Chapter 5 – Outside – July 14th 2033

"Wow. We're actually outside." Ellie was like a kid in a candy store. She was amazed by the outside world. It was nice, in a surreal sort of way, being outside the walls of the enclosed city. It was the only sense of freedom we had in a world with no rules.

"Yeah. Ain't much to look at now is it?" Joel was considerably less optimistic about the world we lived in, and for good reason. The man looked like he'd seen to much for one lifetime.

We were just outside the city. The ground was littered in rocks, old cars, and pipes. The remnants of a bygone age.

"Soldiers up ahead. I count three." Tess was right, three soldiers directly ahead looking for the people who had killed Robert earlier. Ironically in a post apocalyptic world, murder was still illegal. "Whatever happens, you stick with Joel. Got it kid?" Tess whispered towards Ellie. Ellie nodding in response, not wishing to speak for fear of alerting the soldiers in the area.

Tess crouched down and we all followed her and hid behind a rusted old car. Ellie was doing as told, staying close to Joel. The soldiers had split off from each other, with one walking towards our left and the other two walking towards our right. They looked tired, and tired people made mistakes. That being said we were all tired as well.

"I can take out the two on the right. Quietly. Tess you take him on the left." Joel gestured for Ellie to stay behind the car, as he slowly moved towards me and Quaid to the right of the car.

"See that's what I like about you Americans, always trying to show strength. We could just, you know, sneak around them. Quietly." There was no need for a fight, it would be much easier and much more efficient to just get around them rather than kill them.

"And what in the hell makes you think they won't see us? There's five of us, take 'em out now and we won't have to worry." Joel raised a valid point, but I was confident in our abilities, despite the fact that there was some kid with us. A kid that I needed to keep safe.

"Alright. You take them out Texas, and I'll take out him on the left." Tess kept low, and moved from cover to cover, closer and closer to the solider that was standing to our left.

"What's she gonna do?" Ellie questioned Quaid. The curiosity of a kid.

"Just, ah look away you shouldn't be seeing this shit." Quaid was trying to be responsible, but we both knew she was going to watch anyway.

"I'm gonna need to do it anyway one day so." Ellie was right. Just looking at her made me feel sad, knowing that she's growing up in a world where she'll have to kill, she'll have to commit atrocities that nobody should have to do, just so she could survive in a world that was tearing itself apart.

Tess grabbed her knife from her waistband, a nine inch hunting blade and judging by it's condition, it had a story or two to tell. Tess grabbed the soldier and simultaneously covered his mouth while she brought the blade around his front and straight into his heart.

Meanwhile Joel had done the same, moving from cover to cover to get closer to the two soldiers on our right. He sneaked up behind the two soldiers and grabbed the soldier on his left by the head, and threw his entire weight to smash his skull off the wall. Blood generously coated the wall. The other soldier must have heard the crack of the skull off the brick wall and turned around in time to see Joel tackle him to the ground. Joel straddled the soldier and immediately began to lay punch after punch into his face with incredible speed until the soldier was no longer struggling to escape.

"Christ." Ellie looked on in disbelief. "Doesn't it bother you? Killing people like that?" Ellie asked me. Her eyes looked sad, like she was staring right into my soul.

"Well it wouldn't make us very good at surviving if it did." I answered, trying not to give to much away.

"I don't believe you." The kid was smart.

"It's because he's lying. It's ugly. The ugliest thing you could ever do. Just hope you don't have to do it any time soon." Quaid always knew when I was telling the truth or telling a lie, he was right to tell Ellie the truth.

"Come on, let's move up." Tess gestured for us to follow her. We stayed low and moved from cover to cover, observing our surroundings to make sure that no other soldiers spotted us.

We climbed into a metal container with both ends open. We slowly walked through, just a few more steps and we'd be well on our way to getting Ellie out of the city, and on the way to the fireflies. Maybe I would see some old friends. We'd walked through the container and reached the other side.

"Hands up."

Shit. I turned around and saw two soldiers, a man and a woman, who were now pointing guns at all five of us.

10 years ago

"Have you done it yet?" Impatience resonated through Marlene's voice.

"You know, you're welcome to fucking help us." Quaid was struggling to put the now dead Sergeant Miller's body into the back of the hummer. I had already put the other bodies in the car, we just had to deliver the bodies to a particularly sketchy individual.

"Come on, put your back into it!" Winding up Quaid was one of the only pleasures I had in this world any more, the banter kept us motivated to keep pushing forward, to keep surviving.

"Why don't you put you back into it!?" Quaid shouted back at me, a look of annoyance displayed across his face as he picked the body up into the boot of the car. The corpse slumped over the top of where the little girl was hiding, same drill as before until we were sure she was completely safe.

With all of us in the car we set off driving into the city, leaving no bodies behind. As we drove further into the city it seemed to get more decrepit by the mile. This once flourishing city was now a wreck, people half starved to death littered the streets, children no longer played and laughed like the days before this shit storm. It just made me miss England.

"So where are we headed man?" Quaid was riding shotgun with me.

"You already know him mate."

"Who are we going to Shaun?" Marlene questioned me further.

"Look for your sanities sake Marlene, it's best that we keep you out of the loop here." It was best she didn't know where we were taking the bodies, or who to for that matter.

We drove for another ten minutes deeper and deeper into the city, until we reached the correct alleyway.

"We're here. Marlene, take the kid. I'll move the bodies first, she doesn't need to see them. Quaid, hide the car. You know where to put it." Quaid nodded, he'd found the perfect hiding spot to hide the hummer.

I proceeded to remove the bodies one by one and placed them in front of the car so the kid wouldn't see them. We took off the covering for the spare tire and the little girl climbed out. Quiet as a mouse.

"You know where to come, when you're done here doing whatever it is you're doing, come collect your payment." With that said, Marlene took the little girl by the hand, and walked off into the city. She would be safer here than on the outside.

"I'll meet you at Marlene's man. Be careful, that guys a fucking psycho." Quaid

"I know man. Don't worry. Keep the gun Marlene give you close." Quaid reversed out of the alleyway and drove off, the wheels kicking dirt up into the air.

Now it was time for me to take care of these bodies. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and knocked on the metal door in the alleyway. I waited. One of the most insane and disgusting individuals I have had the displeasure of meeting in this life would answer the door, but I needed him right now.

The door opened, and a Caucasian male of average height, sporting a goatee answered the door.

"Shaun. It's been a while, how are things?" On the outside the man was calm, kind, and collected, but I know a deeper evil lurked inside him.

"Let's just get down to business." The sooner I got this over with the sooner I got out of here.

"My my, you have been busy now haven't you?" He looked at the three bodies on the ground.

"Help me get them inside." I grabbed the body of sergeant Miller and hoisted his corpse on my shoulder and walked inside and dropped the body on one of the many metal tables. Bodies were strung up by the ceiling, blood dripped down onto the floor, leading into drains which were scattered about the room. I was struggling to contain my fear, there was a good chance that I could end up being strung up and killed.

"Now then let's see what we got here." The man had startled me, he was standing directly behind me and I had no idea that he had even brought the other two bodies in. "I understand, it can be unsettling to be around death. Especially the bodies of the people you just killed. What did you do?"

"Let's just get this over with." I wasn't going to let him get into my head, I had to stay calm and collected if I was going to get out of here alive. Any show of weakness and i'd be done for. "That's some fine quality meet you got there, a bit broken, but it'll last us a week or two." He looked at the bodies, admiring mine and Quaid's handy work.

"Just get through it. I don't care what you do." I thought I was going to be sick. The way he was looking at the corpses with such lust disturbed me.

"Have you ever tried it?" He starred at me, I couldn't read him. I had no idea what was going through his head but I had to keep my answers short, and directly to the point.

"Tried what?" I knew what he meant.

"The meat. Human meat." The man licked his lips.

"No. Look. Take the bodies, do what you want with them. Just make sure they disappear. Take them for free, I'm going." And with that I started to walk out, when I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Why don't you sample the meet with me?" He whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "I insist." And with that, David led me over to the body of Sergeant Miller.

Present day

"We can make it worth your while." Tess said to the female soldier, desperately trying to bargain our way out of this.

"Shut up." It was clear there wasn't a way for us out of this easily. The soldier had one of those portable hand scanners and was scanning all of us. Just as he got to Ellie, she suddenly lunged towards the male soldier and stabbed him in the leg with a small pocket knife she had been concealing. The soldier screamed in agony and dropped to the floor. Joel drew his revolver and shot the man in he head, while Tess grabbed the female soldier by the neck and stabbed her through the heart.

"Oh shit! I thought we were just going to hold 'em up!" Ellie was visibly shaken, contributing to the death of two soldiers, especially at a young age, would shake anybody up.

"Come on, we gotta go. Capitol buildings not far, if we set off now we can make it by dawn." Joel didn't seem eager to start this journey, but the sooner we got it over with, the sooner we got home. The problem is, me and Quaid both knew that the fireflies were not going to be at the Capitol building, alive at least.

"They're not gonna be there. The fireflies I mean.

"And how the hell d'you know that? Marlene's Queen Firefly. She knows where her people are."

"We used to be fireflies to, when we were young and naïve. She might be the leader but she can't keep an eye on everything, and last we heard they were heading to a University in Colorado." We'd kept in contact with a few of our old associates. By the sound of things it was a good choice.

"And why would we believe you? Two Brits we've never met before and you think we're just gonna follow you?" Joel didn't seem to like to work with us, and the feeling was mutual.

"Look, I don't like this either but we ha-" Before I could finish my sentence Joel cut me off

"Oh Shit. Look." Tess had picked up the scanner and threw it to Joel.

"Jesus Christ. Marlene, she set us up." Joel barely contained the anger in his voice.

"No, she can't have, you wouldn't have." I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it.

"She can't be infected look at her, she looks fine! There'd be signs!" Quaid was in disbelief.

"See for yourself, UK." Tess threw the scanner towards me and Quaid. In bold red letters, it showed that Ellie was indeed – infected. I couldn't believe it. Marlene wouldn't set us up? We'd worked together for so long!

"I'm not infected!" Ellie was terrified, we were all surrounding her, I myself was on the verge of pulling out my walther and shooting her between the eyes myself.

"No? So that thing was lying?" Joel threw the scanner at Ellie, a mixture of fear and anger in his eyes.

"Why the fuck are we smuggling an infected girl out of the city!" Quaid

"Oh fuck you; you're the one's who smuggled me in; in the first place!" Ellie

"What? What the fuck's she talking about?" Tess starred at me and Quaid. We didn't have to explain ourselves, not right now at least!

"That doesn't matter right now! What matters is that she's got the parasite!" I shouted back at Tess, this wasn't the time!

"Look I can explain." Ellie looked like she was about to cry, but she held herself together with remarkable will power.

"You better explain fast." Tess pointed her pistol at Ellie's head.

"It's three weeks old." Ellie pulls up shirt. "Everyone turns within two days but it's three weeks, I swear. Marlene wouldn't set you up!"

"She could have fucking told us." I was relieved that Marlene hadn't betrayed us, but at the same time I was annoyed she hadn't told us.

"I ain't buying it." Joel pointed his revolver at Ellie's head.

Ten years ago

"Would you like a bite?"

"No."

"I didn't meant to imply that you had a choice."