CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Violet moved an inch, watching with wary eyes when the older boy suddenly exclaimed loudly pointing the gun closer to Lily and Ellie,
"Eyes on me. Eyes on me. You don't have to worry about what to say. We don't wanna hurt you. We wanna help you."
Violet glared fiercely at the man wishing he would stop pointing the gun at her sister, she reached under her pillow ever so slowly, he continued talking clumsily,
"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?"
Joel and Violet replied at the same time with the same tone, it was not alright, the man has guns trained on them.
"Uh, sure"
"That's right."
Henry shook looking at them, feeling a threat laced behind their words, Violet tried to control her breathing, her rage, her sister was cowering in the corner and she couldn't do anything.
Henry spoke freaked out,
"That's a weird fսck¡n' tone, man."
Violet thought this guy was stupid if he thought they would just have a tea party when he has a gun trained on everyone they care about.
Ellie panicked trying to make up for the grumpy adults,
"That's just the way they sounds.
They both have an asshоlе voice. Joel, Violet tell him he's okay."
Violet looked at Lily who nodded and she turned back to him and spoke first then Joel spoke straight after mirroring her tone.
"Everything is fine."
"Everything is great."
Ellie gasped and exclaimed as Lily swore, her sisters temperament was something that need work.
"Dude."
Henry swore and panicked more before taking a deep breath and lowering the gun slowly but not all the way, he spoke quietly,
"Okay... listen... I'm gonna trust you.
Yes. But if either of you guys try anything..."
Violet nodded as she watched him lower his gun completely and do what looks like sign language to communicate with his brother that everything was okay as she asked sourly but glad he had lowered the gun,
"Can I sit up?"
Henry sighed and started to nod while speaking softly,
"Yeah. Slow. Get up slow."
Joel spoke glaring at the man, keen on getting answers why he was there and who they were,
"Who are you?"
Henry stepped back slightly, and looked extremely nervous before quietly speaking revealing his identity,
"My name's Henry. That's my brother, Sam. I'm the most wanted man in Kansas City. Although right now... my guess is you're running a close second."
Violet stood uncomfortable with Henry and Sam sitting across from them, eating some of food Ellie had shared with them. Henry asked a question softly towards Ellie, the friendlier face along with Lily,
"Where'd you get these?"
Ellie spoke the truth, and Joel glared at her wanting her to stop telling strangers things about us. Violet was watching Lily who was blushing around the boy, typical.
"From Bill. He's dead."
Henry nodded smiling good the grumpy stoic man,
"He says thank you."
"I'm guessing you don't have much, so... this means a lot."
Ellie broke the awkward silence that followed as Violet sat down next to Joel, her leg aching again, she injected the last bit of penicillin into her leg. Ellie asked,
"How old is he?"
Henry signed to his brother as Violet watched, realising that Sam is deaf. He was very quick witted though.
Henry shrugged and answered,
"He's eight."
Ellie smiled back as Lily introduced herself straight after Ellie, Lily elbowing Violet and Joel getting elbowed by Ellie, so they introduce themselves reluctantly,
"I'm Joel."
"Violet."
Joel cleared his throat and then said what he had been wanting to say the whole time, making eyes with Violet's who nodded agreeing,
"Look, you ate, we didn't kill each other, let's call this a win-win and move on."
Henry spoke, causing Joel
to look up in surprise, Violet listening but also just not wanting anyone else to be responsible for, it was already stressful enough,
"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."
After sleeping, Violet got up and changed her bandage and cleaned her wound, running out of clean bandage and alcohol, so she'd just have to hope she had just missed out on the infection if it was coming,
Henry looked out of the window, speaking looking at the state of anarchy,
"Welcome to Killa City."
Joel questioned, confused as to how they got rid of FEDRA, when the fireflies had been trying for so long in Boston and had lost,
"No FEDRA."
Henry shrugged his shoulders as Violet listened pulling her pants up as he told them,
"Not as of 10 days ago, no."
Violet spoke thinking of the horrors she had heard from the treatment of civilians by FEDRA in KC,
"We always heard KC FEDRA was..."
Henry cut her off, and nodded shuddering thinking of the things his friends experienced, he experienced confirming the rumours as he spoke quickly,
"Monsters? Savages? Yeah, you heard right. Raped and tortured and murdered people for 20 years. And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you."
Joel pondered who this man was, and what his place in Kansas City was, he asked loudly,
"But you're not FEDRA."
Henry sighed as he rubbed his temple speaking taking a pause in
between the words,
"No... worse.
I'm a collaborator."
Violet flinched as she shook her head, Joel nodding understanding and sternly speaking,
"I don't work with rats."
But then surprisingly Henry made some good points about how he knows the area better than them, he was right and Joel hated it.
"Yeah, you fսck¡ng do. Today you do... 'cause I live here and you don't. That's how I followed you here. I know this city, and that's how I'm gonna help you get out."
Violet crossed her arms and cocked her head unsure why he needed the group,
"Why help us?"
Henry took a deep breath and answered avoiding eye contact, Violet was confused honestly at how he didn't know combat that was obvious now,
"I saw what you did... both of you... the way you killed those men. 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."
Joel rolled his eyes and pointed his eyes to the gun in Henry's holster,
"You seem capable enough. You're armed."
Henry rubbed the back of his neck as he stumbled over his words trying to explain in a way that didn't completely fuck up his chances for them to help him.
"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 clear the way."
Henry turned his head to Sam laughing loudly with Ellie and Lily laughing just as hard. Violet felt a small smile grace her face, it was cool seeing Ellie with a kid and being a kid, and it was cool seeing Lily, be like a big sister for a change. Henry sighed and spoke smiling at his brother,
"Haven't heard that in a long time."
Joel got back to the main point of concern and figuring out what Henry knows and doesn't, so they can make a plan which will keep everyone safe.
"So how are we gettin' out?"
Violet and Joel stood next to Henry pointing to things on a map and speaking through the plans,
"Highways... Downtown. Us.
This whole area belongs to Kathleen."
Joel asked quickly,
"She's in charge?"
Henry nodded and continued, Violet nodding listening intently,
"Leader of the resistance. You can see the way we're bounded by highways. They got people posted all around the inside perimeter. If we get close, we get caught. No question.
So how do we get across?"
He tapped the table and turned to his brother, signing to him asking how they get across. Sam nodded and wrote down on his little etch and sketch, tunnels. Henry smiled clicking as he spoke,
"Boom."
Violet cocked her head before questioning, not liking the sound of dark tunnels that probably had a multitude of infected.
"Kansas City has a subway?"
Henry shook his head and replied, continuing as Joel and Violet listened to his actually completely reasonable plan. They didn't understand why he need them then, so Joel asked after he stopped talking,
"No, but they do have maintenance tunnels. There's a bunch of buildings all put up by the same developers. And they share these tunnels, including... a bank building here.
So we enter the tunnels here... travel underground, and pop up here. Westside North. Residential. There's an embankment on the other side of the houses. We head down, pedestrian bridge over the river... free as a bird."
"You're right. It's a great plan. So what do you need me for?"
Henry shook his head, stuttering over his words, as he thought of how to phrase his concerns,
"You noticed anything strange about this city? I mean, other than the strange sh¡t you've already seen?"
Ellie pondered before guessing,
"No Infected?"
Violet, Joel and Henry scoffed as Henry shook his head and explained the situation,
"Oh, there's Infected. Just not on the surface. FEDRA drove them underground 15 years ago, and never let them come back up. It's the only good thing those fascist mοthеrfսckеr ever did."
Violet didn't understand why he thought underground was an option, because from where she was sitting it sounded like a death trap.
Violet questioned,
"So you want us goin' into a tunnel?"
Joel nodding eager for an answer, as Henry defended his choice,
"Everyone thinks that it's full of Infected, including Kathleen, which means that we're not gonna be running into any of her people. But you see, what I know is... it's empty."
Violet cocked her head in confusion as Joel asked another question, not taken by this plan, needing to know where Henry got that information from,
"You've been down there?"
Henry looked down and answered warily, knowing he didn't sound the most credible,
"No, but the FEDRA guy that I worked with told me that it's clean, completely clean. They cleared it out."
Violet scoffed and spoke quickly,
"All of it. When?"
Henry spoke making Joel shoot a ridiculous look towards Violet, as he knew that three years was a long time, there were endless bad scenarios that could happen, infected kill them all or one bites one of them, he knew it wasn't a good idea.
"Like... three years ago. Okay, maybe, there's one or two, but you handle it."
Violet snapped slightly, over this boy's ability to be so naive thinking to underestimate the chance of Infected,
"What if there's more?"
Lily spoke shuddering thinking about the ugly clicker she saw, and how it almost killed them,
"Or one of those blind ones that sees like a bat?"
Henry's eyes widened as Ellie nodded in agreement, he spoke questioning,
"Wait, you... you ran into a Clicker?"
Ellie answered boasting, (although Violet was unsure why almost dying was something to brag about)
"Three of 'em."
Henry nodded, impressed with them, he had never had the pleasure of seeing a clicker in front of him, he wished Sam and himself would never see the infected again. He shook his head knowing that was impossible as he spoke,
"And you're still alive.
You see? You're the right people. If it gets bad down there, we turn around, and run right back out the same way we came."
Violet scoffed at the craziness of this plan, but she knew it was all they had, she just wanted Lily to be safe, whatever it takes.
"Oh, that's your great plan?"
Henry rolled his eyes speaking sarcastically causing Violet to be very unimpressed,
"No, that's my dicey-as-fuck plan. But as far as I can tell... it's our only shot."
Henry turned towards Sam and signed that they were going to help them escape, Sam smiled and sent a thumbs up as Henry laughed and spoke loudly causing Joel and Violet to roll their eyes,
"Right?"
END OF CHAPTER
Violet hates strangers same as Joel, Lily is a sweetheart and Ellie acting like a kid i die 😭🫣
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