Three chapters left!

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Chapter 12 – Massacre.

Dean.

Dean's feet pounded on the ground like war drums as the city blurred past around him. Lungs screaming with effort, fists clenched so tightly he thought his fingernails might draw blood, he squeezed his eyes closed, choking back blurriness as his eyes stung with grief.

Every breath he took, every sound of his footsteps ringing through the ghost city, was Sam's last chance. If he failed now, the kid who was now his little brother in every way but blood, was gone. A few scratchy letters in Castiel's journal, a lock of patchy, white hair, and nothing more.

Shooting occasional quick glances to the map, Dean ran and ran until the city started to melt around him. The once-colourful shop fronts, now cracked and cold, were soon overtaken by identical lines of terraced houses, windows cracked, dripping with rotting ivy. The map was now merely lines, useless, and Dean was running up and down streets, searching madly for-

There. The symbol from earlier, paint cracked but bright, was sprayed onto a wall a few metres ahead of him. Dean sprinted towards it, and as he reached it and looked to his left- there was another one. As he followed the symbols they were suddenly everywhere – more and more at every turn as they led him into what looked like an industrial estate. White-coated walls, almost like plastic, were coated in watery, green grime, and Dean cursed himself in retrospect for not hearing the footsteps-

A strong, rough body slammed Dean against the wall – his head hit the bricks with a sickening 'crack'. As blood, thick and sticky, started to trickle down the side of his face, Dean raised his head weakly to meet the eyes of his attacker.

The man's face was set-jawed, smirking down at Dean as his fixed his hands around his neck, and Dean knew that he had failed. Sammy was going to die, Cas was going to hate him, he was going to be stabbed in the heart right here and now by this man, and-

"Balthazar! Damnitt we need to work on your social skills!"

On reflex, or perhaps it was out of shock, the man's hand tightened around Dean's neck. Clawing madly at it, Dean's vision started to slowly seize at the corners until something not unlike a whine escaped the throat of his attacker. "Dad! He's trespassing-"

"And he looks even younger than you, Balthazar Shurley, so let him go."

Shockingly, the man released Dean's neck in half a second, looking a little sheepish. Dean slid down the wall, face still wet with blood, as another man knelt in front of him.

This man was the opposite of the first. He was wearing a grabby, scuffed labcoat, and underneath that, he looked surprisingly scrawny. A scruffy beard, greying brown hair and baby blue eyes made him look strangely nonthreatening, but Dean flattened himself against the wall anyway.

"Who- who are you?!" he asked through gritted teeth, pressing his sleeve against the gash on the side of his head that had now started to drip scarlet down his neck. "Chuck Shurley?!"

The man tilted his head to the side slightly, a motion not unlike Castiel, and Dean's pulse gave a throb through his veins. "Please, I'm not here to hurt you, but my little brother is sick – half gone – and we heard that you have a-!"

"A cure…" the blue-eyed man inturupted, pinning Dean with a measuring stare. A few moments passed, the cold of the wall at his back causing small shivers to rip through Dean's frame, before the man nodded, standing up and offering Dean a hand.

As Dean stood, he wobbled precariously, pain from the wound on the side of his head stabbing through his senses before he slumped bonelessly against the lab-coated man. Grunting with surprise but holding his weight surprisingly well, the man glared across at his companion. "Concussion. I knew we had to get you checked out for violence issues…"

"Dad!" For a second, the more menacing of the two even sounded a little childish.

"That's 'Chuck' when we're working, Balthazar."

"Fuck that!"

"Watch your language!"

Dean suddenly had a lot more faith in receiving help from these two; because their tones and eyes were just like his and Sammy's when they bickered.

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Castiel.

A rasping gasp of breath tore through the frail frame in front of Cas, the force and effort of the action raising Sam's back off the cold metal table. The breath hitched and then alarmingly stopped, causing Cas to leap out of his seat to Sam's side.

"Sam?! SAM! Can you hear me?" Cas was only met with a wide eyed, tight throated, frightened creature, whose muscles were so tight that they were bulging on its neck and forcing it's body into stiff, rigid, uncomfortable positions under the restraints. "HELP! HELP US PLEASE!" screamed the man, his voice hoarse with fear, but no one came.

Cas didn't know what to do. He couldn't work with Sam tied up like this, and it was only going to make Sam's condition worse. He worked quickly, undoing all of the buckles that held Sam down, finishing with the mask over his face. For a second it looked like it was over, like he was fine. His breathing evened out and his body stilled. Quiet, sleeping, peaceful.

Until he wasn't.

The creature sat bolt upright. It wore Sam's face, but the eyes were its own. Cas backed away; if he screamed he might enrage it, if he stayed silent he would be trapped here with it for God knew how long.

The creature cocked its head to the side, staring at Cas with a vacant expression. It advanced slowly, almost as if it were cautious, unsure. Cas threw caution to the wind and decided it was worth a shot. He tried to talk to it.

"Sa-Sam? Are you in there, kid?"

The creature turned it's head to the other side, seemingly studying Cas before it pulled it's lips into a snarling grimace and lunged at Cas. Cas didn't have time to react and the last thing he remembered was hearing someone scream as the creature sank it's teeth into his neck. Maybe the scream came from his own mouth, he was too preoccupied by the blood and blackness that swam across his eyes to pay much attention.

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Sam.

'NO!' screamed a voice at the back of his burning mind as he lunged at the quivering flesh in front of him, as he felt the blood run down his chin, as he saw it's eyes flicker shut. 'Friend' echoed the tinny, incoherent voice. But it was so quiet, and it was easily drowned out.

"Well done Sammy," crooned a venomous voice beside him. Despite the fact that the entire world was swirling and shifting like a mirage, Lucifer was as clear as ever. "Didn't I tell you that if you just said yes the pain would stop?" he simpered in a sickly sweet voice. 'It still hurts' he thought, 'you lied.'

Sam heard a low whimpering growl where there should have been words, but Luci seemed to understand. "You just need to do it again, then you'll feel better. I promise. Have I ever lied to you?" he quizzed, mock pain painting his features as he spoke. Sam didn't know the answer to that, Sam didn't care, because Sam wasn't Sam. The little voice screamed, trapped inside itself, a mere passenger in a hijacked vessel. Sam - the real Sam - watched in horror as the world so far away fell apart in front of him.

After a couple of attempts, Sam's body managed to open the door to the compound outside. Everything was so loud, the wind roared like an untamed beast though it barely ruffled the grass, the few voices floating around were like a hornets nest in Sam's head. And then there was the scream.

High-pitched, piercing and painful screech ripped through Sam's eardrums when a middle aged woman saw his monstrous appearance. Sam recognized her, she had talked to Sam a lot since she had lost her own son before she got here. She was nice, harmless, innocent, and Sam didn't care. His legs dragged him forward, his illness ready to sate this thirst and dull this pain, and soon she was on the ground. People scattered in all directions, adding their screams to the chorus of pain in Sam's mind.

He stumbled after the nearest source, his lips pulling themselves back in reflex, ready to tear out the screamer's vocal cords and bring silence to his ringing ears. From the constraints of his mind Sam watched in horror. In an attempt to escape the monster inside their walls the citizens had tried to flee, flinging open the gates to allow free exit. But all they did was let a whole host of new monsters in. They should have known better than to make so much noise. They should have known better than to open the gates without checking that they were clear. They should have known better than to let more infected in.

It was chaos, an absolute massacre. It made Sam's heart beat uncontrollably, but whether that was from his own fear, the disease's excitement or just the infection itself taking its toll on his body, Sam didn't know. He stumbled around the crowd, weaving from person to person as he scratched and clawed at any flesh he could get his hands on, but then he heard a scream.

It wasn't like the others. It didn't add to the fog - it cut right through it. It was small and scared and high pitched. A child was screaming. Sam turned to see a teary-eyed Adam backing away from an infected, cut off from the rest of the people, alone and vulnerable.

Something like a landmine, deep in Sam's mind, snapped.

Sam used every ounce of strength he had and he wrenched his consciousness to the forefront of his mind and flung himself between Adam and the threat. Killing this thing was different, white fluid spilled from it instead of red, pride filled his chest instead of guilt and the disease roared in anguish as the white fluid pooled around Sam's feet. A thunder of footsteps echoed in Sam's right ear and he whipped round to see Bobby grab Adam off the ground and set off running towards the furthest gate in the compound. Away from the threat, Sam and his infected brethren.

Sam hobbled towards the front gate, only stopping to kill a few infected that got to close. He didn't know where he was going apart from into the city, but he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Dean was out there. Wandering alone through an alley, the echoing screams of a dying city reverberating through the densely built concrete jungle, Sam had but a single thought.

Dean had promised to drop Sam without hesitation when he was past gone, and Sam was past the point of no return.

"Oh don't be like that Sammy!" exclaimed Lucifer, "I'm not going anywhere."

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Only three chapters left, then we reach our climax and the end! I hope you liked this one!