7:28 PM
Dot [Ellie]
A noise pulled Ellie out of her slumber, the cold, hard floor greeting her vision as she let out a groan. By the time her vision returned to normal, a hand gripped her arm, pulling her. The voice that followed the action was gruff, angry. "Wakey, wakey."
Panic took over, and she squirmed to break free, cursing and kicking as the bandit eventually lifted her into the air, slamming her onto the butcher's table. Her breath hitched, and she tried to move, though her hands were held down by the asshole who'd taken her out, another hand eventually grabbing her free hand. Through her panic, Simmons's horrible face came into view, his teeth peeking through the hole in his lips.
"Lee had his turn, now it's yours," he practically shouted the words, raising a cleaver over his head.
This was it, then. She'd be chopped into tiny little pieces, just like she'd asked him before. Now, there was no denying how fucking scared she was, watching this eyes sparkle with rage as he prepared himself to plunge that blade into her arm. She had to stop him, she had to do somethi-
"I'm infected!" She screamed, wriggling in an attempt to break free. "I'm infected!"
Henry took a step back, eyes falling to her face as he scowled. For once, it seemed that he had nothing to say. She wasn't even sure if he'd fall for her bluff, but she had to hope.
"... and so are you," she continued, calmer.
"You must think I'm th-ucking stupid," was all he could say, rearing the cleaver back once more, but she stopped him with another shout.
"Roll up my sleeve." He stopped mid-swing, indecision crossing his face for an instant. "Look at it!"
His eyes darted towards James, who begrudgingly rolled down Ellie's sleeve, revealing the months old bite. The room went silent, Ellie staring down Henry while he focused on the bite with wide eyes. James muttered something about it being fake, but Henry only shook his head, sighing. He knew this was real. He put down the cleaver, slamming his fists against the table.
She used that distraction to her advantage, grabbing the cleaver from the table before burying it into James's throat. She yanked it out with a violet pull, thrusting the blade into Henry's stomach, leaving it there as she rolled off of the table. He howled, clutching the blade before pulling it out as Ellie rushed for the cell, dragging Clem towards the open window in the next room over and grabbing her own knife from where it was buried into the shelf. Behind her, Simmons reached for his pistol, firing into the wall to her left. The bullet pierced through the metal, and Ellie instinctively jerked towards the window, thankfully not getting shot in the process.
She could hear Clementine stirring now through the ringing in her ears, and Ellie pushed herself to her feet, practically dropping her friend through the window before jumping out herself.
She wasn't even sure if Clementine was fully awake yet when she grabbed the girl's hand, but she dragged her through the snow all the same. Henry's voice filtered through the open window.
"Get your ass back here!"
Ellie didn't stop, though, hauling Clementine through the labyrinth of alleyways until they finally reached a door leading into a large building. She threw her body against the door, escorting Clementine inside before kicking it shut behind them. Brick walls enclosed them into a narrow space, a small hallway leading into several store fronts. It'd be enough to keep them from getting seen, at least.
She had to get them out of there, even if she had to drag Clementine through hell to get her to safety.
Art [Clementine]
Pain. Shooting up her arm and exploding like fireworks: that's the first thing Clementine felt as her eyelids slowly came to open, only scarcely revealing the amber eyes they'd kept concealed. Where she was relative to the ground took the girl a long time to figure out. That was, until the back of her head collided with the wall, her legs stretched out in front of her, loose and unmoving.
She figured she was dying, or close to that, anyway. Only vaguely capable of picking up the sounds beyond her immediate surroundings, gunshots and all, and next to nothing within her blurry line of sight. The girl let her eyes fall to the floor before they were completely shut again. For good, this time. Desperately wishing the fire under her wrist would just... fade away.
Clementine woke up to Ellie clutching at her arm, pulling her from the floor in a haste she couldn't keep up with. Her legs failed her one after the other, causing the girl to drop to her knees while Ellie struggled to keep her on her feet, wrapping Clem's arm around her shoulder. The rest was a blur at best, and a complete blank at worst. She moved at the pace Ellie's boots dictated, only to fall short and plummet downward like a puppet without its strings, leaving it to the other girl to pick her up and carry her onward. Time would tell how long it'd take until she couldn't move anymore. Until she gave in to the pained heaves emerging between her quickened breaths.
... And it did.
Without warning, Clementine's grip on Ellie loosened in full.
Dot [Ellie]
The hallway felt as if it was closing in on them, getting thinner and thinner with every turn. Voices filtered through the storefronts lining the main road beyond, and it became immediately clear that they were looking for them.
They reached the end of it all, where it eventually opened up to the road beyond while leaving no other alternate route to take. Ellie stopped in place, squinting her eyes to try and make anything out through the intense snowfall. When she found nothing, she took a step forward, bringing Clementine with her, until the girl's hand slipped from hers. She turned back, eyes wide as Clementine fell to the ground.
"Shit," she breathed, dropping to her knees to try and slap Clementine across the face, hoping that would be enough to wake her up. "Clem, c'mon…!"
It wasn't working. Wisps of breath escaped the girl's mouth thankfully, so she was still alive, but that was it. Ellie cursed under her breath, grunting as she lifted Clementine up and put her arm around her. They weren't going to make it through open road without getting seen if she couldn't get Clementine to wake up, so she was forced to head towards an alleyway nearby. She opened the first door she could find, closing it shut behind them before taking in her surroundings.
Stoves and messy countertops met her gaze. The kitchen was spacious, and she could see out into what appeared to be a large restaurant. She clutched Clementine tighter, hauling her through the kitchen before depositing her against the side of a booth seat near the opposite end of the restaurant. She darted towards the entrance nearby, opening the door to look outside. If they were lucky, they could move on without getting seen.
7:42 PM
Kentucky [Joel]
It sat before him. Something near a freezer door, attached to the side of a brick building and left slightly open. That was where the map said. It looked well enough like a room for capturing people; yet, fearfully, it was unlocked. Had one of them already come by and taken the girls? Or had the girls already escaped? He wasn't sure which he preferred.
His walk through the increasingly violent snowstorm was almost uneventful. All of the denizens of the town seemed focused on something or another; nothing he had been able to catch over the howling winds and hefty footsteps crashing the otherwise silent landscape. But his walk was finally over; he hoped, at least.
Joel grabbed the door, pushing it open as best as he could. It was cold and metal, rubbing up against his leather jacket and shrieking against the hard soil below. But he was in eventually, shutting it behind him to keep the cold out. It was for naught, it seemed. Goosebumps still boiled up his arms, twisting across his neck and making his fingers spasm. He turned, eyes met with the absence of light. He flicked on his hand held torch in an abrupt second, revealing a metal shelf full of assorted knick knacks and "souvenirs."
Folded clothes, books, boots, and two backpacks stood out the most. He grimaced, thoughts returning back to the hunters in Pittsburgh and the hunters before that. Joel rushed towards the shelf, a ghastly pole still ripping through the flesh in his side, but his mind was on those two things now. Ellie and Clementine's backpacks. He'd recognize them anywhere. Ellie's with a toxic caution button on the back, Clementine's with a few floral decorations. He scooped up both of them, looking at Ellie's predominantly. The monster keychain, the eagle badge, the America button. His mouth was growing dry.
On a higher level of the shelf, he discovered Clementine's hat. He never figured he'd see her without it, let alone it without her. He grabbed the hat, looking over it before stuffing it into her backpack.
"What is this? Why is their stuff here?" He questioned himself, but he felt like he knew already. On another shelf sat a piece of paper, dates and pounds scrawled in a chicken scratch fashion. Joel chewed on his gums, anxiety gripping him by the legs. He pressed forward, carefully pushing through a bundle of curtain strips into a much, much colder room.
"Oh Christ." Naked bodies hung by theirs legs from hooks, their hands bound, faces wrapped up, and backs bruised. He couldn't help but think of a butcher's shop when he laid eyes on all of them.
"I gotta find them. I gotta find her." He mumbled to himself, fear striking him harshly.
He moved through the shop, bursting out of the front door and back into the snowstorm. He thought he saw a figure behind him, wandering towards him, but the silhouette disappeared just as it had revealed itself. His head swerved, eyes glued onto a fiery restaurant nearby. "Holy shit... Ellie..." He only hoped she was okay; he only hoped Clementine was okay, too. But he couldn't allow it to happen, not again, no it could never happen again.
Dot [Henry Simmons]
It didn't take long for the reality of the situation to dawn on Henry Simmons. His lip burned from where his skin was torn off, and his guts felt twisted, ready to plop out of the hole Ellie had put in him, but he didn't have time to deal with it any more than he already had. He limped through the street, barking orders to his men to find Ellie and kill the girl with the ballcap.
Because Ellie was the only one that mattered. She was infected, but not only that, she was immune . It was the only thing that made sense. They were looking for the Fireflies, traveling across the whole fucking country to find them, and not only that, but this so-called infected girl was trying her fucking damndest to stay alive. There was a reason these two groups were brought together, and it all suddenly made sense.
And if her bite really infected him, he intended to rip that cure right out of her fucking head if he needed to.
His eyes noticed movement through the windows of the restaurant, causing him to alter course and rush towards the building. By the time the door opened, he was already there, grabbing the girl by the throat and pushing her back inside. He shut the door behind him, knocking her against a table. He didn't care about the candles laid on it, and how they'd tipped over during the altercation. All he cared about was getting her.
"You're easy to track," Simmons growled through his fucked up smile as she fought against him, eventually managing to wriggle herself free. He went for his pistol, aiming it towards her, but she'd already disappeared behind the booths before he could fire a shot. He let out a chuckle, raising his voice. "It's alright. There's nowhere for you to go!" He turned around, locking the front door. "You want out? You'll have to pry these keys from my dead corpse." His attention diverted towards a form lying on the ground halfway into the restaurant, slumped against a booth. He took several steps towards her, smiling. "I see Clem's not doing so good. I should just put her out of her misery right now."
Art [Clementine]
Hunched against one of the seats with her eyes wielded shut, Clementine did what she could to catch her breath, shifting between trying to speak through pained wheezes and completely blacking out.
If nothing else, that monster's laugh would be the thing to make her shoulders stiff, that'd keep her lungs from taking in air.
He was walking toward her, that much she could tell. The fear made her sweat almost as much as the blood loss did, turning her grimace into a glower. Henry said he'd kill her that time. No more bullshit. Clem heard the click of a gun and immediately knew it was intended for her, keeping still until the very last second. Maybe that would be it. Dying in the middle of nowhere so that Ellie could make it out. Whatever happened... whatever was gonna happen to her, that fucker was in for a rude awakening.
She slammed her foot against Henry's kneecap, hoping to break a bone. Knowing how weak she was, though, Clementine knew it'd be smarter to settle for less. A gunshot rang as he staggered backward, missing her by a longshot, a fluke she didn't expect to happen twice. Clem forced her limbs to move, to crawl away, the girl diving behind cover to avoid the incoming bullets, even despite the pain robbing her of every one of her senses.
She wasn't outrunning him. Clementine hid the best she could, waiting for him to show his face and kill her. The only thing she could promise herself is that she wouldn't go without a fight.
Dot [Ellie]
Her heart was beating out of her chest, loud enough that she had a feeling even Henry could hear it. All it took to silence the thumps was a single sentence uttered from that that psychopath.
" I should just put her out of her misery right now. "
She resisted the urge to scream out, to stop him before he could kill Clementine, but she had to be smart about this. She kept low to the ground, sneaking down rows of tables on her way back to where she left Clementine. To her right, the soft roar of the flames engulfing the far wall broke what would've otherwise been silence.
That was, until a gunshot rung out, and Henry growled a harsh swear, followed by a "You little b-itch!"
Ellie was practically running, keeping her head low until she finally reached the end of the row. Out of the corner of her eye, Henry was stepping towards another row of tables, aiming his pistol, finger on the trigger.
She closed the gap within seconds, leaping into the air before digging her knife into his back, right in the shoulder. As she pulled it out, he let out a scream, reaching for her arm with his free hand, though she let go of him, rushing behind the cover of the booths. She could hear him swivel around, a bullet splintering the wooden table she'd just passed.
Dot [Henry Simmons]
"Not bad, Ellie," Simmons shouted, grimacing as he reached his hand to his back, feeling the gaping hole she left behind. His hand came back covered in slick blood, and he wiped it off on his jeans. He pocketed the pistol then, leaving Clementine alone. She wasn't the threat here.
He gripped his machete tightly, each step he took through the assorted rows of booths and tables filling the air like a slow drumbeat. The girl couldn't hide forever, and when he managed to get his hands on her, he'd make her regret fucking with him. She'd still be alive until he got that cure from her, but she'd wish that she wasn't.
"I gotta admit," he continued, letting his voice echo off the walls as he strolled into the next aisle. "You impress me. The lip thing? Brutal. Really made me wonder, though, why the fuck you're trying so hard to stay alive, knowing that you're infected." He paused, as if letting his words sink in.
"Wasn't that hard to realize that you're immune. That's why you were looking for the Fireflies, huh? Y'know, I actually went to that shithole looking for them, too? A chance to get a cure? Too th-ucking good to pass up." He made it to the next aisle, lifting his machete in preparation to find the little fucker, but was met with empty space. He let out a frustrated sigh. "But like everything else, that turned out to be another pipe dream. Then you showed up. th -ate is a th-ickle bitch, ain't she? Dead end after dead end, only to realize what I wanted was right under my nose."
"I gotta thank you for that, Ellie," he continued. "With you, we can finally sort this shit out. Take our lives into our own hands. Stop hunting other people just to put a meal in our children. This means more than you could imagine."
Dot [Ellie]
She'd already stopped listening to what he was saying, focusing on just… staying silent . His voice seemed to oscillate around her, as if he was circling like a vulture. Fear crept up her spine, threatening to force her to spasm in order to release it. Instead, she kept low to the ground, peeking over the tops of tables occasionally to get a bead on where Henry was, and watching as the front entrance of the restaurant continued to become a wall of flames hot enough to have her sweating in her jacket.
As he finished his final statement, she rushed up behind him, stabbing him in the leg. She pulled it out just as quickly, dashing into cover near where she last saw Clementine crawling towards. The girl was still out of sight, but being near her put her at ease, just knowing that if anything happened, she could get to her.
Dot [Henry Simmons]
He nearly doubled over as he felt a blade pierce his leg, cursing violently as he spun around to meet the little cunt, but found nothing. She was fast, too fucking fast, and she was wearing him down.
"Alright, kiddo, you've had your chance. I'm done playing games." He limped forward, returning to the entrance before heading for where he saw Clementine crawling towards. It wasn't that hard to find her, slumped against another wall, breathing erratically. His smile grew, and he yanked her to her feet before she could attempt to escape, holding her close before letting his machete rest against her neck.
"Hey there, sweet cheeks," he purred, casting a glance down at his victim. If anything was going to get that little shit to come out, threatening her friend would do it. He would bet everything he had on it. "Alright, Ellie. Enough's enough. You get the th-uck out here, or Clem's head is gonna be mounted on my wall."
Art [Clementine]
With Henry's blade pressed against her neck, Clem couldn't move even if she wanted to, the fucker pulling her head back, a tight grip on her hair to make sure her throat was in full view, ready to be sliced within a moment's notice. Clementine glared at the man through thick and thin, contemplating ripping his head open like a tiger would to a cub. A fact made more than distinct by the rage in her eyes and the vicious gnash of her teeth. "Go to hell!"
Dot [Ellie]
Something inside Ellie snapped listening to him threaten her like that, a primal rage that couldn't be contained. She stood up fully once she was close enough to them, letting out every ounce of hate she had for him in a single, anguished cry. He spun towards her, dropping Clementine to the ground as he attempted to block her from attacking him. She rushed towards him, her knife finding its mark in the side of his stomach as he tried to grab her by the neck, Ellie using whatever strength she had left to send them both falling to the ground.
The machete slid across the ground, stopping just underneath one of the booth seats at the end of the room. Her entire body felt as if it was shutting down. Soon enough, she wouldn't be able to put up a fight anymore. She rolled over, grunting pained gasps as she tried to crawl towards the machete. To end this once and for all.
But then she was on the ground, her ribs feeling as if they were being caved in by Henry's foot as he kicked her with his good leg. She yelped, gritting her teeth, trying desperately to get back onto her hands and knees once more. Above her, Henry's gravelly voice bore through the fog building in her mind.
"I'm getting really tired of this, Ellie. You've got spirit, I'll give you that, but you need to learn how to th-ucking give up."
She answered him by putting one hand in front of the other. He simply laughed, and she could imagine him shaking his head.
"You're lucky I still need you alive."
Another powerful kick returned her to the ground, and she couldn't help the wheeze that escaped her. She tried to get up again, but something pressed down on her, her head suddenly being jerked up as Henry grabbed onto her ponytail, holding her head up and twisting it to meet his yellow-crimson-toothed grin.
"So, what'll it be, kid? 'Cause I can think of a couple things to do if you keep this shit up."
Then her head was pressed against the ground, her neck feeling the brunt of the pain as he continued to apply more and more pressure to her.
"Fuck you."
He grabbed her arm, turning her over to meet his gaze fully. She clawed at his hands helplessly as he gripped her neck, squeezing tighter and tighter as his rage consumed him.
"Y'know, I liked you before, but now you're really askin' for it." She swung her hand above her, trying to reach for the hilt of the machete, but it was still out of reach. With each finger digging into her throat, Henry pushed her closer and closer to the booth. "Keeping you alive would've been so much more entertaining."
Her fingers brushed the hilt, and she desperately reached her hand out further to grip it. What happened next was a result of pure instinct and rage, swinging the blade towards him to catch him in the shoulder. He screamed, trying to pry it out, and she used that momentary lapse in his attack to wriggle from underneath him, twisting him around so that she was on top.
She pulled the blade out, then buried it into his face. Again. And again. And again. By the fourth swing, she was moving on auto-pilot, screaming at the top of her lungs. She wasn't going to stop, not until he was nothing but a pile of sliced flesh and bone beneath her. Not until she knew for sure that he couldn't come back. He could nevercome back.
Kentucky [Joel]
He hurried as fast as he could for the restaurant, the burning building appearing nearly ready to topple. Ellie had to be in there; maybe Clementine too, if life was lucky.
Life wasn't.
Joel tempered his expectations, running up the steps in a blur. He made it to the door quick enough, grabbing it but realizing that it had been locked. No matter. And it didn't, the door shrieking from its hinges as he smashed it open with a heft of a kick, glass smashing and wooden splinters flying into the small fire. Torrential discomfort swam up his torso, still leaning on his wound as he stumbled through the fire that licked at his heels. Heat pushed up against him as he looked around, catching a glimpse of a limp Clementine on the ground nearby. He almost said something, but in a split second his attention was turned to a chopping.
Joel saw her atop a man; a bloodied machete ripping strings of flesh, bone, and viscera from his torn apart face. "Ellie!" He cried out, running to stop her. She wouldn't stop, she couldn't stop, but he had to make sure this act was done soon. He grabbed her from behind, pulling her away from the corpse and trying his best to persuade her. "Stop! Stop."
Dot [Ellie]
A man's voice was at the edge of her hearing, like a white noise that barely registered to her. She found herself being pulled off of Henry, and her brain went into overdrive, forcing her to try and crawl away from whoever was trying to stop her. Her voice was raspy, a shout that shook her to the core.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"
She couldn't get away though, her grip on the machete weakening.
Kentucky [Joel]
He tried to calm her, something he had done so long ago with his daughter. Fatherly instincts kicked in, himself horrified by what he saw; what she had done, what hadpushed her to do it. Joel could never let that happen again. He shushed her, soft whispers to get her to calm down.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay!" He flipped her around to face him as she struggled against him, holding her by one shoulder. "It's me. It's me."
Dot [Ellie]
She was forced to look him in the eye, but even then it took a moment for her brain to comprehend what she was seeing. Her body slumped, her reserves of adrenaline depleting in an instant.
"He tried to-" She choked on her words, breaking down into an uncontrollable sob. She couldn't hold it back, her mind practically shutting down along with it.
Kentucky [Joel]
He held her to his chest, hugging her for her comfort as best as he could. The next words came naturally to him; he didn't even think about them. "Oh, baby girl... It's okay,it's okay . It's okay now. "
Dot [Ellie]
She buried her face into his chest, not caring for a second how much it hurt her ribs. He was there. He was there with her, and Henry was… Henry was fucking gone . She couldn't even look in the corpse's direction, thankful that she didn't have to with her vision obscured by Joel's jacket. She let out a breath, her voice cracking. " Joel… "
She continued to sob into his jacket, her arms hanging limply by her sides as she let him hold her close, to keep her safe. She couldn't express just how much that meant to her in that moment, having him there with her, but she was sure that they both knew.
Kentucky [Joel]
He held her for a few more seconds, closing his eyes to stop himself from crying. They were both safe now; in each other's presence, a mutual embrace in the wake of a gory mess. It was terrible, the blood that still soaked the carpet, that stained Ellie's hands and face. But it didn't matter. None of it mattered in this moment.
Joel held her by the face now, looking into her eyes to make sure she understood. "I'm never going to leave you alone again. Do you understand?" He said and the girl nodded in agreement. He wasn't a liar; he wouldn't dare go back on his claim now. He couldn't dare. "We have to go." He told her, pulling her up and looking side to side, turning away from the machete that still lay in the man's head.
He had to grab Clementine too; if she was still alive. He led Ellie away from the body, rushing as he held a hand behind her back to lead her forward.
"Clementine?!" He yelled, hoping for a response. Ellie wouldn't be able to bear losing her best friend, not now... if the girl would respond, he would help her to her feet and guide her away too. He had left their backpacks outside in the snow, as far away from the fire as he could put them.
Art [Clementine]
She saw everything. Forced to watch while lying on the floor, struggling to stand, only to fail time and time again.
Ellie carved Henry's face in. Buried his own machete inside his skull, cutting through his scalp until there was nothing left. Nothing but brain matter scattered around in tiny pieces. Processing that... for Clementine, it wasn't easy. She'd never seen Ellie like that, never expected to...
... and worse; even in spite of the horror glistening in her eyes, Clem couldn't direct any of her pity toward Henry Simmons. Couldn't feel loathing or disgust at what the other girl did to him, right in front of her. That's what scared her the most, more so than the bloody corpse she watched Ellie violently butcher. The thought that it came to this. The fact that she couldn't protect her friend, or even herself.
Clementine was on her feet before long, either by some kind of miracle or through sheer force of will... and, much to her surprise, the same could be said about Joel. She couldn't believe it, not even after Ellie'd already settled between his arms. It was the one time she'd get to crack a smile, albeit a short-lived one.
"I'm so glad you're not dead..." she weakly blurted out in response to his calls, stumbling slowly toward them while holding tightly the arm that wouldn't stop burning. He led them outside, away from what she wouldn't dare share a second glance with. Something she could only ever wish she could forget.
Joel bent to pick up their bags, handing Ellie's over to her before turning towards Clementine. He slipped a hand inside, pulling out something she thought she'd never see again.
"Here," he stated quietly, placing the girl's baseball cap back on her head. "You don't look quite right without it."
Clem smiled despite herself, however it only lasted for a second. She tried to talk through the pain, each word more feeble than the last. "Lee's here, too. We've gotta find him." It wasn't a request or a command. Clementine was begging for help.
Dot [Ellie]
Her mind had all but shut down, focusing on only one thing: getting out of there. The fire raged behind them as they waded into the snowstorm, Ellie intent on staying right by Joel's side through it all. When Clementine spoke up, though, her gaze drifted towards her, that sickening feeling of guilt rising in his chest due to everything that happened to her, and what only imagined happened to Lee, because of her. She couldn't ever forgive herself for that, for letting her secret be a higher priority than her friend's life. It wouldn't happen again.
Without any other thoughts, she spoke up softly. "They did something to him…" That alone told the story, that whatever happened to Lee, he probably wasn't good . They'd had to find him, somehow. If they hadn't already killed him. "We could try their infirmary…"