May | 2016

When Ellis was knocked down by a charger, he remembered seeing a lot of white and feeling a pair of strong arms pick him up and carrying him away. At first, he thought he'd died and struggled weakly to escape the clutches of whatever was carrying him.

Then he heard a gruff voice say "Stay still kiddo, you're hurt real bad," and knew very well that he wasn't dead yet.

Slowly his surroundings came back to him, and Ellis began to try and make sense of what was happening. He was being carried by Nick, who was running with Coach and Rochelle to a helicopter, while trying to fight off a hoard of zombies at the same time. He had just been grabbed by one of those one armed monsters and thrown against something hard, most likely the floor and the impact had made his vision blur and his mind go slow. He groaned in pain as his mind cleared enough to register the pain in his head, and felt the arms holding him tighten in response.

Suddenly, he heard a roaring sound that got louder every second. He opened his eyes and managed to make out the helicopter they were running to, and the pilot in the front seat that was yelling something and waving his arms like he was on fire. Nick yelled something in return, though everyone was yelling so much Ellis probably wouldn't have heard him if he was alright, and suddenly Ellis felt himself being lifted up and practically dropped onto the floor of the helicopter, with Rochelle, Coach and Nick scrambling on after him. A bloodied hand reached into the helicopter after them, but Coach kicked out and knocked it away before it could find something to grab on to, and Rochelle and Nick managed to shove the door closed before another limb could try their luck.

Coach gasped for breath, then let out a relived chuckle; "Didn't think we were gonna make it that time…" He knocked on the window leading to the pilot's room and said "Up an' at 'em if ya please sir!" A laughed 'yessir' came in through the grey wall, and everyone jolted as the aircraft tried to lift off.

Rochelle gave a small laugh before kneeling down to look over Ellis's wounds. She lifted his shirt to inspect a gash Ellis was too dazed to feel but Ellis was too dazed to even register the action. He was too busy staring at Nick through unfocused eyes and wondering why Nick was staring back with eyes glassier than his own. Nick blinked at Ellis and gave him a small grin, before glancing out of the window, where his grin quickly turned to a confused frown. He stood up and poked his head through the small window leading to the pilot's room;

"Hey, why haven't we taken of yet?" Nick asked, snapping his fingers as if he was talking to waiter. The pilot stuck his head through the window, almost making Nick fall over, and yelled over the noise of the blades;

"Somethin's holding us down! I can't get it up!" The aircraft seemed to whir in agreement, and Nick had to grab onto the wall to stop him from toppling over. The group moaned collectively in annoyance, with Coach smacking his forehead and mumbling 'For god's sake…' under his breath. Nick grabbed the axe he had thrown to the floor upon entering the helicopter and jammed the thin end of the blunt and bloody head into the gap between the door and the wall, opening the door just enough for him to look outside. He was met by the half-gone face of a zombie that tried to claw Nick's face the second the door opened, but the axe blocked their arm from getting too close and Nick was able to stamp it down before peering outside. He swore under his breath and wrenched the axe out of the gap before he slammed the door shut again and sat down in an annoyed huff, with his hands rubbing small circles into his temples.

"Wassisit Nick?.." Ellis murmured, his voice slurred from the injury. Nick took his hands away from his head to meet Ellis's gaze and gave a small scowl.

"'S a bunch of them clinging onto the bottom of the copter, think there's even a spitter getting in on the action," he groaned, letting his head fall back against the wall, "they're not going anywhere fast."

"Gad dammit..." Ellis mumbled, letting his head hit the floor to mirror Nick's actions, and immediately regretting it when the impact made his head spin. He heard Nick chuckle, and grinned in spite of the pain at the sound. He lifted his head again and eyed Nick with expectant eyes;

"What we gonna do now?"

Nick's smile wavered, then dropped completely as he sat back.

"Damned if I know, El," he sighed, folding his arms, "not much we can do, really."

"So we should just wait it out?" Rochelle queried, crossing one leg over the other and tilting her head. Nick shrugged, and opened his mouth so say something, but before he could even make a sound the entire vehicle was shoved forwards, and he would've fallen right on to Ellis if he hadn't held onto the rail attached to the ceiling.

"What the fu-!" Nick started, before another, equally strong blow to the helicopter cut him off. Ellis had slid to the left side of the helicopter and banged his head for what felt like the 5th time that day, but he was able to peer upwards and see the bloodied mark of a charger's fist on the window, with the bloodied face of that charger appearing behind it very quickly.

"CHARGER!" Ellis yelled, scrambling to sit up while also sliding down again with every blow. Another fierce shove almost turned the helicopter on it's side, and the group fell to the ground with Ellis and lay in a struggling mass of panicked bodies. The pilot yelled something but it was too noisy for anyone to hear him, and Ellis just clung onto the bodies laying on top of him in search of some kind of stability. Nick reached out and grabbed on to a handle to ready himself, and looked out the window with furious eyes before turning to the rest of the group;

"The thing's gonna crush us if we don't get rid of it!" He yelled, grabbing Rochelle's hand and pulling her up. Rochelle leaned on the wall and glared at the window;

"How we gonna get something THAT big of our asses?!" She yelled, her breathing quickening with every thump. Nobody said a word, and Ellis's throat began to feel tight as he realized how serious the situation is. They were in a helicopter with too many injuries and barely enough ammo to take down a regular hoard, let alone a charger. Staying would get them crushed, while leaving would get them eaten, and there was no way they could fly away with a horde that size holding them down.

"We're gonna die, ain't we.." He said, though he wasn't really sure who he was talking to. There was a moment of silence, then Nick was shaking his head furiously and glaring at Ellis as if he'd just insulted him.

"The hell we are, we'll- we'll find a way outa this. We gotta-" The charged grabbed the helicopter and shook it violently, and Nick fell backwards against the door of the helicopter, his head dangerously close to smashing the glass. He yelped and clutched the back of his head, before eyeing the charger through the window.

Among the panic and commotion within the helicopter, Ellis watched as Nick took his hand away from his head without taking his eyes off the charger. He seemed to have an idea, but didn't say a word, and instead just stood and stared. Ellis propped himself up on his elbows and called out to Nick, and it seemed to snap Nick out of his trance as he turned to face Ellis with a blank, yet subtly forlorn expression. For a second, they just stared, then Nick surged forward and gripped Ellis in a strong hug. Ellis opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he realized how tight Nick was holding him. He ended up hugging him back, assuming it was some form of goodbye, but he'd barely wrapped his arms around Nick's back when Nick was pulling away and staring straight into Ellis's confused eyes, both hands gripping his shoulders.

"Stay alive for me, alright El? And keep everyone else alive for me, okay? Alive and well, gotit?" Nick rambled, highlighting each strange request with a hurried nod. Ellis didn't know what to think, but nodded anyway, and would have opened his mouth to ask what he meant if Nick hadn't shaken his shoulders and looked at him with eyes that seemed mad with a fear Ellis had never seen before. "No, I wanna hear you say it. Tell me you'll stay alive, El. Tell me."

"I-I'll stay alive." Ellis stammered, reaching up to grab on to one of Nick's arms and pull slightly to stop him from squeezing his shoulders too hard. Nick stared at Ellis, then nodded and mumbled a thank you before standing up and grabbing his AK47 with one hand. He used his other hands to grab onto the rail above his head, steadying himself so he could face everyone. Coach and Rochelle had seen Nick talking to Ellis, and were both trying and failing to form a sentence to respond to what they'd seen, but Nick silenced them by gesturing to them with his shotgun and talking in a hurried, yet decisive voice.

"That goes for all of you guys, alright?" He stood there for a second as if awaiting an answer, but when he was met with more silence he reached out and grabbed the door to the helicopter with the hand that had been holding the rail, and then turned to the group and spoke again;

"Close it the second I'm out, alright?"

Rochelle was the first to process his words, and stood up with her mouth open to yell at Nick, but Nick got there first and yelled "Don't- Just do it, alright? We don't have a choice anymore."

"Nick...?" Ellis asked, his head too foggy to realize what was really happening. Nick didn't seem to hear him, and instead kept his eyes on Rochelle. Rochelle just stood and stared, eyes blank but filling with tears. Eventually she nodded, raising a hand to wipe away said tears and reaching out to grab at the door to the helicopter as well. Coach didn't do anything, just staring at Nick like he couldn't believe what was happening. Nick stared back and gave a decisive nod, which prompted Coach to sit up straight and grab the machete at his feet, before looking back at Nick and nodding. Nick looked at the floor, then turned and yelled to the pilot to get ready to take off, but Ellis didn't listen. He reached out for Nick, but Rochelle used her foot to shove him back, eyes spilling over with silent tears.

Nick stood for a second, and in that second the world seemed to stand still. Ellis stared at him, his mind wanting Nick to come closer but somehow knowing he was going to go far away, while Nick felt his life flash before him, with every moment he'd ever lived leading up to this moment.

He grabbed the door handle, wrenched the door open and opened fire on the hoard outside. The noises outside hit the group like a smack, and the once still moment turned into a rapid fire of events nobody could fully process. Nick shot until there was enough room to leap out, and then he did. He turned around the second his feet hit the floor and shot blindly at the infected clinging to the bottom of the helicopter, before moving backwards with his gun still firing and yelling "GOGOGOGOGO" at the top of his voice. The charger that was grabbing the helicopter on the other side almost flipped the aircraft over as it pushed it out the way and came charging towards Nick, and it would have hit him head on if Nick hadn't jumped out the way and ran backwards towards the abandoned town they had just left, still shooting and letting with urgency as the horde chased after the new prey. Ellis yelled words he couldn't hear himself over the noise as he reached for Nick, but the others held him back and soon Ellis saw the world before him disappear as the helicopter took off. He screamed and struggled more to get up, but Coach practically lay on top of him to hold him back while Rochelle snapped out of her shock and tried to pull the door closed, though the bloody gunk left behind by the hoard jammed the door enough for it to take a while.

It meant Ellis could watch as Nick fled, eventually lowering his gun when it was out of ammo to just run. He watched as Nick scrambled up onto the roof of a nearby house, the charger just missing his leg as he got up and ran up the chimney, where he sat for a second. He watched as Nick looked up at the helicopter, and grinned with delight as he watched the helicopter fly away. He seemed to be smiling at Ellis, and in the last few seconds of the door being opened Ellis saw him raise his free hand and wave.

Then the door slammed, and the image was gone. Ellis struggled and yelled until each second blurred together into one heartbroken moment. He recalled later on a whole lot of swearing, insults and pathetic attempts at hitting Coach and Rochelle, but nobody could bring themselves to stop him.

Slowly but surely, the helicopter flew away, and even though everyone wanted to land again they kept flying, all silently thanking and praying for the man in the white suit.