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CAUTIOUSLY, THE GROUP huddled closely as they infiltrated the enormous building, death towering between them. Ellie's gun from her brother remained raised high, ensuring she had been armed against any possible dangers inside the facilities. Though she appeared confident, Ellie knew it was a guise. If it came to it, the guilt would only press so hard on her chest that she could not bear to breathe anymore. Violence was simply not in her nature.
Ensuring they had remained close to one another, they wandered through the emptiness of the room in bewilderment, absorbing the details of the giant room as it swallowed them up in the darkness. The quiescent around them was unusual; there were no snarls, no roaring engines from the vehicles, no yelling from people; only silence that kept them satisfied, and made, somehow, felt stable.
Suddenly, a loud voice grabbed their attention as they shifted further into the room, calling out, "Hello?"
They each raised their weapons within one brief moment, allowing their sights to land solely upon the shadows where the voice had come from.
Ellie observed as Rick bravely stepped ahead, his gun aimed intently at the shadowy figure. Her head tilted absorbing his leadership as she had been stunned by his immense bravery; the precise, crafted way his body moved. His elbow bent at a perfect angle, hoisting his weapon directly up to his eyesight as he stared intently ahead. Amazed entirely by his skill; an evidently natural ability to be both authoritative and threatening at the same time. Everything Ellie wanted to be, yet wasn't.
Mirroring Rick's actions entirely, Ellie's elbow bent at the same angle, aimed directly at the man who suddenly materialised from the stairwell, his own shotgun at hand as he halted at the top.
"Anybody infected?" the gruff, male voice inquired as he gradually began to descend from the stairs, the shotgun firmly placed in his palms as he had been entirely prepared to take out any contaminated humans.
"One of our group was, he didn't make it," Rick clarified sadly, yet still ascertained his dominance.
His eyes peered between the man's hand and his fingers, eyeing the safety on his weapon as he had been prepared to catch the slightest movement.
Ellie's eyes lingered over the safety and the man's hands, observing intently as Rick had as the man inquired, "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"A chance," Rick replied assertively, lowering his gun, as he had taken the chance to trust the stranger, but the others maintained theirs boosted.
Ellie's eyes squinted intently as she slowly and craftily shifted her finger down to the safety on her weapon, ensuring the click had been quiet enough for only her ears as the man responded, "That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know," was all Rick replied.
"You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission," the man notified assertively, nodding down at the group as they relaxed slightly at his words. But, not Ellie.
