Your hands buried in his short hair, you pressed into his lips and closed your eyes.

His arms wrapped around your waist.

The door to the bathroom burst open and the young man stuck his head into the room. When he caught you and Joel making out, his eyebrows rose and he had to laugh.

"Oho.", he pulled back, but didn't close the door. "I didn't want to interrupt. You guys were gone so long."

Behind the door, Joel and your lips parted.

Silently, you glanced at him to make sure he agreed with your half of the plan.

He nodded, putting his hand in his pocket and pressing your knife into your lap. Silently, he indicated that he would take care of the other one.

Your fingers closed around the handle.

You nodded.

Exhaling deeply, Joel pushed out the door, pushing the man out with him.

"The wound looked worse than we thought.", he tried to sound friendly. "We don't have any ointment or bandages."

Understanding, the man nodded and gave you a quick glance.

With a furtive look, you made sure that the other man was still sitting in the living room, oblivious to your plan.

You gave him a quick smile before Joel pushed past with a meaningful glance to take care of the second problem.

"Is the base far from here?", you asked, trying to engage the younger man in conversation and keep him from moving from the perfect position hidden in the dark.

Irritated, he frowned.

"Not far. A couple of hours by car.", he shrugged, his hand already on the rifle. "Why do you want to know that?"

Smiling sheepishly, you shook your head. Unobtrusively you approached him and pretended to look out the window when he became nervous.

"Mark and I were looking for a safe place to settle down anyway.", you explained, changing the hand you were holding the knife in. "Do you have a car? It must be far to the base."

He didn't notice and nodded.

"An old truck. But we don't have any more room. You should look elsewhere."

"We could rest with you."

"We don't have any alms to give either."

You rolled your eyes, annoyed by his unfriendly demeanor.

"Don't worry...", you muttered, staring expectantly into the hallway. "We will only take what is rightfully ours."

Confused by the statement, he frowned.

Your lips moved, quietly imploring Joel to finally give a sign.

Suddenly a gunshot shattered the silence. Porcelain or glass shattered.

People fell to the ground.

Surprised, the man turned around, wanting to rush to his partner's aid.

But you were faster. With a quick movement you drew the knife and jumped forward to bury the blade in his neck.

Startled, he gasped.

Blood splattered your face. With a jerk, you wanted to finish it and slice his neck. But your grip slipped and you cut your thumb.

Gasping, he turned around, clutching the rifle tightly in his hands. Blood was dripping down his neck.

Tense, you jumped back.

A shot rang out, but the bullet missed by meters. The window shattered with a loud bang.

Shards rained down on you.

A heavy cough made him tremble. Blood gushed from his mouth. Pressing his hand to his bloody neck, he collapsed to the floor. In the process, he dropped the rifle.

Without thinking about it, you grabbed it and put a bullet in his head.

Immediately he fell silent, his body slumped.

Breathing heavily, you stumbled back, clutching the rifle tightly. The barrel of the gun was still pointed at his back.

"(Y/N)!", Joel's voice broke the tense silence.

Hastily you jumped up and stumbled into the hallway, only to run right into his arms. Colliding, he wrapped his arms around you and pressed you against his chest.

Surprised, you both looked at each other.

"Are you hurt?", you asked, gently feeling his head.
He breathed a sigh of relief.

"The shot hit the ceiling.", he said, loosening the embrace. "You have blood on your face."

"Hmm, that's not mine."

"You shot?"

You nodded and showed him the rifle.

"One more gun is better than one less.", you stared at him for a moment. "The guy said there is a car. It can't be far, we just have to find it."

"How advantageous.", this time he let go completely.

The loss of his warmth and the feeling of his strong arms around you made your body shiver.

"Then let's quickly take the equipment and see how we can get to Ellie.", you suggested.

"There's nothing I'd like better than that. Let's go."

It felt strange to put on a camouflage jacket and bulletproof vest that a dead man had worn before, but you couldn't be picky at that moment. At the shoulders the cut was way too big and even when you tightened the vest there was still a little room.

Probably that was because the previous owner had been a giant.

It was a miracle that you had managed to ram the knife so easily into his neck.

Carefully, you wiped off the blood on your pants and let the blade disappear into your inside pocket. Then you started to scan the remaining pockets and search for the key.

Something jingled. Hoping it was the keys, you slipped your hand into the pocket of his pants. But instead you pulled out a chain with two tog tag-like plates.

Curiously you looked at it from all sides. The polished metal shimmered in your hands. There was something engraved on the surface, three names and dates.

They were birthdays.

All of them had the same last name.

"Shit...", you stuck the chain back in his pocket.

"Family?", Joel asked.

You nodded.

"Wife and kids. Shit, that's bad..."

"I am willing to kill for Ellie."

"But you must admit it's selfish."

"I know. I never said I'm a saint."

Humming in agreement, you got back up and eyed him.
His tall figure was dressed in simplistic clothes as you, a black bulletproof vest and some cargo shirt with matching pants.

Truth be told, he looked a little like a cheap rip off of a soldier.

"Did you find the key?", you glanced over your shoulder.

He nodded, shaking them in his hand.

"It's time.", he said, letting you go first.