Hey y'all. Thanks to Sonosublime for the lovely review with all the advice. Really appreciate it :) Thanks to those who also reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites list.
Here's chapter 10! Hope you like it!
It's Hard to Survive
Chapter 10
"What's happenin' to me…?"
Bill woke up feeling like he had a full night's sleep. He heard Coach snoring deeply in the bed next to him. Frowning slightly, Bill got up and went into the main room of the safe house. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.
Ellis sat in front of the safe room door, in the same place and position he was the night before. But that wasn't what stopped Bill. Ellis hadn't noticed him yet, so Bill looked over Ellis' features, his mouth slightly agape.
Ellis' hands were red and irritated. Black claws had started to replace his nails. He was rubbing his hands nervously. Even though Bill couldn't see his face, he could guess that Ellis was very nervous about this. Bill coughed loudly.
Ellis whipped his head around. Seeing that it was Bill, he quickly tried to hide his hands. Bill held up his own hand.
"Don't worry, I've already seen them," he said.
"Ya…ya have?" Ellis asked nervously.
"Yes, son," Bill replied. "Come here, let's take a look."
Ellis hesitantly came over and revealed his hands. Bill looked them over.
"This the reason you were up all night?" he asked.
Ellis nodded, wincing as another pain wave shot through his hands. Bill frowned.
"Well, son," he started, "I don't know what this is, but I'm guessing it has something to do with your…uh…condition."
Ellis nodded again.
"W-what 'bout the others?" he asked.
"Well, don't think you can keep this from them," Bill replied. "They're bound to figure out sooner or later."
Before Ellis could respond, a low groan emitted from the bed next to them. They looked towards the source of the noise and saw Nick stirring. They also heard movement coming from the other rooms. Bill faced Ellis again.
"You decide whether to tell them now or later, okay?"
"Kay."
Bill nodded and went back into his room to get ready to leave. Ellis looked over at Nick again to see him sitting up.
"Fuck…what happened?" he asked, rubbing his head.
"Uh, I don't really know, but from wha' the others told me, a Charger knocked ya out," Ellis replied.
"Huh? I don't remember being charged."
"Well, it didn't exactly charge ya. It hit ya really hard with its big arm."
Nick sighed and looked down. At that point, he noticed Ellis' hands for a brief second. His eyes widened.
"Hey, what's up with your hands?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh…nothin'." Ellis replied, quickly hiding his hands.
Nick frowned, not really believing Ellis, but dropped the subject. Last thing he needed was for the kid to freak out.
Everyone was eventually up and ready. They opened the safe room door and faced the entrance to the park. Ellis noticed a few clown zombies wandering about.
"Clowns? Clowns. Oh, you have got to be kiddin' me," he said.
Everyone chuckled, but stopped abruptly as one of the clowns noticed them and was running towards them. Its shoes squeaked with every step and soon, small groups of Commons were following close behind.
"That squeaking is driving the zombies crazy!" Nick yelled.
"Kill the clown!" Coach added.
As soon as all the zombies were killed at the entrance, the group continued through the park. Eventually they came across a banner saying 'KIDDIELAND.'
"Holy shit, guys. KIDDIELAND!" Ellis yelled happily.
Nick sighed.
"He's like a five-year-old, with guns. And a comprehensive grasp of every swear word in the English language."
"Ha, ha, ha," Ellis responded sarcastically.
Suddenly, the air filled with screams and howls.
"A horde's coming!" Louis yelled.
"Louis, we ain't dumb. We can hear them," Francis responded.
"Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, Francis. You'll aim better," Bill intervened.
"Hey, now that was uncalled for!"
"Shut it, guys!" Zoey interrupted. "Take your frustrations out on the horde, not each other!"
They nodded and stopped arguing. Zoey pulled out a pipe bomb.
"Fire in the hole!" she yelled, throwing the bomb right towards the horde.
About half of the horde stopped and changed direction. The rest still continued towards the survivors. But they weren't too worried, as they've fought many hordes before. They reloaded their guns and soon, the sound of gunfire filled the air.
After the horde was nothing than a pile of bodies on the ground, everyone sat down for a breather. Well, everyone except Ellis. He was still standing, panting heavily, his gun still right up to his chest. He then sighed and walked into the kitchen building nearby. Nick got up and followed him.
Nick found the boy in a corner, shaking uncontrollably. He walked to him.
"Ellis?" he asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
Ellis suddenly turned around, his eyes glowing a deep red. Nick jerked his hand away and took a step back. Ellis screeched and jumped, knocking Nick to the ground. Almost like a Hunter, Ellis used his claws and swiped at Nick's chest numerous times. Nick screamed and somehow knocked Ellis off. He got up and tried to run. But he wouldn't get far. He soon found himself on the ground again. But before Ellis could do anymore damage, a loud bang went off. All the blood lust suddenly disappeared from Ellis' eyes. He jumped off of Nick and cowered in the corner he occupied earlier.
"Nick! Are you alright?" Rochelle asked worriedly.
"Does it look like I'm alright?" he replied, gesturing to the bloody mess that was his chest.
"What happened?" Bill asked, but deep down, he already knew.
"Ellis fucking attacked me! That's what happened!"
"Ellis…attacked you?" Coach repeated, looking at the cowering creature in the corner. Now he could definitely see that it was Ellis. Good thing he fired a warning shot instead of shooting a fatal bullet at the offending creature.
Meanwhile, Ellis was looking at his hands. They were soaked with blood. Nick's blood.
'What have I done?' he thought.
He looked up and saw Zoey coming towards him.
"No, Zoey," he said. "Don't come near me."
"Ellis-"
Ellis dashed past her and sat at the door, stopping her mid-sentence. He looked at his teammates.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, before running out further into the park.
"Ellis, wait!" Zoey yelled. "Come back!"
But Ellis was gone, his speed now too fast for any of his teammates to catch up.
Zoey broke down, falling to her knees, tears falling from her eyes. Her friends let her have a moment.
After she cried for that moment, Bill came up and patted her shoulder.
"Come, Zoey," he said. "We have to go. Nick needs patching up and we need to be somewhere safer to do that."
Zoey nodded sadly and got to her feet. The group of now seven continued through the park. What they didn't notice was a pair of yellow eyes watching them from a nearby bush. The voice belonging to those eyes laughed evilly.
"Excellent. Now, with the kid gone, my plan can be put to action. Nothing can stand in my way now…"
I know it's short, but I wanted it to end there. Don't worry. I'll try to make my chapters longer :)
Extra: I know it's probably easy, but I want to see if y'all can guess who's eyes were watching the survivors...
I'm going to ask this question again, as no-one answered it a couple of chapters ago: Who should be Rochelle's boyfriend? Nick, Francis or Louis? (I've added Louis now) Please leave answers in reviews.
Please R&R!
Until next time
D-ZombieDragon