Chapter Fifteen

Best Laid Plans

It was supposed to be a simple scavenging mission. Go to the edge of the city, scavenge through a few buildings, get what you can, and get out again. It wasn't supposed to be difficult or particularly dangerous.

The universe had other plans.

That morning was brisk and cold, the sky a sharp brilliant blue that hurt your eyes when you looked at it. Pidge and Hunk had gotten up early for breakfast, and now found themselves alone in the dining hall.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't."

"Come on, Hunk."

"Even if I did ask her, what would we do? It's the apocalypse, we're not exactly overflowing with romantic opportunities."

"You could take her to dinner."

"Where, the dining hall? We eat here every day."

"Yeah but not just the two of you."

"Dates are supposed to be special, Pidge."

"I really don't think Shay cares that much."

Their argument would have gone on longer (much, much longer) if the door to the dining hall hadn't opened at that moment. Hunk clammed up, but it was just Matt and Shiro.

"Morning." Pidge chirped, shoving oatmeal in her mouth while Hunk tried to calm his blushing cheeks. "You guys going somewhere?"

Matt and Shiro were both wearing their jackets and backpacks, Shiro armed with his rifle. Matt's weapons weren't obvious, but Pidge knew he had several knives tucked in various pockets that he'd been practicing with for awhile.

"Allura said I could go scavenging!" Matt exclaimed, grinning wide. Pidge couldn't help but smile with him. He'd been begging Allura for weeks to let him go scavenging, and apparently she'd given in.

"Is Keith up yet?" Shiro inquired, adjusting the weight of his gun. "I left pretty early this morning."

"I think he's still asleep." said Pidge. "Shay gave him a pill last night."

"Ah, ok. Tell him where I went will you?"

"Yeah, sure. Have fun scavenging Matt, don't let the muertos bite."

Her brother gave her a quick hug goodbye, and then he and Shiro trucked out of the dining hall. Pidge immediately turned back to Hunk.

"Now, back to that date with Shay."

"Scavenging really isn't that much fun." Shiro said, smiling ruefully at a bouncing Matt as they left the camp. "Usually it takes forever to find anything useful and Z's are a pain."

"Why does Pidge call them muertos?" Matt asked, ignoring what Shiro had said. "I didn't think she knew any Spanish."

"Lance." Shiro responded shortly. "Keith and him actually got into an argument over it."

Matt scoffed and shook his head. He was in high spirits, though for the life of him Shiro couldn't understand why.

"Didn't you ever go scavenging while you were with the Garrison?"

"Nah, the Garrison was so far from everything scavenging was a major mission. I never went along."

"Why are you so excited about it?"

"It's something new to do, that's all."

Their conversation remained light hearted while they headed towards the city. The air was still chilly, the sun not completely over the top of the mountains yet. The sunlight sparkled off the rooftops of the ruined buildings below, almost creating an illusion of beauty.

The illusion faded the closer they got. Albuquerque hadn't been the prettiest city to begin with, and the apocalypse hadn't done it any favors. Cracked pavement, broken glass, crumbling concrete, the whole shebang. And the first road they came across was simply crawling with Z's.

Shiro frowned from behind the half crumbled wall they had chosen for cover.

"There's a lot of Z's." he noted to Matt, narrowing his eyes. "Something must have riled them up."

The walkers had broken their herd and now ambled around the street, while several biters darted to and fro, gnashing their teeth. From the first building on their right Shiro could hear the tell-tale sound of a clicker searching for it's next meal.

"Should we go back?"

Shiro shook his head. "As long as we stay low and quiet, it should be fine. We'll just stay away from the street."

Matt followed him without pause when he moved from their position. They crept along the back of the buildings, peering in each one in turn. They went past four before they located one that didn't have a live clicker in it.

This one looked like an old video rental store, which probably wouldn't have many useful goods in it, but it was always worth looking. This is what Shiro told Matt before boosting him through the broken back window. He scrambled over after him, carefully avoiding the broken glass and dropped to the carpet.

It had once been blue, but was now faded to gray and ripped. The flimsy black wire racks that had held DVD's were now toppled into one another, creating a complicated web of metal across the floor of the store.

"I'll check behind the counter." Shiro murmured to Matt. "You take the bathrooms. Look for first aid kits."

Matt gave a jaunty little salute and disappeared around the corner.

Shiro proceeded behind the counter. He ignored the cash register (money doesn't matter anymore) and started poking through the cabinets underneath.

Matt discovered nothing of use in the men's bathroom and proceeded to the women's. He'd barely opened the door when a cloud of spores enveloped him.

He quickly pressed a sleeve over his face, holding his breath and scrambling back and away. He rushed back to Shiro, not daring to breathe until he was as far from the bathroom as he could get.

"Spores." he gasped out. "We should go."

Not many had escaped, but even one inhaled spore from a stuck clicker could turn you. So they left, leaving whatever useful supplies may have been hiding there behind. When they emerged there seemed to be even more Z's wandering around, which sent alarm bells ringing through Shiro's head.

"Uh, Shiro?" Matt said, eyeing the large clump of walkers in the middle of the road. "Maybe today wasn't the best day to go scavenging."

"Maybe." Shiro admitted. "Let's check one more place. If there's any more when we come out, we'll head back to Arus."

The next building they found that wasn't infested with clickers was what looked like an old community center, like a YMCA. The metal walls were rusted and falling apart, so the two men entered cautiously. They prowled through the various offices and classrooms, peering in through the window slits in the doors before entering and avoiding the ones clouded with spores. They found a few trinkets like spare pencils and paper and a roll of duct tape, but not much else. Eventually they wandered into the largest room in the warehouse-like building: an indoor basketball court. It was dark inside, the thin windows around the edges of the ceiling not letting in much light. Dust hung thick in the air and the whole place smelled distinctly of old rubber and slowly rotting wood.

"I don't think there's going to be much in here." said Matt with a sneeze. Shiro opened his mouth to agree. Then the whole building shook.

At the same moment an ear shattering boom exploded from somewhere else in the building, the massive shockwave knocking both of them to the floor. The wall behind them completely crumbled, and when Shiro forced his head up in a panic sunlight was streaming in where the ceiling had begun to sag.

Now there was really dust in the air, hanging in thick sheets and layering against Shiro's tongue. His ears rang and he could barely see through all the dust, but nothing hurt and nothing had fallen on him, which were two blessings he wouldn't be forgetting.

Dazed, he stumbled to his feet, groping blindly for Matt. He found him relatively quickly and pulled him close enough to see him. He looked shell shocked and off balance, but there wasn't any blood. Matt moved his mouth, Shiro couldn't understand through the high pitched squeal in his ear. He pointed to the side of his head and then shook it.

Matt repeated himself but with slower motions.

"A bomb."

Shiro nodded, the realization coming from far away.

"Galra."

Shiro nodded again.

Then Matt's eyes widened, staring not at Shiro but over his shoulder. He turned, and his gut promptly dropped through the floor.

Z's were attracted to noise, and they had just made a whole lot of it. And now a whole freakin' herd of the things were scrambling over the wreckage of the metal wall, coming straight for them.

His whole body went cold as he went into fight or flight, scanning the sides of the room frantically for any sort of exit. He barely caught sight of a grey door tucked into a corner and took off for it without a second thought, dragging Matt along behind him. His hearing was coming back to him, registering the snarl of quick biters right on their heels.

The two of them crashed through the door. Shiro spun, slamming it shut and throwing his body weight against it a half second before the first biter smacked into it. The door trembled as the biter kicked and scratched and shrieked, but it held.

The room they were in, as Matt discovered with rising panic, was practically barren. There wasn't anything in it. What it did have, however, was another door. A door leading to the outside.

"Matt!" Shiro grunted, making him spin. More Z's had reached the door and were now pressing themselves up against it. Shiro had his feet braced against the floor and his teeth gritted while he tried to hold it shut, but he couldn't last forever. Already thin fingers were forcing their way between the piece of metal and the frame, the sound of snarls and moans crescendoing ever upwards.

Matt joined him. With their combined strength they managed to shut the door all the way again, though they could feel it shake each time another Z threw their bodies into the melee.

"There's another door." Matt said through his teeth, muscles trembling as the door almost creaked open again. "We can make a break for it."

Shiro shook his head, sweat beading along his brow. "If we let go of the door they'll get us before we make it. You go, I'll hold it."

"No!" Matt snapped immediately. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Just for a few seconds." said Shiro, peeling his glare from the door to look at Matt. A small, strained smile appeared on his lips. "I'll be right behind you."

There wasn't time to think it through. His feet were slipping, whole hands were starting to force their way through now. He had to decide, and he had to do it now. And in that moment, he trusted Shiro. So he let go of the door and sprinted for the other side of the room.

The sounds of the Z's got so much louder, Matt crashed through the opposite door, and then burning cold air was rushing into his lungs. He ran a few more steps, and then he heard Shiro shout.

He froze, but before he could turn back Shiro was stumbling into him.

"Go!" he shouted in his ear, and together they ran, following the line of the street back the way they'd come. All of the Z's that had been in the street had swarmed to the community center, but they still ran until they reached the old video rental store. They collapsed in it's shadow, breathing hard and trembling.

"Holy shit." Matt breathed out. "We're alive."

A hesitant smile crept to his lips. "Holy shit, we're alive!" His voice was verging on hysterical, but he didn't care. "We're alive! Shiro, we're-"

Then he looked at Shiro, and his words caught in his throat. Shiro wasn't looking at him, and he didn't look elated to have survived. Instead he was looking down at his right arm, eyes dulled and uncomprehending as he considered the teeth marks on his bicep.

Shiro had been bitten.

Matt wasn't sure how long he sat there in silence, gaping dumbly at the bite mark. He closed his mouth, swallowed hard.

Ok, what do I do, what do I do, what's step one-

"Shiro." His friend didn't move.

"Shiro." Matt grabbed his wrist this time and his head snapped up, as though he'd forgotten Matt was there.

"Matt." he said urgently, eyes taking on a wild flare. "Matt, you have to get away from me, you have to go, before-"

"No." Matt's voice was surprisingly even. A strange calm had settled over him, swallowing up the fear in his gut. He didn't know what this feeling was, but he would ride it as far as it took him.

"I'm not giving up on you." Matt tugged lightly on his wrist. "Come on, get up."

"You can't do anything." Shiro's face crumbled into despair. "Matt, please."

"I'm not giving up on you." he repeated. "We need to find something."

"What do you mean, find something?"

"To cut it off."

Shiro's brow furrowed. "You can't cut off the bite, Matt-"

"Not the bite." he interrupted. "The arm."

Shiro blanched. "What? No, Matt, you can't, what if it doesn't work-"

Matt jerked on his arm, dragging him closer until they were face to face.

"I'm not letting you turn." he declared, staring right into his eyes. There was so much fear there, so much it almost shook Matt's newfound confidence. But he took another bite out of it and leaned closer. "Not without a fight."

"Matt-"

"People need you alive." he spat with vehemence. "Keith needs you. I need you." he let his eyes soften a little, pleading. "Please, Shiro. Please let me try."

Shiro gulped. There was a long moment of silence while they stared at each other, both of them horribly afraid. Then, slowly, slowly, Shiro nodded.

"Ok." he said, licking his lips. "Ok."

Matt let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

He got to his feet, pulling Shiro up along with him. The bite was already turning color, throbbing red around the edges of the teeth marks. They didn't have much time left.

"Ok, come on, let's go."

It didn't take much time to find what he was looking for, thank God. The saw was a little rusted and scary looking, but tetanus was easier to cure than the virus.

Shiro was dead pale while Matt pulled him into a nearby building, as close to the end of the street as he could get them. As soon as this happened he had to get Shiro back to the camp as quickly as humanly possible. Or he would die from blood loss.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything to numb the pain." Matt murmured to him as he guided him down to the floor.

"It's ok." Shiro said, but his voice shook. He tried not to look at the saw.

Matt stripped off both of their belts, one for a tourniquet and one for a gag. The last thing they needed right now was more Z's.

He worked as quickly as he could. His fingers were beginning to tremble; his nerves would fail him soon. He belted one of them around Shiro's arm above the bite, tying it as tight as he could. Then he shoved the slim blade of one of his knives into the knot and used it to twist. Shiro winced as it got tighter and tighter, but he bit it back, knowing this was nothing compared to what was coming.

He folded the other belt in two, holding it out to Shiro the way he'd held out the strip of cloth to Keith weeks ago. Shiro took it in between his teeth without hesitation. Matt took his arm gently, stretching it out to the side, and Shiro looked away.

"I'm sorry." Matt whispered, and then he started to saw.

Shiro tried to hold back his screams, but they erupted almost immediately. Blood soaked Matt's hands, dripping onto the floor and soaking his jeans, but he kept going. He had to keep going; if he stopped he couldn't bear to start again.

You have to do this, he told himself, you have to. For Shiro.

Shiro screamed and screamed until his voice cracked. And then he kept screaming, only getting louder when Matt finally hit bone.

His arm was mangled, a red and white mess, but Matt pressed onwards, having to brace his other hand against Shiro's shoulder. Shiro dug his fingernails into his other hand to stop himself from struggling, though his legs still kicked at the floor against his will.

There was a sickening crack, and Shiro sobbed, and then it was easier.

Finally, finally, it was over. The wound was ragged and gushing blood, even when Matt cinched the tourniquet tighter. Shiro kept biting onto the belt, teeth digging holes in the leather as his breath came out in wheezes and muffled cries.

"Ok." Matt breathed, ducking under what remained of Shiro's arm. Blood soaked him, but he didn't care as he wrapped an arm around Shiro's waist.

"Ok, let's get you up, get you back. Come on, Shiro." With a great heave, he hauled both of them upright. Shiro swayed, and Matt was barely able to hold onto him.

"Shiro." he said tightly. "I need you stay awake. Can you do that? For me?"

Shiro groaned piteously, but managed a nod.

They took one step, then another, and with Shiro still dripping blood, began fighting their way back to Arus.

Keith really didn't like Rolo. Somehow he always ended up being his partner when they went scouting, and he was starting to think Allura was doing it on purpose. He was just so freaking calm all the time, like he was eternally high. And he never stopped talking. It wasn't like Lance's excited chattering or Pidge's rambling, it was just a never ending toneless drone. One of these days Keith was going to punch him just to make him shut up.

Rolo nudged him, and he had to physically restrain himself from biting the man's head off.

"Hey, looks like the scavengers are back." Rolo was pointing across the desert towards the city. Sure enough, when Keith turned his head he spotted two shapes heading towards them. But something wasn't quite… right.

He frowned and squinted. The taller shape was leaning on the smaller one, and they were stumbling like they couldn't keep their balance. Unease coiled in his gut and pushed against the back of his throat.

He started walking towards them, then broke into a jog. Then a run.

He smelt the blood before he saw it. Matt was practically bathing in the stuff, and Shiro… Shiro was…

"Shiro!"

Shiro's head jerked a little at Keith's voice, and his eyes lifted as Keith came tearing up to them.

"Shiro- oh my god- shit, what- what happened-" Keith was stumbling over his words, staring with uncomprehending eyes at the stub of Shiro's right arm. He'd only been gone a few hours but now he looked so pale and blood was everywhere and he was missing an arm-

"Keith." Matt's voice jerked him back to reality. Matt looked just as terrified as Keith felt, a few tear streaks running down his cheeks with red stains splattered on his pale skin. "Keith, we need to get him to Allura."

Keith went to Shiro's other side, hauling his intact arm over his shoulder. Shiro was sagging, his strength was leaving him. He yelled for Rolo, who appeared a mere moment later, for once wearing a serious expression.

"Run back and tell Allura and Shay what happened. Now!" Keith's voice was hard as stone, and Rolo left a little puff of dirt behind when he sprinted off.

Keith and Matt stumbled forward, supporting Shiro between them. He'd gone lax, his strength beginning to leave him. Keith's mind buzzed with a million questions. He bit them all back. He could find out what happened later, what mattered right now was saving Shiro.

The moment they arrived at the gate Hunk and Lance and Pidge were there to help carry him. Which was a good thing as he'd just lost consciousness completely. Together they hauled ass to the infirmary.

A group of other camp dwellers dogged their heels the whole way there, curious and scared, but Keith paid them no attention. Lots of people were talking and yelling all at once, their voices blending into a dull roar. Or that could have been the blood pumping in his ears. It was hard to tell.

Finally they made it and set Shiro on one of the cots as gently as they could, red blood startlingly bright against white sheets. As soon as he was down Keith knelt beside him. His face was so pale, all the muscles slackened. His arm was a mangled mess and he had to avoid looking at it or he would vomit.

He fumbled for Shiro's intact hand, but before he could find it someone was pulling on the collar of his jacket.

"No!" Keith gasped out as he was pulled away from his brother. Allura's voice answered him.

"You can't be in here, Keith, you'll only get in the way."

She only let him go once they reached the hallway, turning immediately to call for Matt and Coran to help her. Keith tried to push back into the room while she was distracted, but she shoved him back with one hand.

"No, Keith. Lance, keep him here!" And with that barked order she disappeared back into the infirmary, closing the door behind her. Keith's attempt to follow was blocked by a pale, trembling Lance.

"Let me go, Lance." he snarled, putting on his scariest glare. Lance gulped, but he still shook his head.

"You heard Allura."

"Lance, I swear to god-"

Lance braced his hands against Keith's shoulders, shoving the other boy back against the wall. Keith could feel him shaking, but it didn't stop him from keeping him pinned.

"Lance." Keith growled in warning. He could push him off if he really tried, but he didn't want to hurt him. All he wanted was to see his brother, to hold his hand and tell him everything would be ok. He couldn't let Shiro die, if he died-

"Hunk, a little help over here?"

"Let me go!" Keith pushed at Lance's arms, trying to get him to back off without a fight, but Lance wouldn't move. His breath started to come faster. All he could see was Shiro's deathly pale face, and blood, and a missing limb.

"I have to get to Shiro, I have to- I can't just-"

Hunk's much large form loomed up behind Lance, blocking Keith's view of the door.

"It's ok." Hunk said, as reassuring as he could possibly be. "He's in good hands."

"It's not!" Keith snapped, tears of desperation rising to his eyes. He shoved Lance again, but with Hunk behind him he didn't move so much as an inch. "It's not! I have to get to Shiro, I can't leave him, I can't!"

"Hey, you're not leaving him." Lance tried to make his voice match Hunk's, tried to hide his own fear. "He's right there, ok?"

Keith briefly considered fighting his way through them, but the thought died as quickly as it came. He leaned back against the wall, letting the helplessness wash over him in a wave that made his knees weak.

Lance's expression softened, recognizing his defeat, and lowered both of them to the floor. Hunk followed. Keith and Lance both sat cross-legged with their shins pressed together while Hunk remained behind, pointedly still blocking the sight of the closed door from Keith's view.

Something prodded at his side, and then Pidge was there, pressed up against him. It was almost like another group hug.

"We're all scared too." Lance murmured. For a moment anger flashed through his chest- not as scared as I am, you don't know him like I do, you don't care about him like I do- and then it was gone. Pidge gripped his elbow.

"It's gonna be ok." she whispered to him. They all kept their voices quiet, as though they didn't want to disturb the medical team as they worked on the other side of the wall.

"You don't know that." Keith's voice was choked, he sounded exhausted.

"No, but I believe it."