Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Twenty Two ○▪︎

"This place was fancy," Olivia observes.

Joel nods, "Yeah, definitely too rich for my blood."

"Wow, I'm surprised." Olivia says sarcastically before smiling wide, "but I get it. I always preferred camping." she admits with a light half shrug.

"I wonder what it was like before..." Ellie wonders aloud, her eyes scanning the room slowly.

"Damn expensive would be my guess," Olivia remarks whilst stepping up to the ladder and climbing it until she reaches the overhang above. She steps aside, allowing room for Joel and Ellie to join her with a small smile gracing her plump pink lips.

Ellie blows a cherry and reaches behind herself, towards her back pocket. "We need to lighten the mood..." she says.

"We do?" Olivia asks, confused.

"Yup. Okay..." the teen holds a small book in her hand, flipping the pages until she lands on one just a quarter the way through it. She grins wide, "I tried to catch the fog earlier. I mist." she reads.

Olivia laughs lightly, shaking her head and folding her arms. "Okay, I like that one."

"What is that?" Joel's asks the teen, no reaction shown towards her silly pun.

"A pun book," she answers with a duh tone as she flips the page once more, skimming the page slightly before reading yet another eagerly. "You know what's not right?"

"Left?" Joel replies.

The teen laughs, clearly rather amused with that particular pun causing Olivia to laugh lightly herself. It was nice to see Ellie so happy and acting her age. For a moment she was permitted the chance to just be a kid and Olivia adored that. She cherished it.

Joel shakes his head but a smile does eventually form on his lips, amusement dancing in his eyes as he briefly catches Olivia's gaze, the same intensity sparking between them before Ellie reads a final joke that leaves her feeling less amused than the previous one.

"People are making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow." she reads with a dip in her tone. "Too soon..." she sighs as she tucks the book away once more. "That's enough... for now."

"I gotta admit the first two got me," Olivia tells her with a warm smile, ascending the stairs first. "Oh, watch your step here." she calls over her shoulder as she shuffles along the broken chunk of stairs to reach the floor above.

The floor they come upon is only a short hallway with the stairs that would lead up to the next floor having been intentionally blocked by various furniture. Therefore, their only option is to jump out of the broken window to their right that leads onto a small roof.

Immediately, the moment they step foot on the roof, they are forced to duck down behind some air-conditioning units. Deep voices echo from the rooms to their left, they're loud and masculine, easy to pick up thanks to the many broken windows of the building.

Olivia frowns at the number of voices she can pick up, her hand instinctively reaching towards her knife as Joel gestures silently for the two to follow his lead.

The Southern man sneaks through the open window straight ahead, landing effortlessly in a near empty room with a wide open doorway opposite them. He scans the limited contents and frowns, little supplies offered to them in a moment they may potentially need them most.

He pauses and watches Olivia walk ahead slightly, though when she does, he hears the heavy footsteps approaching the room they find themselves in. He waits for Olivia to hear them too, expecting her to stop and hide but instead, she continues to walk towards the open door, unaware it would seem of the danger approaching.