Chapter 23: Infiltration

Rylan rubbed his sore head and aching shoulder as he looked up to find a surprised Joel pointing his gun at him. "Ow... shit. I... I can't believe this..."

Joel smirked as he was glad to put away his gun. "Neither can I, kid."

"...This, this is real isn't it?" Rylan had realized that this was an answered prayer as he rolled up his sleeve and unrolled the bandages.

Usually when one was bitten, the bite and the fungus within the teeth marks would spread through the blood and aggravate the whole area. But Rylan's arm looked unchanged; the same as yesterday and similar to Ellie's bite. Well holy crap, he really was immune, what are the odds?

"...You know what?" Joel's voice was slightly muffled by the mask, but Rylan could hear him fine. "I had a feeling ... I had a weird feeling about you kid and well... there it is, plain and simple."

Rylan scooted out of the truck and landed on the pavement next to Joel. "You really do look like a Firefly, that's good, which leaves me to play possum..."

Joel remarked. "You still want to do that? Your little plan might not work with you... alive and breathing."

It was Rylan who closed up the trunk and looked ahead down the road where the entrance to the college was within their sight. "You're right... but it looks like you have another immune kid they need to test and study. We can still sneak through; we just need to tweak our infiltration a little."

"Okay." Joel nodded. "Let's give it a shot."

"Hold me at gunpoint though, I'm your prisoner remember?" He cautioned.

Joel had not slept since the day before, because he was driving all morning and it was late afternoon now. The snow was as much prevalent here as it was in Jackson, and a new sheet was sprinkling down upon them. "I ain't stupid kid..." And then he remembered long ago when he first got that last job with Tess. "But we used to call Ellie cargo not a prisoner."

"Cargo then, just making sure." Rylan noted.

The two of them casually walked forward; to Joel at least, the University looked much more different than it did last autumn. But all they had to do was to navigate across campus and retrace the steps he took with Ellie like before. But on that journey, the college was barren and desolate for the most part, but this time when they rounded the corner and crossed passed the gate, they were both meet with Firefly guards almost instantly a few yards away doing their jobs by securing the outer perimeter.

There weren't many to deal with here. Three on the ground and one up in a building in this self-made sniper nest. They all had assault rifles to defend themselves with and they just noticed Rylan and the disguised Joel approach them, they were alerted.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" The first soldier exclaimed as he pointed his gun at him. "Hands on your head!"

The second soldier replied in a much calmer tone responded. "Matt, just chill out, look at them they both look shit..."

"Identify yourself, now." The third soldier had the stern stoic thing going for him; he must be the sergeant in this squad. "State your business fellow Firefly."

"My name is... Tommy." Joel introduced himself to the Fireflies with his brother's name. It was a more common enough cover name anyway. "I got a kid here that I think Commander Devlin would like to see."

Rylan did his best to keep up with the charade. "That guy? Yeah... son of a bitch really made you guys a bunch of fucking-! OW!" Joel gave a convincing controlled punch on the back of the boy's head.

"That's enough outta you!" Joel growled as he addressed the three soldiers again. "I'd like to get a move on to the Science Building, please."

"Why do you have your gas-mask on soldier?" The Sargent inquired as he remained neutral to Joel's situation. "You expecting a wave of spores or something?"

'Hope this works', both of them thought as Joel informed them. "Actually, I can barely believe it myself... show them, now." He ordered.

Rylan compiled as he revealed his bitten left arm to the three soldiers. "I'm infected..." He repeated the fact. "I'm infected..."

"Holy shit!" The Firefly named Matt exclaimed as his eyes widened and he pointed his gun especially at the boy instead while he covered his mouth and nose. "No wonder that dude got that gas mask on! I'd be scared shitless too!"

The second soldier's followed his suit and his calmer demeanor was now on edge. "Sarge, what do we do with them?"

The Sargent took a step forward as he addressed the man he knew as Tommy. "Why would you bring an infected boy here huh? What's your story son?"

Joel and Rylan only momentarily glanced up at the Firefly in the sniper nest above them as they saw that his rifle was aimed at them. Any wrong move and he would shoot them dead. Rylan looked back at Joel with his one eye, staring intently at him. And then Joel had a very convincing story in mind. "The boy here got bitten about three months ago, back at a cabin where Commander Devlin himself took out his eye there..." He explained to them and referred to Rylan's eye patch. "I was there, were any of you?"

The Sargent's expression turned that to a surprised one, he looked back at his two men. "Matthew, Andrew, was either of you assigned into Operation Jackson?"

Matt shook his head to that question but Andrew in contrast nodded so he spoke up. "Yeah... I was there, after some time chasing them down, we ended up in a standoff with the objectives. And Devlin... yeah I remember that kid now, this is him... no doubt in my mind. Next thing I knew, we were all overrun with Infected, makes sense to me the kid got bitten."

Sarge silently thanked his subordinate for the information and looked back at the two apprehensively. "So Tommy, what you're trying to say is... the boy's immune too?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say." Joel confirmed as he kept up the guise of a fellow ally. "Look at his bite, it never got no worse since, he's... just like that girl we've been going after."

Matt piped up. "Marlene's girl... little redhead, right? Guess now she's the Commander's."

But Andrew retorted. "Come on, if this is legit our chances for a cure have now doubled."

"Hold on hold on," The Sargent settled the two of them down. "This is a fine service you did for us Tommy, for all Fireflies and for humanity. ...Take off your mask and show me your face so that I can honestly shake your hand.

...Shit.

"Thank you sir, but..." Joel was panicking for an excuse to not reveal his true identity. "I got a real embarrassing scar, I'd rather not."

"Nonsense, you can't look any worse than those ugly-ass Clickers." Sarge smirked at him and extended his hand. "It's only proper."

Joel complied and risked a deadly confrontation as he was about to remove his gas-mask. But that was when suddenly Rylan made a run for it. He turned around and sprinted in the direction where they came, the main gate to look like he was about to escape.

"HEY!"

*BANG!* BANG!* BANG!*

Rylan however stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the sparks off the exposed pavement, among the snow-covered ground, from the bullets fired by the Sargent's rifle. "You got a wily one; I'll give the kid that."

Rylan's little run, distracted the Sargent out of the handshake as Joel went back to Rylan to hold him at gunpoint again. He whispered to him. "That was too damn close."

"Hey it worked, didn't it?" The brunette kept the grin in check. He knew they wouldn't shoot him on purpose because of his bite, but you never really know for sure...

The Sargent joined back up with Matt and Andrew and took out his walkie-talkie. "This is Sargent Samson at the gate; we got two new visitors that need an escort to the Science Building..."

Joel interrupted him though. "We don't need an escort, the Science Building; it's the one that looks like a giant mirror right?"

Samson raised an eyebrow at that. "Right..." He went back to his radio. "Scratch that escort, they'll be coming straight to ya..." There was something off about his tone.

Andrew pointed down campus towards an archway under another building. "Just head on down there. And be quick about it."

"Thanks, let's go boy." Joel nodded and he bumped Rylan's back so that he would move forward. "We'll be on our way."

Infiltration was a success for them; as far as they knew, now all they had to do was play it cool. "Oh shit..."

When they arrived in the middle of campus that consisted with a large square courtyard, there was an old friend of Jackson that was mentioned by Tommy and Maria themselves.

The same Armored Personnel Carrier with the Fireflies' insignia patrolled and defended the main courtyard and could easily move around campus because of its mobility, its mounted machine gun on a turret and it slowly scanning the area as per routine.

But Joel and Rylan looked off to their left and out in the distance, and there was that giant mirror building.

Almost there, Ellie...

Meanwhile in the main laboratory of the science department, the redhead sneezed as she writhed in her restraints. Her wrists and her ankles were strapped to a surgical table with leather straps, and she was nearly helpless, Ellie was also embarrassingly wearing only a light blue surgical gown that went down to her knees. They cut away her other clothes while they smartly kept her strapped in, because Ellie flailed, cursed, and fought them the whole way through. "Let me go! You chickenshit motherfuckers!"

The surgery or rather the vivisection was about to begin because the head doctor who told his nurse assistant so, and they were all dressed formerly like those scientists who attempted to perform the same surgery back in St Mary's Hospital. Behind the surgical mask, the head doctor ordered his patient. "Calm down, it's just like going to sleep... now when the nurse puts the mask on you, just count back from ten and everything will be alright."

His voice was smooth and tranquil, but Ellie knew better and what will happen if she complied peacefully, so with all of her might she slipped her right hand out of its leather strap, nearly breaking her thumb but nevertheless it was free, and she reached for the bone saw that would be the instrument to cut her skull open to get to the mutated Cordyceps wrapped around her brain.

She slashed wildly and actually cut the nurse's arm, which she yelped and backed away with the mask that was connected to the anesthesia tank. Coddling her arm, she alerted the doctor as Ellie undid her other bindings and hopped off the table. "Ellie! Get back on the table now!"

Armed with only a bone saw and in a hospital gown, Ellie made a beeline for the door and escaped the lab, as soon as she left their presence though, they called the hotline on the phone and issued a red alert: patient has escaped alarm.

"Gotta find a gun..." Ellie panted as she continued to tiptoe and run as far as she could until she had to sneak down a hallway. The stairs to the lower floors were right there when she heard a patrol of Fireflies marching her way so she took shelter through the nearest door she could find on her right.

Ellie found herself in the middle of a small-sized desolate classroom where they would lecture about biology, or chemistry or whatnot. Frost had accumulated on the windows that could lead her outside but no such luck, because going outside she could freeze or fall to her death, being three floors up. "Fuck... fuck!"

Ellie looked around for another doorway or anything but no, there was no other exit. She would have to hide and wait it out in here until it was clear. So she looked around and tried to find a place to hide. The supply closet, perfect!

She went to the large door that led to the storage space and she opened it, nearly shitting herself when she saw what was inside. "AH!" She quickly covered her mouth and looked towards the door to hear footsteps coming her way. "This better work..."

Ellie climbed in and positioned herself as she closed the closet door behind her as a Firefly guard busted in to check the classroom. He looked suspicious as he searched the desks with his gun at the ready for any sign of the patient. The supply closet was the last place to check, with the darkening shadows of the room and only his flashlight as his guide, he opened the door and he was really startled with what he found.

A large human anatomical model vertically divided with one half having its skin, and the other half revealing muscle, organs, and even some bones staring the Firefly soldier right in the face. Albeit it was mostly plastic and fake, but it could still scare the hell out of someone in the dark. "Jesus Mary and Joseph... there were some sick people back before all this happened..."

Ellie didn't make a sound; she didn't even breathe as she carefully matched the anatomical model's stance and hid behind it and its shadow. She waited and waited for the soldier to leave... and then the door slammed shut, signaling the end of his search of the classroom, time to move on.

Ellie adjusted herself around the model and peeked out of the supply closet. "Thanks dude," She referred to the model. "Think you saved my life."

As much as she wanted to stay in this good hiding spot she had to keep going, find her stuff, and drop out of this college. So Ellie got out and left the closet and made her way to the door. But then she realized and hated to say it, she could not do this alone... "I need to find Bill." He and Olivia could be her last hope here, and she was sure they would oblige.

In the classroom the security office for the Science Building would be two floors below her and off into the northwest corner. "Found ya..." So she kept the bone saw close to her as she left the classroom behind and made her dangerous trek towards the stairs...

"Just like last time, but you know, easier." Joel muttered to Rylan as they walked into the front entrance of the Science Building.

But the two of them were surprised to find that the whole structure was in chaos. Firefly soldiers were running back and forth up and down the collegian corridors in disarray and the fire alarm was blaring as Joel and Rylan stood idly by. "What's going on in here?" Rylan wondered.

"Not our problem, listen kid." Joel waited until there weren't any soldiers within earshot of him, so he whispered as he led him to the directory near the entrance they were in. "We should find some serious firepower in case things get squirrely. And even its kept me alive this far, I stick out like a sore thumb with this gas-mask on."

"Where do you suppose their armory would be then?" Rylan inquired as he scanned the directions of the different departments.

"There! We can start there and its close." Joel pointed at the 'Security Office' for the building and conveniently for them it was on the same floor as they were on. "Might have some guns there."

"Then we'll be able shoot our way to Ellie if we have to. ...Okay." Rylan nodded at their next course of action, and he led the way himself as they kept up their prisoner-escort act to their destination.

They rounded a turn and then paced themselves down a hallway or two towards one of the corners of the building. As they were walking, the alarm continued to go off, and the Fireflies who passed by grumbled some things like: 'Where is she?' or "We have to find her!' They could not mean... Had Ellie slipped out of their fingers again?

But to tell the truth, Joel and Rylan wouldn't be surprised. Yet, when the two of them trekked forward brushed past some white sheets that hung from the ceiling as some sort of division between the halls, they could hear the struggle of young girl yelping while a single Firefly held her from behind near a door in the corridor. "Let go of me! Let go!"

The Firefly who was holding Ellie spotted Joel and called out to him. "You! Hey, help me with her, now! Grab her legs!" He ordered as he made Ellie drop the bone saw she had.

Joel had abandoned any charade that he had with Rylan as his captive as he moved towards the soldier in a flash, and instead of grabbing Ellie's legs he grabbed the Firefly's neck from behind, strangling him.

The power from his strong arm was so effective that the man dropped Ellie to the ground and found herself wide-eyed and flabbergasted at the sudden change of events. Joel chocked the Firefly out until he was dead and Ellie looked at his savior who was in a gas-mask and a Firefly uniform as well... but then her gaze fell on Rylan, who approached her quickly and embraced her tightly with the thought of never letting her go again...

"W-what...? R-rylan?!" Ellie looked to him and returned his hug when she looked back to see Joel removing the gas-mask to finally reveal himself to Ellie and make sense of everything. "...Holy shit..."

"We're here baby girl..." Joel gave a warm smile as he bent down and caressed her face like he did before while Rylan was still hugging her. "We got you..."

"Joel..." Ellie sniffed as her eyes began to water. "Rylan... you... I don't understa-!"

Rylan finally pulled back so that she was face to face with him. "Shut up babe, this is the last place we want our reunion to be... we'll explain later, I promise. Here." He handed the switchblade back to its rightful owner to which she was glad for. He then did an up and down on her and her surgery gown. "Where are your clothes?"

Ellie pushed away both of her boys and shied away the embarrassing outfit she had on,especially the backside. "You think if I knew, I'd still be wearing this?"

"Quit your squabbling, come on, scoot!" Joel pushed them into the doorway which was labeled, 'Security Office'.

The three of them made it inside, and Joel shut the door behind him and locked the door. They didn't have a lifetime in here so they had to take what they needed and go. The Security Office was small, but it had no Fireflies as far as they could tell, probably all out looking for Ellie. There was a front desk and a couple of computers. A few small windows allowed some natural light in, but a lot of the space was reserved for three storage lockers that could hold some extra guns and the cramped cell off into the left side of the room which housed two familiar people inside.

And those two were Olivia and Bill...

"Well, I must be seeing things Liv." Bill scoffed as he turned away from everybody else. "Because I there are three dead people in here with us..."

Olivia leered at them from between the bars, but she went on to leaning herself as far out of the cell as she could. Joel could see her fiddling with the lock with what looked like a bobby pin, but from the frustration on her face she was having no such luck of freedom. "Dammit. Well since you chicos are here too, why don't let us out and we can all say vamos?"

A flare of anger erupted across Rylan's face as he nearly bellowed but he controlled himself. "Are you kidding me?! Both of you can go fuck yourselves." There was an emphasis on his curse word.

"Whoa Rylan," That was a little extreme even for him, but she understood where this was coming from. "It wasn't their fault about what happened." Ellie defended them. After witnessing what happened to Lance, she realized that Bill and Olivia were on the same side as her as opposed to Devlin. "We got to get them outta there."

"Wasn't their fault?!" The brunette pointed at Olivia. "She shot me! And Bill took you away even after Grant was dead. He chose to take you here!"

Olivia barked back. "If I wanted you dead I could have shot you in the head instead, and that is the second time I've done that to a member of your group." She glanced at Joel momentarily then back to her bobby lock picking. "Idiota..."

"Everyone calm down." Joel did his best to mediate the tension. "We all gotta decide what to do next."

"Well Joel, I'll tell you what I'm going to do..." Bill sat up and grabbed hold the bars of the cell. "I'm gonna go upstairs and chop Devlin's fucking head off!"

"And how do you expect to do that?" Rylan had already taken a stance against Bill so he pondered his intentions. "There're a bunch of Fireflies all over, between us and him and-!"

"But Bill's right..." Ellie spoke up. "This isn't going to stop until that fucking madman gets a bullet in his head."

"Or a machete to the neck..." Bill finished as he crossed his arms thinking darkly for his revenge. "Joel, I know what I gotta do, and you can't stop me after he killed Lance right in front of..." The man could not finish as he turned back away from them.

Rylan realized that Lance was the third man in their squad and that he seemed apologetic with the thought of their friend being murdered before their eyes. "Sorry..." But nobody but himself really heard it that.

Joel then addressed Olivia. "Where's your train? How far is it from here?"

"It is a few miles north of the school, too far to walk without being full of lead." Bill answered for Olivia without much fault to which she didn't really care much for.

"What we need is an escape plan ready to get outta here fast, and a distraction couldn't hurt either." Joel explained it to them and declared this. "We're all in this together but we need to split up to end this."

Ellie added to his words. "These fuckers won't stop until we're all dead. We have to work with each other if we want to stay alive."

"Fine." Rylan agreed. "So what's the master plan? Anyone?"

"Ay ay ay... Sí.Yo sé." Olivia smirked as the cell clicked itself unlocked from her pin and the door became ajar. "We're going to go out there and squish some Fireflies!"

A/N- And the Final Showdown is about to commence! How will their group divide up and who will be responsible for what? Who will live and who will die? Find out next time... :) And btw thank you guys for all the reviews, everyone really. Those little notifications I get from them and the favs and follows make me happy. Be ready!