Chapter 2

Crack, crack. 'Gunshots!' cried Ellie. 'It's coming from the power plant!'

The power plant was under attack and in full view of Joel and Ellie. Suddenly an explosion erupted inside the plant, then another, and another. It was being torn to pieces, leaving the two to only stare at the destruction of fire and its creator.

Ellie began to run down to the town, turning her head towards a stagnant Joel. 'Shit! C'mon Joel, we got help!'

Joel looked at Ellie wide eyed and shook his head. 'We can't, theres too many... and we don't even have our weapons.'

'Are you serious!? Your brothers there, we got to help him!' Cried Ellie, her voice began to choke from her tears.

'Thats enough Ellie, were survivors.' Said Joel in an emotionless voice. 'We have our backpacks, so we can stay here for the night, and by sunrise the fighting will be over and we can go back. Tommy and the others can hold their own just fine.'

Ellie knew it was a lie, just like she knew his story about the fireflies was a lie. It was the same tone, it was even the same place, but what could she do? In the end she simply nodded and said 'Okay'.

The sun rose at five and Ellie and Joel got up. Nether had much sleep, the cracking of gunshots only lasted a few hours, but it was enough to twist their dreams into nightmares. There was still a small fire to be seen from the outside of the plant, but there was no conflict to be seen or heard.

Neither said a thing as they came walking down into the town. The two guards manning the entrance were nowhere to be seen, and the once loud sounds of the town's people had evaporated into the air. They both began to be very weary of their surroundings, as they had done so many times before, as they walked to what was left of the power station.

'Were the fuck is everyone?' said Ellie 'They can't all have died'

'Some run, some hide.' answered the sleep deprived man, as he walked past a trail of blood leading to someone who wasn't good at either. Joel picked up a 9mm pistol from the young bodies hand and sighed as he looked into the magazine. 'two bullets... back to survivor mode'.

As they began to near the power station, dead bodies became more frequent, but still nothing living. Ellie noticed a young boy her age lying flat on his back, with a few holes through his chest. He had been the boy that asked her if she wanted to play on several occasions, of which she had always declined. Now she was glad she didn't, otherwise the niggling choke in her throat might have been something to worry about.

'Ellie get down.' Joel whispered 'I see someone.' They both crouched behind the nearest dust bin, peering out to see two strangers.

'How long do we have to be here?' said the first stranger.

'Until the others comeback from the search.'

The first stranger snorted. 'Ha, more like the hunt. I don't think they want them alive anymore.'

'If you ask me this has gotten all to personal, I didn't sign up for this.' The stranger took a look at the town with a sigh. 'Reckon this was a nice place to live.'

'It's better than the quarantine zone, I guess... anyway, shut up and go search the rest of the town' Commanded the first stranger.

They both walked of in separate directions towards the main part of the town, leaving the entrance to the power station wide open. Joel quickly threw himself over the bin and ran to the entrance, closely followed by Ellie. In front of them lay the wastes of the station.

'Fuck, they really wanted this think destroyed, but why? I mean it's not...' Ellie stopped, turning her head towards Joel. In front of him sat a man, tied up to the chair by ropes. He had a wet bag over his head, which Joel lifted quickly.

'No.'