..."Soph!"
Nick ran to her after bashing the Tank's head in with his crowbar.
She stood up with help from him, "I'm alright, has the man said anything else?"
He shook his head, "No, he hasn't," He put a hand over his heart to stabilize its rhythm. "I was so worried..The team needs us, there's still a Tank around."
The rest of their friends were surrounding the beast, each doing so much damage, it didn't know which person to attack, and eventually fell over dead, doing nothing to anyone. Sophie took her pain pills and restocked on ammo. "I hope he shows up soon, I don't have much fight left in me.."
At that moment, the fence exploded in a shrapnel of serrated wood, startling them.
"Survivors! Let's get on the boat, now!"
Nick pushed the others toward the vessel, and only when they were all on safely did he run on, just barely avoiding a piece of ground that was thrown by a third merciless muscled monster, it roared in anger at their escape.
"That's everyone! Thank you so much, Mr, um.."
"Call me Virgil! Nice to meet ya!" He pulled the boat away from the dock and turned the wheel, and finally, they were rescued. Danny slumped to her feet and sighed relief, "Whew, that was some rodeo! You alright, everyone?"
"Fine, thanks."
"I wasn't talking to you, Nick!"
"But you just said-" He cut himself off, "Never mind, I'm too tired to argue with you.." He sat down where he was and let out a long sigh, then smiled when Sophie sat beside him.
"Hey, sweetheart, how are you holding up?"
She rested her head on his shoulder, "I'm alright. I wonder how far we are from New Orleans.."
He put an arm around her, and pulled her closer, "Probably quite a ways. However, there's no other group of people I'd rather be on a long boat ride with.."
The group "aww'd" in unison, causing him to blush slightly, "What? You guys are my friends, all of you."
Danny assumed the last part of his sentence was directed at her, "Pfft, whatever. Anyways, I reckon we all get some sleep tonight."
Coach agreed, "Yeah, we should all get some much needed rest."
Virgil looked at his watch, "It's high noon, boys and girls, we should be there around this time tomorrow, if I drive the entire time-"
Sophie interjected, "Sir, we'll have to decline that offer. Everyone needs their sleep, even and especially you, and we would all like for you to-"
"That's very thoughtful of you, Miss, but I haven't been able to get a wink of sleep since this plague hit.." He sounded almost sad, Sophie looked at her feet, "Oh, I'm sorry, Virgil.."
The cajun continued to smile, "Nah, don't worry 'bout it, 'sides I'm saving people's lives here. Ya think I woulda heard yall's distress call if I'd been catchin' some Z's?"
She sighed quietly, a little disappointed, "I guess not.."
He looked over at her, and let out a reassuring laugh, "I'm fine, Miss. You should worry more about yourself."
Nick kissed the top of her head, "She's not the type to put herself before others, trust me."
The couple smiled at each other, then kissed briefly.
"I wonder if we would've survived, you know, if we'd have never met-"
Sophie put a finger to his lips to silence him, "Please don't say things like that, Nick," She nuzzled into his chest, "I don't know about you, but I'm kind of thankful for this apocalypse.."
His arm went around her automatically, "Yeah, if it didn't happen, I'd probably be in Vegas right now; gambling, drinking-"
"Making out with random, loose women.."
His glance fell on her, "Well, I wasn't going to say that.."
"Hey, it's alright. You don't have to pretend like your past never happened. I care about every part of you equally, the good and bad."
Danny laughed, "In which one greatly outweighs the other!"
Ellis snickered, and Coach glared at him, "Come on, boy, don't start nothing.."
"Sorry 'bout that.."
Rochelle had already fallen asleep, and most of them soon followed suit. Sophie, however, couldn't sleep and, while studying her trusty map, began to realize just how far they've traveled together.
'Hmm. We started in Georgia, traveled through a Mississippi swamp..'
"And we'd be right around here."
A tanned finger pointed to the waterway between the bank of Mississippi and New Orleans. Sophie jumped, then looked up, her smile returned, "Oh. Hey, Virgil, sorry I thought you were driving."
"Not all the time, we goin' in tha right direction. So, you like maps do ya?"
"Oh, I love them! My favorite ones are Road maps, so many lines!"
They both laughed quietly in unison.
"Y'know, I haven't seen a map in years, just go where the ocean guides me."
"That must be awesome, to be that free."
The Cajun chuckled, "Yeah, its had it's ups and downs. I love the sea, and everything in it with all my heart. Hey, you wanna learn to drive this here vessel?" Before she could say anything, he gently pushed her toward the wheel, and placed her hands in the correct positions, "It's real easy. You're good at direction, so I want you to turn the wheel slightly northeast from our current position. Make sure to use some force, she's probably older than you."
Sophie breathed out slowly, and, with Virgil's help, did as she was told. "Wow, this is way simpler than I thought it'd be, and enjoyable!"
He let go of her hands, and she continued to drive the boat with his supervision, "I knew it'd come natural to ya, I had a feelin' it would.."
After a half hour, Sophie heard soft snoring, she turned and saw Virgil asleep in a nearby chair. She smiled to herself, and gently lowered his fishing hat over his eyes to block any incoming sun. "Goodnight, Virgil." She returned to her new duty, and grabbed her map. 'Well, we still have the better part of the trip left, and with the change of direction, we're close to land, it's not New Orleans, but it may have supplies. Also,' She looked at the gas gauge, 'We're almost on E.' So when the land was in sight, she skillfully pulled up near the pier instead of on it, so if any infected tried to attack them, they'll just fall in the water below. Sophie yawned, and, lying down near Virgil, finally let her eyes close.
She woke up to someone gently shaking her shoulder, her eyes fluttered open and saw Nick smiling down at her, "Well, hello, Sleeping Beauty, how do you feeling today?"
She chucked, "Just fine, wait, what time is it!" Sophie sat up, alarmed.
"It's only 10:27, we woke up a few hours ago, and wanted to let you get some sleep."
She stood up, and patted her hair down, "Oh, guys, I'm so sorry I fell asleep! Where's Virgil!"
Nick was confused at her sudden alarm, "He's down below, checking his supplies, don't worry. Also, you look so-"
"VIRGIL!" When he ascended the three steps from the storage to the main deck, she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him in a friendly hug.
"Well, hello to you, too, Miss. How was your nap?"
"Great, thanks."
Nick blinked, "-Cute when you sleep. Hmm," He recognized the look she was giving him almost immediately, and turned away. Danny sighed, annoyed,
"You're not pissed at you again, are you?"
"No, I understand her position completely."
She seemed surprised, "Oh. Well..You better.."
The Cajun returned the hug, "Well, it's a good thing you found land, Miss, we're almost out of fuel."
"Yeah, I noticed that while I was driving-" She closed her lips as her team slowly turned toward her.
"Wait, you drove the boat! Where was he?"
Sophie sighed, "Virgil was teaching me, and it's actually really fun."
Nick came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, but were you going to tell any of us about this? I mean, driving your first boat is kind of a big deal. What else are you keeping from me?"
She could tell he was joking, so she turned around in his arms and rested her head on his chest, he slightly tightened the "Of course I was going to tell you, sweetheart! I wouldn't keep anything from you.."
A quiet throat clearing got their attention, "Pardon me, but would it be too much trouble to for you an' the rest a yo folks to find some gasoline for the boat here?"
"Of course not, Virgil, it's the least we can do for you." Sophie's reply was immediate, and she was the first one to jump onto the pier. Virgil moved the boat slightly closer so the others could just walk off. Ellis stretched, "Man, Soph, you always have so much energy.."
"Yeah, I do. Sorry about that.."
Coach lightly grabbed Rochelle's hand, and led her off the vessel. "That's a good thing, Ellis, we need someone like her to push us further. Better to have energy than not enough."
"Be careful, kids, and thank ye so much!"
"No problem, dude.."
Sophie scolded him, "ELLIS! Have some respect, at least call him sir!"
The Cajun just laughed as they entered the Burger Tank, Coach groaned, "I am starving, we would have to go through a place like this.."
Ro playfully rubbed his stomach, winning a chuckle from him, "Oh, you can tough it out. Coach! We'll find food eventually, next safehouse, maybe. So hang in there, Precious."
There was an ammunition pile on a nearby table, and quite a few medkits.
"We should save some supplies for the return trip. Everybody ready?"
They nodded in unison, then exited the eatery through the rear entrance, into a neighborhood populated with infected. Nick pointed to a lighted sign, "No gas here, looms like the nearest station is this Ducatel place two miles that way." He pointed where the sign directed him.
As the team made their way down the street, Sophie looked up at the sky when the clouds shadowed the sun, "Oh, wow, their so gray..I just love the rain!"
Danny laughed, "You sure do, Soph. Every time it rained at our old office, I couldn't pull you away the window and you never got any work done those days. Of course, since you were always ahead I don't think it bothered the boss much.."
Nick shot two infected with a single auto shotgun blast, and scoffed, "An office..Wow.."
Danny narrowed her eyes at him, "At least we made an honest living for ourselves, Nick! Have you ever had a legal job in your life?"
"Proud to say I haven't. I made my living gambling and hustling pool. I'm happy with the way I lived my life, and wouldn't change a day of it for anybody."
Everyone's eyes fell on Sophitia, who seemed hurt by the remark, but said nothing. Rochelle sighed, "Nick, you're such an idiot sometimes, honestly.."
A light rain started to fall on them as they neared a huge wooden sign that read 'Yard Sale' in red spray painted letters along with an arrow pointing down the street. Coach spoke up, "Maybe they have something we can use."
Nick caught up with the reporter, "Hey, what did I do to deserve that?"
She mocked him, "Oh, let's see, hmm.. Maybe it was 'I'm proud of who I was blah blah! I wouldn't change for anyone blah blah!' Yep, that's what pissed me off!"
Nick was shocked, "Oh, Rochelle..I didn't know you felt that way about me! I'm sorry I wasn't thinking about you, I guess..But I'm sure Coach wouldn't appreciate-"
"Not me, you idiot! You weren't even considering how Sophie would react to that, you just say what comes to mind without thinking about it! Goddamn, boy.." She rushed to Coach, who was in front of everyone, like always, and helped him mow down the infected. Danny lowered her voice to a whisper, "Psst, are you sure you wanna spend the rest of your life with that?"
Sophie nodded, "Yes, I'm sure."
"Positive? Because I could just," She cocked her shotgun , "And it'd all be over. Boom. Dead."
Sophie laughed with her best friend, "Unfortunately, your assassination skills won't be needed this time around. You can't expect a guy like him to just change overnight."
"Well, I guess he's outta luck, because he's had like three days! Can I kill him now?"
"No, you certainly may not!"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't offer!"
She had to laugh, she loved her friend, Danny always had her back. She could see a table set up in a nearby yard, "There's the sale!"
The group sped to it, and sure enough, many survival items were on display on a table marked 'free'. Nick grabbed an adrenaline shot from the pile, "Man, why can't all yard sales have been like this?"
Danny eyes him, "What? Have a section for free stuff?"
"Nope. Have nobody watching so you can just steal what you want!"
Sophie was the only one that laughed, quietly of course, as she expected to be the sole audience member giving positive feedback, "It was clever, guys!"
"Yeah, if it were a joke! We didn't laugh because we knew he was being serious."
Coach sighed, "Anyway, moving on, let's cut through the house."
Sophie looked over at Nick, and for once, his actual feelings were present on his face, he was looking away from everyone, clearly hurt, and nobody seemed to care.
"What the hell is wrong with you guys! Did you always treat him like this?"
He shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Soph. Let it go-"
"No, I won't! He just said a little while ago that all of us are his good friends, and he probably didn't trust this many people with something as important as his life before. Okay, he didn't live the some kind of life as us, so what? Our individual lifestyles made us who we are, and I wouldn't trade the Nick I know for anyone!" She sighed, and tried to collect herself, "Look, point is, we're a team, we don't have to get along on a personal level, but for God's sake, be mature about it!" She smiled when she felt his arms snake around her waist, "Thanks, I appreciate that, Sophie.."
"Don't mention it, I understand. You're just trying to make the best of a bad situation, and make us laugh with some of your style of humor, that's all. Am I right?"
"I was trying to lighten the mood, yeah. Geez, nobody can take a joke anymore, except for you, you understand me, and I think I-"
Coach cut him off, "Alright. Sophie's right, we're a team. Let's start acting like it."
Rochelle tapped his shoulder, "I guess Sophie doesn't look too offended, so I have no reason to be angry at you. I'm sorry, Nick."
He held his hands up like he was at gunpoint, "Okay, thanks, nobody else has to apologize. Seriously, that just feels weird.."
Danny flipped her hair back over her shoulder, "Good, I didn't plan on it, anyway.."
They traveled through a playground, and into a factory setting.
"Where exactly are we, some kind of mill?"
The question was answered when they saw a tower with the words 'Sugar Co.' painted on it, "Looks like it's a Sugar Mill, and I'm guessing the Ducatel is through here, we just have to-"
Loud crying made the group freeze, "There's a witch around, and she sounds upset.." Ellis said, cautiously watching his fire as he shot a Spitter coming off a nearby metal ramp. The crying became more abundant and scattered as they tried to maneuver the area, "And apparently, She's also a ventriloquist, Ellis.."
A few light chuckles followed his statement, "Now that was tasteful, Nick. Good one." He was standing as a statue at the top of a declining hill.
"Guys? It's Witch City.."
The group stood there, looking at the two of them closest to them, one on either side, wandering around, their blade like fingernails over their face. "Try not to startle any of them, I mean accidents happen, but we want to get back to the boat alive.."
As carefully as they could, they mazed through the mill, only having to kill a couple witches, one that was hit by a stray bullet, and the other Nick accidentally bumped into while backing up to reload his combat shotgun.
"I think she remembered you, Nick!" Danny and Ellis were laughing until they ascended the stone stairs and reached an elevator that will take them down to the cane field.
"Okay, now that you've poked fun at the various mistakes I've made in my life, I think we should get down this elevator, go through the cane field, and get inside the gas station. I can see the sign from here."
The rain persisted, and picked up as their ride reached the bottom, and entered the field, following a huge lead pipe that helped them stay in a straight line, however it ended abruptly, so they relied on the gas sign to get them through. They could hear even more witches wandering around in there with them, and they knew one wrong move would be the end for them, because the encounters with the earlier witches left them with no medkits.
"Just follow the sign! We're almost out of here, people!"
Coach exited first, he led them to safety with his voice, and then they were finally in the parking lot of the godforsaken gas station. He held the door open for everyone, then as a group they searched, and were relieved when they found not only gas, but gas in a saferoom.
"Thank goodness, we desperately needed the supplies!"
There were four chairs around a table, with a few more stacked in the corner, but they didn't care, and just sat where they were. Rochelle pulled a chair by it's legs and pushed it toward Nick, "Here, you're getting your white suit all dirty."
He chuckled, "Thanks, but this suit has Boomer puke, Spitter spit, swamp water, blood, both my own and infected's, and zombie brains already on it, so a little dust won't hurt." They laughed together,
"You're getting better at your humor."
"Thanks, I'm trying, Ro."
Sophie strapped a gas can to her back as the thunder rolled, followed by the harsh wind howling, then the hard pitter patter of rain hitting the roof. She looked outside through a window outside the saferoom, "Whoa, it's really coming down, guys. We have to be careful." When she saw no movement, she sighed, "Come on! Virgil's waiting for us, we can't stay long, let's go!"
Nick stood up and grabbed a can, strapped it on, and joined her in the doorway, "She's right, everybody get some diesel and supplies and let's move on! The storm's the perfect excuse to use this.." He took the adrenaline shot from his pocket and took the cap off. Sophie had a look of absolute terror on her face, she gasped and turned away, tears once again threatened her eyes. He noticed her behavior, smiled, replaced the cap, and threw it to Ellis. "You've been eyeballing it for awhile now, Overalls. Take it."
"What? No, I haven't," He turned to Danny, "Have I?"
She shrugged, "The only thing I remember you eyeballin' is me.." He pulled her into his arms,
"Well, that's because I love you, Daniella, so much.." They kissed for awhile, then more booming thunder.
"Let's get moving, Sophie needs her Virgil fix.."
"Nick!" She playfully punched him in the shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay. I saw the way you looked at him, it was with admiration and extreme care, he's like a father figure to you."
"Yeah, he kinda is. You could tell all that just from the way I looked at him?"
He nodded, "Either that, or you got a thing for older Cajun boaters..I'm not being replaced, am I?"
She smiled and kissed him, "Of course not, honey."
The team eventually moved out, and the storm was merciless. "Stay together! Let's take the elevator back up!"
The witches they didn't kill were sitting now, making them more difficult to startle, which was good news for them, now they just had to watch their step! Rochelle shot a Smoker before it could wrap its wet, leathery tongue around her, then she began to look for the pipe. "Ugh, this storm is blinding!"
Sophie had grabbed Nick's hand awhile back, impairing him when it came to shooting the infected. "Sweetheart-"
"I'm scared, Nick.."
He looked down at her, and sure enough, the look of fear made itself known on her face. He sighed, and pulled out of her grasp, "Sorry, but I have to be able to shoot, Soph!" He was yelling because as soon as he started to speak, the wind picked up, making it hard to hear, Sophie just nodded. They reached the elevator, and Danny shot a Jockey trying to hitch a ride with them, "Sorry, but we've reached max capacity!"
The rain wouldn't let up, and as they made their way back, they noticed the town was flooded. "Wow, this storm is intense! Keep close!"
"Hey, I remember that porch light!"
They ran through the house it belonged to, taking them back to the yard sale. They retraced their steps and was able to get back through the playground, while the horde and special infected was able to constantly sneak up on them via the storm.
"Do you still love the rain, Soph!"
She said nothing as they rushed into a nearby shack. Coach sighed, "Okay, how do we signal Virgil? I got a feeling he's not sticking around by the pier.."
It was dark, and their flashlights did little good in this weather.
"I can't believe night's already fallen..It's only 5:20."
"Well, the storm's probably contributing to the early darkness..Wait," Danny stood up and ran to the doorway, where the Burger Tank stood, and smiled, "Darkness? I got it, we'll get his attention by turning on that sign!"
Coach agreed, "Yeah, that should work! Good idea."
The group gathered themselves, then made a break for the restaurant, except for Rochelle, who volunteered to climb up the ladder and switch the sign on. "I hit it! Hopefully he's watching.."
Sophie grabbed some ammo and reloaded her assault rifle, "He will be."
Ro joined the rest of her team by jumping through a hole in the Tank's roof. The shrieks of the infected were barely audible over the raging storm, and the team braced themselves for the upcoming attack. Sophie threw down her unlighted Molotov, and picked up a vial of Boomer Bile instead, Nick nodded, "Good move, Soph. Those are rendered useless by the rain, and its got the same effect on a Tank."
She just nodded, and, surprisingly, grabbed her axe from her back, and slaughtered groups of infected on her own.
"Hey, Soph, you okay?"
It was like she couldn't hear them, and she was silent still, chopping away with her melee weapon, blood splattering all over her clothes. They suddenly heard a familiar fog horn honk outside by the pier, Nick shot a Hunter that was stalking and growling near a window, "He saw it! This really worked, I love ya, Daniella!"
"Ew.." She said quietly, but forced a smile when he patted her back, and rushed past her to the entrance, where Virgil and his boat were, the Cajun smiling when he saw all of them had returned safely, "Thanks again, boys and girls-" He stopped abruptly, "But why are y'all so wet?"
The team got on the boat, and looked at him, he was completely dry! Sophie looked at the land they just came from, and was amazed. Rochelle noticed it, too. "Wow, guys! Look at that!"
Their eyes followed her gaze, "Well, that's..unusually beautiful.."
The rain was falling only on the town, and stopped right before the dock. As Virgil took the diesel cans from the survivors one by one and filled the tank, Sophie went over, and hugged the man, "Hey, glad to see you again!"
"Yeah, I was a little worried 'bout ya, but I'm relieved ya made it, I'm also guessing you ran into a little bit a trouble?"
She looked down and saw the blood painted on her, "Oh, no. I just had some stress I needed to let out.." Her gaze went over to Nick, then went back to him, who nodded understandingly,
"Well, I don't know what I woulda done if somethin' happened to ya.."
"Hey, it's all fine now, don't dwell on it another minute...I'm going to miss you, you know.."
"I'll miss ya, too, Sophie."
She smiled her usual smile, and, after he emptied the last can into the tank, followed Virgil back onto the boat, where her friends were sitting in a loose circle. She gave another appreciative look at her Cajun savior, then joined them, curious as to what they were conversing about. They knew they still had lots of travel time left, so the team took some time to reflect...