[Present Day: 2023]

THE LIGHT peeked in through the dark curtains of the apartment, as the familiar sound of chaos echoed around the streets of the QZ. Joel and Tess had kept their promise about keeping Jane, as none of them could leave a baby alone. They raised Jane like their own, teaching her every trick in the book. The kid was going places.

Jane awoke from her sleep, her eyes adjusting to the light as she turned on her hearing aid. She got dressed into one of Joel's old, brown checkered-shirts, rolling up the sleeves so the long sleeves would fit. Next, she put on some old jeans and red converse, before ruffling her short curly hair. Jane left her bedroom, which was a room with an old mattress in the middle of it surrounded by the items she had stolen: pens, paper, money, clothing, tampons. She was getting rather good at stealing.

Jane entered the kitchen, which was unfamiliarly empty as normally Joel or Tess were home. The young girl furrowed her eyebrows, before walking around the empty apartment.

"Mom?" Jane questioned, as she slowly opened their bedroom door. Empty. A sense of panic erupted inside of the girl, and she found her heart beating faster. She hated the idea of being alone. Jane searched around the apartment, raising her voice slightly, "Joel?"

Jane was aware of her past, which involved her mother dying and her father not being in the picture. Since then, she'd had a major feeling of not belonging. Jane felt as if she couldn't fit in anywhere. Maybe they left without me? Jane thought, Maybe they didn't want me around.

Jane searched for the adult's things, seeing if they had packed or taken anything. However, everything was left as it should be. The stove was luke-warm and the kettle still had water inside, even the small TV was on. 

Suddenly, the door opened making Jane flinch around from the TV. Tess walked inside, limping slightly, before placing her keys on the table.

"Morning, kiddo." Tess flashed a smile, as Jane noticed the fresh cuts and bruises on her face.

"Where've you been?" Jane worried, as she walked closer to inspect Tess' face, "What happened?"

"I'm okay, Jane." Tess reassured, as she sat down at the table with a sigh. Jane grabbed the Med Kit from the shelf and sat opposite her, starting to clean the cuts with rubbing alcohol. Tess raised her eyebrows in surprise, "You're getting good at this."

Jane deadpanned, "You and Joel get beaten up a lot."

Tess looked at the girl, who normally is filled with sarcasm and jokes. She frowned, "What's wrong, Jane?"

Jane let out a sigh, as she continued to clean the cuts on Tess' face, "I thought you took off... and left me."

Tess let out a breath, her facial features filled with sympathy, "Jane-"

"I know it's batshit crazy." Jane interrupted, "I just get... scared." She quickly changed the topic, "Anyway, who did this to you?"

Tess explained, "Just got jumped by a couple teenagers, said some shit that I probably shouldn't've."

"Joel's not gonna be hap-" Jane got interrupted by the door swinging open, and Joel quickly stormed in. Jane raised her eyebrows, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear..."

"Move up, Kiddo." Joel motioned for the young girl to move so he could examine Tess' face. His demeanour became more protective, as he touched Tess' face, "What happened?"

"Got jumped by a couple guys." Tess explained, as Jane walked to the kitchen to make her a coffee, "Come on, you know these guys were born after the outbreak. Never learned how to argue, they just start swinging. 19 year old pieces of shit."

Joel worried, "It's a miracle you're alive."

"It's a miracle any of us are alive." Tess retorted, then sighed, "I was in FEDRA lockup all morning."

"Motherfuckers." Jane mumbled, as she placed Tess' coffee on the table.

"Language." Tess warned, before looking at Joel, "I need you to take a breath."

"What?" Joel replied quickly, as he was known for his short temper. Alike his non-biological daughter, the two shared the patience range of a teaspoon. Joel frowned at Tess' silence, "What?"

"Joel, the guys who jumped me were with Robert." Tess breathed, "He sold our battery to somebody else."

"No, no." Joel mumbled, resting his head in his hands in frustration.

"Nothing is lost." Tess reassured, "Shit like this happens. Now we just shake it off and we go get our cards back for the battery."

"I need the battery, Tess." Joel replied frustratedly, as he smacked his hand loudly down on the table as he stood up, "The trucks no good without one. And if I don't get to Tommy soon enough, he's gonna die out there."

"Okay, fuck it." Tess followed Joel towards the window, "We get our money back and the battery. But Joel listen, Robert is terrified of you. So if you march out of here, he's gonna skip.
I need you to take a breath."

"Who'd he sell it to?" Joel sighed, "Where is he?"

"I don't know... yet." Tess explained, "But we're gonna find out quietly, understand? Now I promised Robert you wouldn't hurt him, but I would very much like for you to hurt him."

That evening, Joel And Tess were out looking for the people who took their car battery. Jane insisted on coming but, as always, it was too dangerous for her. Therefore, the girl spent the endless hours in her bedroom, throwing a tennis ball up at her ceiling then catching it- over and over again.

Jane stopped throwing the ball when she heard the sound of multiple footsteps, over the sound of raindrops tapping on her window. She cautiously stood up, grabbing her wooden bat from the corner of her room.

"What the fuck?!" An unfamiliar voice shouted, followed by a slam of the door. Without hesitation, Jane stormed out of her room, gripping onto her bat tightly.

"Fuck! Stop, stop!" A girl shouted, as her hands shielded her face from the bat. She panted, as she watched Jane lower the bat.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jane questioned sternly, as her eyes examined the young girl. She was around her age, with drenched clothes from the rain.

"Ellie." The girl replied, chucking her bag down on the table, "I didn't fucking ask to be here. I'm cargo."

"Cargo?" Jane scoffed, still gripping onto the bat she had lowered, "They don't smuggle people, I'm not stupid."

"Well, now they do." Ellie replied sarcastically, then paused, "What's your name?"

Suddenly, the door swung open and Joel slammed it behind him. He immediately noticed the girl holding her bat, he warned, "Jane, put the bat down."

"Well, you can't blame me." Jane defended, "You failed to mention the part of the plan where you adopted a kid."

"She's cargo, J." Joel reassured, "Just put the bat down."

"I'm stood right here." Ellie interrupted sarcastically, then paused, "Who's Bill and Frank? The Radios a smuggling code, right? 60's they haven't got anything knew, 70's they got new stuff, what's 80s?"

"Trouble." Jane replied quickly, as she slouched down at the kitchen table, intensively watching the girl read a book as Joel napped on the couch.

"I've never been on the other side of the wall." Ellie broke the silence with a whisper, "Look how dark it is."

Jane stood up from the table and sat next to Ellie, who was looking out of the window. She replied, "It's dark, but the sunsets are pretty good here."

"We're gonna be okay, right?" Ellie questioned, "Like, is your dad good at things like this?"

"He's not my dad." Jane corrected, keeping her eyes on the window. She wanted Joel to be her dad, more than anything, but he was much more closed off than Tess. Plus, Jane didn't want to remind him of his daughter. She hesitated, "Neither of them are my actual parents."

"Oh, uh, sorry." Ellie spluttered sympathetically, "I guess that makes two of us."

"Yeah." Jane replied, looking at the girl with pity as Ellie's eyes seemed to dazzle with the reflection of the stars. The girl looked back at Jane, as she quickly looked away and stood up, "Uh, we better get some sleep, before we leave. Sorry about the bat."

Ellie chuckled, "No problem."

Jane often dreamt about her mother, not like she knew what her appearance was, but she betted she was pretty. The girl would draw pictures of her mom, creating an imagine of a women who she recognised as her mother. The drawings were always the same: wavy brown hair, brown eyes, freckles, a gorgeous smile, and she would always be holding a gun in her left hand. Jane knew her mom was a fighter, and she wanted to be like her one day. However, some dreams of her mother were nightmares, some events happen in her own head that she does not dare to explain.

"Hey." The blurred voice of Tess awoke the girl, as she flinched awake, "Hey, it's alright. Time to go."

Jane sat up from the chair she had fallen asleep on, her eyes adjusting to the gloom of the apartment. She rubbed her eyes, as she watched Ellie pack her bag.

"The spot under Lancaster looks good." Tess explained, as she turned to Ellie, "Have you got a jacket in your pack?"

"Yeah." Ellie nodded, as she unzipped her bag to retrieve her jacket. Jane grabbed her coat from the pegs of the door, zipping it up all the way to her chin. She grabbed her rucksack, shoving the stolen items from her bedroom and placing them inside.

Joel grabbed his shot gun from the table, as Tess opened the door of the apartment, "Stay close. Stay quiet, understand?"

The girl's nodded, as Jane placed her hands in her pocket, noticing that she couldn't feel an item that was normally inside. She shook her head quickly, before backing away from the door, "Wait, wait, wait. I forgot something."

"We don't have time, kid." Joel huffed, as the girl walked quickly into her room to rummage through her stuff.

Her eyes glanced at the item she needed, as she gently picked it up from the floor. It was a drawing of her mother. She quickly folded it and slipped it into her pocket, grabbing her wooden bat as she walked out.

"Got it?" Tess questioned impatiently, as the girl nodded.

"What did I say about the bat?" Joel sighed as he walked behind the girl, ruffling her short hair with his hand. Jane smiled to herself.

Tess lead the group, followed by Ellie, Jane, then Joel- who protected the group from behind. The women lead them through the sewer tunnels, then they climbed up a ladder to successfully get them to outside of the QZ. The four hid behind a large rock, shielding them from the FEDRA guards on the lookout towers.

Ellie stood up, observing the unknown world around her. She smiled, "Holy shit! I'm actually outside."

"Jesus Christ." Tess muttered, pulling Ellie to the ground just as a light scanned past the area. She looked at the girls, "Okay, we're gonna take the left edge around the buffer zone. You stay close, and you follow my lead."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Ellie nodded, as she looked between Tess and Jane.
The other girl gripped onto her bat tightly, as she pressed her back up against the rock in fear. Jane nodded.

The four quietly moved around the area: under vehicles, through large pipes, and hid behind abandoned cars. To their advantage, the occurring rumble of thunder caused a distraction from their noise. They turned a corner, to see a FEDRA guard pissing up against the wall- Jane grimaced.

The soldier noticed them, "Don't move! Hey! Don't move." He zipped up his trousers quickly, before grabbing his gun, "Turn around!"

"Let's talk this out." Joel reasoned, raising his hands up in the air, "Hold on. Hold on!"

"What did I tell you earlier, man?" The soldier questioned, "I said stay the fuck home. Get on your knees!"

"Just get on your knees." Tess told the three, as she turned to face the soldier, "If you let us do this run, we'll split the cards with you."

"Oh, will you? I'm so blessed." The soldier scoffed, "Hands on your head. Eyes forward." The man got out his scanner, before putting it on everyone's necks to check they weren't infected.

"Really, man?" Tess scoffed sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm doing this by the book." The soldier replied, "Unauthorised exit, they'll hang you for that."

The last one to get scanned was Ellie, as her breathing got heavier. She quickly grabbed her knife from her pocket and stabbed the guard in the leg, causing Joel to stand up immediately, his hands out in front of him,

"Hey! We can fix this." He told the guard, as he repeatedly looked back at Ellie and Jane, as the guard pointed a gun at him.

Tess grabbed Jane and pulled his back towards her quickly, as they both intensively watched Joel. They both knew what was going to happen.

"Move!" The soldier shouted, as he took a step forward. Suddenly, Joel tackled the guard to the floor, repeatedly punching his face.

Jane winced at the sight of this, and her gaze stayed to the floor. Her eyes followed the trail to the scanner, which beamed crimson. Her eyes widened, as she walked over to it.

"Fuck." She muttered, as she crouched down to hold the scanner. She stood up slowly, facing Ellie with pure fear, "You're one of them."

"I'm not sick. No, no! I'm not sick!" Ellie defended, as she walked closer to Jane to show her the scarred bite on her arm, "Look-"

Jane took a step back cautiously, "...Mom!"

Joel looked back at Jane before glancing down at his shaking hand, which was covered with his and the soldier's blood. He breathed shakily, as he shared looks between the family that stood before him. Jane looked at what she recognised to be her father-figure, the world behind his eyes was empty.

"Jane, get back!" Tess shouted protectively, pulling her daughter behind her as she grabbed the Ellie's arm, "Joel! Joel!"

"This is three weeks old. Look! Look!" Ellie begged desperately, "Nobody lasts more than a day! Does this look a day old to you?! You would've killed me!"

"I should fucking kill you!" Tess argued, as she gripped onto Ellie's scarred bite mark hardly, "When did it happen?"

"It doesn't matter!" Ellie shouted as sirens wailed in the distance, "You have to trust me! They're gonna catch us if we don't run!"