Pain was the only thing on Nick's mind by the end of walking around in the godforsaken valleys and streams. Quite frankly, he was sick and tired of goddamn mudmen, Ellis's constant chatting, his suit being dirtier than all hell and walking in general. This was probably their shortest journey so far, but god, it sure as hell wasn't the easiest. Nick seemed to be the chosen one for special infected this time around. Getting charged over three times, and also pounced on by a hunter, before getting beat to shit by the tank they encountered, it seemed luck wasn't on the conman's side.
They had stopped momentarily at a small medic's tent, just in order to catch their breath, since they were definitely going to need it. Unfortunately, the only thing inside was a small bottle of pills, which Nick took gratefully. Outside, large gates blocked their path to the safe room, however explosive barrels lined the side of it, making a good opportunity to blow the entire gate down, however with a price. The entire zombie populous in the area would surely chase them to the safe room.
"Y'all ready for this?" Coach asked, his voice bordering on overly optimistic. Ellis was the first to answer, as usual. His voice was chipper with amusement, and obviously these last few weeks hadn't had much of an impact on him. "Hell yeah! Let's do it!" Rochelle simply nodded her head, and Nick grunted. That's really all he could do without hurting himself further.
With a hesitant nod from Coach, shots were fired into the barrels, causing an explosion seconds later. "Just run!" Nick yelled over the horde, as the tag team began their journey to the safe room. Nick quickly fell behind, with Ellis leading the pack as the entered the tunnel, rushing water currents welcoming them within it. Nick easily saw the concerned look that Ro had given him as she noticed how far back he was, but kept going.
Limping and trying to navigate through the dirty water, Nick glanced up. Where were the infected? There was no one trying to cut him off from his group, or eat him. In fact, there seemed to be no more crawling around, or coming up behind them either. Realization hit him, but as he opened his mouth to warn Rochelle and Coach, who were now heading past the gates, he heard the roar of the tank.
"Shit Tank!" Rochelle called, sounding completely panicked. Ellis, who had previously been point, had dropped back and was now trying desperately to lead the tank off of Ro as it pushed her near the edge of the drop off. Nick fired his M-16 into the tank, watching as the bullets ripped off flesh and tore into bone, before suddenly the beast itself got caught in a current and fell into the abyss.
Coach was standing right on the edge of the fall, seeming staring at Rochelle as Ellis carefully worked his way towards her. Nick however was battling off the last of the stragglers inside the room that connected with the tunnel. As he finished he turned to Ellis, watching as he reached a hand out to Rochelle—and slipped over the edge as well. "Ah, Tits."
Nick limped slowly over to the edge, throwing sideways glances at Coach, who continued to simply stand on the edge, useless as ever. "Now hold on, I got you." Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Nick dug his heel into the murky ground, and extended his hand to Rochelle. Unfortunately, as she grabbed his hand, the current suddenly picked up, causing him to cry out in pain as he was forcibly thrown onto his back and off the ground. His hands desperately clutched to the edge, as he willed away some of the pain. "Ahh Shit." He remarked dejectedly.
Coach continued to stand on the edge, glancing around at the three, but never moving. Not even taking a step as Rochelle's hand slipped and she was dangling by an arm.
"Coach, what the hell are you doing?" Nick's voice was steely, taking almost all of his willpower to not curse this guy out right now. Ellis glanced at Nick, who was beside him, and resisted the urge to panic. Nick, although normally extremely pessimistic, never seemed as angry as he was now. All three of the men's heads snapped over at the same time as they heard a high pitched scream. Rochelle's arm had given out and she had dropped from the edge. A small chorus of "Rochelle!" echoed from both men who were still hanging on. Once again, Coach did nothing besides check his gun. Next to Nick, Ellis's hands were slowly doing the same, failing to hold him up as time went on. He quickly readjusted his hands, hoping to catch anything with a grip, only getting mossy rocks in return. A strangled sound came out of his throat as another wave of water finally pushed his hold to a breaking point.
However, as he finally let go, he felt a sudden warmth latch onto his forearm. Glancing up, he stared into the cold, emerald eyes of Nick. Surprised by the action, Ellis let out a small sigh of relief, as he grabbed onto the man equally as tight.
Nick was hanging by one arm now, the other weighed down with Ellis, and he could feel himself slipping fast. "Coach get your fat ass over here and help us! I can't do this on my own!" By now, Nick's voice had lost its calm demeanor and was now fully panicked. He studied Coach's face, becoming completely infuriated once he noticed the faint smirk on the elder's face. A sudden lurch on his right arm told him Ellis was slipping, causing him to immediately face him again. "Ellis, don't you fucking let go, you hear me?"
Ellis tried, his own fear settling in as he felt his hands sliding down Nick's soaked suit. "Nick, I can't hold on much longer." Like Nick's, his voice was higher pitched, and quite frankly, for the first time he was scared. Nick could only grimace, as Ellis's slipping was pulling on old injuries, causing a dull pain to thud throughout his body. Clenching his teeth, Nick finally shook his head. They were dying here and honestly, it was all Coach's fault.
Stealing one last look at Ellis, Nick threw him an apologetic smile, only causing more panic in the younger man. The smooth surface on the rocks were slipping from under Nick's fingers, and with one last movement, he let go, making sure to give Coach one last middle finger from him, before both he and Ellis disappeared over the side, their screams overpowering the only other sound in the tunnel, Coach's laugh.
So this was just a stupid one-shot I felt the need to write after THIS REALLY HAPPENED. I hated Coach before, and I completely loathe him now. He made me watch as one by one Ro, and Ellis fell off the damn thing on Cold Stream.