CHAPTER FIVE:

INTO THE CITY

ABANDONED VEHICLES SCATTERED everywhere on the roads, twigs, grass and many other types that was mixed with the nature as it was slowly moving to cover the windows, blocking out the inside of the vehicles. Every single road was crowded and full of the cars, the highways included.

The group of four had moved onto one of the highways, the sound of their shoes padding along the concrete ground as they continued moving in the direction they needed to go to to get to the State House. Joel had been at the very back, gun still in hand as he stayed back a couple feet away.

Y/n found herself just a little bit in front of him, walking slightly beside Alec. She had her hands resting in the pockets of her sweater, glancing around the large abandoned city she had never been in before, yet heard so much about over the years.

"So," the nineteen year old begins, "you've never been outside the QZ before?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. They never let me."

"So, what would you do while they were gone?" He asks.

She doesn't respond right away. He could see the hesitancy in her expression. Finally, she opened her mouth, "You know... I'd just work to get rations. Basically it." She doesn't make eye contact with him as she shrugs.

Nothing was said between them for a couple minutes. It was an awkward silence. Trailing behind them, Joel narrowed his eyes as he watched them look anywhere but each other.

"So, um, why did you join the Fireflies?" Y/n scratches the back of her neck nervously.

The young man shrugs. "I was in school to be a soldier, but I just couldn't be there anymore. So, I found Marlene and she let me in. I was twelve."

"Holy shit." She breathes out with a shake of her head.

Just when Alec opened his mouth, he stopped when Tess and Ellie stopped before climbing over some flipped over vehicles to get to the other side. Once Ellie went, the nineteen year old stepped to the side, gesturing for Y/n to go first.

When he glanced over his shoulder, he met Joel's glare. The older man had been glaring at the back of his head when him and Y/n began talking. Nervously, he gestured for him to go, which he did just that with Alec now in the back.

"Nobody's gonna be coming after you two, right? Like, mom, dad, boyfriend? Girlfriend?" Tess lists off in question, looking at Alec at the last question.

Y/n felt relief when Alec shook his head. "We're orphans, and no."

"Everyone said the open city was crazy. Like, swarms of Infected running around everywhere." Ellie recalls.

"Not exactly like that." Joel speaks up.

"You know, people like to tell stories." Tess adds.

"So, there aren't super Infected that explode fungus spores on you?" Ellie asks with wide eyes.

"Shit, I hope not." Alec and Y/n mumble to themselves. They look at each other, little smiles of amusement twitching on their lips.

"Or ones with split open heads that see in the dark like bats?" The fourteen year old's next question had Tess and Joel looking at each other with knowing expressions.

Just when they did that, a loud shriek echoed in the distance, causing them all to come to a stop. No one answered Ellie's question as to what that was, an eerie silence between them until Joel ushered them to keep moving.

Within minutes, they stopped at the hotel Joel had mentioned earlier when deciding where to go, pushing the doors open to reveal the entire hotel was flooded with frogs and birds all around.

Ellie's eyes widen in amazement. "You've gotta be kidding me! You ever stay in a place like this?"

"Uh," Tess shrugs, "no, a little out of our league."

"How do you even know what this is?" Joel questions.

"Have you heard of books?" Alec fires back.

When Joel began walking down the steps to the water, Ellie was quick to ask, "Wait, are we going in there?"

Tess nods. "Yeah, we gotta get to the stairwell on the other side."

"Well, I-I don't know how to swim." The fourteen year old admits, taking a step back.

Joel raises a brow. "Seriously?"

"Do you think we have pools in the QZ?" Ellie reminds in question.

"Ellie." Alec calls out with a sigh. She watches as he hops down from the step he had been standing on and into the water, revealing that the water only went up to his knees.

Slowly, she followed behind until she was fully in the water. The group of five waded through the swampy water. Y/n let her fingers glide along the little waves. She snaps her head towards Ellie when the younger girl rushed towards the front counter. She couldn't help but smile when Ellie rang the bell, yelling out a 'ding, ding' to match the sound.

"Yes, sir. I would like your finest suite, please. Yes, ma'am. Would you like me to take your luggage? Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am--" Ellie acts, making her tone high pitched and then deep as she grabs the luggage cart.

"You're a weird kid." Joel comments.

Ellie narrows her eyes on him. "You're a weird kid." As she had been pushing the luggage cart, the girl looked to her right just when a skeleton fell right beside her, causing her to curse loudly in fear as she jumped back.

Alec and Joel found themselves rushing over in her direction, her brother grabbing his gun from his side. They stopped once they noticed it was just a skeleton that had scared her. Joel used his foot to push the head to the side while Ellie breathlessly apologized, taking her brother's outstretched hand so she could move away from the piano.

The group had soon moved to the stairwell, climbing up ten flights of stairs. Once they were at the very top, Tess and Joel were out of breath while Y/n, Alec and Ellie seemed fine. Tess argued they didn't have the best knees compared to the three of them when Ellie commented the stairs hadn't been too bad.

Turning a couple corners, it didn't take them too long until they reached the end of the hallway, only to see large amounts of debris blocking their way. Both doors on either sides of them were locked, leaving them trapped in the hallway.

"Alright, well, I mean, maybe I could climb up there, work my way around, and open it from the outside?" Tess offers as she looks up through the hole of the debris.

Ellie steps forward. "Well, I'm the smallest, so it'd be easier for me to get through."

"No. No way. It might be dangerous." Alec was quick to protest, pulling her back.

"He's right. You stay. I'll go." Y/n gripped the straps of her backpack as she moves to the pile of debris.

Tess raises a brow. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"After her, I'm the next smallest. So, I should go."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Mom--"

Tess ignores her, looking to her partner. "Can you give us a hand?"

Pulling Ellie back, the man moves towards them. He gives Y/n a boost, followed by Tess. He watches as they climb through the debris until they were out of sight, leaving him with the other two. Once he sat down on a bench, Ellie and Alec sat across from him. After a couple minutes of silence, Ellie brings out her knife and begins tossing it.

"Nice knife." Joel breaks the silence. She just glances at him. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"The circus." She replies sarcastically. This makes him sigh.

Alec nudges his sister, to which she closes her knife. "Where are you from?" Alec asks.

"Texas." Joel tells them.

"What about Tess and Y/n?" He continues asking.

"Y/n was born in Boston. Tess is from Detroit." The man glances at the fourteen year old, adding, "It's in Michigan."

"I go to school. I know where Detroit is." Ellie retorts. "So, uh, you two like a--"

"Pass." Joel interrupts.

"How'd you end up in Boston?" Alec questions.

"Pass." The man repeats. "No more questions about me."

Ellie ponders for a few seconds before finally asking, "How long do Infected live?"

"Oh, I thought you went to school." Joel fires back in a snarky tone.

"It's a really shitty one." She replies.

"Well, some last about a month or two. But there's others been walking around for about twenty years." He informs.

Alec takes off his baseball cap, running a hand through his hair. "Ever kill one?"

"Yeah, I killed lots of them." Joel says with a nod. "You?"

"A few." The nineteen year old shrugs.

"Was it hard? Like," Ellie clears her throat, "knowing they were people once?"

Joel nods. "Sometimes."

"What about that guy last night?" Alec was the one to ask.

Before Joel could respond, thumping from one of the doors had the three of them shooting to their feet. Joel aimed his gun, only to lower it once Tess' voice came through. They waited for a few seconds until the door opened, revealing Tess' face with Y/n right behind her, both looking unsure.

Ellie followed right behind them with Alec behind her and Joel behind him. They followed the mother and daughter until they were standing outside on a balcony. Looking over the balcony, they saw a bunch of bodies of Infected on the ground, still gargling and moving.

"There's so many." Y/n whispers.

"The last time we were here, they were still deep inside the buildings. Then I guess enough people came through looking for the QZ, they went inside seeking shelter, and that's how they get more and more of the city bit by bit, year after year." Tess explains.

"They're connected." Ellie realizes.

The Servopoulos woman nods. "More than you know. The fungus also grows underground. Long fibers like wires, some of them stretching over a mile. Now, you step on a patch of cordyceps in one place, and you can wake a dozen Infected from somewhere else. Now they know where you are, now they come. You're not immune from being ripped apart. You understand? It's important. I'm trying to keep you alive."

"So, we're not going that way." Y/n concludes.

"What do we do then?" Ellie asks. In seconds, her eyes widen. "Short way?"

Her, Y/n and Alec watch as Joel and Tess glance at each other, almost having a silent conversation with one another. All of them felt relief at the place Joel told them they'd go instead.

"Museum."