So… back by popular demand. Not that this story was ever gone. I'm going to finish it. But College makes writing exceptionally hard to find time for. But I was able to get this out at some point. So here we go, next chapter of the longer than I expected Nick and Ellis story. We'll get this finished yet! Thanks for the people who have stuck with me and continue to stick with me, and my apologies as well. With any luck I'll get the rest of this busted out and we'll finally reach a conclusion to this adventure.
Chapter 6
"This is only a short term solution, you know." A voice grumbled as the last of the scrounged furniture and heavy crates was piled onto the trap door.
"What else can we do?" Was the irritated response. "We don't have a way to kill them. We don't have a way to stop them. We might as well attempt to trap them."
"I'm just saying that we need to try and think of a long term solution, girl, that's all." Coach said, his gaze narrowing at the tone of Rochelle's voice.
"We barely got out of there alive." Rochelle hissed.
"And?"
"And I think just keeping those... those things in there for now should be good enough."
"So what... do you want us to stay here and guard the place then?"
"No. Why would we need to? It's not like there's anyone else in the area. For all we know those things wiped out the last of the human race except for us. As long as we don't let them out, we should be fine." Rochelle exclaimed, as if the point were obvious.
"I wouldn't count on there not being any other survivors." Coach shook his head. "Though why they'd go unpiling heavy furniture is beyond me." He added. "Still, I don't think it'd be a good idea to just leave them here without completely exterminating them."
"We couldn't even figure out a way to slow them down. How do you propose we destroy them?"
"I don't think anything can stand up to fire. Not anything made of organic material at any rate. We just need to get the supplies and light that place up."
"So you're suggesting we open that trap door again? No. No way. I don't know what they did to you but I haven't gone insane just yet."
"Rochelle. If I thought I could accomplish this without you I would tell you to get your behind as far away from here as possible. As it stands, I need your help. Do you really want to take the chance of those things getting out and possibly spreading whatever strain they have to the rest of the infected? Do you really want to go up against an army of those things? Because I don't think even our luck could stand up to that."
Rochelle heaved a sigh, glaring at Coach. After a moment, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Alright. I'm in. What do we do first?"
Nick woke slowly, fighting against the first dredges of awareness. It was apparently shortly thereafter that sleep had released him from it's grasp, much to his disappointment, so Nick sat up and rubbed at his eyes. At first he didn't notice anything amiss. There was noise throughout the rest of the house as the rest of his colleagues moved around the house. As he really became aware of the situation, though, he realized he was one person short of the proper number.
"Ellis?" Nick asked softly, pushing himself to his feet and stretching. The kid had probably just left to go get breakfast or to find out what the plan was. He often had been an earlier riser than Nick. So the conman bit back his concern, dressing only slightly faster than normal, before heading down the stairs. His body was completely at ease and the content feeling spilled into his emotions as he discovered Ellis was not in the kitchen.
"Zoey, have you seen Ellis?"
"You mean he can still walk after that? I give that boy kudos." Zoey teased lightly before shaking her head. "I haven't seen him down yet. You may want to check with Francis and Louis. They've been mentioning how they want to be on better terms with Ellis."
"Really?" Nick asked, feeling surprise at the comment.
"Well, not verbally, but you can see it in their eyes. They just want to be friends." Zoey said, the corner of her mouth twisting up into a smirk.
Grumbling to himself about how impossible women are, Nick shuffled over to the next room. That one was empty, and so was the next. Nick finally came across Francis cleaning his most prized gun. Nick had a feeling it was one he had held onto since the beginning of the apocalypse.
"Francis." Nick stated to get the man's attention.
"Nick." Was Francis' lazy reply, not even glancing in the conman's direction.
"Have you seen Ellis?"
"No." Francis responded.
"Useless." Nick huffed, turning to leave.
"Hold up." Francis said which didn't so much as falter Nick's footsteps.
"I said wait." Francis growled, setting the gun down to grab Nick's arm.
"You said hold up." Nick replied lightly though he roughly yanked his arm from Francis' grip.
"You heard me and didn't listen. I really hate when people do that."
"Yes Francis, the world knows you hate everything, including me."
"Will you just shut up Nick?"
Nick opened his mouth to answer but Francis' expression made him pause. Finally he nodded, waiting to find out what it was the neanderthal wanted.
"My gun was loaded that night." Francis said slowly.
"I take it you often keep your guns loaded. Good for you." Nick replied, patting Francis' shoulder. The larger man shot daggers in his direction.
"My gun was loaded the night you pointed it at Ellis, and complained about it not being loaded. There were bullets in the gun." Francis pushed on, not letting Nick's sarcasm deter what he wanted to finish saying this time around.
"I pulled the trigger and no bullets came from the gun." Nick replied, his tone remaining easy and careless though he was starting to feel on edge.
"You did something to the gun."
"So what are you implying? That I purposely made it so that the gun didn't shoot? Congratulations Francis, you win the nobel prize for Idiocy." Nick snarked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an airheaded mechanic to find."
"That thing is dangerous. I'd watch out if I were you." Francis warned before storming off in the other direction.
"Why Francis! It's unlike you to show concern for little old me!" Nick called after him. A slammed door was the response he received. Shrugging, he continued on his search for Ellis. Now worry really was starting to become predominant in his mind. Sure, Ellis was a goofball but there was no reason for him to disappear like this. Nick really hoped the kid was just playing a game.
"Louis, have you seen Ellis?" Nick asked.
"Is he not back?" Louis asked, looking up from his task of looking over their map to meet Nick's gaze.
"Back from where?"
"Hell if I know. I just saw him leaving last night, that's all." Louis shrugged.
"Why didn't you come get me?!"
"How was I supposed to know that you didn't know?"
Nick turned sharply, all intentions of storming out of the house to search for Ellis. A hand on his arm stopped him- but only from the force of the grip, not because Nick cared if Louis wanted him to stop or not.
"We're almost ready to head out. We'll come with you." Louis stated.
"I don't need your help." Nick growled, upper lip curling.
"Whether you do or not, we'll be coming regardless."
Nick considered his options before nodding. "5 minutes."
"Zoey! Francis! I think it's about time to head out guys! And... we may have a slight detour before we continue on our way." He called out, leaving Nick to stand in the hallway, tapping one foot impatiently.
Gosh darn that kid, where could he have gone this time? Nick questioned, irate with the situation. Is it possible he just decided to take off again? Nick considered. Ellis had been a little odd about that if he was completely honest. Was it possible that in the end Ellis had decided to take matters into his own hands and just leave? Nick wanted to deny it out right but it also seemed like something Ellis would do. Would Nick ever see him again?
"So Ellis went missing? What'd you do, Nick?" Zoey asked, arching a brow as she finished loading her gun.
Nick's gaze narrowed ever so slightly and the conman deigned not to answer Zoey's question. He didn't want to consider the very real possibility that the kid leaving was his fault.
"Do you have any ideas on where Ellis may have gone?" Louis asked Nick. Nick's expression fell and he looked down. Did he have any ideas? He shook his head.
"I don't know where he may have gone." Nick answered honestly.
"Well. Is it possible that he went back to the underground facility?" Zoey suggested.
"I don't see why he would have..." Nick replied slowly. "It's dangerous to go back there, for one. But I suppose it's a place to start." Nick said, unsure about the idea of going back into that place. They had only just made it out the first time around.
"You mean we're going to risk our necks for that infected guy?" Francis exclaimed, outraged.
"We're just going to look around for him a bit." Zoey soothed, patting Francis' shoulder. The vest wearing man just huffed out a sigh. "I hate this."
"We know, Francis. Let's head out." Louis said, holding the door open for the other three.
Killing zombies had gone from a knee jerk reaction, to something terrifying, to a regular every day thing. As awful as it was to get used to risking your life so often and slaughtering others, after having been at it for so long it didn't make sense for things to go any other way. So it wasn't anger, fear, or any kind of excitement that struck Nick as he once again headed out to battle the infected. It was more a strange detachment. He had just got Ellis back and now the kid was gone, again, and the lead on Rochelle and Coach had hit a dead end. Were those two even still alive?
The trip back to the warehouse was starting to become a memorized path, though it seemed that even though they'd clear out the path of zombies one way it would always fill back up again when they were headed the other way. The warehouse coming into sight did not ease the tension in Nick's gut- if anything it made it grow stronger. He really hoped Ellis was there, but if the kid was what would have brought him back to the warehouse?
"What happened?" Zoey asked. She had been the first to enter the building and her question made no sense to the others... that is until they entered the building as well.
"Somebody seems to have made a kind of blockade." Louis observed. In a way it made logical sense to do so but at the same time it didn't seem as if it was an entirely great idea in stopping those monstrosities from getting out.
"Do you think it was Ellis who did all this?" Zoey asked, gesturing toward the stack of furniture and crates that now lay over the trap door.
"Who else could have done it?" Francis asked, as if it were obvious that Ellis was the one who had created the massive stack.
"Well me, for one thing. And Coach, for another." Rochelle replied easily as she came into the building, each hand gripping a can of gasoline.
"Do my ears deceive me? Is that the voice of Rochelle I hear?" Francis asked, turning to look in Rochelle's direction.
"That is probably the most eloquent sentence Francis has ever uttered." Zoey murmured, impressed.
"Didn't think I'd ever be seeing you or that ugly vest again." Rochelle said playfully.
"Ok, infatuation over." Francis said, waving a hand at Rochelle in irritation before turning away.
"Infatuation. Wow. Big word." Rochelle teased lightly.
"Look, Rochelle. Have you seen Ellis around?" Nick cut in before Francis could reply, leaving the bigger man with a rather unimpressed expression across his features.
"Ellis? No... I haven't seen him since. Well. You know." Rochelle replied, quieting down. She set her load down before going over to Nick and giving the conman a hug. "I haven't seen you, either. Coach and I had you pinned for dead. Glad to see you in one piece." Rochelle said softly.
Nick was taken completely off guard by the sudden show of affection. He returned the hug after a brief moment, patting her back gently.
"We... Ellis and I... we weren't sure what to believe." Nick said softly before pulling away. "Well I wouldn't blame you if all that was left for you was this nasty affair of things." Rochelle said, gesturing at the pile of furniture. "I'm going to guess and say you've already been down there to see the nightmares that have been cooked up this time...?"
"We have." Zoey replied. "They're a lot harder to kill then any infected we've faced up to this point. Nick says detaching the head stops them, though."
"You figured out a way to kill them?" Rochelle asked, surprised.
"Girl, what is taking you so long?" Coach came into the warehouse looking very unhappy. He paused when he saw the rest of the group and a smile spread across his face.
"Well aren't you people a sight for sore eyes." Coach said, going over to clasp each person on the shoulder. "When did you get here? Why are you here?"
"We came looking for you two." Nick replied. "A rather ridiculous mechanic was with us there for a while, as well, but he seems to have taken off. You haven't seen Ellis per chance, have you Coach?" Nick asked, trying to sound nonchalant though concern continued to grow in the pit of his gut. His worry, more than anything else, was that Ellis would do something drastic so that he wouldn't come back to Nick this time since obviously the only explanation was that Ellis had left them for no reason more than he didn't want to be with Nick if it put the conman in danger.
"I can't say I have." Coach said, and he didn't look entirely upset about his answer. Nick brushed that off- he couldn't concern himself with Coach's likes and dislikes in people.
"Have you been looking for him all this time?" Rochelle asked softly. "Oh, but you said that he was with you. How was he?" Rochelle asked, her voice a little on edge and cautious.
"He's been worse." Nick replied.
"Still infected, though." Francis grumbled.
"He's... somewhere in between the creatures out there and us." Zoey explained to Rochelle and Coach. "He looks a bit like a hunter but he still talks and as far as I know he hasn't killed anyone yet. In fact he's saved all of us a few times."
"When did you see him last?" Rochelle questioned.
"Yesterday evening." Nick replied.
"Did he have any reason to leave?"
"Not that we know of." Zoey responded.
"Besides the point that he's infected and dangerous and should stay away from us." Francis threw in, causing Zoey and Nick both to scowl at him. He pointedly ignored them.
"So are you back here to look for him?" Rochelle asked, wanting to get on the same page of what all was going on.
"This is the last place we were before going to the safe point." Zoey replied. "We had no better leads to go off of so we decided to come here first. I take it the stack of furniture over the trap door is your doing?"
"We've got to make sure those monstrosities don't make it out into the open. Besides that they're impossible to kill, they may pass that strain of whatever disease to the other infected."
"Do you have any idea how those things were even created?"
"We don't know. Coach and I were working on our escape plan when we ran into them." Rochelle replied. "If it weren't for them, we probably would still be trapped down there. I don't know if being up here is much better, though." She added, shaking her head.
"As much fun as catching up would be, we need to find Ellis." Nick said. He wasn't rude in his interruption for once. It was more a polite reminder on what they should be up to.
"Well unless Ellis went down into that place again, we have no leads. Besides, Nick, we know Ellis can take care of himself. Maybe he really did just leave." Zoey suggested, reaching out to pat Nick's shoulder reassuring but he stepped away from her, just keeping out of her reach.
Nick looked up at the blockade over the trap door. It was possible that Ellis was down there but why would he be down there. Logically, Ellis had just taken off without telling any of them... but it nagged at Nick. He didn't like the idea of leaving this place in case Ellis was down there.
"Rochelle, I was meaning to ask- what's with the gasoline?" Louis piped in, interrupting Nick's thoughts.
"Coach and I didn't want those things-"
"We've been calling them Wraiths."
"Ok, Coach and I didn't want those wraiths to get out. I thought that the blockade would work well enough. Coach doesn't think we should leave until we destroy them."
"It's not a bad idea." Louis mused. "What were you going to do, though? Burn them?"
"Obviously." Rochelle said, gesturing to the gas.
"Burning is something I like." Francis murmured, eyeing Rochelle appreciatively. She gave him a small smile and an eye roll for his troubles.
"Now that we're together again, we might as well give you a hand." Nick offered, though he sounded distracted.
"Mighty kind of you, stranger." Coach said, tentatively moving closer to Nick. The hesitation disappeared when Coach swept Nick up into a bone crushing hug. "We were really worried about you Nick, believe it or not. We're glad to see you're alright, you old trickster."
"Hey now, watch who you're calling old." Nick wheezed, taking a few steps back when Coach set him down.
"So we just going to tear that door open and make a run through there?" Zoey asked. "Actually, that sounds like a suicide mission. What's the plan?"
"Well what we had figured out so far was to try and sneak through there, dousing the rooms with gasoline and the 'wraiths' when we can. As soon as we get that done, we high tail it up the stairs and torch the stairs. That way we kill all of those things."
"Wouldn't it be better to dismember them all, first?"
"Nick. Do you want to be facing off against those things again?" Zoey questioned, hands placed on her hips.
"I think that's a better plan then just setting everything on fire. If we do it Coach's way one or two might escape."
"If we do it your way, we have a greater risk of dying." Louis exclaimed.
"Not any more of a risk then if we follow Coach's plan. We're going to run into those things no matter what. They are more intelligent then the other infected. I highly doubt anyone would be able to sneak by one of them." Nick argued, his voice quiet.
"I think we're going to need to discuss a full out plan." Zoey suggested, agreeing with the general thought that the wraiths needed to be destroyed but not liking either Coach's, nor Nick's plan.
"Fine with me." Coach replied easily. "With so many people, we have more options for what we can do about those things."
"Did you want to discuss it in here? Or shall we head back to the safe house?" Zoey offered.
"That's a bit of a no brainer, if you ask me." Louis said. "It would be smarter to go back to the safe house and plan."
Nick looked up at the group and knew that Louis was right, but Nick wasn't ready to return to the safe house yet. He didn't want to go back until he found Ellis. Maybe Ellis was waiting for him to be alone, though. Maybe the kid would come back and talk to him then. It's possible he had caught wind of Rochelle and Coach and had disappeared because he didn't want them to see him.
There were so many different reasons for Ellis to have left and none of them led to Nick finding him again Ellis decided that he wanted to be found. It seemed pretty unrealistic, if Nick thought about it logically. First off, why would Ellis go back? Was he playing the hero? Trying to get rid of those things himself? But... he had looked just as terrified of the wraiths as everybody else felt. So that couldn't be it. Maybe he went back to see if he could find any specific evidence of Rochelle and Coach?
"Well he did ask if I thought they were still alive. Perhaps he was dwelling on them." Nick murmured to himself.
"Talking to yourself now, Nick?" Zoey asked, falling back so that she was walking in stride with Nick. They watched the other's backs as Rochelle, Coach, Francis, and Louis ran on ahead to take down any infected in their path.
Nick grunted softly, not really responding but acknowledging the question.
"Have you come to any interesting conclusions or were you arguing with yourself about something?" Zoey teased.
"Just trying to figure out where Ellis is." Nick admitted, putting his mask in place to hide his emotions from Zoey.
"Not that you shouldn't worry for him, Nick, but he's a bit more indestructible then we are. I'm sure if he wants to be found, we'll find him."
"And if he doesn't want to be found?"
"Then we'll find him anyway. We both know he can't stay away from you for long." Zoey said, leaning into Nick's side before going to shoot down a Jockey that had jumped onto Francis' shoulders.
"Unless he's made sure he'd never come back." Nick mumbled. Not that he ever considered Ellis to be the suicidal type but when it came to Ellis you could never really rule anything out. The question was, would Ellis truly go to that extreme to keep Nick safe? Nick rubbed at his face as he thought, almost getting swiped from a common thanks to his lack of attention. Zoey shot it down before it could reach him.
"You should probably focus in, Nick." Zoey said, moving to his side again and attempting at a playful nudge.
"You're right." Nick muttered, rubbing at his face a moment. "I'm ok, Zoey. I'm not going to die today."
"Good." Zoey said before shouting was heard ahead. She ran on ahead to shoot a hunter that was chasing after Louis.
"Focus." Nick muttered to himself, raising the gun to shoot down a common that was going after Zoey. "Focus." He repeated as he shot down a Jockey mid-leap. "Focus." Nick said once more as he shot a spitter down before it could really spit it's acid over his colleagues. His mind seemed determined to wander back to Ellis, either way, and he truly began to question if Ellis would kill himself to keep Nick safe.
"He wouldn't. Not until I was truly safe, at least. Unless something changed in him so that he couldn't control himself." Nick decided. "So Ellis is alive. Somewhere."
When a thick slimy rope wrapped around Nick's torso he had just enough time to shout 'Smoker' before he was being dragged off. "God dammit, Nick. This is a war. There is no time to be daydreaming!" Nick scolded himself. No one else seemed to notice his sudden absence which had Nick concerned, but only slightly. Ellis would come to his rescue, right? If he was out here, Nick knew he would. But he didn't, and Nick was still being dragged away. The conman reached the building the smoker was hiding in and his slow ascent began as the smoker pulled him towards itself. Not ready to die just yet, Nick began to really fight against the strength of the slimy appendage. He was able to slip through with enough of a fight, unsure if he had gotten a lucky break or if the smoker just hadn't had a good grip on him. Either way, as soon as he landed on his feet he turned and shot the smoker down.
"Slimy bastard." Nick grouched, fixing his jacket before heading back to where the others were calling for him.
"Smoker got me." Nick said in way of explanation for his absence.
"Ellis?" Zoey asked, eyes lighting up at the thought.
"No. I had to break free myself." Nick replied, feeling the disappointment that was expressed on Zoey's face at least ten fold. "I don't know what's happened to him but he's not looking out for us at the moment."
"I know you don't want to hear this, Nick, but you should probably consider the possibility that the boy's changed all the way." Coach suggested, his voice quiet.
"Wait, you think Ellis became one of them?" Nick demanded, his temper flaring.
"Nick..." Zoey warned, hand on Nick's shoulder. The conman took a deep breath, smoothing his hair back before responding to his own question.
"Of course you'd think that. You didn't know about his struggle until you were leaving. You haven't seen how human he still is. It's a logical deduction if you don't know Ellis." Nick growled softly. The consideration that Ellis had completely lost himself had not crossed Nick's mind. Now that Coach suggested it, though, a new wave of fear washed over Nick. What if he lost Ellis completely this time? There had already been a few close calls. And if Nick recalled right, there had been an odd moment between Ellis and one of the Wraiths. What if it had had an odd effect on him? But no...
Nick began to dread the worst. Ellis changing would explain everything.
"It would explain why he left." Coach pointed out, speaking Nick's thoughts outright.
"We won't rule out the possibility." Zoey said in an attempt to keep the peace. "But we need more evidence before we start to consider that Ellis has become one of them."
Nick nodded. A thought crossed his mind as the little group made it to the safe house. Zoey had just as much faith in Ellis as he did, if not more. Ellis sure knew how to pick them- going from a decent girl that was actually worth Ellis' time to him, a lowly crook caught in a struggle for his life. Ok, Nick wasn't a lowly crook, he was actually on the high end of things but he and Ellis sure had come from opposite sides of the world before this hell hit. Nick had no doubt that if they had met outside of this apocalypse there would have been nothing between them but dislike.
Nick wasn't entirely sure how he felt about this minor revelation. He decided to put it at the back of his mind. The hell had hit, he and Ellis had met, so what else could have been doesn't matter because that's not what happened.
"It's too bad we don't have Ellis right now. He'd have been useful against the Wraiths." Louis mentioned as the group started debating over the plan. Nick looked up at the mention of Ellis' name before looking away again. There was a very real possibility that Nick would never see Ellis again at this point and it created a sinking feeling in his gut.
"What the hell is life even worth anymore." Nick mumbled to himself.
"You know, if you keep talking to yourself people are going to think that you've gone crazy." Zoey pointed out, moving to sit next to Nick- though not touching him, much to Nick's appreciation.
"I'm pretty sure they already think that I'm crazy." Nick replied. "You see the company I keep. What sane person would hang out with someone infected?"
"Well I guess I must be insane, too, then, because I know I didn't shoot Ellis on sight though it was pretty obvious what he was."
"You thought about it, though. Ever since I first saw Ellis in that state, I still held onto hope that he'd be alright."
"And when was the first time you saw Ellis like that?" Zoey inquired.
"Look, as much fun as it is being all buddy-buddy with you, don't you have planning to do?"
"The men are fighting it out." Zoey pointed to the table where Francis and Coach were having a heated discussion.
"Ha. Why does that not surprise me. Alright, Angel, if you really want to know the first time I saw Ellis like that was shortly after he attacked me. We were trying to get a sign lit to summon a boat to us and Ellis went down to make sure the power was connected. I don't know what snapped in him but when I saw him-" Nick cut off. It was probably best not to say that Ellis tried to kill him when he saw him. "Well he was a real mess."
"So why didn't you shoot him?" Zoey asked.
"Well, at first it was because my gun was out of reach. After that, I guess it was because I didn't believe what I had seen."
"Denial. But you accept it now, and you still haven't shot him?"
"Well you've seen him. You know that he has control." Nick said, his hands gesturing sharply in front of him.
"I don't know that, actually. That first night he seemed pretty ready to attack me. And though he's been around for some time I still don't feel safe around him."
"So what's stopped you from shooting him?"
"You." Zoey replied, as if it were obvious.
"Hate to shorten the love fest, you two, but I think we have a plan." Coach interrupted. Nick nodded, ignoring the jibe and pushing to his feet.
"So what did you decide on?" Zoey asked.
"You and Louis have a good point on that burning the whole building down isn't the best idea. And I'll admit it wasn't very strong but it had been doable with two people."
"Yes, I heard this part of the conversation. What did you decide to change?" Zoey replied, waving her hand impatiently. Coach scowled for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.
"The plan is to burn all the wraiths we find- and that we'll be searching the entire building to make sure we get all of them. The ones we can dismember without jeopardizing ourselves, we do. Otherwise we keep a safe distance and torch the suckers."
"Good plan. Great. What are we torching them with exactly?" Zoey questioned.
"Flame thrower." Francis replied easily.
"Where are we going to get one of those."
"We already have one. What? I've been saving it for a special occasion." Francis' hands went into the air in a playfully defensive gesture. Zoey pinched her nose before shaking her head. "Ok. When will we be heading out?"
"Coach thought it best if we take tonight to rest and prepare. So we plan to attack tomorrow morning."
"Why are we waiting?" Nick asked, his attention sliding in and out of the conversation.
"Coach and I haven't gotten a decent nights sleep in a long time, Nick. We need a break. And this gives the rest of you a chance to rest up as well."
Nick shook his head. He didn't like the idea of waiting. He wanted to know, now, if Ellis was in danger or not. The more theories that Nick put to rest, the more likely he was to find Ellis again.
"Nick." Rochelle intoned, her voice dangerous.
"What?" Nick asked, looking at her.
"I know that face. That's you're 'I'm going to do something stupid.' face. Well don't." Rochelle said, waving a finger around in his face.
"Me? Do something stupid? Come on, Ro. You know I'd never risk my life for anyone but me." Nick replied, giving her his most winning smile. Her expression didn't change. "What do you want me to do? Pinky swear? Cross my heart and hope to die?"
"Just. Stay. Put." Rochelle demanded.
"Thanks Rochelle, I don't know what I'd do without you." Nick stated. "Oh, right. I'd do something stupid. Good to have you around again." Nick said. In all honestly, Nick was glad to have Rochelle and Coach back but he had quickly been reminded why he didn't really like them to begin with. If they had any bonds, it was because they had saved each other's ass', not because they had anything in common.
"Boy, I did not miss your mouth." Coach said and it made Nick feel just a little guilty but not enough to make him apologize or anything silly like that.
"That's too bad, Coach. I missed yours. Especially your religious wisdom." The conman replied sarcastically, earning a scowl from Coach.
"I really don't need this right now." Rochelle said. "Where's an open bedroom? I'm going to get some sleep."
"Up the stairs, to your right." Zoey answered. "Are you going to want anything to eat?"
"Maybe later." Zoey led Rochelle upstairs, the two beginning to chatter away like old friends. Before they had reached the room, Zoey had Rochelle laughing loud enough the men could hear it even as the girls shut the door behind them.
The rest of the men began to disperse without so much as a good bye- not that Nick cared one way or the other. Heading towards his room, he debated the pros and cons of listening to Rochelle and not going through with what he had been considering. It was pretty stupid in hindsight- going down to the facility alone to see if he could find Ellis. That was a death wish in and of itself. If Ellis has survived this long, surely he could survive another night? If that's where he was, of course.
Nick heaved a sigh as he spread out on the bed. "Alright, I'll stay put. But if Ellis dies because of this, you will truly learn what hell is." Nick said to no one in particular. Nick curled up, attempting to get somewhat comfortable, and closed his eyes. He could still smell Ellis and their night's exploits and it both comforted and teased Nick.
"Where did you go this time, kid?" Nick hummed, before truly quieting down.
Nick didn't really get any sleep, though he stayed in bed. He spent the night wondering where Ellis was, as pathetic as that sounds. Nick couldn't believe how hung up over the kid he still was. But then, hadn't he found that out multiple times in his search for Ellis after the helicopter left?
As the familiar sounds of a house waking up started, Nick pulled himself from the bed, stretching slowly before heading down for breakfast. The sight he found had him feeling like the odd one out. Something he was used to, but something he felt wouldn't have been true if he had had Ellis here with him. Ellis as his completely human self. Not a danger to anything but the infected outside.
As per usual, Rochelle had pulled together a miracle with the food supplies they had- making a small banquet set out for the survivors of jam toast and cereal. Where Rochelle found the milk, Nick didn't know and wasn't interested in asking. As he got closer to the high spirited group, he noticed that there was a place set out for him. He took it without hesitation, finding himself in between Zoey and Louis. To his utter surprise, Francis and Rochelle were sitting next to each other and seemed to be the main source of the up beat atmosphere.
"What happened to them?" Nick asked Zoey, speaking softly so as not to catch the attention of the other two.
"Twitterpated, I think."
"Twitter whated?"
"Well it's no question that Francis had a Francis type crush on Rochelle since the bridge. Rochelle seems to be... if not returning it, then indulging it just the slightest bit."
"Great. Well. Good for them." Nick replied, taking up a piece of toast and munching through it thoughtfully. He was fairly amused by Rochelle. He had thought she'd never show interest in a guy like Francis... but then again, when you don't have many choices you tend to fall for whatever is in line with your options. For Rochelle, she could have gone after Louis or Francis. He supposed, she could have even gone after Zoey if her gate swung that way. And when there's already an attraction from one of them, why not see about that one first? It's pretty much what he had done with Ellis, wasn't it?
"Alright. Is everyone ready to head out?"
"And follow the plan I made except with a flamethrower? I'm ready." Nick said, pushing to his feet. He'd be damned if he'd let Ellis affect the other's view of him. He was not going to be the pathetic sop that pined over their missing... missing what? Lover? Friend with benefits? Nick flinched at using any terms that was more permanent then that. As silly as the term boyfriend was, it held a sense of commitment and Nick still didn't really want to commit to anything. Especially not if his supposed partner was planning on continuing to run off.
"Right. Well, lets get this done guys. I want to be home in time for dinner." Zoey said lightly, opening the door for the rest of the survivors. They ran out, guns blazing, to find the streets all but empty.
"Think we cleared the place out?" Francis suggested.
"I doubt that, not in a city like this." Zoey whispered, her gun roving one and then another as they headed toward the facility.
"So where is everybody?" Louis asked.
"I don't know but I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out." Coach answered, his voice just as soft.
The stragglers began to pick up in number the closer they got to the warehouse and soon it wasn't a question of where they had all gone.
"Do you think the wraith called them here?" Louis whispered.
"Don't start in with your superstitious crap, Louis. I hate that." Francis grumbled.
"What are we going to do? Fight through a horde to fight off those other nasty critters?" Rochelle questioned.
"I don't know. This definitely wasn't apart of the planned scenarios."
The survivors went from walking on the streets to moving along the rooftops, following Zoey as she led them closer. Looking down the sight was nauseating. A sea of undead faces, crowding around like people used to do at concerts- just a giant mass of death.
"Do we have any pipe bombs or molotovs?" Coach asked as they peeked over the last roof before reaching the warehouse.
"Here." Francis responded, handing a pipe bomb to Coach.
Zoey hushed the both of them, gesturing for them to listen.
"Do you hear that?"
Nick focused on what Zoey could be talking about, and after a moment he heard it too. "It sounds like pounding?" He questioned.
"Shit. What if it's those things trying to get out?!"
"We've got to find a way in there. Looks like we're going to need to split up." Zoey said, a plan forming in her mind. "One party will need to draw the horde away, the other continue with the plan to go in and destroy the wraiths."
"So either way, we're all going to be in massive danger. Great." Rochelle murmured. "Who's in what group?"
"Well it seems logical for the old groups to be the ones to split apart, considering that we work better with the people we know." Zoey suggested.
"So who are you sending off to be bait and who will be going up against those nightmares?" Louis asked.
"Considering I doubt Francis will willingly part with his flamethrower, I'm guessing it will be us heading in."
"Well there's no need for you to go without us." Coach threw in.
"It would take too long waiting for you, especially with them trying to escape. Just keep the common infected away, we'll take care of the rest. Come back when you can."
Nick paused when he realized what Zoey was suggesting. That meant he wouldn't be able to look for Ellis. Well, not unless they were able to get back in time before Francis completely torched the place. Still, it was logical the way things were set up, there was really no point in arguing unless he wanted to look either obsessed with Ellis or insane. So he nodded, just slightly grudging, before heading back the way they'd come.
Ahead Rochelle and Coach planned different strategies of calling a horde that wouldn't have them trapped.
"We could try shooting an alarm in one of the stores?"
"That would be hoping that the power is still on in the store."
"We still have power in the house, we should still have power in the stores."
Nick tuned out from the conversation. He'd shoot when he needed to, but until then he kept catching himself looking back over his shoulder.
"Did you get all that, Nick?"
"We're going to make a shit ton of noise. I got it." Nick replied. "Just tell me where I should shoot first."
Rochelle nodded though Coach didn't look convinced. Rochelle motioned for them to peer over the rooftop with her, looking down at a mall that was several rooftops away from the facility.
"I'm thinking we can cause a ruckus at multiple stores." She said. "As we've learned in the past noise draws them so here's hoping they find the noise out here more interesting then the banging that was happening inside the warehouse."
Nick nodded. "So is one of us going to actually go down there or are we going to try to set something off from up here?"
Rochelle rubbed at her chin. "We never had a problem with finding a volunteer before. Our team is a little out of balance." She admitted, a sad smile twisting her lips.
"I'll do it. I was just wondering if either one of you preferred to go, and I just wanted to make sure that actually going down there was a plan."
"Yes, unfortunately I don't think any of us are a good enough shot. Considering your history, you probably know all the tricks to keep an alarm from going off."
"Which means I know how to set them off as well. Even if I didn't have my past, we've learned the hard way enough times." Nick couldn't help the venom that crept into his voice.
"So we have the plan. Nick runs in and we cover his back." Coach stated.
"Pretty much. Theres an opening to the roof, Nick. As soon as you set off the alarm, run for those stairs. You should be safe on the roof."
"Safe." Nick scoffed. He wondered to himself if this was really worth it as he found his way down from the current rooftop and headed to the next store over. Was there any plan to shut the alarm off? Or kill any of the common that wander in? It seemed as things continued they got sloppier with their plans. After all, they were risking their necks so that the other group could risk their necks. They had a point, though- they really couldn't let those wraiths loose.
Since the majority of the common's interest was focused on the warehouse, the store was empty upon Nick's arrival.
"Well, this shouldn't be all that hard." He mumbled as he raised his gun to point at one of the glass windows. "Here goes nothing."
Just as hoped, the shot triggered an alarm. Nick could almost pretend he was in a movie, walking in slow motion towards the stairs that he had pinpointed earlier. He continued the facade until the first of the infected came into the building. That picked up his gait to a slow jog, making his way quickly up the stairs. He shut and locked the door to the roof behind him, quickly moving to the side of the building to see how well it all had worked. A couple infected came running here and there but it didn't seem to have made a great amount of difference.
A few more minutes proved a larger crowd head in the right direction, and soon, what Nick was presuming was the majority of the earlier horde was crowded around the store beneath him.
"Why do I feel like I've done all the work." Nick spoke quietly, trying to look around for Rochelle and Coach. Another alarm started ringing, right next door to where he was, which started Nick out of his dark sense of humor. Before he could really pinpoint anything of interest, the roar of a charger rent the air. Nick could feel the building shake as the monster ran up the stairs, and the solid thud as the charger ran right into the door. The door that opened to his roof. Shit.
Nick looked around for an escape as the alarms shrilled for the building under his feet and the building that was next door to him.
"Nick!" Rochelle called out, gesturing him to the roof next to the building he was currently on.
"You've got to be joking." The gap between the buildings would maybe have been possible for Ellis to jump but not Nick, or any human.
He looked back to see Rochelle shake her head and then point down. Nick took a closer look and saw a windowsill that he might be able to grab, but where would he go after that? Back into the building to face off with the common infected?
Nick wasn't given any more time to debate. The charger was on the roof in a couple more thrashes, and it turned to stare at the conman.
"What do you guys have against me?!" Nick asked, slightly incredulous as he hooked one leg over the edge of the building. "Don't miss. Don't miss. Don't miss." Nick murmured as he pulled the other leg over so that it was his stomach resting on the ledge. He slowly lowered himself but even with just his fingers gripping the edge he felt nothing beneath his feet.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Nick repeated under his breath. The rumble beneath his hands showed the approach of the charger and knowing he had no other choice, Nick released the edge. There was a moment of falling, his face brushing up against the brick of the building, before his feet caught on something- and promptly slipped.
"Fuck!" Nick shouted as he continued to fall, momentary relief swept away in just a moment. "Goddammit!"
A painful lurch through his shoulder was the first tell that his momentum had been stopped. The next was when he bumped into the building from the sudden lurch. He looked up and smirked at the sight of Coach gripping one of his wrists with both hands. His expression was one of concentration.
"You going to pull me up?" Nick asked, trying to play it cool. It wasn't like he was hanging over a growing crowd of infected and Coach's grip was the only thing keeping him from dying. Not at all.
"Give... me... a sec." Coach wheezed, but promptly began attempting to pull Nick up.
"A Thank you... would be nice." Coach puffed out as Nick made it safely into the building.
"How about I save that for when we're really out of this mess." Nick responded, pointing to the infected that were coming at them from behind Coach.
"We never... get a break." Coach whined.
"No. No we don't." Nick agreed.
It was a mess making it through the onslaught. Nick ran out of ammo a little more than halfway through the first horde and Coach didn't have more than a single magazine that would fit Nick's gun type. The alarm continued to blare in their ears as the two men tried to push their way through the masses, shooting when they could, slicing or smashing when that was the only other option.
"We need another plan." Nick called over the groans of the infected. "We're not going to make it out if we fight through them. They'll just keep coming thanks to that alarm!"
A bang shook the building and brought Nick to his knees a moment. Thankfully he wasn't the only one knocked around by the blast. Most of the infected were knocked completely down, giving Nick space to run. He glanced around for Coach but didn't see the bigger man around at first.
"What the hell was that?" Came Coach's muffled voice and Nick found Coach struggling with a couple of the common infected.
Nick yanked them off before saying "I don't know but we'd better use it and get out of here now."
"Good plan." Coach agreed as the infected began to get up around them.
Nick was thankful, once again, that most infected seemed to be rather clumsy and slow. On top of that some of them didn't have all their limbs which made getting back up a lot more difficult. Nick and Coach were out the door of the store before anymore could really attack them.
Scorch marks could be seen around the gaping hole that used to have the door.
"Rochelle?" Nick asked Coach but got the answering voice of the person in question.
"Well that sure was a mess."
"Again, not over yet." Nick pointed out.
"Come on, we need to get out of the line of fire." Rochelle shouted over the continued ringing of the alarms. The run up the stairs and to safety was uneventful in comparison to the earlier battle to escape the building.
"So once again, not according to plan." Nick leaned against the wall of the building, trying to catch his breath. He glanced over at Coach and felt that he was doing much better considering the bigger man was doubled over, gasping for breath.
"Did we ever really have a plan besides setting the alarm off?" Rochelle asked, in much better shape then either of the men. She wiped the sweat from her brow before placing her hands on her hips as she stared Nick down.
"Surviving?" Coach wheezed.
"We have accomplished both. I say job well done."
"Well Coach and I would both be dead if it weren't for your quick thinking with that bomb."
"Thank you, thank you." Rochelle replied, taking a bow. "Now it's about time we head back and find out what the other team has accomplished in our absence."
Nick and Coach nodded in agreement, Nick gesturing for Rochelle to lead the way.
The sight they discovered upon returning to the warehouse was not pretty.
"Francis?!" Rochelle cried out, running over to the man who lay bleeding on the floor.
"Zoey? Louis?" Nick sped to Zoey's side as Coach moved to Louis.
The three were practically torn to bloody shreds. They each had a puddle of red growing larger around them at an alarming rate.
"Do you think the Wraiths did this?" Nick questioned, voice soft as he took in the rest of the scene. The trap door was thrown open, the furniture blocking it knocked aside. Whatever it was that got out, it had been before Zoey and the crew had actually opened the trap door.
"I'm not sure." Coach answered honestly. "If so then they've got a new style of killing."
A soft cough from Zoey got their attention. "We're... not dead. Not... yet." She grumbled.
"We'll see about bringing you back from the edge, then." Nick said before turning to Rochelle and Coach. "Are the other two still alive?"
"Louis has a pulse but it's weak." Coach responded quickly.
"Francis is still breathing but if he turns any whiter he'll put bed sheets to shame."
"Is there a hospital around here? Is there actually something we can do for them or are they going to die?"
"Well Coach and I have our medkits." Rochelle offered.
"That's like trying to fix a crumbling wall with Duct tape." Nick scoffed.
"Well it would at least slow the bleeding. It might give them spare moments that allows us to get them somewhere we can properly see about their wounds." Rochelle spat.
"Would you two stop bickering? We need to do something, now."
"I'll watch the door. You two work your magic." Nick commanded, heading over to the door of the warehouse. It was odd but corpses of common infected were littered everywhere.
"Not strange at all." Nick mumbled to himself, remember that Zoey and the crew would have had to shoot some of the stupid infected that didn't follow the alarm. "But... that doesn't look like a bullet wound took that one out." Nick moved to get a closer look and perhaps this zombie had just been chewed up in it's undead life but it looked like a lot of the damage was recent.
"If wraiths did this, that means they're out in the world." Nick was completely oblivious that he was talking to himself at this point. "Which means we're screwed. But Coach said that it didn't look like they're style earlier. What is a Wraith's style?"
Silence ensued after that, besides the soft grunts of pain and murmurings from the injured and the healers. Nick kept an eye out for any dangers but the infected were either too busy with the alarms or completely oblivious to this place.
Once Coach and Rochelle had done their best bandaging up their injured comrades the three came across another problem.
"There's no way we can get them back to the safe house." Nick stated. "If we all carried one survivor, there'd be no one to fight any attacking infected."
Rochelle and Coach sighed, their fatigue showing not only in their faces but in the general way they held their shoulders. They looked to one another then down at the fallen team, then back over at Nick.
"Nick, do you think you can go scope out a new house? One that is a safe house or that could be turned into one?" Rochelle requested.
Nick puffed out a breath before nodding. Even though most of his scouting missions had ended badly, perhaps this time him going out into the dangerous world solo wouldn't be so bad.
"I'll be back as soon as I find something." He exclaimed, before loading up his gun and heading out.
The section of the city they were in all seemed to be abandoned warehouses. Those wouldn't do if they wanted to actually save Zoey, Louis, and Francis. They needed something that's more like a house, with a food and water supply. In the end Nick's scouting mission was short and was an utter failure. He hurried back to the other survivors, expression grim.
"Our only option is to bring them back to the safe house or keep them here. Or, we could move them to another warehouse- given that there may still be wraiths down there." Nick added the last sentence as an afterthought.
Coach heaved another sigh, rubbing a hand over his head before looking down at the three barely alive survivors.
"I guess we're going to have to come up with a plan to get them back to the safe house."
"So, the option to just leave them here and die isn't among our choices?" Nick asked, his tone dry. He wasn't sure just how ready he was to risk his life for three people he was never truly fond of.
"Why don't we just leave you here to die, Nick? It would make the company kept in our group much more pleasant." Rochelle said sweetly, an angry glint in her eyes.
"Ok, so it's not. What do you propose we do then?"
"I'd rather not be around you right now, Nick, so I propose you stay and watch Louis and Francis while Coach and I get Zoey back to the safe house. We'll have to move them one by one for this to work." Rochelle said, going into planning mode. Coach stooped down to pick Zoey up, a grunt escaping him as he hoisted her weight into the air.
"This is going to kill my back." Coach stated simply before gesturing for Rochelle to lead the way.
"Stay put and watch over them, will you." Rochelle stated.
Nick just nodded, scowl set firmly in place while he watched Coach shuffle out with Zoey's deadweight dragging him down, Rochelle's gun moving this way and that as they watched for infected.
Thanks to already being irate, it didn't take long for Nick to grow bored. Though the conman wasn't stupid, he also was one to take risks just to see what would happen- ergo why he decided to go over to the trap door and look down into the darkness found there.
"Ellis?" Nick asked softly. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, but he supposed he had been expecting something. At the very least, a wraith climbing up the stairs to greet him. But nothing happened. Nothing changed. Things remained boring for Nick.
On the other hand, Rochelle and Coach had their work cut out for them. The alarms were still ringing, drawing the infected to those two stores. Realizing it wouldn't be beneficial to take the well beaten path to the safe house at this point, Rochelle and Coach took a longer way around avoiding most of the infected. So it took much longer than expected to find the safe house, but unfailingly it eventually came into sight.
"Oh thank god, there it is." Coach huffed out, his arms feeling like they would give out any minute. He jogged the last few steps and scrambled to get the door open without dropping Zoey. In the end, Rochelle had to get the door open for him regardless.
Coach found the nearest piece of furniture, and all but dropped Zoey onto it, immediately sighing and rubbing at his back as soon as he was free of the girl's weight.
"Zoey, you hang in there, alright? Just hang on. We still have to go get Francis and Louis, but then we'll take good care of you three, alright?" Rochelle said softly, patting Zoey's shoulder gingerly.
"Come on Coach, we've got three more dead weights to haul over."
"Can't I just, breathe for a moment? And 3?" Coach responded, taking a seat into the nearest chairs.
"Nick's hardly any use at the moment." Rochelle mumbled. "And you have another two bodies to carry over, Coach. Time is of the essence, we need to get going."
"Can't Nick carry the last?" Coach requested.
"Well actually, we should only have to make one more trip if you carry one and Nick carries the other."
"I call Louis!" Coach said quickly, pushing himself back to his feet.
"You do that." Rochelle replied, smirking and shaking her head. She waited at the door, opening it for Coach, before closing it behind both of them.
In the mean time, Nick attempted to figure out ways to call Ellis. Shouting his name wouldn't do because it would draw other infected. He tried whistling, his version of a pig call, murmuring pet names, all number of things though he didn't really consider any of them to work. It was a way to entertain himself, at any rate, and to take his mind off of that it was possible for the wraiths to appear and attack him.
When Rochelle and Coach returned, they found Nick drumming his fingers impatiently against his leg, keeping a lookout for infected.
"The conquering heros have returned." Nick greeted them.
"Yes we have. Ready to get these two home and call it a night?" Rochelle replied, gesturing to Louis and Francis. Coach was already headed in Louis' direction, leaning down and picking up the limp body carefully.
"Better check to make sure you're not carrying around a corpse." Nick suggested. Coach rolled his eyes before checking Louis' pulse.
"As I assumed, he's a fighter. They're all fighters and they're going to make it through this."
"Fingers crossed since we're risking our own necks to save them."
Nick glanced in Francis' direction, and it took seeing the man to realize that he would be the one carrying Francis. Nick turned toward Rochelle, mouth open and ready to protest, but the expression on her face had his jaw clicking shut.
"Fine." He grumbled, moving over to Francis. "You owe me a new suit, though. Zombie brains, sure. Spitter acid, fine. But Francis' blood? I draw the line."
Rochelle just sighed. "You do that. Can we get going now?"
Nick hoisted Francis up, pulling one arm over his shoulders while Coach got Louis situated so that the smaller man was on Coach's back, arms draped over the larger man's shoulders. The position reminded Nick of a couple times he and Ellis had been in the same position.
Nick's expression darkened as his cheeks tinted red. When did everything become so complicated?
Things remained complicated as he, Coach, and Rochelle tried to get the two other survivors to safety. In the grand scheme of things, Nick thought it was entirely stupid to try and save the other three at the risk of their own lives. The entire plan to try and kill the Wraiths seemed completely idiotic in hindsight. They were risking their lives to try and keep a virus contained that would probably escape even if the Wraiths were destroyed. They should have just run from this place after discovering them. They shouldn't be here any more. Now Zoey, Francis, and Louis might die- not that Nick truly cared one way or the other. Or well he mostly didn't care. He would make sure he didn't care.
"Dammit Francis, why do you have to be so goddamn heavy." Nick grunted as he tried to move faster with Francis weighing down one side. Coach was lagging farther behind, which put exceptional strain on Rochelle to keep zombies off of both of them.
"Pick up the pace, Coach!"
"Hey, I already made this trip once, Nick. I don't want to be hearing any of this from you." Coach complained, though his stride quickened regardless.
"The safe house is just a little farther, you two." Rochelle called out. Nick wasn't sure if that was to cheer them on or urge them faster but it accomplished a little of both.
"Oh thank the good lord almighty!" Coach cried as their safe house came into sight.
"Now if Rochelle can save their lives, we'll have accomplished the seemingly impossible."
Rochelle shot down the nearest runners before racing to the door and throwing it open. "Come on guys." She ushered Coach and Nick through and then slammed the door behind them, locking it into place just as the group that had been chasing them crashed against it.
"Shit, we made that by the skin of our teeth." Nick said, allowing Francis' weight to slump into a chair.
"But we made it here. Nick, round up as many medkits as we have left, and some clean towels. Coach, help me take stock of their injuries. We need to find out which injuries are the most life threatening and tend to those first. With any luck, they won't die."
Nick and Coach followed their assigned tasks, working as quickly and efficiently as two exhausted men could. Rochelle assigned them each a person to heal, knowing that they're skills in healing were just as amateur as hers and time was limited, so while she worked on stitching up Zoey, Nick took care of Louis and Coach did what he could to heal up Francis.
"On the bright side, the wounds looked a lot worse than they were. If anything these three are suffering from blood loss. We need to get some water into them, and food if we can."
"They're lucky sons of bitches, that's for sure." Nick said, and the smile on his face was genuine. It truly seemed like all three would be making it through this ok. Coach used his remaining energy to whip up what he could for food and Nick fetched water for all of them, including himself, Rochelle, and Coach.
"Alright sweetie, let's see if we can get some water into you." Rochelle said softly, lifting Zoey up gently and pressing the glass of water to the woman's lips.
"Whoa Rochelle, is there something Coach and I should know?"
"Shut up, Nick." Rochelle growled out before sighing. "It's hard being the only girl in a group. It's nice not being alone, ok?"
"Relax, girl. Nick was just being Nick."
"I know." Rochelle stated. It sounded like she wanted to say more but she bit her tongue and focused on trying to get Zoey to drink some water. Zoey's eyes flew open as the water dribbled into her mouth and she knocked the glass from Rochelle's hand as she sputtered and choked.
"Zoey, Zoey, are you alright?" Rochelle asked softly, gently patting the woman's back as she coughed. "It's ok, sweetheart. The Wraiths aren't anywhere nearby, so you're safe."
"What?" Zoey sputtered out, her body shaking as she tried to figure out her surroundings.
"The Wraiths. The things that attacked you. You're away from them, in the safe house. They can't attack you here."
"It wasn't... the Wraiths... that did this. It was... Ellis." Zoey choked out, a look of terror on her face.