Chapter 3

Nick trudged up the stairs, behind the younger two of the group who charged up excitedly. He tossed a glance back to the other older male, smirking as he watched the man huff and puff his way up the stairs. "Who the hell... Puts an evac station up /thirty/ flights of goddamn stairs?" He grumbled up at Nick.

Nick chuckled, "C'mon, Coach. Maybe the helicopter... Maybe it's made of chocolate." Coach frowned at this and simply shook his head as they continued their ascent.

Ellis was the first to reach the door, and he burst through it. He was prepared to just leap into a helicopter and get away from here. The sooner the better in his opinion. But, like everything else the past day, nothing was going as planned.

"Hey! Where is everybody? Hello! Anyone here?" Ellis called out, just before he noticed the fleeing choppers.

Rochelle came out next, and her face looked instantly devastated. "This, is not happening. This is not happening." She continued to repeat the phrase as she walked around the small patch of rooftop, looking at the various helicopters that were leaving them behind. Coach and Nick entered the picture soon after, both panting slightly as the door shut behind them.

The four survivors headed toward the fence at the edge of the roof, all watching as their freedom flew away. "Aren't they supposed to be saving our asses?" Coach asked rhetorically, holding the gun he had seen Ellis drop back at the stairs. He knew very well that it would help them in the long run.

Nick looked up from where he was hunched over his knees panting. "Looks like there's been a change in plans." His voice was foreboding and ominous as his green eyes locked onto the military chopper in the distance. "Fucking great."

Ellis immediately began to chastise the man, "Now, don't ya worry. There has ta be another evac; I mean, Kei-" Ellis choked at the thought that maybe his friend's life was wasted. Then, decided upon something else. "Ma buddy, Keith, was amazing at finding other ways outta bad situations. Once, we got trapped in the woods, and we thought this madman was chasin' us. Well, we managed ta get back to where we thought we left my truck, and it wasn't there. So, he thought maybe we could do like monkeys do and travel in the trees. Well, that di'n't work out too well 'cause -"

"Sweetie," Rochelle interjected, her mental breakdown being interrupted by the youngest group member's chatter. "I think we get the point."

"Well, ya see the issue with his plan was we ended up falling. Right on the madman, too! But, it turned out to just be old . But, boy, was he /mad/!" Ellis chuckled at the memory of the old loner griping at him and his friend. He looked back at the three people before him and gave them all a goofy grin. "So, how are we gettin' outta this mess, y'all? I don't recommend tree travel, though. It hurts when ya fall, and branches are always scratchin' ya-"

"There's another evac at the mall," Coach interrupted this time, though Ellis doesn't seem to mind the slightest bit at all. Coach glanced over at a table set up, containing some pistols, a few med kits, crowbars, and a few axes leaning beside it. "Looks like they left us some supplies." He turned to Ellis and tossed him the hunting rifle, "Here, boy. We may need that later. But save it for now."

"Okey doke," Ellis replied, his voice chipper but his thoughts not so much. Just can't get away from ya, can I, Keith? He gingerly strapped it onto his back before heading to the table and picking up an axe. He tested the weight in his grasp, taking a few practice swings as the others grabbed their own supplies.

Ellis reached for the door knob as a hand settled on his shoulder, getting his attention. Rochelle wore a look of concern as she retracted her hand and addressed the 'boy'. "Aren't you going to grab a health pack?"

Ellis laughed, startling the woman before him and the other two men slightly. He rolled up the sleeve on his right arm, revealing an intricate tattoo on his bicep. "You see this here tattoo? It means I am a bad ass, zombie-killin' machine. The way I see it, these things are a lot like the zombies in my old video games. But, if ya really want me to, miss, I will." He winked at Rochelle in mock flirtation before going and grabbing a health pack, clipping it to the strap on his back.

"You ready for this, old man?" Nick asked Coach as the younger two entered the stairwell.

Coach rolled his eyes, "Are you, Nicolas?"

Nick winced at the sound of his full first name. "Touché."

Their trip back to the lower levels was somewhat uneventful. A few encounters with what they had thus dubbed 'Special Infected', because of how much more skilled and tactful they were, and a few cautious trips across balconies were about as eventful as their trip to the nearest working elevator got. Thankfully, the four survivors made it to the elevator with only minor scratches and bruises instead of anything worse.

Ellis leaned lazily against one of the elevators four walls, staring indifferently at the door before turning to the others. "My name's Ellis, by the way. I'd prefer it if ya didn't call me El because El's a girl name, although I guess ya can if ya want to." He held out a hand, and Coach kindly took it and gave him a firm shake.

"Nice to meet ya, Ellis." Ellis tried not to breath a sigh of relief as the older man avoided calling him the old nickname Keith gave him. "You can call me Coach. Just Coach'll do fine." He stated, giving the young man a small smile.

"Mighty nice to meetcha, Coach," He retracted his hand and turns towards Rochelle, smiling and extending his hand towards her now. "And who are you, miss?"

Rochelle took the hand in her own, then shocked Ellis by pulling him into a hug. She stepped back from him and gave her own smile, "My name is Rochelle. Got sent here to write a news story, and it didn't turn out too well, as you can all tell." It's Rochelle who turns and acknowledges the man in the now slightly bloody white suit. "What about you, suit?"

Nick smirked at her acknowledgement of his attire, "Nick; don't bother trying to get close. I don't plan staying too long."

Coach nodded as the elevator came to a stop, smoke slipping under the doors. "Okay, as soon as those doors open, we book it out of here, got it?" He stepped forward, preparing to open the two doors before looking back at the others. "On the count of three. One... Two...-"

"Three!" Ellis cried as the doors opened up, revealing to them a large amount of flames. "Run!" And thus, four survivors burst out into the now smoke-filled ground floor of the hotel. No one dreaded this quite as much as Ellis. What if he ran by Keith's body? What would he do then?

He trudged by several patches of flames, hacking at any Infected stupid enough to attack him. Many ran through the flames, catching on fire themselves, and often collapsed before reaching the survivors anyways. Ellis ran as fast as he could, not even trying to allow the others to stay with him. The anger and sorrow bubbling up inside of him was overwhelming as he plowed through the zombies with his axe, acquiring only a few more scratches and cuts. He leaped deftly over a metal table as he was forced into a shortcut through what was once a kitchen, tucking and rolling as he hit the hot floor on the other side. He quickly stood up, hacking at more zombies as he ran from the room. He would not stop until he reached somewhere safe, not until he was evacuated. He would be rescued, for Keith and Lizzy's sake.

But, like everything else in that first week of infection, nothing went as Ellis planned as his thoughts were interrupted by an all-too-familiar blood-curdling scream.

Nick was the first to hear the cry of the Hunter, and he knew immediately who its target was. He jumped up and over the table blocking his path as he, Coach, and Rochelle sped to the young hick's aid. He leaped through patches of flames, an odd urgency forcing adrenaline through his veins to void out the pain. He could see a writhing silhouette against the red and orange, arms flailing at an unmoving form beneath it.

"Get off of him!" Nick yelled, aiming his pistol at the hooded figure as he came out of another patch of flames. The first shot knocked it off of poor Ellis who lay quivering in a pool of his own blood. He fired again while he charged to Ellis' side, the shot effectively killing it as a bullet entered and then exited the Hunter's head.

"Nick! Grab Ellis and get to the safe room up ahead! Me and Ro' will cover you!" Coach ordered as he came up to the two, his own axe held aloft as he ran and sliced at an approaching female Infected. "Go!"

Nick nodded, lifting Ellis up as the boy groaned in pain. He grabbed one of Ellis' arms and slung it over his shoulders, doing something similar with his own to support the hick. "Hang in there, Overalls." He whispered, a soft and almost inaudible sound accompanied by the flames and howls of the Infected. He began to jog rather sluggishly towards the safe room, not wanting to really risk the group's youngest member's life and his own by running.

"Nick-" Ellis choked out as the red door came into view. "-You're gettin' blood all over yer suit."

Nick ignored the comment at first, more focused on lugging the extra weight with him successfully to the safe room. Finally, after reaching the door and flinging it open, he answered. "Blood comes out easy... Don't ask me how I know that." He quickly tacked on, not wanting more suspicion linked to him. "Not like it isn't already covered in burn marks, either."

Ellis only gave a quaint nod of his head before collapsing to his hands and knees, exhaustion and blood loss kicking in. He panted for a few moments as Coach and Rochelle entered, slamming the door shut behind them. He continued to stare at the floor, thinking about how close to death he probably was at that mo-

"Eep!" He squealed as someone prodded his side, startling him into a seated position.

Nick chuckled at the reaction he got as he began to pull bandages and antiseptic out of a med kit. "Let doctor Nick fix you up." He looked the cuts across the kid's torso over, and was surprised to find even more slightly older ones that had been re-opened beneath them. "Jesus, Overalls, what were you doing before you came here?" Nick asked as he began to gingerly roll up the shredded remains of Ellis' shirt.

Ellis' eyes widened in fear for a moment as a distant look flashed through the blue gems. "My Ma was one of those Hunter things," He whispered hoarsely. "Keith saved me from her."

Nick just ignored him, on the outside, applying antiseptic to all the crisscrossing slashes. But, as he applied the bandage, he couldn't help but envy the kid. Not for being attacked by a Hunter, but for having had people that cared about him. Even if they are gone now, he still had them at one point in time.

"Nick, why'd you help me back there?" Ellis asked timidly as Nick finished off bandaging his cuts.

The ex-conman scowled at Ellis, hating for someone to see past his typical smirk. "I am not a /completely heartless/ bastard, thank you." He ground out, rather pissed off at the assumption that he would not have saved the young southerner.

Ellis looked oddly embarrassed as he tried to hide his blushing face, "Sorry. Was just wonderin'," he said softly as Rochelle came over with-

A roll of duct tape? Ellis thought, instantly distracted from his previous embarrassment. "Whatcha got there, Miss Ro'?"

Rochelle smiled at him, breaking off a nicely sized piece as she knelt beside him. "I'm trying to fix up those holes in your shirt temporarily; that way your cuts are less likely to get infected," She looked up into his youthful face and smiled, a bright displaying of white teeth in dark times.

He gave her a goofy grin back, "Why, thank ya, Miss Ro'." He held perfectly still as the woman taped up his tattered shirt, his eyes watching the process inquisitively. Rochelle was fixing one of his last connections to Keith and his sister, and she hadn't even been asked to. It was as if she /really cared/ after only knowing him for maybe half of an hour.

It was when Coach came over to pat him on the back and tell him he would be okay that he really began to think about it all. Nick had helped him back into the safe room, and had even patched up his wounds. Rochelle had come over and helped temporarily seal the huge holes in his shirt, and Coach had come to try and comfort him. He was not even showing his sadness, he was smiling and chattering just like he normally would. It was as if they could see right through his front. It was as if they actually cared. Ellis almost had trouble keeping the tears from coming as Rochelle finished off, standing up and extending a hand to him.

"Th-Thanks, Miss Ro'," He muttered as his cool threatened to leave him. But, Rochelle didn't seem to notice that.

"No problem, sweetie, and please, just Rochelle will be fine." She helped tug Ellis into a standing position, steadying him as he wobbled slightly. "Why don't you go see if that vending machine over there has anything in it, okay?" She suggested, tilting her head towards the object being referenced. "Some food would do you a lot of good."

Ellis nodded with his grin returning, "Okay! I'll see what I can do!" He chirped before going to fiddle with the machine. As he began tampering with it, the other three survivors gathered by an old counter, serious expressions on their face.

Coach was the first to speak, his voice a somewhat low whisper, "What the hell are we supposed to do?"
Rochelle shrugged, "Head to the mall and hope to get evacuated there. That is all we can do."

"Rochelle, we barely got to the bottom floor of the hotel alive," Nick grumbled leaning back against the wall and slumping slightly in exhaustion. "The only thing keeping us going is adrenaline and sheer human will power. And, as soon as that's gone, we are all dead." He yanked a thumb over at the distracted hick, his expression dropping even more. "I think even he may be close to empty, too."

Coach stood straight and looked over to a folding table, one set up with ammo and health kits, and then what was once a counter now covered by guns. "Well, then let's get a move on. We ain't got much time to waste anyways. Anyone who's hurtin' can just take some pain pills from one of the kits over there. Let's move, people!"

Two of the three others began to do as instructed before jerking up as there was a rather loud thunk. They all turned to see where Ellis stood on his toes pressed firmly against the wall opposing where the vending machine once stood. Said object now lay upon the floor, its front opened and bent back awkwardly with some snacks scattered around its edges.

"I swear it wasn't me!" Ellis stated in a hurry, arms thrown up as he inched even further away from the turned over machine.