The Race of Gloom - Write to Rank 2021 Submission

The Fear of Us - Red Belt (TLOU Spinoff/Fanfic)

I rode as fast as I possibly could.

"Faster, Harley!"

Harley's mane was the colour of black, and together with his dark fur, he resembled a blur if seen from afar. Together, we pierced through the cold night.

Nothing could stop us. The storm and thunders rolled, and we didn't even heed the two. Maria's words echoed in my mind, warning me about the wrath of the insane Ellie.

We passed through the empty fields and the familiar sign which said, 'Welcome to Montana'. The town of Hardin would be up ahead. I was afraid that I was too late.

I passed through the empty houses of Hardin and eventually stopped on a nearby cabin just north of the town. The wind bristled, rising all the hundreds of hairs sticking on the back of my neck.

The cabin was lonely. Its alarm contraption, which Geoffrey installed by himself a month ago, was on the floor, broken into two. The bell was plundered, and the wirings were trashed. The wooden door to the single-storey cabin was opened.

I was too late.

I cursed under my breath and prayed. Instinctively, I reached for my silver revolver slung to my waist and cocked it. I prepared my flashlight and proceeded to enter.

Shards of broken glasses littered the floor of the living room. Several small dents on the wall suggested some gunfights between individuals.

I had never felt the urge to burst more than that point in my life. But I had to collect myself and focus.

"Geoffrey? Mila?" I risked it. I couldn't help but shout their names.

But in the end, I didn't need to. The first shadow that I encountered was slumped on the kitchen floor. I illuminated the area with my flashlight and scanned. My heart completely dropped when I saw that Mila was blanketed with blood. Her right hand was firmly pressed onto her stomach in which a wound had been formed. Her white face was never that pale. Her blond hairs never looked so dim. Her eyes, blue and supposedly bright, showed no emotion but fear.

"Jesus, Mila!" I knelt immediately and ransacked my backpack for bandages. I knew none could help my dying friend, but reflexes moved my hands without the command of my brain.

"I'm sorry, Iris. We couldn't stop her." Mila coughed a mouthful of blood and smiled. It was hideous.

Then, I saw Geoffrey in the corner of the kitchen. His neck was slithered. Blood pooled all around him.

"You're going to be fine. I'm going to bring you back to Jackson."

Mila shook her head. "They know, Iris! They know we were Fireflies."

I applied the bandages roughly on her streaming wound while holding back the tears. "It doesn't matter. They don't care about our past."

"Ellie does," she said with a struggle. "And she thought we robbed Dina."

I stopped for a while. "That stupid bitch thought we did that to her girlfriend?"

"Yes. Iris..."

I leaned down to hear her gasping words. She couldn't be helped. I knew it. But I could do nothing but deny it.

"She won't stop. You're still alive. She will get to you."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about⸺"

But the crash interrupted me. I saw a flashbang breaking the window and entering the kitchen, and I immediately covered my sight and rolled to the back of the countertop.

"Hang on, Iris!"

But she didn't answer. All I could hear was the blissful bang.

I clutched my revolver tightly and waited. Nothing happened.