The town of Amherst was a small community that had been deserted since the infection spread to Massachusetts. Every living soul within was either dead or living somewhere else. The only one left was Bill, a man Joel both feared and respected. Feared, because he was a survivalist who didn't give a crap about anyone other than himself. Respected, because he'd managed to keep himself alive for God knows how long. Anyone who'd held onto their sanity for all those years was clearly someone you didn't fuck with.
Personally, he preferred not to interact with someone of Bill's character. But Tess said they needed a car, and Bill was probably the only guy she knew who had one. Or at the very least, could fix one up.
As they approached the outskirts of Amherst, Ellie was starstruck by how big the town was. Joel reasoned she'd never seen anything outside of the city.
Tess slowed her pace. "Watch your step. Bill's got all kinds of nasty shit all over this dump. Bombs, tripwires, traps. They're meant to kill infected, but he doesn't care if you get caught in the crossfire."
As they walked the streets. Ellie seemed distracted by all the sights. The pizzeria, the record store, the garden shop. Joel felt tempted to put a leash on her so she wouldn't get lost.
Next to the record shop, there was a small alleyway. Tess held up her hand.
"Stop moving. There's something over there."
A runner, a man who had only just developed the infection, came running towards them when he tugged on an invisible wire. A sudden explosion ripped his body into tiny little pieces.
"That was a nail bomb, sweetie. So you follow my lead, understand."
Ellie shook her head. From there on out, everyone kept their eyes wide open for any more wires.
Too careful, in fact. While slipping through an old warehouse, Joel got his leg trapped in a snare that pulled him halfway upside down while simultaneously alerting every infected in the general area.
Tess tossed Joel her gun. "Ellie, help me cut him down. Joel, cover us!"
As they worked in vain to cut through the snare, Joel fired away at the zombies trying to eat him. Suddenly, a masked man appeared from nowhere and sliced through the rope with his knife.
With him and Joel providing covering fire, Ellie and Tess ran through an abandoned laundromat and into an old bar with thick boards over all of the windows.
As soon as the masked man returned with Joel, he pistol-whipped him while pulling out another gun, which he kept trained on the women.
"Are you infected? Who the hell are you people? How do you know about this place?"
As soon as he was distracted, Ellie grabbed a bottle and smashed it over his head. Joel then wrestled the gun out of his hands and pointed it at his head.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot!", he squealed. Removing his mask, he identified himself as Bill.
Tess walked up. "It's me, Bill. I'm here to cash in that favor you owe me for last time."