𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐘. ❝I'd go to hell and back for you, Joel Miller. Don't you ever forget that.❞
In which Kathy Williams is determined to keep her niece safe during the apocalypse, even if it meant having to accept the help of a smuggler th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝕺𝖜𝖓 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞
- CHAPTER THIRTY TWO - KICK THE BUCKET
"LOOK, I KNOW you mean well...but there's no half-way with this. Once we're done, we'll go wherever you want, okay?" Ellie voiced to Joel as they went down the stairwell to the ground floor.
"Well, I ain't leavin' without ya, so let's go wrap this up." He replied. The building opened up into the outside where an early years quarantine zone had been set up around a gas station. "Well, this place takes me back."
"How so?" Ellie asked.
"It was right after everything went down. I ended up in a triage just like this. Man, everywhere you looked, you just...saw families torn apart. The whole damn world seemed to have turned upside down in a blink."
"Was that after you lost Sarah?" Kathy questioned.
"Yes, it was..." He admitted.
"I can't imagine losing someone you love like that. If I ever lost Ellie, I don't think I'd be able to carry on like you did." She voiced, looking down at her boots. "I'm sorry, Joel."
"That's okay, Kathy." He comforted her, kissing the woman on her forehead. It made her smile.
"Hey Joel, I got something for you." Ellie spoke up and stopped mid step, reaching into her backpack for something. She pulled out a picture of a younger Joel and his daughter, "Here, Maria showed this to me and Kathy and I uh...I stole it. I hope you don't mind."
Joel took the picture from her hand, carefully slid it into his back pocket and sighed, "Well, no matter how hard you try, I guess you can't escape your past. Thank you."
"For what it's worth, I think Sarah was a very beautiful girl and I know I didn't know her, but I reckon she'd be very proud of you."
Joel closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, he knew she was right. Sarah would have been proud of him. He reached for the brunette and she moved into his arms, her head resting on his chest. Eyes still closed, he kissed her forehead, enjoying her comforting embrace.
Eventually, they had to let go, but she held his hand as they walked down a road that became a tunnel.
"This time it's gonna be different. I just know it." Ellie stated confidently.
"What do you mean?" Joel asked.
"They're gonna be there - the Fireflies. I'm sure of it."
"Don't get your hopes too high, kiddo. It might not turn out the way we want it to." Kathy told the girl.
They climbed over a truck that was blocking the tunnel and they weren't over the other side for a minute when they heard some roaming infected.
Crouching down, they avoided the runners and clickers that hand't noticed their presence.
