Chapter Text
` 8/24/2010
For hours, Ellis drove until the truck ran out of gas. Though, he didn’t care now that they had arrived at their destination; Chardon, Ohio. Nick sat beside him in the passenger seat, sleeping and snoring. Ellis knew how worn out Nick was by the trip. He had begin to notice Nick dozing off more than usual, as well as his eyebags growing. Having fled the south because of CEDA and having been seperated by force from Rochelle and Coach were tiring enough. If they were lucky, Rochelle and Coach would be at Chardon as planned before going into pairs, hopefully temporarily.
Since Ellis remained energetic, he offered to drive. As much as he expressed an energetic spirit, deep down all he wanted to do was sleep, if not forever. Everything, including the apocalypse, was wearing him out too.
Ellis turned off the truck and just sat there, gazing at the rising sun from the horizon. ‘One moment of rest.’ He thought. He closed his eyes, sank his back onto the car seat, and took in the peace of silence. When he inhaled a deep breath and exhaled, he knew it was time to start moving once again. Ellis hated the thought of having to wake up Nick. Not because of how grumpy he’d be, but because of how much Nick needed the sleep.
Hesitantly, Ellis began gently shaking Nick by the shoulder. “Nick,” He whispered. “Wake up. We’re here.” A groan slipped from Nick’s lips and moved Ellis’ hand off his shoulder. Ellis sighed. He shook Nick again but with more aggression this time. Again, Nick groaned. When it had irritated him enough, he straightened his posture and raised his head to look at Ellis. “I’m awake!” He said, taking off Ellis’ hand off his shoulder once more. Ellis smiled at Nick. “Mornin’, Nick.”
Nick let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. He looked around their environment, observing it before looking back at Ellis. “Is this it?” He asked. Ellis nodded. “Yep.” The two stepped out from the truck at the same time. Taking out their firearms, they began searching the stranded town.
As they passed, they both noticed things. For a rural, small town, it was affected as much as the cities. Buildings had boards over their windows and doors, roads had abandoned cars, and walls had written graffiti. On that written graffiti read; “CEDA IS A LIAR!” “CEDA SUCKS” “CEDA won’t protect us” and much more that criticized CETA. Seeing the writings right after having to flee CEDA in Louisiana felt strange.
Ellis couldn’t help but start talking. “Ah thought CEDA was genuinely good,” Ellis began. “Too bad we were wrong.” Nick glanced at Ellis. “Bet you didn’t expect CEDA to begin controlling the south, huh.”Ellis shook his head. “None of us did.”
The two began walking past a road with abandoned cars. When Nick looked beside him at Ellis, he felt his heart drop. Ellis wasn’t next nor behind him. “Ellis!?” He called out. Nick lifted his rifle, holding it in both hands as he began looking around. “Ellis?!”
Eventually, Nick spotted smoke coming from a car with an open hood. With it, he heard coughing. Whatever it was, the car’s hood was covering the damn thing. Cautiously, Nick began to approach the car. When he finally got close enough to the hood of the car, Nick put his finger over the trigger. All tension he had built for the moment dropped when he saw who it was.
It was Ellis, coughing from the smoke coming from the engine. “Well, sheit.” Ellis waved the smoke away with his hand. Nick groaned and put down his firearm. Ellis noticed Nick and waved. “Hey, Nick!” Nick face palmed and shook his head. “Ellis, seriously?” Ellis’ shoulders sagged a little at the reaction. “The car looked nice, Nick. Ah had to check it out!” Nick let out a heavy sigh, his brows furrowing. “Think ah can fix ‘er? Maybe an engine change will do.” Nick shook his head. “I’m not gonna waste energy pulling out a heavy engine for this, overalls.” He replied. Though, when he did catch a glance of the car, he silently agreed that it was indeed nice.
By the time the sun was fully out, the humidity had risen. Nick and Ellis had stumbled upon some zombies, but that was no big deal. What was a big deal though was the humidity in the air. Ellis was used to it considering he lived in the South all his life, but Nick definitely wasn’t.
Ellis noticed how slow Nick had become, as well as how he began to fall behind. The northerner’s forehead was drenched in sweat and his posture had begun to falter. “You all right, Nick?” The redneck asked. Nick weakly nodded. “Yeah.” Ellis’ concern increased at the lie. “Ya don’t look so good, Nick. It’s okay to need help, ya know?” Nick dismissed Ellis’ concern with a wave of his hand. “Just keep moving, El. Don’t worry about me.”
A few minutes had passed since their interaction and yet Ellis couldn’t bear the worry he held for Nick. He knew the northerner wasn’t used to the heat, especially the humidity. Ellis backed up ‘till he was beside Nick. When he was close enough, he wrapped an arm over the northerer’s shoulder and the other around his waist. Nick rose his brows before furrowing them. “Ellis, what are you doing?”
“Helping ya. You obviously aren’t good, Nick.”
Nick frowned. As much as he wanted to deny it, his body language gave the answer away. He groaned and went on with it.
The two had taken some stops at stores to find supplies (specifically water) and have some temporary shelter from the blazing sun. When they continued on walking with Nick being supported, Ellis noticed a farm to their distant right with a two story house next to it. A smile grew on Ellis from ear to ear. “Look, Nick!” Ellis pointed at the farm. When Nick looked at the direction Ellis pointed at, immediately he felt dread come over him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Even with Nick’s disapproval, Ellis moved them to the direction of the farm. “Hell yeah! Farm, we’re comin’!” A deep frown dawned on Nick’s face. “I hate you, Ellis.” Ellis chuckled at what Nick said. “Well I still like you, Nick.” 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. As much as Nick hated to admit it, the farm’s house seemed more stable than the other buildings they‘ve inspected for shelter.
It had taken 15 minutes on foot to get to the farm’s house. It had two stories, a front porch with a swing, dozens of windows (with some shattered), its walls were banana yellow and dirty with the roof being brown. “That’s one ugly house.” Nick commented. Ellis had climbed the front porch’s stairs and set down Nick at the porch swing. Ellis sat beside Nick, throwing his head back a little. “Man, am ah exhausted.” Ellis mumbled. He took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. Nick sinked into the swing and crossed his arms. “This weather may just be worse than the apocalypse.” Nick groaned.