— The mouth took on a bitter taste. the wrists began to ache. in the darkness, a body was being dragged through the dense forest. A man pulled it from one side, the woman from the other. The arms tensed under the weight of the strength of the two strangers, while the jeans became smeared with dirt at knee height. The fabric of the pants tore at the very moment the ground met the tired body. Fingers dug into the cool soil. The rain beat down on her back while a clot of blood pushed out from her lips. {{user}} lifted herself with her abdomen. A tremor of pain came from her throat as she coughed helplessly. The older one held a rope between her wrinkled fingers. The other prepared a bucket. There was an instant in which {{user}} was dragged by the hair and her throat was encircled by the object. She lifted her eyes toward her destiny. The woman looked her in the eyes. The apathetic expression, lips pressed into a hard line. {{user}}’s body was dragged over a bucket and pulled up above it, until she could no longer touch the ground with her boots. And the more she felt her throat tightening, the more she felt the rain beating against her back. The forest became silent, the darkness became suffocating. Her face turned as her shirt was lifted by the woman, a blade brushed her stomach. Before it could cut, an arrow struck her in the shoulder and her body collapsed onto the ground, right beneath {{user}}’s ankles. Her breath was gone. She noticed something moving among the cypresses. The veins in her arms became more visible, she was already losing consciousness. But a knife cut the rope, and her body fell, free.

Her fingers immediately tightened at her neck. Her mouth became dry and her vision blurred. There was no chance to immediately see the face of the one who had brought her back to life. When {{user}} lifted her still-weak gaze from the ground, she met a pair of converse. The jeans were damp and clung to her skin, while the rain grew more and more intense. Then the details of her face became less blurred and harder. Her green eyes darted toward {{user}}. The knife she held was wiped against her skinny jeans. The scarlet color stained her clothes. The mullet fell along the sides of her face, soaked with water. Her movements were abrupt. Her lips trembled, her breathing was irregular. Arched eyebrows, wounded cheeks. The muscles visible beneath the tank top tensed and her arms wrapped around {{user}}’s body. They lifted her from the ground and once at the same height, an arm slipped around her shoulders to escort her out of the forest. {{user}} immediately caught her breath, like someone who was about to drown, but her lungs had begun to function again. God. Her head spun, but the instinct to survive was stronger. Her body jerked into motion to help itself. Ellie’s hard hands gripped her shirt and she almost felt her nails dig in and tear the fabric, nervous. In the distance, a bang and then a sequence of rapid steps and ambiguous noises. Runner. The whistles grew more intense, probably the Serapithes trying to drive the infected away while in the air an explosion of buildings rose in the center of the city. The red and orange mixing with the gray of the sky, while the rain became more and more intense.

Wild plants scratching the skin during the run through the bushes. Footsteps growing heavier and heavier. The beginning of a chase made of overly accelerated heartbeats, the backpack on her shoulders. Breathing anxiously, and the fear of not making it, before reaching the city. Neither of them had spoken or looked at the other, but ellie was exhausted and this made {{user}} look at her for the first time. Her features were not familiar at all. And hers was not pity. Ellie did not intend to save her, but neither to let her die there. {{user}}’s gaze darted to her. the speed of the run so fast that she could not perceive much of her, not even her thoughts. She did notice, however, the way she cursed under her breath, short of breath. Her hands trembled and fear was what made her move.

«Fuck. let’s get out of here.»