Till The End of The Line

~Three~

A large infected with tons of fungus growing all over its body, basically turning it into one lump of poisonous fungus. "Shit." Joel began throwing Molotov's and shooting at the creature.

"What the fuck is that?!" Ellie screams, running in the opposite direction as the creature came running at us. I followed Ellie as I took out my gun and began shooting along Joel.

"It's a bloater!" Joel and Bill yelled in unison. The bloater began throwing large what seemed like slime balls, but once they hit the ground it turned into a fume that burned my lungs. Joel grabbed a hold of my arm, continuing to shoot at the bloater. With a loud screech the bloater fell to the floor and silence filled the air. "Are you okay, kid?" Joel asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I began coughing to try and ease the burning sensation that resided into my throat and chest. I nodded slightly as the sensation began to fade. "You inhaled some of their poisonous fumes, but not enough to hurt you, that burning will go away soon, alright kid?" He gave me a look that was almost sincere.

"What was up with the big guy?"Ellie asked, finally catching her breath, resting her hand on her knees.

"He'd been infected for awhile...we call them bloaters."Joel said, as we walked to the bleachers, his hand on my shoulder, almost like he was trying to reassure me.

"Sorry to interrupt this biology lesson, but can we get the fuck out of here?" Bill groaned, sounding absolutely winded. "Get on top of the bleachers."

Bill went first, then Joel and I helped Ellie up. I looked at him and he kneeled down to help boost me up, his hand held on to my thigh firmly as he boosted me up. As Joel finally made his way up, infected started making their way through a hole in the wall. "Let's get the fuck out of here." We sprinted out the window and made it to a fenced in area with a ladder leading us to Bills other safe house.

Once we made it over, we ran into the house and shut the door. "Well that was close." Ellie said, taking short, panting breaths. " We all looked at her, trying to catch our breaths ourselves. "Alright, I'm gonna go check out the other side of the house."

"Why don't you go with her-" Bill started but I cut my eyes at him.

"Uncle Bill, I'm not a child, I plan to stay right here." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Staring him down until he finally got the hint to look away. Rummaging through the shelves, Bill let out a sigh and let his hang.

"Looks like someone had the same idea as us and stole all my shit." Bill said, throwing his arms in defeat.

"Well then what the hell is plan B?" Joel growled, trying to keep his cool.

"You ought to be thankful you're still drawing breath! That was plan A, B, C, all the way to fucking Z."

They began arguing once uncle Bill brought up Tess, I noticed it struck a nerve with Joel. He must really care about her. Once I finally looked behind them I let out a gasp and Bill stopped talking. Joel stopped mid sentence and turned to see what we were all looking at. A hanging body. I knew this body, oh shit.

"Jesus. Do you know who the hell this is?" Joel asked, walking up to look at the body while Bill and I stayed put, almost frozen in our spots. We both knew who it was. 

"Frank." Bill stated, his voice coming out much more confident then expected.

"Who the hell is Frank?"

"My partner." My chest tightened at his words. I could feel the hurt that radiated off that sentence alone. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder, but he jerked away, walking over to the corpse. Bill cut the rope that supported Frank's lifeless body, sending him crashing straight into the ground. I choked back a sob once I noticed all the bites that littered his body. He didn't do this for no reason...he did this to keep from turning. "Well, fuck him."

An engine sputtering echoed from the attached garage. A burning of hope ignited in my stomach. We all made our way to the garage and lord and behold, Ellie was  behind the wheel trying to get it running. "Look what I found." Excitement was basically pouring out of her at this point, which brought me some joy, given the current situation.

Bill opened the hood and let out a sigh of what sounded like aggravation and relief. He slammed it shut and began walking towards the driver side door. "Get out. Get the hell out."

"Okay jeez." Ellie scoffed, hopping out to make her way to stand between Joel and I. Bill climbed in behind the wheel and turned the key. The engine began to sputter, but never fully came to life.

"Battery's drained, but the cells are alive." Bill said, climbing back out.

"Meaning?" Joel asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Meaning we can push it, get it started and the alternator will recharge the battery."

"Is that your guess?"

"Look you wanted plan B. This is as good as it gets."

Ellie looked at Joel and I, a glimmer of hope danced in her eyes. "What do you think?"

"Thinkin' she drives, we push." He tilted his head in my direction, causing my eyebrows to raise in surprise.

"Me? Why me?" I asked, wondering why he wouldn't trust Ellie over me. Well, maybe besides I can legally drive and she's probably never been behind a wheel until now.

"Because, kid. I trust you behind the wheel of a vehicle more than I do this one." Ellie swatted his arm at the comment before hopping into the passenger seat. I climbed in behind her and got situated behind the wheel. "let me know if you need any help kid, alright?" Joel leaned on the door, patting my shoulder before pushing off and making his way to the back of the truck.

"Alright, let's get this thing moving. Just keep your foot on the clutch and when we roll-"

"I know how to pop a clutch, Bill." I cut him off, aggravated that he and Joel both feel the need to talk to me like a child. With that final exchange, Bill and Joel began to push the truck out of the garage. As we started to roll, I pressed my foot down and popped the clutch, hearing the truck trying to sputter to life. It died, but my stomach flipped with excitement in hopes that this would actually work.

"Perfect! Good job, kid." Joel yelled, jogging to the back of the truck and patting it before they started pushing it again. Something fluttered in my stomach, but I shook the feeling and bit my lip to hide the smile that was fighting to show.

"We just gotta get to the hill and over the edge." I smiled at Ellie, feeling as if this plan could really work. Shrieks and clicking sounded   from the abandoned houses surrounding us. "Guys! Look out!"  I shouted, upset that all I could do was wait in hopes they could take these infected on their own.

Thankfully, it was a small herd that they were able to take out rather quickly. They began pushing again, with a final push over the edge of the hill, I was able to pop the clutch and the engine roared to life as we sped down the hill. My heart jumped into my throat from the adrenaline and excitement.

"You hear that, Bill?" Joel yelled, racing down the hill, a pack of infected not too far behind them.

"Yeah, but that means so did the infected. Get in the fucking truck!" Bill screamed, right on Joel's heels. They launched themselves over the tailgate and continued to yell at us. 

"Go! Go!" Joel used his hand in a go on motion, patting the side of the truck. With that, I put the car in drive and stepped down on the pedal. Turning right at the next 4 way stop, the infected began to grow smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror until there was nothing but silence.