Russian Roulette

Playing it with good friends is as exciting as it gets.

Chapter 2

Since shaking his shoulder rather violently hadn't woken him up, Rochelle had resorted to just slapping Nick repeatedly in the face. Eventually he seemed to notice that this was his call to reality, and he willed his eyes to open slowly and blink a few times to adjust to the early-morning light. The first thing he said was a grumpy inquiry of, "What is it?"

"We've landed." Rochelle replied. Sure enough, the helicopter was already seated on the paved ground. "All that noise and you still wouldn't wake up. I thought you were dead for a minute." She smiled as if trying to tell him this was a joke, though the look in her eyes said that she had actually been serious.

Nick yawned widely. His body didn't want to start moving yet, and his mind didn't want to function correctly. He had to force himself to appear uncaring for the sake of the group – that was it, always for the sake of the group; he had to appear strong and nonchalant. "What are their plans?" he asked. It could be roughly translated to something like "Are they going to kill us yet?" He looked outside. There were green camouflage suits everywhere, running around with guns or marching in groups, some of them yelling orders to the others. They acted as if they knew what they were doing, as if it was right. They hadn't even checked twice to see who had been left behind before they'd started bombing Louisiana. He, Rochelle, and Ellis had been extremely lucky they'd even made it to the helicopter in time.

"They don't seem to like us too much," Ellis pointed out, something of a confused look on his face. Sure enough, many of the soldiers were staring at the new arrivals with looks of distaste, or as if they were aliens.

"We're Carriers, Ellis. Of course they don't like us. They think we're a threat just by being around them." Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around at all the people in an annoyed way. "I guess we can't blame them. We don't know if we really will cause another breakout. God forbid we actually be safe for once."

One of the soldiers walked over to them, hands behind his back and standing tall in a strictly-business manner.

"Hope you had a nice flight." he said, glancing at the helicopter for a moment as the two other soldiers got out of the front seats. "Must have been hell out there. Got some rest, did you?"

Ellis nodded. "Ain't gotten any sleep that good since," he confirmed. "Though my neck's a lil stiff from havin' to sit in such a position."

The soldier gave a short laugh, then looked the three of them over. "Unfortunately, we can't have you near us uninfected folk." He looked solemn, as if he actually cared about them, though they had a pretty good idea that he really didn't. "We've got a designated area for Carriers down the way-" he pointed toward some far-off distance- "and you'll be escorted there immediately. Our best scientists have been trying to come up with some sort of cure to this mess, so hopefully you won't have to be secluded for long."

"Bullshit," Nick spat after the man had walked away. Rochelle and Ellis stared at him, Rochelle with her usual understanding look and Ellis, as always, a curious one.

Soon there was another army-man coming their way, but this one looked more sincere. No doubt he understood what they'd been through, maybe even been through the same thing himself. "Hey there." he greeted, a warm smile on his face and a bright look in his eye. "Don't mind those guys; they're asses no matter what they tell you."

"Agreed." Nick mumbled. Rochelle nodded.

"Well, if you'll follow me." The middle-aged man turned on his heel and started walking in the very direction the previous soldier had pointed, and the three followed him. It was a good walk, maybe about half an hour. Half an hour of idle chat, though the man seemed interested – something that could not be said about the other men they had walked away from.

They reached a group of garrisons - two lines of the barracks facing each other with three on each side - that was teeming with people, no doubt all Carriers. As they approached it, the man sighed. "It's more of a ghetto for people like us," he explained. "Close quarters, almost no privacy whatsoever."

Rochelle looked the most aggravated by this. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"My apologies," he said, turning to face her. "You might as well get rid of any insecurities you have, ma'am. But don't worry too much; people tend to keep to themselves. Someone will jump to your defense if anything happens."

"That's just wrong." she said under her breath, shaking her head. "This is all so wrong. Are you trying to tell me we don't even have our own rooms? What about showering?"

"Jesus, no. Thankfully they were compassionate enough to give us enough showers. There's a bit of a line, though." The man laughed sheepishly. "If you can even call them compassionate at all." Abruptly, his expression went serious and he said, "This is most likely the best place you can find in the area. There's not a lot of protection, but we've got the bare necessities."

Nick looked own at his white suit that had a considerable amount of blood, dirt, and whatever other kinds of stains on it. Ellis and Rochelle copied the motion and took note that they had the same issue. "What about clothes?" Nick asked. The man shook his head. "Nothing better than what you've already got," he answered. "We've got a few washing machines, but all the spare clothes are ripped and stained. Some of us are kind enough to share what we've got, if you're that desperate."

He led them to the barrack at the end of the right row and stood outside the open door. "There are some empty beds in here. You better thank God for giving you this, 'cause he certainly isn't giving much else." With that, he left them.

Inside the half-cylinder building were rows upon rows of beds with all sorts of beaten-up dressers next to them. Some had the luxury of a coffee table and a broken lamp that still managed to function. They made their way to the back where there was almost half a row of empty beds, and decided they'd all sleep near each other. They'd come to trust each other this much, and none of them wanted to fend for themselves in a place like this. Nick was about to claim the bed in the middle that had one of the lamps beside it, but that was until Rochelle tapped him on the shoulder and declared, "I'm a lady, therefore I should get first dibs." He rolled his eyes, but did not argue. He took the bed that was to the right, and Ellis the one on the left.

They had just finished setting down what little belongings they had next to their beds (guns, knives, med kits and defibrillators) when Ellis gasped.

"I don't believe it!" he said excitedly, barely able to contain himself. "'e's here! Of all places!"

"Who's here?" Rochelle and Nick asked in unison, exchanging a quick glance at each other before focusing their attention on Ellis again. Said Southerner was beaming like a child on Christmas morning.

"Keith!"