The trio had taken shelter in a small log cabin, out of sight. It was thunder storming which frustrated Joel as he wanted to make good time to Wyoming and not get bogged down by weather.

The cabin had been a blessing as Matt and Joel had believed they'd have to find somewhere closed off, or even worse, head into the city.

"This cabin is pretty nice ..." Ellie commented as sitting on the bed looked around the very small cabin. Red carpet ran across the floor, the windows were still intact, it was almost as if the place was untouched by time and humans.

One large bed sat at the very end of the room – That very same bed being claimed by Ellie.

"Yeah," Matt nodded as he sat in a chair and looked out the window, mainly for signs of movement, but couldn't help and been awestruck by the thunderstorm, "Good thing we found this place."

Joel hummed as he sat in a separate chair as the end of the bed, facing the door, "If it weren't for this we'd probably be out in that rain all night," he said, they had discussed the possibility of heading into the city which was Indianapolis, but after what happened at Pittsburgh, they should be avoided.

"Did you guys find anything good in here?" Matt asked, turning to look at Joel and Ellie.

"Other than some cans of food?" Ellie questioned, "Not really."

"I suppose that makes sense," Joel huffed, he was glad to have found this cabin, especially with it being is such good condition, "This must have been a getaway for someone and didn't stock it up before things went south."

"People really went to cabins like this?" Ellie asked, why people do things like that when they could be really comfortable at home, "Sounds kinda dumb."

Matt chuckled, "Some people did it to take a break from life in the city," he explained as he leaned back into the chair.

Ellie listened to the information, she always liked learning new things about the world before shit hit the fan, it almost seemed like a lie with how things are now. Suddenly, there was a brief flash of light outside the window, followed by a loud boom.

"I was thinking," Matt started, "We could head to the outskirts of Danville, loot a few houses there?"

Ellie shrugged, she wasn't entirely bothered, "I could use some newer clothes," She answered, "And more food would be good."

Joel sighed, he really did want to avoid going anywhere near cities, but, unfortunately, they'd have to eventually, "Yeah, but we must to keep to the outskirts," he implored, not wanting to go near any city centre for fear of infected and hunters, "We should almost be in Illinois now ..." Joel said as he grabbed his bag that was sat on the floor next to him and opened it, pulling out one of the maps that Ellie had found just under a week ago in that gas station.

Joel opened the map and spread it across the floor, allowing the other two people to see what his plans were, "Look, there's Danville," Joel said, pointing to it on the map, they had already started seeing signs just before they got off the road, "We should be around here," He added, circling a green area that wasn't far from the main road.

Matt stood up from his seat and walked over, crouching down to see the map, "We could head up North for about a mile, then turn East," Matt suggested, pointing towards a smaller road labelled 119, "That should take us through some of the outskirts," he explained before adding, "Meaning we could loot and be out of there by night fall."

"Ugh ..." Ellie groaned as she held onto her stomach, "It would've been so much easier if we had a car ..."

Matt looked over to Ellie and Joel did so too, both noticing discomfort with the teen, "You okay over there?" Joel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ellie nodded, "Yeah, yeah," she said, "Just got stomach cramps is all,"

The two men nodded, quickly looking back at the map, "We can move out in the morning, the storm should've died down enough by then," Joel told as he started folding up the map, "Chances are the storm will be with us for a few days, so if we can make it to the outskirts before it gets worse, that'd be great,"

Matt nodded, "It'd be some progress."

Ellie shuffled slightly as Joel sat back down on the chair in front of the bed while Matt moved to the window, looking outside. The three formed a silence, it was not usual or uncomfortable as they simply existed in the same room.

"Matt ..." Ellie started, always the one to break the silence, "Remember that guy you killed with the knife?"

Matt raised an eyebrow but nodded, "Yeah?"

"As it's storming, you can teach me how to throw a knife!" Ellie declared as she stood up, wanting anything that would take her mind off the stomach cramps currently happening.

"Do you really need to learn that?" Joel questioned with a sigh, he was hoping for a little bit of peace and quiet before they went to sleep.

Ellie nodded with a wide smile, "Yep," she answered, popping the P, "It looked cool, and I'm pretty cool, so it just makes sense."

Matt shrugged, sure they've got time, "Can't argue with that kind of logic," he answered as Ellie walked over to him and pulled out her mother's knife, "I'll show you with my knife cause then you don't have to worry about the handle moving about ..."

Ellie let out a soft, "Oh ..." she chuckled nervously, she didn't think of that, "Okay! What're we aiming at?"

"Mmm ..." Matt hummed as he then pointed to a picture on the wall, showing a wide landscape, "We can aim at that," he said as he pulled out his knife and held it, wanting to demonstrate first, "Okay so, you need to hold it like this ..."

-----

"Looks like it might start raining again." Joel commented as the three were following the route they laid out the previous night and had started walking down a road labelled 119, that would hopefully take them to some of the outskirts, maybe even suburbs.

"Yeah, but we should be inside before it starts picking up," Matt told as he looked up to the sky, it was pitch black, almost as if it was night time.

Ellie kicked a stone that was on the road, Ugh I feel like crap, She though as she clenched her belly briefly, trying to stop the cramps, I hate this time of the month ...

"More cars around now," Ellie said, trying to take her mind of the pain she was feeling, "Do you think it's worth checking them out?"

Joel shook his head, "Part of me would like to," he admitted, "But I don't want to be caught out in the rain again."

"Yeah, we can check out some of these houses up here," Matt told as he pointed in front of them, and in the distance houses started coming into view, very similar to the ones back in Pittsburgh, "If it starts pissing it down again, we can stay in one of the houses."

"Pissing it down ..." Ellie chuckled, having heard that expression before, "I cannot get over the things you say ..."

Matt chuckled as the three carried on travelling to this cities suburbs, although they wanted to avoid cities, they needed supplies. Thankfully, it didn't take them long to reach the nearest house. Matt picked up a stone and broke the window, it was a risky move, but from this position they weren't out in the open.

"Come on," Matt said as he was the first to climb in, "It's clear and I don't hear anything,"

Joel helped Ellie get up first, and then himself, "Some sort of kids room," Joel commented as the room looked like it was for someone in their teens with all the blue and fighting posters on the walls, "Ellie, see if you can find any clothes you like, me and Matt will clear the rest of the building."

Ellie nodded, "Oh! And shut the window," Matt called back as he and Joel left the room.

Matt and Joel walked through a hallway, guns drawn for any sudden appearance of Hunters or infected, "I'll check upstairs," Matt told as he started ascending the stairs. Joel gave him a nodded as he moved towards the living room.

Walking carefully across the upper floor, it was in surprisingly good condition, considering no one was around to care for it. There were four rooms to go through, one opened up and revealed a small bathroom, the door next to it opened up and revealed what looked to be a spare bedroom – No posters, pretty barren.

"Alright ..." Matt whispered as he walked up to another door, opening it revealed a bright pink room, clearly belonging to a girl perhaps? "Girls room, I guess that leaves the master bedroom ..."

Matt was correct as he walked into the Master Bedroom last, it was surprisingly tidy, as were other rooms in the house – Maybe they weren't home when shit hit the fan.

Turning around and heading for the stairs he walked down then, hoping to relay his findings back to Joel and Ellie, "Joel?" Matt questioned as he found the man in the living room, alone, Ellie was probably still looting the boys room.

Joel turned to the man, "You find anything?" He asked.

Matt shook his head, "I haven't properly searched the place yet, but there's no infected or hunters," he said with a shrug, "Might be something in here we can use as it doesn't seem like the people were home when the outbreak hit."

Joel nodded as the living room was in a similar condition to the other rooms, pretty clean all things considered, "That's what I was thinking," he told, "Rare that a house like this has gone un-looted."

"Well, let's just get this place looted and quick," Matt said, holstering his pistol, "We should have enough time to search a few other places as well."

Joel hummed in agreement, they needed some extra food and other supplies, new clothes would be nice, "Go check on Ellie, I'll get started searching upstairs," he said, "There might be more stuff up there."

Matt gave a thumbs up and turned to leave the room, following the hallway down to the first bedroom they entered in, "Ellie?" He questioned, knocking on the wall to alert her to his presence, "You good?"

"Come in!" Ellie told, allowing the man to enter the bedroom that had been thoroughly ransacked, "I found some stuff we can use!"

Matt looked on his surprise as she had looked through all the draws and cabinets in the room, "Fuckin' hell, you work fast," he commented as Ellie walked over to a small, somewhat neat pile of clothes that sat on the bed, "Good work dude."

Ellie smiled at the praise, she enjoyed looting places, it was always exciting to try and find things they could use, "Thanks!" She told before gesturing to the pile of clothes beside her, "I found some clothes that you guys might be able to wear," she said as he pulled out a pair of cargo pants very similar to Matt's, but coloured black instead, "Not sure of your size, but what'd you think of these? They're the same as the ones you're wearing now, just a different colour!"

Matt smiled as he took the pair of cargo pants from Ellie and held them up to his waist, trying to see how far down the legs reach, "A little bit shorter, but I think these will be fine!" He responded as he folded them up and placed them on the bed to form a new pile, "Thank you, did you get some stuff for yourself?"

Ellie nodded with glee, "I found a few t-shirts, some jeans, and some underwear!" she pointed to her pile of clothes.

Matt hummed, "Do you have enough space for all that ...?" He questioned.

"Maybe ..." Ellie mumbled, "I'll make it work, somehow."

Ellie took off her bag and started stuffing the clothes into it, making sure to arrange it in away so all the important stuff was still at the top of the bag. Also making sure that her precious comics weren't destroyed in the process.

Matt took another look at the clothes pile that Ellie had gotten for him and Joel, he'd take the cargo pants, but there were some shirts, t-shirts, flannels, all in different sizes.

"Ugh ..." Ellie grumbled out-loud, causing Matt to give her a look of worry.

"You sure you're okay?" Matt asked, "You've been off all day, are you coming down with something?"

Ellie shifted slightly, she didn't really know what to say, "Umm ..." she started not sure what to tell the man, she knew that Matt and Joel knew the struggles women went through, but that still didn't make it easier for the teen to share so openly, "It's ... that time ... Of the month ..."

Matt paused for a moment, that made sense, she was a girl after all, "Oh ..." he started, he had delt with this before, so it was nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about, "Well, there's not much me and Joel can do, but if there is, let us know."

The man decided to pick up the clothes and his new cargo pants and turn around, "Where are you going?" Ellie said with an eyebrow raised.

"Just gonna let Joel check these clothes out," Matt smiled, "Hope you feel better soon."

Ellie watched as the man left the room, she had never really experienced that before, usually when the time of the month came she was left to deal with it alone, no one ever hoped she'd feel better. "Thanks ..." She whispered as she looked at the floor.

The military school was strict when it came to personal circumstances, even when it came to periods, they were just told to suck it up.

Matt walked through the hallway and into the living room, finding Joel placing some cans of food and some other stuff on the table, "Joel," Matt called out, placing the stack of clothes onto the sofa where Joel was sitting, "Ellie found some clothes we could have a look at, I've already taken out some cargo pants."

Joel hummed as he took his attention away from the cans on the table and turned to the stack of clothes, "Hmm ..." He hummed, looking through the stack, "Yeah, I could use some of these."

Matt smiled, "Take what you want," he commented as he walked over to the cans, "How much food have we got?"

Joel looked over, "Those are from the kitchen," he commented as he held onto a button-up short sleeve shirt, "A few cans of fruit and spam, not much."

"Got anything Ellie likes?" Matt questioned.

"Yeah, we got a few cans of apples," Joel said with a confused look, "Why?"

"It's that time of the month," Matt said simply, "Thought it might make her somewhat happy."

"Oh ..." Joel commented, he should've know, the signs were there, he should've put them together, "Okay, we can give her the better cans," he answered, "We'll clear out one more house and then she can rest."

Matt nodded, before the world went to shit periods were an annoying thing females had to frequently deal with, that was made much worse now your life was at risk no matter where you were. Without proper sanitation, infections could become a problem.

Joel and Matt needed to help Ellie through this before they properly continued to move, luckily, the storm was still brewing outside, so chances were they'd be stuck to these suburbs for another few days.

Hopefully everything gets easier when they reach Wyoming.

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