𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞

- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN -
SAM AND HENRY

A LOT COULD go to shit in the span of an hour, like getting chased around the city by trigger happy hunters in their armoured car.

The trio had been minded their own business, trying to avoid the hunters as much as they could when the truck rolled up and started shooting at them. And now they were shimmying along a ledge around the outside of an apartment complex directly above it.

"Oh shit." Ellie mumbled as they watched the truck drive right below them.

"We're okay. They can't see us." Joel assured them, climbing through the open window at the end of the ledge. He was about to call the all clear when he was pulled into a chokehold.

Kathy jumped through quickly after hearing his struggle, only to fall to the ground when she was elbowed in the jaw. Ellie came to Kathy's aid and sliced the man's arm with her knife.

"What the fuck?" The man holding Joel gasped when he saw the young girl, letting his guard down for a moment, which was enough for Joel to get the upper hand and reverse the roles.

Joel flipped the man over his shoulder and began hitting him in the ribs, admittedly harder than usual when he saw Kathy on the ground holding her jaw.

"Joel." Kathy groaned out in an attempt to stop him from where she was. She'd noticed the boy by the doorway. The man wasn't a hunter, they didn't keep kids around.

Joel continued to pummel the man until Ellie grabbed his arms and pulled him away, "Joel, stop! Look." She pointed at the boy, around Ellie's age, who was aiming a gun at them.

"Leave him alone." The boy commanded, his hands shaking noticeably.

Joel backed away from the man and held out his hands, "Easy, son. Just take it easy."

"It's alright." The stranger told the boy from the floor, "They're not the bad guys. Lower the gun." The boy lowered his gun and the man groaned as he sat up, "Man, you hit hard."

"Yeah, well, I was trying to kill you." Joel replied simply as he helped Kathy stand up. She thanked him quietly, rubbing her jaw. She'd have a hell of a bruise later on.

The man stood up as well, wiping away some blood from his lips, "Yeah, I thought you were one of them too. Until I saw them." He pointed at Kathy and Ellie. "If you haven't noticed, they don't keep many women or kids around. Survival of the fittest."

"You're bleeding!" The boy exclaimed, noticing the wound that Ellie had inflicted with her knife.

The man brushed it off, "Ah, it's nothing." he took the gun from the boy and introduced them, "I'm Henry, this is Sam. I think I caught your name was Joel?"

"Ellie." The auburn teen pitched in.

The brunette waved, "And I'm Kathy."

"How many are with you?" Joel asked them.

"They're all dead." Sam replied.

Henry nudged him as he bandaged his arm, "Hey, we don't know that. There were a bunch of us. Someone had the brilliant idea of entering the city, look for supplies. Those fuckers - they ambushed us. Scattered us. Now it's all about getting out of this shithole."

"We can help each other." Ellie suggested.

"Ellie." Joel warned.

"No Joel," Kathy gave him a warning look, "I agree with her, safety in numbers."

"They're right," Henry added, "We could help each other. We got a hideout not too far from here. Be safer if we chat there."

Joel gave in pretty quickly under Kathy's stare, "Alright, take us there."

Henry nodded, liking the answer, "Follow me."

"Sorry about the whole gun thing." Sam spoke up beside Ellie, they were already making fast friends.

"Don't worry, I would've probably done the same thing." Ellie waved him off, "Where are you from?"

"All the way from Hartford." He replied.

"Really? I heard some bad stuff going on down there."

"Yeah, the military abandoned the zone. It's why we left. Place probably looks like this by now."

"You trust these guys?" Joel whispered to Kathy as they followed Henry out of the apartment.

"I wouldn't count on Henry to risk his life for us if it put Sam in danger. But other than that? Yeah, they seem like trustworthy people." She replied as she stared at the back of Henry's head. Neither had noticed their hands brushing as they walked side by side.

"We gotta be careful. We're right next to one of their lookout areas." Henry told them, he hadn't heard their conversation. "Is it just you two and your daughter?"

"Oh she's not - We're not together." Kathy spat out in surprise,

Ellie sent her and Joel an amused look as she witnessed her aunt's moment of panic, "Kathy's my aunt and Joel...We're not related, we're more like um..."

"I promised someone I'd help look after her." Joel finished.

"Yeah, I can appreciate that." Henry agreed.

They went down several flights of stairs until they came upon a toy store on the ground floor. Henry was looking out the window and told them to be quiet, he'd spotted something. It was the truck, driving past the windows. "Wait - Wait! Everyone be quiet. Get away from the windows." They crouched down out of sight, watching it as it drove by."They're gone. Man...that fuckin' truck. It's been hounding us ever since we got in this damn- Sam what're you doing?"

Sma turned around, holding a small toy vaguely resembling a transformer from back in the day. "Nothing."

"Get rid of it."

"But my backpack is practically empty."

Henry stomped over to his brother, "What's the rule about takin' stuff?"

"It weighs like nothing!"

"The rule. What is it?"

"We only take what we have to." Sam sulked, dropping the toy on the floor.

"That's right. Now come on."

"How close are we to this place?" Kathy asked, grinning slighty as she watched Ellie pick up the toy and stuff it into her backpack when she thought no one was looking, no doubt to give it to sam later.

"We're close. Real close." Henry said as he opened the back door of the store, leading into some sort of alley or carpark. And as their luck would have it, hunters were patrolling the area.

"Shit." Joel swore, noticing them, "Ellie, watch our backs."

"Of course."

"Sam, stay with her." Henry told his brother as the quintet snuck around.

"Kathy, stick with me. We'll take 'em out quietly." Joel pulled the brunette with him and they hid behind a pillar.

"Or we could just do this..." Kathy jumped out of their hiding spot and threw a molotov at the three gathered hunters. She hit three birds with one stone and it took half the time it would've done if they had used stealth.

"Not bad." Henry whistled, he was very impressed by her. "C'mon, up on this truck."

They climbed the truck and onto the roof. Two more hunters walked into view. Joel took them out quietly with his bow. They walked across a board that linked two buildings together and Henry stopped infront of a set of locked double doors, "Through this door."

"You sure it's safe, being so close to them?" Joel asked cautiously.

"I'm the only one with the key, man." Henry retorted.

"And where did you get it?" Kathy quizzed.

"I killed one of 'em. He won't miss it now." He replied as he unlocked the door, holding it open for everyone, "Everybody through."

"So...How old are you?" Sam asked Ellie as they settled in.

"Me? Fourteen." She answered, "How old are you?"

"Ah...the same."

Henry released an amused scoff, "Oh you're fourteen, huh?"

"I'm close."

"Alright."

"I am."

They walked past all the desks until they stood in front of one of the executive offices. This whole room was bringing back fond memories for Kathy of her old job before the outbreak. She had hated that job, but there were still good moments she remembered well. Like the time she had dumped coffee on the douchebag that sat in the desk opposite her, he'd continuously asked for her number and would not take no for an answer. He was definitely dead now, he was such a dick.

"Welcome to my office." Henry grinned, gesturing around.

"How long have you guys been holed up in here?" Ellie asked.

"A few days. We found a bit of food though. Here." Sam said, jogging over to the couch to show her a bag of blueberries.

"Blueberries. Found a whole stash of 'em." Henry told Kathy and Joel, "You want some?"

"No." They replied simultaneously, their minds were on other things than food.

"Hey, relax. We're safe." Henry assured, noticing their unease.

Joel unfolded his arms and turned away from the window, "So why haven't you left?"

Henry shrugged, "Been waiting for the right opportunity."

"And?" Kathy urged him to continue.

"Here, check this out." Henry walked them over to the windows on the opposite side of the room. There was a hunter base directly in view, it was a miracle they weren't spotted from how close they were. "Look at these cons of bitches. Everyday, they congregate down there. Guarding that damn bridge. Come night time, it's down to a skeleton crew. After sunset, that's our window. With most of them gone, we can sneak right past them."

Joel took a second to think it over, "That could work."

"Oh, it'll work." Henry stated, "It'll definitely work."

"Now, don't jinx us." Kathy teased, happy to have some sort of plan. Ellie and Sam's laughter drew their attention. The two teens were throwing blueberries and trying to catch them with their mouths. It was nice to see Ellie get along with someone her age, she'd been pretty down since what happened with Riley.

"It's been awhile since that boy even cracked a smile." Henry chuckled as they watched them. "She doesn't seem bothered by all this."

"She's a tough girl." Kathy said vaguely, her tone told him not to say anymore about it.

Joel thankfully changed the subject, "So where were you headin'?"

Henry eagerly sat down on a desk chair and they copied, "Heard the Fireflies are based out west somewhere. We're gonna join up with them."

"Yeah." Joel huffed.

"Something funny?"

"Just seems like there's a lot of people putting their stock on the Fireflies these days."

"Yeah, maybe there's a reason for that."

Kathy furrowed her brows in confusion, "Wait so, you have no clue where they are and you're just gonna drag your brother around the country to find them?"

There was a little bit too much irony in that question.

Henry leaned forward in his chair, "I tell you what, how about I worry about my brother and you worry about your girl?"

"Easy. We're looking for the Fireflies too." Joel admitted.

Henry blinked and them pulled out a map, laying it out on the desk, "This is us. There's an abandoned military radio station, just outside the city. Any survivors from out group, they're supposed to meet us there - tomorrow. You two and your girl want to join us? It goes down tonight."

"I guess we best rest up then." Joel replied.

"Tell you what..." Kathy slapped her knees and stood up, "Since we'll be waiting a while, I'll take some of those blueberries you offered. I am starving!"

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