Reaction Time- A Tal Fishman Fanfic

Why?

// A/N: This might be a little graphic so just skip over the 5th paragraph!! //

You tried to prise the man away from his child, a little boy again in his father's hold, but his fingers wouldn't release the grip they had on his skin. Instead, they frantically searched for a place of warmth that lived inside of his boy but they couldn't find any. "Finn..." His name came in broken whispers from the beaten man as your cries were stifled by the fabric of Tal's shirt. Your boyfriend stood firm against the torrent of emotion that soon clouded the gloomy atmosphere but couldn't help but let his eyes fill with tears at the sight of a soul that would never be the same. He couldn't help but look down at you and then at the ground every time Wilfred attempted to shake his son back to life, not minding the crimson blood that engulfed his hands and stained them. "What do we do?" You quietly mumbled because you didn't want to disturb the mourning man on the road before you. Tal was as lost for ideas as you were and so just shrugged his shoulders. "Wilfred, we need to-" He was interrupted by a frenzied look on Wilfred's face as it snapped up to look at you both. In between his cries, he began to shout. "LEAVE ME." He realised that he couldn't mask the pain in his voice with anger at his loss and let out another cry before continuing. "My boy was all I had left and now he's gone from me, like his mother. I thought I knew sadness when I lost her but this- this is something that no mortal man should have to feel. I didn't get to hold him one last time. I didn't get to see him smile before he died. I didn't get to say goodbye..." His voice trailed off as his sobs choked him, stealing the air from his fragile lungs. You looked up at Tal and heard him sigh as he reached down to try and take Wilfred. At the feel of something warm, a living person, he truly broke down and almost clawed at him for comfort but even his finger's digging into Tal's skin couldn't mother thoughts of Hell from him.  You heard something stir but thought it was the scrape of your shoes on the tarmac and dismissed it. It couldn't have been anything else- there was nobody else here. 

You heard it again as Tal hoisted Wilfred up, slinging his arm over his neck to help him walk. Protests were coming from the old man, shouting that he didn't want to leave his son. You hadn't thought to call an ambulance but now your fingers automatically reached for your phone inside of your pockets and began dialling the three-digit number. You heard a groan then, laboured by some unseen burden. You whisked your head from side to side to try and get a grasp on what it could have been but you were sure that not even an animal was nearby. Looking to the trees, that now stood as seemingly silent assassins, you became uneasy in the silence that had grown like a hole in the ground. It was swallowing everything up because now not even Tal or Wilfred were making a sound. They, like you, were scanning the area for what could have made the noise. It came again, louder this time. 

Wilfred was the first to crouch back down and crawl towards his son, his face now lit up with the hope of life within the still body on the tarmac. "Finn?! Is that you?! Finn..." Neither you or Tal really knew what to make of this but still held your breaths, hoping that the sound was a sign of mercy from God. There wasn't any sign of life from Finn- his chest wasn't moving up and down in a rhythmic dance as he drew breaths and his eyes were still closed shut. Blood still wept from his wound but it didn't come as fast as before. No signs of life at all but still Wilfred clung to hope. He stayed beside him and whispered things in his son's ear; that 'it's okay' and 'daddy is here', that he loved him with every breath he took. You watched on as his frail hand found its way into the loosely opened hand of his child and his fingers curled around it as if he were still trying to protect him. Tal's arm snaked around your waist and pulled you into his chest as if to let you knew that he would be your protector though you knew that he wasn't completely focused on you. He was looking everywhere to try and find where the sound came from but the dark of the night offered no support in his endeavour, only making the shadows seem darker and the sky seem emptier. The groan came again and everybody looked to Finn. 

He had made the noise. 

"Finn! I'm here, Finn- I'm here!" Wilfred continued to squeeze his son's hand but it remained limp in his, despite the now frequent moans that obviously showed life. All at once, however, Finn's eyes opened and Tal couldn't help but pull you away. You looked to him and saw his eyebrows furrowed, a clear sign that he was confused. "FINN" was the only word you heard before Tal lunged forward and tried to pull the elder from his son. "Rob, stay over there!! Don't step one foot closer" His warning echoed through the night and sent shivers down your cold body. What was happening? All you could see was your boyfriend try to prise one's hand out of the other's, his muscles flexing because of the sheer effort of it. Wilfred tried to resist his strength and maintain his grasp on his son but eventually staggered back and watched Tal fight with the man on the floor. "Tal?! What's going on?! Tal?!" It was only then that you could see Finn properly. His teeth were practically bursting through his mouth, trying to sink into something. His eyes were devoid of any humanity, only dark with lust. Although pale skin was to be expected, his was white and eerie with useless veins popping out all over it. He didn't look like Wilfred's son as he tried relentlessly to grapple with Tal for dominance, for his flesh. He didn't even look human and then it dawned on you. 

Before you had the chance voice your discovery, you saw Wilfred get up from his place on the ground and charge towards Tal, who was now almost on top of Finn. You watched as the old man grabbed his shoulders and tried shaking him from his place, much like he had done when he thought his son was dead. You ran up to Wilfred and tried to take his arms from Tal's shoulders but he flailed them instead and you fell backwards, astounded by this new found strength. "Get off! You're hurting him!" These repeated words were all that he could say whilst he desperately tried to stop the pair from fighting but Tal wouldn't listen- he was only concerned with not letting the man beneath him bite him. You could see the panic in his green eyes as strands of his hair slipped in front of them so you made one last attempt at Wilfred. Screaming his name, you managed to pull him off of Tal and shock him long enough for you to get to your boyfriend and his wrestling partner. Not really sure of what to do next, you started to violently kick at the man-turned-zombie, hoping that it would be enough to stun him so he would release his grasp on Tal's wrists. You shot a sorry glance towards the elderly man as he watched you do this, Tal managing to break free of the hold and drag you away too. The both of you ran towards Wilfred, hand in hand and try to take him to the car because now the zombie was standing. He was walking. He was coming. The father, however, wouldn't let go of the hope that his son may still be in this rotting prison of a body and galloped towards him, love in his eyes. Before he could say anything, Finn lunged at him and sank his teeth into the veins of his neck. 

As you began to cry and scream, Tal hid your head in his chest as you could hear the ripping of flesh and the horrified gasps of air as the old man breathed his last breaths as a human. You knew that you needed to leave but you couldn't move. Tal had turned you away from the blood and gore but you could see what was happening through the gap between his torso and arms as he cradled your head. He was gone- Wilfred was now a mere glass being drunk from, not even a person as his rested on the ground away from his body. His head was turned towards you as his son feasted upon him. His eyes were open like his mouth, mimicking the horror that glued you to the spot. You couldn't help but listen to the sound of bloody rush from from his body and into the one that craved it so desperately. It was after the last slurps that Tal picked you up and ran you to the car, opening the door hurriedly and buckled up your seat belt, slamming it shut after he had done so. You looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Finn had't quite finished with his father- you felt sick as you saw him hover over the body and relentlessly rip at it. The disgust built in your stomach and head but your haunted thoughts were disrupted by the slam of the car door as Tal got in. Buckling himself up, he looked at you and took your face in his hands. He wiped the tears as they fell down your cheek and placed a small kiss on the top of your forehead. "Babe, everything's okay. Everything will be okay. I'll get us out of here and we'll go get our families and leave, okay?" He spoke slow, as if he were speaking to a child. And he was. You felt smaller than anything and more delicate than ever before. You were scared of the dark again and you were scared of being alone. You nodded and smiled at Tal as he turned the key in the ignition. Noticing that his quiet had been disturbed, zombie Finn picked himself up and ran for the car but you were already moving as fast as you could towards where your families were- moving as fast as you could towards safety. You turned your head so you could see what you had just witnessed diminish into nothing but you knew that it would be engraved permanently in your memory. 

"Why?" Was all you could say as everything disappeared into black.