by Michael Blue
"Look what I found." Erlina said, bringing forward a screw driver.
"These guys aren't so smart for not searching the place before putting us in it," Joel said.
"You should've seen them back at the church..." Joshua said, softly resting his palm on his forehead.
"Found anything, Ellie?" Joel said.
"Nothing..." she shrugged.
Joel turned his attention back to Josh, who was now armed with his screwdriver. He found the hole that rats were coming through and it wasn't hard to miss. He got on his knees and bent down to peek through the hole, seeing nothing but darkness.
"Okay..." Joshua exhaled.
"See anything?" Ellie asked rubbing the sweat of her forehead.
"Well, there's definitely space behind there. I can hear a small my echoes, but it's just really dark."
"Let's just get out of here..." Ellie reminded.
Josh looked through the wooden walls and stuck the screwdriver between some of the spaces of the boards. The more he attempted to pry the boards apart, the more the screwdriver slipped from it. After realizing the constant noise it was making, Joel walked past the younger girls after noticing Joshua's difficulty.
"Give it here," Joel sighed as if he were an overprotective mother.
Josh looked up at him and passed the screwdriver to him in one of his hands. Joel immediately, jammed the tip of the screwdriver into the widest space between the wooden boards near the rat hole. Delicately, but forcefully, he popped off one of the board, prying of the next end soon after. Joel did it so attentively; that even Josh, Erlina, or Ellie couldn't hear the wood being pried off. However, the downside was the speed, which made all of their nerves run high. Within minutes, Joel had removed a reasonable amount of wood. However, the space in the wall wasn't big enough for Josh nor Joel to fit through.
"Looks like this is it for you girls..." Joel said wiping the sweat of his forehead as stood knelt on one leg.
"Wait, what?" Ellie questioned.
"It's only big enough for you two to crawl through, okay?"
Erlina walked past Ellie and bent over beside Joel, taking a peak through the space in the wall while her numerous braids fell over her shoulder.
"It's dark..." she said softly.
"You guys have your flashlights back, so put them to good use..." Joshua said seriously.
Right away, both girls mounted their angle-head flashlights unto the straps of their backpacks and powered them on. They had all been down there for so long, the brightness of the light slightly stung their eyes.
"I can't believe we're going to follow rats..." Erlina said.
"What if we run into Infected?" Ellie asked.
Ellie had a good point. Joel placed his head down in stress and rubbed his temples. That's when his eye caught the very screwdriver he had in his hand. He shuffled it around in his palm and reached up and offered it to her, showing the opposite side for her to hold.
"Use this..." he said before Ellie grabbed it from his hand, "You're good with a knife, so you know what to do and where to stab..."
Joshua walked closer behind the girls and turned Erlina around to give his little soldier a hug. He rocked her back and forth and held her tightly. Meanwhile, he opened up his other arm, reeling in Ellie for a hug as well. Both girls hugged his sides. It was a joyous moment, but no one was smiling. He let out a sigh and released them both. They turned to face Joel who was kneeling by the wall. Joel looked up at Ellie, both having blatant faces. Ellie then reached in to give him a hug, and pulled away.
"Ellie." Joel said with his voice slightly cracking. Thankfully no one noticed it because he covered it up with a loud "ahem",
"If anything happens to me or Joshua, I want you to go back to the dam with Erlina and get Tommy to finish up the task...okay?"
Ellie nodded.
"You're going to be fine...I know you are." She said confidently. She fixed the weight of her backpack by softly jumping and bending down on all fours.
Crawling in, she realized the space was perfectly big enough for her to fit through and freely move her arms and legs. Erlina gave Joshua one last tight hug and quickly followed after her red-headed friend, and before entering the space in the wall, she stopped to look up at Joel who made eye contact with her.
"Please...keep each other safe..."
Joel nodded.
"You girls do the same..."
Joel gently rubbed her head in affection and it was enough to put a smirk on the youngster's face. She bent down and crawled in afterward. Both girls didn't know what waited on the other side of this path, and weren't in a hurry to find out. However, they both knew that they weren't going to sit back and do nothing once they got out.
Spring
* * *
She had finally given up hope. She finally came to a conclusion that she was alone, and Pamela had turned as cold as ever. She was depressed, tired, and stressed. She wondered if there was a reason to even live anymore. All of her loved ones: gone or nowhere to be found. If it wasn't for her stubbornness, she wouldn't be in this predicament. She thought about her actions before getting split up from Joshua and Erlina in Nevada. There was a sense of guilt eating her up from the inside. If Joshua knew that she was going on an aimless stroll to look for both her oldest son and daughter, he would have had a hissy fit. She put her very own, and the ones she loves, lives in danger because of one hopeless dream that most likely would've never happened. Searching for her son and daughter was probably the most ridiculous idea ever. "What got into her?" She thought. She closed an old bible she managed to get a hand on from a bookshelf at the settlement. She sat in the bunks with Chloe asleep beside her. When she thought things couldn't get any worse, it did.
Out of the blue, one of the many students she cared for came running up to her. A little blond child with brown eyes startled Pamela as she frantically ran into the room.
"Ms. Pam! Ms. Pam!" the child called.
Pamela forced on a smile and sat with her hands folded on her thighs as she quirkily sat up. She noticed the child looked upset, which alarmed her.
"Mr. Beau is picking on Chandler!" the little girl said before running off.
Beau, as of recently, had been picking up on his drinking. As to where he was finding all that damn liquor, was beyond her knowledge. Disturbing with her students was the last thing anyone wanted to do. He was the same douche that decided to give his little speech on helping search for Pamela's family. Ever since then, Pamela decided to stop the searches. The relationship between her and Beau was very strained since then. He'd always make sassy remarks at her and always got away with it simply because Pamela wasn't the type to retaliate for the likes of him. Regularly ignoring him did more than she expected.
She got up and quickly carried herself to the exit that was already open. She walked outside, inhaling the fresh breeze. It wasn't hard to tell where Beau was after hearing his whiney voice yelling from the right of the building. She made her way down the stairs and looked at Beau, with young little Chandler on the ground in front of him.
"Chandler!" she called out.
Chandler quickly turned to see her as if he heard an angel from heaven.
"Come here, baby." She called as if a mother would.
Chandler quickly stood up and ran to her side. She rubbed his head and whispered for him to go inside and to make sure that he cleaned himself. Chandler, without a second thought, ran off with his other friend.
"Little shits..." Beau muttered to himself.
Pamela glared at him as the wind softly blew through her soft, indo-Caribbean hair.
"Beau, what the hell is wrong with you?" Pam said inching closer to him.
"Oh, looky here. It's pretty-faced Pam..." he said, "I found that little pest of yours going through my liquor."
"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm..." Pamela said carelessly rolling her eyes.
"Then he wouldn't have touched it!" he said raising his voice.
She crossed her arms and showcased a v
ery empowering and feminine stance.
"What do you think he was going to do with it?" she paused, "Turn into a foolish, irresponsible, alcoholic like you? Were you afraid that he was going to take your place?" She stepped closer, "Huh? Didn't want an eight year old to break your record?" she fiercely spat without breaking a sweat.
Beau was very surprised when he heard that come out of Pamela's mouth.
"You know what your good for Beau? Getting yourself killed!" Pamela harshly answered, "I don't know what it is that you're going through, but we've all lost someone! All of us!" she shouted emotionally. "So get your shit together! Because the only pest I see around here is you..." she said fixating her look on his liquor bottle. She stood tall, held back her tears, and never broke eye contact after that.
Reading Beau was hard, so it was unknown how he was feeling. However, he didn't answer. He looked down, kicked the patches of grass that grew from the soil beneath him, and walked off, grazing against Pamela as she turned around to see him walk away. Just as he turned a corner she noticed Tommy leaning on the very corner of the building and Chloe right beside him.
"Hi, Chloe!" Pamela smiled as she walked towards Tommy.
Greeting her friend, Chloe jumped unto Pamela's thighs asking for some love. Pamela held her paws and bent down so Chloe could get a couple of licks for her owner, giving her a little kiss back right in the middle of her forehead. She was let down, setting her free to do her business. She placed her head down, focusing on what her dog was doing, but Tommy's gaze caught her attention. Pamela noticed his young handsome smirk, and she blushed back.
"What, Tommy?" she said as she rolled her eyes in a frisky manner.
"You sure gave it to him..." Tommy chuckled, fixing his denim jeans around his waistline.
She sighed.
"What does it matter? He never listens to anyone."
"He seemed to listen to you pretty well just now. I've never seen Beau back down from an argument like that..."
Tommy continued smiling.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" She tilted her curious face to the side.
Tommy chuckled and bent down to give Chloe a firm pat on the back.
"Well, we're going on another scavenge in a couple of minutes, so go get your stuff ready." Tommy said.
Pamela nodded and walked after him, eventually they went their separate ways. She made her way to the cafeteria to check on what they could cook for lunch and noticed Beau sitting at one of the tables. Groaning out of pure frustration, she sucked her teeth and faced the opposite direction. Just as she was about to exit, the last thing she wanted to happen, happened.
"Pamela." Beau called.
Without answering she turned to look at him with her lips pursed.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
She leaned by the doorway.
"Can you at least sit and talk to me?"
Trying to not let this man get under her skin, she calmly walked towards him. He walked to the round table and pulled out a chair to sit across from him. She properly sat erected, with her hands folded in her lap.
"Look, I don't want any trouble," he confessed. He looked like he was having a lot of trouble trying to say what he wanted to say next. His tongue was restraining him on what to say, but he fought and spat an apology, "...and I'm sorry."
Pamela was blown away. It sounded very convincing and, most of all, sincere. A faint smirk appeared on her face, being quite dumbfounded. She was more intrigued this time.
"You're apologizing?" she said fixing her posture as she sat, sitting more comfortably.
"Yeah," he bit his lower lip, "You may not notice it, but I have a lot of respect for you...and even more after today."
"Could've fooled me..."
"I know," he said putting his hands up in defense, "I know I've been acting like an ass wipe and all, but I just wanted to let you know that you're one of the most respected people here and the least I could've done was be respectful to you when I had the chance..." Pamela didn't answer, and so he continued, "You were right about what you said before...about me only being good for my own death?"
Disappointed, Pamela reached up and rested her palm over Beau's. Although he did still smell like liquor, she ignored it,
"Look...about that," she said looking at him, "That was uncalled for."
"No, but you're right," he said pulling his hand away, "No one else has really had the balls to call me out on that."
Pamela watched him as he ranted.
"I lost my family way after the infection broke out. My wife and daughter were killed in a raid at one of our quarantine zones first...and then it was just me and my older son left. I use to be so filled with rage I just...always lashed out at him and yelled at him," He turned away to conceal his glossy green eyes, "Then he ran off..."
Remorsefully, she drew her attention closer. It was surprising that he was opening up.
"Where?" she asked.
"He left a note saying how he was going to join the military and get treated with the respect he deserved. One of the worst decisions he could make," He said shaking his head, "I never heard from him again..."
"We have that in common," she said trying to relate, "I haven't heard from my older son or daughter once they ran off too. That's why I focused so hard on finding my youngest son and niece again..." she paused and cleared her throat, "But when you said..."
"Fuck what I said."
Pamela chuckled in embarrassment at his use of swearing.
"I'm serious, Pam." Beau reached over the table and placed his hand upon hers this time, "Forget. What. I said..."
She began blushing softly once a nervous smile appeared on her face. She glanced away from him at moment and finally began to realize the affectionate side of Beau, the side she had never seen before. It was a good side and, not to mention, a somewhat attractive side. She realized his green eyes, manly stubble, and the shaggy brown hair he always hid underneath his cap. It was fitting for him and didn't doubt that he looked much better groomed. He was still somewhat fit for his age, and the beer-gut was beginning to show, but it was nothing that bothered her.
"Did you ever bother to ask yourself why I picked on you so much?" he asked.
Pamela glanced down for a moment and shook her head softly.
"When I was in high school...or even college..."
But just as Beau was going to tell his story, he spotted both Maria and Tommy sneaking around by the entrance of the cafeteria. They were talking to each other, but listening in at the same time. Maria had a very gleeful look on her face as well at her husband Tommy who gave his infamous, yet charming, smirk.
"Can I help you?" Beau aggressively asked as Beau pulled his hand off of Pam's.
Maria was caught off guard and she began speaking, and Beau noticed her give Tommy a nudge to play serious.
"Oh no, Tommy was just wondering if Pam was ready for scavenging?" she yelled across the room.
Pamela turned around nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be right there!"
As Tommy got ready to walk off with Maria, Beau called Tommy out. He reversed towards the doorway along with Maria.
"Mind if I, uh, go scavenging too?"
Tommy had to take some time to make sure what he was hearing was correct.
"Scavenging?"
"That's what I asked didn't I?"
"You sure you won't be too drunk?"
Maria elbowed him in the stomach.
"Sorry..." Tommy apologized.
"Not drunk. Maybe a little tipsy, but it'll wear off soon. I promise. I haven't scavenged in a while, so I'd like to tag along." He paused, "I mean, if that's okay with you?"
"Uh, s-sure, y-yeah, that'd be great!" Tommy said awkwardly looking away. "Just. Just go get your items and your weapon from the barracks..."
Tommy was acting as if he was blindsided by a footballer and was at loss for words. Beau quickly got up to go get himself prepared and properly dressed for the occasion. As he walked off, Pamel
a noticed that he left his half-full bottle of liquor on the table. Before he walked away, Pamela caught his attention by grabbing it and putting it in his sights to take it. Beau grabbed the bottle, and looked at it with a moment's thought. He walked off, and tossed it in the trash bin as he exited the cafeteria, walking between Maria and Tommy. They all watched him in astonishment as he staggered his way out of sight. Pamela walked towards the doorway and they both watch her in utter shock.
"Your prayers have been working, Pam!" Tommy shouted, playfully tossing his arms in the air.
Immediately, they all began laughing, Pamela's laughs being that hardest. Eventually she calmed down and walked off with the three of them,
"I guess all he needed was someone to listen." She said.
* * *
Both Joel and Josh were being interrogated on where there missing comrades had vanished to. They were both back up the stairs, and they were both tied in chairs with both of their backs facing each other. They happened to perfectly cover up the space in the wall by putting a whole bunch of unused crap in the way. Joel improvised a plan, and once the gang all left the room to discuss something, Joel and Josh spoke softly to one another.
"There's five of 'em..." Joel whispered, leaning his head back. "...three in here and two outside."
Joel could easily see the men in the open as they were walking back and forth on the porch, past the window. Josh turned his head back in disbelief, hoping that Joel didn't want to actually go through with what he wanted to do.
"What?!" he sharply whispered, "Why are you doing head counts?"
"I'm not getting killed by these boneheads!"
"Do you know if you can reach my hands to untie my knots?"
Joel strained to reach his finger tips to Josh's as he sat behind him, but it seemed to be hopeless. As the others reentered the room, they stopped talking to one another. Right now, their plans on how escape was still lingering.
