"We might as well check it out." The older man mumbled, slipping his fingers through dark brown hair. If he really wanted to speak his mind, he would have said a little vulgar joke, and not wanted to check the abandoned place out at all, but he didn't want to hear that goddamn bald middle-aged teacher nag again…
Ellis was on board with the idea, of course. That kid never hated a single thing. He even liked the zombies a little as well! He always noted how cool they looked, or how fast they moved. God, you would think that kid was on some kind of drug…
Rochelle was already intent on sleeping, being it the third week they've been in this mess. If you could ask Nick how he felt about the situation, he would bluntly reply with some kind of humiliating remark about how his teammates never seem to care hard enough, and then an aggravated remark about 'he never gets his rest'.
He could tell most of his team members were fed up with him. Most, he said, not all. Why did he say most? Because Ellis hates no one.
Nick wasn't the type of guy to understand people or express his inner feelings. He was tough and melancholy, so there was really nothing worth digging up from the man. He made snide remarks about everything and always had some kind of sarcastic or rude remark toward his 'partner in crime'.
At this very moment, they were cautiously walking one foot in front of the other down a rickety board set out a few inches over a dark swamp filled with God knew what. Ellis seemed intent on making it to the house across the marshy land to check it out. Nick could only imagine why the hick wanted to check it out, but his mind couldn't settle on a conclusion.
Coach and Rochelle were standing quietly on the other side of the swamp, on dry land, away from the mud-men and vicious zombies. Nick envied their situation right now, and dreaded being in a house for more than 6 minutes with the annoying hick.
"Why are we here, Overalls." Nick spat, finding sturdy land on the Swamp-house's porch. Mosquitoes, flies, and other assorted bugs were dancing around in front of the darkened screen door that led into the living room. The gambler could scarcely make out a couple silhouettes of stumbling, gargling zombies.
The house was quiet, eerily quiet. The hick opened the door, sending bullets into the zombies before they could react to their intrusion. "Hush, Neek, I hear sumthin'." The hick whispered, putting a finger against pursed lips. Holy Lord if Rochelle and Coach weren't expecting them back out soon, Nick would send his frying pan upside the boy's head and leave him here.
He bit bad a sarcastic response and followed the hick inside. "What do you hear?" Nick grumbled, only to be hushed again by the increasingly annoying hick. Even though Nick didn't mind knocking this idiot out, he obeyed (for once) his command and stood in the living room/kitchen as Ellis slowly crept along down the short dark hallway to the bedroom door. "Hello…?" Ellis whispered softly, opening up the first door on his right, only to find it empty. "We're not gunna hurt ya, kay?" He called out softly, opening the second door.
Nick rolled his eyes, knowing what the kid was doing was obviously hopeless. As the hick made his way along the hallway, Nick decided to take a look around. He opened drawers, tossing them out onto the floor when he found nothing useful. He tossed open cabinets and kicked over chairs. Nothing useful, of course.
As he opened the last cupboard, he heard behind him and chair wobble on the wooden floor and a soft curse. He swiveled around, frying pan at the ready. "Who the hell is there?" He growled out loud, his green eyes darting back and forth. He heard clothes scuffle along the ground and a pair of glowing green eyes appear from under the chair.
Before he could even comprehend who was under the chair, the form darted out, baseball bat in hand, screaming. Nick swiveled out of the way, grabbing a handful of the person's hair. The attacker squealed, clawing at Nick's hand as he kept a firm hold.
The attacker was a woman, and a young woman at that. She didn't look infected, although her skin was pale from fright and her eyes were wide with fear. She dropped the bat, her eyes staring into Nick's. A moment of silence passed between them before anything was spoken. That anything being Ellis noisily trotting bad in the living room with his AK-47 at hand.
"Y-You're not…infected!" The girl gasped, digging her nails into Nick's hand. The gambler let go, blood dotting up from the semi-circular cuts embedded into his knuckles. "Ey, and neither are you. If I hadn't had known sooner you would have had a frying pan whacked so hard across your head you'd have been dead in an instant."
The girl patted down her long, dark brown hair, which had the same darkness and hue as Nick's. Speaking of which, her eyes also had that dazzling green glow like Nick's. She also had that same glare he was famous for….
"What's your name?" Nick mumbled, wiping away the blood that started to drip onto his pan. "Karin." The girl stated, letting the bat rest on her shoulder. She wore a black hoodie with the sleeve coming up her palms and holes in the sides for her thumbs to poke out of. A skull of white paint was splattered on the front. She wore a pair of dark denim jeans and her hair fell naturally behind her, no ponytail or anything.
Her face was pale from the previous shock, but her mouth never removed that scowl. "Well hey ther, Karin!" Ellis chimed, letting his hand stretch out in front of the young woman's. She gingerly shook it and smiled. "So how old are ya?" The hick asked, his blue eyes so friendly and cheery. "Nineteen years of age." She responded thoughtfully.
"Nineteen?" Nick blurted, his eyes green eyes locking with hers. "You look like you're fucking 15!" Karin narrowed her eyes at him, her mouth forming a bigger scowl than Nick has ever mustered up.
"I should find that flattering but I won't since you practically wrenched half of my hair off of my head!"
"You fucking attacked me!" Nick defended.
"I thought you were a zombie." She snorted.
"Back at ya."
Although Nick's obvious attitude toward the woman presented itself as aggravated and annoyed, Nick was actually starting to enjoy this girl's company. She's so much like me it's scary…
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Who's this?" Rochelle asked as they made their way across the swamp again. Ellis helped the woman down from the board and Nick couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy. Although his mind was convinced that he hated the hick more than anything, something dwelled at the back of his mind that maybe the feeling wasn't hate that he publicly showed toward the hick.
As he made his turn to get off the plank, Ellis outstretched his hand for him, but being the man Nick was, he scoffed and rejected the gesture. He wasn't about to get his reputation diminished by this. Karin, strangely, noticed this (being the new kid to the group) and retorted, "Don't need to be so rude about it."
Her voice had the same tone that everyone hated, and Rochelle let her surprised gaze lock on her. Coach scowled himself, stepping up to her, "Now, I know what yer trying to do is stick up for Ellis, but sometimes we don't need yer attitude, Miss." Karin cocked an eyebrow, sighing and bowing her head. "Fine."
Ellis eyed Nick, his blue eyes swirling with hurt as they made their way down the planks to a tall bridge that stretched a couple dozen feet across the swamp.
"I see a Safe House!" Nick exclaimed with glee, his pace quickening and going up in front of the group. The house was placed at the other side of the bridge, It would have been easy if not for the dozen or so zombies in front of it. Karin's breath hitched into her throat, and Nick saw her green eyes widen. "Scared, are ya?" He teased, his eyes narrowing. Karin gulped, staring angrily at Nick and retorting, "Nope."
It was all scarring for Karin as she rushed into the Safe House, hearing Coach clang the door shut and wedge a metal pipe into the slot to keep it closed. He grumbled to himself, turning around and making his way to the kitchen area. "I'm starvin'."
Ellis seated himself on the floor, leaning his head against the wall and taking in a few breaths of air. The air wasn't clean, it hung with a lingering scent of rotting flesh and murky fog, but it was air and they all needed a breather. Nick sat down next to the hick, his eyes looking the younger man up and down. "You look like shit." He retorted, remembering how his ass was beaten up out there. Ellis flushed red in the cheeks and he turned his back on the Gambler. "Nah, I'm fine, Neek."
His voice was laced with annoyance, which was rare with the lovable hick. With that being said, the Gambler grabbed his first AID kit and yanked up the hick's short sleeve. Ellis turned to the man in surprise, but didn't speak as Nick quietly wrapped the boy's bleeding arm in bandages. Goddamn zombies tried taking chunks out of him for lunch.
As for Karin, she sat on the dining table (which was being used as a supply table at the moment), her knees curled up to her chest, and her eyes staring down at a photo she held gingerly in her hands. She stared quietly at the picture, tears burning in her eyes. She used her palm to wipe away the tears.
She didn't hear the footsteps of a curious gambler behind her, peering over her shoulder at the pic. "Ey, why do you have a picture of my parents?" Nick asked rather rudely. Karin jumped, shaking in her converse as she turned around into the glaring, dark eyes of him. Without blinking, she regained her scowl and shoved the man back with a pointy elbow. "Your parents?" She hissed, clutching the picture away from his as he tried to make a grab for it.
"These are my parents, they got killed in the Infection not two weeks ago!" She scowled, having to press the sole of her shoe into the man's stomach to keep him from trying to grab it. "Why did you say 'your parents'?"
"Because they are!" He spat, snatching the picture from her grasp and staring at it. It was a picture of his parents, he was so fucking sure! But the person in this photo wasn't him. He never smiled past the age of 10…
The picture was of his father and mother at his old park he would go to, sitting on a picnic blanket with a little girl between them. A girl with dazzling green eyes and dark brown hair that came in almost wavy, but straight as well.
He let the picture fall to the floor, his eyes fixed dumbstruck on the girl that sat stubbornly on the table. "Did you…um…ever remember having a brother…?" He asked rather hoarsely, his eyebrows furrowing. Karin's eyes softened as she tried to remember, "No, but my mother told me I had one, but he ran away when he was fourteen."
Nick's heart did a skipped beat as he stared at her. "So…these are my parents…" Karin was about to retort with a rude remark, but Nick slapped a hand over her mouth. "BUT…these are your parents too…"
Her eyes widened rather large, because now she finally got it.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
It had been a while since Nick's outburst was said. Now, as the team sat around in the main room of the Safe House, listening to Nick's mumbling and his dress shoes scuffing against the concrete floor, Karin was wondering why he was in such a disappointment. She chewed solemnly on her thumb as she watched Nick pause by the window, stare out of it for a second, and resume his pacing. Of course, Ellis thought nothing wrong of the situation at hand, because was busy watching closely his friend in distress. "Why's thur a probl'm Neek?" He asked honestly.
Nick shook his head, his mind going over everything. Of course, he did notice that him and the 19 year old shared physical traits. Both had green eyes of the most vivid color (although Karin's were sharp and glowing and could possibly scare even the most savage of monsters) and they both had the same color and hue of dark chocolate brown hair. Hers was longer, though, meeting her in the small of her back. They both could produce a very good scowl, and she had the attitude of a fiery woman. She had an attitude that, to Nick's dispair, could top his by a landslide.
"My parents HATED each other! That's the whole reason I left in the first damn place!" He exclaimed, his fingers running through his slicked back hair. "I can't even guess why then would...make another one!" He paused, bringing his thumb up and chewing on the nail.
Karin and Nick both met eyes, noticed they both were doing the same thing, and dropped their hands to their sides. Ellis shrugged, sitting against the couch that karin was propped upon. "Well, if I met a rel'tive o' mine, I'd be thrilled n' give um a hug!"
"You probably don't know us very well then." Karin laughed, digging into the inside of her jacket to pull out a white case.
It took a moment for Nick to notice that the white package in her hand was a pack of cigars. The gambler's eyes widened as she pulled out a cigar, lit it with a wooden match, and stuck it into her mouth. The team went quiet, all knowing how Nick acted during the beginning of the apocolypse when his precious carton of cigars were lost in the burning hotel.
Ellis's eyes narrowed, and he went silent as well, hunching his shoulders and crossing his arms. Karin looked up from reading the back of the package to meet the eyes of everyone in the group, except Nick's. His eyes were locked on the pack.
"Oh, srree." She mumbled with the cigar in her mouth, handing the pack outward toward the group, "wnt 'ne?"
Before Nick could happily agree and grab the pack, Ellis intruded on the situation, slamming the pack down on the ground and smashing it with the soul of his shoe. Rochelle's breath came out fast, and Coach decided it would be a good time to cough. Both were uncomfortable with the situation at hand, and knew that if Ellis was angry, then something was terribly wrong. "I tuld ya that I hate yew smokin' Neek..." He mumbled, staring at the now shell-shocked gambler before him.
Nick slowly ripped his gaze from the pack up to Ellis's stern blue-eyed gaze. "Overalls...I swear to God-"
Karin's utter frustration flowed over his words as she took the cigar from her mouth, "HEY! I PAYED GOOD MONEY FOR THOSE!" She retorted, his green eyes fixating on Ellis's. For some reason, Ellis didn't find himself to brave now, he just wanted to escape that glare.
Karin let out a sigh, letting the smoke swirl around as her teeth gnawed softly on the end of her cigar. "I ain't getting mad." She said, taking the cigar away, "It's just I haven't had a smoke in over three weeks, and I really needed one. I tried quitting but..." Her voice faded off and she just shrugged. That was that.
Ellis's eyes softened and he nodded, his smile forming back onto his face in a matter of seconds, "Oh boy, this here reminds me of when mah buddy Keith n' I foun'-"
"Found a pack of cigars in your mom's dresser and started to smoke them, then Keith couldn't stop to you tied him to a chair and tied the pack of cigars over a candle just to make him stop smoking...I know." Karin concluded, rolling her eyes as if she was part of the group and had heard that too many times to count.
Everyone went quiet again, and it was Ellis's turn to show shock on his face. "Ya know the storeh?" He exclaimed with concern, coming up next to Karin on the couch. She nodded, "Yea, Keith..." Her voice halted as she said his name, and her face went pale. "Oh my god KEITH"
She popped off the couch in a matter of seconds, slipping by Nick and meeting the door. Without a second though, she grabbed the large and heavy pipe that held the door in place, pushed it away with ease, and ran out into the wandering Infected.
Before Nick went after her, Coach huffed and looked hurt, "It took me 20 minutes to get that thing on there..."
"KEITH!" Karin screamed, her knees wading in swamp water. She had a skillet on her back in case of any friendly infected decided to drop by and say "hello". The swamp was quiet, not a sound.
"KARIN! JESUS!" Nick yelled, coming into the swamp with a curse as he came up behind her, "What the hell are you thinking?" He looked down at the swamp water and back up at Karin, "You owe me a new suit."
Karin huffed and rolled her eyes, looking back out into the Infected swamp. "Keith! He's out there!" Nick scratched his forehead, confusion replacing his frustration. "Wait...you mean...Ellis's friend Keith? THAT keith?" Karin nodded, waving him away like she didn't really care what he had to say. "Yea, I was in Savannah when the Infection hit, I was staying at a Hotel near by, saw Keith working on a farmland, and said hello. Of course, that was the day before the Infection really started to take affect, and we just found each other in the midst of the confusion and other shit and decided to survive with every fucking CEDA plane gone!"
She looked around, eyeing the Infected far away from where she stood. "Keith talked about Ellis a lot!"
With a roll of his eyes, he walked with Karin as she made her way through the swamp. Even though she was a pain in his ass, he was slowly starting to get use to this girl he could now call his sister.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Ellis was met at the Safe House door with one very pissed off gambler, a pleased nineteen year old, and a slightly confused man with shaggy hair. Nick stormed past the happily greeting hick and collapsed onto the sofa, his face smashed into the cushions and his screaming voice being muffled by the fabric. Karin came in after him, carefully leading a battered and bruised (and still confused) man. Ellis gave one look at the figure to suddenly burst into gleeish laughter and happiness.
"KEITH!" He exclaimed with glee, waiting for Karin to let go of his arm before he slammed into the guy with a brotherly hug. Nick eyed the two men from his spot on the couch and narrowed his eyes. Ellis had never been this fucking happy before (shocker even to Nick) and it made the gambler feel a pinch of guilt. Maybe...maybe it was him.
The man known as Keith stumbled down onto a wooden chair, rubbing his forehead of dirt and other questionable objects that Nick would rather be kept un-named. Keith gave a large to smile Ellis, staying in the embrace extra long. "I'm suh glad yer okay!" Ellis said happily, watching as Karin grabbed the first Aid from her back and went to work on Keith.
Nick lifted his head from the sofa, sitting up and watching the man get fixed on. The man was built, though not crazy buff. He had a crop of semi ginger, semi blonde, hair and a small goatee of the same color. He had a bandana tied to his arm, almost completely covering a tattoo of a tribal sun on his arm. Don't tell me they got matching tattoos... Nick thought in despair. He wore a black t-shirt and ripped jeans and dragged along the ground over his old white sneakers.
A cross hung on a necklace that dropped around his midsection, and he wore a trucker cap just like Ellis. The two were hugging it out like an old gay couple in front of him, and he rolled his eyes, giving off a huff that distracted Ellis from his reunion. "Hey, Neek, this 'ere is-"
"Keith, I know." He retorted, standing up and going over to check and make sure the door was securely fastened. Keith smiled down at Karin as she worked on his arms, covering a scratch mark that stretched from his elbow to his wrist. "Thanks a ton there sweetie." Nick propped himself straight, adjusting his jacket and turned to Keith.
Sweetie?
His face darkened and he felt something he hadn't felt ever before in his life (although there was one time where a man was making a move on his ex wife, and he went ape shit on the guy, but he didn't want to think about that right now). For the first time he felt protective when it came to Karin, and he walked up, hands in pockets and his eyes annoyingly glaring at Keith.
"So, you're the famous Keith, eh?" He asked rather rudely, his eyes scanning the man up and down. "What are you, 30?" Keith just smirked, a laugh erupting from his chest. "Haha, yer funny! Actually I'm only 24 n' just turned it too."
Rochelle moved in front of Nick's dark form, holding out her hand, "Welcome to the team! It's always good to have another one with us!" Keith happily shook her hand and gave a nod to Coach, who was busy eating over a can of refried beans. Karin moved to Keith's chest, pushing up the shirt to expose small cuts in his flesh.
Nick felt himself get even more enraged, and shoved Karin to the side before she could apply the ointment. She stumbled back into Rochelle, and both of the girls glared at him. "What was that for?" She retorted, her gren eyes piercing into Nick's. The gambler snatched the first AID in her grasp and respnded calmly, "You need to eat, alright? And rest. I can take care of Overalls 2 here, alright?"
Karin paused a moment, meeting eyes with Keith who only shrugged. She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Ellis, who was staring at Nick with some sort of deeply hurt expression. What...?
"Fine, but you need to rest too, dip-shit." She responded, smirking when he snapped his gaze back at her with some kind of frustration.
As her and the others ate, Nick continued on Keith's wounds. His stomach was not all the way muscular, but it wasn't fat as well. He saw Keith staring at him through narrowed eyes, "Mind me 'bout what happened there, sir?" He asked rather harshly.
Nick met his gaze fiercly and stated, "I swear to GOD you flirt or make a move on my sister I'll tear that goatee off your face."
Keith stared at him dumbstruck, "Sister?"
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
It was around midnight when Nick had to wake up and have his turn at keeping watch over the team. He felt the soft shaking of Ellis's hand as he came back to reality and sat up, rubbing an eye. "Already?" He asked sleepily, and the hick nodded, helping the man to his feet.
As he slowly made his way to the door, Ellis stopped him with a hand on the wrist. Nick turned his gaze to Ellis, an eyebrow cocked. "What Overalls?" Ellis's eyes read something deep and...sad, but Nick couldn't think of why he was so hurt. "You okay?"
Ellis bit his lip, thinking of what to say, but nothing came out. Nick rolled his eyes, slipping his wrist from the younger man's grip, "If it's nothing, then let me watch and get rest, kid."
"D-DO YA LIKE KEITH, NEEK?" He blurted out, putting a hand in front of his mouth as if trying to pull back the sentence he just spilled from his lips. Nick halted at the door, his body becoming hot from embarrassment, and turned back to the kid. "Um...what?"
Ellis blushed and looked down at the ground, "Well...er...ya seemed suh detirmined tuh...help Keith n' all."
Nick's eyes softened and he moved over to Ellis. "Jealous?" He said, wanting to keep up the act for another minute to see what the hick had to say. Ellis blushed darker, biting on a knuckle. "Oh...Erm...Well..." He looked up at Nick's semi-glowing green eyes. "Yes."
Nick smiled and moved over closer to Ellis. "Overalls, I don't like Keith like that. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes." He laughed. "The reason I was healing him was because he was making a move at my sister."
Ellis's smile came back, "So you do care about her!" He sounded proud in him that he was able to produce feelings other than the simple: Anger, annoyance, pleasure.
Nick nodded. Ellis then looked down at the ground, his feet fidgeting on the concrete ground. Nick sighed softly to himself, "Hey Overalls?"
"Yea?" Ellis asked, looking back at him. The gambler moved in and planted a quick and soft kiss on the hick's lips and stated, "Get some sleep, kid."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Karin was in a fairly good mood that morning. She hummed while she worked on getting her supplies together, loading up her automatic shotgun, strapping pills to her leg and hooking a first AID onto her back. The others, although knowing her for only a day, seemed this change in behavior rather odd, and caused the group to be suspicious (even Keith). Overalls 2 came around next to Karin, helping her make sure her supplies were in check.
Nick's eyes were glaring into the scene, barely taking his attention to his own work. "Ey, Neek, need help?" Ellis chimed in, bringing Nick back to his work. The gambler turned his attention to the hick, his mind going blank for a second while Ellis gingerly turned him around and hooked the first AID kit onto his back. "Oh, thanks kid." He responded rather shyly, totally out of character for the crude man. He cast another glance at the group, who were too busy getting stuff together to draw their own heads to Nick and Ellis.
"Oh, about last night-" Nick began, but was cut off by Ellis's gazing eyes. They trailed along his body, blushing darkly as he stared at him. "Yer pretty nice, Neek. Yew gotten slimmer since this 'ere apocolypse started." He smiled as his gaze came back up to Nick's and the gambler's hand squeezed the the hick's side before Nick helped work on Ellis's.
Of course, Nick hadn't been careful enough, because Karin was happily watching the scene before her as Keith busily worked on his own pack.
"Ya sure ya don't want anything else?" He questioned, handing her a bottle of pills. She shook her head. "No thanks, I'm fine. Almost done here." She responded, patting the strap that rested on her leg. She drew her attention away from the other two, respecting that they surely wanted privacy.
"Yew really don't like Keith, Neek?" Ellis whispered as he sat with his back turned to Nick as the gambler made sure the Health pack was strapped on tight. Nick chuckled, squeezing his shoulder, "Yes, but I don't want anyone knowing about what I did last night, okay? You could imagine how Coach and Rochelle and Keith would feel. So, if I act like an asshole, just bear with me because I don't mean it."
Ellis looked behind him to meet the gambler's eyes, "What 'bout all them times before, Neek? Did ya mean it then?"
A moment of silence passed between the two men, and Nick chuckled softly, snatching the cap off of the hick's head. "Oh, you know I tease you, kid." The hick's face fell as Nick stuffed the cap on his own head and paraded through the Safe House with it on. "YEEHAW!" Nick exclaimed, imitating a horrid southern accent. Ellis's cheeks picked up a light pink hue as everyone paused and watched the older man prance around the room, making fun (like always) of the younger hick.
"Neek!" Ellis whined, chasing him down and trying to snatch the cap from his reach. The gambler lifted his hand up high, making it so the hick couldn't reach his precious trucker cap. Nick forgot that Keith was taller than himself.
The cap disappeared from his hand and into Keith's who stood uneasily close to the gambler with a stern glare. "Don't be messin' with El's cap, ya here?" He said, his eyes glaring down at Nick's.
Nick had his fair share of dick-heads and assholes that were much much taller and larger than himself in his old conning years, so he stood his ground as Ellis gave out a soft whine of protest. "Aw, come on there Keeith! Neek was just havin' sum fun!"
"Didn't seem all that fun if ya ask me." Keith replied, handing Ellis the cap.
Nick narrowed his eyes as Keith made his way back to Karin, standing a little too close to her for his own comfort. Before his eyes, he saw the hick slip his arm around her waist, and his blood boiled.
"Neek...yew okay? Yew look all red!" Ellis said, watching as Nick's face reddened with anger.
"That man's just begging for a major ass-whooping." He growled.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"The plantation house!" Karin exclaimed, moving from Keith's helping hold to point out the now vivid, large house just a couple yards away. Nick gave out a sigh of relief, readjusting the axe he held tightly onto to his right shoulder. "Goddamnit finally!"
Keith slung Karin's arm around his shoulder again, wrapping a toned arm around her waist, which sent another angry wave through Nick again. He had the talk with Keith...well more like a threatening discussion with him, and yet he still seemed to think he could do whatever the hell he wanted!
"Neek...yer sister's a big gurl...she can dew what she wants." Ellis whispered, rubbing the small of his back as they walked behind the group. Nick nodded to himself, biting his lip so he wouldn't mutter profanities.
The group made it into the house, after climbing a ladder into one of the windows on the second floor, and were now standing on the upstairs balcony overlooking the large land in front of them.
"I'm gonna go check out the gate over there." Coach stated, heading down the peeling wooden stairs down to the porch, making his way around the headges as the team above shot down hiding Infected. It took a while before Coach was back running up the stairs, sweat beading on his brow. "Well, there's a radio down there n' there's some man drivin' a boat. I talked to him and told him where we're at, he's comin' soon."
Karin nodded, understanding. This seemed simple enough, just wait until rescue arrives...that is until she heard the screams and roars of nearly hundreds of infected echo around the large concrete fence around the Plantation.
She went pale with fright, and Ellis let out a "WHOOP" of excitement. Nick leaned down over to Karin, laughing and stating, "Never witnessed a giant-ass Infected horde, have ya sis?"
"...No." She responded, pale-faced and wide-eyed.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"YEAAAA man this is suh much better than huntin'!" Keith whooped, sending another round of his Machine Gun into the crawling horde of Infected that scaled the roof and walls. Karin was petrified, to be honest, as she unhooked a pipe bomb from her waist, lit it, and sent it out down below where a couple first AID kits lay. Like a dog being distracted by a chew toy, the entire horde that was on her ass whipped themselves around and jumped to the ground 15 feet below.
"Everybody down!" Nick exclaimed, throwing himself to the ground (of course bringing Ellis with him). Everyone fled, Coach not being fast enough and stumbling along the ground as the explosion shook the building.
It had been about 5 minutes into the endless rain of zombies before Rochelle chimed in, "We better get to the gate now!" Karin felt herself grow frightened as Keith grabbed a hold of her arm and ran down the stairs behind Rochelle. Nick and Ellis followed behind them, and finally Coach. "I hate stairs." He grumbled as he got off the last step, slamming his frying pan into an Infected that was too close to comfort.
"Come on!" Rochelle hollered, taking off at full speed toward the gat that sat all the way across the field. "I hate running too!" Coach chimed in behind the group as they fought back dozens and dozens of Infected.
Suddenly, Karin felt dread fill her body up so fast she felt her head spin, and she whipped around to the group that was quickly giving distance from her. "G-guys…" She gasped, letting Keith's hand slip from his fingers. He halted, turning around.
"G-GUYS!" She screamed, grabbing there attention as she frantically pointed to the concrete wall. Well…what was left, because now there was a giant Tank smashing his giant fists through it, running right at Karin herself.
Nick felt himself scream out, removing himself from Ellis's side and sprinting toward her, ignoring the claws that tried ripping at his jacket. "RUN KARIN!" He screamed, gaining speed slowly but surely. The Tank was coming so close to her, and she just stood there.
She was frightened…so he understood. "KARIN! RUN! GODDAMNIT!" He screamed. He was about there.
Karin's eyes were wide, her face was pale, and she couldn't take her eyes off the giant monster that gained speed as he spotted her small form just standing in the open, begging to be ripped apart. The Tank let out a guttural scream, lifting his fists into the air, about to bring them down on her. She heard Keith scream, which brought her back to reality. But she was too late. She couldn't run, the Tank was too close for her to flee and make it. She felt another screamed before she felt force on her side, hitting her head to the ground and having her world turn off…
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Karin…? Can you hear me?" It was Keith. Why did he sound scared? Karin opened an eye, wincing when she snapped it open. Why was there so much pain? She could hear Nick freaking out somewhere near her, and she felt his presence after Keith smiled and hollered, "THANK GOD!"
"Wh-" She started, but it hurt too much to even speak, so she just lay there, in a place she didn't even know. All she did know was that there a distant drumming of a motor.
Nick stood over her, and she opened her other eye slowly, blinking and look up at Nick's face. He was red…had he been crying? Of course not…he never cries. Ellis was next to him, looking down at her with almost as much fear and shock as Nick.
Nick bowed his head, "I'm so sorry, I tried helping you before that…thing got you!" Suddenly, she remembered. The last thing she saw was the Tank bringing his fists into the air above his head, and that was it. She suddenly panicked, propping up on her elbows to see the damage.
She had a blanket covering her up to her stomach, and she felt her stomach to flip flops. "H-How…" She began, but felt Keith's comforting hands push her back onto the desk she was laying on and shushed her. "Yer okay, we're just gettin' to a safe house and everything will be okay."
Karin nodded, laying her head back and closing her eyes. But she knew, and everyone knew, that things were not going to be okay. She could hear it in his grief stricken voice.