Pulling her hair up, (Y/N) clutches the knife in between her teeth. She was already sweating, dark circles marking her tank top and she looks over her husband's shoulder.
"Do you think I left enough milk." She mutters and he jumps slightly, turning to face her with a huff. "What?"
(Y/N) takes the knife out of her mouth, flipping it between her fingers. "For Tommy. Well not for Tommy, for (D/N)."
They had found Abby's sailboat and were now pondering over the notes left aboard.
"Honey, I'm sure you've left -"
"And diapers. We did remember to tell him that her favourite teddy is the bunny, right? And that she -"
"(Y/N)!" Joel exclaims and she shuts up instantly. "Our babygirl is fine. Now -" He points to the map. "Here."
She nods, climbing out to top deck and turning to pull him out. She breathes in the salty air, smiling slightly at the waves rolling in. The couple look up to the island, the golden of the sand and the greenery of the trees.
They make their way, ending up at Mesa Bluff Park. Powering through the infected, (Y/N) pushes her way in the gap between a truck and caravan.
Her foot steps into a trap. The rope wraps around her ankle and drags her across the floor, pulling her upside down. All the arrows drop from her quiver and she fumbles for her knife.
"(Y/N)!" Joel shouts, running towards her when another trap springs. A log comes swinging, whacking him in the side of the face and he goes down, cold.
"Joel!" She screams. The rope swings her and she her side connects with a sharp branch.
Yelling out in pain, the blood starts to seep through the colour of her top. She whimpers slightly, dabbing a shaky hand on it. Grabbing her knife, it slips through her hands from the wetness of the blood.
"No, no, no!" She shouts, finding it harder to breathe. (Y/N) applies pressure to her wound, praying for Joel to move, but he never does and it's not long before she passes out.
***
Blinking slightly, (Y/N)'s vision comes as a hazy picture. She can make out the body still slumped on the floor and two figures making their towards them. She frowns, trying harder to figure them out.
"Abby." She whispers. "Abby. I found you, I found -"
"See? We got a live one." A man grins, standing in front of her.
The other man eyes her. "This bitch is fucked up." He states and the older man drops her, making her cry out in pain and her side wound opening up again.
"We'll be lucky if she lasts a month." The younger one chuckles, untying her foot. "Can we please say we're done for the day? We've got two."
The other man had nudged Joel with his foot and he nods. "Yeah. Get that thing down and reset the traps." He indicates to the infected beside her.
"Really, man? I mean are they even worth the trip back? One's unconscious and she's just fucked." He backs up, alerting the clicker who reaches for him and he screams, pulling back.
"It get you?" His friend yells and he checks himself over, shaking his head. "No, I'm good."
(Y/N) laughs, her knee pulled up and he frowns at her. "Something funny?"
"Looks like you shit your pants." She breathes.
"The fuck you say?"
"I said, it looks like you shit your pants, you fucking deaf? What a little bitch." (Y/N) answers, infuriating him.
"You like funny, huh? Get up." He wrestles her to her feet, pulling her arm out in front of her. "Yeah. It's funny right? Come on, laugh!"
"Stop!" She screams, pushing into him to try to get him to trip over his feet. They inch closer to the clicker, her arm tantalisingly close to its mouth.
Joel fires a shot into the older man's leg and whilst distracted, (Y/N) manages to spin her captor into the infected. He screams as it bites down on him and she stumbles to Joel.
Grabbing the gun from the floor, she ignores his look of concern and aims it at the injured man. "Wait! Wait! You said Abby? You're looking for an Abby, right? We picked one up a couple months ago."
"Yeah, sure." (Y/N) scoffs.
"Big girl! Blonde! Arms like mine." He describes. "She had a scrawny kid with cuts by his mouth."
Realising the recognition in their faces, he nods. "Yeah, that's her." He sits himself up. "You let me go and I'll tell you where she is. You can get to her before you bleed out."
The ex Firefly looks down at her now red top and then back up. "Talk."
"She's in a holding cell in our camp."
"Where is that?" Joel asks.
"Head that way 'till you hit the railroad tracks." He points. "That'll lead you to a resort. We keep 'em in the tall, round building."
(Y/N) glances back at her husband, who nods his head ever so slightly that only she could pick up on.
"I swear." The man promises and she looks down at him.
"I know." She says, killing him.
Wincing from the impact of the gun, she holsters it over her shoulder. Joel approaches her, placing a hand on her side and pulling back to reveal more blood.
—
The pair walk down the road and (Y/N) pulls up her shirt to check it over. Joel had washed the blood away and patched her up the best he could and she grimaces at the sight.
"Over here! Aim for his legs, I want him alive!" A woman shouts, followed by a gunshot.
Joel pulls his wife behind a wall, eyeing over the top of it to watch a man scream for his life, crying and then shooting himself.
The couple split up, taking out the patrol and then meeting back on a roof where they can spy the round building in the distance. People were being herded inside.
It doesn't take them long for the Miller duo to force entry into the building, going down into the holding cells.
In the darkness, a guard springs from her post, pushing Joel against the wall, a baton against his neck. (Y/N) grabs her from behind, but the woman elbows her in her stitches, making her stumble back. The guard leaps on her, sending them both to the ground and Joel struggles to catch his breath.
(Y/N) cries out, her arms trapped when Joel kicks her off and she goes flying into the metal bars. The prisoners grab her, one of them taking the keys and unlocking the door.
The guard falls dead and the prisoners rush out, raiding the gun box. They get ready to leave when (Y/N) stops them. "Woah, woah. Where's Abby?"
"Abby tried to escape. She's down in the pillars."
"The pillars?"
"Head down to the beach. You won't miss it. She's probably already dead."
(Y/N) nods and her and Joel cautiously edge around them, allowing them all to rush out of the room and slam the door behind them. She clutches her side, hobbling along and Joel sighs.
"There's always something with you. A side injury or a baby." He says and she rolls her eyes.
"This way smartass." She grumbles.
The two exit the building. The fog was beginning to roll in, the darkened sky a somber contrast to the sun they had when they started. Moving along, they look in horror at the various pillars positioned along the sand, each holding a body against itself.
"Abby!" (Y/N) calls, her eyes narrowing on one and she quickens her pace.
"Help me." She croaks out and (Y/N) stares up at her, looking over her broken features and shaved head. "Please..."
Abby's eyes are heavy as she notices who was in front of her. "It's you." She whispers.
(Y/N)'s expression hardens and she grabs an arrow from her quiver that she had collected more along the way. Clutching her side, she goes behind the pole and cuts the rope, letting Abby fall into the sand.
With caution, Abby stands and makes her way over to Lev, freeing the young boy. "I got you." She promises, lifting him up in her arms.
The defeated woman looks to the couple, indicating with her head out to the ocean. "There are boats this way."
They follow her down to the boats, watching as she lowers Lev down into one. (Y/N) goes over to the other, wincing as she removes her bag and dumps it in. She does the same to anything else she carries, until she was weaponless. Joel follows her lead. He would follow and support whatever decision she decides and so, he stays silent.
(Y/N) groans, placing a hand to her side and pulling back to reveal more blood than before. The image in front of her flickers to Ellie's body, beaten beyond recognition and coated just how her hand was.
"I can't let you leave." Her voice breaks the atmosphere, pounding over the water.
Abby falters in her untying of the rope. "I'm not doing this."
Frustration brewing, (Y/N) grabs her by the hair, throwing her into the water. She then kicks her in the stomach and she chokes on the water, pleading with her eyes. "No. I'm not gonna fight you."
Striding back over to her boat, the ex Firefly grabs the arrow. "Yes, you will." Her voice cracks as she points the tip to Lev's throat.
Abby looks to Joel. "Please, he's not a part of this."
"You made him a part of this." Joel growls, remembering the way that Ellie had died for him.
"Okay. Okay." The woman breathes, standing up.
"Joel... stay by Lev." (Y/N) whispers and he nods. He knew her intention was never to hurt the boy, only to scare Abby into giving in to her demands.
Abby screams, rushing (Y/N) and the two engage in a furious combat. A flurry of punches and kicks, the ex Firefly and mother burned with anger, memories of Ellie flickering at the forefront of her mind like an old film. She swipes at Abby with the arrow, landing cuts where she can. Her wound on her side bled profusely.
(Y/N) grabs Abby by the neck, spinning her around and trying to push the sharp edge closer to her face. Abby grunts with the effort of pushing her back. She manages to twist her arm, sending her into the water and (Y/N) cries out, pushing her off. Abby leans on her elbow to get back up, but (Y/N) kicks her, sending her on her back.
The older woman crawls over, pushing Abby's face under the water. She wrestles with her, struggling to breath as she keeps coming up and then back under again. She bites down on (Y/N)'s hand and she screams, but fights to keep the woman's head underwater.
(Y/N)'s hands wrap around Abby's neck and Abby tries to hit her arms, but the ex Firefly was too strong.
Joel had sat himself in the boat, trying to keep Lev alive. Even though Ellie had been a daughter to him and she had died so he could live, this wasn't his fight. His wife had known the girl longer. Had protected her with her life and was weighed down heavily by the guilt of her death. He can hear her crying, Abby's muffled shouts and he forces himself to look at the scene. (Y/N) was on top of Abby, who's arms had started to go limp, her hits becoming weaker and weaker.
In (Y/N)'s mind, she could see the last moments she had with Ellie. Lying on the bed together, confessing they had shared interest in the mother-daughter bond they had. The moment when Ellie had ran up to her when she was just getting on the horse for patrol, confessing she knew but was waiting for the right time.
She never knew what that meant until it was too late.
Ellie knew she was pregnant. Even though (Y/N) had never told her, the young girl had picked up in the changes and yet she respected the wait to tell her.
The body underneath her stops moving. (Y/N) looks down. Abby's eyes were wide, her mouth open and she waits a couple seconds just to make sure. Pushing herself off, she sits beside the deceased, her shoulders shaking with sobs, the water drenching her.
Joel clambers out of his boat, slowly sitting down beside her.
Once again, he says nothing, but instead reaches out and pulls her in. He lets her mourn into his chest, looking out to the darkness of the ocean blending with the sky.