Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.
A/N: Hi, guys! I'm glad to see more people are reading this. I hope you're enjoying it so far and thanks for sticking with me. Please feel free to review. It does let me know whether or not it's worth continuing or not, and it also helps me get motivated to keep writing. I've almost completed chapter nineteen at this point and there's still such a long way to go, so please let me know what you think so far.
Happy reading!
~ Not So Forsaken ~
- Chapter Eleven -
Climbing over the first car in the humongous maze of parked vehicles, the five survivors took in the harrowing sight of open car doors, dead bodies, smears of blood, and people's lives strewn across the highway.
"Oh, God..." Rochelle breathed, "They were attacked in their cars..."
"Let's stick together." Coach murmured, "Look for supplies and nothing unnecessary."
Ellis walked at the front, with Nick and Julia behind him, and Rochelle and Coach behind them. They moved through the multiple vehicles, seeing belongings and suitcases thrown haphazardly across the asphalt, the remains of people being eaten by zombies on one side of the verge while infected people fought each other between the cars. It was pretty horrific, and any searches of cars were quick and for the absolute basics, such as hygiene items, or in Nick's case, a box of condoms. His excuse for this when Ellis caught him was that even though the world had ended, there was no need to give up casual sex, and he wasn't exactly keen on repopulating the planet. Ellis had given him a disapproving stare before then asking if there was another box in case he ever met with Zoey again.
Julia and Rochelle had found some small shampoo and conditioner bottles, both speculating on whether or not they'd have the chance to use them. Coach managed to find a few bags of potato chips which he was going to save until they got to the next safe room, but things almost became heated when he was asked if they counted as unnecessary items by Nick, who was then outed by Ellis regarding the condoms. Rochelle didn't react well to the fact that both Ellis and Nick deemed it necessary to carry such items, but Julia managed to calm the situation down by begging them to keep moving with Coach abandoning his potato chips when he found a hole in the bottom of the bag.
The other problem with navigating this hazardous maze of vehicles was that infected could be anywhere and coming from anywhere. The sound was bouncing off of the vehicles and no-one really knew where to look if they heard growls or angry screams coming their way. Finally, the group managed to find a clearer area where they had better visibility and could be more prepared for any attacks.
"Down this off-ramp." Ellis said, pointing ahead of them, smiling as Julia came to walk alongside him, "How are you feelin', Jules? You got rid of that headache?"
Finally, yes, Julia had gotten rid of the headache she'd been suffering from, courtesy of the bump at the back of her head. That swelling had gone down considerably and thanks to Rochelle and Ellis' care, Julia's bruising was feeling a little less sore as well. She nodded enthusiastically at him, tugging playfully at his blue-plaid shirt with a sweet smile which drew his attention back to her again.
"I'm better, thank you." She replied, "And this looks great on you. It really suits you."
"That's mighty sweet of ya to say." Ellis laughed with a blush, "I like to wear shirts like this when it gets colder."
"Yeah, it's gonna be getting colder soon, huh?" Julia muttered with concern, "I hope we've been rescued before it gets too cold. I'd hate to try and survive out here through the winter."
"We get to New Orleans and we'll be just fine." Coach said quietly, "It's always a little warmer in the south during the winter anyway."
The pleasant conversation was suddenly interrupted by a very high pitched gurgling. That was a sound that none of the five had ever heard before. It caused them to stop in their tracks as more of the gurgling followed, their eyes darting in every direction to look for the source of the noise. It sounded familiar but the pitch of the gurgles made it sound different to the only other infected they'd come across who made sounds like this.
"Hey, maybe this zombie won't be so bad..." Julia whispered, "It sounds kinda cute..."
The comment earned her very funny looks from everyone else, which she expected, but as the infected stumbled out from the nearby bushes to their left, Julia's wondering was over and no-one needed to even question what had actually been making the 'cute' sounds. Julia's face contorted in horror as she and Ellis backed away from the approaching infected, which was, of all things, a female Boomer, wearing nothing but her underwear by the looks of it.
"Okay, I take it back!" Julia squeaked, crying out as the zombie lurched forward to vomit on her.
Ellis lifted her out of the way just in time as Coach shot the Boomer, leaving her lower half rolling down the embankment she'd just emerged from. While Nick was busy praising Coach for his good shot, Ellis was still holding Julia, who was laughing with relief that she'd not been puked on. She slowly turned and grabbed the left side of his shirt, burying her face in his right shoulder while letting out a happy sigh, allowing Ellis to briefly support her weight.
"Thank you." She breathed out, still laughing softly to herself with pure relief, "That was way too close."
Nick didn't like that exchange. He felt angry about it. Not angry enough to punch Ellis in the face, but angry enough to be openly vocal about the fact that he didn't want to see Ellis all over Julia and vice versa. He wasn't used to feeling like this, and to his horror, he could only assume that what he was feeling was jealousy. He could scarcely believe that he was feeling jealous of Ellis of all people, which only fed his anger. Then, he felt even more annoyed at Ellis, himself, and even Julia.
'Oh, for fuck's sake...' He thought to himself, 'I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask for the fucking apocalypse and I certainly didn't ask for a stupid crush on someone fourteen years younger than me! This is beyond irritating!'
"Alright, Ellis. Put her down." He snapped, setting off again with Coach and Rochelle in tow, "She's been manhandled enough without you doing it too."
Julia and Ellis looked at each other, utterly confused at Nick's attitude and remarks considering there was no reason why he needed to be so pissy with them. Rochelle threw them a sweet smile over her shoulder to reassure them and encourage them to keep moving, but that smile disappeared when she looked back at Nick, who was now apparently as grumpy as ever. Ellis and Julia followed quietly behind, occasionally offering one another small smiles of encouragement. Ellis' attention, otherwise, was focused on the back of Nick's head. He didn't know why the conman had such a problem with him, and he knew that he could handle it if Nick had a problem with him, but it was becoming more obvious that Nick was now having some kind of issue with Julia. Ellis wasn't going to let anything happen to Julia. If Nick so much as looked at her wrong, Ellis was going to be there to stand up for her. He promised himself that.
"Searchlights!" Julia cried out, pointing ahead of them under the bridge they were approaching, "That's the first sign of life we've seen for miles!"
"I bet if there's an evac, that's where it'll be." Nick said with a relieved grin, "Come on..."
With his mood seemingly improved, Julia took it upon herself to walk with him as she had been earlier. She wanted to make a bit more of an effort to get to know people better, and having chatted for a lot of the journey with Coach, having shared fun, girlie conversations with Rochelle, and spending a lot of her time talking to Ellis, she figured she'd better make the same effort with Nick. Only, she knew he wasn't going to talk her ear off like Ellis did.
"You mind if I walk with you?"
Nick looked across at her, offering her the tiniest of smirks.
"Knock yourself out, sweetie."
When Julia let out a soft giggle and a blush presented itself against the pale skin of her cheeks, Nick felt that same whirling in his stomach again. Why did she have to be so damn cute? He almost shuddered. He didn't like this at all. He was so used to just having one night stands and avoiding any kind of attachment to women since he and his ex-wife divorced that this felt completely alien to him.
"So, um... You're sticking with slacks and dress shoes, huh?" She teased softly, smiling up at the conman if a little nervously.
"What can I say? I like to look smart." Nick replied with a smirk.
"That you do." Julia told him, "And can I just say how much I think you're rocking that polo?"
Nick felt somewhat flattered. He wanted to scowl at her like he would do with Ellis but he couldn't bring himself to. No-one had ever told him that he'd rocked anything before. Apart from one of the girls he slept with in high school who claimed he'd rocked her world, despite the fact she'd clearly been faking when they were having sex. That had been a real knock to his confidence, it had to be said.
"Thanks." He replied with a chuckle, "I like a girl who knows style when she sees it."
"And what makes you think I know style?" Julia asked, ducking her head somewhat bashfully as she brushed her hair behind her ear, tightening her grip on her M16.
"Well, let's just say you're rocking your outfit too." Nick answered, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
Julia looked up at him again, her eyes narrowing suspiciously for the briefest of moments before she found herself smiling quite brightly. She hadn't expected anything like a compliment from Nick but that? That was the closest thing she'd had to, 'You look really nice' that she'd had in well over a year.
"Thanks." She murmured, feeling her cheeks heat with the spread of a fierce blush.
They continued to walk in what they both found to be surprisingly comfortable silence while listening to bits and pieces of conversation between the others. It wasn't long until they came to a motel, but unfortunately, the way for them was blocked by vehicles. They were going to have to cut through the motel, which was probably full of zombies.
"Do you see a way in?" Julia asked, scanning the chainlink fences to see if there was some kind of tear or opening in the fencing that they could pass through.
"I'm not climbing over this. It's got barbed wire at the top... We'll try up here." Nick said, indicating the embankment to the right of them.
Coach was already well ahead of them, starting the rather tiring climb to the top of the embankment to see where they had to go from there. Ellis and Rochelle joined Nick and Julia in the climb up to the top, and Coach indicated that they'd have to cross the billboard supports opposite and get onto the roof of the main office. He'd spotted a bus that they could use to climb down into the motel parking lot so that they could go from there to find a way back onto the road.
"Be careful... It looks like it might be a bit of a jump between the billboard and the roof." Coach told them, leading the way, "Let's go."
Once on the roof, the group looked across the parking lot. From the look of things, they'd need to reach the upper walkway and then head down to the other side of the fencing which seemed to surround the motel up to the back of the pool. Hopefully, they'd be able to make progress from that point. Coach and Nick headed onto the bus first, and between Nick and Ellis, Rochelle and Julia were helped onto the bus safely, since there was a considerable drop between the roof of the main office and the ground.
They then moved to climb down the front of the bus, and as they reached the ground, Rochelle and Julia started shooting at zombies in the immediate vicinity while the guys climbed down behind them. Coach told everyone to search the rooms and he took Julia into a room further down from the office, while Nick, Rochelle and Ellis searched the office and the room next to it. As Coach walked in front of her, he spoke to her gently over his shoulder, keeping his voice down so as not to alert the infected that were wandering in some of the rooms.
"Ya doin' alright, young 'un?"
"I'm good, thanks, Coach." Julia said sweetly, "And you?"
"Me? Oh, I'm good." Coach chuckled in reply, turning to her with a more serious expression before adding, "Whatever ya do, watch out for the cars... Some of 'em are alarmed."
Julia nodded, looking over her shoulder at the parking lot behind her. There were only a couple of infected wandering around, but all it would take was one walking into a car to attract zombies from all over the area and then they'd be in trouble. Entering the dark storeroom with Coach, Julia kept her eye out for the others coming or for any potential attacks from infected.
Coach was searching the shelves for anything useful, but unfortunately, found nothing. When the others returned to them with some extra ammo and a first aid kit, however, there was some relief on Julia and Coach's part that at least someone had found something useful. To the right of where they were standing, there was a set of stairs which led up to the next walkway, which was where they needed to go.
"Is it worth searching these rooms?" Nick asked, looking across at the large motel, "There's a lot of 'em to look through."
"No, we're already weighed down with supplies." Coach muttered, "I doubt we can carry much more without being slowed down, and that ain't what we need."
"Then, let's keep moving before we attract unwanted attention." Julia whispered, indicating the zombies in the parking lot, two of which were fighting near the entrance to the pool, "Up these stairs."
"Let's make this quick, y'all." Coach said, turning to head up the stairs, "Come on."
Everyone followed him up the stairs, and they jogged along the walkway where various brightly, if a little garishly coloured rooms were hidden behind green coloured doors, some of which also concealed the odd zombie or two. The growls were hard to ignore but the focus was getting out of this motel since they could be any number of infected people in the vicinity that the group potentially didn't have the ammo to take out.
"Keep movin'." Coach encouraged them, shooting a zombie that was standing on the walkway ahead of them as they rounded the corner.
He suddenly came to a stop, however, and Nick had to grab a hold of Ellis to stop him from running into Rochelle and Julia due to how quickly Coach had become stationary. There was a huge gap in the walkway, and the other side of the walkway was a fair distance away as part of it had clearly collapsed, making it obvious that jumping across wasn't possible. Coach let out a small grunt of displeasure at this, and quickly opened the door to his immediate right, feeling incredibly relieved when he saw that the wall separating that room from the next was partially knocked through, giving the group a way around.
"Through here." Coach said, leading them through the door.
Julia walked through last, closing the door behind her while Nick did a quick search of the bathroom opposite. Coach was already leading Rochelle and Ellis through to the next area, so Nick quickly beckoned Julia to follow, and they rushed after them with Nick then ushering Julia forward so she could climb through the window of the next room first. With the walkway missing from outside the door of the room, the only way out was through the window, which had already been broken through.
Rochelle and Ellis were looking over the balcony ahead where there were several infected wandering around on both the asphalt and the grass just at the bottom of the motel steps. Since it was easily manageable, the group slowed to a walk, catching their breath as they walked down the stairs and split into two groups to start killing the zombies in their way.
The distinct sound of neighing could be heard in the distance, coming from somewhere behind the motel which sent everyone into high alert. A Jockey was not a welcome addition to their group of five and no-one wanted to get ridden by it. The neighing and maniacal laughter drew ever closer with all eyes scanning the area behind the motel, only for Rochelle to spot the little zombie sprinting towards them through the grass. Before she could get the warning out of her mouth, it flew through the air, landing on her face and sending her stumbling backwards into the motel wall, her head colliding with it harshly.
"Argh!" She cried out, trying to hit it with the butt of her gun, "It's on my face!"
Julia, who was closest to Rochelle, swung her M16 around in her hands and smacked the Jockey right on the side of the head with so much force that she almost lost her balance. As it flew from Rochelle's shoulders, it was pulling her away from the motel wall which caused her to stagger as well, only for her to be caught by Ellis while everyone else was trying to get a shot at the clownish zombie that was still shrieking maniacally. It stumbled briefly as it hit the floor, but then it launched itself at the Julia, hitting her from the side and sending her falling to the floor. Gun abandoned, she was hauled up by her hair, screaming for someone to help her. Coach was running to help her, but Ellis got there first, slamming the crowbar down as hard as he could on the little zombie's head. It convulsed briefly but stopped almost immediately after the hit, falling from Julia's shoulders with a thud, the crowbar still lodged in its skull. Ellis went to check on Julia while Coach tended to Rochelle, who had a nasty little gouge on her left cheek.
"Ellis, you want this crowbar?" Nick asked, trying to not look at how Ellis was now cupping Julia's face to check for injuries.
"Please." Ellis replied, keeping his gaze trained on Julia, "Did it hurt ya, Jules?"
"I'm fine." Julia said sweetly, turning to look at Rochelle, "Are you okay, Ro?"
"It cut me." Rochelle grumbled, "Creepy little asshole."
Coach seemed satisfied that Rochelle wasn't hurt too badly since her cut had already stopped bleeding, and Ellis was happy that Julia hadn't been hurt at all apart from the pain in her scalp from where the Jockey had been pulling her hair. While Coach, Ellis and Rochelle walked at the front, Julia waited a moment for Nick to catch up and walked with him at the back. The more she was in his company, the more comfortable she felt which was a huge positive for her.
"Watch out, y'all. This verge looks pretty steep." Coach warned them, moving further along the edge of the verge he was standing next to try and find an easier way down.
Ellis, apparently, didn't hear this warning, and as he was looking over his shoulder in the direction of a strange sound he'd heard from some nearby foliage, he ended up tripping over himself and flew head first down the awfully steep hill. Nick couldn't help but feel somewhat pleased that the hick had taken a fall, but when Julia's horrified expression and terror-filled scream hit his ears, his pleasure at Ellis' misfortune disappeared.
"Ellis!" She cried out, her eyes fixed on Ellis' form as he rolled, tumbled, bounced and slid down the hill, "Oh, God..."
She frantically looked for a way down, her heart in her throat. Without waiting for the others, she eased herself down into a crouched position and carefully slid to a small platform of dirt and grass that was a few feet below the others. Unfortunately for her, she landed awkwardly and went tumbling over the other side of it herself, screaming out as she fell.
"Jules!" Rochelle yelled, her eyes frantic, "Shit!"
Rolling, bouncing, tumbling, sliding, grunting in pain, Julia finally landed at the bottom, missing Ellis by inches who was currently trying to lift himself from the ground. He looked panicked as he saw her slam into a rock nearby, causing her to let out a pained yelp. The agony that shot through the young woman as her bruised and battered body hit the rock was unbearable, almost as bad as the slap she'd received from the Tank back in Savannah, and she instinctively curled in on herself, letting out a cough and a pained groan.
When Nick had seen Julia fall over the verge she'd landed on, his heart had flown into his throat. Panic had gripped him like nothing he'd ever felt before and he'd been the first to go after both her and Ellis. He obviously didn't want Ellis to be too badly hurt, but he couldn't help feeling concerned for Julia, who already had numerous injuries that were trying to heal. He, Coach and Rochelle landed at the bottom of the verge, where Ellis was kneeling over Julia while she tried to sit up, her arm locked around her torso. Rochelle picked up Julia's gun while Coach grabbed Ellis' and Nick couldn't help but jog over to the pair, kneeling down by the redhead to make sure she was alright.
"You both okay?" He asked, his voice much calmer and more level than he thought it'd be.
"I'm fine, just a little bruised." Ellis muttered, "I dunno about Jules. She crashed right into this here rock..."
"Just give me a second." Julia breathed out, coughing harshly, "I'm okay."
She felt Nick's hands on her arms as he carefully helped her to sit up and she found herself reaching out and using his knee as leverage as she then allowed Ellis to take her hand and pull her to her feet. Rochelle, who had been watching the different exchanges with interest, held out Julia's M16, which she took with a grateful smile. Coach handed Ellis his gun back and then instructed Nick to stay by Julia and support her if necessary. Apparently, support was necessary. Her previous injuries from her boyfriend, the Tank and the Charger had been aggravated pretty badly by the fall, and Nick was left walking with Julia at a rather slow pace, her arm around his neck and his around her waist to support her.
Nick was angry. This was Ellis' fault. If he hadn't been so fucking clumsy then Julia wouldn't have rushed after him and she probably wouldn't have fallen. She wouldn't have been in pain, or in need of help like this, and Nick wouldn't have been panicking internally at the fact that he was enjoying holding her and having this contact with her.
"Maybe you should listen to Coach when he tells you to watch your step, El." He growled out between gritted teeth, "If it wasn't for you throwing your stupid hillbilly ass down that verge, Julia wouldn't have fallen."
Ellis turned around, his expression one of anger and indignation. Oh, Nick was not going to say shit like that and get away with it. The hillbilly comment he could take, but blaming him for Julia getting hurt he couldn't since he'd never do anything to hurt that woman. Well... Not intentionally anyway.
"Nick..." Rochelle warned the conman, turning around to glare at him.
"You just shut up, Nick. You know damn well that I never meant to fall, and it wasn't my fault that Jules fell neither."
"Of course it was, you fucking moron." Nick spat, "If she didn't feel the need to chase your sorry ass 'cause you can't take care of yourself..."
"Hey, hey, hey..." Coach's voice came from the back of the group, "Let's not get into this out here, alright? We don't need to be attractin' unwanted attention right now, not when Julia's hurt."
"This ain't my fault!" Ellis protested, glaring at Nick, "I dunno why ya care so much anyway. Ya can be pretty damn mean to her sometimes, and..."
"What the fuck are you saying?" Nick growled, raising himself up to his full height, "When have I ever been...?"
He didn't get the chance to answer. Standing to his full height had caused Julia to stretch with him, and her torso screamed in protest to the sudden movement which caused her to cry out in pain, her legs buckling slightly beneath her. He went to steady her but was met with a rather stony, pain-filled glare which made Nick almost drop her. Julia was sick of them talking about her like she wasn't there, and she didn't want anybody fighting because of her. She wanted to be away from both Nick and Ellis for a while until they could both calm themselves down.
"Would you both stop?" Julia asked, her voice strained and hoarse as she let out a pained breath, "Please...? I wanna walk with someone else..."
Ellis stepped forward to help her, but she raised a hand weakly, stopping him in his tracks. He looked confused at first and then hurt, and Nick didn't exactly look happy about having to hand her off to someone else either.
"Not you!" She breathed out, exasperated, turning to look at the large man behind them, "Coach?"
Coach stepped forward without hesitation and took her from Nick, who seemed almost reluctant to release her into the older man's care. Coach glared at both men with narrowed eyes while he carefully moved to support their injured teammate, his jaw clenched as he tried to keep his temper. He had no idea what this stupid alpha male bullshit was between Nick and Ellis, but poor Julia didn't deserve to be caught in the middle, and they really didn't have time to be butting heads.
"Shut the hell up, both of ya. I don't know what's goin' on with y'all but you've gotta pull yourselves together. We gotta work as a team, and we gotta get Julia someplace safe to check her over." He said angrily, steadying the young redhead as she stumbled slightly, "We don't have time for this shit, now get your asses movin'!"
Nick stood himself up to full height again, stepping behind the older man to walk at the back of the group while Ellis, now looking rather ashamed of himself and upset by Julia's rejection of his help, took his place at the front with Rochelle. The former conman was now even angrier with Ellis because their fighting had caused Julia to push him away. Just when he'd started to feel more comfortable around her and when he'd started finding it that bit easier to get on with the others and to offer help when it was necessary without feeling awkward or strange, Ellis had to come along and piss him off something chronic. Ellis, on the other hand, felt rather upset. He'd never expected Julia to push him away either, and he was angrier than ever at Nick for upsetting her to a point when she wouldn't accept either of their help. He didn't want to see Julia hurt at all, and he did feel responsible for her falling down the verge as it was without Nick trying to make it worse just to be an ass. And what the hell did Nick care so much about Julia for anyway? It wasn't like Julia liked being around him or anything...
He and Nick both listened to Coach trying to gently console and encourage Julia, who was clearly in a lot of pain, while trying to keep their minds off of beating the shit out of each other as the five of them steadily approached the bottom of the other side of the verge to begin the long trek to the top again.
~ To Be Continued ~
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks again for reading this so far!