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Ignoring his protesting lungs, Sebastian ran around trees and bushes with his heavy bag making manoeuvring very difficult, trying to get as fast away as possible. Behind him was Kurt, carrying a smaller bag than Sebastian, which was also filled with newly found tinned food. They hadn’t expected to find quite that many walkers in the shop.
Sebastian was just about to jump over a few rocks in his path when he realised he couldn’t hear any footsteps behind him anymore. Quickly turning around, he saw Kurt leaning against a tree about 20 feet behind him.
”What are you doing? We don’t have time for a pause, it’s very likely that there are some walkers following us, you know that.” Eyeing the heavily breathing Kurt, he made his way back to him. The other boy looked down when Sebastian approached him. “…Kurt? What’s wrong?”
Kurt continued to avoid his gaze and Sebastian almost missed his quietly murmured words. “You have to go on without me.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. We’re gonna find a safe place soon, princess, but right now we have to keep running.” Sebastian looked around nervously, trying to find a sign of an approaching walker.
“No. I can’t. Just leave me here, it’s not like you care about me anyway.” After staring at him for a moment, Sebastian brought his hand up under Kurt’s chin and lifted his head so he had to meet his eyes.
“I know I said some really shitty things to you in the past, but believe me when I say I do care about you. I mean, you’re the only other living person I can trust, of course I care about you.” Kurt’s eyes began to fill with unshed tears. “You can get all emotional later, but for now, move.”
“Sebastian, I- I still can’t. I would only bring you in danger.”
“Kurt, you move you ass now or-”
“Just go!” Shouting at him, Kurt used both of his arms to push Sebastian away, revealing a big red spot on his shoulder that had previously been hidden by the tree. Sebastian quickly grabbed Kurt and turned him around to take a closer look. Pulling on his shirt a lot more carefully, he saw a bloody wound, clearly a bite mark.
Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to keep his voice steady. “When?”
“In the shop. I didn’t hear him.” Sebastian continued to stare at the wound trying to find a solution, something, anything. “Sebastian, just- just leave me alone, okay? You have to get away from here and I would only slow you down.”
He let his hands drop back down and Kurt turned around to face him. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but Sebastian didn’t give him a chance. “No, you were going to survive, you’re the better one of us two. I can’t do this without you. I have no reason to-”
“Stop it. You’re going to make it, and you will find a safe place to stay. And you will do it without me. If I hadn’t met you, I would have died months ago, so don’t give me this crap of you not being able to do it on your own. You don’t need me to survive.”
How was Kurt still the strong one in this situation? “Maybe I don’t need you to survive, but I need you to live. To think that there is a reason to keep trying to stay alive. Why should I try to find a home, if I don’t have anyone to share it with?”
“Bas, you have to live. Don’t give up. Do it for me, okay? Maybe you will find someone else who’s still alive and- Bas!” He saw Kurt’s eyes widening with fear and spun around to see two walkers stumbling in their direction. Grabbing the gun he took out of his father’s dead hands an eternity ago he shot both of them with practised ease in their brains, using the only method they knew to effectively kill a walker. The loud noise echoed through the woods.
“I don’t want to go.” He looked back at Kurt who leaned against the tree again, obviously losing his strength.
“I know. But you have to.” Sebastian could see sadness and fear in his eyes, and maybe something else he couldn’t quite identify.
“I-” Sebastian stopped, trying to find the right words, the words to express everything he had always wanted to tell Kurt. How strong Sebastian thought he was, how brave. Instead he took a step forward and hugged the smaller boy tightly for a few moments, before letting him go and settling for a simple “I will miss you.”
Kurt gave him a small smile. “I will miss you too.”
Not being able to bear this any longer, Sebastian took the bag Kurt had carried and walked away, slowly at first, but then he began to run, faster, as fast as he could, trying to escape the thought of what was going to happen to Kurt now. But the thought of their last words sounding like some sort of love declaration wouldn’t leave his mind.