𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞

- CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN -
AS MUCH AS I LOVE YOU

"OKAY, LET ME see if I get this straight. If you mess up your fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?" Ellie asked over Kathy's shoulder as they rode through the tall brick walls of the University. The journey to Colorado hadn't been easy, they'd had a few run ins with infected and the occasional hunter, but they'd manage to get there in about three days.

Those three days had given Kathy plenty of time to simmer down her anger at Joel and now she wasn't angry at him anymore. Afterall, he'd changed his mind fairly easy about leaving them, she reckoned it was because he really did think of Ellie as his daughter.

That in itself should have enraged her, and she would've been pissed if some hillbilly had come along and acted like they owned her niece. But with Joel, it felt like Ellie had another protector, another person to look out for her. Kathy was glad that Joel had been the one to fill in the role as Ellie's father-figure.

"Right, it's called a turnover." Joel informed the teen.

"And if you clear the ten yards then you're back at...first down?"

Joel nodded, "First down. That's right."

"Man, it's confusing." Ellie sighed just as they passed a big UEC sign.

"You just gotta play it a couple times." The man chuckled, "It'll all make sense."

They rode into the gates of the University, but the building Tommy had described didn't seem to be in sight. Kathy squinted as she looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of their destination, "I don't see building that looks like a mirror."

"Well, we'll head to central grounds. Should be able to see most of the campus from there." Joel replied, stopping the horse in front of what could have been a workshop. It had a workbench and tools littered around and old car frames that university students could tinker on. Joel got off the horse and went inside, "Stay, Callus. What kind of name is Callus anyways?"

"Not our fault you forgot to ask Tommy his name." Kathy grinned, hopping off as well. Ellie stayed on the horse and took the reins, waiting outside by the door.

Joel picked up a flamethrower an sheathed it on his back, it might come in handy. Kathy ventured around, picking up some bits and bobs, anything that could be used to upgrade their weapons, and set to work at improving her shotgun and pistol.

There were some stairs that led to a balcony, but the only thing there had been signs that a Firefly lookout had been there. And who knows how long ago that was. With nothing else to find, they hopped back on Callus and started looking again.

Ellie giggled as Callus jumped over a barricade and then she spotted a banner on the side of one of the walls, "That's a giant ram. You guys were like some idol worshippers."

"When it came to sports?" Joel mused, "Hell yeah."

The cold breeze as they went up some steps caused Ellie to shiver and cuddle further into Kathy's back for warmth, "It's gettin' chilly."

"It's that time of year, kiddo." Kathy smiled and it grew wider when she spotted a specific building on the other side of the gates, "Hey, over there. Is that it?"

Joel hummed as he shifted his gaze to where she was pointing, "It does look like a giant mirror."

He directed Callus through a large gap that was in the campus building's wall, they had to lower their heads so that they wouldn't hit the ceiling.

"How many people do you think are there? Fireflies, I mean." Ellie asked as they trotted along the hallways.

"I reckon it takes quite a few to run that operation." Joel answered, pulling the horse to a halt when a shut gate blocked their path.

"You think there'll be other people my age?" She continued.

"There might be. Depends what they're doing in that building." Kathy replied, hopping off the horse after Joel.

"I'll stay with Callus." Ellie grinned, shifting along on the horse and taking the reins.

"I hate that name." Joel grumbled as he slid the gate open. Callus started acting up, moving away from the now open gate.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...What is it boy?" Joel soothed the horse, screeching from the other side of the gate told them why.

"Sounds like runners." Kathy told him, getting out her gun. "Ellie, stay with Callus. We'll go check it out."

"Are you sure?" The teen cautioned while they slid the gate shut behind them.

"Yes. I don't want him runnin' off." Joel replied, "We'll be right back.

Kathy waved a temporary goodbye to her niece and found another gate that they'd need to go through after they dealt with the infected. She looked at the wires attached to the gate panel, "Look like someone jerry-rigged it, but it's outta gas. The wire leads upstairs."

"Doesn't sound too hard." Joel shrugged.

Kathy raised an amused brow at him, "That's where the infected are. I think it's time you try out your new toy."

Joel pulled the flamethrower from it's holster on his back and they snuck up the stairs, following the yellow wire. A lone runner was stumbling about and Kathy snuck up behind it, breaking it's neck. They backtracked a little, finding the room where all the runners were in. There were a few hidden in the corners, but they were well spaced apart. Which made them easy to pick off quietly one by one. Turns out, Joel didn't need to use his new toy after all.

Once the infected were dealt with, Joel approached the generator and pulled the cord until he got it working. Then, they made their way back down to Ellie.

She lit up when they came into view, "Hey, I was thinking...I would've wanted to be an astronaut."

"That a fact?" Joel mused.

"Yeah. Can you imagine being up there all by yourself? Would've been cool. I'm just sayin'." She said.

"Well, I think that you would've made an amazing astronaut, Ellie." Kathy replied after opening the gate for her niece and ruffling the girl's hair, "I'm just sayin'."

Joel flicked the switch i=on the now powered gate and it slid upwards. Ellie shifted back as Joel and Kathy hopped up onto Callus.

"What about you? What's you want to be?" Ellie questioned the smuggler.

"Oh...well, when I was a kid I used to want to be a - a singer." Joel revealed as they went through the gate and into the open air again.

Kathy's eyes widened at the revelation and Ellie chuckled in disbelief, "Shut up."

"I'm serious."

"Sing something for us." Kathy said to him.

Joel pretended to think about it for a second, "Ah, no."

"Oh, come on. We won't laugh." Ellie pressed.

"I don't think so."

"Joel. Please..."

"C'mon, Joel." Kathy coninued and then leaned in closer to his ear so that Ellie couldn't hear, "I'll make it worth your while when we're alone."

She could practically hear him gulp and he cleared his throat, "Maybe. When this whole Firefly thing is over."

Ellie cheered behind them in victory before perking up to get a better view of what was over their shoulders, "Aw, are those monkeys?"

"Yeah, a whole mess of 'em." Joel told her as Callus trotted down the steps and into the main courtyard of the campus, with all the other individual campus buildings surrounding the area.

"That was kind of awesome."

"First time seeing a monkey?" He asked.

"First time seeing a monkey." She repeated.

They went through an archway and in direct view was a sigil on one of the walls.

"Fireflies." Kathy pointed it out.

He nodded, "I see it."

"This is good." Ellie said, "First sign of Fireflies."

Under another archway they went, but this time another electric gate was in the way, and you guessed it, the generator wasn't on. It wasn't even attached. Joel would need to go around the hard way and reattach it. Kathy opted to stay with Callus and Ellie this time.

"Watch yourself." Ellie told him as he crouched inside and out of their view.

"You too." He replied.

Kathy petted Callus as they waited, knowing Joel could perfectly handle being on his own.

"What was it like?" Ellie suddenly asked.

"What was what like?" She replied, stopping her motion.

"Kissing Joel."

"What was it like kissing Riley?" Kathy countered with a smirk.

Ellie's jaw dropped, "What - How did you -"

"Know that you like girls? Ellie, I've always known and I've never had a problem with it."

"Well, I don't have a problem with you liking Joel." Ellie replied happily, "I think you should get married and have lots of babies that I can kidnap from you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there sport." The brunette laughed, "That ain't happening anytime soon. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"I still think you should marry him, or at least say you love him. He makes you smile."

Kathy remembered Joel's words from earlier, "Maybe. When this whole Firefly thing is over."

"I'm holding you to that." Ellie warned and then groaned, "Man, how much longer is he gonna be? He's taking forever!"

Kathy chuckled at her impatience, "Not long, now. He probably ran into some trouble."

"How come you didn't go in with him?"

"I wanted to spend a little time with you. Did you want to be out here all on your lonesome?"

"No, I'm glad we got a little time to talk. We don't really get to do it that much anymore. Joel always steals you from me, you're my aunt, not his!" The teen exclaimed and they burst in a small fit of laughter.

"No one could ever steal me from you." Kathy told the girl, seriously. "I'll never love anyone as much as I love you, Ellie."

"Not even Joel?" Ellie asked her.

"Not even Joel." She assured.

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