Author's Notes: 

You know what's worse than plotting out the ending to your fanfic? The fact that I really want to write a sequel to a really sad story (woops) but can't. It might make up for the incoming hurt BUT it takes time and plotting it all out. I'll have to dedicate my free time to it, if I wanna make the sequel just as successful

But hmmm ain't a bad idea too. I'll think on it once I get some air to breathe.
Keep in mind this is set in a zombie apocalypse. It's not going to be all sugar, spice, and everything nice. Just wanted to put that warning up before proceeding. Yeaaaah.
Sorry for postponing this chapter a bit. I'm trying to figure out how I'll separate the events on this chapter from the next. So uh.. sorry if the last chapter'll take a while.  

MAX

He runs as fast as his little feet could take him. The hard edge of the dagger he slipped on his person dug into his hip. Max knew to arm himself before going out of the mess hall—something David's forgetting to do lately. He's slipping more and more, he thinks. Because of that bastard, Daniel. David can't control himself around him. His disgust mars his facial expression.

He doesn't stray too far from camp. He can hear their voices from a short distance. He makes a sharp turn and hides. Max steadies his breathing as he waits for them to come. His stomach isn't faring any better. He knew—well, he's been told of Nikki's unfortunate accident. But to see her standing there, disfigured yet still walking on her barely steady feet, it dawns on him how cruel this virus is.

It opened his eyes to the world; what really was happening. This is some serious shit, he thinks. Anyone of them could get infected, only to be brought back to life. But they're not alive. They're fucking dead. He reigns in his tears as he reminisced about his friend. Out of all of them, he didn't expect Nikki to be the first to turn. She had so much energy and looked least likely to get caught by those rotting excuses of a human being.

If anything, he expected Space Kid to be the first.

"Max!" he's jolted from his thoughts as Gwen's voice rings out.

"Max, please!" David's desperate cry follows.

He huddles closer to the big tree, trying to squeeze himself into it. He clutches the handle of the dagger tightly, hoping it will provide him enough strength. Nikki could've cut through them with this. She would've learned faster than any of us. He shakes the thoughts of his friend away as his ears hone in on racing footsteps. He quiets his thoughts as if his mind was loud enough for Gwen and David to locate him.

"Do you hear anything?" David asks desperately. He hears Gwen sigh dejectedly.

"No," she says.

"We have to keep looking!" his footsteps run past his location. Max visibly relaxes. Soon enough, he hears Gwen follow, yelling at him to wait for her.

Max waits for several seconds. Everything mentally exhausted him. He doesn't want to live in a world infested with people trying to eat each other. He doesn't want to deal with the hurt that comes when he sees his friends inevitably meet their end. And to see Nikki... he was slightly grateful for David making it a quick and clean slice to the throat. He couldn't bear to see her more damaged than she already was.

The boy stands but stays completely still as his eyes focus on something in the distance. A silhouette of a man—no, two men. They were too far to see him and Max was too exhausted to contemplate whether or not they're a threat. He needed to go back to the mess hall before Gwen and David find him.

He needed to tell the others. I should've listened to my instincts. Nothing good came out of sitting still and letting the grown-ups do the work. He trudged back to camp, wary of his surroundings.

Daniel is a threat.

He should've ended him before he could lure them into his trap. Max hadn't the strength to hold the dagger against him. He went to his cabin that day to see the monster he truly was underneath all those layers. Surely, Daniel put up an act around David, right? So Max had taunted him, tried to get the real demons out. It hadn't been long before the blonde's face contorted into something of ill-intent. He glared and Max admits he felt cold dread at the time. But it also proved him right. Daniel isn't who he seemed to be. He swore he even growled at him. When he sprung at him, Max had the common sense to back the fuck away. In those seconds as Daniel looked down on him from the entryway of the cabin, Max never felt so ashamed and angry. When David's voice rang out, he saw the shift in Daniel's expression immediately.

He hated him. Max swore he'll bring nothing but misfortune to the camp. Ever since the incident, he's been trying to study Daniel's actions. He couldn't mistake the chemistry developing between the redhead and this rotting corpse. Max was conflicted for a while. Seeing David happy made their situation a little more bearable. But seeing him falling for Daniel was also sickening.

He's got to stop him, even if it meant wrenching this thing from David's grasps. His emotions were in the way to their safety.

He bangs roughly on the mess hall door. "Guys, open this fucking thing! Boy, do I got some news!" he waits patiently as he hears them talking behind the door before Preston opens it. He walks in, effectively pushing Preston aside and leans on the door. He grabs the chain from him and hurriedly ties it around the handles.

"Max, what's going on?" Space Kid's obnoxious voice pipes up.

"You're giving us quite the fright," Preston says nervously.

After securing the door, he turns to the group in a slow 180. All of them were looking at him apprehensively. "We have to kill Daniel," he says through his teeth. They look at him in shock, Space Kid most of all. They start asking questions, bombarding him with that's ridiculous!, we can't do that, and you're insane!

"Have you really not considered him as a fucking threat?!" he yells at them. This shuts them up. "I've seen the real him. I got up close and personal with this asshole and he nearly bit my face off. What he shows David is different from what he really is," he says.

"To be fair, anything that comes out of your mouth makes any of us want to bite your face off," from the other side of the room, Neil leans away from the wall and makes his way toward the group.

"Yeah!" Space Kid grins, naïve to the insult.

"Wow, gee, thank you for justifying his actions," Max rolls his eyes. "We have to do something about Daniel." Already, plans are starting to formulate in his head. There was only one solution to exterminating the problem.

"Like what, expose him as the lying, conniving fraud he is?" Neil waves his hand. "I doubt David will even believe you."

"What's wrong with David?" Preston asks, looking back and forth from Max to Neil. It seems not everyone knew or was smart enough to make intelligent guesses.

"Let me spell it out for you," Max heaves a breath and turns to look outside the boarded up window. No sign of the adults. Good. "Our friend's becoming real attached to Daniel. Whatever he says, that bastard follows like a lost puppy. He gained his trust, only to lure him into something more unpleasant." He frowns. Wow, he had feelings? And for once, he felt sympathy for the brunette.

"Unpleasant how?" Preston asks skeptically.

"I'm... not sure yet. But clearly, Daniel has a motive behind all this fake sweetness. If he's got David to side with him, then our camp will be gone before we even know it. He could persuade him to leave us or I don't know, make us join his legion of the undead. The possibilities are endless!" Max was ready to tear his hair out. How can they not understand the direness of their situation? Neil clears his throat and raises his hand.

"I'd like to add to your theory," he says. Max scowls at him but nods anyway.

"A while ago, I caught them exchanging some pretty personal stuff. I had less than a second to analyze their proximity, what the physical contact meant, and the reactions on their faces before they saw me." Neil points out.

"Get to the point, Neil." Max groans. Leave it to him to be technical.

"Yes, I'm getting there, Maxwell," Neil narrows his eyes at him. He knew just how to irritate him. He's glad the other kid's at the other side of the room or else Max would've pulled a Daniel and lunged at him. "As I was saying, David seemed to be troubled over something. They were holding hands but from the way Daniel touched his palm, I assume they were communicating."

"Oh great, they're holding hands too now." Max comments but Neil proceeds like he didn't hear him.

"Both parties looked... sheepish around each other. David wasn't looking at Daniel even though he's clearly less than three feet away. Daniel was downright brooding. When I caught them, they sprung apart like my presence surprised them—as if I caught them doing something illegal. Heck, David's voice sounded like he was on the verge of tears. I studied Daniel and he looked just as perturbed." Neil finishes.

"David and Daniel are together?" Space Kid stares at them with wide curious eyes. Ugh, Max nearly facepalms.

"Maybe so. From what I can gather, David's been distracted lately," Neil frowns. "It must have something to do with his relationship with Daniel. What will you do with this piece of information, Max?" he turns to Max, just like the other two boys in the room.

"To justify my decision," he says. He looks out the window and spies the cabin where Daniel resided. His hand curls into a fist. "If Daniel succeeds in whatever plan he has, it could affect either one of us." He turns to the group.

Preston frowns. "How are you sure his plan even involves us?"

"If he's using David, it's got to harm either him or any of us." His stomach churns. He felt sick to think that Daniel was using David's infatuation for him to his advantages.

"Aren't we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Space Kid hollers. Max fixes him with a glare. The boy looks around like he was outnumbered. "What if you're wrong? You're only making guesses. We don't really know for sure what they feel for each other, unless they declare it. And what about Daniel, huh? What if he isn't the monster you painted him to be?" Space Kid furrows his eyebrows. "What if he genuinely cared for David?"

"Him? That lifeless being? He couldn't possibly care for David!" Max regrets the words as soon as they were out. A small seed of doubt plants inside him. What if Daniel did care? He banishes the thought.

"And you're so sure?" Preston narrows his eyes at him. "How would you justify him saving Space Kid then?" He gestures to the other boy. Space Kid nods enthusiastically.

"Daniel could've done it to win over David's favor." Neil spoke up. "Oddly enough, there are a lot of things you could do in a zombie apocalypse that makes you gain someone's trust. Daniel saw the chance and took it." Neil bites his lip. "Of course, this is just a theory. He didn't let you die, after all."

"He didn't leave me for dead. That's saying a lot!" Space Kid argues, tears welling up in his eyes as he looks at Neil and Max. "I think Daniel's alive in there somewhere. And if David's the only guy that can help him change, then I say go for it." He crosses his arms, looking defiant.

Preston sighs. "Finding love in this cruel world, with an even crueler fate. Reminds me of—"

"No one asked for your opinion, Preston!" Max finally facepalms. "How could you romanticize such a disgusting thing?!"

"You better watch that mouth," Preston grimaces. "Being gay isn't disgusting. I think it's wonderful!"

"I think he was pertaining to their... current life status?" Neil intercepts. Max sags in relief. At least someone understands! He quiets them again and brings them back to their topic. He points out that David and Gwen are still out there looking for him.

"Oh, how kind of you to remind us. We thought they've been inconspicuously murdered by a certain someone to have this conversation right now." Neil comments in sarcasm.

Max glares. "If you're done?" he waits for the other to quiet. "Going back to the plan. We need to kill Daniel. And before you argue—" he looks sharply at Space Kid. "This could potentially save David's life. If we take Daniel out, David won't be lured into whatever trouble he's brewing anymore! This has some obvious downsides too. We're going to have to deal with a brooding David and he may or may not hate us forever, but he'll thank us later when we save him from Daniel's evil clutches." He looks at them in the eye, wanting to drill his words into their heads.

"I want to ask about those downsides." Preston raises his question. "If you're wrong about him, you're getting in the way of something... personal. Whatever problem they're facing is up to them, even if David's safety is on the line." Preston looks down, uneasy with their judging stares. "Well, saving David sounds better, actually." He mutters under his breath.

He crosses the room and scavenges behind the kitchen counter where they hid their stuff. He plucks the weapons they've been using for training out and hands them to each of his members. Knife and dagger, all identical and made light for them to carry around. Seriously, why does this camp even have such things? The thought crosses his mind but he's quick to discard it soon as the others all stand in a straight line.

He stands before them like a leader and inspects each of them, from Preston to Space Kid. He walks confidently. "We cannot let Daniel live on any longer. We've kept him in this camp and for what? To ward off the zombies? No," he stops before Space Kid and scowls at his apprehensiveness.

"He's kept here 'cause David's dumb enough to fall for him." He sneers at the boy. Space Kid looks away, lips quivering. Max turns away and walks down the line.

"You want to save David?" he asks no one in particular. He stalks toward the mattress on the floor where David and Gwen sleep on. He saw it the other day. He knew where they hid the gun. He lifts one corner of the mattress up and lets out a cry of triumph as he guesses right. He retrieves the pistol, suddenly feeling consumed by the weight of their plan. Max never killed anyone. But Daniel... will have to be an exception. There's a first time for everything.

"We need to get rid of the problem before it spreads," he turns slowly, gun in hand. He makes sure to check if it's loaded. He can't run into battle with an empty gun. Preston and Neil look at it fearfully. Space Kid throws the dagger down.

"I'm not doing it!" he cries.

Max, for a horrifying second considers scaring him by aiming the gun at him. He quells that suggestion. He wasn't that big of a dick. "Then you'll make sure Daniel stays in place." He unwinds the chains from the door.

"How can I do that?" he asks from behind.

"Whoa wait, we're doing this now?!" Preston yells. Max's hand rests on the door handles. They had to do this now. Who knew when their next chance could pop up?

"Yes." He says with finality. With one hand, he pushes the doors open. The afternoon sun beats down on him as he waits for the group to emerge. Gun in hand and a dagger at his hip, he feels the adrenaline kick in. He was going to kill Daniel. He was finally going to end that bastard once and for all.

"You're a smart kid," he drawls. "Kiss up to him like you usually do. Get his guard down. Distract him, I don't know." Max turns to Space Kid.

"Uh, are you sure about this?" Neil asks carefully. "From what we've seen, Daniel is... quite the opponent to deal with."

"Yeah. He'll tear you all into pieces before you could raise that gun!" Space Kid throws at them. "And no, I won't do that either. He saved my life. I have no reason to end his." He stands by the doorway with arms crossed. Max sighs dramatically and saunters toward him.

"If you say so..." before the other could blink, he pushes Space Kid backwards. He lands with an oof! Max hurriedly slams the doors close and holds onto the handles.

"Get me something that'll block this door." He says over his shoulder. Neil hands him a thick branch that's big enough to slide within the loops. He lets go and smiles wickedly as Space Kid tries to open it. His voice from the inside is muffled.

"I don't think that was necessary," Preston nervously looks back at the door. Max shrugs.

"Relax, the least he could do is cry and yell at us when we get back. For now, we have some work do to," he walks past them. Every step he took towards the direction of the cabin made his heart beat louder. He was nervous too, he realized. Max never fired a gun before. He'd likely miss at first, but what's so hard about aiming at Daniel's head and shooting? Blood pounded in his ears.

Until he realized it wasn't.

"Max?" Neil's voice interrupted him. Before he could ask, he hears the shattering of glass. The group turns around to see the window of the mess hall shattered, one of the boards thrown on the ground. Space Kid jumps through the hole he's made. For a second, they stare, until Space Kid sprints to the woods.

He's going to get David to stop us, he realizes. Max scowls at his betrayal.

"Get him!" He commands them. Neil and Preston run after the boy. Max stays behind, gripping the gun. He had to do this now. He couldn't let David see what he's about to do. He'll never understand, he thinks. I'm doing this for his own good. And for the good of the camp.

David and Gwen had scoured within the camp's vicinity. There was absolutely no sign of Max. David is filled with dread and wondered if the little boy found trouble as he was running. From the look on Gwen's face, he knew she was thinking the same thing. They retraced their steps. Maybe he was hiding from them. But as the duo walked aimlessly, they soon came across the lake. The same lake that led to their camp. But something caught David's eye and he ran to it. Is it what I think it is? Despite Max's absence, the thought of finding this fills him with joy.

"David?" Gwen asked. He urged her to follow as he enters the clearing to the lake. He staggers to it and puts his hand on its wooden surface. He hears Gwen gasp.

"It's a boat," David says. He looks around it. It's docked and certainly looked functional; no holes or leaks. Inside, there were two oars.

"Has it been here all this time?" Gwen asks, nearing him. David shrugs. They never thought of scouting the lakeside. David's glad for the opportunity as they found something of value.

"We could row it to camp. Dock it by the piers. We could have a boat of our own!" David turns excitedly to Gwen. He sees her smile and he mirrors it. This is great. What a stroke of luck we have! This boat could take us across the lake. Go to places, find other people.

As David climbs in, he faintly hears a set of feet running in their direction. Gwen takes out her weapon but upon seeing Space Kid, they relax. Gwen comes after the boy when he didn't notice them. David watches him anxiously talk to Gwen as they both near the boat. He frets over what must've made the boy run all this way to find them. Did something else happen back at camp? He sees the surprised look on Gwen's face, until it morphs into solid anger.

"Space Kid, are you alright?" David reaches out to him. The boy runs into his arms sobbing. He looks over his shoulder at Gwen. Her taut expression worried him.

"Max is going to kill Daniel." Gwen wastes no time climbing aboard and pulling Space Kid in. David couldn't believe what he was hearing. He mutters a confused what? until Gwen's cold glare wakes him up from his reverie.

"He's going to..." he swallows. David feels actual fear crawl up his spine. A hundred thoughts swirl in his head. Protect Daniel. Why would Max do this? Daniel might fight back and bite him. Max can't kill anyone. The voices combine into a warning, a motivation for him to stop Max. Gwen hands him the other oar and together, they row back to camp in wide, urgent strokes. Dread pushes him to get there faster. Time was ticking.

"What happened, Space Kid?" He sternly asks the boy between him and Gwen. He starts his story by telling them of Max's plan. He was worried for him and thought Daniel was a threat. He catches Gwen's eye but she says nothing. She too thought of him as a threat, but she wouldn't go far as to kill him, right? He gets to the part where Max hands them weapons and how he locked Space Kid inside the mess hall. David's heart breaks. He didn't know whether to feel sympathy for Space Kid, angry at Max for making rash decisions on his own, or scared for Daniel. He was feeling a mix of all of those and felt his stomach churn.

As soon as the camp was within their sights, David rushed to paddle and get the boat docked. Gwen urged him to go as she helped Space Kid up. Without hesitating, he ran. Ran and hoped to every god out there that he wasn't late. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Daniel. He was... special to him. He meant something. For the past few days, Daniel has definitely made a mark on him. And he won't let Max take him away.

The door was open to Daniel's cabin. Max was already inside. David clenched his fists and ran faster. There were no gunshots and he silently prayed that Max hasn't fired yet. He hears Max's voice from the inside, yelling at Daniel. When David gets there, he finds Max on the floor with a dagger raised. It was dripping with blood. On the other side of the room, Daniel's clutching his arm. From his stained fingertips, David could deduce that he's been cut. The chain still tied him to the bed frame, but even so, the bed frame has been moved from its original spot. How long has this been going on?

"Max, stop it!" David shouts. Their attention goes to him as he crosses the room and stands in between them. He takes Daniel's arm slowly and inspects the wound. The cut wasn't deep. He sighs and cups Daniel's cheek. He didn't care if Max was watching at the moment. He's fine. He didn't shoot. He's okay. He repeats his thoughts as he regains his breathing. The events that led up to now both exhausted and scared him breathless. Daniel leans on his hand comfortingly.

"David, you have to understand that Daniel is a monster! Look at him!" Max shouts. Daniel turns away from David to glower at the boy.

"I am, Max. And you're wrong." He takes a deep breath. "Daniel would never hurt me." He recalls Space Kid's story and the reasoning behind Max's actions. It warms his heart that the boy cared for his well-being—but killing Daniel wasn't the solution.

"Really? You're sure about that? What about the next time, he bites you? Where would you be then?" He hears him get up. "Dead! That's what you'll be, David! 'Cause your stupid heart beats pathetically for him, you won't even know when he's taking advantage of you."

"That's quite enough, Max-" he hears him cock a gun and swivels around. David's eyes go wide.

"I'm sorry, David. This is for your own good." Max glares at him as he aims it at the man behind him. The gun is wobbly in his unsteady hands.

"Max, you don't need to do this—"

"Max, put it down!" Gwen appears with Space Kid in tow. Max doesn't listen to them. He's trembling, from nervousness or anger, David doesn't know. The gun is still pointed at them. David tries to move toward him but before he could, he fires.

The fire rings in his ears. It's deafening. Gwen's shout comes as a blur. Everything slows to a stop as David feels his shoulder burn. Did he... shoot me? He thinks in a panic. He touches his shoulder and hisses. The bullet missed him by a few centimeters. He staggers back. Upon looking at Daniel, slight relief fills him at seeing him intact.

But the other focuses on his wound. Daniel's blue eyes were a mix of fury and concern. They turn into slits as he faces Max. He growls, like a wild animal honing in on its prey.

"Shit, D-David..." Max stutters.

Daniel moves past him. The chains snap from the bed frame as he lunges. David leaps forward before Daniel could inflict any real damage at the same time Gwen wields her machete, ready to strike Daniel down. He almost misses the chain but soon as his hand closes around the cool metal, he cries out when a wave of pain hits his arm. The bullet did more damage than he thought. But thankfully, he succeeds in stopping Daniel. Gwen's looking between them, half-apologetic and half-scared.

"Leave." David grounds out. His wound did nothing to help the situation. His arm hurt as he was extending it to hold Daniel back. He's glad he didn't move any further. Gwen stood in place, looking at him like she didn't quite understand him.

"Take Max and go. Right this instant." David glares. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them. Right now, he needed to get Daniel away from them. He needed to calm him down. His friend nods grimly as she takes Max by the collar and hauls him out of the cabin along with Space Kid who watched everything.

As the cabin door shuts close, he lets go of the chain. He stops himself from groaning in pain as he lowers his arm. Immediately, the blonde is at his side. David tries to cover his wound. It had been grazed but luckily, the bullet didn't go through him. He tears up and soon, he feels Daniel's arms around him.

We're okay. No one's dead. Daniel is still mine. He leans on his chest and cries. He didn't want to think of Max. He didn't want to think of his injury. He only wanted Daniel and found contentment in his embrace. It was truly them against the world. No one will ever understand what he felt. Not Max, not Gwen, not even the kids.

Their love threatened them. Their feelings were dangerous. And Max took it upon himself to execute the threat, all because he thought David didn't know any better. David buries his face in his chest and counts to ten. They were wrong. They were all wrong. Because as everything quiets down and he listens to Daniel, he hears not only one beating heart, but two—his and Daniel's. This is how he reassures himself. This is the reason why he believes there's still hope for him. Daniel's heart is proof of him living, even as the virus thrives in his body.

He was right. They could never be together this way. His friends would not approve of it; would never understand it. The world's an unforgiving place. It's time he finds where he truly wants to be and how this'll cost him.