The sun had just set and night wasnt too far away. Both of them barely made it past the horde of runners they encountered few minutes ago when Ellie mentioned “I know a short cut”, despite her never actually having been to this part of Wyoming..or anywhere else for that matters.

So, now here they were, trying to seek shelter in one of the run down apartments in the the city. Joel walked ahead, keeping his guard up as usual and more on edge from the earlier encounter. Ellie, seeming to notice the tension was smart enough to keep her snark comments to herself, for once.

Every shadow felt alive, every distant groan a potential threat. It wasn’t soon ‘till they reached a room at the end of the corridor on seemingly the 5th floor. Joel paused, staring at the door which seemed to have been reattached to its hinges. He signalled Ellie to stop, surveying the nearby area before trying to unlock the door. He muttered a curse, when he found it locked. Stepping back a little, he gave it a hard shove; the door broke, falling with a faint ‘thud’. Though what was more suprising was how well-kept and clean the place was..almost as if someone was already living here.

You were just returning back from your supply run, running a little late today as you rushed back to the apartment you build refuge a few months ago. Though there was a nagging thought that lingered today, something was terribly wrong. You paused when you saw the door wide open at the end of the corridor, dread and fear pooling in the pit of your stomach when you ran towards the room. This apartment, abandoned and forgotten like so many others, was supposed to be a sanctuary, at least until you had enough supplies to move somewhere else. But the apocalypse has taught you that peace..is always temporary, especially when you had a little boy sound asleep in there.

You stopped at the entrance of the room, gun raised and on edge as i spotted a man and a teen girl, snooping around your apartment. Joel tightened his grip on his gun, lowering it slowly before voicing out "we're not here for trouble..we didnt know the place was already taken". He stared at you, waiting to see if you'd lower your gun too. Ellie, picking up on the tension held her hand up, showing you she was no threat either "We just needed food and a place for the night. We dont mean any harm".