Only 5 more chapters to go after this! Haha holy shit, dude.

5(?) months, ? weeks, ? days since first Infection

At the first rays of morning light, he left.

The painkillers they had given him were ultimately too weak, and he burned through them too quickly. So he had time to think, and plan, and to prepare. The pain was near unbearable, hosting himself off the couch alone, and cracking open the door under his own power. And he had gotten so lucky that in her hysteria, Divine had forgotten to lock it. Or maybe that had been on purpose.

Because like she said, what was to be afraid of anymore? Even a crippled Hunter could still be fearsome.

Zachary navigated towards the river on scent and feeling alone. The houses and buildings, cars and posts- They were just big, fuzzy objects in his field of vision, only serving as obstacles to go around. He stuck to the ground, not trusting his strength to climb, nor confident in his ability to do so without injuring himself further. He had to save his energy-

The Screamer.

His teeth ground together at the thought. That little bastard. It was his fault this had happened. He was the one who instigated this. The breaking of their pack. The one who caused Ryan to-

Divine- His sweet beloved. So little. So strong yet so fragile. To hear her fall apart after all this time- It burned a certain anger in his core. He had already resolved, so long ago, that he'd do anything to keep her happy and safe. That if he had nothing else in this world, no memories or home to return to, at least…

At least he'd have her.

He'd have them all.

His pack.

His family.

And now it was broken.

He couldn't bring Ryan back.

Couldn't fix that.

But he could bring back something else to make up for it.

His shoulder burned fiercely. But he kept on. His knees felt as if they'd give out from under him. But he continued to march. The sunlight burned into the corners of his empty eye sockets. And he just kept his head low. Zach knew he wouldn't make it there and back before the other two would awaken. He was lucky Toni alone had been in such a deep, nightmarish sleep that allowed him to slip out. So it was only a matter of time that they would come looking. And if they were smart, they wouldn't come this far. Not this soon.

The rushing of the river was an all too familiar sound by now. Almost sickeningly so. He paused at the start of the bridge, gazing over its ruined expanse, and finally stopped to contemplate his mission. There was a chance he wouldn't find the Screamer. There was a chance he'd find the Tank instead. There was a chance that he'd never come back across this bridge again at all.

'But,' he thought. 'I have not. Come this far. To die now.'

He rested a moment. And when the world no longer felt like it was spinning out from under his feet, Zachary started his trek across the bridge.

x-X-x-X-x

"What do you mean it's fucked up?"

"Like, my spine. And my head. And my body. All fucked up."

"You just jumped off a building?"

"Yeah, made it way worse."

So, so much worse. He knew something about his… overall anatomy had changed that allowed him to do all the otherwise impossible stunts a Hunter could do. But after getting slapped around and having a whole shelving unit dropped on top of him the way it did-

Well, that was a good way to really fuck up his already fucked up everything. What part about that did she not understand? The headache from yesterday, which hadn't really gone away, now came raging into fullness with a fury. He wasn't sure what was worse- A broken rib trying to punch its way through one of his lungs, or the stinging concussion he didn't realize he had yet.

Toni flopped into the now vacant couch, stars and lights dancing across his vision once more. Oh god… Oh shit… Fuck… The world felt like it was spinning. Really fast. One hand clutched his head, and the other his stomach. He felt hot and cold all at the same time. His stomach churned, and he squeezed his eye shut.

The sudden jumping and moving, running in, out, and then back… Oh shit it was all catching up to him.

"Hey hey, are you okay?" he heard Divine ask. Her hand touched the side of his cheek. "You look clammier than usual, what's going-"

He answered by starting to heave, fast and shallowly.

"Oh, oh fuck, oh shit no wait hold on-"

Toni heard her feet pound against the floor as she ran into the kitchen. His heaving started to worsen, doing his best to hold it in as long as he could. But he could feel the bile quickly rising up to his throat. There was a crash from the room, and then Divine came running back in.

"Sorry this will have to do, just try not to-"

Whatever more she was going to say, he interrupted by retching into the mixing bowl she shoved into his face. Last night's meager dinner came rushing back out, along with some of his dignity and resolve. He felt like a weak idiot, puking into a bowl while Divine rubbed his back. Zach was out there, alone and still seriously injured, and he couldn't go after him.

He couldn't bring him back right away. And he didn't want Divine to go alone. This was all his fault. He should have paid more attention. He should have been more careful. He shouldn't have let this happen at all.

After a minute, there was nothing left to expel, from his stomach at least. He reclined back into the couch, head still swimming, but the nausea had faded a bit. Divine rose from her seat and bustled back into the kitchen, and he could hear her gagging along with a string of "Ew, god, fuck, ew, fuck ok"s.

A few moments later, the toilet flushed loudly. And then she came back, and crawled back onto the couch, and before he knew it… She had him half-cradled in her arms. Toni froze- Scared out of his mind. When was the last time anyone had held him like this? With their arms around him, his head tucked under their chin? Been held tenderly, lovingly, fiercely?

No no, she couldn't do this to him. He'd break if she did. No, not now, they can't now-

"Gotta… Find Zach," he murmured into her chest.

(Alone. Hurt. Confused. Need his pack. Need them to keep him safe. Couldn't let him die.)

"I know," Divine murmured back. "He's just gotta wait a little longer… I won't let you get hurt anymore too."

He sniffed loudly. No no, don't say that, let him up, he was fine now, he could fight through this, he had to.

"It's okay Toni, I got you right now," Divine assured. "You can rest."

'You can let go', she may as well have said.

He inhaled sharply. And when he exhaled, he broke, and it all came flooding out.

x-X-x-X-x

Pretty… Shiny? Pretty-shiny. Good for Sister? No?

Must find Pretty for Sister.

Tarran pulled out another object from the fallen pack, a small rectangular shape. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. And he immediately recoiled, his tongue sticking out as his whole face scrunched up in disgust. Yuck! Bad smell, stinky smell, smell of a.. Ah, hm, ooh, a uh, the tall ones. The tall grabbers, yes yes, that's what it smelled like. Horrible. Awful. He tossed it over his shoulder.

Sister would not like that at all.

He reached in again, rummaged around some more, and cooed happily as he found another rectangle, all crinkly and bright. A candy bar? Food bar, for sure. Yummy! Tasty! Only one? Well… What Sister didn't know would hurt her, right? Tarran excitedly fiddled with it, intent on ripping the wrapper apart. It was difficult, alternating between blunt fingers and sharp teeth. But he wanted it, he needed it, oh so tasty~

There was heavy breathing behind him. He hadn't heard anyone approach, too preoccupied with his task to notice. And why would he? Nothing here ever threatened him, except-

His eyes widened, and he looked over his shoulder to see one of the Jumpers from a few days ago. He yelped and scrambled forwards to get away from it. But the Jumper was persistent, growling gutteraly as he crawled after. The Jumper was very clearly favoring one arm over the other, but it didn't make him any less intimidating.

"You," the Jumped hissed menacingly. Tarran stumbled over the pack as he tried to escape. The Jumped shot a hand out, and gripped Tarran's ankle, and then pulled him back closer. "Yoouuuu!"

"No!" Tarran cried, covering his face with his hands. "No hurt me, no hurt! Help! Someone help me!"

"Shut up!" the Jumper snarled, and released his ankle… Only to slam a hand into his chest and pin him to the ground. "Your fault! All your fault!"

"No no no!" Tarran sobbed, shaking his head. "The Monster-"

"My friends!" the Jumper howled. "Nearly die! Because of you! My friend dead! Because! Of! You!"

Wha- No? No no! The Monster? It lived? But if Monster not dead, then who-

The tall Grabber...

"Bad bad!" Tarran hissed, peeking out from between his fingers. "Traitored. All of you. For Monster. Evil, scary Monster- Yeeup!"

He squeaked as the Jumper slammed his hand against him again.

"Show you Monster," the Jumped threatened. "Show you what Monster really do."

Tarran whimpered in fright.

"Pick it up," the Jumper ordered, motioning towards everything Tarran had pulled out of the Monster's pack. "Pick it up! Put it all back!"

Almost effortlessly, the Jumped lifted Tarran off the ground and shoved him. Tarran scrambled to his feet, quickly racing to pick up all the tossed objects. He knew better than to run. He knew he wouldn't get far. And he knew the Jumper was being terribly merciful.

"Traitored," Tarran muttered under his breath. "Traitored us. Bad, bad, bad."

The Jumped growled deeply- One that made his bones rattle. He muttered and moved a little bit faster.

x-X-x-X-x

Through blurred vision, he watched her shove furniture aside from the stairwell, and then climb up into the abyss that was the second floor of the safehouse. And he watched her come down with an armful of blankets and bedsheets, and then scramble back upstairs to get more. She did this over and over again until finally, in the middle of the floor atop the mattresses, there was a giant pile.

She jumped into it and started pushing and pulling at the blankets until there was a hollow in the center, and then after that did she gently help him off the couch to ease him into it. It smelled like dust and mothballs, and yet, he instantly felt safe and relaxed.

"Better?" Divine asked as she curled up with him.

"Mhm," he nodded, wiggling a little to get comfortable, and then he sighed as he sagged against her. "Much."

"It's almost like a blanket fort, except not really," she laughed tiredly. "Maybe next time when I don't feel like ass."

"This is fine," Toni assured. "I don't… Remember what those are anyway."

"What?!" she cried. "Aw come on, that's like, being a kid one-oh-one! Of all the things to forget!"

"I don't control it," he grumbled. "And you're loud."

"Sorry, sorry," Divine apologized, lowering her voice. "You just rest."

"You… Can go look for Zach without me," Toni offered. "I'm… I'm worried."

"Honestly? I bet ya five bucks he's just down the street, sitting on his ass looking all sad," she chuckled softly. "He can't go anywhere by himself."

"Got out the door okay," he pointed out.

"I meeaaaaan, okay like, he won't go anywhere without me. Or not too far, at least."

"Yeah," Toni agreed, and then added quietly, "...He too in love with you."

Divine laughed nervously and asked, "Haha, what?"

"In love with you?" Toni repeated, turning his head slightly to shoot her a glance. "You… Didn't know?"

She smiled at him, shallow and fake. Like it pained her, and she was trying to hide it. And then she looked away, staring at the wall as if it was super interesting.

"It's that obvious huh?" she whispered, her smile turning softer and more… Sad.

"Sorry," Toni apologized. "I just… Figured. Why else would he come with you?"

"Don't ask me," she shrugged. "I don't know why else either… I didn't do anything special just… Have I ever told you how we met in the first place?"

He shook his head. They never had the chance. And looking back on it, Toni never really gave her one either.

"It was back… When this all started. I had just left my uh, my home, back in the city. And I had just spent a whole two days… Running around trying to find somewhere to go. Just anything, 'cause it was just me, all by myself, ya know?"

He did. He could just barely recall, but he did, too well.

"And I had a pretty long day. Like, I had been beaten up, puked over, literally on my last leg. And then I turn the corner, and there's all these bear traps- Uh, trap traps. Like, stick your foot in it, you lose the foot kinda traps. Would you believe me Zach got one of his legs stuck in one?"

"Absolutely, yeah."

"Well I was gonna leave him there," Divine laughed. "I was just gonna lock myself in to the saferoom he was in front of, and just leave him there. But then, you know, in typical Zach fashion… He started crying about it."

"That sounds right."

"But it was sad. A sad crying. Like… Like he knew he was gonna be stuck there. And that he would die after a while. And I had just walked past him."

Her mirth faded as she spoke, and she sounded almost distant. Like she was realizing how terrible that sounded. And Toni supposed it maybe did sound bad. But that is how things were now. Right?

"And I guess… I guess I felt really bad for him," she confessed. "And I… I went back out there, got him loose, and brought him inside to patch him up. And I couldn't get him to leave so… We've been together ever since."

"Couldn't get him to leave," Toni echoed in amusement.

"Hey you know how he is," Divine rolled her eyes. "But… Wouldn't trade him for anyone else."

"Is what why he love you?" he asked. Divine's mouth popped open to speak, but she said nothing, and just shrugged her shoulders. "You don't love him back… 'Cause you loved Ryan more, ah?"

"No!" she snapped quickly. "It's- Listen to me, it's… Really complicated. It's more than that. I don't… I don't wanna get too into it right now."

"Okay okay, I get it," Toni backed off, letting it drop there. He had kinda said it without thinking. But it was also something he had never thought to pry into either.

They lapsed into an awkward silence. He reclined back further into the blanket nest, and closed his eye, wishing that for once he'd just fall asleep right then and there. Only their breathing filled the room. He was reminded once again of just how and why it was so quiet. His ears kept straining to hear some sort of coughing, or wheezing. But there was nothing.

And that was somehow worse.

"What about you?" Divine suddenly asked.

"Hm?" he responded.

"Do you have a secret crush on me too I should know about?"

"Heh, no," he snorted. "Not really."

"So that implies you do?" she teased.

"It means I don't like you that much," he huffed.

"Oh suuuure~"

"It true. I only followed you 'cause I wanted to kill you."

"Oh..."

"...And then I stopped wanting to."

"Because?"

Toni shrugged.

"I dunno… Maybe you stopped being scary?" he suggested.

"What?"

"All stopped being scary. And I… I dunno… I guess I wanted what you had."

"And what did we have, Antonio?"

Each other when he had no one? Love, trust, and understanding in such a short amount of time? That she would risk everything to help the others? That they treated her warmly and adoringly in return? That they had everything he had ever wanted, and he couldn't remember why.

"...Family," he answered eventually. He felt Divine stiffen up next to him. Toni slowly opened his eye to peek at her. It opened all the way to meet her wide eyed stare, and he could see the start of tears budding underneath.

"You really think that?" she whispered.

"You two are all I have now," Toni replied. "I can't… Lose you… Get it now?"

"Oh Toni," she started. "I-"

She quickly cut herself off when she heard it. And he heard it too. Just outside. Sharp inhales of pain. But also the sound of something being dragged. Something heavy. The two of them slowly detangled themselves from the nest to creep closer to the door. Divine almost had her hand on the handle when from the other side-

"Heeeey."

She flung the door open and they practically crashed into each other trying to get out. But it was Zach, he was back. He was panting, half sagged over, Divine's bright red pack slung over his non-injured shoulder.

But then, at the other end, all bunched up in his hand-

A head full of greasy black hair, and a long, gray body below that.

The Screamer.

"What did you do?" Toni whispered in awe.