Ellie shakes her head as Joel spits, keeping a good eye out. The battle's still raging inside the walls, and it's only a temporary respite out here. What she doesn't know yet is if they're going to go back in, to help the people still trapped inside. Not all of them are fighters. There are families in there. People with kids.

Thankfully, the people of Jackson have drills for this sort of thing, and they know their resources better than Ellie and Joel do. They're likely to hunker down, secure everyone before they fight back.

Ellie hesitates when Joel breaks for the trees, looking between them and the city in complete disbelief before she breaks out with a loud, dismayed curse and runs after him. The summer is long over, and the night is bitter cold, fallen leaves making a good carpet on the ground as they head for cover, make it to the tree line cloaked in darkness.

As they make it up higher, Ellie stops and turns back towards the compound. The power's off, but fires have started to break out. There is screaming, high and faint, even this far away. The gunshots sound like popping corn.

"Shit, holy shit," Ellie whispers under her breath, her voice strained. An explosion echoes through the quiet of the night, and Ellie is furious, terrified.

"Joel? What are we gonna do?" she asks him, throwing out a hand towards the settlement. "We're going back, right? Right?"