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“Popcorn?” Ekky asked, holding out the bowl.
Will glanced over at him as Mack sunk deeper into corner of the couch that he had wedged himself into, stolen throw pillows stacked on top of himself and almost disappearing into his hoodie. Well, Will was almost entirely sure that it was actually his hoodie, not Mack’s.
“No we’re good,” Will shook his head.
Ekky shrugged, his attention going back to the movie. The slasher flick, that if Will had known was going to be the choice tonight, would have meant he would have found an excuse not to show up. He had tried his hardest to get him to change his mind but then Mack had muttered that it was fine.
It wasn’t.
Will settled back against the couch, shifting closer to Mack. “We don’t have to stay…”
Mack stayed quiet, but shook his head quickly.
Will wasn’t going to make Mack do anything that he didn’t want to, even though he was sure that it was for the best. He sighed softly and stretched his arm out, draping it over Mack’s shoulders.
Mack turned just enough for Will to see the soft smile on his face.
*****
“Really you’re going to walk?” Tyler raised his eyebrow at them. “After that?”
“It’s not that far,” Will rolled his eyes. “We’ll be fine.”
“It’s getting late though. It’s after midnight already. Seriously I can give you a ride home. Or you can just stay here.” Tyler offered, raising an eyebrow. Giving Will a particularly pointed look.
Will pretended not to notice it.
“It’s fine,” Mack spoke up, already sliding his shoes on. “I need to stretch my legs after sitting there that long.”
Tyler didn’t look convinced. “Fine. Be careful. And text me when you get home.”
“Yes Dad,” Will teased him.
“Don’t get murdered!” Ekky called from somewhere.
“If I do I’m coming back to haunt you!” Will yelled back.
“Can we go?” Mack said softly.
Will’s attention was immediately back on Mack, who was now ready and hovering by the door. Will scrambled to grab his coat.
“Seriously text me.” Tyler said, giving Will another “look” as he closed the door behind them.
The night was cool and quiet, the dark making it feel more intimate then it did in the day. The two of them walked in silence for a bit.
“I’m sorry,” Will said.
Mack’s eyes shifted over to him. “You don’t have to be. It’s fine.” And with those words he reached over and laced their fingers together.
Will couldn’t help but flash his smile at Mack. Who blushed and looked away almost instantly. “I…I just don’t like it when you’re upset or scared. If I had my way I’d make sure that you were never anything other than happy.”
Mack smiled softly. “You’re really good at that already.”
Will opened his mouth to say something when a crash down a dark alley that froze both of them.
“What was that?” Will whispered.
“Let’s just go home?” Mack said, his fingers tightening on Will’s and he tugged slightly on his hand.
“But what if someone’s hurt?” Will whispered.
“And what do you expect us to do if someone is?” Mack argued.
“We have phones. We could call for help?” Will argued. “Listen if you want stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Like that’s going to happen,” Mack grumbled, allowing himself to pulled along.
The two boys crept down the dark alley, at first there was nothing but then Will saw a shape lying in the middle of the road.
“What is that?” He murmured.
“Smitty, come on there’s no one here. Let’s go home.” Mack tried again.
“Just a little further,” Will said, continuing on. As he inched closer to the shape suddenly there was a large crash and an orange tabby tore away from them.
“Oh it’s just a cat,” Will laughed his hand pressed against his chest.
“Ha yeah,” Mack didn’t look as amused. “Let’s get home.”
But then there was another noise and whatever made that one sounded a lot bigger than a cat.
“Fuck,” Macklin muttered, pulling his fingers away from Will’s. He stepped in front of the blond and Will blinked uncomprehendingly at the machete that he was holding. “Stay behind me.”
Will’s jaw dropped. “Mack, what the hell are you doing?”
But Mack didn’t answer, his gaze was fixed on the deeper shadows at the end of the alley. The machete was held steady, the moonlight glinting off its wicked edge. Will could see the brief tremor in Mack’s hand, a stark contrast to the outward display of confidence.
Will squeezed his eyes shut for a brief second, a silent prayer escaping his lips. This was insane.
“Mack, please,” Will’s pleaded, his voice was barely a whisper. “I know I wanted to see what was down here but can we just go? We can call someone.”
“There’s no time,” Mack said, his voice tight. “And I can handle this.”
Mack took a step forward, his stance widening.
Suddenly, a low groan echoed from the darkness. It wasn’t the sound of a stray cat. It was a guttural, rasping sound that sent a chill straight down Will’s spine. He instinctively backed up, bumping into the fence behind him.
Mack didn’t flinch. He turned his head slightly, a flicker of something fierce in his eyes. “Stay put, Will. Whatever happens, stay behind me. And don’t look if you don’t want to.”
Will swallowed hard, unable to tear his gaze away from Mack. He saw Mack shift his weight, his muscles coiling like a spring. And then a hulking figure lurched out of the shadows. It was tall, gaunt, and moved with a sickening, jerky gait. Its skin was pale and almost rotting off of it. Its eyes were vacant, a disturbing milky white. Its jaw hung slack, a silent testament to its unnatural existence.
A zombie.
Will’s mind struggled to process the sight. There was zombies in San Jose? This couldn’t be right? But the raw terror that was blooming in his chest told him otherwise.
Mack moved. It was a blur of motion. He sidestepped a lurching grab, the machete swinging in a wide, clean arc.
Will heard a sickening thud, followed by a choked gurgle. The zombie stumbled, a dark, viscous fluid oozing from its neck.
Will gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. The blood smelled wrong, like it was rotting inside of the zombie.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Mack, his sweet, scared of scary movies, was fighting a monster.
The zombie, still unyielding in its unnatural drive, lunged again. Mack met it head on, a guttural roar escaping his lips. He parried a clumsy swipe and then ducked under another, bring the machete up in a powerful thrust. This time, the blow was deeper, more precise.
The zombie let out a long, drawn out moan, its legs buckling. It collapsed to the ground with a wet, heavy thud, unmoving.
Silence descended on the alley, broken only by Will’s ragged breaths and the distant hum of city traffic. Mack stood panting, the machete dripping. He slowly lowered it, his shoulders slumping slightly. Finally he to turned to face Will, his eyes wide. It was a mixture that Will couldn’t quite decipher, exhaustion, fear and maybe something akin to pride.
“Are you okay?” Mack’s voice was strained, hoarse.
Will couldn’t speak. The smell of the blood was making him feel nauseous. He nodded slowly, his eyes glued to Mack’s trembling hands, the blood staining his jacket. He was safe. Mack had protected him. The thought was both overwhelming and terrifying.
“What. The. Hell. Macklin!” Will smacked Mack’s shoulder with every word.
Mack was attempting to wipe the goo from the decapiated zombie off himself, the machete (and where the hell he had been keeping that was blowing Will’s mind) lay at his feet.
“I didn’t want you to find out.” Mack said. “I became a hockey player to escape this life. But apparently you can’t.”
“You didn’t want me to find out that YOU’RE A MONSTER HUNTER?” Will shouted.
“Can you calm down. They rarely ever travel solo and noise will attract more.” Mack took a step towards him.
Will unconsciously took a step away from Mack and had a feeling that he should run screaming away from all of this but it was Mack. Mack wasn’t going to hurt him. Taking a deep breath he forced himself not to shout anymore. “We are so talking about this at home.”
“I know.” Mack looked a tiny bit hurt that Will had stepped away from him.
“You…you fought it.”
A small, almost pained smile touched Mack’s lips. “Yeah. I did. Had to keep you safe. Listen I know that this is complicated, but I promise that I’ll explain everything. When we get home.”
“Speaking of can we go.” Will suddenly didn’t want to be out here any longer.
“I just have to call someone to come do clean up.” Mack murmured, pulling his phone from his pocket. He had a quiet conversation, never once letting Will leave his sight.
“Do we have to wait?” Will asked when Mack hung up his phone.
“No, it late. I doubt anyone will stumbled on this. And they’ll be here in like five minutes. Let’s get out of here,” Mack said.
“Don’t forget that,” Will pointed to the machete.
“Oh yeah that would be bad,” Mack wiped it off in the grass, but Will notice that he kept it in his hand.
Unlike before, Will kept his hands to himself, his arms curled around himself, trying to keep the chill that had nothing to do with the night away.
“Have you done that a lot?” Will asked.
“Killed zombies?” Mack asked.
“Are there other things out here?”
“Oh you have no idea. It’s why my family moved here. California is full of weird shit.” Mack said.
“What about Boston?” Will asked. “Did you ever have to do that there?”
“I tried to escape it but yeah, a few times. But Boston, New England really, is different. The…things…there are older, they’ve be cohabitating with humans longer, they’re more organized.” Mack said, glancing at him slightly.
Will stayed quiet unsure of how to respond. Because now that he knew about Mack’s secret it seemed even more important that he keep his own. He doubted that Mack would react well to finding out that he was in fact one of those monsters that he hunted.