GUARDIAN, TLOU

6.

The wind blew against Jo's face, her hair flowing behind her softly. It was mostly silent where she stood, the rundown gas station looking as abandoned as ever.

A few feet away, Joel knelt beside an old car, suctioning the remaining gas into a container to use for their own car.

From her spot, between multiple cars, Jo trained her eyes on the perimeter, holding her gun defensively as she watches out for any possible attackers.

Footsteps sound beside her, and she tilts her head to see Ellie walking their way. She nods at Jo before situating herself next to Joel, watching as he emptied the tank.

"We have to do this every hour?"

Joel hums, "Gas breaks down over time. This stuff's almost water. Back in the day, we'd drive 10, 12 hours on one tank. You could go anywhere."

Curiosity in her eyes, Ellie looks between the two, "So where'd you go?"

"Pretty much nowhere."

"Ditto," commented Jo.

Joel blew into the pipe, more gasoline exiting the tank.

Ellie smiled, eyes wide in interest, "Nice! How does that work?"

"It's a siphon. It's when liquid... travels against gravity because pressure..." Joel stumbled over his words, attempting to conjure an accurate-sounding explanation for the girl.

Ellie smirked, looking back at Jo in amusement, "You don't know."

"I—"

"And, the first place physicist award goes too...Joel Miller!" jokes Jo, asking as though she were a tv show host, handing the winner their award.

Ellie let's out a mocking laugh, giggling at Joel's irritated look.

The man huffs, looking down in exasperation as he mumbles to himself, "I know it works."

Ellie looks around the area, curiously. Though she is stopped by doing anything by Joel's strict voice, "No wandering."

She huffs, pulling out a small book from her backpack, "Okay. This is your fault then." She clears her throat, "It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery. No Pun Intended, Volume Too by Will Livingston. Volume Too. Look. You get it? Too? Like, T-o-o," laughed Ellie.

Jo smirked, watching as Joel's face dropped even more. She loves Ellie's childlike wonder, however, the reactions she pulls from Joel is Jo's favourite thing. He grumbles all moodily, stroking his head in frustration.

"Jesus."

Ellie reads out another one, laughing to herself, "What did the mermaid wear to her math class? An algae bra. Like, algebra."

Jo chuckled under her breath, looking back at Joel who stood, face deadpan, ready to hit the truck in frustration.

"I stayed up all night—"

"No," he shook his head, unamused, staring at the teen blankly.

"—wondering where the sun went...and then it dawned on me."

Jo snickered, watching Ellie's satisfied face.

Joel shook his head, looking back at the other adult with annoyance, "Feel free to wait in the truck."

With a groan, Ellie put the joke book back into her backpack, "Ugh, okay, but just know, you can't escape Will Livingston. He'll be back. There's nothing you can do to stop him."

As the exit the abandoned area, Ellie looks out of the back window, spotting a large vehicle, "Must've been some truck," comments Ellie.

"Yeah, they used to stick big-ass plows on them, and clear the roads for their tanks and such."