The Meth Of Us (TMOU) Chapter 6: The Missing Piece, a last of us fanfic

Disclaimer: The story does not intend to hurt anyone's religious sentiments nor make any sort of mockery of it. The concepts and anything related to religion are used only in good faith to contribute to the fictional story as content. It does not intend to convey or propagate any false belief or propaganda.

Personal Note: Ever since as a kid. I always had and always will have a deep respect for gods and religions. Stories that came from religious scriptures, mythologies, and everything about it have always been a point of interest to me.

There's nothing more I would like than perhaps include these stories or any aspects of them within my foolish story.

While I may be millions of miles away from this quote: "An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God." I'd like to try to incorporate just mere aspects in my story.

I will never disrespect any god neither I aim to. I just only wish to use them as mythological characters as an element of fiction in my fictional world.

Chapter-6 The missing piece

"Damn! This is even more delicious than the previous dish. "

'The tender and juicy chicken along with the veggies. The flavourful broth with the rice. I almost feel bad that this is the first and last time I will have the opportunity to taste her cooking. This is just amazing. '

Joel's compliment completely took the steam out of the tense atmosphere that had been gradually building up.

"Huh? Ye-yes, thank you. I am glad you liked this as well. " she thanked him as her hand subconsciously raised to tuck a small lock of her hair behind her ear.

'He's got nothing to say, huh?' She turned back to glance at the other guy only to see an empty bowl placed in front of him. He had a small rice grain at the edge of his chin.

'When did he even finish that? At least I know what he thinks of it.' His face was as stoic as before betraying nothing.

"Back to your question, since you pretty much figured out the answer. Let's try to deduce using the clues.

Assuming they were indeed saviours of the human race. The question arises how? The answer is pretty simple i.e. ?"

"Through the blessing " she confidently replied giving him her undivided attention.

"Correct. The next question why seven of them ?"

"Because there are seven continents? "

"Logical but incorrect. Think, what is the church we know, a part of? The correct answer is there were seven prominent religions ." Joel calmly added while taking another bite from his meal.

"1. Christianity

2. Islam

3. Hinduism

4. Buddhism

5. Shinto

6. Norse

7. Kemetism

Fun fact: When I say Buddhism it also includes Daoism. Both were separate religions yet they somehow seemingly integrated into one another. Maybe it's because Daoism borrows a bit from Buddhism or vice versa but the neo- Buddhism that we know of is a blend of both. Majorly dominated by concepts of Daoism. " Not only Ellie had a confused expression but even J looked a bit out of depth by the knowledge bomb dropped by Joel.

"Well, that's why knowing an old-time veteran is useful. He pretty much has an edge over me on most of the subjects concerned. A walking library if you will. He pointed to Joel."

'An edge? It's as big a difference as the meal cooked by you against the one cooked by her.' *grunt*

"Now since, we established both their method of rescue and the prominence behind their designation.

How did they do it? By sacrificing themselves.

In what way? Every way I guess.

Here's the final question: how can a sacrifice of 7 people lead to a global scale phenomenon that makes blessing possible ?"

"That's what I wanted to know." she rolled her eyes at his drawn-out way of answering a question.

He merely smirked at her reply and told her that she had the answer she was just stalling for time.

"Here's another hint kid: What does the word sacrifice mean ?" Joel took up the conversation decidedly trying to help her since J was being cynical as usual.

"To give up on something important or something extremely valuable to oneself for a purpose ."

Meanwhile, J had sprawled on the table. He had placed his head down using his palms as a cushion. He was yawning, the food had made quick work of him and he felt a bit lethargic.

"There's another meaning to that word. A sacrifice also means an offering."

'An offering. An offering to who?' as soon as the thought aroze she froze up.

Joel stretched his arms as he observed the flash of recognition light her face.

'She got it. Finally !'

Her words were slipping up as she built the courage to confirm the answer she came upon "An offer-offering to GOD ?" Even uttering the word filled her with a strange sense of discomfort. The term 'GOD' was a concept of faith. In all of human history, it could neither be proved nor disproved. In the end, it was an incomprehensible unknown truth. It was the final mystery and now they were claiming that it had been unveiled decades ago.

Joel released a short laugh at her answer he immediately rejected the answer provided by her, claiming that it was too naive and ridiculous.

"Of course not. Kid, how did you even come up with that? It was not an offering to God. It was an offering to...

GODS."

'What? ノ( º _ ºノ)'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was a pin-drop silence in the room. Joel sat in a contemplating gesture observing Ellie wondering whether he had finally crashed her system. He fixed his gaze on the crown of his fellow smuggler's head, he was still sprawled over the table.

*thud* *thud* *thud*

Suddenly, there were sounds of faint knocks at the door. Ellie had broken out of whatever trance she was in and she looked towards the door.

*thud* *thud* *thud*

Now the sound of knocking was more clear and more audible than before. She looked back yet none of the guys had moved or even stood to open the door.

"Ah... is nobody going to get that ?"

All she received in response were two annoyed grunts. She then heard Joel count up to three and then he raised his fist in the air and brought it downwards his fist still closed.

Simultaneously, the other guy made a '2' with his fingers while his head was still laid down.

"You lost J. "

*THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

Now the knocking sounds were even louder and quite vicious.

'I would be angry too seeing how these guys are so damn lazy.' Ellie saw him heave a sigh and then he stood up and proceeded towards the door.

"Flash " J called out as he was at the door.

"Just open up moron. I would have said 'thunder' but seeing how you guys are making this into a habit of just being slowpokes. I am going to make you witness thunder in person." came a voice from the other side of the door. It was obviously Tess. Nobody besides her had such a foul temper. He immediately opened the door without any further delay. He still had some sense of preservation in him.

He saw her positively drenched in water. Some of her hair locks clung to her face. One of them seemed similar to an extremely thin blade. It started from the right forehead and went diagonal over her right eye, over her nose, and to the other side of her jaw.

Her eyes were sharp and her expression displayed some hostility. She was feeling unpleasant if he were, to put it mildly.

"Well, you look drained pun intended."

"Very funny. Are you going to let me in or not." her voice bled with sarcasm letting him know she was not amused. He moved aside and allowed her entry and swiftly closed the door behind her.

She dropped her backpack near the entrance, tossed her shoes haphazardly, and grabbed a chair.

He saw her massaging her eyes using her palms. She looked tired.

"So, how did it go ?" Joel initiated the conversation. Meanwhile, J had gently dropped a fresh clean towel over her head and taken a seat on the couch.

She replied in affirmative as she continued to dry her hair that the deal had gone perfectly fine and she was now in possession of the promised payment.

"How was Marlene ?" Ellie decidedly jumped into the conversation worried about the health of her friend.

"Yeah, I guess she'll be fine. The doctors said they'll shortly remove the bullet and the immediate help provided to her turned out to be crucial. Anyways, your friend stuck to her promise and now it is time we do our part. Kid, are you ready ?" she enquired creating eye contact with her as if to test her resolve.

Ellie nodded in a very serious manner. She was prepared for the consequences, the answer to Tess's unasked question. After all, they could only guarantee their possible best when things went sideways but what truly would happen nobody could know or control.

She glanced around till she spotted their gear and weapons in a corner, organized.

"It's done. If that's what you're thinking. Oh, and get some food in yourself, she made it." Joel shared his thoughts as he stood from his chair and sat beside J.

She briefly looked at Ellie spotting a small yet slightly forced smile on her face before she smiled back. Her smile was a bit forced as well. She was also conscious of it.

'The tension of being amiable to a stranger is not one-sided, I guess. Regardless she'll adapt to her. If Joel could, this is light work for her.'

"It taste's good if that's your point of concern and no J strictly just helped. "

"Oi, that's uncalled for. At least I helped. What do they call it? It's the thought that matters. "

Joel agreed with his statement as he told him that he was glad he only thought and possibly did no more in this case otherwise they would have to collectively bear the disaster that was his so-called "edible" food.

"Alright enough! stop fighting boys. Joel gear up and get ready. J, finish organizing my backpack as well and then gear up. Leisure time is over guys. I'll be back in a while till then be ready and get into the mindset. This is the riskiest job we have accepted."

Ellie observed her as she seemingly broke both of the guys out of their antics. Her tone was authoritative but very serene. Intuitively she also felt that she had managed to not come off as challenging to either of them. From her limited understanding of both of the males in the room, none came off as the type that would let threats or intimidation to their authority go unchallenged. The fact that she held such power over them only implied that, one: they let her have that right, and two: the three must have very efficient teamwork.

She looked around suddenly everyone had become busy. Tess had already left immediately after gathering fresh clothes from her bag. Joel was putting on his combat vest and he, he was stocking Tess's backpack. She felt a bit out of her place. She got up from her seat and decided to go back to her trusted sofa chair.

She quickly peeked out of the window, it was dark. The rain had picked up again.

'The night-time honestly has a certain charm to it but it also resonates danger. The silence of the night is easily unnerving as it is pacifying.' she brought both of her knees close to her chest as she huddled on the comfy chair making herself look slightly timid. She rested her chin on one of her knees waiting silently. She watched as Joel withdrew more protective gear from his coat cover.

There were upper and lower arm guards, upper leg and shin guards, and gloves.

'All of them are probably made of the same material as that vest I guess.'

Meanwhile, Tess had returned and was now serving herself her portion of the meal. She was wearing a sky blue and pink checkered shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun accompanied by the grey bandana she already had. She was in black cargo jeans with a lot of pockets similar to both of her partners.

She watched Joel come up to her, he placed his rifle and gun on the workbench next to her while he placed his backpack on the floor adjacent to the bench. He removed three 'orange bullets' from his backpack and tossed two of them towards the guy who was sitting down and working across from them.

He inspected his gun and then equipped it. He proceeded to remove the magazine from his rifle, emptied the chamber, and then replaced the topmost bullet on the mag with the orange bullet. He then re-inserted the magazine and pushed the safety back on.

She looked across and spotted that he was following the same actions as Joel on the other two rifles.

"So what's the orange one for ?" she asked Joel, her gaze fixed on Tess and him, who were now gearing up as well.

"Nothing, just a safety measure and a minor trap." there was some gruffness in his response. While he had said it calmly there was an uninviting feel to it. She realised it carried an eerie likeness to the other guy who had a similar manner of speech.

'Is this his serious business switch or was his prior behaviour an exception? He was previously more... how do I put it? accommodating?

Well technically so was he, but he was more or less trying to get a rise out of me. I feel it was more like he was trying to get a read on me. Whereas, Joel had been more graceful, well compared to him. I might have misevaluated him. Perhaps my initial judgement was more accurate.

Even he said that Joel is a veteran. Honestly, he looks menacing when he is serious like this I can tell he would scare the fuck out of people in a fight, guaranteed if he knows how to fight.

But veteran= fighter, no doubt. Got to be careful. I'll try not to irk any of them out there.'

She silently contemplated as she saw Joel secure his rifle to the backpack. The back panel of the bag had two velcro straps, the upper strap held the stock of the rifle and the lower part held the handguard such that the rifle was secured diagonally.

"Is it that bad out there?" she was keeping up the small talk to reduce the stress that was building up as the time to leave was nearing. Watching them prepare and prepare so thoroughly was honestly putting a lot of things in proper context for her.

"It's nothing don't mind it. As much as I would prefer to say it that won't help you and it wouldn't benefit us either. Out there is madness, kid. There is no order, you are the order. The strong survive and whoever has survived is undoubtedly strong.

Just keep yourself sharp, stick to us and you'll make it." he knew his words would put her on an edge but that's what they needed. His words would leave a bold 'ALERT' in red in her mind. For the next few hours, they needed her like that - compliant, observant, sharp, flexible and practical.

"I see... thanks for the heads up. By the way, your watch is broken. "

*hn* he made a small acknowledgement of her comment and remained quiet joining her in watching the remaining two work.

While Tess was gearing up, the other guy was now laying down on the floor and attempting to grab something from the bottom of the couch.

'Maybe another gun? How many does he need ? ' her unasked question was answered shortly as he rose with what appeared to be a sword in his hand.

"WHAT THE HELL? (✿⊙ _ ⊙ ).Ho...how did you even get that ?" she watched him as he strapped the sword to the backpack in the exact fashion as his rifle, he then hung the bag on his shoulders.

"Everybody ready? Let's leave. " he looked towards Tess and then Joel and shook his head towards the door.

'Wait so nobody is going to answer me? I mean this dude was walking around with a sword, is that normal ?'

"Tess had made the same face as you did now when he showed up with that. Don't think so hard kid, let's go." Joel addressed her and then walked out sweeping the door open, she followed after him, then Tess and lastly J was the last to leave, switching off the lights and locking up.

The group walked in silence in the same order. They made their way through the gallery towards the north exit. They took a right at the intersection of the gallery and walked towards a dead end. Joel stopped at the last door and twisted the door knob and proceeded to enter.

Tess walked towards the window trying to spot possible patrol, ellie followed her lead while the men walked to the connected room and pushed the bookcase present at the right corner of the room aside revealing a hidden entrance. They entered the small space. Tess made a passing comment about patrol at distance. J pushed the bookcase back while Joel revved up the generator to juice up the small elevator. As the group stood on the platform Tess pushed the lever down and they started making their descent, towards the eerie darkness.

"Joel- at the front, I am at the back. Tess and you switch positions as per the situation. For now Tess- in front of me. Stick to this formation. " The words spoken were short, precise and firm.

'Well no surprise here, he had the cold vibes from minute 1.' she thought as she nodded her head in acknowledgement. Clearly, he said it out for her as the trio possibly followed this formation and therefore normally would have no need to speak it out.

They moved out upon reaching the bottom and made their way through the narrow tunnel visible in their direct line of sight.

'Well this is unpleasant.' she thought as she slowly moved while remaining crouched. Joel moved up the ladder as soon as he was out of the tunnel.

"Hold. " he made a closed fist as he peeked outside by lifting the plank overhead using his other hand.

"You're right Tess. Patrol in sight, I'd say roughly 600 metres out, give or take 50m." He watched as the military-grade searchlights placed at the boundary walls faced away from their direction. He quickly climbed out.

"Alright, Let's go, go, move it." The group swiftly climbed out and got behind half-standing walls of the dilapidated building the exit was placed in.

"We move while taking cover behind the various rubble, stick to the shadows and be light on feet." Joel spoke, and again it was very evident who were the instructions actually meant for. Meanwhile, J had concealed the exit by placing the plank back.

The group stuck to the simple plan, moving at a moderate pace. The trio had already drawn out their guns. In a few seconds, all of them had been completely drenched.

"J, forewarning: I can't track anything. The rain is coming down too hard to make any distinction."

"Roger. The rain makes for poor visibility for them as well. We'll slip by." As the front and rear communicated they were quickly closing in on the estimated contact zone.

"Through here." Joel moved through a wrecked truck container. The other two were hot on his heels while the rear took a knee watching their backs.

*thud* *THUD* *BAM* before Joel could even get out of the container properly he was ambushed by a male guard. The stock end of the rifle brutally slammed against the temple of his forehead making one of his knees fall to the ground. It didn't stop, the guard immediately slammed the rifle stock with even more power twice, completely neutralizing any chance he could have had to turn the situation around.

Before he could even look up the guard was aiming the barrel of his rifle at Joel.

"FREEZE ! DON'T MOVE ! don't fuckin move. I'll shoot you. I'll SHOOT YOU! Drop your gun and toss it. Do it now".

In an instance, a single instance was all it took. Unfortunately, Ellie was the next one out. She instinctively covered one of her eyes as light flooded her face. Before she could even make sense of the situation there was a gun aimed at her.

"You out, Get down, on your knees now. Behind you, don't try anything smart otherwise we shoot the kid and your partner." Ellie was in full-blown panic as she followed the female guard's instruction. She had already realised they had been caught.

'Oh shit. He took Joel completely by surprise.' She slowly raised her arms following the example of her fellow surrenderer. Tess came out placing her hands behind her head as she fell to her knees as well.

'Nothing I can do, they have both Ellie and Joel at gunpoint. We're screwed, worst case they'll shoot us now. Best case they send us to interrogation unit where we'll get tortured to death.'

The female guard quickly went through the container checking for anyone remaining. Meanwhile, the male guard maintained a safe distance from them while slightly circling, waiting impatiently for his partner to make it back.

"All Clear. " the female guard came back as quickly as she went in. "Keith check them. I'll call it in." She used the handheld comm. placed in one of her vest pockets.

"Overwatch come in: This is Private Ramirez from unit 16. Do you copy? "

" This is overwatch. Go for Ramirez. Keep it short, it's 10-1. Over."

"Roger. Requesting pickup for three stragglers, heavily armed - rebels. Send STU. Over."

"Copy that. What's your 20? Over."

"District 12 zone B. Over."

"Go again. Over"

"District 12 zone B. Over."

"Roger. Pickup en-route. 10-3. Over."

"Roger. Over and out." The guard had switched her gun over for her rifle midway through the call.

While she was making the call, her fellow guard removed a device from his belt and started scanning them for possible infection. The guard was being cautious he had dropped his rifle back and taken out his gun. Keeping it aimed at them as he moved to scan them.

"Look the other way. We can make this worth your while." Tess tried to negotiate as he placed the scanner right side of her neck. She felt a sting as the sampler extracted a measly drop of her blood for testing.

"You people should just shut up. I'm getting tired of this shit. Fuckin terrorists and heretics." He moved to Joel as he spoke.

'We're not totally toast. They didn't spot J, he's waiting for the right time.' she thought as she constantly moved her gaze hoping to spot his position but to no avail.

'Good, that's good. C'mon Tess read the flow, read it...

He'll take out the girl, she's at the back that'll make the guy turn. Joel threw his gun, I still have mine I'll have to respond fast.' She looked at Joel and he looked back. Both knew it was going down any moment.

"Clear. What's the ETA, Ramirez? "

"Couple of minutes."

The guy moved from Joel to Ellie who was displaying more signs of nervousness unlike the other two who had been cold as ice even in the situation they were in.

"Oh, man! Oh, man. not good" she muttered as she swayed lightly.

"Stop moving you fuckin brat." there was a resigned look on her face that was swiftly replaced with a troubled one and then washed up by a decisive one.

*tahyun* *tahyun* *tahyun* Out of nowhere there were gunshots fired, the female guard who had been standing back was clutching her hand and screaming, The fingers of her hand that was on the trigger had been blown right off before even a second could pass there were two more bursts of gunshot one through her shoulder and other nearer to her chest, both a confirmed hit.

The situation led off to a chain of sequences, Ellie turning around and attacking the guard's leg with her knife, Tess and Joel breaking out. Tess going for the gun in her holster.

The guard that was about to turn around out of reflex to see her partner didn't, Ellie's attack changed his priorities, he immediately hopped back with the knife that was stuck in his leg and pressed the trigger of his gun.

'Fuck.' as soon as she saw him press the trigger she knew she was done. Maybe she could move her head around, she certainly would not be able to throw herself clear of the bullet trajectory.

'I AM GONNA DIE' her face became a bit paler as she sat frozen, unable to move. She saw the barrel of the gun move back in slow motion. She saw a hand move towards the gun.

She saw the barrel being stopped in its motion by the hand gripping it and then she saw the guard being tackled. Everything was back to speed. Joel had somehow miraculously dived - tackled the guard while getting a hold of the barrel of the gun stopping the bullet from firing. Both of them went skidding on dirt, yet he managed to not lose the grip on the barrel. He delivered a vicious right elbow to the guard's face while still maintaining control over the gun using his left. He trapped the guard's leg using his own and created a bit of space for his upper body and proceeded to smash his face in with brutal elbows.

The guard was locked in a disadvantageous position but was not willing to give up. He was putting every ounce of his power he could manage, to continue struggling. After a volley of elbows to the guard, Joel proceeded to squeeze the guard's neck using the same elbow to turn the guard's head to the other side. He leaned into the gap making sure to lock out the guard's head so that he had poor visibility of the gun that was still firmly in his grasp. Using both of his hands he started to shift the position of the gun from a neutral direction towards the guard's head.

He was screaming for help when he realised what the assaulter was doing to him. He was going to shoot him with his gun. He could feel his index finger break as the gun shifted to him.

"Sto...Stop it. Please... leave me... I won't tell anyone. Plea..." *Tahan*. There was a gunshot and then the world started to turn black for him. Rainfall on his face, brief flashes of pain and finally nothing.

*Pitter-patter* *pittt* *pitt* *patt* *patt* The only sound echoing was the heavy belting of the rainfall. The area that was full of noise and turmoil a second ago had been drowned now in the sound of rain with the occasional heavy breathing of Joel.

*pant* *pant* He chose to kneel in front of the dead body of the guard for a few seconds. He was breathing heavily not because he was out of breath, not because of the tension of the situation or because of the violence. He was breathing heavily to calm himself down as soon as it started it came back to him, the aggressiveness, the voracity with which his body responded to these life-and-death situations. All the while his mind remained calm and analytical but a very minor part still fragmented beckoning him to stop using his mind and follow his instinct.

The seconds passed and the weird unexplainable feeling was gone. He rose and removed the knife that was still stuck in the guard's leg. He handed it back to the girl who had not moved at all who was still kneeling as if frozen in time.

Ellie's gaze was still stuck on the guard who was laying lifeless on the ground, blood pooling around him. She hesitantly shifted her sight from the dead body to the hand that was offering her blade. Before she could even think what she was doing her body shirked away and receded a few steps back. She sat down, her knees hugged her chest and her forehead rested on her hand that was on her knee.

"Oh...oh fuck. I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something." her voice cracked lightly and wavered with guilt.

*rattle* There was a small creaking sound. Before anyone could turn their heads, a guy landed down from the top of the container.

"Let's go, we can't waste any more time. Tess pick-up those comms. Joel, are you hurt? Is she hurt ? " he asked while re-attaching the suppressor on his gun.

"No, I am okay. She's good too aside from the fact she's a bit shaken up."

"We got to leave right fuckin now. The guard made the call, the screaming and the gunshots, this area will get swarmed. We have to move. " He said as he picked up the scanner from the guard.

"C'mon kid we have no time." Joel gave a hand to her, lifting her.

'The situation took more priority. No time to feel sorry.' She nodded in acknowledgement, subsiding her guilt. She took back her knife and stowed it away. Her eyes met his, cold and brown, he was glaring at her, as a predator does before going in for the kill. She saw the scanner in his hands.

"Let's go...J." Joel ran towards a nearby trench, practically carrying Ellie by the arm, Tess ran after them and naturally he followed behind them.

The group moved fast they had to get away from that area. They crawled under some rubble overhead. There were searchlights all over, all moving haphazardly trying to spot them. They could hear the sound of a car engine from the area they just left.

The group moved left while taking cover behind cars and broken walls and then entered another trench. These trenches were nothing but just huge cave-in of roads either due to natural dilapidation or because of the graciousness of the military over the decades. They climbed huge concrete slabs and ducked under massive broken water and drain pipes while maintaining their cover in shadows.

They could hear shouts of patrol and the same sound of the engine. The reinforcement had just arrived and was searching the area. Soon they'd get down and do a clean sweep search once they got frustrated with surface-level search.

"Those fuckin' stragglers are around here somewhere. Secure the area. We spotted two dead uniforms at the requested pickup point. They couldn't have fled far."

"You're correct sir, the request call was just a couple of minutes prior. Logically they shouldn't be too far unless they're awakened."

"Yes, we should keep that possibility in our minds as well. I want this area searched asap."

The group quietly made it through a small tunnel ahead of them. They rushed to take cover behind a huge wall to their left. It was a part of the half-sunk house that had rubble above the ground and also sinking inside the trench.

There were various small searchlights pointing at the trench. Joel took a small peek to spot numerous guards above the surface on both sides.

"This route is burned we have to go back and circle about and find another way." he spoke in a low volume.

"Joel, move aside." the group moved sideways as J made his way up front and peeked ever so slightly.

"Should we go back? We could just return the payment and call off the deal or try doing this again in a week or two." Tess shared her thoughts with the two of them in hopes of gauging where their minds were at.

"No, can't go back. We won't make it back to where we came from. " He glanced sideways at them "Not as a group anyways." the implied meaning wasn't lost on the rest of them.

"J is right, the chances of all or any of us making back are bleak. " Joel nodded his head in agreement with his assessment. " But It still doesn't help our situation, we're pinned down here. This is going to get messy if we go guns blazing through this trench. This is a murder hole."

"Agreed. We don't use guns. I got an idea, kind of risky." he looked up as he suggested to the rest of his group.

"Worth a shot, do it. At worst we have to fight our way through." Joel added in.

"At least we know Tess is our lucky charm right here. Hey Tess! how good of a voice do you have ?"

"huh?" both the girls chimed in at the same time as he asked quite a ridiculous question considering the urgency of the situation they were in.

"Over...overwatch co...come in: This is Pri...private Ram...rami...Ramirez from unit 16. Do you co...copy. "

" This is overwatch. Go for Ramirez. Over."

"Medic ne...needed. I was shot. I saw...hosssss...hostiles run to trench...800m out.

"Copy that. Just hold on we are sending medics asap. Over and out"

"Motherfucker...Let's go...Let's go...move...we are wasting our time here. You two! I want you to keep an eye out on these trenches here. Rest move your asses."

"Yes sir."

Both Tess and Ellie stared at him in bewilderment. They looked at the soldiers loading themselves in vehicles and leaving while the rest followed them on foot. They stared back at him, their mouth slightly agape.

"What...what is this sorcery?" the younger one of the females asked while levelling a shivering finger at him. Whether the shiver was due to the unpredictable outcome or because of the cold shower all of them had been enduring, was left unknown.

J replied in the manner he was best known for: he ignored the question. "Joel, to the right. Boost me up, you go as soon as I take down the first guy. There will be no signal. Keep your eye on me."

Both of them jogged to the other side with Joel sending him up and returning to his position.

J moved while keeping as low as he could, holding his gun in his dominant hand. He quietly came up behind the first guard, he spun his gun around holding it in an inverted orientation using the barrel and trigger guard with the grip pointing out. With a sudden burst of strength, he grabbed him using his left hand to cover the guard's mouth entirely. He attacked the guard's neck using the blunt force generated by the gun. The guard immediately went limp in his grasp. He gently laid him down and picked up his comm. and moved up.

'Whoa, did he knock out a guy using a gun? Honestly, he's kinda scary.'

"There's our cue. Stop staring kid, let's go. " Joel quietly started navigating through the trench. Meanwhile back on the surface, J holstered his gun, approached the second guard and easily locked him into a chokehold until he passed out due to lack of air. He also picked up his comm. and dragged both of the knocked-out guards a short distance and sprinted back to the trench.

He rejoined the group that had already made it through.

"Move faster. They'll circle back sooner or later. We got to create distance while the coast is clear." The rest nodded at his directive and practically sprinted ahead to the broken building resting on their path. They climbed some broken wooden floors and went up the stairs and around until they found an opening to get down and move ahead.

They moved ahead broken room to room until they saw a metal curtain, they were certainly in an unrecognizable garage, everything was torn apart, roofs blown and everything demolished.

"Can't tell shit where you're going, Everything is run down and torn to smithereens." Joel commented offhandedly.

J waved them to the open window next to it.

"Through here." he jumped out of the window. The rest followed his lead. "Patrol up ahead." The group quietly crossed to the broken building across the road while taking cover behind the numerous cars.

"J, for the record I am completely lost here." Tess spoke quietly.

"Me too. We don't know whether we are moving forward or just going in fuckin circles." Joel chipped in his opinion as well.

"Me three." a small voice added. He didn't have to look behind to know the only unfamiliar voice to him.

"It doesn't matter whether we are progressing or not. It's all about endurance now. They called in STU before us killing two of the guards. Practically we'd have everybody they can spare besides the boundary sentry on our tails. We might have to go like this for an entire day before they give up. We'll find where we are once we get a vantage point. For now, the trenches and cave-ins are our friends."

They crossed through multiple buildings all in similar conditions as he briefly talked to his partners. Finally coming across a huge cave in the road.

"That's uncrossable, we'll have to double back or go down hopefully it's not a dead end. What do you want to do? I suggest we go down, the patrol is not far from us. " Joel remarked.

"We take cover. J, just be fast. Check out whether there's a path down there." she received a nod of approval from him. He bent down lightly and literally dived in head first, skipping the first platform flipping mid-air and landing perfectly on his feet on the second level floor. From there he lowered himself using his arms. He checked around before going through a narrow passageway.

'Yikes. His ankles they'd be in so much pain right now. That was just a complete show-off for no reason.' Ellie looked on as the trio hid in the tall grass close to the cave-in.

He came out signalling them to come down.

"Let's go. The group climbed down without any 'fashion'. Joel got down first and caught Ellie who had to jump since she couldn't lower herself without hurting herself as the height was too great for her to simply drop down from. Meanwhile, J helped Tess get down who just declared to catch her and flung herself at him with no regard.

'Clearly, he wasn't amused by my tactic.' she tilted her head as she saw his eyebrow twitch slightly.

"Move." he said as he signalled to the narrow cross-section to his left. They came out and entered a basement area of the building. They went up the stairs.

"Through here" he pointed to a narrow opening in the wall. He delivered positively brutal front kicks to the wall making the opening bigger and proceeded to cross through.

"Someone's angry." Joel called out as he followed behind him.

"Yeah, I am not. It wasn't nearly big enough for you to pass through easily." he shot back. They made it through another open section and to the other side of the building.

"Finally out, of the rain and quite possibly out of the patrol's perimeter of search." Tess sounded a bit relieved and calmer than she was initially trying to display herself.

"Don't drop your guard. We aren't clear." Joel reminded her. They came across a fork in the path.

"Hang a left Joel, I'll take the right. You guys can wait if you want." The group divided as Tess and he went right while Joel and she went left.

"So is he in charge of the group." she was a bit curious considering she had been with them through all the precarious situations they encountered tonight and the bulk of decisions surprisingly came from him.

"Not really, No. Each of us brings something different to the table. In situations like these we go with the one whoever is making the most sense then. " he said as he entered an area filled with lockers.

"Huh...I see. I thought it was slightly weird for him to be in charge considering he called you a veteran earlier." He was a bit surprised that she had remembered what he had said evidently as a joke.

"That's because generally, I have a minor lead since I am better at navigation and planning. Tess on the other hand doesn't impose authority on us in fights she knows it's a lost cause. She is smarter than us. Whether it's technical planning, resource management, negotiation, overall functioning, she is responsible for it." He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as he opened the lockers, he had drawn his gun, prepared for any surprises.

"I think you shouldn't open them." he said looking at her.

"Oh why ?" she looked confused before she saw the gun in his hand and it dawned upon her. "Right, right. You open them I'll just walk." she just walked alongside him as he kept opening lockers looking for possible supplies.

"Makes sense so he has a relatively lesser say. It's just he was stellar tonight." she asked innocuously.

"You shouldn't discount him." He said as he picked up the ammo he encountered and started to store it.

"Huh? What's that ?" she peeked her head out from one of the lockers he had previously opened.

*sigh* "I said don't discount him. In extreme scenarios, his words do override mine if we ever had counter approaches. Generally, both of us land roughly on similar conclusions. One glance is all it takes to tell his combat experience is through the roof. He is our combat guy you can rely on him to get the job done and carry you when you're in the weeds, plus he has odd left-field tactics.

You have got it wrong. He didn't need us. Well neither did we but since he came we have worked more efficiently and smarter. Also, the definite scale-up in our manpower is undeniable.

That's why I said there isn't one leader as per se." He walked to the other side and started opening up the lockers.

'Wow. I didn't think he'd hold him in such high regard.'

"I guess you're right. He looked like he could hold more than on his own. I still don't get how he moved those soldiers away from our path. What kind of magic trick was that ?" she sat on a bench, apparently tired of pointlessly following him back and forth when she heard him chuckle a bit.

"Magic trick, huh? Nothing so elaborate. A witty tactic I'd say but nothing close to magic."

"So you know how he did it? " her voice completely singed with curiosity.

"It's not complex when you think about what he did." you already know how he did it. Just think it over.

'He and him are alike. What's with their obsession with making me guess the answers on my own rather than giving me the correct answer straightforwardly?'

She supported her chin on her palm as she thought out aloud."So let's go over what I have. He asked Tess to mimic the female guard Ramirez, was it ?"

"Correct"

"He also said to make it imperfect. Probably to make her sound like she was shot since he did shoot the actual one."

"uh-huh"

"Then he told her to give our exact location but then why did they go away instead of swarming us ?"

"Look at it from another angle. You went off track." she rolled her eyes at his comment."If I did go off track maybe you can correct me ?"

"Okay. Here's a hint: the key lies in imperfect."

'Key lies in imperfect. hm...key lies in imperfect...key lies in imperfect...key lies in imperfect...key lies in imperfect...key lies in imperfect (* - *)'

"C'mon let's go this place is a dead end. There's no route here." He signalled her as he started to walk back.

"Wait! tell me I can't find the answer." she responded as she ran up to him.

"Nope. Figure it out yourself."

"So the left was a no-go. " he addressed the other two that had reached earlier than them. J merely nodded and started walking right again.

"We had better luck. C'mon. " Tess replied as she followed him. They walked forward linearly until they came up across a huge drainage cross-section. The group walked in waist-deep water as they continued. They could hear the muffled voices of soldiers.

"Can't believe we still aren't clear of them." Ellie voiced her grievance for the very first time throughout the entire ordeal.

"No, we made it through. Listen to the voices kid, they're distant almost incomprehensible and no flashes of searchlights. I am guessing they're performing a surface search for simply formality now. The rain made it harder for us but it is more difficult for them too. It washes out our tracks, drowns our scent and puts them in a bad mood as it overall feels 100 times harder to just be on the lookout while constantly having to be in this weather."

"True, I'd rather have stayed at home if I knew it was gonna rain all damn day and all damn night." Tess came to a stop as the one in front of her stopped and started putting pressure on the jammed gate.

The gate opened and the group was finally out. Joel closed the gate behind them.

"We made it out of the outside Perimeter." Tess breathed a sigh of relief.

"What does that mean ?" she questioned her.

"It means we are out kid. We are truly on the 'outside'. The military might run a couple of ops here and there but this area is out of their jurisdiction. See the broken bridges, once you climb it you'll see the two towers. " she pointed forwards "We are in the downtown area now."

"So...it means we can breathe easy for a while without the army tracking us. Sounds good to me."

*tsk* she glanced back, one from either of the two did not agree with her sentiment. Her guess was the guy sitting on the pipe.

"Joel, do you remember this route ?" he addressed his question to the guy standing beside him arms folded, his index finger tapping lightly in a rhythm.

'Clearly, he's planning. Considering what we faced due to a small slip up. He knows we wasted a lot of energy. For now, we are clear but there exists a possibility that the military might just send up a team to do a quick circle in the morning.'

"More or less yes."

"Good. When we go back plot the route on the map. I believe we just found a more secure and completely unknown path to the outside. We're gonna have to let a few people in on it to maintain proper security from the military but this can be a game-changer advantage for the group."

"Uh-huh. Let's get out of this rain. "

He released a sigh and got up. "We're gonna take a short break under that bridge. There's something I want to talk about." He addressed it to everyone as he placed both hands in his pockets and walked ahead.

Tess gave a questioning look to Joel, who returned it with a shrug. He wasn't aware of the subject he wanted to talk about. Maybe about the path that he just discussed with him. The group followed after him out of the rain and took refuge under the bridge. Each found an appropriate place to rest for a while as they heard him out.

'Damn, I am hungry...' he waited for them to get comfortable as much as one could be given the place they were in.

"So what do you want to tell us ?" Tess took the initiative to ask him. "We really can't be wasting our time here. We got a lot of ground to cover. We have to hand her over early morning."

'Great, so no food, in the damn rain, no rest at all. Yeah, this is among the top 50 worst assignments I'd have had the honour of doing. Worst of all I can't gripe about it since we all accepted it of our own volition.'

He glanced at her in his usual serious manner. "I see then we have all night to decide what we have to do."

She felt exasperated with his reply before she could voice her frustration, Joel intervened. "No time to be enigmatic J. What is it you are suggesting here?" his tone was similar to his insinuating he was over with any antics too.

"Agreed. We have a big decision to make. What are we going to do with her." He directed his finger towards Ellie.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't I just..." he intervened Tess in the middle and continued to speak.

"I had warned you. You should have never trusted Marlene. Our escortee here is a trap and we fell into it."

Silence. The weight of his words made everyone fall silent.

"Bullshit. What the fuck are you spouting. Why would Marlene do that to YOU? She made a deal with you guys, she trusted me to you and you are fuckin betraying her." her voice raised a notch at the very end. She had unknowingly risen, her fists were clenched and trembling.

Joel had anticipated her outburst when J had levelled the accusation on the Queen firefly but he had not foreseen how explosive she would come across as.

'One thing is certain this girl would go to bat for Marlene against anyone. She holds her in very high regard.'

"You know what fuck you. FUCK YOU, I knew something was off about you from the time we met. You dislike me and you hate Marlene anyone can see that." Ellie vented out.

'How dare he accuse Marlene of this? How dare he.' Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Joel.

"Calm down, kid. You said enough. Let me understand what brought this on. Sit down." he lightly pressed her shoulder motioning her to sit back.

"J, enough. Explain. " his words were concise and even rougher.

'He is being honest. He sincerely believes that Marlene laid out a scheme for us or that somehow this girl is bad news for us. That nonchalant body posture but the serious look on him, it's translation for he is right + yes he doesn't care + shut the fuck up I am planning. It's been the same body language in all of those situations prior. Plus he's been giving her the cold stare for the past minute.' Tess had been silently observing the situation as it was unfolding.

"Like I said she's sabotage. Think about it what's so special about a girl that the queen firefly would want to smuggle her out? Unless.

Unless there exactly isn't. Unless the girl is just meant to conceal her true intentions. Her motive was to eliminate us all along. Tess, you went to her base. Tell me was her staff packing for the long migration?"

She shook her head relaying a negative to his question. He looked at Joel as he continued

"But didn't she say they were moving out yet nobody was preparing to move out when Tess visited? How odd. It's possible she concocted a plot to take us down. Why? The answer is easy enough, It's Marlene - this is what she does she takes contracts. Someone requested for us.

Next question, why the long plan? Because she can't take us out without severe casualties and she can't afford that. The military has been wiping the fireflies clean at least in this zone.

Next question, why take this request at all? Because she is desperate. To get out she needs more resources. The payment she'll end up receiving is more than she offered us for this little trap of hers.

Next, why use the girl? Initially, I thought she was disposable but I know there's a hidden value to her.

Then why use her? Care to guess Joel."

"What are you? You're off your rocker. You..." "Quiet." Ellie was preparing to throw a long list of abuses at him when she was cut off by Joel. He looked at her and somehow she lost a little bit of her steam. She gritted her teeth a bit and swung her head in a very condescending and disapproving manner.

"Oh, the princess is mad that I made fun of the Queen." Her eyebrow twitched as she listened to his taunt.

"I am still waiting on the answer, Joel." he went back to the serious nature of the conversation.

"It's because she expects us to deliver her the girl. She'll take care of us right after. She never expected us to deduce her hidden motive at all. "

"Which means we are walking into an ambush." Tess finished Joel's explanation. She was taken aback if this was indeed true she might have been the cause of death for her entire group.

"Everything fits. Alright, I'll bite, J. What tipped you off? Since When or how long have you been considering this possibility?"

He picked up his bag and started rummaging for something. "You get the bigger picture when you have the missing piece. Here, catch." He threw something towards Joel.

"The missing piece: SHE'S INFECTED."

A scanner laid on Joel's hands, while the trio's eyes were set on the girl who was looking paler by the minute after she had heard him utter the last few words.

Additional Reading Navigation:

1. ************** - stream of stars indicates scene break (Narration or Flashback.)

2. ... - stream of vertical dots indicates a lapse in time or shift to a concurrent view of different characters within the same time-lapse.

3. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx - stream of x(s) indicates a major lapse in time from a few minutes to hours. It's a dynamic allocation of time. I trust the readers are sensible enough to create practical time frames. As 'within 5 min, within 2 min, within 20 min' every few lines would be just ugly writing.

Meta-data about the story: A lot of trivia and metadata within this chapter:

1. Let's start with the walkie-talkie lingo used by the guards :

10-1 = Transmission unreadable or receiving poorly

10-3 = Abort transmission

What's your 20? = What's your location

Over = I'm done with my transmission, ready for your reply

Out = I'm done transmitting for now

Go for 'XYZ' (Acknowledge "XYZ" wants to contact me and I'm ready to listen)

2. Joel and J play a game of rock paper and scissors to decide who will go and open the door for Tess.

3. I have made all of the characters more analytical. One thing I have disliked as a reader myself is binary reasoning in characters. They can't think from multiple angles, they can't consider multiple angles while attributing decisions and they act too dumb. Well, It's the apocalyptic world and it's one where things aren't happy-go-lucky.

If you're dumb as fuck then you're dead as fuck. If I write dumb characters in future you best believe they'll have a hidden edge to them.

4. Related to point 3. When the guards have Tess, Joel and Ellie at gunpoint. I start breaking down what Tess analyses of the situation.

Many would say "She'd be dead if she thought that much. A situation like that requires natural improvisation and instinct not planning." And I'd agree but the evaluation of the situation was very different. She knew:

They had surrendered but one of their partners i.e. J was not found.

J is competent which implies he's building up an attack. He is also an insane marksman (There's a reason why there were multiple headshots in the introduction of the story. Trust me there is a decent explanation in long term.)

She has to predict his flow of action and act accordingly so that she doesn't reverse the flow by mistake and fuck things up.

5. Related to 4. Joel concludes the same as Tess which is why both of them 'nod in agreement' as I state. Only Ellie doesn't predict it and which is why she nearly ends up dying. Joel saves her because he predicted J's action and then evaluated what would Ellie do in the unfolding of these actions. He concludes she might risk herself if she does not grasp the proper timing of J's attack.

6. Now trivia about J -

He loves to walk while placing his hands in his pocket. He thinks others will perceive it as cool. (Of course, this thinking is at a subconscious level. It's ingrained in him. He is not a narcissist to think of such things at an active conscious level)

Even he misevaluates. There are plenty of times when you'll see him change up as per the situation. Eg: he hits one guy in the neck with his gun (actually that was similar to a karate chop that's why it knocked out that guy) but he uses his bare hands to put the second guard to sleep.

The reasoning being he felt that maybe they had some sort of protective gear for the neck. So he did not take any chances with the first guy. He dealt way more damage than he needed to knock out the guy. He realised nothing was protecting their necks and so he changed his approach.

When he shoots the female guard. You'll remember the next line was 'he re-attached his suppressor'. The unsuppressed gunshots by him were intentional. The sound was meant to distract the male guard standing in front

7. Trivia about Tess -

She practices soft control. There's a part where she throws herself towards J and orders him to catch her. While I admit it's for comedy it's a demonstration of her soft control. Unlike Joel, Tess is more in tune with J. She has grasped that his personality does not yield to rigidness. People like him can get fearsome when someone undermines their authority but the opposite holds as well. They're pliant to support, harmonious nature a more non-threatening approach will work 100 times better on them.

She understands this because Joel shares this single specific attribute with him. (Again this is at a semi-subconscious level thought process. Meaning she can understand what I said but she has never deep-dived into such cold analysis because if she did she'd be plain manipulative which she is not. At least not for Joel, J or anybody she considers an ally)

8. Trivia about Joel -

During his fight with the guard, I shared a mere fleeting thought of what went through his head. There's plenty of stuff TMOU Joel isn't forthcoming about. The same thing for J. Of the four of them I'd say only Tess is transparent, she lays her motives out for the readers. Others don't, especially Joel. (That's why I write the least from his perspective.

9. Trivia about Ellie -

She's an odd mix of soft and hard control. Her soft control is involuntary i.e. she practices it without realising or being self-aware. Eg: when she made food for them and both of them commented in an irritated tone 'quit acting like my mother'. While Tess practices it because she can be manipulative to others (as in people she has negotiated with) Ellie doesn't. There's no deceit or nefarious purpose in her soft control.

Which is why she's an odd mix of both soft and hard control. Since her soft control is involuntary she practices Joel and J's line of ideology, which takes it badly against the undermining of personal authority.

While their basic ideology is the same the way they deal with actual situations is different. Eg: Ellie might just hurl abuses till the opposite person's ears bleed but Joel won't do that and J would take a different approach.

Author's Note of Uncertainty:

I promised a long chapter and I delivered it. I know I have been away for way too long but I just can't make any promises. I have a lot of workload. I'll try to find some time and write more. Meanwhile, leave some thoughts about the story. Anything, Just stupid hateful comments will do as well. At least I'll have some gauge of knowing what level my writing is at. Is it 'garbage' or just 'stop wasting time?'