Archive of Our Own ^beta

Joel can’t decide which is more ominous — the naked woman chained to a basketball hoop in the middle of nowhere or the sound of gunshots echoing ever closer to their position. His gaze is drawn to the woman, standing motionless with her eyes obscured by a blindfold and her mouth gagged. Sparing a glance at Tommy, who stands guard in the treeline just out of sight, Joel approaches the woman with his gun in front of him. “You infected?” he asks as soon as he is within earshot of her.

She shakes her head, tensing as she hears Joel’s footsteps drawing closer. He makes short work of both the blindfold and the gag, allowing both to drop to the ground at her feet. Her tongue darts out to lick at her cracked lips before she speaks. “Think you’d be able to see if I’d been bitten.” Her voice is hoarse, but her eyes spark with fire when he steps closer to her. “You here to rape me too?”

“Jesus,” Joel breathes as he sets his pack down. “I’m fuckin’ not.” He pulls a bolt cutter out and moves behind her to grasp the handcuffs keeping her in place. They both jolt when a gunshot rings out followed by a stifled shout of pain and a return volley of shots. He cuts through the metal and shoves the bolt cutters into his pack before pulling the woman’s arm over his shoulder. “We’ve got to get under cover.”

Her fingers tighten against his jacket as she stumbles alongside him toward the trees. Joel curses when he sees Tommy slumped against a tree a few yards in from the field, hand clamped firmly around his bicep. He steadies the woman as he slips her arm off his shoulder, swiftly removing his jacket to wrap around her. He kneels next to Tommy, hands reaching for his brother’s shoulders.

“Just a graze,” Tommy mutters.

“Good,” Joel grunts, “‘cause I ain’t carryin’ the both of you.” He pushes Tommy’s hand away from the wound, hands betraying his worry. Blood runs freely down Tommy’s arm without pressure. Joel unshoulders his pack to pull out a shirt and his spare pair of jeans, tosses the jeans toward the woman without sparing her a glance, and starts to tear the shirt into strips.

Joel tosses a couple of strips over toward the woman, who slips the jeans on while Joel is turned away. “A belt until you find somethin’ that fits better.”

“I’m Tommy, this is my brother, Joel,” Tommy says as he looks properly at her for the first time. “What’s your name, darlin’?” He flashes a winsome smile to her despite the obvious pain lines around his eyes.

She shakily sits down, watching as Joel folds some strips into a bandage. “Tess.” She looks between the men for a moment, sizing them up. “Not that I’m ungrateful, but why’d you free me?”

Joel glances over as he presses the makeshift bandage to Tommy’s bicep. “He likes savin’ people.” Tommy’s retort is lost to a pained grunt as Joel firmly knots one of of the strips over his arm. Joel turns to examine Tess more closely before sighing and holding his canteen out to her. “Drink.” He looks back at Tommy as distant gunshots rang out once again. “You too. We need to move soon.”

Tess takes the canteen from him and drinks, eyes tracking both men carefully as Tommy reaches for his pack. “We’re headin’ north. Boston,” Tommy says before taking a long drink from his own canteen. He breaks eye contact when he lowers the container. “You’re welcome to come with us, Tess.”

Joel looks over sharply. “Tommy.”

“Joel,” Tommy shoots back with a glare.

Joel rubs his forehead roughly before speaking again. “We don’t have fuckin’ time for this. Tess,” he turns his attention back to her, “there’s a ridge about ten miles from here. We haven’t seen the group that was holdin’ you out that far. Should have enough daylight to make it. I can guarantee you safety to the ridge.”

She nods once and pushes herself to her feet, balancing against a tree as she adjusts the oversized jeans. “I appreciate it.”

Joel helps Tommy to his feet, making sure he is steady before slinging his bag over his shoulder and holding a hand out to Tess. “Let’s go.”

It takes entirely too long to reach the ridge, in Joel’s opinion, but between Tess and Tommy’s injuries, it couldn’t be helped. Joel eyes Tommy’s pale face as he helps Tess sit against the rock face. “You look like shit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tommy snaps, “I wasn’t aware this was a fuckin’ beauty pageant.”

“Don’t get snippy with me,” Joel drops his pack to the ground next to where Tommy is sprawled on the ground. “I’m just statin’ a fact.”

Tess looks between the two of them with amusement. “Children, please. Behave.”

Joel snorts. “I’ve been trying to get Tommy to behave since the day he was born.”

“Maybe if you’d-”

Joel reaches for Tommy’s arm. “Jesus just shut the fuck up for once in your life,” he mutters. Tommy holds back a groan as Joel unties the bandage, pressing his head back against the rock. “It’s still bleeding, ” Joel sounds apologetic. “We don’t have anything to stitch this up with. An’ we can’t leave it like this. You’ll bleed out.”

Tommy curses. “Is it cloudy enough to start a fire?”

“Should be, as long as it’s a small one,” Tess cuts in. Joel looks over at her in surprise. “What?” she questions, her voice clipped. “How the fuck do you think I’ve managed to survive this long?”

Joel nods as he guides Tommy’s hand back up to the wound. “Suppose you’re right.” He looks between Tommy and Tess. “Stay put. I’ll find wood.”

He makes short work of gathering somewhat dry firewood. When he returns he shoots a concerned look at Tommy, who is panting sharply, his eyes squeezed closed. Joel starts to build a fire, sparing a glance at Tess. “There’s a lighter in my pack, side pocket. Could you grab it?” He thinks for a second before looking at her again. “The flask, too. He’ll need it.”

When the fire catches, Joel kneels once more next to Tommy. Tess holds the flask out and Joel nods gratefully to her as he takes it. He splashes some alcohol from his flask over Tommy’s arm, silent as Tommy’s fingers go white against Joel’s shoulder. He holds it out to Tommy. “Don’t drink it all,” he warns, “we’ll need to disinfect your arm after.”

Tess touches Joel’s arm gently and gestures to the knife on his belt. “I’ll do it. You restrain him so he can’t move.” Joel nods, handing the blade to Tess and removing his belt before he positions himself behind Tommy.

Tommy takes the belt with a shaking hand before locking eyes with Joel. He turns toward Tess, eyes sliding from his brother’s face to hers. “You’ve done this before?”

She lifts Joel’s jacket to reveal a jagged scar running along her torso. “On myself. It fucking sucked.”

Tommy laughs mirthlessly. “Glad we picked up a professional.” Tess’s lips twitch into a smile as she turns to hold the knife over the fire.

“Look at your brother,” Tess instructs as she turns Tommy’s face toward Joel’s shoulder and adjusts the end of the belt so that it doesn’t dig into either man. Tommy starts to respond, words garbled around the belt, when Tess cuts him off. “And don’t talk with your mouth full.” He huffs in response.

Joel wraps his arms around Tommy firmly as Tess removes the now-glowing blade from the fire. “Try to not knock my teeth out with your hard head, yeah?” Joel says, hands tightening against Tommy. He makes eye contact with Tess and nods minutely.

Tess presses the blade to Tommy’s arm carefully, anticipating his near-immediate jerk against the searing pain. Tommy bucks against Joel, a muffled scream escaping him despite the belt. Sweat breaks out on his forehead and he pales further before settling limply against Joel.

“He’s out,” Joel mutters, carefully keeping his brother upright as he removes the belt from Tommy’s now-slack jaw. “Christ, that’s a terrible smell. You did this to yourself?”

Tess nods solemnly. “It’s amazing the things you can do to survive when it comes down to it.” She shifts and puts the knife down. “Done. Where’s that flask? It’ll be easier to disinfect it while he’s unconscious.”

Joel gestures to her left, keeping a steady hand on Tommy’s arm as Tess pours the contents over the inflamed flesh and carefully wraps a semi-clean strip of shirt around it. When she is done, Joel maneuvers Tommy to lie on his back. His fingers card through Tommy’s hair a few times, tightening against his scalp as Tommy stirs beneath his touch.

“Easy, baby brother. Easy,” he murmurs, lifting Tommy’s head to rest on his thigh. “You’re okay.” He pours water onto his bandana and gently wipes Tommy’s face.

Tommy’s eyes blink open and he looks hazily up at Joel for a moment before turning his gaze over to Tess. “‘Fucking sucked’ didn’t do it justice, darlin’.”

Tess rests a hand on Tommy’s ankle and sits back against the rock, a humorless smile on her face. “I didn’t want to oversell it.” Her eyes travel up to Joel and she holds his gaze for a moment before turning to look into the fire. “Where are you boys from?”

“Texas,” Joel replies. His hand comes to rest on Tommy’s chest, fingers splayed wide against his sternum. “You?”

“Detroit,” she replies.

Joel shifts slightly, murmuring something Tess can’t hear when Tommy groans in pain. “We don’t have a timetable to get to Boston, but if you want to travel with us… I guess it’s alright with me.”

“What a ringing endorsement. I feel so wanted.” A genuine smile graces Tess’s face as she closes her eyes and lets her head fall back. “So, tell me. What’s a nice guy like you gonna do in Boston, Tex?”

You are not a punching bag my dear
I think your darkest days should have some light this year
Oh I think you should stay right here
With your fire and your soul, you shouldn't have to go.

“Your Fire Your Soul” by Dar Williams