Chapter 4 #2
“In a perfect world, you’d get stitches,” Mads hummed as he stood up to get a first aid kit far too fancy and official for some random guy not in a medical field.
Lionel watched as he pulled out disinfectant, gauze, and several other things Lionel couldn’t identify.
“But, I suppose this isn’t a perfect world, is it? ”
Lionel hissed at each of the sprays and creams Mads’ fingers rubbed onto the gash. His fingertips were so cold that they almost alleviated the burning pain on their own, and by the time he was putting the gauze in place, that part of his forehead was practically numb.
“Hold this, please,” Mads said, taking Lionel’s hand and guiding it into place.
Lionel let him press it where it needed to go and held it there obediently while Mads secured it with a few strips of tape.
Once satisfied, Mads reached into the kit for a roll of gauze.
“Now lift your hair for me,” he said, helping position Lionel’s hands just where he wanted them.
Lionel pulled his hair back as well as he could, several of the longer strands falling from his grip, but Mads didn’t seem to notice.
When Mads finally told him he was all set, he patted down his dark hair, noting that it probably covered most of the bandaging since it fell over the majority of his forehead.
“Not too bad,” Mads said as he snapped the kit closed.
“Thanks, I owe you—”
Lionel’s words were cut off by the sounds of an ear-piercing scream. He startled, and even Mads jumped where he was seated beside Lionel. It sounded close, and a moment later, they heard frantic footsteps race past just outside.
Lionel swallowed thickly and looked over at Mads, whose smile had finally pulled down into a frown. He looked more contemplative and confused than scared with how his eyebrows furrowed.
“We need to find a way out of here,” Lionel said, his voice firmer than he expected as he turned to face Mads fully.
The guy looked calm, almost too calm for someone surrounded by corpses and monsters, in a way that made Lionel more determined to keep him safe.
He didn’t know much about him, but he’d saved Lionel’s life, and that counted for something.
More than that, there was just something about him.
Maybe it was the fact that he looked like he’d been plucked out of a dream and dropped into a nightmare, or the way he kept trying to help even though they’d never even crossed paths before.
Whatever it was, Lionel knew one thing for sure—if this were a horror movie, he was not going to let the pretty, soft-spoken guy die first.
“I know this place like the back of my hand,” he said, already running through mental routes, shortcuts, and maintenance access.
“And the places I don’t…” He dug into his pocket, heart leaping when his fingers closed around smooth glass.
“I’ve got a map of the building on my phone.
” He held it up like a badge of honor, trying not to look as proud as he felt.
“We need to find a way out of here?” Mads echoed, tilting his head to one side as he continued staring at the door. He laughed when he looked back over at Lionel, “Not, ‘let’s go save those people from being eaten by monsters’?”
“It’s too late for them,” Lionel shook his head quickly, and immediately regretted it as his vision blurred.
He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face.
Mads stood up a moment later and walked into the kitchen.
Lionel heard the jingle of pill bottles and then felt a hand pressing against his shoulder.
“Take these.”
Lionel eyed the little blue pills Mads handed him. “What are they?”
“Just painkillers,” Mads shrugged. “Do you want to see the bottle?”
“It’s fine,” he said and placed them on his tongue, swallowing them dry with a shudder down his spine.
“I have water,” Mads said, too late.
“Let’s just go,” Lionel said, moving to stand again.
Mads just watched him this time, rather than pushing him back onto the couch like he had before. “Why? We’re fine here. Nothing has attacked us. Why not stay at least a while longer?”
“We’re just sitting ducks,” Lionel said, his voice sharp.
“Those things will find us sooner or later, and we’ll be trapped when they do.
We need to be proactive. Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie?
” He pulled open his phone and flipped to his photo album, where he kept all of the maps of the building.
He’d needed them constantly when he first started, so he had them saved in a folder for his convenience.
When his gaze landed on it, he knew it was their way out.
“Here,” he said, shoving his phone at Mads. “This place might not look it, but it's really old—it just had a bunch of reno jobs done. It’s why there are still a few fire escapes, and why,” he said, pointing, “there’s still an old ventilation system connecting a bunch of the floors.”
Mads didn’t even look at the phone, just stared past it at Lionel. “Do you really think those creatures aren’t in the old ducts?” he asked.
Lionel paused, scowling because he hadn’t even considered that. Damnit.
“It’s a better plan than just sitting here,” Lionel said, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
“You don’t have to come with me. You can hole up here if you want.
But I’m getting the fuck out of here.” His voice echoed a little too loudly in the quiet apartment, but he didn’t back down.
He was the one who knew the building. He had a plan, and someone needed to play the lead who didn’t just sit around and wait to die.
“I’ll come with you,” Mads said.
The words landed heavier than Lionel expected.
He blinked at him, surprised by the wave of relief that followed.
He’d never admit it out loud, but the thought of having Mads with him made everything feel just a little less terrifying.
He told himself it was practical—two sets of eyes, two pairs of hands—and it was stupid, probably, but it gave him something to focus on.
Like how, when he was a kid, he’d pull the blankets up to his chin and believe nothing could get him if he just stayed still.
Only now, he wasn’t staying still—he was going to be the one who got them out.
“Okay,” he nodded. “Which end of the hallway are we at? And what floor?” he asked.
“Sixth floor, room 606,” Mads said.
The stairwell side, perfect. Lionel nodded to himself, remembering the map. “We need to go directly down from here in the stairwell to floor four, and there should be an entrance to the ventilation system there.”
“Okay,” Mads nodded, following him to the front door.
Lionel paused, debating whether they should bring anything, but ultimately decided that it would just slow them down—they weren’t looking to camp out somewhere; they were looking to get out of this building entirely.
“Okay, I’m going to check the hall,” he murmured.
He just grabbed the biggest knife he could find in the kitchen and tucked it into his jacket.
His hand shook only slightly as he turned the doorknob. He held his breath as he pulled it open and peered down the hallway.
Empty.
“Alright, we’re good to go,” he whispered over his shoulder.
A moment later, he felt a hand wrapping around his arm, making him jump nearly a foot in the air. He whipped around and looked up at Mads, who was absolutely more than half a foot taller than him. Mads was smiling sheepishly as he tightened his grip on the crook of Lionel’s elbow. “Lead the way.”
Lionel stared at him blankly for a second before saying, “Let go.”
“I can’t,” Mads said simply.
“Why not?” Lionel snapped, trying to shake him off.
“Because I need help,” Mads hummed. “I don’t see well.”
“What?” Lionel hissed as he shut the door again, not wanting a creature to hear them. “Are you blind?”
“Legally,” Mads said. “I lost my cane somewhere along the way today. I know the building pretty well, and I found you on this floor, so it wasn’t hard to get home, but—”
“You didn’t think to mention before that you can’t see?” Lionel asked, incredulous.
Mads’ lips pulled up, but it was too sad an expression to be called a smile. “Are you going to leave me behind because I can’t see well? Would you not have offered to bring me along if you knew?”
Lionel choked on his words as he stumbled over them, “n-no, it’s not that I just— you know— don’t make me into the bad guy here!
” He paused, frowning as he considered how carefully Mads had cared for him just a few minutes ago.
“You really can’t see? How were you doing everything?
” He waved his hand vaguely at the apartment to encapsulate ‘everything.’
“I can see a bit,” Mads shrugged, “probably more than you’re currently thinking.
” Lionel almost yelped when Mads’ face was suddenly far too close to his, their noses almost touching.
“I just need to get very close to things,” he said.
And now that smile was definitely a mocking grin. Lionel batted him away.
Lionel pressed his fingertips into his temples and sighed.
He supposed that, in this situation, everyone wanted to latch onto another person for one reason or another—for comfort or for necessity.
He couldn’t blame the guy for knowing his limitations and realizing Lionel might be the only one who could help him get out of here.
“Fine,” he grumbled. He took Mads’ hand off of his bicep and held it with his own, interlocking their fingers and gripping his palm hard; Lionel wasn’t about to agree to take him along and then let him get grabbed away from him the moment they stepped out of the door.
“Make sure to keep up,” he said, “and don’t let go. ”