Hello, everyone!

Here's chapter ten!

Enjoy!

Adam's POV

As soon as we'd hit the bottom of the sewers, an overwhelming smell of garbage filled the air. There was an eerie feeling of despair and we couldn't see more than ten feet in front of us without our lights. We were also emerged in about two feet of freezing sewage water which absolutely reeked.

Ellie shivered as the cold chill of the water hit her. "I hope it doesn't get any deeper than this."

"Why? You don't wanna get your shirt wet?" I smiled at my own humor.

"No, I can't swim."

She jumped back and shielded her eyes as my light hit her. "You can't swim?"

Blushing a little, she shook her head. "I never learned. Now, can you get that damn light out of my face? You're blinding me."

"Oh, sorry." I'd forgotten my light was even on. We continued making our way through the thigh-deep water when Joel motioned for us to stop.

"What is it?" My voice echoed throughout the sewers.

"Shh."

We sat in silence for a few seconds. "I don't hear anything."

Suddenly, I heard a moan in the distance. "Oh shit."

Joel whispered to us. "Kill the lights." We saw a runner come around the corner and we all dropped lower into the water.

I slowly pulled out my knife and began to creep up behind the runner. I glanced back to see Ellie with her arms around herself, freezing in the ice cold water. She looked worried as hell for me.

I was within five steps of the runner when I stumbled over a brick under the water and dropped my knife. The soft plunk was loud enough to alert the runner. In a frantic pace he charged at me with rage in his eyes. With only a split second to think, I pulled out one of my guns and took aim.

I heard Joel yell at me. "No! Adam, don't-"

CRACK! The sound of the gunshot echoed all through the sewers and the dead body of the runner fell into the water with a big splash. I turned to see Joel with a horrified look on his face.

"What did I do?"

All at once I heard the cries of a bunch of runners and clickers. Joel huffed under his breathe. "Shit."

Ellie bolted from where she was standing. "Joel, what do we do?!"

He screamed from the top of his lungs. "Run!"

We clicked on our lights and sprinted as fast as we could, there was only one problem: we were all in thigh-deep water. If you've ever tried running through deep water like that, you know it isn't easy. Every step takes twice as much effort.

Ellie cried out from behind. "Joel, which way?"

He searched around desperately. "There," he yelled, pointing down the end of one of the long hallways. "There's a ladder down there. Come on!"

We darted as fast as we could towards the ladder but were stopped by a group of four runners. Joel was able to beat the crap out of one of them, while Ellie stabbed another one of them several times in the gut. I took the last two down with my revolvers.

Further down the hallway, there was a large figure approaching us. As it moved closer, a cold chill shot through my body.

Ellie cried out in fear. "Oh fuck!"

A bloater, standing at roughly seven feet, was making his way towards us. Joel screamed, "Go, go, go! Come on!"

Ellie yelled back, "What about the bloater?!"

"We ain't facing' that thing down here. Come on, we're almost to the ladder!"

We were within fifty feet of the ladder when the bloater threw one of his fungal plates at us. It hit one of the walls near me and exploded on contact.

"Fuck!" I screamed in pain as a huge mist of spores burned my right leg. I winced as I limped through the water in agony. Ellie noticed me struggling and ran back to help.

"Here, put your arm around me!"

I looked up into her green eyes, "Really?"

She stared right back. "Yes! I'm not leaving you here! Now, come on!"

I did as I was told, and she carried me as best she could through the freezing water. The bloater threw another fungal plate at us, this time hitting a wall close to Ellie. She turned into me and covered my body with hers as best she could. The spore mist created from the exploding plate just bounced right off of her body. More and more I began to accept the idea that she was immune.

Joel was already standing at the ladder when we got there. He motioned for us to go up. "Come on!"

Ellie went first, holding my arm to help me as best she could while I climbed closely behind her. Joel went last, making sure we made it to safety before he did. Ellie bashed open the sewer plate and we all climbed out in a panicked frenzy. Joel quickly slammed the plate shut and fell back with a loud sigh. "That was too close."

Ellie replied through her short breaths, "That was intense."

I limped over to a crate on the side of the road with Ellie helping me along the way. Even though I was in pain, I gotta admit it, I didn't mind putting my arm over her shoulder.

She sat me down on the crate as gently as she could. "Alright, let's see the damage." She squatted down to examine my burnt leg. "Man, those spores burnt right through your jeans." She looked up at me with her beautiful green eyes. "I have some gauze if you want me to fix this up for you."

I nodded, entranced by her eyes. I winced in pain as she rolled up my pant leg. Gently, she began to wrap my leg with gauze.

A few moments of silence overcame us. Feeling a bit shy, I decided to speak up. "Thank you, Ellie."

She looked up at me again, this time with the slightest hint of a smile. "For what?"

"Not leaving me back there."

We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds more. She nodded her head. "Sure."

Finishing up with the gauze, she rolled my pant leg down and helped me to my feet. We went over to Joel, who'd been reloading his guns and checking out the area the whole time. Ellie scanned the perimeter. "What's the plan, Joel?"

Joel put his revolver in his back pocket before standing up. "Well, it looks like we made it into the quarantine zone. None of the military has noticed us yet. I say we blend in as best we can and search around for the car dealership. Adam, you feel good to walk?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah."

"Good. Any idea where the dealership is?"

I looked around a bit. "Uhh...I think so. As long as we blend in I think I can find it without any problems."

"Alright then. Let's get going."

With the game plan in our head, we casually walked through the dirty streets of Cheyenne.