The Collapse of Mankind

Chapter Two, TCOM Part II

7:21am.

The sound of rattling filled Ellie's eardrums as one eye opened. Her deep sleep was interrupted. Her hands trailed their way to her eyes as she gently rubbed them, brushing away the sleeping dust in the corners of both eyes. Her eyes widened more as she began to sit up in her rock solid and cold bed. She was faced with all seven of her friends. They were all wearing the same thing which appeared to be a white sheet. Their eyes were black holes but still managed to be staring right at Ellie. Each of them had a bullet hole directly in the centre of their foreheads whilst their mouths hung open. In absolute fear, she looked towards the rattling which caused her to notice the atmosphere of her bedroom. It was all dark but at the same time looked foggy. The walls were plain and the bedroom had not one piece of furniture in it... Apart from one single rocking chair in the corner of the room. It held a figure of a man with a dark smile on it. He was rocking back and forth with the scariest looking face. Suddenly, Ellie woke up. Kind of. She knew she was awake. But she couldn't move. Not one muscle. All she could do was lie paralysed with the eight scary looking figures. She closed her eyes tight. Nothing happened. When she re-opened them, the room was smaller and the figures were closer. Ellie suddenly became un-paralysed and started to struggle

Jess: Ellie?

Ellie's eyes shot open. A drip of sweat trailed down her forehead as she looked over at her friend. Ellie immediately sat up and threw her arms around Jess. Jess was shocked but laughed it off and hugged her back.

Jess: Are you okay?
Ellie: Uh... yeah. Bad dream.

Ellie rubbed her eyes once more.

Jess: They're the worst.
Ellie: Yeah. Whatever. It happens.

Ellie slept in an old t-shirt she found recently and some jeans. It was uncomfortable. But it worked. She got dressed into her every day, dirty clothes and headed downstairs. Cisco was at the kitchen table, loading bullets into his revolver. Ellie sighed and grabbed a half empty bottle of rain water. It was better than nothing. She took a few sips and leant against the kitchen counter. She stood by herself, staring aimlessly at the floor. She was brought out of her daydream by the sound of Cisco shouting.

Cisco: Everyone in the kitchen. Now!

Everybody piled into the kitchen within seconds. Apart from one person. Alexis.

Cisco: It's a new shitty day.

Alexis ran down the stairs as fast as she could to join everybody in the kitchen.

Alexis: Sorry. I'm here.

Cisco smiled at the girl.

Cisco: Alex. Just the girl I needed. Mind going out with Jess to hunt some food and get more firewood?
Jess: I went yesterday.
Cisco: So did Alex.
Alexis: I'll go again. Just give Jess a break. It's a hard job.
Cisco: Fine. Ellie?
Ellie: Sure. I need to take a water though.

Cisco pointed to Alexis' hands.

Cisco: Looks like Alex already has one. Share it. It'll last longer.

Ellie looked down at Alexis' hands and then at her eyes. She smiled before looking away and listening to Cisco.

Cisco: Emmyn. Nick. Mind if you take duty? Take it in turns. Take a rifle with you just in case.
Nick: Yessir.
Cisco: Sophia, Jess and Nova. Put bottles outside with no cap to catch rain in case rain falls today.

Ellie gave up listening and scavenged the kitchen for weapons and ammo. Her knife was always attatched to her jeans. She grabbed a pistol and her signature machete. She headed towards the back door and waited for Alexis. After waiting for a few more seconds, Alexis joined her.

Alexis: Ready?
Ellie: Ready as I'll ever be.

Just as they were about to leave, Cisco walked up to them.

Cisco: Don't die.
Ellie: I'll try my best.

The two girls headed out of the building and out of the gate. After about three minutes of walking and occasionally pushing each other into bushes, three of the dead walked out from the forest.

Ellie: Shit. Infected

Ellie walked up to one of the infected, picking her knife out from her belt hole and plunging it into it's head. Alexis watched carefully and laughed a little as the dead fell to the floor.

Alexis: Try this.

Alexis walked up to one of the other dead creatures and kicked it's legs from behind. The infected fell to the floor, letting Alexis get an easy kill by stabbing it in the head. Ellie was impressed. She'd never seen that before.

Ellie: That was awesome.
Alexis: Try it.

Ellie shrugged and walked up to the last infected, kicking the back of it's knees, causing it to fall to the floor. She forcefully stabbed her knife into the back of it's head.

Ellie: Woah. It worked.
Alexis: Hell yeah.
Ellie: Where'd you learn that?
Alexis: Some people I was with before. One of them taught me. Sam. Her name was Sam.
Ellie: Oh yeah? What happened to her?
Alexis: Same thing that's gonna happen to all of us eventually.

Ellie nodded and looked down at the ground.

Alexis: But it's okay. She taught me a lot of useful things.

All of a sudden, Ellie reached for her gun and immediately pointed it towards a bird in a low down tree. Alexis shook her head.

Alexis: Don't. It's not worth it for one small bird. The noise is too much.

Ellie sighed.

Ellie: Yeah. You're probably right. I'm just so hungry.
Alexis: I am, too. We'll find some food soon.

After that, the two girls heard an extremely loud bang which was from a shotgun. They stared at each other looking petrified.

Ellie: Run.

They both began to run as fast as their legs could take them. After two minutes, they finally hid behind a fallen tree.

Alexis: What the fuck.
Ellie: I don't know. We have one another's backs. It's okay. Okay?
Alexis: Okay.