The Last of the Walking Dead (Mystearica x My Angel is Broken)

[Mystearica]

"Aw, sonofa... c'mon... just... there!"

It was a dusty building Ellie had set herself up in -- geographical borders had very little bearing decades after everything had gone to crap, but she had to figure that she was... probably not so far from the coast. Maybe North Carolina? Nature had reclaimed too much of the former zone she was in to make much sense of it.

It was a military building she was in, though, that much she was sure of. She'd siphoned gas enough for the generator that could open up the elevator, with the small caveat that the darn generator had been busted, too! With a bit of oil on her sleeves now, Ellie had seen to fixing that particular problem.

"Okay... let's just give you a pull, and--!" She gave the cord a jerk, the whirring of the generator almost loud enough to where she didn't notice a crash not too far away -- and most unusually, a crying out as well. Runners didn't make noises like that, nor did clickers.

"... aw, heck," Ellie said, letting the ripcord snap back into the generator. She picked up the rifle she'd leaned up against a nearby wall and strung it across her pack, which likewise went onto her back. Out came her usual pistol, loaded with enough to get her out of at least one sticky situation, and she headed for the door.

She'd grown these past few years -- leaving Tommy's place in Wyoming, and with it old man Joel. She'd been on her own going on three years now, and was well into early adulthood now. She missed having someone have her back, though -- made times like these less stressful.

"Hey," Ellie called out as she entered another part of the complex. "You okay?" She'd found a place where the floor had just rotted out entirely, and had covered it with a nearby mothbitten rug -- there'd been enough that most would just walk right onto it without any worry, and be deposited in the basement beneath. It hadn't been TOO far a fall, but enough that any infected weren't going to be getting out easily...

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

The sudden collapse of the floor beneath was enough to disorient anyone. It hurt, too. Even if the fall wasn’t TOO far. There was little time for a proper landing to be made, so Clementine found herself wincing and her hand rubbing at her tailbone. She even allowed herself a little whine as she nursed it in the most primitive of ways.

The fall itself was loud enough, but did she yell too? The fall was a surprise, to say the least. Maybe she had. Somebody might hear that. She thought with her face twisting to a grimace and beginning to take note of her surroundings.

“Okay, Clem, get it together.” She whispered to herself, steadying, getting herself to her feet. Thankfully, she hadn’t fallen into a den of creeping clickers. They would have swarmed her by now, anyway, if she had. She had come looking for… well, anything. Fuel, tools, weapons, medicine, food… Food. She remembered, her stomach growling.

She looked around her, the room dusty and dimly lit, the only light offered came peeking through a row of otherwise boarded windows. She began to move, to go about trying to find some way out of this predicament before whoever had set the trap comes back to collect their prize. That’s when she heard her.

Clementine froze for a second, glancing about, slinking away from view from atop and putting herself flat against the wall. She hesitated before daring to respond. The voice certainly didn’t sound hostile, but with what she had been through, trust didn’t exactly come easy. She hesitated before responding. “I’m alive, anyway.” She called back. For whatever that is worth. She thought.

 

[Mystearica]

Ellie might have been surprised that it was the voice of another woman, but she didn't let it show. In her experience, the only solo acts tended to be guys... with herself as an exception, of course. She came close to the edge of the pit, but thought better of it after a moment, keeping a few feet away as she knelt down and plucked out her flashlight. It took a moment of shaking, but soon there was charge enough to shine a light down into the depths of the hole, a circular light that illuminated the sheer amount of dust kicked up by the fall. Of course it was, though -- it had been over thirty years since the fall of civilization, though this place might have been occupied as recent as five years ago.

"That's my clicker trap -- though, uh, I guess not really. You're the only person who's fallen in. I didn't think anyone was around anymore," Ellie said. The other woman could probably get out given enough time -- there was likely tools enough down there to open up one of those boarded windows and climb out at ground level... but Ellie wasn't going to trust that too much.

"Show me I can trust you -- throw any guns you have down into that circle and I might just help you climb out of there. There's a desk up here I can shove down for you to climb. No sudden moves, though -- I'm armed, too," she informed the other girl, drawing her handgun smoothly and resting the arm with the flashlight over it, lighting and aiming in the same motion, settling herself firmly on the edge of the pit.

Come on, don't be a crazy... don't be a crazy... Ellie had had enough of crazy. She'd met more than one man crazy enough to look at another man and think that they looked delicious.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

“At least we know it works.” Clementine muttered to herself in response to the other making mention of her clicker trap. She thanked chance again that she was the first one to have fallen in. After all this time, what a way to go, falling into a hole to be torn apart. It could have been worse though, she supposed. I could have broken a bone and been stuck in a ditch, waiting to die.

Clementine chewed at her lip softly, nervously. She was hesitating. A machete was sheathed at one hip and pistol was holstered at her thigh, with precious few bullets. A sigh came from her lips, silently debating the choice with the highest success rate of surviving. She glanced around the room again, realizing her captor could easily find a shot if she were to move out from the cover of the ceiling. Clem could be dead either way here.

“I don’t think so.” She finally said, lying, retrieving the pistol from her side and readying it in her hand, though not raising to level. “Show me that I can trust you.” She offered instead. Clementine could feel her heart racing. She really didn’t want to be in this situation. She would have been overjoyed to cooperate with this voice, but too much had happened for Clementine to give up her weapons so easily.

Somewhere before an answer could be made, the distinguishable sound of clickers came from some ways off. Clem froze. Stuck in this hole. They might have heard. She thought, sucking in a breath and resuming proper breathing, collecting her thoughts. “Did you hear that? Clickers.” Was it her floor or the floor above? Either way, she was trapped without help from this stranger. I will not die trapped in a hole.

 

[Mystearica]

"Look, come on, just work with me. If I wanted you dead, I'd just--" And then Ellie heard it, an all-too-familiar sound reverberating off the walls. It was coming from... somewhere, but the acoustics were such that Ellie had no idea where it was coming from. Shit, shit, shit... She hated clickers, not that anyone could ever claim to like those creepy things.

"Yeah, I heard them," Ellie whispered, leaning over the side of the hole. "I don't know if I could pull you up. Are you good at running? Because if I drop this desk down there, they're going to know exactly where we are," she said. She pushed herself just enough over the side to get a look at the other woman, making out the general shape of her in the relative darkness of the hole.

"Yeah, if I tried, I think you'd just end up pulling me in after you by accident," She said, pushing herself back up to her feet. There weren't any ladders or rope, and even if she had the latter, there wasn't anything to tie it to...

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

It became quickly apparent that she had little in the way of choices here. She’s trying to help. Clementine realized as the captor explored the options with her instead of leaving her here alone. If she wanted you dead, she would leave you. She had to trust her. The stranger hasn’t given her much reason not to, aside for her own misfortune of falling into the trap and wasn’t as though there was much of a choice at this point.

“The desk then!” She hissed in a harsh whisper. “I’ll be quick.” She promised, stepping finally into full, clear, view. If she meant to help her, there was no point in hiding now. The girl could very well go from her captor to savior, and one doesn’t forget those who help them, not at the end of the civilized world, not if you’re of decent make.

In an attempt to clear up any animosity, Clem also brought the gun up to be easily seen. It was too late to throw it down, they it might need to be used now. Her hands were raised, to show she had no intention of hostility, for all the good that did. Anyone would be quick to change their tune when stuck in a room, the Infected imminent. The clicking click of the clickers clicked closer and closer. It was still impossible to make out the direction they were coming from, but they were definitely getting closer.

“Hurry!” Clementine urged. Then, suddenly, the door of the room she was very much trapped in tremored with sudden impact. It was bolted, but that didn’t stop it from swelling forward and straining. Just after the very loud, strangled, cry of an Infected came muffled from behind. Then the impact again. Clementine stuffed the gun back into its holster. The blade would be better, less noise. Clickers could still be coming from above or here or below. Either way, they were coming to them.

 

[Mystearica]

"Hey," Ellie said when Clem finally into into view, noting quickly the gun and the hands in the air. It was amazing how quick people could change when you could do something for them, though Ellie tried her hardest not to think such things. It wasn't going to do them any good not to trust each other right now. Backstabbing could come later if it would come at all. "Hold on just a sec," she whispered back, shoving herself quickly up to her feet and bounding over to the desk she had spied in the corner.

It was almost stuck against the ground, an old metal desk with a fake wood panel top, not unlike all the ones they'd had at the military academy in Boston. Her muscles heaved, her teeth gritting as she shoved the desk across the ground. It was sticking, of course, grinding across the floor boards as Ellie threw her weight against the side. Just a bit... more...

The desk toppled over the side of that hole, a bit of the wood giving way beneath it, Ellie backpedaling quickly as the desk slammed into the ground, kicking up a whole bunch of dust and allowing Clem time to climb onto it. It had landed on its side, so it would be a little precarious getting up and over the side. "Come on! Climb and I'll cover you," Ellie hissed, unslinging her rifle from her back as she took aim at the door that the infected were trying to get through on ground level.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

“Hey.” Clementine gave in response, just before the plan went into motion. Her fingers were tight around the handle of the machete, waiting in apprehension while casting glances towards the giving door. Her heart was beating so hard it was in her ears. No matter how many times she faced danger, that adrenaline came hard and pounding. Each time could be the last time and Clementine wasn’t going to forget that.

The crashing as the door would subside for seconds at a time. Bam! Then scratching and groaning and pushing. Then a moment of silence until the bam came again. Each time, the door seemed to get a little weaker. It felt like she watched for eternity, waiting, until she heard the desk scraping above, nearing the edge of the hole. Clem kept away from the hole as it fell, slamming hard against the floor. It was loud enough for Clementine to suddenly not care about the use of guns. If they weren’t all aware before, they certainly were now. The sounds carried ever closer, growing louder.

Clementine coughed through storm of dust, waving in front of her face in an attempt to clear it away from eyes and mouth and nose. She stuffed the machete back into its sheathe, preferring to climb safely with both hands. Just as she climbed onto the desk, the door finally gave in and burst open, splintering the wood and swinging it agape. The Infected man, clad in some uniform ripped nearly to shreds, came rushing instantly. And seconds later, another was appearing behind him.

Her heartbeat was all she could hear. So close, they were so close. Clementine climbed, scrambling back up the whole and crawling fast away from the edge. The instant she realized she was above and safe, even if for the briefest of moments, she began to collect herself. She coughed away more dust, her breath coming ragged, her pulse subsiding to a controlled pace. The adrenaline was hers now.

One more cough and she was on her feet, eyes reddened and watery from the influx of the dust, but it didn’t stop a smile of relief creeping up upon her lips, just before exhaling a shaky breath. The Infected were clumsily trying to climb, something they would eventually figure out. A few more had come to occupy Clementine’s short-lived prison as well. The clickers still sounded off, heading towards the commotion. They needed to move.

Even so, the girl would offer that same smile to Ellie. “Thanks. Thank you .” If she had plans to do her in, then at least she wouldn’t be dying Infected or ripped to shreds. At least, she doesn’t seem the type to rip me to shreds. “I’m Clementine.” She felt the need to introduce herself. Her life was saved by the other, after all. “Maybe I should save the introduction though… They’re coming.”

 

[Mystearica]

Ellie could barely see through the heavy dust kicked up by the landing of the desk, so she was already moving. The chair for the desk was a wheeled one, thickly covered in dust and heavy -- but not too heavy for Ellie to lift. As Clementine struggled over the side of the hole, Ellie was coming the other way, tossing the chair firmly down at the closest infected still down in that bottom room. There was a clamor as it smashed into one of their heads, another infected tripping over it in the confusion of dust and ballistic office furniture.

"Don't mention it. And it's Ellie. C'mon -- we gotta stay ahead of them," Ellie said, moving away, heading for where she had been earlier. She had brought her pack with her, of course, but she was traveling a little heavier these days, her extra duffle bag left behind by the elevator. Through the door she went, dropping to her knees by the duffle bag.

"Bar that door with something. There's a window a coupl'a rooms over we can get out of. It's how I got it in the first place," Ellie said, glancing over to Clementine as she quickly zipped up her duffle. The door's handles were large enough to stick a heavy object through, and from a desk in the corner to a steel ruler on top and an old (and clearly busted) military rifle in the hands of a long-rotted corpse in the corner, its head clearly having been blown out from beneath), there were a handful of things useful to guard the door.

"You ready?" Ellie asked as she slung the duffle onto her shoulder, it clearly clanging a bit with the shift of tools inside. The downside to beign an effective engineer in the apocalypse was, of course, an issue of tools. Ellie literally would have killed for a proper tool belt.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

Clementine readjusted the hat that sat upon her head, the only constant that seemed to remain in her life at this point. Her only remnant of what was before. It seemed another world, the times she bothered to look back. Sometimes, she wondered if it had ever been any other way and the fleeting memories were only that of dreams misconstrued. Her hands brought the backpack that hung on her shoulders up tighter on her body as she followed Ellie, immediately following the other girl’s orders. “I’m on it.” She announced, scooping up that busted military rifle and shoving it between the handles of the door.

She stepped back, still facing the door, her back towards Ellie. It wouldn’t hold for long, she was sure, but they didn’t need too long. “Ready.” She nodded, face full of determination. It still felt vaguely surreal to be working together with someone again. How long had it been since she last had a dependable ally? Not that she could assume Ellie was trustworthy, but she could at least assume she was capable. She had survived as well and, apparently, had no trouble in doing so alone. It was admiration, maybe. Just a bit.

The only way to go now was forward, toward the window Ellie mentioned. Clem would let her lead, still occasionally coughing from an itch at the back of her throat, clearing out any remaining dust that irritated her. Could be worse, at least it’s not spores. The thought of falling into a den of the fungus sent a chill down her spine, even after so long. Stuck in a room to mutate and lose the mind, she would have sooner took her own life then give it over.

Soon enough, they would hear the Infected slamming themselves against the barred door from behind. They were still fortunate enough to find themselves free of clickers so far. Maybe they wandered off, Clementine could only hope against the odds. There was no way they wouldn’t be attracted to their slowly-changing brethren smashing against doors. And once the clickers arrived, their insane strength would tear the door to shreds.

One hand gripped the gun at her side, the other hand grabbed at her arm and rubbed. “Hey...” Clementine thought of saying something. Making conversation. They seemed somewhere around the same age… She also knew better than that. Getting to know anyone these days seemed to set you up for the inevitable pain of their end or their betrayal or… whatever it was that would take them away. “Nevermind.” So she stayed quiet, the only sound for the moment was the threat continuously looming noisily from behind, and they neared the window. Just focus on getting out of here alive.

 

[Mystearica]

Ellie was swift in moving, the duffle under one arm as she led the way with her pistol drawn. It had been a long time since she had really had someone to watch her back. There had been others since Joel -- there had been Steve and Annie and an assortment of other half-remembered faces. For one reason or another they had parted ways -- she had always been at the periphery of the group. Maybe... maybe it was about time to see about leading her own group. Of course, that was the dream in these days, wasn't it?

Rooms passed, old writing desks and file cabinets blurring by on the edges of Ellie's vision as she headed for the window she'd come through. "Here -- you go out first. I'll toss the bag to you," Ellie said as they hit the end of the line, the window overlooking the grass beneath. The drop had to have been about five feet, just low enough for a determined person like Ellie or Clementine to scramble into the building from the outside. It was an easier drop, of course, than it was a climb. Ellie waved Clem on out of the building, tossing the bag down to her a moment later. She was getting ready to go over it herself when...

There was a sound, an all too familiar one.

A screech followed by a chorus of clicks, one of the fast-moving mushroom heads having apparently been able to get through the door, following the sound of voices and eventually the clatter of a heavy bag outside. "Shit shit shit--" Ellie was shoving herself out the window just as the clicker rushed forward, smashing into Ellie.

The two went over the side, the clicker -- a former soldier by the looks of him, the old helmet broken through in places through which fungal growths pierced -- on top of Ellie and trying to scratch at her. "Get.. the fuck... OFF OF ME!" she yelled, kicking the clicker in the gut and keeping an arm underneath its chin, trying to shove the stupidly strong creature off of her.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

Clementine made no effort to fight each of Ellie’s commands. The girl clearly knew this place better than her, at least, the side of the building, and trying to argue any alternative seemed unnecessary. She could certainly see following this other girl, working together, surviving together, if they could survive this day. And if Ellie would even want her company. Clem had no idea if she belonged to some group, or preferred it alone. The closer they got to safety, the more she found herself looking forward to the prospect of a traveling companion once more.

The darker skinned girl gave a nod before taking the leap out the window, landing with a panther-like agility, complimenting her lithe frame. A soft grunt came from her lips from the impact, regardless, but Clementine was just fine and was quick to stand and turn around to look up expectantly, awaiting the bag. She caught it again, the heavy bag with its contents shuffling about, creating plenty more noise than she would have liked.

“Okay, got it! Come on!” Clementine waved her out, taking a look around her own surroundings. It seemed to be clear, at least for the time being. The grass was high and swaying along with the cool breezes blowing through. It might have sent a chill down her spine, had her adrenaline not been pumping so. It wasn’t long after she urged Ellie along that the clicker made itself known. Clementine gasped. “Jump!” But it was too late, the clicker too fast, and it was upon Ellie and suddenly they were both falling towards her.

Clem jumped back to avoid the struggling pair crashing into her, but she was quick to retaliate. To return the favor. “Hold STILL!” She called, but it was an impossible request. The clicker was all over her, trying to claw and bite and infect. Clementine had her gun trained on the creature’s head, but it was far too risky. “Fuck.” She hissed in a frustration, instead grabbing at the handle for her machete. Once it free of its sheathe, Clementine rushed, arcing her arm back for a swing, high, before hammering it back down to cut deep into the thick stalk of the mushroom head, a guttural noise of effort escaping from the girl. Clementine severed it completely, a testament to the blades sharpness and to her strength.

The decapitated head would loll off and likely drop unceremoniously into Ellie. The body, Clementine was quick to kick off of her, letting it roll to the side. She extended a hand to help Ellie back up, despite breathing heavy. “That was too close. Are you okay? You’re not bitten, are you?” She asked, voice shaky, though she didn’t seem necessarily alarmed. Clementine had watched enough people turn, and it didn’t happen so fast, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d have to end a life as a result. She just didn’t want to have to do it again.

 

[Mystearica]

Ellie had been in this situation far too often, and for all that the clicker was strong, Ellie knew what she was doing. She was holding those teeth back -- even if they couldn't infect her, they could still tear her throat out and leave her just as dead as any other "survivor". All she could do was hold him off, get her gun and gutshot the bastard -- but as it turns out, it wasn't something she neded to worry about as a thin blade went right through the clicker's neck, dropping the head on her. Ellie spat and pushed the body off of her, rolling out from underneath him and just slightly tugging her sleeve down where Clementine couldn't see. She had felt it -- the scrape of teeth along the bottom of her arm.

Maybe it wouldn't have been enough to infect either way, but people weren't so understanding about that sort of thing out here. They wouldn't take chances. They'd just tyr and kill her.

"No... no, I'm good," Ellie said as she doubled over, setting her hands on her knees as she sucked in a few great big breaths. "Okay... phew! Thanks for the save. Let's get out of here, okay?" Ellie asked as she knelt down to pick up that big bag of tools, throwing it over her shoulder and securing it tight there. "I have a place -- it's a bit over a mile away from here. I think we're in North Carolina, because I totally found an old moonshining shack out here. A kinda nice one, if you can believe it," Ellie said, picking her way over the corpse of the Clicker. They needed to get out, and for once she actually had a place to stay.