𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞

- CHAPTER FIFTEEN -
CAN'T CATCH A BREAK

IT HADN'T BEEN long until Ellie had fallen asleep, leaving the two adults in a silence that held a tad of awkwardness in the air. Ellie's remark from before had hit a nerve they hadn't even realised was there. They had been flirting, the teen was certainly right with that, but it's not like anything could come of it. Joel would deliver the two Williams to the Fireflies and then they'd go their separate ways.

They would never see each other again, so what was the point of starting something that they couldn't go through with?

With that thought, Kathy stayed silent, not wishing to bring up the subject that could make the tension better or worse and Joel didn't bring it up either. He wasn't the kind of man to talk about his feelings.

Joel was the first to break the silence, pulling the truck to a stop when he noticed the highway was blocked off by a cluster of cars. "Oh, no, no, no, no. Well, perfect."

Ellie blinked, yawning as she woke up, "Now what?"

Joel glanced behind out of the back window and then to the empty road on the right that led into the city and he put the truck into first gear, "Screw it."

"We're gonna risk going into the city?" Kathy raised her brows, cities were the most common place to get ambushed. Especially if you had a car. Cars were a resource other people would kill for.

"We got no choice." He replied grimly, driving them into the concrete jungle.

They weren't even driving for long until a man, seemingly hurt, stumbled into the road in front of them, causing Joel to stop the car a distance away.

"Please...help!" The man groaned, clutching his stomach. Kathy and Joel didn't believe the man's act for a second. They knew what was about to happen.

"Holy shit. Are we gonna help him?" Ellie asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the man.

"Put on your seatbelt, Ellie." Kathy told her, bracing herself after Joel nodded at her. She knew they were thinking the same thing.

"But what about the guy?"

"Oh, he ain't even hurt." Joel put his foot down on the gas pedal hard, the truck drove at a speed towards the man, fully intending to run him over.

Seeing that the car wasn't going to stop, the man swore and pulled out his gun to start shooting at them, his buddies popping out of their hiding places to help shoot. The truck plowed into the man, knocking him straight off his feet with an audible thump. A bus came out of nowhere and smashed into the side of the truck, causing it the crash into the side of a small grocery store. Kathy whacked her head against the dashboard, her vision blurring as she fumbled with her seatbelt.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Ellie breathed.

"Then get out quick." Joel grimaced, undoing his seatbelt.

One of the goons opened the back door and grabbed Ellie, she kicked against him, "Let go of me, you chicken shit!"

Kathy's vision returned and she caught Ellie's leg to try and pull her out of the man's grasp. Joel leaned over to try and help, but he was pulled out of the truck by another goon.

"Joel! Kathy!"

Kathy was then dragged out of the truck by her hair and she grunted as she was tossed to the floor. She took in the appearance of the guy that pinned her down. He was short, but burly, grime covered his features and he was holding a broken beer bottle against her neck.

"I'm gonna have some fun with you, pretty lady." He grinned grotesquely, his teeth yellow and broken from lack of care.

"The fuck you are!" She caught his arm just before he was about to embed it into her neck and kneed him in the groin. It gave her the opportunity to reverse the hold he had on her and now she was the one straddling him. Kathy pushed against his arm, using all her weight against him until the jagged glass of the bottle punctured his jugular and blood spurted out like a fountain, drenching her neck and chest in his blood.

Ellie's cry for help made her immediately get back onto her feet and sprint for the goon that had just backhanded her niece. Joel got there before her, kicking the guy in the face and then slamming it against a desk, killing him instantly while Ellie coughed and clutched her neck.

"Motherfucker." Ellie coughed as Kathy helped her up. "What's wrong with these guys?"

"Catch your breath." Joel rushed, grabbing their bags from the truck and throwing them to the girls. "We're leaving."

"I fucking knew we'd get ambushed." Kathy seethed, strapping her bag onto her back. "Can't ever catch a fuckin' break."

"Watch out!" Ellie shouted and they ducked down, narrowly missing the shots that were fired at them.

"Stay down!" Joel exclaimed, pulling them behind cover as he shot back at the goons. The country music playing from the truck was still echoing around the store as he reloaded.

"They're coming over the bus!" Kathy observed, watching some new men arrive from where the truck had crashed through.

Joel dealt with most of them, taking Kathy's help when he needed it. They made a pretty good team when it came to beating the shit outta some bad guys that wanted to kill them.

"Alright...I think that's the last of them." Joel breathed, dropping a plank of wood that he'd used to knock a guy out with. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Ellie shrugged.

"Just peachy." Kathy smiled, sheathing her pistol back into it's rightful place on her hip.

"Good, 'cause we need to get the hell out of here. You know the drill. Look around, see if there is anything we can use."

Ellie sighed, "Roger that."

Splitting up, they searched the store and the surrounding area for anything of use. Kathy shouted in victory when she discovered some more pistol ammo hidden away in a locker and the corner of Joel's lips quirked upwards in amusement. The way she twirled the ammo in his face with childlike glee...he found it cute. And he had a feeling if she knew he called her that, she'd give him hell. She didn't associate with the word cute.

He found himself smiling as she turned away and she never noticed.

"Hey!" Ellie called them over to a shutter door with graffiti on it, "Maybe we can go through here."

Joel grunted as he lifted it up just enough for Kathy and Ellie to duck under, "Alright, go. See if you can get it propped open with somethin'."

"Oh, fuck." Kathy murmured when she took in what was on the other side.

"Um...There's some pretty gnarly stuff in here." Ellie voiced as she looked around.

"Kathy!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Don't get your panties in a twist." She teased, walking over to the chain to hold the door open for Joel to get under.

She let go when he grabbed it again, "Alright, I got it. I got it. I got it." he let it down slowly, trying to make the least amount of noise as possible. They didn't want to attract any more attention. Who knows how many more men were roaming the area?

"Look." Ellie commented, gesturing towards all the bodies on the tables and the discarded belongings of the victims lying about.

Joel swore, "Fucking hunters. See, this could have been us."

"Man, that is a lot of people that didn't make it."

"I knew I should've turned the damn truck around."

"We lived."

"Barely." Joel tusked, "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the pessimist out of the two of us. Don't go stealing my lines, I'd never get to say anything." Kathy bantered, nudging him slightly.

"Then I'd get some peace and quiet." He teased back as he opened a door that would take them to the roof..

"How did you know?" Ellie asked him as they climbed the stairs.

"Know what?"

"About the ambush."

"I've been on both sides." He revealed simply, it was obvious that he didn't want to delve into an explanation. He wasn't very proud of his past.

"Oh." Ellie nodded and then looked to her aunt, "And how did you know?"

"Like he said, over the years and if you're desperate enough, you're bound to be on both sides." Kathy replied.

This time, Ellie directed her question towards both adults, "So, ah, you kill a lot of innocent people?"

Joel grunted and Kathy looked back at Ellie reluctantly as if she was ashamed. Ellie knew what that meant, but it didn't change her view of her aunt whatsoever. She knew Kathy only did bad things to protect the ones she loved.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Take it however you want."

"I guess this is where the assholes sleep. I mean slept." Ellie voiced, looking at the dirty mattresses on the floor.

"Doesn't look very permanent. They must've had a base somewhere else." Kathy suggested, picking up a bottle of alcohol and some cloth. She then followed Joel to the back door, taking them back outside.

There was pile of burnt bodies by the wall, the fire was out but it was still smoking. The smell was enough to make Kathy gag and step back.

Ellie wasn't as phased and moved closer to get a better look, "Oh, I don't think these guys were infected."

"It don't matter. Let's just keep moving." He said, spinning on his heel and jogging up the outside stairs. He leaned against the railing and pointed out the yellow bridge that was peaking out behind several buildings. A day or two walk depending if they ran into trouble or not. "All right. There's the bridge: that's our way out of here." Ellie was already climbing over the railing before he finished talking. "Hey, Ellie, slow down. Wait for us."

Kathy patted his shoulder and grinned, "After you, princess."

❝IT'S NO SURPRISE TO ME, I AM MY OWN WORST ENEMY❞