"We're not smuggling shit until I see the guns." Tess growled at Marlene. She had led the three of them to an abandoned kitchen, where Joel was nearly knifed by a girl named Ellie. Marlene asked them to smuggle Ellie to the capitol building that was downtown in exchange for their guns.

Marlene sighed, "Fine... Tess and Joel, follow me. You can verify the weapons and I can get patched up. But Ellie is not crossing that part of town." Marlene looked at Naomi. "I want you to watch over Ellie."

Ellie and Naomi looked at each other. "I don't think that's the best idea." Naomi said.

"She's barely taller than me and you're putting her in charge of my protection?" Ellie complained.

Naomi glared at Ellie, "you don't even know me."

"Yeah? And who are you?" Ellie retorted.

Naomi unsheathed her sword, showing it off. "Perhaps this will jog your memory."

Ellie gazed at the sword in awe, "No way! You're the Crimson Blade?! That's awesome!" She was star struck.

"No more talking," Marlene said. "Now go with her." She said to Ellie.

"Don't take too long." Naomi said, sheathing her sword. "I'll take her to the North Tunnel. And you," she looked at Ellie. "Stay close to me."

The group separated in different directions. Ellie following Naomi and Joel and Tess following Marlene.

Naomi wanted to vomit again. There were corpses of the Fireflies all over the place as she and Ellie quietly went through the clearing.

"Whoa..." Ellie breathed. "I heard all the shooting, but... what happened?"

"They're Fireflies..." Naomi sighed. "And the same thing is going to happen to us if we're caught by the soldiers."

"You're the pro. I'm just following you."

They took a small stairway to the next street, staying out of sight. There was an army convoy literally not that far from them. One wrong move and they're dead. They entered a deserted apartment yard.

"So, where are we going?" Ellie asked.

Naomi pointed to the open door on the third floor. "Up there, that will get us to the North Tunnel." She said.

"And how are we suppose to reach that?" Ellie said.

Naomi looked at Ellie, she looked like she had enough muscle to pull her up. "How strong are you?" She asked.

Ellie arched an eyebrow, "what do you mean?"

"If you're strong enough, then I could boost you up to that staircase. And then you could pull me up."

"Umm... I went to military boarding school? I guess I have some muscle..." Ellie said, sheepishly.

Naomi sighed, shaking her head. "How about you boost me up then?" She suggested.

"No can do.."

Naomi grunted in frustration. "Alright, hold on." She looked around the area to see if there was a ladder... or something they could use to get up there. The sun was setting fast and they had to get indoors before it got dark. She found a garbage dumpster and wheeled it underneath the staircase to use it as an improvised lift. "Alright, we'll use this." She said, climbing on top of it.

"That works." Ellie admitted.

When Naomi pulled herself up to the staircase she turned around and bent down, holding her hand to Ellie, "come on."

"I can reach it myself," Ellie retorted, jumping up and grabbing the edge of the staircase.

Naomi stood up, rolling her eyes as Ellie hoisted herself up. They ascended the staircase and into the open door that led to the halls of an abandoned apartment. Bottles and boxes were littered all over the floor.

"This tunnel," Ellie began. "you and the others use it to smuggle things?"

"Yeah."

"Like illegal things?"

"Sometimes, it comes in the job description." Naomi pointed out.

"So..." Ellie's attention shifted to the sword slung behind Naomi's back. "Where'd you get that cool sword?"

She stiffened at the question. "I... I'd rather not talk about it."

Ellie didn't pry further, knowing that it wasn't her place to ask.

"So what's the deal with you and Marlene?" Naomi asked.

"I don't know. She's my friend, I guess." She replied.

"Your friend?" Naomi scoffed, recalling on the last memory of Marlene. She and a group of Fireflies were negotiating a trade deal with Joel and Tess. Naomi was skeptical at first, thinking Marlene couldn't be the leader of the Fireflies. Of course... she learned the hard way. Marlene kicked her ass in a one-on-one fight. Naomi had a scar on her back to prove it.

"She knew my mom. They were good friends..." She studied Naomi. "How old are you?"

"Why does that matter to you?" Naomi replied.

"Well... you look like you're sixteen or seventeen. If you were, that would be really awesome, knowing that someone close to my age could kick ass."

That earned a smirk from Naomi. "I'm nineteen. So where are your parents?" She asked.

"Where are anyone's parents?" Ellie pointed out.

Naomi felt her heart ache at that question. Her mother never told her what happened to her father. The only memory of her father was the picture she kept in her bag. The picture had Naomi, her mother and father in it. They were in a park, she was about five years old in the picture. Despite the constant news about an "unknown" virus spreading across the country, their family ignored it and just wanted to enjoy life. Her father was a lean, but rock-hard-muscle toned man. Short blonde hair and blue eyes, and according to her mother, "looked like a sexier Brad Pitt."

"They've been gone a long, long time." Ellie said.

"Yeah... my parents are gone too.." Naomi sighed, controlling her emotions. "So why is Marlene asking us to smuggle you?" She asked.

Ellie sighed, "I'm not suppose to tell you."

"That's okay. I don't really have to know, was just curious."

"Well great." Ellie said.

"Here we are." Naomi said, opening a door into a decent-looking apartment and locking it as soon as Ellie entered. She placed her sword down on the table and picked up the hard cover book that was sitting there. She had left it there in case she ever came back here. She slouched back into the couch and opened the book.

"What'cha reading?" Ellie asked.

"Oh... you wouldn't be interested in it." Naomi said, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." She swiped the book from Naomi.

"No!" Naomi said, blushing.

Ellie's eyes widened as she read the passage of the page she was on. "Is this what I think it is?!" She exclaimed. She was reading about a sex scene that was occurring between a boy and a girl that loved each other. She flipped through more pages, "no way." Ellie laughed, tossing the book back to the blushing Naomi. "You're into that romance crap?"

Naomi flipped back to the page she was on. "Yeah.. so what?" Naomi huffed.

Ellie laughed for a little bit. When she finally calmed down, she sat next to Naomi, relaxing on the surprisingly comfortable couch. Her eyes wandered to the sword sitting on the table. She turned to Naomi, "do you mind if I look at it?"

"Don't hurt yourself." She replied, trying to focus on her book.

Ellie stood up and held the sword in her hands, testing the weight. She unsheathed the blade and held it up, looking at the carbon-steel. A carved inscription in symbols, that she didn't know that was written on the blunt side of the blade, caught her attention. "What's this mean?" She showed Naomi.

Naomi looked up from her book at what Ellie was referencing. "It's in Japanese. It means, Never hesitate." She said before returning to her book.

"What's that mean?" Ellie asked, sheathing the blade and placing it back gently on the table.

Naomi closed her book and set it down. The sun had set and the sky began to darken as gray clouds covered the sky. She stood up, picking up her sword and unsheathed it. She took a ready stance and swiped at the air. "What it means is that if I even hesitate for one millisecond when facing, say a hunter, it could cost my life." She swung at the air again, the sword creating a sharp fwip wind sound as it clashed with the air pressure. "Swing the sword like your life depended on it." She said, sheathing the sword. "But this also applies to other aspects, not just swords. I'm sure you're aware of that."

Ellie nodded, pulling out her switchblade and clicking it open. "Yeah... back in boarding school, the drill instructor basically burned that in our minds. Kill or be killed. Something like that." She said before putting her knife away.

Naomi remembered what Tess said to her earlier. Those exact words rang in her head. Tess was right, it was kill or be killed. But Naomi had morals that her mother taught her to keep in case somehow, the world was suddenly infected-free and people hugged each other. She was beginning to doubt what her mother had taught her. Tess kept telling Naomi, countless times, that it was a cruel world.

It started to rain as Ellie took a nap. Naomi stayed up on watch.

"Riley..." Naomi looked at Ellie, she was talking in her sleep. "Riley... we shouldn't be here.."

Naomi wondered how much the girl had been through. It probably didn't come close to as horrific as her past, but it was bad enough that Ellie was having her own nightmares.

The lock on the front door began to turn. Naomi instantly shot up from the couch and stealthily dashed to the side, sword brandished. As the door opened and a figure stepped in, she held the blade to the figure's throat.

"Easy, kiddo. It's just us." Joel said.

Naomi sighed and sheathed her sword. "What took you guys so long?"

"Soldiers were fuckin' everywhere." Tess muttered.

Ellie awakened, "How's Marlene?" she asked, worried.

"She'll make it." Tess said, then turned to Naomi. "We saw the merchandise, it's a hell of a lot of guns. Me and Joel decided to smuggle the kid to the capitol building."

"The 'kid' is right here, ya know." Ellie said, yawning.

"You want to come with us or head back to our apartment?" Tess asked.

Naomi did want to go back home, but she came this far already. "I'll go."

"Alright," Tess looked at Naomi.

"What?"

"It's cold outside with all the rain." Tess smirked, "put on some damn pants."

Naomi rolled her eyes and stepped into the other room, unslinging her backpack and pulling out the pair of jeans she brought. She shrugged out of her shorts and slipped on the jeans. Since it was raining, she zipped up the inner layer of her trench coat so it would protect her from the rain.

"Alright, I'm ready." Naomi said, emerging from the room. She had already started the generator for the elevator.

As the group descended on the elevator, Naomi asked, "So who's waiting for us at the capitol building?"

"Marlene said that there would be Fireflies that traveled all the way from another city waiting for us there." Tess glanced at Ellie, "girl must be important if they came this far. So what's the deal with you? You some bigwig's daughter?"

"Something like that." Ellie replied. "So how long is this all gonna take?"

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to the Fireflies in a few hours." As Joel climbed up the ladder to the surface, Tess turned to Ellie. "Once we get out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close. Naomi will be watching our rear."

"Yeah, of course." Ellie said.

"Hold up, there's a patrol," Joel said from the top of the ladder. After a few moments, "alright, we're good. Come on up, kiddo." He said to them as he held the cover up for them.

After they all got out of the hole, Naomi took a moment to feel the rain land on her face. It was always refreshing to feel the rain. Plus it was basically a free shower. The military charges two ration cards to use their running water for showers in a building downtown... there was no way Naomi was going to pay that much for a five-minute shower.

"This rain ain't gonna do us any good." Joel muttered as he lead the way.

"Holy shit..." Ellie breathed. "I'm actually outside." She said, excited.

They found a trailer to climb up through, "up this way," Joel said. Not a moment later did they hear him grunt in pain.

"Don't do anything stupid," a woman guard said to Joel, pointing the gun at him.

Naomi felt the barrel of a gun against the back of her neck. "Move" a deep voice said. She blew out her cheeks as she and the others stepped out of the trailer and sat on their knees as they were scanned for infection.

"Oh man, oh man." Ellie whispered, nervously as the second guard began scanning her. As the device beeped she pulled out her knife and stabbed the man in the leg. He grunted in pain, "Sorry!" Ellie exclaimed.

Naomi acted fast, unsheathing her sword and driving it through the other guard's chest. If used right, a samurai sword can pierce through Kevlar as if it was a thin shirt. The guard staggered backwards as Naomi expertly pulled out her sword. Tess had shot the other guard.

"Oh... oh fuck." Ellie muttered. "I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something."

Naomi helped Ellie on her feet as Tess picked up the scanning device. "Oh shit," she said, showing Joel, "look."

Joel's expression darkened, the device read positive for infection. "Jesus Christ..." he muttered, glaring at Ellie. "Marlene set us up? Why are we smuggling an infected girl?" He growled.

Naomi looked at Ellie and jumped back away from her. "You're infected?"

"I'm not infected." Ellie said.

"No? So this thing was lying?!" Joel shouted as he tossed the scanner away, taking a step towards Ellie.

"I can explain!"

"You better explain, fast." Tess said.

Ellie rolled up her sleeve, "Look at this! This is three weeks old!"

Tess scowled. "No, everyone turns in two days. So stop bullshitting." She growled.

"It's three weeks, I swear! Why would she set you up?" Ellie said, desperate.

"I ain't buying it." Joel growled.

Their conversation was cut short by a patrol SUV approaching.

"Oh shit." Ellie said.

"RUN!" Joel shouted to everyone. They all ran and ducked into the embankment below them just as the vehicle arrives.

"Holy shit." One of the guards said.

"I got two dead uniforms. I repeat, two casualties in Sector Twelve. Requesting immediate backup." The other guard said.

"We just talked to them a minute ago." The first guard said, horrified.

"Those fuckin' stragglers are around here somewhere," the second guard growled. "Secure the area."

"Follow me, quick!" Tess hissed as she lead them to a different cover behind debris.

Search lights began to shine all over the place as the group silently crept by, luckily the rain shrouded most of the noise they made.

"Goddammit! They're everywhere." Joel cursed.

They avoided search lights and took any detours they could find through pipes and around walls. They avoided flashlights as Joel navigated them through the trenches. When they reached an abandoned building, they took a quick moment to catch their breath.

"We're going to get caught," Naomi muttered.

"We won't if we stay quiet," Joel said as they began moving again.

They navigated through a garage into a military-filled ruin.

"Holy shit! There's so many of 'em out there. How are we suppose to get past 'em?" Ellie said, worried.

Naomi agreed with her, there were way too many guards. She huffed as she came up with a really dumb plan. "Guys," she whispered, getting their attention. She sighed before speaking, "I'm going to cause a distraction and you guys make a run for it."

"No!" Joel hissed. "That's suicide!"

"Don't worry, I'm faster alone." Naomi breathed, the rain making it so cold that she could see her own breath. "Now hurry up and go. Wait for the signal and then run."

"Naomi-"

"Don't." Naomi glared, "if you guys want those guns that badly, this is the only way you're going to get through. Don't worry, I'll meet up with you guys at the skyscrapers." She tried to hide her fear that wanted to escape, this really was a dumb plan. "Now go!" She hissed.

After Joel and Tess looked at each other for a brief moment, they nodded. "We better see you at the skyscrapers.." Joel muttered before they disappeared behind the cover of the ruin.

Naomi shook as she crouched behind an old car. She had her sword in one hand and the gun that Tess gave her in the other. She controlled her breathing as she waited for the right moment, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. Then she finally stood up and fired a shot into the air. The large searchlight immediately shone on her and she RAN.

"After her!" the sergeant ordered the other soldiers. They all converged on her as she ran, dodging bullets.

Ellie and the others crouched behind a wall in silence, worried out of their minds for Naomi.

"Let's go..." Joel reluctantly said after checking to see if the area was clear.

"Wait! We can't just leave her!" Ellie cried out.

"Don't worry," Tess said, her voice breaking. "She's a tough girl, she'll meet us at the skyscrapers.." Fear for Naomi washed over Tess's face.

Naomi hid behind a wall of an abandoned apartment. The soldiers were closing in on her, their lights becoming brighter. She controlled herself from whimpering, wanting to panic and freak out. She bit down on her fear, knowing that it would kill her if it overwhelmed her.

"That bitch is around here somewhere." A guard said.

"Search the area." The sergeant ordered.

There was a vehicle with the guards too, armed with a mounted M2 Browning that fired the huge .50 Caliber round. If that thing started shooting at her cover, she would be torn to pieces. A round that powerful could pierce through metal like it was nothing.

She held her breath as the guards came closer and closer and closer. They were literally around the corner. She clenched her sword tightly, waiting to strike. She wouldn't... refused to go down without a fight.

Then a miracle happened. Not the kind that you would expect though. Her eyes widened as screeches filled the air. The screeches belonged to Clickers.

"Clickers!" A guard shouted before he screamed in pain as three clickers overwhelmed him.

There were at least twenty Clickers swarming the guards. Because Naomi was silent, they ran past her and went for the guards. Her heart went berserk from staring at Death face-to-face. When she finally rearranged her thoughts, she used the distraction to get the hell out of there. The M2 Browning was loud as it poured its bullets into the masses of Clickers.

It only made it worse.

Naomi ducked into a damaged sewage pipe sticking out of the mud wall nearby as SWARMS of Clickers and Runners converged on the loud noise of the machine gun. She felt like she was going to scream and panic as hundreds of infected were literally above her and around her. It took every shred of sanity to keep her from screaming in terror and hyperventilating.

It felt like an eternity before the rumbling of the infected stopped. The machine gun was still firing, but the infected were close to overwhelming the military vehicle. After calming down a little, Naomi got out of there and headed for the skyscrapers.

Luck had saved her.