We had just made it into the city through the deserted roads and overgrown paths of the old world. It looked just like Seattle did when me and Ellie went to find Abby and the WLF.
"Well, here we are. Chicago" Tommy spoke pulling out this map from his pack and placing it onto the hood of a wrecked jeep, tracing his fingers over possible roads
"Do you think we made it on time?" I asked standing next to him
"Hopefully"
"How are we going to find them, we have no clue where we are looking" I spoke with a harsh tone, now getting annoyed that we were wasting more time. I started to pace back and forth, something I've found that I do when im stressed
"Hold up Dina, we will find her" Tommy spoke still inspecting the map
"Why are you still looking at that thing, how will that help us!"
"I don't no, I'm doin the best I can girl" Tommy huffed
"Hey guys" Kieren tried to interject
"Well we need to find her now! Before we are too late!"
"Guys!" Kieren shouted bringing my attention to him
"What?"
He pointed into the distance "that's gotta be them"
I walked over and stood next to him, my eyes widened as I looked at the tall building in the near distance, maybe a few blocks away. It looked like it was on fire. Black smoke was starting to pour out of the top floors. I ran back to Japan pulling myself up onto his saddle "Come on!" I ordered
We pushed the horses as fast as they would go following the black cloud of smoke above us that led to the skyscraper, It was the Willis Tower. One of the oldest towers in Chicago Tommy said. The streets around looked deserted along with the building itself. But there must be something here, buildings don't just set on fire. It has to be Ellie. I led Japan to the main door and secured him to the railings outside, Tommy and Kieren did the same. I pulled out my pistol and moved towards the large entrance scanning the room making sure it was clear.
"Okay I'm going up, Kieren you with me?" I asked
"Sure am" he replied taking out his rifle
"Tommy you stay here make sure the entrance is clear for when we get back"
"Like hell I will" He limped forward "I'm not staying down here while r Ellie could be in danger"
"What about your leg?" I questioned, he wasn't able to walk on it for very long without it becoming painful
"Fuck my leg, this is Ellie wer're talkin' about and I haven't come all this way to sit outside while you two go do all the fightin'"
"Okay" I agreed
"Right, If I know the Fireflies they will be high up, this will all just be a cover to make sure nobody comes across em" Tommy limped past into the large derelict foye of the tower. "I'd be surprised if the power wasn' on too" He moved towards the lifts pressing one of the buttons. The doors slid open with a chime "aha, here we go. Might not be the safest route but it's damn sure the quickest, now come on! Get in!"
Kieren and I hurried behind Tommy into the open lift, the doors closed shut behind us and the numbers started to climb. It was a tall building, the tallest I've probably ever been in. The numbers seemed to be going up and up and never stopping. My heart started to race at the realisation of what we were heading into, we had no fucking idea what was on the floors above us, still know idea where to find Ellie, if Ellie was even here at all. I felt a hand touch my arm, Kieren was looking at me
"It's okay, we will get her back" He spoke softly
I nodded back and took a deep breath trying to prepare myself. My eyebrows knitted together when I heard a sound, a faint alarm in the distance. Every floor we climbed the sound got louder and louder. I flashed my eyes between Tommy and Kiereen, they both had the same look of worry on their face, both had their guns out at the ready. Whatever the alarm was for it wasn't going to be good.
"What the fuck is that alarm?" Kieren asked
"Must be a red alert or sumthin', Fireflies don't have too many alarms like that. Would usually set something up incase the shit it the fan or they were under an attack" Tommy spoke
"Do you think that's because of us?" I asked
"No, I'm guessin' it's to do with that fire. Somethin's happened inside. Let's be ready"
The lift suddenly came to a stop, floor 78. The doors slid open and a man in a white lab coat covered in blood was standing in the doorway, his face looking panicked at the sight of us. He slowly started to lift his arm, shakely holding a pistol. Kieren rushed forward and tackled the man to the ground before he could shoot causing them both to skid along the dark corridor. Me and Tommy were right behind them. Kieren was landing pouches to the man trying to get him to stop fighting.
"Stop!" Tommy barked holding his rifle to the man's head "Where's Ellie"
"Who?" he replied spitting out blood
"The Immune girl" He said through gritted teeth
"She's in the holding cells, getting prepped for surgery" his voice was wobbly "but your too late, she's probably brain dead by now"
Tommy knelt down next to him taking out his knife, in one swift motion he brought it down into the man's shoulder. The man let out a shriek of pain
"Where are the holding cells?" he asked calmly
The man didn't reply he just continued to cry in pain
"Where!" he shouted twisting the knife
"Five floors up!" he groaned in between cries of pain
"Do we take the lift?" Tommy asked twisting the knife again
"No" he screamed "Down this corridor, stairwell B. It will be clear" He cried again
Tommy withdrew his knife from the man's shoulder and placed it back onto his belt standing above him and without another word fired a bullet between the man's eyes "Com'on" he walked down the corridor, his flashlight illuminating the darkness ahead of him
"Tommy, I don't like this" I whispered as we continued along the dark corridor, the only light from the red flashing lights above us that were coming on every 10 seconds or so. One large flash of red lighting up the corridor. Other than that the small flashlights we were holding
"Just stay close" He spoke as he limped forward
Kieren was behind me walking backwards most of the time, keeping a light behind us in case anything was to ambush us from behind. I didn't like this, It was putting me on edge and I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that we were walking into some kind of trap
"Hold up" Tommy ordered raising his fist to signal us to stop
I looked around trying to scan the space ahead of us but I couldn't see anything.
"What is it?" Kieren asked
"Somthings ahead" Tommy pointed his rifle into the darkness
Then we heard a low rumble. Whatever the sound was from, it was approaching us fast. Then that unforgettable noise echoed through my ears, the sound of a clicker. My heart rate picked up and I raised my gun. The sounds getting louder and louder followed by moans and screaming
"Get ready!" Tommy shouted kneeling to the floor
Both me and Kieren took an attacking position at either side of Tommy. We still couldn't see anything just hear them coming. Then a flash of red illuminated the area ahead of us and we saw a group of runners coming at us. Tommy opened fire and the lights went off, we both followed suit unloading our clips into the darkness. Then the redness illuminated again, a runner was nearly on top of me
"Fuck!" I shouted dodging it just in time as it flew towards me, it landed behind me turning around to go at me again but I sent a bullet into its brain before it could move
"Dina!" Kieren shouted
I looked around, the lights flickering on again a body of a soldier laid just ahead of us.
"His belt!" he shouted
Tommy was still taking down runner after funner with ease
I looked down at the soldier's belt using my torch. A flare gun. I moved forward taking out a couple more infected and grabbed the gun from his belt, unclipping it and looking to see one flare in the chamber. I rolled him over and looked through his pockets and pulled out two more flares. I stuffed them into my pocket when I heard a loud clicking right next to my ear. I spun round and there it was illuminated by the red light. A clicker right next to me looking into my eyes.
Fuck fuck fuck!
I reached for my pistol but fumbled it in my shaking hands knocking it to the ground next to me. The clicker lunged at me and I raised my arms in front of me, bracing myself for the impact but nothing happened. I looked again and Kieren was on top of it, stabbing it in the head over and over again. Once he finished he dropped onto the ground behind him panting.
"That was a close one" he spoke breathlessly
"You good?" I asked
"Uhh, yeah. I'm fine" He stood up brushing himself off
"We need to move, if there are anymore in here they will have heard that" Tommy threw his rifle onto his back and took the flare from my hand "Let's light the way" He pointed the gun into the darkness and fired, the red flare illuminated the corridor "Com'on" Tommy limped forward firing the flares as we went until we could see the end.
"Look" I pointed ahead at a green sign flickering in the distance "That must be the stairwell" I smiled in relief
Just before the exit doors was the elevator shaft, the doors were wide open with electric cables hanging loose sending stray sparks flying.
"Long way down" Tommy pointed his torch down into the black pit
I looked around, Kieren was stumbling, his legs struggling to keep him up.
"Kieren!" I rushed forward catching him before he fell "what's wrong?"
"Oh it's just a scratch" he tried to reassure me
"Let me see"
He pulled back his sleeve on his left arm and relieved a fresh bite.
"No" I whispered "the clicker?"
"Yeah" he coughed
"Ah fuck kid" Tommy kicked a piece of debris down the elevator shaft in anger
"It's okay, I'll be okay, I can still help" He began to pull himself up onto his feet
A low rumbling echoed from the darkness where we had just come from, the flares were still semi lighting the corridor, a deep shade of red helping us see what was coming.
"Oh shit, we need to go. NOW!" Tommy barked
A group of runners were heading ouR way. Tommy opened fire and I pulled Kierens arm over my shoulder pulling him back to the exit to the stairwell.
"There's too many of them!" Tommy shouted "They're going to follow us!"
"What do we do?!" I shouted back firing whatever ammo I had left into the group advancing us
"Dina" Kieren whispered
"Yeah?"
"Go get your girl" He spoke pulling himself away from me
"Kieren! What are you doing" I tried to pull him back as he took a step forward
"Tell Olivia I love her" He smiled
"Kieren!" I shouted
Before anyone could react he moved forward and position himself infront of us "Come and get me you fuckers!" He shouted, taking another step forward raising his arms at his side. The runners were approaching him fast, me and Tommy were still picking the odd one off as they got closer. Kieren let out a loud shout before running at them grabbing as many as he could and throwing himself down the elevator shaft.
"Fuck" I chocked out placing my hands on the cold wall of the stairwell taking in a deep breath "He's fucking gone" I felt a tear roll down my face at the thought of Kieren and what he had just done for us. "Fuck!" I shouted and hit the wall with my first, I felt sick to my stomach, my hands were shaking, my body shaking.
"Dina" Tommy was right behind me "Come on we need to move, the smoke it coming down through the floors we don't have much time"
"Okay" I pushed myself away from the wall looking up at Tommy, he looked tired and pained
"you good?" I asked
"Yeah don't worry bout me" He forced a smile "Let's get our girl"
A loud gunshot echoed through the stairwell followed by a loud muffled shout, a voice I recognised, a voice that made my heart skip a beat. "Ellie!" We both looked at eachother trading the same look before bolting up the stairs, the sound of her voice becoming clearer. I pushed open the door and there she was. Standing a few feet away from me. What I saw shocked me. Abby and a young boy were standing next to me trying to leave. Ellie had a gun pointed to her own head, a man in a suite on the floor who looked like he'd taken a beating and a small group of soldiers behind him. What the fuck was going on, what the fuck was she doing.
"Ellie?" I spoke, taking a step closer to her.
Ellies head whipped round and her eyes found mine "Dina?"
The man who was on the floor was now on his feet, gun in his hand pointing it towards Abby, he was almost growling.
The young boy next to Abby grabbed her gun pushing her out of the way shouting "move!"
Ellie looked back round and saw what was happening and without hesitation she step in front of the boy "no!" she shouted before falling to her knees. The sound of the gunshot made me flinch.
Abby took the gun from the teens hand and shot the man in the suite dead before unloading the rest of her clip into the men behind, Tommy followed shooting at everyone in sight.
I ran to Ellie and dropped down in front of her, taking face in my hands "Ellie? Ellie?" I frantically spoke. Her hand was pressed against her chest, blood seeping through her fingers. "Oh god, no. Please no" I could feel the tears streaming down my face. I put my hand over hers pushing on the wound trying to stop the bleeding "Ellie look at me, look at me!" her eyes were darting everywhere looking for me, she was struggling to focus "babe look at me I'm right here" she finally looked up and her piercing green eyes looked into mine.
"Dina" she whispered
"I'm here, I've got you" I forced out. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and the colour in her cheeks started to fade, her body went limp into my arms "No Ellie!" I tried to beg her "stay awake" I pleaded "I need you, don't you leave me!" I held her close to me clinging onto her lifeless body
"Dina" Tommy was behind me "we need to go"
I looked up at him, remembering where we were. Still in the dark corridor. Dead bodies littered around us. I glanced around Abby and the young boy were still standing there, both had a sad look in their eyes
"I'm not leaving her"
Abby moved forward and knelt down in front of me "We aren't" she spoke before placing her arms underneath Ellie and scooping her up "I will carry her, there is a truck out front"
"Okay" I spoke, my voice barely a whisper
"Dina come on" Tommys hand was on my shoulder "We need to move the fire is moving fast"
I don't remember leaving Chicago. It was all a blur. All I could think about was Ellie, her lifeless body being carried out by the woman who brought her here, she was helping her, helping us? What the fuck was she doing, I was trying to work out in my head what was happening but nothing made sense to me.
We got out of the building and to the truck, all I remember is stairs, loads of fucking stairs. I think I fell at one point, my legs were struggling to keep up. My body, my mind felt weak. Abby drove and I got in the back with Ellie, her head resting on my lap. My hand stroked her face, her hair. Trying to reassure her she was with me. I pushed my other hand over the bullet wound in her chest. She was still breathing but barely. Tommy and the young boy, Lev, took Japan and Dash and followed us.
My mind was running over time. She can't die. She can't just die like this. This isn't how she leaves me, this isn't how our story ends. I wiped the tears from my eyes and a low sob escaped my lips. I took my bracelet off my wrist and placed it back where it belonged on Ellies before leaning down and kissing her forehead
"How is she doing?" Abby's voice startled me
"It's not good"
She sighed and shuffled in her seat "There's a farmhouse up ahead, we will stop there. See what we can do"
"Okay" I agreed
I looked up into the rearview mirror and could see Abby's face, her eyes looked glassy, a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek which she quickly wiped away, focusing on the road ahead. She was upset but why? She wanted this.
"Why are you helping?" I asked in a harsher tone than I expected
"Because she helped me. She helped me save Lev and after all the shit we have been though I couldn't let her go though what they wanted to put her though for something that might not even work" she sighed "My dad was the surgeon Joel killed" she paused "I thought this was the right thing, I thought my dads work would mean something if they made a cure from Ellie but they can't. I understand now"
"Understand what?"
"I understand why Joel did it… I couldn't let them take Lev. I'd have killed anyone standing in my way to save him…. What's life without someone to love?" she spoke looking back at me in the rearview mirror
We drove the rest of the way in silence, just the noise of the bumpy road beneath the tires. I kept checking Ellie was still breathing and whispering into her ear, hoping she would hear me, hoping she would come back to me. Her pulse was getting weaker and weaker and her skin was so pale. Abby pulled the truck up to the front door of the farm house and hopped out drawing her pistol. Lev and Tommy were just behind us.
"I'll check it out, stay here '' Abby ordered before disappearing into the white wooden building.
I looked out of the window up at the wooden farm house ahead of us, It looked just like the one we used to live in back near Jackson, back before all this shit had happened. It comforted me in a strange way, it felt like I was somewhere familiar.
"Hey, Ellie" I whispered "This farms just like ours"
"All clear Kiddo '' Tommy opened the door of the truck, I didn't realise he was even here yet. My mind was clearing, not focusing on anything else.
"Let me get her" Abby moved forward taking Ellie from me "There's a bedroom upstairs. The bed looks reasonable. We will put her on there while we figure things out" Abby carried Ellie into the house and up to the bedroom as if she was a small child who had fell asleep on the sofa before bed. It looked effortless. She laid her on the bed and I knelt down beside her, taking her hand in mine.
"Here I found these, It's not much but it might ease the pain" Lev spoke in a soft tone. He was standing next to me holding out a few bandages and a nearly empty bottle of painkillers
"Thanks" I took them from him and placed the painkillers on the bedside table. I unbuttoned Ellie's shirt to examine the wound. The bullet was still in there but I knew it would be impossible to take it out. The small bullet had torn through her skin leaving a gaping back and dark purple hole where the flesh should be. I pushed a bandage down hard onto it and Ellie let out a cry of pain, the first sound she had made since she passed out, I quickly secured it the best I could using a piece of her shit and laid her back down on the bed. Her eyes were trying to open.
"Ellie? Can you hear me?" I spoke desperately, looking down at her for any kind of response
Her eyes slowly opened and she looked around the room "I missed the farm" she spoke "I'm glad we are home"
I felt the tears welling up behind my eyelids but I tried to keep them back "I miss the farm too"
"Where's potato?" she questioned, her features now looking confused
"He's not here, he's with Robin"
"When will he be home, I miss him"
"Soon babe" I took my hand and brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face, letting my hand linger on her cheek. I could feel the heat under my palm from Ellie's skin, she was burning up.
"What's wrong?" she was now looking at me with worried eyes, tears streaming down my face
"Nothing" Is all I could get out
"Don't" she tried to speak coughing up a chunk of blood "Don't cry"
I wiped the blood from her mouth and placed my forehead to hers
"I love you"
"I you too El" I replied
"I'm so tired" she spoke her voice becoming weaker
I looked down at the girl I loved more than anything in this world, her skin was pale, her eyes were struggling to stay open, her body shivering. I could feel the tears streaming down my face as I gripped tighter onto her hand, never wanting to let her go. I placed my lips to hers and kissed her softly.
"It's okay El, go to sleep"