You sighed, looking at the helicopter that was supposed to save you, fly away.
"Where the heck is that chopper going!?" A big man yelled
"Say hell" A man in a white suit crossed his arms.
"Hey, No need for cussing." The big man looked over at him.
"Let's get the hell off this building, Figure out where the hell it's going, And possibly follow it the hell out of here!"
"Girl, you should've stayed home.." A girl in a hot pink shirt talk to herself.
You giggled over the banter between everyone.
"In case anybody didn't notice, this building is on fire and the whirlybird ain't comin' back." The young redneck called out.
"A whirlybird? are you serious!?"
You smiled and walked down the stairs as everyone was bickering, you could get used to this group of people. You opened the door and your heart dropped, you shut the door and walked back up the stairs "Nope, I'm not going first."
The redneck chuckled, "I'll go ahead"
You looked at him, "Good luck," You giggled.
He looked back at you with a goofy smile
You melted, he was adorable, you could get used to him.
——————
"This elevator's working, guys!" You cheered out and smiled.
"So where's this mall at?" The man in the white suit chimed in as he hopped onto the elevator.
"There's a bridge outside of here, we'll go down it to get to the mall," You told him, You had lived around the area for sometime now but enough time to get familiar with the layout.
"Ew are you from here?" The white suited man looked at you.
"Yeah sorry, Princess" You crossed your arms.
"Listen here.." The redneck laid a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Nick, what's it to you?"
"Nick, The names Ellis," He smiled, "listen, You must be new to the word manners, am I right?"
Nick crossed his arms
"Did your parents ever teach em? Because I know where I'm from, I was always taught to be kind, especially to someone as gorgeous as..." He looked up at you.
"Y/n," You looked up at Ellis and smiled, "Ellis, that's a familiar name,"
He smiled, "Oh, I get a familiar one and you get a cute one, I must just be unlucky"
You blushed a little and looked at him, trying to remember something that probably wasn't even a true memory.
"My friends call me Coach, I guess you all can do the same," The big man chimes in, "No need for fightin, We have zombies on our asses right now."
——————
Ellis drove the car out of the Mall, he did some fine driving through zombies, even if we were stopped because of a bridge and now stopped again behind a jam of traffic.
"Shit, sorry, y'all, I can't drive through this, we'll have to go on foot."
"Whispering Oaks?" Nick read the billboard.
"Whisperin' oaks!" You smiled out
"I used to go there all the time as a kid," Coach looked over at you.
You nodded at him, "me too!" You walked closer to coach, "I used to ride the screamin' oak all the time, I remember going there when I was so little too."
He smiled at you, "I could ride the screaming oak for hours."
You smiled back up at him, he was like a father to you, You loved it, over your trip, you've felt more like a family with these random people you met during the apocalypse than your true family, you missed them of course, but you could get used to this.
Ellis looked over at you and walked over to you when you were alone, "You doin okay?"
You looked up at him, "hm? Yeah, why?"
"You seem tired" He placed a hand on your shoulder gently.
You were, you haven't slept since the apocalypse started, you were too scared to sleep, You hated when the night rolled around. "I'm fine, Ellis," You tried to remember his name but you couldn't pin it.
He looked at you, a little concerned, "If you get too tired, let me know, okay?" He looked at you, studying your face.
"Ellis? You okay?" You waved your hand in his face.
He nodded, "Ye-Yeah yeah, sorry-" He sighed, tryna look at you every now and then.
You grabbed his hat and put it on backwards, "Let's get the hell past this traffic jam first"
He looked at you and smiled, you matched his goofy energy, he was immediately in love, "did I ever tell you guys about the time me and my buddy Keith tried to make fireworks?"
"Ellis doll, I love your stories," Rochelle looked at him, "but not right now, alright?"
Ellis nodded, He looked at you every now and then while making his way to the motel.
You followed behind him and the rest of the group followed behind you, you looked at everyone, Rochelle caught your eye and you walked over to her. "Rochelle, Have you ever told us where your from?"
She hook her head, "I don't think so, I'm from Ohio"
"Really?" You smiled, "so, what are you doin down here?"
"I was originally coming here to report the flu," she did quotations with her fingers, "But it got so out of control that I could leave."
You nodded.
"So, you're from around here?"
You nodded again, "yeah, I haven't been here long but I've gotten a good idea of the towns around."
She nodded, "So, you like that Ellis kid, do ya?"
You blushed, "what?" You looked down, "No-" You crossed your arms.
"Mhmm, Sure" She giggled.
You looked over at Ellis and blushed slightly, Rochelle was right though, Ellis was adorable, His blue eyes, His messy brown hair, That goofy smile, it was all you wanted to see for the rest of your life.
——————
"Holy shit! It's goddamned kiddieland!" Ellis chimed out.
"You smiled and ran past everyone into there and looked around, "it's so weird to see everything the way it is.."
"Ellis is like a five year old with guns, and a grasp on every swear word in the English language." Nick rolled his eyes.
"So, Y/n, You lived around here?" Ellis looked at you, "yknow, ya seem familiar."
You shrugged, "And you got a familiar name, yet we're still talking about it"
He looked at you and stopped in his tracks, he took a good look at you, "n/n!"
You haven't heard that nickname since high school, "El..?" You hesitantly looked over at Ellis.
He smiled widely, "oh my goodness-"
You ran over to him and hugged him tightly.
He stumbled back and he hugged you back, maintaining his balance, "I thought I'd never see ya again!"
You smiled, "I missed you so much, and you were right here, under my nose.."
He smiled and looked at you, "I used to be so in love with you," He shrugged, "I got some familiar feeling when I saw ya, guess my instincts on likin ya were right." He smiled and turned to walk away.
You blushed slightly, "Ellis?"
He looked back at you, "Oh- By the w-"
You shut him up with a kiss and a smile, you loved and still love this redneck boy. You were madly in love with Ellis.