Chapter Text
Ellis’ hands clasped the truck’s steering wheel, the truck rocking up and down every now and then from speed bumps. Occasionally, he’d slip a glance at the sleeping Nick in the passenger seat, his hand holding a firm grip on the magnum. A small chuckle escaped the hick’s lips.
Man, he’s knocked out. Don’t blame ‘im though.
Droplets of sweat rolled down Ellis’ forehead, trailing down to his neck. Humidity lingered in the air, and the fact that there was even humidity baffled the Georgian. Man, I never could’ve guessed that the North could get this hot.
Waves of wind hit the side of Ellis' face from the open window. Despite the cool AC, it wasn’t enough.
Ellis didn’t know how long they had been on the road for, or how many hours had passed when they finally hit a road with barely any cars. He hummed a Midnight Rider’s song, his fingertips tapping on the steering wheel and head bobbing to the beats.
It wasn’t until minutes later that his eyes caught something in the distance; a tall, green sign with white lettering. Leaning a bit forward on the wheel, the hick squinted his eyes to see it better, the letters slowly becoming readable as they got closer.
WELCOME TO CHARDON, OHIO.
Ellis drove past the sign. He looked over his shoulder for one last look before refocusing back on the road. For seconds, he processed it, before eventually it all clicked. At the realization that they arrived at their destination, he sprung out with joy. “Yee Haw!” Ellis cheered. It had come out louder than he had intended to but there was no resisting the joy he felt. “Yee-“
Unexpectedly, a pained winced escaped from him when a hand smacked against the back of his head. “Calm it, cleetus. You just woke me up from my nap.” The words came out in a tone of half drowsy, half harsh. Nick let out a groan, eyes narrowed at the mechanic.
A frown tugged at Ellis’ lips. He lifted a hand to the spot where Nick had smacked him at and vaguely rubbed at it. “Aw, c’mon Nick. That hurt.” Nick rolled his eyes, shifting in his seat to observe the change in his surroundings. “Shouldn’t have woken me up then.” He grumbled. Ellis shot a short glance at Nick and planted his hand back on the wheel after.
“Are we where we think I am?” Nick questioned. Ellis nodded with an open smile on his face, revealing the top tooth gap in his teeth. “Hell yeah, Nick! We finally made it. Think Coach and Ro’ made it too?”
The conman released a strained sigh, leaning back into the seat with crossed arms, a shrug touching his shoulders. As much as he wanted to hold his tongue to not break Ellis’ hope, he had to stay realistic. “Who knows, kid. It’s been a month since we’ve seen them. Don’t get your hopes high.”
Ellis’ smile faltered at the response. He scratched at the back of his neck, lips pursing as he took in the answer. “.. No need to remind me, Nick. Sure we got separated but it’s nice to have hope, ya know?”
Nick didn’t respond, he didn’t know how to. Neither had spoken since the conversation ended. It wasn’t until Ellis began to notice the truck slowing and faltering that he spoke up. “C’mon truck, don’t give up on us now.”
A flashing red light came into Ellis’ vision. When he looked down at the source, an “Oh shit.” slipped out. Confused, Nick turned to Ellis. “What?”
It was the gas indicator, its red marker leaning slowly into the ‘E’ section. Ellis let out a quiet sigh, eyes going back on the road. “We’re almost outta gas. We got any more gas tanks in the back?”
Nick turned to look at the truck bed. Disappointment washed over him when he saw none left in sight. He cursed under his breath and looked back at Ellis. “Nope. None at all.”
“Well, that just sucks.”
The faltering wasn’t improving, only worsening as they drove. Ellis shook his head and said, “Truck’s near its end. Best we stop here.” Nick nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
Stopping the truck into park mode, the mechanic twisted the keys out of the insert slot and dropped it beside him. He sank into the car seat with his hands atop his thighs, fingers curling to grip at his coveralls. When he did, the fabric curled vaguely, its texture different from what he was familiar with. Confused, Ellis looked down. It wasn’t until that moment that he remembered that he wasn’t wearing them anymore. It was jeans now.
Man, I swear I can still feel them.
It had taken two snaps of Nick’s fingers to return his focus. “Come on, Ellis. Back on track.”
A faint tint of red grew on Ellis’ face. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry ‘bout that.” Ellis cleared his throat, readjusting his technician cap before going to reach for the backpack that sat in the middle. He slung it over his shoulder and stepped out.
As soon as the two were out, Nick had gone to the front. Ellis, though, didn’t. Rather, he had an idea in mind first.
Closing the truck’s door after himself, Ellis reached into the side pocket of the bag, fingers fishing for a certain something. Gotcha. Scooped up from the pocket was a simple, black sharpie. Ellis uncapped it, sliding it into his free hand to hold it. Bending down just a bit in front of the truck’s door, he lifted the sharpie up and began writing on the truck’s door.
ME AND NICK MADE IT. WE’RE OKAY. - Ellis and Nick
The black ink had begun to give out with age but it still worked nonetheless. A smile formed on the mechanic’s face when he proudly put the sharpie back into the bag’s pocket.
”Ellis?”
“Comin’.” Taking one last glimpse at the writing, Ellis walked to the front of the truck, stopping just beside Nick. Together, they began walking.
For an apocalypse that only started late last year, the city was overrun by nature. Long plants and vines stretched from building roofs, with some sticking onto the building‘s walls. As well as some sticking out of cracks in the roads. Buildings had been barricaded and as it seemed, looted as well. A few infected stood distant from them, though oblivious to their presence.
In a swift yet stealthy manner, the two men crept to a sidewalk beside a building in a half crouch. When they reached a corner, Nick suddenly halted to a stop and raised up his gunned hand a bit. The action had caught Ellis so off guard he stifled a noise of surprise. Just barely did he manage to stop just in time before bumping into Nick’s back. He quickly took a step back, brows raising with confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Without looking behind, Nick asked, “What’s the plan?”
Ellis blinked. He hummed a hmm, hand going to his chin to scrape at his stubble beard in thought.
“I was thinkin’ we could stay somewhere. Like an apartment or somethin’ while we wait for Ro’ and Coach, maybe.” He shrugged. Nick glanced back at Ellis and whispered, “And supplies?”
Ellis glimpsed at the bag. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized how light the bag had felt compared to a week ago. His gaze returned to Nick’s. “We gon’ need some more. Bag’s light.” Nick nodded in acknowledgment and moved around the corner, Ellis trailing behind.
It wasn’t long before infected noticed them.
Ellis and Nick stood back to back, gunshots ringing out with each press of a trigger. They switched angles in their steps, bullets piercing through the infected like nothing.
“To your left, Nick!”
With a swift turn of his heel, Nick saw the infected scrambling over to him, arms sprang out in front of itself. Seconds before its hands could reach his face, a bullet flew into its face. Pieces of bone scattered from the affected area, black blood streaming out from from the wound. It stumbled back a few steps, failing to catch itself in time when another bullet pierced its head. It leaned back, all before collapsing on its back.
Another shot rang out from behind.
Nick looked over his shoulder. “Okay, Ace?”
Ellis looked back at Nick with an open toothed grin. “Yup.” He turned to fully face the gambler, whistling when he saw the dead infected laid in front of them. “Damn, Nick. You’re a real zombie killin’ badass.”
Nick fought back a twitch at the corner of his lip at the compliment. His eyes gazed over the bodies of the infected, expression turning grim at the gore.
Letting out a sigh through his nostrils, Nick tipped his head forward. “Let’s go.”
The conman hadn’t taken three steps when Ellis’ hand caught his shoulder. Narrowing his brows, he looked back to see Ellis pointing upwards in front of him. When he looked up, he read ‘Dollar General’. Now at that, Nick’s brows relaxed.
The pair entered the store only to leave with barely anything. The backpack still felt light, even with the added supplies that simply wasn’t enough. They stood outside the store in defeat.
Nick shook his head and released a scoff. “Are you kidding me? We finally find a fucking store that’s not a tourist store,” He motioned at the backpack. “And this is all that we come out with?”
The conman’s tone came out harsher than usual, a detail Ellis had grown used to whenever he got mad. Ellislooked at Nick with a stuck out lower lip, upper teeth biting at it in thought. A shrug touched his shoulders. “Guess so, Nick.”
“Whatever. At least we found cigars, ‘bout the best thing we’ve found so far.”
The pair walked on the road in silence. When they took a turn, something caught something in the corner of Ellis’ eye. When he turned to look, he gasped.
“Holy shit.”
Nick cocked a brow. “What?”
“Farmhouse!” Ellis pointed to the direction of a farm house near a road and looked eagerly at Nick, whose face was written all over with disapproval. A smile grew on Ellis from ear to ear. “Look, Nick!”
Nick furrowed his brows and crossed his arms. ”No way, Ellis.” Ellis blinked at Nick’s response, confusion washing over his features. “Aw, c’mon, man. Why not?”
The conman shook his head, tipping his head down a little to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Ellis, the last thing we need is you bouncing all over the place and attracting a horde.”
Ellis’ shoulders slumped. “Hey, the last horde wasn’t my fault.”
Even with Nick's disapproval, Nick heard Ellis’ shoes slowly move on the asphalt road. When he tipped his head up with open eyes, he groaned. Ellis had his back to Nick, slowly moving in the direction of the farm house. An irritated “Ellis.” came from the gambler, but Ellis didn’t pay no mind to it. Apart from being able to feel Nick’s eyes burning into his skull.
Either way, Ellis sprung up into a jump and sped up his steps into a run. “Yee Haw! Farmhouse, we are comin’!”
”Ellis!” The conman broke into a run to catch up to him. “Dammit, why am I the one babysitting?”
Out of all the people I had to get separated with, it had to be the hick of the group.
Nick couldn’t handle the thought of living in a farm with Ellis around as a roommate. Ellis was annoying enough, a farm would only energize him up more.
By the time Nick had caught up with Ellis, the younger man was still popping with energy. He stood in front of the short fence’s gate, hands gripping at the fence top. Nick dropped to a slouch, hands going to his knees as he breathed out a, “Christ, Ellis.“
A short fence surrounded the farmhouse, going as far as extending out of view. The house had two stories, a white walkway leading up to the small steps of the porch, and porch swing. The left window was half barricaded, the right one having been shattered. The farmhouse’s front lawn, or its whole lawn in general, had tall grass that seemed to be around knee length.
Ellis planted a hand on the fence, bent his knees a little lower, and sprung back up to hop over the fence. “Yee hoo!” Ellis grunted when he landed on his feet. Jogging up to the porch’s steps, a laugh burst from Ellis.
After taking a breather, Nick straightened his posture to the best of his ability. He leaned his body a little over the gate, reaching a hand behind the fence’s gate in search of a gate lock. When he spotted it, he grabbed it and twisted the lock.
The gate vaguely opened at being unlocked. With his foot, Nick pushed it fully open and began climbing up to the steps. He turned to the swing, releasing a tired sigh when he saw who was on it.
Ellis sat on the swing, humming a song as he rocked it softly with his foot. His eyes gazed out at the city’s buildings.
Nick sat beside Ellis, blocking the view perhaps intentionally. “Hey, Nick. You’re b-“ A stern ‘shh’ from Nick quieted the Ellis. Nick sunk into the swing and tipped his head back. “Not now, sport. Let me rest.”
Silently, Ellis nodded and turned his eyes elsewhere. He took off his technician hat and laid it flat on his lap to run a hand through his frizzy, curly hair.
For long, silent moments, they sat together. Nick’s eyes had closed, all in favor of taking in the silence and break of sitting down. It was at that point that Ellis realized that the exhaustion he had been putting aside all along had caught up to him. All at this moment. Slowly, he tipped his head back as well, and simply shut his eyes.