sunshine // joel miller

THREE

Chapter Three
Vaffanculo

It was late into the night when Tess and Fran found themselves sitting next to each other. It was clear that Joel and Tess didn't trust Ellie, and for their protection had chosen to sleep in shifts. Tess was taking the first watch. Fran herself wasn't tired, having napped back at Joel's place - that and the fact she couldn't exactly keep calm when someone had a gun constantly pointed in Ellie's direction.

Ellie and Joel were both out cold, Ellie further away from the group than Joel, tucked into herself as she let out little snores every once in a while. Fran stared at her as she slept with a small frown on her face as she went over the day's events.

Her day started out normal, from looking after Ellie to thinking she was saying goodbye to Ellie forever, to being dragged into leaving the QZ without really having a choice, and then watching a man she barely knew beat a soldier to death, the same soldier who was ready to shoot her. 

The noise of the gun moving in Tess' hand was enough to make Fran look over, staring down at the weapon in the older woman's hands. So much danger in the palm of her hand - she never understood how even before the outbreak pretty much anyone could own one under the pretence of protection.

Tess seemed to notice Fran's look, and sighed to herself, lowering the gun slightly, "Not a fan of guns, huh?"

"Not when they're pointed at a kid, no," Fran answered, "Or anyone for that matter."

"The kid is infected," Tess argues back quietly, slightly frustrating Fran. She'd explained Ellie's condition without giving too much away several times, but Tess still didn't believe her. "It's for my protection, as well as yours."

"You Americans and your guns," Fran rolled her eyes as she said it, and the statement made Tess raise her eyebrows.

"What?" Tess asked, "You don't like being protected?"

"Did you own a gun before the outbreak?" Fran asked her then, making Tess nod, "For protection?"

"Correct," Tess nodded her head once more.

"In case someone tried to hurt you, you know, shoot you with a gun?" Fran continued to question, as Tess opted to just stare at her, wondering where it was going, "Did it ever dawn on you that if none of you had guns, there would be no reason to protect yourselves by owning one."

"There are a lot of sick people out there," Tess argues, "You haven't been out here in a long time-"

"I'm not talking about now, I understand now. I'm talking about before the world went to shit." Fran cut her off, making the woman fall silent, "I never understood it."

"Repeat that sentence to me when you have a kid," Tess said, surprising both herself and Fran. Tess never talked about her life pre-outbreak, not to Joel, not to anyone, but Fran's softened eyes, and the silence around her, made her continue on, "You'd do anything to protect your kid. Anything."

Silence washed over the two then, Tess' words sitting heavy in the air as Fran reached for anything she could possibly say to make this woman feel heard.

"I was the youngest in my family," Fran said quietly, staring straight ahead, "Only by a minute, but my sister Giulia never let me forget it. She always said it was the best minute of her life."