JOEL: CHAPTER 17: Don't Look Down

Being on the plane seemed to be better than on the helicopter. Joel sat on the right seats in the cargo bay. With the even the tank and crates of ammo and supplies in the middle there was still plenty of space.

To Joel's right was Ellie passed out, and to the left was Commander Jett himself. Some of the soldiers had decided to get some sleep, others were talking to others next to each other.

"Joel"

"Huh?" Joel had been thinking about Jackson's future and that voice had brought him back to the real world.

It was Commander Jett.

"When we get air dropped down there, make sure you have Ellie clipped on to you."

"Got it" Joel said.

"Here you might need this" Commander Jett pulled out a M9 pistol, he held it by the barrel. He then held it by the pistol grip. Check if it had ammo and pulled back the slide. After he placed the weapon in its safety mode. He then handed him the pistol, grabbed another clip from his vest and handed it to him. "Just in case."

"Thanks" Joel thanked the Commander. Joel then placed the pistol in his back pocket. Grabbed the clip strapped it along the left strap of his backpack.

"Recommend you get some sleep, we have about 5 hours to go"

Joel then put his head back and followed the Commander's advice. It took less than 5 minutes for him to pass out.

Joel woke up on the ground, he look into a hole with a puddle of water in it. He saw his reflection, and it was his old young self. He looked back up and saw a soldier pointing the rifle directly at him. He then saw Sarah behind him on the floor, bleeding out. He soon realized he was back at Austin, under bridge where the shit hit the fan.

Tommy came from the left but the soldier smacked him with the stock of the rifle. He fell down. After noticing that Tommy had a gun, he didn't hesitate to shoot. THUN. Shot right through the head.

"NO!" Joel yelled.

The masked soldier walked towards him. All of a sudden adrenalin had kicked in. Everything slowed down. Joel then had the opportunity to look at his shoulder. He noticed the badge that represented the Texan National Guard. The adrenalin then wore off. The soldier then fire. The loud sound of the shot woke him up.

Everyone had been awake. The light had been turned on. Vibrations were felt from the outside of the plane.

"You guys, it was you." Joel said

"What did they do?" Ellie asked.

"Nothing, stay back!" Joel yelled.

Commander Jett who had been standing and looking at him. "Calm down Joel. We are about to be air dropped."

"Two minutes until drop zone!" the large speaker said.

The ramp of the plane started soon lowering. The two tank drivers who just looked like Assault soldiers with different helmets. Climbed onto the tank. Opened the hatch and one by one entered the tank. The supplies were dropped first.

The soldiers who were ready to drop walked up to the Commander.

"What's going on, Commander?" one of the soldiers asked.

Their Commander soon replied, "I think he's either having trust issues or scared of heights."

One of the soldiers laughed but tried not to show it.

"Drop tank!" the speaker said.

The tank soon moved forward and fell. With parachutes on the top of the cannon and on the back and front.

"How do you air drop a tank?" Ellie asked

"Well, have the strongest parachutes attached to it, and we got from a movie" Commander Jett answered.

"Wow, cool" Ellie said.

Joel still was paranoid about everything, including Sarah's death.

"You did it" Joel said.

One of the soldiers, who now had a puzzled face, standing next to Commander Jett, then asked, "We what?"

After that dialogue a hole breached on the left side of the plane. BOOM! PSSHHH the wind made as air filled the plane. Many soldiers flew through the hole breach. One of the soldiers who was a Support variant tried holding on, but an Assault soldier hit him and fell to the outside world.

"Ahh!" a soldier yelled as he flew out of the plane.

Commander Jett tried to hold on to railing but soon lost grip and joined the other soldiers.

"Ah fuck!" Commander Jett yelled as his voice died down with the wind.

Joel was also holding onto railing along with Ellie. "Ellie hold on!"

"I'm trying, but I'm losing grip!" she said.

She then loss grip. She fell back as the wind pulled her back into the hole. In a matter of seconds, she was gone.

"Ellie!" Joel yelled. He then let go of the railing, Joel had forgot to clip her on. She fell with no parachute. Joel soon went through the hole.

There was some kind of battle going on in the air and on the ground. The warplane seemed like it was going to crash north of Jackson. Joel saw A-10 Thunderbolts move around the sky, trying to protect the remaining planes.

Joel noticed WWII planes trying to attack the warplanes and the A-10 Thunderbolts trying to fight the old planes. He saw one of the Thunderbolts chasing down the now burning WWII plane. Joel noticed that some of the soldiers had deployed their parachutes. He noticed that the other planes were barely deploying their 100 troops.

Joel then noticed Ellie about 20 feet below. Joel then dived to try and reach her faster. As he got closer he opened his arms. He seemed like he tackled her as they got moved closer to the ground.

"Ellie attach the clip on my belt" Joel ordered.

Ellie did what she was told, and in a matter of seconds Joel deployed his parachute. He was holding on to Ellie to make her feel safe.

"Don't let go" she said with a tear in her eye. Joel held on to her and didn't want to let go.

"Don't look down," he said. As Joel himself looked down he saw Jackson in somewhat ruins, it seemed that at least half of the town had been destroyed. He noticed APCs rolling down the roads. As he saw friendly Texan soldiers land, the fighting had truly began.