•• 2003 ••

THE ALARM CLOCK would've woken up the four-year-old any other morning, but it was the sudden light shaking that did so this time.

Y/N opened his eyes, seeing his older sister over him. She looked like she was already dressed for the day compared to him who was still in his pajamas.

"Get up." She whispered.

"Why?" The boy whined.

"We should be up before dad. It's his birthday."

"Oh...yeah."

"And I think we should make him pancakes."

His eyes lit up. "Birthday pancakes?"

"Birthday pancakes." She replied with a smile.

With that, Y/N basically jumped out of bed and slipped into his superhero-themed slippers. Knowing her brother would make a b-line to the kitchen, she stopped him.

"Go brush your teeth first. Wouldn't want you stinking up the house."

"My breath does not stink!"

"I beg to differ."

Y/N walked out of the room, sticking out his tongue as he did. Sarah reciprocated it and let out a chuckle.

As the boy used the bathroom and freshened up, she had taken out a set of clothes for her little brother and placed them on his bed for him to put on. At that moment, the alarm went off and so did the one from within their dad's room.

Sarah went into the hallway and knocked on his door, calling out as she did so.

"Alarm! Alarm...Alarm!"

She went downstairs to start making breakfast. Sometime later, Y/N came out of the bathroom and went into his room where he put his clothes on. Afterward, he went into the hallway and noticed that his dad's door was still closed.

"Papa! Papa!" He knocked on the door and exclaimed. "Dad!"

He heard grunts inside, which let Y/N know that his dad was now waking up. The boy then ran downstairs, hoping that somehow the pancakes were already done.

Y/N went into the kitchen and saw his sister beginning to make breakfast. The radio was on and was currently playing Tomorrow by Avril Lavigne.

"Hermanita." Y/N said, using the name he'd often call her. "I want pancakes."

"I'm making the eggs first." Sarah replied, eyes still on the stove.

Y/N huffed. "Booooo. Eggs are boring."

"You are boring."

"No, I'm not."

"nO iM nOt." She mocked.

"Meanie."

Y/N sat on the seat by the counter. His coloring book was still there so he decided to preoccupy himself and use it. Beside him was also on open Boggle case, which they played the night before.

They heard footsteps come downstairs. Joel fixed his belt and entered the kitchen, seeing his two kids ready before him.

Y/N looked up and beamed.

"Happy birthday!"

Joel lightly smiled back and went over to his son. He frazzled his hair and kissed the top of his head.

"Thank you, mijo."

Sarah opened a cabinet, moving around some cans as she was looking for something.

"Where's the pancake mix?" She asked her dad.

"Oh, was I—" He remembered how he planned on getting it yesterday. "Yeah, I was. Sorry."

"I was gonna make you birthday pancakes." She replied, going to the fridge. "Guess that's a no, then."

"You know, I don't really like pancakes." Joel said.

"I know you didn't like them." Sarah said. "It was for our benefit."

Y/N overheard what they were saying and caught the horrible news.

"What? No pancakes?" He asked.

"Guess not." Sarah replied.

"Awww."

She went over with a cup of orange juice and handed it to him. "Just imagine the eggs are pancakes. Problem solved."

"If I had superpowers, I'd change the eggs to pancakes for real." He remarked.

Joel let out a chuckle. Before he could take a sip of his coffee, Sarah gave him a glass of orange juice too.

"Vitamin C." She said.

Joel nodded and drank about half of it before putting it down and grabbing his coffee mug again. Sarah went back to the eggs on the stove.

"You...uh..." Joel began. "You get your homework done?"

Sarah looked back and smirked at her dad's attempt to make conversation. Joel continued.

"Fractions? Isn't that what you do nowadays?"

The fourteen-year-old laughed, which Joel reciprocated before taking a sip of his coffee. The oblivious four-year-old was curious why they were laughing.

"What's funny?" He asked.

Joel turned to him. "We're laughing at how dumb I was forgetting the pancake mix. Don't worry, buddy, I'll get some for tomorrow."

Once the eggs were done, breakfast was served at the dining table and the Miller family sat down to enjoy it. Both kids seemed to be taking their time while the elder was forking down his meal.

"How old are you again?" Sarah asked Joel.

"Thirty-six."

"Gonna have to wear diapers soon."

"Who says I don't already?"

"You wear diapers?" Y/N asked with genuine shock, not understanding his sarcasm.

"Yeah. Makes things easier." He replied.

"That's weird. Dads don't wear diapers. I stopped wearing diapers."

"Yeah, like a month ago." Sarah joked.

"Liar!" Y/N shot back. "It was a long time."

Joel quietly laughed as he took in another forkful of eggs. He chewed for a bit before stopping and taking something out from between his teeth.

"Shell." He showed the piece to Sarah.

"Extra calcium." She replied before smiling with a mouthful of eggs.

"Lovely."

They heard keys jingling and the knob on the garage door turning. Joel has an inkling about who it was.

"Is there enough for Uncle Tommy?" He asked Sarah about the food.

"Well, there would've been."

Tommy came in and saw the family at the table. He smiled.

"Ay!" He patted his brother on the back. "You're still alive, you old fucker."

"Ooooh. Bad word." Y/N whispered although he had been used to hearing his uncle curse.

"My bad, little man." Tommy replied. "Feels like I say enough words to fill a swear jar."

"If we had that you would've already paid his college fund tenfold." Joel spat. "Can't have you bankrupt or else you'd keep depending on me."

"Aww." Sarah began. "True brotherly love."

"Not how I see it." Joel replied. "Like I said...dependency."

"I'd say it's the same."

"It's definitely the same." Tommy added from within the kitchen. He noticed an important dish missing. "I thought we was havin' pancakes?"

"Papa forgot to buy the mix." Y/N answered.

"Yeah, Pop's an airhead like that." Tommy joked.

Joel shrugged, scoffing and taking another bite of food.

"We'll pick you somethin' up on the road." He said then started talking about their job. "Concrete guys gonna be there?"

"Yeah, they said maybe."

"Maybe? We can't frame until we pour. We're not gettin' paid until we frame."

Tommy opened their fridge and replied as he looked into it.

"Well, we could bring someone else on, get the job done faster."

"No, no. I'm not splitting' this job. I barely wanna split it with you." Joel continued eating. "We could work a double."

Sarah looked up from her plate and at her dad. "Literally? Today?"

"I know. I'd be done by nine." He responded and then called out to Tommy. "By nine, right?"

Tommy exhaled. "Yeah."

Sarah still looked at Joel. She was used to her dad working extra and coming home late, which would usually leave her home alone with Y/N or spend time with the neighbors. Still, she didn't like the fact that Joel was choosing to work more on his birthday of all days.

"I'll bring back a cake. I promise." He told Sarah then looked at Y/N. "That sound all right? Cake tonight and then some pancakes next morning?"

Y/N grinned and nodded. Sarah continued eating and as she did, she overheard a reporter speaking on the radio. They mentioned disturbances happening in Jakarta which also piqued Joel's interest.

"Jakarta. Where is that, Middle East?" Joel asked Tommy.

"Doesn't ring a bell. It's definitely a country. Or maybe part of Asia?"

"Jakarta isn't a country." Sarah said. "Being a part of Asia isn't mutually exclusive with being a country and in fact, it's the capital of Indonesia."

"Shit." Tommy replied. "Hope for us yet."

Joel took a sip of his coffee before putting it down and checking his left wrist for the time. He slapped it once realizing he didn't have a watch on, then took out his cell phone to check it instead.

"All right." Joel picked up his plate and got up. "You two finish up quick, we'll drop you off."

"I'm still eating my eggshells." Sarah replied.

"You got seven minutes."

"Your t-shirt's inside out." Sarah abruptly said.

Joel looked down and saw that his shirt was indeed put on wrong. Tommy ate some leftovers from the fridge and laughed.

"Shit." Joel muttered and went back upstairs.

Tommy shook his head and looked at his niece and nephew, still chewing his food.

"He's losin' it." He joked.

Once they were done eating, Y/N went outside with his dad and uncle. He waited by the truck while Joel started grabbing his tools and pack from the garage, where he loaded them.

Sarah was still inside. After grabbing her backpack from her room, she snuck into her father's and rummaged through his drawer. She took out his broken watch along with 60 dollars.

What caught her eye next was a switchblade that belonged to Joel. She opened and gazed at it, running her finger along the side of the blade.

A car horn from outside snapped her out of her thoughts. She can also hear her father's shouts.

"Sarah!"

She took the watch and money and put them in her bag. Sarah then left the house and joined her family.

"Hey, neighbor!" Mr. Adler called out from nearby.

Sarah turned to her left and saw him sitting by the patio feeding his elderly mother biscuits. She smiled.

"Oh, hi."

"Connie was asking after you since you haven't been over in a while."

Joel whispered from beside her. "Make 'em happy."

Sarah turned back toward Mr. Adler. "I could come by after school with Y/N, but just for, like, a little bit."

"Oh, she'll take watcha got." He replied with a smile, then picked up the plate of bread. "Y'all want some biscuits?"

"Dad, you love biscuits." Sarah said and looked at him.

"Uh...yeah, I do." He said loud enough for Mr. Adler to hear. "But I'm on Atkins."

"On what now?" He asked.

"It's, uh—You know what? We gotta run, but Sarah'll be by later. She'll stay as long as you want." Joel closed his tailgate and walked off. "She'll tell ya all about Atkins."

Joel opened the back door, where he carried Y/N inside. Sarah followed, smiling at his attempt of avoiding the conversation with Mr. Adler.

"Solid." She remarked.

She sat with Y/N in the back. Tommy was behind the wheel and Joel soon entered the passenger's side.

"Can't tell you how exciting it was listenin' to that fuckin' conversation." Tommy said with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Put that out." Joel immediately said.

Tommy took one last puff before throwing it out the window.

"Happy birthday to you."

Tommy put the truck on drive and they left the driveway.

• • •

THERE WERE ONLY a few kids in the daycare center. It was unusually empty that day, but to the ones that were there...it just meant that they had most of the toys and activities to themselves.

Y/N was playing with legos with a five-year-old boy named Henry. He had hung out with him other days and if he had to admit, he'd consider him a good friend.

"My motorcycle is popping a wheelie." Henry said then tried imitating the sounds of a motorbike.

Y/N did the same sounds while holding his Lego motorcycle (which was terribly made) and the two raced their bikes across the table.

"Where you going?" Henry asked.

"I'm going to...the beach." Y/N answered maneuvering his toy.

"I'm going to the other beach." He replied. "Across the world!"

They continued laughing and playing. Suddenly, one of the women at the daycare called Y/N's name. He looked up, seeing Sarah at the door ready to pick him up.

"Aww. My hermanita is here." Y/N said to himself then started to get up. "I gotta go home now."

"Okay. See you tomorrow." Henry picked up both Lego bikes. "Then we can go across the world together."

They shared a smile before Y/N ran to Sarah. Soon afterward, they left and took the bus. She let her brother know that they were going to stop by somewhere in town before going home.

To pass time on the drive, Sarah took out a book. It was one she seemed to always have and would entertain Y/N with it.

"You wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind, it was too cheesy."

It took a second for the four-year-old to get the pun. He laughed and it also garnered a chuckle from Sarah, then she read another one from the joke book.

"I once heard a joke about amnesia...but I forget how it goes."

This time, Y/N was confused. "What's amnesia?"

"It's when you forget things."

"Oh..." Y/N still didn't laugh, mostly because he still didn't get it. "That's dumb."

They finally made it to their stop in town. Sarah held Y/N's hand and crossed the street, where they entered a shop that had many watches and clocks. It really caught the boy's eye.

The shopkeeper spoke to Sarah as they discussed the broken watch that belonged to Joel. Y/N still kept wandering around and gazed at the ticking clocks.

One clock was shaped like a giraffe. Y/N pointed and called out to his sister.

"Look!"

Sarah smiled and feigned a laugh, looking down at Y/N.

Suddenly, police sirens were heard and cruisers drove by outside. She glanced at them for a second looking back toward the counter.

The shopkeeper's wife came out from the back. She looked frazzled and worried.

"We're closing."

"What?" He asked.

She spoke Arabic and argued with her husband. The woman looked at the kids and tried ushering them out.

"I'm very sorry. He cannot finish."

"I'm already finished."

The man handed the box with the fixed watch to his wife and she handed it to Sarah. She kept leading them to the door.

"You should go home."

She practically pushed them out the door and shut, closing their blinds and all. Sarah stood outside with Y/N, confused.

• • •

IT WAS ABOUT ten o'clock and the kids were in the living room with the television on. After spending time with the Adlers earlier, they stayed at home waiting for their dad.

The news channel was reporting but they paid it no mind, with Sarah reading her magazine and Y/N doing some arts and crafts.

They heard keys jingling and the door opened. In came Joel, who finally arrived but was rather late.

"Papa!" Y/N exclaimed.

"Hey, mijo." He smiled and walked into the living room where he then spoke to Sarah. "You locked the door for once. Good job."

"Yeah."

Sarah turned off the television. Before Joel could sit down, Y/N ran up to him and handed him the thing he was making.

"Here's your present!"

The elder Miller chuckled and looked at the kid's project. It was a pretty ugly cut out of what was supposed to be him as a superhero...because that's how Y/N saw his father.

"Oh, man. I love it." Joel smiled and picked him up, sitting down on the sofa beside Sarah and keeping Y/N on his lap.

"It's 10." She told him.

"I know." He sighed. "They...gave us the wrong size for the headers. That doesn't mean anything to ya. I'm sorry."

"Where's the cake?" Y/N asked, having remembered what his dad promised in the morning.

Joel thought about it and rubbed his face. "Shit."

"Awww. Come on." Sarah reacted.

"I know."

"You forgot your cake?" Y/N frowned. "But it's your birthday!"

"I'll get us one tomorrow." He replied.

"Swear, or you don't get your present." Sarah told him.

"You got me a present?" Joel asked.

"Swear."

Joel paused for a moment. "On my life."

Sarah smiled and brought out a box from behind the pillow. Y/N looked on, excited about the gift opening.

"Oh, wow." Joel said as he was handed it.

Although the gift was all Sarah's idea, she chose to refer to it as a gift from both her and Y/N.

"We fixed it for you."

Joel opened the box and took out his watch. He put it up to his ear and his expression changed.

"Did you?" He asked her.

"What?"

"I don't hear anything."

Sarah grabbed his arm and brought the watch closer, but immediately realized he was kidding. They both laughed.

"That was lame. You're lame."

"I know." Joel said. "Where'd you get the money for this?"

"Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs."

"Wouldn't mind your help with the mortgage then."

"It was only twenty bucks. Which I stole from you." Sarah said. "Could've stolen sixty but I put the change back because I'm an honest thief."

Joel chuckled. She continued.

"Besides, it's the thought that counts. And you were never gonna do it for yourself, so..."

Joel looked at Sarah and then back at his watch which he was now putting on.

"Thank you." He said sincerely.

There was a moment of quiet. Y/N grabbed his father's arm and looked at the watch more closely.

"One more thing." Sarah said and brought out a DVD box from behind the same pillow.

Joel immediately knew what it was and took it from her. It was Curtis and Viper 2, one of his favorite movies.

"Borrowed it from the Alders." She said.

"Oh, this is the one with the deleted scenes."

"Imagine how bad those have to be."

They decided to watch the movie for Joel's birthday. The four-year-old was already tired and had fallen asleep about ten minutes into the movie, so Joel had taken him to bed before coming back. It didn't take long for Sarah to fall asleep next despite saying she wouldn't.

Joel's cell phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Joel, it's me." Tommy said. "Uh, I'm okay."

"Yeah?"

"But I'm in jail."

Joel exhaled. "Goddamnit."

"Wasn't my fault this time. I was at the bar, some guy goes crazy, starts swingin' at a waitress. I stepped in, knocked him out, cops show up—Look, it doesn't fuckin' matter. You gotta bail me out."

"Now?"

"It's Friday, you don't get me out tonight, I'm in here all weekend. It's a fuckin' madhouse, Joel. I gotta get out."

"Well, which jail? Travis County?"

"Yeah, on 10th."

"Goddamnit, Tommy."

"I'm sorry. Please."

"Okay." Joel said with a sigh, then hung up the call. "Fuckin' idiot."

Joel carefully got Sarah off his lap and carried her upstairs. He placed her in bed and covered her with her blanket, kissing her head before leaving.

He closed the door, walked down the hallway, and peeked into Y/N's room as well. The boy was still in deep sleep, and Joel quietly closed his door too.

• • •

THE BARKING OF dogs was what woke up the boy this time. Not the alarm, not his sister, but the constant hollering of the animal outside.

The four-year-old got out of bed and left his room, walking down the stairs expecting to see Sarah and Joel still watching the movie. They weren't there.

"Papa? Sarah?"

Suddenly, a pound at the window by the door started Y/N. He saw that it was Mercy, the neighbor's dog. It scratched the glass and kept whining.

Y/N had a soft spot for dogs, especially the Adler's. He went over to the door and opened it, where he started petting the scared dog.

"It's okay, Mercy. Why are you sad?"

Car horns were heard in the distance. There was a faint rumbling before a helicopter soared by. The sudden noise scared the four-year-old and he went back inside.

"Y/N!" He heard Sarah call out.

The fourteen-year-old had gotten out of bed too from the noises. Y/N looked back just as she went up to him.

"What are you doing? Why are you opening the door?" She asked.

"Mercy was scared." He said. "Hermanita. I'm scared."

Sarah brought him close and hugged him. She also was wondering what was going on outside. Mercy's sudden barking toward the Adler's house got her questioning even more.

"Let's take her back to her house." Sarah told her brother. "Come on."

Sarah tried taking Mercy home, but the dog was trying to drag her back.

"Come on, Mercy. Please."

Finally, the collar gave away and the dog ran off. Y/N was the first to react.

"Oh, no!"

"Mercy!" Sarah also exclaimed.

There was clanking coming from inside the house of Mrs. Alder. Sarah looked over and saw that the door was ajar.

"Mrs. Adler?"

There was no response. Sarah looked back at Y/N and grabbed his hand, not wanting to leave him on the lawn as she went to check on then.

"Stay here." She said once they stepped onto the patio.

"Sarah!" Y/N replied in a scared tone.

"Please, stay here."

Y/N stood by the door as Sarah crept inside. He watched as she walked down the corridor and into the kitchen.

Suddenly, there was another faint bang from within the city that caught Y/N's attention. He quickly turned around in fear.

A scream caused Y/N to snap his head back toward the door. He saw Sarah running to him with Nana Adler chasing her. She grabbed his hand and they continued running.

Sarah ran off the patio with Y/N but stopped once a truck pulled up to the driveway. Fortunately, it was Joel and Tommy.

"In the truck! Right now!" Joel shouted to his children. "Move!"

Nana came out of the house with a snarl before dropping to the ground. They watched as she laid there, but she immediately sprang back up and charged Joel.

"What are we doing, Joel?" Tommy asked as he gripped a revolver.

Before Nana could reach him, Joel cracked her over the head with a wrench, putting her down. Y/N buried his face into Sarah's stomach in fear. The teenager was also in shock.

Joel looked at the kids and noticed their reactions. He went up to them and got on a knee.

"You killed her..." Sarah muttered.

"Baby, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Joel, we gotta go." Tommy told him.

"Look, it's not just the Adlers. But we're gonna be brave and we're gonna get outta this." Joel told his kids, then looked at Y/N. "You can be brave right? You're brave?"

Y/N just nodded. One of the light posts nearby blew up and startled them once more. Joel quickly ushered them to the truck.

They immediately drove out of the roundabout and down the road. Y/N was in the backseat still scared. Although Sarah was too, she made sure to stick to Y/N and comfort him.

"Daddy—" Sarah began.

"We don't know." Joel interjected, knowing what the question was going to be.

"They're saying it's a virus." Tommy chimed in.

"Is it from terrorists?" Sarah asked.

"We don't know."

"Are we sick?"

"No. Of course not."

"Why did things blow up?"

They don't answer her question. Tommy tried turning on the radio but it was all static.

"No cellphone, no radio. Minute ago newsman wouldn't shut up."

"How do you know?" Sarah asked again. "How do you know we're not sick?"

"They said it's just people in the city." Tommy answered. "That's why they got the highway blocked off."

They continued down the road, passing by the burning farmhouse of a friend of theirs, Jimmy. They kept driving, where they saw a stalled car ahead with a family of three by the road.

"Hey! Over here!"

Tommy was starting to slow down. Joel turned to him.

"What are you doin'?"

"They got a kid, Joel."

"So do we. Two. Keep driving."

"We could put them in the back." Sarah chimed in.

Joel ignored the statement and Tommy kept driving. The shouts of the father faded as they gained more distance.

"Somebody else'll come along." Joel tried justifying.

They made it to the highway but noticed the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Tommy cursed.

"Fuck! Everybody had the same fuckin' idea." He honked his horn. "I can't get through this."

"All right, all right. Let's think it through." Joel calmed him down. "Take the field. We cut across and we pick up on the west side."

Tommy agreed and went off-road. Y/N was still clung to Sarah, now starting to cry. The girl kept comforting him.

"I'm scared too. But we'll be okay. We will."

They drove across the field but stopped upon seeing helicopters and a blockade leading to the highway. Tommy made another turn on Joel's request and they went South. Joel spotted a town.

"I know that place. This can work."

"Yeah? And then what?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know. Mexico. Just far, far as we can."

Joel further explained his plan that'd lead to getting past the blockade and toward the border. Tommy had no rebuttal so he kept going.

"Maybe it's everywhere." Sarah said. "Maybe there's nowhere to go."

Suddenly, the loud sound of a plane soaring above caught their attention. Both Y/N and Sarah covered their ears. Tommy looked up and saw about three planes trying to land.

"What the fuck!?"

A line of police cars stopped at the intersection ahead. Tommy told his family to hold on and made a sharp right into another street. He made another turn but a crowd of running pedestrians slowed him down.

Joel and Tommy kept shouting at each other as the younger brother didn't know what to do. Joel told him to go reverse which he finally did.

"Tommy, go faster! We gotta go!"

"I'm tryin'! There's nowhere to fuckin' go!"

As they yelled, Y/N was still quiet but in a state of fearful shock. Sarah kept holding him as she gazed at the chaos through the car windows.

"Find an alley!" Joel shouted at Tommy.

"What alley? There's people everywhere"

"Roll the fuck over them! We gotta get off this street now!"

"That's what I'm tryin' to do, Joel."

"We're gonna be okay. Just keep drivin'."

Sarah looked back and saw one of the planes in the sky. It was rapidly descending...toward the town they were in.

"Dad?"

Joel also looked back as well as Tommy. Their eyes widened.

"Holy shit!" Tommy exclaimed and immediately stopped going reverse and instead went forward.

"Move! Move!" Joel exclaimed.

The plane crashed a couple of blocks down the road and a fireball erupted. The Millers kept driving...but a piece of debris from the aircraft barreled toward their truck and hit them.

Their truck was overturned. Glass was everywhere and they all were in the vehicle. Sarah was stirring awake from the brief minute of unconsciousness but she could hear the faint sob of her brother.

"Sarah?"

Although in pain, she looked for Y/N and saw that she was beside him. She reached over and groaned.

"You okay? Nothing hurts?"

Y/N shook his head. She did notice that he had a rather deep cut across his cheek sustained by glass from the crash. Because of adrenaline, the boy didn't seem to feel it.

"Are you sure?"

He denied it again. Sarah was relieved and the reassurance almost made her forget about her own pain. She wiped away the blood that trickled from his cut.

"Of course you are." She said. "You're so strong."

"Sarah? Y/N?" Joel grunted from within the wreckage with them. "Stay right there. Don't move." He also called out to Tommy. "Tommy, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." He groaned.

Tommy had gotten out first and saw that Y/N was practically slipping out of the wreckage. He helped him out and carried him.

"I got you, buddy."

Joel helped Sarah out and exited the other side. He asked her if she was okay and she admitted that her ankle hurt.

"We got to get off the street!" Tommy shouted at Joel but suddenly saw an out-of-control police cruiser barreling toward them. "Shit!"

It hit their wrecked truck and erupted in flames. This also blocked off the alley Joel and Sarah were in which in turn split the family up.

"Tommy!" Joel exclaimed. "Tommy!"

With Y/N in one arm and the gun in the other, Tommy peeked through the gap in the wreckage and saw Joel.

"Head to the river! We'll find a way." He shouted back. "I got Y/N! Get her outta here, Joel! Go!"

Joel nodded and started walking away with Sarah, but she stopped him.

"We can't leave them."

"They'll be fine. Can you run?"

She shook her head. "No."

Joel immediately carried her bridal style. "You keep your eyes on me. Okay?"

"Okay." She replied.

They ran off. On the other side of the wreckage, Tommy was with Y/N.

"Papa!" Y/N exclaimed.

"Your Pop will be fine, kiddo. He got Sarah." Tommy reassured before also running off with him. "Hold on tight."

Tommy ran down the road with Y/N clung to him and a revolver in hand. He went to the door of a store and entered it, trying to find a back exit and reach Joel.

In the shop, Tommy saw someone leaning over a counter. He assumed it was probably a looter.

"Don't mind me, amigo." He was making his way toward the exit on the other side. "Just—"

The man turned around with a snap of his neck. Tommy immediately realized it was one of the sick folk.

"Shit..."

The man charged at them but Tommy raised his revolver and shot it in the chest. It fell to the floor and writhed around for a moment before Tommy shot it again but in the head.

Y/N had yelped from hearing those two shots. Tommy kept moving and made it to the exit, also apologizing to the boy.

They left the store and made it outside to a grassy area. Suddenly, they heard a scream and shots being fired. Tommy started running toward the commotion.

He made it to a small hill and saw a soldier aiming at someone on the ground. That person was Joel. With no hesitation, Tommy raised his revolver and shot the soldier through the head, saving his brother.

Joel panted as he sat up, feeling his side for any wounds. He was only grazed. The man looked up at Tommy who was holding Y/N.

Before he can thank Tommy or ask his son if he was okay, his younger brother looked behind Joel and gasped.

"Oh, God."

The panting of Sarah immediately reached Joel's ears and he turned around. He saw her on the ground, the front part of her shirt stained in blood. He sat there for a moment not being able to believe what he was seeing.

"No...oh, no." Joel quickly went over to Sarah. "No, no, no."

She kept panting and holding her wound while Joel knelt beside her. Tommy stood over them with Y/N still in his arms.

"Okay...you're okay. Move your hand, baby. Move your hand." Joel said, and we she did, he realized the severity of her injury.

He tried picking her up but it caused her more pain and she began to yelp and wince in pain. Hearing those sounds scared Y/N even more than any other noise he'd heard that day.

"I know, baby, I know, I know, I know." Joel tried to calm her down. "I know it hurts. Come on, baby. You're okay. You're okay."

Joel pressed down on her gunshot wound to stop any more bleeding. It still hurt a lot for Sarah, and her groans pained Joel, but he needed to keep doing so.

"Listen to me. I got to get you up, baby. Okay? I got to get you up. Come on."

Joel tried picking her up which made her groan and yelp more. He was on the verge of tears as he kept trying.

"I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know." He kept repeating, then looked over at his brother. "Tommy, help me!"

"Joel..." Tommy muttered, knowing the severity of the situation.

Y/N, for being so young, initially wasn't exactly sure what was happening or what was going to happen. All he knew was that his sister was really hurt.

"C'mon, baby girl. C'mon, baby girl. I gotta get you up." Joel spoke to the now limp body of Sarah, starting to cry. "Come on, we'll get you up. Come on, baby girl. Come on...come—Please."

He finally looked at her face, seeing her open and unmoving eyes. Sarah was dead. He brought her closer and hugged her body, continuing to sob.

Y/N watched as his father cried. Since he couldn't hear the yelps of Sarah anymore, he knew she was gone. Tommy, now also sad, hugged his nephew tightly.

The sounds of his father's cries...the yelps and squeals of pain that once came from his sister...those were sounds he couldn't get out of his head.

And they would stick with him for years to come.