THE UNEXPECTED

10

My senses were in overdrive as I ran, Ellie throwing out curses every so often as she panicked. Though, after some time, I tuned it all out and despite being chased by the infected I still couldn't help but worry for Joel. Was he okay? How is he going to find his way back us? My head was spinning.

Glancing over my shoulder briefly, my eyes nearly bulged out of my head; a runner was this close from full throttling Ellie. And though, Henry was closer to the girl than I was, he seemed to pay no mind to us he navigated his way through the sewer which left me. I'd promised Joel that I'd take care of Ellie, so with that in mind, my instincts took over.

Lunging to the side, my eyes narrowed on the infected, calculating my movements as I withdrew a knife from the waistband of my trousers. It all happened so quickly but before I knew it, I'd shoved Ellie out of the way and plunged the small knife into the infected's jugular. Grimacing, I tugged the knife from it's neck and watched as blood poured out and leaked onto my hands.

"Let's keep moving." I utter out, wiping my palms on my thighs before pulling Ellie along with me. Her eyes were wide as she comprehended what exactly just happened.

"Geez...I didn't even see that guy. Thanks." I nod back to her, increasing my pace as the herd of infected begin to gain on us.

"Joel, that's them!" I hear the familiar voice of Sam, and immediately sigh in relief, they were okay. And with more back up, I felt a little more confident that we'd escape.

"Sam!" Henry exhales, grateful that Joel took care of his little brother.

"Thank God," I whispered in relief seeing them intact. I lock eyes with Joel but it was short lived, there was no time for pleasantries as we were soon reminded of the infected hunting us down, their screeches echoed amongst the tunnel horrifyingly.

We managed to shake off the infected momentarily with sharp turns and twists throughout the sewers. Behind a tall shelf under a large exit sign was our door, our way out. But of course, luck wasn't on our side as it seemed blocked from the outside.

Joel, Henry, and I worked together to move it out of the way but nothing budged, "Fuck." I curse in frustration.

"Hurry!" Ellie pressured us, causing me to panic as the sound of the infected neared closer and closer. We were running out of time.

"Go, go, go! Move!" Either Joel or Henry called out, I wasn't sure, as at this point I was so focused on getting out that I tuned out of my surroundings again.

Quickly, we piled through the doorway, back out into civilisation again. The door was immediately slammed shut courtesy of Joel and Henry who'd blocked it by a vending machine.

"Fresh air." Henry breathed out, taking a moment to relax a little. We all did.

Snapping from my trance, I glanced around at where we were. But something caught my eye,

'Warning. Infected inside. Do not open.'

It was painted onto the wall just beside from where we just escaped from. I laugh, once again my gut feeling was right and I only wished there was a warning on the other side to save us all that trouble.

"Oh, are you fucking kidding me? Thanks for the warning on the other side guys." Ellie raises an aggressive middle finger to the wall after catching my gaze at the wall. She voiced my exact thoughts.

"So, where's this tower?" Joel asked, getting straight back to business.

"We're close," Henry reassured, "C'mon, let's go." I hope what he was saying was true, I was still coated in the sickly substance which was blood and I was in dire need of a wash.