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「 six. I don't mean to make your heart blue
but couldn't we be what we're meant to be
I'm just about to beg you please . 」

THE MUSEUM WAS A TALL BUILDING WITH COPPER-COLOURED WALLS AND GREENERY ADORNING IT. It stood tall between its plant-infested surroundings, standing out like a shiny penny.

The doors were ajar, with endless vines twisting their way inside and out. The twin doors were covered in fungus, leaking out like a tidal wave through the towering museum.

"You gotta be kidding me." Ellie breathed out, looking up at the building in disbelief.

"Well, there's a way across from the top floor." Tess commented, examining the building anxiously.

"Oh, brilliant." Lizzie added, sparing the woman a sarcastic glance.

"We used to do it all the time."

Joel creeped forward, his hand ghosting over a twisted vine of cordyceps. The man picked up his gun, slamming it onto the vine and creating a gaping wound. "It's bone dry. Could mean they're all finally dead in there."

Joel walked back over to the three, nodding his head alongside Tess. The two knelt to the ground, unzipping their backpacks and pulling out various items.

"What are you guys doing?" Lizzie asked, sharing a confound glance with Ellie.

Joel looked up from his bag, narrowing his eyes. "What, Marlene not pack you one of these, bug?" Lizzie gave him an unamused huff as he referred to their earlier conversation. "Or she just pack you sandwiches."

"Calm down, Gunman." Lizzie sighed, both her and Ellie kneeling to pull out their flashlights. Lizzie pulled Bellamy's leash impossibly closer to her. Bellamy would defend not only her but himself too. She knew that. But she wanted just to be careful.

"Okay, so," Tess began, "more ground rules. We're gonna go slowly. If we come up against anything, you get behind us and ya stay there, okay?" When both girls nodded, she carried on, "The dog. It listens to you, right?" Tess asked the blonde who nodded in return, "Good. Keep him quiet."

Bellamy was more wolf than dog. That's how Elizabeth seen him. He growled a lot, barked much less. He was a fierce dog, despite he's recently playful nature. If he sensed something, or seen something unsettling, he was prepared to kill it. Luckily, he wasn't too much of a vocal dog.

Tess nodded, pulling out her gun and holding it in her opposite hand that her flashlight was in. "I have a spare hand." Ellie added, gesturing to the gun.

"Yeah, and I've been trained to use guns, you know. I can use one." Lizzie commented. She'd came prepared with weapons. She carried to knives, one sharp, one small.

"Congratulations." Joel raised an eyebrow, walking first into the fungus-infested museum, the other three following soon after.

Lizzie's flashlight burned amber as she inspected the museum, Bellamy by her side—quieter than he'd ever been.

Multiple artefacts sat in dusty cases, forever untouched and covered in fungus. Huge signs sat up on the walls, next to various different historical pictures, figurines, and objects. Had it not been so eerie, Lizzie might've liked it.

A sign that read 'gift shop' stood out to Joel as he approached. Huge clumps of fungus, mostly dead, sat still on the museum floor, making the group grimace in displeasure.

Lizzie's flashlight suddenly illuminated the graphic figure of dead man. His skin was pale and soaked in scarlet-coloured blood that poured from his head and chest. Even Bellamy was reluctant to move forward. "Oh, fuck."

Joel, Tess, And ellie immediately walked closer. Joel's gun was raised and pointed, ready to shoot at anything that moved.

"What the fuck did that?" Ellie breathed out, staring at the deceased figure in horror.

Tess turned pale, glancing at Joel with fear. "Maybe. . .he was attacked outside, and crawled through the doors. The door was open. Could've been him." She whispered, her voice slightly shaky. "I don't hear anything."

"Hear what?" Elizabeth asked, only for Joel and Tess to immediately shush her. "Hear what?" Ellie asked in a quieter tone. "Are you saying an infected did that? Because I've been attacked by one and it wasn't like that." She gestures to the body.

"Okay, from this point forward, we are silent. Not quiet. Silent." Joel instructed, his voice low and quiet. When Ellie went to ask why, she was immediately shushed by Joel.

Within the next moment, the group treaded up the stairs, tension bubbling under their skin like a flaming volcano. The sound of Lizzie's heart thumping echoed in her ears, almost blocking out the sounds of footsteps the group faintly emitted.

The stairs creaked lightly under the weight of their feet, creating a suffocating sense of anxiety. The group only stopped when the ceiling above let a large cloud of dust fall over the bottom floor.

The blonde wrapped her hand tightly around her sharpest knife, ready for anything. Taking a silent breath to calm herself, Elizabeth prayed to decrease the rate of her heart's incessant pounding.

Bellamy creeped beside her, sensing the groups tension and deciding to remain quiet. Elizabeth didn't want Bellamy to feel the uncertainty she did, and gently stroked his head gently as a sign of faux relaxation.

The journey up the stairs became tough, all four flashlights highlighting the dead cordyceps that polluted the floor of the stairwell.

Then a sickening crunch sounded underneath Ellie's shoe. The brunette accidentally stepped onto a patch of cordyceps, resounding in a loud, haunting 'crunch!'

Joel turned to the brunette, his eyes wide as he motioned for everybody to stay silent. The man flashed his flashlight over to the top of the stairs, waiting in anticipation to see if anything were to happen.

When nothing happened, Joel encouraged them to move again. Slow and silent.

Once they'd reached the top of what felt like an endless flight of stairs, Joel gently creaked open a door. The door was an entrance to a large room that was filled with antique objects.

Bellamy sniffed the air, trying to sense an atmosphere for the foreign room. It wasn't hard to tell something wasn't right.

Behind Bellamy, Lizzie followed in after Joel, letting out a loud gasp of shock when the ceiling behind Tess and Ellie caved in—locking them inside. Both Tess and Ellie fell to the floor in surprise, staring at the debris in panic.

Lizzie immediately held out a hand for Ellie, her blue eyes sending a silent message to the brunette. Ellie didn't waste a moment in grabbing the blonde's hand, letting her pull her up and thanking her with a nod.

Then they heard it.

The terrifying snarling of a clicker. One that sounded as though it were in their very room.

Immediately, Joel and Tess had their guns out and pointed in the direction of the sound, ready to shoot if necessary.

Ellie's hand gripped Lizzie's tighter, both trembling in anticipation. Maybe the comforting squeeze of the blonde girl's hand gave her a miniature sense of comfort under the extreme terror she endured, Ellie hoped it did at least.

Lizzie turned to Ellie, her face pale and her eyes sparkling with fear. Lizzie gestured for Ellie to move behind Joel and Tess, to which she immediately did. Lizzie's other hand remained tightly gripping Bellamy's leash, silently sending a million prayers that he wouldn't bark.

Lizzie pulled the leash over her wrist, using her free hand to clamp over Bellamy's mouth to prevent him from exposing them. Lizzie could've cried tears of pure joy when she saw the glimpse of loyalty in the dogs eyes as he remained quiet.

The group continued to creep backwards, an increasing sense of trepidation sinking into their skin. The group moved back, until Elizabeth's back hit the glass case of a bookshelf.

The group steadied themselves, hiding silently behind the shelf.

The sound of increasing footsteps and clicking entered the area, taunting them.

Lizzie finally looked over to Joel, the man sending her a calm nod.

" They can't see, but they can hear."

The creature appeared on the other side of the shelf, it's body contorting into inhuman positions as it neared.

Lizzie's heart beat increasing tenfold, her eyes threatening to fill with salty tears as the taste of impending death washed over her.

Joel simply put a finger to his lips, begging them not to make a sound.

Then it appeared in front of them.

A horrifying decay of person, twisting and winding their body into uncomfortable movements. It's face was devoured by the overwhelming fungus that tainted its skin with sickening colours. It's clothes were torn and ripped, hanging loosely off its body.

Elizabeth's hand that still clung to Ellie's tightened. Both girls stood in apprehension, holding onto the the other for dear life.

Then it turned, snarling at them ferociously as though it knew they were there.

Then the sound of savage barks and thundering bullets filled the air. Joel had moved forward instantly, shooting at the clicker with no remorse. Like Joel, Bellamy dashed forward, creating a distraction so that Joel would be able to shoot properly. However, the clicker fought against the man, grabbing the gun as though in a game of frightening tug of war. "Run!"

Instantly, Tess, Lizzie, and Ellie were sprinting away, Bellamy barely an inch behind as he caught up with them.

Lizzie let out a loud shriek as she came face-to-face with another clicker, instantly plunging her knife harshly into its shoulder before ripping it out. The creature wailed in pain, trying to slice at her dangerously.

"Elizabeth! Come on, now!" Tess demanded loudly, ordering the girl to follow behind, to which she didn't hesitate.

Bellamy's dangerous snarls flooded the air as the clicker got closer to the three.

Suddenly, The three tripped over a broken mannequin, pushing them all to the floor. "Shit, Run!" Tess screeched, darting forward.

Lizzie didn't have time to see where Ellie had hidden, instead she grabbed Bellamy, pushing them both under a large mahogany table. Lizzie clutched Bellamy tightly, too afraid to let go.

Only when she heard Ellie's horrified screech did she immediately crawl out, praying that Bellamy wouldn't have moved by the time she went back.

The scene before her left her in a mortified trance. Joel and Ellie both lay on the floor, screeching in fear as a large clicker pounced at them, only inches from their faces.

Instantly, Elizabeth moved forward, raising her knife and slamming it mercilessly into the clicker's neck. The action felt sinful. Had the adrenaline that coursed through her veins ceased, maybe she'd have felt guilty.

The clicker shrieked in agony, clawing at its back where a dozen stab wounds lay to rest. Behind the clicker, Elizabeth stood, her knife raised again and again as she slaughtered the creature.

The girl only stopped as Joel raised his gun, shooting at it endlessly. His gaze was harder than pure diamond as he shot at the clicker, only stopping when he was sure it was dead.

Elizabeth shivered in terror, darting away again and back under the table. To her luck, Bellamy remained under the table, his eyes searching coldly for the monsters.

The sound of gunshots swarmed the area, causing Lizzie to lower her head, placing her hands over her ears to block out the frightening noise.

"Beth! Beth, where are you?" Ellie's familiar voice rang out, her footsteps getting closer as she looked for the girl.

Immediately, Lizzie slid out from under the table, followed by Bellamy as the dog crawled out. "I'm here."

The two were joined by Tess and Joel, the adults scanning over them in concern. "Are you alright?" They asked.

"Traumatised, but yeah." Lizzie anxiously chuckled. Tess turned her gaze to Ellie. "What about you?"

Ellie stood, trembling slightly. "Well, I didn't shit my pants, so." She mumbled, rolling up her sleeve, "You fucking kidding me?" Her arm adorned a patch of blood she'd earned from the clicker. "Well, if it was gonna happen to one of us."

"Hey," Tess started, her voice soft and light, "let's get the fuck out of here."

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FRESH AIR SEEMED LIKE A REWARD AFTER THE TERRIFYING SHIT THEY'D BEEN THROUGH. So, when the fresh breeze of clean air hit their faces, Lizzie couldn't of been happier.

The four had found a window that they'd managed to open, Joel and Tess exiting first before Ellie, Lizzie, and Bellamy.

Tess sat at the edge of the window, gently checking her twisted ankle as Joel moved to sit beside her. The man had provided a small bandage for Ellie to wrap her arm in, to which the girl thanked him.

A long plank of wood on top of a ladder connected the museum to the neighbouring building, allowing them to cross over between the two.

"Over there?" Ellie asked, gesturing to the wood.

Joel nodded. "Yeah, I know it looks scary." He started. "That was scary. This is wood." Ellie commented, walking first over the plank of wood.

For safety reasons, Lizzie decided it would be best to hold Bellamy in order to reduce the risk of him falling to his death.

"You two wait there. Give us a minute." Joel ordered, turning back to Tess in a conversation neither of the girls could hear.

The two girls stood quiet for a moment. "Thanks, by the way." Ellie stated.

"For what?" Lizzie asked in confusion.

"For saving me from that clicker." Ellie finished, tugging at the sleeves of her red hoodie.

Lizzie sighed, "Nah, it's nothing. Besides, couldn't let you die and leave me here alone with Joel. I'd die!" The blonde grinned, successfully making the brunette smile.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I wouldn't like to be here without you either, Beth." The brunette shrugged, smiling faintly.

Lizzie tilted her head with a beam, "oh, don't go all soft on me now, El." She playfully pushed her shoulder against the brunette's.

The two almost hadn't noticed the arrival of Joel as he moved to stand beside them.

The sky burnt in a ray of soft blues and whites, catching their eyes in a hypnotising gaze. "Is it everything you hoped for?" Joel asked after a moment.

Ellie shrugged, "Jury's still out. But, man, you can't deny that view."

"True." Lizzie added.

Finally, Tess approached, her eyes scanning over the sky carelessly. "Come on, let's get there before it's dark."

And so the group descended down the ladder, Joel being slightly displeased at the fact that a dog had to be carried over his shoulders.

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LIZZIE WAS GETTING TIRED OF WALKING. It seemed like an endless cycle of torture. Walk. Climb. Get absolutely scared to death. Climb. Walk. On and on.

Lizzie had also taken to noticing Tess' unusually fast movements as she walked a couple of feet a head of them, sparing them glances every so often.

Due to the woman's increased speed, it didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination. They sat out of sight behind a plant-covered car, waiting for the appearance of the fireflies.

After a moment, Joel stood from his spot, creeping closer to the building with his gun secure in his grip. He inched towards a large blue truck that sat idly outside the large building.

He swung open the door, his gun pointed directly at the empty drivers seat.

"What's happening?" Lizzie asked Tess, leaning over the woman to catch sigh of Joel gesturing for them to stay back. The older woman had her gun pointed and ready, Ellie, Bellamy, and Lizzie behind her.

"Joel!" Tess exclaimed, watching the man open the two back doors of the abandoned truck. "What the fuck is going on?"

Lizzie and Ellie walked quickly behind the woman, watching her and Joel's negative reactions to the scene before them.

"I don't know." Joel breathed out.

Lizzie's eyes focused on the patch of blood on the steps, the trail leading inside the building. The blonde nudged Ellie lightly, pointing to the blood trail in confusion. "They went inside."

Immediately, Tess snatched both's arms in a tight grip. "Come on. Come on." She muttered, determination leaking from her expression as she stomped up the steps.

"Tess! Tess!" Joel protested, following quickly after the woman as she dragged the two girls forward and into the building.

When Tess pushed open the doors, her face paled noticeably as she inspected the interior. Everybody in side lay limp, no sign of life remaining on their blank faces.

"Jesus Christ." Lizzie breathed out, her eyes scanning the multiple dead bodies that littered the floor.

I mean, there's gotta be a, a fuckin' radio or somethin', right?" Tess stressed, searching the piles of briefcases that sat at a desk.

Lizzie moved away from the bodies, a large wince on her face as she looked at their cold eyes. "Was it FEDRA?"

"No," Joel began, using his foot to flip one of them over, only to reveal a man who lay in pool of his own blood, "One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone's lost." The man turned, hearing Tess' loud banging, "Tess? What're you doing?"

Tess scanned everything insight as though she were a wild animal backed into a corner. She released a heap of panting breaths as she walked closer. "Where did Marlene say that she was taking the two of you? Elizabeth!" The blonde simply stood, unaware of why the woman's behaviour had become so different. When the woman received no answer, she turned to Ellie. "Uh, I don't know. Just west."

"Just west. Fuck," the woman turned, breathing out at an uneven pace. "Okay. Well, I mean, one of them's gotta have a map on them, right?" The woman panicked, scanning over the corpses, "Joel, can you help me?!"

"No!" The man dismissed, "Tess! It's over! We are going home!" The man insisted, walking over to the crouching woman.

"That's not my fucking home!" Tess barked defensively.

The room quietened drastically. Tess licked her lips, standing face-to-face with Joel. "I'm staying. I mean our luck had to run out sooner or later."

Then lizzie noticed it. The soft growl Bellamy let out, his eyes trained on Tess as he emitted a clear warning. One that told Ellie everything she needed to know. "Fuck. She's infected."

Elizabeth turned to the woman, her face paler than a ghost's as she examined Tess' now obviously shaken figure. The woman stood, her chest rising and falling with soft gasps.

"Show me." Joel demanded.

Elizabeth felt her own heart ache as she watched Joel flinch away from the woman as she tried to move forward. After a moment, Tess pulled back the collar of her top to reveal a large, growing bite mark on her neck. "Oops, right?"

Tess looked to Ellie, "take your bandage off."

Slowly, Ellie unravelled the bandage that rested on her arm, revealing the bite that hadn't worsened. "Look, Joel," Tess approached the brunette, "this is real. Joel, she's fucking real. I need you to get them to Bill and Frank's." The woman sniffled, hiding her hand that violently shook.

"No." Joel shook his head in disbelief, his eyes brewing with fear. Fear of losing his best friend. Fear of losing the one person he'd sworn to protect. "No, no, no, no, I can't. They wont take them. They're not gonna take them."

"They will cause you'll convince them. Yes you will. I never ask you for anything. Not to feel the way I felt, not to," Joel's soft pleas melted away as she spoke, "no. Shut the fuck up 'cause I don't have time. This is your chance. Get them there. . .you keep them alive. . .and you set everything right. All the shit we did. Please say yes, Joel, please."

Lizzie didn't believe herself to be too much of an emotional emotional. But, as she stood watching a woman she barely knew say her final goodbyes, her heart ached a feeling of sadness she hadn't felt in a long time. She hadn't felt the feeling of her heart tearing since her brother's departure. And it was crushing.

"Oh, fuck!" Ellie screeched, rushing away from her spot after hearing a loud, inhuman gasp. Joel raised his gun, shooting the infected in the head without a second thought.

"shit." Lizzie mumbled, noticing the infected's hand latched tightly on a patch of living cordyceps. Tess' words from the events prior rung in her head like a horrifying chant. The approaching cries of the infected rose from the silence, poisoning the air around.

"How many of them?" Tess asked, watching as joel sprinted to the door and back with an anxious twitch of his eyes. "All of them. Maybe a minute."

"What do we do?" Lizzie asked, her tone infiltrated with panic as she backed away from the door.

Tess' eyes shone with an idea as she picked up her shotgun. Moving over to the tall barrels of gasoline, Tess pushed holes into them, throwing them carelessly to the floor and flooding the room with the liquid.

"Wait, Tess, what the hell are you doing?" The blonde asked, unsurely.

"Making sure they don't follow you." The woman carried on throwing barrels of gasoline to the floor, following by small grenades.

Tess gave a glance to the blonde, as if deciding wether or not she should speak her words. "God. 'Lizabeth, your mom loved you so much."

"What?" The blonde inquired, immediately walking over to the woman, only to be ignored. "Tess, wh. .what do you mean?"

Tess walked back over to Joel, "Joel, save who you can save."

Joel turned to the two girls, "come on."

"No—" Elizabeth's words were cut off by Joel grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder, ignoring her angered protests. His arm gripped the back of her knees tightly, making sure she wouldn't fall. "Joel, let go of me!"

Joel used his free arm to grab Ellie, dragging her along with him. "Bellamy!" The man barked out, ordering the dog to follow after them, to which the dog complied with a whimper.

"We cant leave her Joel, please!" Elizabeth cried, slamming her fists endlessly on Joel's back. "No! We're not leaving her!" Ellie cried, desperately trying to get back to the woman. Joel remained ignorant to both girl's wails as they tried to free themselves. "Get off me, you fucker! We're not going with you!"

Joel continued to drag them both far outside the building, dragging them both down when a loud commotion burst from the building. The man finally dropped the blonde, letting her roll her way on the grass until she could sit up.

Elizabeth's eyes turned salty, her mouth forming into a frown as she watched building go up in flames. Screams and wails echoed from the building as it burnt everything inside with scorching hellfire.

Elizabeth sniffled, a small tear fell from her eye, immediately being wiped away before Ellie or Joel could catch a glimpse. She was tough, and she needed to be tough.

Because Tess Servopoulos was gone. And there was nothing they could do.

☼

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ authors note !
Double update cause why not
anyway so I'd thought I'd mention just cause idk if anybody is aware ( u all probably are but we move ) animals apparently can't be infected but can transmit it.
So if Bellamy was to like bite a clicker or somethings I don't think it would affect him? Idk.

BUT TESS MY GIRL DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER

but at least we can move onto episode 3