Last Moments

In these last moments, we knew we could survive. In these last moments, I was proud to be a part of this group. All of us together - we'd live through this hell.

Sorry for OOCness, and I don't own Left 4 Dead 2. It's Valve's property.

Rochelle POV

Ellis: 77 Nick: 89 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 62

"Hunter! Hunter!" Ellis yelled. A shotgun blast silenced the Infected, but a Charger slammed into Ellis' side and carried him to a wall. He smashed Ellis down onto the floor. Ellis screamed in pain as the Charger slammed him into the floor again, and from the safe room, I heard a crack as his spine snapped. His eyes widened before he went limp. The safe room door slammed open. Coach ran forwards and used his shotgun to kill the Charger. Ellis lay crumpled on the floor, whimpering in pain. For once, a goofy smile wasn't plastered across his face.

"Ellis, sweetie!" I called. His eyelids flickered, but he didn't wake.

"Overalls!" Nick snapped. Ellis shook his head drowsily, a tear seeping from his eye. He tried to bring an arm up to wipe it away, but he decided it was too painful and dropped his arm. The tear made a small puddle on the floor. Coach pulled him up, and began dragging him towards the safe room. As he reached it, a Smoker's tongue wrapped round his waist and began to drag him away. Ellis cried out as he hit the floor, jarring his back again. Nick cursed loudly, sprinting to save Coach.

Ellis: 26 Nick: 87 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 44

"Yo, Nick!" I yelled.

"Ro?" he turned around, helping Coach up. I pointed at Ellis.

"He's in bad shape. I'm gonna get him in the safe room and patch him up!"

"Okay, Rochelle, we'll be right there!" Nick replied. I nodded, holding Ellis below the arms and dragging him into the safe room. I shut the door behind me, grabbing a medic pack and rushing back to Ellis' side.

"H-heal yourself, Ro..." Ellis whispered. I shook my head.

"Ellis, you'll die-"

"That's already happenin'," he smiled sadly. I shook my head, hot tears spilling over.

"I can't leave you to die!"

"Ah told you... Ah'm goin' to anyway..."

"Rochelle?" Nick stumbled in, holding Coach's arm around his shoulders. He fell to his knees beside me, and Coach followed.

"Is there anything we can do?" Coach asked, looking at me. Ellis' eyes followed us. They widened as he choked, blood hemorrhaging up his throat. He spluttered as it began spilling out his mouth, tears mingling with the red drops. I turned away, still holding the medic pack. Scanning the safe room, I saw that there were no more medic packs. I was injured, Nick seemed okay, Coach was pretty battered but Ellis was critical. I had to heal him. I began wrapping bandages around his wounds, but he raised an arm to stop me.

Ellis: 15 Nick: 86 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 27

"Coach needs it," he whispered. "Ah'll be fine, Ro." I frowned as he struggled to stand. "Um... Can Ah have a splint for my back? Please?" Nick grabbed an empty hunting rifle and used one of his shirt sleeves to tie it around his back. Standing awkwardly, Ellis' arms were hanging limply by his side and his legs shook like they could barely support him. He shook his head when Coach offered to help him. Slowly yet painfully, he took the half-used medic pack from my hands and shuffled over to Coach. Coach stepped back when Ellis started to bandage around his cuts and bruises.

"Ellis, you can't-" he protested.

"Ah am." Coach fell silent, sending helpless looks at Nick and I, who just stood still, unsure of what to do. Ellis finished healing Coach, and smiled. He turned to us.

"Kid..." Nick shook his head.

"Let's go!" Ellis beamed. "C'mon!" He tried to kick the door open like he usually did, but he suddenly fell against the door, his eyes tightly shut and forehead pressed to the cold metal. I saw Coach's eyes widen as he and Nick both ran to catch him.

Ellis: 4 Nick: 86 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 86

"Ellis?" Coach lightly tapped Ellis' cheek. "C'mon, boy, you ain't dead." He said it almost like a question. Ellis' eyes remained shut, although they parted a little when he was shaken gently. A drop of blood dropped from between his lips. Nick stepped back from the scene, looking around again for any pills or adrenaline. Spotting a familiar can under a bench, he stooped to pick it up. Clutching the pills triumphantly in one hand, he ran back to Coach, who was still supporting Ellis.

Ellis: 1 Nick: 86 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 86

"Pills here," Nick called, popping the lid off the pills and pressing one into my hand. I nodded at him, kneeling down beside Coach and pushing the pill down Ellis' throat. His eyes opened, and he burst into life, writhing out of Coach's grip until he was on the floor, sweat shining on his skin. He stared at us with wide, fearful eyes.

"What was that?" he spat. "It tastes like th'time Keith made a smoothie with dirt!" I sighed, relieved to see he was okay. I gave him a weak smile.

"You just cheated death, sweetie," I grinned, and his eyes lit up.

"Ah did? Oh man, Ah need t'tell Keith 'bout that one!" Ellis beamed at me.

Ellis: 42 Nick: 86 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 86

"Are y'all gonna help me up?" Ellis broke us all out of our thoughts, and we all murmured sheepishly as we remembered about his broken spine. Ellis kept the smile on his face as we helped him back to his feet, but the smile was dead in his eyes and he let out a hiss of pain as he was lifted.

"Let's stay here for the night," Nick suggested, looking out at the sun through the bars of the door. "We need to find food, though." He fell silent and looked at us. It had always been all four of us going to scavenge, for safety, but Ellis couldn't follow and couldn't be left alone. I thought for a moment.

"I'll stay with Ellis," I replied.

"Ro-"

"It's okay. I'll stay with him, you and Coach can go for food. Don't go too far, though, and if anything happens..." I paused. Yelling would only attract a Horde. Ellis seemed to be struggling, so we turned to him, and we saw he was trying to talk.

"M-maybe... if we used the t-talkies?" he asked weakly. Coach frowned.

"Boy, by 'talkies' I assume you mean walkie-talkies, but there ain't any."

"There... are some up th-there." Ellis moved him eyes to a shelf. Sure enough, two walkie-talkies were sitting on it. I smiled, picking them off, taking one and giving the other to Coach. Nick huffed.

"Let's see if they work." I stepped away from Coach, clicking a switch and holding a button on the side. "Hello?" Coach's walkie-talkie crackled to life, and my voice echoed from the speaker.

"Hello," Coach replied, pressing the button too. His voice was emitted from my walkie-talkie, and I turned the contraption over to see the details.

"It's got a range of... let's see..." I saw tiny number engraved on the back. "It's got a range of half a kilometer." I turned to Coach and Nick. "So you guys can go five-hundred meters away. No further, or we'll lose contact, okay? If there's a Tank, yell into the speaker immediately. If you're both in trouble, also use it. Got it?" The two men nodded.

"See you soon, Ro," Nick called as he left. He didn't need to add anything else, as Ellis had fallen asleep. I checked his breathing and heart rate, and tried to rip the arms off his coveralls, but they were made of a strong material and wouldn't tear.

"Ellis, sweetie? Sweetie?" I tapped his cheek. He murmured something, and I wasn't sure if what happened next was what I thought it really was.

He stopped breathing.

Ellis: 22 Nick: 84 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 79

I stopped breathing too, frozen, staring at his chest. Nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing. Then he coughed and continued breathing normally, if a little shallower. I felt myself exhale. He had stopped breathing for seventeen seconds. I grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Guys?"

"Ro?" Coach sounded confused.

"Has something happened?" I heard Nick's voice in the background. Coach must still have the button pressed.

"We're on our way back, Ro."

"No, wait-" The walkie-talkie went silent. "Damn!" I stamped on the floor. They could take ages, and in that time Ellis could stop breathing again. But I could still hear the steady, soothing rhythm of Ellis breathing, and I knew it was okay. For now.

Ellis: 9 Nick: 80 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 76

"There's a place we can stay in the store!" Coach said breathlessly as he walked in, a carrier bag of food in one hand. Nick walked in after him, holding a pack of cigarettes.

"What?" I gasped.

"In the store," Coach continued, "I found a room in the back with a steel door. There's a huge tankard of water and the store is almost full of food!" I was surprised.

"What, nobody ransacked it?"

"Well, someone could've gone through and taken some things, but its got cookers and ovens in the furniture section, so we have food!" Coach grinned. I gave him a hug.

"Yes! This is great! How much food is there? How long could it last us?"

"I don't know, the store's huge, but I bet it could last us weeks. A long time, anyway, and with fresh water, maybe months!" Even Nick was smiling.

"That's great!" Oh," I paused, remembering earlier. "Ellis stopped breathing earlier! In his sleep!"

"Huh?" Nick almost choked on his cigarette. "He stopped breathing?"

"Yeah, for nearly twenty seconds!"

"And you didn't think about telling us?" Nick had recovered.

"I did, I did, I tried! You said you were on your way back!" I cried. Coach cringed, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, Ro, that was my fault," he apologized. I shrugged to show that there were no hard feelings.

"Oh," Nick sighed. We all fell silent. Then I realized it was too silent. The others did too. We all turned to Ellis, and we all rushed to him when we all saw no movement.

"Boy?"

"Overalls!"

"Sweetie?" I was near-hysterical. Ellis didn't breathe. I pressed an ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat, shallow and vague, but he was still not breathing. I shook him.

"Mm... Ro...?" Ellis murmured. His eyelids fluttered drowsily. "Huh?"

"Ellis!" I blinked away tears I hadn't even felt well up. "You're okay, baby!"

"Um... Ah am. Should Ah not be?"

"You stopped breathing for a bit, honey, but its okay." I knew it wasn't; we, including Ellis, knew it wasn't, but after some hushed, soothing murmurs, Ellis was asleep again.

"We have to move now." Coach stepped forwards. Nick nodded.

"The door won't hold much longer. There's also bedding in the store, and heaters. Out here, it's cold and damp," he reasoned. "So, what's the plan!?"

"Let's take Ellis there. I'll support him from the left, Ro, from the left, Nick, you stay on guard. Alright?" Coach looked at us. We didn't need to reply.

"Okay... on three..." Coach grunted.

"One..."

"Two..."

"... Three!" We both lifted the limp mechanic, him being surprisingly light after all the Hunters, Jockeys and Tanks that had nearly crushed us before.

"Let's go." Nick kicked open the door, shining his torch into the suffocating, almost tangible darkness outside.

"Right." Moving swiftly and silently, we crossed the stretch between the shack and the store. A breathy grunt sliced the silence, and a cold chill ran up my neck. I felt the hairs on my arms stand up, and it wasn't from the cold.

"Shit," Coach swore. "Now, of all times..." In the narrow torch beam, I could see the sheen of sweat covering his brow. I shivered, squinting into the darkness. I saw a huge fist swing into the pale light.

"There," I whispered. "There!"

"Where?" Nick swung round. His torch travelled up a leg, and slowed to a rest...

Right on the Tank's face.

Ellis: 1 Nick: 80 Rochelle: 92 Coach: 76

The roar that followed shook the ground, and thundering footsteps began approaching. Now running, Ellis slipping from my sweaty grasp, Coach and I sprinted to the store entrance. Nick followed backwards, sending bullets tearing into the Tank's chest. I knew they'd hit their target when roars of pain shook the windows. Then I was in the store, ducking in the aisles with Coach struggling to keep up while holding Ellis. A dull thud. Ellis was tumbling on the floor, rolling to a halt some feet away. I turned, and tripped, colliding with Nick. We crashed into a display, cans landing all round us. One connected with Nick's temple with a crack, and I watched as his eyes rolled up and he slumped to the ground.

"Coach!" I screamed, not daring to be too loud lest I summoned a Horde. The man himself was unconscious too, having met the same fate as Nick. I staggered to my feet, twisting round. The safe room was only twenty meters or so away - but so was the Tank. I had to act fast. Grabbing Nick's collar and Ellis's wrist, I muttered an apology before unceremoniously dragging them into the open door. I pushed Coach after them, and I was nearly in when a fist connected with my back. I flew forwards, my leg catching on a table and snapping without so much as a warning of pain. I screamed properly them, tears of frustration and agony blurring my vision. I crawled forwards, pulling the door shut as the Tank thundered towards me. Slipping the bar on just in time, I heard the Infected roar in anger and stamp. But there was nothing anyone could do to open the door, not even the Tank itself. After what felt like hours, the Tank shuffled away, and I allowed my eyes to fall shut.

Ellis: INCAPACITATED 126 Nick: 3 Rochelle: INCAPACITATED 289 Coach: 1

I woke slowly, lights fading in slowly and mixing to make a rainbow. A dull ache throbbed in my leg, and I sat up. Coach was bandaging Nick's head and arm. He already had bandages around himself. Looking down, I saw my leg had been bandaged and splinted, and there were a few plasters on my cheeks and shoulders from where I'd fallen against the floor. Ellis was sleeping peacefully under a sheet. After staring to make sure he was still breathing, I sighed in relief and pulled up the duvet I was under.

"I owe my life to you." I blinked and looked up again.

"Nick?"

"We all do, Ro," he smiled, and I was caught off guard by the rare show of friendliness he was giving me.

"But-"

"It's okay. Coach and I will look after you and Overalls. Just sleep."

"I... Okay." I closed my eyes, and was asleep in seconds.

Yawning myself awake, I sat up. Coach and Nick weren't anywhere to be seen, and I could hear a scraping noise near the safe room door. Immediately alert, I shrank into the corner I was near. The door creaked open, but instead of a Tank, Coach and Nick entered, dragging a box with them. Nick closed the door firmly before wiping his forehead and opening the box. He and Coach pulled a bag full of food, a microwave and a kettle out of the box. Coach plugged the kettle in and began making drinks, coffee for him and Nick, tea for me and some bottled soda for Ellis.

"Thanks." I accepted the steaming cup gratefully. Nick took some boiling water and made some Pot Noodles, cooking some meatballs and sweetcorn in the microwave. Ellis suddenly yawned, and propped himself up slightly on one arm. When he saw the miniature feast in front of him, his eyes went big.

"Whoa, y'all! When did this all get here?" he gaped.

"We just got back now," Nick replied. "You all good, Overalls?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Nick."

"No problem," Nick shrugged.

"Shall we eat?" Coach asked, knowing none of us would refuse.

"Yes!" Ellis and I chorused.

"Yeah," Nick followed after.

"Dig in, y'all!" Coach grinned, grabbing a pot of noodles and a few meatballs. We all followed suit, Ellis talking with his mouth full and Nick moving away so as not to get sprayed with sauce. I just laughed and gave the kid a napkin, which he proceeded to throw at Nick. Nick flicked it back, but it landed in Coach's lap, and he copied. Soon, we were all laughing, Ellis giggling hysterically and Nick chuckling amiably. Coach's deep laughter was almost as loud as Ellis' laughter, I soon gave in and laughed along with them. I couldn't help it. We were all so happy, living comfortably in a safe environment, with food and water and almost everything else we needed. We were happy, for the first time so far in this apocalypse. And in these last moments, we knew we could survive. In these last moments, I was proud to be a part of this group. All of us together - we'd live through this hell.

Ellis: 100 Nick: 100 Rochelle: 100 Coach: 100