Chapter 15：CHAPTER FIFTEEN PRISONERS

POV: Dylan

It has been two weeks since he locked us up in here; and at the beginning I could only hide myself on the bed while, shivering, I could still feel his fingers pressing down my throat, squishing until I could not breathe, making me wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, gasping with the vision of his red eyes.

Which only made things worse for Richard; already overprotective, he went overboard to the point of staying awake to look after me.

I hated myself for that, for that moment of weakness, for being so selfish as to let Richard carry this burden alone, making it all build up like a snowflake running down a mountain.

But the days passed, one by one, only Samael's shadow coming and going with food, the monotony and emptiness dragging themselves for days, until I was ready to face the world again and analyze the situation we were in.

And we were royally fucked by the soldiers.

I couldn't care less for them though; they were almost mercenaries at this point, all the other soldiers from the base refused to go on another fruitless adventure as they put it.

Only Richard stayed, only him followed me even if it sounded like a crazy dream, but what could I do? If there was really the slight chance that, out there, there was a cure, how could I stay still knowing that I could end this all?

The possibility would eat me alive.

We scientists still had it easier than the rest, not fancy mind you, but we didn't hunger nor were put to work in dangerous zones, and were the first ones to be evacuated, for not only our research but for our medical knowledge as many were doctors as well.

Still the first days were engraved harshly in my brain, all the chaos, the panic, the empty eerie streets, any presence a treat, such a peaceful mindset been turned upside down in mere hours, our instincts, our selfishness, our animal's sides coming to life as we fought for survival.

And many lived like that yet, until this day, out in the cities, away from the safe zones, and one, one bite, one scratch was enough to end it all.

Human life has always been a fragile thing, but the fact hadn't been spit in our faces and rubbed in our minds, the zombies a constant reminder that, no matter how far we went, how much we rebuild, the treat would always be out there, lying in wait, a barrier that kept humans from reaching the glory that we once had.

But we could change that, here, now.

It was too much at stake to let anything get in the way… The only question was, how far was I prepare to go, how much was I prepare to sacrifice, for the sake of humankind?

One of these days I watched Samael come and go, entering our room without uttering a word, as always, lost in his own world as if moving automatically, lost in thought.

Then, pale and petrified, I saw a livid Richard come behind him with a chair, only to hammer it down on his head, making me gasp in horror, thinking that, now, we were totally doomed.

But, worst of all, was the lack of reaction from Samael's part, who didn't even bend forward with the impact, only slowly moved towards Richard, his eyes finally reaching mine, and their light surprised me.

He looked… sad, empty, lonely even. His eyes told what all the rest of the body didn't, for all the lack of expression in the past days.

Shocked in place, I didn't do anything, I didn't say anything, only stood there, staring back at him, who with a last look at Richard walked away, a strange glint coming over his eyes.

"Damn Richard, that didn't help."

I bite down my lips, thinking, my brain working beyond my hearts will, my survivor's instincts kicking in. Resting my chin on one of my hands, an idea starts to form in my mind, making me pet the bed beside me, gesturing so that Richard would sit beside me, as he does.

"You saw what happened when they used force against him, it is pointless and it will only anger him further." He tries to talk, but I shush him with my finger on his lips, still thinking too deeply to notice his reaction to it.

I lick my dry lips, looking Richard in the eyes.

"I think we should try to seduce him. Play his game."

"No-way. Are you crazy?!"

"Crazy?! Then tell me, until now, when he was interested in us in that way, we lived far better, I would go as far as to say that I could even have him to show us the laboratory!"

Richard fumes a little more, trying to come with excuses and motives as not to agree, his jaw hardening once he realizes that, as far as it goes, he doesn't have a better plan, so once more I start talking:

"Do you want to put the future of mankind in risk because of your pride? You even did with him already…" I say, blushing once more at the thought.

He looks away then, not embarrassed; that was actually me, blushing; but working something off in his mind, saying:

"That's… That's not the reason why I don't want to seduce him… If it was just me then that's okay, but I don't want, I-I won't have him touching you, never."

"But why do you care?" I look up at him, as he still avoids my eyes, fluttering my eyelashes. What did he mean by that?

He takes a deep breath, a determinate gaze covers his green eyes as he turns towards me, looking me in the eyes with such an intense gaze that I look away immediately, felling his hands grasp my shoulder, his big hands cupping my small figure with easy.

"Dylan, look at me." I do, unable to stop myself from shivering under his intense gaze. He seems hesitant, yet confident, as he starts: "I don't want any other men nor women touching you, I don't want you to look at any other, I-I want you to have eyes only for me. Dylan, I-I love you, always did, since the day my sister brought you home, and I know that is wrong and-"

At that I gave him a peck on the lips, blushing hard and pushing my hair behind my ears, looking at his stunned face.

"I-I thought you would never declare, silly."

"You-you knew?"

I giggle. "You weren't the most discrete you know? But I only confirmed after the apocalypse, once you chose to stay with me beyond your sister, and the care you always gave me…"

He looks at me then, tenderly, as if hypnotized, his eyes tracing down until he was staring at my lips, making me bite them down, closing my eyes.

And we kissed, our moisty lips touching almost hesitantly, as if this was a fragile thing that, if forced, would break, until Richard starts to push harder as a starved man, leaning forward and making me bend down on the bed, prying my mouth open so that our tongues touched each other, exploring our mouths, passing his tongue over my palate just to let go, breathless, staring down my already teary eyes.

He leans forward again, his big figure embracing my being, but I once more shush him with my fingers.

"We need to do this Rick, for humankind, for our sake."

He looks at me, giving a quick kiss, a smug grin plastering his always so serious face, as he hugs me close to him, saying:

"Ok, ok, if you think we need to, I will agree, you had always been the smarter one of us two after all." I laugh at that.

"I wouldn't disagree." I say cheekily, earning a Hey and a slap on the butt.

I look at the door, happy yet with a bitter taste in my mouth, thinking how we were just using Samael for our own purposes…

How can one be sad and happy at the same time, I wonder… yet here I am, happy for me and Richard, and sad for the lonely vampire that we were going to manipulate.

I didn't like it, I didn't like it one bit, but life… life in the apocalypse didn't give a fuck about your wants and wishes... and we needed to do this.

~~~~

POV: back to Samael

The chair hammered down at the back of my head but it didn't hurt me physically as it did to my proud and already frozen heart.

Oh, I'm such a drama quee-king! King!

Sitting on my round big sofa I call Luka, who trots happily to my side, having me stroke his very fluffy ears as I eardrop on a very interesting conversation.

Why all the humans here think I'm stupid hey? Or deaf at that…

Calmly petting Luka until he fell asleep on my lap, a smirk makes his way to my face as I think on how I would make Richard pay back for that chair on the head…

Oh, and about their trying to use me? I wasn't worried, really, after all, it was mutual… I would enjoy every inch and part of their bodies until I dried them out in both ways.

I lick my lips as I smell and hear when the medicine I put on their foods starts to take effect, making they pass out on the bed, surprised and astonished, and ready for my harvest.

You shouldn't have provoked me, Richard, you could have joined the fun I planned for tonight… but now I will have to punish you.