1 World, 2 of Us [Nellis]

you're my best friend too

A good night's sleep and a bit more of planning on where to head to, Ellis and Nick headed out for a military base. If no one was there, then they would have to change plans completely. After finding no one on the bridge, when there was supposed to be a helicopter, they had been fighting their way through life and just travelling aimlessly. At least if no one was there, they could get weapons, supplies, and even a vehicle to make travelling more easy.

It didn't seem much harder fighting off zombies when it was just Ellis and Nick. It was probably because the thought of only two survivors from a team of four had survived, and they had to stick together. Even when they held conversations, which happened more frequently and easily now, they found themselves eased by one another ironically. Before, they couldn't stand each other to an extent and now they were forced to like one another. They were their own team now that only had two members, Nick and Ellis. Nellis.

Nick sighed as he slammed the door shut behind Ellis to the next safe room. They didn't have to travel far to get to this one. It was just outside of Savannah and inside of an abandoned town, even before the zombie apocalypse. "Damn Ellis! Be careful. You're so damn careless around the Witches. You think they won't get up if you walk right next to them, but they do assclown!" He turned to the battered Ellis and walked over to him, grabbing his gun forcefully, yanking it from his grasp. "The flashlight is mine now. Fuck off." He unscrewed the flashlight from the gun and threw the flashlight-less gun on the table, shoving the flashlight in his pocket and walking over to the shelf to get bullets. Ellis had shone his flashlight directly in the Witch's eyes by accident, and he shot her, forgetting the Witch was one of the more difficult to kill, just like the Tank.

Ellis looked at his flashlight-less gun sadly and sighed, taking his hat off and setting it on the table. "Gee, I'm sorry Nick…I keep forgettin' with them Witches. Does this safe room have water? The last three haven't, so I'm gettin' pretty rank. So are you." He smiled to himself and put the back of his hand to his mouth, trying to hide his humor in poking fun at Nick.

Nick turned away from the shelf and glared at Ellis. "Yeah. It does. Make sure it's scalding hot, so it burns the stink off of you, Stinky." A smile formed on his lips and he scruffed Ellis' hair playfully. "Your hair is so dirty, and oily, and you have zombie guts and blood all over you. You go get a bath first, cuz there's only enough water for one bath. Besides, you're fuckin' more dirty than me." He took pride in how clean he had kept these past couple of days, like the cocky son of a bitch he was.

"Nu-uh, Nick! You're dirty all over too, even though you got that there suit protectin' ya. Jus' take one with me. I don't care none. We got soap here too?" Ellis craned his neck past Nick's shoulder and looked at the shelves carefully, scanning them for any toiletry items they could use. He spotted a bar of soap and grabbed it, taking it out of the cardboard box and inhaling it deeply. "It smells good…alright, les' go!" He began taking his clothes off as he walked to the back of the room where the bathroom was.

Nick followed close behind, rolling his eyes at the level of comfort Ellis had obtained around Nick these past few days. When he reached the bathroom, he took off his clothes and folded them, putting them on the sink and turning to Ellis who had begun to fill the tub with the steamy hot water that they would ration out between one another easily.

Ellis filled the tub and ran a hand through his hair, turning to Nick. "You should get in first, cuz you're uh…bigger." He pointed to his own shoulders to define 'bigger' to Nick without words. "I'll get in after and we can just…take a bath." He shrugged and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he waited for Nick to get in, trying to keep his eyes on Nick's face. It was hard though. Fascinating how one cannot keep their eyes on one's face when a person is naked. All humans were guilty of it, so he didn't feel so bad when his gaze slipped to Nick's chest.

Nick rolled his eyes and walked over to the tub, sinking back into the warm water and making room for Ellis by crossing his legs and scooting back as far as he could. He watched Ellis mock his actions, climbing in and sitting cross-legged, facing Nick.

Ellis grabbed the soap and lathered his hair with it, then handed it to Nick as he scrubbed his scalp raw, wanting the feeling of cleanliness so badly. Nick took the soap and mocked Ellis this time, lathering the soap in his hair and massaging his scalp. Nick reached out and dunked Ellis' head forward into the water, washing the soap away. "Haha…that's funny."

Ellis pulled his head from the water and wiped his face off, glaring at Nick. "I coulda drown you asshole!" He watched as Nick laughed at him and decided to dunk Nick's head, laughing like Nick had when he had dunked his head.

Nick pulled his head away and glared at Ellis, wiping soap from his eyes. "Fuck off!" He threw the soap at him as hard as he could, hitting Ellis hard under the eye with it, which caused Ellis to cry out in pain and hold under his eye. He automatically felt bad when he saw Ellis' expression and heard him cry out.

"GOD DAMMIT NICK! THAT HURT LIKE A SONNA BITCH!" Ellis grabbed the soap from the water and held it, wanting to hurt Nick back but decided against it. This little bath game had to stop.

Nick watched as Ellis ran the soap over his body, leaving his skin slick and shiny with bubbles as he trailed the soap over his dirty skin, cleansing it slowly. He admitted that Ellis had an amazing body, and that he liked to watch the soap glide easily over his skin, leaving that path of slick soapiness he liked best. Enough! Hell no. Ellis was not a romantic possibility. Just forget it.

Forgetting the conflict they had just had about the soap, Ellis handed the soap over to Nick and washed his body of soap with the warm water. "Crap. Nick, you need to get my back. I can't reach it." Without waiting for an answer from Nick, Ellis got up and turned around, sitting with his back to Nick's body and bending forward a bit.

Nick swallowed and examined his back before slowly reaching out and running the soap along his back, then under the water to clean just above his butt. "How in the hell did your back get so fucking dirty Ellis? What were you doing?" Nick handed the soap to Ellis and gently rubbed at the dirt with his bare hands, getting his back completely clean, then washing it with water.

"A Jockey…'member? I had lotsa problems with them sonsa bitches these past few days. Just like you and them damn Chargers. They love you!" He chimed happily and leaned back against Nick with a sigh, relaxing. He could feel Nick's chest tense up at the sudden intrusion of Ellis' back touching him.

Nick turned his head away and waited for Ellis to move away, tense. "Ellis…get the fuck off of me, faggot." He gave him a shove, forcing him away and climbed out of the tub, grabbed a towel, his clothes, and hurried out of the room. This was getting freaky. Not even a few days before did Ellis do something like this. He was a cocky, brave, gutsy son of a bitch!

Nick hurried dried off, put his clothes on, and combed his hair back before Ellis got out of the bath. He didn't want Ellis watching him get dressed, getting ideas, getting…turned on. Hell, Nick KNEW he was good looking, but he just didn't want to tread in dangerous waters. It was bad enough the fucking zombies were after them, now Ellis too? Damn! When would the nightmare end?!

Ellis got out five minutes after Nick had shoved him away, dressed and hair combed, and grabbed his hand, pressing it firmly onto his damp head. "Sorry Nick…don't be mad. I ain't one. I don't like no guys none…just thought it seemed like a good idea since we're the only two left. Ya know?"

"Don't…talk to me. Stay away from me. Don't fucking talk to me, don't fucking look at me, don't fucking THINK of me! I'm here to fight zombies and find a safe place. Unlike you Ellis, I have reason to be here. You don't." And there was the ugly side of Nick, once again.

Ellis' smile faded slowly and he sat on the table, thinking as he swung his feet to and fro. "I know Nick. I'm just lonely is all. You're my best friend…"

Nick shut his eyes and sighed, the words 'you're my best friend' hitting a heart-string in him. Ellis had lost his best friend Keith, and now he was just trying to help people with all of his strength and will, the hope of a better future blinding the people around Ellis. He had chosen Nick as his new best friend. Come to think of it, they were best friends after all; they ate together, joked together, talked every day, shared common interests, worked together, and hung out every day.

"You're my best friend too Ellis."