Tess hastily looked for another way out of the building as Robert observed the soldiers as if trying to look for someone he knew whilst Joel and Sarah leant against a fallen bookcase propped up against a shallow wall overlooking the atrium where soldiers had been pouring in
The sun lay low in the sky casting the long forboding shadows of the soldiers into the building.
"Spread out we heard gunfire over here and we are not leaving until we find why" one soldier bellowed
Footsteps echoed up the stair wells and torchlight's could be seen from a distance down the corridors as they began to close in.
"We got bodies here stragglers and infected still warm too" a voice boomed out
By now the footsteps were getting louder and louder Joel doubled his grip on his shotgun coiled and ready to attack.
"Joel" seethed Tess as she furiously gestured to him an open window
Joel looked to Sarah immediately gesturing to go first after which he would follow, Sarah having barely compartmentalised what had just previously happened 5 minutes ago rushed to follow Tess out the window with only Joel to follow he to made his way out the window and onto a balcony that was in the alley between the office blocks, all stood still away from the windows for several moments as they heard the solders move around in the room they previously occupied.
"Clear" shouted one soldier and to these words did Joel breathe a sigh of relief
Not risking talking the group made their way to the stairs heading down one floor still hearing the soldiers inside barking orders to one another before coming to a halt.
"What's the holdup Robert" whispered Tess
"Its stuck" he replied equally silent as he shook a ladder trying to make it fall to the ground after a few moments it fell violently with a roaring thunder as it slid hitting the ground with force.
"What was that" a voice cried out
"Shit move" yelled Tess as Robert hurriedly shot down the ladder followed closely by her Sarah and Joel
The group ran the length of the alley as a soldier peered out of the upper window firing his gun down towards them.
They ran from alley to alley Joel following behind deliberately 2 steps behind Sarah acting as a shield should anything happen
They crossed past a row of houses running through back gardens Robert shot out into the road trying to escape as tyres screeched Tess immediately stopped next to a garden wall able to see the road as Joel and Sarah caught up behind.
"Stop right there" soldiers shouted as they aimed their guns at Robert
"Whoa whoa whoa lets not be hasty there" Robert said taking a step back
"Don't move" shouted another soldier
"Hey hey hey perhaps we can help each other out I know of a good place back in the zone got a stockpile of meat some proper clothes what do you say am i worth keeping around the others I don't know them they're back that way" Robert said trying to charm the soldiers in front of him
After several moments of silent consideration the one in charge began issuing orders.
"Fan out and find the others I want to be home for..." before he could finish he was cut off by words coming from the radio after which he spoke again
"Right we are leaving head back to the wall leave the remaining stragglers the infected will get them and you" he said pointing at Robert "you are coming with us"
And as if no time had passed and the smoke cleared from the jeep rolling away Robert was gone
"That Bastard" Tess angrily exclaimed
"Hey calm down we still need to get back to the zone do you know the way" Joel interrupted
"Yeah I know a way only an idiot would stay out here much longer it gets a lot more o at night" Tess replied calming down
Joel turned to Sarah to see if she was okay.
"How you holding up" he gently asked
"I'm fine" she quickly replied and before Joel could speak further Tess spoke up about which way to go
"We should be back soon if we just follow on up ahead there's an old tunnel" said Tess
The trip was one of few words anything Joel tried to say was shot down by Tess in lightning fashion as she cautiously led them back managing to reach the wall without conflict a feat that no one except those who knew what they were doing could accomplish.
Finding the Tunnel seemed like child's play when you knew what to look for and soon the welcoming sight of the zone was a reality.
"Thank you for getting us back" said Joel eager to be on his way with Sarah
"You handled yourself pretty well back there perhaps you should consider smuggling yourself it would certainly improve your prospects here" Tess replied
Joel simply shrugged her off leading Sarah away quickly
"Well if you come across anything of interest you can look for me in the market I offer a fair commission for any work" said Tess as they left
Upon returning to the apartment they resided barely had the door closed before Joel angrily shouted.
"What were you thinking you almost got yourself killed at least five times out there"
"A simple thank you would be nice we have the morphine" was the reply he was greeted with
"Never try something like this again" Joel angrily yelled
Sarah was quiet nodding in agreement that what had happened was her fault and it nearly cost them everything before silently retreating to her room.
Joel sank into his chair rubbing his forehead trying to calm down for this was more stress than he had been through in a long time and to think Sarah was the root cause for it seemed to make things worse.
A week passed by and Joel and Sarah had begun to speak on more friendly terms both blocking out what had happened not wanting to open old wounds Joel was cleaning up dishes as he opened a cupboard to reveal the morphine sitting there. Joel glanced over to Sarah looking out a window whilst listening to music and decided it was time to end it he grabbed the morphine placing it in a bag and headed out to confront Derrick. Upon leaving the apartment block he began to notice graffiti on the walls the symbol of the fireflies adorned the walls and a couple FEDRA signs.
Joel approached the military barracks and entered the reception area which was mostly just for queries if you weren't involved in active duty. Joel approached the receptionist a middle aged woman who looked too big for the chair she was at in and by no way professional enough to be an actual representative for the military it showed how much the military really cared what the people thought.
"Excuse me would you happen to know a soldier named Derrick I was supposed to meet him he's a bit of a hot head round here" Joel asked politely
The woman looked at him for a moment picking up a sheet of paper and calmly replying
"The only Derrick I know is on this list with a Fred Johnson and Anthony Hoskins all of which were declared dead in a firefly attack yesterday surely you must have heard the commotion they set a fuel truck ablaze"
"Thank you I just wanted to check" Joel said before turning to leave looking down at the bag in his hands, this was supposed to be his ticket to the good life his way out of the slums and perhaps a better life for him and Sarah. Joel's walk home was full of thoughts racing across one another what to do how to do it. It seemed to take his full concentration as he nearly stepped out in front of a jeep that was rolling down the road.
It soon struck him he was going to have to bargain with the morphine to Tess the only person he knew down in the shady markets for some ration cards to fill the void made by not working on the day he had to retrieve Sarah after all missing that day had cost him his job something he had not yet divulged to her.
Joel entered the market an hour later it was dark dingy with shouting filling the air and angry people lining its stalls with an almost threatening demeanour.
Joel then caught a glimpse of Tess in the distance and begun shoving his way through the crowds about to walk up to her Joel was shoved to the floor
"What do you think you're doing" said the man who pushed him causing a scene to develop
"Whoa easy Nathan he's okay" Tess interfered having seen the commotion and recognising Joel the man backed off apologising
Joel got to his feet ignoring the man and asked Tess what price could I get for bag of Morphine
Tess' eyes opened wide and she immediately led Joel off to a quieter corner.
"A bag of morphine are you serious you have that" she said surprisingly
"How much" Joel said sternly
"I can give you two months ration cards right now for it" Tess said excitedly
"Two months" said Joel taken back by what this was worth before processing it fully in his head he had only been in the zone for a short while and losing a job this early in had severely hurt his chances of obtaining a half decent one to feed himself let alone Sarah as well
"You said you would throw a nice commission my way if I found anything of interest but how about this for an offer you throw some work my way two months is nice but that isn't gonna help me in two months time when I have no more cards to feed myself with" Joel asked
"Hmmm you seem more competent than half these people around here how about this then I will throw some work your way if I find some and I will give you a month's ration cards right now think of the other month as a retainer so you don't screw me around" Tess countered
Joel thought for several moments this meant he would be a smuggler a crime punishable by death but death was the only thing waiting for him anyway why not try and build a stockpile of ration cards for Sarah before the inevitable happened.
"You have a deal" Joel replied shaking Tess' hand
A month passed and true to her word Tess did pass on some work to Joel enabling him to scrape by earning enough money to feed himself and Sarah although it did mean he was gone for long periods in the day.
Sarah continued at the school built in the zone not getting into much trouble accepting the fact that what Joel had told her that he had a new job as a out of hours carpenter so he would be gone for portions of the evening which Sarah used to explore the zone eager to see what the place was like.
Sarah had taken a particular liking to the docks of Boston they looked the freest part of Boston and the air seemed fresher and after moving around up and down the docks Sarah had worked out where the military patrolled and where some more unsavoury people operated had found a small area to call her own completely abandoned there stood series of shipping containers one after the other some piled high others single standing with a view anyone could appreciate or at least one that gets better when your usually surrounded by four walls and the military crushing down from above.
Nothing was that impressive about this area it seemed rather plain which in some ways Sarah thought she wanted thinking to herself I want somewhere I can just go and relax away from it all somewhere to just go whilst Joel was away just something to do to keep her mind off things.
Sarah obtained a lock and key from a warehouse nearby and found an empty shipping container to which she would call her home away from home to which each day she would devote her time into building upon it.
Another month passed by and Joel seemed to become cold towards other people seeming much more harsh only to Sarah or Tess who he was beginning to trust would he show an outwardly friendly demeanour
Meanwhile in this time Sarah had managed to scrape together some things in the shipping container including getting a sofa from warehouse office and after cleaning it dragging it to the container it was large enough to use as a bed should the need arise and Sarah always had a sleeping bag layed out across it for the colder days. Other things added to the container included desk and stool as well as a couple sets of drawers for anything interesting she might find, she even managed to find a large rug in a crate whilst exploring to make the floor a little more appealing and after finding some interior lights managed to get them working using some skills Tommy once taught her back in the good days running a cable to a power box after finding enough wire things were good to go and it seemed as if this was her own little hideout with everything to survive on baring food.
But something's don't beat the simple pleasures for atop the container Sarah had placed a deck chair and a coffee table which she lay back in a bottle of water in one hand whilst listening to music watching the tide waiting before she knew she had to return to alert Joel that she too had her own secret.