SUMMARY
Henry chimes confidently, “Well, I'm betting that y'all came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out. And when the sun's up, we'll show you one.”
Ellie wordlessly glanced at Joel, but he’s staring back at Javier instead. Two pairs of dark brown orbs dancing in suspicion. Javier breaks eye contact first. He stands up, staggers a little as he leaves the room.
“Whatever your answer is, you’ll say yes anyway.”
SERIES MASTERLIST
“Javier, please. Save who you can save.”
Palms sweating, numb fingers wrapped with racked anxiety as Javier tried to lower his Beretta. But his arms were locked in place, forced to point at a blank spot between his best friend’s piercing blue eyes. Javier could not bring himself to back up an inch, as a sticky crimson liquid pooled near their feet started touching the tip of his shoes. A lifeless body crumpled on the floor, unruly golden hair covering her face. Javier didn’t even want to glance at it.
“Steve, we can… I don’t think-”
“You know what the fuck these things are. And how the damage will eat up my body soon, just like Connie,” Steve hissed, his grip on Javier tightened even more, forcing him to raise the weapon again. He took a glimpse at the corpse, “End it now and go find the light. I’d see you soon.”
Steve’s fingers closing around his. Everything moved in slow blur.
Getting used to waking up from an unpleasant throwback in darkness is much less of a hassle these days, but Javier still finds that his fight-or-flight response keeps nagging him at times. He sits up carefully, wincing as his half-swollen right ankle screams in pain again. Javier groans. There is an unusual chilly air tickling his skin, accompanied by the ticking of his watch under the pillow, moving in a repetitive rhythm. Glancing at the empty blankets beside him–
“Shit. Henry?”
Flashes of the worst possibilities Javier always feared come to his mind.
Javier musters his energy to shake off the sleepiness out of him. Quickly he gathers his weapon and flashlight, running as fast as his limp leg allows.
After years pleading to any deities he thought existed in the world, this crumbled universe has started sending Javier surprises he doesn’t need anymore. Absentmindedly reaching into his back pocket, Javier mutters an unintelligible curse. Damn, how could he forget that he ran out of the last cigarette stocks yesterday?
Javier slides on the floor, staring at the two outsiders–one of whom bears an uncanny resemblance of his own face. He feels burnt out, and now Javier doesn’t even try to hide the exhaustion. The other person, a young girl, is eyeing him with a mix of amusement and caution before looking back at her companion. Father and daughter? Oh, what a sweet bonding time.
“Sam, how many times do I have to tell you that if your brother is trying to do something possibly dangerous, wake me up immediately,” Javier signs to the boy. Sam shrugs a little, continuing to munch his food but then he nudges Henry, who purposely avoids Javier’s gaze.
“Dude you still tryin' to play hero? You can’t even walk properly!” Henry protests.
“It’s temporary, and besides, I can't guarantee the safety of your actions when unsupervised by me. You’re lucky these people weren’t harming you.” Javier turned to the strangers, “I’m Javier. These are Henry, and Sam. He is eight.”
The teenager answered first, “Cool. I’m Ellie.”
She slaps the older man’s knee, causing Javier to almost snort at that gesture.
“I'm Joel. Look, you ate, we didn't kill each other, let's call this a win-win and move on.”
If they encountered each other during the period of time where Javier fought and traveled for himself after going through too many losses, Joel would have been right. People without significant purposes of teaming up were better that way, or so Javier thought. However, as Javier struggles to keep Henry and Sam alive and escape this hellish city, Joel and Ellie’s presence becomes a star-crossed miracle. Especially with his recent careless slip ups, all Javier got were a sprained ankle and bleeding leg. One silver bullet found its way to his thigh, which definitely freaked Henry out because they all tried to perform the surgery with only a small amount of knowledge. Javier’s acts definitely planted extra hatred in their ultimate pursuer.
The prime days were over. He is nothing but a grumpy mustached guy now.
“Well, I'm betting that y'all came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out. And when the sun's up, we’ll show you one. How’s that sound?” Henry offers.
“Um…” Ellie looks at Joel, but he’s staring back at Javier instead. Two pairs of dark brown orbs danced in suspicion. “I think we-”
“Whatever your answer is, you’ll say yes anyway.” Javier abruptly stands up, excusing himself.
He staggers a little as he leaves the room.
“Welcome to Killa City.”
Through his yellow-tinted aviator sunglasses, Javier just realized how small Henry is in comparison to him, Joel, and the large windows in this building. But one thing Javier has always been proud of about Henry is his unwavering bravery from the first time they met, even when Henry silently told him how Joel's "asshole voice" creeped him out yesterday. Javier smiled a bit at his comment. Why should Henry feel that way when Joel is basically a copy of him?
It was a silly question to which Henry replied comically, “Jav, he ain’t on your level of suaveness.”
Thanks to the better lighting this morning, Javier can finally see more details of Joel’s face as Henry does most of the talking. There are curls, salt-and-pepper beards, rugged days carved in wrinkles, and probably a bunch of repressed motives under a guarded gaze. What a familiar callback to a reflection in Javier’s own dirty, cracked mirror. Intriguing.
“No FEDRA,” said Joel.
“Not as of 10 days ago, no,” Henry hums.
“We always heard KC FEDRA was…”
“Monsters? You are right,” Javier interjects, “Raped and tortured and murdered people for 20 years.”
Henry continues, “And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you.”
“But you're not FEDRA.” Joel raises his eyebrows, something doesn’t seem clicking with the way these two strangers do their function inside the city.
They both share a look before Javier slowly shakes his head, “No. Me and Henry, we’re collaborators-”
“I don't work with rats.”
“Yeah, you fսcking do! Today you do 'cause we live here and you don't. We know this city, and that's how we’re gonna help you get out,” Henry spits out, though his trembling voice doesn’t indicate an ounce of certainty in it.
Joel doesn’t look convinced at all. "Why? You have your cool friend."
“We saw what you did, the way you killed those men. And what a coincidence, I failed a flee attempt, was shot, and broke an ankle” Javier shrugs, ignoring the mocking tone. “Generally fucked up. More reasons we need strong backup.”
Ellie and Sam’s laughter suddenly rings out, turning their heads at the same time. The two kids are engrossed in some kind of cheap joke book compilation. Javier’s softening gaze towards them doesn’t go unnoticed by Joel.
“Haven't heard that in a long time.”
Henry simply nods at his friend’s comment.
Meanwhile, Joel sighs. This is getting nowhere if none of them make a decision. Despite everything, he has his own mission to go, and technically Joel is not obliged to keep them company after getting out of Kansas. Besides, it's always easy to remove unwanted danger along the way.
“So Javier, how are we gettin' out?
The first time his name finally rolls off Joel's mouth, it carries a bitter sarcasm.
NEXT: 1.2. ARUNIKA
swastamita = sunset (sanskrit).
the end is the same for everyone = lyrics excerpt from nothing but thieves' song, "six billion".
Dividers credit: cafekitsune || saradika
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