Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog, Sony, and their creators.
A/N: No much to say except enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 13: The Hunters Part-2
After Ellia was pinned on the floor by the hunters and knew what they're going to do to her. She started to move her body and try to push off the man on her back, but the hunter that was in front of her just hit her on the head with the gun. "I told you not to move… so stay put and don't make this more difficult than it is…" Ellie closed her eyes in pain as soon the man hit her with his gun. The hit wasn't so hard, but enough to make her bleed and get a bump for that. It hurt like shit, but she can't let those men rape her. She starts to think about David again and almost sees his face in front of her smiling.
"Ahrrrr… if you two touch me... I'm going to kill you… you mother-" Ellie started to yell, but the man behind her pulled her hair back to make her stop talking. "Ahhhhhh!... you fuckers… I-" Ellie tries to move her arm to stop the man behind her, but he just gives her more pain.
The hunter on her back looks at the other one. "Hold her still… will you!" He lets go of her hair and uses his belt to tie her arm on her back. The hunter in front of her holds her while the other one ties her up. Soon he finishes, the man stands up and puts his foot on her back. "If she tries something just hit her again until she passes out… we can do what we want even if she is unconscious-'' The man started but stopped as soon he saw a shadow figure standing at the entrance of the store. "Hey, Dylan… how do you get back here so fast?" the man asked.
The other hunter turned his head and looked at the man too. "Hey man… you just arrived in time… the intruder is a girl and we-" he stopped when he saw what the shadow figure have in his hand. "What the hell… are you doing man?" He said as soon as the man on the door raised the shotgun and shot.
Bam!
The first shot hit the man behind Ellie and sent him flying backward. The other one was going to point his gun toward the entrance, but Ellie moved her body up and bit him in the arm. "Ahrrrr… you son of-" he turned his head back at Ellie, but the man with the shotgun moved quickly and hit him in the head with the back of the shotgun. The man rolled to the side in pain and turned to look at the man. "Ahhhh… you mother fucker… you're going to-" The man stopped when he received a shot on his chest.
Ellie sat up on the floor and looked at the man in front of her. "Joel?!" She said as soon as she saw him more clearly.
Joel moves behind her and starts to untie her arm. "Are you okay… did they hurt you?" he asks her while working behind her. Ellie doesn't say anything and waits for him to fish. Soon she felt her arm free, Ellie stood up and turned to face him. "Are you okay?" he asked again. Ellie looks at him with tears in her eyes but doesn't say anything. She only goes close to him and hugs him tight. Joel dropped his shotgun to the floor and hugged her back. "Is okay kiddo… is all over now," he said while kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back with his hand.
After a few minutes, she finally spoke. "You… came… for me," she said while crying on his chest.
"Of course I came for you… I'm always going to protect you… no matter what," Joel just hugged her tight in his arms until she calmed down. Then he moved her away from him a little and wiped the tears from her cheek. "What the hell are you thinking?" he said while looking at her face. "I know that you feel bad for that girl and want to keep her safe from those hunters, but you should not come here alone like this… you should tell me before doing something like this."
"I'm so sorry… but I can't stop thinking about that man and what he was going to do," Ellie let go of him and turned around. I know that to get involved in this wasn't your plan for our week together, I have to do something... That man is just like him…"
Joel grabs her arm and turns her around. "He is just like who?" Joel asked with a worried tone.
Ellie lowers her head and whispers. "Like… like David…"
Joel pulls her back to his chest as she starts to cry again. "You should be told me about this… About how you feel and how all that affects you… you know that you can trust me with anything… I will help you no matter what."
Ellie feels ashamed for being so scared about her nightmares. "I… I know… and I'm so sorry to sneak out and worry you… but… I have to do something… I can't let that man find Molly or her family."
Joel was worried sick about her, the last thing he needed now is to lose her. "You didn't need to do this... kiddo. If you were so worried about the girl we would talk to them and convince them to move."
"Yeah… but you told me that they do not want to move…" Ellie moves away from him and looks into his eyes. "I can't let that man do what he wanted to do to Molly…"
"I know what you feel about people like him, but we can't go out there and try to change things. People like him are everywhere and you can't change that. You're my life kiddo… and you scare the hell out of me." Joel hugs her again and kisses the top of her head again. "I love you and I can't live without you…"
"You do?" Ellie doesn't know what to think about that. He said that he loves her, but she needs to know in what way. "I love you too… Joel," She loves him too, but not in the way he thinks. She needs to know what kind of love he feels for her and she needs to know now.
Ellie was going to ask him, but Joel just hugged her tight. "Please don't do this again… I don't know what I will do if something happens to you…" His body feels so good and she wants to be like that forever, but as time passes she gets more scared to ask him. So for now, she only wants to feel his embrace and forget all about the hunters and all that happens.
After a few more minutes, Ellie moved her head away from his chest and looked at him. "How do you find me here?" she asked, just to change her mind for that hard question, but happy that he did.
"The old man woke me telling me that his car was gone, so as soon I figured it was you I came as fast as I could," Joel explained.
"No… I mean how do you find me in this place?" Said Ellie while moving away from his embrace.
"I was close when I hear the gunshots… I thought it may be you, so I ran as fast as I could and-." Joel stops and looks at the two bodies. "Did those assholes hurt you?" he said with a worried tone. Joel moves closer to Ellie to get a better look at her.
"No, no much… I'm just lucky that you arrived in time to stop them on what they-" Ellie stopped there and did not want to remember what those men were going to do to her. Ellie moves away from Joel and moves closer to one of the dead hunters and kicks him hard in his groin. Yeah, they're dead and not going to feel that, but for some reason it makes her feel better. "Too bad you kill them too quickly… I would love to cut their dick and make them eat it… fuckers." She doesn't like to be that valance, but she hates people like them. They just saw a girl or a woman and the only thing that comes to their minds was rape them.
Joel moves beside her and looks at them. They do not even pass their 30, but they get what they deserve. People like them don't deserve to be in this world. "Yeah… I bet you wanted to make them suffer a little, but it is better to get out of here before more of them arrive." Joel moved to the side and looked at the floor. Soon he saw his shotgun, he bent down to grab it.
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Joel!..." She gave him a sad look. "We can't go…"
Joel looked at her eyes and knew what she wanted to do. "Shit Ellie... Are you serious? You almost died today… or worse… You know what those men were going to do to you if I didn't arrive in time to stop them."
"I know… I know… and I'm glad for that." Ellie moves around to grab her things. She doesn't even remember where she put the bag with the rest of her things or even remember getting it off. "I know this is going to be hard to hear and I know that you're not going to understand it … but I need to finish this. I need to find the hunter's boss and kill him or I am not going to be able to sleep again."
Joel looked at her with sadness. "Ellie… you don't have to do this… I know what David did to you was far worse than killing you that day… but that family can take care of themself… you don't need to do this."
"It's not only about them anymore… that man woke up something inside me… something that I thought I buried deep inside… and now is torturing me again." Ellie moved to the rack where she hid the first time and found the little bag with her things. She walks back and grabs her gun from the floor.
Joel looks at her and knows that when she put her mind on something, he can't do much to change it. He looks at the bodies and shakes his head. "Okay… kiddo, if this will give you some peace let's finish this together," he said while looking at her.
Ellie looks back at him. "Thanks… Joel… You don't know how much this means to me," Ellie moves to one of the death hunters and starts searching his body. "There were three of them… that cheese me here, but one of them went away." She found a few bullets on the man in his pocket, but nothing more.
Joel walked close to her and put one hand on her shoulder. "I bet he's going to their hideout to tell the others about you, so it's better to get out of here before he comes back with more hunters."
Ellie stood up and looked at him. "Maybe that is what we need. I didn't find their hideout, so if they come here we can ambush them."
"That would work if there were more people with us, but we don't know how many are left… and if we let them know that there were just two… that will be bad for us."
"I know, but there can't be so many. We kill a lot of them in the wood factory and 3 more here… so how can there be more people here?"
"Yeah that can be true, but we are not sure how many they were in the first place… they can be 20 or 30 hunters in this town, they can be a big group as far as we know," said Joel moving to the entrance of the place and looking outside. "Just grab their guns and get out of here. We can think of something later… but we need to move," said Joel while making sure that there is nobody on the street waiting for them to come out.
Ellie goes and grabs their guns from the floor and also goes to the rack where she left the rifle and grabbed it. Joel continued watching outside just in case the hunter came back before they had the chance to get away from there.
Ellie put the rifle strap on her shoulder and turned toward the entrance and walked toward Joel. "Okay all set…" said Ellie while stopping beside him.
Joel moved his head outside and looked in both directions of the street, just to be sure that no one was coming. "Okay… let's move out of here and find a better place to hide and make a plan… okay?" Said Joel while starting to walk out of the store. Ellie put the strap of the small bag around her shoulder and followed him closely. Ellie grabbed her side when she felt a little pain while walking. Ellie wanted Joel's help to take down the hunters' boss, so she tried her best to hide the pain from him. Soon they get into the corner of the next building Joel turns on the next street and enters into another alley.
Meanwhile, in the hunter's hideout, a car arrives at the warehouse gate where two guards were posted there. "Hey… you're late… what the hell took you so long?" said one of the hunters.
The other hunter moves closer and looks inside the car. Where are the others? You're supposed to bring them back…"
"I don't have time to explain, so just open the gate, I'm in a hurry you assholes," the two hunters look at each other, then one of the orders the other to open the gate.
Soon the gate was open, the man in the car went inside and parked the car in front of the building. Then he opens the door and gets out quickly. Another two men move away from the entrance and look at him. "Where are the others?" asked one of them.
The man starts walking toward the warehouse until he gets in front of them. "I need to speak to the boss, we have some intruders in the east part of the town."
"Intruders? You mean infected?" asked one of the guards.
"No… I mean other people you assholes… we just follow one into one of the buildings, but there can be more…" said the man before passing them and running into the building.
"Hey… where are the others? You never answer that..." yell the other guard while watching him go inside.
Inside the doc office, the hunter's boss was standing up from the chair he was on and started walking toward the door. "Hey, what are you doing… you should not be walking yet… the wound is not going to heal if-" said the doctor as soon he went into the office and saw him walking toward him.
The man stops in front of him and gives him a look. "I don't care what you think… I need to get the men ready to go." said the boss while pushing the doc to the side and walking toward the door. . He stopped and grabbed his leg in pain as soon as he opened the door and got out of the office. "Fuck… this hurt like shit…" he said while putting his hand on the wall for support. "I going to kill that bitch slowly when I got her."
The doctor walked beside him and helped him to stay still. "See… you need the rest… or the wound is going to reopen."
The man pushed him away. "I will be fine… and I don't need your pity… just give me more pills for the pain." The doctor moves to his deck and grabs a bottle of pain killer. He also grabbed a cane that one of the men found a few days ago and walked back to the boss.
"Here," he said as soon as he got close to him. After the boss grabs the bottle and takes two pills, the doctor offers him the cane. "You can also use this, it will keep you from using the leg."
The boss looked at the cane with not a happy face. "You want me to use this in front of my men?"
The doctor can't explain why he tries to help the man, after all, he has done to people and the way he always treats him. "It will be better for you if-" At that moment a man walked into the open space close to the doc office. A few hunters were there checking their guns or doing other things.
The man walked toward his boss in a hurry. "Hey, boss… we found some intruders in the east part of town. They killed Robert…" he said as soon as he got in front of him. "We chased one of them into some building, so I left Bobby and… shit I forgot his name…"
The boss moved closer to him. "Did you see the other? Did you see a girl?" asked the boss in a desperate tone.
"Bobby and the other guy go after one of them, the one that killed Roger and pinned him inside an old store. But we don't see anyone else. I let them go there to get him, so I can come here... I don't think the man is alone, that is why I came back here to warn you."
The man turned his head to think. "It has to be them…" said the boss while moving away from the man.
"Them?" said the doctor with a surprised expression. "You mean the ones that kill all you men?"
The boss turned his head and looked at him. "Yes… them… they have to be," the boss used the cane to walk away from the two men. "They have to be them… who else will come here?"
"But why will they come here…? I thought you said it was only two… unless it is a big group and came here for..." said the doctor, surprised that those people will come to the town looking for them.
"I don't think they're too many, but if they come here to finish us… they will get a good surprise." He turned his head back to his man. "You!...go and gather all the men we have here... we're going hunting." said the man with a smile on his face.
Joel and Ellie walked close to a building that was a few blocks away. They moved to the back and checked the back door to see if it was locked, but luckily it wasn't. "C'mon… let's use this place to rest for a while and try to make a plan," said Joel while opening the door of the building and letting Ellie go first. Ellie started to walk inside, but Joel quickly noticed that she was limping while grabbing her right side. Soon they were inside Joel turned on his flashlight and closed the door. The place was a little dark, but a hole on the roof let some light from outside come in. Joel point his flashlight around the room and soon it got illuminated, he noticed that it was a restaurant kitchen. He can see the stoves, sinks, and tables where the food was prepared once. Soon he was sure that the place was empty and no spore there, Joel walks close to Ellie and turns her around. "Let me see it?"
Ellie looks away from him trying to evade the question. "See what?" she said while trying to walk away from him, but Joel grabbed her arm before she did.
"The wound… and don't try to say that is nothing, because I have been observing you and I know that you've been hurt."
Ellie rolled her eyes but knew that Joel is not going to let it go so it was better just tell him. "It's just a little pain where they kick me… nothing serious."
"Yeah… I will be the judge of that." he moves Ellie to one of the kitchen tables and makes her sit on it. He put the flashlight beside her pointing to the ceiling, so it can eliminate a little the place "Now move up your shirt?" Ellie was surprised to hear that, even if Joel already saw some of her skin before it made her face go a little red. Slowly Ellie grabs the edge of her shirt and moves it up. Soon it was up enough, Joel saw the bruises on her side. "Jesus… kiddo… Why didn't you tell me this before?" he said while passing his finger on the bruises.
Ellie tight her eyes a little when Joel touches her skin. She will love to feel his touch in another circumstance, but right now just gives her a little pain. "I thought it was nothing… but-AAAhhhh..." she waned as soon he touched her harder.
"Shit, I think you may have some broken ribs or at least buster…" said Joe while continuing to examine her side.
"Is okay Joel, it doesn't hurt that much anyway… so I think it is the second one," she said while lowering her shirt down. She wanted Joel to continue touching her body, but the pain is ruining her pleasure imagination. "Soooo… what are we going to do now?" she asked, trying to keep her mind away from her lovely desires.
Joel starts to look around. "First, we need to dress that up…" he points at her ribs. "You can't walk well with that." He takes out his backpack and puts it on one of the cook tables. "I have an ointment that will help and some pill for the pain… but I need to find something to wrap your waist… like a cloth or something." he opens his backpack and starts to search for what he needs. After a minute he takes out the small battle with the pain killer and the tube of ointment, also a bottle with water. "Take two of these, I will be back with a cloth or something that I can use… okay?" Ellie nodded and watched him go out of the kitchen, and probably into the front part of the restaurant or whatever this place was.
Soon Joel is gone, Ellie touches her side and feels the pain. She walks all those blocks trying not to show the pain to Joel so that way he does not worry… but in the end, she can't hold it anymore. She grabs the bottle with the pills and opens it. Taking two pills in her hand then grabs the bottle of water and swallows them. Ellie feels ashamed of herself for being so careless. Not only for letting those men get on her and almost rape her but also for not coming here better prepared.
She isn't thinking right at that moment. She just grabs her guns and a few things and puts them in a small bag she found in the house, takes the car, and comes here to find that man. She doesn't even have a plan for that either, because David's voice on her head just clouds her mind and she just wanted that to stop and now it was too late to turn around and let things go. She needs to finish this or she will not be able to sleep for the rest of the trip or ever. After a few minutes, Joel comes back with a tablecloth in his hand.
"I found this one on one of the tables on the front." He moves close to Ellie and puts it on the cooking table. "Take your t-shirt off while I cut some traps from this to wrap you up… okay?" he said while taking his knife out and started cutting the tablecloth into small pieces.
Ellie wants to find that sexy, even if he has seen her without a shirt before. She wants him to see her now more than just a companion or his daughter as he thinks sometimes of her. But the pain can't make her think straight now, so she will deal with her mind later. She needs to stop thinking about Joel like that, especially now. Shaking her mind from those thoughts, Ellie starts to unbutton her shirt and slowly takes it off while sitting on one of the cook tables.
When Joel finishes cutting the tablecloth, he grabs the tube with the ointment and moves closer to her. Joel tries not to look at her body much, because for some reason looking at her without a shirt was giving some reaction to his body. Ellie was like a daughter to him and she is only 17 so he doesn't know why looking at her body makes him feel strange. "This will hurt a little but it will help you with the pain and heal." Ellie raised her arm and let him put cream on her skin. Ellie looks away to hide the pain and redness on her face. Even though it hurt a little, she liked the way Joel touched her skin.
"Yeah, it hurts a little but I think I can handle that…" Ellie turns her head and watches him work. He tries to be delicate on it just to try to not give her more pain. But his touch was making her feel other things, things that she did not want them to stop.
When Joel finished wrapping her up, she put her shirt back on and got down from the table. "Try not to move much and get some rest," said Joel while putting the things back into his backpack.
Soon Ellie finished with the buttons, she moved closer to him. "Sooo… what is the plan?" she asked.
Joel turns his head and looks at her. "Our plan now is to get out of this town as soon as we can," said Joel without any hesitation.
"What!" Ellie yells in a surprised tone. "We can't do that…" Ellie moves in front of him and looks him in the eyes. "I came here for a reason Joel and-" she does not even fish when Joel speaks again.
"And that reason ends when you get hurt…" he shouts back. "I didn't even know what you're thinking by coming here alone…" Joel moved forward and put one hand on her shoulder. "I understand that you are trying to get rid of David's nightmares and that you want to help that family, but you can't go against those hunters because of that… I know that you don't like to hear this, but you are still a kid… and I-'' he stops when Ellie moves away from him.
"I'm not a kid…" Ellie knows that Joel only tries to protect her and wants her to be safe, but she is big enough to take care of herself. "I know that you care about me a lot… but I'm not a kid anymore. You teach me how to survive and how to take care of myself and I really appreciate all that. But we got hurt in the past and that never stops us from doing what we need to do… So I don't understand why you're against this." Ellie turns around and crosses her arms in front of her chest. She doesn't like to fight with Joel, but sometimes he doesn't understand her.
Joel looks at her and takes a deep breath. "Look, I understand that that man brings back some painful memories that you try to forget… but going against a group of hunters on your own… It was crazy. I'm so sorry if you feel bad because I don't want you to get hurt more than you already are, but I'm not going to let those people hurt you again, so all of this is over now…" He said with a firm tone.
Ellie just moves toward the table where her things are. "I'm sorry Joel, but this is not over for me... I'm glad and grateful that you came here and saved my life… but I am not going to go back until that man is dead." she also said with a firm voice.
Joel can't believe what he just hear. Even though she was hurt she wanted to continue with this. "Are you serious? They almost rape you if I don't arrive in time… and they are not were going to stop there, they will kill you too if I don't kill them first…" Joel doesn't know what to say to make her understand the danger of this. "I can understand what that man makes you feel, but you're only 17… and… and you can't do this… Revenge is not the solution to what you feel… I can tell you that. I brought you back to Jackson so you can have a better life, and stay away from situations like this."
Ellie lowered her head and looked at her bag on the table. "I know that you want the best for me and I am grateful for that. But we passed through a lot since Boston, and we almost died a few times…" she stopped while remembering her time with Joel and how the bond with time. "This is not about revenge, or killing that man for what he did to that family. You know that people like them should not exist in this world and I know that we can't change that, but that man deserves to die…"
Joel feels her sadness and hopes that she talks to him about all this before they leave Jackson. He would ask Maria or someone to help her. "Ellie!... I just want you to be safe."
Ellie turns around to not look at him. "I know that… Joel, but I'm not a little girl… Yes I made a mistake and left those assholes to surprise me… and I'm glad that you stopped them before they hurt me, but that does not change anything." Ellie turned around and put her hand on the cooking table so that Joel wouldn't see her tears. "I just let me do this… please… not only for that girl but for me too."
Joel walks toward her and stops behind Ellie. "I admire your good intentions on this… I just wanted you to tell me about your nightmares back in Jackson, maybe I could find a way to help you back then." Joel understands Ellie's feelings about all this, and he knows What David does to her. Not even fiscally, but mental too. She never was the same after that. After a few minutes of silence, Joel moved closer to her and put his hands on her shoulder. "Going against those hunters would be suicide... they may know by now that you're here, so surprising them is out of the question. But if you want to do something to help that girl, let's go back and help me to convince the old man to move out of the house and go to a safer place… maybe we can convince them to go to Jackson and start a new life there… I know Tommy and Maria will accept them there."
Ellie turned around and closed her eyes as some tiers escaped them. She wants to deal with the voice in her mind that she has been tortured for the last few years, but even though she doesn't like it, Joel was right. She is hurt and takes Joel with her there it will end in both death and she doesn't want that. The last thing she wants is to get Joel killed after all that happens between them and before she confessed her love for him. "Joel!..." she said his name in a lower voice. She wanted to say how much she loved him, but she was so scared to tell him? "I.. know that you're trying to protect me, and I love that, but it is something I need to tell you… I just don't know how to say it"
Joel moves closer and hugs her. "I know that you want to do good with all this, but you don't need to be scared to tell me anything, I am always going to be here for you… I just don't want to lose you!" said Joel while hugging her tight.
"Ahhhh!" Ellie wandered at the pain that caused her.
"Oh… I'm so sorry, I almost forgot about-" Joel tried to move his hand but Ellie stop him.
"No… is okay…" Ellie said while moving her hands behind his back and putting her head on his chest. "I don't want to lose you either… we meant to be together… I know that now…" after a few minutes Ellie moves her head away from his chest and looks at his face. "There are a lot of things that I want to share with you… and a lot of things I… I wanted to tell you… but I don't know if this is the right moment for that…"
Joel looked at her eyes trying to figure out what she wanted to tell him. They talk about a lot of things back in Jackson, but lately, he notices that something was bothering Ellie. That was another reason for taking her out of Jackson to spend some time with her and find out.
Joel looks at her face and kisses her forehead. You know that you can tell me anything… no matter how bad or difficult it is. I promise that I am always going to listen to you."
"The thing that Ellie wanted more right now was to kiss him and tell him how much she loves him… She wanted to tell him that he is the reason that makes her feel alive. Maybe it was time… time to tell him… no matter the consequences. Maybe it was time to take that risk and tell him how she felt and get it over it. "Joel!" she started. But Joel just moved his arm away from her.
"Did you hear that?" he said while moving away from her a little.
"Hear what?" Ellie turned her head and looked in the direction he was looking.
"Just… wait here." Joel moves away from her and walks toward the door that goes into the front part of the place. He opened slowly and moved out of the kitchen.
"Joel!" Ellie called him, but he was gone in a second. She wanted to do what he said but couldn't.
Ellie waits for him a few minutes, but then she starts to walk toward the door. She was going to open it, but before she had the chance to do it, the door opened from the other side. "We need to get out of here… this is not a good place to hide," said Joel as soon he got into the kitchen again and closed the door behind him.
"What?... what is going on?" she asked him while watching him go to the table and grab his backpack and put it on.
Joel grabs his shotgun and looks at her. "A few cars just passed on the front street. I bet the hunters are going to the store you were in and soon they find the bodies. They will start looking for you or maybe both of us because they probably think that you're not alone here."
"Shit!... Do you think they will find us here?" she asked while walking toward him.
"I don't think they know what happened yet… but soon they find out they will start hunting you down and it will be a matter of time until they search this area. We can't hide here, this place is not big enough for that… so it is better if we go now." Joel moves close to Ellie and grabs her hand. We don't have any choice now kiddo… there is nothing we can do here, so let's go back to my bike and get out of here… before they find us."
Ellie knew he was right, her best chance to kill the hunter boss was to find his place and surprise him. But if they're looking for her she loses that advantage. "Wait, maybe we can do something, I mean if they're out looking for us, maybe we can go to their hideout and-"
"Ellie… let's go… Joel pulled her toward the back door and opened it slowly. He took his head out to make sure that there was nobody waiting for them in the back alley. "C'mon the coast is clear. The bike is not too far from here, so if we are careful, we can avoid them and get out of here before they find us."
Ellie does not want to go, but Joel was right if they know the town better than them and if they're on the hunt it is going to be hard to get away and in the condition, she is now, she would not be good in a fight. So Ellie decides to follow him and try to convince the family to get out of the house before the hunters find them. "Where did you hide the bike?" she asked while they walked down the alley.
"In a house garage close to the entrance of the town," Joel said while still walking. "The bad news is that it is in the direction the hunters go, so we can't go for it right now."
"Oh… so what are we going to do?" asked Ellie while walking behind him.
"We have to find a good place to hide until it gets dark… then we can snake out without being seen."
"Or… we can try to take them out one by one… How many did you see?"
Joel stops and looks at her. "We're not going to fight them okay? Especially in the condition, you're in now, besides they're probably too many for us," said Joel trying to get the man out of her head.
"But what if they found us? Maybe we can find a good place to put some traps and get rid of a few of them."
"Make traps with what? You do not even bring your backpack…. Now keep walking," Joel starts to walk again and gets into another alley.
Ellie moved behind him. 'Yeah… I didn't want to wake you up… so I just grabbed the gun and a few things and got out of the house. My backpack was on your side of the bed and if I try to get it I know you will wake up."
"Well, that was stupid too… Do you really think that you can take a group of hunters by yourself?" Joel gets to the end of the alley and stops. He looks out to see if somebody is close, even if they are walking in the opposite direction, they can put a guard on other places. "Okay… it looks clear… so let's cross the street and get behind those buildings… okay?" They cross as fast as they can and walk toward the side of the building for cover. Joel looks at her and stops as soon they get behind the building. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
Ellie was with one hand on her side. "Yeah… I'm good… just get a little pain when I walk too fast," she said trying to not worry Joel too much.
Joel walked toward her and grabbed one of her arms and put it on his shoulder. "C'mon I will help you…"
"Joel is okay… I can still walk by myself… I just-" she started, but Joel helped her anyway.
"You're hurt… and you still want to go after those hunters?" he said while starting to walk into another alley. A few minutes later they enter another desert street. It looks like all the others, but this one has a lot of abandoned cars and some destroyer buildings. The street has some holes on it and is filled with water. The weeds and overgrown trees were on both sides of the sidewalk, and on the side of some of the buildings just like a lot of the city or town they saw before. "I think that building is good to hide and rest for a while," said Joel while looking at a two-four-story apartment building on the other side of the street.
"Yeah… it looks good and is far from the hunters." She said as Joel started to move again. They cross the street and walk into the front of the building. "I can handle myself from here… thanks," said Ellie while trying to move away from Joel, so he can work with the door.
Joel let go of her carefully. "Are you sure? I don't want you to hurt yourself more," he said with some concern.
"Joel I'm okay… is just a little pain." She said while starting to walk up the stairs that take to the front door of the building. Soon both of them get to the front door, Ellie takes her gun out. "I will cover you while you open it… okay?"
Joel was glad that she remembered the drill. Ellie turns around and points her gun toward the street while Joel grabs the doorknob and checks if the door is not locked. Even though the building has a lot of broken windows the door seems to be in good conduction.
Joel moves the knob and sees that the door is unlocked, so he moves to the side and looks at Ellie. "Ready when you're," said Joel while grabbing his shotgun with one hand and getting ready to shoot. Even if they don't think that there is any hunter inside, it can some infected. Soon they're ready. Joel opened the door slowly. The door makes a loud sound as it gets open, typical for an old wood door. As always Joel moves first to make sure there is no one on the main corridor of the building. "Okay, the coast is clear," Joel said as he moved deep inside the sunlight illuminated the front part of the corridor, but it got darker as they moved forward, so Joel took his flashlight out and pointed it forward. "Close the door. We don't want any hunters to notice it if they pass on this street later.
Ellie does what he says and closes it, then takes her flashlight out and follows him. "Are we going to stay on the first floor or we're going up?" she asked while continuing walking behind Joel.
"We can go up and try to get a better view of the area, but it will be good to stay close to the ground in case we need to get out of here fast," said Joel as soon he found the stairs that go to the upper floor.
Sometime later and a few blocks away the hunters were inside the store where they thought the intruder went to hide and found the two hunters that were chasing him dead. "How can a man just kill three of us so easily?" said one of the hunters while checking one of the dead bodies. Some of the others start to look around the place while one of them goes out of the store and walks toward their boss who was waiting outside closer to the cars.
"We found our men dead inside, and not a sign of the intruder. "Dylan said that they just saw one man, but I don't get how one man entered the town without getting notice and killed three of our men."
The boss moves away from the car with some difficulty and starts looking to the following street. "As I told you before... is not just a man… Is it them? The ones that help the girl in the wood factory." he said with some hope in his tone. Hope that the girl that stabs him in the leg comes with them. "I know is them and I don't think they're too many. They probably thought that they killed a lot of us back there and came here looking for the rest of us…" he turned around and looked at his man. "They think that they can come to my town and try to kill us, but they don't know who they're dealing with," he said with a smile on his face.