The Dead Don't Bleed

End

Word Count: 1,531

If someone had asked him to recall the recent twenty-four hours of his life, Keith could say with clear confidence in himself that he honestly didn't remember most of it.

Shay had woken him up the moment they entered Oriande's gates: a massive dome-like structure hidden under the earth, and filled with thousands of fellow survivors and people just like him now living freely from the horrors of the world above. It was all thanks to Kolivan and others like him who had came together to make the safe haven a reality.

They were rushed to the nearest hospital once they made it through security, and now after hours upon hours on top of what felt like days, here he sat, right next to Shiro's hospital bed, trying to wrap his brain around the fact that Shiro was going to be okay.

He'd live.

Thanks to all of the painkillers and medicines, Keith was sure Shiro was now pumped to the max with, he was going to live.

But, not without a few scars to show for it, it had taken quite a few stitches to fix his arm and finally cease the bleeding in some of his more minor wounds, it had taken wads of bandages and gauze to get the bleeding to stop. The venom in his system was still there, of course, and some of the doctors had warned that it might take more than a little time for it to fade completely, but for the most part, Shiro was going to make a full recovery.

Lance, Hunk, and the others had stayed by Keith's side for the first couple of hours after all of the chaos had died down while they waited for Shiro to come-to, but Kolivan had contacted them just a few short hours ago, saying that Allura and Coran had made it safely within Oriande's borders. They were now gone with Kolivan's speech that they needed to find a proper place to live within Oriande's borders before they started focusing on anything else. Lance and Hunk had explained to Allura what had happened to Shiro, and while she was clearly worried for him, if her sudden outburst in the middle of the waiting room was anything to show for it, Keith had promised he'd watch over Shiro while she went with everyone else to find a place to settle in.

It was official the moment they made it through the gates, they were free, no more zombies, no more worries, but Lance, being the caring person he was, noticed Keith's slight disappointment at the prospect of live comfortably and safe for the rest of his life. He offered Keith a chance to leave if he so desired, and a small part of him wanted to take him up on the offer. He found Shiro, and Keith was glad that he had, he now knew that he was alive, and now well, thanks to Keith and the others' help. Everyone else was in good shape, and probably would be for a very long time now that they were here.

He'd found Oriande, the one place he had been convinced had never existed, and, if he left now, he knew he would be leaving Shiro in good hands without the threat of Keith messing everything up and it being his fault.

And, if he had to admit it at all, Oriande seemed ... a little less like he'd imagined it. It was a safe-haven for struggling survivors, yes, that part of it was true, but Keith knew he never really was struggling out there, surviving, sure, he'd always been surviving, heck, there were some times he'd been surviving just to be surviving, but never struggling. Some of the people he'd seen in Oriande seemed like they had been rescued inches away from death, and Keith just didn't think he applied to that category, not yet anyway, he still had a life to live, and with Shiro alive, he knew he wasn't going to waste it wishing for death.

Not to mention that the entire place was underground, he couldn't live like that, not being able to see the sky would drive him crazy for sure, even just for a few days. He just wasn't sure how he was going to tell the others about his decision, especially Shiro.

He looked over at his sleeping face and bit his lip, he was supposed to wake up any time now, right?

"Listen, Shiro," he took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, reaching over to grab his still hans, "I know that with all of this happening and you recovering from all of this, it mIght not be the best idea to tell you now but, I want to leave. Now that I know that you're gonna be okay and in good hands, I want to go now so I won't get in the way of that." He looked down at his lap, drawing his hand back and playing with his fingers. "I hope you and Allura grow happy together, and you never forget about the family you have around you, but I just don't think this place is for me," he smirked at his hands, "I feel like I'm being buried alive here underground, and I know that's probably a stupid reason, but I want to see the sky, and if that means fighting against the undead every day, then I'm fine with that, as long as I'm not stuck here feeling useless for the rest of my life, now that I'm here."

"Oh, thank God, I thought you wanted to stay."

Keith jumped at the voice and turned around in his chair, coming face to face with the rest of the group that he'd thought were away, he could feel his face heat up, "I thought you guys were away picking a house or something, how much did you hear?"

Lance shrugged, a smirk on his face, "All of it."

Keith groaned, putting his head in his hands, muttering in his fingers along the lines of "You weren't supposed to hear that."

Lance just laughed crossing his arms, while Allura made her way over to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Keith, if that's what you feel you must do, we won't try and stop you, but perhaps it would be better if you didn't go off on your own."

He perked at the thought of not being by himself, "What do you mean?"

"We're all leaving too, man," Hunk grinned, "after we decided that, we went to Kolivan and he recruited us."

"To do what?" Keith asked, confused, was it just because they wanted to leave that Kolivan thought it was necessary to talk to them?

"He wanted us to back to living our lives up there, but with an added assignment, he wants us to keep an eye out for fellow survivors and point them in the right direction, if they need any protection."

"And we'll be reporting back every week to tell him who we found if anyone passes through and we can do that from our original base!" Hunk beamed, "Isn't this cool? It's so cool, it's like we're a secret team that nobody knows about but us."

"Almost like team Voltron? Come on, guys, you can't admit that is doesn't sound awesome," Lance beamed, placing his hands on his hips in proud achievement while Pidge muttered something under her breath, causing Keith to suppress a smile.

"What doesn't sound awesome?" He looked up in surprise to find Shiro coming to his senses, and at the sound of his voice, everyone was suddenly crowding around his bed to get a better look at him, while Keith just stood, staring in relief at the one person he'd thought he'd lost forever.

"Shiro, you're alive!"

"It's good to see you awake, number one."

"We're glad you're back, Shiro."

"So, Keith, something tells me, you have something to say," he said, he lips pulling up in a faint smirk and Keith was taken aback, "H- how would you know? Have you been listening to us before now?"

Shiro chuckled, "Maybe-" Keith groaned into his hands, "-but I want to hear it from you. If I remember right, you weren't exactly the one to jump head-first into a crowd of people, especially if you're going to be staying with them for awhile."

"Wait, wait, Mullet is shy?" Lance laughed, poking Keith in the shoulder, "Aw, are you gonna go and hide on us now?"

"Shut up, Lance," Keith grumbled, punching the teen in the shoulder, who recoiled with a small yelp. "And, yeah, I want to stay with you Shiro-" the man beamed, "-we'll be heading back out once you've healed."

Shiro smiled, "I'm glad to hear that, Keith."

"I'm glad too, Shiro," he smiled, being careful of the IV in his arm before leaning over for a hug feeling more complete than he had in a long time. He had a brother beside him, a family around him, and soon nothing but the open stretch of sky above him with the exhilaration that came with being alive.

He was whole again.