hell hath no fury like a woman scorned or... iris, paige and lila navigate an apocalyptic world; burying their past behind them
[ the last of us tv series ]
fem!oc x fem!oc
joel miller x fem!oc
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" 20 years later "
Following his grueling day of work, Joel Miller only wanted to sleep away the rest of his days. The guilt of the end of days didn't effect him anymore, he felt nothing as he would throw the bodies of people who were unfortunate enough to have fallen victim of the infected. But he supposed it would be better to feel nothing at all than everything all at once.
He strolled along the busy streets of the Quarantine Zone, all the people keeping their heads held low, some even withering under the scrutinising gazes of the military. Echoing throughout the QZ was the public execution; where he would find his daughter with an unreadable expression on her face.
Paige allowed her gaze to look through the faces of the people who only wanted to find something more. She didn't dare commit them to memory, there would only be too much.
She listened as their names were read aloud, condemning them for their crimes as she felt a rough hand place itself on her shoulder. Glancing around, Joel watched her with a solemn look, his gaze unreadable as he tried to keep his daughters attention away from the executions. His hand trailed down to her forearm as he gently pulled her away.
"Do you have the stuff?" He gravelly voice in a whisper. Paige spotted the FEDRA guard looking over the pair from an alley way. She purses her lips and hums, they walk in step.
Her nimble fingers trail down to her breast pocket, where the button up shirt held the valuables to get closer to Tommy. "Let's just get this over with."
They reach the guard, the man standing with his back against the wall as he counted out his payment. Joel stands to count it again once it was handed over, making the mam irritated, "or I could just shoot you."
"Yeah, but then what would you do?" Joel asked, snark infiltrating his tone, he looked up, "you're short five."
Without a word, he hands a small piece of tinfoil over to Paige; she grimaced as their fingers met. Opening it up, there were dozens of rolled up cigarettes, they roll under her thumb lightly. Sharing a look with Joel, he stares for a second and nods, watching the man in front if them closely as Paige reaches into her pocket.
Opening the plastic baggy, she handed a small white pill over, keeping the rest in her hand in precaution, "oxy?" The FEDRA guard asked.
The two men discuss the drugs quietly, back and forth until the slowness of the deal began to get to Paige. She didn't like to loiter, and she hated the deals she would be apart of with her dad, but it was better than submitting to any other job that the military gave her.
"Look, we don't know where he gets them from, we just know that they're real." She snapped, scrunching the bag in her hand and narrowed her eyes at his uniform. She hated the nostalgia that came with it. "That should be enough."
The man rolls his eyes at her, ignoring her and speaking to Joel. It was nice to know sexism stood the test of time, "if it's real it's from Atlanta. FEDRA's got a factory down there in the QZ, supposedly only makes two things." He wiped the powder with his finger, "pills and bullets, bullets and pills."
"Well, the more you shoot people, the harder it is to sleep, I guess."
He laughed humourlessly, "you guess?"
"You want the pills or not?" Paige lowered her voice, anger flowed through her words like a winding river. His smile dropped and his lips pressed into a thin line, holding over his hand for the bag. "I need that back."
Joel watched the man's greedy hands rummage in the bag, forcing himself not to scoff, "how are we doin' with the vehicle?"
"All set. Just had to get one last guy at the depot to buy in." The guard replied.
"How much?"
He doesn't look up as he empties the plastic container into a pocket in his uniform, "four of them on that shift, plus me, six hundred total." Paige and Joel share a look, the womans good eye flickering slightly, he couldn't possibly pay that much. "Look, those trucks are shitheaped for a reason."
"And they don't have any batteries, I know." Joel interrupted him, nodding his head, "I can see about two hundred for the other guys, two hundred for you."
He thinks for a moment, before folding up the bag and handing it back to Paige, not even acknowledging her, "deal." As she shoved it back into her pocket, he grabbed their attention before Joel could pull her away, "hey, do yourselves a favour, stay off the streets for the next few nights. Fucking Fireflies have been blowing shit up all week. Two of our guys got shot this morning." He lowered his voice and got closer to their faces, "it's easy to make a mistake in the dark."
He makes the first move to leave, lugging the rifle from his shoulder and got back into position at his post. The duo watch him disappear around the corner, the symbol of the Fireflies staring right back at them.
° ✝ °
Lila peered through the small crack of the door that separated an agitated girl from the rest of the militia. Usually, she would've never been allowed so close to the front lines, only becoming valuable when she was needed to help others.
The thirty-four year old always had a knack for medicine, deemed the healing hands of her small Cuban family. Growing up in Indiana, she aimed to go to colleges far, far away, hating the place she grew up - claiming it was too boring; despite this though, she loved her family home, which made it all the more painful to be alone now.
The so-called Veronica pulled on the tatty chains around her wrist and Lila watched with a small smile on her lips. Ellie was the girls name, she thought she would give her the chance to tell her herself though. Lila had known the girls mother before she passed, Anna. She was kind, funny but stubborn to a fault, that's probably why Ellie didn't stop fighting.
She felt a hand on her shoulder but she needn't turn to see who. From the calloused grip, she knew it was Marlene seeking an update to the girls condition.
"How's she doin'?" The woman asked, her hand falling from Lila's shoulders and to her own waist as the medic turned on her heel.
"She's fine." Lila frowned, "not even a twitch." When she glanced upon her face, Marlene had a more hopeful look than she normally did, her features had fallen with every passing day as the Fireflies continued to fail despite all their best efforts. But something was different, something good. "What're we doing here, Marlene?"
The woman breathes through her nose, a smile making its way to her lips all the while staring at Ellie through the door, "saving the world."
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A/N y'all i cannot after episode six, i'm heartbroken. fun fact, i originally had paige's birthday on the 21st july and after seeing sarah's birthday, i was in fact only a day off
