Ellie blinked repeatedly, trying to get ahold of the situation that was happening. There was shouting and gunfire echoing loudly through the room. After the military entered, it became a complete shitshow. All they could see for the next several seconds was continuous flashes of light coming from the subway door. Once everyone's visions were cleared up, a gunfight broke out between the two factions. The duo who had managed to stay strong throughout this, were still hiding in a corner.

The only scene she could make out was the 'Masks' hiding behind the worn-down pillars of the railway while the military were using riot shields to move forwards. The deafening gunshots almost made it hard to hear yourself. From time to time, a shout would be heard from either side, but mostly it was like fireworks going off furiously.

"Jo - Joel?" She muttered, looking in the corner. He was somehow knocked out, lying on the floor. "Shit, shit, shit," She repeated. To avoid the gunfire, she crawled towards him and began to shake his arm, "Get up! Joel, get the fuck up!"

"Hu - huh?" He coughed as soon as he opened his eyes. "E - Ellie?"

"We need to get out of here!"

"What the hell is... Ellie?" He was still dazed, as he kept on blinking. The flash of gunfire didn't help too.

"Just trust me, alright?" She said, wrapping his arm around her neck. They were still crouched, trying to avoid being seen, "Keep low and don't make a damn sound, you got me?"

"Ellie..." He grumbled, trying to breathe properly as smoke filled the upper levels of the room, "You're gonna get shot..."

"Not if I can help it," She stated. She began to drag him to the other side of the room, where there was a maintenance door that was rusted to oblivion, but seemed to still be able to open.

The two factions were too focused on one another that they missed Ellie carrying Joel. The side that they were approaching was close to the 'Masks', who were raining bullets with the SMG's they had. When they were a few inches away from the door, a few soldiers noticed the two gunning for the door. Without saying anything, one soldier opened fire with their assault rifle at them.

Ellie dropped both of them to the ground, as the bullets shot overhead of them. Most of the shots hit the metal pillar that was covering them. As Ellie stood up, Joel was struggling to get on one knee. The 'Masks' began to understand what was happening. They also saw Ellie and Joel and turned their attention to them.

In a hurry, Ellie three Joel into the door, who pushed it wide open. Before they could open fire at Ellie, she rushed into the maintenance room. There was a metal shelf that was inside that she used to cover the door with. Once it was closed, she placed her hands on her knees and bent, inhaling and exhaling loudly.

"Fuck," She added, wiping the sweat off her face.

Joel was leaning on the wall, shaking his head from all the flashes that he saw, "Goddamn soldiers must've followed us."

"The door won't hold," Ellie talked under heavy panting, "I'd give this five minutes."

"Back door? Is there one?" He suggested, as Ellie peeked at the other corner.

She saw another maintenance door which was unlocked on both sides. As she returned to him, there was a person banging on the other side of the door. Her attention was turned to Joel trying to recover from the encounter.

"What happened to you?" She inquired.

"I covered you when the flashblangs went off," He shook his head, "I assume it isn't too good for people my age."

Ellie lightly chuckled, "Shit. Thanks."

"Not now..." He grunted, pushing himself off the wall. "Ellie. We need to get out of here."

"Can you manage."

He looked at her with weariness in his eyes, "I'll manage."

Joel followed Ellie, approaching the exit door. She opened it easily, with no signs of rust in the lock. It led to a short stairwell, with only one flight of stairs needed. There was another exit, but this time it led to a much larger room. They entered into the room which was mostly dark but with a few dim wall lights still being powered by a generator. It was also filled with old and dusty cars and supporting pillars that felt like it was about to fall. Ellie seemed confused at the prospect of so many cars.

"Why is there so many damn cars?" Ellie noticed, grabbing the flashlight from her backpack.

"It's a parking lot, Ellie. You park cars here." He described.

"I actually knew a guy who lost his car." She started while trying to shake the flashlight's batteries. "Had a funny name."

"Yeah and? What's his name?"

"Carlos." She giggled, as flickers of light came out of the object.

"That was terrible, Ellie." He acknowledged.

As soon as the flashlight started working, it was pointed directly at a wondering clicker. The sound of the batteries attracted a few clickers to them which made the two of them back away for a minute. Joel stayed behind Ellie, holding her shoulder to steer her into the right direction.

"Where the hell are you leading us?" Ellie whispered, as she aimed her pistol towards the clickers.

"Trust me, just follow my lead." He promised, leading her in-between two cars.

At the other end of the lot was a elevator that looked promising. There were also a few clickers roaming around and surrounding the elevator door. Joel led Ellie quietly, letting her move her feet first so they would not get tangled up. They stuck to the side of the wall where not many clickers were around. They had to slide over the cars that were crashed into the wall, seemingly making a few noises as they collided with the metal. Once they reached the elevator, Ellie covered Joel while he began to open the door.

"You might want to hurry it up," She reminded.

"I'm trying with my hands, Ellie." He said, removing the moss from the door. Some of the plants rustled as it hit the ground, garnering the clickers attention.

"Shit, shit, shit..." She kept on repeating.

The clickers came closer, clicking and screeching every step they took. They swung their arms around, hoping to strike down one of their victims to sink their teeth into. When one came too close, Ellie pulled the trigger on her gun-- but to no avail, it was jammed. Before they could grab the teenager, a loud, ringing scrape was echoed through the underground parking lot. She felt a sudden object move in her backpack, before she was pushed into the elevator shaft filled with water. She struggled to stay afloat, shaking rapidly in the water trying to keep her head above it. All she saw was Joel shooting the clickers with the hunting rifle. When there were a few left, she joined her in the water and helped her to the ladder.

Ellie let out a deep breath when she grasped the metal of the ladder. Her first instinct was to climb quickly to get away from the clickers. After reaching a safe distance in terms of height, she saw Joel climbing up with her.

"My damn gun's jammed!" She expressed with a typical anger and annoyance from her.

"You didn't seal your gun in the subway." He assumed.

"You have any plans out of here?" She asked.

"Open elevator door," He pointed out. There was an elevator car that was stuck under the door Joel was pointing at. "It's best I go first."

Ellie arrived at the same level of the exit, which was four stories above the parking lot they left. She could still here the clickers that were trying to get out of the water. She held onto the ladder with her left hand and foot, hanging off the edge as Joel went ahead.

"Are we doing this because I'm fat?" She spoke to calm her down from the water below her.

"What?" He scoffed loudly, his voice vibrating through the metals, "Remember the last time you went first?"

"Oh yeah," She recalled, gripping tightly onto the metal. "Happy memories?"

Joel grunted, hugging onto the wall and walking carefully along the thin concrete that he was able to stand on. Once there was enough space, Ellie followed directly behind him. They didn't bother dropping to the elevator car, as they guessed they were to meet the same fate they had in Pittsburgh. They maintained their path along the edge of the wall, finally reaching the side of the doors.

Joel swung his body with enough momentum to get a hand of an object on the other side of the shaft. He managed to hold onto a branch of a tree that was growing inside of the place they were inside. He then extended his arm over to Ellie, who tried to grab it immediately. The tension on her right foot caused some of the concrete to break. She slipped and lost hold of his hand, falling on top of the elevator car.

"Shit, Ellie!" Joel dropped to the floor and dangled his arm of the elevator door. "Grab my hand, Ellie, c'mon!"

She reacted quickly, getting on her feet and running to Joel. The lift tilted to the right, causing sparks to the counterweight frame. She jumped far enough to catch his arm just before the elevator car fell back down into the parking lot. She hung off Joel's hand, who was grunting desperately to pull her up.

"Joel?!" She worryingly shouted, whimpering as she held on to his hand.

"Ellie, Ellie!" He looked at her and kept on repeating her name, "Don't look down! Just me, alright?!"

She didn't say anything and nodded silently, pain erupting in her face. The discomfort between their hands started to be felt among them, as they slowly slipped away. She grabbed onto the remaining pieces of concrete that was left— just enough to pull her up.

"I'll get you up here on the count of three!" He promised. He began to countdown slowly, letting Ellie get prepared. "Three!"

He pulled her up out of the elevator shaft as the both of them fell to the ground. He was still able to see where they were— an abandoned shopping mall. As always, all of the shops were closed down and barricaded. Ellie also managed to see the mall, which was similar to the one in Boston. The ceiling was also composed of a glass overlay. The shadows of the night were more prominent than ever.

Joel stood up first, scoping the area for any infected. After he realized there were none, he turned to Ellie, "Are you okay?"

"Ye - yeah..." Ellie stuttered, holding her left arm. "We have to keep moving."

"We can rest here and - "

"Joel," Her face became worried and scared, "We have the military and whoever the fuck those 'Masks' are. We'll rest when we can."

Joel sighed, handing her the hunting rifle. "Stay sharp."

Ellie reloaded the weapon, only realizing she had four rounds left. "First we need to find some rounds."

"How many rounds do you have for your pistol?"

She chuckled sarcastically, "We'll find out when we get in a fight."

"C'mon, let's haul ass." He signalled, leading the way.

They wandered through the mall, appreciating the vegetation that was growing inside. There was a large tree in the center of a corner lot which looked magnificent as it grew apples from its branches. The red was highlighted very much by the pale moonlight. There were also rustling being heard inside the stories—like creatures lightly hitting the metal. The two continued their journey despite these occurrences.

Ellie had her bow out, as both her guns were useless at that very moment. Joel kept it simple, a handgun and a shiv were all he needed to survive. Although the surroundings were beautiful, they weren't guaranteed to be safe.

"You hear anything?" She brought up after complete silence between the two.

"It's dead silent here."

"At least there's some positive news." She grunted, lifting her left arm to crack her bone.

The hall led to a large open area in the mall with the glass ceiling torn apart. There were dozens of vines hanging from above long enough to reach the floor. The open area looked big enough to fit an entire concert, something that was musicians did according to Joel. Beside the open area we're multiple stores that were open, but only a bullet away from collapsing on itself. They stayed along the shattered glass railings.

"You see a way out of here?" Ellie said after seeing the entrance being blocked by debris.

"We're going to have to be creative getting out of here." Joel noted, looking back and forth between the shops and the vines.

"I'm not climbing that thing," She brought up.

"Me neither." He rubbed his beard as he shuffled along the railings.

They were also looking for a way to get down to the open area, until eight people poured out of one of the shops. They were all wearing coats while being covered in masks. It seemed like they were getting out of the tunnel and away from the military, as bursts of light appeared behind them. They managed to close down the exit by pushing a few crates to cover the exit.

Ellie and Joel crouched to avoid being spotted. Before planning their next move, they approached towards a way down, which was pillars collapsing the floor they were on. They hesitated going down, as Joel stopped Ellie.

"We still need to find a way out of here." Joel reminded.

She scratched her nose, scouting the area for any potential exits. Across the open field was a half-opened metal shudder. "How about that?"

"Yeah, maybe." Joel breathed heavily, "I'll take the lead?"

"I'll handle it," She smirked, getting the pistol from her back pocket. "Just follow me and stay quiet."

They moved a floor down, the same level as the masked individuals. They were too busy barricading the exit that they didn't notice Joel and Ellie traversing the rubble that was on the floor. They moved swiftly and silently, crouching from cover to cover. When they were polishing the barricade, six of them began to patrol the area.

"Did anyone see where Higgs was going?" One questioned.

"He got out of there quick. Maybe the military caught him." Another hesitatingly responded.

"Sam, give me a hand over here." The masked man individual tying a chain ordered.

Just as they could get under the metal shudder of the store, Ellie accidentally stepped onto a bottle and crushed it. It garnered everyone's attention, even the clickers from the stores. She ran as fast as she could and eventually got beside the target, hiding behind a large piece of rock that fell of the ceiling. Luckily, the 'Masks' could not shoot her.

"Psst, Ellie!" Joel called, who was still far behind.

The militia group moved to the noise, "I think we have some stranglers over here."

Reacting to pure instinct, Ellie got her bow and arrow and prepared it. She waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. For now, they were hidden behind the debris. Their actions were also shielded by the constant clicking of infected coming from the large halls of the mall. But when an individual got too close to Joel, she steadied herself, aiming it perfectly at the head. Before they could spot Joel, she released the arrow, piercing through the man's skull.

"Shit! Contact, over here!" Their companion unloaded an entire clip towards her direction of Ellie.

She stayed behind the cover, as bullets flew pass her. They connected with the rock, releasing dust and gunpowder into the air. Joel was crawling to get to Ellie, also avoiding the gunfire coming their way. The seven masked and armed men found cover and dispersed bullets to them carefully. Between Ellie and Joel was a long gap that needed to be run past before they could leave.

"What now?!" He calmly leaned himself on the cover. "You see anything to distract them?!"

"Clickers?!" Ellie suggested. He agreed by nodding at her. "Any opening?!"

"Over there," He pointed to the shop at the far end of the area, with the constant banging of the metal being heard throughout the mall. "I'll distract them! Just get the shot."

Ellie equipped her hunting rifle and breathed in and out multiple times. To her surprise, Joel waved his hand in stupidity, which was almost shot by three bullets that passed by. When they were distracted, she tilted and aimed at the chain holding the metal shudders together. On the first shot, the projectile collided with it and opened an entire shop entrance.

Suddenly two strange forms of infected came out. Both of them were heavily coated with fungus from the top, with almost none on their legs. It seemed like their balance was off— as they kept on leaning to one side when they moved their head. The 'Masks' seemingly turned their attention to the infected, releasing waves of ammo onto them. When they got close to some of them, the infected released a cloud of toxic from their fungal head, which stopped Ellie; making her stand frozen staring at them.

"Ellie!" Joel pulled her under the metal shudders to safety. She snapped out of it, wiping her face to relieve herself. He made them protected by kicking the only crate that was keeping the shudder from closing. "I lost you for a second."

"What the fuck were those?" She sighed in relief, still in awe in what she saw.

"I haven't seen that before..." He moved to her, "But we need to keep 'movin. They're not 'gonna stop."

"Yeah," She gulped, "Yeah, let's go."

The wall behind them was destroyed by debris from the floor above, but still had a gap that they could fit through. Quickly, they left the mall and back outside on the streets.

Now the night sky was as bright as ever, as a pocket of clouds were slowly passing by. The street was covered with the occasional breeze but still felt quite hot. The buildings they were surrounded by were low-level, which had small alleyways in-between them. They snuck into one to catch a breath.

Ellie decided to wear her denim jacket and glanced at him, "You 'wanna take a break?"

"With the military on our asses?" He shook his head, "At our pace, we'll make it to the hideout by morning. It's still due east."

"Then let's keep on doing this." She shrugged with a reassuring smile, "Endure and survive."

Joel chuckled, "Endure and survive."