A WHILE after searching the tunnels, the group came across a door with colourful drawings painted all around the entrance. Jane shone her flashlight at the pictures of flowers and rainbows, her face softening in admiration. Joel opened the door, as the group followed him in to what seemed like a nursery for children.

The room was rundown but seemed cared for in its past. The paintings on the wall had been chipped off overtime, though the colours and brightness still lit up the room. Jane immediately rushed towards the crayons left on the table, sitting down on the kids chairs.

"I heard about places like this." Joel informed, "People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements."

"What happened to them?" Ellie questioned curiously.

Joel remarked, "They didn't follow the rules and all got infected."

Sam sat next to Jane, pulling out a comic from underneath the table. Jane signed, "I love those."

"No way!" Ellie exclaimed excitedly, as she motioned for his clipboard to write on. She spoke what she was writing, "I have issues 4,5,6,11."

Sam wrote, 'I have 5,6,8.'

Jane spoke as she signed, so they could both understand, "I have 5 and 7."

"Endure and survive." Ellie spoke, as Sam taught her the sign, "Fuck yeah, man!"

After the kids played a round of football, the group decided to leave the tunnels. The five arrived on the other side of the tunnels, as they walked through an empty neighbourhood.

Sam signed, "Why can't we use our flashlights?" 

"He says so we don't draw attention." Henry replied.

"But no one's here?" Sam questioned.

"I know, nobody is here." Henry replied sarcastically, "And no one's gonna be here because my plan worked."

Joel scoffed, "So much goddamn talking."

"I'm just saying... I deliver." Henry chuckled, "Make this right, go down the street, embankment behind the last house... and we're out."

"So, we cross the river and then what?" Ellie questioned, "Where do we go?"

Henry replied, "I don't know yet."

"We're going to Wyoming." Jane added, as Joel looked at her frustratedly. Jane defended, "What? It's a huge state. It can fit two more people. We can be one big happy family."

Henry hesitated, "Maybe we just call this one a success and say our fond farewells."

"No, he'll change his mind. This is how it goes, he's like..." Ellie mocked his voice, "No, Ellie, never. No. And I'm like, I'm gonna ask you a million more times, and he's like-"

Suddenly, a bullet echoed through the air as a car window smashed right next to them. Jane ducked down, immediately pulling Ellie down with her, as Joel guided them behind a car.

"What do we do?" Henry panicked, "Who was that?"

Joel put his pistol in his pocket, "Stay here. If you don't move, he's not gonna hit you. Im gonna go around, try and get in round the back. Then I'll take him out."

Ellie questioned, "What?"

"No, no, no." Jane worried, as she held Joel's jacket sleeves, "He's gonna kill you-"

"He's not gonna kill me." Joel reassured sternly, "It's dark and he has shit aim."

"Joel, please." Jane pleaded, "I can't-"

"Do you trust me?" Joel interrupted, as Jane nodded. He reassured, "Stay with Ellie."

As Joel walked away cautiously, Ellie wrapped an arm around Jane's shoulders. With her other hand, she held her hand tightly, squeezing it to reassure the girl even though Ellie was worried herself.

After a while of waiting, a distant shout echoed from the distance, "Run!" The group stood up in confusion, as they peered over the car they were hiding behind. The voice became clearer to the group, as they heard Joel yell again, "Run!"

Suddenly, a revving engine rumbled from the distance, as a massive vehicle started clearing the way of cars, whilst other vehicles followed behind. The bright lights from the vehicle beamed on Jane's face, blinding her as she placed an arm in-front of her face to shield it.

Henry grabbed his brother's hand, before yelling, "Go! Go, go, go!"

Jane grabbed Ellie's hand, before sprinting as fast as she could. Ellie grabbed the gun from her pocket with her right hand, before turning around and trying to shoot at the vehicle. The vehicle towered over the two girls lacking behind the two boys, chasing after them as Jane let out a yell. She felt her stitched-up wound rip, as she held her stomach with her free hand. Jane rolled on the floor, stumbling over in pain as she tried to get back up to her feet.

"Shit! Come on, J!" Ellie panicked, trying to pull her up by her arms. Another one of Joel's bullets flew down from the house window, this time smacking straight through the windscreen, causing the vehicle to loose its balance and drive into a building. Ellie took this as an opportunity to help Jane stand up, "Come on! Quick."

Jane winced, as she stood up, the adrenaline rushing through her body taking away most of the pain. Suddenly, the two girls both collapsed to the floor as the vehicle exploded due to the flammable petrol leak. Unexpectedly, Ellie was grabbed to her feet by Henry, before he pulled Jane to her feet, rushing the two girl's behind a car to meet with Sam.

Henry sat down behind the car, checking if the girl's were okay, however Jane couldn't hear his voice. It sounded muffled... distant, like she was underwater and he was above the surface. Jane frowned at his lips which moved quickly though she couldn't hear what he was saying.

Ellie shook her arm, repeating her name over and over. Jane's arm raised to the side of her head, brushing through her thick brown curls, before realising her hearing aid was missing. Her eyes widened in panic, her chest tightening in fear.

Henry picked up on this, before signing, "Hey, hey, hey. Look at me. It's okay."

Jane whispered the words she was signing, "No, it's not. I've lost it. I need to find it!"

The girl attempted to stand up, though Henry pulled her back down. He signed quickly, "No! Stay here. We can't move or they'll see us. Kathleen will see us."

Ellie's fingers interlocked into Jane's hand, reassuring her that everything would be okay. Jane tried to lipread though the girl was panicking just as much as she was. Ellie's posture straightened, as Jane figured that Kathleen was close...

"Dead end, Henry." She spoke loudly, as her armed men searched around the cars, "Gonna step on out? Save us some time? No? That's alright, doesn't matter."

Henry blurted out, "I'll come out! Just let the kids go!"

"No, sorry," Kathleen replied smugly, "The girls are with the man who killed Bryan. And Sam, well, Sam's with you."

"You don't understand!" Henry shouted, his body practically shaking behind the car in fear.

"But I do!" Kathleen retorted, "I understand why you did what you did. But did you ever stop to think that maybe he was suppose to die?"

"He's just a fucking kid!" Henry shouted, his voice hoarse and clearly holding back tears he didn't want to shed.

"Well, kids die, Henry." Kathleen replied, sarcasm laced through her voice, "You think the whole word revolves around him? That he's worth... everything? Well, this is what happens when you fuck with fate."

Henry turned to the girls, signing and whispering at the same time, "I want you to take him and run... Yes. Do it."

Jane's eyes widened in panic, as Ellie grabbed Sam's hand tightly. Henry hesitated, exhaling nervously before standing up with his hands in the air. Sam tried to follow him, though Jane pulled him back down.

Kathleen shrugged, "It ends the way it ends."

The women pulled out a pistol, aiming it at Henry as he stood ready to sacrifice himself for his brother. Suddenly, a rumble came from beneath the ground, as a sinkhole was created within the dirt. Kathleen turned around, lowering her gun as she watched the cars around that area sink into the ground, swallowing them whole. Kathleen's men pointed their guns at the hole, as snarling echoed from the depths of the earth.

Ellie bent down, looking underneath the car they were all hiding behind, noticing the sinkhole that had been created. The snarling became louder, as Jane tapped her shoulder and whispered, "What's happening?"

"We need to go." Ellie panicked quickly, as Jane squinted at her mouth, "We need to fucking go... there's-"

"Ellie!" Jane whispered, as she placed her hands on her shoulders. Jane moved one of her hands towards her mouth, pointing at her lips, "Enunciate... remember?"

Ellie exhaled nervously, as she slowly mouthed, "There... are... infected."

Jane's eyes widened, as she knelt towards Sam, grabbing his attention. She signed quickly, "Sam, we have to go. Now."

Sam frowned, "What about-"

"There's no time." Jane signed quickly, "There are infected here. It's too dangerous-"

Suddenly, Jane was grabbing by the shoulders, as Ellie rushed to her feet. Jane grabbed Sam's hand, as they all watched the hundreds of infected coming up from the crumbling hole. They screeched loudly, as Henry rushed back to the kids, grabbing his brother protectively.

As Kathleen's men shot multiple bullets into the infected, the four started sprinting towards the house that Joel was inside of. Joel shot the clickers from up above, protecting his girls from being ripped to shreds. As Jane sprinted in front of Ellie, she noticed her hearing aid on the floor within the leaves. She stopped running, before crawling over to her hearing aids. Suddenly, an infected jumped onto the girl, as she screamed loudly, trying o push it away. Ellie pointed the gun at the infected, too scared to pull the trigger just in case she shot the wrong target.

Unexpectedly, the infected's face exploded onto Jane, as she pushed off its limp body from hers. She panted heavily, squeezing her hearing aid tightly in her hand as she looked up at the house window- noticing Joel holding his gun shakily.

Jane snapped back into reality, as she planted her hearing aid back onto her head, before Ellie pulled her to her feet. Ellie shouted, "The window! Quick!"

The two girls sprinted towards the car window, Ellie boosting Jane inside as the girl winced. She felt her stomach wound rip open again. Once Jane helped Ellie climb in through the window from inside, the two girls rushed towards the front of the vehicle, climbing over the leather seats quickly.

Jane looked out of the car window, her brown eyes reflecting the flames of fire flickering all around them. The sound of Joel's bullets bounced off the vehicle, as he tried to shoot the infected that surrounded the area. A familiar snarled clicked behind the two girls, as they quickly turned around. A small girl had been infected, as she climbed into the car window. She screeched, as her head opened up before heading towards the girls.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" Jane raised her voice, as she pulled on the door handle to try and escape. Using all of her strength, Jane shoved the car door open as she smacked into the door with her shoulder. She stumbled out of the car, quickly shutting the door behind Ellie, leaving the monster inside.

"Get the fuck off of me!" A familiar voice yelled, as the girls' gaze travelled to underneath a car. A gathering of infected tried to crawl underneath, though they were kicked away by Henry and Sam. As Joel protected them from above, the girls used their weapons to fight off the infected surrounding the boys. Jane grabbed Sam's hand, dragging him towards the house which Joel was inside of, followed by Henry and Ellie.

Kathleen stopped them, aiming a gun at Henry, "Stop!"

Jane's eyes traveled to the clicker which was inside the vehicle with them, as it approached Kathleen from behind. Suddenly, the clicker jumped on Kathleen, as the group watched it tear her skin apart. Jane's eyes widened, as the screams of Kathleen echoed.

Joel rushed out of the house, aiming his gun at the clicker and pushing the group behind him. He yelled, "Move! Go, now!"

The five arrived back at an old house within the countryside, free of clickers and infected. Jane had collapsed onto the floor, as blood poured out from her ripped wound. Joel had started sewing up Jane's stomach, as she held onto Ellie's hand tightly. The girl refused to leave Jane's side from the minute she rested on the floor.

However, after hours of being sewed up, Jane had fallen asleep onto Joel. Ellie had no choice but to sleep in a room with Sam, as the adults heard the distant mumbling of the two kids.

Joel had invited Henry to join them in their travels to Wyoming, starting the next morning. The morning came around quick, due to the lack of curtains in the small cabin so the sunlight beamed inside. The heat warmed up the rooms, as Jane's eyes shot open at a scream.

Suddenly, the door flew open as Ellie ran into the room. Sam chased after her, jumping on her back and pulling her down. Jane's face dropped, as she grabbed her bat from beside her, ignoring the tight aching from her stomach. Joel didn't hesitate to pick up the gun from beside him, though Henry got there first.

Henry stood up quickly, aiming the gun at Joel and Jane, "Nope. Nope, nope." He pulled the trigger, the bullet smacking the carpet- just a few inches away from Jane's foot. She stepped back, though held her bag tightly.

Ellie let out a scream, "Jane! Joel!"

Unexpectedly, Henry looked at his brother, before quickly pointing the gun at him. He pulled the trigger. Sam's body collapsed to the floor, as crimson red blood poured from his head. Jane let out a shaky breath, as tears swelled in her eyes.

Joel panted, "Ellie. Are you okay?"

The girl turned to face him, her eyes flickering in-between Joel and Jane. Ellie's eyes filled with tears, as she sat in shock, refusing to look at the boy on the ground.

Henry quickly aimed his gun at Joel, as the man placed his hands in front of him. Joel reassured, "Easy. Easy. Easy. Henry, give me the gun."

Henry spluttered, "What did I do? What-What did I do?"

Joel slowly guided Jane behind him, standing protectively in front of the girl. He slowly approached Henry, "Give me the gun. Give me the gun, Henry."

"Sam?" Henry cried, as he raised his shaking hand towards his head. He aimed the gun at his forehead, pulling the trigger.

Joel shouted, "Henry, no!"

A deafening silence came upon the three left standing, as Henry's body collapsed to the floor. Ellie let out a weak scream, tears running down her cheeks. Jane's eyes widened, her breathing increasing as she stared in shock at the young man's body. She no longer recognised his face, which was smeared in blood.

"Oh, God." Joel whispered shakily, as he pushed Jane behind him even more. He insisted, though it was too late, "Don't look. Don't look!"

Jane turned around quickly, though the image stayed in her mind. She rushed over to Ellie, helping her to her feet as she held her hand tightly. Jane lead the girl outside, before Ellie sobbed into her shoulder loudly. Jane reassured the girl, stroking her head as she cried, as she tried comforting Ellie.

After a moment, Joel carried the bodies outside, the young girls helping him dig graves for the two boys. Jane was the first to stop, due to her wound tightening again. Before walking away, Ellie placed a paper note on Sam's grave reading 'I'm sorry' as Jane looked at the girl sympathetically.

Ellie turned around from a distance, as she stopped walking away, "Let's go."

Joel nodded, placing down his shovel as Jane placed a few flowers on their graves. Joel ruffled her hair, guiding her away as they walked towards Ellie.