Chapter 14 – The shore
The visor of Ben's gas mask blurred with each breath. The soft rustle of inhaling and exhaling filled his ears. Darkness engulfed everything around the two of them. They were in the subway again. It turned out that the road to the coast was not as straightforward as they expected. When they watched it from a distance, they could not see through the fog that the street collapsed almost at its entire length and turned into rapids, too deadly to be able to swim in them. Spores fogged the air around them, forcing them both to put on a mask. Just one breath of spores was enough to infect him, and that would be the end of him.
The previous metro station was quite short, which was not the case with this one. Before they got down in the station, Ben checked the ammunition. He had about a dozen more bullets, half of which were for a pistol and half for a hunting rifle, including a crossbow bolt.
It was barely noon outside, but because of the darkness of the subway, it seemed to last forever. He couldn't estimate how long they had been inside, but they had been walking through the abandoned tunnels for some time, and the end was not in sight. There were no signs of infected, but he somehow knew they were hiding inside somewhere, lurking for their next prey. He remembered the monstrosity from the hospital and was suddenly filled with dread. Dread of the possible consequences.
Ben leaned against the concrete wall of the tunnel and looked around, gripping the pistol tightly in his left hand. The only source of light was a flashlight attached to his shoulder strap. In order to illuminate a certain area, he had to turn his whole body in that direction, since the light was fixed.
Ellie's moan distracted him. The girl stumbled as she walked, she looked awful, even in that dim light, sweaty and dirty. He could see the outlines of her large, green eyes through the visor of her mask.
"Come." Ben spoke, breaking the silence. "Let's find the way out."
That tunnel system was the most complicated labyrinth that Ben wandered through in his life. The tunnels were constantly overlapping. They would walk into one only to find themselves in the other, without any orientation. Each and every one looked the same. Round walls in which the wreckage of old trains could be found. Some wagons even fell off the rails. The thought that he might end up starving and dying of thirst in a place like this terrified him. And worst of all, it was a very possible outcome.
"Oh, man." Ellie whispered, and then curled up on the floor. "This place terrifies me."
Ben had to agree with that. "Me too. It's sending me some heavy chills."
"Few years back" Ellie began, "before Joel and I arrived to Jackson, we were in a similar place."
Ben quietly listened to her.
"I mean, it wasn't like this, but similar. We were escaping hunters from Pittsburg, through the sewers. There were tons of infected, we fought them. Henry and Sam were with us."
"Henry and Sam?"
She sighed, "They were brothers. Henry was older, Sam was about as old as us. We escaped Pittsburg together. They were supposed to come to Jackson with us."
"What happened?" he asked, although he could already tell the answer to his question.
Ellie paused for a second when he asked, then said calmly. "Sam turned. Henry shot him. Then he shot himself."
It was hard for her to talk about it, judging by her quiet, almost whispering voice and the way she turned her head away. Ben wanted to tell her something, to cheer her up, and to divert her thoughts from Henry and Sam, and probably Joel as well. To explain to her that things were not as grim as they seemed. To say anything. He opened his mouth to utter something and then heard a noise. Ellie raised her head in a second and looked down one of the dark tunnels. Ben felt his own rapid breathing.
From the depths of the tunnel came deep, ghostly sounds. The muffled voices grew louder every second, and soon an eerie click joined in. It reminded Ben of the rattle of old children's toys or a rattle snake, but he knew better than that. A hollow moan broke through the air, reminiscent of demons from horror movies. It all sounded terrifying. The little courage that Ben had gathered began to fade. Ellie got to her feet, her face barely visible because of the mask she was wearing. But when she spoke, Ben could imagine her eyes wide with fear.
"We must run. That is our only chance! Don't stop!"
And then she turned and ran, disappearing in a second - she was swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel.
"Ellie!" he shouted after her, trying to follow her. She ran around the corners too fast so he lost track of where she was at all. He stared at the place from which Ellie had disappeared. Suddenly he became aware that he was left alone, that she had left him. She reacted as if she knew what that sound in the distance was. Perhaps it was the monster from the hospital? Maybe it survived by some chance? He shook his head, dismissing the thought, sure that Abby and he had killed it. Abby, who killed Joel.
The noise was getting louder, now he could hear the sound of heavy footsteps. And then the smell, something burnt, oily. Ben couldn't imagine what awaited him, and he couldn't stop thinking about the monster from the hospital. What if it's still alive? The doubt was driving him to the brink of madness.
What will this creature do to him? How long will it take him to finally die, released of pain and suffering?
Stop it, he ordered himself. He had to stop wasting time waiting for them to come and devour him.
When Ben turned, he saw the wreckage of the train beside him. Due to the light hitting one of the dirty windows, he could see his faint reflection in the glass. He felt the cold sweat soak his already wet clothes. A plan was developed in his head. He had to find Ellie, that was a main priority. By now, she probably realized he wasn't following her, so she turned to look for him.
Ben was afraid to call out for Ellie, but did he have another choice? "Ellie!" he shouted, but his voice just echoed between the walls. A few minutes passed. There was no answer, and it seemed to him that he saw shapes in the darkness moving towards him.
He ran as fast as he could, as far away from the steps and moans and clicks behind him. Ben was wandering the tunnels for too long and felt great signs of fatigue in his legs. He was breathing deeply, his leg muscles throbbing painfully.
He walked a few steps along the length of the train until he came across a half-open door. Then, he stuck the fingers of both hands in the thin gap of the double doors and spread them with a creak, then jumped inside. Through the windows in the train, he was watching what could run behind that train. A runner? More likely a salker, the runner would have attacked directly.
And only then did something come up in the distance, which made Ben's blood run cold. It seemed to him that he had seen the same thing before. Something was staggering not far from him, and the smell of burnt skin filled the air. Ben could smell the stench even with the mask on.
Long seconds passed, and Ben's muscles tightened with anticipation. The hollow moan broke through the tunnel again, now closer, followed by a click at an indefinite distance. Ben watched the tunnel through the foggy windows of the old train. And then something appeared in the corner of the window, something walking towards the train. Something he had a chance to see, and to face.
Something unspeakable.
A monstrosity from the hospital.
How is it alive? We killed it!
It may not have been the same creature, but the chances of that were slim. The stench of tanned skin was proof of that. Ben remembered well how Abby had it set on fire with a flamethrower.
I know I killed it. I shot the bolt that pierced the last head!
Indescribable fear crept into him, he curled up on the floor of the train and waited until the creature passed. It seemed as if it hadn't noticed him, but he was too afraid to raise his head. He still couldn't believe it was still alive. And how come that monster found itself right here? Did Ellie face it, considering she ran away like that? How did he not recognize it?
Oh no. Ellie.
She was still out there, and he had to find her, before it found her. Taking a deep breath, Ben stopped breathing and began to move through the train on his toes. He tightened all his muscles and paid great attention to every step, in order to be as quiet as possible. Khan came to his mind, who could move as quiet as night. Ben wished he was a wolf too, at least for those few minutes. His flashlight was still on. Fortunately, the infected did not react to the light. Moreover, they did not react to anything that they could not tear apart or eat.
Ben stared in horror at the monstrous creature moving through the long tunnel.
It looked exactly as he remembered it, like an experiment that went wrong - something seen in the worst nightmares. It used to be a man, or people, who were infected and exposed to a decades-long process of mutation. In the end, it turned into monstrosity that was right in front of him. A combination of several bodies that functioned as one. Dead heads could be seen on the surface of the fungal armor, scattered all over the body that had been burned, quiet, burnt and bloody.
Ben waited for the creature to take a few steps before deciding to leave the train. The tunnel forked in two directions. The thing went in one direction and Ben in the other. His quiet footsteps grew louder and louder as he moved away from the creature, at the same time feeling some slight relief. However, he did not allow himself to hope too much.
Looking ahead, he thought of Ellie, and suddenly he didn't like her anymore. She got scared and left him. Ellie. Who longed for revenge and acted fearless. Ben was the one who was supposed to chicken out in situations like this. And yet, she broke down and panicked, running at the first sign of trouble. How could she leave me like that?, he thought. How could she do it!
Click.
At the first sound he stopped and looked around. He knew he had heard clicks before, but the same fell silent the moment the creature appeared at the wreckage of the train.
The click was repeated twice, then three times. There was a rumble behind him, followed by the sounds of quick steps and a hollow moan. They are coming.
As soon as he illuminated the tunnel in front of him, he started to run. He ran around corner of the tunnel, then around the other. Stumbling with his feet on the stone ground, he ran as far as his feet could carry him. Somewhere deep down, he tried to store information about where the tunnels could take him, but it didn't help him much.
Right. Then left. Down a long straight corridor, then right again. Left. Right. Left again. Twice right. Long straight path again. The screaming, screeching and moaning sounds of pursuit behind him neither died down nor subsided, but he managed to stay calm.
He didn't stop running, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. He tried to take deep breaths to supply his lungs with air, but it was clear to him that it could not last. He wondered if it would be easier for him to simply turn around and face them, to finish it. Although he strained his body to the limits of endurance, he continued to run, trying to shake off the hopeless feeling that it was only a matter of time before he would be caught and devoured.
Three corners later, two hands grabbed him and dragged him into the next tunnel. His heart sank as he tried to wriggle out. Ben calmed down as soon as he realized it was Ellie.
"What.."
"Shut up and follow me!" cried Ellie, dragging him until he came to his senses and ran after her.
Not having a moment to think, Ben pulled himself together. Together they ran through the tunnels, constantly slipping to other tunnels. Ellie seemed to know exactly what she was doing and where she was going, never stopping or hesitating which way to go next.
A few turns later, the road abruptly ended with a dark wall. There was a door in the wall. They both broke through them, and without delay knocked the cupboard down to the door, thus making it difficult for anyone who intended to pass through the door to pass. Ben knew that wasn't enough to stop that creature from the hospital.
As they continued to flee — now through the hallways of the subway station — Ellie tried to speak. She gasped between breaths, "Why.. didn't.. you.. follow me?"
Ben didn't want to waste his breath on words, so he kept running after her, even though she looked at him sideways for not answering her question. Every part of his body hurt, both inside and out. His limbs begged him to stop running. But he did not stop, not now that it seemed that they would actually manage to escape the pursuers that were stalled by the walls and the locked doors. They ran through one room, then through the next. Those looked like offices, and then they broke out into the clearing, no, into a wide station, with the stairs, doors and windows leaking light inside. Ben covered his eyes with his fist to protect them from the light that blinded him.
When he managed to adjust to the daylight, he noticed that there were no spores. However, he did not take off his mask and continued to move, as did Ellie. A double door appeared in front of them, and the two of them seemed to be running towards them. They arrived at about the same time, and Ben pulled one lock and Ellie the other. The wind almost knocked them off their feet when they did, and the rain began to soak the concrete floor of the station. Almost immediately, Ben took off his mask, feeling his lungs with fresh air. He turned and closed the door, but not before he listened and looked to see if the infected were still following them. Then he sat on the grass and leaned against the wall, while his chest expanded and shrank from deep breaths.
"Ben," Ellie spoke, bent over, her fists placed on her knees, "if you say one more time that this metro was a good idea, I will punch you in the face."
Then he remembered. He was the one that suggested they should go into the subway.
"Why did you run off like that?" he asked, remembering that he was actually mad at her for it.
"I told you to follow me!"
"How is anyone supposed to follow you in those tunnels?"
"Well, you did! After I saved your dumb ass!"
He rolled his eyes, "Oh please. Just admit that you're wrong for once!"
After that, two of them went silent. Neither wanted to look the other in the eye nor be the first one to say something. Ben's face was red, he was boiling with anger.
"At least we're alive." he said at last. Oh for fuck's sake.
Ellie turned her head to him. "Okay, I might've overreacted and panicked.. a bit."
"You call that a bit?"
She muttered something to herself. He couldn't hear, but he thought he recognized a word asshole. "What was that thing?" she asked then.
So she doesn't know about it?
"You haven't seen it before?" he asked, eager to confirm. Ellie simply shook her head. "Then why'd you run?"
"I thought it was a shambler."
"What the hell is a shambler?"
Ellie sighed, "Well, I don't know.. It's not a bloater, but it's stronger than a clicker. They explode when you kill them."
Damn, he thought. Another type of infected, how many more there are?
"You don't look shocked by that.. thing." She said after a while, reminiscing on the pursuit in the tunnels.
It's supposed to be dead, goddamn it. Abby..
"Um, I've already fought it." he revealed it as calmly as he could.
"Shit, when?" she leaned over to him, her eyes widened.
"When I was in the hospital, looking for you.." he began, but Ellie interrupted.
"You were in the hospital?"
He nodded, "Yeah. I heard a girl was captured, I thought it was you. It was not you. Obviously. But I had to escape somehow. That girl – that was captured – helped me in return for helping her. We went to the downmost level of the hospital to look for some medicine that she needed. That's where we fought it. I thought we killed it."
"Shit.." Ellie said and sat next to him, "I've never seen anything like it. First shamblers, now this thing. Fuck.."
"Yep."
"Who is that girl anyway?" she asked in a bit of an irritated tone.
How am I supposed to tell her?
"I don't know her name. She never told me." he lied. She didn't need to know. That was the information that shouldn't bother her. Not to mention, he didn't want to tell her, dreading her reaction to the revelation.
Soon after, they returned to the road. At first, they had no idea where they were. However, when they climbed to the floor of a collapsed building, they noticed that they were much closer to the shore. Ferris' wheel was much bigger than it was an hour ago, when they first entered the subway. It didn't take them long to get to water. A couple of turns through certain streets, passing through tunnels created by collapsed buildings and the like, and Ben could smell the saltiness of the sea. They made it to the shore at last. The sound of gunfire provoked a reaction from both. Both Ben and Ellie were holding guns in their hands when they heard the bullets being fired. Of all the sounds of gunfire, the sound of a particular rifle overpowered the others. Ben had heard it before. A sniper.
"Tommy?" Ben asked.
Ellie nodded, "I think. We need to move fast."
"Yeah."
They ran down the street, following the sound of gunfire, but still moved carefully, eyeing the windows of the buildings around them. Visibility was limited due to fog that was getting thicker the closer they got to the shore. However, that was an advantage as well as a disadvantage. They could not see their enemies in the distance, but neither could the enemies see them.
"Backup should be on the way." Ben heard a voice stating behind the corner. To his right, the street stretched along the entire length of the coast, and judging by the sound of gunfire and the voices coming from that side, the clash took place on that very street.
"Should be." replied another voice. They didn't seem very confident.
Ben peered around the corner and saw a dozen Wolves in the street. Half of them lay dead, leaving bloodstains on the asphalt. The other half was scattered behind old cars, using them as covers from the sniper somewhere in the distance. The shooting was mostly silenced, except for the sound of a sniper, which was the only rifle firing bullets at the time.
"How many?" Ellie whispered, standing behind him, her back glued to the wall.
"Five. They're looking the other way."
Then he saw the signal that one Wolf was sending to the others, and suddenly they started advancing towards the building where the sniper was. They skillfully moved between the cars, the sniper managed to scratch only one on the shoulder. If it's not Tommy, he thought, reminding himself that they could be shot as well if the sniper turned out to be someone other than Tommy.
There was no time to lose. They both set off at the same time, following in the footsteps of the Wolves. The fact that he had to kill again upset his stomach, but that was something he had to do. Luckily, the soldiers were scattered across the street and didn't look back, thus making thе horrible act they had to commit somewhat easier. Killing is never easy. Without hesitation (at least Ellie), they ambushed the Wolves. Ellie skillfully and in one fell swoop extinguished their lives by running her knife over the smooth skin of their throats. Ben, on the other hand, made their deaths somewhat slower. He would strangle them with his rifle by pressing it against their necks. They managed to kill four, but the fifth soldier heard their footsteps splashing on the bars on the street. A slightly older girl, perhaps even a woman, looked at them in terror when she realized that her friends were dead. She was not quick enough in drawing her rifle, and Ellie sent a bullet to her forehead that knocked her to her back, making her death instant. Ellie ended up looting her corpse, after which she looked at Ben, her face blank.
No remorse at all, he realized when his eyes met hers. Is this what you've become Ellie?
"What?" she asked, dumbfounded by his reaction. He just shook his head in response.
Their work at the shore was not finished, however. The sniper was still firing relentlessly, apparently in the other direction, probably in the next street. Although, the rhythm of the shooting slowed. Other weapons were fired from a distance, which meant that reinforcements had probably arrived. The bullet pierced the air near Ben's head, and he realized they had been spotted.
"Take cover!" he shouted, pulling Ellie down behind the car.
"Shit!" she cursed, "Where are they coming from?"
Ben tried to look over the edge of the car, but a shot prevented him from doing so and sent him back behind the cover. He couldn't see anything.
"Kill the trespassers!" a voice commanded in the distance.
"Sniper is in that building!" said another, a familiar one.
"I think Manny's here." he said.
"You sure?" she asked with her eyebrow raised, readying her rifle.
The sniper seemed to briefly distract the WLF soldiers from the two of them, allowing Ben to peek behind the car. "I can see him."
"Let's kill that fucker." Ellie said eagerly, clutching the rifle in her arms. Ben couldn't agree more.
Ellie emerged from the cover and started shooting at the Wolves in the next street at the same time as the sniper. The soldiers suffered shots from two sides, but they still resisted and returned fire. Bullets bounced off the rusty metal door of the car Ben and Ellie had used as cover. All the windows of the car shattered when the rain of bullets was directed at the two of them
"Cover me!" Ben shouted, trying to overpower the sound of gunfire.
Silently, Ellie nodded and moved to the next car, avoiding the bullets. She continued to fire afterwards, distracting them from Ben, who meanwhile, snuck away from the car into the interior of the building. He silently thanked his own luck when it turned out that the building led to the next street, the street where the Wolves were, who obviously did not notice him. Gripping the rifle tightly, he raised the weapon, aiming at the soldiers in front of him. Manny was hiding behind an overturned vehicle, but he was too far away for a clean shot. His comrades-in-arms were a much closer and easier target.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled the trigger. The rifle rang in his hands, and the Wolf fell to the ground from a shot straight to the back of the head. Half of the Wolves twitched and turned abruptly in his direction. Half of those returned fire at him, however, Ben largely snuck away from that spot and moved to another window before they could see him. He fired his rifle once more, but missed. The Wolves were like headless flies, shooting in all directions without any organization. Moreover, they were surrounded. The fire was aimed at them from three sides. Were they truly the ones to blame?
Ben put the bullet in his rifle and aimed again, looking for Manny. He was the main target and the only person Ben really wanted to shoot. And kill.
The man was nowhere to be seen.
At the sound of footsteps on his right, Ben jerked and instinctively fired his rifle at the spot. The man who was running towards him avoided the bullet by hiding behind the round pillar in time. The bullet left a mark in the old, cracked concrete.
"I told you I'll break your bones when I find you!" Manny taunted, repeating his rifle, Ben could hear. His voice was confident, as if he had already won the battle. "One by one, pendejo!"
Ben calmly looked scoped the situation he was in. He had the advantage of the wall he used as a cover, but Manny had a better weapon, and probably more ammunition. While Ben could fire one shot, Wolf would fire at least four from his semi-automatic rifle. Soldier's footsteps were audible in the distance as he approached. Ben peeked into the rest of the room twice, but couldn't see where the soldier was hiding. His fingers were sweating as if the rifle could slip out of his hands if he wasn't careful enough, and uncertainty was eating away at him as he tried to figure out where the Wolf might be.
On his toes, Ben began to move along the wall, his back pressed against the cold surface. His mouth was closed, so as not to let out a sigh that would betray his position. The shooting continued outside. He didn't have time to think about it, nor about Ellie. A sudden twitch in the behind the corner caught his attention. Almost at the same moment, the room was filled with the sound of gunfire.
Ben ran stooped until he reached the nearest cover in the form of a shattered remains of the wall. Each next breath was faster than the previous one, and the heart threatened to explode. Ever since he had met him, Ben had to run away from Manny. He jumped with his hands tied in the rapids to escape him. He fled through the park from him as dozens of soldiers shot from behind. He was tired of running away.
The sound of changing the rifle magazine betrayed Manny's position. Without hesitation, Ben jumped over the wall and aimed in that direction. He fired one shot quickly, but missed. The soldier jumped to the side just barely in time, and the bullet hit the wall behind him.
Quick footsteps echoed through the room until Ben reached the man he intended to kill. Manny looked at him wide-eyed, holding the cartridge in one hand, apparently intending to put it in the rifle. Ben outstretched his rifle to shoot again, to end it all. I got you now.
Click. He was out of ammo.
For a brief, the briefest moment, Ben froze. Not now! Anytime but now! Not allowing himself to lose the advantage of surprise, he attacked. The soldier deftly evaded when Ben swung his rifle, though. Manny threw the rifle aside and rushed at Ben with a clenched fist. Whether Ben was simply careless or too slow, he could not know, but he felt a dull pain in his cheek when the older soldier buried the fist in his face. Ben fought the boys in Jackson often enough not to let this rock him and quickly retaliated with a blow that nearly knocked Manny off his feet. Ben intended to repeat the blow from a moment ago, but Wolf anticipated that, and bent down just in time to dodge Ben's fist, which flew over his head in a semicircle.
The difference in their skill was obvious as day and night. Taking the opportunity, Manny rushed forward and kicked Ben in the stomach. The latter writhed and let out an angry moan. For a moment, Ben staggered towards Manny, but the soldier roughly pushed him away, and buried fist in his face once again.
Ben fell face down on the floor, then suffered another blow to the stomach that turned him on his back. For a moment he could see Manny's face, stiff with rage. The soldier bled from his nose, but only so much that the blood immediately clotted on touch with Ben's clothes. Before Ben managed to get up, Manny grabbed him again, pressing his head to the floor, sitting on his torso to trap him with his weight. Ben squirmed wildly, but the dust from the floor entered his mouth with every inhalation, and he began to choke. He then dug his fingernails into Manny's hands, and even more upward, trying to grab his face. Eventually, he grabbed Manny by the neck, but the soldier punched him in the head to loosen his grip. His head was filled with the sound of a muffled ringing, and he began to lose consciousness.
His thoughts were stirred, but he knew he had to fight back. Gathering the last atom of strength in his body, he kicked off his back, as if doing a bridge pose. That feat knocked the soldier off Ben, who finally released his body and crawled as far away from him as possible. Manny rose back to his feet, wiping the blood dripping from his nose with his sleeve. His gaze met Ben's and the soldier grinned triumphantly, a military knife the length of Ben's forearm suddenly appeared in his right.
The sound of gunfire did not disturb them until that moment, when dozens if not more voices joined the battle outside. It was only at that moment that Ben remembered that Ellie was still outside.
Manny cursed something in Spanish as he turned his head toward the window that revealed the street. A Scar suddenly appears in the room, bursting through the open door, with a huge two-handed axe in his hand. Tall, bald, and with scars running across his cheeks from both edges of his mouth, a boulder of man crashed into Manny.
Why are Scars here?
For a few moments, Ben watched the two fight to the death. The Scar madly swung with his axe in wide and slow swings, but Manny deftly dodged each one. Although a smaller man, Manny was faster and more skillful, Ben concluded, at least for those few moments in which he witnessed his skill. Their duel ended as quickly as it started, and Manny was the winner. His military knife went through the bald man's chin, the bloody tip of the knife was visible on the top of his head. The soldier jerked angrily and pulled the knife from the dead man's head.
"Motherfucker!" Ellie cursed out of nowhere, and an arrow fliew over Ben.
A wooden arrow sank into Manny's left arm, just a bit below the elbow. The soldier growled at Ellie and almost instinctively broke the arrow sticking out of his hand. Intending to begin his third duel, Manny lifted his knife high, meeting Ellie's machete, above their heads, as the latter charged at him.
I gotta help her, Ben realized, getting back to his feet. His body was bruised by the beating he received. However, the fight was interrupted when more bald men burst into the building, seemingly out of nowhere. Could it be that the Scars attacked the Wolves, using the disarray that he latter found themselves in. As he ran toward Ellie, Ben pushed one Scar aside and reached for her. Ellie squirmed furiously as he tightened his grip around her arm and pulled her away from Manny who was battling the two Scars.
"We can't fight them!" he yelled at her, as more of the Scars ran into the building. Most of them carried melee weapons such as hammers, axes, and pickaxes. Some of them had bows and arrows, and even some firepower in the form of rifles and pistols.
"But Manny.." Ellie tried to speak, but Ben pulled her back to him and she finally regained her senses enough to start running after him. It wasn't hard to escape the Scars. By now, they were already skilled in running away from others, which was and was not a commendable fact. But it was still a virtue to know when to retreat and when to push forward. Two young people from Jackson skillfully ran through the hallways, stairs, rooms, avoiding the chasers intent on taking their lives. Finally, at a safe distance, when they could no longer clearly hear the sound of gunfire and screaming, he slowed his pace. Ellie imitated him, stopping when he stopped
"Your face.." Ellie said, suddenly appearing in front of him.
Responding to the sentence, Ben touched his face. His lip throbbed painfully, and his nose was filled with the smell of his own blood. The fingertips were soaked with blood.
"How bad is it?" he asked, his voice low.
Ellie sighed, "Your left eye will turn black, no doubt. Your nose and lip are bleeding. You need to clean it up."
"We don't have time for that. Tommy might still be out there." he complained, furrowing his eyebrows.
Ellie gave him a strict look in response, "Scars have swarmed the streets, like a smaller army. We need to hide first. They're still after us. That fucker Manny got away, though. Fuck."
"I thought I noticed two Scars surrounding him."
"They did, but he somehow got away. I saw him." she explained between gasps.
Which only means he'll be back, Ben thought wearily and shook his head, pushing the thought away.
Half an hour later, they found themselves in the apartment of a building by the shore. Ben allowed himself to sit on the sofa and take a break, hoping they were far enough away from the Scars. The shooting largely stopped when they entered the apartment, which was filled with old half-full boxes, and the boxes were filled with old things, clothes, photos. Whoever lived in this apartment was obviously planning to move. It didn't take much brainstorming to come to a conclusion as to why these people failed to relocate.
Ben couldn't stop thinking about Joel's brother. Did they find him? Is he dead? What if we're too late. We should go, we can't wait any longer. Damn it!
"This seems as a good spot." Ellie said, walking away from the window. "I could see some Scars down in the streets. If they come up here, we can ambush them."
Ambush them?, he didn't like the thought of it. How many more do we have to kill?
Reacting to Ben's silence, Ellie sat down next to him and looked at him in some strange way as if looking at someone significant. "You okay?"
He winced at her words and turned his head toward hers, "I am."
"You received quite a beating." she said through a sad smile. "Let me clean your face. I got some alcohol in my backpack."
Ellie gently cleansed the blood from his face using a cloth soaked in alcohol. Whenever the cloth touched a bruise or a cut on his face, he felt a painful tingling sensation. He moaned at almost every touch.
"Stop being such a baby." she berated him, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry." he replied through a weak smile, gritting his teeth trying to ignore the pain.
He was stunned to realize how close her face was to his. Her freckled face was only a few inches away from his, and large green eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. The old scar that slashed across her right eyebrow still decorated her face, but it seemed she received a new one that stretched along the length of her left eyebrow. The cut looked deep enough to leave the scar. He felt himself blush, but she didn't seem to notice. She was absolutely focused on cleaning the wounds on his face. At that moment, he wished he was Jesse. Jesse was never awkward with girls.
"There." she said triumphantly, putting away a cloth that had turned red. "Done and done."
"Thanks."
Ellie finally leaned back and took a deep breath, staring at the dirty ceiling. Her face took on such a shape as if she remembered again that revenge was the most important thing in the world. Then it suddenly lightened up a bit.
"You know.." she began, "Joel thought I had a crush on you."
He almost choked when he heard that. "What? Really?"
She smirked, still gazing at the ceiling, "Yeah. I mean, we used to hang together all the time. He teased me all the time."
Hearing that, he couldn't help but think that was really the case. They were literally together 24/7, he could remember other kids talking behind their backs as if the two of them were in some secret relationship. He found himself kind of wishing it was true back then. A sudden sense of guilt started to plague him. There he was, daydreaming about the past, while he never asked her what actually happened during that winter day.
"How did he die?"
There was silence after that question.
"Abby beat him to death with a golf club. She tortured him, then killed him right in front of me."
Shivers permeated him as he listened. Some fear crept into his bones. Is that the same Abby I fought alongside with? Ellie..
"Why did she kill him?" he felt he was asking too many questions, and wished to stop. "You don't have to talk about him if you don't feel like it." He added in the end.
"It's okay." Ellie said, but her voice was different, lower. "Joel had many enemies. He was a smuggler, and he.. killed some Fireflies over some.. goods."
Fireflies, he thought and stared at the ceiling, in the same manner as Ellie.
"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this." he said, his voice low and sad. "I know how it's like to lose.. someone important to you."
Silence again.
"I think I know now how you feel."
He raised an eyebrow, "About what?"
"About Tom."
He looked away. Ben never liked talking about his brother.
"You still blame yourself for his death. I blame myself for Joel's."
"Ellie.. you didn.."
His eyes widened when he looked at her. Ellie's chin was trembling. Tear rolled down her cheek. Ellie was crying. Ellie. The toughest and the most fearless girl he had ever known. She wiped away a tear abruptly, almost angrily. He needed to do something, to make her feel better. Jesse would know what to do. Why the hell am I thinking about Jesse?!
Instinctively, his right hand lifted on its own and Ben embraced Ellie who began to sob. Tears were rolling down her cheeks in thin streams, but she didn't let out a single sound. She just relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder as he hugged her with his right, stroking her head gently. Few sentences crossed his mind, but he never uttered them. Silence was what the both of them needed.
I think I know now how you feel, that sentence never left his head. Tom's death was his fault, and he'll forever be guilty for it. Him alone.
Ben, is it raining?, he remembered Tom's last words and felt a sting in his eyes.
