lost & found || Joel Miller

Smuggled.

ᖭི༏ᖫྀ

The concrete shakes abnormally, rumbling a little but it was most definitely not louder than the sound of thunder and rain dropping down with such force onto the ground.

Suddenly, the block of concrete begins to slide open, further and further and further until a hand emerges and pushes the block fully open.

Joel groans as he shimmies out of the tiny hole, pulling himself up with his arms until he's fully out, "Come on," He says, his voice drowning in the sound of thunder.

"Come on, Ellie," August says, her voice echoing through the underground tunnel as she pushes Ellie slightly forward.

Ellie grabs onto Joel's hand and he pulls her up with ease, once Ellie was fully out, August steps forward and Joel reaches his hand further down the hole.

August takes it and he begins to pull her up, until she was fully out the hole—

"Holy shit! I'm actually outside!" Ellie chuckles, standing up straight, the second a flood light begins to shine in their direction.

"Ellie!" August whisper shouts at her, her eyes widening.

Joel pulls her down, giving her a glare and she smiles sheepishly, "Sorry..."

The floodlight shed light upon their surroundings and August noticed all the junk they were surrounded with, including the one they were using as a shield—a school bus.

"We're goin' to take the left edge around the buffer zone," He begins to explain, looking between the two girls, "You just stay close and follow my lead," Then, he looks at Ellie, "Don't do idiot things,"

Ellie nods with her eyebrows raised, "I'll try my best,"

"Alright, let's go,"

Joel turns to the bus and begins to crawl under it, the two girls follow, with August being behind Ellie, guiding her so that she won't hit her head. Joel was waiting for them on the other side, helping them out so they wouldn't waste any time.

They follow him through the junk yard, past the cars, the buses, broken pieces of wood—

Joel gasps and pulls the two girls down to duck under a piece of wood as a car passes by, it's headlights flashing across the place they just stood.

August's breath was stuck in her throat as she held onto Ellie's hand tightly, waiting for the vehicle to pass.

And eventually, it does, Joel nods his head, silently telling them they could move again.

He leads them to a large metal tube and begins to crawl through it, walking a little slower as he looks over his shoulder to glance at them.

Ellie goes in first and August goes in after, holding onto the little girl's bag to make her presence known.

If Joel was nervous, then Ellie must've been terrified.

The sound that filled their ears was the sound of the rain pattering on the metal above them as they crawled through the makeshift tunnel.

Before Joel stops with a halt as the sound of a helicopter is heard, he holds up a hand making the two girls stop and watch as a bright light shines through the little holes in the tube.

It takes a few moments until the helicopter finally reaches a far enough distance for the three of them to keep moving forward.

And before they knew it, they were out of the makeshift tunnel and standing upright.

The three of them head toward a broken wall and lean on it as a strike of lightning bursts out from the clouds, lighting up the place a little.

After a second of rest and heavy pants, they begin to move again, with Joel leading them through a little broken alleyway while he reached his hand out to the two girls as a way of telling them to follow his lead and stay quiet.