Silent Lucidity

By: esmtz

Nick sat quietly in the chair with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped together with his chin lying on top them. His eyes were red and puffy as he continued to look at Ellis who was lying on a bed in one of the rooms of the building. They had been there for awhile while Rochelle went back out to see if she could find a defib unit and a health kit with some help from Beth and the others. Nick was just itching to go back out and look for Keith since the entire time he had brought Ellis to this room all he kept thinking about was how he wanted to kill Keith as he was still shaking with anger but he also didn't want to leave Ellis's side at the moment. Nick heard as the door to the room opened making him look up to see that Rochelle showed up with a sad expression on her face.

"Well? Did you find anything?" Nick asked looking at her.

Rochelle sighed and shook her head.

"I couldn't find a defibrillator, Nick. All I could find was a health pack." Rochelle replied holding the health pack out in front of her.

Nick swallowed as he tried his hardest to stay angry enough that way he didn't end up losing it in front of Rochelle.

"What about that fucking bastard Keith? Did you see him anywhere?"

Once again Rochelle shook her head as she made her way towards him. She sat down on the corner of the bed as she looked at Ellis before she looked back at Nick.

"He might have taken off. Nick, honey I'm so sorry." Rochelle said looking at him sadly.

"Don't. Just don't, Rochelle alright? I'm fine." Nick told her holding it together as best as he could but it was hard as Ellis was right in front of him not moving.

Rochelle bit her lip as it was obvious to her that he was lying.

"No you're not, Nick. I can clearly see just how hurt you really are." Rochelle said looking at him worriedly.

Nick didn't say anything as his gaze drifted from her to Ellis and found himself unable to look away. He felt his eyes start to water just as Rochelle got up and hugged him.

"It's ok, Nick." Rochelle said trying to comfort him.

Nick didn't return the hug. All he did was keep his gaze focused on Ellis.

"I'm going to kill him. If I ever see that fucking asshole again I am going to fucking kill him. He was trying to kill me and Ellis just…I kept telling him not to protect me and look what happened." Nick said clenching his hands into fists as he closed his eyes trying to will away the tears.

"Ellis loved you, Nick that's why he did it. You've helped him throughout this entire trip and believe me when I say this but I think he loved you even more than he loved Keith and he talked about Keith a lot. He gave up his own life to protect you because he didn't want to see you get killed especially because of the fact that his ex-boyfriend was trying to kill you." Rochelle told him.

"And how am I supposed to feel about that, Rochelle? I am nothing special first off and second I had a chance to either kill Keith or just leave and I didn't do either and now that's on me. I knew exactly what kind of person Keith was and I just didn't do anything about it. I even knew before we got here from the looks he was giving me and still I didn't say something about it earlier so now because of me Ellis…"

Rochelle pulled back just as Nick shook his head and looked down guilt completely overwhelming him.

"You didn't kill Keith because then Ellis probably would have never wanted to see you again and as for leaving we were going to leave but then the horde of zombies happened. Even if you wanted to leave earlier neither Ellis or I really wanted to leave the safety of this place so it really wasn't your fault, Nick." Rochelle said looking at him sadly.

"Yeah it is, Rochelle." Nick replied looking back up at her, "I can feel it in my gut that I could have done something to stop this from happening but I didn't and now I have to live with the fact that I got Ellis killed."

Rochelle saw the obvious hurt that was written on his face as he stood up and moved to stand next to the bed. Nick looked down at Ellis, who looked like was just sleeping, and placed his hand on Ellis's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ellis. This was my fault." Nick said as the tears slowly fell down his face, "I should have just killed Keith. I would have rather have you hating me and alive then you liking me and dead so I really am sorry overalls. I should have put you first especially after the way he threatened you."

Nick gently squeezed his shoulder before moving towards the door.

"Nick, where are you going?" Rochelle asked as she turned to look at him.

"What does it matter?" Nick responded as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

Rochelle sighed as she looked at Ellis sadly before deciding that she might as well look again for a defibrillator. She put the health pack on the chair that Nick had been using before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. As soon as Rochelle started walking away from the room she saw Beth run up to her.

"Hey did you find a defibrillator yet?" Beth asked.

"No I didn't. I was actually going to keep looking around for one because it's better than sitting around and doing nothing. Why have you seen one?" Rochelle asked.

"Um kinda? I'm not really sure I thought I caught a glimpse of one on someone's back but it might have been my imagination." Beth replied rubbing the back of her neck.

"Ok where did you see it?" Rochelle asked.

"Where the cafeteria was at. I was in the midst of dealing with the infected when I thought I saw someone with it." Beth said.

"When was this?"

"Soon after we left you guys in that room. I don't know if it was my imagination or not so that's why I'm telling you this just in case I wasn't making it up but I'll still help to look for another one if you want."

"Thanks I appreciate the help. I already looked on this side of the place so can you recheck it for me? I was going to go towards the other side of the building and start looking there." Rochelle said.

Beth nodded.

"Yeah sure but be careful, Rochelle. Just because we killed all of the infected that got in doesn't mean that there aren't still some lurking nearby." Beth told her.

"I know you be careful too ok?" Rochelle replied.

"I will. I'll come find you if I find one." Beth said before running off.

Rochelle continued on her way past the now destroyed cafeteria area all the way to where even more rooms were at. As soon as she got to the first door she immediately went inside to see if she could find a defibrillator in that room. Once she was done checking the room Rochelle made her way to the next room. This continued on for awhile and depending on whether the door was busted open or locked still (used an axe to destroy the door) she was either quick with her searches or it took time just to get the door open. By the time she was about halfway through the second floor rooms she heard a growling sound coming from nearby. Rochelle held tightly to her axe not wanting to use her pistol in case it alerted anything else that was nearby as she slowly exited the room that she was in. Cautiously she made her way to the next room in which the door was gone and she wasn't entirely sure if the hunter was in that room or not since it did sound pretty close but it could have been coming from any of the rooms ahead of her. She swallowed as she slowly entered the room ready to push away the hunter in case it was near the door. Rochelle looked around nervously as she couldn't see where it was at so she made her way further inside until she was sure that the hunter was in the room because of how loud its growling was. She moved towards the bathroom where the growling was coming from and as she got closer she got ready to swing the axe but because of how close she was to it and it already knowing that she was there the hunter waited until she was in sight before it jumped on her. Taken by surprise Rochelle dropped the axe and tried her best to keep the hunter from slicing into her. The hunter was making so much noise trying to claw at Rochelle that it alerted someone who happened to be a few rooms away. The hunter was just about to slice into Rochelle's stomach when someone shot the hunter in the head making it fall to the floor motionless. Rochelle sighed with relief before looking up at her rescuer and with wide eyes she saw that it was Francis who was also looking at her with a surprised look on his face.

"Francis? What on earth are you doing here?" Rochelle asked as Francis helped her to her feet.

"It's a long story. What about you, Rochelle? Where's the rest of your group?" Francis asked.

"Nick's…nearby." Rochelle said looking a little uncomfortable.

Francis frowned slightly.

"Just Nick?" Francis asked.

Rochelle rubbed the back of her neck and nodded.

"…Yeah."

"Sorry to hear that. It's just me and Louis now too." Francis told her.

"What? Did Zoey…?"

"We couldn't get to her in time. Louis has been blaming himself over what happened but in truth there was nothing that we could have done to help her." Francis explained, "That's why we're here. There's no reason for just the two of us to go and look for a deserted island all by ourselves plus it made more sense to find more survivors even though I still didn't like the idea of coming here. What were you doing up here by yourself anyway?"

"I was looking for a defibrillator for Ellis. He was killed trying to protect Nick from his friend who was trying to kill Nick. It's complicated." Rochelle said noticing the look on Francis's face.

"Well I can help you with that. Since it was just Louis and I we brought along a defibrillator just in case something happened but it looks like we don't need it." Francis said.

"Really? Thanks a lot, Francis." Rochelle said smiling at him making him blush.

"No problem." Francis said as he led her to the room that he and Louis were in.

Francis opened the door to reveal Louis sitting on the bed trying to stitch up a wound he had on his left leg. Louis looked up when he saw Francis and Rochelle enter the room.

"Oh hey there, Rochelle. So you guys are here too? I didn't see you guys here earlier." Louis said looking at her with a slightly surprised look on his face.

"I guess we missed each other because we've been here for at least a few hours." Rochelle told him, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah a hunter just grazed my leg that's all. I'm good." Louis replied making Francis roll his eyes.

"Was it from the hunter that was just a few rooms away?" Rochelle asked.

"No it happened when all those infected appeared all at once. So that's what that noise was?" Louis asked.

"Yeah I got it off of her before it could do any damage." Francis told him, "Listen, Louis. Rochelle here needs our defibrillator. One of her teammates was killed and-"

"Go ahead and take it because at this point we don't need it." Louis said motioning to the defibrillator that was on the bed next to him.

Rochelle smiled at him.

"Thanks, Louis." Rochelle said before making her way over to the other side of the bed to grab the defibrillator then went back towards the door to stand next to Francis.

Louis just smiled at her before returning to stitching up his wound.

"I'll be back in a bit, Louis. I'm just going to make sure that Rochelle gets back to her friends safely." Francis told him making Louis smirk.

"Uh huh sure you do that." Louis said chuckling slightly.

Francis looked at him annoyed before following right behind Rochelle who had already left the room.

"Hey, Rochelle wait up!" Francis said as he quickly caught up to her.

Rochelle looked at him in confusion.

"Shouldn't you stay with Louis to make sure he'll be ok?" Rochelle asked.

"He'll be fine. I'd much rather make sure nothing happens to you on your way back to your friends." Francis said making Rochelle blush.

"Um ok." Rochelle said shyly as she led the way back to where Ellis was at.

As soon as they got close to the room they heard noises coming from inside the room making both Rochelle and Francis rush inside.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Rochelle asked surprised to see that both Keith and Nick were in the room.

Nick had pushed Keith against the wall and was holding him there with his gun aimed at Keith's chest.

"This fucking asshole had the nerve to fucking come in here!" Nick replied angrily as he pressed the gun against Keith's chest, "I'm going to fucking kill you for what you did to Ellis!"

A look of pure hatred was on Nick's face as he was so tempted to kill Keith right where they stood. Keith looked at Ellis sadly before he looked back at Nick.

"Do it. I'm never gunna forgive mahself for what I did to mah best friend." Keith said looking extremely hurt.

Nick didn't say or do anything at first as he was contemplating about how to handle this situation. In the end Nick lowered his weapon and glared angrily at Keith.

"No. As far as I'm concerned that's an easy way out for you and I hate you so fucking much that I'd rather you be alive and live with the fact that you killed Ellis." Nick said before pulling Keith away from the wall and pushing him towards the door, "Get out and don't you fucking dare come back. If I ever see you again I'll make your life a living hell."

Nick, Rochelle and Francis watched as Keith took one last look at Ellis before leaving the room.

"Wow so he was the kid's friend who was trying to kill…that's messed up." Francis said.

'Trust me you don't know the half of it.' Rochelle thought to herself.

"How long have you been here?" Nick asked looking at Francis.

"We've been here for a couple of days already. We weren't sure what our next move was going to be so we decided to stick around here for awhile." Francis replied looking at Nick and then at Ellis.

"We?"

"Louis and I. We lost Zoey a little while ago so we decided that it was probably better to stay around other survivors because lets face it what can two people possibly do on their own?" Francis said looking back at Nick, "It looks like it was a good thing that we decided to come here otherwise you guys wouldn't have a defibrillator to revive the kid with."

Rochelle held out the defibrillator right in front of her to show Nick that they now had one. Nick looked clearly relieved as he took the defibrillator from her and moved so he could be hovering on top of Ellis. He placed the defibrillator on the bed before he raised Ellis's shirt revealing his chest. Nick had already removed the bullet from Ellis's back and stitched up the wound earlier so now all Nick had to worry about was getting Ellis's heart to start beating again. While he was using the defibrillator on Ellis, Rochelle turned to look at Francis with tears in her eyes as she smiled happily at him.

"Thank you so much, Francis. I'm sorry that you couldn't use it to save Zoey's life but I'm so happy that you saved Ellis's." Rochelle said as she threw her arms around him.

Francis started turning red as he returned the hug.

"You're welcome. I'm glad that I was at least able to help somebody out." Francis replied.

"I'm sure you did the best that you could to help Zoey and your other teammate and that's all anyone can really ask for." Rochelle said looking at him.

"I guess."

The sound of Ellis gasping for breath caught Rochelle and Francis's attention as they turned and saw that Ellis was indeed alive as he was struggling to catch his breath. Nick smiled as he put the defibrillator next to him before putting his left hand on Ellis's shoulder.

"Ellis, hey overall you're ok." Nick said his eyes already starting to water.

As soon as he was able to breathe normally Ellis looked up at Nick in complete confusion.

"Nick? What happened?" Ellis asked his eyes wide when he saw that Nick looked like he was on the verge of crying.

"…You fucking idiot."

Ellis was totally lost as to why Nick was calling him an idiot.

"I don't know what yer…"

Ellis was cut off when Nick suddenly pulled him into a hug.

"I kept telling you not to protect me and you didn't listen."

That was when Ellis remembered what had happened. He immediately wrapped his arms around Nick and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Nick. I'm the reason why Keith tried ta kill ya. I should've listened to you when you said that sumethin was off with him especially after how he tried to break us up and I should've done sumethin to prevent that from happenin even if it meant…" Ellis swallowed and looked away.

Nick pulled away from him to look at him directly in the eyes.

"Overalls this was not your fault alright? He's the one who turned out to be the fucking lunatic plus if anyone is to blame around here it's me for not dealing with Keith when I knew that I should have but didn't." Nick said, "I would rather have you hating me and being alive then liking me and ended up dead. Thankfully Francis here had a defibrillator to bring you back otherwise I don't know what I would have done if you really…"

'Francis is here?' Ellis thought to himself just now noticing that Francis and Rochelle were standing by the door.

Tears were falling down Rochelle's face out of sheer happiness as she placed a kiss on Francis's cheek making him turn even redder. Ellis looked at Nick with a hurt look on his face.

"I just didn't want to see you get killed especially because of me. It's just killin me that if I hadn't gotten to you in time Keith really would have…" Ellis said his bottom lip trembling.

Nick quickly put his arms back around him to try and comfort him.

"It's ok, Ellis. Everything is just fine." Nick told him rubbing his back soothingly.

Ellis held on tightly to him as tears started falling down his face. The thought of Keith killing Nick was just too much to bear and he was thankful that it didn't end up that way.

The End

Author's Note: Finally after 4 years, 4 months and 14 days this story is finally finished. I'm so sorry it took me this long to finish it but finally I don't have to worry about this story anymore thank god and in a way this is my Christmas present to you guys (who are still around) so Merry Christmas everyone even though its only Christmas eve but oh well close enough. I hope everyone has a good year next year so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would really like to thank those who read, fave/followed and especially to those who reviewed my story as a whole as well as the ones who reviewed my last chapter (unimportantGirl, Guest and solangeloshipper1925) without you guys I never would have finished this story so I hope you guys enjoyed it as a whole and as for this chapter it took me two nights to complete this (for once it took me longer cause it's the longest chapter I have ever written) so I really hope you guys liked this chapter and if not I'm sorry I just wanted this to get finished so I could focus more on any future stories that I'll do so anyway thanks for reading and I really do hope everyone has a good year next year so bye.

Esmtz-aka Erica (Sarah)