White Knight
Nick picked up a bandage and clenched it in his fist. Rochelle and Coach had caught up some time ago only for him to lose them once again. It was easy to get lost in the city, he had to give it to the mechanic. The orange signs stopped at one point in time and that's where he must have gotten lost. He had gone into the house with the only closed door and hoped that his hunch was right.
Open doors meant someone had gone through, closed door meant someone was inside.
Or was inside and escaped through the back door.
Augh, whatever! He had to take it as a sign that someone actually went through and not just some dead end. He had to find Ellis.
Either way, Ellis had to have gone through the house. His eyes fell upon the peanut butter, empty bag of jerky, and crackers and helped himself to the leftovers, leaving some behind for the other survivors if they were to pass by. His stomach had shrunk so much that it didn't need much for him to be satisfied now anyways. It was the thought that he was actually getting nutrients in his body that actually brought him about to eating the stale food.
Eventually, he went over to a closet, to try and satisfy a hunch, and quickly stumbled over something gruesome—the corpse of a dead witch. "Goddamnit, Overalls, what didn't you fight?"He grew angry when he saw fresh blood splattered on the ground a few times and then a cloth filled with wet blood. His heart stopped dead in his chest. He was hurt.
He was hurt and still trying to find them.
He didn't stop.
He was so…bullheaded!
"ELLIS!" Nick ran ahead once more, forgetting about Rochelle and Coach.
Forgetting the food.
Forgetting just about everything behind him. Right now, Ellis was within his reach and there was nothing, nothing, that was going to stop him. "Hang on, Ellis…I'm coming…"
Ellis awoke to Angel crying, her head rested on his legs. They had managed to haul themselves into a closet and catch some more sleep, Ellis's body screaming out in pain as the pills wore off.
The pharmacy had been ransacked.
"Least I knew people passed through here." He laughed painfully, scratching her head and leaning back against the wall in complete darkness, his eyes unfocused and head pounding harshly. He wished he had some pills or an adrenaline shot.
Something.
Anything to kill the pain. He traced his fingers over his scarred arm and then to his open gash on his chest and sighed. At the very least he wasn't bleeding out anymore.
"I don't want to move…don't know how long we've been here…" He chuckled a bit and felt Angel stand and paw at the door. Thinking she had to go, he opened it for her and watched as she trotted out into the dimly lit streets.
He took his sniper off his back and prepped to take out any zombies in sight that would get too near his Angel. He wasn't able to move without pain, but at least he would be able to aim and pull a trigger if need be.
Sleep weighed heavily on his eyes but exposed the way he was, he felt too vulnerable to sleep but his eyes felt as if they were sagging into his cheeks. He took off the guns from his back and laid them beside him to make it a little easier on his back that pained him. He closed the door and with his machete, stabbed a hole in the door big enough for the barrel of his sniper to stick out of and scope to see through. He couldn't risk keeping the door open. It wasn't safe for him.
Angel trot along the streets, her nose raised high in the air and sniffed for the familiar scent. She avoided any zombies on her path and travelled down an alley, her ears pricking up at the distant sounds of gunshots. Her black and white coat shimmered in the wind as she took off towards the rapid gunfire. Her body flickered off down another alleyway and down four blocks until she reached the sounds and the familiar scent. Panting, she stared at the horde of zombies attacking the man in a white suit and she knew the drill. She launched herself against the knees of a few of them too close to the man and watched them topple over, the con-man looking down at her with a look of surprise. "Hey…you're…"
She let out a bark and darted past him once more at the sound of a bull. Nick had moments to look behind him to see that she was snarling viciously at a charger readying itself to charge Nick. He spun his upper body towards it and brought his hunting rifle up, shooting it as quickly as he could. Once more, it released it's bull-like yell and rushed forwards, Angel chasing after it and clamping her mouth shut on it's useless arm. Nick side-stepped but managed to have its huge arm knock him backwards. He quickly regained his balance and finished the job, watching it sink to the ground and continued to take down the rest of the horde around him.
Angel panted heavily when the fiasco ended and limped over to the con-man, Nick's eyebrows furrowing together in sympathy.
"Don't like seeing you hurt…especially after you brought me the hick's cap…" Angel nudged his hand and licked it a few times before digging her nose into his pocket. He rose his hands up to get a better view at what she was doing and saw her yank out Ellis's cap.
Yes, that was the scent. There couldn't be two Ellis'. He had finally come to rescue the man she'd been trying to protect for a while.
She looked up at him with big, watery eyes and thumped her tail on the ground. "Hey, don't be taking that now." He tried taking it back from her and earned a growl and a firm bite back on the cap. She wasn't letting go. She took off in a flash a few feet ahead of him and stopped, looking back at him and waited. The con-man cocked his head to the side and realization dawned on him. Nothing would stop him now.
His legs pumped hard and breathing hitched in his throat as he tried keeping up with the collie, mentally preparing himself all the while. He had pain pills ready, two adrenaline shots, half a first aid kit, and water. The safe house was way off and Coach and Rochelle were probably going to wait there if they couldn't find Nick.
But at least Ellis wasn't alone. The dog must have been with him the entire time, and if she could help Nick the way she was, then she had obviously been taking care of Ellis too. An invaluable partner when alone. After all, dogs were man's best friend.
He had to slow down. His lungs were crying out for more oxygen and he was tired after the last horde. But he couldn't stop now. He was so close. Within reach!
And then Angel turned into a pharmacy. Nick grinned. At least he tried finding help for himself. But that also meant he was hurt. He was definitely hurt. He came to a light jog and stepped over fallen glass as he entered the pharmacy. His eyes glanced over at the empty shelves and messed up aisles, following the dog that had begun her trek obviously over to where Ellis was. The dog stopped in front of a closet and pawed at the door, whining a bit. Nick's hand trembled a bit as he reached for the knob, turning it ever so slowly. The hole in the door would have proven useful to look through if it were bright enough, and maybe he could prepare himself for what was inside.
He gently pushed open the wooden door, staring inside the dark closet.
And there he was.
There.
Not dead.
There was the person he had been searching for all this time.
"Ellis!" He called out the boy's name and immediately fell to his knees, accessing the damage. He was breathing harshly and wasn't moving. His eyes were half-open but he knew that there was no way he was awake. He looked at the guns around him and felt his heart wrench. He had to defend himself one way but couldn't do it without worrying about running out of ammo. Of course, it was always a survivor's fear to run out of ammo, but alone must have been a nightmare.
"Hey…Overalls…" Nick tried in a softer voice now and grasped onto the hick's shoulder, rousing him from his sleep and earning groans of protest and pain. Angel whined and lay her belly close to the ground. With a few quick barks, the mechanic sprung up and made a grab for his grenade launcher and pointed it straight in Nick's face, eyes widened in horror and face contorted in obvious pain. "Take it easy, Fireball. It's just me."
"Nick?" Ellis dug the heels of his palms in both eyes and gave a few chortles. "Ah'm dreamin' a'gin…"
"Nope. Not this time, buddy. Nick's here, alive and in the flesh. Come on, let's get you out."
"Aw Nick…yer too nice…'ts a dream…jus' like th' last ones…" Nick took note of his prolonged drawl and knew that he was way past tired. With a frown, he fumbled for the adrenaline shot and stuck it in the mechanic's thigh. "OW! Man, what was that for!"
"You can't feel pain in a dream, hick. Let that kick in and we'll get you to safety." Ellis blinked a few times and felt the adrenaline wake him up. He blinked his eyes a few times and then bolted upright. "NICK! Shoot, I thought I was done for! Aw hell, it's been a looong time, brother!" He laughed and immediately regretted his decision, his hand flying to his chest. Nick's eyebrows furrowed together and he took hold of Ellis's arm and slung it around his neck, picking him up off the ground while grunting. Ellis hissed in pain and bit back the groans. "You're a mess. Come on, you need all those guns?"
"Hell yeah, man! I mean, not all of 'em, but…shoot, what'd you bring?"
"Got me a hunting rifle."
"Shoot, better n' nothing, right? Want military snipe?"
"Nah, I like this one." He shifted his gun in one hand and smiled, looking down at Angel who was nudging Ellis's hand with her nose. "What's up with Lassie? She showed me where to find you, you know."
"Aw, shucks…real angel…Her name's Angel." Nick rolled his eyes at the name. Did he give that to every girl he saw?
"Saved my ass more times n' I kin count…n' yew brought me mah hat! Damn, you're a good girl!" He scooped it from her maw and placed it on his head, Nick giving him a small smile.
The kid had passed through hell and high water, faced death, and still knew how to make light of any situation.
Nick pressed on and eventually had to stop when Ellis held onto his wound and began to falter, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. "Ah don' feel righ'…" He slumped further towards the ground, Nick struggling to keep him positioned at his side and was practically holding the young man up. "Dammit, Overalls, you're heavy!"
"'m'sorry, Nick…'m tryin', 'm tryin'…" Nick reached for another adrenaline shot and stuck it in the hick's thigh once more and lowered him onto the ground. Ellis let out a grunt and Angel was at his side, nudging her nose into his chest and trying to lick his wound. "Ange…" He gave her a few pets and looked up at Nick, who was looking around for Rochelle and Coach. He needed help with the younger man, and he silently cursed himself for going for going so far ahead without them. He unscrewed the top of a bottle of pain pills and handed them to Ellis, who gratefully gobbled down three tablets.
Nick looked down once more at the hick and realized that he had been breathing hard, sweat gathered on his temples and glistened on his neck. He wasn't in good shape and he was still forcing himself to move. "Saw you took down a tank and witch. Good job, Fireball."
"Piece o' cake." He smiled back, his canines poking through his lips. Ellis heaved a heavy sigh as he tried to even his breathing and looked around once more.
"Hey, Nick…where's Coach and Ro?"
"They were lagging behind."
"An' now they're lost too, ah reckon…"
Damn, the kid's accent was really prominent. Almost painfully so. He winced back and looked around once more, taking out two random zombies. "We gotta get moving. There's a safe house about a day's walk from here and unless we don't keep moving, we'll still be in danger."
"Shucks, an' I though' we'd be zombie huntin' together…" He chuckled and winced once more, the pain elevating only slightly with the help of the shot, and the pills hadn't kicked in yet. Angel whimpered and lay down next to him, crawling so that she was right up against his leg. "Well, I get it now how you survived, wouldn't have made it without that dog, huh?"
"Nope. Saved me plenty o' times…" He replied with a grin. He ran his fingers through her fur and felt the tightness in his chest release but fatigue grip him. "Ain't that righ' girl?" He massaged her head once more with his fingers and felt Nick pick up his arm once more. It was time to leave again.
He hoisted himself up and shook his arm off Nick, standing on his own feet. "I kin do it m'self."
"You can't even talk right. We're not stopping until we reach a safe house, so you better not slow me down."
"Never stopped yew before." He drawled, Nick feeling a stab of guilt.
He was right. Even when they thought he was dead, they had to push forwards. They should have stayed. And he was guilty for that.
"Shut up, you inbred hick." Nick watched Ellis unsling his gun from his back and grasp it firmly. "Let's go. Angel, mind showin' us th' way?" The dog barked happily and took off ahead of them, going to find the safe house they needed. The mechanic let out a smile and a chuckle and began after her, Nick staying as close to him as possible, ready to catch the mechanic if anything happened.
Angel whipped around the corner to find the two men and came to a stop, locking her legs. She had memorized the way and was ready to lead the way but realized the two men had come to a halt. Ellis was drenched in sweat and his breathing labored. He was too fatigued to go on. Angel brought her muzzle close to his face and sniffed him a bit, laying down and placing her head on his knee.
"Think she found th' way?"
"Yeah, she just realizes that you can't walk anymore."
"Got that right. Ah'm tired." He grinned from ear to ear and earned a scowl from the older man. "Come on, if she found the way, we gotta get going." Ellis went to stand and staggered back a bit, Nick holding onto his shoulder. "I think it's better if we rest up for a while."
"Aw, Nick, you worried?"
"Idiot, if you're too hurt to move, how are you supposed to protect yourself? There's no use trying to do something if you can't even half-ass it." Nick earned a grin from the mechanic and the mechanic earned a sigh from Nick. "Let's go over to that house there for a while." As soon as they began to move, Angel stopped and perked up. Her ears twitched backwards and she began growling, looking up at the air. Nick stopped and followed her actions. He squinted and darted his eyes from side to side, trying to see what the dog could see but did so in vain.
Ellis's ears pricked and he widened his eyes. "Hey, ah hear one o' 'em whirly-birds! Look out fer it!"
Angel kept barking at it and then began running away, Nick's eyes darting over to her. "Overalls, I don't think we should be welcoming that helicopter…we have to move…"
"What th' hell, Nick? There's rescue righ' there!"
"Yeah, well, when that dog runs away from something, and I've had her take down hordes without backing down. She's running away from that, it's a definite threat."
"Nick, c'mon, man, there's no-" A canister dropped out of the helicopter and as soon as it hit the ground, spun around in a circle and dispensed out a thick smoke screen. Nick tried running away from it but realized that Ellis was having problems just breathing through the smoke and had consequentially fallen to his knees, gasping for air.
Everything happened in slow motion in the eyes of the conman. He had begun his mad rush towards the mechanic as the fumes settled in a noxious cloud of fear and pollution. His eyes moved to his left as his peripheral caught sight of an oncoming force and took note of Angel. She had come back and swiftly made her way to Ellis and frantically began barking at him almost viciously. She had tried to yank at his pants but he had promptly collapsed onto his side, Nick wanting more than ever to run.
But he couldn't lose him again. He couldn't be blamed for anything bad that would happen to the hillbilly.
"ELLIS!" He tried calling through the fog, the plumes enveloping him completely one moment and then just as quickly dispersing as the helicopter neared the ground.
AN: DUN DUN DUN! I love this chapter. The upcoming chapters might be a bit dull though…I'm trying to get myself out of THAT rut and make it better before I post the new chappie. R &R! I love you guys! Your reviews really make my day~! Not even kidding ouo
