Safe haven || Joel miller x fem!reader (fluff)
Summary: You,Joel and Ellie are ambushed by infected.You come a little too close to danger, and Joel saves you.
Warnings: infected, swearing, near death experience, mentions of death. Anxiety, stress, pressure.
You had been friends with Joel since before the pandemic began. Naturally you had clung to his side throughout the outbreak. You were there for him when his daughter died, you watched her die in his arms. She was like a daughter to you so her death hit you hard as-well. Thats why when Marlene asked you, Tess and Joel to transport a girl across the country for the fireflies you made it your mission to protect her. What you didn’t know was that she was worth more than you could have ever imagined.
That led you to where you are today. Tess had died a couple of days ago, she sacrificed herself to save You, Joel and Ellie.
The three of you continued on. Today you were searching a building for supplies, desperate for anything that you could get your hands on.
Ellie went with Joel to search downstairs whilst u began to walk up the stairs. As u walked upstairs the step you were standing on let out a crack as it broke, you grasped the handrail, pulling yourself onto a stable step above it.
“Are you okay?” Joel asked, concerned, his gun raised and ready to defend you.
“Yeah. Just a rotten step.” You sighed as you slowly began further up the dusty stairway. The stairs came out onto a dirty, cobweb ridden hallway. You walked into a bathroom first, finding a pack of alcohol wipes that could be useful, stuffing them into your bag. You continued into another room.
This room was much bigger, and darker due to the lack of windows. As you walked in you could see much, the dust getting in ur eyes. And that’s when u heard it. The familiar sound of echolocation. One that you know comes from a clicker. You slowly ducked behind the nearest table and switched your flashlight on, searching for it.
Your chest tightened and your eyes widened at what u were looking at. There were at least 5 clickers in this room, all spread throughout the place. One was blocking the door you entered through and you had to remind yourself to stay quiet. But all you could think of was the duo downstairs, you hoped they hadn’t walked into something like this.
You slowly crept around the side of the table.
You had stepped on a piece of glass. A soft tear rolled down your cheek as the sound of the clickers walking towards you met your ears.
You aimed your gun, prepared to shoot your way out, even though the probability of you winning versus 5 infected with enhanced hearing was incredibly low. As the first clicker neared you, you shot it straight between the fungal plates that covered its face. You suddenly had 4 more launching themselves towards you- as the the one that just got shot lay on the floor.
You panicked and began to shoot wherever you saw movement as you ran out of the room.
“JOEL!” You screamed as you began to shoot at the clickers that were horrifyingly limping towards you. You through a Molotov back into the room, setting most of them on fire. You turned around to shoot and slipped on the rug on the floor- your back and head colliding with the hardwood planks as your gun slid across the floor away from you.
Within seconds the clicker was on top of you, trying to get a bite. “No no no no no!” You shouted. Your arms were planted heavily on the clickers shoulders as you tried to hold it away from you. You focused entirely on the infected mass on top of you. Your legs came up to your chest and you pushed them into the infected chest with all your might, pushing it away a slight bit more. It was at that moment Joel and Ellie emerged- to watch it try to bite you. It narrowly missed you as the bullets from Joel’s revolver Make contact with the clicker. The infected falls dead on top of you. Panicked screams leave you as you rush to push it off.
“Are you okay?” Ellie asked, to which you didn’t respond.
“Hey! Look at me. Are you okay? Did it bite you?” Joel asked softly, crouching down beside you as you sat lent against the wall, breathing heavily. His voice dragged your eyes away from the bloody body.
You shook your head. “T-there was five of them. I burnt them with that Molotov you gave me this morning. That one just caught me by surprise.” You shook from fear as Joel offered you a hand to help you up.
“Come on. We need to get moving.”
The rest of the afternoon you were restless. You couldn’t settle and were constantly on edge. By the time night fell and all three of you were tucked into your sleeping bags- you couldn’t sleep. You sat on watch, making sure nothing was going to jump out of the bushes at the three of you.
A rustle to the left caught your attention, you raised your rifle and pointed it straight at the bush. A tiny squirrel popped out and you let out a sigh of relief.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Joel asked, his hoarse voice cracking.
“Oh. You’re awake..i can’t sleep. Not after earlier.” You mumble.
Joel said nothing. He just moved his hand to gesture you over. As you settled in his sleeping bag with him, his arm wrapped around your waist and you sighed softly, head resting in the crook of his neck. He knew you needed comfort, to feel safe, to be able to breathe.
As the soft animals of the night continued to rustle around, you both fell asleep under the stars.
Ellie smiled, watching the whole thing. She knew that would happen eventually.
I hope you enjoyed this! ☺️
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