The four individuals were in the next room. Tess was trying to figure out how they were going to get Ellie and Enid to the Capitol Building in one piece. This goes to show that it wouldn't be an easy task.
Ellie and Enid stood beside each other at the other side of the room, just waiting on what to do next. Joel walked up to Tess, who was looking out of a window. "Don't you think it's a bit strange that Marlene's having us do their smuggling?" Joel asks her.
"She wanted to do it herself. We weren't her first or second choice. Beggars can't be choosers since she lost a lot of men." Tess bluntly said. Ellie and Enid look at each other for a second, now figuring that all the shooting that they heard early in the day was from soldiers shooting down Fireflies.
"You think there'll be someone alive to pay us?" Joel asked. "There will be. C'mon." Tess replied, walking to an old book case. She pushes it out of the way of a narrow hole in the wall that led to an elevator.
The four squeeze through the narrow opening. The elevator was accompanied by a single generator that would power it up. Enid stands next to Ellie with her arms crossed.
Joel pressed the button and the elevator started to go down to the lower level. "Who's waiting for us at the drop off?" Joel asked. "She said there's some Fireflies that traveled down from another city. These girls must be important." Tess said, looking at the teenage girls. "So what's the deal with you two? You both some big-wigs daughters or something?" she asked as the elevator stopped at the entrance of the outskirts of the wall.
"Something like that, I guess." Enid said, having to swallow hard. The four walk off of the elevator and make their way through a small tunnel that was lit with a small red bulb. "How long is this going to take?" Ellie asked.
"If everything goes as planned, it should take a few hours at least. Ellie, Enid, stay close to us when we're out there." Tess tells them. Both Ellie and Enid had no choice but to comply with what Tess said if they wanted to make it to the Capitol Building unscathed.
They make it to the entrance of the outskirts of the wall. They'd have to climb up a ladder in order to get outside. "Joel, check if the coast is clear." Tess said.
Enid felt the back of her neck become clammy as that same anxious feeling comes back to her that she's had since the start of this mission. Ellie notices this right away. "You okay, Enid?" she asked as Joel opened the passage way door to the outside.
Enid glanced over at Ellie and sees the concerned look on her face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." she replied, swallowing hard. "You sure?" she asked, not convinced. "Yeah, I'm sure." Enid replied, fully lying that she was in no way nervous. Ellie wasn't still convinced that Enid was telling the truth.
Joel looked out of the passage and he spotted one of those patrol humvees ahead. "Hold up, there's a patrol up ahead." he informs them. He waits until the humvee drives away completely out of sight.
"Alright, we're good. C'mon up." Joel said, climbing out of the passage way. Ellie climbed up first with Enid behind her. Tess was the last to climb out before Joel shuts it behind them.
The second the girls stepped outside, both were ecstatic to be outside of the wall. Enid felt raindrops hit her bare arms and on her face. She couldn't help but smile because of how good those raindrops felt.
Enid took a second to look up at the dark sky and smiled with enthusiasm. Ellie was just as jovial to being outside of the Boston QZ wall. The only times that they were outside of the QZ is when they were being transferred.
"Can you believe we're actually outside, Enid?" Ellie asked. "Yeah, I can. Holy shit." Enid replied, breathing in deeply. Joel takes the lead as they jog along the green, foliage covered ground.
There were a couple of abandoned truck trailers sitting amongst the 20 years of neglect, letting mother nature take back what was once hers. Joel climbed inside the truck and walked through it. "Through here." he said to Tess, Ellie, and Enid behind him.
The second Joel stepped back outside, he was suddenly knocked to the ground, on his knees by a soldier, who was hiding behind the truck. "Don't do anything stupid." the female soldier said, shining her flashlight at Ellie, Enid, and Tess.
Tess, Ellie, and Enid held up their hands to show that they surrendered. Enid was bluntly nervous; she couldn't hide it. As they walked out, the soldiers kept their rifles aimed directly at them.
"Turn around. On your knees. You scan them, I'll call it in." the soldier orders, keeping her gun pointed at them. Enid was forcefully pushed down onto her knees in between Joel and Ellie. She let out a pained grunt when her knees hit the wet ground.
"Alright. Put your hands on your head." the male soldier ordered. They all did so. Enid felt her hands shaking atop her head from the oncoming nausea.
Enid glanced at Ellie, obviously nervous because she was the only one who knew about Ellie's bite aside from Marlene. If they found out, they'd instantly kill her. "This is Ramirez at Sector Twelve. Requesting a pick up for four stragglers." the woman soldier informed.
Ellie looked at Enid, showing how scared she was. Her heart was hammering inside of her chest. The male soldier starts scanning each of them, starting with Tess.
"Look the other way. We can make this worth your while." Tess said, glancing up at the male soldier. "Shut up. I'm tired of this shit." the soldier spat, moving to Joel. After scanning him, he moved to Enid.
Her head was pushed down a little from the scanner being pressed against the back of her head. "What's the ETA?" the male soldier asked. "Couple of minutes." the female soldier replied.
Once the scanner beeped, the soldier moved to Ellie. Ellie and Enid both felt their hearts jump to their throats. The second the scanner was pressed against Ellie's head, Enid felt her protective instincts towards Ellie kicked into gear.
Enid suddenly turns with her knife switched open and quickly stabs the soldier in the shoulder. "Don't fucking touch her!" she yelled, tussling with the shoulder. He smacks Enid across the face with his rifle, making her fall to the ground. Ellie uses her switchblade in the shoulder after seeing her friend getting hit.
Joel tackles the male soldier before he could shoot the girls after they attacked him. Tess then shoots the female soldier while Joel kills the male soldier with a single gunshot to the head. Enid, already having gotten up from being knocked down, quickly crawls to Ellie's side while she backed up against a wall of debris.
Needless to say, both were a bit shaken up by what had just happened. "Oh… Oh fuck!" I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something." Elie pants from panic, putting her knife up, "Enid, that was crazy." "No shit. Man…" Enid said, sitting next to Ellie. "What the hell happened to you? I've never seen you do that before." Ellie asked. "I don't know… I guess that… something took over me." Enid said, feeling her temples throb.
While they talked, Tess picked up a Firefly Pendant with Enid's name on it as well as the infection scanner, which read 'Positive'. "Oh shit. Look at this." Tess said, tossing both the pendant and infection scanner.
The second Joel sees this, he shakes his head in disbelief. "Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl and a Firefly?" he hissed, towering over the girls. "I-I'm not infected." Ellie said, shaking her head. "I quit the Fireflies!" Enid said, her voice shaky.
"No? Is this lying?" Joel barked, throwing the infection scanner at them. He wasn't having any of this. "No, we can explain." Enid said, holding out a hand. "Explain then." Tess hissed, holding out her gun.
The girls exchange looks for a second, making the decision. Ellie rolled up her black sleeve to reveal the scarred bite. "Look at this." Ellie said to the adults.
Joel waved it off and turned his back to them. "I don't care how you got infected. It's unbelievable that this Firefly believes this shit." Joel spat, addressing that insult to Enid.
"It's three weeks old! Enid believes me!" Ellie cried. "No, everyone turns within two days so stop bullshitting! As for her, those soldiers would've killed her if they knew she was a Firefly." Tess shouted, waving her gun in front of Enid. "It's the truth! We swear!" Enid said, coming to their defense.
"Why would Marlene set you up?" Ellie said, covering her bite again. Enid was there the day Ellie was bitten; she wasn't lying. Enid did leave the Fireflies; she wanted nothing more to do with them after Ellie had gotten bitten.
"I ain't buying it." Joel whispers, taking a few steps from the girls. Then, there was a deep rumbling sound coming from 20 feet away from them. They all watched in horror that the rumbling was coming from one of those military humvees coming their direction.
"Oh shit… Tess, run. Run!" Joel yelled in panic. "Go. Go, move!" Tess said, getting the girls on their feet. She took Ellie and Enid down an embankment just as the soldiers arrived.
"Holy shit." a patrolman exclaimed, seeing the now dead soldiers that Joel and Tess had killed. "I got 2 dead uniforms. I repeat, two casualties in Sector Twelve. Requesting immediate back up." the woman soldier informed as the quartet made their escape in the embankment.
"We just talked to them a minute ago." the first patrolman said, finding it odd that these two dead uniforms were well and alive not that long ago. "It's those fucking stragglers. They're still probably here." the woman patrolman replied, "Secure the area." The first patrolman nodded in agreement.
They make it through a pipe that drips water from the rain. "Follow me. Through here." Tess whispered to Ellie, Enid, and Joel from behind her while remaining crouched. Joel paid attention to the amount of soldiers out and about.
"Shit. They're out in numbers." Joel whispered. They got to a bigger area that was covered with the debris from what was once a highway before shit went down. They all hid behind a huge chunk of debris as flashlights illuminated the area for any suspicious activity that might be lurking around.
Enid kept close to Ellie, so she wouldn't lose sight of her. Tess looked back at the teen girls, a serious look on her face. "Ellie, Enid, when I give you two the signal, we run." Tess said, waiting a moment to make their move.
When the lights panned away to the right, Tess knew that it was safe to move on. "Alright, run. Stay away from those lights." Tess said, running to the next hiding spot. Ellie, Enid, and Joel followed close behind her.
Sirens blared loudly, indicating that the soldiers knew of the quartet's whereabouts. They make it to another pipe with more debris surrounding it. "Ellie, Enid, it's gonna be another sprint. You two ready?" Tess asked the girl. Both Ellie and Enid were nervous about making it through this soldier infested area unscathed.
"Sure. Yeah." Ellie said, swallowing that hard lump in her throat. "Yeah… let's do this." Enid said, her voice a bit shaky. Enid felt her heart thumping in her chest as they all crawled through that pipe. Enid pressed her sweaty hands against the cold, wet culvert as they crawled through.
They entered another area that had a large wall blocking them from the soldiers, who were scanning the area with their flashlights. "Soldiers. Right there." Tess whispered to Joel. He could see the soldiers above them as they snuck by them in that trench area, "Yeah, I see 'em."
Ellie and Enid follow the adult's lead through the trench without being caught. "Shit, they must've gone through. Check the trenches." a soldier ordered from up above them. Enid felt her heart jump into her throat because the soldiers were aware of where Joel and them were.
However, they all had managed to make it through that area in one piece. They didn't have to spread any bloodshed when they encountered the soldiers that were scattered in the area. The four of them used another culvert that helped them escape fully from the soldiers. Needless to say, this was only the start of their journey to the capitol building.
(Time skip)
Once making it, Joel opened the drainage door and with the girls behind him. Enid was completely out of breath from the constant running from the soldiers. She had to take a breather.
Ellie and Enid both sat down on a piece of debris that was by the drainage door. Enid was holding her stomach as she tried catching her breath. Ellie leaned over with her hands put together. But they weren't out of the woods just yet.
Tess kneeled down beside them. She needed to get more information out of them. "Okay, what was the plan? Let's say we deliver you two to the Fireflies, what then?" Tess asked, looking at the girls. Enid rubs the back of her neck and swallows hard.
The girls exchanged looks for a second, both unable to form a sentence. "Marlene… had told Ellie and I that other Firefly's and doctors are trying to find a cure in another quarantine zone somewhere." Enid said in between breaths. "Oh, we've heard that one, haven't we Tess?" Joel said coldly. Ellie and Enid glare up at the older man.
"And whatever happened to me is the key to getting a vaccine." Ellie said, adding to what their situation was. "Oh Jesus." Joel scoffed, finding it ridiculous. "Look, that's what we were told." Ellie said, looking at the older man.
"Oh I'm sure that's the case." Joel spat. Enid stood up from the piece of debris quickly when he said that. "Hey, fuck you man. We didn't ask for this." she spat. "Yeah neither did I." Joel coldly replied as he turned to Tess.
"Can you believe this? He just won't listen." Ellie sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can. Marlene meant what she said about the Fireflies." Enid replied, looking at Joel for a second. They didn't understand why Joel is just being too stubborn to go through with this mission that he was assigned with.
Enid and Ellie stood back a few feet while Joel talked with Tess about this matter. "Tess, what the hell are we doing here?" Joel said, taking quick glances at the two girls, who were talking amongst themselves. "What if it's true?" Tess asked him.
"I can't…" Joel said, shaking his head in disbelief. "What if, Joel? We've gotten this far, let's just finish what we started." Tess replied, sounding determined. "Do I need to remind you what is out there?" Joel said, pulling her aside and he pointed towards the pathway ahead.
She shook her head before looking back at Ellie and Enid. They stood side by side in silence. "I get it." Tess whispered before walking away from him. Ellie and Enid soon followed her and glared at Joel as they walked by him.
The rain was pouring down even harder. It flooded the moss covered bridge above them. They all walked under said bridge to continue with the mission.
"This way. If we cut through downtown, we can make it to the Capitol Building by sunrise." Tess said, leading the small group. They jog over the fallen debris that was from the bridge. The water was ankle deep, soaking their shoes.
Soon, they make it to the skyscrapers that anyone could see from across the quarantine zone. Ellie and Enid couldn't help but admire the height of the buildings. The buildings were so tall that their roof couldn't be seen.
"Wowee, I guess this is what these buildings look like up close." Ellie said in admiration. "Yeah, they're so damn tall." Enid agreed, "So what happened here?" The area they walked through was the result of a former bombing that had taken place there.
They jogged up a piece of wall that came from one of the buildings. "They bombed the hell out of the surrounding area. They hoped to kill as many infected as possible in the quarantine zone. It worked… for a while." Tess replied. From the looks of it, that was the case. There was foliage that grew from the cracked roads and along the walls of buildings.
Making their way up, they all heard a weird cry in the distance. Each of them felt a shiver run up their spines. "Uhhh, what the hell was that?" Ellie asked. "Yeah, that sounded weird." Enid added, rubbing her damp bare arms.
Whatever that made that sound, wasn't at all human. It was the sound of something much more dangerous. "Tess, you hear that?" Joel asked, aware that the four of them weren't alone. "Yeah, it sounded far away though." Tess replied.
They make it to what can only be described as a bomb crater. It was too high for any of them to jump down. They'd have to go around to it.
Ellie and Tess stood on the ledge while Enid stood back with Joel. Ellie looked down with her hands on her knees and saw just how high it actually was. "Damn, that's quite a drop." Ellie commented.
Enid walked up to her and looked down, only to back up from the ledge because she was scared of heights. "So is this the downtown area?" Enid asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It was. Now it's a giant wasteland." Tess replied, walking away from the ledge.
From the looks of it, Tess was right. There were multiple cracks in the roads with grass growing from it, there was a large hole in the wall that looked like a car had been used as a battering ram. There was even a truck that was blocking a passage.
"Hey, over here." Joel called as he crawled through a molded truck trailer. The others crawl through the trailer to where Joel was. He was in the tilted skyscraper yard.
On closer inspection, the years of neglect and mold was profound on the skyscraper. It looked as if it was gonna fall over any given second. Ellie and Enid walked around the yard while the adults searched for supplies.
"Find anything over there?" Joel called from the farther side of the yard. "No." Tess replied, shaking her head in defeat. "Should Enid and I do anything?" Ellie asked. Joel had instructed them to stay close to Tess for the time being.
Enid shrugged her shoulders lazily and rubbed her arms. Ellie noticed this and nudged the noticeably shaking black haired girl. "You okay, Enid?" she asked her.
Enid hid her fear of heights from Ellie, she didn't want her to worry. She simply smiled and said, "I'm fine, Ellie." Ellie didn't look convinced but she decided to leave it alone.
(Timeskip)
The group had faced off the infected that the world was now plagued with. It was more than those runners they had to deal with. The battle with the clickers, the third stage of the infection with fungal plates on its face, rendering it blind. It makes a distinct clicking sound to accompany it.
Coming out of the clicker infested subway, the four of them had made it to the lower level of the outskirts. In front of them, the building that they looked at from above, looked like a church from the outside. "Where to now, Tess?" Joel asked, standing next to Tess. "Uh… Capitol Building's in this direction." she replied, pointing in the path that the truck blocked.
The teen girls stayed back as the adults figured out their next move. Ellie glanced at her best friend, who looked unnerved and a bit pale. She knew that things like this freaked out Enid, especially after their first encounter with runners before meeting Marlene in the QZ.
"Hey, you okay there, Enid?" she asked, gently elbowing her in the ribs. Enid looked back at her and grinned, "Yeah, I'm fine, El. Just relieved that we got outta there in one piece." "Yeah, that was pretty intense." Ellie said, wrapping an arm around Enid's shoulders.
After silently killing three runners that were inside the church-like building, Joel had found a dumpster that could be used to climb onto the truck. "They're recently infected. Those soldiers must've just turned." Tess commented, looking at the runners. "Meaning there's more in the area, we gotta move." Joel said, climbing onto the truck.
Tess climbed up next and waited for the girls to climb up. "Ellie, you go first. I'll go after you." Enid said, locking her fingers together to boost Ellie up. The auburn haired girl gave Enid a nod before putting a foot in Enid's hands.
Enid pushed Ellie up to the truck before turning around to help Enid up. Since Enid was short for her age, she had to jump in order to catch Ellie's hand. After Ellie pulls her up, Enid brushes her down.
They jump down to the other side of the truck. There was another garage door that they had to go through. Just as Joel started to pull on the chain, the sound of the infected entered their ears.
"Sshh-sshh." Tess said, getting Joel to stop. "What? I don't hear anything." Joel said, looking over his shoulder. Enid felt shivers crawl up her spine. The infected were definitely close by. Enid and Ellie looked at each other, both were clearly scared.
"Okay, double time." Tess said, slightly panicked. Joel began to pull on the chain faster, "Oh shit." The infected began to climb over the truck.
"They're coming!" Ellie cried as the infected got closer to them. "I know!" Joel said, struggling to pull the garage door open. Tess sees this and takes control. She holds the door open for Joel, Ellie, Enid to crawl under. "Okay, that's good! Go!" Tess shouted frantically.
The small group quickly crawl through as the horde starts to crowd the door. Just before Enid got through, she was pulled to the ground by a runner, who happened to grab her legs. "Agh, get off!" she cried in panic, fighting off the runner by kicking it as hard as she could. Ellie comes to her rescue by pulling her in by her arms. She helped Enid to her feet.
"DROP IT!" Joel shouted before a runner could grab him. Tess quickly dropped the door, instantly cutting the infected off from the two adults and two kids. The infected started banging on the door loudly as the four started to back away from it.
The loud banging ceased after about ten seconds, indicating that the runners lost interest to the humans on the other side. Ellie glanced down at the floor and said to Joel, "Oh, there's something on your shoe." Enid glanced down and saw a runner's severed hand on Joel's shoe.
Joel quickly kicked off the runners hand, that had been severed by the door. Both Ellie and Enid cringe at this in disgust. The door that they went through was a garage that was connected to a museum.
"So, how do we get out of here?" Joel asked, walking off to a workbench that just happened to be in the garage. "Let's find out." Tess replied, walking around a truck that was in the middle of the garage. Ellie and Enid walked behind the older woman.
Now they were able to catch their breaths, Tess decided to ask the girls about their statuses. "So Marlene thinks you're immune?" she asked Ellie. "That's what she thinks." Ellie replied, rubbing the back of her neck.
"So when were you bitten? I mean you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone?" Tess asked. "Well, we'd sneak out. Enid and I were in this military boarding school." Ellie said. "You both snuck out?" Tess inquired, surprised at this.
"You know, we like to explore the city. I dragged her to the mall when we ran into the infected." Enid admitted, feeling guilty about doing so. "That place is completely off-limits. How the hell did you two get in there?" Tess asked them. "We had our ways. Ain't that right, E?" Ellie asked, giving her best friend a playful shove.
"No shit, man. One of those runners had bitten her before I could save her." Enid said. "I see. Since you were a Firefly, how'd you get in or why'd you leave?" Tess asked. Ellie and Enid look at one another, knowing the answer for both of those questions.
"My mom was a Firefly." Enid replied. "So Marlene let you in just like that?" Tess asked her. "Not at first. But she changed her mind about it about a few months after that." Enid retorted, walking around the garage.
"I see. Were you two with Marlene when it happened?" Tess asked, searching around for anything worth taking. "No, it was just Ellie and me." Enid replied, rubbing the back of her bare neck. "Yeah, we went to Marlene for help afterwards." Ellie inquired.
While they finished their conversation, Joel tuned it all out. He didn't want to believe any of it and just wanted to finish the job so he could pretend it never happened. He was fixing up the guns he was carrying.
Next to that workbench, was another doorway that would lead to the next room. Said room was an old office, having some valuable supplies in the desk drawers. The museum's first floor ceiling had caved in, giving the quad access to the next floor.
Aside from a large bell sitting in the middle of the room, there was a nice, solitary vase sitting atop an old dresser. While Enid looked around the disheveled room, she heard a loud crash from behind her. "Ow, shit! Sorry, sorry. That was me." Ellie said, knocking the vase over.
Enid walked over to the red head and said in a joking tone, "Wow, the only nice thing here and you break it. What am I gonna do with you?" "Gimme a break, I didn't see it." Ellie replied, crossing her arms.
"Sure, I'll believe you for now." Enid said, unable to hold back a laugh. "Oh shut up." Ellie laughed, playfully shoving Enid. Been a while since they shared a laugh since before Ellie had gotten bitten which was understandable.
After that, they walked up the caved in ceiling in order to reach the next floor. The next floor had more of the museum's older artifacts. Some of the cases were cracked and some debris covered the maroon carpeted floor.
"What's this place?" Ellie asked, curiously observing the area with Enid beside her. "It's an old museum. Some of these things are hundreds of years old." Tess replied, looking around for supplies. "Really? That's pretty cool." Enid said, looking at the old artifacts.
Ellie looked to the right and saw the intact structure of a pirate ship's steering wheel. "Hey, take a gander at this, Enid." Ellie chuckled, pulling on Enid's bare arm. They walk over to the old ship steering wheel and observe it in awe.
"This is fucking cool. If this was on a ship, you'd be my first mate." Ellie remarked, gently nudging Enid. "Hey, who the hell says that you get to be captain? What if I wanna be?" Enid argued, crossing her arms. "Psh, don't be such a hard-ass, I'm just playing." Ellie said, playfully shoving Enid.
"Yeah, I know it." Enid said, rolling her ocean blue eyes. After that altercation, Joel had found a way, but he'd have to lift some debris so that the girls could get through. "Alright, watch your heads. Hurry, go, go." Joel said, straining to hold up the debris because it was heavy, "Shit… sonofa…"
Ellie and Tess were the only ones who made it through before the debris ended up breaking, separating Enid & Joel from Ellie & Tess. "Joel. Joel!" Tess cried, standing back up with Ellie. Enid had fallen on her back, coughing from the dust that floated from the fallen debris.
"Enid, are you okay?" Ellie called, worried for her friend. "Y-Yeah, I'm good." Enid replied, getting up to a crouching position. "We're alive. We'll make our way to you." Joel replied, getting to a crouching position also.
They all hear the sound of screeching and clicking coming from the next room, indicating there were infected. There were a lot of them this time. "Oh, look they're here!" Tess yelled, starting to push Ellie away from the doorway.
"Tess?" Joel called over the clickers. "Ellie!" Enid cried, feeling her heart pound in her chest. "Run. Run!" Tess yelled, her & Ellie running out of that room.
Joel cursed under his breath as Tess and Ellie ran out of sight. "Joel, what do we do?" Enid whispered, nervousness in her voice. "Stay low and don't make a damn sound. We gotta find a way around." Joel whispered, starting to crouch walk out of that small area.
The duo make their way into another part of the museum. Unfortunately, it had a few clickers in it. They twitched as they stumbled around.
The two find a way passed the clickers without being detected. Joel carefully opened a door and crouch-walked towards a staircase, Enid close behind him. The whole time, Enid was worried that Ellie was gonna get attacked by one of the infected, despite her knowing that Ellie is immune.
Then, Enid hears a loud scuffle from the upper floor, causing her to look up. "Joel, they're up there!" she said, running up the stairs without a second thought. Joel follows her and they eventually come across a door, the scuffle got louder.
Joel kicked down the door with his foot and the duo saw Tess fighting off a runner. She triumphed by kicking it to the floor and beating its head in, killing it instantly. Joel & Enid walk up to her as she drops her broken melee weapon.
"I'm fine." Tess said, seeing the two walk up to her. Then, Enid hears Ellie cry out for help from the next room. "Guys, get in here!" she shouted in panic, sounding as if she was fighting with something.
"Oh shit, Ellie!" Enid cried, pushing passed the adults to get to her friend. She sees Ellie being attacked by a runner. Instinctively, she brought out her knife and opened the blade.
"Get the fuck away from her!" she shouted as she stabbed the runner in the back. It screeched at this before Joel killed it by punching it hard in the face. Enid grabs Ellie's hand and they start to run from the runners.
The infected kept coming in through the open windows. Joel and Tess fought them off one by one by shooting each of them. Afterwards, they all gathered by a window, feeling their hearts pounding in their temples as the adrenaline faded away.
"Oh shit…" Tess panted, her hands on her knees. "Tess, how're you holding up?" Joel asked, walking up to her. "Just a bit winded. This way, this'll get us to the Capitol Building." Tess replied, hopping over the window to get outside.
After Tess goes outside, Joel turns to look at the teens, who were still trying to catch their breaths. "How 'bout you, kids? Both of you okay?" he asked them.
"Define okay." Enid panted, hands on her knees. "You two still breathing?" Joel asked. "Do small, panicked breaths count?" Ellie replied, swallowing hard.
"Yeah, they count." Joel replied, scratching the back of his head. "Alright, then we're okay." Ellie said, straightening herself up. Joel hops out of the window and climbs up a flight of stairs to meet Tess, who was on the rooftop.
Ellie and Enid follow suit a minute later to the rooftop. They all see that it was early in the morning. The sky was a mix of dark blue with peach colored clouds to accompany it, the sun was beginning to rise.
"We gotta find a way across. There she is. That's our building." Tess said, referring to the Capitol Building up ahead. While Joel was finding a plank, Ellie nudged Enid to get her attention. "Hey, Enid. Thanks for saving my ass back there." she thanked her gratefully.
"You're welcome, Ellie. I'd never leave my best friend to those fuckers." Enid answered, smirking a bit. "Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't." Ellie replied, smirking also. Enid knew very well that Ellie's just as protective as herself.
Joel had brought that plank over and placed it across two buildings so that they could cross it. Ellie and Enid walk over to him as he does this. "Alright, now watch your step goin' up 'cause it's gonna be a little-" he says but Ellie cuts him off with a scoff. "Don't worry. We got this." Enid says with spunk.
The girls make it across the plank with ease. Once they made it, they watched the sunrise ahead of them. Enid was in awe at the beauty of it.
"So, is this everything you two were hoping for?" Joel asked, joining the two girls, getting both of them to glance at him with a grin. "Jury's still out. But man, you can't deny the view. Enid, when was the last time we saw a view like this?" Ellie said, looking at her old friend. "Fuck, I don't even remember." Enid sighed, soaking in the colorful view.
"C'mon, this way." Tess said urgently. Ellie and Enid don't argue and walk to a ladder that'd lead them out of there. Tess turns around and sees that Joel hadn't moved, "Hey, let's pick it up." Joel waited a moment before walking to the ladder.
"Look, we're almost done. Stay focused." Tess tells Joel, speaking in a more calmer voice before descending down the ladder. "Yes, ma'am." Joel replied, descending down the ladder to their next checkpoint. It made Enid wonder why Tess was rushing him to get the job done; it didn't sit right with her.