Chapter 30

Ellie turned her eyes at Joel the same time he turned to see her, and a question was passed via that look. Should they help?

Joel wanted to give the possibility to choose to Ellie, but he was bothered by her condition. For some odd reason he did want to check the situation, but Ellie had been quite sceptic towards Nathan and his mom, and she was still healing. She definitely wasn't friends with the boy, and since she had just admitted being afraid and still looked hurt, Joel didn't want to push her. To be honest, Joel wanted to go by himself, but leaving Ellie alone again didn't seem smart after those conversations.

For a short while they looked at each other, still listening to the sounds coming from outside. A bunch of infected screamed, and among the noise they could hear two healthy voices.
"Mom!"
"Nathan!"
They were screaming for their lifes, and the sounds were coming from different directions. They both seemed to be in trouble, and Ellie had no choice.

"Let's go" she said, reaching for the pistol in her back pocket while rushing towards the door. The quick pace slashed great pain through her thigh, but she didn't show it. Joel realized that he wasn't carrying his backpack, but according to the sounds coming from outside, he had no time to pick them from upstairs. He grabbed his revolver, ensuring that it was fully loaded before following Ellie towards the front door. He only had the six bullets, but they would have to be enough.

"Let me go first" Joel said, opening the door after Ellie slowed down a bit to let him lead.

As they stepped outside, they quickly saw what was happening. Alice was running towards the village without the boy. She was being followed by a pack of nearly ten infected. A pair of clickers and the rest were runners, all screaming bloody murder while trying to catch Alice. There was absolutely no breeze while snow lightly and beautifully landed on the ground, making the weather seem lovely.

Without a word, Joel started running towards the pack. He wasn't far behind, but he had to pick up the pace to reach them. Alice had a gap between her and the pack, but Joel could't know for how long she had already been running. He had to hurry.

But Ellie wasn't following. She didn't look that way, but she gazed towards the valley where she heard a few shouts and a shot being fired. Joel soon noticed that no-one was following him, so he turned around and stopped.
"Ellie!" he shouted in a hurry, soon noticing what he had done. Most of the infected following Alice now realized that Joel was also there. Some of them stopped that instant and turned around, starting to run towards him and shouting even louder than before. A bigger feast, they seemed to call with their shouts. Ellie turned her eyes at Joel, peeking towards the valley once. She also noticed that the infected were now chasing Joel.

"The boy must be in the other direction!" she answered, lifting her pistol towards the first runner after Joel. After a short moment of aiming, she brought down the closest infected. Joel had not even started running yet.
"I'll be fine!" Ellie then shouted with a worried look on her face. Joel bit his teeth together while starting to run away from the approaching infected. Ellie gave him one last look before she turned and ran towards the valley. Realizing that he shouldn't escape to the direction Ellie ran to, Joel picked the opposite direction. He took one last look at her before picking up the pace and gazing behind him to see how close the infected were. They were now all chasing him, which he knew he could handle. As long as Alice was trying to help him, too.

Ellie ran as fast as she could, going lower and lower as she got closer to the valley. The snow settled into her hair as she stepped down the steep, rocky way. She tried to observe her surroundings as carefully as ever, but she was also bothered by the pain in her body. The sprinting had brought back the pain that she had been living without for a whole morning. It took most of her concentration away from the moment, which wasn't good.

"Nathan!" she shouted, wincing from pain while slowing down as she tried to catch her breath. She only heard the screams from further away, but they seemed to get closer once she stopped. Ellie thought she had heard the screams from over there, but she seemed to be mistaken. She lifted up her gun, gazing around her. Maybe shouting wasn't the smartest idea, but she trusted that the boy would help her if he found out she was there trying to help him.

Ellie walked towards the river that ran through the valley, and kept her pistol in her right hand the whole time. She seemed to have met a dead end – only because she couldn't swim.
"Nathan!" she shouted again. If the boy was such a wuss as she had assumed him to be, he could be hiding somewhere, hoping to be found by his mom. If this was true, at least she hoped the boy wouldn't scare her by jumping off from his hiding place too quickly.

But Ellie wasn't right. Suddenly the shouts and screams started to approach her with a worrying speed, making her turn around towards the path she had came from. The valley had led towards a steep that led straight into the river, and she couldn't go that way.

"Run!" a familiar voice shouted from the same direcion Ellie had came from. It was Nathan.

"Run!" he repeated, and then Ellie saw it. There were two runners and a clicker running after him, right on his heels. Ellie snapped back to reality, grabbing the pistol with both of her hands as the four characters approached her. Her first reaction was to back up a step, but she knew they couldn't run away. Not anymore.

"Move!" Nathan shouted, almost not believing what he was seeing. Ellie just stood there, watching the four of them approach her with great speed. She bit her teeth together while getting prepared for the worst. She swallowed, looking behind her before opening her mouth.

"Grab your gun! It's a dead end!" Ellie instructed the boy, shouting through the noise, but Nathan was pretty near the infected already. He seemed to panic, but his shaking hands reached for his back pocket as he ran closer to her. They would soon meet, and so would the infected.

Ellie lifted the pistol, aiming it at the other runner who had almost reached Nathan. Ellie exhaled deeply, squinting her eyes a bit. She took a good position while standing, then opening her mouth.

"Move!" she shouted from the bottom of her lungs, holding her hands as steady as ever. She was afraid. She was terrified.

And the boy moved. He ran to her right with a grunt escaping his lips, for he would soon be with her in the dead end. He stumbled to a larger rock on the path, falling down right before he heard the gunshot.

Ellie didn't hesitate pulling the trigger, and the bullet pierced the head of the closest runner. The runner shouted as blood spread all around and he fell to the ground. After him, there was another runner and a clicker coming right after. Luckily the clicker was the last to approach.

"Take the other runner!" Ellie shouted, quickly glaring at Nathan who hastily climbed up from the ground. He started aiming the same time Ellie moved her gun to the clicker. Once she had fired a shot and shouted, it was following her.

"Motherfucker" she spat while aiming a headshot at the clicker, standing still as it approached her with the horrifying clicking and scrieching sounds coming from it's mouth. The fear had given more space to anger, and she felt more brave than ten minutes ago. She had the clicker in the crosshairs and Nathan would take care of the last one.

But once she pulled the trigger, nothing happened.
"What…?" she instantly whispered to herself, totally ignoring the fires shot a few metres away from her. The pistol was somehow stuck, and the next bullet wasn't fed correctly.
"Oh, fuck…!" she panicked, alternating her gaze between the approaching clicker and her pistol. She bashed the gun with her other hand, but it didn't help. The horrifying noise approached with deadly speed, and Ellie couldn't fix the pistol in a blink of an eye.

"No…!" she cried, taking a step back at the same time the clicker pushed her down and against the ground, falling on top of her. It was screaming bloody murder. Ellie shouted, dropping the pistol as the clicker hit her hand with great power. Ellie tried pushing the clicker away and reaching for her pocket for the switchblade, but the clicker was too heavy and she had to try to keep it away from her neck. Ellie couldn't hear or feel anything, for she just pushed the infected with both of her hands, closing her eyes as she was sure she was done for. She was sure she was shouting from fear, but she couldn't hear it herself. The clicker tried to rip off her clothes and reached for any part of her skin every second, getting closer and closer.

Finally, Nathan acted. He had finished the runner with a couple of bullets, now focusing on the clicker pushing Ellie against the ground. A few more bullets soon defeated the last infected, piercing it's head and neck. As it slowly fell breathlessly on top of Ellie the screaming stopped and she had to pause for a moment. She opened her eyes, seeing all the blood dropping right on her upper body and face. Ellie soon pushed the corpse away from her, rolling aside herself and wiping her hand across her face to get rid of the blood. Most of it still remained on her.

Ellie was panting heavily, instantly crawling up from the ground after barely noticing that she got out of the jam she had been in.

"Oh, fuck…" she muttered, her hands shaking as she looked at the body on the ground. She almost didn't notice Nathan looking at her. Her face was covered in blood, but she could not have cared less.

"Exactly" Nathan answered to her, and Ellie got scared of him. She sighed while settling her eyes on the boy while trying to catch her breath. She lifted her other arm to feel her neck, making sure she wasn't dead. At this point, she was finally sure of it.

"Uh… thanks" Ellie panted while having a look at the boy. He didn't look hurt, but he was obviously scared and out of breath, too.

"No problem" Nathan sighed, lowering his gun for the first time after the attack. He took a long look at the three bodies to ensure they were dead, and then turned his eyes back at Ellie. She looked a lot worse than she probably was, for all the blood wasn't hers.

"I think I caught your name was Ellie?" the boy started an actual conversation, looking at her while reloading his gun. Ellie furrowed her brows, nodding a few times.

"Yeah…" she sighed, lowering her head while feeling odd about the whole situation. She had threatened the boy just a day earlier, and even though she came in with a plan to save the boy, he ended up saving her. At least he seemed like he wasn't mad at her. After all, it wasn't her fault that her pistol failed her at the worst moment she could imagine.

Nathan nodded back once, cracking the biggest smile he could. It still barely counted for a smile. The fact that they had just encountered a common enemy made them bond a bit more than the day before, but they weren't exactly the best of friends.

"Actually, I should thank you. You… standing there with the gun really made me…" Nathan continued, looking at the girl after another look at the infected. But there was a reason for him fading away his sentence. Ellie had leaned forward to grab her gun, so she didn't notice his stare at first. Even so, after realizing he had faded out, she lifted her eyes to see him. He wasn't looking at her face.

Once Ellie saw what Nathan was staring at, she panicked again. The boy lifted up his gun, having a serious gaze in his eyes after turning them at her face. He held his finger on the trigger.
"Leave the gun!" Nathan yelled at her, turning off the safety switch again.
"Wait!" Ellie shouted, lifting her arm towards him. She got up to her full height, leaving the gun on the ground like she was told to. They were standing a couple metres away from each other, and Nathan took another step back.

The thing he saw was a new, open wound on Ellie's left arm. A bite mark, that was tardily bleeding and caused Nathan to point his gun at her face. Even though Ellie had done the same thing the day before, this time it was different. Nathan was actually going to do it.

"For what? You wanna turn first?" he asked with a loud voice, frowning his face while squeezing the gun with his hands. It almost looked like he didn't want to shoot her. Ellie looked at the open wound and tried to figure out what to say. She swiped it with her other hand, spreading the blood all over. Should she lie or try to tell the truth? Even though lying wouldn't last too long, the truth was definitely the more unbelievable choice.

"Well? You wanna say something before…"
"I'm immune" she replied, lowering her voice. She had to react, for the boy was getting restless and would act sooner or later.

Fortunately, Nathan wasn't yelling anymore, and he heard what she had said. He just didn't believe it. He stood quietly for a moment, and Ellie was breathless.
"You're what?" he asked, having another look at the wound before lifting his gaze at her face. He furrowed his brows, and his steady hands started to wander a bit.

"I can't get infected" Ellie answered with a voice even quieter than before. She gazed into his eyes, trying to keep her own as true as possible not to be misunderstood. It was hard to stand still with the pistol pointed at her, but she shouldn't move.

After a few seconds, Nathan started laughing. It didn't sound normal, and Ellie reacted to it with her face.
"Yeah, right" the boy shook his head, trying to control himself. His gun was now pointed at her chest.

"I'm serious" Ellie replied once again, calmly and frowning her face at his reaction.

Nathan tardily stopped laughing, but he didn't answer her anymore. He did keep his pistol pointed at her, and she felt anxious for he could pull the trigger any moment now. He didn't believe her, but what else could she do?

"I… I can show you" Ellie suddenly stated, swallowing as she stared at the boy. Ellie turned her head to see if anyone else was near and took a step forward.
"Stay there!" Nathan ordered, waving his gun. Ellie stopped right where she was.
"Okay, okay…"

Ellie took a short look at the boy before moving her left arm to pull up her right sleeve. It only revealed the rag Joel had hastily tied around the wound, but Ellie started unwrapping it. Nathan seemed anxious, for it truly was bizarre for him. How could some random girl suddenly be immune to the deadly virus they'd been escaping for years?

After a few seconds, Nathan saw it. As Ellie lifted her eyes to see his reaction, she saw his eyes widen as he looked at the bubbly wound. Nathan tardily lowered the gun, looking at the circle of cysts Ellie had revealed. She was holding the rag with her left hand, staring at the boy.

"It's… how old is it?" Nathan asked anxiously, since he had not stood around so long that he could have seen how a wound normally acts after the bite. Even so, he knew it spreads quickly into your veins, and Ellie looked completely healthy. He was curious enough to even move closer to her.

"I was bitten last summer. You can ask Joel, I'm not lying" Ellie answered as calmly and frankly as she could. She stared at the boy with great fear he would spread it on to his mother, for she already regretted that she had told Nathan. Even so, it seemed to be the only choice, and no longer did she have to fear a bullet.

"It's… but you're…" the boy mumbled, letting his pistol hang in his right hand towards the ground. Nathan was more than confused, and Ellie finally felt positive about possibly living another day.
"I was bitten months ago, but nothing happened" Ellie sighed, turning her own eyes at the wound. It was ugly, but it was proof. Now she had two bite marks, both showing well in the daylight how weird she was.

"Ellie!"
"Nathan!"
They both turned their heads, seeing two characters in the direction they had came from. They were both running.
"Oh, fuck…!" Ellie panicked, hurrying to wrap the wound with the rag again. It wasn't easy with only one hand, and she had to use her teeth for help.
Nathan furrowed his brows, alternating his gaze between the girl and the approaching adults.
"What? Doesn't your dad know?" Nathan asked, and made Ellie stop for just a second. It wasn't the right time or place for this conversation.
"He does, but your mom doesn't". She gave a sharp look at the boy, trying to tell him not to reveal the secret to his mother. Nathan seemed to understand.

"Ellie! Ellie, are you alright?" Joel checked even before they had reached them. Ellie was finishing the wrap with her back turned at them, but Joel grabbed her shoulder to make her turn. Her hand slipped from the rag and she lifted her gaze to see Joel's face.
"I'm fine" she answered quickly, noticing the concern from his face once he saw the huge amount of blood on her.
"Is that…"
"It's not mine" Ellie hurried to answer, continuing with the rag. Joel felt a need to wipe off the blood from her face, but he did not want to make her uncomfortable. He had alreadly detached his hand from her shoulder, since that had also been just a reaction to the situation.

Even despite the huge amount of blood all around Ellie's face, there was something odd in her behaviour. She was clearly making sure that Joel stood in between her and Alice.

"Oh, Nathan. You're alright" Alice sighed happily. She was once again covered with blood as she laid her hands on her son's shoulders. Nathan still couldn't keep his eyes completely off of Ellie, trying to understand why his mother shouldn't know about the immunity. It was a good thing, right?

Joel was also confused about Ellie clearly hiding from the woman. He looked behind him to see Alice loudly focusing on her son.
"What is it?" Joel whispered worriedly after turning back to Ellie, willing to know if something had happened to her. He continuously observed her body, for the blood wasn't a good sign whether or not it was yours.

"My left arm" Ellie finally whispered while Alice was inquiring Nathan about the situation. Joel furrowed his brows, lowering his gaze as Ellie finally wrapped the old bite mark. First, he saw the blood and then the mark, obviously formed by a serie of teeth. It was still bleeding.
"Shit…" Joel mumbled, realizing he wasn't carrying his backpack and the supplies. They should cover it up before Alice saw it.
"Oh, how can I thank you enough?" Alice sighed, turning around after making sure her son was okay. She laid her eyes on Joel, who now turned around, keeping Ellie behind him. Alice found this position quite weird, but didn't question it, for she was so happy.

Surprisingly enough, Nathan stepped in.
"Mom, I could not have handled this without Ellie" he said out loud, making his mom turn around again. She was now facing her son again, and Joel turned around, looking down at Ellie's wound. After the shortest while, he turned his eyes to his shirt. He sighed, grabbing the tail of it with both of his hands. Ellie furrowed her brows, following his hands with her eyes. Joel took a good grip of the cloth and ripped off a small piece to hand over to Ellie. She instantly grabbed it, starting to cover up the bite mark. Alice had turned around after hearing the sound of the shirt tearing apart, and lowered her gaze the same time Joel turned around to face her again.

He had ripped the shirt just perfectly around the spot he had his scar on, and it was now showing to both the woman and her son. For the first time in a while, Nathan could detach his eyes from Ellie.
"Joel" Alice wondered out loud, taking a step closer with her eyes settled on the stitched part of his abdomen. It still wasn't pretty, but they had beaten the infection with the antibiotics.

Joel had his concentration on Ellie, only focusing on Alice once the girl finally took a step away from him. Alice took a quick look at Ellie after she had showed herself, then moving her eyes back at Joel.
"What's that?" the woman inquired, taking another step closer. Joel furrowed his brows, surprised by the sudden care the woman showed towards him. Ellie moved her eyes to see Joel's face. It seemed they both had scars they weren't enthusiastic about showing to others. Joel scoffed, shaking his head once.
"Hunters."