Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.

A/N: Hi, everyone! I'm back again with chapter six, and I'm pleased to announce that chapter sixteen is now in progress. I really hope you're enjoying this so far, and I'd like to thank everyone who's read this so far! It really means a lot to me! Again, feedback is always appreciate so please feel free to review!

Happy reading!

~ Not So Forsaken ~

- Chapter Six -

By the time dusk came, everyone was so exhausted following their escapades of that day that they agreed to try and find another safe room to stay in for the night.

Nick, Julia and Rochelle were all suffering from aches and pains after being cramped up for so long, and as they parked up outside this particular safe house, which happened to be a motel, they could easily see that it had been barricaded like a fortress. It was made up of three separate rooms; two bedrooms and an adjoining bathroom but unfortunately, it had no working hot water or electricity, meaning that the group were having to use some rather shitty camping lanterns that the last people in this safe room had left behind for a source of light. The girls were given one bedroom, and the guys took the other, with the agreement that they would take various turns at keeping watch in case there were any emergencies and they needed to leave in a hurry. Despite their protests, Rochelle and Julia were told to get their rest that night, and the guys would take it in turns to keep watch.

Before the girls went to bed, the group sat in the boys' room, which was bigger, eating a dinner of CEDA provided pasta and vegetables, which were the only Meal-Ready-to-Eat packets left in this particular safe room. They each had a bottle of water as well, and as they sat down together to eat, Ellis decided that now would be the perfect time to get to know one another a little better, and started to ask everyone what they used to do before the world went to hell.

Coach, much to no-one's surprise, used to help out with coaching for Savannah's freshman tour team and actually had a degree in Physical Education, which was a piece of information that Nick rudely scoffed at before making rather insensitive comments about the other man's weight. It transpired that a knee injury in college had stopped him from having the football career he'd wanted, but Coach had still managed to get himself a career where he could have some part in the sport he loved so much.

Nick had found it a bit difficult to talk about his past career. Gambling, cheating and conning people wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Not to mention his other past criminal activities. He was quite happy to have a bitch about his ex-wife though, who he divorced due to the fact that she just liked to open her legs for anyone who'd ask her to while she happily spent the money he brought home to her. He'd received some rather unwanted sympathy from the others in that respect, and had instead, directed the conversation Rochelle's way.

Rochelle had been an associate producer for a news station but finally got her big break when everyone started calling in sick due to the sudden illness that had basically wiped out the United States. That was how she'd ended up in Savannah, and her job was now something that she was cursing, which she never thought she'd do since she had such a passion for it. She worked damn hard in her job, but if she knew she'd end up stranded out in Georgia, she wouldn't have gone there in the first place.

Ellis couldn't wait to tell everyone about what he used to do before all the shit hit the fan. He ran an auto shop with a couple of buddies and had even built himself an armoured truck to escape in until the zombies got a hold of it and ruined all his hard work. He talked animatedly about his friends and his mother, who he used to go and eat Sunday dinners with every week without fail after picking her up from her weekly church visit. After talking about his mother for a while, however, he fell into a state of sadness and finally stopped talking, deciding to ask Julia about her life before the outbreak.

"I was a grocery store clerk back home in Illinois." Julia began, her voice quiet, "I lived with my boyfriend, Kevin... We were out here on vacation when everything went to hell. I didn't even want to come out here, to be honest. I really should've been at home in Illinois. At least I'd know if my parents were okay, even if we don't speak to each other..."

"Wait, you were here with your boyfriend?" Nick asked her, his eyebrow raised, "Then how come we found you on your own in the hotel?"

"Um... The evac was just so packed... I guess I must've been caught up in the crowds of people. Anyway, I got knocked out... It was just hectic and I imagine that someone did it accidentally. The whole place was in complete chaos and panic." Julia explained nervously, "I woke up alone with all my stuff gone and just a zombie for company. Kevin must've had our bags when we got separated."

Nick and Rochelle looked at each other, both of them once again seemingly suspicious about what Julia was telling them. The very idea that her boyfriend wouldn't have gone back to at least look for her seemed bizarre. What kind of boyfriend would just get on an evacuation chopper and leave his injured girlfriend behind? And why the hell would she even come out to Georgia if she didn't want to?

"Do you miss him?" Ellis asked gently, putting down his now empty food container, "Kevin, I mean?"

Julia stilled. No, she didn't miss him. She didn't miss being hit and being yelled at for something she didn't do. She didn't miss being ordered about or being blamed for the fact that he was putting his hands on her. But, at the same time, she did miss the side of him that was sweet and loving because, believe it or not, that did exist. There were times when he'd really given her hope that he was going to change, and there were times when he held her or kissed her so gently that you'd never believe in a million years that he could lay a hand on her. Tears of guilt started to prick at her eyes, and she hurriedly wiped them away, determined not to cry again.

"I guess so." Julia said softly, "I-I haven't really had time to miss him. I've been too busy trying to stay alive, y'know?"

Ellis nodded in understanding, offering her what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the back. Coach decided at that point that he would take the first watch and that the others should try and get some rest. Nick gave Ellis a rather nasty warning about not talking his head off all night, while the girls headed off to their room to try and get some sleep. Once inside, they closed the door, placed their lamp on a dresser in the far corner and got onto their beds. Their weapons were, of course, close by. Rochelle's machete sat by her bed in case of emergency, and their pistols sat on the bedside tables next to them, well within reach if necessary.

"I'm not even gonna dare to get under these covers." Rochelle murmured, "I've always had this thing about motels... Once I stayed in one with a friend when we were taking a weekend road trip and we pulled back the sheets to find a cockroach crawling around in there."

She shuddered with disgust.

"I haven't willingly stayed in a motel since."

Julia looked almost sick in the dim light of the room, but she masked it with a disgusted laugh, almost to protect herself from the horrific image of a cockroach crawling around under the bedsheets. Her imagination was stupidly vivid sometimes and she hated that. Rochelle watched her for a moment, taking in the self-conscious manner in which she climbed onto the bed, and she felt this need to keep her talking. She didn't know if Nick intimidated the hell out of Julia, if she found it hard to fit in, if she just had a fear of people in general or if she just needed coaxing into talking. Either way, Rochelle had a feeling that their little group would be together for a while, so she wanted to make sure that Julia knew she was a part of that.

"So, what about you? Are you a motel or a hotel girl?"

"Oh, I've never stayed in a motel before... My parents always made sure we stayed in nice hotels and the few of trips I've taken with Kevin have all involved us staying in hotels. Cheap hotels, but hotels all the same." Julia explained, "My parents used to insist on staying in expensive hotels. It was a status thing."

Rochelle considered that for a brief moment and then remembered what Julia had said about the fact that she and her parents didn't talk anymore. That was just plain sad. None of them knew what had happened to their families, and Rochelle worried so much about her parents, but at least she was safe in the knowledge that she was loved by them, and that they knew they were loved by her.

"Julia... I hope you don't mind my asking..." The darker-skinned woman said softly, "But... How come you and your parents don't talk?"

"Oh... Um... It's my fault." Julia explained, trying to get comfortable on her bed, "They saved for years so that I could go to college, and I dropped out after a year. I just couldn't handle it. I wasn't smart enough really. They told me I was a disappointment and they disowned me, basically. Cut all ties with me and left me with nothing but the clothes on my back."

Rochelle blinked at her in surprise.

"Wait... So, your parents don't speak to you because you made a life choice that they didn't agree with?" She asked, "You knew that college wasn't right for you, so you gave it up... And they disowned you for that?"

Julia hummed in agreement, turning away from the older woman to try and get more comfortable. Damn, that mattress was lumpy...

"Wow..." Rochelle murmured, her tone sympathetic and even a little sad, "I'm sorry. That's so harsh..."

"Well... It is what it is." Julia said, clearing her throat, "I don't have to deal with them pressuring me anymore, so I guess that's a bonus."

Rochelle hummed in agreement as Julia had a few seconds before. Rolling onto her back, she muttered a soft 'goodnight' to the younger woman, who returned the sentiment before both girls tried to settle down and get some rest. In the other room, Coach was sitting on the couch near the entrance of the safe room, Nick was on the bed closest to the bathroom door, and Ellis was on the next bed, his hat tilted over his eyes. Nick was clearly not comfortable, considering how much he was rolling around trying to get into a comfortable position.

"Why not take that suit jacket off, Nick? Might be more comfortable." Ellis suggested from under his hat.

"It's already off." Nick muttered, running a hand over his face, "Besides, it's this bed that's the issue."

He rolled onto his back, looking across at Ellis who was laying with his arm behind his head and the other on his stomach. How he could be so comfortable on beds as shitty as these, Nick didn't know. Ellis, on the other hand, couldn't help but wonder how Nick was finding it so hard to get comfortable. The guy had to have stayed in a lot of motels in his conning and gambling days, and Ellis was sure he'd have stayed in his fair share of uncomfortable ones.

"Well, I'da thought you'd be used to bad beds since you travel around so much." Ellis commented, settling back into his pillow, "It ain't that terrible."

"Overalls, most of the nights I've spent in motels and hotels weren't spent sleeping, and some of 'em weren't even spent in bed." Nick murmured with a smirk, "If you know what I mean."

"Alright, you two." Coach said softly, "The girls are only in the next room and they don't need or wanna hear that kinda talk."

"Oh, please..." Nick muttered, rolling his eyes again as he tried once more to get comfortable.

Coach leant back against the couch, the dim light of the lamp casting a warm glow on his face. He was determined that when they moved out the next day, they could make the drive to New Orleans in one trip if they changed shifts. Yeah, they'd stop for bathroom breaks and to give whoever was in the back seats a chance to walk around and stretch their legs, but it'd be worth it to get to New Orleans in enough time to finally be rescued.

The early morning sky was glowing with the beginnings of sunrise as Julia finally made the decision to get up and prepare for the day ahead.

After very little sleep thanks to nightmares and fitful dreams, she gave up on trying to get any rest, and instead went through to see if she could take over on watch so whoever was currently up could get some extra sleep. She gathered her things together quietly, arming herself ready for the day's journey, and she carefully listened with her ear against the door of the bathroom to make sure it wasn't being used before she crossed it to get to the boys' room.

She headed in there quietly to find Ellis curled up in a ball, sleeping like a baby with a rather adorable expression on his face. Coach was snoring so loudly that it was a wonder Ellis was sleeping at all, and on the couch was Nick, sprawled out lazily, absently unloading and reloading his Magnum. Julia's heart sank. She would rather it had been Ellis or Coach who was awake because she found it so hard to talk to Nick. He made very little effort to talk to her and he clearly hated long conversations.

"Morning." He said quietly, smirking at her awkward posture, "You wanna sit here?"

"Oh, I'm fine thanks." She murmured as he started to sit up, stepping carefully into the room, "Don't trouble yourself..."

She slipped past him nervously, placing her M16 against the far wall as she carefully eased herself onto the floor, grabbing a bottle of water from the pack that was close to the exit of the safe house. She shook it in Nick's direction, silently asking if he wanted one. He held his hand out to her so she threw him the one in her hand and reached for another. He caught it, gave her a very quiet 'Thanks' and then they both opened their bottles and took a long drink.

"You're up early." He commented quietly, his voice deep and gruff.

"Yeah." Julia answered softly, "Couldn't sleep."

"Huh..." Nick huffed, "These beds are pretty shitty. I couldn't sleep either."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Julia murmured sympathetically, clearing her throat as they fell back into awkward silence again.

She could barely bring herself to look at the thirty-five-year-old. He intimidated her so much, and, while she was sure it wasn't intentional, part of her couldn't help but think he wanted her to be afraid of him. She hoped she was wrong, and maybe, once she got to know Nick better, she'd be proven wrong. Nick, on the other hand, could sense that she was scared of him. She was right to be wary, and right to not be trusting of him. He wasn't a trustworthy person. However, he did recognise the fact that in order to survive, they'd all have to learn to trust one another.

"Oh, my God..." Ellis groaned from the bed he was sleeping on, bringing both Nick and Julia out of their thoughts, "What time is it?"

"Sun's just starting to come up." Nick chuckled, "Sleep well, Overalls?"

"It wasn't the best night's sleep I ever had, but it wasn't too bad." Ellis said in a sleepy voice, rolling over slightly to see Julia smiling at him from her place against the wall, "Hey... Mornin', Jules. You're up early."

He sat up slowly, taking off his cap and running his fingers through the curls at the back of his head. Julia looked very tired, he noticed, like she hadn't had much sleep. Her lovely brown eyes were resting in the middle of two dark circles which told Ellis just how tired she was. She was paler than usual and her body seemed to sag even though she was sitting down, which again indicated to him how little sleep she'd probably had.

"I couldn't sleep." She said, feeling much more confident when speaking to Ellis than Nick, "Neither could Nick."

"Yeah, you were complainin' about that bed last night." Ellis said to Nick, sitting up slowly to stretch his body out, "You wanna try and get a little more sleep, Jules?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Julia answered with a smile, "You want some water?"

"Sure, thanks." Ellis said, catching the bottle that she threw gently towards him, "You wanna come sit up here? Better than being on the floor. Hey, Nick, how come you didn't offer her a seat?"

"I did." Nick said, giving Julia a look that made her feel very uncomfortable as she got to her feet, "She didn't wanna sit with me."

"Well, she was stuck in the back of the car with you for a while yesterday, Nick. It's hardly surprisin' that she don't wanna sit with you." Ellis laughed quietly, smiling as Julia took a seat next to him.

"Are you two arguing already?"

This time, Rochelle was heading through the door, her eyes landing on Coach, who was now on his back, snoring louder than ever. Slipping past him somewhat nervously, trying not to wake him, she headed past the others, grabbed herself some water, and then moved across to where Nick was sitting before giving his legs a somewhat hard-looking whack.

"Move." She told him, causing him to roll his eyes and sit up properly for Rochelle to sit down.

Julia stared with wide eyes. She'd been horrified for a moment, thinking that Nick would get in Rochelle's face about her swatting at his leg like that, but when she saw he didn't, she found herself admiring the older woman's strong attitude. She was so envious that she didn't have the courage to have that same 'no bullshit' attitude and part of her felt incredibly sad that she'd never been able to be that brave.

"Did we all have trouble sleeping or was it just me?" Rochelle asked, taking a drink of water.

"Nah, we've all had a hard time gettin' any rest, apart from Coach." Ellis said quietly, pointing to the oldest member of their group who was still snoring contentedly.

The other four survivors talked amongst themselves quietly as Coach continued to sleep, discussing their plans for the journey that day. Nick announced that he was driving, and Rochelle quickly decided to bag shotgun, meaning that Julia would be once again in the back of the car, this time, between Coach and Ellis. Ellis offered to sit in the middle so that Julia didn't feel uncomfortable being cramped up between two men, which she agreed to, thanking him with a grateful smile.

Coach finally awoke an hour later, and after a very quick breakfast of more pasta and vegetables, which didn't sit well with any of them, they headed out and packed up the car ready for the day's journey. Rochelle kept the water and some more of the gross pasta meals in the front with her, while Coach, Ellis and Julia attempted to get comfortable in the back of the car. Nick's style of driving was very different to Ellis' in the sense that he didn't feel the necessity to rag the car around like he was participating in a race. He drove it like he wanted to enjoy the journey, and even though there were a few times when he did drive at some considerable speed, there were others where he travelled leisurely, as though they had all the time in the world.

Eventually, Coach's old knee injury was causing him grief, so after taking some pain pills, Nick pulled the car over to the side of the road to allow Coach to get out and stretch his legs. Julia and Ellis both took the opportunity to stretch their legs too, and as they walked a little way from the car, talking in what looked like a rather animated fashion, Nick found himself watching what they were doing while he took the opportunity to have a drink of water. Scotch would've been preferable, he figured, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He watched as Ellis and Julia stopped walking, and for a brief moment, he saw the redhead let out a very sweet, and, dare he say it, a rather beautiful smile as she shyly brushed her hair behind her ear, her slender fingers curling elegantly as she did so. Wow... It was so subtle, but wow...

"Huh..." He huffed to himself, feeling a horrible, sickening clenching in his stomach, "Well, I'll be damned..."

"What is it, boy?" Coach asked as he headed back to the car.

"Nothing." Nick said with a laugh, trying to cover his panic at the sudden twisting he'd felt inside his gut, "Just watching the two lovebirds over there."

"Oh, come on, man." Coach laughed incredulously, "They've known each other for twenty-four hours at best, and she's already spoken for. Doesn't seem the type to be unfaithful to me."

"Well, she's not exactly missing her boyfriend, is she." Nick stated with a smirk, "There's no begging for us to go find him, no constant worrying about where he is... No. If you ask me, she's got her sights set on someone else."

Coach looked towards Ellis and Julia, who were now coming back. Julia was smiling quite brightly, her face red from whatever she'd been laughing at, and Ellis was looking at her with a very sweet and very bright smile of his own. Coach, however, didn't believe what Nick was saying. Ellis might have taken a liking to their youngest team member, but Julia certainly didn't seem like the kind of girl would so easily jump from one man to another, and she seemed so shy that Coach thought it obvious that she was just trying to be friendly rather than anything else.

"Come on, y'all!" Coach called to them, "Let's get movin'!"

Ellis and Julia broke into a jog, climbing into the car again once Coach was settled in his seat before patiently waiting for Nick to set off driving again. Nick couldn't stop himself from casting a look in the rearview mirror, just catching a brief glance of the redhead who was now settled in her seat, her head bowed and her pale fingers fidgeting with themselves in that shy manner that she seemed to always have.

With an internal sigh and a roll of his eyes, wondering how this situation could get any worse, he focused on the road and continued to drive them to their chosen destination.

Oh... How wrong Nick had been about it not being able to get any worse...

It was now raining, and they'd come to a complete stop because there was a stupid bridge that was raised, preventing them from progressing any further, and the people who just happened to be on the bridge at that time were being so far from helpful that it was beyond unreal. Nick was itching to shoot the biker that they were currently talking to, while he and Rochelle were busy making cow eyes at each other. Beside said biker stood a young girl who couldn't have been older than eighteen or nineteen, and who Ellis was practically drooling over. Nick couldn't help but chuckle internally at the sight of that.

'Poor Raggedy-Anne.' He thought to himself with amusement, looking over his shoulder at Julia to find her leaning against the car, clearly not with the situation in any way shape or form.

She literally wasn't in the present at that time and was in deep thought about something else. And Julia, indeed, was in thought about something else. She was trying to think of anything else other what would happen when they (if they) got to New Orleans. She kept having this frightening thought that she'd somehow be reunited with her boyfriend and after being free from him for as little as twenty-four hours, she couldn't stand the thought of going back to him. She couldn't. Oh, God...

"Oh, man... That was the prettiest girl I've ever seen!" Ellis was exclaiming excitedly as he approached the car, "Did ya see her, Jules? Oh, my God..."

"I didn't see her... Sorry." Julia said, clearing her throat as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, "So, um... What's the plan?"

Ellis' face fell at Julia's seemingly cold manner, but no-one had time to reflect on that as Coach stepped in to explain that they were going to look for an 'Under The River Tour' to try and find their way to the other side of the bridge, where they would have to then refuel one of the generators to be able to lower the bridge and escape. As they set off walking, Ellis stayed alongside Julia, who didn't seem to be quite as on edge as she was a couple of minutes earlier. Nick, observing the interaction between Julia and Ellis, found it rather amusing that she'd been so cold with him.

"Okay, people, let's not dilly-dally." Coach said as he hopped down into the park below them, "We got another long walk ahead of us."

~ To Be Continued ~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks for reading so far!