GLOWING (Joel Miller)

2 | The Smugglers

"Stay with me," I ordered as I backed away from the door. A fight was inevitable so I knew I had to get Ellie as far away as possible. I jogged over to a door at the opposite end of the room and threw myself against it. "Quick. In here."

Ellie slipped past me and I shut the door behind us. I scanned the space. It was a small room—or a large closet. A perfect hiding spot for now. A large dresser was pressed against the adjacent wall and I ran over to it, pushing it in front of the door as a makeshift barricade.

"Are we just going to sit here?"

I turned to Ellie who looked very unimpressed. "Marlene told us to stay out of the way." I sat down on the only chair in the room, gesturing for Ellie to make herself comfortable. "This might take a while."

Ellie sat down on the grimy floor with a huff. She looked up at me. "Marlene said we're leaving Boston." She looked scared. "Where are we going?"

I pressed my lips together, unsure whether to tell her or not. If Marlene hadn't already told her, she probably wasn't supposed to know. But then, she had the right to know, didn't she?

"Marlene said Colorado," I responded slowly. "Apparently there are Fireflies in Boulder that are working on a cure at some university." Ellie gaze flickered down to her arm. "They need you."

Ellie nodded. She understood the weight of the situation. She may have only been young, but she got it. "Are you going?"

I nodded. "I think so." Ellie nodded in acknowledgement as a loud crash sounded through the  thin walls. "At least as far as the Capital Building."

"Okay." Gunshots started to ricochet, accompanied by pained and angered shouts. The fight had clearly broken out. "We'll be safe in here, right?"

I nodded. "Our guys won't. let them get in." Ellie didn't look convinced. "And if—by some impossible chance‚they do, I won't let them hurt you." I pushed myself from the chair and sank to the floor in front of the scared girl. "I promise."

We waited in tense silence as the muffled sounds came from the next room. I could see Ellie flinch slightly at every noise. Clearly my assurance did not make her feel much better.  It was almost ten minutes before the building fell silent. I glanced at the door, not sure who I expected to push their way in; Marlene or Robert.

"Is it over?"

I shrugged my shoulders, pressing a finger to my lips to silence the girl as I slowly crept towards the door, pushing the dresser away as quietly as I possibly could. I opened the door ever so slightly and peeked into the room we had just been in. It was still empty.

"Get behind me," I whispered to Ellie and she ran to stand by me. "Not a sound."

We made our way to the next door, Ellie, behind me as I pressed my ear to the peeling wood. I strained my ears for any sound but heard nothing. It was silent. I opened the door a crack and looked down the corridor.

"Holy shit..."

The hallway was littered with bodies all the way to the end; a mixture of Robert's men and Fireflies. There were so many that it was impossible to tell which side had more casualties. I could only pray it was Robert's.

"Jenna."

I flung the door all the way open and pointed my gun down the other end of the hallway. My finger was about to press down on the trigger, but the familiar face of Marlene brought me back to my senses. She held her hands above her head in surrender.

"Marlene." I sighed in relief. "Did we win?"

Marlene shook her head, wiping her hand across her forehead and smearing a wet trail of blood across her skin. "I don't think this is a victory." She gestured past me to the dead bodies. "We lost all our guys."

"Shit." I leaned backwards and poked my head back around the door."Come on, Ellie. It's over."

Ellie walked out into the hallway, her eyes widening as she saw the disaster before her. "What the fuck happened?"

Marlene rushed forward, but her hand on her side and her obvious limp told me something was seriously wrong. I reached forward, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder as the other woman—Kim—followed behind.

"She got caught in the crossfire," Kim explained gravely as I took in Marlene's condition. "There's no way she can get to the Capital Building on foot."

"Shit." I glanced down at Marlene, whose pained face was smothered by defeat. "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Marlene muttered through gritted teeth. "I don't fuckin' know."

Kim leaned forward, placing her hand on her leader's arm. "Let me take her."

I nodded in agreement. "Me too. I'll go as well."

"No," Marlene said, straightening her stance. "It's too dangerous for such a small group." She glanced up at me. "You are very capable Jenna, but I can't risk losing more Fireflies out there."

I sighed, understanding where she was coming from, but I didn't entirely agree. "We need to get her there somehow, Marlene."

"I know."

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from another room. I instinctively grabbed Ellie's arm as Marlene waved us back into the room we had been hiding in. I closed the door and pressed my back to it, watching as Ellie's eyes widened in fear.

"Just be quiet," I whispered, my hand at my hip in case I needed to grab my gun at a moment's notice.

I listened intently as I heard multiple sets of footsteps making their way up the hallway. When they ceased, they were replaced by low voices; so low that I couldn't make out the words being said.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, followed by Marlene's voice. "You can come out now," she said. "It's okay."

Despite the aye-okay, I was still hesitant, so I opened the door a crack, with my pistol secure in my hands. I peeked around the corner, looking for Marlene when suddenly, the gun was ripped from my grasp. The force of the movement caused me to stumble forward, landing with a loud thud on my knees.

I grunted in pain as I pulled myself to my feet, glancing up to see who had taken my weapon. With a menacing glare, I locked eyes with a man I had never seen before. He had my gun in his hands and was watching me carefully as I brushed myself off.

"What the fuck was that f-"

I hadn't even finished my question when a shrill yell sounded from behind me. I turned around as a streak of brown hair flashed past me. It was Ellie, lunging right at the man with a small knife in her hand.

Without a word, then man grabbed Ellie's arm, ripping the knife from her grasp, before pushing her to the floor. The blade clattered against the wood and he placed his boot over it, pointing my gun at the girl's head.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wrote three chapters yesterday so I wanted to post this one sooner. I'm also a bit behind as I've written six chapters for Episode 1 and we're almost at Episode 4.

I just caught up on the second episode. I haven't seen the third one, but I'm going to watch it tonight, so no spoilers!

Today's question is: what is your favourite part from the second episode? Mine was when Joel refused to give Ellie a gun and she said she would just have to throw a sandwich at the infected. I love Ellie's humour in the game and I think it translated so well into the show. Bella and Pedro are so perfect in their roles!