A/N: Thank you to the kind reviewers: Warden of Lore, vsncheze, cruailsama, The Amazing Grayson, blondegeek1989, Evanelle and one anonymous reviewer.
I managed to get wifi so this update is out two weeks early. Enjoy~
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Unfaltering Bereavement
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The speed at which the three hunters are killed feels anti-climactic. Joel waits until they are all inside and sneaks behind the ones slightly behind the two others, using a shiv to kill the man fast and silently. Then, Joel retrieves his bow from where it's strapped to his backpack. Joel's bow is larger than Harry's and looks much more battered than the professional-looking bow Harry found in a sports shop.
Joel kills one of the two remaining hunters with a headshot and the man falls down next to his companion, leaking blood. While the second hunter exclaims in surprise and starts turning around to face Joel, he is hit by an arrow too and joins his companion on the floor.
"Finally," says Ellie, rising from her hiding place.
Joel is leaning down over the body of one of the hunters and wiping his shiv against the corpse's clothes to clean it. When he's done, he rises and turns to Harry.
"Why d'you freeze up like that?" he asks.
Harry thinks back on the moment he'd been unable to kill one of the hunters and Joel had had to do it for him.
"It's just like I said earlier," he says, trying to stand firm by his beliefs despite the fact that showing mercy and avoiding murder is starting to somehow feel wrong. He shouldn't feel guilty, he really shouldn't, but somehow it's happening anyway. "I can't… I can't kill. Killing Infected is fine, but these guys are people. They might have families, friends… I just… can't."
Joel rolls his eyes. "That's fine. You don't see Ellie doing a lot of killing either. But if you don't want to take part in these fights, then I gotta know. You had that bow out like you were gonna use it, and I went into the situation thinking I had backup. If you have your weapon out, you gotta deliver. I could have been hurt or killed 'cause I was expectin' you to help out there."
Somehow, Harry hasn't even thought of things that way.
"So it doesn't bother you if I can't help kill these hunters?" Harry asks in surprise.
Joel sighs and looks at Harry with an expression that hints at condescension. "Kid, I've been dealing with this kinda shit on my own for a long while. I've learnt to fight and to kill without any sorta help. As long as I can count on you to help us out and get Ellie to the Fireflies, then I'm happy. Your magic tricks helped us out a lot today and I don't regret taking you with us. Just don't bring your weapon out if you ain't gonna use it. I have to know if I'll be getting help or not. I really don't want this kind of situation happening again."
"Oh," says Harry, feeling oddly grateful. He was so worried there would be a negative reaction after he failed to kill that hunter, but Joel's been more understanding than Harry would have thought.
"What kinda person are you anyway?" asks Ellie. "You have more trouble killing than anyone else I've met. Those hunters were gonna kill us, but you still couldn't bring yourself to kill them. Did you spend your whole life sheltered in a really peaceful Quarantine Zone or something?"
Harry isn't quite sure how to answer that question. He decides to use a vague version of the truth. "The magical society where I come from was separate from the normal world, so I didn't have to deal with Cordyceps because the fungus couldn't get to us. We had a government and a police force so the average citizen usually never killed in their whole life."
Ellie's eyes are wide and she is listening with great interest. Even Joel is paying attention, standing still and listening to Harry's words.
"How come you're here with us and not in that safe place?" asks Ellie.
"Well," says Harry, trying to think of a way to tell the truth without explaining exactly what happened. He is already lucky that the duo didn't make more of a fuss when they discovered his powers and instead accepted it surprisingly quickly. "There was an incident, a few months ago. To make it short, the entire magical society no longer exists and I'm the last wizard left. The others aren't… here, anymore. I've been trying to adapt but it's… hard."
He is telling the truth, but the way he is saying it makes it seem like all the other wizards were killed, which is not entirely true.
What is even harder than being forced to adapt to such a brutal world is the fact that Harry is far from his friends. He has no idea if Voldemort will be defeated if he can't help find the horcruxes and he's really worried his friends will focus on trying to get him back home instead of spending all their time trying to hunt down Voldemort's horcruxes. And, as shameful as it might be, there is a small part of Harry who is glad to no longer live under the constant threat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It's funny, but Harry is much more content living in a world full of mushroom-themed inferi with Joel and Ellie than being back in Britain as the Chosen One. But still, he wants to return to his friends and won't stop searching for a way back to his own world. The only problem is that even with his wand intact, he wouldn't know what to do in order to return to where he comes from.
Features set in an expression of sympathy, Ellie gives him a supportive smile. "I hope you'll be okay."
Harry smiles back. "Don't worry. I'm fine."
He isn't really fine, but he knows he will be. Helping bring a potential vaccine to humanity already makes him feel happy. When he first came to this world, he struggled to survive. Then he met Bill and was able to eat and have a safe place to sleep as well as some human company. But the truth is, he was starting to get bored at Bill's, feeling unhappy because he wasn't doing anything to try and get home and yet couldn't think of anything to do.
Ellie is immune to the fungus that has been responsible for creating vicious, animated corpses. Bringing her to the Fireflies is apparently one step closer to creating a vaccine and helping humanity stand on its own two feet again.
So no, he isn't entirely fine. He wants to be back with his best friends because nothing can replace them. But he doesn't know how to do that, so until he finds a way, he's content helping others and saving lives by aiding in the creation of a vaccine. His promise to Bill and his own desire to help others are in total agreement. He's bringing Ellie to the Fireflies and he's happy to do so.
Joel exits the room with a gesture for the two others to follow him.
"Man..." says Ellie. "Being a realy magician must be fucking awesome. My immunity looks boring next to your magic."
"The right word for me is 'wizard'," answers Harry, "and I think your immunity is much more useful to the world than my magic. You're the secret to creating a vaccine against Cordyceps."
When hearing that last word, Ellie's face twists in disgust. "I really hope it'll work. It would make the world a hell of a lot safer."
"Speaking of magic," Joel adds, "I'm kinda curious about you, kid. You've only joined us yesterday and today we spent out time fightin' those hunters. I never really got an opportunity to ask you some questions."
"What kind of questions?" Harry's tone is ever so slightly suspicious.
"No need to be so damn cautious, kid. I just wanna know a bit more, is all. You might've given us plenty of demonstrations, it still feels kinda strange to know that magic is real. I was never the greatest student back at school, but I did learn a great deal about physics and your magic is a bit hard to accept sometimes. Hell, Ellie's immunity is easier to accept than your magic."
They're heading down the stairs now and heading down to the ground floor. Joel's voice is low in case there are any more hunters around.
"The world is bigger than you think," says Harry. "I think it's normal you'd want to know more."
"What was it like, this magical society?" asks Ellie.
Harry thinks of Ron and Hermione, and of Hogwarts. He thinks of Voldemort, of the Ministry and the Daily Prophet.
"It has its good points and bad points, just like anywhere else," he answers.
They've made it to the ground floor but the door leading out is locked and the lock has rusted with time.
Joel sighs and reaches for one of his shivs to pry open the door.
"No," says Harry, putting his hand on the man's forearm. "Let me do it."
"Are you going to use magic to blast the door open?" asks Ellie excitedly.
Joel winces. "If that's your plan, don't do it. Those damn hunters'll come running."
"No," says Harry, mildly amused. "This spell is a bit more subtle."
He leans down and puts his palm against the old lock.
"Alohomora," he whispers.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It takes him four tries, but eventually the lock clicks open.
"Useful," says Joel approvingly. "But I like your floating trick better."
They open the door and get out on the street. The sun is shining and there's a nice breeze. The street is basically one long road that is curiously lacking the amount of abandoned cars Harry usually sees. There are some, but the road is much less clogged than in some other parts of Pittsburgh. The pavement on either side of the road is also on a surprisingly good state, with hardly any cracks, though there are a lot of weeds and moss.
"And there's our bridge," says Joel.
He's looking at the yellow bridge, which seems significantly closer now, though still a fair distance away. If they hurry, they can reach it before sunset.
"Sheesh. I feel like we've been walking all day and we're barely any closer," complains Ellie. "Harry, don't you have teleportation magic or something?"
"I do," answers Harry. "But there's a high risk of leaving a body part behind if I use it. I'd rather not take the risk unless there's no choice."
Ellie grimaces. "That doesn't sound great."
"How about we talk 'bout it later?" proposes Joel, sounding a tad exasperated. "We have to move fast. The hunters all over Pittsburgh are probably well aware of us by now. The faster we get to that damn bridge, the better."
"It's fine," says Ellie, waving a hand dismissively, "you can take them."
"While that's mighty flattering, I'm not Superman."
"Super who?"
Joel starts walking towards the far off bridge, answering as he walks. "It's a comic-book hero. He was the most popular one there was before Cordyceps decimated the global population. He was a hero that fought crime with his superpowers. He was very strong and invulnerable, and he could fly, shoot lazers and freeze things with his breath."
Ellie frowns. "He sounds overpowered."
Joel shrugs. "His enemies were too."
Their discussion is interrupted by the sound of an engine. It is coming closer to the street the three are on.
"Quick, hide!" orders Joel.
They all head for one of the stores lining the street. It is a run-down electronics store that looks like it has been robbed once upon a time. Many of the items it once sold have been ripped off and only some of the heaviest things like large TVs have been left behind. People probably stole batteries and lights because those are more useful than a TV nowadays.
Ellie hides behind a stand covered with laptops while Harry crouches behind an enormous flatscreen TV. Joel is behind the counter where a sales person is usually placed.
As the sound comes nearer, it becomes clear that it's not merely a vehicle approaching. It's a tank.
The thing is intimidating, with barbed wire attached to its sides and a fresh corpse strapped to the front of the vehicle. And behind the tank, there's...
"That's our car!" Ellie exclaims angrily.
Harry gestures for her to stop shouting. "Shhhh!"
Unfortunately, it is too late. The tank stops right in front of the store the three are hiding in.
Behind the tank is the pick-up truck Harry, Joel and Ellie had gotten from Bill. Some sort of wire fence has been attached to its doors and armed men are getting out of it, moving towards the store with guns raised.
While the men are still away, Joel moves further back into the store, silently getting his shotgun out.
The tank and the car move came from the same direction the trio came from. That means that to head towards the bridge in order to leave town, Harry, Joel and Ellie must bypass the tank and get in front of it, continuing along the street.
If they get spotted, the small gun tower on top of the tank will shoot them. And with the hunters coming into the store, staying hidden won't be easy.
While the men are coming closer, Harry takes a look at the situation. There are two men in Frank's pick-up truck. The three men coming into the store now are the ones that were sitting in the back of the car. Then there's the tank, though Harry can't see how many people are in it. He might try a Bombarda Maxima on that tank, except he's not sure the spell is powerful enough to utterly destroy the tank. Harry knows that more damaging spells exist, but he can't think of a good one to use right now.
One the left side of the store, closest side to the far away bridge, there are large frames that once held windows. Outside those frames is a small side alley. Harry could go out on that side and see if the alley can be used as an escape path or if it is a dead end. If it is, then on the other side of the alley there is yet another shop with large broken windows that could be snuck into.
It seems Joel has had the same idea, because he begins urging Ellie and Harry that way with hand movements. From what the man manages to say using body language, he is going to attempt to take care of the two hunters while Harry and Ellie head for the next store.
Harry heads over to the broken windows, staying hidden behind abandoned TVs and furniture that once held a wide array of electronics for clients to look at. Ellie is right behind him, holding a knife.
They make it out onto the alley without any trouble, but when Harry turns around he can see the head of one of the hunters coming closer. The alley itself is a dead end with a few dumpsters overflowing with garbage bags. The alley doesn't lead to another street, so he urges Ellie to enter the next shop through its windows, but he doesn't have the time to follow her because the armed man is getting closer.
Harry hides behind the wall, near the edge of the building. He's leaning down and looking at the window, waiting for the hunter to come closer. If he takes more than a step back, he'll be out on the street and in full view of the tank. He'll be gunned down before he can even run for cover.
Just as Harry feared, the hunter jumps out of the window, arriving into the alley. However, through sheer luck, the man first turns to the dead end, approaching the dumpsters there. He's probably looking to see if anyone is hidden behind them.
Harry can see Ellie in the shop near him, looking at him in worry. If he tries to join her, he'll make too much noise and alert the hunter. He can't go out on the street, and he can't go back into the electronics shop.
There's only one thing he can do, and this time Joel isn't there to help him.
Harry takes out his bow. He does it slowly and silently, trying to fight the desire to move fast. He cannot afford to make a mistake right now. He feels sick already, but Ellie is close to him and he knows that if the hunter turns around and sees him, he'll be shot immediately and Ellie probably won't be able to escape.
Once his arrow is set, he aims at the hunter's head, careful to turn his arm so that the string of the bow won't painfully scrape it when he shoots. He's had that happen several times when he was first learning to use the bow.
Carefully aiming, he inhales. Then, he shoots.
The arrow is home-made, so it doesn't fly quite straight. Luckily, Harry is so close to the hunter that it doesn't make a difference. The arrow pierces the man's skull and he falls down. The noise he makes when he crashes into the ground is so loud that for a second Harry is worried the other hunter has heard. Fortunately there is no surprised exclamation coming from the electronics shop. For a second, Harry relaxes and he advances towards the net shop with the intent to join Ellie. Then, he hears the ominous sound of the tank moving.
He turns, surprised, and sees that the tank is rolling forward and the turret is turning to shoot at him. He leaps for the shop with Ellie into it and dives into the window just as the tank starts shooting. He gets down on all fours and hides behind the wall, right beneath the window. He can hear bullets whizzing past and he can hear the sound of the wooden wall at the back of the shop crack from all the impacts.
The shooting stops, and Harry can hear the sound of the tank moving again. It's coming closer and positioning itself in front of the shop so that it has a better angle. Harry crawls over to Ellie, who is hidden behind a piece of furniture that once held pastries of all kinds.
They are in a bakery. Harry is facing the front of the shop, and notices that there is only one large window and a door frame with no door attached. There are less windows than in the electronics store, which means it'll be harder for the tank to aim at Harry or Ellie. Unfortunately, while there are windows set in the right wall where Harry just came in through, there are none in the left wall. That means that Harry and Ellie cannot escape through the side of the shop like they did before and will have to either go back out through where they came from and return to the electronics shop, or go out through the front door.
Instead of feeling terrified, Harry feels annoyed at this hopeless situation, as well as nauseous from what he's had to do in the alley. Killing is a terrible thing to do, and the fact that he feels vaguely happy the man is dead and no longer a threat makes him feel even more guilty. If he continues facing situations like this, he'll probably end up as jaded as Ellie and Joel, who are unfazed by dead bodies and the darkness the world has to offer.
And then, just as Harry is thinking of risking Apparating out of here with Ellie (and most likely getting splinched), Joel arrives.
The man is crouching down, advancing towards Harry and Ellie with a bloody shiv in his hand. Evidently, he has dealt with at least one of the two hunters in the electronics store.
"I've got a plan," he whispers urgently, looking at Harry, "but I need your help. Do you think you can use that exploding trick of yours again?"
"... Yes," answers Harry uneasily. "I just need several tries and a good line of sight."
Joel smirks. "Perfect. Now here's what we're gonna do..."
Joel's idea is simple. He tells Harry and Ellie that while the tank is directly in front of the bakery, the pick-up truck the hunters stole is still in front of the electronics shop with the men inside waiting in case the tank needs reinforcements. So while Joel will be throwing bricks around in the bakery to keep the tank focused on that store in question. Harry and Ellie will stealthily head back into the electronics shop. There, Harry will stay hidden and try to use Bombarda Maxima against the car. He'll have enough times to repeat the spell until it works, as Joel will be distracting the hunters from within the bakery. Ellie will be with Harry so that if a hunter comes into the electronics store, she'll use a distraction to give Harry more time. With the car out for the count, the three companions will be able to fully focus on taking down the tank.
"Will you be okay with this?" Joel asks Harry. "If you blow up that car, the two guys inside will probably die."
Harry doesn't really have a choice. There isn't anything else for them to do. If he wants to survive and help Joel and Ellie live through this, then he has no choice but to agree to Joel's plan. "I'll manage," he responds, knowing that he cannot say that he'll be 'okay' with killing two men.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" asks Ellie. "That fucking tank will kill you."
Joel sighs. "Do you have a better plan?" Without waiting for her response, he continues: "No? Then shut up and do as I say." He grabs parts of what was once a porcelain plate. "Now, I'm gonna throw this near the front door. When I throw it, you guys go out through the window."
Harry nods and bends down. He starts crawling behind the long counter and already beginning to approach the window.
"Now!" whispers Joel, and he throws the porcelain.
It shatters near the door frame and the tank shoots wildly at the entrance of the bakery. Harry hurries out of the shop and hurries over to the electronics store. The pick-up truck can't see him from here, but the tank can. Luckily, Joel is doing a good job at distracting the hunters inside the tank. Harry and Ellie both manage to enter the store without being noticed.
Ellie stays near the window by the alley in order to keep an eye on Joel and Harry at the same time. Meanwhile, Harry stays hidden behind a TV. He can see the two men sitting at the front of the car, loosely holding their weapons. They seem to be slightly cautious, but not overly so. In fact, from their expressions alone, Harry can tell that they are already feeling smug, sure they'll win this encounter. They don't seem bothered in the least that one of their men lies dead in an alley with an arrow through his skull, or that two others are lying in the electronics store with their throats slit, courtesy of Joel. In fact, it reminds Harry of Joel and Ellie, who never seem that bothered at having to kill people. It seems like Harry with his morals is the outlier in this world.
It doesn't matter. Harry has already killed someone, and he'll have to live with that. He's about to kill again and it makes him feel sick. The only reason why he is not vomiting in disgust is because he knows he needs to help Joel and Ellie so that they can all escape from this difficult situation.
Harry steels himself and starts focusing on magically blowing up the pick-up truck.
Unfortunately, after six tries, Harry still hasn't managed to blow the car up. Ellie is looking more and more stressed, glancing over at the bakery in worry as Joel continues distracting the tank as well as he can.
"Why the fuck is it taking so long?!" she demands in a harsh whisper.
"This isn't my best spell, so stop talking and let me concentrate!" he snaps.
He turns his focus back to the car and tries to use the annoyance Ellie has drawn out of him, turning it on the car. He attempts to see the car as an enemy, something he hates and wants to destroy. With those two hunters inside, it's not a hard thing to do. Until now he's been feeling nervous as he tries to blow the car up. Perhaps a different mindset might help?
"Bombarda Maxima!" he whispers, trying to inject as much power as he can into the incantation.
The result is instantaneous. The car and part of the street blows up. The front of the electronics stores is blown apart and part of the ceiling starts sagging at a strange angle. The explosion is so powerful that it sends chunks of debris crashing onto the tank, which has stopped shooting the moment the effects of Harry's spell were heard.
Ellie coughs, using her hands to wipe dust off from the explosion. "That was awesome!" she exclaims, no longer keeping her voice down. It seems there's no point. The people in the tank have seen the explosion and are cautious now. They're no longer shooting.
"Do you think they're gonna give up now that they've seen what we did?" she asks.
Harry shakes his head, his narrowed eyes intent on the tank. "No. They're probably more angry than defeated." He pauses, looking to the left as Joel stealthily enters the electronics store through the windows on the side of the shop. "I think they're waiting for our next move."
"Are you two okay?" asks Joel, coming closer to Harry and Ellie.
Ellie coughs again. "I'm fine, and Harry looks alive."
Harry smiles. "I'll feel even better if we get away from here."
Joel looks at Harry, face set in thought. "D'you think you could use your magic trick to blow that tank up too?"
Harry looks over at the tank. "I think I should be-" His eyes widen. "LOOK OUT!"
He gets down, pushing Ellie down with him, just as two molotov cocktails come flying into the store, shattering and sending flames everywhere.
Unfortunately, Joel reacted by bringing out his gun instead of getting down, as he didn't have the time to see what Harry reacted to. That means that part of his trousers catch fire.
"Fuckin' hunters!" shouts Joel, hurriedly patting the flames to try and put them out. It doesn't work, and his patting only makes more alcohol spread over him, causing flames to spread.
Harry takes off his backpack and rips it open. In barely a second, he has taken out several small towelettes he usually uses as bandages and is pressing them around the burning area, asphyxiating the flames.
Harry manages to get rid of the flames, though part of the left leg of the trousers is gone, revealing burnt skin around the Joel's ankle.
Harry winces. "Do you think you'll be able to walk?"
Before Joel can respond, Ellie points out at the tank. The turret is opening and someone is leaning out with yet another molotov cocktail.
"Guys? I think we should move away from here."
Joel groans, glaring at the tank. He brings out his rifle and points it at the hunter with the molotov.
"Let's see how they like it," he says, and shoots.
The hunter in the tank falls down, dead from Joel's impeccable headshot. The molotov slips from his fingers and breaks open inside the tank, flames spreading everywhere.
Harry can't see it all, but he can easily guess what happens as suddenly the tank shoots forward at surprising speeds, probably due to the panicking driver dealing with the flames inside the tank.
The vehicle's speed just increases until it abruptly turns and crashes into an apartment block, breaking through a wall. Part of the ceiling of the building's ground floor crashes down on top of the tank, which surprisingly doesn't break or bend under the assault.
There is a moment of silence as Harry, Joel and Ellie hold their breath.
"Are they all dead?" asks Ellie.
"If they ain't, then they won't be getting out of that tank any time soon," says Joel. "They're buried under tons of concrete."
Cautiously, he stands up. However, he immediately hisses and takes most of his weight off of his left leg. Blood is leaking out of his burn, staining his boot.
Joel reaches for his backpack, still lying on the floor, and pulls a med-kit out of it. Slowly and painstakingly, he cleans the wound and begins the process of properly bandaging it.
"Keep an eye out in case there's more of 'em," he orders Ellie and Harry.
Ellie and Harry do keep an eye out, but it seems like that tank was the last of the hunters in the immediate area.
"I still can't believe those fuckers stole our car," says Ellie.
Harry gives her a pat on the back. "They probably stole that tank from someone too."
Joel snorts. "That's what hunters do. They kill any travelers that pass through their territory and steal food, weapons and other ressources from the bodies while they're still warm. That's why you won't see any kids or women with those kind of people. Survival of the fittest is how they operate."
Harry frowns. He cannot understand why someone would choose to live like that. He still feels sick at the thought of the hunter he shot an arrow at, and he can't imagine killing people like that regularly. Wouldn't it be more productive for these people to like Bill lived, by growing their own food and maybe keeping animals around and letting them breed, then killing a few for their meat? It seems to be a much more reliable way to acquire food, especially since those hunters can't be sure enough travellers will come by for them to steal food from.
"If they're as self-centered as you say..." says Harry, "then how come they manage to work together? You'd think teamwork would suffer if everyone's a cold-blooded murderer."
Joel narrows his eyes at Harry. "I've been called a cold-blooded murderer by people before and I've killed plenty of people in front of you. Yet you're still here."
Harry reddens. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply-"
"Those hunters," continues Joel, voice hard, "are probably here because there's a certain safety in numbers, or there's nowhere else to go. Hell, some of them might be staying in Pittsburgh 'cause it has a nice atmosphere. I don't really care." He shakes his head. "Anyway. Survival sometimes makes teamwork easier or harder. For these hunters, it's the first one."
"You know a lot about hunters..." says Ellie. "Didn't you say you used to be one too?"
Joel frowns. "Are all these comments about teamwork being difficult with killers and hunters being self-servin' your way of accusing me of something?"
Ellie shakes her head. "If course not-"
"I trust you. You're a good guy," agrees Harry.
"Hmpf. I wouldn't say 'good'." He turns to Ellie. "You can trust me to bring you to the Fireflies for that damn vaccine. I'll protect you. But as soon as you start doubting me, we'll be that much more vulnerable. So if there's something about me that you don't like, then you'll say it to my face."
"I already knew you'd killed a lot of people, Joel," says Ellie quietly. "Life sucks sometimes, okay? But I'm not here to blame you for what you did in the past. I just need your help to get back to Marlene."
"... I don't have any problem with you," says Harry quietly. "You've been protecting Ellie and I and you've done most of the hard work. I think you're a decent bloke, even if you've done some bad things."
Joel averts his eyes, looking down and again. "You two are good kids, you know that?"
Ellie gives a small smile. "Don't start getting sappy, old man. We still need to get out of this place."
Nodding, Joel looks around. The street is not in a great state due to Harry's explosion and the tank's crash into a nearby building. The damage, however, is not serious enough to make getting to the other end of the street difficult.
"C'mon," says Joel. "Let's head over to that bridge and get out of this city."
They start walking along the road. When they get close to the accident site of the tank, they all start walking a bit faster, palming their weapons in case a live hunter somehow manages to get out of the tank to attack.
There are no more hunters to be seen. Either Joel has killed most of them already, or they're hiding and waiting to trap the trio somewhere. The closer Harry, Joel and Ellie get to the bridge, the more wary they become.
It makes sense to think that all ways in or out of the city would have the most surveillance. The hunters survive by stealing the ressources of people passing through their city. That means that they have to be keeping a sharp eye on the outskirts of the city for potential prey.
As the three travelers get closer to the bridge which leads out of the city, they become more and more cautious, expecting the presence of hunters. They know they won't be able to leave the city without a fight. Joel is constantly on guard, looking around for trouble as they leave the tank behind and make their way closer to the large yellow bridge.
And finally, as they get closer, their caution becomes warranted.
After walking twenty minutes, they get within sight of a large barricade in front of the bridge, blocking anyone from leaving the city.
The barricade is absolutely full of hunters. At first glance, there are around twenty or thirty, all of them armed to the teeth and evidently expecting company. They've been tipped off and know Joel, Harry and Ellie are coming.