The group of 4 began their escape as they walked through the rainy streets of the QZ.
Maeve and Ellie both had their hoodies up, preventing them from being noticed.
As they passed by FEDRA agents, Ellie pulled her hood closer to her face as she stepped towards Maeve's side, cutting off the agents view of her.
They then entered into an old apartment building.
Tess unlocked the doors, allowing the two girls to enter.
"Give us a minute, alright?" Tess spoke as she turned to leave the room.
"What the fuck?" Ellie yelled in protest as the door was slammed in her face.
Maeve flinched at the sound.
She could hear the two adults through the thin walls as Joel spoke,
"So what's the plan?"
"There's not a lot of options. There's the short way or the long way." Tess answered.
Maeve turned her attention away from them as she saw Ellie begin to rummage through stuff in the apartment.
Maeve was quick to take a look around herself, noticing the bottle of alcohol and small baggie filled with some type of residue.
She was broken from her investigation as Ellie called her over, "Hey Mae, come check it, looks like some type of code." She said as she held an old radio hits book.
Maeve eyed the paper inside, not even noticing the use of the new nickname, as it read, '60s - nothing in, 70s - new stock, and 80s - X.'
"It's for smuggling." Maeve spoke up, still not fond that these people were the ones currently in charge of her life.
That's when Joel came through the door, an annoyed looked at his face.
"So, whos Bill and Frank?" Ellie questioned, ignoring the man's obvious annoyance.
That's when he saw Ellie holding the radio book in her hands, a confused glare taking over his features.
"The radio's a smuggling code, right?" She continued, eyeing Maeve.
"'60s songs, they don't have anything new, '70s, they got new stuff. What's '80s?" She finished as Joel got up to grab the book from her, throwing down onto the table as Ellie held her arms up in defense.
Joel then went back over to the couch, laying down, before Ellie spoke up again.
"What are you doing?" She asked as Maeve had taken a seat at the kitchen table, inspecting the gadgets that were sprawled out.
"Killin' time." He replied nonchalantly.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Ellie kept going.
"I'm sure you'll both figure that out. Seems like your friend has already found something to keep her occupied." He said, having seen Maeve fiddling with the gadgets.
He head popped up at the mention of her presence, quickly drawing her hands away from the table, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Ellie looked towards her, giving her a reassuring nod at the mans bad mood.
Ellie rolled her eyes before grabbing the radio book and heading to the opposite corner of the room to sit in the chair next to the window.
"Your watch is broken." Ellie finalized before settling down.
Maeve looked towards Joel after the comment, seeing the slight look of contemplation that plagued his features.
A feature she had grown accustomed to herself. A feature of remembrance.
A couple hours passed as the world around the trio turned into night, a light orange glow encasing the apartment from the streetlamps outside.
Maeve had broken into a book about weaponry that Joel had lying around on the table before Ellie spoke up, seeing that Joel had woken up.
"You mumble in your sleep." She said simply.
Although it was incoherent, Maeve recognized the concern in his voice, having suffered from dreams like that herself, she was intrigued as she wondered if something had happened to Joel as well.
He slowly sat up, looking over to Maeve who quickly turned her gaze away from him and back down into the book.
Based on the worsening eye bags the young girl's features presented, he assumed she hadn't gotten any rest, his eyebrows furrowed in concern at the thought as he knew that heading out of the QZ was a demanding task.
"I've never been on the other side of the wall." Ellie spoke up, Joel turning his attention back towards her.
"Look how dark it is." She continued, Maeve picked up on the slight fear in her features as she stared out the window.
Joel didn't say anything in reply as he rubbed his shoulder.
"You guys go out there a lot?" She inquired. Maeve thought it was cool how Ellie was seemingly thinking the exact same thing as her with the questions she was asking.
"I guess." Joel replied, with a slight rasp to his tone.
"When was the last time?" Ellie continued as Maeve looked between the two.
"Maybe a year. What's it matter?" He said, picking up an annoyed tone once more.
"But you know where to go. So we're gonna be okay." Ellie said with a tone of determination, hoping that Joel and Tess actually knew what they were doing.
Joel looked between the two girls, noticing the look of concern present on both of their faces.
"Yeah." He replied, trying to ease both girls.
Ellie nodded before turning her gaze back to the window, and Maeve returning to the book in front of her.
"So what's the deal with you both anyway? You guys some kinda bigwig's daughter or something?" Joel asked, breaking the silence in the room once more.
Maeve immediately looked towards Ellie, meeting her eyes before she answered, "Something like that." She answered convincingly.
He turned towards Maeve as he raised his eyebrows, looking for some type of confirmation.
Maeve simply nodded in return.
"The radio came on when you were sleeping." Ellie began.
Maeve turned towards her as Joel did the same, not remembering this happening.
"What? What was the song?" Joel questioned.
"It kept saying like, 'Wake me up before you go-go'?" Ellie replied, sharing a quick glance with Maeve, winking in her direction-- silently letting her in on the joke.
80s equals X. Maeve remembered, she was confirming the code.
A small smile started to spread across her lips as she looked towards Joel's concerned face.
"Shit." He whispered, looking down.
"Gotcha." Ellie said with a smirk plastered on her face.
Joel looked up confused.
"'80s means trouble. Code broken." She continued.
He then looked back towards Maeve who was stifling a giggle.
"Listen--" He began, although he was cut off as the door began to open.
Tess walked in, setting her stuff down next to Maeve, giving the girl a slight smile before talking,
"The spot under Lancaster looks good. You girls got jackets in your pack's?" She asked.
"Yeah, we do." Ellie replied.
"Okay, get it. It's time to go." Tess said, looking towards Maeve again, who began searching through her bag until she pulled out a puffy black jacket in which she quickly put on.
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Joel quickly got to work, moving the asphalt slab that allowed all of them to climb out from underneath the road they had just crawled under.
Ellie crawled out after, then Mave who got her foot caught on something, but before she could misstep, Joel reached his hand out as Maeve took it graciously, quickly getting out the rest of the way as Tess followed.
Ellie's face lit up in amazement as she began to look around at the new world.
"Holy shit, I'm actually outside." She remarked in a tone louder than normal.
"Jesus Christ." Tess said annoyed as the surveillance light began to shine in their direction, grabbing Ellie and pulling her back down, out of view.
Although Maeve had the opposite reaction, quietly dazing out, a shudder wracking her body as she remembered the events that had transpired the last time she was outside of the QZ walls.
Tess began to speak, but it sounded muddled as the ringing in her ear picked up.
His screams of pain, the infected clawing at him, her sobbing as she was taken from the sight.
It was too much as her breathing began to pick up before Tess looked over to her, seeing the state of distress that was growing on her face.
"Hey, kid, we gotta get moving." She said gently, trying to break Maeve out of whatever trance she was in.
Ellie grew concerned as Maeve hadn't even moved at the words, quickly going over to her and grabbing her arm, as she knew she probably didn't even hear Tess.
At the sudden touch, Maeve flinched as she turned towards Ellie, the ringing in her ear going back down to normal once more.
"You okay?" Ellie asked, seeing the girls chest rising and falling faster than normal.
Maeve was quick to brush her off as she knew they had to get going.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said before beginning to move towards the front of the group.
As she passed, Ellie and Tess sighed before continuing to follow.
Joel held up for a moment, his gaze lingering on Maeve's figure.
He knew that look. That look of painful remembrance.
He sighed as well before catching up with the group.
They walked for a minute before they began to crawl under a bus.
Tess led the group as Ellie followed, then Maeve, and finally Joel took up the back, looking behind him before he went under the bus himself.
Maeve was nervous, she knew what would happen in they were caught; FEDRA didn't mess around when it came to curfew and enforcement.
She kept her attention on Ellie in front of her, following her footsteps to keep herself grounded.
Suddenly a truck passed close-by, as Tess quickly grabbed Ellie while Joel grabbed Maeve, both hiding behind separate cars.
Maeve put a hand over her mouth in order to calm her breathing before she looked back towards Joel after the car passed, he gave her a slight nod to indicate that they needed to keep moving.
As they kept heading forwards, a light rain had begun, slowly soaking their clothes.
They entered a rusted metal tunnel in order to get out of view of the surveillance helicopters that flew overhead.
Maeve closed her eyes as they stopped once more, hoping that they hadn't been spotted.
They continued on as they rounded a corner, Ellie had linked her hand with Maeve's in an attempt to comfort the girl as she felt the tremors that flowed through her hand.
As they turned, they had all failed to notice the soldier who was relieving himself on the wall they had just emerged from.
"What the hell?" The soldier said as he saw the figures out of the corner of his eye.
All four of them froze as they heard him,
"Hey, hey! Don't, don't, don't move." He said as he quickly zipped his pants back up.
Maeve began to tremble even more now as her worst fear had just come true.
Joel put a protective arm out in front of her as she slowly began to back up.
"Don't move!" He yelled again, now having his gun pointed at the group.
Suddenly the guard lifted his mask, seemingly knowing Joel and Tess,
"You gotta be shittin' me." He said blatantly.
"Okay, let's talk this out." Joel began as the guard turned his light on to look towards the group.
"Turn around." He said, in a serious tone, not giving mind to what Joel was saying.
"Hold on--" Joel tried to protest once more before he was cut off again.
"Get on your fuckin' knees." The man said as he walked closer towards them.
"Get on your fuckin' knees!" He repeated in a harsher tone when none of them moved.
"Now hold on--" Joel tried once more.
"What did I fuckin' tell you, man? I said stay the fuck home. Get on your knees!" He finalized.
Ellie looked to Maeve who was shaking even worse now, she frowned, not being able to move to help the girl at the moment.
"Just get on your knees, just get on your knees." Tess said turning around, lowering herself to the ground, urging the other three to do the same.
"Listen, you let us do this run, we'll split the cards with you." Tess tried to deal with the guard.
Joel and Ellie began to lower themselves to the ground in compliance as Ellie looked towards Maeve who remained unmoving.
She quickly reached out towards the girl, grabbing her arm, gaining her attention, before gently pulling her towards the ground as well.
Ellie gave a quick reassuring nod to try and calm the girl, although she was nervous herself.
"Oh will you?" The guard replied.
"Yeah." Tess replied, somewhat annoyed.
"I'm so blessed. Hands on your head, eyes forward." He responded sarcastically.
Tess looked towards him, upset that he hadn't budged at the incentive of more cards.
"Hands on you head!" He yelled as none of them had moved.
Maeve quickly moved her hands to her head as she shut her eyes tight, wanting to be anywhere but here.
Why had Marlene trusted her with these two strangers? Now her life was in danger.
"Really, man?" Tess said as the guard pulled out a testing device, beginning to use it on the group.
"Yep, were doing this by the book." He said as he saw that Tess's test had come back negative.
Maeve, lost it at the sight of the device, she knew the second it tested her neck, it would come up as infected.
She began to squirm uncomfortably, her breathing increasingly rapidly as he made his way down the line.
She looked to her side, silently begging Ellie for help as she was the only other one that knew what would happen if they were tested.
Ellie looked just as nervous herself until she slowly reached in her pocket, pulling out her switchblade.
Maeve's eyes went wide, not liking the direction this was going as Joel was being tested right beside her.
Joel and Tess continued to argue with the man, too busy to notice the two girls nerves right next to them.
Suddenly, the guard walked over behind Maeve, as the cool metal of the device was pressed against the back of her neck, she attempted to move away slightly, only getting reprimanded by the guard.
"Hold still." He said as the device made contact with her neck once more.
Although as soon as she felt the prick of the needle, Ellie yelled out from beside her, stabbing her blade into the guard's thigh, making him drop the testing device as he grabbed his new wound.
Ellie then quickly moved to stand in front of Maeve as she knew that her little stunt was going to piss him off.
"Fuckin' bitch. Fuck." the guard said through gritted teeth as he pulled Ellie's blade from his leg.
"Get out of the fuckin' way!" He yelled as he held his gun up towards Joel, who currently stood in front of the two girls.
"Woah, woah. We can fix this." He said as he glanced back seeing the two petrified girls behind him.
"Move." The guard said, leaving no room for discussion.
Suddenly, a great sense of deja vu washed over Joel, he remembered being put in this situation years ago.
He wouldn't let tonight have the same outcome.
"Move." The guard said again taking another step forward.
Joel then sprang into action, tackling the guard to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hands before he began laying into him.
Punch after punch, hit after hit, not stopping even after the guard was already unconscious.
Ellie looked towards Joel with fascination, while Maeve was a bit scared of the man's suddenly vicious demeanor, although both were grateful that he had taken the guard down, knowing that things could of ended a lot differently had he not tackled him.
Suddenly Maeve noticed Tess move behind her, quickly picking up the testing device from the ground.
Maeve silently hoped that it wouldn't of had the time to register as it had been pulled away from her rather quickly, but her heart sank as Tess turned the screen over, covering her features in a red hue.
No. No no no. Maeve thought as Tess looked towards her, now scared of her presence.
"No, no! No, I'm not s-sick!" She began to stutter out nervously, before Ellie turned around, her eyes widening, realizing what was happening.
Although, Tess wasn't budging, "Joel," She began.
"No she's not sick!" Ellie quickly came to the girls defense.
"Joel, Joel!" He said as he gained the mans attention whose face fell from one of anger to one of utter confusion.
"Look, look, show them!" Ellie pleaded the younger girl before she turned towards the two confused adults, pulling down the collar of her jumper revealing her gangly scar mark from the first time she was bitten.
"This is 6 years old!" Ellie said, trying to calm the adults down as Maeve was too stunned to even speak.
No one was supposed to know about this other than themselves, and the Fireflies.
Tess then went over towards Maeve as she grabbed her shoulders harshly, taking a closer look at the scar.
"Nobody lasts more than a day! Does that look a day old to you?" Ellie continued to inform the older adults.
Tess continued to look towards the girls, the face of confusion turning into one of betrayal.
"You would've killed her." Ellie explained as Tess saw the terrified young girl in front of her.
"I should fucking kill you!" Tess exclaimed, as Maeve flinched slightly away from the woman.
"When did it happen?" She said, looking closely at the young girls scar once more.
"It doesn't matter, you have to trust us! They're gonna catch us if we don't run." Ellie said, knowing that FEDRA would be near after hearing all of the commotion.
Tess took one more look towards the young girl before grabbing her and beginning to pull her away from the scene.
"Joel, we gotta move." Tess urged, seeing the dazed look he held.
"We gotta move, Joel!" Tess pressed, hearing the sirens grow closer to where they were.
With that, Tess continued to walk forward with the two girls, Maeve still shaken up from the whole ordeal, not knowing what they were going to do next. Would they kill her? The thought sent a chill down her spine as she continued to walk.
Joel picked up the gun from the now deceased soldier before picking up after the girls.
After hurrying for another few minutes, they were met with a fence, where Tess opened the broken part that they were all able to sneak through.
Ellie slipped through before Maeve as she hesitated for a moment, before sliding through the fence herself.
"Joel!" Tess yelled once more as he was still lingering farther behind.
Joel then arrived to the fence, taking one last glance behind him before beginning to run with the girls in front of him.
The girls that had a lot more to their story than Joel had originally thought.
With that, they were officially out of the QZ.
A/N: First episode is done! How are we feeling so far? Joel and Tess are now aware of Maeve's immunity, spooky. I love this episode so much and writing these chapters with such intense scenes of realization is so fun and thrilling. Anyways, next chapter, things obviously begin to pick up even more so, so stay tuned! I hope you all are enjoying this book, and if you are please vote and comment as it really helps me out and I absolutely LOVE hearing what you all have to say! Also go grab a snack before continuing on! Take care of yourself!
- With utmost sincerity, A.F.