Ellie and Matthew stopped to catch their breath as the truck came into view.
After collecting her guitar and securing it in her backpack, Ellie grabbed the lighter and canister from Matthew before using the hairspray to create a small flame. Vhwoom.
As the pair continued to walk toward the truck, Ellie turned to her left and sprayed again. Vhwoom. "Sweeeet."
Matthew rolled his eyes as Ellie created a large flame for a third time. "Alright," he said with a small laugh. "Put it back."
"Why?" Ellie asked. Vhwoom.
"Because you're enjoying fire a little too much and it's scaring me. That's why."
Ellie sighed dramatically. "Fiiiine."
Matthew stopped so that Ellie could place the hairspray and lighter back into his backpack.
"So…" Ellie said casually as started walking beside Matthew. "Fire and hairspray. How did you know that would work?"
"I read about it," Matthew answered, offering no other explanation.
Ellie snorted. "I read about how bears hate fire in my book last night. What book did you read?"
Matthew remained silent, his face turning slightly red.
Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now I'm really curious. What happened?" she asked. She adopted her best baby talking voice. "Did you set your hair on fire?"
"No, I didn't set my hair on fire. I almost set my hair on fire…" Matthew stopped speaking.
"You almost set your hair on fire?" Ellie asked. She took a few steeps closer, clasped her hands together, and looked up at him. "Oh, do tell."
Matthew turned and held up his index finger. "No laughing."
Ellie took a deep breath. "No laughing," she recited, holding up her right hand, attempting to stifle a giggle.
Matthew looked away and continued walking. "Look, it was a few years ago. I was hiding in this place from a large group of Hunters. It was too dark to start moving once they finally left, so I used whatever I could to get a fire going in this barrel I found. It wasn't working, so I just started throwing stuff in."
"Aaaaaaannnnnnnd?" Ellie pressed.
Matthew's face turned slightly red again. "When I threw a hairspray can in the barrel, the flame came up so quick that— hey! I said no laughing!"
"Sorry," Ellie said untruthfully. She clamped her mouth shut.
…
When they reached the truck, Matthew walked around to the driver's seat. "Alright," he said.
"Looks like there's still a few miles of gasoline left in this thing. We should lighten it up as much as possible. Maybe we can make those cans of gas last a couple days."
"I'll be back," Ellie said, moving toward the forest.
Matthew slowly hopped into the back of the truck and rummaged through the supplies. He waited until Ellie was out of sight before pulling aside his shirt, revealing a bullet hole in his left shoulder.
"Shit," Matthew said under his breath.
Ten minutes later, Matthew threw the last empty supply box out and leaned against the truck, breathing heavily. A few more hours. I can wait.
Ellie walked toward the truck with her guitar in her backpack.
Matthew straightened up.
Ellie offered him a second pistol she had found.
"I'll stick with the crossbow," Matthew said, stepping away from the gun.
"More for me," Ellie replied. She ejected the clip from the second pistol before removing the bullet from the chamber. She threw away the empty weapon, placing the extra clip and bullet into her backpack.
Matthew saw that Ellie had two more clips in the back of her jeans. He stared at her with a guarded expression.
Ellie noticed. "What?" she asked, placing her hand on her hips. "Think I can't handle a gun?"
"No," Matthew said, opening the door to the driver's seat and tossing his backpack on the floor in the middle. "I'm uncomfortable with how well you can handle guns. And I haven't even seen you shoot one yet."
Ellie opened her mouth to argue but chose to remain silent. She placed her guitar on the seat between them and tossed her backpack next to Matthew's before hopping in the passenger seat. "Let's get out of here."
Matthew nodded and turned the key. The engine stalled. Matthew tried again.
Ellie got out of the truck and opened the hood.
…
"I have no idea what I'm looking at," Ellie mumbled. She knelt and looked ahead of them. The car was about ten feet away from a decline in the road. Ellie rose and turned to Matthew as he joined her. Ellie pointed at the hill. "That should work."
"What should work?"
"Do you know how to pop a clutch?" Ellie asked, still looking at the hill.
"Not a clue," Matthew answered.
Ellie smiled mischievously. She turned around walked toward the driver's seat without a word.
Matthew followed. "Ellie? Ellie, what did that face mean? Something tells me I should be nervous about that face."
…
"Son of a—"
"Hey, stop complaining and put your back into it!" Ellie said loudly from the driver's seat.
"Yes… ma'am," Matthew said as he gave the truck another push using his right shoulder.
The truck edged closer to the hill.
"You know," Ellie said lazily. "It may go faster if you use your entire body."
…
The car reached the crest of the hill.
Ellie tightened her grip on the wheel. Here we go. This had better work.
Matthew grunted and pushed one more time. The truck began to roll down the hill.
Ellie turned the key and the car stalled. "C'mon. C'mon. C'mon," she said as the car rapidly descended the hill. She turned the key again and the truck finally started. "Got it!"
Ellie slowed the truck down and waited for Matthew. He reached the door and took a deep breath before hauling himself into the passenger seat, moving a walkie-talkie aside. Ellie finally relaxed and leaned back as she turned the truck south.
They rode in silence for a short time. Soon, they left the forest behind and were driving through dry fields. Occasionally, farm houses would pass by in the distance.
Ellie noticed Matthew staring at her and tried to ignore it. She held the steering wheel with one and rested the other under her chin. Her eyes flicked toward Matthew a few times. He was staring at her.
"Why are you staring at me?" Ellie asked pointedly.
"Nothing, it's just…" Matthew's words trailed off. He shook his head, looking embarrassed. "It's just nice to see you relaxed."
"We're safe," Ellie said with a sigh. "But I'm not relaxed. I feel like I need to do laps or something."
"I know the feeling," Matthew said, turning forward. "If you'd like, I could drive and you could run alongside he truck."
"Nice try."
"Where'd you learn how to drive anyway?" Matthew asked.
"Military school," Ellie lied. The car backfired again. Ellie ignored it and drove in silence, lost in old memories.
Matthew poked Ellie in the side, causing her to jump.
"What the hell was that for?" Ellie asked irritably.
"Where did you go?" Matthew inquired.
"What do you mean where did I go? I was right here."
Matthew just raised an eyebrow.
Ellie shook her head. I hate it when he does that. "I was just… thinking about the last time I drove a truck."
They went over a large bump.
Ellie thought she saw Matthew wince.
"When was that?" Matthew asked.
"Three years ago. I was with…" Ellie put her hand down. "I was with a friend."
"A friend," Matthew said, slowly leaning back in his seat. "He the friend you mentioned in your sleep?"
Ellie's turned and glared at him. "Matthew," she warned.
"Sorry," Matthew said. "Too much."
Ellie looked at the road again.
Matthew reached over and grabbed the walkie-talkie.
"Think you can figure that out?" Ellie asked.
Matthew turned the device over in his hands. "Looks like it's got a pretty long range. I doubt it has more than a couple channels. Whatever, I've got nothing better to do."
…
Joel continued giving chase long after the truck had disappeared. It was over four hours before he found the remains of two soldiers on the road.
Joel noticed bullet casings on the ground. He tracked the battle into the woods and examined the first body he found.
Joel turned the body over with his foot. Knife wound. Joel saw another body a few feet away. Please let her be alive.
Joel took a deep breath and slowly moved through the small forest, afraid of what he would find.
A few minutes later, Joel heard a scream. He grabbed his gun and ran forward.
As he drew closer, Joel heard another scream followed by a loud roar.
Joel saw a wounded soldier running from a large black bear. Joel slowed his footsteps as the soldier climbed part of a tree. A branch broke sending the man tumbling to the ground.
The soldier crawled on his hands and knees as the bear ran toward him.
Joel hesitated, tempted to leave the soldier who had put Ellie in danger to his gruesome fate.
The soldier screamed in fear.
Joel shook his head in frustration He may know something.
The soldier screamed again as the bear charged out of the trees.
Joel pointed his gun in the air and fired off a round.
The bear stopped in its tracks and turned to see Joel standing ten feet away. It growled and took a cautious step toward him.
The soldier froze as well.
The bear took another small step toward Joel and pawed the air, letting out another growl.
Joel didn't move. He could now see that the bear's face had recently been burned.
The bear just stared at Joel.
Joel leveled his weapon.
A bear cub squawked in the distance. The bear in front of Joel looked toward the noise. It looked back at Joel, who stood his ground, continuing to keep the gun leveled.
The bear took one last look at Joel before letting out a low growl and turning away.
Joel stayed where he was for a few seconds before walking toward the soldier.
The soldier coughed and started to rise. "Tha… thanks," he said. "I thought I was dead."
"Not yet," Joel replied. He flipped his gun and clubbed the man on the head, knocking him out cold. "Not yet."
…
Ellie and Matthew drove until the sun began to set.
Luckily, the truck had no issue driving over the dirt covered ground. However, the gas meter indicated they would need to refuel soon.
Ellie glanced over as Matthew winced again.
They had just started to drive over the bumpy, dirt-covered ground.
As the road smoothed out, Ellie looked at Matthew. Beads of sweat lined his forehead. He looked as if he was struggling to control his breathing.
Ellie slowed the truck down. "Why are you breathing so heavily?" she asked.
"What?"
Ellie put on the brakes.
Matthew bounced back against the seat and let out a grunt of pain.
"How long?" Ellie demanded.
Matthew opened the door and turned his back to Ellie. She now noticed the bullet hole in his shoulder.
"Jesus, Matthew!" Ellie said angrily. "When were you planning on dealing with this? Why didn't you say anything? We could have stopped."
"We needed to get as far away as possible," Matthew replied, allowing some of the pain to creep into his voice. "I didn't want any military reinforcements or Infected to find us. I—"
Ellie got out of the truck and slammed the door, walking around to Matthew. "You're a fucking dumbass!" she shouted. "Do you know what could happen if that gets infected? You could lose your damn arm!"
Matthew didn't reply.
Ellie turned away angrily. "Just… stay in the truck."
"Don't go too far," Matthew called after her.
Ellie didn't answer him. She stomped toward the small barn about a hundred feet away from the truck. He should have said something. He has no idea what could have happened.
Ellie saw the open door to the barn and pulled out her pistol. I can't go through that again. We have no medicine. I can't repeat what I went through with Joel.
Ellie glanced behind her and saw Matthew in the driver's seat of the truck, getting ready to join her.
Ellie slowly crept toward the barn, her gun raised. I won't go through that again.
The barn was small and had no second floor. One side of the wall was almost completely clear. Any useful supplies had long been scavenged. The left was lined with five horse stalls. Ellie moved through the small barn, looking into each stall.
After concluding that it was safe, Ellie finally lowered the gun. "This will work."