Don't Let Go

"Argh…" Aran heaved, his steps having slowed down to a crawl regardless of Fred's threats to leave him behind which at one point had motivated him forward.

But even as Gary pulled him along, his vision blurred, his breaths uneven and it took everything for Aran to keep standing on his own two feet.

"We need to drop him," Fred whispered to Gary, and Aran couldn't help the smile that crawled into his face, wishing he hadn't heard the thoughts he knew they both felt.

"We can't. All we need to do is climb that fence over there and we're good to go," Gary replied in a pleading tone, as I felt his hands tighten around my own.

"and how is he going to run and cross the street all through the grassy path before jumping the fence in that condition? There's an open space of 100 meters. Zombies will spot us the second we step out of here," Fred said as he stood beside Gary, in the alley in between two buildings overlooking the area they needed to cross to get to their destination.

"You'll have to carry him,"

"Like hell, I will. He'll slow us down. For all, we know he might not even make it before we…"

"Please Fred. I know I'm asking too much from you but is it so bad if I want to save him just this one time? We rescued three people and they all died. I don't want another person dying on me…" Gary said with tears in his eyes meeting Fred's eyes, who suddenly understood that whatever Gary currently felt mostly had nothing to do with the burden of the human being they had with them and more to do with his mother and sister who he couldn't save.

"You can drop me here. I'll…I'll be fine," Aran managed to say with clenched teeth as the reality of his situation slowly began to dawn on him.

Even if he survived, he could feel it from the loss of feeling in his bones that his left arm was almost as good as gone.

"Shut up. You're delirious from the blood loss. Next time you say such nonsense, I'll whack you hard against the head," Gary threatened meaning it. Here he was putting his life on the line to save the idiot and he was there spilling trash from his mouth.

"I'll carry him," Gary was unexpectedly shocked to hear Fred say, seeing as how he had been prepared to do it himself after coming to the conclusion that Fred wouldn't.

"On the condition that if his weight becomes a hindrance for the both of us in any way, on our way to that huge mansion, you agree to toss him to the zombies,"

Aran instantly felt his body stiffen the moment he heard this, more so when he saw Gary nod his head in response to what Fred had just said. Watching them make decisions about his life from a third person's point of view, conscious of the fact that it was only through their kindness that he was still alive and not in a zombie's belly.

But before he could even digest the possibility of him being discarded during the journey, he suddenly felt his body being carried. More like tossed onto Fred's back, leaving Aran gritting his teeth together from the sudden pain that shot through his left side.

"I guess the arm isn't completely useless if I can still feel pain," Aran thought as he laid on Fred's back, a little surprised to notice how gently Fred held him there, having expected to feel even more pain.

"He's not so bad…" Aran thought with a smile, his eyes completely closed, glad to be off his feet. But, the moment Fred began running, Aran took his words back.

"He's the devil," Aran cursed Fred in his head and if he had the ability and strength to curse him to his face, he would have screamed it in his ears.

Fred and Gary broke into a run using all the energy they could muster. Gary was fast and Fred was intent on being faster regardless of the weight on his back, even going out of his way to kill zombies that came too close, and the zombies did.

Before... they had been scattered all around the street and the clear field on the opposite side of the street, but the second, Gary and Fred appeared, the sounds of their feet hitting the otherwise quiet street along with the fresh and sweet smell of Aran's blood was enough to draw the zombies to them in droves with some being faster and stronger than the others.

"Thwack," The heavy sound of Fred hitting one of them across the head, hard enough to send him to the ground, leaving a deep crater in his skull that didn't stop him from scrambling back to his feet, trying to catch up with Fred and Gary who had already left him in the dust.

"A hundred and so steps and we'll get to the gate," Gary said, breathing heavily as he dived left and right to avoid the zombies, he could avoid, while pushing and hitting away the ones he couldn't.

"It's the gate I'm worried about," Fred replied, seeing the tall gate in the distance, and already calculating the seconds they couldn't afford to spend on it. Especially considering the few, fast and vicious zombies he could spot in the small horde chasing them.

"I know what you're thinking but if we're fast enough we can get over it before they get to us. At most, we'll use our guns," Gary said while silently hoping that it didn't come to that. If they used their guns with the many zombies that were after them, then it was likely that a strong zombie that could break down the gates would appear.

"Hmmm" Fred hummed not saying another word in response to what Gary said as he did his best to run even faster.

"Or I could dump him and get half of them off our back," Fred thought with a vicious glint in his eyes, as many other thoughts ran through his head. The only reason he still carried the burden on his back was that he knew Gary wouldn't like it and he liked Gary enough to care about what he thought.

Meanwhile, Aran was fully awake. The pain coursing through his left side was enough to have him gritting his teeth with open eyes as he stared forward at their destination which was the gate.

He was smart enough to tell that with the horde of zombies chasing after them, climbing the gate had to be done in seconds, which would be very difficult since he couldn't climb it on his own.

Different thoughts began running through his mind of how to take advantage of the situation, conscious of the fact that Fred would drop him if it came to it.

"I'm sorry Fred but I'm not ready to die. Not today!" Aran thought, staring at the safe beautiful grounds they were to enter, the moment they were over the gate.

"If I'm going anywhere then you're going with me"