010. love above all

Bill's town is ghostlike, not a sound can be heard nor can anybody be seen. She supposes it isn't too surprising, considering Bill and Frank are the only two people who actually live here. The only sounds that fill the air are the gentle creeks of the houses and the whistling of the wind.

Joel leads the girls to the fence, one that looks as if it may be electrified in some capacity. Aurora has to hand it to Bill — imagine being able to rig up something like this in a literal apocalypse. The QZ isn't even really on this level, in fact most of Aurora's memories of that place involve how disgusting it was.

On the gate there is a keypad and Aurora hopes that her Uncle knows the code, otherwise they'll be stuck here until either Bill or Frank decide to actually come outside. Joel, does however, seem to have it because he punches the numbers in and the gate opens up for them.

It's so odd to her, how well kept parts of this place seem in comparison to the rest of the wider world. Most buildings these days are ruins, or on their way there anyway, crumbled pieces strewn all over the floor as if they were never meant to be a part of the same structure in the first place. It's not perfect, there are some homes that have vines scaling the sides, but it's about as close as you'll get these days.

Joel is heading straight for one building in particular, a large white building that has the American Flag on display for all to see. It's beautiful, something that Aurora had grown up dreaming about living in. It's how she always imagined her Uncle Joel's house when she was little, the place she spent her time growing up before the apocalypse.

Aurora's eyes survey the home and then the garden, before they stop on something that has her a little stumped. The vague memories, the ones that she has held onto so tightly, depicted Frank as somebody who took great pride in his garden and the upkeep of it — and yet there sits a pot of dying flowers. Half of them are slumped over in dehydration, the yellow fading from the petals. Joel seems to notice too, the man stopping in his tracks.

He doesn't question it though, aloud anyway, because it may present an answer he doesn't want. So instead, the man walks up to the home and opens up the front door slowly, Aurora following with her hand tightly grasping her handgun.

It's eerily quiet inside even though the lights on in the dining room, plates and empty wine glasses strewn across the table. Aurora swallows lightly, knowing this is likely not going to end in the way they had hoped.

"What the fuck?" Ellie breathes behind Aurora.

"Bill?" Joel calls out, hoping that the brazen man will walk around the corner with his smiley significant other following behind him. "Frank?"

Aurora's fingers gently run over a candle that has clearly been used, left to burn and died out hours later. The wax has clumped together along the rather shiny surface of the table, sticking to the wood.

"You stay here. You hear anything, see anything — yell," Joel says to Ellie before looking to his niece and nodding at her, passing the instructions on to her as well.

"What if they're gone?" Ellie asks as he starts to walk away.

It's a perfectly valid question as well. Joel turns his head to look at her for a few moments, before leaving. Aurora allows her eyes to wander once again, spotting something in the corner of the room that has her moving before she even knows what she's doing. A slightly crinkled piece of paper, with bright colours scribbled across the surface, is on display within a fancy looking frame. The smallest of smiles pulls at her lips as she touches the glass, recognizing the messy writing that she had as a child.

"Did you find something?" Ellie asks Aurora, coming to stand beside her and raising her eyebrows in question when she sees what the older woman is looking at. "A drawing?"

Aurora looks at Ellie for a few moments before returning her gaze to the frame. "Yeah. I drew this,"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can't believe they kept it. It was probably more Frank's doing than Bill's but this is well over a decade old,"

"Sometimes I forget how old you are,"

Aurora rolls her eyes at the teasing remark, putting the frame back down. "Come on, we better go and see if we can find anything else,"

"You're not going to take it with you?"

"I'd rather it stays here, even if they're gone,"

Ellie doesn't question her as they move into a different room. With every passing minute, Aurora believes it's less and less likely they're actually here — old food on plates as insects buzz around the top of it. She hopes they'd simply left, not the alternative.

"Rory? I think I found something,"

Aurora turns to see the teenager holding a letter and a key. Written on the envelope is simply the words 'To whomever, but probably Joel'. Ellie wastes no time sitting down and opening it up. Within a matter of mere seconds, her uncle is calling out for the two of them, entering the room with a rather solemn look on his face.

"It's from Bill. To whomever but probably Joel. I figured I fell under 'whomever'. Came with this,"

Ellie holds out the key to Joel who takes it from her and moves it about in his hand. Aurora, who had previously been sitting beside Ellie, moves to stand beside Joel almost as some sort of comfort. "So they're dead?"

Ellie nods her head to his question. "You, you wanna?"

She's gesturing to the letter, asking him if he wants to be the one to read it out loud.

"Go ahead. You do it,"

"August 29, 2023.

"If you find this... please do not come into the bedroom. We left a window open so the house wouldn't smell, but it will probably be a sight.

I'm guessing you found this, Joel, because anyone else would've been electrocuted or blown up by one of my traps. Hehehehehehehehe,"

The look that Ellie gives Joel after the last line is almost comical, as if she can't believe a grown man had written this. Aurora smiles slightly.

"Take anything you need. The bunker code is the same as the gate code but in reverse.Anyway I never liked you, but still, it's like we're friends — almost. And I respect you,"

Aurora hasn't seen these men in years, but boy is this a punch to the gut.

"So, I'm gonna tell you something because you're probably the only person who will understand. I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died but I was wrong because there was one person worth saving,"

Aurora can feel the tears building up in her eyes, heart beating rather erratically because she knows that they're truly gone. A world like this, one that is so tainted by death and destruction, had finally found a relatively happy ending. The two men together in the end, dying with the one person they loved more than anything.

"That's what I did, I saved him. Then I protected him. That's why men like you and me are here, we have a job to do. And God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. I leave you all of my weapons and equipment, use them to keep..."

Ellie trails off at the end, and it seems to effect Joel who looks away from her. Tess, use them to keep Tess safe.

"Stay here," Joel mumbles, taking the letter and walking away.

Ellie and Aurora are left in a somewhat solemn silence, neither of them really knowing what to actually say to the other. It's a lot to process, and she can only imagine what Joel is feeling. That's three people in a matter of days that he's lost now, the wounds of Tess dying still far too fresh for something like this.

"Is he going to be okay?" Ellie quietly asks the man's niece.

"I'm not sure," Aurora replies just as lowly, a frown etched into her features. She doesn't have an answer for her, she really doesn't.

Joel returns moments later. "Show me your arm,"

Ellie gets to her feet and pulls her sleeve up to show him the bite wound. Joel, for what seems like the first time, actually looks convinced by what he's being show.

"I just got finished making a truck battery, it's charging now. I have a brother out in Wyoming. He's in some kind of trouble and I'm heading out there to find him. He used to be a Firefly and my guess is he knows where some of them are. Maybe they can get you to this lab," Joel explains.

Aurora feels herself brighten up slightly at the man's words, she hasn't seen her Uncle Tommy is so long — longer than Joel. The idea of getting to see him and find a miracle cure seems a little far fetched, but after the past few days, she is ready to start believing in something.

"If I'm taking you with me, there's some rules you gotta follow. Rule one, you don't bring up Tess. Ever,"

Aurora pushes herself up out of her chair, getting a little closer to the conversation.

"Matter of fact, we can just keep our histories to ourselves. Rule two, you don't tell anyone about your condition. They see that bite mark, they won't think it through, they'll just shoot you,"

That's one hundred percent the truth. Throughout her years outside of the QZ she's seen it plenty of times, a mere scratch and a bullet would go right between the eyes.

"Rule three, you do what I says when I say it. We clear?"

"Yes," Ellie responds.

"Repeat it,"

"What you say goes,"

The three of them head down to the basement/bunker, looking to grab whatever they can that will help them on their trip. Aurora is rather amazed by the sight, it is what she's always thought a spy hideout would look like — walls covered in different sorts of guns, and small monitors hooked up to a camera so everything can be seen.

"Why was the music on?" Ellie asks Joel, who has just turned it off.

"If he didn't reset the countdown every few weeks, this playlist would run over the radio," He responds.

"Eighties,"

Aurora continues to look around the room, stuffing some cans of food into her bag as many as she can fit anyway without it being too bulky. Heading up to where the car was, Aurora chucks her bag in the front, allowing it to go where she will likely be sitting a little later.

"It still needs an hour," Joel sighs, fiddling with the battery.

"They have hot water!" Ellie exclaims, turning one of the taps on. "I'm taking a shower and then you're showering because seriously,"

Aurora snorts lightly, grabbing some of the spare clothes that had been left around in boxes. There's quite a few things about that will fit, thankfully, so she grabs a pair of jeans and a loose fitting button up shirt.

Having a shower, a hot one at that, is a luxury these days. Usually you're left to using a creek or river to wash off, eliminating the dirt and blood from your skin. The brunette even allows for the water to run through her hair, using some of very little shampoo that will come out of the bottle. She actually feels human again, clean and no longer covered in muck.

Whilst she waits for her uncle and Ellie, who has taken to searching the house again, she moves to the garage. It's filled to the brim with different car parts and old pieces that seem to have outlived their usefulness. However, hidden right in the back corner is something that draws in her eyes.

A bow and arrows.

Her mouth lifts up into a smile as she grabs it, her mind going back to a time where when she'd used one as well as the person who it had belonged too. It has been a long couple of years since she'd felt the metal in her hands, but it feels almost as if she'd never stopped. Aurora, admittedly, still isn't the greatest shot but she's had plenty of practice.

Her teacher had been quite optimistic that she had the ability to use it.

"You ready to go?"

Aurora looks over to her Uncle who is standing by the driver's seat, his eyes flicking to the weapon before looking back at her. She slings it over her shoulder and nods, holding the quiver full of arrows in her free hand.

Ellie, who has decided she'll be sitting in the front, looks back at the weapon with curiosity glimmering in her eyes. "Woah! That's sick, do you know how to use that?"

Joel slips into the front seat, looking back at Aurora in the mirror. "Sure do,"

"Where did you learn that?" Joel asks, knowing full well he never taught her.

"Just somebody I knew once is all,"

And she leaves it at that.