"-And so when the alligator's mouth snapped shut on his arm, sure, I started laughin'- Who wouldn't? It looked like it hurt him, but that's what he gets for putting the damn thing in there in the first place!" Ellis laughed at his own story. "Anyway, I was laughin' too damn much to notice him spinnin' round and round and round... and when I finally pulled him out, he looked so exhausted and bloody an' shit that he couldn't even describe how much he hated me fer not savin' him in time an'-"
"Oh my god, shut up!" Nick finally said, getting annoyed at his tale about 'Keith' that didn't seem to go anywhere. He exhaled loudly, and trudged up the slope that ended the swamp. "Well, we're here." He said, eyes spotting the red metal door to their safe house.
"Finally. Thought the kid would never get quiet." Francis murmured to the other three.
Ellis thumped on the door repeatedly before Coach opened it with an annoyed look on his face. "Don't knock like that again. I already have a head ache from..." He trailed off, his vision catching the new survivors. He opened the door wider, sighing all the while and slamming it shut when everyone was in.
"May I ask just what the hell did I miss?" Coach asked, putting a hand to his forehead. "I ask you to bring Ellis back inside, and you bring four new people with you half an hour later? When did this happen?"
"I thought you'd be happy to see more people still alive." Nick grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning onto a wall full of graffiti.
"Just what were you doing out there, Ellis?" He turned to face the mechanic.
"I was lookin' for some pills I saw on the way here, and all of a sudden I hear this little missy's voice," He gestured to Zoey. "an' me and Nick went out searching for them."
"Mm." Coach hummed. He walked over to a corner of the room and grunted as he sat down. He looked up at the newbies. "You got names?"
"Oh, um..." Francis stammered. "Me and Louis were already introduced on the radio," Coach nodded in agreement. "but this is Zoey and Bill."
"How do you fight?" Nick asked.
"Fight?" Zoey raised an eyebrow.
"Like...How well are you with your weapons and shit."
"We're still alive, aren't we?" Bill said rather harshly. It's not like he wanted to meet new people in the first place. He can take care of himself and his group, known as his only family. Not some complete strangers that decided to show up when Zoey found the gun and bodies.
"No-one asked for your smart-ass answer." Nick glared, pushing himself away from the wall.
"No-one asked for your dumb-ass question!" He threw back.
"Bill..." Zoey mumbled through her teeth.
"You guys don't even seem to be fine with us, now that we're here in the first place, so why not leave now?" He continued.
"But..." Ellis finally spoke again, having faded into background with Rochelle and Louis who both haven't spoke once since they were introduced to each other.
"Ellis." Nick snapped, anger that was building up showing and being thrown at him.
"We barely met each other. We needa.. We needa get to know them better." The mechanic managed to finish, scratching at his bandaged arm.
"Oh really?" Francis broke in. "'Cause it seems that all we've done so far in the past couple of minutes was argue, and I didn't even want to know half of your names! I didn't want to get in this mess in the first place. Girl-who-doesn't-talk, at all, Hillbilly who talks WAY too much, Snappy ass wipe and some fat grouch. AWESOME TEAM." He narrowed his eyes, fists clenching together the louder he got, closer to Nick. Nick glared at him, backing up, but still attempting to hold his ground.
"Who are you to talk? All you have is an office man, some old guy, and a girl who doesn't even look like she appreciates being around you three. Not to mention you being the dumb-greasy-vest-wearing-monkey who thinks he knows everything!" He shouted back, insults clearly trying to defend himself.
"It is best to leave. All you will do is insult my weight, say things about Rochelle for being to god-damned stunned to say anything, make fun Ellis who is a great mechanic and can actually help you idiots with cars and keep silent rooms filled with words, and snap at Nick... who can actually aim and put way more energy into fights." Coach added, calmly yet angrily.
"Gee, thanks." Nick growled sarcastically.
The other four went quiet, proving to be beaten by words.
"And you know what," Rochelle finally spoke, voice faintly cracking mid-sentence for not talking for so long, "we are and awesome team. So you all can kiss our asses. Especially you, Francis."
Nick was first to lead the group out, Rochelle following with Coach behind her, and Ellis still standing there. He stared at the group who all stared back, and took a glance at his leaving team. He looked back at the other four, who's eyes were still on him, with Francis' small snarl, and the other three's pouts in their eyes.
"...I'm sorry." He whispered, but loud enough to hear, before taking off.
"He was the only one." Zoey broke the silence in the safe house. The three men looked at her. "He was the only one to say sorry. The only one to try to give us a chance...To defend us. See how we lost that sweet guy? The others, they can be rude, but... Ellis, He'd probably be the only one to come back and help if we were all... stranded or something." She tried to give an example to explain the kindness of Ellis.
"You barely met the guy and you already want to look into him?" Louis asked.
"Well... He was nice, wasn't he?"
Louis looked away, nodding a little while the other two kept quiet.
"...How far away would he be?" She asked, stepping out of the open door frame to look for the team.
"Zoey, please don't."
"Ellis!" She called loudly. "Ellis, are you still near-?" Francis clamped a hand over her mouth, muffles continuing shortly.
"Are you crazy? Did you not just see the argument we had with his group not too long ago? Do you really want to call them back here?"
"Ellis is the good boy. He didn't do anything to you. Right?" She asked, getting closer to him like he'd done to Nick; Francis backing up.
"...No..."
"Exactly." She stepped back outside, running off.
"Those mother fuckers, I'd laugh if they came back crawling on their hands and knees for us." Nick ranted on as the four walked, paths clear of any infected at the moment. "Begging for forgiveness and trust. Trust my ass. They even kicked us out of our own safe house! Yknow, that Francis guy is the one I really would love to shoot if I could, and-"
"Okay, Nick." Ellis spoke up. He was not in the mood to listen to Nick talk shit about the people he'd just met. All he wanted was to make more friends. But no, They had to fight!
Nick clamped his mouth shut, before opening it not even a heartbeat later. "Oh, you mean the guy who always wants to talk finally decides he doesn't want to hear someone else talk? Is that it?"
"Not when it's coming from your mouth." The response was thought of and processed so quickly, Ellis didn't even realize he'd made the remark until Nick was staring at him in disbelief. "I dun' want you talking about them like that when you didn't even bother to give them a chance."
"Why should I? I barely even wanted to give all of you people a chance." He scoffed.
"You're still with us, ain't chu? You had plenty, and I mean plenty of chances to walk out and do it on your own. But did you? Hell no. You need us to survive, but I don't even know if we need you right now. All you're doing is making cheap insults to people you don't even know."
"...I'll stop insulting them then, Ellis." Nick paused.
"I wasn't talking about them." He asked, already fighting back the urge to tear up.
Nick stopped walking and looked at Ellis, seeing how he was struggling to be the big man and not cry, and his eyes softened in pity and realization. "...I know you."
"Do you?" Ellis crossed his arms, swallowing painfully. "What's my last name?"
"..." He fell silent with the others.
"What's Coach's real name? Or what job did Rochelle used to have? We told each other all this, Nick. You jus' don't pay attention. And then you insult us? Calling me a dumb hick every now and then and making fun of Coach for his weight isn't how you survive with people."
Coach nodded wordlessly, looking over to Nick. "He's right, boy. Survivin' is sticking together. Looking out for each other. Not leavin' one another behind."
"Do you guys even know me?" Nick decided to ask, more of an actual question than a 'fuck off' answer to everything.
"Nicholas? I'll bet we know enough. Nick Henry, thirty-five years of age, a daughter with an ex-wife. You used to gamble to get your money to pay before all this shit happened. You do tell us stuff." Ellis answered, recalling the night where they shared how they spent their past lives with each other before the apocalypse happened.
The group fell silent.
"Don't leave us behind." Ellis whispered quietly, voice cracking.
Funny how I say that. I should've stayed with the other group.
"Ellis? Ellis...?" Zoey called, hands cupped around her mouth. "Where is he?" She asked herself, lowering her arms as her teammates trailed behind. She turned around. "Hurry up!"
"Who knows how far he's gotten? We barely got out of the swamp and we haven't found him or the others!" Louis called behind.
"Ellis!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, voice echoing.
"Shut up! Do you want to find Ellis or attract a hungry hunter?!" Francis called, walking up to her angrily.
She glared. "I don't know, maybe. I can ask him to eat you and spare the rest of our lives." Francis gave an annoyed look.
"Hardy-har-har. Keep looking."
Bill walked up, rubbing his hands together. "I don't know about you, but that echo should have been heard by now. His group didn't leave too long before we did."
"Ellis!"
"Did you hear something?" Ellis stopped in place. He looked over to the other three.
"Like...?" Rochelle asked.
"Someone calling mah name."
"That 'someone'," Nick walked up to him. "would probably be Zoey from the other group. Figures."
"'Figures' how?" He raised an eyebrow.
"That it'd be her to be looking for you, not us, you."
"Ellis," Rochelle began. "What'd you do when you stayed behind for a second when we were leaving?"
"Oh.. Just.. get our things, righ'..?" He scratched the back of his head.
"What things?"
"Our..." He thought of an excuse. Anything, please, anything but having to admit, in front of Nick, that I feel bad for them.
"What'd you really do, Ellis?"
"I..."
"Ellis!"
He turned to face the woman running up to him. "I found you!" She began yelling excitedly into his chest after pulling him into a tight hug; Ellis' arms out wide in confusion. He looked at the other three who gave astonished expressions.
Zoey's smile widened as she got more excited, before halting her thoughts- throwing her eyes open and pushing herself off of him in embarrassment. "I uh.." She coughed. "Heh, found you..."
"What.. What are you doing here?" Ellis asked, looking at Zoey up and down, seeing how messy she was.
"I.. well..." Damn, how do I word this? She pulled Ellis over to the side with her group- a good distance away from his teammates' hearing. "Okay, well I don't know if someone in your group told you already, but- wait, you heard that echo, right?" Ellis nodded. "Well, has anyone assumed that we were looking for just you?" A slower nod. "Then... I guess it's only reasonable to say that it's true."
Ellis looked up from his gaze to the ground he'd he started mid-conversation, face in disbelief. "Why only me?"
"Because you're the only good one."
"Good one?"
"The only one to say sorry to us, to try to give us a chance and defend us." Louis finally spoke.
Ellis opened his mouth to speak, not even getting a syllable out before Bill shushed him. He stood still as a statue as the ground rumbled underneath him, the others oblivious to it. "We gotta move." He began to drag Zoey and Ellis by the arms back to his group, Louis and Francis following behind.
"What..Why? What's happening?" Rochelle asked, eyes darting around the other survivors for answers.
"We gotta move!" Bill shouted over the slowly growing sound of a large, very large, horde. "Get your damn weapons ready!"
Coach immediately threw his gun over his shoulder and took aim, Nick and Rochelle mimicking his actions in one swift motion.
"MOVE!" Bill screamed as a huge arm swung through a brick wall as easily as breaking a delicate stick, a massive boulder of a body smashing through the rest. The giant creature bellowed, swinging it's arms forward to began running for the survivors.
Have to live, have to kill, have to run,
Have to survive.
"Oh, shit! What is that?" Nick shouted, getting up from a kneeling position to start backing up.
"Forget what it is, look at what it's doing!" Ellis yelped, dodging a chunk of cement by a hair.
The monster came barreling towards a car to throw at them, and their eyes went wide.
We don't even know what this world is capable of anymore.
Bill took aim and shot at it with his rifle before yelling for everyone to get away from the air-born vehicle.
"Fuck, Shoot it!" Francis yelled, emptying a full clip into the giant; the tank-built infected showing no reaction. It roared angrily, and started to charge for the eight. Everyone but the stunned card shark split up, and gave the tank an easy target. It screamed loudly the closer it got, and swung its arm, sending Nick flying fast and hard.
"OW!" He shrieked, hitting his neck and head against a car door, and knocking himself out.
"Nick!" Bill screamed, ducking under a tree branch as he ran towards the suited man. More kids to take care of.