Rose froze at the feel of Joel's lips on hers, but only for a second. A sigh left her as she kissed him back, her hand tangling in his hair. It was only the briefest of moments, but it meant everything. When they broke apart, Rose blushed profusely. However, Joel just smiled and kissed her forehead gently before moving over to where Tess and Ellie stood, pretending to be oblivious to what had transpired between them. She shook herself mentally and cursed herself. What was she thinking about kissing him back like that? She knew they were going to part ways once they handed Ellie off. This is because she wanted to find her brothers just as much as he wanted to find his. After mentally scolding herself for a minute, she walked over to the trio and cleared her face of any emotion. It had been exhilarating to be that close to him, but it simply couldn't happen again. Distance was the key so that's what she set out to do. They walked out from under the cover and Rose saw the downtown Boston skyline for the first time in a year. It seemed so much more dire than it had been the last time she'd ventured outside the QZ walls. Tess led the way, heading towards a leaning building as they passed under an airport sign. "This way," Tess said, not minding the volume of her voice. "If we cut through downtown, we can hit the capital building by sunrise." Rose felt a shiver creep down her spine. She had a very uneasy feeling about this, but there was no turning back now. Not after two FEDRA soldiers were murdered to get there. She felt Joel's eyes on her, but she ignored them. She needed to keep a clear head, or they wouldn't make it out alive.
The four of them walked under a partially collapsed bridge and climbed over a partially submerged car. Rosemary hated the feeling of wet jeans and clothes on her skin, but it couldn't be helped as the rain continued to pelt them from above. They were able to climb onto a low hanging part of the bridge and get onto the main part of the street. As they walked around some of the makeshift barricades, she heard Ellie exclaim her awe at the sight. "Holy moly!" she said. "I guess this is what these buildings look like up close. They're so damn tall." This got a chuckle from Rose at the girls' reaction, but she didn't respond verbally. "So, what happened here?" the young teen asked. They kept moving and when no one else made any move to answer her, Tess did. "They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones," Tess explained. "They were hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible. It worked-for a little while at least." Before Tess could continue, they heard a very loud screech, and they all froze. Ellie, not interacting much with infected except for her fateful bite gasped. "Ah, what the hell was that?" the teen asked nervously. Joel ignored the question and swore. "Tess, you hear that?" he whispered while placing a soft hand on Rose's shoulder. Tess kept walking as she responded, "Yeah. It sounded pretty far away, though." Rose scoffed and shook her head before following the older woman, causing Joel's hand to drop away. Joel swore once more as Ellie asked if they were safe. Rose hated that the girl was scared so she paused and turned to look at her. "For now, we just have to keep moving. Come on."
They climbed over lots of debris until they reached a familiar peak that would give them a clear overview of the land in front of them. Ellie edged closer to the end before stepping back with a shaky breath. "Damn, that's quite a drop." She stated. There were cars and pieces of the road and surrounding buildings lying in the deep crevice below them. Joel pointed at the golden-topped building in the distance. "There's the capital building." Rose nodded before turning around and looking around to find a way through. She heard Tess say they needed a way through, so she kept looking. Ellie continued to ask questions about the area and Tess graciously answered her. Rose wanted to get out of the vicinity of FEDRA and the infected she knew were hiding in plain sight. Rose found an opening in the fallen building and crawled through it carefully. When she made it to the other side, she was in a solid courtyard facing a building with a large hole in the side. It would be their way through the tangle of crumbling structures. She called for the others and was walking to the building when a strong hand grabbed her wrist. She looked back and saw Joel looking at her pensively. "Rosie, don't wander off like that, okay? I know you can take care of yourself, but I'll feel better if I can see you." Rose blushed as she nodded, acknowledging his request. "I'll do my best, Joel." She replied. "You know we may get separated no matter what we do, don't you?" He hummed as he took in their surroundings. "Just try to stay close, sweetheart. I made you a promise after all." Rose's blush deepened at his words but vanished when she heard snickering from behind her. When she turned and glared at Tess, the older woman held her hands up in surrender before walking towards the hole in the building that Rose had been heading towards.
The four of them got into the building with no issues, but everything was slanted with the building, causing them to walk on a slope. They walked through a door and into an office, but when they got to the next open door, a fresh body was lying on the ground. It was shredded as if something had ripped it apart. Rose had seen worse, but if it was this fresh, she was terrified of what awaited them further into the building. Tess stood over the body, trying to appear nonchalant. "He's been ripped apart." She said blandly. Joel agreed and surveyed their surroundings pensively. Rose glanced down the hall and listened but heard and saw nothing. "Body is pretty fresh." She replied, causing Ellie to look up at her, feeling worried. "Is that bad?" the teen asked. Rose sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, it might be." She said truthfully. "Let's not stick around." They climbed up a short flight of stairs and came across another body slumped against the wall. "Another one, shit." Tess grumbled. This one was very clearly wearing a firefly uniform. They found a note on the body that said they'd run into multiple infected and that set Rose's teeth on edge. They kept walking up the steps, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Joel looked back at them from the top of the stairs. "Looks like these guys died waiting for backup." He said, pointing to the body below them.
They came to a dead end, so they had to back down to where the bodies were. They walked through another door, but the exit they needed was blocked by a body that had melted into the door. Joel swore as he looked at the two adult women with him. "Clicker." Rose nodded and stepped back involuntarily at the sight. Tess patted her shoulder as she stepped next to Joel. Ellie moved forward and froze when she saw the sight. "Geeze…what's wrong with its face?" the girl asked. Rose placed a comforting hand on Ellie's shoulder as she watched Tess and Joel remove the body from the door. "That's what years of infection will do to you." She explained. The girls' eyes widened as she took in the new information. "So what? Are they blind?" Tess nodded and spoke from the door as they successfully removed the clicker. "Sort of." She said. "They see using sound, like bats. If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you." Joel began to shoulder his weight against the door, glued shut by the vines of infection that surrounded the clicker's body. Rose gripped her machete handle tensely as she watched. When Joel was able to open the door, she breathed a sigh of relief when the coast seemed clear.
The slope of the building seemed more severe on this side of the building and as they walked into the room, a loud clanging noise could be heard, making them all jump. Joel looked behind him, making eye contact with both Rose and Tess. "Whole building feels like it's about to fall apart," he said. They crawled under a partially blocked door and into a room full of cubicles. They got to another door, and it was completely blocked, but not locked. He glanced at Tess and motioned for her to come over. "Gimme a hand with this." He demanded. It took them a good three pushes before the door clanged open, sending a loud object over the broken part of the floor. Tess yelled and the next thing she knew, Joel was being tackled by a clicker and he was struggled to keep its teeth away from his flesh.
Rose felt useless as she stood motionless, holding Ellie back as Joel continued to struggle with the clicker. The sounds the thing made no longer sounded human. Tess yelled as she kicked the infected being off Joel and shot it twice in the head, killing it. Rose unfroze as Joel climbed to his feet and grabbed his face with her hands. "Holy shit, Joel!" She whispered. "Please tell me you're okay." Joel placed his hand on top of hers and rested his forehead on hers. "I'm okay, sweetheart, it didn't get me." Rose let out a shaky breath and surveyed him and saw scratches on his arms. Luckily for them, the scratches didn't spread the infection. It had to be a bite. She knelt down and pulled out a clean rag and alcohol. "It did get you, Joel, you're bleeding!" Joel watched her, amused, as she cleaned the shallow cuts on his arms before adding homemade bandages to cover them. When she'd stowed everything back in her pack, he cupped her chin with one of his hands, and raised her face to his. When her eyes locked on his, he bent and captured her lips with his in a short, but passionate kiss that took her breath away. When they moved away from each other, Tess cleared her throat and told them to search for supplies. Joel ventured into the room across from where they were attacked with Ellie, while Rose headed back to the room they'd left to search. She didn't know Tess had followed her until she spoke up from beside her.
"So that's what, two kisses now?" the older woman teased. "I told you he had feelings for you, strong ones, but you didn't believe me." Rose looked over at Tess with a glare. "It's not the time, Tess, let's get going." Tess chuckled as they made their way over to where Joel and Tess were. He glanced at them, but kept moving forward as they needed to get out of the building, they were in. They proceeded down the hallway, trying to find a way out but almost all doors and exits were blocked. They finally came to the last door on the left where part of the floor above had fallen down. Tess was first, then Ellie, and then Joel boosted Rose up. It took both Tess and Rose to lift Joel up because he was a big guy. They'd barely turned around from pulling him up when they heard the telltale clicking sound. Joel swore and pulled her towards him. They all hid behind a counter as the clicker searched the area. Tess picked up a brick and tossed it over the landing they'd just left, sending the clicker on a false lead. They quickly stood up and climbed onto another landing, escaping immediate danger. They could still hear the clicking, but Joel kept laser focus as he removed a shelf away from the stairs below them and allowed them to move to the floor below. When they got there, the only place to go was outside on a scaffold that window washers used to use. Tess didn't hesitate to climb it, but Rose was frozen. She wasn't really scared of heights, but this was really high up on a rusted piece of metal. There was no way she could do that. Ellie followed Tess easily and as Joel was about to climb out, he turned around and saw her fear. He pulled her out of her thoughts by cupping her face with his hands.
"Hey sweetheart, we're going to be okay. We'll only be on that thing for a second, just don't look down, okay?" Rose met his eyes and began to shake her head. He pecked her lips, distracting her and smirked when he saw he succeeded. "Darlin, I'm going to be right there next to you," he said softly. "I'm a little offended you keep doubting my promise to keep you safe." Rose rolled her eyes as she smiled at him. "Okay, cowboy, hold onto your ego a bit, okay?" He chuckled at her words. Before she walked past him, she stood up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, initiating it for the first time. He instantly deepened the kiss, causing them both to sigh. They were brought back to reality when Tess called for them to hurry. Joel pulled away from her and stared into her eyes. "When we're done with this, you and I are going to talk."