[ 🏹 ] ✾•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•✾ [ 🏹 ]

[ 🏹 ] ✾•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•✾ [ 🏹 ]

「 eleven. she's not a bad kid, but they had to do it
she had to crack
she had to kill . 」

JOEL MILLER DIDN'T LIKE TO BELIEVE HISTORY REPEATED ITSELF, but as the front of his truck met the substantial wall of the forgotten laundromat, he could almost hear the sound of Sarah's scream laced into Lizzie's as the blonde shrieked in shock.

Lizzie's hands covered her head as the windshield caved in, coating her and Joel in a shower of prickling glass.

"Are you okay?" Joel asked hurriedly, looking between the girl next to him and the girl in the backseat, his face morphing an expression of concern. "You not hurt or nothing?"

"Yeah, just banged my leg." Lizzie winced, missing the look of pure apprehension that shadowed his eyes. "It's fine." She dismissed.

"What about you, Ellie?" Joel turned to the girl in the back. She sat with her arms around Bellamy—the dog stood barking wildly as his playful nature seeped further away.

"I'm good." She breathed out, "real fuckin' good."

A rain of gunfire hit the truck, startling the three as they lowered their heads to avoid a bullet to the brain.

"Belts off! Fast!" Joel ordered, ripping off his seat belt and kicking open his side of the door.

Lizzie complied, unbuckling the belt and practically throwing herself out of the truck window. Within the next moment, she was pulling open the backseat door, grabbing Ellie and Bellamy, and dragging them as quick as she could out of the car.

"Are you alright?" She asked the brunette, bringing her closer to her protectively as the sound of gunshots neared closer.

Joel stumbled from the passenger door, collapsing next to the two as he reached for his shotgun. He sat beside the two girls, panting as he reloaded the gun.

His eyes caught sight a rectangle space that sat portrait in the wall, big enough for the two to slip through. "Hey, you see that hole?"

The two nodded.

"Can you squeeze through it?" He questioned, leaning slightly to look over the bonnet of the truck, making sure he could keep his attackers in his line of sight. "When I say go, you crawl to that wall, and you squeeze through, and you don't come out until I say, okay? Liz, Bellamy's gonna stay here with me—he'll be fine. I promise."

Lizzie tilted her head unsurely. "If anythin' happens to him, I swear to god, Joe—"

A loud gunshot sizzled through the air, landing inches away from where they hid. Ellie gripped Lizzie's arm, pulling her backwards into her arms—the blonde being closest the gunshot.

"And they're not gonna hit you." Joel assured, "Look at me! They're not gonna hit you." And Lizzie believed him for a moment. His eyes glistened with truth as he looked over them—nothing would hit them, simply because he wouldn't allow it.

After a suffocating moment of anticipation, Joel let out a yell: "Go!"

And they did.

Ellie crawled infront of Lizzie, both of them shuffling a long the floor as fast as they could. Lizzie could sense the brunette's trepidation, the way she shook as she skimmed over the dust and broken ruins. It made the weight in her backpack feel heavier than it was, beckoning for her to grab the gun.

Ellie climbed through the space first, holding out her hand for Lizzie to take. The blonde grasped it gratefully, pulling herself through the small gap, just in time before a bullet shot through the air behind her.

The two collapsed against the wall, breathless from stress. Every second erupted in a spark of bullets and curses thrown by their attacks as the closed in on them, like foxes picking out lambs.

But Lizzie wasn't scared. Not enough for her to sit in fear, waiting for Joel to beckon them out of their hiding space so they could run off to Wyoming.

Lizzie survival instincts increased as the shadow of a figure painted the wall outside the small gap. The atmosphere went silent before a shot bled through the air. Beside Lizzie, Ellie put her head down with a small gasp of surprise, cowering slightly.

Their hands remained intwined, locked together as a small act of security—gifting them with the knowledge that they had each other. It was almost pathetic how something so small and forgetful meant to much in the moment. How, Ellie's hand tightly gripped Lizzie's, sending three comforting squeezes as the blonde shielded her from the gunfight that occurred just beyond them.

Finally, silence.

The bitter air turned quiet—free from violence and bloodshed. Lizzie began moving closer to the gap, only to make sure they were safe. Confused, Ellie pulled back on her hand nervously, her eyebrows scrunched up as she gestured to know where her companion was going.

Then the air turned poisonous. The sound of a door being violently shoved open echoed from the main room, catching the girl's attention.

Lizzie winced as male grunts and gunshots fired through the atmosphere—the pained groans sounding all too much like Joel.

"Shit." Lizzie cursed, detaching her hand from Ellie's and reaching into her backpack. The brunette's eyes went wide at the side of the loaded pistol that the firefly pulled from her bag.

"You're gonna fuckin' pay! What you fuckin' did! You fuckin' killed yourself, motherfucker!"

Lizzie turned to Ellie, a strand of blonde hair falling from the braid in her hair. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

Ellie scoffed in protest, "Beth! Beth!" She hissed, "Beth! What are—oh, fuck me."

Lizzie creeped out of the gap, her eyes witnessing Bellamy's figure stood over a man—ripping him apart as though he were a wolf or lion instead of a dog.

To the side, Joel's body lay against the dust-covered floor, his legs flailing in panic as a man sat on top of him, cursing him out as he suffocated him.

Lizzie's face remained stoic as she increased the speed of her steps, standing behind the man with a raised gun.

Then a rippling scream of agony erupted from the man as he rolled to the side of Joel with blurry eyes, and a tortured grimace over his lips as he cried out. The man—or boy placed his hand on his back as quick breaths fell from his lips.

Joel rolled beside him, catching deep gasps of fresh air that greeted his lungs. He turned to her, stunned. His eyes glazed as he looked at her, as though he hadn't believed she could do it. Of course, he knew being who she was—a firefly— she'd had to of killed before. After all, it was part of the initiation. But having witnessed it first hand—to save him, left him in a state of disbelief.

"I shot the hell out of that guy, huh?" She turned to Joel, her expression calm as she spoke.

Then his eyes widened, "Liz, move—"

Another gunshot rang out. One that hadn't come from either Lizzie or Joel, nor the man on the floor. The blonde turned in surprise. A man stood behind her, choking on his own blood as he grasped at his neck, dropping to the floor, his eyes glazed in fear.

Behind him, Ellie Williams stood, gun raised and her eyes bold with caution. Now it was Lizzie's turn to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

Ellie had protected her the same way lizzie had protected her against the clicker in the museum. With a gun—neither Lizzie and Joel knew she had— Ellie had watched the man creep up behind Lizzie, his knife raised to kill. Her mind ignited in a protective flame as she climbed out from the wall, not hesitating to eliminate the threat—not hesitating to save the blonde she'd become so fond of.

It may of sounded sick if said out loud, but Lizzie almost felt proud. Proud to know Ellie could defend herself—as well as defend her and Joel. Deep down Lizzie felt almost pleased to know Ellie would protect her if necessary.

Suddenly a deep, savage snarl echoed through the room as Bellamy stepped forward towards the man on the floor. His fur was coated in thick blood, and he no longer carried the innocence he appeared to have.

The man on the floor lay with frightened gaps echoing from his lips, his eyes darting back and forth between the trio and the dog.

He knew then it didn't matter how much he begged, his death would be sinister and cruel—at the hands of ruthless man, or a wild dog.

"No, no, no," he panicked, noticing the blonde girl who's gun faced the middle of his head, "it's okay It's okay. It's over. We're not fighting anymore."

Lizzie looked at the man with a raised eyebrow as he begged. "I'm gonna go home. I'll tell everyone you're good." He sobbed. The man couldn't have been much older than her—maybe a decade at the most. He reminded her of a wounded rabbit just waiting to be killed. "I don't know what to do. My legs don't work. My mom isn't far, if you could get me to her." The man groaned, watching in fear as Joel rose to stand tall.

"We could trade with you guys. We could be friends. I didn't know." Lizzie noticed Ellie's wariness, as though she were unsure wether or not she should intervene, but with a shake of Lizzie's head, the brunette's stare became void. "I'm Bryan. I'm Bryan. What's your names? You look f-friendly, please."

Slowly, Joel turned to the two girls with a foreign stare. He approached the two, holding out his hands as though asking for their guns. Ellie sighed, placing her gun in his hand with a roll of her eyes.

When the man raised an eyebrow at Lizzie, holding out his hand for the gun, she shook her head. "No."

Joel grumbled in irritation "Liz—"

"Liz! That's your name, right?" The man—Bryan asked, "nice to meet-t you, Liz."

Joel turned to the man, a snarl on his face as he glared him down protectively, before turning back to the blonde. "Liz, give it to me."

Cursing in defeat, Lizzie shoved the gun to Joel's chest, letting him grab it with a fatherly glance. He turned away from the two, raising an eyebrow to Bellamy who sat ready to pounce at the man, his teeth bearing and his eyes void of joy.

"Wait, wait, wait. You can have it," the man confirmed, throwing his knife to the floor and moving his hand back to his body before the dog would have the chance to bite it off. "It's a good knife." The man promised.

"Get back behind the wall." Joel ordered, his hands grazing over the knife as he picked it up and raised it at the man.

"Joel," Lizzie looked at the man, her eyebrows creased, "you're not seriously gonna kill him. He's like what, twenty-one?"

"I'm not gonna tell you again, Liz."

The girl scoffed, avoiding the leading eyes of the boy as she turned to Ellie.

Immediately, the boy began screaming out in protest, begging the two girls to save him from his gruesome fate. However, the two girls shared a look, whispering under the breaths, and turning around, jumping back into the hole.

"No, no, no, no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, please. We could just talk." The man violently sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, please. No, no, no! Please! No, please! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please! You don't have to! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Lizzie entered the wall first, followed by Ellie. The two sat in silence for a moment, listening to the manic barks of Bellamy as his teeth slashed through layers of flesh, mixed with the slicing of Joel's knife against the body.

Lizzie looked to Ellie for a moment, noticing the pale tear that stained her rosy cheeks, before she quickly wiped it away from Lizzie's view.

Footsteps approached the gap, and Joel's voice rang through. "Girls, I gotta get in there. I can't fit through."

Lizzie pushed herself away from the wall, walking over to the desktop in front of the door. "There's some stuff in front of the door." Ellie told the man.

"Well, can you move it?"

The two girls clutched the desk, pulling it backwards away from the door. On the other side, Joel used his strength to force the door open.

Finally, it opened, and he and Bellamy came bounding inwards. "Let's go. Fast." Joel breathed out, panting slightly. He encouraged the two to help push back the desk so that it was sat up against the door again.

The trio stood in silence—unsure what to even say to each other. Joel wanted to scold them the way he'd scolded himself. How foolish could he of been to think they would have listened. But the words never came. The thunderstorm of lectures fell silent over his lips, instead he simply stared at them.

Lizzie pursed her lips awkwardly. "We're good, right? We're all good?" She asked, looking between the two, "good. Uh," she clasped her hands, "you still got a flashlight?" She raised an eyebrow to Ellie.

The girl nodded, reaching for her bag and opening it. "Here." She handed the flashlight over to the older man. "What now?"

Joel sighed, "we go up." He motioned to the door. He opened it cautiously, the two girl's close behind after Lizzie secured Bellamy's leash. "To get a better look?" The brunette asked.

"Stay close." Joel ordered, ignoring the question.

Slowly, the trio stuck close to the wall, creeping through the abandoned alleyways as they made their way through the streets.

The air was suffocatingly tense, and filled with apprehension for whatever was to come. The trio crawled behind a plant-covered car, hearing the tires of a truck go past, with its occupiers yelling: "Bryan! Bryan! Body, body! They got fuckin' Bryan!"

As it drove from their view, the trio sprinted towards a large black door, running inside to avoid the dangers that lay outside.

Remaining unaware of the curious brown eyes that watched the whole ordeal through the slip of a glass window in the empty house across the street.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅• ੈ✩‧₊˚

PANDEMONIUM ERUPTED OUTSIDE THE THE SHOP'S NEWSPAPER-COVERED WINDOWS. Joel looked through a small slip in the outdated papers, watching in uncertainty as the unknown people rose in chaos.

Ellie sighed from her place on the floor, "well, they're not FEDRA."

"And they're not fireflies." Lizzie added. "So, who the fuck are they?"

"People." Joel responded blankly. The group had yet to talk about the incident prior, all far too unsure what to say or how to say it.

"Are we okay in here?" Ellie asked nervously. She sat on the ground, her knees propped up and her arms resting on them. Beside her, on a empty desk, Lizzie rested, leaning back on her hands. Bellamy lay beside them, Ellie's hand stroking him softly.

Joel nodded, "For a little bit, maybe. Looks like they're checkin' out apartment buildings first." He spoke, walking further away from the windows, "But they'll be coming through these places soon enough."

Ellie's turned, looking through a small gap and stating, "There's a really tall building, like, four blocks away."

"Yeah, I saw?"

"Is that the one we're gonna go to?" Lizzie asked, looking over to Joel.

Joel nodded his head, "As soon as we don't hear a truck, we move. Fast as we can." He finished, moving to sit on the chair beside the empty table Lizzie sat on.

Lizzie looked at him in curiosity, watching as he placed his head in his hands as though something was plaguing his mind with guilt and blame. "Are you okay, cowboy?"

Joel paused, looking at for a moment then to Ellie then back. "I'm alright." Then, as though the words took the life out of him, he asked, "are you. . . alright?"

"Yeah." "Mhm."

The trio fell back into silence, all releasing deep exhales. Joel kicked his lips once before speaking again, "Thing is, is I didn't hear that guy comin', or see the man behind Liz, and. . . you shouldn't have had to. . . you know?"

Lizzie and Ellie shared a doubtful look. "You're glad we did though, right?" Ellie questioned.

"I'm glad you did, El." She gave the brunette a small smile, to which the girl nodded gratefully.

Joel released a choked breath, "you're just kids. You shouldn't know what it means to. . . It's not like you killed the boy. You did well with the man that snuck up on Liz. But. . . shootin' or. . . I know what it's like... first time that you, uh, hurt. . . someone like that. If you, uh. . . w. . . uh. . .I'm not good at this." Joel rambled. For a moment, Lizzie felt shameful to put him under so much stress, but also to know that the gunshot hadn't been her first time killing someone—let alone hurting them.

"Yeah, you're shit." Lizzie smiled lightly, nudging his shoulder despite the look he gave her.

"I mean, it was my fault. You both shouldn't have had to. And I'm sorry." Joel finished his rambling, unable to look them both in the eye.

"It wasn't my first time." Ellie sniffled quietly, surprising both Lizzie and Joel.

Lizzie huffed slightly—feeling almost inclined to tell them after Ellie's reveal. "I don't know what saint you think I am, Joel. I've had guns dropped in my lap since I was ten. I'm used to it, honestly." She assured, nodding her head to him.

Joel sighed, pulling out two pistols. He raised an eyebrow at Lizzie—a silent warning not to anything insane—and placed down the gun in her lap. With the other gun, he dropped in front of Ellie and handed it to her.

"Show me your grip." He advised, watching as he held it unsurely. Lizzie tilted her head, "take your finger of the trigger, ponytail."

Ellie moved her finger away from the trigger, sending a half-arsed smile to the girl. "Now, who taught you that?" Joel raised a disapproving eyebrow.

"FEDRA school."

Lizzie's scoffed, "figures."

Joel adjusted Ellie's hands on the gun until she was able to correctly hold it the same he and Lizzie could do. After he finished, he turned to Lizzie, to which the girl raised an eyebrow with an amused smirk. "I knew how to use a goddamn gun, Cowboy."

Joel rolled his eyes, "Shut up, bug." He scoffed, and Lizzie was certain she could hear a small ounce of playfulness fall from his tone.

"Now, put them in your packs before you blow your damn asses off."

ੈ✩‧₊˚ •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅• ੈ✩‧₊˚

"YOU'RE GOING TO DROP ME!" Lizzie hissed under her breath as Joel held her up so that she was able to get through the small vent that Ellie had been able to break open. "Liz, I'm not going to drop you. You're fine. I've got you, I won't let you fall."

Lizzie protected her head as she fell through the vent, falling upon the dusty floor. "Oh, shit, son of a bitch." She cursed, peaking her eyes open to see Ellie stood above her with a smirk. "Doin' okay there, firefly?"

"Fucking fabulous."

Ellie chuckled, holding out a hand for the blonde to grab, which she took gratefully.

The two moved to open the door, beaming at Joel. "Where would you be without us, huh?"

"By now, Wyoming."

Lizzie winced as though his words had physically impacted her, "oh, wow. Went head first into that one."

Ellie glanced at her, "literally." She gestured to the fall she'd taken.

Joel walked further into the room, one of his hands secure around Bellamy's leash, and to Lizzie's amazement, he hadn't forced her to take the dog from him, instead finding good company in him. "All right. We'll make our way up, and come morning, I'll take a look at the city, and find our way out."

Joel's flashlight shined over the dozen sets of stairs that ascended in a spiral structure. "Well, fuck me." Lizzie mumbled distastefully.

"We're goin' up forty-two flights?" Ellie gawked, looking at Lizzie as if to say, 'are you hearing what I'm hearing'.

"Forty-five. But no. . . not all the way." Joel huffed.

"Well, how far?" The blonde inquired, the golden glow of her flashlight shining over the endless flights of stairs.

"As far as I can make it."

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, they all breathed heavily, unsuited for the surprise workout the steps had produced.

"Hey, you know that guy who said he was hurt? How'd you know it was an ambush?" Ellie inquired, catching Joel's attention.

The man turned to her, a regretful gleam in his eyes. "I've been on both sides. It was a long time ago. We did what we needed to survive."

"You and Tess?"

"And the people we were with. My brother, too." Joel responded.

Ellie then turned to Lizzie, "how'd you know he was armed?"

Lizzie shrugged, "Cause that was my job back home," she admitted, "people cant help but feel bad whenever they see a terrified little girl."

Ellie hummed, following as Joel led them further up the stairs. "Holy shit." She muttered as they entered an abandoned apartment building.

"Thirty-three floors. That's good, right? Yeah, that's brill." Lizzie spoke to herself, looking over to Joel for confirmation. "It's gonna have to be."

"Come on." Lizzie encouraged the man to stand. "Give me a minute." He breathed out.

Raising an eyebrow, she shared a glance with Ellie. "Get your lazy ass up, Cowboy. They wouldn't like this in the Wild West."

Joel huffed at her, unamused. "Lazy ass. Fifty-six years old, you little shit." He stood, walking in front of them again with irritation.

After using a fire extinguisher to break through a glass window, the group had successful set up an alright sleeping area. Lizzie and Ellie both sat on their arranged cushions, Bellamy stretching as he went to rest beside Lizzie.

The sound of glass shattering and splintering against the floor met their ears as they shared a confused glance. Ellie called out to him, only to be ignored the first few times. "Joel. Joel. Joel!"

"What?" He demanded. "What the fuck are you doing?" The blonde tilted her head.

"I don't want someone sneakin' up on us while we're sleepin'." The man reasoned, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he continued to shower the floor in glass.

Ellie nodded in realisation. "Ohh, I get it. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Are you sure you're gonna hear it?"

"Of course, Im gonna hear it. That's the damn point." Joel barked, earning a pair of raised eyebrows from the two girls. "You better. I'm not getting ambushed at three o'clock in the morning."

Joel huffed in response, too tired to bite back at her. "Goodnight." Ellie commented, laying down in her space.

Lizzie sunk into her jacket, opening her arms as she welcomed Bellamy to sleep closer to her. "Night, ponytail. Night, cowboy."

"Goodnight." The man grumbled, turning away from the on his side.

After a moment of silence, the oldest of them all spoke up again, "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"What'd you mean when you said it wasn't your first time, and you weren't. . . a good person?" He asked, catching Lizzie slightly off guard. She hadn't expected him to actually ask what she'd meant.

"Nothin." "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright. I'm just sayin'. . . it isn't fair, your age. . . havin' to deal with all of this. . ." Joel's voice faded away slightly.

"So it gets easier when you get older?"

Joel sighed, "No, not really. But still."

Ellie pursed her lips, "The reason I asked whether you'd hear the glass or not is 'cause I've noticed you don't hear too well from your right side. Is it 'cause you were shot there?"

Lizzie looked over to the girl with a raised eyebrow. Ellie didn't seem the most observant, so her observation was unexpected.

"Probably more from shootin'." Joel mumbled, "So if you both wanna keep your hearin', stick to knives."

Lizzie huffed, "noted."

After a moment, Ellie grinned lightly. "Hey Joel?"

The man hummed, beckoning for her to go on. "Did you know diarrhoea is hereditary?"

Lizzie and Joel both turned to her in complete confusion, unaware of whatever the fuck she was talking about.

"It runs in your jeans."

Lizzie couldn't of lied and said she didn't laugh at the joke. Her chest rose and fell as she cackled, her own laughter mixed with Joel's.

"That is so goddamn stupid."

"You're laughing!" Lizzie chuckled, "you, Joel Miller, are fuckin' laughing." She laughed harder at the man's protest.

"I didn't laugh." Joel dismissed, biting back his laughter.

"You laughed, motherfucker!" Ellie cackled, both her and Lizzie falling into a giggling fit as they faced each other.

"I'm losing it." Joel muttered, a grin falling over his face.

"You're losing it big time." Lizzie added, laying on her back as she giggled.

And so somewhere in Kansas City, Joel Miller accepted the laughs the two girls brought him, chuckling joyfully as he lay on his side. For once, Joel miller hadn't felt stressed of shameful—simply just bliss. Bliss as he laughed with the girls.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅• ੈ✩‧₊˚

"JOEL!" Lizzie barked, sending an unsure glance to gun facing her head. Both she and Ellie had awoken to the sound of plates shattering, and two masculine intruders pointing guns at them.

The older of the two—a young man, probably in his early twenties, stood with two guns in his hands, both pointing to Ellie and Lizzie as the younger one held one towards Joel.

Bellamy growled as he looked between the two, ready to attack if necessary. However, he backed away slightly as Lizzie sent him a warning glance, encouraging him to sit still.

Joel opened his eyes slowly, his face dropping as he watched the two girls cower under the guns. Turning slightly, he was met with a gun to his own forehead, and a little boy with an orange streak going from one side of his eyes to the other.

Slowly, the boy raised a finger to lips, staring at Joel blankly as though he were much more than the child he appeared to be.

☼

[ 🏹 ] ✾•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•✾ [ 🏹 ]

Here we go y'all 😟
and Lizzie my absolute favs protecting each other <3
Anyway gotta try not to to cry writing the next few chapters.

Almost forgot this but thank u for 18k honestly love all of ya. Love reading comments too cause some of u are fr little comedians istg.