Chapter 10: Parts of A Whole
Ellie put her backpack down, feeling sore from the extra weight of the parts inside it. She glanced at Joel and knew that he was feeling the same thing.
"Alright, check under here and then we can get back," Joel stated, motioning to the pulled-down door of an old garage. She gave him a look.
"What if it's not in here?" she asked, and Joel sighed.
"If it's not in there, then Bill will just have to make do with what we have," he answered, clearly annoyed.
"I'm surprised Fatty's going to be able to make anything out of this junk," she muttered, getting another look from Joel.
"He is trying to help, you know," he stated with a sigh, making her look away.
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to be so-" Ellie started, but he interrupted her.
"He wouldn't be so irritable if you wouldn't keep bothering him about certain things," Joel stated, "Plus you two kind of had a bad start."
"A bad start is an understatement," she muttered, and Joel glanced back at her.
"Let's hope we can fix that then," Joel stated, and she nodded.
"How am I going to get inside?" she wondered, keeping watch for any clickers that might see them.
"I can hold the door up for a short amount of time," Joel explained, and she nodded as he walked over towards the door, sliding his fingers underneath of it, "so you'll need to hurry when I lift it."
"Got it," she said with a nod, hoping the noise wouldn't cause too much trouble.
Ellie walked over towards the door, and when she saw that Joel could only lift it up so far, she had to crawl on her stomach to see inside.
She could only fit so far in with all the junk in the garage, and her legs stuck out underneath the door.
"Find anything?" Joel's voice asked from the other side of the door. Ellie glanced around quickly, resisting the urge to plug her nose.
"There's a lot of nasty stuff in here," she called out, hearing Joel sigh a moment later.
"Ellie," Joel said with a warning in his voice, and she could hear the strain it was putting on him to hold the door up.
"Ok, I'm going," she said, scanning the area for the part they needed.
Better hurry, she thought, or else I'm going to be paralyzed from the legs down.
Her eyes fell on the object they needed, and she felt a smile grow on her face.
"It's here," she shouted excitedly, then realized that Joel still had to hold the door up, "Oops."
Ellie grabbed the part, which looked like a medium-sized flat gear, and climbed backwards out of the garage.
Apparently Joel either thought the part was completely out of the garage or he ran out of energy because as soon as Ellie slid out of the garage and got the part half way through, Joel dropped the door.
Ellie stared at him for a moment, and then back at the part that was jammed under the door, not knowing whether to be angry or laugh.
Joel must have just realized what he did; a sigh escaped him, making her glance back at the door.
"That's heavier than I thought," he stated, and she realized that was as much of an excuse she would get out of him.
She held her breath, trying not to laugh at the expression on his face.
"Maybe I should try?" she suggested, and Joel just waved at the door, which she took as an ok.
Ellie walked up to the door and slid her fingers under it, and then tried to lift it. After several failed attempts, she sat on the ground panting.
"Ok, you're going to have to do this," she said, and heard a chuckle from Joel. She saw him shake his head as he walked over towards the door, slipping his hands under but not lifting it up.
"What?" she asked when he stared at her for a few moments.
"You're going to need to get the part out from under the door as soon as I lift this," Joel explained and she nodded.
He waited a moment and then lifted; the expression on his face making her laugh.
Joel looked back at her with a somewhat angry and confusion expression on his face at her laughing.
"Ellie!" Joel warned at her laughing, "Stop laughing and get the part."
"I know, I know," Ellie stated, but then started laughing again, "but your face is so funny!"
She heard Joel sigh and she tried to stifle her laughter.
"Just get the part," he ordered, and she stopped laughing long enough for her to do as he said.
When the part was out of the door, Joel took a few moments to catch his breath.
"Sorry," Ellie muttered, knowing she didn't seem convincing with the smile on her face.
"Sure," he said as he shook his head, "and one more thing."
Ellie tilted her head, guessing this was what Joel was going to tell her when Fatty wasn't with them.
"What?" she asked, wondering what he was going to say.
"Don't repeat what I say in front of Bill," Joel stated, "especially if it's about him."
Ellie bit her lip to keep herself from laughing again.
"Fatty gets offended that easily?" she asked, picking up the part and putting it in Joel's backpack.
She would have put the part in hers, especially since she felt somewhat bad about Joel being tired after lifting the door twice, but she knew it wouldn't fit in her backpack. The sigh Joel emitted confirmed he knew as well.
"Alright, let's get heading back to the safe house," he said, shouldering his backpack.
Ellie grabbed hers, and then looked at the safe house in the distance.
It's so far to travel with these parts, she thought as she glanced at Joel.
"Isn't there an easier way to get these back?" she asked, and Joel shook his head.
"Unless you want to make a sprint to the safe house with the Infected in tow again," he suggested, and she shook her head, not wanting to go through that again.
"No, I'd prefer sneaking instead of that," she said, shaking her head.
Joel motioned with his head to walk down to where they had come. Ellie glanced back at the safe house one more time as she walked down the hill.
So far to go, she thought as she let out a sigh.
Ellie instinctively crouched behind a pile of junk. Joel joined her and they waited for a few moments.
Ellie listened to their surroundings, finding that they were surprisingly quiet. She glanced over at Joel.
"Think the Infected left," she whispered, still not hearing anything. The silence was making her on edge.
"It's a possibility," Joel answered, peeking out from behind the garbage.
She felt confusion when she saw him sneak over to another pile of junk, and she followed.
"Why are we still sneaking?" she asked, "They don't appear to be here anymore."
"Yes, but we can't ever be fully sure," Joel explained, making her shake her head.
"You are sometimes too overly cautious," she said as she gave him a look.
"Better to be overly cautious than dead," he stated, and she nodded, agreeing with him.
They continued their tactic of sneaking along piles of junk until they got closer to the safe house.
By then, Ellie was getting annoyed and cranky. Her back hurt from sneaking and the extra weight of the parts, and they hadn't seen any Infected the whole trip back.
"Can't we just-?" she started to ask, but was silenced by Joel.
She gave him a glare, but then her eyes widened when she realized what he heard: gunshots and shouting from inside the safe house.
Ellie peeked out from behind the pile of garbage, gasping when she saw dozens of dead Infected on the floor.
"They must have a lot of ammo," she stated, knowing Joel saw the same thing.
"Or know how to deal with them," he said, his eyes narrowing.
Joel glanced over at her when she had a thoughtful expression on her face.
"What are you thinking about?" he questioned, making a smile come onto her face.
"I just realized that we left Fatty in there," she stated, pointing to the open door where the shouts were coming from. Joel's eyes widened at her words.
"Bill," he mumbled with a shake of his head, "for once I wish you would have tagged along."
Ellie would have laughed, but that would have alerted the hostile group to their location.
"Who do you think is raiding him?" she questioned, keeping a lookout for anyone that might spot them.
"Most likely hunters," Joel mumbled, "or bandits."
"How does that make any sense? They are basically the same thing to us," Ellie said with a shake of her head. Joel shrugged, not giving an answer.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, glancing inside of the safe house again.
The gunshots and shouting had ceased, making her wonder if Fatty had bit the dust already.
Wouldn't surprise me, she thought, and Joel gave her a look that made her think he knew exactly what she was thinking of.
"We need to get inside, see if Bill's still alive," Joel stated, and then added more after a moment, "or still here."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Fatty's flown the coop," she muttered, making him give her another look.
"If Bill did leave, then it will be hard to track him down, which gives us a very bad transportation problem," he stated, reminding her of their dilemma.
"Fine, let's hope he's not dead," she said, giving in for once.
Joel didn't answer her; instead, he was looking around them, glancing inside of the safe house every so often.
"Follow me," he whispered, starting to sneak into the safe house.
Ellie pulled up the map in her head from earlier, remembering that there were a lot more rooms than Fatty had showed them.
The hunters could be in one of those rooms, she thought, or we could use them to our advantage.
Joel seemed to know what she was thinking, and they both nodded.
She followed him silently until they came to a room with an opened door. Joel glanced around the corner and motioned for her to go in when the coast was clear.
Ellie snuck into the room, hearing Joel come in behind her. She leaned against the wall, hearing voices coming from out in the hall.
She behind her and grabbed the pipe from where she had slipped it partially in her backpack, but was confused when Joel didn't pull out his pistol.
She waited until the voices sounded farther away to start talking.
"You aren't going to use your pistol?" she questioned, and Joel glanced over at her like the answer was obvious.
"Pistols make too much noise," he answered, making her glance down at the pipe.
"You can use this," she whispered, handing the pipe to him and taking her switchblade out of her pocket.
He nodded his thanks, and Ellie heard someone talking out in the hallway.
"Can't believe they haven't found Fatso already," the man's voice came to her as a mumble, making her aware that he was very close.
"Over there," Joel whispered, motioning towards a desk she could hide behind.
Ellie quickly crawled over towards it, hiding underneath of it.
From under the desk, she peeked out beneath it and saw Joel sneak over behind the door.
A man wearing ragged clothes walked through the door, coming to stand beside the desk.
Ellie bit her lip, wondering what to do. She glanced over at where Joel was hiding, and saw with relief that the man hadn't seen him.
How do I get rid of him? Or will he just leave? Ellie wondered, staring down at her switchblade.
She didn't like the thought of killing, but if it would keep Joel and her alive, then it had to be done.
The man came around the side of the desk, opening some drawers until he pulled something out.
A revolver, she thought when she realized with fear that he had a better chance of seeing her, he's been hiding it.
The man started to fiddle with the revolver, checking the amounts of bullets and other things.
Ellie froze, hoping not to be seen.
The man started to turn around, almost in the direction that he was going to walk out of the room.
Out of curiosity, Ellie glanced up at him, which she then realized as a mistake. The man seemed to see her move in the shadows and turned back around, staring at where she was. She really hoped he would think he was imagining things.
Ellie's breath came out fast as the man bent down, staring at her with confusion. He had a curious expression on his face, and she started to think that he was wrestling with some morality he had left.
Her gaze wandered sideways, and she saw Joel start to sneak towards the man while he was distracted with her.
Is he using me as bait? She thought, feeling some anger.
"What are you doing here?" the man asked, and Ellie could tell that he seemed to be a new recruit to whoever was invading the safe house.
She somewhat felt bad about what she was going to do next.
"A friend was supposed to help me," she whispered, putting the fear she felt into her words.
Her trick seemed to work; she saw sympathy form in the man's eyes.
After all, I am just a child to him, she thought, hoping Joel would end things quickly before she felt the same sympathy.
"A friend? Where is that friend now?" the man asked, and Ellie could tell a plan was forming in his head; one that was supposed to help her escape without being seen.
"I don't know," she whispered, looking away from him and sliding under the desk a bit more, feeling somewhat sick at her deception.
She heard the man blow his breath out slowly, almost as if he was thinking. She saw him glance down at the ground, resolve on his face.
"Look, I can get you out of here," the man said, and Ellie looked up at him, false hope in her eyes.
"You can?" she asked, tilting her head in a naïve manner.
"Yes, but you have to go through with what I'm going to tell you," the man stated, and Ellie saw that Joel was only a few feet away.
Please hurry, she thought, feeling her resolve starting to crumble.
Ellie nodded, making the mistake of looking at Joel behind the man instead of at the man himself.
The man realized this and turned around, shock on his face when Joel came at him with the pipe.
Ellie looked away, feeling sadness at what she had done. She heard the sounds of a struggle, and then a thudding sound.
Her eyes wandered towards Joel, and she saw the man passed out on the ground. Surprise and anxiety filled her when she saw Joel raise the pipe another time.
"Don't kill him!" she yelled, putting her hands over her mouth in surprise as tears started to roll down her face.
Joel stared at her with a somewhat angry and surprised look on his face, but he did as she asked, leaving the man alone.
He looked like he was about to say something, but they both heard shouts coming from the hallways.
"Out! Now!" Joel commanded as he started to run out the door, and she followed soon after.
What have I done? She thought with fear, hearing the voices behind them.
She saw Joel up ahead, trying to get the door open. She heard him swear when it wouldn't budge, and it was then that she realized that the man had been closing the door when he had come into the room.
Fear filled her as she saw a group of three men catch up to them, huge knives in their hands.
Joel pushed her behind him, holding his pistol now.
It doesn't matter now that they know we're here, she thought, knowing she had put them in greater danger.
Three gunshots later, and the men all fell to the ground. Ellie felt Joel pull on her arm, getting her to run.
As she ran past one of the men, she saw him stir a bit and pull something that looked similar to a gun out of his pocket.
"Joel!" she shouted, trying to get his attention, but couldn't continue when she felt something sharp pierce into her leg.
She felt Joel continue to lead her through the safe house, trying to find somewhere safe to hide. She felt the map that she had made in her head slowly blur.
Ellie felt the scenery around her change, and instead of being inside of Bill's safe house, she was running along the white walls of a research lab.
She glanced up when she felt a hand pulling her through the hall, but she felt surprise and confusion when she didn't see Joel guiding her.
Instead, she saw a girl that was a year older than her. The girl's black hair was pulled into bun at the back of her head.
"Ellie, come on!" the girl was shouting at her, "We need to get out of here!"
Ellie felt like she was in a daze; she felt herself tripping and her strength was failing fast.
She felt her vision swirl a bit as she heard the girl start to mutter a curse; it never got finished as the words were drowned out by gunshots. The girl led her into some white aisles, hiding them from their pursuers.
Ellie glanced over at a shattered mirror, seeing blood leaking from her right eyebrow.
"I'm bleeding," she heard herself say, and the girl sighed.
"Yes, you are, but we can fix that when we get out of here," the girl said, and Ellie's gaze drifted towards her.
She felt herself start to go limp as darkness started to cover her eyes, and the girl's hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to stay awake as the girl shook her.
"Hey, don't go dying on me, Ellie," the girl said as she started to regain some consciousness, "We've come too far to die hear."
"What did they mean, Riley?" she heard herself ask the girl, "About-?"
Her sentence was cut off.
"I don't know, but we can figure that out after we get out of here," the girl stated, starting to help her stand up.
Ellie felt the girl- Riley she guessed was her name- start to lead her again, running when they heard voices.
Confusion coursed through her when she saw herself running, but felt her body sitting down against something.
"Ellie, stay with me!" she heard someone shout, and she felt the scene change again.
She glimpsed Joel with a worried expression on his face before everything went dark.
Just to make something clear, I skipped majority of the part collecting because I didn't feel a need to put most of it in. Majority of it would have been uneventful and not very useful, so I decided to do a time skip to when they were getting the last part. And I am including Riley in this fanfiction (she will have a big role in Ellie's backstory for this, and it will be explained more when we get further). Also, I think I am going to be naming the chapters (sort of like a summary); I just need to head back and edit them really quickly (so if you don't see a chapter "title", then I haven't uploaded it or come up with it yet). Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, as well as any ideas or comments in a review!
-AnimeWolfGirl9