Firefly

Seventeen

City of Boston 2023

We weaved around cars, scaled over overturned trucks and slabs of concrete from fallen buildings. We walked over the cars to avoid the deep craters left by the bombs at the beginning of everything. Bodies that have been long dead sat in abandoned cars, on the streets, and under the rubble. Trash was scattered all around. Nature was taking over everything again. We heard the infected in the distance, and Ellie moved closer to me. 'Uh…what the hell was that?" She asked. Joel stopped, turning to make sure we weren't too far behind.

"Sounds far away. We should be fine," I told her. "Maybe I should have a…" I shook my head, not even letting her finish the sentence. "Forget it. It's not happening," I said. "Come on, this way. We can go through this building to get to the other side," Tess said. The road was completely wiped out. Nothing but a gigantic hole. "That's a long way down," Ellie whispered. I hummed in response and guided her away from the edge. "Come on, let's find a way into this building."

We climbed over large slabs of concrete and looked up at the building in front of us. "Looks like it's going to fall over anytime soon," I said. It was leaning so far to the left. I'm surprised it was even still standing. "So, is this from the bombings?" Ellie asked. "Part of it. Nothing lasts forever." I could feel Joel's eyes on me. A tingling sensation creeped up my spine, making me shiver. I walked forward and looked around for a way to get in. When I found one, I yelled for the others.

"Hey, over here!" Ellie came over to me and looked up. "How are we getting up there?" She asked. Joel walked over, putting his back to the side of the building, and laced his fingers together. "I'll lift you up so you can take a look around." I nodded my head, walked over to him, and put my right foot in his cupped hands. "Ready?" He asked. "Yeah." He pushed me, and I grabbed the edge of the opening that was once probably a window. When I had a good grip, he boosted me up more, and I climbed through.

Turning the light attached to the strap of my backpack and grabbing my gun, I checked around to make sure it was safe before helping everyone else. "Okay, we're clear!" I called down. He gave Tess a boost next, and she helped me get Ellie up. Then Joel moved back to get a running head start before jumping and grabbing onto mine and Tess' hands. We helped pull him up, and then we all stood there. A rolling chair came free and rolled across the floor and right out the other side. "Holy shit!" Ellie said.

"Yeah, let's get out here as quick as possible. Do you have a flashlight?" I asked her. She pulled her backpack off and pulled one out. "Stay close to me. We don't know what's in here," I told her. I walked over to a door and tried to open it. "Hey, give me a hand, would ya." Joel came over, grabbed the door handle, and shoulder the door open. "Careful, the floor's weak here," he told us. One by one, we walked across to the other side. Ellie grabbed my arm when we heard the all too familiar sound of the infected.

"That looks like fresh blood," I whispered, pointing to the blood on the ground. "Runners," Tess said. "I'll go check it out. You three stay here," he said. "Are you fucking crazy or just stupid? I'll go with you." I turned to look at Ellie, "stay with Tess, do you understand? I'll be back," I told her. "No way! You can't go down there." I looked at Tess, "if anything happens to her…" I moved closer to her, "I will put a bullet through your fucking skull." She looked at me and gave a tight nod, "Fine but you have to tell us why that scanner said she was infected."

I didn't say anything, I just just turned back to Ellie. "I'll be right back, I promise. There isn't any other choice but to go this way." I could tell she wanted to argue with me but chose to look at Joel instead, "you better not let anything happen to her." I rolled my eyes and lowered myself down to the floor as silently as I could. Staying crouched I walked to the end of the wall and looked around it. Turning my head I held up two fingers to tell Joel how many I was seeing right now. There was no doubt there was more further down.

Slowly and quietly I inched towards the closest infected, letting Joel take the other one. At the same time we both grabbed them into a headlock, putting pressure on their throats so they couldn't get a sound out. I pulled my knife and jammed it into the infecteds head and Joel snapped the neck of the other one. Watching my step, I walked over to him and he pulled me down, "clicker," he mouthed to me.

I hated fucking clickers. But I guess it was better than a bloater. Runners aren't too bad as long as you can get behind them and take them out silently. Stakers are little assholes who like to play hide and seek in the fucking dark. Those are always fun to deal with. But clickers, clickers are completely blind and have to use their hearing alone and they're unbelievably strong. But at least they can't rip fungus off of themselves and throw it at you like a bloater can.

We stayed crouched and silently moved around the wall we were hidden behind. Again the best way to take them out would be to go up behind them and stab them in the head. But that doesn't always work. The last time I dealt with a clicker I damn near died. A tapped Joel and nudged my head towards the office ahead of us. Another runner stood there, back facing us. When I looked around the corner I saw another one down at the end of the hall. They usually attack in a group so it's best to take them out first and then deal with the clicker.

Being careful not to catch the attention of any of them I made my way to the runner in the office going up behind it, grabbing it the same way I did the last and snapping its neck in one quick fluid motion. The clicker started clicking, sending a chill down my spine. I headed behind a desk and made my way to the other open door towards the last runner. I fucking hate this shit. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my damn chest. I stopped when the runner turned but before it could see me Joel came up behind it and took it out. Now time for the clicker. I think Joel can handle that fucker on his own.

It didn't take him long to take it out and I went back to where Tess and Ellie were. "It's clear now." I helped Ellie down and we walked over to where we had to climb up. It wasn't too far off the ground so it wasn't hard getting up there. "Let's get the fuck out of here, please," I said. I felt very uneasy. As soon as we were out of the building we headed deeper into the city and found a place to hold up until the morning. "You should get some sleep," I told Ellie. I sat on a little spot covered in soft moss and she sat beside me, laying down, and resting her head on my legs.

It didn't take long for Ellie to fall asleep. When I looked up I had two sets of eyes on me. "You wanna explain why that scanner said she was infected?" Tess asked. "Not that I need to explain shit to you, but she's not. I mean she was bitten but that was three weeks ago." I looked down to see Joel had the rifle he took off that soldier pointed at us. "If you're not going to use that thing then I suggest pointing somewhere else!"

"That's not possible," Tess said. "Well, it is, seeing as she's still here. Look, if you want to see it you're going to have to wait until she wakes up. And if she wants to show you she will. And if not then that is her choice. You want a car battery then you can stay but you're going to shut the fuck up. If not then you can turn around and go back to the QZ. I'll get Ellie to the State House myself."

"You ain't going through this city by yourself," Joel mummered. I raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Respectfully, fuck off, Miller. You two are only doing this for yourselves so don't act like you care what happens to me or her." The look he gave me twisted my insides because I know he cared what happened to me. He always cared and maybe he cared a little too much.