Five months following the events of "The New Community"

Joey and Heather finally came to a stop next to the north side of the Wall. The setting sun made the sweat on their faces glisten. Both were dressed in blue jeans and blue t-shirts that had been found during the west side clean-up.

"You got a lot further that time," Heather said, handing on Joey a water bottle.

"Remind me again why running is fun to you," Joey said, gratefully accepting the water.

"Who said it was supposed to be fun?" Heather said with a laugh. "It's good for you."

"Right," Joey said with a small chuckle. "Well, I don't know by first-hand experience, but my dad said that out there running was a great way to attract a lot of attention and get yourself killed."

"Or it can be the only way to survive," Heather argued, taking a swig of her own water.

"That means that you sucked at sneaking," Joey teased.

Heather's voice turned harsh. "Well, sometimes running is your only option."

"Sorry," Joey said, surprised by the sudden change in tone. "I was only joking."

"I know," Heather said, lowering her voice. She sighed as the sun hit the horizon. "I overacted."

They drank in silence until the sun had set completely.

"You know if it makes you feel any better," Joey finally said. "When I went over the Wall, I almost got eaten. I didn't even try to run."

Heather laughed. "That doesn't make me feel any better, but it doesn't surprise me either."

"Ouch."

Heather took another drink of water. "You never told me why you were out there."

"My dad was looking for supplies in the convoy we found you in," Joey said simply.

"But you weren't," Heather pressed.

Joey shook his head and sighed. "At first, I thought he was looking for Uncle Joel and Ellie."

"And?"

"And I said something stupid," Joey continued. He shook his head. "The night Ellie left… actually that morning, I'd said something stupid and at the time, I thought that I was the reason she left."

"You obviously didn't find her," Heather said regretfully. She looked away. "I'm sorry."

Joey shrugged. "We found you. At least something went right that week."

Heather nodded. She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the chiming of the walkie-talkie on Joey's belt.

"Joey, you got a sec?"

Joey unclipped the walkie-talkie. "Go ahead, mom."

"Why are you breathing so hard?"

"I was jogging with Heather," Joey answered. "What's up?"

"That girl is so good for you," his mother commented.

"What's up, mom?" Joey repeated, attempting to keep the groan out of his voice.

Heather smiled and looked away again.

"Your fathers' got to head over to the east end of town with Tim," his mom explained. "Something about a flooded house. Can you take the shift tonight?"

"No problem," Joey said.

"Thanks, hon'."

"Duty calls," Joey grunted, standing up. "Again."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Heather said. "Tim will probably ask me to watch Clarisse while he's dealing with the house."

"See you," Joey said.

Joey made his way to the western section of the Wall. It was dark by the time he climbed the ladder.

"Hey, Joey," the man on the Wall said. "Taking another shift for your dad?"

"Yup," Joey answered.

"Your family never sleeps," the man said with a chuckle.

"Nope," Joey said. He grabbed the man's weapon and sat down, hoping the conversation would end. He decided to change the subject. "Anything new?"

"Did you hear about the new family that came in?"

"Yeah," Joey answered. "Three. Mom, dad, daughter. They brought in a military scanner with them. All clear."

"Pretty much," the older man said, standing up. "I appreciate you relieving me."

"You're welcome," Joey said as the man started climbing down the ladder.

Joey spent the night on the Wall in silence. When the shift came to an end around two in the morning, Joey handed his rifle off to the next man on the shift and gave him a short briefing.

As Joey descended the ladder, he spotted Heather walking on the opposite end of the street. She was still wearing the same clothes from earlier. Her cat, now named Arata, trailed behind.

"Do you ever sleep?" Joey asked as he caught up to her.

"Not after the nightmares," Heather said.

"I'm just going to assume that you don't want to talk about them," Joey said. He nodded at Arata as the cat hissed at him.

Heather didn't answer.

They continued walking in silence.

Joey's walkie-talkie chimed.

"Hey, Tommy," a man said.

"What's up, Ted?" Joey's father answered.

"I was taking a look at this military scanner that new family brought in. There were a few wires not attached and it looks like the screen was stuck on 'clear'.

"Did you get it fixed?"

"Yeah, I got it. But I don't know how thoroughly the boys checked them this morning."

"It's probably nothing," Tommy said. "But we should check on them anyway. Any volunteers?"

Joey looked at Heather, who shrugged. Joey grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Hey dad, it's Joey. I'm nearby. You want me to take care of it?"

"Sure. Thanks, Joey."

Joey nodded and clipped the walkie-talkie onto his belt.

"You're having a long day," Heather commented.

"Better than sitting around and doing nothing," Joey replied.

"Funny. I thought that you didn't like doing long days," Heather teased.

"It's not the long days or the work that bothers me," Joey said as they neared the house provided to the new family. "It's the way people… do you smell that?"

Heather stopped and sniffed. "Yeah… It smells like— Look!"

"Shit!" Joey said loudly.

The house that the new family had been provided earlier in the day was on fire.

Joey ran forward and shouted into his walkie-talkie. "The damn house is on fire! Fire! West Jackson!"

Several voices started shouting through the walkie-talkie at the same time. Joey made his way to the house as Heather ran past and started knocking on all the doors to houses in the area for help.

Joey moved close to the new family's house. The roof had caught fire and flame threatened to leap out the windows. There was smoke everywhere.

Joey listened closely and heard a loud scream. The girl!

…

Heather moved aside as multiple people ran out of their houses with small, makeshift water buckets.

A group of people ran to an old, short hose attached to one of the houses.

Heather looked over and saw an old trash bin on the ground. She grabbed it, shook out its contents, and ran over to the hose. Once the bin was filled, she ran to the nearest window and threw the water into the house.

Even after several tries and Joey grabbing a bin of his own, the water had done little to extinguish the fire.

Tommy and Maria arrived to help, both wearing black shirts and pants.

"Ignore the house!" Tommy shouted. "Make sure the fire doesn't spread outside!"

"There's still someone in there!" Joey argued as he went to grab more water.

"There's nothing we can do!" Maria argued, grabbing his arm. "If someone was going to get out, they would have!"

Heather ran to the hose again as Joey ran around to the side of the house. Heather returned to the house with more water as Joey came around the other side and ran straight through the front door.

"Joey!" Heather shouted.

Tommy froze and looked at Heather.

Heather pointed to the front door. "He just went in!"

Heather, Tommy, and Maria arrived at the front door of the house simultaneously. The building was now engulfed in flame. Heather started to move forward as a large chunk of wood fell in front of them and sent flame, sparks, and ash spilling out of the house.

Maria pulled Heather back as Tommy cursed and ran around the side of the house.

…

Joey coughed and covered his mouth with the hem of his shirt.

There was smoke and flame everywhere, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of him.

Joey found himself in the middle of the living room. He felt an even more intense heat to the left. Joey, ignoring the pain the smoke caused to his eyes, slowly moved forward and saw that the flames had billowed out of the old fireplace and leapt to a nearby carpet.

"Where are you?" Joey shouted.

"Help!" a small voice cried in reply.

Joey tried to follow the voice and saw a figure through the smoke.

"I see you!" Joey said.

Joey moved toward the figure and suddenly tripped. He fell to the ground and instinctively breathed in, sucking smoke into his lungs. Joey gagged, clamped his shirt over his mouth, and slowly stood. He saw that the object he had stumbled on was a body of a middle-aged man.

There was a large bite mark on his neck.

Joey swore and quickly turned as an infected woman came running toward him through the flames, squealing loudly. Joey turned and ran back. The Infected gave chase. Joey quickly upended a nearby table and kept running.

A chunk of the ceiling detached in a shower of sparks and fell onto the Infected's head. The Infected stumbled and tripped over the table. Joey dove aside as the Infected barreled past him and into a couch that was already engulfed in flame.

The Infected flailed and screamed as it was engulfed in flames. It tried to rise and move forward but stumbled and fell into the carpet.

Joey turned away from the sight and ran through the kitchen and into an adjoining bedroom. He received a small burn on his hand as he touched an old pillar that rose to the ceiling just outside the bedroom.

There was a loud crack followed by a screech. Joey stumbled over to the closet and yanked it open. Under a broken shelf and a set of boxes was a little girl.

"It's alright!" Joey coughed. "Close your eyes and give me your hand!"

The little girl closed her eyes and extended her arm. Joey reached in and grabbed the little girl, yanking her out from under the light debris. He turned and moved to the door as the girl continued to cry.

There was another loud CRACK.

Joey quickly leapt back as the support pillar he had burnt his hand on fell, blocking his path.

Joey froze for a second and looked at the little girl. Her eyes were wide open and full of fear.

Joey quickly raised her shirt to her mouth. "It'll be… alright!" he sputtered through the smoke. "Just keep your eyes closed!"

Joey ran back into the bedroom.

The smoke was getting thicker.

Joey crouched and crawled toward the opposite wall where there was a closed window. To the left of the window there was a wardrobe, set aflame by a nearby bed. The carpet the wardrobe rested on was also on fire.

Joey ran forward.

…

Heather finished another circle around the house and spotted Joey trying to yank open a nearby window.

Heather quickly looked around and spotted a pile of rubble and bricks. Heather picked up the brick, ran to the window and waved Joey back.

Joey nodded and stood off to the side.

Heather threw the brick as hard as she could. It flew through the window and shattered two panes of glass.

Tommy and Maria ran around the corner a second later.

Tommy froze.

Maria grabbed her husband's shoulder. "Get the trash can!"

Tommy snapped out of his daze and ran out of sight.

…

Joey examined the window and found that the broken panes still didn't provide enough room to allow escape.

Joey looked out the window. He could just barely see Heather on the other side.

Forcing a second wind of energy, Joey grabbed the brick and started slamming it against the window, attempting to break as much of the glass as possible.

A few seconds later, Joey took a step back with the girl still in hand as his father and mother ran up to the window with a grey trash can. His parents swung the trash can as hard as they could, breaking the majority of the glass. After making a few more swipes, they had removed most of the glass and the half rotted and burnt wooden frame.

Joey ran forward as one of the burning legs of the wardrobe snapped.

Joey shoved the girl in front of him and out of the way as the flaming wardrobe tipped onto his left shoulder, arm, and hand.

Joey screamed in agony as he experienced the most intense and searing pain he had ever felt in his life before forcing himself to dive sideways onto the floor as the wardrobe crashed to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked the little girl who was rising to her feet.

The little girl nodded.

"Joey!" Heather shouted. He saw her run forward, standing close to the window with her arms outstretched.

"Take… her!" Joey coughed through the fire and pain.

Joey did his best to lift the little girl into the window with his right hand. Heather grabbed the girl and yanked her out the window.

Joey closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he saw his father leap through the window and reach for him. With a grunt, his father lifted Joey by his right arm and jumped through the window.

Joey hit the ground hard and his parents dragged him to safety before gently laying him on the ground.

Joey stared up at the smoky sky for a moment and breathed in deeply. After two breaths, and blinking a few times, he looked over at Heather a short distance away. She was examining the little girl he had rescued.

Heather grabbed the young girl's face gently with one hand and lifted a finger on the other, slowly moving it side to side. Heather watched the girl's eyes for a moment. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and nodded in Joey's direction.

Joey attempted to sit up and realized that he couldn't feel his left arm. He flexed his hand and was relived to feel his fingers.

"Joey…" his mother said softly. Joey tilted his head and saw a look of terror on his mother's face.

"I can't… I can't feel my arm," Joey said as relief turned to panic. His mother looked down. Joey started speaking quickly, not wanting his fear to scare her. "But I'm alive. I'm alive."

"You're an idiot!" his mother snapped. Her fear was replaced by anger. "You should have waited for help!"

His mother rose before Joey could respond. She kept her back to him.

"Maria…" Joey's father said gently.

Joey's mother took a deep breath. She looked at her husband. "Talk to our son, Tommy."

Maria stood and walked to Heather and the little girl.

Heather nodded.

Joey's mother knelt and whispered in the little girl's ear.

The little girl slowly nodded as well.

Joey's mother placed a hand on the girl's back and led her away.

The little girl turned and flashed a small, shy smile at Joey.

Joey smiled back.

Joey's father and Heather slowly helped him to his feet.

His father was eying his burnt arm with concern. "We need to get you to the doctor," he said.

"He's on the other side of town," Heather reminded Joey's father.

"I don't feel…" Joey's words trailed off as Heather slowly pulled his sleeve up and examined his arm.

"Jesus," his father said quietly.

Joey looked down and saw that his arm was completely white. Heather put a finger on Joey's palm and slowly moved it toward his arm. Eventually, she touched the burnt, white skin.

Joey didn't feel a thing.

Heather looked Joey's father. "Go get the doctor," she said bravely. "I've deal— I've seen burns like this before. I can at least stop it from getting worse… for now."

"You sure?" Joey's father asked.

"Yes," Heather said calmly and firmly. "Do you have antibiotics?"

"A little," Joey's father answered.

"Dad…" Joey said quickly. "I don't feel anything right now. So, you don't—"

"You need it," Heather snapped. She looked at Joey's father. "Get the antibiotics back to me soon. I'll take him to my place and try my best until then."

"Okay…" Joey's father said uncertainly. He shook his head. "Okay. I'll see you in thirty minutes."

"Dad," Joey said as his father turned away.

His father turned back to him.

Joey chose his words carefully. "I'm not sorry I did what I did, but… I'm sorry I scared you and mom."

His father walked back to him and placed a hand on his good shoulder. "I'm proud of you Joey."

Joey looked down.

"C'mon," Heather urged quietly. "We need to deal with your arm."

Joey turned away with her as his father called out behind him. "But your mom's right. You're an idiot."

Joey smiled slightly as he and Heather started walking.

They reached Heather's house five minutes later.

Heather opened the door and pointed at a chair.

Joey sat as Heather quickly moved to her kitchen.

"Can you take your shirt off?" Heather asked from the other room.

"Yeah," Joey said as he shrugged off his sweater and shirt, still feeling nothing on his left arm. "It doesn't hurt. Isn't that a good thing?"

"No," Heather said, returning with several water bottles filled with milk. "It means that the nerves under your arm are either damaged or destroyed."

"Meaning?" Joey asked.

"Meaning if I can't stop the damage, and you don't get anti-biotics, you could lose your arm," Heather snapped.

Joey noticed the tone and looked down. "You think I shouldn't have gone in there."

"I think it was risky, stupid, and a good way to lose your arm," Heather said as she moved to her unused bedroom and came back with a bed sheet. She took a deep breath and looked at him with a hint of a smile. "And aside from you almost getting yourself killed, I also think that there's a little girl who wouldn't be alive if you hadn't."

Heather grabbed scissors and cut away a large chunk of cloth before setting it aside. She pushed Arata back as the cat came to investigate. The cat turned and hissed at Joey. Heather set down her scissors and swatted the cat away before moving to Joey.

Joey glanced at his arm before looking at the milk. "What's the milk for?"

Heather uncapped the bottles and poured all the milk onto the cut sheet. After a few seconds, she picked up the sheet and wrung it out. "I'm trying to stop your arm from getting worse. The milk is supposed to hydrate your skin."

"Hydrate?" Joey asked.

"Give your skin something to feel with," Heather clarified. "Hopefully, it'll repair any nerves you got left and help your arm heal."

Joey didn't move as Heather grabbed his burnt arm and wrapped the milk-soaked sheet around it. Again, Joey didn't feel anything.

"You know, you could always drink the milk," Joey commented as Heather tied the sheet around his arm.

"Milk always makes me sick," Heather answered. She glanced at Arata who was once again moving forward to investigate. "The cat seems to like it, though."

"Where did you learn this stuff?" Joey asked flexing his burnt arm and examining Heather's handiwork.

"I told you," Heather said as she placed the scissors in a drawer. "My mother was a doctor. I picked up on few things."

"Yeah. And I'm just picking up a few things from my parents," Joey retorted sarcastically.

Heather looked away. "Let's just say I helped her out more than a few times."

"Fair enough," Joey said, knowing to drop the subject.

They were silent as Heather poured what was left of the milk into a small bowl and set it down in front of Arata.

Heather grabbed a chair and placed it opposite of Joey. She sat down and looked him in the eye. "Why did you go in there, Joey? I know you wanted to help. But… something tells me there's more to it."

Joey sighed. "I don't think you'd understand."

"You'd be surprised what I can understand," Heather said darkly.

Joey hesitated and decided to answer with a half-truth. "Somebody had to go in and get the little girl. I was closest."

"And I believe you," Heather assured him. She lowered her voice. "But that's not the only reason. I think you were trying to prove yourself."

Joey sighed and shook his head.

"Am I wrong?" Heather asked.

Joey looked at his cloth-wrapped arm for a moment. He gulped. "The um, that doctor-patient confidence thing that you mentioned a while back… it counts for friend's too, right? I mean… you know, just between us."

"Absolutely," Heather answered.

"Okay… All my life, people…" Joey stopped and took a deep breath. "All my life, I've been known as Tommy and Maria's kid. Even when my parents just had me doing chores, people would look at me like I was different."

"There are worse ways people can look at you," Heather suggested quietly, her face and eyes unreadable. She shook her head and the look was gone.

Joey decided not to pry. He continued. "I've spent my entire life as Tommy and Maria's son. And I don't want that to change, but… I want to be Joey. I just want to live away from them. And I don't have a problem protecting my home or anyone here. It's just… I don't like feeling… special. People look at you differently when you're special."

There was a brief silence as Arata jumped into Heather's lap and began to purr while glaring at Joey.

"It's funny," Heather said, breaking silence. "Most people in the world I grew up in wanted to be special. Unfortunately, they would do stupid shit like go outside the Quarantine Zone or join the Fireflies."

"You would know more than me," Joey grumbled. "I've never even seen a Quarantine Zone."

"Consider yourself lucky," Heather said, the dark look returning. She looked down at Arata and scratched the cat under its chin. "Anyway, I was never special. My mom was the doctor. She knew that being a doctor would keep us alive. Nobody's going to kill a doctor. We're… priority resources."

"What about your dad?" Joey asked.

Heather started petting the cat. "Never really knew him. I guess he got hurt in some street fight and didn't recover," she answered.

Joey sat silently as tried to imagine growing up without his parents. He shook his head to clear out the predominantly negative scenarios.

Heather knelt and kissed the Arata on the head, earning a loud purr before looking at Joey. "In truth… I've spent my life trying to live up to my mom. Even if she hadn't… well, if I had stayed in the zone afterwards, the things that she taught me were going to keep me alive."

Joey chuckled. "That makes my issues seem small," he said lightly.

"We all have our issues," Heather said. She stood and started to unwarp the cloth from Joey's arm, speaking quietly. "Thanks for sharing yours. I've never had anyone who's trusted me like you do."

"Thanks for listening," Joey replied with a small smile as the front door opened.

"No prob," Heather said. "Your issues are safe with me."

"What issues?" Joey's father asked with a concerned tone as he walked through the door.

"Issue's dealing with further treatment," Heather answered smoothly. "Did you get the antibiotics?"

Joey's father handed Heather a pill bottle. She read the directions out loud and handed a couple pills to Joey with specific instructions.

Joey repeated the instructions and pocketed the pills. "Anything else?" he asked.

Heather thought for a moment before answering. "You'll want to wash out that burn a few times a day, just to be safe. If we're lucky, your nerves will grow back in your arm and you'll start feeling it again. You'll want to avoid putting dry clothing on it as much as possible or it's going to hurt like hell."

"But pain would be good, right?" Joey asked.

"As long as it's not caused by infection or other issues, yes," Heather said hopefully. "In every case but that, pain is good."

Joey's father relayed the information to his wife through a private channel on his walkie-talkie.

Joey and Heather exchanged small, appreciative smiles.

When Joey's father finished, he yawned. "I think it's been a long night for all of us. Are we done here?"

"We're good," Heather said. She turned to Joey. "I'll check on the burn tomorrow if you want."

"We'd appreciate that," Joey's father replied, placing a hand on his son's good shoulder before looking at Heather. "We'll see you tomorrow, Heather. You did great tonight."

Heather nodded. "Thanks Mr.—"

Joey's father held up a hand with a small chuckle. "Heather, you've been here seven months, you've had dinner at our house multiple times, and you just became our second town doctor. You may as well start calling my wife and I 'Maria and Tommy'."

"Thanks, Tommy," Heather said, correcting her previous attempt.

"Your welcome," Joey's father answered. He looked at his son. "Let's get you home."

"Goodnight," Joey said to Heather. "And… thanks again."

Heather nodded and picked up her cat as Joey left the house with his father.

Joey glanced down the street at the nearest wall. "What happens now?" he asked his father.

"Two man shifts rotating every four hours," his father answered. "The fire may not have been loud, but somebody could have seen the smoke. We can't be too careful. In the meantime, that little girl you saved is going to stay with Ester and her husband for a while."

"When's my next shift?" Joey asked.

His father laughed as his walkie-talkie chimed. After a short exchange, his father looked at him. "They want me to help out on one of the shifts on the west end of the Wall. Your mom just got home a few minutes ago. Can you make it back by yourself?"

Joey flexed his burnt arm and felt nothing. "I'm sure I'll manage."

Joey's father gave him a small look of pride and hurried off.

"Yo, Joey."

Joey turned and saw a young man a couple years older than Joey himself walk forward. He wore a black sweater and blue jeans that were a size too large.

Joey nodded in his direction. "Hey, um…"

"Jeff," the young man said. "Jeff, remember? That was uh… that was some pretty badass stuff you did tonight."

"Thanks," Joey said, smiling sheepishly.

While he had never really interacted with Jeff personally, Joey knew that the other boy had a difficult reputation with some of the adults. Joey had always secretly looked up to Jeff and his friends, but never had the courage to introduce himself.

Jeff moved forward. "You gettin' some time off now that you've played the big hero?"

"I doubt I'll be doing much," Joey said as nonchalantly as he could.

"Well if you want to hang out with me and my pals, feel free," Jeff said. "You know where we hang?"

"Yeah," Joey answered. "The old shack near the north side of the Wall."

"Good," Jeff said. He rubbed his slightly bloodshot eyes. "I'll see you around."

"See you," Joey answered.

Joey slowly made his way home and slipped into his bed.

…

Three weeks later, Joey awoke in agonizing pain as his left arm felt like it had been held over an open flame.