"Ah, man ya never been kite surfin' 'fore?" Ellis asked—and this was probably the hundredth random question he had asked in the last couple hours. Nick had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. Jesus, Ellis seemed to be making up from his few hours of silence earlier with story after story after story. Nick wasn't about to complain though. He just smiled patiently as the kid continued to rant.
"Well, one time Keith an' I went kite surfin' over by Tybee Island—now I ain't gonna lie an' say I was real good at it or nothin', 'cause I wasn't. But Keith—fer some reason he really though' tha' he was gonna be real good at it an' stuff righ' away, an' so righ' after we rented the shit he jus' like paddled his ass out there an' started ta try an' catch waves an' wind an' shit. Man, I ain't never seen no one break one of them things 'fore, but somehow Keith managed ta do it.
"He like, tried ta do some fancy shit, but he ended up flippin' the whole thing an' then he hit a big wave—an' man, didja know tha' water really ain't tha' soft ta land in? I mean—well, it wasn't really the water tha' he landed on anyway. He managed ta somehow get himself caught up on some rocks an' shit… an' man tha' thing like exploded all over the place an' the lifeguards were all pissed off 'cause then he was stuck out there on this little rocky area an' waves an' shit kept hittin' 'em over an' over. They had ta end up goin' an' callin' a rescue helicopter. Keith said all them days in the hospital was worth it though—said ridin' in one of them coast guard 'copters was totally cool. Come ta think of it—" Nick took in a sharp breath, rolling his eyes but Ellis continued as though he hadn't noticed (and he probably hadn't), "—I wonder if it was anythin' like the 'copter we got in at Whisperin' Oaks? I mean they look a lil different an' stuff, but a 'copters a 'copter, righ'?"
"I really don't know, Ellis…" Nick said, chuckling. "But I'm sure they're very similar…"
"Ah, man, speakin' of Whisperin' Oaks, we gatta go back there one day!" Ellis bounced excitedly and consequently jerked the wheel slightly, sending them lurching suddenly to the left. Nick let out a hiss of surprise and grabbed at the door instinctively. He glared at Ellis. "Sorry," Ellis replied and continued without missing another beat, "An' then we can actually ride them rides properly an' stuff. I mean, they'll be lines 'gain an' shit, but it'll be worth it."
"Sure," Nick said, straightening back in his seat. "But no Tunnel of Love."
"Ah, ya ain't no fun, Nick! An' I was hopin' I could mack on ya some." The young man grinned suddenly. "Hey, man ya ever been ta Disneyland or Disneyworld or anythin'?"
"Uh, no. I grew up in Omaha, remember?"
Ellis chuckled. "Oh, righ'. Well I've been ta Disneyworld 'fore, an' man tha' shit is awesome. I mean, Whisperin' Oaks is cool an' all, but it ain't no Disneyworld. The rides there are sooo cool, we should totally go one day! My favorite ride has gatta be Thunder Mountain! It's like the coolest shit ever! I loooove rollercoaster. An' man, when I was there with Keith—now he acts like he's all big an' brave an' shit—but he ain't a huge fan of heights an' so when we was goin' up on some of the hills he'd be screamin' bloody murder an' stuff—an' it was funny 'cause we wasn't even movin' much, but like, doin' that slow crawl an' shit… an' he was screamin' so much he was like scarin' other little kids on the ride. Man, it was pretty funny. Except, well, when he puked on the ride. Tha' wasn't so cool at all, man. I almost puked too. An' I swear… pukin' does stuff ta people. One person goes an' like everyone does too. Man, I di'n't ride another rollercoaster ride for like… a whole day after tha'. But I got over it pretty quickly 'cause ya jus' learn ta get over tha' shit 'cause we was havin' way too much an' stuff an'…" Silence.
"…And?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow at the other. Did he just give Ellis permission to keep speaking? It sure seemed like it. Ellis, however, gave him a befuddled stare.
"Huh?"
Nick snorted with laughter. "Jesus, Ellis, did you lose your own train of thought?"
Ellis chuckled embarrassedly. "Yeah… I guess I did… wha' was I talkin' 'bout again?"
"Hell, I don't even remember. Something about vomit and roller coasters."
Ellis absolutely glowed—and Nick was afraid to ask why, but Ellis started to rant again and it became clear; "Hey, remember tha' time when we was on the Screamin' Oak an' tha' Boomer puked all over Coach an' he almost fell off? I mean, tha' really wasn't funny, but after we got into tha' safe room, it was pretty hilarious."
Nick shook his head, letting out a noise of disbelief. "He smelled like shit for a week, Ellis. It was disgusting."
"Yeah," Ellis shrugged lightly, "but it was still kinda funny."
"Uh-huh… Well, look at that." Nick gestured towards the coming sign. "Looks like we're only about twenty more miles from Charlotte… And we're making such good time. We'll probably be there by seven. At least."
"Good thing too, 'cause it's gettin' dark…" Ellis gripped the steering wheel, frowning. "I ain't a fan of the dark no more…"
"Well, I'll be sure to find you a nightlight."
Ellis huffed. "Thanks, Nick. I really appreciate tha'."
"Aw, I didn't hurt your feelings, did I? I'm sorry baby." Nick reached over to rough Ellis' hair—which was hard considering how ridiculously large the distance between them was. Because of how much of an effort Nick had to make to playfully ruffle his hair, any and all annoyance Ellis may have harbored disappeared instantly. The kid gave Nick a lopsided smile. "Just think of it like this—this is the last night you need to drive. After that, it'll be home sweet home. And I promise, I won't make you drive after dark if you don't want to."
Ellis chuckled, "Well, thanks, Nick. Yer too sweet."
"Uh-huh. It's what I do," the other replied, smirking.
When they entered the outskirts of Charlotte, Nick couldn't help but gape. It was a wonder as to why the military had decided to even bother making it an outpost. It looked like a warzone—an absolutely fucked up beyond belief warzone. Any building as far as the eye could see was either leveled, fire damaged and/or tattered beyond repair. It was eerie and uncomfortable. It seemed like they had come into an area that had been bombed to hell and back with no regard for any uninfected still cowering from the horrors outside. In fact, that probably wasn't far from the truth. It seemed as though Charlotte had faced the same fate as New Orleans.
Ellis swallowed thickly, leaning forward and letting his eyes scan the rubble all around as they entered farther into the city."…We ain't got much a choice but ta stop here, huh?" Ellis asked quietly. The Humvee came to a slow crawl, headlights shinning off all kinds of rubble that left some awfully sinister shadows.
Nick nodded slightly, flicking on the flashlight to look at the map. "Yeah… we have to do our exchange here…"
Ellis frowned, coming to a stop at a large menacing gate barricading the highway. Somewhere to their left they could see a group of military men (guns in hand) unlocking the gate and moving towards them cautiously.
"I really don' think I wanna stay the night here, Nick…" Ellis whispered quietly watching as the three men moved towards them as though they were surely going to burst out of the vehicle and try to eat them. Zombies driving military issued Humvees? Well, shit, these people sure had some pretty goddamn good imaginations. Or they were just paranoid as fuck.
Nick frowned as he watched the men creep closer. "Yeah, I agree. We'll just get our checkpoint registered and see if they'll 'escort' us tonight. Not that we need one, but whatever."
The leading solider tapped on the window and Ellis quickly lowered it. He was greeted by a barrel pointed directly at his face. The southerner swallowed thickly, trying his best to smile—but he found himself a little too alarmed with the thought of a loaded gun pressed into his face. Ellis' mouth moved wordlessly, eyes focused with terror on the barrel.
"Hey," Nick called angrily. "Lower your fucking guns, Jesus fucking Christ. What's wrong with you?"
The soldier hesitated a moment before drawing the gun away, "Identifications." And so the two offered their bracelets and the soldier read the number off Ellis' before looking through a clipboard full of pages. "Yeah, you're the ones that left Montgomery today, right?" He frowned before looking back up at them. "What took you so long?"
"…Uh," Ellis flushed. "We uh…"
"Got kinky," Nick offered matter-of-factly—Ellis turned completely red at this and gripped the steering wheel between his hands, staring hard at it and said nothing. "So, anyways, when the hell can we get out of here? No offense, but Charlotte looks like shit and we're not feeling the love here. Can we get an escort tonight?"
The soldier frowned down at the clipboard again. "I'll see what I can do. You're only about an hour away so it probably won't be a huge deal and your vehicle and supplies are already waiting. I'll see if I can find anyone to escort you. Drive up to the lights over there and wait for someone else to come get you."
Ellis shifted the car back into gear and slowly crept to the designated area. Nick was amused that Ellis was still a fierce shade of red. The southerner shifted the car back into park and sat back. Nick continued to eye the other, still grinning in amusement.
Ellis finally looked at him. "I can't believe ya were a con-artist, Nick," Ellis said helplessly. "Yer terrible."
Nick laughed loudly. "You'll get use to it."
"Jesus." Ellis pressed one hand over his eyes and laughed. "Ya give way more information than I ever woulda." He peaked through his fingers and couldn't help but grin back at the older man.
"Well, you're far more modest than I am. But I'll ruin that eventually." Ellis shook his head at this, but he was smiling widely. "Well, looks like our soldier friend is here."
It seemed that the military was far more than willing to shuffle Immunes along as fast as they could, because within fifteen minutes they were given a different car (Nick was happy it wasn't a minivan, but instead a Ford Explorer—even if the god damn thing was older than Hell itself). They were escorted by two vehicles and it was sort of strange to be driving on the highway with another human being consider they hadn't seen anyone on the road since they had left New Orleans. But at the same time… it was… comforting.
Ellis had gone strangely quiet—which Nick found to be odd. He wondered if maybe he had embarrassed the kid into silence, but when he glanced over he saw that Ellis was sitting there in the passenger seat, smiling so gently, eyes so focused and eager. It was like… Ellis was trying to take in everything—trying so hard to remember this last stretch—this tiny expanse of road that would lead him to his new home. Unable to help himself, Nick began to smile too.
That's right Oak Ridge, little town nestled in the middle-of-nowhere. We're coming for you; so please, please still be waiting there for us. I don't want this kid to ever stop smiling.
A/N: I alllmmooost wanna just end it here… ALMOST, I couldn't do it because I still have some ideas for them settling in. SO. BARE WITH ME I'M SORRY. /sob
And again, thank you so much for all the reviews and for reading this. I appreciate it so, so very much. Ya'll have been too kind.