rackofbadcds | Alternate title: Three Men and a Baby

Entry tags:

-closed,
rochelle

Alternate title: Three Men and a Baby

Holy hell of a morning.

After Coach had gotten shot, the motherfucking mountain man, the one the other called Marshall, didn't waste time. The other woman quickly introduced herself as Jean, a nurse and Marshall's wife, and had barely started trying to stop Coach's bleeding when Marshall brought up the bunker. It was less of a reccomendation and more like a demand. With Coach bleeding as bad as he was coupled with Rochelle's condition, which he would bring up later, the faster they got out the better.

And it was just in time, because as soon as the four of them got out of the hospital and made their quick introductions. Well, introductions coupled with arguing, especially when it was brought up who had shot Coach. Jean was about to shut them up with the roar of a horde did it for her. It didn't take more than a second for them to decide what to do. They abandoned the van (temporarily, they hoped), carried Coach and Rochelle into Marshall and Jean's pickup truck, piled in, and drove the fuck out.

Coach managed to stay conscious, even with all the blood he was losing. Rochelle, though, was out hot (pun intended) in her feverish condition. Jean did her best with the both of them. She said there was a doctor at the bunker, a co-worker she escaped with before she found Marshall again, who could give them a lot better help. Otherwise, between driving and trying to stablize the others, Jean and Marshall didn't have much focus to explain themselves and the bunker. As soon as they were out of the woods, that story was being saved.

The horde finally caught up when they got to the bunker. The slow opening door didn't help. But ~~a crescendo later and~~ the door opened enough for them to crawl under, and all that's left was to shoot the zombies trying to do the same until the door slid closed, just as slowly.

It finally did, and Coach leaned against the wall. He panted, hard.

"God DAMN..."

Jean moved over to him and offered an arm. Marshall was already carrying the unconscious Rochelle in both arms of his own arms, seeing as he wasn't sure how good of an idea it was to haul a pregnant woman over his shoulders.

"Gotta agree with that shit." He grunted. "Doc better still be here."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Shit." Nick let out a breath. He was still pissed, but this whole day had taxed on his goddamn nerves until all he could do was slouch heavily against a wall. He felt exhausted to the freaking bone and for once, Ellis looked in about as good of shape as him.

"So, what's this set up you have here?" He finally asked, if only to distract himself from whatever noises were going to be coming from this room.

"How long have you had it?"

Edited (inappropriate icon, sorry!) 2012-09-08 14:39 (UTC)

Marshall decided that was a good idea too. These guys probably had a hell of a morning, and the pain they could start to hear Coach in from the other room didn't really help.

"From what we heard, it's a half-finished military bunker. I dunno how much of that is true, seeing how nobody really believed what was going on in the east coast until it hit here, but... it's here."

He stood up slowly.

"F'you want, I'll give you the tour." He nodded at them. "We had this place a few months already. Take in whoever we can, if anyone's alive to find us. Whoever built this place made it to last. We try to ration things out and make sure we keep food from other places too, but hell, we still got leftover military rations too."

Whatever it was, it was secure and that was what was important. Nick kinda wished they could have found a place like this for awhile. Beat the hell out of what they'd been doing. He reached up, rubbing at the back of his neck before nodding.

"Yeah, sure." He pushed off the wall to follow Marshall, Ellis moving to follow too.

"So was this place abandoned when you got here?"

Marshall nods back. He motions for Ellis and Nick to follow them. He figured he'd be doing them a favor. From what he's seen of these guys already they don't seem like the type to forget a friend. But they've been through enough of a hellish morning. A 20 minute distraction wasn't going to hurt them.

"For the most part, yeah. Whoever did this must've started too late, cuz they packed up in a hell of a hurry." Marshall's bet was still on military, or at least military people. Not everybody believed this was really happening, but nobody else had the resources to build something so complex in such a short amount of time. They were either government run or crazy old rich people. "Most of it's a damn lifesaver. We ain't who made this, but between what they did and us working on the weak spots we're thinking we could live here a long time if we're careful."

They rounded a corner. There were metal stairs to the right, veering off into what looked like air vents and power generators. On the left was a door that lead into a little windowed cafeteria.

"From what we've seen this place looks like it was gonna be built to hold a lot of people. There's a LOT of empty rooms between here and downstairs. We've been collecting furniture for the rooms people've claimed already. But besides a whole lotta empty rooms, we got a break room, the med center, an armory me an' the set up, a security station that doesn't work... oh, and showers. Working showers."

Marshall figures that's gonna be music to their ears.

Ellis gave a whistle as they walked through the halls, looking around. "Hot damn... did you say you had workin' showers?"

His eyes widened, excitement brightening up his features again as he gave Nick a nudge. "Know where I'm goin' later, dude."

Beyond an annoyed glare, Nick didn't spare Sam much of a second glance before his eyes were back on their surroundings. Seriously, this was one of the safest places they'd seen in a hell of a long time. Almost a shame to leave it, but he figured they would have to eventually.

"Don't suppose you have some rooms we could crash in for the night? No way in hell am I leaving until we're sure Rochelle and Coach will be alright." A wound like that would be an easy infection out there and Rochelle? Damn... He couldn't help a pang of worry over the kid.

Funny how he hadn't even wanted the damn thing and now he was freaking out over the possibility of her losing it. And her.

"Yep." It was actually kind of a relief to hear SOME enthusiasm out of the group. Something to keep their minds off things a little bit... so Marshall figures, anyway. "When we're done walking around I'll take ya' there."

He turns back to them and eyes them up and down.

"... I'll see what we got outta the spare clothes." He remembered them barely mentioning they had things in that minivan they left at the hospital. They'd have to worry about it later. If these guys decided to stick around, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring in for both groups. Maybe these people had some shit they could spare for Marshall's group.

As for Nick's question, he pauses, then he nods. "I said we got more than enough room, didn't I? I dunno where you guys are going but you could stay here if you wanted to. No point in having a place this big for just a handful of people. We could get the shit from your van in here later too, f'you wanna."

Marshall was gruff and curt, but even he wasn't going to kick these guys back out there after they saw the potential of this place.

Ellis looked even more excited at the prospect of being taken to the showers. Nick couldn't blame him... they had so much damn grime and dirt and blood on them, it was making his skin crawl most days. Not like they had access regularly to showers anymore.

At the offer Marshall gave, he shrugged. Wasn't sure they wanted to hunker down in this place, but after the shit they've been through? It was almost tempting.

"We'll have to talk it over." Wasn't sure Rochelle should be traveling much anyway, if the baby did end up surviving whatever crap was happening right now.

Marshall shrugs.

"Works for me."

They walk down to where those heavy metal doors they got in from were. Across from it was another glass-windowed security station. "We got a generator in here for power. We still can't get it hooked up to the security station yet, but we're working on it. It'd be handy to keep an eye out on entrances. I'm not really a tech guy, though. I let the other boys do it."

And aside from the main attractions he mentioned, there wasn't much else besides empty rooms. This tour was gonna be shorter than he thought. He rubs at his nose.

"Might as well get you guys to the showers. You smell like you need one."

"How long do you think you can really stay down here?" He knew he said awhile... and Nick hoped that was the case, but he was a little wary of trusting that. Every time they got too comfortable, something came along and bit them in the ass.

He followed through with the rest of the tour -- it really wasn't a bad set up here if he were being honest.

"Hey, man, showers don't come easy out there," Ellis piped up. "Reckon we are pretty rank about now though."

The bigger man (physically, either of these guys weren't much more mature than the other) slowly scowled at Nick. He didn't like the idea of going back out there either. But finding this place and touching it up the way he and his group did, he was proud of this place.

"Hey. You ain't the only one with family here, alright? This place is good. Damn good." For all he knew Nick didn't mean it that way, but... he still didn't like the question. "Look, I ain't stupid. I don't know. But I'd rather have here for a home than some military outpost that didn't last half a day."

And with that, he turned back around and lead them past the security point and down the stairs.

"Showers are under the stairs." His tone went back to standoffish, annoyed. "I'll get you some clothes in a sec if you wanna have at it."

"Hey, don't pay Nick no mind, Mister," Ellis jumped in, attempting for a friendly smile to smooth things over, especially since Nick didn't seem to be inclined to budge.

"He's always like that." He leaned in, bringing his hand up to shield his mouth like he was letting him in on some big secret. "Think he's got a stick permanently where the sun don't shine or somethin'."

"Ellis." At Nick's irritated tone, Ellis straightened up and nodded. "We'd appreciate some clothes, yeah. Hell, anything you got would be awesome, man."

Stock still now, Marshall stands where he is and glances at Ellis. He looks back at Nick. The initial irritation in his face seems to dissapear, at least. He snorts in something that's barely a laugh, shrugs, and walks off.

"I'll get 'em for ya. You guys go crazy, everything you need's in there."

[ooc: I had an idea! After the last of this part do you wanna skip ahead some? Maybe after they've had showers. Coach could be all done with by then, and maybe enough time's passed where he's up and about and has had a shower or something too. I'm thinking maybe they could be sitting around eating lunch (or close enough to lunch) and discussing their situation? IDK you can throw in any ideas in here too.]

It was going to kill Nick to put on whatever cheap stuff they'd probably offer them and try to pass off as clothes, but unfortunately... this suit had it. Fate had it in against his damn suits... every time he bought a new one, BAM, apocalypse.

He'd take a hot shower any day though... that was way too nice to put off. Got his mind off things for a bit too. Not by a lot, but anything was a welcome distraction.

[ooc: Ooh, that sounds cool, yeah. Let's go with that. Did you want me to skip ahead in my next post or anything? I'm game either way!]

[ooc: Nah, I can do that now!]

Nick and Ellis are probably gonna look like Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta at the end of Pulp Fiction. Probably. Just so you know. Marshall was already either a lumberjack or a hipster with his get-up. They could probably guess what he'd bring 'em.

Skip to later and Coach is finally out of the doctor's room. He has his arm and a sling and it's sore as hell. But Coach insisted on getting out and checking on Nick and Ellis. He already had his own tour and a shower, and now he was sitting in that little glassed breakroom drinking juice like no man has ever drank something before. Hey, it was a lot better than the spoiled stuff they used to find.

"Goddamn. I needed that."

Jean was next to him, looking over his shoulder. "You know you're stubborn, yeah?"

Coach tiredly chuckles, and shakes his head. Jokes were fine, but he still had Rochelle on his mind. She was still with that doctor.

Nick is depressed. Ending up looking like John Travolta or Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Pulp Fiction was never in his plans... And Ellis better not make any references to it!

But at least Coach is out and moving around. "So, Coach," he started as he leaned forward on the small table they were gathered around.

It'd be awhile before he'd be able to use that arm like it was, he knew. It'd be dangerous for him. "So, did you hear they offered to keep us here? Pretty big place..."

It's safe to say that Coach has already made massive amounts of fun of him. He's way ahead of Ellis, because Nick's new nickname (GET IT) is Jules. But right now wasn't the time to be making jokes. He nods, slowly.

"Yeah, I heard."

Jean hadn't wasted much time patching up the other men's injuries. She had just finished properly re-bandaging a wound of Ellis'. They didn't do a bad job patching themselves up from the experience some of them (at least, Ellis and Rochelle) had now, but it always helped to have a medical professional's touch.

"I'll leave you boys alone, I'm gonna go see how Rochelle and the doc are doing. I'll let you know what's happening as soon as we get something definitive, alright?"

Coach looked over to her and nodded again. "Thank you, ma'm."

Jean gave a slight mock sigh. "I keep telling you, call me Jean."

She walked on out. Coach gave a faint snort of amusement, and turned back to the others.

"Good people here. And as far as I know they ain't crazy, either. We ain't gonna find something like this twice. And I don't gotta tell you twice that I ain't exactly gonna shootin' a gun out there with this now, even if I tried."

Oh, Nick is so glad to see that shot didn't kill Coach's sense of humor. He can't believe he's letting this shit touch his skin either, damn. Leaning forward, he nodded at Jean when she said she'd give them news when they had some.

Not having any was driving Nick up a wall, honestly.

"So you're in favor of staying?" Nick asked, eyes settling on Coach. He couldn't blame the guy and honestly, after so much shit out there, bunking down here awhile. Another part of Nick was wary to trust the assholes who shot at them, no matter how accidental it might have been.

It's probably saying something that the guy who got shot was trusting these people more than Nick was. Coach had thought about it too. There was always a change somebody still alive was a crazy (the non-infected kind) nowadays. Or the military. But it already went without saying they needed to at least TRY to trust people. Shouldn't they be bringing what's left of humanity together anyway?

At least, that's how Coach saw it. Besides, it wasn't like a haven like this came around every day.

"Hell yeah I am." Coach leaned back in his chair. He knew what that look meant. "Nick, I remember the shit we've been through too. But if we don't trust anybody else, how're we supposed to get through this shit, huh? Shit, if they're up for it this could be home. We can help 'em out, maybe Ro can have the baby here."

It's all wishful thinking, considering what happened at that military base and how many months it was away from the baby being born (if it was at all), but...

Nick met Coach's eyes, that same skeptical look lingering on his features. Nick didn't trust people on principle before the goddamn apocalypse and even less now that they saw what kind of crazy assholes it brought out. But he respected Coach enough to not argue too much... usually. Well, sometimes anyway.

But Coach had a point and he didn't know how to argue it. If they kept traveling now, they'd be down a shooter. Maybe two, if Rochelle needed recovery time... which she probably would.

Whatever the hell was happening to her.

"What, you really think the kid'll be... you know?" Not like he had any idea about this pregnancy shit, especially not something like this.

"Born? You can say it, we're all grown-ups in here." Shit, HOW old was Nick again? To Coach, sometimes Nick talked like he didn't know what the birds and the bees were, much less how babies worked. And Coach was a health teacher for high school kids, of all people. His sarcastic edge toned down when he actually answered Nick's question. "I'll be straight with you. I don't know. But something's gotta give in there."

Though Rochelle wasn't anywhere near their vincity, Coach nodded his head over in her geneal direction.

"Let's stay here a while, see how it goes. We don't know what exactly was waitin' for us out west, but I think this is the next closest thing we're gonna get. What do you kids say?"

"Fine, you think it's actually not gonna die or what?" Because he wasn't exactly so damn sure. He might not be expert on pregnancies, but he's pretty sure fevers and bleeding aren't good signs.

He let out an irritated sigh and nodded. "Yeah, alright. Fine. We'll stay."

Ellis gave a nod of his own. "Hell yeah, I vote we stay. Best place we've come across in awhile."

Coach paused for a moment, and frowned. "... Like I said, I dunnno. But we gotta have SOME kinda faith."

Then his expression softened. "We ain't gonna lose her, Nick." Again, he still didn't know about the baby. He couldn't lie about that kind of thing, for all his positivity. But he knew Nick worried about the both of them. In his own way, but that was a given.

And with their agreement, he nodded again this time. "Read my mind, Ellis. Besides... for military rations, this shit isn't too bad."

Coach had a pack of that stuff. Keyword on 'had', cuz it was already gone. Big eater or no, this was the first big meal the man had had in a while. "Marshall and them said they got gas to spare, an' that they could go get the van over here."

Nick nodded at that, hoping Coach was right at least. He was worried about Rochelle and yeah, even the kid. Which was weird considering he hadn't exactly been happy to even hear she was knocked up in the first place, hadn't even wanted to keep it... Either way, he didn't want to lose Rochelle because of it.

Ellis gave a laugh at that comment. "Hell, beats the expired stuff we find on the road."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, guess we should tell them to go get it... had a lot of supplies that we could use anyway. Be a shame to let them sit there and rot away."

Coach gave them both a faint grin. "Yeah... we got our clothes in there, too. Nick's gonna be happy about that. He doesn't have to look like he stepped out of Pulp Fiction."

It was a dumb joke, but he figure it could take things off Nick's mind for a while.

Well, it got an eye roll out of him. "Very funny, big guy. If we get back out there and a zombie's bled or spit up on my suits, there's gonna be hell to pay though."

And damn if he wouldn't find a men's store somewhere that still had decent suits.

no subject

I LIKED THAT ICON IT FIT PERFECTLY...

HE WAS LIKE, "HEY YOU WANNA PLAY A CARD GAME?"

"DUDE........."

IT HELPS HIM RELAX OKAY...

FHJKSHJF MAN YOU GOTTA PICK YOUR APPROPRIATE MOMENTS TO DO THINGS...

IT'S ALWAYS APPROPRIATE FOR CARD GAMES.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject