Chapter 2
Dean threw Coach a sideways glance.
"Do it boy." The blonde haired Winchester cocked his pistol and placed his finger on the trigger. Nick pulled the now crying hick away from Rochelle and held him tightly to his chest as sobs wracked his body. Everyone lowered their heads in respect and Dean aimed his pistol. Rochelle muttered a soft 'thank you' and he pulled the trigger. The light in her eyes dulled almost immediately and Castiel disappeared along with the female's life.
"We should get a move on. We've still got a ways to go before we reach the next safe room." Coach moved towards Rochelle's body and began taking the provisions and such that she was carrying, whispering a soft 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry' as he worked. Ellis finally calmed and pushed himself out of the con man's hold. Nobody saw it coming and he pulled his arm back and punched Dean as hard as he could in the face.
"Asshole!"
No-one moved. Dean stood stock still as Ellis remained in front of his seething.
"Ellis, no." Castiel was back. The elder Winchester breathed out a small sigh of relief and lifted his hand to rub at his now throbbing jaw. The Southerner spun around to face the other, eye wide and confused.
"But, but chu were behind them!" Castiel ignored his statement and softly placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.
"It is okay. It was what she wanted." Ellis sniffled and nodded quietly at the others words.
"Where did you go Cas?" He should his head at Sam.
"We will discuss this later."
They walked in silence for the most part, the only real talking was when someone heard sometime or someone was attacked. Soon enough, they reached the next safe point. After piling a few of the heaviest items in the room up against the scratched red door, the majority of the group slid to the floor. Castiel remained standing and motioned for Sam and Dean to follow him into the adjoining room.
"Where did you go?" Sam gave Castiel little time to begin speaking as he began pacing, already thinking about their next exist strategy.
"Calm yourself Samuel. I simple escorted Miss Smith home and searched for an answer to out predicament." Sam's mouth rounded into a silent 'oh' and then returned to his pacing.
"So what did you find out?"
"She is not angry with you Dean. She asked for it remember." Dean let go of a breath he wasn't even aware he had been holding.
"Also, I conversed with my Brethren. They believe this situation to be the work of a Trickster."
To say that Dean was pissed would be an understatement. He was fuming. In his opinion, all Tricksters were douche bags. If they didn't figure out what the Trickster wanted they could all very well wind up dead. Figuring there was nothing they could do about it at the moment, the trio joined the others in the other room where they had originally left them.
"Pick a corner boys. We need to be getting some sleep. Getting an early start tomorrow." Nodding mutely, the Winchesters sat down quietly while Cas announced that he would take watch while everyone slept. Coach looked at him gratefully while Nick scoffed and mumbled something about sleeping in the other room, dragging Ellis with him as he walked away.
Everyone slept fitfully that night, the constant tossing and turning of bodies kept Sam awake for a fair amount of time. He knew that Castiel knew he was awake, but he was grateful to the Angel for ignoring him and quietly staring out of bars on the second red door marked exit. He lay there quietly, trying to block out the sounds filtering in from outside. Feet were being dragged slowly across the cement beyond the door and gurgling groans accompanied the occasional screech of pain. By the time Sam fell asleep day light was beginning to lighten the dark area.
The group woke with a start when a loud explosion echoed throughout the air. Nick and Ellis came bursting into the room with their guns already loaded and in the air.
"What the hell what that!" The con man looked absolutely livid, eyes zeroing in on Castiel standing mutely by the exit door.
"You were supposed to be keeping watch!" Castiel flicked his eyes up to meet Nick's.
"I kept watch as I said I would. None of you have come to any harm have you not?" Mouth flailing uselessly, Nick averted his eyes and mumbled something in Ellis's ear.
"What was that explosion?"
"Ah, that. Forgive me but there was a large creature that looked as if it had consumed far too many muscle enhancing pellets."
"Do you mean steroids?" Castiel nodded. The survivors jaws seemed to drop simultaneously and no-one said anything for several minutes. Ellis seemed to be the first to compose himself and voice his opinion on the matter.
"Dude! He took out a fricking Tank. On his own. Without even leaving the safe room!" Castiel cocked his head to the left slightly.
"Is that not good?"
"It's impossible. What gun were you using?" Nick looked around quickly but saw no guns anywhere even close to Castiel that would have been able to take out a Tank with such a loud bang. He rushed to the door and peered out into the street. A whole section of the street had been practically levelled.
A low whistle sounded from Ellis as he walked up behind the con man and looked out at the damage.
"Guess 'e really is an Angel then. Shit man." Coach shrugged and set about restocking his ammo from the pile he had found in a box when they had first arrived in the safe room. Nick eventually tugged Ellis away from the door when Dean walked over to speak to Castiel.
"At least your mojo's still intact." Castiel nodded in agreement and continued to look out the door. Zombies were beginning to move into the now flattened neighbourhood. Once everyone was restocked, they slowly made their way outside. The place was now crawling with infected. Coach and Ellis picked a few off from a distance with their guns while everyone else opted for some form of melee weapon.
Dean assessed the group from his position at the back. Sam stuck close to Coach, the katana Ellis had pushed into his hand was held steadily in front of him. Ellis appeared to have glued himself to Nick's side as the con man tossed the baseball bat he had found from hand to hand. The elder Winchester glanced at Castiel who was now standing close by. He fought the urge to laugh at the picture of the Angel wielding a skillet because he wanted to help in the skirmish without endangering everyone's lives.
"Castiel, do you think you would be able to scout out a safe route for use to take? I can hear another Witch." Dean flinched, he hadn't even noticed Coach drop to the back of the group. Cas nodded and disappeared without another word.
Less than a minute later the Angel appeared again. Coach gave him a small nod as he took position at the lead of the group. Castiel led them through the flattened area, the others following warily, silently waiting for something bad to happen. As soon as they made it to a section of the neighbourhood that was still standing, Dean noticed several cars that had alarm lights on. Everyone stood clear away from the cars and Dean noticed Coach swapping his gun for the night stick hanging off of his bag. Only Ellis remained with his gun held high and ready. It wasn't until Sam tripped and fell onto one of the cars with blinking lights that Dean figured out what they were preparing for.
The alarm pierced through the air and a deafening roar sounded. They were going to have to fight a horde. Dean grabbed the sleeve of Sams' shirt and yanked him to his feet, shoving the katana back into his hands.
"Great going Sasquatch."
"Jerk."
"Bitch." The brothers grinned at each other and turned to face the oncoming horde. Ellis was torn between taking the zombies out at a distance with his gun, or grabbing the melee weapon strapped to his back and waiting for the monsters to reach him. He wasn't given much of a choice though, when Coach was grabbed by something long, slimy and putrid.
"SMOKER'S GOT ME!" A few shots from Ellis, straight into the zombies' head and Coach was back on his feet pulling the things tongue off of himself.
Everyone held their breath as they ran through the cloud of green smoke that had erupted from the zombies corpse. They pushed their way forward, Castiel still at the front, occasionally giving a zombie and hard thwack on the head with his skillet. When the number of zombie attacking lessened, the ground wandered into the closest house in search of more provisions. Coach was ecstatic when they found a small pile of non-perishable food items stacked in one of the houses. His victory, however, was rather short lived as when he reached down to grab them growling began.
"Don't even think 'bout it old man." A gun cocked from somewhere behind them and everyone froze.
Slowly, everyone turned around. All hands, sans Castiels', moved quickly to their weapons. Before them stood a small blonde girl sitting on the back of one very large, angry looking canine. Held tightly in the girls hands was a loaded rifle, her finger resting lightly on its trigger.
"What do ya'll think you're doin' taking my food." The dog growled again and Coach moved back slowly.
"We apologise Miss. We were not aware that there was another person out here." Castiel took a step forwards and the pair before him turned their attentions to him.
"Dean, she is human. We have nothing to fear from her." The group lowered their weapons and Cas placed his hand on the dogs head. Immediately the animal calmed.
"We mean you no harm child. What is your name?" The girl looked up at Castiel's face. A small frown tugging at her lips.
"Um, it's Harrold. Harrold Wilkins. 'Nd this is Kain."
NaNoWriMo 2010 November 2