¹epiphany ─ j. miller

We're Smuggling Her?

CHAPTER THREE
SUMMER
WE'RE SMUGGLING HER?

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Joel and Tess walked alongside a hurt Marlene, entering a small room beneath the bridge in the city. The past few hours had been a wreck, but they were more concerned for Marlene than themselves at that point.

"Go on. Get inside." The woman rasped, clutching at her side in pain.

"Where are we going, Marlene?" Tess asked.

Marlene took a moment to respond, still gasping on air. "This way. It's not far now." She was strong, but there was still a bullet in her hip.

"How are you holding up?" The other woman asked, brushing the hair stuck in her face back into her bandana.

"I'm running on fumes, but I'll make it." Marlene answered. "The place is right up ahead."

"Attention. Curfew is now in full effect. Anyone caught outside without the proper authorization will be arrested and prosecuted." The announcement loudspeaker spoke, crackling in between words.

The three of them immediately became more panicked. "Shit. We need to hurry." Tess exclaimed, walking alongside Marlene faster and faster.

"What the hell are we smuggling?" Joel asked, voice muffled under his thick brown beard.

"I'll show you." Marlene spoke, almost in a whimper. "Joel, give me a hand with this." He nodded and helped her into a back room of a warehouse.

Joel picked Marlene up as she stumbled, her vision spotting ever so slightly. "Woah, woah, woah... Come on now, get up."

"Get the fuck away from her!" A young girl's voice called out, immediately followed by a knife waved near Joel's face. Tess stopped her before she could stab him, though.

"Let her go." Marlene rasped, coughing.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't ya?" Joel asked, watching as the girl, who couldn't be older than fifteen, scanned Marlene.

"She's not one of mine."

The girl glanced at her friend's hip wound. "Shit. What happened?" She asked, concerned.

"Don't worry. This is fixable." Marlene responded, leaning her head back and forth. "I got us some help, but I can't come with you."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well then I'm staying."

"No you're not, Ellie." A woman stepped out from the shadows of the warehouse, something in her eyes was familiar to Joel. "These people can help us."

"Why can't I just go with you?"

"Because I'm not going anywhere alone. If I get bit, you're gonna be all out alone in that world." She answered. Joel swore that the more she talked the more he recognized her, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "Ellie. We won't get another shot at this."

One out of two things clicked in Joel's head at that moment. "We're smuggling her?"

"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building." Marlene answered, breathing out of her mouth. "She knows the way."

Marlene pointed to the woman. "That's not exactly close." Tess replied, leaning against the wall of the warehouse.

"You're capable." She snarkily responded. "You hand them off, come back, the weapons are yours. Double what Robert sold me."

Tess glanced at Joel. "Speaking of which..." She started, looking back at Marlene and the girl. "Where are they?"

"Back in our camp."

"We're not smuggling shit until I see them."

Marlene sighed. "You'll follow me. You can verify the weapons. I can get patched up by her." She spoke, pointing to the older woman beside her. "But she's not crossing to that part of town. I want Joel and El' to watch over her."

"Woah, woah. I don't think that's the best idea." Joel spoke, still not recognizing the woman beside the child.

"No. She's not going alone with him and me. What if he gets bit? He could be a total creep for all we know!" The woman exclaimed.

"Hey!"

"Yeah. She's right." The girl butted in. "I'm not going with him."

"Ellie...." Marlene sighed, still clutching onto her hip. "I was close with his brother, Tommy. Said if I was ever in a jam I could rely on him."

"Wait a fucking second." The woman spoke, a confused look on her face. "Tommy? What the hell is your last name." Silence. "Tell me right now." She yelled, looking Joel in the eyes.

"Miller."

"Holy fucking shit." She exclaimed, sitting down next to Marlene and burying her forehead into her hands. "No fucking way."

"How the hell do you know them?" Ellie asked, looking at her friend.

She sighed, rubbing her face before standing up again. "Elva Stone."

With those two words Joel realized that the woman standing in front of him was his old friend. The woman who had helped him after his daughter passed away. The woman who had cared for him even with his psychopathic tendencies. The woman who had got taken by FEDRA, and never heard of again.

Silence riddled the room, until Joel spoke up. "Where have you been?"

"Here." She said nonchalantly. "Five years of slavery and shit from FEDRA, the Fireflies picked me up."

"Why the hell didn't you come to Tommy? Or me?"

Elva stayed silent, looking back at Marlene and to Tess. "Look. If we just take Ellie to the north tunnel, we can wait for the other chick there."

"I have a name."

"Frankly, I don't give a shit." She responded.

Joel rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ."

"She's just cargo, if you think about it." Elva stated. "All you need to do is take us there, drop her off, boom. Done. No more no less."

"Elva. Marlene!" Ellie yelled, desperate not to go with Joel.

"No more talking." Marlene spoke. "You'll be fine. Now go with him." Ellie nodded, walking over alongside Elva towards the door.

"Don't take long." Joel demanded, pointing at Tess. "And you two..." He stopped, looking into Elva's eyes with little emotion. "Stay close. Let's go."

If anything Joel had remembered about Elva Stone was important, it was the tells she gave when she lied.

So where was she really in the last twenty years?

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