Dawn: The Last of Us

The Hunters

"Run, Ellie!" Joel roared again, skidding around and taking cover behind a fallen tree.

I ran past him, my heart racing.

The single crack of a rifle told me that Joel was returning fire. I didn't look back, though. I kept running, my feet pounding against the forest floor.

A sudden shout alerted me, and before I knew what was going on, someone was on top of me, attempting to punch me in the face.

"Stop squirming, you little shi--"

"Get off me, asshole!" I yelled and brought my pistol up, only for it to be smacked out of my fingers. Strong hands gripped my throat and I found myself beginning to choke. The hands squeezed tighter, causing black spots to erupt around my vision. I was suffocating, and there was nothing I could do about it.

The hands suddenly eased up and the man was yanked off of me. Coughing, I attempted to stand but I was too weak. I blinked the tears from my eyes and watched as Joel hammered the man's head against a tree stump. His hat tore open, revealing an already caved in skull covered in blood and pink brain matter.

"Joel," I coughed and held my hand out.

"I got you, kiddo." He pulled me up and turned back around.

Another gunshot ripped a hole in the bark of the nearest tree.

"We gotta run, Ellie!" Joel put his rifle to his shoulder and fired. A scream told me that his shot had found its mark.

"Run... yeah," I muttered and shook my head before staggering away from him.

The trees seemed to streak as I weakly ran through the surrounding green. My feet carried me forwards, pounding against the ground in an uneven rhythm.

Run, Ellie, run.

"Come on, Ellie," I said through gritted teeth.

Something snapped past my head and I ducked and weaved between trees.

The following Hunters had automatic rifles, and they were determined to fill my back with bullets.

Joel, where the hell are you?

The ground shook as a fireball erupted behind one of our pursuers, throwing him into the air.

"Shit, he has grenades!"

I smirked and vaulted over a rock, pausing to catch my breath. Footsteps approached. My hand dropped to my pistol--

--which had been knocked out of my hand just moments before.

Oh shit.

I began to panic as the Hunters drew closer.

Your switchblade!

"Duh!" I pulled the knife out of my back pocket and flipped the blade open.

The footsteps were just beyond my rock.

"Hey, where did that girl go?"

"Find her!" The woman ordered.

I flipped my blade around and waited.

A dark figure turned around the rock. Before it could open its mouth, I grabbed his arm and pulled him forwards, burying my knife in his throat. He convulsed, dropped his gun, fell to his knees, and attempted to cover the wound. Dark blood spewed out, covering his clothes the leaves and dirt around him. A gurgle escaped him; he collapsed, twitching once, and was still.

I wiped my brow with the back of my sleeve.

Good job, Ellie.

"Oh, fuck."

I whirled to see another man staring from his dead comrade to me. He raised his gun and pointed it at my head.

"Don't move!"

I froze and dropped my blood covered knife, putting my hands into the air.

He took a step forwards, keeping his gun trained on me, but looked over his shoulder.

"I got her!"No more than a second after the words had left his mouth did his face erupt in a fountain of blood and brains, toppling his body to the ground in front of me.

I snatched my knife back up and wrenched his pistol from his dead hands.

"Joel?" I called, turning in a slow circle.

I was answered with a staccato of gunfire. I rolled behind the rock, gripping the pistol with shaking hands.

Several more gunshots made me duck, but they must've been directed away from me because the automatic rifle answered somewhere beyond me.

More footsteps approached me so I raised the pistol and pointed it towards the source of the noise. A man covered in rags rounded the rock, holding a shotgun. My pistol kicked back twice, one shot catching him in the shoulder, the other in the throat. He went down without a sound.

Dammit, Joel, where are you?

I crouched down, peering through the woods, seeing only the occasional muzzle flash and once a lone figure darting between trees.

My mind raced.

Joel, we need to leave.

Where is he?

Hurry up and find me!

More gunfire exploded around me. I pointed my gun in one direction, then the next, then the next.

A single shot echoed and impacted with the rock I was hiding behind.

Nelly, here we go.

I took a deep breath and popped my head around the rock. I was able to make out two figures before they began firing at me. I ducked back behind the rock and swore.

Dammit! Trapped!

"Come out, little girl!" The woman's voice shouted over the gunfire.

"We won't hurt you," another yelled.

"That bad." She added.

They laughed and began firing again.

I huffed and kicked the ground.

No way was I getting out of this without Joel.

A sudden shriek made me freeze.

Oh no...

I turned and looked back over the rock. The two Hunters stood with their backs to me, looking at something in the distance.

Something was moving towards them. Fast.

I pointed my pistol at the woman's back but stopped.

"Shit!" She shouted and began firing her rifle at the approaching figures.

Someone else shouted a single word that made my blood freeze. "Infected!"