Bout damn time I finished this stupid, stupid, short, stupid chapter. Seriously. This chapter fails beyond belief. Its only, like, 1,576 words. I hate it, because I wrote it when I wasn't exactly feeling to well, and so I think my writing suffers when I'm feeling like shit. Either way, enjoy, bro?
Reviews:
karatekid369: I know right? NELLIS FLUFF FTW! Angsty fluffy bullshit- my motto ;D Background 'D:' is no bueno... Karma Charger right up his ass, bro. I swear that's what's comin' to him. Oh... The survival... Y'all are bettin' on that... Errr. -disappears- D-ZombieDragon: Yup! Nick didn't totally fail ^u^ Oh dear larwd. What have I done to the Nellis community? (Turned them into absolutely pysco fangirls?) Everyone's going to kill Keith TT^TT... Oh well. I believe the same thing! :D Oh Keith... Why can't you be nice? Fool proof my ass. Pff. I'm not answering~ GlassSoul: -hides during her yelling- D-Don't hack my FFN account ;A; That's what I've been saying, Glass! He don't listen. He's a stubborn boy! OH GOSH MORE YELLING -hides- OH NO AND JULIO! -goes after Tank- Wrath? o_e Radiant Rachael: No, it isn't. I played Left4Dead2 while writing this, and I realized how much I missed the game ;u; I played as Nick, and the only time I really needed to be healed, Ellis healed me~ I was oh so happy. -hearts- Everyone's worried -sigh- Rochelle's just being protective of Ellis- looking out for his happiness and what not. YAY FOR NOT USING CLICHE BULLSHIT! -pops open root beer- Terrified? Whaaaaat? He never will listen to that rational side of his.. -sigh- Oh Keith... Why can't you be more loveable like my red-headed head canon? -sigh sigh- Rengoku Akashi: Yay:D Yay for smiles, too! But no yay for Keith ;n; Yup. I do that. I'm a rollercoaster, but with words. I'm just that awesome, I guess. Dun dun. I can't hurt Ellis. -blank stare- I just can't... I can hurt Nick though! -hides from Glass- The Passing is my favorite campaign -heart- My first play through, I walked into the tattoo shop, and Nick was like 'Hey, Ellis, did you catch that girl's name? Because I could tattoo it on your ass. I bet she'd like that.' Oh Nick~ Anyway... Uh. -keeps writing- Mercs2Girl: I will. -bows- TalieChambers48: Omai. You're being pretty intense, bro. But this chapter is short, but should be intense.. I dunno. I was sorta... blaaah while I wrote it. Space Oddity22: Yay:D Happiness! And his plans unfold this chapter. Bwhahaha... H3H3H3: OHGOSH. O_O Geira: Seems like a lot of people have been speechless... Hmm... I think that's a good thing... Hattersglasschild: Nuff said? DEADLYANG3L: Shiz balls. xD Anyho. Yes, he is a pysco. And yes, thank Rochelle. Chaining sounds a little kinky, bro... Let's not do that. Closet, yes. I got it somewhere else and the warranty expired :Y Ohwell. Angelchan2012: Oh gosh... -hides- I don't know what to saaaaaaaay TT^TT Chainsaws, Hunters, Tanks and AK47s? KEITH HIDE YOUR STUPID ASS! Ayhluss: Thank you for the spell check, as usual ^^ I'm clever like that :D dontdoit, Keith ;A;
Chapter Ten: Bang
It was raining the next morning, a light drizzle that hung on their clothes and hair, leaving wet trails of moisture on their dirtied skin. Nick's eyes rose to the sky and he sighed, hand tightly in Ellis' and a worried looked on his face. "Ro, we should really look for somewhere to hold out while it's raining," he suggested, his hopes strictly on the fact of getting out of the drizzle and not getting attacked by Hunters.
Rochelle only could offer him an apologetic look, face screwed up in discomfort at the rain, her footsteps echoing off of the soaked pavement. "Sorry, Nick, but we can't afford to take another rest this soon. We'll have to get through this rainstorm." She turned back to face the road, leaving Nick with an unpleasant look on his face and Ellis even more worried than himself. Keith had been silent the whole day, and whether that was good thing or a bad thing was completely unknown to the conman. While the asshole's silence was appreciated because Nick got a break from hearing his annoying voice, at the same time, he was actually terrified at what the little shit had up his sleeve. He kept his guard up at all costs- he wasn't going to let Keith take the upper hand in this any more.
Ellis, on the other hand, was quiet, but the gambler figured he was still thinking about what he was informed off the day before. "I… I love you, too, Nick…" The kid's words seemed to echo in his head, causing his ever warming heart to beat faster than before and his thoughts to race about every little thing, like the way Ellis' blue eyes were framed nearly perfectly with those dark lashes that seemed so unfitting on a boy, his dazzling white teeth still in good condition, the way his cheeks were stained red from the cold rain…
He was brought back to the situation as the wind picked up, nearly knocking him over, but he managed to brace himself on a nearby rail, Ellis' hand still in his. "Jesus Christ. What was that?" He asked to Rochelle, as she struggled to gather their supplies back together, standing up in the process.
"The storm's getting worse…" She said, low, sighing in turn. "Maybe resting wouldn't be such a bad idea…"
Nick smirked despite the present problem (getting Rochelle to change her mind about something lately was increasingly difficult), and helping Ellis stand on balance, following behind the only woman with happy footsteps. At least his suit wouldn't get ruined.
Keith frowned at the bedroom ceiling, tossing a tennis ball he had found up there, ignoring the little thuds and the childish boy's room, the fact he could hear Nick and Ellis' conversation in the next room over and Rochelle's light snoring. He ignored it all because he knew what was happening soon.
He stopped tossing the ball, and caught it in his hand, and with an evil smile. Nick wasn't stupid- he had noticed how uncharacteristically quite Keith had been, silence something he was never good at, and he probably made a few good guesses about what would cause such a thing. Keith wondered, with the most sinister look on his face, if he had guessed that he was planning to shoot Nick right between his eyes with his Magnum, watch as the life slowly drains from his body and all he can think of is Ellis was Keith's now, and maybe even Keith would get a few curses and a name out- maybe it'd be Ellis'! Keith had to refrain from laughing, beginning to toss the ball up again, his eyes bloodshot, and dark around the edges from lack of sleep, bags in the usually so clear skin underneath. He snorted instead.
He was done playing games. This was serious.
Ellis could feel Nick's calm breathing behind him, in his hair and down his neck, sending a sleepy smile across his face. The conman's strong arms wrapped around his shoulders, keeping him close, which surprised Ellis- Nick seemed like someone who wouldn't care for cuddling and intimacy, but the man held Ellis closer than he ever had when he slept. Ellis wasn't complaining- it was comforting and warm, reminding him so much of Savannah, and his mother, Keith before the infection, even Dave and Paul, too. Tears filled his eyes for a moment before he wiped them away carefully, trying not to wake up Nick in the process. He never really realized how much he missed home, and now, as he lay awake thinking about it, he realized he never really had time to think about it- between meeting three complete strangers, fighting undead for his life and all those failed rescue attempts, nothing really had been on his mind.
Zombies. Guns. Survival.
And Nick.
The mechanic closed his eyes the best he could, trying to calm his mind with all the thoughts and just focus on the warmth of Nick's arms and his even breathing down his neck, the calming patter of rain on the roof and the comforting feeling of being next to the person he loved.
Sleep washed over him like a blanket.
The next morning, it was still raining, but after the detour the night before, Rochelle said they couldn't afford to wait it out, and they had to continue walking, soaked clothing weighing them down with every step and heavy droplets of water blinding them in their trek through the small town they had discovered. There was a cane field in the near distance, and Nick's mind was instantly worried it was going to be another sugar cane field, leading to a plethora of witches, just like at the mill. The conman frowned in its direction and ignored Keith's complaints, watching Ellis out of the corner of his eye. The kid was silent, looking at the ground below, blue eyes sullen and Nick sighed silently.
They had lost a good man yesterday- Coach was like the kid's father, closest he had to one during this entire thing, and his death probably affected him more than Nick thought it had. Ellis sighed, looking over at Nick and smiling a little. The gambler couldn't help but smile back, even as Rochelle cursed ahead of them, bracing herself against the sudden gust of wind. "The storm's getting worse. Don't wander off, boys!"
Nick reached for Ellis' hand, grabbing it and pulling the kid closer to him, ignoring Keith's glare and curses and followed behind Rochelle as best as he could, holding up his arm to shield his eyes from the rain. 'Shit,' he cursed, confused as he fell back behind Keith, watching as him and Rochelle made it forward a little, and he turned, looking into Ellis' eyes. "What are you doing, kid?" he asked.
Ellis let Nick's hand drop, empty, then reached up to the back of his neck, unlatching the gold chain from his neck and held out his mother's necklace to Nick. "It'll be like your good luck charm." The southerner told him, taking a step forward and putting the chain around Nick's neck, latching it in the back and leaving his arms around Nick's shoulders. "And I trust ya, Nick… Don't loose it."
Nick looked down at the Tiger's Eye, the small gem that meant so much to Ellis, then looked back at him and smiled. "I'll be careful with it. I promise."
The shorter male smiled back, when Rochelle's voice made them look back to the direction they were walking. "Nick! Ellis! Come on you two!"
The two wound hands together and headed back toward Rochelle and Keith, noting Rochelle's relief when they walked up, okay and unhurt. Keith's eyes caught the necklace around Nick's neck and got dangerous. "Oh, thank God you two are okay."
"Sorry. Ellis dropped something out of his pocket. Pills or something." Nick explained. Ellis nodded next to him, just as the wind picked back up again, and a dozen- if not more- growls were heard all around them. "Oh shit…"
They were ambushed, a good-sized hoard charging from all directions, leaving the cane field the only escape. "Guys, the cane field!" Ellis yelled, Nick's hand falling from his as he took off toward the field, disappearing in the tall plants. Nick cursed as Rochelle ran after, and he did his best to follow, Keith somewhere behind him. The rain was blinding, making everything a hazy blur, only able to see a yard in front of him, and he wasn't even able to see the lopsided cane in the middle of his path until his face was in the mud, leaving a large dirt stain down the front of his suit. Nick did his best to clean the mud off his face, on all fours, going to stand up when, over the storm and the zombies growling in the distance, he could hear a pistol being cocked behind him.
"Stay down."
Nick rolled over, sitting with his legs propped up and arms supporting him, looking up into Keith's face and the barrel of his magnum. "I'm sick of the games, gambler. Your cheap card tricks aren't going to work on me." The redneck smirked, aiming Nick's head point blank. "And they won't work on Ellis anymore. Goodbye, Nicolas."
Bang.