Firefly

Fifty-Nine

We made quick work of the guys near the record shop. Ellie ended up taking the bow and arrows that the one guy had. It was a lot better than shooting and making a bunch of noise. We walked through the store and out the otherside. All the other stores were closed up tight. "Where are they?!" Ellie and I looked at each other with wide eyes and ran. When we passed a hallway, I grabbed her arm and pulled her down it. "Now what?" She whispered.

I was looking around in a panic until my eyes landed on an air duct shaft that was open. It was a huge risk to go through there. We didn't know what would be lurking inside. "Through there. Hurry." I pointed and she looked at me like I was crazy, which I probably am. "We have no other choice, Ellie. We're trapped." She huffed out, ducked down, and began crawling inside the duct. I took one more look at the end of the hall before following after her.

Luckily, we only came across a skeleton of a soldier. No infected or spores. When we got to the other end we came out onto a balcony that was above a store. It was dark but I could see several infected down below. Me and Ellie exchanged looks. We only had three arrows and there were five or six infected. We ducked down, sitting with our backs to a piece of plywood that had been pressed against the railing. It hid us from the view of people and the infected. Ellie leaned closer to me and whispered into my ear. "I peeked around the plywood to see two men standing in the store on the other side. I looked around for something to throw. Finding a brick I picked it up and threw it behind me. It hit a shelf, making a loud bang as the merchandise fell off and to the ground. Clickers and a couple runners screeched from below and the curses of the men filled the air. Two more men showed up to help them...well, they tried to help them. They weren't fast enough though.

They did however take all but two of the infected. Only one of the men was able to get away and once he was gone Ellie took the last remaining infected out before we jumped down. From there we were able to make our way through another store that came out close to the store Joel was in. There were even more men standing around near the escalators and by the door leading into the frozen yogurt store. It would be tricky but we had no other choice but to take them out. Ellie let the first arrow go and that set off the fight. Going back and forth; the two of us against at least six men.

It took a while to finally take them out but once we did we were able to get to Joel and stitch him up. "This isn't looking too good. We're going to have to try and find antibiotics." Ellie looked at me worried. "We have to get out of here and find somewhere else to stay. Maybe we can find a neighborhood."

When daylight came we made sure Joel was bundled up before tying the sleeping bag to the horses. I opened the doors anda we headed out into the cold winter air. The snow had slowed down for now. "Do we head back to Tommy?" Ellie asked. "No, we keep heading towards Salt Lake City. That's where the doctors are. But right now we need to find somewhere we can hold up until Joel is better." I hoped we could find some antibiotics along the way somewhere.

We walked all day, taking breaks to check and make sure Joel was doing okay. I had to sit him up and give him small sips of water. We didn't have much left and we only had a few pieces of jerky left. We had stopped at a few stores trying to find more bandages along with medication but we're unlucky. We eventually came to a neighborhood and picked the closest house that wasn't all boarded up. We led the horses into the garage and closed the door. Ellie stayed with Joel while I checked to make sure everything was clear.

While I was in the house I grabbed a few couch cushions and took them down to the basement, laid them on the floor, and ran back upstairs to get Ellie. When I went into the garage she had found a couple of buckets and filled them with snow for the horses. "Joel, can you stand for me?" I asked, kneeling down beside him. He groaned as he sat up. Ellie came over and helped me get him to his feet. Then we helped him down into the basement. While I got him settled Ellie went back up and got all our stuff. She handed me the blanket and I covered Joel up, zipping his coat before I did so he was warm.

After Joel was settled in Ellie and I sat down on either side of him. "Are you warm enough?" I asked Ellie. She pulled her jacket closer around her neck and nodded. "I can go upstairs and look around for more blankets. I'm sure there are some in a closet somewhere. They might be musty though." She shook her head. "I'm okay. Should we look through the rest of the houses for supplies?" She asked. I took a deep breath, nodding my head slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, we will. We can do it tomorrow. For now we should get some rest."

She moved down to lay on the floor, facing towards Joel and laying her head on his shoulder. I stayed sitting up until she was asleep and then went upstairs in search of blankets. I was able to find three of them. They were musty like I figured they would be and a little moth eaten but they weren't all that bad. And besides, you can't be too picky in a world like this. I went back down stairs and covered Ellie up with one of the blankets.

I then laid down on the other side of Joel, laying as close as I could, putting my head on his shoulder, and covered myself up with a blanket. Then I took the third one and threw it over the three of us as best as I could. It should be enough to keep the three of us warm. I was hoping it would keep us all warm. It was getting colder the later it got. I leaned up, kissed Joel's cheek, and then slowly fell asleep.