Author's Note: This is a longer one. We're getting close to the end. The next chapter should go up relatively quickly, it's mostly written.
Thanks for staying with me.
Clint looks down on Burley in the distance with his hands on his hips. He doesn't like it, obviously. He looks at Abby next to him.
"What do you think?"
"We go around," she replies.
He cocks his head. "You know we need those supplies."
"We'll get lucky out here eventually."
"You said that a week ago."
They're standing on a foothill South of Idaho's southern valley. It's mostly reclaimed farmland, the fences and roads still visible decades after their abandonment. There are a few cities dotted along the Snake River—the same one from home, in Jackson—and Burley is the biggest near them.
"See that white building?" says Clint. "I'm pretty sure that's a hospital."
"It is," says Abby.
Ellie and Lev are arguing behind them.
"Come on," says Ellie, "these are blackberries. I know they're your favorite."
"Salt meat is worth more than berries any day of the week," says Lev.
"You don't even like salt meat."
"It's not that I don't like it. I don't prefer it. My muscles need protein!"
"You think these bad boys don't?"
Lev laughs against his will. "We can find more berries any time!"
"But we don't necessarily, do we?"
Abby's arms are crossed. "We go in there, we know there's a risk. We stay away and we just have to keep things clean."
They're out of alcohol. Clean out. Which is fine, until someone gets cut or shot or something. They only have antibiotics to treat one person. They'd had some accidents on the way, and it whittled away at the little they'd brought. Ellie keeps cursing herself for not thinking to bring more.
They run out completely, and the next little accident could end up being fatal. They need med supplies. It's not smart to go on without them, especially through the mountains, where there may be none close at hand when disaster strikes.
"No one can guarantee 'keeping things clean,'" Clint points out.
Abby sighs, brow wrinkling.
Turns out Abby is extremely pragmatic on the road. A few weeks ago, at the first sign that they might be running low on food, Abby had immediately suggested rationing. She approaches every building like it's teeming with hungry infected. She rarely relaxes. Clint can see the change, when they're far enough out in the country with a good campsite. She'll kick back on her bag and just lay there all evening, apparently enjoying it.
Lev isn't carefree, but he definitely worries less than Abby. He follows her directions to the letter. She obviously taught him how to survive in the wider world.
Ellie slides back and forth. She can go frosty pretty quick, and stay that way. But she's often the first to start cracking jokes once they're out of the tense situation.
Which, fortunately, they've had few of. They've dealt with their share of infected during necessary supply runs, but no bandits yet. Up until this point, they've plotted a very careful route. They'd had the liberty to. They'd been lucky.
But their luck is running low.
"Gonna have to bring in the tiebreaker, I think," says Clint.
Abby's frown deepens, but she nods.
"Fine, I'll double up." Clint turns to see Ellie pull another package of berries out of her pack.
"You were holding out on me?!" Lev exclaims.
"It's called bartering, dude."
"That's terrible," says Lev, but he hands over the salted meat without further protest.
Moments later Ellie is tearing pieces off with her teeth, chewing happily. She walks over to Abby and Clint. She looks between them.
Clint gestures toward Burley down below. "Yay or nay?"
Just like that, the humor is gone from Ellie's face. Expressionless, she considers the city. She looks at Abby. "It's gonna have to be a yay."
Abby's not happy, but she accepts it, unfolding her arms. "Let's make it a night run, then."
Ugh. That means no sleep for quite a while. And they'd made plenty of distance that day.
"You got it," says Ellie. She starts stepping down the steep dirt trail they're on toward the valley floor. Clint follows.
"How come you guys never ask me what I think?" Lev asks.
Abby regards him, a bit of humor touching her features. "Because, you're always too busy birdwatching."
Lev protests while Clint jogs down the trail, catching up with Ellie.
"Are you trying to teach Lev a lesson?" Clint asks her. "Or are you just a stinker?"
She looks his way with a little smile that reveals nothing.
"Can I get a bite?"
"Dream on."
"But my poor muscles!"
"Hunt us up some game, then."
"Supplies first." Clint looks down at his feet. Trail's steep enough that you have to be careful as you sidle down. "Maybe we can find some coffee…"
Ellie rolls her eyes. "You know what? I'm not surprised Abby likes it, too. You two are a match made in heaven."
"It's called taste."
"Well, you're gonna lose your sense of taste, drinking that sludge."
Clint laughs. "How about that river?"
She looks a question at him. He gestures to the Snake River.
"Look familiar?"
She gazes at it soberly, for a long moment. "We're not home yet."
Clint frowns a little. "Nope. Almost, though. Thought you'd be more excited."
"I'll be 'excited' when I'm eating a steak dinner at Arnold's."
"Mm, I'll treat to that. Oh! Maybe Jordan will treat! He told me he'd thank us when we got back to Jackson…" Clint's rubbing his chin. It's kind of an exciting thought. "Still not 100% what he's thankful for…"
"You think they made it?" Ellie asks him. It takes him by surprise. She looks at him. "All of them?"
Clint hadn't suspected such a question. His cheek pinches. "I like to think so."
"But do you, though?" She's not going to let up. "Really?"
Sometimes, Ellie is the sunniest person he knows. A fountain of courage and curiosity. And sometimes… It's like the world is a dark, terrible place, and she tries to make Clint admit it. She's doing it right now. He sets his jaw.
"It's possible something happened. One of them gets sick. Or Starbeam. Things go sideways with bandits or infected. But they made it from Seattle to Portland. And I tend to think Portland was a sharp lesson."
"Meaning what?"
"My heart is with them. I choose to believe they made it."
Squinting in the sunlight, Ellie gazes down over the valley. "But maybe not all of them?" she asks him.
He takes a breath and exhales. "Maybe not."
She doesn't say anything for a while and he hopes that the feeling has passed. The land around them is rocky and pretty dry, with scrubby bushes scattered about. The sun is a lot warmer than Clint would ask for. It's high Summer. He takes a swig from his canteen.
"At what point do you think it stops being worth it?" she asks suddenly.
"What stops being worth it?"
"Being the survivor."
Clint's stomach twists. He knows Ellie is still carrying a lot. He can't help her, can't take the pain away. She has periods where she seems really good, and other times… She holds a lot in. He can never be sure what she's feeling. He just does his best to show up when it seems like he needs to.
"I imagine…" He trails off. It's not easy for him, either, because he doesn't have to imagine. Bev. His mom. Even Steve and Jenna. Jason, in Grand Junction… Clara.
"I imagine it gets harder every time, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth it. It never has to not be worth it anymore."
He looks and she's eyeing him. He can't read her.
"If you think there's any meaning in life," he says, "then life must always be worth living, as long as you can bear it."
It surprises him. It just kind of comes out of him. Ellie looks his face up and down. She looks away and is quiet for some time. He doesn't expect a response and he's a little embarrassed. Then she speaks up out of nowhere.
"You're probably right."
"I know I don't—" He stops himself, until Ellie looks his way. "I know I haven't been through what you have. But I do get it, in my way." It's down there, like it always is. Always more water to be drawn, from the well of sorrow, when one wants it. He's pretty sure Ellie has something very similar. And from the look in her eyes, he's right.
"Especially with Bev," he admits quietly. He sees Bev smiling up at him, from that bloody concrete floor. "She's the one I thought of, when you were talking about Riley. She's the one I wish I could trade places with. That I regret surviving…"
Now Ellie's frowning like she doesn't like what she's hearing, but she doesn't argue.
"And it's fucking—" He screws up his face for a second. "And it's fucking selfish, I guess. To wish what happened to me, on her. But that's love, I guess. Because I know. In my heart, I know, that if somehow I could go back, that I would do whatever I could to make sure it was her who survived."
Ellie's still looking, still listening. She doesn't respond. She looks away, and her eyes go distant again. She sniffs, and rubs her nose.
"I'm sorry I get it," she says.
She picks up her pace and makes her way down the trail in front of him.
They reach the outskirts of Burley mid-afternoon. The sun won't set for hours, so they set up a soft camp in some trees by a trench. He and Ellie roll out their bags and take a nap. Lev is working on Abby about Go again. He had wanted to take a board, but they were impractical to carry. One of the Japanese soldiers had gifted Lev a set of stones, though. Lev had been so thankful, bowing over and over. Abby's still skeptical though.
"How are you going to play without a board, though?" Abby asks.
"That's the easy part," says Lev. "I just need a big enough piece of wood. I could cut it myself. Then you just have to paint lines on. Imagine having to make all the stones!"
Clint can practically hear Abby's reluctant smile. He succeeds in drifting off.
Next thing he knows, someone's nudging his shoulder, hard. He looks up. It's Abby's boot. She looks annoyed.
"Wakey wakey."
He rubs his eye. He was really out. He grunts and climbs up out of his bag.
"You got some good beauty sleep, there," she says.
"Must have needed it."
Abby scoffs.
"How come you didn't lie down?"
"Seriously? And who would have watched out for your snoring ass?"
That's a point, and Clint feels a bit sheepish. "Well, you could have woken me up first."
"I'm fine, princess." Abby helps Lev put away the stuff they had unpacked. Looks like they just ate. "Eat something. I do plan on sleeping tonight, for the record."
Ellie's pretending to ignore them, inspecting her belt knife. There's a little smile on her lips.
"Oh, what are you smiling about?" he asks her.
She looks up, playing dumb, but her smile gets bigger. "You're right," she says. She sheaths her knife, standing. "You did need it."
He wolfs some nuts and berries, and the last of his salted rabbit. The last of the sunset is an artist's swathe of orange, red and purple over the hills in the distant West. It's really nice.
The start off through the fields. There's no visible lights in the town, which is a good sign. The stars come out in force. They're out in the wilderness every night, but it's rare for them to be awake at this hour, so the swirling cosmos over Clint's head is pretty spellbinding. He's getting into a pretty great mood, then he looks over and see a rare, serious expression on Lev's face.
Right. Max caution.
They start passing the out-buildings of the town. A farmhouse and some small, old-timey warehouses, they inspect them for signs of life, but there are none. No infected, either.
They enter the outer suburbs. There are some broken windows, but the houses are largely untouched. The lawns are covered with the same scrubs and yellow grass outside the city. It's really quiet. They can hear some infected in the distance, but not many.
"Why does this feel like Grand Junction?" Clint asks in his lower, combat-zone tone.
"Because it is," Ellie replies. "I don't think we're alone in this city."
Abby's carrying her automatic, hands on, over her torso. Her eyes are cool, scanning the buildings around them. A few blocks in they encounter the first marker. A skull with a serpent wrapped around the base, spray painted on a house with light colored paint.
Abby makes a gesture and they circle up. "We can go back the way we came."
Ellie shakes her head.
"What?" Abby asks.
Ellie twists her lips. She makes a decision. "We have to have those meds."
"Ellie, we are walking into danger."
"There's a reason for that," Clint points out. "Where supplies are likely to be, there will be people as well."
Abby's teeth show for a second, but she doesn't argue. She looks at Lev.
"That is true," he says.
"Look," says Ellie, "I don't like it either. But we haven't heard vehicles. They probably don't patrol at night. Let's scope out the hospital before we make a decision. It's not far from here, from what I saw earlier."
Abby looks at Clint. Her opinion hasn't changed, but she's not one for drawn out debate.
"I'm with Ellie. Let's scope out the hospital."
She turns in repressed exasperation. "Of—" she starts, stopping herself. But Clint can tell what she was going to say.
Of course he's with Ellie.
Abby starts off to the North and they follow.
That's one dynamic that's remained a sore subject. Tempers tend to flare when danger is involved. As far as Clint is concerned, Ellie is his captain. They make decisions democratically, but Clint almost always follows her lead. And it's not just personal, the fact that they've been through so much together. It's practical, too. Ellie's got more experience out here than any of them. She's a survivor.
He can feel Abby's aggravation a few feet behind her, but she doesn't say anything else. It remains quiet for several more blocks. This is someone's territory, but either they're a small group, they've moved on from this city, or Ellie was right and they just don't patrol at night.
Burley's not huge, and after a few minutes, they come within sight of the hospital.
It's surrounded by what was once a wide lawn, and is now a dry, grassy field strewn with dark, gnarly trees. The hospital looks less white up close, covered in wind-blown dust. But that's not what gets their attention.
It's been barricaded. This isn't a FEDRA barricade, it's slipshod. Broken down in places. Boards cover some windows, on others they've been ripped away. In front of the main entrance there's a row of overturned tables and rotten looking mattresses. It's half fallen apart.
It's the kind of barricade that went up right after the outbreak, and didn't hold. This is not the base of whoever's operating out of here. In fact, it kind of screams 'infected inside.'
Which might be a good thing.
"I mean, fuck that," says Abby.
"Yeah…" says Ellie.
"You know there are infected in there," says Clint. "Which means there aren't people."
"That's preferable?" says Abby.
"Every day of the week," he replies.
"Hospitals…" Abby frowns, appraising it. "High on the danger list."
"When Yara had compartment syndrome," says Lev, frowning, "you went deep into an unexplored hospital for a surgical kit. You told me many times. That's where you fought that abomination."
"Something I would like to avoid doing again," says Abby.
"Sure, but there are four of us, this time. And Clint is right, it's the people we want to avoid."
"Maybe…" says Abby. "But that's a lot of open space from here to there."
"It's a good area for lookouts," Ellie admits.
Lev looks up at Abby. A lot of their communication is nonverbal. She gestures with her head, and Lev goes off silently to scout the houses at the edge of the open space. Abby walks up to the corner of a house and peers around it. Ellie and Clint follow.
"See anything?" Clint asks.
"Not much… But I see another one of those markers, on that house across the way."
"Good eye."
"At this point," says Ellie, "I'm wondering if these people have moved on—"
There's a clicking sound and all at once the three of them are flooded in light. Clint looks up and is immediately blinded by the source of the beam, on the roof of the house across the street.
"Guns down! Or we shoot," a voice calls out to them.
"Alright," Abby calls back, raising her hands. "Alright, we're not here for a fight."
"Says the person dead to rights?" His voice is relatively high. He sounds like a teenager.
"What do you want?" says Ellie. "We have trade. We're just looking for medicine."
"Trade," he laughs. "You're looking in the wrong town."
Assholes, then.
"Can we just fucking leave, then?" Ellie asks.
"Absolutely. But I am interested in your stuff, so put everything you're carrying down, then you can walk away."
A vein is showing in Ellie's forehead. "Come on, we can make a deal here."
"Are you thick? What country do you think you're in?"
Ellie snarls. "How old are you?"
There's a gunshot and the wood paneling behind Ellie shatters. She winces when little pieces of wood strikes her back, but otherwise doesn't react.
"I don't know. Ask me again."
This is not going well. They cannot just give up all their guns and supplies, that would be deadly. And there's no guarantee of safety even if they do.
There's the patter of something landing on the roof.
"Hey!" the voice shouts, then an explosion. The floodlight spins out of its position. Clint dives to the ground, along with the others. A piece of something from the explosion bounces off of his back.
He looks up to see that it had been one of their smoke bombs. Lev comes running around the side of the house.
"Now," Abby growls, rising without further explanation. She and Lev sprint for the hospital, and Clint and Ellie can do nothing but follow.
"Where the fuck are they?" someone is screaming. "Where the fuck are they?"
The only other sounds are their footfalls on the grassy field and heavy breaths. Dim, blue outlines of clustered leaves and black branches fly by in the moonlight. Abby is charging for the window with the boards ripped off. She reaches it, and vaults right in. Clint sees her flashlight come on. Lev climbs in behind her, and Ellie after. Clint looks over his shoulder. Weaker flashlights are pointing their direction. He grabs the sill and rolls over it.
Almost as soon as he hits the ground he hears the snarl of a runner and a gunshot. It was Abby.
"I'm sure he's got friends," she says, jaw tight.
"They will have heard that—" Lev starts.
"Not yet Lev, clear first!"
Ellie says nothing, pistol in her hand. Her expression is ice cold. Clint pulls out his shotgun.
Two more runners follow the first, charging in through the door. The first one trips over the corpse on the ground. Ellie shoots it in the back of the head. The second takes three to the chest and falls backward away from the doorway.
Ellie walks straight over their bodies into a hallway. She looks both directions, then beckons them with her head.
When Clint enters the hallway, there are no visible infected, but it's a gruesome scene. There are overturned gurneys strewn about, and a lot of skeletal corpses. This place hasn't been touched since the outbreak. Looking behind them as they advance, he sees a furtive movement and a glimpse of a pale visage disappear behind a doorway.
"I just saw a stalker," he reports.
Ellie advances with slow, silent steps.
"Where are we going, El?" Abby asks, her rifle fully shouldered.
"In."
The approach a T intersection. There's a directory on the wall. The arrows pointing left read 'Cafeteria,' 'Pediatrics,' and 'Storage 1H.' Wordless, Ellie turns the corner to the left.
In the distance behind them, there's shouting. They all stop. There's arguing outside.
"If they push the building, we need to have a secure position," says Abby.
"They've never pushed it before," says Ellie.
"Give me that!" says the voice from before. They go quiet. After a couple seconds, a strange whistling sound starts.
Abby's eyes go wide. "Get down!" she shouts, but the rocket explodes before they even hit the ground. Clint feels a shockwave hit his back and lands face down on the grimy tile.
For a second, it's as bright as day. Debris litters the floor and walls around them. Clint's ears are ringing, he can't hear very well.
"Lev? Lev?" Abby's voice is deep and distorted. Clint looks up to see her cradling Lev.
His eyes are open, but he seems really dazed. He comes back to himself. He sees what's happening, then pats her midsection. "I'm fine." She lets go, still scared, and he stands up.
"Clint?" It's Ellie. He looks up at her worried face, then forces his way to his feet, somewhat dizzy. She looks over his shoulder.
When he turns, the room they had entered from has erupted. The doorway is blasted open, and there's a ton of dust and smoke in the air. A fire is burning inside the room. Just then, screams come into focus and a group of runners appears at the end of the hallway.
"We need to move," Ellie says, but Abby is already pushing past her.
"How the fuck do we get in there now?" someone shouts in the distance.
"Let's go around the side," someone replies.
Clint can hear infected behind them now, from the other branch of the intersection. A clicker ambles out of a doorway in front of them, jerking back in surprise.
"Mine!" calls Clint. He shoulders his shotgun. The clicker screeches and starts flailing toward him. The shotgun roars and the clicker's throat becomes a mess of red. It falls to the ground, gyrating until it goes still. Clint pumps another shell into the chamber.
The infected are getting closer. It's impossible to say how many there are.
"In here!" shouts Abby. She rushes through the door the clicker had come out of.
Clint is the last one through, and he immediately turns to slam the door shut, but a runner's arm juts through, fingers scrabbling, preventing him from latching it.
"Damn it!" he growls. He swings the door open, then kicks the runner in the chest with all his might. It goes careening backwards into two others. He slams the door shut and throws the latch.
He hears a gunshot behind him. He turns to find that they're in the cafeteria, a large room with over a dozen large, circular tables surrounded by plastic chairs. At this point it's pitch black but for their flashlights, which reveal several infected charging toward the others.
"Left!"
"Get the runners down!"
Abby and Ellie drop the first couple runners. Lev aims carefully, then headshots a third. There are more, though, and Clint can see two clickers searching about, following the sounds, shambling in their direction. He reaches for his rifle to deal with that when he sees another threat.
Pale, naked limbs lope between the legs of the chairs and tables filling the room. One hideous face finds him, mouth agape, dark eyes glowing from his flashlight.
"Stalkers under the tables, back up!" he yells.
Caught off guard by that, Abby looks down, just in time to see a stalker peering at her from just a few feet away. "Shit!" she shouts in fear.
Seeing its moment, the stalker leaps at her, but is thrown off course by a shot from Ellie's magnum. It thrashes for a moment, then Ellie puts another round into it and it goes still.
Searching around, Lev's eyes widen suddenly. He pulls his bow and releases an arrow, killing another stalker fifteen feet away.
"Keep your distance!" Clint shouts. "Pick 'em off!"
He hears a tiny screeching sound, turns, and sees a stalker had bumped a chair leg a few feet behind him.
He curses as the thing leaps at him, wrapping its limbs around his body. He grabs what's left of its filthy, reeking hair before it can sink its teeth into his neck. He pulls at it, but it's strong, and his gun is pinned between them. He can't pry it off. He twists and shakes, but the thing is relentless. It hisses and spits in his ear. His growl turns into a roar. Then there's a powerful shock to his hand, and the thing goes limp. He pulls, and it falls off of him to the ground in a heap. Its head is all bloody.
He turns to see Ellie pointing her magnum in his direction, eyes like iron.
That was way too god damn close.
One of the clickers is closing in on Lev. Lev is clearly scared. He shoots an arrow, but it pierces the clicker's shoulder, not even slowing it.
"Back off!" Abby shouts. She takes aim, but the clicker has reached the table between it and Lev. It grabs it, and throws it to the side powerfully. It slams into Abby, knocking her down.
Lev is backpedaling, terrified, but the Clicker is closing in. Ellie points her gun at it and pulls the trigger, but she's out of shots. Not missing a beat, she holsters it, and graceful as a panther, lopes up behind the clicker. She pulls her knife, jumps the last few feet onto its back, and begins to saw its throat.
It issue a horrible, wet wail, then drops to the ground in front of Lev. But the other clicker is almost on top of Ellie.
Clint has been able to close the distance, and just as Ellie looks up with rare fear in her eyes, he blasts it in the chest with his shotgun from less than two feet. Its cries are silenced before it slams onto its back, leaving a bloody smear.
The room is quiet.
Abby is standing again, red-faced and panting. "Is that it?"
"Look for stalkers," says Ellie.
Lev goes to one knee, scanning under the tables with his flashlight. He stops, aims, pulls and releases. There's an instantaneous yelping sound, and then more quiet.
"That's it," he says, exhaling.
Clint walks over to Ellie, helping her up. "Am I good?" he asks.
She looks him over, and nods. No cuts.
There's a banging sound, and they see runners through the glass panel of the door they'd come through, banging on it. Behind them, smoke is visible in the hallway.
"Fire!" Lev exclaims.
"It's spreading," says Abby, her tone making the stakes quite clear.
Ellie pulls a Molotov out of her pack. "Get the door." She lights it.
Automatically, Clint walks over, and Lev joins him on the other side of the double doors. Abby's lighting a Molotov too.
"Ready?" Clint asks.
"Does it look like it?" Ellie replies.
Clint throws the latch and they yank open the doors. The screaming runners fall into the room in a heap, and immediately both Molotovs break on them, and they erupt into flames.
They screech and flail while Clint and Lev back away. One gets to its feet and thrashes at Clint helplessly. Clint boots it and it lands on its back.
Smoke is pouring in from the hallway now. The flames are audible. Ellie runs forward and jumps over the remains of the burning infected. They follow her lead.
The hallways is half-lit now, flames licking at the T intersection from earlier. They can hear cries of pain from infected in that direction. Ellie starts trotting in the opposite direction.
They're moving deeper into the building. Or they seem to be, because there are no windows. Suddenly, there's a distant boom and a tremor. They freeze. A few seconds later, there's another one.
"It's the fire," says Abby. "This building is going to shit."
Ellie nods, and keeps moving. She reaches another intersection. She looks right, and her eyes widen. She moves for it, then a screaming infected charges her from the other branch. Clint takes aim but it passes out of sight too quickly. He hears gun shots. He races around the corner to see Ellie. The runner is down, but she's spooked. There are more cries behind him.
"God damn it!" he shouts. He pulls out a shrapnel bomb and lights it. He hucks it down the hallway and it bounces once before exploding in front of the lead runner in a spray of red.
"There are more!" Abby shouts. "Keep going!"
Fifty feet away there are open double doors. They sprint all the way to them, but more runners are sprinting behind them, and there are clicks in the air.
They get through the doors and Clint goes to close one, but it's stuck. He curses, pulling at it, but it won't budge. He looks up to see more runners closing in on them. One of them snarls at him in mindless rage.
He looks down and sees the door stopper is down. He yanks it up. Lev is watching him, and does the same on his side. They slam the doors shut but not before two runners get through. Clint and Lev dive to the ground while the girls start lighting them up.
Infected slam into the doors, bowing them, but the latches hold. One of the glass panes, punctured by bullet, shatters as a runner's arm pushes through, reaching desperately for them. Clint scoots backward frantically, scrambling to his feet.
They all look at each other, wordless. Clint looks up the hallway. There's an open area not far away. They see it too and all charge toward it together.
They pull around the corner into what looks like a lobby. There is a wall of floor to ceiling windows and double doors. And between them and it, are three people.
Everyone raises their guns at the same time.
"Drop your guns! Now!" It's the kid from before. He's got messy hair, mean eyes, and a scraggly goatee.
"Drop your fucking gun, dipshit!" Clint spits.
"This is our town!" shouts an older man.
"The fuck do you think that means?" says Ellie. "Cause I'm only counting three of you."
"You are not getting in our way," says Abby.
"You are gonna pay for what you did to Kai," says the kid.
"No," says Ellie, "Kai paid for sticking up the wrong people."
"You're gonna bleed, bitch," spits the kid, his voice dripping with vitriol.
Before anyone can respond, there's a dull boom, followed by a deep groan, as if from a slumbering giant. Keeping his gun trained, Clint looks over.
There is a set of heavily barricaded double doors on one side of the room. The sign above it reads 'Operating Suite F.'
"What the hell is that?" one of the strangers says.
Smoke is drifting into the room from the hallway. The glow of firelight is becoming visible.
"Ave, this is going to shit."
"Drop your fucking guns, now!" the kid shouts. He's got gall, Clint will give him that.
There's a louder boom and screech as something hits the double doors and the barricade lurches. Everyone goes quiet. The spreading fire is a distant roar.
Then there's an explosion as the barricade gives way all at once, and a monstrosity bursts through.
At first, Clint can't tell what the hell he is looking at. It's like a fat, lumbering half-human, half-spider abomination. Then he sees it. It's two bloaters back to back, fused together in the head and upper back. As it moves, its feet move in unison, in a coordinated fashion, like a crab or a tarantula.
It steps forward, testing its newfound freedom. It issues a series of clicks. Two, milky white, melted-skin clickers follow it out of the suite, clicking tentatively.
"Fucking waste it!" screams the kid.
The locals start laying into the monstrosity with their pistols. It spasms at the impacts, then charges them, issuing a deafening roar. The kid backpedals, almost tripping when he backs into a row of chairs. A black haired mans screams in terror as the thing closes in on him. It grabs his face with a massive hand, and there's a disgusting crunching sound and the man's screams are muffled against it. The monster lifts the man's body off the ground and sinks its teeth into it.
Clint and the others are firing as well, but one of the clickers has trained on them, closing in on Abby. Clint is out of shells. He curses, and pulls out his axe. Abby's repeated gunshots stagger the clicker. Clint swings into the creature's knee, and it goes down on its other one. He swings again, crunching its skull.
He looks up in time to see the other bloater head clicking in their direction. It makes Ellie, and reaches for her, ambling in its four legged gait while the other half is still eating the man it's carrying.
Clint has never seen Ellie's eyes so wide. He charges the thing, swinging at one of its heads, but its fat arm knocks him off his feet like it's nothing.
Ellie jumps over a row of chairs next to her, but the monster pushes through them like they're nothing, its powerful legs launching chairs across the room. Ellie ducks under a chair and keeps moving.
"Go for its legs!" shouts Abby.
Lev launches two more arrows into its thighs, but they can barely penetrate its fungal hide. Clint only has his axe, and explosives, which aren't safe amidst the chaos. As he closes in again, the back half drops the body it had been eating and reaches for him. This stops its progress, as it pulls in two different directions. When Clint gets in striking distance, it swings and he ducks it, whacking its leg with his axe. It reaches out, grasping, and Clint jumps back. He does not want to meet the same fate the other guy did.
One of the strangers comes in with a shotgun, it blasts the monster in the side. It bellows in rage and manages to grab the shotgun. The man doesn't want to let it go, and the thing pulls him in. The man's face contorts in horror as the monster lifts him up, snapping his spine in midair.
Their would-be leader looks panicked. He runs for the doors, but he's intercepted by the other clicker. He runs toward them. When he reaches Lev, he grabs him and pushes him in the clicker's path. Lev stumbles and the clicker runs into him, wrapping its arms around him. Lev is terrified. It opens its mouth to bite him, and catches a bullet in its forehead, stunning it. Clint rushes it, and drives a heavy overhead swing into its head, where the bullet broke the fungal plates. Its body twitches. Clint rips his axe from its head and it falls backward to the ground.
Clint turns to see the kid against the back wall, still panicked. He looks between him and Lev, and then Abby appears in his peripheral. He raises his gun, but Abby hits his wrist with her pistol butt, then grabs his forehead with her left arm, slamming his head into the wall behind him. He slumps to the ground.
"Fuck!" Ellie shouts.
She's behind a counter in the other corner of the room. There's a crashing sound as the monstrosity is ripping the counter apart, piece by piece to get to her. She jumps over the other side, rolling to her feet, and it ambles after her.
"Ellie!" Abby bellows. Ellie looks in time to catch the shotgun Abby has thrown her. She shoulders it and blasts the monster's knee. It stops him, and he staggers, growling. Ellie shoves the barrel into its mouth and pulls.
That does it, and a shower of blood erupts from the back of its head. Ellie pumps the shotgun. "I'm out!" she says, clearly shaken.
The other half is still alive. It senses something is wrong, and struggles on its feet as the other half is no longer holding it up. It drops the body and roars in anger. Shifting its weight, it turns, swinging the other bloater around and knocking Ellie several feet away.
It turns about searching, and makes Ellie on the ground. Clint rushes before it can move, and it turns on him.
"Come on, bastard!" he taunts it. "Come on!"
It charges at him, the corpse on its back swinging, and Clint dips to the side, swinging his axe with all his might into its belly. It snarls, but it's lost track of him for the moment. Clint strains, trying to rip his axe out. The thing swings and slams its arm into Clint's face, finally wrenching the axe free and knocking Clint to the ground.
Clint's ears are ringing. That probably broke his nose. Dazed, he looks up to see Abby run up and slam her fist into the wound. She rips out her hand but not before it can grab her shoulder. Her eyes go wide. She plants her feet and pulls with all her might, but the hand will not let her go. Then an arrow penetrates its wrist, and it releases her. As soon as she's free, she turns and dives.
Then, with no warning, it explodes.
There is a shower of gore as its belly is blasted wide open. Abby had planted a grenade in its wound. Its body spasms for a second, then it falls thunderously to its knees, then the ground.
Then, the only sound is the growing roar of the flames, and heavy breathing. The fire's glow is brightening in the hallway.
"Is anyone bit?" Ellie asks. She sounds scared. "Is anyone bit?"
"I'm okay," says Lev, clearly shaken.
"I'm fine," says Abby, marching over to Clint. She looks him up and down. "Clint's good."
He's got to look fucked up. Blood is dripping from his nose. He wipes some of it away. "We need to get out of here," he says. He stalks over to where the kid is lying against the wall. He thinks for a second, then grabs the collar of his shirt, dragging him.
They push through the glass doors into the night. Clint drops the kid in front of some bushes. "Congratulations," he says to his unconscious form, "you're the stupidest piece of shit I've ever met."
They can hear voices now. There are people out, watching the fire, which is becoming a bigger and bigger spectacle. From what they can see, it's covering a quarter of the hospital by now. It lights up the whole field on that side of the building.
"Time to go," says Ellie.
They are visible but distant enough to be difficult to recognize. There are a lot of people out and no one pursues them as they walk around the side of the building back into the darkness. They make their way back across the field. At one point a new group of people appears from around a house a hundred yards out or so. They hide behind some bushes for a couple minutes, waiting for them to pass.
Ellie looks at Abby. "East and out?"
Abby's jaw is tight and her eyes alert. Otherwise, she's expressionless. She nods.
Eventually, the group passes by, and they press on.
Ellie sniffs. By this point, it must be the early hours of the morning, and she's exhausted now that the adrenaline's gone.
They haven't made it out of Burley yet. They'd seen a couple patrols, so they resumed maximum caution, sneaking between houses. And they keep seeing those damn markers painted around. Seems like there are more of these guys than they'd thought, dozens, maybe more than a hundred. They're almost out, though.
They're in an area with a lot of small warehouses, which means a lot of open space, but also a lot of fences that obscure vision, so it's not so bad. Once they get through here, they should be in the clear.
Abby's currently in the lead, crouched by a chain link fence with vertical slats, but she's not moving, and Ellie is tired of staring at her back. "What?" she asks her.
Abby turns. She gestures with her head at a double trailer next to them.
"What about it?"
"Dunno, got a good feeling. Figure why not?"
Ellie frowns. "We can't afford to make noise breaking in."
"No noise required." Abby looks back at Lev.
Ellie turns to see Lev nod. He lopes over to the trailer, and they follow. When Lev gets to the door at the top of the ramp, it's locked, of course. But then he pulls out some tools and starts working on the lock.
"Where'd you learn that?" Ellie asks him.
"Eastman," he replies, concentrating, "in Catalina." There's a little click as he throws the latch. He looks at Abby, pulling the door open. "Better cross your fingers." Abby scoffs.
Lev crosses his fingers on both hands, then he tries to cross his ring finger and pinky as well, before he goes in. Abby stifles her laughter. "Can you be serious?"
It's a little office. It's maybe thirty feet long and wide. There are dusty desks strewn with papers all around the room. It really looks like it might have been untouched since outbreak. There are a couple offices in the back, and a little break area, from the looks of it. Ellie heads toward it.
Ellie's looking through the desk drawers in one of the enclosed offices, hoping for a cheeky bottle of whiskey, but no luck. Abby appears in the doorway. "Anything?"
Ellie shakes her head. "Not yet."
"Be nice to make this shit show worth it," says Abby.
"You're telling me. Honestly… I'm still trying not to think about that mess. Not until we get out of here."
"Fair enough. Glad you brought us along?"
Ellie considers her. "Suppose I oughta be."
"Flattering."
"You need flattery?"
Abby smirks. "No, but recognition is nice. I have to admit, if it's only gonna be four of us, I'm glad it's you two. You're good at it."
Ellie's a little taken aback. "You're good at it, too."
"I know," says Abby. "It's kind of a miracle we survived each other."
Ellie sniffs. Miracle isn't the word she would use. Abby's not wrong, though. She makes herself nod. "Only because you spared my life the first time."
"You spared mine the second."
"Yeah, well, the second time should have never happened."
"I'm glad it did."
Ellie looks at her sharply. Abby's expression is neutral. Ellie looks over at Lev, talking about something quietly with Clint.
"I guess I am, too," she admits.
Without further comment, Abby starts digging through the cabinets in the break area while Ellie checks the other closed office.
"You got anything?" she hears Clint ask.
"This person had some cans of soup in their desk."
"Wouldn't put too much hope in those."
"Yeah…"
Ellie's coming up dry, too. Definitely unlikely to find bullets here, either. Abby makes an excited sound.
Ellie emerges from the office to see Abby ducking into one of the lower cabinets. She fumbles around then emerges with two plastic bottles of isopropyl alcohol. Ellie's eyes widen.
"Score!"
Abby smiles and tosses her one. She gives Ellie a look that says I called it.
"Yeah, yeah. Lucky call." Ellie walks over to Clint. "Wasn't for nothing, at least."
"Worth it, though?" he asks.
She shrugs.
"That was a hell of a shot," says Clint.
Ellie looks a question at him.
"With the stalker, in the cafeteria."
Already a bad memory. She sniffs. "When the moment comes, you do or you don't."
"I suppose that's about right."
"We'll split this bottle between us, but let's get out of town first—"
Clint's listening with a little smile, then his eyes move toward the entrance and fly wide open.
"Ellie get down!" Clint shouts. She feels his arm across her midsection and turns to see a woman pointing a pistol at her. She fires.
Ellie hits the ground and sputters. She reaches up to her head and chest. There's no pain. She wasn't hit. She sidles up to the desk in front of her. Abby and Lev are taking cover too, fifteen feet away. Lev is grimacing and Abby's eyes are wide. Ellie's gun is in her hand. Clint is lying next to her. Her breathing is fast. She kicks Clint's boot.
"Clint, get up!"
But when she looks, his eyes aren't moving and there's a hole in his face.
"It's them!" the woman shouts. "They match the descriptions, be careful!"
There's the shuffling of more feet by the entrance.
"Ellie," says Abby, breathing hard through her nose, "why isn't Clint moving?"
Ellie doesn't answer, but whatever Abby sees on her face, it seems to convey the message. Abby's features melt into shock for a second.
There's a vertical half-wall behind Abby. Ellie sees a man's face peer around it. They lock eyes, and Abby notices. He rounds it and tries to level a shotgun at them, but Abby stands up, grabbing it, and it discharges into the wall. She reaches up, grabs him around the jaw and the back of his head. His eyes go wide, and she wrenches his head, snapping his neck. He drops to the ground, lifeless.
The others must be taking cover. Abby is breathing really hard. Her eyes are wild looking. She bellows.
"You're all going to fucking die!"
It's so terrifying it almost knocks Ellie over. Abby can't do this by herself.
There's a little half wall by Ellie's desk, too. She readies her pistol and rounds it, aiming. She and a man see each other at the same time, but his pistol is lowered, so he takes a bullet in the chest and the neck, going down.
"Sit down, bitch!" the woman screams, firing her pistol. "You're gonna—" but she's interrupted by the sound of an arrow finding its mark.
Ellie peers around the half wall. Abby is standing out in the open, bleeding from her shoulder, teeth bared. From the sounds of their feet, there were only about four. Abby stomps toward the entrance. A man, clearly spooked, stands up from behind a desk and tries to aim his pistol at Abby. She swats his hands, but it goes off before it flies across the room, extracting a small spray of blood from Abby's side. The man rears back and slugs Abby, but she scarcely moves.
At that point he changes tactics and tries to turn and run, but Abby grabs him around his collar and yanks, slamming her head into his. He's dazed, and she grabs him by his hair. She slams his face into the desk, and it comes up bloody. Ellie can't tell if he's conscious. Abby issues a vicious growl and slams his head into the desk again. He goes to the floor in a heap.
It's done.
Ellie's standing in one of the walkways between all the desks, feeling stunned.
"Abby?" Lev says.
Abby turns and starts stomping toward Ellie. For a second Ellie is really scared, but when she gets out of the way, Abby keeps walking until she's standing over Clint.
She looks down at him for a few moments. Her eyes look… distant. Hollow, almost. She bends down, gathers him gently, then ends up lifting him up on her back, one arm over each of her shoulders, head against her neck. He looks like a little boy.
Abby looks Ellie's way wordlessly, then her face changes.
Ellie is hearing a ringing sound again. Her skin is tingling, and she feels numbness and a strange pressure inside.
It's Clint, and it's Tommy, and it's Joel, and it's Jenna. Ellie's head is spinning. Her heart is pounding. Abby frowns, looking concerned.
"Ellie?" it's Lev's voice.
Ellie's going to slip, she feels like she's going to have a heart attack. She starts making strange sounds from deep in her throat. Her teeth start chattering. Then she feels something warm.
It's Lev's hand. She looks at him. He looks concerned, too, but it's stabilizing, somehow. He removes her left hand from her gun, and guides her right hand, holstering it. He takes her right hand in both of his, looking into her eyes.
"Ellie, we need to get out of the city."
Right. Simple. Of course. East and out. They're almost home.
Almost home.
After a few moments, Ellie finds herself nodding.
If the gunshots brought more people to the area, they never find out, because they don't see anyone until they pass the last warehouse into scrubby field land. There's a trench running between two old farm tracts, and they follow it to reduce visibility. As they walk, the sky brightens and the sun starts to rise.
Ellie walks like a zombie. Get out of the city. Get safe. Simple. Now and then she looks back. Lev is always watching her.
At one point, there's a sound, and Ellie turns to see Abby down on one knee. She's sweating. She's been carrying Clint for maybe an hour. She looks exhausted. Ellie goes to speak.
"No," is all Abby says. She takes a couple deep breaths and grunts, rising to her feet again.
A few minutes later, they approach an old, unpainted brown farmhouse.
"Ellie." It's Lev. She turns and he looks from her to the farmhouse, then back towards Abby, and Clint.
Seems unlikely Abby can carry him all the way to Jackson.
Ellie nods and starts climbing out of the trench. There's a dusty patch around the farmhouse. It looks like it used to be a garden. There are wildflowers. It's nice.
Wordless, Ellie walks into a shed not far away. She finds a shovel. She grabs it and returns. Abby has laid Clint down gently to the ground.
Ellie stands there with the shovel for a minute, looking at Clint. The bullet entered under his left eye. It's a clean hole. His lips are parted. His eyes stare into the sky. They're the same color as it.
Lev is saying something to Abby about rest, but Abby is eyeing Ellie. She stands up and walks over. She takes the shovel from her hand, as gently as Ellie had taken back her knife after forgiving her.
"You go first," Abby says. She turns and buries the shovel head into the ground.
Ellie walks unsteadily over to Clint. She drops to her knees next to him. She just stares at him.
Every few seconds, Ellie can hear the sound of the shovel digging into the earth.
Lev kneels next to her. He lays his hand on her upper back. "I'm here, Ellie," he says.
Ellie doesn't know what to do. This whole situation is wrong.
"I don't—" she starts, but then it all comes up and it turns into a mournful sound as she hunches over. Drool drips from her lips. Lev grabs her and pulls her into his chest.
"I told him not to do it! I told him not to do it!" she wails.
If you fucking die protecting me…
She can feel his arm against her middle. The woman aims at her, and fires.
Memories are pounding her. His hand on her chest, against that pillar. The first time she'd seen him really angry. That entire fucking thing was on purpose.
"I know, Ellie," says Lev, cradling her. "I know."
"I knew it would happen… I knew it would happen…"
Ellie, you don't decide who gets to love you.
"No… just don't…"
"It's okay, Ellie," says Lev, "he won't go unmourned, remember that."
Every step I took out here, I took with my own two feet.
"No, it's my fault, it's my fault…" She knew he wouldn't make it. She knew it.
"It's not your fault, Ellie…" Lev squeezes her.
"Why…?" she groans. Why did he say yes?
Maybe you have to be me to see it.
"No…" she moans. "No… there's nothing…"
Why her? Why did he have to die for her, of all people?
They were almost home.
Ellie lets the waves push through her. She sobs quietly, against Lev's chest.
The sound of Abby's shovel has stopped. Ellie can hear her softly crying. Somewhere nearby, a mockingbird lands, singing its morning song.
It's turning into a bright Summer day.