A cry strangled through the already eerie building.

"What the fuck was that?" Maeve furrowed her brows, trying to peer around TJ while trying to not fall off Wren at the same time.

God, they were so close. She did not want to be chased down by infected or hostile non-fungal people. Maybe it was just an insane human wandering around the college, or perhaps it was a Firefly. Maybe they stubbed their foot on something hard or fell, or something. So many possibilities for a non-dangerous company, yet so many possibilities for the dangerous.

"TJ," Joel at the foldable gate said, gesturing for the blond to follow.

"Right."

Haha! Maeve hurried to move onto the saddle once TJ hit the ground. She took Wren's reins and patted her mane as the two males quietly passed through the gate to check out the noise.

They headed up the stairs, disappearing.

She would've been nosier; however, Wren was more interesting than a couple of suspicious noises. Goodness. Wren was such a beautiful horse. Maeve drove her fingers through her pretty dark gray mane and flitted her palm over her silver coat.

"So...you guys are getting comfy."

Her eyes shot to Ellie, who gazed at her all smug and shit. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"No," Maeve glared at her. "I don't think I did. Wanna repeat that?"

"All I'm saying is, you guys aren't barking at each other all the time. Saves the headache for another day."

Maeve thought she felt her eye twitch. Was that supposed to be an insult? Ellie avoided eye contact, suddenly finding her cuticles interesting.

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she pursed her lips. "Nothing at all."

"If you don't start speaking English, I will come over there and punch you."

"Jeez, you're pretty violent for someone who just got off her period."

"Ellie."

"Fuck, okay," her sister hissed. "Okay. Fine. It just seems like you're getting...comfortable with TJ now."

"So?" Her brow piqued up. She needed more than that. She was more confused now than before now.

"Well, I mean..."

"Ellie." It dawned on her. It was the same tone she used back in Bill's town. "No."

"What? I'm just saying—"

Loud, unhinged screeches abruptly flood the air. Both girls jolted, as did the horses. They didn't like the screams, though they didn't have to worry about it because what seemed like a few seconds later, the screams were silenced.

The sisters shared a concerned glance.

"Joel? TJ?"

"We're fine!" Joel's disembodied voice echoed around the walls. "Just some infected."

"Man, I was actually kind of hoping this place wouldn't have any infected at all," Maeve pursed her lips with disappointment.

"Same."

"I know they're all around, but I'd like to not run into any for once."

At least they hadn't run into many infected since the start of autumn. She wasn't exactly sure why sightings were less frequent, but she wasn't about to complain about it. No infected equaled tranquility, for a short bit, at least.

Maybe they migrated. Like birds do in the winter.

A mechanical whirring brought her back into reality. Lights flickered dimly, though some lights stayed dead.

Ellie got off Callus and peeled the folding gate away from the opening. "Hey, I was thinking," she said loud enough for the guys to hear. "I would've wanted to be an astronaut."

"That a fact?" Joel didn't at all sound annoyed, more like amused.

"Yeah," her sister answered with a grin as they went into the wider area. "Can you just imagine being up there all by yourself? Would've been cool. I'm just sayin'."

Joel went to the other gate that prevented them from carrying further in the campus, opened a breaker, and pressed a button lined with other buttons. The gate groaned for a moment and then slowly rose into the wall. He approached Callus, taking the reins before mounting the horse.

"Can I drive now?" Maeve looked at TJ as he approached Wren.

He went to say something, but Ellie cut him off. "She's not gonna stop asking, just let her take the reins."

The blond sighed, saying nothing. For a moment he seemed defeated, but then something she couldn't read painted across his face. She wondered if he was going to yank her off Wren and force her to walk the rest of the way, or maybe stink-eye her until she caved in?

"Okay, fine."

"Yay!" She beamed and did a little wiggly dance within the saddle. "Hop on up, Cowboy!"

"Ugh..." TJ made a face. "Don't call me that."

Grudgingly, the blond climbed the horse, settling behind Maeve. She felt quite achieved to be the driver now. Giddiness filled her as they began forward.

"What about you guys?" Ellie asked, glancing between Joel and TJ. "I know Maeve mentioned before she wanted to be a wildlife photographer, so what' d you want to be?"

"You mean, what I would've liked to have been if the world wasn't in hell?"

"Yep!"

TJ sucked in a breath. "I haven't thought about it much before...but I think I would've been an animal caretaker or an equerry."

"An equerry?" Ellie repeated curiously.

"It's a person who cares for horses."

"Oh — that's nice, admirable too," Ellie said with a tone that caused suspicion to arise within Maeve. "What about you, Joel?"

For a moment, Joel seemed embarrassed. That was new. "Oh...well, uh, when I was a kid...I used to, uh, want to be a...a singer."

The sisters burst, not to laugh at him, but out of surprise and awe. "Shut up."

"I'm serious," the man was a little red in the face.

"Sing something!"

"Ah, no."

"Joel. Please?"

Again, he made a chuckling sound. "I don't think so."

"A wildlife photographer, huh?" TJ brought up.

"Uh-huh."

"I guess that's...cool."

"Thanks? Before when I had my Polaroid, I would get into so much trouble, at one point, my Drill Sargent took my camera, and didn't give back for a whole month." Maeve hung her head, humiliated by the memory.

"But you got it back, remember?" Ellie said.

"Yeah, but then you stole it from my room, and then broke it, remember?"

"I didn't mean to break it," Ellie retorted. "Your room was messy, and I tripped, remember?"

"Touche."

"How did you even get your hands on an intact camera, anyway?" TJ questioned.

"Oh, ah, well...that was a gift."

"Is this the same friend you keep talking about?"

"No!" Maeve barked, accidentally too harshly. "I mean, yes, but no. I had it before—I was given film after I met them. It just sucks...I had so many pictures that I had to leave behind. I saved a few though."

They made it to the university's center. It was wide with a giant fountain that was bone-dry, full of dead leaves and other muck. Everything seemed pretty normal for an abandoned college.

And then she something saw strange.

Five little creatures having a blast near the dried-up fountain.

"Aww...are those monkeys?" Ellie beamed, smiling so widely, her molars could be seen.

"Monkeys?" Maeve squinted and leaned forward a bit to try and see it. Her eyes widened. "Wait, are you for real?"

Those were monkeys! She'd never seen so free, or up close before! Her heart leaped with excitement.

"Yeah, a whole mess of 'em."

The horses carefully rose down the steps, closer to the fountain, unfortunately, it scared away the monkeys.

"That was kind of awesome," Ellie voiced aloud.

Maeve hummed in agreement. Monkeys were normal and seeing them in person was near exonerating. Her adrenaline heatedly flowed through her veins. Awesome would be an understatement. That was damn near beyond awesome, if she could find a word for it, then she'd say it.

"First time seein' a monkey?" Joel asked.

"First time seeing a monkey," Ellie hummed lightly.

The further they rode into the campus, the more they began to realize, they weren't seeing anyone. Aside from those monkeys and themselves, there was no sign of anyone being at the college.

It was too quiet. Too empty.

"Should we have seen someone by now?"

Relief filled her knowing it wasn't just her. It would've felt a bit weird if it was just her thinking it.

"Uh..." Joel sucked in a breath. "Maybe these guys like to keep a low profile."

"They're definitely keeping low profile," she muttered under her breath, but with as quiet as it was, everyone heard her.

Maybe the Fireflies were trying to be low profile, but if this was low profile, then Maeve didn't know what to think. It almost seemed like they all packed up and left the campus. They would have seen at least one or two Fireflies by now.

They further toward the dormitories, once again coming to a blocked entrance.

"Alright, let's try that gate," Joel demounted Callus, Ellie followed soon after.

Maeve furrowed her brows. "But it looks locked."

"Well, worth a try, anyway." TJ slid off Wren.

"Okay. Bad news," Ellie had climbed on the bars of the gate, trying to use her weight to open it. "It won't budge."

"Joel?"

"Maybe we can zig zag through the dorms, come out another way and open the gate."

"Sounds like a plan," TJ nodded.

"Alright, you stay here, ladies," Joel ducked into the half-blocked doorway nearby; TJ followed after.

"Guess we're sitting ducks again, Wren," Maeve pouted as she petted Wren's shoulder.

"Not really. We can handle our own," Ellie pointed out.

"I guess." It wasn't that she believed she was helpless, or maybe she did. She kind of felt left out of the action the guys get to have. She wasn't particularly fond of fighting infected, but she did like scavenging things. The thought of the dorms still having supplies, or items that could be useful made her tingle.

And maybe she could've searched for tampons or pads, or something. The few Maria gave her before they left the town were running low. Even if she wasn't menstruating anymore, it was best to be prepared for the next cycle.

"So...back to the topic earlier..." Ellie's voice was sly feigning coyness.

"No," she shot, focusing on her sister with frown. "Not now, Ellie."

"What? I'm your kid sister! I'm supposed to be annoying and be all up in your business."

"Yeah, still a hard no."

Ellie huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm just glad you're getting back to the old you."

"...old me?"

Old her? When was there a new her? She hadn't changed, had she? Not to recollection, she was the same as she always was.

"After Jordan..." her heart did a series of terrible squeezes and pinches. "I didn't think I'd ever see you look alive again."

"I wasn't alive before?" She inquired, confused.

"What I meant was—"

Disembodied roars and screams abruptly rang through the air. It startled the horses a little, and the sisters. They wouldn't be able to do anything, as the noises came from the other side of the gate. Somewhere from within the dormitories on the left.

"That doesn't sound reassuring," Maeve muttered, smoothing Wren's mane to calm the mare.

"It's okay. They'll be fine," Ellie intercepted the negative-ness in Maeve's tone. "They have to be."