Flicker||TLOUII {Joel x Reader}

•14•

Under the bridge, Dina grimaces at the bodies strewn across the floor and Joel strides over to the horse, placing his hand on the bag that was strapped to it.

"It's Tommy's." He mutters, his voice low. "Infected did a number on this one." He opens it up with a shake of his head.

(Y/N) grips the fence, bending over as she starts to throw up. Dina looks on worried and Joel instantly is by her side, pulling her hair back and rubbing her back.

"Are you okay?" Dina asks.

"Mhmm, it's just the smell." (Y/N) mumbles.

The young girl raises an eyebrow, but doesn't push it. "Uh okay... he must've gone off on foot." She changes the subject back.

She watches the couple and (Y/N) straightens, wiping her mouth as Joel brushes her hair back, planting a kiss on her forehead. "You okay to keep going?" He whispers.

"Yeah." She promises, taking the lead forward.

—
At the TV station, a radio crackles through the silence whilst Joel opens up the door, sighing in annoyance at the dead body penetrated with multiple arrows. "That's her. Leah."

"Guess the universe really wanted her dead, huh." Dina mutters, kneeling down to check her pockets.

(Y/N) purses her lips as Dina confirms there's nothing on her and she pulls out a bag from under the bed, rummaging through it. Joel, meanwhile, had turned the dials on the radio until the voice comes through the broken features.

"Six, this is Two, do you copy? Six, acknowledge, over."

The Firefly pulls out Polaroid's and her breath catches in her throat, her hands shaking slightly, running a delicate finger over them. "It's all of them." She says.

Joel makes his way over to her, crouching down and stopping as she flicks through them. "That's near Jackson." He states and she moves on to the next one, standing up abruptly in horror.

"That's fucking her." She says, displaying it to the other two with sudden tears brimming the edges of her eyes. "That's the one who killed my babygirl."

Joel takes the other pictures and Dina gives (Y/N) a sympathetic smile. "Hey, three down, right?"

(Y/N) nods, wiping away the tears and regaining her harsh expression. "Three down." She repeats.

"Six, this is Two, do you copy? Support unit India en route to the TV station. Repeat, support unit India en route, over."

"Shit, we should get going." Joel orders, pocketing the photos and placing his hand on the small of his wife's back to take her out of the room.

**
After dealing with the unit and making the trek across various buildings, furthering then to deal with the infected underground, the trio were now running to escape the swarm that had bombarded them in the spores.

Joel and Dina push their way through the turnstiles and (Y/N) is right behind them, gasping as an infected wraps his arm around her neck and pulls her back.

She cries out, gripping the metal bars until her knuckles go white and Joel grabs her as Dina fires a shot.

The shot hits and (Y/N) falls forward, tripping over her feet and landing on her hands and knees. She rips off her gas mask, coughing and heaving for air as Dina pulls hers off, kneeling down next to her.

"Hey, what the fuck is going on?" She exclaims, looking to Joel, who looked equally concerned.

"Now is not the time or place." He reminds her, taking (Y/N)'s arm. "C'mon, baby, on your feet." He says, hauling her up with him and Dina pushes open the door to the way out, allowing them to stagger through.

"We can rest in the theatre." Dina suggests, rushing forward to open the doors for the pair and they all enter.

Joel sits her down on one of the sofa chairs, crouching down in front of her with his hand on her knee, the other at her cheek as he tilts her head slightly. "I told you this would be a bad idea."

"What's wrong?" Dina questions. "I know that Ellie's death was a lot for you, but if it's making you -"

"Dina, it's not that." (Y/N) breathes, leaning back.

"You've been acting weird this entire time!" Dina exclaims, frustrated when the other female chuckles. "It's not funny. Ellie was my girlfriend and you were important to her so you're important to me."

(Y/N) regards the young girl. "Honey, I'm - I'm kind of pregnant?"

Dina's mouth opens in shock and her hand moves in circles as if trying to motivate herself to speak, but nothing comes out. She starts pacing, clearly confused and then turns back. "How long? Does - did Ellie know?"

(Y/N) looks down, ashamed. "No. We'd found out a couple weeks before it happened. I didn't know when to tell you both."

"You didn't think to tell Ellie when you found out? I thought she was like a daughter to you?" Dina questions. "What so were you just going to replace her with this kid?"

"Hey, that's not fair." (Y/N) winces, her eyes full of guilt and Joel stands up.

"I think it's best if you go see that the place is secure, don't you?" He orders, his eyebrow raised to tell her it wasn't a question.

With a roll of her eyes, Dina stalks off and (Y/N) rubs her eyes, lying down on the sofa and he bends down, kissing her softly. "Get some rest."

"Check on her, please. For me." She yawns, her eyes closing in submission to sleep.