Don't Go|Ellie x Reader

5|The Hunters

We were just coming up to the gas station after about an hour and a half of walking. My feet were already tired and feeling a little sore. I spent most of the walk just listening to the world around me. The grass had reclaimed the road and small plants of all kinds were growing through the cracks in the tarmac. The trees were wild and had grown out of control, with no one to trim the branches they were super long now. It was so green and seemed so peaceful, like it had been untouched for centuries. Ellie spent most of the walk talking to Jackson and asking him more questions. He was older than us and had obviously seen what it was like before the quarantine zones were set up and whatnot. He had almost been born before the outbreak, so he was quite unlucky for that. As we neared the gas station I saw Daniel crouch up ahead and signal the 3 of us to do the same. He told us to quiet down as we crept towards the building. I knew this was just a precaution to make sure it was empty and safe first. We were going to rest up on the roof which was accessible by a ladder out the back. We peaked into the building through the windows, making sure to stay low, and saw that it was empty. No hunters, no infected and no spores. It was already picked clean by other looters a very long time ago so no point in scavenging it for supplies.

Once up on the roof, we settled down and each of us started to eat some of the food we'd brought with us, saving some for in case we had to camp out overnight. Me and Ellie were responsible for keeping watch while Daniel and Jackson ate.

"So, do you think this'll be a quick run? Just in and out," Ellie asked, obviously a bit nervous. She'd probably never done runs before as her and Joel had left the quarantine zone and been on the road since. 'I can't imagine what she must've seen out there...'

"I hope so. We've made a few runs to this place in the past. Most times it was empty, but sometimes there were hunters that gave us some trouble and didn't wanna share," I explained. It was no good lying to her to make her feel safer, out here there isn't much that's deemed safe anymore. Everywhere you go there's either assholes or infected, or just nothing. Ghost towns and infected towns are everywhere. All of a sudden, I saw the bushes across the street shake slightly and held my gun up just in case.

"Did you see that?" I asked Ellie.

"See what?"

"The bushes. They moved. Stay sharp," I warned. Ellie then pulled her own pistol out and looked up and down the street.

"Street's clear," She informed me. I nodded back at her in understanding and whispered over to Daniel and Jackson to keep their eyes and ears open just in case. It could either be roaming infected or a group of hunters. Either way, neither option was great, but I'd much prefer other people that can't potentially infect me more so than the possibility of becoming infected if we're not careful. The bushes shook again and then a bullet shot straight beside my head, causing a horrible ringing in my ear. I couldn't hear anything, and my head pounded. I fell flat onto the ground, out of sight of anyone below the building behind the small, raised wall around the edge of the roof. Ellie crouched down and I could see her lips moving but I couldn't hear anything she said. I winced at the pain in my head and decided to speak in hopes I'd be able to tell her.

"We've got company! In the bushes across the street! I can't hear anything, hopefully it'll come back in a minute!" I spoke, not knowing I was actually yelling. She nodded in response and Daniel and Jackson came over and crouched behind the wall. My hearing came back and the ringing in my ears had stopped but the headache seemed to be staying and my head kept pounding. I could finally hear the shouts being shared between Daniel and the hunters.

"We gotchu surrounded! If you surrender, maybe we'll let you live," A voice from below shouted, "We'll spare the girls if you come nicely."

"And why would we surrender to you?" Daniel spat back, "We can take any number of you on!"