CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

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          A WEEK'S WORTH OF TRAVEL WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT THEY HAD ENDURED SINCE ESCAPING BOSTON. It was only going to be seven days to reach the University of Colorado and then seven back toward Jackson. Though, they had no idea how long the Fireflies needed to get a cure from Ellie's blood. 

It hadn't even been two hours since they had left Jackson and Joel still hadn't uttered a single word to either of them. Courtesy of Ellie, of course. The smuggler was embarrassed and Lucia was highly amused as his face turned crimson while she and Ellie chatted about whatever came to mind.

"No, but seriously." said the teen gleefully as she clung to Joel's back on top of the horse. "When I get to build my own space ship, the first planet i'd visit is Saturn."

"What?" demanded Lucia as she rolled her eyes in disbelief at her words. "Neptune is way better. It's one of the prettiest planets in our universe. It's blue."

"Saturn has a planetary ring around it." argued Ellie.

"So does Neptune." stated Lucia with a grin. "And Jupiter and Uranus."

Ellie barked out a laugh and smacked her hand in front of her mouth as Joel glanced back at the girl. He had not expected her to forgive him that quickly, but she had, despite the harsh words he had used the previous night. He shook his head to himself, slow smile spreading across his face as he listened to their bickering.

"Uranus," giggled Ellie like a child and Lucia raised a brow. "oh, come on! It's funny. You have to laugh. No? Okay, how about this? Why didn't the dog star laugh at the joke?"

"I don't know, why?" asked Lucia.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly, "It was too Sirius."

Joel pulled a face at her bad pun, not even registering the joke while Lucia huffed out a laugh and threw her head back in defeat. The smuggler was in for a ride if Ellie was going to shoot puns at them every half hours so he said, "If you're keeping this up I will drop you back off and have Tommy take you."

"Scary."

"Unbelievable," muttered Joel underneath his breath and he winched when he felled a kick to his leg, his eyes moving to the woman who trotted on her horse beside him. 

He took in the scolding smile on her face and it was as if he had gotten lost again, not able to tear his eyes away from her own. Joel swallowed, trying to block the images of her naked body underneath his own. He shouldn't be thinking about this now.

"No, uh uh!" whined Ellie with a gag. "I will go back to Tommy if the two of you are going to act like one of those disgusting romance novel couples. I regret ever wishing for this to happen because now i'll need to wear my headphones twenty four seven!"

"Ellie," grumbled Joel, glaring at her from over his shoulder. 

The teen's laughter echoed through the valley in between mountains and soon another three hours had passed. The winter sun was bright and surprisingly warm despite the snow that clung to the soil below. Lucia had zipped open her jacket as they stopped for the afternoon, wanting to stretch their legs.

Some patches of grass were free of snow and they sat together under one of the few trees that had littered the surrounding area, horses grazing nearby. Tommy had supplied them with enough food that would last a week and they were in no short supply of water bottles, but the downside was that their bags were incredibly heavy. 

Joel glanced down at the gun he had borrowed from his brother and glanced around the empty valley, not a single person or infected to be seen or heard. Ellie was chewing away at her sandwich when he asked, "You still want to learn how to shoot this thing?"

"Seriously?" she beamed, throwing the piece of bread on her backpack and holding out her hands. "Give me that!"

There was a boulder a few feet to their right, just about Ellie's hight where she could perch the weapon however she liked.

"Not so fast." said Lucia, wiping her hands against her jeans. "You need to learn how to hold it first. And we need to set a target or you'll just shoot the damn valley to bits."

"Target," she repeated, peering around and getting to her feet in search for anything she could use to practice her aim on. Ellie rummaged through her bag and held up an old shirt and left the two of them as she went to tie it to a tree further away.

"I don't know where she gets her energy from." muttered Lucia, keeping her eyes set on Ellie as if she was going to disappear any moment. 

Joel shifted beside her and his thigh pressed against her own, his body heat seeping through her jeans. He wasn't one to show physical affection in public and she knew this. Lucia didn't need for him to show it to her, sitting close by each other was enough and he appreciated that. Though, Lucia couldn't help but lean into his touch and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Tired?" he murmured, giving her thigh a single squeeze.

"Not really." she shrugged. "You're just warm."

The smuggler huffed out a laugh and looked down at her with admiration, something she couldn't see as she watched the Williams girl try to find the best spot for her make believe target. 

If anyone had told Joel how his life would have looked today, he would have slammed their heads against a concrete wall. He hadn't loved anyone since the loss of Sarah. Sure, he had a love for Tess, Frank and Bill, but none of that compared to how he felt about Lucia or Ellie. Perhaps it was still a bit unreal, but all he knew was that his cracked heart was slowly healing whenever he heard either of them laugh.

"Do you think that's a good one?" wondered Ellie as she hurried back toward the two of them, turning on her heels to see her target. "It doesn't matter, It looks good from here. Well, get up Joel and teach me how to shoot that thing."

"So demanding." retorted Joel as he got to his feet, taking the gun with him to the boulder.

Ellie was a phenomenal shot with her handgun, but for some reason she could barely get the hang of it. Despite Joel having explained it a few times. The horses didn't seem to be fazed by the shots that echoed around them. None of her bullets hit the target and Lucia was lounging underneath the same tree, watching Ellie and Joel bicker.

"Wide right," said Joel, standing beside her. "You're flinchin'."

"The target's too small." defended Ellie, even if she had put it up herself.

"It's bigger than I would have made it, stop whining." Joel raised a brow at her and peered over his shoulder to grin at the brunette, who had an amused expression on her face. "Eject the cartridge."

Ellie did what he told her to do and complained, "I am not flinching." Joel hummed at her attempt to defend herself. "The rifle just sucks."

"Okay, give it." sighed Joel, taking the weapon from her hands.

"It doesn't aim right." she tried as they switched places. "You'll see."

"Deep breath in, slow breath out." began the smuggler as he leaned down on one knee and propped the rifle on the boulder in a comfortable position. Ellie took his binoculars and looked at the target, ready to see him fail. "You squeeze the trigger like you love it. Gentle, steady, nice and slow."

"You gonna shoot this thing or get it pregnant?"

Joel lowered the rifle and looked up at her with a bemused expression on his reddened face, ignoring the howl of laughter from Lucia as she listened in on them.

"It isn't going to work, it doesn't aim right -" bang, Joel had pulled the trigger and Ellie's eye twitched. "You dick."

He lowered the weapon once more and shrugged his shoulders, grin on his face. The teen shook her head as the brunette pushed herself to her feet, joining them with her hands in her pockets. "You have a lot still to learn, kid."

"Lies," cried Ellie. "it was just one lucky shot."

Joel looked down at Lucia and raised his brows, handing her the rifle and she took it confidently. The brunette took her position and closed on of her eyes, the other peering through the scope to find the target. Ellie was making yet another remark and without hesitation she pulled the trigger, hitting it precisely in the middle.

"I fucking hate you both."

a bit on the shorter side but i love love love the shooting scene between joel and ellie and i didn't want to change it and add lucia to it till the end. it was just so cute and one of my favourites scenes so it didn't need any adding.  next chapter is the university !!!