"Ellie, once we get out there you're gonna need to follow our lead and stay close" Ellie replied almost instantly "yeah yeah, of course" We walked for a few more minutes and we eventually reached a rusty ladder. "Joel, can you check if we're clear" he grunted a bit, clearly still pissed off about his awakening. He reached the top and moved the cardboard that we use to block the entrance.

He looked around fir some time "Now hold up, there's a patrol up ahead" there was a long pause before he spoke again "Alright, we're good come on up" he helped Ellie up the ladder and I climbed up last. He moved back the piece of cardboard and we were walking again. "So... who's this Mason kid?"

I stopped in my tracks at that "How do you know him?" "I heard you talking with Joel, however once you mentioned a gas station I got bored" "you were eavesdropping on us" she paused for a bit clearly contemplating her answer "kinda" Joel groaned and moved past us.

I sighed and started walking again "So how old are you?" "14" I smirked "Well he's 15 and he has a car which works amazingly, that's where he'll be waiting for us. By the gas station" Ellie was visibly stunned "Where the fuck did he get a working car?" Joel groaned again "can we just go? I wanna her this over with"

We were walking up an abandoned truck trailer that was torn open. Joel up front Ellie in the middle and me covering the rear. The gas station was visible up ahead just in front of us. I also saw the outline of a car beside it. I smirked to myself and I was about to tell Joel when all of a sudden he got smacked The head and was pushed to his knees by a patrolling guard.

Now were all being held at gun point on our knees. "You scan 'em I'll call it in" the other guy groaned and took out his scanner.

Mason's POV

I saw Joel coming out of some trailer and I smiled to myself that I wasn't late for once. I was about to start the engine when I saw him get knocked down to his knees by guard. I froze in my seat and just watched the situation unfold. Two more figures came out after Joel with their arms in the air. I squinted my blue eyes to see Tess at the back and a smaller girl in the middle. I have to admit I got butterflies when I saw her even at this distance. The guards were talking about something so I took the chance to take out my pistol from it's holster and check if it was loaded.

It was, all 7 .50 caliber rounds. I put a hand in the wheel and I started the car. They just finished scanning Joel and they were about to get to the girl. But she stabbed him in the knee. I stepped harder on the gas and ran over the guard that was about to shoot her. I yanked the handbrake to do a 180 making the passenger door face the girl who was sitting with her knees up to her feet, clearly shaken up. I then head shotted the guy that was stabbed with my Desert Eagle.

I reached over and pushed open the door, I pushed forward the passenger seat making the seats in the back accessible. I started waving at them to get a move on. "C'mon we ain't got all day!" Joel got up to his feet and got in the back of the car. I saw Tess pick up some scanner and she also got in the back. I looked over to the girl and she was still sitting there sobbing quietly.

I looked to our left and saw two lights coming towards us "fuck! Joel I'm gonna need to you to cover me if they get too close yes?" He nodded and I kicked my door open and sprinted over to the girl. I knelt beside her and pushed up her chin with one finger to make her look at me. I noticed she was shivering so I took off my leather jacket and wrapped it around her.

Her emerald green eyes were staring into my blue ones and I pushed a strand of hair away from her face. She smiled softly at me and I smiled back. I started rubbing her arm and was about to speak when I heard a commotion come from Bee. Probably Joel and Tess again. "Come on, we need to get in the car and get as far away from this place as possible" she nodded while keeping eye contact with me.

I have to admit, she looked absolutely beautiful. Her brown hair reflecting in the moonlight. I grabbed one of her hands and pulled her up to her feet. Her hand was soft and comfortable, something true to have these days. "You get in the passenger seat and I'll get in the other clear?" "Got it" her voice was like angles singing. I smiled again and pulled her with me by her hand. When we reached the car I pushed her into the passenger seat and shut the door. Gunshots erupted as I was running towards the drivers side of the car.

I saw Joel shooting at the advancing car and I yanked the gear shift into reverse and started to drive. I pulled the handbrake as hard as I could which resulted in us doing a J-Turn. I looked over to the girl and she was screaming. I smiled to myself and went into 2nd gear, skipping 1st. "Tess can I trust her?" Tess looked over at me and threw a scanner into my lap. I groaned and looked at it. It had INFECTED written on in big red letters.

The girl was looking at me with a sad and guilty expression. I got lost in her eyes again but remembered I was driving. "I don't give a single fuck, she's still human!" I had to yell to be heard over the gunfire. Then I saw a town in ruins coming up on our left. "Bee play Stronger by Kanye West" I waited a few seconds and saw everyone staring at me. Especially Tess

"Joel shoot! Listen I don't give a fuck that they're all here just play the damn song!" Then the radio roared to life and the music started playing. "Hell yeah! Make sure you're all strapped in!" I yelled so they would hear me. I saw them all putting on their seatbelts and I smirked. I looked over to the girl to my left and said "hold on to something" she grabbed the door handle and I turned the knob of the radio to max volume which meant it was booming in my ears.

Again, I eased off the gas and closed my eyes. I heard my father's voice in my ears again and and he just yelled "Now!" I snapped my eyes open and yanked the steering wheel to left. When we were in the turn I steeps on the gas with my full strength and counter steered with the wheel. 560HorsePower roared from the hood.

We drifted through the corner perfectly, then another, and another until I spotted a narrow alley way between two huge buildings. I turned off the lights and dashed into the alley. I quickly killed the engine and the radio. "I need all of you to shut the fuck up right about now!" I whisper yelled at them while looking in the rear view mirror.

I was panting. The adrenaline was still pumping from the speed combined with gunshots. I noticed some sweat rolling down my forehead but I ignored it. I had to focus o the mirror and make sure the military drive past. After a minute I saw the grey SUV drive past slowly. I let out a relieved sigh and rubbed my face with both my hands.

I looked over at the girl to my left and she was clearly shaken. I reached over to her and gently rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. When I first sat as a passenger when my dad did things like this I was just like her, maybe even worse. "You Okay?" She looked over at me and lunged forward. But what she did was the last thing I expected.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and started to cry onto my shoulder. I saw Tess in the back looking at me with a rather pissed off look. Which was expected since I pretty much just revealed her brothers biggest secret to a total stranger. I ignored her and wrapped one arm around the girl's waist and the other around her head. I was softly stroking her hair which was very soft, that was surprising considering the fact we're 20 years into an apocalypse.

"Shh it's okay, we're all okay. Everything will be fine" she stopped crying and was just sobbing by this point. "You know I never even got your name. Would you mind telling me?" "I-it's Ellie" She pulled back and started laughing while wiping the tears from her eyes. "Pretty name" she just giggled a bit. "Sorry about that. I got all mushy feely on your shoulder" I chuckled lowly and said "don't worry about it, happens to the best of us.

"You two done yet? Good. We need you to take us somewhere safe with a bed" Joel's voice came from the back and then Tess spoke to me with death in her voice. "I'm gonna need to speak to both of you. About that infected thing and this car. Clear?" We both nodded and I decided to turn on the radio and put it back onto CD mode. Lego House by Ed Sheeran was playing so I turned down the volume a bit so it was nice and softly sung.

I turned on the engine and put on the lights. I shifted into 1st and slowly drove out of the alley and headed towards one of the safe house I stayed at the last time I had to get to Tess.