Till The End of The Line

~Five~

Sunlight peaked through the clouds and hit my eyelids. My eyes struggled to open against the light, but once I turned my head my eyes opened and my stomach sunk. "Oh no...no. Perfect." Joel groaned, bringing the truck to a halt. There were rows upon of rows of broken down cars covered in moss.

"Now what?" Ellie asked, yawning as she tried to wake herself up. Joel looked around at our surroundings, before putting the truck back into drive.

"Screw it." Joel took a turn onto a separate road, leading us into the city. As I started out the window, Joel slammed on the break, flinging my body forward, thankfully the seat belt stopped me from hitting the dash.

"Easy!" Ellie shouts, using her hands to brace herself on the back of my seat. There was a man making his way towards the truck, clutching his stomach, yelling for our attention. "Holy shit."

"Please...help." The man groaned, getting closer to the truck.

"Are we gonna help him?" I asked, looking over at Joel. Joel put the truck in drive and kept his gaze on the man.

"Ellie. Erin. Put your seat belt on." Joel said, his eyes darkening.

"What about the guy?"

"He ain't even hurt." With that statement, Joel pressed the gas, tires squealing against the wet grass.

"Oh Fuck! Go! Go! Go!" The man yelled, pulling a gun out, shooting at the windshield. We all ducked our heads and I gripped on to the seat. There was a loud bang as the guys body smacked against the hood of the truck, sending shards of glass into the truck.

Suddenly hunters from every direction pop out, throwing bricks at the truck and shooting at us. Joel tried to keep the steering wheel steady but with trying to avoid the guys and get pass them, we began to swerve, barely missing the other broken down cars.

My window shattered, sending glass everywhere and giving me little cuts to my face. After lowering my arm from bracing myself, I hear a horn growing closer. "Oh god, not good! Joel!"

Before Joel can register my words, a large RV slammed into the side of the truck, sending us spinning. Ellie held on to my seat and I gripped on to the edge of my seat. Everything happened so fast, first the car was spinning and then the final impact hit, making the truck stop immediately. My vision went black and everything around me seemed to go away.

I blinked slowly and my breathing was quick. "I'm okay. I'm okay. Are you guys okay?" Ellie yelled.

"Get out, quick." Joel shouted back. Grunting as he unbuckled his seat belt. I tried to undo mine but my adrenaline started plummeting, making my hands shake and extremely hard to release my seat belt. "Hold on, I've got you darling. But we've got to hurry." He was quick with his moments and helped me unbuckle, but before I could open my door, it was ripped open and rough hand's grabbed at my waist. "Shit!"

"Let go of me, motherfucker!" I yelled, kicking my legs to the best of my ability. Joel grabbed one of my feet, trying to pull me back. Another guy came behind Joel and smacked his face into the middle console, causing him to drop my foot. "Joel!" I screamed out, but my voice was cut off when the guy wrapped his hand around my throat.

I could hear Joel's grunts and a loud shatter as the guy used Joel's head to bust an old freezer door open. There was more rustling and grunting until finally I heard piercing of the skin and then strange gurgling. At this point my vision was going black and I was on the verge of passing out.

The guy holding onto me howled in pain and dropped me onto the floor. My vision came back slowly and I saw Ellie behind him with a large wooden board and Joel dragging the guy to a counter and smashing his head in. My throat burned and I began having a coughing fit, trying to regulate my breathing.

"Come on, darling." Joel said, helping me up, trying to stabilize me.

"What is wrong with these guys?!" Ellie yells, grabbing her bag from the trunk.

"Alright girls, catch your breath. We're leaving." We gathered our bags, about to head out.

"Watch out!" Ellie yells before a gunshot rings and the side mirror blows off the truck. Joel grabs my arm and has us kneel behind an old grocery isle.

"Stay down, I've got this." One by one Joel took the hunters out, until one came from the side as he was taking out another. The guy put Joel in a choke hold, making him drop his gun. I gave a look to Ellie and that's all it took for her to run behind the guy, stabbing him in the shoulder and I was able to take a crowbar and smack it into the guys temple.

"I think that was the last of em." I stated, my breathing coming in heavy and my heart beating against my chest.

"Good, cause we need to get the hell out of here. You know the drill, grab what you can and let's get moving."

After taking everything we could fit, we searched for a way to move forward and we found a garage that was closed off. "Come on, I think we need to head through this way."

Joel grabbed the bottom of the gate, holding it up enough for me and Ellie to slide under and hold it open with the chain. The smell alone in this building made my stomach churn. Everything in there was just unimaginably grotesque.

The smell had me gagging into the corner. Spitting out as my stomach twisted into knots. I tried to cover my nose when I felt a hand grab a hold of my hair into a makeshift ponytail. Rubbing my back soothingly, Joel whispered to me, "You're all good, kid. We just gotta get some supplies then we will be outta here."

I've seen some pretty grotesque shit, but these bodies had to have been here for days, if not weeks. Their skin had started to turn gray and had begun decomposing, to the point under lying muscle and bone was now apparent.

"I knew I should've turned us around, this could've easily been us. Fucking hunters." Joel grumbled, helping me to stand back up.

"That's a lot of people that didn't make it." I spoke softly, scanning the multiple bodies that scattered the room.

"Come on, let's get going." Joel patted my shoulder before we gathered the supplies we needed. Once we had everything, Joel led the way to a stairwell, taking us to the next floor.

"How did you know?" Ellie asked as we made our way up the steps, following close behind both of us.

"Know what?" Joel asked, confusion and annoyance laced into his words.

"About the ambush."

"I've been on both sides." His body went tight and in my gut, I knew exactly what his words meant. After a moment of silence, Ellie made a statement that she almost sounded saddened to say.

"So, uh, you killed a lot of innocent people."

Instead of an actual response, Joel just let out a defeated sight and kept walking. He kept his eyes focused in front of him, his muscles still tense and rigid.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ellie whispered, sounding disappointed. I shot her a look to try and hint for her to stop. She threw her hands up in the air, trying to defend her words and questions.

"Take it however you want."