GLOWING (Joel Miller)

14 | The Basement

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I halted, listening closely to the quiet talking that was emanating from downstairs. I slowly inched my way towards the landing, making sure to avoid the creaky floorboard.

"We're gonna grab what we can," Joel said lowly, to Ellie—I presumed. "When Jenna comes down."

"So..." Ellie responded quietly. "What's going on with you two?" I cringed inwardly at the silence that followed Ellie's query. "I mean, you guys seemed pretty close before."

"It's nothing," Joel snapped, clearing his throat. "We were just talking."

"About what?"

"You."

I took that as my cue to make my presence known. Hell, Joel was very bad at redirecting awkward conversations. So, with a sigh, I headed down the stairs. They creaked loudly as I descended and I reached the bottom, to see Ellie and Joel looking at me expectantly.

"What?" I demanded, pulling my damp hair over my shoulder. "We ready to go?"

Joel shook his head. "We need to stock up on supplies first." He tilted his head towards the front door. "The basement is stocked to hell, though. Enough food to last a decade."

"Great." I dumped my backpack on the floor and made my way to the front door, pushing it open to let in the bright sunlight. "Let's go then." We made our way down to the basement and my jaw dropped in awe, when I took everything in.

"Holy shit..." Ellie whispered in awe as the lights flickered on, revealing the large wall, lined with countless firearms. I pivoted on the spot, my eyes immediately landing on a delicate-looking handgun, pinned up on the wall, just behind Joel's head. "This guy was a genius."

I hummed in agreement as I made my way towards the shiny gun. I stepped around Joel, who was watching me quizzically and reached up to remove the gun from its place. I stared at it, so in awe that I almost didn't hear Joel's quiet voice from behind me. "What are you doing?"

"Hmm?"I looked up, my eyes immediately tilting up when I noticed Joel standing right behind me. "Oh, nothing... Just looking."

Joel looked down at the weapon in my hand and chuckled slightly. "Nice find." I held it up, so he could better see the elegant body of the weapon. It was small and discrete, unlike the handgun I currently had in my backpack. "It suits you."

"Thanks." A small smile spread onto my face as I returned the gun to my side. "I think so too." When Joel didn't respond, I averted my gaze, choosing instead to scan the room again. When my eyes landed on Ellie—standing by the stairs—I failed to miss the mischievous grin on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," Ellie responded in a sing-song voice, turning to examine the wall of weapons behind her. "Dude..."

I looked up at Joel, who was watching Ellie closely. "No," he ordered as she reached up towards one of the shotguns.

Ellie's hand immediately retracted and she turned to face us with a look of defiance. "But there's a wall of them."

"No," Joel repeated. I bit my lip, trying to suppress a smile as Ellie stomped off towards the other end of the room. "Grab some cans from over there," he called out. "Nothing dented or swollen." I could hear Ellie grumbling to herself as she rifled through the cans of food. She had her back to us, so I let out the small chuckle I had been bolding in. "What?"

I glanced up at Joel, my laugh fading away at his stern look. "It's just kinda funny," I said quietly, my eyes darting from his creased brows to his twitching lips. "She doesn't take you seriously; you know that, right?"