Over the night the atmosphere changed with clouds rolling over the sky and the temperature dropped and as light crested the horizon the fields sparkled like tiny crystals the only area untouched was a ring around where the fire had burned. Joel awoke to the sound of Bill wrestling some of his belongings into his bag.
"You're leaving now" Joel asked
"Yeah true to my word we are even now got it" Bill replied
"Yeah take care of yourself now and look us up if you make it to Boston" said Joel
"And I swear to god if either of you sh*ts ruin my next safe haven I will not be happy" snapped Bill
The noise had managed to wake up Sarah who immediately asked
"Bill where you going"
"Back I've got too much and right not quarantine doesn't suit me, oh and kid here you go" said Bill as he reached into his bag and then produced a small item that he then threw over to her
"What is it" asked Sarah
"Oh seriously you, you don't know what that is" replied Bill
"I know what it is, it's a chess piece" said Sarah
"Yes it's a pawn right now I think it suits both of you, you can only move forward unable to go back until you reach the end of the board" Bill explained
Bill began pacing off into the distance leaving Joel and Sarah to continue on towards Boston
"I guess that was as good a goodbye as we could have hoped for" blurted Joel
"Way better than the first one" murmured Sarah
After packing Joel and Sarah set off in the direction of Boston upon arriving on the outskirts of the city the images before them were the same, chunks of the city were levelled to stop the infected several of the taller buildings had totally collapsed and others had major structural damage it was only a matter of time until they collapsed. Joel and Sarah entered the streets some empty others littered with bodies and some even had infected wandering aimlessly around, Joel and Sarah tried to move through the streets unheard using both Joel's bow and Sarah's crossbow they cleared out small pockets of infected to move and for others they led astray with bottles and other debris on the ground.
"How far is it" asked Sarah
"Just keep moving we will get there eventually" Joel replied
Taking detours where necessary in one building Joel wandered through old office cubicles some still adorned with mementoes of its previous occupants it seemed as if they were being watched this proved true when the doors to the staff room burst open and a stalker began charging at Joel. Joel immediately turned and loosed an arrow that found its way deep into the stalker's shoulder unphazed it still charged towards him. Joel reached for another arrow and began to notch it before the stalker just fell to the ground a bolt protruding from its skull.
"Jesus Sarah you just put that thing down running" Joel exclaimed
"You're glad I did though" Sarah remarked
"You know sometimes it scares me how good you're getting with that thing" Joel replied
"I figured you would enjoy that I'm good at something" said Sarah
"Yeah like your Soccer or math but not something you shouldn't need to know" replied Joel
Joel and Sarah continued on over a couple more streets before being blocked by a fallen building
"Any great ideas" Sarah asked
"How about over there the subway tunnels should lead under this" he replied
Upon descending into the tunnels they saw that it was largely intact but some parts had caved in and some dead were strewn about the floor, the light flickered somehow still getting power before exploding sending sparks onto the floor. Joel and Sarah got their torches out and began to go deeper into the tunnels. Upon looking ahead from a platform Joel could see some kind of haze.
"What is that, gas" Joel murmured to himself
Upon getting closer they saw dead infected sprouting fungus stuck to walls releasing spores into the air.
Joel immediately took a few steps back as did Sarah.
"How do we get around this" asked Sarah
Joel looked around for several moments before spotting a cluster of dead soldiers who each had on them a gas mask.
"Looks like this will do Sarah come over here" said Joel who began to alter the straps on one mask as to fit Sarah
Now wearing gas masks they moved through the air thick with spores eventually making it back to the surface and once again able to breathe fresh air
"I never thought I would miss fresh air this much that gas mask really makes you work for each breath" mentioned Sarah
"Look over there those must be the quarantine zone walls" said Joel as he began to walk in their direction.
As they began to get closer the roads became more damaged as the quarantine zone had created a no man's land surrounding it the road's dipped into flooded sewers and rose again it seemed as though the bombing here had been successful in stemming the infection for now.
Watchtowers adorned the walls of the quarantine zone with spotlights angled in all directions and makeshift roads cleared through the rubble that military jeeps occasionally drove past.
The sky became darker as a light rain blew in creating unique rivers as it flowed off of debris, upon approaching the area around the wall it seemed as if constructed as a trench yet another fortified perimeter all seemed to be well as Joel and Sarah got closer to the wall then a loud ping as a bullet struck a nearby car.
"Get em" a voice cried out
Joel immediately grabbed Sarah and leapt behind into a bomb crater
"Ah shit not this again I knew we should of sneaked in" barked Joel as he drew his revolver
Bullets were flying and a bright light scanned the area moving right over where Joel and Sarah were hiding and stayed fixed on an area further away. Joel could hear footsteps coming towards them but this time in the direction of the wall and he could see 4 soldiers running.
"Be advised we are in pursuit of 6 armed bandits over" one soldier yelled
three soldiers ran past firing into the distance for what Joel could only think could be the bandit group had followed them. Joel popped his head up to see what was going on he could clearly see a couple dead soldiers and perhaps a few of the bandits, shots could be heard echoing throughout the landscape and Joel kept Sarah down hoping to avoid any fighting suddenly a forth soldier ran up and paused at the top of the crater pointing his assault rifle into the distance taking precise shots he looked down to see Joel and Sarah in the crater looking confused.
"What the..." he said just before a shot tore through his left shoulder sending him tumbling to the floor.
Sarah let out a small scream as a man with scraggly hair loosely tied back with glasses on hiding his eyes and a half buttoned shirt stained with blood appeared pointing a handgun down at the soldier.
Without thinking Sarah fired her crossbow and the bolt went through the man's knee causing him to miss the shot which hit right next to the soldiers head as he fell to the ground Joel then immediately pounced on the man plunging his knife deep into the man's chest extinguishing his life. Joel then lifted himself off the man rolling over into a seated position on the floor with a look of exhaustion.
"Now I sure hope you're not out here to kill us or were not gonna get along" said Joel
"Kill you you're clearly not with those thugs and you saved my life" the soldier replied
"We haven't exactly been met with the greatest hospitality so far" Joel mentioned
"Right well helping me out won't exactly hurt your chances of getting in now can you help me up" remarked the soldier
Joel helped the man to his feet and the soldier looked at his shoulder his vest having absorbed most of the impact then looking over at his three dead comrades.
"Dam it they always were headstrong, anyway this way" said the soldier as he gestured off into the distance
"Isn't the main gate over there" Joel said confused
"Yeah but we weren't exactly supposed to be out here, anyway the names Derrick and yours" he replied
"I'm Joel and this is Sarah, may I ask where we are going" asked Joel
"There's a old tunnel leading into the zone I use it for smuggling some supplies in" responded Derrick
"You're a smuggler" said Joel
"Pay isn't exactly good in an apocalypse" replied Derrick
Derrick led them to a covered entrance that led into a basement of a former house within which a tunnel connected it to another house within the zone
"So what now don't we need identification papers" Joel asked whilst nervously pacing
"Look I will go sort it all out and you may want to leave your weapons here they will be safe here they don't like civilians having weapons inside, now if you will just follow me" said Derrick as he led them to the street looking in the distance a building clearly marked as administration could be seen.
"Just one last hurdle" Joel mumbled as he followed Derrick