Chapter 5
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Ellie's eyes flickered open.
She laid nestled in a thin blue blanket, with Joel next to her on a battered mattress, and Cutter on the sofa. Both men were unconscious, sporting bloodstained bandages on their right arms as trophies of the prior brawl. Fortunately, she herself only carried a dull ache and light bruising on her stomach where she had been kicked twice.
Ellie's first instincts were to either locate her knife and stab the stranger to death, or to wake Joel. What stopped her performing either of these actions was a realisation of the careful way in which the three of them had been placed here. Such hospitality indicated that they had friends rather than enemies.
Hushed voices reached her ears. Determining that the sounds came from an adjoining room, Ellie approached the connecting door and pushed it open apprehensively.
"Well, well" said an unfamiliar voice. "One of them's awake. Take a seat and we'll ask you some questions."
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Victor Sullivan sat back in his chair, disbelief etched across his face.
"Well she seems pretty sincere, Nate, but come on? Zombies? Magic portals? I'm not buying it."
"I'm not sure, guys" said Chloe. "However preposterous it is, there's a lot supporting the story, and nothing disproving it."
Nathan Drake nodded his head thoughtfully. "That's true. And it's not like we haven't seen our fair share of the supernatural. Mutated, zombified Spaniards, anyone?"
"Don't forget, considering we're being besieged by bloody dinosaurs, a little time travel story shouldn't sound quite so bizarre" added Chloe.
"Okay" conceded Sullivan. "Fine, but proceeding under the assumption that all that really is true, what happens now?"
Ellie interrupted the adults from her spot at the opposite end of the table they were seated at.
"We tried going back to where we first appeared but there was no sign of it. The... portal... is gone. We're... stuck here."
"But is that such a bad thing?" asked Drake. "If what you've said is true, you've spent your entire life growing up in an apocalypse... We don't have any of that here."
"You're forgetting something" said Chloe. "For them, the epidemic started in 2013. For all we know, that's set to happen here in two years' time."
"Shit, you're right" said Sully, stunned.
"Slow down a minute" protested Nathan. "With all this crazy shit going on, dinosaurs and portals or whatever, how do we know anything's going to happen logically from now on? Clearly something big has happened. Really big. We need to be able to assess the situation. The first step is to get out of this chateau, to somewhere where we can figure all this out. We can't be the only ones; while we're running around out here, there's probably scientists running tests, armies fighting threats, all of it. We just need to focus on ourselves and get out of here."
"Well said, mate."
The four turned to see Cutter standing in the doorway.
"The old man's stirring now" he pointed back into the other room. "I think they should come with us."
"Sounds good to me" said Chloe, standing up and stretching. "The more the merrier."
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Charlie Cutter winced as his arm twinged with pain. The wound had been well-treated but it would be a while before he was fully recovered.
While Ellie had adjusted to the strangers quickly, there had still been tension between them and Joel. This had cleared somewhat as they got to know each other, but Joel had made it very clear that he did not yet trust them, and was only accompanying them because a group of six was much stronger than a pair.
As the rest of the group filed on ahead, Ellie dropped back to walk next to Cutter.
"Sorry about your arm" she said sheepishly.
"Yeah, well. I'm sure I gave you plenty of bruises to compensate."
"Any of us could have died... I'm sorry about Joel, but he's a survivor. He's been fucked over too many times to trust strangers. Our world is a different world. Trusting too easily is how people get killed."
"Forget it. I'm willing to forgive since I'm still alive, but let me tell you, if I'd been killed then I'd definitely be holding a grudge right now."
Ellie smiled.
"You know what? I like you guys."
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"I gotta say, it's refreshing to see a fellow oldie who can hold their own" said Victor Sullivan. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?
Judging by his expression, Joel clearly did mind.
"50!" called Ellie from the back of the group.
Joel scowled back at her, an insincere gesture that nonetheless succeeded in conveying his disapproval.
"Lucky you" smirked Sullivan. "I got 5 years on you, pal."
"But still strong as an ox, right, Sully?" called Drake, grinning.
"Damn right, kid". Sullivan turned back to Joel. "But wait until your every bone starts creaking every move you make! Snap, crac--"
CRACK.
The entire group froze.
Something was outside.
Just audible on the ground outside beneath their second-storey window were heavy footsteps. Whatever it was, it was much, much bigger than a raptor.
Suddenly, it emitted a loud, deafening squawking sound and charged rapidly out of earshot. It was gone within seconds.
Then a faint sound reached them.
The same squawking sound, multiplied, many different ones at different pitches, reverberating around the area, surrounding the chateau.
Getting louder.
Getting closer.
"Run?" said Chloe.
"Run" replied Drake.
The six of them sprinted off up the corridor, varying degrees of terror filling them. Could they get in? Did the things know where they were? Were they actually running from nothing?
They reached a boarded up door, but Joel didn't stop, instead slamming into it and breaking through, showering the entrance with thick dust. The rest followed more cautiously.
They were in a large room, standing on the balcony that encircled it, and looking down into a huge area on the ground floor. The balcony was damaged in several places but seemed relatively stable, whereas the room itself was filled with detritus; it was covered with loose wood, and had ivy infiltrating the walls.
Joel had sighted the door on the opposite side of the room, and pulled Ellie with him as he made his way along the balcony. The absence of their companions, however, made him pause. They were still at the door, and with their eyes all fixed on the exact same spot, it wasn't difficult to figure out what was stopping them.
Looking back at him from the floor was a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Everybody stood transfixed as it rose to its feet a mere ten metres from Joel and Ellie and emitted an ear-splitting roar.
"Back through the door!" yelled Joel, as the dinosaur ran towards him.
Joel was a man of action, and had almost reached the door in five seconds flat when a scream reached his ears. He turned.
The Rex held a backpack in its mouth.
Ellie was currently wearing it.
As Ellie was carried away, Joel ran back and straddled the balcony. Hanging on for dear life from the inside, he reached out a huge hand to grasp Ellie's arm before she could be carried away. Tearing up at the thought of abandoning all of her precious mementos, Ellie somehow managed to shrug the bag off and Joel caught her by the arm. As the dinosaur relinquished the backpack and moved in for another swipe, their companions fired shots, temporarily preventing the attack.
Instead, it charged at the quartet, forcing them to retreat back through the door. Joel yelled with pain as his wounded arm propelled Ellie up on to the balcony.
"Run, Ellie! Back to the others!" he said as the Tyrannosaur approached them.
It swung its head like a club, narrowly missing Ellie as it ploughed into the balcony, sending wood flying. The balcony shook violently, and supports fractured all around the structure. Joel found himself hanging one-handed as his section of balcony hung vertically, connected to the rest by almost nothing.
"Run, Ellie, now!" yelled Joel as the Rex closed in, mouth wide open to snatch him from his helpless position.
She stayed silent, tears streaming down her face.
"I'll be fine" he said.
He let go of the railing and dropped out of sight.