Kira was aware that sometimes people felt they were having an unlucky week. Maybe an unlucky month, even. But she was pretty sure she was living a damn unlucky life as they approached the State House, finding blood splatter leading up the steps. She kept Ellie close to her side as Tess burst through the large doors, panic written over her face, with her gun raised in the air.
"Fuck" Kira muttered, as she spotted half a dozen dead bodies in the lobby, pools of blood underneath them.
Joel grabbed Ellie's arm to pull her back when she strayed too close to one of the bodies, remaining on high alert. Kira dipped the toe of her shoes in a nearby pool of blood, eyes widening when she noted how fresh the red substance was.
"These people were killed recently" She exclaimed.
If they were even a day earlier, would they have been alive? With a shake of her head, she pushed the thoughts from her mind, knowing there was no going back.
"Okay. Okay, I mean, there's gotta be a fucking radio or somethin', right?" Tess mumbled, rushing over to a nearby barrel, that had guns and grenades piled on top of it.
"Who killed them? FEDRA?" Ellie inquired, as Joel flipped over the nearest corpse with his foot.
"No. One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone lost" Joel explained.
"We should go. There might be more in here, right?" Kira suggested, earning a quick nod from Joel.
"Tess? What're you doing?" Joel complained, noticing Tess was still tearing up the place manically.
"One of them's gotta have a radio on them, right? Joel, can you help me?" Tess insisted, making Kira frown, remembering Tess had repeated the same words less than a minute ago.
"No! Tess...it's over. Look, we'll take these guys back to the QZ. We are going home!" Joel told her, as Tess whipped around to face him.
"That's not my fucking home!" Tess snarled, blinking a few times after, seeming surprised by her own outburst.
"I'm stayin'. I mean...our luck had to run out sooner or later" Tess muttered, as Kira began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
The way Tess kept wincing in pain. Repeating words. Aggressive behaviour...
"Fuck..." Ellie trailed off, a look of realisation washing over her face.
"She's infected" Kira exclaimed, immediately placing herself in front of Ellie, as Joel went still beside her.
"Show me" He stated, watching as Tess took a step forward, causing him to reach for his gun instinctively.
Hurt flashed over Tess's face at his reaction, knowing she could no longer hide the truth. Reluctantly, she pulled at the top of her shirt, revealing a bite mark, which had tendrils of fungus already growing underneath her skin.
"Oops, right?...Take your bandage off" Tess ordered Ellie, who slowly pulled the bandage down revealing her already healing bite.
"Look. This is real. Joel, she's fucking real—" Tess started, marching over to the teenager, but she was quickly stopped by Kira, who held her knife to Tess's throat.
"Back up. Now" Kira warned, as Tess clenched her jaw, but took a step back.
Kira liked Tess. A lot more than she liked most people, but she was infected. Soon enough, she wouldn't be in control of her own body, that was the sad reality.
"I need you to get her to Bill and Frank's. They'll take them off your hands" Tess suggested, as Joel started shaking his head, vehemently.
"No, no, I can't. They won't take her. They're not gonna take her" Joel pointed out.
"They will. They will 'cause you'll convince them. Yes, you will. I, I never ask you for anything, not to feel the way I felt. Not to... shut the fսck up 'cause I don't have time. This is your chance. You get them there...you keep them alive...and you set everything right. All the shit we did. Please say yes, Joel, please" Tess all but begged, watching as tears welled in Joel's eyes.
"Oh, fuck!" Ellie cried, hearing a gasp behind her.
Kira grabbed onto her shoulder, dragging her away as she saw one of the men was still alive. If that was what you could call life. Had the infected man been...playing dead? Was that even possible? Joel marched forward and shot the man in the head in one swift motion, eyes darting to where the fungus was spreading over its fingers.
Only a few seconds later they could hear the snarls of infected, and heavy footsteps nearing them. Joel rushed over to the door to see how far away they were, and immediately wished he hadn't.
"We need to get the fuck out of here. Right now!" Kira exclaimed, reaching for her sister's hand.
"What are you doing?" Ellie asked, when she saw how Tess began knocking over barrels of gasoline.
"Making sure they don't follow you" Tess muttered, throwing a handful of grenades onto the floor.
Joel stayed rooted to the spot, breathing heavily, looking as if he was close to tears. Close to breaking down and giving in. But Kira couldn't have that. She knew they would never survive without him.
"Come with us, Tess. Maybe...maybe we'll get to the Fireflies before—" Kira started, but Tess cut her off.
"Before I bite one of you? No. I won't...this is my choice. Joel. This is my choice, okay? Joel!" Tess insisted, standing in front of him, and reaching for the collar of his shirt.
"Save who you can save" Tess told him, watching as he let out a shaky breath, his eyes flickering over to Kira and her sister a moment later.
A second later, he was grabbing their arms and dragging them away, his grip strong and bruising. Only Ellie fought against him, slapping his back as hard as she could, but he wouldn't let go. Kira spared one last look at Tess, who gave her a solemn nod, trying and failing to not look as terrified as she felt.
They had only started off their journey a few days ago and they had already lost someone. How the fuck were they going to make it all the way to the Fireflies?
The next two days were filled with tense silence, as neither girl knew what to say to Joel. He cared about Tess. More than they had realised, maybe even more than he thought he was still capable of. And now she was gone. What could they possibly say to make that better? By the morning of the third day, Kira had grown tired of the silent treatment, knowing they at least needed to be able to communicate if they had any chance of surviving. She found Joel by a nearby river, piling rocks on top of each other, a solemn expression on his face. She realised a moment too late that he was making a shrine for Tess. Her foot kicked at a nearby pebble as she tried to back away, causing Joel to spin around, his gun raised at her in a split second.
"Relax. It's just me" Kira exclaimed, holding her hands up, as Joel lowered his gun.
"Don't be sneaking up on me in future" Joel muttered, placing his gun back in its holster.
"Understood...is that for Tess?" Kira questioned, as Joel gave her a murderous look.
"You don't speak that name, alright? You don't even think about her" Joel warned, pushing himself to his feet.
"Right, cause' whatever you says, goes, huh?" Kira suggested.
"Damn right" Joel huffed, watching as Kira marched over to him.
"No" Kira replied, causing his brow to furrow.
"Excuse me?" Joel scoffed, as Kira leant forward, making sure to get in his personal space.
"I know your hurting, Joel. And I know you need someone to blame, but don't pin that shit on me. Or my sister. We didn't kill Tess. Those infected fucks did. Ellie is putting her life on the line to stop them. To prevent anyone else like Tess dying, okay? So, if you want to get some of that anger out, then go ahead and hit me. But this silent treatment is done" Kira told him, staring him right in the eyes.
She could see the anger begin to seep out of his face, instead morphing into disbelief at her words. She leant back a few inches, only then realising how close they were standing next to each other.
"I ain't hitting you" Joel retorted, making Kira snort.
"Well, good. Cause' you'd probably knock my damn teeth out" Kira huffed.
"So...we good? You'll communicate in more than grunts now?" Kira inquired, earning a grunt in response.
"Ha. Funny" Kira mumbled, as Joel gave her a small shrug, before going to walk past her.
"You could also try being nicer to Ellie, you know?" Kira stated, as she rushed forward to follow him back to their makeshift camp.
"Any more demands?" Joel muttered, eyes flickering to her when he noticed how close she was walking to him.
"I'm serious. She looks up to you for some reason. And she's a good kid. A little annoying but still..." Kira trailed off, with a shrug.
"Wonder where she gets that from" Joel murmured, under his breath, causing Kira to raise an eyebrow.
"Wow, Joel. Now, that was almost funny" Kira teased.
After a few minutes of trekking through the woods, they spotted Ellie lying against a tree, Kira's jacket covering her legs. Joel's, technically. But Kira doubted he would want it back now. The man in question noticed how Kira's face lit up when she spotted her sister, rushing forward to ruffle the teenager's hair, much to her annoyance. The gesture made him look at his watch before he realised what he was doing.
"You eaten yet, brat?" Kira asked, as Ellie gave a half-shrug.
"We don't have much left" Ellie pointed out, watching as her sister rolled her eyes, and grabbed a packet out from her backpack, chucking it toward her.
"Let me worry about that. You eat" Kira insisted.
"You spoken to him about toning it down on his asshole behaviour?" Ellie exclaimed, tearing off some of the protein-laced food in the packet.
"Yep. He's agreed to start using his words, haven't you, Joel?" Kira announced, turning to the older man.
"I'm considering leaving you two in the woods, is what I've been thinking" Joel huffed.
"Well, at least he's communicating now" Kira snorted, flopping down beside Ellie.
"How much further to your friends?" Kira asked, grabbing a small bite of the food beside her.
"Five-hour hike and they're not exactly my friends" Joel admitted, taking a sip of water from his bottle.
"What're they like?" Ellie questioned.
"Frank's nice. Bill is...a little eccentric" Joel mumbled, with a shake of his head, seeming to think of something in particular.
"There's uh...there's something else you should know about them. They're...together" Joel informed them, as Kira's eyes flickered to Ellie's for a moment, silently communicating with just a look.
Kira let out a theatrical gasp, as her sister followed suit, pretending to faint at Joel's words. Kira knew back before the outbreak, there was still a lot of judgement toward two men being together but now? How anyone could have a probably with two gay men loving each other, she would never understand.
"Not the gays. Anyone but the gays!" Ellie giggled, finding Joel's facial expressions way too amusing.
"You two done?" Joel muttered, in a gruff tone.
"You seriously think we're gonna' have a problem with that? Wait...do you have a problem with it?" Kira frowned, noticing how Ellie had gone still.
While Ellie had never specifically sat her sister down to talk about her sexuality, Kira had always known. And seeing her and Riley together...it had been nice. They would have made a good couple. But Kira guessed, some things just weren't meant to be.
"Course' I don't. Didn't have a problem with it before the outbreak neither. The world would be a much better place if folks just minded each other's business" Joel explained, as Ellie appeared to relax.
"Is that what you meant by Bill being eccentric?" Kira guessed.
"Nah. I was talking about the fact that he might shoot you in the face for saying the wrong thing" Joel answered, grabbing his backpack and walking away, leaving the sisters debating whether he was joking or not.
They had been walking for over an hour before Kira became aware of the blood slowly staining her shirt. She pulled Joel's jacket, which she had taken back from Ellie, further over her body, trying to hide the bleeding wound. She had only been able to pack it, but without something to close the wound shut, it would likely continue oozing blood, and become infected...
Her mind wandered to the lighter in the pocket of her jeans, debating whether to burn the wound shut. It would certainly hurt like a mother—
"What do you think, Kira?" Ellie's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Huh?" Kira inquired, wiping away some sweat from her forehead, noticing how Joel frowned at her actions.
"How'd you think Joel got the scar on his face?" Ellie clarified, as Kira pursed her lips.
Her eyes flickered to the small red scar on his cheek, noting that it couldn't have been too old. It looked like whatever had struck him had only grazed him, but it had been fast. Really fast...
"Bullet wound, right?" Kira guessed, as even Joel looked a little impressed.
"Someone shot at me and missed" Joel admitted, as Kira held her hand out for Ellie to high-five, who quickly did so.
"See, that's cool. You shoot back?" Ellie asked, earning a small nod.
"You get him?" Ellie pushed, excitedly.
"No, I missed, too. It happens more often than you think" Joel informed her.
"'Cause you suck at shooting or, like, in general?" Ellie questioned, in a mocking tone, earning a glare from Joel.
"El, never mock a guy for his aim. They're very sensitive about it" Kira whispered, smirking when she saw Joel roll his eyes.
"You know, seeing as it's just the three of us, I was thinking I should pro—" Ellie began, but Joel immediately cut her off.
"No" He exclaimed, turning off the road they had been walking down, as Ellie looked to her sister.
"You sure as hell ain't getting my gun" Kira scoffed, following Joel without question.
"Cumberland Farms" Ellie murmured, as she saw he was leading them to an abandoned gas station.
"I gotta' grab some stuff I stashed" Joel announced, keeping his gun close to his side, in case there was anyone inside.
"Stashed? Why do you have stuff stashed here?" Ellie inquired, curiously.
"You ask a lot of goddamn questions" Joel complained.
"She is a teenager, Joel" Kira pointed out, as Ellie stuck her tongue out at the older girl.
Kira was surprised to see Joel open the unlocked door with ease, thinking he would have tried to stop anyone from poaching what was inside. Somehow he seemed to realise what she was thinking and answered the question a moment later.
"I lock the door and people think there's something worse stealing inside" Joel explained, as Kira gave him an appreciative look.
"Smart" She smirked, as Ellie ran over to an arcade machine, blurting out everything she knew about it.
Meanwhile, Kira watched in amusement as Joel stomped his foot on the floorboards every few inches, clearly trying to find where he had put his stash. His forehead wrinkled in annoyance after a minute, as Kira shared a look with her sister.
"You forgot where you put your stuff" Ellie exclaimed.
"No. I'm just zeroing in on it. It's been a couple of years" Joel retorted, only amusing Kira further.
"You know, forgetfulness is the first sign of dementia" Kira teased, as Joel's eyes snapped up to hers, almost daring her to go on.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna take a look around, see if there's anything good. Is there anything bad in here?" Ellie questioned, walking toward the back door.
"Just you" Joel mumbled.
"Ah. Getting funnier" Ellie said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey. Be careful. Call out if you find anything" Kira warned, as Ellie nodded, before walking into the backroom.
Kira continued watching Joel suffering as he tried to find his stash hidden under the floorboards, resorting to crawling onto his hands and knees and picking at the flooring. It did give Kira a good view of his ass, so she certainly wasn't going to complain.
"You might want to take care of your wound before she gets back" Joel suggested, as Kira's eyes narrowed.
"It's fine" She shrugged.
"I don't want blood on my jacket" Joel told her, as she let out a sigh, peeling his jacket off to reveal the growing pool of blood against her shirt.
"You need stitches" He pointed out, pushing himself onto his aching feet.
"No shit. You have any in your stash?" Kira asked, as he shook his head, walking over to the counter.
"Got the next best thing" He told her, rifling with something under the counter for a few moments.
She snorted when she saw the sewing kit he placed on top, opening it up to reveal a few different colour threads and needles. She approached him to take a closer look, noting how he backed up a step when she came to stand beside him. He sure didn't like being close to her.
"Which colour suits me best?" Kira exclaimed, looking over the yellow, red, and pink threads she had to choose from.
"Shouldn't you be worried about infection?" Joel snorted, as she shrugged, picking up the red thread.
"You got any more of that alcohol?" Kira inquired, as Joel pulled off his backpack, and chucked it toward her.
He raised an eyebrow as she took a swig of the drink before pouring it over the contents of the sewing kit and then her own hands. The whole thing couldn't be less sterile but it was the best she could do.
"You can't suture your own damn back" Joel huffed, in disbelief.
"Well, if you're offering..." Kira trailed off, pulling her shirt up her back to reveal the blood-soaked bandage.
"How'd you want me? Bent over the counter?" Kira teased, arching her back at the same time.
She gaped as she saw something she thought she'd never see. Joel blushing.And not just his cheeks looking flushed either. His whole face went deep red, all the way down to his neck, not meeting her eyes now.
"You're blushing" She grinned, as Joel let out an annoyed grunt.
"Am not" He muttered, grabbing the bottle of alcohol to pour over his own hands.
"You totally are" Kira mocked.
"You must be seeing things" Joel muttered, as she nudged him with her elbow, swearing she could see the smallest smile on his face.
She was ready to continue mocking him for as long as he'd let her when they heard a bang coming from the other room. Kira's head was snapping up immediately, all the humour having left her face.
"El? Ellie, answer me!" Kira insisted, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.
"...I'm fine. It's nothing" Ellie's reply came a few seconds later, as Kira ran a hand over her face.
"Jesus. I better check on her. Grab the medical kit from my bag, yeah? It'll have more gauze in it" Kira suggested, walking toward the backroom before he could argue.
It was dark in the room, cobwebs filled every available surface, while dust spores clung in the air. Still, it only took a few moments for Kira to realise her sister was nowhere to be found. She was just about to shout for Joel when she noticed an open hatch and put two and two together. God, she was going to kill Ellie. Gritting her teeth together, she crouched down by the hatch, shining her light down to find it was only a small drop. She jumped down to land on a patch of earth below, opening her mouth to scold Ellie when she felt her heart stop. The teenager was looming over an infected, her knife cutting a line across its forehead. She didn't even look scared. Kira wasn't sure if there was a word for the look on Ellie's face.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Kira hissed, watching how her sister flinched.
"Nothing" Ellie muttered, quickly trying to hide her bloody knife as Kira stormed toward her.
"Don't bullshit me, Ellie. What were you doing?" Kira insisted, eyes narrowed.
"It didn't even feel it" Ellie muttered, confusing Kira further.
"I...I wanted it to hurt" Ellie admitted, as Kira shook her head, before grabbing the knife from Ellie's hand.
In the blink of an eye, she had thrust the knife into the clicker's head, as it let out a sharp screech before going still. She knew her sister's upbringing hadn't been easy and she had seen things no fourteen-year-old should have, but Kira had always tried her best. But lately...Ellie had been having violent urges, the same that Kira remembered herself having at that age. Truthfully, she still had. But she needed Ellie to be better than her.
"I don't want to see you doing any shit like that again, you hear me?" Kira exclaimed, as Ellie gave a curt nod.
"C'mon, we need to get back before Joel starts asking questions" Kira mumbled, grabbing her sister's arm and dragging her away from the dead clicker.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this..." Ellie trailed off, watching as Joel began stitching Kira's wound together with the red thread.
"There was nothing to tell" Kira muttered, through gritted teeth.
While Kira had been scolding her sister, Joel had finally found his stash, finding more medical supplies than he remembered. He then insisted she let him deal with her wound before she keeled over, noticing how blood had started dripping down her back. Kira soon found herself on a dusty chair they found, resting her chin on the back of the seat, trying not to cry out in pain. Joel was doing his best to stitch her up, but he was no doctor. She resulted to biting down on her hand to stop so much as a whimper leaving her lips.
"Are you sure? Cause' it looks really gnarly—" Ellie's comment was cut off as Joel gave her a look.
"Why don't you go grab some more bandages from my stash?" Joel advised, as Ellie left the pair to it, looking a little green herself.
"It'd be ironic, wouldn't it? I survived the goddamn apocalypse for twenty years only to be taken out by sepsis" Kira stated, trying to take her mind off the pain radiating from her back.
"You'll heal just fine" Joel insisted, as she raised an eyebrow, despite the fact that her back was to him.
"Is that so, Doctor...wait. I just realised I don't even know what your last name is" Kira announced.
"You don't need to know it" Joel pointed out, pulling the thread tight.
"C'mon. I'll tell you mine. You wanna' guess?" Kira went on.
"Is it 'pain in the ass'?" Joel scoffed, earning a laugh from Kira, which quickly changed into a groan as the needle he used pierced her skin once more.
"Williams. Kinda' boring, right?" Kira informed him, her words followed by almost a minute of silence.
"...Miller" Joel mumbled, not seeing the way Kira's lips twitched into a smile.
"Joel Miller. Psh, you sound like a country singer or some shit" Kira giggled, as Joel couldn't stop the smile that grew on his own face.
He opened his mouth to tell her more, that he always wanted to be a singer as a kid. That he could even play the guitar, wasn't half bad at it either...but the words died on his lips. He didn't want to get any closer to the sisters than he already was. They had to remain a job.
"What, did I hurt your feelings?" Kira huffed, noticing Joel appeared to have cut himself off.
"All finished" He retorted, cutting the thread and looking at his finished work.
"Didn't feel a thing...apart from the agonizing pain" Kira mocked, hearing Ellie laugh as she approached with another roll of bandage.
"You'll be alright now?" Ellie asked, her tone laced with concern.
"Course' I will be" Kira nodded, giving her Ellie a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
The sun shone down on the group as they continued their walk along the deserted road, both the adults keeping their guns close. They were out in the open with very few places they could run to. Even a second's lapse of judgement could be game over. Ellie didn't seem to share their concerns, more interested in interrogating Joel.
"How did it even start? If you have to get bit to be infected, then who bit the first person? Was it a monkey? I bet it was a monkey" Ellie exclaimed.
"It wasn't a monkey. Didn't your sister ever tell you about it?" Joel questioned, his eyes flickering to Kira, who gave a quick shrug.
"Thought it was too depressing to go into details" Kira muttered, not meeting Joel's eyes.
"And probably the fact that you were like four when it happened" Ellie huffed, kicking a nearby rock along the road.
"...No one knows for sure, but, best guess... Cordyceps mutated. And some of it got into the food supply. Probably a basic ingredient like flour or sugar. There were certain brands of food that were sold everywhere, all across the country, across the world. Bread, cereal...pancake mix" Joel explained, his eyes becoming unfocused for a moment.
"You eat enough of it, it'll get you infected. So the tainted food all hits the store shelves around the same time, Thursday. People bought it, ate some Thursday night or Friday morning. Day goes on...they started to get sick. Afternoon, evening, they got worse. Then they started bitin'. Friday night, September 26, 2003. And by Monday, everything was gone" Joel told her, as Ellie took a breath, trying to digest the information.
"How come you didn't get infected?" Ellie couldn't help but ask.
"I was pretty forgetful back then. Forgot the pancake mix, then forgot the..." Joel trailed off, with a shake of his head.
"Mom and you were in the hospital when everything went down, right?" Ellie pushed, turning to her sister.
"The hell were you there for?" Joel frowned, remembering the absolute carnage that occurred in hospitals the day the world ended.
"Our mom was a nurse. School shut early, so she came to get me. She never got to finish her shift cause' her boss ripped a patient's throat out" Kira stated, watching Ellie's eyes widen.
"I'm so glad I wasn't alive for all that shit" Ellie mumbled, when Joel suddenly held up a hand to stop her from going any further.
"What?" Ellie inquired.
"There's stuff up there you shouldn't see" Joel informed her, as Ellie quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, now I have to see" Ellie grinned, quickening her pace.
"I don't want you to...Ellie!" Joel complained, using her name for once, turning to Kira for support.
"El, c'mon. We should probably listen to Joel before he gets too grouchy" Kira suggested, as her sister shrugged.
"If it can't hurt me, I'm seeing it" Ellie insisted, jogging forward, as Joel let out a long sigh.
"It's not anything dangerous, right?" Kira asked.
"They're long since dead" Joel replied, causing her forehead to wrinkle.
It didn't take long for Kira to find out what Joel meant, as she fumbled over her own feet when she saw the mass grave in front of her. Over a hundred skeletons had been left to rot in a ditch, their belongings splayed out around them. She felt her eyes water as she spotted a particularly small corpse still wrapped up in a blanket. How could the soldiers have been so heartless?
"About a week after Outbreak Day, soldiers went through the countryside, and evacuated the small towns. Told you you were going to a QZ, and you were...if there was room. If there wasn't..." Joel trailed off, as Ellie stayed uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments.
"These people weren't sick?" Ellie realised.
"No, probably not" Joel sighed.
"Why kill them? Why not just leave them be?" Ellie frowned, as Kira came to stand by her sister.
"Dead people can't be infected" Kira announced, making Ellie grimace.
"But FEDRA took you and mom into a QZ straight away, didn't they? You were one of the lucky ones?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah. I guess" Kira mumbled, looking at the ground.
"FEDRA didn't take kids back then" Joel stated.
"My mom was a nurse. They needed her—" Kira began, but Joel cut her off.
"Yeah, and they would have taken her and shot you. I saw it happen...more than once" Joel insisted, not believing her story.
"Guess my mom had more connections than you did then" Kira retorted, in a sharp tone, turning her back to him.
She prayed that Ellie didn't pay too much attention to what Joel had said. The last thing she needed was for Ellie to start questioning Kira's lies. She had told her little sister so many, she was no longer sure what the truth was herself anymore. Maybe it was better that way.
They finally reached Bill and Frank's the next day, walking straight up to the metal fence that surrounded the town the pair had called home. Joel's stomach dropped as he noticed no one came to greet them or to hold a gun to their faces. He was quick to key in the code to unlock the metal door, holding it open for Kira and Ellie to walk through. His nerves only grew more when he noticed the flowers outside of Bill and Frank's house were dead, clearly not having been watered for some time. He let out a sigh when he found their front door was unlocked, refusing to recognise the truth he already knew. They were already gone.
"What the fuck?" Ellie whispered, seeing the whole house appeared to be covered in dust.
"You two stay here. If you see anything...yell" Joel told them, as he approached one of the back rooms.
"What if they're gone?" Ellie couldn't help but ask, causing Joel to clench his jaw, but he said nothing in response.
Kira wandered over to the dinner table, seeing the leftovers had rotted on the plate, mould growing on the meat. She picked up a wine glass, finding something gritty at the bottom. She sniffed the substance, cringing at the scent it gave off. Jesus, had they poisoned each other?
"Kira...look" Ellie exclaimed, pointing to a letter on the living room table, underneath what looked like car keys.
"To whomever...but probably Joel" Ellie mumbled, picking up the letter and immediately tearing it open.
"El, you shouldn't..." Kira trailed off.
"We need to see what it says before showing Joel, right? I mean they were his friends, he shouldn't have to read it himself" Ellie explained, surprising Kira somewhat, as she began to skim reading the letter.
"Ellie?" Joel's voice called out, as he came back to the living room.
"It's from Bill. Came with this" Kira informed him, passing him the car key.
"So they're dead?" Joel asked, stiffly.
"Yeah" Ellie nodded, as Joel turned around, letting out a shaky breath.
"You...you wanna?" Ellie suggested, holding out the letter, as Joel shook his head.
"Go ahead. You do it" Joel murmured, trying to keep it together.
"August 29th 2023. If you find this, please do not come into the bedroom. We left a window open so the house wouldn't smell, but it will probably be a sight. I'm guessing you found this, Joel, because anyone else would've been electrocuted or blown up by one of my traps. Hehehehe. Take anything you need. The bunker code is the same as the gate code but in reverse. Anyway...I never liked you, but still, it's like we're friends...almost. And I respect you. So, I'm gonna tell you something because you're probably the only person who will understand. I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died" Ellie read, pausing for a moment in shock, before carrying on.
"But I was wrong because there was one person worth saving. That's what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That's why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do. And God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. I leave you all of my weapons and equipment. Use them to keep..." Ellie trailed off, biting her lip.
Kira could guess what the next line said, as Joel ripped the letter from Ellie's hands, his bottom lip wobbling for a moment. Too many emotions flashed over his face. Bitterness. Anger. Despair. It was awful to watch. And both girls knew there was little they could do to help. Tess was gone. And now Bill and Frank were too.
"Stay here" Joel murmured, in a shaky voice before rushing out of the house.
Kira watched from the window as he came to a halt on the front lawn, looking down at the letter once more, his face contorting in pain. He then balled the letter up in his fist and let it drop onto the grass below. She could see how his back was heaving, as Joel desperately tried to stop the tears that were welling in his eyes. With his hands still balled into fists, he stumbled toward the garage, fumbling to type the code into the panel on the side. When he realised his hands were trembling too much to type, he allowed himself to slide down the wall, collapsing on the floor. He drew his knees up to his chest, hitting the back of his head against the wall, as he shut his eyes.
How many more people was he going to have to lose?
He clenched his jaw when he heard footsteps approaching and knew it was Kira without having to even look up. He couldn't deal with the sympathy. He just wanted to be left alone.
"I don't want your goddamn pity, alright? I can't fucking deal with you right now. Just...just don't..." Joel stuttered over his words, still refusing to look at her.
Instead of saying something that she knew wouldn't help him, Kira reached out to place her hand on Joel's shoulder. He was tense under her palm for a few moments, obviously not used to someone touching him so gently. Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, her hand still on his shoulder. They didn't look at each other, didn't speak, but Joel's muscles finally relaxed under her fingers, as he let out a shaky breath. She gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze then, knowing he needed it. Kira was surprised when she felt his own hand reach up to touch hers a few moments later, his fingers wrapping around the back of her hand. Slowly, she moved her hand so she could intertwine their fingers together, still resting on his shoulder. His fingers were warm, whereas hers were cold. A good match, Kira thought to herself.
The sun was starting to set by the time they pulled away.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! As you can probably tell from this chapter, Kira is hiding a big secret from Ellie and it's going to have a massive impact on the storyline of this fic. Please leave a review:)
Patricia Louise A Pena: I'm planning to use inspiration from both the TV show and game, but probably will follow the TV show more closely.
kitty2142: Aw, thank you! And she certainly is, haha.
Zariaelle: Thank you for reviewing:) I'm really glad you like the idea of Kira being Ellie's sister and hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Carla: Thank you! I hope you like the update:)
Guest: Thank you for the review:) I have big plans for this fic!