"You look like shit."
Melanie lifted her head from her hand and smiled weakly at Maria who stood in front of her, "I hardly slept last night…I was thinking."
"Always a dangerous sign," Maria joked and sat down opposite her, "What were you thinking about?"
She opened her mouth but closed it again, "Nothing serious…don't worry about it," she said dismissively but Maria raised an eyebrow.
"Is it about Joel?"
Melanie simply nodded.
Sighing, Maria gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry, sweetie…it must be hellish seeing him again after all these years. You must be confused."
"I was, yeah. Anyway, what are you up too today?" Melanie asked, wondering if Tommy was going to speak to her this morning and if he had come to a decision.
Rolling her eyes, Maria shook her head, "Tommy wanted me to come find him, said he's got something important to talk to me about," she said "knowing him, he'll wanna go out hunting for a week or something and he knows I won't like."
"Yeah…that'll probably be it," Melanie said a little uncomfortably, knowing Maria was definitely not going to like what he was going to say. And it would be longer than a week that he was gone.
"Well, I'd better go see what he wants. I just wanted to check on you, see how you were doing," Maria smiled a little "can't have my partner in crime feelin' down, can I?"
"Definitely not," Melanie bit her lip as Maria got up to leave and stood quickly "Maria? You…you know I love you right? You're like a sister to me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Frowning a little, Maria nodded "Yeah, I know Mel…I feel the same. What's brought this on?"
"Just…just wanted you to know…." Melanie said faintly, "after last night, I just felt like I should tell you. Never know when you're times up these days after all."
Snorting, Maria shook her head "You're so mushy," she said smiling again and walked outside the door.
Running a hand through her hair, Melanie decided to go outside and get some air, she had a big decision to make and she still hadn't made a choice. Walking over to the horses, she smiled as Nellie whinnied softly and pricked her ears up.
"Hey, girl," she whispered and stroked her neck "hope you haven't been throwing anyone off your back recently."
The horse was known for being skittish, earning her the nickname 'Nervous Nellie' only Melanie and Esther had bothered to gain the horse's trust and for that, they two were the only ones who could ride her. Giving the horse one more final pat, Melanie turned as raised voices could be heard from behind her.
"Are you fucking serious?"
It sounded as if Tommy had told Maria, sighing, she walked forward and was going to intervene if it turned bad when she seen Joel watching the argument almost guiltily.
Crossing her arms, she came to a stop beside him and raised an eyebrow, "You made the boss angry," she muttered, "I'd be scared if I were you."
"Don't worry I am," Joel replied, his eyes still on Tommy, "she comes at me, I'm not ashamed to say I'm gonna make a run for it."
Maria seemed to get angrier by the second, despite Tommy's attempts to calm her. "You tell him to go find somebody else!"
"…I can't have this hanging over my head, Maria."
Melanie let out another sigh, she couldn't let Tommy go out there…not with Maria here and everyone else depending on him. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him.
"Do you have any idea how many men we lost last night?"
There were footsteps behind them and Melanie glanced over her shoulder to see Ellie standing and looking confused at the argument, "Hey – what's all that about?"
Looking at Joel as she decided to not get entangled in Joel and Ellie's drama, Melanie felt slightly annoyed when he just shook his head, not giving Ellie a proper answer.
"Does that have anything to do with me?"
"We'll talk about it later," Joel muttered but Ellie gave him a small frown.
"Did he at least tell you where the lab is?"
Joel narrowed his eyes at the young girl, "We'll talk about it later."
"Later…whatever…" Ellie gave him a dirty look before walking off and Melanie watched her go sadly.
Pressing her lips together, Melanie made a silent promise to herself not to get involved but Joel looked up at her and seemed to guess what she was thinking, as he always did.
"Let me guess, you think I could have handled that better."
Melanie shrugged, "None of my business at the end of the day…but I will say she deserves to know who'll be watching out for her if it isn't you."
"Right…"
"It takes one. One fuck up," Maria pushed Tommy away from her, but Melanie could see the pain in her eyes, "One fuck up and then I turn into one of those widows. Okay?"
"I have to do this…"
"No you don't!"
Making up her mind, there and then, Melanie walked forward and shook her head "She's right, Tommy, you don't have to do this," she said quietly.
"Thank you Mel," Maria said exasperated, "finally, someone who agrees with me."
"Melanie, this could be the cure for all mankind," Tommy said sighing, "I'm the only one who can do this-"
"You're not the only one who knows where the Fireflies are," Melanie interrupted firmly.
Maria and Tommy looked at her stunned but it was Joel who broke the silence. "No," he said shaking his head as he came to stand next to her, "not you, no."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Maria said, turning to Melanie angrily, "Do you honestly think we're gonna let you go out there?"
Tommy fixed her with a glare "No way in hell," he snapped "you are not doing this."
"If someone has to go on this crazy mission, it should be the person with nothing to lose," Melanie said softly "you know I'm right about this Tommy, I know the road like the back of my hand. I can do this."
"It's not a question of whether or not you can do this," Tommy argued, "I'm not sending you out on a suicide mission, you're family and I'm not losing anyone else."
Melanie seen Joel avert his eyes and she knew he was thinking about Sarah, "Tommy, we need you here along with Maria to keep this community going," she said trying to get him to understand "without you two, everything goes to shit…I'm expendable. It's the truth," she added quickly when Maria looked enraged at her words, "and with or without your blessing, I'm gonna get Ellie to the Fireflies."
"Y'know sometimes, I wish you weren't a stubborn bitch," Tommy muttered and ran a hand through his hair after a moment of silence "fine…fine, you take the girl."
Maria seemed ready to explode and narrowed her eyes at Joel who was giving his brother a look of utmost disbelief, "You," she said angrily, pointing a finger at Joel's face, "if anything…anything at all happens to her…I'll find you and put a bullet in your head myself!"
"Yes ma'am," Joel said quietly, his eyes on Melanie with a hint of worry.
"I'll be home before you know it," Melanie said, trying to give them a reassuring smile, "I'll just need some supplies and we can start heading out," glancing at Joel, she raised an eyebrow questioningly, "if that's alright with you?"
Looking conflicted, Joel nodded slowly, "I need to talk to Ellie, first."
"I'll go get you some supplies," Maria said, her voice thick suddenly and she began to walk away without looking at Melanie.
Watching her friend go, Melanie sighed and even though she knew it was the right decision, she couldn't help but feel terrible at leaving the camp. Tommy's radio crackled and he walked off to answer it, leaving Joel and Melanie alone.
"I'll keep her safe," Melanie promised, folding her arms "we'll get there in one piece."
Joel's eyes softened a little, "You didn't have to do this," he said, his eyes flickering over her face "I didn't want it this way…"
"Life doesn't always work out the way you planned, Joel," Melanie joked then became serious as she asked the question she didn't want to ask, "so…where will you go?"
Before he could answer, Tommy came over looking grave, "Joel! That girl of yours, she took one of our horses and rode off," he said grimly.
"Damn it!" Joel cursed and began to follow Tommy towards the horses, "Which way?"
"There'll be tracks to follow, I'm sure of it," as he took the reins of the horse in his hand, Melanie grabbed them off of him, "Mel, don't even bother-"
Melanie gave him a look which silenced him, "Maria is gonna need you now more than ever, so you're gonna stay here," she pointed out, "I've been out in these woods more than you. I know the area so it makes sense for me to go…plus 'Nervous Nellie' doesn't like you," she added "so there's another reason."
"I really hate it when you're right," Tommy sighed and then reached into his holster and handed her his gun, "be fuckin' careful out there, you hear?"
Melanie nodded, "Always am Tommy," he helped her into the saddle and she looked at Joel, "Let's go get that girl of yours."