Chapter Eleven
I'm losing it
All Fran wanted to do was go into a corner and cry her eyes out. The boys screams were still running rampant through her head as Joel worked to get the door to where Ellie was open.
As soon as he did, he quickly guided Fran inside, both her and Ellie sharing a haunted look.
"Let's go, fast," Joel was quick to snap them out of it, getting Ellie's help to move shit against the door. By this point, Fran's hand had come
Up to her shoulder again, pressing against it to try an stop the blood.
Joel took a second to look at Ellie and check her over, knowing what she did couldn't of been easy.
Ellie, noticing this right away, put a stop to it, "I'm okay... I'm good. I, uh, got some food in here still, and I got your light still... What now?"
She passed the torch to him, Joel turning to look at Fran who was stood staring at the wall, still in shock, one hand on her injured shoulder, other arm hugged around her middle for comfort.
"We go up," He says, knowing realistically he needs to give Fran some medical attention, but can't do it in such a dangerous area. More people could be on their way.
"To get a better look?" Ellie asked him, looking over to Fran, "Is... Is she alright?"
"Hopefully, we spot a clear route out." He tells Ellie; quick to stand in front of Fran to get her attention, "We've gotta go. I promise we will sort out your shoulder as soon as we can."
Fran nods at his words, not trusting her voice.
"You're fine," he says to her then, more assuring him than her, and walking to the door. Ellie is quick to link her arm with Fran's good arm, walking after him, "Stay close."
"Got it," Ellie nods, both following him through the door and out the side of the building. They practically hug the wall as they go, hiding behind a car when they reach the end of the alley.
Two vehicles go by; one armoured up, one a classic truck, both with several people on it - like their own squadrons.
"Bryan! Bryan!" Fran shakes her head at the yells for the dead boy. Joel looking back at the two and motioning for them to stay.
"Body, body! They got fսck¡n' Bryan!" Joel dashes across the road to a door on the other side; opening it up and gesturing for the two girls to follow; both saying low as they run and shutting the door behind them.
-
They'd made it only a block before realising they couldn't go any further, every ten seconds a car went by.
They were inside of another old shop, newspapers covering most of the windows. Joel and Ellie were by the windows, looking through the small gaps of paper to get a grasp as to what was going on. Fran sat on a nearby table, still holding her wound and holding back more tears.
The adrenaline of everything had worn off, the stinging the only thing on her mind as she tried to think about what was happening.
"They're not FEDRA, and they're not Fireflies, so who are they?" Ellie asked Joel quietly, standing by his side as he looked out.
"People." He answered shortly.
"Are we okay in here?" Ellie asked, more worried for the woman sat on the table who still seemed to be in her own little world.
"For a little bit, maybe," He answered, "Looks like they're checkin' out apartment buildings first. But they'll be coming through these places soon enough."
He moved away from the window, finally looking to Fran and sighing as he went down for his bag, opening it up as Ellie looked out for herself.
"There's a really tall building, like, four blocks away," She commented, knowing the strategy of getting to a high place to check for a route.
"Yeah. Saw it," Joel said, grabbing a spare bandage, water, and a rag, walking in front of Fran. The woman didn't look at him for a moment, still focused on the wall.
"So that's the one?" Ellie asked him.
"As soon as I sort Fran out, and we don't hear a truck, we move." He answered as Fran looked at him, eye level from where she sat, "Fast as we can."
Ellie seemed satisfied with that, taking a seat opposite of where the two were.
"Lemme see it," Joel said to Fran quietly, the woman moving her shirt down so her shoulder was on display. Joel got a little bit of water, and wet the rag he had, carefully applying pressure on her shoulder.
Fran hissed at the feeling, flinching back slightly as Joel started to wipe the blood off.
"I know," he whispered, trying to comfort in any way he could. She just closed her eyes, letting him work as quickly as he could. When the blood was gone and the graze could be seen, a little dent in her shoulder was visible. Only a couple millimetres to the left and it would've gone straight through her shoulder, probably shattered a bone.
He wrapped her shoulder tightly in the bandage, before covering her shoulder once more, and taking a seat to her left.
He was exhausted from the fight, the near death, the night of no sleep... the fear on both of the girls faces was enough to make him feel completely insane.
Ellie, noticing the tired look, spoke up, "Are you okay?"
"I'm all right. Are you all right?" He asked back, the question coming out hesitantly.
"Yeah," Ellie nodded. While she was more focused on how she was physically, Joel's head was hurting from the idea of a child having to shoot someone to save him. He couldn't imagine Sarah having to even hold a gun, let alone use one on another kid.
"Thing is, is I didn't hear that guy comin', and I was so focused on what was wrong with Fran- and... you shouldn't have had to... you know?" Joel tried to talk, still pausing every once in a while: he wasn't good at comforting unless it was bold statements.
"Well, you're glad I did, right?" Ellie said to him with a sad smile, Joel shaking his head
"You're just a kid. You shouldn't know what it means to..." Joel just couldn't think of the right words.
"You didn't kill him," Fran spoke for the first time, both Ellie and Joel looking at her, she just sent a sad smile Ellie's way, "You need to know that, okay? Not your fault."
"I know what it's like... first time that you, uh, hurt... someone like that." Joel took over, seeing as Fran was also struggling, "If you, uh... w- uh... I'm not good at this."
"Yeah, you really aren't." Ellie said, looking down at the floor.
"I mean, it was my fault." Joel said, making Fran's eyebrows furrow; it wasn't on him. "You shouldn't have had to. And I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too," Fran said to Ellie then, standing up to go and sit next to her, "I should've done something sooner. Not you."
Ellie welcomes Fran's good arm around her shoulder; leaning into the embrace as silence covered the group. Fran leaned her head on top of Ellie's, closing her eyes.
"It wasn't my first time." Ellie said quietly after a moment, making Fran lift her head and look down at the girl, a little shocked.
Joel was the same, thinking to himself for a moment, Ellie didn't elaborate on it, both adults understanding.
Joel came down to their level then, grabbing the gun found on Ellie and taking the bullets out, as he had done for Fran.
"Show me your grip. Finger off the trigger." He said to her, watching her movements closely, "Now, who taught you that?"
"FEDRA school." Ellie mumbled, Joel rolling his eyes at the terrible grip. Fran just stayed back, watching observantly.
"Figures. Your thumb..." he did what Tess had taught Fran, "over your thumb. Left hand... squeezes down on the right. You got it?"
He tried to take the gun off of her, "There ya go. Look it." He tried to take it off her again, a smile taking over Ellie's face as it didn't leave her grip; "Okay?"
"Better than me," Fran says, nudging Ellie's side with a smile. Joel stood up then, taking the gun and putting the bullets back in, passing it back to Ellie. The girl went to put it on her belt.
"Uh-uh. You put it in your pack." Joel stops her, "You'll shoot your damn ass off."
Fran huffs a laugh at the thought, standing up as Joel walks to the doorway, taking some of the wooden boards off. Ellie does the same, putting it in her pocket instead. Fran sends her a look, Ellie just sticking out her tongue.
They both walk to where Joel is, watching him take the barricades off. He looks at them for a moment, praying to whatever is up there that they'll get through this unharmed, he didn't need them collecting any more trauma.
"We'll get through this," He tells them, trying to give them some confidence.
"I know," Ellie nods to him. Fran just sending him a small apprehensive smile, and before she can blink, they're through the door.
-
Fran had never been happier to see the sun go down. The darkness gave them more cover, and it had been a long day of travelling a short distance, and hiding away until things quietened down.
Now they were faced with the task of sneaking into the very tall building. All doors were secured, and hope was beginning to be lost when Joel spotted a vent to the inside.
"You're just gonna put your foot here." Joel held out his hands, Ellie's foot balancing on it; "One, two..."
"Oh shit, oh shit!" Ellie cursed, beginning to lose her balance. Fran was quick to throw her hands up to Ellie's waist, making sure she wouldn't fall.
"Straighten up. We've got you," Joel told her, Ellie taking a deep breath before standing tall again and making her way through the hole to the inside.
There was a crashing noises and rustles of movement, before Ellie called out, "Okay, I'm in!"
"Take a look around first." Joel called to her, and upon getting no reply, called out again in a hushed whisper, "Ellie!"
Fran suddenly grabbed his shoulder, yanking him to the floor with her as a vehicle went by. The two stayed quiet as it passed, going unnoticed by the people in the vehicle. But not by a boy watching from nearby, a couple windows up from the ground.
They could still hear Ellie moving around inside; before the door opened.
There was a wide smile on the younger girls face, "Where would you be without me, huh?"
"Still in my home," Fran said blankly.
"Wyoming." Joel also replied, hand going to the small of Fran's back, pushing her inside first. Ellie nodded as Joel closed the door behind them.
"Oh, yeah. Walked into that one," Ellie mumbled.
The three shone their torches around the dark space, Fran spotting the stairs that would lead up. The number forty two being rather intimidating.
"All right," Joel leads them to the stairs, "We'll make our way up, and come morning, I'll take a look at the city, and find our way out." He pushed through the door first, both girls quick to follow.
"We're goin' up 42 flights?" Ellie asked, also not stoked at the idea.
"Forty-five. But no... not all the way," Joel corrected her. Torch pointing up the large stairwell. The end not even illuminated.
"How far?" Ellie asked.
"As far as I can make it," He responded, the seriousness of his tone making Ellie breathe out a laugh.
Joel started up first, the other two following slowly. The first couple of flights were fine, but before long, Fran's thighs were burning. Both her and Joel were breathing heavily as they went.
Ellie was fine next to them, and trying very hard not to make and old people comment.
"Hey, you know that guy who said he was hurt?" Ellie called to Joel, making the man stop his walking, collecting his breath, "How did you know it was an ambush?"
Joel hesitated to answer, illuminated by Ellie's flashlight as he looked to Fran. He didn't bring it up in the car because, if his suspicions were correct, she wouldn't take the news well.
"I've been on both sides," He spoke then, quietly. It didn't matter how quietly though, because Fran heard, and her head snapped up to him instantly, betrayal flashing behind her eyes.
"It was a long time ago," he quickly defended upon seeing the look, a look he never wanted to see again, "We did what we needed to survive."
"You and Tess?" Fran asked him.
"And the people we were with. My brother, too." Joel answered her honestly.
"Did you kill innocent people?" Fran asked him now; her tone clear and cut throat.
He didn't answer her, just motioning for them to keep going, "C'mon."
The idea of her thighs burning didn't bother her as much now as she stared at the back of Joel's head; taking in the information. It was a long time ago, long before she knew him, most likely before Ellie was even born.
She thought back to her own experience with raiders, Joel's face now taking over theirs. She couldn't imagine him in that scenario, doing those things.
But he did, and it wasn't nice to think about.
"Did you just take supplies?" Fran asked then, "like, you didn't do anything further?"
Joel knew what she was insinuating, something that in his eyes was worse than murder; something that only terribly sick people could do.
"Never." He promised her. Sending her a stern look as he spoke, needing her to believe him. She nodded her head at that, looking down at the steps as they went higher and higher.
While Ellie may have been good for the first twenty five floors, even mocking the adults from time to time, when they made it to thirty she was huffing and puffing right along with them.
"Holy shit," she panted as the three went through a doorway. "Thirty-three floors. That's good."
"It's gonna have to be." Joel said, sitting down against the wall as he tried to collect his breath, Fran in a similar state against the opposite wall.
"Come on," Ellie spoke to him in specific, holding her hand out for him.
"Gimme a minute," he said, making her lightly kick his shoe.
"Get up, you lazy ass," Ellie said, smile returning to her face.
Joel took her hand, getting up with a grunt, "Lazy ass. Fifty-six years old, you little shit."
"Fifty six?" Fran asked him, eyes slightly wide - he tried not to be offended as Ellie barked out a laugh, not expecting that from Fran.
"Yes fifty six," He said to her, "why? How old are you?"
"Thirty eight," she said back.
"Thirty eight!" Ellie copies Fran's shocked tone, causing Fran to turn to her with a glare.
"Don't do that," Fran told off the girl.
"What did I do?" Ellie asked, knowing exactly what she had done.
"Yeah, what did she do?" Joel backed the younger girl up; still slightly offended by Fran's comment, or shock to his age.
"You do not have a leg to stand on," Fran pointed at him, shaking her head.
"If it makes you feel better you don't look a day over thirty seven," Ellie joked, earning a light smack on the head from Fran, "ow!"
"Come on," She said, walking off further into the room. The apartment they'd chosen by luck was furnished, old sofas enough to create little mattresses for them all. Or two of them.
While Fran got to work creating the makeshift mattresses, Joel smashed a glass door behind them, making both of them look to him in shock.
"Joel?" Ellie called to him, not receiving a reply as Joel moved the glass around with his shoe; "Joel!"
"What?" He asked her.
"What are you doing?" Ellie asked him.
"I don't want someone sneakin' up on us while we're sleepin'." He said simply. Making Ellie nod as Fran fluffed up two cushions for head rests.
"Ohh, I get it. Crunch, crunch, crunch." Ellie said with her realisation, "Are you sure you're gonna hear it?"
"Of course, I'll hear it," Joel said, defensive once again, "That's the damn point."
"Okay." Ellie responds to his tone, holding her hands up. Joel finishes his little task; before looking at the sleeping arrangements. Fran had made him a bed of cushions, and Ellie one, leaving her without.
"You need to have something soft on your shoulder," Joel says to Fran, motioning to the bed she had made for him, "I'll sleep on the floor."
"No, you've barely slept in days," Fran shakes her head, "you need a good rest."
"You haven't slept well either;" he argues.
"You were up before me this morning, and went to bed after me," she argues back.
"Why don't you share it?" Ellie asks them, mischievous smile on her face. Both of them look at her with deadpan faces.
"Why don't you take Ellie's?" Joel then suggests.
"You're right, Joel. Seeming as I'm so old;" Fran says then; sending Ellie a look, "my back and all that needs more support than yours."
"Fuck you both I made the bed!" Ellie laughed at them.
"I made your bed; you are on the floor," Fran says to her. Ellie rolling her eyes and sitting up, shoving one of the cushions at her.
"For your shoulder," Ellie says then, keeping the other, "you're not that old."
"Ha!" Fran smiled, "you admit it."
"Well, you're not as old as Joel," Ellie finishes, making Joel send her a look. Fran shakes her head, happily taking the pillow and lying down.
"Good night," Joel says to the two, both of them muttering it back.
Instead of Ellie breaking the silence this time; it was actually Joel who spoke first; "Ellie?"
"Yeah?" The girl responded quietly.
"When we were talkin' about hurtin' people... what did you mean it wasn't your first time?"
There was a pause, before Ellie spoke softly, "I don't wanna talk about it."
"All right. You don't have to. I'm just sayin'... it isn't fair, your age... havin' to deal with all of this..." Joel told her, the thought still on his mind.
"So it gets easier when you get older?" Ellie asked, a sad sense of hope in her voice.
"No, not really. But still." Joel mumbled.
Silence fell over them again.
"The reason I asked whether you'd hear the glass or not is 'cause I've noticed you don't hear too well from your right side," Ellie says clearly to the man; "Is it 'cause you were shot there?"
"Probably more from shootin'." Joel answered, even though he knew it was a lie, "So if you wanna keep your hearin', you stick to that knife."
"Or just stay out of trouble," Fran suggests to her making Ellie shake her head.
"Guys?" Ellie addresses them both now.
"Hm?" They both hum back, Fran turning her head. She'd rather face Ellie to sleep, but her shoulder prevented it.
"Did you know diarrhea is hereditary?"
The both of them shared a look at that, equally as confused.
"What?" Joel asks her at the random fact.
"Yeah. It runs in your jeans."
A stupid joke, yes. But the unexpectedness of it; the timing with the conversation, and the small laugh that Ellie lets out is enough to get both adults hiding smiles.
"Jesus," Joel breathed out, before a small breathy laugh left his lips, "That is so goddamn stupid."
"You laughed, mοthеrfսckеr," Ellie laughed louder down, Fran giggling as she looked over at Joel's shaking figure, the man trying to keep the silly laugh in.
"I didn't laugh." He defended.
"Yes, you did." Fran added now, "at a poop joke."
"Jesus, I'm losin' it." He sighs out.
"You're losin' it big time," Ellie laughs again. All three now huffing out little laughs.
"Go to sleep," Joel mumbles.
"You go to sleep," Ellie mumbled back. Fran sighed out as she let her giggles die down. All now resting for the night.
A/N
I hope they have a lovely sleep and no one interrupts them <3