JANE SQUIRMED in the man's arms, before he placed her on a hospital bed. She put up a fight, biting and kicking, though not being able to hear the man's response. Her eyes widened, trying to look around for any signs of Joel and Ellie, though they both got lost within the smoke.

The man, who appeared to be an armed guard on patrol, crouched in front of Jane, speaking so quickly that she couldn't even lip read. Jane squinted at his lips, only hearing muffled mumbled from her right ear.

"She's unresponsive." The guard stood up quickly when a female walked inside, Jane recognised her immediately.

Marlene approached her slowly, crouching down in front of her with her hands out in front of her. She looked at Jane's hearing aid, before frowning. Marlene spoke to the guard, before holding Jane's arm and taking her to another hospital room.

Jane didn't fight, as she trusted Marlene, though she was a Firefly. Despite Joel's opinions of her, Jane gathered that she was only trying to help.

Jane plonked herself down on the hospital chair, flinching as a male doctor took her hearing aid from her ear. Jane glanced at Marlene, who was nodding her head reassuringly. She decided to trust Marlene. After a while, the doctor placed the hearing aid back onto her ear, before turning it on.

"Welcome to the Fireflies." Marlene's voice spoke, making Jane flinch, "Easy."

Jane stood up abruptly, "Where's Joel? And Ellie?"

"Take a breath." Marlene reassured, standing up and placing a hand out in front of her.

"You exploded us with a fucking bomb, I'm not taking a breath." Jane raised her voice, "Where are they?"

"They're safe." Marlene replied, before taking a deep breath, "Patrol didn't know who you were. In their defence, you do look different from the last time we met."

Jane hesitated, lowering her eye contact. She insisted, "Take me to Ellie."

"I can't." Marlene replied, "She's being prepped for surgery."

"Surgery?" Jane scoffed, "You were only meant to take her blood. That was the deal. Why the fuck does she need surgery?"

"It's not that easy, Jane." Marlene explained calmly, "Our doctor... he thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth. It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps believe she's cordyceps, so it doesn't infect her. He's gonna remove it from her, multiply those cells in a lab, produce those chemical messengers and then we can give it to everyone. Does that make sense?"

"Fuck you." Jane blurted out, "Find someone else."

"There is no one else." Marlene shot back, "You barely know Ellie, it's a quick procedure. She won't even know what's happening. We didn't tell her, it won't cause her any pain."

"Cordyceps grows in the brain." Jane muttered, as tears swelled in her eyes. Her blood boiled, as she raised her voice, "Take me to her!"

Jane bolted towards the door, slipping away from Marlene as she tried to grab her. She ran as fast as she could, through unfamiliar doorways and corridors. Jane made it to the children's floor, she assumed so by the paintings on the walls. Jane hid from multiple guards, as she searched every room.

"Ellie?" She whispered, as she entered the final room. Jane stared at Ellie, who was lying almost lifeless on a hospital bed. Three doctors stood around her, as Jane raised her voice, "Let her go!"

Jane looked behind her, hearing the footsteps of two guards chasing after her. She panicked, stepping towards Ellie, before she was dragged back by two of the guards who had caught up.

"Let me go!" Jane shouted, kicking her feet as they tried to walk her out. She looked behind at the doctors surrounding Ellie, "Please! Stop! Ellie!"

The two guards gripped onto both of her arms, as they pulled her down the corridor. She screamed and shouted, hoping that someone would hear her. Jane squirmed in their arms, before two deafening gunshots were fired from behind her. Jane felt the two guard's grips loosen as they both collapsed to the floor, leaving her standing alone. She turned around quickly, seeing a man in the distance.

"Joel." Jane whispered in relief, as she ran towards the man, who lowered his gun. They hugged for a moment, before Jane tried to explain, "They have her upstairs. She's passed out and-"

"I know." Joel interrupted, a stern look on his face. Jane couldn't help to notice the blood stains on his hands. Joel continued, "Stay behind me."

Jane followed behind Joel closely, watching as Joel killed the rest of the doctors in the hospital. Ellie laid unconscious, as Joel carried her out of the building and Jane led the way. The two arrived at the parking lot, breaking into an empty car as Joel carefully placed Ellie in the back seats. Jane brushed the hair from Ellie's face, as she looked at Joel.

"Will she be okay?" She asked worriedly, and Joel nodded reassuringly though he was almost numb.

"You can't take her!" A voice echoed, as Marlene appeared from behind a car, as she aimed at gun at the man. Joel guided Jane behind him, hovering his hand over his own gun in his pocket. Jane stood protectively in front of the car door.

Marlene continued, "No matter how hard you try, no matter how many people you kill, she's gonna grow up, Joel. Then, you'll die. She'll leave. Then what? How long til she's torn apart by infect? Or murdered by raiders? Because she lives in a broken world, you could have saved."

"Maybe." Joel replied, his voice shaking slightly, "But it isn't for you to decide."

"Or you." Marlene retorted, "What would Ellie decide, huh? Because I think she'd wanna do what's right. And you both know it. It's not too late, even after what you've done. We can still find a way."

Jane's eyes flickered in between Joel and Marlene, as he turned around to glance at Ellie in the backseats of the car. Jane stood bravely, as a sad expression appeared on Joel's face. The girl looked at Joel, her facial expressions almost begging to let Ellie stay- though she knew Joel cared for both of them like daughters.

Joel pulled out his gun from his pocket quickly, before shooting Marlene in the stomach. She dropped to the floor, blood oozing out of her as she groaned. Jane's eyes widened in shock.

Joel turned around quickly, almost storming towards the car, "Get in the car, Jane."

Jane looked at Marlene, squirming in pain on the floor, "But she's still-"

"Jane." Joel warned, as he signed, "Get in the car."

Jane huffed, though she got into the passenger seat anyway. She took a deep breath, watching as Joel walked up to Marlene. She raised a hand out towards him, and Jane could hear her faint cries from outside the vehicle. Suddenly, Joel raised the gun in front of him. Jane looked down quickly, shutting her eyes tightly and turning off her hearing aid.

Silence. Though she knew what had happened. She knew what he had done.

***

Joel cleared his throat, "I-I'm sorry you had to see all that, kid."

"It's okay." Jane replied, though her eyes stayed staring out of the car window. She looked back at Ellie, who was still resting in the back seats. She looked at Joel, "When will she wake up?"

"Soon." Joel nodded, as he took a deep breath. Jane knew what he was going to ask, so she avoided eye contact with him as much as possible. Joel asked, "I might've got the wrong impression, and I hope you don't mind me askin', but... uh, is she your, uh,  girlfriend?"

Jane froze, before chuckling nervously, "No. No, uh... she just kissed me. It was stupid. I don't know why she did that."

"But, you do like her?" Joel asked curiously, as he watched Jane's eyes swell with tears which she tried to hide. He continued comfortingly, "Look, I don't know what Ellie's intentions are... but I do know that she would be lucky to have you."

Jane frowned, finally looking at Joel, "You're not mad?"

"Mad?" Joel scoffed in disbelief, "I'm anything but mad... I'm not a monster, J." He paused, looking at her as a small smile grew on his face, "You two would be, uh, good together. She understands you."

"Yeah, she does." Jane smiled, as a singular tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it with her jacket sleeve, before looking out of the window. 

Ellie groaned from the back seats, before sitting up quickly. Joel reassured quickly, looking through the rear-view mirror, "It's alright. You're with us. Take it slow, the drugs are still wearin' off."

Ellie questioned tiredly, "What drugs?"

Jane looked at Joel, as he lied, "They were running some tests on you and some others. Turns out there's a whole lot more like you... people that are immune. Dozens of 'em. The doctors couldn't make any of it work. They've... They've actually stopped looking for a cure."

Ellie hesitated, "Where are my clothes?"

"Raiders attacked the hospital. I barely got you and Jane out of there." Joel continued to lie.

Jane added, "We can find you some new ones on the way."

"Were people hurt?" Ellie asked shakily.

Joel hesitated, "Yes. I'm sorry."

Jane reached her arm backwards towards Ellie, as she glanced at her with a comforting smile. She knew that Ellie realised the story didn't make sense, yet Ellie wasn't ready to hear what actually happened at the hospital. Jane hated lying to her, but it was for the best. It for the best until she was ready- no matter how long that took.

Ellie smiled back at Jane, despite her situation in the backseats. They held hands, as Jane watched as Ellie fell back asleep peacefully, sleeping off the antibiotics that the surgeons had given her. Joel glanced at the two girls, before smiling happily to himself- he had never seen Jane like this in a long time.

Jane couldn't keep her eyes off of Ellie, feeling a sense of protection that she had never felt before. She didn't want any harm to come to Ellie, and if it did, Jane would be ready. Jane finally found her person, like Joel had found his. The three of them were each other's people- they were a team... a family.

And you keep going for family.

a/n:
this book is COMPLETE.
it's so strange to me how this book has ended so quickly on 15 chapters?!?? CRAZY!!

anyway, thank you for all the love and support and I'm sure when season 2 comes out (sometime in years to come) i will carry on this story. i hope you all enjoyed and i really appreciate the lovely comments and votes💗

my tiktok is @_tvd.ed1ts_
if you wanna see further stories i edit about!!!!

ONE MORE IMPORTANT NOTE!!
my next of many stories to come is a The Summer I Turned Pretty fanfic (wlw obviously) so stay tuned ;))
information:
📖:Cruel Summer
💌: Belly Conklin