Newer fucked up Infected RP pt2
Posting more logs from Me and Dani's infected rp, no I'm not cleaning it up.
Nick woke up alone in a tiny room. The only good thing was he had pants finally, thin cotton pants one would wear in a hospital. But it was something. And the room was hot, maybe too hot. He looked around not seeing Ellis and his heart sunk. They were keeping them apart now. He put his face down on his knees as he pulled them up. Horrible visions of the boy going insane from this all in his mind and tormenting him all in it's own.
Past the thick concrete wall on one side of Nick's cell, Ellis returned to conciousness with a pained groan. He was flat on his back on a cot, and for a moment he felt around for Nick next to him. The sudden realization that the other man wasn't with him made Ellis shoot straight up. "Aaah, damn!" he hissed, clutching his chest where there was a large, painful bruise where he got punched. The rest of his body ached as well, and the mechanic flumped defeatedly back, his last concious memories flashing through his mind. A lump grew in his throat, and spilled over his cheeks in the form of tears. This was beginning to be too much for him to bear... Ellis always professed to being strong and invicible, but in truth, his relatively naive, almost child-like psyche was unprepared for this sort of strain... But...
But...
Nick had told him to be strong, hadn't he? Somewhere through the muddled pain and torture, he remembered the conman saying something along those lines. He couldn't let Nick down... Ellis sucked in a deep, calming breath and rubbed at his eyes.
Nick wasn't doing so well himself. As the hours ticked by he just sat with his arms around his knees staring at the floor. The thought of dying alone at the hands of some mad scientist made him want to kill himself right there and save them the trouble. He didn't even have a reason to hold on without Ellis there. He was wholly convinced he probably wouldn't see the boy he loved again. If he did see him it would be some cracked disillusioned version. Something not his Ell, something that might not even recognize him. He didn't realize the notion was making him cry for a long time until he felt dehydrated and realized his face was wet.
He didn't know how long passed after that, Only that he barely cared with the cool breeze from the hall hit his face and guards moved in to take him out. Five days in solitary, he barely registered that he'd ate the food passed into him. He didn't remember sleeping. All of his thoughts were centered on the hope he was wrong about the boys state.
It was difficult to wile away the seemingly endless hours with nothing to do... There was barely even a register to a passage of time, since the cell had no windows, and the only door had none either. There was only the flourescent lights installed in the ceiling. One flickered. Constantly. It was barely noticible, too, which was the thoroughly maddening part. It just barely registered to Ellis' eyes, but he knew it was there...
Flicker. Flicker.
In yet another exam room, there was a simple table set up with two chairs, Nick strapped to one of them. With its otherwise bare setup and a one-way window that streatched across the entirety of a wall, it was incredibly reminiscent of an interrogation room. Which was more or less what it was...
The door at the far end of the room opened, and a formal-looking woman stepped in, a file folder in her arms which she set down on the tabletop before looking up at him through her glasses. "We've been watching you for a long time, Mr. Diageo."
A kindly looking man stepped into Ellis's cell nervously. He didn't like the issued order. Didn't want to tell him the scripted words. He knelt down two armed guards behind him. "Hello Ellis, could you listen to me for a moment of time? I need to tell you something"
Nick lifted dark rimmed hateful eyes at her. Hateful and full of intented revenge. It was one thing to piss off an average man and break their hearts. It was another thing entirely to mess with a man like him. A trained killer who had only just opened himself to someone. And to rip it away had awakened a beast no one wanted to mess with. Something all together inhuman in his psyche even without infection, a person full of fury and rage that smoldered behind mute lips and burning eyes.
Ellis had been staring intently at the light flickering tauntingly down at him when the door to his cell had been opened. Slowly, very slowly, he rolled his head forward to stare at the man in front of him.
"I'm busy..." he said simply, his tone of voice distant as he turned his head back up to stare at the light again.
The woman sitting across from Nick barely reacted to the look he gave her. Instead, she opened the file in front of her. "Your tests are yeilding quite promising results, did you know that...?" she said in a clipped, buisiness-like tone. "You and your friend both are proving to be quite helpful to our cause."
"It's about your friend Nick..?" He said carefully not wanting to trigger an episode. They had been watching the boys degridation over the past days and he seemed much more liable to lash out randomly.
"I could give a fuck about your cause woman." He sneered at her an ugly expression that went with the scar they'd given him. His eyes still burned. "All I care about is my fingers on your pretty little throat squeazing until the skin turns black and your eyes roll back and bleed." He growled out.
Ellis' head snapped back up, blue eyes wide. "W-what..?" he asked in an astonished tone. Fingernails flexed against his own wrist where he was holding his arm across his legs.
The smallest of twitches quirked the corner of the woman's mouth, her lips perfectly painted a bright crimson. "I would think you should care..." she stated. "The more you tell us..." She flipped lightly through the pages she had brought in. "The faster we can... Set you free."
"Son..I'm very sorry. Your friend is dead...we found him in his cell he used his blanket to make a rope...We're very sorry."
"I'm not telling you shit." He said and then looked away from her refusing to say more for the moment just simmering in his hatred.
Something flickered behind Ellis' eyes. "W-wha..." His voice died in his throat, and the mechanic's head fell back, clenching his eyes closed to fight back tears. Still, the same flickering of that fucking lightbulb managed to find its way through his closed eyelids. "Oh god... It's mocking me..."
"That's a real shame," the woman said simply. "What about if I told you something...?" She looked at him with a small tilt of her head. "About Ellis."
The man backed out of the room quickly sensing something bad may happen if he was in proximity. "We're sorry son, Our last recordings from his room..he kept muttering something about the smile being gone and the light going out...That was it..."
He looked back at her but his mouth remained closed, he was biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed. He had to restrain himself from just yelling obsenities at her.
Ellis' head snapped back up, and his eyes flickered again. "Stop..." he said, staring straight at the man backing out of the room, and yet somehow straight through him. "S-stop..."
It was enough of a reaction for her. "We are very sorry..." she said. There was a weak attempt at sympathy in her voice. "He was found in his room this morning... Somehow he had managed to strangle himself."
The man shook his head. "We're sorry.." Was all he said as he slid the door shut. Locking it again and leaving the boy to his misery.
Nick's eyes flared and something snapped. Not just mentally but physically too. With the adrenalyne surge and rage rushing through him right then he'd snapped the restraints and lunged at the woman curling his hands around her throat before she could say help. "All your fucking fault..all your fault I lost him. ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"No...No..." Ellis made to stand, rushing at the door. His throat erupted in a blood-curdling shriek as the door slammed shut and he clawed fretfully at the heavy metal. Sinking down, his nails dragged, leaving small scratches on the surface. Several nails pulled free, but he barely noticed as he slumped with his back to the door, tears streaming freely down his cheeks, and blood down his fingers.
The table was flipped as Nick lunged across it, the woman knocked backwards. He didn't get a chance to hold on for long, however, when the door to the room banged open and he was seized up by several guards who ripped his hands free and dragged him to his feet. The woman got unsteadily to her feet, her previous composure utterly ruined.
"Take him back to his cell!" she ordered, to which the guards nodded and carted him off.
Nick was hard to handle the whole way back to his cell. He was pissed beyond reason, attempting to lash out with anything he could. Kicking and biting and trying to beat the shit out of the gaurds who were having to deal with his 'anger issues'. Finally he was tossed back into his cell and proceeded to rip up and break everything inside of it before he finally broke down. Laying in a ball on the remains of his bed. And right then he really did consider ending it. Accept he'd made a promise. A promise that they'd get what was comign to them. He just had to figure out how.
Ellis hugged his legs again and rocked, whimpering heavily into the otherwise piercing silence of his room... His cell... His prison... And now Nick was gone.
Oh god...
The solitude was even more opressive than usual, with the utter lonliness he now felt in the pit of his chest.
He stared up at light above him again, the swirled plaster casting shadows that played with his mind.
Flicker. Flicker.
Nick wasn't fairing well after two weeks. They'd had to restort to binding his arms behind his back at all times. He hurt himself as much as he hurt others with those hands. The side of his face with the scar had been clawed at and made worse in a few of his worse fits. He'd lost all sight in that eye too, from the shocks and beatings and god knows what else they'd done to him he was just about ready to lose himself. He was already pretty far gone and hardly seemed lucid most days unless he was in an utter rage over his treatment or mentionings of a name. That name was the only thing his mind had clung to. Holding on for it, for some reason. He didn't understand anymore. Someone opened his cell and led him out into the hall. It was a doctor he didn't recognize, the man wasn't as cruel looking at the others but he led him towards a cell just a few blocks down of all places. "Come on we have to hurry I'm going to get you both out of here. I think it's horrible...I've been watching over your Ellis..he's alive they lied to you both." He got the next cell open the black haired mans reactions unreadable as if he hadn't heard a word the man said.
Ellis himself wasn't doing any better... Each day he seemed to get worse and worse, including his ability to speak in logical, sensible scentces. It was all gibberish at this point. He was becoming steadily more aggressive, too... It barely took anything to trigger it any more before he was on the nearest person with hideous snarls and animalistic howls. And his eyes... Oh god, his eyes... That infamous flickering lightbulb in his cell felt like it seared his vision and wracked his head with pain, even when he wasn't staring directly at it. He had gone and smashed the damned bulb to bits, and finally the aching pain in his head subsideded. The doctors had attempted to go in and clean up the mess, but after several attempts and multiple near-escapes on Ellis' part a he tried to chase after them with teeth bared, they finally just tranquilized him and brought him out to be examined for injuries. Despite the shattered glass everywhere, he didn't have a single mark on his body, which utterly baffled them.
The glass was sweeped up and he was set back inside the cell. He was still very groggy by the time the door to his cell was opened with a loud creak. His head snapped up, despite the fog in his brain from the drug coursing through his veins. The room was utterly dark, as the bulb had not yet been replaced, but he could clearly see the two figures at his door. His night vision had improved dramatically...
Lips curled back from his teeth, and there was the faintest hint of a warning growl.
The doctor spoke in the soft tones he'd used before with him. "Hello Ellis do you remember me, we go over the cards together remember? I'm going to help you son, Help you leave. I brought someone with me, someone you need. Can you be good and come over here and see lad?" He coaxed gently. Motioning beside him outside. He hadn't unbound the gambler who was leaning against the wall his scarred side pressed against the cool wall as he waited and watched the door way. The man had said that name again, if his promises were empty he was going to kill him if he had to do it with just his teeth.
The words meant absolutely nothing... Something had been festering inside the once-cheerful, upbeat Georgia native. Something utterly feral and violent and nothing like what he could have ever claimed to be in the past. The snarl came forth again. He could see the one at the door, but it was apparent by his body language that Ellis was still invisible.
The doctor motioned to the other man. "You have to move forward sir, I think he'd only react to your presence now.." He said quietly and nick sneered a bit, He moved forward and looked into the room staring at the boy wordlessly. His brain not registering him at first. He just saw someone like him, someone broken by these assholes.
The snarling from the darkness escalated from a warning to full-on aggression. Claw-like nails gripped at the shredded mattress beneath him, and there was a tense moment before the figure lunged forward swiftly.
Nick fell without a fight since his hands were still bound and he stared up at the boy on top of him with the one silver eye, the other had turned milky colored and dead looking. "You should really calm down, I'm like you kid. Fucked in the head because of these fuckers. Though I wouldn't blame you if you got it out of your system on me. Come on, kill me if you want." He said challengingly without care for himself.
Ellis' lips curled back from his teeth again, hissing lowly. His claws pressed into the skin beneath them as he stared intently at the figure he had pinned. It was... Familiar, but his shattered mind could barely assemble the pieces. Still, he was compelled to withdraw.
"Ssss'not relevant..." he muttered, the 's' being drawn out like a harsh hiss as he pulled back to slip closer to the more familiar ground and utter darkness of his room. "Jusss' all a pot, boilin' on th' ssstove..."
Sitting up he watched the figure retreating with a cock of his head. The man had said he was taking him to his Ellis, But he'd long since stopped associating that word with a person and just with the meaning of it. But he was begining to think this was Ellis, the thing that needed him. "Ellis....?"
The figure twitched and halted, head turning slolwy to stare back at Nick. His eyes narrowed. "...what?"
"Your Ellis right...the name in my head..the thing...I've got to keep hold of..?" He said questioningly a little confused himself the bound figure just sitting there watching. There was no malice in his tone now just shattered confidence as if he expected to be wrong always.
The figure continued to stare blankly at him. His mind, however, was buzzing with activity. Ellis... Ellis... He knew that word... But it came to him like it was some distant memory.
"Ell...isss..." He tested the word carefully, before his attention was torn by the man who had first coaxed him out of his safe little room.
"We really should be going..." he said pointedly. "They'll be suspecting my absence."
"Alright..you brought my back..Ellis.." He said before getting up with some difficulty without his arms for use. He motioned with his head. "come with me..better off out there than in here kid...please?"
"Familiar..." Ellis stated simply, hunching just inside the doorway to his darkened room. "Cannot get losssst... The light'll blind you... Melt your wingsss 'fore you can fly."
"Your the light kid...mine at least. I don't want to lose you again. Don't worry we won't fly too close to the sun." He said understanding somewhat.
Ellis looked over at him. "...Promissse?"
Nick felt this was something important. He'd failed to make good on his promise before he knew that. Something about home finding a home. He nodded. "we'll find us a new home Ellis I promise..trust me.." If he could have put his hands out to him he would of for now he just lowered his head.
The boy hesitated, before he slowly crawled back out of the room. "I trusst..." he said, nuding the older man's forehead gently with his nose.
And suddenly, there was a great clamor that made Ellis leap with a hiss. The door at the far end of the hall banged open, revealing a trio of heavily armed guards.
"FREEZE!" one of them ordered, clutching a gun in his hands. Ellis bristled right up, hissing and snarling worse than an alleycat as the feral defensiveness in him was stirred again. Coiling his legs back, he leapt with impressive force, tackling the first guard over before tooth and claw was laid to him, the hallway erupting in a chaos of shouts and screams and bullets richocheting.
Nick had no arms to help but he still charged into one knocking him into the wall and knocking him out. He moved with speed to one of the other guards trying to melee the growling bow and kicked him in the jaw with a sickening crack and flexibility he really didn't know he even possessed. Not at least since he was much much younger.
Ellis himself was far too lost in his own frenzied bloodlust to take serious notice of the second guard trying to knock him away until the body below him lay very still, and there was the sudden absence of the second kicking and hitting him. Wild eyes flashed to Nick, his entire front covered in blood and gore, before glancing back at the man who had released them and bounding off out the door with a shrill howl.
Nick followed after though stopped long enough by the stunned doctor. "Let my arms go, or so help me god even though you helped us I will kill you." The doctor nodded and hurriedly undid his bindings. Nick shot off after Ellis fast as he could. "Wait for me...!"
The kid hadn't gotten that far, being caught up by another group of guards not long after escaping from their hallway. He was currently ripping one's throat out with such savagery he could have been mistaken for an Infected with little imagination. "Lambs for the slaughter... ALL OF YOU!"
Nick stopped pulling him off and out of the way as one of the guards leveled a grenade launcher at them. He managed to get them to cover when it shot off. The reload time gave him enough tiem to move out and shove the gun up into the mans throat. Before destroying him with a savage twist of his hands to the mans head.
Squeesan 12:52 pm
(12:52:26 PM): The explosion caused Ellis' ears to ring horribly, and his eyes sting from the flash of light caused by the gunpowder. He let out a howl of pain and rubbed at them furiously, trying to shake the stars that were dancing in front of his vision.
burstheal 12:54 pm
(12:54:27 PM): Nick grabbed the grenade launcher and with practiced ease blew the rest of the guards to hell. Dropping the weapon he turned to look at him dropping to his knees. "Ellis...? You goig to be ok?"
Squeesan 1:00 pm
(1:00:32 PM): "Y-yea...." He blinked heavily, the world slowly coming back into focus. "Light hurts... Hurtsss real bad..."
burstheal 1:02 pm
(1:02:22 PM): His hand cupped the side of his face carefully, it was moist on the inside not really from sweat either. It was somewhat slick and oily though not unplesantly. "Hey once we get out of here we'll get you something to block the light from your eyes alright..all that time in that dark room was probably not good for your eyes."
Squeesan 1:07 pm
(1:07:13 PM): "Made it dark 'cuz it was hurtin' my eyes..." Ellis said, pushing himself to his feet, reaching to touch his cheek and brush his fingers over the thin layer of moisture on his skin to stare at it, before he scrubbed his face clean.
"Let'sss keep goin'..."
burstheal 1:09 pm
(1:09:06 PM): He nodded and pushed back up following him towards the stair well leading up. "This feels familar somehow...going up to escape." He shook his head out. "I guess they really did a number on my memory..it's all fuzzed."
Squeesan 1:23 pm
(1:23:44 PM): "Yea..." was all the kid managed as he stumbled along behind Nick. Suddenly, though, he dug his heels into the floor, his expression alert.
"...S-Sssomeone's comin' thiss way!" he said, making a grab for Nick's hand and tugging him in another direction through the maze of hallways.
burstheal 1:29 pm
(1:29:14 PM): Nick let himself be drug down the hall closing his good eye as they paced themselves. "I smell...fresh air somewhere ahead..maybe it's the stairwell we need." He stopped though frowning. "I smell...gunpowder and..other things that way too, they know it's our only way out. Lemme go first and you back me up...ok?"
Squeesan 1:35 pm
(1:35:48 PM): Ellis was already bristeling with a throaty growl, the claw-like nails on his fingers flexing like they were itching to tear into something again. "I'll kill 'em..." he hissed, barely heeding the other's words before he went racing up the stairs.
burstheal 1:42 pm
(1:42:44 PM): "fuck, Ell they could have more things that blow up." He made a tsking noise in the back of his throat before heading off after the faster creature. His arms and hands ached but he was chalking it up to being bound so long. He rounded the corner just in time to hear the men screaming and them opening up fire. He raced after the kid.
Squeesan 1:49 pm
(1:49:47 PM): Ellis was on the first of them before the men even had the chance to blink. With the most inhuman of shreiks and howls he lashed out, disarming them of their weapons, as well as much of their faces.
Unfortunately, their numbers were a good deal greater than before, and it was impossible to keep tabs on every single one. Several more shots rang out, and Ellis' bloodcurddling cries faltered for a sickening moment as he stumbled back, staring bewilderedly at the blood running down his chest.
burstheal 2:02 pm
(2:02:42 PM): Something boiled inside him seeing the boy bleeding and possibly dying. He moved inside just as they were coming out to get at the boy. He managed to kill two before the third in desperation brought the nozzle of some strange gun up towards the man clawing his comrades to death. Seeing this Nick had to make a moments desicion. Take the hit where he was or use his body to shield the door so nothing got out of it and onto the one precious to him. He flung himself at the door as the flamethrower unleashed its hell. "Get down!" he managed to scream out at the boy before the flames hit and he was just screaming at the pain curling over his back mostly on one side fully. He could only think that he was grateful the other wouldn't have to endure it.
Squeesan 2:13 pm
(2:13:29 PM): Ellis didn't need telling twice, especially with his chest full of lead. He stumbled and fell to his knees, bending over to clutch at his chest with a heavy wheeze.
"...N-Nick..." he managed weakly, head lifting to stare up at the other man as the flames engulfed him.
burstheal 2:15 pm
(2:15:48 PM): He didn't die, that was the first surprise for the day. His body hurt all over but it wasn't as bad as he thought it should have been. He didn't have time to think about it he had to take out flamethrower user before he could do it again. He must have been a grim visage when he whirled on him because the man dropped his weapon and tried to run. He leapt at him hand engulfing the mans face claws digging in and he clutched hard as he jerked the head to the side. The satisfying crack and the sagging body let him know it was ok to double back. He leaned in the door way breathing unevenly. Not aware of how bad he looked, he was more concenred for the boy . "you ok kid..?"
Squeesan 2:35 pm
(2:35:01 PM): Ellis had to curl around and shield his eyes the longer the flames burned, pain wracking his whole body. The moment the pyro had been taken down, he rolled over to lay flat on his back with a groan, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth.
"B-been better..."
burstheal 2:37 pm
(2:37:37 PM): Nick looked at the wounds and frowned some putting his hand over it to compress it. "Elle..." He looked down at him with a sad expression. "Don't die again..please?"
Squeesan 2:40 pm
(2:40:09 PM): "N-never really... D-died..." Ellis said, moving a hand to Nick's with a weak grip. "Heart never s-ssstopped..." He chuckled, before coughing painfully.
burstheal 2:43 pm
(2:43:53 PM): "Doesn't mean I didn't think you had...tore me up..twisted me inside." He said dropping the unburned side of his face to rest on his hand. "I can't do this without you...So i'm not letting you die." He said before getting up and groaning picked the smaller form up into his arms.
Squeesan 2:46 pm
(2:46:06 PM): The smaller figure hissed in pain as he was lifted.
"N-no... Put me down..." he said, head swimming from the movement. "Please..."
burstheal 2:49 pm
(2:49:44 PM): "I'm taking you..where you won't possibly..die on me." He said trying to keep the boy as flat in his arms as possible to lessen both their pain as he climbed the stairs with renewed determination. stepping over the corpses as he went.
Squeesan 2:52 pm
(2:52:37 PM): "No, seriously..." Ellis was feeling nautious, possibly from the blood loss. "Jusss' fer a sec..."
burstheal 2:55 pm
(2:55:10 PM): nick frowned "If I stop I might not be able to start again, are you sure?" He looked up they were so close he could feel the fresh air from where they were stopped on a landing two floors below the exit.
Squeesan 2:58 pm
(2:58:21 PM): Ellis looked as though he was about to answer, before he twisted around to face the floor with a wretch and a gag.
burstheal 3:09 pm
(3:09:03 PM): It didn't seem to phaze the older man he just kept climbing, it hadn't been an answer and he was determined to get outside. At least see the sky again one last time. "Almost there Ellis.."
Squeesan 3:13 pm
(3:13:01 PM): There was another cough from the boy, a plinking clatter, and suddenly there was a small pile of bullets on the floor. "...I feel a lil' better..."
burstheal 3:15 pm
(3:15:33 PM): He blinked looking at the bullets on the ground then back at him. Some realization came over him as he continued to ascend. "Ellis..I think..we're infected."
Squeesan 3:19 pm
(3:19:07 PM): "That crossed my mind..." Ellis muttered, settling in to the grip of Nick's arms a bit. "How they s-sssaid they wanted t' tesst us an' all..." Finally, they reached the last few steps and the kid was squirming a bit. "Put me down."
burstheal 3:20 pm
(3:20:02 PM): Nodding he set him down. "I don't understand why we can still talk..and remember things. Aren't we suppose to be mindless animals...?" He stared at the door that would lead them out.
Squeesan 3:22 pm
(3:22:27 PM): Ellis wobbled a little once he was on his feet, but managed to keep himself standing, much to his surprise. "What? All that back there wasn't actin' like a mindless animal?" he pointed out, grumbling as he had to sheild his eyes from the light shining through the small window in the door.
"This'sss... Gonna set of an alarm," he said.
burstheal 3:25 pm
(3:25:11 PM): "Yes but you returned to...well whatever counts for normal now. It's just odd. I guess we're just different." He said putting his hand to the door. "when I open it we run, think you can do that?"
Squeesan 3:28 pm
(3:28:05 PM): "Came this far..." There was a sort of grim determination in his voice that was uncharacteristic of his normally up-beat attitude he'd had... well, before all this shit at least. He stiffened at the far-off tromp of more boots coming closer. "They're comin'," he said with a hiss.
Nick woke up alone in a tiny room. The only good thing was he had pants finally, thin cotton pants one would wear in a hospital. But it was something. And the room was hot, maybe too hot. He looked around not seeing Ellis and his heart sunk. They were keeping them apart now. He put his face down on his knees as he pulled them up. Horrible visions of the boy going insane from this all in his mind and tormenting him all in it's own.
Past the thick concrete wall on one side of Nick's cell, Ellis returned to conciousness with a pained groan. He was flat on his back on a cot, and for a moment he felt around for Nick next to him. The sudden realization that the other man wasn't with him made Ellis shoot straight up. "Aaah, damn!" he hissed, clutching his chest where there was a large, painful bruise where he got punched. The rest of his body ached as well, and the mechanic flumped defeatedly back, his last concious memories flashing through his mind. A lump grew in his throat, and spilled over his cheeks in the form of tears. This was beginning to be too much for him to bear... Ellis always professed to being strong and invicible, but in truth, his relatively naive, almost child-like psyche was unprepared for this sort of strain... But...
But...
Nick had told him to be strong, hadn't he? Somewhere through the muddled pain and torture, he remembered the conman saying something along those lines. He couldn't let Nick down... Ellis sucked in a deep, calming breath and rubbed at his eyes.
Nick wasn't doing so well himself. As the hours ticked by he just sat with his arms around his knees staring at the floor. The thought of dying alone at the hands of some mad scientist made him want to kill himself right there and save them the trouble. He didn't even have a reason to hold on without Ellis there. He was wholly convinced he probably wouldn't see the boy he loved again. If he did see him it would be some cracked disillusioned version. Something not his Ell, something that might not even recognize him. He didn't realize the notion was making him cry for a long time until he felt dehydrated and realized his face was wet.
He didn't know how long passed after that, Only that he barely cared with the cool breeze from the hall hit his face and guards moved in to take him out. Five days in solitary, he barely registered that he'd ate the food passed into him. He didn't remember sleeping. All of his thoughts were centered on the hope he was wrong about the boys state.
It was difficult to wile away the seemingly endless hours with nothing to do... There was barely even a register to a passage of time, since the cell had no windows, and the only door had none either. There was only the flourescent lights installed in the ceiling. One flickered. Constantly. It was barely noticible, too, which was the thoroughly maddening part. It just barely registered to Ellis' eyes, but he knew it was there...
Flicker. Flicker.
In yet another exam room, there was a simple table set up with two chairs, Nick strapped to one of them. With its otherwise bare setup and a one-way window that streatched across the entirety of a wall, it was incredibly reminiscent of an interrogation room. Which was more or less what it was...
The door at the far end of the room opened, and a formal-looking woman stepped in, a file folder in her arms which she set down on the tabletop before looking up at him through her glasses. "We've been watching you for a long time, Mr. Diageo."
A kindly looking man stepped into Ellis's cell nervously. He didn't like the issued order. Didn't want to tell him the scripted words. He knelt down two armed guards behind him. "Hello Ellis, could you listen to me for a moment of time? I need to tell you something"
Nick lifted dark rimmed hateful eyes at her. Hateful and full of intented revenge. It was one thing to piss off an average man and break their hearts. It was another thing entirely to mess with a man like him. A trained killer who had only just opened himself to someone. And to rip it away had awakened a beast no one wanted to mess with. Something all together inhuman in his psyche even without infection, a person full of fury and rage that smoldered behind mute lips and burning eyes.
Ellis had been staring intently at the light flickering tauntingly down at him when the door to his cell had been opened. Slowly, very slowly, he rolled his head forward to stare at the man in front of him.
"I'm busy..." he said simply, his tone of voice distant as he turned his head back up to stare at the light again.
The woman sitting across from Nick barely reacted to the look he gave her. Instead, she opened the file in front of her. "Your tests are yeilding quite promising results, did you know that...?" she said in a clipped, buisiness-like tone. "You and your friend both are proving to be quite helpful to our cause."
"It's about your friend Nick..?" He said carefully not wanting to trigger an episode. They had been watching the boys degridation over the past days and he seemed much more liable to lash out randomly.
"I could give a fuck about your cause woman." He sneered at her an ugly expression that went with the scar they'd given him. His eyes still burned. "All I care about is my fingers on your pretty little throat squeazing until the skin turns black and your eyes roll back and bleed." He growled out.
Ellis' head snapped back up, blue eyes wide. "W-what..?" he asked in an astonished tone. Fingernails flexed against his own wrist where he was holding his arm across his legs.
The smallest of twitches quirked the corner of the woman's mouth, her lips perfectly painted a bright crimson. "I would think you should care..." she stated. "The more you tell us..." She flipped lightly through the pages she had brought in. "The faster we can... Set you free."
"Son..I'm very sorry. Your friend is dead...we found him in his cell he used his blanket to make a rope...We're very sorry."
"I'm not telling you shit." He said and then looked away from her refusing to say more for the moment just simmering in his hatred.
Something flickered behind Ellis' eyes. "W-wha..." His voice died in his throat, and the mechanic's head fell back, clenching his eyes closed to fight back tears. Still, the same flickering of that fucking lightbulb managed to find its way through his closed eyelids. "Oh god... It's mocking me..."
"That's a real shame," the woman said simply. "What about if I told you something...?" She looked at him with a small tilt of her head. "About Ellis."
The man backed out of the room quickly sensing something bad may happen if he was in proximity. "We're sorry son, Our last recordings from his room..he kept muttering something about the smile being gone and the light going out...That was it..."
He looked back at her but his mouth remained closed, he was biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed. He had to restrain himself from just yelling obsenities at her.
Ellis' head snapped back up, and his eyes flickered again. "Stop..." he said, staring straight at the man backing out of the room, and yet somehow straight through him. "S-stop..."
It was enough of a reaction for her. "We are very sorry..." she said. There was a weak attempt at sympathy in her voice. "He was found in his room this morning... Somehow he had managed to strangle himself."
The man shook his head. "We're sorry.." Was all he said as he slid the door shut. Locking it again and leaving the boy to his misery.
Nick's eyes flared and something snapped. Not just mentally but physically too. With the adrenalyne surge and rage rushing through him right then he'd snapped the restraints and lunged at the woman curling his hands around her throat before she could say help. "All your fucking fault..all your fault I lost him. ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"No...No..." Ellis made to stand, rushing at the door. His throat erupted in a blood-curdling shriek as the door slammed shut and he clawed fretfully at the heavy metal. Sinking down, his nails dragged, leaving small scratches on the surface. Several nails pulled free, but he barely noticed as he slumped with his back to the door, tears streaming freely down his cheeks, and blood down his fingers.
The table was flipped as Nick lunged across it, the woman knocked backwards. He didn't get a chance to hold on for long, however, when the door to the room banged open and he was seized up by several guards who ripped his hands free and dragged him to his feet. The woman got unsteadily to her feet, her previous composure utterly ruined.
"Take him back to his cell!" she ordered, to which the guards nodded and carted him off.
Nick was hard to handle the whole way back to his cell. He was pissed beyond reason, attempting to lash out with anything he could. Kicking and biting and trying to beat the shit out of the gaurds who were having to deal with his 'anger issues'. Finally he was tossed back into his cell and proceeded to rip up and break everything inside of it before he finally broke down. Laying in a ball on the remains of his bed. And right then he really did consider ending it. Accept he'd made a promise. A promise that they'd get what was comign to them. He just had to figure out how.
Ellis hugged his legs again and rocked, whimpering heavily into the otherwise piercing silence of his room... His cell... His prison... And now Nick was gone.
Oh god...
The solitude was even more opressive than usual, with the utter lonliness he now felt in the pit of his chest.
He stared up at light above him again, the swirled plaster casting shadows that played with his mind.
Flicker. Flicker.
Nick wasn't fairing well after two weeks. They'd had to restort to binding his arms behind his back at all times. He hurt himself as much as he hurt others with those hands. The side of his face with the scar had been clawed at and made worse in a few of his worse fits. He'd lost all sight in that eye too, from the shocks and beatings and god knows what else they'd done to him he was just about ready to lose himself. He was already pretty far gone and hardly seemed lucid most days unless he was in an utter rage over his treatment or mentionings of a name. That name was the only thing his mind had clung to. Holding on for it, for some reason. He didn't understand anymore. Someone opened his cell and led him out into the hall. It was a doctor he didn't recognize, the man wasn't as cruel looking at the others but he led him towards a cell just a few blocks down of all places. "Come on we have to hurry I'm going to get you both out of here. I think it's horrible...I've been watching over your Ellis..he's alive they lied to you both." He got the next cell open the black haired mans reactions unreadable as if he hadn't heard a word the man said.
Ellis himself wasn't doing any better... Each day he seemed to get worse and worse, including his ability to speak in logical, sensible scentces. It was all gibberish at this point. He was becoming steadily more aggressive, too... It barely took anything to trigger it any more before he was on the nearest person with hideous snarls and animalistic howls. And his eyes... Oh god, his eyes... That infamous flickering lightbulb in his cell felt like it seared his vision and wracked his head with pain, even when he wasn't staring directly at it. He had gone and smashed the damned bulb to bits, and finally the aching pain in his head subsideded. The doctors had attempted to go in and clean up the mess, but after several attempts and multiple near-escapes on Ellis' part a he tried to chase after them with teeth bared, they finally just tranquilized him and brought him out to be examined for injuries. Despite the shattered glass everywhere, he didn't have a single mark on his body, which utterly baffled them.
The glass was sweeped up and he was set back inside the cell. He was still very groggy by the time the door to his cell was opened with a loud creak. His head snapped up, despite the fog in his brain from the drug coursing through his veins. The room was utterly dark, as the bulb had not yet been replaced, but he could clearly see the two figures at his door. His night vision had improved dramatically...
Lips curled back from his teeth, and there was the faintest hint of a warning growl.
The doctor spoke in the soft tones he'd used before with him. "Hello Ellis do you remember me, we go over the cards together remember? I'm going to help you son, Help you leave. I brought someone with me, someone you need. Can you be good and come over here and see lad?" He coaxed gently. Motioning beside him outside. He hadn't unbound the gambler who was leaning against the wall his scarred side pressed against the cool wall as he waited and watched the door way. The man had said that name again, if his promises were empty he was going to kill him if he had to do it with just his teeth.
The words meant absolutely nothing... Something had been festering inside the once-cheerful, upbeat Georgia native. Something utterly feral and violent and nothing like what he could have ever claimed to be in the past. The snarl came forth again. He could see the one at the door, but it was apparent by his body language that Ellis was still invisible.
The doctor motioned to the other man. "You have to move forward sir, I think he'd only react to your presence now.." He said quietly and nick sneered a bit, He moved forward and looked into the room staring at the boy wordlessly. His brain not registering him at first. He just saw someone like him, someone broken by these assholes.
The snarling from the darkness escalated from a warning to full-on aggression. Claw-like nails gripped at the shredded mattress beneath him, and there was a tense moment before the figure lunged forward swiftly.
Nick fell without a fight since his hands were still bound and he stared up at the boy on top of him with the one silver eye, the other had turned milky colored and dead looking. "You should really calm down, I'm like you kid. Fucked in the head because of these fuckers. Though I wouldn't blame you if you got it out of your system on me. Come on, kill me if you want." He said challengingly without care for himself.
Ellis' lips curled back from his teeth again, hissing lowly. His claws pressed into the skin beneath them as he stared intently at the figure he had pinned. It was... Familiar, but his shattered mind could barely assemble the pieces. Still, he was compelled to withdraw.
"Ssss'not relevant..." he muttered, the 's' being drawn out like a harsh hiss as he pulled back to slip closer to the more familiar ground and utter darkness of his room. "Jusss' all a pot, boilin' on th' ssstove..."
Sitting up he watched the figure retreating with a cock of his head. The man had said he was taking him to his Ellis, But he'd long since stopped associating that word with a person and just with the meaning of it. But he was begining to think this was Ellis, the thing that needed him. "Ellis....?"
The figure twitched and halted, head turning slolwy to stare back at Nick. His eyes narrowed. "...what?"
"Your Ellis right...the name in my head..the thing...I've got to keep hold of..?" He said questioningly a little confused himself the bound figure just sitting there watching. There was no malice in his tone now just shattered confidence as if he expected to be wrong always.
The figure continued to stare blankly at him. His mind, however, was buzzing with activity. Ellis... Ellis... He knew that word... But it came to him like it was some distant memory.
"Ell...isss..." He tested the word carefully, before his attention was torn by the man who had first coaxed him out of his safe little room.
"We really should be going..." he said pointedly. "They'll be suspecting my absence."
"Alright..you brought my back..Ellis.." He said before getting up with some difficulty without his arms for use. He motioned with his head. "come with me..better off out there than in here kid...please?"
"Familiar..." Ellis stated simply, hunching just inside the doorway to his darkened room. "Cannot get losssst... The light'll blind you... Melt your wingsss 'fore you can fly."
"Your the light kid...mine at least. I don't want to lose you again. Don't worry we won't fly too close to the sun." He said understanding somewhat.
Ellis looked over at him. "...Promissse?"
Nick felt this was something important. He'd failed to make good on his promise before he knew that. Something about home finding a home. He nodded. "we'll find us a new home Ellis I promise..trust me.." If he could have put his hands out to him he would of for now he just lowered his head.
The boy hesitated, before he slowly crawled back out of the room. "I trusst..." he said, nuding the older man's forehead gently with his nose.
And suddenly, there was a great clamor that made Ellis leap with a hiss. The door at the far end of the hall banged open, revealing a trio of heavily armed guards.
"FREEZE!" one of them ordered, clutching a gun in his hands. Ellis bristled right up, hissing and snarling worse than an alleycat as the feral defensiveness in him was stirred again. Coiling his legs back, he leapt with impressive force, tackling the first guard over before tooth and claw was laid to him, the hallway erupting in a chaos of shouts and screams and bullets richocheting.
Nick had no arms to help but he still charged into one knocking him into the wall and knocking him out. He moved with speed to one of the other guards trying to melee the growling bow and kicked him in the jaw with a sickening crack and flexibility he really didn't know he even possessed. Not at least since he was much much younger.
Ellis himself was far too lost in his own frenzied bloodlust to take serious notice of the second guard trying to knock him away until the body below him lay very still, and there was the sudden absence of the second kicking and hitting him. Wild eyes flashed to Nick, his entire front covered in blood and gore, before glancing back at the man who had released them and bounding off out the door with a shrill howl.
Nick followed after though stopped long enough by the stunned doctor. "Let my arms go, or so help me god even though you helped us I will kill you." The doctor nodded and hurriedly undid his bindings. Nick shot off after Ellis fast as he could. "Wait for me...!"
The kid hadn't gotten that far, being caught up by another group of guards not long after escaping from their hallway. He was currently ripping one's throat out with such savagery he could have been mistaken for an Infected with little imagination. "Lambs for the slaughter... ALL OF YOU!"
Nick stopped pulling him off and out of the way as one of the guards leveled a grenade launcher at them. He managed to get them to cover when it shot off. The reload time gave him enough tiem to move out and shove the gun up into the mans throat. Before destroying him with a savage twist of his hands to the mans head.
Squeesan 12:52 pm
(12:52:26 PM): The explosion caused Ellis' ears to ring horribly, and his eyes sting from the flash of light caused by the gunpowder. He let out a howl of pain and rubbed at them furiously, trying to shake the stars that were dancing in front of his vision.
burstheal 12:54 pm
(12:54:27 PM): Nick grabbed the grenade launcher and with practiced ease blew the rest of the guards to hell. Dropping the weapon he turned to look at him dropping to his knees. "Ellis...? You goig to be ok?"
Squeesan 1:00 pm
(1:00:32 PM): "Y-yea...." He blinked heavily, the world slowly coming back into focus. "Light hurts... Hurtsss real bad..."
burstheal 1:02 pm
(1:02:22 PM): His hand cupped the side of his face carefully, it was moist on the inside not really from sweat either. It was somewhat slick and oily though not unplesantly. "Hey once we get out of here we'll get you something to block the light from your eyes alright..all that time in that dark room was probably not good for your eyes."
Squeesan 1:07 pm
(1:07:13 PM): "Made it dark 'cuz it was hurtin' my eyes..." Ellis said, pushing himself to his feet, reaching to touch his cheek and brush his fingers over the thin layer of moisture on his skin to stare at it, before he scrubbed his face clean.
"Let'sss keep goin'..."
burstheal 1:09 pm
(1:09:06 PM): He nodded and pushed back up following him towards the stair well leading up. "This feels familar somehow...going up to escape." He shook his head out. "I guess they really did a number on my memory..it's all fuzzed."
Squeesan 1:23 pm
(1:23:44 PM): "Yea..." was all the kid managed as he stumbled along behind Nick. Suddenly, though, he dug his heels into the floor, his expression alert.
"...S-Sssomeone's comin' thiss way!" he said, making a grab for Nick's hand and tugging him in another direction through the maze of hallways.
burstheal 1:29 pm
(1:29:14 PM): Nick let himself be drug down the hall closing his good eye as they paced themselves. "I smell...fresh air somewhere ahead..maybe it's the stairwell we need." He stopped though frowning. "I smell...gunpowder and..other things that way too, they know it's our only way out. Lemme go first and you back me up...ok?"
Squeesan 1:35 pm
(1:35:48 PM): Ellis was already bristeling with a throaty growl, the claw-like nails on his fingers flexing like they were itching to tear into something again. "I'll kill 'em..." he hissed, barely heeding the other's words before he went racing up the stairs.
burstheal 1:42 pm
(1:42:44 PM): "fuck, Ell they could have more things that blow up." He made a tsking noise in the back of his throat before heading off after the faster creature. His arms and hands ached but he was chalking it up to being bound so long. He rounded the corner just in time to hear the men screaming and them opening up fire. He raced after the kid.
Squeesan 1:49 pm
(1:49:47 PM): Ellis was on the first of them before the men even had the chance to blink. With the most inhuman of shreiks and howls he lashed out, disarming them of their weapons, as well as much of their faces.
Unfortunately, their numbers were a good deal greater than before, and it was impossible to keep tabs on every single one. Several more shots rang out, and Ellis' bloodcurddling cries faltered for a sickening moment as he stumbled back, staring bewilderedly at the blood running down his chest.
burstheal 2:02 pm
(2:02:42 PM): Something boiled inside him seeing the boy bleeding and possibly dying. He moved inside just as they were coming out to get at the boy. He managed to kill two before the third in desperation brought the nozzle of some strange gun up towards the man clawing his comrades to death. Seeing this Nick had to make a moments desicion. Take the hit where he was or use his body to shield the door so nothing got out of it and onto the one precious to him. He flung himself at the door as the flamethrower unleashed its hell. "Get down!" he managed to scream out at the boy before the flames hit and he was just screaming at the pain curling over his back mostly on one side fully. He could only think that he was grateful the other wouldn't have to endure it.
Squeesan 2:13 pm
(2:13:29 PM): Ellis didn't need telling twice, especially with his chest full of lead. He stumbled and fell to his knees, bending over to clutch at his chest with a heavy wheeze.
"...N-Nick..." he managed weakly, head lifting to stare up at the other man as the flames engulfed him.
burstheal 2:15 pm
(2:15:48 PM): He didn't die, that was the first surprise for the day. His body hurt all over but it wasn't as bad as he thought it should have been. He didn't have time to think about it he had to take out flamethrower user before he could do it again. He must have been a grim visage when he whirled on him because the man dropped his weapon and tried to run. He leapt at him hand engulfing the mans face claws digging in and he clutched hard as he jerked the head to the side. The satisfying crack and the sagging body let him know it was ok to double back. He leaned in the door way breathing unevenly. Not aware of how bad he looked, he was more concenred for the boy . "you ok kid..?"
Squeesan 2:35 pm
(2:35:01 PM): Ellis had to curl around and shield his eyes the longer the flames burned, pain wracking his whole body. The moment the pyro had been taken down, he rolled over to lay flat on his back with a groan, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth.
"B-been better..."
burstheal 2:37 pm
(2:37:37 PM): Nick looked at the wounds and frowned some putting his hand over it to compress it. "Elle..." He looked down at him with a sad expression. "Don't die again..please?"
Squeesan 2:40 pm
(2:40:09 PM): "N-never really... D-died..." Ellis said, moving a hand to Nick's with a weak grip. "Heart never s-ssstopped..." He chuckled, before coughing painfully.
burstheal 2:43 pm
(2:43:53 PM): "Doesn't mean I didn't think you had...tore me up..twisted me inside." He said dropping the unburned side of his face to rest on his hand. "I can't do this without you...So i'm not letting you die." He said before getting up and groaning picked the smaller form up into his arms.
Squeesan 2:46 pm
(2:46:06 PM): The smaller figure hissed in pain as he was lifted.
"N-no... Put me down..." he said, head swimming from the movement. "Please..."
burstheal 2:49 pm
(2:49:44 PM): "I'm taking you..where you won't possibly..die on me." He said trying to keep the boy as flat in his arms as possible to lessen both their pain as he climbed the stairs with renewed determination. stepping over the corpses as he went.
Squeesan 2:52 pm
(2:52:37 PM): "No, seriously..." Ellis was feeling nautious, possibly from the blood loss. "Jusss' fer a sec..."
burstheal 2:55 pm
(2:55:10 PM): nick frowned "If I stop I might not be able to start again, are you sure?" He looked up they were so close he could feel the fresh air from where they were stopped on a landing two floors below the exit.
Squeesan 2:58 pm
(2:58:21 PM): Ellis looked as though he was about to answer, before he twisted around to face the floor with a wretch and a gag.
burstheal 3:09 pm
(3:09:03 PM): It didn't seem to phaze the older man he just kept climbing, it hadn't been an answer and he was determined to get outside. At least see the sky again one last time. "Almost there Ellis.."
Squeesan 3:13 pm
(3:13:01 PM): There was another cough from the boy, a plinking clatter, and suddenly there was a small pile of bullets on the floor. "...I feel a lil' better..."
burstheal 3:15 pm
(3:15:33 PM): He blinked looking at the bullets on the ground then back at him. Some realization came over him as he continued to ascend. "Ellis..I think..we're infected."
Squeesan 3:19 pm
(3:19:07 PM): "That crossed my mind..." Ellis muttered, settling in to the grip of Nick's arms a bit. "How they s-sssaid they wanted t' tesst us an' all..." Finally, they reached the last few steps and the kid was squirming a bit. "Put me down."
burstheal 3:20 pm
(3:20:02 PM): Nodding he set him down. "I don't understand why we can still talk..and remember things. Aren't we suppose to be mindless animals...?" He stared at the door that would lead them out.
Squeesan 3:22 pm
(3:22:27 PM): Ellis wobbled a little once he was on his feet, but managed to keep himself standing, much to his surprise. "What? All that back there wasn't actin' like a mindless animal?" he pointed out, grumbling as he had to sheild his eyes from the light shining through the small window in the door.
"This'sss... Gonna set of an alarm," he said.
burstheal 3:25 pm
(3:25:11 PM): "Yes but you returned to...well whatever counts for normal now. It's just odd. I guess we're just different." He said putting his hand to the door. "when I open it we run, think you can do that?"
Squeesan 3:28 pm
(3:28:05 PM): "Came this far..." There was a sort of grim determination in his voice that was uncharacteristic of his normally up-beat attitude he'd had... well, before all this shit at least. He stiffened at the far-off tromp of more boots coming closer. "They're comin'," he said with a hiss.