Blood. It was everywhere. It was all you could see and feel. Your bloodied footprints marking the once pristine white tiles of the hospital. The classic cream paint over the walls now sprayed a bright crimson.
You stepped over the bodies of the Fireflies sprawled out over the floor. Pools of blood circling around them.
Joel marched forward down the corridor, the carnage the two of you had left behind not phasing him in the slightest. He hadn't spoken a word since the stairwell, you weren't sure if he could even if he wanted to. He was zeroed in on one thing, and one thing only, saving Ellie and killing anyone that stood in his way.
You couldn't tear your eyes away from the abundant mass of dead bodies scattered over the hospital floor. Your mind flashing back to Henry and Sam, their lifeless bodies unmoving in that motel room.
For a moment, you were so lost in thought that you hadn't notice Joel circle back until his hand grasped your shoulder, startling you back to the present moment.
Those beautiful brown eyes were scanning your body up and down, searching for any injuries, but when he found none, he met your gaze. His eyes had a faraway look about them, like he wasn't entirely there, but there was a flash of concern amongst the rage brewing inside him.
"I'm good. Let's go." You reassured.
Joel gave you a small nod, actioning the bolt on his rifle, ejecting the bullet casing and reloading the weapon before the two of you strode down the corridor side-by-side, taking down anyone who tried to stop you.
Gunshots suddenly burst from somewhere down the corridor behind you, the bullets flying past your body and ricocheting off the walls. Joel was quick to step in front of you, shielding your body with his own before he raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger, silencing the rapid fire of a machine gun instantly. One shot, one kill.
He turned back towards you with a questioning look, and you nodded knowing what he was silently trying to ask. You were fine. Your head felt like it was going to split open, and you couldn't really read the writing on the walls, but you were fine.
You continued marching down the corridor, your assault rifle out of bullets and left behind ages ago as you held the Glock up in front of you, Joel right beside you.
A man suddenly appeared around the corner with a gun raised and you quickly grabbed Joel and pulled him behind cover. He was breathing heavily from beside you, his eyes hard and focused before he peaked out and shot the man easily.
He led the way further down the corridor before encountering a man with his hands raised in surrender, his gun dropped to the ground.
Joel didn't even hesitate when he pulled the trigger, and you didn't blame him. You couldn't leave any of them alive, they would just come after Ellie.
As you walked past a door to a room someone tried to shoot at you from inside, but had shitty aim. The bullet flew straight past you, and you spun around, moving way too quickly, but you lined the man up and pulled the trigger.
Your head was spinning from the sudden movement, and your shot missed its mark, clipping the man in the side of his stomach, but it sent him to the ground, nonetheless.
Gunfire erupted from further down the corridor and you and Joel both quickly raised your weapons and fired, taking them down with ease. Joel looked down at his rifle and you realised that it was out of ammo, but he didn't seem phased as he dropped the gun and pulled out Ellie's switch blade from his pocket and walked into the room to your left.
You stood guard by the door while Joel knelt next to the man who you had injured before he stabbed the blade into the side of his neck and yanked it back out before picking up the mans dropped rifle and pocketing the knife.
Once that floor of the hospital was cleared, you returned to the stairwell and went up another level.
Shot, after shot, after shot. You and Joel worked around each other in sync without having to communicate verbally. Head nods and body language was all you needed.
Joel killed the last man to your left and you finished off the one on your right, the slide of your handgun locking back indicating that you were out of bullets.
Joel glanced over at you, hearing the familiar click of an empty firearm, but you were quick to eject the magazine and replaced it with a spare one from your pocket before racking the slide, loading a bullet in the chamber.
A gunshot fired directly behind you, the gunman so close that your ears started to ring from the blast, but by some miracle he missed, and Joel didn't waste any time and used his last bullet to kill him.
You grabbed your head with your free hand, wincing at the pain the loud gunshot caused, your ears ringing so loudly it was almost painful.
Joel quickly picked up the dead man's handgun, checking the chamber before he appeared in front of you with worried eyes. You were about to tell him that you were fine, but then your eyes landed on a sign over his shoulder and although the words were blurry you could just make out what it spelt.
'Paediatric Surgery'
You pointed at the sign, catching Joels attention as he spun around with the handgun raised, but then he paused when he read the words.
Neither of you said anything before you were walking through the door, the pain in your head long forgotten when you saw a light shining through a door further down the corridor. The only sign of life in the area. That had to be it.
Joel noticed it as well and picked up his pace while you quickly followed, constantly checking your six for any soldiers' you guys had somehow missed because Joel had tunnel vision right now and wasn't looking at anything else except for that door.
No other soldiers came through and a few seconds later, you were walking through the door to find Ellie laying on an operating table with two nurses and a doctor hovering above her.
"Unhook her." Joel ordered, speaking for the first time in a while.
The doctor spun around, his eyes wide above the face mask as he stared at the two of you in alarm.
"How did you get in here?"
"He told you to unhook her." You repeated, raising your handgun in the doctor's direction. "Do it. Now."
"I won't let you take her." He responded, picking up a small scalpel off the table and holding it out defensively.
Joel didn't hesitate before he squeezed the trigger. The nurses all screamed as the doctor fell to the ground, dead.
"Unhook her." Joel repeated, now looking at the two nurses. "Move!"
"Oh, my God." One of them whimpered, as they frantically pulled out Ellies IV drip and unclipped the heartrate monitor from her finger.
"Cover her arm. Fast." Joel ordered, looking down at the small trail of blood falling down Ellies arm from the needle before the nurse covered it with a Band-Aid. "Turn around."
The nurses turned around, their hands still raised in surrender and bodies trembling with fear.
Joel held his handgun out to you which you took without hesitation before he walked over to the table and picked up Ellie, carrying her bridal style. He didn't say anything, but he gave you a small nod and you quickly opened up the door, letting him walk out with Ellie.
You glanced back at the nurses, their backs still turned before you closed the door behind you and followed Joel down the hallway.
He pressed the button for the elevator which you weren't too keen on taking. Had these elevators even been used in the last 20 years? But your head was really hurting, and you weren't sure if you would make it back down those stairs, so you followed him without a word.
To your relief, the elevator held. It did make a few concerning noises, but it held and soon you were stepping out into what looked to be the basement parking lot.
Smart.
The Fireflies probably had working vehicles.
Joel was quick to spot a vehicle across the parking lot with the hood up and headlights on and that was good enough for you. The two of you quickly made your way towards it before a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind you.
"You can't keep her safe forever."
You spun around, raising both handguns at Marlene, blinking away the sudden blurriness in your eyes at the fast movement before you saw the gun in her hand that was aimed at Joel.
"Drop the gun. Now!" You ordered, stepping forward in front of Joel and Ellie, blocking them from the weapon.
"No matter how hard you try, no matter how many people you kill, she's gonna grow up, Joel. And then you'll die. She'll leave. Then what?" Marlene continued to say, looking over your shoulder at Joel as if you weren't even there. "How long till she's torn apart by Infected or murdered by raiders? Because she lives in a broken world that you could have saved."
"Maybe. But it isn't for you to decide." Joel responded from behind you.
"Or you. So what would she decide, huh? 'Cause I think she'd wanna do what's right. And you know it."
"Say the word." You whispered, your voice only loud enough for Joel to hear.
You kept both guns aimed at her, waiting for Joel's signal.
"It's not too late. Even now... even after what you two have done. We can still find a way." Marlene added, looking between the two of you desperately as she lowered her gun.
"Do it." Joel instructed and you didn't hesitate before you shot her.
You followed Joel across the parking lot to the car, the adrenaline in your veins starting to ware out as you sat down in the passenger seat, resting your head back against the head rest and closing your eyes for a moment while he gently placed Ellie on the backseat.
The sound of Marlene gasping and groaning echoed across the parking lot, and you sighed. Wasn't that woman dead?
You opened your eyes about to climb back out the car and finish the job, but Joel appeared beside you and held out his hand.
"I got it. Give me the gun."
You handed over his handgun and watched him march back across the parking lot as Marlene laid in a pool of her blood, raising her hand up at him in a pleading motion.
"No, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Please. Let me go." She begged.
"You'd just come after her."
Joel raised the gun and squeezed the trigger, putting a bullet through her skull and finishing the job.
-
"Hey, don't fall asleep on me. Stay awake." Joel's voice suddenly said, his hand grabbing your thigh and squeezing it gently.
You reopened your eyes, not realising that you had even closed them in the first place. You blinked at the shear brightness of the sky before reaching up and pulling the sun visor down trying to block some of it out.
Your head was still hurting something awful, but after sitting down in the car for a while, it had gotten better and reduced the sharp edge of pain to a constant ache.
"Is she...?" You trailed off and turned in your chair to check on Ellie, but the movement did nothing but make the pain in your head spike. "Ah, fuck." You winced, grabbing your head, realising that the bandage was still wrapped around it.
"Easy, easy. Ellie is still unconscious, she's okay." Joel reassured, his hand still on your thigh as he glanced over at you. "Are you okay?"
"Been better."
You flicked open the mirror on the sun visor, wiping away the dust as you stared at your reflection before reaching up and untying the bandage from your forehead.
"Whoa, hey, I don't think you should-" Joel started to say, but it was too late because the bandage was already off. "Shit, that doesn't look good."
"Just what every girl wants to hear." You mumbled, staring at the mirror and taking in the angry gash on your forehead.
The Fireflies must have stitched the wound because that was definitely not your handy work. The skin around the cut was red and bruised, but the blood that was once down the side of your face and in your hair had been cleaned off, the only evidence that it was ever there in the first place was the blood stain on your shirt collar.
"W-What...?" Ellie suddenly groaned from the backseat.
"It's alright. You're with us." Joel quickly reassured, looking at her through the revision mirror as he drove. "Take it slow. The drugs are still wearin' off."
You tilted the sun visor a little so you could see Ellie to find her still laying down on the backseat, but her eyes were now open.
"I was with the Fireflies and then... what drugs?" She asked softly, still trying to wake up.
You remained silent, unsure how Joel was going to explain what the two of you just did.
"They were runnin' some tests on you... and some others. Turns out there's a whole lot more like you, people that are immune. Dozens of 'em. And the doctors, they couldn't make any of it work. They've actually... they've stopped lookin' for a cure."
You repeated Joels words through your mind so you would remember it, not wanting to slip up and say the wrong thing to Ellie and for her to realise that it was all a lie.
Ellie didn't say anything for a few moments, and you watched her through the mirror as a look of sadness washed over her features.
"Where are my clothes?" She eventually asked quietly.
"Raiders attacked the hospital. Y/N got hurt. I barely got ya both outta there. We'll find you some new ones on the way."
"Is she okay?"
"Just a scratch, kid. I'm fine." You tried to reassure.
"Those stitches would say otherwise." Joel muttered from behind the wheel causing you to glare at his side profile.
"Were other people hurt?"
Joel met your gaze briefly before he focused back on the road in front of him, his hands tightening around the steering wheel.
"Yes."
"Is Marlene okay?"
Nope.
"I'm takin' us home." Joel said, instead of answering the question. Ellie didn't say anything to that and simply rolled over on the backseat until her back was facing you. "I'm sorry." Joel whispered, staring at her through the revision mirror.
You rested your hand over his that was still on your thigh and squeezed it gently for comfort. Ellie might be angry and annoyed that she couldn't help save the world, but Joel did the right thing. You both did.