"Holy shit. That was close." Nick panted, slamming the safe door shut behind him and bolting it tightly. Ellis laughed breathlessly. "Yeah sure was. Damn suckers didn't get the best of us though! Sons of bitches don't know who they're messin' with! Haha yeah!" Coach interrupted Ellis's laughter. "Aw right people. Less talkin'. We gotta check this place out. Just because it looks like a safe room don't mean it is." Rochelle rose from her slouching position sighing. "Coach I...Uh I don't feel so good." She grabbed her head and leaned back against the wall. Coach looked at her with growing concern, noticing the blood soaking through her shirt on her left side. "Shit girl, they beat yo' ass good! Ellis, Nick, you guys check this place out." He grabbed his medkit from the floor and sat Rochelle down on the old worn out brown sofa. "Come on. I'm gonna heal your ass." Nick opened the door at the back of the living room and stepped inside, Ellis right behind him. The door leading outside had been boarded up with tables and a few chairs stacked up on top. The windows had also been boarded up. "Seems like these people had the right idea." Nick mumbled, pulling at the window boards. When he was satisfied that they were sturdy, he turned to leave. Ellis was standing in the doorway, axe in hand, staring right at him. "Fuck's wrong with you overalls?" Nick asked, eyebrow raised. Ellis was snapped back to reality. "Oh er ain't nothin' wrong Nick. Let's check upstairs." Nick nodded and followed Ellis out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ellis made his way up the stairs but Nick stopped, looking at Coach fixing Ro up. We can't go on like this much longer, he thought, staring at the wound on Ro's side. "Nick! Could use yer help up here." He heard Ellis shout from above. Shaking his head, he trudged up the stairs, feeling them creak under his weight. As he reached the top, he entered the room closest to him on the right, to find Ellis stacking chairs to barricade the broken window. Sighing, Nick grabbed the table near the bed and lifted. It was heavier than he'd anticipated and he dropped it, the table falling heavy on his foot. "Ow! Son of a bitch!" he cursed, drawing Ellis's attention. "Nick man, if yall needed help yall should of asked," He smiled warmly and moved over to help. He sat on the table, wincing as his foot throbbed before giving an answer. "Yeah well, I didn't realize it was gonna be so fucking heavy did I?" Ellis's smile disappeared as he stood in front of Nick , facing him. He felt a pang of guilt for snapping at the kid. No matter how much he annoyed him with his constantly positive attitude, he had realized over the past few days, it's what kept them going. No matter what had been thrown at them, they'd made it through. Sure, the guns and medkits had helped, but he was convinced that without Ellis's rambling stories and happy go lucky approach, that they would of crashed and burned by now. He sighed heavily before looking up to meet the kids gaze. "Just, just help me move this thing alright?" Ellis's smile returned and he cheerily nodded.