The Beginning Of Us

6.

Joel fast asleep on the couch and Ellie sitting in the chair, Quinn restored to falling asleep leaning back against the couch.

She shifts in her sleep slightly, currently having a nightmare. She opens her eyes slowly and looks over at Ellie.

"You mumble in your sleep.." Ellie says softly, not looking away from the window where rain can be seen pouring down. "I hate bad dreams.."

"Yeah me too.." Quinn stands up and walks over, sitting on the arm of the chair next to Ellie. She smiles softly at Ellie's awed expression at the outside.

Joel groans and sits up, since he was old.

"You know I've never been this close.." Ellie mumbles as Joel walks over to the chair. "To the outside. Look how dark it is." Joel turns on a lantern.

"Can't be any worse out there..Can it?"

"What the hell do the Fireflies want with you." He asks with the same stern expression from earlier. Tess, Parker, and Vivian walk through the door and Quinn jumps up and hugs Vivian and Parker tightly.

"Hey. Sorry it took so long, Soldiers are fucking everywhere." Tess walks over to Joel as does Parker. Parker smiles at Joel and he returns the smile.

"We saw the merchandise. It's a lot." Tess breathes out, a smile on her face.

"Let's go do this." They all walk out of the room and Tess moves a bookshelf out of the way. They all climb onto the elevator and Joel starts the generator. He gets on and presses the down button.

"Who's waiting for us at the drop off?"

"She said there's some Fireflies that are waiting for us. They'd come all the way from a different city." Parker says, walking over and sneakily grabbing on Joel's hand. "Girl must be important."

"How long is this all gonna take?" Ellie asks impatiently.

"A few hours if everything goes to plan." They crawl through a small space and Joel climbs up a ladder to check if the coast is clear.

"Hold up there's a patrol up ahead." They all wait a few seconds before climbing up. They run through the rain, their clothes and bags getting soaked.

As soon as they climb through a truck Joel gets smacked in the back of a head with a gun making him fall to the ground. The soldiers make all of them kneel on the ground.

Ellie whips around and stabs one of the guys in the legs, Quinn pulling out her gun and shooting the guys before they can do anything.

Joel grabs the small device off the ground and his eyes widen.

"Jesus christ..did Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?" He asks slightly panicked, showing them the device.

"I'm not infected! Let me explain!" Ellie blurts out. Quinn points her gun at the girl and looks over at Tess.

"You better explain fast." Tess mumbes. Ellie quickly pulls up her sleeve and shows them a bite mark.

"Look at this!"

"I don't care how you got infected."

"It's three weeks old!" Ellie practically shouts, fear filling her eyes.

"Everyone turns in two days, so stop bullshitting." Quinn says, taking a step forward with her gun.

"It's three weeks I swear! Why would she set you up?" Joel turns to see a truck coming towards him.

"Tess. Run. RUN!" The group runs and slides down into the sewers.

"When I give the signal run."

"Signal. Run. Got it."

"Go!" They run and hide behind a car. Quinn grabs out her gun and vaults over a large pipe for the group of them runs into a sewer tunnel. They exit to be met with lots of soldiers.

"Follow Joel," The group notices a slight panic to Tess's voice, which is not normal. They quickly run through the underground and jump up into a building.

"Keep searching!" They hear someone yell.

They sneak past the guys and up a staircase, quickly dropping down into a broken down building. Quinn and Vivian rush over and open a large garage door, Parker and Joel holding the door open for them to climb through as well.

"Get down," Joel mumbles and they sneak into a building, a guy with a rifle scanning the grounds.

"Oh shit, they're in here with us." Joel throws a brick at one of the guys and it hits him in the head, the guy falling over. Quinn gives Vivian a knife and the two kids manage to take out three guys and Parker and Joel take out the rest, Tess staying behind and protecting Ellie.

"Through the truck, stay quiet." Tess says, leading them through a truck. They get out and make a dash for the sewers.

"Flashlights on everybody." Joel whisper-yells as they crawl through a tunnel. They climb quickly up a staircase and into a large room.

"I think we can squeeze through here.." They walk through a small hole in the wall and walk along the wall past the soldiers.

They run quickly into a dark part of the sewers, all of them praying to god there's no clickers nearby.

"Take a moment to catch your breath." Quinn and Parker go around the room and take anything of use. Quinn hands Ellie another knife with a soft smile. They walk out and through another large pipe, Tess advising them to stay close. A car rumbles above the sewage grates above the, amd they quietly walk through the waist deep water and out a gate on the other side.

"Alright, they're gone." Joel breathes out, all of them very out of breath.

"Look- what was the plan?" Tess crouches next to Ellie, "Let's say we deliver you to the Fireflies. What then?"

"Marlene..She said that they have their own quarantine zone..with doctors that are still trying to find a cure." Quinn gives Parker a look and he puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, Pulling her aside and making sure she and Vivian are okay whilst Joel and Tess talk to Ellie.

"Yeah, we've heard that before Tess." Joel growls in his stern voice.

"And she said that..whatever happened to me is the key to finding the vaccine." Ellie adds in.

"Jesus christ." Joel sighs and turns away.

"That's what she said!"

"Oh I'm sure she did."

"Hey fuck you man I didn't ask for this!" Ellie yells, standing up and walking towards Joel.

"Me neither. Tess, the hell are we doing here."

"What if it's true."

"I can't believe-"

"What if, Joel. We've come this far let's just finish it." Joel pulls Tess away from the others.

"Do I need to remind you what is out there?" Tess glares at him and then looks back at Ellie.

"I get it," She turns and walks away from him, Joel giving Ellie a stern look. He stands there for a second before following after the others, all of them having followed after Tess.