#CIACM

[skainswrites]

sneak peek ch.4

here's a little taste of Ch.4 of Bellwether... who do you think it is? ;)

[angelfishcake]

Made this for @skainswrites Canary in a Coal Mine series on ao3

there are many songs and many song requests for poor Birdie 😔

[thebigsl33p]

Canary In A Coal Mine

Chapter Two: Black Air, and Black Black Lungs

Summary: Y/N fully becomes acquainted with the two strangers: the woman who doesn't say much and the man who broods.

Previous Chapter

Series Masterlist AO3

It hits her, as Marlene says the words, that she’s seen this man before. She’s not surprised by this, the Boston QZ is a small one (compared to some others) and just about everything is circular here. She wouldn’t call it tight-knit and she wouldn’t call it a community but there’s certainly a sense of familiarity despite how everyone is only out for themselves. 

With the remembrance that she knows Joel comes the smell of fire, thick black smoke which stings the eyes and blocks the airways. And then the smell of flesh, burning flesh. It’s mixed in with the smoke, and it hangs in the air. There are bodies in the fire. 

She knows Joel from “cleaning” duty. Trucks upon trucks of the dead infected, piles of bodies of all sizes and ages. And then workers with a cloth over their mouths in a weak attempt to block out the smell of fire and burning meat. 

Corpse Disposal was not a job Y/N liked to do but rather a job she had to. There was a brief period when she was running too low on ration cards and so she did what she had to do and took the job. It was disgusting work, most of the bodies being young children or old people. 

But he was there, across the fire pit, silently conversing with an old lady. There was one more body left in the truck, a young boy which the old woman seemed to struggle with. So Joel took it. And Y/N remembers watching him, from across the street, pick up the body and throw it in. and she remembers his eyes, the absolute lack of pity, guilt, or remorse.

But now he was standing in front of her, and Ellie, with the same stone-like expression, and with an answer to Marlene’s ideas, “The hell we are!” 

And at the same time, Ellie seemed to hold a strong protest too, “I’m not goin’ with them!” 

Kim, from Marlene’s side, turned to look at her, “Let me take her.” Marlene paid no mind to Kim, more focused on Joel and the woman next to him.

“Tess,” He grimaced, “We don’t have time for this.” He was alert, eyes flicking slightly from the windows to the doors.

Marlene laughed bitterly, “Oh, you don’t have time?” 

“Who is she?”

“To you… she’s cargo.” 

“We don’t smuggle people. Sorry.” 

And suddenly, interrupting the conversation between Marlene, Joel and Tess, Kim spoke up, repeating once again, “I can do it.” 

Sharply, Marlene turned on her, “Kim, you don’t have an ear on your fucking head! Could you please?!” She paused, looking down at herself now to examine the blood slowing now, congealing around her shirt and skin, “There’s a team of fireflies waiting for her at the old State House.” That alone earned a scoff from Joel, “I know what’s out there. We were going with an entire squadron for that very reason.,,”

“But now I don’t have a truck, I don’t have a squadron. F.E.D.R.A’s five minutes away, and what I do have is you. And I know what you’re both capable of.”

Y/N, slightly alarmed by the sudden proposition and still on the floor with Ellie, looked up at Marlene, “What are they capable of?” 

Marlene ignored her, and continued on with her proposition. She spoke promises of fuelled trucks, guns, food and medicine. And then finally she said, “I swear……I swear.”

They all watched as Joel turned to Tess and spoke in hushed voices, mulling the decision over. From the look on their faces, it was hard. Yes, they could risk their lives for a girl they didn’t even know, and some supplies or they could… or they could what? Rot away under an abusive government in a failing QZ. Okay, point taken. 

Finally, with a harsh reminder from Marlene that she was bleeding out, they came to a decision. “Okay,” Joel turned, “Here’s the deal. We’ll get her to your crew at the State House. But before we hand her over, they give us everything we want. If not, we kill her, there and then.” The man might’ve pointed a gun at Y/N, but she had to admire his ability to make the most out of a deal. 

“Deal.” Marlene didn’t hesitate, much to Ellie’s dismay which earned a “Really? That fast?” 

Marlene had to assure her that she was all the matters, that her life would not be jeopardised, and then to go and get her backpack. The girl complied, allowing Y/N to stand up as she ran to where she’d left it in the hall. That finally brought Joel’s attention to Y/N. 

“She wasn’t part of the deal.” He says, not even looking at her.

“She,” Marlene said, “Can handle herself. And she goes with you under demand of the girl. If she dies, it’s on us, on me. But if Ellie dies, it’s on you, Joel. So please, Joel…don’t fuck this up.”

-

Joel and Tess take them in the direction of their apartment when Y/N stops them and asks to pick up some supplies from hers. \she tells them she has knives stashed under her floorboard and a few medical supplies in her cupboard. With a brief glance towards each other, and a few questions on how far it is, they agree, and the slight detour begins. It really isn’t far and her home is only on the second floor so it doesn’t take long for her to dig the knives out from under the floorboard and the medical supplies from the cabinet. 

She stashes them all into a backpack, Tess and Joel standing over her as Ellie fishes around for other potentially useful objects. She can see Joel getting a bit anxious and makes to finish up fast, finally zipping up the bag and standing up. “Okay,” she says, nodding at Ellie to stop, “let’s go.”

She’s the last one out of the apartment. She turns off all the lights, and locks all of the locks on her door, knowing that there’s a very large chance she won’t ever see that room again.

_

“Woah, this is your home?!” Ellie laughed in the doorway, Y/N behind her.

“Yeah, Punk, go on in. Make yourself at home,” She watched as Ellie haphazardly stepped in, and then grinned before throwing herself on the sofa, head first and feet in the air, “Woah!” 

Y/n grinned stepping behind her kitchen counter, “You want a drink?”

Ellie sat up sharply, “Yes please.” 

She watched as Y/N took out two cups and poured water into them, something that would become a ritual. She walked around, handed one to Ellie and then said, “Scooch up,” before sitting in the space the girl had made for her.

“You have a really good home.” Elie lopsidedly grinned.

“It ain’t much, but, well… you’re welcome whenever you want, Punk.” 

-

The moment they arrived at Tess and Joel’s place, Ellie began to look around. The girl was curious… perhaps nosey… what could she say? But at that moment she was sifting through a thick magazine before a slip of paper fell out. She pushed it in Y/N’s direction, quietly whispering about what it could mean and the numbers… 60s, 70s and 80s. The second Joel and Tess’ conversation was over Ellie whipped her head around as Tess left to grab some stuff, telling Joel to watch over the two of them and leaving him alone.

The room that they’d been placed in was like any other home in the QZ, minimal, grey and cold. There was a weak attempt at a bookshelf in the corner with barely anything on it, a cracked brown leather sofa and a tiny coffee table. The room was connected to a kitchen, which was dirty and faded, and had barely anything in it except dirty coffee. There were two windows at the end of the living room, with curtains that merely blocked the view but didn’t stop the light from coming in. And between those windows was a table with a radio, one that Ellie took great interest in. 

“The radio’s a smuggling code, right?” Y/N grinned as Ellie began to read out the numbers and the words next to them.

“60s song, they don’t have anything new. 70s, they got new stuff…what’s 80s?” 

Joel paid no mind to either of them and instead lay down on the sofa, to which Ellie asked, “What are you doing?”

“Killin’ time.” He responded, shutting his eyes and letting his wrist hang off the sofa.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Y/N asked, settling by the window with Ellie.

“I dunno, you’ll figure it out.” Joel groaned.

A moment passed but Ellie just couldn’t let it go, “Your watch is broken.” There was no reaction, no sound from Joel. So Y/N turned to Ellie and began to tell her of the time before, as she often asked her to do. 

-

When Joel woke up, Ellie was too preoccupied with the rain falling out the window and so Y/N turned to him and smiled, lightly and barely, “You mumble in your sleep.” to which Ellie hummed in agreement. She said it as if all people of a certain age didn’t. Everyone from before had lost someone and everyone from before had killed and it was very rare that a single person over the age of twenty-five actually got a good night’s sleep. Joel couldn’t remember the last time he had actually slept through the night without waking up in a cold sweat, calling out names and remembering faces.

“I’ve never been on the other side of the wall.” Ellie was speaking to no one in particular, just the room, “Look how dark it is… you guys go out there a lot?” 

“I’ve been a few times.” Y/N shrugged.

And Joel simply said, “I guess.” 

“When was the last time?” 

“Maybe a year… what’s it matter?”

The questions continued on and on, Ellie wondering about the world outside and Joel, Y/N and Tess’ ability to navigate the outside world. It all comes to a halt, however, when she sends Y/N a look, a slight head nod, and a sly smile.

And she says, “Oh, the radio came on while you were sleeping.” 

Joel sits up instantly, “What? What was the song?” 

Y/N shrugs, “Wake me up before go-go, don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo…” 

“Shit,” He says, and the two women grin at each other, discreetly high-fiving as the younger announces, “Gotcha’. 80s means trouble…Code. Broken.” 

Joel huffed, “The two of you get up and get your jackets on. Tess should be back soon.” 

-

The trip through the QZ is perhaps the most terrifying thing Y/N has done in the past year. Of course, nothing quite compares to running from a group of infected, but this will have to suffice. 

There are F.E.D.R.A everywhere, lights, trucks and guards. The entire place is surrounded and it’s a long journey but they make it to the outskirts, just about. Joel is dead quiet, Tess following behind, then Ellie and Y/N. Both Tess and Joel have guns in the waistbands of their jeans and Y/N has knives in pockets, socks and a small one folded up into her bra. 

Boston is sort of strange at night, she realises. Due to the curfew, it’s been a while since she’s been out. Of course, she’s seen outside from her windows. Heard the slight hum of the trucks and the rattle of her window panes as they pass her house, the gentle buzz that comes from the part of the city that never sleeps. Just because the zombie apocalypse started doesn’t mean the crime stopped, and there is always a slight glow and buzz from the parts of the city with markets, that F.E.D.R.A turns an unlawful blind eye to. 

But actually being on the streets, among the houses, is so…strange. The comforting buzz of trucks and people isn’t there, you can’t feel it through the pavement and it throws Y/N off slightly. But they continue forward nonetheless. 

Until they turn a corner. They’re right by the fence, ready to go, but there’s a guard there, taking a piss against the wall and Tess freezes. She thinks for a second they’re gonna be able to get away with it but then his head turns and he’s saying, “Hey, what the hell!”  Before hurriedly zipping his trousers up. 

“Don’t move!” He says, pulling out a flashlight and a gun. He points the flashlight in their direction, it meets Joel's face and he practically deflates and sags, “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me…”

Joel raises his hands, “Okay let’s talk this out.” but it’s too late and the man is telling him to turn around and get on his knees. 

Y/N suspects the guard and Joel made know each other, and if they do it wouldn’t take her by surprise. Joel tries. He tries to compromise and he tries to debate the man who is commanding him to get on his fucking knees.

“I said stay the fuck home!” The guard says, only confirming Y/N’s suspicions.

It all moves so fast and then she’s on her knees next to Ellie, 

Joel’s still trying to bribe him with pills and drugs, but then he’s got something in her neck and he’s working very steadily down the line towards Ellie. There’s a zap at the back of Y/N’s neck, a slight sharp pinch and then a little beep. Y/N’s eyes are trained on Ellie, making sure she’s safe as the man raises the scanner to her neck and then- 

Jesus fucking christ. There’s a knife sticking out the guard’s knee before any of them can even realise it. Ellie had done it with a sharp scream, turning around and just plunging it in as the device touched her. The man stumbles back. Screams and before anything else Joel’s on top of him, fists pummeling his face, chest heaving, back moving left right, left right, as he demolishes this guy until there’s no life left in him.

Ellie and Y/N simply stand and watch, Y/N stood right behind the teenage girl, watching the man as blood splattered across his face. So that’s what Marlene meant by “capable of.”. 

 But they’re torn out of it by Tess, who had stumbled her way to where the device the guard held had fallen at the fence, “Jooeell,” She calls, “Joel!” She picks it up and red light flares across the scene, causing alarm to run through every adult there.

Ellie’s infected. Marlene had you transporting an infected. 

But Y/N doesn’t think before she sees Tess advancing towards them, And then wraps her arms around Ellie and pulls a knife, “Stay the fuck away from her!” She doesn’t consider the infection as she holds Ellie close and a knife to Tess.

Then Ellie’s yelling and rolling up her sleeve, still in Y/N’s tight grip, “I’m not infected! Please, please, I’m not infected! Look, this is three months old! Completely healed over, anyone infected would’ve died by now, please, please!” 

She has one hand clinging to Y/N, the arm the woman has wrapped around her chest. 

The sirens start, the lights flashing off the building walls, guards yelling and Joel hisses, “Shit. Tess, we’re gonna have to trust her- them.” His words allow Y/N to drop the knife and the vice-like grip she has on Ellie. 

“Fine,” Tess says, tucking her gun away, the answer short and alarmed. She doesn’t say more before she turns to the fence and suddenly Y/N sees the hole in the wire. Tess slips through, no problem, and then Joel, who had cleared himself up. Y/N gives Ellie a look,a reassuring nod, a “We’re gonna be okay, Punk. No go.” and then they’re off, into the world beyond the wall, just as the rain begins.

Y/n flicks up her hood as she slips through the wire, looks up and sees the corporate buildings, tipped over and covered from head to toe in greenery. It’s nearly beautiful.

God, it’s been a long, long time…

A/N: This fic has an official playlist and pinterest board which you can find on the masterlist.

[salon-maiden-anabel]

i need to draw the Hoenn kids all hanging out together and watching movies . for my soul

[vinlynce]

FAKER FAKER FAKER

[bruggle]

An excerpt from Book 3 of CiaCM that I cannot for the life of me, get out of my head.

               “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Kaos growled. “Not until four,” Perry smirked. Nobody would get that reference, but it was funny to her all the same. Now it was his turn to smirk. “It’s four o’clock now,” he pointed out. “Now get out.”

               “Wait, for real?” she asked. “How the heck do you know? There isn’t a clock in here.” Perry looked around the room to confirm the fact that, no, there wasn’t a single clock in the room. There was a spot on the wall that was oddly less dusty than the surrounding area, which told her there was supposed to be a clock, but it had been removed. Most likely by the bald man in front of her. “I have developed a very good internal clock since that incident,” he said. “No thanks to you.” It took everything in Perry not to laugh at that. She had nearly forgotten about that incident. “Oh yeah,” she mused. “I forgot you’re afraid of clocks.”

               That definitely hit a nerve. Kaos whirled on her. “I am not afraid of clocks,” he corrected. “I simply cannot stand the sight or sound of them anymore. Again, no thanks to you.” Perry held up her hands in an effort to placate him. She was slightly tempted to tell him to calm down, but that wouldn’t do much. But then another thought occurred to her, one that was probably a worse idea, but hey. He deserved it for all the crap he put her through last year. “Geeze man,” she said, struggling not to laugh. “Didn’t mean to tick you off.”

               Kaos stared at her incredulously for a second before it turned into rage. “Get. Out,” he seethed, pointing to the door. Perry could no longer hold it in. “Oh no,” she said, as she laughed. This of course, did not help the matter, but she really couldn’t help it. He made it so easy. He glared at her while she laughed. “Why do you feel this is the best way to spend your time?” he fumed. “You’re supposed to be helping your friends, aren’t you?” She waved him off. “They have a better idea of where everything’s at,” she said. “Plus, this is payback for all the times you bothered me last year.”

                              “Oh goodie,” Kaos sneered. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions,” she grinned. He merely scoffed and turned away.

[yulaielizabeth]

🔖 Twitter 05122020 [#Seonghwa] Que tengas un buen sábado ATINY 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 #ATEEZ #에이티즈 https://www.instagram.com/p/CIacm-sHcJAML1Ie3Mei5_CnoYrcpUzC6GRi_c0/?igshid=1ojlzxm06m1zz

[skainswrites]

Just read canary in a coal mine and it’s sooo good. Your characterization of Birdie and the rest of the cast is such a delight. Anyways, brainrot has taken over, here is some fanart

Also, sorry to hear about all the junk going on irl. take all the time off you need and don’t feel pressured to work on it. what you have written thus far is already wonderful.

I cannot tell you how much this made my day….. LOOK AT BIRDIE. LOOK AT THAT SMILE. I’m so delighted by this, thank you!!! You nailed my image of her so well!!! the jumpsuit hehe :3

you will all be happy to know that progress is happening, soon there shall be an update !! ❤️thank you for the motivation

[skainswrites]

soooo long time no talk! essentially, the last few months of 2023 were very emotionally taxing and difficult for me. sorry for the delay and the radio silence, but i needed some time to process everything and keep up with responsibilities. i will be responding to comments and posts soon, appreciate you all.

next chapter coming soon!

[skainswrites]

i am highly enjoying the fanart of birdie just being Megatron’s #1 Hater. glad the energy is coming across like this.

literally Birdie to Raf:

If Megatron has 1000 haters, I’m one of them.

If Megatron has 100 haters, I’m one of them.

If Megatron has 1 hater, it’s me.

If Megatron has no haters, I’m dead.

If the world is with Megatron, then I am against the world.

[skainswrites]

chapter 4 of bellwether is on the way… i’m cooking it up piping hot but works got me sidelined 💔 got some edits to go through and the goal is by this sunday! >:3

[skainswrites]

i am here …. to say work got me REALLY sidelined …. life sucks but CH 4 IS DEFINITELY ON FOR THIS WEEKEND!!

[thebigsl33p]

Canary In A Coal Mine: Masterlist

Joel Miller X Reader. Platonic!Ellie X Reader

|| Spotify CIACM playlist || CIACM Pinterest Board ||

Chapter One: You and I are Friends of Empty Graves

Chapter Two: Black Air and Black Lungs

Chapter Three: Am I The Only Thing That Keeps You Safe When The Light Is Gone?

Chapter Four: But I Still Hold Out Hope That Maybe Someday

Chapter Five: I'll Be Worth More Than All the Silence Left in My Way

Chapter Six: Feed Me Promises, Keep My Heart Well

Chapter Seven: I'll Sing You Songs Until the Darkness Does Recede

Chapter Eight: But If In the End, I Lose My Voice

Chapter Nine: Will You Forget About Your Love For Me?

Chapter Ten: But I Still Hold Out Hope That Maybe Someday

Chapter Eleven: I'll Be Worth More Than All The Silence Left In My Way

Chapter Twelve: And When You Break The Surface, Oh Without Me

Chapter Thirteen: Please Don't Return Me To The Dark Of All The Memories

Chapter Fourteen: Let The Dirt Hang Heavy In Your Chest

Chapter Fifteen: Drag Me Deeper Down The Long, Dark Ground

Chapter Sixteen: Know That All My Love With Be Your Breath

Chapter Seventeen: I Will Save You When Your Lights Go Out.

[skainswrites]

GUESS WHAT Ch.3 is out!!! “Fragile Council”

this one was fun to write. hope y’all enjoy!

[skainswrites]

bellwether ch.3 is still in progress due to my hectic week and sudden whim to add a whole new section LMAO. here's a sneak peek to tide you all over...

might have to change this posting schedule sadly, be more biweekly as the semester ramps up. but... next chapters are drafted and just need tweaking! should be out soon. thank you all!

[thebigsl33p]

Canary In A Coal Mine

Chapter One: You And I Are Friends of Empty Graves

Next Chapter

Summary: Y/N gets dragged into something unexpected all from her unusual connection with a special teenage girl. Joel Miller X Reader. Ellie Williams X Platonic!Reader. Gif isn't mine.

Series Masterlist. AO3.

he first thing Marlene tells her is that there is a girl handcuffed to the radiator. She sends people to get her: at first, it’s notes through her letterbox, then she notices the people following her throughout the QZ, and finally, they apprehend her at the end of the day.

She’s going home, preparing to sit in silence and chain-smoke half a pack she’s been saving for a rainy day, perhaps dulling the world with a bit of Hooch like anybody else in this damn QZ, when a man and a woman grab her wrist and pull her into an alleyway. She curses and hisses at them, “What the fuck?!”

The sun is just setting and she’s very aware that the curfew will be in effect soon, and she does not want to get caught out. The last time that happened she’d ended up in a F.E.D.R.A Cell for a few days, and by the time she got out she was beaten black and blue.

“Y/N L/N?” The woman who grabbed her is now holding her still and checking her face. She’s a black woman, maybe mid-40s, her hair tied up into a loose ponytail or bun - it’s hard to see in the dark - she’s wearing a jacket, and a hoodie underneath that. Jeans and a vest and… that fucking necklace. It’s tiny, a little silver circle but the emblem pressed into it has Y/N pulling away from her instantly,

“I’m not interested in any of your Firefly bullshit.” She says, spitting at the woman. She would much rather not be wanted by F.E.D.R.A. “No. We’re not trying to recruit you.” She says, “We need you to come with us, please.” “Look, I’m just trying to go home. I’m sure you’re all very nice people - well, no - but I just want to-.”

“Listen to me.” The woman stops her, “We have a girl at our base, called Ellie. We’re hoping you know her because she certainly knows you.” “Yeah.” She nods, “Yeah, I know her. Is she okay?” Y/N’s concern for the teenage girl is obvious.

“Yes, she will be. At the moment she is handcuffed to a radiator because she is refusing to speak to any of us. But, she keeps on calling for you. We’re hoping-” “Take me to her.” She says, not hesitating.

-

“You keep smoking those-” “I know, Punk, I know.” Y/N sighed and looked over at the girl sitting on her sofa.

The apartment she lived in wasn’t nice, and if she had to bet it she would say that Ellie’s room in the military school was better. The walls had holes that were covered with newspaper, the lights didn’t work, it was always slightly cold and it smelled of damp. But whenever the girl got a day off she would come here…sometimes. Other times she was out running around with friends, doing stuff that would most likely get her into trouble. But most of the time she was sitting on Y/N’s sofa, scolding her with her twelve-year-old wisdom.

“How’s school?” Y/N asked, leaning towards the dining table and snubbing out her cigarette in a small glass before standing up.

“Shit.” She said, sinking further into the sofa, the comic she was reading falling from her hands and into her lap. She looked up at the woman, “How old are you now?”

“I… don’t know.” She smiled at her as she pulled two cups out of her cabinet and a packet of crackers and tinned meat, “Must be fifty-something. God, I’m getting old.”

“You don’t look it.” Ellie smiled cheerfully, mischievous charm filling her expression. “Ha, ha.” Y/N rolled her eyes, poured some water from a bottle and opened the tin of meat.

“Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Will you tell me about before?” “Sure, what do you wanna know about this time?”

-

The floorboards creaking is what makes her look up. Ellie is preparing to stand up, hold her hands out and count to ten. They’re all tests that the Firefly’s “doctors” have been doing to make sure that she isn’t infected, despite the three-month-old bite on her arm suggesting otherwise. But the woman’s grating voice never comes, not the sound of her pen on paper or the slight rustling of her clipboard.

Instead, it’s all an all too familiar voice, one that makes her head shoot up and… there she is. Ellie can’t quite believe they actually went and found her. She smiles, shoulders heaving slightly as she shakes her head, “What you got yourself into now, Punk?”

“I don’t know-” She mumbles and wipes her nose with her sleeve, sitting back against the radiator she’s chained to and glaring at the Firefly guards in the doorway, “They won’t let me go. No one here knows what my purpose is or why they wanna transport me halfway across the fucking country.”

She grinned suddenly, “But… I did tell them I’m not going anywhere or talking to anyone without you here, so.” She shrugged.

“Let them talk to you, Ellie. Okay?” “Okay.”

The next morning Marlene came. Y/N was escorted out of the room and was waiting outside. But the door was practically hanging off the hinges and therefore was not doing much for privacy.

Marlene had come in and sat across from Ellie, legs crossed on the floor, body leaned back all relaxed. The first words were so clear, “If you’re not scared of me then how about you unlock me?”

“How about we start with “Thank you?”

“For what?” “For saving your life.”

The conversation only progressed from there, Marlene revealing she was the one who had placed Ellie with F.E.D.R.A, the mention of Riley which Y/N felt was uncalled for, and the slight mention of Marlene’s plans for Ellie. Y/N had thought the entire conversation was rude, that Marlene had no consideration for other people and was too caught up in her Rebel-Rebel bullshit. She wasn’t taking the chance to consider that all Ellie was, was a teenager. All she took to win over was a bit of love, a warm smile, and maybe some food.

Marlene came out from talking with Ellie, took one look at Y/N standing against the wall with her arms crossed and sighed, “We need to take her west. As you know she’s not going anywhere without you so-” She looked away, “We need a car. We’ve got the body we need a battery. There’s a guy selling one so we’re gonna go and get it. Get the girl ready to go.”

-

The deal was shit and turned sour too fast.

The car battery was coming from a guy called Robert, and it was dead. And now, so was Robert. But not before getting a few bullets into Marlene and her second-in-command. And then his guys and the Fireflies decided to have a little shoot-off, at which point Y/N grabbed Ellie and pulled her into a hallway, tucked her behind the wall and behind her body.

The girl protested, with a “Hey!” And tried to pull over Y/N. “Will you stop it?” She had hissed over the bullets, “I am trying to keep you alive, Punk.”

The gunfire had ended just as soon as it had started and when Y/N pulled away to see if it was safe, she found the hallway littered with bodies, blood everywhere. But Marlene was alive, she could see that much because she was limping away to the end of the corridor while telling her second to stop, “Kim, Kim, stop. We can’t leave them. We can’t leave her.”

Y/N was about to call out to Marlene when she heard the footsteps behind her and she whipped around, being careful of where she was standing. There stood a man and a woman, about her age give or take, both with guns in their hands. Marlene had noticed them too, just after she had, and apparently recognised them, “Joel? She squinted and winced slightly.

“Marlene..” He sighed and the woman next to him swore while running a hand down her face, “So this is who Robert screwed us over with?” As he said his eyes went to Robert, dead on the floor just to the side.

The woman added to the conversation, “The Che Guevara of Boston? I mean, war must be goin’ pretty shitty for you to be buying from scumbags like him.”

“Yeah,” Marlene nodded, hands going to her gun, “It kinda has been. The merch was bad, and he obviously didn’t take “fuck off” for an answer.”

There was a sudden movement and before she could do anything about it, Ellie had jumped out from beside Y/N, knife ready, gut steeled. The look on that girl’s face as she jumped for the man was unlike anything Y/N had ever seen, but the way Joel hit her down with ease caused Y/N to flinch and run to her side. Ellie crumpled into a pile by the wall, knife skidding away and under Joel’s boot, Y/N by her side helping her sit up.

“What did I tell ya’ girl, I’m trying to keep you alive here!” She wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying, instead, her eyes were glued onto where Joel’s boot held onto her knife. And so she hissed up at him, “Gimme my knife.” he ignored her and instead turned the gun to face her, at which point Y/N covered her with her body. If she died protecting this asshole, she’d die an alright death.

“What do you need a car battery for?” The woman asked, but she was ignored. Marlene had seen the interaction between Ellie and Joel, and there were alarms going off in her head so she called out, “Don’t. Not her. Point it at me… And to answer your question, I need it for a better reason than you do.” She sighed, “No offence, but Tommy’s just one man.”

And when he pulled a face at her knowing what it was for, she said, “It’s our business to know things.” “To Know things.” Joel mocked, sliding the gun into his jeans, “You’re the cause of it. You turned my own brother against me.”

“Okay, Joel,” Marlene said, slightly more aware now of the blood leaking out of he body and into her clothes or the flooring.

“That was a lot of gunfire…” Y/N moved off of Ellie, “F.E.D.R.A.’s gonna be here any minute.” She was looking around as if they would bust through the door but so far she couldn’t hear sirens, yelling or running.

Marlene sighed, a resigned sign from blood loss and a not-so-sharp idea, but one that would have to do, “We were gonna move Ellie out of the Zone tonight, but we won’t make it anywhere like this, not for a while.” She looked at Joel, “So now I’m thinkin’.... you’re gonna do it.”

A/N: There is an official playlist and pinterest board for this fic on the masterlist page.