Hey guys, its Yobloc20 here. The story is moving along nicely I have to say. I now know where the story is going and I can concentrate on that now which is helpful. Favourite, Review and Enjoy! Valve owns all the characters.
Chapter 9: Day by day
Getting everyone to get up was a difficult task. Coach got moans, groans and "Five more minutes" but eventually, the group trudged into the kitchen one-by-one still half asleep. They were low on food, only around ten or eleven cans of food left over. Rochelle kept getting the suspicion that they were taking too much from this group of three. She didn't want to become a burden on this group now that Ellis needed medical attention for his arm. She wanted to prove to this group that they were more than capable to pull their own weight and be an asset to the people that had took them in. She thought about this while eating cold beans from a can.
Ellis was the last to get up, he strolled into the main room where all the survivors were eating their 'breakfast' and muttered "Morning y'all." He was directed to a seat at the table with a can of summer fruits. It wouldn't have been the mechanic's ideal breakfast but beggars can't be choosers.
There was a silence in the room which no one really seemed to mind. Everyone was too busy wolfing down their meal to have a conversation. Everyone was clearly hungry but they needed to find more food today. All were starving after the previous day of fighting. Francis was the first to finish as he put his tin down and looked around the room. "What's the plan for today, people?" The biker questioned with a mouthful of whatever he was eating. "A few of us could go to town and look for food or ammo." Suggested Louis. "And medical equipment for Ellis and Louis." Rochelle added in, still concerned about both men's health.
"It shouldn't take the whole group to get that stuff." Zoey stated as she ate the last of her cold spaghetti hoops. "We should send three or four to get supplies and that." The group sorted themselves as to who was doing what. Coach, Nick and Zoey would go into the town on a supply run while Francis and Rochelle would see the extent of the damage to the Jimmy Gibbs and then search down by the docks for anything useful. Ellis and Louis however, were forced to stay at the flat.
Louis let out a sigh. He was always stuck in this flat. At least he would have Ellis to talk to this time. Ellis seemed to have the same opinion "Ah no! I'll be fine! I could like try to-" Ellis tried to protest with the others but was met by a round of 'no's'. Ellis slumped back in his chair, deflated. He always wanted to be where the action was, he was never one to sit out on the chance of some fun. The others wouldn't exactly have called it fun.
The group started to get up and getting their equipment together for the day, Ellis and Louis watching on in a tiny bit of envy as their fellow survivors retrieved their weapons and started moving for the door, stocked and ready for their respective tasks. "We're going to take the ladder down, we'll yell up at you guys when we're back." Francis explained to the two injured men.
Nick took a look back at Ellis with a smirk, sensing the envy from the young man and said "Hey Ellis, we'll bring you back a toy if you behave okay?" The group started laughing as Ellis's face turned slightly red out of embarrassment and an unusual frown appeared on his face. "Ha ha, very funny." He commented, trying to defend himself. And with the sound of the survivors chuckling to themselves as they closed the door behind them, they were gone.
Ellis looked over at Louis who was covering his huge smile. "You too?" Ellis questioned as Louis burst into laughter. "He got you good man." He said in between laughs. Ellis shook his head and gave a small grin.
"Okay it was a little funny."
The two men shared a chuckle with each other before a content silence before Ellis shuffled forward on his seat and propped his elbows on the table. "So how did you meet your friends?" Ellis questioned, a little bit nervous that it might be a sensitive issue. Louis took a slight pause before clearing his throat. "Emm, I met up with Francis at this city not too long after the first outbreak and ehhh." He paused again and looked to be in thought before sighing. "And we met this other guy Bill not too long later." He said, his voice sounded drained of the earlier optimism. Ellis added two plus two and realized this 'Bill' guy was no longer around. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want." Ellis stated as he gazed at Louis.
He shook his head and took a breath. "It's okay." He said with a small smile before continuing "We decided to stick together and we tried so many goddamn times to get away from all this, we eventually thought we were saved by the military but they tried to kill us and we escaped. Long story short, we decided to get up on this here bridge so we could think a plan out, we were about to raise the bridge and it broke down halfway. We were going to die"
Ellis's eyes were wide open listening to the story.
"And it was Bill who jumped down to his certain death. He ran back and turned the generator back on, knowing well he wasn't going to make it back. He saved our lives and I am forever in his debt."
Ellis was too shocked to reply. He tried to but only a weird sound from the back of his throat came out. He composed himself. "Wow. Sorry Louis. I didn't know..." Louis shook his head again. "It's okay Ellis. I miss Bill but I have to stay strong and move on. I'll never forget him though." Ellis nodded as a guilty silence washed over them.
"Zoey was affected the worst." Louis said glumly, breaking the silence. "How do you mean?" Ellis replied. "She saw him almost as a father; we don't mention him around her. I advise you do the same." Louis warned. Ellis nodded again, still in shock. The silence was back again.
The silence was much longer this time. Perhaps a minute or two before Ellis made his best attempt to cheer the man up. "Did I ever tell ya 'bout the time my buddy Keith and I set up a lawnmower bumper-car ride in Keith's back yard? Mower blade wounds over ninety percent of his body. I didn't even run him over; he somehow managed to fall under his own."
Louis cracked into a quiet laugh which gradually got louder the more he thought about it. "How did he manage to fall under his own?" Louis was barely able to say from laughing. Ellis shrugged and gave a grin. "Dunno, Keith has been through worse though." Louis looked at the mechanic in disbelief "Wait, how did he do worse than that?!" Louis enquired.
Ellis flicked through his mind at all of Keith's misadventures and took his pick.
Francis and Rochelle stared at the overturned stock car. Ellis would be heartbroken to see his dream car like this. "Wow, that tank beat the shit into it." Francis commented, still looking at the car. "Yup. It's broken alright." Rochelle replied with gloom in her voice, annoyed at herself for giving herself false hope that the car would be in any way salvageable. "We got to find another way to New Orleans." She sighed. Francis shrugged as he looked around them for any lurking infected. "You could stay with us. In Rayford. Forever." Francis joked as Rochelle gave him a questionable look and a smirk.
"Yeah! I wanna stay in this crappy town with a biker and his crappy vest." Rochelle replied with a giggle. "You hate my vest? Sorry, this isn't going to work out." Francis remarked and they both laughed.
"So, shall we go check out these docks then?" Rochelle asked. "Alright, race you there!" Francis said with a smirk. "Boy, you can't be for real." Rochelle responded with a laugh.
The pair headed in the direction of the docks in cheery form. The grey sky started to look less depressing as the survivors could be happy that it wasn't raining for a change.
Maybe things will change.
