Chapter Ten

As they picked their way through the nightmarish landscape of the cemetery, they heard the sounds of occasional bombing in the distance. It seemed it was mostly in the outer wards which gave them renewed hope. If they were bombing the French Quarter, that meant the evac was over and they were pulling completely out. Rochelle didn't want to think about what that would mean for their group. As creepy as this trek was, there weren't many infected, which made sense. How many people would be this close to the cemetery when they were infected? They were able to make it through the cemetery with surprisingly few issues and as they came out the other side, they found themselves on Basin Street, just outside of the French Quarter.

"Looks like a safe house over there," Ellis pointed out, just to the right of the entrance to the cemetery.

"That's good timing. I sure need a rest," Coach said, limping a little towards safety.

As they made their way to the store that was serving as a safe house, Rochelle moved closer to Nick and slowed up a little in order for them to talk quietly without being overheard.

"I'm worried about Coach," she said, once they were back far enough.

Nick looked at Coach for a few seconds and turned to Rochelle as they walked. "You mean his limp?"

She nodded. "I know he already had a bum knee before all of this started, but I feel like it's getting worse."

"Not much we can do for him except give him some pain pills. If we don't get to the evac station, maybe we can find some ice somewhere, but that's about it. He needs to rest it: not something we've really had time for lately," Nick observed.

"I know. Maybe we can keep an eye on him and try and watch our pace if we can?" Rochelle asked.

Nick nodded and then took one last look around them before entering the store. It turned out that there was a back room that was the actual safe house. After a quick search of the outer area that turned up a few more medical supplies and some cans of soup that had rolled under a counter, they locked themselves in and sat down. Ellis pulled out the buck knife he'd had with him from the start and was able to pry open the cans well enough for the group to tip the contents out to eat.

"I never thought tomato soup could taste so good," Coach remarked.

"Makes me want spaghetti now," Ellis replied.

"When this is all over, I'll have you over for dinner. I make a mean pot of sauce," Rochelle said smiling.

Nick snorted, his head back against the wall he was leaning against. "You cook?"

Rochelle looked insulted. "Yes, I cook!" When Nick smiled she added, "What? You think I can't?"

"Well, you're not Italian so I don't know about your claim of making a great 'sauce'." Here, Nick used air quotes.

"First off, I can cook and second off, how do you know I'm not Italian?" she snapped back, eyebrow raised.

Coach whistled long and low. "Careful there, Nick," he chuckled.

Nick sat up straight. "Simple. You said you make 'sauce'. No self-respecting Italian would call it anything but 'gravy'," he laughed.

Everyone laughed at that and Rochelle replied, "So I guess you can make 'gravy'?"

"Sweetheart, not only can I make gravy, I can make a risotto that will knock your socks off and a tiramisu that will leave you begging for more," Nick said, smiling devilishly.

Ellis and Coach burst into laughter and Rochelle cocked her hip and jammed her hand down on her waist, unimpressed. "Is that what women beg you for?"

Ellis choked on his laughs at that and Coach laughed even harder.

"Yes. And when we finally get out of here, I'll show you just what else women beg me for," Nick replied, winking wickedly at her.

All eyes turned to Rochelle for her response. She didn't disappoint. "Honey, I don't beg for anything. I take what I want."

Wolf whistles and cat calls erupted from Coach and Ellis while Nick's smile grew broader. "Challenge accepted."

Coach, still chuckling, stood up and looked out of the other door that led outside into a courtyard. "Looks like we can head this way when y'all are done flirting."

The others stood up and moved behind Coach. He raised his rifle and picked off the few infected in sight and then looked back at his group: his family. "Ready?"

Everyone nodded and he opened the door.

It happened so quickly that no one had a chance to think much less react. One minute they had stepped out onto the porch and the next they were suddenly diving for cover as the bombing continued with a near direct hit. The four threw themselves every which way, covering their heads as debris rained down on them. The first to his feet was Ellis, who immediately looked to Rochelle who was slowly sitting up.

"You okay?" he called.

She nodded her head and looked to the others who were both shakily standing up. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, no thanks to the military," Coach mumbled.

Nick wiped a trickle of blood from his forehead where he had a light cut. "Great… I'm gonna sue them if I get a scar!"

"Looks like the bombing is stirring the infected up," Ellis observed, bringing his gun up as a small horde came charging through the doorway on the other side of the courtyard.

They immediately formed up, backs to each other, and dispatched of the twenty or so infected that came at them. Then, as they wrapped up, yet another explosion hit just a few blocks away, followed by two more off farther in the distance.

"Stop bombing us!" Ellis yelled to no one in particular out of frustration.

"Come on-let's get going," Nick urged, taking the lead.

They made their way across the courtyard and into the remains of another store. Windows and doors were heavily boarded up so they went up to the second floor where they could see light coming from somewhere. Reaching the second floor they found French doors opened onto a balcony and they made their way outside and to the remains of what was Bourbon Street. The boarded up bars and jazz clubs gave an eerie feeling to a place that was never closed. Infected wandered below them and, as they watched, two fought each other on a nearby balcony. When the one fell off, the other chased after, breaking both of its legs with a sickening crunch.

Ellis swallowed hard. "Anyone else feeling more freaked out than usual?"

"C'mon, Kid. We're almost outta here. Now's not the time to lose it," Nick said, reloading his shotgun.

"He's right, Son. Let's get a move on," Coach added. The two older men leapt across to the next balcony leaving Rochelle and Ellis to jump next.

"Hey," Rochelle smiled at Ellis, grabbing his shoulder lightly. "Kill all sons of bitches, right?" she quoted his words from weeks ago when they first began this crazy journey.

Ellis smiled and nodded, taking a deep breath in the process. "Right!"

Rochelle jumped across the balconies and turned to wait for Ellis. In that moment, the tell-tale scream of a smoker throwing its tongue out broke the relative silence of the late afternoon. Rochelle watched as Ellis' eyes widened in surprise as he was pulled off the balcony and dragged across the street below to a balcony across the way. It all happened so quickly, no one had time to react at first. The three turned to help when the scream of a charger rent the air. Nick was already on the roof of a van headed to where Ellis was dangling and spun to see the charger come out of the door they'd recently come from on the balcony. It flew at Rochelle who was able to leap out of its way in time and Coach turned and dispatched it with three shots as it tried to regroup.

Assured of Rochelle's safety for the moment, Nick continued to Ellis. From his angle on the street he was finally able to see the smoker and nailed it in one clean shot. It released Ellis who fell several feet to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Rochelle had, in the meantime, managed to get down on the street near Ellis and ran to him. "Sweetie! Are you okay?" she asked, concern flooding her voice.

Ellis was still unable to talk, but nodded his head.

"You had me scared for-," Rochelle started, but the screech of a hunter cut her off. She looked up and locked eyes with the creature crawling towards her. She reached behind her for her gun but knew she'd be too late. It crouched in preparation to pounce.

"Hey, you ugly bastard!" Nick yelled from behind Rochelle.

Rochelle threw herself over Ellis as the hunter launched itself at them. It sailed over their heads and descended on Nick with a growl.

Rochelle spun immediately around and, with one shot, nailed it in the back of the head.

"Well, Goddamn, Annie Oakley!" Ellis rasped out, slowly getting to his feet.

Rochelle ran to Nick who was pushing the dead hunter off of him. "What the hell did you think you were doing?!" she yelled at Nick once she realized he wasn't hurt.

He looked at her in surprise at her tone. "Trying to save you!"

She stood looking down at him, anger welling up inside of her. "If trying to save me means trying to get yourself killed, don't do it again!"

"You want me to sit back and watch you get hurt?!" Nick exclaimed.

"I don't want you to die trying to save me! What do you think that would do to me?! If you die, it's going to kill me any way, so don't try a stunt like that again!" Rochelle snapped her mouth shut after that revelation and turned on her heel and went to stand by Coach, who was helping Ellis up. She therefore didn't see the slow smile that spread across Nick's face as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Everyone okay after that mess?" Coach asked. When everyone nodded, he continued. "Looks like we head this way." He motioned to their right. Both ends of the two blocks they were on were blocked by high fences, but at the one end was a sign pointing towards a jazz club as a "holding station". They made their way to the corner and ducked into the club.

It was dark due to the windows being boarded up and they found more infected wandering aimlessly amidst overturned tables and chairs. One stood by an upright piano on a small stage, constantly picking up and dropping its hand on the same few keys until Rochelle shot it. They could still hear bombing in the distance as they made their way upstairs to the pool hall above the club.

"Man, I love playing pool!" Ellis said as they maneuvered around the many tables, picking off infected as they appeared. "One time, my buddy Keith, well-he saw this downright beautiful girl trying to figure out how to play so he went up to her offered to show her how. Well, he got all excited when she said sure, so he was showing her how to hold the cue stick and all. She asked him how to line the shot up so he leaned over her and put his arms around her to help and she was all flirty with him. They must have played two or three games when she asked him to walk her to her car. Well, me and my other buddies thought Keith was set! But, a few minutes later, he comes back in with this queer look on his face. So I asked what happened? Well, you're not gonna believe this-but it turns out she was a he! Keith had asked her name and 'she' told him it was Billy and then showed him his hairy chest! We about rolled on the ground laughing! We teased him for months after that!"

Coach heaved a big sigh and Rochelle hid a smile behind a cough.

"Haven't heard a 'Keith' story in a while," Nick observed.

They got to the other end of the pool hall and found themselves at a broken set of stairs. There were plenty of boxes, however, so Coach and Ellis managed to jump to them in order to get down. Just as Rochelle was about to take her turn, a bomb hit too close for comfort. She staggered near the edge until Nick pulled her back to him. Pieces of ceiling rained down on them and Nick pushed Rochelle against the wall, shielding her with his body.

The explosion had only lasted a moment and they hadn't been hurt. Nick had wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him, but now he slowly pulled away, just enough to look at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, her arms still around him. They stood in that embrace for a moment, looking at each other, and Nick felt something inside of him give way. He locked eyes with hers and his hand came to her cheek, brushing away some dirt. His other arm, still wrapped around her waist, tightened and he pulled her closer. His eyes dropped to her mouth and then his lips found hers.

What started as a soft kiss nearly immediately deepened as Rochelle's mouth willingly opened to his. A small moan escaped her mouth, fueling Nick's desire as he pulled her even closer.

Rochelle felt him hard against her and her hands snaked up to the back of his neck, urging him closer. One hand buried itself in his hair, tugging lightly at it. The explosion of feelings coursing through her body were nearly overwhelming.

"You two okay?" Coach called up, unable to see them and worried by their silence.

Nick pulled away from her and hoarsely replied, "Yeah. Just brushing off." He turned back to Rochelle who was leaning against the wall, staring at him. He moved in and kissed her again, lightly on the mouth, and then looked at her. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time," he whispered to her.

"I've been wanting you to do that for a long time!" she said, a smile lighting up her face.

He laughed and said, "I think I'm in a lot of trouble."

They moved back to the top of the stairs and Rochelle hopped down on the broken boxes. Nick joined after and they moved out into the street on the other side of the blockade.

"I think we're getting closer to the river," Nick observed . "We're heading southwest so we should be able to see the water in another two blocks or so."

"You've been here before?" Rochelle asked.

"Yeah-a few times. It's always been a bit sleazy. Not the kind of place for someone like Ellis, that's for sure."

Rochelle laughed at that. "Why?"

"They'd take one look at his country boy face and rob him blind while he was standing in church."

"So I guess you don't like New Orleans much," Rochelle commented.

"Well, I am not going to die here, that's for sure."

They turned right off the alleyway they were in and delicately sidestepped a wandering witch. They made their way into the back entrance of a hotel and worked their way up to the third floor and out onto a balcony overlooking yet another courtyard.

"Is that the bridge over there?" Ellis asked, pointing across the courtyard in the near distance.

"I think so!" Coach exclaimed. "It can't be more than three or four blocks!"

"How do we get through this courtyard?" Rochelle asked. ALl the doors and windows were heavily boarded up on the first and second floors, but one house across the way had an open balcony. There was no way to get to that second floor, however. They looked around them, trying to figure out how to do it when Coach saw the float.

"What about that? If there's gas in the tractor, we can start it up and move it to that roof below. We could get across that to the next building."

"It's worth a shot," Rochelle said, taking a long look at the route Coach had described. They jumped down to the roof of the garage below and onto some scaffolding. Several infected were drawn to them and were dispatched.

"That tractor is gonna make a lot of noise when it starts up. I imagine we're in for a whole lot of company," Coach observed.

"Who's gonna go start it?" Ellis asked.

"I will," Rochelle replied.

"Wait a minute-," Nick started but she cut him off.

"I'm the smallest and fastest. I'll be down and back before you can count to ten. Besides, you guys can stay here and cover me," Rochelle insisted. "You're a better shot than me anyhow," she continued.

Nick frowned. "I don't like this."

"You don't have to. Just watch my back," Rochelle said. She kissed him quickly and before he could reply or kiss her in return, she was down below and running to the tractor.

"Damn infuriating woman!" he cursed and Coach smiled.

They covered her as she ran to the tractor and started it up. It slowly began moving towards the balcony across the way. It would hit the building next door and more than likely stop, spinning its wheels in place long enough for them to get across.

Rochelle made sure it was rolling in the right direction and then she ran like the wind across the courtyard to steps leading up to the balconies. Infected began swarming up over fences and out through doors and windows, drawn by the sound of the tractor. As she ran across the balconies, Nick's eyes never left her. He traced her progress, making sure no infected ever got too close to her. He was uneasy with her so far from him; anything could happen in that distance. But nothing did and she was soon back next to him. They were quickly surrounded by infected but most were forced to climb to them so it made it easier to pick them off. Within minutes of it starting up, the tractor was in place and the four of them launched themselves across the float and onto the balcony on the other side of the courtyard.

"Where are we now?" Coach asked, breathless from the fighting.

"Down the stairs and let's see if we can get out of the front of the house," Nick replied. "That should take us farther to the south."

Ellis moved back from the doorway where he'd been picking off infected and motioned to the corner of the room. "There's a pipe bomb over there. Someone should grab it. I'm pretty loaded down with stuff."

Coach grabbed it. "Good eyes, Son."

The four made their way down the stairs. They came to a back alley through which they made their way into the back of a store. It was there that they found more ammo. Restocking their supplies, Nick took a step outside onto the street. There were infected everywhere. It looked as though the virus had suddenly hit New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras.

"Coach-gimme your pipe bomb, will ya?" he asked. Coach passed it to him and everyone gathered round. "We ready?" As everyone nodded, Nick used his thumb to flip the cover over the arming switch and pushed the button. The tell-tale beeping started and he cocked his arm back to throw. Several infected had immediately turned upon hearing the noise. Before they could move towards them, though, Nick released the pipe bomb and watched as it sailed over so many heads. There was a brief pause and then what seemed like hundreds of infected swarmed around the flashing, beeping device. They tried stomping on it to make it stop, but to no avail. It didn't stop until the explosion that sent legs, arms, and torsos flying everywhere.

"Ugh! No matter how many times I see that happen, it's still horrible," Rochelle remarked.

They brought their guns up and began picking their way down the narrow street. As they got nearer to the end, Ellis turned to make a remark.

"Hey! Look at the name of this place! 'Gator's Speakeasy'. Sounds like a-"

But he was cut off when a massive explosion ripped through the building to their right, as yet another bomber flew overhead. All four staggered to the left and Nick went down on one knee.

"God dammit!" he cursed in frustration at no one in particular.

"Stop bombing us!" Coach yelled as well.

"You're bleeding, Nick," Rochelle observed, coming to him.

He stood up and looked at his hand where he felt a trickle of blood. "It's nothing. Just a scratch. No thanks to the military!"

Rochelle took his hand in hers and quickly wiped the blood from the cut with an alcohol pad from her med kit, assuring herself it was indeed just a minor cut.

Nick looked at her in bemusement and cocked an eyebrow. "Do I meet your approval?"

Rochelle threw her med kit over her shoulder and handed him the machete he'd dropped. "You're getting there," she quipped.

"Let's go. We can head through the bar. I want to get to that damn bridge," Coach said.

They made their way into the bar and found the back doors blocked.

"Let's try the stairs," Rochelle said.

They climbed quickly to the apartments above and made their way through encountering only a few infected and a spitter that was quickly killed.

"I don't see steps down, but we could jump across to the balcony over there. It's not that far. From there we can jump down to that generator and then the ground," Ellis offered.

They looked at the jump he was talking about, and Nick leaned in to Coach. "You think you can handle it?"

Coach nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't look too far. Just hope my knee holds out when I land."

Ellis had already jumped and was waiting for the others, taking aim at a few infected he could spot down below. "It wasn't bad," he called over. "I'll cover y'all as you come."

Nick motioned for Rochelle to go next. She leapt over with her gun in her hands and made it safe to the other side. "It really isn't bad," she repeated.

"You next, Coach," Nick urged.

Sighing heavily, he tossed his gun across to Ellis and backed up a few steps. Taking a running leap, he made it across, wincing slightly as he landed, but with no real issue. Before he could turn to check on Nick, he was next to him as well.

"You okay?" he asked and Coach nodded.

Ellis had jumped down to the ground and turned to call up. "Hey! I see the highway ramp to the bridge. We're only about two hundred yards away!"

"Thank Christ!" Nick commented, as they all joined Ellis on the ground.

Rochelle wiped the sweat out of her eyes and then looked up at the sky. "It's getting late. We're losing daylight quick."

"Let's get to the bridge and see where we are from there," Coach said.

They worked their way down the narrow back alleyway. There were more explosions, but they were farther off. It gave them hope that the military wasn't pulling out right away. If they missed yet another evacuation chance…

They came out of the alley into a CEDA dead end. They were under the ramp leading up to the bridge, but there were a few abandoned cars and an overturned bus there. Nick jogged under the overpass and looked down past the bus.

"Hey! I see a safe house in the base of the bridge. Let's go!"

The rest picked up the pace and joined him. "Shh! I hear a witch!" Rochelle cautioned. They looked ahead and saw her head as she paced back and forth near the door to the safe house.

"Shit! Do we try taking her out or try edging around her?" Ellis asked.

"She turned back around. Maybe we try sneaking past her?" Coach asked.

"I'll go first," Ellis offered.

"I think we should go in pairs," Rochelle said. "She can't get both at once."

"Makes sense," Coach agreed.

"Go with him, Coach," Nick urged. "We'll come next."

Coach and Ellis eased over some chunks of concrete and headed as far to the left as they could in order to steer clear of the witch. They got to the door of the safe house and Ellis was able to quickly open it and get inside without the witch so much as turning to look at them. Ellis motioned for Nick and Rochelle to make their run and Nick turned to Rochelle.

"You ready, Sweetheart?"

She flashed him a smile. "Yep."

He couldn't help himself. He leaned in and kissed her once, quickly. The look of surprise on her face was worth it.

"Ladies first," he urged.

They made their way towards the safe house, trying to avoid the witch. They were almost to the door when the unmistakable sound of a spitter reached their ears. The spit hit the ground directly in front of the door and forced Rochelle to jump back. Nick brought his gun to bear and picked off the special infected, but in doing so, agitated the witch. She started keening more loudly, interspersing her sobs with angry growls. The spit was taking forever to absorb into the concrete and there was no way they could jump across it. Additionally, more infected were coming from the the way they had come, drawn by the noise of the witch.

"Son of a bitch!" Nick cursed, trying to ease as far away from the witch as possible while grabbing his machete.

The infected were there on top of them and Nick started swinging. Rochelle joined him and then, over the sound of the increasingly agitated witch, Coach yelled, "All's clear! Get inside!"

"Go!" Nick commanded Rochelle. She hesitated for a second but knew she couldn't afford to argue with him. She ran to the safe house and then turned.

"Nick! Now!" she called.

He took one last swipe and turned to run. The witch let out a long howl and launched herself at Nick. He threw himself through the door, headfirst in a dive, and Ellis slammed the door on the witch's face and hands. She screamed again, hands and head trapped, until Coach took one swipe with his axe and took her head off at the shoulders. Ellis opened the door long enough to kick the head like a soccer ball and then slammed and locked the door.