Ellis didn't let any of the other survivors behind the wheel of this car. He had become very attached to it during the few hours he'd been driving around in it. Unfortunately to the mechanic, his eyes widened at the long highway filled with cars. They were parked, some were crashed, some were turned over in their side. He slammed on the breaks and swore loudly, jolting the three of them.

"Aw, shit, man!" he yelled, slamming on the wheel, glaring ahead. Nick rubbed at his face for a few moments before groaning in disgust at the brunette.

"What the hell did you do now, Overalls?" he groaned, shaking himself awake. Rochelle had her hand to her chest, her eyes a little bit wider and Coach was muttering things in disagreement just like Ellis was. "Dammit to Hell!" he yelled and opened the door, shaking his head.

"Sorry guys..." he said lowly and looked at the road, kicking a rock.

"Sweetie, don't apologize, you got us out of the mall!" Rochelle smiled at him. Ellis felt his cheeks flush a dark shade of red and he shifted a little bit.

"Uh.. thank ya, kindly," he nodded to her and puffed up his chest and began to lead them through the highway.

"Whoa, man! Whispering Oaks!" Coach laughed, clapping his gloved hands. "I used to go here all the time when I was younger!" Ellis perked up and grinned at Coach.

"Aw, hell yeah, man! So did I!" he laughed and bounced a little bit, his hands around a new weapon, an axe, his shot gun secured on his back. "I love all the rides here!" Nick stared at him and shook his head. He watched as the two of them conversed about their favorite rides and foods here.

"Great, just gre-" he was cut off by the sound of a loud whirling sound. He turned, seeing a helicopter flying by them, his mouth hanging open a little bit. "Shit! We need to get their attention!" he yelled, running ahead of the three of them. He stopped, panting and leaning over after running across half of the park. "Well fuck." he grumbled, glancing behind himself as he watched Ellis following along. He pushed himself up and made his way over back to the redneck.

"Overalls," he breathed, staring into the shorter man's eyes. He was talking lowly. "How are you feeling?" He didn't want to take any chances if Ellis had been bitten by that damn Jimmy Gibbs.

"Nick, I feel okay!" Ellis said, grinning all the while. "Really, you don't have to worry about it..." he said quietly, itching his nose. Nick just shook his head and eyed him up and down. "You ain't feeling sick or anything?"

"Nope." Ellis stared for a moment, then frowned. "You think I got bit? Believe me, man, I didn't." he decided he would ignore Nick for the longest he could, so he walked ahead of the other man. This didn't last long, Ellis began pointing to a few different rides and booths whenever he got distracted. He was glancing around the park, memories from when he was younger came flooding back. It's been a while since he's been out to Whispering Oaks, but the last time was with Keith when he was seventeen. Keith had been twenty-one at the time and they had a fantastic time.

"Hey, El! C'mon!" Keith said, grabbing Ellis' hand and running towards the Shooting Gallery game, standing behind the shorter teenager, steadying him. They had got a score of 1120 because of their teamwork. Ellis laughed and took Keith's hand, running over to the cotton candy stand, getting some for both of them. The rusty haired man paid, of course, since it was good manners. The brunette had pouted for about twenty minutes because he had plenty of money, but he wasn't allowed to pay. They went on the merry-go-round, they played the strength games, they ate more food. The pair tried going to Kiddieland, seeing if they could sneak on the rides.

In the safe room, Nick groaned at the light hues of pink and purple and the hearts everywhere. The Tunnel of Love, fantastic. He sat down, legs crossed and he whistled over to Ellis, trying to make him come over to him. Ellis obeyed and sat down next to Nick on the floor in the corner of the room. Nick offered the boy some of his water, watching as he downed almost half of it. He felt bad for a moment, he never stopped to ask Ellis if he was thirsty or not.

"Ellis," he said in a low voice. "I want to talk to you about the other night," how to say this without it being awkward. "It... well... It's just between you and me, alright?" Ellis just stared at him with a look of confusion sweeping over his face, but he said nothing.

"Why would I tell anyone 'bout that?" Ellis mumbled, giving the water back to Nick. Did the man not think he would keep a secret? He had kept plenty of secrets he's kept for years! He sighed roughly and shook his head, taking a few deep breaths before relaxing. "Go over there by Coach 'n Ro 'n sleep." Nick twitched a little bit. "I'm goin' to watch the place first." he added. Nick shook his head in annoyance and walked over to Rochelle and Coach, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. He told them how Ellis was doing fine and he was just a little annoyed since he missed his car. In a few hours, the fimiliar sound of Coach's snores filled the room. Nick had moved back over to where Ellis was.

"Hey, how you doing?" the conman asked, his voice low. Ellis felt himself shiver at how Nick was speaking to him. It was just so calm and collected. Ellis shrugged and shifted to rest his head on the box he had been leaning against. The mechanic noticed Nick's suit had been cleaned off of most of the blood and guts during their little experience in the river after the motel shortcut.

"I'm okay." he muttered and shifted again. "What 'bout you, Nick?"

"Just fine, Overalls." he sighed, staring up into Ellis' blue eyes. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay?" Ellis raised an eyebrow and blinked twice. "I know you won't open your big mouth to Rochelle and Coach about what happened." Ellis stared at Nick, sighed and sat up straight.

"Um, thanks... I guess?" the southern boy smiled softly, the pink lighting showing his face. He leaned closer, pecking Nick's cheek gently. The conman snorted and leaned back against the wall, staring ahead. He began to think about what he would do after this would be finished, but was disrupted by Ellis laying his head down on his chest.

Ellis muttered something into his chest.

"What?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." he snuggled up to the conman. Nick grunted and placed a quick peck to his forehead. Ellis felt his face flush. Nick was expecting a story from him, or any type of conversation. He stared up at the ceiling, waiting. Nothing came though, Ellis had fallen asleep, his breathing slow and steady.

"Keith! Let's go on the Screamin' Oak, okay?" Ellis had been excited to go on his favorite ride. He had rushed with Keith onto the roller coaster, waited in line and got to be in the front seat. They laughed and 'wooed' on the ride, enjoying the wind in their faces and when the coaster dropped, how it felt. They got off, only to get on again, for about five more times.

The Screaming Oak was where they stood now. Rochelle glanced at the metal gate that blocked them and shook her head. Coach was preparing his knees for this run. "Alright, once this gate opens, run as fast as you can." Nick ordered, smashing the button. Once the gate opened, the group ran like hell. Ellis was in the lead, the boy was moving quickly. Rochelle was behind him, shooting at his sides and in front for the zombies he failed to cut up with his axe. Nick was behind Rochelle, guarding her back and Coach was protecting Nick's, jogging behind and keeping the group of zombies down. Once they ran the tracks, Ellis ran into the control room and slammed the ride off, silencing the previously blaring alrms. He rushed out to help the others fend off the infected, then continued their jog to the safe room. It was at the end of the exit ramp and the infected kept coming. They fought their way through, getting scratches and bruises, but they made it into the room, closing the door and leaning against it.

Lucky for them, there were two first aid kids in the room, Rochelle strapped one onto her back and then chucked Ellis the other one. He caught it and wiped at his face, stretching. "Well, dammit. I'm ready to face about anything!" he laughed. "Oh, man, did I ever tell you when Keith and I came here and we tried to go to Kiddieland to get on the rides there? Well, we got on that little kiddie-merry-go-round thing and shit man, Keith got stuck 'n I couldn't stop laughin'!" he finished the story, uninterupted with a laugh. Rochelle just smiled as she began to wrap up some wounds on Coach that he recieved on the way in. Nick sighed, shaking his head with amusement, watching Ellis as he animatedly moved his arms around.

Coach watched first that night, watching over the other three as they slept soundly. Rochelle watched second, then Nick, then Ellis was last. The brunette had stood in front of the door, laughing and shooting infected that tried to claw their way inside. He was surprised he hadn't woken any of them up By the time they were ready to leave, they had to shove the door open due to the amount of the bodies in front of it. Rochelle just giggled at how excitable the younger man was.

They approached the large yellow boxes leading up towards the roof and Nick headed towards the roof first, defending himself from the infected that charged at him. Coach came up next and joined the conman, laughing as he killed them with Nick. Rochelle came up next, bending down to help Ellis up, frowning a little bit when he pushed her hand away and got up on his own.

"Don't need help, Ro." Ellis protested.

"You are such a stubborn boy, Ellis." she chuckled and ruffled the top of his head. Ellis just grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. He then began to dash across the rooftops, staring down one he got to the other end, frowning. That same feeling he had felt when they were still in the burning hotel, on the ledge was happening again. Fucking vertigo.

"Come on, Overalls..." he called out, holding his arms out. "You can do this." he grinned. Ellis moved to the edge of the roof, staring down at the conman, biting his lower lip, he hopped down, landing on his feet. Nick was applauding him, chuckling slightly. "Great jump, Ayehlus, real great jump." Oh the sarcasm that coated that bastard's voice. Ellis laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright guys, we have to press the button over there to open the gates, so, it'll most likely attract a horde, so, get ready to kick some ass!" Nick yelled to them, slamming the button. Coach reloaded his gun, getting himself ready. Rochelle had put Ellis into a corner, standing in front of him. Nobody noticed the tan boy frown once Rochelle had told him to stay put. He felt even more like a burden since he couldn't run as quick as normal and that he held them back.

He felt like a child.

Was that all they saw him for? It hurt him, but he ignored it. He stared ahead, killing the infected until the metal gate opened. Once that happened, they all took off down the path of the carnival, stopping when they heard the ground rumbling.

"This can't be happening now..." the oldest man said lowly, shaking his head. "Please, God, do not let this be happening now..." but his prayer did nothing from the huge infected that charged at them. Rochelle began to shoot her machine gun, backing up as fast as she could. Ellis and Coach had been blasting away with their shotguns and Nick was chucking the molotov he had found a while back. Great, now a flaming giant was after them, throwing whatever it could at them. The four of them dodged chairs and benches and trees, running around the narrow path.

Coach grabbed Ellis by the back of his shirt and yanked him towards the opposite end as the Tank threw a dumpster at them, it blocking the path. The younger man took his shotgun off his back and reloaded it, shooting at the Tank as quick as he could. He could hear Coach praying to himself and he decided that would be a good idea. When Coach said 'Amen' he said after him, flashing the other man a smile. "Yo, Coach! We can do this, man!" Ellis yelled, diving for cover, watching Coach go the other way. The Tank was going after Coach and was going to corner him. The Tank was raising it's flaming fist to smash the ex-football player into the cement. The brunette's eyes widened and he ran towards the bald man, a low growl forming in his throat, his gun was useless without bullet, so he threw it to the side, reaching to grab his axe. He let out a battle cry and swung.