There was a deep rush of air through his lungs. They had all taken up their respected corners; Nick’s the farthest he could get away. Of course, Ellis wanted to get as close to the others as possible, so he sat closest to the middle of the roof as possible. No one had spoken as they made it back onto the blistering hot roof. It was already on the upside of ninety on the roof, the tar making the sun feel twice as hot.
There was a grumble of anger and one stood. Ellis looked over to see Coach standing in the middle now. He cleared his throat, bringing more attention to himself.
“Now y’all know that the only way through this is in a team” He drew one fist on top of the other and made a turning motion with them. At least he was trying, right? There was a hard cough before Nick stood. Ellis had turned, still Indian style on the roof, the girl, her name hadn’t been said yet, had been pacing the whole time, with no chance of stopping.
“Yeah, I’m not big on groups; I’ll be leaving soon anyway. There has to be an evacuation site somewhere, right?” This was where Ellis stood, trying to peel back into his mind. There had to be more than one site nearby. He just couldn’t remember exactly where the television had said.
“Where did ya’ll come from? I mean, it looked like there were twenty or thirty evacs, but I know most are…” Ellis trailed off to point in the direction that he and the others had stumbled through; over the hedges and across the big ass parking-lot that was now filled with people, and gore. Many were screaming having found out that it probably wasn’t the best idea to rush to the largest Supermarket in town to steal supplies when the Evacuation Helicopters left without them. Some had probably even been them jumpy guys, coming near the sound.
“..That way” He concluded the sentence, shaking his head as he started toward the small group that was starting to form.
His eyes graced the cuts of their faces and the blood splatter on all their shirts. They could make it work.
“Well, kid, we just came from that way. There’s nothing back there but fire, people running around eating other people, and a road full of abandoned cars” There was a sigh from all but the girl, who refused to talk. He wondered why, but didn’t ask, for he was interrupted by Coach.
“I came from the Gym over on the other side of town. We were on our way out for a game, you know, the football players? There’s nothing left over there either” There was a sigh in dismay and the girl stepped forward.
“I may have us a ride out of here. I might have a pilot that I was taking to Pennsylvania with me. I’m supposed to meet him in a few hours, but we’ve been out of contact.” All looked up, excluding Nick, as she spoke. There was a grin already on his face as he stepped forward.
“So- Whi-“ “What’s your name, Miss?” Ellis looked up as he was cut off again, this time, by Nick. There was a roll of the girl’s eyes. She gave a grumble of something under her lips before turning to all three.
“The Name’s Rochelle, I produce a news show” There was a small smirk, like she did more, but wasn’t going into detail. She looked toward Ellis, the grin still large on his lips. She watched him a moment and the others turned.
“You seem to be the only one that we don’t have a name yet, Kid” Nick piped up as he started closer to them, having been the farthest away from the group. Ellis gave a nod as he realized it was his turn to speak after being cut off the other times before this.
“Folks call me Ellis. I run an auto shop with a couple of my buddies. We’re also in a band, I play bass.” There was little rejection with his words, accept from Nick who guessed that Ellis would be the one to talk a lot on this journey, giving it in a shrewd comparison with his Ex-wife. He was probably right, but he didn’t say anything about it. He simply kept the grin on his lips and his shoulders back. They all turned again, but this time, they walked to a small table carrying axes and crowbars.
They all assumed that they were left behind by evac, and asked no more questions than that. What did it matter to them where it came from? It was the only weapon they were to have, for now at least.
“There is no way in hell I’m killing zombies” Rochelle’s voice rang through the air as they all stopped. Since the other two already had weapons, there was a good chance that only Ellis and Rochelle would have to get close to the infected.
“Jus’ think of them like they’re an animal that’s hurt, that ya gotta break its neck and put down” Ellis couldn’t keep from pulling the shorter of the weapons, the crowbar, into his hands. Maybe he could make Rochelle feel better if she didn’t have to be AS close. She’d still have to be close, but Ellis wasn’t thinking about that.
“It won’t be that hard. Just, run straight down. The only thing you’ll see is the stairwell; we don’t have to go through the building.” Nick spoke with an air to him that made Ellis’ skin crawl. Somehow, Ellis felt he spoke with a gruff manner, and you always knew he thought he was above you. The way his words twisted, you could almost hear other words replacing them. Ellis had met people that spoke like Nick many times. Even once, he had him try to drive off without paying. Then he tried to offer him a poker game, all or nothing. Of course, Ellis might look stupid, but he wasn’t as stupid as most thought. He didn’t know Nick enough to judge, but by first appearance that’s what you would see and that’s what you would assume. The (What used to be) clean-cut white suit had been tailored to fit. Hair, clean and cut, hickey on his neck, lipstick on his collar. Thank god there was no way to get into her pants; at least not now.
There was a deep rush of air as the door was pulled open, and Coach stepped in first. He had seemed to take the ‘leader’ role in this, and for that, Ellis thought, he was brave. He couldn’t have taken on a job as such because he talked too much. Of course, it seemed right that he fit in as the leader.
“God it’s hot” There was the first complaint as they started down the stairs. What was he to do with that? It seemed that this was going to be a problem.
“Ya know, Nick, if ya didn’t have that jacket on, it might not be so hot" There was silence a moment as Nick chuckled a moment before he spoke himself.
“
Y’all better be watchin’ for them damn infected. They might be anywhere you know” Nick tried to a southern drawl the first half of the sentence, trying to get a rise out of the younger, but it never seemed to work. Each time after, the insults, the teasing, they all seemed to be in good fun for Ellis, not insults or anything. He would have to deal with them a lot more it seemed.
. . .
They had been walking for awhile now. They had made it through the large building, finding only a few blocks in their travel. Of course, they were all quiet; accept Ellis who spoke a few times, unable to stop himself. Of course, each sentence was either caught with a laugh, a sigh, or a groan from one of the other three.
They had come to a stop, in a small clearing. Coach had demanded a rest almost every hour. Of course, Nick had kept the farthest away, whilst the other three sat in a group, talking and laughing. Coach seemed to pull toward sports, and the many teams he coached. Rochelle was silent in most of the five minute rests, thinking more about something Ellis had no clue about. Of course, when Ellis could get in through all of Coach’s stories, he spoke of his friends, and the auto-repair shop that was now in unknown condition. Nick didn’t speak, unless it was insult one of the others in the group.
“You know, I highly doubt that anyone would care if football just….disappeared for awhile. I mean, we have been talking about it for what? The past hour it seems” Rochelle now spoke, and it made Ellis look up, giving her a questioning look. He was amazed the words hadn’t come from Nick’s lips.
There was a loud cough, and it escaped from none of the four. All but Ellis stood, finding that it could just be another survivor.
“Ellis! Get up son! We don’t know who, or what is makin’ that noise” There was a sigh and he felt a hand grab the gruff of his shirt, pulling him to his feet.
“
Hey Now” There was a warning from his lips, but he didn’t get a chance to say more before he noticed who was hauling him to his feet.
Nick.
Of course, Ellis was surprised to see the elder male so close to the others that had started to walk silently. He would have much more guessed that the hand pulling him up would have been Coach’s. There was a deep breath and Ellis had notice he had been lost in the thought of how close Nick was to the group, usually the male was either ten feet in front or behind the group.
“What are you going to do Overalls?” He noticed the smirk on Nick’s lips as he started off after Coach and Rochelle, having grown tired of the nonsense. He took in a deep breath as he followed after the elder, knowing he didn’t want to be left behind.
There were grumbles as they continued, having made it closer to the News Cast Station. They would have to walk for at least another hour though, which mean they’d be two hours. There was a low grumble from Coach, who hadn’t spoken in many long minutes. There was silence, accept the same coughing, loud, and abnormal for being human.
“Damn, I hate this…” Coach’s voice rang through the air, and everyone looked up from where they had been looking at the ground in their silence.
“What Coach? Run out of chocolate?” There was a quiet chuckle and Ellis could barely keep his face straight. Of course, he could, and he did, but he did have a hard time.
“Boy, you better keep your thoughts to yourself” The warning was hard and Ellis sighed.
“Maybe we can stop at the Burger Tank around the corner” Ellis spoke up, trying to keep his friends from fighting, or getting angry. There was a small nod and smile of appreciation from Coach, before Rochelle spoke.
“I think that would be better. So Coach isn’t hungry. I’m assuming we’re all a bit famished or at least a little hungry.” She gave a smile that seemed to make everyone brighten up their mood. All accept Nick.
“You know…They’re probably serving up human at the Drive-Thru” There was a malicious chuckle, and Ellis turned to him.
“I doubt anyone’s there Nick, Ain’t you ever cooked on a Flat-top before?” Ellis spoke before giving nod to himself, continuing with the group.
“I’m not too big on working in places with flat-tops, nor do I want to eat food that’s been cooked were they don’t clean” Nick’s voice was simple, and there was a roll of his eyes. Of course, he thought all of Ellis’ questions were stupid, but he couldn’t stop the kid from asking them, now could he?
The coughing grew louder and the others grew to a stop. All accept Ellis who hadn’t heard the coughing because he had already started to talk again.
“Well, it looks like beggars can’t be-“He was cut off, but not by the others talking. The loud coughing had grown louder, and in the act of listening, no one had thought to tell Ellis to shut up for once. The long slimy tongue of something shot out as Ellis walked past a nearby alleyway. There was a yelp of surprise as the tongue pulled up his body, and around his throat like a Boa constrictor. There was a grunt from one of the males as Ellis was dragged into the back alleyway. He couldn’t move, and he could barley breathe. With each tug of the appendage, the grip on his throat seemed to tighten. There were words of
‘shoot it’ and
‘kill it’ from Rochelle, who had already resolved to keep behind the men. She was still stuck with an Axe after all. There was a grunt from someone as the first labored yell escaped his lips.
“Somebody shoot the damn thing” There were shots fired, and it was lucky the thing hadn’t been closer, or it would have pulled him onto his feet, almost like a shield. There were coughs and screeches in pain as bullets pierced its skin. There was a cough, before everything exploded into a cloud of smoke. There was a cough from everyone now, and something grabbed Ellis’ feet. He had his eyes peeled shut, and couldn’t move as he fought the smoke and the tongue that was still wrapped around his neck to get a breath of air.
“Get up you…fuckin’ Redneck” There were grumbles and coughs as Nick’s voice rang through the air as he pulled the younger ruthlessly out of the alley. Ellis’ arms and neck burned from the tar that pulled at the bare skin.
There was a quiet groan as his eyes finally peeled open to see all three peering over at him. Of course, Nick, the only one not leaning over, or kneeling beside him to make sure he was okay.
“Damn Nick, that hurt” He rubbed the back of his arms, trying to soothe the burning of his arms as he pulled himself up, looking at the others, eyes still stinging from the smoke that now pulled out of the alleyway in a sickly green haze.
“You’re welcome” Was the only grumble as he walked back into the Alleyway, ignoring the stumbles of Ellis’ apologies and thank-you’s all at the same time. He wanted to look at this thing. The things causing such a havoc in the town he was about to get about twenty-five thousand out of.
There was a cough as he fought the green haze to see the thin frame on the ground. It was defiantly tall, taller than the others that walked around. The one’s he had seen on the way here. There were large growths and tumors that still had blood and small puffs of smoke emitting out of them. It would have made someone sick if they weren’t used to blood and gore, but it was Nick. He had seen more than he ever wanted to share with anyone, and probably wouldn’t, ever. The many more tongues gave him a thought that this wasn’t the first one. This one had either been alive an awful long time, or it wasn’t the first of its kind. What kind of thing started out with so many tongues?
“What is it?” Nick looked up, being so caught up into thought that he didn’t notice the two walk up behind him. It was Ellis who had spoken, and now, it was Rochelle who spoke.
“Well, on the news they called them Smokers…” She trailed off to watch the infected a moment and Nick turned, walking out of the alleyway to find Coach, leaning against the building, looking across the dead street. Nothing moved, nothing accept the four even seemed to be breathing and he couldn’t keep but watch Coach a moment. He shook his head, turning back to see Ellis leaning down to examine it closer.
“We need to be going soon” He spoke simply, shaking his head as Ellis continued to poke and prod the newly found infected. He hadn’t ever seen anything like this. He shook his head, starting down the sidewalk.
“Ya’ll better hurry up now. He’s leavin’ ya behind” The loud voice echoed through the air and there was shuffling. At least one person was following him now, and that’s all he needed. He just needed a spot.
“You know Nick. Ya coulda waited just a few more-" Nick held up a hand, looking behind him. For some reason, Ellis found it in him to become silent with the move. They were only about a hundred feet from their destination now, and Coach had pushed back all to get toward the food. He took in a deep breath and followed the other three. Ellis didn’t know why he was so hungry now, but his stomach rumbled and he walked faster forward.
“Dang, this is gonna be fun!” There was a cough from Nick as he watched Ellis, in his giddy state. With a deep breath, they all, one-by-one, stepped through the broken glass door. The room was silent; accept the sound of their footsteps and breathing. There could have been things in the back, and all knew they would have to check the building for people before they went wild in their own spoils of food. Everyone knew Coach would. Ellis only wondered about the other two in the group. Would Rochelle and Nick turn out to eat? Or would they just sit, and watch Coach and himself eat? He hoped to get them to eat. Getting something in their stomach might actually calm them down.
For now, he would just have to wait and see.