THE UNEXPECTED

16

A blaring alarm ceases our movement and subconsciously, I couldn't help but think of Joel. Was he okay? Him and Tommy had gone off not too long ago to check out the turbines as well as having a chat, I'd insisted on staying with Ellie as well as getting something to eat.

My heart lurches in my throat as soon as Maria says that we're under attack, the food that I'd just eaten was threatening to come back up but I quickly swallowed and pulled out my gun. I at least had to be prepared. I hear her then speak to Tommy on the radio but it's no use, we were trapped in this small storage room which left only ourselves to fight incase someone tried to attack.

It seemed that luck wasn't on our side, as voices sounded in the room adjacent to us.

Shit.

"They're here! Girls, hide!" Maria hisses but my instincts had already kicked in, I was in survival mode and my only thought was to protect Ellie and find Joel. We were practically sitting ducks.

Suddenly, a door swings open and we all basically shit ourselves to say the least.

"Ellie, get the fuck down!" I cry out, pushing her behind me before raising my gun in front of my chest. Maria gets into a similar stance as we hold down the room, nodding at one another. I do before I think, and a shot blasts from my gun making me flinch but luckily the man goes down with a thump. He didn't stand a chance.

"You guys okay?" Maria looks at me gratefully before attending to Ellie. We both nod in response but quickly freeze at the sound of gunshots in the distance, not far from us, "make every shot count." The blonde says as we depart the room.

It seemed as though shortly after we left the building, the gunshots ceased,

"Tommy!?" Maria calls frantically, hoping her husband is okay.

"Maria!" We hear back, causing us to breathe out a sigh of relief. They were okay.

"I'm alright, we all are." Soon, we all regroup out into the open and my eyes give Joel a once over. No scratches, bullet holes or wounds from my first look which leads me to believe he's all okay. I didn't expect anything less, Joel can handle himself just fine but it doesn't mean I don't worry.

We hold an intense gaze as we step forward, making our way towards one another. I feel his hands wrap around my arms as he too, checks for any wounds on my body.

"You okay?" He asks softly, rubbing his palms up and down my arms gently. I love seeing this side of Joel, he practically makes me melt under his touch. I feel my heart rate quicken as his eyes bore into mine and I'm basically entranced at this point.

"...I'm good, cowboy." I grin, trying to make light of the situation, but Joel only frowns.

"-I, Jesus..." He lets out a breath, squeezing my arms once more before ultimately letting go. Ellie then catches his attention.

"Oh man! They were coming from every direction -"

"Okay -" Joel attempts to calm her down but it's no use.

"Then the door blasts open and Maria and Emily looked so badass with their guns pointed at them -"

Joel tries one more to interrupt her but once again, no use.

"And bang! Emily shot him dead, so fucking cool! -" I couldn't help but grin, it was nice to see her acting so child like even though the situation was far from it. Ellie was always unfazed.

"Are you hurt?" Joel finally manages to interrupt her and Ellie shakes her head furiously.

"No -"

We all pause at the commotion happening near by, both Maria and Tommy are arguing with one another and Maria looks pretty distressed as she waves her arms around, I hear bits and pieces of it but overall I'm very confused. It only dawned on me now that I actually don't know much about about why Ellie is even with Joel in the first place.

"What's all that about?" I ask, but Joel doesn't reply, he shakes his head and turns his gaze away suddenly acting all standoffish.

"Does this have anything to do with me?" Ellie eventually asks and I frown, why would it? Perhaps this ordeal was bigger than I thought. Marlene really did tell me jack shit, only that I had to get this girl out of the QZ and into the Capitol building, nothing more and nothing less.

"We'll talk about it later." Joel mumbles, still not facing either one of us. What was his problem?

"Did he tell you where the lab is?" Ellie continues to ask, ignoring Joel's request. I grow increasingly more and more confused as Ellie speaks, and I soon realise that I've been left out of the loop and I can't help but feel disappointed. I thought Joel trusted me better.

"We'll talk about it later." He says firmly, casting me a look quickly before reverting his gaze again.

"Later..." Ellie huffs out before storming off, I don't even have a chance to call after her as she's quickly out of view. What the fuck is going on?

"Joel, what the hell is going on? What am I missing here?" I stand my ground, looking at him and I notice his eyes soften momentarily before he stiffens,

"We aren't doing this right now, Em..."

"Yeah, later right?" I roll my eyes, feeling slightly betrayed that I've been kept out of whatever secret this is. I hate this feeling.

"You!" My gaze moves from Joel to Maria as she storms over angrily, she points a finger at him, getting all up in his face, "if anything at all happens to him, it's on you!"

I watch she glares at Joel before passing by, and although I don't know the entire story, parts of it begin to click into place. From what I can gather, wherever Ellie and Joel were planning on to heading next - some labs of sorts - Joel wasn't going with. He was passing her off to Tommy.

God, my head was thumping with all of this information, or lack of it. Part of me was fuming that Joel would easily drop Ellie like that, it was clear that she was important, whatever reason for.

"So, were you ever gonna tell me that you were kickin' the bucket and leaving? Where were you gonna go, fuck off back to Boston? I know that none of us planned to run into one another but, fuck, some part of me hoped you'd stay...stay f-for me." There, I said it. Our relationship was changing day by day but this was the first inkling either of us had made to indicate something further than just friendship. "I...I thought maybe - fuck doesn't matter what I thought, you've already made up your mind."

I was met with silence as Joel just stared at me intently, fuck this. I then had an idea, and I wasn't sure that Joel was gonna like it.