"Duncan! Just hold on a bit!" 

Isaak shouted without even looking at his friend, but he hoped that when he got rid of the rotten his friend would be just fine. The blonde gained some strength from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He finally got the zombie in a sitting position where he was able to slash his head in half. He panted at the sight of the open brain but he didn't freeze; he had to help Duncan.

The black-haired was struggling to keep that thing away, his arms felt weak and the sniper between them could break at any moment. He closed his eyes, almost accepting death, but then the overwhelming smell of death was gone. Isaak had booted the rotten on its side and was hovering it before stabbing its head with his machete. Now there wasn't any growling, just heavy breaths from both boys. They were exhausted after that unexpected encounter. Duncan didn't even move from the floor where he laid, but Isaak kneeled next to him checking for any wounds that they rotten could have caused.

"Are you okay? Did he bit you? See why I fucking told you not to go alone?" Isaak rambled, he tried to sound angry but, honestly, all sounded like worry to Duncan. It was easy to read Isaak's troubled eyes. "I'm fine. Thank you for kicking it. You got strong legs, huh?" The black-haired tried to joke but he was still out of breath. Isaak's glare didn't make him think he was funny either.

"Well, I used to play soccer all the time" Isaak said helping his friend up. Duncan stumbled slightly but it wasn't surprising. Both of them were shaky after that close to death situation. "I always hated soccer, never thought I would be glad about its existence" the black-haired chuckled and bumped his head on Isaak's shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't fall if leaned against something.

"Man, we need to get back" Isaak patted his back, feeling his friend's shivers, he didn't expect to feel Duncan shaking as much as he was. "You definitely need to get back, I thought a thing like this wouldn't scare you this much"

"We almost died, I might be used to killing them but I still get shaky sometimes. Don't worry about it though" Duncan said offering a smile to Isaak. The blonde nodded and pulled out the machete of the zombie's brain. "I bet you didn't have this much fun in the bunker"

"I never had fun in the bunker" Isaak sighed starting to walk towards the camp. Duncan frowned a bit before following him. "You really hated that place, didn't you? When you talk about it it almost sounds like it was worse than this" The black-haired said once he reached Isaak. The blonde turned his head to face him, he shook his head.

"No, man, you have been running for your life since it started. You had to worry about if you'd get eaten while sleeping or if you'd make it another day. Mine was hoping for a meal and not getting punished." Isaak explained as they walked, this time he tried to be more aware of his surroundings.

"Punished? Why?" Duncan asked confused, there were many things he wanted to ask but he wasn't sure if Isaak would answer him. But trying wouldn't kill him.

"Roger didn't want us to talk without permission and even if we got it we had to be quiet or he'd punish us." Duncan couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knew people had gone crazy but he had decided to forget about that fact.

"He beat you?" He asked carefully, it was definitely a difficult topic.

"Not always, mostly the punishment was not having food for the next day. Sometimes he did hit me, others..." The blonde took a pause for a few seconds, he looked up to the sky and then met Duncan's eyes. There was a hint of worry between the curiosity and the deep grey. "Others he would take my arms and cut. He believed that I could take it because I had done it before, I guess"

Duncan stopped walking and Isaak walked just a few more steps ahead of him. The blonde didn't know what to expect from Duncan right at that moment, because he looked pissed off and confused altogether.

"He fucking cut you? For fucks sake, why- I- because you had done it doesn't mean that it is okay for him to do that- I didn't even recognize the cuts..." The black-haired stumbled upon his words, making random movements with his arms as Isaak watched him with a sad smile.

"It's okay that you didn't see, the new wounds cover the old ones, both mine and Roger's" Isaak put his hand on Duncan's shoulder, he didn't get why the boy looked so upset for something he had no control over. But it was somehow comforting.

"I'd fucking kill him" Duncan mumbled under his breath. He didn't even mean to say it but Isaak heard him and chuckled. "He beated you on that. He was the one that turned and made us leave" Isaak told him pushing the boy forward to start walking.

                                                           ***

"What took you so long? I was worried, boys!" Victoria yelled at the pair of guys that made their way in the perimeter.

"We had to kill two zombies and it took some time" Duncan said with a calm voice. He had already relaxed from the encounter and his talk with Isaak; the rest couldn't tell that anything happened.

"Duncan, where are the bandages? I cut my fingers with the machete" Isaak asked looking around the van hoping to find what he needed.

"Did you? Let me see that" The black-haired asked coming to where the blonde stood. The latter showed him his hand with dried blood. "It doesn't need stitches, just a cleanup and a couple of band-aids. Sit over there, I'll take the chance to change your arm bandages as well"

"Duncan, I can do it by myself" Isaak tried to argue but the grey-eyed wasn't having any of it. The blonde gave up and sat on a rock next to the river.

It didn't take long for Duncan to come back with everything he needed. He sat in front of Isaak and grabbed his hand first. He cleaned the dry blood off and put some liquid that Isaak couldn't figure out, but it stung. Then the black-haired searched through the first aid kit and pulled out a bunch of band-aids.

"Aren't there normal ones instead of colored ones?" Isaak chuckled when he saw the rainbow bands aids, Duncan looked at them and shrugged.

"I think they are cute, dude" he smiled and started putting them on each cut, two on every finger so they stayed in their place.

"Sure are" he said as he looked at the well setted band-aids. He never knew how to put on a single band, let alone bandage an arm the way that Duncan did. "Where did you learn to nurse like this?" 

"Oh, huh, good question" Duncan snorted awkwardly before answering "Uh, my dad got hurt from time to time while hunting and...Someone, had to teach me to take care of easy things and to stich not too deep cuts"

Now it was time for the arm bandages, and Isaak had to look away. He hated the sight of them and how embarrassed he felt having someone taking care of his mistakes. His green eyes focused on the way the stars reflected on the water of the river, or the fire from a few meters away, maybe the trees on the other sore. He hoped for Duncan to finish it quickly without having to look at each other but the feeling of fingers carefully running over his arm betrayed him. Isaak looked down at the grey eyes, Duncan was just as concerned as he was in the forest and the blonde didn't like that.

"Isn't that unhygienic?" Isaak tried to joke to erase the tension, it seemed to work as Duncan clicked his tongue and smirked. "I cleaned and sanitized my hands before, idiot" the black-haired said.

"These look like they were deep" Duncan's voice was soft as he looked at the scars. The fresh wounds had been healing nicely and now that the skin was less red, you could see the different scars.

"He did those, not me.I didn't... mine were-" Isaak said rushed, one thing was talking about them when they were safely hidden under his clothes. But being exposed made it a reality that he was ashamed of. He couldn't even think straight.

"Isaak, you don't need to tell me if it triggers you, I understand" Duncan reassured him moving his fingers away from the scars, but he was holding his arm all the time. Isaak shook his head, he wanted to explain it, maybe if talked about it he could forget sooner.

"Mine were just like scratches, almost nothing, they faded in a pair of weeks just leaving thin pale lines. What he did hurt a lot...I bled too much" Isaak finally let it out, he looked up at Duncan to see his reaction. This time he didn't look pissed of and confused like earlier. He just looked upset almost like he would have teared up if Isaak kept explaining.

"I'm so sorry" Duncan said before pulling Isaak on a hug. The blonde flinched at first but then let himself be embraced. It had been months since someone had hugged him, but he didn't realize how touch starved he had been."It's okay, Duncan" the blonde said, his voice being muffled by Duncan's shoulder.

"No one will fucking hurt you here, you know that right?" The black-haired needed to make sure that his friend knew that. He had always looked out for his group and now that Isaak joined them he'd treat him just the same.

"Yes, yes I do" Isaak closed his eyes and felt at peace for the first time in a long time.