Hidden in Waiting

A boy with rich, light chocolate colored hair and blue eyes picked his way through a small forest before coming up on the town he called home. It was a small community. Maybe twenty or so people total, but they were content.

"Hey, Reese. Could you have your mother stop by later? Ricky's gone and done it again," a family friend, Sadie, asked him as he strolled by.

Reese got closer and rested his arms and chin on the makeshift fence surrounding the woman's single level home. "You need to tell him he's gotta stop messing around with Clickers. Gonna get himself killed one of these days, and my mom can't just keep fixing him up forever. It's not plausible."

Sadie shrugged. "If I've told him once, I've told him a thousand times. It goes in one ear and out the other, though. Maybe your mom can knock some sense into him."

Reese chuckled and nodded as the wind picked up and blew his shaggy hair everywhere. "Send him over, and Mom'll have him straightened out and begging to come home within a couple of hours."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before the boy headed to his house. He was by no means buff, but he wasn't lanky either. He didn't wrestle with the other boys his age, because he was always out and about looking for a better place for their group to live. He needed to be in top condition to deal with the world's now harsh environment.

As he walked in the front door of the house he and his mother shared she turned and smiled at him. "Any news, Reese?"

"Ricky. Again," Reese scoffed, grabbing a can of peaches from the cabinet and opening it with a knife he had.

His mother sighed and shook her head. She wasn't elderly, but she was getting there. She had strands of gray hair mixed in with her naturally blonde hair. She had laugh lines on her face and some wrinkles, but she could still fight with the best of them. She was in her late forties. "When will that boy learn? I'm not a fountain of this stuff, and it can be extremely tedious to make. I'll need some more supplies if I'm gonna make more for Ricky."

"Yeeeeah... About that... You'll probably have to make enough for two..." he said, waiting for the onslaught. He wasn't supposed to tell people about her cures.

"What did you do? If you went and got yourself bit, Reese Carson Andrews so help me," she said, the anger and venom rising in her voice.

"No, no, Mom. That's not it. See, you remember that settlement in Wyoming that I told you about? Well there was this girl there, and-" he cringed as his mother smacked the counter.

"Reese! Damnit, you're not supposed to be telling people! Especially not for some schoolboy crush!" she shouted, people outside turning their heads having, heard the shouting.

"It's not, Mom! I've heard about her! She might be the way to make a vaccine from your cure! She's immune! She doesn't hide it in town, because outsiders don't get in easily! They all know! I've been there over months! She has a bite on her forearm, Mom! She never turned!"

She was silent for a moment before heading for her room and shutting herself inside.

Reese sighed and finished his peaches then grabbed his pack and headed out to the forest. He needed to get things together, because they'd be getting there in a few days. He knew his mother meant well and just wanted to protect their small settlement, but there were always exceptions to rules.

Joel silently cursed to himself as he shifted Ellie on his back. She'd started feeling ill earlier, so he'd offered a piggyback ride. He greatly regretted it. He bent over a bit and let go of her legs and laid a blanket out then maneuvered her onto it.

Joel stretched out, reaching upward to try and release some of the tension in his back. He started getting settled and was about to wake Ellie when he heard a twig snap and spun around, gun raised.

He couldn't see anyone, but he could hear someone quietly running through the trees. He nudged Ellie awake and quickly told her what happened, handing her a gun.

She took it and crouched down, nodding to Joel. He took that as a sign that she was ready, and he took off into the trees.

He quickly looked over his shoulder, making sure that Ellie was still within his sight. Ahead of him, he could make out a dotting of houses. They'd obviously inadvertently camped near a Hunter settlement. It wasn't long before he came across broken twigs and torn leaves, indicating someone had come through the area before him.

He walked up towards one of the obviously dilapidated houses but stopped once he heard voices.

"-you really think he'll get 'em? Damn tourists always fightin' back," a gruff, male voice spat.

"I doubt it. No such luck lately. Plus, the girl looked sick. Wouldn't do us much good to take her shit cuz we don't got the medicine to help anybody," another younger male voice said.

Joel scanned the surrounding area for anyone else, but it was just the two near him, which unsettled him. Hunters didn't travel in small groups of three nor did they inhabit a town with that small of a number.

He slowly inched forward, breathing in and out soundlessly, a skill he'd worked hard to master after the outbreak. He'd always been one to breathe loudly and deep under pressure. The two faced away from him for the time being, so he quickened his steps, readying himself to snap necks when he himself was grabbed from behind and roughly put into a headlock. The two in front of him turned around, quickly wiping shocked looks of their faces.

Joel grabbed the arms of whoever was behind him, attempting to get free. That's when he heard the gunshot in the direction of where Ellie was. He doubled his efforts, snapping his head backwards and hitting his captor square in the nose, forcing him to let go.

The younger one of the two in front of him had disappeared, and the older one held a gun pointed directly at Joel. He looked to his right, seeing the guy that'd been behind him coming to his side.

"Turn around and move, fucker," the one with the gun said, nodding his head to the right.

Joel slowly turned as the other guy moved, drinking in his surroundings. He'd need to know the town if he was going to escape.

It was then that the man holding the gun grunted in pain, dropping his weapon and holding his side where an arrow now protruded from.

The man that was now in front of him went over to the other man, grabbing the gun up and pointing it at Joel. "Whoever's out there, I'll shoot him if you don't show yourself!"

There was a rustling in the bushes to the man's back and as he turned around to quickly look, Joel used it against him. He grabbed onto the gun that the man was holding and ripped it from his hands, turning it so that it was now pointed at the two in front of him.

The one that had originally been behind him, a balding older man with muscles twice the size of Joel's, sneered. "You think we're scared of you and your friend?" Before Joel could get a response out the man kicked him in the side, sending Joel into the wall next to him.

Joel ducked down as the man tried to charge at him again, lunging at his abdomen as he got close enough. Joel threw all of his weight at the guy and knocked him back making the larger man stumble. This time, because he was listening for it, he heard the slight twang of the bow's string. An arrow was shot into the man's arm.

He laughed again and punched Joel with his good arm then broke the shaft of the arrow and pulled the head out.

Ellie bit her lip as she watched the old guy punch Joel. She'd been too late to help him after shooting the third guy that had been stalking around in the woods. It amused her to think about, because the guy had run off like a frightened deer once she shot him in the leg. Though, now that she thought about it, it was more like she had grazed him.

She tried her hardest to suppress a cough as she notched another arrow in the bow. The more energy she used, the sicker she felt. They needed to end this fast, or she was going to end up passed out in the bushes while Joel was taken who knows where. She drew the string back and aimed for the guy that she'd already hit once. Maybe if she killed him, it wouldn't be as hard on Joel.

The thought of killing the man made her stomach turn, but she knew that it needed to be done. It was one less guy to fight as he already looked like he was recovering and getting ready to lunge at Joel as well. Her mind on auto-pilot, she shot the arrow towards the back of the guy's neck then shifted behind a tree, putting all of her weight on it. One hopefully down, big ugly to go.

She looked around her to make sure that there was no one else then peeked out to see that she had indeed killed the one that she'd hit early. Her victory was short lived, though, as she realized that his death had doubled the larger man's efforts against Joel. Panic set in as the man threw punch after punch at Joel, the latter of the two only being about to dodge about half of them before getting hit in the jaw.

Ellie shook her head, trying to clear it of all thoughts. She needed a plan, and quick. It looked the guy had a one-track mind in his rage, and that gave her an opening to sneak up behind him if she could get the right angle to be in his blind spot. She had her switchblade on her. Maybe jump on the guy's back? A quick stab of pain shot through her head, making her wince. She picked up a rock and weighed it in the her hand before throwing it at the side of building that Joel was pressed against.

"Looks like your little friend tried to sneak up on me, bastard," the large man spat. He kept a hold of Joel and moved so that his back was facing her. She only had a window of a few seconds. She pulled out her switchblade and charged at the guy as quickly as he legs would carry her. She was about halfway there before she stopped and coughed loudly, hunched over.

The guy turned around and faced her with a small smile on his face. "Little bitch, trying to trick me like that."

Ellie rolled out of the way as he charged at her and saw Joel grab the gun he'd previously dropped when the guy had smashed him up against the wall. He aimed and shot, but the man moved so it nicked him in the side.

He turned around to face Joel and grabbed the smaller man's neck, and Ellie took the opportunity to get up, rush him, and lunge onto his back. As quickly as she could manage, the stabbed her switchblade into his neck over and over again.

She looked as Joel got free due to the guy's grasp loosening. Before he fell face first in the dirt, Ellie let go and fell to the ground.

"There's still one more," Joel coughed out, leaning over to catch his breath.

Ellie panted and nodded, looking over in the direction of their camp. "You'll have to…" she coughed. "I can't. Need to catch my breath."

Joel nodded and left her there, coming back a few minutes later and nodded to her. "He's gone. We need to move. Are you any better? That was really brave, Ellie. Looks like I owe you my life yet again."

Ellie nodded as he extended a hand which she took and pulled herself up. That same pain shot through her head again, going from her temples all the way to the back. She leaned forward, leaning on Joel for support as her vision blurred.

"Ellie?" he asked, worry dripping from his tone.

She grunted as a memory came back to her in pieces.

Joel held underwater. Fighting. A struggle. Gunshot.

She'd shot a man. To save Joel? Was that before she found out about him killing Marlene? He said they travelled together, so it'd make sense. Once the pain in her head dissipated, she ended up throwing up at Joel's feet. She stumbled as she started to move, and she felt strong arms picking her up, holding her as if she was a little girl. She let herself fall asleep, knowing Joel would protect her.

A/N: It's late, but I have an excuse. Actually two. Fight scenes are difficult for me, and some end of the school year stuff. So yeah. We were busier than I thought we were going to be. I barely had time to sit down and write. But here it is! What'd you guys think?

Read and review!

~MoonlitxAngel