Deep End – Chapter Three

"Safe room up ahead!" Nick called out, pointing to the signature symbol that was spray-painted onto a tree trunk. "Let's hope this one doesn't have any drugged food."

"At least we got eats," Ellis said. He pulled out the small cooler that held our water bottles and food, courtesy of Johnny and Dolly. "Man I don't want to starve ever again."

"Amen," I murmured. A few days ago our situation had seemed bleak. While we had successfully escaped from Dave, it seemed that we would only end up starving to death. I knew we all owed our lives to the couple, and I hoped that they were now with their daughter.

Dave, frankly, could go to hell.

Francis steered the boat closer to the riverbank and Ellis jumped off to tie the rope around a nearby trunk. The rope was a bit short, but Ellis made do. Francis passed the cooler to Ellis, who then led the way to the safe room.

Francis rested his shotgun on his shoulder, while Nick and I walked up the riverbank. My arms were still tired from swinging the axe and fighting off the Mudmen, but Nick's massage helped a bit. I glanced at him and smiled a little.

To be honest, I never thought that I'd end up with a guy I met a bar. Okay, so it was a bar in a military cruise ship, but still, it was a bar. Plus he used to be a conman, a gambler, and a player. That last part wasn't really an attractive option – I mean, who'd want to be with someone who slept around? – but something told me that there was more to Nick than just being what my dad would describe as "not good enough."

Maybe he became a ladies' man because someone cheated on him in the past. Or maybe it was because he just wasn't ready to settle down yet.

I thought you were focused on getting to Utopia, a voice in my head said. And now you're analyzing this relationship you're having with Nick. What gives?

I shook that thought away, but I knew it to be true. Maybe it was because we both had come so close to death, we realized that we may not have a lot of time left together. I mean we couldn't dictate how long we wanted to live, right?

It's not like there was an immortality serum or anything.

"I can't move, help!"

I heard Ellis's frantic scream and Nick and I rushed forward, guns raised. A Smoker was standing beside the safe room and had its slimy dirty pink tongue wrapped around Ellis. Francis cocked his shotgun and fired twice, killing the Smoker.

Ellis dropped to the ground coughing. "Yuck, Smoker tongue," he said, removing the disgusting Infected appendage from around his chest and waist.

"Bet Smokers are popular with the lady zombies," Nick said sardonically, smirking. "They have that huge long tongue and everything."

"Now that ain't funny Nick," Ellis said, frowning.

Nick just shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Come on, what are we standing around for? Let's get inside that fucking safe room!"

Ellis stepped over the body of the Smoker and went inside. Nick and I followed; the conman shut the door behind him with a loud bang.

"Veeeeeery smooth," Francis said, crossing his arms. "Try closing that door again, Colonel Sanders. There may be some Infected a few more kilometers away that didn't hear you close it the first time."

"Hey, it slipped, okay?" Nick replied defensively.

Francis snorted. "Yeah right."

It felt like ages since we were in a safe room; the last one really fucking sucked. I didn't blame Francis for scrutinizing the boxes of items that had been stacked on one end of the wall. Most of these were clothes that smelled like Boomer bile, plus a few broken items like a pipe bomb and an empty first aid kit.

Ellis had brought a map with him from the boat, and he spread it over a desk and began to study it. "This here says that we just have to follow the river and we'll end up at Bradbury. It ain't far from New York, so we can just get a car and drive there."

"Hold up. That plan has so many flaws, I don't even know where to start." Nick leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "First, you do know that New York is a hot spot for Infected, right? That there may be thousands of those fucktards crawling the streets? We can't just get a car and drive through the fucking city!"

"The sewers," I said, standing beside Ellis and shooting Nick a warning look. "We don't have to go to the city itself. We can go to my dad's old office building from the sewers. I know for a fact that the building was evacuated the day the outbreak hit; I don't think there's going to be a lot of Infected in there."

"Sounds like a plan," Francis said, nodding. "I would have suggested that myself, but you beat me to it."

"Sewers." Nick looked revolted at the thought of wading through excrement and muck.

"Afraid you'll get your suit messed up, Nick?" I teased. "It's not white anymore, just in case you were wondering."

"Don't remind me," Nick said grumpily.

"If we pass by Armani I'll get you a new one," I told him. "There's a store near my dad's old office building where he used to buy his suits."

Nick glanced down at his suit. "Nah, I'm good."

I forced back a smile and helped Francis, who was already chewing a sandwich, take out some food. Dinner was a quiet affair; Ellis and I spent time poring over the map and deciding the best course of action.

"But yeah, I think we can take a car, stop right here, slide down the canal, and enter the drainage system," Ellis said, pointing at the map. "How far is the building?"

I pointed to a spot a few inches from where Ellis's finger was.

"Oh, guess it's pretty doable. I mean me and Nick have been through a sewer before-"

"Do you have to keep bringing that up?" Nick interrupted. "That shit's getting old."

"-back in Rayford," Ellis continued, as if Nick hadn't spoken. "So going through one again is going to be easy as pie."

"Well at least we have guns now," I said. "If only we had laser sights. It'd make my shooting more accurate."

So we had a plan. It wasn't a completely foil-proof plan, but so far we'd been able to muddle through somehow.

Someone up there must definitely love us, I thought.

That night Nick and I went on the first shift. Francis kept dropping heavy sexual hints, which I simply brushed off. I wasn't going to succumb to Nick's charms – yet – and I hoped he'd take the hint. Try as I might, I found it increasingly hard to stay away from him, and even harder to keep my hands off him.

You. Are. In. An. Infected. Area, I kept reminding myself whenever I felt the urge. Keep your mind off "it" and more on killing the Infected!

I hoped I wasn't making a spectacle of myself, and I wondered if Nick would find me too…clingy if I told him I just wanted to be with him.

Nick and I took our normal positions near the safe room door. Nick placed his assault rifle beside him, while I held my sniper rifle. Every now and then I looked through the scope and checked for any Infected. Several passed through my firing range, but I resisted the urge to pull the trigger.

We'll deal with them tomorrow, I thought. Francis would probably like that.

"I still think the plan's shit," Nick murmured after Ellis and Francis had slept.

"Is it because we're going to go through a sewer?" I joked. "There's no other way, Nick. Like you said, New York's too infested. We won't last long in there, especially if we run into Tanks."

Nick didn't reply.

Finally, I asked: "Nick, what was your life like? You know, before…before all this?"

"Why do you want to know? To check how many women I've been with before you?" Nick replied roughly.

I flinched. It wasn't that; I just wanted to know him better. But he obviously wasn't willing to completely open up yet, so I let it slide.

For a few seconds.

"No, I just want to know you better. You're the only one in this group I don't completely know, Nick," I said. "And I'm-" – good God, I was even starting to sound clingy – "-your girlfriend. I think I have a right to know what, or who, my boyfriend used to be before we met."

Nick frowned. Before he could say anything, however, I cut him off.

"But obviously you don't feel comfortable about talking about it," I said. "It's fine. I can deal."

I hopped down from the desk where we were sitting and went over to the cooler, stepping over Ellis as I did so. Snagging a water bottle, I twisted the cap and took a long drink. When I turned around, Nick was standing right behind me.

Without a word, he took my hand and pulled me back towards the door. I was surprised when he lifted the bar, opened the door, and led me outside, shutting the safe room door as quietly as he could.

"Nick, what are you doing?" I hissed, glancing back at the safe room. "We need to stay inside!"

Nick raised a finger to his lips and took out his machete, slamming it into the throat of an Infected that was vomiting up copious amounts of blood on the base of a tree nearby. He then continued to dispatch the rest of the Infected that were milling nearby before walking back to me.

"I don't like being interrupted when I'm talking," he said, slinging the machete on a makeshift sheath on his back. "Nor do I like having women ask me about my past. It's the fucking past, and it should stay that way."

I gulped. Great. I had pissed him off.