Chapter Text
They were coming.
Castiel felt the sharp cold sting his face as he ran through the streets. He was an idiot...he was stupid and made a mistake...
Why didn't he pay better attention? He knew better than to be out in the open...he knew better.
But it was too late for that now, because he could hear them chasing him. He felt his heart pounding against his chest, making it harder to breathe as he kept running from the un-dead behind him. The large bag of supplies on his back kept jumping up and down on his spine - large bruises would form there, and he prayed the contents inside weren't being damaged in his chase. But a deeper worry hung in his head; if he didn't outrun this...he may never make it back to Jimmy. He felt the tears sting his eyes - he would never see Jimmy again. How could his brother make it without him? Castiel felt his heart drop as he kept running. He failed.
They were getting closer, and Castiel took a sharp right turn on the street. Mistake! He had reached a dead end. The wall was made of solid brick, and there were no places to grip and climb over. Castiel turned to see the horde coming at him from the entry of the alley. He felt himself hit the ground in fear, the bag slumping next to him. His chest heaved in and out as he kept gasping, his eyes starting to cloud over from tears and panic. He stared the mass of disgusting, dead bodies slinking towards him, hearing the groans coming from their ripped out and bleeding mouths, their breath reeking with blood and meat, and watching their hands (or what was left of them) reaching out for him, slinking ever so closer to their next meal.
He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come...
"I promise I won't be gone long."
"That's what you said the last time."
Castiel could remember feeling annoyance at his brother. They had done this numerous times, but James Novak was always the more cautious of the two. Castiel gripped his twin's shoulder, like he always did to show he wasn't afraid, to be the courageous older brother.
"I'm going to be fine. I just...I just need a few things."
"Is this about Dad's thing?"
Castiel looked down, avoiding the eyes that were an exact match to his. Without another word, he turned towards the door, his bag on his back, which rattled slightly with different noises coming from within it.
"Castiel...please-"
"Jimmy, stop."
"-Don't leave me."
Castiel fought back tears. "I have to, Jimmy. For dad."
"Fuck dad, Cas! It's just the two of us now! You can't go!"
But no reply came from Castiel as he closed the door behind him, tears starting to sting his eyes. It was those words that haunted and repeated in his mind as he walked the back alleys of the little town they had come to. It was desolate, like the others they have been in, with debris and chaos on the ground and on the walls of several buildings. Many had fire damage, while others looked looted. But it wasn't those buildings that Castiel had to concentrate on getting to - it was the empty main street in the middle of town.
It's suicide, his kept telling himself. But he had no other choice. He needed the samples from this town, just like he had done so many times in the past. He had a mission to finish.
As soon as he could see the town square from his hiding spot in an alley, he looked around, cautious of his movements and breathing. He could see the carnage from even this distance - strewn and bloodied bodies, many ripped apart, but some still intact, surprisingly. He knew this is where ground zero for this town must've occurred. They must have been having some kind of town meeting when this all started, and it was right in the middle of town...they were live bait. He noticed the bodies of dead soldiers as well, their guns bloodied and definitely used against the horde that attacked. He walked through the mass of bodies, noticing mothers clutching the hands of eaten children, the men with legs missing...the carnage should've made him sick, but he had lost all feeling of seeing death almost 2 years ago. He bent down next to a college-aged guy - or what remained of him, as a good chunk of the kid's head was missing- and Castiel reached into his bag and pulled out two syringes, injecting one into the corpse's arm, taking as much blood as the syringe could.
It was when he was injecting the second needle when he heard a crash coming from in front of him. He stopped immediately, looking up to see about 5 rotting corpses staggering towards him. Not taking his eyes off of them, he stashed the syringes back into his bag and slowly backed away, not taking his eyes off the moving bodies. He knew if he ran, they would catch his movement immediately. He then slowly stood up, careful not to make any sudden movements, and trying to quiet his footsteps...until he heard a snap from underneath him, and noticed his hand had hit one of the downed guns on the ground. He looked up and noticed that the bodies heard it too, and then heard one of the zombies screech something horrible - he didn't hesitate...he turned and ran.
He didn't know the town very well, so every turn he made made him even more lost than before; he tried to make sense of his surroundings though, as he wanted to avoid the area where he left his brother, which became priority as he sprinted through the mess of cars, debris, and dead bodies in the street. He made random turns onto different streets to try to evade the horde, but they were gaining on him. He was jumping over random things now, trying to remember which streets were still open and wouldn't make him end up in a dead-end...
But that nightmare happened when he heard, coming from his left, another group of the un-dead joining the small horde behind him. His mind blanked, and he turned into what he thought was another open street - until he found himself in an alley, the end having a large brick wall, and no way to try to reach higher ground or escape the disgusting moans from behind him...
His panicked mind was too busy remembering that he almost didn't notice that nothing was touching him...what he thought was going to be the dead-scented, gurgled breath of the horde was instead replaced by sound of gunfire.
He opened his eyes to see the zombies hitting the ground, one by one, bullet holes through their skulls. The loud WHACK of an axe had found its target in a zombie's head, and it fell to the ground as well. In just a few seconds, the group of zombies were all dead, blood pouring from their skull wounds onto the pavement. He slid back against the wall as far as he could, trying to escape the bodies and smell. When it finally hit him that they were, in fact, dead, he looked up.
It was a small group of...survivors. Castiel tried to stand up, but the shakiness in his legs prevented him. He lay there, surprised and thankful, as those heroes slowly approached him. The group consisted of four members, with the smallest being a red-headed woman in the back, who was surveying the dead deceased on the ground. The other three members were men, each with a weapon of their own. The tallest of the members was in the front, who walked over to the fallen Castiel and and he held out his hand to him.
"Thank God we found you when we did." The man said.
Castiel took the mans' hand, and was lifted up from the ground. "Tha-thank you." The man looked down and noticed the dropped bag. He scooped it up and handed it to a still-shaking Castiel, who acknowledged the gesture with a nod.
The man smiled. "What's your name?"
"Ca-Ca...Castiel." Castiel replied, still shaky, and slung the bag over his shoulder.
"The name's Sam. Sam Winchester." The man said. "Are you alone?"
"Y-yes."
Sam raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Well, you are a trooper."
"I'm sorry?"
"We spotted you running from the square, and noticed you didn't even have a gun." Sam chuckled. "As we were running over here, I just thought that you had to be the toughest and bravest son of a bitch I had ever seen."
Castiel shook his head. "I don't have a gun, well, not anymore." He sighed. "I lost it in Indianapolis."
"Well, that still makes you tough, but toughness can only get you so far nowadays. You should come with us. We can protect you."
"Us?"
"We, yeah, we can't just leave you here, man. That would be rude." Sam said, and he turned to the group. "That's Anna," he pointed to the pretty girl and the bloodied axe. At the call of her name, she looked up and smiled at Castiel. He smiled back. "That's Gabriel," he pointed to a long-haired man, who was checking his gun. "And Baltahazar." He pointed to the last of their group, who smiled and waved at Castiel. Castiel waved back. He noticed how...handsome Gabriel and Balthazar were. Gabriel looked up and gave Castiel a grin, which made him look like he could've been up to something.
Castiel cleared his throat. "Those names are..."
"Weird?" Sam replied, grinning.
"No...my name is weird. I meant to say...creative."
The one called Gabriel laughed, hitting the other man, who looked at the laughing man with annoyance, and then back at Castiel. "Well, we all are named after angels, I think. Gabriel and Balthazar are definitely angel names, like, straight out of the Bible or something." Balthazar replied, surprising Castiel with his British accent. "I think Castiel is an angel name too, if I can recall correctly."
"I guess. I really don't know. Castiel and Jimmy really aren't angel names." Castiel replied.
"Jimmy? Who's Jimmy?" Anna asked.
"Oh he's my..." Castiel paled. "My brother! He has to know I'm safe!"
Sam took Castiel's shoulder. "It's okay! We'll go find him and take him to base...we can take both of you, okay? Just tell us where he is."
Castiel nodded. "We were hiding in the old movie theater. We've only been here for a few days, and that looked like the safest place to hole out for a while. We've..." Castiel paused. "We've only had each other since this whole thing started."
Gabriel and Anna looked at each other, and then nodded. Balthazar then spoke. "I'll go back to base, tell the boss that we're getting some new friends. Anna and Sam could go with you to the theatre?"
"I'll go with you then, Balthie. I am in a super dire need of a hot bath," Gabriel said, looking at his brother with a grin. "And maybe a hot lady." Balthazar groaned and rolled his eyes, as Anna scoffed and punched Gabriel in the arm. "What?" He said, rubbing his arm. "I have needs!"
"Your needs are so self-centered, Gabe." Anna replied.
"I'm a selfish guy, little one." Came the reply. "I am very into me."
"Good god," Balthazar groaned, placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "How did I get stuck with you?"
Castiel and Sam looked at each other, with the taller man shaking his head and smiling. Castiel breathed out as he said, "That would be perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Anna smiled at Castiel. "No problem. Let's go."
---
The trio crossed the street, which was filled with papers and burned cars. There weren't any bodies as they approached the theater, which Castiel had guessed was more on the outside of the town, a bit far from the first sets of carnage, but the splatters of blood indicated that fights against the dead have occurred there. Being a large-sized city, the first days of the virus were chaotic, with casualties hitting high as the zombies rose in numbers. Castiel couldn't help but think of those that died just at the hands of the military. He hissed inwardly - the military should've been the allies. Instead, they killed off anyone that tried to go through their blockade - even those that were infection-free. But that was all in the past now. Castiel sighed, and adjusted the bag around his shoulder.
Sam noticed this. "I could carry it, I mean, if you'd like. It looks kinda heavy."
Castiel smiled and shook his head. "It's fine, really, there's only...uh...only a few food supplies in, uh, in here." He nervously shifted the back again and swallowed. "I-I heard that this old store was burnt down, but that some things managed to survive. I heard that an old safe-house was holding some supplies for anyone still alive. I'm glad I went - there was just so much I could get for me and my brother, you know?"
"It really sounds like you two have been on your own for quite some time." Anna said, speaking from behind him. "How long?"
Castiel turned his head to look at her. Her eyes shone bright at him. He coughed. "Uh almost two years...yeah...after this whole thing happened, my father told me to take care of him. My responsibility."
"Kinda sounds like my brother." Sam replied.
"You have a brother?" Castiel asked.
Sam nodded. "Yep. He's older than me, and stubborn. I'm a lot nicer." He ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair. "And prettier." Anna laughed, and Castiel laughed with her, glad that that particular conversation was over.
They walked a few more yards until they finally reached the street across from the entrance of the theater. The front doors were boarded up with odd-shaped pieces of wood, with the marquee display above reading as "Cap-ta-- A--er-i--: Ci-il Wa-", showing how dated the whole apocalypse really was.
Castiel pointed to the side of the building. "There's an entrance over there. The zombies don't know about it, cause it kinda blends in, and it's secure. When we got into town, I fortified it so they couldn't get in if I had to leave."
"Right." Sam said, and the three of them went to the gated entrance. Castiel went first, hunching down to go through a small hole through the gate, which Anna and Sam followed suit, and Castiel led them through one of the back doors of the theater, and soon, they all were inside the lobby of the theater. Fallen popcorn bags and candy wrappers lay everywhere, and a large poster overhead was threatening to fall. Ironically, it advertised some zombie movie that was supposed to have released the week all of this had started. Castiel always liked that poster - it held a piece of the past that was ignorant to what the future could hold.
"Ew." Anna called out, poking at a decomposing body at the snack counter. "Even after the world goes to hell, the theater still smells like popcorn. Gross."
Sam and Castiel laughed. "He's probably in one of the old camera booths. Number 5 is his favorite...something about the camera being in good condition or something." Castiel said. He led them through the hallways of the theater, and then through a door, which led the trio up some stairs and into a corridor with many doors, each marked with a number. When they got to a door marked with the number 5, Castiel knocked, and then entered.
Inside was a man hunched over the old movie camera projection. Castiel went up to him and softly placed a hand on his back. The man jumped and looked up, and relief washed on his face. "Thank god! I thought you...you were..."
Castiel nodded. "I'm fine, really." His brother stood up and they hugged. When they separated, Jimmy looked over at the strangers.
"Who-?" he started to ask.
"Jimmy," Castiel replied. "I want you to meet some...friends."
Anna smiled and carefully stepped forward, extending a friendly hand to him. "Hi, Jimmy. I'm Anna."
Jimmy looked up a bit, cautiously looked at the hand, and shook it with his own. "...Hi."
Sam walked forward a step. "And I'm Sam. Nice to meet you, Jimmy."
Jimmy just nodded at the tall man.
Castiel looked at his new friends, who looked astonished as they surveyed the projection room. There were scattered papers with writings, all of which were Jimmy's handwriting. Castiel was never the tech-savvy one of the two, so when Sam looked at him and Castiel shook his head, Sam's eyebrows raised in amazement. "My brother's a genius," Castiel said. "If we weren't in hell, he'd be at MIT right now."
Jimmy smiled and looked at his brother. "I hate to brag but...yeah, I am pretty clever."
Sam cleared his throat. His tall stature scared the younger twin, who cowered back a step. Sam coughed, realizing that he seemed imposing. "Jimmy, you know, if you came with us, you could bring that projector to base, and if you're able to fix it, the base would be grateful for a movie night."
Jimmy looked up at Sam. "Base? What base?"
Castiel put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Jimmy, they saved me. And now, they're going to save us. They have a base that we can live at."
Jimmy looked up at his brother. "Really?" Castiel nodded. Jimmy looked at Anna, who gave him a friendly smile. The younger Novak twin then sighed and looked at his brother, their striking blue eyes meeting. "Then, what are we waiting for?"
---
Castiel couldn't believe it.
Yesterday, it was just him and his brother, alone in the world, no one to turn to and no real place to call home. They were a few states away from their home in Pontiac, IL - of course they couldn't go back home...Chicago was one of the first cities that was overrun, and naturally, all the suburbs surrounding the Windy City became a feeding ground for the un-dead. It came as no surprise to Castiel that the states that were seen as 'nothing but wheat and religious signs' was almost completely free of hordes of zombies, it did come as a surprise to him that anyone was living in the middle of nowhere to escape that chaos - a brilliant plan to escape the crumbling ruins of what used to be the land of the free.
Today, he was walking with his brother and four complete strangers who have offered them shelter, food, and safety. If only Dad could see him now. If only...
The four were walking back to the base, with Sam leading in front of them. Jimmy was holding on to the bag on his side, adjusting it every few minutes to keep it steady. He had insisted on taking some gadgets with them to the base, against Castiel's better judgement. But Sam had assured him that they needed more technology on the base, and that Jimmy's knowledge on the stuff could be useful, so Castiel finally agreed - but he didn't know that Jimmy would take a large, heavy bag with them. Castiel had previously offered to take the bag from his brother, but Jimmy had protested, saying that he could carry it, that he wasn't a child. Castiel smiled - he might just be growing up. Finally.
Anna was checking her axe and occasionally glancing at Castiel, who noticed this, and awkwardly tried to talk to her, thinking of conversation starters, but his mind kept his mouth shut, not wanting to sound like a massive idiot. He wasn't the best at talking with women- his college days definitely showed this, as he mostly spent his time studying in his room than going out partying with his classmates. He chuckled as a few memories replayed in his head showing his roommates trying to coerce him out of his room to actually talk to girls.
But that was before...that was a lifetime ago. His roommates were most likely all dead (or worse), and the pretty college girls were all gone. He mentally fought with himself, as though Anna was really the last woman on earth, and that this was his only chance to actually be with a girl. Dear god, I am sounding more and more like a tool every day. But finally, he spoke up.
"So, I don't want to be rude..." Castiel started. "But a pretty girl like you...how did you get to be so handy with a large weapon like that? And with a group like Sam and Gabriel?"
Smooth first line, assbutt.
Anna smiled. "I was pretty handy with tools like these back in the day. I helped my dad with cars and whatever. I took better care of myself than my parents could-I'm not saying they didn't raise me right, cause they did, but I could handle myself pretty well. Plus," she continued. "They found me. Dean thought I was weak, cause...well, I'm pretty tiny. But then, I finished off a zom while he had his back turned. The rest of the base say I'm as tough as Dean."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, but Dean doesn't like it that much, but, I swear, every time someone says that, he grins a little." Anna smiled. "Dean and Sam...they're like the brothers I never had. They take care of me."
Castiel looked back to Sam, who was still leading the group. "So...your brother..." Castiel spoke at him.
Sam turned his head a little, but kept walking. "My brother?"
"Leader, huh? That seems like a huge responsibility, given what we all have to go through."
Castiel could see Sam smile as he replied. "Yeah. Well, since Mom died, Dad taught us how to use guns and knives and stuff. All came in handy when the world started to end."
"And...Dean...will not mind you bringing us to your base?" Jimmy asked.
"I think it'll be fine." Anna replied. "Survivors are hard to come by, especially un-infected ones. Plus, if you're handy in anything, we could sure use you."
They quieted after that. A mile later, Castiel spotted the base. It was huge, with a tall brick wall surrounding it. He could see guards balancing on the wall, guns in hand. Behind the wall, he could see a few roofs of buildings, and what looked to be a large metal tower in the center. Castiel gaped. "Wow," was all he could say.
The four of them approached the gate, which Castiel counted were at least five men. Sam shouldered his gun.
"Hey, Kevin."
A smallish looking kid walked up to the group, and then hugged Sam. "Thank god! I thought you were goners!"
"Nope. But these two might have." Sam replied, and gestured to Castiel and Jimmy. "Castiel, Jimmy, meet Kevin Tran."
Kevin had to been only 17, Castiel guessed, and probably one of the kids that Jimmy would've hung out with in high school. His hair was kinda messy, and there looked to be a smear of grease on his left cheek, but the kid looked nice enough. When Castiel nodded to him, Kevin smiled again and went up to Castiel, and they shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you, Kevin Tran." Castiel said.
"It's great to see new faces around here!" Kevin replied, and then faced Anna. "Bobby said that if you ever came back, you should go look for him in communications."
Anna nodded. "Right. See you inside, boys!" She waved and walked to the gate, where it was opened for her.
Kevin looked back at Castiel. "So, what do you do, then?"
Castiel shrugged. "I'm pretty handy in medical, I guess. I was training to be a doctor. Jimmy here," he gestured to Jimmy, who slunk back behind his brother in shyness. "is good with technology."
"Cool! I was an honors student." Kevin replied. "Still was in high school though. But hey, I wanted to be a doctor too."
"So you must be very smart then?" Castiel asked.
"Eh, not anymore. I pretty much forgot all about math and physics and stuck to shooting things. My mom would've hated it, actually." Kevin turned to look at the other Novak twin. "Jimmy, right? Hey, I could take you to our communications yard, show you what we have? I bet you'd be real useful there."
Jimmy ducked his head, running his hand through his hair in shyness. "Yeah?" He said. Kevin nodded, and Jimmy reluctantly followed him towards the gate, which left Sam and Castiel outside of the gates.
"Well then. Why don't I show you around, huh?" Sam said. Castiel nodded, and they walked through the gates, which slammed shut behind them.
---
The grounds of the base was held off in some field a little outside of town. A few barns were in Castiel's sight, and the wall surrounding the place must've been built when the virus struck, because it all looked almost new. Guards were posted every so often around the wall, and the large watchtower was slightly in the center of everything. There were a lot of tents, some big and some small, all round the base, with makeshift houses near the barns. Jimmy was definitely impressed, Castiel noticed, as he kept looking at everything around him, taking in what could almost be described as paradise compared to the living conditions they have lived in for the last two years.
Jimmy gasped as he noticed the center of the base. "A watchtower? How in the hell-?"
"Yeah, we kinda built it from the ground up." Sam said. "Dean's idea, actually. He wanted to see beyond the walls, in case of any threats coming our way."
Castiel frowned. "Threats?"
"Yeah...well, there's more than zombies out there, Castiel." Sam replied.
"Oh..." It had been a while since seeing some still alive, but Castiel instantly knew that Sam was talking about the military forces that were deployed when the virus struck. It had been a disaster really, since the virus struck during Christmastime, so there weren't that many on active duty anyway; but scrambling to restore chaos was apparently Washington's number one priority at the time, instead of trying to contain the recently un-deceased, so when the masses were being assaulted, they didn't hesitate - the soldiers shot everything and everyone on site...even the innocents that hadn't even had the chance to be infected. Once word spread that the military were cutting down the uninfected, people revolted, naturally, and what could only be described as a civil war broke out between the soldiers and the civilians. Many didn't make it through the firefights across the country...many didn't survive when the hordes of zombies attacked and they had no way to defend themselves. Castiel cursed under his breath after hearing that news that he would never again trust a soldier...they were trigger-happy, and many couldn't recognize the alive from the dead. "Right," he continued. "But I haven't seen any formations of soldiers in months."
Sam nodded. "Neither have we, which is suspicious, to say the least. We would see them march across the hills, almost a hundred of them, heading north. We would always be on guard for them once spotted, but they never came towards us. I mean, it's not like we're hidden, with the watchtower being as high as it is, but they have never approached our grounds." He rubbed his hand through his hair. "Still, we keep a close eye on the horizon."
"But if they did come close, we'd totally kill them." Kevin said. Castiel looked at him and Kevin grinned. "I mean, it's been a while since I've been in a good old fashioned fight."
"But they have guns, Kevin." Sam said.
"So do I." Kevin replied.
"Seriously, what happened to the innocent honors kid that stumbled into our camp? He wasn't that bloodthirsty."
Kevin shrugged. "I grew up."
As Castiel followed Sam, with Jimmy and Kevin behind them, he heard someone call Sam's name. They both turned to see a skinny man with an old baseball cap walking towards them, and next to him an old man with a beard and a shotgun in one hand and a grim-looking face. "Sam! 'bout time you showed!" The skinny man cried out. "C'mere man."
In reply, Sam walked to the man and hugged him. "Hey, Garth."
Garth laughed. "Glad you're safe, bro." He then high-fived Kevin.
It was then the old man spoke up. "So, you brought some new ones, huh?" He said, looking at Castiel and Jimmy.
Castiel stood there, confused. "Uh, yes sir-?"
"Bobby, this is Castiel and his brother Jimmy." Sam cut in, pointing at Castiel, and then at Jimmy. Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Guys, this is Garth and Bobby - they're like the gun-men around here."
"Pleased to meet you boys." Garth said, shaking Castiel's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Castiel replied. Garth smiled.
"Hey, Bobby, I need to find Dean...you know where he might be?" Sam asked the old man.
Bobby grunted and shrugged, letting the shotgun drop to his side. "Last I saw him, he was at the kitchens. Check there."
Sam chuckled. "Of course. I'll get him. I think he'll want to meet these two. Be right back." And with that, gave a small wave to Castiel and jogged out of view.
Castiel took in his surroundings. The base was amazing. Castiel guessed over 100 people must've been taking refuge here. He also noticed that each person was equipped with some kind of weapon - some had large guns, while others had pistols and knives. He even saw one woman carrying a machete.
A moment later, he spotted Anna, and waved at her, and she smiled and waved back, and walked towards the group. "Like it?" She asked.
"It's amazing!" Came Jimmy's reply.
"I think you boys are gonna like it here." She said.
"For the end of the world, this Dean guy pretty much figured everything out..." Castiel said to his brother, who nodded in reply.
"It's amazing, Castiel! We HAVE to stay here! I spotted some tech back there!" Jimmy responded, grinning from ear to ear.
"So, you're a techie, huh? We need another smart kid." A voice replied.
Castiel looked to his right to see Sam and another man approaching. Castiel suddenly froze at his figure. His deep green eyes pierced him...and he didn't know why. The man was a bit shorter than Sam, but he held his stature high. He had a thigh holster, which held some kind of pistol, and sling-ed around him was a large sub-machine gun. He came up to Castiel in what seemed like slow-motion. He almost looked like a model...Castiel had to cough a few times to knock himself out of the apparent daydream that he was having.
"So, you're Castiel and Jimmy? Welcome." The man said, stretching out his hand. Castiel shook it. "I'm Dean Winchester."
Castiel nodded, still not looking away from Dean's eyes. He breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath for the last 5 seconds. "T-thanks for letting us stay."
Dean nodded. "No problem. We take any survivors we can. Can't be too stingy with who you bring into camp - we're all the same boat now."
"...Right."
"So," Dean said, looking at Jimmy. "We can set you up with tech with Chuck and Anna. He's brilliant, but we think he's lonely. I think you'd be able to connect with him quickly. Plus, I think you've already met the lovely Anna?" Jimmy nodded, and Anna tilted her head, still smiling. Dean smiled back and nodded. "Awesome." He nodded his head at Sam. "Sam and Anna can take you there."
Sam nodded and gestured at Jimmy. "C'mon. You'll love Chuck. He never stops talking about computers and stuff. He's awesome." Anna followed suit, turning back to Castiel and Dean and raising a thumb. Dean raised his thumb right back. And with that, Castiel was left alone standing in front of Dean.
Dean looked Castiel up and down. "So, what do you do? Everyone around here pulls their share. We've got scavengers, gun-fanatics, you name it."
Castiel wringed his hands. "I don't know. I was never really got at anything, I guess. I was training to be a doctor before everything happened."
"Woah, really?" Dean replied. "Cause we could use a doctor, even an almost-doctor."
"Oh...okay then." Castiel replied.
Dean eyed him. "I'm liking you already, Cas."
Castiel frowned. "What the hell is a 'Cas'?"
"Dude, relax." Dean said, clapping Castiel on the shoulder. "It's just a shortened version of your name. What, haven't you heard of nicknames?"
"My family and friends called me Castiel, Dean."
"Well then...your new family is just gonna have to call ya Cas. I mean, not to sound rude," Dean lifted his hands to show surrender. "But Castiel is kinda a mouthful. But if you seriously don't like it, I won't call you that again."
Castiel sighed. "Fine. You can call me...Cas, if you wish."
"Dude," Dean said, pointing a finger at Castiel. "You're awesome."
Castiel smiled a little.
---
Dean and Castiel walked around the grounds, with Dean showing Castiel where everything was, and who everyone was. Castiel had met a clever red-head named Charlie, who happened to be talking about dragons to Garth. She shook Castiel's hand and welcomed him to the base, commentating that "he's a beefcake", and hitting him on the shoulder, which slightly surprised Castiel. When Dean mentioned that Castiel's brother was a techno-geek, Charlie smiled.
"Finally! Someone to talk nerdy to!" She exclaimed. "You know, all the guys around here just want to talk about shooting zombies and making their guns bigger. I just want to talk about Doctor Who and D&D, ya know?" She said to Castiel, who just looked at her in reply, confusion on his face. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Seriously? D&D? World of Warcraft? Anything?" Castiel shook his head in reply at her. "Gah, men." She said, throwing her hands up in the air. "What am I going to do with you all?"
---
After the short tour of the base, which included the kitchens and where Castiel would be sleeping, Dean took him back to Bobby's tent, where the man as still cleaning and inspecting his impressive gun collection. Dean and Bobby talked for a few moments before the old man looked at Castiel.
"You any good with a gun, boy?" Bobby asked. He was gruff-looking, which a southern-ish accent that Castiel couldn't place. His beard was very grey and his baseball cap was old and torn up.
Castiel shook his head. "I mean, not really. My father taught me when I was a kid, but I never really got into the whole gun thing."
"Shame. We could use more soldiers." came Bobby's reply.
"I guess so, sir." Castiel replied. "But I just never had the time to go out and shoot."
"Well, have Dean show you." Bobby replied.
Castiel then felt his ears burn.
---
Later, after meeting most of the inhabitants of the base, Dean showed Castiel the armory.
"This is where we keep the guns."
"I thought Bobby-"
"Nah, that's Bobby's collection. Likes to show them off. Here's where we keep the bad boys."
"Y-Yeah, it looks like you have...a lot of them?"
Dean grinned. "Well, yeah. Always have to keep a steady stock of bullets - never know when a horde will come stomping at the gates."
Castiel glanced over to the large rack of pistols on the wall. It was indeed impressive, with several sizes of guns either hanging on hooks or laid up against the wall. There were a lot of boxes of ammunition, and there was even a collections of assorted knifes and swords. Castiel whistled in amazement, then asked, "So, will you teach me?"
Dean shrugged. "Sure. We need all the help we can get. We can start tomorrow, if you want. I'll make a crack shot of you yet."
---
When the sun had begun to show signs of setting, Dean led Castiel to the large barn near the middle of the base, which, he had explained earlier, was the lunchroom and where most of the people on the base slept. Castiel was surprised by how large it was on the inside, and also noticed that it went slightly underground as well - that, he guessed, most likely led to some sleeping quarters. Dean explained that when the numbers became big, the barn did too.
"So, how long have you been on this base?" Castiel asked, his dinner placed in front of him and sitting directly across from Dean at the table. Most of the base was inside the barn, eating and talking happily.
Dean shrugged and ate a piece of bread. "This land is Bobby's, actually. Sam and I played in the fields all the time. When the virus hit, Dad took us here."
"And, your father? I don't think I've met him yet, have I?"
Dean froze. "He's not here." he replied flatly.
Castiel felt he hit a sour note. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"
"He's not dead." Dean said quickly. "He's just...not here."
Castiel quickly nodded his head and ate another spoonful of soup. It tasted amazing! "Where did you get this? This is delicious!" he exclaimed.
"Well, on top of being a bad-ass with an axe, Anna is a pretty good cook." Dean replied, and then pointed his spoon across the barn to see the redhead was sitting, talking to Charlie and Garth. Castiel breathed in suddenly. He could swear it was the sunset light coming through the barn door, but Anna looked...breathtaking. He had to admit, it wasn't like when he met Dean for the first time, but he put that memory in the back of his mind, figuring that Dean Winchester always had that effect on everyone. But Anna...she was beautiful.
"Woah." Was all he could say after a minute of staring.
Dean laughed. "Yeah, she has that effect, doesn't she?"
But Castiel wasn't listening anymore. He just continued to look over at her.