I don't own Left 4 Dead 2.

Putting in some votes I almost forgot about from a while ago.

Warning: There is gore in this. As in organs. It is a zombie story after all.

Nick/Ellis romance: 8

Nick/Ellis friendship (No romance): 5

Changing my mind. Votes will end on chapter 13 so get your votes in.

no new votes yet.

A/N: Actually, I had an idea. Instead of voting on whether or not this becomes a romance, what do you all think if I add two versions of this. One romance and one Friendship? I will post which is which in the name of course. Majority will tell. I need to know soon people because I have no idea how I will have things go yet.

Chapter 10

"What'cha readin' Nick?" Ellis asked as he slung himself on the back of the old broken couch that Nick was currently residing on. Nick had found a book earlier and once the four survivors made it to the nearest safe room, he didn't hesitate to open it. Quickly flashing the cover to the younger man, Nick resumed reading. Ellis smiled widely, teeth shining brightly.

"Star Trek? Didn't know you were a sci-fi kind of man." Ellis joked, poking Nick in the head teasingly. The conman shrugged and slapped the offending finger away, still reading. "I'm not," he answered bluntly. "But this one has my attention."

Clicking his tongue, Ellis just watched as the older man read the book. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. "You know, you should have seen th' movie. I liked it better than th' book." He stood back up to full height off the couch. "I know what's gonna happen but I ain't gonna spoil it for ya'. Ya' know, Keith an' I grew up with Star Trek. That show helped me get good grades in school." Ellis knew he was bragging, but he was so proud of that fact. Nick chocked out a laugh, his eyes never leaving the pages of the book.

"You getting good grades? Will wonders never cease. Next, you'll be telling me that you wore a dress to a tea party." The snide comment Nick made caused the proud smile Ellis had to fall into a frown. Saying nothing, Ellis looked at the cover of the book then back to Nick. Brows furrowing angrily,he said:

"Spock dies." bluntly. Walking to the room's exit, he turned back to Nick's shocked glare and stated "An' the dress I wore to my five year old niece's tea party was very pretty and the party was invite only." Then he left with a huff to find Coach and Rochelle.

Growling, Nick slammed the book closed and threw it across the room, hearing it hit the floor with a loud slap, angry at the fact that the hick had spoiled it for him. Yet, despite that, he found himself staring at the doorway with a warm smile.

"You told me he was dead, Nick!" Ellis blubbered, heart broken, eyes glancing accusingly at the conman, Nick bared his teeth. "He was when I saw him. Something strange is going on."

"Butterfly effect Nick. They talk about it in a lot of sci-fi movies." Ellis responded, eyes still shining with tears threatening to spill. The older man snorted. "Tell me later, Kid." He growled, throwing up as he faced Jimmy Gibbs Jr.

This was like no infected Nick had seen before. Wiping his mouth from the vomit he expelled, He groaned ad Ellis soon did the same. This monstrosity seemed slow but as evidence from earlier experience, it might have the strength of a tank. That was something that Nick was not willing to test. It was obvious that they alone could not take this thing down easily and they needed to get out of there. But fear had frozen his body for he could not even will his own legs to move. As the beast got closer, it made a grumbled noise that sent the man in white to Ellis' death. It was like he was there again, watching helplessly as his friend got crushed; screaming for help as he tried to get his leg out of a whole it was trapped in.

"Nick-Move!" Blinking, Nick was back in the present; right in the monster's path. He was back just in time for him to notice a large wooden beam heading his way and Ellis running right up to him. He could feel the kid pick him up, felt an arm swoop his legs being lifted off the ground and the mechanic holding onto him tightly, running forward and avoiding the beam as it landed on the corpse, both beam and body splattering into many pieces as they connected. All this had happened so quickly that Nick's brain couldn't keep up with what had happened, so he could only blink in reaction.

With the stunned man in his arms, Ellis had bolted past the monster through the opening the stupid thing had left open to them and around the corner where he tripped over a broken piece of brick and they both go tumbling to the concrete floor. They landed in a heap; Nick calling out as he landed on his casted right arm and his ribs aching in protest. Groaning, he forced himself into a sitting position as Ellis got off him to scramble around the hall, searching for the gun he had dropped from his back and his sword.

"Damn it! I dropped my katana!" He cried, patting his hips down, trying to hunt for something that was there. Feeling something in his pocket, he relaxed a little bit but not completely. Patting his back, he went back to searching. "My gun! My gun ain't here! It was on my back, now it ain't!" Nick responded by swearing under his breath, pushing himself to his feet, grabbing his torso as it throbbed painfully with his good arm. Once again, the suffocating feeling was back. He couldn't breathe well.

"Ellis." He groaned through his teeth, gaining the mechanic's attention. "There's a magnum strapped to my thigh." He stated while he indicated to his right leg with his head. "Problem is, I'm right handed. I need you to get it and use it for me." He was panting for air now. Looking the panicked man in the eyes, he pleaded, "And for God's sake, don't you dare drop it!" Ellis nodded, ignoring the awkwardness of how close they were as he untangled the gun from Nick's gun holster on his thigh. Standing back up, the mechanic checked the gun's ammo slots, pouring the bullets in his shaky hand before looking back up to Nick with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't suppose you have more bullets in that suit of yours, Mr. Fancy Suit?" He asked numbly. Nick snorted and shook his head. "No I don't. So you only have three shots. Make them count."

"I only count two." Ellis blurted, reloading the gun with the bullets. The conman scowled. "Yeah, whatever. Make them count."

It wasn't long after he said that, there was the groan of the monster that was obviously hunting them but with it's poor eyesight, could not spot Ellis, sadly Nick would stand out clearly with his suit. "We should get moving." Ellis whispered, breathing heavily. The other man nodded. "Agree and fast. That thing may be strong but it's slow as fuck." He paused and smirked at the hick who stared back bewildered. "I should rephrase that. Fucking isn't exactly slow."

"We're bein' hunted and you're makin' a joke!" Nick raised his hand in defeat. "Fine, fine. Kid. Let's hurry out of here." Ellis shook his head and forced a small smile. "Well, follow me ifn' your ol' bones can keep up." And off Ellis went, down the only path they could go. Snorting at the jab, Nick followed after, doing what he could with what his ribs would allow him. Coach had told him to avoid running if he could for his ribs to heal, but this wasn't one of those moments.

It wasn't long before Nick realized that they had gotten separated but they had lost the infected that had once been Jimmy Gibbs Jr. Downside was, Ellis had his gun. Nick was helpless and alone. Gulping, he slowed to a stop, panting as he looked around the hallway and the empty stores of the mall, looking for any sign of where the younger man had gone. Two decisions came to his mind. There were the normal infected there but they didn't seem to pay him any mind. He could risk them spotting him if he called out for Ellis, or he could sneak around and hopefully find his way back to the safe room unnoticed.

Deciding not to take the risk of alerting the few infected there, he chose to skulking around but first, he needed a rest. Going behind a sideways turned shelf, he sat and panted, hoping the pain he was feeling would flee from him soon or hopefully dull away. He bit his lip as he leaned against it, clutching his torso. What he'd give for a weapon and a health pack right about now. Panting, he rested his head back against the shelf, taking short yet slow breaths of air. He had gotten a rhythm of breathing going and was close to falling asleep when there was a growl. Hearing the unmistakeable sound of a nearby hunter, he sat up right, scanning the surrounding darkness for the infected. Glancing to the left, he saw nothing but darkness; same way on the right side.

Slowly getting up into a crouch, it was then, he found himself flattened on his back with a hunter on top of him, claws held high. He could only hold up his good arm, the one in the cast was tangled between his side and the hunter's leg. He could see that ugly face under the dark hood sneer and scowl as a growl and a roar came from it's sharp toothed mouth. As the infected clawed into him, Nick screamed helplessly as the monster tore into his body. His arm waving around, doing what it could to get the monster to stop. As blood soaked his suit, he wondered if this was how his counterpart felt as he was being killed and torn open. Screaming in pain for help that would never come. To know that he would die and die alone by some monster.

He was beyond thinking. Now acting on instinct, he grabbed the thing by it's face, It only stopped to grab his hand and bite down, yanking his head away, taking his ring finger with it, bone and all. He never thought the pain would end. All those times he had been pounced by hunters, not one of them dared to bite off a body part. But then again, everyone was quick enough to free the one down that no one had time to experience that pain. Oh, but he was. A shot rang out and the hunter paused, stiffening, blank face. Fresh blood soaked Nick's agonized face as he held his bloody hand to his chest, crying as the pain seared. Another shot rang out and blood soaked on the hunters hoodie; splattering more on Nick's face before the infected fell to the side, dead.

"Nick?!" It was Ellis. The kid was always saving him. Had Nick not been crying, he would have stated loudly that it was supposed to be in reverse. The magnum clattered to the ground as Ellis knelt down beside him and lifted him, holding the conman close. "I'm so sorry, Nick!" Ellis was crying with him now. "I thought you were righ' behind me! I looked for you, I swear I did."

"Ellis," Rochelle was there behind the mechanic, blocking Nick's view of her. "Sweetie, we need to get him back to the safe room. It's not safe out here." Slowly, Ellis nodded, picking up Nick, hearing the conman's cries become muffled in Ellis' shirt.

Nick didn't know when they had gotten back to the safe room, but he did remember the pain as Coach did what he could to clean his hand and bandage him up really well, doing what little he could to keep the conman from bleeding out. All the while, he was yelling at them.

"Of all the stupid stunts you could have pulled! Nick could have died out there, boy! You could have as well! I specifically told yo not to go out alone! With Nick being incapacitated, he was the last one you should have dragged out there! Now look at him! Broken arm, cracked ribs, concussion, and now he's missing a finger along with gaining some new scars!" Ellis just suffered this lecture with his head down, tears dripping from his face like some beaten puppy.

With a sigh, Coach rubbed his face with his hand and gave the mechanic a one armed hug. "Listen, Ellis. You're not the only one in trouble here. Nick is too. And right now, he's paying for it. We are all we have. I worry about you all. That's why I yelled like I did. I don't want to lose any of you, you know that?" Ellis nodded, sniffing as he looked up with blood shot eyes.

"Nick will be alright, right?" He asked, risking a glance to the injured man on the couch. "He will be fine. But it's going to be difficult getting out of here now and we're low on resources. We'll soon have to leave and quickly. We need to find that car and refill it. The sooner we get out of here, the better all of us, especially Nick, will be." Ellis nodded and Coach removed his arm.

Rochelle came over to the two, a few left over bandages in her hand. "This is all we have left, dad. I think we should leave in a few hours." Ellis' eyebrow rose to his forehead. "Bu' Nick is hurt! We can't go anywhere."

"We don't have a choice." Coach responded, making Ellis look at him in protest. "Don't worry, we're not leaving him. But he can't walk now. You're going to have to carry him the first few ways and I can take over shortly afterward. But we'll need to move once Nick's awake." The eldest one there took the bandaged from Rochelle and wrapped them back up and patted Ellis on the shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll stay up tonight to watch over us."

Ellis slept on the floor beside Nick, who was jolting in his sleep from muscle memory.

A/N: WOW! Done