▪︎○ Thirty Three ○▪︎

                                    

                                          
The clicking bounced off each wall around them, echoing and increasing the anxiety within the trio as they sprinted down the maze of tunnels. 
Olivia's grip on Ellie had never loosened, nor did she reach for her pistol as they ran for their lives. She saw no point, Henry was shooting enough for the both of them, which was something she strongly disagreed with. Firing off bullets would only achieve one thing; attracting more of those creepy things in their direction. In fact, his gun alone had grown the horde from the original six to at least a dozen. 
"Henry, just fucking run!" she snapped when another couple of clickers joined the horde. 
"Where are they coming from?!" 
"Who cares!" Ellie yelled back, pushing her shorter legs to keep up with Olivia to avoid slowing them down. 
"There!" Olivia pointed ahead of them towards a steel door that was closed. "Hurry!" 
The trio barrelled into the door and only when they were on the other side of it, did Olivia release Ellie's hand and turn swiftly to slam the door shut behind them. She pushed her weight against it, desperately trying to keep it shut long enough for Henry and Ellie to drag the metal cabinet in front of it. 
"That ain't gonna hold them for long," Henry observed as the cabinet rattled against the door due to the heavy banging on the other side of it. 
"We gotta keep moving," Olivia told them before turning and leading the way down through the room and around a corner. 
Unfortunately, the moment they reached the short adjoining tunnel, the door behind them and the cabinet blocking it gave way, allowing the horde to pile in and continue their pursuit. 
"Fucking thing!" Ellie shouted with frustration as she and Henry turned to shoot at the clickers and runners, managing to take out a handful before Olivia ordered for the two to get moving once more. 
They rushed forward, jumping down into a lower section when a familiar voice echoed ahead of them. "Joel, that's them!" 
Olivia's heart leapt with relief the moment she spotted the smuggler and young teen. She slowed briefly as Henry embraced his brother and Joel glanced between she and Ellie, "You two okay?" 
The pair nodded breathlessly before the infected appeared feet behind them, causing them to sigh heavily and take off sprinting as a group once more. They headed straight for the heavy double doors ahead, with Henry and Sam leading the way and slamming the doors behind the trio without hesitance. 
They shuffle back, with Joel extending his arms out in front of Ellie and Olivia protectively. "Both of you stay away form those doors." he ordered sternly. 
"Henry?" Olivia turned her attention to the younger man, hoping he had good news about the door he had been trying to force open. 
"It won't budge," he sighed out, "Maybe if we push it together." he suggested causing Joel to nod and step away to assist him.
The men rammed their combined weight against the door, determined to break through it but to no avail. Olivia frowned as the infected grew louder and angrier, they had mere seconds before they'd be through that door and attacking them. 
But then, to her surprise, Sam slipped past her and moved towards the open vent in the wall that he or Ellie could easily crawl through. He crouched down and with a determined yet fearful expression, he crawled through to the other side. 
"Sam!" Ellie exclaimed. "He just crawled through," she told the men. 
"He what?!" Henry turned to his brother who's head popped out the other side of the vent. He stood and rushed to the door, telling his older brother that he was getting them out of there.