CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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          BEING HELD UP IN SOME BAR IN DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY WASN'T IDEAL, BUT IT WAS THE BEST THAT THEY COULD DO GIVEN THEIR SITUATION. They had lost all their supplies safe for their backpacks and the items inside. They had no car, barely any food and not much ammunition.

The windows had been covered with news paper clippings, as the shield the inside from the outside world. The raiders were patrolling the streets and the glass cups that had survived in the last twenty years shook from the vibrations of their trucks as they passed.

"Drink this." Joel shoved a flask her way, flicking open the lid. The scent of alcohol hit her nostrils and she grimaced, but took a swig anyways. It was his last and he offered it to her. "Good, now bite down on this."

He had taken off his belt and placed it between her teeth, to keep her from crying out. Lucia was in too much pain to refuse and automatically clenched her mouth closed. Ellie watched from the side, brows pulled together in worry as she watched Joel take off his makeshift bandage.

"Just do it." cried Lucia, managing to splutter out coherent words through her grip on the belt.

It hadn't stopped bleeding and now that he had taken off the piece of clothing it began to slid down her arm once more. Ellie had offered them a clean shirt she had taken from Bill's and Joel drenched it in alcohol, pressing it against her arm. 

Lucia cried out, the sound drowned out by the belt. It hurt terribly and bile rose within her throat, but she managed to keep it down. Joel cleaned the wound as thoroughly as he could with the lack of supplies they had. 

"Ellie," he began, shooting her a quick glance. "see if there's anything here we can use to wrap her arm."

The brunette spit out the belt, taking long and deep breaths as the smuggler inspected her arm. There were no remnants of the bullet, it really had gone clean through and no bone seemed to be shattered. If it had hit one of her main arteries she would have already bled to death, she was extremely lucky.

"I can't move it." she uttered, once Ellie was out of hearing range. "It hurts too much."

He lifted his head to meet her gaze and he pulled his eyebrows together, crease between them like a thick scar. He squeezed the skin on her lower arm and she winched. Good. He kept his gaze on her face and she didn't notice when he pressed his nails into the skin just above her elbow. Again, she winched and he nodded to himself.

"You'll be fine." he grumbled. "The bullet didn't hit anythin' major as far as I can see. Flex your fingers for me." she did and he gave her a barely noticeable smile. "Good, this is good."

"I found a first aid kit, but it was empty." Ellie grimaced, joining their side. "But I did find a packet of gauze. It's almost empty but maybe you can still use it."

They were clean, which was a blessing and Joel took them form her. He pressed them against Lucia's arm gingerly and she closed her eyes once more. He tore another piece from his flannel off and wrapped it around the wound, tying a knot to keep it protected.

"Thank you." grunted Lucia, meeting his dark eyes.

The glass that stood on the counter dropped to the floor from the vibrations as another truck passed the bar outside. Joel tore his gaze away from Lucia and got to his feet, peering outside through a small hole in the newspaper clippings.

"They're not FEDRA, and they're not Fireflies," Ellie said, joining his side. "so who are they?"

"People."

"Are we okay in here?"

"For a little bit, maybe." The smuggler nodded his head as he got back to his feet, taking a seat at the bar. "Looked like they're checkin' out apartment buildings first. But they'll be coming through these places soon enough."

Ellie was still peering outside and said, "Looks like there's a really tall building four blocks away."

"Yeah, saw it."

"Is that the one?" she wondered, and turned to face him. The bar was dark, barely any light came from the cracks in the windows, but they could see just fine for now.

"As soon as we don't hear a truck, we move. Fast as we can."

"We should try to find another car." suggested Ellie, sliding down to wall beside Lucia to rest her legs. "There's plenty in the city, one of them might still work?"

"Maybe," nodded Lucia, legs stretched out before her in attempt to get comfortable despite her situation. "but we shouldn't go out of our way to look for one. It's too dangerous." Joel hadn't been listening, he rubbed his eyes as he leaned across the bar. 

"Are you okay?" asked Ellie, legs pulled to her chest.

"I'm all right." he shrugged, confused why'd she ask him that. "Are you all right?" When the teen didn't reply he heaved a sigh, shaking his head as he rubbed at his beard. He regretted the way he had reacted to her. "Thing is, I didn't hear that guy comin', and you shouldn't have had to ... you know? You're just a kid. You shouldn't know what it means to- I know what it's like, first time that you uh, hurt someone like that. If you, uh, uhm ... i'm not good at this."

"Yeah, you're really not."

"I mean it was my fault. You shouldn't have had to do that. But it was either him or me."

Ellie wiped at her face, getting rid of the traces of tears that had escaped her eyes. Lucia frowned and squeezed her arm with her good hand, rubbing her thumb along her jacket as she gave her a soft smile.

"It wasn't my first time." Ellie confessed. 

The brunette couldn't read Joel's face as he looked at the teen beside her. Instead, he took out his gun and checked to see if there were any bullets left before he put the safety on. Joel got up from his chair and crouched down before her. He held out the handle to her. 

"Show me your grip." Ellie took it from him and held it in her hand. "Finger off the trigger." he corrected, moving her digit away. "Now, who taught you that?"

"FEDRA school." she replied, nonchalantly.

"Figures." he scoffed and adjusted her grip once more and added her other hand. "Your thumb over your thumb. Left hand, squeezes down on the right. You got it? There you go." Ellie smiled up at him and he tugged on the weapon. "Look it." He wanted her to show her confidence and she giggled when he tugged on it again.

"Can I keep it?"

"You may." he nodded, and Lucia smiled at the exchange. 

Ellie lifted up the back of her shirt and went to put it between her jeans and belt. "No, not there. You put it in your pack. You'll shoot your damn ass off."

The brunette let out a huff of laugher and tried to get to her feet as Joel began to take off wooden boards away from the door. There hadn't been trucks for some time and he was willing to take the risk of getting the hell out of there.

Ellie, who was supposed to hide the weapon in her pack put it in her jacket pocket when neither of the adults were watching. Lucia slid her backpack onto her right shoulder, trying not to put any pressure on her other arm.

"We'll get through this." said the woman, furrowing her brows at the smuggler.

"I know."

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NIGHT HAD FALLEN OVER KANSAS CITY AND AFTER A GOOD TWENTY MINUTES AFTER HAVING LEFT THE BAR, THEY'D REACHED THE BUILDING JOEL HAD BEEN REFERRING TO. Lucia's pain had lessened slightly from the alcohol she had consumed and her head felt a bit hazy, but the cold kept her alert and awake.

They couldn't stroll through the front door, they'd be spotted so they opted for the backdoor in an alley. It was locked and getting it open would make too much noise.

"I can fit through there." voiced Ellie, having spotted the small window above their heads. "I can open the door from the inside."

"We don't know what's inside." Lucia declared with a shake of her head. "We can find another way inside."

"I'll be fine." shrugged Ellie. "Joel, help me up."

The smuggler mulled it over for a moment and gave Lucia a nod once he had decided. He cupped his hands together for Ellie to step in and bent through his knees. "Just put your foot here. One, two ..." he heaved her upwards and she grabbed his shoulders, cursing to herself. "Straighten up, I got you."

Ellie pulled herself over the threshold and jumped down on the other side, disappearing from their sights. Joel ordered her to look around before trying to open the door, incase of infected, but she ignored him. There were noises coming from inside, as if she was throwing stuff around and her flashlight bounced off of the walls, alerting anyone who might have been hiding inside.

"Ellie, goddamnit."

The door swung open and she grinned broadly at the two of them. "Where'd you be without me, huh?"

"By now, Wyoming." retorted Joel, slipping inside.

"Oh, yeah." she muttered. "Walked into that one."

Lucia patted her shoulder as she passed her and the teen closed the heavy door with a click.

They were in the basement of the building, which she guessed had been an old office building. It didn't seem like people had lived here. It was dark inside, the only thing illuminating their path were their flashlights.

Joel shone upon the entrance towards the stairwell and said, "We'll make our way up, and come morning, i'll take a look at the city and find our way out."

Lucia rolled her neck, wanting to lay down and rest for a while as Joel pushed the door open. He glanced inside, not a groan to be heard. They had been lucky not to have run into any infected so far, Boston had been crawling. Dust wafted around them and Lucia scrunched her nose up in order not to sneeze.

"We're going up forty-two flights?" asked Ellie incredulously.

"Forty-five." corrected Joel, shining the light upward. "But no, not all the way."

"How far?" wondered Ellie, peering up into the darkness above.

"As far as I can make it."

another update in the same day? don't know how that happened. alright, i want to stretch some scenes as much as i can so i can provide more chapters instead of a few longer ones, if that makes sense? next chapter is where we'll meet sam and henry <3