Chapter 4- I Will Not Bow; Breaking Benjamin
"Guys, I ain't sure about this." Ellis said as he looked down at a river. After three weeks of traveling, they had reached the Sabine River, the border of Louisiana and Texas. "I mean, we don't know how deep it is and you can't swim well." Alec looked genuinely offended by that but kicked a rock into the brownish water. In the three weeks of travel, Alec had been acting stranger and stranger and Ellis couldn't figure out why. Whenever he ran over the reasons for any form of weird behavior, other than him just being a Hunter and weird regardless, he just gave himself a headache. Keelan dipped one huge hand into the water, taking a handful of mud and sniffing at it curiously. The Tank also acted strange but that was just him. Keelan then looked down at Alec who had a 'don't you freakin dare' look on his face as a childish grin spread across the Tank's face. He then threw the mud at Alec who screeched and ducked behind a tree that hung over part of the river. Ellis rolled his eyes. "Focus guys. Maybe there's a bridge somewhere." he looked upstream then down stream. The river was wide, too wide to swim easily and the current was strong. Hopefully any bridges would be in tact.
The followed the flow of the river carefully, staying clear of the muddy bank since Keelan seemed determined to give Alec a mud bath. Alec kept Ellis between himself and Keelan, knowing that the Tank absolutely adored the human and wouldn't do anything to make him upset. It was still early, maybe an hour before dawn, so they had the whole day to travel downstream in search of some way of getting across. Soon enough, a bit past noon, they found a high rising bridge that stood next to another high rising one that had fallen partially into the water. Ellis read a sign at the foot of the bridge. 'Rainbow Bridge.' An iron work structure at the very top looked like a rainbow so it was fitting. Then below that it read 'Neches River.'
"What the hell? Where'd the Sabine River go?"
"Oh you crossed that already my friend. Part of it's dried up back a few miles. Didn't you notice?" said a raspy voice behind them. Ellis spun around while Alec crouched and growled. The man standing behind them was tall and lanky, a shock of dark blonde hair on his head. And he was a Smoker. It looked like he had clawed away the tumors on his face and arm, leaving a mass of scars over his right eye while the other was a milky yellow and pupiless.
"How the hell can you talk?" Ellis demanded, reaching for a pistol he had picked up a few days ago.
"Oh I've taught mah-self a few things in the past months." he coughed violently. "I'm sure your Hunter friend would be able to if he put in the effort." Alec snarled at the Smoker, making a sardonic grin spread across his face while his long tongue twirled in the air. "I'm sure you have my friend." the Smoker turned his attention back to Ellis. "My name's Philo just so ya know." Alec snickered something at him, making the Smoker glare through his one eye. "I may not look very loving but not everything is on the surface frog-legs." Alec let out a startled screech at the nickname, narrowing his red eyes.
"What?"
"Hum? Oh, Philo means 'to love' in some form of German." he glared at Alec while coughing. "Yer friend here seems to know a bit of German." Alec growled at him. "And Spanish?" another growl. "And French. You're well read my friend." Ellis turned his gaze from Philo to Alec who shrugged. Philo coughed and turned his attention to Ellis again. "So what's a human like you doing traveling with company like this?" he nodded his head toward the Tank and Hunter. Keelan had his stare centered on the Smoker's tongue, seeming unsure about whether he should jump rope with it or rip it out of the Smoker's mouth. Alec just looked like he wanted to kill him.
"Its a long painful story. Uh, is there anywhere we could stay ta talk?" Alec shot him an incredulous look, red eyes blazing furiously at the prospect at talking with a Smoker who had insulted him but he didn't make any move to protest.
"Yup. There's a restaurant on the other end of the bridge. C'mon. I'll show ya to it." Philo sauntered past the three. As he passed Alec, the Hunter snarled something at him that made him grin. "Whatever ya say frog-legs." another growl, this one more guttural.
"Alec, behave." Ellis warned. Alec glared at him briefly, though he didn't really seem to mean anything by it, and growled something to Keelan. This made the Tank pound ahead to catch up with the Smoker who was now making his way up the bridge, dodging around cars that were piled at the bottom of the steep structure easily. "Look, I don't like Smokers anymore than you do but any help is welcome at this point." Ellis said as Philo paused to make sure they were following. Ellis started walking, forcing Alec to walk beside him or get left behind. "If anything, he can give us directions ta the outpost or somethin that resembles safety." the bridge was steeper than it looked, Ellis realized as he started climbing. Alec remained grudgingly quiet until they started the descent and Philo had paused with Keelan a few feet behind them to wait.
"So frog-legs," the Smoker started, "why ya travelin with a human and a Tank? That ain't like yer kind." Alec snarled at him, keeping it low in his throat to seem more threatening. "Well what do ya want me to call ya besides frog-legs. That's what all yer kind are, a bunch of leapers." the Hunter let out a raspy whine that made Philo grin wider than necessary. "I'll call ya by yer name when I feel like it. 'Till then, its frog-legs." one of Alec's eyes twitched at this, something comical and creepy at the same time, considering that it made a couple of the scars on his face twitch.
They reached the end of the bridge in silence except for Philo's occasional coughs and hacks. They went across a wooden walkway that crossed a small ditch and climbed some stairs into the restaurant which was suspended on stilts above an inlet in the river. "So what's yer story my friend?" Philo asked once they had all sat down comfortably in a chair. Except Keelan, he was forced to stay outside because of his weight otherwise the floor would have caved in beneath him. Alec seemed to want to stay with him but he also didn't want to leave Ellis alone with a Smoker, no matter how human it acted. Talking, Alec scoffed to himself. Infected were meant to make the noises they were meant to make. Or at least, that was the attitude he had gotten when he had discovered how hard it would be to re-learn to speak with some form of coherency. He say quietly while Ellis summarized their journeys in zombie-ized hell, keeping his blazing red eyes centered on the Smoker who sat with polite silence until Ellis was finished with the story. "It seems like you've been through quite an experience." he commented.
"Yeah no shit." Alec snarled under his breath, drawing the Smoker's attention.
"You seem to have something to hide frog-legs. Care to explain to someone who can understand your angry dog and cat imitations?" Philo inquired with sarcastic innocence. Alec snarled violently at him, a wordless noise that made both at the table flinch some. "Alright alright. No need to get angry at me now, I'm just pickin."
"Keep your goddamn comments to yourself you giraffe tongued freak. And stop calling me frog-legs. My nameis Alec." he hissed, noticing Ellis's concerned and slightly annoyed stare. He didn't know why he was in such a bad mood but he couldn't seem to shake it. All the traveling must be getting to him. The Smoker's antagonism wasn't helping either.
"Now that was uncalled for. Don't you know when someone's teasin?"
"No, I apparently don't. Now if you don't mind, we have to get going to the next outpost."
"Wait wait." Philo stood up as Alec did. Ellis was starting to get fed up with only hearing one side of the conversation. He was starting to wish that he could understand what Alec was growling about but at the same time he was sort of scared to find out if the look on his face was any indication. "The port upstream is mostly cleared. The military came through last week and wiped out the docks and inner town up to just past the high school which is about a mile or so inland from the river. I could take ya there though it's a day or so's walk upstream."
Alec opened his mouth to snarl a reply but a particularly nasty and uncharacteristic glare from Ellis made him shut it with a loud click. "That'd be mighty nice of ya Philo. Thanks." Philo seemed relieved that at least one of the two seemed to like him, starting to become concerned for the human who's name he barely knew. If the Hunter was that short tempered with him, then the human would stand no chance if he couldn't read the warning signs of a temper about to snap in half.
"Awesome. We can follow the highway off the bridge through this town here. Its easier than weed whacking through scrub and marsh. The gators have been out and about more since the Infection, lookin for easy pickins." Philo seemed happy that he was being accepted which lifted Ellis's sour mood some. The traveling was getting to him as well so he understood Alec's suddenly short temper when the Hunter was normally the definition of patient. "C'mon. The sooner we get to gettin the better off we are." he paused on his way to the door. "And I warn ya, the refineries are shut down so the fumes are gonna be stronger than they should be. Most Infected have cleared out 'cause of it but I enjoy it myself. Its homely." Ellis and Alec exchanged a look. Refinery fumes homely? More like stinky. But they followed him outside, picking up Keelan on the way to the highway. Philo rambled and coughed while Ellis added his input. Alec had taken a spot on Keelan's shoulders to get away from the stench of Smoker smoke for a while.
They walked through a town that was called 'the city of Groves' though it was still a small port/refinery town. Sort of cozy sort of not. It said 'welcome' but it also said 'you'd better have a bad sense of smell.' That fact became especially true when they passed three or four refineries that were all clumped together. Philo hadn't been kidding when he said it stank. Alec eventually had to cover his nose with his shirt or risk passing out from how strong it was. "It wasn't ever this bad when they were workin." Philo explained between coughs that were made worse by the stench. "Sometimes it would get kinda bad but never like this. The chemicals have been leaking for a few weeks since they haven't been operatin. No one fart." Alec rolled his eyes at the attempt at humor, the nasty attempt, and dropped down from Keelan's shoulders.
"Your disgusting."
"You're a sissy."
"You're an ass." that ended that short bout of bickering as Philo looked away. He seemed awful sensitive to what others thought of him but didn't seem as sensitive to what others thought when he made fun of them. Normally Alec wouldn't really mind, maybe even playfully banter with him for a while, but they had been on the road too long. Too many attacks by both Infected and the military to take jokes now. They needed to rest for at least a week to get their good humor back, both Alec's and Ellis's. Keelan was naïvelly oblivious to everything, acting like a child or dog all the time. Sometimes Ellis and Alec envied him for his innocence in every situation. He was easily scared but curious, he liked to try and have fun all the time but had stopped joking around as much as he noticed his companions' tolerance toward the jokes and games deteriorate.
Eventually, they entered the town of 'Port Neches' which was built right on the Neches River, hence the name. It seemed a bit more welcoming then Groves but that might just be because the reek of refinery fumes was a great deal fainter even though the plants backed right up to the city borders. Philo lead them into the town, back toward the river. "The high school is completely cleared out. It was the military's outpost here while they stayed because its the biggest building in the town. You can stay in there and recuperate for as long as ya want to." he lead them to a massive red brick building that had a purple and white Indian head with a head dress carved on the main entrance with letters edging the circle around it reading 'Port Neches-Groves High School.' It was still in good condition though many of the windows were broken on both floors. "The auditorium, band hall and cafeteria are all still in good shape and big enough for yer Tank here." Philo motioned at Keelan who shifted on his knuckles, also a bit worn out from the three straight weeks of traveling.
"Awesome. Thanks Philo. Would ya mind showin us where they are so we're not lost and confused?" Ellis asked, grateful for the Smoker's help but still a bit hesitant to go inside without as much back up as possible in case the Infected had repopulated the building. They hadn't seen many going through the towns and the ones they had come across avoided them because, while there was a human with them, there was also a Smoker, a Hunter, and a Tank. Any smart creature, no matter their brain capacity, would know to avoid a group like that.
"Sure!" Philo said brightly, glad to keep the company he had as long as possible. The doors were still open, leading into a circular portion of hallway that had the library at the opposite side from the entrance, the main office to the right and what read; from a sign hanging above it; the attendance office to the left. Philo lead them over to the right, pointing down a hall that had a big purple 'D' at the top near the ceiling "Down there's the cafeteria." he said before leading them further down the hall. They came to two sets of big wood double doors that were across from another entrance. "In there's the auditorium." he lead them further down the hall and to the left. Ellis almost fell down the steep drop that came out of nowhere. He lead them past a gym that was absolutely trashed, past some beaten up purple painted double doors, saying those lead to the stage, and to the right. He took another left and pointed to a window at the end of the shorter hall. "By that window is the band hall. I suggest that because all the walls are made of cinder blocks and there's an emergency exit that will take you outside to behind the stadium in-case ya have to get out fast."
"Thanks again." Ellis sighed, actually a bit tired. The building looked huge from outside but seemed even bigger on the inside. He noticed that not a single noise had come from Alec during all the touring after the Hunter and Smoker's brief bickering match. Then he noticed that he wasn't even with them anymore. "Alec?" he called back down the hall they had come from. When he got no reply, Ellis started to get concerned. They backtracked, noticing that the purple doors that lead up to the stage had been wrenched open, the pad lock that held them together laying in pieces on the ground. How they hadn't noticed the sound of it before they would never know. Climbing up some stairs, the saw Alec walking through some percussion instruments that were gathering dust there. His eyebrows here knit together and he seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Alec, you alright buddy?" the Hunter didn't respond, in his own little world. Ellis shot Philo a look when the Hunter growled something to himself.
"He said that he's been here before." he translated. "But I've never seen him here before, and I think we're about the same age. How old is he?"
Ellis shrugged. "At least twenty-one. I'm not sure. I'm twenty-three and he looks about my age."
Philo shook his head. "We didn't go to school together and I grew up here. Where'd you meet up?"
"Somewhere in east Mississippi or west Alabama." the human shrugged again.
"Well his voice, rather, his infected voice, doesn't have much of a Texan accent, or much of any sort of southern twang to it. He sounds like a city boy." Philo scratched absently at the mass of scars about where his eye should be, his tongue twitching in thought. "Hold up, maybe he'll respond to another Infected since he seems to be zoned." he walked toward the Hunter slowly, letting out a series of coughs. Alec snapped his head toward him then. "You've been here?" Philo coughed.
"Yeah. A long time ago. I was like, I dunno, five or so? My parents move down here for a couple years and I came to a concert in this auditorium. I remember the band, it was great, though a bit small."
"Its grown since then. Where'd you live after that?"
"My family moved a lot, my dad was in the army and went to different forts from time to time. From here we went to Oregon, then across the country to west Alabama." Alec shook his head. "Why the hell am I telling you this though..." he snorted, though he didn't sound particularly mad or annoyed for once since Philo had met him.
"'Cause it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Philo said in the human language, a bit sardonically. Alec twitched and growled at him.
"Look you long tongued antagonist-"
"Hold up y'all. What are you sayin first off?" Ellis interrupted, stepping onto the stage. Philo translated what all they had just said despite how much Alec wanted him to keep it to himself. "You were an army brat?" he looked at Alec.
"So to say..." he grumbled, allowing Philo to translate.
"Ya look like you came from a wealthy family frog-legs." the Smoker commented. Alec turned a bit red at that and turned away, stalking to the edge of the stage and sitting down, hanging his legs off the edge. "He's awful sensitive huh?" he whispered to Ellis.
"I wouldn't really know. I never asked about his past before he was Infected 'cause he can't talk. I think," he paused to make sure Alec wasn't paying attention. He had slipped into his own little world again. "I think his home life wasn't very happy otherwise he wouldn't be reacting like this."
"You seem to know him pretty well though, despite that he can't talk."
"I've learned to read him."
"Though it seems like you're missing a few things and its starting to make him feel a bit unwanted."
"Huh?" Ellis was confused again. Philo just shrugged.
"It ain't my place to say but I think he doesn't like me much 'cause he knows that, 'cause I can talk, I can translate whatever he growls. There are some things it seems that he doesn't want revealed. Either that or he's waitin for you to figure it out for yer-self."
"That ain't fair." Ellis hissed. Philo just let out a raspy laugh, which made him cough. "Hey what time is it, about." Philo swallowed another cough, peering out over the seating below the stage to look at a clock against the far wall.
"Seven."
They had spent a long time talking at the restaurant, longer than Ellis had realized. And it had taken a while to get to and through the towns to the school. "Oh ok." he turned as Keelan let out a soft snuffling noise behind them, not able to squeeze through the double doors because they were too low for him. "What's wrong?" Keelan snuffled again the bellowed. At the same time Alec let out a screech and light flooded the auditorium from the main entrances. Dozens of troops rushed in, all carrying guns. Alec scrambled backwards, hiding behind three tympanies that were set up in a semi-circle. Philo hid behind a base drum while Keelan whimpered. Ellis was hidden behind some black curtains that hid things backstage so he didn't move. Keelan whimpered again. "Sh. It's alright big guy." Ellis whispered, listening to the tromping of the soldiers' shoes as they came up the isle, looking for Alec. Hopefully they hadn't seen Philo or Keelan but Ellis was scared for his Hunter friend.
"Where'd that Hunter go?" one soldier whispered, waving the beam of a flashlight he carried over the stage. Ellis noticed that Alec had used his dark clothes and the darkness of the auditorium to his advantage and had snaked his way behind some black curtains much like what Ellis was sheltering behind. "And I hear a Tank too. Careful." at that point, Philo was too late to stifle a racking cough, and he winced as all light beam centered on the bass drum. His entire expression screamed 'shit.'
Keelan let out a low growl then, scaring Ellis because he had never heard the Tank make a noise like that. "Keelan." Ellis warned in a low voice. The Tank let out an angry bellow, shoving his way through the double doors and up the stairs, hurling himself at the soldiers. "Keelan!" the Tank ignored him though, taking every bullet as he pounded through the seats without difficulty. He didn't like that any of his friends were being threatened. The soldiers scattered, using the seating to their advantage because it slowed the massive Infected a fraction. Ellis watched in horror then jumped as a hand laid on his shoulder. Philo looked at him, then around the auditorium.
"Find somewhere to hide that can't be easily reached by brain dead idiots. Alec's gonna signal a horde to get the Tank outta there before he gets killed." Ellis nodded, looking around the stage for somewhere he could hide. He noticed a metal ladder that lead up to a storage area above the stage where things from the drama department and choir put things that couldn't be stored anywhere else. It wouldn't be easy to reach but he took that to his advantage. Climbing up the ladder, he watched over his shoulder as Alec stood up from his crouched position and made his way over to some chimes. The Hunter took a mallet in his clawed hand and struck every chime on it as hard as he could, the loud noise echoing around the huge room. Screams could be heard from outside. The soldiers were now trapped between an angry Tank and a horde.
The unfortunate thing was that the Tank was already weakened a great deal, more bullet holes in him than there were holes in Swiss cheese. Ellis swallowed as he took in his condition, noticing that he was slowing down. "Please don't die." he whispered as the soldiers continued to unload into him. One was suddenly yanked off his feet, a slippery tongue wrapped around his neck and chest. Another suddenly had a slit throat. Out of the four or so dozen that had entered, only about twenty stood and once the horde entered, they would all be picked off. Especially quickly now that Alec and Philo were helping out. Keelan teetered some, his coordination thrown off as the pain from the bullet wounds registered in his mind. "Please." Ellis whispered from his hiding place. The horde broke through the doors at that point, tearing into the now panicking soldiers easily. It was a small horde, but a horde none the less. Most of the town's population had either been Infected and killed or had evacuated before they were Infected.
The soldiers and horde were both demolished together. Alec and Philo had been attacking mainly the soldiers but didn't want any loiterers once they were taken care of. Once the last one was killed, Ellis climbed down from his hiding place and ran over to the three Infected. Keelan was laying on his side, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He was losing too much blood from too many wounds to be patched up before he died. Alec and Philo were panting from their fight, Philo having three holes in him, Alec having five. But all were in unimportant places and would all heal within a couple days. "Goddamn it..." Ellis whispered, taking in Keelan's suddenly very sad looking form. "Goddamn it..."
Alec clenched his bloodied up hands together, looking away from the Tank as his breath faltered, slowed, then stopped. Another friend had been lost, whether through being left behind, or through being killed. When Alec looked back toward the Tank, there was a cold gleam in his eyes that honestly scared Ellis to such a degree that he took a step back. He was mad. If not at the military, then at himself for not being fast enough to call the horde and kill the soldiers. Ellis could tell he wanted revenge, but knew the Hunter knew that revenge wasn't the answer. Not in a situation like the one they were in. The only answer to the Tank's death was to continue to survive. That was all they really could do. They couldn't mourn over Keelan like they wanted to. Not now. No matter how much Ellis and Alec both wanted to break down over it, they had to keep themselves together until they got somewhere they could rest and recuperate. And hopefully, the military wouldn't be there to ruin it again.
"I'm truly sorry y'all." Philo said, his milky yellow eye centered on the bloodied floor. "I truly am."
"I know Philo." Ellis said in a thick voice. Alec closed his eyes again, letting out a sigh through his nose. "We can't stop now though. This place obviously ain't safe anymore. Do you know another place we could hunker down and regain our strength for a week or so? Preferably military free." Ellis unconsciously moved closer to Alec, seeking comfort in the Hunter's presence.
"Yeah, the next partially cleared up place is Nederland. Been that way, and military free for about two weeks. But its late now. We can rest in a classroom for the night then in the morning I'll take ya to Beaumont."
"Alright. That sounds good to me. Alec? What about you?"
Alec looked up at him, his expression saying 'what? You're actually asking my opinion?' though the cynical look was mostly from losing Keelan and traveling so much. He sighed and nodded. "Preferably well across the school giraffe-tongue." he hissed at Philo who raised his single eyebrow at the nick name. But the Smoker nodded, stifling a cough. He lead them out of the auditorium, Alec and Ellis casting one last sad look back at the form of their dead friend. Philo was true to his word when he said he would get them across the school. He even brought them up stairs for the heck of it.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, Philo ragged on Alec some. "I think the first thing I'm gonna do when we get outta here is teach you to talk frog-legs."
"And what makes you think you're coming with us after you get us to Nederland?" Alec growled from his place on a window ledge.
"Well you two won't be able to make it far without some other form of help now that Keelan's gone. As soon as you get past Beaumont, the Infection gets as bad as ever again until you get to Austin." Philo paused. "I think Houston is partially wiped of the Infection but the reek of rotting bodies will be a bit strong." seeing as the military's way of 'taking care of' the Infection was shooting all the Infected, Philo was right.
"Ya know Alec, I'd like to hear what yer actual voice would sound like." Ellis said suddenly from his seat in a particularly plush teacher's chair. Alec was glad that it was dark now otherwise the hillbilly would see his face turn an interesting shade of pink.
"Fine. I'll give it a go. But only while he's asleep. I'd like to save myself some embarrassment." Alec turned his head away to look out the window again, his eyes glowing in the lack of light. Philo let out a raspy chuckle from his place stretched out on the cold tile floor. Though Alec seemed a bit rough around the edges right now, he was sure that once they got some energy and humor back, the Hunter would make a good friend. The Smoker needed one, having been alone since the Infection started, nearly six months ago now. It seemed like much longer but in retrospect it wasn't that long a time at all. Philo closed his eyes then, not falling asleep but making it seem like he was out like a light. He would keep watch once Alec was sure that Ellis and Philo were both out and had gone to sleep himself so that the Hunter could be put at ease even though he didn't know the Smoker was still up. Teaching the stubborn Hunter to speak would be a fun challenge for the now bored with life Smoker and he looked forward to it.
Feel free to hate me for killing Keelan but he was sort of just a filler character until I introduced Philo. I didn't really care for him anyway seeing as I don't really like Tanks in general. And it may also seem like I don't like the military either but I like them a lot. Every male in my family had been in some form of military unit so, its sort of genetic. Review please! I'm loving the ones I'm getting and would like for the awesome feedback to continue.