She was mumbling and stumbling through the heavy snow her feet were burying into. Her hair was full of snowflakes and her body was shaking like crazy.
She has gone down from the path to Detroit, wandering all around the woods near Cleveland like a soulless body.
After Jesse let out his last breath Makayla took his backpack and ran, ran as fast as she could. Tears were blocking her vision and her feet were giving up on her but she didn't stop. Leaving behind Jesse's body and the unknown group of men she had no strength to fight at the moment.
Now she fell to her feet, her palms smashing against the snow.
Her lips were trembling, eyes closing and she was slowly losing consciousness...
.... Makayla's flashback 1 year earlier
"Fuck it Joel I'm done guessing!"
"I never told you to start guessing." He turned around with a smirk while she followed him through the woods by a small river.
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Makayla huffed, already annoyed.
"Calm down it's just a place I found. Figured you'd like to check it out too." He said.
"Shit. I was hoping it'd be a bunch of kittens." She joked.
"You mean a litter?"
"What's a litter?"
"A bunch of kittens." Joel answered casually leaving her completely confused.
They were close to the edge when Joel pushed the branches of a tree aside so she could walk by, "Mind your step."
"I got it." She was walking past him when he suddenly gently pushed her from behind, making her fall into the cold river,
"Joel!-" was all he heard before she dissapeared under the surface.
She swam up, taking a deep breath of air that she didn't get to take before she dived in, already hearing Joel's deep laugh.
"What the hell Joel!"
"You should see your face right now." He continued to laugh and something in her made her grin. She loved to hear him laugh, regarding the reason. His laugh was hot and send vibrations all over her body.
"What if I hit my head on a rock or drowned?"
"You gotta work on that confidence, kitten."
"Oh bite me. Now help me get out." She swam closer to the land, extending her arm up and Joel wrapped his hand around hers when she pulled hard, making him fall too.
When he emerged from the water, with a loud grunt Makayla couldn't help but grin, "It's not nice when someone does it to you, is it?"
"Actually- we gotta swim through this part anyway." He declared and Makayla was already frowning,
"I got you back, you're very angry and upset." She glared at him,
"I'm very angry and upset." He played her role, his voice husky and low and she noticed him standing on his feet.
Although Makayla was tall Joel was still taller by a head and a half.
She swam closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and Joel raised an eyebrow at the gesture.
His large hands immediately secured her waist and they both leaned into a kiss at the same time.
His arms around her were holding her so tightly while her hands got lost in his soaked hair.
And even in this cold river his body was keeping her warm.
End of flashback. ....
Her eyes fluttered open. She couldn't hear anything, just her own heavy panting.
It was slowly getting dark outside.
"C'mon 'Kayla, get up." She heard Joel's voice too clearly.
"Joel.." she mumbled, looking up and all around but she couldn't see straight.
"Get up, girl."
She extended her arm up, towards his voice but when she blinked he wasn't there. Her eyes wandered around, realizing she was alone.
She felt like she was officially losing her mind.
"Fuck-" she cursed while getting up, her body felt frozen and the snow storm was only getting stronger.
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"Ethan,Tess,Sam,Jesse..." she repeated the names of the people that died by her side. And she hated herself for it.
"Ethan,Tess,Sam,Jesse..." she kept mumbling when she stopped in her tracks and her mind wandered to the reason she's on this journey. She took a deep breath, "This is your chance to do something right Makayla c'mon." She tried to give herself a pep talk.
"C'mon Makayla get it together." She was still panting, rubbing her arm in an attempt to feel warmer when she heard a loud screech not so far behind her.
She turned around, trying to see through the thick trees and bushes.
But the screeching only doubled and soon she could hear the fast stomps.
"Shit!" She cursed, throwing Jesse's backpack on the ground to try and get everything she needed out. She took the map, an explosive and had no more time to get anything else.
She stuck it in her backpack and put it on.
They were getting close she could see them now.
A horde.
She started sprinting through the heavy snow and darkness not looking back while they were on her heels.
Snow was making it hard for her but she kept running until she got to a dead end.
She looked behind her and some of them were running from sides.
There was a thick bush with thorns but it was the only option.
She barged into it, doing everything to get through while the torns were getting stuck on her jacket and cheeks, scratching her skin and some of them getting stuck there.
And when she finally got through she appeared in the air.
Falling down from 20 feet felt like an eternity until she hit the snow.
Beaten and injured, she got up after a short while with a loud groan, stumbling away to get lost in between the trees, pressing her feet to her torso tightly and leaning her head against the tree trunk while trying to catch her breath.
