I am the mess you chose.

Nico felt a little out of place among all of the people who had been circling his older brother’s cot as Luke healed. He didn’t even know if he should be in there looking at him much less talking to him. After all, Luke hadn’t even recognized him earlier, before he’d been hurt.

"I'm glad I didn't die either. That would have been terrible." Luke looked over at his little brother standing there. He could see that Nico was a little uncomfortable and he knew that was his own fault. He sighed not knowing what to say and felt so bad about it. If this was before the outbreak he wouldn't have cared. Luke didn't care about anything but drugs, charlie, Shane and himself. He regretted that now. If the apocalypse has been teaching him anything it was that family is everything. Before the incident Luke was thinking of a lot of ways to apologize to Nico. He wanted it to mean something when he did,"Where have you been sleeping, Nico?"

Jackson stood in a corner of the tent where he could hardly be seen. It was almost as if he was hiding from Luke or from what had happened to him. He couldn’t take it again, not after what had been done to his father. To see him awake and talking filled Jackson with indescribable joy. He slowly stepped closer to the cot. “What’s it feel like?” He put his hand on Luke’s foot and gave his toe a squeeze, almost as if he was afraid of coming any closer or touching anything else.

"It feels like....a paper cut but 1000 times worse then that." Luke smiled when he saw Jackson. It was a face he'd been waiting to see and he reached over patting right next to him on the bed. "C'mere, son." He said softly waiting for the younger male to come sit next to him. "I've been waiting to see you. How are you doing?"

Rafael smiled when he heard Luke speaking, “Good… I’m glad you’re doing better. We were all really scared there for a while. Mind if I take a look at the sutures?” He asked, leaning in. “You need more medication?”

"Yes I mind...it hurts when you do that but I have no choice, eh?" Luke smiled a little at his friend. He sat up in bed the way Rafael liked it so he could take a look at his stitches. "Yes ..please." He said a little guilty. He didn't like taking the pain killers since he was an addict but sometimes the pain was just too much. "Oh yeah..." He looked at his friend. "Thank you for saving my life, Raf." He looked at him in a serious way wanting Rafael to know how serious his apology was. "Both of you..but I will tell Zeke that later. 

Elias waited until whomever Luke was speaking to was finished with him. The older man had been waiting the past few days on what felt like very uneven ground. Had Lucas seen Parker? Were they going to have to run for it?

"Thank you, Elias. That means a lot..and I'm definitely getting better each day. I will be on my feet before you know it." Luke smiled as he sat up in bed a little bit. "I was out of it the first two days...I don't remember much. The pain was unbearable and I did a lot of sleeping. I do remember seeing your face." 

Wylie twitched a little, jerking back to a semi-conscious state after almost falling asleep for the umpteenth time. “Mmnn?” He blinked groggily and looked at Luke, vision focusing as he realized the man was actually speaking. “Luke!” He resisted the urge to jump on the injured man, opting instead to scoot closer to him and squeeze his hand. “You’re not out of your mind on the pain meds Raf gave you… so, now we can talk? You sure you’re okay?” He leaned in closer and sprinkled a couple of quick kisses all over Luke’s stubbly face.

"You're crazy..you know that?" Luke smiled when his boyfriend was fully awake. "Your back has got to be killing you, love." He said and if Wylie denied it he knew that his boyfriend would definitely be lying. Wylie hasn't left his side. Not even once and refused it when anyone tried to tell him to go get some rest. Even though Luke wanted him to get some good night sleep through these couple of days he couldn't help but know how lucky he was. He felt like the luckiest man in the world to have Wylie in his life. Luke didn't think it was possible to love Wylie more but he did. "Yes..we can talk." Luke said softly. "It still hurts a little...I can't yell so don't piss me off." He immediately regretted making himself laugh because the little giggle that he let out hurt him. "I'm fine, baby. I promise.." He reached over grabbing Wylie's hand squeezing it. "Thank you."

Nico shrugged it off with a smile, it was in his nature to try to stay positive. “It’s okay, we never spent much time together anyway, Luke… you look… the same. Glad to see you’ve been able to keep your weight up.” He joked, playfully punching his brother on the shoulder.

"I'm actually bigger now than I was. We do a lot of work here...so maybe you can start putting on some weight. You look like a talk tree branch." Luke let out a laugh as he nudged his little brother right back. "How did you get here?"

Parker didn’t speak, only held on and pressed the knife harder to Luke’s already bleeding throat. The brunette smiled villainously, breathing hard against the other man’s ear, laughing softly. With his hand pressed against Luke’s throat he could feel his thrumming pulse. That same pulse he would feel ebb and flow away like the blood he was about to inevitable spill. That was the best part, feeling a person’s life force fade into nothing, watch as the light in their eyes dulled to nothing, to make them become nothing. Parker took a deep breath, pressing the knife harder, and tensing his muscles. His motions flowed effortlessly, drawing the knife across the large man’s throat.

Luke's brow crinkled as he felt the tickle of the laughter against his ear. Was this a prank? He went to move the man's arm again but found quickly what was happening was not, at all, a joke. His fingers twitchd at the immediate pain, the blood flowing hot and sticky and thick down his throat. He made an awful gurgling sound but he knew if he didn't react with lightening quickness, his carotid was going to be cut and he was going to die. He elbowed the person behind him as hard as he could and, coming from a man that weighed over two hundred pounds, it had to be a lot of force. Enough, at least, to knock the other person back. Then, with one hand holding his throat as his vision blurred in the darkness, he struck out again, hitting something hard, likely the other person's chest. He kept swinging, just wanting to get the person away from him before he collapsed and became entirely useless to himself.

It hurt to hear that Luke still had no idea who he was and Nico’s cheeks burned red with embarrassment and shame. “Um…” He laughed a little. “Maryland, Baltimore… I’m your little brother, Luke.”

Luke waited for Nico to answer his questions and he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "What?" He said as the younger male told him he was his little brother and then he felt like shit. "Nico..." He said softly as he sighed shaking his head at himself. "You look different.."

Nico stood stock still for a moment as his older brother spoke to him. He held his breath, expecting the man to say something, anything but he didn’t. There didn’t seem to be a hint of recognition on the older man’s face. “Yeah, I guess… I mean, now my question is answered as to whether or not you survived…”

"What are you talking about?" Luke raised his eyebrow at the younger male standing in front from. His next thought was oh great another nutter has come to the camp. He scratched his head,"Where you from, kid?"

The acrid smell of cigarette smoke burned in the nose and throat of the sleepwalking man, leading him to the source of the smoker. His clouded eyes recognized the man as Luke, by the silhouette that was distinctive of the large man, gripping the handle of his fishing knife harder. Parker wasn’t nearly as muscular or tall as him but he was armed and had the element of surprise. As Luke began to look over his shoulder was the same moment Parker sprung his attack, launching himself onto the other, poising his knife.

There are a lot of people here… a lot more than I was expecting to ever see again.

You should be happy that there are a lot of survivors.