Chapter 2

Fudou stifled an embarrassingly loud yawn, feeling the fatigue of a sleepless night weighing down on his eyelids. Still, he forced himself to admire the starry view just for a moment longer, knowing that it would be difficult to obtain another opportunity to capture this caliber of scenic beauty again. The moon was in its fullest prime now, demanding attention amongst the twinkling cerulean with its spectacular blue tinge.

Yet, somehow, he couldn't stop himself from shifting his gaze back onto his companion.

Mutely, he seared the sight of Kidou quietly gazing at the night sky deep into the crevices of his memory. It was almost too good to be true— this level of tranquility they were in. They were undisturbed, alone yet together, even if it was just for a brief, passing moment in time. Fudou couldn't control the soft smile forming across his lips, wondering if the world was as peaceful as this before.

The evening air started to envelop them in a freezing chill, soaking through their jackets and staining their skin with uncomfortable goosebumps.

"We should head back," Fudou suggested when he spots Kidou shivering slightly. He stood and stretched out his sore limbs. "It's gonna be dawn soon."

The other boy nodded in agreement rather tepidly, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he accepted Fudou's offered hand.

Their only way back into the quarantine zone was through an underground sewage tunnel which was a long, winding stretch of a dilapidated drainage system, supposedly left abandoned in the wake of the apocalypse. There was a ceiling breakage at a specific end of it, linking the quarantine zone and the outside world with a two-metre high ledge. Even though they weren't that far off from the tunnel, their bizarre evening adventure made Kidou feel miles away from the safe world he knew.

Long roping tendrils of vines scraped at their legs as Fudou led the way back, and surprisingly, it takes them no more than five minutes to reach the entrance of the tunnel.

"It's completely dark inside," Kidou said, reaching for the flashlight that was bounded to his belt and shooting his companion a doubtful frown. "You're lucky I brought this with me. You didn't bring one, did you?"

Fudou shrugged his shoulders and threw his hands in the air, forcing Kidou to let out a loud sigh while rolling his eyes in disapproval. He wondered why he had even bothered asking in the first place. Such an action was expected of him, and Kidou knew subjectively that no matter how much chiding he shot at the other boy, neither his mannerisms nor behavior would ever change.

He flicked on the switch, and the dull, circular glare of light shone right at a walker.

Kidou inhaled sharply, the beam of the flashlight trembling for a fleeting moment. It was a couple of metres away, fortunately, with its back still facing them. The sight of it was incredibly unnerving, with its body twitching and jolting uncontrollably, reminiscent of seizure movements but with broken bones.

Kidou watched it with exponentially fluctuating breaths, the goosebumps rising on the back of his neck as he's helplessly frozen to his spot. The rotting corpse gradually turned, almost sluggishly, to reveal the horrendous remains of what was once a face. There were chunks of decomposed blackened flesh hanging by fragile threads of rough grey skin, with tiny maggots swimming in the bloody crevices of exposed muscle tissue. The sunken eyes were glazed over with a cloud of silver, a sight they'd seen many times before.

He pulled out his revolver instinctively, aiming it straight at its distorted face as it ripped out a bloodcurdling scream and vigorously lunged towards him, stumbling over its broken ankles.

"Don't!" Came a harsh whisper. "Don't shoot!"

The jolting realisation that the soldiers would hear the gunshot if he fired caused him to hesitate, his finger accidentally slipping over the trigger of the gun as the walker pounced onto him. It released a monstrous growl as it forced him down onto the ground, clawing and fighting to sink its teeth into fresh meat.

Kidou pushed it away from his face, the gangrenous stench of rotting meat wafting into his lungs and forcing bile to rise up into his throat. He desperately wrestled for his life, his mind screaming at him to get out of its grip. Instinctively, he raised his arms as it cracked open its loose jaw, revealing a full set of abnormally large and squarish teeth with a revolting substance dripping from the rim of the opening.

"FUDOU!"

In the next blurry moment the weight above him is miraculously lifted and the walker crashed heavily onto the concrete, it's body contorting into a series of broken angles.

Fudou dashed over and brutally rammed his foot into its ribcage again, sending it flying to the wall before grabbing its head and violently smashing it onto the ground. There was an explicit squelch. Fudou turned up his nose in disgust as the putrid contents of its infected body began to steadily leak out, staining the air with the pungent stench of rancid meat.

"It's dead now. I smashed its head open," He picked up the fallen flashlight and turned back to Kidou, a triumphant grin gracing his face, but it immediately came crashing down when he saw him still thrashing in agony on the ground.

Oh god.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no."

Fudou rushed over to his side, his knees failing him at the last second. Shakily, he picked Kidou up into his arms, pushing away damp locks of hair from his face. Despite the dim light, his face was still visibly clammy, contorted in pain with trickles of sweat dotting his skin and his lustre perceptibly dissipating. His eyes were tightly clamped shut in anguish, with pitiful sobs escaping his lips as Fudou gingerly pried his hand away from the wound, revealing a sickeningly bloody bite mark.

"It— It hurts," Kidou uttered in a voice no louder than a hushed whisper, sounding as if he was about to pass out at any given moment. Fudou couldn't even blame him if he actually did faint. The skin of his forearm was cruelly ripped open, gashing wide and overflowing with blood, with the teethmarks of the walker imbedded deeply into the palm-sized wound.

"I know it does, but you have to stay strong okay? You're going to be alright. I promise. Stay awake for me now. Please stay awake."

Fudou's voice was shaking with raw fear and panic, and he felt a nauseating wave of helplessness wash over him.

A series of muffled inhumane clicking and moaning savagely derails Fudou's whirling train of thought, growing louder and more distinct with every passing second. Their brawl had definitely attracted unwanted company.

"Kidou, we have to run," Fudou hissed harshly, forcefully yanking him up from the ground as the first terrifying silhouette of a walker appeared at the tunnel entrance, staring at them with soulless silvery eyes.

"We have to run now!"

Fudou firmly grabbed hold of Kidou's wrist and broke into a full sprint, the world behind them bursting into an explosion of ear-piercing shrieks. His vision narrowed down to the seemingly endless, dimly-illuminated path in front of him, and his mind lashed out to remember the internal structure of the tunnel. With a sinking sense of dread, he realized that one wrong turn could lead to their unsightly deaths, given that there was only one exit left.

Kidou continuously stumbled over his own feet, dipping in and out of consciousness with his brain desperately trying and failing to keep up with the strenuous efforts of his exhausted body. Fudou was arduously pulling him along, and this was collectively slowing down their running speed. He clenched his teeth as the furious wave of biting and clawing walkers got increasingly hot on their heels, roughly shoving and tumbling over one another to get to them.

The sting in his calves was gradually manifesting, the adrenaline pumping through his veins wearing thin, yet he still scoops an unconscious Kidou up into his arms. It was a tiring feat, with absolutely no support from Kidou's side.

"We're almost there!" Fudou shouted breathlessly when the ledge finally appeared before them after countless twists and turns. Without missing a beat, he hoisted Kidou over the concrete block before jumping and catching hold of the edge, his long legs making it easy for him to swing his body across—

A rough hand caught hold of his dangling leg.

"For fuck's sake!" He glanced down into the malicious grin of a walker as its snaking fingers dug into his skin in an attempt to drag him back down. He jabbed a powerful kick into its face and thankfully, the release of his foot was immediate. Hurriedly, he scrambled over the ledge just as the rest of the swarm crashed into the dead end, finally collapsing onto the cool surface of the floor. An overwhelming sense of relief replaced the adrenaline rush in his veins, soaking his tired muscles in an uncomfortable acidic bath. They were both panting harshly, trying to regain their depleted breaths from their tiring sprint.

Fudou's respite doesn't last long, however.

A tight ball of regret curled up in the pits of his stomach as he crawled towards his friend.

If only he hadn't went out tonight, none of this would've happened. Undeniably, Kidou got bitten because of his stupid actions. It was entirely and utterly Fudou's fault. Now, there was absolutely nothing he could do to change Kidou's fate. Could he even live with that? The guilt of his actions? The guilt of causing a friend's death?

Gently, with trembling fingers, he propped Kidou up against the wall. Even though he knew it would do nothing to help, he took his shirt off and folded it into a long strip of cloth before wrapping it around the injury and tying it in a firm knot.

Kidou's eyes flickered open weakly, his glossy red pupils staring straight into Fudou's soul. They were as piercing as ever, with an indescribable beauty to them. Fudou crumbled like paper at the sight.

"Kidou, I'm so sorry," Fudou stuttered out in a tender tone unbefitting of him. Every bit of the confident thug he once was was torn down effortlessly in an instant. "I'm so fucking sorry."

His dirty hands desperately clasped onto Kidou's, tangling their bony fingers together. He refused to meet the other's gaze directly. Or rather, he couldn't bring himself to do so.

"It's okay."

Fudou snapped his head up in shock. What was Kidou even saying? Was he forgiving him? Just like that? Fudou had basically robbed him of his life, there was no way...

Kidou lightly returned his tight grasp, nonchalantly stroking Fudou's hand with his thumb in a comforting manner.

"It was bound to happen anyway, it was just a matter of time. We both knew that. I'm just sad that I can't be with you longer than this." He smiled faintly, sadly, but with a teasing glint in his ruby red eyes. "But still, tolerating you for 4 years is quite an achievement."

"Fudou blinked once, then twice. He couldn't believe his ears; Was Kidou seriously cracking a joke in this situation?

Fudou frowned poignantly, dipping his remorseful gaze back onto their intertwined hands. "But if I hadn't—"

Kidou shook his head.

"I don't regret coming out tonight."

That was the breaking point. Fudou's tears, which he'd kept unshed and suppressed for so many years, came spilling out of his eyes. His sobbing was quiet, resembling his personality, with sharp jittering breaths escaping his downturned lips. How could Kidou forgive him so easily after what he had done to him? The gentle words and kindness pulled at his heart, and he prayed, hoped, begged to the skies to let them be together for longer than this.

He wanted them to be together for longer than this.

His hands sought for Kidou's warmth, winding around the other's back and pressing them together as close as humanely possible. "Thank you," he whispered, burying his face into Kidou's hair. "I'll be with you till the end, okay?"

Kidou nodded, although the other couldn't see it. His wet eyes blinked away tears as his fingers curled around the cold, ruthless metal of his gun.