I'm writing this the same day as Lincoln: Part Two so I haven't seen new reviews as of yet. But thanks in advance?
It was raining as Tess and Ellie drove on the abandoned streets. Ellie had popped in a tape she stole from Bill filling the car with 60's era music. Tess drummed on the wheel boredly and looked in the mirror at Ellie who was reading comic books. "Damn it! Cliffhanger!" Ellie shouted frustratedly. Tess laughed.
"Okay, I know it doesn't look like it, but this is not a bad read." She showed Tess the comic that read 'Savage Starlight'. "Except for the damn cliffhanger." She mumbled.
"I'm guessing you didn't get that back in Boston." Tess teased. "Okay, it was all lying there okay?" Ellie explained quickly. "What else did you get?" Tess inquired.
Ellie grinned. "I'm sure your buddy will be missing this tonight." Ellie held up a magazine that was definitely not for minors. Tess held back her laughter.
"Light on the reading but it's got interesting photos."
"Alright let me see it." Tess reached behind her. "Woah! How...how the hell would he even walk around with that thing!" Tess laughed harder. "Give me the magazine, Ellie."
"Wait your turn, I wanna see what the fuss is about!" Ellie giggled and flipped through more pages. "Ugh. Why are these all stuck together." Tess shook her head. "I'm fucking with you." She laughed and rolled down the window. "Bye bye dudes." She threw the magazine out into the rain.
"I'm more of a ladies man myself." Ellie said moving up to the passenger seat. Tess snickered. "Girl, back before the infection you could only get married to the same gender in 13 states." Ellie looked at Tess crazily. "Out of 50?! No fucking way." Tess nodded. "People were shitty then too."
"Did you ever get married?" Ellie asked. Tess nodded. "Twice. Both times ended badly." She shifted in her seat. "I was way too young the first go round. The second? Shit happens."
Ellie hummed along to a song that had been replayed twice now. "You know what?" She asked. "This isn't that bad." Tess smiled at the teen. "Get some sleep, alright?" Ellie huffed. "I'm not even tired." Tess rolled her eyes knowing that Ellie would be out in maybe 30 minutes.
Ellie woke up to bright sunlight on her face. "Oh shit," Tess mumbled. "The road is blocked." Ellie looked to the right where another street was clear. Tess hesitated wondering if she should turn back.
"Now what?" Ellie yawned. Tess looked behind them. It was too late to go back to the last exit. She turned right. Ellie looked out the window at the brownstones that swept past them as they drove.
Suddenly a man stepped in front of the car. "Help me!" He shouted. Tess clenched her teeth, old memories resurfacing. "Put your seatbelt on Ellie." Ellie stared at her. "We're not gonna help him?"
Tess put both hands on the wheel. "He isn't even hurt." She slammed on the brakes. "Oh fuck. Go go!" The 'injured' man pulled out a gun and fired as hunters revealed themselves and started throwing things at the car. Ellie gasped as her window broke and reached for her gun firing it out of the window. "Oh shit!" Ellie pulled back as a bus drove past, hitting the back of the truck and sent it spinning.
They swerved into a garage, wrecking the car. Tess reached for Ellie's hand. "Be okay, be okay." She looked at the younger girl. "Tess, Tess! I'm okay. I'm okay."
"Then get out quick." Tess popped off her seatbelt and Ellie's right before the passenger door swung open and Ellie was scooped up by a hunter.
"Get the fuck off me!" Ellie struggled and kicked. "You shit, get the fuck away from her!" Tess tried to pull Ellie back to her before she was grabbed by another hunter.
"Tess!" Tess was slammed to the ground and straddled. The hunter held his hand over her mouth and pulled his arm back for a punch. Tess quickly bit as hard as she could and when he drew his hand back in pain, punched him off of her. She swung out her pistol and shot him in the face.
Ellie was still struggling against her captor when he slapped her and straddled her, his hands locked around her throat. "I'll show you." He croaked. Tess aimed and fired, the body falling over. Ellie slid out from underneath him. "Motherfucker." She coughed. Tess helped her up. "Grab your bag. We're going after these sons of bitches."
"Take cover!" Ellie said pulling out her gun. she shot a hunter in the chest with her pistol. Ellie took out her bow, having found a dozen in the garage. Tess took out her revolver and they both crept through the stores along the street. Ellie took out as many hunters as she could with her bow because it was a quieter weapon than a gun. However arrows weren't easy to find unless she retrieved them from the bodies but that was too risky at the moment.
Tess snuck behind a hunter in the store and strangled him. Man luck was on their side for now.
"Alright." Ellie put her bow back on her back. "I think that's all of them." Tess let out a sigh of relief. "You did a good job." Tess complimented. "Oh you think that was good? You should see me with a brick." Ellie smirked.
"Let's get the hell out of here. Go ahead and get your good arrows back and look for supplies."
They reached another garage and Tess lifted the door up. "Get it propped up." Ellie went in and stopped, a small "Whoa" escaping her lips. "Ellie, anytime now!"
"Right."
Ellie anchored the chain that held the door with her foot, allowing Tess to go under. "Look." Tess turned around and inhaled sharply. There were headless, rotting bodies on tables. "Fucking hunters. That could've been us."
Ellie tried to lighten the mood. "No way. We're too good. Girl power or something like that right?"
"I should've turned the truck around." Tess mumbled walking towards the door. "How did you know about the ambush?" Ellie asked as the walked up a flight of stairs. "I've been on both sides. It was always more believable if a woman played the victim."
"You kill a lot of innocent people?" Tess raised an eyebrow. "What makes someone innocent or not? I mean, survival of the fittest." Tess opened a door and walked in. Ellie pondered on the statement. "I'll take that as a yes." She said as she walked outside. "That's our way out right?" She pointed to a bridge in the distance. Tess nodded.
They tossed a nail bomb into another group of hunters as they moved quickly and quietly. "We're doing good." Ellie whispered excitedly. "Don't test our luck." Tess smirked.
"I hear hunters." Tess said.
"I'm so tired. We were up all night hunting the tourists, man. This one chick took like five hours to hunt down. We were about to give up before she started shooting at us. Stupid. She could've gotten away." Ellie shook her head in disgust and pity.
Ellie picked off the hunters with her bow, only missing a couple of times.
"Bossman says we're gonna expand our perimeters. Maybe we'd find some old projectors. I'd like to watch some movies or something." Ellie let the string on her bow go back into shape. She never realized how...human the bad guys could be. Killing infected were different. They only had one side to them. Ellie looked at Tess's hardened face and wondered about her past. How many people she had killed. Their stories.
Survival of the fittest?
A shorter chapter to lead into the Pittsburgh arc. ;)