A/N: Thanks for the favorites and subscribes! I don't own TLOU or "Seven Devils" by Florence and the Machine.

XXX

Holy water cannot help you now

See, I have to burn your kingdom down

And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out

I'm gonna raise the stakes

I'm gonna smoke you out

XXX

Ellie had seen a whole lot of shit during her lifetime, but she'd never heard the roar of a couple dozen infected converging on her at once. It sounded like there were hundreds of them, their screeches bouncing against the trees and snow. The sounds echoed, and it was impossible to tell which direction was safe and which would lead them straight into the heart of the horde.

Either way, any direction had to be better than staying where they had been—the cacophony had disturbed a small group of clickers who were now shuffling along in pursuit of Dina and Ellie as they sprinted through the trees. One seemed to be particularly fast, as if it existed somewhere between being a runner and a clicker. Every time Dina and Ellie slowed to get their bearings and gauge the safest route out of there, the clicker gained on them. If they tried to stop again, its fingers were sure to wrap around one of their arms and drag them into the small pack.

Not good.

"Dina, go!" Ellie shouted, even as her pace slowed and she took aim behind her with a rifle. She shot twice. One bullet hit the closet clicker in the shoulder, while the other ricocheted off a tree just to the left of its head.

The shot barely slowed the clicker down. Ellie mentally counted her bullets and realized she'd barely have enough to take out the three of them if she downed them with a single shot each. And based on the sounds coming just down the hill, the horde was moving in. She had a feeling she'd need every bullet she had, and she needed to save them for better shots.

Ellie put the rifle back in its place, saying, "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

After what felt like forever, the pair cleared the trees at the top of a hill. From that angle, they got their first view of the swarm of Infected, who were pouring in from all sides, like ants leaving an anthill.

"Holy shit," Ellie said, unintentionally slowing down as her eyes locked on the horde of Infected. "We are so fucked."

While Ellie froze and took in all of the Infected headed their way, Dina found a place for them to go.

"There. Let's get inside," Dina said, out of breath. "The building's surrounded by fences. It looks like there are a couple different ways out if we need them."

"That'll work," Ellie said, keeping pace just behind her friend. Girlfriend? Whatever the hell she was after they'd found a bottle of liquor and done the deed at the overlook earlier.

Some of the fence around the front of the building was made of metal, while the back was made of rotting wood. Ellie thought the metal fences looked a bit sturdier, but wood was closer. The clickers were moving in behind them.

"Here, I'll boost you," Ellie said, speeding up to reach the fence first and crouching enough to hoist Dina to the top. Dina stepped one foot into Ellie's hands, and Ellie pushed her up with a grunt. Dina balanced at the top and stretched to grasp Ellie's hand. As Dina pulled Ellie up, the old wood began to creak beneath their weight. They tumbled over the other side just as the old wood snapped.

"So much for the fence," Ellie said, knowing the broken fence wouldn't delay the clickers as long as she'd hoped it would. Dina rose first and offered Ellie her hand. Once Ellie was on her feet, Dina adjusted her grip so that their fingers were laced.

"This way," Dina said, jerking her head toward a pair of metal doors and tugging Ellie towards it.

The building was unlocked, and Dina pulled the doors open and led Ellie inside. Dina almost ate shit on a glass beer bottle that was just inside the doorway, but Ellie kept her upright. They both spotted the fallen vending machine at the same time, and without saying a word, they hauled it in front of the door and pushed it upright. The clickers would likely knock it down with a few hits, but it'd buy them time to figure out what the hell they should do next.

As Dina trotted toward a door to the left, Ellie heard a voice cursing somewhere nearby. It belonged to a woman, whose swearing and gasping could barely be heard over the sound of Infected crashing against a metal fence nearby.

"Someone's here," Ellie said without thinking.

"Another person?" Dina asked, backtracking to stand next to Ellie and listen. She heard the voice and immediately took off in its direction.

"Hey! Wait a second," Ellie called, though Dina ignored her.

"Come on," Dina yelled over her shoulder, rounding the corner.

Ellie ran after her, even though she had plenty of reasons to go in the opposite direction. They were moving closer to the Infected when they should be barricading themselves somewhere safe. Ellie didn't recognize the woman's voice. None of their own were supposed to be around these parts. That meant, more likely than not, this woman wasn't one of theirs. Dina could be hauling ass to save someone who was just as likely to shoot them dead and steal their shit the first chance she got.

Even if Ellie had been able to explain all that in time, before Dina reached this stranger, it wouldn't have mattered. Dina still would've gone to help. She didn't think like Ellie did.

Nobody did anymore, really. Somehow, with enough time, everyone else had adapted to being part of a community in Jackson. Slowly, life had become about more than surviving. And Ellie sort of understood why.

For the first time since the infection hit, people could act like people again. They could trust each other, even strangers. There seemed to be something intoxicating about predictability and blind faith. In Jackson, people could finally get a good night's sleep, because for the first time in years, they could close their eyes and believe they'd survive the next day.

Every day, Ellie saw all the ways people were desperate for normalcy. They fell into it so quickly, probably quicker than they should have. But while the rest of the community eventually fell prey to the complacency, Ellie and Joel had been the last two hold-outs for a long time. Everybody in Jackson had their nightmares and scars, but there was something different about Ellie and Joel. While Ellie had adjusted to her heartbreak about all the things that didn't happen in Boston, Joel had battled memories of all the things that had.

While everyone else's way of life changed, and they started to heal or at least move on, Ellie and Joel couldn't. Maybe because, for them, life wasn't about their own survival. They needed each other. Even though Ellie still wasn't sure she could look Joel in the eye after everything he'd done, it didn't matter. Ellie and Joel took care of their own.

Things had stayed the same for a while: It'd been Ellie and Joel against the rest of Jackson, bickering about sharing supplies with people traveling through and keeping clear of stragglers that were brought into the community. But eventually, with enough time, even Joel had started to change. It was subtle at first. He started conversations with newbies. He stopped bringing his gun to movie nights. He told strangers his name.

It scared the shit out of Ellie.

She still didn't fully understand it. Maybe it was because Joel had existed before the Infected. He had old patterns to fall into, relics of an old world Ellie had never been part of it. And as much as she hated the way Joel had changed, she couldn't resent him for it. At least he was starting to find some kind of peace.

Maybe someday, Ellie would find it, too. But for now, she was still going to ream Dina out for this as soon as she got the chance.

Ellie rounded the corner just in time to see her friend shoot a runner pointblank in the head. A woman was on the ground, face covered in blood. The fence behind them was breaking down, with Infected already crawling through holes. Ellie pulled her pistol and shot two that were about to clear the fence and get inside.

Dina helped the woman up, while Ellie covered their backs. The trio ran back into the building just as a group of runners broke through the barrier she and Dina had just set.

"Through here," Dina said, taking the lead. "Do you need a gun?" she asked the stranger.

"Great, Dina. Give her something to shoot us with," Ellie muttered under breath.

"I've gone one," the woman replied. Good. At least she wouldn't be wasting their bullets if she was a bad shot.

They ran through the building, avoiding windows and weaving through hallways. Ellie spotted a pipe along the wall and pulled it out to bring with her. Eventually, they found themselves in a large room filled with gondolas. Ellie scanned the area, looking for a good way out, and she spotted a high window they could crawl through if they could just reach it.

"How do we get up there?" Ellie asked, just as a pair of runners broke through the windows across from them.

"What if we get the gondola on the cart," the stranger suggested, pointing at a gondola that was on the ground. "We can climb on top of it if I get it to the window."

It wasn't a bad idea. The three of them pushed against the gondola, and it settled onto the cart just as the first set of runners reached them.

The stranger was strong. She single-handedly pushed the cart toward the window while Ellie and Dina kept the Infected away.

While Dina was distracted with an incoming clicker, a runner came up behind her and clawed at her face. "Dina!" Ellie yelled. Not wanting to risk a shot, Ellie sprinted over to them and hit the runner with the pipe, knocking it down in two swings.

"Thanks," Dina said, taking out the clicker with a single shot to the head. To the stranger, she said, "You making progress?"

"Almost got it," the woman replied.

Ellie figured they had about one more minute before she'd be completely out of bullets. Dina couldn't be far behind.

"Oh shit," she said, her breathing ragged, as Infected continued to climb through the windows. She heard screeching behind her and realized the hoard from outside, including the three clickers, had found them.

Dina's gun clicked, empty. A runner came toward her, but Ellie shot it before the thing could reach her. Dina pocketed her gun and ran to help the stranger with the gondola while Ellie fended off the remaining Infected alone.

Her pistol was empty in no time, and she hauled out the hunting rifle. She knew she had a few more bullets in her backpack, but she wouldn't have time to reload before the Infected tore them apart.

"Over here," the stranger yelled. "We've got it."

As Ellie made her way over to the window, Dina helped the stranger up. The woman slipped and nearly tumbled over the side of the gondola. While the woman righted herself, Ellie crouched to boost Dina up, and Dina leaned over the side to help Ellie.

Just as Dina's hands wrapped around Ellie's and began to haul her up, a runner knocked Ellie into the gondola hard. She hit her head and let go of Dina's hands. Dazed, she heard Dina call her name. The world looked a little fuzzy. She lashed out, knocking an Infected with the pipe to get it off of her. As soon as the first fell, another took its place. She felt the Infected's fingers ripping at her ribs, neck, arm, and legs. She couldn't fight them all off.

At the same time, Dina grasped Ellie's hands and the stranger gripped Ellie's arms. Together, Dina and the woman started to pull Ellie up together. As they did, Ellie felt the hands of an Infected grip her leg where her pants had torn, trying to drag her back down, and then she felt a piercing pain through her right calf.

She screamed, blindly kicking her leg to free it from whatever was tearing the muscle in her leg. The movement made the pain worse. Sweating, she looked down to see what was her injury, even though some part of her already knew.

Teeth.

The Infected had locked its jaw around her calf.

Ignoring the pain and hoping no one else had noticed, Ellie kicked with her good leg. Her shoe made contact with the creature's neck, and she knocked it aside long enough for the women to pull her the rest of the way up.

"You with me?" Dina asked, pushing the sweaty hair out of Ellie's face.

"Yeah, I'm good," she breathed.

"Let's keep moving," the stranger said, rising to her feet and making her way toward the window.

"Did one of them get you?" Dina whispered, looking Ellie over to see what had made Ellie scream the way she had. It took her a second to notice the wound on Ellie's leg, though it was so bloody she couldn't see the teeth marks. "Oh shit."

"It's fine," Ellie repeated, trying to stand. Between the head injury and the pain in her leg, Ellie could barely make it to her feet. The world was spinning.

Dina watched her cautiously while the stranger waited for them by the window. "Can you walk?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ellie said, starting forward. Surprisingly, she could still bear weight on her right leg. "Let's go," she added, knowing the shock could only keep her moving for so long.

Dina wrapped an arm around Ellie's shoulder, and they hobbled to the window. The stranger jumped down first.

"Hey, help her down," Dina told the woman, pushing Ellie ahead of her.

Ellie gave Dina a look and lowered herself through the window alone. She sort of regretted the choice when her right leg nearly buckled beneath her as soon as she touched the ground. At least the grass was soft with snow. Snow that very quickly turned red beneath her bleeding leg.

"Damn, that looks bad," the stranger said, looking at Ellie's leg while Dina dropped down next to them. "What happened there?"

"Broken piece of glass," Ellie lied. Dina wrapped her arm around Ellie's shoulder again, and they took off through the snow. Part of Ellie wanted to shake off Dina's grip, especially since it was probably slowing both of them down, but the world was still tilting beneath her. The Infected were close behind. If she slipped even once, it'd be over.

She left a trail of blood in their wake. She wondered if the runners would be smart enough to follow it. As they dodged Infected, Ellie began to shiver, and she knew it wasn't a good sign. It wasn't the way she and Riley had planned, but maybe a bite would be the death of her after all.\

XXX

Seven devils all around you

Seven devils in your house

See, I was dead when I woke up this morning

I'll be dead before the day is done

XXX

A/N: Thanks for reading! All reviews are appreciated (aaand you can increase my number of reviews by 100% if you review first)! I'd love to hear your take on the characters or if you've got any theories about where I'm going with this. Or if you want to nerd out with me. None of my friends have played this game, despite my best efforts. In the next episode, Ellie meets the wolves! There may be golf clubs involved. Or maybe not! Who's to say.