A/N: Sorry for the long Hiatus, wring in this setting is not exactly my specialty, and recent events kept putting me off from writing. I'm trying to get back on track, but my motivation is something that changes frequently. Unfortunately all I have to offer as of yet is an updated Chapter 2 with what I hope are improvements. don't forget to Review, your input helps me in many ways.

The Last of Us still doesn't belong to me.


CHAPTER TWO

The walk to the edge of the city couldn't have been easier. Little to no infected, and not one hunter was in sight. Strange considering how many were after Joel and Ellie to begin with. None of that kept Joel from being on edge, he kept his rifle in hand, no matter how much Blaine explained that no hunter ever came near edge of the forest. Joel knew all too well how unpredictable the still living were. The infected were stupid, and easy to avoid, in fact Joel would say that he feared the people more than the infected.

The black of night made the forest a little more difficult to traverse, and the ambiance of it had more of a creepy feel than a dangerous one. Blaine told Ellie about all the game there was to hunt in the forest, some of which were not native to the area, and had escaped from the various zoo's that dotted the country. Ellie payed attention with the curiosity of a small child as she listened to Blaine explain the wildlife and flora of the area. She had experienced the exotic animals that now populated the ruined continent, but seeing how much the animals varied over a small area surprised her. She knew how to hunt deer and other small game animals, but hearing Blaine explain how to kill and cook the crocodiles that congregated near the flooded city and sewage drains interested her.

Joel, who was still hanging back, eyed the two teenagers as they walked and conversed. From what he could tell so far, Blaine didn't seem much different from Ellie, in his mannerisms at least. Both joked and found ways to keep their spirits up in the unforgiving ruins of america, and managed to keep their youthful personalities in the face of danger. The only thing that set Blaine's personality apart from Ellie's, was his almost military knowledge of the landscape, and his seriousness when it came to getting jobs done. Joel laughed to himself, the boy reminded him of himself in his younger years, of course Joel didn't have to fight to survive on a daily basis.

After what seemed like hours, the group came to a clearing in the woods, and found a large makeshift fence made of random sheets of metal and timber. Next to the front gate was a tall tower with the glow of fire illuminating the small area surrounding it.

"Well, here we are. Working plumbing, some buildings with electricity, and a population of around 40 people. What more could you ask for." Blaine explained with a hint of gloating. "Geoff! Open the gate!" He shouted up towards the sniper tower that sat next to the gate

After a couple of seconds an older man peered over the edge of the tower. "Name, and time of departure?" Geoff yelled back down.
"Blaine, departure at eleven a.m." Blaine shouted in return, the man went back behind a ledge for a couple more seconds before appearing again. "You and your friend left together, why are you returning separately?" he shouted back down, giving Blaine an eye of suspicion.

"We ran into some complications. Look, are you gonna open the gate or not?" Blaine letting his annoyance seep into his tone, the man gave a sharp glare to the young man and his group, then he let out a sigh and returning to his post to open the gate.

The large gate made of sheet metal and wrapped in barbed wire began to rise.
"Make sure to tell Craig about your two friends when you get in." were Geoff's final words, said in a voice that was glad to be done with the confrontation, he sat back into his chair, kicked his feet up, and pulled out the book he seemed more interested in than doing his job.

The inside the gate was a sharp contrast against the bleak forest they had just exited. The hold was full of various campfires, and people sitting around chatting about their days, surrounded by group lodging cabins, due to the fact that the camp was erected on an actual campground. The children had all gone to sleep by now, but the working men still savored the last of the day by drinking and sharing stories before going off to bed themselves.

"Quite a place you've got here" Ellie said, observing every inch of her surroundings, taking in all the details of the camp that had a more simple feel than their own home. Before Blaine could thank her, she cut him off "But ours still has more people, and it even has it's own little town," It was true that her's and Joel's own community was larger and more industrious, with men and women working throughout the day to keep the dam running, but she enjoyed the homey, and rustic feel of the camp. It reminded her of the simple people that existed even before there was electricity she read about from the old history books she stumbled upon at Tommy's homestead.

Blaine laughed "Well, I'm sure there's no need to compare our sizes" he jested. "But I think everyone here is happy with the way we live, except of course from the rare bandit raids"
Blaine said as he peeled of the scarf from his face, and removed the hood from his head. His shaggy black hair stuck to his forehead, and he had a slight tan from wearing the scarf over his mouth and nose all day. There was no denying his youth, that's for sure. His thick eyebrows and black hair contrasted well against his slightly darkened skin. Finally seeing his face completely for the first time caught Ellie off guard, she had asked him about the scarf before, but he said he preferred to keep it on. She thought it was to hide some hideous scar that he was ashamed of, but as far as Ellie was concerned, that face was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Well, I better show you guys to Craig, the appointed leader of our camp. I'm sure he'll be fine with visitors, but it still helps to get the okay." Blaine then went on to lead them to Craigs cabin, when Jessie ran up behind them, out of breath from running.

"Oh thank god, I thought you got killed out there" Jessie let out a relieved sigh, as he leaned on his friend's shoulder, trying to catch his breath from running.
"I told you I wouldn't die." Blaine stated with a sense of grandeur. "And not only did I save myself, I also managed to save these two survivors" Blaine joked, Joel let out a small "hmph", as close to a laugh Blaine will get.
"Oh, uhh... Hi, welcome... to our camp.. I mean." Jessie stuttered out as he greeted Joel and Ellie, who both returned the formalities. Jessie was never good with meeting new people, and it was apparent to everyone when he started to nervously stutter, if not for Blaine, Jessie would have a hard time befriending anyone. Before Jessie could make himself look more stupid, he ran off to do some "errands that had just come up".

"Don't mind him, he's just shy." Blaine said about the boy who had gotten away as fast as he could. Being 'shy' was something that was alien to Ellie, the girl couldn't understand how someone wouldn't be able to speak up for themselves, especially in the world they live in today. Some people are just different she thought and followed Blaine towards the leader's cabin.

The only thing that distinguished Craig's cabin from all the others in the hold, was the fact that his was much smaller. Most likely due to the fact that he got to have a place for himself, Joel thought, the same reason why Tommy's room back at their own camp was the largest in the entire community. Blaine approached the door, and gave it 3 solid raps.

"Craig! It's Blaine!" he shouted through the door, waiting for a response.
"Ah! Blaine, what took you so long!" all three heard the loud heavy footstep as the man approached the door. "Jessie came back with the medicine but I was still-" as the door opened Craig stopped his self as he laid eyes on the two strangers that stood behind Blaine.
"I see you brought company."

Craig was a man who dwarfed Ellie and Blaine in comparison, and was still a head taller than Joel. Saying that the massive, bald man was intimidating was an understatement, and the many scars that littered his olive toned face and neck only increased the effect. While his demeanor was enough to send even a bear running towards the hills, with eyes that always seemed to hold ire, and a mouth stuck in a permanent frown, his baritone voice was that of a jolly uncle. He reached out his large hands to greet Joel and Ellie.

Blaine was the first to speak up. "Me and Jessie ran into some problems on our way back, so I had to take a couple detours, and on the way, I ran into some trouble. These two here helped me out a little, so I decided that I should help them out." Craig listened to his explanation, glancing back and forth at the grizzled man, and the younger girl. Satisfied with Blaine's reasoning, he motioned for Joel to come into his cabin.

"Come, come in, let me get you something to drink, and you can explain to me what seems to be the problem." Craig offered Joel, as he turned to Blaine. "Why don't you show missy to the guest beds, let them see some use for once, eh?" Craig shooed off Blaine and Ellie with a laugh, guests were always something that Craig enjoyed, and with the bandits slowly making the city more dangerous than ever, travelers were becoming even more of a rarity.

Blaine and Ellie headed back towards the main hub of cabins, striking up conversation here and there. Ellie had friends back at Tommy's camp, but they were all either twice her age, or not yet in their teens. and having someone who was around the same age as her made her feel at least a little bit more comfortable. Not that she wasn't comfortable discussing certain things with Joel, and there certainly wasn't anything she'd tell Blaine that she wouldn't tell Joel, but having another teenager to talk to, and someone who understood her personality, made her life feel at least a tiny bit more normal.
Blaine didn't have the same problems Ellie had faced, growing up with Jessie had always given him someone to confide in. Still, Ellie had been the first female his age he had met. Even though their lives made them act more grown than their ages showed, Blaine was still a 17 year old boy, so no one could blame him for they way he thought of Ellie, the only girl he had ever had contact with. Her hair was tangled in areas, and her face had several small scars with one very noticeable scar going through her brow, but none of this mattered to Blaine, what he saw was a brash, loud girl who could probably kill him with her bare hands, and he wouldn't change a thing about her, lastly Blaine would be damned if her eyes weren't the brightest green he'd ever seen.

He shook these feelings, as this was no time to be a hormone driven teenager, and did his best to hide his interest in the girl. "So, the cabin with the guest beds are over there" Blaine said as he pointed to the cabin which seemed to be a little bit larger than the more conventional cabins that sat in the ring. "There's about 3 other people staying in the cabin, so I hope you don't mind company."

"With the way our sleeping conditions were on the road, I'm sure I can handle someone snoring." Ellie joked. Blaine gave a half laugh, and they parted ways

Blaine turned, realizing he forgot something. "Oh yeah, if you feel like you need a shower, they're right up that path" he said as he pointed towards a dirt path that went into the thicker part of the forest. "There's no electricity, but the plumbing works fine, and besides, I think a cold shower does everyone a little good."

"Thanks." was all Ellie said, as she flashed him a final smile, that made Blaine's chest hurt, but in a good way. He turned away and caught the breath that he forgot. The walk back to his bed was a long one with the image of Ellie's smile burned into his mind, he was glad to be done with the experience before he could make himself look stupid. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought of the girl, but the effort was only making things worse. He sighed and continued in silence, both in his mind and outside.

"So your plans don't seem to be falling into place as you hoped, eh?" Craig spoke up, taking a sip from his lukewarm tea
"but I'm afraid that there's nothing me or my people can do. We've tried bargaining with the people running the dam, but they want nothing to do with outsiders." he leaned back in his chair, resting his eyes as he contemplated.

"Yeah, we've never had much luck with the military either." Joel said somberly, his head resting on his hand, with his elbow on the table. His own tea still full, but now cold.

"Seems to me like they're trying more to keep themselves safe and fed, instead of keeping order where it's needed." Joel nodded in agreement at Craig's words, he knew that even inside the quarantine zones was hectic, all someone had to do was look at all the abandoned zones to see that the military was lacking some much needed strength.

"And from what I hear, the Fireflies aren't doing much better" Craig's mention of the Fireflies caught Joel off guard. Any mention of the Fireflies always put him on edge. "No one's heard from them in about 2 years." Craig continued.
"Is that so?" was Joel's only response, as he downed his cold tea in a single go.

"but it's all the same, when groups fight for power, the people suffer." The larger male said as he stood up from his seat and stretched, he walked to the pot that sat on the burner, keeping it hot. He poured more of the boiling water in his cup, getting the most use out of the tea bag that sat in the mug. Joel sat still going over the words Craig had just said, taking note of the truth that ran through them.

Joel enjoyed the feel of Craig's little town he had going, though there was electricity in only certain spots, they made due, and from the outside, appeared to even thrived. The people were friendly enough, but he was sure that they had no problem dealing with an overzealous bandit or infected, but what the village lacked was any teenagers other than Blaine and his friend.

"What's the deal with those two boys anyways?" Joel asked, fact that Blaine was around Ellie's age, but scavenging and hunting on his own.

"Ah, Blaine and Jessie? They're like sons to me, I've had them since there were little ankle biters" Craig boasted out as he reminisced in the days of the two teens childhood. "The got caught up with the bandits, and were almost killed. If not for me, they would have been two unknown bodies laying out in the city."

Joel listened to Craig go on about how he taught the two boys everything they knew about surviving. How Blaine was a natural with a bow, and how Jessie had almost blown of either of their heads more times than he could count. The two men chatted for another hour, laughing about all the troubles each of their teenage companions had caused them. Joel could see that Blaine was lucky to have a father figure to teach him about the world from an early age, the teens who grew up in the world probably adjusted better than the adults who had the world plunged onto them 20 years ago.

Several more minutes had passed before Joel decided he should get some sleep. Craig told Joel where to find the guest beds, they exchanged goodbyes and Joel was off. The similarities between Joel and Craig were obvious to himself, and he found he had a certain respect for the man who had more fatherly motives just as Joel himself did.

Sleep didn't come easy for Blaine, Ellie's eyes stayed on his mind more than he would admit, but after several minutes of turning, and trying to think of something else, Blaine managed to find sleep.

"... subject... readings normal... procede...tests" was all blaine could make out from the muffled talking, thought it was happening right in front of him, his ears were ringing strongly blocking out almost all sound.
He slowly opened his eyes. the bright light that was shining directly at his face blinded him, he winced in pain as his eyes squinted shut, but when his eyes adjusted he still found that his vision was severely blurry. All he could make out were two figures dressed in grimey suits, with masks on passing rusted and damaged tools back and forth over his body, and the run down, destroyed room that contained him.

"... inhalation... begin" one of the men said in a dull voice, almost robotic in expression.

Blaine turned to the other man, but saw a mask being lowered onto his face, he tried to resist but his arms were strapped to the table, and every movement seemed to drain him completely of energy. He held his breath as the mask was held over his mouth and nose, he saw the grey gas being pumped into the mask, but he couldn't hold his breath forever. The first gasp he took, singed his throat, and his lungs felt like they were filled with hot steam. He hacked and coughed as he thrashed about, but the mask wouldn't budge. Eventually all Blaine could do was lay still and breathe the horrid gas that still burned his lungs.
After what was an eternity as far as Blaine was concerned the mask was removed, and he was able to breathe fresh air again. Unfortunately this only gave him slight relief from the pain in his esophagus.

"proceed with bite test" Blaine was able to hear the man speak perfectly. At the word bite, his heart stopped, he knew what was going to happen. In the blink of an eye he was now in a room with a large sheet of glass in front of him, inside he saw more of the masked men in torn and stained suits, all observing him, as he was strapped to a now inclined bed, with arms outstretched.

"Bring in the infected" one man behind the glass called out through the intercom. Through the door to the right, blaine heard growls getting more and more extreme, until the door opened slowly and through the door walked 4 more men in the suits, surrounding an infected runner restrained by the torso and neck by a constraint hooked up to long poles, to keep the suited men at a distance. The runner shook and jerked in all directions trying to escape, but was still being slowly led towards blaine. A fifth man rolled up the sleeve of the brown shirt Blaine found himself in. The runner inched closer and closer to Blaine's bare arm, it's jaw opening and slamming shut with force that would no doubt break his skin, if not more. Blaine tried to squirm free, but it was no use, the runner was inching closer to his arm. He tried to look away, to hopelessly avoid the pain that would surely be more than he could handle, he looked back towards the window, and still saw the men in their nearly destroyed suits, but now he also saw Craig, Jessie, and Ellie, all staring back at him with expressionless faces, before Blaine could make out what was going on, the runner latched onto his arm with it's deadly jaws, the pain shot through his entire body instantly, his entire body went stiff with shock. His vision began to fade to black, feeling lethargic he was able to make out one of the men speaking.

"Test complete, move on" before his mind finally faded.

Blaine opened his eyes, his heart still beating rapidly, and his forehead glistening with sweat. He sat up slowly and glanced at the window, the first signs of blue filling the sky, he got up and began to face the day.

He slid on his favorite hoodie, wrapped the sleeves with fabric at the forearms to keep them from being too baggy. He wrapped his neck with the red scarf, and pulled on the least dirty pair of cargo shorts. Finally slipping on the ratty sneakers he walked out the cabin, not before snatching up his bag that lay next to the door.
the day had barely started, and already heared some small chatter among the people in the camp. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, still shaken from the nightmare. He walked towards the gate, greeting the few other people who had woken up in the hour. His steps were slow and heavy as he walked, trying to wipe the last bit of sleepiness from his eyes. His mornings were not usually as groggy as this one, but this was the first time in a long while that he had that damned nightmare again.
He got to the gate, and leaned against the fence, looking up to the sky every so often, trying to gauge the whether for the next couple of hours. He looked back towards the circle of cabins, when he saw Joel and Ellie exit their cabin. He couldn't tell what they were saying to each other, but Joel gave a final sentence and headed towards the path that led to Craigs cabin. Ellie stayed, not knowing what to do, she gazed around the campsite, trying to find something that would keep her busy, when she spotted Blaine leaning against the fence. She at least knew Blaine enough to talk to him, and he seemed to be waiting for something, so it couldn't hurt to strike up conversation.

Blaine saw Ellie approaching, he had hoped Jessie would show up before he would have to talk to her, but it looks like his luck was severely lacking for the day.

"Hey, you waiting for something?" Ellie asked as she approached Blaine, He kept his hood and scarf on, but still talked in a dull voice.

"Just waiting for Jessie, we're supposed to head out to hunt for the morning." Blaine answered, avoiding eye contact from the girl. He did his best to sound as awake as possible, he felt as though he had only seen a minute of sleep all last night.

"Do you guys go out every day?" She asked, she thought it was strange that the two boys would be out in the city most of the day, only to go back out in the morning to hunt.

"No, yesterday was more of a special job, we only go hunting about twice a week." Blaine replied as he rubbed his forehead, his lack of restful sleep left him with a slight headache, and having this much interaction with the girl who made him feel 'funny' was only making things worse.

"Oh... is it okay if I join?" Ellie's question caught him off guard, he was used to just him and Jessie, but the more he thought about it, with 3 people he might actually be able to get back quicker and catch up on some more sleep.

"Sure, I guess. We just have to wait for Jessie, which shouldn't be much longer." Blaine said as he leaned back against the fence and rested his eyes. She asked him various questions, like how long they were going to be out, what they were trying to bring back, whether or not they were using a rifle or bow. All of which Blaine answered as directly as possible, He was about to go find Jessie himself when the other teen finally showed.

"Sorry, I woke up late, and misplaced my bag." Jessie said sheepishly as he approached, he glanced at Ellie and was just as shocked as Blaine was.

"Are you going with us or something?" He asked, looking at Blaine to see if he would interject.
"Yeah, if that's okay with you, I mean."
Ellie spoke up, noticing Jessie looking towards Blaine for confirmation.
"No, I'm fine with it. I just didn't think Blaine wou-" Jessie was abruptly stopped with a punch to the shoulder.
"C'mon, we've already wasted enough time." Blaine said as he shouted up to whoever was working the gate today.
The gate slowly opened, and the trio began to walk the forest. The tall trees and thick brush was a sight to behold this early in the morning. Random shafts of light shined through the branches and brush, lighting up the settled dew like glitter. And the Bright blue sky was even more glorious against the dark green of the overhanging trees. The cool air was a welcome relief from the usual harsh temperature of summer. Of course all of this only made Blaine even more sleepy.

The group climbed over rocks and logs, jumped over trenches, and crawled under fallen trees before Blaine stopped at the top of a hill. Jessie stood next to him and began digging through his bag. He pulled out a pair of binoculars as he examined the area at the bottom of a hill. Ellie approached and saw a large clearing sitting just downhill, she squinted and saw several deer, though they were extremely far away.

"Alright Jessie, spot for me." Without responding Jessie laid prone on the ground and pulled out a rangefinder that he kept in his bag. Blaine joined him, and shouldered his rifle, looking down the scope. Ellie was confused, she thought that they were going to take the shot a lot closer, at least that was how she was used to doing it.

"About... 220 meters." Jessie called out to Blaine, while still looking down his rangefinder.

"Alright, I'm going for the buck on the far left." Blaine said back, Jessie surveyed the area and focused on the target Blaine mentioned. Jessie and Blaine had practiced their hunting under Craig, and learned to work together to kill targets from quite a distance, this way they never needed to leave the immediate vicinity of the camp for longer than needed.

"Go for about 2 feet above the neck." Jessie directed his partner for the ideal shot. Blaine, set his rifle down, and leaned over to look at Ellie, who was waiting to see whether or not they were actually going to kill the buck.

"Why don't you take the shot?" Blaine said to Ellie. She looked back at him surprised, she didn't think they would be able to pull of the shot, and she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to do it.
"I'm not sure" She replied, her uncertainty showing through the tone of her voice, "I'm used to getting closer to my targets."

"It's not as hard as it seems." Blaine said as he stood up, motioning for the girl to take his spot. "Jessie pretty much does all the thinking and aiming. Just point to where he tells you, and pull the trigger"

The girl laid on the ground, and shouldered the rifle just as Blaine did. Still worried that she would miss the shot, she looked at Jessie, letting him know that she was ready. Jessie too felt doubt, now that it wasn't Blaine who was shooting. "Are you sure about this Blaine?" Jessie looked at his friend who was now leaning against a tree, with his eyes closed.

"What don't you trust, Your aiming, or hers?" Blaine replied to the boy, looking him the eyes, showing his seriousness.

"Well, neither. But-"

"Then take the shot." Jessie was cut off by Blaine. He took a breath and went back to his scope.

Ellie looked down the scope of her rifle, and saw the buck Blaine had mentioned earlier. While the scope did help with identifying the herd of deer, individually they still all looked too far to hit.

"So, the herd is 220 meters away, and the target we're trying to hit is on the far left." Jessie stated, he didn't know how much Ellie already knew, so he went over it again just to be sure.

"Got it" Ellie replied, keeping the crosshairs on the Buck.

"With this distance you're gonna want to aim about one foot above the neck." Jessie continued. He waited for confirmation from the girl but when he got none, he spoke up "You got it?"

"Well... I'm not exactly good at eyeballing the distance." She said, she had never had to aim above her targets, whether they were animal or human, she was always close enough for a solid direct shot.

"Alright, right under the center of the crosshair, there should be a second notch. Line up the shot so the Bucks neck is right in between the main cross, and the second notch." Jessie was instructing her, much like Blaine had when he first learned to shoot from long distances.

"Got it" Ellie gave confirmation as she listened to his directions attentively.

"When you're ready, just pull the trigger." Jessie replied, keeping his own scope on the deer.

Ellie took a deep breath, and exhaled as she slowly squeezed the trigger. she didn't want to move the rifle too much and let the two boys down by missing the shot.

The bang of the gunpowder rang through the forest, without flinching Jessie kept the deer in his sights, and just half a second after the gun's explosion. The buck fell without a single kick.

"You hit it." Jessie said to the girl, she was just as impressed with herself as Jessie was.

"I hit it?... I hit it!" She called out, she stood up and looked down at the field where the now dead buck laid. The distance still surprised her, but she was now confident in her abilities.

"Alright then. I'll go cut out the bulk of it, then we can get back to the camp." Blaine said as he went over the hunting knife that hung from his belt loop. He walked down the hill, as Jessie and Ellie stayed behind, he could hear Jessie congratulating her as he got further away.

He got to the edge of the clearing, and made his way to the fallen buck, still rubbing his face, trying to keep the sleepiness at bay, until a more appropriate time. He walked up to the deer, and saw the single bullet wound in its neck that had caused its death. Blaine knelt down and began skinning parts of the deer. after he drove the blade deep into the body of the buck, and began sawing away the choice pieces that contained the most meat. He rubbed each cut down with salt before stuffing it into a special pouch that he carried when they went hunting. He stood up, happy with his handiwork, and headed back towards Jessie and Ellie.

The walk up the hill was more taxing than going down, so he took it slower. The closer he got to their initial position, the more he heard talking, it was Ellie's voice. along with one he hadn't heard before. He slowed down and made his footsteps even lighter as he came to the edge of the hill.

"You're gonna pay for that you little bitch!" a deep and raspy voice shouted. Blaine saw the back of a man with a torn brown leather jacket pointing a gun at the girl. next to Ellie laid the body of a fallen bandit, with bloody hands still wrapped around his neck. Blaine spotted the bloody knife in Ellies grip, but he couldn't figure out where Jessie had went. He had his answer only seconds later.

"J-just calm down man, you guys attacked us first!" Blaine heard Jessie yell out, it wasn't until then that Blaine had found out that the still standing bandit had Jessie in his grasp, keeping him as a hostage against the girl who had killed his partner.

"Shut your mouth before you get yourself killed." the man shouted back as he placed the barrel of his pistol against Jessie's head.

Ellie inched forward, but the man quickly brought his aim back to the girl. "Stay the fuck back! I-I ain't afraid to kill both of you!" the man's voice was shaky and had hints of fear, he probably thought that two teenagers in the forest would be an easy pair to rob, but his dead partner was evidence of their mistake.

With the mans back facing him, Blaine slowly crept his way closer to the man. He reached for the bag on his back, to pull out his own gun, but felt nothing. he then saw his bag laying against the tree on the far side of the small scene that was happening. Blaine had to get closer, if he wanted to kill the man from behind. He gripped his knife, and quickened his pace while still being as quiet as possible. Ellie saw Blaine sneaking from behind, but gave no indication of his position to the man standing in front of her. Blaine was only feet away from the man, when a stray twig, gave away his position when stepped on.

The crunch alerted the man, he spun around as fast as he could, but the younger teen had already plunged his blade into the bandit's shoulder. Before the bandit could react, he felt a second knife pierce the skin on his back as Ellie had charged him with his back turned. A single gunshot was heard from his pistol. Blaine flinched for a second, only to remove the knife from the man's shoulder, and drive it several times into his neck and chest. Jessie had slipped from the man's grip, as Blaine fell on top of the man as he fell backwards, and continued to repeatedly stab the man, as his life slowly faded.

When he was sure the bandit was completely dead, Blaine crawled from his body,but stayed on all fours on the ground. Jessie's heart was pounding from the incident, and was still in shock from the the whole ordeal. He glanced down at the dead body of his attacker, and gave it a single kick to the torso. He knelt down and picked up the pistol that was held against his head, he removed the magazine to find no bullets were left, this would explain the bandits reluctance to shoot anyone, Jessie thought. Both Ellie and Jessie glanced at Blaine who was still on the ground, but before either could ask what was wrong, Blaine heaved up, and vomited what little contents were in his stomach.

Ellie and Jessie examined Blaine as he tried to stand up, but his left leg buckled when he tried to put weight on it. They ran over to catch him from falling, they both held him on their shoulder and carried him over towards a tree and sat him down gently against it's trunk. Blood was visible soaking through his shorts, and a single hole was at the center of the stain.

"He shot you in the leg, but there isn't much blood, so it not life threatening." Ellie said as she began to roll up the pant leg, Blaine grabbed her arm frantically.

"I'm fine." He said as he let go, he tried once again to stand, but the wound in his thigh kept him down.

"I said it wasn't life threatening, but that doesn't mean you don't need medical attention. Are you sick? I don't know many people who throw up whenever they get shot." Ellie said as she slid up the pant leg to his hip, Blaine didn't stop her this time. She exposed his entire thigh, but found that there was already a bandage in place. She looked up to Blaine and explained that the Bandage would have to be removed.

"Fine, go ahead. It's just that... I've never killed another person before, only infected and animals" was Blaine's only answer. Jessie ran over and grabbed Blaine's bag to bring back over to Ellie. She raised an eyebrow at Blaines explanation for his nausea, but she remembered how she felt when she first had to kill.

"He has a bunch of medical stuff in his bag." Jessie said, as he pulled out another roll of bandages, and a steel flask. Ellie began to unravel the bandage wrapped around his thigh. She saw the initial wound where the bullet went in, but something else caught her attention. Right under the bullet wound was a bite mark, not unlike her own. It had the first signs of an infected bite. Ellie stood up and backed away quickly, she gripped the knife in her pocket, and shouted at Blaine demanding answers.

"What the hell is that!" Ellie shouted at him pointing at the bite mark that scarred his leg.

"I said I was fine, but you had to try and help me." Blaine said back to her, still not looking in her direction.

"How long. when did you get bit?" She shouted back. She couldn't tell what she was more afraid of, that Blaine could turn, and kill both her and Jessie, or that she might have to deal with a situation like Sam and Henry's all over again.

Blaine was silent for a couple of seconds, she was ready to kill him if necessary, he could tell that the only way out was to tell the truth. "... ten years ago." Blaine muttered.
Ellie was confused, 'did he say ten years?' she thought to herself, there was no way, she was the only person who was immune to the fungus.

"What did you say?" Ellie asked, Blaine could see the confusion on her face from the corner of his eye.

"I said ten years. I got bit ten years ago." Blaine replied with annoyance. He had not intended for the girl to find out his secret, at least not this early. The only people that knew of Blaines secret were Jessie, and Craig. No one else in the camp were to ever find out, Craig made sure that Blaine and Jessie were careful about this..

"So... you're immune?" Ellie asked, still shocked by the fact that someone other than herself had an immunity. She glanced towards Jessie, to see if he could confirm or deny Blaines claim, all she got was the boy trying his hardest not to make eye contact with her.

"I guess that's what I'm saying." Blaine said, he couldn't care less if the entire world knew about his immunity, no one that he knew of was still looking for a cure, so he figured he had no reason to hide or preach his immunity to the world. If anything, his 'ailment' made it just a little easier to survive in the wild, he never had to worry about spores, or getting bit by an infected (though it was still painful, so he tried not to push his luck).

"Though that doesn't mean I'm not contagious, so you might want to make sure you don't have any cuts on your hand before you go playing doctor on my leg." Blaine tried to lighten the mood, while giving Ellie the go-ahead to continue patching up his leg. Ellie knelt back down, and used the discarded bandage to wipe the remaining blood from his leg, still entranced by the bite mark that decorated his thigh. She grabbed the flask and twisted off the cap, and smelled it's contents, the alcohol burned her nostrils as she quickly moved the flask away from her face.

"Is that... whisky?" She asked, confused as to why he would keep it with medical supplies

"Yeah, it's not for what you think. It's good for cleaning wounds when you don't have anything else. Also, if you drink enough you'll forget why you're hurting in the first place." Blaine explained, both he and Jessie were guilty of sneaking a couple sips from the flask. It made sense, the alcohol content was high enough. She poured the liquid onto his wound, and held the used bandage over the bullet hole. Blaine clenched his teeth and inhaled a sharp breath as the whiskey burned the wound. Ellie then began wrapping the new bandage around his thigh, though it would still require more attention when they got to the camp, the little aid she gave it would do for now. Blaine rolled down his pant leg, and slowly stood up leaning against the tree. He stood still for a second, still keeping his weight off his damaged leg. He looked back and forth between Jessie and Ellie, both looking back at him silently.

"Well, are either of you going to help me walk back to the camp?" Blaine exclaimed, Jessie mumbled a 'sorry', as he rushed to Blaine's side and put his friends arm over his shoulder. Ellie scooped up Blaine's bag, and followed the two boys as they headed off on their way back to the camp. Jessie and Blaine talked about what had happened leading up to the death of the two bandits, and how Jessie got caught in the arms of his attacker. Ellie followed slowly behind, feeling the bite mark that scarred her own arm. "What does it matter?" she said to herself, "It's not like there's still a chance for a cure." she remembered what Joel told her about the fireflies, and how they were no longer searching for a cure. However, Joel said that there were dozens of others who were immune to the cordyceps, but Blaine had to be the first person she had met. Ellie was bitten at the age of 14 which was 2 years ago, if Blaine was bitten 10 years ago he had to have been 7 or 8, and the fact that a child of that age was even around infected was strange. She felt her own scar through her sleeve, she still remembered the night she and her best friend were bitten, and subsequently the death of her friend. Blaine's life must have been much harder to be bitten at such a young age. Ellie dispelled the thoughts, she figured that Blaine's life was not hers to judge.

They approached the camp, and Blaine shouted up to whoever was guarding the front gate today. They tried to give him the usual protocol, but upon seeing Blaine's condition, they opened the gate without question. They entered the camp, and passersby gave a single concerned look, but went about their day. Seeing an injured person was not an unusual sight for the people.

"Jessie, take the meat, and bring it to Jonathan so he can preserve it." Blaine instructed as he removed the meat satchel from his shoulder. He balanced most of his weight on his good leg, and gave the bag to Jessie, who looked concerned as to what Blaine would do about his leg, but ran off to finish their job anyways.

"You think you can help me to Craigs cabin?" Blaine asked as he turned to Ellie, she looked at him, it's not that she didn't want to help him, but she felt awkward about having someone whom she had just met yesterday leaning on her, and being so close to her, getting close to people was not something she did often. Still, leaving him to hop to Craig's cabin would be outright neglectful, so she obliged.

"Sure, no problem." She answered as she moved closer to Blaine and put his arm over her shoulders. He was heavier than she expected, his hoodie must have been doing a good job hiding most of his mass, but she was able to endure. She felt his leg falter with every other step as they made their way down the dirt path to Craig's cabin. Blaine tried his best not to lean on the girl who still made his chest feel heavy. Ellie glanced up at Blaine's face making sure he wasn't in any pain, she caught a glimpse of his eyes also facing her way, but they darted away, when they met. Blaine adjusted his scarf, bringing it higher on his face. Ellie raised an eyebrow at Blaine, but looked ahead and kept walking.

Ellie helped Blaine up the steps to the cabin door. Blaine knocked twice, but reached for the door and opened it himself. The cabin was empty, but the lights were still on, so Craig had to have left recently. "Just set me down in that chair right there" Blaine said, Ellie nodded and helped him sit slowly in the chair. He sunk deep into the chair, letting out a deep breath, feeling relaxed after the long walk back, and on one leg at that.

"Craig should be back any minute now, his tea is still hot," Blaine said with closed eyes, as he pointed to the still steaming mug that sat on the metal desk against the wall. He kept his eyes closed as he felt himself slowly drifting off into sleep.

"Should I stay here with you until he get's back?" Ellie asked as she stood near the door, not sure of what to do with herself.

"You don't have to, but I'll probably be passed out by the time he get's back, and won't be able to tell him what happened" Blaine explained, every time he was jolted awake he felt a tinge of annoyance, but sinking back into the chair cleared his mind right up.

"Right..." Ellie said as she leaned back against the wall, she blew air between her lips from boredom and surveyed her surroundings. It was a single room that was somewhat cluttered with various cabinets. One end was a large bed, no doubt belonging to Craig, and opposite was the desk which held piles of papers, and books with a single area cleared out in the center. At first glance it looked messy, but it was obvious that everything was in their designated place. She approached the desk, trying not to disturb Blaine as he rested in the chair, and examined the books that stood side-by-side at the far end of the desk. She saw the names of authors that she had heard about or read, like Stephen King, and Mark Twain, but some were names she had never heard. One in particular caught her eye, she picked it up and made out the Title under the years of wear and tear

"The Divine Comedy, by Dante Ali-...Alige-..." she struggled with the last name of the strange author, and decided to just open the book to a random page. "Thence is it that we speak, and thence we laugh; Thence is it that we form the tears and sighs, That on the mountain thou mayhap hast heard" she raised a brow at the way the author spoke, she found it difficult to read on and closed the book to put it back in it's original spot. Before she could reach for another she heard the door to the cabin open. She spun around to see Craig walk into the cabin, with Joel behind him. Craig looked at the girl standing at his desk, and then saw the unconscious Blaine sitting in his chair with his feed on the desk.

"What's wrong?" Craig asked Ellie, she looked at Blaine hoping that he would have answered for her, but seeing that he was still asleep she began to explain all that had happened in the forest.

"I went with Blaine and Jessie when they went out hunting. when we found a buck, i shot it, and Blaine went down to skin it. While he was down there these two guys came up behind me and Jessie and grabbed us, I stabbed the guy that grabbed me, but the other had a gun pointed at Jessie's head, he didn't know what to do and he was all shaking and scared, then I saw Blaine come up behind the dude, but he stepped on something and the guy turned around really fast and shot Blaine in the leg, but he still jumped on the guy and stabbed the hell out of him with his knife and-" Ellie was cut off from her long winded explanation by Craig.

"Which leg was he shot in?" Craig asked, he walked towards Blaine kneeling down and feeling his forehead for a fever.

"The left one..." Ellie said, Craig froze in place, thinking to himself for a second.

"I take it, you were the one to put a bandage on?" Craig asked the girl, he wasn't sure if Blaine would have let her see his scar, but if he did, Blaine would have some explaining to do.

"Yeah." Ellie sounded confused by the question, it wasn't till after Craig went back to examining Blaine that she remembered the scar on his leg.

Blaine's dream was mix of random places and people, and different events that had happened in the day. The most memorable part was when he killed the bandit that had taken Jessie hostage, only to find out that he had already killed both Ellie and Jessie, though this was the only one to have any direct relation to the event. Now he was walking through the camp at night, alone. He couldn't see anyone in sight, and all the campfires and lanterns that usually sat around were snuffed out. A searing pain shot up his leg, one so hot that it shook him right out of his dream.

Blaine jolted awake, as Craig poured the alcohol over his exposed leg. He looked around the room and saw that it was only him and Craig.

"You're lucky, the bullet went right through. nothing important was damaged either." Craig spoke, as he poured another liquid onto a two gauze pads. He then placed them over both the entry and exit wound on his legs, and wrapped them with bandage. The liquid stung for a second but quickly subsided. Blaine looked out the window, and saw that the sun was getting ready to set, he had been out for only a couple of hours.

Craig stood up, and leaned against the wall next to Blaine, eyeing him. Blaine glanced up every so often to see Craig staring him down. After a minute of uncomfortable silence Blaine spoke up.

"Are you planning on saying something?" it was clear that Blaine already knew what Craig had on his mind. Craig remained in place, but also spoke.

"The girl found out about your bite?" He asked, Blaine let out a sigh, just as he thought, Craig's daily reminder about keeping his bites secret was etched into Blaine's brain by now.

"Yeah, I don't see what the problem is" Blaine said, his unenthusiastic reply got on Craigs nerves.

"The problem is not everyone out there is going to be as understanding as most. What's the first thing I told you to do if you see someone who's infected?"

Blaine could already tell where the overbearing man was going with his question, still, Blaine answered anyways. "You get as far away from them as possible."

"Right, and if they're too far along?" Craig continued with his lesson, hoping that the boy would at least see some reason behind his wishes for Blaine to be more careful.

"You kill them." the short answer that Blaine gave, did make him think about how liberal he had been with his scar. If Ellie had been just a little more boisterous, he could very well be sitting in the forest with a bullet in his skull.

"And how many more people out there do you think are taught to shoot on sight?" Craig's final question was met with defeated silence by Blaine, who simply sat and nodded his head. He stood up to test the strength of his leg now that it was properly patched up. It was still sore, and standing on it didn't really soothe the pain, it was a lot easier to walk. "I'm gonna go to bed." Blaine said as he headed to the door.

"Just try to be more careful from now on." Craig felt like a broken record, having to repeat his teachings constantly to the two boys.


I hope this updated chapter is an improvement than what it was originally. I enjoy writing in more medieval fantasy settings, so I've gotten accustomed to writing dialogue differently. I'll try to be more on point with my updates and new chapters.