"Zoey!" Rochelle called.
She and Coach were done filling the generator, and the horde was coming fast. Francis and Zoey were luring the Tanks out to maneuverable ground while Louis pelted them with bullets from his mounted machine gun. "The generator's filled up," she shouted toward the three.
"Ok! But," Zoey shouted, nodding to Francis before they slowly approached the bridge. "Two other people of yours maybe, are in that building over there. The Tank got to the guy pretty bad," she managed to call out while dodging a swipe from the second Tank. "He was bleeding all over the place, you should go check on them! We can handle the Tanks from here."
Rochelle added fire to the Tank while Coach tended to the horde. She turned around to signal Coach it was time to go, and they began running toward the building. As they got closer, they heard loud screaming over the cries of the horde, that of a woman.
No, Ellis, STOP IT!
They picked up speed, glancing at each other in confusion.
What the hell do ya think yer doin' to her!
Rochelle kicked the door open, to find Ellis forcing Nick on the ground by his forearms. Jamie was tugging at Ellis from behind, shouting in his ear. Ellis punched Nick in his already bloodied nose, getting an unsatisfied chuckle in return.
"That all you got?" Nick asked, spitting his blood in Ellis' face.
"Boy, what the hell are you doin'!" Coach yelled, as he yanked Ellis away.
Rochelle caught on to the situation; Ellis was done being subtle. She ran over to Nick and Jamie, pulling out her first aid kit. Rochelle quickly examined his body; the blood seeping through the arm of his suit jacket was running into a small puddle, and there was bloody chunk of glass on the floor beside him. Jamie took his jacket off, taking care not to hit the opening in his arm, while Rochelle pulled out a tiny bottle of antiseptic. She poured it over his gash, and Jamie wrapped it in bandaging.
"The Tank hit him square in the face, I think his nose might be broken," Jamie whispered to Rochelle while trying to eavesdrop on Coach and Ellis.
What happened, son? Jamie wiped Nick's bloody face with her shirt, and brushed at it after wards, as if the blood would simply fade away.
He was kissin' and touchin' all on Jamie... She looked to Nick; he stared back at her.
Uh...you two are togetha' now or somethin'?
She watched Rochelle cringe as she clamped down on Nick's nose.
...Neva mind, that's still no reason for this. You see he's already badly hurt. He would've died if we hadn't gotten here, since you still woulda been beatin' the life out of him.
She snapped it back into place, Nick's cry piercing both of their ears.
You need some self-control, boy. I neva' woulda thought you'd do somethin' like this.
Ellis buried his face in his lap, while Coach rolled a bottle of pills over Rochelle's way. She picked them up, and handed them to him. "Take these, Nick." He looked at them, then at her.
"Now, Nick, we need ta get movin'. Those guys out there took care of the Tanks, but the horde'll bust in here any minute," she said, grabbing her assault rifle. Coach and Ellis stood up, and walked over to the three.
Coach lifted Nick onto his shoulders, glaring at Ellis. "Help me with him. I don't care about this little feud, you two can fight lata!" Ellis was silent in shame as he lifted Nick by his bad arm.
Rochelle had the front, and Jamie covered their backs while they made a dash for the car. "That's Zoey, girl in the pink, Francis in the vest, and Louis in the tie, guys," Rochelle said over the gunfire. They finally reached the car, and piled inside. Coach was at the wheel, Rochelle was in front, and... Nick, Ellis and Jamie were in the back.
Not good...
Everyone seemed to notice it was a bad idea.
Coach slammed on the gas, and Jamie and Ellis waved out of the window. She was in Ellis' lap, and they both were smiling, calling out to the three on the bridge.
"Bye Zoey, Francis, and Louis!" Jamie, Rochelle and Ellis shouted. Coach waved a hand back as they took off through the crowd of zombies.
"Later," they heard Francis call. "Bye guys!" Zoey and Louis shouted. They watched as car disappeared down the highway.
"Shut it, girl!" the woman snarled. She was picking off infected while a blonde set of twins, a bearded young man, and another brunette girl crouched behind a silver Toyota Camry. One of the twins kept screaming every time a zombie got close, but it wasn't her fault. Just fifteen minutes ago, she watched her sister get torn apart by a horde. They let one of them get too close, and that was enough to end a life.
"Lady, look!" the boy in red shouted from ahead.
The woman with the only weapon was squatted on the roof of the car, firing at the Hunter that sprang up from behind a pickup truck. She shot it in the kneecap, and the boy dropped to his knees. The young man started to strangle it with his bare hands, tightening his grasp with each breath. Blood spewed into his face as the Hunter choked up his insides, but he ignored it. The Hunter's vicious cackling ended within seconds of the athlete's firm grip on his neck; he finally gave in. He released the Hunter's neck, and it fell limp onto the concrete. He stood up from the corpse, wiping the blood from his face with his polo while the woman picked off straggling zombies with excellent precision, clearly unfazed. She killed with such a...cold confidence.
"Where'd ya learn ta shoot like that?" The bearded man asked from behind the car, poking his head out. "Hot."
She turned to him, her magenta matte lipstick forming a hint of arrogance. "I'm old enough to be your mother, boy. Zip it." she said, lowering her pistol.
He snapped an "oh darn" to the twins as they giggled at him.
"So what are you guys' names...I'm Alex, and that's my sister, Lynn," the boy in the polo said, shaking the blood from his hands. Lynn stood up smiling, and flashed a wave at the others. Her aviator shades caught a ray of light, giving the bearded man the impression of a diva.
"Name's Keith ladies," he said, tipping his hat to the twins, and winking at Lynn.
"Nina," the twin in the denim jumpsuit pointed to herself. "Nona," the other smiled.
"Nina's the ponytail, and Nona's the frilly pink dress, alri' guys?" Keith said, turning from Nona's piercing gaze.
"And you, foxy lady?" he smirked at the woman.
"Mindy," she said, stretching a leg out on the car. She turned to face Alex, but noticed five figures behind his head in the distance. She pointed. "Look. More people."
"Hey look, more survivors," Rochelle said to Coach. They were getting closer to the other group, but as they got closer, Nick started to become nervous. He recognized the blonde on the roof of the car. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face as he made out all of her features. The short platinum blonde cut, the thick bangs, the dark lipstick, the all black.
It was his ex-wife.
"Hey, you know. I was thinking, maybe we should...pass them up and go our separate ways."
"What?" Coach looked to Nick.
"No way, what if they need our help?" Jamie said, blinking at them in the distance.
"They look like a buncha kids, Nick. What could they do? We'll be fine," Coach assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hi!" Rochelle called out, waving.
"Hi," they all shouted back in unison.
"See Nick, they're friendly," Rochelle whispered as they inched closer.
"Nuh-uh. Not that bitch in the black," he said as his eyes widened. Mindy was squinting in this direction, at him. She saw him. She knew it was him. Her face was practically screaming, "Nick!"
...Fuck.
Mindy slid off the roof of the car, as the five stopped in front of Alex.
"My name's Alex." he started to point out all of the others as he named them. "That's-"
"KEITH!"
"ELLIS!"
They rushed into each other for a brotherly hug, followed by muffled laughter, and an adorable 'buddy, I missed you'.
"Awwww," Rochelle and Jamie whispered to each other.
"So this is Keith, huh?" Jamie smiled as Keith nodded to her.
Alex continued, pleased with the friendship among their groups already. "That's Nina, the one with the ponytail, and Nona, the one with the frilly pink dress." Nona frowned, and pushed his shoulder. "Sorry," he smirked. "That's Lynn, my sister." She waved, a goofy grin stretching across her face. And this is Mindy," he said, as she walked up beside him. "Nice to meet you all." she said, staring Nick directly in the eyes. "And it's nice to see you too, Nicolas."
He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, Mindy."
Rochelle and Jamie looked at each other, before the redhead's jaw dropped. "This is your ex-wife!"
"Yes, now let's not make a fuss about it sweetheart," he sneered to Jamie.
Mindy looked Jamie up and down, while smiling, to disguise her curiosity. Rochelle wasn't fooled, and gave Mindy a dirty look of her own.
"I'm Rochelle," she said, slowly moving her eyes over to Alex. "Jamie's the redhead, Coach is bald, Ellis is the overalls, and Nick's the suit."
The five from the new group couldn't help their laughter, all except Lynn. "I don't get it guys, how does any of that make sense?" she asked, waiting for Alex to explain.
He blinked at her. "...She's a bit of a dumb bunny guys," he whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's just a joke, Lynn."
"Ohhhhh, okay! I still don't get it though. Haha," she smiled. Dumb bunny indeed.
"We're goin' to New Orleans for evac Keith, you guys should come with." Ellis said, stepping back to Coach's side.
"Hmm." He started to stroke his grotesque beard. "As designated leader of the pack," he said, looking to all of "his" group. "I say we go."
"And who made you leader?" Nina snarled.
"I did. Gotta problem with that girl?" He asked, now an inch away from her face. He meant business.
However, the business wasn't enough to stop her from socking him in the stomach. He keeled over, holding his sides while Nina beamed over him with satisfaction.
"He always gets in trouble for his mouth, don' worry about him," Ellis smiled to everyone while he patted Keith on the back.
Everyone found Nina's strength and Keith's cocky attitude to be quite hysterical, but Mindy was still fascinated with Jamie. Why had Nick called her sweetheart? It probably didn't mean anything, but she still had something to be skeptical about: she knew Nick had an ex-wife. How much had he told her, and why?
"We'd better get movin' everyone. The Horde comes whenever we stay in one place too long," Rochelle said, wiping the teary laughter from her eyes.
Everyone nodded, and began walking down the highway. Ellis took this as an opportunity to talk to Jamie about what happened at the bridge, so they eased off to the left side of the road. Nick walked on the right side of the road, keeping to himself, and away from the couple's soon-to-be fight that was his fault. Mindy slowed behind the group, crossing her arms and counting every step in her head.
"Cute for her to be so sleek and do a childish thang like that," Keith whispered to Coach, who wasn't paying attention. The twins were telling him that he reminded them of their old softball coach in 95'. Turns out, he remembered two adorable little blondes with really good throwing arms as well. They were those adorable little blondes with really good throwing arms, and the fatherly relationship they had with Coach fourteen years ago was, in that moment, rekindled. Alex and Lynn were arguing about baseball teams, but the fight was soon ended when Lynn decided she'd compare a game to one of her cheerleading competitions. Nobody wanted to hear about her 'hot red and black spankies', except maybe Keith, who seemed interested enough.
The ice was broken between the eleven of them a long while before they'd reached the end of the long stretch of cars on the highway. The group came to a halt, with the smiles, laughter, and silence in back paused for a brief moment.
"Hey guys, see that billboard?" Keith said, pointing to it. Midnight Riders.
"Yah," Lynn said, popping the bubblegum no one noticed she had before.
"We're gonna cross it to get over there, since this is the end of the road," he finished.
Ellis put a hand on Keith's shoulder while walking toward the billboard, mentally awarding him a 'good thinkin'.
The large group hopped onto the billboard one by one, to climb down the ladder. The talk between Ellis and Jamie seemed to be getting heated, as every male helped a female off the end of the ladder. Ellis somehow 'forgot' to offer Jamie his hand.
Lynn covered her mouth in shock, whispering "Oh. No. He didn't!" Before the humiliation was allowed to soak in, Nick presented Jamie with his hand. She was skeptical at first; then took it, as he placed a gentle hand on her side to make sure she didn't slip. He smiled at her, leaving a moment for his arm to linger around her waist. She shot him a quick smile before hurried over to Ellis, who was covering his face with a red hand of anger. He'd seen Nick's little display of chivalry, and was clearly upset. The rest of their talk only got worse.
"Sooooo, anybody like The Police?" Alex wanted to strike up a conversation with the others to mask the loud argument ahead of them, but Mindy and Nick were still tuning in. It was hard not to hear them.
"I've heard that name somewhere. Recently . . . or maybe not," Coach said, catching on to Alex's plan.
What do you mean you don't know whose fault it was? Jamie was apparently defending Nick, but not taking a side. You don't have to get so worked up about it... I thought he was dying. I promise, that was it... AndEllis just wanted her to say she understood how he felt.
Neither of them would change their stance, frustrating Mindy. How was she supposed to know what was going on if they wouldn't talk about anything else that happened? Nick was gathering information as well, but was actually successful in his pursuit. Usually if something goes wrong in a relationship, (especially when the two are young,) the wrong-doer will agree to do whatever their partner wants so they can go back to being a happy couple. Jamie, however, was not agreeing with Ellis, nor bashing Nick for being detrimental to their relationship. She was defending him because she didn't think what they were doing was wrong. Nick was actually not the only one ruining their relationship...
The group had established that they would have to hear Demolition Man whenever they got the chance, by the time they realized that they were in front of a Motel; a quiet, empty motel.
"Guys, we're gonna get ambushed," Keith said, stepping to the front of the group.
"Hey hey, kid. It's my job to be the pessimist," Nick snarled, muffing him in the forehead.
Before Keith could manage a reaction, he felt warm, sticky goo raining all over his body. Nick was covered in it as well, and the both of them remained stiff in disbelief. Before anyone could try to see where the spew came from, they were covered in the sticky mess as well. Coach was the most unfortunate, as he was looking up when it 'rained.'
"Boomer." he sighed, wiping his face.
"Everybody get in the office, so we don't have them comin' at us from all sides!" Rochelle shouted.
They all huddled into the corner, and those with guns kneeled at the front of the group. They blasted away at the infected, and with each second the stench of the bile got worse. The Horde was picking up speed and becoming more aggressive, and they couldn't stay in that corner for much longer. The flood was too heavy, and it wasn't long before the office was packed with at least a hundred dirty, hot, and stinky bodies.
"Ehhh, I can't breathe in here man," Keith managed to say.
"So? Neither can I," Mindy hissed, squirming in discomfort.
"Come on guys, we gotta quit moving so much!" Alex shouted.
"Yeah, you're throwing off my aim." Nick said, still focused on his share of the flood.
After a few minutes, the horde started to decrease in number, and finally came to a halt.
Everyone rose to their feet, and rushed outside for air.
"God, we reek." Rochelle said, trying to wipe the vomit from her shirt.
"Good thing we're at a motel. I can already feel the hot water...and soap!" Lynn said, hugging herself in her imaginary shower.
"I guess we're staying here for tonight," Nick smiled, clapping his hands together.
Coach shook his head. "It might not be safe enough ta do that."
"Coach, come on...please?" the group pleaded.
Coach put his hands on his hips, trying to resist all ten of the puppy-dog faces. Didn't work.
"Alright... fine," he said.
"Yay!" Lynn screamed, high-fiving Nina in the air.
"Everybody pick a bunk buddy, we can't sleep alone. And I'm pretty sure nobody wants us all to sleep in the same room," Rochelle laughed.
Saferooms are waaay too small in-game.