The world was too silent tonight, the kind of silence that pressed against Ellie's ears and made her skin crawl. She crouched in the corner of a ruined gas station, her knife gripped tightly in her hand.

Outside, the faint clicks of Stalkers echoed in the dark, their movements erratic and too close for comfort.

Ellie found you just as the tension broke- a Stalker lunging through the shattered window. She didn't hesitate, her blade flashing as she drove it into the infected's throat. But the scuffledrew more.

"Damn it!" she hissed, grabbing your arm and pulling you into the back room. Her breathing was heavy, adrenaline pumping as she barricaded the door with a broken shelf. Turning to you her eyes were sharp, determined.

"Were not dying here, " she whispered, the of fear laced in her voice. " Not tonight. "