Chapter Thirteen
Little Miss Sunshine
They had practically ran as fast as they could to the bank, the daylight not helping them be inconspicuous at they ran. It didn't help that the bank's walls were mostly glass around the outside, the five quickly making it down to the entrance of the tunnels.
"You ready?" Henry asks them when they get to the stairs. Joel has his flashlight out, looking to the two girls.
"Get your guns out," he says to Ellie and Fran. Ellie doing so with a smirk, feeling very very cool at the fact she has a weapon. Fran on the other hand is more worried to do so, very aware of the small hand gripping the edge of her coat.
Joel leads the way, Ellie following next. Fran then goes too, Sam following her quickly as Henry takes up the rear, his eyes on his little brother who had already got attached to the woman he was holding onto.
Sam had not had a female person to look up to, ever. His mother dying before the process of memories was possible in his brain. The entrance of this kind Italian woman with a joyful smile was bound to have an impression on him. The matching trousers now sealing the deal.
Joel opened up the massive metal door that looked more like an entrance to a vault then a tunnel system; putting his flashlight and gun through first.
When deemed safe to do so, the others followed, Fran holding her arm out in front of Sam in case the boy decided to wander ahead.
"You see? It's empty," Henry spoke too loudly. The noise alone making Fran cringe as his voice echoed, "The plan is good."
"Shh." Joel pretty much hissed at him, "The plan is good? We've been down here two seconds. We don't know anything."
"Your dad's kind of a pessimist." Henry joked to Ellie, both mentioned are quick to correct him.
"He's not my dad."
"I'm not her dad."
Henry looked to Fran then in slight confusion at the mixup, the woman just hiding her slight smile at the offence both of them took to the sentence. Her smile didn't go unnoticed by Sam, who smiled right back up at her, unaware of the conversation that had happened.
"Just point your light forward," Joel told the man, "and be ready to run."
They started to head down the tunnel, the smell off putting and the silence deafening. Halfway through Fran had given Sam her flashlight to hold, having only the gun in her hands now.
Sam had started making shadow puppets on the wall, Fran discreetly putting her gun away to join in, both hiding little giggles at the pictures they created
Safe to say Sam was blown away at the fact she could make a shadow of an elephant.
They eventually made it to an ending, the walls covered in drawings of rainbows and flowers, the door having a castle around it.
"Woah;" Ellie spoke out in amazement as Sam stepped away from Fran, loving all the pictures on the walls.
Sam, getting a little too excited, went to the door to open it, only for Joel to stick his hand out to stop him, motioning a 'no' with his head.
It seemed to knock Sam's confidence as he went back to Henry and Fran. Fran sending him a little wink that seemed to lift his spirits.
Joel opened the door a little, scoping it out; before opening it all the way and walking in. It was safe to say they weren't expecting to see what was inside.
Fran held Sam back by the shoulders when he tried running inside, excited by the bright colours.
There was a whole area dedicated to kids toys and kids tables, the walls covered in drawings and a drawn out goal on the far wall. Sunlight could also be seen through the small fans on the ceiling; illuminating the room.
"I heard about places like this," Joel said to them all as he scoped out the area, "People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements."
"What happened to them?" Ellie asked as Fran moved forward, the place harrowing now completely empty. There was a whiteboard on the wall with a list of rules.
MAKE SURE DOORS ARE LOCKED.
ASK FOR THE PASSWORD IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE VISITOR.
NO SHOUTING OR NOISY PLAY.
RUN TO HIDING SPOT WHEN YOU HEAR THE ALARM.
"Maybe they didn't follow the rules and they all got infected," Joel said, the small jab aimed right for Ellie.
"Mm," Ellie hummed, deciding to ignore the jab.
Sam was quick to pull Fran along to a small table where an assortment of kids toys lay, Ellie joining them quickly as Sam passed Fran a plastic ring.
She laughed at it; sliding it on her pinky as Sam clapped his hands.
However, Fran might as well have been dead to both the kids when a comic was found on the floor; wandering back to the adults as they began to read it.
"Sam likes you," Henry says to her upon her return, pointing to the plastic ring.
"He's alright," Fran shrugs, sending Henry a cheeky smile as she bumps his side; Henry shaking his head.
Ellie starts to yell about something out of excitement, and Joel is quick to shut it down.
"Hey, keep it down. We're not out yet."
"Ah, c'mon. Can we just rest here for a while?" Ellie begs him, motioning around with her arms; "There's, like, actually sh¡t to do here."
"Wouldn't be so bad to wait the light out a bit. Safer in shadows when we pop back out on the other side." Henry agreed with her; much to Joel's distain.
Fran took it upon herself then to have a little look around herself, spotting a bookshelf near the back of the area.
She walked over, sitting herself down on the floor as she started to look through them, most of them were kids books and nursery rhymes, a little nostalgia pumping through her as she looked through.
Joel, not wanting to be near Henry, had followed slowly after her, watching the woman grab a small book in joy.
He went to speak up, but just watching her in the moment be so excited over a small book she recognised was enough to keep him quiet for a minute longer.
She held the book delicately between her hands. Looking back at the shelf to see a couple others that filled her with glee, grabbing them too and looking through them.
"Light reading?" Joel spoke, watching her turn to look up at him with a smile.
"The Mr Men," Fran told him, holding up the books, each one dedicated to a different character.
"My favorite was little miss sunshine," she spoke fondly, holding up her favorite to Joel who took it off her hands, flipping through the pages.
"And little miss magic." Fran gasped as she saw it, holding it in front of her as she stared at it.
She stood up after a second, Joel passing her back the book with a small smile. She held them close to her, knowing she was taking them with her, and walked out the room to grab her bag.
Henry was quick to get her in conversation, her showing him the books proudly as he smiled. She was having more of an impact on the two new comers than Joel first realised.
-
A little while later, and the adults were sat at a bigger table, Fran with an assortment of things that Sam had kindly gifted her, as they sat watching the two kids play football.
It was finally a wave of calm that Fran needed after the second most stressful week of her life, and she was enjoying seeing both Ellie and Sam happy as they played.
"If you were collaboratin' to take care of him, I... I shouldn't have said what I said," Joel spoke over to Sam from where he sat next to Fran, "I don't know your situation. And I'm not sayin' they should let it go but..."
Ellie's yell of excitement grabbed their attention for a moment, before Joel continued.
"All things considered, seems kinda cruel to send a whole army after you for that."
Henry looked between the two at that, watching them watch the kids with a small pain in his chest, "You know, I wasn't, uh... exactly telling you the truth before... about me not killing someone."
The confession made Fran look to him with a confused look, Henry quick to tell the story.
"There was a man, a great man. You know, he was never afraid... never selfish... and he was always forgiving. Have you ever met someone like that?" Henry asked them. Fran, who was sat in front of Joel from where she looked at Henry nodded her head sombrely, not noticing the stare Joel had on the back of her head. His look alone answering Henry's question.
"The kinda man you'd follow anywhere. I mean, I wanted to. Well... I would've," Henry seemed to stutter over his words as he tried to piece his mind together, "Yeah, but, uh, Sam, he, uh... he got sick. Leukaemia."
The mention alone was enough for Fran to look over at Sam with sympathy, the young boy still laughing away will Ellie. She watched as he scored a goal, quickly looking back to see if the adults had seen. Upon catching eyes with Fran, he pointed to the goal with a big smile.
She sent him a wide smile and a thumbs up in return, and watched as he absolutely glowed with glee, Ellie quick to scoop him up for a rematch.
"Yeah, anyway, um... there was one drսg that worked, and, whoa... big shock... there wasn't much left of it and it belonged to FEDRA," Henry continued as Fran played with the plastic ring on her pinky finger, "And if I wanted some... it was gonna take something big. So I gave them something big."
She could practically feel the sadness rolling off of Henry in waves as she sat further back in her chair, "That one great man. The leader of the resistance movement in Kansas City. And Kathleen's brother. Yeah, so, you still think they should take it easy on me? Or am I the bad guy?"
Fran shook her head at that.
"I don't know what you're waitin' on. The answer's easy. I am the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing." Henry seemed so convinced by his words, so taken by guilt that he didn't understand he did what he had to in order to save Sam.
"But you get it, though. You might not be her father... but you were someone's." The next comment was directed at Joel, the mere statement making Fran's heart drop further in her chest. She turned to see Joel's reaction while also processing the new information. His eyes were trained on the floor, which was enough confirmation for Fran, "See, I could tell."
She put her hand lightly on top of his on his lap, giving him the chance to pull away if he didn't want the contact. He pulled away as if she had burned him, standing up quickly and moving himself away from them.
He walked out of the room to where the children's books had been, leaving Henry and Fran on their own.
"I didn't-" Henry tried to apologise, but Fran just shook her head.
"It's alright," She said on Joel's behalf.
"Did you ever want kids?" Henry changed the topic off of Joel, hoping for a better approach and Fran smiled at the question.
"So bad," she says, still staring at Sam as he played, "I used to beg my mom to have another kid so I could have a baby sister or brother to look after."
"You'd be a good mom," Henry says to her then, her heart warming at the compliment.
"That was my dream, you know?" She said to him then, watching as Sam got chased around by Ellie, "Wanted to have two little ones by twenty five, stay with them and then send them off to university by the time I was forty two."
"It sounds nice," Henry smiles, "and expensive."
"Not as expensive in Italy;" she responded, "you didn't pay as you went for university there, they understood eighteen year olds didn't have thousands in cash ready every semester. I'd have them with me on the beach all day when they grow, then send them off and cry till they returned when they get older."
"It goes by fast," Henry tells her from experience.
"Hm," Fran hums, Sam quickly running over and giving her another thing he found that he thought she'd like.
"It's not too late, you know?" Henry said to her, "to have them."
"I'd feel too guilty bringing them up in this world," Fran says, looking to Ellie then. The literal cure for this whole thing in the room with her, "if by some miracle everything was fixed... maybe. If I could ensure their safety."
The two of them fell silent as Joel entered the room, going to grab his bag, "We've waited long enough."
Everyone got ready to go at his demand. Sam quick to stop Fran and help her put all her new things into her bag.
As Fran was leaving, she quickly grabbed a book she'd forgotten about, tapping Joel on the shoulder when she got back to the group. The man turned to her then, clearly no longer in the mood for anything comical, and watched as she placed it in his hands.
He looked down at it, seeing the title; "Mr Strong." Of one of the Mr Men books, and looked back up at Fran. She just sent him a nod, him looking down once again, and carrying on.
But not before putting the little book into his coat pocket.
-
"Do you know where we are?" Joel asked Henry as they reached an expansive area of the tunnels, it looked more like an underground car park than a secret place no one knew about.
"Yep," Henry said, leading them to a set of stairs, wide smile on his face. "The other side."
When they re-emerged from the ground below, it was pitch black outside, the fresh air a significant reminder that they'd made it, Alive.
The street was part of an old suburban neighbourhood. No lights on whatsoever and the place abandoned. A light made Fran turn, quickly taking the torch off of Sam and turning it off. The boy was quick to grab Henry, asking why she'd done that. She just stayed where she was, watching them interact.
"No one is here," Henry spoke the last part of his conversation aloud, "No one's gonna be here because... my plan worked!"
"So much goddamn talkin'." Joel grumbled as Sam sent an excited smile to Fran at the fact he was free. Fran smiled back, ruffling up his hair as he let out a laugh.
"I'm just saying... I delivered," Henry told the man, "Make this right, go down the street, embankment behind the last house... and we're out."
"So we cross the river and then what?" Ellie asked as they turned down the street. "Where ya gonna go?"
"Don't know yet," Henry answered honestly.
"Well, we're goin' to Wyoming," Ellie mentioning the plan was enough for Joel to send her a stern look, "What? It's a huge state. It can fit two more people. Fran's with me on this; right?"
"It's up to Joel," Fran told her honestly; hand on Sam's shoulder as she walked, "not me. but if I had a say... we keep Sam and throw Henry in the next ditch."
"Hey!" Henry exclaimed as Ellie let out a loud laugh.
"I'm joking," Fran said through a laugh, "again, Joel's decision."
"Yeah..." Henry sent a look over to Joel at that, the man walking ahead once again, "Maybe we just call this one a success and say our fond farewells."
"No, he'll change his mind." Ellie argued, "Trust me. This is how it goes." She puts on a deep voice now to mimic him, "He's like, No, Ellie. Never, ever, ever happening. And then Fran insults him or yells at him in Italian to confuse him; and then I'm like... I'm gonna ask you a million more times. And he's like..."
A gunshot lands just feet away from the group as Ellie's acting career ends. Joel quick to grab Ellie and Fran's shoulders.
"Move, move! Go!" He says, pushing them behind a car, Sam and Henry following by default.
The sudden action has Fran panicking all over again, the last rifle she had seen causing a massive gash on her shoulder.
"The fսck is that comin' from?" Henry asks Joel; rather loudly.
"Shut up," Joel commands, another shot going off, glass shattering above them.
Fran had one hand behind her for Sam to grab, the boy doing it by default, and the other in front on Ellie's back, the girl thankful for the comfort.
"Fuck," Henry curses, grabbing Sam and gunning it from behind the car. "Let's move. Let's go."
"What are you doin'?!" Joel yells to them as Fran subsequently gets pulled out from behind the car due to Sam's grip on her hand.
"Gettin' the fսck outta here!" Henry yells back as Fran tries to get Sam to let go.
Another shot is fired right above their heads, and Henry's flinch is enough to drop Sam's hand. Fran quickly scoops the young boy up, bringing him back to Joel and Ellie with panicked breaths.
As soon as she's close enough, Joel is grabbing her to force her to the car quicker, her and Sam almost hitting against the metal as Henry makes his way back.
"What do we do?" Henry asks Joel as Sam hides his head in Fran's coat, not liking the franticness of everything around him.
"All right," Joel puts his gun in its holster, looking to the girls; "Stay here."
"What?" Fran asks, panic creeping up her chest.
"If you don't move, he's not gonna hit you,"
Joel says to her directly; a clear promise in his eyes, "I'm gonna go around, try to get in the house through the back, and then I'll take him out."
"But if you go out there, he's gonna kill you," Ellie argues.
"It's dark, and he has shit aim," Joel argues back, "Nobody's gonna kill me."
"Then he's gonna kill us," Ellie continues; but Fran is quick to stop her.
She turns to Joel, looking him over quickly, "You're absolutely sure?"
Joel nods his head at her, "Do you trust me?"
She takes a moment, Sam still against her and hidden in her coat before nodding. He takes that as his time, shuffling around them to the other end of the car as another shot goes off.
She watches helplessly as he runs from car to car, the sniper trying to follow his movements and missing, just like Joel said he would.
"He's gonna be okay, right?" Ellie asks Fran nodding quickly, not thinking of any other option.
"He has to be, I still wanna see Wyoming," she responds; making Ellie nervously smile at her.
There's silence when Joel makes it in, before the shots are directed back over at them, Fran covering Sam's body with her own.
There's a longer pause, before another shot.
And silence again.
"Do you think he stopped him?" Ellie asked Fran another question. The answer coming from the man in question from the top of the house.
His answer however isn't a good one, as he screams out in warning.
"Run!"
"Run!"
"Run!"
A/N
Here we gooooo!
Also just watched the golden globes - both Pedro and Bella looked great! Fingers crossed for the Emmy's!
Also just wanted to mention the Mr Men books from inside the little bunker, they were my favorite childhood books so it felt nice to include them!
Pictures of the books for anyone who doesn't recognise the names.