I do really hope that you all out there are enjoying these. At least I enjoy writing them.
Beta Read by my friend Setsuna-Noroi (or Noroi here).
Disclaimer: I don't own L4D2. Only a copy. And a cricket bat.
Clouds gathered in the already darkening sky as the two men walked silently down the deserted stretch of road. It made Nick terribly uncomfortable to walk between all the abandoned cars; they made the way narrow, making escape harder, and gave the infected plenty of good places to hide and pounce at them from. Ellis glanced sadly behind them as they first left the car.
"Damn shame," he'd shaken his head, imagining the abuse the poor vehicle would probably be subject to. Nick couldn't care less. It was a car; it had gotten them from point A to a point slightly closer to B and he was grateful, but it was still just a car.
The wandering infected caused little trouble. The worst thing that had happened was when a Smoker had grabbed Nick. It had been hidden in the brush on the side of the road and had managed to pull Nick all the way to it. He struggled and tried to yell for Ellis to find him. The edges of his vision were starting to go dark when the young man came running to him, shooting the offending creature. As it died with a wheeze, Nick gasped, breathing in a lung full of the thick smoke. Ellis helped him get out of the cloud and they took a few moments to savor the cleaner air.
"Search lights," Nick noted as he surveyed the distant skies, "Maybe another evac center."
"Hey, that's Whispering Oaks!" Ellis said, excitedly. Nick vaguely remembered seeing a billboard or two with the name but otherwise the name meant nothing. Apparently it meant a lot to Ellis, who began to ramble and Nick ignored it.
A nearby motel turned out to be a treasure trove. They searched all the open rooms and left a few pills, bombs, and weapons richer. Sliding down a hill brought them to a bog and Nick tensed. As much as possible, he tried to stay out of the water, walking gingerly in the mud.
"What's wrong with you?" Ellis asked at seeing his partner's odd behavior.
"I hate getting dirty," Nick answered through a tight lipped grimace.
"Shit, Nick. Mud ain't nothin' to be scared of."
"It's a bitch getting it out of this," he pointed to his suit, "And there aren't many laundromats open during the apocalypse."
Up a hill and through a parking lot lay another safe house. They narrowly avoided setting off a car alarm as they rushed toward it. In the safe house, they rested a bit but were unwilling to stay long. It wasn't yet dark and they still had hopes of finding someone or something to help them further on. After grabbing more ammo, they set off for the carnival.
Nick stared in annoyed disbelief. The safe house was right in front of them and in front of that sat a Witch. The two of them stood dumbfounded, cursing their luck.
"Imma go get it," Ellis said as he cocked his shotgun.
"What?" Nick turned toward the boy, hoping he's misheard him. Ellis shot him a thumb up before he started jogging toward the obstacle, "Ellis. Ellis, no. No. NO."
None of Nick's frantic whispers stopped Ellis. He turned and gave another thumb up. The Witch was starting to get agitated by his proximity. Ellis stopped, lining up his shot before practically jumping the remaining distance between him and the infected. As he heard the shot, Nick realized he had shut his eyes and he was holding his breath. Slowly, he opened them, expecting to hear the screaming any second and see the poor idiot being ripped to shreds. Much to his surprise, all he saw was the Witch's body fall over limply. They both stared at the corpse for a while before running the rest of the way to Tunnel of Love safe room. Once inside, the two burst into laughter.
"Goddamn, kid," Nick said, "You're a moron."
"Holy shit."
"Daamn. You could have gotten yourself killed."
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit."
They couldn't seem to stop laughing. What had just happened had been such a long shot; a one in a million shot. And the kid had done it. They were both alive and maybe that was the joke. Either way, it was a few minutes before they could talk again. Ellis began to describe his shot and though Nick had been there, he humored him and listened. None of his stupid plan should have worked and Nick was feeling intensely glad that Ellis, as retarded as he was, was still alive.
After their break, they made their way into the faintly lit tunnel. They sloshed through the cloudy water. It was stiflingly hot and humid in the enclosed ride. The pink and purple lights flickered, more eerie than romantic now.
"I ain't been in the Tunnel of Love much. I've been a few times, and they was good times," Ellis grinned, "My buddy Keith drowned in the Tunnel of Love. He was with his lady friend at the time an' he fell out and was yellin' at her to help 'im out but she didn' wanna get wet-"
"Ellis, can it," Nick snapped.
"Okay... You ever get lucky in the Tunnel of Love?" Ellis asked slyly.
"No. That's how I ended up with my now ex-wife."
"Ha, sorry, man. That sucks," Ellis laughed, "One time I was with this girl and-"
The story was cut short by screech and a Hunter tackling Ellis. Nick quickly shoved the creature off of him; a few shots rendered it dead.
"You think you can possibly keep your mind on what we're doing right now?" Nick chuckled. Ellis turned a little red, embarrassed by his failure to pay attention.
"Sure thing," Ellis grunted as Nick pulled him to his feet. The kid slumped a moment, rubbing his chest. His bruises were still fresh and sensitive. Nick let him have his breather.
He was really expecting a lot out the hick. The Tank attack had barely been about 24 hours ago and it had caused quite a bit of physical, and emotional, damage. Nick couldn't help but admire his strength and, somewhat dimwitted, optimism. Just a little bit.
"I don't like the sound of that," Nick announced. After going through maintenance areas, they had come to a part of the tunnel that didn't feel quite as stagnant. If he stood still, he could swear he felt a breeze and that could only mean the way out was close. Peeking around the corner, he saw the only thing between the two of them and fresh air: a horde.
Nick felt the boy's breath on the back of his neck as he looked over his shoulder. They both knew that the second they started shooting, the wandering infected would swarm them. With a sigh, Nick nodded to Ellis who nodded back. Two infected fell and the rest rushed toward them with a chorus of shrieks. Blood and bullets filled the air as the infected didn't seem to stop coming. Nick felt Ellis press against him as they were both pressed against wall. But eventually the raging horde was reduced to a pile of bodies and Nick tried to shake the gore from his white jacket. They picked their way through the corpses and Nick savored the feeling of the cooler air. Nick raised an eyebrow as Ellis put his hand on his shoulder and his head and chest on his back.
"Well, well, Ellis. I didn't know you were interested," Nick smirked. There was no immediate answer.
"Nick," Ellis said quietly, "Can we rest for a bit?"
The older man turned toward his partner. Ellis had one of his arms wrapped around his middle, breathing gingerly. He was in a great deal of pain.
"Yeah," Nick helped Ellis over to the wall to sit and squatted next to him.
They needed to find help and fast. For all of his enthusiasm and energy, Ellis wasn't superhuman. Ellis fumbled in his pocket for a bottle and took a few pills. A sound began to build as they sat and Nick went to peer out the open bay door.
"Helicopter," Nick breathed. He pulled Ellis up to his feet, "There's a helicopter. We need to signal it. We've just got a little further to go."
Ellis smiled and got his weapons ready.
"So," Nick began, looking intently at the Midnight Rider's poster before him, "This band; they've got some kind of amazing show, right?"
"Midnight Riders? Hell yeah, man! You can see their shows from space. They got, like, the biggest pyrotechnic displays in the world."
"It seems to me that they left in a pretty big hurry. If we're lucky, maybe they left their equipment lying around. And if their show is even half as big as you say, it should be enough to signal the pilot."
Ellis' jaw went slack.
"You mean we're gonna start a Midnight Rider's concert? Shit, today has to be the best day of my life. I drove Jimmy Gibb's stock car, got to run the Screaming Oak, n' now I get to go to a Midnight Rider's concert," Ellis grinned from ear to ear.
"Yeah. It'd be perfect if there weren't any zombies trying to kill you."
"They ain't that bad," Ellis shrugged, sitting by the wall.
"'Ain't that bad?'" Nick looked incredulously at the kid, "They nearly killed your ass and 'they ain't that bad?'"
"Ya gotta learn to enjoy what life throws atcha. There's always a silver lining. That's what my ma use to say."
"I'm pretty sure she didn't have this in mind when she said it."
"You gotta loosen up, Nick."
"You're insane," Nick shook his head. There had to be something seriously wrong with him to be able to talk about all the FUN he was having during the apocalypse. It didn't really matter. Whatever kept him going didn't matter, just as long as it worked.
"Smoker!" Nick cried as he felt the slippery tongue wrap around his chest. Ellis spun on his heels, shooting the appendage as it drug Nick along the bleachers. The young man yanked his friend up and both scrambled into the waiting helicopter while they still had a slight lead on the zombies. The arena and music began to fade into the distance.
Ellis had a satisfied smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall of the helicopter. Nick had to admit he felt pretty good too. They'd finally made it. The chopper would take them to safety; they were in the clear. With a sigh, he rested his head on the wall too. They'd been flying a while when the helicopter dipped. A little turbulence, nothing to worry about, Nick assured himself. Then it happened again and it didn't feel right. Nick stood to go see the pilot and ask what was going on.
"Hey, there a problem?" No answer, "Hey."
Nick jostled the pilot's shoulder and he jerked his head toward him. The pilot growled low, his pale yellow eyes gleaming. For a few seconds, time seemed to stand still as they stared at each other. Just as the newly infected man prepared attack, Nick drew his weapon. Brain and bone splattered on the glass as the former pilot's body slumped to the ground. This got Ellis' attention and he scrambled to the cockpit.
"What the hell did you do?" He asked, alarmed. Nick didn't answer, grabbing for the now vacant controls.
The helicopter was starting to dive and he was trying his best to pull it out. He seemed to level it out a bit, but then they began to lose altitude. Ellis muttered a prayer and Nick managed to say one word before they hit the ground.
"Fuck."