#2 They Ain't Coming Back

They'd been walking far too long. Ellis's boots were giving him blisters on top of blisters, a feat he'd only witnessed once when he and his buddy Keith were gonna walk across the state—he crashed into Rochelle's back, distracted by his own thoughts.

She staggered a bit, shooting him a look, "Watch it, sweetie."

"Sorry, ma'am." He apologized sincerely. Ellis then reached up and fixed his cap. "Why'd yew stop?"

"I hear…a… HEYYYYYYY!" Rochelle's eyes were trained on the sky. Ellis followed her line of vision. "HEYY! DOWN HERE! HELP!"

Coach jumped up on a large rock on the side of the dirt road, waving his arms above his head. "HELP! WE'RE STILL DOWN HERE!"

The helicopter didn't slow. It didn't even appear to. Ellis took off in a sprint, running beneath it. "HULLLLOOOOOOOOO! COME BACK! COME BACK!" He ran as fast as his sore legs could carry him. The blisters bled in protest. But the helicopter still didn't care about his pain. It didn't even spare a glance as it hovered on. "COME BACK!"

Ellis slowed to a stop, too exhausted to run very far at all. The group caught up with him as he doubled over and braced his hands on his knees, panting and watching as the helicopter flew on. He hung his head sadly. "They ain't comin' back…" He was crushed by the realization. He'd hoped, for a moment or two, the pilot would've seen their sorry group and taken pity. Ellis had made himself believe that there was a chance they would've hopped onto that steel bird and made it back to the safety of humanity without any more struggles.

"Okay." Nick said. He lifted his last cigarette to his lips. "We all got a turn yelling at the helicopter. Let's get a move on, I don't want to keep that safe room waiting."

"Very funny, Nick." Rochelle quipped.

The con man walked past the others and shrugged. "Just stating the facts, sweet cheeks."

She huffed angrily, crossed her arms, kicked the dirt, and slowly followed. Ellis hesitated until Coach's hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe next time, right kid?"

He said it like they had just barely lost a football game and had a grand chance at winning the next one.

Something about the belief in Coach's eyes that they really were going to be okay made Ellis nod and look down at his shoes. He wasn't so sure he believed the same thing anymore and felt guilty for thinking like he was.

Coach patted his shoulder firmly and walked on.

Ellis slowly brought up the rear, refusing to hear the faint beating of helicopter blades.

Please review? I'm getting nothing... I know they're short, but I'm trying. It's really hard.