Chapter-2 Adult

She started pacing back and forth while one of her hands was placed at her chin. One could tell all the gears in her brain were working to find some solution.

" Well, now what? " Joel asked.

" We go get our merchandise back. "

" How? "

" I don't know. We explain it to them or we strike a trade. Look, let's go find a Firefly."

"And where will we find one? They aren't exactly broadcasting their location on a radio." J added in.

" You won't have to look very far." A woman from the wanted posters showed up, wounded. She was clutching her stomach, the portion of the cloth where her hand was dyed crimson. Black hair tied in a bun, black eyes and a wheatish skin complexion. She was in her 'rebel ' attire with a vest that was badly torn up. Obviously, she'd been through a massive battle. Her left arm had a big red patch with the yellow colour insignia of a firefly. She looked positively tired yet there was a charm on her face. Her voice had not trembled either earlier while she had spoken.

" Look, look what do we have here? The FUCKIN QUEEN of butterflies, Oh shoot, It was fireflies, was it? Can't seem to remember. Let me take a guess, the checkpoint? It was you? " J closed in aggressively holding the gun aimed right at her. Tess placed her hands on his chest to stop him from advancing.

Marlene had drawn her gun out and was staring at the new guy. She knew of Joel and her but not this one.

"J stop, STOP. Look at me, look at me. Listen to me, let's hear her out. Ok? Let's see what she has to say "

"Hear her out? No, Tess, you listen to me. One, she's a terrorist that deserves to die and Two, could you two even trust what she would say? I say move, let me shoot her. She's got a big fuckin bounty over her. The church would gladly give anything you request. If not you can turn her to the govt, practically they're one and the same. "

"No! no, you won't shoot her! Calm down, you're angry. I can see that, I don't know what beef you have with her but you aren't thinking this through. We kill her then what? Turn her to govt? and they take us in after they find out we're smugglers. We give her to the church and then what? We don't get shit until we join up. Even Alvarez won't be able to help us there.

So just calm down ok? " she placed her hand on his jaw. "Calm down. "

"Yeah, whatever." he pulled the gun downwards and went back to lean at the wall. Joel had been silently witnessing this. He hadn't seen the kid get this angry. Sure he was aggressive maybe even an adrenaline junkie, but in fights, it was the norm. Even then his mind was always composed. Heck, Joel was the same in this regard.

'Maybe not an adrenaline junkie. I am too old for that shit. But the fact is if you aren't dominating in a fight then you'd likely end up dead. Funny thing about violence you have to be violent to make it work. But I haven't seen him snap like that when all we were doin' was just talk.'

" You agree to this Joel? Do you agree with Tess here? Can you trust what comes out of her mouth? " there was a faint bitterness in his tone as if he had already anticipated his reply.

"Well, I don't know about Tess but I ain't trusting anything until I get some solid evidence to whatever she says. But J, Tess is right here we won't get anything out of it should you shoot her. "

*sigh*

"Fine. Let's hear her then, Tess. " he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and smudged his eyes. Clearly indicating his disinterest in it.

"Go on Marlene. Let's see what you have to say. Apparently, you already pissed off one of us. You better appeal to the both of us now. " she said with a slight smirk on her face.

Marlene nodded " But first, why are you here and who's this psycho-ass dude, he sort of seems familiar but I don't recognise him. Tess, a little young for your taste, won't you agree? "

"Hahaha... Very funny, very funny. We are here because we had some business with Robert. "

"And where is he now? " Marlene questioned.

Tess just simply moved sideways showing Robert who lay dead on the road.

"I needed him alive. " she said grimly.

"Look Marlene, I don't give a fuck. Let's talk about business here, alright? The thing he gave you, it wasn't his to give. I want it back. "

"It doesn't work like that. You know it and so do your partners."

"The way I see it. He didn't sell it to you. He gave it away. I already paid for it. The thing in your possession, " she pointed at her "it's mine. "

"He gave it to me because he owed me. He owed me for saving his fuckin life. You want it back you'll have to earn it."

Tess slightly lowered her head as her hand raised to smudge her nose lightly. She whiffed slightly. "Alright, How many ration cards we are talkin' about here ? " she made her eye contact back.

"I don't give a damn about ration cards. I need a favour from you. I need something smuggled out of this city. If you do that...I'll give your item back. "

" How do we know you got it? The way I hear it, the military is wiping you guys out. Sure, some higher-up member didn't go ahead and use it? " Joel cut in.

"You're right about that. Guess you'll just have to accompany me back if you want to confirm if I have it or not. "

"Search the area."

" Yes, sir." They heard the sound of military personnel.

"Lookie, little fuckin butterfly don't know how to clear her tracks or maybe it's her horrible perfume that the hounds picked up and followed all the way. " J sneered.

"Hey, asshole it could be because of you guys. Pretty sure you would have left a trail of bodies tryin' to reach Robert."

" I gotta move. What's it gonna be? "

" I wanna see it. Let's go J, Joel. We are going with her."

"Follow me."

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"Find the door!

They locked it!"

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They could hear more sounds of the military they were very close to them.

"Through here. I know a way around this. C'mon." she said as she moved up the stairs into another lane. She climbed some crates and then pulled down the ladder. She moved up, followed by Tess, Joel and lastly J. They were on the rooftops when they heard a big explosion go off. It was just a few blocks away. Black smoke was rising out visible to all. Then they saw a big firework go off, it lighted up a firefly logo and then scattered in the air.

"Holy shit. What are your people doing ?" Tess asked her.

"Fighting back".

"Usual Terrorist stuff. " Both Marlene and he had said two different things at the same time. She looked at him offended while he looked at her indifferently.

'She calls pointless killing fighting back, huh? Sure, it's killing in self-defence I'll give her that but who started it? Who rebelled? Who drew first blood? Who thought assassinating members of the church and influential people in power would not result in a directive of eradication?'

"If I am honest, you seem to be on the brink here. At least in this zone. " Joel further added his own opinion.

"Why else do you think I'm turning to you guys? This way." She entered the building they climbed through the broken loft window. They descended downstairs and opened a heavy sliding metal door.

"Hey, how are you holding up? " Joel enquired making sure they weren't just following a soon-to-be-dead body.

"I'll live."

'Unfortunately.' J stared at her from the back, his mind was calm but the hostility was still present at the back of his head.

They further go downstairs and then exit and move until they're right under a bridge.

"There, that's the door. Right opposite to us, beneath this bridge."

"Yeah, and guarded by the military. Look" Joel indicated with a shake of his head.

"We can sneak by them or take them. We have enough numbers. "

"Fuck no, we ain't killing military personnel for her. We'll sneak by." J said.

"Agreed. But sneaking is always riskier" Tess said.

"Well, it's nothing different than what we were doing up till now. Look, can you make out the patch they're wearing? It says STU which stands for Search Taskforce Unit. They're the guys specializing in hunting down terrorists like her, not only that they're also the ones that volunteer for difficult ops, something that most military personnel don't do and work as preliminary scouts until special ops take over.

Yeah, I am not killing people who actually do shit, not for her. Look I'll knock them out for you but we don't kill them."

"What's your problem? Do you think the military makes a difference? You think they are different from us? Well, the fact is they are just arrogant, cruel and heartless bastards. Do you have any idea what they do? They kill off innocents just because the population is increasing in the zone. They use their authority to do illegal things, they bully the weak and wag their tails in front of those who have power. They detain and torture people just on the basis of simple suspicion without any proof. They have literally condemned thousands to death just because they wanted to survive. They have levelled cities and bombed them to hell in fear of infection. The military is as fuckin bad as any hunter, as the church and as the fireflies."

"Look, woman. I am not talking about the normal military here. Sure there are many branches that are just trash and there are people like you described. People that deserve to be called heartless. But you're forgetting, that many of those branches are just filled with civilians. Civilians who just received some training those who never even go out in the field. Who are happy enough and safe enough with having some measure of power. They're the rotten apples but these are not the same guys.

The STU might torture the people they detain but the detained person is never innocent. All I know is they fuckin fight the infected and have shown bravery in past. That is enough for me. Let's go, I said enough already."

They moved up the stairs.

"Say, what was the story about? The Shura of Sands, was it ?"

"Nah, Nah. Pretty sure, it's the fiend of North and it's a rumour bruh. Just a false story to scare our enemies. Even most of the higher-ups don't believe in it. "

"J, two guards ahead one on the left and one on the right facing each other. "

He nodded "Take the one on the left, I take the one on the right."

"C'mon, it might be true no stories are built from absolute lies."

"Look, All I can..." *uuummmmm...* suddenly he felt immense pressure he was being choked out. He threw an elbow back to hit the assaulter but it was of no use he was reduced to the floor. He couldn't use anything much to fight out of the stranglehold and suddenly his world had gone black. Upon seeing his friend get attacked he tried to take out his gun but suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him. He met the same fate as his friend.

They walked while taking cover behind cabin desks in the building.

"Two guys outside in front and a guy on the bridge. " He nodded and silently jumped out of the window strangling the guy that was relatively isolated due to the crates around him.

"We're not messing with the other as he is in clear line of sight of the one on the bridge. Let's go around." He whispered to the rest of them. He took the lead to go around in a circle from the left but the guy at the bridge came up even further behind. He raised his palm and made up a fist signalling them to hold up. He pointed to Joel the guy, that he had said they shouldn't knock out.

Then he took a position and waved his hand vertically twice motioning Joel to go. He then sprinted up to the guy who was patrolling. The guy had spotted him, he jumped back and went for a front foot kick. J shifted to the left dodging the kick and spun delivering a brutal elbow to the guy's nose. He raised both his hands over his nose, it was a natural reaction to pain. That was all the opportunity J needed, he slipped past his guard and placed a stranglehold on him. Meanwhile, Joel had taken care of the other guard more cleanly, partially due to the fact he got distracted by seeing a person out of nowhere attack his unit member. They regrouped back.

"Guard on the extreme left. Too far we can slip by him down the stairs. " Joel stated.

"Good enough."

The group silently went down the stairs and opened the door. After entering in, he and Joel blocked it by moving a heavy metal locker behind it.

"Where to now Marlene? " she saw her clutch her abdomen and bend even lower in pain. 'It's getting worse. She needs help.'

"This way. It's not far now."

"How are you holding up? " she asked her.

"I'm running on fumes - but I'll make it. The place is right up ahead." They moved out from the current building into the next and moved upstairs coming across what used to be a kitchen area. She fished out her keys and unlocked the door but she was struggling to open it on her own.

"Attention. An immediate Curfew is being placed. All citizens have a short time to return to their homes or find refuge. Anyone caught outside without the proper authorization will be arrested and prosecuted." All of them heard the announcement as it was loud enough.

'Pathetic.' J saw her weak attempt.

"Shit, we need to hurry up. Joel, help me with this. " Both of them pushed the door open and she collapsed on the floor whether it was from the pain or from the relief of making it to a safe place, was unknown. J entered behind Joel. Joel bent forward to help Marlene back up.

But suddenly they heard quick footfalls and they saw a girl with a knife lunge in Joel's direction. "Get the fuck away from her ! " the girl cried out.

Not expecting an attack he was caught unprepared. J rushed in and blocked the girl's attack by holding her wrist at the same time moving his own body horizontally away from the knife's intended path. But the woe of being caught off guard. The knife had come to a stop but not before piercing his favourite shirt. It was in direct contact with the skin of his right shoulder.

'Fuck, my T-shirt. MY FAVOURITE T-SHIRT. (T ^ T) '

He observed her, she was smaller in frame than him. Probably 3 inches smaller in height as well. She had auburn hair that was parted in front and in a ponytail from the back. A slightly rounder but still angular face with a button nose. She had sharp eyebrows and a cut on her right eyebrow. She was quite fair in complexion but the most striking part was her eyes. They held a very captivating warm green tone.

She was probably wearing a grey shirt judging by her sleeves over which she had a dull peach-coloured T-shirt with dark blue jeans and purple-coloured Converse sneakers. She had a backpack over her shoulder as well.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down ok? We are helping her. If we wanted to hurt her why would we bring her back? " Tess said as she played peace-maker.

The girl had switched her gaze from Marlene to the guy who was holding her wrist. 'Apathy', she could read his eyes and his demeanour but she did not have more time to observe as Marlene's voice called out.

"Let her go. " J, released his grip on her hand as she slowly took back her knife. It came out leaving a tiny rip in the fabric of his T-shirt.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't ya?" Joel added gravely.

"She's not one of mine."

"Hey, are you okay? " the girl immediately came and bent down to her level. She then helped her up and brought her to a nearby couch to sit.

"Shit. What happened? You're hurt badly." she asked with concern.

"Don't worry. This is fixable. More importantly, I got us help. " she replied easing the girl's worry over her.

"Tess patch her up. " Joel said as he took a seat on a chair, J silently sat on a comfier sofa chair right next to a window.

"I was going to even if you didn't say." she walked forward to where Marlene and the girl were. She placed her bag on the sofa and lightly massaged her own shoulders.

"Carrying this heavy backpack makes my shoulders stiff as a rock. Damn, ah... " she stated to, particularly no one.

"I don't need help. Let's talk business. "

"You heard her Tess, she doesn't need help. Let her bleed the fuck out. Why do we have to waste our medical supplies on her." J spoke as he supported his chin with the palm of his hand and continued to look at the window not once turning around."

"Hey, jerk, fuck you. What's your problem, huh?"

"Leave it, Ellie, it's not worth it." she placed her hand on Ellie's arm.

"Can, can you help Marlene?" she asked as she turned her eyes to look at Tess. The glimmer of hope was clearly visible in her eyes.

"I wouldn't have offered to help her if I couldn't, ya know. Bring me some water, kid, and a clean cloth." she removed her medical kit from her bag.

"Remove the vest and pull up your shirt. Let's see it." she did as ordered.

"Yup, it's a gunshot alright. Is the bullet still in?" she nodded.

"Ok, then I am just simply going to dress the wound. I can remove the bullet but it hurts like a motherfucker especially because we don't have morphine."

"Just dress it, I can get the bullet removed back at base."

"That's what I thought."

"Ok, hot water coming up." she carried water in a big bowl that she had gripped using some cloth. She placed the bowl down next to Tess and gave her the cloth the very same one she had used to hold it. She took a seat right next to Marlene as she saw Tess, who had started cleaning her wound using water and cloth. She then disinfected her wound using the antiseptic liquid.

"Medical stapler or Temporary stitches? The choice is yours."

"Wait-wait...ok,

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stapler." her voice came out in a mild panic tone.

"Good choice! Hurts more but is also more effective. J, come here I need you to hold her don't let her move. " He nodded and walked up to them. He tightly locked Marlene's arms from behind. Even should she struggle it wouldn't matter now.

"umm...ya...aaaahhh...Aaah...

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."

*staple* *staple* *staple*

"There, done! J, you can let go of her. All that's left is to gauze it and then wrap a cloth around it." He removed his grip and walked back.

"So I've been meaning to ask you, What exactly are we smuggling Marlene?" Joel finally asked her after seeing she had received immediate help.

"I need you to get her out of this city and drop off her at a place where some of my men will meet you." she said as she pointed to Ellie.

Tess paused her work to look at Ellie, slightly shocked that the 'thing' they had to smuggle out turned out to be a person. Joel's response was even more exaggerated.

"Oh no, no, no, No! we aren't smuggling her." he said as his head shook in a very reluctant manner.

"Told you." another voice came from the guy who went back to watch the view outside of the window.

"You're coming with me? right? "Ellie asked her.

"I can't. I still need to get everyone out of here. You know it. But I'll be following behind you. My priority is to get you out and if nothin' bad happens we'll meet up later. Okay ?" she said as she placed a hand on her head and rustled her hair.

"I can stay. " The girl tried to argue but she was met with a solemn response.

"Ellie, we won't get another chance at this. " feeling defeated, she just nodded her head in a dismayed manner.

Tess had already patched her up by then and had secured a seat for herself.

"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building."

"Yeah, That's not exactly close. "

"You're capable. You hand her off, come back, the item is yours, I'll throw in some ammo as well."

Tess let out a sarcastic chuckle. "That's not how it works, Marlene. You know it and your partner" she looked at Ellie and then back to her "knows it as well. " Marlene's face darkened a little as she heard her own words thrown at her.

"What do you mean?"

"What she means is that the pay is not nearly worth the trouble of this job. " Joel said as he dragged his own chair and sat alongside Tess. "You need to offer us a better deal. Or else the deal is Kaput. "

'What's kaput ?' the girl's mind went to the new word that the man spoke. But one thing was crystal clear to her they wanted a better deal now that they knew Marlene was at a disadvantage.

"So what do you have in mind ?" she asked as her eyes narrowed, a steel look across her face.

Tess looked at Joel and then back at her. "I am thinking 3 bottles of Aether for our trouble. "

Her reply came instantly, " 3? 3!, You're kiddin' me. Three isn't possible. I am not asking you to drop her off to fuckin Alaska. The best I can do is two bottles and since I increased the original amount by 1, you get no ammo."

"Yeah, 1 that we already paid for. Still not good enough. I expect you want us to smuggle her tonight. So, let's see we have to smuggle a person. Not only that we have to take her outside the city, outside the perimeter even. Over that, she is a known associate of the leader of fireflies and if that isn't enough she must be very important because the said leader a few moments earlier called her a ' top priority '. On top of that, I just stitched up the said leader.

Yup, not nearly enough compensation. Do you think we are fools? We take a huge danger with this job. It won't cut it, Marlene you know it."

"I still can't go more than two because that's all I have. " she said seriously.

"Then how about you throw in 5 bottles of 'Aqua Benedicta'? " J said while still not turning back. His eyes were still set on the outside world.

"Ye-s, but why five? You guys are only three. "

"Really, I count 5. " he turned around as he pointed to himself, Joel, Tess and then surprisingly to Ellie and the person who had questioned him.

"The girl will come with us and we just patched you up. I count 5." he repeated as he turned back to the window again.

Tess nodded in agreement and said "Last offer: 2 bottles of Aether and 5 bottles of Aqua Benedicta. Don't try to bargain anymore, Marlene. We won't budge."

She contemplated for a few seconds before she agreed to the deal. Truthfully, she was in no position even to bargain yet she still came out with a manageable deal.

"Half now and Half when we finish the job." Joel added to which both Tess and J nodded.

"Speaking of which, when can you get it? We start when we receive half the payment. " she said to her.

"It's not here. You'll have to follow me back to base if you want half the payment right now. I can also receive proper treatment but she-" she pointed to Ellie "she's not coming with us. I won't allow her to cross that part of town. I want Joel and him to watch over her."

"Whoa, whoa. I don't think that's the best idea." Joel immediately blurted out while J just sighed.

'Why do I have to play babysitter? Well, Joel will handle her. I don't have to do shit.'

'Why do I have to play babysitter? Well, worst case scenario the kid will handle her. I don't have to do shit.'

If both could have known what the other person was thinking right now they would have face-palmed hard for their foolishness.

'Sweet! I got out of babysitting. This is for that lazy bastard Joel, for sleeping all day and that moron J, for calling me a Panda. Isn't karma a bitch? hehe...'

"Bullshit! I'm not going with them." a slightly shrill voice of a girl came out.

"Ellie...you'll have to."

'Why? Why, do I have to go with this angry-looking old man and that crazy creep who has a delusion of being Spider-Man? Fucker, has just been looking out at the window. Why can't I go with the lady who looks both smart and capable? '

"How do you know them?" she asked in hopes she might change her decision and switch people.

"I was close with his brother, Tommy. A very good soldier. He said if I was ever in a jam I could rely on him. Said two things his brother was good at were being resourceful and fighting his way out of any situation." She said as she looked at him tryin' to make out whether the words she once heard and now she herself spoke, whether they had any foundation of truth in them. Honestly, she felt they did.

"It's too of a high praise for me. Was that before or after he left your little militia group?"

"He left you too. He was a good man. He was not meant for the way of life we lived. I always felt he was never meant to be here. I suspect if it wasn't for you he wouldn't have survived. He had great morals, something that was viewed more as a weakness rather than strength back in our time"

Joel just gritted his teeth as he heard her speak about him. Obviously, something she had said had opened up an old wound which had not healed properly or not at all.

"Look, you two just take her to the north tunnel, get our gear ready, rest up and wait for me there. Okay? " Tess said in a commanding tone.

"Marlene..." Ellie called out but was interrupted by her.

"No more talking. You'll be fine. Now go with them."

" Watch out, and you - " Joel pointed to Ellie "Stay close. J, Let's go. We're wasting time and daylight." Joel walked out and opened the door, he was followed by Ellie.

"Don't take too long. Don't take unnecessary risks. " J said to her and then he looked at Marlene "and if she proves to be a dead weight. Abandon her and escape." He said it in a loud tone making sure she heard him. Tess only rolled her eyes at his last remark. She would find out why he was so antagonistic towards the rebel leader. But then again she could already make a fair guess to the 'why' already.

"Yeah, sure whatever go now." She pushed him lightly to hint to him to ' get going already '. He nodded and walked closing the door behind him. They went downstairs and exited the building. Joel led the way followed by Ellie and him at the back.

"Attention: The curfew has been imposed. Any citizen spotted walking or roaming around will be detained for questioning or worse shot on site if met with resistance of any sort.

I repeat this is not a drill. The escalation with fireflies has resulted in new curfew rules which will soon be implemented. This is for your safety."

"Some safety, huh? Forcing people to literally remain locked up, imposing on their freedom. How is that action taken in regards to their safety ?" she stated to, particularly no one which is why she was surprised when she heard a reply from the guy behind her.

"Well, you can thank your precious friend who happens to be the leader of a terrorist group called Butterflies."

"Uh...seriously dude? Butterflies? What, are you 10? Also, Marlene isn't responsible for any of this. All she wanted was to get the people their rights back. You know what living in the zone is like. In some ways living outside of the zone is better. At least you get to live with dignity. " she commented.

"Is that how she brainwashed you and her little cult of brain-dead dumb-fucks. She filled your head with delusions of grandeur. Sure, you get to live with dignity outside the zone for 2 hours, but then you die a dog's death. If the several Infected, hunters, heretics, military, the terrain doesn't get you the lack of food and water will.

Is that death worth the dignity of living a few hours with freedom ?"

He expected her to not reply, to waver in her response, to ignore his words, to curse at him, to deflect his words, to counter-argue but he never expected the words that came out of her mouth.

"I do. Even living a minute with dignity is better than living a decade with just shame, regret and bitterness. " He was shocked, he wanted to believe she did not know the gravity of her words but her tone did not lie. She had honestly answered what she felt.

Joel had become oddly quiet after hearing her speak her mind.

"Also, what are these hunters and heretics you speak of?" he nearly stumbled after he heard her. Joel started to violently cough as well.

'Apparently, the tone of a person is not a good criterion to judge one's truth or beliefs. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). She indeed partially knew but did not exactly know how bad it was outside' he thought.

'This girl. Honestly, how could she speak such powerful words unknowingly? I never thought she would answer him like this. It's her naivety that makes her say this. She was like...like...no, never mind. '

"Don't mind him. He has some sort of beef with your 'precious friend'. " Joel said as he started jogging again. "Down here, down this subway."

"Huh, beef? What did she catch you smoking and took away your cig? Pssh...he's not nearly big enough to have any sort of beef with her."

"Oi, you're the last one to say anything on that, you midget."

"Haaaah? What did you call me? A mid-...I am not a midget! " she looked offended.

'So that triggers her? Yup, this is going to be fun now.' he smirked evilly while having dark thoughts. The enemy had willingly given him ammunition.

Suddenly, she felt chills run down her spine.

'Why did I feel so cold right now?

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meh, whatever.'

They came back up. The streets were so quiet literally devoid of any life. It was just the three of them that were probably out. They and Tess and Marlene. Suddenly, they heard the sound of an engine. It was so clear because everything was so quiet they could hear it from far away.

"Crouch down. Don't let them spot you. We're dead if they do." Joel whispered.

They silently passed the area while remaining crouched not even speaking a word. They got out of there and into a lane that lead them to a back area. An area that had dead bodies lying all over the street. It wasn't one, it wasn't two, it wasn't three. No, it was eleven dead bodies.

"Oh, my god. This..." Ellie was somewhat stunned witnessing the corpses of people. Out of the eleven, eight were fireflies and three of them were random unknown people. Possible criminals, thugs or maybe just innocent.

Joel just frowned in dismay, upset at having to watch this and even more upset to have a mere child like her witness this grim display of fate.

"Let's get out of here." he pointed to that huge back staircase "that's the way." He roamed around to look for something that could be used as a stepping stone. While J went to search the bodies. He started collecting ammo, smoke bombs, and anything that was of use.

"Uh...what are you doin'?" she asked standing beside him, a couple of steps away. She didn't want to come close to the corpses.

"What does it look like?"

"Your stealing from the dead? I mean I get it, we don't have a lot to use but isn't this disrespectful?"

"One, it isn't stealing. It's called scavenging. Two, I have more than enough supplies. Three, I am doing this, because I can use it. They no longer can. Four, I rather end up disrespecting the dead than dying foolishly because I was a bullet down and I could have gathered two mags worth if I had just raided a corpse. Fifth, These are freshly dead. They were shot dead not even hours ago. You can tell, they don't smell, and their bodies aren't deteriorating. If they were rotting or smelled. I wouldn't even fuckin bother with an in-depth just a rough search would be fine.

Now, look here what did I find? let's put your math to the test. 8 of them were fireflies, each carrying two mags all of 9mm caliber, A mag contains 15 bullets. In addition, I collected roughly 5 bullets from every gun. Their primary weapon i.e. a rifle that's your standard AK held at least 13 bullets of 7.62 caliber with each one having 1 complete mag of the same caliber on them. A mag of 7.62 has at least 30 rounds. Now, how many bullets do I have in total and of what types? "

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"A lot. Does that answer your question?"

(-_-)

"No, like seriously think on it and then give me an answer." he replied in a completely flat tone and went back to searching.

She wasn't bad at maths, not at all. It was simple multiplication she knew, what she had a problem with was how the question was framed. She had lost her entire train of thought in the middle. The question wasn't precise at all instead it was a long-winded story. She doubted she could make him repeat it.

'Worth a try.'

"Hey, could you repea-"

"Nope, not happening." his answer came before she could even ask properly.

*whistles*

.

.

"What?" she asked as she heard him whistle. He was holding a gun high and checking something.

"Nothing. Just admiring. " he replied as he went further away. He picked up a machete.

'Oh, now we are talking. It's my lucky day, a machete with a sheath. ' He placed the machete in the slot where he had his pipe. It had enough space to accommodate both. Then he spotted a spiked baseball bat. He then tried some swings with it. He brought out his metal pipe and then weighed them both individually.

'Bruh...'

Ellie who had her eyes closed and her face scrunched up trying to really think hard and remember his question suddenly got startled out of her reverie. She saw a metal pipe spinning like a wheel as it whizzed past her and attacked the wall behind her. She then saw the person responsible for it who was now placing a spiked baseball bat in his side pocket.

'This annoying piece of fuck! '

"You fucker, are you trying to kill ME? aren't you tasked with safeguarding me?" she cried out indignantly. "Are you insane? Do you want to bring the military down on us?"

"It slipped out of my hand." he replied nonchalantly.

"slip-SLIPPED OUT? " she clenched her fist as she gritted her teeth and murmured the words out. Her left eyebrow was twitching.

'Calm down, Ellie. Calm down, it wouldn't do you good if his partner came back and saw him dead. You can't kill him. Well, not yet anyways. Where is that other guy? did he go to another quarantine zone to bring a fuckin steppin' stone or what?

Don't TELL ME HE LEFT ME HERE WITH THIS GUY and RAN?

No, that isn't possible. You're overthinking it and stop talkin' to yourself in third-person narration. STOP IT ! stop it.'

"What are you guys been doin'? and What was that noise?" Joel asked as he came in dragging a dumpster.

"She's having a meltdown"

"He threw a metal pipe at me."

They both spoke at the same time and pointed toward each other. Naturally, Joel understood absolutely nothin'.

"Well don't let me spoil your moment. I'll just drag this heavy dumpster by myself."

*Ew* she said. 'Nope, not at all interested in him.'

"Hell no, bruh". J murmured and then joined Joel in dragging it. They placed it right beneath the base platform of the stairs. They climbed up in the same sequence. Joel walked forward, followed by Ellie, and lastly him. They entered the building

"It's 624, isn't it? 280 of one kind, 344 of another." she said as she walked.

While one of them was absolutely clueless about the topic the other one just merely hummed.

"624? What 624?" the clueless one asked.

"Nothing, she's telling the no. of brain cells she has left. The rest of them died due to Marlene's BS." the informed one replied.

Joel broke into a small laugh while the person who had given those figures was stuck glaring at the person who made a joke at her expense.

*hmmph* "For the record, you suck at asking questions."

"Then how about you give it a try? Using that 624 you have left." he smirked.

'Calm down Ellie, the more you show he gets under your skin. The more he is gonna' annoy you. Just play it cool.'

"Is that so? So this tunnel... you use it to smuggle things?"

"Well, what gave it away? was it our conversation with your friend where she requested us to literally smuggle you? How did you even deduce that." he replied in a mocking tone.

"Also, 623 left."

"No, I meant like illegal things? " she then saw the expression on his face and immediately added "No, no just cancel that. That much is obvious, right? "

"I thought you went down to 622 but I guess 623 is the new 624 huh?"

'Cool. Remember, play it cool. Ignore him.'

"So ever smuggled a kid before? " she opted to ask the big guy. The relatively smaller one was a porcupine. Sharp and prickly, poised to sting her.

"No. That's a first. My turn to ask questions. So what's the deal with you and Marlene, anyways?" They walked down the long hallway.

"I don't know. She's my friend, I guess."

"Your friend, huh? You're friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What're you, like twelve?"

"She knew my mom, and she's been looking after me. And I'm fourteen, not that that has anything to do with anything." They climbed another set of stairs leading up.

"J, hands off the merchandise." Joel called out

*ugh* she answered with a groan. It was the second time he made the joke. Also, it wasn't even possible he looked older like around 19 maybe even 20. Maybe a year younger, maybe 18. At this point, it was just weird.

'But then again he has a faint stubble. Probably styled it. Not gonna lie it suits his face.'

"No, that's not even possible. She's clearly a minor. I am not into that shit. She's not even 14, she looks like 13. Probably doesn't want to reveal too much about herself. Something, I respect. Not revealing info is good. Congrats, you're back at 624. " he stated.

For once she was in agreement with him. 'Looks like he can be decent once in a while but then again he is no good. I am 14 and a half asshole, not 13.'

"Yeah, we live in a weird world. A minor calling another minor, minor. Nothing is normal." Joel said as they entered another hallway.

"Wait, what? You're not 19? I figured you above 18." Ellie stopped as she locked back in shock. She was off, he was deceptively younger.

"Yeah, you figured it wrong, 624. Don't stress yourself. I am just experienced and wise beyond my years. " he said as he motioned her to keep walking.

'Well at least, his height makes sense. '

"For the record, you aren't the first one nor the last who will make the same mistake. It's everything to do about body language and the Aura one exudes. I walk, talk and behave like an adult ergo I am an adult. "

'Is that a hidden insult? Is he calling me childish? He's definitely calling me a child. I just know it.'

"And what exactly is your definition of an adult?" Joel's interest was piqued. They took a left and now walked into a small gallery that had rooms on both sides.

"Well, I lie most of the time, successfully scam people, whine about work and try to push it on others, also I am just overall mean."

Upon hearing this, Joel who had inserted a key to unlock the third last door on the left froze up and stared at him. Ellie followed suit and stared at him. Her mouth was slightly opened in awe. Both of them stuck upon a similar thought.

'He has a fuckin negative impression about the term. (✿ ಠ_ಠ)'

What he was never gonna tell them was 'I do my duty, I guard those who need or deserve it. I guard those whom I have taken an oath. Call it protection or pride I do what needs to be done regardless of the cost. I don't fear death, If I die so be it. In this world finding a cause to die is only the thing worth anything. I have some lines I haven't crossed yet and ones I likely won't and I fuckin kill infected. I do my part. ' After all, he was an adult.

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Reading Navigation:

1. 'Bold and single quote' - inner thoughts or inner monologue of person/ keywords or made-up words by any character.

2. "simple text in double quotes " - words spoken aloud i.e. normal conversation

3. " Bold and double quotes" - words spoken by non-factoring characters + minor characters that belong to a different group. (coz I don't want to do - J said, Joel said, Tess said, Marlene said. It will annoy you guys)

4. * * - indicate sounds

capital letters - indicate an increase in the voice intensity of characters. (so I have used ! as well i.e. to indicate the character is really trying to put pressure and is being very vocal.)

Author's Apology Note:

"You said we would get the prologue in chapter 2? You lied !"

"I really tried (T ^ T ). But as I was writing the prologue it looked more like an info dump because I had to transition from a light conversation to a heavy and a HUGE prologue. It would have made the chapter so long. I was afraid you guys would not like to read such a huge chapter.

So the prologue is coming in the next chapter. I promise. Also, sorry I made another big author note, my bad (T ^ T )"

Meta-data about the story:

1. It should always be understood that Joel, J, Tess and the rest are always searching bodies for ammunition and other items, once they shoot them dead. It's the apocalyptical world guys. (Also, It will tire me out if I have to write "he searched them", every time. I would only do so If I am setting up a dialogue or it's an item I want to point out).

2. It should always be understood that the character does their daily routines of freshening up. Since it is the apocalyptical world showers are fuckin' hard to find. So of course, they wouldn't be taking a shower but cleaning their bodies with clean rags and hot water is possible, possible shower gel or soap and dip in a river do the same trick.

Because as far as I remember Joel and Ellie's trip was almost a year long. Solid 10 months at least. Now imagine if they never bathed during that time. It's fuckin stupid.

3. People might think I made J overpowered by having him join the military and still be young. Trust me it is intentional and I can't reveal it right now. He is the way he is for a reason. You're gonna have to stick with me if you want to see the thought process behind it.

The author requests the divine blessing of help (◕‿◕)

Guys, I just need your feedback. Anything, so that I know your perspective? I don't mind whether it's positive or negative feedback. Just express whatever you want. I want to know how you are perceiving my version of characters, and how you are viewing my world setting. Your concerns, anything at all.

Heck, if you just want to curse me you can. I don't take any damage. I accept all reviews. So just any feedback will do. (` ^ ` )