sunshine // joel miller

TWO

Chapter Two
Are you scared?

The walk back to where they'd be staying up until escaping was a quiet one. No one said a word to each other as they navigated the streets, the rain gushing down onto them and ruining their clothes.

Fran stayed close to Ellie the whole time, feeling the most comfortable when she was by her side. She can't say she wasn't relieved when Ellie tucked herself in next to her, using Fran's body to shield herself from Fedra officers that passed. She was a missing girl after all, and if the three adults were found with her, they were sure to be hung for kidnapping a Fedra student.

When they did finally make it to the small apartment, Fran realised it wasn't far from her own. Only a street and a small walk away. It was a little more run-down than her own place, and didn't exactly feel lived in, but it was good shelter.

"Give us a minute, all right?" Tess was the first to speak as they finally reached the apartment, closing the door behind Ellie and Fran, instantly making the younger girl turn.

"What the fuck?!" Ellie yelled out, thinking once again she was being locked in a small room for god knows how long. Fran was the one to calm her, putting her hands on her shoulders and directing her away from the door.

"Leave it, Ellie," Fran said quietly, letting Ellie walk away from her to explore the small entryway to the apartment. Fran stayed close to the door, hands wrapped around her stomach as she listened to the conversation going on outside.

"So, what's the plan?" Joel's voice was the first to be heard as she leaned her back against the door, looking up at the ceiling.

"Hm. There's not a lot of options. There's the short way or the long way. The short way is pretty much..." Tess was speaking now, and the fact they were figuring out a route just reminded Fran of how real this whole situation was. She hadn't been outside the QZ since she arrived back in 2006. All she knew was it was still carnage out there, infected crawling all around the streets, people out for blood...

"That leaves the long way," Joel spoke again as Fran closed her eyes, hand on her chest as she tried to calm herself, "Things look bad, we'll come up with something."

Fran looked over to Ellie then, trying to remind herself why she was doing this, who she was doing this for. She knew if she was Ellie's age she'd want someone like her with her. Who knew what these smugglers were capable of?

"We'll have to drop, head to Bill and Frank's... Stock up on anything we may need." Joel continued on, unaware of the Italian girl listening in on the other side of the door.

Fran stepped away from the door then, knowing anything they said would make her more anxious. She wasn't great with stress at the best of times, let alone when she knew she was walking into certain death.

"You okay, Fran?" Ellie spoke up then, her voice echoing through Francesca's head as she blindly made her way through the apartment, looking for a bathroom to try and calm herself down in. She didn't like being seen like this.

"Sto bene," Fran mumbled to the girl, before walking through an open door and into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, leaving a confused Ellie on her own and walked up to the small sink.

She turned the tap on and cupped her hands together to collect some cold water, before rubbing it on her face. Cold sensations always helped to calm her down as the freezing temperature made her gasp and collect her breaths.