Chapter Text
A part of him wasn’t sure he would ever fully adjust to living in Jackson.
He’d found some sort of peace in the place, yes - was content with calling it home even. It was where he lived, where the people he cared about lived, and therefore was about as close to home as he reckoned it could get.
But it still didn’t come naturally to him. Not in the way it did Tommy, and not in the way Ellie seemed to be heading. Sometimes he thought he might be too old and too set in his ways to ever fully adjust. There was something about the peace and strong sense of community of the place unnerved him. A thing like that couldn’t survive in this world. It was too good, too genuine to remain the way it was.
And it made him feel sick if he thought about it too much.
He hadn’t wanted Ellie to pick up on his scepticism, not when she was finally settling down and finding friends. So he had taken to faking it.
Constantly trying to seem well adjusted was tiring, and Joel had never been a great actor - as a result he began to look forward to riding out on his patrols.
Being outside the walls was dangerous, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to. The air seemed clearer In a way, or maybe it was just the invisible weight lifting from his shoulders and lungs, his worries for Jackson being pushed to the back of his mind and his survival instincts taking the lead.
It was especially crisp when he and Tommy packed up their camp that morning. Joel was glad for it. The stuffy heat of summer was nowhere near as effective as clearing the fog in his head.
Their patrol had stretched further this time, taking them past the usual routes and outposts and into unfamiliar territory.
With winter coming to an end and the warmer weather approaching, infected tended to make their way out of whatever hole they had crawled into and hordes became more frequent. All in all, it was a pretty shitty time of year. He and Tommy found themselves travelling a little further, hoping to prevent any of those groups from reaching Jackson territory.
Joel swung himself down from his horse, hand never straying from his rifle as he and Tommy assessed the small high street.
“Do you reckon it’s worth a search?” He muttered, squinting at the faded shop signs.
With the route being out of the way, the shops they came across were less likely to be picked over. The nature looked undisturbed here, green leaves covering almost every inch of the buildings and left them near indistinguishable.
“Might as well. There could be something useful.” Tommy replied, poking at an overgrown door with his rifle.
Joel nodded, drawing a machete from his saddle bag. “I’ll check the pharmacy.”
Like most pharmacies, this one was mostly empty, likely having been ransacked when the virus first started up. He did manage to scavenge a few bottles of cold medicine, which would be appreciated back in Jackson with the change in seasons and resulting increase in common colds.
As he stepped back into the street, his eyes caught the shop sign opposite. He recognised the name as a familiar chain of music shops. There had been one in the town he lived in before the outbreak - one he and Sarah had visited frequently.
Without really thinking, he stepped through the broken window, boots crunching on the glass. A thick layer of dust blanketed every available surface, but beneath it, most of the products remained. It made sense. When the world ended, he doubted collecting music would be on the forefront of people’s minds.
He brushed his fingers over one of the stands, dust parting to reveal vaguely familiar names and images. The covers were yellowed and cracked, but when he slid one out of its case, it seemed to be in decent condition.
Easily accessible music was one of the things he missed about living pre-outbreak. He missed the memories he had associated with songs. He and Sarah used to drive around in his truck, her playing whatever trashy pop was trending at the time. In turn, he’d play her music from his childhood, a choice that never failed to make her complain.
He’d recently found an old record player and had given it to Ellie as a gift when she moved into the garage. Despite her living so close, they seemed to rarely see each other these days. Joel knew that was deliberate on Ellie’s half, what with her still being upset at him for the fireflies ordeal.
Sliding his bag from his back, he took a few vinyls from the stand and carefully placed them inside. From what he knew, Ellie hadn’t listened to enough music to develop a preferred genre so he just grabbed a few he vaguely recognised. He wasn’t even sure she’d appreciate a gift from him - or accept one for that matter.
“Joel!” Tommy’s familiar voice called from outside. Joel grabbed one last vinyl before zipping up his bag. When he stepped through the broken window, his brother was waiting by their horses.
“There you are, find anything good?”
“Few bottles of cold medicine,” Joel replied, swinging himself into his horse’s saddle. “Got some vinyls for Ellie.”
Tommy mirrored his actions, and the pair began trotting down the road. “You’ve had better luck than I have then. The grocery store was empty.”
“I reckon this place was ransacked when the outbreak first began. Pharmacy was in a similar state.”
Humming thoughtfully, Tommy pulled a map from his saddlebag and began to examine it. “We might have more luck in the next town over. There’ll probably be some infected we could clear out if not.”
“Sure.”
The next town was a few miles away and turned out to be considerably bigger than the previous one. It also showed more signs of activity. The wildlife hadn’t entirely taken over in the same way. The buildings were still overgrown, yes, but some of the doors had been cleared of said growth, likely from someone passing through.
“People have been through here.”
“Should we bother checking then?”
Joel shrugged. “There’s nothing Jackson is in desperate need of at the moment. Probably shouldn’t waste anymore time.”
“There might be infected we could clear?”
The sudden sound of gunfire had them both freezing, instinctively reaching for their own weapons. A smashing of glass followed, alongside a high pitch scream that sounded like it could belong to a kid. .
“Tommy, wait.” Joel stuck out an arm when he began to move. “We shouldn’t just run into this blindly.”
Tommy grunted. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Despite them both having been fully grown adults for decades, Joel found it hard to shake the deep rooted urge to protect his younger brother. It was the same with Ellie, the same urge that in the end caused him to kill Marlene. It also made it hard to remain level headed when on patrol.
“Let’s just approach quietly on foot, see if we can get a scope on what's going on before we get involved. It might be more than just the two of us can handle.”
“Fine.” With a sigh, Tommy dropped down from his horse. “Sometimes I hate being on patrol with you.”
“You just don’t like bein’ kept in check.”
Despite the complaints, the two fell silent as they made their way to the end of the street where the onslaught of bullets continued. By the time they’d approached the three story department store, the firing had slowed to the occasional bullet, the shooter probably running low on ammo.
Joel crouched outside the building, gesturing at Tommy to stay back and peered through one of the floor length windows. His brother glared at him, evidently still not used to being told what to do after their years of separation.
Gun clenched tightly in hand, Joel peered through the glass. Inside the store was dark but it wasn’t hard to notice the sheer amount of infected. They seemed to be coming from one of the back rooms, and were all charging at the group of four people who stood on the floor in the middle of an aisle.
There were two men, each standing on either end and preventing the infected from getting to a terrified looking woman who was shielding a small child. They were clearly trying to fight their way to the shop entrance, but the infected were quickly surrounding them, making escape unlikely. There were at least two dozen of them, mostly runners and a few clickers, with more making their way through the back rooms. They didn’t stand a chance.
Joel turned back to face Tommy. “I don’t-“
A deafening shatter of glass sounded from behind him, shards raining down on him and slicing into his skin. Before he even had time to process what was going on, a snarling weight slammed into his back and pushed him to the ground.
“Shit!” He heard Tommy curse as he raised his arms just in time to stop the runner from chomping down on his shoulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother raise his pistol and with a bang the infected went limp. Joel immediately scampered backwards, still reeling from the shock. He rose to his feet and grabbed Tommy’s shoulder. “We need to go, quick , they probably know we’re here now!”
“What about the survivors? I thought I heard a kid scream?”
Breathlessly, Joel shook his head. He hadn’t seen the kid properly, but had gotten a good enough look to confirm that he’d looked young. Younger than Sarah had been. “There are about three dozen infected in that store alone. Probably more on their way from the looks of it. They’re running out of ammo… they're pretty much as good as dead, Tommy.”
Despite his words, he couldn’t help but think of the boy. What he would have done for someone to help Sarah. If he was by himself, Joel would have run headfirst into the fight. But Tommy was here with him- his brother who he still felt the primal urge to protect.
“We can’t just leave a kid.” Tommy retorted, shaking his head.
“Yeah…” Joel sighed, “You’re right.” Sometimes he wished he didn’t care. Survival was much easier for those who didn’t.
He grabbed his rifle from where he’d dropped it, rising to his feet and sticking his head round the shattered window frame. Sure enough, a few infected were stumbling towards them, evidently having heard the earlier gunshot. He took the first down easily enough, the second getting a bit too close for comfort.
“Can you get behind those benches over there?” He gestured with his head to the other side of the road. “Provide some cover if I draw them out into the open.” It also got him further away from the danger, a fact Tommy evidently realised, if his scoff was anything to go by. But there was no time to argue, as the infected had definitely heard the new comotion.
“Sure.”
Joel himself took a few steps into the street, now clearly in view of the infected. The several infected trying to attack the group from the back immediately noticed, nearly tripping over one another to get to him.
The distance between him and them meant Joel could pick them off with relative ease, Tommy managing to finish off the last few once he was in position.
“This way,” Joel yelled at the dark haired man closest to him. “You’re dead if you stay in there!”
The dark haired man seemed to hear him as he beckoned for the woman and child forward and out of the aisle. Tommy’s bullet went through the head of a clicker that lunged their way, sending its body sprawling to the ground in front of them. The boy screamed again but the woman ushered him forward and into the sunlight.
“Get behind me.” Joel yelled, raising his rifle again and shooting the infected who were trying to crowd the two men back into the aisle.
The dark haired man had gone after the blonde one, helping him keep the infected who were coming out of the back room at bay.
“I’ve got your backs covered, get out of there!”
The blonde shot at a few more before his gun finally ran out and he turned, grabbing the dark haired by the arm and dragging him out of the department store.
As soon as they made it out, the back doors fully burst open, and out through the gloom, stood a bloater.
“Shit!” Joel pushed the group behind him. “Get back, it’s gonna charge!”
The bloater let out a low rumble, head turning blindly until it finally stilled in their direction.
However, it only had time for a few thunderous steps before Tommy was vaulting over the bench and over to them. Joel tried to grab his arm as he passed him but Tommy was too quick. He drew a pipe bomb from his pockets and lobbed it as hard as he could.
Joel barely had time to cover his ears before the explosion rang, the remaining windows shattering and sending shards of glass flying everywhere.
When the smoke cleared, the bloater was still standing. Joel gripped his rifle tighter as it took a step before collapsing to the ground in a heap of flesh and blood.
If that bloater had arrived even a few minutes prior, the four strangers would have been dead.
“What the fuck.” One of the men muttered from behind him.
“Let’s go , that explosion was sure to attract the round sorta crowd!” Tommy jogged over to them, patting Joel on the arm as he did. Cocky bastard.
“He’s right.” Joel nodded. “Our horses are just down the street, you’ll have to follow us on foot.”
“Hold on,” the blonde one spoke for the first time. His voice was deeper than Joel expected, and he spoke with a strange accent he couldn’t quite place despite it not being too dissimilar from his own. He squared his shoulders, visibly preparing for a fight. “We ain’t about to just follow strangers-“
“We just saved your lives.” Tommy interrupted. “And I personally wouldn’t want to be hanging around these parts without any bullets.”
“He’s right, Arthur.” The woman said. She was clutching onto the young boy's shoulder tightly, her son from the looks of it.
Joel watched as the man, Arthur, exchanged a glance with the other man before nodding in reluctant agreement.
𓃗 𓃗 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tommy led the way on his horse, the group in between them with Joel riding a little further back but still within earshot.
“I’m Tommy by the way,” He heard Tommy begin conversationally. He’d always been the friendlier one out of them. “And the moody guy back there’s my brother Joel.”
“John.” The dark man replied. Now Joel could properly examine him, he noticed he had deep scars across half his face. They made him look dangerous in a way, almost wild. “This here’s my wife Abigail and our boy, Jack.” Abigail smiled politely. Jack remained silent, face still pale from earlier. “And the big guy’s Arthur.”
Joel assessed the group from behind. Abigail didn’t seem like she’d prove much of a threat- she clearly had the boy's wellbeing in priority, and therefore meant she was unlikely to try anything. It was Arthur and John who posed the most danger.
The two looked like someone out of an old western film, what with their gun belts and hats. Joel thought he even spotted a lasso on one of their belts. It all in all made for an unusual appearance.
John was on the slimmer side, his physique giving him the appearance of being stealthy. There was also a glint in his eye that Joel recognised from his time as a smuggler. Arthur, in contrast, was a big guy. He was more muscular than him and Tommy, but still moved with the ease of someone light on their feet.
There was also the way he kept looking at Joel and Tommy. It was subtle, and someone who wasn’t well practiced likely wouldn’t notice, but he was assessing them. Even though Arthur was facing away from him now, he noticed the way he’d occasionally glance at him from the corner of his eye, posture poised as if ready to strike. He clearly didn’t like having his back to a stranger - the same reason why Joel himself had chosen this position.
It put Joel on edge.
“What were you even doin’ in there?” Tommy asked incredulously, “Surely the signs of infected would have had you turnin’ tail?”
“You’d think,” Grumbled Arthur, “John wanted to get something from the boy. He ain’t never been too good at spotin’ the signs, and by the time he did it was too late.”
“You got unlucky. Big groups like that don’t normally hang out in such remote towns.”
“Or John’s just an idiot.”
“Hey, shut up!”
“Well did you get what you were lookin’ for?” Tommy interrupted the squabble, a small smile on his face.
“Jack got his toy.” John gestured to his son who held a stuffed horse tight in his arms.
𓃗 𓃗 - - - - - - - - - - - -
They travelled for a few more hours. With the others being on foot, they covered a lot less ground than Joel would have liked. All in all, saving them was turning out to be somewhat of a hindrance. He’d be sure to nag Tommy over it later, but for now he just wanted to focus on getting back to Jackson in one piece.
Joel remained silent for the most part, leaving the small talk to Tommy.
They set up camp in the middle of the woodlands, far away enough from any abandoned settlements that infected weren't too much of a threat. They were getting closer to Jackson patrol territory, a fact that made some of the growing tension leave his shoulders.
It was once they were sitting around a small campfire, pooling some canned foods and dried meats, that his aches and pains started making themselves apparent.
When he lifted his fingers to brush along his hairline, he felt small shards of glass embedded into the skin. “Hey Tommy, would you mind?” he gestured to the wounds.
Tommy swallowed his mouthful of food. “Sure, If you don’t mind some ugly looking stitches.”
“I can do it.” The pair looked to the other side of the fire where Abigail had spoken up. “If that's alright with you… I have medical training.”
Joel exchanged a look with Tommy, the other nodding minutely. He didn’t necessarily want a stranger going near him with a needle, but his brother truly was terrible at first aid. “ Sure. Can’t be any worse than Tommy.”
Abigail smiled at him, before grabbing a small bag and kneeling in front of him. Jack followed her, hand constantly fisted in her blouse. Joel hadn’t seen him stray more than a metre away from his mother the entire day. He understood it in a way. It was probably just as comforting for Abigail as it was for Jack. Whenever Ellie got hurt, he developed an urge to handcuff her to his wrist and not let her out of his sight.
He noticed John and Arthur eyeing them warily from across the fire as Abigail began carefully removing the shards from his skin. A new sort of tense silence filled the air, both groups obviously trying to act like they didn’t fiercely distrust the other.
Unexpectedly, it was Jack who broke the silence. “What’s your horse called?” The boy sat closely against his mothers side, but looked up at Joel with a sudden confidence.
Joel hesitated for a moment. “I haven’t named her yet.”
Jack frowned. “Why not?”
“I just haven’t,” He sighed internally when he noticed the boy's frown deepen. “I don’t normally name my horses.”
“Why not?”
Joel flinched when Abigail dug out an especially deep piece of glass. He had completely forgotten how awkward it was to talk to small children. “I just haven’t gotten around to it, I suppose.”
“I think you should name her.”
“I probably should.” Joel agreed. “You should name yours too.” He gestured to the toy horse clutched tightly in his small hands.
“I need to think of a good name.” Evidently sated, Jack nodded and went back to stroking his toy.
“Sorry about him.” Abigail murmured after a few more shards were removed. She’d moved onto the glass on his palms now, small bits that stung more than the bigger bits. “He’s eight and overly curious.”
“S’fine. My daughter was the same at that age.” He paused after he spoke, frowning slightly. He hadn’t meant to bring up Sarah. It still wasn’t easy for him- even if it had been over twenty years.
Once all the glass was removed, Abigail began meticulously stitching the deep cut on his forehead.
“You definitely did a better job than Tommy would have.” He noted, examining the small, neat stitches in the hand mirror she handed him.
“Well, like I said, I’ve had training. The old medic back at our camp was gonna have me replace him.”
Joel paused at that. “So you guys were living in a camp?” He questioned, trying to play it off as casual interest instead of his attention being drawn to any personal detail about these people.
Abigail froze, turning to look at Arthur and John. John himself turned to look at Arthur, eyebrow raised slightly.
Was Arthur their leader?
“We lived in a camp a few years ago.” Arthur supplied. “Been just us for the last four.”
Joel nodded. He recognised a hint when he saw one- these people would not take kindly to questioning - even from the people who had saved their lives.
There was something about the way they all carried themselves, something Joel had seen on the road in many different people. It was in the wear of their clothes, the stress lines in their faces, the bags under their eyes and the tension in their posture. These people had been on the move. They were running from something , or someone , and had been for a while now.
“Where are you folk from?” Arthur asked, obviously feigning the casualness of his tone.
“There’s a town a little way from here called Jackson.” Tommy said, causing Joel to stare at him incredulously. They couldn’t trust these people . Why was Tommy telling them about Jackson? Tommy just shook his head at him, continuing. “My wife’s in charge of the place. Has been for years now. It’s a walled town up in the mountains, so pretty safe from infected and raiders.”
“Wow… that sounds-“ Abigail’s eyes widened slightly. “I mean we’ve heard about civilisations apart from the QZs, but we never met somebody from one before.”
“You guys could come check it out if you want?”
Joel froze. They hadn’t agreed on this.
From the looks of it, the group hadn’t expected it either. They all exchanged glances, before Arthur spoke up.
“We don’t mean to trouble you any more than we already have. If you’d be kind enough to spare us some of your ammo, we can get out of your hair come morning.”
John scoffed, turning to glare daggers at his friend. “Arthur-“
“It’s no trouble, really. We're no strangers to new folk.” Tommy interrupted. “I’m not sayin’ you have to stay. You could always just have a look around and see what you think.”
“How do we know we can trust you?”
Tommy shrugged. “You can’t, I guess. But I can give you some ammo so you can defend yourselves should things go sideways.”
Arthur nodded stiffly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to John and Abigail in private bout’ this.”
Instantly, Joel rose. He shot Tommy a glare as he did. “Well that’s fine cause I’d like to have a word with my brother.”
“Sure. We’ll take a walk.”
In lieu of a response, Joel stormed into the surrounding treeline. He stopped just out of earshot of the camp, but still close enough that he could see the orange glow of fire between the trees.
“What’re you playing at?” He spun to face his brother, hands raised in frustration.
“What?”
Joel looked at him, deadpan. “Telling a group of strangers about Jackson, inviting them back to Jackson.”
“They clearly need help.”
“And they’re clearly running from something- I can see it in their eyes. Do you want that brought back to Jackson? What if it puts us all in danger?”
Tommy sighed, going silent for a moment. He rubbed at his brows, frustration evident. “You were running when we found you, Joel. Hell, you’re still running now. You know as well as anyone that some people need to be given a chance.”
And a part of Joel agreed with him - they had a kid with them, didn’t seem like outwardly terrible people. But yet again, the fear was there. What they had at Jackson was good. Maybe it made him selfish, but anything that risked that wasn’t worth it in his eyes. “Don’t expect me to clean up after them if things go wrong.” Which was how it always seemed to go.
“Wasn’t asking you to.” Tommy reached forward and clapped him on the shoulder.
At the end of the day, Tommy was the one who held a position of influence in Jackson, not him. People accepted Joel easy enough, but they loved Tommy and Maria. At the end of the day, he didn’t really have a say on the matter. All he could really do was tell Tommy ‘I told you so,’ when things inevitably went wrong - which the feeling in his gut told him they would.
“Remember, I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have.” Tommy muttered to him on their way back. “I’ve been helping people years before you showed up and got straight back to telling me how to wipe my ass.”
“I know. I’m just…”
“ Worried . Yeah, I got that.”
When they got back to their small camp, the others were waiting for them.
“We’ll come with you.” Arthur said. Much like Joel, he didn’t look happy about it. He reckoned that he’d similarly been bullied into it by Abigail and John - if the newfound smiles on their faces was anything to go by.
It must have been a relief for them, a prospect of home for their small family. Joel still vividly remembered the stress of carting Ellie around, and he hadn’t even known her all that well.
When Tommy began listing off details about the way Jackson operated, Joel decided to turn in for the night. He placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder as he went. “Wake me up when you want to switch for watch.”
He tried to tune out the sounds of voices as he lay down on his bedroll, pistol and knife deliberately within reaching distance.
He didn’t sleep much that night, even when the others turned in and fell quiet. He was all too aware of the minutes passing, each going without his mind shutting off. His tension made him hyper aware of the sounds around him, the soft snores and ruffling of a bed roll as someone moved in their sleep.
When Tommy came to swap with him, he hadn’t slept at all. His eyes felt hazy with tiredness as he sat up against a tree trunk, rifle propped against his leg.
“Can’t sleep?”
He jumped minutely at the voice, eyes flitting to the side of him where Arthur had appeared. Despite his size, he moved silently, a fact that only added to Joel’s unease surrounding the man. He was dangerous.
It took Joel a moment to form his words. “No… You can’t either?”
With a grunt, Arthur sat next to him. “I don’t sleep well out here, let alone sharing a camp with two guys I don’t know.”
Joel felt a small hint of relief at that. No forced niceties were needed here, Arthur clearly didn’t trust them either. Finally someone was acting level headed. “Yeah. Same here.”
“I guess you must be used to sleeping in that nice town of yours. Must be hard going from that to roughin’ it out here.”
Joel scoffed a little. “Not really. I’ve only been in Jackson two years but it gets a bit claustrophobic. Still, it’s miles better than any QZ.”
“Must be a good place for families though.” Arthur nodded towards where Jack was sleeping curled up between his mother and father. “He doesn’t belong out here. He needs stability, safety .” Despite Joel’s doubts about the man, he did genuinely seem to care about the others. It was evident in his tone, that sort of genuineness was hard to fake.
“Well I imagine Jackson will be good for him - plenty of kids his age. They even have a school.”
Seemingly content with his answer, Arthur nodded. He began rifling through his bag, causing Joel to tense. However, he just pulled out a box of cigarettes and matches before lighting one off the end of his boot. “You want one?”
Joel hesitated, which Arthur evidently picked up on. He had the gall to look amused by Joel’s obvious distrust. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t do it with a cigarette.”
“Sure.”
Arthur repeated the motion, handing him a lit cigarette which he accepted. The camp was quiet after that, just the occasional sound of wildlife or the odd snore.
“You guys better not be leading us into some sort of cannibalist society.”
“Well, you guys better not be cannibals.”