UNITED IN BLOOD
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN !

   "WHAT'D YOU TELL DINA?" That was the first thing Jesse asked of Ellie once the pair alongside Danielle made their way out of the theatre and had began trekking through Seattle once again in search of Abby, as well as Tommy. They were absolutely certain that the Miller man had been wreaking havoc throughout Seattle, if the blown up structures and dead bodies riddled with bullets from a sniper was anything to go by.

   They had made the executive decision to leave Dina behind in the theatre, all of them trusting that the girl and her unborn child would be safer, hidden away in the dingy, old building than on the run through the city, fending off enemies left, right and centre.

   The earlier moment that had been shared by Danielle and an emotionally exposed and quite literally exposed Ellie had gone unmentioned. Once the auburn haired girl had awoken, Danielle had excused herself, avoiding all eye contact to allow Ellie to dress herself. Then after a quick chat with Dina, the trio had set off.

   The conversation that Ellie had with Dina seemed to be important and secretive enough that when Danielle stuck her head into the room, she saw the pair visibly stiffen up as if they were chatting about something that the medic wasn't allowed to know. As if they had been talking about her behind her back. But she was most likely just being paranoid.

   And though the brutal takedown of Nora was stilling weighing heavily on the auburn-haired Ellie, she refused to allow it to slow her down. With only one goal in mind, the tattooed Williams girl had built up such a strong sense of will, that nothing could stop hinder her progress or block her path. Ellie was determined to finish

   "That we're hoping to find Tommy at the aquarium." The auburn-haired girl replied as her sneaker clad feet pushed her forward, following closely behind Danielle who walked on ahead of the pair. "I didn't...tell her you knew, if that's what you're—"

Jesse shook his head briefly, as the trio moved through the pouring down rain. "I wasn't."

   Danielle, who had been vaguely listening to their conversation while she scanned their surroundings, suddenly clocked the words that had escaped past Ellie's lips. A gasp of complete shock left her as she stopped in her tracks, spinning around on her heel to face Ellie and Jesse, both of whom halted at once when they noticed the look that was plastered across the medics face.

"Wait, you know? He knows?" The girl was flabbergasted. How could this have happened? "Ellie. You told him?"

   Seeing the lightly upset look that filled the brunettes eyes, Jesse quickly piped up. "I kinda guessed, if that makes it better." While he had made an assumption based off of Dina's behaviour and the way that Danielle fretted around her, Jesse could tell within an instant that his words did little to quell the upset that rose inside of the medic.

   Danielle stared over at the man, her eyes squinting in reaction to his words. How could it make it better? Everything she had done, all of those moments that she kept a close eye on Dina, the food she had secretly passed to the dark haired girl to avoid Ellie's finding out about the pregnancy. Everything she had done to help keep the pregnancy under wraps had been undone in a day, all because of Ellie and her inability to shut her mouth.

   With a shake of the head, Danielle uttered her reply of, "Not really. I kept this secret for over a month and you couldn't do it for one single day."

   Her gaze had unconsciously drifted from Jesse over to the auburn-haired girl as she spoke. Brown met green as Danielle and Ellie looked at one another, their eyes locked.

   "Sorry." Ellie muttered over at Danielle sheepishly, her sneakers scraping against the asphalt as she moved her feet to follow the brunette once she began to walk off again.

With a shrug of the shoulders, Danielle simply replied with, "Don't say sorry to me. Dina's the one who's gonna kill you."

Once he had noticed that Danielle had calmed down, the raven-haired man spoke up. "Is this aquarium a wolf base?"

   Danielle glanced in his direction as they moved through the abandoned store, pilfering through the unopened drawers for any remaining supplies. "No, not at all. I mean, not that I know of anyway. It might be a newer one that established very recently but I doubt it. It's way too far away from the stadium."

   The question of why ran through the brunettes mind. Why on earth was Abby hiding out and in an aquarium of all places? Had she double crossed Isaac and the WLF? Had it all been a big misunderstanding? No matter what answer Danielle thought of, they just didn't sit right with her. The situation didn't make any sense whatsoever.

   "Yeah, Nora said Abby's hiding out there." Ellie added to Danielle's explanation as she unconsciously had begun to mimic the brunettes every step, as though Danielle knew the wrecked city any better than herself.

Jesse glanced his friends way as he inquired, "You get her to tell you why they did it?"

   The question caused Ellie's footsteps to falter, the sound of her shoes scuffing against the asphalt. "Yeah, uh... Joel had a falling out with some Fireflies...Now former Fireflies."

"What kind of falling out?"

   "He was a smuggler. And they disagreed about some goods...fight broke out. Some of them died." The auburn-haired girl explained as she trudged through the thick, wet mud that covered the ground. "Guess they wanted payback."

   The Linden girl picked up on the paused that followed the words some goods which caused Danielle to begin questioning why exactly Ellie had decided to forgo the truth that she had been the goods in question. It also left Danielle wondering if she was the only one to know that detail from Ellie's past. Had Ellie trusted her enough to tell her the full extent of Joel's run-in with the Firefly's, something she was clearly willing to avoid telling Jesse?

An exasperated exhale from Jesse filled the air. "Damn. That change anything for you?"

Ellie simply shook her head. "Nope."

   "I need to get clear on something." As the raven-haired man spoke, his voice had lowered significantly as his words were doused with a tone of seriousness. His gaze fell solely upon Ellie while he said, "When we find Tommy, you're good with going home?"

   And there it was...the dreaded topic of Jackson and the inevitable return of its citizens. Danielle feared the day this topic would rear its ugly head back up again. During the verbal abuse that had been thrown at the brunette by Ellie, she had made it very clear that once they had found and killed Abby, that that was it. Ellie and Dina would return to Jackson and Danielle would be on her way in the opposite direction.

   The idea of going off on her own, fending for herself and fighting for her survival scared the fuck out of her. Danielle Linden could admit it, she was terrified of being alone.

   Though Ellie had apologised for her more than harsh words, it didn't mean that she suddenly wanted Danielle to return with them and it sure as hell didn't lessen the sting that Danielle felt every time Ellie's words made their way back into her brain.

   While she hoped that Ellie wouldn't turn her away, she couldn't be sure of anything anymore. No matter the friendship she had developed with Dina and the budding feelings that had begun to blossom for the tattooed girl, Danielle couldn't rely on just hope alone and that terrified her.

   "You could take Eugene's old house." Jesse's words that he directed at Danielle caused the brunette to realise that she had missed a huge chunk of his and Ellie's conversation while she internally freaked out. "I mean if you tell Maria and Tommy that you're Eugene's kid, they'll practically hand you the key, right Ellie?"

   "Right." Ellie appeared neither hesitant nor truly interested in the conversation at this point as her gaze was fixed upon the thick, overgrown greenery up ahead.

   Jesse was a kind soul. Even though he could have held a grudge against the brunette for her affiliation with the WLF, he instead just seemed to welcome her with open arms, joking with her as though they had been best friends for their whole lives.

   Not wanting to just assume and not truly knowing if she'd welcoming back in Jackson, Danielle simply muttered out, "Uh, yeah. We'll see."

   The trio stopped in their tracks at the sight of their path completely closed off by the overgrown shrubbery and the fallen down trees that acted as a barrier. Ellie let out a grunt of frustration at the obstacle in their path. "Shit. blocked."

   As he looked around, scanning the area for a potential way past, Jesse pointed off in the direction of a building just off in the distance. "Think we could cut through that convention centre?"

"Let's try it."

   The devil may care attitude that Ellie and Jesse had stressed out Danielle as she watched them step anywhere and everywhere with little regard for their own safety. "Let's remember to be careful, yeah? Parts of this city are quite literally riddled with land mines. As we clearly already know."

"You got it." Ellie offhandedly said, not even bothering to glance over in the medics direction.

   Ever since Danielle had interrupted Ellie's secret conversation with Dina, the redhead had refused to look in her direction for longer than a few seconds and it was really beginning to weigh Danielle down. Had she done something wrong? Did Ellie think she heard something she wasn't supposed to hear? Because she honestly hadn't heard a single word the pair had shared during their conversation, but perhaps Ellie thought otherwise.

   They carefully stepped through the broken out windows, being cautious to not cut themselves on the glass that remained intact to the frame. A sharp pinch in her leg caused Danielle to look down to see a shard of glass digging into her jean clad leg, though thankfully it hadn't pierced past the fabric and into her flesh. The brunette shuffled her body away as best as she could before pushing herself into the building, cut free.

   "I see a light through here." Jesse pointed out as they moved through the building with only the light from their flashlights that were strapped to their shoulders to guide the way, the man using his left hand to gesture in the direction of the light that leaked in through a gap in a doorway further into the room.

   Jesse looked Ellie's way briefly before setting his gaze on the door before him as he pushed it open and walked on into the room that was shrouded in darkness. The raven-haired man carefully chose his words as he spoke. "You ever worry they're gonna come back to Jackson after us?"

   "What do you mean?" The auburn haired girl spun around on her heel to look over at her friend who made every attempt possible to avoid Ellie's gaze.

   "I mean we're going through a lot of their people...in their city." The Jeon man listed off the many reasons that retaliation could be a possibility. He then gestured over towards Danielle who stood off in the corner, searching through a bunch of unopened drawers. "With one of their people."

   "Former." Danielle swiftly corrected the man, her gaze not even lifting from the items that she had been placing into her backpack for safekeeping.

"Right former. Sorry."

Danielle just waved off his apology. "Don't worry about it."

   "We're doing this because of what they did." Was all Ellie said in response. Her voice was almost childlike in the way she spoke, as if the answer to Jesse's question was so simply that she couldn't believe he didn't know the answer.

   That's very naive, Danielle couldn't help but think. She knew Ellie was smart and while Joel's death may have had an extremely negative effect on her, it didn't take away from the natural battle strategy that Ellie possessed, so why would she possibly believe that the WLF wouldn't retaliate? It was almost inevitable.

Jesse glanced over at the redhead in confusion. "Didn't Abby and her friends come to Jackson cause of something Joel did?"

   Her feet dragged against the linoleum floor of the rundown building as she sidestepped past Danielle, the fabric of her rain jacket brushing against the brunettes back. "This place isn't like Jackson. I mean, Joel and Tommy helped Abby when she got attacked. These people are trying to kill everyone around them. I mean, they shot you on right, didn't they?"

   "Yeah...they did." He sounded hesitant to answer which had Danielle assuming he thought exactly the same as her but like her, didn't want to hurt Ellie's feelings by pointing out the pretty big flaws in her plan.

   After a few moments of silence as the three of them continued on through the building, Jesse spoke up once again. "How long has Dina been this sick?"

"Only a couple of days."

   "Yeah, you honestly wouldn't have been able to tell she was pregnant if you didn't know." Danielle explained to the father of Dina's baby, attempting to alleviate some of the concern he had for her.

   "When we first got here, she fucked up a bunch of wolves." The auburn-haired girl boasted about her friend. A proud smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the way in which Dina had successfully killed their enemies.

"You'd have been impressed." The redhead continued to say.

   "I bet." Jesse laughed out his agreement, the man knowing just how strong and powerful Dina was. The many times the pair had gone on patrol had proven to him that Dina could take care of herself just fine. "You don't cross that girl."

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   BEFORE THE TRIO LAY a completely washed out city. From their high vantage point, they could easily see the severe lack of buildings. It appeared that without the constant upkeep provided by human beings, a good portion of Seattle had fallen victim to nature. Where large apartment buildings and stores once stood, now acted as a pathway for the increasingly rapid water that rushed through the city.

   The three had fought their way through not one but two different instances of violent encounters with the WLF, using all of their supplies until they had dwindled down to only a few bullets and their knives that had begun to become dull with each time it passed through flesh and bone.

   They had slowly made progress as they travelled though the city, encountering large masses of infected along the way and swimming through large bodies of water, getting closer and closer to the aquarium and hopefully Tommy, who they prayed had received the same information as them regarding Abby's location.

   Mixed grunts of frustration and pain filled the air as they moved, all attempting their best to shuffle along quietly to avoid capturing any unwanted attention although that had proven quite difficult as the coarse, wet fabric of their clothing aggressively rubbed against their flesh. Her cargo pants were chafing so badly, Danielle swore she would never swim again for as long as she lived.

   "Jesus." The raven-haired Jesse exclaimed in complete bewilderment. His gaze drank in the throughly totalled land before them. "How the hell are we crossing this?"

   "We could use that road." Ellie pointed off to a road way off in the distance. Danielle shifted her gaze to the road in question, watching as vehicles traveled along the asphalt. "It's pretty fucking far."

   Danielle knew that road. It was the main one the WLF would use to traverse through the City. It had been the exact same road used by herself and the 'Salt Lake Crew' on the day they have left for their trek across the states.

   "Or we could use that." Jesse suddenly replied capturing both Ellie and Danielle's attention, both of whom looked on as the man pointed down at the water below. Speeding through the currents was someone driving an engine powered boat.

Danielle nodded her head as her hands fell to her hips with a long, deep, fatigue lathered sigh. "A boat would be good."

"Yeah, that's better." Ellie commented, the auburn-haired girl eying the boat as it sped off inside the building just below them.

Jesse turned away from the view first, calling back behind, "Come on. This way."

Danielle pivoted round on the ball of her foot, taking off behind the Jeon man, following his every footstep. The scratching sound of gravel against the pavement let the brunette know that Ellie was following closely behind her as her sneakers scuffed against the ground.

   With a quick huff and a puff, they all jumped down from the small ledge that had been created by the destroyed building wall, right on top of the walkway that led into the main base.

"Let's try through here."

   As they moved through the building, listening out for any surrounding enemies, Jesse questioned, "So what's the plan? We take out these guys and steal their boat?"

   Hunter green eyes swept the small, enclosed space they all walked through as she swiped up all of the supplies she could find and shoved them into her backpack. "We're definitely taking their boat. It's up to them if they want to get in our way."

   "Hopefully it's a small crew." He responded before his eyes fell upon Danielle, who had been quietly following the pair. "You know if this place gets a lot of foot traffic?"

   "Honestly Jesse, if these people didn't come back injured I would have absolutely no idea where they had been stationed." The Linden girl truly knew nothing about the bases of the WLF. If it wasn't the stadium, she knew nothing. "I know what you know."

"Which is nothing." Jesse swiftly deduced which garnered the slightly sarcastic response of, "Exactly." from Danielle.

   Looking around the room, the sight of collapsed scaffolding and no way out was the only thing they could see. Ellie shuffled around the room, searching for a possible exit with haste. Finally with some well timed luck, the redhead noticed a small opening that was blocked off but could be accessed.

   "Got it. Come on." The auburn-haired Ellie heaved the fallen piping, using whatever strength her arms had to move it out of the way to clear their path. Jesse was quick to rush through. "Go through, Dani."

   Danielle hurried past which allowed Ellie to release her hold. The sight of water in front of her had the Linden girl quietly groaning in annoyance. Her clothes hadn't even begun to dry from their previous encounter with the clear liquid and yet there was no way forward that didn't involve wading through the water. "More fucking swimming."

   "This way, come on." Jesse beckoned the girls forward before he submerged himself fully in the water, his body disappearing from sight.

   Both Ellie and Danielle quickly followed behind, the water rising up their bodies and enveloping them completely as they dove deep under. Using all the strength that their legs and arms could muster up, the three swam through all of the sunken debris until they reached the other side. With a deep gasp for oxygen that was welcomed by their lungs, they had little time to react as the chattering of WLF soldiers reached their ears causing all three to fall silent.

"Need a hand?"

   "Nah, I got it. This engines just being finnicky." The man in the boat assured the woman, before he continued to fiddle with the engine.

   "Sniper spotted in twelve." Came a static sounding voice that most likely emitted from a radio. "I repeat, a sniper sighted at the Marina. Most likely the trespasser."

The person on the radio continued, "Any nearby united report. Over."

   A heavy sigh fell past the man's lips. "Shit, you four take the land bridge to the Marina. The rest of you, we hold here and wait for orders."

"What the fuck? We're supposed to wait here while our guys are being sniped?" The female soldier grumbled in frustration.

   "We have our orders." The superior of the two stated matter of factly. "They'll have more than enough people to take care of one sniper."

   A low grunt caught her attention which caused Danielle's head to turn just in time to see Jesse climbing up a rope. The brunette pushed herself forward in the rippling water, gripping tightly to the rope once Jesse had reached the upper floor. Using all of her strength, Danielle began to climb the fraying rope as she did her best to ignore the burning sensation that began to develop on the skin of her hands.

   "Ellie, come on." The brunette quietly spoke once she reached the top, holding out her hands to pull up the redhead who had been right behind her. Her fingertips dug into Ellie's shirt as she yanked the girl up. "I got ya."

   "Thanks." Ellie said with a nod of the head before she walked off to duck down next to the drop that would take them deeper into the base.

   Danielle turned to find Jesse who had ventured off to a large hole in the side of the building that opened up to the city outside. She quickly stepped up next to him, keeping her voice low as she spoke. "That was Tommy they were talking about, right?"

   "Definitely. We could get there if we went this way." Jesse slowly rose up from his crouched position as his head turned to face Ellie, who was off by herself at the other end of the room. "Ellie."

   His voice seemed to knock the redhead out of whatever thought that captured her attention as she stared at the pair with slightly hazed eyes.

   With a nod of the head, Jesse gestured in the direction of the large opening that would get them to Tommy with ease. "We could get to the Marina through here."

   Ellie defiantly shook her head, using her index finger to point off towards the WLF that lurked in the distance. "No. We're taking their boat."

"You heard them, right? They're talking about Tommy."

Whether it was Tommy or not, in that moment Ellie didn't care. Tommy would understand, right? "We don't know that."

   "Who else is it gonna be? Even Dani thinks so." Jesse motioned in Danielle's direction, who had been bouncing back and forth on her feet, shifting her weight around from foot to foot as her nerves began to become rattled.

   "If it is him, he'll be gone by the time we get there." Ellie didn't move, didn't give in. She was adamant that this was their best way forward. "Abby is where he'll be headed, so if we just foll—"

Jesse cut off Ellie with a question, "What if he's in trouble?"

   A pause filed the argument as Ellie, who was so sure that the best way forward was through the base and obtaining the boat, wracked her brain for the right response. Finally she settled on, "He can take care of himself."

"Jesus Christ." The Jeon man couldn't believe what he was hearing.

   Jesse's reaction was to be expected. It was Tommy, after all. Even Danielle thought the best option was to find the Miller man but she would never voice this for fear of alienating herself further from Ellie.

   "The best way to help Tommy is to go after Abby." The redhead tried to explain though her desperation to find and kill Abby had officially clouded her judgement and her ability to make decisions.

   The two friends stared each other down, neither wanting to back off and relent. Finally, the Williams girl just uttered, "You do this, I'm not saving your ass again."

"I really hope you make it." Jesse said, his voice stoic as his face remained void of any emotion.

"Jesse—"

   Ellie was quick to cut off Danielle, who seemed ready to chase after the raven-haired man as he ran off. "Dani, come on. He's gone. Let's just go."

   A upset feeling began to settle in Danielle's stomach. Had she and Ellie had the right choice? "Ellie, what if something happens to Tommy?"

   "You're more than welcome to follow him." Ellie defiantly stated as she made a move of turn away from the brunette. Though her voice had obeyed her by remaining steady, her eyes portrayed a hint of fear that wavered deep within her pupils.

   Danielle fought back the urge to roll her eyes at the redhead's stubbornness. Never in her life had she met someone so difficult. It was as if Ellie was determined to push everyone in her life away and it was really starting to get on Danielle's nerves.

   "Hey, no. Listen, I'm just worried, okay?" Danielle reached out the grab onto Ellie's shoulder to stop the redhead from just walking away. "But I'm not leaving you. You can't get rid of me that easily."

   "You're such a pain in the ass." The redhead shrugged her shoulders to rid herself of Danielle's hold, the slight rouge tint that rose upon the apples of her cheeks thankfully hidden by the crimson blood of their enemies.

   "Big talk coming from you." Danielle jested before movement in the distance caught her attention. Immediately the girl went into survival mode, reaching her hand out and dragging Ellie to the ground. "Get down."

   With their backs against the wall, the brick harshly digging into their flesh through the soaked fabric of their clothing, Ellie and Danielle knew that the only way they were getting that boat was by fighting their way to it. By maiming and killing everyone who stood in their way.

   And so they continued on, infiltrating yet another one of the WLF's bases which Danielle was beginning to get really sick of happening upon. The brunette internally let out a series of sighs of pure anger and frustration as they fought their way through more of these fuckers. She used to be one but never had she been this persistent on killing trespassers before. Perhaps her desire to heal the wounded had blocked off the part of her brain that otherwise would have caused her to attack first and ask questions later.

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   "STUPID FUCKING BOAT! I am never swimming again for as long as I fucking live." The curly haired brunette all but screamed out as her knees scrapped against the ground, the sharp pain that stung her legs from the gravel that dug into her skin. The salty sea water was attacking all of the cuts that riddled their bodies.

   They had finally reached the godforsaken aquarium. The weather had begun to change, going from the brief shower of rain to a violent, raging storm with thick, dense clouds that shrouded the entire sky in darkness. The boat they had fought so desperately to get had completely shut down on them. The goddamn engine had decided, midway through the rapid currents, that it was finished working.

   With no way forward, the two girls had no choice but to swim the remainder of the way, fighting and winning against the current that threatened to pull them deep below to their deaths.

   "Yeah, I'm with you on that." Ellie lowly agreed, quickly retrieving her pistol from its holster. She looked completely soaked to the bone, as her clothes cling to her body like another layer of skin. "Come on. We're nearly done."

   The pair moved through the pouring down rain that attacked their senses, causing both to continuously wipe away at the water that blurred their vision. "Yeah, just a few more steps and it'll be finished. She better actually be here."

   Ellie turned back to glance at Danielle as they began to climb up the structures that would get them to the broken window on the second floor. "She will. Come on, keep your head low."

The pair heaved themselves up, climbing up as their muscles ached and begged for the chance to relax.

   "Here we go." Ellie announced before her dropped in through the window, landing on the ground with a grunt as Danielle followed behind her.

   The entire building was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. With each footstep, their water soaked shoes squeaked against the linoleum covered floors. A shiver ran down Danielle's spine as she scanned the building. "This place is eerily quiet. It's honestly giving me the creeps."

   Ellie rushed towards the only other door in the room, her hand grasping tightly to the door knob. The door handle jiggled but refused to budge. "Shit. Gotta be another way."

   The two girls glanced around the room, searching for any possible way of progressing forward through the aquarium. Danielle's head fell back in frustration, which shifted her gaze up and allowed her eyes to land upon a vent.

   "Ellie, look." Danielle caught the redheads attention before pointing at a large vent, that sat open just above them. "We can try to go through there."

   One by one, the pair climbed up to the vent, shimmying their way through the metal enclosure. The walls of the vent were painted with mold. They moved slowly in an attempt to avoid making too much unnecessary and unwanted noise that would have drawn any attention to their presence. The best tool at their disposal was the element of surprise. Creaking began to fill their ears as the vent walls began to rumble and shake.

"Oh no." The redhead muttered as the metal shook below her, threatening to collapse against her weight.

   The vent clanged loudly, grumbling and creaking before it ultimately caved in, sending the auburn-haired girl plummeting to the ground below as Danielle watched in utter disbelief from her place up in the vents.

"No, Ellie!" Echoed Danielle's voice as it reverberated off the metal walls that surrounded her in the tiny, enclosed space.

   Before either girl could really react, the unmistakable growling of an animal filled the room. Unable to react fast enough and grab her weapon from its holster, Ellie was slammed full force into the ground as a large dog began to snarl and gnash its teeth in her face. Danielle struggled in the vent, trying and failing to move fast enough to get down and help. With sheer luck, the redhead was able to manoeuvre herself to grab her switchblade that was forever in her pocket for situations just like this.

   The sharp blade dug deep into the canines torso, again and again as Ellie pulled it out and drove it back in to ensure the dogs demise. Pain filled whimpers faded out into a low breathing before the dog finally fell victim to its wounds and bled out.

   "Fuck!" Ellie cried out as she kicked the dog away from her, sending the animal flying into a large metal cage, it's body colliding hard against the floor with a thud.

   Danielle finally fell down from the vent, a brief ache present in her ankles as her feet slammed hard against the floor. The brunette rushed forward to help pull Ellie from her crouched over position on the ground. "Shit, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Stupid dog."

   "Alice. Oh god." The brunette faintly whispered to herself, her words just barely passing her lips. The sight of Alice, probably the best dog in all of the canines that were bred at the stadium, bloody and very much deceased caused a horrible ache to encompass her chest.

   A feeling of discomfort embodied Ellie as she glanced around the, what appeared to be a makeshift hospital room. Blood soaked bandages and surgical tools lay in a small basin. And overwhelming scent of copper filled the entire room. "God, the fuck happened here?"

   Millions of thoughts and answers ran through Danielle's mind though only one answer seemed to fit the narrative they had been faced with. "Maybe she's injured."

   "Good. Let's go." Ellie simply replied as she began walking off, heading in the direction of another room, that was dimly lit by a small lantern that sat in the corner of the room.

   Danielle followed closely behind, searching around the room and noticing the multiple sleeping bags that lay crumpled up on the ground. There was also backpacks piled together that Ellie began to pilfer through.

The redheads nimble fingers pulled out a small pendant. Her voice was quiet as she hoarsely spoke out a single word, "Owen."

   "Owen's here?" Danielle questioned as she rushed forward, looking over Ellie's shoulder to see the small Firefly pendant held tightly in the tips of the redheads fingers. "That explains the fact that there's more than one backpack. This doesn't look like Abby's though."

   It truly didn't. The backpack itself looked familiar but for the life of her, the brunette just couldn't place whose backpack it was. The two moved on from the room, walking quick but also as silently as they possibly could.

   "Wait, can you hear that?" The Linden girl whispered, her words just barely being heard by Ellie as they moved closer to the source of the sound. "It's sounds like talking."

   "People don't come back from that island." The voice sounded very familiar, as if Danielle had heard it before. But it definitely wasn't Abby and it was too muffled for the brunette to even hazard a guess.

Who would willingly be this far away from base? In this weather?

   A male voice that Danielle was sure belonged to Owen Moore replied, a tone of irritation evident as he spoke. "How many times had Abby risked her life for you?"

   The woman, who sounded so angry that it almost seemed as though it was masking the hurt that was truly dripping from her words. "She chose them. I'm not fucking going there."

"Then don't." The man yelled and suddenly Danielle knew who it was. Owen. "Go back."

   Both Ellie and Danielle took a step into the room, their guns raised high, poised and ready to fire if necessary. As they got closer to the pair who were amid a heated argument, Danielle was finally able to put a face to the voice. Mel.

   But why the hell was she here? Why was she risking herself? The clearly pregnant girl had trekked all the way across the city, from the stadium to this mold and mildew infested aquarium and for what? Cause it sure as hell wouldn't have been for Abby.

"Fuck you, Owen." Mel defiantly scoffed at the man, spinning around on her heel to walk away.

Ellie rushed forward, wanting to catch the two off guard. Her gun pointed at the pair as she demanded, "Hands up."

   Danielle stepped up behind her, her gun gripped tightly in her hands as her palms began to sweat. Both Owen and Mel's eyes widened at the sight of the brunette.

   "Danielle." The brunettes name was but a whisper on the pixie cut haired girl, who eyes widened as she looked at the girl she was sure had been killed that fateful day.

   "Where's Abby?" Ellie's gaze fixed upon the pair as she held her pistol tightly in her hands, the barrel of the weapon pointed directly at the two.

   Owen stared at Ellie with a look of realisation. His eyes were filled with the realisation of who she was. "You're that girl from Jackson."

"Tell me where she went." The auburn-haired girl interrogated, seeking the answer she so desperately desired.

"How do we know you won't kill us?" Mel's voice wavered greatly as her bottom lip quivered.

   "She won't. Just tell her where Abby is." Danielle implored of the two. She didn't want to see them injured or dead, even if they had left her for dead. Her hazel coloured eyes met those of Mel, whose hands violently shook. "Mel, come on. Don't risk yourself for this. Just tell her where she is."

"You give her what she wants and we're dead."

   Danielle's gaze fixed into a glare as she stared over at the man. While he hadn't been the worst, he surely wasn't the best and right now as he attempted to talk the pair down to save Abby, risking himself, Mel and their unborn child, it just really pissed her off. "Shut up, Owen."

   With all of the earnestness she could muster up, Ellie spoke to the pair, her voice cracking as it pulled from her throat. "You guys can survive this. I just need her."

Owen glared at the gun blazing pair. "Bullshit."

   The Williams girl stared back at him, her heart pounding in her chest. Her inner thoughts were beginning her to shoot him but she needed to remain calm. Her head turned to look at Mel. "You. Come here."

   Mel feet remained glued to the spot where she stood, the girl seemingly too afraid to move towards Ellie, who was admittedly quiet scary as she held her pistol in their faces.

   "Fucking get over here!" Ellie yelled at Mel, causing everyone in the room to shudder with fear. The auburn haired girl had reached a point of no return. She had to see this through. "Point to where she is on this map."

   Hunter green eyes shifted in Owen's direction, staring him down from the barrel of her gun. "And then you. It better fucking match up."

Danielle internally breathed a sigh of relief as Mel's head nodded. "Okay—"

   Before the short haired girl could mutter another word, Owen's voice reverberated off the walls as he snapped, "What are you doing?"

"She's probably dead anyway." Was all Mel said in reply.

   Danielle could see that Mel was simply finished. She was done with fighting. Her life and her baby's life was more important than Abby, who was most likely, already deceased. Nobody comes back from the Seraphite Island alive, least of all a WLF soldier.

   Owen, who wasn't ready to give up just yet, took a step towards the brunette who immediately tightened her grip on her gun. With his hands still raised, Owen stared at the medic with a look of sincerity. "Danielle, it is not worth it."

   "Stop moving, Owen." Danielle all but demanded as her hands raised, the brunette now aiming her gun directly at his forehead, her finger brushing against the trigger. If he took one more step, she would have no choice.

He continued to walk towards Danielle, disregarding her advice to stop moving. "We can talk—"

   "Back the fuck up!" Ellie screamed at him, her gun now inches away from his face as she stepped towards him. Her eyes were filled with fury. An unbridled rage that was just begging to be set free.

   "Point to where she is." Ellie shoved the map closer to Mel, her voice growing more and more distressed with each word that passed her lips.

"Fucking point—"

   Before Ellie could finish her demand, Owen rushed forward with lightening fast speed, his hands grabbing Danielle by the shoulders and pushing her away, sending the brunette plummeting to the ground. Her head pounded against the floor and her gun slipped from her grasp, the weapon sliding across floor to the opposite side of the room.

   Ellie went into defence mode as she struggled against the Moore man, who fought her for her weapon. A battle which he would ultimately loose as Ellie broke free of his grasp and shot him directly in the stomach, his shirt beginning to soak up his blood immediately as the man fell to the ground.

   "Owen!" Mel cried out as she watched the man she loved and the father of her baby bleed out on the floor, a crimson pool beginning to form around him.

"Mel, don't!" Danielle cried out as she watched in utter horror from her spot on the floor as Mel lunged at Ellie, knife in hand.

   The short haired Mel struggled against Ellie's hold, almost succeeding in bringing the blade down upon Ellie's head but her efforts were useless against the redhead's strength. Ellie fought back, the girl managing to harness her strength enough to send Mel flying to the ground, before swiping the knife that had been intended to kill her and plunged it deep into Mel's neck.

   Ellie rushed off in Owen's direction as Danielle shuffled forward towards Mel, who was gasping for air as blood filled her throat. Danielle's hands flew up to the short haired girls neck, desperate to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. "Jesus Christ! No."

   "Mel, come on. Mel!" Deep down, Danielle knew her efforts were entirely futile but her hands continued to apply pressure on the deep puncture wound on Mel's neck, that leaked crimson blood at such a fast pace. "Hey, you're okay. You're okay."

   Ellie's faint voice echoed just behind her as she came rushing over. The redheads hands unzipped Mel's jacket with such speed as her gaze fell upon the very much round, pregnant belly. "No, no, no."

   "Oh fuck." Ellie gasped out, her steps faltering as the reality of what she had just done slapped her hard across the face. "Why didn't you tell me? Oh fuck."

   The redheads rushed and short gasps of breath reverberated off the walls, pulling Danielle out of her mournful thoughts. Her head felt so incredibly heavy as it lifted, her gaze falling on a crouched over Ellie who was clutching tightly to her chest. Danielle rushed to the redheads side, her knees skidding against the ice cold floor.

   "Ellie, breathe. Please breathe." Her hands cupped Ellie's face tightly, the girl refusing to let Ellie spiral out of control. Despite the shock that had just attacked her entire system, Danielle couldn't allow Ellie to blame herself. "L-Look at me. Please just fucking breathe."

   "Ellie!" Called out a male voice causing both Ellie and Danielle to jolt back. Ellie's gun raised in the air, poised and ready to fire, though her hands, her entire body shook violently

   Standing before them, completely drenched from the storm that was sweeping through the city, was Tommy Miller with his hands raised high in surrender. "Woah, woah!"

"I'm sorry." Ellie's voice sounded totally broken as it pulled itself away from the thick, swollen lump that had formed in her throat.

   Tommys hands reached out to steady the auburn haired girl, whose body swayed considerably. "It's all right. Come on, let's go."

   Jesse arrived in the room off in the distance, the raven-haired man immediately rushing forward to pull Danielle up from the cold, hard ground. As they all began exiting the room, Danielle couldn't stop herself from glancing back at the two bodies that lay upon the floor, drenched in their own blood.

   Although, they had left her behind without much thought for her safety, without much regard for whether she would have been killed or even tortured first for information, Danielle still couldn't bring herself to fully hate them.

Not that it mattered anymore.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

author's thoughts.
so mel and owen are dead!! if you guys remember, I had brought up before how danielle had known about mel's pregnancy when she could recognise the signs so she unfortunately knew before Ellie had killed her but don't blame her. She had no clue that mel was going to be there. anyway only one chapter left after this and act two will be finished!! hope you enjoyed :)