Chapter 20 – Scorch
I don't know how, I don't know why, but she was alive. Abby was still fucking breathing, and in Santa fucking Barbara! Was it all for nothing? Did Tommy and Ben die for nothing?
No, no, Ben may not be dead, but we still haven't found him. We've searched the city in its entirety, took us weeks, but no signs of him. We keep meeting more and more former Wolves.. had to kill some. Those that we didn't kill told us more about the fall of WLF. More than once we've heard about a certain madman who caused all the chaos that destroyed WLF from within.
With no signs of Ben, we depart Seattle for Santa Barbara. Perhaps he's there, that's our only hope and only lead. Or maybe he's been dead all this time.. no, I don't want to think about that. There was a boat on the marina, we took it and sailed south along the coast.
I feel sorry for what I've done to Dina. I am a terrible person, but I have to see this through. It can't be for nothing, she has to die. I have to kill her, I will kill her!
We are in California, weather is so much warmer than in Seattle. I don't have to wear Joel's jacket because of the warm weather and bright sun. I even got a tan. Emily opened up a bit, she said she wants to kill them. Though, I can see a spark of doubt in her eyes. After all, she is his sister. I keep thinking about Jesse. He must still be mad at me for not asking him to go with me. He was out on patrol and I didn't plan on waiting. Every second counts, and god knows I've wasted too many. Most important, I don't want JJ to grow up without his dad.
Santa Barbara must have been a beautiful once, before all.. this. It still kinda is. The orange tint of the setting sun makes for a quite beautiful scenery, I wish I could paint.. The first day in Santa Barbara was uneventful, though I did find a boat anchored at the beach. It might've belonged to Abby, I don't know.
Next day, Emily and I spent the most of the sunlight exploring. Four runners and two clickers. That's all we found. Santa Barbara looks like a ghost town. Is she really here? Sometimes I..
"Still writing?" Emily asked, glancing over her shoulder at Ellie who was dragging herself behind her.
Ellie stopped writing midsentence and looked at Emily, "Yeah.. I'm done, though. I'll finish later."
"You write a lot." she continued, holding the semi-automatic rifle firmly in her hands. The weapon once belonged to a former member of WLF, one Emily killed herself. She didn't enjoy the deed, but she was far less shook than her brother usually was.
"It helps me." Ellie shortly explained, not intending on going on further about it.
"Fair enough."
Compared to other places of the world, Santa Barbara wasn't much different concerning the fundamentals. The overgrowth had completely taken over, the grass had coiled its way through the cracks in the concrete, vines had stretched up and along the walls of one-story houses that stretched along the both sides of the road. Occasionally, they'd walk past a tree that stood straight and unbranched, its canopy flowering at the very top of it. The sight of the tree summoned a tropical scene in one glance. Ellie had never seen the tree like this, and it was just one of many things she came upon for the first time in her life. California was different from the rest of the states. The white blanket of cold would have already covered Jackson at this time of the year, yet in California, there wasn't a single hint of the snow.
The road that led forward disappeared, houses were becoming a rarer sight and the landscape turned into a sandy terrain, the beach. The cool water lapped at her feet when she took her sneakers off, fizzing and bubbling like brine. Even though the orange sun was beating on her face, beaming in her eyes, Ellie couldn't help but smile as the wind caressed her face. Waves ahead roared and rolled down, crashing onto the shore with a soft hiss, peeling away at the deep bronze sand beneath her feet. She'd jump in for a dip without hesitation, but she had other things on her mind. Find Ben. Kill Abby. Find Ben. Kill Abby. A chill suddenly surged through her as she recalled the thoughts. The marram grass brought life to the sandy dunes, moving in the wind as so many tiny green flags.
"It's beautiful." Emily commented. Ellie could feel her craving to sit down and indulge in the view. "The sunset."
Ellie smiled when she remembered something funny, "Whenever I read one of Ben's stories, he'd pay special attention to sunsets he described so vividly."
Emily smiled too, albeit her smile was sadder than Ellie's, "Yeah, he was such a sucker for sunsets."
"You know.." Ellie started, eyes lowered onto the bubbling water that splashed her feet, "..he might still be out there."
"That's why we came here, right?" Emily Walker replied with a hopeful smile. "Ellie, why did you invite me to go with you?"
Ellie raised an eyebrow, "Ben's your brother."
"Yes, but there were more obvious choices.. like Jesse. He's one of your closest friends."
"Jesse has a son to worry about." Ellie sighed, thinking about Dina and her Potato. She missed them terribly. "I don't want JJ to lose his father. You seemed an obvious choice back then." Back then.. yeah. If you die, Emily, I'll be in even deeper shit than I already am.
There was a flash in the distance, over the palm trees that rose high at the edge of the beach, followed by a thunderous sound of explosion. It was too far to pose any danger to the two of them, but Ellie found herself holding a revolver, another heritage from Joel.
"What the fuck was that?"
Emily lowered the rifle that she instinctively outstretched, "I don't know. It was one hell of an explosion, though."
The air was then filled with noises of gunfire that echoed between the buildings, reaching all the way to two girls that stood on a beach.
"Seems like a fight." Emily stated the obvious.
"Wanna check it out? We might find some clues about Abby and Ben?"
"Yeah."
For the first time since they arrived in Santa Barbara, something actually happened. Deep inside, Ellie knew it was a big reach that Ben was there, but she didn't have any other clues. There were no signs of him in Seattle, she didn't know where to look elsewhere. The straps of her backpack cut deep into her naked shoulders, and her white tank top was drenched in sweat. Even though it was the setting December sun, the weather was still warm in the evening and hot during the afternoon, as compared to the chilly weather of mountainous Wyoming.
Following the cessation of gunfire, the scream tore through the silence that briefly took over. A figure of a man emerged through the window of a house to Ellie's side, breaking the glass and falling over. Ellie felt the hand pulling her down behind the low stone fence of the said house. What's happening? Who is he?
The man rose back to his feet and continued to run, visibly with a difficulty. Man limped because of the glass shard that cut deep into his leg.
"Aim for his legs, I want him alive!"
A gunshot exploded and the man fell once again. Four individuals appeared from the house, surrounding the fugitive. To Ellie, they looked like bandits, and well-equipped ones at that. They wore body armor. A white skull was painted on the body armor, and a snake surrounded it from behind.
"I won't go back." the man in ragged clothes cried, crawling away from them, both of his legs wounded. Another gunshot was fired as a warning which was more than enough to silence him temporarily. Then Ellie noticed his hand reaching the back of his pants, pulling out a gun.
"Is that a gun?" one of the chasers, a bald man, asked in shock. "He's got a gun!"
"You will all die!" the man screamed for one last time before pulling a trigger, aiming at the temple. Bullet exploded through the side of his head. Ellie's eyes widened when the dark blood sprayed the brown grass below him, and his body collapsed with a thud.
"Shit!" the bald man cursed loudly, kicking a stone that hit the fence behind which Emily and Ellie hid.
"Where the fuck did he get a gun?" a female survivor asked furiously. "Search the area, there might be more of those fucking Fireflies."
Fireflies? He was a Firefly?
At first glance, the bandits reminded Ellie of the WLF, and their Trespassers killed on sight doctrine. But the fact that Firefly rather took his own life than allowed himself to be captured told Ellie that these people, whoever they were, were probably even worse than the WLF. She glanced over her shoulder at Emily, whose face was wrinkled with worry. She gave her a nod, a sign that they were going to fight. Then she whispered, "One by one." which meant that they'd take a stealth approach. Four enemies separated, each in a different direction. One went back to the house, the other two searched the yard, and the last one, the bald man, was approaching Ellie and Emily. She didn't dare peek over the fence, but his footsteps were audible enough to reveal his location. The moment she saw the tip of his shoe, Ellie lunged at him from her cover, already switched to the switchblade that flashed towards his throat. The tiny blade cut deep, and the bald man gurgled blood with his eyes wide open. He tried to speak, but instead only spat blood at Ellie's face. She pulled the knife out before he fell to the ground, dead. The others didn't notice, but they would soon. Thus, the two of them moved from the fence to the car that was in the yard, parked there over two decades ago. The rust had eaten up the most of its exterior.
"Fuck!" a female cried when she noticed the corpse of her companion. "Neil is dead!"
"What? How the fuck did that happen?" said another bandit from the yard, running up to her.
"Someone's with us, stay vigilant."
Ellie's fingers played with the handle of her revolver, just waiting for the opportunity to tighten the grip, pull the weapon out and shoot. Bandits kept together, carefully searching through the yard. The way they moved, the panic that radiated out of them, proved that they were used to being the hunters, and not the prey. Ellie and Emily could easily mow them down with their guns, but Ellie wanted to kill them silently. No need to draw unnecessary attention, she concluded and nodded to Emily once again. She understood the hint, they would take out one of them each, preferably both at the same time. The good hunter always waits for the right moment to strike, just as Joel taught her.
The two approaching enemies whispered something to each other, Ellie could see their mouths moving as she peeked through the foggy windows of the car from the old world. She listened for their steps through the grass, and could hear the barely audible muffled noises. Three fingers of her left fist outstretched, as if she was doing a countdown. Enemies made a step forward, and one finger curled up. Second finger curled up as soon as they made another step, leaving the thumb as the sole finger left outstretched. With a deep breath, she clenched her fist and in a mere second, the two girls jumped out of their covers, knives flashing in their hands. The man and the woman did not have time to react. All they could afford was a wide-eyed surprised expression before the cold metal ended their lives at the same time.
"You good?" Ellie asked the blonde girl when she pulled out her knife from a man's throat.
Emily nodded, carefully wiping her knife off of the woman's shirt. "Yeah."
"There's one more."
"I know."
The last one was in the house, just as they suspected. Ellie and Emily waited for him on the porch, each standing on one side of the door, waiting for him to come out.
"Neil! Danielle!" a voice called out from the hallway, followed by loud sound of footsteps banging against the rotten parquet. "Where are.."
A fist to the face silenced him and knocked him on the ground. Blood was pouring from the broken nose, and he stared at Ellie and Emily who stood above him. His left tried to reach for the gun in his belt, but Emily kicked it so violently that Ellie thought she broke all his fingers.
"I wouldn't recommend that." blonde said and crouched next to him, pressing the knife against his throat. "Who are you?"
"Wh-what do you mean who a-am I?
Emily pressed the knife harder, releasing a thin rill of blood. "I mean, who are you?! Why did you kill that man?"
The man seemed to swallow the lump that had been stuck in his throat before he began explaining. "Please don't kill me, I won't.."
"Speak the fuck up!" Ellie yelled and kicked him in the ribs. The man turned over and coughed in pain, trying to regain his ability to breathe normally.
"We are Rattlers, we uh-um-we captured some Fireflies. Their group is fighting back."
Fireflies.. they still exist? "Where do you keep them?" Abby might be there.
He started crying, but Ellie couldn't feel pity. She was infuriated instead and wanted to hurt him more. How many did you hurt and kill, you motherfucker?!
"They're in the oceanside mansion, round tall building." He sobbed between words. Ellie picked up his rifle, which had a legit suppressor instead of improvised ones she had to make while she was in Seattle. "Please don't kill me. I swear I'll go far away, I won't ki-"
Ellie pulled the trigger before he could finish, shooting him right in the head with his own rifle, pinning it to the floor. Smoky snakes rose from the suppressor, there was almost no sound when the gun fired. Emily stared at her, shocked.
"You didn't have to do this."
"He's a scum."
"If you say so." she replied and turned to walk away. "You wasted a bullet."
Ellie frowned and remained quiet. Getting into a fight with Emily was the last thing she needed right now. Round tall building, she repeated when they left the house, forcing herself to remember. Abby could be there.
"He said Fireflies are fighting back." Emily said after a while. "We might get caught in the crossfire of their war."
Ellie scoffed, "It makes no difference. Our goal is still the same." Find Ben. Kill Abby. Fireflies still exist. That fact troubled her and she didn't know what to feel.
Darkness slowly fell upon the world, depraving it of the light. Batteries on Ellie's flashlight were probably nearing the end of their lifecycle, but she ought to have enough for one more night. Santa Barbara wasn't as big as Seattle, but it was still a place too big to explore in one or two days. That Rattler mentioned oceanside mansion, which meant that they had to stick to the beach, and they'd find it eventually.
"Is that the place?" Ellie asked, pointing towards a building that looked as the one the dead Rattler described.
"Could be." Emily said. "Let's get closer."
Chilliness slowly crept into the evening air, even while the sun was beating on their backs. Two girls watched the supposed base of the Rattlers posted up on the second floor of the two-story house on the opposite side of the street, thus watching from a height which allowed them for a better observation. That Rattler wasn't lying. There were guards patrolling the area all around the resort, which was a tall, round building just as he described. Though, the base was much larger than just that building. It covered the whole street block, basically. To get to the resort, they had to pass through an area surrounded by a fence of barbed wire which was regularly patrolled by men and their hounds, that immediately reminded Ellie of Seattle. In many ways, Rattlers seemed similar to the WLF, but Ellie feared they were even worse.
Once, and if they could get into the area surrounded by the barbed wire, the two of them would have to either sneak or fight through the men guarding the area, only to enter an even more secure area, which led to the exterior of the resort, a complex of houses and smaller buildings. Ellie tried to see the resort backyard, but couldn't see much.
"There's so many of them." Emily said, kneeling below the window. "Dozens, if not more."
"It's a fucking base. We can't just walk in there."
Older girl frowned and walked away from the window. "What should we do then?"
Ellie stopped observing to think. What would be the smartest approach? Fighting their way through was not an option. Rattlers would swarm them and shoot them down like birds. Stealth was always an option, but even that approach was questionable because security seemed too high. Yet, they couldn't be sure just by observing through a window.
"I have an idea." Ellie said after a while. Emily looked hopeful. "Stay here and watch. Maybe you'll see something important. I'll circle around the perimeter, see if there are any weak spots through which we could enter."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Yeah. I'll be back soon."
Few minutes later, Ellie found herself slipping between the houses, protected by the darkness of the night. The moon was still young, and she knew she had a whole night to search for weak spots. She saw the main gate that led inside the Rattler base. It was a simple metal gate which seemed locked at all times. There was one man who looked like a gatekeeper, judging by the ring of keys that hung by his belt. The fence surrounding it was too tall to jump over quickly, and warped in a barbed wire. Flashlights were hung on the tall poles, enlightening the streets surrounding the base. It would be hard to approach without being seen. Perhaps the other side isn't as secure, she thought and walked back the way she came from, but took a sharp turn to her right, now going along the fence which was on her right and separated from her by houses that were built in a row, following the neighboring street block.
Through slits between the houses, which were built literally next to each other, she observed the fence. Occasionally, she'd spot a guard patrolling the perimeter. There was no way he could see her behind the houses, in the darkness, but she still felt as if his eyes could spot her if he looked in the right direction.
The backside of the base wasn't looking much different. The fence remained the same, flashlights enlightened the street, though, there was a strange dark gap between the lights. When she strained her eyes and approached a bit clsoer, she noticed a small opening, as if one bar of the black metal fence was.. missing. She knew right away the spot they could enter through. There were only two guards in that particular area. It was a good spot.
"Found the spot." Ellie exclaimed when she got back to Emily. Blondie nodded to her. "You saw anything interesting?"
"Nah. Just a couple of guards changing shifts or something. They don't leave their base, at least not tonight. They're densely packed, as if expecting an attack."
"Well that explosion few hours ago was somewhere, they might even expect it. Well, that's all we got. Let's go."
Ellie managed to squeeze through the gap with ease, having to put her backpack through it beforehand. Emily, on the other hand, struggled a bit. After all, she was taller than Ellie, and the gap was quite tight. Grass rose tall around them, high enough to hide them if they lied down. Houses appeared in front of them, houses that seemed to be just shadows, deprived of the moonlight.
The alley between the houses was barely wider than their shoulders, but it led between high walls behind which were gardens instead of houses, until it cut through another, and in that alley Ellie stopped Emily. A male figure with a rifle in his hands passed just outside the alley, and stopped right in front of them. Both girls were in the darkness of the alley, protected from the light that radiated from the lamp in man's hand. It's just a routine check, nothing else, Ellie tried to reassure herself and tried to stand as still as possible. Her left hand covered her mouth. The man could not see them, but any sound would give their position away in that distance. After a couple of moments, guard walked away and Ellie allowed herself to take a deep breath, her heart was already pounding too hard. He never turned to look in the alley. Ellie considered killing him, but the risk was too high. Someone else might've been near, someone who could've seen what she did.
The plan was to get into the resort. That Rattler they interrogated mentioned captured Fireflies. One of them could be Abby. I will kill her, but not before she tells me about Ben. She felt Emily's eyes on her, and when she turned to her, she saw her face taking on an unease look. There was no point in wasting time. With a mutual nod, girls moved on.
Stealthily, they moved through the alleys, evading the guards. The progress was slow, but it was the best they could do. Each time a Rattler would appear wandering alone, separated from the others, was an opportunity. And they used the said opportunity to kill them, but only when having a suitable hiding spot to cover the crime scene. Windows of the houses were closed, but there was one that was left open, and they slipped into the building, becoming one with the shadows. Through the windows of the living room, they observed what appeared to a central area of the outer base. There was a clearing in front of the resort, a tall round building that stood tall at the end of the clearing. A stone fence, too tall to climb, stood around it. Without a rope, they would never be able to climb over it. But the fence wasn't the thing that made Ellie's eyes widen of shock and disgust. In the middle of the clearing, which was once a street approach to the resort, four metal poles were drilled into the road. Four humanoid figures were chained to it, staggering around, swinging their arms wildly, clicking.
"What the fuck?" Ellie couldn't hide her surprise and exchanged glances with Emily, who was as shocked and disgusted as she was. "Why are they keeping fucking clickers around?"
Through the gate that led into the yard of the resort, two men appeared, tall and muscular, Rattlers, dragging a prisoner by his elbows. The man was alive, but there was no fight in him. He was skinny, and his clothes were dirty and tattered. A group of other Rattlers, at least twenty of them, formed around the poles, chanting and cheering at the sight. The man suddenly became alive with emotions as horror and screams took him over. Rattlers threw him between the poles, where clickers surrounded him. He screamed and wept as they tore him apart, ate his skin, his flesh, his brain. Ellie heard Emily vomiting next to her, and she couldn't blame her. She felt the lump in her throat as well.
"They're fucking sick. Fuck."
Emily wiped her lips with her shirt and straightened up. "Let's finish what we came for and leave this place as soon as possible."
"I agree-"
Ellie nearly fell backwards when the resort lighted up in the fire of the explosion. The pillar of fiery smoke and dust rose from the place where the bomb was dropped. It was a powerful explosion, far more powerful than anything Ellie could've imagined. It's a pre-outbreak bomb, she concluded as she backed away from the window.
Rattlers in the clearing rushed through the gate upstairs towards the resort panicly, leaving the clickers to furiously struggle to break free, already done feasting on the corpse.
"What the hell happened?" Emily asked, pulling out her rifle.
Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. Fireflies? That Rattler mentioned they were fighting back."
"I don't know and I don't care. This is our opportunity to get inside, the best one."
Ellie nodded. "Yeah, we can use the distraction."
I'll find you, and I will kill you. You won't be so lucky this time around, Abby. I will kill you, thought roamed around in her head as she sneaked around. Rattlers had dispersed from the clearing and disappeared into the resort, where the gunfire exploded, signs of a battle. Ellie stopped before the chained clickers, who hadn't noticed her yet, instead focusing their attention and aggression towards the sounds of the fight.
"Ellie." Emily whispered to her, as if she was afraid someone might hear her. The clickers didn't seem to hear them yet. "What are you doing?"
Glancing over her shoulder at the older girl, Ellie raised her hand slightly, motioning her to wait. Clickers looked as intimidating as ever. Their faces were gone, being replaced by a flowering fungus that split their heads in two.
"Ellie."
She got down on one knee, observing the chain that bound them to the ground. Clickers could turn around and surprise her at any moment, but she had to find a way to release them somehow. They could prove to be an even more valuable distraction. Then she pulled out the rifle she took from a Rattler. The noise of the battle was overpowering any other sound, just what she needed. She backed away, and outstretched the automatic rifle.
"Stay back." she whispered to Emily who backed away, and fired several shots, muffled by the suppressor. With a breaking sound, the clickers broke free, four of them, and rushed towards the resort in a staggering motion, hungry for human flesh. Chains that hung around their necks dragged on the ground, leaving a trail in the dirt.
Before going into the resort's backyard, Ellie and Emily circled the perimeter of the outer part of the base, encountering and freeing several more infected, doing so with caution, as if to not get noticed by the flesh-eating monsters. Doing so deprived her of half the bullets from the magazine, but she didn't regret it. Only after being finished with freeing the infected, they ventured into the fray, the resort area that had long since exploded into a real battle. The two of them weren't noticed yet by the ever more appearing Rattlers – there seemed to be no end of them – but they were hard pressed by the Fireflies that advanced slowly through the resort. The yard was full of corpses. Ellie was assured that the Fireflies were deadly sharpshooters. The body armor worn by the Rattlers did not save them from the bullets that blew into their heads. Turning her head to the side, she saw the stone fence of the resort, or what was left of it. The Fireflies most likely penetrated there, leaving a bloody trail behind. The closer the corpses were to the destroyed fence, in worse shape they were. A bald Rattler, with tattoos on his arms, was crawling on the ground, barely dragging himself, leaving a bloody trail behind. Blood leaked out of his legs, which were blown to bits from the knees down. He uttered something to Ellie, reaching with his hands to her, hopeless look in his eyes.
"Oh my god." Emily said when she saw the scenery, covering her mouth as if she was going to puke again.
"H-hel-help m-m-m…" the cripple uttered, just barely.
The look Ellie gave him was not the look of pity. How many people have you captured, tortured and killed? She looked him right in his eyes and sent a bullet into his head, ending his misery. "You don't deserve anyone's help." she hissed and moved past his corpse. Ellie saw the bloody scene of the battle taking place inside through the resort window. On one side of the lobby were the Rattlers, and on the other the Fireflies. They're really here.. Fireflies. Their dog tags swung wildly left and right as the moved, logo of the Fireflies visible on the patches sewn onto their sleeves. Fireflies were on the offensive, advancing step by step, slowly but surely. But Abby was not there, thus the lobby was not a room of interest.
Instead of going in, she walked around the circular building, towards another exit. There was a pool in that particular area of the yard, which was also overgrown with the grass. Two runners were chained at the bottom of it. Three Rattlers were posted up on the porch on which was a side entrance to the resort. Two dogs stood stiff by their side, Rattlers kept them at their side by chains connected to their collars.
"Shit!" Ellie cursed when a bullet swished right past her head. She jumped into the pool, and ducked to protect herself from the gunfire that was opened at them.
"Motherfucker!" she shouted and rose briefly, exposing herself to shoot at the Rattlers on the porch. She had never fired a barrage of bullets with the automatic rifle before, and her aim was horrible, missing everything. But the gunfire she opened provided a cover for Emily to throw a makeshift bomb she made a few days ago. When the bomb exploded, limbs were sent flying around, bloodying the walls of the porch. The runners entered the frenzy, trying their hardest to reach Ellie, outstretching their bloody rotting arms towards her. She didn't even look at them, ignoring them to climb out of the pool, advancing towards the porch. She walked past remains of Rattlers and their dogs, limbs scattered all around. She swallowed a lump in her throat and took a deep breath. The door led into the dining area, which was filled with overturn tables to be used as the covers.
"What happened out there? I heard an explosion." a voice said.
"I don't know. Go and check it out." replied another.
When a Rattler appeared before Ellie and Emily, he didn't hide his surprise when he saw them and the bloody mess they left behind. His head twitched backwards when Ellie shot him in the head. As if someone suddenly pressed a button, Tommy was before her. He looked at her, his face sad and hopeless, before being shot in the head and killed. A trigger. Ellie inhaled deeply and fell on her knees, back in reality. Fuck! Not now!
"Ellie?" Emily called her name, dragging her under one of the overturned tables. Rattlers were firing at them.
"I'm okay." she said and shook her head. Bullets were piercing the wooden table, one scratching Ellie on the arm. Emily threw another bomb, scattering the three Rattlers that were shooting at them. Using the opportunity, Ellie mowed down two of them before the third one escaped.
"Don't go out on me now! I need you." Emily shouted at her, trying to overpower the noise of the gunfire in the neighboring room.
"I won't." Ellie said, unsure if Emily heard her. The death all around was getting to her. I can't be shook now. Not now. Not now!
The Rattler that attempted an escape was sent flying back into the room. A tall man appeared through a doorstep, clutching a shotgun in his hands. He looked at Ellie and Emily with a visible confusion on his face. Then, Ellie spotted a dog tag that hung around his neck. Firefly. Soldier hesitated, unsure if the two girls were his enemies. Deciding not to take any chances, Ellie emptied the half of her clip into him instinctively, killing him instantly. Emily gasped next to her.
"I wasn't sure if he was gonna.." she said, catching Emily's gaze "It's over now. Let's go."
I killed a Firefly, she thought, immediately remembering Joel and what he'd done to save her.
Next few moments passed in a blur. Ellie and Emily fought their way through the resort. Stealth was not an option anymore. The truth was, it never was, not in this hellhole. Explosion of makeshift bombs, bullets and other weapons exploded all around, combined making for a terrible mix of noises. Both men and women screamed in pain clutching their grievous wounds as they clung to remain in the land of the living. Rattlers stood high defiantly in the face of the attackers, but Fireflies proved to be too much for them, scattering them away and conquering the lobby.
"The infected have gone loose!" a voice said in a distance. Screams followed afterwards. Fireflies had stopped their offensive to defend themselves from the infected that flanked them. Ellie never wanted to kill Fireflies, but she knew she had no other choice. When the clickers and runners attacked the Fireflies that had just won the battle in the lobby, Ellie joined the fray, followed by somewhat doubtful and hesitant Emily. Ellie threw a pipe bomb of her own which had blown two Fireflies to pieces. Confusion followed, and the Fireflies' numbers, reduced by the Rattlers, were easy picking for two girls that used the element of surprise. To reach Abby, she had to go through them. Through both Fireflies and Rattlers. To go through them, she had to kill them. To embrace death that was consuming her with each next kill.
Ellie didn't count how many she had killed, except that she knew her kill count was much higher than Emily's. Several times she caught the blonde girl glancing at her sideways, but she didn't care. I have to find Abby. I have to kill her, was all that occupied her thoughts. Soon, she became numb to the killings she did.
She shot at her enemies. She cut them with her switchblade. She swung axes and machetes into their heads and bodies. She was bathed in blood. She had turned into the death itself.
Killing Fireflies in the lobby allowed Rattlers, those who remained, to turn the battle in their favor. Resort yard turned out to be the next stage of battlefield, but she was gone by then. Ellie cleaned her path through the kitchen and the second floor, entering the secondary building through balcony that connected the two. Two Rattlers nearly killed her, she was shot in her left arm. Emily saved her, killing one and crippling another.
"Prisoners." Ellie gasped at him from above, pinning him down to the floor with her foot. "Where are they?"
Man's wide-eyed expression said it all. He was terrified, as if staring into the eyes of death itself. "Cellar. They're in-in the cellar."
Ellie nodded and shot him in the head as if he was nothing. No hesitation. Death. Killing. I have to kill Abby.
They entered the entertainment room. Round tables with poker chips and cards were scattered across the room. Ellie staggered forward, exhausted and wounded, but determined. A woman sat on the floor, leaned against the wall. She was trembling of fear. The body armor had a white skull with a snake painted on it. Rattler's flag. A baseball bat, bloody, was lying next to her. Woman unknowingly raised her head, noticing two girls in front of her. She was older than Ellie.
"Please." she mumbled, perhaps more to herself. "I don't want to be a part of this."
Emily pulled Ellie's arm to drag her away, but Ellie resisted, pulling her arm away. She picked up the baseball bat and examined it as if it was a weapon of such mastercraft.
"Not anymore.. I beg you."
First swing knocked her teeth out. She saw Joel. Second swing and she was knocked out cold. Tommy was shot in the head. Third swing was supposed to kill her. She didn't need to kill her, but she wanted. Ben was looking at her, but she couldn't see his face. The swing was stopped midway when Emily grabbed her wrist. "Ellie!"
"What?" Ellie stormed at her, radiating with fury.
"She's defenseless, broken!"
"I don't give a fuck!" Kill Abby. I have to kill her. I have to kill.
Emily pushed her away from the unconscious Rattler, baseball bat falling out of her hand.
"Look at yourself." Emily hissed through her teeth. "Did my brother went after a monster?"
An image flashed in Ellie's mind. Her, rushing through resort, killing everyone and everything on her path. Those who could fight and those who couldn't. Those who surrendered and begged for their life and those who fought for it. She lived in anger, so lost in that moment of torment and death. She was addicted to it. Whenever she thought of Abby, and the fact that she was close, the anger would come like an impossible build up steam, burning her on the way out, burning the ones on the receiving end. The ones who suffered dearly, the blood was on her hands.
She tried to live a happy life with Dina and JJ on the farm, but she couldn't. That life was an illusion. She was a monster. There was no happiness in this life. Not for her. Death was all that remained and she embraced it. Kill Abby. There was nothing else. And nothing else would ever be.
Before she knew it, she was going downstairs into the cellar, her destination, leaving Emily behind to face Fireflies that rushed into the room alone. The cellar was like a closet, only much larger. The walls were covered in shelves, and wherever she looked, she could always see it. Wine.
The shelves were covered in wine bottles, arranged unevenly. Rattlers probably drank the majority of it. The floor was covered in barrels, most likely empty, as was obvious by open tops and broken wood.
Deeper section of the cellar was turned into a prison. Metal bars were connected to the stone walls, making for one large cell, which was unlocked. Four people stood in front of it, kicking a Rattler that curled up on the ground. Other than that, the cell was empty. Ellie decided to tread lightly through the darkness of the cellar corridor, which seemed longer than it actually was, all while pressing her right hand against the bullet hole on her left arm.
Judging by the way they looked, skinny and all washed up, they were former prisoners who freed themselves or were freed by someone else. Every movement in the cellar stopped when they noticed her. Rattler that curled up on the floor moaned in pain, but other than that, there was silence. Ellie was unsure whether or not to raise her gun at them. They were dangerous.
"Abby." she uttered. "Do you know anyone named Abby?"
A man, taller than her, but also skinnier, approached her carefully but stopped when Ellie raised her revolver.
"Abby? Girl with the braid? Muscular?" he said insecurely, raising his hands and backing away. Ellie nodded. She didn't want to waste any breath on words.
"She asked about some kid with the scars and ran off to the pillars." man explained.
"The pillars?"
"Head down to the beach. You won't miss them." a woman that stood behind him explained.
Ellie stepped aside to let them through, and moved on only when they left the cellar.
The pillars on the beach, she told herself repeatedly, trying to walk, feeling depleted. Emily caught up to her when she made it outside, through the door that led outside. She was talking about something, complaining, but Ellie couldn't hear. All she could hear was a voice in her head that said Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. She staggered downhill, following the sandy path surrounded by palms, until she reached the final destination. The beach, engulfed in the light of the full moon. Pillars rose tall, scattered across the beach, surrounded by palms that created a shadow that span across the half of the beach, engulfing the sandy road completely.
"What the fuck?" even in the frenzy, she couldn't help herself but feel shock at the sight in front of her eyes. People were tied up to the poles, as if they were crucified. Their arms were tied up above their heads, and they stood on a small platforms beneath. It was a slow and painful death, especially during the midday scorch.
"Those monsters!" Emily cried out in anger. "They're fucking sick in the head."
She took a moment to look at bodies tied up above. Some were dead, some were still breathing, but just barely. There were men, women and even children. All of them shared the burns on their skin from Californian sun. Ellie heard a thud coming from the last row of the pillars. Body fell down on the sand. A kind voice and hushing followed. Cautiously, Ellie walked towards the figures in the dark, Emily following closely behind.
"It's gonna be okay. You're okay." a voice whispered in the distance. Ellie recognized two humanoid figures. One was lying on the ground seemingly motionless, and the other was kneeling above it, covering it with a jacket. The figure above was a woman, a muscular one. Long braid fell down her back.
The trigger. "Help me, Ellie!" Joel cried out somewhere out there. Ellie was desperate to push his voice back. Woman stood up and turned around, revealing her face.
"Is this her?" Emily asked, stepping into the light from the shadows of the palms.
Abby held a machete in her hand, staring daggers at Ellie. Ellie looked at her. Blood had soaked the black tank top under her arm where she was cut. Black drops dripped on the sand below her. Other than that, she looked healthy and strong, albeit she moved with a difficulty.
"It's you." Abby whispered. She sounded almost as if she was disappointed. And very tired.
Ellie couldn't move. She was right there, in front of her. Aim and shoot. That was all she had to do. She killed Joel. Kill her. Kill her! She wanted to kill her so much. She wanted to enjoy it. But..
"Ben." Emily said behind her.
Abby's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing his name.
Ben.. right, she realized as if that was something casual. I have to ask her before I kill her.
"I have to take him to the boats." Abby muttered, pointing at the figure behind her, but then Ellie outstretched her gun.
"I don't give a fuck. Speak. Do you know anything about Ben?"
Ben met Abby in Seattle and had supposedly left quite an impression on her. Abby smiled, almost histerically. "He killed Manny. My best friend died in that pit, yet your friend didn't."
Ellie's brain stuttered for a moment, but her eyes remain locked on Abby. Every part of her went on pause while her thoughts caught up. He survived?
Emily gasped behind her. "Where is he? Where's my brother?!"
Ellie outstretched her arm to stop Emily from going further towards Abby.
Abby looked away, struggling to retain her balance. "He survived, yeah. Then he was captured."
"Captured?" Emily asked, tears rolling down her cheeks, as if she didn't know the meaning of that word.
"And tortured."
Emily screamed.
"To death."
Time stopped.
Ellie held it back as long as she could. Then she let it go. The anger, the fury, the hate had consumed her. She saw him again. Ben, falling down in that pit. Ben, tortured, broken, deprived of life. But she couldn't see his face. A scream broke out, a cry of hatred, and Ellie lunged forward to kill the woman that took everything from her.
x
