Thanks to all of my diligent readers! Thank you all so very, very much! A note to the rude people who send me messages: 1. This story isn't supposed to be full of killing and whatnot. Do you honestly think that Joel runs around everyday, killing everything in sight?! 2. I don't want an ElliexJoel pairing, because that's just kind of weird, in my opinion.
Anyway, leave me a comment or message, just letting me know what you think! :) I appreciate all of you!
The cabin had huge windows facing the north side of the mountain. Joel looked out at the landscape. The leaves on the trees were deep red and orange. It contrast to the stark gray and black of the mountain, it looked breathtaking. He stood there a while, absorbed by the colors. He became relaxed, and had a hard time stepping away from the window.
He went to find Jemma.
"Where are you at?" He hollered up the stairs. She didn't answer. He went into each of the rooms, throwing open the door each time, half expecting her to jump out and scare him.
He found her in a little girl's bedroom. She was sitting on the bed, staring out the window.
"You okay?" He asked.
She turned to him. "Yeah, I'm fine." She had a baby doll in her arms, close to her chest. It was the size of a newborn.
He sat next to her on the bed. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
Jemma shook her head. "I..."
She put the doll on the bed.
"I am glad I didn't have that baby, I hope you know that.
"But, no matter how hard I deny it, it still-" her voice cracked. "Hurts my heart that things ended the way they did."
She bit her lip. "I miss him, Joel. I really do." Tears welled up in her eyes.
He went to give her a hug from the side, but she turned and wrapped her arms around his chest. Joel could feel her tears seeping through his shirt. He held her tighter to his body, and she started sobbing.
"Everyday, I ask myself 'Why me?' It's so frustrating, I just want to die." She took a deep breath. "I would have named him Bruce, and he and I would have had a great life. I would have taught him how to sing, and he would have been great. Now, I just can't bring myself to think about anything. I feel so depressed, and worthless. I failed at being a mother, which was what my life was all about. I failed my own son! I hate myself..."
Joel didn't say anything; he knew exactly what she was talking about. The empty, hopeless feeling. It lingered for years after Sarah was killed. Sometimes it came upon him when he was doing the simplest of things, and he never really talked about it.
She pressed her nails into his back, and buried her head into his shoulder. Joel could feel his own tears brimming his eyes,and he didn't even care. They fell asleep in each other's arms.
...
When Joel woke up, they were both lying on the bed. Her hair was out of the braid, and it fell over her face. His hand was up the back of her shirt, and he pulled it out slowly to avoid waking her up.
He noticed a mark on her back. He lifted her shirt up, lightly, and moved his head a little to get a better view.
They were scars from bites. She had at least thirty bites going up her torso, from her hip to the middle of her back. They weren't animal bites, they were human. Joel's blood turned cold.
She was immune? She was immune the whole time and didn't say anything? Everything started to make sense. Was this the secret she had been holding back from them?
He moved away from her on the bed. He wanted to shake her awake, ask her why she'd been hiding that from him. But Jemma looked so peaceful, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
After what seemed like forever, she stirred awake. She pushed the hair away from her face, and looked at him. Her face seemed kind of confused, then she realized where they were.
"Hey, man." She stretched her legs.
"You didn't tell me you were immune."
Jemma shot up. "What?"
"I saw the bites on your back," he said.
"Please don't tell anyone. Can we keep it a secret between us?" Her eyes were wide, and Joel could tell she was genuinely scared that he may tell someone.
"I'm not, but you don't need to hide anything from me."
They both got up and packed whatever they thought they might use, and headed back for town. It was a few hours before sundown, and Joel knew they wouldn't make it before dark.
"How'd it happen?" He asked.
"Well, it was right after we had moved to California. I was about seventeen.
"I had gone out on my own to explore the area. I went out the the bay, and I thought I was invincible. I ran around, through stores and restaurants, not pausing for one second to think that maybe, just maybe, there would be infected around. I broke into a jewelry shop, and there were like fifteen of them in there.
"I managed to kill a few of them with chairs and whatever I could get my hands on, but I was outnumbered. They jumped on me, and started biting me. I tried crawling away, but I felt like they kept pulling me back into the store.
"All of a sudden, there's a loud boom, and they scatter like cockroaches. I'm bleeding on the floor, but not to the point where I'd die soon. You know? I manage to get myself up and out of there. It was winter time, so I wrapped my coat around myself as tight as I could.
"I get home, and I've bled a lot by then. I told my dad that some animals came after me. I knew it wasn't a convincing lie, but I think he wanted to believe it, so he didn't question me. He called someone in from town to fix me up. He must have done some really great convincing.
"He told my dad I wasn't going to die, and gave me a bunch of antibiotics, in case the 'animal' that bit me had some kind of infection. I think even he knew that infected had attacked me, but it's not like he was doing it for free, so I think he didn't really care.
"I was sick the next few days. I was puking all day, and I had convinced myself that it was part of the process of becoming one of them. But after the fourth day, I knew that something was different. I hadn't changed. I got better. My dad, well, he was so excited to see me alive and well.
"We vowed to keep it a secret, though. It seemed like some kind of power that I had over other people. Like, 'hey, I got bit and didn't die, whoo hoo.' And, I was talking to someone about a year later, and they said the Fireflies were seeking some kind of cure.
"Initially, I was excited, I wanted to be a part of that. But, after some research, I realized the only way they could extract some cure from me was to kill me. Nobody knew about me, so I didn't feel like I had to hide from anyone.
"But, my father started getting crazy protective over me. So I ran away. And here I am." She clapped her hands together. "Dumb story, I know. You can tell me. I'm not like a comic book character."
Joel shrugged his shoulders. "It's not as dumb as you may think."
"Okay."
Jemma spent the next hour humming to herself. Joel was surprised she knew most of those songs. He mentioned it to her, and she explained that she always had a love for music.
"Oh, I was born with it. But my father helped me out, a bit. He taught me music theory, and what have you. He had these hopes that, one day, the world may return to a somewhat normal state. Civilized, or something. And, he was under the impression that the people who were cultured, the ones who knew about history and science, music, and all that, that people would look to them as leaders. Not that I want to be president, but I went with it."
"What happened to your mother?" He asked.
"Um, she left. Long story short."
He didn't ask anymore about it. They walked for a bit in silence, but she stopped.
"Tell me about Tess."
Joel turned back to her. "How the hell do you know bout her?"
"I have my ways," she said, and started walking again.
He sighed. "Tess... Was a partner of mine. Not much more than that."
"You weren't friends?"
"She didn't know me. I didn't want to ask about her. And we were working well with that.
"Tess... got bit when we were heading back here. She gave up her life for us. And... I can never thank her enough for that."
"Did you love her?" Jemma asked while they kept walking.
"Love? No. I cared about her as a friend. She pursued something with me, but... I never really wanted anything to do with that, I couldn't. I didn't want to make a commitment to her. It was better for us just to be friends.
"We were business partners."
Jemma grabbed his arm. "Business partners?! I think I've heard you use that term before."
"Shut up, little girl. Don't give me your attitude." Joel shoved her a little, so that she stumbled into a rock they were passing.
"Asshole!" She went to shove him back, but he caught her by her waist and started tickling her. His fingers dug into her sides to the point where it almost hurt. Jemma squirmed so much that her pack fell to the damp ground, but neither one of them picked it up. Her giggles soon became hiccups, and Joel couldn't help but laugh himself.
They rolled around on the ground together in the fading sunlight. Jemma's laughs echoed in his head, and for a moment, it was the only thing he thought of.
He snapped out of it when she was trying to push him off. "Knock it off, or I'm going to puke."
She went to get her stuff, but the ground had made the magazines soggy. She silently cursed Joel in her head, but she was grateful that he wasn't treating her like bird shit anymore.
...
As they approached the house, Joel noticed that most of the lights downstairs were on. Ellie must have left them on when she went to bed. He hoped she was in bed, anyway. Jemma went inside.
In the light, he could see mud stains on the back of her jacket. She took it off and as she was putting it away, she groaned. "It's ruined! You're going to have to buy me another." She hung it in the hall closet. Joel looked at himself. Even though his jeans were stained anyway, he noticed fresh marks on his knees and shins. Shit, he thought.
"I think she fell asleep watching television," Jemma said, and smiled. Joel headed down the hall to give her a lecture on wasting energy, but stopped in his tracks.
"Ellie, what the hell are you doing?" He asked, and stormed into the living room.
Ellie had fallen asleep on the couch, and a boy about her age was on the floor. Joel recognized him from town. Ellie jumped awake after hearing him yell, and nudged the boy with her foot. "Get up," she hissed.
Joel yelled at her while the boys slinked out of the front door. Jemma smiled at him, but the boy gave her a dirty look and walked out, without a word.
"Look, I don't even see why it's a big deal!" Ellie yelled.
"You had a boy at the house, all by yourself, let alone on a school night!"
"Fuck school! It doesn't even matter! Do you think I actually give a shit about it?! I only go because you make me!"
"I just wanted to keep you out of getting yourself into trouble!" He pointed at her. "But, no! You just want to fuck around! God, do you think of anyone besides yourself?!"
"You're not even my dad! Why do you care?!" She pushed past him and ran up to her room. Ellie slammed the door for effect.
Joel didn't say anything, but Jemma could tell he was fuming. She didn't really know why it was a big deal anyway, other than Joel didn't want to see Ellie grow up and become independent.
"Look, Joel. It's not a big deal. She's smart enough to know better to do stupid shit behind your back." Jemma said, walking into the living room.
"Like you would know," he muttered.
"She is just growing up. You have to accept that! You can't stop it from happening. She's not hurt, so it doesn't warrant this kind of reaction."
"Go away."
She turned to leave, but he heard her mumble "some kind of parent you are," She was still in arm's reach, so he grabbed her braid, and pulled her back to him.
"What did you say?" He snarled.
"I said," she reached behind her back and pulled a gun from her waistband. She held it under his jaw, and Joel stiffened. "Touch me like that again, and I'll kill you, asshole."
He let go, and she backed away. "I ain't your bitch," she said, and went to her room.