Coach plopped down on the old couch with a sigh. They made it, but only so far. Only to yet another planted safehouse that wouldn't be safe for long.
"Hey! Y'all comin'?" Rochelle called, leaning on the metal doorframe.
"Yeah, yeah.." Nick grumbled as he trudged along.
He climbed up the steps and into the saferoom.
"Where's Ellis?" Rochelle asked him, expression darkening a bit.
The young man was right behind him only moments ago. Nick opened his mouth to answer but then they heard him.
"Hey! Someone help, we need some help!"
We? That was the thought stuck in all their minds as they ran from the saferoom, following Ellis' voice. When they had him in their sights they were confused to see that he wasn't hurt. On the ground, yes, but he wasn't in any danger. He was kneeling beside something.. someoneā¦
Nick was the first to stop running when he realized what Ellis was fussing about.
"Ellis.." he spoke softly, gripping the shotgun in his right hand. "Get away from her.."
There was a girl lying on the ground. She looked tired, beat up, and had some blood on her clothing, and now Ellis was knelt next to her.
"She's not infected, Nick." Ellis said, somewhat pleading. "She's not, I swear."
Coach was the closest to the pair, and he slowly walked up until he was next to Ellis as well, down on one knee. He looked the girl directly in the eyes.
"Are you infected?"
"No." she shook her head weakly. "I promise."
"Ya see?" Ellis said, looking first at Coach, and then the two standing survivors.
"Are you immune?" Coach asked the girl.
"I think so," she said nodding slowly. "I've been bit bad enough once already, attacked a couple other times, but the bite has already heeled."
She struggled to sit up and Ellis lifted her, leaning her against his knees. She slowly reached down to the bottom of her shirt and slid it up. Purple-ish red bite marks stood out distinctly on her hip. They looked like there had once been a would amidst them, but it was now just a scar.
"How long ago was that?" Rochelle asked, nearing the three of them.
The girl thought for a moment. "I would say about a month ago, give or take."
"You see?" Ellis said again. "We gotta help her, y'all."
The girl could walk, barely, so Ellis supported her all he could without carrying her as they made their way to the safehouse. He carefully placed her on the couch and lifted her feet up, placing himself by them.
"Thank you, sweetie." She gave him a tired, but genuine smile.
He smiled back. She shuffled to sit herself up and Coach came over to take a look at her.
"Do you have any other wounds?"
"Just this one," she held out her left arm to reveal a red gash, that wasn't too bad, but it looked like it could be infected soon. "But it was from a tree, not a zombie."
Coach looked her in the eye when she spoke and she did the same. He could tell she wasn't lying to them, not even a little. He grabbed some supplies from a med kit and cleaned and bandaged the wound.
"Thank you, sir." She looked up at him.
"What's your name, Girl?" he asked with a kind tone.
"Ashley. Ashley Haner."
Nick stood in the corner near a table and the door, watching and listening from a distance. He didn't believe her. She was nothing more than a future zombie to her.
"Ashley." Coach repeated with a nod. "Ashley, I'm Coach." He held out his hand, and she shook it with a surprisingly firm grip. She was the real deal.
"I'm Ellis, and, well, I guess y'could call me 'El' if you wanted to, but, I dunno, I always thought that was some kind of girl's name and.."
Rochelle stopped him before he got into something endless. "Name's Rochelle. Nice to meet you." She gave a friendly smile.
No one seemed to pay mind to Nick who just stood there, silently watching.
"Ashley, you gotta understand somethin' here," Coach began, Ashley looking him in the eyes intently. "I ain't sayin' that I don't believe nothin' you just said, but we can't just be as careless as we want out here. We'll let you stay the night, and then we'll see how that and things go in the morning. Sounds good?"
"Sounds great!" Ellis exclaimed with a laugh.
Ashley chuckled at the young man's enthusiasm. "Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me, really."
Just then, they all jumped at the sound of the door shutting. Everyone's heads snapped to the corner and found it empty; Nick was gone.
Rochelle muttered something about him being a prick.. or something that ryhmed with it, grabbed a machete, and walked out to find him. When Coach and Ellis turned back to Ashley, she was looking down at her knees and had a certain look on her face.
"Don't mind him, girl, he's just not takin' this whole fiasco very well." Coach gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he slowly stood up and walked into one of the bedrooms.
"Here, I'll getcha a blanket and everythin'." Ellis quickly jumped up and scrambled around to find a blanket and something Ashley could use as a pillow.
She chuckled. "Oh, um, did you happen to grab a backpack?"
"Uhh.." Ellis looked around. "Yeah, yeah! This one?" He held up a dirty maroon backpack that he picked up off the table by the door.
"Yeah, that one, thanks!"
Ellis grinned and started towards her, but then stopped, his expression beginning to fall. "Uh.. you mind if I, like, went through it real quick, or somethin'? I mean, I dont think you'd be the type to just kill me or nothin' but everyone else might wanna just be cautious." He now had an apologetic look on his face.
"Not a problem."
He laid the bag on the table and carefully unzipped it, pulling out the contents one by one. A pair of Nike shorts, a black tank top, an empty pill bottle, some sort of thick, weird tape, and a hairbrush.
"Y'ain't got no weapons?" Ellis looked up with a confused expression, leaving this somewhere between a statement and a question.
Ashley shook her head. "I dropped 'em earlier before I fell, and couldn't run anymore."
"Hey, you're not sick, right? I mean, that's not why you couldn't run no more, yeah?"
She shook her head again. "I've been low on food, and I haven't slept, there's been nowhere safe. I just got really weak and my body wouldn't move anymore."
"Oh, well we can fix that!" He smiled again. "Oh, uh, hey Coach!" he yelled down the hall. "Her bag isn't full of no weapons or nothin'!"
Coach laughed a little from the other room. "I wasn't doubtin' her, son!"
"Here y'are." Ellis handed Ashley some slices of bread. "Sorry, s'all we got for now."
"Thank you, so much. Really." She said, and she meant every word.
Just then, they both jumped again as the door flew open. Nick stormed in with a pleading Rochelle behind him.
"Nick, really, you're-"
"I don't wanna hear it, Rochelle!" he snapped, cutting her off. His eyes shot a dark look at Ashley before Coach walked in.
"Son, what the hell are you yellin' about now?"
Nick was silent for a moment, his breathing heavy. Then, he finally spoke.
"I don't trust her."
