CHAPTER TWELVE

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MORNING HAD COME QUICKER THAN LUCIA HAD ANTICIPATED AND SHE WISHED SHE COULD DELVE BACK INTO A DREAMLESS SLEEP. Her back ached and she stretched her arms over her head, pillow falling to the floor. Lucia blinked open her eyes, confused for a moment, and saw she wasn't in the guest room. Nor in the comfortable bed she had chosen the night prior.

Lucia pushed herself up on her elbows, denting the pillows of the couch as she did so. The woollen blanket that had covered her, slid down to her stomach and pooled around her middle. She didn't remember falling asleep on the couch and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

To her left, Joel rummaged through his backpack as he sat on the armchair. He was hunched over, not aware of her eyes on him. Soft rays of sunlight beamed through the open window, illuminating the living room in a soft morning glow.

"When do we leave?" Lucia's voice was hoarse with sleep and the smuggler snapped his head in her direction.

The brunette pushed the blanket off of her and planted her feet on the ground, blinking lazily at him. Joel slid his eyes toward her feet, taking in the bright yellow dotted socks and he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from shooting her a remark.

Lucia had kicked her shoes off in her sleep and he raised a brow, fighting amusement. She had been fast asleep before he had finished his dinner, head resting on the back of the couch with her mouth slightly open. Soft snores had escaped her and he didn't have the heart to wake her up, so instead he had carefully laid her down on her back and thrown a blanket over her body before finding his own bed.

"In thirty minutes." said Joel, going back to his backpack. "Ellie's already outside, filling up the truck."

"You should have woken me up."

Joel shook his head wordlessly, puffing out a breath as he got up from the armchair. Lucia watched as he swung his bag over his shoulder and rubbed at his beard, avoiding eye contact. "Thought you could use the rest. We'll be in the garage."

The smuggler left her in the living room, disappearing from her sight and Lucia rubbed at her eyes once more. God, her shoulders were aching and she cursed herself for having fallen asleep. The brunette pulled on her boots before trudging up the stairs to collect the rest of her belongings.

The garage smelled of gasoline once she entered it and she scrunched up her nose. Joel was lifting sleeping bags into the bed of the truck as Ellie looked through a box of old cassette tapes.

"Good, you're here." smiled Ellie, holding up a tape as she read the title. "Do you know who A-ha is? I've never heard that name before."

"They're a band." nodded Lucia, lifting her own backpack and shoving it through the open window of the truck, onto the backseat. "Take on Me is pretty good."

"Pretty good?" scoffed Joel, shaking his head. "It's their best song."

"Guess i'll be taking this, then." hummed Ellie, shoving it into her bag.

They had taken whatever they could, but still managed to only take the necessities. Joel was already behind the wheel when Lucia went to open the passenger's side, and Ellie peered at her with excitement.

Lucia pursed her lips and let the teen pass, hopping into the seat. She wasn't the biggest fan of sitting in the back, but Ellie had this vivid obsession with cars so she let her.

Ellie took in the inside of the vehicle with curious eyes. The teen opened the glove box, rummaging through the few papers before closing it. She pulled down the sun visor, watching herself in the mirror with a curious smile before pushing it shut. Ellie leaned out the window and adjusted the mirror, Joel met her eyes through it with a bored look.

"It's your first time in a car?" he asked, watching her play around.

"It's like a spaceship."

"No, it's like a piece of shit Chevy S10, but it'll get us there. I think." disagreed Joel, twisting his upper body to grab his seatbelt. Lucia sat in the middle back seat so she could watch the road through the windshield, the belt only going around her middle. Ellie hadn't strapped herself in and Joel raised a brow at her. "Seatbelt."

Ellie twisted her head in confusion and Joel sighed, reaching past her to grab hold of it and fastening it for her while she watched curiously.

"So cool." she gushed.

"I could teach you how to drive." suggested Lucia and Joel looked at her through the rear view mirror, causing her to shrug. "Could come in handy. You never know what might happen out there."

"Would you really?" she beamed, twisting in her seat to face her.

"Sure," she nodded. "I can explain the basics later. It's not that difficult."

"Tell that to this shit piece of a truck."

Joel revved the engine to life, the sound of it thundered through the garage. The truck rolled forward and Ellie almost couldn't contain her excitement. The car drove smoothly and she opened the glove box again, holding up a tape.

"Would ya leave it?" Joel said, shaking his head as she wiggled it in front of is face and put it in the recorder. "Put that back. Ellie."

The teen didn't listen and when Joel twisted the steering wheel to drive toward the fence, soft music played from the speakers. A woman's voice filled the truck and Ellie was about to turn it off when the smuggler stopped her.

"No, leave it. Leave it." Lucia quirked a brow at the unfamiliar voice as she shielded her eyes from the harsh sun. "This is good. This is Linda Ronstadt. Do you know who Linda Ronstadt is?"

"You know I don't know who Linda Ronstadt is." shot Ellie, sitting cross-legged on her seat. "Lucia, do you know who Linda Ronstadt is?"

"I do not."

Joel slowed the truck once they reached the fence and let out a long sigh, squinting his eyes. "Oh, man."

"Eh," shrugged the teen. "it's better than nothing."

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ELLIE'S SNORES FILLED UP THE SMALL SPACE OF THE TRUCK AS LUCIA SAT BEHIND THE WHEEL. Five hours had passed since they had left Lincoln, and she and Joel had changed seats an hour prior. He could have gone till night fell, but it was best to let each other rest as much as possible.

A-ha was still playing in the background and the songs Lucia hadn't known were now etched into her brain. Ellie had practically thrusted the cassette into her hands when Linda Ronstadt had finished her last song.

Lucia's gaze was drawn to the little red light that popped up and she turned to Joel, who had a map of The United States sitting on his lap. One of his arms was hanging out of the open window, propped up to support his head.

He hadn't taken notice of the light and Lucia cursed at the twenty year old gasoline. This was the second time this happened since they'd left.

"We're almost out again." she commented, gaining his attention. Joel tore his eyes away from the map and to the side of her face, before looking at the flickering light. "Maybe thirty minutes before we completely run out."

Joel hummed, bringing the map closer to his face as he followed the road they were currently on with his finger. "There should be a gas station nearby. We can probably scavenge some there."

"Alright," nodded Lucia, hand resting on the steering wheel lazily while the other scratched at her neck. "just tell me where to go."

They reached the gas station twenty minutes later and Lucia parked the truck, hoping out to stretch her legs. The sound of the door closing woke up the teen and she stretched her limbs, yawning loudly.

Vehicles were littered over the rural area, plenty to try and siphon gas from.

"I really need to pee." muttered Ellie, sliding out of the truck as she glanced at the building while pressing a hand to her stomach. "There's nothing bad in there, right?"

"Just you." Joel grumbled and Lucia snorted.

"Okay," shot Ellie, hands on her hips. "that's getting old."

The smuggler scoffed as he grabbed the empty jerry can from the bed of the truck. Lucia slid her gun from its holster and motioned toward the teen. "Come, i'll go with you. Let the old man siphon gas on his own." Joel shot her a glare over his shoulder and she smiled, teeth and all as she guided Ellie toward the building.

"I think he's warming up to us." stated Ellie, peering back at him to see his eyes on them. "See? He's even checking to see if we're not going to get mauled by infected."

"Don't let him hear you say that, kid." Lucia rolled her eyes as she stepped into the building through the shattered glass door, shards cracking beneath her boots. "He might strangle you in your sleep."

Ellie huffed out a chuckle, shaking her head with a smile as she glanced around the ravaged room. No infected had lurched for them and the glass beneath their shoes made enough noise to draw them out if they were there. "Oh, bathrooms that way. I'll be right back."

Lucia watched her disappear and listened for snarls, but none came. The brunette searched the shelves but just as she had expected, there was nothing worth to scavenge. Empty cans of beans were spilled over the floor, broken bottles of wine and moulding sandwiches laid in a heap.

After having walked through three isles, she gave up and went behind the counter. She pushed herself up and sat down, legs dangling down the front as she rummaged through a box beside her. There were a few comic books in there and she read each title, none of them were familiar to her.

The last one read 'Savage Starlight, Volume Nine' and she let out a long sigh. Her fingers danced over the cover and her focus was momentarily on her shaking digits before she tore her eyes away. Her brother, Oscar, collected these and had probably stashed them underneath his bed in their old family home.

He had read them to her once, but Lucia couldn't really remember any of the story line. He'd probably scold her for that, he knew them by heart.

"Oh cool." Ellie grinned, exiting the bathroom and walking her way. "Are there any copies of Sav -"

Lucia lifted her head, book still in her hands to see the girls green eyes focussed on the copy she was holding. The woman glanced at the cover again, before handing it to Ellie.

"No way!" she blurted, almost snatching it from her hands. "I don't have this one yet! Can I keep it?"

"All yours."

"I love these." she beamed, quickly skimming through the pages and taking in the drawings. "You have to read them, they're amazing! It's about this woman, Dr. Daniele Star, who, in the year 2186 develops a technology that allows humans to travel through space faster than the speed of light."

"Sounds cool." uttered Lucia, nodding along before hopping off the counter. Ellie was too focused on the comic to hear the slight sadness in her voice as she continued, "We should go, Joel's probably finished. You can read it in the car."

The smuggler was still working on siphoning gas when they stepped from the building. He was on his knees, half full jerry can beside him as he pushed a plastic tube into a red car.

Ellie angled her head to the side and asked, "We have to do this every two hours?"

"Gas breaks down over time." he explained, peering up at them before stuffing an old rag against it to keep it from spilling. "This stuff's almost water. Back in the day we'd drive ten, twelve hours on one tank. You could go anywhere."

"So, where'd you go?"

"Pretty much nowhere." he confessed, blowing on the outer end of the tube, hard enough the vein in his neck protruded. The gasoline went down the tube and directly into the jerry can and Ellie watched it curiously.

"Nice! How does that work?" she questioned, taking a step closer to get a better look.

"It's a siphon." said the smuggler and continued when Ellie didn't show any sign of understanding him. "It's when liquid travels against gravity ... because pressure -"

"You don't know." stated Lucia, leaning against the car beside them.

"I know it works." he shot. Ellie let out a giggle and turned her back on them. "No wandering."

With an eye roll she trudged back, taking off her backpack and resting it on the hood of the car. "Okay," she nodded, unzipping it and shooting both of them a look over her shoulder, mischievous. "This is your fault then."

Lucia crossed her arms over her chest and met Joel's dark eyes, shrugging her shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at the teen then, waiting. Ellie turned, small paperback book in her hands and opened on a random page.

"It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope, it will still be stationary." The teen giggled to herself while neither Joel or Lucia reacted. Ellie showed her the book. "'No Pun Intended, Volume Too.' by Will Livingston. 'Volume Too'. Look, you get it? 'Too', like t-o-o?"

"Jesus," sighed Joel, getting back to his feet before taking the tube out.

"What did the mermaid wear to her math class?" Ellie continued, looking at them with amusement shining behind her eyes. She leaned forward on her feet, waiting for them to get it but neither said anything. "An algae bra. Like algae bra." Joel and Lucia shared a grimace. "I stayed up all night -"

"No." Lucia shook her head, not wanting to hear another bad joke.

"wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me."

"Feel free to wait in the truck." Joel informed, arms crossed over his chest.

"Okay," Ellie shrugged, smile gracing her features. "but just know, you can't escape Will Livingston. He'll be back. There's nothing you can do to stop him."

OKAY. I just want to say that Chloe @-voidlegends makes the most beautiful trailers in the world and definitely check her out because she does commissions and they are so very worth it. She made this BEAUTIFUL trailer for me about Joel and Lucia and I am so in love with it. Definitely go support her work!

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