𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞

- CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR -
I'LL BE DAMNED

ELLIE AND JOEL trekked through the overgrown grass, coming up to sign for Jackson county. They were right beside a river, large trees surrounding them from all sides. It was fall now, and growing colder each day that went by. They'd spent a couple weeks just crossing over to the next county, running into the occasional infected, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been in the city.

"Jackson County." Ellie read the sign, "means we're close to Jackson city, right?"

"Shouldn't be more than a few miles." Joel replied.

"Hey, slow pokes! Hurry it up." A feminine voice called out from up ahead. It was Kathy, standing on top of the hill with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently. The four week old bite hidden underneath a pair of fingerless gloves. She hadn't turned, they'd waited for it like Ellie wanted and it never happened. She was just like Ellie. The Williams women seemed to be blessed with immunity.

Ellie grinned brightly as she waved to her aunt, she was so fucking glad that Kathy was still alive and kicking. That moment in the radio tower had been the worst time of her life. They caught up to the brunette, Joel pulling her in for a lengthy kiss. They pulled away seconds later, chuckling quietly at Ellie's fake gagging noises.

Kathy booped Joel's nose, "You ready to finally see your dear baby brother?"

"I'm just ready to get there." He replied smiling, going in for another smooch.

Kathy moved away slowly, teasing him as she ran a hand down his chest, "You nervous?"

"I don't know what I'm feeling."

"Welp, so much for this road." Ellie observed the muddy pathyway that had been eroded after many years of landslides, diverting their attention from each other and onto her.

"We just follow the river. It'll lead us straight to Tommy's." Joel said, stepping cautiously down the steep slope so that they were closer to the river's edge. He helped Kathy down the much steeper bits, which Ellie found a bit unfair but also completely adorable.

"What happened between you two?" The auburn teen questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Tommy." She elaborated, "You're not together, so clearly something went down."

"Now this is something that I would also like to know." Kathy added, nodding along.

"We just had a bit of a disagreement, that's all."

"Oh here we go...so what was it about?"

"Tommy saw the world one way. I saw it another."

"And that's why he joined the Fireflies?" Ellie prompted.

"Yeah, your friend Marlene promised him hope." He answered as they walked, the rushing of the water beside them was almost louder than they were. "That kept him busy for a while, but just like Tommy, he eventually quit that too."

"How was it, the last time you saw him?"

"I believe his lasts words to me were...I don't ever want to see your goddamned face again."

"He didn't mean it. He's your brother." Kathy assured.

"Is he gonna help us?" Ellie asked skeptically.

He retorted, "I suppose we're gonna find out."

For once, Kathy was the optimist, "Well, with or without his help, we'll get there."

They walked around a large boulder, coming across a power plant. It wasn't one of those nuclear ones though, just one of the ones that converted the water's current into electricity. Like wind turbines, but y'know...wet.

"Whoa, what's that?" Ellie stopped and stared at the old building in wondor.

"That right there is a hydroelectric power plant." Joel commented.

"A hydra who?"

"It uh...uses the river's movement and turns it into electricity."

"How's it do that?"

"Look, I know what it is. I don't know how it does it."

"I do." Kathy cut in, "The water turns this sorta wheel thing and as it keeps turning, it generates power. It was very eco friendly back in the day. Doesn't look like it'll work anymore though."

"All right. How are we getting across?"

Joel didn't reply, just walked up to the wheel crank that turned one of the water barriers into part of a walkway. However, they had to get to the other side somehow to turn the other one.

Joel had a solution to that also. He dove into the freezing water of the river, somehow completely unaffected by the chiliness of it. He submerged underneath, popping back up a minute later with a pallet for Ellie to jump on. Those things were conveniently everywhere.

"Alright, Ellie. I need you to-"

"I know," She groaned, "Step on the fucking pallet." She jumped on and Joel swam her to the other side. Kathy stood on the first half of the walkway, waiting patiently.

Ellie climbed up, turning the wheel for the second half of the walkway while Joel made his way back to his woman. He didn't really know what to refer to Kathy as anymore, they hadn't really talked about their relationship. He liked to think they were together, but at the moment they didn't really have a label put on them.

Once the walkway was fully accessible, Kathy and Joel walked across it. "Hey, be careful crossing that thing." Ellie told them, holding up a hand for a high-five when they made it over to her. "Team work."

Joel high-five her first and when it came to Kathy she pretended to think about it.

"Oh, come on Kathy. Don't leave me hanging."

Kathy high-fived her with the hand that had the bite on it. It had healed pretty nicely, just a scar and a bad memory now. "I was just messin' with ya, kiddo."

Joel disappeared off the the side and the girls found him in front of a child's grave. Kathy could tell by the size and the teddy bear sat on top of the dirt.

"That's too small of a grave." He stated, looking down at it sadly. No child deserved to die in a world like this.

Ellie sighed when she remembered the robot toy she had taken for Sam, "I forgot to leave that stupid robot on his grave. What should I do with it?"

"Ellie..."

"What? I want to talk about it."

"No."

"Why not?"

"How many times do we need to go over this? Things happen and we move on."

"So if I had died back there - if I had turned, you wouldn't even talk about me?" Kathy butted in, offended.

"That's different." He excused.

"How is that different?!" She scoffed back. "You don't even talk about Tess, and she was your best friend! If I had died, you would just choose to forget about me? About everything that we've been through?"

"That's enough." Joel seethed, her words hitting him where it hurt most. He was the type to suffer in silence, he didn't like talking about the ones they lost or would lose. And her reminding him that he could've lost her forever, was a pain he never wanted to feel. He preferred to pretend that she wasn't bitten, that way he could feel like he hadn't failed her.

Kathy knew her remark about Tess was too far, she immediately apologised, "You're right. That was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

He nodded, acknowledging her attempt, she could never offend him, even if she had tried intentionally. "Let's get to Tommy's."

They climbed up some rocks, going along the walls of the power plant. Ellie's stomach rumbled, "Arghh, I'm so hungry!"

"I know. I am too." Joel replied

"Could go for some of my brother's famous chilli right about now." Kathy commented.

"Was it any good?"

"No." She remarked, "It was fucking awful, but it filled you up real good."

"All right, next squirrel I see, I'm totally shooting it." Ellie stated, now even hungrier with the talk of food.

"Let's get past this place, then we can scrounge up some food." The smuggler responded, ducking under a fallen tree.

"Well, if I starve, you're responsible." The teen quipped back and gazed up at the very intimidating walls of the plant. "Uh...should we head in?"

"Ah, ain't no way around. Gonna have to cut through the plant." Joel said, surveying the area for a route to take. He then grabbed onto the the gate doors that would lead into the power plant, but they would budge and the sound of cocking guns caused them to look up.

There were people up there aiming at them. A blonde woman was the first to speak, "Don't even think about reaching for your weapons. Tell the girl to drop hers. Now."

"Ellie, do as the lady says." Joel instructed, backing up away form the gate.

"Okay." Ellie replied, holding her hands up in surrender like her aunt was doing.

"Please tell me you're lost." The woman said.

"We didn't know the place was occupied." Joel excused, "We're just making our way through."

"Through to where?"

"They're alright." A man assure the woman as he made his way down and opened the gate.

"What, you know these people?" The woman turned to the man in disbelief.

"I know him." The man replied, "He's my goddamn brother."

"Tommy." Joel mumbled in surprise.

"Well that was lucky." Kathy stated quietly to Ellie.

"Holy shit." Tommy said, yanking Joel into a brotherly hug.

Joel patted his back, "How you doin', baby brother?"

"Goddamn."

"Yeah."

Tommy pulled away, "Let me look at you. You got fucking old."

"Easy - it's gonna happen to you too." Joel retorted.

"This is Maria." Tommy introduced the blonde woman that had came down to meet them. "Be nice to her, she sorta runs things around here."

"Ma'am." Joel greeted. "Thank you for not blowing my head off."

"Would've been embarrassing, considering you're my brother in law." Maria replied.

Tommy laughed at the look Joel gave him, "We all gotta get wrangled up at some point."

Kathy moved forward, slipping her arm around Joel's waist and pressing into his side. "Yeah, we do. You must be Tommy. I'm Kathy, I've heard a lot about you."

She found amusement with Tommy's expression. His eyebrows were raised as he glanced between her, Joel and her arm that was around him. He then let out a chuckle and patted his big brother's shoulder, "Well, I'll be damned. Joel Miller finally found a woman that can deal with his crap."

"Don't make a big deal out of it." Joel quipped back, wrapping his own arm around Kathy as he spoke.

"Ellie, right?" Maria asked the teen.

"Yeah."

"What brings you through here?"

"Uh...it's kind of a long story."

Tommy took his eyes off his brother and turned to his wife, "Why don't we bring 'em inside?"

"Yeah." Maria agreed. "You hungry?" She asked Ellie.

"Starving." Ellie responded. They walked through the now open gates, Joel grasping for Kathy's hand as they closed behind them. They'd found his brother much sooner than he thought they would. Perhaps things were looking up for once.

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