The trio were outside now and they immediately found the scattered, bloody corpses of Fireflies just a few feet away. Enid felt a lump form in her throat when she saw them because she knew that that would've been her if Marlene hadn't come along. Joel went over to the bodies and picked up some old gear that they had as well as their dog tags.
"Whoa, we heard all the shooting but… what happened?" Ellie asked, looking at the bodies. "The Fireflies. Same thing's gonna happen to us if we don't get off the street." Joel said, heading towards a small flight of stairs. "You're the pro. We're just following you." Enid sighed, swallowing that lump in her throat.
The girls follow the middle aged man down some stairs just as a single humvee drives by. Joel wanted to stay out of sight as much as possible because if spotted, they'll put a bullet in their skulls without saying hello first.
"Attention, harboring or aiding wanted criminals is punishable by death. Do not place yourself at risk. Report any suspicious activity immediately." the same woman from the loudspeaker announces, much to the annoyance of the teen girls.
"Fuck, looks like I'm a criminal now in their eyes." Enid said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, no shit. You're such a danger to them." Ellie jokes, getting Enid to elbow her in the ribs. "Ow, what?" she questioned.
"You know what." Enid said, smirking a bit. "Oh c'mon, I was only joking." Ellie pouted. Enid playfully socked her in the shoulder, showing she wasn't mad. "Yeah. I know you were." Enid chuckled.
"C'mon, keep up." Joel urged. "We are." Ellie says. The three of them go down a small stairway that was next to the street. They then enter a deserted apartment yard with a catwalk that would lead them to said hideout.
Enid looked around the small area; from the cracked concrete with grass growing from it to the foliage covered buildings. "Where are we going?" Ellie asked. "Up there, that'll get us up to the north tunnel." Joel replied, pointing to the apartment building with the catwalk.
Enid puts her hands on her hips and sputters in confusion. "Got an idea of how we're supposed to reach that?" Enid asked. "Just gimme a minute." Joel replied quietly. He then started to look around for anything useful.
Ellie and Enid couldn't do anything but wait for Joel to figure something out. "There's no way we're jumping up there. Unless you boost me up." Enid says. "No way. I'm not having you scare me for a third time." Ellie says. "Oh hardy har." Enid replied, rolling her ocean blue eyes.
Joel had managed to find a dumpster as a makeshift stepping stool and placed it in front of the catwalk. He climbs onto it to reach the catwalk. "That's our cue." Enid said, walking up to the dumpster. Ellie was right behind her.
Enid climbs up the dumpster and onto the catwalk. Ellie then climbs onto the catwalk behind Enid. They then walk into the apartment building and head towards the apartment.
"So… do you use this tunnel to smuggle things?" Enid asked, walking through the old, decrepit corridor. "Yep." Joel said, making sense of why Tess chose this route. "Like illegal things?" Ellie asked, walking a few steps behind Enid.
"Sometimes." Joel answered again. "Ever smuggle kids before?" Ellie asked. "No, that's a first. So what's the deal with you two and Marlene anyway?" Joel asked. For a second, Enid and Ellie looked at each other; they couldn't say what Enid's reason was. At least, not for now.
"We don't know. She's our friend I guess." Ellie said, partly lying. "Your friend huh? You two are friends with the Fireflies, huh? You two twelve or something? Joel asked, getting Enid to roll her eyes.
Enid was already starting to get on her nerves but she swallowed it down. She had to put up with him until the Capitol Building therefore, she didn't have room to complain. "She knew our moms and she's been looking out for us. And I'm thirteen and she's fourteen. Not that has anything to do with anything." Enid corrected him, keeping their secrets stifled.
"So where are your parents?" Joel asked them, turning to another corridor. Enid's gaze dropped to her feet for a brief moment. Neither one of them knew who or where their parents were. They were both orphans in this dangerous, unforgiving, shitty world.
"Where are anyone's parents? The only thing we know is that they've been gone a long time." Ellie replied bluntly. "Hm. So instead of staying in school, the two of you decide to run away to the Fireflies, is that it?" Joel said. Enid felt another lump form in her throat again when he said that; he was right on that part.
"Look, we're not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling us if that's where you're getting at." Ellie replied, noticing the uncomfortable expression on her friend's face. "Y-Yeah. So, don't keep asking about that." Enid swallowed.
"You know the best part of my job? I don't have to know why. To be honest with you two, I could give two shits about what you are up to." Joel spat, not seeming to care. He just wanted to be done with this job.
"Well great." Ellie said. "At least we now know where we stand." Enid agreed. He didn't care about what Ellie and Enid were doing and it was just fine with them.
They make it to the apartment rendezvous and Joel unlocks the door. He opened it and stepped inside to let the girls inside first. "This is it." He says, walking inside and shutting the door behind him.
Enid walked over to the wall adjacent to the door and pressed her body against the chipping wall. She glanced around the darkened room, not impressed with it but she couldn't complain. Joel had reclined on the couch with his eyes shut.
"What're you doing?" Ellie asked. "Killing time." Joel replied with a sigh. "So what the hell are Ellie and I supposed to do in the meantime? It's boring here." Enid asked, her arms crossed. "I'm sure you two'll figure that out." Joel replies, not acknowledging them.
Ellie sputters her lips and walks over to Enid. Her eyes catch a glimpse of the broken watch Joel had on his left wrist. "Notice his watch is broken?" she asks Enid. "Yeah, hope he gets it fixed." Enid shrugged.
Enid slid down the wall, her legs pulled up to her chest. Both arms rested in her lap. Ellie sat in an old chair right by Enid.
"Got any ideas of what we can do while he gets his beauty sleep? It's so boring here." Ellie asked, a hint of complaining in her voice. "Is that complaining I hear?" Enid asked, looking up at Ellie. "The hell are you talking about?" Ellie asked in protest.
"You being a complainer. I could easily tell." Enid said, giving her a grin. "Oh shut up. You were doing it too." Ellie scoffed. "Was not." Enid replied, sounding opposed. Ellie playfully nudged her, "Yes, you were. You found it boring too."
"Okay, I give up." Enid said, holding up her hands. "That's what I thought, Firefly girl. You're easy to read." Ellie teased. "Don't make me hit you." Enid said, having an open mouthed smile on her face. "Oh, I'm scared now." Ellie taunted.
Enid used her foot to gently kick Ellie. Ellie looked at Enid before crossing her eyes, making Enid laugh. "Alright, yuck it up." Ellie said, rolling her eyes.
After a minute, it grew quiet in the apartment; the only sound being rain pattering against the window. Ellie looked at Enid and asked, "Alright, as fun as this was, let's address the elephant in the room. How'd you cope without me after we were separated? You know, before I came to the Boston OZ?" Ellie asked. Enid glanced down, feeling a bit down that Ellie said that.
Ellie notices the look on Enid's face right away so she gets up from the chair and sits down next to Enid. "I take it not very well?" Ellie asked, looking at Enid with a concerned look on her face. "No… not really. Honestly, it's been lonely without you." Enid said, looking down.
"Yeah, I was too. Guess you were right about one thing; I was miserable without you." Ellie said, nudging Enid to the side. Enid couldn't help but chuckle at her theory. "Yeah, I guess so. But… how're we gonna get through this? Soldiers gotta be everywhere. If they find out I was a Firefly, I'm as good as dead." Enid said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's worse for me. If they see that I'm… you know, they're gonna kill me before we get out of this fucking city." Ellie replied, sounding a bit down. Enid didn't hesitate to bring Ellie into a hug, her hands resting on Ellie's back. Ellie returned the hug and let her head resting on Enid's bare shoulder.
"We'll be careful, Ellie. Don't worry, okay?" Enid assured. "Okay… I'll take your word for it." Ellie replied. For the next hour, the two friends struck up a conversation. They got so into it that they didn't realize that it was becoming night and the rain picked up a little bit.
Ellie had gotten back in the living room chair with one leg propped up. Enid sat on the right arm of the chair. Joel then started to mumble in his sleep, grabbing the attention of the small teen girls. He was having that same re-occuring dream of his daughter that he couldn't escape from.
Joel wakes up with a jolt, opening his eyes. "You mumble in your sleep. Enid and I hate bad dreams." Ellie says, turning her gaze towards the window. "Yeah, me too." Joel sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
He stood up and walked over to the girls. Enid looks from Joel and back at the rain speckled window. "You know, Ellie and I haven't been this close to the outside before." she said with a smile.
Enid remembered when she wanted to leave the city with Ellie after they snuck out however, she soon came to realize that leaving the city would mean certain death for both of them. She didn't want to risk getting them killed. Now they don't have a choice.
Ellie leaned forward to look closer through the window, seeing the black inkiness on the other side of the wall. "Look how dark it is out there." she commented. Joel had turned on an old storm lantern that was sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the living room; lighting the room with it's dim yellow hue.
"It can't be any worse out there. Can it?" Ellie asked, standing up from the chair. Enid got up to join her. "Yeah, what's more dangerous than being behind the wall?" she asked in agreement.
Joel turned to look at the girls with slightly narrowed eyes. "What the hell do the Fireflies want with you two?" he asked firmly. The girls couldn't say with the reason truly was; Joel and Tess couldn't know. Enid was the only one who knew, besides Marlene, that Ellie was bitten.
Then, the front door opened and they all looked over to see Tess walking in. "Hey, sorry I took so long. Soldiers fucking everywhere." she said, shutting the door behind her. "How's Marlene?" Ellie asked. "Is she okay?" Enid asked.
"She'll make it." Tess replied, then she turned to Joel, "I saw the merchandise. It's a lot. Wanna do this?" "Yeah." Joel replied. "Let's go." Tess said, opening the door to another room for the four of them to go through.
After an intense, profound minute, the four go through the open door; first it was Joel, then Ellie, then Enid. Ellie and Enid were both unconvinced of what Tess told them about Marlene. Needless to say, neither one of them spoke a word about it.