"___! ___, wake up!"
Your eyes flutter open. Your head throbs as you look up and see the cobwebs on the ceiling above you. With a groan of pain, you try to sit up. You're stopped by rope that has bound your wrists behind your back. The stinging pain makes you hiss.
"Careful!" Hiro whispers from across the room.
Everything suddenly comes back. You immediately begin to panic. "H-Hiro-"
"Shh, shh!" He lifts himself onto his knees. He's bound to the wall as well. "I'm going to get us out of here. You just have to stay calm." The tears flood down your cheeks as you think of what this insane man could do to you and Hiro. "Look at me. ___, look at me!" You do. He gives you an assuring smile. "I'm never going to let anything happen to you. We promised that we would keep each other safe."
You nod. "Okay. What's the plan?"
"Plan?" a voice booms from the front of the room. You nearly jump out of your skin. A man with thick black curls and dark eyes steps into the room. He holds a couple of small guns in both of his hands, and he has a large shotgun strapped across his chest. "Sounds to me like you're trying to escape. And let me assure you; that will not happen."
"What do you want?" Hiro questions coldly.
"The name's Joey," he says, completely brushing Hiro's question away. "What's yours?" Hiro doesn't answer at first. Then, Joey points the gun right at you. "Don't make this difficult. I don't want to do this right now. What's your name, kid?"
"Hiro!" he says quickly. "Hiro Hamada!"
"And yours?" He glares at you.
"___," you say shakily.
Joey drops the gun and walks to the end of the room. He slides down the wall and smiles. "How old are you kids?"
"Sixteen," Hiro replies through clenched teeth.
"You two siblings?" Hiro shakes his head. "Ah. You two together, then?"
"Sort of." Hiro shifts around uncomfortably. Joey looks at you and grins. His eyes scan your body and he nods in approval. You let out a terrified whimper and Hiro snaps, "Don't look at her."
Joey chuckles. "Seems to me like you're not in the position to be telling me what to do."
"I don't care about the position I'm in. I care about you not looking at her." Hiro glares daggers at Joey.
"Kid, I don't think you're getting it," Joey says. "You're the one tied to the wall. I'm the one with the guns. You really wanna tell me what to do?" Hiro doesn't step down. His glaring continues. Finally, Joey shrugs. "Alright, man. Cool." He tucks his guns into the pocket of his belt and walks towards you. You try to move away as he roughly shoves you down and unties your hands. Once freed, he lifts you by your hair. You scream in pain.
"Stop!" Hiro shouts.
"Shh!" He places a finger over your lips. "The dead'll hear you." You purse your lips together, wanting so desperately to get away from him. He grins evilly, his finger trailing down your cheek and across your jaw. You swallow down bile and look at Hiro, who is watching this scene with a pained expression. Joey ties your hands back, not to the wall this time, and while he does this, he talks to Hiro. "You two have been out there a while, yeah?"
Hiro doesn't answer.
"I went through your bags. Lots of supplies, hardly any food though. You guys takin' refuge somewhere? Somewhere safe, I bet. With lots of food."
Hiro shakes his head. "No. It's just us. We go all around the cities and towns-"
"Don't lie!" Joey snaps, taking his gun out and pointing it to your head. As he moved, he forgot to double tie the knot. You move your hands apart just a little, and the rope slips a bit. "Kid, I've been on my own for a while. You two were raiding my garage. All of that stuff was claimed. You think lying to me is the best idea?" He presses the barrel of the gun against your bruise, making you whimper.
"I'm not lying!" Hiro shoots back. "I swear. Do you think I'd be lying when you're the one holding the gun and I'm the one tied up?"
"I'm getting very sick of your dumb mouth," Joey sneers. He turns the gun to him. "How about I kill you here? Then there will be no way you could ever save your girlfriend here while I-"
You snap the ropes apart and ram your fists into his side. He topples over in pain. You're shocked to see that he recovers quickly. You leap on top of him and take both of his guns. As soon as you point them at him, he jumps back onto his feet. You are still holding him at gunpoint as you help Hiro out of his restraints. At this time, Hiro breaks out of his ropes and runs towards you. Joey takes out his shotgun that you completely forgot about. He hits the gun against your hands, making you drop the guns.
"What are you going to do now, kids?" Joey asks. Hiro lunges forward to grab the small gun.
"No, Hiro!"
Joey points the shotgun immediately and you grab the knife out of his own belt. Just as his finger presses down on the trigger, you slam the knife into his throat. He falls back, choking. You fall with him, your hand frozen on the handle of the knife. You slam it into his neck repeatedly, your scream strangling in your throat. His dark eyes are frozen on your own as you brutally end his life.
"___, he's dead!" Hiro exclaims. "___!" He grabs your wrists and tugs you away. You scream and jerk away from him as he continues to say your name. "___, it's over! It's over!" You stop squirming and fall limp. "It's over."
Your eyes fall on your shaking, bloodstained hands. Hiro catches you in his arms and pulls you against him, burying his face in your neck and rubbing your back. You're covered in this man's blood. "I killed him," you say. "I killed him."
"It's okay," he says.
"He was alive and I killed him!"
Hiro pulls away and grabs your shoulders. "___, it's okay! He was going to kill us!"
"I'm a monster-"
"You are not a monster!" Hiro shakes you. "He was! He was going to do God knows what to you and kill us! If you didn't kill him, I would've."
"I thought he shot you," you cry. "I couldn't lose you, Hiro. I couldn't-"
"___-"
You're still panicking. "I-I don't know who I am anymore."
Hiro shakes his head and takes your hand. Despite it being covered in blood, he pulls it to his chest and rests it against his heart. "No. Do you feel this? Do you see us? This isn't about who we are individually. It's about who we are."
You try to say something, but he silences you by kissing you roughly on the lips. His fingers make knots in the back of your hair while your hands rest on his chest. He kisses you with all of the raw emotions that had built up in those few moments: fear, anger, and heartache. When he pulls away, you're gasping loudly for air. "I love you."
"I love you, too," you breathe.
"Let's get you cleaned up." He smiles sadly and places his hand on the small of your back.
"Wait, the weapons," you say. You reach down and grab the shotgun.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the dead hand of Joey lashes out and grabs your wrist. You scream in pure terror as his eyes open and his teeth snap in your direction. He knocks you over and begins to crawl on top of you; his teeth mere inches away from your face.
Hiro rips him off of you and hits the barrel of the shotgun against his skull repeatedly until he is limp against the hard floor. He wipes the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a trail of Joey's blood behind. "Are you okay?" he asks, reaching out and pulling you back up to your feet.
"Yeah," you say shakily. Then, you laugh. "Hey, that's the third time you've pulled a monster off of me. About time I should repay the favor."
Hiro shakes his head at your humor. "Let's hope that never happens, okay?" He nudges Joey's corpse with the toe of his black converse and scratches his head. "He wasn't even bit. Was he?"
"Doesn't look it," you say. "Why'd he turn?"
Hiro lets a loud breath escape his lips. "I guess... maybe... maybe we're all already infected. The bite kills, the scratch kills, but if any of us die then we're one of them."
Your eyes widen in horror. "We're all dead already."
"No. We're still here." Hiro's fingers find yours. He laces his through yours and plants a kiss on the side of your head. "Don't give up on me. Okay?"
"I won't," you whisper. He nods and steps over the body. You slide the gun into your belt and follow Hiro has he gathers up all of your things that Joey looted. Once you have the familiar and comforting weight of your backpack against your shoulders, Hiro loots up on Joey's canned goods and water supply.