Left 4 Dead (Closed)

"Ellis...wait!" I called out to him, but the mechanic bolted for the door.

"Open up! It's us! Hey! Hello?" Ellis yelled up.

Francis tried to climb up, but in his state he ended up falling down. Looking up, he said to Louis, "Why *hic* don't you go and open up the door them?"

"O-okay. Sure" said the black man taking a few steps away before realizing he was holding onto the wool jacket and dropped it before Francis.

"Come on! Open up!" Ellis yelled. "What's the password?"

The rest of us joined up with him at the door that was still shut. Shit. Now I started to wonder what we were going to do with Dr. Anna. The commander's slut bunny was gone. He would be furious that we didn't come back with a cure. He wanted a solution, not another part to the equation. But, it was better than coming back with nothing.

When the doors did open, there was Louis with a nervous smile. "Hey, guys. Come on in!"

Of course Ellis ran right by like a gust of wind, "Hey. Can't talk now. Gotta go see my girl!" He didn't know where he was going, he just felt drawn to somewhere else. When Zoey and I stepped in and looked around, Francis was still on his knees with Rochelle with him.

I looked at the office worker, "What's going on?"

"Oh...uh..." Louis began rubbing the back of his neck, "It's kinda hard to explain."

"Just start from the beginning," I replied.

Nervously he looked at us and the other sailors, "It's probably better that we talk about it in public."

"All right then," I said, "But first, we have to report to the base commander about what happened in France. Come with us. And after that, I want to know everything."

Francis was on his knees, his head against Rochelle's chest. The grown man reduced to a crying mess as I looked to Louis. "What really happened?" I said following Robert and the rest to go talk to the commander.

Louis pulled at his shirt. "It's Allisyn, but.." he paused, hearing Ellis call out to his destined lover. "...the baby."

I gasped hearing Ellis call out once again. If something had happened, Ellis shouldn't really be searching for her.

"Ohh Allisyn!" Ellis called out. He removed his cap scratching his head as he peered into each room. He was wondering why she wasn't answering him. It didn't feel right. He turned a corner and there was a nurse standing outside a room, the curtains drawn and a clipboard in her hand. "Oh, hello. Is...uh...is she in there?"

"Is who in there?" she asked never looking up from the clipboard.

"Allisyn. My girl. She's kinda yee-tall and kinda maybe out to here by now with our baby," he said making the motion across his abdomen.

The nurse froze in place before looking up into his eyes. "Son, you might not want to go in there. She's not in the best of shape right now," she explained.

Ellis' eyes widened as he looked to the nurse who was shorter in stature in comparison to him. "Wh-what do you mean?" he said pushing past.

"Wait!" the nurse cried out, but it was to deafened ears as Ellis looked to his lover. Her skin pale as she was hooked up to different machines and her breathing being helped along with some other tubes here and there. He walked slowly to her bedside.

"Allisyn.." he whispered as he knelt down, reaching to grab her hand. He interlocked his fingers with hers as he kissed her soft flesh. He reached across to her belly to rub her stomach and felt it was flat. "Where..." he asked the nurse, "...where is the baby?" he said turning around.

"Welcome back!" the commander said greeting us. His eyes searching behind us, looking for his assistant. But the buxom beauty was no longer there and his expression grew dark as he spoke. "Where is she?" Ana stood there visibly shaking. "And who is she?"

The nurse didn't want to say. Ellis could feel his rage building quickly. Fists balled together he stood up, jerked his head towards the nurse and slapped the papers from her hands, "WHERE IS MY BABY?!" he screamed. His booming voice echoed through the halls.

"Oh bloody hell" Francis moaned. He stood up slowly, wiping the tears from his eyes with both hands. "I'll go tell him. I'm the one who did it to his...baby...I'll be the one to tell him." He took a few steps before Rochelle tried to stop him, but the biker smirked, "It's okay. What can that pip-squeak do to me?" placing an extended thumb to his burly chest.

"This," I said to the commander, "Is Dr. Ana. She was working at the WHO facility when things went to Hell."

"Sir..." Ana meekly nodded before trying to hide herself behind Zoey and I.

"Where is....?" the commander began to say before I cut him off with a hand waved down low.

"Your slut is dead. Along with a lot of good people...and bad. The WHO facility turned out to be harvesting the infected to try and generate a cure. But, like every Jurassic Park movie, the damn things escaped and we made it out of there by the skin of our teeth. The Major and her fun bags were last seen being dragged away into the darkness howling and screaming." I paused for a moment to stare at his face. He was trying so hard to remain calm, but his eyes narrowed and his lips curled in as his hands clenched tightly. "You were setting us up," stabbing a finger at him.

Rochelle lagged behind so that Francis could talk to Ellis in the recovery ward. When the biker found the mechanic, Ellis was red faced. He wanted to do so many things, but didn't know how and he didn't want to leave Allysn. When Francis did come in and shut the curtain, Rochelle expected screaming.

WHAM!

Francis came sailing out of the doors, striking the ground and sliding across the tile floor for 15 feet. Rochelle jumped and gasped as Ellis jumped after him like a Hunter. "YOU DID WHAT TO MY CHILD?!" Ellis landed on Francis and began a barrage of fists to his face. "WHAT DID YOU DO? ANSWER ME! ANSWER MEEEEEE!"

Robert was giving the commander of the base a what-for, but our attention turned to the yelling and screaming we heard from outside. I ran out the door and noticed that there were about 4 soldiers trying to pull Ellis off of Francis. His head was all bloody and he was coughing up blood.

"YOU SICK FUCK! WHAT THE HELL POSSESSED YOU TO TAKE MY BABY AND ABANDON IT LIKE THAT?!" Ellis was yelling as the one soldier tried to restrain him by placing his arm around his throat in a choke hold, but the mechanic was a whole different person - able to struggle away with ease. I ran up to them, gasping at the scene.

Rochelle was in tears. Louis and Nick were trying to help pull Francis away to get him to the infirmary. Rochelle crying out loud as I looked to Ellis.

"Ellis, calm the fuck down! What happened?" I asked.

"GET OFF OF ME!" he said shoving the soldier back, only to drop to his knees before me. His hat falling off his head to the floor as he looked up to me, tears streaming down his cheeks. "He took my baby. That drunk fucker took my baby and now no one knows where it is. Allisyn...she's sick and she....she may never wake up. I have ta---I have to go find our baby, Zo.." he said getting up.

I placed my hands on his arm, but he only jerked away. "Where are you going to go?" I asked.

"I don't know!" he yelled back. "But I have to find our baby. I have to do it for her!" He grabbed a shotgun from by the door and rushed out into the fog.

"What's going on?" Kate and Jackson asked coming around the corner after dropping off the bags of stuff we had gotten in France.

"It's Ellis...he's gone after his baby," I paused for a moment, walking into the room where the curtain was drawn and saw Allisyn. She looked so frail, but her eyes were open. I walked closer. She focused on me and tears were streaming down her face even with the tube down her throat. She began to cough violently

"We have to take it out, calm down and just wait," the nurse said reassuring Allisyn moving in past me with the doctor coming as well.

****~Elsewhere~****

The baby cooed. It's misshapen form wiggling gently against the Hunter as it was carried rooftop to rooftop. Almost like an ape escaping with an infant, the Hunter finally came to a stop and held the baby in her hand. The long blonde hair streaked black with death blowing in the gentle cold breeze as the infected looked at the baby. A slight smile on her deformed face as she watched the baby reach its hand up. "B....bab--yyy..." the Hunter gurgled, barely able to speak but struggled to say the word. The baby cooed once again at hearing this and the Hunter gleamed, but only to be startled as a coughing sound came up behind her. She calmed down once she noticed it was only another infected, but this one the female Hunter knew. The deformed infected, a Smoker, peered down from its looming height at the infant in the Hunter's grasp. The Smoker seemingly smiled as he looked to it.

The Hunter spoke once again, gurgling the voice with a low growl. "B....bab--yyy..." The smoker placed his hand on the Hunter's shoulder and his mutated mouth smiled once more.

Ellis was a man on a mission. With his shotgun in one hand and a flashlight in the other, he stormed out of the base, brushing aside everyone in his path. He wouldn't listen to reason, he didn't even take any rations.

"We have to stop him," said Kate. "Those things will rip him apart when he's outside there."

But he was gone. The only thing they could see from the high walls was the thin line of light from his flashlight as he faded away into the darkness.

Kassie said to Kate, "It's no use. He's gone. If we do go after him, it'll have to be in the morning.

"What the hell was that all about?" I asked entering the infirmary to find Francis being bandaged up.

"Long story short," said Jackson trying not to chuckle looking at the biker as his face now looked like a Mummy, "Allisyn had their child, but it was infected, so, Francis here put it up in one of the towers to let it rot. Now, it's gone."

My head looked at Jackson as he spoke then jerked to Francis who lowered his head as his hands gripped the ends of the chair he sat on. He's been through enough scolding for today.

Zoey was seeing to Allisyn, but the commander wanted me back in his office to explain myself and our actions. Now that he love toy was gone, he was livid, but trying to hide it-I could see it in his eyes.

***********

The Hunter leaned towards the baby as it cooed then slowly lowered its talons and scooped it up and held it towards his covered face and that of the Smoker. The Baby looked back with its black eyes and began pawing for them slowly. The two Infected smiled, or what they felt was smiling behind their disfigured faces before they saw the stabbing of white light coming towards them.

It was Ellis. Stomping noisely through the grass and brush, holding up his shotgun, his jaws clenched together tightly.

Allisyn was trying to sit up in bed, but she grimaced in pain. I pushed her shoulders back, "Don't sit up," I said, looking at her. She was still pale but some color was coming back to her face. She was in one hell of a shape and it was a shame that Ellis had stormed off like this. I wished he would have listened to reason. Allisyn touched my hand as I focused on her.

"Where's Ellis?" she asked, her voice weak and quiet.

My eyes widened and I looked away. "Um," I paused for a moment, unsure of what to say to her. I couldn't tell her what had really happened, but then again, she had already heard him yell and heard a bit of what happened. "He's... he's with your baby," I finally said.

Allisyn shook her head. "Zoey...don't lie to me."

I swallowed hard before glancing back at her. "He's looking for your baby. Francis thought it was best but..."

She closed her eyes and sighed, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

**************

The Hunter growled quietly as it began to scale a building, the baby tightly in her grasp. The Smoker turned around looking back and then began to climb the building as well, following after the Hunter.

"Baby?! Little Billy? Or Little Willie? Or..Ellisa? Or..." Ellis said, tears falling down his face as he wiped them away. "Hell, why I am calling for the baby? It wouldn't be able to call back." He looked down the alley, peering in a dumpster. "Baby?" he cried out desperately.

The Hunter looked to the Smoker and then to the baby, slowly in their deteriorated brains they understood that this infant was the man's down below. The Hunter's face showed tears, her scarred and deformed face saddened. The Smoker touched her shoulder and shook his head, as if to reassure her that they wouldn't be giving up the baby.

"Baby?!" Ellis said, dropping to his knees, the shotgun colliding with the ground as he looked around through the fog. He sighed inwardly as he got up, looking around with the flashlight one last time and heading back to the base.

There were some of us willing to go out there for Ellis, but we didn't. We formed up, but didn't go anywhere. It would have to come till morning. Ellis screamed for his baby, his booming voice echoed through the alleyway that the Hunter and Smoker heard it and cautiously approached the edge of the roof and looked down as the mechanic lowered his head, tears flowing down his dirty cheeks.

The baby cooed softly, the Hunter buried its face into its chest to keep it quiet. They didn't understand what was happening, the just viewed that thing down there as the enemy and left him there to wallow in his own tears.

Ellis sat there humped over in the chill for some time until it began to set into his mind that his baby wasn't coming back. He lifted his head and looked around, the alleyway was empty, no infected, no bodies. Looking back, there was no Zoey or Francis or me there to back him up, telling him it would be okay and that we would find their baby. There was no search. There as no happy ending for him. His baby was gone, perhaps his one chance to have a baby of his own and it was taken from him by the one thing he truly despised, 'em sons of bitches." Now he felt truly alone.

I let Zoey stay with Allisyn during the night. I wanted to go there and see her, but didn't think she was up for any more visitors-she had endured enough hardship for today. Going back to my room, I shuck off my dirty clothes and slipped into something fresh before lying down. The bed was empty with Zoey gone, so I curled up with the pillow tightly and waited for her to come back. At some point I fell asleep and didn't know it.

I stayed by Allisyn's side throughout the night. I kept watch of her until I dozed off. I didn't even realize that I had dozed off until I felt a gentle nudge on my hand. I looked up sleepily into the kind eyes of Louis. "Oh Louis," I said sitting up, looking down to see what he was handing me. It was a Styrofoam cup full of coffee, with more cream and sugar than coffee by the looks of it. I smirked taking it from him. "Thank you," I said before taking a sip.

Louis leaned against the wall tipping back the bottle of water he had in his grasp, not a cup of coffee since 'Nurse Ratched', as he called her, said it would be bad for him since he's still coming down from his addiction to caffeine and energy drinks, not to mention pain pills. "How's she doing?" he asked, nodding his head at Allisyn who was still asleep.

I turned in the chair, my body aching slightly from the way I had slept as I looked to the young woman. "She's fine, for the most part. She needs Ellis more than anything - he's her rock and she's his. I don't know what made him rush off last night."

"I do," Louis chimed in, crossing his arms in understanding. "He didn't want to face her without their child, he'd feel like a failure. I get why he did it, but the rashness of it wasn't cool, man."

I tilted my head, looking at Louis with a weird expression. "Since when did you become all philosophical and understanding?"

"Yeah, necktie... When did you get all gooey on the inside?" Francis said popping in, his head bandaged up and his face still red and swollen from the barrage of fists that Ellis had given him.

"I dunno," Louis shrugged.

"He's clear in the head because he's not on the inhibitors. Unless that cup is yours," the charge nurse said popping in with clipboard in hand to check the monitors hooked up to Allisyn, jabbing her pen in the direction of the cup I had sat down on the small table in the corner.

"Ohh hell, I'm uh...I'm not drinking coffee, it's Zoey's. This is mine, see?" Louis said with a bright nervous smile while shaking the bottle of water.

"Good, now shoo, all of you. The young woman needs a bath in case her wooer comes back," the older woman said turning to the guys.

I walked out into the hall only to hear something in the courtyard. "Hey guys, I'll be back in a bit," I said, they turned to wave me off, Louis helping Francis down the hall to go get some pain medication. I walked outside and listened. It was sobbing. I had a feeling who it might be. I walked to the lookout tower and climbed the stairs, pushing open the door to see Ellis sitting in the floor with the shotgun between his legs and pointed under his chin. "Ellis!"

"It's no good, Zoey," Ellis responded, his eyes red from crying and his face showing an expression of loss. His baseball cap on the floor at his side with a folded up piece of paper inside. "I couldn't find him, or her, or it - whatever the little thing is. I couldn't save our baby and now Allisyn would be better off without me - if she even makes it."

I walked closer, my hands up. "Ellis, no! That's not the way," tears began to stream down my cheeks as well as I looked to him sitting there. My mind instantly shifted to how I wished I could have tried to save Bill and maybe this was my redemption, to save Ellis. "Ellis, please. Listen to me. I know it's hard. But Allisyn needs you. She's alive and she needs you now more than ever."

He shook his head, his hair messy and sticking to his face as he rubbed his eyes. "She doesn't need me, y'all don't need me either. I'm stupid and useless and dumb and uh...stupid," he pleaded. "Everyone is just better off without me. I'm not a good lover or a good daddy, no one needs old Ellis." He reached for the trigger but I ran at him and tossed the gun to the side. His eyes met mine and I slapped him upside the back of the head before pulling him into a tight embrace. "Ow. Why'd y-you do that?" he asked, his voice choked up from both the crying and me holding him so tight.

"You don't need to fucking kill yourself. That's fucking horseshit and you don't need to do that. I lost Bill that way, he was like a father to me and I'm sure as hell not going to lose someone who's like a brother to me..." I said moving back, my hands on his shoulders as I looked him in the eyes. I turned to the side and grabbed his hat, tossing the note to the side and putting the ball cap on his head. "You have a woman in there that wants to see you, hell - the nurse is cleaning her up for you, don't know why - but she's doing it."

"She wants to see me? Even if I failed?" he asked.

"Yes, now let's go. You look like you could use something to eat," I said taking him by the hand and leading him out the door.

Ellis kept his head low as he followed me out. "Thanks, Zo..." was all he said as we went back into the base.

When I awoke, there was no clock telling me what time it was. Rubbing my eyes with both hands and looking about, there was no Zoey. She hadn't come back that night. Throwing off the sheets and stepping onto the cold tile floor my feet shivered. I slipped into some fresh clothes, the socks felt strange as they went into the shoes. Lacing up I went down the halls. Quiet. No one was moving. For a moment my heart froze out of fear that the infected had somehow overran the perimeter and killed everyone inside and somehow spared me.

"Not this again" shaking my head. It's just a dream. Wake up. I did and kept walking.

That's when there were voices coming from the chow hall. Stepping in I found Zoey eating at the same table as Ellis. He wasn't the normal peppy self. He leaned to one side his head propped up by one hand while the other picked at the food. The food may not be the best, but it was hot and not canned.

I smiled, "Hi, Zoey. Hi, Ellis" sitting down beside Zoey.

"Hey, Captain" Ellis said lowly.

I didn't mention Allisyn or where he went. that was a touchy subject still. Best to keep ourselves in the present. Have to keep things positive and upbeat. There might be a new mission lined up for us yet.

For Louis he staggered into his bed and flopped down his energy finally spent. Awhile later, Francis came in this time without Rochelle. The biker flopped and rolled on his bed, the vibrations waking up Louis below.

"Hey, man. That's not cool!" Louis groaned. Francis rolled once more shaking Louis awake. "That's it!"

"Finish your dinner and you can have desert," I giggled at Ellis who looked up and finally smirked.

"Yes, dad" he said.

At that moment Louis came flying into the room. "Hey, guys! RUN!" hauling ass around the tables. I thought we had been breached and jumped from my seat, but it wasn't a Tank after him, it was a enraged Francis covered in shaving cream.

Kassie was walking to one of the long tables to sit down next to Nick when Louis came barging into the mess hall. She quirked one eyebrow up and looked to her handsome chocolate stud. Louis saw her and instantly went to hide behind her. "Save me from him, please," he pleaded, "I'm begging you!"

Kassie looked to him, Nick snickered as he took a bite of what he was eating before he was given a glare by Kassie that made him look away to continue eating his food. Francis charged up to Kassie, towering over her slightly, his face and hand covered in shaving cream. "Don't think you can hide behind that woman! I will get you for this....this....PRANKING!" he shouted.

Kassie bumped up against him, her massive jugs pressing against him and pushing the big biker back. "And what do you think you're going to do really? You want to get whupped more than you already are?"

Francis stepped back, "Well, I...uh..." he paused for a moment, "...no." He spoke in a grumble before turning away. "I'm gonna go sleep. Just keep him away from me while I sleep."

Kassie looked behind her at the scared-to-death Louis as she smirked. "You got a deal, Frankie.." Francis growled from that but trudged out of the hall. Kassie turned around and looked to Louis. "You, me and Nick in our quarters. It's a bit bigger because of the three of us - but now...move it, move it, move it!" she said commanding them.

I watched the sight unfold while drinking through a straw, a strange expression on my face the entire time. "Well... That was random," I admitted to Robert. I started to get up only to see Allisyn walk through the door of the mess hall, wearing a white lace dress and her hair pulled back to the side.

Ellis looked up to see what had caused me to stop and his eyes fixated on her. His mouth agape as he started to get up and nearly knocked the table over, since it wasn't bolted to the floor. He stood there, looking at her. The nurse was close behind Allisyn, holding onto an IV pole that was still attached to her arm to keep fluids going in, but there was a man behind the nurse - he was dressed in Priest Vestments and held a bible in his hand.

Kate and Jackson showed up just to see it happening. "What's going on?" Kate asked, her cleavage on display with the tight shirt she was wearing.

Ellis stood up and went over to her, holding one hand as he trembled. She was still in pain, it was evident in her face, but she kept herself rigid and smiled. "You shouldn't be up" said Ellis. "You should be..."

"Shhhh" Allisyn smiled placing her free hand to his lips. "You talk too much," giggling. Looking over his shoulder, there were the rest of us all gathered together surprised to see her up and cheerful. "Good. You're all here. There's something I wanted to ask."

"What's that?" I asked.

Carefully Allisyn walked around Ellis towards the table and leaned against it to steady her frame. "We've been through a lot together. You guys have saved my life more times than I can count and you've been through the same hardships as me." She began fighting back tears as she looked at us, the mixture of sad and good times coming back-each one unique and she looked at all of our faces. She could recall the moments vividly until she came back to Ellis. She nodded to him, "You...you've been with me the most. I know that maybe now is not the best time...but, Ellis?"

"Yes?"

"Will you marry me?" Allisyn asked.

"Yes. YES! Of course I'll do it" the mechanic jumped and threw himself at her, preparing to give her a tight hug, but remembered her condition and stopped himself just short.

"Hold on!" Francis stomped up, "A woman can't propose! That's illegal, isn't it?" looking towards us for answers. The only response he got was laughter.

"I mean it," Allisyn spoke up, holding her lover's hand tightly with one hand and the IV drip in the other. "I had to borrow this dress because I wanted to do this here and now and want you all to attend.

That's when Jackson looked to Kate then down at her breasts and held her hand tightly, "I don't want to take your thunder, but..." he got down on one knee. He wasn't prepared for it at all, didn't even have a ring or a speech. Flummoxed at first, he forced himself to say, "Kate, will you marry me?"

The Coastie squeeled with joy and threw herself at him, this time the bodies collided and Kate smothered him with her ta-tas onto the floor.

"Whoa! Nice shot!" Francis smiled.

Allisyn squealed, too. "We're both getting married!"

Standing up, Kate looked herself over, "Oh shit. I don't have a dress!" before holding up a single finger, "I got my uniform! Those are the only things left that fit me properly."

"Go get it!" Jackson said standing up. She took off like the flash.

Kassie looked at both Louis and Nick and shook her head slightly with a thin smile. She wasn't going to marry them. Even in this apocalypse-a woman marrying two men at once was still looked down upon. No State left would recognize their marriage, besides-there would be no messy divorce.

But that's when everyone looked at me and Zoey. We were holding hand, our hearts singing. The other happy couples were tying the knot, why not us? "Oh come on, you know it's going to happen eventually" Francis urged us. "Just get it over with."

"Okay" I said and turned to Zoey, looking deeply into her eyes, "Zoey, will you marry me?" as I held her hand tightly with both of my own.

"You better, girl" Rochelle yelled, "Or I'll tan your hide."

I looked at Robert as he asked me. I hadn't even noticed that Rochelle had come in to get Francis, but when she called out to me, I looked to her. But then I felt my hand being gripped. I turned back to see who it was and Robert was one knee before me. "But we don't have rings," I said, to which Jackson just shrugged as his Coastie beauty reappeared wearing her uniform. She stood next to him, a bright smile on her lips.

Rochelle nudged Francis, who looked to her with a confused look, but she nudged him on. "I..uhh.. I guess I can make some after the fact. Just gonna need some titanium wire and something to try to size each of your fingers." Rochelle beamed as she wrapped her hands around her handsome stud, his face still having remnants of shaving cream on it.

The priest looked to the three couples and smiled. "Haven't had anything like this in a long time. I was usually one to give last rites in the war, not help with ceremonious engagements."

'Nurse Ratched' looked to him and nudged him, both of them quite old, "You'll do fine, Edgar. Now - before anything, this young lady and her gentleman need to be married first. She's come up with vows, however short, to say to him." She helped Allisyn walk with Ellis to the front of the mess hall.

The priest took his place and everyone turned to face them. "Names of the beloved?" he asked.

Ellis removed his hat, his hair a mess, but he could take a shower later. "Uhh," he mumbled. "Ellis Jamison Gadwerton."

Nick burst out laughing only to be hit by Kassie in the back. The priest continued and looked to Allisyn.

Allisyn swallowed hard and smiled up at her lover. "Allisyn Havasue Marie Michaels," she said in response to the priest.

I leaned against Robert, my arms around him as I smiled. It wasn't much of a ceremony - but considering the end of the world had happened, it was worth it for them to do it. The priest smiled, nodding his approval.

"Dearly Beloved, fellow friends and family members of the young couple. We gather here today to wed these two in holy matrimony; to bind their souls in the light of God so that they may take gentle pleasure in that which is married life. To have and to hold one another, in both sickness and in health, to hold and to cherish each other, in this life and the next. Now, I believe that Allisyn has some words she wishes to speak to Ellis," the priest concluded to allow Allisyn to speak.

Allisyn was handed a small piece of paper by the nurse, it wasn't much, but it was what she felt deep within her heart. "Ellis. From the first day I met you, I felt safe. You have kept me close and protected me from all that this world would try to harm me with. I fell in love with my savior and my guardian, much to the chagrin of my mother," tears began to fall down her face at the thought of how her mother couldn't be here at this moment, but she continued, going off-script. "I love you Ellis - and to be honest until today I didn't know your last name." She smiled through the pain she was having from standing there. "I hope that for as long as you'll have me, I can be your loving wife, to be there when you need comfort - for us to be each other's shoulder to cry on and to be there to help kill so many of 'dem sons'o'bitches as we can." She looked at the paper and tossed it to the side. "I think that's it."

Ellis had tears in his eyes and the biggest, goofiest smile on his lips. "God, Alli. Yes, a thousand times yes."

The priest smiled. "Now, since there aren't any rings, I do have something that is a bit older than the tradition," he said reaching for the cloth that the nurse brought up. He had Allisyn and Ellis hold hands while he wrapped it around their hands. "By the grace of the Lord Almighty and under the sight of his son Jesus Christ, even in the darkest of days and the most dire of situations, you two shall be seen as husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride," the priest concluded.

Ellis moved in closer and greeted Allisyn's lips, both of them opening their mouths wide to kiss. The mess hall erupted in cheers, even some of the soldiers of the base came in to watch.

Kate and Jackson looked to one another. "Our turn," Kate smiled wide almost pulling Jackson to the front of the mess hall.

Kate bounded forward with so much energy that she dragged Jackson with her. Thrusting her chest out with a beaming smile, the priest looked at her and then at Jackson as he cracked open the Bible and recited once more why they were brought here today. Since this was an impromptu ceremony, he only knew of their names that instant. "Marriage is a sacred trust," he said. "Once broken-it can never be fully healed. These two have come together in our darkest of times to announce their love for one another..." he rambled on. The priest was a good man, but the two were having a hard time keeping themselves still as they both knew what was going to happen when this was over. "Do you have any vows?"

Kate began, "Jackson, you're my helmsman. You guide men in the darkness and in the light and in troubled waters. You have been my everything. You were the one I talk to when there was no one and will be with me for always." There were more vows, but she didn't want to say them in front of a member of the cloth. It was something inline for a party and the priest knew where she was going because he knew she wasn't wearing a bra.

Short and simple. Jackson nervously looked at her and then at us, kicking himself because he was going to say the same thing. "Kate, since I first saw you, I knew that you were going to be the one for me..." Realizing that others were looking at him, staring intently, he began to stammer and lose his edge. She thought of it as cute, but the others thought it was funny and laughed.

"You may kiss the bride" the priest said with a smile closing the book.

"Kiss her?" Jackson smirked, "I'm going to destroy her!"

The priest's face fell as Kate laughed. The two quickly made room for Zoey and I. She was still wearing the same red jacket as the first time I met her and didn't think that our wedding would be like this, but we still had our family here-missing a few, but I'm sure they're looking down on us. When we reached the priest he seemed relieved that we didn't look like the kind that would get busy right there in front of him. We told him our names and he recited the name opening as before and called out, "If anyone has any reason why these two shall not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." Silence in the mess hall.

There was no best man or bride's maids for this. We walked hand in hand down the 'aisle' between the rows of bolted down tables and chairs and stood before the priest with smiles on our lips. I was clean, but Zoey was still a mess. Didn't matter to me as I would help her with a shower later.

In the background I could hear Kate and Jackson giggling like little school girls, but Francis was surprisingly quiet watching us and looked over to his left and thought he saw Bill there puffing away on a smoke while drinking some beer.

We reached the vows and I didn't have anything. "Zoey, I could say that I love you, but we alreayd know that. Since you came into my life you've reshaped everything I am. I'm a better man now because of you and we have had many adventures together and I hope that we can continue sharing our adventures together..." that was the best I could come up with on the fly. Nothing incredibly romantic, but I felt it would be for the best as I looked intently into her eyes.

I looked into Robert's eyes. I felt the surge of love flow between us as he spoke from his heart. As he finished, I felt a twinge of loneliness for just a moment. I had always imagined it would be my dad giving me away at my wedding. But since he was gone, I had thought it would be Bill. But he was gone too. I looked at the patch that I had sewn on my red jacket, feeling Bill close even though he wasn't there anymore. He would approve of this.

I smiled as I looked back to Robert. "Before all of this, I was just a college student wasting my time in my dorm watching zombie movies. I never thought in a million years that what has happened would happen. But it has. And I met you. You helped me through every moment and have been there when the worse has been upon us. God, everything I'm saying is so cheesy..." I paused to cover my face, but Rochelle busted up laughing in the back.

"Hon! You are cheesy! Just say 'I do' already!" Rochelle and Kate shouted together.

I smirked looking back to Robert. "I do.." I said with a goofy smile on my face and the priest smiled as well, wrapping our hands together.

"Kiss her, she's yours," the priest said out of the norm, since he's married two couples already, more than he's used to and better than repeating everything.

I threw my arms around Robert's neck and pressed my lips against his as the mess hall erupted in cheers.

We kissed and held it as I lifted her up. I wanted to grab her ass and do all sorts of things, but this wasn't the right place for that. The priest closed his Bible with a mixture of relief and satisfaction having married three happy couples instead of giving Last Rites to some corpses.

We were all now married and the Priest excused himself from the mess hall leaving all of us with a mixture of joy and sorrow. We were missing a few, but we still had each other. Kate and Jackson couldn't keep their hands off each other while Ellis had Allisyn held tightly too him, but couldn't touch her like he wanted to.

I had Zoey around the waist with one arm and squeezed her firm ass. We were going to do a lot of naughty things tonight. Suddenly we looked at Francis who sat there with a dumb look on his face, eyes wide and staring as if he saw a spider.

"What is it, Francis?" I asked.

"Listen," he hesitantly said.

We all paused and looked about, "What? I don't hear anything."

"That's just it. There's nothing. Usually when something good happens, a Horde or a Tank shows up to ruin the fun," the biker said. But there was no attack. There were no alarms, no screams or shooting. It was eerily quiet that I held on to Zoey a little tighter.

"Let's not wait for them," Kate aid bounding out of the room, taking her new husband with him and nearly popping out of her uniform.

"Ellis? Ellis! Hey, ELLIS!" Rochelle screamed.

"Ah! What?" the mechanic groaned. His hands started to rub his face.

"Wake up! You're talking in your sleep" the black girl replied as she sat back down behind him in the vehicle.

"I...what?" Ellis groaned.

"You've been talking in your sleep for the past hour," Rochelle continued. "You're going on about getting married to Alli and then having all sorts of sex."

"Yeah" Ellis unexpectedly smiled. "That was a good dream," before looking down and realizing he was at full-mast.

Zoey and I were in the lead vehicle in our convoy, carefully moving up the beach roads away from the Channel. We had left the Pigeon after she had grounded on some uncharted rocks while crossing over to get into contact with European leaders about developing a cure for this outbreak. We were onto something. Many of us seem to harbor a sort of immunity to the virus. Several had been bitten, but did not turn. It was the start to something. Now we had to keep these special people, including my lover, Zoey, protected while we headed towards the World Health Organization building.

Myself, Zoey, our fellow survivors, and the crew of the Pigeon were now part of a large convoy of commandeered vehicles heading through western-France. We were armed, tired, and angry. We had traveled across the Eastern coast of the United States, across the Atlantic, England and now France trying to defeat this outbreak. We had many encounters with the undead and the living. Made a lot of new allies and lost a few close friends along the way.

"How long do you think it'll take us?" Alli softly asked Ellis from the backseat.

"I don't know," Ellis wearily replied. He looked forward at all of the abandoned vehicles on the road, all facing him. It would seem that thousands of people were fleeing towards the coast when it happened.

"I hope it's soon," Alli weakly replied as she held onto her stomach.

Couldn't use the GPS. It was useless with the satellites down. Had to use an old map found in the glove box and trying to read the signs. Thankfully there were no infected in our way. The standing order was to keep going, floor through any ambush. If someone bogged down, we would try to help.

It was starting to lighten up that we found a large barn well off the road and decided to stay there for awhile and help us rest and gather our bearings. I signaled to pull off the road and came up to this large barn with a second floor loft full of hay. We pulled the vehicles under cover of a awning and covered them with tarps. The place appeared to be deserted. Strange thing was, in the field across from us, there was a large herd of cows gently grazing, as if oblivious to what was happening around the world.

"Good god. What I wouldn't give for a burger right now," Francis exclaimed, mouth agape and drool appearing at the corner. His eyes bugging out of his head as he eyed the cows in the field nearby.

Rochelle stretching and looking to her lover swung the rifle she had over her shoulder and moved close to him. "Ooh yeah. Juicy with cheese..."

"Yeah..."

"...Bacon, the works" she continued.

"Yeah..." Francis seemingly droned on almost in a trance.

"...onion rings, doubled up with a Coke Float," Rochelle looked up at his face as she noticed he was slumped slightly staring at the cows more lovingly than he had at her recently.

"Oh fuck yeah..." he smacked his lips together trying to moisten his now parched lips.

She pushed a shotgun into his hands breaking him out of the food induced trance. "Well, too bad. You're on first watch. And no killing the cows," Rochelle smirked walking away, Francis looking at her with a slight tiffed gaze.

"Oh why you gotta do that to me?"

*****

I got out of the truck and looked towards Robert as I hefted the ammo bags up onto the front of the vehicles. "We've got limited ammo resources as is. How many mollys we have in the back in case of more Tanks?"

"14," Louis replied.

I sighed looking towards the M-14s and AR-15s.

"52 magazines for the rifles, 12 packs of sniper rounds, 23 clips for the side arms... No pipe bombs to draw them away from us. No big ammunition," I continued. "How much further until we get to our destination?"

We all turned to Robert for the answer as he held the map and the fact he had been our leader since all this shit went down.

(OOC: So glad you're back. )

Using the map's scale and a pencil, I planned the route, hoping that the roads were still accurate. The map was several years old. "By my estimate, at least 70 miles," I replied. What was slowing us down was the jammed roads, causing us to drive on the shoulder. "If we keep up our progress like this, we could be there by mid-tomorrow."

It was necessary for us to stop now. We were exhausted having come off the boat and be on the road. Our drivers were falling asleep at the wheel, people were tense.

I grabbed a couple of bags from Zoey and helped her into the barn, "We'll get going tomorrow morning after we get some rest."

Jackson and Kate were up on the second floor loft looking over the countryside from the higher vantage point. It looked real peaceful up here. France was lovely land with rolling green hills, thick forests, and bright blue sky. It was eerie for them to see it having left the Eastern seaboard.

Zoey and I stacked the ammo on the second floor loft and found a spot for us on a pile of hay to relax. I fell onto the pile and kicked off my shoes and my dirty socks and sighed in relief now that I could feel my feet breath for the first time in several days.

The bright blue sky that showed the glory of the French Countryside soon changed as time went on. The sun that had managed to peek through was soon taken over by a cloudy sky, but that didn't mean that it wasn't a beautiful sunset to look at. Jackson and Kate retreated to a corner of the loft that was a bit more private, Kate sitting between Jackson's legs and her hair pulled up so he had access to her neck to help rub out the muscles that had tensed up.

I leaned the rifle I hadn't let out of my sight since this whole shit-show started against the wall of the barn, removing my boots and letting my hair down for once. God, it felt like a weight had been taken off of my head entirely just pulling the band out. I rubbed my scalp and wished there was a decent place to take a shower. We hadn't had anything like that since the Pigeon. With all the dried blood splattered on everyone and on everything we had to carry, it was starting to smell like a slaughterhouse. One of the cows out in the fields bellowed as if it had heard my thought on such a place, bringing a silent chuckle from within.

I was exhausted. Robert was already passed out on the hay-pile that he had managed to spread a tarp across. Louis and Francis were on the watch along with some of the sailors from the Pigeon. Everyone else had found some sort of makeshift bedding or lean-to to crash on. I rolled my shoulders, laying down next to Robert. I turned towards him and wrapped my arms around him for a bit of warmth. It wasn't cold but there was a slight chill to the air which caused a mist to form on the fields below. There were a few holes in the roof above us to which I could glance at the stars that tried to peer through the overcast night sky before sleep soon took hold.

*****
"You're certain that we're going to be fine? I don't want to have our baby out in the middle of nowhere," Allisyn said in a whisper of concern.

Ellis gently caressed her face as he gave her that goofy smile of his, hoping to give some sort of reassurance. "We'll be fine. You heard the captain, we're not that far out and I'm sure they have a place all set up to handle all of that for you."

Allisyn seemed to have her faith back in the situation as she placed her hands on her stomach, gently rubbing and smiling. Ellis stepped back for a minute, removing his hat and rubbing his head. He sighed as he turned to look up at the sky. 'Boy, what the hell am I gonna do if this does fall through?'

[My character, Zoey's hair is like this at the moment]

"You worry too much," Ellis chuckled. "This is nothing. Shit, man. Like this one time me and my buddy Keith went down by the river to go find some ghosts for Halloween. We didn't find any ghosts down there, but we did find this homeless going 'Eh-eh-eh' and my buddy Keith went over there to go talk to him. I said, 'Keith, man, buddy, don't go down there that guy looks dangerous. But, you know my buddy Keith, he's all hard headed and all that..."

All of a sudden, Allisyn placed a finger to Ellis's yammering mouth, stopping him. "Shhh. Just enjoy the moment."

I didn't feel Zoey curling up with me on the tarp. My body just gave out and I was out like a light. At some point in the middle of the night I woke up, my eyes fluttered open and I was looking at the thousands of stars through the holes in the roof. Rather pretty. France didn't seem to be as devastated as the United States was. Course, we're only seeing a piece of it, and I hated to see what Paris looked like. Though we weren't going to be going there. The WHO building was well outside of Paris and for good reason. The experiments they do would be catastrophic if they leaked out of the area.

Still though, now that I had some sleep and was feeling relaxed, all the different scenarios were running through my mind about what would happen when we got to WHO. Would the people there be friendly or hostile? What about Allisyn, could they care for her? What's going to happen when she gives birth?

All of these things were flowing through my mind that it was difficult to fall asleep after that. Looking over, there was Zoey's soft face curled up on my shoulder, gently snoozing away with her hair down. I brushed a few strands of her dark hair out of the way before giving her a soft kiss to the cheek before trying to sleep once more.

Francis pulled some jerky out of a pouch he had on his person and looked on as he devoured it. The cows raised their heads looking in his direction, cud drooling from their jowls as they munched on grass.

"Pork... It's pork," he held out the pouch as if to explain to gentle beasts, to which one of them bellowed in a low tone as they turned around as if disgusted by him and continued to graze. Francis harumphed at the cows, leaning back against one of the trucks and crossed his arms. "Fucking cows. Judging me and my decisions," he said taking another bite and looking away to continue with his watch.

"How's it going?" Louis asked approaching after walking the perimeter.

"Damned things act like I'm going to devour them whole," Francis grumbled.

Louis looked past Francis and noticed three cows out in the field. "Um, I think you did... Weren't there four?"

"What do you mean weren't there four? Of course there's fou--- One, two, three, where's Lulu?"

"You named them?" the black man asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, what the hell else was I going to do? Now where's the fourth one?" Francis asked in a nervous tone.

Everyone's sleep was abruptly ended as a shrill screech came from the fields below, causing the cows that were left behind to rush off in a stampede and away from the fields.

"What the hell was that?!" I exclaimed sitting up on the hay pile next to Robert. Everyone was awake now, guns at the ready.

"Francis! I told you not to frighten those damned cows!" Rochelle yelled as she came down the ladder from the loft and rushed at him.

"Shh, shh shh, it's not me. I didn't do anything but... wh-what's that glow?" he replied, making mention of the weird eye shine in the distance.

Louis and Rochelle both shined their flashlights up into the field - the brightness of the flashlights coming to rest on something that looked like a nightmare incarnate standing on the remains of the hollowed out carcass of the fourth cow.

"Aww, not Lulu!" Francis said raising his gun.

"Forget Lulu right now! What the fuck is that?!" Louis exclaimed.

The screaming. I wasn't shaken by the screaming until I felt Zoey literally shaking me awake before running down the ladder to join the ruckus. Half blind, I grab my rifle and run after her.

When we joined the others at the truck there was this strange cackling noise. It was similar to a Jockey, but noticeably different as the figure glowed as it stalked around the carcass of the cow.

"What in the Holy Hell is that?!" I heard Kate exclaim. It looked like no other Jockey she had ever seen before. It looked as though it had bred with another special infected and got that, with talons that could rip someone apart like a Witch.

"Fuckin' kill it!" Francis roared as he rapidly fired three shots with his shotgun, "I hate Jockeys!"

It was too late and the others opened up. This Jockey...thing smiled and jumped around, dodging our fire.

"Wiry little bastard!" Ellis fumed as he tried training his rifle on the thing. All the while the creature was cackling, as if mocking us for our poor accuracy.

Putting the stock to my shoulder, I trained my rifle on it and kept following its pattern as it jumped left and right and then towards us. That seemed to be its pattern, left, right and forward. All the while it was closing in on us. All of this firing was going to give us away and we couldn't just hightail right now with this Jockey thing after us, and knowing these special infected, they travel in groups.

Kate and Rochelle turned back towards the barn and kept their eyes open for any ambush. When the Jockey landed one last time, I cracked off a shot that was low and to the right, but it found itself burrowing into the creature's left ankle, snapping it instantly.

"REAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAA"

"Zoey, finish it!" I said to her with her scoped rifle. This cackling and shooting was bound to start a horde. It did so every time. Turning to a couple of sailors with me, I bark at them to get back to the trucks and start them up. We have to exfil from the area at once. I had this image flashing through my mind that a Tank would burst through the treeline and pummel us out in the open. 'Can't we just get a break for once?' muttering under my breath. We've lost so much wherever we go. Can't we just get one peaceful night's sleep? Guess the Big Guy up above loved to kick us around a lot.

Going back to the trucks, the tarps were ripped off and thrown in the back while the engines turned over. Kate and Jackson were then ordered to go back to the barn and fetch the ammo and the rest of the gear. The busty Coastie and her man did so. The rest of us taking on just a single ugly looking Jockey, it would be an easy kill.

"C'mon, let's just kill it already!" Francis exclaimed, his shotgun cocked and ready to fire. He was ready to get the hell outta dodge, as I was sure everyone else was.

I kept scoped in on the jockey. It writhed and flailed about frantically. Eyes glowing white in fear, then flaring to red with anger as blood splattered across the grassy field from its wound. It was causing more harm to itself than good as it tried to grab at the wound, unable to understand what was going on. It clawed at the ground as its eyes shone against our flashlights. I analyzed what I could as I stared through the scope.

"I'm going to agree with Francis for once, let's just kill it. It's going to start a horde and we just don't have the materials or ammo to take on one of those right now," Louis said hefting his gun and turning to go towards the trucks as were the rest of the squad.

I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Rochelle consoling Francis about the cow that had been killed by the mutant before us. I turned my attention back to it and that's when Robert said for me to finish it.

I pulled the trigger. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the bullet left the chamber, down the barrel and out the muzzle. Travelling across the field into the head of the mutated zombie - it all seemed surreal. Blood splattered everywhere as the woods echoed with one last scream from the creature.

"Let's book it," I said turning to everyone who hadn't gone to start the trucks up. I glanced back and noticed the eye shine from the jockey-like creature. What if there's others like this one?

The Jockey lay there, blood flowing freely from its wounds. When Zoey said we should run, it wasn't a suggestion. We booked it back to the barn where the trucks were uncovered, pulled out, and our gear thrown inside. It didn't take ten minutes to get one of them started, thankfully. Even Louis said so, "That went easier than I thought!"

"Can't we once have a break!" Francis yelled from the back. He still mourned for the loss of the cow. And then feared the others would follow suit. Mad Cow Zombies!

Zoey took the wheel of the lead truck, throwing her rifle onto the seat beside her as I jumped in the other side. "Head count!" I bellowed towards the back.

"We're all here!" Kate yelled back of our truck.
"All here!" Rochelle called up.

Sitting beside Zoey, I nodded, "Let's go!" and we hauled ass out of there. The engine roared as we darted around the barn, through the gate, and back onto the road. Looking about, there wasn't a horde chasing us. No Tank bursting through the trees and throwing a trunk. It was quiet except the drone of the engine. Breathing a sigh of relief, I sank into my seat, put the weapon on safe, and squeezed Zoey's hand. We would have to continue towards the WHO, press on until we reach it.

In the back, our friends were exhausted. Some of the sailors, when the all-clear was given, just fell asleep sitting upright, or resting on each other's shoulders. Rochelle's head fell on her man's burly shoulder as the biker looked out the back of the truck, whispering, "Goodbye, Lulu."

Several miles down the road, almost everyone was asleep in the back, all except Kate and Jackson. The busty redhead looked about and thought everyone was asleep, giggled, then pulled out Jackson's rod and started bobbing on it. Jackson flinched, "Really, now?" he nervously whispered with people around them. Not answering, Kate grasped his hand and stamped it onto one of her massive boobs and squeezed it. Like a stress ball, it made him relax and allowed her to go back to work, wrapping her tongue around his shaft as a hand massaged his sac.