There Goes The Neighbourhood

[kilimesoftly]

It didn't happen overnight. These things never do. It took time to spread, to break quarantine after quarantine. There had been hopeful and optimistic news reports once the media blackout was over. The internet was buzzing with random cures and self help guides to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

Kili, ever cheerful though he is, never bought it. It'd been hard to when you could look outside and see the neighbourhood emptying out, or when entire sections of London became deserted. It'd been harder to after his uncle and cousins brought him and his older brother along to Tesco's to loot the place for food, for supplies, for anything other, previous looters had left behind.

Six months after the first wave of infections, the world was doomed and Kili knew it. A year after and it's all become normal.

"Tell me we get to head out of Belgravia today," he whines at the kitchen table. The entire block has become home to him and his relatives, the family manor on the corner and the streets leading into it barricaded. Kili plucks at his bowstring in anticipation of a hunt. It's been two weeks since they've gone out of their personalized safe zone. He's itching.

Comments

[kilimesoftly]

Kili's knife strikes true, right in the throat of the mutated infected and a warm wash of blood trickles over his hand as the creature rears up with Kili still clinging to it. It's enough of an opening for Fili to silence the beast for good, one last little twitch to a foot likely run through with the fungus, shoulders slumping against the younger of the pair.

Kili is all smiles. A kill is a good thing, it's the start of getting rid of the creatures that have survived the longest, that are ready to cloud the very air with spores and possibly make new version of themselves.

Tugging the knife from the bloated corpse and wiping the black on his trousers, Kili reaches for Fili's hand in victory. It's a sensation that, while strong, is one he knows must also be short lived.

The end of the bridge is in sight and they still have to scout a way around it before going back to their group waiting at the other end. Kili takes a breather before he jumps onto the hood of a parked sweets van and crouches down to look in the ignition for keys. They're there. His heart almost leaps into his throat. It's not toilet paper...it's better.

Sugar makes the world go round these days.

"Fee!"

[filidelity]

After a kill, the rush of we did it overpowers all trepidation. Maybe (thankfully?) this hasn't become so routine yet that it makes them cocky. There's just the relief of knowing that they've made it another day, and Fili presses his brother's hand and claps him on the back, smiling at Kili's smile.

Even though they're quickly getting drenched, their scouting mission is going swimmingly after all. The thoughts that Fili fought off earlier now retreat without any resistance.

He smiles again upon catching sight of Kili's find. Some might be more excited to come across a plentiful supply of toilet paper, but here's another luxury guaranteed to go over well.

"Better make sure we remember to lead the others past this one," he remarks, scanning the area for nearby landmarks and the distance left to go. They'll be able to head back soon, and with good news.

[kilimesoftly]

It's not that they have a map, but Kili gotten good enough with tracking that it doesn't matter. He takes a good look at the area and memorizes the location of the truck before he and his brother set off again. There's no more excitement across the bridge, thankfully, though twice it becomes obvious that they will need to use some creativity to move the group around piled up cars along the way.

Pulling Fili through the gap of a smashed up Honda and one of the support beams after he sent his pack through, Kili turns to see several somethings that had not been there when he not only peeked through himself, several minutes before, but pushed his pack through too.

Though there's a knife on him, the rest of his weapons are in the pack at his feet. Four men raise shotguns at his and Fili's heads, however, and the dark eyed brother slowly brings his hands to his waist.

"I don't think so," a man with an American accent says, and Kili drops his hands at once. "Why don't you kick those packs over here?"

[filidelity]

This, unlike the threat from any infected, isn't an expected encounter. Instinctively, Fili moves to take a step towards Kili as soon as the strangers block their way, a split second before the unfriendly greeting they get keeps him where he's standing. Their packs stay on the ground.

He can't glance at Kili without raising suspicion, so he has to assume that he and his brother are thinking along the same lines. But this time, at least, it shouldn't be impossible to talk it out, as long as these men aren't too trigger-happy. Too desperate, too concerned with nothing but their own survival.

They don't need another incident like that raid.

One of the other men gestures impatiently, a curt nod of his head. "He said, packs over here. Hurry it up."

Handing over their weapons when there's just two of them and four of these guys, who already have guns out and readied, probably wouldn't work out well. They'd have to let their things go, permanently.

Fili picks the first man to focus on and speaks up. "What happens after that?"

[kilimesoftly]

One day, one very fine day, Fili still stop feeling the terrible need to protect him. It's not that Kili doesn't appreciate it, but he can feel his brother moving closer and all he really wants to do is sit him down with some tea -- should they find any soon -- and have a very long chat about how he's twenty-five years old and as such, he really can take care of himself, even when there's a shotgun pointed at his face.

About to slide over the packs with his foot, Fili's question gives him pause. Not so much pause, however, as the large blond American does when he steps closer, barrel clearly focused on him as he looks him over. Kili's eyes remain unblinking as he watches the intrusion. He swallows down the need to bite at the fingers that grip his chin after that. His head is turned this way and then the other.

"You can go, blondie. We'll take your friend back with us. Tell your group, and I know you've got one, not to cross Millennium Bridge again. This is our territory."

The barrel of the American's shotgun hits Kili squarely on the side of the face and while it doesn't do much damage, it does cause him to stumble.

"Back away from us. Right back through that gap you found."

[filidelity]

Fili doesn't listen. He's taking care not to do anything that might get him and Kili their heads blown off, but he can't smother the shout that escapes from him when the man hits Kili, and he only just remembers not to make any sudden movements.

They want Kili for something, judging by that unsettling examination the group's apparent leader put him through. As a hostage? But to get what out of it? A promise that their territory will stay theirs?

They don't need to go that far with their warning.

In any case, Fili isn't prepared to do as he's told and wait to find out what exactly these men are after. Whatever they're thinking, they won't be leaving with Kili.

Unfortunately, aside from bargaining, he doesn't have any plan whatsoever. Undeterred by that little problem, he tries what he can.

"Not without him. Take our packs, but let him go with me, and we'll know not to come back here."

[kilimesoftly]

The shortest of the group with a blatant London accent, laughs like a weasel. "We've got the guns and he's making demands? Arms out, soldier. We're going to do a search." One doesn't leave home without weapons. There could be a knife or a concealed pistol for all they know and if Fili is going to put up a fight, they want him unarmed.

It's not really Fili that they need to worry about, it's his brother. Kili doesn't stop to think all the time. His lips curl upwards. "You don't touch him."

The man about the do the pat down just laughs again and the ginger next to the American gives Kili a good pistol whip with the butt of his shotgun. The American looks angry and shoves his companion, who apologizes sheepishly as Kili crumbles to the ground, head struck hard yet again by the concrete.

"If you don't do this peacefully, I'll shoot you. Your body will be warning enough," the American says.

[filidelity]

Every muscle in Fili's body wants him to go to Kili. He can't, just like he can't get his hands on one of those guns to give that redhead what he gave Kili without swift, serious consequences. Even so, it's a struggle not to give in.

"Let him go," he repeats, but he knows that his voice isn't entirely even. Rather than reasoning with them, he has a feeling that he's teetering on the brink of begging. "You wanted our packs – you can have them, peacefully. You don't need to take him to prove a point."

But he's getting the feeling that it's no more possible to reason with this lot than it would be to talk to a clicker, too.

The weasel snorts, shoving the end of his gun against Fili's stomach. "Quit your whining and hold still. You're not doing your boyfriend any favours, you know." Effortlessly, he finds Fili's knife and his pistol and takes them off his hands.

[kilimesoftly]

More or less out for the count, Kili gurgles and still tries to push himself up, though the sludge the ground has turned in to leaves the one hand that seems to work pushing against only a slippery surface without hopes of traction. He has no idea what's going on. His ears ring and his mouth fills with blood from a bitten lip and the side of his cheek.

A few hours of rest and he'll be fine, he's had blows to the head before. Usually due to Fili.

Now separated by the group, weaponless, there's very little for Fili to do. He can attack or retreat. "Scoot on home," the ginger man says, standing over Kili like an animal wrangler and the American actually cocks his trigger. "You're lucky. Don't push it."

While three of the men keep their guns on Fili, one using his own pistol against him, the American crouches beside his brother and checks the bruise forming on his face before he lifts him, body armour and all, as if he weighs nothing.

"We catch you even poking your head through that hole as we blow it off."

[filidelity]

Eyes wide, fixed on his brother and not on the guns trained on him, Fili still doesn't obey, not even for an opening to go get help. It could easily mean the last time they ever see each other. He won't abandon Kili.

His fingers curl into his palms, nails digging into the skin there. "Then take both of us with you." He looks at the American. "If I go back without him, our group will come this way. You'll be outnumbered."

He's practically pleading with these bastards, there's no other way to see it, but he's placing faith in the others to search for them when they don't make it back. And if they don't find anything, he'll hold out hope that they don't come to the conclusion that he and Kili must have fallen into the Thames.

He needs to know that Kili will be all right. Together, they should be able to wait for their chance to get away.

[kilimesoftly]

The request is ridiculous and unheard of and the three underlings look to their leader who, after laughing, laugh too. "Well all right boys, we have a volunteer." He still has Kili over his broad shoulder like a fireman and turns immediately to lead the way across the green towards St. Paul's Cathedral.

Fili is prodded along with the barrels of guns and told to hurry up and keep quiet. Funny, considering the boisterousness of the other three, really. The Cathedral looks like a warzone, cars parked like walls, tires stacked up to make the way more difficult, armed guards walking the perimeter.

Another man comes to greet them at the door and just as the American had, he looks over Kili with an appraising eye. "Damaged?"

"Fought back," the American responds. "And the blond one volunteered."

Fili just gets a glance and the men behind him are told to get Fili into storage. Separation, it seems, is inevitable.

[filidelity]

Worry for his brother keeps Fili quiet enough, and then there's the place they're taken to. Apparently this group wouldn't be outnumbered after all. Fili questions his decision, silently counting the guards. Their chances of escaping don't look good.

They need backup, but he couldn't have left Kili.

Then 'storage' sinks in. Fili gapes at the newcomer. And Kili, what about Kili? From the sound of it, he'll wake up who knows where.

Fili is no longer willing to stay quiet. "What are you going to do with him? At least tell us that."

He knows he's in no position to make demands. He and Kili are the ones who are outnumbered, and this bunch won't think that they owe their prisoners or whatever they're to be any answers.

[kilimesoftly]

As Kili is carried off by the American, the man who seemed to outrank him smiles at Fili. He's on the short side, about Fili's height, with dark hair and a five o'clock shadow shifting towards seven o'clock. There are bags under his eyes and his teeth are slightly yellowed. He's dressed somewhat presentably, a purple shirt and a charcoal gray waistcoat. At one point in time, he would have looked utterly ordinary and forgettable. This place, however, casts him in nothing but a sinister light.

"All right," he says, grinning. The guards beside Fili catch a better grip on him as if more than willing to drag him away at the slightest provocation. "We have two different systems for intruders here," he tells Fili, looking over him and a strangely hungry dip of his dark eyes. He tilts his head like a cat and lifts a hand to ruffle Fili's hair. "You're either fun. Or you're food."

If Fili struggles or launches himself towards the other man, he'll just laugh and turn away.

It becomes very, very obvious once Fili is put into storage which category he falls into. There are five other men in there with him...most of whom are missing their legs.

[filidelity]

They must be mad around here.

Fili struggles. This isn't what he had in mind. He can't stand by and watch Kili be carted off to become 'fun' or food, but that's exactly what he's forced to do, all of his protesting in vain. The guards subdue him with a few blows to the head and drag him away to his own fate.

He hasn't quite recovered when he's dumped into the room with its other hapless occupants. On his knees, dazed, he blinks at his surroundings.

Fun or food? This could be storage for both, if someone's idea of fun is dismemberment and eating the results.

Fili's head is clearing, throbbing, and his stomach lurches. Clutching his middle with a groan, he crawls over to the door. Kili, he thinks, they're planning to do this to Kili, too.

And the others are waiting for them back on the far side of the bridge. Their mother is waiting at home.

"Let us stay together," he begs the first guard he sees, desperate by now. "Please--"

A kick throws him to the floor, doubled over and gasping.

Let's just pretend...

[substituteskull]

"Are you-- Are you all right?" The voice clears itself before the man it belongs so, rather small and quite a bit soft, creeps out from behind the bins. Unlike the others, he's at least able to hide in this storage room and has been spared, for several weeks now, being taken away to have parts of him sliced off for Sunday Roast.

He's wearing a dirty, rumbled cable knit jumper and looks like he's seen better days himself. That doesn't stop him from offering his hand to Fili to help him up.

"Yelling does very little good. You'll want to be quiet, stay to the back. Don't scream or cry or they'll take you next." He tries to pull Fili back away from the door, over those that can only crawl or, in the case of one man, not do even that. "I'm sorry about your friend. But this is... I believe this is the better option. William Baggins. Sorry for the late introductions. It's been awhile since we've had anyone new."

Fili might as well relax. For now. It will be some time before the cries of something, someone, reach the group in storage. Most turn their heads away. William pretends he doesn't hear it. Hopefully that's not Kili, but the little hitching sobs at the end are so very much like his brother's that Fili might have trouble sleeping that night.

Gladly! <3

[filidelity]

Fili isn't all right, not without Kili safe, but he nods and makes it easier for William to guide him to the back of the room. "Fili," he says automatically, once he's remembered to thank this unexpected friendly face for his advice. "They've..." He shakes his head, pressing his hand to his eyes. "They've got my brother."

If waiting to be turned into a meal is the better option, what does that mean for Kili? Relaxing is impossible. Fili sits hunched over against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest, and tries to convince himself that those sounds coming from somewhere don't sound anything like Kili at all.

What William said suddenly hits him. He sits up and looks at his new acquaintance. "How long have you been in here...?"

William's obviously managed to escape his captors' notice after he was set aside for storage. It's something, and he seems perfectly sane.

Re: Gladly! <3

[substituteskull]

"I am... I am terribly, terribly sorry about your brother," William had said quietly and though the waiting seems impossibly mundane, he knows that the younger man is probably not passing the time as well as some of them. They're all just waiting to die. Slowly. They've all given up, save for William.

He's nearly got the feeding rotations down. He knows from the others the layout of the place. People have overlooked him his entire life. They'll do so now if he can only slip out of the pantry.

When Fili speaks to him again, William has been lost in concentration. He blinks up at the blond and smiles a bit. How sane that is is up for interpretation.

"I'm not sure exactly. Four months I think? Andrew there came about five weeks ago. We're just supplemental. They keep us alive and breathing so the meat stays fresh and-- And I'm so very sorry, no one really likes to talk about it."

Days and nights might as well merge together. Time passes but it's windowless in storage. Eventually, though, someone comes for more than just to hand over food. "Oi! Volunteer! Come with us!"

William actually peeks out from where he'd been hiding, wide eyed.

[filidelity]

If Fili doesn't go, he'll only draw more attention to himself, and likely not just himself. He won't do that to William. He doesn't even glance at the man as he stands, swaying a little on his feet when his vision briefly goes dark. He doesn't scream or cry or ask any questions, no matter how many are on the tip of his tongue.

If they're taking him to a kitchen, he plans to endure it. As long as he's still breathing, he can wait for something, anything that will tell him where Kili is being kept. William has been cautious, patient for months – he must have hope left to keep him going. Fili holds onto that thought.

They have to survive. As badly as he needs to see his brother, he's sure that any wrong move will just get them killed sooner.

Silent, he lets himself be led away.

[kilimesoftly]

The guards laugh as they allow Fili to carry himself. He's not fighting and they seem happy about that. Their little volunteer has been much the talk of the town incidentally and they still are talking about him behind his back. Him and his brother.

"Always did like the dark haired ones."

"I think it's the curls," the other says, giving Fili a prod to turn to the left and head down the stairs.

"He fights. He likes the fighters." They stop at the end of a winding corridor and one of the guards pulls open the door. It's dark inside. Candles dot the walls but don't illuminate the area inside. That doesn't seem to matter. A broken voice comes from within, familiar and angry.

"All ready? Didn't get enough this morning?" Kili groans. There's the sound of chAins creaking and dragging along the floor.

One of the guards gives Fili a push. "Time off for good behavior mate. Captain said you can have a visit."

[filidelity]

Fili blocks out the guards' voices, or attempts to, telling himself that it's not Kili they're talking about. It's just a coincidence. It's not what it sounds like.

(But if it is Kili, if it's no coincidence? What have they been doing to him? Fili's chest feels too tight for breath.)

His confusion when he's taken to a door to a dark room doesn't last long, disappearing instantly the moment he hears the voice coming from inside. There's a second of disbelief, but he won't waste precious time.

Stumbling, he catches himself and nearly bolts through the doorway. "Kili!"

Kili has plenty of fight in him, that's what his remark says, even if he can't have been treated well, going by the sound of his voice alone. Still, Fili is afraid of what he'll find.

'Fun' could easily mean torture.

He can make out his brother's form now and hurries to him, reaching for Kili's arms.

[kilimesoftly]

He flinches. The first act Kili does upon his brother's closeness, upon being held, is to pull back.

He smells questionable. Blood and sweat are the most prevalent odours sure to hit Fili's nose as Kili gets up the strength to push the blond away from him. In the darkness, his eyes glow like an animal's. His feet bare. Just for a moment, he looks as if he doesn't realize who it is in front of him.

And then recognition hits, kicking the air from his lungs. "Fee?" Kili doesn't immediately return the embrace, he doesn't seek it out. He draws back further, kicking a plllow that has seen better days. In the corner of the room, it sounds like another set of chains are dragging and a slender, bare leg slips into the shadows. Kili is not the only chained up person in this room.

A closer inspection of Kili will find him without so much as a stitch on. There are defensive wounds on his arms. There are marks on his legs, giant bruises. In direct light, the fact that they're finger marks will make the marks all the more sinister. Kili swallows.

"Why are you--?" His eyes brim with tears. "Can we go home?"

[filidelity]

"Kili...?" Fili feels his brother flinch, recoil. Immediately, he thinks that Kili must be hurt; it must be Kili's blood he's smelling, and guilt wells up inside of him. It gets worse with Kili's question. Fili takes care to be gentle, touching Kili's hand.

He wants to promise Kili what Kili wants to hear – he can't, not yet.

"I'm sorry," he gets out, hushed. "They've put me 'in storage' with a few others, but they decided to let me out for a visit." One of his hands moves to Kili's shoulder. "Where are you hurt?"

What have they done to Kili? He thinks it again, sick with worry and anger. (And what have they done with Kili's clothes?)

There's nothing to offer Kili to replace any of his missing things, save Fili's own shirt. Fili doesn't hesitate to tug it off, brushing it against his brother's chest. "... Here, put this on."

It just has no chance of covering much.

[kilimesoftly]

The shirt looks almost foreign to Kili, but he takes it slowly, ready to draw back again if it's a joke, and then tugs it on. It's not much but it does it's job and it makes him feel a little warmer.

The chains attached to his ankles wouldn't have allowed him the chance for trousers any way.

The question goes ignored for now and Kili instead reaches for Fili's hand, fingers trailing up his arm to his shoulder and across his chest. "Did they cut you?!"

He'd given in last night, finally, to having some of the stew. He knew what was in it and for the last few days he'd been refusing anything. But after a whipping and-- Well he'd finally broken down.

"Did they take any pieces?!"

Because he wouldn't put it past the Captain to have fed him part of Fili as punishment.

[filidelity]

Fili wishes he could rip Kili's chains off and get them out of here. He wishes they could go home, no waiting for days, weeks, maybe months.

Kili hasn't answered his question, asking more of his own instead, and Fili catches his brother's hands to reassure him, shaking his head. They're not alone; he heard that sound and there are the waiting guards, but he focuses only on Kili.

They've told Kili what Fili has in store for him, as if it wasn't enough for them to have Kili chained up and hurt. The thought that Kili has been stuck in here with those images to boot--

Images like that have kept Fili awake, fearing that he and Kili would never see each other again. They've had him gagging on what food was brought. They're the sort that wears away at hope.

He doesn't try to embrace his brother, but he does rub Kili's knuckles, as gently as he can. "I'm fine, Kili. Still in one whole piece." Physically, it's true. "But you're..." There's a catch in his voice. "I'm sorry," he repeats in a whisper, choking it out.

[kilimesoftly]

"I'm alive." It's the best he can hope for at this juncture. Kili is a fighter and he plans to keep on fighting, even if it gets harder and harder to do as the days shift towards the week mark. He's given up figuring out just how long he's been here, but it's been long enough to feel endless.

Kili has no plans to tell Fili what happened or what may happen to him still. If they ever get out of here, he only wants to forget this place and everyone in it. Talking about his well-being and his mental aptitude isn't going to help anyone, least of all himself. If Fili should find out, if he should look at him the way that Kili might look at another enduring this, he would just die.

The gentle touch to his hand has him relaxing, thumb over knuckles is endlessly soothing, and he shifts to sit a little more comfortably, his fingers curling around his brother's.

"You just have to keep breathing. I'll get us out of here," he promises. "Uncle Thorin will find us. Mum will make him."

There's laughter from the darkness, deep laughter, certainly not belonging to that very feminine foot and leg that Fili had seen slink away when he came in. Kili immediately stiffens and pulls his hand back. His heart rate elevates and he turns to look for the source. "Brothers. I wouldn't have expected that," the voice replies, not moving forward so it's maker could be seen. "Well that makes you even more interesting. Keiran, what did I say about clothing?"

Kili sets his jaw. "You said I couldn't wear mine. Well this isn't mine," he snarks.

Again, the voice laughs. Kili has made quite the impression.