Burning lungs, aching legs, sore feet.

Grace was surprisingly fast. And smart, too. Josh and Tyler had been chasing her down the street for at least five minutes already. She didn't seem like she would be slowing down anytime soon. Josh was tired, Tyler was angry.

"I'm gonna fucking get her, Josh!" he yelled, practically leaping to keep up with the older. He had smaller legs than both Josh and Grace, but so much adrenaline coursed through his veins that there would be no stopping anytime soon.

Josh didn't respond, he was too busy trying to keep his breathing steady. The girl's, on the other hand, was heavy and ragged. She sounded like she was gasping for air and Josh could easily tackle her, but that was Tyler's job. So, they pushed further down the street.

"Come on," Josh finally croaked. His throat felt raw. "Get her already."

Tyler raised his knife and launched himself forward, landing his knife in Grace's back. She buckled instantly, and fell to the ground with a small cry.

"Fucking, stupid, bitch," Tyler panted, stabbing her between each word. Josh watched with a smile, crouching to sit down as he tried to regain his breath.

Tyler was relentless; he continued even long after she had stopped breathing. The redhead didn't mind too much, except for the fact that they now had at least a mile walk back to their van.

"Baby, come on, it's time to go," he said, placing a gentle hand on Tyler's shoulder. The brunette snapped his head to look at him, blood splattered across his cheekbones like freckles.

"You go," he said. "I'll wait here."

"What? No, come on. I'm not leaving you here by yourself just-"

"I can handle myself for five fucking minutes, Josh! God! Go get the van and I'll fucking wait here."

"Whatever. If you're not here when I come back I'm not fucking looking for you."

"I'll be here," Tyler rolled his eyes.

"I just don't understand why you can't-"

"Josh! Go! I'm not fucking weak like you think I am, okay!?"

"I'm not saying you're weak I-"

"Shut up," Tyler interrupted again. "Just go. I'll be here."

"Fine," Josh spat and took off jogging in the direction they'd came.

Tyler pissed him off. He didn't understand why he couldn't just come with him. Josh knew he was strong, but there were people that were stronger. What would he do if Tyler wasn't there when he got back? Then what? Josh hated to admit it, but he was scared.

Why did Tyler have to be so stubborn and such an idiot? Why is the thought of losing him the only thing in the world that scares Josh? How is that fair? Josh never asked for that. Life would be so much simpler if he wasn't constantly worried about his boyfriend.

Josh saw a shadow in the distance running towards him. Whoever it was, was aiming a gun at him. Josh cursed to himself and skidded to a stop in front of an alleyway. He quickly hid in the shadows, loading the pistol in his hands.

Soft clicking sounds approached the alley, almost as if the person were wearing high heels. They stopped, suddenly, and Josh held his breath.

A head, or rather a shadow of a head, peeked around the corner. In one swift movement, Josh raised his gun and fired. Down she went, Josh could see her clearly now. It was Annika, the girl from his history class. She laid in a pool of her own blood, a bullet lodged somewhere inside of her brain.

"What the fuck," Josh whispered, prying the AK she was holding out of her stiff hands. He walked the rest of the way back to the van, holding both loaded weapons in either hand.

He carefully loaded them in the back before driving off to find Tyler. And even though he was kind of expecting it, his heart dropped when he saw that Tyler was definitely not okay.

A burlap sack was covering his head, his hands were tied behind him, and two masked men were beating him with the butt of their guns. Josh could hear him screaming his name. He sounded terrified. The sound of his best friend being beaten to death made Josh's blood boil. He was absolutely livid.

He hopped out of the van, using it as cover as he began shooting at the two men.

"Oh shit!" One of them shouted, blindly firing back at him. The other grabbed Tyler by his collar and lifted him to his feet.

"Stop!" He shouted, holding his gun against the scared boy's head. "Stop or I'll fucking kill him I swear to God!"

Josh paused, his eyes wide as he watched the man carefully. "What do you want?" He called out, his heart shattering at the sound of Tyler actually crying.

"Give us your van," the other said, nodding towards the vehicle. "And you can have your precious whore back."

God fucking dammit, Tyler. This is all your fault.

"Josh, please!" The brunette whined.

"Shut the fuck up!" The man yelled, striking the butt of his gun against Tyler's stomach. He cried out and nearly fell, but the men held him upright.

"Fuck! Okay!" Josh complied, stepping from behind the van with his arms in the air. They needed that fucking van. It had all of their weapons, their food, their money, everything. This was all Tyler's fault.

Josh inched his way over to the three of them, keeping his gun raised above his head in surrender. When he reached Tyler, the two men hopped in the van and sped off while firing at the two of them. Josh shielded Tyler's body with his own, but ended up taking a bullet in the back of his shoulder.

"God fucking damn you Tyler! God damn you, you stupid motherfucker!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Josh! Oh my god, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not fucking okay! This is all your fucking fault! We're going to fucking die and it's all your fault!" Josh screamed, untying Tyler as best he could with a bullet in his shoulder. He ripped the sack off his head and threw it against the wall with another yell. "God fucking dammit!"

"I'm sorry!" Tyler cried, tears mixing with the blood on his face. Josh couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Tyler cry. "Just fucking kill me, Josh. I'm useless and I'm a burden and I'm fucking weak and you should just kill me off now."

"Shut the fuck up," Josh muttered, kneeling to the ground as he pressed his fingers against the hole in his shoulder. "Get this fucking bullet out of me Tyler or so help me God..."

"I'll try but... I'm... I'm kind of sore from-"

"I don't fucking care right now, Tyler. I'm sore too and I still untied your ass. This wouldn't even be happening right now if you weren't such a stubborn brat," he growled, hardly even flinching when Tyler's knife dug in his shoulder.

"I hope this fucking hurts," Tyler muttered, wiggling the knife in the wound to try and find the bullet. "I found it."

"Well fucking get it out!"

"With what, my good looks?"

"Your god damn fingers!"

So Tyler pushed his fingers inside the bleeding, gaping wound, making Josh yell. "Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!" Tyler shot back, pinching the bullet between his nails and ripping it out of Josh's shoulder. "You're such an asshole."

"Because you deserve it, Tyler! You could've gotten yourself killed! Do you know how fucking stupid you are? You're not pulling shit like that ever again. You need me just as much as I need you," Josh sighed, pressing his palm against the bullethole and wincing.

"You don't need me," Tyler mumbled. "I just hold you back. You should've kept the van and let me die."

"I'm about to slap you."

"I deserve it."

Josh rolled his eyes and cupped Tyler's cheek with his free hand, feeling the fresh tears. "Tyler, I love you. I'd always choose you over anything. I'm sorry I took my anger out on you, I shouldn't have done that. I was honestly just so mad that you scared me like-"

"Scared?" Tyler interrupted, placing his hand overtop of Josh's. "You were scared?"

"Yes I was scared, moron. I thought I was about to watch the love of my life get murdered."

"You're such a softy," Tyler smiled, finally, pressing a kiss to the tip of Josh's nose.

"I am not, I just happen to love you more than anything else on this planet."

"Then you're a softy for me," Tyler corrected himself. Josh just couldnt hold in his smile.

"That is very true," he started. "But what are we going to do now? My good arm is injured and you look like you got hit by a truck."

"I don't know," he frowns. "I'm really sorry. You don't have to forgive me, but just know that I'm sorry."

"Lets just go find a gas station to camp out in, okay? We can think of something once we get somewhere safer than this."

"Okay," Tyler agreed, carefully helping Josh to his feet. Together, they began limping down the street.

__A/N__

This was such a long ass wild ass chapter

EDIT: I just reread this like a month after writing it so I can update and I totally agree with my former statement ^^^