CHAPTER TEN.
welcome to the devil's playground

     THE JOURNEY to Kansas City was long and gruelling. It was filled with nothing more than small talk during long and perilous drives down vacant roads, dozens of sleepless nights in the dark woodlands, and hours of scavenging through abandoned buildings filled with rotting corpses. Everyone was tired, hungry, and tipping closer and closer to the edge of their own paranoia with each day that passed them bye, scared that something or someone was going to catch them off guard when they least expected it and cut their journey short by cutting their throats first.

Now Ezra Windsor knew transporting the potential cure for humanity across the country wasn't going to be a glamorous job. From the moment he took his very last breath, nothing about his life has been glamorous. However, Ezra thought they would've been there by now — where Tommy was. He knew the journey would be long, but between Joel and Vienna taking turns driving down the road for the last two to three days now, he thought they would be close, but yet, they were still so far away from where they needed to be.

It could've been worse. Before Ezra would've much rather remained trapped behind FEDRA's walls instead of being out on the road with his mom and some infected girl. But with all the time that had passed in the last couple of days following the loss of Tess, Bill and Frank, he was beginning to grow used to having his mom and Ellie around. It didn't mean he would ever forgive his mom for her past mistakes, or ever welcome Ellie into his life with open arms. However, he was no longer perceiving them as a burden in his eyes. They were more like travel companions than anything these days.

     Speaking of travel companions, Ezra was suddenly jolted awake by Ellie who had previously nudged him to wake the young boy up from his peaceful slumber. Ezra then turned his head to the side to glance over at her, lowering his gaze towards the pun book in the girl's hands, watching as a mischievous grin tugged at the corners of her lips. Even though Ezra didn't really find the amusement in a series of old school dad jokes, Ellie and himself had started a little game. The rules were Ellie had to find a pun to make him laugh, and if she did, well, that was big enough prize for her since Ezra didn't find himself smiling much these days.

     Ezra read the pun Ellie was pointing towards inside his head, a ghost of a smile forming across his face. But he didn't dare laugh. He wasn't willing to give the girl the satisfaction. Not just yet. "That's a good one." He complimented.

     "You asshole. You almost laughed." Ellie cursed, laughing away in the backseat of the car alongside him. Ezra shook his head, causing for Ellie to playfully smack his arm with the book in her hand. "I almost got you." She then pointed out, trying to prove a point.

     "Almost, but not quite." Ezra reminded her, and Ellie rolled her eyes before she stared down at the pun book in her hands again, flicking through the pages in hopes of finding the right one. However, before she got the chance, another voice cut into the silence like a knife.

"Hey, is the map back there?" Vienna asked, looking over her shoulder and staring at them both from the front passenger seat of the car.

     Ellie nodded, and shoved the pun book into her backpack before she retrieved the map from next to her, opening up and staring down at it for a moment. Her brows then furrowed together in confusion while Joel drove aimlessly through the vacant streets of what Ezra could only guess was Kansas City. But between Ellie not knowing how to read a map, and Joel growing a little more frustrated with every minute that passed him bye, it seemed they weren't getting very far.

     "Where the fuck is the highway?" He asked bitterly underneath his breath.

     Ellie released a sigh past her lips, shaking her head before she parted her lips to speak once again. "I can't tell from this. I'm all turned around." She informed.

     Vienna then looked back at Ellie. "That's the state map. Try looking at the inset instead." She told the girl, sounding a little irritable, but that's what a lack of sleep over the course of the last couple of days does to a person.

     "I don't know where we are on that either!" Ellie snapped at Vienna, clearly just at frustrated at the woman was.

     That was when Ezra decided to take the map from Ellie before he stared down at it with a puzzled look plastered across his face, comparing the lines on the paper to their current location. "By the looks of it, we're heading somewhere up North." He explained.

     "Stop!" The sound of Ellie's familiar voice flooded the air, the sound of her loud tone laced in desperation being enough to force Joel to press his foot on the breaks of the car, causing for the vehicle to stop rather abruptly. Ezra jolted slightly in his seat for a moment, wondering what Ellie had seen. "Is that the QZ?" Ezra looked out the window to see the Kansas City quarantine zone was nothing but rubble and ashes. There was nothing left of it.

     "What the fuck?" He cursed underneath his breath, wondering what had happened for FEDRA to fall apart the way it had.

     "Hey!" Ezra snapped his head forward to see a man, appearing wounded, stumbling slowly towards the car, one arm wrapped around his body like he was concealing a wound while he held out his other hand, continuing to plead with them. "Please help!" He coughed and spluttered in hopes that they would provide him aid.

     However, Ezra couldn't help but find it rather odd. He wasn't the only one either. "Ellie, Ezra, put your seatbelts on...now." Vienna instructed, her jaw tightening while she fasted her own seatbelt around her body.

     "Aren't we gonna help him?" Ellie asked, sounding confused with a surprised look plastered across her face.

     Joel then shook his head. "He ain't even hurt," was the last thing Ezra heard from the older man before he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and drives straight through.

     However, it seemed their intuition was right, because it didn't take long for the man stumbling towards the car to raise his gun at them, firing a few shots that barely missed the car before ducking out of the way of the incoming vehicle. Ezra gripped the handle of the car door tightly while Joel continued to drive recklessly down the street that quickly flooded with raiders who threatened each of their lives, steering the car left and right to dodge brick being thrown in their direction, and gunshots hitting the glass windows, almost hitting them in the process.

And when Ezra believed they could possibly escape from this mess unscathed, Joel took a sharp turn before he drove straight into a building, glass shattering around them before they crashed. Ezra felt his entire body jolt forward before he hit his head into the window beside him. He was lucky he had his seatbelt on, or the outcome could've been catastrophic, and possibly fatal. The boy then let out a quiet groan, wincing as he rubbed the side of his head, a dull ache erupting from the corner of his skull from even the lightest touch.

     "Ezra, Ellie, are you guys okay?" Ezra heard his mother call out from the front of the car, coughing out the air in her lungs due to the smoke making it's way into the car from the crushed engine.

     Ezra glanced over to his side to see Ellie was fine, a soft groan leaving her lips while she adjusted her back. "Yeah, we're fine." He finally replied, his voice shaky while he spoke.

     Vienna made an attempt to reply to her son. However, the familiar sound of gunshots hitting the car was enough to make the group grab their bags and climb out of the car, avoiding the gunfire in the process. The wretched sound of metal smacking against metal flooded Ezra's ears while he ducked behind the vehicle, sitting beside Ellie while Vienna and Joel discussed amongst themselves, trying to come up with a plan that would maintain each of their lives and give them the chance to survive another day.

That was when Ezra heard his name being called out again. It first started out as a dull echo playing like a broken record in the back of his mind, drowned out by the sound of the roaring gunfire. Then the voice became clearer when it overpowered the sound of the gunshots. "Ezra, do you see that hole over there?" Joel nodded towards the gaping hole in the wall across from them. "Can you and Ellie squeeze through?" He pushed.

Ezra nodded his head, his eyes flickering over to Joel and his mom for a moment while Joel parted his lips to speak once again. "When I say go, you and Ellie crawl to that wall, and you squeeze through and you don't come out until Vienna or me say, okay?" He explained to them both.

A quick thought then crossed Ezra's mind. "Wait. What about you guys?" He asked Joel and Vienna, sounding worried.

"We're gonna cover you guys. Just stay behind the wall until the gunfire stops, got it?" Vienna instructed, but she could still sense the uncertainty in her son, and even Ellie, almost like they were afraid. This caused for the woman to sigh before she reached out and grabbed Ezra's hand, giving his trembling hand a gentle squeeze. "Look at me, both of you." Both Ezra and Ellie stared back at the woman. "They're not gonna hit you. You're gonna be safe. I promise." She then reassured them, her eyes flickering between the pair.

In that moment Ezra Windsor and Ellie Williams decided to place their faith in Vienna and Joel before they crawled their way towards the gaping hole in the wall. Ezra let Ellie go first, ensuring her survival before his own. After she had gotten behind the wall safe and sound, Ezra turned back to see both Joel and his mother coming out from behind the car to fire their guns at the raiders. There was a moment of doubt that made Ezra want to stay behind and help, but he also had a duty to protect Ellie. So the boy decided to trust them both, swallowing thickly as he stepped through the hole before he hid behind the wall with Ellie.

     Ezra stayed where he was supposed to be until, listening until the gunfire eventually stopped before it was replaced by nothing more than the deafening silence. This caused for Ezra to release a shaky breath past his lips, the boy turning his head to stare down at Ellie for a moment, the pair exchanging a series of looks. He then turned away from the girl and peered out of the hole in the wall, trying to see if it was clear for them to come out and rejoin the others. However, all of a sudden, Ezra watched as the backdoor to the building swinged open in a violent manner, followed by more gunshots.

But that wasn't what shocked him. The sight of the stranger hitting his mom with the butt of his gun was enough to send Ezra into fight of flight response. The boy then turned back to face Ellie, his bottom lip beginning to quiver. "Ellie, you stay behind here, okay? Don't move until someone tells you too." Ezra instructed before he made an attempt to leave.

Ellie, however, was quick to grab his arm and pull him back beside her. "What about you?" She asked him.

"I'll be okay. Just stay here." He reassured before he climbed back through the hole and onto the other side.

     Ezra rushed behind a few items of furniture before he crouched down by his mother's side, helping her sit back up while he stared at her long enough to see the blood dripping down the side of her head, crimson red staining her porcelain skin. "Hey, you okay?" He asked her, his voice beginning to shake.

"Yeah..." Vienna whispered, a sharp wince leaving her lips soon after she had spoken before a quick thought crossed her mind. "Where's Joel?" She questioned, sounding concerned for the man's safety.

Ezra spared his mother a quick glance before he stood back up onto his feet and begins his search for Joel, slowly taking his gun out of his pocket and into his hands, pointing it forwards. Ezra began to make his way around the building, stepping over pieces of rubble until he eventually found Joel, his eyes widening while he watched as the man was being pinned down by the raider, his gun pressed against his throat as a form of strangulation.

That was when Ezra knew he had no choice for what he had to do next. First, he raised his gun with trembling hands. Then, he swallowed thickly before he made an attempt to pull the trigger. However, by the time he had eventually been given the courage to do exactly that, a gunshot had already echoed loudly through the air, followed by the thud of a body on the floor and cries of pain that pierced the air like knives. This caused for Ezra to blink a few times in shock before he lowered his gaze to stare down at the gun in his hand.

"Ezra, what happened?" Vienna asked, walking up to her son with a worried look glazed over her electric, green eyes.

The boy continued to stare down at the gun in his hands, shaking his head. "It wasn't me." He told her, turning around in hopes of finding who had shot the kid crying in pain until his eyes landed on a familiar face.

     Standing a few feet away from him was Ellie Williams, a shocked expression plastered across her face with a look full of horror burning bright in her eyes while she lowered the gun in her shaky hands. Almost like it was the first time she had ever fired one. She definitely done what was needed before it didn't take long for the young boy she had shot to begin begging for his life, pleading with her to ensure his own safety and survival. It made Ezra wince at the sound, knowing this only had one way of ending, and it wasn't one he wanted to witness.

     From the corner of his eye, Ezra noticed Joel stand back up onto his feet before he stepped closer towards Ellie and took the gun away from her, a heavy breath escaping past his lips. "Get back behind the wall." He ordered, but his words were directed towards Ellie, who hesitated at first, but quickly turned on her heel and ran back towards the wall to hide once again.

     But Ezra chose to stay behind, turning his head to watch as his mom kneeled down and picked up a knife the wounded boy had dropped to the ground after being shot. Ezra felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach, a shaky breath leaving his quivering lips when he watched Vienna's grip around the knife tighten in her hand. And before he could even blink, his mom had shoved the tip of the sharp blade into the boy's chest, digging deeper and deeper until his loud cries were replaced by the silence once again, his body becoming limp in the process.

And it was in that moment Ezra Windsor wished he had turned around and ran away when he still had the chance.

━━━━━━━━

     The sun had set by the time the group made it across town, the shallow darkness captivating the night sky into a sea of shadows. Ezra was quite thankful that the night came when it did. It allowed the group to move swiftly, hidden within the darkest corners of the city, giving them the opportunity to get away safely without being seen by the bandits and their moving vehicles scouting every inch of the city for something, or someone. They were most likely searching for them after their very eventful arrival early that same day.

Ezra continued to do what he had been doing since they arrived in Kansas City; keep his head down and place his first in Joel and his mother in hopes that they would survive another night. He didn't say a single word since they crashed the car into the laundromat. After watching his mother brutally kill a kid, probably no older than he was, it left a sharp sting in his own chest that he couldn't easily shake off. Whenever his mind flashback to the moment he watched the boy's life leave his body, a dull ache would transpire from deep within, wondering if there was a way it could've been avoided.

That's all he could think about while he followed the others up another flight of stairs, trailing further behind than the rest of them. Once Ezra had reached the top of the stairs, Ellie and Joel began to walk further ahead, but his mother stayed behind. She stared at him, appearing concerned while she looked him up and down. It was almost like could tell something was off with him, like he was reliving a bad memory over and over again, just like a broken record playing the same catchy tune.

"Hey..." Vienna trailed off, placing a comforting hand on her son's back while she continued to stare at him with a worried look. This caused for Ezra to lift his gaze to glance back at his mother, sadness glimmering in her eyes. It wasn't easily spotted by most, but Vienna knew her son well enough to know when there was something wrong. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me."

Ezra shook his mother's hand off him before he rolled back his shoulders. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." He replied, lying through his teeth in hopes that the woman would drop the subject altogether. But if there was one thing about his mother Ezra had come to know all too well, it was her persistence to get straight to the truth.

"It's about what happened with that kid, isn't it?" Vienna questioned, her words catching Ezra off guard at first while he did his best to scramble the right words to reassure the woman that she was wrong and she was reading too deeply into something that wasn't there. However, Vienna was quick to beat him to it. "The look you gave me after I killed him, it was the same look you gave me after...after I left your dad behind."

In that moment, Ezra couldn't help but sigh in defeat before he parted his lips to speak. "It's just...you killed that kid like it was the easiest thing in the world. It just made me think back to dad, and every other person you hurt after that. That kid was going to kill Joel. I had my gun pointed at him, and even then, I still hesitated. Ellie had to be the one to shoot him. But you, you make it look so easy." He explained, bowing his head to stare at the ground, avoiding all eye contact with his mother.

Vienna sighed in response, resting against the wall behind her while she tried to process what her son had just told her. "It's never easy, Ezra. Leaving her dad behind was never easy, and every one I killed after that was just as hard. But I did it to protect us. I never thought I'd survive this world. But then I had you, and I knew I had to keep fighting because if I never beat this world, then I had to make sure you would. Everyone I hurt threatened that. That kid, he would've run back to his people and warned them, and everyone would be tracking us down like animals. At least killing him bought us some more time to get somewhere safe." She paused.

Ezra didn't say anything. He just let his mother continue, watching as she released a shaky breath past her lips. "You should never of had to see me do those things growing up. I should've shielded you from all of it. There's thousands of things I could've done better as a parent. I know that now. And I'm sorry that I put you through all of that. I never expected you to like me for it. I just hoped that one day you would understand why I did the things I did. Why I still continue to do them, and although I hope it never comes to it, maybe you'll understand once you gain a family of your own. One you have to protect." She elaborated further.

Ezra let out a quiet scoff. "Are you trying to tell me that it'll get easier as I get older?" He inquired.

     Vienna laughed quietly in response, shaking her head in the process. "No. It never gets easier. But someday you'll learn that sometimes the things we don't wanna do may be our only option in that moment." She answered, offering the boy a kind smile.

     Ezra smiled back at his mom. And for a moment, he felt like he had gotten that reassurance he desperately needed in a time where there was no guarantees of anything. This caused for the boy to swallow thickly before he parted his lips to speak once again. "Thanks for, you know, talking to me about it." He replied.

     "I owed you an explanation sooner or later." Vienna reminded him. "But we should go and find Joel and Ellie." She added, changing the subject.

     "Sounds like a plan," was all Ezra said before Vienna and him began to head into the direction where Joel and Ellie had previously disappeared into until they stopped in front of an open door.

     When Vienna and Ezra entered the room, Joel and Ellie were both laying down on the ground, a trail of glass leading towards them from the door. Ezra could tell it was there to alert them if someone decided to pay them a visit in the middle of the night while they were all in the midst of a deep slumber. And when Ezra stepped on a shard of glass, the sound was enough to alert Joel, who lifted his gaze to stare at them, his eyes flickering between the pair.

"You okay?" He asked them both.

"We're fine." Ezra answered, dropping his bag next to Ellie. "The glass on the floor is smart." He complimented, sitting down on the floor before he placed his head on his bag, utilising the item as a pillow, adjusting it slightly in hopes of getting some sort of comfortability from it.

Vienna laid closest to the door, taking her gun out and placing it next to her. If someone made an attempt to attack them in their sleep, at least she would be fast enough to fight back with her weapon only inches away from her hand. "What were you guys talking about?" She asked them, her gaze shifting between Ellie and Joel while she removed her jacket form her shoulders.

"Nothing. Let's just get some sleep." Ellie was quick to interject before Joel could say anything in response. Whatever it was that they were talking about, Ezra and Vienna could tell it was better left unsaid for now. So, everyone laid back down and got comfortable for the night ahead of them. That was until Ellie's voice pierced through the silence once again. "Hey, guys. Did you know diarrhoea is hereditary?" She pointed out.

Ezra furrowed his brows together in confusion, turning his head to glance back at the girl. "What?" He questioned.

Ellie nodded her head, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yeah. It runs in your jeans." She replied.

In that moment, Ezra did his best to hold back the laughter that threatened to tumble out of his throat, turning away from the girl before he looked up at the ceiling above him. He wasn't he only one trying to hold back his amusement. While his mom laughed freely in response to Ellie's joke, Joel did his best to suppress the laughter tickling his lungs. But was failing miserably in the process.

"That was so goddamn stupid." Joel then muttered underneath his breath.

Ezra nodded his head in agreement, stifling his laughter. "You got that right." He spoke up, a quiet chuckle escaping past his lips in the process.

     "You laughed, motherfuckers." Ellie accused, laughing contently with herself.

     Ezra knew he couldn't hold it back anymore. In a small matter of seconds, he released the roaring laughter slip past his lips and freely into the air, clutching his stomach while his chuckles only continued. "That was a good one." He managed to say between his laughter, becoming out of breath.

     "I got you." Ellie cheered quietly, a look full of sweet victory plastered across her face.

     That night, the group fell asleep with nothing more than bubbling joy beating in their hearts. Ezra didn't think he could feel that much happiness again. Especially after everything he had lost in the last couple of days. But if that moment proved anything, it was that the light could shine in even the most darkest of days. And after days of sleepless nights, it was the first time he had managed to close his eyes and actually drift off into a peaceful slumber with no fear, and no anguish weighing heavy in his heart. It was the first he actually felt like himself again.

     However, peace and joy was also something he had learned to never take for granted because after only a few hours of sleep, he was jolted awake by a kick to the leg. And when he opened his eyes he looked over to see some guy had his gun pointed between his mom and Ellie, and when he turned around to see if Joel was okay, he saw a kid with orange smeared across his face, who could be no older than ten years old, pointing a gun in Joel's face.

     That was when Ezra made an attempt to grab his knife from beside him. But, all of a sudden, the boy felt the feeling of cold metal pressed hard against the back of his skull, causing for every bone and nerve in his body to tense in the process. That was when he heard her speak.

     "You try anything, and I'll blow your goddamn head off."

━━━━━━━━

authors note.
MARGO BURRELL EVERYBODY!!!!!

My girl has finally arrived, and I can't wait to write for her. The whole of the next chapter will focus on her, and her relationship with Henry and Sam. Ugh I'm so excited to finally introduce her. She's probably my fav oc from this book and that's saying a lot since she's not really a big character until tlou2.

But anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll update again soon!!