Long Live Us

Alex was lying in a pool of blood, but there was even more blood in the sink. It was obvious that he had done this to himself, considering there was still a blade in his hand. Jack dropped down to his knees and crawled over to him. He shook him lightly, and then harder when Alex didn't wake up. He checked for a pulse and Alex had one, but it was very light. Jack quickly rummaged through the contents of the medicine cabinet, and was able to find some bandages to wrap up Alex's cut up arm. Jack knew Alex had cut in the past, but he had been clean for years now. It hurt him knowing that Alex had done this to himself. He picked up the boy and started following Zack and Rian out of the house and back home. They took turns carrying Alex on the way back since he was kind of heavy. Jack pulled him into the bedroom and laid him down on the bed. He cleaned up the older boy and when he was finished, he started to cry. He clung to Alex and didn't let go for a good ten minutes. When he pulled away, Rian walked in looking very cautious.

"Jack, we gotta talk," he said, watching Alex carefully.

"Okay," Jack said softly, getting up and pulling the blanket over Alex.

Rian pulled Jack into the hallway and shut the bedroom door.

"We have to shoot him, Jack."

"What?"

"We have to shoot Alex," he repeated. "He's probably infected like Cassadee was. We gotta shoot him."

Rian had a gun in his hand and started to reach for the door knob. Jack pushed him away.

"No! He's not infected! He's fine, he's just asleep."

"Jack, I know you care about him, but he's probably infected and I don't want to take anymore chances. Not after what happened to Cass." Rian looked down and sighed. "I just don't want one of my friends to have to turn into a zombie."

"Well you're not shooting him, infected or not," Jack hissed.

He stomped back into the bedroom and locked Rian out. He sat next to Alex and stroked the older boy's hair. He changed the bandages on his wrist, and slid under the blankets with him. He pressed himself to Alex's body and pressed a small kiss to his cheek.

Infected or not, Jack still loved him.

Infected or not, Jack still loved him.