Losing you ; Joel Miller

xxv. Asshole voice

[2023]
EDEN

Eden?

     The world spun as she opened her eyes, turning to face Ellie, only to find a man standing with a gun to her head. Her gaze darted over to the sleeping baby, heart hammering as she shook Joel's shoulder while Ellie called for him. With a flinch, he woke up. " Eyes on me. Eyes on me" the older boy seemed tense, hand gripping the gun firmly as he kept eye contact with Joel. Eden scanned her surroundings, her gun was with her bow, both a few feet away from her, shit. " We don't wanna hurt you. We wanna help you."

" Okay."

" Okay, um... I don't know what the next step is with something like this, but if I lower my gun... we didn't hurt you... so you don't hurt us... right?" The two boys seemed to be brothers, Eden looked over at the youngest, finding him staring right back at her.

" That's right" she pursed her lips at the way Joel was communicating, she loved him dearly, but he wasn't that great at making people feel like he wasn't going to shoot them. " That's a weird fucking tone, man" the eldest said nervously. " That's just the way he sounds. He has an asshоlе voice. Joel, tell him he's okay" Ellie's eyes seemed to plead, obviously enjoying having a gun pointed at her head.

" Everything is great" Joel muttered out in the same tone as before " dude!" Eden nudged him with her leg, " you're making him nervous" she glared at her partner, the boys seemed taken aback, not by her sudden movements, but the fact that she was communicating in sign language. " You speak ASL?" The eldest questioned, eyes furrowed as he stared at her. Eden nodded slowly, feeling anxious that their attention had shifted to her.

" I'm selectively mute" she signed hesitantly, eyes darting between the two boys. " Okay... listen... I'm gonna trust you guys" the eldest said before signing " I trust them" to the youngest, he must be deaf, Eden thought to herself, studying the boys. " But if any of you guys try anything... yeah?"

" Yeah."

" Can I sit up?" Joel grumbled out, back arched in an uncomfortable position. His gaze shifted to Eden, wanting to know if she was okay. As he slowly sat up, he asked " who are you?"

" My name's Henry. That's my brother, Sam. I'm the most wanted man in Kansas City" Henry took a short pause, eyes darting between Eden and Joel " although right now... my guess is you two are running a close second."

" Where did you get these?" They all sat by a lantern in the apartment building, eating old crackers and beef jerky in silence. " From Bill... he's dead" Ellie responded, awkwardly pursing her lips as she took another bite. Sam signed something, probably assuming everyone knew ASL. " Uhh I don't..." the teen trailed off, eyes darting to Joel.

" He said thank you" the greying man grunted out, translating for her. It had been the first word he was taught in sign language, and Eden's most used word when she lived with him in the beginning. " Yeah, I'm guessing you don't have much, so... this means a lot" Henry said gratefully.

" How old is he?" Ellie asked, Henry translated to Sam, who responded in ASL. " He's 8" the eldest then said to the teen. " Cool... I'm Ellie."

Eden sat silently next to Joel, watching the interaction between the two kids unfold. When Ellie was done introducing herself, Eden gave the youngest boy a warm smile " I'm Eden and this is Ada" she looked down at the baby girl in her lap, large brown eyes staring up at Ellie, a small grin on her chubby face.

" I'm Joel. Look, you ate, we didn't kill each other, let's call this a win-win and move on" a frown tugged at Eden's lips, head shifting to look at Joel with slight disappointment.

" Well, I'm betting... that y'all came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out. And when the sun's up... I'll show you one."

JOEL

     " Welcome to Killa City" Henry said as they studied Kansas City through the large class window. " No FEDRA" Joel mumbled out, face stern " not as of 10 days ago, no."

     " We always heard KC FEDRA was..." His gaze shifted to Eden's eyes, he'd always loved their colour, sometimes a beautiful dark brown, while in others, he would almost call them green. " Monsters? Savages? Yeah, you heard right. Raped and tortured and murdered people for 20 years" Henry finished his sentence, Joel continued to stare at the blonde. " And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you."

     " But you're not FEDRA" Eden signed, worrying her bottom lip. She had always felt so much for other people, something that was both a blessing and a weakness. Joel wondered how she could do it, burden herself with everyone else's problems while simultaneously fighting for her own survival.

     " No... worse. I'm a collaborator" Joel's gaze snapped towards Henry's direction, head shaking " we don't work with rats" he stated simply, ignoring the feeling of Eden's eyes staring up at him.

     " Yeah you fucking do" Henry scoffed " today you do... 'cause I live here and you guys don't. That's how I followed you here. I know this city, and that's how I'm gonna help you get out"

     " Why help us?" Joel questioned gruffly, dark eyes narrowing with suspicion " I saw what you two did... the way you guys killed those men" the couple exchanged a quick glance " now, I know where to go but I don't know how to make it through alive, not if it's just me and Sam."

     " You seem capable enough... you're armed." Eden chewed on her nails, hazel eyes skirting over to look at the young boy. He was seated by a table with Ellie who held Ada in her lap, playing with the baby's soft curls. " You're wrong, and wrong. Never killed anyone. And pointing an unloaded gun at you was the closest I've ever come to being violent."

     " So that's the deal, I show the way... you two clear the way" a fit of giggles from Ellie and Sam made the adults turn their heads, Henry smiled softly " haven't heard that in a long time."

     Eden walked over to the kids, head tilted " What are you guys looking at?" She signed the question simultaneously, Henry and Joel continued speaking amongst themselves.
" Ellie is showing me her joke book" Sam signed, which made the blonde's grin widen. Ada squealed loudly at the sight of her mother, dark eyes shining as she tightly gripped Ellie's pinky finger with her tiny fists. Eden kneeled down between them, hand stroking the baby's soft curls as she asked the kids to tell her some of the jokes.

" Why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they go golfing?" Ellie asked, shifting in her seat to face Eden, who signed the question for Sam.

" In case they get a hole in one!"

Honey is typing...
I'm both excited and dreading episode 9, I heard it was only going to be 45 minutes long? How are they supposed to fit everything into that