JO POV

"Shit! Why do we have to go through these goddamn woods? Isn't there another way to this damn city?" Nick complained as we moved through branches and tall weeds.

"There is, but this is the quickest way. And the sooner we give Ellis some medical help, the better...for all of us." I replied, holding Ellis on my back tightly.

"How is helping Ellis good for us? Other than him helping us survive...on occasion."

"When we get to the chopper, we'll be taken to CEDA HQ, where we should be safe." That shut Nick up for the rest of our journey through the woods, until he stepped on some zombie corpses.

"What the - seriously, jo? You put the zombies we shot here?"

"Well, where else could I do? Leave them on our doorstep to rot and stink up the house?" Nick wrinkled his nose in disgust at the rotting flesh, stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"...You could have at least put them in something so we're not stepping on open corpses."

"Well excuse me for not having common curtesy, Mr. Jackass." I snapped.

"When you two are done easing your sexual tensions, we've got to run to that hospital!" Coach interrupted. Ellis gave him a 'you-shut-your-mouth' look on his weak face. Then, he tugged on the back of my shirt.

"Horde." He whispered in my ear, followed by a cough.

"Shit." I muttered to myself. "Guys! A horde's coming! I'm gonna find safety for Ellis!" I sprinted as best as I could, holding Ellis tightly. I heard gunshots from the two men behind me as I kept on going. Soon after, I spotted the other side of the woods. "We're almost there! Keep shooting!" I shouted, breaking through the last few branches to freedom. The last zombie from the horse stumbled to the ground with my bullet holes in it's chest.

"We...made it!" Ellis exclaimed with pain and excitement.

"Yep. Hold on, Ellis. We're almost to safety." He wrapped himself around me as best as he could. "This way!" I yelled to the rest of the group behind me, running down the block toward the glowing building. It wasn't until I reached the front door that I noticed blood was leaking down from my shoulder. Following the trail to see where it came from, I traced it to Ellis' head. "Ellis! You're bleeding!" I told him, worried as hell. I felt him put his hand to his head, then showed me his hand full of blood. My heart sank as I set him down gently. Coach and Nick were at my side, concerned as well...actually Nick was hiding it, but I knew he cared. "I need one of your first aid kits. I used mine on him earlier." Coach willingly gave me his and I began wrapping Ellis' head and waist, the most vital parts on his body. I heard Ellis cough weakly. "I know." I told him, with complete worry and care. "Just hang in there. We're almost to medical help." There was still some materials left in the health kit when I finished.

"So, is he going to make it?" Coach asked me, looking over Ellis' bloodstained body.

"His internal organs are a bit damaged. We're gonna have to hurry. He's rapidly losing blood." I handed Coach his health kit back, picking up Ellis again on my back.

"Jo..." I heard him gasp.

"Yes? What is it? You've got to hang on Ellis!"

"...Hurry." He said with a gasp and faint whisper in his voice. Then I felt his body go limp on my back. I knew he just passed out which means we're running out of time.

"We have to hurry!" I told the two. "Let's go!" I charged through the doors, running up many flights of stairs. Keeping Ellis secure on my back with one arm, I shot my way through infected with nothing but my Desert Eagle. We forged on, fighting hard. To be honest, I was surprised we even made it this far. Though of course I jinxed myself because once we made it to the building, there was no chopper. Coach gave me the radio he carried, putting on a 'I-told-you-CEDA-sucks' look on his face. Rolling my eyes, I took the radio from him and pressed the 'talk' button. "Hello! This is Blackhawk! We're at the top of Mercy Hospital's building. We were told that we would be rescued by a chopper here."

"Blackhawk, this is Chopper 178. We are almost at the hospital. Defend yourself until we land."

"Please hurry. One man is down and out!"

"Affirmative. Chopper 178 out." I handed the radio back to Coach.

"See? Told you CEDA can be helpful."

"Lucky chance. This is the first time they're actually saving our asses." I set Ellis down gently at my feet, taking out my sub-machine gun.

"Well, until they get here, we gotta defend ourselves. So get ready." In the corner of my eye, I saw a hunter crouch. In a flash, I aimed and fired, killing that son of a bitch mid-pounce. Suddenly, I heard the many roars of zombie. Great, the sound triggered the horde. I should have expected that many sound-sensitive infected would come. "Let's kill these bitches." I said darkly, reloading my weapon. I was right by Ellis, protecting him from harm. Coach covered the other end as Nick stayed by Ellis and I.

"We have to watch out for special infected. If more than one of us gets hurt, we're screwed. Although, I'm pretty sure if just one of us is down, we're all screwed anyway." Nick muttered to me.

"Thanks for staying so confident, Mr. Optimistic." I said sarcastically, shooting a smoker coughing behind me.

"Just tellin' ya, sweetie." He replied, just as smug.

For the past 10 minutes we were killing zombies like mad, to the point where no more common infected was found. That's when a familiar rumble was heard.

"Not now." I whined to myself, taking out a grenade launcher. I looked to see if I had any 'nades. Only one. Shit, I forgot to grab more back at the barn. "I only have one grenade. We have to get the Tank to move to the edge of the building." I called out to Nick and Coach.

"I'll protect Ellis." Nick said, reloading his weapon. "That way you have a better shot at the Tank." Nodding, I ran by Coach's side. The Tank appeared from the doorway leading up to the rooftop, bursting the door open.

"Fire! Now!" I screamed, followed by sounds of mini-explosions from their guns. The Tank struggled a bit, but the impact from the bullets were not powerful enough to move him back. Slowly, he climbed up onto our platform where the chopper was supposed to land and sent Coach and I flying in one punch. Conveniently, I landed right by Ellis, who was regaining consciousness; but only just a bit.

"Jo-" he said weakly. "Be...careful."

"I will, Ellis. Just hang in there." I held his hand tightly. Coach got up, shooting beside Nick until they ran out of ammo. Thinking fast, I got up, picked up Ellis, and we lured the Tank to the edge of the building.

"Jo! You're gonna have to fire now!" Coach yelled, taking Ellis from over my shoulder. I aimed my launcher and fired, not wasting any time. The explosion hit me in recoil and sent me flying backwards. I felt a stinging sensation in my right leg and warm liquid started trailing down my calf. Fortunately, the Tank stumbled, lost it's balance, and fell off the edge. We heard a huge crash below and that's when we knew he was dead. Nick ran to me, followed by Coach with Ellis in his arms.

"You did well, kid." He smirked as he helped me up. I smirked back, trying my best to ignore the pain.

"...J-Jo." I saw Ellis turn his head slowly towards me, breaking into a small, weak smile. "Helicopter's here." I looked behind me, spotting the copter in the distance.

"Yup. We're finally gonna be okay." I smiled sweetly, stroking Ellis' hair. That's when I noticed his cap was gone. "Ellis. Your-"

"I'd...rather have...you." He forced out his words behind winces. Coach looked away, like he was about to cry from joy. Nick pretended to gag. Squeezing Ellis' hand, we watched as the chopper came to a landing in front of us.