Элли и Наруто были гораздо более естественным дуэтом, чем кто-либо из них ожидал. Они двигались плавно и осторожно, стараясь не попадать в какие-либо нежелательные ситуации.
For Naruto, it felt nice having a teammate who could watch their own while also keeping an eye out for you. Back on team seven, Sakura often complained how annoying their mission was while Sasuke would rather watch him fail for his amusement.
As for Ellie, she wasn't used to having her ideas or thoughts heard. While she was sure Joel didn't take what she had in account because she was a 'kid,' it was frustrating to be disregarded often. The military raised her, she knew a thing or two about surviving!
The two together worked like a well-oiled machine, covering the other's backsides. It was a shocking realization to see how easily they worked with one another, even for both teens. However, they weren't going to complain about it.
Clearing another empty warehouse, both teens took a moment to loot it. Naruto took one end of the building while Ellie took the other.
Opening a cabinet, Ellie took a surprised glance at what she was seeing. "Hey Naruto, guess what I found!?"
Lifting the lid of a toolbox, Naruto slowly pushed around the parts inside. Without glancing over, he called out, "What did you find?"
"A freaking medkit…!" Ellie smiled while holding the bag in front of her. In this world, finding medical supplies was just as important as finding any weapon. Medicine was perhaps even more important given just how common injury was.
Storing it in her backpack, she put it away for later use. This was an absolute score from an old warehouse in her mind. It looks like some of Naruto's luck was already rubbing off on her.
"Nice freckles! I just found some parts that I think we can use to upgrade our weapons…" Naruto commended while putting away the parts in his bag. He didn't want to freak out Ellie with chakra just yet so instead of pulling out a storage scroll, he just threw them in his bag. He could always seal them up later on.
"Can you put that together? I mean, don't you need to be some kind of mechanical wizard to make that happen?" Ellie asked while walking over. She didn't want to offend the blonde, but upgrading a weapon in general often required intimate knowledge of how to take it apart.
"I've read enough engineering books and done some small stuff before, I think I can do it," Naruto said confidently while thinking of ways he could upgrade his pistol. He also wondered if learning how to forge would be worth the effort in the future, that way he could make his throwing knives instead of relying on looting.
He also wondered if learning how to make explosives would be worth the effort.
Scratch that, it sounded way cooler than he thought. Now he wanted to learn how to make them.
"Well let's move out then whiskers, we still got broad daylight," Ellie mentioned as they slowly made their way out. They had been exploring for about an hour at this point, coming across various buildings and houses. They had found a considerable amount of supplies by this point, ranging from food to parts.
If her priority wasn't looking for Joel, Ellie wouldn't have minded spending more time on their run. It would have been worth their time given just how good it was going so far.
"Alright, down this way," Ellie pointed out while walking down the road. Unlike yesterday, they had hardly seen any infected today. She wasn't complaining though.
Following behind, Naruto watched as Ellie led them both to where he had saved her yesterday. They soon passed the area and kept walking deeper into town. Soon enough, Ellie had led them both to the safehouse Joel had been running toward the day earlier.
It was a surprise she hadn't encountered any of Bill's traps along the way. Joel always explained how the paranoid man had tripwires all around the town. She had even seen it up close the day before when it wrapped Joel up.
"We're here," Ellie confirmed while feeling a smile of relief come across her face. She didn't think they would find it so easy or encounter such little infected along the way, but it was amazing. For once, it felt like everything lined up for her.
Knocking slowly but with power, the two teens awaited a response. However, the seconds dragged on and nothing happened. Growing frustrated, Ellie knocked again but this time with more power behind her fists. Once again, she waited. Once again, there was no response.
Seeing Ellie scrunch up her nose in frustration, Naruto decided to help out. "Here, let me try. Maybe they're still asleep."
Balling his fist, Naruto pounded on the door with ferocity. He didn't worry too much about attracting any nearby infected given they hadn't seen many so far. After giving the steel door a few good strikes, the blonde realized no one was coming to answer the door.
"Hold on, let me try something…prepare yourself…" Naruto mumbled to Ellie while placing his left hand on the door's surface. With his right hand, Naruto slowly reached down to his Karambit and prepared for any unsavory situations.
Seeing what the blonde was implying, Ellie retrieved her switchblade and held it at the ready. In case some kind of trouble befell Joel, they had to prepare to fight it off.
Nodding in assurance, Naruto channeled chakra throughout his body and gave a good shoulder bash into the steel door. The blonde didn't even flinch as the barricaded door busted open and revealed the interior.
The steel rebar that was locking the door in place fell to the ground with a loud bang. It was cleanly snapped in half from the door forcefully opening.
Stepping into the room, both teens were on alert and looked around. They held their breaths while scanning their room, looking for any threat. After realizing it was empty, both teens put their weapons away and began to explore.
The entire interior looked like an abandoned restaurant with empty booths, tables, and counters. Perhaps it once held many customers, but now it simply collected dust. Empty alcohol bottles lined the back of the room which once served paying patrons.
"No…no, no, no, no…!" Ellie whispered out in alarm, realizing Joel was no longer there. "We were just coming here yesterday! How are they already gone?!" She kicked over an empty can on the ground, watching it slowly roll away.
"Ellie, calm down," Naruto said in a low tone while shutting the steel door behind them. He grabbed a nearby table to hopefully replace the rebar he had snapped getting in. It wasn't the same, but it was what he could do in the meantime. "We can still search the town, they couldn't have gotten far in one night.""Yeah…yeah, you're right. I just need to chill," Ellie said while patting her face. She couldn't let her emotions run wild when they could still find Joel. She looked around the room and realized whatever weapons were stashed here, were also gone. It looked like Bill didn't like leaving anything behind when he moved. That paranoid man.
The previous moments replayed in Ellie's head before she turned over to see Naruto putting away the snapped rebar. "By the way, how did you fucking snap some steel rebar in half? I mean that's impressive as hell man!"
She didn't process what he'd done until things calmed down. She wasn't even sure if Joel could do something like that, and he was a grown man. Naruto just continued to surprise her.
"I've always been quite strong for my age," Naruto tried to play it off while sheathing his Karambit. "I guess it's in my genes." In his mind, he wasn't technically lying. Chakra was a part of his biology and it helped with his strength.
Before the two could continue with their conversation, they heard some shouts and yells. Running over to another door in the safehouse, they opened it up to hear the shouts much clearer.
"Damn it Bill…I…then we…" They could only hear some words from the shouts given they were rather far away. However, Ellie only needed to hear these few words to know who it was.
"That's Joel! We're close…!" Ellie perked up with hope shining in her eyes. Maybe she could still find the man and find the Fireflies. She had to keep hope up. Now, it was only a matter of finding him. "That's who we're looking for Naruto! C'mon on!"
Nodding his head, Naruto jogged behind Ellie as she ran towards the source of the shouts. They quickly ran out of Bill's safe house and left it behind. As they ran, they could see hordes of Infected in the distance.
"Looks like we found out why we hadn't seen much Infected today. They were all focusing on this part of town," Naruto thought while keeping pace with Ellie. Whoever Ellie was traveling with had surely caused a big enough ruckus to get most of the Infected on him.
Naruto then had to change his jog into a run as Ellie sprinted through town. He was beginning to worry that Ellie was disregarding her safety as they ran across town. They ducked under obstacles, jumped over fences, and squeezed through gates.
"Ellie, slow down! We can get there, but let's keep calm!" Naruto tried to say as he saw Ellie jump onto an overturned bus. The vehicle was blocking their path so the teen decided to take it upon herself to get over it.
As Ellie tried to climb the overturned bus, she couldn't hear much around her as adrenaline flooded through her veins. She was finally getting back on track to finding the Fireflies. To give her life meaning.
"Ah…!" Ellie shouted in panic, feeling her foot slip as she tried to climb the bus. Thankfully, Naruto was there the next second to push her foot up. With a hard push, Ellie finally climbed over the bus.
Landing on the other side, Ellie glanced over to see Naruto easily vault over the overturned bus. She nodded and kept her pace forward, "Thanks!" The teen then took a running start toward the shouts. They weren't too far by this point.
Naruto held back a sigh, trying his best to stay calm. It was clear that this small bit of hope was overtaking Ellie's sense of reason. She needed to slow down and get there effectively or she could hurt herself.
The blonde watched as Ellie came to a stop around a corner. Following right behind her, he saw what she was looking at. Up ahead, there was a horde of Infected walking around the outside of a school Glancing at the top of the bricked building, Naruto saw the words: "Lincoln High School."
As they wondered what to do, a sudden noise filled the air. It didn't sound close, yet, it didn't sound far either. It was almost like ambiance noise, flooding the area around them with no specific direction of where it was coming from.
"What's that groaning?" Naruto whispered to Ellie who had a frown on her face. It looked like she was trying to remember where she recognized the noise only to shake her head. She couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
All the more reason to tread carefully.
"All right, it looks like those Infected are trying to break into the school. If I had to guess, I'm assuming the person we're looking for is in there. I say we sneak in and see if we can't find them without alerting the Infected." Naruto offered while keeping his eyes forward.
"Right," Ellie nodded, allowing Naruto to take the lead. She had seen what he could do so far so she felt confident in his abilities. It was finally time to face the music and get through the thick of it.
"On me," Naruto indicated while ignoring the groaning noises around them. They seemed to get louder as they slowly trekked around the school. Both teens were crouching as they maneuvered their way closer to the school.
Taking cover behind an overturned police vehicle, Naruto tried to pinpoint where the groaning was coming from. Even after channeling chakra into his ears, he could only get a vague distinction that it was coming from somewhere inside the school.
"Is there multiple of them…?" Naruto thought with narrowed eyes. He should have already pinpointed the exact location of this Infected but he hadn't yet. That led him to believe there had to be multiple creatures making this same noise. Something that unsettled him.
Deciding it wasn't worth worrying about it for now, Naruto focused on where the Infected were concentrated. A majority of them were slamming their fists into a steel door while others slumped against the brick wall.
It was clear this specific entrance was where the shouting had come from earlier.
"You see that entrance up ahead, Ellie?" Naruto asked while never taking his gaze away from the Infected.
"Yeah, I see it," Ellie confirmed in a quick whisper.
"I think that's where they went through. Let's catch up to them, we can't be too far behind them. We just need some kind of distraction so we can sneak in…" Naruto said while scanning his eyes around. Eventually, he saw an above-ground propane tank sitting in the distance. If he had to guess, it was about 150 feet away or 50 yards.
If he could get it to explode, it should take away all the attention of the Infected. That would make it easy to sneak in without issue. All he needed was a way to make it explode now.
Feeling an idea hit him in the moment, Naruto looked over at Ellie who was watching the Infected pound away at the locked entrance. "Ellie, do you have a fire starter kit?"
A propane tank needed heat to explode. He would need to expose it to open fire if possible for the best results. He would have never known this either if it wasn't for the various books he read in the past few months. It looked like all that reading was gonna pay for itself again.
He was definitely going to keep his reading up. Knowledge was powerful after all.
"I don't have a fire starter kit…but…" Ellie responded while fishing through her bag. She quickly swung her backpack to the side and rummaged through its contents. Finally, the teen smiled and pulled out a tool. "…I have this lighter. It doesn't have much gas in it, but it should light whatever you need."
"That's perfect!" Naruto said with a smile. Gently grabbing the tool from Ellie's hands, Naruto decided to rip off a small piece of his flannel shirt. The thin, long strip of wool from the bottom of his shirt was then wrapped around a nearby rock.
After tying a knot and leaving a piece of wool dangling, Naruto began sparking the lighter underneath.
"C'mon…" The blonde said quietly while trying to get the wool to catch fire. It was hard to do without any lighter fluid, but it was doable. He sparked the lighter a few more times before the lighter held a stable flame. With a relieved smile, he let the flame begin to burn the wool.
Giving the lighter back to Ellie, Naruto watched as the small ember began to slowly grow in size. It was clear the fire was starting to catch onto the piece of clothing.
Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto decided it was time to put his plan into action before the fire would reach his hand. Peeking over the vehicle they were behind, he brought his arm back and launched the rock through the air.
To Ellie's amazement, the rock flew the distance before puncturing the propane tank in the distance.
BOOM!
"Yes, survival skills for the win!" Naruto cheered in his mind, finding it satisfying when a plan went into action. Throwing the rock wasn't too difficult given he had hit the target much farther before with his throwing knives during practice.
"Holy shit…! Naruto's like superhuman or something!" Ellie thought with wide eyes. Not only did he break through steel rebar, but he also launched a rock through the air with perfect accuracy.
SCREECH!
Immediately after the explosion rocked the surrounding area, both teens watched as the nearby Infected rushed the fire. Some of them launched themselves into the flames while others stood on the outskirts of the flames. It was clear they were searching for the source of the noise.
The sudden clearing left the once-crowded entrance wide open.
"Let's go…!" Naruto whispered while shuffling over to the doors. Both teens were still crouching but they increased their pace. They didn't want any Infected coming back before the explosion died down.
Naruto and Ellie each then took a position on either door. The blonde placed his left shoulder on the door while the redhead placed her right shoulder on the other. With a nod, both teens pushed with their strength.
Both doors swung open with ease. They saw an overturned soda machine which they assumed had been blocking the entrance before. It seemed all the banging from the Infected had moved the obstacle out of the way moments before they arrived.
More good luck if they were being honest.
Quickly shuffling inside, both teens pushed the soda machine back against the doors and sighed in relief. It felt nice to not have anything go wrong while working together.
"Damn whiskers, you need to train me sometime! I mean, I want to learn how to throw like that!" Ellie said with a grin. "You throw like those baseball pitchers I used to read about in magazines!"
Naruto could see that Ellie was slightly sweating. He assumed it wasn't from the physical movement but from the hidden stress of facing so many Infected. People were bound to be stressed when they saw Infected in the area.
"Let's get this finished first then we'll talk about throwing lessons," Naruto chuckled while adjusting his backpack. "…I will charge you thought. And a fair warning, it isn't cheap…"
"Oh c'mon! You don't have like a friend discount? Or a friend's special that makes it free?" Ellie played into the joke with a grin.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Naruto tapped his chin in thought, "…Nope!"
Both of them shared a quick laugh at their small interaction. It was good to keep spirits high especially when the situation itself was stressful. If Ellie was being honest, Naruto's leadership so far had led them pretty well.
She wondered if she could do the same if the roles were reversed.
"Anyway, let's keep going," Ellie shook her head in amusement. "We shouldn't be too far behind now."
The two then walked into the abandoned high school. As their footsteps filled the empty hallways and their conversations grew, neither realized one glaring issue.
The groaning noise from before had only seemed to get louder.
"What the fuck is this…?" Ellie questioned while poking a dead infected with her foot. However, it was not any simple Infected, but a rather bloated one. Its stomach was protruding and its skin looked like it had armor plating.
"I…I don't know," Naruto admitted while they both looked down at the dead creature. Its head had cleanly been blown off with a few shotgun shells laying around its corpse, giving a good idea of what happened to it.
Neither had ever seen this kind of variant before. In all honesty, seeing it up close was rather disgusting for both teens.
They had explored the high school from top to bottom and didn't find any sign of who they were looking for. They had taken care of a few Infected here and there, but it wasn't anything either couldn't handle.
It was only after the duo decided to check out the gymnasium which brought them some clues. Unlike the other places within the school, they could see a great fight had taken place here from the destroyed debris around them.
The shotgun shells left behind let them know whoever put the creature down, had lived to see another day given there wasn't another corpse nearby. They decided to keep moving forward but seeing this special variant brought up multiple questions in both of their minds.
Puddles of water were littered around the gymnasium with some bigger than others. It was clear that rainwater over the years had collected around the area given there were many holes in the roof. It was another sign that nature was slowly overtaking the human world.
Looking up, Naruto saw what was likely the exit for the people who used to be here. Above some bleachers was an open window, giving a clear exit to the outside. If this was the way they exited, they had to follow it and see if they could continue to track Ellie's team.
Naruto was hoping some footprints were possibly left behind or any wreckage so they could get a clearer image of where they went.
"Ellie, I think I found our way out of here," Naruto said while tapping the girl on the shoulder. "It looks like whoever was here exited this way."
"Yeah…yeah, sorry give me a second," Ellie said while closely examining the dead Infected at her feet. Crouching down, Ellie couldn't help but wonder just what she was looking at. If Joel had killed this Infected, then it only meant things were going to get more dangerous from here on out.
The massive Infected brought a frown to Ellie's face. If this variant existed without her knowledge, then it made her wonder what else existed out there. She wondered if more variants existed that even Joel didn't know.
Just as she was about to stand back up and continue the search for Joel, Ellie heard a sudden growl. Looking over her shoulder, Ellie felt her heart drop deep into her stomach. She was seeing an Infected launch themselves from the rafters straight at her.
It groaned while in mid-air, making both teens realize this was the source of the noise from earlier. At that moment, Ellie finally remembered where she recognized the noise from.
It was the same variant she encountered back with Riley long ago. If she remembered correctly, they were labeled as 'stalkers.' It was all coming back to her now. She wondered if it was coming back now because she mentally blocked what happened with Riley altogether.
At that moment, Ellie felt herself reach for her switchblade as the stalker was launching at her. It felt like everything was in slow motion, but even then, Ellie knew she wouldn't get her knife out in time. Now while the teen wasn't worried about getting infected herself, she knew the stalker could very well rip her throat out in a second. Now that would kill her, immunity be damned.
"Fuck…I'm gonna be too late…" Ellie thought while everything was happening. Her fingers were barely curling around her switchblade's handle. Even though she had exceptional reaction time for someone her age, it just wasn't enough in this case.
She hadn't even had time to turn her body around either, leaving her exposed for the stalker to attack. It was clear it had just been waiting for a time to pounce on either one of them and she had been the unlucky target.
However, just as the stalker was within striking distance, Ellie's eyes widened in surprise. At that moment, Naruto grabbed the stalker by its head and slammed it down into the ground hard. It was to the point it even cracked the wood underneath their feet.
Not giving a moment's rest to the Infected, Naruto followed it up by giving a harsh stomp to its head. The stalker's head was then reduced to a bloody much, spreading guts and other innards onto the ground nearby.
Just like that, it had been taken down in about a second. By the time Naruto had stomped it into the ground, Ellie was barely turning around with her switchblade in hand.
"Shit…!" Ellie said in surprise, calming down her speeding heart. She would have nearly died or been seriously injured if it wasn't for Naruto watching her back. This was technically the second time he had saved her life.
It gave her all the more reason to train even harder after this. She refused to be a liability to anybody. She could and would hold her own moving forward.
"You okay?" Naruto asked in concern, ignoring the blood that sprayed on his leg. He would have to wash his jeans later on, but Ellie's safety was infinitely more important at that moment. He had barely reacted in time after his instincts told him something was coming from behind.
He was thanking whatever lucky stars he had that he saw the attack coming in time. It looked like he needed extra training in scanning his surroundings. He realized that he needed to look up more often, he couldn't risk being ambushed like that again.
"I should be asking you that!" Ellie responded with a huff, feeling her heart calm down. The adrenaline from the experience was slowly fading as everything returned to normal, "You just curb-stomped that stalker into paste! How are you feeling?"
"So that's what they're called…stalkers…" Naruto thought to himself before shaking his thoughts away. He could worry about that later.'
"I'm good, it didn't really do much," Naruto said while making sure the Infected didn't suddenly move from the floor. He had to be sure it wouldn't get back up and attack when their backs were turned for the second time.
Ellie nodded before she noticed a small stream of red liquid drip from Naruto's hand. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was the same hand that he had grabbed the stalker's head with. It was then that her speeding heart dropped in despair.
"N-Naruto…check your hand…" She tried to fight off the suspicion in her heart, but Ellie was starting to internally freak out. She couldn't lose him just like she had lost her previous friend. This couldn't be happening.
"Hmm?" Naruto wondered while looking at his palm. Opening his hand up, Naruto saw a crude bite mark on his skin that was leaking small trickles of blood. It looked like the stalker was able to get a good bite off before it bit the dust.
"Oh, this? I guess I didn't feel it due to the adrenaline running through my body," Naruto shrugged, not thinking it was a big deal at all. It wasn't anything to be freaked out about in his opinion.
"No, you don't understand!" Ellie nearly shouted with tears in her eyes. She had tried to stop it but the tears were flowing naturally at this point, "Once you're bitten, you get infected! For some people, it takes minutes or hours, but everyone turns…everyone except me…"
Putting her head down, Ellie bit her lip while the tears continued to flow. Just when she was finding a good friend in Naruto, she had to go and screw it up. Because of her carelessness, she had just cost Naruto his life. All because he had to protect her.
"I'm so sorry…I'm so, so sorry…" Ellie said through choked sobs, clenching her fists tight. She didn't know what to do or say at the moment besides apologize. "It's all my fault. I'm so sorry whiskers, I…"
Naruto then gently placed both hands on the girl's shoulder and looked at her with a concerned smile on his face. "Hey, don't freak out freckles! It's okay, I heal fast! Besides, I've been bitten before and turned out just fine! It's nothing to worry about, I promise!"
It was true that Naruto had been bitten before. When he first awoke in this world, groggy and unbalanced, he had accidentally let one of the Infected bite his leg when he didn't check if it was down for good. It had stung at first, but nothing happened in the end. Whether it was because of the Kyuubi's chakra or his natural healing, he didn't know.
In fact, if it wasn't for Ellie saying anything, he wouldn't have even considered a bite from the Infected to be dangerous. It was clear he still had a lot to learn about the world, even after coming so far already.
"Y-you…you don't turn? You've been bitten before?" Ellie said with wonder in her voice, not believing what she was hearing. It was becoming a roller coaster of emotions for the girl, not knowing what to say.
"Yeah, look!" Naruto pointed out while bringing his palm up. Soon enough, Ellie saw it with her own eyes. The small trickle of blood she saw before stopped flowing gradually. Eventually, the wound settled into something of a stable state.
The bite mark was still there, but Ellie could see it wasn't bleeding any more. The initial discoloration of his skin around the area of infection was flushing back into Naruto's natural peach skin tone.
"It'll look like that for about a day or so before it goes away completely. It won't scar or anything so it's like it never happened!" Naruto said, hoping to cheer his friend up. He didn't think it was a big deal but clearly he should have taken it much more seriously now that he knew infection could spread through a bite.
In Ellie's mind, everything had just short-circuited. Everything she thought she knew had been thrown out the window with the blonde. He had great strength, incredible feats, and was now immune?!
It sparked something deep in the girl. Before today, Ellie thought she was the only immune person on the planet against the infection. However, if Naruto was also immune, it proved that a cure was possible. If other people out there were immune, then it meant humanity had a chance to fight back against this fungus.
Without warning, Naruto felt the air in his lungs expel after Ellie tackled him into a hug. She was squeezing him hard while mumbling into his chest.
"You're immune…you're fucking immune…I can't believe it whiskers…" Ellie laughed like she heard the best joke in existence while tears ran down her eyes. If what the blonde was saying was true, then she didn't have to worry about losing him like she did…Riley…
Patting Ellie on the back, Naruto tried his best to comfort the crying girl. He didn't mean for his friend to have an existential crisis, but now he knew better. He guessed being immune in this world was either uncommon or rare if Ellie was making such a big deal out of it.
It was at that moment that Ellie decided she could confide in Naruto with her secret. It was only fair after putting his life in jeopardy twice at this point.
Pulling back, Ellie wiped her eyes with a chuckle, still finding it crazy how small the odds were of running into someone else who was immune.
"There's something I want to show you, Naruto…" Ellie said while taking a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. It always felt hard telling someone else she was immune, even with Joel and Tess it was stressful. "…I'm also immune."
Pulling back her sleeve to reveal her right forearm, Naruto saw a very faint scar. It was so faint he could hardly tell anything was there to begin with, but it was there. Following the outline, Naruto realized it had the pattern of a bite mark.
"I was bitten by an Infected before and survived…" Ellie smiled, "…I've never met anybody else who's immune before, you're the first. Hell, you're probably the only other person immune on this planet besides me! You don't understand how amazing this is! We…we can bring a cure for humanity! The both of us!"
Naruto smiled, happy to see his friend passionate about her goal. It was clear this wasn't easy for her to explain, but Naruto commended her vision. He could see himself helping Ellie since it also aligned with his own goal.
"If that's the case, then I would love to help in any way I can," Naruto gave a cheesy smile while looking back at his friend, "I personally want to bring peace to the world and if this helps, then I don't mind helping."
Ellie bit her lip in excitement before nodding. She was feeling hopeful. Hopeful that this was a turning point for all of humanity. Maybe they could both turn this world around or start trying to do so.
"I think…I think it's time I tell you why I'm traveling across the nation," Ellie said while taking another calming breath. The teen felt like getting everything off her chest. She felt much more comfortable in knowing Naruto was immune and he had been nothing but a good friend to her so far.
"You don't have to-" Naruto began only to see Ellie shake her head.
"No, I want to talk about it…." The girl then pulled her sleeve back down, covering her forearm. "I'm meeting up with the Fireflies because there's a chance they can develop a cure from my immunity. The person I'm traveling with, Joel, is helping me track down the Fireflies and take me to their base…"
Naruto nodded, indicating he was listening.
"I don't know if a cure is possible…I don't even know where to find the Fireflies right now…but I want you to join us, Naruto," Ellie said with a determined look in her eyes. "…Join us, please. I know I'm asking a lot, but I'd love if you could come…please…"
Naruto took a deep breath before responding with a small grin on his face, "Ellie, you're an amazing person."
The girl perked her head up, not expecting to hear those words.
"Over the last 24 hours, I've gotten to know you, I can tell you have a good heart…" Naruto continued while placing a hand on her shoulder, "I didn't have a lot of things going on for me before I met you. I'd be more than happy to help you with your goal. If creating a cure against the infection is possible with my help, then count me in."
If they could create a cure, Naruto knew it would be a major step into bringing peace. It honestly sounded like a perfect game plan for the blonde.
It also helped that traveling with Ellie was a lot of fun as well. They two just meshed well on and off the field.
"Thanks whiskers…" Ellie said, her eyes now dry from the crying fit earlier, "…you have a good heart, don't ever change…also, don't ever mention I cried in front of you or I'll deny it till the day I die."
Naruto simply laughed in response.
Naruto and Ellie were currently running down the road. After their situation in the gymnasium, they exited the high school before hearing a running engine down the road. They realized that they were very close to finally winning the game of catch-up.
"I know for sure that's him," Ellie said with a determined look in her eyes as they ran to the road. They were running down back alleyways through the neighborhood.
The two finally came to the road and everything hit Ellie all at once. Looking down the road, she could see Joel speaking with Bill in the distance. The man had his arms crossed, leaning against the side of the truck while Bill stood across from him.
By her guess, it was probably their final goodbyes before Joel skipped town.
They had just barely made it in time.
"JOEL!" Ellie shouted with a grin on her face. While she may not have been too close to the man before separating, it felt nice to see a familiar face. She took off in a sprint, eager to finally meet with the man.
Hearing a shout from the distance, both men turned their eyes to see Ellie and a blonde kid running toward them. Joel's eyes widened in surprise, not sure if his eyes were playing a trick on him. "Ellie..?!"
Ellie then slammed into the taller man, wrapping him up in a quick hug. Joel also smiled, patting the girl on the back. Separating, Ellie gave the man a light punch on his shoulder, "About time I found you old man, you were about to skip town without me!"
Joel gave a hearty chuckle, "The thought never crossed my mind." He'd be lying if he said a small part of him didn't feel relieved at seeing Ellie.
Finally catching up, Naruto watched the interaction from the side. He got a good look at Joel and realized the man seemed to be an effective survivalist. His backpack was utilized to hold the maximum amount of items it could hold while his build spoke of a man that had combat experience.
If this was the person escorting Ellie across the country, Naruto assumed he could get the job done. The man just screamed an aura of reliability.
"Who's this?" Joel asked after glancing over at Naruto. He didn't recognize the kid at all but assumed he had something to do with Ellie given he had been with her.
Looking over at Bill, Joel realized the man had been tightly gripping his shotgun the entire time. Narrowing his eyes, Joel understood that the paranoid man had been looking at this new kid's gun the entire time. It was visible and on his waist, easily pulled if needed.
"Sorry I forgot to introduce myself, my name's Naruto," the blonde pointed to himself.
"Naruto? Ha!" Bill laughed out, amused at what he heard. "That's probably the weirdest name I've ever heard! The kid even has paint on his face in the shape of whiskers!"
Naruto looked on with a straight face, instantly disliking the man.
While he didn't voice it aloud, Joel also wondered what the markings on the kid's face meant. The closest he had seen before was when kids would paint their faces on Halloween. Long before the outbreak happened.
"He saved me yesterday from some Infected. We've been traveling all day to catch up." Ellie explained while looking at Joel. She chose to ignore Bill's words, finding the man to be annoying.
"Is that right…?" Joel said aloud with his southern accent, "…then you have my thanks kid." He looked at Naruto with respect, glad to see there were some decent people still out there. It was a rare commodity in this world.
"Of course," Naruto nodded with a smile. He was finding Joel to be a lot more tolerable than Bill.
It was at this moment the other man decided to cut the reunion short. He had places to be, and traps to set.
"Anyway, I've held up my end of the bargain," Bill said while shaking his head. He tossed Joel his shotgun, the man looking on in confusion. "Keep that as a final way of me letting you know I don't owe you jack shit after this. Drive out of town before the sun heads down."
Gathering his things, Bill decided to leave the area without saying another word. He soon disappeared in the distance, taking a turn down the road.
"I hope he isn't mad I broke the steel lock on his door…" Naruto thought with a wince, remembering how he broke the rebar clean in half. While he may not have liked Bill, he did end up breaking a piece of his property.
As for Joel, the man put the shotgun into the back of the truck. His bag and things were already loaded up, so he only needed to gather Ellie before departing.
The teen girl then decided to use this moment to speak her mind.
"Joel, Naruto should come with us," Ellie pleaded with a serious tone in her voice, getting straight to the point. She couldn't let an opportunity like this pass them up. She just couldn't.
In response, the larger man sighed while shaking his head, "I don't know if that would be-"
"He's immune Joel. Like me."
Those few words made Joel's brain stop on a dime. He had already come to terms that Ellie was perhaps the only person in existence to be free from this damn infection, however, he was now learning there was someone else just like her.
It didn't make sense in his mind. The coincidence was too high and the odds were too low.
"Ellie, listen…if this is some trick because you want to bring him along, it's not working. I get that he helped you, but we're not in the position to-"
Ellie frowned in frustration, knowing how Joel operated. The man was tough and had a cold exterior to others. At times, he was still distant with her and she had been traveling with the man for a while now.
In this case, she knew Joel needed evidence to believe her claims. Just as she had to provide before. He was a firm believer in logic after all.
"Naruto, show him your hand," Ellie said while never taking her eyes off Joel.
"Huh? Oh right!" Naruto said after a second of hesitation. Opening his palm and facing toward the man, Joel saw a faint outline of a bite mark. There was no doubt, Naruto had been bitten by an Infected.
"Jesus!" Joel said in alarm, taking a step back. He didn't know if Ellie was right in her claims, but now he knew for sure Naruto had been bitten. For all he knew, he could still turn in a few hours.
"Look, Joel! He was bitten but nothing's happening!" Ellie claimed before Joel could do anything rash. "He's just like me, he's immune! Maybe the Fireflies can develop a cure with our help! We can finally end this damn infection!"
"I…this…" Joel didn't know what to say as he looked in surprise. What he was seeing defied any logic he was used to. For the past twenty years, if someone was bitten, they turned. It was simple and he had seen it multiple times.
It was like breathing air or drinking water. There were certain rules of life and this happened to be one of them. He thought Ellie would be the only exception in his lifetime, yet, he was seeing proof of another.
"Sorry, I don't want to freak you out or anything," Naruto chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. It was a habit he did when nervous. "It's just that Ellie explained how rare it is to be immune and I wanted to help in any way I could."
"Rare is an understatement kid…" Joel breathed out with a shake of his head. "There shouldn't even be another immune person in the world but if what Ellie is saying is right…then this world just got a lot more complicated."
The smuggler contemplated his actions, unsure of what to do. Everything had been so simple before. Get the girl to the Fireflies, he gets his weapons, and the deal is done. Now, this other kid seemingly had the same immunity as Ellie.
"Alright, listen Ellie…" Joel sighed while rubbing his temples, he was starting to feel his age around these kids. Nothing but headaches came with them. "We can't just pick up anybody. It's too dangerous. You've only known Naruto for a day or so, it's-"
"It's longer than I knew you before we started traveling together," Ellie fired back.
The man closed his jaw, realizing the girl had a point.
"Please Joel, this is something we can't pass up on…" the teen girl said, "…Not only is he a good friend, but he can help bring a cure to humanity! We both just need to get to the Fireflies!"
Joel crossed his arms, contemplating many things at the moment. He wondered what he could even get out of the agreement. He was already promised his weapons the moment the journey was completed for Ellie, but what was the compensation if he also had to protect another kid?
"I'll even talk to Marlene about increasing the reward if you get Naruto there was well. She'll be excited to know you brought two immune people. I know she'd reward you for this. Please Joel…" Ellie said, pleading her case.
Naruto decided to walk up to his friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He didn't want her to fight on his behalf any longer. If he needed, he could part ways if it gave Joel or Ellie peace of mind.
"Ahh fuck…you know it's bad when I'd rather pay for a mortgage than deal with kids…" Joel mumbled under his breath.
Ellie heard the man and gave a small chuckle at his joke, breaking the harsh look on his face. It looked like her witty humor was starting to wear off on the man.
"Jesus…okay let's see. If we're going to make this work, I need to know some details and we need to make some rules. No exceptions." Joel stated in a firm voice while looking over at the blonde.
Naruto nodded, ready to give anything needed in return.
"First off, don't you have parents looking for you? Anyone that you traveled with?" Joel asked. He didn't need anyone bothering them simply because they were bringing the blonde along. He also didn't want to rip a child away from their parents if he could help it.
"Nope, I've been an orphan my whole life. I travel alone and survive on my own."
"He does Joel," Ellie confirmed with a nod, backing up Naruto's story. She didn't want Joel to think he was lying.
Joel raised a brow but didn't say much. He didn't want to open old wounds for the teen, but he was surprised how he could survive long on his own. Even he struggled at times and he was a grown man with decades of experience.
"In that case, start by passing me that gun on your hip," Joel said with calculating eyes, seeing how Naruto would react.
To his surprise, the kid merely shrugged before tossing the pistol over.
Joel caught the gun and was surprised at how willingly the kid passed it over. Looking at it closely, the man ejected the magazine only to see no bullets within it.
Giving a small chuckle, Joel looked at Naruto with a raised brow, "You know this gun doesn't have any bullets, right? You're just rocking an empty pistol for fashion?"
"Never found ammo for it," Naruto admitted with a shrug, "I'm not too good with guns anyway, I prefer to stick with my knives for now."
Joel shook his head before pocketing the magazine. Tossing the gun back over to the blonde, Joel spoke, "I'll hold on to the magazine for now. Maybe we'll find some ammo for it along the way."
Just like he didn't trust Ellie with a gun, he didn't feel the most comfortable with Naruto having one. After all, they had just met moments ago. He didn't know the blonde that well.
"Along the way? So does that mean he can come with us?" Ellie said, catching the last part of Joel's sentence.
"Hold your horses, we're getting there…" Joel calmed with an outstretched hand. "…Now Na'ruto, if we're going to be traveling together, we need to set some rules. Ground rules."
Naruto hid back a smile from forming on his face. It seemed Joel had some difficulty pronouncing his name with his southern accent.
"Oh yeah, Naruto's coming for sure now!" Ellie cheered in her mind with a smirk on her face. Once Joel started talking about rules and what to expect, it was a green flag that you were allowed to travel with him. She would know all about it.
"First off, you follow what I say, when I say it. Understand?" Joel asked with a firm stare. Seeing the blonde nod, he continued. "Second thing, no handling a gun without permission. Have a problem with it?"
Naruto shook his head, "Nope, that's fine with me."
The blonde didn't particularly care for guns so this rule didn't bother him.
"Finally, you'll be responsible for helping out with the trip. Guarding our camp, hunting, looting, and anything else we may need. Ellie does the same and so do I. Any problem with that?"
"That's no big deal for me!" Naruto smiled, actually happy about this rule. He didn't want to feel like a burden or liability for the duo, so this was something he didn't mind.
"This kid is way too positive…" Joel thought with a shake of his head. It was an enigma to find someone keep a smile on their face especially while being grilled. It didn't matter what he said or questioned, the kid kept on grinning.
Joel hadn't thought of his age in a while, but he was starting to feel it.
Naruto rode in the backseat of the truck taking them across the nation. They had left Lincoln about two hours ago and the trio were on the road to find a lead on the Fireflies.
From what Naruto had been told, they were searching for Joel's brother. They were driving to his last known location.
Furthermore, his brother had apparently once been a part of the Fireflies which meant he could point them in the right direction to find the group. Naruto realized it was so Joel could complete his requirement of delivering Ellie to the Fireflies.
However, that was the extent Joel was willing to talk about. He didn't say a word more than that.
Naruto got the feeling that the man was very distrustful of new people. He could understand that. In a way, the man reminded him of a few Shinobi from back home.
As the truck hummed lowly throughout the drive, Naruto couldn't help but stare out the window. This was his first time riding in any vehicle ever and it felt…nice.
His interest was piqued when they kept passing the same thing on the road. Every few miles, they passed the same structure. Sometimes it would be laying down, other times, it would be standing upright.
While he could certainly outrun the truck if needed and had traveled at much higher speeds than this, it was a new experience. Not only could he rest his feet while they traveled, but it gave him some time to reflect on everything that had happened so far.
Ellie was sitting beside him but she had long since fallen asleep. The girl was breathing slowly while her head rested on his shoulder. They had taken a sharp turn a few miles back which caused Ellie to be flung at the blonde, but he didn't mind.
It felt nice if he was being honest with himself. This was the closest contact he had ever had with a girl besides Sakura, but she always punched him if he got too close. Unlike Sakura, Ellie was much nicer.
Looking up into his rearview mirror, Joel looked at the two teens sitting rather comfortably with each other. Ellie was lightly snoring on the blonde's shoulder while he stared out the window. It seemed that the world amazed him as they passed by.
He could tell the kid had a hunger to learn more. To see more. It reminded him a bit of Ellie when he thought of it. Both kids looked like they would explore the world if let loose.
As the minutes ticked away, Joel shook his head with a chuckle, not believing what had occurred in the past two hours.
"Damn kids, making me work twice as hard for the same damn reward…" Joel pondered while keeping his eyes on the road. He was driving with his right hand on the wheel while his left elbow was leaning against the window. He occasionally rubbed his jaw, trying to keep himself awake throughout the quiet ride.
He watched as the roads took him across the wasteland that had become their planet. While trees, vegetation, and nature flourished in the past two decades, man-made construction was rotting away.
Old vehicles littered the road he drove on, causing him to occasionally have to swerve out of the way. Thankfully, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle so far.
"When did I go soft…" Joel muttered in his mind as his eyes focused on the road. He was a survivor at heart, he knew that. However, this entire trip was becoming more of a hassle than it was worth by this point.
He needed to find Tommy at this point, even if the man hated his very being. It was the only way he could find any lead on the Fireflies. Yet, as the trip dragged on with Ellie, he began wanting to protect her as well.
Joel knew he couldn't get attached, he knew he couldn't.
He had spent the last twenty years doing horrible things to survive. Never in his life did he imagine he would spend a portion of it smuggling a teen girl who would bring along a friend.
"Just find Tommy, grab the weapons cache, and leave this all behind…" Joel thought while his hand remained stead on the steering wheel. There was too much pain, death, and suffering in this world to remain attached to anyone.
Just as Joel was getting lost in thought, Naruto looked around and noticed something interesting. He stared up ahead and asked what was on his mind, "Hey Joel, what's that up there? I keep seeing them on the road."
"Hmm?" Joel hummed while snapping out of his thoughts. Looking ahead, Joel didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "What are you looking at?"
"Those long poles we keep passing, some of them are laying on their side." Naruto pointed out.
"Long poles?" Joel thought with confusion until he realized what the teen was talking about. "You mean billboards?"
Naruto spoke, "I think so. That one up there has a picture of some guy. Why is that?"
None of the books he had read mentioned much about what a 'billboard' was. There was only so much you could learn from reading, sometimes you had to experience the world to gain more knowledge.
Joel shook his head in amusement, "That pole is what we called an advertisement back in the day. They promoted products or people. The big pole holds up a banner or flyer, which we call a billboard. The guy on the cover is probably some sports star they were promoting at the time."
"Ahhh…I see…." Naruto hummed out in thought. He knew of the term 'advertising' but didn't see much of it in this new world.
"Just like Ellie…another kid with a million questions and a pain in my ass…" Joel thought with a small sigh. He felt like he would age so much quicker with these teens beside him. He was already contemplating stopping the trip altogether.
Whereas Ellie knew some of the world from living in it, Naruto didn't know anything about it. He had only arrived two months ago and a majority of the knowledge he got was from old books. It was nice having someone like Joel who could explain what the world used to be like.
Deciding to ask a question he had been wondering for a while now, Naruto looked at the driver of the vehicle.
"So then how did the outbreak start?" Naruto asked while making sure to not disturb Ellie. "How did the Infected take over if there wasn't Infected to start with?"
Joel rubbed his eyes before answering the blonde's questions, "Well, it started within a major food factory in South America. Some crops got infected and they were shipped out globally before anyone caught it in time. If you ate anything with flour or sugar, you turned within minutes or hours."
"Wait…what?" Naruto said aloud in worry, unsure of what to say. He had eaten plenty of products with sugar or flour in them by this point. Granted he hadn't turned, but it still worried the blonde.
Joel looked in the rearview mirror and chuckled, "Don't worry about it son, if you'd eaten the infected food, you'd have turned by now. Most of the infected or tainted food has either been consumed, thrown away, or burned at this point."
"I see…" Naruto said deep in thought, "So because it's been twenty years, most of the tainted food has already been used up or destroyed? Is that because the factory or crops being shipped out stopped a long time ago?"
"Correct," Joel nodded, impressed at the teen's quick thinking. "Since all shipments of the infected crops stopped two decades ago, more infected food couldn't be imported. Anything that was shipped here has long been used up."
"So there's a low risk of eating any tainted food nowadays?"
"Yep…unless Ellie's cooking, then it's tainted food," Joel shuddered, still remembering the last time he let the girl cook. His stomach still turned at the thought.
Naruto laughed, not expecting the joke to come out of the serious man's mouth. He had been caught off guard by the man's words. It seemed even he liked to occasionally joke under that cold exterior.
Ellie woke up to the sound of Naruto laughing. She slowly opened her eyes and focused her vision, realizing they were still on the road. She didn't know how much time had passed since she fell asleep.
Feeling something soft and firm under her head, Ellie realized she had been leaning on her friend's shoulder. Jerking back in embarrassment, the girl offered a mumbled apology. She must have accidentally fell over him while asleep.
Joel hid the smirk on his face, choosing to cover it with his left hand. The laughs of the blonde teen had made him smile, something he wouldn't admit.
As the conversations fared on, everyone began settling into a jovial mood. Even Joel's cold exterior was cracking a smile here and there. Naruto just had a personality about him that made other people warm up rather quickly.
On their road trip, Ellie remembered she had something special in her backpack. After rummaging through her bag, she retrieved one of her prized possessions.
A pun book. Full of jokes.
Their ride was filled with Ellie's bad jokes which Naruto enjoyed while Joel tried his best to ignore. However, occasionally, Joel did crack a chuckle at the pun book's jokes. He couldn't help some of them were clever.
While most of the puns were bad, that's what made them good. Naruto wondered if he could find another volume of it out in the wasteland just as he had found the other comics. It was food for thought later.
As the day turned into night, Joel began wondering if traveling with both teens wouldn't be as bad as he initially thought.
Just maybe.
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Обновлено: 09.04.2026