A/N- I'm not really sure how I feel about this yet. I like it, but I don't. I really need some feedback here, people. XD

This was written at 2am with Megan Hale, who wrote the second paragraph thing where Ellis says his first line. It was intended to be a collaboration, but we ended up writing seperate fics. Find hers here: .net/s/6164702/1/ZIM_Zombie_Instant_Messenger

Anways, let me know if you spot any errors/mistakes and I'll fix them.

"Goddamn. You'd think they'd need to take a break or something. They just keep coming." Nick yelled, swinging his cricket bat wildly, just barely managing not to smack Ellis square in the face. They'd been fighting a horde nonstop for at least half an hour.

"Oh, ouch! Ouch! What the- what's that?" screamed Ellis, his eyes gazing through the horde at some bright, colorful being.

A flamboyant-looking zombie darted amidst the mob of infected, sporting a fedora and designer jacket.

"Nice jacket," muttered Nick, taking a moment to observe the reason for Ellis's recent outburst.

Rochelle snorted, obviously making a nonverbal dig at Nick's orientation.

She'd realized his sexuality before he'd even said a word to her. Tailored suit. Hair gelled back, each strand placed perfectly around his head. Fussing about the dirt and grime on his person.

And then there was the fact he'd obviously taken a liking to Ellis.

To most people, it'd seem as though he hated the boy with a passion. But Rochelle had seen through this, noticing the prolonged glances directed at Ellis, which usually ended with Nick looking completely flustered-then pissed- when he realized what he was doing. Then there was the fact that any time the mechanic was injured, Nick immediately insisted he take a look at his wounds, even when the most the mechanic had done was bump his toe off the edge of a piece of furniture he hadn't realized was there.

Yes, Rochelle knew, and Nick was well aware of the fact she knew. Snide comments and meaningful grins-always after his interactions with the mechanic-had alerted him to this.

It wasn't like he was all that secretive. Rochelle thought he was practically throwing himself at the hick (which was also the other way around, but Nick was too dense to realize that the mechanic was pining after him as well.), but she understood why no one else had noticed the conman's advances. First of all, Ellis had his own problems. Zombie apocalypse aside, he wasn't all that skilled at noticing when people were obviously completely infatuated with him. Keith had been, after all. But wasn't like that mattered now, Keith was probably dead. Coach probably wasn't too interested in romance between men, but then again, Coach wasn't too interested in anything not involving food. Besides, Rochelle had always been the one to get involved in other peoples' business.

She knew the reason behind why it would always take so long for Nick to heal Ellis. The rest of the survivors could patch themselves up in a matter of seconds, even Nick, when the need arose. But not when it came to him using a health pack on Ellis. He liked to take his time, savor the feeling of Ellis's skin against his fingers, relish in the way Ellis looked up at him expectantly, blushing slightly.

Which was exactly what happened after the horde had abated. Ellis was barely scathed, only having a few scratches here and there, but Nick told him it was better to patch him up, just in case something worse came their way.

"Look, Overalls, I don't wanna have to watch your ass when we run into a tank. Just let me heal you already." Nick said to Ellis, grabbing his arms and forcing him to sit on a table.

Rochelle barely suppressed a laugh. She was sure Nick would be perfectly fine 'watching his ass'. He seemed to watch it enough already.

Ellis whined.

"Ugh, fine. Jus' don't put any of that antiseptic shit on there, it burns."

"Whatever," was Nick's reply. He considered putting some on there just to watch him squirm; the mechanic was awfully cute when he looked distressed, which was demented, but hell, wasn't the whole damn situation?

He took the first aid kit off his back and stared at it for a moment, internally smiling to himself. This little red bag gave him an excuse to touch Ellis, feel Ellis, be close to him for a few short minutes. Not that it was completely satisfying, however. He'd much rather be fucking Ellis senseless into a makeshift bed in some saferoom. But this was good enough for now.

A sadistic conman falling in love with a happy-go-lucky hick. No wonder it's the goddamn apocalypse. Nick thought to himself, unwrapping a roll of gauze and placing it over Ellis's forearm.

He kept working on the mechanic's injuries, hands working carefully. He didn't want to cause the kid any more pain. Well, at least not that kind. Hell, he'd love to have the hick trapped underneath him, squirming while he sucked and bit at his neck mercilessly. Eliciting slick moans as he-

"What'chu thinkin' bout, Nick?" Ellis asked, noticing that the older man had stopped wrapping gauze around his scraped-up arm to stare off into space.

"Nothing. I wasn't." Nick mumbled hastily, quickly trying to finish up with Ellis's bandages while avoiding eye contact, slightly embarrassed at being caught in the middle of one of his fantasies.

"Suuureeee, you weren't." teased Rochelle, obviously not believing his ploy.

Nick finished and turned to glare daggers at Rochelle. She simply smirked and walked off in the direction of the next saferoom, followed by Coach, and eventually Ellis. Nick grumpily picked up his shotgun and followed suit, considering all the different ways he could kill Rochelle with the axe she was currently carrying.

So what do you think about Chapter 1? Love it? Hate it? Review!