Survivors Ch.03 Part 1

Happy Halloween bitches :)

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“You’re a fucking idiot,” Rick scowled, as they looked at the familiar ‘Welcome to Las Vegas!’ sign. The sign that used to twinkle and sparkle with lights was now barren and dead. Pike thought he was even able to make out the chew marks on the side, from where an infected had been gnawing on the metal. He assumed it had attacked the sign when there was still power. The lights probably drew it over.

“Calm down Rick, it was an honest mistake,” Gavin said.

“No, he’s right. I probably killed us all,” Pike said bleakly.

“Don’t think like that. Most of us will stay out of city limits and only one or two will go in for supplies. It will be fine.” Gavin smiled and rested a hand on Pikes skin. Mongo licked his fluffy paw before running it over his one good ear. Pike picked him up and turned him onto his back, scratching his belly as the cat purred and shut its eyes.

“I’ll go. It’s only fair. I’m the one who messed up on the guestimation of how many supplies we would need to bypass a major city,” Pike nodded.

“Then I’ll go with you. You have the sneaky thing going for you, and I can probably carry more supplies than anyone else here,” Gavin said, and Pike knew he was right. He had to pull his gaze away from Gavin’s tight muscles before he was caught staring.

“If we both go and something happens, then we’re screwed. The group will be left alone,” Pike waved to the rest of their little clan of survivors. He couldn’t leave them without a leader. As much as he didn’t hate some of them, they weren’t capable of leading.

“Then there’s only one other option,” Gavin said. “We all go,” he finished, when everyone stared at him waiting for the ‘one other option’.

“What?!” Rick shouted.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Pike shouted at the same time. “Bringing all these people into a major city will kill us,” Pike said. “There’s no way we can move through the streets without being caught.”

“More people means less time in the city since we can carry more supplies. Less danger because we’ll be able to fight off a few Drained if they come anywhere near us,” Gavin reasoned.

“And if one of those big ass mother-fuckers comes for us again?”

“Then we’re fucked anyways,” Gavin replied, a little pale at the thought. There was a silence in the crowd.

“He’s right,” David said from the back of the group.

“Emma will be quiet, she knows how to survive.” The little girl blinked with wide eyes as her mother stroked her hair lovingly. Pike sighed.

“Okay. Lets go then, we’re wasting time. I want to be out of here before sunset.” Pike put Mongo down.

“I can’t believe I’m fucking doing this. You’re going to kill us,” Rick said again.

“Then you’re free to stay here. Alone,” Gavin didn’t even look at him as they headed into the city limits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The city suddenly didn’t seem so bright and full of life like it had before the shit hit the fan. Cars, and buses, and other vehicles lined the street. Corpses nearly outnumbered the cars. They walked as quietly and as carefully as they could, stopping at any gas station, store, market, or anything else that might carry supplies they needed.

“Pike.” Gavin whispered, nodding his head to a large grocery store. Pike nodded silently, and motion for the group to follow Gavin, who entered the building first. He stepped inside, and scanned the dark isles. Grocery stores were never safe. Just like Police stations, hospitals, and churches. Those were the places people flocked too when something happened. That’s where they died, and normally that’s where they would stay. Once they had ‘turned’ users weren’t much into moving unless it was to chase something. It was almost eerie the way they could stand stone still. Most drug users, of any kind, were twitchy and jumpy. But they had a predatory air about them, stay perfectly still and your prey won't see you until you’re already on it.

It was ironic that this should happen while Gavin thought of the very thing he was afraid of happening. He didn’t even see the ‘corpse’ as he stepped past it’s head. That is, he didn’t see it until it wrapped his hand around his ankle. It roared loudly, and tugged him to the ground. He couldn’t help but let out a very unmanly yelp as the once business man crawled up his torso. He clawed frantically at his body, tearing at the clothes at pale thin skin underneath. He shoved at the roaring man above him, his nails breaking from malnutrition. A shot rang out and he looked up to see Pike holding a gun. The drained collapsed and Gavin groaned. Pike knelt by him.

“Hold still,” he said, and quickly tore open Gavin’s shirt. He revealed the thick red lines of blood where the drained had scratched at his skin. He groaned as Pike touched the wounds. “You’ll be okay, but it’s going to hurt like a bitch for awhile.” He gestured down to where the drained had scratched through his pants and onto his thighs. “I’ll let you keep those on,” he winked, and stood up. Gavin grunted and stood, blood dripping onto the ground.

“Maybe we should go back, he’s not at his best he could put us all in danger.”

“Dana,” Pike frowned.

“No, she’s right. We should leave and come back another day, or I could leave and you all keep scavenging,” he said.

“We’re already too deep to go back. We’ll stay here tonight and at least let your wounds scab over,” Pike said. “There’s a warehouse across the street. You all stay and look around here. I’ll go scout it out and we’ll stay there. This place has too many nooks and crannies,” Pike stood, grabbing his pistols and  heading back out the way they came in.

~~~~~~~~~~
“This sucks,” Rick complained as he followed Pike into the empty warehouse. Pike allowed Gavin to lean on him as they stepped into the plain building.

“Get to sleep. We’ll be up at down to move out,” Gavin said, grunting from the pain. Pike agreed, and set himself and Gavin up to get some sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pikes eyes were wide open. He couldn’t fall asleep, all he could do was listen to the steady breathing of Gavin next to him. The air was cold and crisp, and he couldn’t help the small but repetitive shivers that ran up his spine every four or five seconds.

“I swear to god, Pike. Swallow your pride and come snuggle. It’s freezing,” Gavin mumbled, half asleep.

“W-what?” Pike scowled at himself when his teeth chattered through the word. “Ugh, fine.” He scooted over, his back resting against Gavin’s chest. Instantly he was warmer. He smiled to himself and sighed.

“I want to say thank you again, Pike. For sticking with us. I think without you we would have died in that stupid store,” Gavin mumbled into Pikes ear, making him realize how close the other man really was. Close enough for him to feel the small twitch in Gavin’s pants.

“It’s no problem, really.” Pike felt his breathing begin to speed up. He felt Gavin’s hand snake around his waist.

“I mean, thank you for staying with me. Not just leaving me,” he continued.

“G-gavin,” Pike went to sit up, but Gavin held onto him tightly.

“Please, just wait,” Gavin whispered, and Pike froze at the intense sadness in Gavin’s voice. “Please, Pike. Don’t reject me. I know that in this kind of time, it’s not the first thing on everyone's minds, but it’s been so long,” he laughed bitterly, though Pike could still hear the sorrow.

“We can’t, Gavin. I don’t know if you forgot, but we have a crowd of other people in the building. They could wake up,” Pike said. He couldn’t believe he was even talking about this.

“Please, Pike. I just need... something,” Gavins voice was hardly above a whisper, but was filled with desperate need. Pike turned onto his other side, so he was facing Gavin in the darkness.

“Okay... but be quiet about it, huh?” Pike joked, but even behind his nonchalant tone, his voice was drenched with just as much need as Gavin. He let his hand slip down and grasped at the bulge in Gavin’s pants. Gavin whimpered and thrusted into Pike’s loving embrace. He grinded his hips against Pike’s hand, through his thin pants and annoyingly thick boxers. He wished he could just strip and bend Pike over to fuck him right there, but he knew it was out of the question. He bit his lip as he felt his dick surge with pleasure. He felt Pike move against his leg, feeling the hard dick hidden by the sweat pants Pike wore. They both breathed heavily, but tried to stay quiet in the dark and silent room. Gavin grunted, and let out a high pitched whimper. Pike, somehow understanding the intense language of need, reached his hand inside the waistband of Gavin’s pants. He felt Gavins cock immediately slip into the O-shaped ring of his hand and thrust in and out. Gavin gasped silently as his cock began to cover Pike’s closed hand in his seed. Pike finally pulled his cum-soaked hand out of Gavin’s pants as his dick began to go flaccid. Without a word, Gavin pulled Pikes hand to his mouth and cleaned it off quickly, lapping up the last drop of cum from Pike’s fingertips.

“Please, my turn?” Pike begged, Gavin nodded in the darkness and moved to let Pike hump into his hand. Pike brought himself to orgasm quickly, filling Gavin’s hand with seed. Gavin brought his hand up, expecting pike to lick his fingers clean as he had, but when Pike simply wrinkled his nose, he smiled and cleaned his hand by himself.

“More protein,” he joked. Pike grumbled and let his head fall back down.

“How can you joke after you just came? I just want a sandwich,” he mumbled. Gavin groaned and laid down with him.

“I haven’t had a sandwich in so long,” he replied, feeling sleepiness take over him.

“Isn’t it just the little things you miss? You know what I want?” Pike asked.

“What?”

“A coke,” he groaned. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a nice cold soda I would kill for one. I’m not even kidding. If we come across a drained that was an original user, and it had a coke clenched between it’s teeth, I’ll fight that shit to the death.”

“I’ll back you up, if I get a sip,” Gavin mumbled, and before Pike could answer, they were both asleep in each others arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emma woke suddenly, soft sounds coming from somewhere nearby. She frowned and stood up. The little bit she remembered before the outbreak seemed nice. She remembered going to soccer, and watching T.V. with her parents. She even remembered school. But it was like it was all something that somebody had told her about. Not something she really remembered. She had grown used to the dark, and the angry howls of users. She had grown used to the sight of blood, and the dead men twitching at her feet. She knew not too much longer and she would be needed to fight, too. There was always talk about how everyone in the group needed to pull their own weight or they were only dragging the group down. She didn’t want to be dead weight.

She stood and walked over the sleeping forms of the rest of the group, heading towards a small door in the side of the building. A shadow passed by and she frowned. Were there more people here? Maybe they weren’t alone, maybe they-

Her thoughts stopped when she pulled the door open and was faced with four drained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The high pitched childish scream pierced Pike’s ears like a bullet. He was on his feet before his eyes were even open, his pistols drawn. Gavin was up quickly next to him, axe in hand. All over the warehouse people stood, readied.

“Who was that?” someone shouted.

“Is everyone here?” Gavin asked.

“Maybe it’s an outsider,” someone else offered.

“Shut the fuck up,” Pike shouted, and all went quiet. The tiny pitter patter of feet broke the sound, along with the heavy thuds of running drained.

“Emma!?” Dana shouted, realizing her daughters spot was empty. As the little girl came into the dim light that the moon allowed for, through the single window up near the ceiling, she was quickly followed by three drained. Gavin swung at the first one, axe connecting with the man’s skull as he fell to the ground. He pulled at his axe, trying to wedge it out of the screaming and flailing man’s head. The second drained ran to him, arms outstretched. Pike aimed carefully, and fired. Gavins ears rang and his legs throbbed as he was reminded of the cuts on his body.

The third tackled Pike before he could aim again, and he landed hard on the ground. His head hit the concrete floor of the warehouse as he was thrown back. He jammed his pistol in the drooling drained-woman’s mouth and fired. He rolled the still corpse off him and was met with the groans and gags of the rest of the group as the woman’s brains rained down on them all.

“Gross, Pike,” Gavin grumbled, as he sat back on the ground heavily, blood beginning to seep from his wounds again. Pike opened his mouth to say something, when the chilling sound of a shotgun cocking pierced his mind.

“Shut your mouth, faggot,” Ricks voice floated to Pike’s ears.

“Wow, how did I know this was going to happen.” Pike rolled his eyes without looking up, but felt the stab of pain as the barrel of the gun was pressed against the back of his head.

“I said shut your mouth,” he snapped. Pike did as he was told.

“Rick, put the gun down. We don’t even have any ammo for that,” Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Wrong, cocksucker. I picked some up a couple of towns ago. Kept it to myself,” he smiled. Gavin glared at him.

“Put the gun down, and we’ll forget this ever happened, and you won't be booted out with the drained,” Gavin said.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be giving orders,” Rick spat, “Everybody against the wall.” They all moved silently over to the wall, held at gunpoint by Rick and Mel, who had taken Pike’s pistols. Even Mongo happily skipped over with Pike, meowing the whole way.

“Shut that cat up,” Rick hissed.

“Mongo!” Pike snapped, and the cat happily jumped onto his chest, latching his claws onto his shirt and digging into the skin. “God damn it, stupid cat,” he mumbled and hissed at the pain as the tabby tried to pull himself up. He helped him up and allowed him to sit on his shoulder, though it bent his head at an uncomfortable angle. He tried to stifle a laugh as Mongo began licking his ear.

“You, where did the drained come from?” Rick asked, pointing the shotgun at Emma.

“Don’t point that thing at her!” Dana shouted.

“I swear to god I’ll blow your head off, bitch. Get back,” he said, aiming the gun at Dana instead when she stepped away from the  wall.

“I heard a noise, and thought it was people. I opened the door and they chased me inside,” she answered.

“Did you close it?” Rick asked, frowning. When she looked confused, his face turned red and he shouted. “THE DOOR!” She went pale and looked towards the shadowed spot that the door was hidden in. As soon as they all turned, two more drained came charging in, the sound of more footsteps following. Rick scowled and cocked the shotgun, turning it onto the drained, and blowing ones shoulders clean of a head. The other was hit in the chest, and stumbled back. He had aimed too far away and the bullet only tore up the mans chest, as he began to slow down, before he picked up speed again. Mel watched, not moving the pistols away from the rest of the group, as Rick took out the flow of drained one by one. As soon as he realized the crowd wasn’t getting any smaller, he ordered Emma over to the door.

“Close it!” he shouted, as he covered her with the spray of shotgun fire. She screamed and cried as she shoved it shut, nearly getting caught by several different drained in the process. Mel screamed as a hidden drained bit down into the soft skin of his neck, and began to tear him to pieces with nails that had long since flaked and chipped away to form sharp claws. The woman beat him furiously, biting and scratching between screeches of anger. Rick aimed, and fired, hitting both of them purposely in the head. They both fell still, and Rick grumbled.

“Poor old fuck.” He picked up the dual pistols off the ground and admired them, before making Pike pull off his holsters and carefully fumbled them around his waist, trying to keep one gun aimed at the group the whole time. Emma hugged her mother's leg while she sobbed, her father standing not far.

“What the fuck do you think you’re going to do now, Rick? You’re partner in crime is dead, and you can’t do shit without that gun on us,” Pike snarled.

“Easy, butt-boy,” Rick sneered. “I take everything I need from this pathetic little group, and I’m on my way out of vegas,” he smiled, and backed up towards the small piles that held everyone’s possessions. Almost everything in the group was owned by the group, and distributed evenly. However people still carried with them individual purses or backpacks for the few private items they had left. Rick went through the group bags first, loading up his own backpack with food, water, and ammunition. Pike gulped when he began rummaging through the bags of the individual members of the group. The screeching of Drained could be heard from outside, Pike doubted he thought about how he would be leaving exactly, with the warehouse apparently surrounded.

“You hear that? They’re all over the place out there, the longer you wait to leave the more there will be. You should take off now,” he said, as Rick tossed Gavin’s possessions aside after he turned his backpack inside out, making the other man scowl.

“Shut the fuck up.” Rick ignored him, and picked up Mel’s bag. After finding nothing of worth, he reached for Pike’s.

“Stop!” Pike shouted, stepping towards Rick, who raised the gun.

“Pike, just let him go through your shit!” Gavin said, when Rick rested his finger on the trigger.

“Just leave, Rick!” Pike said, as a few drops of sweat fell down the frame of his face. Rick turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

“There something in here you don’t want us to know about, butt fucker?” Rick asked. Pike swallowed.

“I just want you gone,” he said, his voice unusually calm. Rick picked up his bag and Pike shut his eyes, waiting for the rain of terror and hatred to fall down upon him.

“The fuck?” Rick mumbled, he held up the small glass vial of gray liquid. He dropped the backpack and a few more vials rolled out. Everyone in the group froze. The air was so still and silent it felt more like clay than air.

“Is that...” Dana’s voice trailed off.

“Oh my god,” Gavin whispered.

“You’re a user. What the fuck!? I knew I should have left a long ass time ago,” Rick raised the vial to smash it on the concrete ground.

“Don’t!” Pike shouted, and dove for the falling vial. He caught it in his hands and sighed with relief and Rick aimed the gun at his head.

“Get away from me you fucking drained piece of shit.”

“I’m not like them! I’m fine, look at me! We’ve been traveling together for a long time now and you didn’t even know! I’m fine!” Pike shouted frantically, looking back and forth from the group to Rick and then back to the group. Even Gavin looked pale and sickened by the realization. Pike clutched the vial to his chest and began scooping up the others that had rolled away from the back pack.

“You crazy mother fucker. Those shit heads out there turned just from drinking the diluted shit, and you’re here chugging it like it’s goddamn Gatorade!” Rick swore.

“Pike how could you lie to us like this? You put all of us in danger!” Gavin said, growing more furious by the second.

“I’m fine, look at me. I don’t look like them!” Pike pointed at one of the dead drained.

“No, you’d look like that big ass mother fucker who attacked us back in L.A.!” he screamed.

“That won't happen to me!” Pike shouted.

“Why the fuck not!?” Their screaming had aggravated the drained outside, who continued to beat on the door and walls.

“I don’t know!” Pike said, with a sigh. “I don’t know, okay. I drank tap water back when all of this started and I never got sick. When things got really bad I needed something to take the edge off. Hon-...” he choked back a sob. “Honestly when I found the first vial I thought I might as well go out with a bang. I was hoping I would just get sick like the others and it would all be over,” Pike sighed. “I didn’t change and I just kept using it to take the edge off of all of this crazy bullshit,” he mumbled. “It helps me cope with this ‘Night of the Living Dead’ shit.”

“We cope with it without that crap, you can to!” Gavin whispered, voice low with rage.

“I can’t stop,” Pike shook his head. “I’ve tried a couple of times but every time I do...” he just shook his head and stopped talking. Gavin sighed and paced the floor, no longer worried about Rick, who kept the gun aimed at Pike. The moaning and screaming of the Drained hit their ears like waves at the beach, a never ending stream of noise.

“SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!” Gavin screeched at the door.

“They’re not going to stop, Gavin,” Dana said, face pale and staring off into space. Gavin kicked the wall a couple of times before pacing again.

“This is your fucking problem,” Rick laughed, and pulled the gun off Pike. “I’m out.” He smiled, and headed for the door.

“Where the fuck are you going? You'll let them all in and get caught in the process you moron!” Gavin shouted.

“That’s what he’s for.” Rick said, after a moment of thinking. He pulled Pike up by his collar and dragged him to one of the two doors.

“What are you doing?!” Pike screamed at him, trying to pull out of his grip.

“Let him go, Rick!” Gavin shouted.

“Fuck you, Gavin,” Rick laughed. “I’ve wanted to say that for a really long time.” He threw Pike towards the door and put a gun to his head. “Open it,” he ordered. Pike stared at him like he was insane, and then looked at Gavin, but was hit in the head by Rick when he tried. “Open the fucking door, and pray you can run fast,” he said, securing the backpack of stolen goods to his back and readying his guns.

“B-but...” Pike stuttered.

“Do it!” Rick pushed the gun into his temple. Pike looked at Gavin, before opening the door, and rushing out. He squeezed himself through the initial wall of screeching drained, and was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching Pike shove his way through the crowd of Drained was the most terrifying thing in Gavin’s life. His heart skipped a beat or two when he vanished into the mass of gray flesh at the door. But Rick’s plan worked. In seconds, all the Drained had left the door and followed the moving object they wanted so bad. At least, his plan worked for a second. He came out from the shadows a moment too soon, eager to leave, and was met with one Drained who happened to stumble over it’s feet and stay a split second longer. It turned, and bit a large chunk out of his neck. Rick gurgled in pain as the sub-human beast clawed at the rest of his body, painfully so. Gavin grabbed the gun that had fallen from Rick’s hand, and ended the beast’s sad life. He stared down at Rick as he choked on his own blood, and scowled.

“If you were anyone else I would end your life for you. But, I don’t think I feel like it,” he whispered the second part, and stood up. He walked back over to the group and grabbed his stuff, shoving it in his backpack again.

“Where are we going?” Dana asked, holding Emma to her side, she had finally stopped crying.

“We’re going to find Pike,” Gavin said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He looked up when everyone was silent. Dana, Emma, David, and the few other pale faces that remained in the small group stared at him blankly.

“He lied to us,” Dana said.

“He’s been drinking all of our clean water. He could have been drinking infected water all along and would have been fine!” another member called.

“You don’t know that, I’m sure there was a reason he wasn’t drinking un-bottled water,” he said, though he didn’t really believe it.

“He’s a user, Gavin. You’ve kept this group safe so far, don’t let us down now,” David spoke up for the first time since Rick had taken them hostage.

“He IS a member of the group. I'm going to find him. Are you all coming or not?” He stood up, backpack ready. The blank faces and lack of an answer was an answer enough. Gavin scooped up Pike’s dual pistols, his axe, and threw the shotgun at David. “Fine,” he said, and stormed out of the building onto the dark and dangerous streets of Las Vegas.

Don't hate me!

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry.

I know I skipped posting last Friday, AND I didn't tell you why. I've been CRAZY busy lately (you don't even WANT to know what the past week or two has been like. Some major life changes, but whatever.)

Naughty and I are going to try our VERY VERY VERY best to get you a story tomorrow (Halloween) but both of the ones we're working on are only halfway through (They're continuations, nothing new, sorry folks) As soon as November rolls around, Everything will be back to normal and we'll go back to finishing my series (Survivors, AH, and NT)

Also, for the new theme of the blog (November) I can't imagine trying to find pics of sexy fat thanksgiving guys watching football, so I think we'll just skip right to xmas since it's the best holiday ever. (Who doesn't want warm socks full of candy?)

Angel Hunter Ch.04

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! I know I promised Halloween, but between birthday plans, a small crush of mine, school, work, starting T (my first shot was last Friday :)) I should be able to get you a Halloween story for next week, but I just couldn't do it this week ): So sorry! Enjoy:

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Three angels dead

“Sheeeep. Come on, it’s been weeks. Can’t we take a break? Go somewhere nice?” Lex whined.

“Nice? You were all gung-ho about angel hunting a couple of weeks ago.” Shep smiled, as he sewed the latest hole in his coat shut.

“Yeah, well that was a few weeks ago, and we were in New York... that place tricks people,” lex scowled. “With its sparkling lights and hot guys everywhere.” He crossed his arms and pouted.

“Sounds terrible,” Shep said, not really paying attention.

“Your face is terrible,” Lex mumbled.

“Somewhere nice, huh? Like a vacation?” Shep asked.

“Yes! Please!” Lex fell back on the hotel’s uncomfortable couch.

“Like where? We just got back from Barcelona, killing that one Arch... what was his name again?” Shep asked, still not really paying attention.

“I don’t know. Paris? Rome? Hawaii-” Lex said, ignoring his question about the Arch Angel they had killed in Spain.

“How about Hawaii, I’ve always wanted to go,” Shep said. Lex’s eyes lit up as he sat up straight.

“Wait, really?” Shep nodded slowly, not looking up from his sewing.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He jumped up from his seat and kissed Shep on the temple. Shep scowled and shoved him, but couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face as he glanced up at the demon who frolicked around the room happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~
“I hate you,” Lex grumbled.

“You wanted Hawaii, you got Hawaii,” Shep smiled.

“A vacation isn’t a vacation if you’re working!” Lex threw the map at him. Sometime during the flight he had seen that the fifth angel was located on the big island.

“Maybe we can do some surfing afterwards,” Shep smiled.

“Fuck you.” Lex stormed off, ignoring the tall man wearing a lei made of real flowers greeting them as they got off the small plane. Shep chuckled and accepted the gift from the smiling man.

“Don’t pout, it doesn’t suit you.” Shep sat down in the bus that would take them to their hotel. Lex just glared at the seat in front of him.

“You’re a terrible person,” he finally spoke.

“You know you don’t feel that way,” Shep smiled, enjoying the demon’s anger.

“Yes I do.,” Lex kept his arms crossed.

“What if I tell you I got us a private condo on the beach?” Shep asked. Lex glanced at him.

“I would say you’re a liar,” Lex replied, though he didn’t look like he was convinced either way.

“Well I did,” Shep handed him a small packet with information on the rentable condo.

“Holy shit you did?” Lex smiled, excited for the ‘vacation’ now.

“Yep. No one around for miles.,” Shep smiled.

~~~~~~~~~
Shep stretched as the sun broke over the horizon, waking him from his deep sleep. He looked over at the empty living room and frowned. The only sound that filled his ears were the waves breaking gently on the shore. There wasn’t any cursing, or mumbling, or even yelling from the leather-clad demon. Shep was shocked at how uncomfortable the silence made him. In just over a month they had become so close.

“Lex?” he called groggily as he stood up.

“Outside!” the demons peppy voice floated to his ears.

“What are you- oh my god,” Shep stopped in his tracks as his eyes looked over the naked, pale flesh of Lex’s body. He sat on the beach, in the warmth of the sun. He smiled happily with his eyes closed, not even realizing that Shep was drooling over him.

“What?” He finally opened his eyes.

“You’re very much not wearing anything... uh...” Shep stumbled over the words, trying to avert his eyes but they kept being drawn back to the soft cock, completely shaven clean.

“Didn’t think you’d mind, sorry.” Lex smiled, making it obvious he wasn’t sorry. He was enjoying the attention he was getting.

“Uh... yeah.. could you put something on?” Shep asked, making no move to look away from the tight muscles and soft skin.

“But the sun is so warm,” he whined, poking out his bottom lip. “How about instead, you come and join me?” Lex winked.

“Come on, Lex. We have the next angel to kill.,” Shep suddenly got serious and walked back inside.

“I actually have somewhere to go, today,” Lex said.

“Somewhere to go?” Shep frowned. “You’re dead, Lexington. I don’t think you need to go to the grocery store or some shit,” Lex rolled his eyes.

“Funny, funny. The big man downstairs actually wants to talk to me.,” Lex said.

“About what?” Shep asked Forgetting that Lex was naked, he stepped back outside, before rolling his eyes and turning his back to Lex to continue the conversation. Lex shrugged.

“Hell if I know. But he wanted to talk. I feel like it’s a wise choice to say ‘yes’, don’t you?” Lex joked.

“When is he going to-” Shep shut his jaw when he turned around to see the spot Lex had been occupying was now empty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lex blinked rapidly as he realized he was no longer on the sunny beaches of Maui, but in a plain gray room with a dart board hung up on the wall. A small table sat in the middle, a few rows of red darts occupying the cold metal table top.

“Deja vu,” he laughed, and picked up a dart.

“How are you doing, Lex?” The familiar man in khaki shorts and a hawaiian shirt stepped forward, his voice warm and friendly. Lex smiled.

“I see you dressed for the weather,” he pointed at the shirt.

“I can never decide what to wear.,” he chuckled and snapped his fingers, switching to a blue business suit, gesturing to himself and raising an eyebrow to ask which one.

“I like both. The blue goes good with your eyes,” Lex smiled and threw the dart, missing the bullseye by a good couple of inches, frowning.

“You were never good at this game,” he tossed one, and hit just to the right of the bullseye.

“Why do you always get to pick?” Lex wrinkled his nose.

“One of the perks of the job. So, this Shep guy...who is he?” Tthe Devil asked.

“A friend,” Lex shrugged.

“A close friend, considering I had to put some clothes on you before I dragged you here,” he laughed.

“I think I’m closer to him than he is to me,” Lex mumbled.

“Ah, unrequited love,” he nodded. “I’m sorry.” He walked up and pulled their darts from the board, handing Lex his.

“He’s human... he thinks-” Lex’s voice cracked as he fumbled with the darts.

“Is he a follower of God?” The Devil asked. Lex knew that he probably knew more about Shep than Lex did, but was kind enough to stay out of it and ask Lex personally.

“No,” Lex shook his head. The Devil’s eyes lit up.

“He’s one of my children, then. How wonderful,” he laughed.

“He doesn’t worship you, either” Lex bit his lip. The Devil frowned.

“He hasn’t chosen yet?” he asked.

“He won't choose. He hates both sides,” Lex said.

“I see...” he seemed thoughtful. “And what do you think about this?”

“I don’t know... what happens if you don’t pick a side?” Lex said. “Is there more to life than an eternal party?” he asked.

“You don’t want to party all the time? That was what you wanted when you died,” he said, thoughtfully.

“I-I don’t know...” Lex said quietly. “Is there more?” he asked.

“I can’t tell you that, Lex. You know that,” he shook his head. Lex sighed.

“What if he dies and something terrible happens to him? Don’t get me wrong, I love my after life. But how much longer will I love it? What if there’s more?” Lex asked. The devil simply shrugged.

“That’s your call. I can’t give you any direction on that,” he said. “Do what makes you happy,” he said.

“But I don’t know if it will make me happy!” Lex shouted, getting frustrated. “I don’t even know what will happen,” he sobbed, black tears falling from his eyes.

“You know. It hurts for me to see one of my followers in pain. But I can’t help you, Lex. You know I love you.” The devil rested a hand on the back of Lexingtons neck. He pulled the demon in and kissed his pale forehead, before stroking his hair just behind his horns.

“I know,” Lex mumbled.

“I’ll do what I can to help you. But even I have a boss,” he smiled. Lex looked up.

“You do?” he frowned. He had never thought about it. The devil nodded.

“Yep. But I can bend the rules when I need to. You’ve always been my favorite, anyways,” he whispered the second part, before he was gone, and Lex was back naked on the beach.

“Jesus, there you are,” Shep said. “I was beginning to get worried.” Shep walked over to Lex in the sand.

“Sorry... how long have I been gone?”

“A day,” Shep replied.

“A day?! Jesus...” he swore. “Goddamn time zones. Why does hell have to be so far away?” he mumbled. Shep chuckled.

“So how did the talk go?” Shep asked. Lex stood up and brushed the sand from his nude body, before squeezing into his leather pants again, shimmying them up his slender hips.

“I don’t know,” he rolled his eyes, tired. “Good and bad.”

“I’m sorry,” Shep said, honestly. Lex looked up at his different colored eyes.

“Thanks,” he smiled. “So, how about this angel?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What kind of angel hides in a national park?” Lex mumbled.

“You know, every time I think the whining is going to stop, it starts back up again,” Shep laughed.

“Well excuse me. I didn’t realize all of this shit would require so much hiking or I never would have followed you,” Lex mumbled.

‘If it were up to you, all of the Archs would be hanging out on a hotel room couch or the stage at a gay bar,” Shep laughed.

“You’re a gay bar,” Lex mumbled.

“Stop that,” Shep rolled his eyes. “What are you, twelve?” he asked. Lex grumbled as he hiked up the trail.

“Where is this bitch, anyways. Why do I always gotta ask this shit? Can’t you just tell me before we take off? Why isn’t there a bus to this shit,” Lex stopped and rubbed his sore feet.

“He’s up there,” Shep pointed to the volcano ahead of them.

“Fuck this I’m going home,” Lex turned around.

“Oh, come on,” Shep pulled him back.

“No, this is bull shit. Every time we go looking for something I either gotta fly up a goddamn mountain, or get carried up the goddamn empire state building. Now what? Now I’m gonna get pushed into a goddamn volcano, that’s what. I always be gettin’ shot with arrows and pushed off buildings-” Lex continued rambling as he followed Shep up the volcano.

“What about the last guy, you didn’t get hurt during the last one. What was his name...” Shep snapped his fingers.

“See, you can’t even remember the guy! He wasn’t even that important. Chamuel. His name was Chamuel. And no, he didn’t set me on fire or anything like that. One out of three ain’t bad,” Lex scowled.

“Don’t be such a-” Shep was silenced when he started screaming. He fell on the ground and pulled at his coat and shirt.

“Shep?” Lex gasped, falling to Shep’s side.

“What the fuck!?” he swore, as he stripped himself of his top. A large burn sat on his shoulder. Lex held up his coat, a hole burned right through it.

“What happened?” he frowned, looking down at Shep’s shoulder. Shep was silent, focusing on something above them. “Shep? What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, gently touching the tender skin around the burn.

“Shhh...” Shep shushed him. He frowned and looked at him like he was insane.

“What are you-” Lex followed Shep’s finger up to a tree above them. In the tree, was the sleeping Archangel. “Who knew they slept,” Lex shrugged. The angel looked different from the past ones they’d already killed. This one was the same sickly gray color, but red streaked its feathers and dead hair. From it’s mouth, dripped red lava. By it’s slim and bony hip, was a sword resembling Solias, though it’s fire didn’t give off a warm vibe, the flames even made Lex shiver.

“How did it not wake up?” Shep stood up on shaky legs, still wincing from his burned shoulder.

“I don’t know. You definitely weren’t quiet. We aren’t even close to the summit yet, why is it here?” Lex asked, looking up at the volcanic browns and blacks of the summit, not a single tree in sight. Down in the forest, he could now see black spots where the angels drool had burned away the vegetation.

“I don’t know. Where the hell is he going to sleep on the summit? Bury his head in the sand? There’s more tourists up there too,” Shep whispered.

“Why don’t we just kill it and get back to the surf?” Lex whined.

“Be my guest. Just don’t look at me when he wakes up.” Shep held up his hands innocently.

“You’re the one with the swords,” Lex played with his whip.

“What, like I’m just going to stab him,” Shep rolled his eyes.

“Why not?” Lex hissed.

“I don’t know! It’s just so much easier when we’re making snide comments at them and they just spout off some nonsense about how unclean we are,” Shep said, whispering in a high pitched voice as he became more frustrated.

“Shep...where did it go?” Lex pointed to the now empty tree branch. Shep whipped his head around and blinked twice at the empty branch.

“Fuck,” he swore. Suddenly, the angel landed behind Shep, sword in hand. He raised the sword and brought it down, but was stopped when Lex’s whip wrapped around his wrist, and tugged. He held onto the weapon tightly, but it did give Shep a little time to move. He drew his own dual swords, and prepared to fight.

“See, this could have been over already, and now because he’s awake I’m going to get hurt,” Lex threw his hands up in exasperation.

“Oh shut up and keep him busy for me,” Shep said, and charged forward. Lex moved his other hand to one of the chains around his chest and used it to occupy the angels other wrist, pulling him down to the ground. He hissed and beat his gray and red wings as he pulled at the restraints. Shep moved around him, and prepared to strike. Suddenly, a pool of red lava poured from the angels mouth, along with a sickening gagging sound. It burned through the leather whip quickly. He swung his arm back, pulling the other from it’s socket. With another sound that made Lex’s stomach do flip flops, he spit up another hefty amount of lava, missing Shep, but landing a few drops on his already burned shoulder. Shep screamed and missed the angel, burying his sword into the soft earth.

“My whip! You cock sucking whore, I use that!” Lex scowled and cursed at the being, who only hissed in reply as he shoved his arm back into its place.

“I know you have low standards, but that shit isn’t getting anywhere near my cock,” Shep said, as he pulled his sword from the ground.

“Screw you,” Lex mumbled as he dropped the ruined whip and charged the angel. As the angel swung his own sword, recovered from the ground, Lex used his own momentum to swing himself onto the angel’s back. He wrapped his arm around the neck of the creature and squeezed. As it shrieked and struggled, it spewed lava onto Lex’s hand. He gritted his teeth and screamed.

“Lex, I can’t get him... I’ll hit you!” Shep said.

“Do it!” Lex shouted.

“What?!” Shep said, confused.

“I can’t hold on!” he screamed louder as the lava burned away another layer of his toughened demon flesh. Shep shut his eyes, and sent his sword through the angel’s chest. As the blade went through the rotting skin, into the dead organs, and out again through the gray skin, Lex winced. The sword wasn’t long enough to go all the way through his torso, but it did bury itself a good inch and a half into his chest. He cried out and let the creature go. It vanished into a pile of dust and Lex fell to the ground.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay? Lex?” Shep knelt by him, swords forgotten in the dirt. Lex groaned.

“I told you I was going to get hurt,” he whined. Shep laughed and helped pulled him up off the ground. He covered the wound on his stomach with his good hand, and looked at his burned one.

“Can we go surfing now?”

“Yeah, lets go surfing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shep tore the last of the gauze as he finished wrapping Lex’s hand.

“It should heal in a little while. You lucky demon bastard. This shit is going to scar,” Shep mumbled, as Lex began bandaging his shoulder.

“That’s okay. I always thought scars were sexy,” Lex smiled. Shep stared at him.

“What’s been up with you lately? Ever since we left New York you’ve been extra flirty, Sex Offender,” Shep said.

“I told you not to call me that,” Lex scowled, and pulled too hard on the bandage, pinching the burned flesh.

“Ow!” Shep winced.

“Sorry, my hand slipped,” Lex lied.

“Sure...” Shep rolled his eyes. “But seriously? What’s up?” Shep asked.

“You don’t care,” Lex mumbled. Shep looked at him.

“I don’t care? Since when? We’re friends, Lex. Of course I care,” Shep replied.

“Friends?” Lex hesitated before continuing to bandage the burns.

“Yeah, of course. I know...” Shep sighed. “I know I’m not good at showing that kind of stuff, but I do care about you. I really did worry when you were gone,” Shep mumbled.

“You did?” Lex asked.

“Yeah. It was too quiet. Didn’t think I would miss the whining,” he chuckled. Lex looked up at him, smiling a little.

“I didn’t know...” Lex whispered.

“Well, you do now.” Shep swallowed, and smiled a small smile. “Thank you,” Shep said, slipping on a loose thin cloth shirt so he could be comfortable.

“Sure.” Lex nodded, and shoved the first aid kit back in Shep’s backpack.

“No, really... thank you,” Shep said.

“It really was noth-” Lex was silenced when Shep took his chin in between his fingers and kissed him passionately. Lex gasped as Shep thread his way into Lex’s mouth and nibbled at his lip as he pulled away. “-thing...” he whispered, swallowing loudly. Shep blushed and stood up.

Lex watched as he walked away, heart beating a mile a minute.