Today was a typical day. It has been the same routine since the infection hit. Run. Zombie. Shoot. Repeat.
JOCKEY!" Coach yelled in a loud and roar-like voice.
My eardrums almost felt like they were bursting. I quickly took aim with my sniper rifle and... BANG! That sucker fell just before he landed on Ellis. The southern boy glanced back at me and flashed me a smile; damn that smile, it was so cheerful and optimistic it sickened me to the bone. When we started to navigate through the wrecked abandoned sugar mill I heard a sound all too familiar to me. It was a Witch- as usual it was crying its eyes out. I quickly grabbed a hold of Ellis' collar as he was about to pass the infected woman.
"God damn it Overalls are you trying to kill yourself," I whispered harshly.
"Aw shucks Nick, I didn't think ya'd care" He replied gleefully.
"Stupid hick" I said under my breath.
As I drew closer to the Witch I went through a checklist in my head. Flashlight is off. Auto Shotgun fully loaded. No infected in sight. Or so I thought...
I slowly paced myself through the tangled mess of concrete and support beams, tightening my breathing so she wouldn't hear me approach. I cocked my shotgun and aimed at the Witch's head. When I was close enough a sharp pain took me from the side. It lifted me up with great ease and forcefully slammed me into the ground. I tried to scream out in pain- nothing but air escaped my lungs. As the pounding became more frequent, the pain started to disappear almost instantly. As I started to drift off into the darkest regions of my sub-conscience I heard somebody call out my name followed by a shrill dying howl. I couldn't really make it the voice; it was like a faint whisper.
"NICK! Damn it! Don't you dare die on me!" Rochelle screamed with a horrified expression.
My eyes fluttered open as Rochelle administered the last jolt for the defibrillator.
"Uhgg, what just happened?" I asked weakly.
"Oh my God, you're alive! I was worried sick, don't you dare do that to me again!" Rochelle screamed with tear stained eyes.
I looked at her with a worried expression and reached for her shoulders. Pulling her to closer to me, I embraced her will all my might.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered in her ear.
She looked back at me with a faint smile and nodded.
"Nick I'm glad you're back and all but we need to get a move on unless you plan on dying here" Coach said with a slightly annoyed voice.
"You're right..." I replied reluctantly.
As I got up the pain shot through my body almost instantly. Ellis looked over at me and sprouted a worried look.
"What are you looking at? I'm fine." I snapped.
"Oh, I'm glad you are Nick," Ellis replied with a slightly depressed tone.
Ellis then looked away from me and proceeded to look out for any infected that hide in the darkest corners. As we headed to the safe room my injuries had taken the turn for the worst. I had almost completely lost the feeling in my leg and I started limping the rest of the way. Coach looked back and decided to give me some "inspiration".
"Damn it Nick! Hurry up!" He bellowed.
"Easier said than done," I replied with a faint smirk.
Minutes later we were a few feet away from the safe room but as usual our luck had just run out. A storm had blown in and it had started to rain. We could hear the screams of the horde drawing closer. The rain was so fierce and strong that the raindrops stung like needles as they hit my face. We stood our ground and fought off the horde until we had a clear path to the safe room. Coach and Rochelle ran to the safe room as quickly as they could, fearing that more infected would come. As I killed off the remaining infected I noticed something off. I couldn't find Ellis! When Rochelle saw me limp away from the safe room she tried opening the door, only to be restrained by Coach. I could hear them argue as I limped away looking for Ellis.
"Nick, go on and look for Ellis we will cover you!" Coach shouted off in the distance.
"What the hell are you thinking Coach! We aren't much use here we have to go with him!" Rochelle screamed angrily.
"Look it here Rochelle we aren't going to help Nick by putting our own lives in danger. We are just going to have to pray and hope that nothing happens besides those boys are too determined to die now" Coach replied with a shaky voice.
A few feet away I heard a dying wheeze and an explosion of smoke from behind an old truck. It was Ellis still wrapped in a Smokers tongue, unconscious. He still had his pistol in his palm so I assumed he fought off the Smoker as a last ditch effort for his life. I checked his pulse and he seemed to be breathing , I sighed with relief. I lifted him up on my back, completely ignoring the pain in my leg and stumbled next to the car trying to run to the safe room. On the way back Ellis started to regain consciousness and looked around almost like a lost puppy.
"Where am I?" he asked tiredly.
"On our way to the safe room" I replied coldly.
When Ellis finally noticed who was carrying him, his sky blue eyes looked down on the ground and felt his shoulders slump onto my back.
"Nick, I'm sorry I didn't kill that Charger in time. If only I paid more attention you wouldn't have gotten hurt. Now look you're carrying me with an injured leg, I'm fucking useless!"
"Now look here Overalls, none of this is your fault. Now, can you please shut the fuck up and try not to attract any more infected."
Ellis looked at me, a bit shocked at what I had just said. He then stared at me with his sky blue eyes and smiled. He put his arms around my neck and laughed.
"I love you man," he said as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
"You stupid hick." I said with a smile.
When we reached the safe we were greeted by hugs and tearful expressions. I dropped Ellis on the mattress near the door and he quickly snapped out of his peaceful slumber.
"Ahhhh , that was one heck of a night!"
"Well good morning sleeping beauty." I replied with a scowl
"G'mornin Nick!" He replied, ignoring my insult.
Ellis's optimism was starting to get on my nerves. Day in and day out he would smile and laugh, even when he was being swarmed with zombies. No one can ever be that cheerful with our given situation but somehow he managed to find a way.
"Here" I said as I threw a health pack at him barely missing his face.
"That's mighty kind of you Nick," he said with his trademark optimism.
"Nurse Foxie's Medical Kit..." he said as he read the label.
"Well I'll be damned it's one of those med kits that Keith keeps in his trailer, he uses them ALL the time. Have I ever told you the story about how Keith got blade wounds over ninety percent of his body? Well one time Keith and I made homemade bumper cars with riding mowers in his backyard…"
"Look Ellis, right now is not the best time for one of your damn stories, you are bleeding all over the place," I interrupted.
"Aw c'mon I never get to finish any one of my stories!" he exclaimed with a pout.
His damn stories about this Keith guy were always annoying, but for some reason it just struck my last nerve. I could literally imagine me ringing that stupid hick's neck. But instead I just grabbed his med kit and administered my own form of revenge.
"OUCH! God dammit Nick! Be careful!" Ellis yelped.
I was generous with antibiotics in the med back. Instead of dabbing it on his wounds I sadistically poured most of the bottle on him. I sat back and watched him freak out as the pain from the wounds re-entered his body.
"If I didn't know any better Nick, I'd think you were tryin' to hurt me," Ellis said while his face winced with pain.
"No, where did you get THAT idea?" I replied sarcastically.
After a few minutes of wrapping bandages over Ellis's slightly toned body I looked at him.
"Hey Ellis, I'm glad that I'm stuck with you guys" I started faintly.
He looked at me with his sky blue eyes and just smiled.
"Don't tell me ya goin' soft on us Nick,"
"Now don't get any ideas, this don't mean a thing." I replied as I blushed.
"It's going to be a long apocalypse," Ellis cried out loudly before falling to the floor laughing.
"Once a hick, always a hick," I sighed with a slightly annoyed look.
It was a typical day. A perfectly normal typical day…