Thank you for all of the kind comments! Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint you! ^^
Everything was a temporary blur, his vision was splattered with crimson, his ears rang with the cries of Rochelle and Coach, he couldn't make out what they were saying for a few seconds. It all happened too fast. Their cries were soon over shadowed by the animalistic screech of Ellis. And then it hit him; the pain. Feeling his skin burn, Nick gasped loudly for air, his chest heavy, his clothes sticky and wet as they were painted red. Wanting to spit out a command of stop ( a command that Ellis would more than likely ignore) Nick choked, his arms pinned at the elbow to the floor by the younger boys knee's. Fuck. Ellis was actually hurting him, he was actually trying to kill him. And all Nick could do is look up, his green eyes focused upon Ellis's contorted expression of blind rage and primative blood lust.
"E-Ellis" He choked. But the boy didn't answer to his name, his sickly yellow eyes void of any human recognition. Any sign of the old Ellis.
"Ellis! Sweetie, no!" Rochelle called before gently attempting to pull the hunter from Nick, only to be swatted away with a bloody hand.
Ellis snarled at the woman, temporarily halting his assault upon the conman, eyeing Rochelle up for a moment as if to tell her "you're next."
Nick groaned in pain beneath the boy, bringing the hunters attention back to him. But before Ellis could do more damage, a loud cry temporarily filled the air before being drowned out by the booming crash of a shot gun. The hunter was thrown aside and from Nick, a loud crack smashed through the air as his muscled frame slammed in to the safe house wall. Coach was rooted to the spot, his eyes wide and breathing shaky. A shotgun clenched within his trembling hands.
"Sh-shit." He gasped, a shaky Rochelle rushed to the conmans side with a med kit. Coach's eyes never left Ellis's limp frame.
"You took your fucking time." Nick coughed, holding in a gasp of pain as Rochelle began to asses his wounds.
"H-he was trying to kill you.." she whispered in disbelief.
Ellis... that sweet and innocent boy.. her baby brother. Had just leapt on top of Nick and almost killed him. That wasn't Ellis. That wasn't her friend, the boy who told stories about Keith, made child-like comments about everything... No. Her Ellis wouldn't do that. He'd never intentionally hurt one of them. Feeling the tears well within her eyes once more, she wiped at them with the back of her hand. Come on girl, focus. You have to fix up Nick.
"Well, aren't you quick on the mark." Nick retorted, though unlike Rochelle, he was hiding his own disbelief.
He could understand if Ellis had some resentment for him for all of the hick jokes he pelted at the boy. But the fact the boy had just tried to kill him, was enough to make the conmans blood run cold.
"He didn't hit anything major. The cuts are deep, but I'm sure I can patch you up." Rochelle whispered, almost too quietly for Nick to hear her.
Though he didn't need to as a loud whine of pain passed through his lips. Damn it, he hated antiseptic spray.
"I can't believe it," Coach began, running a hand over his damp head. His tired brown eyes filled with guilt as he set down the shot gun.
"You did what you had to do.. m-maybe it's better this way." Rochelle's words were soft as she rolled bandages over Nicks stomach, her eyes fixated upon her working hands.
It didn't take a genius to see that she was trying to convince herslf and Coach that it was okay. It was okay to shoot Ellis. He wasn't Ellis any more. But Nick, he didn't seem to be able to buy in to that lie. No matter how much he tried to severe any emotion when it came to Ellis, it seemed the sharp blade that made up his willpower, wasn't so damned sharp after all. It was blunt against the strings of his heart, failing to cut away the attachment. Even after this. Turning his head away from Coach and Rochelle as a small conversation was ignited, his half closed eyes scanned over Ellis's silent form. It was almost like a sick party piece, the way the hunters body was hunched and pressed against the cold concrete. His right shoulder caked in blood and ribbons of flesh that made up the shot gun wound. The mechanics blood splattered upon the wall like a bad paint job. Slowly easing himself in to a sitting position, Nick edged closer to Ellis's body. Rochelle and Coach leaving him alone to prepare something to eat for the group.
"Didn't think you'd die like that kid," Nick commented to himself as he stared down at Ellis's body.
At first, the conman thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Ellis's fingers had twitched, then his chest heaved in to life. Watching on, Nick's legs momentarily refused to move as Ellis began to stirr once more. Bringing up his head, Ellis's yellow eyes were once more upon Nick. Though this time, they seemed to have a more unfocused glare, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep.
"Holy fuck! He's still alive!" Almost tripping over thin air, Nick wrenched himself away from the boy.
Rochelle grabbed on to Coach's arm, almost in hope as the three watched on. Ellis let out a faint whine of pain, his eyes casting down on to his shoulder as he examined the wound. Shooting the three survivors a cold glare, the hunter parted his lips to let out a growl. It seemed that pain wasn't so much of an issue to the infected. Yes, they felt it, but it didn't stop them from functioning. Ellis tore at his chains once more, his eyes flickering over the shotgun and then to Coach. "He knows I did it." The older man croaked faintly, his eyes meeting the enraged glare of Ellis. Nick silently watched on as Ellis began the repetitive routine of howling and snarling at them. Tugging at his chains and even trying to gnaw at them now. It seemed all Coach's shot had done was piss him off even more.
"I need to tend to his wound."
It took a few seconds for Nick to register Rochelles words.
"Are you insane? Wait, no, don't answer. I already got my answer the moment you said that you're going to try and patch up the guy who almost killed me." He snapped.
"Nick is right. If you try to patch Ellis up, he's gonna shred you like paper." Coach frowned.
As much as he had learned to take Ellis under his wing and treat him like a son; he couldn't risk letting Rochelle approach the boy. He couldn't lose his baby girl too.
Rochelle pulled back from the men, her delicate arms wrapping around her own waist in attempts to comfort herself.
"He's hurt. He needs us!" Her voice quivered with sorrow and denial, her caramel eyes sparkling with tears once more. It seemed her previous words about Ellis being better off dead were just a crap attempt at lying to herself. Nick had already mentally called her out on that.
Coach didn't have to speak, the moment he embraced Rochelle within his thick arms; she burst in to tears. Her weak sobs and tears sinking in to the cotton fabric of his shirt as he softly hushed her.
Nick found himself watching Ellis, who was still trying to break free. The sound of Rochelle's cries was white noise to the conman, his attention completely upon the struggling boy. Though his movements seemed slurred and messy. His growls dying down as he paced on the spot, unable to place much weight upon his right arm. It was almost like Ellis was some kind of robot, the way he ignored the pain, ignored the blood loss and continued to try and accomplish his goal of breaking free and killing the survivors. His emotionless eyes haunted Nick as the conman approached once more, this time he made sure to stay out of Ellis's reach, his wounds throbbing painfully as a sharp reminder of what Ellis could do if given the chance. Sticking his hands in to his pockets, Nick felt something cool and plastic against his left hand. Grasping on to the object, he pulled out a bottle of pain killers. Tempted to take some, his eyes flickered back to Ellis. Who was intently watching him. And then the idea hit him. A faint smirk of "Nick, you're a genius" passed his lips.
"You guys ever seen that cable channel; animal planet?"
Nick could feel Coach eying him for a moment, possibly asking himself if Nick was going crazy.
"Yeah, why?" Rochelle wiped at her reddened face.
Snorting faintly, Nick shot them both a slightly triumphant look. "I've got an idea."