So! Here's the 2nd to last chapter! When I re-read this I almost cried. Just a tad bit. Anyway, not ganna get you bored or anything so here's the chapter! Review and do stuff...y'know. K, 'nuff talk, go read!
"Well, this ain't something you see everyday." the woman said.
The two men in front of her couldn't help but laugh. They didn't care about anything at that point. Only that those two men thought the same thing at the same time.
Is this really happening?
"Ellis, I wanna...y'know say sorry about all those mean things I said while we were fighting and all that shit happening." Nick said with no reason in mind. He wanted to pour out all of his feelings at that moment. He was opened about everything now, ever since he found out that the mechanic he grew to love felt the same way. The young boy smiled and started to laugh.
"This reminds me of the time-"
"Really? Another Keith story?" the conman interrupted.
"Oh, it ain't 'bout Keith this time. It's 'bout you, remember? When we were stuck in the middle of no where or somethin'. It was when it was rainin' hard and shit, and we got seporated from Rochelle and Coach. Then you were all like, 'Oh we can't go out there' and I was like, 'But Ro' and Coach are out there! We gotta save'em!'. Then we got into some argument or somethin'. Then you said-"
"'You know what I was saying before about you? I was only joking, alright'. That was it."
The boy was stunned for a moment, then gave a warm smile. "Yeah, yeah, that's it. How did you remember?'"
"Oh, just triggered a memory or some shit. Just don't ask."
Rochelle couldn't help but giggle into her cup of coffee. The gambler turned to the side to look at the giggling reporter.
"Sorry, sorry. Continue." she said as she sipped her coffee again. Nick turned to Ellis again. Something was off now. His face grew pale white, his eyes started to grow bright into a red color, and below the new shade of orange were lines going down his face. The color was a light gray almost up to his lips, which turning a darker shade of red. Nick quickly had an image of the Dark Ellis he met in the elevator. Ellis was turning into the Infected Dark Ellis.
"Nick, what's wrong, it's like you've seen a ghost or somethin'." the infected boy said.
"We need to get you out of here, right now." Nick said standing up about to open the door.
"Nick, what happen?" Rochelle quickly asked as she began to stand up as well.
"Rochelle, just look at him." the gambler said as he pointed to boy below him. He was getting worse, the orange eyes turned yellow. The gray lines turned darker and his lips started to get bloody.
The reporter gasped at the sight of the young boy and dropped her coffee, making it spill on to the floor. She began to cry slowly but yet she had to be strong.
"Ellis, sweetie, just hold on. Just follow Nick and I, we need to get you to the doctors." she said helping him get on his feet. Nick opened the door and went out first. He waited outside so that he could close the door after Rochelle and Ellis got out. The boy could barely stand up, he was leaning on the young woman who was holding him up. The older man quickly came back inside and put the infected boy's arm around him so they could get him out of the room and into the hospital. Without any words or explanations, they rushed out of the apartment stairs and down the street.
They ran quickly into the hospital doors, it was filled with injured survivors. They tried to get to the front desk so they could take him into his room. With all the cries and screams Nick couldn't hear anything. Rochelle was trying to say something but it all came into a complete silence. Ellis was dozed off and he turned to Nick. His eyes still yellow and lines going down in black, he looked into Nick's green eyes. He gave a warm smile.
Then everything stopped. Nick was still staring into Ellis' eyes. A flash of the old Ellis, with his sky blue eyes and toned skin. It was the same warm smile he's always gave the conman for all they've known each other. Nick felt a spark in his heart. He knew that it wasn't just infected Ellis. No matter the looks, inside, it was the real Ellis. The young boy let his smile fade and he bobbed his head down, making his hat fall. Nick quickly picked it up and everything started to move again. He could hear Rochelle again.
"Nick! Nick! There's an opening right here, let's go!"
They quickly rushed in, pushing and shoving people aside. But the crowd caved in and left them in a pool of people. Nick could barely breathe and he couldn't hold the young boy much longer. Then, that spark hit his brain.
"INFECTED BOY RIGHT HERE!"
The people started to turn to see Nick yelling out what he said while holding the infected boy. People started to rush out of his way, making room for him to get though. The survivors started to scream and run out of the hospital, tripping over each other to get through the door. The group finally got to the front. Well, before the doctors ripped Nick and Rochelle away from Ellis. They grabbed him and quickly ran up the stairs into his room. The other two bio-hazard stood into of the entrance of the stairs. Nick and Rochelle stood in front of the men.
"Hey, that's our friend, let us in!" Rochelle demanded.
"Sorry, ma'am. You'll have to wait, we promise that you'll see your friend."
"This has happened before, so before he turns into an infected, he has a few moments with one of you. No more, no less." the second bio-hazard man said.
"In the mean time, please wait while we clam him down or wake him up in this case. Please, take a seat."
Nick, filled with rage, wanted to just punch both of the men in the face and ran upstairs to see Ellis. Instead, Rochelle put her hand on his shoulder and guided him to the chairs on the side.
"Goddamn, how long does it take! I swear, I should of just punched them in the face, we could be with Ellis right now," Nick ranted walking up and down his own path aimlessly. "It's been an hour already!"
"Nick, clam down, it's only been 3 minutes. I'm sure he'll be alive by then."
"By then, Rochelle. By then. He's ganna die. The kid, he's just ganna die like the rest of them. I can't believe this-I just can't even-"
"Nick! Everything is going to be fine."
"How do you know that? Huh? You an expert at this shit? They're doctors and bio-fucking-hazard guys out there. They know their shit like the back of their own hand! Oh God, don't do this to yourself, Nick."
"Just calm down. I'm not an expert, but I've worked with people all my life. I know that he's going to hang on just for you. He loves you. He really loves you, Nick. I know love when I see it. And I could see that you love him as much as he does. Don't worry so much, Nick. I promise everything is going to be okay."
Nick's green eyes started to tear. He felt the urge to cry, so he punched the wall as hard as he could. His knuckles started to bleed. He took deep breathes trying as hard as he could not to cry. He told himself, I'm not a pussy. I'm not ganna cry over some stupid hick.
"Ellis, are you crying?"
"Nawh, I ain't cryin', cryin' is for pussies and shit. I ain't no pussy, I ain't cryin', no way, no way."
He couldn't help it, he dropped to his knees and began to cry. He couldn't help it. Years and years of not even shedding a tear, he let it all out. He never cried for anything like this before in his older years. He cried and sobbed on the cold floor, alone. Isolated from the world he was in and into his heart. Every time he let out a cry, he dug deeper in his heart. The pain was nothing he's ever felt before. He's lost his wife before, but she didn't matter. He only married her for her money. He loved Ellis. He saw it in his heart, he just couldn't let him die. There was nothing he could do. It was too late, he loved Ellis for the longest time but he never wanted to say anything because he was afraid if he got rejected or he would be the "homo" in the group. He didn't want that at all. Then he realized that Ellis loved him, too.
But it was too late.
Rochelle started to cry, too. She felt bad for Nick, she's never saw him like this at all. Through all the hell they've been in, he never acted up at all. She went down beside him on the ground. She was on her knees and sat on top of her legs. She grabbed the crying older man's head and hugged it. They both sat on the floor, hugging and crying for the boy who made hell brighter. The candle in the darkness. Ellis.
A few minutes later, the two hazard men by the door were getting told something. The buzzing through their headset filled the empty room. After the droning stopped, one of them turned to Nick and Rochelle waiting on the floor. They just stopped crying and were fine for now, but they knew they would start to act up again.
"You can come in now." the hazard man said.
Nick and Rochelle got up and started to head to the door. The reporter held on to Nick still sobbing time to time. The only thing he could do was hope that Ellis is alright. He would give anything in the world to just find Ellis looking the way he was the first time they met. No pale skin, blood lips, or yellow eyes. Just the regular Ellis, was what Nick wanted.
Just as they came in front of the two hazard men, the one on the left gave Nick a pistol.
"What the hell's this for?" Nick asked. He thought it was a mistake and they would take it back. But, that's not what happened at all.
"You'll need it later. Come on now, go see your friend." the hazard man on the right said pulling Nick and Rochelle into the staircase. Almost tripping, Rochelle got a grip on the handle and looked to find Nick doing the same. The difference was the gun in his hand.
With that aside, they both went up the stairs fast. They climbed up to the top to find a woman in a lab coat.
"Dr. Hale?" Nick asked as he reached the top of the staircase.
"Why hello, Nick." she answered with a small wave. Her smile faded and she rubbed her eyes. She looked up to the conman, "He's waiting for you. Since it could only be one person allowed in, I'm afraid I must ask Nick to come in alone. It's Ellis' last wish." Tears started to run down the reporter's cheeks. She hugged the gambler next to her, "Please, please, Nick, tell my boy I love him like a son." She started to cry again. Nick wrapped his arm around her head and hugged back.
"I don't mean to break anything up, but we have to make this quick. I'll explain everything once we go inside the room." the therapist explained. She started to walk away with Nick following her. Turning to see the woman behind, he nodded, agreeing to do Rochelle her favor. He started to walk a bit slower then Dr. Hale. He was thinking about all the times he had with Ellis. His feelings finally catching up to him to this finale moment where he would see Ellis infected on the hospital bed. The conman was hoping he was alright, he was going to change back to the old Ellis. The pistol in his hand wasn't promising that.
"Why do I have this gun?"
She stopped dead in her tracks. Turned to the man behind her with a serious glare. "Ellis will tell you. We're almost there". She turned and started to walk again. Confused, the older man followed her though the white hallways. The empty rooms beside him were haunting to him. As if he was to find a dead body in one of them any second. But, the only body he was soon to find, was Ellis. He looked exactly like one of the infected now. Tears started to fill his eyes, but he didn't want that to happen just yet. He pulled his strength together and pushed the tears back into himself. The therapist stopped in front of the door and got the key card from her pocket.
"You have 30 minutes."
Nick went inside the room slowly but he started to speed up after hearing he only has a few minutes. When he reached the chair next to the mechanic, the door closed.
"Ellis."
The boy turned to the sound of his voice. His smile still on his face no matter what.
"Nick."
The smile still glowing.
"Why do I have this gun in my hand? They said you'd explain. So, therefore you gotta explain."
The smile faded into a more serious look.
"I ain't ganna make it, Nick. I'm ganna turn into a zombie no matter what."
A tear let loose on both of the men.
"But, these guys, they could make you get better or something. They could get you to be you again. Trust me, you are not ending like this."
"No. They can't. It's ganna end like this." Ellis said softly. His eyes began turn more bright.
"But, why the gun? Don't tell me I have to-"
"Yeah."
Nick looked at his hand with the gun with shock. He couldn't possibly do it. He could do it to any other person but not Ellis. He fell in love, for the first time in his gambling life, he fell in love. He was happy to know Ellis was alive at times when they were stuck in hordes of infected. Now, he was the infected and he wasn't going to stay much alive any longer.
"Why me? Why not Rochelle or Coach or-"
"It's 'cause I love you, Nick. I know if one of the others do it you won't let go of me. I want ya to live a better life after this kinda shit goin' around."
"Ellis, I just can't kill you."
"You have to. Or I'll kill you and I don't want to do that either. I mean, shit, you dying ain't ganna happen by me."
"I'd rather die from you then any other infected or anything of that matter. I can't kill you get someone else to do it."
Tears started to roll down Nick's eyes. He looked at the gun and looked back up to the smiling infected boy.
"Just no. I can't even THINK about doing that kind of shit. Not to you, Ellis, not to you."
Suddenly, the boy gave Nick a hug. With tears flowing down the mechanic's eyes and hitting the conman's shoulder, he hugged tightly. He started to cry a bit harder, "Nick, I want ya to do it. I want ya to kill me. Please, do it for me. If ya really loved me you'd do it."
Nick started to cry. He kissed the boy without even thinking twice. He didn't care if he turned infected, too. All he wanted was his sweet blood lips even if he was infected, he just wanted a kiss from Ellis.
"Fine. Fine, I'll do it."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Letting go of Nick, the boy went back laying down on his bed. He was still crying. He looked at Nick beside him, "You gotta do it now. It's time."
The tears started to hit the gun. Nick forced himself to get out of the chair and in front of the bed. Crying harder, he pointed the gun to Ellis. His sweet smile was still on his face. The same warm smile he had on when they first met. The same smile that gave off the light in the darkness. The same smile that made Nick fall in love with him. He pointed the gun down.
"I just can't do it."
"Nick, you gotta. You promised."
The room filled with silence. "Okay."
He raised the gun and pointed it to Ellis' head again. The same smile was there. The conman started to think about the past. Of all the Keith stories, of all the times where he yelled at him, of all the times where he loved him, and of everything he could think of. He remembered the sugar mill, the swamps, the carnival, the mall, and everything they've been through. All the times that when someone was hurt, he would think of something funny to say, just to brighten up the moment. He pointed the gun down again.
"Are you sure you want me to do this?"
"Yes, now come on, Nick. I don't wanna turn and hurt you or somethin'."
Again, he pointed the gun back up to Ellis' head.
"Any...Any last words."
The smile still there, "Yeah."
"Then, say it."
"I love you, Nick."
He pointed the gun down. He started to cry harder with the tears falling down on to the gun. He pointed it up again and closed his eyes.
"Ellis, I love you, too."
Then a blast of nothing. Silence filled every inch of the room. Not wanted to open his eyes, Nick dropped to the floor. He cried harder then what he cried before. He just killed the love of his life. He cried and cried, sobbed and groaned. Not wanting to see what he did to the poor boy, he left his eyes closed. Tears still pouring down his face.
It was all over.
Homaigawd. I bet you kinda cried. Or if you didn't well then you win this bet. So, anyway, go ahead review and then go to the next chapter, which will come out soon and if it's already out WELL then go read it. Okay, see you guys next chapter! :3