Joel Miller x Reader

Nine

Cursing, Joel shoved his cold hands into the gap that was between the floor and the edge of the garage door and pushed it up with all his weight.

Groaning and clenching his teeth, he tried to widen the gap enough so he could crawl underneath. But the screws and hinges were still covered with thick layers of ice.

A sharp pain coursed through his hand as he slipped and reopened the dried wound in his palm.

"Fucking shit!", he growled and pulled his hand back again, thick drops of red mixing with the pure white of the snow and spoiling the purity.

Angrily, he slammed his fist against the frozen metal of the gate.

Thin layers of ice and snow broke apart and fell to the ground with a soft clang.

When he looked at his hand, the glove already had a dark spot and was completely soaked with his blood. It hurt and when he tried to clench his fingers the flesh ripped open even further and more pain paralyzed him.

A tingling sensation crept through his body, numbing his hand, traveling through his veins and up to his elbow, where it continued to burn.

A growl got caught in his throat.

But he couldn't stop now, after all, he was already at the door.

If Ellie was lost, this place would be the safest.

She was a smart girl, even more so now that she had grown up. She would come here knowing full well that this mansion would be the first place Joel would look for her.

Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes briefly to push the pain out of his mind and then continued scraping the ice off with his knife. When the most important places were free, he tried again to open the gate, this time only with his uninjured hand.

The hinges groaned and screamed.

Then, with nerve-wracking tenacity, the individual layers pushed up, folded together and disappeared into the device on the ceiling.

Joel didn't push the gate all the way up. He wanted some more protection in case he had to escape and someone wanted to follow him. But the gap was enough for him to duck and slip inside the mansion.

Immediately the cold wind stopped whistling around his ears and a sudden warmth hit his face. Well, it wasn't really warmth, but the difference in temperature between inside and outside was enough to make his body think that it was warm inside the walls.

Gasping, he got back on his feet and wiped the snow off his clothes. But he wasn't quick enough to prevent the feeling of cold water soaking into the fabric and sticking to his skin.

He cursed, but did not waste any more time and walked further into the building.

The way from the huge garage led into some sort of long pantry, offering enough space for rows of shelves. They once had been stocked with all kinds of goods, from canned food to toilet paper, cleaning supplies and other stuff that was now slowly getting useful again.

But after the people had founded Jackson down the hill, the supplies had run dry. Most of them had already been put to use ages ago.

Slowly he walked on, his head lowered and as silent as a mouse. On the ground, the cone of light from his flashlight drew shadows and dark faces. It made them dance and shiver as if the bright touch caused nothing but pain.

In his hand he held the revolver, loaded but still secured. He was ready to shoot somebody if needed, but wanted to avoid the risk of accidentally firing a shot at the slightest noise.

He wanted to stay hidden. A moment of surprise was worth gold in this world.

At the end of the corridor a door opened into a large room, a kind of anteroom which led into the open living room.

He had visited this place a few months ago and noticed that the door had been pushed open recently. A clear trail was drawn in the dust. There were footprints, only a few but at least two people.

"Well, shit...", he mumbled and squeezed his eyes shut to keep the pain away.

Joel dared to move on, squeezed through the last rows of shelves and to the door. He stopped and threw a gaze through the opening.

But as he leaned back against the wall and listened he could hear nothing. Cautiously, Joel glanced around the corner. But a strange feeling caught his attention.

His arm was slowly but surely getting numb. The feeling crawled into his chest, made its way to his heart and forced it to pull together.

Suddenly, breathing caused a stabbing pain to punch through his left lung. As he raised his hand, blood was dripping over his fingers.

Strange, he had not noticed it, neither the wet yet sticky feeling, nor the warmth.

Taking a deep breath in, Joel shook his head. But it was impossible to get fully rid of the pain. It nestled in his flesh like a parasite and chewed on his attention.

He tried to listen. Still nothing.

Blood was dripping down his hand, drawing a small line of red dots on the floor.

Only when he was completely sure that no one was lurking in the other room did he enter.

And again, he listened. Still silence. Nothing but nerve wrecking silence.

A little daylight made its way through the windows. Snow crunched under the soles of his shoes, causing his nerves to tingle. His shoulders were tense as he glanced into the adjoining rooms, just to be sure.

No one there. Only shadows and cold.

A small noise reached his ears. He tuned his head. As his eyes caught a movement, he froze.

Surprised, your eyebrows rose.

"Ah, so it's true.", you mumbled, a bit amused. "Long time no see. Joel."

Struck by surprise, his lips moved but not a single word left his mouth. His eyes jumped through the room, he was obviously looking for an answer to your sudden appearance.

"What is true?", Joel managed to ask, stunned yet confused.

"You always meet twice in life. I guess it's true."