*
"Follow me."
Ellie makes conversation with Sam and (Y/N) smiles at a reluctant Joel, who was pressing a cloth against her nose. She takes it from him, indicating with her hand for him to move.
"Don't worry." She tells him, following Henry out of the door of the room as she hears him sigh in response behind her.
They make their way down the corridor and to the stairs and Henry takes a glance at them. "Is it just you, your wife and your daughter?" He asks Joel.
"Uh, we're not related." Joel begins and (Y/N) chuckles slightly. "Yeah and we're definitely not married. More like... um - we're, uh..."
"I promised someone I'd look after them." Joel concludes.
"Yeah, I can appreciate that."
(Y/N) awkwardly clears her throat, heading in front of Joel and following Henry into a toy store where he promptly shushes the group. "Get away from the windows." He mumbles and everyone ducks down, watching as the truck passes by.
"Man, that fuckin' truck. It's been hounding us ever since we got in this damn - Sam, what're you doing?"
Everyone shifts their attention to Sam, who holds a toy robot. "Nothing."
"Get rid of it."
"My backpack is practically empty."
"What's the rule about takin' stuff?" Henry reminds him in annoyance.
"It weighs like nothing." Sam protests.
"The rule. What is it?"
"We only take what we have to." He finally repeats and Henry nods. "That's right now c'mon."
Joel and (Y/N) share a glance, making her shrug slightly and continue the trek alongside Henry, leaving Joel by himself and Ellie walks with Sam.
"So how far is this place?" She asks, discarding the now bloodied cloth and deciding the nosebleed was done.
"We're close. Real close." He informs her, opening the door.
"Shit." Joel whispers. "Ellie watch our backs." He orders, stopping the hunters from afar and making sure everyone had ducked down. It doesn't take long and Henry applauds the two, cheekily pointing at Joel. "Nice work old timer."
Joel frowns and then glares at (Y/N) holding back a laugh.
The group climb up and cross the wooden plank into the building. Henry motions to the door and Joel becomes skeptical once more. "Are you sure it's safe, being so close to them."
"I'm the only one with the key, man."
"And where'd you get that?"
"I killed one of 'em. He won't miss it now."
Henry opens the door and they all pile in and he leads them past the rows of desk and into the next room with a grin: "welcome to my office."
"How long have you guys been holed up in here?" Ellie asks.
"A few days." Sam answers. "We found a bit of food, though. Here." He leads her over to the corner of the room.
"Blueberries. Found a whole stash of them. You want some?" Henry questions and (Y/N) nods, but Joel shuts it down with a simple no. "Hey, man, relax. We're safe." He promise, watching an agitated Joel stare out of the window.
"So why haven't you left?" He quizzes, looking back at him and the Firefly pops a berry in her mouth.
"Been waiting for the right opportunity."
"And?"
"Here. Check this out." Henry walks over to the other side of the room, overlooking the hunters positioned at a station.
"Look at those sons of bitches. Everyday they congregate down there. Guarding that damn bridge. Come night time, it's down to a skeleton crew. After sunset, that's our window. Most of them gone, sneak right past them."
"That could work." (Y/N) mumbles, looking at Joel and Henry chuckles. "Oh, it'll work. It'll definitely work."
His gaze shifts to the two teenagers in the corner, jokingly eating berries without a care. "Wow... it's been a while since that boy even cracked a smile."
The corners of Joel's mouth tug into a small smile and Henry stares at the pair. "She doesn't seem too bothered by all this." (Y/N) clears her throat, looking briefly at the floor then back to him. "Where are you heading?"
"Heard the Fireflies are based our West somewhere." He begins, wheeling a chair over and sitting down. Her hand instinctively goes to her chain and he raises a questioning eyebrow at the gesture. "We're gonna join up with them."
Joel laughs slightly as he sits down. "Yeah..."
"Something funny?" Henry asks.
"Just seems like there's a lot of people putting their stock on the Fireflies these days." He replies, staring at (Y/N), who breaks his gaze. "Yeah maybe there's a reason for that." She counters and he turns his attention back to Henry.
"So you don't know where they are and you're just gonna drag him across the country to find 'em?" Joel guesses.
"I tell you what, how about I worry about my little brother and you worry about your girl?"
"Easy. We're looking for the Fireflies too." (Y/N) admits.
Henry shakes his head and pulls out a map from his pocket. "This is us. There's an abandoned military radio station, just outside the city. Any survivors from our group they're supposed to meet us there - tomorrow."
"You two and your girl you wanna join us, it goes down tonight." Henry concludes.
"I guess we best rest up then." Joel states.
--
Ellie watches the pair in front of her. How (Y/N)'s head rests ever so slightly on Joel's shoulder and how his just gently touched hers yet their bodies were inches apart. Her smile fades and she shakes them awake, letting their eyes flutter up and they pull away from each other.
"He says it's time to go." She informs them.
"We're gonna be moving fast, okay? So no matter what you stick to me, like glue." Henry talks to Sam.
"Like glue." They both repeat and the teenager nods. "Got it."
"Good. Good. Alright, y'all ready?" Henry asks them.
"Yeah."
"Alright. Y'all stay close, okay?" Henry orders, promptly leading them all out.
"You tried this before?" Joel questions him and he hums. "Uh... yeah."
"That's comforting."
"Relax old man."
"I just hope you know the way." Joel grumbles at his words.
They make their way down the stairs to street level, stealthily taking out the two hunters surrounding a fire. They then move up, taking out the skeleton crew and clearing the area.
Joel and Henry begin pushing open the metal gates and suddenly noticing the beam of light from the truck, they move faster. Everyone rushes in, hurriedly closing it shut behind them and not waiting to see if they were spotted.
A hunter at the top of a wall calls them out, but (Y/N) shoots him with her bow and instantly takes him out. "Nice one. C'mon everyone." Henry compliments.
Joel leans against an abandoned trailer and boosts Henry up to the part ladder. "We're good. Sam, let's go."
"Alright, kid." (Y/N) helps Joel to lift Sam up and he joins his brother, who spots the hunters trying to get in.
"Okay, Ellie, hurry." Joel motions and she grabs the ladder, breaking it in the process but making it on top. Joel cups his hands and (Y/N) shakes her head at him. "We have to find a way up for you first, I'm not leaving you down here."
Ellie repeats the same thing to Henry, who looks nervous. "I'm sorry... we're leaving." He decides.
"What? What this is bullshit!" She exclaims. "What the fuck, Henry?" She calls, watching the brothers run away.
Gunshots sound and in a hasty choice, Ellie jumps back down and joins (Y/N) and Joel, who give her a confused look.
"We stick together."
They run over to a garage, lifting up the door and making their way under for safety. Turning on their flashlights, they catch their breaths for a second from the sudden rush.
"How the fuck do we get outta here?"