the front lines ♛ lashton

two

the engine rattles, a dying sound echoing through the surrounding area. ashton scoffs, walking away before he loses his temper on luke for being so stupid.

"i know what i'm doing" is the phrase he gets every time ashton exclaims his doubts aloud, yet, as much as luke tries, the engine still isn't working well. this is the third car so far, and ashton is getting closer and closer to picking up his things and leaving him in the dust. but it's the fourth day of working as a team, and ashton doesn't think he can survive on his own again.

it's not just the loneliness, though he appreciates the constant company (even without much to talk about), but the essence of working together. he never really was one to appreciate group projects while in school, as he'd always end up stuck with doing all the work. but this was more of a life-or-death situation, and after this he can't imagine not having luke by his side, despite the short time he's known him. someone to watch his back and keep him on his feet is something ashton will forever be grateful for.

it's not until the fourth car, a once black range rover covered in thick layers of mud and dust, do they get some luck.

"fuck yeah!" the younger boy exclaims in excitement, lamely fist-bumping the car in front of him. ashton watches as he hops into the front seat, hands perched on the dusty steering wheel. it had been luke's idea to stop walking and find other means of transportation. despite his stability in these situations, as he'd been on the hockey team before everything went to shit, the blisters on his feet were getting bigger every step he took and it was getting to be all too much for him.

ashton walks around the back of the car, pulling open the side door and plopping himself onto the seat. to his surprise, the seat belts actually work, and he lets out a hum of appreciation as he hears the familiar click of the latch.

"where'd you learn to hot wire a car?"

luke shrugs, like he doesn't have the energy to do much more.

"my ex." is all he says, leaving it at that.

ashton's eyebrows raise higher at the statement, but he's not surprised, due to the fact that after the 4 days they've known each other, luke has still yet to open up. he would tend to give one or two worded answers when uncomfortable, and ashton never pushed it, knowing that he wasn't quite used to this whole "team" thing either. this is another one of those times.

luke puts the car into first gear and they rear forward. ashton slams his hands onto the dashboard as a reflex, preventing his head from cracking against it. "you're like twelve, you should not be driving!" he yells.

"i have my learner's," luke retaliates, though it isn't a very good reason. he restarts the engine and slows his pace, pulling the car from its original spot surrounded by a circus of others and onto the road ahead, which is a lot less crowded.

they drive in silence for a while, something they find they do often. though not knowing each other quite well, living in a world devoured by zombies can cause you to forget who you really were.

ashton gets bored of watching the passing scenery, deciding to instead settle for searching for some sort of entertainment in the backseat. he finds nothing more than a few bags of different sizes filled with new clothes (it's obvious this person had not made it back from their shopping trip), but nothing that interests him in the end.

luke swerves and ashton hits his head on the roof. the clasp on his wristwatch comes loose and falls to the floor, causing luke to apologize profusely, but it fails to settle the painful thumping in his head.

he climbs into the backseat, sliding his hand under the seat in an attempt to find his now lost watch. yet, his hand instead clamps around another bag, plastic, bulkily wrapped around something underneath.

curiosity seeming to get the best of him, ashton pulls it from underneath the seat, gasping outwardly at the discovery of the item.

at the sound, luke glances in the rearview mirror, only to find his partner holding a small handgun. his eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything.

ashton checks underneath the seat again, but finds no bullets, not exactly sure how to check how many are in the gun already. though he's no expert, and he's never actually held a gun before this moment, he figures by the way it weighs down his hand that it's loaded.

he carefully places it next to him on the seat as he grabs his watch and jumps back into the passenger seat. the term "shotgun" suddenly has a whole new meaning to ashton.

-

hey guys!! im sorry for the short chapter, but i wanted to space this out a little bit because this was planned to be like 10 chapters but i want to space it to be a little more ig?? also i'm tired and i'm not really in the mood for writing tonight. i promise to update soon, though (with hopefully longer chapters!!) i love u guys, thank u for all the support, it means so much <3