Chapter 4.

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Cutter raised his hands and sank slowly to his knees. The girl kept her hunting rifle trained on him closely for a few moments before stepping backwards to confer with the huge, grizzled man behind her.

"Do we kill him?"

"Maybe" the man rumbled. "But first, we find out what's goin' on."

He turned to Cutter.

"Where are we?"

"What, you don't know where this is?"

"Answer the goddamn question."

"Well... France."

"France..." muttered Joel. "Impossible. What was that... thing we went through? Where are we really?"

"Um... I have to admit, I have no idea who you two are and what you're doing here, and I haven't got a clue what this thing is you're talking about, okay?"

Cutter was fighting hard to keep the fear from showing on his face.

"I'm from England, alright? I've only just come into France and before yesterday, I'd never set foot in this place. I have no idea about anything that's happened to you and I've had no involvement in it. I swear. Just... just put the gun down, yeah?"

"I'm not buyin' it" replied Joel. "The gun's just a precaution, but just in case infected are nearby, I'll slit your throat right now if you don't tell me what I want to know."

"Infected? What are you talking about?"

" 'Infected?'? What do you mean, 'Infected?'? Clickers, runners, you gotta have a name for 'em."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Empty out your pockets" instructed Joel. "We're takin' all your supplies."

"But it's only a short drive to the nearest village" Cutter protested.

Joel remained silent.

"Fine" relented Cutter.

He stripped all of his pockets bare and tossed his meagre possessions to Joel, who scanned every item carefully with a critical eye. Sustenance was frugal; he carried only a flask of water and an energy bar. Joel's eyes widened as he saw the final object. He flipped open Cutter's cheap mobile phone and immediately dropped it in shock when the display lit up.

"Where did you get this?" he said slowly, his voice filled with what was unmistakably disbelief and incredulity.

"Well.. it's mine. I bought it."

Joel stayed silent for over a minute. Cutter struggled to maintain his facade. Beneath the almost casual veneer, he was terrified that he was about to die. He glanced over at Ellie, but she simply motioned her gun towards Joel until he turned away.

Joel finally spoke.

"What year is this?"

"2011..."

Joel began to take shaky breaths, unable to control himself any longer. Charlie took comfort in the fact that he was putting up a better facade than his interrogator. Maybe that was a good sign.

"That- that's impossible. That was 23 years ago... It's 2034. I know it is. 21 years since the outbreak. 21 years since... No. You're lying."

Joel turned to Ellie, hiding his shock and anxiety from the stranger.

"Ellie, we have all of his stuff. Shoot him in the head."

"But what if infected show up?" she protested.

Cutter was unsure if this was compassion or practicality on her part. Possibly both.

"Or the rest of his group?" she continued.

"Then they'll come runnin' and we'll know exactly who we're sharin' this building with" responded Joel firmly.

Ellie aimed at Cutter's head with her hunting rifle.

"You sure about this?"

Joel nodded.

"Shoot him."

It was now or never. Time to go up against two heavily armed opponents.

Cutter had inched closer to the pair as they were talking and as soon as Ellie received the order, he grabbed the barrel and jerked it away from his head.

BANG!

The rifle discharged right next to his head, sending his ears ringing. Ellie wrenched the gun from Charlie's hand and kicked him back down to the floor. Any hesitation displayed previously was gone completely now.

Before she could steady her aim, Cutter kicked her in the stomach, and when she doubled over, he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her off of him. He ran towards a sofa for cover. Joel, who had helped Ellie up, drew a pistol and fired shots after him. Cutter dived behind the sofa and crouched there, trying to stay calm.

As soon as he heard light footsteps just around the corner of the sofa, he reached blindly round it. His hand found the barrel of the rifle and he pulled as hard as he could. Ellie crashed to the floor and Cutter claimed the hunting rifle for his own. Wheeling around, he aimed at Joel, who was standing defenceless in the middle of the room.

Cutter hesitated briefly, unsure of whether to shoot him or not. He quickly decided on yes; there was no reasoning with these people and they were dangerous. The girl was a far easier victim, but with her lying on the floor, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and instead levelled the gun directly at Joel's chest.

"Shit."

Joel threw himself to the ground, but the bullet grazed his arm on the way, leaving him twisted on the floor in pain. Cutter turned.

Ellie was brandishing a knife at him.

Snarling, she propelled herself forwards and brought the blade down in a stabbing motion. Dropping the gun, Cutter caught both her arms and held her in place. Ellie kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards into the wall. She lunged again, and Charlie dodged to the side, crying out in pain as the blade caught the side of his right arm. He snatched her arm as she withdrew the knife, and lifting her by the waistband, threw her bodily across the room.

As she struggled to get up after all the injuries, Cutter aimed the hunting rifle. He had to do this.

He had to shoot her.

BANG!

A pistol shot missed Cutter's head by centimetres, instead hitting the rifle barrel with a loud ping. Turning, Cutter saw Joel aiming his pistol from the ground, gritting his teeth from the pain of his bullet wound. With no time to aim, Cutter dived to the ground as pistol bullets flew everywhere around him. Cutter managed to reach Joel, but to his alarm, the man had actually managed to climb to his feet.

"Screw it" thought Cutter.

With matching arm wounds, the two launched at each other. Ducking Joel's right hook, Cutter smashed a fist into Joel's jaw. As the huge man staggered backwards, Cutter continued a series of punches, pushing Joel up against the wall. The older man wasn't as weak as he looked though, and in one solid punch, sent Cutter crashing onto his back. Either he looked a lot older than he was, or he was very tough for his age.

Joel raised a foot and Charlie rolled aside as it stamped into the ground next to his head. He shoved Joel's leg hard, bringing him crashing to the floor.

Cutter stood up unsteadily, preparing to finish Joel off.

Then Ellie smashed into Cutter so hard that her own momentum carried her over his shoulder, sending them both to the floor.

The three of them lay there, all either unconscious or close to it. The fight had been a large toll on them.

The door creaked open and Chloe walked in.

"He's in here!" she called over her shoulder, before walking over to Cutter and leaning over him. "Found some new friends? And to think, we slog our guts out getting up here, and you decide to have a sleepover?"

She tutted.

"What a lazy bastard."