GLOWING (Joel Miller)

4 | The Plan

I kept pace with Ellie as we stepped out into the rainy street. Pulling my hood up over my head, I watched Joel and Tess, who were walking in front of us. For some reason I still didn't trust them to keep Ellie safe. They didn't know about her condition, so why would they care?

A FEDRA soldier walked past us as a a truck drove by, so we picked up the pace, jogging steadily until we reached an alleyway, which we slipped into.

After a few minutes we stopped in front of a small apartment building. Tess pushed open the front door, ushering Ellie and I inside. I ducked past her, not wanting to make eye contact. She seemed pretty on edge as it was.

Wet shoes squelched against the hardwood flooring as we made our way up the few flights of stairs, to the top floor. Tess took the lead once more, stopping in front of the last door on the left, which she pushed open, making her way inside.

Ellie followed behind, taking in the quaint apartment as I followed after her. Suddenly, Tess slipped past us and back into the hallway, turning around to close the door.

"Give us a minute, alright?" She said, pulling the door shut behind her. I  quickly reached out and grabbed the door, stopping it before it could fully close. Tess glared at me, but I shook my head, refusing to back down.

"I'm here to make sure she gets to the Capital Building, too," I insisted, applying some pressure to the door and widening the crack slightly. "I want to have a say in the plan."

Tess glanced behind her and I head an audible sigh from Joel. I rolled my eyes, keeping my pointed gaze on Tess, until she finally let go of the door.

I pushed it open, just enough to squeeze through, then turned to Ellie. She was watching me curiously, her bottom lip drawn back in between her teeth. "Just wait here," I instructed, closing the door.

"What the fuck!" I shook my head as I heard the girl yell from inside the room. She really had no manners.

"So, what's the plan?" Joel asked Tess, his body angled away from me as if to exclude me from the discussion. I rolled my eyes again and stepped to the side so I could see Tess's face as she responded.

"Hmm," she muttered, clearly deep in though. "There's not a lot of options." Joel hummed in agreement. "There's the short way and the long way."

Joel shook his head. "The short way is pretty much suicide."

Tess nodded. "That leaves the long way." She turned to face me and I straightened my posture, slightly intimidated despite standing an inch or so taller than her. "What have you got?"

I opened my mouth as Joel turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at me expectantly and I averted my gaze, choosing instead to look at Tess.

"We can cut through the park but that area is usually crawling with infected." Tess raised an eyebrow questioningly. "It's not patrolled regularly."

"Alright," Tess responded, seeming to warm up to the idea of my helping out. "What do you propose, then?"

I glanced over at Joel, to see he was still watching me intently. He clearly wasn't interested in hearing my thoughts, despite the fact that I was positively contributing to the the plan. I'll show you, you dick!

"If we cut across the highway it will be a clear path," I suggested, earning a nod from Tess. "But there will probably be FEDRA soldiers around."

"Better than infected," Tess reasoned, turning to face Joel."What do you say?"

Joel side-eyed me for a brief moment, his lips twitched slightly, like there was a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue, he was trying to suppress. He didn't say anything though, just turned to Tess and addressed her.