Joel Miller x Reader

Fifteen

With quick steps you made your way through the rooms. In your hand you held the revolver, unsecured, ready to shoot down everything that stood in your way.

Voices reached your ears.

Suddenly you stopped. The group split up. Three of them went on. Two stayed behind. Footsteps came closer.

Alarmed, you jumped to the side and hid behind a table. You waited with bated breath.

Slowly the door opened, a thin stiff light fell into the room. Dust swirled up.

"Shit, why should we go back again?", a man's voice sounded.

He seemed annoyed, as if he didn't want to be in this place at all, and at the same time he was making fun of it.

Another person entered the room.

You had your back turned to them while squatting on the floor, it was impossible to recognize faces like that. The shadows of the people stretched across the floor.

They were armed, but that had been obvious before they entered the room.

Another man snorted.

"You know the protocol, don't you?", he said, glancing into some drawers. "Better safe than sorry."

The other man gasped in annoyance.

"Abby exaggerates. She always wants everything double-checked and triple-checked, putting us in unnecessary danger."

A cold shiver ran down your spine at the mention of her name. So she was here. She was actually in this place, within reach.

"You whore.", it escaped you.

Immediately, the two men stopped. They quickly exchanged a glance.

"Did you hear that?", whispered one.

The other nodded. Silently, he indicated that they should split up and search the room.

Tensely you held your breath. Your finger twitched on the trigger.

You were not interested in killing innocent people.

However, you were willing to fight your way to Abby.

The two men moved away from each other. One walked in the direction away from you. The other came closer. Right towards you.

Your mind was working. With haste your eyes jumped around the room.

As if by reflex, your free hand reached for the knife you always kept in your chest pocket. But when your fingertips touched the handle, there was no knife. It was Joel's.

"Right...", you mumbled. "I gave it to him..."

When the footsteps sounded right near you, you were torn from your thoughts. Surprised, you blinked, pulled the knife out of your jacket and let the blade pop out.

Silently you slid to the side, away from him, into a blind spot full of shadows.

You could already see the tip of his shoe.

He was wearing a bulletproof vest. But his neck was unprotected.

And you could take care of the second one, too. You just had to be quick.

With his movement forward, you slid further back while he looked right into the dark corner where you wanted him to look. Quiet as a mouse you rose, holding Joel's knife tightly in your hand.

His neck twitched, but you were faster.

With a nimble movement you leapt forward, pressed a hand over his mouth and tugged him toward you, burying the blade so deep in his neck that it disappeared inside him completely.

Blood gushed out, wetting your fingers and dripping onto the floor.

A hoarse scream escaped his lips, but it was more like a choking gasp.

Aroused by the sound, the other man spun around.

You let the body fall, with a dull thud it fell to the dust and was left for dead. With a leap you sought protection behind the table, pulled out the revolver and fired a well-aimed shot.

The bullet hit the second man in the middle of his right eye. The lead dug through the eyeball, so deep into it that he immediately dropped dead.

Dust swirled as he fell and stopped moving. His finger was still on the trigger.

Breathing heavily, you held the revolver still raised.
A few seconds passed. He did not move.

Cautiously, you took a step toward him to get a better look.

No breath.

Relieved, you lowered the gun. Your hands trembled slightly. It was the first time since the incident that you had killed someone.

"Shit...", you rubbed your face with one hand.

Suddenly a gasp sounded.

Startled, you flinched.

The man who still had Joel's knife stuck in his throat was still alive. Blood poured out of him like from a spring. It was everywhere, spreading in a puddle on the floor and coloring the world red.

His lips moved, but he could not speak. With trembling eyes he looked at you.

You avoided meeting his eyes as you stood by him, pressed against his head and the trigger of the revolver.

The shot rang through the air.

Then everything was silent again.

When you reached out for Joel's knife, you shivered some more. Goosebumps had spread over your body.

"Shit...", over and over again you wiped the blood on the blade on your pants leg.

But the feeling of blood still stuck to your fingers.

You hastily put the blade back in your pocket and turned away to leave. But before you escaped the room, you returned to the men to close their eyes.

The feeling of cold skin under your hands was like a memory from the past. As if the dark days had returned to torment you again.

Then you took a deep breath and grabbed everything that could be of use, weapons, ammunition and more blades.

One last time you glanced over your shoulder.

Then you disappeared.

Hastily, you ran down the hallway.

Your mind was confused, it felt like you were not in your own body. You still clutched the revolver so tightly that your knuckles turned white.

Without thinking about it, you rushed into the next room, just outside the living room. At the exact same moment, another person jumped into the room. Startled, you raised your gun.

"Don't shoot!", Joel shouted and raised his arms in the air.

You stumbled. His face was speckled with blood.

"They got Tommy!", you gasped.

"They got Ellie!", he replied.