This One Time
Nick x Ellis
L4D2

Nick didn't know why he had offered to take the first shift to watch for zombies as the rest of his team slept. First off, he had been awake for about two days already, but for some reason instead of feeling his eyes close, he felt disgustingly awake. The con man kept his eyes trained on the zombies meandering aimlessly along the street, nothing but vacant stares and occasional growls of hunger. Nick raised his gun and fired the rifle, taking out one of the undead fuckers that were coming a little too close to the safehouse for Nick's liking. He could hear tons of them out there. Sure, there were just six left in sight, but Nick could just tell that there were more out there.

Nick let out an irritated scoff as he realized he was out of bullets. If this sort of thing had happened earlier, where he forgot to reload before an attack? He'd be dead. No questions asked. Nick frowned as he raised the rifle quickly, turning and getting a good shot and firing. The bullet went through one zombie's head and into another, but didn't quite kill the second one. The zombie made a strange confused sound before it turned, blindly reaching for something.

"-Here, Nick."

"HOLY SHIT-!" Nick jumped, letting out a yell as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Nick's yell of surprise turned to anger as rapidly as he face settled back into his usual cynical expression, his eyes settling on Ellis with realization and frustration. "Jesus Fuck, Ellis. Can't you let me know next time before you pop up like that? You see this gun in my hand?" Nick complained, gesturing at what Nick just realized was a box of bullets.

Nick held back another groan as he took the offered ammunition from the mechanic. He opened the box and reloaded the rifle, opting to focus on killing off the zombies outside rather than on berating Ellis anymore.

"Shit, Nick. I'm sorry, I kinda thought you saw me, to be honest." Ellis sheepishly apologized, watching as Nick focused his attention outside, unsure before he tried to let him focus. "I couldn't sleep, so i figured I'd come down here."

Nick quickly set his sights on the zombie he had yet to finish off, watching it claw at air with gnashing teeth. Nick frowned as he watched the zombies across the street. They weren't a threat yet, but Nick could picture getting a hoard in the middle of the night. He could picture the way the zombies would attack and eat the team, and Nick found himself shaking the mental thought away physically, before aiming again.

Nick stood there silently before he began to shoot at another zombie. And another. And another. Ellis could see the final show when Nick aimed for a zombie along the roof down the street.

"Nick? I don't think it's a good idea to let 'em know we're here, ya know?" Ellis tried to suggest lightly. Nick had a serious expression on his face, something a little different from the usual attitude Nick liked to show people.

"You know what? Ellis? Gosh, You're just such an expert-" Nick spoke sarcastically, thrust thee side of the rifle against Ellis' chest, making the mechanic set a foot backwards to catch himself from teetering off balance, "-You take over. Go on ahead. 'Cause i bet you anything, if there was someone who would fuck this up and let some kind of monster in here? It'd be you." Nick said scathingly as he walked past a rather upset Ellis. The mechanic seemed hurt at first, his eyes searching the absent spot as if he could figure out what he could have done to set him off. Then, a look of determination appeared on his face.

"What the hell's your problem?" Ellis didn't waste any time cutting this bullshit off, and quick. "You were fine earlier! Hell, you were having a grand ol' time singing with that kids toy."

Nick scowled, turning back to Ellis. "It was a music player Ellis, and Rochelle was showing me it only had this TLC song on it." Nick defended himself quickly, feeling his ego in danger as Ellis began to look more annoyed.

"That's not even the point! I'm talking about you being all pissed off at me for no reason!" Ellis sighed, "I get that you wanna kill all those sons a bitches off ut there, but you can't do it if you're half conscious, Nick. You've prolly been awake about two days straight now!"

Nick rolled his eyes, "I'm fine to take watch, Ellis. I could probably outshoot you, even with two days of no sleep."

Ellis looked at Nick and smiled slightly, "Outshoot me?" He repeated quizzically but then seemed interested, "Well, if yer gonna be up all night firing bullets anyway, might as well help your sleepy ass out with actually hitting the zombies." Ellis chuckled.

Nick rolled his eyes once again. "Great, whatever gets you to stop talking so much." He raised the rifle back in sight of across the street, and could hear the sound of Ellis lifting his own gun as well. Nick looked up from his sigh and Ellis caught the uncertain glance Nick gave Ellis' hands, as if making sure Ellis wasn't pointing the gun at him. Nick's eyes flew from Ellis, and back towards the zombies further down the street.

Ellis' eyebrows drew together in concern, "Nick?..."

Nick was already back to looking down the scope, shushing Ellis briskly before he pulled the trigger, a shot blasting through the bars of the door. As Nick watched through the scope, another fell to the concrete with a hard flop and a splatter. Nick could barely hear Ellis over the sound of scratching, growling, unconscious shuffling, and teeth, of every type of zombie he could imagine. Any moment, it could be it.

"What?" He asked sharply, turning his head to glare towards Ellis.

Ellis only looked up at Nick, giving a small uneasy shrug, "I just-... Are you okay?" He asked after some hesitation. "Normally, I'd just try n' rib you back, but... You seem like somethin's up. It could just be me, but..." Ellis dragged off once Nick put a hand up.

"Stop. Stop, stop." Nick shook his head, a palm between them defensively, "You do realize were on watch for zombies, right? Yeah, something's up, excuse me for being worried about the goddamn apocalypse!" Nick once again dragged on the sarcasm. If anything, Ellis' words only made the gambler even more tense, his shoulders tightened as he used the scope of the gun to check. "If you wanna get something up, you could stop psychoanalyzing me and grab a gun. Do something useful."

Ellis frowned, "Nick, would you calm down a little bit? We survived this far, ain't that count for somethin'?" Ellis asked, stepping next to Nick to also peer out the door. "Hold off fer a second. I don't want ya firin' and making me deaf or something." He muttered as he peered out into the night, the blue light of the moon letting him spot the zombies. With how far they were, he turned with a quizzical look, "Are you tryna hit those ones way the hell down there?" He asked

Nick felt like he was going to combust. "Yeah. Are you going to question every little thing I do some more?"

Ellis paused, "... Dang, I didn't realize how bada shot you are, that's all." Ellis spoke, watching as Nick laughed, a dry sarcastic laugh, but it still made Ellis smile a little.

"Yeah, says the guy who took 6 shots to get a jockey off me." Nick shot back.

"Well, I woulda came by sooner, but you had to go and run off way ahead." Ellis countered, "How can ya expect us to have yer back when ya can't even stick around the group?"

"You can't. How about that." Nick answered bluntly, but still had a small semblance of something like a smile. Ellis could tell, though, he was just doing that thing.

Ellis noticed that Nick hated when someone showed concern, or any genuine feelings. He could hide behind a offhanded joke or rude comment and he never had to actually get to know any of them. Ellis glanced at the zombies who were already plenty away from the saferoom. He looked back to Nick, and moved carefully so that his hand was resting on Nick's rifle. The con man looked once again irritated, "What are you doing-"

Ellis moved the rifle so it was right against his chest, looking at Nick's face with a steely determination. He could feel his own heartbeat against his hand as he pulled the barrel to himself. As Nick's confusion grew, Ellis spoke up, "I trust you, Nick."

Nick furrowed his eyebrows slightly, thrown off by the statement. He glanced from the gun to Ellis once again, and Ellis' eyes noticed the way Nick took in a breath of air, as if searching for words.

Then Nick let of the breath out with an eyebrow raised, "Dumb decision, Hayseed." He pulled the rifle away from Ellis' chest, "You're gonna get yourself killed."

Nick spoke in that way that made it hard to tell if he was joking or not. Ellis didn't have time to think about it as he stepped towards Nick again and reached out, "C'mon. Y'know yer too damn tired to stay awake another night. What if you stay awake so long you just turn right into one of those things?" Ellis asked, gesturing out to a zombie who happened to casually crash into another zombie, causing both to stagger off in random directions.

Nick clearly hesitated. His hand actually tightened slightly around the gun as Ellis reached out a hand. He paused, looking at Ellis first. Nick looked suspiciously towards Ellis, and then down the street. Nick didn't think he could fall asleep if he tried. There was too much that could happen.

Ellis seen the hesitation, "Look, I think maybe you should get some sleep." Ellis took that moment to try and pull the gun from Nick's hands, his hand quickly reaching out and grabbing the rifle, but Nick didn't expect the quick pull, and instead of letting go, he ended up holding onto it as he fell forwards, Ellis' hand between the gun and his back against the wall, Nick's hands on the gun above Ellis's head and the wall. Ellis cringed at first after his fingers were squished, but looked up at Nick. This was when the conman realized Ellis' glance from his eyes and to his own lips, and the way Ellis stopped when he looked up, and- and that they were too close. Nick pushed himself off the wall, and separating the space between them.

"Shit, Ellis-" Nick started, but then covered up his concern with his casual voice, "When I said you're gonna get yourself killed, I didn't mean to try it right now." Nick joked, but it was then that he finally handed over the gun. "If you're gonna be yanking the goddamn gun out of my hands, why not, huh?" He added on, feeling compelled to cover up the moment with his own voice, turning away once he gave the gun up.

Ellis just nodded, trying to shake off the slight pain in his hand, the other now holding onto the rifle Nick had been using for the past few days. Ellis smiled, regardless, watching as Nick made his way over to a table, which the con man also had to complain about, "Why does everything in these safehouses always have to be so dirty? Actually! This whole apocalypse has been nothing but dirt, blood, and! Even shit." Nick used the health pack to wipe off the table and then usedd the undirty side as a pillow.

"If we die, I'm gonna haunt ya! And it's not gonna be fun!" Nick threatened, causing Ellis to let out an exhale, grinning.

"I ever tell you about the time my friend Keith got haunted-"

"I don't know, Ellis, you tell so many goddamn stories about Cletus..." Nick argued, even though his voice already sounded as though he were about to pass out.

"Keith!"

"I dunno. I forget sometimes when I tell y'all which stories or what. I mean, I've always had kinda bad memory, but not as bad as Keith's. One time, we were out at this hotel that was all abandoned or whatever, and Keith thought it would be funny to go on the roof and make scary noises so that people would think it was haunted too? Man, he ended up falling through like a wet part in the ceiling, I guess the place had bad leaks or somethin', cause he went straight through that roof and down into ANOTHER floor! Oh man, he broke his arm in two places! So we were gonna try and call him an ambulance, but Keith said that he had gotten in a bar fight with his doctor, so he couldn't go back anymore." Ellis turned to look at Nick, expecting to find him asleep, but Nick opened an eye groggily.

"I'm guessing there was only one doctor in that little town of bumfuck nowhere." Nick quipped, his voice completely without any energy to successfully convey any sarcasm. "What is a dumbass hick to do."

"Hey, don't make me come back there." Ellis joked, "You'd like Keith if you met him. I'm sure of it." Ellis smiled.

It only took five minutes for Nick to fall asleep. Ellis watched the door vigilantly through the night, letting Coach and Rochelle sleep until morning. The zombies had stayed away for the most part. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, it casted an orange glow into the safehouse, and onto the sleeping form of Nick. The con man didn't even stir.

As he looked away and back towards the dawn outside, Ellis mentally clicked that Nick had let all three of them sleep through the night before...

Ellis had a soft smile as he realized Nick probably cared a lot more than he said he did.