"That bridge looks pretty far," Ellie said. "We'll get there," Joel said, jumping down from the bus. Enid and Ellie follow suit. They found themselves at another checkpoint, which looked abandoned.
"Man, this place is areepy without anybody here," Enid said, boking around. "This is what most zones look like after being abandoned for so long," Joel replied, hopping over a concrete parking stop.
After gathering more supplies, they saw writing on the wall that said, 'Give us our rations,' This writing showed that these people had been so desperate for food that they were willing to kill each other for it .
The trioo continue forward, pushing through a rotation gate. The minute they get to the other side, there was quiet talking. As carefully as they could, Joel managed to take out all the men by strangulation.
"That was too damn close," Joel said, wiping the sweat from his brow. The building they were in was a bookstore and bank. Enid and Ellie both wished they could carry more in their backpacks.
They all left the bookstore through the back door and down a flight of metal stairs. In the alleyway, they saw two bandits strung up on the streetlights.
"Man, you gotta be crazy to string up soldiers," Ellie said, jogging to the way out. Joel looked up at the decomposing bodies and said, "If people get desperate enough, they'll do just about anything,"
They round the corner and go up to another set of stairs that led them to the next area. Joel jumps to the next street where a hotel was.
"Get down. There's more of them," he said, pulling the two down behind a taxi cab. They watched as two more bandits move a plank from between a bus and a delivery truck.
They then walk inside of a hotel, disappearing inside of it. "Alright. I don't think they saw us," Joel said, standing up.
They saw that they were closer to the bridge, so they were making progress. "Look, we're almost there. At least I think so," Enid said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Little by little," Ellie said. There was water in front of them, deep, mossy water. Ellie and Enid couldn't swim through that. They decided to look for supplies on their side of the street. Ellie looked over at a faded image of a woman whowas thinner than her and Enid. Enid followed suit.
"I though you had plenty of food in your time, Joel?" Ellie said, looking at the petite woman, "We did. ome people chose not to eat it," Joel said.
"Why the hell not? Are they just starving themseves on purpose?" Enid asked. "Yeah, for looks," Joel said with a nod. The girls roll their eyes.
"That's stupid," Ellie said, walking away from it. "Why take food for granted?" En id said, sputtering her lips. They wak away from the picture and go back to the green water.
Joel stood atop a submerged van that had concrete laying on the back of it. "I can't make that jump," he said, seeing how far the bus was from him. It was too far of a jump.
"Look, theres a plank there," Enid said, pointing to a wooderm plank that the hunters had moved. "Yeah, let's get that Joel, you can get us up there so we can move it,"Elie agreed.
Joel saw something floating in the water, which was another raft that he could use. He jumps in the water and begns to swim to the raft.
"We're gonna have to learn how to swim soon," Ellie said, sitting down on the faded blue van with her legs crossed. "You mean you haven't learned at all since l've been gone?" Enid asked, looking down at Elie with a sightly annoyed look on her face. "Like you haven't?" Ellie laughed, looking at her.
"Oh, fuck off, being in the Firefly's didnt teach it's newcomers how to swim," Enid corrected. Their coversation was cut off by the sound of a truck's engine and they saw a truck drive by them before it drove off quickly, shooting at something or someone.
"Jeez, that doesn't look good," Enid said, feeling a bit tense. "Yeah, we should hurry," Ellie agreed, standing up. Joel soon returns with the raft.
Joel soon returns with the raft. "Okay, here's what were gonna do. Enid, you're gonna hang onto the raft and I can get both of you over to that bus. We're cutting through the hotel," Joel said, bringing it over to them.
"Are you sure, Joel?" Enid said, sounding unsure. "Just hang on, youll be fine," Joel assured. Ellie jumped on the raft whie Enid handed Ellie her backpack so it wouldn't get wet.
Joel pushed the girls over to the bus. Enid hung onto the plank, letting Joel pull her towards the bus. When they make it to the bus, Ellie pulls herself up onto the bus by it's railing. Enid crawled on the raft and grabbed Ellie's hand so she could be pulled up.
"Thanks, El," Enid said, standing up on the bus. "Always here to help, E," Ellie said, handing Enid her backpack, which Enid gladly took and puts it back on. Joel managed to stand on the raft and he hoisted himself up on the bus.
"Think those hunters are gone?" Ellie asked as they walked over to the opening of the hotel, which was a broken window. "There's only one way to find out," Enid said, jogging behind her.
Joel jumped into the hotel lobby, seeing that it was clear from any hunters. "It's clear. C'mon down!" he called. Ellie and Enid follow suit, looking at the flooded lobby in amazement.
"Whoa, This place is fancy," she said, looking around the lobby. It looked as if it was under renevation at the time the apocalypse.
There was dirt mounds stacked against the faded red interior and water rose up to their ankles and knees. "Whoa... I wonder what these places looked llke before everything went to shit. Did you ever stay in a hotel like this?" Enid asked. "No, no, this is toorich for my blood," Joel sald, walking to the bar to find more supplies.
Ellle looked up and saw the way up, which was part of an open ledge. "Hey, we can get up there," she said, pointing to the ledge. Joel looked up and saw how high it was from the ground.
"No, it's too high. Let's see what we can find here," Joel called, his voice echoing off of the faded and dirty walls. While Joel was looking around, Enid looked at the reception desk. The monitor to a computer was still sitting on the desk, the mouse and keyboard was still sitting there. The computer was underneath the desk, submerged halfway in water.
An idea sparked in her head, a silly one. "Hey, Ellie" she said, tugging Ellie's arm. Yeah? Ellie said. There's a computer over there. I'm getting say we play a game over there?" Enid said, gesturing to the desk with a head movement.
That idea excited the red-head. They jog over to the desk and walk around the counter. They were gonna play a game on the computer the same way they played Angel Knives back in Boston in that mall.
"You wanna control the mouse or should I?" Enid said, looking at Ellie and the dusty black computer screen. "I will. You're the keyboard," Ellie said, taking hold of the mouse. Enid got in front of the keyboard.
The two started pretending that they were playing a space game, using their minds to picture it. "Ah, man! How did you beat me?" Enid grumbled. "Hey, my skills at this is ten times than yours," Ellie laughed, walking out of the reception desk. "Hey, I'm the one who taught you this game," Enid protested, following behind her.
"You did, but I've had more practice," Ellie boasted. They go over to Joel, who was waiting on them by a ladder that he found. He had placed it up to the wall that would take them up.
"C'mon up," Joel sald, climbing up the ladder to the upper floor. Ellie dimbs before Enid did. When they make it up there, Ellie pulls something out of her backpack.
"Okay, we need to lighten the mood," she said, pulling out an all-too-familiar book out. "Wait, is that?" Enid said, her eyes lighting up in joy, "Oh man, I forgot about that. Thought you might've dropped it or something,"
"Nope, it's been with me all this time," Ellie said, opening up the book. "What is that?" Joel asked, looking at the book Ellie held. "A joke book. Enid gave it to me. 'No Pun Intended: Vol. Two by Will Livingston." Ellie said, turning to a random page.
"Hold on, I got something else." Enid said, pulling out another joke book. Ellie was surprised to see that Enid had another joke book. "Wait, when did you get another one?" she asked, eyes widening in surprise.
"I found this along with the other one I found. I've just been keeping it a secret. There's more in this one," Enid said, opening her joke book. "Man, you really are the fucking best," Ellie grinned. "Why don't you tell me something that I don't know?" Enid said cheekily.
Joel rubbed his calloused face, looking annoyed. They didn't have any time for this. "Why don't you two save it so we can move on?" he said. "It's only a few. So calm down, Enid said, holding her hand up. Shehanded the book over to Ellie. "Okay, What did the Confederate soldies use to eat off of?" she read. "Let me guess, Civilware?" Enid asked.
"Right. What did they use to drink out of?" Ellie said. Ummm?" Enid said, looking up for a moment. Cups," Ellie answered. Enid raised a brow at this. "What?" she said, confused for a moment Dixie Cups," Ellie corrected. "I don't get it," Enid said, shrugging her shoulders.
Ellle turned the page and read, "I walked ito my sister's room and tripped on a bra. It was a booby trap," Enid snorted at that, "That's a good one," "Oh my God," Joel sald, rolling his eyes.
"What's the leading case of divorce in long term marriges? A Stalemate," Ellle read. That's awful," Joel said. "You're awful," Elle and Enid both said. "Do you two even understand what that means?" Joel asked. "Nope," the girls said. "Doesn't matter. Let's look at one more. I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now," Ellie said.
That joke got all three of them to laugh. "Okay, I've never actually heard that one before. Let's keep it at that," Joel said with a smirk. Elie puts the book away for the time being.
They jog up a couple of flights of stairs to the next floor. There was an open window that led them to the roof. Joel jumps out first and hears the voices of two hunters talking from inside of the hotel.
"Oh shit. You two get down," he said quietly. The three of them crouched underneath the window of the room where the two hunters were. "How many is that now?" one asked. "Five this week. But I'm not complaining," the other answered.
"I bet you're not. We done here?" the first hunter said. "There's another floor still unchecked," the second said. "Unchecked? There hadn't been a clicker here for weeks," the first one said.
"We're thorough. We're gonna keep it like that. Let's finish this up," the second hunter said, walking out of the room. "Alright, whatever," the first hunter grumbled. They all hopped inside of the hotel, keeping it steady as Joel took out the hunters one by one. That was until they reached the next floor, where somebody spotted them.
Joel and most of the hunters started to shoot at each other. Joel took down most of the hunters. However, they didn't hear another hunter snealk up, grabbing Ellie from behind. Enid heard this instantly and she turned around to see Elile being strangled by that hunter.
"Get off of her, you bastard!" Enid shouted, charging at the hunter with her knife drawn. She stabs the man in the leg, blood squirted out like a fountain.. She managed to disarm him and grabbed his gun. The hunter yelled out in pain, and let go of Ellie. "You little bitch!" the hunter yelled, charging at the raven-haired girl. Enid, who was aiming the gun at the hunter, pulled the trigger four times. It killed him and he fell to the floor after four bullets were shot into him.
However, Enid didn't lower the gun, watching as smoke rose out of it. Enid was shaken up a little bit, which she didn't understand since she has killed to protect Ellie before. What was making her shake like this?
"Enid, you okay?" Ellie said, standing up from the floor. Enid looked over at her friend and slowly lowered the pistol. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," she said, holding the gun. Joel had jogged over to them, seeing the corpse laying about 10 feet away from them.
He saw the gun in Enid's hand and the paled look on Enid's face. She looked like she was going to vomit. "You okay, Enid?' he asked, making her look up. don't want to talk about this right now," Enid said, looking up at him.
He saw she was a good shot with a pistol. She had learned during her 45 days in the Fireflies. "Keep it," Joel said, getting Enid and Ellie to look up. What?" Ernid asked.
"Keep that gun. You're gonna need it. It's for emergencies only," Joel said sternly, turning around and jogging up a flight of stairs.
Enid put the gun in the back of her jeans. There was a lump in her throat that was hard to swallow. She knew that Ellie would want to talk about it hen they get to a safe spot.
Before moving on, they looked through each room to look for supplies. They even found a bathroom witha dead and decomposing couple in the tub. The
sight disturbed Enid more than it did with Ellie because she's seen these more than Ellie.
The trio make it up a flight of stairs where an elevator that was open ajar, giving them a way out. Joel walks up to the doors, prying them open with both hands.
"Let's see where this goes," Joel said, climbing a ladder to the roof of the elevator. Ellie and Enid followed suit. Ellie closed the door to the roof so nobody could get in.
Joel started squeezing through a narrow wall to get to the adjacent elevator. Ellie and Enid followed suit, each jumping on the rickety elevator. "You two find me something to climb on. Hurry," Joel said, locking his fingers together to get the girls up. He got Ellie up and he started to boost Enid up. Ellie reached out for Enid's
arms, which she was able to grab. When Enid was halfway up, the elevator shook before giving out from underneath them. Joel falls with it.
"Shit!" Enid cried out, dangling off of the elevator shaft. Ellie nearly lost her grip on Enid's wrists. She managed to pull her up onto the floor. Ellie helped Enid up to her feet with an arm around her back and a hand in hers.
"Whoa, that was close. Where's Joel?" Enid asked, looking around after noticing that Joel was missing. They both looked down and saw that Joel had fallen into the water below. It was so dark down there that they could barely see him.
Their flashlights didn't help any. "Joel? Joel!" Ellie called. "I'm alright! Are you two okay? Joel shouted, hisvoice echoing. Hell no, you scared the shit out of us!" Enid shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth.
"We'll climb down there to you!" Ellie suggested. "No! You two stay up there! I'll make my way up to you!" Joel declined, swimming into the darkness of the basemnent of the hotel.
Ellie and Enid had no choice but to walk away from the empty elevator shaft and make it halfway. When they make it to a staircase with faded, torn fabric, Ellie stops Enid in her tracks.
"Enid, we gotta talk," Ellie said. Enid turned around to face her friend. "About what?" Enid asked. "About how you shot the shit out of that asshole," Ellie clarified.
Enid looked up at her for a minute before sitting down on the stairs. Ellie sat down next to her. "What's got you so shaken up? Aren't the Fireflies supposed to teach you to do that kind of thing?" Ellie asked, looking at her paled friend.
"I know. That's what they're supposed to do. But this was how I first killed someone. Marlene made me shoot a human being as they begged for mercy. I-I got scared. But you were in trouble and…" Enid said, tears rising in her eyes.
"Hey, take it easy, will ya? You saved my life again. Forget about what Marlene told you to do. You know what you are?" Ellie said, giving her a hug. Enid hugged her back gently. "Okay, smartass, what do you think I am?" Enid said with a smile. "A superhero," Ellie said, pulling away from her.
Ellie and Enid had no choice but to walk away from the empty elevator shaft and make it halfway. When they make it to a staircase with faded, torn fabric, Ellie stops Enid in her tracks.
"Enid, we gotta talk," Ellie said. Enid turned around to face her friend. "About what?" Enid asked. "About how you shot the shit out of that asshole," Ellie clarified.
Enid looked up at her for a minute before sitting down on the stairs. Ellie sat down next to her. "What's got you so shaken up? Aren't the Fireflies supposed to teach you to do that kind of thing?" Ellie asked, looking at her paled friend.
"I know. That's what they're supposed to do. But this was how I first killed someone. Marlene made me shoot a human being as they begged for mercy. I-I got scared. But you were in trouble and…" Enid said, tears rising in her eyes.
"Hey, take it easy, will ya? You saved my life again. Forget about what Marlene told you to do. You know what you are?" Ellie said, giving her a hug. Enid hugged her back gently. "Okay, smartass, what do you think I am?" Enid said with a smile. "A superhero," "I don't feel like one. That asshole scared me and I didn't have a choice. I had no reasons for killing those guys, but I did have a reason. Guess when you're in danger, something snapped inside of me. It was the reason," Enid said, her ears growing hot.
"Hey, don't beat yourself over it. You're definitely a superhero. Or even a ninja," Ellie said, shoving her friend a little bit. Enid smiled unwillingly and wiped some blood from her face. "Yeah, guess you're right. Could've totally done it to those assholes back in Boston," Enid said, standing up and buffiing her shoes.
"It was hard without my partner in crime around since you left," Ellie said, standing up with her. "Okay, okay, don't make me feel bad," Enid laughed, pushing Ellie by her shoulder. "I can all I wanna," Ellie pouted. The two girls walk away from the staircase and try to catch up with Joel.
They were closer to the bottom floor. Unfortunately, they were stopped by a t-section in the hallway. "Shit. Now what?" Ellie sighed, looking down both paths.
Enid looked down both paths, trying to think of where to go. "How about we split up? We might get to Joel faster if we do," she suggested, turning back towards Ellie. Ellie looked unsure about what she said.
"I don't know, Enid. I'm not so sure about it," Ellie hesitantly said. "Hey, I'll be fine. I've got protection on me," she said, pulling out the pistol gun and pointing the tip of the barrel to the ceiling.
Ellie looked at the gun in her best friend's hand. "Okay. I trust you. You go that way, and I'll go this way," Ellie said, pointing in each direction for them to go down. Enid puts the gun away and nodded.
"Okay. Sounds good. Meet you on the other side," Enid said with a smile. "And catch you on the flip side," Ellie replied, giving Enid a two-fingered salute before jogging down the right corridor. Enid nodded back before turning around in a jog, going down the left corridor.
Enid had made her way to another flight of stairs in a jog and hopped off from the last two steps. There was a sign hanging on the wall, looking like it was going to fall off onto the floor. It read, 'Dining Area,'
It read, 'Dining Area,' with an arrow pointing ahead of Enid. She smiled triumphantly. "Alright, now I'm getting somewhere," she said, gently fist bumping, "Now to find Ellie and Joel,"
As she made her way to the dining area of the hotel, she thought she could hear a loud scuffle coming from the dining area. She picks up the pace until she was running. The scuffling was definitely coming from in there.
Then, there was a single gunshot and silence. She opens the door and saw Joel catching his breath and Ellie holding his 9mm pistol. There was steam rising from the barrel, meaning it had been fired.
Enid walked over and called Ellie's name. "What the hell did I miss?" Enid asked, seeing the dead bandit laying in the water with a gunshot wound to the head. "Whoa... what happened?" she asked.
Ellie had a pale look on her face, feeling the same way as Enid. "I just shot the hell out of that guy. I feel sick," Ellie said, lowering the gun and sitting down on a faded out chair.
"Why didn't you two hang back like I said?" Joel snapped, snatching the gun from Ellie's hand. He put his gun back in his jeans. "You're glad we didn't right?" Ellie asked, lifting her head up to look at the man.
"I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid. You don't even count," he said, knelt down to look in his backpack. He didn't count Enid because she knows what she's doing with a gun.
"Hey, c'mon, lay off of her! She saved your ass back there!" Enid shouted, getting defensive of Ellie. Had Ellie not think quickly by shooting that bandit, Joel would've been dead. Sure, he's gotten into worse situations like this before, and he usually got out of them barely breathing. But, he didn't need them doing what Ellie had just did.
Ellie stood up from the chair. "You could say, 'Hey, Ellie, I know that wasn't easy, but it was either him or me. Thanks for saving my ass. You got anything like that for me, Joel?" she argued, looking at him.
Joel looked at the red-headed girl, shaking his head in disbelief. "We gotta keep moving," he scoffed, climbing up a ladder that led upstairs. "Lead the way, Mr. Unappreciative," Enid scoffed sarcastically.
The girls follow Joel up the ladder and start following him through a broken hole in the wall. Joel hopped down a flight of broken stairs. "We need to get back out and find that bridge," he called, his voice echoing through the empty corridors.
"Just tell us where to go," Ellie said for both her and Enid. They both jumped down to the bottom floor and follow him down to another dining room, which had been converted to a party room.
This party took place in 2013, the year the apocalypse happened. There was even a back drop at the corner of the doorway. It was a faded back drop of a beach.
"Hey, check this out," Enid said, jogging over to it. "What? Oh, cool," Ellie asked, jogging up to the piece of decoration.
"Ellie, do you remember what we'd do if we ever got to a beach?" Enid wondered. Ellie beamed when Enid asked that question. She knew just the answer to that.
"We'd go surfing in LA," Ellie answered, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Hell yeah. I'd be on your shoulders, and we'd feel the salty wind in our hair and on our faces," Enid boasted, having a big smile on her face.
"I'd surely knock you down and let you drown," Ellie teased. "Hey!" Enid shouted. "Psh, kidding," Ellie chortled, walking away from her. "I'm gonna get you for that later," Enid smiled, following her.
They pushed a lone piano up to a ledge to get up to the next level. Joel jogged across the ledge and into the next room that had an open window. That their way out. He hopped over the window sill and ended up on a makeshift look out. In a torn up living chair was a dead hunter that was decomposing. There was a rifle leaning against the chair.
Joel picks it up and saw that there were more bandit's below them. "Oh shit," he cursed, immediately crouching down. He looked over the area to see how many bandits were there.
It was a look out the parking lot of the hotel. Large patches of grass growing from the ground with moss covering a majority of the concrete. There was a coffee shop to their right and an office building to their left.
There were a lot of cars in the area that would be good for cover. Ellie and Enid carefully joined him. "There's a lot of them, Joel. What do we do?" Enid asked quietly.
"I'm gonna go down there and clear us a path," Joel says. The girls look over at him. "What about us?" Ellie asked. "Wait, so you don't need me down there?" Enid asked him.
"Nope. You two stay here," he said. "What?! This is so stupid, we'd have more of a fucking chance if you let us help," Ellie argued.
"I am. Now you seem to know your way around a gun. You think you can handle that?" Joel said, holding up the hunting rifle. "Well, uh, I sorta shot a rifle before. But it was with rats," Ellie said, taking the rifle.
"Rats?" Joel asked, raising his eyebrows. Enid knew what she was talking about, remembering that would do that when they were younger. "Yeah, with BB guns," Enid said, "But I've never used a real rifle before,"
"Well, it's the same basic concept. You watch what I'm doing," Joel says, looking at Enid for a moment. Enid nodded and looked closely to what Joel was doing. "Okay, now lift it up and press it against your shoulder. Remember that it's gonna kick a hell of a lot harder than any BB gun," Joel instructed.
Ellie pressed it against the softest part of her shoulder. "Good, now pull the bolt back," Joel said, pointing to the bolt on the right side of the rifle. "There. When you fire, get another round in there quick. Listen to me, if I get into trouble down there, you two make every shot count, yeah?" Joel said quietly.
"Joel..." Enid started. "We got this," Ellie added with a nod. Joel nodded at this and turned around and made his way to the edge of the lookout. Before jumping down, he looked over his shoulder and at the girls.
"Just so we're clear, it was either him or me," he said, jumping down to the ground. They both smiled at this. "You're welcome," Ellie said. "Guess that's the closest to a thank you you'll ever get from him," Enid whispered to her.