Right where you left me {a Joel Miller fanfiction}

Chapter 3 - The Night We Met

"When the night was full of terrors, and your eyes were filled with tears. When you had not touched me yet. Oh, take me back to the night we met." - The Night We Met, Lord Huron

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March 2017, Boston QZ

Today was finally the day that I left Boston. I had been planning for months, it all had to go perfectly today.

I had been a part of the Fireflies since I could remember, although it wasn't my choice. It was just the only option I had. Now I wanted to escape it. Not just escape the Fireflies but the QZ all together. Life here had become exhausting.

The outbreak had started when I was eleven, it only took a few months after that for my parents to get infected on our way to the nearest quarantine zone in Nevada. Once they were gone I had been a part of nearly every group, in every QZ across the country just to try and stay safe but I had never felt like I'd belonged anywhere.

I joined the fireflies in Chicago when I was nineteen after some bullshit propaganda about restoring America to some sense of order. Realistically I knew that would never happen but at least the group gave me some stability. After a few years in Chicago, a group were leaving for the Boston QZ for some reinforcements to fight back against FEDRA, so for a change of scenery I decided to go with them. 

I had been watching a group of smugglers for months, every minute I could. I had memorised the days of each month they would leave the QZ to collect their supplies from someone beyond the walls. They'd bring the supplies back to one of their apartments in small increments to try and avoid unwanted attention from FEDRA soldiers.

They had everything I needed, decent food, ammunition and even alcohol that they'd sometimes manage to find. The alcohol wasn't vital but living in this shit hole for so long had made it seem vital to me.

I had waited until I was sure that they were all out picking up supplies before I made my way from across the street and into the apartment block. I had around an hour if I was lucky to search the apartment for what I needed to try to rearrange it in hopes they wouldn't notice someone had been looking through their stuff.

People's eyes were on me from the minute I walked in. I tried to keep my composure, continuing to walk calmly to the apartment attempting to keep a low profile. The apartment was three flights up, right at the very end of the corridor. The place was dimly lit, withered green wallpaper peeling off the walls, the smell of alcohol and rotting almost made me spew in my own mouth.

My hand reached up to my hair taking a hair pin out of it, I shoved the pin into the door's keyhole and fussed around with the handle, shoving my shoulder into the door before it eventually fell open. I smirked to myself, step one was complete.

Although that was far from the hard bit.

Every apartment in the QZ looked the same. Old lady wallpaper that was yellowing with age, beat up furniture and no items of any real emotional attachment. Life was really exciting.

I placed my bag onto the couch, rifle still shoved down the back of my jeans and my knife securely in the leather holster around my thigh for quick access.

I spotted the radio on the table beside the window and had to fight the urge to turn it on, reminding myself that I had to keep my guard up.

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I was in the bedroom now still searching through boxes of various items, my bag was nearly full but I thought one last rummage couldn't hurt while I still had the time.