[ CHAPTER SIXTEEN ! ]
watching her fade away.

"THAT WAS A FUCKING GOAL!" Ellie exclaims, pointing at the soccer ball that was just barely past our imaginary goalpost.

"Pfft," I blow out a short breath, rolling my eyes playfully at the girl. "That is such bullshit."

"You guys are just sore losers!" She taunted Hayden and I, causing me to run over to where the ball was and pick it up. I charge right toward her and go to throw the ball at her, but she dodges it. Her and Sam run from me with giggles following, and Hayden even laughs too, causing me to grin even wider.

"Hey, take it easy." Joel deadpans, completely disrupting my few seconds of bliss. "You still have a concussion."

Ellie groans from the corner, holding her middle finger up. "Oh, suck our dicks."

While everyone laughs, Joel has is jaw clenched and his face set in stone. I blow out another deep breath, feeling suddenly winded. "Parker, you're in. Beat their asses."

She's about to argue with me, I can tell, but Ellie's already begun chanting her name.

I join Joel and Henry at the table, sitting where Parker just was, right next to Henry. Both of them have negative emotions plastered on their faces and I'm sure I've disrupted a very serious conversation. "What are you two talking about?" Joel looks at me for a moment, but I have absolutely no idea what he's thinking. But something about the way he's looking at me now makes my stomach turn. "What?"

"Nothing." He says blankly, drawing his eyes away from mine. But I can clearly tell it's a lie.

I reach into the pocket of my jeans, knowing I have coin change in them. And with a sheepish smile, I pull out two pennies. "Penny for your thoughts?"

He almost smiles. Almost. I can tell he's trying to forgive me--trying to allow himself to interact with me in a humane way. But I can also see so clearly that it's taking everything in him to not treat me like I'm human. He shakes his head briefly--quickly. If I would have blinked, I'd have missed it. "Things are a lot more serious than you and I thought."

Fuck.

THIS ROAD IS DARK AND LINED WITH abandoned houses.

"How long is this act going to go on?" I nudge Joel's shoulder with a small smile.

He doesn't have to look at me to know that it's me and the exact expression on my face just by the tone of my voice. "What act?"

My smile widens without me being able to help it. "You know... the one where you pretend you're a big tough guy with no heart."

He keeps walking with a blank expression. "It's not an act."

I spare him a knowing look, my smile remaining wide on my face. "Oh, come on." I jog and begin walking in front of him backwards. "I know you. We're still married, you know."

His eyes quickly dart from mine down to his shoes. His lips curl into a frown and he shakes his head once. "We haven't been married in a long time, Rhea." I'm realizing this is the first time he's said my name since the other day when we had just first met after twenty years. It's still pinging at my heart and it's like he's grabbed my heart and squeezed it so tight it's stopped beating. I'm so full of guilt in this moment and reminded of what I've done. It's the same cycle we've repeated every day since meeting.

"Stop doing that." I'm not smiling anymore, and I have to hold my hand to his bicep to stop him from walking.

He does, looking down at me. "What?"

He's looking down at me with these dark, cold eyes and he feels like a complete stranger, once again. The same fucking cycle. At this point, it's hardly even feeling like deja vu. It's just really fucking hurting. Because I know it's happened numerous times before as it is now.

"You know what. You keep trying to make me feel guilty about something that happened all those years ago and I'm trying to make up for it but you just keep slamming a fucking door in my face." His expression doesn't even shift in the slightest. He's still looking at me like we haven't shared an ounce of history. Like we weren't going to have a child together and we weren't married. I blow out a short, silent breath, crossing my arms over my torso. "I know that you and I weren't together for as long as you and Tess were, but--"

It's not until I say Tess' name that he shows me emotion. He holds his index finger up, stopping me from speaking. "Don't you bring Tess into this."

My brows furrow and I'm swallowed by confusion and hurt and anger. I wipe the tip of my nose, sniffling. "You know what, I'm gone. I've done everything I could but you won't accept anything I say. I've already put my daughter's life at risk for you and this stupid fantasy and I'm not--I won't do it anymore." I walk back to where Hayden and the other kids stood and grabbed her hand. "Sam, Henry, Parker, Ellie, it was nice meeting you."

I tug on her hand and begin to walk the other way, back down the dim street and away from the others.

"Go after her you piece of shit!" I hear Ellie's voice echo from behind us.

But he doesn't. And before I'm able to turn back around or walk further, there's a quick flood of gunshots from behind us. Immediately, I pull her behind one of the cars lined on the street and crouch. I don't know what to do. I don't have a gun, I can't run.

Within ten seconds, I see Henry take Sam's hand and dash. Then return to behind the car I'd assume Joel and Ellie were behind.  I can hear them talking and Hayden is frozen with fear. "Shit."

I can't shout to the others after what I just pulled. I can't grab Hayden and run over. Not when there's a guy with nearly perfect fucking aim shooting right at us.

I hear soft whispers at one moment at the next--I look up and Joel has begun running toward the building. The perfect distraction.

I grab Hayden's hand and squeeze it tightly. "Quick, come with me." I check back to make sure that he's still shooting at Joel, and when I see that he is, I make a run for it. Within a matter of seconds, we're back with the others. "I'm gonna go with Joel. But you stay right here, alright?"

She looks as if she's about to attempt to bargain with me but slowly, she nods.

I remain low while hiding behind the row of cars aligned on the street, then do exactly what Joel did. Charge past the fence and begin down the path to the building.

The bullets are flying left and right beside me, and some even get close to my feet, nearly knocking me down. 

Joel's trail of footprints and open area tell me exactly where I need to go. I'm able to sneak away and slowly creep toward the back of the house--right where this sniper is hiding.

The back door is already creaked open slightly and I'm given access to slide right past without making a sound.

With my gun steady in my grip and my finger gliding along the trigger, I take slow and silent steps on this flight of stairs. The gunshots are getting louder and louder and it makes it so easy to follow.

"Please don't do it," I can hear Joel's voice. And it leads me straight to him. He's standing in the center of the room, and there's an older man in front of him, the sniper. It's an old fucking prick. "Please."

The man appears to begin sincerely thinking about it, but then in one swift movement, he almost manages to point his rifle to Joel and shoot him, but my bullet has already hit him right in the center of his head.

Joel turns around to face me with a puzzled look. He doesn't open his mouth to say anything but I know he's thinking of what to say.

"Don't mention it."

He gazes over me for a second before nodding. I go over to open the window to shout to the kids, but theres an odd static noise somewhere in this room.

"Anthony? Anthony?" It's a woman's voice--and it sounds like it's coming from a radio. Joel walks over and finds the walkie talkie. It's on the desk right next to me. "Anthony, hold them where they are. We're almost there."

"Fuck." Joel mutters beneath his breath, and I quickly pull the window up. "Run!"

That's exactly when we're able to hear engines revving and vehicles beginning to approach.

"Run!"

The kids have all stood and begun looking around, but Hayden and Sam are the only ones who notice.

"Run!"

My heart is racing and feels like it might explode. We can see the lights on the vehicles coming up above the hill. "Here." I move over and allow Joel access to the gun set between the window.

I grab Joel's rifle in exchange for it and begin to shoot. The trucks are ramming down the street, pushing all of the cars out of the way and are only a few feet from the kids. There's only so much this gun can do without the same type Joel has. Mine can't aim for shit.

They're running as fast as they can and Ellie is also trying to shoot at them with her gun. Then, Parker does the same. Joel's gun is jammed and I'm hardly even hitting the truck.

Joel's gun finally unjams and manages to shoot the driver through the glass but before I can even notice the truck ramming into the building next to this one--Ellie and Hayden fall.

Except, Ellie sits up and Hayden doesn't.

And there's blood.

A pool of blood forming right beneath Hayden's limp body. 

a/n

tysm for 20k???