Chapter 13 – Day 3
Ben's head throbbed as Ellie looked around the building in front of them, looking for an entrance. The weapons he carried were heavy. The backpack on his back was full, it contained fresh water, some food and medical supplies plus ammunition. The shoulder straps dragged him toward the ground, considering that there was a rifle and a wooden crossbow hanging from his backpack, which only added extra weight to it all. He stood impatiently in his place when Ellie suddenly moved forward, showing him to follow her. Right next to the wall was an old container covered with leaves, and above it a narrow window, closed.
With one short but strong swing, Ellie smashed the window with the machete handle as she climbed onto the container. Using the blade, she removed the sharp remnants of glass from the window frame and slipped inside. Ben did the same and entered the building. The structure turned out to be one of the many apartment buildings that were scattered all over the city. They hurried through some of the apartments that were unlocked, looking for anything they could use.
Entering one of those, Ben began opening drawers and containers. He couldn't resist the wide smile that covered his face when he saw a shelf full of old cassettes and CDs. Unable to resist the temptation, he quickly strolled through some of the titles. Those were cult movies and franchises. He had already watched majority of the movies that were on the shelf, some of them with Ellie even. After all, the two of them shared almost a same taste for the movies.
"What's that?" Ellie appeared behind him. "Why do you look so happy?"
"Look at this." he said and pulled one CD casing from the shelf, still smiling "Terminator 2."
Ellie's eyes widened, "Man, I haven't watched that one in ages. This movie is so fucking good."
"I know, right? Do you remember when you said that sequels suck? Terminator 2 is a sequel so.. you basically contradicted yourself."
Ellie looked at him sideways, and snatched the casing from his hand. She was still thrilled with the movie she was holding in her hands. "Terminator 2 being an exception doesn't make me wrong. By definition alone, sequels are inferior films."
"It's a bullshit generalization." Ben began, surprised (which he didn't show) that he used a swear word. "Many sequels have surpassed their original."
"Oh yeah? Name one, except for Terminator 2."
Ben laughed, "First of all, let me say that the Terminator 2 is the greatest sequel of all time. Then, you got Aliens. It's far better than the first."
Ellie scoffed, "Okay, I get it. James Cameron rules. Name another?"
"That's easy. The Godfather. Part 2."
Ellie shook her hand and nodded angrily. "Fuck. Not bad, though. Still, that's only three sequels."
"Four."
Ellie looked at him as if she wanted to strangle him.
"Star Wars Episode 5. The Empire strikes back."
"What about it was better from a New Hope?"
Ben frowned, "Oh please. Don't act like you don't think that the overall plot, the character development, and the effects are better. And let's not forget the Luke, I am your father."
"I believe the line is No, I am your father." Ellie corrected him.
"Whatever. The point is, sequels don't generally suck. I can go on."
"Fuck you, we don't have time for that."
"I win then."
She rolled her eyes, "Let's just go. And no, you don't."
The city was quiet and peaceful when the two of them left the building. Ellie led, and Ben followed in her footsteps. The road to the coast leads them through narrow overgrown streets, hollow buildings and numerous shops. They came across an infected from time to time, but that didn't pose a problem. They could easily sneak up to the infected and kill them, and in some cases they just sneaked past them, saving energy, time and ammunition.
After that, they found themselves at the metro station. Fortunately, there were no spores inside. However, the place smelled of dust and mold - a big difference from pleasant smells from outside. Traces of moss could be seen on the walls and ceiling. It was pitch dark in the subway. The only source of light were the flashlights attached to their shoulder straps.
Ben put his fist to his mouth and coughed softly at the dust. "At least there's no rain inside."
"Yep." Ellie replied, and Ben noticed she held a gun. She was always ready for potential danger. He often watched her as she walked in front of him. She had changed a lot. He remembered when she was a smiling girl full of positive energy. She never seemed overly happy - who can be truly happy in a world like this - but she had a certain, cheerful aura around her. Which was no more.
Stationary trains stood upright on the rails. A cloud of dust rose as Ben ran his finger over the metal surface. He coughed softly again and tried to suppress the cough as much as possible, so as not to attract the attention of people or infected who might be inside. The journey through the metro continued through the old trains which, to their surprise, were completely empty. Dead silence reigned for a good five to ten minutes. During that time, they both walked silently, communicating only through hand signals. Visibility was limited, one of them always had to watch the other's back, so that no one would sneak up on them, stalkers or people. Ben gripped the crossbow tightly in his hands. He had only one bolt at his disposal, but he definitely needed a weapon that would not attract attention when firing.
He felt Ellie's touch on his shoulder. When he turned to her, he noticed her pointing a finger somewhere in the distance. Looking in that direction, he noticed a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. The exit was close, and Ben could hardly wait to get out of the subway. Something about this place terrified him. Finally.
His doubts came true when a creepy scream was heard somewhere in the distance. The walls echoed in response to the scream, and Ben's blood froze in his veins. It can't be that easy, right?
Instinctively, he knelt, hidden behind the seat in the train. Ellie did the same. They both observed the area around them. The problem was that they were in the train, and their visibility was further limited due to dirty windows. Ben took the initiative and moved on. There was no point in waiting. He poked his head through the door and kept a close eye on the surroundings for a good ten seconds before he was sure they could get out.
Ben carefully paced on his toes, his footsteps barely audible. If he hadn't known Ellie was following him, he could never have guessed she was behind him. She was completely silent. With every next step, he was approaching the lights at the end of the tunnel. Every muscle in his body was tense with anticipation. His eyes were constantly darting around, not giving him peace.
A frightening scream sounded again, a little closer this time. After that, a couple of moments of complete silence. And then it rang again. And again. And again. Except it wasn't the same voice anymore. Two, three, four and more different voices that seemed closer with each subsequent scream.
"Run." Ben whispered under his breath. They both threw themselves into the sprint. They could not fight an enemy they could not see in the dark. Whether it were the runners, stalkers, he could not know. However, he did not hear the distinct clicking, which gave him little hope. Please, no clickers. Just no clickers. The stairs appeared in front of them when they approached the light source enough, and they both rushed towards them. Ben glanced briefly over his shoulder and saw the shapes running toward them. He couldn't count them, but if they wanted to oppose the infected, they had to go to the outside, back into the light.
The rain showered the two of them the moment they stepped back onto the overgrown streets of Seattle. One brief look at the environment was enough for Ben to realize they were at a crossroads. He didn't know exactly where in Seattle, but the exact location was the least of their problems now.
"We fight?" Ellie asked him, gazing sideways at him with her big eyes, outstretching her gun towards the tunnel. The sound of footsteps and deformed voices coming from the depths of the tunnel grew louder. Ben wanted to turn around and run, but there didn't seem to be many infected. This shouldn't be that hard.
"We fight."
The first runner appeared, stumbling out of the tunnel towards them. His hands swayed as he sprinted, bloodthirsty, toward them. Ben pulled the trigger. The bolt whistled through the rain, almost making a watery trail in the air and plunged straight into his mouth. The runners collapsed on the ground like a sack of flour, but that did not end their troubles. Three more, no, four, rushed out of the tunnel.
Bang. Bang. Ellie deftly fired twice from her pistol, knocking the two infected to the ground. Ben dropped the crossbow to the ground and tried to pull the gun out of its holster. However, the gun got stuck, and he cursed loudly when he noticed a runner one step away from him. The runner lunged at Ben with all its weight. Ben greeted the runner with his knee bouncing off its head. The sound of broken bones filled his ears, but that didn't stop him from finishing off the runner, smashing his head as the creature lay on the ground. Bang. The last runner fell to the ground. A small cloud of smoke rose from the hole in its forehead. Ellie was more precise than Ben could have imagined. Lucky me.
"Three." she said, still holding the gun with both her hands.
"What?" he asked her, confused, after he picked up the crossbow.
"I got three. You got two."
His lips curled upwards, "So it's a competition?"
She nodded, grinning. "Only if you can count."
"Okay, I see you." he said. "You see any more?"
Ellie shook her head, lowering the gun. "I don't think so. I wish we could get off the street. And this rain. Fuck, does anyone stay dry in this city?"
However, they had no choice but to stay soaked in the rain. They had to get to the shore as soon as possible to find Tommy. Soon, two of them came across a street that seemed to lead west, plus it was slightly sloping, so they could see most of the city down the street.. Ben saw an endless mass of water at the end of the street, it seemed closer than an hour ago, but they were still separated from the ocean by a considerable distance.
"Look." Exclaimed Ben, who climbed onto the truck. "Straight way ahead."
Ellie took his hand as she climbed up and stood beside him. She looked down the street, seeing the path that should lead them to the shore. The ferris wheel was barely visible, but Ben managed to discern its shape through the fog in the distance. He was annoyed that the hoodie he was wearing was not suitable for the weather. The cotton was wet and weighed twice as much as usual. Ellie, on the other hand, wore a rain jacket that kept her dry, from head to t.. well, waist. Still, it was significantly better than a cotton hoodie. They followed the street for a while, and then their hopes dropped into the water down below. A gap appeared in front of them in the street, wide enough to let the whole river flow below them across the entire width of the street. Ben looked left and right, but wherever he looked, the river stretched seemingly endlessly. He had no idea how they could cross it.
"Shit. What now?" Ellie asked, walking along the edge of the collapsed street. Looking at the river in the collapsed part of the streeth, Ben remembered that not so pleasant swim in it the day before, and shivered to the thought.
"We can walk along the edge." Ben proposed, "Maybe we can find some kind of bridge or something, I don't know. What about the highway?"
"Nah. It's too far. I guess we have no other options." Ellie agreed to the first option. They followed the river, deviating from the direction that led to their destination.
"What do you think?" Ben began, "What made these rivers?"
Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. Earthquakes, maybe bombs?"
"Makes sense. This part of the city is almost untraversable." He added, then noticed her holding her gun again.
"No Wolves or Scars. Strange." She said under her voice, as if she was whispering.
Ben jerked around abruptly, suddenly aware of the fact. She was right. The city was unusually quiet, except for the sound of rain. The infected didn't bother them, but they were in an area that probably represented the inner territory of one of the two warring factions. He would have expected at least one patrol, but the streets were deserted. It seemed to him that the hours had passed when they finally came across something that could be used as a bridge leading to the other side of the river. That bridge, if it can be called that at all, was actually a building, a hotel probably judging by the big letters on one side of the wall, collapsed and crooked so that they could use it to bridge the river. The building was sloped almost at an acute angle, the foundations must have collapsed when a gap was created in the ground many years ago.
"There's our bridge." Ellie noted with a sigh. "Let's cross this shitty river asap."
"Roger that."
The hotel was one of the most damaged buildings that Ben encountered in Seattle. Almost all the windows were shattered, some were missing entire frames. The doors were open or non-existent at all. He had to be careful as he stepped inside the crooked building. Gravity did its thing and pulled all the furniture to the lower side of the hotel. It was extremely difficult to walk. The floor was very slippery, plus the soles of their footwear were wet.
"Watch your step." Ben warned, he was the first to get in. "Take my hand."
Without hesitation, Ellie took his hand and squeezed it tightly. He blushed and almost slipped, smiling insecurely when Ellie gazed at him from above..
"Careful." she whispered, dragging her feet across the floor behind him. Walking was even harder because they had nothing to hold on to, and they could only rely on the reliability of the soles of their shoes. Eventually, they reached the door and used the hinges as a source of support. His feet were painfully tight from the strain, and he knew they had made no significant progress. They had just started.
At the lower end of the room, he could see the restless river through the broken windows and shivered at the fact that he might find himself in it again. When they reached the next door, Ben took a break to check the wounds on his body. For now, everything seemed fine, the wounds did not bleed, but they still stung irritatingly.
Going down the floor was hard and difficult, but at least the climbing was a bit easier. They both sighed with relief as they crouched down and began using their hands to climb with less difficulty. Then he thought, why didn't they do the same when they walked down the floor? An additional problem were the stairs, some of them could not be climbed at all, because they were completely vertical due to the slope of the building, like some strange wall.
After a few minutes of slow and tedious progress through the crooked building, they climbed upstairs so that they were directly above the other side of the river. The problem was that the fall to the ground was considerable. It must have been more than ten feet. A bad landing, and either of them could break a leg or legs, which was something they both wanted to avoid.
Then something came to Ben's mind. He gripped the frame of the broken window and lowered himself below it, holding on tight. That way, he reduced the height by some six and a half feet, maybe.
"Don't break anything. I don't want to carry you around." Ellie said, albeit insecurity could be heard in her voice. Ben looked up at her and winked, releasing the grip. The air whipped his face briefly as gravity dragged him down. His feet ached and then went numb when he landed on the soft ground. He couldn't keep his balance, falling on his butt. After remaining in a sitting position for a few seconds, he got up, happy that his legs were still functioning, even though they hurt a little.
"You okay?" Ellie asked from above. It was frightening to look at the building above him. It seemed like it was going to fall on him at any moment. Ben nodded to Ellie, who did the same thing as him. He was standing under her when she jumped. The moment she landed next to him, he put his hands up and grabbed her under her shoulders to keep from falling.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
However, the road was still blocked. Not only the buildings, but also the vegetation and trees that blocked all the streets. The only way was through the warehouse that looked like a certain path forward. The corrugated iron roof was flat some twenty-five feet above them. They could not enter directly through the door, but used an old rusty scaffolding and entered through a window. It was dark and dusty inside. The windows were very dirty and blocked the majority of the light, dark clouds of the overcast sky adding only so much to it.
Ben felt something pull him down. Ellie squatted him down, putting her finger over her lips. Then she nodded toward the first floor. He peered over the metal fence to the first floor and saw about a dozen infected, maybe slightly more.
"We can take them if we tread lightly." he whispered. Ellie seemed insecure, as if she would rather avoid it. In the end, she nodded sharply and took the hunting rifle in her hands. Ben already had a crossbow ready when they headed for the first floor, going down the stairs. Fortunately, the bolt he fired when he escaped from the subway did not break when he took it out of the runner's head. Click. One or two clickers staggered on the first floor. The warehouse was relatively empty, but there was still potential material that could be used as a shelter and hiding place. Old pallets with planks, piles of metal bars, vehicles like forklifts and small excavators, round metal barrels and such. The two of them skilfully moved from hiding place to hiding place, killing all the infected who were unfortunate enough to get in their way. Even the clickers didn't pose a problem.
"How many you got?" Ben asked, wiping the blood off his knife. In the end, he didn't have to use the crossbow at all. Good old stealth did the job. Ellie looked around, as if she was counting.
"Six. You?"
"Same."
Ellie said with a grin, "I still win."
"How so?"
"I killed three earlier, you killed just two. So, I killed more."
Ben rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "That's like the worst excuse ever. Oh, and by the way, this is a new round. Last one doesn't count in this one."
"Yeah, yeah, keep crying."
"I'm not-"
The warehouse was suddenly filled with the sound of a rusty creak that ripped through their ears and made both of them shiver. They both stopped and stared at the front door of the warehouse, a double door wide and high so that whole the trucks could enter without difficulty. Something slammed into the door, then again. And one more time. The rusty metal surface was caved in by the blows from the outside, and then the door abruptly opened with the last blow. The bloater ran inside, waving his massive hands covered with fungus. He yelled at the two of them in a deep, deformed voice.
"Fuck!" Ellie said and switched to a hunting rifle, already aiming. Ben's right ear rang as Ellie fired the first bullet that hit the bloater right in the face, spraying the pieces of fungus all around. Though, it seemed to do the bloater no harm. The monster did not even flinch.
It felt as if the ground was shaking the moment the bloater charged into them at a speed it shouldn't have possessed, considering its tanky size. Grunting, Ben somehow managed to jump to the side and avoid the charge of death. A cloud of dust rose behind him as the bloater broke through one of the plank pallets.
Then his gaze returned to the bloater. The monster was certainly terrifying, but compared to what he faced in the hospital a day before, the bloater was actually nothing. Ellie continued to shoot, however. The shell casings rattled on the floor as she relentlessly fired at the monster, which seemed indestructible. Anger overcame her.
"Ellie!" he called out to her, trying to overpower the sound of gunfire, "You're wasting bullets!" What's wrong with you? Snap out of it, dammit!
She was deaf to his words. Shoot, repeat the gun. Shoot, repeat the gun. Reload. Bloater was destroying everything around them, trying to get the hold of them. Ben didn't bother to shoot it. Fungal armor protected it from almost any kind of damage. Except for..
Each subsequent charge would destroy something. The bloater would make a hole in the wall or drill through any barrier. Ben rolled to the side, avoiding another rush. It managed to literally kick a metal barrel – during one of its rushes - that bounced off the wall. The transparent liquid soaked the old brick wall as the barrel opened, and the rest of the liquid leaked to the floor.
Gasoline.
Ellie climbed to the second floor, calling for him to follow her. After countless attempts by the bloaters to get the hold of them, it seemed as if her anger had subsided a little.
"Come up! We don't have the bullets to kill it!" she called out for him. "Don't just stand there, you fucking idiot!"
She spoke the truth. Bloater could probably be killed with enough firepower, but there was another way, more efficient way. The last charge of the bloater seemed to stun it a little, it took the bloater a few seconds to recover and locate Ben again. Ben watched another barrel, next to him. Just what I need. He pulled the gun out of its holster and fired once at the bloater, giving away his location to the blind monster. Bloater roared, his voice frightening, then stumbled towards Ben at full speed. Come at me, come on.
"What are you doing? Run! RUN!"
He stood still, waiting for the bloater to get close enough. He couldn't inhale twice, and the bloater was already hovering over him, its arms outstretched as it moved with incredible speed. Now.
Crossing the left over his right leg, Ben spun to the side, successfully avoiding the attack directed at him. He immediately remembered the old movies he watched, in which brave people challenged bulls in arenas. The ripping sound of shattered wood and metal broke through, and Ben ran forward. When he had created a safe distance between the monster and himself, he stopped and turned to the bloater that was coming out of the mess it had made in the warehouse. Another pallet with planks and a pile of metal bars were knocked down. Pieces of wood were driven into the fungal armor, but it didn't seem to affect it. The barrel was knocked down and slowly rolled towards the infected monstrosity. A small stream of gasoline leaked and made a mark on the floor. Ben held out his hand to hold the gun and closed his eye.
"Hasta la vista, baby."
The trigger was pulled. Ben was deafened and sent flying backwards by the blast of explosion that seemed to had set half of the warehouse on fire. Red fireball arose from the barrel, devouring everything around it. He fell on his back and for a moment was afraid to raise his head. When he dared to do so after a few seconds, he saw only small traces of an explosion in the air and thin fires on certain objects, seemingly harmless. At the place where the bloater stood, only a sooty corpse remained, knocked to the floor. It didn't move, and Ben sighed with relief.
"Shit!" he heard a voice and a sound of rushing footsteps. "Fucking shit, are you okay?"
Ellie crouched beside him, and he rose to his elbows and looked at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she watched him from above. Suddenly he noticed that her face was very freckled. Was it always this freckled, he thought about asking.
"Did you hear what I said?" he asked her instead, feeling a bit dizzy from the blast.
When she shook her head, he continued. "Hasta la vista, baby. Just like T-800 said in Terminator 2."
She facepalmed and sighed. And then she laughed. "You'll never change." Then she helped him up. "Let's get out of here."
They finally managed to get out of the warehouse. Neither Ben nor Ellie were happy to be exposed to rain again, but it was what it was. They continued their journey to the shore carefully, observing the environment with a raised guard all the time. The shape of the ferris wheel in the distance was visible once again, which was a sign that they were on the right path.
"By the way." he told her after a while, "I win."
Ellie raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"I killed the bloater, alone. Can you say the same?"
She scoffed, but smile still adorned her face. "All right. I'll give you this one. You handled it pretty good."
He frowned, "Pretty good? Dude, it was lit. Like.. literally lit."
"Enough with the puns."
"Okay." he said. Unable to keep quiet, he continued. "Once we get back to Jackson, after you make me pancakes, we should watch a movie."
Ellie looked away after he mentioned watching a movie, seemingly lost in thoughts. After a while, she snapped out of it. "Deal. We haven't watched a movie in ages. Anything particular in mind?"
"Nah. But I got a joke, though."
Ellie sighed, aware it was probably going to be stupid.
"What did baby corn say to mamma corn?"
She shrugged.
"Where's pop corn?"
After a short silence, she punched him in the shoulder.
