"10 years from now people will look back at Valve and see a company who genuinely cared about the games and the people who play games. We did not cut corners and may never have shipped on time, but at least lived up to its responsibilities to moving things forward." Gabe Newell, Valve.
"Hundreds of people die every day Gerald. Why can't he be one of them?"
"I gave you an order Daniel. You will obey it or you can get out." Louis found himself surrounded in darkness when he awoke in frenzy. All he could hear from his blocked ears was muffled talking, and he could sense two men standing over him.
"Oh great and glorious leader! I respect thou decision!" Louis felt a figure rip the sack off his head, almost blinding Louis with the many flood lights that floated around them. The man that pulled the sack off his head was the same man that had found him back at the center of town. And standing next to him was none other than Gerald.
"Well, I didn't believe in ghosts until today. Couldn't handle the land of the dead?" Louis asked him smartly.
"Wasn't really the place for me, you know?" He replied in his thick Irish accent, smiling at the teenager. Louis looked over at the other man, who managed to grab Louis by his neck and pull him up to his knees. The man was quite slender, wearing a T-shirt and shorts that were a couple of sizes too big for him, and his head was matted with slicked back black hair. He looked like he was in his twenties, but Louis could tell he was much older than that. "Louis, this is Daniel. He's my co-leader. And I use that term quite loosely." The man got a wide, manic grin on his face.
"Nice to meet you Louis. Put her there!" He held out his hand for a handshake, but Louis couldn't comply due to his wrists being tied together. "Come on! Don't be shy!" Louis looked at the man, not amused. "Wow. How fucking rude! Don't know what you see in this boy, Gerald." Louis looked past Daniel to the building behind them, entitled 'National Bank of America'. The area seemed really secure, almost on par with security as one of the quarantine zones, as it had ten foot high walls, and a couple of dozen guards patrolling the outer perimeter of the walls. A radio on Daniels belt cackled to life all of a sudden.
"Uh, Dan? The infected pits are getting rowdy. Jacob fell in a couple of minutes ago, and now they got a hankering for our brains." Daniel sighed angrily.
"How many times do I have to tell you fucking idiots? These aren't fucking zombies risen from the fucking dead! So help me god, I'll rip your fucking esophagus out of your fucking neck!"
"I-I'm sorry sir… but can you come down and help me fix the shock fences? I don't have the electrical knowledge you do."
"All right. Calm down Mikey. I'll come down in a few minutes. Oh, and there better be a beer that doesn't taste like piss down there when I get there." Daniel placed the radio back in his belt and turned to Gerald. "Can we go now? We can kill two birds with one stone."
"Alright. Come on Louis." Gerald grabbed Louis's right arm and lifted him up gently, bringing him to his feet. Louis pushed him away, and began to follow Daniel to the outer gate. Daniel went and banged his hand against the makeshift metal door.
"Hey! Open up!" He called up to the guard manning the lever that opened the gate.
"What's the password?" A voice replied.
"If you don't open this door now, I'll rip your balls off and shove them so far down your throat they'll come out your ass!" Louis could practically sense the fear these men had of Daniel. The harsh words seemed to do the trick, as the giant door lumbered open just seconds after. Louis had a long walk down the hallway ahead of him if he wanted to get to the actual entrance. He began to follow closely behind Daniel, and as he did, Gerald caught up with him and started to walk beside him.
"Louis, I should probably explain myse-"
"There's nothing to explain. End of story." Up ahead of them Daniel had stopped to talk to an African-American man that seemed to be fixing a cracked wall.
"What's up, my negro!" The man looked towards Daniel with an angered expression.
"Excuse me, motherfucker? What the fuck did you say to me?" He stopped what he was doing completely and looked at Daniel, whose happiness had turned to confusion.
"I can't say that word?" He almost seemed genuinely… innocent.
"No you can't say that word! It's like the number one white person rule!" Daniel stepped back from the angered man like a zebra would a lion.
"Whoa, calm down. I didn't know. Listen, how about as an 'I'm sorry' gift I give you double rations tonight? Does that seem good?" He outstretched his arms for a hug. The man sighed and went in for the hug. After a few seconds, Daniel suddenly jerked away from the man, latched his hand onto the man's head, and thrust it against the wall. The first time the man gave out a grunt. The second time, blood had splattered on the wall, and the third time, Daniel finally let go of the man's head and let his unconscious body slide down the wall. "Don't you dare tell me what to say and what not to say, because if you do, then there will be a lot more fucking blood on that wall." He started to walk away again as if nothing happened, grumbling to himself about 'incompetent workers'.
"Listen, Louis… I've done things I regret. And kicking you out was one of them." Louis began to finally listen to the heavily accented words. "Five years ago, I overreacted, alright? And I got extremely angry at you." Gerald gave a small sigh as he continued on. "But I accept full responsibility for my actions."
"Like trying to kill me?" Louis asked coldly. Gerald got insulted by this accusation.
"I never tried to kill you! My intentions were-and are still- to just find you and take you back. I might've been a bit irrational back at Boston, but my intentions were pure." Louis held back the urge to hug Gerald, to apologize for the irrational accusation he had made against him. Instead he stayed silent, and focused on walking down the echoing hallway. "So… I got you here for a reason. I want to start over, offer you a place back in our thriving community." Louis was surprised by this offer. He looked towards his feet for a few steps, pondering the offer.
He looked back up and said, "I've already got a group of survivors to live with." Gerald ran this through his brain a few times.
"Can they handle a steady workload?" He asked.
"I know a couple of them can. The other two though… they aren't exactly as masculine as you or I."
"How so?"
"They're teenage girls." Gerald let out a laugh.
"Does that mean they can't handle themselves?" Louis realized how sexist he sounded, and gave an awkward cough. "If they can fire a gun accurately, they'll fit in just fine." Gerald gave the boy a warm smile. They made it to the end of the hallway just a few seconds later, where there were a couple of men, armed with an assortment of tools, examining the entrance door, which was slightly cracked open. One of the men noticed the trio and held his hand in front of him.
"I'm sorry, but the main entrance is currently off-limits due to maintenance issues." He told them. Daniel slid his right hand through his thick hair.
"Why the hell do I keep you guys here anyway? Looks like we're gonna have to take the route through the pits." He pushed the man away and looked to the doorway beside him. "Get this door open, you good for nothing pricks." One of the men scrambled to the doorway controls and entered the key code to open it.
"Louis, I want you to brace yourself. The things that are past this door will scar you for life." Gerald told Louis.
"I've seen my share of infected and dead men before. I can handle myself."
"Trust me Louis. You haven't seen anything like this before. Just… brace yourself." The door made a loud whirring and slowly opened. At first, Louis could hear screeching of infected. Then… screams of humans. The door fully opened, and Louis nearly threw up at what he saw. Hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies hanging by their necks from poles, over a pit full of various infected. Gerald gestured for Louis to follow him, which he did, not taking his eyes off the bodies. They began to walk down the pathway, which was lined with wire fences with an 'electric hazard' sign.
"What is up with Daniel?" He asked Gerald. "Where did you find him?" Louis looked around at the many walkways suspended in the air, which were stood on by bandits armed with pistols.
"We found him three years ago, just outside the Boston quarantine zone. He was holed up in one of the destroyed buildings with his wife and two kids."
"That guy had a family?" Louis questioned unbelievably.
"I know it's hard to believe, but he did. We were just about to rob them of all their stuff when Daniel asked us if there was any way they could join us. He said that he'd do enough work for the four of them, and I believed him. He lived up to that promise though. But then…we got attacked by a military patrol. His wife and both his kids were caught in the crossfire. He watched his own damn wife die in his arms. And as he sat there, sobbing for his deceased wife and kids, something just… snapped. From that point on he wasn't Daniel anymore. He turned ruthless. Like he wasn't human anymore." Gerald paused for a second before continuing. "We found another family on the move here. Mum, Dad, and a single kid. The rest of us spared them; we didn't want to kill a family! But Daniel, he went one step forward from just killing them. He butchered the parent's right in front of the kid, slicing their stomachs and letting them bleed to death right in front of him." Gerald stopped talking suddenly, the memory haunting him.
"What happened to the boy?" Gerald kept his eyes off Louis.
"He's hanging from the branch of a tree just off Washington." He told Louis coldly. Louis shut up now, and just followed Daniel down the winding path. They eventually stopped at a ladder, which Daniel quickly ascended. He made his way down the walkway and up to a man, who was stood next to a young woman. The woman seemed to look scared.
"Okay Mike, what the fuck is wrong?" Daniel asked quickly.
"Jacob fell into the pit, Dan! That's the third time someone has accidently fallen in there. I can still hear Jacob's screams." The man said.
"So?" Daniel asked him.
"Well, we need to get the electricity routed to the fences, because these infected want more and more flesh. Either that, or we have a breakout on our hands." Daniel gave a long sigh and shook his head.
"Well, it'd be rude to leave them hanging." Daniel proceeded to grab Mike and hold his flailing body over the pit.
"Sir, please don't! I'm sorry!" The man pleaded. Daniel let out an angered scream.
"Can't handle the bandit life? Can't handle society? Can't handle the mental instabilities that it brings? Well I can fix that!" Daniel threw him off the walkway and into the pit. As the many infected surrounded him, he let out a series of excruciating screams before going silent. Daniel looked towards the woman. "I'm awfully sorry aboot that. My friend there is a little dim witted." The woman said nothing. "Whoops a daisy, my accent seems to be showing." The woman just looked him in the eyes with fear. "What? You fancy Americans don't like to talk to Canadians? Do I put you off? I'm sorry I don't live up to your expectations!" He kicked the woman off the walkway, but she didn't fall into the pit. Instead, she fell a meter down the walkway and hung there by a rope around her neck, struggling for a half a minute before going still.
"Despite his insanity, Daniel is one of the smartest guys I know." Gerald interrupted Louis's focus on the horrors before him. "Apparently before the infection, he had gone to Harvard and got a PHD in astrology and astronomy. He even worked as a teacher at a high school for a year before the infection."
"How old is he?"
"He doesn't look it, but he's about forty six this year." Gerald told him. Louis was surprised.
"How does a man like that keep such good care of himself?"
"A combination of not giving a shit about other people, and vigorous exercise." Louis could understand that. Daniel made his way back down the ladder and stood in front of the pair. "I should probably send out a patrol to pick up your friends." Daniel lost all expression.
"We're letting his friends survive?" Gerald gave a slow nod. "Well, I might or might not have already sent out a squad to eliminate them."
Shane woke with a yawn on the couch where he slept. Today was the day they were leaving to continue to Salt Lake City. He slowly sat up on the couch, wiping his hand across his face as he did so. He spotted Ellie sitting on the window sill of the living room, one foot up on the window sill, the other on the ground. The bright orange sun beamed in from around her body, causing a shadow to cast on Shane. She seemed distressed.
"Ellie, are you okay?" He asked her uncertainly. After a few seconds she comprehended his question and looked towards him.
"Louis didn't come back from the nightclub last night." She answered. Shane got up from the sofa and walked over to Ellie.
"He didn't?" Ellie shook her head. Shane looked out the window into the ruined town, plagued by weeds growing through the cement pathways. "I'm sure he's fine. He can handle himself." At least, that's what he believed. "He'll be back soon. Then we can head to Salt Lake." He smiled at her, which always seemed to comfort Ellie, and gave her a kiss. When he pulled back, his smile faded. Ellie looked towards where he was looking outside, and saw a small, black minivan pull up outside the house. "Ellie, get down." Shane whispered. The tinted black window slowly winded down, and a small Mac 10 appeared outside the window. "GET DOWN!" Shane shouted, pulling Ellie to the carpeted floor. For the next five seconds, all that was heard was a hail of bullets smashing the glass of the window. When the bullets stopped, Shane heard a couple of doors open up and slam shut. Shane let go of Ellie and crawled on his hands and knees to the door entering the living room, and grabbed a shard of glass from the window. He heard footsteps come towards the door before it burst open and four men entered the house. Shane looked at Ellie and put a finger on his lips to signify for her to stay silent. One of the four men made his way into the living room, and saw Ellie lying on the floor.
"Finally." He said, holding his baseball bat high in the air. Shane creeped up behind him and plunged the shard of glass into the man's neck, and kicked the body onto the ground.
"Shane! Behind you!" Ellie yelled. Shane spun to see another man about to slash him with a machete, but he kicked it away with his foot and punched the man straight in the jaw. The other two had heard the commotion and were about to shoot Shane when a bullet went straight through one of the men's head. The other man aimed at where the bullet had come from, but was dead before he lifted his gun. Shane grabbed the remaining man and choked him out. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious, and Joel and Sara revealed themselves from upstairs.
"Why'd you leave him alive?" Joel asked, looking down at the man.
"Because I have a strong feeling that this guy knows where Louis is."
Half an hour later the man woke up in a wooden chair in a completely empty room; except for four people standing in front of him. One of them, a teenage boy, walked up to him.
"Good morning sunshine! Glad you could join us." The man started to struggle against the ropes that tied his hands behind the chair, but there was nothing he could do. "Can you tell me your name? It'd make everything a lot easier."
"Sam." He replied, pure hatred in his eyes.
"Well Sam, here's how it's going down. You tell me what I want to know, and I might not kill you. Are we clear on that?" No response came. Shane looked towards his three friends. "Joel, I need you to siphon some gas and bring it to me in a canister. Ellie, you get me a cable, some water and a pair of scissors. Sara, can you bring me a pistol as well? Much appreciated."
"Why do you want those things?" Ellie asked him.
"Just bring them to me, alright? And I'll have answers from this guy in no time." Ellie looked over at Joel, who just mouthed do what he says.
A few minutes later the trio came back with the supplies, and they found that Shane had got a coffee table into the room. They set down the objects on the table and stepped back to the door. The first thing Shane picked up was the glass of water. "So Sam, where is Louis? Blonde hair, brown eyes, overcoat? No?" Shane threw the water on Sam, soaking him in it.
"Was that it?" Sam asked, smiling.
"Wait a second." Shane got the cable and plugged it into an outlet in the room, then used the scissors to cut the fairly long laptop charger half way. "So, where is Louis?" The man said nothing. "So be it." Shane turned the outlet on. He then slightly touched the man with it, causing electricity to course through his body. Shane took the cable away after a few seconds and threw it on the ground. The man started to twitch uncontrollably. Shane began to laugh at the man's pain. "You ready to tell me something yet?"
Through his twitching, the man said, "Fuck... you." Shane got the gun from the table and placed it on the man's left shoulder.
"Where is Louis already? You're just making this harder for yourself." Shane fired a bullet into the man, but it only penetrated an inch. Which was perfect. Shane put his thumb on the bullet, and began to push the bullet in further. Sam started to scream, causing Ellie and Sara to stand back in horror.
"Alright! Please stop, please! I'll tell you everything!" Shane stepped away from the man. "We got a camp set up at a bank to the west of town. You can't miss it. Can I go now?" Shane grabbed the gas container from the table and kicked the chair over so it was on its back. He unscrewed the cap and poured the entire can over him, and threw the empty container to the side of the room. "Ellie? Joel? Sara? You guys got your stuff packed?" They all nodded. Shane then proceeded to pull out a box of matches from his pocket.
"What the fuck man? I thought you'd let me live?" Shane then took out one of the matches and lit it.
"I said might." He dropped the match, and everything suddenly went in slow motion for Ellie. She watched the bright flames dance along the phosphorous from the match. The serious face Shane was making. The pleading of Sam. Then everything returned to normal speed. The match made contact with the gas on the man's skin, and he went up instantaneously. The terrible screams that followed could only be heard to be truly understood. Ellie looked at Shane, but it was like he…like he wasn't there anymore. He actually looked like he took pleasure from the man's screams. He slowly turned around to face the group. "We should go." Ellie put her hand on Shane's chest to stop him.
"Shane, is there something you want to talk about?" Shane looked her directly in her eyes, and she realized something; Shane wasn't there at the moment. Some demon had taken over him.
"This house is going up in flames. There is nothing I want to talk about." He told her in a deep growl, stepping around her. Ellie looked towards Joel, as if to say when did he go from comforting to terrifying? All Joel did though was look blankly back at her, and proceed to walk out of the room. She gave a small sigh. Sara put her hand on Ellie's shoulder, and gave her a comforting smile. A lot like the one Shane would give her…
Louis hadn't time to worry about where Gerald was taking him, as his mind was on Daniel. Who was this guy? Why did Louis seem to trust him more than any sane person? These questions spun around his head like cartoon stars.
"Well, here we are!" Daniel announced. "Your temporary, yet humble, home." Louis snapped out of his train of thought and looked at where Daniel gestured to. It was a bank vault, at least he guessed.
"I'm sorry Louis, but you're going to have to stay here for the next night while we sort you out." Gerald told him.
"A.K.A we have to keep you locked away from society because you're fucking crazy." Daniel told him smiling.
"Really? You're going to pull that card?" Gerald rubbed his arm awkwardly.
"Sorry kid. Here" Gerald handed Louis a radio. "I can contact you inside the vault using this." Louis grudgingly accepted the gift.
"Alrighty then, get in there kid. Go on." Daniel pushed him into the vault. "All right!" He shouted into his radio. "Seal the vault up tight!" Louis heard the rusty gears come to life and a blaring sound coming from the speakers. As the door slid to a close, he saw Gerald with a sorry look on his face looking at him.
The door slid to a halt, leaving Louis at the mercy of the few lights that were suspended above him. He examined the parts of the room he could actually see. The walls were all lined with many deposit boxes owned by people long gone since the fungus. He slid his hands along the boxes, which were covered in dust from years of misuse. He ended up at the wall opposite the vault door, and sat down against the wall.
"I'm alone. For the first time in months, I'm alone not of my own accord. Alone with my thoughts…" Louis felt the presence of another man, one he knew all too well.
"What's up, squirt?" Louis looked up to his hallucination of his father.
"What are you doing here?" Louis asked spitely.
"Is that the greeting I get?" Louis looked at him angrily. "You do know why I'm here, don't you?"
"Fuck off. I don't need to resort to that."
"Louis, you can make me go away. It's really simple."
"It's not as simple as you'd like."
"I believe it is. All the hallucinations are gone with one simple action." Louis pondered for a second. "If you want to trip out, that's fine. But I know you wouldn't." He spoke the truth. Louis sighed and reached into his overcoat, pulling out the small knife he kept hidden. He then rolled up the right sleeve of his coat, revealing many of his past deeds. Many people would've recoiled at the sight of the scars, tried to help him. Six, he counted now. He placed the small knife on his arm, and began to slide it vertically down his arm. He winced at the first sign of pain, but he eventually finished and left a seven inch cut down his arm. Tears began to slide down his face, as did the blood down his arm. He rolled his sleeve back down, hoping the blood would not stain his coat. He burrowed his head into his arms, and continued to cry.
"Why don't the hallucinations go away?" He quietly said to himself. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept cutting himself once a week, the hallucinations would go away. He was startled when he heard the crackle of the radio Gerald had given him.
"Hey Louis, you there?" A voice asked.
"I'm fine," he replied, holding back the tears.
"It's Gerald. Is there anything you want to catch up on?"
"I actually kind of want to know about life before the infection. Your life." No response came back for a few seconds.
"Well alright then. I spent twenty five years alive before the infection, but I could start from when I was your age."
"I'd like that."
Shane could almost feel the tension in the air of the room. He kept his gun trained on his former master, his teacher, his friend. The motel's walls were lined with mould and ancient blood splatters from battles fought previously. Soon, this wall will be red with fresh blood of either Shane or his master.
"How could you betray me like this, Shane? After everything I taught you! I fought for you, I bled for you, I would've died for you! I thought of you as a son!" His master yelled at him, a pistol aimed at Shane's chest.
"I told you one day that I'd outgrow you. That one day the student would become the master!"
"You promised me Shane. Back when you came to this country. I took you under my wing. Why would you do this?"
"It's just the world we live in. If this didn't happen today, it would've happened some other time!" The light from a military helicopter's searchlight shined brightly through the window to the right of them. Shane was momentarily distracted, and his master used this to his advantage. He slapped the gun from Shane's hand, causing it to hit the wall, and pushed Shane onto the wall. He placed his arm at Shane's neck to keep him in place.
"I am your uncle! Why would you do this?" Shane kneed him in the stomach, sending him backwards.
"All things come to an end." Shane continued to grab his master by the collar and brought him over to the exit of the room. "I would like to thank you for your noble sacrifice. I couldn't of have escaped without you." Shane opened the door and pushed his master out into the chopper's view. His master gave him one last look before he was consumed by a volley of bullets. As Shane watched his former master's final moments come to an end with unblinking eyes, he comforted himself by saying, "It…needed…to…be…done…"
Victor prepped himself for his report to Daniel. Out of the three of his group that had decided they needed to warn Daniel of a rumor, he had to be the one to warn the psychotic man because of a game of Paper-Scissors-Rock. Fucking luck would have it that it would be him. He walked up to the door that led into Daniel's office, formerly used as the bank manager's office before the infection, and looked at one of the two armed guards at the sides of the door.
"I gotta see Daniel." He told the guard.
"Hold up Victor. What's the reason?"
"Since when have we needed reasons? This isn't the White House! Just let me through." The guard narrowed his eyes at the fast pace Victor spoke at. "And don't call me Victor. That was my code name back in the army. My name's Tom." The guard gave him a smile.
"Whatever you say Victor-Victor-Alpha. Go right on in." Victor got annoyed, but continued into the room. He found Daniel sitting at his desk, his back turned to Victor, looking at a splatter of dry blood on the wall.
"Uh, Daniel sir?" Victor asked him. There was no reply, but Daniel did start to rest his head on his hand. "Sir?" Daniel held his hand up.
"Bup bup bup bup! I'm examining the artwork." Victor looked at the wall.
"Sir, that's blood."
"Oh. So it is." Daniel spun around in his chair to face Victor. "So what can I do for you, Victor?"
"Well sir, there's kind of a rumor going around about you."
"Is it about Zayne? Because that shit head has always had it out for me! I did not, and I repeat, did NOT, sleep with his mother!"
"Uh, no sir. One of the men eavesdropped on Gerald's meeting the other day, and says that Gerald is planning to get rid of you." Daniel's mouth shaped into a frown and he jumped up from his chair. Victor put his hands up, hoping Daniel wouldn't hit him too hard.
"That's bullshit! After all I've done for that Irish prick…" He looked at Victor. "Victor, I want you to spread the word to all men that are loyal to me that a revolution is upon them! I will give them orders when the time has come." Victor gave a nod.
"Yes sir." Victor knocked his hand on the desk to signify the end of the conversation, and turned on his heels and left the room. Daniel was crazy, there was no denying it, but he was a good leader. A competent leader. Something Gerald could never be.
Shane used the binoculars to scout the area around the bank. For a bandit camp, they were almost as fortified as a quarantine zone. The high iron walls kept out any and all infected out, there was a single gate that acted as an entrance to the bank, and he could see at least two dozen guards on the walls. He took the binoculars from his eyes and placed them back in the glove compartment of the minivan they had stolen from the dead bandit patrol. He walked around to the back of the van where the rest of the group was waiting inside.
"Alright, out." He commanded. The group exited the van and Shane grabbed a few of the guns that were left in the van. He handed a hunting rifle to Joel and a couple of pistols to the girls. He then proceeded to take out a shotgun for himself and placed it on the ground. He then made his way back into the driver seat of the van.
"Hey Shane," Joel called out. "What are you doing?" Shane pulled out a few blocks of C-4. "Where did you get that?"
"Found it in the van."
"Well, what are you going to use it for?" Shane threw the C-4 into the back of the van.
"What do you think? We've got to get in there somehow."
"I'd have thought we'd take a sneakier route in."
"We don't have time for that." He got a brick from under the driver seat.
"Kid, what's wrong?" Joel asked him, placing a hand on Shane's shoulder. "You seem troubled."
"I've been thinking Joel. Thinking about my life. Who I am, who I want to be. And I've decided." He hopped out of the driver seat and placed the brick on the accelerator. "I'm going to try and become someone a man would look at and run away from. Someone whose orders would be obeyed at the click of their fingers." He slotted the car key into the keyhole and turned the van on, sending it flying forward with the accelerator being pressed on by the brick. Shane pulled out the trigger for the C-4 and waited for the van to crash into the entrance, before he blew the van up. The whole thing went up in flames, taking the gate and several men with it.
"Goddamn, Shane." Sara commented.
"It got the job done, didn't it?" Shane walked down the road leading to the bank, followed by the rest of the group.
"…So I got on one knee, looked her in the eyes, and gave her the bouquet of roses." Louis started to chuckle.
"So what'd she do?" Louis asked.
"What do you think? She scoffed and walked off in the opposite direction. I had no idea what happened. But, the next day, I went back to the same spot, same time, and I waited for her there. When she came, I got down on one knee again, got the box out of my pocket, and I gave her the biggest diamond she had ever seen. She was so star struck, she had nothing else to say but yes."
"You're kidding me? That's amazing."
"Oh shit." Louis didn't like the sudden worry in his voice. "Louis, I got a problem. There's a group of tourists that have entered the walls. A middle aged man and three teenagers." Louis nearly dropped his radio.
"Those are my friends! They must be here to rescue me!"
"Well, your friends have already proven themselves capable. I'll give the order to capture a-" Gerald was interrupted by the speaker system coming online.
"Attention all men, attention all men, this is your lovely new leader Daniel speaking. This is regarding to any men still loyal to Gerald, you are ALL FUCKING DEAD! HAVE YOU GOT ME? Thank you, that is all." The speaker went silent.
"Fuck! He must've caught wind that I was going to get rid of him. Louis, I'm gonna find your friends, then I'm coming for you. Alright?"
"Alright." He replied into the radio.
POW! Shane blasted one of the men back with his shotgun. Using the confusion from the gate incident, the group had managed to sneak past a lot of the men. Either the men seemed to run around pointlessly, or fight each other for some unknown reason. It took them a long time, making their way past the many men who guarded the entrance, but they eventually made it inside the bank through the front door, killing the two men who were guarding it. Shane turned to the rest of his group.
"Alright. Sara, you're with me. We'll go find that bastard leader of theirs. Joel, Ellie, you spread out and find Louis. You think you can do that?" Joel put his hand in front of him.
"I don't think we should split up. Bad choice." Joel told him. His eyes darted between Ellie and Sara.
"Why Joel? You think we can't handle ourselves?" Ellie questioned him.
"I ain't saying that."
"Then what the fuck are you saying Joel?" Shane gestured for him and Sara to leave, which Sara was glad to oblige to.
"I'm just saying it'd be safer. 'Safety in numbers' is what you said, right?"
"That doesn't mean I can't handle myself. Screw this, I'm finding Louis." Ellie passed around Joel, stomping off to find Louis.
"Fucking Joel." She told herself. "Why can't he just let me do this? I took care of him for a while! I can handle myself." Ellie sighed. "Maybe he cares too much." She heard footsteps behind her, and expected it to be Joel. But when she turned around, it wasn't Joel who was standing there. Another man instead stood there, smiling like he had just bagged a huge fish.
"Well, hello there. Are you lost little girl? Do you need your daddy? I can help you find him if you come back with me." Ellie pointed her gun at him. "Well calm down there cupcake." She kept her gun trained on him. "I said calm the fuck down!" The man smacked the gun out of her hands, and used his other hand to slap Ellie across her face. She fell to the ground, clutching her stinging face. "Don't worry. I can reunite you with your friend." The man said, stomping his foot on Ellie's face to knock her out.
Ellie woke up some time later to find her hands tied behind her back, and the man looming over her.
"Rise and shine, cupcake!" He told her, yanking her up onto her feet. "So, how's it going?"
"Who the fuck are you?" He waggled his finger.
"You really shouldn't use that language. I mean, c'mon. Let's keep it PG-13 here. My name is Daniel. What about you?"
"Fuck you."
"Well, your parents must've hated you then." He walked up to Ellie and yanked her hair. "What is your name?"
"It's Ellie." Daniel let go of her hair, and instead placed his hand on her back.
"Well Ellie, it's a pleasure to meet you. You came at a bad time though. I'm in the middle of a war. Well, more of a change of leadership." He began to slide his hand down her spine. "How I wish I could be back in Canada. Did you know that the infection had made a slightly lesser impact there? Don't know why I left. Maybe it was the gun laws, maybe it was the weather, maybe, just maybe, it was the women that resided in this country." He stopped his hand right before her ass. "Unfortunately, I don't have time for such pleasures right now. But come morning, I will." He gave her a wide smile and began to take her into somewhere. A vault by the looks of it. As soon as the vault was open, Daniel pushed her into it and said, "Enjoy your stay." Just as the vault slid to a close.
"Ellie, are you okay?" She turned around to see Louis standing in the middle of the vault. She ran up and gave him a hug.
"Thank god you're okay." She pulled away and stood there. "Who are these guys?"
"Would you happen to remember Gerald? Well, he's alive. Don't worry though; he's a good guy now. It's Daniel you have to worry about."
"Already met him. The dickhead's insane."
"Did he hurt you in any way? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. He took my jacket though. It's freezing in here!" Louis took of his overcoat and put it on her.
"Don't worry, I got you." The overcoat was a few sizes too big, stretching all the way down to her ankles. "That better?"
"Yeah, thanks." She noticed his slashed arm. "What happened to your right arm?" Louis jerked his arm behind his back.
"It's nothing." He mumbled.
"It sure as hell doesn't look like nothing. Show me your arm." She grabbed his right arm and pulled it out in front of her. She saw seven vertical cuts down the side of his arm. "Did…did you do this to yourself?" Louis gave no answer to her. "Louis, why? Just, why?"
"Because it keeps the hallucinations away."
"Louis, this isn't good. You shouldn't do this."
"Ellie…it's the only way to stop the violent hallucinations. I'd rather hurt myself than hurt someone I care about."
"You can't do this. It isn't like you."
"You wouldn't understand."
"I think I would." Ellie rolled up her sleeve, past the bite, up just past her elbow, and revealed a four inch cut on her slender arm.
"Ellie…"
"It was after I got bit. When Marlene found me. I couldn't get that memory out of my head. It just kept repeating and repeating, and in all the confusion, I saw my switchblade. It took ten seconds, but it gave me a clear mind. But only for a day. Then I realized that it couldn't solve anything, that it wasn't the answer." She rolled her sleeve back down, and walked over to Louis's backpack. "How long have you been doing this anyway?"
"One and a half months now."
"Jesus Louis." Ellie pulled out a half used roll of bandage, and walked back over to Louis. "Give me your arm." Louis extended his right arm and she grabbed it and started to wrap the bandages around it. "Louis, you have to promise me that you won't do this anymore."
"Ellie, I…" She gripped his wrist even harder and made him look her straight in her green eyes.
"Louis. Promise me." Something about her eyes told Louis she actually cared for his well-being.
"I promise." She took the bandages away and let go of his wrist. Louis shook his hand a few times to get blood circulating again.
"I've got enough to worry about without you anyway."
"Like what?"
"Like that Daniel guy. What the fuck is his deal?"
"What'd he do to you?"
"Hell if I know. All he told me is that he'll have time for his pleasures in the morning."
"Oh. Fuck Ellie, I feel bad to be in your position."
"Why? Do you know what's gonna happen?"
"Don't you?" She shook her head. "Well, my best guess is he's gonna…" He paused for a few seconds. "…Rape you." She cocked her head to one side.
"Rape?" The confusion in her voice worried Louis.
"You know. Sex without your permission."
"I've heard that word before. What does it mean?" Louis's face drained of all color.
"Please tell me you're fucking kidding." She shook her head again. Abort Louis. Abort! "Uh, w-well, I-I-I-I..." A-fucking-bort Louis! Louis looked away from Ellie and slid his hands through his hair. "No, no, n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no. I ain't talking about that."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd have to get into details, and I'd rather not."
"Details? Louis, you're sounding really crazy. Just, tell me what's going on." Louis gave out a deep sigh.
"Ah, fuck it. But, I have two things to say before I start. One: No laughing during this conversation or I'll stop it there and then. Two: Eventually I'm gonna get to the part about…" He looked Ellie's skinny figure up and down. "…what your body holds for you, so forgive my stammering." Ellie nodded. Louis gave a deep sigh and rubbed his hands together. "Alright then. Where do I even begin?"
Victor gestured for his friend to take point. His orders were simple: deactivate the electric fences to give Gerald some breathing room. Some would call Victor a traitor; and they were right. As loyal as he was to Daniel, the man was bat-shit insane, and that isn't the right quality for a leader. He kept his back to his friend and watched behind them, keeping his senses up.
"Max, what's the sit-rep?" Victor asked his friend.
"Nothing yet. Gerald's kept his promise in distracting Daniel's men." Victor wasn't the trusting type, even when it came to choosing leaders. But he knew he could always trust Max.
"You know, this reminds me of back in the army. Remember Washington?"
"How can I not?" His friend laughed. "You remind me of it nearly every day." Victor wished he could go back to his old life. Back to the military. But that was the reason he left anyway. All those rules and fucking procedures weren't for him. "Hold up." His friend told him, holding his hand up to halt progress. Victor peeked past his friends shoulder to see what he was looking at.
"What is it?" Victor asked.
"We got three tourists. One man, two teenagers. What are our orders?"
"Let's make contact with them. Don't fire unless told." Max nodded and stood up slowly. They both trained their guns on the trio as they made their way towards them. They got about five meters when they stopped in their tracks. "Halt!" Victor shouted, aiming his gun at the older man. The three of them turned around and looked at Max and Victor. "Who the hell are you?"
"Calm down. We don't want to hurt you." The older man told them, sliding his hand onto his pistol. Victor fired a warning shot beside him, causing him to put his hands in the air.
"What are you doing here?" Victor shouted at them. None of them answered. "Okay, how about this? Are you, or are you not, part of Daniel's group?"
"Who the fuck is Daniel?" Victor gave a grin to Max.
"That's good enough for me." Victor placed his shotgun back in his holster and held out his hand to the older man. "Name's Victor. Or Tom. Whichever you prefer." The older man shook his hand cautiously.
"How about Victor Tom?" Victor thought for a second.
"Guess that would be acceptable. Sorry about being so hostile before. We were just making sure you weren't Daniels men." He let go of the older man's hand.
"Who exactly is this Daniel guy? And why do you hate him so much?"
"I'll explain on the way."
"The way to where exactly?"
"To Gerald. The only sane person there seems to be."
It took an hour. The longest fucking hour in Louis's life. But he finally finished the most awkward conversation he had ever had. His throat felt really dry all of a sudden. He rubbed his neck a few times then sighed.
"And that's really it. Goddamn." He looked towards Ellie, who was trying to stifle laughter. "You can laugh now." That was the biggest mistake in Louis's life. Ellie burst out laughing, falling onto the floor in the progress. She went on like this for almost a minute before wiping a tear of joy from her eye and standing up.
"Okay, okay. You're bullshitting me, right?" She asked him.
"Nope. One hundred percent true."
"I don't know how you did it, but you have officially made this the most awkward moment in my entire life." Louis rolled his eyes at her, and lent back on one of the deposit boxes. Wait. An open deposit box.
"Holy shit." He looked into the box and gestured for Ellie to come over to him. '219' the box was labeled. He pulled out the belongings and set them all on the floor. The belongings included: a journal entitled '2013', a bottle of red wine, and a revolver loaded with a single bullet.
"So uh, should we read the journal?" Ellie asked.
"It kind of seems like an invasion of personal space…"
"Of a dead person?" Louis pondered for a few seconds.
"Who am I to have better judgment?" He gave her a smile and picked up the journal. He flicked a few pages and began to read out loud:
May 7th, 2013
These reports are scaring me. Margret says that it's just media superstition, but I think it's something more, something real. First thing next week we're moving to my country home to wait out this 'pandemic'. But in the meanwhile, I proposed to Margret yesterday. She just seemed so happy. Well, what else was I supposed to do? She's been living with me for so long now, and she keeps dropping, what she says are, subtle hints. A.k.a she placed a bridal magazine on the doorstep and kept talking about how great her friends are doing in their marriages. I swear to god, that woman will be the death of me. That or old age. Those are two viable options.
May 9th, 2013
Nothing much today, except for a promotion at the station. All it means is a couple hundred more dollars in my paycheck and a shiny new title.
May go-fuck-yourself
That's fucking right! The media were correct for once in their life span! It's a fungus apparently. Isn't that just great? I think this just might be the last entry in my journal. I have no idea where the hell Margret and I are going to go next. We might just have a go at surviving. But that doesn't mean I haven't got a plan B. If it comes to it, and Margret gets killed or infected or something, then pop goes my fucking head. I don't know if that'll be a worse option…or a better one.
Louis closed the journal and sat on the ground, throwing the journal to one side of the vault. Ellie went and sat beside him.
"Do you think he's still alive?" She asked him. Louis shrugged his shoulders.
"Is anyone really? He may as well not be. Living a life of fear and despair is not a life a human should live. Yet we seem to live it every day. Worrying that we're gonna wake up to find some Clicker standing above us about to sink his teeth into our flesh." Louis crawled forward and grabbed the gun. "Right now, I see two options as to what I can do. Option numero uno: I put this gun to my head, count to three, and pick up where that guy left off." He looked over to Ellie. "I'm not exactly a fan of that. Option two: you take the gun. Hide it in the overcoat. When Daniel tries anything on you, take him out." He placed the gun in Ellie's overcoat pocket, completely concealing it.
"Why don't you keep it?"
"Because maybe Sara was onto something. There are things in my past that I'd like to change. But I can't. All I can do is try to avoid them in the future." Ellie gave a slightly angered sigh.
"Why are you always like that? All poetic? Like it's your last day on Earth or something?"
"Because maybe it will be." He let a small smile slip. "Or maybe because it ropes me more ladies than I can handle." Ellie gave him a hard shove. "Ellie, there are two things that allow me to escape from the harsh reality of this world; my hallucinations, and books. My favorite types of books are apocalypse novels. Where there isn't a hero, nor is there a villain. Just a survivor trying to survive against all odds. Because I really do relate to them."
"What usually happens to the survivor?" Ellie asked him.
"They…they die. Trying to protect the ones they love usually."
"And that's how you see yourself?" Ellie looked down to the floor. "Then why give the gun to me?"
"Ellie… I never did actually say I stopped loving you. It doesn't work that way." Ellie wrapped her arms around her legs.
"Well that's what you told Sara."
"Oh. You heard that."
"Yeah. I did." There was silence in the vault, as Louis tried to think up a response or some sort of excuse. He decided to change the subject the best way he knew how.
"Things really got depressing fast, huh? Hang on a sec, Ellie." He grabbed something from Ellie's overcoat.
"You kept the smart phone?"
"Of course I did. You think I'd throw something like this away?" He began scrolling through the phone for a couple of seconds.
"Louis, what are y-"
"Hang on. Hang on." He eventually got a wide smile on his face, and music started playing from the phone's speakers. It was some stupid yet catchy pop song that Ellie hadn't heard before. Louis stood up and began to clap to the beat. "C'mon Ellie. Make the best of what time we got, am I right?"
"Louis, this is totally stupid."
"Exactly why you should do it. We're still teenagers, Ellie. We deserve to be stupid once in a while!" Ellie sighed and gave Louis a smile.
"Alright. Your such a sap, you know that?"
"A lovable sap, though."Ellie stood up and started to copy what Louis was doing. They both began to chuckle at a combination of how stupid they looked, and how, surprisingly, fun this was to them. Then Louis began to see Ellie. Her beautiful green eyes. Her ragged autumn hair. Her warm smile. He had to stop this! He couldn't betray a promise…could he? Without even thinking, he crossed the gap between him and Ellie, grabbed her by the arms, pulled her towards him and began to kiss her. He felt her warm lips, and began to realize she was kissing him back. All of Louis's worries, his fear, his drama's were all gone, and all he could focus on was her. He slid his hand through her hair, feeling each and every strand. He pulled away suddenly, looking Ellie in her eyes. "Uh, sorry. It was kind of a reaction." Ellie smiled.
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"By doing this, I've essentially broken my promise to Sara."
"What is it they say Louis? There's a first time for everything?" He went back in for another kiss, thinking of how he was getting out of this situation. What would he tell Sara? Joel, even? Screw it, Louis. Enjoy the time you have. That advice he was glad to follow.
Victor and Max led the tourists to Gerald, avoiding any and all of Daniel's men along the way. When they finally did manage to get to Gerald's safe area, the sight there shocked the tourists to their bones. Gerald had few men that were able to help him, whereas the rest were wounded from the ensuing battles between the two groups. They made their way up to Gerald's makeshift office, where he was sat at with his head on the desk.
"Gerald?" Victor called. Gerald took his head off the desk.
"What is it, Victor? I'm very busy."
"I can see that sir. On the way to the electric fence controls, we ran into a group of tourists. I believe their names were Joel, Sara, and Shane."
"Alright, bring them in." Victor gestured for the tourists to enter. Gerald saw a middle-aged man, and a teenage boy and girl enter. "Welcome, strangers. What brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"We came here for Louis. We got some information that he would be here." Joel told him. Gerald got up from his chair and walked around his desk.
"Joel, was it? That's true; the boy is in the bank."
"Then could you hand him back, so we can get out of your hair." Gerald gave a chuckle.
"It won't be as simple as that. You see, my friends, I am stuck in the middle of a war with that crazy fuck Daniel."
"Okay, I'm hearing a lot about this guy. Who the hell is he?"
"I'll tell you exactly who he is."
"He's ruthless, uncaring for anyone but himself." Daniel walked down the hallway towards one of his men who was fixing up the electricity towards the electric fences, and stood above the crouched man. "He has no morals. He'll kill a child just for the fun of it."
"So Hayden, buddy old pal, how's the electricity going?" Hayden stood up and looked at him.
"The whole circuitry's fried. If you want this thing up and running, it's going to take a few days." Daniel lost his smile.
"We don't have that time. Speed it up." He demanded.
"Daniel is the sort of man that'll take his favorite animal in the world, and tear it in two."
"I can't do that. If I could, I would." Daniel's mouth formed a violent frown, and he got up close to Hayden and grabbed him by his vest.
"I can't let Gerald win. I FUCKING CAN'T, YOU HEAR ME?"
"I'm sorry! Please you have to understand!"
"No, you fucking understand!"
"Calling him insane doesn't even begin to describe him." Daniel pushed Hayden against the wall, and began to smash him against the wall. He then proceeded to throw him on the ground, and used his sneaker to stomp his head into a bloody pulp.
"I gave that man a position in power, and he took advantage of me. It was my mistake. Now listen, I can help you get Louis back from Daniel, but it isn't going to be easy. If you're willing to, you're able to stay here for the night."
"And you can promise me we'll find Louis, and we're free to go?" Joel asked. Gerald nodded in response. "Then we'll find Louis in the morning."
"Excellent."
Shane permitted himself a smile. He was finally heading to America, the so called 'Land of the Free'. He could see for himself if this was true. Now all that was left to do was say goodbye to his friend, or more than friend, he had no freaking idea what it was like between them. He kept picking at the fire in front of him, warding away any cold that dared enter the area, with a medium sized stick, and eventually heard the door to the room open and saw Zoey enter the room. He gave a smile and stood up to greet her.
"Well, this is it, huh Zoey?" Shane asked her.
"I guess it is. We've had a good run though, haven't we?" Shane sat back down beside the fire and Zoey sat beside him. "When are you supposed to leave?"
"The boat leaves in twenty minutes."
"Why are you leaving anyway? Britain is an amazing place!" Shane gave a laugh.
"If you consider gloomy weather amazing, then I guess it is. My uncle needs me there anyway to help with his rebel group. The Fireflies he told me they were called." He sighed. "It won't be the weather I miss here you know. It'll be you." She smiled at him.
"Aw, Shane." He decided he had to do it. He began to lean forward, but was stopped just before he could kiss her. "If only there were someone who felt the same about you."
Louis awoke the next morning to the sound of an alarm and the vault door opening. He found Ellie held in his arms, rubbing her eyes from a long night's sleep. His memory was very fuzzy from last night. He let go of the empty wine bottle he and Ellie had drunk last night and carefully got Ellie off his lap. A man entered the vault, holding a glock pistol in his right hand, and pointed it at Ellie.
"Daniel wants the girl." Was all he demanded. Ellie looked at Louis, hoping he had some sort of plan or something, but he had nothing.
"Alright, I'm coming." She told the man, getting up onto her feet and walking towards him.
Ellie entered Daniel's office cautiously, keeping her hand in her pocket concealing the gun. The room was brightly lit by a few lamps dotted around the room, and the desk was lined with a nice, red silk cloth.
"Ah, Ellie. Glad you're here." Ellie heard Daniel say to her, entering his office.
"I didn't really have a choice."
"No, I guess you didn't. Come sit." He set down a couple of glasses of water he was holding on the table, and sat down behind the desk.
"Can we just…get this over with?" Daniel frowned.
"Get what over with?"
"You know." Daniel took a few seconds to register this.
"Oh, Ellie. I didn't get you here for that. Whatever made you think that?" Ellie scoffed at him.
"Maybe the conversation we had when we introduced ourselves."
"I didn't mean pleasures like that. I'll show you what I mean when you sit down." Ellie reluctantly sat down in the chair and took a sip of her water. Daniel rummaged through the drawers of a desk and pulled out a photo and handed it to Ellie. She looked at the photo, which showed a happy family, Daniel's family.
"Is this your…family?"
"Yes. That picture was taken four years ago, before they…" He trailed off.
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Look at my wife."
"She…she looks a lot like me."
"Bingo. They died a couple of years ago in the crossfire between the military and Gerald's men."
"Is that what made you go insane?"
"Yep a mundo. Seeing my wife and daughters get shot and die in the midst of battle, well, that'd make anyone crazy."
"You don't seem so crazy now."
"Because you're here. I don't know what it is, but I just see you right now and I see my late wife, my old life. I see my old students, my old classroom. I see everything from my past, and it just kind of…brings me back." He gave Ellie a warm smile, one he hadn't given anyone in a long time. "You look adorable in that overcoat, you know." He was interrupted by the sound of his radio cackling, and he picked it up.
"Daniel sir, Gerald has been sighted in the perimeter. Should we get the chamber ready?"
"Affirmative. I'll be there in a couple of minutes." Daniel stood up and went to exit the room.
"You aren't going to kill Louis, are you?" Ellie asked. Daniel stopped before the door.
"Ellie, when I exit this room, I cannot be held responsible for anything I do, alright?" Was the last thing he said before exiting the room. It must've been ten minutes of Ellie sitting in that room until she began to hear gunshots coming from just outside the door. She got up from her chair and got the gun out of her pocket, aiming it at the door. The door proceeded to burst open to reveal a blood covered Shane followed by Joel and Sara. She ran up to Shane and planted a kiss on his lips and pulled him into a long hug. There was a large silence in the air, as no-one really knew what to say. But Joel was silent for a different reason than the others; Ellie kissing Shane.
"Thank god you came." Ellie told them. "We need to leave now. Louis may be in big trouble."
Daniel finished strapping Louis to the wheelchair and moved over to the table that he had brought into the vault.
"What the fuck do you want from me, Daniel? I have nothing to tell you." Louis told him.
"Oh, but you see Louis, you do! Gerald gave you that radio, didn't he? And I have reason to believe you know his position. So, you want the easy way or the hard way?" Louis spit onto Daniel's face, causing him to annoyingly wipe his face down with his hand. "Good choice." Daniel pulled his machete from the table. "Tell me Louis; are you planning to get married in the future?"
"I guess." Daniel held his machete up high and struck down on Louis's ring finger. In one slice, the finger fell off Louis's hand and onto the ground, causing Louis to scream out in pain.
"Not anymore." Daniel gave him a smile.
"Fuck you Daniel. You're a cunt!"
"I guess I am." He sliced off Louis's middle finger on his left hand, causing him to scream out even more. "You ready to tell me something? Or do you really love the number seven?"
"I don't know anything! I swear!" Daniel brought his machete down again onto Louis's index finger on his right hand. He enjoyed this immensely, whereas Louis did not. He was interrupted from his torture session by one of his men tapping him on the shoulder.
"Sir, it's ready. Shall we send Gerald a message?"
"Gladly." Daniel put his machete down on the table and grabbed the handles behind Louis's wheelchair and started to push. "You know Louis, I admire your resilience toward having three fingers chopped off. Most full grown adults would cry and panic about only being able to count to seven. But you…there's something about you that I can't help but like."
"I don't suppose that makes you want to let me go?" Daniel let out a sinister laugh.
"It's only fair." Daniel pushed the wheelchair in front of a door with a green exit sign above it. "You can go, if you want. The exit is right there. Just get up out of that chair and walk away." Louis struggled with the wrist straps of the wheelchair. "C'mon, it's right there! I understand if you want to leave. No? Okay then." Daniel continued to push Louis's wheelchair onto a walkway above the pit of infected. Only problem was, the infected were nowhere to be seen. "Hey Curtis, where are all the infected?" One of Daniel's men jogged up to him.
"The electric fences went offline and someone cut the gate sir. They're roaming the bank at this moment." He told Daniel.
"Shit." Daniel cursed. "Then let's get this over with. Help me with him." Daniel and Curtis untied the straps around Louis's wrists and pulled him out of the chair. Curtis got a length of rope and bound Louis's hands behind his back. "It truly was a case of the wrong place at the wrong time with you Louis. If you look at it technically, Gerald's the one who got you killed." Daniel got a noose from one of beams above them and put it around Louis's neck.
"Fuck you Daniel. You're a murderer."
"Oh, au contraire, Louis. There is no such thing as murdering these days. The laws of the old world do not apply in situations like these. I'm sending a message to Gerald, a message that I'm stronger than him, more powerful than him, better than him. So you see, Louis; it isn't murdering anymore. It's called survival." Daniel gave Louis a smile and kicked him off the walkway. Louis fell down a few feet before feeling the tight rope wrapped around his neck start to choke him. He struggled, kicking his feet and swinging side to side. But nothing worked. Louis became weak, struggling for breath. His vision started to fade as he heard a couple of gunshots being fired, and screams above him. He would've blacked out if another bullet hadn't cut the rope that was hanging him. He fell down to the ground below him hardly, breaking his leg on impact. If he wasn't panting for breath, he would've screamed out in pain.
"Louis!" He heard a voice shout. He looked up to see Ellie running over to him, then sliding on her knees in front of him. "Louis, are you okay?"
"Let's see: I had…three of my…fingers chopped off." He said between breaths. "I…was nearly hanged to…to death. My fucking leg…is broken. So yeah…I'm fine." He chuckled.
"Well you don't have to be a dick about it! Or maybe you can save yourself."
"Very funny. Help me up." Ellie wrapped her arm around Louis's shoulders and lifted him up. He used her as a support, and they started making their way out of the bank. "How'd you escape?"
"With help from Joel, Shane and Sara. And this other guy, the guy Daniel's fighting with. Gerald I think his name was."
"Just…thank god you're all right."
"I'd be worrying about yourself if I were you. We can't take the front door, things littered with infected. We gotta go through the back."
"As long as we get out of here." Louis began to feel a headache rise up. No. Not now. When they entered the main building, Louis heard strange voices rushing past him, and figures from his mind began to spring up as he limped. He saw a figure of his dad.
"Don't worry squirt, I got you. I promise." The figure was wisped away into nothing.
"You stupid fucking kid. You've just screwed yourself!" He saw a hallucination Gerald say, before he too evaporated.
"You okay Louis?" He heard Ellie ask.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
After a period of unknown time to Louis, him and Ellie made their way through the back door and found that they were two stories up from the ground. Joel, Sara, Shane, and Gerald were stood in the distance with a couple dozen of Gerald's men.
"Finally. C'mon Louis, we're finally out of here." She let go of Louis and ran down the steps. Louis went to follow her, but before he could descend the steps he felt a cold barrel of a pistol on the side of his head.
"Stupid kid." Were the last words he heard before he felt a bullet pass through his skull. Everything slowed down for Louis, and he heard a loud ringing in his ears. He fell over the railing that he was supported on and onto the ground below.
"Louis!" He heard Ellie shout. He saw people gather around him, and felt Ellie grab his head and lift it up. "Louis, stay with me! Don't you fucking die! Please, do something! Say some sappy poem, tell me about your stupid past, do anything!" She began to sob when no reply came. "Please don't die." She held her head on his chest to hear some sort of heartbeat or pulse. But there was nothing. He wasn't breathing. She laid her head on his chest, and continued to sob. "Please, don't just die. Please…don't…die…"