The Last of Us Part II

Patrol, Pt. III

ELLIE'S P.O.V.

I continue to call for Dina, silently hoping that Infected are nowhere nearby. My toes and fingers are now numb as well as my face. I clutch Shimmer's reins in my balled fists with anger towards myself.

How did I lose sight of her? How could I have been so careless? What if she dies out here and I was too big of a pussy to tell her how I felt about her? How I've always felt about her? How long I've been wanting for her to kiss me like that at the dance last night. And now, because of me, she could be in trouble out here. How stupid am I? How could I have—

"Ellie!"

My heart leaps into my mouth, "Dina!"

"Ellie!"

I'm not sure if I'm just hearing things, but I follow the sound of her voice and she, along with Japan, appears around a corner of trees.

"Ellie!"

"Oh, thank god!"

My heart settles in my chest and my breathing returns to normal as a giant, strong wave of gratitude flows over me since we found each other again.

Dina turns Japan around and leads the way once again through a pathway of trees, "Come on, this way!"

"Where're we going?"

"Just trust me."

Part of me wants to offer up my sweatshirt to Dina so she can use the hood as cover for her face and ears. They must be long numb by now.

Dina approaches a library as made apparent by the giant lettering on the front of the building. Japan and Dina stop in their tracks at the entrance of two double doors, looking back at me.

"Get inside!"

I guide Shimmer into the building, having to duck down a bit in order for us to get in. I look around the building as my horse halts to a stop. We haven't been ambushed by Infected yet, so that's a good sign. Dina follows in and gets off Japan and runs to the sliding doors to close them before any more cold air blows in. The horses sound relieved, a shared feeling amongst Dina and I. She pulls her hands together and puts them over her mouth, blowing hot hair into her fingertips to warm them.

I turn to her, "You been here before?"

"Rode by it. Never came inside."

"All right," I flick on my flashlight and pull out my pistol. "Let's make sure it's clear."

As you can suspect from a bookstore, the area's filled with bookshelves with disheveled books lying all around. There are even a few computers lining some of the walls. Although it isn't exactly warm in this building, it's better than freezing our asses off in the cold outside. This is an ideal situation we can take advantage of to ride out the storm.

As Dina and I continue to scope out the library, I stumble across a room that sits in the corner of the lobby. I peer into the window of the door that leads into it, already spotting a few supplies that could be useful moving forward. I jiggle the doorknob and it doesn't falter.

"Shit," I mutter, looking into the room again. "I gotta see what's back there."

I back up and notice the two large windows that surround each side of the door. I find my switchblade in my pocket and use its handle to break the window, giving us access to the room. Carefully, I jump through the window frame and land softly on the soles of my feet.

I observe a shitton of parts and gadgets lying around. This looks to be an old workshop of some kind, a place where somebody could tinker and invent shit. An industrial tool box stands next to a few workbenches. Not only that, but there are DVD players lying around, air conditioners, and other random items that are torn apart and missing pieces and buttons.