Disclaimer:

This is so random, but if Nick was a real person for some reason I picture him as Nick DiPaolo… lol. This is my first L4D 2 story and I hope you like it. I'm sorry if Nick is OC, I don't put bad language in my stories so I had to find a way to write him without it, I hope you like it.

"CHARGER!"

The yell was heard over the gunfire, reaching the woman's ears causing her to turn around and see the large infected coming towards her. She froze for a moment; her leg's not wanting to work as someone shoved her aside, sending her to the ground while the charger connected with someone else.

Rochelle lifted her head from the ground, blood coating her dark hair from where her head hit a tree branch. Dirt and blood sticking to her clothing as she jumped to her feet, hearing a sound behind her she turned to see ripples in the murky water. Before she could do anything a group of zombies were running towards her.

"Get back!" She yelled out, pushing the trigger and shooting the zombies in front of her to pieces. When they finally got rid of the zombies Ellis looked around, only seeing two of his teammates a small bead of sweat ran down his face, "Where's Nick?"

Rochelle's eyes widened as she looked around, her mind going back a few minutes ago when she saw the ripple of water after the charger came at her. "No." Coach and Ellis saw her turn around and stare at the water; Coach looked back and forth at the water and pieced it together.

Throwing his gun into the hillbilly's hands he dived into the water, leaving the other two to wait in silence; the cool air blowing by them felt like the hands of death were creeping up on them.

Coach turned on his flashlight, the light barely doing anything in the dark water which made him use his hands to feel around until he felt a large body; he could feel the deformed skin underneath his finger tips, pushing it aside he grabbed what was laying beneath it. The flashlight allowing him to see part of Nick's face as he held onto him, pushing off the bottom and swimming upwards.

Ellis and Rochelle were both jumped when Coach broke the surface of the watch with a gasp, taking a deep breath while swimming to a spot where he could touch ground; he got to his feet and walked out of the water.

Laying Nick on the wooden dock that was beside him, he jumped onto the small dock and was on his knees; putting two shaking fingers to the unresponsive man's neck, finding a sluggish pulse he let out a long breath. "I got a pulse."

"Something's wrong." Ellis stated while looking over Nick, "Ellis make sure nothing's coming." The mechanic nodded, pulling his shotgun away from his shoulder and holding it, ready to fire if needed. "You got it Coach."

His eyes scanned over the Nick's body, not seeing any bleeding wounds except for a few cuts but didn't know what kind of internal injuries he might have sustained from the Charger. Coach jumped when he heard a sound near him, his eyes moving upwards to see Rochelle knelt down across from him, "Nick wake up." He gave no response, "Nick!"

The older man across from her put his hand on Nick's chest, waiting for a second before biting his lip. "He's not breathing," Coach muttered to no one in particular, his heart wanted to rip in two at the thought of losing one of his teammates.

Rochelle moved when she heard his words; tilting Nick's head back and pinching his nose shut. Getting closer so her mouth covered his and started breathing for him.

Coach moved and kept his fingers on the man's wrist, "Nick, don't you leave us now!" She exclaimed closing her mouth of his again, praying that he would start breathing on his own. Coach just watched her with a look of worry, making sure he kept a hold of Nick's wrist which still held a faint pulse.

Ellis stood keeping watch, taking a second to look back at the others before moving his eyes back to the silent swamp; the only sound that broke the silence was Rochelle's strong voice that masked the worry she felt deep inside her that grew every second.

Coach kept his eyes on her, both of them focused on the young woman's eyes, her dark pools reflected the mixture of feelings she was going through, "Dang it Nick, breath." She whispered bending down again.

"Please Lord have mercy," She blew again, a small sob managing to escape before she breathed into him again. "Come on." She whispered; her voice was barely audible before she breathed into him again; Coach jumped when the man's hand twitched, his body jerked a few seconds later.

Coach saw the man start to sputter and gasp for breath, turning him on his side as he coughed up water. His body going limp when he was able to breathe, his eyes barely open, and his body shook when Rochelle lifted him from the dock to rest against her warm body.

"Hey guys, let's get him back to the safe room." Ellis said while lifting his hand and pointing to a building, Coach agreed and turned to Rochelle who was still staring at Nick as he looked back at her, his green eyes foggy.

Coach strapped his gun so it rested against his back, slipping his arms under Nick and lifted him; he winced when Nick coughed and quietly groaned, the last thing he heard before going under was Ellis yelling his name.

Rochelle checked his pulse and turned to Ellis with a relieved smile, "It's alright baby; he's still with us." Ellis let out a breath before looking to the right.

The three of them studied the area, finding no enemies they made their way to the safe room, Ellis opened the door and stepped aside as Coach came in. Rochelle running in after him with Ellis behind her, shutting the door and securing it with a metal pipe before turning to the others.

Coach laid the on the ground and removed Nick's weaponry as well his own before taking a med pack that Ellis handed him, "Thanks." He said with a quick nod, not noticing Rochelle beside him as he opened Nick's shirt and looked him over again.

This time they saw the damage they couldn't see through the clothing, dark bruises covered Nick's ribcage and what looked like a dislocated shoulder. His chest moved unevenly as he took sharp breaths while wincing, Rochelle watched Coach put his hands on Nick's ribcage, applying some light pressure which caused Nick to weakly cry out.

Rochelle took his hand, "It's alright, you're gonna be fine." Coach smiled at her reassuring words as the man began to relax, Coach knew his ribs were bruised badly but he didn't feel anything broken or cracked as he moved his attention to Nick's left shoulder.

He knew Nick was gonna kill him as he took a knife from his pocket and cut away the white jacket sleeve and also blue shirt sleeve from the wrist to the shoulder so he could get to Nick's bare skin without moving him.

He felt along the man's arm until he found the location of the dislocated shoulder, he looked at Rochelle and Ellis who watched the older man take hold of Nick's arm.

He began to move it outwards, rotating it up in a slow circle motion while keeping it bent at the elbow. Coach kept going until Nick's left hand touched the right shoulder, gently feeling the shoulder area to find it was relocated.

Lowering Nick's arm to rest on his stomach Coach sighed, "Ellis, go see if you can find something to use for a sling." He said quickly turning his attention from the leaving form of Ellis, noticing the blood on the side of Rochelle's head he took more items from the kit. "Here." He said, cleaning her thankfully small head wound and put a square bandage over the cut.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Coach replied putting what was left back in the first aid kit and throwing it aside. "I'll go see if I can find something we can lay him on, and if see if there are any blankets."

"Alright." She muttered as Coach got up from his place and went on his way.

A few minutes later Ellis came back with some old shirts, "Here ya go, sorry I couldn't find anything else." He said quietly handing them to Rochelle who took out a small pocket knife she kept in her pocket, using it to cut the shirts.

By the time Coach came back she'd managed to make a sling out of one of the old shirts and secure Nick's arm, "You find something?" She asked the older man who nodded, "Yup, found a torn up sleeping bag and about… Four blankets, little dirty but I think we'll live." He finished with a small laugh; Rochelle smiled at his comment and watched as the two men carefully lifted the unconscious man off the ground.

Lifting him enough to allow Rochelle to spread the sleeping bag out on the ground, she nodded to them when it was straightened out and got back as they gingerly laid Nick onto the now softer ground.

She took one of the blankets and rolled it up, putting it under Nick's head; grabbing a second blanket, she covered him with it, making sure it was wrapped close to his body to keep him warm.

"You did good Coach." Ellis smiled patting Coach's back; the big man shook his head while waving of his hand. "It was nothing, let's just get some rest." He said sounding worn out, taking a blanket from Rochelle he sat against the wall and wrapped it around himself. Humming a quiet tune to himself as he dozed, falling asleep just as Ellis was wrapping himself in a blanket that Rochelle gave him.

"Ro, you don't have a blanket." He said with concern, "I'll be fine Ellis." She replied, seeing him look at her and take the blanket off himself, laying it over her shoulders before returning to his place against the wall. "Ya need it more than I do."

"Thank you Ellis, good night."

"Night."

Rochelle smiled lightly when she saw him doze and then fall asleep, the only sounds she could hear was their light snoring mixed with her wounded friends labored breathing.

Taking a seat next to Nick she sighed, "You didn't have to do that," she whispered to him, knowing she wouldn't get a response. "Why did you do that? That isn't like you." Rochelle said with a small laugh, thinking of how selfish Nick seemed at first, but how he slowly came out of his shell enough to trust them and… even save her.

Rochelle's hand came to rest on her forehead, "You better pull through so I can kill you later for scaring me to death." She whispered before turning off her flashlight, the whole safe room going dark with only moon light showing through the small window on the door.

A small groan filled the air, reaching Rochelle's ears, causing her to slowly turn. The first thing her eyes focused on was slight movement coming from beneath the blankets beside her; the second thing she noticed was it was just the two of them.

'That's right; Coach and Ellis went to find supplies.'

Her concerned eyes traveling to Nick who was moving restlessly in his sleep, "Nick?" She said in a hushed voice, bending close to him.

"Nicolas?" Rochelle saw him stir from the sound of her voice, a smile pulling at her lips as his tired eyes opened. Using her hand, she gently moved his head to face her.

"Don't... Call me that." Nick rasped, his eyes shutting for a moment as his body stiffened, she could hear the hiss of pain escape him. Rochelle got up from her place on the floor, taking a minute to stretch her sore limbs before getting a bottle of pain pills from the table.

Coming back a second later with two pills she got down on her knees, "Think you can swallow these dry?"

He merely nodded, allowing her to lift his head a bit and put the pills in his mouth. It took him a few seconds to finally swallow them, letting her put him back down when they were finally gone.

His head falling to the side as his eyes drooped and shut, his breath stopping for a moment before coming back in deep breaths as the pills started to numb some of his pain, allowing him to fall into a less fitful sleep.

Rochelle knew he was asleep when his breathing started to slightly even out, not tossing or turning like he'd been before as she stood and went to the safe room door. Looking out the small bars at the murky fog that covered the swamp grounds, the sunlight shining through the trees and providing enough light to show how horrible the place looked.

Everything covered in mud, wet leaves and blood while the air stank of rotting corpses. The smell was not as bad as it had been when they first arrived in the swamp after shooting the helicopter pilot, Rochelle sighed at the thought that she was getting used to the smell.

'No one should be in a place like this long enough for that to happen, we should have been out of this mess already.' She thought as her hands balled up into fists, 'Why did all this have to happen? Why did this infection have to come?'

Rochelle's thoughts came without answers as a small tear escaped her eye, her hand unconsciously wiping it away when a sound came from outside. She jumped from her place in front of the door, taking her gun off the table and taking a few steps back until she was standing in front of Nick.

Her heart racing as she realized how she's been acting, her emotions conflicted ever sense she'd first laid eyes on him, the minute their eyes met it was like some kind of connection was formed. Rochelle realized how scared she'd been at the thought of losing him because her legs decided to not listen to her; she noticed how protective she was over Nick as she stood in front of him.

Ready to kill whatever came her way to keep him from anymore harm, shutting her eyes for a moment she raised the gun to the open window she'd been looking out before.

The sound came again but this time it sounded like there were two of them, something walking through the mud towards them when a voice echoed through the air to reach her.

"Hey Ro, could ya open up the door please."

Rochelle listened and sighed, her heart returning to its normal beat as Ellis looked at her through the door with a big smile. Lowering her gun, she put it on the table before unbarring the door and letting them in.

Ellis walked inside with Coach following, each of them setting down some first aid kids, a few bottles of water and more ammunition. "We couldn't find a lot but at least we got something." Coach said wiping a hand across his forehead, putting all the things he was carrying on the table and looking at Rochelle who was helping Ellis.

Coach picked up a first aid kit and took out a bandage, going to Rochelle and peeling off the bandage from before to find the wound looked better. "Thank you Coach." Rochelle said with a smile as he put the bandage over her cut.

Ellis adjusted his hat with one hand while the other landed on the table so he was leaning against it, letting out a long breath. "Man this swamp air stinks something terrible, reminds me of this one time me and Keith were making our own stink bombs. Keith wanted to throw it at his dog from the roof; turns out he forgot to get someone to hold the ladder. Man he fell off that ladder and dropped the bomb on himself, so we had ta-"

"Ellis sweetie, not right now." Rochelle said calmly stopping him with a pat on the shoulder and a smile, the southern man looked at her and smiled. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Sounds good."

Coach chuckled at the picture he had in his head from Ellis's story, silently wondering how in the world Keith could survive all these near death experiences.

"Coach?"

The older male turned his head away from Ellis and set his gaze on Nick who was starting to regain consciousness again, a small wince appearing when he moved his head to see Coach who was already beside him with bottled water.

Unscrewing the cap he gently lifted Nick's head and helped him take small sips before laying his head back onto the rolled up blanket, putting the lid back on the bottle and watching as the weaker man quickly fall back into a deep slumber.

"I say we all follow Nick's lead and get some rest." Coach said with a weary smile, the darkness under his eyes revealing the fatigue he was feeling. Ellis raised his gun, "I'll take first watch."

"No, I'll do it Ellis. You get some sleep." Coach said, ignoring his tired body's want to rest and held his gun with both hands, standing beside the door so he could look out the window as Ellis walked over to a blanket that lay on the floor.

Picking it up off the ground, he threw it over his body while lying down on his side. Using his arm as a pillow while keeping his shotgun close by.

Rochelle looked at Coach after Ellis' small snores filled the safe room, "I can keep a look out Coach, and you're exhausted."

"No little sister, I'll be fine."

"Well, wake me when you're shift is over and I'll take your place."

"Sure thing."

Rochelle nodded while laying out the left over blanket on the floor and curling up on it, her eyes sliding shut as a song her mother used to sing to her replayed in her head.

Coach's eyes moved from the door to the now sleeping woman, a smile gracing his features as she moved close to Nick, her arm lying on the blanket that covered him and gripping it as if to make sure he was still there.

Her face gently pressed against his right shoulder as her deep breathing seemed to be in rhythm with his, Nick's body seemed to relax with her there.

Coach just stood there watching her, a small sigh escaping his lips as he looked out the window while whispering to the quiet room. "You two sure make a strange couple."

I hope that didn't end too abruptly, I just couldn't think of anything else to write and wanted to get this finished before it got too long. This is my first real RochellexNick story, they didn't kiss or anything but I hope that I was able to show the love between them starting to get a little stronger. I am sorry if this was that great considering I don't write very good romance. lol