Even When the World Comes Down (Sequel to Always & Forever)

Chapter 9 - Joel

A few days ago...

"Sarah...no...no," I gasped while my eyes flew open.

I sat up and groaned. Was there no way of getting rid of the same nightmare I had been having for the past 20 years? No. Of course there wasn't. Ever since Beth left, she had been appearing in my nightmares as well. There was always something bad happening to her which often had me waking up in a cold sweat most nights. I hoped she was still alive and that she was okay. I missed her all the time but I didn't see anything happening that would help. I had to accept the fact that I'd probably never see her again. Even if that may be, I hoped with everything I still had, that she was still alive and fighting like I knew she was capable of. Suddenly there was some knocking on the door and so I got up. The years of surviving could be felt all over my body. The knocking continued.

"I'm coming!" I shouted sounding annoyed.

When I opened the door, Tess walked in looking like she'd gone through hell.

"How was your morning?" she asked sarcastically as I closed the door.

She went ahead and poured herself some whiskey.

"You want one?" she asked.

"No. I don't...want one," I said going over to lean against the counter.

"Well. I've got some very interesting news for you," she said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Where were you, Tess?" I asked sternly.

"West End District," she said after a pause.

I sighed and looked away.

"Hey, we had a drop to make," she retorted.

"Yeah. We. We had a drop to make," I said grabbing a hand towel.

"Yeah. Well, you wanted to be left alone remember?" she retorted.

I handed her the towel and watched as she placed it against the bottom of her right eye.

"So...I'll take one guess. The deal went south and the client made off with our pills. Does that sound about right?" I asked crossing my arms.

Tess chuckled.

"The deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple months. Easy," she said pulling out the cards and placing them on the table.

"You wanna explain this then?" I asked gesturing at my eye.

"I was on my way back and got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" she said patting her cheek with the towel again.

"Yeah. Sure, they got a few good hits in. But...look I managed," she said.

I sighed. For as long as I've known her, Tess had always been headstrong. When I met her about two years after Beth left, she was always so stubborn.

"Gimme that," I said taking the towel from her and cleaning her up.

"These assholes still with us?" I asked.

"Now that's funny," she said looking over at me.

"You at least find out where they are?" I asked.

"Yeah. They were a couple of nobodies – they don't matter. What matters is that Robert fucking sent them," she said.

"Our Robert?" I asked sounding shocked but not entirely surprised.

"He knows that we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first," she said.

"That son of a bitch, he's smart," I said throwing the hand towel out of frustration.

"No. He's not smart enough. I know where he's hiding," she said.

"Like hell you do," I retorted.

"Old warehouse in Area 5. Can't say for how long though," she said.

"Well I'm ready now, yeah?" I said going over to the door.

"Oh I can do now," she said.

The both of us left our apartment with the intention of paying Robert a long visit.

"The checkpoints are still open," Tess said.

"We better hurry then. Only a few more hours until curfew," I said.

The soldiers were out and about doing their duty to keep us safe. All of it was total bullshit. A lot of these guys were corrupt assholes that got a kick out of telling people what to do. Ever since the Fireflies came to bat, seems like the soldiers would do anything to kill them. You even utter the word 'Firefly' and they took you away for questioning. Chances were you never come back.

Tess and I reached the checkpoint.

"I got us all new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there," she whispered.

"Just let me do all the talking," I said taking the papers she'd pulled out.

"Let me see your IDs," the soldier I approached said.

"There you go," I said handing him both our IDs.

"What's your business here?" he asked.

"Got the day off. Visiting a friend," I said.

"Alright. Move on through," he said.

"Thanks," I said taking back our papers.

Before we were even through the gate, there was a truck that blew up not far from us.

"Oh shit! Get out of here! Go!" the soldier ordered as the gates closed.

"Fireflies! Corner them!" another solider shouted.

Gunfire then ensued as Tess and I turned back around.

"Let's get out of here. Come on!" Tess said.

The both of us ran toward the building that held an underground tunnel we often used when we wanted to smuggle anything out of the city. We talked with a few others when we got there and found out that Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, was also looking for Robert. We had to find that son of a bitch before the Fireflies did. Knowing him, he'd be quick to accept any sort of deal they offered him. We had a run coming up soon and we needed to find out where our guns went.

Once we grabbed our gear and were outside the walls, we had to be sure not to be seen by the soldiers. They'd surely kill us for sneaking out

"You think Robert knows we're coming?" Tess asked after we'd been walking in silence for a few minutes.

"I sure do hope so. If that asshole knows what's good for him, he'll be fucking terrified to know we're coming," I retorted.

"Agreed," she said.

"What do you make of the fireflies wanting to find him too?" she asked.

"I don't like it. We need to find him before they do," I said.

"You think he'll really be stupid enough to make some deal with them?" she asked.

"I think that we shouldn't give him the chance to," I retorted.

"Which is exactly why we need to find that asshole. We're low on ammo so make every shot count," she said.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

We had made our way to a beaten down building and quietly made our way inside.

"Hold up," I said.

We stood very still and listened.

"Runners" she whispered.

"We take them out quietly," I said softly.

Before we went any further, we slipped on our gas masks. Spores were in the air and breathing them in would surely have you turning within hours. It wasn't hard to see that there were only two runners. Tess sneaked up behind one while I took the other. One shiv to the neck and the both were down.

"It's clear," she said.

"Alright, then. Let's head out now," I said.

We did a quick sweep before we made our way out again.