We're giving love in a family dose - We are Family - Sister Sledge, 1979
The trip down the stairs is easier than the trip up them.
But walking through the city towards the bank makes my heart race more than the trip up the stairs last night. Henry leads us through the streets with ease. We don't run into any patrols along our way.
I wonder how long they were in hiding. How long Henry has been awake watching over both his brother and the patrols.
I look at Joel and see him standing on the outside of both Sam and Ellie. The two youngest members of our group hold the other's hand tightly in their own. I see the looks Joel sends them. The looks he sends towards Henry.
I have a feeling we won't be going our separate ways if we make it out of this alive.
"It's just down this block, three doors down," Henry whispers to us. We follow him quickly and when we get to a building with only a glass front, we run inside.
"We need to get outta sight," Joel says. I can just barely hear the sound of one of the patrol trucks and stand behind Ellie and Sam. Henry turns down a hall and starts running faster.
We follow him until we get to a heavy door. The word 'basement' is painted on it. Henry opens the door and steps inside first, cutting his flashlight on. Sam follows his brother, and then Ellie is behind him. Joel nods for me to go next and I pull out both my gun and flashlight.
Joel closes the heavy door behind us firmly.
"This should be it," Henry says. Joel looks down the tunnel, his flashlight moving across it slightly. And then he turns to Ellie.
"Get your gun out."
Ellie pulls it out of her jacket pocket.
"Get that grin off your face," I say as I look down at her. It's the first time I've come close to scolding her.
"What-"
"Don't think I don't remember Joel telling you to put it in your pack."
"I'm sorry," she says quietly as she looks down.
"We'll try and find you a holster once we're out of the city, alright kiddo?" I nudge her slightly and she nods. "We're good," I say as I look up at Joel.
He doesn't say anything as he slides by us to walk down the stairs. We walk down a small hallway until Joel pushes open another large door. I hear water dripping as I close it behind me.
"You see? It's empty," Henry says. "The plan is good."
"Shh," Joel shushes him immediately. "The plan is good? We've been down here two seconds. We don't know anything."
"Your dad's kind of a pessimist," Henry says to Ellie.
"He's not my dad."
"I'm not her dad."
"Henry," I say before it can get too awkward. He turns back to me as I tap Sam on his shoulder. I slip my gun back in its holster and put my flashlight in my pocket as I crouch down to Sam's level and begin to sign.
"I know this is really scary, but you're both being brave and I'm proud of you." Sam smiles widely. "I know you two haven't really had to deal with infected here, so I'm going to tell you some things to help you, okay?" Sam nods immediately and I look up to see Henry nod slightly as well.
"Infected have really good hearing. Like bats. So we need to be really, really quiet. That means no laughing, no talking, and we need to make sure we walk very lightly. Kinda like we're on a super secret mission and we have to sneak around the bad guys."
"Okay," Sam signs. He practically bounces on his feet.
"Can you show me your quiet walk?" I sign to him. He puts his hands out slightly and hunches his back as he walks in place almost silently. "Good job, kiddo. Stay close to us and we're going to be okay." Sam nods as I stand back up to my full height. I pull out my flashlight before small arms wrap around my waist.
Sam has his face buried in my stomach.
"What'd you say?" Joel asks. I rest my hand on Sam's head like I did with Ellie earlier in the conference room.
"They've never been around infected, Joel. So I told them to be extra quiet-"
"So why's he hugging you?" Ellie asks.
"I told him he did a good job with walking quietly," I say as I move my hand from Sam's head to hold my flashlight. I wrap that arm around his back while I hold my other arm out for Ellie. She walks over slowly, but eventually leans into my side. "No matter what happens, I'll always be able to hold you, too," I whisper into her hair.
"I'm sorry," she whispers.
"It's normal, kiddo. Aiden was the same when I hugged his friends, too." I whisper before I pull my arms from both of the kids. Sam looks up at me when I do and I start to sign. "Now, both of you keep your flashlights forward. If you notice anything, tell one of us."
"Okay." Ellie says.
"Okay," Sam signs.
"Okay," I say. I look to Joel instinctively. He nods slightly and turns to face forward again. I pat Sam's shoulder and he turns around. Ellie steps forward and Sam immediately falls in step with her. I catch her looking down at him with a small smile.
When I look back up, Henry walks on Sam's other side.
I pull my gun back out of its holster as we start to walk through the dark tunnels.
We walk for what seems like forever. The tunnel is littered with trash. But there's no infected or people.
And then we reach a smaller tunnel. Joel looks back at Henry for a second before he starts to walk down it. We reach a small opening where the walls are covered in children's drawings.
"Whoa," Ellie says as she looks around. Sam taps Henry and points at the door. I reach out to grab his backpack strap, but he's too quick. He starts walking towards the door when Joel steps in front of him and holds onto his arm.
"No," Joel shakes his head. Henry pulls Sam back behind him as Joel opens the door slowly. He walks in alone at first, but then he pushes the door open more widely. Henry follows him first, then Sam and Ellie. And then I'm in last.
I shut the door carefully behind me as Joel starts to speak.
"I heard about places like this. People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements.
"What happened to them?" Ellie asks.
"Maybe they didn't follow the rules and they all got infected."
"Mm," Ellie hums. Sam sits down at one of the kids' play tables and Ellie walks over to him. She pushes a toy car and it falls off the table. They both laugh. I start to look around the parts of the room the others haven't yet. I don't want to get too comfortable and miss an infected.
"No way!" Ellie says. "I love these." I look over to see her and Sam pouring over a Savage Starlight comic. I hear her speak and the sounds of the plastic on Sam's tablet moving up and down.
I hear the claps of high fives and turn back to see Joel walking closer to them.
"Keep it down, we ain't out yet."
"Oh come on, can we just rest here for a while?" Ellie whines. I feel my lips twitch up into a smile when I see Joel's resolve break.
She can already play him like a fiddle.
"Wouldn't be bad to wait the light out a bit. Safer to pop out in shadows on the other side," Henry says. I turn away to hide my smile. He's just as much of a little shit as Ellie.
I look over when I hear movement. Joel puts his arms out and tilts his head slightly as he goes to keep looking around the room. As soon as his back is turned Ellie pumps her arm up and smiles widely at Henry.
"You're the best," she mouths quietly.
"I heard that," Joel says.
"No you didn't!" Ellie says quickly.
"Shouldn't give yourself away that easy, kiddo." I shake my head as I walk over to join them at the kids table. I sit down on the ground beside Ellie and relax into the quiet bonding between the two kids in front of me.
An hour later, I look around for small things we might be able to bring with us on the rest of our trip as Henry explains his story to Joel. My heart breaks for both him and his brother as I flip through the shelves. I find issue two of Savage Starlight and slip it into my bag.
Ellie finally deemed me okay enough to let me carry it on my own. I want something I can give to the kids once we make it out of this mess.
"You might not be her father," I hear Henry say. "But you were someone's." My hand pauses for a brief second as I zip up my bag. I throw it over my shoulders as Ellie roars and Sam runs away from her.
"We've waited long enough," Joel says as he stands. I look back and forth between him and Henry before I step closer to the table.
"Come on," I say quietly. Henry just stares at Joel's back. "Hey," I say again. He finally looks up at me. "We're gonna be okay. We're gonna get through this."
"You can't promise that," Henry says. His voice cracks.
"I can't," I whisper. "But I can promise Joel and I will do everything we can to keep you safe."
"He doesn't care-" Henry shakes his head.
"And that's where you're wrong, kiddo," I say as I look down at him. I bring my hands up to sign as I hear Ellie and Sam put on their own backpacks.
"He cares so much that he tries to distance himself. That way if something does happen, he thinks it'll hurt less." Henry looks at me for a second before he nods and starts to stand.
"I'm not a kid," he says.
"This world hasn't let you be one. But you are. You and Ellie are a lot alike." Henry doesn't say anything. He doesn't even look at me as he walks towards the others. But I see it. His hand runs across his cheek under his eyes swiftly as he wipes away his tears.
"Why can't we use our lights?" Sam signs to Henry.
"He says so we don't draw attention."
"But no one's here?" I tap Sam's shoulder.
"That we know of."
"No one's going to be here because my plan worked," Henry says.
"So much goddamn talking," Joel says as he walks in front of us. I see Ellie smile at his back.
"I'm just saying, I delivered. Make this right, down the street, embankment behind the last house and we're out."
"So we cross the river and then what? Where are ya gonna go?" Ellie asks.
"Don't know yet," Henry says.
"Well, we're going to Wyoming." Joel turns around to look at Ellie and Sam giggles quietly beside me. "What? It's a huge state, it can fit two more people."
"Yeah, well, let's just call this a success and exchange our fond farewells," Henry says.
"No, he'll change his mind. Trust me. This is how it goes," I bite my lip as I hear the slight tilt to Ellie's voice. A second later she's doing an impression of Joel and I struggle to not laugh. "No, Ellie," Joel looks back at her, obviously annoyed. "Never, ever, ever happening. And then I'm like, I'm gonna ask you a million more times and he's like-"
A gunshot cuts her off.
"Move! Move!" Joel says as he ushers us behind a car. "Go!"
"Where the fuck is that coming from?" Henry asks.
"Shut up," Joel says quickly. I see him look over the back of the car and feel a lump in my throat. This is too much like the laundromat.
A few more shots ring out as Joel looks back at Ellie.
At least the sniper is a shit shot.
"Fuck," Henry grabs Sam's hand and pulls him away.
"Henry!" I call out, I go to move but Joel stops me. "Joel-"
"You can't save them if they don't fuckin' listen!" He hisses to me. "What are you doin?" Joel yells at Henry.
"Getting the fuck outta- shit!" He pulls Sam back to sit beside us behind the car.
"What do we do?" Henry asks. Joel looks back over the car. There's another shot.
"Alright," Joel says as he puts his gun away. "Stay here," he says as he looks at Ellie.
"What?" She asks.
"If you don't move, he's not gonna hit you. I'm gonna go around, try to get to the house through the back and I'll take him out."
"But if you go out there he's gonna kill you," Ellie says. Her voice shakes.
"It's dark and he has shit aim, nobody's gonna kill me."
"I will if you get hurt, Cowboy." Joel looks over Ellie's head at me and nods.
"If he doesn't kill you he'll kill us," Ellie says.
"Do you trust me?" Joel asks as he looks at her. She looks at him and nods once. He carefully starts walking around us. I hear a few shots as he starts to run and I lean back against the car and take a few breaths.
"Henry," I whisper. He looks up from Sam to look at me. I pull the gun off of my left hip and hand it to him. "Show me how you held it before." He holds it in his right hand, his finger off the trigger.
"You're just like Ellie," I say quietly. I grab his left hand and fold it over his right. "Left hand stays over the left, okay?" He nods quickly. I put my hand over the top of the gun and shake it like Joel did with Ellie. "See? Just like that."
"But Sam-"
"Can follow you without you holding onto him." I turn my attention to the little boy. He looks up at me, his fear is clear in his eyes. One second I'm looking at Aiden. And then I blink and I'm looking at Sam.
"Your brother needs to use two hands to hold his gun. Follow him close, okay?"
"Okay," Sam's hands shake. I lean down and kiss the top of his head before I turn back to Ellie.
"He's gonna be okay, kiddo," I bend down and kiss the top of her head. She buries her face in my shoulder. I hear a distant yell and trucks and my body freezes.
Sam points over at a light and then I hear Joel.
"Run!" His yell carries through the street. I grab Ellie and Sam's hands and pull them back. Ellie starts shooting behind us as a truck starts to follow us.
"Save your-" I hear her gun click. "Bullets." I feel Sam's hand get ripped out of my own as Henry pulls him farther away. The light from the truck swerves and I look back to see it going straight towards a house.
And then it explodes.
Ellie and I both fall to the ground.
"Ellie?"
"I'm okay," she says. I feel hands on my back, pulling me up and I see Henry. He pulls us through the haze behind a car with Sam.
"You okay?" He asks as soon as we're settled.
"Yeah," Ellie says.
A woman's voice calls out, asking for Henry to come out.
"Don't," I whisper to him.
"I'll come out! Just let the kids go!" He says.
"No," the woman says. Her voice sounds so patronizing. Exactly like the women who would do anything to get their way when I worked in the grocery store before outbreak.
"What a bitch," I whisper.
"You cussed," Ellie whispers.
"I cuss all the time, kiddo."
"Yeah, but not calling someone a name!"
"I called Joel a-"
"That doesn't count cause' you like him!"
"You like grumpy?" Sam signs and I groan quietly.
"Not the time and no," I say and sign at the same time. The two kids look at each other before they turn back to me. I hear Henry's empty chuckle beside me.
"Take care of them."
"Henry no," I whisper.
"Go, when they're distracted," he says as he slips my gun in his back pocket.
"They're just kids!" Henry yells back at the woman.
"Well kids die, Henry." I start to move but Henry puts an arm out to stop me. "They die all the time."
"Please."
"Okay," I whisper.
"You think the whole world revolves around him? That he's worth everything?" Henry looks at me one more time and I nod. He looks up at the sky before he forces himself to his feet. He walks slowly towards the woman, his hands raised.
I hear a gun click and pull my gun out of the holster on my right hip.
But then there's a rumbling noise. I lean down to look under the car and see the large truck from earlier falling into the ground.
"Fuck," I whisper. And then tons of infected start to run out of the hole. I hear gunfire as Henry comes to hide behind the car with us. "We need to move while they're distracted!"
"But-"
"Move, now." I say and sign.
We start running for Joel. I look back and see a clicker coming straight for us.
"Go!" I yell. Ellie shakes her head. "Ellie, go now!" She tries to shake her head again but Henry grabs her and runs. I take one breath, then another. And then I turn around and shoot.
It doesn't go down. I shoot again. It's even closer. I shoot one last time, when it's just a foot away.
And it falls.
I turn back around and Ellie is nowhere to be seen. I hear Henry's screams and look towards a car. There's two infected. One is holding onto Henry's leg, while the other's mouth is dangerously close to Sam's leg.
I don't think.
I shoot.
"Thank god," I whisper when I see its head fall. I go to shoot the other, but Ellie's there. She stabs the infected in the head with her switchblade before she pulls it out with ease.
She's done it before.
I file that away for later as I run towards them.
"Come on!" I yell. The boys crawl out and soon we're all running together again until we get close to the house.
"Stop!" A woman's voice yells. I turn around to see a woman holding a gun, she points it directly at Henry. There's the distinct sound of a clicker.
I look behind her and see a clicker. A child clicker. Wearing a Blues Clues shirt. I feel sick. It pounces on the woman. Her screams fill the air as the clicker starts hitting the woman relentlessly. I force Ellie to run the opposite direction as soon as I see Joel.
"Go!" He says. I follow behind the others as Joel watches our back.
I should've known something insane like this would happen after our time in the tunnel was so easy.
We settle down in a crappy motel. The kids go to one room and immediately start reading their comics. Joel and Henry walk to a room across the hall. I watch as Joel slides down to the floor and rests his head back against the air conditioning unit behind him.
When I walk into the room, Henry goes to hand me my gun, but I shake my head and give him a holster.
"She's gonna be mad about that," Joel says. He sounds exhausted.
"I found it when I went to use the bathroom," I say as I drop my bag on the ground beside him. I pull a medical pouch off the front of my bag before I walk back towards the kids.
I see his and Henry's lips moving, but I can't hear them over my heart pounding in my ears.
"Pew," Ellie says as she reads the comic out loud. I can't help but smile at her. "You can't make us go to bed yet," she whines when she sees me.
"I'm not making you go to bed yet, kiddo," I say and sign. "I wanted to give you this," I say as I hand her my now empty holster.
"What?" She asks as she holds it in her hands.
"I found another holster in the bathroom," I say as I crouch down in front of her and Sam. "I thought you might like mine while Henry gets that one."
"Really?" She asks.
"Really," I smile up at her. "I also wanted to do a checkup for both of you," I say and sign after I put my medical pouch on the ground beside me.
"A checkup?" Ellie asks.
"Yeah. We had a couple close calls tonight and I want to make sure you're both okay."
"Can Ellie stay with me?" Sam signs.
"Of course Ellie can stay with you," I say and sign. He nods slightly and start to pull his pant leg up. Everything stops around me as I wait for him. Once his pants leg is up to his knee I feel myself relax.
I hold his leg and turn it slightly. There's no blood. No bite. Not even a scratch.
"Does anywhere hurt?" I sign when I let go of his leg. He nods slightly and starts to pull up his other pant leg.
There's blood.
"Why didn't he say he was hurt?" Ellie asks. I hear movement in the other room and when I look up I see Henry and Joel looking in on us.
"Why-why is he bleeding?"
"He's not bit," I say quickly as I turn his leg slightly. He winces and I have to fight back tears.
"Then what happened?" Henry asks.
"An infected almost bit his other leg and I shot it. There was no other option."
"You shot him?" Henry says, almost knocking me over.
"The bullet grazed his leg. I just need to clean it and cover it. He's going to be okay." I sign the same to Sam and he nods.
"Thank you for saving me." I shake my head.
"I hurt you."
"No." It's the first time I've heard Sam speak. "No," he repeats. "Don't be mad at her, she saved me." He signs to Henry. Tears start to fall down Henry's face as he pulls Sam into a tight hug. I pull the small thing of hand sanitizer from my medical pouch and rub it into my hands before I put on a pair of gloves.
"What do you need?" I hear Joel's voice in my ear. My hands shake as I hand him my, well, now our canteen since he lost his.
"Can you open it?" He opens it easily. "Pour some of it over the wound," my voice cracks. The blood starts to wash away. There's one clear mark showing the graze.
But there's no bite marks on either of his legs where the infected were.
Once his wound is clear, I nod for Joel to stop pouring water on it. He closes the canteen as I carefully pull out one of the clean rags kept in a kit like this. I pat his leg dry before I pull out some gauze and tape.
I cover the wound with the gauze before I tape it at the sides. When I look up, I see all of them looking down at me.
"He's gonna be okay," I say and sign. "I'll just need to clean it a couple times a day, okay?"
"Okay," Sam signs. And then I feel arms wrap around me.
"I'm sorry," Henry says into my shoulder. I can't feel my arms, but I'm somehow able to wrap them around Henry. "I'm so sorry. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me, I was the one to-"
"Char," Ellie says, her voice sharp. I look up at her. "It's not your fault." My eyes burn.
"Okay," I whisper. "Okay. Just- just for me, could you check him over fully, make sure there's no bites?" I ask Henry.
"Yeah," he says.
"Have him check you too?" I ask quietly.
"Yeah, you'll check Ellie?"
"I will-"
"She doesn't need to check me," Ellie says.
"Ellie-" Joel starts.
"No," Ellie shakes her head. "They're part of our family now, too. They should know."
And for once, Joel doesn't argue with her.