CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

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          DAYS TURNED INTO WEEKS, AND WEEKS TURNED INTO MONTHS. Three to be precise. Autumn had bled into winter and the snow now clung to the hardened soil, crunching beneath their boots with each step they took. To say that surviving the cold weather was difficult had been an understatement.

Despite trying to stay huddled together in an abandoned building or beneath the stars, it felt as if their limbs could fall off any moment.

Morning came and they weren't doing much better. They had reached Wyoming a week before and managed to make their way into the general direction of where Tommy Miller had last been, but they had no idea how to continue the search. Worry was catching up with Joel as he feared for the life of his little brother.

"We'll find him, Joel." assured Lucia, coming to stand beside him as he looked over the valley below. Thick coats shielded them from the harsh winter breeze. The tip of his nose was red and no matter how much he rubbed it, no warmth would come. "We're getting closer."

"Yeah," he muttered, narrowing his eyes as he pointed to a small home in the distance. There was smoke coming from the chimney and she tilted her head to the side. "i'm heading down, they might know something."

"You can't just stroll up to them." stated Lucia, directing her gaze away from the house and toward the smuggler. He met her gaze and raised a brow as if that was what he was planning and the woman mimicked him. "You're not going by yourself. It's still dawn, we can sneak a bit closer to see how many there are."

Joel hummed and shot a quick look over his shoulder toward the teenager, "What about her?"

"She should come." said Lucia, watching Ellie get more invested in her comics. "She's getting quite stealthy."

He nodded to himself and brought his eyes back down toward her own. The last three months had been hard. Lucia had been tested in more ways than she could think of, but she had made it. They had all made it this far, and they were just getting closer toward their goal.

"Well, she has great teachers."

The brunette's lips quirked into a small smile when Joel touched their pinkies together for a moment and then entwined them. Despite that moment that had passed between them in the hotel, there had been few touches. Maybe it was the fact that they were all tired and dirty, or the fact Ellie never strayed too far away from them.

Neither seemed to mind much. They had found a common ground that hadn't been there before. It felt safe and somehow a weight had lifted off of both their shoulders.

"Ellie," called Joel, the teen started as she looked up from her comic book with rosy cheeks. "let's go."

The hill was steep and slippery, especially as snow had turned into ice during the night from the frost. Wind chimes blew softly in the wind as they neared the home, making sure to stay hidden in the shadows as the sun slowly began to rise above the horizon. It was peaceful, as if the outbreak hadn't even touched these parts of the world.

Joel held out an arm at movement behind one of the curtains and Lucia's knees hit the snow as they took cover behind a small shed about twenty feet away from the home.

"It's an old lady." stated Ellie, narrowing her eyes to get a better view of the figure in the window. The curtains were dark red, the entire cabin made of wood as if it had been made post outbreak. "Old ladies are harmless, aren't they?"

Lucia tsked at the girl and said, "It's a cruel world we live in, don't underestimate anyone."

"I want the two of you to stay here," said Joel, peering down at the two women. He took out his gun and checked the chamber to see how many bullets he had left, only two remained within his weapon. "If someone starts shooting, you run like hell."

"Joel, are you fucking -"

The smuggler had already slipped away from them the moment the curtains closed. Lucia cursed at him, before scanning the area to cover for him if needed.

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THE WOMAN HAD HER BACK AGAINST THE WALL, WOOD DIGGING INTO HER SKIN THROUGH HER COAT AS SHE RESTED A HAND ON HER SOUP FILLED STOMACH. Lucia had a clear view of the front door from inside the cabin, knife twirling between her fingers as it opened.

It was an older gentleman and he had his hood pulled up over his head to cover himself from the cold. His gaze settled on her straight away, stilling for a moment before it moved toward Joel who stood a few feet away from her. 

He blinked and after a moment he calmly slid his bow from his shoulder and placed it on the wooden table behind him, and pulled off his gloves.

"And the gun." instructed Joel, as he took a few steps forward.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowed.

"Just someone passin' through." stated Joel, weapon trained at the older gentleman. Lucia raked her eyes over the woman who'd let them inside not more than thirty minutes prior, who still sat comfortably on her chair. "Take the gun out, two fingers only, put it outta reach."

He did as he was told, raising his brows somewhat satirical as he did so and placed it on the table with his bow. He turned to his wife, tilting his head to the side. "Why didn't you shoot them?"

"The gun's all the way over there." she shrugged, unbothered as she rocked back and forth in her rocking chair with her lips twitched upward. "They didn't hurt me, by the way."

"Yeah, I got eyes." he scoffed and took a few steps forward to sit down in the chair opposite of her when he spotted the empty bowls scattered on the table. "You made them soup?"

"Yeah, I did." she mused. "It's cold out."

"I'm lookin' for my brother." began Joel, putting his weight on his left leg as he popped his hip out and continued to point his gun at him.

The man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, I ain't see him."

"I haven't told you what he looks like." retorted Joel.

"He look anything like you?"

"A bit." said the smuggler gruffly.

"Then I ain't seen him."

Lucia might have laughed at his straightforwardness if it weren't a serious situation. They seemed completely unbothered by their presence and she didn't know if they were reckless or stupid for that. They could easily have been killed by the two of them, and they knew it.

The woman told her husband, "They got a girl with them."

The williams girl leaned over the railing on the upper level of the cabin at the mention of her presence and Joel shot the woman a glare. Lucia had ordered Ellie upstairs the moment they caught sight of the man making his way toward the home, in the hopes of shielding her from potential danger. 

"Can I come down?"

"No. Ellie!" Lucia pushed herself from the wall but the girl already stomped down the stairs as she held a gun of her own with a sly grin on her face. The man made a noise, as if scared for the girl and his wife snorted in response.

"What did I just say?" 

"Lucia, come on." Ellie pursed her lips. "They're like a thousand."

"Who's this little psycho?" he asked.

"Never mind her." retorted Joel as he thrust a map onto the worn table. "I need you to tell us where we are."

"If you got a map, why you lost?"

Ellie blew out an annoyed breath and countered, "Must've missed all the street signs in the enormous fucking forest." retorted Ellie.

"Ho-ly." mocked the man in amusement.

Joel clicked his tongue in anger and pointed at the piece of paper in front of them. "We're somewhere here. Exactly where? And your answer better be the same as your wife's."

The older man tilted his head to the side and looked at his wife. "Did you tell him the truth."

"Yeah."

"Are you tellin' me the truth?"

"Yeah." she mused.

He let out a huff through his nose and scanned his eyes over the three strangers, smacking his lips together before leaning forward. He tapped his forefinger on the spot on the map, the same his wife had shown them.

Joel and Lucia looked at each other simultaneously, a silent conversation happening between them before they put away their weapons. Ellie following their lead hesitantly.

"Well," commented Lucia. "you found a great place to hide, I guess."

"Hide?" asked the man. "Came here before you were born, girlie. Get the hell away from everybody."

"I didn't want to." shared the woman and gained a glare from her husband.

Lucia held in a snort as she slid down onto the couch, letting herself relax a little bit now that the probable threat was no longer there. Joel sat on the arm rest beside her, thigh pressed against her arm as he too, seemed to get a little less tense.

"Eh," the man waved her off and turned to Joel. "Listen, I didn't mean to upset you about your brother, but if you've come this far, then you know what's out there. You seen Cody?"

"Yeah, we got close enough. It's crawling with infected." nodded Ellie.

"Yeah, Laramie and Wind River Reservation." he confirmed, scratching his chin. "Anywhere people used to be, you can't go there no more."

It was true. Most of the cities they had tried to avoid on their way toward Wyoming were crawling with infected and the likes of them. It was dangerous and they had tried to avoid them like the plague. They never wanted to experience something like Kansas City ever again.

"So you haven't heard the name Tommy?" wondered Joel.

"Nope." he shook his head.

"What about the Fireflies?" asked Ellie, looking between the couple in the hopes of getting some new information about their location. Maybe if they'd find the Fireflies, they would also find their way to Tommy.

"We get those in the summer."

"Not the bugs, the people." glowered Ellie, now irritated.

"There are firefly people?" The couple laughted at their own Joke and Ellie clenched her jaw, sharing an incredulous look with her companions. Joel and Lucia were at a loss for words as she grimaced.

Joel cleared his throat and asked, "You got any advice on the best way west?"

"Yeah, go east." he nodded, tracing his finger over the map once again. "But you never go passed this the river here. Ever."

"What's passed the river?" wondered Ellie.

"Death." stated the woman, no longer rocking back and forth. "We never see who's out there, but we see the bodies they leave behind. Some infected, some not. If your brother's west of the river, he's gone."

Joel fell silent at that, unreadable expression crossed over his face and Lucia squeezed his knee in comfort. He looked at her hand placement and then down at her, worry etched upon his features.

"You're not gonna scare us." stated Ellie.

"Scared him." she nodded her head at the smuggler.

The older man began to laugh and Joel snatched the map from the table, scrunching it up as pushed it into his backpack. He got up and made his way toward the door, storming out.

"Thanks for the soup." spoke Lucia, and she grabbed Ellie's jacket to haul her outside along with them.

Joel was already a few feet outside when Ellie closed the door behind her on their way out. The Williams girl caught sight of two dead rabbits hanging beside the front door and she grabbed them of their hinges without second thought.

"You don't seriously believe them." she scoffed.

"They've lived here a long time." Joel answered, looking behind toward her. "Put that back."

"They don't know anything." defended Ellie. "Never heard of the Fireflies.

Lucia watched as Ellie swung the rabbits over her shoulder proud of her steal. Maybe Lucia hadn't been such a good influence so far. With a soft chuckle she turned back to Joel and her brows pressed together.

"Joel?" The smuggler leaned against the fence, head lowered as he grapsed at his chest. The muscles in his back were strained as he tried to take in deep and long breaths, but it seemed as if he was hyperventilating. The brunette was beside him in an instance. "Joel? Are you okay? Joel?"

"Shut up," he muttered, eyes screwed shut.

"Holy shit, are you dying?" asked Ellie, eyes wide.

The smuggler shook his had a few times, taking in a sharp breath before muttering that he was alright. When it looked like his knees were about to give out, Lucia wrapped an arm around his torso to steady him. He took hold of the arm that was holding him and squeezed, as if to reassure himself that he was in fact okay.

"What's happening?" she demanded, afraid he might be having a heart attack or something that needed immediate attention.

"Uh, reminder that if you're dead, i'm fucked."

"Ellie," Lucia snapped and shot the teen a glare.

"I said i'm fine." Joel grasped at his chest and faced the teen. "It's just the cold air all of a sudden."

"Alright," nodded Ellie hesitantly and pushed the fence open. "so let's go find Tommy and the Fireflies. It's gonna be easy. All we have to do is cross the river of death."

"Are you sure you're okay?" tried Lucia, worry etched upon her face as she took hold of his chin to get his attention. "Have you had this before?"

"I'm fine." he reassured her, offering a weak smile. "I promise. Come, we should go before they decide to shoot us anyway."

We are almost in Jackson!! I also wanted to tell you that this still will involve smut, so don't worry for the people that are here for that. I just want to make this realistic and since both joel and lucia are pretty reserved, it takes time BUT it will come!!

This story has reached 100K reads and almost 4.5K votes. Thank you all so so so much <3