Endure and Survive (Joel)

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie knew that it was against the rules to be this far from Hogwarts, especially with it being one of the largest quarantine zones in England at this point, but she didn't care. She was sick of being stuck behind those stone walls...sick of dealing with kids and their families, while she stood around with no one. She decided that she wasn't going to stand for it anymore. No. Ellie was leaving Hogwarts and wasn't going to look back. And even though she knew from reports of auror officials, that London was pretty much a desolate wasteland, she didn't care. There was still a chance that she could find a new home...her home...and perhaps her parents with it.

Ellie had been told that her parents had just never been found when the camps had been freed. Not even dead bodies had been recovered...so for all Ellie knew, her parents were still in hiding somewhere. Perhaps the chance to come and find her had never come because of this new...epidemic. Perhaps they were waiting for her to prove herself and fight her way through Hell to get to them. Her parents would never wish harm on her, but she could understand that this could be a test of her metal. She needed to prove that she was a Gryffindor somehow. 

So Ellie had packed a backpack and made sure that she had her wand, food, water, and some basic potions that she might find useful on her long trek through the forest. She had heard that most of the camps had been in Poland...for whatever reason...and that meant that she was going to have a long walk ahead of her. Not to mention the fact that the infected could be anywhere and everywhere. This was one Hell of a situation for their government. They tried their best to contain the infected,,,but it was pointless. They spread like wildfire and it appeared that their talented Minister hadn't even accounted for all the MUGGLES that had been infected as well.

The world was essentially at an end...Ellie had come to terms with it long ago, when Richard Sullivan had started rounding up the half-bloods like they were little farm animals. It didn't bother Ellie now, she more or less had a rather blasé approach to it all. What was the point of getting all emotional? That wouldn't change anything. All that there was left was to endure and survive and hope that maybe there would be a bright side to all of this. A cure hidden through all the blood and grit that mankind would have to wade through. 

At least it was beautiful today though...a bit warm...but the sun was out and it wasn't raining. Ellie didn't mind weather like this at all. She mostly hated humidity, especially when she knew that she would be walking for the next couple of hours. Her hands clutched the straps of her backpack and she climbed over a fallen tree. As she slid down to the muddy forest floor, Ellie froze when she heard a twig snap. As quickly as she could, she pulled out her wand and ducked behind it...hoping that whatever had made that noise was only an animal and not something infected with Richard Sullivan's disease.

Her heart was beating so hard that she felt it in her ears. Chewing her bottom lip, Ellie gripped her wand harder and made the rash decision that if whatever it was was going to attack her, she wanted to have the upper hand. She stood up and raised her wand to cast her first hex.

"Stup-"

Ellie

[Joel Archer]

Joel knew something was up with this Miles Snape guy, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. They had been working together for several years now on some deals under the table for rare herbs and things like that, things that Joel could get easily, though he didn’t understand why the younger man would pay such a high price for such strange items. And Snape had hinted at the fact that he knew what might have happened to Sarah, though he had never gone into very much detail about the story and Joel was ready to know more.

They had recently gone from deals of herbs to something much more...intriguing. Snape had asked for a private meeting with him at an undisclosed location, and though the whole thing seemed rather sketchy to Joel, he was forced to trust the man. If he did have information about Sarah’s death, he had to see this deal through. He treked his way through a forest that was becoming more and more dense with every step. He stopped to check his bearings, but he was becoming more confused by the second. Why would Snape want to meet him here? This was all completely strange, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to leave his fate in the hands of a stranger he still didn’t know very much about. He was about to say ‘fuck it’ and leave when he heard the tell-tale rustle of leaves that indicated another person. Expecting Miles, he turned with only a half grimace on his face, only to be surprised by a young girl who held some sort of stick at him menacingly.

He only had a split second to decide what to do. First of all, she was way too young and vulnerable to be out on her own at a time like this, when the world was a shithole and she was obviously too tiny to do much good. But the way she looked at him with that stick, it...it was almost as if she thought an archaic burst of magic would leap out of it as if it were a wand. He had seen the infected already and what they would do to someone. This girl didn’t fit into that category, but she was obviously a few bolts shy of a full tool box. He decided to play her game and he blocked himself from her oh-so-terrifying twig by spinning behind a tree. Maybe he could talk her down so she wouldn’t go completely bat-shit crazy before he could subdue her and get her some form of medical help.

“I’m unarmed! I’m not a threat, just a man!” He said from his place behind the tree. “I swear to you I’m not infected...if I was you’d be long gone by now. Do you have a name, kid? Mine’s Joel. Not here to harm no one, so just...put your weapon away and we can have a nice chat, you and me.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie watched as the man jumped behind the tree and pled his case. She didn't get a very good look of him, but a good enough look that she could tell he wasn't a wizard. No wizard would hesitate to pull his own wand, especially one so old. She didn't want to take any chances though, he didn't need a wand to hurt her...guns and knives worked just fine.

She decided, though, that she would put her wand away. Ellie was pretty quick when it came to curses, so if this Joel guy did try anything she could lay him flat in seconds. Her hands went up slightly to show that she was also unarmed.

"Alright..." She said carefully. "Lets talk."

In Ellie's mind she could hear her dad's voice telling her that this was stupid and that she needed to turn and run as fast as possible. But she was sort of tired of being alone...maybe this guy would let her come with him? Maybe she could use him to find her own parents. Ellie didn't know if they were still alive, but she had a gut feeling...and that was enough for her.

"What are you doing out here?"

As far as Ellie knew, muggles had their own quarantine zones that they had been loaded into. Not just hear, but in America as well. And this guy sounded like he was from Texas or somewhere Deep South. How in the world did he get to the UK and why?

"Stay where I can see you...come out slowly...hands raised."

Ellie wasn't too afraid of this man. She wasn't afraid of much...other than being alone. She had been with a group of people a couple days ago...they were gone now. They had wondered into a ghost town not far south from their location...Ellie had a feeling they would be attacked. Infected came and ripped through her entire party...she got away before she could get bit or killed. She's been alone ever since.

[Joel Archer]

If Joel wasn't in such a tense state of unease ready for this meeting with Miles Snape, he might have thought this girl was adorable, and she may have even served as a reminder for his Sarah. But as it was, he was merely annoyed at her being here and distracting him. However, he did not feel comfortable leaving a child here in this forest, unarmed and possibly unhinged. So whether she liked it or not, he would be taking care of her until he could find her family...if there was anything left of it. Joel was beginning to believe that was a lost cause for most families in this wretched country. 

He came out from behind the tree with his hands up, as she had requested, and he turned in a slow circle, allowing her to see that he was no threat. When he faced her again, he slowly brought his hands back down to his sides and just watched her for a moment. 

"You still never told me your name. Again, I'm Joel. And I'm here for a meeting, though I haven't seen the guy. The better question is, what are you doing out here? Do you have family close by? I wouldn't think they'd want you out in the middle of nowhere when the world is not such a safe place. Let me help you find your home...you shouldn't be out here."

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie wasn't stupid enough to give this guy her name. She didn't trust anyone in this world, and giving him her name gave him some kind of advantage over her. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she just knew that letting her guard down too much would be a mistake. When the world was as much of a shithole as it was people had no choice but to act on their basest instinct. That was to murder, eat, and rape. Ellie refused to be apart of any of those three. She didn't want to tell this guy where she was from either. She could only imagine how Joel would react to finding out that she went to an all wizarding school. He was already looking at her like she was high for brandishing her wand. It was best if she just kind of kept her history to herself. 

When Joel said that he was meeting someone in the woods, she couldn't help but feel like he was being set up. The forest wasn't safe, why would anyone agree to coming out here? It sounded like the work of a Death Eater...yeah, they were back now...and they were hunting people left and right. It was amazing the kind of crap chaos caused. Ellie didn't have much experience with Death Eaters...not that she wanted to...all she knew was that they had gone from hating JUST muggle-borns, to pretty much hating everyone. They often traveled in packs so that they could hunt people more easily...and once a person was taken by a Death Eater they were never seen again.

"Don't worry about my name..." she said, cautiously. "And no...my home isn't anywhere near here...my home is gone."

He was offering to take her somewhere though...maybe this was her chance to find someone that could escort her to the camp her parents had been hauled off to. She knew that it was a long walk, but she would have given anything to have a companion to travel with her. Even if it was a long shot, Ellie knew that she would never get closure until she knew what had happened to her mother and father. 

"I...I'm looking for my parents..." Ellie admitted. "They were taken from me...I just want to know if they are alive..."

Ellie didn't know what to feel with regards to her families morality rate...but she had a feeling since they never came back for her it wasn't good. She was risking her neck to travel all the way to Scotland without any form of evidence that her parents would actually be there. Oh well...it was better than just aimlessly wandering a dead world by herself. And by the looks of this Joel guy, he seemed kind of interested in accompanying her. Maybe he was the first nice guy she would meet in this dying world. 

"I...I can pay you..." she lied. "I have money in London...but I want an escort to Scotland before I pay you."

It was a shitty deal...but she hoped that Joel would agree to it anyway. He was a big, muscular, guy....and if Ellie wasn't mistaken she also saw a revolver in his pocket...that meant he was carrying some form of protection and hopefully that also meant that he was good with it. Because so long as Joel was around, Ellie refused to use any form of magic.

[Joel Archer]

Joel shrugged at the girl. He wasn't very surprised that she was being cautious with him, it was actually quite impressive that she was smart enough to protect her name like that. Still didn't make it any less God damn annoying. He looked at his watch and realized that Miles probably wasn't coming. Either he got spooked or he was dead, neither of which would be very surprising. He didn't have the heart to tell this girl that he wouldn't take her money. He didn't want her left with no pride as well as no family.

"Alright, but it better be a fair trade. I have plenty of jobs to keep my hands full without lugging some no-name kid around. Where did you come from, anyway? I didn't know there was anything around here."

This girl looked like she needed a friend, bad. But he couldn't really talk, he had been quite anti-social lately. He not only needed friends, he needed a shower and some food. He probably looked like a bum, except that he looked like this even before the disappearances started happening. Sarah used to call him scruffy, and now he knew no other way to be. It made him look more hardened, he thought, so he kept it up. He would scare off looters or full-on thieves, and that was alright with him. And if the scruffy beard and sun-dried skin didn't do it, his ability to break bones surely would. Joel could be called many things, but soft wasn't one of them.

"I could find Scotland," he added gruffly, "But it would sure help if you had some kind of map on you or something."

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie knew that she was going to sound like an idiot, but she didn't have a map to get her to Scotland. She had planned to use her wand, but seeing as this guy was a muggle, she knew that idea was out. So she pocketed hers, realizing that this guy clearly was of no threat to her...but could be a threat to someone else if she needed him to be. She had no idea how they were going to get to Scotland, she was just going to keep walking until she found the next town or someone that could direct her to the correct path. It would have sucked if she had found out she was going the wrong way the entire time...but she had dealt with worse. At least then she would have found someone regardless.

"I...don't actually have a map..." she admitted lamely. "I was just kind of...guessing."

Wow that sounded even more stupid out loud than it did in her head. Way to go Eloise. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked up at Joel. Man this guy looked intimidating. She couldn't imagine what he did for a living...nor did she want to. He was probably some kind of bruiser...maybe he had been a cop...or had done something illegal. Ellie was just guessing of course...but in all honestly, she didn't care what he had done before they had met at the moment. She only cared that he was going to help her.

"Sooo..." she breathed. "I guess our first step is to figure out which direction takes us to Scotland."

[Joel Archer]

Joel cleared his throat and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was his fault, really. He had a small amount of compassion in his heart for young girls because of what had happened to Sarah. He should have just left this girl on her own and stayed to wait for Snape, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Luckily he did still have his phone, even though he wasn’t paying for service anymore. Some of the inherent apps still worked on the phone, however, one of which was a compass. He took it out and thought for a moment. Scotland was at the north end of the country, he knew that. So that would be a good start.

“This way is North, so I guess we just need to start walking. And it would be best if you stayed close so I don’t have to go chasing your ass if you get into trouble or danger, alright?”

He was glad he’d had plenty of time to be outdoors growing up, as well as to get used to the miserable weather of this country. He didn’t even find himself frowning when the clouds overhead began to gather. He turned to her. “Looks like rain soon. We might want to think about making shelter instead of walking.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie wished she could use her wand...that way they wouldn't have to scrounge around for wood...but she didn't want this guy turning on her because she was magical. She didn't know him well enough to know how he would react and she really didn't want to make an enemy. So she nodded and set to helping him gather things to make some kind of hut. It would have been nicer if they could wander to a town and just crash in an abandoned building, but Ellie knew that that could be real dangerous as well. Infected were everywhere now...and waking up to one of their drooling, rotting, faces was never worth a goodnight's sleep. At least not in Ellie's honest opinion.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked. "I mean...this isn't exactly a tropical forest with large banana leaves to use as a roof...I think we should walk until we find some kind of cave...or maybe a small town even. There are bound to be some abandoned houses somewhere."

Ellie knew that neither were really good options, but she didn't see much of an alternative where they were concerned. Plus she was starving and running out of tasty cakes to keep her happy. So there might be food in one of the houses. Though this guy looked like he had been out in the wild before...so maybe she would actually get to eat something with meat for once. She was sick of not having hardly anything to eat...and if that meant sucking it up and chewing on some rabbit...Ellie would happily oblige.

"And...I'm starving...so...we could find some food too?"

[Joel Archer]

Joel nodded in response to her request for food. He’d been ignoring the rumblings in his own stomach for long enough, it was time to do something about it. He had told her he was unarmed, but technically he never was. He kept a gun in the back of his jeans, and a knife in his sock. He wasn’t a complete idiot, he would be able to defend himself if the need arose. He looked around for anything else he could use as a hunting tool, but he thought that her suggestion of finding a town was the best thing to do at the moment. So he started walking, assuming that she would follow.

“Down the mountain aways, I saw some buildings that might be of some use. They didn’t look like houses, more like utility buildings, but we could make do. And I’m sure I could catch a rabbit along the way. Just so we’re clear...I do have a gun on me, but I only plan to use it on game. And hopefully none of those infected sons of bitches make their way over here, cause I don’t feel like hand to hand combat today.”

He pushed his way through the dense trees and brush, then turned to wait for her. All he needed was for her to break a bone or some shit, he was no doctor. And though he was full of pride, he had too much of a heart to leave her behind if she got hurt. So that would leave him carrying her, and that would make him a big ball of swearing and sweat. Nobody needed that today. He called back gruffly, “Watch your feet, I aint making no stops if you’re a klutz.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie felt hesitant about her decision the moment Joel started walking ahead and talking. He didn't seem to like her very much...but then she supposed that his main interest was probably the money she had promised him. Really, she didn't understand what a guy would do with money in this world anyway, but she was sure Joel could find use for it in some kind of market...or maybe she would trade him something for his services. She was sure that there had to be a spell that she could use eventually to repay him...but that was something to worry about when the situation arouse.

They walked for some time...mostly in silence...Ellie whistling or humming randomly when she felt the quiet to be far too overwhelming. She didn't know Joel, but she could see that he was a man of very little words. It made her uncomfortable. Even if Ellie's last party she had made a couple friends that she could at least talk to while they scrounged around for food or supplies. Ellie never thought she would miss them as much as she did now...or how close to danger they really were outside of the quarantine zones. It was actually kind of funny...Ellie worked so hard to escape the school and its safety...only to find members in her past party yearning to be inside one.

Living inside a zone was no way to live. Everyone just seemed to be content to sit around and wait for something to change...while Ellie was expected to still take class and just act like her parents were fine or waiting at home for her. And she had no one to talk to or confide in about these feelings because all the teachers would get horribly uncomfortable and tell her that she needed to essentially shut up. It was turning into that whole "ignorance is bliss" kind of thing and Ellie just could not stand to be apart of it anymore. So she had run...and now she was walking next to a stranger she didn't even know...that was armed...and wearing an old watch that was broken.

"So...my name is Ellie by the way..." she said finally. "Since I'm pretty sure you aren't gonna kill me...your accent has a really strong twang to it...Texas right? Or somewhere around there...is it true that America got infected too, because most of my teachers say that it was something strictly attacking European nations."

She hoped that she wasn't making him uncomfortable with all of he questions...but the silence was killing her and she was so fucking hungry and bored!

"Hey, wanna hear a joke?" she asked, not waiting for his answer. "Okay...so...A blonde and a brunette walk past a flower shop and see the brunette's boyfriend buying flowers. She sighs and says, "Oh crap, my boyfriend is buying me flowers again. Now, I'll be expected to spend the weekend on my back with my legs in the air." The blonde says, "Don't you have a vase?"."

Ellie snorted and started laughing. She owed her last friend big time for giving her that joke book..it was pure gold! She looked up at Joel trying to act serious, but just could not stop smiling. Honestly, she knew that the joke was really dirty...and a lot of them she did not understand...but her friend had explained this one to her and it had quickly moved up as one of her favorites.

"D-Did ya get it?" she giggled. "C'mon man, that was fucking funny!"

[Joel Archer]

Joel was content to walk in silence. In fact, he preferred it that way because he had gotten so used to being alone. And now here was this little kid, talking like a jaybird and laughing at herself. She reminded him so much of Sarah it almost made his heart hurt. He tried to ignore her little ramblings at first, but it soon became impossible. He snorted gruffly at her joke, not entertained by the thought of it, but by the way she had told it. He gave her a sideways look.

“Your mamma let you talk like that? Shit, my mamma woulda tanned me if I ever swore in front a her like that. But hell, I guess it don’t bother me none.”

He continued on his path, every once in a while stopping to hold some branches out of the way for the little lady. He decided that he couldn’t let her do all the talking, or he might go insane with all the adolescent chatter happening right behind him. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m from Texas. I moved here probably ‘fore you were born. I’m a contractor and the company wanted to expand. Shit load of good that did me. Why aren’t you with your folks anyway?”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie felt her cheeks go slightly pink as this guy reprimanded her. He didn't even laugh! Something told her that this was going to be a long trip...she had hoped that the person she had met would at least be able to talk to her...or not make her feel like some stupid kid...but Ellie supposed that in a way, she needed someone that was a bit more serious than herself while trekking through the woods. It was dangerous out here now and she knew that she had a bigger chance of getting hurt on her own than with a man that kind of looked a bit scary.

She held her breath as Joel brought up her parents again. She didn't know how to approach that subject. With this guy being a muggle, he really wouldn't now about Richard Sullivan and the camps...and Ellie didn't want to have to explain it because then that would lead up to her having to explain that she was a witch. She didn't know how this guy would feel about her then, but judging by how he looked at her like she was crazy when she took out her wand the first time...she didn't want to make the mistake of trying to prove her magical heritage again.

So she just shrugged and did what she did best...she lied.

"When this...madness broke out..." she said. "They sent me away to this boarding school...it was a safe zone from the infected people in London. They didn't come with me...and I figured that since my parents are from Scotland...that's where they would be."

It was as good a lie as any, but Ellie figured that it would be the easiest for her to keep after. Lying these days was definitely a skill but it also made finding out who your friends and who your enemies were a real bitch. Ellie couldn't stand to be lied to...regardless of how much she lied...and she had an awesome bullshit detector. She could smell a lie the moment it worked past a person's lips.

"What about your family?" she asked. "Where are they?"

[Joel Archer]

Her story hit a little too close to home. That was what Joel had done with Sarah when he first moved to this blasted country. He had sent her to one of them fancy schools. Only she had been made fun of because of her accent, and she’d had a terrible time and was angry at Joel for sending her there in the first place. It made him sick to think about it now. He couldn’t believe how much he had fought with her then. If he had known how little time was left with his little girl, he would have been nicer to her. He would have never taken his time for granted.

He wondered for a moment where her phone was. She was a teenage girl, and nowadays, all teenagers carried a cell phone. He had never been one for it. If he ever carried a phone, it was a first generation mobile phone that took up half his face. But maybe she had lost it in all the chaos. He really didn’t know her story up to this point where it concerned the infected. Anything could have happened. He frowned when she basically admitted to guessing that her parents were home in Scotland. They were on a wild-fucking-goose chase, and he wasn’t too pleased about that prospect. But that frown didn’t look too different than what he normally looked like, so he didn’t say nothin’.

“I ain’t got no family. My brother lives in the states, we haven’t spoken in years. My daughter’s dead.”

There was really no rhyme or reason for making shitty things sound nice. His baby was gone, pretty words wouldn’t bring her back. He kicked aside sticks and twigs as he walked and saw the buildings in the distance becoming closer and closer. “Almost there,” he grunted.

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie felt the wind become sucked out of her when Joel said his daughter had died...not only was she not expected that...but she really wasn't expecting him to be so unemotional about it. The guy really did have a rough exterior. Ellie supposed she was in the same boat though. She couldn't cry for her parents anymore, but she just didn't bring them up. To Ellie they weren't dead...they were just missing...when she found them again everything would be fine and dandy and would go back to normal. She didn't know what condition the world would be in but at the moment, she didn't care too much about the world. She was just interested in her family. She hoped Joel would find some kind of adult friend afterwards. Ellie thought she had trouble making friends, but this guy had to have written the book on being alone.

They had walked in silence, Ellie humming or whistling every now and again, until they reached the town. It looked like everyone had up and left in a right hurry...houses had doors that were still open...others had windows that were boarded up. Ellie frowned and started to wander to one of the abandoned complexes. She wasn't sure if Joel was following her or if he saw her go into the one building, but curiosity kept her from following her basic instincts.

She looked through several cabinets and found nothing...and everything in the fridge was completely rotten and covered in mold. Ellie wrinkled her nose and closed the door. Well this place was clearly a bust...maybe Joel had had better luck in one of the other apartments. She walked out the front door and groaned as her stomach growled loudly. She was so very hungry she thought about eating anything.

"Joel?" she called. "Did you find anything? Ugghh....so hungry!"