CHAPTER SIX:

THE BROTHERS

THE WINTER AIR blew in everyone's faces. Snow continued to decorate the ground, small snowflakes falling onto the ground and trees, adding more and more until the snow was thick and hard to walk through. The sun was up and hiding behind the clouds.

Inside the cave, the cawing of a bird echoed in Joel's ear, followed by the slight crackling of the fire that was almost dead now. The older man mumbled in his sleep as he shifted around, his eyes slowly opening.

The realization came to him quickly. He had fallen asleep, and his gun wasn't beside him. As quick as possible, the quickest the girls ever seen him, he shoots up on his butt, relaxing when he saw Ellie holding his rifle while Y/n was crouched by the fire.

"Still mumbling in your sleep." Ellie comments. "I woke up early. You were passed out, so I took second watch."

"You gotta wake me up if that happens." Joel tells her, stumbling to his feet. "You can't do things like this."

"But I can cause I just did." Ellie couldn't control the smile on her face.

"I'm responsible for you guys, okay?" Joel reminds.

"Then don't fall asleep." Y/n fires back.

The fourteen year old adds, "I was quiet, I checked my six, I looked for tracks, I found the high ground, and I kept watch. Like you both taught me to. What can I say, man? I'm a natural."

"And besides," Y/n stands up from her spot beside the fire, "I woke up not long after her. I did the exact same thing. We figured we'd let you get some sleep. You're always on watch."

The man just stares at them for a moment, disbelief in his gaze, yet neither of them seem affected by this. After a couple seconds, he holds out his hand towards his gun. Ellie gives it to him, which he places it back over his shoulder.

"You wake me up next time." He tells them.

While Y/n rolls her eyes, Ellie nods. "Yes, sir."

It didn't take the group of three too long until they grabbed their stuff and continued on towards the "river of death". They hid within the trees, keeping an eye out for any people or even infected. Joel even pulled the trigger on his gun, scaring some birds.

And soon enough, with hesitancy, they began to walk alongside the river, staying within the trees, just in case. The snow continued to crunch under their feet. Joel was very reluctant to step out, but he led the way to the bridge.

Y/n kept her gun out, staying beside Ellie as she glanced around, her grip tight on the weapon. The birds around them cawed as they moved across the bridge, neither of the three saying a word. Much to their luck, they made it to the other side without a problem.

It was still silent between the group for a while, Y/n still beside Ellie just in case anyone tried to attack while Joel led the way. The silence was broken by a sound coming from Ellie. The other two look at the teenager, seeing she had her fingers in her mouth.

"I'm learning how to whistle." Ellie reveals, fingers still in her mouth.

Joel raises a brow. "You don't know how to whistle?"

"I don't know how to either." Y/n quietly informs, sounding sheepish.

"And does it sound like I know how to whistle?" The Williams girl fires back, trying once again. "Seriously, though, how the fuck do you do that?"

"Talent." Joel says.

Ellie rolls her eyes. "Whatever." She moves in front of them. "You should teach us how to hunt."

"Huh." Was all that left Joel.

"'Huh'." The fourteen year old mocks. She makes her voice deep, "Like, 'they're girls. They can't handle it'."

"You can handle the shooting. Not so sure about the dressing." Joel states.

"What's the dressing?" Y/n asks.

"The part where you take the guts out." Joel tells her.

"Oh, yeah. Why do they call it dressing? It's like, you should call it undressing cause it is. It's like undressing from the inside." Ellie just comments. "Still interested, though."

Neither of the three said anything. For a few minutes, the group of three walked in silence once again, trekking through the snow, running out of breath easily. The sound of rushing water filled their ears as they reached the end of a cliff, seeing a large dam below them.

Ellie smiles. "Dam."

"You're no Will Livingston." Joel reminds.

The girl rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but who is?"

"So that made electricity?" Y/n questions.

Joel nods. "Yeah. Don't ask me. I don't have a clue." He begins walking again.

"You know, you could've just made something up. I would've believed you." Y/n tells him.

"Me too." Ellie agrees as they move down the hill. Her eyes look to the blue water. "Look at that river. It's crazy blue."

"It's beautiful." Y/n whispers, staring at the moving water.

"Hey, Joel..." Ellie's voice was hesitant. "...what if this is the river of death?" Her question has the man stopping, which the girls do so as well.

They watch as he brings out the map from his coat pocket, unfolding it by one and looking at where he thinks they might be. Neither of the three say a thing. The girls just stare at him. They follow him when he steps away from the river and towards the hill.

However, the group of three stop in their tracks at the sound of horses neighing, followed by a large group of people riding horses riding down towards them, all of them wearing bandanas that cover the bottom half of their faces.

Joel grabs both the girls hands, trying to run away, but the sight of more people makes them freeze. They were surrounded. They all had guns. There was at least ten of them while there was only three of them.

Joel pushes the girls behind him, raising their hands in surrender. "We ain't looking for any trouble. We're just passing through." He calls out.

"Drop the gun." A man demands.

The Miller man only nods, slowly reaching towards the strap of his rifle before taking it off. He holds the weapon up for all of them to see before he tosses it onto the snow a couple feet away from him.

"You two..." The man looks at the girls. "...take five steps back."

"How about we just talk this through?" Joel suggests.

"How about you shut the fuck up?" The man fires back, gun aimed.

"Okay, easy." Joel mumbles, glancing over at the girls. "You'll be okay." Sharing a scared glance, the girls keep their arms raised as they take five steps back.

"You been near infected?" The man asks.

Joel shakes his head. "There's no infected out here."

"The hell there ain't." Right after, the man whistles and a person walks between the horses, holding the leash of a barking and growling dog. "Last chance for a bullet. If you've been infected, he will smell it, and he will rip you up."

This news has the group tensing.

The person unhooks the leash from the dog's collar. The animal moves towards Joel, sniffing the man's feet before jumping and placing it's front paws on his stomach. Once the dog didn't smell anything, it moves back to the owner.

"Like I said," Joel tries not to let his voice shake, "we'll just move on."

The man ignores him, looking at the other two. "Now them."

The three felt their heartbeats race and pound against their chests. The dog goes to Y/n first, doing the exact same thing it had done to Joel before it's eyes trail to the last person of the group. Y/n exchanges sneaky and panicked glances with the two.

Joel frantically glances over his shoulder at them, then at the people on horses. He wanted to plead, wanted to negotiate... but he couldn't give anything away. The man felt his ears ringing as he was forced to wait for the dog to begin trying to attack.

However, when he heard giggles, he snapped his head over his shoulders to see Ellie falling onto her butt as the dog licked her face while Y/n crouched beside the animal. The Burrell girl shrieks when the dog begins to lick her.

The man whistles and the dog runs back to him. "You just bought yourself ten more seconds." He tells Joel. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just looking for my brother. That's all, nothing more." Joel informs.

Almost right after he said this, the woman beside the man guides her horse forward, keeping her eyes trained on the Miller man. Y/n examines her from beside Ellie. Even though she was wearing a bandana and a hat, Y/n could see she had dark hair and dark skin.

"What's your name?" The woman questions.

The man hesitates before replying, "Joel."

Something flickers in the woman's eyes. And the next thing the group of three knew, they were sitting on horses as they rode through the snow. Y/n, sitting behind Ellie on a horse, felt her eyes widen at the sight of a large wall just ahead of them.

The people standing at the top of the wall look through the binoculars as one of the people on the horses wave a flag in their hands as they get closer, revealing that it was them and not raiders. The horses slow down as the doors open.

Y/n's wide eyes glance around the place inside. It was a full on town. There were shops, bars, homes. There were elders. There were children. There were families. The sight makes the young girl smile as she and Ellie exchange a glance.

Meanwhile, just behind them on his own horse, Joel felt his gaze eager as he glanced around in search of a familiar face. The familiar face he's been looking for for months now. And when he was sure he saw that face working with a group of people, he felt his heart stop.

"Tommy!"

At the sound of his own name, Tommy Miller looks up from where he had been working, everyone around them also following his gaze. The younger brother glances at the group now back until his eyes land on the face of the familiar voice he just heard.

Neither of the brothers take their eyes off each other. Tommy moves down the steps, the metal creaking underneath him while Joel mounts off the horse once it fully came to a stop. People around them watched as they moved towards one another.

Joel's pace quickened until he was finally wrapping his arms around his little brother. Tommy didn't hesitate to hug back, letting out a relieved chuckle against his brother's shoulder. Y/n and Ellie look at one another. They've never seen Joel like this before.

Tommy pulls back to look at his brother. "What the fuck you doing here?"

"I came here to save you." Joel breathes out.

Almost right after, the older brother felt himself smile big, quiet laughter escaping him as he glances back at where the two girls were before pulling his brother back into his arms again. Both of them tilted their heads. They've never seen him smile like that before.

They've never seen him smile ever.

But finally, after so long, the Miller brothers were back together again.