Special Infected - Nick/Ellis - L4D2 - Part 1
A/N: Dude. I'm tardy to the L4D2 party. To the folks who have me f-listed. I'm sorry. I'm a fandom hopper. You should know this by now. But maybe you like L4D2, and it's all cool.
So, my boyfriend's been in Georgia for a while. He got a decent job there, and we'll be moving back to GA as soon as we find a place. But he's living down there and working in the meantime. Last week he comes back home for a lil' bit though and what does he bring? L4D2.
I was skeptical. I did not like L4D very much. I wasn't paying much attention to L4D2 when it came out, even though people were going, "You'll like it!" "It's better than the first one!" "They gave this one a plot, kinda!" Well, my boyfriend and I have officially played the HELL out of all our co-op games. Gods. Especially Gears of War 1 and 2. We beat both of them on insane. Horde mode with just two people. We've watched Carmine(s) die like 50+ times. It's out of hand. So boyfriend popped in L4D2 and... OMG Ellis.
Being a chick born and raised in (and soon to be moving back to) GA, I don't have much patience for southern stereotypes. Coach is pretty awesome, but... fuck, yes, Ellis. My boyfriend and I had to pause the game several times just because we were laughing so hard. It was just so spot on. A little over the top, but more in an affectionate-parody kind of way than a blatant stereotype.
As soon as I finished playing. (Like... five days ago. >.>) I had to make some sort of fandom-type thing. Got online, saw all the Nick/Ellis stuff, and... sure why not?
So, in the spirit of my spur of the moment L4D2 ficcing... and the fact that I'm a gal from GA Who's favorite place was Savannah. As a Girl Scout, I was there all the damn time. I'll grace you with a story from my past that you can't interrupt. though, technically, I guess you could skip it.
Me and my cousin Matt were once enlisted by my uncle and his friend to go into the dried up lake bed and pick up fishing lures. 'Cause we were, like, seven and wouldn't sink in the mud. Well, when my shoes got sucked under, my uncle and his friend realized that they were gonna get in trouble for using kids like that under the pretense of babysitting. So, they put me in a pair of long johns over my muddy clothes. They didn't have anything big enough to put Matt in, so they just put him in a trash bag. They loaded us both into the back of their pickup truck and drove home. On the way, we stropped by Matt's trailer park and dropped him off - except his mom wasn't home, so we just left him sitting on the front steps of the trailer... inside a trash bag... The end.
And now fic!
Special Infected
“Keith said sodomy was illegal in Georgia.”
“Ellis…”
“And I always wondered how they could enforce that. I mean, I guess they could catch you in the act. ’Course if the police can see you having sex, seems like there are more important laws being broken.”
“Ellis!”
“What? Sorry. It just - It seems relevant and all…”
I’ll say. Nick resituated one hand on Ellis’ hip, the other laying flat against the bare skin of his thigh. “Ellis,” he repeated, taking a deep breath, pulling out. Losing his rhythm. His momentum. Again. “There are three dead bodies in that corner over there. I shot one in the head, you killed the other two with an axe. Are we really discussing the legality of ass fucking? Really?”
“Okay. Okay, fine.” Ellis braced himself against the wall again, overemphasizing the act like Nick was going to frisk him.
Nick began again.
“Do you think that’s why prisoners aren’t allowed to have sex in prisons? Because I watched Oz with my friend Dave once and-”
“It’s not illegal.”
“It isn’t?”
“Jesus Christ! No! It isn’t!”
Ellis clicked his tongue. “Well, sodomy may not be illegal, but using the Lord’s name in vain while we’re having carnal relations might oughta be…”
“It was invalidated years ago. Keith is an idiot. So are you.”
“Now I’m just wondering why you know that…”
That was it. That was all Nick could take. “Is this some kind of redneck tantric sex I'm unaware of? Shut. Up.” Nick pressed a hand over Ellis’ mouth. He could feel muscles twitch there, knew Ellis was smiling.
#
Nick was sick of white.
That wasn’t to say he didn’t miss his old suit. He did. This new suit was off-the-rack. The shoulders were a little too broad. The legs were a little too long. Nick fed a black leather belt through the belt loops.
“Oh, black suit this time. Lookin’ sharp.”
Nick smiled at Coach’s reflection. He could see him standing a couple yards back, already dressed in a polo shirt and pair of blue jeans. “Looking pretty stylish yourself, Coach. Of course, you probably had a big selection. Not too many people your size left after the apocalypse.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you’re still your cheery self.” Coach closed the distance between them, extended his hand.
Nick shook it, let Coach slap him on the shoulder amiably. “And I’m glad to see you made it over the fence. It’s a miracle “
Coach didn’t look amused. He gave a dismissive, “Uh huh.” before changing the subject. “You seen Ellis?”
“Yeah.“ Nick turned away, looking back at his reflection in the mirror. He undid another button on his collar. “Yeah, he’s fine. He’s around here somewhere.”
Coach’s reflection frowned, raised an eyebrow, shook its head. “As long as you both made it outta there in one piece… What the hell happened, anyway? I mean, that was some… some weird shit.”
Nick shrugged. “Are these shoes brown? I thought they were black, but I… can’t… tell.”
“Someone said you were the one that unlocked the doors. Did you-”
“The box said black, but in this light…”
Coach rolled his eyes. “Fine. I get it. We’ll talk later. Still glad you’re all right and all.”
Coach’s reflection disappeared from the mirror. “So am I,” Nick said to the empty formal wear department.
#
“Shiiiit,” Ellis breathed, somehow giving the word at least five distinct syllables. “That… That was awesome. We were awesome. Fuckin’ awesome.” He was flat on his back in the middle of the helicopter, arms and legs splayed as he tried to catch his breath. As they all tried to catch their breath.
“We were…” Rochelle shook her head. A rifle still laid across her knees. “We were something all right. Lucky. Really, really lucky.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it,” said Ellis, leaning his head in her direction without sitting up. “We were a team. A badass, zombie slayin’ team! I’m pretty sure I saw Ro take out a Tank with a ninja sword.”
“Did I?” Rochelle laughed, bringing a hand to her forehead and rubbing back sweat and loose strands of damp hair. “I think I did.”
“And Coach, man, he just charged straight through that horde. And Nick! …Nick nearly fell of the bridge… twice. And I saved his ass... twice.”
Coach threw Nick a smirk. Nick had actually nearly fallen off the bridge three times… But they didn’t need to talk about that.
“So, it’s been a real honor killing shit with you guys,” said Nick before Ellis could start rambling on again about how awesome everyone (except Nick) had been during their mad dash across the bridge. “I’ll miss all of you when they open those doors and blow our heads off.”
“Hey, now.”
“I’m sorry, Coach. You’re right. We’re still armed. They’ll only open the doors a little, throw in a canister of nerve gas, and then they’ll blow our heads off.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall.. How the hell had he managed to back himself into a corner like this?
“That’s just stupid,” said Ellis, still stretched out on the floor. “They were the ones who told us to get to the helicopter. If they wanted us dead, they wouldn’t have been here waitin’ for us. Doesn’t make sense for them to just up and kill us now.”
#
There were, maybe, thirty or forty guys all crowded together in the center of the department store. A lot of them looked unwell, shaken, confused. A few were injured, but only superficially; mostly bandaged hands and arms from cuts sustained climbing the fence. Anyone injured too badly had just been left behind.
Nick saw Coach standing close to a couple of middle aged guys who looked like the no-nonsense, take-charge type. They were talking, probably trying to decide what their next move was going to be. That was fine by Nick. Fuck leadership. He’d had enough of that already.
The ground was soft where Nick cut through the crowd of men. He looked down to see the white hospital clothes, all discarded and covered in blood. Most of it was half-dried and brownish by now, but it still really stood out against all that white.
Nick walked away from the crowd and into the dressing room. “Hey, Ellis!” All the doors were either open or off their hinges except one. “You still in here?”
Nick knocked on the dressing room door. He tried to push it open. It was locked.
“All right. Fine.” Nick entered the next dressing room cubicle over and stepped up onto the bench. “Good. It’s you,” Nick said after getting a good look over the wall. “Otherwise this might have been really awkward.”
Ellis was slouched over on the bench, still wearing the white hospital clothes. He glanced around for a moment, confused. When he realized Nick was looking down on him, he looked positively scandalized. “What the hell, Nick? Leave me alone!”
“Okay… it’s still a little awkward.” One ex-wife, two ex-mistresses, and more ex-girlfriends than he cared to count told Nick he should A) suck it up and apologize like he’d never apologized before. Or B) give Ellis the personal space he’d give a fucking Witch.
But if he hadn’t learned his lesson before he’d lost count of sexual partners, there was no use in learning it now. Besides, Ellis wasn’t some chick. He should grow a pair, get dressed, and move on with his damn life.
“C’mere,” said Nick, motioning for Ellis to climb up onto the bench as well. “I found a knife,” he added before he could be yelled at to leave again.
Ellis glared at Nick. He wasn’t particularly good at glaring. It looked more like he was trying to explode Nick’s head with his mind. Trying way too hard but, nevertheless, Nick got the point.
“Hurry up.”
Ellis stood and stepped onto the bench. He held his left arm out. The middle of it was bandaged lightly, tied off just below the elbow. Nick ignored that, focused instead on the heat sealed medical bracelet around Ellis’ wrist.
“So, are you thinking about giving me the silent treatment?” asked Nick, carefully working the blade of his pocket knife between skin and rubber. “Because that might be kind of great.”
“I ain’t giving you the silent treatment.” Ellis started to pull his arm away but seemed to think better of it what with Nick’s knife being so close to some pretty important arteries. “I just don’t got nothing to say to you, that’s all.”
“Like I said, great.”
“Except that you’re an ass… and no better than those people at the hospital - probably worse… and-”
“What? No ‘Thank you Nick for saving my life’?” The pocket knife finally cut through the bracelet with a soft pop.
“No, none of that,“ said Ellis withdrawing his arm and rubbing his wrist. “Now leave me alone.”
“Whatever.” Nick folded the knife up, slipped it back into his pocket as he stepped down from the bench. “If you need me, I’ll be out there… Talking to Coach… Who’s fine, by the way… Thanks to me… But you keep right on sulking! I‘ll be out there when you feel like thanking me!”
Nick tried to slam the dressing room door as he left, but it had one of those spring loaded hinges that made proper angry exits impossible. Fucking figured.
#
They gassed them all right. But Nick didn’t have time for an ‘I told you so.’ before they were peeling off layers.
Men in Hazmat suits pulled them all out of the helicopter together. Then Rochelle was gone. Then Coach. Then Ellis. Then his suit. Then Nick was standing there naked, alone in a plastic tent with some Hazmat SOB armed with a hose and an attitude problem.
The water didn’t feel like water at all, and it smelled like antiseptic. Whatever they’d gassed them with in the helicopter had left Nick dizzy. It had made the sounds muffled and quieter. The lights seemed brighter, but all the details were blurry. Movements left trails and warped afterimages; like the entire world was in fast-forward.
Someone said something unintelligible and shoved a syringe in his thigh. After that, the world wasn’t just on fast-forward. It was skipping ahead whole DVD chapters. Suddenly, he was in one of those disposable paper exam gowns. Next he was being rushed through an empty series of tents. Through empty hallways. Through what looked like an empty gymnasium sealed off completely in clear plastic sheeting.
“Move, move, move!” Someone somewhere shouted. “We had orders to move out hours ago. Get it in gear ladies and gentlemen!”
Nick was fairly certain they weren’t talking to him, but slurred a heartfelt “Screw you!” anyway. The next thing he knew, he was being pitched headlong into a tiny room. He landed face down. By the time he got to his knees, the floor was shaking. They were moving. It made him wonder how long he’d been laying face down for.
There was pleated, off-white padding on the floor and the walls and the ceiling, except for two places where dirty plastic rectangles covered yellow fluorescent lighting. Somewhere in the walls, a fan whirred. Behind him, someone was breathing.
Nick turned, saw someone in another paper exam gown lying on their side, and- Oh, thank God. He knew that tattoo!
“Ellis!” Nick had never been so happy to see someone who annoyed him so much. He jerked him up and into a tight hug.
“What the hell?” Ellis drawled, blinking, coming around slowly from his drug-induced sleep. “What the hell?” he repeated, looking at Nick suspiciously, not exactly accustomed to receiving hugs. “What the hell!” That last one seemed to signal all the pieces finally falling into place.
“You… you have. You have no idea no idea how glad I am that you’re here. There’s something… something I need to tell you. “ Nick had Ellis by the shoulders and at arm's length, trying to hold his attention and thoroughly failing. “I told you so.”
“What?” Ellis swatted Nick hands away, moved to the walls and pushed against them, desperately searching for some way out. “Where are we? Are we moving? You’re here, but where’s… where’s…”
“My suit?” Nick finished helpfully. “They took my suit.” When Ellis stopped shoving walls long enough to give him a horrified look, he knew he’d said something wrong. “…your hat?” he ventured.
“Coach and Rochelle!”
“I don’t know,” Nick admitted. “But you’re here. Which is convenient since I’m sleeping with you. And you know, the more I think about it - the more I think about it - A chick is way too needy at the best of times, much less at the end of days. I’m glad. I. Am. Glad! Rochelle turned me down… repeatedly.”
Ellis was quiet for a moment. “Huh… I think you’re a lot higher than I am right now.”
“I’m happy I settled for you,” Nick continued. “Not especially happy… Just moderately happy.”
“Well, thanks Nick.” Ellis turned his attention back to the walls, trying his luck at kicking rather than pushing. “I think… If I bust out of here and they catch me, I wonder if they’ll give me some of what you’re on. It’s not often you’re moderately happy about stuff.”
#
One good thing about traveling in numbers: You could secure exactly half of a medium-sized department store. Exactly half.
Now that clothes had been changed, mouths had been fed, and plans had been made - it was time to rest. Though, as he picked his way around occupied mattress displays and make-shift sleeping bags, Nick didn’t see how. Most of them were snoring. Loudly. It seemed like anyone who wasn’t snoring was crying softly into their bedding. Pussies.
Nick walked along the barricaded parameter in automotives, passed by a couple yawning, dreary-eyed guys keeping watch. Nick kept walking. He stopped once to topple a plasma screen and a second time to relieve a mannequin of her party dress. He saw Coach raiding a candy display on an endcap while he thought no one was watching. He didn’t see any zombies.
Ellis was in sporting goods. Sitting on the glass counter, shoulders slumped and head falling occasionally as he fought off sleep. He’d changed out of the hospital clothes since Nick had seen him last, found a loose-fitting pair of blue jeans and a Midnight Riders t-shirt.
Nick stepped over a fallen rack of orange hunting vests. “God, at least put on a hat.”
“Nick?“ Ellis jumped, startled. He stifled a yawn and rubbed the back of one hand across his eyes. “What’re you doing?”
“Can’t sleep.” Nick went up to the counter, stopped between Ellis’ legs, rested his hands casually on his knees. “You?”
“Same.”
“Yeah. Coulda fooled me.” Nick drummed his fingers against denim, resisting the urge to let his hands slide upward. For so long now, ‘I can’t sleep’ had been code for something else entirely. “If you’re tired, sleep. Tomorrow we’re leaving.”
“Where to?”
Nick shrugged. “Got to keep moving, in case we’re being followed.”
“Nowhere in particular we’re going though?”
“Nowhere to go,” said Nick. That much seemed obvious. “Personally, I don’t plan on sticking with a group this big. Half these guys are nuts A few of them are even talking about going back.”
Ellis looked up. “Going back?”
“Do you have any idea how long we were even there? Because I don’t. Months, at least. Felt like years. How can anyone not be completely fucking ecstatic to be out of there.”
“Well, I ain’t ecstatic..”
Neither was Nick, actually. “Maybe that’s not the right word, but you get what I’m saying.”
Ellis put his hands behind himself, on the metal edge of the glass case, and leaned back. “It didn’t feel like years to me. Didn’t even feel like months, really.”
“Maybe not for you.” Nick’s fingers stopped drumming. Instead they were digging into Ellis’ knees maybe a little too hard. “Nevermind.“ Nick stepped back, giving up for now. He didn’t know how to talk to Ellis when he was the one doing most of the talking.
Wordlessly, Ellis threw his legs over the back of the counter and climbed down behind it. Through the glass, Nick could see where he’d rolled out a sleeping bag. It still had a price tag hanging off the zipper.
Nick stifled a yawn of his own.
#
“Yep. We’re trapped….Definitely trapped. …Shit… This sucks… Oh my God. What do I do if I have to pee?”
“Don’t pee,” said Nick. The world was looking a lot more simple and humorless now that the drugs were wearing off.
“When you gotta go, you gotta go, Nick. That’s right up there with the laws of gravity and shit.”
“Do you ‘gotta go’?”
“Not yet, but I might have to later!”
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“Yeah… all right.” Ellis sat at his end of the room, shifting around to a new position every few seconds, being almost unbearably annoying even though he wasn’t actually doing much of anything anymore. “I am so damn tired.”
“So sleep.” Nick was pretty sleepy himself after watching Ellis rage against the walls for the last few hours.
“I don’t think I could,” Ellis said miserably. “Truth be told… I’m kinda afraid to.”
“You don’t have to whisper, Ellis. CEDA won’t think any less of you.”
“They took Coach away… and Ro. What If I wake up and you’re gone too?” Ellis fidgeted, moving his hands beneath his knees - though not fast enough to hide the fact that they were shaking.
Nick tried to look unconcerned but, honestly, getting separated from Ellis was one of his more pressing concerns right now. “You’ll notice. If they come in here and take one of us, you’ll wake up.”
“Will I?” Ellis didn’t look so sure. “I slept through some crazy stuff before. I mean, just last week I woke up in Spitter goo.”
Nick rolled his eyes. Ellis had a valid point though. “Come here.”
Ellis crawled forward, joining Nick in his corner. “What?” he asked., and when Nick put his arm around him added, “No offense, but I don’t really feel like havin’ sex…”
“I’m not- shut up!” Nick pulled Ellis closer, put his other arm around his chest, interlaced their fingers, leaned back against the wall and pulled Ellis down with him until they were quite thoroughly tangled together there on the floor. “There. Think you’ll wake up now?”
Ellis was silent for a moment, surveying the situation. “Nick… In all seriousness. When all this is over… We need to play Twister.”
“I‘m going to kill you.”
“But we’ll need Coach and Rochelle back, because you need more than two people to play it right.”
“Shut up!”
#
Nick pulled a pillow out of its plastic and dropped it onto the sleeping bag he’d set up between the sporting goods counter and a patch of AstroTurf. He draped his new coat over the back of a cloth lawn chair before he laid down.
It was difficult to get comfortable at first. The store was dark. It took Nick a minute to focus his eyes past the shelves of waterproof sports watches and pick out the outline of Ellis already asleep on the other side of the glass.
A/N: Leave any comments you've got! They make me write lots faster and not wander off to other stuff. I mean, A Very Potter Sequel is coming out soon. My attention span is on pretty thin ice.