JANE DIDN'T sleep that night. She couldn't bring herself to shut her eyes without seeing glimpses of Joel hitting the soldier to death. Jane was also thinking of Ellie, who had seemed to be on her mind a-lot since they met, and how she could've possibly survived the bite. The four camped in a abandoned building within the City where Tess, Joel, and Jane all sat a few meters away from Ellie- who was sleeping peacefully on the floor. Jane sat on the hard floor next to Tess and Joel- who were on old chairs.

Joel adjusted his rifle to point at the young girl, as she slowly sat up from her seat. Confusion filled her features as she saw them, "Morning?" She paused, noticing the tension, "Do I look infected?"

"Show us your arm." Joel insisted, and the girl did so. Jane squinted to make out the scarring on her delicate skin, she found it scarily fascinating.

Jane chuckled slightly, "Cool."

Tess questioned, "What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?"

"I'm not infected." Ellie corrected, "She found me after I was bitten."

Joel frowned, "She didn't shoot you?"

"Clearly not." Ellie shot back sarcastically, "She had her guys lock me up and test me everyday to see if I was getting sick."

"Test you, how?" Tess questioned.

Ellie deadpanned, "I have to pee."

"Test you, how?"  The women repeatedly sternly.

"They'd make me count to ten, hold out my hand, and keep it steady, but do you know what I think really impressed them was the fact that I didn't turn into a fucking monster." Ellie explained, as she stood up, "Can I go now?"

Tess nodded, "Find a spot out the back."

Jane picked up a magazine she had been reading all night, she stood up before chucking it to Ellie, "Here. You can tear out a few pages."

"Thanks." Ellie replied, as she walked into the back room, "Is there anything bad in here?"

"Just you." Jane replied sarcastically.

Ellie matched her tone, "Funny."

Jane's eyes watched Ellie exit the room, then she turned to Joel, who was looking at his shaking hand. She knelt on her knees, and looked at his hand, "Shit, that's broken."

"It's probably a hairline." Joel replied, "It'll heal fast."

Tess sighed, before blurting out, "She made it through the fucking night, Joel."

"It doesn't matter. It's gonna happen sooner or later." Joel interrupted, "We're near the Wall. We can just sneak her back into the QZ and find a different way to get the battery."

"This is the only chance we've got." Tess reminded, "If we take her back to the QZ, someone will notice her arm and scan her. Then they'll kill her."

"Better them then us." Joel whisper-yelled, "You gotta stop talking about this kid like she's got a life in front of her."

Jane shook her head, "She looks normal to me. It's been three weeks, Joel, nobody lasts that long."

Jane and Tess convinced Joel to let Ellie stay, though very deep down they all knew that the man wouldn't just abandoned a young girl. They walked through the City, Jane and Ellie following Tess and Joel like lost puppies. They both admired the City, despite it's collapsing buildings.

Ellie frowned, as she shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, "Where the fuck are the Clickers?"

"You'll know it when they're close." Tess explained.

"I didn't know last time." Ellie replied, as Jane glanced at the girl sympathetically.

Jane questioned curiously, "How did you get bit in the first place?"

"Do you know the old Mall back in the QZ?" Ellie explained, "I snuck in. I wanted to see what it was like. I didn't think there was gonna be any in there, then one just came at me out of nowhere."

"The Mall that's boarded up and nobody is supposed to go inside. Ever. That Mall?" Jane questioned sarcastically, "Did you go alone?"

Ellie hesitated, "Yeah."

"How old are you?" Tess questioned Ellie curiously.

"14."

"Wow." Tess chuckled slightly, "You got some balls on you, sister." She paused, "Nobody's gonna be coming after you right? Like, mom, dad...boyfriend?"

"I'm an orphan and... no." Ellie replied, "You know, people said that there were swarms of infected running around here."

"Not exactly like that." Joel replied, "People like to tell stories."

Ellie questioned, "So there aren't Super-Infected who spray fungus spores on you?"

"Shit, I hope not." Tess chuckled slightly.

"Or ones with split-open heads who see in the dark like bats?" Ellie questioned curiously, as the two adults turned to look at each other. Jane heard the stories too, people spoke about the terrifying experiences with Infected- it scared Jane to death.

Suddenly a screech came from the distance, echoing through the silence. Jane flinched, her eyes widening as her eyes darted around her surroundings quickly. Her brain went into panic mode, and all she could think about was how the fuck am I going to defend myself? She looked at Joel worriedly, her hands gripping onto the bat that was dragging on the floor.

"It's okay, kid." Joel reassured, though his features were riddled with doubt, "It sounds closer than it is."

"What was that?" Ellie asked worriedly, yet a look of fascination filled her face. Jane found it rather cool how brave Ellie seemed, but she figured it was just an act; underneath the cool was a terrified girl.

The four arrived at an abandoned hotel, which was filled with murky water and overgrown vines. This was their shortcut. Unsure about this route, Jane stayed at the back of the group with Joel- whilst Ellie and Tess lead the way. Joel knew Jane was afraid, he had this power to sense whenever the girl was worried, that was the joys of raising Jane.

Joel took the lead, walking down the staircase into the water. Jane hesitated before following Joel, she felt safe around him. Ellie raised her eyebrows,
"We're going in there?"

"We have to get to the stairwell to the other side." Tess explained, as the remaining two made their way into the cold water.

"Holy shit." Jane chuckled slightly, as she ran through the water towards the counter, "I've always wanted one of these bells." She rang the bell on the desk a few times, before Ellie made her way over.

Ellie moved to the opposite side of the counter, before clearing her throat and imitating a posh voice, "Hello, young lady, what can I get for you on this fine morning?"

Jane grinned, before going along with the act, "Yes, I would like your finest suit, please. Oh, with three bathrooms, four bedrooms and one of those flat screen TVs."

"Of course, ma'am." Ellie replied, pretending to type on a computer, "That'd be 200 million dollars in cash."

"Oh, and take my luggage... it's been paining my back all day." Jane tried to stay in character, but she bursted into fits of giggles.

"Right away, ma'am." Ellie nodded, before pushing an empty luggage troller in the water.

Joel tried to hide his smirk, "You're some weird kids."

"You're a weird kid." Ellie retorted. Unexpectedly, the two girls screamed as a skeleton fell from behind the trolly. Ellie put one hand to her chest, "Fuck!"

Joel rushed towards them, slowly raising his foot to push the skeleton head with his shoe. He lowered his rifle, before looking between the girls.
Jane took a deep breath, before looking down at her hand which was gripping onto Ellie's tightly. Jane let go after Ellie noticed.

"Are you okay?" Tess called out from the stairwell, "What happened?"

Jane pushed her away through the water, "Just a skeleton. We're fine."

"Fucking fabulous." Ellie added, as she followed behind with Joel.