Chapter 5: The Frightful Farm
A/N- I would like to thank Plania for drawing the new cover image of this story, it's of Rylan and Ellie and it's awesome, take a look! :) And by the way, updating wise I want to get you guys two chapters a week, but we'll see, you never know so thank you all for your patience! Let's get to it! :)
Rylan held the crossbow at the ready, and Ellie nervously placed her hand on the doorknob.
It was unlocked...
She opened the door fully and both of them were completely and utterly shocked at what was inside...
Ellie made a sharp gasp while Rylan had his mouth hanging open. "Oh my god..."
*reegh? RRAGH! RAGGH!*
There before the two teens on the far wall was what was left of a human being turned Runner snarling and growling above a pool of its own blood and crucified to a giant wooden Cross behind him...
"Guess he's not running anywhere..." Ellie broke the silence as she entered the building. "You still going to cover me?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. I got you." Rylan followed her inside as he closed the door behind him.
There was still enough light entering through the cracks of the windows to partially leave the room moderately lit. First of all, there was a staircase on their right which led to the second floor and other than that; the hall was completely cleaned out, barely even any dust, although there were a few foldaway chairs lying around.
"Looks like a little makeshift church..." Ellie observed.
"They were here to pray..." Rylan then examined the small messages written in blood on the wall from verses of the Holy Bible: Leviticus, Psalms, Matthew, and etc.
The two of them then approached the crucified Runner, it still struggling to no avail trying to infect them with the spikes in its hands and ankles holding firm. "And they just left him here... to die like this..."
"He was bit." Rylan pointed towards his neck. "See? He was going to turn, and I guess..."
"Must have been real religious..." Ellie nodded. "Hardcore."
Without further ado, Rylan aimed his crossbow at the Runner's head and fired, quickly and effectively silencing him. Rylan then pulled the arrow back out and counted that he had only seven arrows left.
"Should we get him down?" Ellie asked. "Put him outside so he doesn't spore up the place?"
"I'll do it." Rylan volunteered. "Can you check upstairs by yourself?"
"I think I can handle it."
Earlier that Day...
"I spy with my little eye... something that is green!" Claire smiled.
Joel rubbed his eyes in annoyance and let out a loud sigh. "I don't wanna play."
"I'll play sweetie." Brad interjected and guessed. "The grass?"
"No..." She playfully nudged him. "Try again."
"The trees?"
"Nope."
"Could we not do this, please?" Joel had to stop them. "I Spy ain't exactly what I had in mind."
The three of them were walking through the same seemingly endless forest where they had to abandon the motorcycle from hours ago. Luckily, Brad had his special explorer's compass, small, golden, and with an engraving, so he knew exactly which direction to go for Joel. They would probably be able to make it to the cabin by tomorrow night.
"Well then, what do you think we should do to pass the time?" Claire inquired.
"I don't know. Ever play the quiet game? Just listening to nature or something." Joel suggested to them.
"How about we talk about each other?" Brad proposed.
Oh god... Guess it's better to know the people you're traveling with. Rather than another painful game of I Spy. "Sure, I reckon we can do that."
"Okay. Where are you from Joel?" Claire got on the offensive.
"Before everything, I lived in Texas. You know Austin much?" Joel responded.
"No, but I had a cousin in Dallas." Brad happily replied. "Claire and I both grew up in the St. Louis Quarantine Zone."
"Yeah. How was that?"
"It uh..." He looked saddened. "Wasn't good, our group tried to get out when the whole city was compromised... but..."
"You don't have to explain." Joel stopped him; he knew this chain of events all too well. "I would have been surprised if you both had a good story."
"Joel..." Claire piped up. "Brad and I always had each other... we always trusted each other... can we trust you?"
Joel stopped walking and turned towards them. "You really bringing this up? I ain't forcing you to follow me; you can leave whenever it suits your fancy."
"It's just that... you seem very guarded with us." Claire addressed to him. "No matter what you did in the past, it's the past. And we won't judge you for it."
Brad chimed in with another grin. "You chose to save us. That's how we know you're a good man."
"...Why you both always smiling?" This was the question he really wanted to ask. "How are you so damn happy?"
"Because we have each other." Claire declared as she wrapped an arm around her fiancé.
Now that hit Joel right in his chest. These relationships, these special bonds we have with other people... they're what drive us forward; they're partly why we still keep fighting...
Joel suddenly remembered Ellie and then Tess, Tommy and Maria... Sarah...
Brad brought him back to reality. "Joel... do you know why they say life has to be so cruel?"
Joel shook his head. "Because that's just the way it is now."
Claire answered. "...It's so that we can learn to cherish the things that really matter."
...
... How do you respond to something like that?
After another moment of silence, Joel conceded. "Let's keep going you two. We still got a long hike ahead of us." He turned back and continued walking.
"Right behind you, boss!" They both nodded.
The three of them had finally come out of the forest and found that they were on the edge of some sort of farm. It reminded Joel of the Ranch where Ellie ran to from Jackson... and he and Tommy followed her on horses. That was a real pain...
"We should check inside and look for supplies." Joel advised to them. "You two look like you're carrying light..."
"We could spend the night and keep going in the morning." Brad stated.
"Why don't we just settle here?" Claire asked.
Joel was nervous, they don't even know if this place was safe yet. "No, we'll just cut through the barn here and then search that house for now."
The old man stepped on the bottom half of the outer barbed wire and lifted the top half up to leave a big enough opening for the young couple to climb through into the field. Joel soon followed through and the first stop was the big red barn in front of them.
"Stay alert, get your guns out." Joel ordered as they both pulled out pistols while he got his rifle out.
Play The Last of Us OST- Convergence
The three of them approached the barn and oddly enough the sun began to hide behind some clouds, taking away some of its warmth and leaving a chill up their spines.
Joel told the two to cover them while he held his ear up to the door to listen for any noise...
*grooah...*
"Damn..." He whispered and told them to shush and to follow him.
Since there was Infected coming from inside the barn, they decided it was too risky to guess the numbers and just open up the big wooden doors and possibly meet their deaths. So they played the smart route for now, and they flanked the whole structure and headed straight to the house.
It was a nice large two-story farm house painted in a peach color and it had a stone foundation. They walked up the front porch while they checked if anyone was home.
"I'm going around and checking the back door, you two go through here." Joel indicated with his gun at the front door. "We'll sweep through the place faster, check your corners."
Brad and Claire nodded in confirmation as the former made his move on the front door while Joel headed around the back at a jogging pace. Soon, he found a screen door which led inside. He opened it and found himself in perhaps a laundry or mud room.
Keeping alert, Joel checked every inch of the house that he came across, the laundry then the kitchen then the dining and living rooms. He noticed the front door wide open and decided to close it shut, thinking that the two of them were already searching the second floor.
BANG!
"Shit!" Joel instinctively ducked and found cover until he noticed that the gunshot came from upstairs which he was already climbing up to.
The wallpaper was blue with white patterns, and at the top of the stairwell the wide hallway turned to the right, and he noticed a few wooden dressers and side tables along the way. Peering around the corner, Joel saw three doors on his right and one on his left.
The second door on the right was wide open...
And he could see the back of Claire's hair from his angle, she seemed like she wasn't moving a muscle.
"What are they doing?" Joel wondered as he moved up.
Surprisingly, he could hear a woman's crying coming from the open room, but it did not sound like Claire as she was still at the door.
When Joel came around the side and entered the bedroom next to Claire, he was almost speechless at the scene before him...
There was a mother... clutching her small child in her arms... crying... sobbing... almost hysterical in the corner of the bedroom.
"Shhh... shh... it's okay… it's all over now..." The Mother whispered to the limp boy like she was holding on for dear life.
"Miss?" Brad was hesitant but he held out his hand, still on edge. "...We're here to help you now."
The Mother only spared the young man and his two companions a second's glace and then her eyes fell back on her son as she stroked his hair with her bloody fingers. "You can't..."
Claire informed Joel of the situation. "We were searching the house when we heard the gunshot from in here... that's when we found her…"
Joel quickly deduced. "Her boy was bit..." Another child lost to this world that could be mistaken for hell... "She couldn't let him turn..."
No mother or parent should ever have to experience this... losing your kids... Joel could relate.
Brad was still hopeful but cautious eyeing the firearm still in her right hand. "Miss? What's your name? Do you think you could give me the gun?"
The Mother took in a sharp gasp and sobbed some more. "It doesn't matter anymore... I gave him my last bullet... but I..."
She then dropped her gun and moved her hand to the collar of her shirt and pulled it away revealing a bite of her own...
Claire gasped. "Oh my god..."
"We were both bit... trying to trap those... monsters in the barn out there..." She explained. "I waited for as long as I could... but then..."
Brad turned back to Joel for advice, looking for some sort of answer to this situation. He merely shook his head hopelessly, but then the mother suddenly caught their attention in a different tone of voice... almost happy.
"You have guns..." She begged. "Can I borrow one? Just one bullet? Please...? I have nothing left and I... I want to be with him," She motioned towards her son. "... my family..."
"We can't let you do that to yourself!" Brad was in disbelief seeing as she wanted to take the easy way out. "We'll get you some help! We'll-!"
"Brad..." Joel stopped him. He knew all too well that these people just had to go, they just needed to be at rest... suffering would do no good for them. "You and Claire step outside for a moment..."
"Joel-!" Brad was outraged but before he could protest further Claire silenced him.
"Come on... we can't help her." She sadly stated as she led her fiancé out of the bedroom, closing the door behind them.
Joel then put away his rifle and pulled out his pistol for a quick and clean mercy kill, and he aimed the gun right at her head silently agreeing to do the deed himself. She then began to sing a lullaby to her son... gently rocking him back and forth against the wall...
"Hush little baby, don't say a word..." She smiled and continued crying, mouthing Joel a 'thank you'. "Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
Her words began to echo in Joel's mind...
"And if that mockingbird won't sing... *sob* ...Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring..."
Joel could hear whispering and protests from Brad and Claire on the other side of the door... they were arguing...
Joel had to put an end to this misery, and set her free...
"And if that diamond ring turns brass, *sob* *sniffle* ...Mama's gonna buy you a looking glas-!"
BANG!
Her lullaby had ended... and her body fell limp to the floor, right next to her boy's...
Joel had been holding his breath the entire time and he finally exhaled, letting out a groan and rubbing his face in angst...
He slowly turned around and opened the door to see a white-faced Brad and Claire, looking shocked at what he had done, only for the shock to disappear and for sadness and pity to take their places.
The three of them stood silent in the hallway for a while now until Brad broke it. "I forgot... how horribly wrong things can get..."
Claire nodded. "We were lucky honey... to be living in Jackson... and now we're back out here, in the wild..."
Joel grumbled. "We should search the rest of the house for..." And then he saw out the hallway window, facing right at the barn. "Oh shit!"
The three of them watched as the barn doors were smashed open and at least a dozen Runners or so ran out in full sprint heading straight towards the house!
"I got the window!" Joel ordered as he handed Claire was of his homemade Nail Bombs. "Take this! Put that at the bottom of the stairs, and then help him move the dresser to block this hallway!"
She complies wholeheartedly by taking the nail bomb and tossing it down the stairs. Joel made his way to the window while taking out his rife. He shot and killed only one Runner while counting them all before they were too close to the house.
Joel spun around and saw that the tall chest-high dresser was in place and he ran and hopped over it, joining Brad and Claire with all of their guns out, pointing them at the stairwell.
Joel had his rifle ready, so it was time for the three of them to make a stand. "I counted at least 20 now. Count your bullets."
"Right." Claire understood seeing she had a full clip.
"We got you." Brad affirmed.
The screaming and growling was prevalent in their ears now so that they could here thumping and thundering from the floor below.
BOOM!
The Nail Bomb went off at the bottom of the stairs, killing three and injuring one. They were mad now, and they were determined. The stairs thundered as they came into their view and the three survivors began firing shots at the Infected.
Three then four then five more! They were covering each other as each of them reloaded, doing their best to conserve their ammunition.
They lost track on how many bodies fell dead by the top stair when all three of the guns clicked. All three were out of ammo from the weapons they were using! That was when two Runners made a break for it and they didn't even tumble over the bodies as they dived across the dresser and tackled Brad and Claire to the ground!
Using brute strength, Joel ran then grabbed the head of the Runner on top of Claire and smashed his knee into its skull then into the adjacent wall, pulverizing it and saving her.
Joel then spun around and pulled his second sidearm, the revolver from his second holster, and fired two shots into the Runner's body which is what finally ended the threat...
Brad pushed them off, and the three of them were all panting as silenced enveloped the house once more...
Joel finally caught his breath; he really was getting too old. "Everybody alright?"
Brad clutched his chest and neck, instinctively checking for bites. "I think so. Thanks."
"Thank you, Joel." Claire echoed.
They both got to their feet and saw the full carnage that they had done, about a full staff of farm hands and family members lied dead in the hallway before them... and it was already beginning to smell...
Claire shuddered at the gnarly odor, "On second thought, maybe we shouldn't stay here for the night..."
"...Maybe we'll find some higher ground around here to rest up." Joel responded as he moved the dresser back up against the wall and headed downstairs. "Check the bodies for any more ammo; I'll go pack up some food if they have any."
"This was way too close for comfort." Brad gagged as he patted down the dead Runners. "Who knows what heard all of those gunshots?"
"Then it's best to speed things up and listen to Joel, he saved our lives twice now." Claire reminded him. "We have to show him we're not just extra baggage, I have a feeling that he thinks we are."
"Then let's change that from now on." Brad quipped. "But he is tough to compete with. He's like a freaking one-man army or something..."
Soon the two of them found all the ammunition they could and they walked past the bedroom with the mother and child in there with sorrowful expressions and met Joel downstairs in the kitchen.
"We good?" He was waiting for them, must not have had a lot of food in there.
"Let's go." They all agreed.
And the three of them left the Farmhouse filled with dead Infected, and they re-entered the forest heading towards the mountain where the cabin resided.
Just another isolated incident, in this case a farm full of infected, during the apocalypse...
A/N- Had to check in with Joel, Brad, and Claire right? The optimistic couple thrown back into the wild with Joel as their guide. What other obstacles will they have to face next? Will Joel find Ellie soon?
How would you have dealt with the mother? Give her the gun? Or shoot her yourself? Just curious...
Until next chapter! Review, fav, follow, and etc.