Living After: Book Two

Chapter Twelve: Troy

  Rain fell around them as Troy got his bearings for a moment. The smell of it was something he had really missed, the drought came often but he never got used to the lack of rain. Time moved in a terribly fast fashion while fighting the dead, one minute turned to a second, and every move mattered. Troy fired rounds into the crowd, tearing down a few dead to clear a path for Nick. He ran up on him and looked his body over, checking Troy's head in the chaos.
  "God, this feels good, yeah?" Troy said, he smiled to him but Nick wore a frown.
  Troy turned to find the girls, he had seen Tasha in front of the house but after that, Nick went to take out dead and he joined him. In minutes they had been pushed so far back by walkers that the trio had disappeared from their vision. Nick stuck his knife into a skull and slipped, shoving it in the backbone instead and falling to the ground. The dead fell on top of him and Troy panicked, shoving the bodies off of Nick and heaving him up. He shot three in the head, swiftly, and pulled Nick backwards away from them.
  "Oh my god, thank you -"
  "I got you. Too many, we gotta move. It's slippery and dangerous out here in the storm."
  "My sister!" Nick pulled away and jumped up to look for her frantically.
  "Your sister has Elyza and Tasha. She's fine. But we won't be if I keep having to fire my gun."
  Nick looked at Troy as if he was going to argue, but his face softened with realization that he was correct and he eagerly complied. The boys wrapped their bloodied hands together and ran towards a house with a gigantic tree in the backyard, not looking back.
  
  They slowed to a stop in front of the home and Nick hollered Alicia's name multiple times.
  "Hey, hey - shut up. They'll find us, I don't want you to worry about them right now. Shit - they're everywhere," Troy weighed his options and led Nick around the back, safest route, he thought so at least. The backyard was fenced, inside it were multiple outdoor toys for children of all ages. Troy watched Nick's facial expression turn upset as he scanned the yard. "Try not to think about that too much either," Troy said, knowing Nick was dwelling on the loss of the children who lived here so long ago.
  He put a hand on Nick's shoulder and locked the gate behind them.
  The dirt squished into mud underneath Troy's boots as he caught his breathe a moment.
  Nick sighed and stuck his face up towards the rain, "We gonna climb up to that tree house?"
  "Shit yeah we are," Troy laughed, "That's something I've never done and always wanted to."
  "What? Climb a tree?" Nick asked, wiping blood off of his hands with rain water.
  Troy shook his head, "No, own a treehouse. I didn't have things like this - here, there's a rope ladder." A big grin formed on Troy's face, finding comfort in these things were all they had left.
  "And here I was, thinking I was the younger of the two of us," Nick said sarcastically, eyeing the toys on the ground. Troy watched Nick as he withheld all of the emotions stirring inside of him.
  "I'm not much older than you Nicky, but you may be right - I am the younger at heart."
  Troy was shaken up by a sudden, loud noise behind him. Jesus Christ, haven't we been through enough in the last few days, he thought. Turning around, he laid his eyes on a sliding glass door, and behind it: trapped dead. "Uh, maybe we should try that ladder now."
  "Fuck - That'll break before they find us," Nick looked to him for answers. There was only one.
  "Up, quickly Nick."
  What a sight, two grown men climbing themselves into a treehouse, but that was their only choice. Nick went first, and Troy followed. He pulled his long awkward body onto the enclosed platform and laughed seeing Nick all crunched up waiting for him. The small shelter had a window, and they were pretty far up the tree. They could see out into the streets where the dead had taken over the entire area. The wood was sturdy but Troy couldn't help but wonder if it was built to hold such a weight. Out of the trapped walker's sights, they had calmed down and weren't banging on the door anymore, for now.
  "See those houses," Troy poked out the window, "The one's with the 'X' marks, the dead were trapped inside of there.  The doors are open, but they weren't open when we arrived earlier today... Who the fuck let them out? Someone is here or someone was here.. Someone other than our people," Troy said nervously.
  Nick wasn't paying any attention."Is the experience what you thought it'd be?" he asked, giggling and gawking at Troy, totally disregarding his theory about the walkers.
  He thought for a moment before answering and settled with something kind, "Much better than I had hoped - being trapped with you. My father never would have spent time building me something like this. These kids, the ones who lived here, they were uh - lucky." Troy looked outside, "Think we should try and flag them down? I don't see them out there. They ran."
  "They're probably in some house questioning Tasha," Nick answered, seeming unworried for once. He was smiling and staring at him, it made Troy feel uneasy. Troy then remembered he was supposed to be 'taking it easy', and lifted a hand to his stitches. He looked at his fingers, small drops of blood had accumulated on his wound. Nick noticed this and his flirty demeanor changed instantly to something more serious, "Maybe you should lye down awhile. I'll watch for them."
  "Yeah, yeah you're right," Troy smiley softly to Nick, knowing he was genuinely concerned for him per the usual. He curled himself up on Nick's legs, trying to calm his racing heart. There wasn't much room inside but the two of them had made themselves comfortable there in the treehouse. Troy didn't care if Nick was muddy, his lap made the perfect pillow.
  Nick sighed and ran his hand along Troy's arm, landing on his hand and holding it there, "Close your eyes awhile. Everything's fine. Dead can't climb trees, but you know that." He laughed and Troy laughed with him, taking in the simple moment as if it would be there last together.
  Troy found himself drifting into sleep holding the man he loved before he even knew it.