Ellis slept heavily that night. It was the first time he actually got to sleep voluntarily in quite a while. With his companions it was always go, go, go, and he never got a single chance to just sit and relax for a bit, let alone sleep. If he stopped, they would go on without a thought. These thoughts filled his dreams. His dreams were horrible, images of them leaving him behind to die on the bridge, the look on Rochelle's face. Then Coach's mangled body, a hunter leaping off as they attacked it. If only one of them had bullets left back then...

As he dreamt and the memories flooded back, He made a rather startling revelation. The hunter he remembered killing coach... It couldn't be Rem, could it? His eyes popped open. It was pitch black, and Ellis almost came to the conclusion that it was still night. Then he recalled the odd design of no windows in the entire place. It seemed a strange flaw for a cabin like this. Why would someone build a vacation home with no windows?

As he collected himself, the dreams quickly left his mind, as they do when you don't try and instantly remember them, and as they do even when you wish you could remember them right then. He sat up and tried to move his legs, feeling a weight on them.

The weight stirred as he tried to pull his legs away, and Ellis noticed the hunter, curled up like a cat and sleeping on his legs. No wonder he couldn't feel them. He grinned. Perhaps he was over trying to eat Ellis. He reached out a hand to shake the man awake, then stopped, settling for a small tap and a soft voice.

"Hey... Is it mornin' yet? I can't tell." He was just asking for himself, hoping the noise would wake Rem up. The hunter stirred and lifted his head. Mannerisms like these, those of small pets, didn't help Ellis's view of them still being human. But he supposed it couldn't be helped. He tapped his shoulder again and spoke a little louder. "Wake up you silly sleep head, wake up."

The hunter growled, no- more like grumbled. Grumbling his annoyance at being woken up from such a comforting nap. He hopped off the bed, landing much like a cat. Then it seemed Rem realized what he was doing and stood upright. There, that was better. He really looked human now. Well, like an insane serial killer human with pale skin.

He was covered in blood, crusty dried blood. It was everwhere. It kind of scared Ellis. What had he been doing to get all that blood all over him? No, he's done with that, he's moved on from mindless killing. Still, he couldn't deny the blood on the covers. To get from his shirt to the covers, it had to be still wet. That wasn't a good thing.

He frowned. "Rem, you need to take a bath and get some new clothes. And I need to do the same." Indeed, they both needed clean clothes and a shower. Ellis was tired of going shirtless, tired of his ripped jeans, and tired of all this dirt encrusted on his skin. If only this place had running water.

Rem didn't seem to like the idea of bathing. Or changing his clothes. Ellis couldn't tell wich one he was reacting to. Maybe both. "Oh come on, it ain't that bad. Just a little water. Ain't gonna hurt you or nothin'." Rem stretched, a very human thing to do and left the room. Ellis tossed the covers and followed him to the living room.

He was curious as to what time of the day it was. The only light in this place was the one in the living room that they left on. It was still strange that this place had no windows, and Ellis couldn't shake the funny feeling it gave him. Maybe it had a different purpose?

He shook his head, rolling his shoulders as if trying to get the heavy burden of suspicion off of them. Ellis moved to the door and twisted the handle, opening it a crack only to be blinded by the sun. It was low still, but it was very bright because of his unadjusted eyes. He noticed an absence of zombies. For some reason, whenever there weren't any zombies it only made him feel more uneasy. Of course, there was one standing in the same room as him. He shouldn't feel that way anymore. He closed and locked the door, turning around and smiling.

"What say we go an' find the nearest town and get us some new clothes." He suggested, wandering to the table where he left his one and only gun. He wouldn't loose it like he had last time. Rem seemed to roll his eyes. Ellis couldn't tell, his hood was too far down. But he let out a sound that would most likely accompany an eye roll.

"Heh, whatever you say. I don't care what you do, but I'm going to get me another shirt." He said, throwing open the door and walking out quickly. He left the door open, expecting Rem to follow behind. Like a loyal puppy, he did.

Rem almost slapped himself for being fooled, but didn't. As he left the building he closed the door, making sure it wasn't locked so they could get back in once they came back.

This time, Ellis lead the way. Neither of them really knew where they were going, but Rem was keeping track of their travels, in order to find their way back to the cabin. He had been expecting Ellis to stay there for a while. He wasn't sure how long. Until the military came? Until the area was safe? If they did wipe out all the infected, and he was the only one left... what would they do to him?

He shrugged. His brain wasn't in any condition to think too far ahead about his consequences. All he knew was that the cabin was safe, and if Ellis was in it, he was safe too. It seemed a perfectly reasonable solution to having to protect Ellis from chargers and smokers all the time.

Of course, he couldn't control Ellis. That's why they were out here, headed for the sound of a dying city. Or most likely an already dead city. That was more likely than a still alive one. Of course there might be other survivors, or maybe the only ones left had been wiped out by the infected.

No use thinking about it, though. Ellis pushed his way out of a forest and came across a highway. There were cars headed out of the city, all piled up and crashed. The faint smell of a fire lingered, but there was no fire. Ellis hopped over the guard rail and started walking among the pile of cars, Rem following close behind.

They entered the city, not really sure which city it was. There wasn't a sign anyway to tell them- maybe they already passed it. The name didn't really matter though. Ellis quickly realized that he had no clue where they were supposed to go if they wanted to find new clothes.

He sighed. "Can you see anything, a clothes shop or a mall or something?" He asked Rem. The hunter shrugged and let out a quiet screech as he hopped onto the roof of a building. Strange, with Rem gone, Ellis suddenly got a chill. He brought his weapon up and kept aim for anything that moved. The city was eerily void of zombies, yet he was sure there weren't any humans here at all.

There wasn't a single sign of life, save for the life before the infection hit. Cars suddenly stopped in intersections, people dropped whatever it was they were doing to escape... It looked like time had stopped in this city. literally. Everything and everyone left disintegrated into thin air, and progress slowed to a halt... It was a creepy sensation, and Ellis hated being without any help. What if he came across a witch, or a smoker? The damned witches had taken to wandering around during the day, not a very nice thing to bump into.

A light streak passed just in his peripheral vision. He spun and aimed his gun, but whatever it was had disappeared as quickly as he saw it. He tensed. "Rem? Is that you?" He shouted out towards where the figure disappeared.

He wasn't even sure it was a zombie. It was a bright streak in front of the dull sky. Zombies were dull, and they couldn't just pop out of nowhere. He steadied his aim and shouted out again. "REM!"

Nothing happened. He wasn't even sure he was looking in the right direction. He had only caught a slight glimpse in his side vision... A low grumble came from a bit to his right, and Ellis's aim was suddenly locked on a shuffling zombie. Shit, his screaming attracted zombies. Maybe there were some infected here after all,

He took aim, and his finger latched around the trigger. The sudden loudness of bullets ripped through the empty city, and the infected in front of him collapsed to the ground, letting out a pained gurgle.

Great, that's over with. He hoped his shots hadn't attracted a horde or anything. "fu... ungh... what the- shiiit" The voice came from the figure on the ground. It had rolled over and was staring in awestruck terror at the bullet wounds in his stomache. "What the... FUCK MAN! WHY'D YOU SHOOT ME!" He started screaming in pain.

"Holly... shit... You're not infected, are you!" Ellis's eyes went wide in terror. The man was already injured, his leg looked a little broken. On top of that, he had shot the man. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit, I am SOO sorry! I didn't... you looked like a... an infected... I didn't mean... are you... gonna be alright?"

Ellis fawned over the man, bending over to look at him. "Fuck no I'm not gonna be alright... I'm dying asshole!"

Ellis noticed the pained look. He had no clue who this guy was, or what he had gone through to be alive to meet with this terrible fate, yet he felt bad for him. Of course he should- he had shot the guy, sent several bullets flying through his flesh.

That was what he was doing to every single infected he came across. He suddenly felt terrible about shooting not only the man, but also every singel infected person he came across. Dammit, he had promised not to let himself get sad about this whole thing. If he got sad, it was all over. He wasn't going to give up.

But what was there to be happy about all this? Where in this situation was happiness? Well, he had Rem. Rem made him happy. Rem also suggested a cure for the infection might be possible. That made him feel bad about taking away all those infecteds' chances of living life again.

No, they had been attacking him first. What was he supposed to do? He jumped when something suddenly touched his shoulder.

He spun around and saw it was Rem. That hoodie was unmistakeable. It was different than all the other ones, a surefire way to distinguish him from all the other zombies. Rem looked down at the man still writhing on the ground. He probably wouldn't live. Maybe death was better than this fate... Was Ellis in the right to decide that? He didn't even know the guy.

Rem grumbled. He could tell this man wasn't infected. If he was, the smell of his blood wouldn't be affecting him this badly. He was using all it took to stop himself from ripping into easy food. Sure it wasn't Ellis, but he thought Ellis might frown upon it if he started eating a man right in front of him.

Ellis turned away. "Listen... I'm so sorry. If I hadn't... If I had stopped to ask before shooting you might have lived on still..." He lifted his gun, and the man started screaming in terror. He suddenly found strength and got to his knees, starting to crawl away.

Was shooting him in the back of the head the right thing to do? He was in pain, that much was certain. What did he have to live for, anyway? Rem tapped the gun, and Ellis looked up with wet eyes. He lowered it as Rem told him to.

The hunter was right, even without having said a thing. Who was he to decide man's fate? He was probably going to die anyway, but there was still a chance that he lived. Ellis turned. "I'm sorry, again... for shooting you." He couldn't bare to look at the blood anymore.

Rem tugged on his pants and started to lead him away from the scene, further into the city. "I... thought he was a zombie. I shot him without even thinking about it! What have I become?" Ellis heard the small sound of a body crumbling to the ground.

Rem growled at no one in particular. If only he could speak words, he could comfort Ellis, tell him it wasn't his fault, that anyone could have made the mistake. But he was stuck in this deformed body whose only design was to kill and maim other people. Now that he thought about it, comfort about that coming from him wouldn't really sound too comforting to people.

But Ellis was different... and he still couldn't speak. Ellis rounded a corner that Rem had lead him to and spotted a sign hanging on the building across the street. "Baby Gap." He let out a chuckle, obviously trying to forget the whole incident. "Hate to break it to you, but that stores for baby clothes. I doubt we'll find something to fit us there."

Rem looked disappointed. He thought he had done a good job. He pouted. Ellis freaked out. "Oh! I uh... I mean, thanks for the help! Don't make that face! Come on! We'll find somewhere!"

Rem chuckled. It was rather creepy, throaty sounding coming from the hunter. But Ellis could sense the humour behind the chuckle. The human in him was definitely still there.

Ellis looked around. Every other store around here was boarded up. It looked like they had been use as bases, strongholds against the waves of infected. That must have been easy when the infection first spread, when there was a tank every 100 feet, or a smoker constantly wrapping its slimy digit around you... "Now what?" Ellis said casually. The hunter shrugged, and Ellis once again laughed at how silly it looked on this powerful creature- and once again he had to remind himself that Rem was still a human, not a creature...

"Maybe we can find some sort of map." The sun was still low in the sky, slowly raising and sending its heat over the towering buildings around them. They had plenty of time to search for some sort of clothing store. And Ellis knew nothing would happen to them with Rem here.


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