If one thing was certain during the times of the zombie apocalypse, it was the fact that Ellis would never let go of his past. Not Keith, not his mechanical skills… not even his stuffed teddy bear called Trevor. He only possessed two items from home now; his baseball cap and Bullshifters t-shirt. Ellis thought it ironic that he was forced to wear his favourite items of clothing day in and day out, but he didn't really understand the meaning of irony, so he could have been wrong.

He sat on the dirty floor, leaning against the wall and laying a casual hand on his baseball bat. The door had been bolted shut and wardrobes had been pushed against it; the usual routine and cautions that had to be made a necessity. The survivors hadn't dared to check if the lights worked, and even if they did, it held the danger of attracting stray zombies. The only light, therefore, emitted from Rochelle's flashlight - something Ellis had 'borrowed' when Rochelle had fallen asleep, as his own flashlight had broken – which was covered with a thin, straggly blanket. Ellis didn't want to wake and alert anyone else.

He could just about make out the faint figures of Rochelle and Coach as his eyes adjusted to the dinginess; and judging by the snores that filled the air, they were fast asleep. Nick's white suit was easily visible, but so were the blood stains that covered it.

Ellis winced and looked away hurriedly. No matter how much blood he had had to face during the past God knows how long, he still didn't like its red colour, the way it spread around in puddles on the ground or on clothes and the distinct, sharp metallic smell it gave off.

There had been lots of blood lost the day before. Coach had carried an unconscious Nick all the way to the nearest room that had been deemed half-safe, and Rochelle had helped Ellis stumble along by putting one of his arms around her and half-pulling him.

They had one more health kit left, and that was reserved for Nick. There had been enough bandages and medicine to get Ellis back on his feet and not groaning with pain every five seconds, and luckily Rochelle and Coach had avoided the masses of the hoard. Ellis just hoped that Nick could be sufficiently healed when he woke up.

Just as Ellis thought this, Nick turned over and groaned a deep, throaty groan. He was in pain; the grimace on his face showed as much.

"Fuck."

Ellis jumped, and looked around to see who had sworn. Both Rochelle and Coach were still asleep, and Ellis couldn't really see them swearing for no apparent reason. The only person who constantly swore in their group was Nick, but he was unconscious, and surely not even Nick would swear in his sleep…?

"What the fuck happened just then, Overalls?" Nick's voice came from right beside Ellis, and he would have yelled out loud if Nick hadn't appeared in his vision and spoken again. "It hurts. Why don't you try to heal me or something, rather than just staring out to space with that dumb look on your face?"

"You were asleep, I didn'… Hey, I don't look dumb!" Ellis protested, standing up and scurrying away from Nick, who just simply stayed sat on the ground, smirking. "Gimme a chance, will you? I thought you were knocked out for good!"

"Yeah? Don't rule me out that quickly, Overalls. Also, forget about healing me. I'd like to know that I would actually feel better afterwards."

Feeling indignant, Ellis grabbed the last remaining health kit from the ground and stormed back over to Nick.

"That's what I do, Nick. Fix things that are broke. I used to be a mechanic, remember?" Ellis said, fumbling a bandage out of the health kit.

"Don't call me broke. You're the one who's broke. Broke in the head."

"If I hadn't jumped in like a maniac and saved you, you'd have been a goner!" Ellis' voice raised; he was losing his temper. A rustling from behind him made him remember Rochelle and Coach, and Ellis could feel the tomato red blush forming on his cheeks as he stared at the ground. He could sense Nick's ice cold eyes on him, and he didn't like it. However, he felt somewhat cheated, angry. No matter what he did, Nick would always tease him with insults; always question his abilities to do anything.

"I don't even know what the fuck you're going on about," Nick whispered. Rochelle and Coach hadn't woken up, and both Ellis and Nick wanted it to stay that way. "I just woke up, my suit splattered with what I presume is my blood, everything hurts and you're implying that you saved my life. Let a man have some leeway, will you?"

The bandage Ellis had removed from the health kit was in a pile on the floor, forgotten.

"You were pounced on, and a hoard was on you. I… I jumped in and…" Ellis' voice trailed off as his eyes slid past Nick and toward the bandage and open health kit strewn across the floor. Embarrassment filled him with quiet disdain that was directed wholly towards himself. Why hadn't he just shot the zombies to hell? Why risk his life and probably Nick's? He'd been lost to his instincts in the heat of the moment, but now that that moment had passed he realised that he looked like an idiot. Always an idiot.

A snort came from above him. Nick had stood up and was towering over Ellis, his expression that of amusement and slight surprise.

"You jumped in? What are you, insane?"

"Maybe. Maybe this whole thing has got to me. Or maybe I was just born an idiot," Ellis mumbled to the ground, pulling his hat further down, over his eyes so that he couldn't see. A zombie apocalypse really made one delve deep into thoughts, and Ellis just wanted to forget it all.

Forget Keith, forget his mechanical skills, forget his teddy bear called Trevor, even forget his 'heroic' feat just the day before… thinking about them was like a stab straight to the heart; worse pain than any zombie could ever physically inflict. Thinking made you remember, and remembering in a time of crisis and desperate survival made you weak, vulnerable. Memories of the past life, the days where it was all normal; how the world should function, the happy times with friends and family. It was all something to be strived, all something that would never happen again.

Ellis often wondered where Keith was. Keith wouldn't die, not after everything they'd been through. The thought refused to enter Ellis' mind and actually remain there, as if the thought was oil and his mind was full of water.

He smiled sadly to himself; for all the brains he had, his head might as well have been full of water.

Suddenly, a hand came down on Ellis' shoulder; and although it was rough and unsure, it was meant to be comforting. Ellis wondered for a second as to whether Coach had heard him and Nick, but when he peered up from his hat he saw Nick staring out of the only window in the room, a slight hint of regret on his face.

"You got that right. Both things you said. Maybe you're not quite as dumb as you look. Unintentionally smart, sometimes." His voice was low and thick, as though he was trying to stop himself from remembering something painful.

Taken aback, Ellis couldn't help but be inquisitive.

"You got some things you don't wanna remember, too?"

The hand on his shoulder was whipped off. "Of course, dumbass. Who hasn't, now? God, I take back what I said about you being less dumb than you look. You're more stupid than what you look." Nick went to move away from Ellis, but as he started to stand he winced and grabbed hold of his side. He stumbled to the wall and leant on it, panting slightly.

Ellis, for all the talking and thinking, had forgotten about Nick's injuries. He jumped up and flicked his baseball cap from his eyes, hurrying over to Nick.

"You're hurt, you need to be healed," Ellis said.

"Good job stating the obvious. I don't want you healing me, I'd rather do that myself," Nick snapped back, sliding down the wall and landing awkwardly on the floor, his face twisted in a horrible grimace of pain. For all his bravado and pride, he looked the weakest Ellis had ever seen him.