Nick smoked and smoked and smoke and Ellis was beginning to wonder if he was smoking that much just because he didn't want to talk, not that he missed it.
It was a little strange watching the conman smoke nonstop for a good half hour. Right before he finished one cigarette he had popped another one in the corner of his mouth, lit it and then took the older one out and flicked it overboard. Ellis almost berated him for throwing the butts into the ocean—but he decided that it was really the last thing Nick really needed to be scolded for right now.
Nick took in a long drag and then blew it out sharply. Finally, finally he looked at the southerner. Ellis met his gaze immediately.
"What was your family like, Ellis?" The question surprised the mechanic and he blinked at the other in a silent stupor. Nick scratched at his jaw absently, frowning. "Not to pry or anything, kid. I was just wondering…"
"Nah, it's cool." Ellis shrugged. What to say? Where to start? He leaned his arms on the railing, crossing them and turned his azure gaze to the failing light on the horizon. "It was jus' my Ma an' I growin' up. Not sure wha' happened ta my Pa—Ma never talked much 'bout him. She was a right good lady. Always made me do my homework, kissed my scrapes an' bruises better, cooked the best damn food I've ever had an'—hell, she even got me inta cars an' shit." Nick looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "I know, right? She was pretty dang cool. She always would, ya know, encourage me ta do wha' I felt was right an' never told me wha' to think or wha' ta believe. She was…" He trailed off—for the first time, really realizing he had been talking about his mother in past tense. The realization made his heart hurt.
"You all right?" Nick asked quietly.
"Yeah…" The man rubbed at his brow. "Yeah. It jus' feels weird, ya know? Thinkin' tha' everyon' ya knew ain't there no more. Like… It's hard. I've always been close ta my Ma an' my friends… Ta my whole community, really. It's jus…" He could see in the corner of his eye that Nick was staring at him, his expression, from what Ellis could tell, was soft, sympathetic. It was almost foreign on Nick's face—but Ellis wasn't complaining. "It's jus' hard."
"Yeah." Nick pressed the cigarette to his mouth again, puffed at it a few times and then let out another heavy sigh. The smoke curled into the air in front of them before dissipating into the sky. "You know, Ellis… If you ever want to talk…" Nick's voice was strained, but not with regret of what he was offering, but with the thought that his offer was ludicrous. "You can tell me anything. I'll listen." He puffed insistently at his smoke, but didn't let his eyes wander to the young man now staring intently at him. "I know I'm probably the last person on earth that seems worth confining your trust to, but I swear, Ellis,I won't fuck it up."
Ellis smiled. "I know." He elbowed the other gently and Nick seemed to forget he was trying to not look at him since he turned immediately at the touch. "Ya may not always act it—like, back when we was still tryin' ta get here an' stuff… I use ta wonder if ya really cared if any of us would die… but, ya know, ya surprised me. Tha' day when ya came back fer me—I knew tha' ya cared. 'Cause at any time ya could have jus' kept goin' an' jus' left me fer dead… but ya di'n't. Do ya remember?"
Of course he remembered. The memory was vivid. It was impossible to forget. It was the first time Nick hadn't thought about the pros and cons of turning back. He had just done it.
Without even thinking he had just turned back. The second he heard Ellis' scream, the conman turned around, bursts of firing leading—tearing through Infected and sending entrails spilling from their bellies like slithering snakes. He slipped over the mess, his feet sinking into the spongy ground as he fought to move towards Ellis' pleas for help. Below him the swamp seemed to be sucking up the blood and corpses greedily, slowly, very slowly trying to consume anything that was too weak to stand. Nick refused to let it take him or that god damn hill billie.
Click. Click. Shit. Out of ammo. Gatta reload. He heard Ellis scream again and his eyes jerked towards the sound. There was a massive horde around the young man, grabbing, tearing at him, trying to pull him to the ground and devour him.
Nick fished for the ammo at his side, "RELOADING!" He released the empty clip with an instinctive slap of the heel of his palm and as he did a snarling man clawed at his arms. Nick slammed the butt of his weapon into the Infected's mouth. Its teeth shattered with gore and it gurgled nosily before collapsing. The swamp seemed to come alive, sucking the wounded Infected into the mud and water as it mewled pathetically.
Click. Snap. Reloaded. Nick fired into the horde tearing at the southerner and they exploded in a sea of crimson and smoke. Ellis was down, blood slicking his arms and face. He looked near unconsciousness. Shit.
When Nick reached the hick he jerked at the others collar and then backhanded him hard across the face. Ellis' eyes fluttered opened and he let in a startled breath.
"Nick…? Nick?" he slurred.
"Yeah, it's me. Get up. Come, on your feet." He slung the gun over his shoulder only long enough to grab the front of the others shirt and jerked him upright. Ellis was grinning slightly—looking absolutely ridiculous seeing as he was covered in blood. "Can you walk? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm good." Ellis fumbled for his weapon. The blood wet and sticky on his fingers made him twice as clumsy.
Nick glanced about. For now there were only wounded Infected withering around on the ground. Rochelle and Coach could be heard in the distance. Damn it. The kid would have a hell of a time catching up. Nick looked back at the other—Ellis looked like he was about to pass out from his injuries. Damn it.
"Hey, now, stay with it." Nick smacked the other upside the head again and Ellis shook himself awake. "Here, take this." Without thinking, the conman grabbed at the adrenaline shot in his pocket and stuffed it into the hick's hand.
"Nah, Nick, thas yours… Thas—"
"Take it, asshole. You can't keep up without it and I'm not carrying you."
Underneath all that gore Ellis was smiling his thanks. He popped off the casing and then stabbed the needle right into his thigh—
"Tha' was the first time ya ever gave me anythin', Nick."
"Yeah? Well… You guys pissed me off a lot. I didn't enjoy sharing my rations with you idiots." Ellis snorted with laughter. Nick joined him after a moment. "What? It's true. You three were always fucking running off on your own and getting yourselves all banged up and shit. It pissed me off."
"Nick. We was lookin' fer supplies," Ellis said matter-of-factly.
"Fff, whatever." Nick shook his head, smirking in between the drags of his cigarette. "In all seriousness, though, Ellis… I mean it. If you need to talk my ear off, you go ahead and do it."
"Wha' ya wan' me ta talk now?" Ellis grinned, "I was sure ya had enough of tha'? Ya were always tellin' me ta shut up."
Nick snorted, "Yeah, because no one cared about your stupid… Keith… stories…" He trailed off, noticing how Ellis slouched slightly, frowning. "…But, uh… You can rant now if you want."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"I ain't feelin' much like rantin' now, Nick. I'm more of wantin' ta hear wha' you gatta say. Ya ain't gettin' out of it, Nick. So fess up."
Damn.
Nick worked another cigarette out of his pack—what was that now? Ten? Eleven? Jesus. He lit it and pressed it between his lips before pulling the old one out and tossing it.
"I'm just sorry about all this, Ellis. I'm sorry for consuming your time and your patience and shit. I'm just sorry for that and—just wait. Let me talk, all right? Just listen." He took in a shaking breath. "I'm grateful that you didn't give up on me, Ellis. I am. I really fucking am. Because without you, I have no doubt I'd have fucked myself over by now. God knows the military's not fucking around with the insane right now. If you weren't there I'd probably be locked up. So, thank you. I mean it." Ellis nodded once. "But I'm also sorry. Okay? I'm sorry it had to be you. I'm sorry that you didn't get the chance to grieve for your family and friends. I'm sorry. I am. I didn't mean to latch onto you like this. I mean," he took in a long draw of his cigarette that made his lungs ache, "You didn't have to. But you did. Shit. You're probably an idiot for it, but fuck... thank you." He rolled the burning cigarette between his thumb and pointer finger obsessively. He sighed. "Okay… I'm done. You can talk again."
"Ya di'n't need ta apologize, Nick."
"Bullshit I didn't."
"Nah, ya di'n't… but I'll forgive ya anyways if thas wha' ya need ta hear. I ain't mad or nothin' 'bout it, so don' worry."
They stood quietly staring out at the sunset. It was, as usual, setting over New Orleans. The sky was gold, absolutely golden and beautiful. Everything about it was just stunning. The way it melted from that gold to violet then red was lovely, perfect. Even the clouds were painted deep lavender and they accented the splashes of color magnificently.
"You were right," Nick said suddenly.
"Huh?" Ellis blinked at the other. "'Bout wha'?"
"The sunsets. They're fucking awesome."
Ellis laughed. "I know, righ'?"
They watched the sun fall all the way below the horizon and stayed far past the first signs of stars. The sky had melted from a brilliance of colors to dark black velvet littered with diamonds. It wasn't any less beautiful. In fact, they found themselves tilting their heads and grinning, pointing out constellations to each other and laughing at old sweet memories. At some point Nick had run out of cigarettes and he hadn't even noticed. This was the first time, the very first time for as long as he could remember, that he had felt so perfectly, utterly and absolutely at peace. How strange.
But now, it was late. There were only a few stragglers left on the deck besides themselves, indicating that the hour was late.
"Ya think we should get ta bed, Nick?" Ellis suggested quietly. A small yawn escaped him and he blinked and cleared his throat to try and fight off the sleep in case Nick declined. Instead, the conman nodded. Yeah, it was late.
When they returned to their room they changed into their night clothes. Ellis hoped into bed immediately, pulling the covers over himself and snuggling into them. Nick, however, stood at the end of the beds, staring hard at the empty one on the left.
"Hey? Nick?"
"Huh?"
"We can share, ya know. I don' mind. These beds are so big tha' it kinda makes ya feel lonely when no one else is sharin' with ya."
Nick's lips pressed together and he blinked slowly at the other. His eyes had adjusted to the low light and he could tell that Ellis was being sincere with his offer. He really looked like he hoped Nick would agree.
"All right, yeah. Okay. Sure." Was this some made-up excuse to stay close? Nick decided he didn't care. He climbed into the bed with the other and Ellis scooted over so the conman could adjust himself comfortably.
"Hey… Nick?"
"Yeah?"
Ellis inched closer and Nick could feel the other's body heat radiating against his, especially when he came close enough that he was practically crushed up beside him. "It's… kinda cold."
"Okay…" Interesting…
Ellis seemed to gauge the other for a moment until he very tentatively raised his hand up to the others shoulder and then nuzzled his face against it. To his surprise, and relief, Nick's arm snaked around him and pulled him closer.
Hearts pounding and smiles on their lips, they fell asleep together.
A/N: I was interrupted, seriously, at least 3 dozen times while trying to write/edit this, so if it's choppy/missing words/typo'ed to hell I am really, super sorry. T-T
The flashback I almost, almost didn't put in. But a part of me super misses writing all the blood and gore that comes along with zombie apocalypses. Booyeah.
I'm fairly certain only a handful of chapters remain. So, thank you for the kind words along the way so far. It's been so helpful and encouraging.