The girl dropped down into an alleyway, there were in fact two ways to go. She looked at both directions and checked for signs of the two she was tracking. She moved over to the barrier, dried blood across it, had to of been recent due to how dark it was.
"Cas...Pib", She called the two over, "I need you two to go this way, stick together, and keep on their tail, If this way doesn't take me to them I'll double back and come for you. You both need to look out for each other while I'm not here. Okay?" Pib responded wagging his tail, while Cas just stared at her owner.
"Go on then, I'll meet up with you two soon." She head down an adjacent alleyway, leading her to a fire escape, away from her goal. On the plus side, Cas and Pib were right on the group's tail, only a few feet away on a flooded street.
Joel and Ellie began treading through the water, he accidentally slipped into a deeper area of the water. He held out his hands for Ellie to stop following.
"It's too deep here for you and I can't make that jump." He turned his glance to where the hunters left the plank.
Ellie moved back and looked around, "If you get me up there, I can move that plank."
Joel swam forward in the water pass the trucks, "Wait here! Let's see where this goes."
Ellie shrugged and waited, there wasn't really anywhere for her to go. She spun around to look the way they gave, an uneasy sensation filling her. She felt as if she had eyes on her, on her and Joel, "Hey do you mind hurrying up?" She turned back to look at Joel, distracting herself with other things.
On the other side of the taxi that was held previously in Ellie's view, Cas and Pib were waiting closely, watching as they worked together. Cas's hair stood on end as she looked on and evaluated them.
Their female tracker on the other hand got the short end of the stick. It seems her luck was burnt out. She ran her hardest down the street taking a hard left across a small bridge. She could hear the engine of the truck behind her, as the mounted machine guns sent bullets through the air past her. She continued running, ducking down behind a turned over car to catch her breath as well as much needed cover.
Joel caught the sight of the driveby above him, thankfully he was far from view, "What the hell? Oh, this place is bad." He grabbed a wooden pallet and swam quickly back to where Ellie was waiting.
Ellie looked at him full of confusion, "What the hell was that all about?"
"Get on. We're cuttin' through the hotel." Joel shook his head, his voice was low as he disregarded her question.
She huffed, still confused as she accepted the fact that she wouldn't receive an answer, "Um...okay..."
"Set that plank like they did." Joel uses a floating pallet to move Ellie into position by the truck. He watched as she climbed up and pushed the pallet away.
"Alright. Now you just need to find a way up." Ellie grabbed the plank the hunter previously used and moved it into place, casually glancing over to the taxi once more, not seeing a single thing.
Cas and Pib had moved up, closer to the area the had first seen Ellie uneasy, waiting just behind some debris.
Joel looked around and found the open end of a trailer, he swam into it and came into a coffee shop, well, what used to be one.
Ellie's face cringed, "Oh, this place stinks."
"Yeah, wood's all rotten."
"Did you go to coffee shops a lot?" A curiosity had sparked in her, purely to know what life was like before this pandemic, before she had been born.
"I did. All the time." Joel climbed up out of the water and onto the trailer he had just swam through.
"And what would you get?"
"Just...just coffee." Joel shook his head, finding Ellie's questions to be a tad ridiculous.
Ellie stepped back outside, crossing the plank she laid out for the two of them, "Do you think those hunters are gone?"
"We're about to find out." Joel hopped down into the hotel and gave a quick all clear to Ellie, she followed in shortly after.
Cas knew she had to keep up with them, she ran hard towards the trailer, leaping up, her body majestically outstretched. She landed surprisingly quickly and quietly on top of the trailer. She went to run into the hotel, but Pib continued to bark at her. She started to pace, unsure to wait with Pib or move ahead and tail Joel and Ellie like she was told.
To their luck, her human companion was on her way, despite the trouble she was in. The armed vehicle had her stuck behind the tipped car, however the hunters hadn't realized what kind of person they were dealing with. Someone capable of the most unpredictable things, all because of one factor, she didn't know anything about herself. She realized how she could get away, she peeked around the far end of the car, the bridge was strong sprint from her. From what she could remember there was water below, so it was a safe fall. The armed truck didn't have the ability to move the gun that low. It was a hefty risk, she had to take if she wanted to catch up to the group she was determined to meet.
She took a deep breath to compose herself before setting her mind on the goal. She quickly grabbed a brick that sat a few feet away from her. She tightened the straps of her backpack so nothing came loose, she took it off and her jacket with it. Opening the bag she took the ammo boxes and wrapped them tightly in her jacket. She then placed it all back into her bag, securing the zipper once it was closed. She gripped the brick tightly and threw it as hard as she could at the gunner, booking it for the bridge, running as hard as she could towards the edge. She threw her sheathed sword over as soon as she reached the guardrail and stepped off shortly following it into the water below.
Immediately she surfaced, her face contorted to that of shock, the water was freezing, despite the clear day. It always got cold earlier on in the autumn of New England. She swam towards her companions upon seeing them. Her sword floated some distance ahead of her, thankfully the sheath kept it dry. She shivered as she stepped out of the water, the air chilled her to the bones, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She realized this wasn't the only time she'd have to be in the frigid, murky water. She glanced to where the plank was placed, seeing the open trailer lodged into the wall of the coffee shop.
"Come here Pib." She ushered her canine companion to step into the water, he reluctantly did as he was told, shivering as the cold water graced his underbelly.
She tossed her sword onto the trailer, along with her backpack, which remained decently dry, despite how long she was in the water and how wet she was. She quickly scooped Pib in her arms and stepped deeper into the water, holding Pib as she made her way to the open trailer.
She swam into the coffee shop, placing Pib onto the floor as soon as she got her footing. She nodded towards the low end of the trailer, stepping onto it, "Come on boy, we have to catch up with the others." She tread carefully across the plank, meeting Cas at the other side. As she waited on Pib, she picked her things up, going through her back to make sure nothing was as soaked as she was. Luckily barely any water had gotten in, and the water that had, saturated her jacket.
She quickly cracked her back, throwing her bag back on once everything was back in it. She tightened her gun holsters, sure enough wanting to check her pistols as soon as she could, however, it always seems like she only needs her sword.
She made her way to the open window, picking Pib up once again, it was too high a drop for a muscular dog with short legs. She jumped down into the hotel, greeted by a flooded area, only up to her ankles.
She let out a quick whistle, calling Cas to her as she walked around the room, petting Pib as she held him close. Cas paced around recognizing a faint scent in the air, it was vaguely familiar. She then directed her attention towards a ladder that was propped up against a scaffolding, Cas knew it was recently used, she could smell it.
Her companion came over and understood what Cas was getting at, "Come on you two." She scaled the ladder with Pib in her arms, placing him down at last. Cas worked her way up using the broken staircase.
"Hey, Cas, go ahead! Catch up with them, I'll be on your tail, Pib will keep with me. I have things to do." She sat down, taking her berettas out of either holster and removing the rifle out of the backpack. She sifted around the bottom of the bag, pulling out a rag and some WD-40. She took the makeshift carrying poncho off Pib, spreading it out on the floor, laying the guns on them. "Sit boy." He listened and watched as she began stripping down her sidearms first.
She first ejected the magazine and followed up with ejecting the bullet that resided in the chamber. After a short ten minutes she had both pistols disassembled. She soon came to realization, they were still clean from the last time she had cleaned them, only needing to dry a few parts. Shortly thereafter she had put them back together and stripped down her rifle, already cleaning it thoroughly.
An hour later Pib and his owner trekked through the hallways of the hotel, bodies left all over, plenty of evidence the man and girl she was tracking wasn't that far ahead. She expected Cas to have already caught up to them.
She came to a lobby area, elevator doors wide open, she stepped closer taking a peek inside. It there was an elevator stopped at the floor below her. If she wanted to she could jump down. She turned her gaze to the adjacent elevator shaft, spotting both Ellie and Joel. He was pushing Ellie up onto the floor above.
Their tracker called out, "Hey?!" Pib barked as well, quickly upon spotting them. Joel looked over but as soon as Ellie's weight left the elevator car the elevator shifted and fell down to the basement. As the elevator car fell, it made the water levels rise.
"Oh shit! Joel! Joel!" Ellie called out looking into the darkness.
Joel resurfaced in the water, "I'm alright. Are you okay?"
Ellie quickly shook her head, "No! You scared the shit outta me...I'm..I'm climbing down there, okay?"
"No! Stay there, I'll make my way up to you!" Joel began looking around the bottom of the elevator shaft, spotting a basement exit.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Ellie called out before turning her attention to the area where she had come from. Ellie couldn't see past the cables, however the girl that was watching them stared straight at her, surprised no words were spoken.
Ellie stepped away from the elevator, heading towards the ground floor.
An hour or so past, Joel made his way out of the basement through the maintenance hall. After stepping into the kitchen he rounded the corner, crouching down as soon as he spot a clicker. A gunshot fills the air, the clicker thrown to the floor, squirming around in a frenzy.
"It's down. Finish it!" A hunter called out into the kitchen.
"I got it." His ally walked by, sending a load of buckshot into the clicker's skull.
The first hunter showed some gratitude and nodded to his friend as they left the kitchen, "Nicely done. You bit?"
"Not today. You?"
"Not today. Alright...spread out and make sure we didn't miss any more of these fuckers." He directed his friend to stay in the kitchen while he continued to head out the doors.
On an awning above, his tracker was situated on a stool, aiming her sights at the hunters that were situated outside the kitchen. She couldn't get a clear shot of the hunter pacing between the pillars, however, there was a hunter sat between booths, spacing out. She lined his head in the crosshairs prepped to pull the trigger, only to quickly duck due to gunshots.
Joel was caught by a hunter as he strangled another. Gun shots filled the air, the girl peeked through the bars of the railing only to see Joel scrounging around. She didn't realize how quickly he dispatched the hunters.
He spots a ladder and quickly props it up against the wall it was contiguous to. As he tries climbing a ladder, a hunter kicks him off. He falls into a puddle of water, slightly disoriented. He went to draw his pistol, going to aim it at the hunter. The hunter drops down, kicking Joel over knocking the gun out of his hand. He held Joel under the water with all of his weight on his back. Joel shifted to the side elbowing the hunter in the face, as he rolled on top of him the guy threw a blind punch, putting Joel back into the water. The hunter has his weight on Joel's chest as he squeezes his neck. Joel reached out in the water, trying to pull the gun to him. He almost drowns before Ellie picks up his pistol and caps the assailant.
Joel takes a deep breath as soon as he is out of the water, he coughs as he looked to his right in shock. Ellie stood, surprised herself with a smoking gun in her hand.
"Man...I shot the hell outta that guy, huh?" She breathed heavy as she spoke.
"Yeah, you sure did." Joel composed himself and stood up.
"I feel sick." Ellie sat down on a chair, leaning over the floor, she's never killed someone like that. She wasn't even allowed guns back in the quarantine zone, even if she left it. This was a new experience for her, something she doesn't like at this moment.
The overwatching girl, looked on in shock. These two weren't like a normal group.
Joel was immediately filled with sudden anger, seeing someone else in Ellie. He got up snatching the pistol back.
"Why didn't you just hang back like I told you to?"
"Well, you're glad I didn't, right?" Ellie was surprised that was all he had to say.
Joel rubbed his temples, "I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid." He looked to his pistol, putting a bullet in the chamber.
"You know what? No. How about 'Hey, Ellie. I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me, thanks for saving my ass.' You got anything like that for me, Joel?" Ellie got in his face, frustrated that he doesn't regard her as anything other than a child. It almost seemed like it wasn't him, but how would she know, she's only been in his company for a short period of time.
Joel took a deep breath only to head towards the ladder. "We gotta get going."
"Lead the way." She was evidently irritated with him.
"We need to get back out. Find that bridge." He spoke as he climbed up the ladder, stepping into a rundown conference room.
Cas chuffed, notifying her companions she was back, they all found each other once more. The girl's eyes widened and hid behind the bar, seeing Joel and Ellie walk past the doorway. She peeked over the bar only to see him glance to Ellie and come towards the bar area. She ducked down again, shoving Cas and Pib into the double cabinet next to her. She pulled her knees close to her chest and breathed as slowly as she could manage. Joel approached the bar and took a glance at the countertop and cabinets, frowning since they were cleaned out. He tapped the counter in defeat, startling the girl on the other side.
"Damn, best look somewhere else then." He turned to head back towards Ellie. She hopped off the table she had sat on and walked towards the rundown stairs. Her and Joel jumped down, reaching a deserted ballroom. Ellie gravitates to a beach photo backdrop.
"Wow, look at that."
"That's a backdrop. People would take their pictures in front of it." Joel came up behind her trying to ease the obvious tension. The other girl was right on their tail, peering in from the doorway they entered from.
"Yeah, I know what it is." Ellie fired some sass back at him, annoyed that he addresses her like a child.
"Okay, then. Something on your mind, Ellie?" Joel didn't want to ask, he sensed the answer to his question.
"I wasn't trying to disobey you back there. You were taking a really long time and I thought, maybe he's gotten into trouble." Ellie rambled on feeling slightly guilty that she had disobeyed him.
"It don't matter what you thought. I need you to listen to me." Joel scolded her lightly than he had earlier.
"I do. It's just that... Whatever, Joel."
The onlooker was taken aback, as far as she could remember, she doesn't know a soul to address their father by their first name. Maybe it was strategy, or maybe she was his step daughter. She shrugged and continued to watch them.
Joel stepped away from the backdrop, he looked at the floor above, "That door looks like a way out. Hey, you see a way to get up there?"
"Nope."
Joel makes his way to the stage he looks around and spots where the awning railing was missing. He starts pushing a piano toward the balcony.
"Might be able to get through with this. Alright... Goddamn, this is heavier than I thought." He was having extreme difficulty pushing. He stopped to lance at Ellie, "Hey, how 'bout a hand?"
She scoffed, "You sure you can trust me with that?" She approached the piano and began to push it towards the wall.
"Ellie...Push." Joel grunted as he put more effort into moving the piano.
"I am."
"Push harder!" Joel said, only to have the piano come to a loud thud in a collision with the wall.
"There. How's that?" Ellie rubbed her hands on her pants, getting the dust off.
"Let's go." Joel mantled the piano, followed shortly by Ellie, he jogged the rest of the way across the balcony. There was a large window open to a bunch of scaffolding, he nodded his head in the direction. They exit the hotel onto some scaffolding. Below, hunters are patrolling.
"Oh, shit." Joel crouches down, beckoning Ellie to do the same. Joel took the time to listen in.
A group of four hunters were together, talking underneath a tree, "They haven't gotten back yet. What the hell's taking them so long?"
"I don't know. They went to check on 'em. For now, we wait." Another hunter shrugged.
"C'mere, keep your head down. Alright now...I'm gonna jump down there and I'm gonna clear us a path." Joel went to the edge of the scaffolding, peeking over.
"What about me?" Ellie protested.
"You stay here." Joel gave a smug look, disappointed she didn't realize it was implicit.
"This is so stupid. We'd have more of a fucking chance if you'd let me help." Ellie spoke in disagreement, watching her tone so they wouldn't get noticed.
"I am." He hands her a rifle laying nearby. "Now you seem to know your way around a gun. You reckon you can handle that?"
Ellie looked surprised, she filled with enthusiasm, taking the rifle awkwardly, "Well, uh, I sorta shot a rifle before...but it was a rats."
"Rats?"
She nodded, trying to keep serious, "With BBs."
Joel huffed, "Well, it's the same basic concept. Lift it up." He watched as Ellie listened closely. "Alright now, you're gonna wanna lean right into that stock, 'cause it's gonna kick a hell of a lot more than any BB rifle."
"Okay."
"Go ahead and pull the bolt back. Grab it right there. Just tug it." He watched as Ellie opened the chamber, "There you go. Now as soon as you fire, you're gonna want to get another round in there quick. Listen to me - if I get in trouble down there, you make every shot count, yeah?" Joel stepped to the edge of the scaffolding, ready to jump off.
"I got this."
Joel put his foot down, only to glance back at her, "Alright. And just so we're clear about back there...it was either him or me." Without another word, he jumps down.
"You're welcome." Ellie smiled, getting into position.
Joel hid behind a row of barricades, listening in to the conversation.
"Asshole should've known better. If you're gonna steal, you better make sure you get away with it." The hunter continued to ramble on about the common treachery in their group.
"Right? I would've done-"
A hunter runs over screaming, "They're all dead! They're all fucking dead!" He runs to the center of the group, bent over as he tried to catch his breath.
"The hell's he yappin' about? Take a breath. Who's dead?"
He spoke in between breathing, "The whole crew. The 76 lookout guys. Some fuckin' tourist killed 'em, killed all of 'em."
"Shit. Have you talked to the boss?"
The hunter finally caught his breath, "Yeah. He wants everyone to hold their ground, watch the gate."
"Alright, you heard him. Search the area. Do not let anybody through!"
Two hunters branched off from the group, "He's gotta be wrong."
The other looked at him like he's a tad nuts, "About the crew being dead?"
"I don't see some tourists taking out the entire crew."
He scoffed in return, "What if they did? Maybe it's the military coming back."
The other hunter narrowed his stare, "Don't be an idiot. Military doesn't give a damn about this place. Look, if anything some tourists got lucky."
"We'll find them. We always do."
He took a deep breath, "I hope you're right."
Joel looked back up to the scaffolding, only seeing the barrel of the rifle peeking out, he felt sure enough Ellie would have his back.
He crept along the row of barriers, shifting from behind them to a vehicle. One hunter spotted some moment, walking over to the car. Joel caught him by surprise, pulling him behind the car, choking him out. It alerted a hunter on the balcony. He aimed his rifle at the left end of the car, looking for movement, in that time Joel snuck into the bank, avoiding the sniper's gaze.
Joel then took out another hunter, that was looking out the bank window, unfortunately, a hunter patrolling the courtyard saw, firing his pistol at the window.
Joel used the body as a human shield as he backed away from the window. The gunfire drew the attention of many hunters, it was Ellie's cue to provide cover fire. Behind Ellie, the girl remained, watching, Cas and Pib at her side.
Ellie was able to put down the overwatching hunter and one in the courtyard, but she was having evident difficulty with maneuvering the bolt. She took the rifle off the railing fumbling with the bolt.
The girl in the room ushered Cas forward, "Cover Joel..." Cas immediately reacted, running hard towards the scaffolding, leaping over the railing, taking Ellie by surprise. The girl stepped on the scaffolding, rifle in hand. She aimed down the sights taking out two hunters looking to Ellie, "Do as I do."
She pulled the bolt up and back, "Bullet in." She waited for Ellie to do the same, pushing the bolt forward and down. Ellie repeated the same thing.
"See you've got the hang of it, do it again, I'll help cover your dad." The girl spoke quickly, returning to covering Joel and Cas.
Ellie was surprised, this woman came out of no where, only to help. She was strange, Ellie felt compelled to listen to her. She smiled seeing Pib at her feet. She aimed her rifle, helping to cover Joel once more, now maneuvering the bolt with ease.
"You just gotta remember this sequence, up, back, bullet, forward, down. It will take a short while, but you can manage." The girl glanced to Ellie, giving a small smile, shortly looking back through her scope. She noticed there were no hunters left.
Cas on the other hand was stalking a hunter that remained behind cover, out of both the girl's and Joel's sight. Joel backed up past the cover, the hunter slowly raised his shotgun to Joel, only to be pounced on by Cas. Joel turned, completely startled by the violent growling and screaming. Cas dragged the hunter further away from Joel, latching onto his neck to finish him off.
Cas then approached Joel, sitting a comfortable distance in front of him as she licked her bloodied chops.
Joel walked towards the center of the courtyard, yanking a pistol out of a corpse's grip, "Alright...come on down." He projected his voice as he looked towards the scaffolding.
Ellie glanced to her finally successful tracker, almost like she wanted...no, needed permission.
"I'll be right on your tail, I got to help this one down and grab my things." She returned a quick smile as she picked Pib up.