~Ellis~
The mechanic made his way swiftly towards the vessel ahead of him. He was so close to the small boat that he could read her name: Lagniappe. He turned his head quickly, thinking Nick was right behind him, but was horrified when he realized that the conman had gone under.
Ellis dove beneath the agitated surface, his eyes darting back and forth in an attempt to find Nick amidst the murky water. His thoughts became frantic and jumbled together as they swirled rapidly within his head.
His time under the bridge had been the worst in his young life. His former high school Coach was dead. The man's body had been so warm…if only he had found him two minutes earlier. And Rochelle- the last time he had seen her, they were both high up in the air, so close to each other yet so very far away. He remembered fondly how she had waved to him and blown him a kiss. Now he would never see her again.
Then there was Lily and her baby. Ellis would never be able to forgive himself for what he had done to them, and he felt even more guilty because he knew that if forced to relive the nightmare again, hell, if he had to go through it a thousand times, he would have chosen to save Nick over and over.
Selfish, you're so selfish.
Several zombies brushed past him as he pushed through the water. Fortunately, most of the monsters were unable to swim.
All of his life, Ellis had been anything but selfish. He had spent countless hours, and sacrificed much sleep, worrying in emergency hospital waiting rooms thanks to the foolish antics of his unfortunate best friend. He had even spent four months worth of his salary bailing Keith out of jail due to a late night incident with a goat. More recently, he had always volunteered to help his fellow survivors heal and gave away pain pills when he could have used them more, but the mechanic was never one to focus on his endearing qualities.
Ellis felt the first twinges of protest from his lungs, but ignored them upon catching the glimmer of Nick's suit. Thank God it was still white enough to stand out amidst the blue-green gloom. As he made his way over to Nick, the mechanic's thoughts returned to the bridge. Although it had been the worst moment of his life, it had also been the best.
After talking to Nick, he truly felt that the two of them had gotten closer.
As Ellis wrapped his arms around the helpless conman, his heart swelled almost to bursting. He surged towards the surface, propelled ever upward by his consuming love for Nick. Although he was certain the conman didn't- and never would- feel the same way towards him, he knew that Nick at least cared about him and perhaps even considered the boy to be his friend.
And that was damn good enough for Ellis.
Tears flowed from his eyes, immediately becoming one with the water around them. When he broke the surface, Ellis rolled onto his back and maneuvered Nick on top of him, hoping he would be able to keep the man afloat. It was exceedingly difficult to make it to the boat, but by some miracle, Ellis managed to hoist Nick aboard.
The boy's arms shook violently as he tried to lift himself onto the deck, but his strength was finally failing him.
"Are ya' alright Nick? I could use some help, buddy," he cried out weakly as he gripped the slick edge of the boat with his fingers while the current continued to tug at the rest of his body. He could hear Nick expelling the water from his lungs and was comforted that the conman was safe. The mechanic prepared to lift himself onto the boat again when he noticed something enormous approaching him.
The bloated corpse of a Boomer was rolling over the surface of the water like a beach ball, and it was headed straight towards him.
"Ah!" the noise escaped Ellis' throat as he failed once more to climb onto the boat. He wondered why the captain hadn't left his cabin to help them out.
Ellis' grip was faltering, and he knew Nick wouldn't be able to help him. The man was too exhausted and he seemed so terribly sick…the boy sobbed as he realized that he would no longer be around to take care of his friend.
"I LOVE YOU, NICK!" Ellis poured out everything that remained within him into those words, and was consumed with grief when an ill-timed rumble of thunder drowned them out.
The Boomer slammed into him with the force of a bowling ball, crushing Ellis against the side of the boat.
I love you, Nick. I love you, Nick.
The boy repeated the words as the current swept him away.
Ellis was spurred into consciousness by a steady pain in his head. He was lying on his belly at the bank of the river, his face partially submerged in a puddle of vomit and river water. The storm had passed, and patches of night sky were emerging from the swift departure of the clouds. Again a dull ache surged across his skull. It was then that Ellis heard the unmistakable cackle of a Jockey.
The little creature was striking his head repeatedly with its tiny fists. Ellis groaned as he found himself unable to move, frustrated that he would meet his end at the hands of a Jockey. He suddenly heard footsteps sloshing across the moist soil towards him, and closed his eyes wearily at the sight of more zombies approaching him.
As expected, they proceeded to pound him merrily. Ellis winced and moaned as they struck his already broken body, and could see the blood trickling into the mud from his mouth and out of the corners of his eyes. For whatever reason, he rolled onto his back and stared up at his tormentors. Perhaps they could finish him off more quickly this way.
Give up.
The dark words, implanted in his head so very long ago emerged once more.
There were many more zombies than he had realized, and he could barely see the sky behind the flurry of arms and legs swiping at him. He chose to focus on a small patch of darkness just above his head.
Your life is meaningless.
The boy was vaguely aware of a rumbling that shook the ground beneath him.
"Tank." He coughed out the word knowingly.
Never before had Ellis felt so utterly alone as he stared up at the moonless, starless void. His eyes glazed over and he stopped feeling pain. He imagined himself floating away from his body, oh how he wished that he could just fly away.
The floating sensation continued, and Ellis imagined himself hovering over the water.
"Don't leave me."
The boy wasn't sure where the voice had come from. It was barely above a whisper…had he spoken them? He did however, catch a glimpse of something wondrously white out of the corner of his vision.
"Nick…" he murmured, not fully conscious.
~Nick~
The conman hobbled towards the water with the mechanic in his arms. This section of the river was quite shallow, and he was able to tread unsteadily most of the way towards the waiting Lagniappe- his ravaged back serving as a flimsy shield for the boy as the zombies shredded it in fury, lifting the flesh and tearing at the underlying muscles.
Bullets whizzed past his head, silencing most of the monsters.
"SHIT! LOOK OUT!" the owner of the gun screamed in sheer terror.
"UUUGH!" A log as thick as his own body slammed into Nick's back, hurling both him and Ellis into the water. Captain Virgil dropped his assault rifle, jumped into the shallow water, and grabbed Nick.
The Tank was nearly at the water's edge.
"Get the boy!" the conman screamed.
"I can't see 'im! We tried sir, but that thing's comin'! We gotta' go!"
Nick frantically tried to shake himself from Virgil's grip.
"I SAID GET HIM, GOD DAMN YOU!"
Virgil promptly dropped Nick and moved away from him. The conman withdrew his pistol and aimed at the galloping Tank. He only had ten shots left. With hulking shoulders, rippling muscles, and a ridiculously tiny head, this monstrosity was like every other Tank he had fought. Nick wasn't afraid- he would take it down just like all the others.
"Over here motherfucker!" he screamed as he fired at the beast.
Nick flew through the air and landed on the deck of the ship from the force of the Tank's blow. He gasped in agony as his ribs dug into his lungs with every breath and found himself completely paralyzed from the neck down. He closed his eyes in utter defeat.
The next thing he knew, Nick was lying on his back on a small bed in the cabin of the boat. He turned his neck painfully to his left to see Ellis' face, not two inches from his own. The young man was asleep on his side next to him with his arm draped across the conman's chest. He studied the mechanic's face for a while. The swelling from the beating he had given him was gone, replaced by small streaks of dried blood on his cheeks and the blue iridescence of bruising over his eyes.
Nick tried to place his hand on the young man's forehead but remembered with much anxiety that he was unable to move. Panic gripped him and his heart resumed its painful, labored pace. He knew what was happening to him, and although he didn't want to disturb the boy, he didn't want to be alone when it happened.
"Ellis." He whispered.
The boy's brow furrowed as he stirred.
"Hi, Nick." The tears instantly started to flow from Ellis' eyes as he opened them and saw the conman's face- a face whiter than his suit on the day the man had stolen it.
"Hey, Overalls." Nick's words remained just above a whisper. Projecting his voice any louder required far more energy than he possessed, and he needed to save enough to tell the young man everything that needed to be said.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Ellis…for everything. I mean it."
"No need ta' 'pologize Nick," the boy sniffled.
The momentary silence was deafening.
"I'm on my way out, Overalls."
"No."
The word had the tone of a direct order as it flew out of the mechanic's mouth, slapping Nick in the face with it's blunt harshness. The conman smiled.
"Since when do you boss me around, kid?"
"We're gonna patch you up, Nick. Everything's gonna be fine. Just don't say stuff like that, ok?"
"I think I liked you more when you were being pessimistic. That Tank really screwed me up. My insides are…I don't even want to think about it, but there's nothing you can do, Ellis. There's nothing anybody can do…"
"Stop talking Nick!" The boy lifted himself wearily into a seated position, "I told you not ta' say stuff like that. Save your strength."
"Again with the orders. How is it that even now you still manage to piss me off?" Nick began to cough violently and blood spurted from his mouth.
Ellis' body shuddered as he sighed and rested his head in his hands.
The conman's words became increasingly weak and halting.
"Listen to me Overalls. I'm putting… this bluntly because I have to. I'm dying- that's a fact. The sky is blue…Boomer's are fat…Spitters are ugly…Jockeys are perverts…and I'm dying." Nick smiled weakly, clearly amused at himself.
The boy wasn't having any of it.
"What the fuck, Nick? Makin' jokes when I'm fallin' to pieces!" the mechanic screamed.
Nick closed his eyes and smiled inwardly. Although he had failed horribly at making the boy smile, he had succeeded in pissing him off. Happy Ellis and angry Ellis were easy to handle, but he didn't know if he could hold his own against sad Ellis…not this time. He was bracing himself.
"Ellis, shut up for a second…cuz I'm only gonna say this once- literally. If I didn't think I was going to die, I wouldn't be telling you this."
The boy obeyed and calmed down, laying next to Nick once more.
"Ellis…you are the most annoying person I have ever met…but you're also the kindest, purest person I've ever met. The only reason I even made it this far…is because of you…not just because you've saved my ass more times than I can count…but because you were able to see past all the bullshit…cuz you cared enough about a worthless asshole like me…God damn it…God damned zombies…"
Nick's vision became blurry.
"I'm glad everyone turned inta' zombies," Ellis said softly as he began to tremble.
"What?"
"I said, I'm glad everyone turned inta' zombies!" The boy began sobbing uncontrollably as he buried his face into Nick's neck.
"I'm glad the whole world's gone ta' hell! Cuz if it didn't, I woulda' never met you! You made all of this shit worth it, Nick! You can't leave me! Please don't leave me all alone!"
A tear trickled down the conman's face.
"Jesus Christ, Ellis…you're torturing me worse than any zombie ever did. I don't want to leave you…damn it… that's the last thing I want to do right now…"
"I love you, Nick. I was scared ta' tell you, but I'm not scared no more."
"Ellis I know. I knew you loved me since we were back at the carnival…I just didn't know how to handle that…I guess I was scared too."
Nick started to breathe heavily, clearly in distress. Ellis squeezed him tightly.
The conman's arm began to tremble as he struggled to make it move. He was close, so horribly close to the brink now, and the thought of dying was terrifying him.
"Overalls…hold my hand."
Instantly his hand was enveloped by Ellis'.
"I wish my ex-wife loved me as much as you do…hell, I wish my parents loved me as much as you do…Ellis? Ellis?"
"I'm still here, Nick."
"I can't see you…I can't see…"
"I'm still here. Still here."
The conman's final words were so quiet that Ellis wasn't completely sure that he heard them correctly.
"Ellis…you're a God damned…inbred…son of a…bitch….but I love you."
Nick's face relaxed as the last of his breath escaped from his lungs.
Ellis sat on the deck of the Lagniappe with Nick's head in his lap, watching the sun rise over New Orleans. The sight was overwhelmingly beautiful.
"You were right, Nick. We made it." The boy's voice was tiny as he peered down at the man's motionless face.
Virgil made his way onto the deck and placed his large hand on Ellis' shoulder.
"You ready, son?"
"Yeah."
Virgil lifted Nick's body and carried him onto the dock, Ellis following slowly behind them. The port was barricaded by large gates with barbed wire strung along the top. Ellis tried to ignore the rotting flesh caught within the barbs.
"This looks like a good spot," Virgil suggested, as he laid Nick gently on the ground. He then gathered some wood, newspapers, and various other flammable materials and arranged them into a makeshift pyre. Before placing Nick on top, he turned to Ellis and spoke softly.
"You wanna keep his suit?"
"Nah. That suit's too good fer' me…he's the only one cool enough ta' wear it." The devastation was all too apparent in the boy's voice.
Virgil stepped onto the ship and came back with a container of fuel. He poured a tiny amount onto the pyre.
Ellis knelt down in front of his fallen friend.
"You were the most awesome, badass, amazin' person I have ever met…the only man I ever truly loved. Thank you so much." Ellis buried his face in his hands.
"Excuse me son. May I say somethin'?" Virgil asked.
"A'course you can," Ellis replied, wiping his eyes.
Virgil cleared his throat.
"That man was the craziest, bravest son 'a bitch I eva' seen. Threatened ta' strangle me ta' death if I didn't turn the boat around ta' getcha." Virgil chuckled when he saw the small smile creep across Ellis' face.
"And before I could even stop the boat, he jumped out ta' save ya' even though he could barely stand up on his own. That man musta' cared about you somethin' fierce. Were ya'll brothers?"
Ellis liked that idea a lot.
"Yeah. Nick was my brother," he replied, choking out the words.
"I'm sorry fo' your loss."
"Thank you, kindly."
Virgil lit the pyre and walked back onto to boat as Ellis stared at the consuming flames. He watched for hours as Nick slowly rose up into the sky.
When the fire finally burned itself out, Virgil emerged from the boat with a silver locket in his hands. He walked over to Nick's ashes and placed a small amount into the locket before handing it to Ellis.
"Belonged to my wife. I want you ta' have it now."
"Wow, thank you so much." Ellis put the locket around his neck and tucked it under his shirt.
"Listen, son. You seem like such a good kid. I'd hate ta' see you wander off into this city by your lonesome. Why not stay with me and see if we can rescue some more folks?"
Ellis pondered the offer for a while. With Nick gone, he honestly didn't know what to do with himself.
"What should I do, Nick?" he whispered.