"Well? What do you see!?"

"Jesus, hang on…. okay, there's like three by the door… and like half of one crawling around the side of the building."

Ian looked at Mickey. "Half of one?"

Mickey just handed him the binoculars.

Ian looked through them and saw three living corpses staggering around the entrance of the convenience store they wanted to get into. He then saw the "half of one" crawling on the ground, some of its insides trailing along behind it.

Ian swallowed back his nausea. "Well that one'll be easy."

Mickey nodded, biting the side of his lip in thought. "We won't even need our guns."

The two slowly began to move out of the woods they had been hiding in, and get closer to the store.

Now that they were out in the open, and not surrounded by trees, they both became tense, and gripped each of their weapons-Ian with a bat and Mickey with a tire iron-getting ready to attack.

As they got closed to the store, the corpses began to move toward them.

Taking three was piece of cake. They were able to quickly bash all three of their heads in and get inside the building. They ignored the one crawling around on the ground.

Once inside, they both felt a slight relief, and allowed themselves to glance at each other smiling.

Mickey then looked away. "Okay, what do we need?"

Ian looked around. "Just grab anything canned, I guess. I'll grab some first aid kits."

They split up but the store was small enough to still see each other.

"You think these Pringles are still good?" Mickey suddenly asked, looking over the shelf at Ian.

"They're probably just stale." Ian said, looking back at him, "But you're supposed to be grabbing things like canned corn and beans, and fruit and shit. Not-"

"Jesus! I fucking know, okay?" Mickey snapped. "It's just one can of Pringles."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But you know Fi's gonna make you share."

"Fi can go fuck herself! I came all the way out here, risking my neck, I'm gonna grab some goddamn Pringles and I ain't gonna fucking share 'em!"

"Hey! You didn't have to come!"

"What-and let you come out here by yourself? Get yourself fucking killed?"

"Whatever." Ian muttered, turning back to filling his bag.

The entire Gallagher clan, along with Kev, Veronica, Mickey, Mandy, Iggy, and a few others from their neighborhood, were all living in a big clearing in the middle of the woods. They had left Chicago when the disease first started spreading. Now they all took turns going into the towns and getting food and supplies.

When Ian volunteered to head out this time, Mickey had insisted on going too.

The tension between them had been high recently, mostly to do with the fact that they hadn't fucked in weeks.

They did share a tent together, everyone just figuring it was because they were friends, but recently Carl had been sleeping in their tent too, not wanting to share with Debbie and Liam anymore.

Both boys were quiet, as they finished gathering supplies in the store.

Mickey then moved to the aisle Ian was in, and leaned against the shelf. Ian was refusing to look up at him.

Mickey sighed, "Look I just wanted some fucking Pringles, okay? Haven't had them in weeks…"

Ian finally turned to him, his face soft. He shrugged, "Yeah, I know…"

After a moment, Mickey looked around and took a step closer to Ian. "You know, this is the first time we've been alone in weeks…"

Ian smirked. "We have to get back soon…."

"Oh come on, no one's starving. They can wait." Mickey stepped closer so his face was about an inch from Ian's.

Ian paused for only a second before grabbing Mickey's face and pulling their mouths together.

Mickey wrapped his arms around Ian, and they both immediately began to pull each other's clothes off.

Before Ian could get any more than Mickey's sweatshirt off, he pulled away.

"Hang on," he said, "gotta piss."

Ian rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

Mickey walked down a short hallway that had a sign saying Employees Only, looking for a bathroom. He spotted one just two doors down.

He'd only been gone about a minute before Ian heard him yell "Fuck!"

He quickly ran to where Mickey had disappeared and found him standing in the doorway, trying to hold off a decaying body. Ian moved forward, realizing they had both left their weapons in the middle of the store.

His own limbs became involved in the struggle, as he did everything he could to keep the thing from Mickey.

Remembering the gun in the back of his pants, he pulled it out and began bashing in the thing's head, not wanting to waste a bullet.

Once the creature had stopped moving, and its head was completely split open, Ian turned back to Mickey. "Fuck, that was close."

Mickey was just staring, looking horrified, a look that Ian wasn't used to on Mickey's face.

Ian followed Mickey's stare down to his left arm and saw it.

A giant bloody bite mark just a few inches up from his wrist.

He hadn't even noticed that. He was too focused on getting the thing away from Mickey.

In the next second Mickey was on him, undoing Ian's belt at the speed of light. He looked at him, shocked, wondering how he could still possibly be thinking of getting in his pants. He wanted to scream at Mickey that he was going to die and he couldn't believe all Mickey wanted was one last fuck.

But then he was grabbing Ian's wounded arm, and wrapping the belt around it, pulling it tight enough to stop circulation.

"What-?" Ian started.

"I'm gonna chop your arm off." Mickey said, with the same amount of casualty as when he told Ian he was going to the bathroom.

"What!?" Ian yelled, "You are not chopping my fucking arm off!"

Mickey glared at him, "Well I sure as hell ain't putting a bullet through your head!"

He began looking in the other rooms, until he found what looked like an office, with a collection of different tools inside.

Ian heard him mutter something like "perfect" and when Mickey came out holding an ax, Ian stepped back. "You're not chopping my arm off!" He yelled, completely panicking now.

"There are two ways we can do this, Gallagher! Hard way or easy way-either one, the arms coming off!" Mickey yelled, quickly moving forward.

Ian now tried pleading, "I'm gonna die, Mick! Can't we just-can't I just enjoy my last-!?"

"Shut the fuck up, Gallagher!" Mickey grabbed Ian and was able to knock him down, so he was lying on the floor. He held down Ian's other arm with his knee, and pulled the wounded one so it was sticking straight out from his body. "I'm not gonna let you die. I'm not gonna let you become one of them."

Ian was too much in shock by the fact that Mickey, the person he trusted more than anyone else, was trying to hurt him, to even try to fight back.

He stayed still, but looked up at Mickey, fearful tears in his eyes, muttering, "Please don't do this, please don't do this…"

Mickey felt a wave of dread wash over him as he looked down at Ian. "Just stay still, okay? This will only take a second." He tried to make his voice soft, but it still came out snappy and anxious.

Ian closed his eyes, groaning "Mickey, this isn't gonna work…"

"It has to work, okay?" He sounded desperate, "I'm gonna count to three."

Ian was now whimpering, as he felt Mickey tighten the belt around his arm again and move so he was in a better position to do what he was about to do.

"One… two…"

Ian shut his eyes tighter, muttering "No, no, no, fuck, no…"

"Three!"

Ian felt a searing pain like he had never felt before shoot through his arm. He would've heard a crunch, had he not let out a loud yell. "Fuuuuuck!" He opened his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

"You're not gonna wanna look," Mickey said to him, "I have to go again. Just one more time, I promise!"

Mickey looked like he was going to be sick. His voice was full of panic.

Ian shut his eyes again and turned away.

As soon as the ax came down the second time, Ian immediately lifted his head and vomited to the side.

The ax came down a third time, and there was finally a loud snap.

Ian was fully sobbing now, with more loud "fuck!"s.

Mickey dropped the ax to the side and knelt down next to Ian. He pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around Ian's bleeding arm, using the belt to hold it.

Ian finally looked over. He felt ready to pass out. "Is-is that… is that my arm…?" He asked faintly, trying to move the fingers on his left hand. "You chopped off my arm!" He cried.

Mickey stood up, then bent over and tried helping Ian up with the arm that was still intact. "Come on," he said.

"I don't have an arm, Mickey!"

"Yeah you do." He reached down and pulled Ian to his feet. Ian vomited a second time, all over Mickey's shoes.

Mickey barely even noticed, though, as he helped Ian back into the main part of the store.

He put his sweatshirt back on, found a box of Advil and a water bottle. Ian wanted to say that the Advil wouldn't do anything, but the pain was fogging up his brain, and he only managed a groan, as he took the Advil anyway. Mickey had to open both bottles for him, and Ian was only vaguely aware of how much he hated that.

Mickey then picked up the two bags, and went back for the gun that Ian had dropped.

Ian was leaning on the shelf, looking drained of all energy.

Mickey walked up to him, and wrapped his arm around Ian's waist. Ian wrapped the arm he still had around Mickey's neck and moved forward with him.

They left the store and began walking back toward the woods.

Ian looked down at the bloody tank top that was wrapped around what was now the end of his arm. Everything beyond the elbow was gone.

He groaned again.

Mickey looked up at him. He looked guilty. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I promise I'll give you like a hundred blow jobs later or something, okay?"

"Mick…. Mick, I'm gonna die…" Ian said weakly.

"You're gonna be fine!" Mickey snapped. "You're not gonna die so stop fucking saying that!"

"It's not gonna work… I'm either gonna turn into one of those things or bleed out…"

Mickey suddenly stopped and looked at Ian, "I'm not gonna let you, so shut the fuck up!"

Ian just groaned again. "This fucking hurts." The tears hadn't left Ian's eyes since Mickey had first pushed him to the floor.

Mickey started walking again. "I know it hurts… but I had to, okay? Just… you'll be fine in a little bit, I promise."

They finally made it all the way back to the clearing, and Fiona was the first one to see them.

She ran up to them when she saw that there was something wrong.

"What the fuck happened! ?" she yelled as they got closer.

"I got bit, Fiona," Ian answered weakly, ready to start crying, or throw up, again. "I'm gonna die."

"What! ?" She moved closer to him, looking panicked. She practically pulled him away from Mickey.

"He's not gonna die!" Mickey said following closely behind as Fiona started walking him to the nearest tent. "He's gonna be fine!"

Suddenly all of the Gallaghers seemed to come out of nowhere just as Fiona entered the tent with Ian. Mickey was standing at the entrance, but was suddenly pushed out of the way by a frantic Debbie.

After looking in the tent, she gasped, and took a step back, covering her mouth with her hands.

Carl began yelling "Holy shit!" as Lip finally came up to the tent.

He pushed through everyone to get in the tent, yelling, "What the fuck happened?"

Mickey finally entered the tent, with the bags he had been carrying, and began pulling out the first aid kits.

Lip then rounded on him, "What the fuck happened?"

"He-he got bit, so I took care of it!"

"What-? You fucking took his arm off?" Lip was yelling in his face, practically pushing him out of the tent, "How fucking stupid are you! ?"

"Ay!" Mickey yelled back defensively, "What was I supposed to do?"

"How about you just leave?"

"Gladly!" He then stormed out of the tent. He pretended not to hear the "My brother's probably gonna die because of you!" that was called after him.

Mickey went back to the tent that he and Ian shared and immediately wish he hadn't left. There was no way for him to know if Ian would be okay, unless someone came and told him, which he doubted anyone would.

Ian's gonna be fine, he told himself repeatedly, before he finally lied down on his sleeping bag and tried not to think about how the last thing Lip had said to him could possibly be true.

For hours he stayed there, thinking about nothing but the look on Ian's face as Mickey pushed him to the ground, the sound of Ian's bone snapping, and the sinking feeling that's been getting worse since he first saw the bite mark on Ian's arm.

But Ian couldn't die. Mickey would never be able to accept that. It would be his breaking point. After watching his brother, Tony, getting ripped apart by these undead creatures, and seeing his father turn into one and attack Iggy, forcing Iggy to put a bullet through their dad's head, Ian not being around anymore would be what finally made Mickey snap.

Just as Mickey was deciding to go and force himself back into the tent Ian was to see how he was doing, Mandy walked in.

Mickey looked at her, desperate for information.

After a moment, she said, "So as long as Ian's arm doesn't get infected, and heals right, he's going to be fine. It's been hours and he hasn't even began showing symptoms. No fever, no headache, nothing."

He let out a breath and physically relaxed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

Mandy moved forward, then, and hugged Mickey tight.

"Ay, what the fuck?" Mickey stepped back, but didn't push her off.

"No one told me what happened and everyone was freaking out and for a full twenty minutes I thought something happened to you!" She said into his shoulder.

"I'm fine, alright?" Mickey said as she let go, "It'll take a lot more than just a run into town to stop me."

"It almost stopped Ian!"

Mickey didn't say anything.

After a moment, Mandy said, "Lip feels like an ass for yelling at you, by the way, but he'll never admit it."

"Figured… think they'll let me see him now?"

"They have to," Mandy insisted, "I mean, you saved his fucking life."

Mickey followed Mandy back to the tent Ian was in.

Fiona was stepping out of the tent just as they approached it.

She stopped Mickey. "Thank you," she said, "for saving my brother's life."

Mickey just shrugged, a little shocked.

As soon as Mickey entered the tent, the youngest red headed Gallagher went up and hugged him. "Thanks for saving my brother!" She was practically crying.

He awkwardly patted her on the back and said "Sure, kid."

Ian was sitting on the sleeping bag, and his arm was now wrapped in bandages instead of Mickey's old tank top. Lip was sitting next to him.

When Lip saw Mickey, he slowly stood up and muttered something about getting some drinks. He then beckoned for Debbie and Carl to follow him.

After Mandy stepped in, she only gave Ian a hug, and asked him how he was, before saying she was going to go with Lip. Mickey rolled his eyes at how obvious she was being.

Once they were alone in the tent, Mickey looked at him and asked, "So how's your arm?"

"You mean what's left of it?"

He could tell Ian was joking, but still grimaced.

Ian saw his face and said, "Hey, come on, you saved my life, okay? I fucking owe you."

Mickey raised his eyebrows slightly. After a minute he said, "Give me a blow job we'll call it even?"

Ian laughed, "Yeah, but as I remember, you owe me a hundred of those."

Mickey laughed too, and neither of them spoke for a while.

Ian finally broke the silence. "Thank God it was me," he said quietly, "I mean… if it had been you, I wouldn't have been able to do what you did. Wouldn't have even had the idea."

Mickey was quiet then laughed nervously, "Well yeah, good thing it was you then."

Ian smirked. He knew he didn't mean it. He knew Mickey still felt guilty and would probably feel guilty for a while.

"Too bad we didn't get to take advantage of being alone in the store," Mickey then said.

Ian shrugged, "I'll kick Carl out of the tent tonight."

"What-you don't think you're too weak to fuck someone right now?"

"Well yeah, but I'm not too weak for you to start paying off all those blow jobs you promised…"

6