sunshine // joel miller

TWO

"Your friend's got it figured out," Joel said, his head gesturing to Fran who just shrunk backwards at the fact she was being acknowledged, "you'll figure it out."

Ellie grabbed the book that Joel had snatched off her, before walking past the older man, "Your watch is broken." She said as if he didn't already know, and sat down next to Fran. Fran kept her eyes on Joel then, watching his expression harden in anger at the acknowledgement, before it fizzled out and he closed his eyes.

Fran's eyebrows furrowed at that, her eyes moving from his face to his wrist that held the watch, his other hand now covering the face of it. It was clear the watch held sentimental value, broken or not.

That was one thing that Fran had picked up on after all her years in silence. She could read people easily - whether it was figuring out if their intentions were good or bad, or whether they still had a heart or not. Joel was clearly a guarded man, but whatever value was hidden in that watch made it clear that there was some form of pain in him. Some real hurt.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked after a moment of silence, looking over at Fran who was still staring at Joel. Fran just nodded her head, closing her own eyes, making Ellie roll her eyes, "old people..."

"I'm not old," Fran mumbled back to her, making Ellie smirk.

"You totally are," Ellie bit back, making Fran shake her head, but the girl didn't respond.

All that was heard were pages flipping from Ellie and the soft breaths of both Fran and Joel. Joel mumbled every once in a while as Fran stayed tucked into herself.

Hours passed as the day went on, the sun flying through the sky and starting to set as Fran was woken up by the feeling of Ellie poking her leg. It made her jump, before settling down, sending Ellie a small glare.

"Sorry," Ellie fake cringed, not at all apologetic, "I gave you a couple of hours, and I'm bored."

Francesca sighed, leaning her head back as she stared up at the ceiling, a small headache starting as she sat up, looking over at Ellie who was still messing with the book from earlier.

"Finally broken the secret code?" Fran asked her then, trying to create conversation, and Ellie just shook her head.

"Nah, I've got a plan to crack it, though," Ellie says, making the girl nod. Fran ran a hand over her face before looking at Joel again, the man mumbled in his sleep.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asks her then, her voice softer.

"I'm fine," Fran nods, "are you alright?"

"Nervous," Ellie answered honestly, and she had every right to be. What they were about to do was nerve-wracking - caught by FEDRA and they hung, caught by a monster and they're ripped apart.

"We'll be fine," Fran tried to assure her, but it was hard when she knew her words held no true promise. Fran was just as scared as she was, if not worse.

"Is it had out there?" Ellie asked quietly - the way it had been described to her, FEDRA was doing a great job at keeping infected away, serving the people as they should. She didn't exactly believe them. Anybody can make themselves out to be the hero, it's whether they can be called out on it that matters. She trusted that they served the people, she didn't trust that they were keeping infected away. She had been infected inside a soon-to-be safe zone, Riley had been too.