This chapter is a bit short, but I'm really tired so yeah....

Oh, and the results of my poll are in! They are listed in order from the most votes to the least

Lemon (12 votes)

Humor/Parody (7 votes)

Action (6 votes)

Suspense (5 votes)

Humor/Non-parody (3 votes)

Horror and Supernatural both tied (2 votes)

So there you have it. I will write a lemon first and work my way down until I get to the last two. To decide from the last two, I'll either flip a coin or just pick the one that I think will be easier to write. Thanks so much for voting! ^_^ Not sure when I'll start writing the one-shots, as I'm really busy and kind of want to finish my other stories. But I should have time at some point to do them.

Dark Sanctuary

Chapter 13: The Clock Is Ticking

Tommy stared at Kouji and Zoe, his stomach twisted with nausea. The needle glimmered in Takuya's hands, and the soldier was frowning at Zoe's wound, inspecting it. He knelt down beside the blond with a sigh.

"It's fucking deep," he muttered, looping the thread through the eye of the needle. "I've gotta slow the bleeding. Tommy, work on Kouji."

Tommy shakily took the first-aid kit off his back, unsure of himself. "Wha-what should I do?"

Takuya extracted a knife from his belt, then pulled a lighter out of his coat pocket. "Open your kit and get the alcohol out. Pour it over his burn to make sure that it doesn't get infected. Once you're done with that, wrap it up."

Kouji, barely conscious, lifted his head. "What? No, you're not pouring that shit on my arm."

Takuya glanced at the Kouji's burn, a look of disgust on his face. "Sorry, dude. But it's gotta be done."

"Why? The Spitter bitch didn't bite me. She just sprayed me with acid," he protested.

"Even so, it could still get infected like any other wound. Kouichi, hold you brother down while Tommy disinfects it," Takuya said.

Kouichi silently went to his brother's side, remaining silent as he did so. While Tommy searched through his kit to find his needed supplies, Takuya turned his concentration back to Zoe. The blond was out cold, a pool of blood now surrounding her head.

"Shit," Takuya cursed, flicking the lighter on.

He held the blade of the knife over the tiny flame, waiting for it to heat up enough. He could hear Kouji groan in agony as the alcohol seared his wound.

"Fuck!" Kouji cried out, now wide awake as he tried to jerk away.

However, Kouichi easily held down the younger twin, allowing Tommy to now wrap out the burn. Bloody alcohol seaped through the gauze, so the younger brunette added another layer. He then looked at the bloody gashes on Kouji's chest.

"Takuya, what do I do about his cuts?" He asked.

"Uh, what?" Takuya glanced over at him, putting his lighter away.

"Kouji's cuts. The ones on his chest," Tommy said. "What should I do about them?"

"Just...hang on for a minute. I need to stop Zoe's bleeding," he replied. "I've gotta cauterize this to make sure she doesn't get an infection."

He pressed the hot blade up against her punctured neck, causing her to moan in pain. A bit of steam floated away from her cut, and Takuya watched as the blood flow slowed down. After another minute or so, Zoe opened her eyes. She hissed through her teeth as the scalding metal burned at her tender flesh.

"I'm sorry, Zoe. But it has to be done," Takuya said, trying his best to hold her still. "And Tommy, if his cuts aren't deep, then clean them out and cover them. But if he's bleeding heavily, he'll have to be stitched up."

"Wait, what?!" Kouji demanded. "Hell no! I am not going to be sewn up like a fucking stuffed animal!"

Tommy ignored his outburst and carefully looked at the three cuts. "Well, two of them aren't really bleeding, but the third one is."

"Is it gushing?" Takuya asked, pulling the knife away from the girl's neck.

"Uh, kind of," Tommy replied, unsure of himself. "It's not gushing, but it's still flowing out pretty heavily."

Takuya sat down and put Zoe's head on his lap. "Kouji, does it feel deep?"

"No," Kouji lied, not wanting anyone to go near him with a needle. "I-I'm fine!"

"Liar," the soldier said bluntly. "Tommy, stitch him up."

Kouji tried to sit up, only to be shoved back down by his brother. "No! Dammit, Kouichi! Let me up! I hate needles!"

Kouichi glared down at him, then spoke two simple words. "Shut up."

"Hey, wouldn't you know it. Kouichi can talk," Tommy said happily. "Good for you, Kouichi."

The short-haired twin did not reply, but continued to hold Kouji down. The young man with the bandana was definitely unhappy with this and continued to struggle against his brother's grip.

"Hope I do this right," Tommy mused as he pulled a needle out of the kit. "Haven't sewn anything since home economics in high school."

"Fuck...." Kouji's voice trailed off.

Takuya turned Zoe's head to the side, getting a clear view of her wound. The cut was about a half an inch deep and two inches long. While most of the blood had ceased, a thin line of it continued to trickle out. Takuya pinched the cut between his fingers, much to the discomfort of Zoe.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, terrified.

He looked down at her sympathetically. "I'm going to sew this up. It'll hurt, but when I'm done, you'll be happy that I did this."

"Shit." Zoe closed her eyes and waited. "Alright. Do it."

Takuya carefully but firmly slid the needle through the slit, causing Zoe to jerk.

"Oh, god...." She groaned, trying her best to keep still.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhh! Watch it with that needle, idiot!" Kouji screamed at Tommy. "Goddammit! This is not right! Not right, I'm tellin' ya!"

Tommy had already wiped all three cuts down with alcohol and was not in the process of stitching him up. A squirt of blood sprayed from Kouji's chest as Tommy sewed him up, splashing his brother in the face. Kouichi wiped it away, casting an annoyed glance at both Tommy and Kouji.

"Sorry," Tommy muttered. "Never claimed to be good at sewing."

"Kill me!" Kouji exclaimed.

Takuya smirked. "Is that an offer?"

"Fuck you, man," Kouji spat.

The brunette chuckled, continuing to stitch up Zoe's neck. He was about halfway down right now, and would only take another minute or to finish up.

"Dude, calm down," he quipped. "Zoe's handling it way better than you. And hers is right on the neck, which I think would be more painful."

"Either way, it still hurts like hell," Kouji grunted. "Tommy, are you almost done yet?"

"Not even close," Tommy said, pulling the thread tight.

The long-haired twin groaned. "Takuya, finish the job. Tommy's taking too damn long."

"No, I'm busy with Zoe," Takuya replied, his voice hinted with annoyance. "Maybe when I'm done."

"Aaaaaaaah! Dammit, Tommy!" Kouji yelled.

Tommy sighed. "Sorry, I'm trying. It's harder to push a needle through skin than through fabric..."

About a minute later, Takuya pushed the needle through Zoe's cut one last time. He pulled the string tight, then knotted as best as he could before cutting the excess off with his knife.

"Is it over?" Zoe winced, feeling the tightness of the stitching.

"Yeah, all I gotta do now is cover it with gauze," he told her.

Kouji glanced over at him. "And then you can finish Tommy's job. He's butchering me over here."

Tommy groaned in aggravation. "Fine, bleed to death, ya ungrateful bastard. I don't need this."

He walked away from the raven-haired young man, sitting down on one of the seats. Takuya rolled his eyes, carefully applying a guaze pad on Zoe's neck.

"Way to go," he said sarcastically to Kouji. "You made him quit."

"Can you blame me?!" Kouji exclaimed.

Takuya finished up and gently laid Zoe back down before rising to his feet. "Kouji, think about it. If I wasn't here to act as the medic, you would have to rely on someone else. Zoe couldn't have done it, and I don't know how well Kouichi can function with a tedious task like that. You would have to trust Tommy and let him do it. If not, then you could die, plain and simple."

"But it hurts!" Kouji griped. "He's doing it wrong."

Takuya inspected what Tommy had done so far and shook his head. "No, he actually did pretty decently. He closed the wound up enough and made sure he sewed you up in a straight line. They're spaced just right and pulled tight enough so that they won't open so easily. I think you owe Tommy an apology and you should let him finish what he started."

Kouji groaned. "Can't you do it, though? You're more skilled. Or are you too busy hovering over the blond, hoping that she'll go out on a date with you?"

Takuya glared at him, but turned slightly red. "Fuck you."

Zoe, who was not really aware of the conversation going on around her, gingerly touched her long locks. "Damn, I need a shower... My hair's all bloody and stiff."

"Maybe if we're lucky we'll come across a hose," Takuya told her. "Not to make a joke, but I'm sure it'll get the job done enough so that it won't be as bad."

"Yeah...." Zoe looked up at him and smiled. "You're cute....."

Kouji and Tommy snickered, exchanging glances as Tommy made his way back over to complete his stitching job on Kouji. Although Kouichi had remained silent, a tiny smirk played on the corners of his lips.

Takuya turned ever redder. "She's uh...delerious from the blood loss. Yup....um...."

"No, I'm not...." Zoe weakly sat up, flinching. "At least...I don't think so....maybe..."

"Okay, Kanbara," Kouji said with a laugh. "Maybe she is delerious. But maybe she isn't. Either way, the two of you better not sneak off into a dark corner for some alone time."

"Yeah, 'cause we have plenty of time to do that," Takuya replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes again. "Right now the main objective is to...I dunno...get away in one piece!"

"And not infected," Tommy pointed out.

Takuya helped Zoe stand up, steadying her as she swayed. The blond groaned, holding onto the side of her head.

"Feel like shit," she mumbled. "How long will this last?"

"Here, take these," he said, handing her three pills.

Zoe took the medication, making a face as they went down her dry throat. "Ugh..."

"Hey, what about me?" Kouji whined. "Gimme four of those."

"Take three," Takuya told him. "We don't need you to be wandering around like a blumbering idiot."

Kouji snorted. "Nah, you take care of that role for all of us."

"I try," Takuya said cheerfully, aggravating the twin.

"You're a freak," Kouji muttered, swallowing the pills. "And I need a drink..."

Takuya sighed, pulling his heavy camoflauge coat off. "Yeah, same here. But unless you can magically make a vending machine appear, I think we're shit out of luck for now."

"Showing off for Zoe?" Kouji quipped with a chuckle.

"No, I'm sweating my ass off so I took my coat off. Got a problem with that?" Takuya raised an eyebrow.

Kouji snorted. "Nah, I just like fucking with you."

"Great," Takuya replied dully. "Not only do I have the privelege of being attacked by a bunch of crazies, but now I get the annoying comments from the under-medicated emo."

"I'm not emo! I'm a loner!"

The soldier smirked. "No, trust me. You're an emo."

"You don't know me," Kouji spat.

"Don't want to either. Just as long as we help each other get through this alive, we don't have to learn anything about each other." Takuya stood, tugging at this white shirt.

Zoe watched as it peeled away from his tanned skin, which was covered with a thin layer of perspiration. She could see the rippling muscles of his chest and arms clearly and almost wished she could see his abdomen.

Knock it off, she scolded herself. We're kind of in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, for cryin' out loud. You should be thinking of a plan instead of hoping to get a glimpse of whats beneath his damn shirt....

"So...what should we do?" Tommy asked after a long pause. "I mean, where should we go from here?"

Takuya shrugged. "I don't know. I have no idea where we are, so I can't really navigate us to a certain location. All we can do is wander around aimlessly and hope that we don't get killed in the process."

Kouji sat back and groaned. "Dude...we all know damn well that we're not getting out of here alive."

"Or we'll get infected," Zoe said dully. "Sooner or later, one of us won't be fast enough to stop them..."

"Don't talk like that," Takuya replied firmly. "We're going to get away. I refuse to let anything happen to any of you. Even Kouji, no matter how much of a pain in the ass he is."

"Gee, thanks," Kouji scoffed.

The brunette smirked. "No problem."

"Just promise me one thing." Zoe looked at Takuya with the utmost seriousness. "I can't speak for the other guys, but if I get infected, just shoot me."

"Zoe-"

The blond cut him off. "Takuya. I don't want to be one of them."

"But Kouichi is," Kouji pointed.

"Kouichi and I are different," she argued. "I'm very impressed that he not only deals with it, but he managed to hold onto his humanity. I don't think I could do the same."

Takuya looked at her for a moment, then sighed. "When the time comes, we'll worry about it then. But I won't deny you your request."

"Yeah....I'll probably go with Zoe on that one," Tommy said meekly. "I don't know if I could do the same as Kouichi."

"We'll see how it goes." Kouji adjusted his bandana. "Who knows? Maybe we'll all turn out like Kouichi and be able to cope with it. You never know."

Takuya reloaded his rifle, a grim expression on his face. "We should get going soon. I don't hear anyone banging on the outside, but still....I don't want to stick around."

"Good idea," Tommy commented, loading his shotgun with shells.

"Are the two of you okay to go out there?" Takuya asked Zoe and Kouji.

Zoe sighed, checking her pistols. "Yeah, I'm okay. But even if I wasn't, it's not like we have much of a choice."

"Same here," Kouji added. "If we stay here, we'll get ripped to shreds."

"Okay then." Takuya shrugged his coat back on. "We'll go in a minute."

Zoe felt her crimson-stained hair with disgust. "Damn, I feel gross... But I guess I've got bigger things to worry about than when I'll be able to shower next."

"You don't look half bad," Takuya said with half-smile. "I still think you look pretty good."

The blond turned red, almost as red as her jacket. "Just...shut up and let's go."

"What? You think that I'm cute, so what's the problem?" He flashed her a smile.

Zoe glared at him, then looked away. "N-no, I don't! I was out of it for a minute and needed to get my head cleared. Now pipe down already and let's get the hell out of here."

"You heard the girl," Takuya told everyone, an amused look on his face. "C'mon."

Okay, so there was no information about their backrounds this time. But there will be in a few chapters. Maybe chapter 16 ir 17. But, I hope you guys liked the chapter and the Takuminess ;) And if you didn't get why I called this chapter 'The Clock is Ticking' I just needed a title. The clock is ticking to make sure that Kouji and Zoe didn't die, okay?! Okay! Please review and see ya later!