𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞

- CHAPTER TEN -
CUT TO THE CHASE

EVERYTHING WENT TO shit pretty quickly. Kathy and Ellie watched helplessly as Joel was dragged across the floor until he was hanging upside down in the air. The smuggler was held up by a fridge that acted as a counter weight that kept him suspended a few feet off the ground. It must have been one of Bill's traps.

Kathy ran forward and grabbed onto Joel's arms to stop him from swinging as Ellie went over to inspect the fridge, "I got you."

"Goddammit Bill.." Joel cursed at the trap, clutching onto Kathy's shoulders. He could feel his blood rushing to his head already and it wasn't pleasant.

"So...How's it hangin'?" Kathy couldn't help but be amused at Joel's predicament. She would've thought that he would be more cautious opening doors, but apparently not and now he was hanging like a piñata. She gave him a smile which received a glare from him before she looked over her shoulder at her niece, "Ellie, find a way to cut the rope around the fridge. It looks like it's a counter weight."

"On it!" Ellie nodded, climbing on top of the fridge.

The noise of the situation must of been pretty loud because it wasn't long until the infected showed up, clashing against the fences surrounding the ancient warehouse they were in. Joel and Kathy whipped out their guns, preparing for a fight.

"Shit, here they come!"

Runners came filtering in one by one, running straight past Ellie on top of the fridge and towards the two adults. Bullets after bullets were fired and countless bodies dropped to the floor as Kathy and Joel worked together to stay alive. Kathy had to give it to Joel, the man was a great shot even when he was upside down.

"Ellie, how's it looking!?" Kathy shouted as she reloaded, only to be tackled by a runner.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

The brunette struggled under the weight of her attacker, using all her strength to keep the zombie from biting a chunk out of her neck. Joel saw this and aimed his pistol, the bullet hitting the runner straight through the brain. It fell limp on top of her and she pushed it off with disgust, nodding over at Joel with thanks. She then ran over to help Ellie who was hacking away at the rope with her small knife.

"Any time, Ellie."

"Hold on!" The girl grunted as she did something that ended up knocking over the fridge and lifting Joel even higher. "Fuck!"

"You alright, kiddo?" Kathy gasped helping her up.

"Yeah." Ellie breathed and then threw some ammo at Joel who caught it with one hand, "Here's some ammo."

"Thanks."

Eventually, after many close calls and gunshots, Ellie managed to cut the rope and Joel fell to the floor. As he was getting up, he was jumped by a runner.

"Joel, watch out!"

Kathy would of ran over to help, but she too was fighting off an infected. She managed to kick it away from her and shoot it in the head, and then she made a move to help her friend but there was no need. A masked figure stood over Joel and cut off the infected's head with a machete.

The masked man then helped Joel up, "Get off your ass and on your feet."

As soon as everyone was up, they sprinted out of the warehouse, away from the infected that were chasing them. The man stayed at the back and cut a chain that shut the door behind them.

"Alright. This way. Keep up." The man led through a large alley that had barbed wire and cars blocking off different directions. Even though he had shut the door, the infected were now climbing over the cars to get to them. "Ah, goddammit. Back! Get back!"

"Which way?!" Joel shouted, looking around frantically.

"Alright - we'll uh...We'll cut through. C'mon, here!" He guided them back around, past the door they had came through and towards a metal door at the end of the alley. The man searched hs pockets by the door, "Where's the Goddamn key?"

"Guys - behind us!" Ellie warned, noticing the zombies sprinting around the corner.

"They're coming!" Kathy exclaimed, firing off a few rounds at the ones who got too close.

"Bill, come on!"

Bill, as it was now revealed, finally managed to open the door just in time and they ran inside, slamming the door behind them. They were in a laundromat and Kathy took this second of quiet to reload.

"Don't slow down. This place ain't secure." Bill scolded, ushering her along.

"Bill, they're coming through the door!" Joel announced, throwing a molotov at the open entrance they needed to escape through.

"Fuckin' knew it. Take 'em out. That's our only way through."

"Ellie stay behind me." Kathy said, throwing a molotov of her own at a Clicker that had just entered.

"Alright. Come on - we're almost there. Follow me." Bill spoke up after the excitement died down a little. The entrance led outside to the back of a truck. "Come on! They're gettin' through! Keep going. This way - through the truck."

"Move, Ellie, move!" Joel urged from the back of the group as they climbed through the truck. Once out they ran towards the open door in front of them that Bill was stood by.

"It's open - c'mon!"

As soon as Kathy, Ellie and Joel ran into the safety of the diner behind the door, Bill bolted it shut while he and Joel pushed against it to keep it closed.

Ellie paced from beside her aunt, "Man, that was close. Uh, thanks for the heroics and all." Bill walked over to them intimidatingly and ripped his mask off his face, saying nothing as the girl held out her hand in greeting. "Uh, Ellie."

Bill made a move that looked like he was going to shake her hand, but then he handcuffed Ellie to the pipe on the wall behind her. "Hey, what are you - Joel! Let me go!"

Kathy glared at the stranger and tried to push him off her niece, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Get off her!"

"Bill!" Joel shouted in protest, only to hold up his hands when the man pulled a gun on Kathy.

"Turn around and get on your knees." Bill demanded, motioning with his gun for Kathy to move over by Joel. Ellie was still struggling to get off the pipe.

"Let's just calm down a second."

"Turn around and get on your knees!" Bill repeated more aggressively.

"Alright!" Joel gave in, and he and Kathy turned around. Bill kicked their legs out and they fell to their knees.

"Fucker." Kathy groaned, she was sure she'd get bruises from that.

"Don't test me." Bill warned as he checked Joel over first.

"Just take it easy."

"You got any bites?"

"No."

"Anything sprouting?"

"No, goddammit we're clean!"

"If I see so much as a twitch -" Bill was cut off by Ellie getting free and slamming a pipe down on his wrist. "Ow! Son of a bitch!"

Kathy stood back up quickly and stopped Ellie from taking another swing, "Ellie, stop!"

Joel turned to Bill who was clutching his arm in pain, "Are you done?"

"Am I done?" Bill reiterated in disbelief, "You come into my house, you set off all my traps, you damn near break my shooting' arm. Who the fuck are these punks and what're they doing here?"

"We are none of your goddamn business, and we're here because you owe Joel some favours. And you can start by taking these off." Ellie argued, stalking towards the man determinedly.

"I owe Joel some favours, is this some kind of joke?" Bill scoffed.

"I'll cut to the chase. I need a car." Joel said.

"Well, it is a joke. Joel needs a car. Well, if I had one that works, which I sure as hell don't, what makes you think I'd just give it to you? Huh? Yeah, sure Joel, go ahead, take my car. Take all my food too while you're at it."

"By the looks of it, you could lose some of that food." Ellie retorted.

"Ooo, burn." Kathy chuckled quietly and then cleared her throat, "Although, seriously not helping, Ellie."

Bill stopped sharpening his machete and pointed it at the teen, "You listen to me, you little shit -"

"No, fuck you. You handcuffed me -"

Joel pulled Ellie away, "I need you to shut up. Alright?"He then walked back over to Bill and Kathy. It was time for the adult conversation now.

"Whatever favours you think I owe ya, it ain't worth that much." Bill told him.

"Actually, Bill, they are."

"Well, it don't matter 'cause I don't have a car that works."

"But there is one in this town."

"Parts." Bill corrected, "There are parts in this town."

"Meaning that you could fix one up."

"Alright." Bill sighed, swiping some bits and bobs off of the table to reveal a map of the town, "If I'm gonna do this, there's some gear I'm gonna need. It's on the other side of town. Now you help me go gather it, and maybe I can put something together that runs. But after this, I owe you nothin'."

Joel picked up the keys that Bill had just slammed on the table, "That's fine." He then used them to uncuff Ellie, "Couple days from now we'll probably be dead anyway."

"Good. Follow me." Bill said, "Whole goddamn town's booby trapped, best stay right on my ass."

"Can't miss it." Ellie mused.

"Ellie." Kathy scolded, but it was obvious that she found it pretty funny by the small smile on her face.

Joel glared at the two, "Knock it off."

❝IT'S NO SURPRISE TO ME, I AM MY OWN WORST ENEMY❞