The fire crackled quietly, casting a warm glow and heat over the four tired survivors as they took a rest for the night. Occasionally it would spark, sending a few embers up into the air. Rochelle idly stoked it as it started to die, using the sawed off muzzle of an old gun to poke the fuel at the bottom of the heat source.
To her left, Coach was trying to force down an expired granola bar. It seemed to be the only food they ever came across, and he was sick of them. He threw the bar of sawdust onto the ground.
"Shit. When are we gonna find some real food?" He vocalized to no one in particular, his deep voice cutting through the silence that had gripped them for over an hour.
"I don't know, Coach." Nick's reply was curt as he took a drag on one of his last cigarettes. "Maybe when one of us decides to set some traps to catch some animals."
Of course, no one knew if the wild life surrounding them were affected by the Infection, or whether they were safe to eat. But everyone knew that they were good and sick of granola.
"Look on thuh bright side." Ellis spoke up, flicking the brim of his cap up so he could look at Nick and Coach. "At least we have sumthin' tuh eat. It's better 'n starvin', tha's fer sure." His thick Southern accent rolled easily off his tongue as a grin split his grimy, scarred face.
"Nobody wants to hear how 'lucky' we are to have freaking granola bars." Nick's son, Jack, spoke up from beside the gambler. He was 14, and every bit as handsome as his father, having been lucky enough to inherit nothing from his 'good for nothing mother'… except for perhaps her attitude, although it could be said that he got that from Nick as well. "So just shut up. I can't stand that stupid drawl of yours." For some reason, he hated the mechanic's guts. Perhaps it was Ellis's unending optimism in the face of impending doom; perhaps it was the way Ellis said certain words; or perhaps it was his never-ending tales of his buddy Keith's fantastical exploits; either way, Jack couldn't stand the sight of the hick.
"Watch your mouth." Nick said sharply, casting a glance at his son. "And lay off of the kid already."
"Why should I?" Jack challenged. He was in that rebellious phase of life; he didn't want to listen to his father in the least, though Nick's threats of beatings were enough to give him a certain amount of respect.
"Because. He's trying to keep his mind off of this shitty situation, and you're trying to crush him. It's fucked up and I won't stand for it anymore."
"What gives him the right to be so damn cheerful all the fucking time?" Jack pointed to Ellis, who was attempting to fix an old guitar he'd discovered a few days ago.
"Watch your mouth I said!" Nick's voice rose in anger. "He's cheerful because someone here has to be, and it sure as hell isn't going to be a bratty, ungrateful teenager like you!" His ex-wife had spoiled Jack to no end, creating a bratty monster who had no respect for anyone or the current situation. She'd also fed the teen vicious lies about his father, telling Jack that it was Nick's fault that they divorced, when in fact it was because Nick found her in bed with another man and a woman. She'd then filed a restraining order against Nick, saying that he'd threatened her and Jack with physical violence for the divorce, effectively isolating the con man from Jack for years. Only the start of the apocalypse brought the two together again, and Nick was starting to regret bringing his son along.
Jack glared at his father before lying down on his side and turning his back to him. "Piss off." He muttered under his breath.
"That's it, I need a break." Nick pushed himself up off of the ground and walked away, knowing that he was just seconds away from laying into Jack. He left everyone else in an awkward silence; no one wanted to be the first person to speak after such a heated argument.
"… Shit, Nick didn't take uh weapon with him." Ellis noticed Nick's trademark Magnum pistol lying on the ground near where he'd been sitting just a few minutes before. "Ah'll go take it tuh him."
"El, hun, you really should just leave him alone." Rochelle said, watching Ellis cross over to the gun and pick it up with utmost care, as it was Nick's favorite weapon and most prized possession aside from his suit and cigarettes.
"It ain't safe tuh be by yerself without uh weapon." Ellis pointed out, starting towards the direction that Nick had gone off in.
It was just coming into fall, and dried leaves scattered the ground, crunching quietly beneath Ellis's feet as he walked. Fall was his favorite time of year; everything was beautiful, awash in reds and browns and oranges and yellows, and his Ma used to cook all of his favorites; pot pie, pumpkin pie, turkey… His mouth watered at the thought. It was yet another thing to look forward to once this hell was over with.
"Man, Ah've done sum messed up shit…" Ellis said aloud, his legs stopping beneath him. He'd done things he knew that in any other situation, given a chance, he would never ever do. But, ever the optimist, he pushed those memories aside and continued on his way to find where Nick had disappeared to.
Nick sat himself on a log about 200 feet away from the small camp that they'd set up. The log was old and slippery, covered in bright green moss that grew in a thick carpet. Usually, he'd be pissed that his beloved suit was getting even dirtier, but at this point all he cared about was having another smoke, this time in peace.
He reached into his trouser pockets and pulled out his last crumpled pack of Marlboro Full Flavor. For a moment, he let his worn fingers toy with the package; he knew he had exactly 4 more of the cancer sticks left, and he was attempting to pace himself to make them last. But his brain was screaming at him to feed his addiction, and he gave in after just a few seconds, reaching in and removing one of them.
"Three left." He grunted, sticking the cigarette into his mouth and cupping his mouth over the end as he flicked his thumb over the starter on his lighter. It took several tries before the tip glowed, and he took a long, slow drag, feeling the smoke fill his lungs. As he exhaled, he looked at the lighter and realized it was almost out of fluid. "God dammit…" He shoved it and the cigarettes back into his pocket before hunching over and tapping the ash from the end of the cigarette now in his hand. He honestly didn't know how he would handle running out of either.
" 'Ey, Nick!" Ellis's voice called.
Nick sighed, rubbing his forehead as the happy-go-lucky mechanic jogged up to him. "I'm really not in the mood to listen to what stupid thing Keith did that one time, Overalls." He warned.
"Yew fergot yer gun." Ellis held out the shining pistol to Nick. Nick blinked and looked up at him.
"… Christ." He shook his head and grabbed the weapon from Ellis. "Hurry up and siddown, kid. You're making me all kinds of nervous right now."
Ellis obliged, sitting himself down beside the log and leaning back to look up at the crystal clear sky above them. "Thuh stars sure are purdy, ain't they?" He commented, his face filled with an almost child-like wonder as he observed the tapestry of cosmic artwork. "They always remind me of fireflies… Yew think we'll see any?" He glanced over at Nick, who was running his hand along the muzzle of his gun as though deep in thought.
"… Have I ever told you the story behind this gun, Kid?" He asked after a moment, raising it to eye level to check the sight.
"Shoot, no." Ellis sat up straight. "Ah dun think yew've told any stories since Ah met yew."
"Do you want to hear it?"
"Well sure Ah do." Ellis turned his body slightly so it was easier for him to look at the gambler. Nick lowered the gun and fitted his index finger against the trigger, his usually scowling face softening slightly.
"It was a week or so after the divorce with my ex-wife went through. I was feeling down, because the love of my life was leaving me and taking my kid away. I decided to make myself feel better by heading down to a casino and taking a few shots there." His eyes glided along the gun, as though each indentation in its shape was a separate bit of the story that he was collecting to put back together. "I was gambling too, of course. I got a little too drunk, but at that point I didn't give a damn. I didn't have anything left to lose except my life, and that was going nowhere." Nick's hand dipped into his other trouser pocket, pulling out a couple of rounds of ammo. As he slowly inserted each bullet into the chamber, he continued. "Some rich asshole came in and bet a whole fucking briefcase of money on a game of poker. I won, of course, because I've never lost at poker. The next thing I know, the moron's betting this gun." Nick ran a finger over the name engraved in the butt. "Funnily enough, his name was Nick too. He told me that if he won this next hand, not only did he get his money back, but he got to shoot me." With the same finger that had been caressing the name on the gun, he pointed to right in between his emerald green eyes. "Right between the eyes." He smirked slightly at the look on Ellis's face. "But if I won, I got to keep the money and the gun. You can guess who won."
"Hoooo-lee shit, Nick." Ellis's dimpled jaw was hanging slightly as he stared at the con man. "Is tha' how yew got yer fancy suit?"
"Hell no." Nick snorted. "I killed a man for this suit."
"… Yer such a bad-ass sumbitch." Ellis breathed, his steely-blue eyes filled with adoration for the man before him. "Yew know that? BAD. ASS."
"Don't go admiring people like me, kid." Nick shook his head, pushing the gun into the waistband of his trousers before taking another long drag on his cigarette. "I'm a professional killer. That's what I do."
"Sumtimes yew hafta do whut yew hafta do tuh survive." Ellis knew all too well the sacrifices that sometimes had to be made; he'd made plenty of his own just during the two years they'd been fighting zombies and trying to fix CEDA's mistakes.
"After a few kills, you start to enjoy it." Nick lightly tapped the cancer stick, watching the ash drift slowly to the ground. "I hardly think that's okay."
"Yer experience has helped us git this far, ain't it?"
"… Overalls, you have a strange way of looking at things." In spite of himself, Nick found himself chuckling.
"Mah Ma always told me tuh lookit things with uh smile." Ellis laid back against the cool ground and used his leanly muscled arms as pillows. "Gawd, whut Ah wouldn't give tuh hear her voice again…"
"… I don't think you've ever spoken about your mother before." Nick glanced at Ellis. "Is she at an evac camp or something?"
"… Naw." Ellis said softly. "She's been gone uh long, long time."
"I'm… sorry to hear that." Nick shifted slightly on the log. "How did she die?"
"Mah Pa wus uh mean sumbitch." Ellis pulled his cap off of his head and let the cool night air run through his chocolate brown curls. "Fer as long as Ah could remember, he would beat up Ma and he'd beat up me. Ah guess Ma jus' got sick of it at one point, cos she took his shotgun 'n got him right in thuh family jewels when he wus beatin' me with uh belt." He chuckled, though the laugh was far from happy. "After he got outta thuh hospital 'n found out Ma had gotten uh restraining order against him, he walked right through it 'n took thuh shotgun, 'n… well, it don't take uh genius tuh figger out whut happened."
Nick was silent; what could he say about something like that? What baffled him more was that Ellis seemed totally at peace with what had happened. He wasn't upset in the slightest.
"… Sorry." Ellis sat up, replacing the cap on his head. "Ah didn't mean tuh bring thuh mood down."
"… You know… it's fine." Nick glanced at Ellis. "That's the first story you've told that didn't involve that walking death trap buddy of yours."
Ellis grinned sheepishly, rocking back and forth slightly. "First time fer errythin, right?" He pushed himself up to his feet and smacked the seat of his rolled up overalls. "Ah think Ah'll letchu finish yer smoke in peace."
"Thanks, Kid." Nick watched Ellis make his way up the same path he'd came from, blinking in surprise when Ellis paused and looked over his shoulder.
"… Yew know, yer a purdy good listener." He commented with a grin.
"Just leave Keith out of it, and I'll listen to just about anything you have to say." Nick responded, waving his hand at him. "Now get going."
"Yessir." Ellis continued on his way, laughing to himself. Nick sure was a fun guy on his own.