MUTATION- chapter 4

Fighting the undead was more of a test of endurance rather than skill. Anyone could chop through a persons head, but only so many people could do it forever.

Shooting lasers from your eyes was only useful if you got the target's bullseye first time round, not the second, not the third, because then you're dead. And trusting a blue teleporting mutant as your last line of defence isn't the best safety line.

Kurt would teleport around and tell Scott where to shoot, using numbers from the clock as a guidance.

"9 o'clock!"

"Kay!"

And a red beam would blast through the undead's skull and his brain would melt and dribble through the hole that was recently created.

This plan worked until the two teenagers were starting to tire. After fifteen minutes the duo had cleared their waves of Walkers and rushed to find Logan and Peter by following the spray paint that marked the way.

The pair followed the painted arrows like it was a religion, praying that they wouldn't walk into another wave of walkers. Kurt held onto Scott's baggy sleeve of his prison outfit as a constant reminder that he wasn't alone and he would soon be out of danger. Plus, if he needed to teleport back to the room they were last in it made the job easier.

Scott was struggling to see in the dim light and was shuffling forward, letting Kurt follow the arrows. He could feel the reminding and comforting tug of Kurt's hand on his sleeve. If all else failed, at least they would die together- best friends forever.

It wasn't till the third corner turned that Kurt- who was leading- stopped abruptly and teleported backwards habitually, causing Scott to stumble as the sudden wave of nausea hit him. Struggling to suppress the need to vomit, Scott crouched against the wall and placed one hand under his glasses and over his eyes and rubbed them whilst placing the other hand over his stomach.

Once he thought that the wave of sudden illness had passed he stood cautiously and waved his arms slowly in front of him, looking for Kurt blindly. By now the pair had learned that their enemy was attracted to sound but Kurt couldn't help his loudness of accidental teleportation.

"K-Kurt?", Scott stuttered, allowing his nerves to attack his fragile and vulnerable state and his heart started thumping loudly as fear seeped into his veins and flowing around his bloodstream. His hands trembled as they waved in the air looking for his best friend. Goosebumps made his legs feel weak and the panic of not knowing where his friend was started to build and swell in his chest like a large red balloon filled with helium, refusing to sink. The balloon filled his chest quickly and started to mould into his neck, quickly closing off Scott's air supply.

"Kurt?" Scott whispered more feebly, feeling overwhelmed by his shaking hands and tight chest and clogged up throat. He sat back down and both hands flew to his throat as he tried to contain his whimpers and gasps for oxygen.

Small lines of blood started to deep through Scott's skin and stain his collar as he finally caught a deep breath and stopped attacking his neck, slowly relaxing as Kurt placed a hand on Scott's elbow like he had practiced many times in the canteen.

Both boys struggled to keep hold of sanity and the recent news of all their loved ones being dead wasn't helping.

"Remember Scott, in through your nose, out through your mouth. In for three, hold for three and then release for three," Kurt encouraged quietly and as soothingly as his rough accent allowed, "That's it! And again, in... and out..."

He watched as the broken teen cautiously inhaled, like a foal learning to walk for the first time, one shaky breath at a time, Scott finally managed to compose himself and with help, stood up straight.

Kurt returned his hand to Scott's sleeve and the duo walked off again, only to find a small crowd of walkers had heard Kurt's accidental teleportation.

***

Logan and Peter were also slowing down and Logan's earlier advice of "don't get surrounded" was becoming harder and harder to follow.

Peter was getting bored of slashing and poking and slapping the dead bodies as they threatened him and his instructor but the idea of dying and becoming a 'Walker' -as Rick had called them- was terrifying enough to keep focused, no matter how difficult that was.

His mind started to wander he sped about, asking stupid questions he didn't care about. 'What's for dinner?' 'What was this guys last dinner?' 'Is that bloody on his teeth? Eww'

"Peter!" Logan called in annoyance once Peter had stopped running to pull a face at one zombie.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Attention please?"

"Sorry...had a moment..."

Logan was now definitely surrounded, his prison uniform was blotchy with sweat patches under his arms, his lower back and down his neck. Sweat trickled down his forehead and was caught by his rather bushy brows. Logan paused to lick his salty lips but his reflexes caused him to pivot one hundred and eighty degrees to stab a Walker with his claws.

"What would happen if I get bit or scratched?" Logan asked himself. His incredible healing would close the wound and fight the infection, but would he turn into a Walker? He didn't want to test the theory and continued on his rapid race to kill as many walkers as possible until Kurt and Scott caught up. It wouldn't be long, if he strained his hearing, he could hear Kurt and Scott shouting to each other.