also meant more traffic and more trouble. Many people skirted away when they recognized Grimmjow. A few gave him a respectful wave, but any larger group looked at them dangerously, checking them over to see if they carried anything worth killing for. Grimmjow himself was valuable, and as his story told, some had already tried to make off with him for the Glads. It could easily happen again, but Ichigo saw many people notice the sword on Grimmjow's back and continue on. Grimmjow was renowned for his ability to kill people with his fists—facing him with a sword would be asking for death.

Ichigo also eyed it. He had carried different weapons over the course of the past few years, but he'd thrown them all away. He couldn't very well admit this to Grimmjow who killed on a daily basis, but Ichigo couldn't seem to bring himself to kill humans. The world was a very different place for him without spiritual pressure. It wasn't that he was weak or that he couldn't win a fight—but when he cut into flesh with a blade, people tended to scream in agony, fall and bleed and beg for mercy, rather than cursing him out, getting back up and facing him again. Here, in the real world, there was no buffer of spiritual pressure between the body and its pain receptors. Pain and blood loss were more real to Ichigo then they ever had been, even during the war.

It wasn't quite noon when one of the groups of travelers stopped. There were five of them, all men, faces dark from the sun and cracked from the dry heat of the day time. They'd likely travelled far and they must have been looking for whatever supplies they could take. They too eyed Grimmjow's sword, but they stopped nonetheless blocking their path.

Grimmjow stopped with a bit of a sigh and pulled the blade from his back without a word. Ichigo tensed for the fight but Grimmjow put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.

The brief look he shot him told Ichigo Grimmjow didn't need any help and he preferred to handle this on his own.

Ichigo stood rooted as he watched Grimmjow cut them down. He let him fight alone, because he wouldn't be able to finish them off with the brutal efficiency Grimmmjow did. He didn't protest against the merciless killing, because he had to get to Rukia. He had to find his sisters. He had to know who else had survived. And one look at these men told him they would kill him and strip him of anything of worth and leave him for the birds or maybe even eat him themselves.

He stepped over an arm and then the rest of a corpse. Grimmjow wiped his blade off on one of the man's shirts and then began patting them down for goods. He got a watch and a map and tossed Ichigo a bag of beef jerky. The salt content threatened to dehydrate him but it was a delectable treat on their trek. Ichigo wondered if Grimmjow had planned on this for his source of food from the start, but shortly after they left the carnage behind they came to convenience store just off the highway.

Of course, it wasn't a convenience store like it once had been, but it served the same purpose. Grimmjow paid an astronomical price for more water and aged energy bars. Ichigo gaped at the price, but for Grimmjow, it was nothing.

They continued on after a short break. They came upon more bodies and guessed the creeps who'd attacked them must have attacked others before Grimmjow ended them. Ichigo stiffened seeing a young woman face down and half naked. Grimmjow walked by without a second glance.

It was dusk when they encountered their next problem. Grimmjow came to a halt. Ichigo wondered why, staring ahead at vacant sand road.

"What—"

"Shh."

Ichigo shut up and continued to stare ahead. Only when he quieted his breathing did he catch the sound that had made Grimmjow pause: the low grunt and growl and wet chomp of something eating with furious pleasure.

Grimmjow slowly withdrew his sword. He pointed to the concrete barrier that divided the highway. Ichigo looked that way and just barely saw the arched back that jerked as it pulled at its meal, stripping sunbaked flesh from something—probably someone's—corpse.

Grimmjow crouched low before stalking forward. Ichigo watched him go, not sure what to do. It didn't take long for the wolf to catch their scent or hear Grimmjow's movements because suddenly the hungry noises turned to a low growl.

"Come and get it," Grimmjow baited. The beast ramped up its deep utterance before bounding over the barrier. Grimmjow caught it under the belly with one swipe, opening it up before it landed. It was dead when it hit the pavement. He turned triumphant and didn't see what Ichigo did.

"Grimmjow!" They hadn't been able to see the second one. It was already in the air before Grimmjow turned. He hit the dirt, it rolled off of him but came back faster than he was getting up. But Ichigo had already started running. He skidded over gritty pavement and scooped up the sword, swinging it back into the wolf's face before its jaws clamped over Grimmjow. He succeeded in slashing it, but not stopping it. The animal's attention now turned on him and when it leaped he didn't have the body mass to meet it so he too tumbled into the ground. He only realized what had happened when he felt the wet wash of blood rain down on him.

It had impaled itself on the sword.

"Ugh, get it off." Ichigo was stuck under the weight of the dead wolf. Grimmjow was back on his feet, face scraped but otherwise unharmed. He paused to smile down on Ichigo's struggle.

"Come on, get it off of me."

"Fine." He booted the beast to the side. Ichigo was able to extricate himself and Grimmjow dug out the blade. He looked around for more nightly predators but the pair seemed to be the only ones.

"Alright," he lined his sword up with the animal's flank. "Guess we have dinner."

The meat was tough and stringy and a bit overcooked. But one couldn't take chances on rare meat with something like a wolf that scavenged off dead bodies. Ichigo had eaten a fair number of animals he'd killed but meat was still always a treat and filled him up like canned foods never could. He cooked as much as he could for another meal but twenty four hours was as long as it would last before it spoiled in the heat of the day

They went to bed satisfied, tucking up in an overturned bus. Ichigo woke sore from the uncomfortable metal roof he's slept on. It didn't take long for a strong wind to catch up to them and the scent of stale water to drift their way.

"What's that?"Ichigo asked, seeing a large reflective surface up ahead.

"Tochigi. I haven't been this way for a while but the word is it flooded in the rains."

"Like Sendai?" Sendai was a city the ocean had consumed save the very tops of high rises and now a whole community of people lived in boats and on the roofs of the old city.

"Not as deep. It's just a mess from the rains and too many rivers damned up from Hueco Mundo's sand. We'll see for ourselves soon how bad it is."

It took them half of an hour to get to the edge of the water. There was no sign of any way around it without a massive detour but it reeked of stagnant, vile water they did not want to venture through.

"Take a breather," Grimmjow instructed as he pulled out the map he'd taken from the men who'd attacked them. "They must have found a way around."

Ichigo took the opportunity to sit but watched Grimmjow scrutinize the map for hints of how they crossed.

"Damn," he said eventually.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"They were tracking their journey. They drew a line straight through the water here."

"So you think they swam for it?"

"Yeah. It's probably even walkable in some parts, just..."

"Filthy."

"Yeah. How's that wound?" Grimmjow waited while Ichigo pulled up his shirt to show the stitching Grimmjow had done for him. It still hadn't scabbed over completely. "It will get infected in that water."

"I have this." Ichigo dug in his bag and drew out a roll of duct tape. It had been his first aid substitute in many cases.

"Use it. Hopefully it will be waterproof."

Ichigo did as instructed and sealed the tape over the wound in hopes no water would get in it. Then they both stripped to their boxers, binding up their clothes and stuffing them into Grimmjow's bag that had carried their canteens. He'd been lucky enough to acquire a waterproof one that canoers might use. It would keep their essential supplies dry while anything else could go in Ichigo's bag. They position their packs on their bare backs, Grimmjow putting his sword back into place, and then they stepped into the dark waters.

It was a most unpleasant journey. They were able to walk most of it, flooded to their waists, sometimes their armpits, but there was no current to drag their bodies so they could continue to move forward. Only in few places did they actually have to swim. But the footing was treacherous. They couldn't see through the water at all for all the filth that floated in it. Because of the stillness, flies had gathered and bit at their bare exposed skin. Indistinguishable things bobbed at the surface or stirred against their legs. Sometimes the things were distinguishable and Ichigo would look away from the bloated, decomposing bodies.

Worst of all was the smell. Neither spoke the whole way, trying to keep their mouths and noses as shut as possible. Ichigo only opened his mouth when his foot slipped on something that felt slimy and rolled under him, putting him off balance and the he stepped over the edge of a deeper area. He cried out just before he plunged under. Grimmjow pulled him up immediately but he was already covered in the filth and he spat it back out of his mouth. Grimmjow gave him a look as if he were seeing a dead man. Ichigo's stomach churned and he wished he could make himself hurl so as to get the water he'd inhaled back up.

It took almost an entire day to get across. They came out the other side painted brown from silt that clung to their bodies and smelling of a bog.

"We need to get clean," Grimmjow said, scanning the land. "There." He spotted the rain barrels at once. Ichigo followed his gaze, the barrels lined the front yard of an old house that had just escaped the flooding.

"Someone might still be there."

"Well someone can share their water or get a sword through the eye," Grimmjow grumbled. Ichigo hesitated but they had little choice. Someone did lay claim to the barrels—a frail looking elderly man—but Grimmjow reached for his sword and the man backed off. Ichigo called after the elderly man to give an apology but he was already hiding inside his house. The poor guy probably withstood the stench of being so close to the bog just because he knew others wouldn't want to and he could remain relatively secluded.

They used a bucket to scoop the water and shower themselves off. It took a few good douses and some frantic scrubbing to get the stench and filth from their skin. Ichigo tore off the duct tape, unsure if it had done the job or not. A stitch or two came with it, and he swore seeing blood bubble up along the surface of the wound again.

"Damn."

"Let it bleed," Grimmjow commented as he belted his pants back on. "If any water got in that will wash it back out."

Ichigo took the advice and so just put his pants back on and left his shirt off, though the sun was setting and with it would come the cold. He put his coat on to keep some of the cold away. Grimmjow looked up at the sky and saw it was overcast. He looked back to the house.

"Don't." Ichigo stopped him when he realized his intention. "He's just a scared old man."

"He doesn't need that whole house and I'd rather sleep inside tonight."

"Well then offer him some money."

"For fuck's sake."

"Grimmjow please, you have enough you can spare it."

It was true. Maybe because the espada enjoyed the luxury the pointless pieces of paper afforded him, he conceded and they went up to the door and knocked.

"Please just leave me alone!" The man called out.

"I'm sorry for my friend," Ichigo called back through the wood. They easily could have broken through the door. "We have money to pay for the water and we would like a place to stay for the night."

Silence.

"I really am sorry about earlier. We have..." Ichigo glanced back at the money Grimmjow withdrew. "Ten thousand Yen."

This time, there was little hesitation. The door opened a crack, then, when the man saw they had the cash, it opened all the way. For someone who hid in the outskirts like this, it would be impossible to make money, so he could hardly pass up this opportunity.

"Thank you." Ichigo stepped inside when he made way for them. Grimmjow passed off the money with a scowl. The man showed them to a room as quickly as he could and hurried away. He maintained his distance, clearly still afraid they'd decide to kill him for his home or water or possessions.

"For that money he could have fed us." Grimmjow looked half of a mind to go routing through the man's food.

"If he lives out here alone he probably doesn't have much." Ichigo produced some of their food from his bag to distract him. "Here."

Grimmjow took the rest of their meat stored in the waterproof bag. Ichigo ate his half and made himself comfortable. The beds had clearly belonged to children. Ichigo didn't like to think what had happened to them. The walls were decorated navy blue with bright planets painted all over and on the ceiling there was a mobile of the solar system. The beds were similarly themed and clearly hadn't been disturbed in a long time. Ichigo wondered how this place had been left so untouched. Grimmjow clearly did too because he pulled out his map to consult it.

"We strayed out a long ways," he determined. "I should have known. We'll need to walk at least two miles to get back to the highway but I can't be sure, there are no other landmarks."

"We can ask the old man in the morning if he knows how far it is."

"Yeah." Grimmjow set down his stuff on one of the beds. It would be too short for him, but it would be better than the outdoors. He checked the view from the window before shutting the drapes tight, then he dragged a chair over to the door and wedged it under the knob, just in case the old man decided to off them in the night. Then he nodded to Ichigo to remove his jacket and lay down.

Ichigo lay still as the other fixed up his stitches. It didn't take him long. Grimmjow moved to his own bed and lay down, placing his sword over his stomach, one hand on the handle.

"Can you really sleep like that?"

"I always sleep like this."

"Oh. Well, night."

Ichigo lay down, his ankles hanging out over the edge of the bed. He tucked up his knees and hugged the pillow as he lay on his side. The room smelled musty and some of the stench of the bog had leaked in, but the bed felt clean—cleaner than the one in the apartment building, and he couldn't help snuggle in closer to the cool sheets. He shut his eyes and imagined his own bedroom, now buried forever under foreign sand. He wished, as he had so many times, for just one more night to rest there, one more day to wake and hear his sisters cooking breakfast, or his father's obnoxious cries trying to sneak attack him while he was still coming awake.

His father's voice he'd never hear again. His sisters' he could only pray to find on the other side of this journey.

Dreams turned into thick globs of oozing slime that washed slowly down the walls of his mind. The dark room came back into focus and he made out the slithering tendrils on the walls and ceiling. He went stiff in the bed, watching in disbelief as vines snaked over every inch of the room, overtaking dressers, lamps and posters until they came to claim the beds as well.

"No!" He sat straight as the pointed ends crawled over the sheets. This was impossible, the magic of the worlds was dead. But he clearly saw them coming for them. "No!"

"KID!"

His body heaved violently as Grimmjow shook him. He could see those blue, piercing eyes but behind him the room still writhed with intertwining vines.

"Grimmjow watch out!"

Grimmjow looked behind him, unperturbed by anything he saw. He turned back to the young man he restrained and put a hand against his forehead but just by looking at the colour of his flesh it was clear he was ill.

"You're hallucinating. You got infected."

"There are vines on the walls," Ichigo argued, holding him back desperately. "Maybe it's a Vandenreich's power...but I don't know how since—"

"Kid there's nothing in the room, calm down."

"Grimmjow..." he felt the sweat on his palms where he held the other by the arms. He swallowed and tried to calm his breathing. His head felt heavy and dizzy. He shut his eyes for a moment, only to see Orihime twisting in agony on a marble staircase, then a tiny hand reaching from the sand where his house should be.

"Kid snap out of it!" Grimmjow slapped him. It did nothing to bring him out of where the hallucination had taken him. Ichigo screamed and cried out names. He both fought Grimmjow's hold and clung to him as he became the stand in for whatever ghost sprung before his waking eyes.

There was a banging at the door behind him. Grimmjow kicked the chair out of the way to give the man access.

"What are you doing to him?"

"He's sick." Grimmjow tried to pull away to give the man room but Ichigo wouldn't let him go. The man moved to the other side of the bed.

"The bog." he said at once.

"Shit." Grimmjow checked Ichigo's wound. It didn't look swollen. Then he remembered Ichigo's fall. "His head went under, he may have swallowed some."

The man made the same face Grimmjow had when it happened. He knew what that meant.

"Do you have any medicines?" Grimmjow asked.

"Nothing to help this."

"Well, what then?"

"Son, there's a hundred disease floating in those waters and none of them can be treated by anything simple. He'll be dead in a day without real antibiotics and you can't get those in places like this."

"Then where?!"

"The cities. The nearest one is—"

"Kanuma, I know." Grimmjow barked out. "It's fucking twenty kilometers from here!"

The man stepped back. "I'm afraid if you tried to wait it out he won't make it. I've seen enough bodies at the edge of the water in the last few months to know. I'm sorry."

"Fuck." Grimmjow shut his eyes.

The easiest thing to do would let Ichigo die. His problem would be solved. But in his mind's eye he saw a small round face, those dark eyes that had looked right through him back then, and made him swear with all the honour he had left to repay his debt in full.

"Damn," he swore again but started pulling Ichigo up against him. "Get our packs," he ordered the old man who helped him put them and his sword on his back.

"You won't make it on your own."

"I don't have much choice." He hiked Ichigo up, shoving his face into his shoulder to keep the noise down.

"Stop screaming kid. Whatever you see, it ain't real."

Ichigo might have heard him, but he didn't let go of him either.

"Good luck." The man followed them to the door.

"How far to the highway?" Grimmjow asked him.

"A kilometer."

With that, Grimmjow left, running the second his feet were off the porch. He knew he couldn't keep up this pace the whole time but he'd damn well give it a try. He felt Ichigo go limp two miles in. It made it easier for him then having to put up with the noise, especially when he hit the highway again and had to be weary of other travellers.

Ichigo was light enough—malnourished as he was he probably weighed less now as a full grown man than he had as a teenager when Grimmjow had known him so long ago in the war. He wrestled with the reoccurring thought of dropping Ichigo and walking away. But every time he remembered the young man pressed back to back with him while the enemy came in, or Rukia holding her hand over his mouth to stifle his screams as she poured medicine over his burn.

"Fuck." How had he grown soft when the world around him had gotten so hard?

At half way he had to slow to a walk. It was fucking joke. He thought in vain to his days as an espada, and how quickly he could have moved through the spiritual world. This physical plain was so damn slow and cumbersome. He readjusted his hold on Ichigo and managed a jog but he was winded, his muscles were tired. If it was just him he might have managed the marathon at this pace, but with his burden he was exhausted.

Ichigo roused, confused, but not screaming anymore. He made a few moans but nothing more, Grimmjow was sure the fever was keeping him from seeing reality. He made it another three miles before he had to stop for water. His throat was dry and he coughed hard, his lungs burning. Sweat dripped into his eyes and he dropped to his knees for a few moments, but he knew if he stopped too long he'd never get going again.

Dawn came almost unnoticed under a heavy cloud and the day remained dark. He could see a bit better, enough to see threats in the distance. He'd been lucky to make it through the night without encounters but he was sure the threat of rain had kept most in shelters. Maybe it would throughout the day too. He needed a clear path to get there on time.

He was walking again when he saw the city looming up. Out here there was less sand, and the landscape was truer to the original Earth though devastated by the last four years of unnatural weather.

He cut across the land now, abandoning the highway as it would have taken longer. He told himself he shaved off a mile by doing so but it was more a trick to give him the drive to keep going. The sky scrapers loomed forever, taking ages to get close. He felt like he was making no progress and realized he was barely walking anymore. His arms were numb from the weight they bore, but he picked up his pace again, not about to lose this fight now.

Ichigo threw up on him just as they got to the city. He cursed the young man but he didn't stop, not until he found someone.

"Where is a chemist?" he demanded of a woman sitting on the very outskirts of town. She shrugged. Grimmjow growled but pushed on further into the city. "A chemist!" He barked out at anyone he saw. Finally someone pointed him in the right direction. This city was a slum, no electricity to buy here. He passed flocks of street dwellers who must have found it easier to live in the open than try to defend a home or possessions. Grimmjow knew this place to be rough, he just had to hope he was rougher.

He picked up his pace when he saw the red sign pointing down the other side of the block.

"Finally."

He ran around the corner. His back hit the concrete while he was still registering the pain in his skull.

A boot dislodged Ichigo from his stiff grip. Hands yanked him up by his shirt front as he was still trying to blink back the fogginess.

"It's that motherfucking fighter. He must have a load of cash on him."

The man's hand when to Grimmjow's pocket. His wrist snapped in two places before he could pull it back from his victim.

"SON OF A BITCH." His other hand came down on Grimmjow but he punched pavement and then his nose broke as Grimmjow came up at him. He toppled the man and rose to meet the next attacker. The gang had the advantage this time—Grimmjow was well and truly spent from his trek here. A punch caught him in the jaw and spun him hard enough he stumbled into a wall. Someone got the sword from his back. The crowbar that had glanced him when he rounded the corner now came down with full force across his back. He collapsed to his knees as the wind rushed out of him and pain exploded through his shoulders.

"You bastards," he bit out when they hauled him up again, one man on each arm, restraining him. The crowbar came in line with his face.

"Don't move." They warned. "Take his cash."

They dug through his pockets but got nothing. One of the men grabbed him by the throat.

"Where is it?"

"Fuck you."

The punch to his gut made him gasp but he straightened again. The second and third strikes came hard and fast, stressing ribs that had already taken a hit from behind. Then the guy backed off. "Kill him, then we'll strip him 'til we find it."

"Kill me?" Grimmjow laughed. "Now if you could do that in the ring, you'd get alot of money."

"Well this ain't the ring."

"Maybe, but you still ain't gonna kill me."

Grimmjow threw his weight back and his foot forward, driving the man's knee cap in the wrong direction. He screamed and crumbled. Grimmjow's foot came down again on his windpipe before the two restraining him could stop him. They reacted, throwing him head first at the wall. Grimmjow hit hard but rolled back and dodged a strike from his own sword. He caught the man's hand before his next swing, dislocated his elbow with a single strike and got his weapon back.

It was all over after that.

He sliced through them in seconds. He gasped for breath, blood falling from his hairline, but he ignored it, sheathed his weapon and collected Ichigo and their bags. He stumbled the last few feet of the journey and shoved through the reinforced door to the chemists. He dropped Ichigo on the long counter before the startled woman. Behind her a man held a gun toward them, but Grimmjow ignored the threat.

"I have cash," he managed. "He needs antibiotics."

She looked between him and Ichigo.

"He's pretty bad. How much cash do you have?"

Grimmjow leaned down and pulled off one boot. He dumped the contents on the counter. She stared at the amount in shock.

"That'll do." She nodded and the man behind her lowered his gun, immediately coming to her aid. "We'll do what we can to save him."

"Good." Grimmjow stood there, taking fast breaths, but his heartbeat was strangely slow. One eye went dark and he remembered the blood, the blows to his head. He blinked but everything was already hazy, the woman looked to be moving slowly though her eyes were fixed on him. He reached for the edge of the counter but his hand closed on empty air and her face disappeared as he met the dirty tile of the chemist's floor.

Thanks so much for reviewing! I love to get your feedback!

Riza