Silver ||Joel Miller||

this was what she wanted, wasn't it?

LAURA

Laura was an idiot. It was the only explanation for everything that she'd done in the last handful of hours. She was a goddamned idiot that let her anger get the better of her, which was something she'd never let happen to her before.

And now she regretted every second of the slip, because everything was fucking terrible. Joel hadn't so much as looked at her since they left the apartment. Not one look over his shoulder to check she was still with them as they snuck through the QZ, avoiding guards and lights and anything in between.

Whenever she had gotten out of Boston with the Fireflies, she'd kind of enjoyed the game of hide and seek from FEDRA, but with Ellie on the line it seemed to have put a slight dampener on the fun of it. Well, that and the fact she was having to do it with the person who likely hated her the most. Or the two people that did... and she wasn't even including herself on that count.

Honestly, she couldn't blame Joel for hating her. It's what she wanted, and she'd always been amazing at manipulating people into feeling exactly what she wanted them to. There was no point apologising for four years ago—no point in making amends or telling him that she regretted every breath since she'd left. No, it was best if he continued hating her, because being vulnerable wouldn't change the fact that he would look for his brother and she would stay with Ellie.

No, it was best to keep him at a distance even though they'd been thrown together again. It was for the best that she had put on such a spectacular act, one so convincing that for a second even she believed it was Joel she hated and not herself.

How could Laura truly be angry at him for getting some sleep? All he did was rest before what would likely be an exhausting journey for himself and Tess. No, the only anger she felt was at herself. If he hadn't of been murmuring in his sleep, exactly like he used to, then maybe she wouldn't have snapped like she did. The murmuring meant he was having those dreams about the kid he lost... although dreaming was too nice of a word for it.

She was angry because he was still having those nightmares, and for the last four years, she hadn't been there for him. Laura hadn't been there to help him through it.

"The hole in the fence is just through here," Tess said. Laura nodded from the back of the line; which was where she'd wanted to be. From the back, she had eyes on everyone and could make sure that no one fell behind. It also meant she didn't have to worry about the possibility of being literally stabbed in the back.

"Once we're out, we have the infected to look out for, so we need to be extra careful." Tess looked over her shoulder as she spoke. Tess' eyes locked onto Laura, who did everything in her power to keep her anger pushed down. The fact that Tess treated her like a child and Joel treated her like she didn't exist didn't help anything.

"No shit," Laura replied. Until she got the chance to prove herself, she would resort to petty and blunt replies. It was the best course of action, short of just taking Ellie and leaving the other two behind.

"You know, if while we're out there you could just not, that would be..." Tess trailed off as she walked out from behind a brick building, only to find a guard relieving himself on the side of that same damned building.

There wasn't any time for Laura to draw her bow before the guard zipped himself up in a stupor and pointed his rifle at them. The only thing she was sure of was the guard telling them to get onto their knees. The buzz in her ears drowned out everything else, except for the terror of having to drop her bow in the mud.

She caught every few words—caught Tess and Joel trying to bargain with the guard. Saw the guard take out his testing device from the corner of her eye. That device would end their escape before it began if it reached Ellie, and it would do that before it reached Laura.