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ELLIE'S SWEATY HANDS swivelled the doorknob around in its totality, gradually pushing open the creaky door open with a heavy heart. She anxiously plunged herself out of the house and tiptoed to the fence that separated the front and back garden of the small house. As she approached the fence, she delicately outstretched her hand in an effort to push open the gate, only the yanked to the ground by an exceptionally rough force.
A large hand muffled her attempts to scream, until the force swivelled her around, revealing it to be Luke, whose bloodshot eyes met hers. She shoved his hand from her mouth, and pushed him, "What the hell was that about?"
"You were literally about to walk into a death trap!" Luke whispered, although his strenuous tone indicated he had been irritated, "I had to climb over what felt, like, fifty garden fences just to escape!"
Ellie rolled her eyes, and leaned her head back against the bumpy wall, "Oh, the world's ending. It's my fault, remember? I knew I should never have raised Coda!"
He shook his head at his sister and shoved her further towards the door, "Stop, this is serious, Ellie. Pack some shit; food, clothes, anything sharp, or blunt enough to hurt someone. Meet me back at the car when you're done. Five minutes, no later."
"Luke—"
"I mean it, Eleanor," Luke snapped, and yanked out his gun from its holster. He held the gun with ease, and yet his hands had been undoubtedly trembling with fear, "Ellie, this isn't a game."
"I don't understand," Ellie whimpered, her sapphire eyes slowly pooling with tears as she trailed her eyes from her brother to the stumbling bodied nearby.
Luke let out a sigh, and reassuringly curled his hand around his sister's, "I don't get it, either. Things are... different."
"Are we going to die?"
He clenched his jaw. It was the only thing he could to do keep the scream buried deep in his throat. He wanted desperately to promise her she'd be safe, but he felt weaker than he ever had before. He trailed his eyes over to the massacred bodies before them, and let out a shaky breath, before turning to meet his sister's painfully innocent glare.
How could he begin to explain the monstrosities he'd witnessed if he couldn't even explain it to himself? Luke might have been a police officer, but he was certainly not brave. Or at least he didn't think he was. Until the moment came, and the fear of losing Ellie became overwhelmingly clear to him. He had to be brave for both Ellie and Coda, there was no other way. He was the only person who could rescue them, and there wasn't a single thing he wouldn't do to ensure their safety was guaranteed.
"Ellie," he began, his own eyes beginning to pool slightly at the thought of not making it, "I promise you, I'll get us out of here. Just, please, go and get the supplies."
