Climbing back up on her spot Ellie could see the car and the modified vehicle quite far ahead of them now and even if she wanted to help fight against the poeple on the quad bikes she knew she wouldnt be able to get close with the weapons she had on her.
But knowing the others she knew they would manage so she turned her attention back to the sick, the last thing they needed was for them to turn, and she also wanted to know what Murphy was up too. Luckily enough he was sat closer to the back now so she could ask.
"Where did Cassandra go?" She asked him and he turned to look at her
"For a walk?... how the hell am I suppose to know?"
"Because you can control her?"
"Doesn't mean I control her every move... and stop looking at me like that. Im not the bad guy here the men on the quad bikes a-"
They all jerked forward when the trailer suddenly stopped
"Why are we stopping?" Addy said standing up and Ellie and Murphy did too.
But when Murphy did he had a blanked look on his face like he was concentrating on something hard before that look turned into fear and he walked towards the end of the trailer and jumped out of the trailer before any of them could stop him
"Murphy!?" Ellie shouted jumping down after him, a bad feeling running through her agin only this time she ignored it. Pushing forward she could hear Addy folling behind her
Following after Murphy they saw him heading straight for Doc and wreaking ball who were sprawled out on the grass as well as another guy who was standing just behind them with his gun ready.
"Doc! Doc! We need to not be here" Murphy said to him in a rush as he tried to get him to stand
"Murphy, what the hell?" Ellie said as he and Addy got behind him but he just brushed them off, focusing on Doc.
"Yeah? Well, I'm fine, Murphy. Thanks for asking." Doc said pulling himself into a sitting positon
"My clavicle look alright to you?" Wreaking ball said pulling the collar of his shirt down. But Ellie was no longer looking at them she was more concerend about the few zombies that had appeared behind Doc and Wreaking ball and Murphy saw it too.
"Nobody move" He warned them in a quiet voice.
Ignoring him both Doc and Wreaking ball turned when the zombies growled and the guy with the gun quickly aimed it at them. But if these were the blaster zombies they have beet talking about then Ellie knew that gun wouldnt help.
"Damn it, I don't wanna die by the roadside in the dirt with a jacked-up clavicle!" Wreaking ball whined climbing to his feet and Doc did the same.
"Doc, fat guy, don't fricking move!" Murphy snarled stepping infront of them his hand held out as he focused on the zombies for a few seconds before shaking his head as he brought a hand up to rest on his forehead
"Can't you talk to them?" Addy asked him
"Addy..." Doc said not wanting to distract him
"Go start the truck" Murphy said
"Why isn't it working?"
"Addy, do as Murphy says" Doc said but she didnt move
"Wait. THE Murphy?" Wreaking Ball said Becasue that was the most important thing to think about right now when we've got super advanced zombies infront of us.
Ignring Wreaking Ball Murphy tried again putting his hand fully out infront of him he concentrated on the zombies, but it didnt seem to be calming the zombies down. Quite the opposite "Oh, crap" Murphy said when one of the zombies seemed to be getting angry
"I'm gonna start the truck" Addy said backing away from Ellie, and she ran towards the truck
"I think that one's mad at you, Murphy" Doc added helpfully, not.
They could all hear Addy trying to start the truck but she was struggling but they also couldnt stay out here.
"Back to the truck. Back to the truck" Murphy said turning around quickly he charged past Doc and Wreaking ball, grabbing Ellie's hand he dragged her towards the truck "Everybody, back to the truck!"
Running towards the truck Ellie heard a gunshot go off followed by some screams. She could also hear the growls getting closer. Climbing into the back of the medical wagon they could still hear the engine spluttering but just as one of the blasters got close the truck started and Addy ran straight over it, killing it.
Thankfully moving again Ellie was glad to driving away from the blaster zombies and back down the road. She was also relieved to see Warren and the others a few feet infront of them.
Once the vehicle had come to a stop Ellie jumped out of the medical wagon and made her way towards Warren who was currently making her way over to the trucks door.
"Ellie!" Warren sighed out in relief when she saw her and Ellie spread her arms out for a hug which Warren gladly gave. "You ok?"
"Yeah I'm ok" Ellie said pulling away, nodding her head Warren turned opening the truck door to greet Addy
"Addy!"
"Those blaster things, they totally jammed haywired. Nobody here is safe." Addy explained sounding a bit scared
"Murphy seemed a bit freaked out about that to" Ellie said and they both nodded
"We'll be rolling directly" Warren said
"OK.I'll Cover the medical wagon"
"Me too" Ellie said not trusting Murphy, hes been acting a bit weird today, like he was up to something
"Got it" Warren said closing the door before turning to look back at Ellie "I'd thought you'd want to get away from Murphy not stick with him?"
"He's been acting weird, like he did when he started this whole mess before with the lab. I know Addy can handle herself but he has Cassandra with him now and lets just say I don't trust him"
"Ok... stay in the medical wagon, keep an eye out... but be careful. I dont think Murphy would hurt you, but if he's trying to run again..."
"I know, I'll be careful" Tapping Ellie on her lower arm Warren smiled gently at her before turning away, walking back to the modified truck.
Going to walk back towards the back of the medical Wagon Ellie saw Wreaking ball walk towards Custer
"Custer, I am so sorry. There were blasters, and the bandits, they got our water- Arggh!."
Before anyone could react Custer had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and twisted him around slamming his back into the other vehicle
"You were supposed to protect that car! And her! That's Athena!" Custer said pointing to the wrapped up body
"Oh, no, no. She was my friend" Wreaking ball said getting a bit tearful "She didn't like me, but she wasn't mean to me either. She..-"
"Look at me" Custer interupted him grabbing his face between his hands "Two mothers, two daughters. They die of starvation, they turn Z!"
"Athena's dead! I cant think straight"
"What happens after 5 minutes..." Custer said ignoring him just as Doc walked up to him
"Look, look, man!" Doc said tapping him on the shoulder "Things got pretty heavy back there..."
"Hey, pipe down, hippie!"
"Hey!" Ellie shouted walking forward and Warren did the same
"If he radiation gets the better of you, you're a threat to the whole group" Custer said once again ignoring them
"Minneapolis. I can go to Minneapolis. There's medicine there. I'll...l'll bring it back"
"Take him to the medical wagon" Custer said to one of his people
"No,no,no I can still help!" Wreaking ball said trying to get away from him but he pushed him into the arms of another guy
"Go on! Take him now!"
Pulling himself out of the arms of the man and woman he didnt try to rung just looked at Custer. "Check yourself, don't look so good" He said before willingly walking away towards the medical wagon.
"Hey. Hey" Warren said grabbing his shoulder "It's time to move out.
You need to let that car go. We gotta cut our losses"
"Don't talk to me about losses." Custer said walking away
"He's going to get all of us killed" Ellie declared
"I know, don't worry we're not staying much longer" Warren said and Ellie nodded, leaving them behind she started making her way back to the medical wagon to see Murphy offer Wreaking ball his hand pulling him up. With that glint in his eye again 'What are you up too Murphy? Ellie thought to herself.
Onced she had reached the back of the wagon Muprhy was there again this time offering Ellie his hand which she took and he easily pulled her up
"Thanks" Ellie said pulling away from him and sitting on the opposite wall and Murphy smiled before sitting down opposite her next to wreaking ball a calculating look on his face, which put Ellie on edge again
Once they were moving again Ellie started to relax a bit thinking Muprhy wasnt stupid enough to try soemthing while they were moving before she was distracting by somone crying.
"Will you just do it now?" The same sick man from earlier said to Addy who was sat at the back of the trailer "I don't want one of those blasters to get me.
"I am not going to let that happen" Addy said with a shake of the head as she held his hand
"I shouldn't be back here" Wreaking ball piped up "Custer, he's..he's gonna get us all killed. Those stupid riddles of his... He...he even banished his
own son to the medical wagon"
"Custer lost his son to the radiation?" Addy asked sounding confused
"I ain't dead yet" The man next to Addy delcared This whole death wagon
is my fault. I got too sick to drive. The fool should've left me" He said leaving them all quiet with shock.
That was until the wagon pulled to a stop again
"Ohhh, why are we stopping again" Ellie complained rising to her feet, she turned to look behind her to see Cassandra by the car they thought they lost. Her white coat was now soaked red with blood and she had dried blood around her mouth. "Cassandra?"
Feeling someone come up behind her she turned sligtly to see Murphy who was watching Cassandra contently while 10k and Doc approached her.
"You knew she was still alive" Ellie declared looking back at Cassandra
"What?" Murphy said looking over at her with a confused look on her face
"You don't look surprised" Ellie said "You don't look releaved, because you knew she was still alive".
"And how would I know that?" Murphy said and Ellie turned to see him looking at her
"You tell me, your the one who can communicate with the zombies, you bit Cassandra so there's probably some form of connection between you. Which is probably why she follows you around like a lost puppy... you lied to me earlier, you said you didnt send Cassandra after those people. But I know you did, you want that car. Why?"
Ellie was expecting him to down right deny it but he didn't. In fact he looked at her with a small smirk on his face like he was happy she was figuring it out.
"You're a smart girl, I'll bet you'll figure it out" He said winking at her and before she could stop him he stepped of the wagon and reached out for Cassandra who was walking towards him but instead of getting back on the wagon he turned to look back at Ellie and smirked before pulling Cassandra away from the wagon.
Ellie popped her head over the side to see Murphy and Cassandra standing at the front of the truck with Murphy talking intently to Cassandra
"What they doing?" Wreaking ball asked Ellie, suddenly apprearing making her jump as she spun around to face him.
"I don't know but I'm going to find out" Ellie said She knew it probably wasnt a good idea especially as it seemed like Murphy was egging her on to follow him but she had to know.
Jumping down off the wagon Ellie started walking towards Murphy and Cassandra only to see Wreaking Ball following her.
"Get back in the wagon" She said to him but she was ignored. "Whatever" She said coming to a stop behind Murphy "What are you doing?"
"Hi Ellie" Murphy said in a suspiciously sweet voice but he didn't turn around to face her "How do you feel about z-weed?"
"Z-weed?" Ellie said getting more confused by the minute "Why are you askin-
Turning around suddenly Murphy blew some form of smoke into her face, making Ellie cough and splutter as she tried to back out of the smoke. But Murphy grabbed onto her arm forcing her still as her head went fuzzy and she struggled to concentrate.
She could however see Murphy focusing on her, just like he did when he was trying to control the zombies.
"Murphy don't you dare!" Ellie slurred realising what Murphy was trying to do as she struggled to get loose but Murphy had a tight grip. Closing his eyes he concentrated harder and this time Ellie could feel a presence in her mind. A voice telling her to sleep and Ellie couldnt fight it, her body went limp her mind went dark and she knew no more.
Murphy's pov
Catching Ellie in his arms before she could hit the floor he slung her up over his shoulder. He wasnt sure the z weed would work, but it lowered her defences enough for him to be able to get in her head. He knew she wouldn't have come with him willingly and he wasnt going to leave her behind. Now he just had to get past the others without them noticing but luckily enough they were all deep in converstaion.
"What did you do to her?" Wreaking ball said damn forgot about him.
"Nothing she's just taking a nap while we go for a ride"
"Why? and where?"
"Havent got time to explain but your welcome to come with" Murphy said he didnt want him to come with but if thats the only way for them to leave then he'll get rif of him later. "Lets go" He said moving along the cars with Ellie on his back followed by Cassandra and Wreaking ball, they quickly made their way to the car.
Cassandra quietly opened the passenger door to allow Murphy to place Ellie in the seat before closing it. The rest of them quickly got in the car then and Murphy sped of down the road.
Warren's Pov
Turning around when they heard an engine start they saw the car speeding off with Murphy sticking his hand out the window to give a small wave
"Well, I did not see that move coming" Vasquez said smirking
"Well, damn" Custer moaned
"Ellie's gone too" Addy shouted out coming towards Warren who spun around with wide eyes at what Addy said
"What!?"
"Ellie's gone, so has wreaking ball"
"That son of a bitch, hes done it again... did you see her leave with Murphy?"
"No" Addy said shaking her head "Murphy was acting weird... he didn't come back on the wagon so Ellie went to check and now their all gone"
"Well she obviously didnt go willingly"
"Why would Murphy take Ellie?" Vasquez asked
"We need to go after her" 10k shouted over to them from his place on the modified vehicle a look of concern on his face.
"Uh... I'll explain that later" Warren said to Vasquez question gestering towards Custer who was looking very confused "And we will" Warren said looking up at 10k "Once we're done here, we will go after her. Murphy wont hurt her and you know Ellie can take care of herself"
"Bu-" 10k tried to argue but Warren stepped forward holding her hand up
"I get that your worried, but Ellie is going going to be fine...ok?... but we can not abadon these people and you know Ellie wouldn't want us to"
"Ok" 10k said with a small nod and smiled gently before turing back to the others "Lets move out" She said to the others and they all made their way back on the vehicle and drove off. 'You better not hurt her Murphy or you're going to have a lot to answer too' Warren thought to herself ' Hopefully they could deal with this without any hiccups and make their way after Ellie'
Murphy's Pov
Driving down the road further away from the others, Cassandra was in the back with Wreaking ball and Ellie was in the passenger seat still out like a light. Not that she could wake up now, the z-weed now in her system lowered her defences so Muprhy was able to get in her head. So untill that burned off she wouldnt be waking up any time soon. 'Murphy couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about forcing her to come with him again especially since he promised not to, But he wasn't going to leave her behind and he couldnt go where he planned with the others around'.
"OK, so you're, like, THE Murphy, then? Like, for real?" Wreaking ball asked from the back seat
"Let's keep that information to yourself, blabbermouth"
"Hey. Let me see you levitate"
"...It's possible there may have been some exaggeration as to the extent of my abilities"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, I knew that, like, zombie mind control thing was, like, totally bogus, so... Ow! Hey." He said to Cassandra when she slapped him
"She's, like, into the rough stuff, man, like... Wait. Did you make her do that? Oh, my God. Ow! Alright, OK. I get it." He said again when Murphy made her slap him again
"To some zombies, I am their messiah. To the blasters, apparently I am their dinner, just like you"
"Well, like, their brains are totally melted,so there's no psychic dial tone
going on up there. But your zombie girlfriend there, man, she, like... That's your bite. You turned her! Oh, that scenario has some serious implications, man... so why did you bring the girl?" Wreaking ball said referring to Ellie.
"Well I wasn't going to leave my own daughter behind whether she wanted to come or not" Murphy said ignroing the gasp from the man
"Shes your daughter!?" Wreaking ball all but shouted "Can she do what you can?... and what did you do to her?"
"No...I'm one of a kind and I knew she wouldn't come willignly but I couldnt leave her... But when ever Ive tried to get in her head shes blocked me. But the z weed made it so she couldnt... so I made her take a nap..." Pausing Murphy raised a hand to his head flinching as a shooting pain went through his skull. "Which she is still trying to fight" He sighed
The girls unconsious and shes still trying to fight the control, I just need her to sleep till we get to the Minneapolis labs'
"You're controlling her!?... But shes not been bitten has she? and how is she fighting it?"
"Its a long story, that I am not getting into right now. So can we please shut up now while I try to concentrate through a bad headache"
Finally quiet in the car which allowed Muprhy to gather his thoughts and figure out what he was going to do. The others wern't going to leave him alone and he knew their would be a fight once Ellie was awake. He just hoped it would be a while yet before that happened.
"You sure about Minneapolis?" Warren asked Addy as they were walking across the field towards a truck.
"Wrecking Ball was going on about some herbal cure for the zombie virus
being cooked up in an old genetically modified food lab out there" Addy explained
"Uh, hold on. Marijuana, zombies and GMOs. What could go wrong?" Doc scoffed once they reached the truck 10k opened the door only for a dead guy to fall out of the truck and land on the floor making Vasquez jump raising his gun
"You people really do attract it, don't you?" Vasquez complained putting his gun down walking away from the door and towards the back "Help me with the hitch" He said to 10k just as a blast sounded out from the distance and they could all see smoke seap into the air from the modified truck.
"A caravan of 20 refugees leaves Seattle's blast zone for Edmonton. They meet seven survivors and one Murphy. How many refugees survive?" Warren said walking away
"Not one" Addy said looking in the distance
"You have any more of that Z-Weed?" Murphy asked wreaking ball who quickly shook his head
"Oh... Sorry, dude. Mn-mn."
"You understand why nobody likes you, right?" Murphy said knowing he was lying
"Oh, yeah"
"Good. Then look again"
"Oh, here it is" He said looking in his pocket and he pulled out a cigartte and passed it to Murphy
"Hold the wheel" Wreaking ball scooted foward grabbing the wheel as Murphy took a puff and turned to face Cassandra, resting his head on hers he blew the smoke into her mouth.
"Thanks. I needed that" Murphy smirked before turning back around and taking another puff. Turning towards Ellie, Murphy blew more smoke into her face. ' Hoepfully that'll give me more time' Murphy thought and he could feel Ellie's resistance die now, the headached dimmed.
"So...tell me again about this lab in Minneapolis" Murphy asked Wreaking ball once he took hold of the wheel.
"Well, you know what? You'll see for yourself when we get there. I know the guy. He'll give us a tour. 'Cause we're a team now. He'll let all of us go through there - we're gonna go out there and take on the world together and stuff, 's, like, the three of us from now on. We are likthe Three Caballeros, man!... Well four with her" Turning to look at Cassandra he could see her staring at him with a look of hunger which made him feel very uncomfortable with "Why is she looking at me that way?"
None of this belongs to me except Ellie and any original story lines the rights go to the wonderful creators and publishers of z nation