New family, New Love

Chapter Five

*Nick's POV*
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I ran behind Coach as he carried Ellie, I shot any infected that aimed for them and then I heard a scream, I turned to see Ellis had been pounced on by a hunter I ran back to him and hit the hunter off him with my gun, then shooting the hunter until he died. I helped Ellis up, his stomach was torn and bleeding, he was limping as we jogged to where Coach and Rochelle had ran. He grunted as we ran faster and he was limping, I didn't mean to hurt him more by making him run, but we had to make it to the group and to the safe house so he could get patched up. "C'mon sport, it'll be okay just a little longer and then we can patch you up" I said and he nodded, panting as we ran. We made it to the room to see Coach setting Ellie down on the table and Rochelle turning the alarm off. I painted and Ellis groaned in pain, Ellie looked over and her expression changed from scared to worried as she saw Ellis injured.

"Ellis? What happened?" She asked, sadness and worrisome laced in her voice. "I'm fine darlin' just a bit scratched up is all" he replied and that seemed to relieve the worry feeling she had. I grabbed a medkit from my bag and patched Ellis up. Then we went to the safe house, thankfully no infected were around so we made it safely. "We may need to stay a little longer until he can walk properly, he was limping and it hurt him to even walk" I said as I helped Ellis lay down on a sleeping bag. Coach and Rochelle exchanged Glances I sighed as I knew they didn't wanna stay.

"Nick..we're so close we're basically there already! Can't he walk good enough for us to make it?" Rochelle said. I sighed and shook my ahead. "He was limping really bad just coming to the safe house, you really want him to walk and fight zombies in this condition?" I asked, annoyed. "We can leave him here and tell CEDA he's still here.." Rochelle suggested I scoffed in annoyance and disbelief. "Did you really just suggest that?! No we aren't leaving him by himself here! If you two want to go, just go! But Ellie and I will stay here with Ellis until he's all healed up to move." I said, Anger clear in my voice. "Nick-" Ellis said I cut him off. "No Ellis, they're trying to leave you behind for god sakes! Because they don't wanna wait around for you to heal up?! They would have wanted us to wait for them if it were them!" I said feeling more angry. Rochelle and Coach sighed, trying to take back what they said but I was far too angry to forgive them for wanting to leave Ellis.

"You guys wanna get out of here so quick, just go. But Me and my daughter are staying here with Ellis until he is feeling better to move and fight" I said, not looking at Coach and Rochelle. Silence filled the room as they stood there, Ellie sitting on the table fiddling with her fingers and Ellis resting, staring at the ceiling. "Okay fine, we can stay" Rochelle said, clearly not wanting to do so, but she agreed to anyway.

Awkward silence filled the air once again, then we heard Ellie humming and playing with some dolls she found at the toy store we were in. I smiled looking at my daughter, she still managed to keep a good imagination and stay happy in this. She gets terrified at some points but most days it's like this never happened. She continues to smile and be a happy child. Coach was resting, Rochelle was apologizing to Ellis for suggesting that we leave him. He said it was fine, but I could tell he was a bit hurt that the people he's travelled through hell with in the past few days would leave him just like that. She walked to the other side of the room and laid on the ground, her back facing us and then she went to sleep. I sighed as I decided Ellie should get some rest too, it's been a long day she's probably tired. "Ellie" I said, she stopped playing with the dolls and looked at me. "You should take a nap sweetie, it's been a long day you must be tired" I said, she nodded and came over to me, rubbing her eyes and yawning then she got comfortable, laying her head on my lap and falling asleep immediately. Ellis grunted as he tried sitting up, but laid back down as it was too much pain for him. "What are you trying to do El?" I asked.

"I'm hungry. I was gonna sit up and get something to eat from the bag we carry our food and water in, but I can't even sit up." He replied, I moved Ellie over to where Ellis Is and laid her down beside him, then getting up and walking over to the duffle bag we carry our food and water in. "Anything specific out of this bag you want to eat, or just get you anything?" I asked, he then thought about it. "Is there any granola bars left?" He asked, I dug through the bag more finding one and then handing it to him. Hands touching, it stayed like that for a good 10-15 seconds but I soon pulled away, scratching the back of my head awkwardly and feeling my cheeks get warm.
He looked away, pink tinting his cheeks as well. "Thank ya Nick" he said, quietly and started to eat the granola bar, I nodded and sat against the wall I previously was sitting against and he laid back down, falling asleep as well.

I looked around at the group of people I've been travelling with. Noticing the bruises, cuts and dark bags under their eyes from lack of good sleep. We all switch shifts for watch. I took first shift tonight, then Coach, then Rochelle and Last shift is Ellis. We switched them around differently each night. It's only been 4 days that we've been in this situation and been together but we been switch the shifts anyway. I sighed, as I was tired but I remained awake to keep watch. I heard some infected roaming around every now and then, but for the rest of the time I was on watch, it was quiet. Too quiet for my liking. Normally I like quiet, but lately I don't like it at all. I guess it just allows my thoughts to get to me. And sometimes my thoughts can be the worst. I tried to keep myself busy in this small saferoom, it's only been about an hour now and I still have about Three hours left until I have to wake Coach up for his shift. I have 9-12, Coach has 12-3, Rochelle has 3-6 and Ellis has 6-9. That's our watch shifts. Three hours each. The first person stays awake for their shift, but then they get to sleep until we all gotta get up to go. Meanwhile the others get to sleep until their shift. The last person is always lucky because they get to sleep throughout the night. They get more sleep. That's why we switch it around so some nights one of us gets a good nights sleep. And because it's fair for all of us.
Three hours each doesn't seem like much, but it does help. And it's fair for us to have the same watch hours, three hours each. I was exhausted from the day we had, but I needed to stay awake. I have three more hours and then I can sleep for a few hours. Normally we would leave as soon as we can, but with Ellis injured we gotta wait a day or two. Believe me, I want to get to safety as soon as possible for my daughters sake, but I don't want to leave Ellis behind. He's helped me so much. So I made the decision for us to wait here until he's healed enough to move and fight off infected.

Ellie woke up, yawning but she looked over to me and smiled a little. "Daddy I'm thirsty" she said, I got up and went over to our duffel bag of food and water, looking into it and finding a juice box and bottled water. I turned around to her. "Do you want a juice box or water sweetie?" I asked. "A juice box please" she said, I nodded and handed her the juice box and closed the duffle bag. She put the straw into the juice box and began to drink it. She threw it somewhere and laid down, going back to sleep immediately. I smiled as I looked at my daughter. Proud of her for staying so strong and innocent throughout all this. She still is a happy child even after all of this. Even after seeing all of the scary infected and the horrifying sounds they make. I sat there, staring at the wall, glancing over to my teammates and daughter every once in a while, soon enough Coach's shift came and I woke him up, and then laid down beside Ellis and Ellie. Drifting off into slumber.

A/N: I hope you all like this so far! I enjoy writing it, and I apologize for taking so long to write and publish more chapters. I will try my best to write and publish more hopefully faster then I have been doing it. Any who, Happy holidays! Hope you have a great Christmas! :)