Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Thirty One ○▪︎

They walked slowly, trudging through the ankle high stream with clear distaste while water dripped from the ceiling all around them. Olivia grimaced at the foul smelling tunnel they walked through, unimpressed by their current situation.

"I'm not a fan of this place," Ellie mumbled as her gaze swept the space around them.

Joel nodded in agreement whilst hopping over the large moss covered pipe that lay across the tunnel, before pausing long enough for the two females to follow. "Me neither,"

"Y'know, it's starting to grow on me." Olivia remarked sarcastically.

Joel hummed out, barely acknowledging the woman as he scanned the fenced door to their right that led into a small room that stored various useful supplies. He stepped up to it thoughtfully, reaching out a calloused hand to jiggle the handle and push his weight up against it but as expected, it barely budged.

"It's blocked,"

"No shit," Olivia chuckled whilst moving towards a small vent in the wall that no doubt led into the room.

"If you can get that open, I can crawl through and clear the door." Ellie told her. Olivia nodded and with a determined smile, she curled her fingers around the metal and tugged on it with all her upper body strength, managing to pry the door off for the teen. "Yeesh, that's a big rat."

"Just be careful," Olivia told her whilst stepping back.

"Yeah," Ellie lowers herself onto her knees, making herself small enough to crawl through the damp and foul smelling vent, all the while holding her breath to avoid puking.

Meanwhile, Joel stared at Olivia with a smirk, clearly impressed by her ability to pry open the vent door single handedly.

"Impressed, cowboy?" Olivia turned her head with a similar smirk and arms folded, her playful gaze met with his as he drawled a low response. "Mildly,"

"I'll take what I can get,"

They share a smile before Ellie appeared on the other side of the fenced door, she stood upright, dusting herself off with a disgusted expression before moving towards the door and wheeling away the large container that had been blocking it. "And... viola," the teen says as she pulls open the door proudly.

"Good job," Joel praised her.

"Thank you."

"Wait," Olivia smirks while following Joel with a mock surprised expression. "Did you just praise her?" she teases, earning herself an eye roll from the smuggler and a light laugh from Ellie. "Are you feeling okay, Joel? Do you need to sit down." she playfully presses her hand to his head, pretending to check his temperature before laughing lightly when he swats her hand away with an exasperated sigh.

"You done?" he asks her with mild annoyance.

"Sure," she shrugs, her lips still resting in a smile. She turns on the spot, inspecting the shelves and scooping up anything she deemed useful while Joel and Ellie did the same. Then, once the trio had taken everything, Ellie spoke up, following Joel towards the door with Olivia hot on her tail.

"Do you think they'll join us all the way to Tommy's?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know." Joel told her honestly, "we're just gonna have to see how everything pans out."

Olivia nodded in agreement, though she did secretly hope the brothers would join them. Sam and Ellie needed each other, watching the two interact reminded Olivia of the good and innocence still left in the world. Together, the two teens could act their age and connect - something everyone needed, especially in the apocalypse.