Chapter 69: The world doesn't need saving.

'Everyone, deep in their hearts, is waiting for the end of the world to come.'

Becca was sitting on a hospital bed in one of the rooms. They kept her locked up with a guard inside her room and two standing outside. There wasn't any way she could escape without being seen.

They kept her hooked up to a monitor to make sure her and the baby's heartbeat was stable. She knew they wouldn't kill her right away. They needed her baby fully developed before they could take anything vital from her. She refused to ever let that happen.

Not that she would escape anyway. She had too much to lose. They would kill her and the rest of her family. She would play their little waiting game. She knew Joel would come for her at any moment. He's never left her hanging.

There was a knock on the door and she took a deep breath when she saw Francis walk into the room. It was strange, this man was her grandfather. He supposedly 'died' when she was little. She had seen so many photos of him growing up and her grandmother would recount so many stories about him. He was considered a legend in their family.

She couldn't believe she idolized this man growing up. He was the reason why she got into medicine and was interested in apothecary. She's realized you shouldn't idolize someone you didn't know. You'll always end up being let down.

Francis had a warm smile on his face as he walked over to her,'How is my favorite granddaughter doing?'

'Fine.' She shook her head and sighed,'I'm not your granddaughter. Stop saying that. You're nothing to me.'

He frowned as he patted her arm,'You're feisty just like your grandma and mama.' He laughed and shook his head,'They would put me through the wringer.'

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't feel like talking. She was aggravated, disgusted and exhausted. She just wanted this whole ordeal to be over with. She wanted to get things back to normal. As much as they could be anyway.

Francis saw the annoyance on her face and chuckled,'I see that you're impatient too. You Bennett women always have been.'

'Shut up.' She spat at him,'Just shut the fuck up. All you do is talk.' She stared at him pointedly,'It's Miller. My last name is Miller and I would appreciate it if you would address me as such.'

Francis's eyes gleamed with mirth as he smirked,'Ah yes. How could I forget?' He slapped his forehead,'It was silly of me to forget my granddaughter married a lowlife piece of trash.' His eyes looked over her,'You know as well as I do if the world was back to the way it was before you would've never batted an eye at him. He would've been beneath you. He still is. You don't have to settle.'

Becca's eyes widened incredulously. The nerve of this man. She wanted to slap the shit out of him, but she knew it would only get her into more trouble. She wanted this to run as smoothly as possible.

'He isn't beneath me.' She shook her head,'He's a good man. A good father and husband. Things you will never be. He wouldn't abandon his wife and kids because someone laughed at him on Tv and hurt his feelings. He's a real man.'

Francis narrowed his eyes as he leaned in close to her,'He's gonna be a dead man in due time. You're gonna be a widow.' He sighed as he held her face in his hands,'I didn't mean to hurt you. You just wouldn't listen. You don't have to live this way, you know. You can come with me and be a part of history.'

'No thank you.' She shook her head,'I'm exactly where I want to be.'

Francis sighed and nodded,'Very well. We'll do this the hard way then.' He turned to us guard and placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering,'Keep her and the baby alive. Do you understand me?'

The guard nodded his head as Francis glanced back at her, smiling softly,'One way or another you'll see I was right all along.'

Becca snorted and rolled her eyes,'Doubt it, but whatever.'

Francis chuckled as he walked out of the room,'Such a little firecracker.'

Becca glared at him as he walked out of the room. He was condescending. An arrogant and pompous jerk. Then again, brilliant scientists always are.

She stared up at the ceiling and sighed. She's already been in here for three hours and Joel hasn't shown up yet. She hoped to God he was alright. She needed him now more than ever.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Joel and Harold were in the basement level of the hospital. They had over ten people with them heavily armed. They didn't want to take any chances. Joel feel confident in the strength in numbers, but it didn't ease his fears. His wife was somewhere in this hospital and they were doing whatever the hell they wanted to her. It made him uneasy.

Harold sensed his nervousness and patted his back,'We're gonna find her.'

'I know.' He shook his head and sighed,'I just hope we get to her before…'

He didn't even want to finish his sentence. It was too painful to think about. She was probably so scared, thinking no one was coming for her. It made him angry knowing she gave up herself for him.

Harold aimed his flashlight at the entrance of the tunnel,'You think it's safe to go down?'

'I don't know.' He shrugged as he aimed his flashlight down the tunnel, seeing nothing ahead of them,'I guess there's only one way to find out.'

Harold snorted as Joel walked into the tunnel. He followed after him with trepidation. At least they weren't alone. If shit goes South they would have backup.

Joel walked slowly down the tunnel. His face was covered with a scarf, but he could still smell the putrid scent of death and decay. He didn't hear any clickers, but that doesn't mean they're alone.

Harold aimed his flashlight around the tunnel when he gasped aloud,'What the fuck?'

Joel quickly turned around and flashed his light to where Harold was looking. His eyes widened and he shook his head,'What the hell is that?'

Joel took a step closer to carefully inspect it. There was fungi growing on the wall, but there was a head attached to it. A leaving and breathing head. The body was interwoven through the fungi, almost as if the virus was taken over it's entire body.

The eyes were slowly moving back and forth and it's mouth open, but nothing came out. It reminded him of what he saw in the tunnels. Was the entire underground infected? Were the council responsible or trying to contain it?

Harold looked over the deformities and frowned,'Ya think there's more of these?'

'I don't know.' He shook his head,'I've seen things like this before. Not just in Jackson.'

Harold's eyes widened as he stepped back from the creature,'Do ya think they use to human?'

Joel took a moment to consider his question and shook his head,'Becca thinks they're creating these things. You replicate the virus to try and combat it.'

Harold chuckled as he glanced over at him,'Okay, Bill Nye.'

Joel rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatingly,'Don't gripe at me cause I got an intelligent woman.' His chest puffed out proudly,'She knows her shit.'

'At least someone knows what's going on around here.' Harold sighed,'What do we do with this?'

Joel stared long and hard at the entity. He took his knife out of its sheath and stabbed him between the eyes, killing it instantly. He saw the black oozing out of it. He could smell the decay seeping out of it. It needed to be put out of its misery.

Harold snorted and nodded,'That's one way to do it.'

The townsfolk started crowding around them as they marveled at the entity. They started whispering amongst themselves quietly. Joel could hear the obvious concerns in their voices. He was concerned too. Just for different reasons.

Joel headed down the tunnel until he reached the end. The came out into a courtyard that looked to be a cemetery. He looked around, not seeing anything amiss, but not ruling anything out.

He saw a couple men dressed in SWAT gear guarding the entrance of the building. He narrowed his eyes to zone in on them. He shook his head in disbelief. He would recognize their uniforms from anywhere.

Raiders.

It seemed like Francis brought the Fireflies and Raiders together along with clickers to make a super Army. Francis wanted to be the leader of the so called new world. Every leader needed a good Army.

Harold stood beside him as he followed his line of sight,'How many do you think there are?'

'Enough to know that we need to think fast.' Joel sighed,'They're Raiders.' He saw Harold staring at him, urging him to continue,'I used to be one. A long time ago. I was a Firefly too. I know how they operate. They're work for anyone if they supplies are good enough.' He cleared his throat.'I only joined the Fireflies to look after Tommy.'

'Ya should've just let him rot.' Harold shrugged sheepishly,'Sorry, I know he's your brother.'

'I feel the same.' He frowned,'I never shoulda trusted him. He was always reckless. I shoulda known better.'

Harold shook his head as he assessed the number of guards,'That goes for us all too. We always knew something wasn't quite right here. We knew it but just kept letting it happen.'

Joel didn't respond to him. There wasn't anything he could say. He agreed with him. There were so many signs in front of their faces, but they chose to ignore them and turn a blind eye. They should feel ashamed for giving up their free will just to live in a quiet little town.

Joel carefully assessed the number of guards. There were two guards standing outside the entrance and ten guards walking around the perimeter of the building. They had an even number of people.

Harold was talking to the group as they came up with a game plan. They would break up into two groups with Joel abs Harold leading each one.

Harold handed Joel a map and a pat on the back,'This is the entire layout of the hospital in case you need it.'

'Thank you.' Joel took the map and shoved it into the pack pocket of his jeans,'We'll meet up back here in an hour.'

Harold nodded as he saluted him goodbye,'Be safe.!

'You too.' Joel nodded as he watched him run off with the rest of his group.

He turned to the five members of his group and sighed. He wasn't good as a team player. He fought best alone, but he wasn't naive enough to think he could do this on his own.

Joel looked over the group and sighed,'Always keep your weapons cocked at all times. Never keep them down. Understood?'

They all nodded in agreement and he bit back a frown. Harold probably gave him the scrubs of the group. He didn't trust anybody at this point.

Joel quickly ran over to one of the abandoned ambulances. The rest of the group followed after him. Luckily, they managed to sneak past the guards undetected. He watched as Harold and the rest of his group weaved between the other abandoned cars.

His eyes widened when he saw the guards notice Harold and his group. He wanted to warn them, but the guards would know there were others. He felt helpless as he watched them fall into their trap.

A flurry of gunfire opened up on the group. Harold tried to duck, but was shot in the stomach by a stray bullet. The rest of the group tried to hold their ground, but the guards were far more equipped and better trained. They didn't stand a chance.

Joel felt helpless as he watched them fall one by one. He made a split second decision and stood out from behind the ambulance. He shot at two of the guards, his aim killing them instantly. His group started following suit as they shot back; exchanging fire.

Joel crawled on the ground to get to Harold. He crouched down beside him as he looked down at his stomach. His hands were covering the wound and the blood was gushing out of him. He was losing too much blood. He couldn't move him without one of them getting killed.

Harold coughed as blood filled his mouth. He winced in pain as he blinked his eyes up at Joel,'Kill this fuckers.' He gasped for breath as he writhed in pain,'Tell my wife and I love them.'

Joel swallowed harshly as tears filled his eyes. This should've been him. It could've been him so many times, but he had been spared for some reason. He's grown to like Harold and trusted his guidance. Another life down the drain for a useless cause.

Joel nodded as he held onto his hand tightly, whispering,'I'll let everyone you were a fuckin hero out here.' He sighed his voice cracking,'I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry.'

Harold tried to speak, but he was becoming too weak from losing so much blood. He continued to hold his hand until Harold took his last breath. He swiped his hand over his eyes to close them as he let go of his hand.

He took all of his weapons, feeling like a piece of shit, but knowing it's what he would've done. He didn't know how to tell his wife his husband was gone. It would be the most difficult thing he ever had to do.

Joel got up from the ground as he screamed with rage. He started shopping at the guards as he walked closer to them. His trigger finger moved as fast as it could as be shot them down. Not only for Harold, but for the rest of his family and friends.

Once they were all dead, Joel and the group took whatever supplies they could from him. He almost felt like a Raider again. Old habits die hard.

He kicked open the entrance door to the building. He aimed his flashlight down the hallway, seeing nothing but darkness. He felt an eerie sense of foreboding. They weren't alone.

He glanced back at his group, making sure they were all accounted for.

They were walking down the hallway when Francis and three guards stood in front of them.

Joel heard the group cock their rifles and he lifted his hand up to stop them, knowing he couldn't kill him. At least not yet anyway. He needed to find Becca first. Then he would blow his head off and shoot him until he's out of bullets.

Francis cocked his head to the side and smiled,'The gangs all here.' He waved at the group behind him,'A party for moi? Isn't that nice?' He narrowed his eyes at Joel,'I take it you're here for my granddaughter?' He smirked,'I was hoping you'd come.'

'She ain't your granddaughter.' He glared at him,'She is my wife. Take me to her or we shoot.'

Harold snorted and shook his head,'You love her. How cute.'

He nodded to his guards as one of them took out a bow. He aimed it at Joel and it was embedded into his shoulder. He winced slightly as he pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He started to feel woozy as he collapsed onto the floor, passing out quickly.

A few more guards turned the corridor and walked over to Joel. They grabbed his arms and slid him down the hallway into another room.

Francis sighed as he looked over at the group with their guns at the ready.

He snorted as he stared at them in disgust,'Get rid of this trash.'

Francis turned around and started walking down the hallway. He would wait until Joel woke up and they would have a nice little chat.

He heard the guns going off and the screams as his guards opened fire on the ground. He smiled when he heard their bodies hitting the floor.

What a time to be alive.