Chapter 3: The Outskirts

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling me if that's what you're getting at." Ellie said as she and Riley followed Joel down a musty corridor. Windows ran along the wall and the last of the evening light shone through them. The Boston quarantine zone was quiet as the curfew took place. Residents were safely inside their homes and the streets were empty.

"The beautiful thing about my job is I don't gotta know why. To be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to." Joel said bluntly and continued to walk without looking at the girls.

Riley walked alongside Ellie and although she seemed relaxed, Ellie knew Riley was suspicious of Joel and would be ready to start shooting if he gave her a reason to.

"We're here." Joel opened a white door with a light brown faded doormat underneath it. Ellie recoiled slightly as her nose was assaulted by the stale smell of alcohol. The apartment itself was rather spacious, the walls covered in light blue wallpaper peeling slightly off of the walls around the skirting boards that may once have been white but turned a dull grey over time. The floor was made of a dark hardwood with scuffle marks all over the boards from where things had been dragged around.

There was a white couch and a coffee table in the centre, a radiator in the corner, a tall standing lamp next to a matching white armchair and shelves attached to the wall with empty whisky bottles on it that were collecting a large amount of dust. There was a window opposite the sofa and adjacent to the armchair that the checkpoints could be seen from.

Joel laid on the sofa and closed his eyes. Riley and Ellie shared a look of confusion. "What do we do now?"

Joel cracked open an eye and looked at them nonplussed. "Now we wait. As to what y'all do, that's up to you." The rough looking smuggler said no more and made it clear by ignoring the two girls that he did not want to be disturbed.

Riley sighed and sat in the armchair then gazed out of the window. Ellie joined her, sitting on one of the chair's arms not knowing what else to do.

"What's up with that guy?" Ellie asked in a hushed whisper.

Riley shrugged. "In a world like this, we've all seen shit. We all deal with it differently. All I'm saying is that maybe we shouldn't judge him so quickly."

Riley lent in closer so that Ellie could feel a warm breath of air on her ear, this made the hair on her neck tingle. "Did you see his watch? It's broken, the face is smashed. Why would you carry that around if it has no practical use?"

"Because it means something to him?" Ellie guessed.

"Exactly. Something bad happened and I'd bet it has something to do with that watch." Riley explained. Ellie had never thought of it that way before and was very impressed by Riley's perception.

The two looked out of the window and saw soldiers at checkpoints scattered around the area. Ellie then fixed her eyes on the world beyond the Zone. "I can't believe we're finally leaving... It seems weird I guess." Ellie said softly.

"Yeah but it's also badass. Who else can say they've left the quarantine zone and survived? It's gonna be awesome, fighting through hordes of infected and scavenging for supplies. We'll be real survivors." She grinned.

"We're only going to the Capitol Building, it's not that far away y'know?" Ellie smirked.

Ellie found it hard to be so gloomy with Riley around. She always made everything seem like an adventure with some kind of lost treasure at the end. Never mind the risks, Riley was all about danger and thrills. She made it seem so enticing, you'd have to be stupid to say no.

"Hey, anything's better than this hellhole."

A few hours went by and the sun had set, the moon had begun to rise and cast the world below in a dim light. Ellie and Riley sat side by side in the chair. Riley had fallen asleep with her head against Ellie's shoulder. Ellie's hand was loosely intertwined with hers.

Ellie glanced over at Joel as he muttered in his dreams. "No... Don't go." He moved lethargically as if to grasp at an invisible force. The brunette frowned and realised that Riley was right, she felt very sympathetic suddenly. She couldn't bare to lose Riley like Joel had presumably lost someone. The foul stench of alcohol and empty bottles made sense. He turned to drink to forget.

Soon enough, Joel's eyes cracked open, he sat up and rubbed his head. Ellie nudged Riley and she too mumbled, sat up and stretched lazily.

Joel lit a lantern, engulfing the room in an orange glow as Tess entered the room. She spoke to Joel. "Hey, sorry it took so long, soldiers were everywhere."

Riley rushed over. "Is Marlene alright?"

She looked at the wannabe Firefly blankly. "She'll make it." She looked back to Joel. "Merchandise checks out. It's a lot." She grinned. "Wanna do this?"

He sighed tiredly. "Yeah..."

Tess walked into another room and without looking back said: "C'mon then, let's go."

"She's infected! Marlene got us to escort an infected! I bet she did this because we killed Robert!" Tess shouted in anger and also to be heard over the storm.

Dead soldiers littered the ground with their gear stained in blood and bullet casings scattered around. The occasional lightning strike illuminated the group, the gate that would exit the outskirts of the Boston Quarantine Zone and the military patrols in the distance still searching for them for breaking curfew and killing units. The original plan was to sneak out unnoticed, but that fell apart when the border guards did a random infection check. Ellie of course, failed. Next thing she knew, Riley fired at the guard about to gun down Ellie then all hell broke loose. Ellie dived for cover while Joel, Riley and Tess got in a gun fight with the other guards.

Then Joel was yelling at Ellie to get down on the ground. Ellie was at a loss for words. The soldiers were dead at least, but now Joel and Tess had found out her secret. "Stop, wait!" Ellie stammered, not loud enough to be heard over the booming thunder.

Tess pulled out a gun and aimed it right between Ellie's eyes. "I'm not gonna let you turn and take a bite outta me." Tess' eyes had no remorse, she would pull the trigger and continue on her way, unmoved and no worse for wear.

"Wait!" Riley stepped in front of her best friend and shielded her with her body. "She's immune!"

"Bullshit. Everyone knows you get two days tops and then you turn." Tess said resolutely. Tess would shoot them both if needed, that much was clear.

"I swear she's immune. I was with her when she was bit three weeks ago. Marlene isolated her for two weeks and she didn't turn. Look." Riley grabbed Ellie's arm and rolled up her sleeve to show the bite. It had closed up properly but it was still inflamed a little.

"Please, don't shoot her. She won't turn, we're going to the Fireflies to make a cure." She begged.

The smuggler was still holding her gun firmly. "And if your friend turns?" She said coldly.

Riley looked at Tess in total seriousness. "Then I will shoot her myself."

She thought for a moment, deciding how honest she believed the girl to be. She lowered the gun slowly. "Fine. Don't make me regret this."

Riley sighed in obvious relief. "Thank you."

Riley turned to face Ellie who was shaking, both parts due to the cold and fear. Ellie's hair clung to her like glue and covered one eye. Riley brushed the stray strands of hair behind Ellie's ear and cupped her cheek in her hand. "It's alright. You're safe with me." Riley whispered soothingly.

"We need to get goin' the soldiers are gonna catch up to us soon." Joel called. Both him and Tess were at the rusted gate that separated the zone from the rest of the world.

After staying close to Ellie for a split second longer, Riley withdrew her hand and stood. The two of them darted over to the two smugglers quickly.

"Are ya sure we can trust them?" Joel asked Tess before the girls had reached earshot.

Tess watched them approach cautiously with her arms crossed. "Of course not, but I figure we'll be at the Capitol building in a day or so which, if we're lucky means she'll be the Fireflies problem. We get our guns and that's all I care about. We should watch Ellie though, just in case."

"And the other one?"

"She won't be a problem so long as we keep them together." Tess said simply. She seemed to be thinking something over. "Besides... What if- What if she is immune? We could finally have a cure Joel."

"Don't tell me you believe them? You know there ain't no cure Tess. Millions have died, what makes this girl any different?" Joel said unconvinced.

"I don't know Joel. But why would Marlene lie to us? She seemed pretty confident in this and she told me Riley was her most promising recruit. Why would she send her off to die?" Joel shrugged, obviously annoyed at not having the answers and having to believe in blind luck.

The four of them went down and out of a sewage pipe. Joel led the way and forced open the gate. The ground was mostly flooded. A giant pool of water stretched from the gate to a partly collapsed section of a highway. Cars stood frozen in place, frames rusted and windows smashed. However, plant life thrived. The ground was (other than a few patches) covered in grass, there were even a few dandelions.

The water was ankle deep at the foot of the pipe but as they walked further, it reached just above their knees. They walked around old concrete roadblocks that were cracked and worn with age towards the towering buildings of the Boston metropolis. The ground was unleveled and buildings lay in ruin, some had collapsed and left only rubble, others were missing roofs or walls. A colossal structure had tilted and fallen on another, leaving a gaping hole in at least the top five floors.

Riley and Ellie looked around in awe. "What happened here?" Ellie asked.

"FEDRA bombed downtown Boston at the beginning of the outbreak. Infected numbers were too high, so the area was evacuated and effectively destroyed. Then afterwards, the Zone was established seeing as the bombing cut down the numbers severely." Tess answered. "But, further in the city is pretty much a deadzone. Nobody goes there. The infected always reclaim the land much quicker than we can hold them off. That's why people are being forced to enlist as soon as they can in the Zone. They're getting pretty close to the borders nowadays." She finished.

Riley saw a yellow poster stuck to a wall. It read:

IMMEDIATE EVACUATION FROM THE PREMISES IS MANDATORY. GO TO YOUR NEAREST SAFE ZONE WHICH IS:

There was a space for an area to be written on but the poster was torn, preventing the most crucial piece of information from being read.

The way ahead was blocked due to a wall of debris so Tess scanned the area. "We could go through there and come out through the Museum, that would take us right outside the Capitol building." Tess pointed to a partially collapsed office building with a large hole in the wall.

"It's as good a plan as any." Joel said and led the way into what was once an office building, then 3 paces behind were Riley and Ellie and Tess guarded the rear.

Joel froze. He saw fresh blood smeared on a wall. He pulled out a pistol and moved carefully. The four climbed a stairwell and soon met with the source of the blood. A downed SWAT unit lay crumpled on the ground sitting in a pool of blood, he was pretty much ripped to shreds. Claw and teeth marks were all over his broken body where his gear did not cover. Chunks of flesh were ripped out from his legs and arms and the skin and muscle from his right cheek was gone, his teeth and gums were visible in a sadistic half grin.

Ellie resisted the urge to gag at the horrific sight and Joel quickly led the group onwards. This was until they came to a shut door at the top of the stairs. Joel tried the handle but it was stuck. He pushed his whole bodyweight onto the door and finally the door gave away, propelling Joel forwards into the room. Before he could recover, some kind of infected that the girls didn't recognise tackled Joel to the ground. It hissed and clicked as it clawed at him and Joel used all his strength to push the creature away from him.

Tess ran in and shot the infected twice in the head, then it grew limp and Joel threw it off of him. "Thanks." He said. He stood up slowly, fatigued by the encounter.

It was all the girls could do but watch in shock as the scene unfolded. Now they looked at the bizarre infected. It seemed to have spore pods and yellowish plating around its head, covering its eyes and nose.

"That's a Clicker. They're completely blind, but they can see by sound. If you ever have to deal with one, stop moving and hide, then it will lose you." Tess said. "They're really fucking annoying because of the fungal plating on their heads. You have to shoot them once to get through the plating and again to actually kill them."

Tess scowled at the dead infected. "C'mon."

"Why are Clickers different from normal infected?" Riley asked as they kept walking.

"Clickers are stage 2 of the disease. They been dead a looong time." Joel said absent-mindedly.

The group came to a room where the floor had fallen through to the level underneath. They had a vantage point from up above and could see roughly four normal infected and one clicker.

"We're almost in the Museum, we have to go through, there's no other way." Tess whispered to Joel.

Joel looked at the infected, then back to the girls. "Tess, stay with the teens. If things get bad-"

"I know." She finished for him. Ellie noticed how the two seemed to know the other so well, there was no need for words. Ellie was reminded of the Mall and being held by Riley until she fell asleep.

With one last look at Tess, Joel dropped down to the floor below. Riley looked like she was about to protest and insist on helping but Tess motioned for silence by putting a finger to her lips.

Joel wasted no time in approaching one of the regular infected and slitting its throat with a shiv. Joel quietly lowered the corpse to the ground. The debris gave Joel cover in the form of a U shape with the other infected clumped together in the centre of the room. The smuggler would have to draw them closer if he did not want them all to attack him at once. Joel grabbed an iron pipe from among the rubble and threw a brick a short distance away from his hiding place. The closest infected lumbered towards the noise, curious to find the disturbance. Joel hugged the wall of debris and clutched the pipe tightly. When the infected was close enough, Joel smashed its head against the wall and when it bent down, he smacked the pipe against its skull, caving its head in.

The remaining two infected and the Clicker ran towards Joel after that. The smuggler threw the pipe sideways with both hands and it flew through the air and took out the Clicker's legs, making the Clicker face-plant the ground. Joel then drew his pistol and shot the two normal infected through the head with two clean headshots. While the Clicker was recovering, Joel threw another brick that landed just behind the Clicker. It charged towards the new noise, claws drawn. Joel picked up the pipe yet again and relentlessly beat the Clicker until it stopped moving altogether.

He sighed and dropped the bent, bloody pipe. It clattered to the ground. "It's safe, c'mon down." Joel called, wiping his brow.

Riley ran a finger over a display case in the Museum, her finger came away coated in a thick layer of dust. Most of the displays were empty and the relics stolen or broken beyond repair. Riley was confused as to why old clothes and inefficient weapons were worthy of being remembered throughout history.

There was an American flag hanging from the wall, it was torn and its colours were faded with age. There was also a display with a large model ship, Riley was fascinated by it. Ships were rarely used nowadays and Riley had never seen one before. "Awesome." She mumbled.

Riley glanced up and saw Ellie gaze out of the window at the golden roof of the Capitol Building. There was a spark of hope in her eyes but an unmistakeable sense of fear. Just like Ellie, Riley didn't know what was going to happen when they got to their goal. Riley knew that whatever the cost was, a cure was worth it.

There was a crash not far off that snapped Ellie and Riley back to reality. "Fuck." Tess cursed. Both girls went to the noise cautiously, weary of infected and soon found the problem. Joel and Tess had gone ahead through a doorway covered with rubble. There was a small space that was no doubt enough room for a crawlspace. It looked like a large wooden beam used to be lodged in the doorway to keep the mound of rubble above it stationary. It had now snapped and chunks of rock and wood covered the crawlspace.

Joel and Tess were on the other side and could not reach the girls, now the tunnel had collapsed the girls couldn't follow them either. "Are you guys okay?" Ellie called.

"Yeah fine. We-" Joel stopped. Clicking could be heard from the side the Smugglers were on.

"Shit! Go around okay? Stick together!" Tess said quickly with blatant panic in her voice and sprinted off with Joel.

Ellie and Riley looked at each other in terror. Both girls knew they would not be alone for long as the clicking was still nearby. Both girls stayed low as they crept across the waterlogged floorboards that were bleached of colour. They had to both be very observant to their surroundings as the floorboards creaked when stepped on. This meant if they weren't careful they could draw the infected straight to them.

They headed down a corridor. There was a faded blue carpet that ran down the room and was a miracle as it slightly muffled their footsteps. Riley kept her gun at her hip, knowing that firing it at this point would most likely kill them both.

Riley went first as she felt she needed to be strong for Ellie, she was scared and Riley didn't blame her. In truth she felt the same way. The two didn't speak for fear of attracting the infected. Riley was almost to the door. The corridor's clear, if we make it down here quietly then Joel and Tess can't be too far off. Riley told herself.

Just as she finished that thought, a Clicker limped in with a staggered walk that was a common characteristic among the undead.

Riley froze in place as best as she could. The Clicker made a series of noises that resembled clicks and clucks with its tongue. Riley let out a small whimper of fear. The Clicker turned to face Riley and a bead of sweat ran down her face.

The Clicker walked closer until it was inches away from her face. Riley held her breath and stopped blinking. The Clicker hissed and opened its mouth, exposing stubby rotten teeth and a string of saliva between its top and bottom jaw. Riley didn't dare reach for her gun, at this distance she would be dead before she pulled the trigger.

There was a loud smash further down the corridor and the Clicker stopped and sprinted down the corridor away from Riley. Ellie smiled at Riley and gestured to a pile of scrap metal, rocks and bottles. Riley sighed a breath of relief and grinned back at her best friend.

"Thank you." She mouthed.

The two quickly fled the corridor and used the abundant piles of rubble to lure infected away from them in the next room. It was a tactic of making a note of how many there were, drawing them away by throwing rocks, darting over to the next piece of cover and repeating.

They ascended a flight of stairs to find a regular undead clawing at the door. Riley held a brick in her hand, motioned throwing it then pointing at Ellie and making a stabbing motion.

Ellie got the idea and nodded. Riley threw the brick and it collided with the back of the infected's head, it fell forward and Ellie lunged at it with her switchblade, jabbing it in the neck repeatedly until it stopped moving altogether.

The two high-fived and entered the room.

It was a massacre. There was at least ten infected dead, some had been beaten to death (by the swollen look of their faces) others had been killed with furniture. For example, one lay with glass shards embedded in its face from being smashed into a display case.

Regardless of method, Tess and Joel were evidently a good team given the fact they were heavily outnumbered.

There was a heavy thud and the smashing of glass like the sound of someone being thrown out a window. "Thanks Joel."

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fantastic. You?"

"'Bout the same." Joel smiled slightly.

The two girls shut the door behind them. "Don't shoot, it's us." Riley said. The Smugglers looked pleasantly surprised to see the girls in one piece.

"How are you still alive? Are you bitten?" Tess didn't like to beat around the bush.

"We used the technique you guys showed us, we lured them away using sound." Ellie responded. "And no, we aren't bitten. Or at least, not more than before." Ellie smirked.

"Good. So the Capitol building isn't too far, we should get there in an hour." Tess grabbed a long wooden plank and slid it out of a window onto the adjacent building's roof.

The other three looked at Tess blankly. "C'mon, the next building has a fire escape down to the ground floor and the Capitol Building is virtually next to it."

She paused. "Unless anyone else has any bright ideas?"

The silence in the room answered for them. "Exactly, so let's go."

The four of them waded across the waist high water just outside the Capitol building. "Um guys? I can't swim." Ellie said bashfully.

"Stay on the right side, it's more shallow." Tess suggested.

Riley could tell Ellie was uncomfortable so she led the way in front of Ellie to show her that there was no sudden dips into the water.

"We finally made it!" Riley said excitedly as Tess charged ahead to open the doors. Tess' breath hitched and she stared wide eyed into the room.

"What's wrong?" Joel asked.

Tess ran inside. The Fireflies were all dead. Their bodies filled the room, they were killed by FEDRA and riddled with bullets. Tess checked all of them frantically for a survivor. "No! No! NO!" Tess fell to her knees and tangled her hands in her hair. "This can't be it! There has to be something!"

"Tess." Joel said calmly, bracing his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down. So they aren't here, so what? We'll jus' take the girls back to Marlene." He said matter-of-factly.

Tess threw Joel's hands off of her. "Don't touch me!"

"Tess, what are you-" Joel asked, visibly upset.

"Oh my God... She's bitten." Ellie said in utter disbelief.

"No, that's ridiculous, Tess-" Tess looked at Joel with eyes full of dread.

"W-when?" He stuttered.

"The museum. The fucker took a bite right outta me." She said with a kind smile for Joel's benefit. Tess moved her shirt to expose her left shoulder and there was an angry red bite mark.

"It's only been an hour and it's already gotten worse. If Ellie was bitten 3 weeks ago Joel, then this is the real thing. Promise me you'll keep going. Promise me you'll take her to the Fireflies."

Joel was at a loss for words.

"Promise me Joel." Tess stroked Joel's cheek. "Please. Don't let my death be for nothing." She pleaded.

"A-Alright I promise. I'll do it. I-I'll do it for you." Joel nodded stiffly.

"We'll give you two a second." Riley took Ellie's hand and pulled her upstairs to give them a last moment of privacy.

Joel leaned in closer to Tess. "Joel-" She said weakly. "I don't wanna infect you."

Joel ignored her and brushed his lips on her cheek in a chaste kiss. Tess quickly gave Joel a hug and seemed afraid to let go. Tess whispered in his ear a few last words that Joel would never forget.

They were interrupted by a loud harsh voice. "This is FEDRA. Come out with your hands up! We know you're in there!"

Tess pulled away. "Go, look after them. I'll delay FEDRA and get you as much time as I can."

"But-" He protested.

"Go." She said gently but firmly.

Joel looked at Tess hesitantly but then did as she wished. Tess watched Joel retreat upstairs with the girls and Tess knew that the girls were in safe hands. She stood with her gun held towards the door, wiped a lone tear off of her cheek and waited.

Joel and the girls were outside of the Capitol Building when they heard gunfire and Joel flinched, looked back at the building one last time, then kept going.

He didn't look back.

Author's note: So I know it's been years since I updated, sorry about that. I've also updated the earlier chapters a bit so hopefully they read a little easier. I am working on the next few chapters and will update when I can. Thanks for sticking with me.