Ellis ran to the doorway of the raised swamp shanty only to see a horde of infected running up the sheet metal bridge toward him.
"Ellis get back here!" Coach shouted as the others backtracked to the previous shanty.
He turned to look over his shoulder just in time to see the stream of green acid block his path back across the bridge. With a well aimed hip shot from his pump action Nick took out the offending spitter.
With the moat of acid behind him and a steadily growing horde in front of him Ellis spun his head back and forth unsure what to do. In the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a white propane tank laying just inside the doorframe. With little to no thought he took aim.
"Ellis no!" Rochelle shouted as he began to squeeze the trigger of his hunting rifle.
The tank exploded blowing back most of the zombies in the door way and blasting Ellis up against the plywood wall of the shack. He heard nothing but the high pitched humming in his ears. His head felt white hot. He looked down at his left arm and saw a dagger of the white propane tank metal sticking out just below his shoulder. He mindlessly took hold of it and pulled it out watching the blood spread through the fabric of his Tshirt and begin to drip down his arm as he fell forward onto his knees and then onto his face. The green goo began to clear up and his friends ran across the bridge towards him their mouths flapping noiselessly as the high pitched hum faded slowly to black.
Ellis blinked looking up at the ceiling of the safe room. His head splitting, his arm aching.
"Mmmmnnn" He groaned, holding his head as he sat up.
"Ellis!" Rochelle said her voice muted by his still damaged ears. "Thank god! What is wrong with you?! You stupid child! Why would you shoot a propane tank one foot away from you!?"
Nick and Coach sat against the wall of the safe house arms crossed with sour expressions.
"d'yall worry 'bout me?" Ellis chuckled wincing at the pain in his head.
"Grow up!" Rochelle shouted "How the hell do you expect to survive if you treat life like a joke?!"
"I don wanna survive, I wanna live." Ellis said his eyes unusually serious. "That's the prob'lem with you people. All you're concerned about is survivin' but what's the point in just surviving if you ain't gonna live? Shoot, at least I'm havin' fun." He stood up unsteadily and walked into the musty bedroom of the cinderblock house.
"Ellis…" Rochelle said softly walking into the room behind him. He sat down on the moldy bed with his back to her. "Its not easy for us you know… We all lost people, and you're always going on about your friend Keith and-"
"Keith…" Ellis said with a scoff. "Keith isn't a friend… To me he's more than that…"
Rochelle stopped and stood with her mouth open in shock. After a moment she approached cautiously and sat down on the bed near Ellis.
"You…You love him…?" She asked still unable to believe her ears.
Ellis paused for what felt like forever then finally nodded his head ever so slightly turning his face away.
"Does…Does Keith know…?"
"I told him." Ellis said flatly. "Right before I beat his head in with a tire Iron…"
"Oh god…Ellis, I'm so sorry. I had no idea…"
"Whatever. Born n' raised in the south ya can't really admit this kinda stuff to people, much less yourself… I guess I just never really thought much about carin' for people before Keith. I can't imagine carin' for anyone after."
"I won't tell."
"Naw. Doesn't matter. S'not like I got anyone left I even know to judge me for it. All's left is God. And with this damn pandemic who knows God's even there 'ny more." He wiped his wrist against his nose though his eyes were dry.
"I wish there was something I could say…" Rochelle began. "Look, who knows if any of us even have friends or family out there anymore? As far as I know all I have left is you dumb boys." She rubbed his head affectionately. "I mean, we don't even know Coach's first name, Let alone each others last. I guess all there is to say is…can't you live and survive? For Keith? For us? We're all each other's got."
Ellis smirked "I s'pose. As much fun as it was wachin' those sons of bitches blow up, lookin' back I'm not sure its worth the headache."
Rochelle stood up walked over to him and kissed him gently on the top of the head. "Give that some thought next time."
She left the room joining coach back in the safe house for the night. "He's learned his lesson I think. We should give him some time. Hey wheres-?"
She turned and saw Nick leaning on the wall right outside the bedroom door.
"-Nick… How long have you been there?" She asked quietly.
"Its not important." He said stoically. "You're right. We are all each others got."