Act 4: The Fallout
Chapter 60: The light at the end of the tunnel.
'You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.'
Becca awoke with Joel in the early morning hours. It was only four in the morning and the sun hadn't even risen yet. Him and Tommy along with their men wanted to head down into the tunnels before all of the other citizens. They didn't want the council knowing about what they were doing. This was a covert operation and only the people involved knew and they intended to keep it that way.
Everyone stayed at their home the night before. They spent most of the night going over their plan. They intended to explore and then get out. They had no idea what to expect.
Becca and Maria made coffee and breakfast for everyone, knowing they would need a full stomach.
After everyone ate, she put on another pot of coffee. She was alone in the kitchen and she chose to clean up on her own while Maria helped Tommy pack up.
Becca also needed the distraction and keep her mind busy.
She was nervous about Joel and Ellie heading into the tunnels. There was a very good chance they could get hurt and never come back.
She shook her head to herself as she filled her husband's thermos up with coffee. She wouldn't think about that right now. She couldn't or she would go mad.
Joel came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, kissing the back of her neck,'We're gonna come back. Ya know that. I ain't planning on dyin anytime soon.'
She sighed softly as her eyes filled with tears,'I know that.'
He heard the unconvinced tone in her voice and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly,'I know you're scared.' He whispered admittedly,'I'm scared too. I wouldn't be human if I wasn't.'
He buried his face in her neck and breathed her in as he nuzzled into her skin. He placed his hands over her to stomach and rubbed it soothingly. He felt their baby moved inside her against his hand and swallowed the lump in his throat.
He would come back to her. He always came back to her. He told himself today was no different.
She leaned back against his chest as she closed her eyes, whispering,'Whatever you find, you let me know. I don't care how bad it is. I want to know.'
'Of course I will.' He sighed against her skin,'I ain't gonna lie to ya ever again.'
Tommy stood in the entranceway as he looked over at them,'It's time to ride, brother.'
Joel nodded resolutely as he reluctantly let go of his wife.
She turned around to face him and took his hand,'I'll walk you out.'
They walked out onto the porch where Ellie was already standing with Lizzie. She was dressed warmly, her backpack hoisted on her shoulders with a rifle strapped across her chest.
Becca frowned at the sight. She was just a seventeen year old girl. She should be doing normal teenager things. Not exploring tunnels that could very well have infected.
While she didn't regret being pregnant, she wanted to go with them. She didn't feel right sitting at home. This was her fight too. This was her life.
She walked over to Ellie and held her face in her hands,'You okay?'
Ellie took a deep breath and nodded, her features hardened,'I'm okay.'
Becca knew she was afraid too, but she wouldn't show it. She kept her emotions in check better than most adults. She was mature well beyond her ears, having to raise herself and trust no one for most of her life.
Becca wrapped her arms tightly around her and kissed her cheek, whispering,'I love you, baby. More than anything. You watch out for yourself. Don't try to be brave. You think something doesn't feel right and you get out. You hear me?'
'I will. Ellie hugged her back and closed her eyes, whispering,'I promise I will. I'll look out for Joel too and make sure he doesn't do anything crazy.'
Becca snorted, knowing it was a lose cause but she appreciated the effort anyway. She leaned back to stare into her eyes,'I love you. Do you understand me? I love you more than anything else in this world. You're my daughter. I need you to come back and be a big sister to this baby. Okay?'
'Okay.' Ellie cleared her her throat as she looked over her face,'I…love you too. I know I've never told ya that, but I do. You're my mama.'
Tears fell down Becca's face as she kissed both of Ellie's cheeks. It made her so happy to hear those words from her. It's always she's wanted to hear. She knew Ellie wasn't very good with expressing her emotions, but she's come a long way from that scared little girl who came to Jackson.
Joel witnessed the entire exchange between them with tears in his eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. There was nothing more special than the love between a mother and a daughter. There wasn't blood between them, but Becca was her mother. As real of a mother if there ever was one.
He walked over to them and placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder,'Ya wanna go and get your horse?'
'Yeah.' Ellie let go of Becca and took Lizzie's hand as they walked to the barn together.
Becca picked up a bag off the porch and handed it to him,'I made you a thermos of coffee and packed you some snacks if you get hungry.'
He smirked as he looked over her face,'You're such a wife acting like I'm going camping or something.'
'Or something.' She rolled her eyes,'I also packed a first aid kit because of the nurse in me.' She gave him a small smile,'Me and Maria almost made some Molotov cocktails.'
He snorted as he slung the bag over his shoulders,'Maria's rubbing off on you.'
'Who said Maria taught me how to make them?' She smirked at the surprised look on his face,'David was good for some things.'
He sighed as he cupped her face,'If anyone comes to this house you shoot the fuck outta them. Maria, Betsy and Lizzie will be with ya. Y'all know how to use guns. I made sure you're completely stocked up.' He placed his hand on her stomach,'You keeping cookin our little one.'
She nodded and smiled tearfully,'I will.' She leaned up and kissed his lips.
He deepened the kiss as he held the back of her head. He didn't care who was looking at them. This was his wife and he was saying goodbye to her. No one questioned Tommy's tongue shoved down Maria's throat a few minutes ago.
He pulled his lips from hers and rested his forehead against hers,'I love you so much, my beautiful wife.'
'I love you too, my husband.' She kissed his lips again, whispering,'Come back safe to me.'
Tommy was already on his horse as he hollered out to him,'Joel, time to ride!'
He sighed as he reluctantly pulled away from his wife and leaned down to kiss her stomach as his eyes raised up to her,'Ill be back tonight.'
She nodded as she fixed the bandana around his neck,'You better.'
He hugged Betsy and Maria, giving Lizzie a wave as he walked off the porch and climbed onto his horse.
He slid on his hat as he tipped the brim of it, keeping his eyes focused on Becca.
She waved and blew him a kiss as he acknowledged it by giving her a soft smile.
Ellie waved goodbye to everyone on the porch. She had a smile on her face, like she was excited to be going on another adventure with Joel.
Betsy and Maria stood on opposite sides of her, wrapping their arms around her waist. Lizzie stood in front of her as she placed her hands on her shoulders.
They watched as the people they loved rode off into the darkness. They didn't know if they would see them again, but they would remain here and wait for them.
Becca narrowed her eyes as she stared at their horses disappearing into the fog,'I'm giving them until sundown. If they're not back by then we're going to get them.'
Maria laughed softly and shook her head,'Joel told me to make sure you stay put.'
'That's funny.' She crossed her arms over her chest,'Tommy told me the same thing.'
Betsy looked over at the two women and chuckled,'I was told to make sure to watch both of you.'
Lizzie looked back at them and frowned,'No one told me anything.'
Maria snorted and patted her back,'You're lucky then.'
Lizzie stared off into the distance with trepidation. She wasn't so sure about that.
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Tommy led them to the eastern part of the perimeter where the entrance to the tunnel was located. It took them only about ten minutes. Luckily, no one was around to see them. They took the woods and rode around the longer path so they wouldn't be detected.
They tied up their horses hidden behind a tall hill. They didn't want to take the risk of anyone seeing them, but there was a possibility they were being followed.
They all lit their torches. They thought about bringing flashlights, but fire was better. It could also be used as a weapon. There was a good chance the tunnel was swarming with infected. They would be prepared for anything.
Joel's head shook in disbelief as Tommy pulled off the lid to the tunnel, which was disguised as a boulder. To think, this had been hidden underneath their noses the entire time.
What the hell was this place trying to protect?
Joel kept Ellie close to his side as Tommy climbed down the ladder first with Joel and Ellie following behind him. The rest of the men followed too.
Joel sighed as he heard the entrance being sealed back up. The only way to get out would be through the other side, which would take then a hour three hours covering almost the entire length of the town. God only knows what they'll find.
He pulled his bandana over his face as he landed on the his boots splashing in sewer water. He could smell the pungent stench of raw sewage and decaying flesh. It didn't make him disgusted as it should. Sadly, he was used to it.
Tommy had his face covered with a banana as well as he turned to them,'We should be coming up on a right turn at the end of this tunnel.'
Joel followed his lead as he kept his torch and rifle aimed in front of his face. He made sure Ellie was close to his side. Her face was covered up as she held onto her torch and gun tightly. She didn't seem afraid. Just guarded. They were so much alike he sometimes wondered if she was his real kid.
The tunnel was dark as they turned the corner, seeing nothing but more darkness ahead of them.
Click. Click. Click.
They all stood at attention, frozen as they simultaneously cocked their weapons. They knew what they sound was and knew what was coming.
Joel's eyes widened as he saw a clicker running towards them ferociously. Tommy shot it in the head, blowing its disfigured head clean off.
Click. Click. Click.
Another one. They backed up when they saw over twenty infected charging after them. They launched a full on assault, firing their weapons as they took down the infected one by one.
A clicker tried to lunge towards Joel and he kicked in the chest before blowing its head off. The narrow space in the tunnel made it difficult to navigate as the clickers swarmed them.
In the chaos, Joel turned to Ellie and saw her shooting the clickers with precision. Just like he taught her.
They lost two of their men as they ran down the tunnel, shooting their way through the clickers. There were over thirty of them by now.
None of this made sense. Why were they keeping them locked up down here? Jackson prided itself on being far removed from the infected, but they had been kept here the entire time.
Am managed to get ahead of them as he waved his hands wildly, shouting out,'I found a room! Come on! Ya gotta see this.'
Joel sighed as shot a clicker in the head, glaring back at him,'Little preoccupied now, kid! Ellie, go on with Am!'
Ellie nodded, knowing better than to fight him on this. She ran down the tunnel towards Am. She watched in fear as Tommy, Joel and three of the surviving men shot the clickers.
Joel and Tommy's backs were facing the as they walked backwards. Ellie and Am started shooting to hold them back. There were only a few clickers left. They managed to defeat them.
Once the clickers were killed, Joel ran down towards the room.
Ellie looked up at him as she struggled ti catch her breath,'You didn't get bit right?'
'No.' He looked up at Tommy,'Did you?'
Tommy shook his head and sighed,'No.'
He looked at Am,who shook his head,'I'm good.'
The surviving men seemed to be alright as well. Tommy stared down at the pile of clickers on the ground along with his men,'What the hell is going on here?' He sighed,' Why are they here?'
'They're family members of the council. They were trying to cure them with help from the Peacekeepers.' Am shrugged sheepishly as everyone stared at him,'I have to admit, I'm not very good at killing…anything, but while you were all getting things done. I found some things.' He jerked his head towards the room,'I'm gonna warn you. This is some freaky ass shit.'
Joel dropped his burned out torch on the ground, which was covered with blood from a clicker he bashed in the head. He was nervous about what they would find. Would any of this concern his wife or Ellie? Their child?
The men stood guard outside the room, making sure nothing infected or otherwise came upon them.
They walked into the room and his eyes widened in shock. It was a large room that looked to be a lab of some kind. Except, this lab wasn't in shambles like the one at the Firefly hospital. It was sleek and equipped with machinery unlike anything they've ever seen before.
There were over a dozen tanks filled with the dead bodies of children. Ellie's eyes filled with tears when she saw Joshua and Katie. So they didn't run away after all. They were murdered. Their bodies brought here to cure the sick.
There were numerous gurneys lined up with heart monitors. There were microscopes and cameras set up everywhere. Where in the hell did they get the technology for this?
Ellie shook her head as she looked around the room in disbelief,'It's a step up from monkeys.'
Am called them over to another room. It seemed to be temperature controlled, making the room chilly and dry. Joel walked inside and saw the shelves lined with various body parts in formaldehyde. Hearts, lungs and livers. Even heads.
Tommy looked around the room and sighed,'What the fuck are they doing here?'
'It looks like they're trying to…harvest organs.' Am frowned as he pulled open a filing cabinet,'There's folders on everyone who lives in town.'
Joel went over to the filing cabinet and sifted through it. He was right.
Joel looked up at Am and frowned,'How do you know those fuckers out there were the council's family?'
Am handed him a paper with a list of names,'I counted thirty clickers out there. There are thirty names on this list.' He shook his head,'They must've been keeping them down here and using those kids to try and cure them.' He frowned,'I don't know how.'
Joel and Ellie stared at each other. They knew why. It was the same reason why wanted her and becca.
Tommy studied the jars on the shelves as a ran a hand through his hair,'How come no one is down here protecting them and just letting them run around like that? Wouldn't they want them contained safely?'
Joel chewed on his bottom lip as his brow furrowed. His mind was racing with a million different things. Most importantly, protecting his wife and children.
He saw the dried up fungi on the wall and shook his head,'Maybe someone knew we were coming down here. Someone tipped them off and they let loose on us.'
Ellie leaned against the table and crossed her arms over her chest,'They trapped us down here. They never expected us to make it this far to find this out.'
Joel stared at her. She was a hell of a liar. She probably learned that from him. They lured her down here.
'Or maybe they did.' Am shrugged,'I don't think the council cared either way about us finding this out. I think they wanted us to find out because they control this entire town. Richard came down here and found this out. It's why they killed him.'
Tommy swallowed harshly as he shook his head sadly,'I can't believe this has been happening underneath us this entire time.' He blinked away tears and turned to his brother,'You think the council is working with the Peacekeepers?'
Joel thought about it for a moment before he shook his head,'No, I think the Peacekeepers are working for them.' His shoulders slumped dejectedly,'Tess and Kurt didn't escape that night. They were let out. They deviated from the plan because Tess has always been a selfish bitch and wanted to do things her way.'
Tommy averted his eyes between Joel and Ellie,'Why are they so interested in Becca?' He stared at Ellie,'I know why they're interested in you, but why Becca?'
Joel placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder and squeezed it gently,'I think you know why, Tommy.'
Tommy's eyes widened in realization and he shook his head in disbelief,'No shit. How did she find out?'
'Same way I did.' Ellie shrugged,'She got bit ten years ago and nothing happened.'
Am's eyes widened as he averted his eyes between them,'Are you saying you and Becca are immune?'
Joel grabbed the kid's collar as he pushed him against the wall,'You breathe a word of this to anybody and I'll shoot ya. I don't give a damn if you're Betsy's kid or not. You understand me, kid?'
Tommy understood as Joel spoke in Spanish to the kid, wanting to get his point across. He also didn't want to scare Ellie. He knew they were close friends.
Ellie rolled her eyes and sighed,'I don't know what you're saying, but he won't say anything. Please don't hurt him.'
Am looked at him frantically and shook his head wildly, trying to reason with him,'I won't say anything. My mama would kill me for you.'
The teenager responded back in English so Ellie would be able to understand.
Joel sighed and reluctantly let him go, whispering,'You're lucky I like ya, kid.' He looked around the room,'We should see what else is in here.'
Tommy nodded as they walked out of the room. Ellie made sure to stuff all the files in her backpack for Becca to look over. She would be interested in learning what they know.
Becca had been college educated. Before eve outbreak, she had a respectable career in nursing. She wasn't like them. She had a brilliant mind that would be useful to the council. It wasn't just her blood they wanted. They wanted her grandfather's research.
The guards stood aside, letting them walk past as they headed down the tunnel, keeping their rifles aimed in front of them.
Am flipped a switch on the wall that lit up bulbs hanging up from the ceiling.
Joel shook his head and snorted,'We probably shoulda figured that out by now.'
Am nodded and shrugged sheepishly,Probably.'
They walked for what felt like hours, but it was probably only minutes. They came across another room, which was a morgue.
They opened up the drawers, their eyes widening when they saw the corpses of infected. Some of them seemed to be killed right in the beginning stages. While some were progressed enough to where their heads were deformed, looking almost like blooming flowers. They kept their faces covered from breathing in anything.
Their bodies were sewn up and missing limbs, like they were being tested on.
Joel stared down at one of the bodies, thinking about his son William. When he got infected, Tess didn't want to accept the fact he was gone. She refused to admit their son wasn't in there anymore. She couldn't let him go. He could understand the council's need to save their loved ones. He refused to let them do that at his family's expense though.
Joel couldn't stand to be in this room anymore. It made him uneasy. It made things too real for him. He couldn't lose his family. Not like this. It's like the council wanted them to see this as a warning of what was to come.
He walked out of the morgue as he took a deep breath, feeling sick to his stomach. Ellie followed him out and placed her hand on his back,'You alright there, big guy?'
'Yeah.' He shook his head and sighed,'Let's get the rest of this over with and head home to mama.'
Ellie nodded as she looked up at him,'She's not gonna like this.'
'I know.' He frowned behind his bandana,'None of us like this, but we got each other.'
'Damned right we do.' Ellie narrowed her eyes, whispering,'Why is no one here to defend this place?'
Joel didn't know how to answer that. Mainly because he didn't know the answer himself. It didn't make sense to him. Why even keep it hidden in the first place?
Joel didn't have a chance to respond as Tommy and Am walked out to join them. As much as he loved his brother; there were some fears he only felt comfortable enough sharing with Ellie and Becca.
No one understood what happened at the Firefly hospital and what they endured. He refused to let that happen again. Once they figured out the full story he would torch this place down to the ground.
They continued onward as they finally reached the last point of the tunnel. Their legs ached and their bodies were weary. They fought like hell. The council wasn't going to be too happy once they realized their family was dead.
They would be really angry. Joel smirked to himself. He couldn't wait.
At the far end of the tunnel was another room. They cautiously walked inside. Their mouths gaped open in shock when they saw the huge monitors on the wall. There was were split screens for every part of town, every crevice. The exterior buildings of Jackson light up the screens.
A chill ran down his spine when he saw their ranch. They were watching them this entire time. They knew they were married before they even said anything. They knew about him killing Bruce and hiding his body. They knew about their child.
They knew everything.
Tears filled his eyes as he shook his head in disbelief,'Those fuckers even made me believe them.'
He intently watched his ranch on the screen. It was almost six at night. He couldn't believe they had been down here for that long. It only seemed like they've been here a couple hours.
His heart pounded in his chest as he saw his wife walking out from the barn.
He gritted his teeth in anger when he saw the pail in her hand. She shouldn't be outside alone. He needed to get back home. He could feel as if they were on the precipice of something.
He saw the eight horses charging up the trail. They were dressed in black covered in black cloaks and face masks to hide their identities. Fear gripped his heart as he saw Becca staring at them, knowing it wasn't her husband. She dropped the pail as she ran as fast as her pregnant body would allow her back to the house.
Joel didn't waste any time as he ran out of the room with the group trailing behind him. Tommy managed to catch up to him as he directed them how to get out. He was frantic to get back home. If something were to happen to them.
He now understood why they let them come here. They were lured here to trap not only them, but Becca as well.
They were happy to breathe fresh air as they exited the tunnel. They ran back to their hours, stopping abruptly when they saw them all shot dead. They each were shot execution style. They would have to walk back.
Joel shook his head as tears fell from his eyes. He ran as fast as he could, but he was a fifty six year old man who had a heart attack. He wasn't as sprightly as he used to be. He would run though.
He refused to let anyone take her from him ever again.