Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Twenty Three ○▪︎

It had happened faster than Olivia was capable of processing. One moment Joel had been stood on the elevator, boosting she and Ellie up onto the floor above and the next, he was falling with the elevator as it buckled completely under his weight.

She watched helplessly as he fell into the darkness below, she screamed out for him desperately. Pulling out her torch and shining it down towards the bottom where he had to have landed.

She hears his coughs and heavy breathing and only then is she able to spot him amongst the broken metal pieces within a deep pool of water. He floats steadily, craning his neck to look up to she and Ellie with concern of his own - its a look she almost scoffs at. He had been the one to fall a decent amount into the unknown and yet he was concerned for their well being as they stood safely on the floor he'd boosted them upon.

"Joel!" Ellie calls out in a panic, squinting her eyes to be able to see him more clearly, his torch light just about visible.

"I'm alright!" he calls back, still looking up at them as Olivia sighs in relief. "Are you two okay?!"

"No!" the two females call back incredulously, "you scared the shit outta us!"

Joel doesn't respond, instead he scans the dimly lit area around himself. It's hard to see but he does manage to spot a short hallway and an open doorway that leads to some submerged stairs. It gives him hope that there may be a way back up to the two.

"We're gonna make our way down to you," Olivia tells him but he quickly shakes his head, disagreeing.

"No. Stay up there. I'll make my way up to you."

"Please don't do anything stupid," Olivia's voice echoes off every wall, making her seem louder than she actually was.

Joel smiled at her request, swimming towards the hallway to look for a way out. "I'll try," he mumbles more to himself than her.

Olivia leant back with Ellie at her side, no longer able to see Joel below. She had a bad feeling, one that was eating her up inside as she walked hesitantly to sit on a table near the elevator shaft. Ellie walked to join her, humming to herself; she did that a lot when she was bored or nervous, it seemed to calm her from what Olivia could tell.

"I always loved that song," she comments as she listens to Ellie hum Losing My Religion by R.E.M. "My brother always hated it though." she reminisces, her smile dropping.

"You have a brother?" Ellie asks curiously.

Olivia turns her head, looking down at the teen with a small smile once more. She wanted to talk about Matty, to tell Ellie all about him and their time together, she was just afraid it would hurt too much. But when she looked down at the fourteen year old patiently waiting for an answer, she decided trying was at least worth a shot.

"Yeah," she nods, "his name was Matt but I called him Matty." she shares fondly.

"Oh, so he was who loved the woods too?"

Olivia's chest warms at the realisation that Ellie had paid attention to things she had said. She had cared about Olivia's life and past, she had showed interest when it had mattered the most to her. Even without obligation on her part to do so. It meant the world to Olivia - more than Ellie could ever understand.

"Yeah," the young woman confirms.

"Where is he?"

The question stung Olivia like a bee. Striking her heart and soul with a surge of pain and grief. She feels her chest tighten and her eyes sadden as she dips her head and mumbles the response she hated having to give. "He uh... he died about four years ago now. He was thirteen."