#Joel Sánchez | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bbgjoe1mi11er · 1 year

Text

the light you gave me.

summary ; three strangers come to be each other's lifelines in a world now made only of ruins and death.

warnings + tags ; post-apocalypse, canon-typical violence, gore, cursing, slow burn, friends to lovers, includes original character, spoilers for the last of us part I.

featured characters ; joel miller, tess servopoulos, keilani sánchez.

word count ; 15k +

THE SOFT THUDS of footsteps resonated through an old, decrepit hallway. muted colored paint chipped off its walls, giving a perfect inside view of the cracked and worn-down foundation on which the building itself stood, while grime covered its wooden floor; a floor which creaked painfully with every few steps the steadily advancing woman took. with a last, particularly pitiful whine of the tiles, the hallway fell silent at last. the figure, now still before one of the many doors the corridor offered, seemed to have reached her destination. numbers were displayed upon the entrance, though they were practically impossible to distinguish between the accumulated dust and the faded state of the writing itself. she didn’t need the digits to tell her if she had the right place though; she’d been here enough times before.

her hand reached up to give three clear knocks on the wooden surface. a few seconds passed. her head tilted to the side as she listened for any movement inside the apartment. and, sure enough, a low groan followed by the distant sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. the corner of her lip tugged upward.

a sharp click. then, the door creaked open. the man on the other side checked through the small opening he had allowed, making sure it wasn’t anyone suspicious before swinging the door open further, despite the deep sigh he let out at the sight of the familiar face presented to him.

knowing full well this exasperated exhale was the best she was getting in terms of greeting, keilani didn’t wait for any further action from the man before stepping in. she turned her head towards him as she walked to one of the nearby stools; catching a glance of his hand tiredly rubbing his eyes.

“woke you up, huh? sorry about that.’’ surprisingly, her tone sounded genuinely apologetic. despite this, the only answer she received was a blank stare— not that she seemed to mind. she pulled a stool and sat down, placing her hands between her thighs and leaning her weight forward. her eyes studied joel briefly.

the man had crossed his arms, looking back expectantly at keilani. finally, she spoke. “i’m gonna take an educated guess and say you have no idea where tess is either?’’

a frown took over joel’s features. he opened his mouth to speak, only to have his attempt cut off by loud, insistent knocking at the door. a wry smile drew itself on keilani’s lips and she leant back against the counter, elbows coming to rest on the surface. “looks like i’ll get to question her personally.’’

joel was yet again given no time to form a sentence as the knocks repeated themselves, harsher this time. a sound of clear irritation bubbled up from his throat and he approached the door in quick strides, practically glowering at the person through the chipped, graying wood of the entrance. his hand reached the knob and tugged roughly, swinging the door open. only a split second later, his eyes slimmed dangerously. the sight before him confirmed his suspicion on who the insistent visitor might’ve been and he was less than pleased at being right; nevertheless, he let the woman in.

keilani’s brows scrunched with barely noticeable, but very much present worry as her companion came into view, bruised and battered state on full display. the latter however seemed to deliberately ignore this, only walking further into the apartment.

tess gave a nod and a thin lipped smile to the two individuals already present. “how was your guys’ morning?’’ came her all too casual question, considering the current situation. she made a beeline for the table, or more precisely for the alcohol filled bottle sitting atop its surface.

pouring herself a glass, she raised her eyes. “anyone want one?’’

joel, who had already begun his agitated pacing, barely let her finish. “no, i don’t…’’ he exhaled, ‘’want one.’’

a slight scowl was delivered from tess to the man at his tone. it was soon replaced by a surprised look however as the glass she had only just picked up was pried right out of her hands.

keilani had hopped off her stool only mere seconds ago, yet had somehow already held up the drink to her own lips before tess could make the slightest sound of protest. an unimpressed stare was sent to the darker skinned woman, though it only poorly disguised the amusement glistening in tess’ eyes. she watched the corners of her friend's lips perking up and could barely stop her own from doing the same. tess took back the glass being handed to her with a halfhearted harshness; her gaze only leaving keilani’s when the latter’s eyes seemed to linger on the injuries covering her face for a few seconds too long.

the short haired woman gave a sharp inhale and sat on the edge of the table, letting her eyes land on the still disgruntled man before her instead. “well, i have some interesting news for you.’’

a blunt “where were you, tess?’’ was the only answer she received.

keilani’s eyes stared at her expectantly. tess, however, kept her harsh stare directed at joel, all too aware of her friend’s gaze on her, yet refusing to meet it.

“west end district.’’ came her slightly delayed reply. “hey, we had a drop to make,’’ she added flatly.

“we,’’ joel repeated in what almost resembled a growl. the hand in which he held the towel he’d just fetched motionned to the three of them. “we had a drop to make.’’

“emphasis on the ‘we’, tess. you could’ve at least given us a heads up before ditching us.’’

this time, keilani wasn't spared tess' withering glare. her gaze switched back to joel’s frame after a brief moment and she practically ripped the towel out of his hands. “well,’’ she drawled, “i apologize for trying to give you guys some time off for once.’’

joel scoffed, turning his back to her, “so, i’ll take one guess,’’ he placed both his hands on the counter, leaning forward upon its surface, “the whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills. is that about right?’’ he turned back to face her.

tess gave a humorless laugh and continued to gingerly wipe the blood off her fresh injuries. “deal went off without a hitch. enough ration cards to last us a couple months – easy,’’ she spoke, pulling out the faded green tickets as proof of her words.

keilani’s blank expression barely changed if not for the raise of her eyebrows. she looked up from the seat she’d taken on one of the chairs. “yeah. well, bet we could’ve saved you the trouble of getting those," she pointed to the lacerations on the woman's face. her words were uttered in such a painfully dry tone that most would've quite probably winced at the mere sound of them. tess held her friend's gaze however, hating every second of this exchange yet not shifting an inch. this familiar resilience was something keilani had grown attached to over time; nothing about it pleased her in this moment though.

pulling herself up with a soft exhale, she reached for tess’ cheek, despite the latter’s efforts to stop her from doing so. her eyes gently scanned the woman’s face. finally, she gave another short sigh, walking off to what tess assumed to be the cabinet where joel kept his first aid kit. she almost protested, but knowing keilani, it wouldn’t do any good; better to let her do as she pleased.

joel’s eyes only briefly followed her figure. instead, his hard gaze fell onto tess. “you want to explain?’’ the motion to his own face made what he was referring to rather clear.

exasperation dripped from every word as they spilled into the tension filled air. “i was on my way back here, and i got jumped by these two assholes, alright? and yeah, they got a few good hits in. but…’’ she exhaled. “look, i managed.’’

joel’s eyes seemed to soften for a brief second. a deep sigh left him. “gimme that.’’ he took the towel from tess’ hands; using his free hand to tilt her head to the side and bringing the cloth up to the raw skin of her cheek. “are these assholes still with us?’’

a chuckle came from their right side and keilani joined them again, first aid kit now in hand. “i'm surprised you even feel the need to ask, joel.’’

keilani’s slight grin apparently seemed contagious; tess made no effort to stop the smirk growing upon her own features. she huffed. “now that’s funny.”

joel tilted tess’ head to the opposite side, still checking for any further injuries. “did you at least find out who they were?”

“yeah, look they were a couple of nobodies– they don’t matter,” tess dismissed agitatedly. taking hold of joel’s wrist, she removed his hand from her cheek only for keilani to shove a proper alcohol wipe in her face mere seconds later. thus earned her a brief, but firm glare which she promptly ignored. tess' eyes moved back to joel. “what matters is that robert fucking sent them.”

at this, both joel’s and keilani’s faces went slack with disbelief. “our robert?” they uttered the incredulous words practically in unison.

“he knows that we’re after him.” tess shook her head, which to her dismay was still being held by keilani’s unrepenting hands, stubbornly insisting on properly cleaning her injuries. “he figures he’s gonna get us first.”

keilani scoffed at those words. a few steps away, joel threw the towel harshly upon the surface of the counter. “that son of a bitch, he’s smart.’’

“i'd argue you're being a bit generous with your wording,’’ keilani spoke plainly, finally backing away from tess with one last, quick look over.

the latter pointed to keilani in approval. “damn right," her eyes shifted between her two partners, "he's not smart enough. i know where he’s hiding.’’

joel’s eyes slimmed. “like hell you do.’’

“old warehouse in area 5—’’ tess spread her arms, lip tugging upward. ‘’can’t say for how long though.’’

joel didn’t need any further information before he began moving. “well, i’m ready now. yeah?’’ he glanced at keilani and the expression in her eyes was answer enough.

tess chuckled. “oh, we can do now.’’

the heavy metal door of the building creaked open, revealing the rather desolate sight which was the outside world. despite the dull grayness of the sky, the three individuals still had to give their eyes a few moments to adjust as the contrast between this and the gloominess that reigned inside the walls of the establishment was still quite drastic.

tess’ feet crunched against the cracked cement of the alleyway, stepping out first and looking back expectantly. keilani gave a small nod to joel, a subtle thanks for holding the door, as she passed; the man followed behind.

“the checkpoint’s still open.’’

joel sighed. “only got a few hours until curfew.’’

“let’s make the most of it then.’’ keilani nodded her head towards tess. “lead the way.’’

weaving their way through the trash and debris littering the alleys, the small group advanced; shallow puddles of water splashing underneath their boots as they went. the quiet of the streets was unsettling, one only a long term survivor of this wretched world could get accustomed to after the prolonged passage of time. the stillness was only occasionally broken by the distant shrieks and cries of an infant, the muttered conversations of the rare inhabitants; though every sound seemed faint, as if all felt intimidated by the idea of disturbing the silence which had reigned for the past twenty or so years.

the main street on which they arrived next was only slightly more clean than the narrow passageways, the garbage having been cleared to the sides solely to make way for the constant patrols of the military. somewhere above the group, an intercom crackled to life.

“attention: citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. compliance with all city personnel is mandatory.’’ hardly any passerby paid much attention to the robotic female voice.

“look at that,’’ tess commented flatly, eyes flickering to the side, “ration line hasn’t opened yet. must be running low again.’’

“when is it not?’’ keilani barely spared it a glance. her eyes only shifted when movement caught her attention on the opposite side; her gaze followed the figure of a man, gun pushing against his back as a soldier clad in a military radiation suit urged him to kneel next to what one could only assume were fellow stragglers. fences had been placed around the group, blocking the way to anyone who would try to intervene; not that such a thing would happen anyway. the three individuals walked right on past and as did all others present.

a few birds flew out of the way as they rounded the corner, approaching the gate leading to the neighboring area. tess fished out documents from her pockets, handing them out to joel and keilani. “i got us all new papers,’’ she stated. “they shouldn’t give us any static up there.’’

joel only nodded, while keilani gave a small hum, letting tess and the male walk a step ahead. the fedra soldier before them seemed to size them up as they came closer.

“let me see your IDs.’’

joel barely let the man finish before he all but shoved the papers into his gloved hands. “there you go.’’

the soldier studied the identifications carefully, eyes scanning every word, and he looked up once more. “what’s your business here?’’

“got the day off. visiting a friend.’’ joel didn’t even blink as the lie left his lips, already having gone through this exact routine many times in the past. keilani let a barely noticeable smile slip at the irony of his words.

the armored man gave one last skeptical look at the documents before giving a small nod. “alright, move on through.’’

“thanks.’’

just as the soldier stepped out of the way however, keilani’s eyes widened in alarm. her hands shot out to her partners, tugging them back and downwards as best as she could. their noises of confusion were muffled by the deafening sound of a bright, fiery explosion only a second later. instinctively, all shielded their faces as a wave of searing heat washed over the group. loud ringing filled their ears, though it soon gave place to the yells and shouts of the various soldiers rushing about, closing the gates and readying themselves against the attack.

“get outta there. go!’’

“close it up!’’

“fireflies!’’

“fuckin’ shoot ‘em.’’

“they’re running! call for backup!’’

“keilani! joel!’’ tess coughed, grabbing their arms. “come on, let’s get outta here.’’ the three of them didn’t waste much time before stumbling away from the chaos, cursing at the detour they would now probably be forced to take. obviously, it would do nothing to stop them and robert wouldn't be spared this easily today, but it was an unwelcome event nonetheless.

“attention: checkpoint five is now closed until further notice.’’ the robotic voice resonated through the streets, though barely audible over the commotion this time. “all civilians must clear the surrounding area immediately.’’

the recording repeated itself, and tess dashed for the entrance of a nearby building, joel and keilani only a few steps behind. they heaved heavy breaths as they entered, shutting the doors behind them and taking a few beats to collect themselves.

“fuck…’’ tess groaned in exasperation, “so much for the easy route.’’

“i know, right.’’ keilani sighed, eyes still lingering on the little view the dirtied windows allowed of the outside. her gaze flickered back to her partners, catching briefly upon the hand which joel pressed against his right arm, the latter of which was visibly raw and bleeding slightly. the darker skinned woman dug out bandages from her pockets, slinging them over to the male. “here, patch yourself up.’’

joel followed her suggestion, offering a small nod as thanks, and the trio got to moving once more, strutting deeper into the dimly lit building. the alarm still blaring outside grew lower and lower with every few steps they took.

“they’re gonna close all the checkpoints. we’re gonna have to go around the outside.’’

joel’s eyebrows raised slightly at tess. “outside the wall?’’

“or we could just let robert go.’’ tess turned around as she walked, her lip quirking up.

the male scoffed. “cute.’’

not far before them, a man got up from the chair he had previously been sitting on as his ears picked up on the approaching voices. his tense stance only relaxed when his eyes landed on the woman walking up front. “hey, tess. you see that shit?’’

“i was there.’’ the man fell into step next to her and her eyes followed. “hey, how’s the east tunnel looking?"

“it’s clear. i just used it, no patrols,’’ he assured. “where you off to?’’

“gonna pay robert a visit.’’

a chuckle. “you too?’’

“who else is looking for him?’’

“uh… marlene. she’s been asking around, trying to find him.’’

“marlene?’’ the surprise in tess’ voice was evident. “what do the fireflies need with robert?’’

the man shrugged. “you think she’d tell me?’’

“well, what did you tell her?’’

“the truth. i got no idea where he’s hiding.’’

“good man,’’ tess grinned, turning her head to glance at him. “hey, you stay out of trouble, alright? military’s gonna be out in force soon.’’

“yeah, see you around.’’ the man nodded and slowed his walking, letting the group go their own way. joel and keilani took this as their opportunity to fall into stride next to tess once more, having previously walked a few ways behind to let her speak with the man whom neither of them could name.

“marlene looking for robert?’’ tess glanced at the two. “what do you make of that?’’

“i don’t like it.’’ joel’s rough voice echoed slightly in the hallway. “we better find him before the fireflies do.’’

“i do wonder what a group like them would want with a numbnut like him though. they must be getting particularly desperate for new members.’’ keilani’s musings elicited a snort from tess.

they rounded a corner, entering a room with only a few pieces of worn out furniture sparsely scattered throughout the space. a man sat on the only couch the place had to offer and, upon meeting his eyes, tess nodded at him.

“this is us.’’

“hey guys,’’ the guard straightened up slightly. “how’s it going?’’

tess huffed. “shit’s stirring up out there. how we looking over here?’’

“it’s been quiet. no sign of military or infected.’’

tess’ lips pulled upwards. “that’s what i like to hear.’’ she turned towards an old, wooden bookshelf and motionned to joel and keilani, then to the piece of furniture. “give me a hand?’’

the other woman gave a small nod. “‘course.’’ tess placed herself on the right side, both hands coming to rest on the flat surface while keilani took hold of one of the shelves and joel, the opposing side. a few pushes made quick work of the obstacle, soon revealing the uneven hole in the wall which served as a makeshift entrance; a discrete way out for stragglers and smugglers alike.

keilani’s features formed a smile. “useful little thing.’’

“that it is.’’

tess didn’t waste much time before jumping down the sizeable drop the hole gave way to. once she heard the distinct sound of boots meeting concrete, keilani looked back expectantly at joel, waiting for him to jump so she could follow but the man only motionned to the entrance with his bearded chin, signaling for her to go first. the woman’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly in pleasant surprise though still; she placed a hand upon the remnants of the wall for support and jumped. a few beats passed after her landing and, with a soft grunt, joel came down next.

from somewhere deeper within the room, tess’ voice echoed. ‘’let there be light.’’ she exhaled deeply and her finger flipped up the switch. she waited for her partners to reach her before venturing further and into a decrepit corridor.

barely a foot in, a horribly pungent smell forced its way into her lungs. “argh,’’ tess almost gagged, “god, this place reeks.’’

it seemed to hit keilani at roughly the same time. her nose crinkled violently. “fuck, no kidding.’’

“they need to watch what they throw away down here.’’ a huff left the woman’s lips as she vaulted over a large pipe resting only inches above the ground. “let’s grab our gear.’’

they had reached a storage room, the space of which was only barely lit by the flickering glow of a singular light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

“our backpacks are still here from last time.’’ tess noted, her eyes locking onto the familiar bags. the chance of them not being in their rightful spots was rather slim, but it was still a pleasant sight. the three of them approached the workbenches positioned against the walls, wasting little time before grabbing as many weapons as needed. additional knives and guns were slipped into their clothes, placed in areas easy enough to reach in dire situations.

a light frown spread over joel’s features as he studied and loaded a pistol he'd picked up. “not a lot of ammo.’’

“well,’’ tess grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. “make your shots count.’’

he didn’t offer an answer, focusing on adding the last items to his own backpack instead; a gas mask, bandages and so forth, before grabbing his flashlight and sliding it into the strap of his bag.

“alright, texas,’’ tess spoke up from the adjoining room she’d entered, keilani already by her side. “boost us up.’’

joel swiftly slid his gun into the waist of his pants, right below his back, before joining the two women. he placed himself in front of the decently high wall they needed to scale, his back pressing against the surface. bending his knees and cupping his hands, he looked up.

“you ready?’’

“yes, ma’am.’’

a few quick strides and tess' foot landed into joel’s awaiting hands, hers grasping onto his shoulders briefly for support. the man bent his knees further for an extra boost then straightened up, lifting his hands simultaneously. the extra height gave tess the opportunity to reach the top of the wall, letting her do the rest of the job and pull herself up. a distinct huff signaled that tess had reached her destination, and joel readied himself once more. he motioned to keilani and the woman nodded, moving forward. the process repeated; her foot in his hands, joel squatting further then standing upright, muscles straining ever so slightly for an instant. keilani’s hands gripped the edge of the wall and tess offered her own in aid. the woman’s eyebrows raised once the other didn’t seem to notice nor need this gesture though, managing to climb safely onto the platform only mere seconds later.

“alright.’’ tess chuckled and keilani blinked, seeming to only now notice tess’ offer just as the latter retracted her previously outstretched hand.

“oh, shit. sorry.’’ keilani breathed out a laugh. “thanks, anyway.’’

tess smiled, giving her a slight shove, and the two women approached the ledge, stretching out their arms for joel to lift himself up with. his hands slipped into each of their own, and they pulled. a few moments of straining and grunting, and joel was up right next to keilani and tess. the three adults moved to the opposing edge of the platform, where another shorter wall stood. above them was a heavy, wooden plank, and joel raised his arms, placing his palms upon the grimy surface.

“go on.’’ standing on the tip of his toes, joel made an opening large enough to let keilani and tess climb up. the former was the first to go; she jumped up, catching the ledge above as she did and pulled her body upwards. once fully on the ground aloft, she crouched and took hold of the wooden plank, nodding down at joel.

“s’alright, i got it.’’

the man retracted his hands, watching keilani’s movements carefully as the weight switched over to her. tess came next, then joel; both repeating roughly the same process. once up, joel crouched next to keilani and helped her lower the wooden board as quietly as they could, while tess started venturing towards the door leading to both the outside of the building and of the quarantine zone.

joel glanced back. “be careful.’’

“when am i not?’’

he huffed out a short laugh. “that a trick question?’’

a brief glare was sent to joel, then to keilani as tess noticed the familiar biting of the lip which the curly haired woman only did when holding back a chuckle. her gaze was brought back forward however when she crossed the threshold of the building and the surprisingly gentle breeze of summer washed over her. despite the still gray weather, the air was much more fresh on the outskirts. the light bump of a hip against tess’ took her attention away from the seldom experienced sight which was the outside however; keilani offered a light smile, passing by.

“ain’t been out here in a while,’’ joel noted, stepping out last and following.

“it’s like we’re on a date,'' tess deadpanned.

a snort came from keilani. “which one of us is third wheeling?’’

“do any of us have to be?’’ the smirk was evident in tess’ voice as she let the question leave her upturned lips.

keilani's laugh resonated, loud and genuine, which only widened the smile on tess’ face. “i suppose not.’’ the woman pivoted, letting herself walk backwards momentarily to look at her partners. her head tilted, and a playful glint appeared in her eyes. “no complaints?’’

joel’s eyebrows raised as he noticed her gaze was on him, catching upon her insinuation. a puff of laughter escaped him. “i’ll let you know that i am the romantic type.’’

“you got your ways.’’

“oh, i’ll believe that when i see it,’’ keilani teased, the corner of her eyes crinkling.

overgrown blades of grass tickled their calves as they trudged further through what nature had reclaimed after what most considered to be the end of the world. the buildings were covered in greenery; moss and vines grew up the bricks of the damaged structures. cars abandoned long ago still sat in the tall weeds, collecting dirt and grime.

a sigh came from tess as the trio went down a small drop; her eyes scanned the area. “where’s the ladder?’’ sure enough, the aforementioned object didn’t appear to be near its usual spot. the space just below a large gap in the bricks of a second story wall— the space where it normally sat— was vacant. great.

“it’s gotta be around here somewhere.’’ joel continued forward, examining the ground carefully and pushing plants out of the way in his search. soon, he disappeared from both tess’ and keilani’s view, venturing behind a car.

“got it.’’

the women’s heads snapped up curiously just in time to catch a glimpse of joel emerging from behind the vehicle with the ladder sitting upright in his hands. he took a couple strides before reaching the right spot and placing down the item, right below the missing part of the wall. he turned towards the two others, motioning behind him. “ladies first.’’

keilani whistled amusingly. “what a gentleman.’’

next to her, tess gave an incredulous laugh. “ladies?’’ she repeated, “you must be thinkin’ of someone else.’’ nevertheless, she placed her feet upon the ladder.

joel only chuckled, letting keilani go next before climbing onto the metal steps himself. “it’s all relative.’’

“this way,’’ tess signaled from slightly deeper into the building. joel and keilani followed her voice, joining her next to a staircase. the bottom half of the steps were missing yet this didn’t seem to bother any of the individuals present; each of them simply let themselves drop onto the ground below.

tess glanced back briefly, hearing slight huffs as the other two landed and the clicking of their flashlights turning on in an attempt to fight against the darkness. “you think robert’s still got our guns?’’

“for his sake, he better,’’ joel stated roughly. truth was, the outcome wouldn't be pleasant for the smuggler either way. it would however be much worse if the guns were no longer in his possession.

“hold up,’’ tess almost cut him off as they reached a doorway. “spores.’’ at the end of the corridor before them, thick particles drifted slowly through the stale air, creating a dense cloud. never a reassuring sight, really; the slightest mistake leading to even the fewest of inhales could be your ticket into the dirt— could get you infected. gas masks were carefully put on before they advanced any further. the hallway offered only one door, through which the spores seemed to escape.

“where the hell are these comin’ from?’’ joel had entered the room first, eyes peeled for any sign of a possible source, yet finding nothing. “place was clear last time.’’

tess sighed. “well, they’re coming outta somethin’. stay alert.’’

joel’s gaze locked onto what could best be described as a tunnel; a hole on the right wall with debris only allowing a thin passageway to the neighboring room. the man crouched and advanced into the tight space. as he reached the end, his nose crinkled ever so slightly at the sight his eyes fell upon. “there’s our culprit,’’ he stated blankly.

before him was a corpse, propped up against a large piece of rubble with its mouth ajar, eyes vacant and of a sickly grey tone. fungus had spread on and around it; the warm colored tendrils of the mushrooms snaked around its limbs, climbed up its stomach and even entered its open mouth. the stone upon which the body rested hadn’t been spared either, its surface being covered in the substance.

“yeah,’’ keilani breathed out, only a step or two behind joel. “i’d say we got a positive ID.’’

“body’s not that old. better keep your eyes and ears open.’’ joel and keilani nodded at tess’ words. the three went around the cadaver cautiously. in the midst of multiple shelves and drawers, a narrow space giving way to an adjoining room could be seen, though it’s entrance was blocked by a lengthy wooden plank, propped up at an angle.

“we should be able to fit through here.’’ joel approached and took hold of the board, tugging tentatively. the wood barely budged at the attempt; the top of it seemed stuck against the ceiling above. joel gave a harsher pull and this seemed to do the trick— only, a little too well. the plank fell with a loud crash, along with heavy bits and pieces of the ceiling which only narrowly missed the man underneath in their descent.

“shit! joel!’’

“you okay?’’

“yeah,’’ joel answered the women’s worried calls breathily, “damn ceiling’s falling apart. be careful.’’ he twisted his body to the side so as to fit inside the small space now free of any obstacles, motioning to follow as he went. “easy…’’ he instructed in a hushed tone.

they slowly inched towards the opening on the opposite side, holding their breaths so as to take the least space possible. joel had only just stepped foot into the wider area when a loud, gasping breath followed by heavy coughs resonated somewhere below him.

“jesus,’’ he jumped at the sound and stepped away from the hands grasping at his ankles, instinctively grabbing tess— who was the closest to him— by the arms and pulling her to his other side, “watch it. watch it.’’

a slight wave of relief washed over joel as he realized the figure was unable to move and therefore practically harmless; a large metal shelf crushed the lower half of the man’s body and prevented him from doing much except flail his arms forward. also worth a short breath of relief; he wasn’t infected, or at the very least hadn’t turned yet if he was. thus was proven as the man on the ground heaved in more breaths and let a hoarse but distinct “help me…’’ slip past his lips.

keilani had previously stopped dead in her tracks at the commotion unfolding before her; still squeezed into the tight space which the group had been passing through. upon registering the lack of a real threat however, she allowed herself to take the few remaining steps which separated her from tess and joel. still, the male— ever so cautious— took hold of keilani’s wrist and made sure she didn’t step anywhere near the injured individual at their feet. another coughing fit left the latter.

“my mask broke.’’ he strained to look up at the three figures, probably only catching a rough glimpse of their forms through the cracked glass sitting before his eyes. “don’t– don’t leave me to turn. please.’’

tess’ gaze shifted to joel, then keilani. “what do you want to do?’’

joel let his eyes fall onto the man once more, his expression unchanging, indifferent. he looked back up at the women, and the perfectly detached look he sported was answer enough. tess pivoted slightly, turning towards a nearby hallway and moved right along, joel on her heels.

“come back… don’t… don’t leave me like this.’’

tess paused, though not at the desperate pleading but at the lack of a third pair of softly resonating footsteps behind her; her head turned, glancing briefly backwards. there, keilani still stood next to the man, eyes blank but fixed onto the writhing figure. tess almost spoke up but the words died in her throat when keilani crouched and— in a singular, swift motion— slipped the knife out from against her ankle and into the exposed base of the male’s skull. a few seconds passed, her eyes lingered on the now still body and finally, she moved; with a strange gentleness, she took out the sharp weapon, wiped it and put it away, before getting back up and joining tess and joel once more.

neither said anything, gaze only briefly following her as she took the two or three remaining steps between them. nonetheless, keilani hummed, giving a one-shouldered shrug. “we have enough infected as it is.’’

anyone other than tess would’ve probably only registered the seemingly expressionless, maybe even bored look in her eyes as she fell into step next to her and joel. anyone else would’ve fully believed her words without a second thought. but tess had known keilani for many years; she had known her when the apocalypse had only just started, and she knew that— though now carefully placed out of sight— her nature had not changed. if tess was sure about one thing, it was this.

the trio kept moving forward, occasionally pausing for a second or two to pick up any supplies or ammo they could find. soon, they stood before yet another doorway, though wooden planks had been nailed to the top part. one after the other, they crouched, making sure their heads stayed unharmed when passing through. tess had only just reached joel on the other side, keilani about a foot behind, when a guttural scream echoed from somewhere close— much too close.

“up ahead,’’ tess breathed out. “you hear that?’’

joel crouched further, motioning with his hand to stay as quiet as could be. “shh, shh, shh.’’

he took a few careful steps to a doorway, letting his head peek out only slightly to catch a quick glimpse of what waited for them in the neighboring rooms. the space right next to them was empty, but a figure soon ran into an adjoining hallway, pausing fearfully to look behind himself. more screams resonated, then another one, though this particular yell was not one of rage like the previous, but of fear; pure, primal terror. it had left the figure, the latter of which immediately began running again upon hearing the approaching shrieks. another form then came around, though it barreled into the adjacent room instead of the hallway where the man had fled. and— unlike said individual— the new figure behaved in a way much more akin to a rabid animal. its body was bloodied; hands, clothes and face covered in the thick, red liquid. its mouth formed a snarl, and it stayed hunched over, moving wildly in a way that no human would without getting severe whiplash. infected.

tess’ eyes were focused, never leaving the figure as she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. “how do you wanna handle it?’’

joel didn’t give a response; he only drew his gun, stepping away from the wall he and the two women had been hiding behind. the infected in the neighboring room had his back turned, and joel made sure that each of his steps were quiet enough for it to stay that way. keilani and tess shared a glance, deciding to move up as well and to stay a reasonable distance behind to make sure they could jump in to help if needed.

once close enough, joel straightened up and— in one quick motion— looped his left arm around the infected’s throat. its trashing body was harshly pulled against his chest, effectively restraining its movements. his right arm came to hold the being’s head in place, preventing it from sinking its teeth into any part of his exposed skin, while his left one tightened impossibly around its neck. the infected’s hands pawed at his masked face in vain, smearing blood all over it. seconds passed, and, finally, the turned individual went limp in the man’s grasp. the latter let its corpse fall to the ground with a quiet thud.

joel stayed still for a few moments, straining to hear any other sounds. sure enough, low groans and hoarse, heavy breaths could be heard coming from the room facing him. rare were the times where only one infected roamed a specific area; too many years had passed since the outbreak, too many people had turned. the living were merely walking the dead's world now.

a glance behind his shoulder confirmed that keilani and tess were right on his heels, ready to clear the area of the remaining infected and keep moving. eyes shifting back forward, joel stayed in a crouched position and advanced further, risking a look through the entrance so as to assess just how many they would be dealing with.

“jesus.’’

the sight joel was met with could easily be described by most as rather unpleasant. only two infected were in the room— easy to deal with considering the trio outnumbered them— but a third figure was present as well; a figure which was currently being absolutely torn apart. the infected were on their knees, hunched over the motionless body on the ground, their bare hands and teeth pulling the tissues and muscles right off the bones in a bloody, gory mess. the squelching, wet sounds of teeth grinding against raw flesh were loud enough to reach joel and the two women crouched multiple feet away. the man from earlier had apparently failed to make it.

a simple hand motion told keilani and tess that joel would be going around through the hallway. thus would allow him to reach them without the risk of being so easily noticed. nods were exchanged and joel got to moving.

each of his steps were careful, calculated, and once he was a foot or two away, he sprung forward. his arms wrapped around the infected’s shoulders, pining its arms to its sides and pulling it away from its meal. the figure writhed and shrieked in joel’s grasp, though a violent hit to the head with the butt of his gun shut it up quite quickly. disoriented, the runner couldn’t do much to stop a last, even harder strike from cracking its skull and sending its now limp body to collapse on the floor.

unsurprisingly, the second infected’s head had snapped up violently at the first sign of an intruder. it now stood hunched over, readying itself to pounce like a feral animal and screeching in a way that should’ve surely made its vocal cords snap. before it could make the slightest move towards joel however, a hand came from behind and clasped itself around its jaw, harshly twisting its head upwards as a knife split its throat open from ear to ear. keilani threw the body to the ground and watched it choke and trash about for a few seconds before sucking in its last breath. tess let a few more moments slip past before lowering her weapon in turn. only when she was sure the runner wouldn't somehow decide it wasn't done just yet did she lower the gun aimed directly between its eyes.

the short haired woman let her body relax ever so slightly at last. “alright, that’s all of ‘em.’’

“let’s hope so,’’ joel spoke, voice low. his eyes cautiously scanned the space they were in one final time.

keilani was the first to begin advancing again. she nodded her head towards one of the doorways the room offered as she took the first few steps. “let’s head back into the city.’’ the usual tone she sported— one so naturally soft and calm— seemed to remove the remaining edge off her partners and, they followed.

the three individuals went up staircases and passed through room after room before reaching one covered in a notable amount of greenery. more than half the ground making up the middle of the space was gone; a large gaping hole had taken the place of the thick concrete floor. though— luckily for the group— a wide wooden plank had been conveniently placed so as to connect both sides, making for a stand-in bridge.

on the other side of this gap, a good chunk of the brick wall was also missing. the drop which it gave way to wasn’t unreasonably high, only about a meter or two, and so they cautiously let themselves fall onto the tall grass below. finally back into an open space filled with fresh air, joel, tess and keilani could safely remove their gas masks. none of them wasted any time in doing so.

“oh, seriously,’’ keilani laughed breathlessly as she detached the item, “taking that shit off always feels like heaven.’’ her inhales and exhales had deepened and her eyes had closed for a few moments as she continued to advance, seemingly basking in the refreshing contrast the outside offered to those who left the interiors.

tess’ lips were pulled into a grin at the sight. “god, tell me about it.’’ she let out a deep breath, “ahhh… and that fresh air.’’

keilani’s eyes snapped open at this and she turned to face her friend. “i know right!’’

her enthusiastic agreement almost made tess laugh. “that’s one thing i love about the outside.’’ the woman continued on her previous words as the trio trudged through shallow water; the latter of which had accumulated in the desolate streets over the years with tall weeds and abandoned cars sticking out here and there. “fuckin’ hate the smell of the city.’’ tess’ nose crinkled just at the memory of it.

“why don’t you ask bill to get you some of them air fresheners?’’ joel spoke up, voice sounding slightly distant to the two women from where he walked before them.

tess scoffed humorously. “hey, if they weren’t expired that’d be a good idea.’’

the amount of water thinned as they continued on, soon to the point where the ground was now visible and some mounds of dirt protruded out of the puddle’s surface. joel came to a halt before a tall, brick building. his eyes followed keilani and tess as they picked up their pace slightly to reach the spot where he now stood. once they were close enough, joel reached behind an overgrowth of vines and pulled back a wooden pallet, revealing a previously concealed entrance into the building. “after you.’’

one after the other, they entered through the opening; tess going first and joel last.

“cover the entrance,’’ tess called out to the man as she continued to advance further into the building.

“i got it.’’ the man complied, pushing the pallet right back to its original spot.

the sound of feet hitting old wooden planks and various weeds resonated throughout the building. what had once long ago been a large staircase leading to the next story laid as a wreckage before the trio. luckily however, this debris still made for a good mound and gave the possibility of pulling oneself up and onto the floor above. once upon the latter, tess approached the edge of a collapsed section of the tiled flooring.

the short haired woman sighed as she knelt and looked down, eyes scanning the ground below. “damn it. plank feel down.’’ she stood back up and looked over her shoulder at joel. “be a dear, would you?’’

her attempt at flattery elicited a scoff from the bearded male. “i’ll get it.’’ he dropped down onto the grass covered floor and walked over to where the large wooden plank laid, picking it up.

“here,’’ keilani made her way over to the nearby ledge. “pass it to me.’’

joel nodded and placed the plank against the wall, right under where the woman stood with her hands beckoning. “it’s a bit heavy.’’

tess gave an amused huff at the man's warning. “i think she can handle it.’’

“all right.’’

keilani only chuckled and began pulling the timber upwards, before handing it over to tess, who leant it against her shoulder for support. the woman walked over to the collapsed floor while keilani kneeled and looked down at joel. “you think you can climb back up here if i help you up?’’

the man took a few steps back and examined the height he’d need to scale, before giving a slight shake of the head. “s’alright. i’ll make my way ‘round.’’

the curly haired woman nodded in response and straightened back up, eyes briefly following joel’s frame as he disappeared out of her view before joining tess where she'd placed the plank over the cleft on the floor.

“there we go,’’ tess breathed out, and motionned for keilani to go first. the latter easily crossed to the other side, even with the small width of the makeshift bridge. tess looked back over to joel who'd almost finished circling around by then. “get your ass up here. let’s move.’’

joel’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly. “bossy today.’’

“when is she not?’’ the corner of keilani’s lips quirked up and her smile only widened at the half-assed glare she received from her friend.

the other side didn't give access to much, only a door made of broken up windows. exiting through it, the trio landed on a rusty, half-destroyed fire escape from which they carefully dropped down.

“keep your eyes out for any soldiers roamin’ around.’’

in the horizon, the sun was slowly sinking, and so far it had just barely begun to melt into the skyline. though still, this signalled the approaching curfew with which usually came an impossibly irritating increase in patrols. well, reassuring for usual citizens, but a massive pain in the ass for smugglers. therefore, joel's words couldn't be wiser.

vaulting over a concrete barrier and progressing further into narrow alleyways, the group soon reached a metal door and entered the building to which it led. joel shut off the entrance behind them at tess’ instructions and they walked in further, striding into the nearest room. tess approached yet another door leading to the outside, though this time she knocked instead of opening it right away. a few moments passed, and a young boy, surely no older than eleven or so, pulled it open.

“hey, little man,’’ tess greeted, pulling out a small stack of ration cards. ‘’make sure the coast is clear?’’

the boy nodded and reached his hand forward to grab the cards only for tess to pull them away, just an inch out of his reach. “no soldiers. none of robert’s men. yeah?’’

another small nod was her only answer, and such seemed to be satisfactory. she handed the child the ration cards and he promptly shut the metal door. from the dirty window to their right, the trio could roughly make out the small frame of the boy as he checked the area around him. tess gave a small sigh and let herself lean against the railing of the steps she was standing on.

“you know he’s expecting us.’’ joel’s words were spoken matter of factly, his eyes resting upon tess’ tired features.

“well, that’ll make it more interesting.’’

joel let out a scoff, and light tapping upon the window came only a few seconds after— the boy was signaling to the trio that the area was clear; they could pass through.

“good to go,’’ tess pushed herself off the railing. “c’mon.’’ she opened the metal door and turned right, joel and keilani on her heels. what they had entered just then was clearly a slum; the rather small area was packed full of people living in less than comfortable conditions. a man who had previously been leaning his body against the wall called out almost as soon as the trio set foot out the building.

“hey, tess. hey, tess. hey, pretty lady,’’ keilani’s brows shot up, eyes looking the male up and down with clear distaste at his way of grabbing the woman’s attention. they passed by and keilani placed herself between tess and the stranger, gaze boring holes into the man. tess only placed her hand on her partner’s shoulder however, letting the male continue his useless rambling without paying it any mind. “how you doin’ today? i heard you got some merchandise—’’

“not right now, terrance.’’ tess cut off the aforementioned male blankly as she kept walking.

“no, no, no, it’s good. look, i got the card.’’

“not. now. you hear me?’’

tess’ words seemed to get through to terrance this time and he took a few steps back. “okay. i can do that. don’t get all huffy-puffy about it.’’ his voice lowered to a mere mutter at the last sentence.

the trio walked further and into a small marketplace with vendors lining both sides and watching them like hawks as they passed. the sound of dogs barking, merchants hollering and various others chatting and arguing flowed all around them and keilani’s nose scrunched up ever so slightly at the loud noises.

on their right side, a vendor stood up suddenly. “you touch it, you buy it,’’ he almost sneered at them and only a few moments later they walked by a woman sitting on a man’s lap to their left— the male also calling out to them.

“tess, it’s been a while. you don’t visit us anymore.’’

tess answered to none of the individuals and so neither keilani, nor joel paid them a glance either. the group only continued forward and into a worn-down bus which had clearly long been used as something other than transportation. joel passed first, and his eyes fell onto the shattered windows which had been partially nailed shut. through the small spaces between the planks, two individuals could be seen trading punches and other violent hits. the cheers and yells of what appeared to be an audience could be heard even inside the still vehicle.

suddenly, a man stood up from one of the bus seats and blocked joel’s way. “where do you think you’re goin’?’’ his eyes narrowed dangerously, moving from joel, to keilani.

“malick,’’ tess called as she walked in from behind. “sit back down.’’

the male visibly shrunk back at this. “oh, sorry, tess. didn’t realize you three were together. go ahead.’’ he moved out of the way and sat right back down, letting the group past and shifting uncomfortably at the heavy glare joel gifted him on his way to the exit.

“who’s that?’’

tess sighed at joel’s question and let herself drop down the bus’ steps. “an old headache. don’t ask.’’

keilani’s eyebrows raised and her lips tugged upward. “i always forget just how many people you seem to know. at this point, i’d say it’s getting impressive.’’

tess gave a snort at this. soon, she led her partners towards a hooded man leaning next to an alley. the latter’s head tilted up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“i’m lookin’ for robert,’’ tess took out ration cards from her back pocket, tilting her head. “he come through here?’’

at the sight of the greenish colored tickets, the man’s face had broken into a smirk. “half hour ago,’’ he answered casually, “he went back to the wharf. he’s there now.’’

tess’ eyes studied the male’s features for a few moments, sizing him up, before finally nodding and letting him pocket the cards she was holding up. tess began walking again and her two partners followed, paying no mind to the briefly lingering eyes of the man they had just spoken to.

a single left turn after exiting the alley, and the trio was finally stepping into a more open area, at the back of which stood a large tunnel. before it however, a man sat upon a few crates covered in sheets, talking to two others who stood before him. at the sound of boots crunching against cement, all three strangers turned towards joel, tess and keilani.

“here we go,’’ joel muttered.

the thugs slowly approached the trio, guns drawn and eyes glaring straight at them as they too walked closer.

“let us through.’’ tess’ voice was blank, and her order— clear.

one of the men, seemingly the dominant of the bunch, spoke up from where he stood in front of the two others. ‘’you guys need to turn around and head back if you know what’s good for you.’’

“our beef isn’t with you. we just want robert,’’ tess’ glare was growing harsher by the second. “you don’t wanna do this.’’

tone nothing short of threatening, he answered, “turn the fuck around and leave now.’’

“i’m not going anywhere without robert.’’

apparently, tess’ insistence didn’t sit right with the male. “bitch,’’ his finger pointed aggressively towards the woman, “i will bash your skull unless you turn around and get your dumbass outta here.’’

tess rolled her eyes at the macho attitude and a quick, shared glance between her and her partners was all she needed for her mind to be set.

“fuck this.’’

her pistol was drawn and before any of the thugs could move even an inch, a bullet had been lodged between the fucker’s eyes, blowing a hole straight through his skull.

the two males who'd been standing behind him immediately dove behind the nearest crates. “take cover!’’

a quick tap from tess to both keilani’s and joel’s arms, and the trio did the same, ducking to their right before either of the smugglers could get their bearings and shoot at their exposed figures.

“you ready?’’

“yeah,’’ joel’s gruff voice answered tess’ question while keilani only drew her own gun in response.

“i’m gonna fuckin’ kill you!’’ one of the thugs yelled out from behind his cover, voice cracking with rage. bold threat.

“we’ll cover you,’’ tess assured joel, “get the angle on them.’’

the man almost immediately got to moving— he dashed for another stack of crates nearby, promptly ducking down behind it before the thugs could aim their guns at him. he repeated this action again, this time moving closer and to the smugglers’ left side. the duo’s alarm at his position— one which they obviously found to be much too close for comfort— was evident as they quickly straightened up, aiming their weapons for the merchandise he had crouched behind; cover be damned.

this seemed to be the wrong move however; in the first few seconds where they had abandoned the crates shielding them, joel had already gotten the chance to lodge a bullet inside the skull of the nearest one. and the second, he had seemed to realize the older male wasn’t the only threat present, though a little too late. he had just aimed his gun towards keilani and tess when the force of a gunshot entering his right shoulder practically knocked him off his feet and sent his own weapon flying out of his grip.

a wail of pain escaped the smuggler as he pitifully crawled back, trying to put as much distance as he could between him and his assailants. his eyes raised and they switched from a look of deep suffering to one of desperate pleading. “take it easy,’’ he stuttered out, hands raised in surrender as joel came dangerously close. “everything’s cool man.’’

these were the very last words the thug spoke before joel promptly delivered a forceful kick to his head, neck giving a sickening crack as it broke and throat letting out one last groan as his dying sound.

tess had already left cover by then, a deep exhale leaving her lungs as she moved to join joel before the tunnel's entrance. “nicely done, texas.’’

keilani was only a step or two behind. the gun in her hand still fumed slightly from her previously delivered shot.

joel gave a nod at this, eyes brushing over both his companions. “you too.’’

area now cleared of all hindrances, they could enter the tunnel; passing by the corpse of the last smuggler, easily stepping over the slowly growing pool of blood beneath him and venturing further into the shadowy space before them. the passage was rather short, only a few meters long at best, and once the trio had almost reached its end, joel spoke up again. “how the hell did he get all these guys?’’

“if robert’s good at one thing, it’s writing blank checks,’’ tess huffed. “let’s go put an end to that.’’

the tunnel led to a small area between buildings, one which possessed a fence gate as its only exit. tess approached it, latching her hands onto the criss crossing metal wires, and tugged— nothing. the gate shook vigorously at her attempt but didn’t open. “shit,’’ the woman growled in annoyance, “not goin’ through here."

“tess,’’ keilani called and nodded her chin towards the wall which stood next to the fence.

figuring out rather quickly what the woman was getting at, joel took a step towards the wall but— keilani had beaten him to it, already leaning her weight against the surface and placing herself in an adequate position to boost tess up. joel’s eyebrows raised at the sight, and keilani only gave a slight grin his way as she lifted tess up to the ground above.

“giving your back a break for once,’’ she stated simply, eyes lifting up at the other woman’s form to make sure she had arrived above safely. wiping her hands upon the pants she wore, she turned back towards the man. “alright, break’s over now. help me up.’’

joel huffed at this, while keilani's smile only widened. nevertheless, he took her place and crouched like she previously had for tess. “’twas rather short lived.’’

the dark skinned woman only shrugged, “hey, take what you can get.’’

placing her feet in his hands and her own on his shoulders, she thanked him and the genuine smile she gave as she did so contrasted wildly the teasing one she'd offered moments prior. her fingers wrapped around the ledge only a second later, pulling herself the rest of the way up and sparing joel any further straining. her words hadn't exactly been a joke; the man really did deserve to catch a break.

no sooner had she reached the top that her and tess extended their arms back down to joel. “there you go,’’ tess breathed out as his feet finally came back onto solid ground.

the man straightened up, grunting slightly, and the trio continued to trudge on, weaving through a few more rat and trash filled alleys before entering a fenced area. below it was a lower level where a few buildings stood and— luckily for the group— the metal wires of the fence sported an opening big enough to fit a decently large person and the drop to the ground below was reasonable. and so, they made use of this.

though, only mere seconds after their landing, they were forced to duck for cover. before them, two men— clearly robert’s— were walking out of a nearby computer store, chatting as their gazes scanned the area carefully.

tess huffed. “pfft. more of his guys.’’

“shit, i see ‘em.’’ the annoyance was blatant in joel’s voice.

though the trio couldn’t see the thugs from where they hid, they could more or less make sense of what the men were exchanging about.

“how do you know they’re coming?’’

an irritated sigh left one of them. “two of our guys died trying to take tess out.’’ the aforementioned woman glanced at her partners with a subtle grin and a shrug of the shoulders. the male continued, “i guarantee that she, joel and keilani are on their way here right now to get robert.’’

“jesus,’’ the other breathed out, “we shouldn’t have taken this job.’’

“not our call. let’s spread out and make sure no one’s creeping around in here.’’

tess began moving again; staying in a crouched position, she moved forward and hid for cover once more further ahead. “nice and quiet,’’ she muttered to joel and keilani once they followed. before them, the two thugs parted ways to cover more ground as they guarded the area. this gave tess the perfect opening to grab the nearest one and stab her knife right into his neck, killing him as discreetly as she could to avoid alerting the other walking only a few meters ahead. “move up. move up,’’ her quiet voice instructed her partners.

keilani was already ahead of her on that matter however. when tess had moved to take care of the first smuggler, she had done the same for the second. tess and joel moved up to enter the computer store and keilani rushed forward, locking her arm around the thug’s throat and piercing the side of his neck with her knife, blade then dragging upwards in one, violent motion. she let the male bleed out in her grasp for a few moments, lowered his body to the ground with a soft thud and joined her two partners near the building.

the open doors of the establishment led into an average sized room where a single male patrolled. only a few seconds passed however before he moved to an adjoining room and started conversing with what could only be assumed as a second thug guarding the place. tess, joel and keilani took advantage of the temporarily vacant state of the room and snuck inside. the voices of the two smugglers became louder as they did so, though none of the three individuals really paid their conversation much mind.

tess moved to stand next to the doors leading to the room being patrolled. she glanced at joel, "you take one out, i’ll take the other.’’ her eyes moved to keilani, “cover us.’’

“will do.’’

joel approached the nearest thug who’s back was conveniently facing him and, he lunged. his arm hooked around the male’s neck, squeezing so tightly that the thug audibly choked. at this sound, the second turned right around, gun raised. without letting go of his own target, joel did the same, though he didn’t need to. tess had delivered a gunshot clear to the second thug's head and so, joel took this opportunity to finish off the one in his grasp. with a quick but forceful jerk of his arm, the smuggler’s neck snapped and his body went limp against joel’s chest.

from outside, a voice resonated. “what’s the matter, man? where’d you go?’’

tess’ and joel’s eyes grew slightly wider. there was a third one. a few quick steps were heard then, a figure jumped through one of the glassless windows at the other end of the room. his feet had barely landed onto the ground when a bullet shot right through his shoulder— keilani hadn’t let him get very far. a scream of pain escaped him and joel took this split moment of disorientation to quickly close the distance between him and the thug. his left arm swung, striking the wounded male’s face. a second swing was delivered, knocking him off balance even further, before joel’s hand grasped the back of the his head, not letting him catch even the slightest breath, and slammed his skull right into the nearest heat pump. the sickening sound of metal crashing against flesh and bone rang out and blood splashed on anything even remotely close. joel let the man’s body drop.

as he did so, a clinking sound reached his ears— keys knocking against one another. joel bent down, hands searching the corpse’s pockets briefly before indeed landing upon cold metal. he pocketed the small objects and straightened back up. tess nodded towards the next room, “let’s search the area.’’

the hallway in which they ventured was short, the dim lights above them occasionally flickered. it led to a single metal door, one which was locked shut. the dots were rather easy to connect and joel soon took out the keys he had swiped off the thug. sure enough, a single turn and the door gave a satisfying click as it unlocked.

cautiously, the trio entered what seemed to be a storage area. crates and sandbags littered the space and the group soon found themselves ducking behind one of the piles as the sound of chatter reached them.

“hey, we consolidated the crates in the south warehouse. supplies are locked up.’’

“good, let's do another once over and then head out. it's getting close to curfew.’’

“what about robert? who's he holing up with tonight? guy's too paranoid to stay here by himself.’’

“fuck if I know. we'll check in with the others and come up with something.’’

keilani tilted her head as she listened in, before raising three fingers up at her partners. only two voices were conversing, but a third pair of footsteps could be distinguished, albeit just barely. joel and tess nodded at her indication, and waited a few beats until it was clear judging by the noises that the thugs were splitting up in their patrol. then— they began moving.

one of the males had posted himself in the entrance of the storage room, though he had made the mistake of letting his back face the room itself.

“not the brightest,’’ keilani murmured, eyes fixed on the form of the unattending smuggler as joel approached him with careful steps. the almost amused look tess sent her in response was answer enough— clearly not.

by this point, joel had reached him and the thug’s fate was sealed. the former male looped his arm around the smuggler’s throat, pining his body against his own and shoving the barrel of his 9mm against his temple. thus was a clear enough threat, and the thug was wise enough to not make any noise of alarm as joel backed both of their figures away from the doorway and out of the others’ sights.

“hey,’’ the male barely managed to get the word out, “d-d-don’t do anything stupid, alright?’’

his attempt at reasoning with joel was in vain however, and the latter barely let the pleading words leave the thug’s mouth before tightening his hold on his neck and beginning to strangle him. for multiple seconds his arms flailed, grasping and clawing at joel, as he audibly struggled for air. only when the man’s body went limp did joel finally loosen his grasp.

tess and keilani moved up, joining their partner near the doorway, though tess’ hand soon shot up, signaling to stop any and all attempts to advance further. outside, one of the thugs had seemed to sense something was off. with careful steps, the male approached as his eyes scanning the storage area— most probably searching for any sign of the thug previously guarding this exact spot. his hand waved to catch his remaining partner’s attention and soon, two figures were nearing the space where the trio hid.

quickly and quietly, keilani backed up a few steps until her hand finally landed on the cold surface of a stray glass bottle. joel’s and tess’ eyes followed her frame, easily understanding what she was hoping to achieve. next to keilani was a wall once made of windows, though now only the empty casings remained, and on its other side; a second room. keilani’s hand reached through the opening and in one, quick motion threw the beer bottle right across to the other side.

the harsh sound of glass shattering upon concrete easily reached the two smugglers and their eyes immediately darted from the storage area to its neighbouring room. a brief glance between the two seemed to settle it, and they chose to enter the second space first.

tess stepped outside, silently going around to the second doorway while keilani chose to approach the door connecting the rooms from the inside. from where tess stood, the thugs’ backs were facing her and so, she lunged forward, latching onto the closest male and driving the blade of her knife directly into his throat.

the other smuggler whipped around in alarm, pistol raised towards tess and his now deceased partner. his finger never got to press the trigger however, as before he could do so, a blade viciously slashed the back of his right knee, immediately sending him to the ground, kneeling. a scream of pure pain escaped him, though it was silenced as soon as keilani’s machete flipped in her grasp, blade now pointing opposite to her thumb, and impaled the side of his neck.

keilani let the weapon slide out from the male’s flesh, blade retracting from where it protruded on both sides of his throat. tess loosened the grasp on the thug she still held, his body dropping almost in sync with the one of his partner. and, with the previously patrolling individuals now all taken care of, joel, tess and keilani continued to push forward.

outside, a rusted staircase, once painted blue it seemed, led to a large warehouse. well aware that more of robert’s men might be waiting for them deeper inside, the trio went up the metal steps with caution. the first room they entered was scarcely furnished and coated with grime like most things in a world like this, but it was devoid of any thugs. and, despite it’s decent size, it only held a single doorway; one which led to a much larger area.

the majority of the space possessed no flooring and gave a perfect view of the entire first floor; only a narrow platform went along the walls of the establishment, with railings framing the side where there wasn’t any ground to step upon. on the opposite side from where the trio stood, there was another metal staircase, leading to the floor below, and next to it was the silhouettes of two men. joel motionned to tess and keilani to wait here, before passing the threshold into this area and making his way along the platform.

at both the corners closest to him, there were closed off spaces which, despite the thinness of their walls, would hide his movements well enough as he approached. he chose to advance to his right.

soon, he passed a desk with a computer and turned the corner, gun already sitting in his hand. joel now neared the doorway leading to the open area of the platform, though— as he noticed a few seconds too late— so did one of the smugglers.

at this face-to-face, joel had no choice but to act right then and there. both his crouched position and his previous plan of attack were quickly abandoned and he lunged at the thug before the latter’s watchful eyes had the chance to land on him. taking advantage of the brief confusion and surprise clouding his target’s mind, he grabbed his shoulder, forcibly whipping him around and right into a chokehold. such effectively prevented much movement, but unfortunately not speech, and the smuggler’s alarmed yell quickly caught the attention of the second.

thus proved not to be much of a threat to joel however. the man raised his pistol and aimed it right at the other smuggler’s chest at the slightest move he made to raise his own weapon. only a few moments after this gunshot resounded did a second one follow, this time aimed at the thug in his grasp. the bullet planted itself directly into the side of his skull. blood sprayed out violently and luckily, joel had the mind to firmly close his eyes and aim his face the opposite way beforehand, letting it reach mainly elsewhere on his frame. mainly.

“we shoulda brought more people.’’

unsurprisingly, tess and keilani were already behind their partner before the last smuggler had even met the ground. joel hadn't exactly expected them to hang back like he'd signaled anyway. they'd probably joined to back him up as soon as the first gunshot had rang out.

tess' 9mm was slipped into the waistband of her faded black jeans, her eyebrows raised and gaze fixed on the now unmoving body.

the man breathed out, giving a short shake of the head. “they’d just slow us down.’’

“yeah, you’re right,’’ tess paused, scanning the area briefly before spotting something on the floor below, “c’mon, the docks are this way. let’s do this.’’

keilani hummed in agreement and followed the short haired woman down the metal staircase. as she did so, she glanced over her shoulder and right back at the male behind her, eyes crinkling ever so slightly at the sight she was met with. “seems like red might be your color.’’

joel’s eyebrows furrowed briefly in confusion, one of them then raising once the woman’s words dawned on him. he gave a short exasperated sigh and the back of his hand reached up to wipe at his face, clear annoyance growing upon his features once his hand lowered back down, now smeared with blood. seems his move from earlier hadn’t helped much.

keilani huffed amusedly at his attempt, with what seemed to be a mix of laughter and sympathy on her features. usually, joel would have correctly assumed that this second was more mocking than anything else, though with keilani— this seemed more unlikely. the woman jumped off the two remaining steps of the stairs, and walked backwards briefly— handing joel a more or less clean towel— before pivoting back around.

the man gratefully accepted this— even though nothing about his behavior really indicated towards it— and he wasted no time before scrubbing his face until he felt the majority of the thick, red liquid had to have come off.

by this point, tess and keilani had reached an industrial door, and joel was headed for the nearby chain hoist. tossing the now bloodied towel at keilani as he got close enough, he thanked the woman with a nod. his hands reached for the cold metal of the chains.

the large door groaned loudly as joel pulled, and all three individuals found themselves gritting their teeth ever so slightly at the horrible screeching noise it made; one which would surely alert anyone nearby. joel tugged quicker, stopping as soon as the gap beneath was wide enough, and the trio promptly ducked past. not even an instant later, they were already ducking for cover as further away as they could, behind a destroyed half wall overlooking the area before them. if their mission went to shit purely due to one overly noisy door? pissed would probably be a huge understatement for what they'd be.

luckily, it soon became apparent to the group that if some were around, none had been alarmed by their less than subtle arrival. and, as tess risked a peek over the wall they hid behind, she understood why. though the dock was crawling with robert’s men, most of them were quite a long distance away and most probably out of ear shot from where they'd entered. despite this being an advantage to them, the smugglers’ large number did pose quite an issue. tess’ eyes carefully scanned the wharf then suddenly stopped; the look she wore should’ve sent the man on which her gaze stopped six feet underground.

“there’s our boy.��’

towards the very back of the area, a male sporting a ragged grey vest stood before another, conversing. his thin, dark hair was relatively short; on his head, it was pulled back into an elastic, while on his face, it only appeared on top of his lip and upon his chin. he stood at average height, with a rather unimpressive build— one which made you wonder whether it was balls or pure idiocy making him put so many people against him.

a few seconds slid past and robert’s inaudible conversation seemed to reach its end as both he and the second male parted ways. tess’ eyes stayed glued onto robert’s frame however, right up until he disappeared further inside the wharf.

the woman scoffed and finally let herself lower back down fully. “that cocky son of a bitch.’’

“let’s go wrap this up,’’ joel concluded, eyes raising to meet tess’ anger-filled ones and giving her a short nod, which she mirrored.

the man moved to vault over the half wall, easily landing upon the ground below; both women followed. crates were scattered before the spot where they landed and the trio didn’t waste much time before ducking behind the wide objects.

“alright,’’ tess exhaled deeply, “let’s be smart about this. there’s a lot of ‘em.’’

a quiet hum left keilani’s lips, and her eyes scanned the area. “from what i’ve been seeing, there’s about 6 of them. most seem to be near the containers over there—’’ she nodded to the left, voice hushed— “so, i’ll take out any on the opposite side while you two take care of those. good?’’

tess and joel shared a glance, before moving their eyes back to the woman with a nod.

weapons were quietly drawn and— with one last look at one another— the trio advanced further upon the docks, parting ways.

carefully approaching a large warehouse to the right, keilani was the first to reach one of the smugglers. he stood with his back facing the woman, gaze probably scanning the large area before him. in his hands was a large piece of wood, though this weapon was never put to use, clattering to the floor before it ever could defend its owner. fingers had harshly latched onto the man’s hair, bending his body forward and slamming his head into the nearest barrel. a pained scream would’ve left his lungs if it hadn’t been for the knife driving into the side of his neck only a second later. the blade promptly dragged downwards, slicing flesh and letting blood spill out in large amounts as it went.

keilani threw the body to the side, letting the smuggler hit the ground and leaving him to bleed out; she continued forward. on the opposite side of the wharf, her partners were doing the same. passing through metal containers with quiet steps and watchful eyes, joel barely caught the sound of approaching footsteps, some which obviously belonged to someone other than tess. gun in hand, joel waited only a second or two there— crouched near one of the openings of a shipping container— and as soon as an inch of the thug’s form came into view, he lunged.

in only a few moments, joel had the man in a chokehold and already started to move backwards, seeking cover once more. only two containers further, tess had another thug pushed into the metal walls, shoving her gun upon his neck and pulling the trigger.

the gunshot echoed throughout the area— far enough to reach keilani and the second smuggler which she'd almost reached now. the latter had whipped around at the booming sound and the woman didn’t waste this opportunity. her machete connected with the right side of his neck, digging deep into his flesh and practically reaching halfway. the thug almost immediately fell to his knees in agony and keilani’s foot connected with his back, both pushing his body to the ground and pulling her blade out of his throat simultaneously. wet choking escaped the male, though the sounds came to a halt once keilani drove the machete into the man’s flesh one final time. piercing into his back and all the way to his then rapidly beating heart, his squirming ceased.

joel's target had gone limp in his grasp by then, and he was back on the move. he didn’t have to search long for another fight however, soon crossing paths with a thug hurrying to the container in which tess' gunshot had resonated from. joel’s hand found a stray bottle and the other man barely had time to notice his attacker before glass exploded against his face— shards planted themselves into the soft tissue of his cheeks, pierced into his eyes and even entered his mouth as a blood curdling scream left him at what felt like thousands of sharp knives entering his flesh.

the yell hadn’t even reached its end when joel closed the distance, his balled fist connecting with the thug’s throat and thus slamming his body into the metal wall behind him. blinded and choking, the smuggler’s knees gave out from underneath him. joel’s hands gripped onto the back of his shirt before he could even reach the ground, knocking him against the container a second time. almost immediately, joel brought up his knee— hands on the wall for support— and viciously swung it forward, directly into the man’s head. glass dug deeper into skin and bones gave a loud, nauseating crack at the impact; the man wouldn’t be getting back up.

joel’s breathing had quickened in exhaustion and his eyes scanned the body beneath him, searching for weapons, ammunition. just as he bent down for a brief, closer look, an impossibly loud gunshot resonated. instinctively, joel ducked— wincing ever so slightly at the sound of a bullet landing uncomfortably close to him and looking back up just in time to see tess swinging a thick piece of wood at a smuggler holding a pistol. the brutal hit against his skull sent him directly to the ground and the last thing his now foggy vision allowed him to see was the barrel of tess’ gun and the woman’s finger mercilessly squeezing onto the trigger before his vision faded to an eternal state of black.

tess breathed out, her tired gaze moving to her partner and scanning him for any signs of injury. joel could only guess she was content with the near lack thereof once she let her eyes move to their surroundings instead. and, as the male straightened back up and advanced towards the woman, his eyes did the same. both individuals seemed to reach the same conclusion and, though still cautious, they allowed themselves to leave the relative concealment offered by the containers.

the now quiet atmosphere reigning upon the docks didn't last long though, and the distinct sound of a gun being loaded promptly shattered it. eyes widening, joel immediately latched onto tess and moved to pull both of them out of the line of fire, away from the man who had just blocked their path. though— just as quick as they had noticed the figure, gun raised and eyes blazing— blood spewed from his skull and his body went limp. a gun had been fired, and it hadn’t been his. as the body fell to the ground along with the weapon, keilani lowered her 9mm, blinking.

"sorry, 7,’’ she corrected herself.

tess huffed slightly. finally, she could put away her gun and she nodded towards the large warehouse meters away as she did so. "c’mon, this bullshit is almost over.’’

the trio moved to the building in quick strides, passing by various boxes, barrels and crates, all stacked up in different arrangements. it didn’t take long before they reached the very back of the establishment and landed on a much smaller, completely closed off part of the otherwise open warehouse.

"that office,’’ tess called out to her partners, "robert must’ve ran in there. let’s go.’’

they swung the metal door open, walking in and making a beeline for the next door offered to them. joel opened it, though— this time— a bullet hit the doorway only inches from where joel stood just as he did so. instantly, he ducked to the wall next to him. two more bullets hit close enough to prevent any of the individuals from attempting to advance further.

"oh shit!’’ robert’s yell is cut off as he fires more rounds, trying to hit keilani and tess in their move to take cover on the side opposite to joel, "get back! get the fuck back!’’

the man’s screeches are almost as pitiful as his inability to land any of his bullets into his targets and tess doesn’t bother hiding the annoyance upon her features. "we just wanna talk, robert.’’

gun still raised, his quick breathing was audible from where the small group stood, "we ain’t got fuckin’ nothin’ to talk about!’’

keilani risked a brief glance at the man in the other room, beginning a sentence only to cut herself off with a sigh as she retracted her head behind the wall, feeling the bullet whiz past her right side. "put the damn gun down.’’

robert tried another desperate attempt at keeping his assailants away, though his gun only made clicking noises as his finger squeezed the trigger repeatedly— the clip was empty.

"yeah…’’ he spoke slowly, "go fuck yourself!’’

his yell was accompanied by the throw of his emptied pistol, aimed towards the trio though only landing upon the hard ground.

keilani threw an unimpressed glance at tess. "mighty punchable face the guy’s got,’’ she pointed out. even the small glance she'd managed was plenty enough to determine that.

the weapon had barely left the man’s hands, and robert was already bolting through a door at his left.

"the fucker’s running,’’ tess groaned in exasperation, feet already carrying her to chase after him.

"robert!’’

"screw you, joel!’’

robert’s voice was almost drowned out as he ran down the hall and exited outside, slamming the door behind him. this did little to slow down the others however; a simple forceful kick from joel to the entrance was enough to swing it right back open. robert picked up his pace, his ears picking up on the pairs of footsteps following him down the alleys he desperately tried losing them in. even after weaving through the rooms of an abandoned building, the distance never grew larger and soon, the two women and man vaulted from a window, landing back outside with a satisfying crunch of the concrete and an even more pleasant sight before them.

the alley robert had fled out of the building for held only two openings; a seemingly locked gate which— despite the dealer’s best attempts— barely budged, and an entry into a second passage which was now fully blocked by tess, keilani and joel.

robert barely even spared a glance behind his shoulder, already knowing what awaited him if he did. his forehead pressed against the metal of the fence, he let a deep sigh escape him.

"well. hello, robert.’’

the smile tess wore was anything but friendly. in fact, one might very well describe it as borderline sadistic.

a nervous chuckle left the tanned man and he finally turned around. "tess. keilani. joel,’’ his eyes moved from one to the next, panic seemingly growing with each of the names leaving his lips, "no hard feelings, right?’’

tess clicked her tongue, eyes boring holes into the arms dealer as he slowly moved forward. "none at all,’’ her hand reached downwards, taking hold of a broken metal pipe laying at her feet.

robert’s eyes flickered down to the object in one, hardly noticeable motion. his hands briefly raised in defense, and he took a few more steps, "alright…’’

it was impossibly easy to see his next move coming and robert’s attempt at making a run for it barely lasted a few seconds. two or three steps into his sprint, tess had already bashed his leg in with the pipe she held. the hit was strong enough to send him to the ground, and most definitely forceful enough to dislocate his knee as a bonus.

tess’ nose crinkled in distaste as she watched robert writhe about on the concrete.

"ah… goddammit!’’

the male’s groans of pain were fully ignored by all three others present.

tess threw the piece of metal aside, face forming a sneer at the hardly subtle wince robert gave once the object clattered to the ground. "we missed you.’’

"look,’’ the dealer panted, "whatever it is you heard, it ain’t true, okay? i– i just want to say–’’

"the guns. you wanna tell us where the guns are?’’

robert gulped at the animosity in tess’ voice. "yeah, sure, but… i-it’s complicated, all right?’’

an unimpressed glance was exchanged from the middle aged woman to her partners and joel pushed himself off the wall he previously leant on. between keilani's circling motion around him and joel's quick strides in his direction, robert looked like a prey only seconds away from being pounced on.

"look, alright, just hear me out on this. i got—’’ the sentence was cut impossibly short as joel’s boot connected with robert’s face, letting the audible sound of his nose breaking echo throughout the alley.

"ah, fuck!’’

blood trickled down his nose and spewed from his mouth as he spat the words. pain was quickly replaced by pure panic however as joel crouched down beside him, grasping his arm hard enough to cut off circulation and extending it to the side. the older man began to pull the limb backwards and robert’s eyes widened until they seemed ready to pop out of their sockets.

"ah, stop! stop! stop!’’

his squirming intensified as he repeated the words in a pleading chant, though a weight pressing onto his spine soon made him quiet down in fear.

keilani’s knee dug into his back painfully while her fingers moved to grip his hair, pulling his head back so that his eyes were glued to tess as she spoke.

"quit your squirmin’,’’ the woman drew her handgun and knelt beside robert, "you were saying?’’

heavy breaths left the man’s bloodied lips in fits, and he hesitantly opened his steel grey eyes back up. "i sold ‘em.’’ simply getting the words out seemed to pain him and; with reason. tess’ eyes burned, and her brows raised in absolute disbelief.

"excuse me?’’

robert spat out his answer hurriedly. "i didn’t have much of a choice. i owed someone.’’

"you owed us,’’ tess barely let him finish, "i’d say you bet on the wrong horse.’’

"i just need more time. just gimme a week,’’ the arms dealer looked plain miserable as he tried to reason with the woman.

"you know, i might’ve done that if you hadn’t tried to fucking kill me.’’

"c’mon, it wasn’t like—’’

"who has our guns?!’’

robert flinched at the raising tone of tess’ voice; he hesitated for a few seconds, then gave a sharp exhale. "i can’t…’’

tess’ eyes moved to meet joel’s, head tilting dangerously.

"look, just give me a couple of da—’’

joel twisted— one, vicious motion and robert’s arm snapped in half. the sound of bones breaking, shattering, filled the alley once more, along with screams of pure agony. the male tried to roll over in his fit of pain— to squirm, to move— but keilani’s knee simply pressed deeper into his back, grinding against the vertebrates of his spine. the feeling of it accompanied by the agonizing pain in his limp arm almost made robert want to puke; his eyes became unfocused and his head swam. "fucking…’’

‘’who. has. our guns?’’

tess’ question barely registered into his mind. he paused, breathing impossibly rapid and uneven. "it’s the fireflies. i owed the fireflies!’’

‘’what?’’

"look. they’re basically all dead. w-we can just— just go in there, finish ‘em off. we get the guns! what do ya say?’’ the three individuals could barely stand to look at the pathetically desperate expression upon the dealer’s face. tess and joel were standing now, eyes expressing the same exact distaste as keilani's did. "c’mon! fuck those fireflies!’’ a nervous chuckle left him, continuing his rambling further. the growing lack of attention his assailants were demonstrating was hard to miss. "let’s go get ‘em!’’

keilani tilted her head, looking up at tess, and the expression she wore was all the signal she needed. the hand she'd been gripping robert’s hair with tightened harshly, pulled back and— with a loud, sickening crack— slammed the poor fool’s head into the concrete. if the man still had unbroken bones in his nose after joel’s rough hit, they were definitely all shattered now.

tess paused, indifference-filled eyes switching from the blood now oozing from robert’s skull to keilani, then joel.

"that is a stupid idea,’’ she concluded with a sneer.

this time, robert didn’t even attempt to plea or to argue, and tess raised her gun, putting a bullet right into the man’s temple.

AUTHOR'S NOTE ; multiple weeks have passed since i started working on this issue... it was a painfully slow process, but i managed!! i apologize if this chapter wasn't the most entertaining, the next ones should be more fun to read (and shorter! pahah) i hope you'll all enjoy this and please feel free to leave any criticisms regarding my writing :))

#the last of us #tlou #joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller angst #joel miller fluff #ellie williams #tess servopoulos #original character #joel miller x oc #joel miller x reader #joel miller tlou #joel miller the last of us #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams the last of us #tlou fic #tlou fanfic #the last of us part 1

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