Thank you so much for the Reviews. I'm just rewriting some of the chapters. So the updates should come pretty quickly now. :D

****.*****

Nick stared at Coach for a long time. Ellis sat at his feet motionless, with his face in his hands. Nick had only did away with one person in his lifetime. At least before the infection hit. Even though he was keeping up the I-don't-care facade up, he didn't sleep for months afterwords. And that was all on self defense!

"You know I'm not going to leave you here to suffer." Nick kept his eyes on Coach's.

"I know. That's why I gave you two options when I only want one." Coach replied grimly.

Hearing Ellis whimper, he looked towards him.

"Stand up, boy. You're not my wife, and you're not my kid. You have no reason to be so damn sad." Coach's voice was soft even if his words were harsh.

"You're still my friend, man. It ain't like I cryin or nothing." Even while saying this Ellis had his back turned from the car and the two men. His arms ridged and his fists closed tightly.

Coach's coughing brought Nick's mind back to the horrible task ahead of him. He watched Coach hack and spit up blood.

"Fuck... Fuck!" Nick pulled his pistol out. Checking to make sure it's loaded, he pointed it at Coach's head.

"Ellis. Boy, I want you to tell the girls I told Nick to do this. You don't need animosity in the group over this." Coach closed his eyes and leaned against the tree.

Ellis mumbled a yes and kept his eyes to the ground.

Nick could see his own hand tremble. The gun kept wobbling, the clinking noises were startling loud in the woods.

When he killed that man… when Nick killed that twenty year old kid, It was only because he was at gunpoint. That kid was going to kill him for his stupid fucking Mercedes.

This was different. Coach and him never really got along, but they were comrades. Not everyone in the army loved each other, but you came to respect those you fought with. And here, with Coach's eyes closed, he was doing one more favor for Nick. Coach was going to die, and he still had the bravery to have his lids closed, with nobody to comfort him so Nick wouldn't have to look him in the eye before he took his life.

The clinking got louder.

"God Damnit, Harold. I don't want to do this." Nick found it only appropriate to use his real name now.

"You can't expect Ellis to do it. I trust you to make it quick and painless." Coach's voice was soft.

"Thank you for getting us this far. We'll miss you." Then Nick pulled the trigger. The bullet went straight through his head, the impact ricocheted his cranium off the tree. Before Coach landed on his side, Nick put another bulled through his heart. The two shots were only milliseconds between each other.

After the second shot, a scream sounded off in the car. Ellis dropped to the ground, his face now in the crook of his arm. Nick stood there motionless. He needed to see what he did, so he never lost his humanity. He never wants the feeling of killing someone to be easy. To get use to it. Nick's chest tightened, the gun stinging painfully in his hand as he squeezed it. Coach's lifeless body burning a picture into his memory.

He could hear the door being kicked open and Rochelle's pained sobs and curses. Nick wasn't surprised when she grabbed him by the back of his shirt and ripped him around to face her. The butt of her gun smacked against his cheek, knocking him to the ground.

Nick landed on his hands and knees. Her weak hit didn't knock him out, but it hurt like hell. Though it was only a background ache to the actual pain of what he just did.

Zoey was leaning over Rochelle, trying to calm her down.

"That muthafucker. That Muthafucker!" Rochelle kept beating the ground with her gun.

"How could you do that? He saved your fucking life!" She pointed the gun at him. Nick never looked up at her and she finally dropped it.

"You shoulda talked him out of it. We could of done something." He could barley understand her over her sobs.

"Like w`at? Let him die slowly? No gurl, this was the best way. And he asked Nick to do it. Nobody else." Ellis was facing them, his eyes red but no wet tears to confirm the crying.

As the three stood there, nobody really looking at anyone else, Zoey got up to pull the tarp out of the trunk and carefully wrapped Coach in it. She grabbed a few wild flowers and set them next to him. Zoey stood by his feet and mourned in silence. Rochelle finally stood up and stood next to the body.

"God I will miss you Coach. I'll miss you so much." She knelt by his wrapped body and leaned on his chest. The crying was so pitiful that Zoey felt herself tearing up. Zoey closed her eyes shut, attempting to think of anything but Bill's death.

Nick was still on the ground, his hand on his forehead. He was trying to put his companion's death in the back of his mind so he could come up with a plan. He needed to find his sister, but now he was probably going to take the place of Coach in the group. Zoey was too new to be leader, and no way could Ellis do it, considering the boy only asked 'what are we gonna do now' every ten minutes. Rochelle might, but not in the near future. She was far too distraught.

Rochelle's cries became louder and Nick knew they had to move.

"Rochelle. I know you're mad at me, but we have to go. We've made too much noise. There will be a horde if we don't get moving soon."

"Mad? That doesn't even fucking describe it!" She roared at him. He watched her unflinchingly.

"He's dead. There isn't a damn thing we can do about that now. We have to get moving." Nick didn't wait for her response as he walked to the car. Ellis was the first to follow Nick.

Zoey leaned in towards the distraught woman.

"Rochelle. He's in a better place. He was in so much pain…" She knew it was risky trying to comfort her. More than likely she would just yell in her face. But instead she shook her head in understanding. Maybe the anger was all drained out screaming at Nick.

Rochelle said her final goodbyes and stood.

"Let's get in the car before any of us have to join Coach." Rochelle's eyes were all puffy.

Zoey and Rochelle climbed into the backseat. Nick stood well away from Rochelle until she was in the car. Ellis hopped in behind the wheel, and Nick sat in the passenger seat. Nick had cleaned the blood off the seat the best he could with a mud soaked towel.

The car finally lurched forward, and everyone remained silent.

****.****

Zoey could feel the hurt and hatred emanating off of Rochelle. Nick still gave her wide berth, and Ellis hadn't said a word since their stop. She swallowed the panic that was creeping up. They would recover. She had, it would just take them a while.

They stopped at a grocery store after forty-seven hours of straight driving. The last hour was spent stopping at gas stations, and by a miracle, they found enough gas to keep them going. Ellis drove for the majority, but near the end Nick drove. She asked to take over, but both men reassured her they had it. Nick mumbled something about 'crazed women drivers'.

'Fine' she had thought. If they want to torture themselves over a silly stereotype, then they can go right ahead. She'd sleep comfortably in the back seat instead.

Zoey watched Nick as he attempted to keep awake by splashing water on his face.

"I vote on stayin here `night." Ellis was already digging out a warm bottled Coke.

"It's got workin water. That's enough for me." Nick took his white jacket off, slinging over the stool by a register. "We're gonna need to board up the doors though. Lucky for us, it looks like someone was just here and took care of any windows."

Zoey set the duffel bag of supplies down from the car at the mouth of isle seven. She opened it, digging out a bottled water and chugged it. She offered what little of it was left to Nick when he came close.

"No thanks, I just want a blanket. I'm exhausted." Nick dug into the same bag, pulling out his item. The bedspread was a faded blue, with rips and stains on it. Zoey crinkled her nose.

"Hey. It works." Zoey blushed at being caught making faces.

"I understand. It would be kinda hypocritical of me to judge you. I slept under a table." Nick gave her a grim smile.

"Yea. Well, goodnight."

"Night." She watched him walk into the isle, and plop down. He pulled a box of cereal off the shelf and use that as a pillow. Within minutes he seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Really? Are you serious? I thought he was gonna help me do this too…" Ellis had handfuls of boards, most dirty or broken.

"I'll help. Do you have nails?" Zoey jumped at the opportunity to do something -anything- to get her mind off of the man sleeping several feet away.

"Pshhh, gurl, I've got nails up the ass." Ellis set a bottle with different sized nails shoved in it.

"We take all the nails we use when we leave. They're like gold now." He began boarding the door up, using the bottom of a can as a hammer.

****.****

Zoey sat in the dark, the moonless sky blacking out the whole store. She could barely see the blue car within the fading parking lot lights. The electricity in the store hadn't been working, so everyone laid down once dusk hit. Ellis leaned heavily against a window. He had a Doctor Seuss book open towards the lonely lot light. He had his face inches away, his eyes squinted and his mouth was moving as he read the words in his head. She smiled. Ellis was a rare find, most people were crazy or angry. He had somehow kept his child-like innocents.

He was taking watch with her, and Nick was up to replace her in an hour. Thinking of him, she glanced over to his sleeping form. He had gotten up after a couple hours of sleep to take off his blue shirt. She felt her face turn red when he caught her looking at his muscles through the white tank. He snickered, and she stuck her tongue at him. It was a goofy response, but he laughed nonetheless.

He laid now with his head resting on his arm. He looked more peaceful than he had in the last two days. There was a nasty purple mark forming around his cheek. It could have been a shadow with the lack of light, but Rochelle had hit him pretty hard.

She observed him sleep, confident no zombies were going to sneak up on them. And Ellis was too involved in his book to notice her watch him.

Nick was suddenly jerking his head back and forth. He was mumbling, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. His legs were making small movements and Zoey was wondering if he was dreaming. Then he rolled over on his back, his head no longer being pillowed by his arm. She frowned, watching him. He was scowling in his sleep, and a muscle was working at the corner of his mouth. And then, as she watched, he sat bolt upright. His eyes opened to stare blankly at nothing. The muscles in his arms rippled as he grasped nothing at his sides.

"No!" He cried, his voice hoarse. "God, no!"

Zoey jumped at his cry, staring at him. He was shaking… it was a nightmare, she realized as she abandoned her post and the gun to rush to his side.

"Nick!" She took hold of his shoulder, giving it a hard shake. "Nick, wake up!" His face turned toward her as she knelt beside him, and for a moment she thought she had gotten through to him. But his open eyes were still blind.

"Nick!" She said again, and then his arms were coming around her, pulling her onto his lap, and he was hugging her to him. His hold was rough and painful, the strength of it threatening to pop her shoulder, but she didn't care. Her heart ached for the pain that had caused him to reach for her. She freed her arms, and looped them around his neck, holding him close. Her hands came up to stroke the smooth black hair. He burrowed his face into her shoulder. To her horror, she thought she heard the ragged indrawing of a sob.

"Nick, hunny," she whispered into his hair. "It's all right. it's all right, sweetie. Shhhh."

He continued to hold her so tightly she could hardly breathe, his arms imprisoning her torso like a straitjacket. Over his head she saw that Ellis was watching, his eyes huge. Zoey held a finger to her lips when he would have spoken. Zoey continued to stroke his hair. A tenderness like nothing she had ever known crept over her as she held him. Mister rough-and-tough, like a child in her arms.

"Shhhh, now…" She had been crooning to him when he suddenly stiffened. She felt the change in him with every nerve in her body. Abruptly, he sat up, half a head taller than her even though she sat on his lap, and stared right into her eyes. He was awake, she saw, and started to smile at him, all gentleness and concern. He glared at her, his ice cold blue eyes hard beneath his brows. Zoey could only look back in surprise.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he growled.

"You..you were having a nightmare," Zoey could only explain the sudden anger because he might be confused.

"And? What the hell has it got to do with you?" He didn't wait for her response, shoving her off his lap.

"What?" Zoey was still confused and now slightly hurt.

"I'll stand watch now, go to bed." And with that he picked up the gun and strode off to the other side of the store.

Zoey was in shock. She looked at Ellis who was scratching his head.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Ellis shook his head. "He prolly just mad `cuz you tried to make him feel better." Ellis gave her a gentle smile, like he was explaining to a child why her toy got taken away.

"Men like him don't like to be comforted, Zoey. He prides in bein` a manly man. And he defiantly don't like being seen like that with a woman he likes so much."

Zoey scoffed. "Really? Because he fooled me."

Ellis shook his head. "You have no idea do ya`?" He walked over to her and crouched down.

"He talks about you when you're asleep. He asks me what me and you talk about." He scrunched up his nose."He got real pissed when I asked him why he was so interested."

Zoey tried to absorb all of this."What did you tell him?"

Ellis smiled. "Nothing. We hadn't really talked too much. At least not about our past. When I told him this he`d give me a dirty look. Asks me why I don't care."

"…Really?" Zoey kept staring at her hands.

"Yeaaaa, and when I told him he should ask if care so much, he told me to fuck off." Ellis chuckled. "He don't ever act like that about any other girl we were around. He likes you. And he's waay too prideful to admit it."

Zoey glanced around for Nick, but he was just out of sight, his face hidden by a row of shelves.

"You like `em, don't ya?" Ellis was leaning in closer, like it was a huge secret.

"Well yes, kind of. But I don't want to talk about that Ellis. It's a lady's business." She knew by saying this, Ellis' gentlemanly attitude would win over his curiosity.

"Oh, yea, of course." He stood up and excused himself.

"I gots me a book to finish anyways." He laughed at himself as he took his post.