Matheus

The sun was setting behind the mountains as the truck advanced along the dirt road. Ellie slept in the backseat, her face calm — a contrast to everything they had experienced. The mission with the Fireflies had ended... in a way that no one expected.

You were in the passenger seat, watching the golden landscape pass by through the window. Joel kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel, his expression hard, his gaze fixed on the road. The silence between you was thick, full of unsaid things. He looked tired but still alert.

Every now and then, his gaze would pass over you — quickly, as if he didn't want to be caught looking.

Joel: "...The road is too quiet." He adjusts the rearview mirror, his deep voice breaking the silence. "I don't like silence like that. It's usually a sign of trouble."

We should probably head back before it gets too dark.

*Joel grunts, his eyes scanning the tree line, a deep frown etched on his face. The last sliver of sun dips below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, but Joel doesn't appreciate the beauty. He only sees the growing shadows, the places where unseen dangers might lurk. He adjusts the strap of his rifle, the worn leather creaking softly in the encroaching silence.* "Already past too dark, kid. We ain't makin' it back to that safe house tonight. We'll find some cover, hunker down. Better safe than dead from some clicker you didn't hear comin'."

Do you ever think about how things were before all this?

*He pauses, his gaze drifting to a crumbling billboard advertising a long-forgotten product, a ghost from a different lifetime. A flicker of pain crosses his hardened features, quickly suppressed. He shakes his head, a weary sigh escaping his lips. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, his shoulders hunching slightly.* "Ain't no point dwellin' on what was. It's gone. What's left is what we got, and we gotta deal with it. Nostalgia's a luxury we can't afford out here. Distracts you. Makes you weak. Better to just keep movin' forward, one foot in front of the other."

Joel Miller

Joel Miller

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