Read it, Bitches. That's right, I called y'all bitches.

Okay guys,

First of all  I want to say thank you for sticking with me (those who have) while I've been MIA, I've been having some computer problems, life problems, and just all around problems. Survivors is NEARLY finished and I'll have it posted tomorrow (if it kills me)

Second of all, once I do start posting again (after Survivors is finished and I can start working on stories I actually want to write) I am BEGGING (I'm not above begging) you all to leave me comments and feedback and emails and all that sort of crap. I want you all to know how much each and every little tidbit of feed back (even the not-all-positive ones) means to me. You might think "Meh, I'm just going to write 'good chapter' so why bother?" but to me every time I open my email and see I got 20 emails, it makes my day SOOOO fantastic, it encourages me to write and guarantees that you all get more stories faster. When I open the email and see I got two comments, it makes me feel like I'm writing to a brick wall and that no one reads this crap anyways, so why bother writing? (which is probably why I stopped in the first place, the lack of feedback was getting to me).

So even if your feedback is only two words, it's two more words than I had before and it adds up. So, bottom line, if you want more stories and more chapters, you HAVE TO send me more feedback. Just think about it as every piece of feedback I get, regardless of how small, equals one more page of writing for you all. So thanks <3

Third, I'm going to spend tonight getting all my writing affairs back in order. I'll be posting all of my things on Literotica again (I was craving some m/m romance last night and was super sad to see that it has pretty much died on Literotica, and even the other sites it's hard to find a finished, good story.) I will always post here first (even if I post them at the same time, posting here is instant where as Literotica takes 3-4 days due to the mods reading over it) but what I write will eventually get around to Lit. If I start getting more feed back there, there is a possibility of me going back full time (though I doubt it, I do like the blog when people actually read it.) I'll try making it back onto Twitter as well.

I just assumed that Literotica was normal when I joined it, and that there had always been a great community circling around there for the m/m romance section, I didn't realize that we (Myself, Kitten2010, Robcub, Windystormy, Nighttempest, Sr71plt, Ingarlm, Cia, Armywife2009, Naughty, PS Lopez, Alana9, DWSimon, Pelaam, Taylorreed, Danae72, Podga, and all the others, including commentors.) MADE that community and when we left it all died. I thought it just happened in waves. We would all leave and eventually all these youngin' new authors would come and take our place, and new readers and everybody and things would go on. But now it's just filled with 3 paragraph jerk off stories. I hope that maybe if I go back to lit someone will find my stories and be inspired (as I was by the authors listed above) to write their own, and maybe we can get that site back to "normal" or at least our variation of it.

So, with that being said, Get ready for a new blog, a new Literotica, and (of course) new stories.

Gay Authors

Yeah okay regarding my last statement  about trying out GA, there is just a world 'Fuck No' there. After figuring out I had to post five forums posts before I could even begin to post a story I nearly gave up, but figured 'What the hell a lot of people want me on here, I'm sure I could tell my anti-social tendancies to fuck off for awhile and just steam roll my way through five posts'

So after doing that, which may or may not have caused me some emotional trauma I decided to start posting my stories up for all  to see. Then I found out that submitting stories on that bitch is like filing for a name change. They give you a packet of text boxes and say "Don't fuck it up!"

So after reading through the FAQ guide on HOW TO POST A FUCKING STORY, I figured out that the 11 unknown boxes do and that I didn't actually have to touch most of them *rolls eyes* So I'm like "Okay, good now that I got this down, I can get my stories posted." So I start copy/pasting my stories onto the text boxes and see I'm getting the dreaded double spacing formating error of death the FAQ mentioned. So I decied I would just fuck up my original copies of the story and go and do their little 'quick fix' tool so that when I copied and pasted it wouldn't have that formating error.

Turns out that shit only works in microsoft word. Which I don't have.

So I say fuck it! (now several hours into this process) and decide to go through all of my stories as I post them and take out the extra spaces. This means with 20 stories, several chapters each, and each chapter being several pages long, I have to go through paragraph by paragraph and take out an extra space. *slams head onto desk* but I figured. Wtf I already came this far. So I finish around 2 stories before I got fed up with that shit and decided to see if I could just post them with the double spaces and let it be. So I finish up around midnight, with five stories posted. I submit them and go to bed. Wake up, find  a letter from a mod saying several things that make me want to shoot EVERYONE.

1) I can only post one chapter of a story at a time. Meaning, I have to go and post each chapter of each of my 23 stories, one at a time, and wait. Wait for 24 hours. Fuck. You.

2) And I quote: "Posting here on GA has several rules regarding formatting and frequency, so I need you to read the 'New Author Help: How to Post A Story' before you re-submit." I read them four times!? BUT THEY'RE LIKE SEVEN PAGES LONG!!

3) This is my favorite part: " In order for you to correct the posting scheduling and this double spacing issue, I will need to delete your submissions entirely, unfortunately."


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Survivors Ch.05

This is the second to last chapter, the next one will be a long one but it will be the last. Sorry I'm still posting so slowly, I'm really tired of these stories and I'm just pushing to finish them so I can move on to something I actually like. I just don't want to leave you guys with more unfinished shit.

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

Mongo frolicked alongside Pike as the group walked down the highway. Empty cars littered the road, and they walked around them, searching for supplies as they went. Since the attack on Parktown, Ariel and her crew had taken up with Gavin’s group. Now twenty people strong, it took a lot more supplies to fuel their little group. A lot of supplies, and a lot of lies.

“Gavin, I think Pike is getting sick,” S=she whispered in his ear, they both glanced over at the pale man who had his hands bunched into fists inside the long sleeved black shirt he wore. He was sweating as if he had a fever and his steps were uneven. His glazed over eyes stared at the ground. They had left Portland four days ago and were just now approaching Seattle. Gavin could practically taste freedom. The groups had been together over a week but it wasn’t making things any easier. It had been several days since Pike’s last fix, but that didn’t distract him from the attention Ariel was giving Gavin. They constantly got into fights, usually over nothing.

“Don’t think I’m through with you just yet,” Pike grumbled and leaned against a wall. Since the second group had joined theres, Gavin’s group had agreed to keep Pike’s... condition... a secret. Gavin didn’t know how much longer he could keep it under wraps. His half of the group had been searching for a vial of the drug for days but were unable to find anything. As they got closer to the border between the states and Canada, they saw signs of more military presence. More tanks littered the streets, dead soldiers, drained in soldiers uniforms, guns, even some in Canadian military apparel. It was obvious the government had tried to contain the riots and outbreaks closer to the border, it looked like they had been pushed back.

“Gavin,” David called him over. The group stopped and took a rest, while Gavin and David talked to the side. Gavin kept his eye on Pike, who took the chance to go behind a destroyed car and vomit.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“There’s a police station around the corner, I saw the sign awhile back. We might be able to find something for him there, they confiscated a lot of that shit when everything went down.” David looked towards Pike who was sitting on the sidewalk, against a car tire. A puddle of puke was a few feet away from him, gray swirls staining the liquid.

“How do we explain it to the others though?” Gavin asked.

“Tell them we’re looking for weapons, it wouldn’t hurt either. We’re damn near out of ammo.” David checked the clip in his pistol before pushing it back in.

“Good plan. Okay, everyone,” he said, turning back to the group. “There’s a police station down the block. Keep your eyes open for weapons and any other supplies,” Gavin said, loud enough to have their attention but quiet enough so that he wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention. The group nodded and gave a mumble and groan as they stood up and began walking in the direction David led them in. Gavin, Pike, and Ariel took up the rear. Mostly because Pike couldn’t keep up. Gavin was watching Pike, and Ariel was watching Gavin.

“You okay?” Gavin asked, letting Pike lean on him as they walked.

“Fine,” Pike said, his breath labored. Gavin could feel him shaking under his arm. He pushed up his sleeve, careful not to let Ariel see. His veins were varying shades of black and gray, and they pulsed heavily.

“Liar.” Gavin gave a sad smile.

“I will be,” Pike mumbled, tripping over his own feet.

“Easy.” Gavin stopped, and lifted Pike into his arms, cradling him like a baby. Pike wrapped his arms around his neck and held on tight, but not soon after his head rolled back and he passed out into a feverish sleep.

“Gavin, we need to leave him, he’s slowing us down,” Ariel whispered, once Pike was out.

“It’s not happening, we take care of our own here,” Gavin muttered, breaking into a sweat from carrying Pike.

“Fine, but don’t let him drag you down, Gavin.” Ariel shook her head.

“I heard that,” Pike grumbled, eyes still closed.

“Quiet you, go back to sleep,” Gavin instructed, now covered in a fair sheen of sweat. Pike moaned quietly and fell asleep again.

“Gavin, I’m going ahead with a small group,” David said.

“We’ll wait here,” Gavin said, after assigning a small group to go with David. The rest of the group sat down, all holding guns and keeping their eyes open for any Drained. They sat in a small circle with dusty cars in an uneven circle around them. Blood spattered the windshields of three of them and one of the doors was left open on another, the battery long dead.

“Do you think...” the voice went silent suddenly, when the man realized the whole group turned to stare at him, even the half conscious Pike. “Do you think... I mean it’s obvious they couldn’t hold down the fort here. Do you think Canada is still even... I dunno...” He didn’t finish the thought, and he didn’t need to, the same thought had been running through all of their heads here. They had all had some small glimmer of hope that there was some sort of control this close to the border, but it was obvious there wasn’t.

“Of course, I mean we have to take a ferry to get across to Victoria, there’s no way the drained made it past that, right? And on the land to land borders, there’s like an actual border, I mean a wall and stuff right? They could just lock it down and nothing could get in or out, right?” someone else chimed in. Gavin didn’t know the two men, they had come with Ariel’s group.

“Yeah, of course,” Someone else answered. They all nodded silently, not really believing what they had said.

David and the others returned quickly, a few bags in tow.

“There wasn’t much, I mean, they cleared out the police stations and hospitals first when the shit hit the fan, so it was pretty cleaned out,” David said.

“Did you find any?” Pikes rough voice rose to the groups ears. He had been lying on the ground on his back, but now he had flipped over onto his stomach and one of his pale gray arms was stretched out towards David, fingers grasping at the air. Gavin could see him shaking uncontrollably and his eyes were clouded and his veins were now completely black.

“Find any what?” Ariel asked, looking at Pike. “What’s wrong with him? He’s not contagious is he?” Her eyes went wide and about half the group stepped away from Pike.

“Please...” Pike clawed his way to Davids boots, grasping at the legs of his jeans. The sight made Gavin sick. It was easy to forget Pike was a junkie when he was ‘high’ so to speak. He looked and acted fine. But a few days without drain and he began to look and act like something out of ‘Night of the Living Dead’. David looked from Gavin to Ariel, and finally his eyes landed back on Pike. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ziploc bag with two half filled gray vials inside. Pikes eyes went wide and with an animalistic grunt he pulled his upper body up higher, reaching for the vials. He still fell a couple inches short and he swiped at air desperately, drooling down the front of his black shirt. David, with a disgusted look, dropped the bag onto the group. It landed in front of Pike, who tore it open with his teeth, ignoring the ziploc seal and quickly opened the top to one of the vials.  He tossed it backed, letting the dusty mercury-looking liquid slip down his throat.

“The fuck!?” Several of the new people swore. Pike coughed and dropped the glass vial. It shattered on the concrete and he put his head down onto the warm asphalt. He sighed and clenched and unclenched his fists. His skin faded back to a dark tan color, and his hair got its sheen back. His veins disappeared beneath the bright skin, and he just generally looked brighter. It was as if someone had flipped a technicolor switch on an old black and white movie. He pocketed the other vial and stood up, with the help of Gavin.

“He’s a fucking user?” Ariel pulled a gun on Pike, and then suddenly there were guns everywhere. What was left of Ariel’s group aimed at Pike, and Gavins group aimed at Ariel. Everything went silent as the standoff continued for several minutes.

“Ariel, drop the guns. He’s fine, look at him. He’s not turning into some muscle head junkie anytime soon. It’s a long story,” Gavin explained. Mongo hissed at Ariel and stood in front of Pike as if he was guarding him.

“You all are seriously okay with this?” she addressed the rest of the group, ignoring Gavin.

“No, but we don’t have a whole lot of a choice. Even if it’s not perfect, this is our family now and we stick by our family. Gavin and Pike have saved our lives more than once and we owe them some courtesy,” David said, the unofficial leader of a group within a group.

“You’re fucking crazy,” Ariel swore. “Gavin, cut the shit. You like me and I like you, come with me and we’ll be fine. The rest of your group can come, but not him,” she said, staring at Pike, who scoffed at her.

“Bitch please...” he sighed.

“Pike, quiet,” Gavin shushed him, receiving an angry glare.

“I love Pike, Ariel. We’re just friends, I thought you knew that?” Gavin shook his head.

“Gavin, he’s a user. He’s a danger to everyone here-”

“Okay listen up, sugar queen. I’m sick of this shit. Ever since you dragged us into your little kingdom at gun point you’ve been all over him. Are you deaf? He just said you have no chance with him. How does it feel that he picks a drug addict over you, that’s gotta hurt, huh?” Pike said, stepping away from Gavin so that Ariels gun was pressed up against his collarbone.

“He’s just confused, he doesn’t know what he really wants,” Ariel scowled.

“Really? Are we pulling the ‘it’s just a phase’ card now? He’s like 30!” Pike snapped.

“Hey... wait... what, how old do you think I am?” Gavin frowned at Pike.

“Shut up, I’m busy beating sluts off you with a stick,” it was Pike’s turn to shush him. Gavin scowled at him.

“I’m 25,” he grumbled.

“You’re a danger to everyone here, one day you’re going to drink that shit and you’re going to turn, just like everyone else,” she whispered.

“Don’t count on it, bitch.” Gavin’s eyes went wide as Pike and Ariel stared down. He never knew Pike could get so catty.

“Come on, we’re leaving.” Ariel holstered the pistol she had pointed at Pike and turned, the rest of her group following.

“Gavin, are we just going to let them go? We’re stronger with them with us,” David whispered.

“We don’t have a choice, come on,” Gavin said, and the group picked up their supplies before walking off in the opposite direction as Ariel’s group.

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

“This is nice,” Pike laughed as he shut the door to their room. Shortly after they split up from Ariel, the sun began to set and they looked for a place to stay for the night. They had found a hotel that, for some reason or another, remained untouched by the drained and was still locked down. Other than a few broken windows were people had snuck in and looted anything good, it was empty. It was secure enough that the group decided to take a bit of luxury and get their own rooms. The few couples in the group shared and the single people got their own. Privacy was something that most of them had completely forgotten about since everything had started. It was rare to even go to the bathroom alone, much less sleep and change clothes alone. Well, Gavin wasn’t completely alone.

As he stripped off his shirt and readied himself for bed, Pike stared at him from a chair near the door. He watched as Gavin bent a dropped his pants, leaving him in only a pair of boxers. He licked his lips at the slight tent in the material as Gavin looked over his shoulder at Pike.

“Are you looking at my ass?” Gavin asked.

“No,” Pike said honestly, a turned his head a bit so he could get a better look at Gavin’s bulge.

“You’re awful.” Gavin laughed as Pikes own jeans began to tent.

“Hey, I’m only human,” He shrugged. Mongo had been sleeping on the bed and looked up as Pike walked over and picked him up. “Out,” he whispered, and put Mongo on the fire escape outside the window. The cat meowed once and then ran off when he noticed another cat in the alley below. Gavin laughed and watched as Pike unbuttoned his own shirt.

“Oooh, the kid is at a sleepover and the adults have the house to themselves?” Gavin pulled Pike close to him once the shirt was off.

“Yep.” Pikes hand immediately went down to Gavins crotch and grabbed the prize he found there. Gavin let his head roll back as he squeezed Pike’s ass above his jeans.

“These are annoying,” he growled, and unbuttoned the offending clothing. He yanked them down and was greeted with Pike’s tight green briefs. His erection could be easily seen underneath the thin material and it only grew by the second as Gavin returned to squeezing Pike’s firm ass.

“A room to ourselves. We’re not going to get this chance again for a loooong time,” Pike said, as he laid his head against Gavin’s strong chest.

“Nope, better make the best of it,” Gavin whispered, and pushed Pike back onto the bed. He yanked the briefs down and Pike’s erection slapped his stomach loudly. He wiggled underneath Gavin’s hungry eyes and gasped when he felt Gavin’s hot mouth swallow his entire cock. He groaned and thrusted his hips into Gavin’s mouth. Gavin sucked him eagerly, making Pike moan and squirm. He reached up his hands and massaged his chest as he sucked, before running his hands all the way up past Pike’s collar bone and released his cock from his mouth, kissing Pike firmly on the lips while caressing his face. Pike could taste himself on Gavin’s tongue but didn’t care, the kiss was so sweet it would have made him swoon had he been standing. He pressed two hands against Gavins chest and pushed him onto his back on the bed. He straddled his waist, feeling Gavin’s cock slide between his firm ass cheeks. Gavin grabbed his hips and Pike felt his cock twitch in excitement. Pike began to tease Gavin, wiggling his hips and letting his cock ooze precum onto his chest. Gavin growled and rolled them over again, pushing his legs up to his chest. Pike grunted and felt the head of Gavin’s cock at his entrance.

“Forgetting something?” he giggled, and stuck his tongue out. Gavin growled and reached onto the floor, pulling a bottle of lube out of a pair of jeans. “Expecting this were you?” Pike said, shocked.

“Oh don’t play innocent, these were from your jeans.” He held up a row of condoms. Pike blushed and smiled. Gavin let Pike’s legs drop, and rolled a rubber onto his cock. Pike took the chance to swing one leg over his shoulders and turn himself onto his stomach. He pressed his face onto the mattress and wiggled his bare ass in the air.

“I’m waiting,” he taunted in a sing song voice. Gavin bit his bottom lip with an evil smile and tore the cap off the small bottle of lube. He pushed the tip of the tube into Pike’s small opening, making him gasp, and squeezed. When he was sure Pike had a fair amount of lubrication, he tossed the bottle aside and lined himself up. Grabbing Pike’s hips, he slowly pushed his hard cock inside Pike’s tight channel. Pike let out a long, low moan as he was filled in one fluid push. Soon he felt Gavin’s balls slap his ass and the hard length stopped deep inside him. He gasped and panted his pleasure as his cock dripped precum beneath them.

“God you’re tight,” Gavin grunted.

“..big...” was the only word Pike could gasp as Gavin pulled his cock from his ass, and pushed in again. Soon they picked up the steady rhythm of fucking and Gavin had Pike moaning for release. Pike gripped the sheets as Gavin fucked him steadily, before reaching one hand down to stroke his cock. Gavin slapped his hand away and began stroking it for him. Pike gasped as he came, his cock spurting cum into Gavin’s hand. He cried out as Gavin fucked him harder, grabbing his hips and crying out as he filled the condom with his own cum.

Pike whimpered and ground his ass back on Gavin’s cock as he came. As Gavin slipped out, Pike whined at the empty feeling inside him. He rolled over, onto Gavins chest and watched as Gavin licked his cum off of his hand. He pulled the condom off and tied it before throwing it in the trash across the room. He hugged Pike tight to his chest and Pike shut his eyes, breathing in the scent of sex.

“God that was good,” he sighed.

“Hell yeah it was,” Gavin laughed, and massaged Pike’s flaccid cock.

“Ugh, don't’ get me started again.” Pike groaned and rolled, pressing his back to Gavin’s chest and his ass to his cock.

“You’re no fun,” he whispered, and kissed Pike behind his ear before they fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pike yawned as the morning sun shone on his eyes. He stretched and opened his eyes and froze as he looked down the barrel of a rifle.

“Uh... Gavin.” He nudged his sleeping lover.

“Huh?” he groaned, face in the pillow.

“Wake up.” He nudged him harder.

“Ow, don’t hit-” He rolled over to glare at Pike and was greeted with a rifle of his own. “Hello...” he said.

“Get up,” the soldier behind the gun ordered. They both stood up out of the bed slowly, and got dressed when they were handed their jeans and shirts. They were backed out into the hallway where the rest of their group stood with guns on them as well. A handful of soldiers, Canadian and American, held guns and watched them as they walked over to line up with the rest of their group.

“Who are you?” Gavin asked.

“We ask the questions,” one soldier snapped.

“You’re soldiers, does that mean that you guys have a base somewhere? That the border held?” David said, hopefully.

“No. We’re holed up in a building not far from here. We got separated from our group and all of our communications broke down. We have no way of contacting them at the border,” one soldier, who was clearly in charge, said. “Pat them down for any weapons.”

“The hell?” One soldier pulled out the small gray vial from Pike’s jeans.

“Yeah, that’s mine,” Pike replied, reaching for the vial.

“You’re a user?” The soldiers all turned their guns on him.

“He’s fine, he won't turn, we don’t know why,” Gavin stood up for him.

“That’s the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard,” the soldier said and cocked his gun.

“Wait, if he’s telling the truth Bill will want him,” a different soldier interjected, pushing the first soldier’s gun down a fraction of an inch. He glared at Pike for a moment longer before dropping the gun.

“Fine, we bring them to Frankenstein,” he grumbled, and before they knew what was going on they were being marched out of the building.

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

“Immune?” The man they called Bill stepped out from behind a stack of books. He had thick glasses on his nose, making his eyes seem unusually big. He was unshaven and his white lab coat was stained with what looked like mustard and various other substances.

“That’s what they say.” The soldier waved his gun at Gavin and Pike.

“Is it true?” he asked Pike, who only nodded. Bill’s eyes went even wider and he rubbed his hands together. “Let me take some blood!”

“Wait what? Hey man I don’t like needles,” Pike’s eyes went wide.

“Don’t touch him!” Gavin struggled against a guards grip as the man approached Pike with a vial and a needle.

“Hey I need that, that is my bodily fluid and you can’t take it.” Pike pulled his arm out of the doctors grip.

“You have to understand. If you’re immune to the effects of the drug we can possible make an antidote, a cure for this thing!” Bill explained.

“Wait what?” Pike asked.

“Okay everybody, just slow down, and no drawing fluids until we get the whole story,” Gavin said. The soldiers nodded and Gavin was let go.

“Fine, I guess I'll start,” the man in charge said.

Survivors Ch.04

Hey all, I just want to let you know that this is unedited  Naughty has a lot going on right now so I'm not rushing her to get any editing done, but I wanted to make up for my MIA status so I figured anyone who wanted to wade through my terrible spelling and grammar is free to do so. Otherwise you can wait and I'll let you know when it's edited.

Also there's new poll on the left I want to know what you all think. I don't know about you all but when I look at it it shows the clicky bubbles to pick an answer but doesn't show the text. Like it's black text on a black background. If you highlight that area it shows up, don't know how to fix it lol. Thanks!

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

Pike stumbled and fell to the ground. He supported himself with his arms and knees as his head spun. He felt Gavins arms wrap around him and pull him back to his feet, his knees buckling again and he was supported completely by Gavin, as he swung him up and into his arms. Pikes head rolled against his chest as he was carried, feeling Gavins heavy footsteps take them a couple of steps farther. He knew Gavin was tired too, it was hot, they had run out of water the day before, and everyone in the group other than Gavin had agreed that giving Pike any of their resources was a waste, so he had gone two days with no water, and no food.

“We can stop here, it’s too hot to continue walking with no water.” David said. Pike felt Gavin tremble, as his knees buckled and he dropped Pike to the ground. Pike groaned as he rolled a couple of times and stopped.

“Pike, I’m sorry, are you okay?” Gavin put a hand on his shoulder, Pike couldn’t open his eyes. The sun was too bright and everything would spin and he would only pass out, talking was out of the question too, so he just nodded his head slowly. Gavin pulled him up, resting him against what felt like a brick wall. Pike finally forced his eyes open and regretted it instantly, the room spun and he felt like he had chugged a bottle of tequila. If there was anything in his stomach to throw up, he would have. “I’m going to go look for something for you to drink.” Gavin put his hand on Pikes arm. Pike used what was left of his strength to reach for Gavins hand.

“Too...dangerous...” he whispered, throat raw and dry. His lips were cracked and bleeding, and his tongue felt like sandpaper. Even Mongo barely kept up with the group, as if the two were tied together. He now lay in Pikes lap, panting.

“He’s right, we’re just outside of Reno. We need supplies but you can’t go alone...” David looked around the group. Only Pike, Dana, himself, Gavin, his daughter, and two or three other stray people they had gathered back in L.A. remained. Their group had shrunk down to almost nothing. “I’ll go, Dana will handle things here, and you two.” He pointed to two people who stood in the back of the small run down hotel room, he doubted the hotel was anything to ooh and aah at before the apocalypse. "You two come too."  THe two seemed shocked, but nodded quietly.

“I’ll be back soon, alright. Just relax.” Gavin kissed Pike on his forehead, and left.

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

Gavin threw the two waterbottles they had found in his bag, and they continued scavenging. The city was picked clean, even more so than the usual wasteland of a town they saw while traveling. They had been scavenging for nearly three hours and had come up with the two water bottles, one only half full, and nothing else.

“This place is dead, even more dead than usual.” David grumbled.

“Well, we’re only on the outskirts of town...maybe if we go in deeper.” Gavin said carefully.

“No, we can’t risk it.” David snapped. Gavin nodded. It was weird not being ‘in charge’ anymore. But he didn’t exactly feel like it was a giant loss. He knew what David felt now, the concern for the group was the only thing on his mind.

“Do you hear that?” David stopped walking. Gavin pulled himself away from his thoughts and perked up his ears.

“Hear what?” He asked, being ‘shushed’ by David immediatly. Then he heard it.

“That...” David whispered.

“Is that...” Gavins eyes lit up.

“Music?” One of the two they brought along with them spoke outloud. Gavins heart fluttered, it was very faint, but even he could practically feel Iron Maidens ‘Hallowed be thy name’ pumping through his veins. He looked over at David and saw his eyes watering, he was crying.

“I never thought I would hear music again...” He whispered. For a solid minute they simply stood there, listening. Then Gavin frowned.

“Why are we hearing music? There must be other survivors here.” He grabbed the gun at his side and readied himself.

“Why would they be playing music? A drained would hear them from a mile away!” The man who had announced what they were hearing earlier said.

“Maybe...” David trailed off. “Maybe they have supplies.” He said quietly. They were all thinking it, he just had to be the one to say it. Since leaving L.A. they hadn’t been forced to be ‘that group’ yet. The group of marauding savages that killed for what they needed. Yet.

“We’ll just go see, maybe they’ll want to join us.”

“Or we join them...” Someone offered, Gavin wasn’t sure anymore who was talking, he was too wrapped up in the music.

“Just keep your heads low and we’ll see what the situation is.” David said, he tucked his gun back into the front of his jeans, and headed towards the sound the music was coming from. At first it was hard to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, but when they turned the next corner, heading deeper into the city, it was pretty obvious.

In the middle of the city, was a park. The park must have been popular before the apocalypse, green grass and a small pond. Gavin guessed it must have been occupied by ducks, or fish, before hand. But now the grass was dead, and only a few brown patches remained at the edges, and the pond was filled with a sickening brownish liquid Gavin feared was now used as a bathroom, since he could smell the foul mixture from where he stood more than a block away. The next horrid smell to reach his nose was that of the dead, piles and piles of corpses covered the street, some drained and some human. But the most impressive thing was the 18 wheelers turned on their side to form a large wall around the park. There was a small gap between two of the Semis, apparently an entrance to the park behind the overturned trucks. It was covered with barbed wire, and traffic spikes, several limbs from drained stuck to the metal coils and were rotting away. The trucks themselves had wire covering the top, with several men on each side of the truck with guns pointed down, scanning for any enemies.

"Wow...."  Gavin whispered.

"Talk about firepower...” David muttered.

“It’s pretty impressive, ‘innit?” Gavin froze as he felt the barrel of a gun pressed into the back of his head. He assumed David and the others felt the same thing since not a single breath escaped, it was as if they were frozen in time.

“Move.” he felt the gun jab him in the back of the head, giving him a headache. They stepped out from the side of the building and Gavin was allowed to see their capturers. Three men and one woman stood behind them.

“We don’t want any trouble, we just heard the music...” Gavin said.

“Well, considering you obviously haven’t been here long, I’m guessin’ y’all are nomads...” The woman spoke again. “But where’s your supplies, and the rest of your group I assume. There’s no way you would travel with a group this small...too dangerous. I assume since you’ve survived this long you’re not complete morons.” She chewed on a toothpick. Gavin glanced at David who looked at him silently. “Well? I’m waitin’.” She said, shoving Gavin with the gun again.

“We were just scavenging for supplies, we didn’t know this place was taken...We’ll leave.” Gavin said.

“That wasn’t my question. Where’s your group and supplies?” She asked again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gavin said.

“Alright then.” He heard the gun cock behind him and shut his eyes.

“They’re in the old run down hotel outside town, by the highway.” He opened his eyes to see David pointing in the direction of their group.

“David!” Gavin snapped. He heard the woman laugh behind him.

“Wow, strong group ya’ got here, bud.” The gun was pulled away from his head.

“Maybe you’re willing to die for a bunch of strangers, but I’m not.” David said quietly.

“You’re forgetting that group of strangers has your wife and kid in it.” Gavin snapped, David looked guilty but his face didn’t give any other emotion away.

“Move.” The woman jabbed them in their heads again, forcing them to move towards the large barricade of trucks. A loud howl pierced the air and Gavin glanced to see three Drained sprinting towards them, shouting and snarling. Gavins eyes went wide and he began to back up, David doing the same. “I said move!” The woman nudged them again, not even looking at the Drained.

“Are you insane?” Gavin couldn’t decide if he should run and risk getting shot, or stay and definitely get mauled to death.

“Shut your mouth and keep walking.” She rested her finger on the trigger. Gavin, dripping beads of sweat, did as she said and walked, eyes shut as he waited for the clawing biting users to reach them. Three shots rang out, within milliseconds of each other and he looked up to see that none of their capturers had moved their guns, but the many men on the semis were focused on the now bleeding out drained.

Before he realized what was happening he was shoved into the enclosed used-to-be-park. He couldn’t believe how many people were in the park. It was more people than he had seen in a long time.

“Holy shit.” David whispered. They didn’t have power, but there were several torches lining the ‘streets’ which were just cleared out rows that people were walking on. Kids chased each other in circles, running after mostly flat basketballs. Men and women walked the streets with guns on their backs and holsters on their hips. Even though everyone in their small group carried at least two guns and one close range weapon, they looked undergeared compared to the people wandering the streets.

“Excuse the excess of weapons. There’s a hole in our walls somewhere and drained keep getting in. People are nervous.” The woman holding a gun to Gavins head muttered. Gavin walked along as they were led to a bus in the center of the ‘town’. Unlike the busses that made up the walls of the town, this bus sat on its wheels as any bus should. The windows were cleaned but were covered in barbed wire and fortified with crudely welded bars. Each rim was decorated with foot long metal spikes, covered in blood and a few fleshy bits. Other than that it looked like an average school bus. It even had the words ‘Mcmanus Elementary’ printed on the side in black writing.

“Inside.” The woman pushed Gavin in first, followed by the others. “Sit.” She said, and they all took a seat in the rows of uncomfortable blood-stained seats. Her and her small possy of men stared at them carefully for a few minutes. “Who are you?” She finally asked. David opened his mouth to speak and she shushed him before he could even get out a word. “I was talking to your leader.” She pointed at Gavin.

“I am the leader.” David frowned. The woman leaned on the drivers seat of the bus and laughed.

“You might think you’re a leader, but you’re not. Who are you?” She asked, directly at Gavin this time.

“My names Gavin, we’re just a small group making our way through the city. We are just passing through.” He said. She stared at him coldly.

“Where are you headed?” She asked.

“Canada.”  She scoffed at his answer.

“Why not just stick it out and wait for rescue?” She asked.

“We were, at first. We came from L.A.” He said. “We ran out of food in the store we were holed out in, and then our place got over run by an original user.” He explained.

“An original user? We haven’t seen any of those yet...” She mumbled. “Are they a pain?”

“A pain? Yeah, I guess you could put it like that.” He said, remembering the large lumbering man who had easily thrown a car half a block just by bumping it with his hip.

“We have food, and water. You’re free to stay here as long as you want.” She said, before heading for the exit.

“Wait, what? You bring us in here at gunpoint and then tell us we’re free to go?” Gavin said, confused.

“If any of you decide to stay that just adds more to our numbers, which is good. If you decide to leave then thats your choice. We try to keep some sense of civilization here, and although helping others is a thing of the past in most places, it’s not here.” She said.

“What’s your name?” Gavin asked.

“Ariel.” She smiled, and stepped off the bus.

“This bitch is crazy.” David muttered.

“But she has water...what more could we ask for than that?” One of the two men they had brought along with them stood up and ran off the bus, his feet hitting the dirt and he headed for the nearest building. Gavin watched as seconds later he came back with a full bottle of water. Even though his brain screamed at him to be cautious, watch the mans Adams apple bob as he swallowed the water made him almost cry he was so jealous. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and he followed David and the third man off the bus and into the building.

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

Gavin had begun to worry about Pike and the rest of the group when he had reached his third bottle of water. Which just so happened to be the time when his small group was led into the city by three armed guards. One of which was carrying Pike in his arms like a small child.

“Pike.” Gavin ran over to the guard and took Pike into his own hands.

“He ain’t lookin’ so good.” Ariel walked up behind Gavin.

“Here, baby. Have some water.” Gavin flipped the top of his own bottle open and carefully poured some of the clear liquid into Pikes mouth. He coughed and sputtered before greedily drinking all of the water in the bottle.

“You said you had food?” Gavin looked up at Ariel. “He hasn’t eaten in days.”

“Yeah, right in there.” Ariel pointed to a small shack across the ‘street’. Gavin carried pike into the shack and saw it resembled an old diner. He set him down in a booth and Ariel set down a plate with, and Gavin had a hard time believing what he was seeing, a steak. Not only was the steak still steaming it was so fresh, a pile of fries and a small dollop of ketchup decorated the plate.

“Oh my god.” David muttered.

“Holy shit.” Pike muttered. “Even in my delirious steak...er...state...I can’t believe that shits real.”

“I can smell it, it’s most definitely real.” Someone in the back of the group whimpered. Gavin cut off a piece of the medium rare steak and fed the first bite to Pike, who melted even further into his arms.

“Oh good god I never thought I would taste steak again.” He groaned. As Gavin fed himself a bite he melted just as Pike had.

“How?” He asked Ariel.

“We got a butcher here in town. Lucky enough to have caught us a few steers from a ranch outside of town. Slaughtered two of ‘em fresh this mornin’.” She drawled. “We cook it all over a fire pit on the north side of the park.” She explained. “Got a small garden growing, barely enough to keep us all alive, but we got potatoes, carrots, some other veggies here and there.” She pointed to the fries. “Feel free to have some.” She nodded towards the rest of the group who quickly dug into their own plates brought to them by the armed men who patroled the ‘town’.

“This is incredible.” He muttered.

“Yeah, it’s a little hard for most people to believe when they first get here. Most don’t want to leave.” She said, sitting down across from Gavin and Pike.

“I can see that.” Gavin smiled, and Ariel smiled back. Pike looked at them back and forth before sitting up on his own in the booth, and taking another bite of steak.

“Yeah, I could see that. But, we have a plan. Sorry to disapoint.” He growled, over his bite of steak.

“Of course, Gavin told me all about it. But just stay here a couple of days and rest up before moving on your way. Wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to y’all.” She winked at Gavin before walking out. Now that the two men sat alone in the booth together, Pike scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Did you see that?” He asked.

“See what?” Gavin asked, watching Ariel walk around outside and chat with people.

“The way she was looking at you. She looked at you like you looked at that steak.” Pike said, as he ate the last bite.

“What? You’re crazy. Not more than an hour ago she had a gun to my head.” Gavin said, eating a few fries.

“Yeah, right. Don’t you remember when you were in Junior high and when you liked someone you were a total ass to them?” Pike asked.

“Pike, you’re dehydrated and starving, shut up and eat your fries.” Gavin pushed a fry into Pikes mouth, and went back to watching Ariel through the window.

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

“This is rediculous, what does she have that I don’t?” Pike asked outloud, as he watched Gavin and Ariel down below. He had taken a liking to sitting on the tall branches of the trees that covered the town. Right now Gavin was helping Ariel plant some new vegetables, he had done nothing but help her in the four days they had been in what the locals had named ‘parktown’.

“Boobs?” David asked, as he leaned up against the tree, looking up at Pike.

“Shut up.” Pike snapped.

“Pussy?” David laughed. Pike took off his shoe and hurled it at the man below, as he ran off laughing. He sighed and jumped down out of the tree, followed by Mongo. He pulled his boot back on and leaned against the tree the same way David had. Mongo meowed at him and Pike bent down to pick him up, petting him as he held him close to his chest.

“She’s crazy. If all I had to do was put a gun to Gavins head to get him to like me I should have had him from day one in that diner.” Pike grumbled, as Mongo purred, hugging Pikes chest. “I knew it was a stupid idea. This world doesn’t have any space for love anymore. Just hate and a lot of bullets.” He sighed and dropped the cat back down to the dirt as Gavin and Ariel walked up.

“Hey, Pike.” Gavin pulled Pike to his side and kissed his forehead.

“Hey.” He grumbled.

“Ariel is going to do another patrol of the wall, drained are still slipping through somewhere, and I was going to help her. Want to come?” He asked.

“I’d rather shoot myself in the foot.” He whispered. Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour or so. Wait for me in the bus?” Gavin asked. Pike nodded and watched the two walk off.

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

“So, how long have you and Pike been together?” Ariel asked as they walked along the wall of buses.

“Since L.A. He’s the one who helped us escape the original user, and the one who let us tag along with him to Canada.” Gavin explained.

“That’s cool, but I meant, together together.” She smiled.

“Oh, uh.” Gavin blushed. “Not very long. Back in Vegas some shit went down in our group and it brought us together, in a weird way.” Gavin siad.

“Hm, interesting. You don’t look gay to me.” She laughed.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really been the labels kind of guy.” He shrugged.

“Right. So you do like women?” She asked.

“I’ve dated a few, yeah,” Gavin shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Interesting.” She nodded, and they continued to walk in silence.

“So, tell me about the original user you guys encountered back in L.A. what are they like?” She asked.

“Big, and with a bad attitude. He definitely wasn’t a happy camper.” Gavin shook his head.

“Are they as mean as regular drained?” Ariel asked.

“Meaner. They’re basically like drained on steroids.” Gavin laughed.

“God, I can’t imagine dealing with one of them. It’s still hard to believe how all of this went down, you know? Like everyone just thought it was another drug craze sweeping the nation and then....” She looked around before making a ‘boom’ sound and miming and explosion with her hands.

“Yeah, it’s crazy.” Gavin nodded. “Sometimes I think about how things used to be and think about how much they’ve changed. But then I look at a situation and realize nothings changed. It’s the same ol’ drama with dirty clothes and no cheeseburgers.” Gavin laughed.

“Depends where you’re at, we have a hand crank meat grinder here, you know.” Ariel nudged him. “Cows to make cheese, too.”

“Damn that sounds nice.” He laughed.

“It is, you should stay. You’re no nomad. You were forced out of your permanent home, but this could be your home now.” She said.

“No, I couldn’t leave Pike. I think I love him.” Gavin smiled down at the ‘town’. A few specks of people walked by and he knew somewhere down there was Pike, waiting for him.

“Theres no room for love in the world now, Gavin." Ariel said.

"I disagree, I think that's exactly what the world needs right now." Gavin said, as they strolled around the large wall that surrounded Parktown. It was made up of scraps of metal and barbed wire. Where they had gotten so many supplies Gavin would never know.

"Hm, if you says so." She shrugged. "What's with that cat he always has trailing behind him?" She asked, looking down at the small groups of people. Gavin followed her gaze and finally spotted Pike sitting on the roof of one of the small buildings, Mongo sitting by his side.

"I don't know. His names Mongo. He and Pike are just two of a kind I guess." Gavin shrugged.

"Weird... I never did really like ca-" Ariel was interrupted in mid sentence by a loud roar. They both looked up to see the sickening sight of one of the walls bending like it was made of rubber, before it collapsed. A cloud of dust rose up, and everything was oddly still for a moment. Everyone in the town was froze, looking at the brown cloud that swarmed around the fenceline. Ariel and Gavin were silent, the only sound that could be heard were their pounding hearts and ragged breath. Before the dust could settle a very large bare foot stepped over the fallen fence and the figure attached to it moved into sight. It roared and it didn't take Gavin long to realize that it wasn't a regular Drained.

"You were wondering what an original user was like?" He asked. He heard Ariel swallow loudly. Suddenly hell broke loose, and the original user took a running start, heading towards the first group of people it saw. Before they could even react, it pulled back a large muscled arm and slammed it into the crowd, sending four people flying. Gavin and Ariel broke into a run, heading for the town below. As they reached the first rows of buildings, the danger increased as a hoard of thirty or more Drained stormed through the same destroyed fence. Gunfire lit up the dust that now covered the town and screams could be heard everywhere. Ariel called out orders, demanding everyone retreat to an emergency exit behind the town somewhere.

"Pike?! Pike where are you?" Gavin shouted of the crowd.

"Gavin?" Pikes voice came to his ears, though it was impossible to tell from what direction it came. Gavin turned, unable to see in the dust and finally he took off in a random direction and prayed it was the right one. He stepped on something and heard a yowl and a hiss, he looked down to see a long tail under his boot.

"Mongo! Where's Pike?" He asked the cat, scooping him up into his arms.

"Gavin!" This time Pikes call wasn't questioning, it was begging. He wasn't looking for Gavin, he was crying out for help. Gavin found one of the small buildings that littered the town and dropped Mongo onto the ground. The cat ran off into the dust and Gavin began scaling the uneven wall of the building. Soon he stood above the dust and was able to see most of what was happening. Drained covered the town. Groups of people hid behind men with assault rifles and shotguns. Some ran blindly away from the town only to be chased down by the much faster drained. Gavin saw all of this and more, but the one thing he didn't see was Pike. He scanned the crowd and finally his eyes landed on Pike, unconscious on the ground underneath a large oak tree. Even from the distance Gavin could see blood pooling around him. He cursed silently and jumped from the roof of the building. His ankles protested the rough landing but he ignored the pain as he forced his way through the crowd, shoving past men and women and punching Drained if they even looked his way. Finally he arrived at the small grassy clearing that Pike sat under. He shook him quickly and swore.

"Pike. Pike! Wake up damn you!" He shook the thin shoulders under his hands. Pike moaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"Where did that asshat with the crowbar go? He's going to taste lead." Pike grumbled and reached for his twin pistols on his hips.

"Forget about that, we need to go." Gavin pulled him up and as he turned to find a fast escape route, he was met with the cold eyes of an original user.

"Oh fuck." They both whispered. The user roared and turned its large body to face the two men. As it began to charge, Pike pulled out his pistols, standing shakily on his own two feet. Gavin reached for the shotgun he had slung across his back and cocked the large gun. He took aim and waited for the creature to get closer. Pike began firing, his own weapons capable of longer range than the shotgun. The bullets sunk into gray flesh but did little to slow the behemoth. Pikes pistols made a hollow clicking sound and he swore, fumbling to reload the guns. Gavin fired, only getting two shots off before his own gun was empty. The behemoth was now only ten feet away and closing. Pike looked up into the cold eyes, seeing his death nearing rapidly. Suddenly a flash of orange and white streaked across the dusty air and the original user spiraled to the side, roaring. Gavin took the chance and dropped his shotgun, pulling Pike by the hand towards the exit that Ariel had been yelling about. As he tripped over his own feet Pike looked back to see Mongo hissing and clawing at the users face. The monster swung blindly, falling into buildings and trees as the cat clawed at its eyes and scurred over its shoulder, jumping onto a tree to try to escape now that Pike had gotten a chance to escape.

"Mongo..." Pike pulled against Gavins hand.

"Pike, I know you love him but he's just a cat we have to go!" Gavin shouted and pulled harder. They approached the fence where one piece of sheet metal was being held open by Ariel who ushered them through. Gavin stepped through first and began pulling Pike through the hole.

"No!" Pike finally snapped out of his trance and yanked his wrist from Gavins. "I wont't leave him!" He shouted and ran back towards the user.

"Pike you fucker get back here!" Gavin shouted and dashed through the fence, but was shocked when David, Ariel, and several others held him back.

"Gavin we can't wait, they'll see us soon, we need to go, there's no way he's going to make it back." Ariel said.

"You don't know Pike." Gavin said. They watched as Pike ran back towards the original user, throwing his pistols to Gavin as he ran. The lumbering mass of gray flesh stood, wiping the blood out of its eyes, searching for the cat that hid in the tall branches of the tree. Finally it spotted him and reached for the cat, who hissed and swiped at the gray hand that was easily three times the size of its own furred body. Without a second of hesitation, Pike grabbed a knife out of the hand of one of the fallen citizens of Parktown and ran towards a parked car only five feet or so behind the behemoth. Several Drained had spotted him and were hot on his heels. He jumped onto the hood of the car, scrambling up the windshield onto the roof and kicked off the edge of it, landing on the back of the original user. He dug the knife into the gray flesh, forcing a roar from the beast below him. Mongo yowled as the branch he was standing on was released by the user and it shook and swayed from the backlash. The monster tried to reach onto its own back to pull Pike off but was unable to grab him, missing by only centimeters. Pike lifted himself onto the large shoulders and held out his arms.

"Come here, Mongo." The cat ran daintily across the branch and leaped into Pikes arms. Pike took a step back, his foot planted between the monsters shoulder blades. He got a two step start, using the gray bald head as a springboard, he launched himself onto the roof of a nearby building. Just as he kicked off the original users head, the rest of the Drained had finally caught up to him, and launched themselves off the same car, landing on top of the user. Five or more drained hit him on the back, bouncing off like blunt darts. They landed on their asses on the ground and crawled back up to their feet in time to see the original user turn and growl loudly at them. They roared in return and the user lashed out at them. The car was sent flying into the wall of a building and several more Drained came to back up their own kind. Soon it was a group of fifteen or so Drained growling and hissing at the single user, who would take out two or three with a single fling of his arm. As badly as Pike wanted to stay and watch the outcome of the fight, he knew the winner wouldn't be satisfied with the one win. He took off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. His ankles and knees screamed and his arms burned from holding Mongo so tight. He dropped the cat onto the roof beneath his feet. Mongo meowed happily and ran along side him, soon taking the lead. He led Pike through the dust and debris towards the fence, sliding through the gap Gavin held open and Pike followed less than a second behind. Both Pike and Mongo panted, Mongos small pink tongue hanging out from his mouth, and Pike resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"He's not just a cat." Pike swiped back his pistols from Gavin, and walked slowly as he returned the holsters to his hips.