{fic} A Look to Last a Lifetime - (1/2)
Title: A Look to Last a Lifetime
Author: charcoaldonkey
Pairing: OhnoxNino
Genre: Horror, Angst
Rating: R -Viewer discretion is advised-
Warning: Contains sexual content and situations some may find disturbing. If gore and smut aren't your flavour of cupcake then this may not be the right fic for you. Read at your own risk!
*A/N:
Hello hello! So I'm well aware that this is a tad late, it was meant as a Halloween fic, demo its now December so i suppose I'm just raining on everyone's Christmas parades ne? xD
Ah well, here it tis!!! I was actually working on a chaptered fic before this one, but on Halloween I was so inspired by all the horror movies and costumes that I couldn't resist ^.^
This is the first part of two, the next one will be posted within the next few days!
And as always comments are loved and appreciated~~ ^_^
ALSO. Before you read, follow the linkity link to Sam Hart's song on youtube, called "Wish That Home Were Here", it's basically the inspiration for this whole fic, despite the difference in meanings xD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgJG7aYkiYw
Read on~
~
Nino was shaking as he bit down on his lip, his fingers tangling with Ohno’s in the dark.
“Ohno, I’m scared…” He whispered.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” Ohno breathed against the skin of his earlobe, nipping it gently as a moan trilled from between Nino’s clenched teeth. “I promise.”
“How?” Nino paused, his breath hitching in his throat as the older man’s long fingers slipped under the band of his boxers. “How do you know Oh-chan?”
“Shh,” He murmured and dropped a trail of hot kisses down his collarbone. “I just do.”
They were in an apartment complex; tall, dark, and as abandoned as the rotting corpses scattered throughout the many rooms. The place had already been cleaned out; they wouldn’t come back… he hoped.
When it all started, it had taken three days for the word to get out, and almost three weeks for the panic to set in. And when push came to shove, most deaths in the beginning weren’t even executed by those who were ill. It took a day or two for the virus to hit your system, and even then, you were harmless. It wasn’t until your heart stopped beating that you started feeding.
But the public didn’t know that. One minute you look a little too long in the sun, or maybe you breathe in a spec of dust; you sneeze, and the next you’re being gang beaten for the ‘Good of man-kind.’ People began throwing around words like ‘Zombies’, and ‘Flesh-eaters’, talking about the end of the world and damnation. Saying things like all other countries had abandoned Japan.
But things like information couldn’t be trusted anymore. All you could allow yourself to believe were the things you saw yourself.
He closed his eyes tightly and moaned into the other man’s soft auburn hair as he pushed into him, stretching him in ways that were relatively new but not altogether unpleasant.
“Nino…” Ohno gasped and his hands trailed softly down his pale and bruised skin.
Nino blushed. Ohno had a way of making you feel uneasy, in the way that he never shied away from eye contact, or how he found it completely normal to sit millimeters away from a stranger.
Perhaps that was the reason he’d fallen so hard and fast for the man now groaning above him. He tried not to read into what spawned their odd relationship too much, but all he knew was they needed one-another.
It had been weeks since they’d seen a real person. It was hard to tell the difference if the change was still fresh, but the white eyes or gaping wounds were clue enough.
His name was Aiba. Aiba Masaki. They had been scavenging for food in a long-since deserted convenience store when he’d strolled in; long metal pole slung casually over one shoulder and a plush animal toy tucked under his arm. He’d nodded in acknowledgement of Ohno and Nino and then proceeded to request a pack of cigarettes from a non-existent cashier worker.
They had seen the early infected speak, crack jokes even, but never carry a weapon. After all, what would they need to defend themselves from? They were the ones killing everybody.
“Nino-I’m-” Ohno grit his teeth and smashed their mouths together, smothering the cry he couldn’t hold back as he came deep inside the younger man.
“Oh-chan...?”
The soft murmur seemed to break the man from his post-orgasmic daze and he blinked; pulling teasingly on Nino’s bottom lip.
His fingers found Nino’s still achingly hard cock and he slowly pumped his hand down the shaft, quickening his pace until Nino was gasping beneath him. He waited until he saw the younger man’s fingers begin to curl before he grazed his thumb over the head of his hard-on, sending his back arching as he threw his head back in a low groan.
Ohno pulled out of him and collapsed at his side, one arm curled protectively around his still-heaving chest.
Nino dropped a light kiss to Ohno’s temple and he hummed appreciatively, burrowing further into the crook of his neck.
They had travelled with the slightly insane Aiba for a few weeks, and his constant tales of help and rescue had filled their hearts with hope. Hope that came crashing down around them the night they were found.
It was a cool night, the rain had stopped but the wind still stung of winter. They’d been sleeping in a small house on a quiet street that Nino hadn’t thought to get the name of. It was Aiba’s turn to keep watch, but Nino couldn’t sleep, despite the constant exhaustion they all experienced. He’d heard the twig snap outside the just-opened window, heard Aiba’s horror-filled gasp as they came crashing through the glass at him.
He’d opened his eyes in time to see one of them bite clean through his Adam’s apple before he’d managed to grab Ohno and run. And even now he remembered the way Aiba’s eyes had widened helplessly as he realized they were leaving him there.
“Nino…” Ohno nudged him thoughtfully with his nose, his fingers tracing patterns against Nino’s ribcage.
“Mm?” He felt as if something was blocking his throat and he cleared it, trying to shake his thoughts.
“What will we do…? When the government fixes all of… this. What will we do?”
Nino frowned, never having thought that far ahead in fear of his dreams being crushed.
“Well…” He paused and smiled, the simple act feeling odd and unfamiliar. “We’ll move. Somewhere on top of a hill, with a lake near-by where you can fish, and a view of the sunset for you to paint.”
Ohno sighed in thought, followed by a comfortable silence as they indulged in the almost futile dream. “And…?”
“And…” Nino chuckled, thinking. “And we’ll sleep in until noon. Everyday. We’ll… eat lunch on the patio, and drink tea, and talk about our lives. Then you go catch fish for our supper, and I’ll cook while you work on your latest masterpiece-on-canvas.”
“Hmm… What am I painting?” Ohno slurred sleepily and Nino felt the upturned edges of his lips pressed against his shoulder.
“Well, you’d know better than I would Oh-chan…”
“You.” Ohno sighed and shifted a little next to him, his stomach pressed flat against his side. “I’m painting you.”
Nino hid his grin in the man’s hair, settling for pressing his lips softly to his eyelids.
“I’ll take the first shift, okay?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands; pulling his shirt over his head with a grunt.
“Wake me up a little earlier… You look like one of them.” Ohno chuckled and rolled over onto his stomach; sprawled out on the old stained carpet.
“Okay. Does three o’clock sound good?”
No answer.
He checked his battered wristwatch, already midnight. He shook out their thin blanket and lay it carefully over the sleeping man before he picked up the revolver and opened the cartridge.
Three bullets left. He sighed, how long would they last? And then he paused, realizing he wasn’t thinking about the gun anymore.
How much longer could they live like this? They had no food, hardly any water left, and hadn’t slept a full night’s sleep in more then a month. They were dying.
Maybe not noticeably, but slowly, a little closer every day, they were nearing death. He could see it in the ribs poking out from their chests, the circles under their eyes. He could smell it in the air; the stench of the infected’s leftovers. Scraps of the dead left strewn across the street and in the tall, empty buildings. Hell he could taste it, in the way the long-since expired scraps of food they found all tasted like nothing. As if their taste buds had grown tired of the constant abuse and had quit.
He sniffed in the musty air but hesitated at the grime-covered window. Aiba had wanted fresh air too hadn’t he, and look at what happened to him.
“Ni~no…”
“Oh-chan, go to sleep.” He mumbled, still peering thoughtfully out into the night. He froze and floorboards creaked but he ignored them. “Oh-Ohno.” He choked out, fingers trembling as they curled around the cool metal of the revolver.
Dark shapes were moving toward the building. The building they were now trapped in.
“Ni~no…”
“Ohno c’mon we-we have to leave-” He spun away from the window and nearly screamed in shock.
Aiba. It was Aiba.
“M-Masaki?”
The man smiled in the darkness and fear gripped Nino’s stomach, sending a wave of nausea through him.
It wasn’t-couldn’t be Aiba. He’d seen them tear open his throat; he’d glanced back and saw the second one rip open his stomach. He’d seen his organs spill out onto the floor.
And Aiba wouldn’t have been smiling that way. He wouldn’t have been edging toward Ohno’s sleeping outline with eyes a creamy white and dark red seeping from between his teeth.
“You left me.” Aiba pouted, looking eerily childlike as he took another step towards Ohno.
“We-” A whimper escaped his lips as the thin light from the window cast Aiba’s features into clarity.
He was barely clothed, and what little fabric still remained was torn and stained a deep crimson. The hole in his stomach was wide and gaping, the skin around the edge was black and the stench hit Nino like a brick wall. He was rotting.
Ohno stirred peacefully in his sleep and Aiba’s head snapped toward him, though it was impossible to tell where his eyes were pointed; they were pure white.
“We didn’t have a-a choice Aiba-chan!” His voice was shaking along with his arm as he held up the gun. “They would have killed us too!”
“I followed you.” His grin grew and bloody nails began tapping impatiently against the window behind him. Tiny bloody hands pressing themselves against the glass.
Nino was trembling. They were smart. Aiba knew who they were, remembered them. The infected weren’t mindless after all.
“It hurt Ni~no-chan.” His teeth snapped shut with a click and before Nino could move he’d scooped down and pulled Ohno into his lap, grabbing a fistful of his hair and baring his throat.
“No!” Nino’s heart stopped and Aiba giggled, high-pitched and cracking.
“Nino-” Ohno was awake and immobilized; trapped in Aiba’s vice-like grip. His eyes were wide as he looked to Nino and Nino pointed the gun shakily.
“Aiba-please!” Tears were blurring his vision and he struggled to keep the gun steady. Shooting somebody in a video game was a lot different than in real life, and watching his friend die once was hard enough.
It happened so fast that Nino stood frozen for a few seconds after the deafening bang erupted from the end of the revolver. Aiba had begun to lean forward, his bloodied and blackening teeth bared for Ohno’s tanned and helpless throat. And he’d pulled the trigger. Nino had pulled the trigger and sent a bullet straight through his skull.
“Ohno!”
He rushed over to the limp man and cradled his head in his lap. “Ohno are you… Are you hurt?” His horrified whisper was barely audible over the growing noise from outside but Ohno blinked, coming out of a daze.
“I-no…” He breathed and scrambled to his feet, carefully avoiding the growing pool of red on the carpet as he pulled on his tattered jeans. “C’mon!” He grabbed his baseball bat from the ground and their last bottle of water.
He paused to hand Nino his abandoned crowbar. He kissed him gently on the cheek and had to shake him slightly before his gaze switched away from Aiba’s splintered skull.
“Nino, I need you here. Okay? How do we get out?”
Nino nodded numbly after a second and tucked the revolver carefully in his belt. “Okay… Okay there’s an-an emergency exit. It’s down the hall to the left and goes out to the back parking lot. I saw it when we came in.”
Ohno hesitated and there was a high-pitched wail from outside the apartment. They both turned slowly to the window where a woman with almost all the flesh on her face black, rotted and falling off was slamming her forehead viciously against the glass.
As cracks began to spread like lace across the window Ohno wordlessly grabbed Nino’s hand and ran out of the apartment. They reached the emergency exit door just as a shatter rang down the hall.
“Go- go!” Nino breathed, swinging the door open and pushing Ohno out.
Nino’s pounding heart was the only sound he could hear; beating furiously against his ribcage like a drum. It urged him to move faster and he took a sharp turn down a side street, pulling Ohno along with him.
The jagged footsteps and garbled cries behind them had faded long ago but Nino’s adrenaline hadn’t. They must have been running for nearly an hour before Ohno slowed down to a walk. He was pale and gasping for air, the hand still grasping Nino’s trembling.
“I… I think we lost them.” He panted, using his bat to keep himself standing.
“Yeah…” Fatigue started setting in, blurring the edges of his vision and slowing his thoughts. “Okay lets uh… Lets get some sleep-Wait.”
Ohno stiffened at Nino’s tone and his eyes swept cautiously around them. “What-what’s wrong?”
“How did he… How did he get in?”
Ohno blinked and Nino squeezed his fingers, tapping his crowbar urgently on the cracking pavement. “He got in! Somehow, he was in the apartment and the others weren’t… They had to break through the window first.”
Ohno’s eyes widened in thought for a moment and he chewed slowly on his lip. “He… probably snuck into the building before we locked the doors… While we were checking the rooms first.”
Nino shivered; the whole night he’d been listening. Watching them.
He shrugged and kept walking, pulling Nino along with him. “I live… used to live near here…” Ohno said softly, his fingers squeezing Nino’s as they walked guardedly down the deserted street.
Nino raised his eyebrows, the hairs prickling slightly at the back of his neck. “So did I. On the next street over, actually.”
He didn’t want to be here; out of the corner of his eye the sign for a pre-school swung in the wind, the window below splattered with dark red.
“Really? Do you want to-”
“-No. I’m not going back there.” Nino sniffed and rested the crowbar on his shoulder, trying to brush off the waver in his voice. “I don’t want you to see them… like that.”
“Them?” Ohno’s thumb brushed gently across the back of his hand, and his eyes were sad as Nino looked up.
“My sister… and mom.” They kept walking in silence as Nino bit down hard on his lip and they reached a large intersection.
There had been a crash here; cars were crumpled together like tin cans and Nino shivered, some still had the drivers in them. Ohno tried to pull Nino away before he saw but the swarm of flies caught his eye and he saw her.
It had been a teenager; her car was one of the ones nearest to the edge of the pile, and the driver’s door was open. Judging by the tracks of black make-up down her cheeks, she’d still been alive as they tore her limbs off.
“C’mon…” Ohno pulled him toward a tall building on the far side of the wreckage. “I know the owners of this place. They were going to turn the first floor into a restaurant but… Well, Southern Barbecue isn’t exactly a key element in your everyday zombie diet, is it?”
Nino flinched at the word. He refused to call them that, they weren’t zombies. They were people. Aiba had proved it hadn’t he? He’d followed them for weeks, he’d remembered what their names were; none of that was zombie-like. Zombies were slow, they couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, they could only feed; or at least that’s what his video games said.
“They used to live on the third floor-the owners I mean, but I doubt they’re there now…” Ohno was frowning up at the third level’s windows.
The sun was just beginning to poke through the early morning clouds as Ohno managed to pick the lock on the front entrance.
“Stay close to me?” Ohno’s voice was trembling and Nino nodded, his fingers lingering on the small of his back as they stepped into the dimmed room.
It was clear the place had been under renovations when the world had gone into chaos. A thick layer of dust covered everything in the large area, and several of the walls weren’t even fully finished, revealing a surprising amount of wires running between the chalky drywall.
Nino sneezed and turned to look where Ohno’s gaze was focused. One wall still bore the old paint; a nasty bubble-gum pink with a large mural of a chocolate sundae.
“I think they said it used to be called the Cream Putt?” Ohno mumbled, running his hand lightly over the paint. “Something about mini-putting…? They wanted to use my paintings to decorate the restaurant…”
“I think I had a birthday party here when I was ten…” Nino frowned thoughtfully and tugged on Ohno's hand. “There might be some food… You said they lived upstairs, right?”
“Yeah…” Ohno spotted the edge of a water bottle and he pulled it out from under a pile of boards. It was half empty and after a pause he frowned and let it fall from his fingers.
Whatever kind of disease the infected had was being passed along through liquids. Blood, saliva, tears, anything. They couldn’t risk drinking something once drank by someone else.
Ohno had begun kicking at something on the other side of the room and the loud noise made him jump as he hurried over.
“Help,” Ohno grunted, putting all his weight into the side of an over-turned fridge and moving it a little less than an inch. The fridge, Nino realized after a moment of confusion, was blocking a large door that according to the sign next to it, lead to the higher floors.
Nino gripped the other side of the fridge and pulled, feeling what little muscle he had in his arms scream in protest to the excursion. It took them nearly twenty minutes to move the large appliance and by the time Ohno picked the lock Nino’s head was spinning.
He hadn’t slept more than two hours in three days, and it had been two since he last had something to eat. Add emotional and physical trauma to the mix and he couldn’t exactly call it Cloud Nine.
“You know…” Ohno whispered as he helped Nino’s shaking limbs over a pile of what looked like plumbing pipes. “If the door was barred… maybe that means they’re still alive.”
Nino didn’t say anything; he recognized the tone in his voice. The door had brought them into a small entranceway. Another door to their left led out onto a side street.
There were too many locks on the door for Nino to count but his stomach turned as the smudged red handprint on the glass caught his eye. “Oh-chan… it’s been over a month.”
“Yes, I know…” Ohno peaked up the old wooden staircase. “But it was going to be a restaurant though, right? Maybe they had some food with them.”
“Maybe…” Nino closed the connecting door softly, pausing for a moment before he locked it. What if the thing they’d be running from wasn’t on the outside? “It’s worth a try.” Was it?
But Ohno looked so hopeful as he took his hand and began walking up the creaking steps, how could he refuse him?
The second floor was empty. The previous owners had used it as some sort of storage. Nino poked at a screwdriver thoughtfully before he spotted a large toolbox with the lid haphazardly placed on top. The automatic lock hadn’t clicked shut and he carefully lifted it off; rooting through its contents and walking away with an exacto-knife.
Ohno had found a backpack and some sort of dry-walling tape that could potentially serve as makeshift gauze.
They paused for a break there, leaning with their backs against a wall with no windows near it. They finished off the last of their water and stood in silence for a minute, nothing but the soft rhythm of each other’s breathing to listen to.
“Want to…” Ohno’s brow creased anxiously and Nino nodded once, using the backpack to hold the knife and tape. The gun stayed in his belt.
“Were you… close to them?”
Ohno nodded silently, eyes wide as he chewed on his lip. “They were the first people I met when I moved here… We have dinner together once a week-used to… We used to have dinner…” He frowned and Nino brushed the tips of his fingers across the back of his hand.
“…I’ll go up first, okay?” Ohno nodded and leaned into the contact as Nino pressed their lips together.
“Okay.”
Nino weighed the crowbar nervously in his hand before he took the first few steps, pausing as he heard Ohno follow.
They stopped at the first landing, separated from the third floor by five more steps. They stared down the dim hallway in nervous anticipation but after awhile Nino couldn’t wait any longer.
“Stay back a few steps… just in case.” He whispered, fixing the older man with a loving stare before he took the next step, and the next, and the next. He reached the top and let out a puff of relief. So far so good.
He edged forward and peaked into the nearest room. There was a sofa, a TV and an impressive pile of pop cans. None of the infected.
“Okay...”
The next door was to his right. It was a kitchen and he couldn’t help but let out a gasp. Ohno was beside him in less than a second but froze as well.
Food. Piles upon piles of nonperishable food stacked in order based on content. Nino swallowed. It was all too good to be true; none of it made sense. This food should have been eaten long ago.
He blinked hard and backed away from the doorway, leaving Ohno to gap at the many cans as he edged toward the next door. It was closed, and Nino knew the second he saw it. The hairs tingled at the back of his neck but he paused, pulling his eyes away from the door to the last room in the hall. He ducked his head in. Clear. He turned slowly toward the closed door.
He could smell it before he saw it. It was a smell that stung your eyes, coated the inside of your mouth and stuck to your skin like a film of sweat. He shouldn’t have gone in but something kept him moving as he swung open the door.
They had died of their own accord, and that was important. He stood uncomfortably in the doorway, hearing Ohno walk up to peak over his shoulder.
“Oh.” Was all Ohno managed and he sniffed behind him. “Oh…”
A lot of people turned to suicide after the infection’s second wave hit. In the beginning it had started with the sick and frail, wiping out most children and those with weak immune systems. Most people got scared, saw things they wish they hadn’t, and chose the easiest escape. Nino almost envied their twisted bravery.
“Oh-chan…” He turned to face the tight-lipped man behind him and he closed the door. “They died, because they wanted to. Okay?”
He was nodding quickly before Nino had even finished the sentence, his head bowed and Nino saw the tears there.
“C’mon. There’s a bed in the next room, let’s get some sleep, okay?”
Ohno nodded and let Nino lead him into the dark room.
He hesitated nervously at the door, letting his eyes adjust to the lack of light. They must have taped garbage bags over the windows, and after a moment he decided to leave them there.
“I’ll take the first shift.” Ohno said gently, he sounded tired but Nino didn’t argue.
The bed was soft and the blankets were clean. Nino winced regretfully as he slid his muddy shoes between the white sheets. Shoes were important. If you had to make a quick escape, there wasn’t exactly time to tie your laces, and trying to survive without shoes was just as good as suicide.
Ohno shut the door quietly and the click of the lock rang through the silence. It was dark; a little too dark for Nino’s liking but he took a calming breath and closed his eyes. There was a reason he had avoided this part of town until now.
The bed creaked beside him and Ohno’s arm was under his neck, making up for the lack of pillows. Nino turned on his side, his hands running thoughtfully over the muscles in his arm. “My sister. It was her first.”
Ohno didn’t answer but Nino knew he was listening, knew he had been waiting.
“She…” He swallowed, his voice wavering. “It was her boyfriend… Some jerk with no job… Well, I mean, that’s what I’m guessing… She hadn’t been feeling well for days, and she came home one night and she just… kind of put her hand to her head and she was real pale… She looked like a ghost.” He half laughed at the dark humor, biting down on his lip. “It was back when everybody thought it was only rumors. So I got her into bed and her eyes-she always had the prettiest eyes… It used to make me jealous when I was a kid… But they didn’t look right. They were… Well, I thought it was my imagination.” He frowned.
“And the next morning, when I went to go check on her she-she was barely breathing, and she opened her eyes and they were white.” His grip tightened slightly around Ohno’s arm. “She wouldn’t eat, and my mom was worried so she sent me to get some medicine from the pharmacy, she thought it was some kind of flu. It was only a few blocks from my house but-but when I got there it was empty. Nobody was there.”
His voice was raised by a few octaves and Ohno was still silent, the gentle rise and fall of his chest giving Nino comfort.
“I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed some-some Tylenol I found in between two shelves and went home, but now my mom was throwing up, and she-she couldn’t see! She said everything was too dark and kept telling me to turn on the lights and my sister was just still… She wasn’t moving, it didn’t even look like she was breathing and I thought she was dead.”
Tears began welling in his eyes and he closed them tightly. “And my mom started showing the same symptoms… only with her everything happened faster and worse. I don’t… know how she caught it, but she did, and before I could do anything… she’d stopped breathing too.”
“911 wasn’t working, the line was just… dead, the hospitals were closed, everything was so surreal, and it all felt like a warped video game. I just sat in my room and cried that night. And it wasn’t until-until morning that they came in.”
Nino broke off in a sniff and Ohno tangled their fingers together, still silent.
“They… They were laughing at me, and my sister was… she was different than my mum; the veins around her eyes were red and pushing up against her skin… They came at me… My mom grabbed my leg and my sister, she-she was going to bite me. And I just…”
A horrified sob choked his words and he covered his mouth, burying his face into Ohno’s jacket.
“I had no choice Oh-chan, they were-they were going to kill me-”
Ohno pulled him closer and breathed deeply against his hair, letting the younger man sob into his chest. “You did what you had to do Nino, they would have understood.”
He shook his head, hands clenched around fistfuls of the dirty jacket.
“I killed Aiba too…”
Ohno was quiet. “He was already dead.”
“And he was going to kill you…”
“Yes.”
“So I had to…”
“Yes.”
“…Okay.” Nino sniffed, feeling Ohno’s arms tighten slightly. He closed his eyes again and tried to fall asleep; knowing he’d only slow them down if he were tired.
It was almost an hour later that he spoke again, breaking the comfortable silence that often settled between them.
“I’m glad that you found me…” The whisper seemed oddly loud in the darkness and he instantly felt like an idiot for saying such a sappy line. Ohno just shifted closer to him, burying his face in the crook of Nino’s neck.
He let out a sigh of relief; the man had fallen asleep. He couldn’t blame him, it was a rarity they found a bed as nice as this, and the thing about barely escaping a mob of the angry infected was that the crash after your adrenaline rush was nearly impossible to ignore.
He leaned down to brush his lips across Ohno’s smooth forehead, sighing into his tanned skin before he sat up and blinked hard to wake himself up.
“I’m glad… I found you too.” Ohno said slowly, a small smile flickering on his lips. Nino’s heart fluttered, and he silently thanked the darkness for hiding his reddening cheeks.
“Go to sleep Oh-chan.”
He laughed softly, the sound making Nino smile. “Okay.”
A week later they left the building, carrying as much food as they could without weighing the backpack down too much. That could be dangerous.
Ohno was walking ahead, his eyes shifting from side to side as they walked down a long-since deserted street.
They’d run into a few of the infected since leaving, but nothing they hadn’t been able to handle. Nino shivered, it was getting dark out, and there seemed to be more of them when the sun went down.
“Nino, I think we should find somewhere for the night… I remember hearing this district was hit hard but we won’t be able to get out of it before it gets dark…”
“Okay…” Nino glanced to his left and quickly looked away, hurrying forward to join hands with Ohno.
He raised an eyebrow and Nino shook his head, swallowing down the lump in his throat.
“It’s nothing. Sorry.”
Ohno held his hand a little tighter. They both knew some things were better left unsaid, sharing pain and sadness helped to a point, but sometimes you were doing the other a favor by staying quiet.
“How about here?” Ohno was pointing up at a dark apartment building. Nino shivered, glancing around them.
He had a bad feeling, whether it be from the eerily dark windows staring down at them or the quickly fading light, he wasn’t sure. He knew he couldn’t ask Ohno to keep walking any farther, the man looked closer to death than even he did.
“Alright… Lets just be careful about this one. I don’t like the look of it.”
Ohno nodded and let go of his hand, taking the gun from his belt and pulling the safety clip back.
The entranceway was dark, the standard emergency lights were flickering orange shadows against the door and Nino held his breath. It was impossible to see but Ohno seemed to know which direction they were headed; he turned right and opened a door that led to a metal staircase.
“What floor… do you think?”
“Fourth.”
Nino stopped, a few steps behind the older man. Something was off. Ohno was never so sure of anything; he’d always weigh the options, mumble pros and cons to himself quietly then ask Nino’s opinion. Even on things like what moldy bread would he like to try for lunch.
The fourth floor had no advantages, Nino knew that and so would Ohno. It was too high to jump from, and also not the top floor; they could be attacked from both sides.
Ohno had stopped walking too and he stood on the landing above him, his eyes downcast. “I know… it’s a bad idea, but it’s my apartment, and I wanted… you to see it.”
“Oh-chan,” Nino didn’t know what to say, the hair on the back of his neck bristled and a shiver went down his spine. “Only-only one night… okay?”
“Okay.” Ohno smiled and Nino’s heart beat a little harder.
They continued making their slow ascent, Ohno seemingly oblivious to the puddles of blood scattering the steps.
“Did you… live alone?” Nino asked, trying to sound casual as they reached the fourth level.
Ohno’s hand was resting on the doorknob separating them from the long hall. “I had a cat.” The edge of his lip twitched and he peaked at Nino out of the corner of his eye. “But she ran away. So I was alone.”
He opened the door and stepped into the orange glow of the hall. Nino was tense; hallways meant doors, and doors meant rooms with plenty of places to hide in.
He much preferred being in an open area, where at least he could see them coming.
“It’s here…” Ohno whispered, pulling a set of keys from his pocket.
Nino had noticed these before but he hadn’t asked; everybody had something. For him it was his DS, always in his coat pocket, for Aiba it had been a black plush dog he’d kept tucked under his arm. Nino sniffed and gripped his crowbar a little tighter.
“I'm home,” Ohno called softly and took a step in, closely followed by Nino.
He was about to point out the lack of point to the greeting but he stopped himself before the words left his lips. It was a small apartment, as they walked in they were in the living room and kitchen.
Nino couldn’t help but smile; it was just as he’d imagined it. Paintbrushes, easels, and canvas lay scattered across the room, which consisted of a couch, a small table, a fridge and a stove.
Ohno walked farther in and was checking the bathroom and bedroom. Nino couldn’t bring himself to move, letting the door click shut behind him.
“Oh-chan, it’s great…” He said in awe, looking around and imagining the man in his boxers, hair still sticking up from sleep as he cooked breakfast on the stove. It seemed so unreal to him, that this had been the older man’s home.
“I’m glad you like it.” Ohno flashed him a sleepy grin and stepped forward, gently taking the crowbar from him and taking his hand. Something in his eye flashed and a giddy flutter erupted in Nino’s stomach.
He pulled him leisurely into the bedroom and leaned the bat and crowbar against the wall. Nino hesitated as Ohno sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him.
The room was small but cozy; there was a dresser with a mirror, a bed with what looked like a hand-stitched quilt across it and several abstract paintings in bright colors hanging on the wall. Nino smiled.
“It’s very… you.”
Ohno nodded thoughtfully and looked around, his hand still in Nino’s. “I’ll miss it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ohno’s eyes flicked back to his, frowning. “What for?”
Nino looked down and shrugged, taking a seat beside him. “That we can’t stay… That all of this happened.” He gestured vaguely with one hand, thinking of his mother, the countless others they’d been forced to kill.
“You don’t have to be sorry Nino. For anything.” There was a comforting arm around his shoulder and he leaned into the warmth, nodding against Ohno’s shoulder.
“I know…” He kissed him on the cheek, pressing his forehead against the man’s temple. “But I am.”
Ohno’s hands were cupping his cheeks, tilting his head upwards so that they were looking straight into each other’s eyes. There was a pause and Ohno leaned forward, pressing their lips together. His hand was at the back of Nino’s neck, guiding his head to one side as he kissed him deeper; the other was on his shoulder, pushing him gently onto his back.
The older man’s breath was warm against his ear and Nino’s hips raised; grinding frantically against Ohno. He wanted to forget the world around him, to lose himself completely in the peaceful darkness of ecstasy.
Ohno groaned against the skin just under his jaw, drawing back slightly to pull his thin t-shirt over his head.
The butterflies in his stomach made Nino’s fingers fumble clumsily with the buttons on his own shirt and Ohno laughed kindly, taking a hand and bringing it to his lips.
“Let me?”
Nino could only nod, his stomach doing nervous back flips as Ohno began working on the shirt.
His long fingers worked smoothly, reaching the last button with a pause before he pulled away the fabric.
Nino’s pale chest practically glowed in the darkness but Ohno didn’t seem to care as he wiggled down farther on the mattress. He was kneeling now, between Nino’s legs, one hand on his bent knee and the other resting warmly on his waist.
He dropped a soft kiss there, careful to avoid the many bruises decorating his skin.
Nino let out a shaky sigh as Ohno’s lips dragged down to just below his navel, the hand on his knee trailing lightly down the inside of his thigh.
“Oh-chan,” Nino breathed, closing his eyes and tangling his fingers in the man’s hair as the button popped on his jeans. He raised his hip with the intention of helping but froze and let a moan hiss through his teeth as the denim shifted against his hard-on.
Ohno laughed, the sound almost infectious as he pulled the now-tight fabric down; tossing it to the floor without so much as a second glance, reaching under the mattress and producing a small tube of clear liquid.
Goosebumps prickled his skin, though he was anything but cold as Ohno’s lips left burning trails across his stomach, his arms, and his neck; hands teasing his hardness through the plain gray underwear.
His breath hitched delicately in his throat and his nails dug into Ohno’s shoulders as the older man’s fingers slipped under the elastic band and curled around his cock. The rough pads on the tips of his fingers brushed lightly against the sensitive skin and Nino shuddered, letting Ohno’s other hand tug what was left of his clothing down past his ankles.
Ohno’s lips were on his, and Nino managed to find the man’s belt buckle, yanking it open and pinching the button undone. Ohno’s lips curled against his.
The denim was kicked to the floor and it was just skin; Nino groaned.
Ohno was between his legs, kissing from his ankle to just above his knee; nipping at the skin there and his fingers tightening around Nino’s erection.
“Can I…?”
Nino was nodding before the words had even reached his ears and he shivered in anticipation, his fingers curling around fistfuls of the bed sheets as Ohno fumbled with the lube and pushed into him.
His mind spun and he had to throw his head back against the mattress as Ohno’s length pushed into him again. The older man groaned under his breath and Nino hooked one arm under his shoulder, the other pulling him down by the neck to smash their mouths together. This was the only release they could get from the horrors all around them and Nino wouldn’t waste a minute of it.
Ohno’s steady rhythm was increasing along with Nino’s moans; being muffled by their lips, and their fingers tangled together in the dark.
He tugged at Ohno’s bottom lip, letting his head fall back against the creaking bed. And Ohno hit it, that spot that Nino could only describe as a stab of electrifying pleasure.
His back arched involuntarily, nails digging crescent shaped imprints on the backs of Ohno’s hands.
He couldn’t speak, think, move, but Ohno had sped up; sliding in and out of him at a dizzying pace and hitting that spot each time.
His toes began to curl and he felt the familiar tingling at the base of his spine. He was barely able to gasp Ohno’s name before he came, his whole body tensing and relaxing in a series of blinding convulsions.
It took only three more thrusts of his hips and Ohno was gripping him close; climaxing with only the hitching of his breath to break the dead silence.
Nino laughed breathlessly after a moment; kissing the man’s temple-the closest thing to him. A pause and Ohno was laughing too; the delicate sound Nino’s favorite melody.
He pulled out of him and rolled onto his side next to the younger man, brushing a strand of hair from his face and wiping away the beads of sweat that clung to his forehead.
“Nino…” He was biting at his lip, a smile still playing there and Nino turned to face him, burrowing into the crook of his neck.
“Mmhm?” Exhaustion hit him, pulling him away from the post-orgasmic high. His eyes began to close, Ohno’s steady breath lulling him towards the peaceful hum of unconsciousness.
“Do you want to…” His tone was about as serious as it got, and Nino perked up as Ohno’s fingers trailed absentmindedly up the base of his spine. “Do you want to go to the country?”
Nino blinked. “Eh?” He pulled away slightly so that he could look Ohno in the eye and he frowned.
“We don’t have a plan, right? In all the zombie movies I’ve seen-” Nino flinched. “-They always have a plan! Like…” Ohno paused and worried his lip in thought. “Make it to the coast, hide under-ground, cure the disease, stay in a safety center-Well all of Japan’s safety centers fell weeks ago, we don’t know anything about curing diseases, and the closest thing we have to an under-ground fort are basements.”
He brushed the too-long hair from Nino’s eyes and smiled sadly. “There are thousands of them in the city, because there were thousands of people in the city. They’re all flocking here because there was more food. There wouldn’t be any left in the country!”
“But…” Nino bit his lip, weighing their options and the hopeful spark in Ohno’s eyes.
“Nino.” Ohno’s lips were tight in a frown and his brow creased. “They’re going to find us, and they’re going to kill us. We’ve been lucky so far, but… sooner or later our luck is going to run out.” Fingers found his in the darkness and Nino brought them to his lips as he thought.
Ohno was right; they couldn’t wander aimlessly anymore. It was getting too dangerous and there were so many advantages to the country. He closed his eyes; it felt almost wrong to abandon his home, the city he’d grown up in.
“You can think about it first, okay?” Ohno’s voice was kind, understanding, and Nino got the familiarly eerie feeling that Ohno knew what he’d been thinking.
But he was tired, despite the hectic thoughts racing through his mind and Nino closed his eyes again. “Okay.” He sighed, and Ohno pulled him closer and into the warmth of his arms.
“I found some painkillers Oh-chan!” Nino called to him from the next aisle and rattled the small bottle. “It’s almost full.”
Ohno appeared holding two new toothbrushes. He put them in the bag and held it out to Nino with a smile. “That’s good, It’ll help with your headaches.”
Nino blinked in surprise, he’d been having headaches since before Ohno had found him, but he hadn’t said anything to him about it.
Ohno tapped his temple with a lopsided smirk. “I can tell.”
Nino paused but smiled and dropped the medicine into the bag. They were in a department store just a block from Ohno’s apartment. It had rained for days and they’d ended up staying a lot longer than they had meant to.
Outside the sun poked tentatively through thick clouds and Nino’s nose wrinkled. Rain made the corpses of the many victims stench about ten times worse and he had to make a point of breathing through his mouth to avoid gagging. Ohno had been right; this area was hit hard. Though they didn’t die from getting the disease; they died at the hands of those who had.
There was a sharp bang to their right and Ohno was yanking him down behind an over-turned café table. His eyes were wide and Nino peeked out from behind the wood just as a piercing scream followed by a thud echoed across the street.
They were maybe his age, and running at full tilt out of the apartment building. Their clothes were ripped, torn and bloody; their hair was matted but they were holding hands. The infected didn’t hold hands.
“Ohno-”
The older man’s grip was tight around his wrist, stopping him from running out and there was a grave look in his eye. He shook his head slightly and Nino turned slowly back to the street.
The taller of the two was limping and his leg was dripping a dark crimson. Nino’s stomach clenched.
“Sho run!” The injured cried just as their attacker lurched out of the building; its mouth stained red. He fell to his knees and the other let out a strangled sob.
“Jun I can’t-I can’t leave you-”
“-Go!”
He shoved the other man roughly and he stumbled back, taking a few small, uncertain steps away.
The infected was nearly to him, only a few meters away and the man named Sho was in hysterics.
“I love you Jun!-I-I’m sorry!” And he ran with desperate speed down the street.
Jun was shaking and he turned to watch the infected, his face twisted in what was most likely physical and emotional pain. It was barely feet away from him and Nino fumbled desperately with the gun at his hip. Ohno’s hands closed around his and he pulled him to his chest, holding him tighter as Jun’s screams began.
Minutes went by and a horrible squelching noise met their ears. Nino whimpered into his chest as the man’s yells died off with a muffled gurgle.
It was Ohno that pulled back first and Nino saw the tears in his eyes before he turned toward the street. He looked away a little too quickly and his face twisted in horror at what Nino didn’t want to imagine he’d seen. His hands were shaking as they closed around Nino’s and they sat there and waited, with no choice but to listen as the infected finished his meal.
Click HERE for the next part.
Author: charcoaldonkey
Pairing: OhnoxNino
Genre: Horror, Angst
Rating: R -Viewer discretion is advised-
Warning: Contains sexual content and situations some may find disturbing. If gore and smut aren't your flavour of cupcake then this may not be the right fic for you. Read at your own risk!
*A/N:
Hello hello! So I'm well aware that this is a tad late, it was meant as a Halloween fic, demo its now December so i suppose I'm just raining on everyone's Christmas parades ne? xD
Ah well, here it tis!!! I was actually working on a chaptered fic before this one, but on Halloween I was so inspired by all the horror movies and costumes that I couldn't resist ^.^
This is the first part of two, the next one will be posted within the next few days!
And as always comments are loved and appreciated~~ ^_^
ALSO. Before you read, follow the linkity link to Sam Hart's song on youtube, called "Wish That Home Were Here", it's basically the inspiration for this whole fic, despite the difference in meanings xD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgJG7aYkiYw
Read on~
~
Nino was shaking as he bit down on his lip, his fingers tangling with Ohno’s in the dark.
“Ohno, I’m scared…” He whispered.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” Ohno breathed against the skin of his earlobe, nipping it gently as a moan trilled from between Nino’s clenched teeth. “I promise.”
“How?” Nino paused, his breath hitching in his throat as the older man’s long fingers slipped under the band of his boxers. “How do you know Oh-chan?”
“Shh,” He murmured and dropped a trail of hot kisses down his collarbone. “I just do.”
They were in an apartment complex; tall, dark, and as abandoned as the rotting corpses scattered throughout the many rooms. The place had already been cleaned out; they wouldn’t come back… he hoped.
When it all started, it had taken three days for the word to get out, and almost three weeks for the panic to set in. And when push came to shove, most deaths in the beginning weren’t even executed by those who were ill. It took a day or two for the virus to hit your system, and even then, you were harmless. It wasn’t until your heart stopped beating that you started feeding.
But the public didn’t know that. One minute you look a little too long in the sun, or maybe you breathe in a spec of dust; you sneeze, and the next you’re being gang beaten for the ‘Good of man-kind.’ People began throwing around words like ‘Zombies’, and ‘Flesh-eaters’, talking about the end of the world and damnation. Saying things like all other countries had abandoned Japan.
But things like information couldn’t be trusted anymore. All you could allow yourself to believe were the things you saw yourself.
He closed his eyes tightly and moaned into the other man’s soft auburn hair as he pushed into him, stretching him in ways that were relatively new but not altogether unpleasant.
“Nino…” Ohno gasped and his hands trailed softly down his pale and bruised skin.
Nino blushed. Ohno had a way of making you feel uneasy, in the way that he never shied away from eye contact, or how he found it completely normal to sit millimeters away from a stranger.
Perhaps that was the reason he’d fallen so hard and fast for the man now groaning above him. He tried not to read into what spawned their odd relationship too much, but all he knew was they needed one-another.
It had been weeks since they’d seen a real person. It was hard to tell the difference if the change was still fresh, but the white eyes or gaping wounds were clue enough.
His name was Aiba. Aiba Masaki. They had been scavenging for food in a long-since deserted convenience store when he’d strolled in; long metal pole slung casually over one shoulder and a plush animal toy tucked under his arm. He’d nodded in acknowledgement of Ohno and Nino and then proceeded to request a pack of cigarettes from a non-existent cashier worker.
They had seen the early infected speak, crack jokes even, but never carry a weapon. After all, what would they need to defend themselves from? They were the ones killing everybody.
“Nino-I’m-” Ohno grit his teeth and smashed their mouths together, smothering the cry he couldn’t hold back as he came deep inside the younger man.
“Oh-chan...?”
The soft murmur seemed to break the man from his post-orgasmic daze and he blinked; pulling teasingly on Nino’s bottom lip.
His fingers found Nino’s still achingly hard cock and he slowly pumped his hand down the shaft, quickening his pace until Nino was gasping beneath him. He waited until he saw the younger man’s fingers begin to curl before he grazed his thumb over the head of his hard-on, sending his back arching as he threw his head back in a low groan.
Ohno pulled out of him and collapsed at his side, one arm curled protectively around his still-heaving chest.
Nino dropped a light kiss to Ohno’s temple and he hummed appreciatively, burrowing further into the crook of his neck.
They had travelled with the slightly insane Aiba for a few weeks, and his constant tales of help and rescue had filled their hearts with hope. Hope that came crashing down around them the night they were found.
It was a cool night, the rain had stopped but the wind still stung of winter. They’d been sleeping in a small house on a quiet street that Nino hadn’t thought to get the name of. It was Aiba’s turn to keep watch, but Nino couldn’t sleep, despite the constant exhaustion they all experienced. He’d heard the twig snap outside the just-opened window, heard Aiba’s horror-filled gasp as they came crashing through the glass at him.
He’d opened his eyes in time to see one of them bite clean through his Adam’s apple before he’d managed to grab Ohno and run. And even now he remembered the way Aiba’s eyes had widened helplessly as he realized they were leaving him there.
“Nino…” Ohno nudged him thoughtfully with his nose, his fingers tracing patterns against Nino’s ribcage.
“Mm?” He felt as if something was blocking his throat and he cleared it, trying to shake his thoughts.
“What will we do…? When the government fixes all of… this. What will we do?”
Nino frowned, never having thought that far ahead in fear of his dreams being crushed.
“Well…” He paused and smiled, the simple act feeling odd and unfamiliar. “We’ll move. Somewhere on top of a hill, with a lake near-by where you can fish, and a view of the sunset for you to paint.”
Ohno sighed in thought, followed by a comfortable silence as they indulged in the almost futile dream. “And…?”
“And…” Nino chuckled, thinking. “And we’ll sleep in until noon. Everyday. We’ll… eat lunch on the patio, and drink tea, and talk about our lives. Then you go catch fish for our supper, and I’ll cook while you work on your latest masterpiece-on-canvas.”
“Hmm… What am I painting?” Ohno slurred sleepily and Nino felt the upturned edges of his lips pressed against his shoulder.
“Well, you’d know better than I would Oh-chan…”
“You.” Ohno sighed and shifted a little next to him, his stomach pressed flat against his side. “I’m painting you.”
Nino hid his grin in the man’s hair, settling for pressing his lips softly to his eyelids.
“I’ll take the first shift, okay?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands; pulling his shirt over his head with a grunt.
“Wake me up a little earlier… You look like one of them.” Ohno chuckled and rolled over onto his stomach; sprawled out on the old stained carpet.
“Okay. Does three o’clock sound good?”
No answer.
He checked his battered wristwatch, already midnight. He shook out their thin blanket and lay it carefully over the sleeping man before he picked up the revolver and opened the cartridge.
Three bullets left. He sighed, how long would they last? And then he paused, realizing he wasn’t thinking about the gun anymore.
How much longer could they live like this? They had no food, hardly any water left, and hadn’t slept a full night’s sleep in more then a month. They were dying.
Maybe not noticeably, but slowly, a little closer every day, they were nearing death. He could see it in the ribs poking out from their chests, the circles under their eyes. He could smell it in the air; the stench of the infected’s leftovers. Scraps of the dead left strewn across the street and in the tall, empty buildings. Hell he could taste it, in the way the long-since expired scraps of food they found all tasted like nothing. As if their taste buds had grown tired of the constant abuse and had quit.
He sniffed in the musty air but hesitated at the grime-covered window. Aiba had wanted fresh air too hadn’t he, and look at what happened to him.
“Ni~no…”
“Oh-chan, go to sleep.” He mumbled, still peering thoughtfully out into the night. He froze and floorboards creaked but he ignored them. “Oh-Ohno.” He choked out, fingers trembling as they curled around the cool metal of the revolver.
Dark shapes were moving toward the building. The building they were now trapped in.
“Ni~no…”
“Ohno c’mon we-we have to leave-” He spun away from the window and nearly screamed in shock.
Aiba. It was Aiba.
“M-Masaki?”
The man smiled in the darkness and fear gripped Nino’s stomach, sending a wave of nausea through him.
It wasn’t-couldn’t be Aiba. He’d seen them tear open his throat; he’d glanced back and saw the second one rip open his stomach. He’d seen his organs spill out onto the floor.
And Aiba wouldn’t have been smiling that way. He wouldn’t have been edging toward Ohno’s sleeping outline with eyes a creamy white and dark red seeping from between his teeth.
“You left me.” Aiba pouted, looking eerily childlike as he took another step towards Ohno.
“We-” A whimper escaped his lips as the thin light from the window cast Aiba’s features into clarity.
He was barely clothed, and what little fabric still remained was torn and stained a deep crimson. The hole in his stomach was wide and gaping, the skin around the edge was black and the stench hit Nino like a brick wall. He was rotting.
Ohno stirred peacefully in his sleep and Aiba’s head snapped toward him, though it was impossible to tell where his eyes were pointed; they were pure white.
“We didn’t have a-a choice Aiba-chan!” His voice was shaking along with his arm as he held up the gun. “They would have killed us too!”
“I followed you.” His grin grew and bloody nails began tapping impatiently against the window behind him. Tiny bloody hands pressing themselves against the glass.
Nino was trembling. They were smart. Aiba knew who they were, remembered them. The infected weren’t mindless after all.
“It hurt Ni~no-chan.” His teeth snapped shut with a click and before Nino could move he’d scooped down and pulled Ohno into his lap, grabbing a fistful of his hair and baring his throat.
“No!” Nino’s heart stopped and Aiba giggled, high-pitched and cracking.
“Nino-” Ohno was awake and immobilized; trapped in Aiba’s vice-like grip. His eyes were wide as he looked to Nino and Nino pointed the gun shakily.
“Aiba-please!” Tears were blurring his vision and he struggled to keep the gun steady. Shooting somebody in a video game was a lot different than in real life, and watching his friend die once was hard enough.
It happened so fast that Nino stood frozen for a few seconds after the deafening bang erupted from the end of the revolver. Aiba had begun to lean forward, his bloodied and blackening teeth bared for Ohno’s tanned and helpless throat. And he’d pulled the trigger. Nino had pulled the trigger and sent a bullet straight through his skull.
“Ohno!”
He rushed over to the limp man and cradled his head in his lap. “Ohno are you… Are you hurt?” His horrified whisper was barely audible over the growing noise from outside but Ohno blinked, coming out of a daze.
“I-no…” He breathed and scrambled to his feet, carefully avoiding the growing pool of red on the carpet as he pulled on his tattered jeans. “C’mon!” He grabbed his baseball bat from the ground and their last bottle of water.
He paused to hand Nino his abandoned crowbar. He kissed him gently on the cheek and had to shake him slightly before his gaze switched away from Aiba’s splintered skull.
“Nino, I need you here. Okay? How do we get out?”
Nino nodded numbly after a second and tucked the revolver carefully in his belt. “Okay… Okay there’s an-an emergency exit. It’s down the hall to the left and goes out to the back parking lot. I saw it when we came in.”
Ohno hesitated and there was a high-pitched wail from outside the apartment. They both turned slowly to the window where a woman with almost all the flesh on her face black, rotted and falling off was slamming her forehead viciously against the glass.
As cracks began to spread like lace across the window Ohno wordlessly grabbed Nino’s hand and ran out of the apartment. They reached the emergency exit door just as a shatter rang down the hall.
“Go- go!” Nino breathed, swinging the door open and pushing Ohno out.
Nino’s pounding heart was the only sound he could hear; beating furiously against his ribcage like a drum. It urged him to move faster and he took a sharp turn down a side street, pulling Ohno along with him.
The jagged footsteps and garbled cries behind them had faded long ago but Nino’s adrenaline hadn’t. They must have been running for nearly an hour before Ohno slowed down to a walk. He was pale and gasping for air, the hand still grasping Nino’s trembling.
“I… I think we lost them.” He panted, using his bat to keep himself standing.
“Yeah…” Fatigue started setting in, blurring the edges of his vision and slowing his thoughts. “Okay lets uh… Lets get some sleep-Wait.”
Ohno stiffened at Nino’s tone and his eyes swept cautiously around them. “What-what’s wrong?”
“How did he… How did he get in?”
Ohno blinked and Nino squeezed his fingers, tapping his crowbar urgently on the cracking pavement. “He got in! Somehow, he was in the apartment and the others weren’t… They had to break through the window first.”
Ohno’s eyes widened in thought for a moment and he chewed slowly on his lip. “He… probably snuck into the building before we locked the doors… While we were checking the rooms first.”
Nino shivered; the whole night he’d been listening. Watching them.
He shrugged and kept walking, pulling Nino along with him. “I live… used to live near here…” Ohno said softly, his fingers squeezing Nino’s as they walked guardedly down the deserted street.
Nino raised his eyebrows, the hairs prickling slightly at the back of his neck. “So did I. On the next street over, actually.”
He didn’t want to be here; out of the corner of his eye the sign for a pre-school swung in the wind, the window below splattered with dark red.
“Really? Do you want to-”
“-No. I’m not going back there.” Nino sniffed and rested the crowbar on his shoulder, trying to brush off the waver in his voice. “I don’t want you to see them… like that.”
“Them?” Ohno’s thumb brushed gently across the back of his hand, and his eyes were sad as Nino looked up.
“My sister… and mom.” They kept walking in silence as Nino bit down hard on his lip and they reached a large intersection.
There had been a crash here; cars were crumpled together like tin cans and Nino shivered, some still had the drivers in them. Ohno tried to pull Nino away before he saw but the swarm of flies caught his eye and he saw her.
It had been a teenager; her car was one of the ones nearest to the edge of the pile, and the driver’s door was open. Judging by the tracks of black make-up down her cheeks, she’d still been alive as they tore her limbs off.
“C’mon…” Ohno pulled him toward a tall building on the far side of the wreckage. “I know the owners of this place. They were going to turn the first floor into a restaurant but… Well, Southern Barbecue isn’t exactly a key element in your everyday zombie diet, is it?”
Nino flinched at the word. He refused to call them that, they weren’t zombies. They were people. Aiba had proved it hadn’t he? He’d followed them for weeks, he’d remembered what their names were; none of that was zombie-like. Zombies were slow, they couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, they could only feed; or at least that’s what his video games said.
“They used to live on the third floor-the owners I mean, but I doubt they’re there now…” Ohno was frowning up at the third level’s windows.
The sun was just beginning to poke through the early morning clouds as Ohno managed to pick the lock on the front entrance.
“Stay close to me?” Ohno’s voice was trembling and Nino nodded, his fingers lingering on the small of his back as they stepped into the dimmed room.
It was clear the place had been under renovations when the world had gone into chaos. A thick layer of dust covered everything in the large area, and several of the walls weren’t even fully finished, revealing a surprising amount of wires running between the chalky drywall.
Nino sneezed and turned to look where Ohno’s gaze was focused. One wall still bore the old paint; a nasty bubble-gum pink with a large mural of a chocolate sundae.
“I think they said it used to be called the Cream Putt?” Ohno mumbled, running his hand lightly over the paint. “Something about mini-putting…? They wanted to use my paintings to decorate the restaurant…”
“I think I had a birthday party here when I was ten…” Nino frowned thoughtfully and tugged on Ohno's hand. “There might be some food… You said they lived upstairs, right?”
“Yeah…” Ohno spotted the edge of a water bottle and he pulled it out from under a pile of boards. It was half empty and after a pause he frowned and let it fall from his fingers.
Whatever kind of disease the infected had was being passed along through liquids. Blood, saliva, tears, anything. They couldn’t risk drinking something once drank by someone else.
Ohno had begun kicking at something on the other side of the room and the loud noise made him jump as he hurried over.
“Help,” Ohno grunted, putting all his weight into the side of an over-turned fridge and moving it a little less than an inch. The fridge, Nino realized after a moment of confusion, was blocking a large door that according to the sign next to it, lead to the higher floors.
Nino gripped the other side of the fridge and pulled, feeling what little muscle he had in his arms scream in protest to the excursion. It took them nearly twenty minutes to move the large appliance and by the time Ohno picked the lock Nino’s head was spinning.
He hadn’t slept more than two hours in three days, and it had been two since he last had something to eat. Add emotional and physical trauma to the mix and he couldn’t exactly call it Cloud Nine.
“You know…” Ohno whispered as he helped Nino’s shaking limbs over a pile of what looked like plumbing pipes. “If the door was barred… maybe that means they’re still alive.”
Nino didn’t say anything; he recognized the tone in his voice. The door had brought them into a small entranceway. Another door to their left led out onto a side street.
There were too many locks on the door for Nino to count but his stomach turned as the smudged red handprint on the glass caught his eye. “Oh-chan… it’s been over a month.”
“Yes, I know…” Ohno peaked up the old wooden staircase. “But it was going to be a restaurant though, right? Maybe they had some food with them.”
“Maybe…” Nino closed the connecting door softly, pausing for a moment before he locked it. What if the thing they’d be running from wasn’t on the outside? “It’s worth a try.” Was it?
But Ohno looked so hopeful as he took his hand and began walking up the creaking steps, how could he refuse him?
The second floor was empty. The previous owners had used it as some sort of storage. Nino poked at a screwdriver thoughtfully before he spotted a large toolbox with the lid haphazardly placed on top. The automatic lock hadn’t clicked shut and he carefully lifted it off; rooting through its contents and walking away with an exacto-knife.
Ohno had found a backpack and some sort of dry-walling tape that could potentially serve as makeshift gauze.
They paused for a break there, leaning with their backs against a wall with no windows near it. They finished off the last of their water and stood in silence for a minute, nothing but the soft rhythm of each other’s breathing to listen to.
“Want to…” Ohno’s brow creased anxiously and Nino nodded once, using the backpack to hold the knife and tape. The gun stayed in his belt.
“Were you… close to them?”
Ohno nodded silently, eyes wide as he chewed on his lip. “They were the first people I met when I moved here… We have dinner together once a week-used to… We used to have dinner…” He frowned and Nino brushed the tips of his fingers across the back of his hand.
“…I’ll go up first, okay?” Ohno nodded and leaned into the contact as Nino pressed their lips together.
“Okay.”
Nino weighed the crowbar nervously in his hand before he took the first few steps, pausing as he heard Ohno follow.
They stopped at the first landing, separated from the third floor by five more steps. They stared down the dim hallway in nervous anticipation but after awhile Nino couldn’t wait any longer.
“Stay back a few steps… just in case.” He whispered, fixing the older man with a loving stare before he took the next step, and the next, and the next. He reached the top and let out a puff of relief. So far so good.
He edged forward and peaked into the nearest room. There was a sofa, a TV and an impressive pile of pop cans. None of the infected.
“Okay...”
The next door was to his right. It was a kitchen and he couldn’t help but let out a gasp. Ohno was beside him in less than a second but froze as well.
Food. Piles upon piles of nonperishable food stacked in order based on content. Nino swallowed. It was all too good to be true; none of it made sense. This food should have been eaten long ago.
He blinked hard and backed away from the doorway, leaving Ohno to gap at the many cans as he edged toward the next door. It was closed, and Nino knew the second he saw it. The hairs tingled at the back of his neck but he paused, pulling his eyes away from the door to the last room in the hall. He ducked his head in. Clear. He turned slowly toward the closed door.
He could smell it before he saw it. It was a smell that stung your eyes, coated the inside of your mouth and stuck to your skin like a film of sweat. He shouldn’t have gone in but something kept him moving as he swung open the door.
They had died of their own accord, and that was important. He stood uncomfortably in the doorway, hearing Ohno walk up to peak over his shoulder.
“Oh.” Was all Ohno managed and he sniffed behind him. “Oh…”
A lot of people turned to suicide after the infection’s second wave hit. In the beginning it had started with the sick and frail, wiping out most children and those with weak immune systems. Most people got scared, saw things they wish they hadn’t, and chose the easiest escape. Nino almost envied their twisted bravery.
“Oh-chan…” He turned to face the tight-lipped man behind him and he closed the door. “They died, because they wanted to. Okay?”
He was nodding quickly before Nino had even finished the sentence, his head bowed and Nino saw the tears there.
“C’mon. There’s a bed in the next room, let’s get some sleep, okay?”
Ohno nodded and let Nino lead him into the dark room.
He hesitated nervously at the door, letting his eyes adjust to the lack of light. They must have taped garbage bags over the windows, and after a moment he decided to leave them there.
“I’ll take the first shift.” Ohno said gently, he sounded tired but Nino didn’t argue.
The bed was soft and the blankets were clean. Nino winced regretfully as he slid his muddy shoes between the white sheets. Shoes were important. If you had to make a quick escape, there wasn’t exactly time to tie your laces, and trying to survive without shoes was just as good as suicide.
Ohno shut the door quietly and the click of the lock rang through the silence. It was dark; a little too dark for Nino’s liking but he took a calming breath and closed his eyes. There was a reason he had avoided this part of town until now.
The bed creaked beside him and Ohno’s arm was under his neck, making up for the lack of pillows. Nino turned on his side, his hands running thoughtfully over the muscles in his arm. “My sister. It was her first.”
Ohno didn’t answer but Nino knew he was listening, knew he had been waiting.
“She…” He swallowed, his voice wavering. “It was her boyfriend… Some jerk with no job… Well, I mean, that’s what I’m guessing… She hadn’t been feeling well for days, and she came home one night and she just… kind of put her hand to her head and she was real pale… She looked like a ghost.” He half laughed at the dark humor, biting down on his lip. “It was back when everybody thought it was only rumors. So I got her into bed and her eyes-she always had the prettiest eyes… It used to make me jealous when I was a kid… But they didn’t look right. They were… Well, I thought it was my imagination.” He frowned.
“And the next morning, when I went to go check on her she-she was barely breathing, and she opened her eyes and they were white.” His grip tightened slightly around Ohno’s arm. “She wouldn’t eat, and my mom was worried so she sent me to get some medicine from the pharmacy, she thought it was some kind of flu. It was only a few blocks from my house but-but when I got there it was empty. Nobody was there.”
His voice was raised by a few octaves and Ohno was still silent, the gentle rise and fall of his chest giving Nino comfort.
“I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed some-some Tylenol I found in between two shelves and went home, but now my mom was throwing up, and she-she couldn’t see! She said everything was too dark and kept telling me to turn on the lights and my sister was just still… She wasn’t moving, it didn’t even look like she was breathing and I thought she was dead.”
Tears began welling in his eyes and he closed them tightly. “And my mom started showing the same symptoms… only with her everything happened faster and worse. I don’t… know how she caught it, but she did, and before I could do anything… she’d stopped breathing too.”
“911 wasn’t working, the line was just… dead, the hospitals were closed, everything was so surreal, and it all felt like a warped video game. I just sat in my room and cried that night. And it wasn’t until-until morning that they came in.”
Nino broke off in a sniff and Ohno tangled their fingers together, still silent.
“They… They were laughing at me, and my sister was… she was different than my mum; the veins around her eyes were red and pushing up against her skin… They came at me… My mom grabbed my leg and my sister, she-she was going to bite me. And I just…”
A horrified sob choked his words and he covered his mouth, burying his face into Ohno’s jacket.
“I had no choice Oh-chan, they were-they were going to kill me-”
Ohno pulled him closer and breathed deeply against his hair, letting the younger man sob into his chest. “You did what you had to do Nino, they would have understood.”
He shook his head, hands clenched around fistfuls of the dirty jacket.
“I killed Aiba too…”
Ohno was quiet. “He was already dead.”
“And he was going to kill you…”
“Yes.”
“So I had to…”
“Yes.”
“…Okay.” Nino sniffed, feeling Ohno’s arms tighten slightly. He closed his eyes again and tried to fall asleep; knowing he’d only slow them down if he were tired.
It was almost an hour later that he spoke again, breaking the comfortable silence that often settled between them.
“I’m glad that you found me…” The whisper seemed oddly loud in the darkness and he instantly felt like an idiot for saying such a sappy line. Ohno just shifted closer to him, burying his face in the crook of Nino’s neck.
He let out a sigh of relief; the man had fallen asleep. He couldn’t blame him, it was a rarity they found a bed as nice as this, and the thing about barely escaping a mob of the angry infected was that the crash after your adrenaline rush was nearly impossible to ignore.
He leaned down to brush his lips across Ohno’s smooth forehead, sighing into his tanned skin before he sat up and blinked hard to wake himself up.
“I’m glad… I found you too.” Ohno said slowly, a small smile flickering on his lips. Nino’s heart fluttered, and he silently thanked the darkness for hiding his reddening cheeks.
“Go to sleep Oh-chan.”
He laughed softly, the sound making Nino smile. “Okay.”
A week later they left the building, carrying as much food as they could without weighing the backpack down too much. That could be dangerous.
Ohno was walking ahead, his eyes shifting from side to side as they walked down a long-since deserted street.
They’d run into a few of the infected since leaving, but nothing they hadn’t been able to handle. Nino shivered, it was getting dark out, and there seemed to be more of them when the sun went down.
“Nino, I think we should find somewhere for the night… I remember hearing this district was hit hard but we won’t be able to get out of it before it gets dark…”
“Okay…” Nino glanced to his left and quickly looked away, hurrying forward to join hands with Ohno.
He raised an eyebrow and Nino shook his head, swallowing down the lump in his throat.
“It’s nothing. Sorry.”
Ohno held his hand a little tighter. They both knew some things were better left unsaid, sharing pain and sadness helped to a point, but sometimes you were doing the other a favor by staying quiet.
“How about here?” Ohno was pointing up at a dark apartment building. Nino shivered, glancing around them.
He had a bad feeling, whether it be from the eerily dark windows staring down at them or the quickly fading light, he wasn’t sure. He knew he couldn’t ask Ohno to keep walking any farther, the man looked closer to death than even he did.
“Alright… Lets just be careful about this one. I don’t like the look of it.”
Ohno nodded and let go of his hand, taking the gun from his belt and pulling the safety clip back.
The entranceway was dark, the standard emergency lights were flickering orange shadows against the door and Nino held his breath. It was impossible to see but Ohno seemed to know which direction they were headed; he turned right and opened a door that led to a metal staircase.
“What floor… do you think?”
“Fourth.”
Nino stopped, a few steps behind the older man. Something was off. Ohno was never so sure of anything; he’d always weigh the options, mumble pros and cons to himself quietly then ask Nino’s opinion. Even on things like what moldy bread would he like to try for lunch.
The fourth floor had no advantages, Nino knew that and so would Ohno. It was too high to jump from, and also not the top floor; they could be attacked from both sides.
Ohno had stopped walking too and he stood on the landing above him, his eyes downcast. “I know… it’s a bad idea, but it’s my apartment, and I wanted… you to see it.”
“Oh-chan,” Nino didn’t know what to say, the hair on the back of his neck bristled and a shiver went down his spine. “Only-only one night… okay?”
“Okay.” Ohno smiled and Nino’s heart beat a little harder.
They continued making their slow ascent, Ohno seemingly oblivious to the puddles of blood scattering the steps.
“Did you… live alone?” Nino asked, trying to sound casual as they reached the fourth level.
Ohno’s hand was resting on the doorknob separating them from the long hall. “I had a cat.” The edge of his lip twitched and he peaked at Nino out of the corner of his eye. “But she ran away. So I was alone.”
He opened the door and stepped into the orange glow of the hall. Nino was tense; hallways meant doors, and doors meant rooms with plenty of places to hide in.
He much preferred being in an open area, where at least he could see them coming.
“It’s here…” Ohno whispered, pulling a set of keys from his pocket.
Nino had noticed these before but he hadn’t asked; everybody had something. For him it was his DS, always in his coat pocket, for Aiba it had been a black plush dog he’d kept tucked under his arm. Nino sniffed and gripped his crowbar a little tighter.
“I'm home,” Ohno called softly and took a step in, closely followed by Nino.
He was about to point out the lack of point to the greeting but he stopped himself before the words left his lips. It was a small apartment, as they walked in they were in the living room and kitchen.
Nino couldn’t help but smile; it was just as he’d imagined it. Paintbrushes, easels, and canvas lay scattered across the room, which consisted of a couch, a small table, a fridge and a stove.
Ohno walked farther in and was checking the bathroom and bedroom. Nino couldn’t bring himself to move, letting the door click shut behind him.
“Oh-chan, it’s great…” He said in awe, looking around and imagining the man in his boxers, hair still sticking up from sleep as he cooked breakfast on the stove. It seemed so unreal to him, that this had been the older man’s home.
“I’m glad you like it.” Ohno flashed him a sleepy grin and stepped forward, gently taking the crowbar from him and taking his hand. Something in his eye flashed and a giddy flutter erupted in Nino’s stomach.
He pulled him leisurely into the bedroom and leaned the bat and crowbar against the wall. Nino hesitated as Ohno sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him.
The room was small but cozy; there was a dresser with a mirror, a bed with what looked like a hand-stitched quilt across it and several abstract paintings in bright colors hanging on the wall. Nino smiled.
“It’s very… you.”
Ohno nodded thoughtfully and looked around, his hand still in Nino’s. “I’ll miss it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ohno’s eyes flicked back to his, frowning. “What for?”
Nino looked down and shrugged, taking a seat beside him. “That we can’t stay… That all of this happened.” He gestured vaguely with one hand, thinking of his mother, the countless others they’d been forced to kill.
“You don’t have to be sorry Nino. For anything.” There was a comforting arm around his shoulder and he leaned into the warmth, nodding against Ohno’s shoulder.
“I know…” He kissed him on the cheek, pressing his forehead against the man’s temple. “But I am.”
Ohno’s hands were cupping his cheeks, tilting his head upwards so that they were looking straight into each other’s eyes. There was a pause and Ohno leaned forward, pressing their lips together. His hand was at the back of Nino’s neck, guiding his head to one side as he kissed him deeper; the other was on his shoulder, pushing him gently onto his back.
The older man’s breath was warm against his ear and Nino’s hips raised; grinding frantically against Ohno. He wanted to forget the world around him, to lose himself completely in the peaceful darkness of ecstasy.
Ohno groaned against the skin just under his jaw, drawing back slightly to pull his thin t-shirt over his head.
The butterflies in his stomach made Nino’s fingers fumble clumsily with the buttons on his own shirt and Ohno laughed kindly, taking a hand and bringing it to his lips.
“Let me?”
Nino could only nod, his stomach doing nervous back flips as Ohno began working on the shirt.
His long fingers worked smoothly, reaching the last button with a pause before he pulled away the fabric.
Nino’s pale chest practically glowed in the darkness but Ohno didn’t seem to care as he wiggled down farther on the mattress. He was kneeling now, between Nino’s legs, one hand on his bent knee and the other resting warmly on his waist.
He dropped a soft kiss there, careful to avoid the many bruises decorating his skin.
Nino let out a shaky sigh as Ohno’s lips dragged down to just below his navel, the hand on his knee trailing lightly down the inside of his thigh.
“Oh-chan,” Nino breathed, closing his eyes and tangling his fingers in the man’s hair as the button popped on his jeans. He raised his hip with the intention of helping but froze and let a moan hiss through his teeth as the denim shifted against his hard-on.
Ohno laughed, the sound almost infectious as he pulled the now-tight fabric down; tossing it to the floor without so much as a second glance, reaching under the mattress and producing a small tube of clear liquid.
Goosebumps prickled his skin, though he was anything but cold as Ohno’s lips left burning trails across his stomach, his arms, and his neck; hands teasing his hardness through the plain gray underwear.
His breath hitched delicately in his throat and his nails dug into Ohno’s shoulders as the older man’s fingers slipped under the elastic band and curled around his cock. The rough pads on the tips of his fingers brushed lightly against the sensitive skin and Nino shuddered, letting Ohno’s other hand tug what was left of his clothing down past his ankles.
Ohno’s lips were on his, and Nino managed to find the man’s belt buckle, yanking it open and pinching the button undone. Ohno’s lips curled against his.
The denim was kicked to the floor and it was just skin; Nino groaned.
Ohno was between his legs, kissing from his ankle to just above his knee; nipping at the skin there and his fingers tightening around Nino’s erection.
“Can I…?”
Nino was nodding before the words had even reached his ears and he shivered in anticipation, his fingers curling around fistfuls of the bed sheets as Ohno fumbled with the lube and pushed into him.
His mind spun and he had to throw his head back against the mattress as Ohno’s length pushed into him again. The older man groaned under his breath and Nino hooked one arm under his shoulder, the other pulling him down by the neck to smash their mouths together. This was the only release they could get from the horrors all around them and Nino wouldn’t waste a minute of it.
Ohno’s steady rhythm was increasing along with Nino’s moans; being muffled by their lips, and their fingers tangled together in the dark.
He tugged at Ohno’s bottom lip, letting his head fall back against the creaking bed. And Ohno hit it, that spot that Nino could only describe as a stab of electrifying pleasure.
His back arched involuntarily, nails digging crescent shaped imprints on the backs of Ohno’s hands.
He couldn’t speak, think, move, but Ohno had sped up; sliding in and out of him at a dizzying pace and hitting that spot each time.
His toes began to curl and he felt the familiar tingling at the base of his spine. He was barely able to gasp Ohno’s name before he came, his whole body tensing and relaxing in a series of blinding convulsions.
It took only three more thrusts of his hips and Ohno was gripping him close; climaxing with only the hitching of his breath to break the dead silence.
Nino laughed breathlessly after a moment; kissing the man’s temple-the closest thing to him. A pause and Ohno was laughing too; the delicate sound Nino’s favorite melody.
He pulled out of him and rolled onto his side next to the younger man, brushing a strand of hair from his face and wiping away the beads of sweat that clung to his forehead.
“Nino…” He was biting at his lip, a smile still playing there and Nino turned to face him, burrowing into the crook of his neck.
“Mmhm?” Exhaustion hit him, pulling him away from the post-orgasmic high. His eyes began to close, Ohno’s steady breath lulling him towards the peaceful hum of unconsciousness.
“Do you want to…” His tone was about as serious as it got, and Nino perked up as Ohno’s fingers trailed absentmindedly up the base of his spine. “Do you want to go to the country?”
Nino blinked. “Eh?” He pulled away slightly so that he could look Ohno in the eye and he frowned.
“We don’t have a plan, right? In all the zombie movies I’ve seen-” Nino flinched. “-They always have a plan! Like…” Ohno paused and worried his lip in thought. “Make it to the coast, hide under-ground, cure the disease, stay in a safety center-Well all of Japan’s safety centers fell weeks ago, we don’t know anything about curing diseases, and the closest thing we have to an under-ground fort are basements.”
He brushed the too-long hair from Nino’s eyes and smiled sadly. “There are thousands of them in the city, because there were thousands of people in the city. They’re all flocking here because there was more food. There wouldn’t be any left in the country!”
“But…” Nino bit his lip, weighing their options and the hopeful spark in Ohno’s eyes.
“Nino.” Ohno’s lips were tight in a frown and his brow creased. “They’re going to find us, and they’re going to kill us. We’ve been lucky so far, but… sooner or later our luck is going to run out.” Fingers found his in the darkness and Nino brought them to his lips as he thought.
Ohno was right; they couldn’t wander aimlessly anymore. It was getting too dangerous and there were so many advantages to the country. He closed his eyes; it felt almost wrong to abandon his home, the city he’d grown up in.
“You can think about it first, okay?” Ohno’s voice was kind, understanding, and Nino got the familiarly eerie feeling that Ohno knew what he’d been thinking.
But he was tired, despite the hectic thoughts racing through his mind and Nino closed his eyes again. “Okay.” He sighed, and Ohno pulled him closer and into the warmth of his arms.
“I found some painkillers Oh-chan!” Nino called to him from the next aisle and rattled the small bottle. “It’s almost full.”
Ohno appeared holding two new toothbrushes. He put them in the bag and held it out to Nino with a smile. “That’s good, It’ll help with your headaches.”
Nino blinked in surprise, he’d been having headaches since before Ohno had found him, but he hadn’t said anything to him about it.
Ohno tapped his temple with a lopsided smirk. “I can tell.”
Nino paused but smiled and dropped the medicine into the bag. They were in a department store just a block from Ohno’s apartment. It had rained for days and they’d ended up staying a lot longer than they had meant to.
Outside the sun poked tentatively through thick clouds and Nino’s nose wrinkled. Rain made the corpses of the many victims stench about ten times worse and he had to make a point of breathing through his mouth to avoid gagging. Ohno had been right; this area was hit hard. Though they didn’t die from getting the disease; they died at the hands of those who had.
There was a sharp bang to their right and Ohno was yanking him down behind an over-turned café table. His eyes were wide and Nino peeked out from behind the wood just as a piercing scream followed by a thud echoed across the street.
They were maybe his age, and running at full tilt out of the apartment building. Their clothes were ripped, torn and bloody; their hair was matted but they were holding hands. The infected didn’t hold hands.
“Ohno-”
The older man’s grip was tight around his wrist, stopping him from running out and there was a grave look in his eye. He shook his head slightly and Nino turned slowly back to the street.
The taller of the two was limping and his leg was dripping a dark crimson. Nino’s stomach clenched.
“Sho run!” The injured cried just as their attacker lurched out of the building; its mouth stained red. He fell to his knees and the other let out a strangled sob.
“Jun I can’t-I can’t leave you-”
“-Go!”
He shoved the other man roughly and he stumbled back, taking a few small, uncertain steps away.
The infected was nearly to him, only a few meters away and the man named Sho was in hysterics.
“I love you Jun!-I-I’m sorry!” And he ran with desperate speed down the street.
Jun was shaking and he turned to watch the infected, his face twisted in what was most likely physical and emotional pain. It was barely feet away from him and Nino fumbled desperately with the gun at his hip. Ohno’s hands closed around his and he pulled him to his chest, holding him tighter as Jun’s screams began.
Minutes went by and a horrible squelching noise met their ears. Nino whimpered into his chest as the man’s yells died off with a muffled gurgle.
It was Ohno that pulled back first and Nino saw the tears in his eyes before he turned toward the street. He looked away a little too quickly and his face twisted in horror at what Nino didn’t want to imagine he’d seen. His hands were shaking as they closed around Nino’s and they sat there and waited, with no choice but to listen as the infected finished his meal.
Click HERE for the next part.