We head back to the woods in hopes of finding something worth eating. It had to be something that would last us for a while. The wind was picking up a bit and Ellie worried that it would affect me in a bad way. But I was fine now since she stitched me up and closed my wound.
We hid behind a rock because Ellie had spotted a rabbit just a minute prior. Once it was in view, she rose up slightly, pulled her bow string and arrow back. She then released the arrow. It hit the rabbit dead on through the neck; its blood staining the ground.
"Nice shot." I say, keeping my voice lowered. "Thanks. But this isn't going to last us very long." She replied, picking up the rabbit and pulling out the arrow from its neck. She was right because that little rabbit isn't going to feed the three of us.
I look around carefully, bow and arrow in hand. I thought I wouldn't find anything but my eyes did catch something. It was a big deer about 3 car lengths away from us. "Ellie. Ellie, look." I whispered, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention.
"What?" She asked, turning in my direction. She saw the deer in her sights and gasped softly. "I always knew you always had a good eye." She said, smiling a bit. She gave me a high five before going to tie Callus up to a tree.
The two of us kept crouched as we began tracking the deer. It was easy to find him because of the tracks he left. We hop over a log and carefully turn to the right. "There he is..." Ellie points out. We hid behind a snow covered rock that was perfect for a hiding spot. "Enid... Take this shot." Ellie said quietly.
I nod once before adjusting myself to shoot him. I close one eye and pull my arrow back, focusing on the shot. I release it and it penetrates his hind leg, making him cry out and bolt away from us.
"Damn, for a minute there I thought you would've missed." Ellie said. We stood up with our bows and arrows lowered and began to follow where the deer went. This time there was blood on the snow.
"Hell no, not possible." I answer, a few centimeters away from her. She chuckled at me before getting a move on. We found him around the corner of a rock face, limping and trying to lick its wound. It was weakened. That was perfect.
Ellie decided to take this next shot and she got him on his shoulder; making him cry and we stood up. "There. He shouldn't be that far. Cmon." Ellie said, taking the lead. I quickly followed her and we took the bloody trail that it left us.
We took about 5 minutes trying to find him but it was up to no avail. It led us to an old fence and it showed it jumped over it. "How's he still alive?" Ellie wondered, hopping over the fence. Once I got over it, I answered with, "Probably adrenaline or something."
The blood had led us to another town. But a small portion of it. It gave me an uneasy feeling that I couldn't shake off. "What is this place?" Ellie wondered. "I don't know. But I don't like it." I say, observing it. There was a warehouse of some sort with shattered windows and snow covering it. We jump down to the ground level with a grunt.
We keep ourselves moving despite my gut telling me to turn the hell around and go back to Joel. I could see that Ellie was just as uneasy as I was.
The wood beneath our feet creaked loudly and that made this situation more unnerving. When we finally found the deer, it was on the ground. Dead with an arrow in its neck.
"What? That's not our arrow." I said, taking note of where we shot the deer. "You're right..." Ellie whispered. We jog up to the deer and inspect it closely. That was definitely not one of our arrows. Then, a single twig snap sent Ellie and I into survival mode.
We both hold up our bow and arrows in the direction of the sound. "Who's there?!" Ellie shouted in a demanding tone. For a minute, there wasn't a response. "Come out with your hands up, right now!" I called.
At this, two men appeared from behind the trees. One had a beard and a jean coat while the other wore a beanie and dark winter clothing. "Hello. We just want to talk." The bearded man inquired.
"Any sudden moves and we put one right between your eyes. Ditto for buddy boy over there." Ellie threatened, shifting her bow and arrow from the bearded guy to beanie guy.
"Tell us what you want." I demand, keeping my eyes on them while standing next to Ellie. I tightly held my bow and arrow up so I could take a shot if necessary
"Um, name's David. This here's my friend James." he answered, "We come from a larger group. Women and children. We're all very hungry." I keep my arrow pointed at the two men to show that I kept my guard up. "So are we. Women and children- all very hungry too." Ellie inquired.
David noticed the deer that lay on the ground. "Well, maybe we could do a little trade for some of that meat there. What do you two need? Weapons, ammo, clothes-" David asked, getting Ellie and I to perk up.
"Medicine! Do you have antibiotics?" I ask, keeping my arrow pointed at him. "We do. Back at our camp. You two are welcome to follow us-" David replied, walking over Ellie and I. "We're not following you anywhere!" Ellie says, getting the man to stop.
"Buddy boy can go get it. He comes back with what we need, the deer's all yours. Anyone else shows up-" Ellie states. "You put one between my eyes." he finished, pointing at his forehead. "You catch on fast." I breathe. This got the man to look over to his friend.
"Two bottles of penicillin and a syringe. Make it fast." David told him. That was until I saw that James had a shotgun with him. "Wait. Give me that shotgun. " I demand. This caught him off guard and he looked to David. He looked baffled too by my order. "You heard her. Give it to her." Ellie said, agreeing that I should have it.
"Just do what the young lady says." David said to James. James didn't say anything and took it off his shoulder and laid it down at my feet.
I quickly put my bow up in my backpack and picked up the rifle. "Now go fetch the medicine. Go on." David inquired. We were in total control of this situation.
"I'll take your rifle." Ellie said. David walks to us and carefully sets the rifle down in front of her feet. I kept the shotgun pointed at him and stepped forward. "Back up." I demand. He does just that.
I bet he was baffled that he and his friend were robbed blind by two girls trying to survive. Ellie picks the rifle up, reloads and points it at him. Now that we have big guns, we can kill him if he dares to make a sudden move.
"He's probably going to be a while. Mind if we take shelter from the cold?" he asked, looking around. Ellie swings the rifle at the deer. "Bring him with us." she said directly. We watch as David picks up the deer by its antlers and drags it to the abandoned building behind him.
Ellie and I kneel down a couple of feet from him with our guns in our hands. We had no intention of trusting this man. "There. You know, you two shouldn't really be out here on your own. It's not safe." David inquired. I glare at him.
"We don't like company." Ellie said bluntly. She wasn't wrong about that. "I see. So what are your names?" David asks. "What's it to you?" I ask, my brow furrowed. It's none of his business of what our names are.
"Look, I know it isn't easy to trust strangers. Whoever hurt you two clearly cares about them." I glance down at my feet and sigh. He's right. Ellie and I do have someone hurt that we care about. And that man is Joel.
"I'm sure it'll be just fine." David said. "We'll see." Ellie sighed. I looked up at Ellie for a brief moment. She too was worried about Joel being back there on the verge of death but with this medicine, he'll be back on his feet in no time.
Then, we all hear the distinct screeching of a clicker. We freeze up and slowly raise up. Ellie and I hold up our guns tightly. We look at each other to see how scared we were.
The clicker runs in the building and begins to click around us. I heard Ellie take a step back. That step caused the clicker to be alerted and it rid at us.
David then shoots it to keep it away from us. He shoots it twice more to kill it. "Wait? You have another gun?" I asked. "Sorry. I'd like my rifle back now." David replied, looking outside at the window. "No, you have your pistol." Ellie inquired, holding her rifle up. I hold my shotgun up and put my finger on the trigger.
"I hope you two know how to use those." David said. "We've had some practice." Ellie answered. I was ready to battle some infected.
David rushes to the door and quickly closes it with a loud slam. "No matter what, we got to keep them out." David said.
"You got enough ammo?" Ellie asks me as she reloads her rifle. "Yeah. You?" I reply. "Yeah." she says. "You two cover the windows." David instructed.
We agreed and walked up to the windows. "Let's kick these fuckers asses." she whispered to me, holding the rifle out of the boarded up window.
"You said it." I reply, looking out of the window. I see one coming in a sprint and I don't hesitate to pull the trigger, blowing it to smithereens. Ellie shoots another one dead. A third one comes and we both take it out. "Nice shot." Ellie says. "Thanks. You too." I reply with a smile.
There were more infected coming from the other side. I tried shooting another but it grabbed me before I could. I held the fucker back with my forearm as it tried to bite me.
"Get the fuck away from her!" Ellie shouted, driving her knife in the runners back. Once she pulled it off me, I drove my knife into its stomach, killing it.
"Thanks Ellie." I say, grateful she saved me. She nodded before firing the rifle twice more to kill two clickers. I killed three runners with my shotgun.
"You guys are better with those things than I and James are!" David said, running to some metal locker. "Give me a hand with this." He said, starting to pull it to the window.
Ellie and I rush to him and we begin to help him push it. The thing was heavy as hell. It was a little harder for me because of my stitched up arm.
We get it in front of the window however a stray clicker suddenly grabs Ellie by her shoulders. I was about to save her but David beats me to it. We get away from the window.
I quickly reload my shotgun and shoot a runner that was rushing at Ellie. Now we're even yet again. Since there were only 5 shells in my gun, I made each one count.
Five infected were killed by me. Ellie killed 4 with her rifle. After that, we stand in silence to listen for more infected. Even though I didn't say it, I was practically shitting myself.
"Screw it. We're getting out of here." David declares, rushing to kick a door down that leads to another area. Ellie and I follow suit into the next hallway.
Ellie was in front of me. Infected tried breaking through a window in an attempt to grab us however, we were able to dodge it. We make it up another flight of stairs. I could hear the infected closing in on us.
David and Ellie make it but I wind up trippin on the last step. "Agh!" I cry out, feeling my elbow slam onto the snow covered floor. I tried turning to my back but one of the clickers was faster than me. It leaped on top of me.
"Enid!" Ellie cried in panic, coming to my aid. As quick as I could, I grabbed her hand tightly. The clicker's hands grabbing at my clothing was making it hard for me to hold on to Ellie's hand.
I kick the clicker as hard as I could with my left foot while David shoots it twice in it's fungal plated head. Ellie helps me up and pulls me inside the next room.
"Enid, are you okay?" Ellie asks me, holding my arms. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." I reply, swallowing. Ellie patted my back in relief before walking over to a snow covered drawer that had a thing of bullets in it.
"Enid, here." she said, tossing me some. "Lucky break." I say, catching them and reloading my gun. David used his shoulder to push another door open so that we were in a new room. It looked like an engine room.
I gripped onto my shotgun. "Follow me. Through here." David tells us. "Do you know where you're going?" Ellie wondered, uncertain of this. "I've never set foot in this place," he replied. Ellie and I glance at each other for a minute.
"Oh, that's comforting." I say, clearly unnerved. We follow him to a set of metal steps in a jog. "How're you two holding up?" David asked us. "Don't worry about us." Ellie replied bluntly.
We run on a loose balcony. Ellie and I hop over debris but it starts to creak under our feet. Before we took another step, the catwalk gave way from underneath us, causing Ellie and I to fall through to the bottom floor. The impact hurt like hell because I landed face first.
"Oh… agh…" Ellie grunted, struggling to sit up, as she had landed on her stomach. "Ow…" I groan, pushing my sore body up. It didn't help that I landed on my arm with the dog bite.
"Hey, you two okay?" David called from above. "We're fine…" Ellie groaned. She then helps me up to my feet. I accepted her help and we hid behind a wall as clickers started coming through.
We pressed our bodies against the wall to stay out of sight. "How many arrows do you have?" Ellie asked. "About 3. You?" I reply. "About the same. Don't forget to make them count." she said.
"You don't gotta tell me twice. Let's show these fuckers who they're messing with." I say with confidence. "Enid Johnson, you truly are a badass." Ellie chuckled, getting ready to fight against the clickers. "Pssh, when am I not?" I reply, getting my bow loaded.
We then crouch down so as to not draw attention. Ellie and I make our way through and jump down to another level. The two of us managed to kill the clickers with the little arrows that we had.
We then find a ladder and climb up. A clicker is the first thing we see before it is shot down. "You two alright?" David calls, coming around the corner. "Oh, there you are." Ellie said. We follow David to another small area that had a dead end.
"Where do we go now?" I wonder, looking around the area. "How about that ladder up there? I just need a boost." Ellie says, pointing at a ladder that was sitting on a catwalk. David went over to a ledge and locked his fingers together to boost her up.
I look up and listen closely. Clickers were up there. "Please be careful up there." I say. "Okay." She nodded, looking back at me. She then walks away from the edge and starts to make her way to where the ladder was.
My heart was pounding in my chest from how nervous I felt. However, it went away when I saw her coming to the ladder. "Alright, here you go." Ellie said, pushing the ladder down to David and I.
David brings it over to another ledge that has a doorway. Ellie jumped down from the catwalk and she walked over to me. "C'mon." he says, climbing up the ladder.
I went after him then Ellie climbed up last. We jog through a wooden corridor of some sort. "We need to find a way out of here." David reminded, closing the door behind us. I roll my eyes at that.
"Yeah no shit." Ellie whispered. "We're not fucking stupid, old man." I add. Ellie and I are smart enough to know we can't stay in one spot while there's infected around.
We walked around a room that had two sets of steps. We walk up the steps and see some dead guys laying frozen on the floor. "Look here, guess the infected got to these guys already." I say, looking at the corpses.
"Ah Lord. I've been looking for these guys." David sighed, "Doesn't matter. Grab their gear, you two. Then we can find a way out of here." Ellie and I started to take the loot that these guys had left.
There were a few molotovs, some bullets, and a couple of health kits. Ellie gives me a few items. Above us, screams of the infected made us become more alert.
I looked up and felt my heart beating faster in panic. "Here they come!" I cry, holding up my shotgun. "They're on the roof!" Ellie pointed out. "Get ready!" David called out as runners started to jump through the window.
They growl loudly as they charge at us. One runner ambushed me from behind and I shouted in panic. I tried to stab it with my knife but I couldn't.
"Get the fuck away from her, fucker!" Ellie shouts, stabbing it in the head. We kill the remaining infected before things become quiet. "You okay?" Ellie asked me. I nodded and swallowed hard.
"Are you?" I asked. "Yeah, so far so good." Ellie replied. "Don't relax yet. There's more coming." David warned.
I run to the upper level and see more of those fuckers. "How many are there?" Ellie called out. "No idea. Keep at it." David responded. I groaned at this.
Ellie stayed close to me while I killed any infected with my shotgun. She shot some with her rifle. Before long, there was a loud crash above us. It was a fucking bloater.
"Do you hear that?" Ellie asked me. "Yeah, it's a bloater!" I cry, seeing the bloater jump down to the floor. "A what?!" David called out. "One of those big fucking guys!" Ellie shouts, throwing a lit molotov at the bloater.
I took my shotgun and shot the bloater 3 times. It threw spore bombs at us but we were quick to avoid them. Ellie shoots it once more before it falls to the floor and dies.
"The big guy's down!" Ellie said. No more infected came through. I lower my shotgun.
"Hey, kids?" David says. "Yeah?" Ellie replied. "I think we did it." David said, walking out of the room. "As in we got them all." I wonder. "Don't sound too surprised." David inquired.
"More like disbelief." Ellie sighed. "Yeah, really." I add. We then go to where David was. He was standing at a hole in the wall. "Listen." he quietly said. Ellie and I listened closely and didn't hear anything but the icy wind.
"No infected." Ellie whispered. David repeats what she says. "Let's go check on that buck of ours." David said, patting our chests. I got an uneasy feeling when he did that.
We followed him back to where the buck was. Ellie looked back at the door to make sure we weren't being followed. "You two handled yourselves pretty nice back there." David said, kneeling down to the dying fire.
"Whew, I'd say we make a pretty good team." David adds, tending to the fire. Ellie and I kneel by the fire and start to warm our hands up. I set my shotgun in my lap and held my hands up to the fire. Ellie set her rifle next to her.
"Psh. We got lucky, huh?" Ellie answered, nudging me a little. "Oh yeah. Very lucky." I agree. "Lucky? No, no. There's no such thing as luck. You see, I believe that everything happens for a reason." David inquired.
I roll my eyes and look away from him. What did he have to believe in that luck wasn't in his vocabulary? "Why say that?" I ask. "It's true. And I can prove it to both of you." David said, "Now this winter… has been especially cruel. A few weeks back I uh… sent a group of men to a nearby town to look for food. Only a few returned. They said that they've been slaughtered by a crazy man. And get this, crazy man traveling… with two little girls." David explained, using a stick to gesture to us.
I swear I felt the color in my face drain when he said this. Ellie looked at me with a look of clear terror. She was just as uneasy as I was. David knows about Joel and us.
"You two see? Everything happens for a reason." David adds. I quickly grab my shotgun and leap to my feet. Ellie joined me and we aimed our guns at him, ready to kill him if he made a sudden move.
"Now, don't get upset. It's neither of y'all's fault. You're only kids." Dad says, unfazed by our actions. I glared at him and say, "You're fucking lucky that we don't blow your head off right here." My trust for this man had quickly changed.
He then looks up at the doorway. "James, lower the gun." he says, getting Ellie and I to turn around. James was standing at the doorway with a pistol aimed at Ellie and I. I felt sick to my stomach and my breathing became faster and more panicked.
"No way, David. I'm not letting them go." James scowled. Ellie stayed right beside me so we could protect each other if need be. "Lower the gun." David said slowly.
James does so in a reluctant way. David looked at the fire. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. "Now give them the medicine." David commanded.
James walked in and threw a sack of medicine on the floor in front of Ellie and I. "The others won't be happy about this." James says. "Well, that's not your concern." David replied.
Ellie picked up the medicine and we inch our way towards the door. Neither of us lowered our weapons. "Move the fuck out of the way." Ellie demanded. James compiled but kept his eyes on us.
"You two won't survive long out there. I can protect you two." he offered. I shook my head at this. Every fiber of my being was telling us to get the hell away from there. "No thanks." Ellie said. We then take off running away from there.
My heart was pounding against my rib cage. We run through the snow before stopping a second. "Holy shit… didn't think we…" I pant, unable to breathe. "Don't think about it. Let's get the fuck out of here." Ellie urged, pulling me along. We ran on to the horse.
While running, I feel the nausea in my stomach rise. It wasn't just because of the encounter with that bastard, but my wounded arm was starting to throb. It didn't go unnoticed. "Enid, what's wrong?" Ellie asked instantly.
"I don't feel good…" I groan, holding my aching arm. That was heavily concerning because I didn't have any proper medicine for this bite mark. "Oh… okay. I'll give you some of that medicine." she offered, knowing what was causing my sickness.
She helps me back to where Callus was. He hadn't moved from the spot that we left him in. "You get on first and pull me up." I say, glancing behind me. "Okay." She agreed and mounted the horse. She reached down and hoisted me up.
I wrap my arms around her waist and lean on her back to ease my nausea. We raced off back to the house we were camping out in. "You good?" Ellie asks, looking back at me.
"I will be when we get in the house." I say with a groan. "Okay. I'll lead us in. You just stay on." Ellie says, getting off the horse. I scooted my aching body in the saddle. She led the horse towards the house.
When we get in the garage, Ellie shut the door behind us. She comes over to help me down. I put my arm around her shoulder so I wouldn't collapse.
Ellie led us downstairs to the basement where Joel was. We stop in front of him and see him shaking underneath the blanket. "Joel?" Ellie said quietly. He takes a few shallow breaths.
The two of us kneel down next to him. "We only managed to catch a little bit of food." Ellie said, taking off her backpack. "But.. we did get medicine. You'll feel better in no time." I tell him.
"Yeah… I'm also gonna Enid some too. She's hurt too." Ellie said. I glance up when she says this. Neither of us said anything because I knew that she didn't want to lose me from an infection to this bite.
"Move your arm." Ellie whispered, moving his arm some. She moved his shirt and the sight of his stitched up stomach made my stomach turn. It wasn't a pretty sight. Ellie prepared the penicillin for him.
"Here we go." Ellie said, injecting him with the medicine. He let out a loud grunt of pain. "Sorry…" Ellie said, covering him back up.
Seeing him in this state was painful to watch. "Okay, Enid. It's your turn." Ellie said, getting another dose ready. It was about the same amount as Joel's dosage.
"Okay…" I swallow, pulling my sleeve up. My arm was starting to turn purple. I knew that it wasn't a good sign.
Ellie gently takes a hold of it. We both knew that it was going to hurt like a son of a bitch. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared myself.
She stuck the needle in my arm, causing me to let out a pained cry. The medicine was injected into my arm. "Sorry…" she apologized. I recover my arm and hold it close to me.
"It's okay…" I reply. "I'm not losing the two of you. So this better fucking work." Ellie said, putting the medicine back in her backpack. "As I said before, it will take more than this to kill me." I say, looking at her.
She grinned at me. We then decided to get some sleep for the night. We definitely needed it after the events that we went through. I lay in between Ellie and Joel again. Ellie had her body pressed up against mine so we'd share body heat. Our fingers were intertwined with one another, making my heart beat.
All I wanted was to be with them right now. My eyes slowly started to shut on their own until I saw nothing but darkness.