Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Thirty Eight ○▪︎

Olivia stood beside Ellie, leaning against the outer wall of the plant with a downcast gaze and a lump in her throat. Her heart ached painfully, more so with how close Joel was to her currently. He sat feet away on a shipment crate, watching his brother and sister in law talk in a heated manner while Ellie frowned with visible confusion.

"Does that have anything to do with me?" she questioned whilst stepping up beside Joel.

"We'll talk about it later,"

Ellie's annoyance grew, her frown deepened and her gaze flicked briefly to Tommy. "Well, did he tell you where the lab is?"

No. Olivia sighed softly, desperate to share the truth with the teen but unable to before Joel replied with a harsher tone.

"We'll talk about it later," he reiterated to the teen.

"Later..." Ellie scoffed, rolling her eyes with a deflated posture. "Right." she muttered whilst turning sharply on the spot and storming off in the direction of where the horses were kept with Olivia quickly following after her without a word uttered to the smuggler.

"El!" she called to the girl, jogging to catch up to her. She reached out and caught her shoulder, stopping her on the spot and stepping around her with a soft expression. She sighed gently at the clear sadness in the teens eyes, it was almost as though Ellie had realised what was going on with Joel.

It broke Olivia to see her like this.

And so, rather impulsively, the young woman suggested something she believed the two were in dire need of. "Wanna get out of here for a little while?" she smiled, motioning pointedly to the horses tied up a few feet away.

Ellie raised her brows, tempted by the offer. "But Joel-"

"Forget about everyone else for now. I'll deal with the consequences later. Okay?"

Ellie smiled, nodding eagerly. "Hell yeah,"

Olivia chuckled, nudging the teen and jogging over to the horses with Ellie hot on her tail. Quickly, they untied two of the horses whilst calling out an apology and a promise to return them to the young man that spotted them. Then, as they climbed the majestic creatures, they took off, following a dirt trail through the woods.

They followed the path for a while. Thankfully managing to pass thought a group of bandits camped in the woods by the skin of their teeth before they finally came upon a ranch that looked abandoned and safe enough to explore a mile or so away from the group.

"Wow," Ellie breathed out, impressed by the beauty of the land.

"It's nice, huh." Olivia smiled as she stepped down from her horse; tying it to one of the fence posts beside Ellie's one.

She waited a second for Ellie to finish tying hers before they moved towards the front door, "gun out, El." Olivia instructed cautiously as she pulled out her own pistol and reached for the door knob. Then, with a nod to the teen, she pushed open the door and raised her gun whilst walking inside.

Silence consumed the dusty air, greeting them like a welcomed friend.

However, Olivia wasn't completely convinced and so she called out repeatedly, waiting for any shuffled footsteps or movement from above them. They stood still until Olivia shrugged and slammed the door shut behind them. "I think it's clear. Come on," she gestured with her head towards the stairs.

"This place is huge," Ellie commented as she scanned the walls decorated with family photos and old paintings.

"Yeah, it's nice." Olivia agreed as she explored each room, scanning the contents and smiling when they reached the room at the far end of the hallway where Ellie grew interested.