Bright Fire, If You Please

Bright Fire, if you please

Bright Fire is fun. I started writing it, but it just never ended up going anywhere. Basically, Ellie and Joel make it to Bill and Frank's compound, but Bill and Frank are still there. Not much has changed - Frank is still sick, but because they're still alive they (they = Frank) insist they stay for a night, and rest up before continuing out west.

Joel considers pawning Ellie off on Bill, but it's very apparent he won't leave Frank, who doesn't have a lot of time left. There is angst about Tess, of course, who was a friend to Bill, and a dear friend to Frank.

It pretty much means everything to Ellie, meeting two queer men happily in love at the end of the world.

Small snip:

“Stay there.”

For once, Ellie didn’t need to be told twice. Joel approached the fence alone, the DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE sign zip-tied to the chain-link already enough of a warning to curb any spark of defiance. She could hear it, anyway; the low hum resonating through the air, audible over the breeze and the twills of birds in the nearby trees – and this was far from the first electric fence she’d been around, so she knew better than to get too close to it.

She watched, instead, a knot of apprehension tightening in her stomach; observed him shift on his feet slightly, hesitating for only a moment before he reached out, his hand still swollen, his knuckles scabbed and puffy. His thumb tapped a keypad quickly, six beeps stinging at her ears before a deeper hum groaned from the fence, a button on the keypad gleaming green. She didn’t miss the slight sigh of relief that pushed out of his lungs when the gate unlatched itself and swung open just a few inches, or the way he rounded his shoulders before he turned to face her again.

“Listen to me,” he said, and there was just enough gruffness in his voice to draw her gaze up to him. His jaw was set, his mouth a hard line. “You stay close. Don’t talk to ‘em, don’t answer any questions they ask you – I’ll handle everything. You keep that –” he gestured vaguely to her arm, neither her bite marks nor her bandages visible under her jacket sleeve, “covered the whole time. Y’hear me?”

“Sure thing,” she responded, somewhat dully. “You got a muzzle you want me to wear, while we’re at it?”

He didn’t answer; only huffed impatiently without bothering to rise to the bait, and she scowled even as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him. The gate groaned shut behind them, the latch snapping with a finality that severed the world outside, even if she could still see it between the metal links. That persistent hum immediately returned, prickling the hairs on Ellie's neck and setting her teeth on edge.

They walked together down a wide street now, her eyes sweeping across every building that they passed. She hadn’t known quite what to expect from Bill and Frank’s, but it certainly wasn’t this – what amounted to a whole town contained within electrified metal, the houses and other buildings comprised of peeling paint and sagging siding, but still whole, standing tall. Fall gnawed at the edges of summer here, and what the trees hadn’t managed to hold onto now blew across her feet, colorful leaves swirling in the wind and catching against the curbs. Ellie had never been in a place like this before; still filled with the remnants of Before, while so open, smelling of fresh air and crisp leaves. “How many people live here?” she asked, finally noticing that she’d begun to lag behind his much longer strides, and jogging to catch up.

“Just Bill and Frank,” he replied, though his mind seemed to be elsewhere, his gaze focused on a large white house looming on their left. 

It was by far the largest one on the street, the paint a little less faded, the grass more neatly shorn. There were colorful flowers set into two large clay pots at either side of a white-painted wooden gate at the edge of the yard, and Ellie paused in front of one of them, bending down to sniff at the bright orange blossoms experimentally. “Don’t touch anything,” he called over his shoulder. Ellie, sure he wasn't looking, quickly squeezed a petal between her fingers. It gave away quickly, darkening and becoming slick against her skin, and she wiped her hand off against her jeans just as he paused, turning to look at her with an expectant expression. “C’mon.”

They didn’t even manage to make it halfway down the walkway before the door to the house burst open. “Oh, shit,” Ellie breathed, and it was instinct that made her duck behind Joel. A broad figure, his scruffy face contorted in a mask of fury, stormed down the porch steps, a shotgun clutched tight in his hands and the muzzle aimed right at them. She shot a panicked glance at Joel, expecting some decisive action, a whispered instruction, maybe even a mirror image of the weapon currently pointed at them. But he only grunted slightly, his fingers twisting over the pistol still holstered at his side but not drawing it free.

“Seriously?” he asked, clearly unimpressed. 

“The hell you think you’re doing?” the man practically barked, his eyes still squinting down the barrel of his gun. “You just show up, don’t even radio ahead –”

“Didn’t have time, Bill,” said Joel impatiently. “Put the damn gun down.”

“Who is that?” Bill demanded, the shotgun dipping momentarily towards Ellie's direction as she peered around Joel’s back. Before she could react, Joel, with unexpected swiftness, moved a step sideways, placing himself squarely between her and the barrel of the gun – and this surprised her more than she would have liked it to. “Easy, there,” said Joel, his voice edged with warning. “We’re just passin’ through. Headin’ west, figured we’d stop here for supplies. You owe me after that last run, Bill –”

“I owe you – what, is this a damn joke–”

“Bill!” Another voice echoed from within the house, laced with exasperation. The shotgun dipped momentarily, Bill's jaw clenching like a vise. He didn't relax, eyes still narrowed at them, but his shoulders slumped, his righteous fury simmering down to a grudging suspicion. “For god’s sake, Bill, will you put that thing down?” The door to the house still stood wide open behind him, and there was a heavy thud from somewhere inside.

“Frank!” Bill turned on his heel, disappearing into the house without another glance at them. They could hear him inside of the house; more thumps following a string of muffled cursing.

“Dude.” Ellie took a step back from Joel. “What the fuck. I thought these were, like…friends of yours.”

“Just…stay here,” Joel huffed, shaking his head – and then he left her, too, disappearing into the house, his hand drifting away from his pistol with every step. 

I have dragged myself to a coffee shop and am going to force myself to write, even if it's not great. Keeping myself accountable: starting word count is 2,988.

EDIT: Final count, 3,485. Nowhere near what I hoped to accomplish, but at least I finished a scene.

I actually forgot about this, but I was calling the WIP Silver Springs anyway, so...I guess it's official, now.

And let me tell you, it's appropriate, because that son of a bitch is definitely not getting away from the sound of the woman that loves him.

What should I name my TLoU AU?

Keep in mind it's basically a modern AU of my fic, Go Your Own Way.

I have a question that you should not take as criticism! But I was just wondering in As Long As You Follow why the Texas scientists wouldn't just send a car up to Jackson to grab Ellie instead of letting them take weeks / months? to get to them on foot? Because they have cars and patrol and everything?

I definitely don't take this as criticism, lol. But the answer to this question is a two-parter:

1.) As far as Amos and Alexei knew, Ellie & Co did have access to vehicles. It's mentioned in GYOW that the settlement has a couple of trucks, and they also retained the Yukon after Alexei and Amos left the settlement three years prior in one of Otto's vehicles. They had no way of knowing the Yukon was out of commission, or that the trucks weren't available (also touched upon in GYOW - they use them for plowing in the winter, and occasionally supply / hunting runs, but they aren't reliable for long-distance trips).

If Ellie had held her horses (pun intended) for one damn minute, everyone could have traveled down with Otto when he arrived with a vehicle a few weeks later (not that it would have gotten them any further than Amarillo, where the engine blew). Or they could have communicated with Galveston when it became apparent that they would have to go via horse, and then Galveston may have sent someone. Even so, it's a dangerous trip no matter what and, not wanting to put anyone else in danger, Ellie made the kneejerk decision to immediately run off with Shimmer - though there was no way Joel & Benny weren't going to immediately follow.

2.) It was necessary to the plot, this cross-country trip. 🤷

Also, if anyone is interested in the math: Ellie left Jackson in the late hours of March 20th, 2030, and Joel and Benny followed the morning of March 21st. Ellie reached Galveston with Tommy on May 7th, after one month and sixteen days of travel. Joel and Benny arrived in Galveston May 13th, one month and twenty-two days after leaving Jackson.

Tommy didn't leave Jackson until Otto arrived, around April 8th or 9th or so, catching up with everyone else in Amarillo around the 10th. He arrived with Ellie to Galveston on May 7th, so was only on the road for about a month.

I finished playing TLoU Part I last night, so if anyone needs me I will be sobbing while wrapped up in my softest blanket