Note: What's this? An update in only a few weeks! AND it's an extra long chapter? GASP. I'm going to do my best to get these chapters out a little quicker and wrap this baby up. Hope you guys don't hate me by the end of this chapter... DUN DUN DUN!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

Abandon Ship
Chapter 9

"Man, I feel like we've been walkin' fer hours..." Ellis whined and kicked a small rock out of his way. It bounced off one of the trees.

"Quit whinin', youngin'," Coach huffed. "They said it wasn't too far from where the boat docked. Can't be too far off now."

"It does feel like we've been- Hold on, zombie coming," Louis paused and took aim with the plank in his hands. The lone zombie zigzagged at him, teeth bared and eyes flashing. Louis swung and smashed the board into its' face, bits of blood splattering from the rusted nails still embedded in the old wood. "We have been walking for awhile, but we must be going the right way. That was the first zombie we've encountered since we've left the cabin. CEDA must've cleared this area out pretty well. Nothing's around here for miles."

"Psh. I don't know why all of you are in such a rush to die," Nick scoffed.

"Ever the optimist," Zoey sighed, glancing over her shoulder. She was towards the back of the group and wanted to make sure nothing was following them, but so far, it seemed like there wasn't anything else out here with them.

When she turned back around, she caught Ellis looking at her. They both blushed upon eye contact and looked away. Zoey rubbed the back of her neck and fanned herself.

Ugh. This is awkward.

When she looked up again, she noticed that Ellis had turned back around, but Rochelle was now watching the both of them with a keen eye. The older woman hung back a moment to walk beside Zoey. Zoey fought back the urge to roll her eyes. Of course Rochelle would notice that little exchange. At least the other men seemed oblivious. Thank god. She wasn't sure if she could put up with any additional crap from Nick.

"So... what's all this about?" Rochelle whispered, motioning between Zoey and Ellis with her pistol.

Zoey tried to pick up the pace, but she realized that would just put her directly behind Ellis. She tried to shrug Rochelle's question off, "What do you mean?"

"Girl. Don't you play dumb with me."

"Is now really the best time to be talking about this?" Zoey murmured. Her gaze flickered to the man in question to make sure he wasn't listening in.

"No time like the present," Rochelle grinned cheekily. "Things seem different between you too. I mean, there's always been tension but not like this. Just making an observation."

Zoey inhaled through clamped teeth. She forgot how persistent Rochelle could be. She wasn't used to being on the receiving end of her stubbornness. That had been Nick's job.

"He kissed me." Zoey mumbled.

Rochelle let out a noise that didn't sound human. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth and looked around to make sure she hadn't alerted anything. She hadn't alerted anything undead, however the men had all heard her and turned around to see what all the fuss was about.

"Everything alright, ladies?" Louis asked, one eyebrow raised.

Zoey gave them an awkward smile, "Everything's great. I just thought of something... funny. Had to tell Rochelle."

"Right. Funny." Rochelle added with a small nod. All five men gave them strange looks, but turned back around anyway.

Zoey shot the other female member of the group a fierce glare, "Can we please not talk about this? Now's not really a good time. I'm distracted enough as it is trying to figure it out."

Rochelle waved her off, "Fine, fine. But as soon as we get to a safe point, I'm grilling you."

Zoey chuckled and shook her head, "Okay. When we're not in mortal danger, grill away."

She had been so focused on deterring Rochelle, that she hadn't noticed the men had all stopped. She walking right into Ellis' back. She cursed softly and stumbled backwards.

Ellis whipped when he felt her bump into him. He gently grasped her arms to steady her, "Shit. Sorry, Zo'."

Zoey blushed upon contact. Her feelings of anger and confusion from earlier flared up. She quickly brushed Ellis off without a word. The mechanic frowned and gave her a concerned look. Zoey knew she had to ignore him. She couldn't afford to distract him or be distracted herself because they had arrived at the CEDA base camp.

A few feet away, among the tall trees of the forest, was what appeared to be a concrete fortress. The fence would be too high for them to climb. Lookout posts were perched atop random points of the cement walls. It looked like armed guards were watching the forests edge from those posts.

"Don't think we're sneaking in the front..." Ellis mumbled to nobody in particular.

Zoey glanced up above them. The sun was just beginning to dip down towards the trees and a milky orange dust was beginning to set in the sky.

"We'll have a better chance sneaking in when it's dark. They'll be less likely to spot us," She flipped her pocket knife open. "I'm gonna walk around the perimeter, see if I can find a weak point."

She needed to clear her head, and a quick walk would be a good getaway opportunity. She'd stay near the forest edge to shield herself from the guards. Ellis opened his mouth to offer to go with her but quickly snapped it shut. Zoey had been giving him strange looks and keeping her distance from him since last night. He was starting to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have kissed her.

"Ellis, go with her." Coach's command made both their heads snap up.

"Huh?" Ellis and Zoey both gave Coach befuddled looks.

"What's with the 'huh'? I thought you two'd be thrilled ta' go togetha'." The older man then repeated,"Go with her. Check out the perimeter. It's not safe for ya' to go alone, young lady."

"I can go by myself. I'm not going far," Zoey argued. The thought of being alone with him made her stomach flip nervously.

Coach smiled gently at her, "I know you can handle yerself, Zo', but it ain't safe. If you got caught by somethin' we'd have no idea. You'd be helpless. Go check it out and be back here in 20. We'll wait here for ya'."

Zoey's mouth formed a thin line, while Ellis awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck. Coach looked like he wasn't going to budge on his decision. With a heavy sigh Zoey turned and started walking. Ellis followed after her.

Rochelle eyed Coach warily, "You noticed it too?"

"Mhm. Those two got somethin' to work out. Everyone needs a clear head if we're gonna do this."

Zoey tromped through the woods, occasionally tossing the concrete walls a sidelong glance to see if there was an opening. So far, nothing. Ellis paced a few steps behind her, trying to keep his distance and figure out what the hell to say to her.

He finally blurted out, "Umm..."

Zoey made sure to keep looking ahead. She knew if she looked at him, her nerves would win out. She had to detach herself from him. It was the logical thing to do. Right?

"What, Ellis?" She muttered, trying her very best to put on a cold front. This was way harder than she thought.

Ellis felt his stomach flop. He stopped walking. Zoey finally turned around when she couldn't hear the sound of his footsteps crunching in the leaves.

"You've been actin'... different," Ellis said, his mouth twisting into a slight frown.

Her heart started to thrum in her chest. She looked around quickly to make sure there wasn't any danger around. No guards, no zombies. She pursed her lips to keep from biting them, "I'm just trying to stay focused."

"You sure that's all?"

Sweat was starting to accumulate on the back of her neck. She wasn't very good at this whole thing. She knew she just had to suck it up and be a bitch. It was what was best for both of them. Zoey simply shrugged his question off.

Ellis took a tentative step towards her and she immediately took a step back. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, "There is somethin'."

Crap. Zoey immediately shook her head and looked down at the ground. She was really sucking at this.

Ellis slowly closed the distance between them. She stayed frozen in that spot, staring down at her shoes. His hands hovered near her shoulders. He was afraid any contact with her would send her running for the hills. She seemed almost scared of him.

"Is it cause' I kissed ya'?" Ellis asked softly.

Zoey barely heard his question over the sound of her own heart thumping loudly in her ears. She felt dizzy and nauseous. Her will was beginning to crumble. She couldn't just push him away. She liked him too much.

Lie. Get away. Do something. This is not the time or the place for a relationship. I have to protect us both.

Zoey immediately shook her head and turned away from him, "We shouldn't be talking about this now. We're supposed to be looking for a way inside the prison. The others will get worried if we take too long."

There! Maybe she could delay this until she figured out what the hell she was doing.

"Damn it." Zoey peeked over her shoulder when she heard him curse. She saw Ellis yanked off his cap and rake his fingers through his wavy hair. His eyes caught hers and he muttered, "We might not have another chance to talk about this."

Zoey gulped, her eyes widening slightly. He did have a point. She had only considered pushing him away in order to protect the both of them. She had been so focused and worried on that, she hadn't considered anything else. No matter how hard she worked to keep them alive, they could still die tomorrow. Maybe they should just chance it. How many things did they have left in this world that were good or made them happy anyway?

She stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say to him. Do I apologize or what?

Ellis mistook her silence for stubbornness. He studied her face for a moment before gently brushing his fingertips against her cheek. She didn't flinch, "Maybe I shouldn'ta' kissed ya', but I don't regret it. I'd... I'd do it again. But I'll back off, if that's what ya' want. I don't wanna scare ya' away."

It hurt him to say that, to think that he had ruined what they had, but he didn't want to lose her completely. He loved her. Her dropped his hand (which Zoey had unconsciously started leaning into) and went on to continue walking along the CEDA walls. Zoey stared at his back for a moment before following him. She still wasn't sure what to say.

"Wait," She blurted out. She stumbled behind him, still unsure where exactly she was going with this. Ellis turned back around and waited for her to say something. "Look, Ellis, we can talk about all this when we're in a safe spot, okay? I am scared but not because of you. It's more like I'm scared of the situation."

Ellis nodded, although he wasn't entirely sure what she meant by the situation. She would have to explain later.

"And the kiss did kind of bring all these feelings up. But I'm not complaining." Zoey added hastily, "I did kiss you back, after all."

He grinned at her and she smiled back. This was more like it. She seemed like her old self, at least.

"Now, let's find a way inside this thing," Zoey motioned towards the CEDA fortress. Time to get back on track.

"I don't think we're gonna find a crack in the armor," Ellis whistled. "And it's too high ta' climb over. We might be S-O-L."

"There has to be a way in. It can't be impenetrable."

"Maybe we can find a crack somewhere on the wall, bust our way in. Don't know if we'll be able to get close enough to check it out with all them guards up top," Ellis rambled, leaning against a particularly tall tree.

Zoey sighed and looked around. There had to be some way in. That's when she noticed the tree he happened to be leaning against. It was tall enough that some of its' branches just skimmed the top of the concrete walls. CEDA had also not bothered to trim down the trees on the other side of the wall. How convenient.

"There might be a way we can climb it. With a little extra help." Ellis quirked an eyebrow at her. Zoey simply motioned for him to follow her, "Let's get back to the others. It'll be dark soon. I'll explain on the way."

"It was right over here," Zoey motioned with her pocket knife. She weaved through the trees at the forest edge, guiding the rest of the group towards the tall tree Ellis had found. It was getting dark out, which was making it harder to see exactly where they were going.

"So we'll take turns climbin' up tha' tree on tha' outside and use the one on the other side ta' get down," Ellis repeated Zoey's explanation to the rest of the group.

"Right. Piece of cake," Nick sneered.

"You got a better way in, Nick?" Ellis replied. Nick's mouth snapped shut, but he still glared at the younger man.

"This is it," Zoey slapped her hand on the right tree, "We just climb up and over. Should be dark enough that they won't see us."

"Just hug the wall or try ta' hide behind the tree when you get over," Coach said in a hushed voice.

"Who's going first?" Nick asked with a quirked brow.

Nobody volunteered and everyone of them seemed hesitant. Zoey sighed, "I'll do it."

"Wait-" Ellis cringed at the thought of her being the first one caught or her fall from the tree.

Zoey gently grasped his hand with her free one. She was trying to not get angry at him for wanting to protect her. She shouldn't push him away or punish him for that. Besides, it seemed like he wasn't going to let her try that, even if she wanted to. She smiled softly at him, "Relax, Ellis. You have to stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself."

His mouth bent into a frown and he exhaled, "I know ya' can."

Zoey thought about kissing him, even just to reassure him, but everyone else was watching. She settled for giving his hand a quick squeeze. She flipped her pocket knife closed and shoved it into her back pocket. She grabbed onto the tree and started to shimmy her way up until she reached a pretty thick branch. Zoey managed to pull herself up and swing up onto the branch. She looked down at the others, a few of them waved at her. She peered over to see if the guards had noticed them. So far, so good.

She scooted her way down the branch. She wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to crack and give way underneath her weight. Zoey made it to the edge and reached out to grab the branch on the other side of the fence.

"Careful..." Ellis mumbled to himself.

"We should start headin' up. Don't want her to be on the other side by herself," Coach instructed quietly.

Zoey had managed to make it to the other branch, on the other side of the gate. She looked back and saw that the others were slowly beginning the follow her. She crawled slowly towards the trunk of the tree, then slid back down to the ground. While the others were making there way up and over, she kept a close watch on the guards. She knew there wasn't much she could do if they saw them (she only had her pocket knife), but maybe they could at least scatter. Thankfully, though, everyone made it over undetected. The seven of them huddled behind the tree, near the wall.

"Okay, we're in," Louis said, glancing around the yard, "Now what?"

They scanned the yard. The actual building lay a few yards away. They doors appeared to be unguarded.

"We make a run for the door," Coach answered in a low voice. "Keep low to the ground and move quickly. Go."

They all made a dash for the door. Besides a few trees, the yard was pretty scarce, leaving them out in the open. The tried to duck and run, hoping the darkness would be enough to conceal them from the guards on watch. When they reached the door, Coach threw it open and they all shuffled inside. They entered a stark, narrow hallway. A few feet down, they could see the hall split in two different directions. Off to their right was a single, grey door, the only door in this hall.

"In there," Francis quickly poked his head inside the room. It was empty. They filed in, Louis shutting the door behind them.

They had found a storage room of some sort. The walls were lined with black, metal shelving. The shelves were stocked with all sorts of things, from canned goods to stacks of blank paper. No weapons.

"They couldn't make this easy could they?" Nick muttered, picking a random can up off one of the shelves.

"Course' not," Ellis replied, not realizing Nick's question had been rhetorical.

Coach's mouth formed a thin line, "That hallway led two different way. We're gonna have to split up again."

That idea certainly wasn't anyone's preference, but it seemed like the best option. They'd be able to cover more ground, and they'd be likely to find the weapons faster. It was the logical thing to do.

"We split. One group go left, one go right. We don't have watches or nothin' to keep track of time, so we'll just have ta' wing it. Twenty minutes we meet back by the tree. Got it?"

"How are we splitting up?" Rochelle asked, looking around at everyone.

"Old groups okay with everyone?" Francis suggested.

While nobody was okay with splitting up at all, the old groups seemed like good a choice as any. Francis, Zoey, and Louis would take the left hall, while Coach, Rochelle, Ellis, and Nick would take the right one. They would meet back outside in no more than twenty minutes, hopefully with weapons.

As Zoey prepped herself for the mad dash to locate supplies, she noticed Ellis watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" She asked him in a low enough voice that nobody could hear them. Not that their relationship (whatever it was), was a huge secret among the group. It seemed like everyone knew something was up.

Ellis opened his mouth to say something but then, recalling their earlier conversation, snapped it shut. He was going to tell her to be careful. However, she had made it apparent that she didn't want to be babied or watched after. He was going to respect what she wanted, and try not to be too overbearing. Zoey had wanted to take things slow, and he was going to do just that. That didn't mean though, that he was going to let her pull away because she was scared.

She was still waiting for him to say something, a curious look etched on her pretty face. He flashed her a quick smile before placing both hands on her shoulders. Zoey's cheeks turned pink, thinking that he was going to kiss her again. His hands slid down her shoulders and gave her biceps a gentle squeeze.

"See you in twenty?" He asked playfully. His palms continued moving down her arms, until he was holding both her hands. Zoey noted how small and slender her hands looked in his larger ones. He squeezed her hands, sending a wordless message that was clear to both of them.

Stay safe.

Her lips tugged into an automatic grin, "Absolutely. What could go wrong?"

"Down this way," Zoey led the way down the tight, narrow hall. Francis and Louis were close behind her.

Since they had split from the rest of the group, they had not seen any other sign of life. The halls were barren. There were no doors, no windows, and most certainly, no weapons. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

"It's a freaking military base. Where the hell are the keeping everything?" Francis grumbled.

Louis simply shook his head. They darted around a close corner and Zoey stopped in her tracks.

"Get back," She hissed, pushing Francis and Louis back around the corner and up against the wall. The metal wall felt like ice against her back.

"What is it?" Louis asked, trying to peer around the corner but to no avail.

"Hold on..." Zoey snuck a look around the wall.

Right around the corner, the thin hallway opened up to a larger room. From what Zoey could see, the room was empty save for a large holding cell on the opposite wall.

"There are people locked up in there," Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to her friends.

Francis scoffed, "Probably gonna do to them what they did to us. Test em' and dump em'. Do we turn back then? There wasn't anything down this way..."

"No," Zoey glared at the bars of the cells, "We're going to save them of course."

"I knew she would say that," Louis frowned. Although he knew the people didn't deserve to be locked away, he also knew they shouldn't waste any valuable time.

"Sorry I asked," Francis grumbled.

Zoey peered around the corner one last time, to make sure the coast was clear. There were no guards in sight, and the prisoners hadn't noticed her yet. She motioned for the older men to follow her. The trio slowly edged their way towards the cells, sticking low to the ground and close to the walls.

"H-hey-" One of the prisoners finally noticed them. They jumped up off the floor and latched onto the bars of the cell. Zoey pressed her finger to her lips, shushing them.

There were three prisoners being held captive in the dank jail. The one who had called out was a younger man. He appeared to be Zoey's age, maybe a little younger. He had sun bronzed skin, the color of honey. She could clearly see his narrow eyes under his mess of dark hair because they were a bright shade of green. His face was fuller, with rounded cheeks.

The older man in the cell was much paler by comparison. He was bald, with a few tufts of gray hair on the sides of his head. His chin and jaw however, were covered with a thick salt-and-pepper colored beard. His gaunt face looked tired and run down, and his denim colored eyes had many dark circles under them.

The woman had barely glanced up at them. She was leaning against the wall in the back of the cell, her brown eyes focused on the floor. She also had tanned skin, like the boy, but hers was darker. Her face was all angles, a thin nose, a sharp chin and high cheekbones. The only thing rounded about her features were her hazel colored eyes. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail.

"Can ya' help us?" The boy asked. Zoey nodded and motioned for him to be quiet again.

"Sorry," He adjusted his volume.

"Keys?" She whispered back.

The boy pointed to the other side of the room, where a set of keys dangled from a hook on the wall. How very old fashioned.

Louis snatched the keys off the wall and went to unlock the gate. He hands shook as he snapped the key into the lock and tried to jiggle it open.

"Hurry up," The young man urged impatiently, "The guard'll be back any minute. They've been gone for a bit now. They was saying somethin' about intruders on the area and must've gone ta' check it out."

"That'd be us," Francis spoke, a cocky edge in his voice.

"Got it," The lock clicked and Louis flung the door open.

"Thank you," The young man said earnestly, "Name's Tyler. The old guy, that's my uncle. His name's Mason. That's my sister Sam."

The old man kindly gave them his thanks, while the sister, Sam, just gave them a swift nod.

"I'm Zoey, this is Francis and that's Louis. Sorry no time for pleasantries. If you could just point us in the direction of where you think they might be keeping weapons, we'll be on our-"

Click

They all slowly turned around to see two armed CEDA agents standing in the hallway.

"Jackpot," Nick crowed as he threw open a set of metal cabinet doors. Inside the cabinet was lined with all sorts of weaponry. Nick grabbed a rifle, checked its' ammo and slung it over his shoulder, "Take your pick, ladies."

The foursome had ducked into a random room when they thought they had heard someone coming after them. Turns out they had entered some sort of planning center. They decided to poke around until the coast seemed clear.

The room was big. The walls were lined with all sorts of metal shelving, cabinets, and drawers. There was a large slab of a table in the center of the room. The table was covered with miscellaneous papers and folders.

Ellis picked up a packet of papers off the table. He scanned it quickly, but didn't really comprehend what it was reporting, "Wonder what all this shit's for..."

"Let me see that," Nick snatched the papers out of Ellis' hand. He readjusted the gun on his back before beginning to read.

"Hey-"

"Ho-ly shit..."

"What is it, Nick?" Rochelle stuffed another pistol in the holster on her belt, before peeking over the con-man's shoulder. The paper did look slightly confusing. It was covered with all sorts of numbers and directions.

"Those look like coordinates..." Rochelle murmured. Nick fought back a shudder at the feeling of her breath ghosting over his ear.

"They are... question is, for what?" Nick mumbled.

"Bombs?" Ellis asked.

"Probably."

Nick flipped through to the next page, his steely eyes narrowing slightly. It was an entire conversation, mostly of orders, directions and plans, between CEDA. It was coded, but not hard for Nick to figure out (he had to do similar things to cover his ass during his con-man days).

"I can't make heads of tails of that page..." Rochelle leaned back, her eyes meeting his, "Can you?"

Nick shook his head. He wasn't sure if now was a good time to tell them what CEDA had cooking. They had other things to worry about.

CRSHH

Their heads snapped up when they hear, what sounded like a PA system turning on.

"Christ, what now?" Coach muttered. They were probably going to have to make a run for it.

We have escapees on level 1 sector 3. All available units report.

"Escapees? We ain't escapin'..." Ellis grumbled, then his eyes widened, "Shit! Zoey! What if they got caught?"

He reached for the nearest gun, a shotgun, and some ammo. Coach and Rochelle both stocked up quickly as well. Coach hurled the door open, "If they're escapin', then they'll probably be headed for the meet up point. Move y'all. They'll be sealin' off exits."

"But what if they got caught? We can't just leave em'!" Ellis argued.

"Boy, we can't help em' if they got caught. Think about it. She'd want you to get out. We ain't got time to debate this, are you comin' or not?"

Ellis frowned but nodded in defeat. Zoey's words rang through his head.

What could go wrong?

"If you'll all just back into the cell, we'll let this go without hurting you," One of the agents warned, but the alert on the intercom drowned him out.

Zoey grit her teeth. It was only a matter of time before more agents swarmed them. They had to think fast. The other group was probably heading for the exits, or worse, coming to try to rescue them. She didn't want them mixed up in their mess. She slowly pulled out her pocket knife, while Louis and Francis had their weapons raised. They would go down fighting.

"We ain't goin' back in that cell," Tyler spat.

"Shut up, kid," Francis growled, "You're making things worse."

"Ever heard of not poking the bear?" Louis added.

The guard trained his gun on the young man, "You really don't want to cross us, kiddo."

Tyler's hands started to shake. He licked his lips, glancing between the guards and his rescuers. He knew a way they might be able to get out, but it was a risk, and they were going to hate him for it.

But he would do anything to save his family.

In the blink of an eye, he snatched the pocket knife out of Zoey's hand and wrapped on arm around her throat. He pulled her against him, her back against his chest and the knife pressed against her throat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you little shit!" Francis growled. He was going to beat the living hell out of this brat.

Zoey could feels Tyler's fingers shaking and his palms sweating. She could try to get out of his grasp, but she was afraid he would slip and end up hurting her anyway. The knife was dangerously close to her throat. What the hell was this kid doing?

One of the agents chuckled, "What do you think that's going to do? That girl is an intruder, just like all of you. It'll save us from having to kill her. Go ahead."

The younger man smirked, "I don't think you really want me to kill her."

"Why not?"

"Because. She might be a carrier. She might not be. You have no idea. If she is one, her blood is tha' most powerful weapon in this room. I could spill it and we'd all be infected in an instant. But she might be immune. You willin' to take a risk?"

The guards lowered their weapons slightly. They weren't sure if the kids plan would work, if spraying the girls blood would infect them. They'd never encountered carrier blood directly.

"You'd kill her? They just saved your ass..."

"Exactly." Zoey muttered sarcastically.

"Try me." Tyler countered, pressing the knife against her skin with a bit more force. Blood began to trickle down her neck.

Nobody moved, too afraid of what might happen. Finally one of the guards threw down their weapons, "Just go. Get the hell out of here. I don't want to risk becoming one of those... things. They'll kill you all anyway."

Sam scooped up the guns off the floor. Her and her uncle started to run. She yelled over her shoulder, "C'mon, Ty!"

Tyler still had a firm grip on Zoey. He looked over at Francis and Louis, who were waiting for him to release her. They were just as afraid of the CEDA agents, but only because they feared for their friends' life. Tyler however, knew he needed to hold onto his insurance. She could help them escape, and they could always use more help back where he and his family called home. Plus, it was nice that this girl happened to be easy on the eyes.

He snatched Zoey up and tossed her over his shoulder. She was heavier than he thought, but he didn't have time to gripe. He held her with one arm and grasped the knife with his free hand, "I'm taking her with me, back to our camp. Sorry. Might need the extra insurance in case we run into the guards."

"Like hell you are," Francis snarled, ready to bash the kid's head in.

"Just go," Zoey picked her head up. The longer they argued, the more time they wasted. The more time they wasted, the more chance they had of getting caught. "Go. The others are probably waiting outside. I'll... I'll find you guys somehow."

"I'll kill him."

"I'll kill her."

"You little prick-"

"Let him go! Francis, Louis tell the others... tell Ellis-"

But Tyler didn't let her finish the sentence. He knew he only had seconds before Francis and Louis would be on him anyways. He wasn't sure why they didn't jump him right away, unless they truly believe he was going to slit her throat, and maybe he would have if it meant he could protect his family.

"Sorry about this," He said earnestly.

Zoey didn't answer him, she just bit her lip. She hoped she was doing the right thing, buying Francis and Louis more time to escape. If they wasted time rescuing her, they'd all be stuck here forever.

And that'd be a worse hell than living with the zombies.

"We should've gone after her," Francis snapped, running alongside Louis, "Which way did they go? I'll snap that little bastard's neck."

"You heard what she said," Louis argued, although he really wanted to agree with Francis on this one. What the hell had Zoey been thinking? "She wanted to give us a chance to escape. If we would've tried to save her, it would've wasted time and the kid might've killed her. We don't know what he's capable of."

"Screw that. I would've kicked his ass before he could've laid a hand on her."

"Francis. He had her in a headlock."

"Whatever. What the hell are we going to do?" They were closing in on the exit. The kid, Tyler, and his family were long gone. They must've gone out another way.

"She said she would find us... We just have to pray that she does. Or we'll find her. Something will have to work out."

"In case you haven't noticed, praying and hoping hasn't gotten us shit these days."

They burst through the exit and scrambled across the courtyard. The other group wasn't at the tree.

"Shit."

"Dammit. Hope they didn't get caught too."

They scrambled up the tree, and over the fence. When Louis climbed over, onto the outer tree, he looked down and saw the others waiting at the bottom. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were okay.

He slid down the tree. Francis was still making his way over. He hated heights and was moving at a snails pace.

Ellis looked up when he heard someone on the tree. He waited expectantly. He was watching for Zoey to follow them. A minute passed. Francis began to slide down the tree. Still nothing.

"She's not coming."

Ellis' heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and his face crumpled. He looked to Louis for an explanation, they all did, even Nick. Louis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't even considered how he was going to explain this, nor what everyone (especially Ellis') reactions were going to be.

Francis' feet had just touched the ground when Ellis finally asked, "Where is she then? She's not..."

He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He couldn't even think it. If she was dead...

"She's alive," Louis swiftly corrected him. Ellis breathed a quick sigh of relief. That would have been the worst.

"So where the hell is she then?" Nick asked bluntly.

"She was captured." Francis grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. Just saying it made his blood boil.

"By CEDA?" Rochelle asked in a hushed voice. Ellis' hands curled into fists.

Louis shook his head. He gave them a brief summary of what had happened, how they had been looking for the weapons when they found the captured group. He explained how it had been Zoey's idea to rescue them, and how after they rescued them, they were corned by CEDA. The boy used Zoey as a hostage so he and his family could escape.

"They say where they were going?" Coach asked quietly. The bigger man glanced at Ellis out of the corner of his eye. The mechanic's fingers were balled up into tight fists, the skin on his hands stretched white over his knuckles. His teeth were grit and his shoulders shook, but he continued to quietly listen to Louis' story.

"He mentioned a camp," Francis replied.

"Zoey said she was going to try and find us... but I don't know how," Louis added solemnly.

"This camp. How tha' hell do we find it?" Ellis growled. He wasn't normally a violent man, but he was seething now. He was fighting back the urge to punch something. When, not if, they found this camp and the kid who took Zoey, if one hair was out of place on her head, he'd knock this kid into next week.

"I-I don't know. They didn't say where it was. Just that they were taking her there..."

They all looked up at the sound of rustling papers.

"Funny you should mention a camp..." Nick waggled a packet of papers in the air.

"Are those the papers from before? The ones we were looking at inside?" Rochelle asked. She hadnt even see him swipe them. Nick really did have sticky fingers.

"Yeah. I figured out what the second page was talking about, but I didn't want to say anything. We had enough to worry about."

"What does it say?"

"It mentions camps. Lots of them, all set up by carriers like us trying to quarantine themselves off. The coordinates on the front were estimated locations of these camps. Guess CEDA doesn't approve of them, even if they're no threat. They're planning to bomb them."

"Shit." Ellis muttered. If Zoey was in one of those camps... They had to find her.

"But if we've got the coordinates and directions, shouldn't be too hard to track her down." Nick stuffed the papers back into his jacket pocket. "Their camp has to be close by."

"Lead the way, Nick," Coach directed, pulling out his weapon. They'd head for the nearest camp. They'd keep looking until they found Zoey.

They would find her. Ellis knew it.

SOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo what'd y'all think? I normally don't like introducing made up characters, BUT when I thought of this idea I thought it would make a nice new plot for the story. I know some things might not make a whole lot of sense and I stretched things a bit in some parts, but needed to do it to move the story forward. Please review! Next chapter Ellis might have to go kick some ass and get his girl back! :)