After finishing what would undoubtedly be an unsatisfactory meal, they were on the road again. Clementine's stomach rumbled for more, and the hope that this radio tower would have a lot more food grew exponentially with each minute that passed. Luckily, the streets weren't too difficult to navigate, they just had to follow the road and keep the radio tower in their sights. As they strolled down another barren street, Clementine focused on their surroundings. She wanted to be aware of any threat that could possibly jump out at them. Walkers were bad, but these infected were worse, and that's not even including the bandits from Pittsburgh. They had to be careful, no matter how hungry they got.
Her attention then went to Joel and Lee, then to Ellie. After spending so much time apart yesterday, being all together again was… definitely a better feeling. She still didn't trust Joel after his outburst on the beach, but that was a different story when it came to Ellie. Go back around forty hours, and it wasn't like that. It was almost surreal, how not that long ago it had been just her and Lee and had been for a long time… now they had more. Two more people to look after and care about, for better or worse. People other than Lee to talk to, which was… well, it made the whole thing worth it, in the end.
As they were crossing another street, Ellie's gaze was drawn to a vehicle on the side of the road. It was some sort of van, painted white and blue, with these strange advertisements plastered all over the side of the vehicle. Scrutinizing it, Ellie glanced back towards Lee and Joel. "Hey. What's this thing?"
"Huh?" Lee turned around with an eyebrow raised, only for his gaze to focus on the object in question. "Oh, this thing." Clementine came to a sudden stop as everyone else did, shooting a puzzled gaze at the funny van the others seemed to interested in. It didn't strike her as anything noteworthy, even with the copious amount of colors and letters on its side. The thing was too old to drive in, and to have anything of value inside it. It was just an old van. Lee, in particular, seemed rather fond of it, going as far as walking over to it and patting its hood. It was a weird fucking scene, and Clem was just moments away from asking what the heck was up with everyone. "This is an ice cream truck." Lee looked back at Clementine and Ellie, who returned the stare with dumbfounded looks. "Back in the day, they used to sell ice cream out of it."
"It's true," Joel added, "this thing would drive around and play real loud, creepy music and kids would come runnin' out to buy ice cream."
Finally, after Lee and Joel explained it, Clementine was able to make sense of it all. Ice cream. She'd heard of it before, somewhere. Where? She wondered, but for whatever reason, she couldn't really recall. Some kind of sweet, the cold kind, that much she knew. She couldn't help but feel a little left out, hearing the adults share their stories about creepy music and agitated little kids. The whole thing sounded kind of… surreal.
Ellie scoffed, looking towards Joel. "You're totally fucking with us, right?"
His response was immediate. "Um-mm. Serious."
The girl chuckled slightly, shaking her head. "Man, you lived in a strange time."
Clementine spoke up after everyone else, feeling somewhat upset over her benightedness. "I… never had ice cream." She said with her arms crossed, trying to convey the fact that she didn't really get what they meant by all that. However, her response went under the radar, as Lee let out a chuckle and nudged his head towards the road ahead, ushering them onward. The further they traveled down the street, though, the more apparent it became that there were barking noises coming from ahead.
"Might wanna keep our distance here," Lee spoke, looking back towards them.
The ringing growls vibrated in Clementine's ears, almost as loudly as the thumping in her chest. Two dogs were ahead, gnawing away at… something on the ground. Her feet trembled, fighting the agonizing urge to back away. Her fingers curled into a fist, whilst her right hand instinctively gravitated towards her knife holster. Why'd it have to be dogs…? Nearly frozen in place, the girl took cover behind Lee, her brows drawing together in fear. "Lee…?" She called out in a low voice, hoping he'd be there… to keep them away. She didn't want to be afraid… scared of dogs, of all things… but she couldn't help it. No amount of trying to look tough could hide the fact that she was terrified.
Ellie's eyes, on the other hand, lit up at the sight of the dogs. "Aw, doggies."
Joel peered towards the canines from afar, shaking his head. "You're gonna wanna stay away from those. It's not like it is in the zone. These are wild." He finished as he walked towards a nearby house.
"They're not gonna reach you. It's okay." Lee's voice reached Clementine's ears, a soothing tone that kept her - at least - somewhat calm. "Probably would be more scared of us than we are of them."
The two wild dogs then hastily and suddenly took their leave, the streets of Pittsburgh returning to their eerie silence in their absence. Clementine subsequently regained her composure, distancing herself from Lee before crossing one of her arms. It was the worst kind of feeling, hiding behind him like a toddler. Was it dumb? Being scared of dogs…? Ellie didn't look startled at all… more like the total opposite. Doggies. Really? It didn't matter, honestly. After what she went through, she simply couldn't allow herself to be near a dog, ever again. No matter what.
Lee turned around, looking towards her. "See…? Gone." He smiled, kneeling down and digging through his backpack for a moment. "Before we get going, forgot to give you these earlier, but here… for your hair." He extended his hand, holding the spare hair ties she used to put her hair up.
She gladly accepted them. She'd lost all of hers in the sewers… and it was really awesome of Lee to carry extra ones with him. "Thanks," she quietly uttered, taking the hair thingies from Lee's hands. She didn't hate it, having her hair loose the way it was. It certainly wasn't practical, but it felt like being a little kid again. Too bad it had to go. She wrapped her two hands around her voluminous hair, folding it under her hat before tying up what little insisted on peeking out of it. There… back the way it should be. "You sure they're gone?" She asked with a touch of worry in her voice. They couldn't stop now, but running into those dogs again, maybe even more of them… the thought shook the girl to her core.
She wouldn't have a chance to dwell on that thought, however. The quiet surrounding them was interrupted by the sound of a roaring engine spurring to life, and Clementine jerked her head towards the source of the noise, widening her eyes in panic the moment it became clear who and what it was.
"Fooound youuu assholes!" A voice cackled as the truck came into full view, the very same one from Pittsburgh. "Thought you fuckers got away from us?!"
There wasn't any time to speak, to think, or to breathe. The truck barreled towards them, and they had to go, right now. Clementine drew her revolver, ready to make her six bullets count if need be, before grabbing Lee by the hand, urging him and the others to move. "Go, run!" She shouted, firing twice at the vehicle with the foolish hope of slowing them down. She ran as fast as her legs would allow without looking back, grimacing in frustration. They weren't going to die… she wouldn't let it happen.
Lee's voice pierced the air as they kept running, Clementine looking towards him as he pointed towards something. "Alleyway!"
Clementine diverted towards the alleyway, her ragged breaths the only thing she could hear clearly. Ellie cursed nearby, but it was nearly drowned out by the sound of the truck gaining on them, followed by an exasperated shout. "What the fuck is wrong with these guys?!"
"Just keep running goddammit!" Joel's voice replied to Ellie's question, and at that point, Clementine stopped focusing on them. They had to find a way out of this, and she searched the area ahead with quick glances as she sprinted through the alleyway.
"C'mere cocksuckers!" The bandit screamed out, followed by the sound of glass breaking and fire whooshing somewhere behind her. Clementine spared a single glance back to see that they were throwing molotovs at them. However, as the alleyway began to tighten, the bandits were forced to slow down. Good. Maybe they'll have a chance to escape after all.
Until they were met with a dead end, they alleyway blocked off by a picketed tall fence. A few houses surrounded them, broken down cars and large trash cans being the only thing that could be used as cover. There was a ladder that led to a rooftop nearby, but it'd require them to leave cover to get to it.
The truck slammed on its breaks, followed by the sound of the bandits trying to gun the engine, to no avail. They'd gotten stuck. Serves you right, assholes.
Lee knelt behind the police car Clementine and the others had hidden behind, holding onto his rifle as he quickly peeked, pulling the bolt back and firing towards the front window of the truck. The shot ricocheted off as Lee cursed, while bullets whirled above their heads, forcing him to duck down. "Thing's goddamned bullet-proof!" He shouted, though it was drowned out by the sound of the police car's window shattering from the hailstorm. "There's gotta be a way out, or - or something we can use to buy us time…!" He breathed, pulling back the bolt of his rifle and peering inside. If he didn't already look stressed, he certainly did now. After a brief pause, letting the bolt go, he spoke again. "We just gotta think. I'm open to any ideas here!"
Joel peered at the truck for a moment, kneeling back down. For a moment, his gaze lingered on a ladder resting against a building on the side of the alleyway. It was too far to reach, even for Joel, undoubtedly. They'd be torn to shreds before even getting halfway there. His eyes seemed to light up, and he slipped off his backpack, fumbling through it before pulling out the nail bomb Clementine remembered seeing him grab from before. Checking his revolver, he pulled out his five spare bullets and handed them to Lee. "Lee, I need you and the girls to distract the truck for me. Gimme the rifle. I'm gonna try and climb up and shoot at them whenever he tries to throw another molotov." He looked down at the nail bomb, which he'd put on the ground. "I need you to throw the bomb at them first. Just pull the pin and throw. Ellie, Clem, if you have any ways of distracting it too, I'd be glad for the help." He didn't look at them as he spoke, instead zipping up his backpack and left it lying on the ground next to Lee.
"Alright man, here…" Lee passed over the rifle with a short nod and a serious look. "You got three shots. Make them count. Just… this isn't a one-way trip… you're coming back."
Another cloud of bullets whizzed by, and Clementine kept her head down, leaning with her back against the police car as she swung out her revolver's cylinder. Only four left… you fucking shitting me?! Those bullets were flying all over the place, bouncing off the car they were using for cover and impacting the walls around them. Hell, it was raising the damn dirt off the ground… They couldn't stay here, they absolutely couldn't. Joel was on the right track, and Clementine made sure to listen to his every word, nodding the moment he was done. "I can shoot. That's it," she grimly replied, in spite of being fully aware that bullets wouldn't work on that thing. How the hell are we supposed to distract them? Time was running out, and they couldn't afford to wait. So, she put her mind to work while Joel prepared to put his plan into action, trying to think of something they could use to keep those assholes occupied. "Wait, wait…! I got it," she said, taking off her jacket and ruffling through her backpack. "We can burn the tires! If the smoke's thick enough, they won't see us through it." After grabbing the box from her backpack, Clementine lit one of the matches, lighting her jacket on fire. Hope I don't regret this… "I need a hand! Anything that'll help make a fire. Hurry!"
"I've got this!" Ellie replied, pulling off her own backpack and fishing out the bottle of vodka the girl had found in the house. There wasn't much left, but it should be enough there to get the fire started, and keep it going.
Lee was the next to speak, digging around his back for a moment. "Good idea, Clem. Okay, I've got, uh…" He fished out a bunch of flammable stuff, including tissues and scraps of paper, piling them up next to Clementine for her to use. He clutched the nail bomb in his other hand, holding it carefully. After the tires were lit, they wouldn't be able to stay behind the car for long, so their only hope was that this… somehow succeeded.
Clementine placed Lee's junk around the blaze generated by her jacket, fueling the fire enough to make a small puff of smoke, but not nearly enough to be useful. That's where the tires came in, and where Ellie's aid would really come into play. This'll help, I hope… She poured the alcohol over both of the tires facing them, kicking the flaming jacket in their direction, and watching as the synthetic rubber burst into flames.
"It worked!" She exclaimed in contained excitement, giving Joel a confident look to signal the fact that the rest was all up to him. Gradually, a large puff of darkened smoke spread throughout their surroundings, bringing with it the sickening, acrid smell almost too excruciating to endure.
Once the smoke filled the air, Joel rushed towards the ladder, climbing up in quick movements. Clementine was forced to crouch low as the smoke floated around her, using her shirt to block out the worst of the ash from entering her lungs. Her back continued to heat up as the fire grew, and she found herself stumbling a few steps away from the tires, putting enough distance between the flames and herself to feel relatively safe. However, she made sure that she was still behind the cover of the police cruiser. It was only a matter of time before those assholes in the truck tried coming up with a plan to break through the smokescreen, most likely with another barrage of bullets, so staying beyond their line of fire meant sticking close to the real fire, for now. Until Joel can follow through with his plan, that is.
The crackle of the fire filled her ears like an intense static, only for another noise to cut through like a knife. The whirring of the machine gun starting back up, before the deafening cracks of bullets followed suit. As far as she could tell, they weren't aimed towards Ellie, Lee, and her, but towards Joel. She silently hoped that he was alright, but it was hard to tell through the smog surrounding them. Windows shattered, and bricks chipped, but no pained scream followed the bullets. Good.
However, a screech of a different kind reached her ears, a metallic one. She looked up just in time to see the metal ladder clanging to the ground nearby, worry rising in her chest as she considered yelling out for Joel, but chose not to. She didn't need to, anyway, as the man's southern drawl pierced the air.
"THROW THE NAIL BOMB!"
The message got through loud and clear, and Lee was already looking towards her and Ellie. "Keep your heads down and stay low!" He directed his attention back towards the source of Joel's voice, calling out in a loud voice. "ALRIGHT!" He pulled the pin on the nail bomb, wrenching himself up and throwing the device through the smoke. The bomb exploded loud enough to leave Clementine's ears ringing, and she couldn't tell whether or not it'd found its mark in the end, but the weapons stopped momentarily. Then, the sound of a hatch opening, and another harsh shout was thrown back towards them.
"Nice try!"
A faint fwoosh sound, followed by a grunt as the bandit presumably prepared himself to throw a molotov, then the sound of a gunshot as Ellie tried to fire blindly through the smoke, to apparently no avail. All of these things reached her ears in the span of a second, before one final, louder shot reached her ears. Joel's sniper rifle. A scream, followed by a much louder fwooooooooosh, signaled the end of the bandits, Clementine lifting herself from the ground to peer through the smoke, watching as the death truck was set ablaze by the dropped molotov.
As the only sound became the crackling of the fire, Clementine found herself looking towards Lee and Ellie, relief washing over her. Her nose burned, and her throat even more so, but they were alive. Lee's gaze focused on Joel above, offering him a shaky thumbs up. "We're okay!" He shouted, pushing himself to his feet. "See another way down from up there?"
Joel stood up, appearing to look around for a moment. The hunting rifle was in his hand, and he pulled back the bolt, the casing bouncing off of the edge of the rooftop and falling to the ground. He held a thumbs up back towards Lee, bending his knees. "I'll figure something out!" He called back, looking around.
Joel disappeared, while Clementine's gaze focused on Lee and Ellie. With the bandits dead, she took a moment to catch her breath, backing away from the burning inferno that had become the car. Clementine's eyes were drawn to the street beyond the alleyway, searching for any sign of more bandits waiting to pouncing on them. So far, nothing, until…
"Oh, fuck…" Ellie's voice reached Clem's ears, making Clementine's eyes grow wider in fear, Ellie's words grabbing her attention before the many blaring groans in the distance were able to. The girl backed away from the car, looking towards Joel as he rejoined them on the street. "Joel?!"
Clementine slowly stood up, coughing repeatedly, thanks to her scheme from earlier. She made her way to Lee's side, where she hoped to be able to see for herself what was coming. The sight left her dazed, too much so for the girl to let out any kind of sound. A horde of infected, drawn towards all the gunfire, and straight into the alleyway. Someone had to hold them off, someone had to do something…!
She aimed her revolver towards the cluster of infected, focusing her sights on the ones trying to climb over the police car. The first batch came rather quickly, crawling over the hood, the back and the top. The fire took care of some of them, holding back the initial influx of infected. Eventually, the fucking things started crawling on top of each other, and that's when they finally forced their way through. Clementine pulled her trigger once, hitting her first target in the head and killing it instantly. More followed shortly after, yet Clementine stood firm. She pulled the trigger again, again, and again… each of her shots taking care of one at a time, until the only thing leaving the barrel of the gun was the terrifying sound of an empty cylinder. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! "JOEL!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, the girl's eyes filled with despair. They didn't have any time left.
"Through here, there's a backdoor!" Joel cried out, pointing towards the house he'd gone through to get to them. "C'mon!" He kicked the door open, Clementine following him quickly, far before Lee managed to croak out an instruction for her and Ellie to follow the larger man. Lee fired off two shots into the horde, but Clementine didn't look back, only doing so once they were all inside and the door was slammed shut behind them. It wouldn't hold for long, though, despite Lee propping a chair underneath the door's handle. They looked around in a panic, the infected were beginning to surround the house, breaking windows and trying to get in. They followed Joel through the house, before Lee spotted the back door.
"There!" He ran over to it, testing the doorknob. It was locked, but with the combined help from Joel, they were able to force it open. The radio tower was in sight beyond the backyard. They just had to keep running, and hopefully lose these things before they got there.
She really wanted to believe that they could…
To say that Lee was glad to be inside the radio tower after spending almost two days trying to reach it would be an understatement. They had really been pulled through the ringer recently: Pittsburgh, bandits, bridges, sewers… he was finally ready to be done with all of it and move on. What was even more bizarre was the fact they'd met an unlikely couple of… people with the same goals? Temporary partners? Friends? Truthfully, he didn't quite know what to call them yet, all he knew was that they were on the same side, and going to the same place… and that one of them was immune.
This place was a goldmine. After arriving there, they'd found at least a week's worth of food, along with a decent amount of ammunition. The group that'd attacked them earlier were obviously stockpiling here, but they wouldn't stick around to find out if that was true. In the morning, they'd be gone. They'd found a portable gas stove and had placed it on the ground, along with a few blankets to sit on as they huddled around it, waiting for their meals to warm up. Lee was astonished at how peaceful this felt, as they began to joke around and exchange a few stories. When it was his turn, he spoke of the time that he felt had been hilarious at the time, with his brother, who'd gotten himself into a verbal argument with some bullies who were throwing insults and cans at their car. Lee was driving, and his brother had been in the passenger seat. They were much younger at the time, late teens, and far more unruly than Lee would care to admit.
"-and so he sticks his head out of the window, and gets ready to scream back… but, right when he opens his mouth, SMACK! Tree branch whacks him right across the face. So, he decides to scream at me instead for not warning him, except… well, when he tried to talk, he had a lisp, and a mouthful of leaves, of course. His cheek was so red, when our parents asked, he tried to say he got stung by a bee."
This was nice. It'd been a while since they could openly talk like this to others… the last person they had been able to do something like this with had - don't think about it.
Joel let out a hearty laugh. "Brothers do the stupidest things." Joel was sitting cross-legged across from Lee, with Ellie and Clementine in between the two of them. He raised a finger, grinning. "My brother, Tommy, he made me get him an' me two Harleys so we could go cross-country. Dead serious."
Clementine tilted her head to the side in response, the strand of hair poking out of her hat moving accordingly. "What's a Harley?"
"It's a motorcycle. I think," Ellie explained, looking up from her switchblade, which she had been idly flicking in and out while Lee and the others talked. When all eyes turned to her, she simply shrugged. "Some soldiers in the zone would talk about wanting one." She continued to flick the blade in and out for a few more seconds, leaning her back against a crate she'd sat behind her. Finally, she continued to speak, with a small smile on her face. "Sounds pretty cool, actually. Did you two get them?" She addressed the question towards Joel, curiosity written across her face.
"Yeah, we did." Joel grinned, looking towards gas stove for a moment. "Once Tommy got his mind set on it, we just… rode along." He rubbed at his cheek, leaning forward. "It was good. It was real good.".
"Really? You got to ride the powerhouse of back in the day, and it was just good? I think you're trying not to make us jealous here, Joel," Lee chuckled jokingly as he sat up a little, resting his arm on one knee as he directed his attention to the stove, reveling in the fact that they would actually be getting warm food tonight. "Never rode one myself, but… maybe one day." Riding across country with your brother on two Harleys. That was something Lee would have definitely wanted to do with his brother, but most of the time, he was working at the pharmacy, and Lee had moved on into teaching. It was hard to find time for that sort of thing.
He was pulled away from his thoughts as Ellie sighed, pushing herself to her feet before glancing over the room around her. She returned her gaze back towards them after a moment. "Hey, I'm gonna search around some more. See if I can't dig up something we missed." With that, she started towards the nearby door leading into the small office they searched earlier.
Joel had simply nodded after her. "Alright, Ellie," he had stated, returning his attention back to Lee and Clementine, before looking down at his watch, sniffling. "What time you wanna head out in the morning?"
"I'd say as soon as we can. Don't want to be around in case those bandits decide to come up this way," Lee spoke as he readjusted himself to sit more upright. They all knew better, after that shitshow back in the alleyway, that they shouldn't get too comfortable for too long. It'd only end up being them looking down the barrel of a gun from some thug before too long, or the gnashing teeth of some fungus-infected creature.
Clementine had stood up too, now, wiping the dirt off of her pants. "I'm… going too, okay? Just shout if you need anything, or… whatever."
"Okay, we'll be here if you need anyth-" Slam. She'd shut the door on him before he could finish his sentence, not waiting for a reply as she vanished into the office. And, with that, an odd silence filled the room for a several long moments, which had Lee's half-smile slowly fading away. The facade of confidence he'd been putting on for the past few days finally slipped out of his grasp. He hunched forward, lifting his knees up, and used them to support his elbows as he looked towards the crackling flames under the stove. It was these moments that slowly ate away at his mind. The times where it was silent… no walkers to take out, no buildings to clear, just… himself and the misery that plagued his own thoughts.
"I hope you know what you're doing with her…"
"We're still alive, aren't we?"
There were times that he second-guessed himself on if he was doing the right thing. If he was even qualified to take care of her after everything he'd done. After all, he didn't have kids, what he had always wanted since the day he got engaged. Clementine, from a young age, from the way she acted around him, always convinced him that he was still a good person… but… he wasn't. He just wasn't, because he knew what he was doing, with every passing day, he was just hurting her even more. Would someone like Joel understand that? He didn't know, but decided that maybe it was time to get it off his chest with potentially the only person he'd ever get the chance to talk about it with. Maybe this moment of peace would be his last chance to get some insight from someone else. Hell, anything… before wherever tomorrow took them. He took advantage of the silence that clouded the room.
"Before I found her in that treehouse… not that long earlier, I, uh… came across a small cabin. Looked like a nice place, didn't seem occupied, so… that's when I went inside." His gaze was fixed onto the flames, not sparing a second glance as his gaze became stagnant, zapped of emotion. The countless nights he had almost lost sleep over this had made him feel numb, a moment's silence passing before he spoke again. "That's where I found them… her parents… they hadn't made it. Gunshot wounds to the head, FEDRA's work, no doubt." He recalled, remembering every vivid detail, from the blood splatter, their lifeless, open-eyed eyes, to the way they had been laid out next to each other on the ground. He'd spared her from that horrible truth with the hope that her hopeful spirit would be granted some mercy. He just couldn't bring himself to break it to her. But, lying to her all these years, maybe that made it worse, and maybe it didn't. He simply had no luxury of knowing. All he knew was that she wasn't eight anymore, and the time was coming. "The worst part about it all… is figuring out which day I'll finally have to tell her."
Maybe telling Joel about all of this was more about seeking some kind of validation and insight. Was it selfish? He didn't know. One thing he did know from the first day he met Clementine was that this wouldn't be something he could keep a secret forever. Did she already know their fate deep down? Was she oblivious or fully aware? Those types of things Lee wouldn't dare to try and delve into with her.
For a moment, Joel appeared to be lost in thought, and Lee found himself wondering if he'd said too much. The man opened his mouth to say something, but only a soft "yeah" came out, before he nodded, "yeah" coming out again. That's when Joel's eyes focused on Lee again, a serious look etched across his face. "You have to tell her. Later, though. Maybe when we're with the Fireflies, okay?"
"Yeah, it needs to happen…" Lee responded as he looked towards Joel. It was more of an internal thought that he had said aloud, but he knew that he had to… it wasn't right to conceal her parents' fate from her, even if he thought it was best in her younger years. "Fireflies, it is. Just gotta take it day by day…"
Nothing much was left, unfortunately. Any useful supplies had been picked clean earlier, and most of the rest was just junk. Old magazines, discarded boxes and cans of half-eaten food, and a pack of playing cards, which she promptly tossed into her backpack. Never knew when those would come in handy to avoid boredom. She could still hear Joel and Lee talking in the other room, their voices muffled by the thin walls of the complex. She wasn't sure what they were talking about now, but it was probably more stuff about the Harleys. Maybe. Whatever the two talked about, anyway. Reminiscing about the days before she was even born. She liked hearing about it, naturally curious about the world that existed before the infection, but sometimes that stuff just went over her head, like the ice cream truck from earlier. Pieces of a bygone age she'd never experience.
She lifted the mattress on one of the bunks, letting out a soft chuckle - well, more like a snort - as her eyes focused on the thing hiding underneath it. Another one of these? Jeez. Don't you people have better things to do? She picked up the magazine, flicking through it with disinterest. Men, mostly, wearing basically nothing. A small smirk pursed her lips as another thought floated through her mind. Could always give this to Bill, if we ever see that asshole again. She rolled up the magazine in her hand before plopping down on the mattress. After a moment, she laid down, her feet hanging off the edge of the bed while her head just barely touched the wall.
She kicked her feet back and forth idly, looking up at the box springs of the bed above. There was a faint smell of sweat in the air, presumably coming from the mattress she was laying on. Her nose wrinkled, the girl switching from breathing through her nose to her mouth. At least, that'd keep the smell away for a little bit. She dropped the magazine onto the bed, laying her arms underneath her head as she let out a soft, content sigh.
Bed's not that bad, without the smell.
Her thoughts dwell on Clementine and Lee for a little while, the events of the past couple days replaying in her head.
With Lee, there wasn't really that much beyond the time they spent together in the sewer after getting separated from Joel and Clementine, and when he left her and Joel back at the bridge in the city. He wasn't such a bad guy, though, and accepted the fact she was immune far quicker than Joel had, back in Boston. Maybe he trusted her more, well, at least more than Joel did when they'd first met, or maybe it was just the fact that Clementine and Joel backed her up, providing more proof that it was real. Sometimes, she hardly believed it herself, until she looked at that bite and the feeling of anxiety rose up again. There was a lot riding on her, and a lot riding on them getting to the Fireflies. She just hoped that… that they actually made it, that the Fireflies would be there at the end of the road, and the cure with it. She wanted to look back on this journey and see it as the beginning of a time where they didn't have to live in a constant state of fear. That future was possible, they just had to push a little further.
Then there was Clementine, the girl she nearly killed to save Joel, holding a knife to her throat. First impressions weren't great, and she was worried about the girl hating her for the rest of the time they spent together, especially since she couldn't even get the girl to talk to her for a while. That, of course, changed after they shared that candy bar back in the sewer. She had a feeling that chocolate was the last the girl had, and she'd only been trying to be nice to her. That was the main reason why Ellie chose to share it, because not doing so would've been a dick move. That was the first time she'd seen the girl crack a smile. Then, after they got separated from Joel and Lee, they spent the entire day together… it killed her to think about it, all those similarities she found in Clementine to Riley. The games, the adventure… basically, well, everything reminded her of her old friend.
That was the last time she'd been able to be that close to someone, to enjoy someone's company and goof off. She had no other friends, besides a few acquaintances she'd made back when she was in the orphanage, but she hardly talked to them. It was hard to believe that so much of that happened in a short period of time with Clementine, going from an awkward distrust to something that might actually be a friendship. Maybe she was desperate to have another friend, or maybe Clementine was. Hell, maybe they both were. Who knew? She just wished that it didn't hurt to think about, all those moments with Riley that resurfaced every time she spoke to Clementine. Playing around with masks in the costume shop, posing for pictures in that photo booth, throwing bricks at cars, dancing on top of a display case. Stupid shit that normal people wouldn't usually do these days, but her and Riley reveled in. There's no one else she's ever known that she'd call a friend, let alone her best friend, other than Riley, and that's what made her passing so fucking difficult to forget about. Especially since Clementine might actually become the second best friend, given time. It felt like it was disrespectful, to Riley's memory, but… maybe that was just her talking. Maybe Riley would want her to find another friend. Maybe Ellie didn't know her friend as well as she thought she did. She didn't really have any answers. Life was full of mysteries, and a lot of them couldn't be solved.
She took in a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy exhale. Clementine wasn't Riley. Lee wasn't just another asshole that'd ditch them at a moment's notice. They weren't surrounded by bandits right now. The Fireflies were definitely still out there, waiting for them. Tommy would help them find the Fireflies, no problem. Some of these might've been lies, but she didn't care. Her mind was racing, and maybe hope would be the cure.
At that thought, she let out a sardonic chuckle. Yeah, that's the cure alright.
Ellie looked towards the door from where she was reclining on the bed as it creaked open, seeing Clementine enter the room. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, stretching her shoulders briefly. Clem had her hands stuffed inside her pockets, her eyes darting across the office before the girl cleared her throat, walking deeper into the room as her gaze wildly shifted from place to place.
"Find anything?" The question Clementine asked was simple, and Ellie responded to it with a shrug.
"Place is picked clean. Not much left to find but empty cans of food." She let out a half-sigh, pushing herself off of the bed. Clementine was probably worried about her; she could tell based on the expression on the girl's face, and she realized then that maybe the girl knew her better than she'd give her credit for. After a moment, she picked up the magazine, rolling it in her hand, before throwing the question that had been plaguing her mind over her shoulder. "Do you find yourself just… worrying over nothing?"
Clementine had started to lean against the wall next to the bunks, arms crossed. Confusion was written across her face as she seemed to process Ellie's question. "Huh…?"
"Like… you know it's stupid, but you still do it anyway?" Ellie continued, explaining herself.
It's called irrational fear.
She glanced back towards the girl, an uneven frown on her face. After everything that happened in Pittsburgh, she couldn't stop worrying about those assholes showing up again. They were sitting in the middle of one of their outposts, after all, about as ballsy as you could get, really.
For a moment, Clementine's gaze turned unresponsive, lost within her own thoughts. She averted her gaze, finally answering Ellie's question in monotone. "All the time."
Ellie nodded slowly, taking in the sparse words Clementine had given her. At least it wasn't just her, then. She let out a sigh, looking away from Clementine for a couple of seconds before finally forcing herself to look back. "It sucks," she replied, shrugging her shoulders lazily. She took in a deep breath, letting it out in a short exhale. The air was cold, the temperature outside dropping significantly since that morning, although still warm enough that her breath didn't come out in a thin mist. "Before we got here, I didn't really… realize it was this bad, out here. Soldiers are dickheads and all, but I'd take them over these bandits any day. It's got me thinking… how dumb it is to think that the Fireflies are going to be out there, waiting for us. I don't want to believe it, but… it's just… there, you know? Like it won't go away. If it's like this everywhere, what's stopping the Fireflies from getting overrun?" She let out a frustrated sigh, stopping herself from continuing down that path. "Like I said, it's… stupid."
And I don't want you, or Joel, or Lee to die trying to get me there, only to find out that they're all dead.
Was that the root of it all? She was worried about dying? After their close calls recently, maybe there was some merit to that, but still… it was so fucking stupid. Why wouldn't her brain just learn to shut the fuck up? She hadn't really had this problem before, not until recently, and it was driving her insane trying to figure it all out. She closed her eyes for a second, forcing her mind to calm the fuck down, before opening them again, and gazing towards Clementine.
"You're right," Clementine finally stated, with a hint of… anger? Disappointment? She stared down Ellie, her gaze unwavering. "You're being stupid." The girl distanced herself from the wall as she walked towards Ellie, standing in front of her as the girl's fingers curled into fists. "They're out there somewhere, and we're gonna find them. Don't you ever tell yourself otherwise. Got it?" Her expression softened shortly after her fiery appeal, briefly shutting her eyes in what appeared to be frustration, before making her way back to her previous spot, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed once again. "We're gonna make it there. All of us."
Ellie had been taken aback by Clementine's reaction, not quite sure what to make of it. It was obvious that she believed they'd make it there, all the way, and she admired that. That nagging feeling, now that she was thinking about it, had been there since they left Boston, back when she'd begun to think that the Fireflies at the capitol building were going to be gone, or worse. The thing was… that turned out to be truth. What's stopping history from repeating itself? Just don't think about it, okay? She let out a heavy breath, trying to put on a smile for the girl leaning against the wall in front of her. "I guess I live up to my nickname," she joked, raising her arms out to each side for comedic effect. She let them drop back to her sides, the smile fading away. "Thanks, Clem. I… appreciate that." After a moment, her attention turned to the magazine still wrapped in her hand, letting out a half-chuckle. With how this conversation was going, she needed to get it away from… well, everything she just said. So, she extended the magazine out to the girl, humor evident in her tone as she spoke. "This was the only thing I found, underneath one of the mattresses. Guess bandits need to, uh, use their downtime somehow."
Clementine blinked. Twice, three times, confusion evident in her expression. The girl leaned forward with interest, before said interest immediately was replaced by shock. "Ellie!" She cried out, turning her head to the side and looking away, both from Ellie and from the magazine. "Put that away!"
Ellie stifled a laugh, tossing the magazine back onto the bed she'd found it under earlier. Clementine's face was comical, making the little joke worth the fallout it was surely to cause. She managed to stop laughing after about ten seconds, letting out a content sigh. "Sorry. I had to." She wouldn't admit it, even to herself, but Clementine looked kinda adorable with her cheeks so flushed. Maybe it was because she'd never really seen that before, on anyone else, but it was enough to make Ellie feel slightly uncomfortable. She took an instinctive step back, trying to put on a serious look on her face. "Forgive me?" She asked the question in a light tone, that humorous attitude she'd adopted still strong in her voice.
Clementine responded to her question with a pout, staring fiercely and angrily back at Ellie with no signs of stopping. Before Ellie could react, Clementine punched her lightly in the shoulder, just strong enough for it to sting a bit. "Dork." She finally stated, letting out a soft chuckle.
Ellie rubbed her shoulder gingerly. "Ow." Her voice was a deadpan, yet a smile still pursed her lips. Seeing the girl so flustered was more than enough to put Ellie in a good mood, despite how obviously taken aback Clementine was from all of this. Ellie wasn't unaccustomed to seeing stuff like that, having seen the magazine Bill had kept, and another one back in the zone, but it must've been the first time Clementine had seen anything like that. For Ellie, it'd be simple curiosity, which had been quickly replaced by indifference. She didn't really see what the big fuss was about, back when a couple of girls at the orphanage had snuck one into the school one day. It was something she'd brushed off as 'not worth her time', at the time, and hardly have given it the light of day since, except for the odd joke here and there. Clementine's reaction had been much more vocal than hers had been, anyway. "You should be careful, Clem," she continued in a teasing tone, laughing. "Now I know your weak spot."
"I swear I'm gonna hit you again," Clementine replied instantly, resting both of her hands on her hips. Before Ellie could answer with another tease, a noise emanated from behind a door on the other side of the room, opposite the one where Joel and Lee resided, cooking their dinner. The sound of something growling, and a chair skidding across a concrete floor at short intervals that could barely be heard through the metal door.
Gulping, Ellie glanced back towards Clementine. Shit. Doesn't sound like a clicker, but it doesn't sound like a runner, either. "Uh… what the fuck is that?" She asked the question aloud, her hand instinctively going to the knife in her pocket, flicking it open. It sounded vaguely familiar, like she'd heard one before, maybe, but it wasn't something she remembered specifically. Whatever it was, it didn't sound friendly, and was behind a door they'd yet to explore. Two things that made this whole situation ten times worse than it probably was.
Clementine slowly walked over to the door, her hand hovering over the holster of her own knife, before stopping and looking back towards Ellie, a vague hint of doubt apparent in her voice, seemingly as though she couldn't tell whether or not Ellie's question was a rhetorical one. "It's a walker."
Walker… That sounded vaguely familiar, as if Lee had mentioned it before. It took a moment, but the familiarity of the sound finally connected in her mind, bringing her back to their escape on the bridge, and further back, to her days in Boston, where she'd encountered her first 'walker'.
"C'mon, we're almost there!" Riley's voice brought Ellie back to reality, her eyes peeling away from the tiled floor they were walking on and to the other girl. She still didn't know where the hell Riley was taking her, but they were already halfway across town. Sighing, she picked up the pace, keeping in step just behind the older girl.
"And where is 'there'?" She replied impatiently, trying to get more information out of Riley, but she'd been tight-lipped about the whole ordeal. Keeping it as a surprise, that was so Riley. The girl merely glanced back at her with a mischievous smile.
"You'll see. Now, c'mon!"
She began to open a door at the end of the hallway they'd been walking down, stopping in place as an unfamiliar noise reached Ellie's ears. The smile Riley had on her face dissipated in an instant, as her eyes were focused on something inside the room. Ellie quickly approached, reaching for the knife she kept in her pocket as she stood next to Riley. What she saw wasn't quite what she expected. A man, probably no older than twenty, was hanging from the ceiling from a rope tied around the ceiling fan. He swung back and forth like a pendulum, guttural growls escaping his lips in choked spurts. His eyes were a pale, milky white, looking towards them with a furious scowl, reaching out with gray hands. Ellie didn't know what to say, or what to do. She knew a little about the virus, and how the fungus infected someone, but none of that compared to this. If the host died, then the virus died with it. That was basic knowledge. But, this man, he was definitely not alive. Not anymore.
"Come on," Ellie finally said, gulping down the lump forming in her throat. "L - Let's just… get out of here."
"Right, yeah…"
"Alright…" she breathed, following Clementine over to the door. "Yeah. Sounds like it might be tied to a chair. Should be easy enough." I hope.
Clementine responded with a quick nod, shifting her gaze towards the door in front of them. "Ready?" The girl quietly asked, taking in a deep breath.
She took in a deep breath of her own, positioning herself behind Clementine, knife still clutched tightly in her hand. "Alright. Let's do this."
Clementine forced the door open, the two quickly scanning the room for other threats. The metal door lead into a garage, and a fairly sizable one… and it was absolutely gross, too. The floor was covered in blood, had been for what couldn't have been more than a few days, possibly. The walker tied to the chair looked somewhat recent as well. It didn't take much creativity to piece together what happened there prior to their arrival, and deducing it honestly made Ellie begin to feel sick to her stomach.
The walker posed no real threat, although it growled at them, yet being weighed down by the chair and ropes around its torso made it appear harmless. All it took was a firm blow to the head, one which Clementine promptly delivered after knocking him down with a powerful kick to the back of its leg, crouching down and burying the knife inside its cranium. Ellie watched, impressed, at how quickly she managed to dispatch the walker. Even if it wasn't tied up, she imagined the dead thing wouldn't have been a match for her. She found herself looking into its soulless, white eyes for a moment, before Clementine's voice brought her out of her reverie.
"Wanna take a look around?" Clem asked Ellie lightheartedly, closing it with a shrug.
"Uh, yeah, sure…" She replied, taking a moment to look around the room.
A van caught her interest. It didn't look like the others littering Pittsburgh, probably left behind by the bandits for one reason or another. It was possible that it worked, or could be fixed. She approached the car with quick steps, pulling the driver's door open. The interior of the car was sparse, nearly devoid of any junk, and Ellie took a moment to sit in the driver's seat, searching for a set of keys that would hopefully be hidden somewhere inside. She found them sitting in one of the cup holders in between the two front seats, and she inserted them into the ignition, turning it with a quick jerk. The car sputtered violently before dying. Shit. She tried again, with the same result.
She let out a heavy sigh, looking over towards Clementine, who had been searching through some cabinets nearby. "It's still got some juice, I think, but we'll have to get Joe or Lee to look at it. We just might have a ride out of this city."
Before Clementine could reply, Lee's voice pierced the air. "Heard a noise?" He peeked his head through the door, looking towards the dead walker on the ground before focusing on the van Ellie was sat in. "Well, I'll be damned. This was here the whole time?"
Joel stepped through the door after Lee, eyes widening at the sight. "Wow."
Lee approached the van quickly, looking over the vehicle. "Looks like it's in good condition… just a matter of if we can get it running." He scratched his head as he took a step back, kneeling down to check the wheels with a hand on his chin. "Kenny would've been good with this stuff," he mumbled as he examined the underside of the car, crossing his arms as he circled around to examine it further.
Ellie pulled herself out of the van, looking towards Joel and Lee. She hoped that they knew how to fix this thing, just for the possibility of getting out of this city without another run-in with those assholes. She let out a sigh, leaning against the side of the car. "The battery's fine, I think. Maybe it needs gas, or something?" Hopefully that's all it needs…
"Hmph," Lee let out the noise as he tilted his head towards the fuel latch, making his way over to it before peeking inside. He stuck his nose near the fuel cap and almost immediately retracting his head. "Nah, that's not it. There's definitely fuel in here. It's pretty cold out, maybe the battery needs warming?"
"Wish we still had antifreeze," Joel grimaced, looking towards Ellie. "Try and start it again, but hold it there for around… eight seconds. No more than that. Don't wanna flood it." He pursed his lips, crossing his arms.
Ellie nodded quickly, hopping back into the van. Please work, please work… She grabbed the keys, still in the ignition, before twisting them, holding them for the allotted eight seconds. As Joel and Lee talked, the sound of sputtering continued to fill the air, before finally being swept away by the faint roar of the engine whirring to life. She smiled victoriously, smacking the side of the steering wheel in triumph. "That's right! Fuck you, van!" After coming up with all of those potential problems, they'd managed to get the van to work without a hitch. She glanced towards the other three, a smile plastered across her face. "Looks like we've got a ride out of this shithole after all."
That was more than enough to have her feeling less shitty about everything. For once, something was going their way, and they'd be as far away as possible from Pittsburgh come morning. It was finally time to leave this place behind them, and continue on their way to the Fireflies. Just had to make it to Tommy's, and from there…
They were going to do this. There was no stopping them now.