Remember//(Karlnap)

TALES

It had been three days, the weather had steadily dropped and there was no sign of Luke.

Karl was out with Alex, they were getting firewood while Nick got water. Being without the brunet made him anxious, but he trusted Alex to take care of him for now. Besides, even combined they only matched Nick's ability, it was safer that way.

He finally reached the stream Alex had told him about. Glancing around, he knelt down and began filling their few canteens. The stream was icy cold, about a foot wide and a foot deep, and was flowing quickly. The fact that it was running and not still comforted the ravenette slightly, but he was hesitant, knowing the kind of bacteria and diseases that could be in it. Oh well, Alex drank it and he seemed... fine.

Once they were all filled, he put the straps over his shoulder and began the ten minute walk back to the shack. For the first time since he'd left, he admired the scenery of his beautiful home. It seemed even more incredible out here, in the area untouched by mankind aside from his footsteps in the dirt. The grass was green and was as high up as Nick's shoulder in some areas. The undergrowth sat over the rich dirt and was thriving. Thick branches overhead provided shade from the grueling sun, leaves swaying in the wind carrying a nice breeze. But it was still cold and Nick shivered, wishing he'd brought his undershirt.

Every so often an animal would skitter across the path, making Nick jump a little. He was on edge, constantly worrying about Luke. Every shift in the trees or movement in the grass made his heart stop. You could imagine his anger when someone jumped out of a bush, taking him to the ground.

"Yes, Karl we got him!" Alex cheered, climbing off Nick and helping him to his feet. Karl came out of the bush after him, giggling at a shaken Nick.

"Not cool, asshole," Nick muttered, brushing off his dirty clothes. "Did you get the stuff?"

"Yep, already brought it back to the house, too," Karl said. "Where've you been? You've been gone for like forty-five minutes. You scared us." He looked a little embarrassed to admit it, but Nick's heart warmed at the thought.

"Has it really been that long? Sorry guys, I guess I just got a little sidetracked."

"It's alright, mi amigo. Just don't do it again," Alex warned, giving a slap on the back before beginning to go down the trail again.

The ravenette and brunet walked side by side, hands brushing against each other as they went. Nick took a glance at Karl to see him doing the same. Karl looked away quickly, but Nick didn't, he just continued to look at those mesmerizing eyes. They were sparkling again, like they had on the first night they met when they watched the stars. That felt so impossibly far away and Nick longed for those moments to be back, he missed it.

And he missed Clay and Hannah and Grayson. Not so much Luke, but he missed the old him, before he turned into the brain dead zombie that murdered Hannah. But as much as he missed them, he wouldn't trade it for Karl.

The walk seemed significantly shorter now that he had his friends with him. Karl was his usual fairly quiet self, but they both talked to Alex as he rambled on aimlessly about nothing important.

He continued to do so even as they got back and began making a campfire, which was Karl's idea. Nick had never done the whole 'sit around the campfire and tell scary stories and eat s'mores' deal, but he was excited to. He was a little bummed that there would be no s'mores.

When they were done, the sun wasn't visible but there was still a faint light from it so they sat down. Karl was cooking a squirrel he caught, and as disgusting as it sounded the ravenette couldn't help but admit that it smelled good.

"Alrighty chicos, who would like to kick us off with some stories?" Alex said, taking a drink from his newly filled flask and offering some to Nick who took it. The ravenette tried to hand it off to Karl, but he refused, claiming he didn't drink. Nick didn't push it on him but wondered if there was a reason.