entrancelogs | + It's good that we can't see what isn't there +

Entry tags:

+ It's good that we can't see what isn't there +

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Wonderland and adjacent dimensions!
When: Friday, April 21st to Monday, April 24th
Rating: PG-13, warn if higher!
Summary: A place to list your tears throughout the event, and describe the worlds that can be seen or accessed through them. Event Post.
The Story:

While invisible zombies ravage Wonderland, tears are popping up everywhere! Through them characters can see versions of themselves from alternate universes. Some of them show a different version of Wonderland, some a different version of their home. Some are as benign as a character drinking coffee instead of tea, others are as drastic as somebody's entire personality changed completely.

On day one tears are so small as to barely even be recognisable. Faint voices and melodies can be heard through the tiny cracks if you step really close, but these brief and indistinct glimpses are barely even worth describing.

On day two tears have opened up wide enough to recognise them for what they really are. Yesterday's melodies will sound clearer, and the voices will become decidedly familiar, belonging to people characters know, sounding perhaps even like the characters themselves. Look through the tears and they may catch sight of home, or something that merely looks like another part of Wonderland. The tears are yet narrow and instable though, and the field of vision is correspondingly poor.

On day three the tears have grown a great deal. The worlds beyond them can be seen and heard, though most cannot be interacted with at all. Only the biggest ones are already stable enough for characters to stick their hand inside, and pulls through any objects within reach.

On the fourth and last day some tears have finally become large and stable enough for characters to pass through whole. Not all tears will reach this stage, but those who have can be visited, and the world beyond them explored... at each character's own peril.

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[ In spite of her earlier spot of hope, her stomach drops when she sees the pocket knife. It's - not bad, but it's not good, either. David has a gun and a fucking machete, and even if he can only aim at one of them, it'd be enough to do damage to that unlucky person. David's got good aim, too, for however bumbly he'd pretended to be when they were waiting for his friend to come back with the meds.

There're a lot of things she wants to say right now, but she knows their (her) hunter is listening with sharp ears. Any second, he could appear in the doorway, locking on to her with bloodshot, crazed eyes -

Ellie holds a hand out to Joel, signaling stay here. He may add strength, no question, but he's also hurt. Badly, even with the recent medicine. She bites hard on dry lips before slipping away, taking care to avoid the debris scattered across the restaurant, trying to think of how she might... lure the guy, maybe, past where Joel is hiding, give him a chance to stab David in his fucking neck... ]

[ She's disappointed, he can tell, and honestly, he can't blame her. Joel's hardly outfitted to save the day here with his pocket knife.

Slowly, things are starting to come together. He can smell the smoke from the fire now that he's on the other side of the tear, and see the flames near the door. He recognizes Ellie's outfit, the green coat she'd been wearing that winter, the one he'd caught sight of in brief flashes as he drifted in and out of consciousness, slowly healing from his wound. He knows where he is, when he is, and now the way she'd stared at him when he'd first appeared and grabbed her makes sense. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been shivering and weak, unconscious, lying on a dirty mattress in an abandoned garage.

Which means he knows who's hunting her now.

Ellie holds a hand out in a clear signal, and before he can object she's slipping away, disappearing into the maze of booths. Joel curses inwardly, flipping the pocketknife open in preparation. Dammit. He hadn't come through here just for her to slip out of his grasp and into danger again. ]

[ Joel doesn't object, luckily, or follow. Ellie still isn't sure what's going on, how he'd gotten here or why he looks... the way he does, but she has a lot else on her mind. As she weaves around booths, watching her step and holding her breath, she prays to catch David off-guard. When she spies him meandering down one row, her pulse spikes with adrenaline and she creeps up as quickly, but quietly, as she can -

David lets out a strangled cry as she stabs him in the shoulder, leaping a bit to make the move. He whips around as she wrenches the knife free, but he stumbles in pain and she has time to move way out of the way before he can try to shoot, to slice at her. ]

Run, rabbit! [ He exclaims, and she puts all the energy she has into scurrying back toward the kitchen, to get him totally focused on chasing her so Joel can make his move... ]

[ Lacking any other option, and not wanting to mess up whatever plan Ellie seems to have in mind, Joel stays hidden, waiting and listening. It's not too long before he catches sight of their adversary across the room - a tall, lanky man about his own age, moving down the aisle in a stance that Joel recognizes as easily as any hunter would. He calls out again, taunting Ellie, and Joel's blood boils. Who the fuck does this guy think he is, terrorizing a little girl like that?

Before he can act on his rage, however, a tiny figure darts out after David - Ellie, leaping at him from behind with her switchblade, the way she'd leaped on the backs of countless hunters and Infected, taking them out before they could take Joel out. But this one doesn't go down so easily. He stumbles, but doesn't fall, and when Ellie takes off, he goes after her doggedly.

Still unnoticed, Joel grips his knife, his expression dark and fixed on David as he follows him, as quickly and silently as he can. He doesn't know if this had been Ellie's plan or not, but he's not going to sit by and watch another second as David hunts her down.

As it is, he's nearly on top of him when his boot lands on a cracked plate on the floor, and David turns with a startled expression. Obviously he hadn't been expecting anyone else to join his little party. ]

Huh?

[ Joel doesn't respond in words. He yells in wordless rage as he runs forward, drawing back the pocketknife and driving it deep into David's neck. ]

[ Joel acts before she means for him to, but it seems to work. He catches David by surprise, stabbing the man in the neck with the blade he'd brought. The cannibal howls with rage, trying to whip around and slash at the stranger with his machete, but Ellie doesn't let that happen. She's back there, too, stabbing into his stomach with the switchblade, seeing red (still afraid, still in pain) as she does.

It's enough, between the pair of them. He goes down shrieking unintelligibly, spouting blood, and she only stops stabbing at him when she can't see where to aim from all the blood.

Only then does she back away (and quickly), pressing herself against the wall and sliding down, breathing hard. ]

Fuck. [ She whispers, trembling. ]

[ The knife doesn't do much, and Joel makes a mental vow never to go out so lightly armed again, even within the mansion. If he has to be a little more vigilant carrying a real knife or a loaded gun, if he has to endure the disapproval of the librarian or the other residents if they find out (he has a feeling Evelyn wouldn't approve) - well, that's a small price to pay, if it means being prepared the next time something like this happens.

As it is, the knife in his throat isn't enough to stop David on its own, and Ellie jumps in to assist, shoving her switchblade into his gut with an intensity Joel's never seen from her before. She doesn't stop there, but keeps stabbing him again and again even after he falls, Joel still too shocked and disoriented to drag her away.

The asshole's a gory, unrecognizable mess by the end, and Joel only has to give him a cursory glance to confirm that he's not getting up again. That done, he turns to Ellie, hurrying over to crouch before her where she sits, trembling, back to the wall. His thoughts are a confusing and overwhelming mix of the reality before him, his own memories of where he'd been and what he'd been thinking just before he'd been pulled to Wonderland, and everything Ellie had said - or hadn't said - about this after they'd met again there.

She'd killed David, she'd said. She hadn't wanted to talk about it.

The other Joel - the one from this world, who he can only assume would have fought just as hard to get through past the other hunters, would have been just as desperate to get to Ellie and save her - isn't here.

Ellie's still shaking, blood coating her hands and coat, and he swallows, carefully putting his hands on her shoulders. ]

Ellie?

[ David is dead: she'd made sure of it. Now, though, she's left with a whole lot of his blood and a Joel that's... clean. There's no other word for it. She'd left him, had just left him, and he'd been mostly unconscious, very ill, and dressed for the bitter winter that they're currently enduring.

Now? She searches him not with distrust, because this is obviously Joel, but with... uncertainty. ]

... Did you change? [ She asks weakly, glancing at the outfit. Not the same clothes he'd been impaled in, not the ones he'd been wearing earlier that day.

One thing at a time. Focusing on this - on Joel and his weird swap - is easier than facing the past 24 hours and counting. ]

[ Joel grimaces. She looks wary, and he can't blame her. He doesn't remember much of that winter, but that in itself is telling. He'd been delirious, maybe dying, and Ellie -

Christ, she must've been going out of her mind, trying to keep him alive. Seeing him here now, whole and healthy in a way he'd never been on the road...no, he doesn't blame her for being uncertain.

There's no time to explain, though, and he's not sure how he'd begin, in any case. ]

Yeah. I did.

[ And that's that. Hopefully. If she accepts it. He glances at the fire at the other end of the restaurant, carefully doesn't glance back at the mutilated body on the floor, looks back at Ellie.

She'd just killed a man, and this hadn't been a shot fired at a stranger to save his life or her own. This had been personal, had been up close and brutal, against someone who knew her and had threatened her specifically. He feels like he should address that, somehow. He's got no idea how. ]

You all right?

[ Of course she isn't. What a stupid question. ]

[ She doesn't accept it, because that wouldn't be like her, but she doesn't press, either. Not now. Ellie doesn't have the energy, and his hands on her shoulders are all that keep her from falling over sideways, maybe just... getting some fucking rest.

No time. She stares blearily at him, the question left unanswered in so many words. ]

We should go. [ She mutters, gathering herself, shrinking from his grasp. ] There's the fire, and... the others were looking, too.

[ There were so many of them. It's a wonder she even made it this far, back into David's clutches. ]

We've gotta go. [ Ellie insists again. ]

[ He stays where he is a moment longer, still worried, but Ellie's shrinking into herself, not meeting his eyes. She's right - they don't have time to stick around. Certainly not time for him to try and pry any answers out of her here. ]

Alright.

[ He nods, then stands, gently lifting her to her feet with him. ]

Can you walk?

[ He'll carry her if he has to. Wouldn't blame her at all if her legs collapsed underneath her, after all that. ]

[ It's a goddamn miracle that Joel is here, walking around and fighting like he hadn't been impaled. She'd led them away from him the best she could, losing Callus in the process, but he'd come to the village anyway.

Outside, alarm bells are still ringing, voices sound in the distance. They won't let the pair go just because David is dead (they'd been trying to kill her this whole time despite his 'orders'). ]

Yeah. [ Her brain is fuzzy, though, and she silently appreciates the help up. Ellie thinks it'd be smart to take David's machete, his gun, but she doesn't. Using his weapons makes her stomach turn and she feels a wave of nausea again as her eyes find and stick to the form of his battered corpse.

You fucking creep. Her hands shake and she stands stock-still. ]

[ She says she's fine, but a moment later she's fallen quiet again, staring vacantly - not into space, he realizes, but at the mangled body on the ground. Silently, Joel takes a step sideways, putting himself between Ellie and David and blocking her view. ]

C'mon.

[ He doesn't feel any hesitation in grabbing the gun from where it lies on the ground - not the machete, the one he'd swung at Ellie, but he needs a weapon, at least until he can find a better one. One with less history. He shoves the pistol into the back of his jeans, then puts an arm around Ellie, turning her and steering her gently but firmly towards the door. ]

[ Ellie lets Joel steer her away. Her hands, her clothes, her face all have flecks of blood on them from her finishing off David, but none of that seems to register much as he begins to move them out of the restaurant.

The fire is spreading, but not so much that they can't slip out. When they do so, the blizzard is still raging full-force, muffling the general alarm of the village and, luckily, obscuring their figures from anyone who might be in the area. ]

They'll still kill us if we're found. [ She reports in a hollow voice. Right now, she feels so sick and bone-tired that the desire to just lie down in the snow is very compelling. ]

[ Joel hunches against the snow and biting cold, unconsciously pulling Ellie a little closer as he scans the area - or at least as much of it as he can see. No one else in sight, but this blizzard isn't giving them much visibility. It'd be all too easy for someone to sneak up on them unawares. ]

Then we won't let 'em find us.

[ Easier said than done. Ellie's still sounding uncharacteristically lackluster and distant, letting him pull her along without resistance, but not taking any initiative either. It worries him, but more than that, the thought of her getting herself hurt because she's not paying attention worries him. Joel pauses, crouching down and turning to meet her eyes with both hands on her shoulders. ]

Ellie. [ He says her name to get her attention, surprisingly gentle. ] Hey. Look at me, alright? I know it's hard, but I need you to focus now. Help keep an eye out, so we can get somewhere safe. Just for a little while. Can you do that?

[ More often then not, they've survived without a solid plan. Get somewhere safe. Where is safe anymore, though? Their end game is the hospital in Salt Lake, but that plan had been utterly derailed. ... With Joel back on his feet, though, maybe they could finally get moving. Leave this area and all its insane, cannibal freaks.

They'd taken her backpack, so all she has at the moment is her switchblade. He's got the pistol he'd taken from David. Ellie is going to nod, to agree, but then she shakes her head hopelessly. ]

Where can we go? [ She breathes, tone borderline desperate. ] The basement's not safe, they tracked me back there -

[ Obviously. ... But, this isn't the time for giving up, and she knows that even through her draining fog. So, Ellie just sighs, nodding again, this time with more conviction. ]

Okay. Okay. [ The more you say a word, the stranger it sounds. ] After you.

[ She'll watch his back, keep him safe, just like she's been doing all winter. ]

We'll find someplace.

[ They always do, right? Things have always worked out for them before, eventually. They will again.

They have to.

The basement. He grimaces, remembering it, remembering the fact that there's another him running around somewhere, just as desperate to find Ellie. How the hell's he gonna explain that? Well, he'll figure that out too.

Ellie nods, and Joel nods back, giving her shoulders an encouraging squeeze. ]

Atta girl. C'mon now.

[ Shifting the pistol to his right hand, he reaches out to take hers with his left almost without thinking, just as he'd reached out to take Sarah's hand so many times - when they were in a crowd, crossing a busy intersection, or just after she'd had a long day at school, or suffered a hard defeat at one of her soccer games. If pressed, of course, he'd claim he'd taken Ellie's hand now because of the blizzard. They can't afford to get split up, especially when calling to each other would only attract the attention of their enemies. ]

[ What Joel doesn't know - what neither of them know - is that there's still a Joel in that basement, the one she'd traveled with, one that's more sick and more injured than this one had been. He's still there, alone, and she doesn't realize that they're in the process of leaving him behind (how could she?).

So she goes, lets him grab her hand and lead. Ellie doesn't know the place much better than he does, since the last day or so has been a blur, but she does as he said and keeps her eyes and ears open. She won't let either of them be taken out now, not after surviving so much.

The wind and the cold are oppressive, and Joel especially doesn't seem dressed for a hard winter. Ellie glances sideways at him, still wondering how he'd managed to recover so much since she'd last seen him. ... Still, he'd survived the rebar, and she's more than learned to expect anything from the guy.

The buildings give way to a clearing as the place thins out. She can still hear calls, but nobody has yet crossed their path. ]

[ This is uncharted territory for Joel as much as Ellie. When he'd been searching for her - before he'd been pulled into Wonderland - he'd been on the other side of town, and even if they had been retracing their steps now, that had been months ago, for him. He doesn't remember a thing.

He's freezing, too. He hadn't exactly been toasty the last time, but at least he'd had a winter coat. Now his plaid flannel seems unbearably thin.

They've got to find shelter and fast, or he'll be just another burden for Ellie to carry. Again.

Miraculously, luck is on their side. Whether because of the blizzard or something else, none of the hunters find them as they make their way out of the town. Not that the woods are more promising. Shelter. They need shelter.

He's so cold.

Joel stumbles into a crevice between two towering boulders, dragging Ellie with him. It's not quite a cave, but it's dry, and blocks the worst of the wind. He's shivering as he crashes down on dry pine needles, wrapping his arms around himself. ]

We gotta get outta here. [ He's speaking to himself as much as her, speaking his thoughts aloud to force himself to focus. ] Find somewhere warm. Somewhere they ain't.

[ If her coat would at all fit him, Ellie would offer it. As it is, he's unprepared for the weather, and there's nothing she can do but press on, hoping some kind of shelter comes up before it gets dark, before it gets worse. Joel seems to find a little bit of a haven for them, of sorts, and she crawls in after him, jaw shaking with restrained chatters. ]

I know. [ But the hunters can follow tracks, obviously, and they'd been seeing red trying to find the people who'd slaughtered their friends. They shot us first, she thinks dully, not for the first time... but that doesn't matter. ]

We can't stay here. [ Ellie says after a pause, trying not to think about how the wind sounds louder, angrier. ] We should... see if we can find another house, or something.

[ There won't be food, but maybe they could build a fire. Without Callus, she knows she won't be able to do anything if Joel can't move, so they have to act fast.

Endure. Endure. Endure. ]

[ At least Ellie seems do be doing all right. Considering the circumstances, anyway. She's more with him now than she had then - no more glassy-eyed gazes into the distance - and her coat seems to be doing a decent job of keeping her warm.

For the moment. That won't last. But it's something.

Joel nods in agreement, forcing himself to focus. Find shelter. They've got a weapon. He listens closely, and hears no sound of pursuit - nothing but the wind. It'll have to be enough. ]

Yeah.

[ He scrubs his face, then takes a deep breath, bracing himself for another trip out into the snow. ]

C'mon.

[ And he levers himself up, creeping out of the little crevice and back into the blizzard. ]

[ As in all things, Ellie does better without the downtime to reflect on how dire their situation (always) is. Right now, they have to keep moving, keep thinking, or they'll be in even more trouble. She can't linger on David, even though every available second has her mind drift back to the cell, the town, the restaurant. The body. Forcing herself with every fiber of her being to focus on the now is what gives her the tiniest bit of edge when a hunter happens across their path just as they slip out from the hideaway. ]

"Fuck - She's over here!" [ Joel seems to be a surprise, though, as David's people were almost definitely just looking for the little girl, having likely been told that her partner in crime was laid up with injuries. As such, he takes a second too long to turn his gun on them, having to choose between the man and the girl, and Ellie leaps.

The guy gets a knife to the shoulder, but that doesn't take him down. The pair struggle, and he manages to elbow her in the gut, tossing her off, before readying a shot to Joel, the larger threat. ]

[ Underdressed for the cold as he is, Joel's reaction time, like the hunter's, is similarly just a second or so delayed. By the time he raises his gun, Ellie's already jumped, stabbing her knife viciously into the man's shoulder and blocking Joel's aim.

He curses, and for a moment he's ready to attack himself, getting the hunter's attention on himself and away from Ellie. But just then, the hunter throws Ellie off, raising the gun on Joel.

He dives just in time, hearing the bullet sing past his ear, and he fires himself, three quick shots before the man falls to the ground. By then, of course, it's too late. The hunter's yelling and the gunshots have attracted attention, and there are more running their way. Joel scrambles to pick up the other gun - his own ammo is already running low - and then gestures to Ellie. ]

C'mon, we gotta move.

[ Not far - he leads her through the woods, to a low boulder, and drags her down behind it, leaning close and listening hard. Time to see if they've been followed. ]

[ He doesn't have to say it twice. The hunter goes down and she scrambles to her feet, following Joel as he moves out from the town's edges and back into the woods. Those guys will follow them anywhere, she guesses, and she wonders if it'd be smarter to go back to that basement, after all, in case they'd abandoned it completely on their search... ]

They'll follow our footprints, [ She breathes in warning. ] That's how they found us before.

[ It'd been her stupid mistake, but the past was past. Now, she has to figure out a way to keep them both safe in the present. Going into uncharted territory might be smarter, but with no indication of shelter. Heading to where she and Joel had holed up could get them in trouble, but they'd have four walls... ]

There was a mall, um - [ She shakes her head, brow furrowed. ] I think I could find it again...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

+ It's good that we can't see what isn't there +

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