The trio rode through the woods. They had been on the road for nearly two weeks and were finally nearing Seattle. Dina and Ellie were talking about Joel when Dylan began to listen in.
"This hunter was on top of him...drowning him. And...Joel couldn't get to his gun." Ellie said to Dina.
"Jeez...Were you scared?" Dina asked Ellie.
"Well, I didn't even think. I just...I just ran in there, grabbed his gun, and...shot the guy in the face." Ellie replied.
"How old were you?" Dina asked.
"Fourteen." Ellie replied as the trio continued their way through the woods.
"How old were you when you first killed someone?" Ellie asked.
"We talking infected?" Dina asked.
"No. Fully conscious, non-fungal person." Ellie replied.
"Ten." Dina said.
"Wow." The twins said in unison.
Dylan enjoyed conversations like this, he enjoyed getting to know all the nitty gritty details about people. It's what helped him trust people better.
"What happened?" Dylan asked.
"Guy was coming at my mom. I stabbed him." Dina replied.
"Shit...You got me beat." Ellie said.
"Yeah, I'm a real badass." Dina smiled.
Dina looked around, seeing nothing but trees.
"So, how lost are we?" Dina asked.
"Uhh, we're not." Ellie replied, not sounding very confident.
"Uh-huh." Dina smirked as she looked from Ellie to Dylan.
"Hey, have a little faith." Dylan smiled.
The trio continued through the woods and Dina struck up another conversation.
"What about those crazy cannibals you said you and Joel ran into? They came after you guys once...maybe these WLFs are connected to them." Dina suggested.
"No. Didn't seem like the same group." Ellie replied.
"Maybe those black market smugglers back in Boston?" Dina asked.
"Dina, Joel crossed a lot of people...I don't see the point in guessing." Ellie answered.
"Okay." Dina replied.
"At least until we find out more information." Ellie said.
The trio rode on through the woods and found some cars on the road, a sign they were getting closer to the city.
"Sure seems quiet." Dina informed.
"Yeah...Think about how well we hide our lookouts." Dylan said.
"I know...That's what scares me." Dina replied.
The trio pressed on as they galloped through the woods, soon coming up on a clearing. The trio found a gate, restricting their access to the city.
"Whoa. Is that the QZ?" Dina asked.
"Yup. Watch the high spots." Ellie informed.
The trio rode closer to the gate and dismounted their horses. Dina looked at the gate.
"'WLF. Trespassers killed on sight.' That's friendly. At least we know we're in the right place." Dina said.
"Where is everyone?" Dylan asked.
"They put up this sign...Means there's gotta be a way in." Dina replied.
"Yeah, okay, split up and see what you find. Call out if you see anybody or anything." Dylan informed.
The trio looked around, finding supplies and notes scattered in the trailers. Dylan was able to make his way up onto one of the trailers and jump across to a platform, which led to a ladder.
"Ellie, Dina...up here." Dylan called.
The girls made their way up onto the platform and Dylan pointed up at the ladder.
"Help me up there." Ellie said to Dylan.
"Okay." Dylan replied.
Dylan readied himself, placing his hands on his knee before Ellie placed her foot in them. Dylan lifted Ellie up high enough for her to reach the ladder.
"Could you go with her please?" Dina asked Dylan.
"Sure. You okay with getting me up there?" Dylan asked.
Dina nodded and copied Dylan's previous actions, lifting him up to reach the ladder.
Dylan followed after his sister and Dina called up to the twins.
"I'll keep an eye out. Just see if you can get the gate open from the other side." Dina called up.
"Sounds good." Ellie replied.
Carefully, Ellie and Dylan made their way across the metal beams and ledges.
Their final obstacle before they were able to make it over the wall was a short jump.
"Please be careful." Dylan said.
"Of course, when am I not careful." Ellie replied with a smirk.
Ellie leapt across the gap and slammed into the platform, clinging on for dear life as she pulled herself up.
"Ellie!" Dina called from below.
"I'm okay!" Ellie replied.
Dylan looked to Ellie and shook his head.
"Careful my ass!" Dylan said.
"Hey, cut me some slack. I nearly died." Ellie replied.
Dylan shook his head and took a deep breath before he too leapt across. Ellie helped to pull him up.
"Christ, you two are going to give me a heart attack!" Dina called up.
"We're okay, Dina. We're gonna head over. Be aware of your surroundings and keep an eye out." Dylan replied before the twins climbed over the wall.
The twins headed down to the ground and were able to power up a generator, allowing them to open one of the gates behind the wall. The twins headed over to the large gate, seeing a slot in the gate. Ellie opened it and revealed Dina.
"Hey." Ellie greeted.
"Everything okay? What was that sound?" Dina asked.
"We got that gate open. We gotta figure out this one now." Ellie replied.
"Shouldn't take us too long." Dylan said.
"Well, we believe in you." Dina smiled.
"Thanks." Ellie and Dylan replied.
Ellie looked around finding another port for the power cable to hook up to. Dylan had an idea and pulled out the power cable and tossed it across the gates towards Ellie. Ellie plugged in the cable to the port, powering up the other trailer.
"Okay, what do we have in here?" Dylan asked.
Ellie and Dylan moved over to the console, seeing a keypad.
"Looks like we'll be needing those codes you found. If you would care to do the honours, dear sister." Dylan smiled.
Ellie typed in the code for the gate.
"Yes!" Ellie said before she pressed the button to open the main gate.
The twins watched as Dina lead the horses into the QZ.
"Well done!" Dina praised.
However, the power began to cut out and the gate slammed down behind her scaring Shimmer and Shadow.
"Shit!" Ellie said.
Dina ran over to calm down Shimmer, but Shadow was very spooked at the loud sound. Dylan ran out quickly and moved in front of Dina, making sure Shadow didn't kick her.
"Woah, boy! Shadow, hey, it's okay boy!" Dylan said as he tried to calm down his horse.
Shadow began to calm down and Dylan held onto Shadow's face, looking his horse in the eye. Dylan began to stroke Shadow's neck and under his chin.
"It's okay, boy. You're safe. Shhh." Dylan said as he stroked his horse.
Dylan looked back to Dina, seeing her a little shaken.
"You okay, D?" Dylan asked as he took Dina's hand.
Dina nodded as she took a deep breath.
"Yeah. He just rattled me, that's all. I've never seen him do that before." Dina replied.
Dylan let go of Shadow and pulled Dina into a hug.
"I'm sorry." Dylan apologised.
"It's okay. I'm okay. Nothing to worry about." Dina said as she patted Dylan on the back.
Dina began to laugh a little as Shadow wrapped his head around the two of them.
"See, Shadow's sorry too." Dylan chuckled.
Ellie smiled as she joined the two of them. The two pulled out of the hug and the trio mounted their horses.
"What's the plan now?" Dylan asked.
Ellie looked to Dylan and began to think. She pulled out the map of the city that she had found on their way in, looking over the ground they needed to cover.
"I think it would be safer if we worked together on this, but I'm open to ideas." Ellie replied as she looked to her brother.
"Let me see that." Dylan said as he held out his hand for the map.
Ellie handed Dylan the map and Dylan studied it, letting his brain work.
"Okay. I suggest that we split up. That way we cover more ground and if we find any infected, we can clear them out, making it safer. We mark each building we safely clear out, that way we don't search the same places twice. If we find any WLF, we take them out quickly and if possible quietly." Dylan suggested.
"Whatever the plan is, we need to get out of here. That crash was pretty loud." Dina informed.
"Okay, Dina and I will look together and you'll head off to search alone, but please meet up with us every so often, just to give me peace of mind." Ellie said.
"Of course." Dylan replied.
"Just so you know, that note I found back there with the codes on it. Says there's a WLF safe house at someplace called 'Serevena Base.'" Ellie informed.
"Serevena...So we find it?" Dina asked.
"And hopefully we find our first WLF...Get them to talk...Go from there." Ellie replied.
"Let's do it." Dylan smiled.
With that, Dylan galloped into the city with Shadow heading towards Downtown.