Hey guys sorry I haven't updated in awhile stuff happened and I'll have to make this short as I have to be some where. Consider this a New Year's Eve present and I wish all of you a Happy New Years.

As always I don't know the Legend of Zelda or the Last of Us.


Chapter 2: Time To Pay The Bill

After narrowly avoiding getting turned into Swiss cheese by a military vehicle the four continued their way down into the subway. They continued, forward but had to stop when they rounded a corner they saw some yellow mist coming from further down the hall.

"Damn, spores!" Joel said as he took his backpack off and began rummaging through it for something.

"Tell me about it! Alright you two gas masks on!" She yelled back as she did the same as Joel

"Gas...Mask, what's that?" Link spoke up seemingly not understanding what they were talking about. Everybody turned their attention to him their eyes wide because for one how doesn't he know what a gas mask is and two that without one he'll have to find a another way around or they'll have to leave him behind.

Tess reached into her bag to get her mask and turned around to show him a black mask with two big circles where the eyes would be and a blue canister attached to it. "This kid, this is a gas mask." Tess answered him still in disbelief that anyone would be on the outside without one.

Suddenly a look of realization crossed his face as he reached behind him to pull out a similar mask. "Oh I have one! I just didn't know it was called a gas mask." He quickly put it on and then they were on their way.

They were now close to the subway platform when Link heard some soldiers up ahead. "Guys we've got company up ahead." He told them. Now alert they got close to the left wall and inched their way to the doorway on the left. The doorway led to a platform and now the whole group could hear the clattering of footsteps on the tiled floor. They quickly hid behind some chairs to observe the situation. Luckily there were only two soldiers and thanks to the spores visibility was low so they could avoid detection. The Soldiers however weren't so lucky because the flashlights they were using not only lighted their way but it also made them easier to spot.

Joel so happened to notice Ellie without a mask. "How the hell can you breathe this stuff?" He asked dumbfounded. Ellie only gave him a simple 'I don't know'. 'Well I guess she wasn't lying about being immune afterall.' He thought.

"Alright Joel you take the one on the left and I take the one on the right." Tess said and with a quick nod from Joel they put the plan in motion. Taking out their guns they shot both Soldiers in the head.

"Phew that was easy." Ellie said as they all got out of their hiding spot and proceeded to move forward.

"What is this?" Link asked as soon as he got a clear look at a large metal snake like object. He had a serious look on his face as if he was about to go into battle.

Everyone became alert and went to see what he was talking about but calmed down when they noticed he was only pointing at a train. "Calm down kid it's only a train." Tess answered him looking kinda annoyed that he startled them for no reason.

"Train, what's a train?" He asked clearly interested by this contraption.

Tess sighed in response not wanting to give an explanation but did anyways. "A train was a vehicle used back in the day to get to places really fast." From his expression alone it was clear Link was enamored by trains. He interest was bolstered further when they entered the train and he got a clear look at just how long it was and how many people could ride in one. He was also upset that he may never be able to ride in one and made a promise that when he saves this world the first thing he'll do is ride on one once it was all rebuilt.

As they continued down the train they were met with another obstacle and Ellie's greatest nemesis, water. "Guy's remember I can't swim!" Ellie yelled reminding them of her little problem.

"Don't worry I see a walkway over here! You should be fine!" Tess yelled back.

Before anyone entered the water they heard some rustling coming from the back as if someone was taking some clothing off. Turning around they saw Link taking his cloak off. Everyone watched with interest as they would finally get to see what he was carrying behind his back. To their confusion there wasn't a bow or a quiver full of arrows or even any indication as to where he kept his mouse bomb. There was just a sword and shield strapped to his back and a few small pouches attached to his belt.

Link turned to look at them with a questioning look. "What?" He asked.

"Where's your bow?" Ellie asked him trying to figure Link out.

Link stayed quiet for a moment as if contemplating whether he should tell them the truth and seeing that he was pretty much busted saw no harm in hiding it anymore besides if they did anything he was confident he could take them out or get away before they could do anything. Reaching behind him and into his pouch he pulled out his bow along with a deku nut in case things got nasty. Everyone stared with wide eyes as a bow materialized from one of his small pouches.

"My adventure pouch allows me to storage a large amount of items in it no matter how big or how heavy without any changes to it's overall weight." He said as he pointed to his pouch while everyone listened in complete shock. Waiting to see if anybody tried anything he slowly put back his bow and deku nut. "Any questions?"

"Yeah just how is that possible?" Joel as asked still not believing what he was hearing and seeing.

"Magic." Link replied simply

"But, there's no such thing as magic." Joel argued. He was clearly a non believer.

"Well it exists. Now let's get moving" He said as he went ahead brushing past them and jumped into the water leaving everyone to wonder what else he kept in there.

Now on the other side Link took a look around while he waited for everyone else. He didn't find anything of interest except for another passage that was flooded with curiousity got the better of him and he quickly checked the area, but other than a few things here and there, there was nothing of interest. By the time he swam back he saw that everyone was already there trying to figure out how to get across the subway to reach the exit.

On the other side of the subway there were some stairs leading up and hopefully to an exit that hadn't already caved in. The only problem was the water was too low to allow them to climb up and Ellie couldn't swim.

"Look there's a ladder." Joel said shining his light at a metal object that laid on the other side of the subway.

"Now just how do we get to it? Kid got anything in that pouch of yours?" Tess asked him as she eyed his pouch.

Link thought about it for a while and while he knew he did have something he needed to fulfill two conditions one get across and two get Ellie safely across. He remembered they were in a closed space so it may work but he needed to see where he was aiming. "Can one of you shine your light at the ceiling." He told them to which they complied and at the same time they wondered what he was gonna pull out of his pouch. With the light now shining on the ceiling he saw that it looked fairly solid albeit it had a few cracks, but it should do. Pulling out his long shot he took aim at the ceiling and launched a metal hook into the ceiling. Tugging on it to make sure it was secured he looked over at Ellie. "Ellie come here." He ordered. She was hesitant but she did as she was told. Putting an arm around her waist he said. "Hold on tight". As he let go of the longshot's trigger the chain retracted propelling them forward and using their forward momentum he swung them across and landed on the other side.

WIth Link's arm around her waist Ellie was gonna protest but didn't even get a chance to scream when she felt herself being propelled over the gap at incredible speeds that she wasn't prepared for. With the two on the other side Ellie took a moment to right herself while Link positioned the ladder. Two splashes were heard as Joel and Tess took to the water and swam to the ladder.

Ellie was fuming and moved to give Link a piece of her mind. "You jerk! Give a girl a little heads up next time!" She yelled with a light pink tint in her cheeks but was undetectable due to the spores.

"Alright you two kiss and makeup cuz we have to go!" Tess said as she with an amused smirk under her mask and Joel close behind.

"Ew gross! With this guy no way!" Ellie's face was now a bright red as she walked on unbeknownst to anyone Link was also blushing heavily.

It wasn't long until they were outside the subway. The sun was still shining brightly and it was a warm welcome compared to the dark, flooded, spore ridden subway. It was at this point that the group got into another argument.

"Okay now where do we go from here?" Ellie asked Joel who was sitting on a nearby rock.

"Like I said 'we' are not going anywhere! You need to figure out what you're gonna do!" Joel yelled back, he was clearly irritated

"What really asshole! Humanity's last hope is right in front of you and you won't do a thing to help me!" Ellie was fuming. Joel was an asshole in her opinion, how could he not want to help save humanity.

"Look how do we know if this lab even still exists! I'm not getting myself killed for something that may not even be there anymore! " He yelled back "Besides you got your boyfriend over there!" He added which made Ellie livid with anger.

"Joel I understand you don't want to die no one does, but look around you." Link said in a serious tone while motioning to the desolate city around them. "Is this how you want to live? To live knowing you could die tomorrow, to live another moment in this nightmare, to live knowing you could have done something to end this. I know what you're thinking 'What if we get her there but they can't make a cure' then at the very least we tried!" Link shouted trying to persuade Joel to help them but he looked like he wouldn't budge. He let out a sigh and then turned to Tess "What about you Tess!" She looked conflicted. While she agreed with Joel to an extent she also wanted her guns, but mostly because was she willing to doom the human race so she could live or would she transport Ellie at the risk of dying so that this nightmare would end.

Tess stood there for a few moment in deep contemplation until finally. "Joel I'm going with them." She said firmly. Link and Ellie beamed while Joel was shocked to say the least and was about to retort when Tess decided to add this. "Besides what are the chances of us getting back into the city in one piece. What with all the infected back there and the military after us." Joel groaned in defeat, she was right. Even with the two of them getting back in after what happened would be almost impossible, but if it was just him it would be suicide.

"Fine but you." He said sternly while pointing to Ellie "You do what we tell you when we tell you alright." He added.

"Alright. Now where do we go from here." Ellie said this time only slightly pissed off.

"We know a guy who lives near here. His name's Bill hopefully he can give us a car" Joel answered getting up from his resting place.

"Just to warn you guys Bill's a little strange and takes sometime to get use to." Tess said as she and Joel began walking away leaving the two youths to ponder as to how strange Bill is.

0000000

It's been a few hours since they left boston and thankfully things had been going smoothly, no people trying to kill them nor was there any large amount of infected giving them trouble. They were just about near Bill's home a few meters in fact and the group decided it was okay to take a quick break. Everyone with the exception of Link were visibly tired, years of running around trying to save the world would do that to you, and sitting down on some rocks drinking some water and eating little scraps of dried food.

"Kid.. how the hell.. are you not tired?" Joel said through gasps after taking a deep chug out of his canteen.

"I'm just used to traveling." Link replied as he wiped some light sweat off his brow but looked virtually fine like he could continue traveling for a full day and still be fine. "We should get moving soon. I'll scout ahead." He added as he walked ahead.

"Man what's up with him!" Ellie exclaimed leaning on her palms.

"I know what you mean, he doesn't act like some regular kid." Tess added as she recalled when Link saved them and when he fought in the capitol building he always looked so confident and so sure of his actions he executed everything without flaw or doubt even when taking a life. She wondered what happened to him to make him this way, granted they were in an apocalypse but she's never seen any kid do what he could. Most kids were arugant and reckless, but Link was humble and cautious.

"Yea beside what else do you reckon he has in his pouch?" Joel joined in the conversation still sitting on a nearby rock. "So far we've seen his bow, a mouse bomb, and a grappling hook." He added which got everyone wondering what else could be in there.

They didn't have long to think because Link had already come back. "Hey there's a gate up ahead!" He announced now returning to camp. "Are you guys ready to move out?"

The others groaned in response but got up anyways knowing it was best not to stay in one place for too long lest they be found by some infected. It only took a few minutes till they reached the gate that Link was talking about. It was a tall fence with barbed wire at the top, put in place to stop intruders from climbing the fence and it was locked with a chain and lock.

"Looks like we'll need to find another way in." Joel said exasperated as he rubbed his temple trying to nurse his splitting headache. 'Things can never be easy can they.' He thought.

"Alright everyone look around for a way around." Tess said taking one last quick look at the fence to see if there was any way through when she noticed the lock was rusty. 'Maybe with enough force we could bust it open.' She thought before her eyes widen in realization that they had their very own explosives expert nearby. "Link come over here!" She shouted

Link had went with Joel and Ellie to look for another way marveling at Ellie's innocence due to some measly fireflies, he thought they were little fairies but it was dismissed when he got a closer look and saw they were just bugs. Out of nowhere he heard Tess calling him and he went to see what she wanted. "What is it?" He asked calmly.

"This." Tess said pointing to the rusted lock. "Can you use one of your mouse bombs to blow it up?" Link rose a questioning eyebrow at her as to why it would be necessary.

"First off it's called a bombachu, second I could, but not only would we be drawing a lot of attention to ourselves, but we would also allow anyone who heard it to waltz on in. Besides this Bill must have more than one way to get in and out." He said while looking at the lock and noticing that it hadn't been touched for a long time.

Tess was mentally scolding herself for not thinking about the consequences but also because a fourteen year old just destroyed her idea. Maybe she was just worn out from the day's events or maybe she was just growing impatient, heaven knows she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. She was drawn out of her thoughts by Joel.

"Hey you two get over here!" He yelled from atop of a shed with Ellie right next to him. Tess and Link hurried to their position and by the time they got there Ellie had just finished crossing a wooden plank that was placed on top of the shed and on another building inside the fence to make a makeshift bridge.

Once everyone was over they all jumped down from the building they were on and were greeted with the sight of a broken down blue pickup truck and another building parallel to the one they got off of. To their left was another fence but it had an opening big enough for a full grown adult to fit in and beyond the gate one see could what looked like a town.

They moved to the opening in the fence, Joel going first followed by Tess, Ellie, and then Link. The opening was a steep drop into a back area with multiple brick buildings around, a old worn down couch to their left and a very visible gate up ahead. Before they proceeded any further the group stopped and turned to Link.

"You hear anything kid?" Joel asked. Link looked like he was annoyed probably because they were starting to rely on him too much, now he knew he had better hearing than any of them but that doesn't mean they could use him like a dog.

"There's two nearby one in the shed and another further to the right, but you guys need to stop relying on me so often!" Link loudly whispered trying his best to keep his voice as quiet as possible so as not to draw attention.

"Sorry dude but we don't have those megaears." Ellie apologized sincerely. Joel and Tess looked just as sorry but Ellie was right, if they concentrated hard enough they may have been able to hear the clickers but Link's hearing had helped them quite a few times and informed them of danger long before they encountered it that they just trusted it over their own senses.

"Yea kid we're sorry." Tess said with Joel nodding in agreement.

Link let out a sigh. "It's alright just don't make this into a habit." He said trying to clear his mind and get back to the task at hand. "Okay wait here I got this." Link then reached into his pouch to pull out his bow and arrows. He grabbed a nearby bottle and threw it at metal door that was near the shed, the noise from the impact attracted both clickers making both of them easy pickings. With the task done they were able to continue unhindered

They went inside the nearby buildings to scavenge for what they could before heading to the gate. The gate itself was nothing special it was just like the rest except the fact that this one was blocked by a pipe instead of a chain and on the top of the fence a small section didn't have any barbed wire on top, but it was too high for a person to reach alone.

"Joel lift me up there." Ellie told Joel, but he wasn't having any of that.

"No way kid! Let Link go, unlike you he can handle himself!" He replied in a stern voice, but it only pissed her off.

"Hey I'm just as good as elf boy here! Maybe if you'd just give me a gun I could show you!" The two continued to argue back and forth. Link was about to speak up and try to end this pointless bickering but Tess beat him to the punch.

"Enough you two!" She yelled at them which got them to stop and then looked at Ellie. "Look Ellie I know you want to help but Link's the better option." Her voice now soft and comforting. Ellie was about to protest again but Tess stopped her. "Link has already proven himself and if something happened to you this would all be for nothing." Ellie didn't like it but, Link had already shown what he was capable of and had no choice but to back off.

Link didn't like this not one bit while he knew Ellie was precious cargo and had to be protected at all cost it still wasn't right to deny her the chance to do something for the group. In a way it reminded him of his early adventures when nobody took him seriously because he was just a little boy when in fact he was just as capable if not more so than anyone else. Than an idea popped in his head. "How about we both go. Ellie can unlock the door while I watch her back."

Joel sighed in irritation clearly he just wanted to get going already. "Alright. Just hurry up okay." Both Joel and Tess got into position and lifted both of the teens high enough for both of them to climb over the fence. The instance they landed Link nocked an arrow onto his bow and began scanning the area for any threats while Ellie worked on the gate. Link knew this was only for show as he hadn't heard any infected that were close enough to pose any real threat. Only a moment later was Ellie able to open the gate.

"Tada! Told ya I could do it." She said as she made room for them to pass. Joel and Tess took point with Link and Ellie in the rear. "Hey sorry for calling you elf boy and you didn't have to stick up for me, but thanks." Ellie thanked him quietly it was almost a whisper but Link heard it nonetheless. Link just waved it off as if saying 'don't worry about it'. In their one sided conversation they hadn't noticed that they had slowed their pace while Joel and Tess had pulled ahead.

"Hey you two hurry up!" Joel called to them looking quite impatient now on the other side of the street.

"Coming!" She answered back starting to pick up the pace but felt a something grab her. She turned her head to see Link stopped her. She was quite confused as to why he would stop her and noticed him rummage into his pouch.

From his pouch he pulled out a regular handgun and some clips of ammo and handed it to her as discreetly as he could so Joel and Tess wouldn't notice. "Here take it. No matter how Joel feels I'd feel much better if you had something to defend yourself with, but only use it in emergencies." He whispered to her.

"W-where did you get this?" She asked him

"I took it off some guys awhile back." Ellie was surprised that not only he trusted her enough with a gun but that if he had it for a while why hadn't he used it himself. As if he read her mind he answered her question. "I don't like using guns they're too loud and I prefer my bow better." He said while rubbing his right ear. Understanding the message she nodded and with that he quicken his pace leaving Ellie behind.

As Ellie stood there staring at Link's fleeting form she thought to herself that Link was a nice guy albeit a bit strange at times. She tucked her handgun away in a safe place before following after with a small smile.

Once Ellie caught up with the group Tess and Joel were busy trying to come up with a game plan. "So where are we going?" Ellie asked

"You see that church tower over there?" Tess pointed towards a tower in the distance to this Ellie simply nodded. "If we know Bill as well as we think we do than he's probably there."

"Okay then now that we've got that figured out let's search these houses, so let's split up Tess you're with me and that leaves you muncki-" Joel didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as he was cut off by Ellie.

"Whoa whoa whoa hold your horses cowboy how do we know you won't try and ditch us huh!?" Ellie had her arms crossed as she gave Joel a nasty glare. Joel wanted to refute this, but never got the chance to.

"She's right you know." Link spoke up. "You out of all of us have been so insistent on leaving us."

Joel was standing there listening to them belittle him and while the idea crossed his mind he just didn't want to be stuck babysitting even if he was paired with Link he prefered Tess's company more. "Now you two listen here I'm not you father or your babysitter, But whether I like it or not I'm stuck with ya!" He said sounding extremely agitated and kinda ticked Ellie of when he said 'babysitter'. "But don't think for one second that I owe you anything!" He practically yelled the last part out. The tension between the three was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Tess knew that ever since the incident at the Capitol building that the tension was building up and it was gonna come out sooner or later and she was glad it was sooner rather than later, but now she had to end this before it escalated. "Okay now break it up you three!" She said getting in between them and putting her hands on her hips. "Now this is how it's going to go Ellie you're with Joel." She said in a commanding tone.

"With him no way!" She protested not wanting to be paired up with Joel.

"I don't want to hear it young lady now that's final!" She said in a motherly tone. Ellie wanted to continue protesting, but one look at Tess and she knew there was no point. "That just leaves you and me Kid." To this Link simply nodded.

Joel didn't like this new arrangement, but didn't bother protesting because he knew when Tess got this way there was no arguing with her. "Alright then we'll take this house and you two search down there." He said sounding extremely annoyed and with that they went their separate ways.

Link was now walking down the street with Tess and looking around he continued to be amazed at just how advanced this world was granted most of it looked like it had seen better days. He's seen cities with large structures as big as mountains, horseless carriages, and a giant serpent-like vehicle. But, while he enjoyed what this world had to offer he felt pity for it since it had been in chaos for who knows how long.

While walking in silence he thought about Joel and Ellie and wondered if it was wise to pair them together and looking up at Tess he saw she had a worried expression on her face.. "Do you think it was a good decision to leave those two alone together?" Link asked waiting patiently for a reply

"Honesty I don't know, but what I do know is that we're stuck together and I feel that the sooner we get rid of this tension the better." Link had to agree because if they were traveling together it was best to get rid of any tension within the group, the only problem was that it may have been too soon.

While walking they came across a rundown music store, it's door had been broken down and the glass windows shattered. Believing this place was as good as any to start searching they went in and were greeted with shelves upon shelves pack full of music and various posters littered on the wall. "Hey you like music kid?" Tess asked Link as she made her way to the shelves and looked through some of the records.

"Yeah I love it, I'm actually a musician myself." He replied as he walked up to her wondering what she was looking through.

"Really!? what do you play?" She asked honestly curious as she continued to look through the records.

"It's called an Ocarina and what are those you keep looking through?" He asked pointing to at the records.

"A Ocacena?" She said trying to think what an Ocacena looked like.

"Ocarina." He corrected firmly

"Oh okay and these are called records." She said grabbing one and showing it to him. "Now if only we had a record player than we could play this bad boy." Finally getting the idea he realized that these records were a form of music and his eyes lit up realizing that this was a chance to experience this world culture. To an explorer like Link this was an exciting prospect and so he set about finding a record player.

Noticing there was two rooms in the back one was blocked and the other was completely open, he ran over yelling. "I'll be right back!" Tess smiled as she watched Link eyes lit up and then run to the backroom with child-like excitement. She was reminded of her own son whom she failed to protect. Shaking away the bad memory she turned her attention to look for records in case Link found one.

Link was now in the backroom looking for a record player the only problem was he had no idea what a record player even looked like. He did however find an old dusty guitar that had one of it's guitar strings broken which he pocketed since it would be simple to fix especially since in a nearby box there were old guitar string packages. The only other things in there was a makeshift knife and some ammo. Deciding there was nothing else he walked back out and saw Tess look at him with an expecting look, but sadly he shook his head to which she gave a sigh of disappointment.

Remembering there was two doors he positioned himself to the other and saw it was slightly ajar. Attempting to open it he found that it was blocked by something, undeterred he unsheathed his sword and hacked the door to pieces. With the door now gone it revealed that the door had been barricaded with a red couch and what smelled like something was rotting coming from inside. Looking inside all he saw was darkness reaching into his pouch he pulled out a black cylinder object called a flashlight, he had gotten it from one of the soldiers they killed in the snake's chamber as Link called it, and turned it on. Now able to see he saw it was a small room painted a pale green with posters lining the walls. What caught his eye however was the body sitting at the far end hunched over.

Moving towards the body he saw that said body had been here for sometime as it was already very badly decomposed with flies swarming around him. This skeleton was hunched over some items as if he was holding or hugging them when he died. A strange box that reminded him of Guru Guru's music box. It was a metal tube that connected to a wooden box and protruded outwards and looked like a flower. In the middle of the wooden box was a black circle and next to it was a type of needle that could be moved back and forth. The whole thing looked in very good condition albeit dusty. Believing he had found it he made to pick it up, but the skeleton had a firm grasp on it it was like even in death he wouldn't let go of his treasure. Shaking the record player it took a while for the Skeleton to lose it's grip and fall off it's chair. When the skeleton's skull impacted the floor it cracked and maggots spilled from it's sockets. With the skeleton now on the floor it revealed some of the other contents on the desk. Other than twelve records, that were probably this person's favorites, there was nothing of interest. He pocketed the record player before he pocketed the records and then left to head back out to Tess.

As he left he could swear he heard someone say 'GIVE THEM BACK!' Turning around he shined his light into the room and saw a ghostly appirition hovering over the skeleton. giving a short bow he said "I give you my honor that I will take care of them." He proclaimed proudly. The ghost didn't want to believe him, but when he said the gentle and caring look in his eyes of a fellow music lover he subsided and with a smile on his face he disappeared.

Tess had seen Link tear the door to pieces and then go inside, but he was sure taking his sweet time in there. Getting ready to head over see what was taking Link so long when he emerged, but turned around and gave a short bow before muttering something. Turning back to her she saw him reach into his pouch and pull out the record player. "This it?" He said sounding excited and hopeful at the same time.

"Yeah! Nice score kid!" She said getting swept up in the kids excitement. Link was beaming that he found it and place it back in one of his pouches where he kept all of his miscellaneous objects when they heard a loud noise. Tess knowing what this meant handed felt annoyed since none of the records interested her, but Link noticing her expression pulled out some records before putting them back. She smile as they headed towards the noise. 'Man I love this kid' She thought

Moving quickly into an alley they almost ran into a trap, but saw it just in time to move under it and into a back area. "Hey!" They heard a familiar voice call out to them. Turning left they saw Ellie running up to them with Joel leisurely jogging. "So what did you find." She asked.

"Just some ammo, a shiv, and the kid found a record player and we've got some records." Tess answered.

"Nicee dude!" She exclaimed giving Link a playful punch on the shoulder and received a wide smile from Link.

"Alright settle down Ellie." Joel said with a small smile as he watched the two. "Now come on let's get going."

They continued down the back alley until they found a body nearby that had three arrows sticking out of it and further ahead of that was blocked by a truck with a couch on top of it and a fence, but lucky there was a ladder lying down in front of the truck.

Looking at the corpse Ellie said "Whoa! Is Bill any good with a bow?" Tess had a look of amusement when she noticed Link's frown when Ellie said 'good'.

"I reckon he is.' Joel replied plainly while Link scoffed catching Joel's attention. "Got something to say kid" He added while he went to go place the ladder.

"Oh nothing, it's just he's decent at best." Link answered sounding annoyed

"What makes you say that?" Ellie asked

"You see the arrows?" Ellie nodded as he got closer to the body. "Well, if he was good and if he shot these arrows from where I think he did then he wouldn't have need three arrows". Tess's grinned at Link's elitist attitude.

"Well how do you know he didn't kill with one and the others are for good measure or that this was used for target practice." Ellie added.

\"Well look where the arrows are one in the stomach, one below the ribs, and one in the heart." He said pointing at each arrow. "If he killed him with a single shot then he wouldn't need the other two, but he needed three and likely based on how that ladder was laying on the ground he was probably shot and had to retreat and based on the wounds this happened a few days ago." Ellie was impressed by how much he got out by looking at coupse albeit she was still skeptical, but decided against voicing it.

"Alright if Green Arrow here is done let's get moving." Joel said leaning against the truck with his arms crossed. Moving towards Joel they made their way up the ladder one by one where they found some dried blood on the armchair and a discarded bow and some arrows behind the chair it brought some legitimacy to Link's claim. The discovery of the bow brought on the argument of who should be the one to use it. Initially Joel wanted to give it to Link since he was the best archer in the group, but Link shot it down since he liked his bow and didn't want to adjust to another. This left Joel and Ellie as the main arguers since Tess wasn't any good with a bow in which it was decided that Joel would be the one to use it.

The rest of the way was relatively uneventful other than Ellie nearly dying of a heart attack when Joel entered a building when they heard a loud banging on a steel door. The door itself led to someone's apartment who had already become infected and attacked them, but other than that it was smooth sailing. The only problem came when when they had to set off one of Bill's traps in order to proceed the trap. The trap itself left Link momentarily deaf which confused the others since they've seen Link use bombs before and seemed perfectly fine to which they learned that while Link has superhuman hearing his ears are sensitive to high pitch sounds. They waited awhile for Link's hearing to come back before continuing with Link's head still ringing he was unable to catch Ellie mutter something about getting a dog whistle

As they came up to a steel door Joel made sure everyone was ready before opening it, once he did though he was caught by one of Bill's traps and drag across the floor where he ended up suspended five feet in the air by a thick metal chain. It wouldn't have been so bad if the warehouse they were in wasn't filled with infected and the noise caused from the trap had attracted other infected to Joel's position.

Thinking quickly Link sprang into action drawing his sword and shield. "Ellie, Tess cover me!" He yelled as he cleaved an infecteds head off in an attempt to get to Joel before the infected did. Tess immediately whipped out her pistol and shot a few infected that were getting a little too close to Joel who in turn was also shooting any who came a little too close for comfort. Seeing Link was getting surrounded she made to get some of them off him, but before she could aim she heard the familiar loud bang of a handgun go off as she watched as three of the infected slumped down and died. Turning her head she saw Ellie had a gun in her hands, but she didn't dwell on it long as they still had infected to dispose of and it was nice to know they had an extra gunner.

As Joel was hanging upside down he found it hard to shoot properly and while his traveling companion struggled to save him he couldn't help, but feel that he was a damsel in distressed. This was emphasized even further when he heard a sudden click signifying his gun was out of ammo. "Shit!" He muttered All he had left was his rifle which would be harder to shoot because of the angle, but also dangerous since it took too much time to aim and reload it after each shot. There was always the bow, but all his arrows fell out when he was dragged across the floor and hanged and for some odd reason he never carried a knife so he was left with no choice but to pull out his rifle Looking into the scope he fired a shot that went through two of the infecteds heads.

Unfortunately due to his decreased field of view he failed to notice he was about to be blindsided as an infected grabbed onto him and was preparing to bite into him. Closing his eyes he waited for the excruciating pain that was sure to follow, but it never came. Opening his eyes he saw the infected teeth mere inches from his face before it slumped down dead. "Your welcome!" A small young voice called out. Turning to the direction of the voice he saw it was Ellie. Taking this chance he did his best to reach the chain around his leg and use it to climb out of harms way.

Meanwhile Link was skillfully cleaving through infected and using his shield to keep some at a distance while trying to reach Joel, but every time he killed one, three more took it's place. Link had no trouble killing the mindless creatures the only problem was they never stopped coming and he still needed to get Joel free and lastly to top it off Joel was out of ammo. If he wanted to get everyone out alive he'd need to to do something drastic. Channeling some magic into his sword until it shone with a golden light and with a mighty spin he unleashed a wave of magic that tore apart all in it's way. Acting quickly he put away his sword and shield before swinging his right arm to his left side and leaving it hovering just over his left hand all in one swift motion with a look of extreme concentration on his face.

All present had a look of surprise as they saw Link push the infected back with some kind of spin, but it quickly turned to one of shock and confusion as they saw him put away his weapons and go into some kind of stance. They all had mixed reactions as they continue to watch him when he paid no mind to the infected closing in on him fast. Tess wanted to yell at him to move, Ellie swore she was gonna kick his ass if they lived through this, and Joel who had a better look at Link wondered what was going through his mind. They continued to stare at him like he was crazy and tried their best to keep the infected off him, completely unaware of what was about to happen in the next four seconds.

One. As if out of nowhere a bright red light began to glow between Link's palms and grabbed every single infected present attentions. Two, the glowing red light turned into a orb of fire comprised of golden flames. Three, Link quickly thrusted the orb in the floor and instantaneously a dome of fire encased him and burned any infected that had gotten to close. The dome stood there unyielding to the monsters around it flaunting its power daring any stupid enough to stand in it's way. Four, as if the dome had grown tired of the foul and disgusting creatures who had once been mere men it expanded outwards burning everything in it's path leaving not even ash until all the infected in the warehouse were gone, leaving the structure virtually untouched and the few infected outside seem hesitant to approach.

00000000

Outside a few feet away from the warehouse walked a plump man with slicked back brown hair wearing worn out clothes. He had on a blue vest over a beige jacket with simple brown pants and boots. He also carried a medium sized backpack where he kept his supplies he found in town and he kept a machete hooked to his pants. On his face he had on a gas mask, probably because he had recently come from a spore infest area, but it left some of his white skin on his forehead perfectly exposed. This is the man that the group had been searching for, this was the man known as Bill

Making his usual patrols around town for supplies and making sure it was secure. He was almost done with his patrol too when out of nowhere he witnessed the most strangest things, a bright golden light that gave off so much heat he could feel it from where he stood and then just as quickly as it came it was gone.

"What the hell!" Bill shouted as he carefully made his way to the warehouse.

0000000

There was a distinct hissing that rang through her ears and she could smell the disgusting odor of burnt flesh. Ellie slowly opened her eyes and to her surprise she was still standing, still breathing, and still very much alive. Last she remembered was golden flames rushing to her and the burning bodies of the infected around them. She also remembered her body tensing as she faced her impending death. Knowing there was no point in running and closed her eyes waiting for the pain of her blood boiling and her flesh melting of her bones, but it never happened. All she felt was warmth. No, the fire hadn't burned her, but put her at ease, made her feel safe as if this damn apocalypse never happened.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts she looked next to her to see Tess still had her eyes firmly clenched, but was virtually fine. Reaching out she shook her a bit which startled her and elicited a small 'eep' from the grown women as their eyes meant. Ellie's shone with amusement and Tess was red in the face and had a look that said 'Don't ever tell anyone what you heard'. Rolling her eyes Ellie began to take in her surroundings and quickly found the conjurer of said flame as he stood up shakily. He looked like he had just run a marathon, his face was caked in sweat and his breathing was ragged. He even had to stop himself from falling over as he tried to take a step forward, but managed to catch himself. However, he managed to catch his breath and drew his sword running towards the fridge that acted as a weight and kept Joel suspended in midair. With a quick swipe of his sword he cut through the chains and Joel landed with a heavy thump.

Groaning Joel said "Couldn't you have given me a little heads up." Joel slowly got up and noticed the infected just outside the warehouse, but what confused him was why weren't they coming in until his eyes lit up with realization. "They're afraid?" To Joel they had alway been mindless creatures, but here they showed themselves to be much more, maybe even sentient. Don't get it twisted though he would still rather destroy every single one of them than ever endulge the idea to ever study them. Noticing Ellie and Tess were looking in their direction he motioned for them to come over as he was too afraid to call out to them lest he attract the infected.

Nodding Ellie and Tess made their way over to them just as Bill came barreling in guns blazing. "Hands up!" The group turning to the newcomer with nervous expression as they heard the infected snap out of their fear and back into action. "Shit!" He groaned and turned back to the group as they ran in his direction. "Follow me!" He said when he quickly realized it Joel and Tess coming his way.

With Infected on their heels they made it out of the warehouse and Bill cut through a chain that slammed the shutter doors shut. Quickening his pace Bill made it to the front of the group as infected spawned all over the place hungry for fresh flesh and led them through an alley where there a locked steel door waited at the end. Fumbling with his keys he grew irritated when Joel told him to hurry, it didn't help that there were infected storming into the alley.

Getting into position Link, Tess and Ellie began to fire away trying to buy Bill time. It got worse when Tess and Ellie ran out of ammo leaving Link the sole gunner and they could see he was running out of arrows, but thankfully he was effectively slowing them down thanks in part to the already death infected littered about which helped in slowing them down. With their hearts beating a mile a second and their adrenaline on high it felt like an eternity when Bill finally got the door open and he quickly ushered them. Link was the last to enter and afterwards the door was quickly slammed shut.

The building they found themselves in looked to be a small store, but due to the circumstances they found themselves running towards the only visible door where they were met with two runners and one clicker who were easily taken down by Link and Bill. With Bill in the lead Link took the rear since his companions were currently defenseless and as soon as they got out of the store they heard the store's backdoor give way and fall to the floor. Shooting any that got to close for comfort he followed them through a truck trailer. Seeing Bill attempt to open a door ahead of them Link looked behind him and saw infected begin to spill out of the trailer. Turning around he did his best to slow down the incoming threat, but he alone could only do so much.

"Link!" He heard three voices call his name just as he heard a door slam behind him.

'Great!' He thought as he faced the horde alone.


So how was it? And yeah I tried to make a John Cena joke. I know I'm lame. ^_^